Life in the Garden

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 7, 17 February 1909, Page 41

Life in the Garden

Practical Advice for Amateurs

The “Apple King” of America. The statement that one man owns over one thousand six hundred acres devoted to apple trees sounds amazing ; that more than five hundred thousand bushels of apples were sold by him from trees of his own planting for an aggregate above two hundred and five thousand dollars is likewise amazing; yet these figures convey but a slight idea of the operations of Judge Fred Wellhouse, of Topeka, Kansas, known to those familiar with horticultural matters in the United States as “The Apple King” (says F. D. Coburn, secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculuture, in “Suburban Life”). He has long been known by this sobriquet, and is entitled to it for more reasons than one, —but one reason alone is more than sufficient justification for its bestowal, and that is

the fact that he has grown more apples from trees of his own planting than any other one man in the world. This, however. is perhaps a minor reason, when weighed against his potent influence on the horticulture of a great State, and beyond.

Apple-growing has been a life study with Judge Wellhouse. When, in the late seventies, he was planting 437 acres to apple trees, in Leavenworth county. Kansas, many of his neighbours looked upon him as wellnigh demented. Tt wasn’t all smooth sailing at first. Not at all. But Wellhouse persevered, using the proceeds from his earlier crops to buy more land to raise more trees, to bear more of the apples which by their excellence were attracting far more than local attention and building up a reputation for Kansas fruit. Across the Atlantic. epicures feasted on the products of these Kansas orchards: sturdy Britishers further fortified blooming health by the consumption of all the available fruit err own and packed bv Well house, "out there in Kansas.” and like the Oliver Twist of their own immortal Dickens, they hungrily appealed for more. Tn one

year an entire train load of Ben Davis apples was shipped from the Wellhouse orchard to a Baltimore firm for reshipment to Germany. Like most men to whom has come a goodly share of success in the business world. Judge Wellhouse has kept a complete record of all expenditures and receipts during the years he has been engaged in commercial orcharding, and the figures can be taken as being careful records, and not the result of guess work. Although Kansas is so peculiarly fitted for the cultivation of the apple, the State, like most of the others in the Union, has at times been the victim of Jack Frost. For instance, in the spring of 1907. the prospects of a bumper crop of apples were of the best; the trees were loaded with bloom, and the Judge strongly hoped that his great ambition was to be realised at last—to harvest 100.000 bushels of apples in one season. But one night in the forepart of April the frost came, and the next morning there was not a bloom left, and of course not an apple was harvested in 1907. At harvesting time in a prosperous season the orchard is a scene of wonderful activity. The object of the whole plan is to place before fruit lovers, in the best possible condition, the finest and most toothsome products of the greatest of orchards. Picking, hauling to the packers, sorting, packing, and re-hauling to the railroads are all carried on as parts of a well-ordered plan, and proceed with the regularity and precision of clockwork. Perhaps in no way can be conveyed a clearer conception of the immensity of these apple-growing operations than by citing the figures from the records. Tn all. the maker of this record has grown and sold twenty-six crops, amounting to considerably more than half a million bushels. The crop of 1890, approximate! v eightv thousand bushels, was the largest, and it sold for more than £10.090. This was perhaps the mo«t valuable crop of apples ever grown bv anv one man in the Middle West, and the total paid for it aggregated more than the earnings of the average citizen during his entire lifetime. The combined yield of the two largest crons, those of 1890 and 1891. was 142.868 bushels. The smallest yield was 488 bushels in 1899. All these apples, if packed in barrels and loaded on the ordinary railroad freight car. averaging twentv thousand pounds to the load, would fill about one thousand two hundred and fifty cars, or make more than sixty-two train-loads, of twenty cars to the train. Tn picking, the men averaged forty bushels each per day -the packers and pickers were paid for 20.833 days work, at the rate of six shillings per dav of ten hours. The pii?ker|r worked ,in gangs of from ten to fifteen mon. For harvesting. £6250 was paid to pickers and packers; £1285 for hauling from the fields to the packing house, and £2313 for hauling to the railroad and loading on cars. The barrels cost £3400. and about £3OO was spent for miscellaneous items, such as boxes, extra hoops, etc. The total out lav for gathering the crops and placing them on the market was £13.500. You see. capital is required for a job like this one. The gross sales amounted to £41.180: this less tin' £13.600 expenses, loaves a net return of £27.580. But this amount does not represent all the profit. Tt' does not include the value of the corn

which was grown between the tree rows from the time of setting out the orchards until they l>egan to bear. The conf was grown by tenants, and the landlord received one-third of it for rent. Of the 161.000 bushels of corn grown, he received 53,600 bushels, which sold for an average of 30 cents a bushel, netting about £*2950. ami. paying all expenses of planting ami growing the orchards, to the time of their bearing, added to that from the apples, this income from the corn brings the total net profit up to £30,30. And then. too. its planter still owns this largest orchard, and has every reason to hope for many more bumper crops. Hardy Clematis. /New Zealanders do not as a rule require to be told of the beauty of the clematis. If there is one of our native plants more than any other we specially admire and boast of, we think it is the clematis. For chaste beauty there is no native flower, in our opinion, to equal it. This plant is occasionally successfully transplanted from the bush: it can also be raised from seed, and nurserymen supply plants in pots. There are endless varieties of clematis. We

give an illustration of a plant of tin Florida section, named Lucy Lemoine the Howers of which are double, and fine white in colour. Clematis are exrellen plants for covering large spaces, or fo: massing in beds, growing in pots, etc The effect w hen they are in full bloon is splendid. Clematis like deeply trenu’i ed and well-manured ground: indeed, th soil can hardly be over-rich. In plant ing the roots, select the north side.

A NEW SYSTEM” OF CULTIVATION. Our Marlborough correspondent for wards a letter, written to the Press by Mr. George Turner, of Blenheim, sug nesting what he calls “a new system of growing plants in pots.” which, stated briefly, is the substitution of hay or grass for the usual crocks when potting. The idea is by no means new or novel It is sometimes put in practice, but with the hay or grass on top of one or two crocks. When practising this plan it will lx* found much lietter to use the crocks. Well-rotted manure is often preferred to hay for certain plants. As to using semi-circular bags to hold mulch for the top of pots, some such plan might answer, but we have never tried it in bags. For the purpose Mr. Turner indicates we should think the old fashioned plan of moss or seliginella preferable. We cannot detect any chance of anything in the shape of “revolution in the horti cultural world” in the idea of the writer oi the letter, but we are not too old to learn. We are pleased to give the letter publicity in the hope that some of our readers may be interested, ami probably have something to say on the matter. We shall be glad to hear from them. The letter is as follows: — “Sir, — In the cultivation of plants and Howers in boxes and flowerpots it is

usual to fill these vessels with earth. Some drain them with stones, broken bricks and earthenware; these being efforts to find a better system of drain age than has been in practice hitherto. Such a system I claim to have discovered -simple and at everyone's command. Take the flowerpot with the usual hole in tin' bottom to illustrate my representa lions. My system is to substitute for the stones, bricks, and crockery, say. two inches of hay. straw, or even grass, firmlx packed in the bottom of the pot. filling up with earth and planting in tin* usual way. It will then be found that the plant can be freely watered without a in danger of producing mud at the bottom, while the surface appears too dry (as has been my experience). This drain mulching has the disadvantage' of drain ing too much, requiring watering, say. (•very day. To remedy this I put the hob*, not in the bottom, but in the side <f th*' pot. say. one' inch up. W’e will I he'ii have a reservoir one' inch deep nt the' bottom e»f the' pot, which will only require to be* tilleel about once a week.

and the water will soak upwards T>y capillary attraction through the drainmulch, leaving the soil moist and friable. Another practice in horticulture is to mulch large trees for the purpose of keeping the soil moist. This practice, I claim, can he made use of for every plant -large or small—to which mulching can l>e applied. For instance, in a lady’s boudoir, two semi-circular bags holding the mulch can be made., as ornamental as ladies know how. dipped in water and placed on the soil. This practice of mulching and drain-mulching can be applied to the propagation of plants from seed or otherwise. I am under the Impression that in course of time this system of propagation and cultivation of plants and trees will quite revolutionise horticultural practice; which revolution will be slow and silent in its course, also permanent, and come to be of ordinary practice. Not being a trained horticulturist there may be flaws in the foregoing representations unseen by me, and it is with some tredation 1 submit them to public criticism.—l am, etc., GEORGE TURNER. St. Andrew's. Blenheim. Black eyed Susan and the Other Rudbeckias. 1 believe the rudbeckias to be the easiest grown perennials. They will thrive in almost any situation in the garden, provided they have direct light for part of the day. It does not make much difference what the soil is, they seem to thrive even if it becomes quite dry, but the best flowers are grown in a rich, moist loam. The rudbeckias are more popularly known as cone-flowers and probably the most familiar of them all is the Black-eyed Susan, because of the fact that it grows wild over the greater portion of the United States. In the East it is more commonly known as the oxeyed daisy, while in the West it is frequently spoken of as the “nigger-head.” The Black-eyed Susan is a biennial and can be cultivated in any garden. It has a Hower about 2 or 2 A inches in diameter. l'he centre is a brownish black while the ray-Howers are <a golden yellow. Golden (How. the most common of the cultivated cone-flowers, is a double form of Rudbeckia laciniata. It is a rapid grower, profuse bloomer and can be easily increased by dividing the roots, ami is a perennial. In addition to the Golden (flow. there are several kinds of the cone-flowers offered by the seedsmen or nurserymen. One of the best of these is R. Xewmanni. which grows about 3 feet high and has orange-yellow Howers with a dark purple cone in the centre. 'There are a couple of forms of R. nitida. well worth a place in the garden— Autumn Sun ami Autumn Glow. These •jrow from 5 to 6 feet high and produce a profusion of single primrose-yellow coloured flowers. There is also a good annual. R. bicolor. It grows 1 to 2 feet high and is a mass of flowers during the summer. The variety Superba has slightly larger Howers than the type—about 2 inches in diam c t e r.

To me, one of the most interesting of the rudbeckias is R. maxima. It grows tall—s to 6 feet —and usually produces only one or two stalks. The leaves are large, glaucous green. The rayflowers are broad and yellow, and the cone is large, sometimes as much as 2 inches high. The giant purple cone-flower is usually sold by the nurserymen as R. purpurea, but it is really Echinacea purpurea. The cone of this is much rounder, having less of the true cone shape than the rudbeekia. and the ray-flowers are red-dish-purple, and droop. Under favourable circumstances, these flowers are sometimes 4 inches in diameter, but usually they are only 2 inches across. All these cone-flowers are easily perpetuated in the garden. The seed may be sown in the fall. Such as do not produce seed can be easily propagated by division. T. B. PARKER. •** «** MENDEL S LAW AND SWEET PEAS. Edward W. Badge, of Carnarvonshire, writes in “Gardening Illustrated”: — “Towards the end of 1907 I received a beautifully printed sheet, on which was depicted a group of lovely sweet peas. The central and most attractive flower in the group. I found, was named Evelyn Ilenius. I had not previously heard of it.

Its form and colour were so dainty and (•banning that I at once decided to grow it in 1908. But, looking down to the description to ascertain the price, 1 found this intimation, ‘ The crop of this

variety has, unfortunately, failed this year, but will be ready for 1909? In July last year while spending a holiday at Malvern. I met with the name of Miss

Hemus, Holdfast Hall, Upton-on-Severn. This name at once recalled to my recollection the beautiful flower which had so attracted my attention a few months previously. ‘ Surely,’ I thought, ‘ this is probably the raiser of that flower. I will write and inquire if I may be allowed to see her sweet peas.’ That is what I did, and in reply had a courteous invitation to pay her a visit. “ After some interesting conversation, and the inspection of several acres of well-grown and beautiful sweet peas, most of which were quite new to me. I was convinced that Miss Hemus was not the mere lady gardener who grows and delights • in beautiful flowers, but knows only a little superficially about them; on the contrary, T found her to be well versed in Mendel’s law. and a thorough believer in it. There cannot. I think, be a doubt as to the success she has already achieved being due to sound scientific knowledge guiding her practical skill. Her pedigree sweet peas have not been raised by haphazard bvbridising, but with a fixed and well-thought-out method of procedure, and a well-considered purpose. It seemed to me. when I came to reflect upon what T had seen and heard during the two visits T made at Holdfast Hall, that, much as Miss Hemus has achieved during the few years she ha* been working among sweet peas, very much more may be expected” from her in future years. I will mention only three of her named seedlings, that I saw growing in large

quantities, which appeared to me as being thoroughly first-class in every respect and as near to being perfect as any sweet peas I have yet seen; and I may add that they all of them beautifully waved, some of them quite exceptionally so. 1. Evelyn Hemus is a large, well-shaped suggesteclly Orchid-like, beautifully-wav-ed flower, the ground colour being a warm, rich cream, with a shading inclining towards yellowishness, finished off by a delicate Picotee edging of terracotta pink. 2. Paradise Ivory.—This is an exceptionally well-waved flower, the colour and appearance of which are similar to those of old ivory. This has recently been placed by the N.S.P.S. at the head of the cream section ot sweet peas. 3. Paradise Carmine. —This is a variety after the style of George Herbert, but the colour struck me as being brighter and more pleasing. EARLY APPLES. We are now fairly well off' for good varieties of early-ripening apples. No matter what other kinds of fruit we may possess apples are always welcome, either for the kitchen or for dessert. The Irish Peach is still a great favourite with large numbers of consumers. It is generally a good bearer and comes in very early. The tree is of rather a straggly habit of growth, but very hardy and does well in most localities. River’s Early Peach, bears fruits similar to Irish Peach, and the trees are of good habit, but we are not so sure if it crops so well. A locally-raised seedling named Marjorie Hay, sent out by Messrs. D. Hay and Sons, Parnell, is, we believe, a promising sort. It is blight-proof, the trees grow upright, and are vigorous in growth. It is a dessert apple of the best quality; skin clear yellow, striped and mottled with red. Williams’ Favoui ite is generally catalogued as a dessert, but we prefer to use it for the kitchen, as in our opinion it is more suitable for cooking than dessert. It is a large apple of good colour. One of the very best early dessert apples is known as the Welcome. It is a small fruit, but of the finest quality, extremely juicy and sw’eet. The trees bear when quite young. It is a regular and heavy cropper, and seldom shows much evidence of the codlin moth. It is an apple we delight to pick off the tree and enjoy as we stroll round our garden. It was ripe this year on the 30th January, but, speaking generally, it is in season the first ten days in February. Mr. Gladstone is a very good kind and bears fairly well; ripens in January: and the tree is blight-proof. One of the most attractive apples we have seen is called Coldstream Guards. We procured a tree from Messrs. Morrison some two or three years ago, and it is a perfect picture at the time of writing. The apples are of good size and of the brightest colour—just the apple to take the eye. We fancy this would be a good apple for marketing. It is very hardy and a heavy cropper, and of very fair quality—usually termed a dessert. VERONICA.

horticulture wizardry. A new American berry called the wonderberry, credited to the genius of Luther Burbank, the so-called wizard of horticulture, is being boomed for all it is worth—we had almost said for more than it is worth. From all we can make out, this marvellous thing produces fruit in three months from seed—good either to eat raw, cooked, vauueu, or preserved iu any iorm. Lt aiso g»oyvs in any soil, and in any .climate, rue fruit is hke a great luscious wuebeny — whatever that is—and it fruits all summer and autumn, and can be protected in winter and spring again. V eii, now, we do think tins tiling must lie good, very good—maybe too good! At all events, we cannot assimilate all this, and, having been fooled betore by glaring Yankee putts, we are mure tuan sceptical. It seems to us that mis new thing is a Solarium. Burbank has been experimenting with potatoes, and, as we have not heard of any introductions lately, we conclude he has got tired of bottom Solanums, and gone in for tops. This wonderberry is a combination, we understand, of Solanuni Guininse of West Africa, and Solanuni Villosum of West Coast of America. None of these wild species bear edible berries, but Burbank has, we ore informed, produced in the wonderberry a plant with edible fruit, which is wholesome and healthful, great cropper, always comes exactly true from seed! What more can anyone possibly want—unless he is desirous of spreading this knowledge, and longs for the pen of a P. A. Vaile to “wake up England” to her great chance of feeding the unemployed? To show I am not romancing about Solanums, I add a paragraph clipped from an American seedlist: — “POTATO SEEDS, LUTHER BURBANK’S PRODUCTION.—For the student of nature, we believe we are offering here something of unusual value, having been fortunate enough to secure from Mr. Luther Burbank seeds of hybrid potatoes, which originated from a mixture of the. following varieties: Solanum Commersoni, S. Magle, S. tuberosum, and many' rare ones from Mexico, South America, Africa, England, Switzerland, Germany, and this country. The result should certainly prove a surprise. Raising potatoes from seeds is a most interesting study' and work, and should be encouraged. The quantity- of seeds we received is rather limited, and can offer same in packets only. Liberal packet 50 ets.”