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Show Planting In DIocks. 't- Is not advisable to plant any ono vnrlcty of applea, pears or plums In hlocks, oven of n hundred, unless thoio nro other varieties on all sides o tho block. Within comparatively recont years It has been discovered thnt many of our varieties of tho above mentioned fruit aro largely Infertile In-fertile to their own pollen, some moro so than others. Thl3 kind of plant-liJ plant-liJ has caused many a good orchard to'bo lnfertilo, without the owner even suspecting tho true cause. It was first found that plums required re-quired to bo cross-pollenlzed to In-suro In-suro a harvest. Then somo ono discovered dis-covered tlufT tho Kclfor pear was a vory uncertain quantity without somo other varieties near It. Tho Investigation Investi-gation wns continued, with tho result thnt several" other varieties of pears wcro found to bo in need of cross-fortlllzntlon. cross-fortlllzntlon. At last tho scientists mado somo claborato experiments to dotormlno to what extent tho npplo came under tho same laws as to pollination. pol-lination. To 'tho surprlso of almost every ono It wns proved that very few of our varlotlos of apples do as well fertilized by their own pdllcn as by tho pollon of another varloty, and somo of iho .varieties aro found to bo ,alraost-stcrllo when fertilized by tho pollon of thnt variety. It Is, therefore, there-fore, best to so set out apple, plum and pear tronq that tho pollen of ono variety may1?! used on another variety. va-riety. This will greatly Increaso tho probability of a crop. Retopplng Apple Trees. This Is tho time of year whon much of tho grafting work Is done. Thero aro a good many trees In tho orchard that may bo mado valuable by bolng entirely top-worked. Tho trees thnt proved not truo to name nnd aro benr-ing benr-ing Inferior apples In place of tho good onoa they wcro supposed to bear, can bo mado to bear tho good kind In a vory small number of yoars. It Is surprising how many trees of an unsatisfactory naturo are allowed to go on year after year producing fr.t that Is only fit for tho hogs or for cider. A wholo now top can bo started on a tree In threo yoars, cutting off ono-thlrd ono-thlrd of It each year, and Inserting scions of thoJjfcvarloty. If tho wheWm, weJHe ti10 nryy-ear. It -wijuia gortiPosiui1 m "tilling1' tho tree. Dy Bng off only one-third one-third each yrMftho circulation ol sap Is kopt upid tho scions of tho first year starH good growth. On tho socond yiB, when tho second third of tho tiW top Is cut off, tho first year scions havo developed lutJ fairly good-sized branches, and by tho third year tho now growth ol wood mado by tho scions provlously set Is enough to keop up tho clrcula tlon of sap In tho body of tho treo, which would bo tho part of tho treo to first fall In Its function, If all tho Hmba woro cut off and tho stumps graftod In ono year." Cherry Growing In Iowa. Iowa Is making steady progress as a fruit growing state. Tho consus of 1890 reported 3,140.588 applo trees growing within her borders. In 1900 tho numbor had reached C.8C9.588. In 1895 thero were 707,500 plum trees In tho stato; In 1900, 1,302,217. In cherry trees tho Increaso Is "oven moro striking, strik-ing, thero being 200,000 trees In 1890, against 800,000 In 1900. While the climate of tho northern part of tho stato Is no doubt too aovoro for successful suc-cessful cherry growing with any ex-copt ex-copt tho hardiest varieties, this do-Hclous do-Hclous fruit can easily be-grown In tho central and southern parts. Tho treo Is handsomo and ornnmontal and la appropriate for lawn and gardon. |
