69o 
SEPT 26 
Old Cape Cod Farming. 
E. L. S , North Truro (Cape Cod.)— The 
Roumanian method of growing wheat 
described on page 618, Is essentially the 
same as that practiced here with winter rye 
for generations. The original small estate 
has produced as high as 1,000 bushels of 
rye and corn. Now we “ sell water ” and 
keep summer boarders. The ruins of the 
old wind-power grist mill, 101 years old, 
still remain on the place. 
Saving Old Fruit Trees. 
Gen. W. H. Noble, Bridgeport, Conn. 
—I have small faith in any regimen that 
offers rejuvenation to the apple or pear. 
But there is in the waning trees of both a 
surprising vigor of root and bark that 
promises years of fine fruit by grafting 
their thrifty shoots. 
Forty years ago I took in hand an old 
harvest pear tree—the Amire Joannet. 
Half its trunk was gone and many limbs 
were dying. The shell of bark and wood 
left of the trunk was not more than three 
Inches thick. My treatment was heroic. I 
cut off all decayed branches and gouged 
down to solid, healthy wood all the rot 
on limb or trunk. All fresh surfaces so 
made I painted heavily with a mixture of 
coal tar, resin, beeswax and tallow. This 
I heated and after thoroughly stirring put 
on hot and thick. It is the best thing out 
for any bared or debarked wood. That old 
pear tree had made in its life struggle, 
vigorous, smooth bark shoots. These I 
grafted with a good assortment of fine 
pears—Ott, Dearborn’s Seedling, B ood- 
good, etc. The third year after grafting, I 
had a fine return of fruit. Every year 
since that old tree has returned me a full 
crop of the finest fruits of their kinds on 
my place. Such is I think the only way to 
keep up the vigor and usefulness of such 
waning trees. Of course enrichment and 
open culture of the soil will greatly help 
them as well as sound, vigorous, young 
trees. 
Iron Tramways. 
W. C., Springfield, Ohio.— The question 
of road improvement is one which seems 
to have awakened some interest. Fifty 
years of railway building have neither 
crippled the resources of the country at 
large, nor inflicted untold misery upon any 
large class of people. The concentration of 
great numbers on limited space within 
many of the cities has done both. On the 
railroads there have been some shocking 
casualties, but a small number, compara¬ 
tively, were the victims. Yet it would have 
been better if there had been fewer acci¬ 
dents, and safety seems in most cases to 
have been sacrificed to rapidity. This is 
an age of mechanism, and in this depart¬ 
ment progress has exceeded the limit of pru¬ 
dence. The iron horse needs an iron curb, 
one which holds him on the track and con¬ 
trols his speed. The old time highway, 
with its hedge on either hand separating it 
from the well-cultivated fields through 
which it passed, with level grades and 
well-built surface and neat bridges of solid 
construction, has of late years become less 
frequent than of yore. Meanwhile towns 
and cities have been building up and be¬ 
coming crowded. Outside of municipal 
limits the wide fields stretch comparatively 
unpopulated. Villages are for the most 
part small and unpretentious. This is not 
a healthy state of things, nor is it for the 
masses a happy one. A man needs exer¬ 
cise as well as subsistence. Art, science 
and agriculture bear intimate relations. 
Population should not be confined to nar¬ 
row limits, but should extend itself far and 
wide in diverging avenues from many cen¬ 
ters. Horse railways and cable and elec¬ 
tric roads in many cities afford rapid transit 
from point to point within their limits; 
but as yet seem afraid to venture beyond 
them. But in the extension of these lines 
far out into the green fields lies the future 
promise of development to the country. 
These avenues afford on either side abund¬ 
ant sites for thrifty homes, large lots afford¬ 
ing room for fruits and flowers surrounding 
neat houses, taste, economy and comfort 
combining to make homes attractive. An 
iron rail suitable for all kinds of vehicles 
would be the most durable railway possi¬ 
ble. The opening of new mills and the 
building of new furnaces have brought into 
use a large and expensive plant, and the 
output of iron within a few years has been 
immense; but the iron market is languid. 
1HE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The building of iron tramroads would 
create a new demand for iron. The sale of 
lots on the avenues would revive real es¬ 
tate, while the result would be real devel¬ 
opment and substantial benefit to many 
thousands of people. A few hundred mil¬ 
lions of bonds would promote this obj ct 
and would add little to the national debt. 
[Why should the construction or im¬ 
provement of the highways add a cent to 
the national debt ? Under the Constitu¬ 
tion the Federal Government has absolutely 
nothing to do with them, except perchance 
where they cross State lines, or serve as 
mail routes ; and even then what has it to_ 
do with their construction, repair or im¬ 
provement ? All matters relating to the 
highways are within State jurisdiction, and 
if any public money is expended on them, 
it must be paid by the State, county or mu¬ 
nicipality unless an amendment to the 
Federal Constitution should otherwise pro¬ 
vide. There appears to be a good deal of 
confusion in the public mind as to the 
limits of State and Fe. eral jurisdiction. 
—Eds.] 
Lady Birds; Grape Notes. 
Geo. W. Campbell, Delaware County, 
Ohio.— In The Rural of September 5, F. 
Harmer inquires if the lady birds (Cocai- 
nella novemnotata) prey upon the “ potato 
bugs, ” as they swarm upon his potato 
vines, and the death rate among them seems 
greater than his doses of Paris green would 
account for. The editors say they think 
not, and are doubtless correct. But the 
lady birds perhaps do a better thing, as they 
and their larvae destroy the eggs of the 
“ potato bugs,” and thus prevent their in¬ 
crease to a great extent where they exist 
In large numbers. 
In the reply to H. C P., Gladdens, 
Pennsylvania, as to the best wine grapes, 
I would add Ives to the list, for under 
proper treatment it is valuable for miking 
a red claret wine ; and it is also useful for 
blending with other varieties lacking in 
character or vinous flavor. 
The crabs which are regarded as best for 
cider are Hewes, Virginia and Kentucky 
Red. 
I was pleased to see some mention of 
Prof. Munson’s new grapes, samples of 
which were also sent me the present season. 
I believe Mr. Munson is doing more and 
better work in the way of improving our 
native varieties of grapes by hybridizing 
and crossing, than any, or all who have 
preceded him; and if any considerable num¬ 
ber of his truly remarkable productions 
prove to be adapted to general culture, 
their value will be very great. Of a dozen 
or more new varieties sent me this season, 
there were not more than two or three that 
are not better in quality than the popular 
Concord, and I think not one that will not 
keep longer, and ship better. The Carman 
was among the number of which I made 
the following description: A cross between 
the Post Oak Grape of Northern Texas and 
Triumph, bearing beautiful, conical clus¬ 
ters, six inches long, compact and symmet¬ 
rical, slightly shouldered, berries medium- 
large, round, shining black, with light pur¬ 
ple bloom, adhering very firmly to the 
stems after long shipment and much hand¬ 
ling; skin thin, but tenacious, pulp a little 
tough, but parting freely from the seeds 
which are medium large, two to four to the 
berry; flavor pure, rich, sprightly and 
sound to the center. A grape of high char¬ 
acter and sure to be popular wherever it 
can be successfully grown. 
Another of Mr. Munson’s grapes which 
he has named Brilliant, a cross betwen 
Bindley and Delaware, sent me some years 
ago for trial, seems certainly very promis¬ 
ing. Unlike the Bindley, it has perfect 
blossoms, and sets its fruit well, forming 
large and handsome clusters, with large 
berries of brighter color than either of its 
parents. Its gro vth is very strong, foliage 
large and healthy, and quality intermed¬ 
iate between Bindley and Delaware—al¬ 
most as good as the latter. As to hardi¬ 
ness in very severe winters I cannot say, 
as we have had for several years not more 
than 13 to 15 degrees below zero. It has re¬ 
mained uninjured at this temperature 
without protection. 
Lady Birds and Poisons. 
E. P. R., Sidney, Oaio.—On page 639 in 
reply to F. Harmer The Rural says it 
thinks the lady birds do not prey on potato 
bugs. I think they prey on the very young 
beetles, and I know they eat the eggs by 
hundreds. The editorial condemnation 
of the poison fiend is none too strong, nor 
could it be made so, but the agricultural 
editors of the New York Tribune and Wit¬ 
ness advocate poisoning dogs, and encour¬ 
age their correspondents to do the same, 
and permit no contrary opinion to appear 
in their pages. 
Bushes In Pastures. 
C S. Rice, Lewis County, N Y.—Au¬ 
gust is the best time in the year for cut¬ 
ting bushes for the purpose of killing them, 
but cutting once a year will not kill such 
bushes as choke cherries or willows. They 
will live and thrive although cut in the 
“old of the moon” in August annually. 
This is true also of some varieties of the 
elm The only sure way to kill such bushes 
i-i to grub them out, dry and burn them. 
In this vicinity, if good land is once fairly 
cleared of timber, brought into cultivation 
and seeded to grass there is no trouble 
with bushes in pastures. Judicious past¬ 
uring will keep the land free from all 
kinds of bushes the leaves of which cattle 
will eat. If land is so poor that six or 
eight acres are needed to keep a cow then 
bushes will trouble. So if a pasture will 
afford good feed for 40 cows and only 20 
are kept, bushes and weeds will gradually 
get posession of it. I have known good 
pastures ruined because they were not pro- 
psrly stocked and fed through the season. 
Bushes as well as golden rod and other 
weeds now occupy over half the land that 
would have continued in grass if rightly 
pa-tured. If I had a bush pasture that 
could not be grubbed, plowed and reseeded 
to grass I would cut the bushes in August 
o September as close to the ground as prac 
ticible, inclose it with a gord fence and 
the next year pasture it with as many cat¬ 
tle as it would keep from May to Septem¬ 
ber. All kinds of bushes the foliage of 
which the cattle will eat, would soon be 
killed by this treatment and if additional 
fall feed is provided the stock will come to 
the winter in better condition than one 
half the number would if confined through 
the season to the pasture alone. On dairy 
farms it is often the case that a wood lot 
of 10 or 20 acres is fenced in with the regu¬ 
lar pasture and is thoroughly under¬ 
brushed by the cows and all young growth 
destroyed, Continued dep rivation of leaves 
will as surely kill bushes as it will thistles 
or Quack Grass, but cutting them once in 
August or any other month in the year 
will not insure their death. 
Ln writing to advertisers please always 
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m 
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