1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
779 
FARMERS’ CLUB DISCUSSION . 
(continued.) 
expected to be on the move from 4:30 
a. m. till rather late at night, Sundays 
included. And often have I gone to bed 
with, to all intents and purposes, an 
empty stomach, being unable to enjoy 
the food placed before me, to rest on a 
hard bed without any regard to comfort 
or cleanliness, without a book to read, 
without a table to write upon. 
I would think that farmers would show 
some regard for a man’s intelligence, by 
giving him, at least, a good farm paper 
to read, as they are truly cheap enough 
for the most frugal. 1 have worked for 
months, for people who were able to pay 
the wages, and would be compelled to 
work as hard to get the money due me, 
as I was to earn it. With many disad¬ 
vantages tc overcome, I am to-day a 
young man fairly well read, and able to 
write, and have some views to-day on 
farming myself. What surprises me very 
much is the unprogressive spirit of many 
small farmers. To be sure, the times 
are not encouraging, as farming in coun¬ 
try districts is fast going to nothingness 
and the farmers are getting yearly deeper 
into debt, until finally, one by one, the 
farms are abandoned. 
I do know of instances, however, where 
intelligent men do make a good living 
and pay their bills, with a small margin 
to put by for a rainy day. But these 
men are distinguished for their intel¬ 
ligence, watch every move in the mar¬ 
kets, and also have their eyes constantly 
on the experiment stations, which is 
just what puts them on their feet. I am 
convinced that farming on a paying 
basis, must in future be conducted on 
business principles, by men devoted to 
their profession They must take off 
their coats, roll up their sleeves, and go 
to work in a progressive manner, scien¬ 
tifically and intelligently. 
We have never known any reason why 
poor country people owning, or even 
hiring land, should not have plenty of 
small fruits, if they so desire. “We want 
them, but cannot afford them,” is no 
valid excuse. 
Some, if not many, of the neighbors 
are now, or will be later, pruning grape 
vines. Why not ask for the primings ? 
These should be cut in pieces having two 
joints, the cut above the top bud, 
and below the lower bud, being made 
close to the bud. Place these in mel¬ 
low soil nearly perpendicular so that 
the top bud is just above the soil, 
and when cold weather sets in, cover 
them with leaves, straw or coarse 
manure. We have done this as late as 
midwinter, and a considerable propor¬ 
tion would grow the next spring. And 
so, too, as to currant and gooseberry cut¬ 
tings. Old bushes should be pruned 
every fall, and it would be a stingy 
neighbor, indeed, who would deny a less 
thrifty neighbor the cuttings for which 
he has no use himself. The blackberry 
plot must be attended to, and the suckers 
destroyed. Why not ask for these suck¬ 
ers ? Most of the red raspberries sucker 
freely. The owner has no use for these 
suckers, and in most cases would be 
willing to give them to any one who 
would carefully dig them up and take 
them away. The reason why so many 
rural people have no strawberries, rasp¬ 
berries, currants, gooseberries, black¬ 
berries or grapes, is that they are too 
improvident or lazy to get them. Pov¬ 
erty has naught to do with it. 
We know of no other summer bedding 
or house plant more liberally or more 
distinctly variegated than the compara¬ 
tively new Abutilon, Souvenir de Bonn, 
a specimen of which was sent to us fox- 
trial by Peter Henderson & Co., of New 
York. It is of very rapid growth re¬ 
minding one of a vigorous young maple. 
Some of the leaves grow to a very large 
size, 8 or .10 inches in length, and all of 
them are deeply cut. The body of the 
leaf is green with a broad, creamy-white, 
irregular margin. 
Our little plant made a growth of over 
three feet during the season. For mass¬ 
ing in the garden, or as a single speci¬ 
men ; or for the window or greenhouse, 
it is exceedingly showy, and pleasingly 
so. 
There is nothing remarkable about the 
flowers, being of the ordinary dull 
orange color veined with red. Fig. 247 
shows a small leaf. 
Several years ago (four, we think) 
we planted two specimens of the Hardy 
orange, Citrus trifoliata, our object being 
to ascertain whether or not the plant is 
hardy as claimed. They have made a 
growth of nearly three feet each season 
to be killed back each winter to the 
ground or nearly so. The plants have 
never bloomed, because the flower buds 
do not form on the current season’s 
growth. With a little protection, we 
dare say that this pretty plant—pretty 
as to leaf, flower and fruit, though the 
fruit is worthless—may prove hardy as 
far north as New York. 
It is a very old plant and florists and 
nurserymen seem to have taken it up 
as one that deserved to be pushed on 
account of an overlooked characteristic 
—hardiness. 
Kindly in response to our call for in¬ 
formation regarding the behavior of the 
Mills grape, with the beauty and quality 
of which we were so impressed, we have 
a note from Mr. C. If. Hedges, of Char¬ 
lottesville, Va. He has grown it for 
four years. On its own roots, it did not 
grow freely, though the soil was poor. 
He then grafted it on Champion, and it 
grew and fruited most luxuriantly, giv¬ 
ing canes equaling those of the Cham¬ 
pion, and grape clusters 23 ounces in 
weight, and so many of them that thin¬ 
ning was necessary. Mr. Hedges re¬ 
marks : 
All you have said of the Mills is correct, quality 
No. 1, long keeper. Without extra care, I have 
kept them into February. 
With Mr. Mills, Chas. Downing, High¬ 
land and Empire State (Ricketts’s) do 
well. Not one of them does well at 
the Rural Grounds. Chas. Downing is 
tender. Highland is too Hate. Em¬ 
pire State is inferior to Diamond and 
Colerain . 
About the first of November, we re¬ 
ceived from Mr. B. Holmes, Jr., Albany, 
N. Y., a Belgian hare which, closely 
dressed weighed four pounds six ounces. 
The hare was roasted and served to six 
persons. The meat of the legs and loins, 
as well as of the breast, was white—as 
white as the breast of a turkey. Had it 
been cut up and served as the breast of a 
turkey, not one would have suspected 
the truth. Mr. Holmes writes : 
This hare is about six months old, and has cost 
to raise about 35 cents, I think they need only to 
become known to insure a demand equal to spring 
duck. These Belgian hares, in my opinion, are 
destined to become the poor man’s meat ; they 
are so easily and cheaply raised and kept. The 
meat is so delicious when cooked that the man 
who raises them will have little use for Chicago 
beef. They may be cooked in any way, and if well 
done, are delicious. The supply has not reached 
the market point yet. Note that there is no dark 
meat, and also the marked difference in flavor as 
compared with wild rabbits.”. 
B. F. Closson, of Highland Creek, 
Ont., writes us that, judging from his 
own experience, the claim made for the 
Carman No. 3, that it is the most pro¬ 
ductive potato in cultivation, bids fair 
to be sustained. Out of 50 varieties 
growD by him the past season, it proved 
to be the heaviest yielder. From one- 
half bushel planted last spring, he dug 
35 bushels of the finest potatoes he ever 
saw, there being not one misshapen 
tuber in the lot. He says that he could 
select five bushels that would average 
lty pound each. There are practically 
no small ones. 
Dr. A. W. Thornton, of Whatcom 
County, Wash., writes us of comparative 
trials of Saglialin and Alsike clover made 
by one of his neighbors. An old horse 
and a colt, neither of which had ever 
seen Saglialin, were given a quantity of 
bright, fresh Alsike clover hay. After 
they had eaten some of it, he gave each a 
bunch of Saglialin. They smelled of 
it and turned from the Alsike and ate 
all of the Saghalin before returning to 
the Alsike. 
It seems to us that more rubbish has 
been written about pruning the grape 
vine than about caring for any other 
plant whatever. We have to bear just 
one thing in mind. It is that the fruit 
is borne by the shoots which grow from 
the previous year’s canes. That is the 
whole story. The corollary that will 
occur to any grower of grapes is that we 
must remove all the weakly shoots and 
preserve the strong canes of the present 
season’s growth. It matters not what 
the “system” of pruning is, this is in all 
cases the basis of successful grape cul¬ 
ture. A grape vine should never be per¬ 
mitted to become “leggy.” The length 
of its legs (old wood) should be deter¬ 
mined merely by the height of the arbor 
which supports it. Cut out the old wood 
and all weakly canes. Preserve only 
the vigorous canes of the past season’s 
growth, or if a year older, cut back the 
last year’s wood—the bearing wood of 
next year—to two or three buds. 
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