The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-03-01

The Wealthy is fine looking apple oil
fair quality and sells well. l would
not want large orchard of them, but
if but few, l would keep them.
in top-working do you use last
years wood entirely?" Yes. "How
large a scion do you use?" About
the size of a lead pencil and three
inches long. How many gratis would
you put on these four-year-old trees?'
One or two in each stub, according to
size. | would graft from three to five
stubs. do you renew the whole tree
in one year, or part one year and
part the neXt?" All in one year. See
last issue of The Ranch on top-graft-
ing. (Which is the best for scions
young nursery stock or bearing trees?"
Bearing trees. Scions from nursery
stock will not bear SO early.
There is a species of caterpillar
here that eats the leaves of the apple
trees. Will the arsenate of lead kill
them?" Yes Gail apples and pears
here in 1906 were wormy. The sprayed
ones in 1907 were nearly all good, and
the unsprayed were nat so bad as in
1906" This shows the good effect OF
spraying. Some years the cooling
moth is worse than in other years.
Cool weather is unfavorable for the
work of the codling moth. The moths
will not fly when the thermometer is
below sixty above. They fly only by
night, so cool nights will prevent their
work. The cool weather at blooming
time will not affect the codling moth,
for at that time they are snugly tucked
away in their cocoons.
Mr.. Wanamaker further asks,
SHOULD l tOp-work my Gano apple
trees?" The Gano is very much like
the Ben Davis, but has more uniform
red and sells better. I would not
want large orchard of the Gano, but
if | had few trees, think I should
let them alone.
Mr.. H. Sheperd, rural route No. 2,
Tacoma, asks: 81 have several plum
trees that early in the spring bring
forth an abundance of bloom but yield
but little or no fruit, due probably to
frosts. Could these trees be used on
which to graft cherries? Being a stone
fruit | thought cherries might be
grated on them. Some varieties OF
plums are not self-fertile. This may
be the reason these trees do not bear
fruit. The Minor plum will not bear If
planted alone, but set near some self
fertile variety, like the Forest Garden,
will bear plentifully. 1t may be the
sterility of these plums that causes
the fruit to fall off. You can not sue
cessfully graft or bud the cherry on
the plum
Il
w. G. Waite, Park, Wash, writes
as follows: 81 always read with inter-
est the horticultural department OF
The Ranch. I wish you would an
swer through your columns some ques-
tons regarding strawberries. l have
a patch which | put out in the spring
of 1906 | picked the blossoms off the
first summer. Then last year l had
just a fair crop. The soil is sandy
and about five feet above the water
level of lake Whatcom. The ground
had just been cleared of alder and
small fir. I have applied barn yard
manures quite plentifully. What COM
fercial- fertilizer should l apply, and
in what quantities to insure a good
crop this year,"
1t is not always All easy thing to de-
termine just what a soil may need
from description. Barn yard manure
is a good fertilizer for strawberries,
but doeslnot do much good the first
year. 1t must be rotted before it can be
of any use as food for plants. Re-
member that all food that enters plants
from the ground must do SO in "a the
liquid state, that is, must be in the
soluble state. Barn yard manure, If
it is impaired by heating or teaching,
adds nitrogen very largely. This is
the fertilizer that gives vigor to leaves
and stems of plants. If your straw