1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
739 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
( Continued .) 
The new peach “ Good ’’—sent to us by 
H. M. Engle & Son, of Marietta, Pa., in 
November of 188S, bears this year three 
peaches. They are whitish and very late, 
ripening September 28. Skin, yellowish- 
white, marked with crimson on one side, 
flesh pinkish about the stone, to which it 
adheres slightly. Juicy, rich, sweat, melt¬ 
ing, fine. The size averages eight inches in 
circumference either way. 
A tree of the new pear Dr. Hoskins, was 
sent to us by J. T. Macomber, of Grand 
Isle, Vermont, in 1886. It bears two pears 
this season, its first fruit. It was illustrated 
and described in The R N.-Y. of 1885, page 
203. 
The Idaho also bears two pears from 
scions sent to the Rural Grounds some four 
or five years ago worked on Lawrence. 
These specimens are not yet ripe; but 
judged thus early, the Idaho is not going 
to do as well In New Jersey as it does In 
Idaho. 
The Manettia Vine, which of late Mr. J. 
L Childs has done much to popularize, is 
really a neat, interesting plant. It blooms 
constantly, and though in a rather dry 
place, has made a growth of some eight feet 
in height. The flowers are well shown by 
the colored illustration iu Mr. Childs’s cata¬ 
logue, though not so large. They measure 
less than an inch in length by about one- 
quarter of an inch in diameter, being in the 
form of a nearly straight tube, a little 
swollen at the base. The color i3 a bright 
red covered with a plush-like down, the 
apex of the tube being yellow. The pistil 
is as long as the flower tube, while the 
anthers reach only midway. It may be de¬ 
pendent upon insects for seed production.. 
The Eaton Grape again ripens about a 
week earlier than Concord. 
The yellow sport of the Peach Tomato 
which occurred at the Rural Grounds last 
year, came true from seed in every case. It 
is remarkable that 40 plants, the result of 
crossing thex>rdinary kinds upon the Peach, 
have borne berries (the tomato is a berry) 
not one of which resembles the mother.... 
Yes, there are many reports of potato rot 
—but The R N.-Y. has little reason to be¬ 
lieve that potatoes will bring a high price 
this year. 
The R. N.-Y. is now digging from the 
experiment plots its Blush Potatoes, which 
are larger and more numerous than in years 
past. The potatoes (large and small sepa¬ 
rately) ot every trench are weighed and 
their condition as to size, smoothness, etc., 
carefully noted. Those hills which yield 
the largest number of sound potatoes are 
marked and seed tubers for another year 
are selected therefrom. 
We have more and more faith in this 
kind of selection, having no longer any 
doubt that the shape, size, vigor and pro¬ 
ductiveness may be favorably influenced. 
In fact if such selections were made from 
year to year, it is our belief that varieties 
of potatoes would never run out unless 
weakened by blight or insect depredations. 
In some carefully conducted experiments 
by Prof. Shelton, at the Kansas State Agri¬ 
cultural College, says F. D. Coburn In the 
Agriculturist, he found that in severe 
weather it cost, when shotes were exposed, 
about \\% pounds of corn to produce one 
pound of pork, while the same animals in 
like weather, but in a warm barn, gave a 
pound of pork for less than pounds of 
corn. A summing up of his experiments 
in this direction Indicated to him that put¬ 
ting increase on hogs exposed in severe 
weather cost about 25 per cent more than a 
like increase cost on hogs that were kept In 
comfortably sheltered quarters; also that 
of each bushel of corn ted to exposed ani¬ 
mals an amount sufficient to make 2 % 
pounds of porx was used up In merely keep¬ 
ing the animals warm. Such a tariff for 
warmth alone is more than the traffic will 
bear and emphasizes the importance of do¬ 
ing much of the fattening in autumn that 
is ordinarily done In November and Decem¬ 
ber. 
Bulletin No. 17 of the University of 
Illinois Experiment Station Is about wheat 
experiments, it might well have been is¬ 
sued earlier. Elgut pecks of seed yield 27 
bushels; six pecks 29, four pecks 26. Wheat 
sown October 2 yielded 86 bushels; Sep¬ 
tember 12,36 bushels; September 21,31 bush¬ 
els, and October 14, 31 bushels. The effects 
o t commercial fertilizers on wheat and corn 
are to lessen the crop. Its tests with varie¬ 
ties were with Carter’s (London) cross¬ 
breeds. “The results were not conclusive. 
It is probable they will mature too late.” 
A sale conclusion to guess at for all Euglish 
wheats. The Department of Agriculture 
sent the station two kinds of wheat, but 
“ through a mistake in the postal authori¬ 
ties, they were not received until Oc 
tober4.”.-. 
“ At the North it is working its way into 
some places and when once introduced it is 
to be dreaded. We do not need any such a 
low, persistent grass for either pasture or 
meadow at the North, and can only regard 
it as an enemy to the farmer and gardener.” 
So speaks our neighbor, the American ^Ag¬ 
riculturist, alluding to Bermuda Grass. 
With such an accomplished editor as Dr. 
Hexamer at its head, one is surprised at the 
statement. It is not “working its way 
into some places at the North;” it is not 
“ to be dreaded when once introduced” and 
need not in any wise be regarded “ as an 
enemy to the farmer and gardener.” 
The R. N.-Y. has raised Bermuda Grass 
both from cuttings and from seed. In both 
cases, it made a great growth during the 
season, spreading in all directions. A por¬ 
tion was protected (mulched) during the 
winter; but not a live vestige was to be 
found In the spring. Northern farmers need 
not bother over Bermuda Grass. 
DIRECT. 
-Christian Union : “ There is no surer 
test of a man’s nature than the spirit in 
which he receives criticism. One whose in¬ 
terest in his work is personal, and lies 
rather in a pride in his way of doing it 
than in the supreme excellence of the thing 
done, resents criticism as an attack on him¬ 
self. On the other hand, one whose chief 
interest is in the work, and not in himself, 
welcomes criticism because it may help him 
to secure a higher degree of efficiency. It 
is one of the truisms of life that nothing 
remains stationary; that new times not 
only demand new men but new methods.” 
“ Nothing remains as it was; least of all 
those tasks to which men set themselves. 
The master workman, therefore, is not he 
who remembers most perfectly the lessons 
of his youth, but he who continually holds 
his skill open to the suggestions of new 
teaching; who does not base his supremacy 
on what he did 10 years ago, but on what 
he is able to do to-day. The man who cares 
supremely for his work, and only secondar¬ 
ily for his method, is the man who will 
always keep in line with the improvements 
In his own department. He will always 
make use of the latest and best method. 
His constant study will be to improve on 
his present way of doing things.” 
“ The man who forgets most completely 
his own vanity, and, in a sense, his own in¬ 
terest in the accomplishment of his work, 
and identifies himself with the work, se¬ 
cures in the end the very highest personal 
returns from that work, because by his very 
self-abnegation he makes himself a master 
of his craft. The great workmen have 
found their delight in their work, not in 
the recognition of it nor in the material re¬ 
wards of it, though these are never unac- 
captable. The joy of life is in doing, not in 
getting things done.” 
“ The secret, therefore, of noble work¬ 
manship In any department Is to feel that 
the doing of the work is the great thing, 
and the reward merely secondary, and so 
always to keep one’s self open to every hint 
of a better way, from whatever source it 
comes. Gratitude for criticism is one of 
the highest expressions of a really fine 
nature.” 
-New York Times : “ A scientific man 
should be one of the most modest of all per¬ 
sons.” 
“Forehanded farmers will have more 
money to invest this winter than ever be¬ 
fore. As a rule it is the big promise of the 
interest—the promise be it observed and not 
the reality of it very often—that seduces 
the uncareful investor.” 
“ A farmer can never invest money more 
safely and profitably than on his own farm. 
And the security is unquestionable. The 
improvement of one’s own land pays a big¬ 
ger Interest than any lawful interest that 
can be procured.” 
“The love of money for its possession 
alone is well called a vice, and it degrades 
the person as the cultivation of any other 
vice does. The farm home is not so often 
as it might be the abode of the comfort and 
refinement that would make it more attrac¬ 
tive to the farmer’s children. There are 
lonely old couples in farmhouses who have 
a childless home, but have saved money 
that is the price of their loneliness. To 
make the home as attractive and as happy 
as may be to the children is one of the most 
profitable ways of disposing of the surplus 
Income, and it is less urgent on the farmer 
than upon any other man that money 
should be laid away for an unexpected 
emergency, because such an ill fortune is 
scarcely possible to a farmer who is out of 
debt and has a fertile and well-appointed 
farm. The comfort of the home is, there¬ 
fore, one thing upon which at least a part 
of the surplus income this year may be very 
well spent.’’_ 
Notes from the Rural Grounds. 
AGAIN, MR. CHILDS. 
In the catalogue of John Lewis Childs for 
several years past (as far back as 1887 at 
any rate) has appeared a half-page (nearly) 
illustration of what he calls Childs’s New 
Hardy Hybrid Hibiscus. 
“ This grand hardy hibiscus,” the cata¬ 
logue states, “ which has become known as 
the ‘ Oiant Flower ,’ we vroduced after 
years of careful hybridization * * * For 
hedges they are unsurpassed * * * The 
flowers are produced in great profusion 
from July to September and are about a 
foot across. 1 ’ 
Iu 1889 we sent for roots of this “New 
Hybrid.” The order was not filled; neither 
was any reason given why it was not filled. 
In the spring of 1890 we noticed the same 
cut in the catalogue of W. Atlee Burpee & 
Co., of Philadelphia, and wrote to the firm 
for roots, which were promptly forwarded. 
Mr. Burpee’s catalogue stated as follows: 
“ Said to have been produced by hybridiza¬ 
tion of the Moscheutos and Californicus 
types.” Further on the description is the 
same as Childs’s description. The roots 
grew thriftily and proved to be the common 
Swamp Rose Mallow which enlivens our 
brackish marsh lands in many parts of this 
country and Canada, blooming in August. 
We wrote to W. A. Burpee asking where 
his plants came from. His reply was that 
they were purchased of John Lewis Childs, 
and that further he knew nothing about 
them, which, indeed, was evidenced from 
his use of the words “ Said to be” in his 
catalogue description. 
Last spring we again ordered roots of Mr. 
Childs as follows: 
“ Dear Sir : Please send two roots of 
your New Hardy Hybrid Hibiscus. Would 
like to see this plant. Have tried to cross 
the Hibiscus Moscheutos and Syriacus, 
but failed. What are the parents of your 
hybrid f 
“ Please send bill to Rural Publishing 
Co. and plants to the Rural Grounds.” 
No reply of any kind was received to the 
above order and inquiries. 
We then ordered plants through a friend 
living near Mr. Cnilds, which we duly re¬ 
ceived and planted. They proved to be—as 
did those received from Mr. Burpee—the 
old Hibiscus Moscheutos or Swamp Rose 
Mallow, with which most of our readers 
are quite familiar. 
It is a herbaceous plant and therefore* 
not suited to hedges, as nothing remains 
of it during winter above ground but the 
dead stems. The flowers, if we may trust 
Dr. Asa Gray, grow to the size of from five 
to six inches in diameter. We have never 
seen any a foot in diameter, though plants 
have been growing here (Rural Grounds) 
for many years raised from roots as well 
as from seeds. For five years past, as the 
columns of The R. N.-Y. record, we have 
vainly tried to cross it with the Woody or 
Tree Althma, often called Rose of Sharon— 
Hibiscus Syriacus, botanically. 
Now this Swamp Rose Mallow is a showy 
though coarse plant, as every one knows, 
and it thrives just as well in upland a3 in 
lowland. There is nothing to be said against 
It as a desirable plant for the garden for 
those who care to procure the seeds or roots 
from the nearest marsh or to purchase them 
of a florist or seedsman. But to sell 
the seeds or roots under another name 
—a “ new hybrid ”—which bears flowers 
“ about a foot across,” while the plants 
are “ unsurpassed for hedges,” is one of 
those impositions upon the public that 
should be exposed and denounced by all 
right-minded people familiar with the facts. 
It would, we dare say, prove highly in¬ 
structive could it be made known just how 
many roots and packets of seeds of these 
“ Cnilds’s New Hybrids” have been sold 
since its conspicuous announcement in 1887 
(or before) and how many of those pur¬ 
chasers have been amazed' or disgusted 
upon finding them to be the old mallow 
that from time out of mind has flourished, 
perhaps, in the meadows beyond. 
The following note was mailed to Mr. 
Childs September 17. No reply has been 
received: 
"Dear Sir—Kindly advise us if the facts 
of the Inclosed article are right or wrong. 
If wrong, please state wherein they are 
wrong, and permit us to print your reply 
underneath the above in The Rural New 
Yorker. Sincerely yours, 
“ The Rural Publishing Co.” 
Mr. John L. Childs. 
In writing to advertisers please always 
mention The Rural New-Yorker. 
FOR SALE 
TO CLOSE AN ESTATE. 
A FARM OF 300 ACRES 
Under high cltlvatlon at present, on which are lo¬ 
cated a three story brick homestead, two carriage 
houses, bares, sheds, a brick icehouse, a blacksmith 
shop, scale house with scales, carpenter shop and 
three tenement houses, all fn good repair. 
The farm is half a mile front Aurora with an excel¬ 
lent turnpike road good the year round. 
Aurora nas three express tratrs each way dally on 
the Lehigh Valley hallway between Auburn aad 
Ithaca, anil it U the site of Wells College and the 
Cayuga Lake Military Academy. 
The homestead and building■> adjacent will be sol 1 
with all or a part of the farm as the purchaser may 
desire. 
The property Is admirably adapted to farming pur¬ 
poses, consisting of the richest clay loam soil In 
western New York, well watered, or It would make 
a splendid stock farm, for cattle or horse breeding. 
It has an excellent half-mile track, which could 
easily be enlarged to a mile track if desired, l’astur- 
age superb. 
The abovo property will be sold on easy terms. 
For particulars, address 
MRS. D. A WOODRUEF, Executrix, Auburn, N. Y. 
8UNNYSIDEr F »^l 
Farm, near large city ; 737 acres-80 1 In cultivation, 
2i7 grass, I;0 wood land, 100 acres fine river bottoms, 
absolutely inexhaustible; uplands rich; farm well 
fenced and watered; nice resilience on commanding 
situation; eminently healthy ; ample outbuildings; 
everything in good repair. Aver ige, 20 per cent net 
profit annually. $17,00,). W. G. STEVaNS, Houston,Va 
I WILL SELL MY FARM, 
500 Acres Choice Land, well located In and ad¬ 
joining a city of 10,000 in the gas and oil belt of North¬ 
western Ohio Schools, churches and manufactories 
of the best. Three railroads, electric lights, and will 
soon have street railroads. Will sell or divide on time 
to suit purchaser, or excitative for available property. 
O. WELSH, F. O. Box 887, Defiance, Defiance Co , O. 
CLAREMONT Land Association, s £;?r<Tvi. 
Offers GOO choice farms; .‘t.OOO handsome town 
lots on James lllver, with terms to suit purchasers 
Free circular. 
A Red River Valley, North Dakota, Farm. 
Immediately adjoining the celebrated Dalrymple 
Farm, fully and t-plendldly equipped, i.llno acres in 
wheat this year. Commodious and substantial but'd- 
Ings, and product of farm will sell for $fi.Util) or more 
than half the price asked for the property. Nothing 
more productive In the entire Northwest: unprece¬ 
dented opportunity for a good fainter. Present owner 
will retire from active pursuits, and also offers at 
grpat bargains five other smaller furms ranging in 
area front lfin to 800 acres. No exchange, no trade of 
any sort will b t considered, but liberal terms of low 
interest will be granted. 
Address CHAS. A. MORTON, Fargo, N. D. 
C hampion Fvaporator. 
For MAPLE, SORGHUM, CIDER 
AND FRUIT JELLIES. 
Corrugated pan over firebox, doubling, 
boiling capacity. Small interchange 
able syrup pans (connected by 
phons), easily handled for cleans 
tng and storing, and a Perfect,, 
Automatic Regulator 
The Champion is as great 
an improvement over the 
Cook Pan as the latter 
was over the old iron ket¬ 
tle, hung on a fence rail. 
The C.H.CRIMM 
MFC. CO. 
Hudson, Ohio and Rutland, 
.KEYSTONE 
CORN SHELLERS 
To-day, us for 20 Tears, Simply the Best. 
Run lighter—Saving Horseflesh 
Do more work—Saving Time 
Keep in repair—Saving Expense 
Clean perfectly—Pleasing Buyers. 
| Mechanically impossible for them to grind 
the cob, crack the grain, or only partly 
1 shell the ear. All sizes, from Pony 
| Hand Sueuer to great 6 Hole Ski.k 
Feeder of 8 Horse Power. Sold under 
warranty. Send for “Sheller book” to 
Keystone Mfg. Co., 
Mention paper. Sterling, III. 
IbKANCIIES: Kansas City, Ho., St. Louis, Ho. { 
Connell Bluffs, la., Columbus, O. 
8 I X HOLE 
Power 
SHELLER. 
THE ONLY RELIABLE 
DIGGER IN THE 
World* 
send™* circulars. 
Pruyn Manufacturing Company, 
BOX A, HOOSICK FALLS. N. Y 
