662 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 5 
of the season the potatoes are growing on a slight 
ridge. This greatly helps in digging, as we use 
pronged hoes for that purpose, and by pulling them 
through these ridges, bring out all the tubers without 
spearing any of them.” 
“ How do you cut seed ? ” 
“The manner varies with the variety and other 
circumstances. For instance, we got six barrels of 
the Carman No. 3, and cut them so that we seeded a 
little over four acres. That, however, is too fine. 
A fair-sized piece of tuber, with two good eyes, is 
about right for most varieties. With Rural New- 
Yorker No. 2 , I would prefer smaller seed planted 
close together, as otherwise the tubers are inclined to 
be too large. We prefer fair-sized tubers—neither 
very large nor too small—anu always look for seed 
free from scab, and for vigorous vines.” 
“ Do you spray with the Bordeaux Mixture?” 
“ No, we have never found it necessary to do so. 
Our climate is not favorable to blight, anyway, and 
our belief is that it may be largely avoided by the use 
of strong and vigorous seed. We would never use 
seed from a field where blight had occurred. Where 
a hill is killed by the blight, we would expect the 
tubers from that hill to produce plants very liable to 
the disease. In case the weather was favorable, and 
the germs of the disease were in the air, we would ex¬ 
pect these plants to ‘take it’ quicker than those 
from stronger seed. Our principle is, therefore, to 
use no infected seed, to fertilize heavily, and cultivate 
well, so that the plants will grow from start to finish. 
As to scab, we are not much troubled with it. Some 
varieties seem to ‘catch it’ easier than others, and 
these we soak in the corrosive sublimate solution 
with perfect success.” 
“ To improve your own stock, do you mark the most 
vigorous hills in the field, and separate them at dig¬ 
ging time ? ” 
“No, that is not practicable for us on our large 
scale of operations, though it is an excellent plan for 
the small farmer to follow. We select for our seed 
acres or half acres that show the most uniformly 
vigorous growth. We grow many thousands of bush¬ 
els for the seedsmen. Some of the seed of new varie¬ 
ties they send us, is very poor. 1 was once making a 
contract to grow a certain new variety, and asked to 
see some of the seed. They brought half a bushel of 
small, scabby stuff, so poor that I said at once that 1 
would not touch it. ‘ Well,’ said the seedsman, ‘show 
us how you would sort out that seed for your own 
seeding.’ 1 picked out not over a dozen tubers that 
were fit to represent the variety. The result was that 
we got the contract with our own choice of seed. 
People make a great mistake in assuming that every 
little scabby nut of a potato is good enough for seed 
purposes.” 
Next week I shall tell something about varieties 
and yields on these potato farms. H. w. c. 
VARIETIES OF TOMATOES FOR 7HE 
GREENHOUSE. 
The Essex Hybrid is, and has been, the standard 
variety with us for forcing. It has medium size, 
smooth and firm fruit, and yields as well as, if not 
better than, an}' other variety we have ever tried. It 
has as little black rot as any excepting some of the 
newer varieties. 
The Early Minnesota has done well in our house 
this season, but as this is our first trial of it, we don’t 
wish to be too positive in praising its merits. It has 
some very meritorious qualities, was the first to ripen, 
both in the house and garden, and was only very 
slightly affected with the rot. It bears a large crop 
of medium-sized, smooth, round and firm fruit, which 
is of the very best quality, but is too seed}' to suit 
some people. As to meatiness, it is not up to standard, 
whereas the Essex Hybrid may be considered as near 
the standard as, perhaps, it is necessary to get. 
The Ignotum has been a very good forcing variety, 
but w'e shall discard it from our houses in the future, 
as being unprofitable. It is very badly affected with 
the rot, and does not grow smooth enough to suit us. 
This variety has suffered the most from the rot of any 
we have grown this year. 
The Dwarf Champion we shall try in our houses this 
winter. We have had it in the houses during - the 
summer, and it has done remarkably well. The plant 
itself is strong and vigorous, and as little affected 
with physiological troubles, like oedema, as any. It 
is a great cropper and the fruit is of the best, bjth as 
regards quality and meatiness, and the rot has not 
materially affected it. The dwarf habit of the plant, 
too, permits of closer planting than the larger kinds. 
M e shall make a thorough trial of these three varie¬ 
ties, the Essex Hybrid, the Early Minnesota, and the 
Dw'arf Champion in our house this winter. 
In our gardens this year, we have several varieties 
that are especially adapted to our conditions, and of 
the lot, it would be hard to $ay just which one is the 
best. We have the Acme. Beauty, Paragon, Match¬ 
less, Golden Queen, Maule’s New Imperial and the 
new Stone, besides others growing in our grounds. 
But those named are as good as any. 
The Golden Queen is a yellow and may not be suit¬ 
able for the markets ; but as a home fruit, it can not 
be surpassed. 
Maule’s New Imperial is a new variety, well worthy 
of trial. It is a good cropper, of large, smooth, firm 
fruit. 
The Stone is another very promising new variety, 
good for the general crop. i,. r. jones. 
Vermont Experiment Station. 
"A GEORGIA PEACH.” 
HOW IT IS PI. AN TED, PROTECTED, PICKED AND PACKED. 
1 EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.j 
Part V. 
The Human Labor in the Peach. 
It costs $1 or more to put a crate of these peaches 
in the Northern markets. They will average about 
‘-10 peaches to the crate, so that each one represents 
at least half a cent in cost. A good share of this half 
cent is paid to the colored men and women who do 
the outdoor work in the orchard, from budding and 
hoeing to picking and carting. These people give the 
labor of a long, full day in exchange for 50 and (50 
cents in cash. This cheap and ready service is the 
secret of the success of this enterprise. If these 
colored people charged for their labor as much as the 
Italians in the Connecticut Hale orchard charge for 
the same service, the profits would in a series of years 
be nearly wiped out. No wonder Mr. Hale told us 
last week that the most successful single thing about 
his enterprise was “the reliability and teachability of 
colored labor.” 
It does not seem to me that the Southern people 
generally, realize the possibilities of the colored la¬ 
borer. Most Southern white men with whom I talked, 
did not seem hopeful regarding the colored man’s 
future. Most Northern men seem to have an idea 
that the colored man is incapable of performing skilled 
labor. They seem to think that lie may do hard 
manual labor with proper direction, but that there is 
a point in his education beyond which he cannot be 
pushed. 
I asked Mr. Hale about this point. “Are these 
colored laborers capable of performing skilled labor?” 
“ What do you call skilled labor ?” he asked. “Does 
it require skill to bud nursery stock ? If so, I answer 
‘Yes,’ for I can show you 3,000,000 young trees ail 
budded by colored men.” 
“ Who taught them to do it ?” 
“They taught themselves! We started doing it 
ourselves, first, with some young colored laborers to 
follow and tie up. When we got back from dinner on 
the second day, we found these men in the field trying 
their hand at budding. 
“ ‘ I can do that, said one of them, and he could. 
They all went to budding right off, and others who 
followed them learned from their work to do as well. 
It will bother you to find cleaner looking trees in any 
nursery. Young men who are sharp enough to learn 
that, will become ‘ skilled workmen,’ I don’t care 
how much pigment they may have in their skins. 
The colored laborer will almost unconsciously take 
up the habits of his teacher—the boss.” 
“ You say they are faithful ? ” 
“ ‘ Faithful unto death ! ’ One of our old ‘ uncles,’ 
an ex-slave, was left in charge of the plantation for 
six weeks in 1893. Sickness and business came upon 
us so that neither the superintendent nor myself 
could be here. This man kept things going in excel¬ 
lent order. When I came back, I asked him whether 
he had a hard time. 
“ ‘ Well, he said, ‘I’ll tell you, Mr. Hale, 1 wasn’t 
afraid of any of the boys on the plantation, but 1 
thought, maybe, some of the town boys might come 
out and steal. So every night, at 12 o’clock, I 
shouldered the old musket and marched up and down 
till day ! ’ 
“ Now maybe you can find white men who would do 
that without being asked. I never have ! ” 
“ But would these colored men do that for the men 
who once held them in slavery?” 
“ See here ! In Houston County, to-day, there are 
hundreds of old and crippled colored men, too feeble 
or helpless to work. They have never saved a cent of 
money in their lives. Whom do you suppose is caring 
for them—keeping them fed and clothed ? ” 
“I don’t know—probably they are in the poor- 
house ! ” 
“ Not a bit of it. They are being cared for by their 
old masters —the men who owned them before the 
war, and who lost their property when these old crip¬ 
ples were made free. No matter how hard pinched 
financially ‘ ole massa ’ may be, the poor old slave 
never goes unfed or unwarmed from his door. Now, 
then, how many Fall River cotton-mill owners are 
pinching their pocketbooks to provide for their old 
workmen whose labor in years past built up the 
owner’s bank account ? Let’s hear about that! ” 
I dwell upon this question of colored labor, because 
it is to-day the most burning problem that the South 
has to deal with. The white man who goes to the 
South to engage in business, must depend on colored 
labor for all outdoor work, at least. As a matter of 
fact, the advantages of this cheap labor may be 
turned to greater account than those of climate or of 
soil. It is the chief compensation for the awful cost 
of carrying products to market. There will be more 
irrolit in grafting shill on to the present crude labor of 
these strong men and women, than in any other line of 
farming. 
I listened carefully to the stories of immorality, 
ignorance, laziness, carelessness and crime that were 
told of the colored people as a race. I went among 
them and talked with them about their hopes and 
their prospects. Everywhere little incidents stood 
out to show that, while the race as a whole may be in¬ 
ferior, yet thought and higher purpose could lift the 
individual far above the common level. 
One day a peach wagon stuck in a rut. The mules 
tried but could not pull it out. Five of the half- 
dozen colored men that were about, caught up sticks 
and whips to thrash a little extra strength into the 
mules. The sixth saw that the mules were doing all 
they could, and put his big shoulder to the wheel. 
He added just the force needed, and the wagon moved 
on. With white men, we would say that the one man 
would some day be a boss and control labor, because 
he has the judgment to apply force where it will 
accomplish most. It won’t do to say that, because a 
man’s skin is black, he must be debarred from the ad¬ 
vantages of education, self-control and patience. 
At the opening of the Atlanta Exposition, there was 
witnessed a scene that is without a parallel in the 
history of this country. A black man sat on a plat¬ 
form that was crowded with the beauty, eloquence, 
wisdom and culture of the South. He pleaded for his 
race so eloquently that his words were telegraphed 
all over the world. He asked that the colored man 
might be permitted to acquire skill —to make a trained 
and useful workman of himself. 
Education and manual training will solve this prob¬ 
lem. The trained mind and the skillful hand, will 
work their owner to the top, whether he be white or 
black. The truest caste division is that of education. 
1 met colored men who own farms, who control good 
bank accounts, who manage stores, and who are skill¬ 
ful lawyers, doctors and craftsmen. There are too 
few of them, but they are wiping out the “color line” 
faster than the politicians are painting it. 
As I said, this matter of cheap colored labor is the 
basis of success in this great peach orchard. With 
any other laborers to do the outside work, I do not 
believe that the orchard could be made to pay a profit. 
No man can grow an extensive crop at the South with¬ 
out the colored man to help him. As between him 
and the Italian at the same price, Mr. Hale says that 
he would prefer the former. The Southern people 
may say what they like about the need of importing 
capital and energy ; there is nothing that will more 
surely bring wealth to their section, than to give the 
colored laborer an opportunity to learn how to make 
himself a skilled workman ! 
Next week I shall describe the methods employed 
at the Connecticut end of the business, with some 
comparisons and conclusions. ir. w. c. 
NOTES FROM THE “ CARNATION BELT.” 
GETTING THE HOUSE IN ORDER. 
The carnation growers’ season of comparative leis¬ 
ure is at an end, and active preparations for another 
winter’s work are now in order. Very little planting 
is yet done, and with the thermometer hovering 
around the 100 mark in the houses, early planting this 
year would be of doubtful advantage. From Septem¬ 
ber 15 to 25 would seem like a good time for the opera¬ 
tion here, taking one season with another, and that 
is three or four weeks earlier than we thought proper 
only a few years since. While it is rather late now 
to talk about moving soil or getting benches in order, 
a plan we are trying may be worth referring to here. 
We all know how soon the bottom boards rot out, 
and, so far, the best preservative within reach has 
been whitewash ; but that of itself does not last long 
enough, so we are trying a mixture of, say, about a 
quart of cement stirred into one bucket of wash— 
enough to give it a grayish tint. We hope that it will 
prove of considerable advantage over the pure lime. 
We tried the same thing last year, but apparently put 
on too heavy a coat, so that it cracked and peeled off. 
This should be applied as soon as possible after mix¬ 
ing, before the cement hardens ; if the cement would 
stay in solution, a pure wash of that alone might be 
better. 
After the plaqts are in and are thoroughly soaked 
