1892 
How  Far  North  will  it 
Thrive  ? 
Henry  Stewart  is.  I  think,  wrong1  when 
i  n  a  late  issue  of  The  Rural  he  says  that 
Crimson  Clover  will  not  succeed  in  any 
part  of  Pennsylvania.  I  have  sold  it  in 
quite  a  large  number  of  sections  through 
the  State,  and  nearly  all  purchasers  or¬ 
dered  seed  again  last  year,  some  saying 
that  the  clover  had  succeeded  so  well 
that  there  would  be  a  large  demand  for 
the  seed.  One  from  Wrightsville,  Pa., 
said  that  it  had  done  so  well  that  a  num¬ 
ber  would  sow  that  year.  I  have  had  good 
reports  of  it  west  and  a  little  northwest 
of  Chicago,  and  I  should  judge  that  the 
winters  there  are  just  as  hard  as  they  are 
in  Pennsylvania.  I  do  not  doubt  that 
once  in  a  while  winters  that  will  kill  it 
will  occur,  but  if  the  seed  is  put  in  on 
ground  well  prepared — 12  to  15  pounds 
to  the  acre — and  so  early  that  it  will  make 
a  good  growth  before  frost,  I  think  fail¬ 
ures  will  be  the  exception  instead  of  the 
rule.  Mr.  Stewart  does  not  say  at  what 
time  he  sowed  it,  but  from  his  saying 
that  it  made  only  a  fair  growth,  I  judge 
he  sowed  too  late.  I  believe  it  ought  to 
be  sowed  by  July  1  in  that  section,  per¬ 
haps  a  little  sooner.  As  farmers  sow  a 
great  deal  of  buckwheat  in  that  State,  I 
should  say  that  it  would  be  a  good  time 
to  seed  it  with  clover,  as  there  is  no  bet¬ 
ter  way  of  seeding  in  this  section  than 
sowing  after  buckwheat  is  in  and 
dragged,  and  then  going  over  the  ground 
with  a  good  roller.  It  is  a  plant  that  is  a 
great  blessing  in  any  section  where  it 
succeeds.  The  experiments  of  our  (Del.) 
station  gives  the  value  of  one  acre  of  a 
heavy  growth  of  clover  turned  under  for 
manure,  as  over  $20.  It  makes  a  splendid 
hay,  is  one  of  the  best  plants  for  soiling, 
and  is  used  to  quite  a  considerable  ex¬ 
tent  for  filling  our  silos  for  summer  feed. 
Tt  comes  very  early.  For  the  last  five  or 
six  years,  I  have  commenced  to  cut  it  for 
soiling  from  April  27  to  May  5.  Too  much 
cannot  be  said  of  it  where  it  thrives,  and, 
instead  of  trying  to  discourage  the  far¬ 
mers,  they  ought  to  be  induced  to  give 
it  more  than  an  ordinary  test.  p.  p.  w. 
The  New  Honey  Straw¬ 
berry. 
Few  persons  are  aware  that  in  the 
Sierra  Nevada  Mountains  there  is  a  var¬ 
iety  of  wild  strawberry  that  stands 
unrivaled  in  the  abundance  and  superior¬ 
ity  of  its  berries.  It  is  perfect-flowering 
and  is  exceedingly  valuable  as  a  fertilizer 
among  pistillates.  My  attention  was  first 
directed  to  it  by  a  Mr.  Smith  of  Laredo 
County,  California,  who  has  cultivated  it 
quite  a  long  time.  He  states  that  sevei’al 
years  ago  he  discovered  on  his  place  a 
wild  strawberry  plant  of  wonderful  pro¬ 
ductiveness,  that  bore  medium-sized  ber¬ 
ries  of  an  exquisite  flavor.  It  commenced 
to  bear  unusually  early,  considering  his 
location— about  3,000  feet  above  the  sea 
level — and  continued  fruiting  and  blos¬ 
soming  until  the  late  frosts  came.  He 
dug  25  of  the  plants  and  thoroughly  cul¬ 
tivated  them  the  next  year.  He  was  so 
struck  by  their  good  qualities  that  he 
immediately  started  a  patch  of  300  plants, 
and  the  following  season  (1891)  set  out  a 
patch  of  3,000  more. 
Last  year  when  I  visited  him  (July),  I 
found  himself  and  family  busily  engaged 
in  picking  berries.  Viewed  from  a  short 
distance,  enough  ripe  berries  were  visible 
to  give  the  entire  patch  a  beautiful  color¬ 
ing  ;  the  atmosphere  for  quite  a  long 
distance  around  was  charged  with  a 
delightful,  spicy  strawberry  aroma  ;  in 
fact,  I  know  of  no  other  variety  of  straw¬ 
berry  that  will  bear  comparison  with  this 
Californian  for  sweet  fragrance.  The 
berries  are  exceedingly  sweet,  juicy,  aro¬ 
matic  and  delicious,  melting  in  the  mouth 
without  a  particle  of  hard  core.  The 
fruit  is  oblong  in  shape,  and  when  fully 
ripe,  a  beautiful  bright  red.  The  leaves 
are  very  delicate  and  finely  cut,  and  in 
time  give  the  plant  a  rounding,  symmet¬ 
rical  contour.  The  berries  after  once 
starting  to  ripen  hang  very  thick  on  the 
plants.  I  counted  65  ripe  ones  on  a  single 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
3i  i 
plant,  and  found  numerous  young  shoots  I 
loaded  with  blossoms  and  all  sizes  of 
young  berries.  They  are  not  what  might 
be  termed  large,  but  by  proper  cultiva¬ 
tion,  berries  can  be  produced  that  are 
three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  length.  I 
know  by  experience  that  it  does  not  take 
long  to  pick  a  boxful. 
In  addition  to  the  above  good  qualities, 
the  plants  are  enormously  prolific,  and  in 
favorable  localities,  will  blossom  and  pro¬ 
duce  fruit  for  10  months  in  the  year.  In 
their  native  home  (the  Upper  Sierras) 
they  bear  eight  months  in  the  year,  and 
would  continue  longer  but  for  frosts  and 
snowy  weather.  They  are  wonderful 
propagators  of  their  own  kind,  and  one 
plant  will  throw  out  possibly  100  runners 
in  a  season.  Young  plants  just  set  out 
will  bear  a  good  crop  the  same  season. 
This  variety  of  wild  strawberry  is  one  of 
Nature’s  undefined  superior  varieties, 
which  now  and  then  crop  out,  showing 
that  by  careful  cultivation  a  very  super¬ 
ior  berry  can  be  produced.  All  know 
that  occasionally  there  is  met  with  a 
plant  that  is  more  thrifty  than  the  rest, 
and  which  produces  larger  berries ;  and 
it  is  one  of  these  that  originated  the 
variety  on  Mr.  Smith’s  place. 
California  wild  strawberries  in  their 
native  home,  grow  in  some  of  the  most 
unpromising  localities,  and  would,  no 
doubt,  thrive  well  on  soils  on  which  other 
varieties  would  fail.  On  account  of  its 
delicious  sweetness  and  delicate  straw¬ 
berry  aroma,  this  variety  will  be  know  n 
under  the  name  of  Honey  Strawberry. 
Again,  as  the  Honey  Strawberry  is  a 
perfect-flowering  variety,  the  field  for 
hybridizing  and  crossing  with  other  sorts 
to  produce  a  still  more  perfect  berry,  is 
almost  limitless,  and  I  expect  that  in  the 
near  future,  this  plant  will  play  a  prom¬ 
inent  part  in  the  strawberry  industry  of 
the  world.  s.  l.  watkins. 
|  No  doubt  a  variety  of  the  Alpine — Eos.] 
A  Gleaner’s  Notes. 
The  Milk  Reporter  quotes  :  The  dairy 
laws  of  New  York  need  amending,  and 
we  may  fairly  infer  from  the  context 
that  it  would  amend  them  by  lowering 
the  percentage  of  solids  required  to  con¬ 
stitute  pure  milk. — Rural  New-Yorker. 
The  Rural  has  a  wrong  impression  as 
to  the  Reporter's  idea  in  this  respect,  as 
we  are  decidedly  in  favor  of  no  standard, 
believing  an  equitable  one  to  be  an  im¬ 
possibility.  Pure  milk  varies  so  greatly 
in  its  component  parts  as  to  render  the 
fixing  of  a  standard  merely  guess-work. 
It  is  man  proposing  to  instruct  the  Lord 
as  to  how  much  fat,  etc.,  must  be  put  in 
a  given  quantity  of  milk  to  render  it 
suitable  for  use. — Milk  Reporter. 
The  Rural  protests  against  lugging 
Providence  into  this  matter.  What  we 
propose  is  to  instruct  the  milkman  in  re¬ 
lation  to  how  much  cream  he  may  pilfer 
from  the  milk.  At  present,  from  good 
milk,  he  may  steal  25  per  cent  and  yet  be 
guilty  of  no  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  law. 
The  Reporter  would  remove  all  restraint 
and  admit  skimmed  milk  freely.  If  such 
were  the  rule,  our  milk  would  be  ceru¬ 
lean  in  hue  and  would  make  an  ad¬ 
mirable  anti-fat  medicine. 
Smoking  Out  Jack  Frost.— Several  in¬ 
stances  are  mentioned  by  the  Florida 
Dispatch  where  efforts  were  made  to  pre¬ 
vent  injury  from  late  frosts  by  filling  the 
air  with  a  thick  smoke.  On  one  occasion 
an  orange  grove  was  saved  by  burning 
several  hundred  tar  pots  in  it.  The  pots 
were  of  iron,  of  three  or  four  gallons’ 
capacity,  and  were  held  in  the  air  about 
two  feet  from  the  ground.  Each  had 
three  small  holes  in  the  bottom,  through 
which  the  coal  tar  dripped  on  to  a  fire, 
making  a  dense  smudge.  On  March  19 
and  20  there  was  a  sharp  cold  in  parts  of 
Florida  and  many  strawberry  growers 
tried  to  save  their  plants  by  smoking. 
Some  were  highly  successful,  while  others 
saw  no  benefit.  The  Dispatch  says  :  “It 
has  been  amply  proven  in  Florida  that  a 
smoke  of  sufficient  volume  on  a  still  night 
will  ward  off  several  degrees  of  frost. 
Rut  the  benefit  of  the  heat  itself  is  insig¬ 
nificant.  Some  fires  built  in  a  grove 
at  Lawtey  showed  before  morning  the 
laughable  farce  of  fire  on  one  end  of  a 
log  and  frost  on  the  other.” 
3 
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BATTLE-FIELD  AND  HOSPITAL,  or 
Lights  and  Shadows  of  the  Great  Re¬ 
bellion.  Dr.  L.  P.  Brocket. 
NEW  YORK  BY  SUNLIGHT  AND  GAS¬ 
LIGHT.  J.  D.  McCabe,  Jr. 
ROBINSON  CRUSOE.  Daniel  Defoe. 
ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  STANLEY.  A 
complete  account  of  Stanley’s  remark¬ 
able  explorations,  including  his  trip 
down  the  Congo.  Hon.  J.  T.  Headley. 
LIFE  OF  GEN.  U.  S.  GRANT.  Ben 
Pcrley  Poore. 
BRITTLE  THREAD  OF  LIFE.  A  Hook 
on  Athletics  and  Hygiene.  .1.  F.  Ed¬ 
wards,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 
ROYAL  ROAD  TO  HAPPINESS.  J.  W. 
Barber. 
QUAINT  ALLEGORIES.  J.  W.  Barber. 
WISDOM  ILLUSTRATED.  J.  W.  Barber. 
HOME  MEMORIES.  A  beautiful  collec¬ 
tion  of  Poetry  and  Prose.  Mary  G. 
Clarke. 
INCIDENTS  OF  SHOT  AND  SHELL. 
The  stirring  events  of  the  war,  gathered 
by  the  U.  S.  Christian  Commission. 
Edw.  P.  Smith. 
PARABLES  UNFOLDED.  Wm,  Bacon 
Stevens,  D.  D, 
HEROINES  OF  THE  REBELLION,  or 
Heroic  Women  of  the  War.  Dr.  L.  P. 
Brocket. 
TODD’S  COUNTRY  HOMES,  or  Winning 
Solid  Wealth.  Sereno  Edwards  Todd. 
NIGHT  S  C  E  N  E  S  I  N  T  H  E  B I  B  L  E  . 
Sacred,  dramatic,  and  immensely  pop¬ 
ular.  Daniel  March,  I).  D. 
PRIVATE  MEMOIRS  OF  WASHING¬ 
TON.  Custis. 
HISTORY  OF.  ANIMALS.  500  illustra¬ 
tions.  Hinglcy. 
HISTORY  OF  BIRDS.  500  illustrations. 
Binglev. 
HISTORY  OF  THE  SEA. 
THE  “BEST”  LIGHT. 
The  Pittsburg  is  the  best  lamp  we  know 
anything  about.  We  did  not  know  that 
any  kerosene  light  could  be  so  beauti¬ 
fully  soft  and  strong — a  powerful  light 
without  glare 
and  flicker,  easy 
and  delightful  for 
tired  eyes.  Now 
we  are  convinced 
and  heartily  in 
dorse  all  the 
claims  so  far  test¬ 
ed.  The  lamp 
itself  is  a  thing  of 
beauty.  Here  is  a 
picture  of  perhaps 
the  handsomest  of 
the  series.  We 
would  be  glad  to 
send  one  to  every 
home  in  the  great 
Rural  family,  and  we  have  arranged  to 
furnish  our  subscribers  with  any  of  these 
lamps  at  special  rates.  Price,  $4  by  ex¬ 
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complete,  with  a  year’s  subscription,  for 
$4.25  ;  with  a  subscription  from  date  of 
receipt  to  December  31,  for  $3.75. 
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is  a  strong,  durable  china,  pleasing  to 
the  eye  and  handsome  enough  for  any 
woman’s  table.  The  113  pieces  consist  of 
12  dinner  plates,  12  breakfast  plates,  12 
tea  plates,  12  soup  plates,  12  preserve 
plates,  12  butter  plates,  3  meat  dishes,  1 
soup  tureen  and  cover,  1  gravy  boat,  1 
pickle  dish,  2  vegetable  dishes,  1  sugar 
bowl,  1  creamer,  1  bowl,  1  jug,  12  cups, 
12  saucers,  1  pitcher,  1  tea-pot.  Retail 
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A  CUP  OF  COFFEE 
from  our  premium  coffee  pot  will  brighten 
the  good  wife  and  send  the  husband  to  the 
fields  in  a  cheerful  frame  of  mind. 
It  saves  40  per  cent  over  ordinary 
methods  of  coffee  making. 
It  is  no  more  trouble  than  the  ordinary 
coffee  pot  and  insures  delicious  coffee. 
aroma  or 
strength  t  o 
escape. 
It  filters  the 
coffee,  mak¬ 
ing  it  bright 
and  clear, 
and  allows 
no  sediment. 
It  keeps  the 
boiling  water 
in  contact 
with  the  cof- 
f  e  e  grounds 
the  proper 
time  for  extracting  all  the  aroma  and 
strength  and  none  of  the  bitterness. 
The  coffee  pot  is  handsomely  nickel- 
plated  and  has  a  wooden  handle.  Price 
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