even by a blind man. Now the point comes up—how are 
we going to have better roads ? Jast as soon as the citizens 
of any township or county get thoroughly mad at their 
roads, those roads will improve. Just so long as people 
defend and apologize for their roads just because they are 
made and controlled by native talent, the roads will be 
poor. When a man wants a house built he hires a car¬ 
penter. Road making is as much of a trade as carpentry— 
it is more of a trade—as much of a trade as railroad or 
bridge building. You have to thoroughly understand that 
fact before you can expect to have good roads. 
Mr. Isaac B. Potter says, in the book from which we 
have already quoted : 
“Gladstone, who is perhaps the greatest Englishman 
of the century, says: * The duties of a government are 
paternal,’ and in that sentence includes the whole scheme 
of honest state-craft. It is this principle that pervades the 
road laws of every civilized country in Europe and insures 
to all the people a fair and equitable opportunity to enjoy, 
untrammeled, the full blessings of their vocations and 
live their lives * in the pursuit of happiness.’ 
“ What ‘paternal duty,’ my dear American farmer, does 
your State exercise in your behalf ? Post offices ? Yes, it 
leaves your letter at the corners, four miles distant, and 
permits yon to wade and wallow for it. Free suffrage t 
Yes, my loyal friend, every year or two the election ex¬ 
citement gets into your borough and you are invited once 
or twice a week to shoulder a torch and chase the village 
band through miles of slime to the tune of * Kemo Klmo,’ 
till election day comes, when, if your rheumatism lets up 
and the mud isn’t too deep, you drive the patient old mare 
through miles of mangled soil to help elect somebody who 
is apt to serve your interests last and least of all. Schools? 
Yes, the red schoolhouse is there, but your children are 
half the time at home in spring and fall because the roads 
are bad. Churches ? No, your government leaves the re¬ 
ligious question entirely with you, and I sometimes think 
when the old clergyman preaches the doctrine, ‘ A righ¬ 
teous man regardeth the life of his beast,’ and ‘ The pru¬ 
dent man looketh well to his going,’ that there is enough 
philosophy in those two texts to give you the first good 
lift to stronger ground. 
“You see, it is a kind of reform that must come from 
the people, and, most of all, from the farmers. It is a re¬ 
form that benefits all and injures none; makes you 
broader and better in person and in your possessions; 
helps and hastens the happiness of your family; shields 
and saves the patient friend that drags your wagon so 
many miles from year to year ; pats you on better terms 
with yourself and all mankind and leaves you wondering 
what sort of a farmer that was who lived and labored in a 
sea of mire. It is a reform that is now at the threshold of 
your State and one that will respond to your feeblest in¬ 
vitation.” 
failure is quite as complete all about me. I think no harm 
whatever came from the application. 
My experience with the Niagara and Diamond is such as 
to lead me unqualifiedly to place them foremost among 
white grapes, all things considered—growth of vine, pro¬ 
lific bearing, size of bunches, beauty of berries, high qual¬ 
ity and hardiness. They are a noble pair. Diamond is a 
little ahead in quality and Niagara in quantity and size. 
Of black grapes I have as little hesitation in naming as the 
best two Worden and Herbert. But in planting the latter 
it must be borne in mind that all or nearly all of Rogers’s 
Hybrids do not self-fertilize with certainty. They must be 
grown with other sorts. Worden is dead-ripe two weeks 
before the Herbert, which ripens with the Concord. 
Worden is tender-skinned; Herbert is not. Both are 
magnificent in growth, quality, size of bunch, and berry, 
prolific bearing and beauty. As for red grapes Brighton 
and Ulster are very fine for general culture ; but I should 
wish to add Gsertner to the list. Here also must one re¬ 
member that Brighton will not fecundate itself with cer¬ 
tainty. It must be grown with other grapes. 
There are two superb grapes for growing on sunny walls 
or houses that surpass all others, Iona and Goethe; and, 
perhaps best of all, Jefferson if the season doesn’t prove 
too short. I advise a good deal of grape growing on barns 
and houses. Bushels of the finest fruit can be obtained in 
this way with no damage whatever to the house; on the 
contrary, there will be a benefit to the walls and the inside, 
if the vines are trimmed with discretion. Vegetable 
growth not in excess does not increase dampness, but 
decreases it. 
Let me repeat what I recommended last year, the plant¬ 
ing of the August Giant on rocks and wherever wild, ram¬ 
pant growth is derived. The grape is excellent, but late 
—later than Concord by 10 days. Among those to be 
totally rejected are Jessica, Grein’s Golden, Grain’s No. 7, 
Amber and Prentiss—Golden G a m is too insignificant to 
It has taken first premium at the Ohio State Fair the last 
two years as the best unnamed seedling. E. n. C. 
Euclid, Ohio. 
R N.-Y.—The specimens were in a partial state of col¬ 
lapse when received. Nevertheless portions were still 
sound, and from these parts we incline to the opinion that 
though resembling the Seckel in quality, they are inferior 
to that variety, being less tender, melting and juicy. 
SOME FERTILIZER NUGGETS. 
There has always been more or less discussion about the 
value of the street sweepings, which are collected in all 
our large cities, and generally thrown away as waste 
products. Sweepings from the city of Providence were 
sent to the Rhode Island Station,where they were analyzed, 
and compared with fresh horse manure. This is the 
result: 
Fresh Horse Manure. Street. Sweepings. 
_ . Per cent. Per cent. 
Water. 75 6?0 61.240 
Nitrogen. .540 .330 
Potash (Potassium oxide). .857 .141 
Phosphoric acid. .268 .244 
Insoluble matter, sand, etc. .664 23.540 
While they contain less water than the manure, they also 
contain much more sand and insoluble matter. By adding 
8K pounds of muriate of potash and 36X pounds of nitrate 
of soda to a ton of sweepings, they would analyze about 
the same as manure. It seems safe to say that they are 
not worth hauling any distance, as they contain less than 
$1.50 worth of fertility per ton, and one must haul over 
1,200 pounds of water In every ton. If the city does the 
hauling, it would pay to let the carters dump the stuff on 
some old field, provided there are not too many bottles 
and tin cans in the loads. The Rhode Island Station tells 
us that in every ton of waste liquor running away from a 
Providence fertilizer factory there were 6>£ pounds of 
nitrogen, and nearly 1% pound each of phosphoric acid 
and potash—the whole worth, say, $1 25, What will it cost 
to pump and pipe it away for use as a fertilizer ? 
Experiments were also made to determine the value of 
cotton and wool wastes as absorbents and fertilizers. Near 
all the large cotton factories farmers buy the waste for 
bedding. It was found that 100 pounds of it would absorb 
all the way from 276 to 550 pounds of water. A ton of the 
waste contains 30 pounds of nitrogen, 10 pounds of phos¬ 
phoric acid and 21 pounds of potash. These substances are 
not easily f oluble, however, but are valuable as absorbents 
to hold the liquid manure. The wool waste is more valu¬ 
able-analysis showing a value of $8 86 per ton. This-sub- 
stance is not so nseful for bedding—it is oily and sticky 
and hangs to the cattle. It is a good absorbent and may 
be used in the gutters back of the cattle. 
Chemicals, Clover and Sheep —Two weeks ago a cor¬ 
respondent suggested sheep as a new partner for Chemicals 
and Clover. Mr. Lewis tells us that he would rather sell 
his hay than feed It to any stock. He Is close by a fine 
market that will take it at a paying price. After taking 
out the cost of labor and the price of the grain that would 
have to be bought and fed with the clover hay, the sheep 
would not pay him as much as the hay dealers. He is 
fortunately situated, having no land that caunot be cul¬ 
tivated and drained so that it will grow clover. If he had 
any waste land or any that could profitably be kept in 
pasture, sheep would do. He has tried them and knows 
that he makes more by selling the hay and buying fertil¬ 
izers. There are plenty of farms where the advice to 
“make all the farm manure you can,” is s sound as a 
dollar. With his system of farming, make as little as you 
can Is sounder. Right there, in his locality, chemicals and 
clover make a cheaper and better manure than clover bay 
and grain. We asked Mr. Lewis if he could get along 
without any clover or green crop at all and use simply 
fertilizers year after year. He said he could, but that the 
clover sod was better because it supplied needed humus 
while its roots broke up the soil and prevented it from be¬ 
coming too hard. In trying to restore a worn-out farm he 
would use corn as the first crop, first liming the soil and 
plowing weeds and grass in. The lime would help to 
decay the weeds and also work up the soil. If the corn 
showed at any time that there was not strength enough in 
the soil a soluble fertilizer would be applied and it would 
make itself felt in a very few days. After corn potatoes, 
with a big dose of fertilizer, would follow and then wheat 
and grass. _ 
VINE AND TREE MATTERS. 
Strawberries in October. 
I am just going through my strawberry patch, which 
comprises 2% acres, and it is the nicest field I ever saw. 
Not one weed is to be found. I use a very fine-toothed 
cultivator to stir the ground and mellow It up as well as 
to keep it level. My next work will be to cover it with a 
compost, made early in the spring, of one load of ashes to 
one of fine manure and one of muck, all of which I can get 
for the drawing. I also add one bushel of salt to every 
three loads of material for composting. I generally work 
this heap over twice during the summer, and this makes 
the compost very fine for the plants. I cover the ground 
about an inch thick with It, and when the ground freezes I 
cover it with three inches of clean wheat straw or, preferably! 
marsh hay if I can get it. This is all until the berries are 
ripe and gone, except in case new plants are dug, when, 
of course, the ground should be leveled again and “ re- 
strawed.” In going over my strawberry patch I find a 
great many ripe and green berries as well as blossoms. I 
send a few specimens to The Rural. They are Jessie, Hav- 
erland and Crawford. I very much like the plan of selling 
berries by the pound in little trays In a home market. 
How nice it would be to have them nicely decorated with 
a few leaves and flowers, especially large berries. I shall 
be glad to learn what success others have had that have 
tried this plan. j. p. 
Angola, Ind. 
[The lot of berries were a surprise to The R. N.-Y. at 
this season of the year. They were as large as those which 
ripen in the usual season.—E ds.] 
Grapes in 1 89 1. 
Here is my experience with anthracnose on grapes. This 
disease was causing more mischief than black rot. It 
struck my vines in 1889 and for two years made havoc in a 
young vineyard, utterly ruining most of the vines. It was 
also spreading into my older vineyards. Some varieties 
were more subject to the evil than others; such as Dia¬ 
mond and Gaertner, both favorites with me ; but all sorts 
were liable to suffer. It was not till the second year that 
I understood the nature of the disease. Fortunately, a 
remedy was about the same time suggested by a California 
grower. This was sulphate of iron or copperas, not sul¬ 
phate of copper. I dissolved 10 pounds in a barrel of water 
and had my vines well swabbed, applying it with a sponge 
and allowing much of it to drip down about the roots and 
over the ground. It should be applied in March or April 
before the leaves begin to burst forth; or late in the 
fall. The copperas dropping on strawberries browned the 
leaves and slightly burned them. It would be destructive 
to [young grape shoots. The result was an utter rout of 
anthracnose—since then there hasn’t been a sign of it 
about my vines. I have used some of it on apple trees this 
year. The short crop of fruit might be attributed to the 
copperas, only that a few vines not touched about the 
house and barn are equally deficient in bunches and the 
A Big Load of Mud. Fig. 280 
pay for its room. As for Woodruff Red it Is detestable. I 
do not find Poughkeepsie Red specially desirable. Any 
and all grapes that are very seedy should be displaced. 
The seeds of some sorts are so large and abundant as to be 
positively dangerous. Of new varieties I am inclined to 
speak very highly of Witt, which is said to be a seedling of 
the Concord. e. p. powell. 
Kentucky Grape Experience.— The “slick agent” 
has been among us, as usual, this fall, and taken In the 
good people in style. The other day I chanced to see the 
bills for delivery of $107 worth of stuff. Without almost 
an exception, every order contained grape vines, and 
Niagara, Salem and Wilder largely predominated. These 
were all put in at 50 cents each; one item was “ 100 Niagara 
vines $20.” Now the Niagara Is one of our earliest 
grapes, ripening with the Cottage and Ives. It rots much 
worse than either of the last, and, finally, coming on the 
first of August, it could scarcely be kept at all. The party 
who bought 100 vines lives near town, and is doubtless 
growing them for market. All early grapes come in con¬ 
tact with melons and peaches, and, except in an off year 
with these, have a poor sale. The Euclid, Concord and 
Catawba, shipped here, sell largely from October 1 till the 
close of their season. The price now is 35 and 50 cents, re¬ 
spectively, per 10 pound basket. Hilllnmeyer, of Lexing¬ 
ton, who is an authority, lately wrote me that after a full 
test of hybrid vines, he pronounced them worthless ; and, 
after consigning many high-priced vines to the brush- 
heap in the end, his returns were mostly in experience ; that 
they were excellent grapes when you get them, but that’s 
the rub. Geo. W. Campbell, Delaware, O., quotes 
Niagara vines $5 per 100, Salem 15 cents and Wilder 10 cents 
each, by mail, postage paid. w. s. 
Winchester, Ky. 
The handsomest potatoes at the Hillsdale Fair in Michi¬ 
gan this year, or at least as handsome as any, were the 
Rural No. 2. They were grown by Mr. J A. Bartholo¬ 
mew of that town. They were large, rather roundish, free 
from scab and in every way perfect. The Rural writer 
thought so well of them that he hunted up the grower, 
who said he had about 40 bushels and that they were the 
most uniform in size and shape and the most productive of 
any he had grown that season. They were afterward tested 
on the table and were all that could be desired. E. G. F. 
A Seedling Pear.— I send The Rural by mail a box 
of seedling pears. The tree is 35 years old, from a seed of the 
Seckel. It bears every year, the yield increasing each year, 
and has never blighted. I have taken over three bushels 
from the tree in one season, and got $4.50 per bushel for 
them. The pears hang in clusters and singly and have a 
nice, red cheek on the sunny side. If the specimens sent 
are not yellow and soft, please keep them until they are. 
MEETING OF THE AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL 
SOCIETY. 
R. N.-Y. Short-Hand Report. 
( Continued ) 
Mr. J. H. Hale of Connecticut, said; “ Since I was a 
very small boy I have grown strawberries. I have had 
more marked failures than successes, but have learned 
how most of the failures could have been avoided. There 
must be thorough preparation of the soil. Over three- 
make strawberry culture profitable. The man who does 
not build from the bottom by giving such additional prep¬ 
aration of the soil can’t make small fruits pay. Liberal 
manuring with material rich in potash and phosphoric 
acid is necessary. Too much nitrogenous manure makes 
a rank growth and In strawberries it Is apt to develop 
blight and rust. Canada wood ashes are good, and cotton- 
hull ashe3 are the very best for all fruits, where they can 
be had. Phosphoric acid is applied first in the shape of 
raw bone finely ground. Two hundred bushels of wood 
ashes may be profitably used on an acre. Weak growers, 
like the Marlboro Raspberry, need more nitrogen as a 
stimulant. You mud; judge of varieties in accordance 
with their adaptation to your own locality. If you seek ad¬ 
vice, see your next neighbor and study your nearest mar¬ 
ket. Take the Manchester Strawberry, for instance; it’s 
a good berry but so subject to blight that it has become 
