1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
335 
Briefs. 
Prof.  C.  C.  Georgeson,  of  the  Kansas 
Agricultural  College,  sends  us  samples  of 
Phaseolus  radiatus,  a  little  red  bean,  and 
of  Glycine  hispida,  the  Soy  Bean.  The 
first  kinds  are  used  ripe  by  the  Japanese 
who  boil  them  with  rice,  and  also  in  other 
ways.  Even  the  raw  beans  have  an 
agreeable  taste.  The  Soy  Beans  are  used 
both  ripe  and  green;  in  the  latter  case 
usually  boiled  in  the  pods  when  nearly 
full-grown,  and  shelled  and  eaten  at  the 
meal . 
Prof.  Georgkson  proposes  to  try 
their  value  for  stock  feed  this  year.  The 
plants  will  be  cut  when  the  beans 
are  nearly  full-grown  and  before  the 
leaves  begin  to  fall,  and  when  dry  run 
through  a  cutter  and  then  through  a  mill. 
Thus  prepared,  he  says,  they  will  have 
about  the  same  composition  as  good  bran 
and  may  take  the  place  of  bran  in  feed¬ 
ing.  He  estimates  that  three  tons  per 
acre  can  be  grown  on  good  land,  and  put¬ 
ting  the  average  price  of  bran  at  $12  per 
ton,  the  crop  will  yield  $36  per  acre  which 
is  more  than  ordinary  farm  crops  now 
yield . 
The  Silva  of  North  America,  as  is 
noted  in  The  American  Florist,  is  being  ar¬ 
ranged  by  Prof.  C.  S.  Sargent,  the  Direc¬ 
tor  of  the  Arnold  Arboretum.  The  book 
will  be  complete  in  12  volumes,  the  first 
three  of  which  have  now  been  published, 
the  price  being  .$25  for  each  volume.  We 
are  told  that  those  who  aspire  to  keeping 
posted  in  our  business  are  compelled  to 
consult  this  work  for  it  is  the  law  in  the 
science  of  our  trees  and  their  correct  nomen¬ 
clature . . . 
Some  of  the  laws  laid  down  by  our 
botanical  authorities— those  which  change 
well-established  names  of  familiar  plants 
— ought  never  to  be  recognized  or  toler¬ 
ated  by  the  rank  and  file  who  are  ex¬ 
pected  to  accept  them  without  a  murmur 
or  protest.  Some  of  these  old  names  are 
changed  without  the  least  reason  for  it, 
or  if  there  is  the  semblance  of  reason,  it 
is  so  slight  that  we  might  better  tolerate 
the  discrepancy  than  to  give  up  the  old 
cherished  name  familiar  to  all,  for  a  new 
one  strange  to  all . 
Rhus  Cotinus,  the  Venetian  Sumach  or 
Smoke  Tree,  is  now,  we  are  told,  to  be 
known  as  Cotinus  Cotinus.  The  Poison 
Dogwood  is  changed  from  Rhus  venenata 
to  Rhus  vernix.  Our  splendid  Yellow- 
wood  is  changed  from  Cladrastis  tinctoria 
to  C.  lutea.  The  Kentucky  Coffee  Tree  is 
now  to  be  known  as  Gymnocladus  dioicus, 
etc. . . . 
While  The  R.  N.-Y.  is  an  iconoclast  to 
the  extent  that  it  would  destroy  any  idol 
that  for  sufficient  reasons  ought  to  be 
destroyed,  or  even  call  a  rose  by  another 
name,  it  would  insist  upon  a  sufficient, 
manifest  reason  therefor . 
The  confusion  resulting  from  Engel- 
mann’s  change  of  the  conifers,  Abies  and 
Picea — the  one  for  the  other — is  now 
working  a  deal  of  mischief.  Some  cata¬ 
logues  call  the  firs  Abies,  others  Picea. 
Some  papers  and  periodicals  talk  of  the 
Balsam  Spruce,  others  of  the  Norway  Fir. 
The  catalogues  of  one  of  our  leading 
seedsmen  offer  the  seeds  of  the  Balsam 
Fir,  Nordmann’s  Fir,  European  Silver 
Fir  and  the  White  Spruce,  Norway 
Spruce,  Hemlock  Spruce,  etc.,  all  under 
Abies ;  while  under  Picea  we  have 
Alcock's  Spruce  described  as  “  a  lofty 
pyramidal  fir.” . 
Mr.  Wm.  H.  Maule,  the  seedsman  of 
Philadelphia,  writes  us  that  Mr.  H.  F. 
Smith,  the  originator  of  the  Polaris  Pota¬ 
to,  makes  the  statement  that  it  was  intro¬ 
duced  at  least  three  years  before  the 
Early  Puritan  wap  named.  “  While  the 
two  potatoes,”  says  Mr.  Smith,  “have  a 
white  skin,  and,  when  bulked,  somewhat 
resemble  each  other,  I  consider  there  is 
no  similarity  between  the  two  and  if 
they  are  the  same,  certainly  the  Puritan 
must  be  the  Polaris  if  there  is  anything 
in  priority  of  introduction.”  Mr.  Maule 
and  the  introducer  of  the  Puritan  also 
consider  the  two  varieties  distinct . 
We  were  supposing  that  The  R.  N.-Y. 
was  the  first  to  point  out  the  resemblance 
between  the  Early  Puritan  as  raised  from 
tubers  sent  to  the  Rural  Grounds  by  Peter 
Henderson  &  Co.,  in  the  spring  of  1887, 
and  the  Polaris  as  raised  from  tubers  sent 
by  Dr.  Hoskins  of  Vermont.  Both  kinds 
were  planted  April  15,  of  that  year  in 
the  same  plot,  and  we  were  unable  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  the  one  from  the  other  either  in 
shape,  color,  yield,  vines  or  quality  of 
tuber.  We  believed  them  to  be  the  same 
then  and  believe  them  to  be  the  same 
now,  though  we  cannot  say  positively 
that  they  are.  If  they  are  the  same, 
there  seems  little  doubt  that  Polaris  is  the 
legitimate  name . 
It  is  quite  possible  that  different  seed¬ 
ling  potatoes  may  so  closely  resemble 
each  other  that  the  one  cannot  in  any 
way  be  distinguished  from  the  other. 
Nearly  a  dozen  years  ago  the  Late  Beauty 
of  Hebron  was  introduced.  Several  years 
later  the  White  Elephant  was  introduced. 
Dr.  F.  M.  Ilexamer  called  the  writer’s 
attention  to  the  similarity  of  the  two 
kinds.  We  planted  them  side  by  side 
and  watched  the  growth  from  first  to 
last.  In  so  far  as  could  be  judged,  they 
were  absolutely  the  same.  The  state¬ 
ment  was  made  in  these  columns  to  that 
effect  and,  we  believe,  they  are  now  re¬ 
garded  as  the  same;  that  is  to  say,  they 
are  the  Late  Beauty  of  Hebron  and  there 
is  no  legitimate  White  Elephant.  The 
originator  of  the  White  Elephant,  a  most 
trustworthy  man,  while  admitting  the 
similarity,  is  not  the  less  positive  of  a 
distinct  parentage . 
Geo.  Q.  Dow,  of  North  Epping,  N.  II., 
writes:  “  I  regret  to  say  I  cannot  make 
Parker  Earle  do  well  here.” . 
Grant  Allen  says,  in  Longman’s  Maga¬ 
zine,  that  cactuses  are  the  hedgehogs  of 
the  vegetable  world.  Their  motto  is  the 
motto  of  Scotland  :  “  Nemo  me  impune 
lacessit." . 
The  Kansas  Agricultural  College  tried 
the  effect  of  removing  the  tassels  of  corn 
as  soon  as  they  appeared,  on  every  other 
row.  The  result  was  largely  in  favor  of 
the  removal  as  shown  : 
Yield  In  bushels  per  acre  of  ears,  t assets  removed  107.!) 
Yield  In  bushels  per  acre  of  ears,  tassels  not 
removed .  94.7 
In  a  trial  of  butt,  middle  and  tip  ker¬ 
nels  for  seed,  the  butt  kernels  gave  the 
best  yields . 
The  first  cutting  of  asparagus  at  the 
Rural  Grounds  was  made  May  3.  The 
shoots  of  Barr’s  Mammoth  are  of  a  light- 
green  color.  Dreer’s  Eclipse  has  pea- 
green  shoots  with  purple  scales.  Moore’s 
Crossbred  has  stems  of  different  shades  of 
green,  some  of  which  are  purple,  some 
not.  Smalley’s  Defiance  vary  in  color. 
Conover’s  Colossal  has  generally  purplish 
stems,  Palmetto  purplish.  Thus  far  there 
is  no  notable  difference  in  size  of  stems, 
earliness  or  quality,  bearing  out  The 
Rural’s  conclusions  of  12  years  ago  from 
similar  trials . 
Healthwise. 
- Popular  Science  Monthly  :  “A 
walking  man  consumes  more  oxygen  than 
a  sleeping  man,  a  man  at  work  than  a 
sedentary  man,  a  young  man  than  an  old 
man,  a  young  child  more  than  the 
young  man.  The  restless  activity  of 
children  marks  both  their  great  consump¬ 
tion  of  oxygen  and  their  pressing  need 
for  it  by  being  allowed  to  breathe  abund¬ 
ance  of  pure  air.  Rapid  and  extensive 
waste  is  going  on  in  every  child’s  body. 
Tissue  of  every  kind,  including  bone,  is 
being  constantly  broken  down  in  order 
that  it  may  be  built  up  anew  on  a  larger 
scale,  and  it  it  therefore  the  greatest 
cruelty  in  their  case  not  to  provide  them 
in  fullest  measure  with  the  purest  air.” 
“  Dr.  Leeds,  of  New  York,  says  that 
the  supposed  cure  by  sending  a  consump¬ 
tive  patient  to  a  cow  stable  was  in  reality 
tbe  cure  by  sending  him  into  somewhat 
purer  air  than  that  of  his  own  room.” 
“  We  believe,  therefore,  that  few 
healthy  persons  would  be  subject  to 
cold,  unless  they  lived  in  impure  air.” 
“  We  suspect  that  not  only  liability  to 
cold,  but  to  gout,  rheumatism,  lumbago, 
neuralgia,  some  forms  of  headache,  and 
many  forms  of  nervous  irritation  is  to  be 
conquered  by  constantly  giving  lungs 
and  skin  a  fair  chance  of  getting  rid  of 
these  poisons;  we  feel  sure  that  the  irri¬ 
table  temper  that  so  often  accompanies 
severe  literary  work,  and  at  last  ends  in 
the  ‘break  down,’  must  largely  be  put  to 
the  account  of  the  impure  air  breathed 
through  long  hours;  and  we  suspect  that 
much  of  the  intemperate  drinking  in 
towns  results  from  the  depressed  feeling 
which  follows  work  done  under  similar 
conditions.” 
Abstracts. 
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For  a  CATALOGUE  OF  BOOKS  treating  on 
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- Siftings:  “  What  is  done  cannot  be 
undone,  especially  if  it  is  a  hard-boiled 
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has  upon  it  nothing  but  rarities  is  a  simple 
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“  ‘  Let  us  spray,’  is  the  exhortation  of 
progressive  growers  everywhere.” 
“  Heaven  bless  the  man  or  woman  with 
a  hobby  !” 
- Prof.  W.  II.  Flower  :  “  I  have  al¬ 
ways  thought  that  the  greater  prevalence 
of  tuberculosis  and  other  lung  disease  in 
cold  over  warm  climates  is  owing,  not  so 
much  to  difference  of  temperature,  as  to 
the  fact  that  in  the  former  there  is  a 
greater  tendency  to  breathe  impure  air 
for  the  purpose  of  warmth.” 
- Dr.  W.  B.  Cheadle  :  “  Few  people, 
I  imagine,  realize  the  fact  that  about 
one-third  of  their  whole  lives  is  spent  in 
their  bedrooms,  and  that  they  pass  this 
part  of  their  existence  in  an  atmosphere 
so  poisoned  by  organic  matter  that  it 
would  not  be  tolerated  in  a  sitting-room 
for  a  moment.  The  amount  of  space 
allowed  in  bedrooms  and  dormitories  is 
frequently  altogether  insufficient.” 
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The  Evil  that  Men  Do  Lives  after  Them. 
This  applies  to  those  who  put  up  barb  wire,  as 
shown  by  maimed  and  disfigured  animals  every¬ 
where,  not  to  mention  those  killed  outright.  The 
barbs  should  he  taken  down  and  Interred  with  the 
hones  of  'ho  victims.  UepittCe  with  Colled  Spring 
fence. 
PAGE  WOVEN  WIRE  FENCE  CO., 
Adrian,  Mich. 
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and  used  by  the  beat  Farmer*  throughout  the  country. 
“  The  Weeder  has  come  to  stay ; 
no  doubt  about  that.” 
T.  B.  TKRRY. 
A  second  year’s  trial  convinces 
me  more  than  ever  of  its  value." 
JOHN  GOULD. 
“  It  fully  supersedes  the  hoe,  doing 
better  work  and  ten  times  as  fast.” 
44mu  T  W.  I.  CHAMBKRLAIN. 
“  The  Weeder  keeps  the  laud  clean  and  mellow,  and  is  just  what  I  have 
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J.  S.  WOODWARD. 
