84o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 21 
the time of arrival determine (we at this end think) 
largely the quality and weight of the goods. Very 
many instances may be cited where the buyers, in 
their eagerness to secure choice marks, have bid one- 
half or one cent above the market, and then receive 
the following from the house : “ Your butter arrived 
this morning, in poor condition, and showing lack of 
body and flavor. Very summery goods, and we can 
allow you only so much; or we will sell it on commis¬ 
sion. Please advise.” Well, there you are ! and what are 
you going to do about it ? What we ask is a fair deal, 
which can be had only by the buyers going to the 
creameries and closing the bargain, or putting a com¬ 
petent person at the other end of the line to secure 
what belongs to us. a. l. w. 
Erie County, Pa. 
SOME UNDERVALUED FEATURES OF A 
HORTICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
The aim of the horticulturist is to convert certain 
common ingredients of the earth and air into more 
valuable definite forms; whether it be culinary vege¬ 
tables, brilliant flowers, luscious fruits or stately 
trees, the principles involved are the same. The 
garden is his factory, sunlight his power, and the 
plants his machines. Each kind of plant has its parts 
adjusted to do a work and to prepare a product that 
is peculiar to itself, but requires for this purpose a 
certain adjustment of external conditions that is 
slightly unlike that required by any other. The true 
foundation for a horticultural education is a syste¬ 
matic study of these adjustments. 
The tendency of modern commercial horticulture is 
to make every plant’s existence an uninterrupted 
period of usefulness to its proprietor, with a fixed 
amount of work to be accomplished at the end. Capi¬ 
tal must be invested in the business, and, if crops are 
allowed to fail, there will be no profits; therefore 
this must be prevented. In order to do this, a com¬ 
mercial horticulturist should be. so familiar with his 
plants and with tne processes that are constantly 
going on normally within and about them, that he 
can tell at a glance whether each one is performing 
its quota of work or not, and if not, why it is not, 
and how the condition can be overcome. A familiar¬ 
ity with plants in this sense implies an acquaintance 
with the peculiar function of each organ, the role of 
each element when absorbed into the system, the 
duty of water and the action of heat and light upon 
the growth of plants. He who attempts to direct 
horticultural operations without first becoming con¬ 
versant with these matters, must work at a disad¬ 
vantage. He is not prepared to act in time of emer¬ 
gency, consequently with a variable soil and climate, 
his losses will occasionally be severe. But his voca¬ 
tion should not be held accountable for his errors. 
The profits on one crop ought not to be required to 
balance the losses on others. Each plantation should 
be a good one, and each plant in the plantation should 
yield a product with a value more than what it cost. 
To insure this, it is necessary for the person in charge 
to understand, above all other things, how the plants 
are to do the work that he expects of them, what ma¬ 
terials they will use in the process, and from what 
enemies they are likely to require protection. These 
matters are distinctively horticultural, and should 
receive the closest attention from the horticulturist; 
those relating to the purchase of supplies, superin¬ 
tendence of labor, and the marketing of products, 
are more nearly related to other business affairs, and 
should be subjected to the same rules that govern 
them. L. F. KINNEY. 
Rhode Island College. 
A SHOWING OF GOOD FRUIT. 
LESSONS AT A IIORTICULTUKAL EXHIBITION. 
A very fine exhibition of fruit was made at the 
rooms of The American Institute Farmers’ Club, 
December 10 and 11. It was collected and arranged 
by Mr. E. 0. Fowler, and was a credit to the collector 
and the State from which it was collected—New 
York. There were about 100 varieties of apples, most 
of them the older sorts, there being few new varie¬ 
ties. The Hagloe, a stray seedling from North Caro¬ 
lina, named by President Berckmans, was shown as 
illustrating the possibilities of the South. Some 
beautiful Cranberry Pippins were on the tables. Mr. 
Fowler said that this fine apple had not been grown 
for some time because of scab, but that by spraying, 
beautiful specimens could be produced. 
The Spitzenbergs were also as smooth and fine as 
apples could well be, all on account of spraying. 
Geo. T. Powell said that this variety, which formerly 
ranked next to the Newtown Pippin, had been on the 
decline for a long time ; the reason, and the same is 
true of other of our choicest varieties, is that their 
foliage is more delicate, and more attacked by fungus, 
etc., and the fruit by black-scab. With foliage 
destroyed, the fruit must deteriorate. Eight years 
ago, he began spraying his Spitzenbergs which had 
nearly run out, and began feeding them better. The 
foliage then held to the trees, the wood grew stronger, 
there was a better development of fruit buds, and he 
had now gathered seven crops of fine quality, the last 
being the finest of all. It is simply a question of 
spraying to preserve the foliage from fungus and 
insects, and of supplying the elements lacking in the 
soil to produce fine fruit. 
Attention was directed to the York Imperial, which, 
while not considered as a first-class apple, possesses 
certain qualities which rank it next to the Newtown 
Pippin and Spitzenberg in the English markets. It is 
solid fleshed, crisp, and a long keeper, and good 
enough to be grown extensively for home and foreign 
markets. Sutton Beauty—well named—was shown. 
There were several unnamed varieties. A seedling 
apple from Port Jervis was very promising in appear¬ 
ance, and was said to be of excellent quality. It is of 
medium size, yellow with red on the sunny side; 
basin deep, medium size, russeted. Stem short. Calyx 
basin broad; calyx open. Apples were exhibited 
from Yates, Orleans, Columbia, Ulster, Seneca and 
Orange Counties, and Long Island. Some of these 
also showed pears. The Geneva Experiment Station 
exhibited a collection of apples and pears. 
Ellwanger & Barry had a collection of 25 varieties 
of pears, of the finest sorts. Some very fine Keiffer 
pears were shown, and considerable discussion was 
aroused over the quality of this variety in general. Mr. 
Fowler stated that these were of really fine quality. 
He had never before found any that were fit to eat. 
These had been grown alongside of Bartletts, and he 
believed that the cross pollination had made this im¬ 
provement in quality. Dr. Hexamer said that no 
other fruit is so variable as the Keiffer pear. When 
well grown, no other pear is so handsome. For the 
South it is invaluable. No other pear has such a 
sprightly, quincy flavor, and for preserving it is one 
of the best, though poor to eat from the hand. The 
reason why cross-fertilizing gave better results, was 
that the Keiffer blossoms are so weak, that they do 
not form perfect fruits, and that other varieties, as in 
the case in question, make the fruits stronger and 
more perfect. This is the secret of the whole matter. 
Geo. T. Powell said that one reason for the great 
variation in quality of the Keiffer pear is that it suc¬ 
ceeds much better on some soils than on others. He 
had found some really fine eating Keiffers in Pennsyl¬ 
vania, and they were grown on lighter soil, the best 
usually growing on a regular peach soil. 
Several plates of well-preserved Alice grapes were 
on exhibition. This grape has been described in The 
R. N.-Y., and is a very promising variety. It has a 
tough skin, adheres to the stem well, and is a long 
keeper. Geo. C. Snow exhibited several bottles of 
unfermented grape juice, made from Catawba, Con¬ 
cord and Niagara grapes. 
Mr. Fowler said that New York is progressing rap¬ 
idly in fruit cultui*e. At the opening of the Colum¬ 
bian Exposition, this State had on exhibition 105 varie¬ 
ties of apples of the previous year’s growth, and no 
other State had more than 25. A bunch of New York 
grapes was exhibited later in the season which weighed 
9 X pounds, heavier than even California produced. 
As to quality, New York was away ahead of California. 
These fine specimens of fruit are examples of what 
may be produced by the progressive grower, by means 
of improved methods. There is never any surplus of 
this class of fruit in our markets. The cry of over¬ 
production has small terrors for the growers of such 
fruits. These small collections, too, are more instruc¬ 
tive to visitors than the large collections seen at our 
fairs, which are likely to confuse visitors. 
A Lesson From a Hog. —Yesterday morning there 
was an inch of snow on the ground, but around the 
northwest corner of the barn, there was a bare place. 
Here I threw down corn for a couple of pigs that run 
in that lot, and thought how nice it was that they 
had that clean place to eat on. The wind kept in the 
north all day yesterday and last night, and by this 
morning, the thermometer lacked only one degree of 
registering zero. The wind, though not very strong, 
was, as may easily be imagined, keen enough to be 
very disagreeable. I threw down corn for the pigs on 
the same place, and they started to eat it with a relish. 
In a few minutes, I was passing the place again, but 
the pigs were gone ! I was surprised. Corn all eaten 
up ? No, there is some left. Have I been feeding 
them so strong that they are off their feed? Surely 
not, for they have been getting only three ears apiece. 
What can be the matter with them? I must look 
them up. Oh, here they are in their shed, some 50 
feet away each with an ear of corn. Gone there to 
get out of the cold, but smart enough to take their 
corn along with them ! A fine joke on the pigs ! Or 
was the joke on me ? E. B. watson. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of 
the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question please 
see whether it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask 
only a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate 
piece of paper.] 
12 POUNDS OF POTATOES FOR ONE CENT! 
MORE FACTS ABOUT THAT WISCONSIN CROP. 
I have seen many articles in The R. N.-Y. this year, on potato 
growing, and have read them with no little interest ; but I must 
say that E. H. Currier, of Wisconsin, is a little too far advanced 
and too well versed in the growing and working of potatoes, for 
people of ordinary ability to keep up with. I, for one, have never 
seen the man or team that could harrow eight acres three times 
in six hours. Neither can I harrow eight acres five times in one 
day, nor cultivate eight acres of potatoes three times in four 
days. Neither can I find land that will produce 304 bushels of 
potatoes per acre, without manuring or fertilizing, for rent at $3 
per acre. Neither do we have horses that can pull a harrow 17 
feet wide with ease, and if we could find the team, we can’t buy 
the 17-foot harrow from our manufacturer. Neither have I yet 
learned this problem : “ I had no bugs on my crop of 304 bushels 
per acre, but with a crop of 200 bushels per acre, the decrease in 
cost of handling would pay for the cost of killing the bugs.” So 
you must see that I am outclassed when it comes to raising pota¬ 
toes for five cents per bushel, putting them in sacks of one bushel 
each (which it also seems he can get without cost), hauling to 
the factory, and selling for 12 cents per bushel and make a net 
profit of $24 per p,cre. b. h. w. 
Saluda, Ya. 
E. II. Currier, on page 781, in giving “ actual cost’” itemizes as 
follows : ‘‘Harrowing’” (eight acres) “five time after planting, 
one day, $3.” Mr. Currier does not state whether or not this har¬ 
rowing was all done at once, but it is more probable that it was 
done at five different periods. Now, as a Wisconsin man, I have 
always been proud of the “ Badger State.” I am proud of Wis¬ 
consin men. I am proud of the fine teams, of which we have so 
many. Any man and team that can harrow 40 acres in a day’s 
time, hitching up and unhitching, and going to and from the 
field five times, as the case would necessitate, are certainly worth 
more than $3 per day. Any showman would give more than that 
for them to place on exhibition. Mr. Currier called his seed worth 
25 cents per bushel, when the fact is that common table potatoes 
in Wisconsin, at planting time last spring, were worth 50 cents 
per bushel, or more, and seed stock from 70 cents to $1 per bushel. 
Another value which Mr. Currier does not seem to appreciate, is 
that of the rent of a strawberry bed. Land sufficiently well 
worked and enriched to warrant the setting to strawberries, and 
which is capable of producing over 300 bushels of potatoes per 
acre, is certainly worth more than $3 rent per acre. l. e. 8. 
Neenah, Wis. 
ANSWERED BY E. H. CURRIER. 
I have asked five of my neighbor farmers, whom I 
know are making money in the potato business, 
what it cost them to raise and market an acre of pota¬ 
toes ; the highest figure given was $20, and the lowest 
$15, with a crop of 250 to 350 bushels per acre. Our 
Southern friend, R. H. W., does not say that it can’t 
be done, but that he could not do it. I can’t change 
my figures to suit him ; but I will try to explain the 
statements which he intimated were not correct, and 
if ink fails to convince him that potatoes were raised 
in this county this year at from four to seven cents 
per bushel, I will do the next best thing. If he will 
come up here, I will take him around among the 
farmers of this locality, and will prove to him by a 
score or more of prominent men, that my figures on 
the cost of potatoes in this locality are correct, I will 
show him a one-horse harrow that cuts 16 feet wide, 
does most excellent work, and covers 40 acres per 
day. Also a weeder that takes three rows of potatoes 
at a time, and actually hoes the crop as fast as a man 
can walk. In fact, I would rather have this 
“scratcher,” as my men call it, than 15 men with hoes 
for working around potato plants, even though the 
men worked for nothing, and boarded themselves. I 
will also show him level fields where potatoes grew 
the past season, in rows from 80 to 160 rods long, and 
where a man with one horse and a cultivator made an 
average of seven acres per day. If he will stop and 
figure how many miles a man will have to walk to 
cover seven acres with the rows three feet apart, he 
will see at once that a Northern man can easily walk 
it. I will also show him land that he can rent for $3 
per acre, which produced 300 bushels of potatoes per 
acre this year. And, last, I will introduce him to a 
large number of farmers who claim the largest profit 
this year, from their potato crop at a selling price of 
from 7 to 15 cents. If I cannot do this, I will pay him 
all the expenses of his trip. 
I would like to ask R. H. W. how many miles he 
considers a day’s work for a man and team in the 
field. A man here is expected to be in the field 10 
hours each day, and if he walk 20 miles, he will cover 
40 acres. The harrow we use is made from strips of 
1%-inch white oak, six feet long, with 24 three-eighth- 
inch round steel teeth to each section, and weighs, 
complete, 35 pounds to the section ; the most conven¬ 
ient size is a four-section one which cuts 17 feet. The 
teeth should project through the wood about four 
inches, and if the ground is free from stones, the 
teeth will do good work on 300 acres at one sharpening. 
