Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1902-04-09
AeRl uLruRAL BULLETIN.
Interesting Letters from Hancock
County Farmers.

| county farmers:
HANCOCK My interest in fruit culture
/ is centeted almost exclusivey in the cul-
| tivated berry uits, especial, the straw
/ berry Within the last decade there has
! probably been greater improvement IN
! he liie of varieties with the strawberry
han with shy OF the other rutts. During
the seventeen yeats that have b. en- en-
gagged IN this busine SIS l have tested hum
! d eds OF var cites | shall fruit twenty
/ tao varietis next sp ing OF what con-
alder .hs best for tails s,etion. Ta.y are,
| Unc Jim tDOrnanl, Dewey, Hobson,
! emperor, Empress, Gladstone. PepneiL
| Rough Rider, Brandy wine, Mexican,
| Bub oh. Parker Ear 9, Loyett, Haver and,
| lunn, Nick Dinner, Glen Mary, Ridgeway,
| Clyde, Porto Ric, ana Sample | place
/ Glen Mary Il he head OF the list as IN all
| round general purpose berry Dewey Is
| the most prod Gladstone and New
| York are the Target; Penneil the longest
keeper on the vines; Haverland, Losett
nd c yde the earliest; Hum ana Rough
Rider Z e latest; Ridgeway the finest. quail
| ity ana the best family berry; Sample he
| best grower; Parker Fare has teen the
mosi PR Bile; Clyde the best dry season
| berry; Brandye Inc the best the second
| :, s1n IL given plenty OF room and high
culture; Porto Rico the most peculiar
shaped berry; ard Bubach he grestest on
some seasons. Strawberries demand the
| most thorough culture II the mos, profiE-
| b e returns are ioos ed for They degen-
crate very quickly II neglected or care
leSsiy propagsted Birds (robins) are a
great nuisanc to the fruit grower. / have
ob aimed more instruction from experience
tban from any publications on fruit cui
ture T.. w. WOOSTER
SOUTH PENoBsCoT-Morea tts ntion has
bees gwen t. fruit growing In this section
ia the last few years than formerly II
used to be tn, ugbt that apples could not
b. raised to any great extent so near the
II water, but hat was mistake. We
can grow a. good fruit here as anywhere,
eai ecislly piums, IL the trees have good
care We have one plum tree that has
borne five bushels OF nice plums each year
or the last four yesrs, the plums selling
for g 90 per bushel ana upward. The
seems TO be some trouble with King of
T .mpkins Some OF them are wstery on
one side and very hard III put in the cell
lar they turn black and commence to rot
very quicSly Can you tell the cause and
give remedy N. +. NORTON.
SorE-Ths trouble with the King of Tompkins
apple is a fault of that variety, for which no
remedy Is known. IL Is not y desirable variety
10 plant In most sections. IL IL n shs bearer.
and apples VIII frequently be found which are
hAr'i aud wHsery. AS described abofe--SoH1m's
sioner.
DEER IsIE-A large proportion OF the
orcha DIS in this section bare been set out
during he last generation, and new ones
are being addsd, consequently the indus
try Is increasing. AT nrst two great mis-
takes were made, that OF setting the trees
toe near l. gether, and that OF setting too
many varieties The leading varieties here |
are Eaidw .ns, Kings, Hubbardstons AID
Talman Sweets, but a number OF other |
kinds are raised, as Russets, Greetings,
ben Davis, Northern Spy, etc for winter
fruit, and Sweet Buugh, Asirachan. |
Gravenstet etc for fail fruit. Caterpil- |
Ia lose trpn hless.Yna hu N n last I
year, bar me new pests appeared, nota bly, |
the cherry tree slug on pear and plum trees, |
these being cultivated to some extent, |
though apples are tie staple fruit crop
Spraying with Bordeaux mix ure, ana also |
with Paris green, has been tried with sue
cess for sea and for the siug-, but eternal |
vigilance is the rule for the caterpillar II
one would succeed. Small fruits, es- |
pecislly straw berries, grow well here, and |
are receiving increased attention
X. s. WARREN.
SEDGwIcK-The principal variety of
fruit grown in this vicinity is apples, |
which do we'll v here they have any care,
as our soil is rocky. which think is the |
best soil for apples or plums. / do not
think we prune our trees enough. When
a tree gets quite large think It should be
pruned quite hard | cannot see that IL
makes any difference in regard to what
season OF the year the pruning is done
A. H. DoRITY.
BRooKsyILLE-Last year was an of year
for ifuit in this vicinity, and we are look
ing for good crop this year A. a general
thing any crop that Is 90 tn ok is not 70
good Now, II apples are too thick on
tree viii 1t pay 10 thin them out3 p" Ill
the quality pay over the quantity? When
Is the best tune to thin?
l. RosERTs
NoTE-The best orchardists have. for a term of
years. prse,ieed the method of thinning their
apples When the apple Is about twoIhirds
grown Is the most DE- sirabie time, as the seeds
not then developed and II II the seeds which
sap the tree most Apples grow very rapidly
until they arrive at this stage, then there Is a
period In which the seeds forming and the
apples apparently stand still. Al this stage of
the apple one can readily detect the wormy and
inferior fruit, and all these, and apples that
touch one another, should be thinned out. IL
has been found that IL costs less to sort applcs
on the tree than after they are picked. Thin
them quite extensively and you will have a
large crop of largely number one apples Those
that are left on the tree will grow enough larger
so that at harvest time you will have as many
barrels of apples, doubtless, as you would have
had u they had not been thinned.- Commits
sioner.
ORLAND-There are various ideas as to
what variety OF appe is best to raise for
home use and the marker. In selection
from the Greening, Bellflower, Astracoan,
Nodbead, Twenty Ounce, Fameuse, Bald
win and several other varieties, / give the
Baldwin a decided preference. III were
TO start new orchard would set out
few different kinds, just for variety, then
set out the st of the orchard with Bald
wins. 1t j. an old variety and has been
proved Ii has an excellent favor, is a
good keeper, and is among the best for
| home use or the market. The Ben Davis
| is probably the best keeping apple known,
| but have no place for 1t. Its flavor, or
rather absence of flavor, condemns 1t.
The railroad worm, which has become a
serious affection, seldom troubles the
| Baldwin, which Is quite an object. This
worm for the past three years has been in
ereasing rapidly. II is often somewhat
difiicu to tell an apple that is affected
without cutting, 1t viii look so fair out
SIDE. A neighbor last fall that never had
had any trouble with tits worm, barreiled
up lot of nice looking apples for the
market and afterwards found he had bar
relied up worms instead of apples. There
was scarcely an apple In the lot free from
them; A remedy for this pest would be