April  30 
294 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
Floriculture  for  College 
Women. 
A  COMMENDABLE  ENTERPRISE. 
One  of  the  largest  educational  institu¬ 
tions  in  the  West  is  Purdue  University, 
the  Indiana  Agricultural  College.  This 
institution  must  not  be  confounded  with 
the  Indiana  State  University  ;  it  is  the 
State  technical  college  and  gives  instruc¬ 
tion  only  in  science  and  the  technical 
branches  of  learning.  There  are  six 
schools  in  the  university,  of  which  the 
agricultural  is  one  of  the  more  im¬ 
portant.  As  at  Cornell  University,  co¬ 
education  is  also  a  feature  of  Purdue. 
Every  effort  is  made  to  attract  the  young 
men  to  the  agricultural  department,  and 
in  the  past  its  students  have  been  entirely 
confined  to  that  class.  An  innovation, 
however,  has  been  attempted,  which 
promises  to  give  gratifying  results.  Be¬ 
ginning  with  the  present  spring  term  of 
11  weeks,  a  class  of  35  young  ladies  is 
receiving  instruction  in  practical  and 
theoretical  floriculture  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  I’rof  James  Troop.  They  were  not 
compelled  to  take  up  this  line  of  instruc¬ 
tion  but  rather  decided  upon  it  from 
choice.  Lectures  are  delivered  each 
week,  and  in  an  adjoining  room  are 
located  working  benches  where  seeds  and 
cuttings  are  planted  and  the  young  ladies 
are  taught  the  preliminary  work  of  the 
starting  of  plants.  The  plan  is  to  sup¬ 
plement  the  practical  work  with  lectures. 
Practical  instruction  is  given  upon  the 
propagation  of  plants  by  means  of  seeds, 
cuttings,  layers,  buds  and  grafts.  The 
subjects  of  soils  and  their  preparation, 
and  the  relation  of  temperature  and 
moisture  to  them  are  discussed  and 
worked  with  in  relation  to  potting  plants. 
The  winter  production  of  plants  by 
means  of  cold-frames  and  hot-beds  enters 
into  the  discussion.  Later  in  the  season 
practical  consideration  is  given  to  the 
lawn  with  its  arrangement  in  shrubs  and 
bedding  plants.  Insects  injurious  to 
plants  and  the  remedies  for  them  also 
receive  proper  attention. 
In  addition  to  this  instruction  by  Prof. 
Troop,  Dr.  Arthur,  the  Station  Botanist, 
gives  instruction  upon  conservatories  at¬ 
tached  to  dwellings,  upon  window  gar¬ 
dening  and  the  fungous  diseases  of  flow¬ 
ering  plants.  The  University  gardener, 
educated  in  a  Belgian  floricultural  school, 
instructs  in  the  greenhouse  in  the  culti¬ 
vation  of  the  rose,  verbena,  tuberose, 
bulbs,  etc.  Hundreds  of  plants  are  thus 
at  the  present  time  in  practical  use  in 
the  laboratory  room,  and  a  little  later  in 
the  season  these  young  ladies  will  begin 
active  work  out-of-doors.  rl  hus  far  much 
interest  has  been  shown  in  their  work  by 
the  class. 
It  is  noteworthy  that  this  instruction 
is  probably  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the 
country,  at  least  I  know  of  no  similar 
work.  Nevertheless,  the  importance  of 
this  step  is  not  to  be  underestimated.  In 
the  dairy,  in  floriculture  and  in  stock 
raising  there  is  a  splendid  field  for  en¬ 
ergetic  young  women  of  the  day  who 
prefer  a  life  of  reasonable  independence, 
and  who  do  not  care  to  be  confined  to 
the  dreary  monotony  of  household  du¬ 
ties  or  town  work.  One  of  the  best  il¬ 
lustrations  of  the  practicability  of  women 
engaging  in  such  work  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  here,  in  the  Slate  of  Indiana, 
we  have  at  least  five  ladies  whom  I  could 
mention,  who  have  acquired  very  great 
success  either  in  dairying  or  in  stock 
breeding,  so  much  so  that  their  incomes 
from  their  farms  are  very  considerable. 
One  of  the  best  Jersey  breeders  in  the 
United  States  is  an  Indiana  woman.  In 
the  northern  part  of  the  State  is  a  cul¬ 
tured  lady  whose  husband  met  with  finan¬ 
cial  reverses,  and  who  is  personally  con¬ 
ducting  a  farm  of  5,000  acres.  Another 
personal  lady  friend  of  mine  is  managing 
a  dairy  farm  of  35  cows,  more  or  less,  sup¬ 
plying  all  the  butter  she  can  make  at  fancy 
prices  to  one  or  two  large  city  hotels. 
And  still  another  Indiana  lady  is  one  of 
our  leading  Short-horn  breeders.  I  can¬ 
not  refrain  from  remarking  that  one  of 
the  most  successful  of  these  ladies  took  a 
farm  encumbered  to  a  very  considerable 
extent,  and  by  shrewd  management  en¬ 
tirely  freed  it  from  en  jumbrance,  and  is 
at  present  making  a  first-class  livelihood. 
This  is  a  woman  who  is  gladly  welcomed 
in  the  most  refined  homes  of  our  Indiana 
people.  c.  s.  plumb. 
Farming  in  Communities. 
On  page  254  of  The  R.  N.-Y.,  Secretary 
Rusk  expresses  opposition  to  the  idea  of 
communal  farm  life,  or  what  is  more 
commonly  known  as  “  farm  villages 
still  the  scheme  appears  to  be  growing 
in  favor  in  many  sections  of  the  country. 
Millionaire  and  philanthropist  Bookwal- 
ter,  of  Ohio,  is  the  first  and  foremost  ad¬ 
vocate  of  the  plan  in  this  country. 
Owning  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  West 
and  Northwest,  he  has  laid  some  of  them 
off  into  sections  containing  a  convenient 
number  of  farms  with  a  village  in  the 
center,  where  all  the  farmers  with  their 
families  reside.  Fifty  or  100  families  are 
thus  brought  together,  and  constitute  a 
considerable  village,  with  its  social  pleas¬ 
ures,  its  church,  its  schoo1,  a  convenient 
store,  a  butcher’s  shop,  and  all  the  other 
conveniences  and  comforts  of  a  growing 
community.  Then  there  are  frequent 
mails,  or,  perhaps,  a  telephone,  and  in 
time,  an  electric  line  or  railroad.  Such 
social  intercourse,  it  is  claimed,  brightens 
up  people,  tends  to  promote  public  spirit, 
and  does  away  with  the  dullness  and 
loneliness  of  farm  life.  Moreover— and 
this  is  an  important  point — the  special 
dangers  of  robbery,  murder  and  other 
outrages  to  which  isolated  farmers  and 
their  families  are  particularly  exposed, 
would  no  longer  exist.  It  will  be  seen 
that  such  a  plan  necessitates  at  first  the 
intervention  of  one  or  more  capitalists, 
and  Mr.  Bookwalter  is  now  in  France 
studying  in  detail  all  the  workings  of  the 
system.  Governor  Northen,  of  Georgia, 
is  a  strong  advocate  of  the  same  idea  to 
be  carried  out  by  farmers  themselves, 
lie  would  have  them  get  together,  and 
so  arrange  matters  that  the  farms  would 
be  in  a  compact  shape  with  a  village  in 
the  center,  so  that  the  members  of  each 
community  might  share  any  enhancement 
of  values  due  to  the  presence  of  the  vil¬ 
lage.  He  is  willing  to  include  his  own 
farm  in  Dooly  County  in  such  an  experi¬ 
ment,  and  urges  that  the  people  of  the 
county  should  embark  in  the  enterprise 
and  make  their  county  an  object-lesson 
for  the  rest  of  the  State  as  well  as  the 
country  at  large.  Farm  villages  are 
common  in  various  sections  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  France,  Germany  and  other 
European  countries,  but  the  system  has 
been  agitated  only  recently  in  this  coun¬ 
try,  where  the  rapid  growth  of  popula¬ 
tion  in  most  rural  districts  appears  to 
give  it  considerable  favor  in  many  sec¬ 
tions.  What  do  other  readers  of  The 
R.  N.-Y.  think  of  it?  w.  L.  H. 
Smoking  Off  Jack  Frost. 
As  to  what  C.  T.  Sweet  says  on  page 
252,  it  has  paid  me  in  cold  cash  to 
use  smoke  here  in  Suffolk  County, 
N.  Y.  By  this  means  I  have  saved  my 
strawberries  several  times.  The  first 
time  the  first  three  32-quart  crates 
sold  in  the  Boston  market  brought  $27.80. 
About  an  acre  and  a  half  brought  over 
$300.  In  that  season,  about  the  later 
part  of  May,  there  was  an  appearance  of 
frost.  I  had  previously  read  of  the  smoke 
theory  and  was  well  prepared  with  rub¬ 
bish  cleared  from  the  strawberry  ground 
and  I  also  had  a  good  quantity  of  what 
is  known  here  on  Long  Island  as  candle 
weed.  About  Up.  m.  the  thermometer 
indicated  freezing.  I  started  out  equip¬ 
ped  with  matches,  a  two-gallon  can  of 
coal  tar,  another  of  kerosene  oil  and  a 
watering  pot.  I  saturated  the  rubbish 
with  oil  and  then  around  the  entire 
piece  applied  the  torch.  Presently  there 
was  a  grand  illumination.  As  soon  as 
the  fires  were  well  under  way  I  com¬ 
menced  to  use  my  materials  to  make  the 
smoke  more  dense.  I  kept  up  this  mode 
of  treatment  until  4  o’clock  in  the  morn¬ 
ing.  The  night  was  very  still  and  the 
smoke  formed  such  a  cloud  that  I  could 
see  it  at  the  house  three  miles  away. 
On  my  return  home  I  had  to  pass  a  field 
of  young  clover  and  it  was  frozen  so  crisp 
that  it  would  break  while  handling  it, 
and  next  day’s  sun  turned  many  of  the 
leaves  black.  Well,  I  had  all  the  straw¬ 
berries  and  cream  I  wanted  through  the 
season  and  some  to  give  to  my  unfortun¬ 
ate  neighbors  who  had  laughed  at  my 
smoke  theory. 
This  week  I  shall  prepare  fuel  for  the 
coming  season  to  be  ready  for  an 
emergency.  One  must  not  expect  to 
accomplish  anything  with  homoeopathic 
remedies.  When  I  first  fired  around  my 
plot  you  could  read  the  finest  print  any¬ 
where  on  the  ground,  but  in  a  short  time 
you  could  not  see  a  rod  around,  the  smoke 
was  so  thick.  To  use  an  old-time  saying : 
“  You  could  cut  it  with  a  knife.”  b.  w.  h. 
If  you  name  The  R.  N.-Y.  to  our  advertisers  you 
may  be  pretty  sure  of  prompt  replies  and  right  treat¬ 
ment. 
■EMSHORN'S 
Beware  of  Imitations. 
NOTICE 
AUTOGRAPH 
ow 
LABEL 
„  AND  GUT 
thegenuine 
HARTSHORN! 
EVERY  FARMER 
TheWind 
-  AS  A - 
Motive  Power 
How  to  Obtain  it? 
ATTACH  A 
Little  Giant 
PowerConverter 
to  your  10  foot 
Pumping  Wind  Mill 
and  grinii  your  Fcc«l,  rot  Fodder,  sliell 
4'orn  and  run  tlie  Crin dtson e.  ('liurn.WVood- 
ua,  ete.  Kell-net  ini;-  Will  not  elioke. 
A  governor  regulates  it  according  to  speed  of  wind. 
“  Does  all  you  claim  forit."  Wm.  Mobu,  Georgeville,  Mo. 
“  it  far  exceeds  my  expectations.”  ,J.  H.  Brown,  Climax,  Mich. 
“  Mill  works  like  a  charm.”  J.  M.  Norton,  Kagic  Pass,  Texas, 
Ask  yourdealerorsend  forillustrated  circularand 
l’rice  List.  Address  THE  LITTLE  «IANT 
l'.C.CO.,  100  Kini th  Hnildiiig.t'incinntiti.O- 
BEST  LINE 
TO  ST.  PAUL  » 
MINNEAPOLIS 
An  Open  Letter  to  Uncle  Sam. 
Dear  Uncle: — Why  bother  with  a  Modus  Vivendi 
fence  which  has  to  be  renewed  every  year  around 
your  seal  pastures?  We  can  furuish  one  that  will 
last  a  lifetime,  keep  seals  in  and  poachers  out,  regu¬ 
lated  for  the  North  Pole  or  Equator.  You  set  the 
posts,  we  do  the  rest. 
PAGE  WOVEN  WIRE  FENCE  CO., 
Adrian,  Mich. 
Money  Books. 
The  Business  Hen;  Breeding  and  Feed¬ 
ing  Poultry  for  Profit. — By  II.  W. 
Collingwood,  P.  H.  Jacobs,  J.  H. 
Drevenstedt,  C.  S.  Cooper,  C.  S. 
Valentine,  Arthur  D.  Warner,  Henry 
Stewart,  Philander  Williams,  James 
Rankin,  Henry  Hales,  I.  K.  Felch, 
Dr.  F.  L.  Kilborne,  C.  H.  Wyckoff, 
H.  S.  Babcock,  C.  E  Chapman,  etc. 
We  believe  that  this  little  book  will  meet  with  a 
hearty  reception  at  the  hands  of  all  of  that  vast  num¬ 
ber  of  people  who  are  interested  In  the  doings  of  “the 
little  American  hen,”  and  especially  in  the  methods 
by  which  practical  poultrymen  make  her  so  profitable 
an  egg  and  meat  machine.  Price,  cloth,  75  cents; 
paper,  40  cents. 
The  New  Potato  Culture. — By  Elbert 
S.  Carman,  editor  of  The  Rural 
New-Yorker  ;  originator  of  the  Fore¬ 
most  of  Potatoes — Rural  New-Yorker 
No.  2.  This  book  gives  the  result  of 
15  years’  experiment  work  on  the 
Rural  Grounds 
How  to  Increase  the  crop  without  corresponding 
cost  of  production.  Manures  and  Fertilizers..  The 
Soil.  Depth  of  Planting.  Seed.  Culture.  The  Rural 
Trench  System.  Varieties,  etc.  It  is  respectfully 
submitted  that  these  experiments  at  the  Rural 
Grounds  have,  directly  and  indirectly,  thrown  more 
light  upon  the  various  problems  involved  in  success 
f ul  potato  culture,  than  any  other  experiments  which 
have  been  carried  on  in  America.  Price,  cloth,  75 
cents;  paper.  40  cents. 
Chemicals  and  Clover. — Rural  Library 
Series.  (105th  thousand)  By  II.  W. 
Collingwood. 
A  concise  and  practical  discussion  of  the  all-im 
portant  topic  of  commercial  fertilizers,  in  connection 
with  green  manuring  in  bringing  up  worn-out  soils, 
and  in  general  farm-practice.  Price,  paper.  20  cents. 
Practical  Farm  Chemistry. — A  Prac¬ 
tical  Handbook  of  Profitable  Crop- 
Feeding  written  for  Practical  Men. — 
By  T.  Greiner. 
Part  I.  The  Raw  Materials  of  Plant-Food.  Part 
II.  The  Available  Sources  of  Supply.  Part  III. 
Principles  of  Economic  Application,  or  Manuring  for 
Money.  A  concise,  practical  work,  writen  in  simple 
style,  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  practical  farmer. 
Perhaps  the  best  and  most  understandable  book  yet 
writen.  Price,  cloth,  $1. 
The  Nursery  Book. — By  L.  H.  Bailey: 
assisted  by  several  of  the  most  skill¬ 
ful  propagators  in  the  world.  In 
fact,  it  is  a  careful  compendium  of 
the  best  practice  in  all  countries.  It 
contains  107  illustrations,  showing 
methods,  processes  and  appliances. 
How  to  Propagate  over  2.000  varieties  of  shrubs, 
trees  and  herbaceous  or  soft-stemmed  plants:  the 
process  for  each  being  fully  described.  All  this  and 
much  more  is  fully  told  in  the  Nursery  Book.  Over 
300  pages,  llimo.  Price,  cloth,  $1.  Pocket  style,  paper 
narrow  margins.  50  cents. 
Horticulturist’s  Rule-Book. — By  L,  II. 
Bailey.  It  contains,  in  handy  and 
concise  form,  thousands  of  rules  and 
recipes  required  by  gardeners,  fruit¬ 
growers,  truckers,  florists,  farmers. 
Insects  and  diseases,  with  preventives  and  reme¬ 
dies.  Waxes  and  washes,  cements,  paints,  etc.  Seed 
Tables.  Planting  Tables.  Maturity  and 
Yields.  Keeping  and  storing  fruits  and  vegetables. 
Propagation  ob-  Plants.  Standard  Measures 
and  Sizes.  Water  held  in  pipes  and  tanks.  Effect 
of  wind  in  cooling  glass  roofs.  Weights,  per  bushel. 
Labels.  Rules  of  nomenclature.  Rules  for  exhibi¬ 
tion.  Weather  signs  and  protection  from  frost.  Col¬ 
lecting  and  Preserving.  Chemical  Composition 
of  Fruits  and  Vegetables;  Seeds  and  Fertilizers; 
Soils  and  Minerals.  Names  and  Histories:  Vege¬ 
tables  which  have  different  names  in  England  and 
America.  Names  of  fruits  and  vegetables  in  various 
languages.  Glossary.  Calendar.  Etc.,  etc.  Price, 
in  pliable  cloth  covers,  only  50  cents.  Edition  in  cloth 
covers,  $1,  ready  soon. 
Annals  of  Horticulture  for  1891. — By 
L.  H.  Bailey. 
As  a  work  of  reference  for  all  students  of  plants 
and  nature,  this  is  invaluable.  An  especial  feature 
is  a  census  of  cultivated  plants  of  American  origin. 
This  includes  ornamentals  and  esculents,  and  has 
hundreds  of  entries.  The  novelties  of  1891,  tools  and 
conveniences  of  the  year,  directories,  recent  horti¬ 
cultural  literature,  and  other  chapters  on  the  various 
departments  of  horticultural  effort,  are  well  worth 
many  times  the  cost  of  the  book.  (Illustrated.) 
Price,  full  cloth,  $1  ;  paper,  50  cts.  Ready  in  March. 
(The  series  now  comprises  the  issues  for  1889,  ’90 
and  ’91.) 
Howto  Plant  a  Place  {10th  revised  edition.) 
— By  Elias  A.  Long. 
A  brief  treatise  illustrated  with  more  than  00  orig¬ 
inal  engravings,  and  designed  to  cover  the  various 
matters  pertaining  to  planting  a  place.  Following 
are  the  leading  divisions:  Some  reasons  for  planting; 
What  constitutes  judicious  planting;  Planning  a 
place  for  planting;  How  and  what  to  order  for  plant¬ 
ing;  the  soil  in  which  to  plant;  Caring  for  the  stock 
before  planting;  On  the  sowing  of  seeds;  After  plant¬ 
ing;  Future  management  of  the  plants.  Just  the 
thing  for  the  busy  man.  Price,  cloth,  20  cents. 
Window  Gardening-. — Written  by  ex¬ 
pert  flower  and  plant  growers.  Covers 
every  phase  of  plant  culture  in  the 
house. 
A  lot  of  delightful  and  practical  articles  and  pleas¬ 
ing  illustrations— all  on  Window  Gardening— make  up 
this  pretty  little  work.  Price,  10  cents. 
THE  RURAL  PUBLISHING  CO.* 
Times  Building,  New  York. 
