Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1901-05-18
FARM AND GARDEN
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
ACRiCULTURISrS
Some Up-to-Dste Hints About Cultiva-
tiou OF the Soil and Yields Thereof
horticulture. yiticulturs and Fiortcul
ture.

right kind of trees if we would secure
profit to the planter. Some ten years
ago we bought so pear trees. Half of
them have died since that time and
nearly all have blighted badly. One,
a Duchess de Angelyn, planted near
the south door of the kitchen, has
never blighted, and is the only one
OF several Duchesses that has done any
good. Last year it was heavily loaded
with large luscious pears. Two years
after it was planted we concluded to
put porch over the door and to the
west of it. Not wishing to dig it up
we left one board short in the floor
SO that it would not be disturbed.
The top leaned to the south and away
from the porch. Some predicted that
1t would do no good there; but 1t has
never been affected with blight or sun
scald. The tree leaned enough to the
south so that the leaves protected the
body from the sun. Each spring 1t is
laden with heavy clusters of blossoms
as beautiful as white roses. and its
glossy green leaves during summer
make fine shade
The Keiffer pear trees have also
blighted badly and some have died;
but more are living than of any other
kind. They have also borne more fruit
than all the other kinds put together.
This, however, amounts to only about
four bushels all told. But they are only
now old enough to bear good crops
We hope that people now living will
yet get something from them. 1t has
been said that the Lincolns never
blight, and ours did not for several
years. But last year they blighted
badly-fully as badly as any other pear
trees. We have taken pains to cut
off the blighted portions two or three
times during the summer. They
blighted worse during May and June
when the young twigs are tender. The
winter Bartletts and Idahos all blight
ed and died out in two years or SO.
Apple Trees-Many of our apple
trees turn out to be inferior fruit,
some good for nothing. Other trees
bear fall fruit, when we ordered win
ter fruit trees. This makes our or
chard almost failure. Ours is not the
only orchard that turns out SO. Almost
every one that has put out an or
chard will tell of their failure to get
the kind of trees they had ordered.
Possibly one reason for the failure is
that apples that are winter apples in
one locality are fall apples in another
so that anyone contemplating putting
out trees should inquire of neighbors
who have bearing orchards what kinds
are giving satisfaction. If possible
buy only from nurseries direct What
is better is to go to the nurseries and
get the varieties you want. There is
no use paying high prices to agents for
trees that they claim are superior to
the trees of other agents. We have
bought trees from such men paying
fancy prices for them, and found that
they were in no way superior to the
trees we might have purchased at a
lower price
Peach Trees-There are SO many
kinds of peach trees that it is very diff
ficult to know what to buy. At first
we bought 35 different kinds, but later
discarded many of them. Possibly the
ones that proved worthless with us
would do well in other states or even
in other parts of this state. The early
and late Crawfords, Susquehanna,
Washington Cling, Levy Late, or Hen
rietta Foster and some others bear
no fruit worth the name, though we
had many hundred trees. But Crosby
and Champion always bear when any
peach trees have fruit on them. Crosby
overbears and needs much thinning.
Champions have generally just
enough or need some thinning.
Elberta is fine looking tree, but bears
little fruit for US, and that little rots
more than does the fruit of some of
the other trees. We have discarded
them, yet others tell us that they do
well in some other parts of the coun-
try. For profit neither too early nor
very late peaches pay SO well as those
riHsning in August and September, ex-
cep1 few trees for table USE By get
ting few of the very earliest and very
latest we prolong the peach season te
four and a half months. Peaches are
exceedingly healthfu1 fruit, after one
gets use to eating them.
In buying peach trees it is very diff
flcult to get them true to name 1t
is very provoking. when one has cared
for, trimmed and cultivated trees for
years, to find them Crawfords instead
of some better fruit Some of them
even do not bear any peaches And
the t>ees are about as worthless that
bear big crops of early peaches that
rot as soon as they are on the trees
We Dad that the best way to avoid this
condfsion of affairs is to bud them our
selves from bearing trees. Then we
know we get the kind we want The
next best thing is to get them from
nurseries known to be reliable There
are men engaged in the nursery busi-
meas that will sell only fruit trees that
oxe trae to name Character Is worth