4o6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 15 
rooms, for the boarders are cleaner, and twice as 
careful as when this work is left to a servant.” 
“ Is it better to furnish house and table cheaply, 
and charge low prices, or to feed and furnish liberally 
and charge accordingly ? ” 
“It gives the house a better tone to feed and fur¬ 
nish as well as possible, and charge accordingly. The 
work and worry are just the same in the one case as the 
other ; but the class of boarders is sure to be differ¬ 
ent. The cheapest are the most difficult. The hus¬ 
band rarely makes any trouble. Nine cases out of 
ten, the wife is the one who first expresses dissatisfac¬ 
tion, and from her the contagion spreads.” 
Readers will bear in mind that this is the testimony 
of a lady of experience, and cannot be impeached. I 
am proud to hear so true an opinion of the amia¬ 
bility of my own sex. 
“ Is it more profitable to grow all that can be grown 
for the table, even if more help has to be hired to do 
it than to buy table supplies ? ” 
“ Emphatically, yes. Our boarders will refuse 
vegetables and fruit that are not perfectly fresh, and 
prefer those from our place always. It is far more 
satisfactory to both parties.” 
“ What has been your experience as to what the 
average boarder requires—fancy cookery or plain 
counti-y fare ? Are they satisfied with milk, eggs, 
cured meats, fruits or vegetables, or do you have to 
buy largely in the markets ? ” 
“ A combination of plain and fancy cooking. No 
cured meats, except ham, occasionally. No salt fish, 
no di-ied frzzit, no baked beans. Really, we never eat 
such things. Plenty of milk, eggs, chickens, rye 
bi'ead, good butter, cream and fresh fruits, are the 
delight of the average boarder, while prime roast beef 
is a positive necessity.” 
“ What is the effect of such society on the habits 
of the members of your family ?” 
“ This depends lai'gely upon how good- 
looking the farmer is ; also on the sus¬ 
ceptibility of that individual ! In m 3 r 
case, the effect is quite distressing. The 
boarders always think my husband is 1 so 
obliging, and so fine looking'! Really, 
the general effect of association with 
refined and educated people must neces¬ 
sarily be good ; and it offers a broad field 
from which we gather much that is in¬ 
structive, and more that is vastly amus¬ 
ing. In fact, what we could say for and 
against the city pilgrims would fill a 
book. But there is no use in talking ; 
their cash helps out the taxes and other 
big bills of the farm in a very satisfac¬ 
tory way.” 
From the facts herein presented it 
would seem that the summer boarder 
crop is worthy of careful cultivation. It 
evidently pays best in rich soil, and 
with thorough treatment, but there is 
in the vicinity of every laz-ge city a 
broad field in which to labor, and it 
offers opportunity to add considerably 
1o the farmer's income, without serious 
interference with the regular work of the farm. 
CHAS. PIERSON AUGUR. 
R. N.-Y.—Mr. Augur has secured us two views of 
this “Summer Boarder Crop.” Fig. 127 shows how 
the crop is fertilized in the farmer’s dining room ; 
while Fig. 128 shows the “ gathered cz-op.” It is evi¬ 
dent from the latter picture, that the feeding ration 
is well balanced. _ 
CRIMSON CLOVER IN DELAWARE. 
STILL THRIVING ON ITS OLI) STAMPING GROUND. 
Part II. 
A New Partner in Winter Oats. 
Last year we told how Mr. Bancroft had tried to 
get some crop to grow with the Crimson clover, that 
would hold the latter up so that it would cut better. 
Sometimes a late rain or wind storm will blow the 
clover down so that the mower has hard work to cut 
it all off. Of course, this does not mean a loss, since 
all that is left is plowed in for another crop ; bvzt it 
would be better on all accounts if the clover could be 
held up. The crop to go with it must be stiff and 
strong, and also make good ensilage. Rye will hold 
up the clover, but does not make good food for stock. 
Italian rye grass did faiz-ly well, but is expensive and 
not altogether satisfactory. Wheat might answer, but 
does not fill all the requirements. Last fall, Mr. 
Bancroft wrote that he felt satisfied that winter oats 
would solve the problem. 
These winter oats are being largely grown in south¬ 
ern Delaware. They are sown in the fall—about the 
same time as wheat, and grow about like that grain, 
making, if anything, a heavier and ranker growth in 
the fall. They are considez-ably heavier than the 
ordinary oats, and give a much heavier yield per acre. 
It is not known just where the.v came from or how 
the winter growing habit was established. In Dela¬ 
ware, this oat is a very useful crop—second only to 
Crimson clover among newer plants. It is not known 
how far North these oats live through the winter, but 
wherever they will do so, farmers can make them 
very useful. 
Mr. Bancroft has a large acreage of winter oats and 
clover growing together. About September 15 proved 
the best time for sowing the oats in that latitude. 
The seed was sown at the rate of one-half bushel of 
oats and 12 quarts of Crimson clover seed per acre. 
On May 16, the fields thus sown were in fine condition. 
We estimated that the oats added one-thii-d to the 
weight of the clover as grown alone. So far as we 
could judge, the clover with the oats was as good as 
where it was sown by itself. One field was divided in 
two—all sown to clover and half to winter oats and 
half to ordinary wheat. In both cases, half a bushel 
of the grain was used with the clover. The wheat 
was taller than the oats, but not so thick. The oats 
would evidently make much better fodder. The clover 
in the oats seemed somewhat better than that in the 
wheat. The heavy storm had blown it all down more 
or less, but the oats had evidently been some help in 
holding up the clover. Mr. Bancroft is pleased with 
the experiment, and will use the oats again. He says 
that the oats made a heavier fall growth than the 
wheat, and would have given better fall pasture than 
other grain. 
The R. N.-Y. will talk about its own expez-ience 
with winter oats later. We believe there is one kind 
at least that will live through the winter considerably 
north of Delaware. Sowed with Crimson clover, as Mi-. 
Bancz-oft uses them—half a bushel to the acre—they 
may prove very useful in helping the clover through 
the winter. As they provide a rank and excellent fall 
growth, they could be used to pasture sheep or cattle 
until the cold weather without injui-ing the growth 
of the clover. We advise farmers to test these winter 
oats in small quantities—sowing them with the Crim¬ 
son clover. Whez-ever they will thrive, they will be 
found superior to the spi-ing varieties, both as to 
yield and convenience of sowing the ci-op. 
The Roots of Crimson Clover. 
There is pi-obably no man in Delaware who has used 
potash and Crimson clover more pei-sistently than S. 
II. Derby. As a result, Mr. Derby's farm is a wonder¬ 
ful example of the staying powers of this gi-eat com¬ 
bination. This is the way he talks about the clover : 
“I wish that at least one edition of The R. N.-Y. 
could be six feet from top to bottom, so that you 
could do justice to the root system of the plant. I 
will agree to furnish a Crimson clover plant with 
roots six feet long, if you will make a full-length pic¬ 
ture and publish it.” 
“ We shall have to decline that offer ; but why 
isn't Red clover as good ? ” 
“ The root plan of Ci-imson clover is not only diffei-- 
ent from the Red, but more economical. The Red 
has a long tap root and, compared with Crimson, 
few fibrous roots. The long tap root of the Red is, 
in a measure, of no use in filling the working soil 
with vegetable mattei-. The Crimson has a short tap 
root and a multitude of fibrous roots, completely fill¬ 
ing the top soil, and a small number of thread-like 
roots extending straight down—who can tell how far? 
but six feet evidently is not the limit in a soil roots 
can peneti-ate. Is not that an ideal root system ? The 
mass of roots is just where the plow can turn them 
over, and the money crops of, say, corn, wheat, pota¬ 
toes, etc., use the fei-tility stored in them. The physi¬ 
cal condition of the soil can be made just perfect, 
from the decay of the surface roots. All that is lost, 
or seemingly so, are the small roots or pumps that 
the plant sent down to convert the invisible and 
locked up forms of potash and phosphoric acid into 
available forms and send it in a water supply to the 
surface. Other plants undoubtedly send roots deep 
into the earth, and if they do any good, no one 
knows it.” 
“You are pretty well satisfied that the plant has 
been a friend to you ? ” 
“ One proof I have is that a three-acre field was 
brought up from a yield of 10 bushels of corn per 
acre, to a yield of 10 tons of tomatoes per acre, with 
absolutely nothing but Crimson clover.” 
Next week we hope to tell something of how this 
was done. 
ARE THERE ANY FROSTPROOF STRAW¬ 
BERRIES? 
HOW MAY PLANTS BE PROTECTED ? 
On page 376, a subscriber asked whether there are 
any varieties of strawberries that can be considered 
“frostproof?” He also wished to know what he 
could do to protect his berries in case of severe cold. 
The following comments are now presented : 
A Straw Blanket Worked Well. 
We have had excellent success in protecting straw¬ 
berries against frosts by covering the rows with 
marsh hay. We have covered our strawberries four 
times this spring. It requires about six hours of 
labor to apply the straw on the plantation of three- 
fourths of an acre in extent, and about the same time 
to remove it, from which it appears that the operation 
is not an expensive one. Although unprotected 
strawberries in this vicinity have been seriously in¬ 
jured by frosts, ours have thus far almost wholly 
escaped injury. There is some differ¬ 
ence in varieties in regard to their abil¬ 
ity to endure frosts without injuz-y ; 
some varieties project their blossoms 
higher above the leaves than others, and 
it is probable, also, that there is a differ 
ence in the power of the blossoms of 
different varieties under the same con- 
d tions, to endure frosts. I can not stale 
which varieties are strongest in these 
particulars. e. s. goff. 
Wisconsin Experiment Station. 
From the Cold Northwest. 
In an experience of 40 years in grow¬ 
ing strawberries, 1 have never found any 
varieties that are frostproof. This sea¬ 
son, the eai’liest bloomers have not 
suffei-ed with us as much as some of the 
later varieties, with the single exception 
of the Parker Earle. The Michel’s Early, 
Cz-( scent, Parker Earle and Enhance will 
endure more frost without injury than 
the Beder Wood and Warfield, and most 
other varieties of medium earliness. 
Covering with cotton or other cloth, is 
not always safe, especially if the cov¬ 
ering is weighted down upon the plants. The 
cheapest and best covering is clean straw, or our 
Western long swale hay. It should be spread ever 
the rows at or after sundown, and removed in the 
morning, or it may be safely left on two nights and 
one day. A ton of good covering would protect from 
one to two acres, and as it is left in the alleys be¬ 
tween the rows when not needed for covering, it is 
worth more than its cost for keeping the soil moist, 
and the beri-ies clean. Sprinkling the bed at even¬ 
ing, and again in the morning, does sometimes lessen 
the liability to injuz-y from frost. Smoke will often 
save most of the crop. J. s. Harris. 
Houston County, Minn. 
There Are No Frostproof Varieties. 
Doubtless the subscriber could, in a good degree, 
improve his chances for secuz-ing a crop of strawber¬ 
ries, by planting late bloomers. Frosts usually occur 
on still nights ; and the burning of some substance 
which, like coal tar, will produce a dense smudge, 
may prove effective. Covering the plants, after the 
gi-ound is well frozen and covered with snow, with a 
mulch that will pi-event early thawing in spring, will 
somewhat retard the bloom. The eaz-liest ripening 
varieties az-e not necessarily the earliest bloomers. 
Cheap sacking, as proposed, would doubtless prove 
effective against an ordinary frost. For the best 
effect, however, it should be held high enough not 
to touch the blossoms or foliage. Wetting down the 
beds at evening, would rather invite than prevent 
fi-ost, on account of more rapid loss of heat by evap¬ 
oration. It would be less objectionable in the morn¬ 
ing ; but, in case of frost, it would be better to omit 
watering, and to shade the plants till all appearance of 
either frost or freezing has disappeared. No varieties 
of strawberries can be said to be actually frostproof, 
THE SUMMER BOARDER. THE GATHERED CROP.* Fig. 128. 
