812 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
Dec.  10 
crop  would  be  ready  to  ship  ;  then  the  concern  would 
probably  have  to  pay  out  about  34,000,  which  would 
come  back  in  a  few  days.  For  this  investment  of 
about  $9,000,  all  told,  the  company  should  receive  not 
less  than  320,000  for  its  half  of  the  crop,  and  then  the 
fruit  would  be  sold  at  a  lower  price  than  I  have  ever 
been  able  to  buy  it  for.  The  company’s  expenses 
would  then  stop  until  another  crop  was  ready  to  be 
shipped,  the  land  owner  keeping  up  the  orchard.  I 
know  of  one  grower  who  netted  over  300  dollars  per 
acre  on  his  peaches ;  and  of  another  who  received 
checks  for  315,000  from  a  60-acre  orchard.  In  the 
above  estimates  I  have  put  the  profits  under,  rather 
than  over,  what  can  be  made.  t.  o.  skellie. 
A  TEST  OF  VARIETIES  OF  CELERY. 
The  It.  N.-Y.  has  at  divers  times  tested  the  new  can¬ 
didates  for  public  favor  in  the  growing  list  of  varieties 
of  celery,  and  has  given  its  conclusions  to  its  readers. 
Recent  additions  to  this  list  have  made  further  re¬ 
search  desirable,  and  when,  early  in  November,  we 
received  an  invitation  from  Mr.  T.  J.  Dwyer,  of  Corn¬ 
wall,  N.  Y.,  to  visit  his  place  and  examine  his  contri¬ 
butions  to  the  list,  we  gladly  availed  ourselves  of  the 
offer  on  November  23.  Mr.  Dwyer  grows  celery  plants 
very  largely  each  year,  and  was  desirous  of  settling 
for  his  own  satisfaction  and  for  the  benefit  of  his 
patrons,  the  relative  claims  of  the  varieties  most  gen¬ 
erally  grown.  He  selected  for  his  experiment  ground 
from  which  he  had  taken  a  crop  of  early  potatoes,  and 
on  July  22  planted  40  plants  each  of  eight  varieties. 
They  were  fertilized  with  Mapes’s  manure  in  the 
trenches.  The  varieties  were  the  following  :  New 
Rose,  London  Red,  Half  Dwarf,  Golden  Dwarf,  Giant 
Pascal,  White  Walnut,  White  Plume  and  Boston  Mar¬ 
ket.  The  test  was  made  as  follows  :  A  couple  of  roots 
of  each  sort,  carefully  dressed,  were  laid  before  the 
writer,  each  variety  numbered,  but  with  no  name,  so 
that  the  test  would  be  made  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
varieties.  The  judgment  was  based  on  quality — flavor, 
tenderness,  freedom  from  stringiness,  and  the  greater 
or  less  absence  of  objectionable  traits.  The  following  is 
the  jndgment  of  The  Rural,  in  the  order  of  their 
names:  New  Rose,  Golden  Dwarf,  Half  Dwarf,  Lon¬ 
don  Red,  Giant  Pascal,  White  Walnut,  White  Plume 
and  Boston  Market. 
After  the  test  had  been  made,  Mr.  Dwyer  produced 
the  record  of  a  test  made  by  himself  and  by  Mr.  J.  M. 
Richards,  a  week  or  ten  days  previously.  He  rated 
them  in  the  following  order  :  New  Rose,  London  Red, 
Half  Dwarf,  Golden  Dwarf,  Giant  Pascal,  White  Wal¬ 
nut,  White  Plume  and  Boston  Market.  Mr.  Richards’s 
judgment  was  as  follows :  New  Rose,  London  Red, 
Half  Dwarf,  Giant  Pascal  and  White  Walnut  the  same, 
Golden  Dwarf,  White  Plume  and  Boston  Market. 
It  will  be  seen  that  all  three  agreed  on  placing 
New  Rose  at  the  head  of  the  list,  and  they  were 
equally  unanimous  in  their  rating  of  White  Plume 
and  Boston  Market  as  seveth  and  eighth — at  the  foot 
of  the  list.  Mr.  Dwyer  and  Mr.  Richards  put  London 
Red  second,  while  we  put  it  fourth.  To  us  it  seemed 
a  little  inclined  to  rankness,  but  it  is  possible,  nay, 
more  than  likely,  that  this  would  disappear  later  in 
the  season.  Then  again,  just  how  high-flavored  or 
pronounced  the  celery  may  be  without  incurring  the 
charge  of  rankness,  is  purely  a  matter  of  taste,  and 
there  is  no  accounting  for  tastes,  as  a  certain  old  lady 
once  remarked  when  she  bestowed  an  osculatory 
caress  upon  the  cow.  There  is  really  very  little  dif¬ 
ference  in  quality  between  the  Golden  Dwarf,  Half 
Dwarf,  London  Red  and  Giant  Pascal. 
“What  about  the  growth  and  productiveness  of 
these  varieties  ?”  queried  Tiie  Rural  of  Mr.  Dwyer. 
“White  Walnut  is  a  good  grower,  a  little  taller 
than  Golden  Dwarf,  but  not  quite  so  stocky.  The 
Half  Dwarf  is  similar  to  the  White  Plume,  but  much 
later.  The  New  Rose  (Henderson’s)  is  a  good  grower 
and  has  more  of  the  pink  color  about  the  stalks 
than  London  Red.  You  will  notice  that  the  quality 
is  good  clear  up  to  the  end  of  the  stalks,  even 
where  it  is  yet  green  in  color.  London  Red  is  a 
ranker  grower  than  New  Rose,  making  larger  leaves, 
but  I  do  not  think  it  will  produce  any  more  edible 
stalks.  Golden  Dwarf  is  a  very  stocky  plant  and  a 
good  grower.  I  think  there  is  less  waste  with  it  than 
with  any  of  the  others.  Giant  Pascal  is  a  valuable 
sort.  It  is  remarkably  stocky,  so  much  so  that  you 
would  think,  to  look  at  its  stalks,  that  they  would  be 
tough  and  stringy ;  but  they  are  just  the  reverse. 
The  quality  is  good  and,  like  the  New  Rose,  it  can  be 
eaten  away  up  to  the  leaves.  It  is  a  very  desirable 
market  variety.  White  Plume  has  for  its  single  ad¬ 
vantage,  earliness.  It  is  a  fairly  good  grower.  Bos¬ 
ton  Market  is  one  of  the  rankest  growers,  In  favor¬ 
able  conditions,  it  will  sometimes  grow  nearly  four 
feet  in  height.  It  has  very  large  roots  and  a  mass  of 
worthless  outside  stalks.  It  produces  no  more  edible 
stalks  than  the  others.” 
“Would  you  recommend  planting  New  Rose  for 
market  ?  ” 
“Not  largely  until  the  demand  for  it  grows.  The 
celery-consuming  public,  as  yet,  do  not  know  of  its 
excellence,  and  would  probably  prefer  a  pure  white. 
But  it  will  gradually  grow  in  favor  as  its  good  quali¬ 
ties  become  better  known.” 
“  What  would  you  recommend  for  market?  ” 
“Giant  Pascal,  Golden  Dwarf,  Half  Dwarf  and 
White  Plume  for  early.  New  Rose,  as  I  said  before, 
will  win  its  way  gradually.” 
The  business  of  selling  celery  plants  has  grown  on 
Mr.  Dwyer  until  its  magnitude  is  really  astonishing. 
The  soil  on  his  place  seems  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
plants,  and  his  are  always  vigorous  and  stocky. 
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at  one  time.  Put  questions  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper.] 
THE  EFFECT  OF  « FREE  WOOL !” 
IT  WILL  MAKE  NEW  SHEEP  AND  SHEPHERDS. 
1.  If  Congress  should,  at  an  extra  session,  put  wool  on  the  free  list, 
what,  In  your  judgment,  would  be  the  Immediate  effect  on  wool 
growers  In  your  section?  2.  What  changes  In  breeding  or  feeding 
would  you  recommend  ! 
In  our  section  it  would  be  all  the  better  ;  it  would 
cause  sheepmen  to  raise  better  sheep  both  for  mutton 
and  wool.  Of  course  there  would  be  calamity  howlers 
who  would  try  to  break  down  the  price ;  but  there 
would  be  a  great  many  more  people  who  would  eat 
mutton  and  wear  woolen  garments  and  sleep  under 
woolen  blankets.  There  would  be  no  more  profitable 
stock  in  the  near  future  than  sheep,  wool  and  mutton 
combined.  alex.  turnbull. 
Delaine  Merino  Sheep,  Cedarville,  Iowa. 
Placing  wool  on  the  free  list  would  reduce  the  price 
of  Michigan  wool  from  8  to  12  cents  per  pound  to  start 
with,  as  there  would  be  an  inrush  of  foreign  wool  in 
excess  of  the  demand.  My  advice  to  our  farmers  would 
be  to  go  entirely  out  of  the  fine  wool  business,  making 
that,  at  all  events,  a  secondary  consideration.  Hold¬ 
ing,  as  I  do,  that  the  man  who  wears  out  his  farm  is  a 
sinner  against  himself  and  posterity  and  believing 
that  keepiDg  sheep  is  a  natural  way  of  maintaining 
the  fertility  of  soil,  I  should  still  urge  the  necessity 
of  keeping  long-wooled  breeds.  c.  J  luce. 
Ex-Governor  of  Michigan. 
If  Congress  puts  wool  on  the  free  list  every  Merino 
breeder  in  this  section  will  sacrifice  his  flock  either  by 
sending  them  to  market  or  crossing  with  the  mutton 
breeds.  The  breeder’s  aim  must  be  to  get  the  greatest 
amount  of  the  best  mutton  at  the  lowest  cost.  To  do 
this,  heavy-fleeced  sheep  will  have  to  be  discarded  and 
only  those  of  the  very  best  mutton  quality  be  kept. 
Early  maturity  and  an  extra  quality  of  mutton  will 
be  at  a  premium.  geo.  mckerrow. 
Sussex,  Wis. 
Where  the  mutton  breeds  of  sheep  are  kept,  wool  is 
of  secondary  importance  and  “  free  wool”  would  not 
make  much,  if  any,  change  in  the  sheep  industry.  The 
sale  of  lambs  and  the  carcasses  of  mutton  would  not  be 
affected.  But  where  sheep  are  kept  primarily  for  the 
wool,  the  repeal  of  the  present  duty  would  about  kill 
an  already  depressed  industry,  and  we’d  see  another 
slaughter  of  sheep  to  get  rid  of  them,  such  as  has 
before  occurred.  The  only  change  to  be  recommended 
in  breeding  and  feeding  is  for  owners  of  Merino  and 
all  grade  or  common  flocks  to  use  rams  of  one  of  the 
Down  breeds,  and  get  their  flocks  fit  for  prime  mutton 
as  quickly  as  possible,  and  then  to  feed  accordingly. 
Mt.  Kisco,  N.  Y.  j.  w. 
It  Has  Already  Hurt  Business. 
At  this  time  we  are  unable  to  pass  an  opinion  as  to 
the  effect  the  placing  of  wool  on  the  free  list  would 
have  on  wool  growers  in  this  section.  We  can  only 
say  what  we  know  up  to  the  present  time.  We  can 
easily  see  the  effect  in  our  business  from  the  outcome 
of  the  present  election,  as  buyers  seem  to  be  unsettled, 
and  do  not  know  just  what  they  want.  The  demand 
seems  to  be  considerably  lighter  than  last  year,  al¬ 
though.  the  prices  in  our  class  of  sheep  are  firm,  and 
the  prospects  for  the  Shropshires  in  America  was  never 
more  flattering  than  in  the  fore  part  of  1892,  and 
should  sheepmen  be  obliged  to  change  their  breeding 
and  feeding,  on  account  of  the  low  prices  of  wool,  we 
cannot  recommend  a  better  breed  for  the  general 
farmer  than  the  Shropshire,  and  the  raising  and  feed¬ 
ing  of  early  lambs  for  early  market,  as  the  early  lamb 
market  in  our  opinion  has  never  yet  been  filled,  and 
we  know  of  no  more  profitable  business  on  the  farm 
than  the  raising  of  early  lambs  for  early  consumption. 
Cresco,  la.  w.  c.  nichols  &  son. 
A  Gloomy  Outlook  For  Wool. 
I  cannot  see  how  wool  could  bring  as  much  money 
as  it  does  now,  if  placed  on  the  free  list,  since  now  it 
brings  more  in  this  country  than  in  any  other.  It  is 
good  farming  to  raise  sheep  at  present  and  I  think  it 
a  good  rule  to  let  well  enough  alone.  We  cannot  pos¬ 
itively  say  what  the  effect  of  “  free  ”  wool  would  be, 
but  when  we  are  doing  the  best  of  any  nation  on  the 
face  of  the  earth  we  ought  to  be  content  to  let  things 
remain  as  they  are.  1  do  not  think  it  would  be  profit¬ 
able  to  raise  sheep  if  the  duty  were  taken  off  foreign 
wool.  I  don’t  think  farmers  would  raise  sheep  when 
doing  so  wouldn’t  pay  them.  I  am  sure  a  large  ma¬ 
jority  of  the  farmers  in  this  section  would  be  glad  if 
Congress  would  let  the  tariff  on  wool  remain  as  it  is. 
Most  of  them  are  breeding  their  grade  Merino  ewes  to 
Shropshire  rams  and  selling  the  lambs  for  mutton.  I 
do  not  know  of  a  better  way  to  make  money  from  sheep 
than  this  under  any  circumstances  c.  h.  williams. 
Church’s  Corners,  Mich. 
No  Change  for  Good  Sheep. 
If  Congress  passes  a  bill  putting  wool  on  the  free 
list,  as  it  undoubtedly  will  at  its  earliest  convenience, 
it  would  have  no  effect,  in  my  judgment,  in  changing 
the  plans  of  breeders  of  sheep  in  this  State.  The 
stud  flocks  of  registered  American  Merinos  have 
always  been  kept  up  to  a  high  standard  by  careful 
selection  and  breeding,  no  matter  whether  the  price 
of  wool  was  up  or  down,  and  they  will  continue  to  be 
cared  for  in  the  future  ;  for  not  only  have  we  a  demand 
for  good  Merino  rams  in  the  West,  but  Australia,  New 
Zealand  and  South  Africa  are  taking  many  of  our  best 
annually.  Breeders  of  sheep  other  than  pure  Merinos 
have  in  view  mutton  as  well  as  wool  and  putting  wool, 
on  the  free  list  will  not  change  their  prospects,  as 
mutton  production  is  not  likely  to  be  overdone,  and 
the  wool  will  all  be  wanted  to  take  the  place  of 
shoddy.  I  would  advise  the  breeders  of  the  different 
breeds  of  sheep  to  make  no  radical  change,  but  keep 
their  flocks,  and  improve  them  all  they  can.  Wool 
and  mutton  will  always  be  wanted  ;  and  the  relation 
of  supply  to  demand  will  rule  the  markets  at  home 
and  abroad.  j.  h.  earll 
President  N.  Y.  State  American  Merino  Breeders. 
We  Need  a  Quick-Growing  Sheep. 
We  do  not  think  that  if  wool  were  put  on  the  free 
list  it  would  materially  affect  sheep  raisers  in  this  sec¬ 
tion.  In  the  first  place,  we  do  not  believe  it  would  ma¬ 
terially  affect  the  price  of  wool,  and,  again,  the  time 
has  long  since  passed  here  when  farmers  could  afford 
to  raise  sheep  for  wool  alone.  The  farmers  who  are 
making  money  with  sheep  in  this  State,  and  we  think 
in  all  of  the  other  agricultural  States,  are  those  Who  are 
breeding  sheep  for  mutton  as  well  as  wool,  getting  a 
good  carcass  of  mutton  and  all  the  wool  they  can  get 
from  it,  most  of  them  using  Shropshire  sires,  which 
prove  to  be  giving  the  best  results.  In  this  country 
any  ordinary  farmer  can  make  a  lamb  bring  as  much 
money  at  10  months  as  he  would  bring  at  two  or  three 
years  if  kept  so  long,  as  the  wool  would  not,  with  twice 
the  protection  we  now  have,  pay  for  the  keep;  it  is  more 
profitable  to  sell  the  surplus  as  lambs  for  mutton.  We 
are  breeding  Shropshires  not  necessarily  to  see  how 
large  we  can  make  them,  for  we  do  not  think  that  is 
the  point  to  be  reached  from  a  profitable  standpoint, 
but  to  see  how  quickly  we  can  make  them  weigh  100 
pounds,  the  most  profitable  weight  at  which  to  sell 
them,  and  we  also  challenge  any  flock  of  pure-wool 
Merino  sheep  in  our  county  to  shear  with  us  for  value 
of  wool  per  head.  It  does  not  make  so  much  difference 
what  the  clip  weighs  when  it  comes  off  the  sheep  as  it 
does  what  it  is  worth.  We  would  rather  have  12 
pounds  of  wool  worth  25  cents  than  20  pounds  worth 
15  cents  per  pound.  It  costs  less  to  get  the  former  to 
market  and  buyers  seek  it,  while  in  our  markets  buy¬ 
ers  have  to  be  sought  to  take  the  latter. 
Allegan,  Mich.  foster  bros. 
A  Tariff  Man  Sticks  to  Sheep. 
Wool  growing  in  this  section  is  a  secondary  consid¬ 
eration  I  think  the  only  effect  of  putting  wool  on 
the  free  list  would  be  that  the  sheep  breeders  would 
receive  a  few  dollars  less  for  their  clip  of  wool.  It 
would  not  affect  the  number  of  sheep  kept.  Although 
a  believer  in  a  tariff  on  wool  myself,  yet  I  do  not 
think  the  people  of  this  section  will  be  foolish  enough 
to  let  the  question  of  tariff  or  no  tariff  interfere  with 
their  sheep  breeding.  Should  the  duty  on  wool  be 
repealed,  I  would  breed  more  and  more  towards  the 
best  types  of  the  mutton  sheep,  but  would  always 
select  the  largest,  closest- wooled  ewes  for  breeders. 
I  would  use  thoroughbred  rams  every  time  and  breed 
up  the  flock.  By  this  method  we  can  produce  more 
and  better  wool  with  an  increase  in  the  number  and 
weight  of  our  lambs.  The  average  farmer  will  never 
notice  the  difference  between  keeping  a  ewe  that 
shears  six  pounds  and  one  that  shears  eight  pounds. 
I  look  to  some  of  the  long-wool  breeds  to  increase  the 
