6i8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 29 
London Purple tor the Cnrcnllo. 
W. C. N., Amsterdam, N. Y.—I infer 
from your assertion, “ It is to us a bless¬ 
ing and a revelation ; a blessing that we 
may now enjoy plums of our own raising, 
and a revelation in that we have never 
before been able to raise plums because of 
the curculio,” under Ruralisms of August 
25, regarding the Abundance plum, that 
you have not succeeded iu easily and 
effeitually overcoming the persistent at¬ 
tacks of the curculio. In 1890, I first 
made the attempt to overcome the attacks 
of this insect, by the use of London- 
purple once a week ; using the same 
quantityias for the Codling moth. I have 
since used it, with good su:cess, when 
used with regularity as long as required, 
and never resort to the jarring process. 
The only thing I found to guard against 
was orerloading. 
Cnttlnr Tomttoes for Seed. 
N. El., Queens, N. Y.—You ask, “If 
you cut a tomato through the middle at 
right angles to the stem and blossom 
end, which half would you prefer to 
select the seed from ?” The blossom end. 
While I was interested in tomato experi¬ 
ments, I conducted them on that line for 
a couple of years. In some, I could 
detect a decided advantage, and then 
again, but little, if any, could be seen. 
A little earlier ripening, was the dif¬ 
ference observed, perhaps from other 
causes. I would like to hear of further 
trials. 
Seme Sonthern Cow Peas. 
W. S., P 16 QOTT, Ark. —On page 524, 
The R. N.-Y. speaks of seed catalogues 
naming only “cow peas,” but not men¬ 
tioning varieties, and quoting the price 
from $2 50 to $3 per bushel. There are 
three or four varieties grown here for 
forage and they usually sell in winter 
and spring at from 90 cents to $1.50 per 
bushel; at least that has been the range 
of prices for the past three years. Of 
the Whipporwill there are two kinds; one 
is a bunch variety, and it is the earliest 
pea of which I know, ripening its seed in 
three months from planting. It is fairly 
good either for soiling or hay. The 
other is a vining kind, a luxuriant grower 
on fairly good land, but on poor worn-out 
soil it will not give as good returns as 
the bunch kind and needs a longer sea¬ 
son than the former. Then we have the 
white'black-eyed pea, also a vining kind 
good for hay or soiling. All of the above 
varieties have two serious drawbacks— 
the peas shell easily when cut for hay, 
and a very little wet weather damages 
the appearance of the peas. 
Of what are known in some places as 
“waterproof peas” we have three or four 
kinds, “Big Black,” “Little Black,” 
“Clay Peas” and “Little Reds.” The 
Little Blacks and Little Reds are the 
earliest of these kinds, and fairly prolific. 
All of them will lay on top of the ground 
all winter and sprout and grow in spring. 
Besides all these, we have a nondeseript 
known by a half dozen different names 
in as many different localities. It is a 
vining kind, clings readi y to brush or 
strings, but the noticeable part is the 
pods, which are a very pale green and 
usually from 24 to 34 inches in length. 
The pod is very tender, and entirely 
stringless and we use them for snap 
beans and consider them excellent. But 
I find that almost everybody considers 
them only an ornamental plant. 
Cattlne Broom Corn. 
J. A. McKee, Kentucky. —We raised 
broom corn a few years, and never liked 
tabling it. At the suggestion of a boy 
in the household, we had the hands put 
their aprons on the other side, get 
astride .the row, back over it, and cut 
the corn as it came to hand, throwing 
two rows on the ground together, where 
it was immediately taken up by the 
haulers and taken to the stripper. Four 
men cutting in this way, could run the 
stripper, where it took eight in the old 
way. 
Pntia-creen for Cnrcnllo. 
J. S. WoooDWARD, Niagara County, 
N. Y.—I notice what is said in Ruralisms 
in The R. N.-Y. of June 2, page 347, in 
regard to the use of Paris-green for kill¬ 
ing curculios. It is not claimed that the 
poison has any effect upon the egg, or 
upon the larva after being hatched or 
emerging from the plum. But it has 
been found that the mature curculios 
subsist by eating, among other things, 
the leaves of the plum trees, and the use 
of Paris-green upon the tree causes them 
to be killed before depositing the eggs. 
That this is the truth, and that the poison 
does kill them, there is no doubt. The 
difficulty in using it is the fact that the 
curculios come in swarms and keep com¬ 
ing. The poison may be applied and kill 
all the insects then on the tree, and all 
that come before a rain; but the day 
after a shower, another swarm may come 
along and take the plums. But still it 
is a great help, and many plum growers 
here depend entirely upon spraying as 
a preventive to this pest. 
But the recommendation to use two 
ounces to 20 gallons of water, would be 
a pound to 160 gallons, and this strength 
would certainly take all the leaves off 
and do more damage than the curculios. 
In no case should over a pound be used in 
250 gallons of water, or 1ounce to 20 
gallons, and even less than this will be 
effectual. Even so little as one ounce to 
20 gallons, if applied freely and after 
every shower, has been found to rid the 
trees of all curculios. To be perfectly 
safe as regards burning the foliage, it is 
better to use twice as much fresh lime in 
the water as of Paris-green. This will 
neutralize the caustic effects of the 
green, and prevent all damage to the 
foliage. 
To Compost Cotton Seed. 
W. D. L , Reidville, S. C.—A man 
here built an oblong pen on the ground 
out-of-doors, by using poles closely 
notched, and composted 2,500 pounds of 
cotton seed, together with the droppings 
from one mule, while stabled, during one 
year, when not at work, and also one 
two-horse wagon load of cow manure. 
The stable manure' was kept in the stable 
during all the time. The materials were 
all penned in a dry state, comparatively 
—no water was used upon them. After 
the materials were penned, they were 
covered over with earth to the depth of 
12 inches, and then made waterproof by 
additional covering. The materials re¬ 
mained in that condition about six 
months. Early last April, they were 
used alone in the furrow for corn on 12 
acres of land, excepting a small portion 
which was used with mixed chemicals 
for cotton. April, May and up to J une 
24, the season was very unfavorable for 
the young, growing corn, generally too 
dry. Since that time, the seasons have 
been good. Our early planted corn is 
matured. The home-composted manured 
corn suffered terribly during the dry 
time from worms and lack of moisture 
on ridge lands. Where mixed chemicals 
were used, the corn fared better both as 
to worms and drought, yet it suffered 
from both to some extent. Where muri¬ 
ate of potash alone was used (at the same 
cost as mixed goods per acre) the young 
corn kept greener, but did not grow so 
rapidly ; it seemed to be later than where 
mixed chemicals were used. 
Now for the results—the earlier season 
was bad, the latter season was good on 
upland corn. The home compost will 
give an increased yield over and above 
mixed chemicals, and also over muriate 
of potash alone on land apparently of 
equal fertility, with the same cultivation 
and conditions and at the same cost per 
acre for materials that were bought at 
this place. We know that doctors some¬ 
times agree, and sometimes they dis¬ 
agree. A dyspeptic has said that cotton¬ 
seed lard agrees with him. I don’t know 
about that, but I can guess that there is 
no arguing with an outraged farmer 
while these little gray-coated cotton 
seeds are driving out his cows and hogs. 
The six months composting burst many 
of their armored jackets, but some of 
them were like mummies holding on to 
their outward forms. Six months com¬ 
posting beats one or two months com¬ 
posting in fining the materials to be 
applied for young plants and also in the 
handling of the fertilizer. The R N.-Y. 
may tell us how to tan these little fel¬ 
lows’ hides while they are alive and 
deliver their gray coats in dust to the 
soil and thus save us a heavy haul to 
some cotton seed mill and a light haul 
from thence home. 
Our grafts of the Idaho pear, set four 
years ago, are now bearing heavily. 
Many of the largest were blown off by 
the wind of September 10. These speci¬ 
mens measure a fraction over 10 inches 
in circumference at right angles to the 
stem, and 10 inches around the stem and 
calyx, being nearly round. The stem is 
nearly straight and 11^ inch in length. 
They had not, when blown off, begun to 
show a trace of color other than green. 
Last year, judging by half a dozen 
stunted pears, we feared that for our 
section the Idaho—first brought to public 
notice through these columns—was not 
going to warrant the praise that had been 
given it. But our early hopes have all 
returned. 
American Gardening takes the view— 
a sound one, we think—that tbe gladio¬ 
lus has reached its limit of perfection. 
It regards the following old varieties as 
just as desirable in every way as any that 
have been introduced since: Shakespeare, 
Meyerbeer, Martha Washington, Eugene 
Scribe, La Candeur, and Princess Mary 
of Cambridge, We would omit La Can¬ 
deur and add Mary Stuart. Addison, Snow 
White and Napoleon III. 
After three years’ trial of the Childsii 
strains, so much praised in the cata¬ 
logues, we may say that we are greatly 
disappointed in them. The stalks are 
conparatively weak, the flowers too far 
apart on the long spikes, and they can 
not stand the hot sun as well as the best 
of the older favorites. Our corms were 
procured from four leading firms, and our 
orders were for the “black” and “blue” 
colorings claimed for some of them. But 
these CO ors have not appeared. 
Our friend. The Michigan Farmer, was 
kind enough to publish our request as to 
whether or not the pear Eliot’s (not 
Elliott’s) which originated with the late 
James Dougal, of Canada, was offered 
for sale by him or has since been intro¬ 
duced, The Michigan Farmer has this 
to say in reply : 
“ The James Dougal referred to above, 
was a resident of Windsor, Ont., across 
the river from Detroit, a nurseryman 
and fruit grower who paid a great deal 
of attention to the pear. The ‘ Elliot,” 
referred to by The Rural New-Yorker, 
was one he regarded as very promising, 
and we remember his visiting the Farmer 
in writing to advertlsera please always mention 
THl BUKAL. 
Hot Noons 
Chilly Nights 
Of Fall present so many variations of tem¬ 
perature as to tax the strength and make 
a pathway for disease. Hood’s Sarsapa¬ 
rilla will fortify the system against these 
dangers, by making pure, healthy blood. 
|-|ood’s 
1 Varilla 
Be Sure to Get r^ures 
Hoods. 
Hood’s Fills cure habitual constipation. 
office before 1880 with a specimen of the 
fruit to show the late R. F. Johnstone, 
then editor of the Farmer, We never 
heard of this variety being grown on this 
side of the Detroit River, but if it was, 
probably Wm. Adair, of this city, the vet¬ 
eran horticulturist and nurseryman, who 
was an acquaintance of Mr. Dougal, 
could give some information regarding 
the Elliot.” 
We shall hope to hear from Mr. Adair. 
It is desirable that tomatoes—to bring 
the highest price in the general market— 
should be ripened about the stem. All 
of our readers may not be aware that if 
the tomatoes are taken from the vines 
when but half ripe and placed in the 
barn or under cover, they will ripen 
more perfectly about the stem than if left 
to ripen on the vine. This may net be 
new ; but we have never seen it in print 
before. Whether new or not, if our own 
experience may be taken as a guide, it is 
certainly true. 
Mr. C. S. Rice, of Lowville, N. Y., re¬ 
ceived one-third of a small Carman No. 
1 potato from The Rural last Novem¬ 
ber. It had three eyes and was cut 
in three pieces and planted April 25, 
100/0 
« PU RE« 
FOR THE BAFT. 
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE CO., CIN’TI. 
CIDER 
MACHINERY 
Hydrftalio, Knuckle Joint and Screw 
Presses, Graters. Elevators, Pumps, 
etc. Send for Catalogue. 
BOOMER & BOSCHERT 
PRESS CO., 
118 W.VVaterSt.. SYRACUSE 
P A y IIIIIP INBRY and SUPFLIBS. 
UHnnlllU D. G. Trench Co., Chicago, Ill., and 
k arnnaa,, N. k. Mention this paper. 
DRIVING STILL LEADS THEM ALL. 
Q'l— IT WILL CONTROL THI MOST 
Di I VICIOUS HORSB. 
75,000 sold In 1891. 
100,000sold In 1892. 
THEY ARE KING. 
Sample mailed X C for ^ I ftfl 
Nickel, 81.50. ^l•wU 
Stallion Bits 50 cts. extra. 
RACINE MALLEABLE IRON CO. /p^.Ss!'>l^r. 
Great Slaughter in Prices 
In order to make room for our Cutter trade, we 
have to close out our immense stock of Carriages 
Boggles and Road Wagons at KUINODS FKICB8. 
Send for our Special Cut Price List and get 
a bargain. 
KALAMAZOO BUCKBOARD CO., 
Kalamazoo, Mich. 
