558 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
AUG. i 
the material need not be over a foot or even six inches. 
The objection to a narrow strip is that it is some¬ 
times difficult to tell whether the ball is sent or returned 
over or under. The nets offered for sale range from $1 to 
$300 each. The poles or stakes, 3% feet or more high, may 
be made of any hard wood sharpened at the ends to be 
driven into the ground, or they may be purchased at the 
stores with guy ropes, runners and pegs for 50 cents to $1 
the set. We need now only the rackets, or, toufea more 
sensible word, bats. These cost from $1 to $6; $2 50 will 
purchase a durable racket that with care will last for 
several years. The balls (best quality and the best should 
alone be used) cost about 75 cents a pair. We have now 
merely to consider the plot of ground. It may be of turf 
or of any soil that may be rendered tolerably firm. The 
dirt courts are preferable in every way. 
Any of the sportsmen’s stores will furnish on application 
illustrated books giving all the instructions required as 
well as lists of prices for nets, poles, rackets and balls. 
The principles of the game may be understood in a few 
minutes. As before intimated, to become a good player is 
a very different matter. That requires practice and a good 
deal of it too. 
The illustration on the first page is drawn from a photo¬ 
graph taken at the Rural Grounds. The court, as to its 
surroundings, is an ideal one. The tall Norway Spruces, 
not less than 30 feet high, surround a half circular plot of 
land of about one quarter of an acre. These in the earlier 
morning and later afternoon hours shelter the players 
from the sun. 
HOT WATER AS AN INSECTICIDE. 
Numerous inquiries have come to us during the past few 
weeks in regard to the best remedy for plant lice, especially 
those found on the rose, plum and cherry. I have had no 
difficulty in destroying them by means of the kerosene 
emulsion; but very few persons seem to know how to pre¬ 
pare It, so, in accordance with The Rural’s suggestion of 
a short time since, I have been trying a simpler, and I be¬ 
lieve, just as effective a remedy, when properly applied, viz., 
hot water. 
On July 3, when the sun was shining brightly, and the 
air was at a temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit, one 
tree each of plum and cherry was sprayed with hot water 
heated to 165 degrees, passed through a force pump with 
two hose attachments and a spraying nozzle. A thermome 
ter was held close to the foliage and the water was forced 
directly against the bulb, striking it and the foliage at the 
same time. The nozzle was held far enough from the bulb 
to cause it to mark 130 degrees. This was continued for 20 
seconds. At the end of an hour the aphides were all dead 
and the foliage of both trees was unharmed, as subsequent 
examination has proved. [Cherry aphides receiving the 
spray at 130 degrees in The R. N.-Y’s trials were not 
harmed. Eds.] 
A rose bush was sprayed the same day with the tempera¬ 
ture of the water reduced to 112 degrees; neither the foliage 
nor the lice were injured in the least. In fact a tempera¬ 
ture of 125 degrees seemed to have very little effect on the 
aphides; while a temperature of 130 degrees continued for 
a half minute, destroyed nearly all of them. On the same 
day two other trees were sprayed with the kerosene emul¬ 
sion and the lice were all killed. 
Wishing to determine how high a temperature the foli¬ 
age of these different plants would endure without harm, 
I selected the Yellow Russian Plum, the French Morello 
Cherry, the Jefferson Grape, Stone’s Hardy Blackberry, 
and the Nemaha Raspberry, and on July 9, these were 
sprayed with water having a temperature as follows: plum 
158 degrees, cherry 145 degrees, grape 140 degrees, blackberry 
and raspberry 140 degrees. Time on each, 30 seconds. The 
temperature of the air and other conditions were the same 
as before. The following day the foliage of the plum was 
found to be killed, and that of all the others only slightly 
injured. By reducing the temperature to 135 degrees and 
spraying for the same time as before, no injury resulted. [A 
leaf of Cottage Grape held in water at 140 degrees for 30 
seconds died in about 48 hours. Eds ] 
I have not been able to find any rose chafers on which to 
try the experiment; but it would seem by the facts already 
obtained, that the foliage of plants on which these little 
pests usually work, will withstand a much higher temper¬ 
ature than is sufficient to destroy the insect. But I have 
found it a very difficult matter to get the water on all 
parts of the tree, if a very large one, at just the right tem¬ 
perature; as, if put on in a fine spray, it gives up its heat 
so readily that, if the distance from the nozzle be increased 
two feet or more, the temperature will be too low for any 
use. On low trees and shrubs I am inclined to think it will 
work well in destroying aphides. j. troop. 
Indiana Experiment Station. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
New Blackcaps. 
The R. N.-Y.’s trials of raspberries during the past 15 
years have covered every variety popular to day, hundreds 
that have never been baptized, and scores that have been 
introduced but to be found inferior to well known kinds. 
Real progress has been slow. There is still room for great 
improvement, especially among the reds. 
Palmer’s Seedling plants were received from the 
Storr’s Harrison Co., Painesville, O., in April of 1889. The 
canes are thrifty and hardy, six feet high, moderately 
thorny. The berries are of medium size, as large as Doo¬ 
little, black, glossy with a trifle of bloom around the base 
of the drupelets. Firm, good quality. It is among the 
earliest. The berries do not grow in clusters or umbels 
as in the Gregg and its seedlings, but extend down the 
stem six inches or more. 
Progress is praised highly by many who have tried it, 
but thus far we are unable to make a favorable report. 
The berries ripen as early as those of the Souhegan. They 
are firm, of good quality, but small, as may be seen by our 
illustration (Fig. 202), which is true to nature. Anthrac- 
nose prevails here to such an extent that it is unfair to 
condemn any variety until it has been tried for several 
years. 
Lovett’s Early.— Strong plants were received from J. 
T. Lovett, of Little Silver, N. J., in April of last year. The 
canes are vigorous, the tallest being over six feet. The 
berries are borne in short racemes somewhat like those of 
Progress. Fig. 202. 
Gregg, are nearly as large, black, glossy with some bloom 
around the base of the drupelets. They are as firm as it is 
desirable a blackcap should be, and never drop from the 
receptacle. The quality is as good as that of SouhegaD, 
the only qualification being that the seeds are somewhat 
larger. There was no marked difference in earliness be¬ 
tween the Palmer, Progress and Lovett. Judged from 
the first season of fruiting, it is an improvement, all 
things considered, over any variety we have tried. Its 
hardiness still remains to be tested. 
New Grapes-Moles. 
The following varieties of Prof. T. V. Munson’s grapes 
were received last fall, heeled in and planted early last 
Lovett’s Early. Fig. 203. 
spring: Pres. Lyon, Nimalba, Campbell, Jaeger, Conelva, 
Carman, Brilliant, Beagle, Hilgard, Early Market, Rom¬ 
mel and Blanco. The weather has been exceedingly dry. 
the moles never more destructive. Nevertheless they have 
all made a fair growth. 
The depredations of mole3 this season are enough to 
dampen the ardor of the most enthusiastic. They do not 
harm roots directly; but they find their natural food 
(worms, beetles and grubs) more abundant about the 
roots of plants, and therefore burrow underneath and 
around them. So it is that the young plants deprived of 
moisture must suffer accordingly. Though four traps 
have been kept constantly in use, hundreds of valuable 
seedlings have been destroyed. 
“TAKE A DAY OFF AND PLAY!” 
Vacate and Get New Vigor. 
Some farmers' notes; camping out; railroad travel; 
picnics; nearby trips; go away slowly, come home 
Hying; food on a trip. 
Why and How to Travel. 
The farmer’s wife needs a vacation more than he does, 
and all plans and arrangements for one should by all 
means include her. If you defer taking a vacation until 
you are out of debt and have become prosperous, you will 
never take one. Such is the power of habit, that he who 
plans only for work and home staying, finally loses not 
only the desire for a vacation, but the capacity to enjoy it 
if he did take it. There are tens of thousands of farmers 
out of debt, who could afford a trip with their wives every 
year, who never think of going 50 miles from home unless 
it is on some crowded excursion, and then they leave their 
wives behind them. I was recently conversing with a 
farmer still In the prime of life, who owns 300 acres of ex¬ 
cellent land, and whose children are all married and doiDg 
well, and I urged him to take his wife and travel to see 
something of the wonders of our country. His response 
was: “ My wife can’t endure travel; it tires her all out. 
I took her to Barnum’s Circus and to the May Festival at 
Cincinnati, and one day tired her out completely.” The 
facts are these : he lived six miles from the railroad, and 
as the morning train starts at six o’clock they were 
obliged to get up at about half past three to get breakfast 
and get to the train in time; returning it would be 11 
o’clock when they reached home, and with irregular hours 
for meals, and the excitement of new scenes, no wonder 
that one day tired them out. 
Every farmer and his wife ought to have a vacation each 
summer, and while if it can be afforded a trip by rail is 
desirable, a vacation can be had without it. If you are 
sure that you cannot afford the trip by rail, or to leave 
home for some consecutive days, plan for several days’ 
outing scattered through the summer. There are many 
points of Interest within a few hours’ drive of almost any 
farm. Take an afternoon to go to a stream and picnic on 
its banks, or visit some scenery that is worth seeing, or 
drive to some town 10 or 15 miles away that your family 
has never seen. It will cost but a trifle to get a dinner for 
the family at a hotel and will be something new to the 
children, and a pleasant change for the mother. When 
the roads are good in summer, and the days long, quite an 
extensive trip can be made by carriage in a single day. 
Start in the cool of the morning and drive 15 or 20 miles, 
then rest four or five hours and return in the evening. 
You will notice that I say “plan” for these outings, for 
unless you do plan beforehand it is almost certain that 
you will not go. 
During the years when the children are small and the 
mother cannot travel, this seems to be the easiest and best 
plan of getting a vacation. When the time comes that 
your means, and condition of the family are such that you 
can travel, and take longer vacations plan wisely so as to 
get the value of your money, and to return home refreshed 
rather than worn out. To go off on a long excursion on a 
crowded train, with no stop over privileges, where you 
must travel nights without rest, is not recreation, and 
often the reverse of pleasure. Excursions are often at 
very low rates, and when you can secure & sleeping car in 
advance you are all right. I long since decided that I 
would rather wait three years and be able to take a trip 
with the comforts which parlor and sleeping cars give, 
than to go every year on the crowded excursion cars. Do 
not carry any false pride with you; but do on the trip 
that which will contribute to health and comfort, and one 
thing which will not only do this but also prove very 
economical is to carry a wisely prepared lunch. The farmer 
who is accustomed to eat his meals at early and regular 
hours at home, soon finds his digestion impaired if he 
must wait till nine o’clock for his breakfast, and to 2 or 3 
P. M. for his dinner and for his supper till almost any hour. 
Carry a good supply of well baked home-made bread, good, 
sweet butter put up in jelly glasses, fruit, cooked and raw, 
and a day or twos’ supply of well cooked meat. 
On a trip lasting a week which wife and I took, starting 
at Cincinnati and taking in the grand scenery of the New 
River Caffon of West Virginia, and spending one day at 
the falls of the Kanawha, one at Richmond, Va., one at 
Old Point Comfort, and one at Washington, our lunch 
saved enough to pay for our sleeping-car berths, our hack 
hire, and the trip by steamer from Old Point Comfort to 
Washington, and we had good, wholesome meals at regu¬ 
lar hours. When at Washington, as our lunch was gone, 
instead of depending on restaurant meals at unseasonable 
hours and of doubtful palatability, I purchased one dozen 
fine pippin apples, a few pounds of grapes, a loaf of well- 
baked bread and a frame of honey, and the whole cost 
less than a single meal for one at many points, and with 
the home-made butter which we still had, this supply gave 
two of us three or four good meals. At Richmond, Va., 
our lunch basket was again replenished, and on reaching 
home a little figuring showed that our lunch basket had 
saved us $18. We had low excursion rates, the round 
trip tickets costing but $17 each, and the entire week’s ex¬ 
pense was but $27 for each, and taking, as we did, sleeping 
cars, we were not crowded at all. To be sure it was a hur¬ 
ried trip, but we saw the mountains, the battle fields, 
Libby prison, the ocean, the capital of the United States, 
and the Capitol in it, the Washington Monument, and a 
thousand things of interest, which it is a pleasure to 
think about, and the pleasures of that week are not over 
