Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-05-24
Tree, a and Vine

After a good deal of agony on the
part of the California people the sec
rotary of the interior has been ordered
to secure possession by condemnation
of the big tree forest in California. The
owner of the property has been nego-
Jiating with the government for a num-
her of years looking to the sale Of the
big trees.
There are still some people who be-
lieve that moth traps are all right but
with most other advanced horticulture
lists we have an idea that they do more
harm than good in an orchard. They
will not catch the codling moth, cur
culio, borer. canker worm or gouger
Il these are the insects we want to
kill. The use OF moth traps by the gen.
eral public will do more harm than
good and they will catch more friends
than enemies. The use of lights to
save apples, peaches and plums is a
decidedly dismal failure.
When currant leaves appear in the
spring they should be closely watched
foi indications of the cuTrant worms
and a busting Of white hellebore ap-
piled as soon as any are seen. ~ little
of the powder mixed with several
times it's amount of flour, using enough
to whiten the leaves. will destroy these
pests and one application will remain
until all danger is over if the sprinE-
ling is done while the bushes are wet.
If the leaves turn yellow and the ber-
RES Shrivel on the stalks il is safe to
suspect the currant bush borer to be
at work. Cut ont such stalks to the
ground and burn them at once. AS the
fruit grows mostly upon two-year-old
wood and also on that one year old, it
is well to cut III all three-year-old
stalks every fall or early in spring.
The loss of fruit from self-sterility
usually may be prevented by planting
other varieties among such trees. The
european and oriental pears can fer
tilize each other and many varieties of
the domestics, japanese and Gative
plums are likewise interfertile, provid-
ed they bloom together. The pollen of
some varieties will give larger fruit
than that of others when 1t falls on or
is applied to the pistils of either self
sterile or self-fertile varieties. Among
our common orchard fruits croSs-pol-
lination seldom has an immediate in
fluence on the fruit itself. Cross-pol-
lination probably gives better results
than self-pollination with nearly all
varieties. Insects are probably more
important than wind for carrying pol
len from tree to tree. If established
orchards are %unfruitful because of self
sterility it may be profitable to put a
few gratis of another variety in each
tree.
An ample supply of water is essen
tial to success with strawberries and
some of us shall have to skirmish to
get it this year. The plants need it in
quantities throughout the season and
particularly while maturing fruit. No
garden plants more quickly suffer
from lack of water and none respond
more readily when it is properly APP
piled. Make q shallow iurrow close to
each row OF plants as soon as they
ara planted and run water at once,
even though the soil be moist. 1t set
ties the earth about the roots, is an
insurance against possible dryness and
gives the plants a vigorous start. Care
should be taken in running water to
confine ii to the burrows and not allow
it to Hood the rows. II is better to
run small streams for long periods
than TO try to hasten matters by run
ming too much water. To SUR an
even, constant flow, it is best TO make
a head ditch across the ends of the
rows and supply the furrow for each
row through a short piece of one-inch
pipe or lath funnel which is imbedded
in the bank. This is safer and easier
to manage than breaking the bank for
each furrow, especially in soils that
are inclined to wash. AS to frequency
of irrigation, no definite rule a be
given. 1t must be determined for each
particular piece of ground. Some soils
may require twice as many applica-
tions as others. Study the condition
of the soil and the appearance of the
plants by reading WilcoX's Irrigation
Farming and govern the water supply
by the indications there found.
We are told by the scientific gentle
men that this is the year for the return
of the seventeen-year locust and we
might as well prepare for the worst.
Those who have studied the habit of
the insect say the female lays eggs in
Sits or cracks which are made by
means of saw-like instrument in the
limbs of young nursery stock and
trees. In two weeks these eggs are
Matched and out of them come little in
sects which appear like small ants.
These run swiftly along the limbs and
then fall to the ground and hurrow
their way into the earth. 1t is here
that the remarkable feature of the
periodical cicada is apparent. These
insects when nee in the ground re-
main in their subterranean abodes
from thirteen to seventeen years. ac-
cording to the particular brood to
which they belong. At the end of that
time they emerge-thousands and
even Millions of them-and quickly
swarm over the trees and ~shruhbery.
when their shells part in the middle
of the back and out of the old covering
comes the true cicada or locust as il is
commonly called, although the word
locust should apply more particularly
to the gTasshopper. With each expect
ed visit of the cicada, known as locust
years, the eastern newspapers fill their
readers with awe at the great damage
in prospect. As a fact the cicada harms
only young nursery stock and orchard