1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
39 
Ruralisms. — Continued. 
given to the gooseberry’s improvement; 
in America very little, though some of 
the natives are better in quality. 
What we want is a thornless or nearly 
thornless variety of good quality, that 
will not mildew either in berry or leaf. 
There need no longer be any doubt that 
we have, or may have, large-fruited 
kinds that will not mildew. Hut thus far 
the berries are not so sweet as some of 
the natives, and all the stems are thorny. 
The nearest approach to a thornless 
variety thus far produced—in so far as 
The R. N.-Y. is aware—is Dougal’s No. 
2 . The quality is excellent, the thorns 
few and small— almost unobjectionable. 
The berries are of medium size, hairy 
and of a purplish color. The bushes as¬ 
sume an upright or tree habit, and the 
color of the rather small leaves is of a 
yellowish green. Both bush and fruit 
are mildew-proof in so far as we are 
taught by some eight years of experience 
with a single plant. 
Gooseberries well taken care of ought 
to yield over 6,000 pounds to an acre. 
Exceptionally high prices for early kinds 
are 15 cents a pound. The average price 
may not be over three or four cents. 
Plant a Columbus gooseberry. In The 
it. N.-Y’s opinion it is the most promis¬ 
ing variety ever introduced up to date. 
Among the favorite English sorts, 
many of which are favorites in Canada 
and a few of which succeed in our 
Northern States, are Whitesmith War¬ 
rington, Crown Bob, Early Sulphur, 
Golden Drop, Lancashire Lad, Red Rifle¬ 
man, Monarch, Roaring Lion, Napoleon, 
Red Champagne and Whinham’s In¬ 
dustry. 
Prof. Morrow’s book “ Soils and 
Crops” asserts that rolling light soils 
tends to check evaporation. Is that true? 
Dm you ever see a farmer who was 
loved and respected by his neighbors and 
friends that did not love his home and 
family ? 
Red Caps, Indian Games and Sher¬ 
woods have all been tried at the Rural 
Grounds, as our readers are well aware 
from the brief reports of progress made 
from time to time. Of the three breeds 
Sherwoods are the best—because they 
lay large eggs and many of them. 
The objection to Sherwoods is that they 
do not mature early. The Red Caps lay 
small eggs. ‘’They’vehandsome feathers” 
is the most that we can say in their 
favor. The heavy, generally one-sided 
combs are painfully objectionable. The 
Indian Games lay small brown eggs and 
it is difficult to say wherein they excel 
better known and longer tried breeds. 
Of the three breeds we should decline 
a gift of any except the Sherwoods, 
which because of their clean, ample 
plumage, shapely forms and large eggs 
may be found upon further trial to rank 
favorably with Leghorns in all ways, 
while superior in size, and for the table. 
The scheduled reports of the American 
Pomologieal Society are often misleading 
and unavoidably so. For example, the 
pears standing highest in its list as being 
best suited for general cultivation are 
Birtlett, Angouleme, Seckel and Anjou. 
If these were mentioned according to 
quality Seckel would be first and An¬ 
gouleme last. 
Mr. S. B. Parsons, who ought to be 
and who probably is our best authority 
upon such subjects, mentions in Garden¬ 
ing, the following as the best shade trees 
for streets: European Beech, Sugar 
Maple, Norway Maple, Red Oak, Ginkgo 
and Liquidambar. 
That excellent variety of potato known 
as Early Puritan ought to be called 
simply the Puritan. Those who plant it 
for an early crop will be disappointed. 
If it is true that the sap of some maples 
contains as much as nine per cent of 
sugar, while the average is less than four 
per cent, would it not p ty to propagate 
from the nine-per-cent trees? Isn’t it 
the soil and ground moisture rather than 
the tree itself that affect the sweetness 
of the sap ? 
Of two pans, one filled with water, the 
other with water and sand, the water of 
the latter will remain longer than that 
of the former. Why is this ? The sand 
will soon become dry on the surface and 
prevent evaporation by excluding the air 
to some extent. If we cover a pan of water 
with a board, evaporation will be still fur¬ 
ther retarded. If we hermetically seal the 
top of the vessel, the water cannot escape 
and will remain indefinitely. A layer of 
sand, which has a feeble capillary power, 
spread over soil will act as a mulch, to 
use the ordinary but inexpressive word. 
So. too, would any other substance of a 
less compact texture than the soil be¬ 
neath. So, also, going to the other ex¬ 
treme, boards or stones, which have a 
low capillary power would retard evap¬ 
oration and capillary attraction. It is 
not practicable, however, to cover our 
soils with sand, straw, litter, boards or 
stones. The most we may profitably do 
is to make the surface soil itself act as 
a mulch by retarding evaporation and, 
as a consequence retarding the upward 
passage of the soil moisture. Hence it is 
that in dry weather it is advisable never 
to allow the surface soil to become hard 
or baked. By breaking it up, we secure 
partially the same effect as if sand or 
bits of wood or broken stones were spread 
over the surface. The soil moisture 
reaches the covering whatever it may be, 
and further evaporation is more or less 
impeded. 
It will be seen that for the purposes of 
arresting the moisture that reaches the 
surface by capillarity, the crust alone 
should be broken ; that is, the cultivation 
should be shallow. Deeper cultivation 
would result merely in a needless loss of 
whatever moisture the stirred soil might 
contain as well as in injury to the roots 
of the growing plants. 
Young Mustard. —Mr. Falconer ad¬ 
vises those who are fond of a nice, pun¬ 
gent bit of green salad in winter to try 
some young mustard. Take a shallow 
cigar box or pot and fill it with earth 
with a little clean sand on top, and sow 
some mustard seed quite thickly on it; 
moisten the whole and put it in a warm 
place. In two or three days the seeds 
will have germinated, and in a few days 
more the seedlings will be big enough 
to cut and eat. Between sowing and 
eating should be 10 days, and we can 
keep up as many successions as desired. 
The varieties of winter pears which 
Ellwanger & Barry grow most are Anjou, 
Winter Nelis and Josephine de Malines. 
Anjou, the earliest, is by far the most 
satisfactory, being very large, handsome 
and of fine quality. The Californian 
varieties raised by Mr. Fox—Wilder and 
Barry—are the longest keepers, preserv¬ 
ing their good flavor and perfect condi¬ 
tion until April. Duhamel du Monceau 
and Souvenir d’Esperen are varieties that 
are not grown or known much, but both 
are valuable on account of their size and 
quality. Both are high-flavored, and de¬ 
serve to be cultivated more extensively 
than they are. 
Our readers should note that the above 
firm’s plan of keeping pears is very sim¬ 
ple. In an ordinary building, lined with 
hay so as to keep out the severe cold 
most varieties of pears can be kept 
through the winter successfully. They 
have not had any experience with cold- 
storage. Their experience so far has 
been very satisfactory with fruit kept 
according to the above method. When 
the fruit comes out of the house it does 
not suffer in any way from the change of 
temperature, and will last a long time, 
even when brought into warm places. 
Prof. Hilgard’s investigations show 
that wheat gathered in the interior parts 
of California where the air is dry during 
harvest might increase 25 per cent in 
weight by the absortion of water when 
transported to a temperate climate—a 
matter of considerable commercial im¬ 
portance. 
Word for Word. 
- Prof. G. E. Morrow : “Nine inches 
is a common width of furrow slice in 
Engand ; 12, 14 or 16 inches—the latter 
for three-horse plows—are common in the 
United States, especially on prairie soils. 
An acre is counted a good day’s work in 
England. In this country twice as much 
is often done with a pair of horses.” 
- Hoard’s Dairyman : “ Turn out, 
good friends, and attend every dairy con¬ 
vention and farm institute you possibly 
can. Take the good wife along, too. 
Heaven bless her, she needs it as much 
as any one.” 
- Dr. Eliot: “I have hopes that 
ennui, if nothing else, will drive our idle 
rich to find such serviceable uses for their 
incomes as would make their lives seem 
worth living.” 
- Century : “ The line between ‘ can’t 
work ’ and ‘ won’t work ’ is very hard to 
draw, even by an expert who knows the 
cases fairly well.” 
In writing to advertisers please always mention 
Tub rural. 
HIGH LIVING , 
If you keep at It, is apt to tell upon 
the liver. The things to prevent 
this are Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellet*. 
Take one of these little Pellets for a 
corrective or gentle laxative—three 
for a cathartic. They’re the small¬ 
est, easiest to take, pleasantest and 
most natural in the way they act. 
They do permanent good. Consti¬ 
pation, Indigestion, Bilious Attacks, 
Sick or Bilious Headache, and all 
derangements of the liver, stomach, 
and bowels are prevented, relieved, 
and cured. 
They’re guaranteed to give sati®- 
faction in every case, or your money is 
returned. 
The worst cases of Chronic Ca¬ 
tarrh in the Head, yield to Dr. 
Sage’s Catarrh Remedy. So cer¬ 
tain is it that its makers offer $500 
reward for an incurable case. 
PROFIT 
FOR FARMERS. 
NOT BIG MONEY, 
BUT SURE MONEY. 
Will you TRADE a little time and trouble FOR 
CASH? Clean and honorable work for winter months. 
Even tho busy man has time for It. This menus 
DOLLARS. Don’t throw it aside Write a card 
for particulars to AXTELL, RUSH & CO., 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 
850,000 GRAPE VINES 
100 Vurlctlen. Alao Small Fruity Tret**, Ac. Best 
rooted ntook. Gcauino, cheap. 16 aainple Tinea mailed for I Ooc 
Descriptive price list free. LEWIS KOKSCII, Fredonia, N. T, 
Japan Plums!;: 
culio and black kt 
bear abundant crops rvrry 
year in localities where cur- 
... knot entirely destroy other 
kinds. HKNOO per acre can be made the Hd 
yenr. Send stamp for Plum circ. ami Oatal’g 
.., of Fruit and Ornamental Trees and Plants. 
21 Wffl. F. BASSETT & SON. Hammnnlon, N. J. 
WANTED’ 
I -Ivory roador of thin papor who 
Is intorootod 
to tond for my tfOTDSrriES 
32-pago Illustrated and De¬ 
scriptive Strawberry Cataloguo, FREE. «tft~Sond now, it 
will pay you. w. F. ALLEN, JR. SALISBURY,MD. 
lanf 
Ferry’s 
Seeds 
and reap a rich 
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TERRY'S SEED ANNUAL! 
For ISO.'l is Invaluable to every Planter. ] 
It is an encyclopedia of the latest farming 
information from the highest authorities. ‘ 
Mailed . Free. 
. D. M. FERR^^ DETROIT* 
Jr CO. Mich._ 
A NEW ERA IN 
AMERICAN GRAPES. 
certainly is inaugurated by the in¬ 
troduction of the America, Bril¬ 
liant, Rommel, Hermann Jaeger, 
and some others of my Hybrid 
Grapes. 
For Descriptive List, address 
T. V. MUNSON, Denison, Tex. 
SPRAY* 
m & 
Wormy Fruit . 
and Leaf Blight nJ? v * 
of Apples, Pears, x'\’\ 
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WM. STAHL, Quincy, III 
P I? ST IF CATALOGUE, SEEDS, 
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HOME-GROWN 
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Money made by buying my seeds. 
35pkts$l.00. 2cto5cpkt. 
Presents with every order. Send 
postal card with name and ud- 
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A. R. AMES, Madison, Wis. 
EEDS 
Garden 
Flower 
Field. 
Seed Potatoes, Fruit Trees, Plant* 
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OUIt NliVV CATALOGUE 
Is a common sense book for com¬ 
mon sense people. A plain talk 
aboutthe best, seeds, etc., and hon¬ 
est prices. Every planter should 
see it at once. Sent Free. 
FRANK FORD & SON, Ravenna,0. 
— With the “ Planet Jr.” Double Wheel Hoe, Culti 
vator, Rake and Plow. It will do as much work 
E_ as three men, and do it better. It will cultivate, 
EE hoc, rake, or plow both sides of a row at once at the 
speed of a moderate walk, or a fast walk, as you 
: choose. These are the main features ; the rest are 
told in the “ Planet Jr.” Book for 1893 . It also ex¬ 
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|gth.e “Planet Jr.” 1 family. Every farmer should 
read it. We send it FREE. 
_ S. L. ALLEN & CO., 11 or MarketSt. Phila. Pa^ 
nz*ms- 
are always THE BEST. Grown from pedigree seed in the 
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SEEDS / 
produce earlier vegetable* than any other on earth,. 
MY NEW ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE MAILED FREE. Address 
GEORGE W. P. JERRARD, CARIBOU, MAINE. 
LL FRUITS, 
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A 
