The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-06


neeu simpi, u.ick arch. but Tor coal
you Will need crate and ash pit. ana
q cabt Iron door To the furnace and the
pit too, that the utatt can be con-
.trolled. a furnace properly construct
ed for coal would give the curer far
less trouble and labor than the wood
furance, can be put to keep,
as the saying Is, at night, ana "ii
hold tho heat all night without atten-
ton. To build such furnace you
start thefwalls OF the furnace straight
up and make a shoulder In the brick
work on which the CRATE bars can
rest
You can buy the bars separately and
tho cast Iron front in which the doors
will be. and this front must be set w
and built In with the brick work. such
furnaces were formerly used with brick
hues TO heat greenhouses. and i have
no doubt but that somc OF the firms
building heating apparatus for green
houses may still have como OF the old
cast iron fronts and crates on hand,
and can send you directions for set
ting up tina furnace. Try Hitchings
~ Co, Elizabeth. N. J.
Pruning Grape Vines.
Nottoway County: please steto In
The Times Dispatch when iB the best
time 10 prune grape vines TO prevent
bleeding" This depends On what Kind
OF grapes you mean. The Scuppernong,
pruned In November for best results.
as they bleeu excessively when pruned
in late winter. But the varieties OF
the bunch grapes of the Labrusca and
other similor species should not be
pluncd In orr climate Till Just before
tho buds swell n sA ing. Here and
southwark we are SUBJECT at times 10
sudden reverBcs in the spring, ana
vines Lruned in the fall Will start much
earlier In the spring than those not
pruned at ;hut time, and viii sometimes
get caught after the young shoots nave
started In 1880 we had an eA-
.teedingly mild winter, and everything
at Raleigh, y. C. got into growth the
last or February. Vines that had been
pruned In the fall made long shoots
at that time. and carly ia March came
"a freeze. ana the young growth on
these vines was all killed back. while
unpruned vines had not started. We
had the same reverse in the spring or
1905. March was very warm and sum
mer-like, anu everything got into
growth. WAS then experimenting
with grapes at Southern Pines, " G. In
The large vineyards around. the North
Crn settlers had pruned their vines in
the fan. but / remembered the previous
disaster and let mine alone. On the
Goth of March the mercury fell from
So down To 20. and rny vines had hard
IL swellcd To any extent, while the
prpned vines around me had made
shoots SIX inches long and were all
Killed back. while mine were unhurt
These cases taught me that in the
upper South had better defer the
pruning till just before the buds open.
Then. whatever bleeding takes place
Will soon be stopped by the opening
foliage and no harm done. Here. where
1--we In The southeast corner of Mary
land. never prune my vines till about
the lpth OF March. and that Will be
early enough usually IN Nottoway. OF
course there IL some difference in the
seasons. and one should watch the
vines. and prune az soon as there are
Indications that the buds arc about
to swell. But do not prune in the fall
except OF the Scuppernong class. These
naturally start late In the spring. and
are rarely caught by late frosts. ana
they bleed less when pruned in No
vcmber and December than any other
time. In fact, the only pruning they
need is to cut out stunted growth and
train out the long canes one and two
years old full length.
A Precocious Peach Tree.
Sussex County: II have q peach tree
which will soon be in bloom. 1t
bloomed for the first time last Jan
nary. and all the blooms were killed.
Can you suggest any plan by which T
can protect the tree. and keep tho
the old leaves are green on the tree
at present. and young leaves are put
ting out. few blossoms are wide open
now, and the remainder are very much
swollen. The leaves that are now put
ting out do rot get killed, by the
freezes, but grow right along til,
spring. The tree Is about ten feet
tall and as many wide" This seems to
DO o very peculiar tree. and reminds
mo OF my experience with the peen-
to peach that they grow In Florida
had two trees of the peen-to In an
orchard In North Carolina, and they
persistently bloomed In December and
January. Not expecting that j would
ever get fruit on them I paid little
attention to them But after one mild
winter happened to be in the orchard
in May and to my surprise 1 found the
peen-to trees full of ripe fruit. though
there had been some smart frosts in
March. How they escaped never dis
covered. You do not say what variety
of peach yours Is, but II does behave
very much like the peen-to Probably
you have IL In warm and sunny ex-
posture, and that VIII cause any peach
to he premature. l once made an OK