482 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Clover In Talbot County, Md. 
H. S. W., Wittman, Md.—W. F. Massey 
(page 400) discredits some statements I 
made In a recent article (page 865) in regard 
to the clover and wheat products of Talbot 
County, Md., In “ the old slave times.” I 
thank him for his criticism for two rea¬ 
sons : First, because It reminds me of what 
I knew, but did not heed, namely that he 
who writes anything for the public should 
avoid the use of ambiguous language, 
and not employ terms, however expressive, 
which may be construed to mean much or 
little more than was intended. And, second¬ 
ly, because I can add some testimony to 
the great value of clover as a rotation crop. 
Mr. Massey having placed me on the de¬ 
fensive, I must try to justify myself in the 
best way I can. He says I “ evidently knew 
but very little of Talbot County in times 
past,” etc. Well, if he means knowledge 
gained from a life-long residence here, he 
is right. My best years were spent in the 
rigorous climate of western New York. I 
traveled through many States, West and 
South, having in view a home in a milder 
climate. Five years ago I purchased a 
small farm in Talbot County. Half of my 
boundary line is the shore of an estuary of 
Chesapeake Bay. From the window by 
which I write I can see Kent Island, and 
almost discern the very spot where, over 
250 years ago, Wm. Clayborne established 
the first “trading post” in Maryland. 
From the same window I can see the famous 
“Poplar Island” oyster beds, the quality 
of whose product is unexcelled. Every 
farm within 15 miles of me touches salt 
water, and their owners may fish and 
“tong” oysters to their hearts’ content 
No finer peaches grow east of the “ Rock¬ 
ies ” than here, and no soil responds more 
promptly to skillful and generous treat¬ 
ment. No, friend Massey, I would not be 
true to my own taste in selecting a home, 
did I knowingly “ misrepresent ” the grand 
and beautiful old county of Talbot. With 
my enthusiasm all aglow, I can well be¬ 
lieve your statement that 6bushels of 
wheat per acre were grown upon a “ clover 
ley” in this county 40 years ago. I say, 
“ Hurrah for the clover ! ” I am reminded, 
however, that Nature sometimes takes 
strange freaks, I suppose just to show us 
her possibilities, producing sometimes a 
giant eight feet tall; sometimes a “ fat 
woman ” weighing 500 pounds, and some¬ 
times over 1,000 bushels of potatoes per 
acre ! But these things don’t occur every 
day in the year ; and so we must get down 
to the common standards. I have inter¬ 
viewed several farmers, whose testimony I 
regard as nearly as trustworthy as my own 
would have been had I lived here all my 
life, and they concur in the statement that, 
as late as 25 years ago, “very little clover 
was grown here, and that simply for pas¬ 
ture.” One of my neighbors bought his 
farm 20 years ago. At the time of pur¬ 
chase, about 40 acres were in wheat, from 
which he harvested about 360 bushels. 
Those same fields now produce from 20 to 
30 bushels per acre, and the treatment has 
been clover and lime. These are but sam¬ 
ples of much testimony which fully sus¬ 
tains my former statements if not read 
too literally. 
Origin of the Isabella Grape. 
D. S. Marvin, Jefferson County, N. Y. 
—In The Rural of May 30th Mr. Poultney 
inquires about the species and origin of 
this old grape. The Bushberg catalogue 
says it probably originated in South Caro¬ 
lina, was obtained from Mrs. Isabella 
Gibbs, named after her and brought north 
by Wm. Price, about 1816. This is without 
doubt its correct history. 
The Btory of its being grown from seed 
of a raisin grape is a myth, for both it and 
the Catawba (the latter known to be from 
the Carolinas) are genuine hybrids between 
V. Labrusca and Y. Vinifera, the former a 
native, and the latter a foreign species of 
probably Persian origin according to De 
Candolle. The fact that the Catawba is a 
hybrid and known to have been found upon 
the Catawba River in S. Carolina, suggests 
and seems to confirm the same of the 
Isabella. Mr. T. V. Munson, our best grape 
botanist, gives both these grapes this 
hybrid origin. Mr. Poultney gives some of 
the mauy facts to confirm this opinion. I 
have grown maty seedlings from Isabella 
and its seedlings and some of them which 
have sported towards the foreign parent, 
seem to be genuine Y. Vinifera vines. But 
the most interesting and curious question 
in this connection is, how did these part 
foreign vines get to the Carolina?, and who 
did the hybridizing? Did birds bring the 
foreign seeds to America, and scatter them 
where they sprang up and grew, producing 
natural hybrids ? This seems rather im¬ 
probable, because no pure V. Vinifera vines 
have ever been found in the Carolinas, and 
it would seem to be more of an ethnolog¬ 
ical than a morphological question, and 
hints that there were skilled botanists in 
America long before Columbus discovered 
the New World ; but who did the hybridiz¬ 
ing will probably forever remain one of the 
most curious natural history mysterif s. 
More Ensilage Talk. 
J. G , Portage County, Ohio —For the 
benefit of Prof. Massey, page 434, I will say 
that in 1889, five acres of my ensilage 
corn did average over 20 “ big loads per 
acre. ” The past two seasons were not good 
for corn ; still last year I had 14 big loads 
per acre on eight acres. Four weeks after 
filling, when the ensilage had settled all it 
would, by measurement, allowing 45 
pounds for a cubic foot, the loads averaged 
over one ton each, and the feeding con¬ 
firmed this estimate. The 3,000-pound load 
was a special—a last load put on to get the 
fodder all on for a finish. 
I have no difficulty in keeping a load of 
fodder on a rack. These floored-over racks 
are eight feet in width, and 14 feet long. 
As they have corner spurs, the load cannot 
slip forward or backward, and if loading 
is commenced at the forward end of the 
rack, and the gavels are laid up in sections, 
and no attempt is made to load all over the 
rack “ at once,” it caD be carried for a long 
distance I once drew over 50 loads two- 
thirds of a mile, and not a gavel came off. 
Last fall Mr. Blair, a neighbor, drew nearly 
100 loads three-quarters of a mile across a 
rough pasture, and I did not see a gavel 
slide or slip off, though the tops were all 
one way, which is the universal rule In this 
section. 
Yes, that cutter was a man of wonderful 
power. He did not overexert himself (fish 
peddlers never do), but his advantage was 
that he cut right along—the only thing he 
had to stop for was to eat. His corn cutting 
was the talk of the town for days, and I 
have no doubt he could easily “outwork” 
several sable citizens of North Carolina. 
For the benefit also of Prof. Massey, I 
would say that there has been a universal 
going back to the white corn of Virginia 
for ensilage in this section the present sea¬ 
son. The experiments with other varieties, 
and their behavior in the silo, and the after 
feeding values as compared with those from 
Virginia white corn, have been conclusive 
in favor of the latter, and ordering corn 
from Virginia directly has been the rule 
here. I wish to say that the Virginians 
have sent us as fine, bright and clean seed 
corn as I have ever seen. If some of the 
Virginia readers of The Rural will, the 
present season, make a special effort in sav¬ 
ing and curing this corn, and put an 
“ad” in The Rural, there is little doubt 
that they can sell it to the Northern silo 
men like “ hot cakes.” 
Manuring Tomatoes. 
J. W. G., Elkhorn, Canada.—T he edi¬ 
tor of The Rural may remember that 
some time ago one of the agricultural ex¬ 
periment stations experimented with ma¬ 
nure on tomatoes and found that it in¬ 
creased the yield. I think the editor made 
a note that this was not his experience. 
Last year I manured one row as an experi¬ 
ment. I had very few tomatoes off it, and 
the vines were large and extra luxuriant, 
while from the unmanured rows I had an 
abundant crop. 
R. N.-Y.—It has, as stated, been The R. 
N.-Y.’s experience that tomatoes fruit less 
abundantly on a rich soil than on one of 
medium fertility. The vines grow rampa- 
geously, but the fruit sets late. This is also 
the experience of our neighbors who raise 
large crops for the market. 
Crimson Clover. 
W. F. Massey, N. C. Experiment Sta¬ 
tion. —Mr. J. W. Kerr, a large nurseryman 
and orchardist in Caroline County, Mary¬ 
land, who has been growing Crimson 
Clover largely as a fertilizer for his peach 
orchards, says, in a late issue of another 
agricultural paper : “ I notice with regret 
that Henry Stewart, in answering the in¬ 
quiry of a Marylander, in The Rural New- 
Yorker, relative to the best green manures 
for the peach orchard, gives it as his 
opinion that Italian or Scarlet Clover is 
greatly overpraised, and expresses donbt 
as to its value in this State for that pur¬ 
pose.” * * * “If he could see the im¬ 
mense growth of this clover in this county, 
and the effects produced on a peach orchard 
where a crop was turned under last season, 
I feel satisfied he would change his advice 
to Maryland orchardists.” For the benefit 
of Mr. Kerr, I would say that Mr. Stewart’s 
present location, 4,000 feet above the sea, 
more properly represents New York than 
North Carolina or Eastern Maryland. If 
Mr. Stewart would look at the growth of 
this clover all over central and eastern 
North Carolina, he would see that he is 
wrong in his estimate of its value. I am 
well acquainted with the soil of Mr. Kerr’s 
county and it very closely corresponds 
with that of a large part of eastern North 
Carolina. Here Crimson Clover is the most 
valuable leguminous plant of recent intro¬ 
duction ; for by its use in connection with 
the summer crop of cow peas, t he farmer can 
keep up, in this climate, the nitrifying pro¬ 
cess for 18 consecutive months, and rapidly 
bring up his land. It will grow on land 
on which Red Clover will not grow to any 
extent, and this means all the flat, sandy 
country of eastern North Carolina. My ad¬ 
vice to Maryland orchardists and those 
everywhere south of Maryland (unless the 
mountain region may be an exception) is to 
sow all they can of it every fall. It will 
pay them better than anything they can 
put into an orchard. 
Cultivating for Moisture ; Tree Trim¬ 
ming. 
B. B., Farmingdale, III—I believe 
with Mr. Terry that a few inches of mel¬ 
low soil is the best mulch for plants and It 
gives to the crops moisture, but how ? Does 
not this capillary attraction pump from an 
incredible depth—further than is gener¬ 
ally believed, say 20 or 30 feet where 
the conditions are favorable; for in many 
places in Kansas and Nebraska where the 
rock comes in at four feet or even more, the 
water gives out and the crops fail; but 
where no rock or hardpan intervenes be¬ 
tween the surface and the everywhere 
underlying strata of quicksand and water, 
the crop may always be supplied with mois¬ 
ture by maintaining a mellow surface soil- 
in all of the bottom lands at least. Yes, 
there are soils and soils; one piece of 
ground may remain mellow after a rain, 
while another bakes, and no arbitrary rule 
will apply to all sorts. Here I have no¬ 
ticed one thing perhaps not generally 
known, at least I have never seen the idea 
in print. If the soil be stirred just before 
a beating rain it runs together and is tough 
and waxy, and cloddy when it becomes 
dry. Freshly plowed ground neecs sun 
or air before the rain, and if I could tell 
when the heavy shower was coming I would 
stop the plow and cultivator at least two 
hours previous. 
I agree with Mr. Powell’s idea on trim¬ 
ming trees, and think that no person is 
competent to trim a tree until he first 
(Continued on next page.) 
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