The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-10-01
Prof. Massey's Views

Ih0 IL L
observer, COX very much the same.
ever get general on the peninsula,
there Will be an n TO pFont4GIe
canning Of tomatoes. Land that has
become infected should not be used
for tomatoes, or elephants. OF water
melons for years, and a strict rotation
of crops should be practiced. Nearly
every field I have examined since my
return from Moth Carolina iA badly
aTIected by the C1auuspufiurn war
blight. and the crops are seriously
cut short. This disease can be prevent
ed by spraying with Bordeaux IL
ture, and growers will have to under
take h spraying II they are to make
good crops. / have not seen elther(of
the wilt diseases here and trust that
they will not appear. h only way
to prevent these is to select seed from
healthy plans growing where others
have died, and in this way breed UP a
variety that will resist the wits. We
nave a variety in the Belle to-
mafo that is perfectly immune to
disease Of any sort so far as I have
observed and it seems to me hat it
would be 2 good wofk for the South
ern experiment stations to use this as
a means for breeding immune plants
with better-sized fruit, for the Texas
Belle is too small. But by crossing
with a larger variety it may be pos
mato that will resist the wilt diseases.
Plant Fruit Trees And Take Care Of
Them.
Yes, as the Editor said recently, a
! home in the country is no home with
out a variety of fruits. You need
them for health to eat fresh and your
wife will need them for the many
forms of preserves and pickles hat a,
thrifty housewife delights to put up.
Most people would be more healthy
in summer by eating more fruit and
less meat.
Then In the South always plant trees
in the fall. They are far more Ger
tain to live and thrive than planted
in the spring. Our soil does not
freeze deeply and the trees will be
when h buds swell in the spring,
while planted In the spring the buds
may swell and exhaust the tree before
the new roots have formed.
Then. too, plant only one-year-old
trees OF any sort. These cost less to
buy. less to freight and they are
mere switches with live buds all
through and you can cut them back
and form the head Of the tree near
tAAC "uC1 IL SI1Ould lie. ~ IL
is essential III these days of spraying
to have low trees. Then too with a tree
with only 20 inches of stem you can
stick a single on the southwest side
and thus protect it from sun--scald
till the top shades the stem. But some
will say that with such toy trees we
cannot get under them for cultivation.
No need of getting closer than the
drip Of the limbs for there is where
the feeding roots are and not up near
the trunk.
Cultivate and ferfilize an apple or
pear tree we'll during its early growth,
and when the head is we'll formed and
the tree should be making fruit. seed
the orchard down in grass, but not fo1
hay nor pasture. Put the grass there
for the trees only, NOW 1t severa,
times during the summer and leave
the cut grass there as mulch for the
trees. Top-dress the grass every
spring with raw bone meal ano
muriate of potash n with the dea6
grass going back to the soil you will
have healthy and productive trees
With low-headed trees n soft grass
mulch even the windfall apples will
not be bruised. With a w~elf-growr
:, apple tree in bearing one should no
be able to see any trunk at all, bu
he limbs reaching lea the ground
all aroun
In planting a tree prune all tn
roots with a sharp knife to abOut
, six inches long, for the new fiber
will start better from the cut surface
q than from the old dried up fibers
! After setting, cut back the tree t.
twenty inches from the ground. cut
, ting Just above a bud. and when tn
growth starts in spring select tire
? or four boots to form the head an
: rub off all the others. During tn
, early years Of the orchard you cal
l grow potatoes OF melons or any lov
. vegetable crop the cultivation of which
: is Owe by midsummer. Then afte
3 the vegetable crop is off SOW crimson
y clover in the orchard to turn under il
e the spring. Then determine to TAX
the best care of the trees and pTa
!. re p111ar1v