The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-08-01
EARN AND GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
AGRICULTURISTS
Some Up-to-Dste Hints About CuItiva-
ton of the Soil and Yields Thereof
Horticulture, Niticulture and Fioricul-
ture.

More on Decentralization of Kieffer.
From Farmers Review: have been
reading in the Farmers Review the
many opinions on the cross-fertil1za-
ton of Kieffer. Now it does seem to
me that If cross-fertilizing is so nee
essary and useful among our large
fruits | should have trees loaded to the
ground with apples and pears nearly
every year. If 500 varieties of bear
ing trees in forty-acre orchard is not
enough to insure Decentralization, for
goodness sake how many are neces-
sary? Again wouldn't you suppose that
where hundred varieties are grated
on one tree, and the tree filled with
such gratis had reached a spread OF
thirty feet, there is good chance for
fertilization without adding any more
gratis? This tree should be pretty full
OF fruit, shouldn't it, we scientific men!
Well, it did bear three or four bush
els OF fruit one year, but it never so
oVer-did itself before, nor has it since.
l nave several such trees and they do
not bear bit better than the other
trees of my orchard How much does
the orchard bear? Well, will tell you.
FROM thousand and more of bearing
trees we have not had enough apples
for family use nine months in the year
Tor several years, and l am not ex-
pectlng enough this year. The family
is quite large it is true, but do think,
that, counting in this great benefit of
cross-fertilization, we should have
enough to eat for ten months in the
year. | am striking for an extra
month at same wages.
A part of the orchard is in weeds
and grass, which are mown and the
crop left on the ground, moved twice a
year. part is in a strawberry bed
and is partially cultivated and mulched.
Another part is well-cultivated and yet
another part is in a hog pasture or lot.
Another part of it is calf and horse
pasture. A part Of the orchard is
usually sprayed (not this Year, with
Bordeaux mixture and London purple.
Another part is not sprayed at all.
Some OF the trees are in rich soil and
some in thin soil, all, however, are in
the black soil common to Central Illi-
nois. have tried considerable guam
Titles of ashes, bone meal and stable
manure, separately and together with
no apparent result
will add that keep bees. Not that
want to-they are my neighbours bees,
and in grape time l have frequently
wished that lightning or something
would strike one or two of them-or
more.
Pears with a tall hedge on the west
nave lived longer and borne better
with me than anywhere else A hedge
on the south has not been of any bene-
tit. So | have concluded that pears do
best when fortified with an Usage or
ange hedge on the west.
There is at least one pear that bears
earlier than the Kieffer-the Sha Lea.
Among those that bloom at practically
the same time are CARRIER, Duchess.
Bezi de la Motto and Cocklin. 1t is
my belief, however, that rather than
pin our faith to Decentralization of
-anZklnd> Isshha lad >5sstttesr ooS .sf5fs to
the weather at blooming time, to
blight, curculios, and the different
aphids and fungi for the cause of fail
ure.
Of course there is great difference in
the producing power of different va
rieties, but heavy continued rains dir.
ing ln11orescence get away with most
of our apples. A rainy summer and
fall bring out the fungi, which can
only be controlled by spraying, and hot
weather and daily thunder storms
often bring aggravated cases of blight
which cannot be eradicated by any,
thing that humans can do, that | am
aware Of To be sure, the department
at Washington says, Cut out and burn
all blighted twigs as soon as they an
pear" but l suppose it would take 100
men full year to cut out the blight
(the new cases) that appeared in my
orchard last night.-B. Buchanan.
Sangamon county. Illinois.