iisarssionsu 
N. Y. FRUIT-GROWERS’ CLUB. 
This organization for some weeks has devoted 
a lavge portion of its time to the discussion of 
topics foreign to fruit; or of subjects upon 
which time ought not to be spent. At the last 
meeting, however, it was resolved to attend to 
the legitimate objects of the organization. There 
were strawberries on exhibition, and a straw¬ 
berry talk resulted. We give some of our notes. 
Charles Downing fiirrewbcrry. — Mr. Doty said 
it was not fruited to any great extent in this 
vicinity. He is pleased with it. It promises to 
give an aboadanocof fruit of excellent flavor, 
uniform, and of good size. Grown beside the 
Agriculturist and ot her sorts, it i 3 very promis¬ 
ing. It was asked if it would hold its fruit up 
out of the dirt. Mr. Fuller said none but the 
old Alpine will do that. 
Mr. Carpenter fruited the “Downing” last 
year. On one occasion a company of judges of 
fruit sat at the table and twelve varieties of 
strawberries. Including Triomplie dc Gand, Boy- 
den’s No. 30., Romeyn's Seedling, Durand's 
Seedling, and other new varieties, were set be¬ 
fore the company without labels, and the award 
of superior flavor was given to “ Downing." It 
is uniform Sri size, not so large ns soino varieties, 
and benco will not become so popular a markot 
berry. Unlike some other varieties, it seems to 
adapt itself to all localities so far as tested, and 
will be likely to become generally popular for 
family use. Mr. Fuller says it is the best berry 
of that family of strawberries ho knows of. The 
characteristics of the family are hardiness, pro¬ 
ductiveness, ami they will grow almost any¬ 
where. Tho old Washington or Iowa is tho 
parent of them all. 
— At a meeting held since that above reported, 
four specimen? of tho “Charles Downing" were 
exhibited by Mr. Carpenter, who said that the 
day before he had picked from his beds a half 
bushel of this fruit, in half tin hour. Regarded 
it ns one »r the best of the new varieties —not 
ahead of Boyden’s No. 30, but these two varie¬ 
ties will take front rank among the new sorts. 
The samples exhibited were picked among grass 
and weeds three feet high, which shows that it 
will stand neglect, Mr. Fuller says with him it. 
is a % ery lair and promising berry. Likes it very 
much, so far as he has had experience with it. 
Improving Flavor of Strawberries by t'uliiva- 
tiun.—A gentleman asked if tho flavor or straw¬ 
berries tan bo improved by culture. Mr. Ful- 
ler s;tid tho poorer and dryer the soli and the 
slower tho growth, tho hotter the flavor of tho 
fruit generally. But he believes in giving the 
strawberry high culture. On heavy soils ho 
would use ooarso burn-yard manure; on light 
soils, cow manure, Ou soils rich enough add 
leached ashes. Mr. Doty said small berries arc 
not necessarily better than largo ones. 
Strawberry Culture.—Mr. Fuller would plant, 
for profit, strawberries in rows eighteen inches 
apart, and the plants six inches apart in the row. 
He has a plantation of that kind on which there 
is more than live times the amount of fruit than 
on all his other beds where the plants a re allowed 
to run together. Indeed the proportion of pro¬ 
ductiveness he believed to bo ns twelve to one. 
Ho believes digging among plants In spring to 
be profitable, notwithstanding tho opposition to 
disturbing tho mots by some cultivators. IIo 
hoes among his plants up to the time of blos¬ 
soming. The ground should bo stirred, ft will 
pay. If plants are put out well in August they 
will produce fruit t he next your. 
Mr. Carpenter said most of the beds from 
which he is picking fruit this year were planted 
lust September and October, and ho will have a 
good crop of fruit from them. But the ground 
was well prepared. If people have no bods for 
next year’s fruiting, they can obtain and set 
plants next September, and get a good crop of 
fruit the next season. He allows his bods to 
fruit two seasons, wheu they uro plowed up and 
new one- planted with young plants always. Ho 
has plowed and spaded and hood right through 
his beds, destroying roots of necessity; but the 
practice increases his berries from one-fourth 
to one-third. He would not stir the ground 
after the plants blossom. Has done so, but does 
not recommend It. Mr. SMITH has grown straw¬ 
berries twonty-fivo years, and t ried all methods 
of cultivation. The bill system produces the 
most berries if a man does not cultivate birds us 
he does. Hut. i l does not answer for him with 
his birds, for the fruit, is so exposed that the 
birds Like it. lienee ho allows his plants to run 
together. After the fruit is picked, lie Inverts a 
space eighteen inches wide with the spado, leav¬ 
ing n corresponding space untouched. The 
spaded space is well manured, and the \ lues are 
allowed to cover it for the next season's fruit; 
in this way he renews his beds and getsuli the 
fruit lie wants. 
fincrilice of Strawberries.—A statement was 
made in the daily papers a few days since that 
whole cargoes of Virginia strawberries were 
thrown into tho river. It was asked if some¬ 
thing could not be done to prevent such vandal¬ 
ism. Mr. Young, a commission dealer, said it 
could not be avoided in this case. The berries 
were entirely spoiled — were heated on the 
steamers. The fruit is very badly packed and 
quickly spoils on steamship lines. 
Market Prices.— Mr. CARPENTER Btated that a 
fruiterer told lUm that, allhough strawberries 
were so abundant and cheap in market, he would 
gladly pay forty cents a quart, for such fruit as 
be desired — that he did pay that price and had a 
difficulty in getting enough of it. IIo wanted 
well grown, ussorted Jucundas, Triomphe do 
Gands, or Agriculturists. While the Wilson is 
selling at ten cents per quart, the finer varieties 
bring from twenty-five to forty cents readily. 
He thought people would find it profitable, If 
they did not get as much fruit, to grow a better 
variety and get more for it. 
Mr. Fuller hud heard that story before and 
had preached that doctrine, but ho hud got beat 
at it, and when lie looked at Ilia own beds on his 
own grounds lie was self-eonvletcd. The Wil¬ 
li 11 wherry, the Coucord grape and the 
iJude 1 pi;iu raspberry, no matter what may bo 
asserted of their inferiority of flavor, cannot bo 
roou 1 out of the popular favor so long as men 
know Unit ihoy are sure of fruit if they have 
not. 
they.. 
1 >e vurietG8,aud are notsureof itif they have 
, n lr r r ,0na fron ' F »o ril *“*-A commission 
^n-i chant ..resented the Club with a watermelon 
imniJorida, remarking that ho did not know 
1 11 “ t r wa - ; ripe or not. Mr. Carpenter said 
that a certain indication that a watermelon is 
ripe enough to pick is when the second curl or 
tendril from the stem of the melon is dead. 
These Florida melons camo through by steamer 
in five days in good order. There were nine 
melons in a package, the freight on which cost 
$1.82. The melons sold at $1 and $2 each. 
How to Grow Melons.—Mr. Carpenter selects 
dry ground inclining to light loam or sand, digs 
holes two and a half feet deep and two and a half 
feet in diameter, fills with barn-yard manure to 
within six inches of the surface, tramping it 
down; fills with good loam, and plants. Thus ho 
always has a good crop of melons. Mr. Fuller 
said, in the sand-beds of New Jersey we have no 
such trouble. 
Virnnor Strawberry.— Mr. Carpenter says this 
new variety is, with him, a failure so far us test¬ 
ed. It i3 not entirely worthless, but it will not 
pay for him to cultivate it as compared with 
other varieties. It lacks size and firmness. The 
quality Is pretty good, and the plant is a strong 
grower. 
Mr. Williams said Nicanor was very promis¬ 
ing south of New York, where lie had seen it, 
Romcyn’s Seedling. Mr. Buuen spoke highly 
of this berry. Mr. Fuller asked if any one 
could tell wherein the ilomeyn differs from Tri¬ 
omphe de Gand. 
Mr. BitrjEN said the color of the stem and run¬ 
ners were peculiar—different from nny other 
strawberry with which he is acquainted, but ho 
had not grown It beside the Triomphe. 
Mr. Ltman said where he had Been these two 
berries growing side by side a di(Terence was ap¬ 
parent to tho eye and tho taste. The berry of the 
Ilomeyn is not so much of the coxcomb form as 
tho Triomphe, It Is more regular in form. It is 
a sourer berry, and ho thinks it will grow mul 
thrive whore the Triomphe will not. Samples 
were shown as Ilomeyn, which 
Mr. Fulleu said indicated that, the subject 
was worse mixed than ho laid supposed; for two- 
thirds of (ho fruit were Agriculturists and tho 
other third Trioropbee. The grower explained 
that “ his man" might have made a mistake. Ho 
would inquire. 
Mr. Carpenter got plants of Ilomeyn fiom 
Mr. Foster two years ago, and at fruiting ho 
went, to what he supposed was the bed of Ito- 
meyn's, and was aatouiahed to llml the fruit tho 
Triomplie. Thinking he must be mistaken in 
hia recollection of the local ion of the bed, he ex¬ 
amined his record and found ho was correct. 
Ho sent to Mr. Foster for more plants, and they 
arc in fruit tho present season; ho cannot dis¬ 
tinguish the plants nor the rrult from the Tri¬ 
omphe, as he grows them. He is satisfied tho 
Ilomeyn and Triomphe are identical. 
Mr. Doty asked for the history of tho Ilomeyn 
Seedling. 
Mr. Cavanagh said tho reliability of its origin 
might, be determined from the fact tlmt Mr. Fos¬ 
ter claimed it to have three parents. 
Mr. Fuller said this matter of tho origin of 
seedlings was a good deal mixed. He knew a 
man who once said a certain tree ho had was a 
seedling of (he California plum, for he planted 
tho seed himself. Fuller examined it and 
found it to bo nothing but a wild cherry! Mo 
tho origin of tho Itomeyu Seedling was equally 
mixed. Any one who know anything about the 
vegetable kingdom know that when a man 
claimed for a secdUmi two fathers and a mother ho 
did not. know what ho was talking about. Ho 
has grown the Ilomeyn and Triomplie side by 
side iiml can distinguish no difference and don’t 
believe there is any 1 
Dr. Hexamer said ho had the Ilomeyn and 
Triomphe sido by Bide, and thinks tho plants 
show a dliference. The Ilomeyn carries its stems 
a little higher. The fruit, is not yet ripo on his 
plants. The Ilomeyn looks very much like tho 
Triomphe; but. he thinks it a more acid berry, 
as he has soon It. Believes it to be aclmnco 
seedling, aud distinct from Triomphe, but with 
so Jlttlo difference that few besides critical ob¬ 
servers would discover tho difference; and 
whore there is so little difference he does not 
think the two fruits should bo kept or recom¬ 
mended as distinct. 
Bishop Strawberry—This fruit was exhibited 
by Mr. FULLER, who said that it would soon be 
introduced to the public from Canada. Ho ex¬ 
hibited it in order that people who might other¬ 
wise be disposed to send five dollars for it might 
savo their money. It is good for nothing; and 
he esteemed it as important to show a fruit at 
these meetings and exhibitions in order to prove 
that It is good for nothing as to show one that it 
is good tor something. He did not advise invest¬ 
ing any money In it. 
Napoleon Third Strawberry,— Mr. Fuller ex¬ 
hibited this fruit. It. was a fair berry, and with 
him about ono plant in ion produced a fair show 
Of the fruit, and the nine-tenths didn’t. In some 
places it may do well, but it is not profitable 
with him on a light soil. Mr. Williams regarded 
it as one of tho promising varieties, from what 
he had seen of it south of New York. 
Austin Strawberry.— Mr. Fuller exhibited this 
variety, and says ho still keeps It. Jle regards 
it better than some of the new varieties, but not 
very good—not to tic highly recommended. 
Stringer’s Seedling.— This berry was also ex¬ 
hibited, and was assorted by Mr. Fuller, to look 
very well; is not very productive nor ol' very 
good quality, but the plant Is a very good grower 
with him. 
What One Strawberry to Plant,— A lady asked 
Mr. Fuller to naino a single variety which lie 
would recommend a person with a .small place 
to plant, where only ono could lie planted. Ho 
replied, “TheWilson.” Dr, Hexamer seconded 
the recommendation. 
Triomphe de Gnnd.— Mr. Fuller said no straw¬ 
berry had come across the Atlantic which equals 
the Triomphe, Its introduction here has done 
much to work a revolution in strawberry cul¬ 
ture. It docs best on heavy soils, though it suc¬ 
ceeds with him on light soil. He sets his plants 
in rows two feet apart, and ono foot apart in the 
row, starting them in hills, and letting them, ul¬ 
timately, run together between the hills, so as to 
resemble drills. Guts good crops (n this way. It 
needs to lm covered in this latitude In winter— 
and wherever there is no snow to protect it ; 
otherwise it winter kills. The fruit bud is easily 
destroyed unless it is mulched. 
Mr. Carpenter said that while a few might 
succeed in localities with the Triomphe, say one- 
fourth ol' those wlio attempt its cultivation 
three-fourths wJll fall with it. lie cannot rec¬ 
ommend. It for general cultivation. In some 
localities It is perhaps the best variety that can 
bo planted; but there are more chances that 
cultivators will not succeed with it than that 
they will. 
M r. Fuller said. “ That is why I say, when I 
am asked what one variety 1 recommend, plant 
the Wilson, ft- never misses. But I say tho 
Triomphe is the best imported berru in alt re¬ 
spects—and that is saying a good deal. There 
are better flavored berries, however." 
Dr. Hexamer places it only second to tho 
Wilson for profit on his heavy soil. He speaks 
Only concerning his own experience in cultivat¬ 
ing it tor its fruit for market. It is not so sure 
a berry ns the Wilson. About every fifth year 
it fails. But when the Wilson is only bringing 
ten and fifteen cents per quart in market the 
Triomphe de Gand will bring forty cents; and 
thus a cultivator can afford to lot it rest one 
year in five. 
New Brunswick Mnmmoih,— Mr. Howe pre¬ 
sented for name a strawberry which He hud cul¬ 
tivated for years, for which ho wants a correct 
name. It. is known in his neighborhood as tho 
“New Brunswick Mummotb,” but he does not 
think it correct. Mr. Carpenter thinks he 
recognizes it as tho Picton Fine—a berry lie 
discarded some years since. 
V Strawberry to Preserve.—A gentleman asked 
Mr. Fuller to name the best strawberry for 
preserving. Mr. Fuller did not think straw¬ 
berries m to preserve. Ho would not use so 
good nit in such a way, But. he did not know 
a better berry to preserve than the old 
Early Scarlet. It retains its flavor and the straw¬ 
berry aroma, pie-»>rved, as well as any. 
Two Classen of Strawberry Growers. — Dr. 
Hexamer made a very nice and proper point in 
this wise. He said there wore two classes of 
strawberry growers who cultivate this plant for 
profit. Ho was not speaking of, nor in¬ 
cluding, amateurs In either of thus* classes. 
Ono of these classes grow plants for sale. 
They are the nurserymen and propagators. 
Their profits depend upon the number of 
plants they sell and tho prices they obtain for 
them. A variety for the plants of which they 
can get five to ten dollars per one hundred is the 
“best” variety for them tocullivnte. They hon¬ 
estly commend such a variety. It is the most 
profitable to them. But there is another and 
larger class to whom the “best’' variety for 
the propagators may prove utterly unprofit¬ 
able. It is the class of cultivators who grow the 
fruit for market and profit. The best variety 
for them is very often entirely distinct from Iho 
best variety for tho propagators. For tho fruit) 
grower for profit the Wilson is first, mid, with 
his experieuee, the Triomplie de Gand has proved 
second, lie is quite well aware Unit l licsuuro 
not tho varieties most profitable to the propa¬ 
gators. There are some ot her vuriel ie.s that will 
prove profitable in localities; but they will not 
bear carrying to distant markets like the two 
variet ies named. 
Recoin mend lug People to Engage in Fruit 
Growing.—Dr. Hexamer thinks it entirely un¬ 
wise mid unkind to recommend men engaged In 
a good business with which they are acquainted 
to abandon It and go in the country to engage In 
1 ’rult culture. Where ono may succeed, ten will 
fail. It requires as much orilioaf professional 
knowledge to succeed iu fruitgrowing as in any 
other business. And tho man who thinks ho 
can take it up and succeed without previous ex¬ 
perience and education, is likely to find himself 
very much mistaken; and the men who recom¬ 
mend him to do so will not be gratified with Ills 
gratitude after a l’ow years’ practical effort on 
ids part. 
Hr. Hexamer oil New Varieties.—Oil his stiff, 
heavy coil, the Jucunda succeeds. It is a fate 
berry, large, regular, good flavor and color. It 
requires good culture. Barnes’ Seedling Is 
very promising and deserves a fair trial. Boy- 
den's No. 30 Is also very promising, but. with 
hijn •! is too soft to recommend as a fruit for 
market—It is too much like the Agriculturist in 
this respect. 
Winn Price Ought Cultivators to Get for fitruw- 
herrica?—This question was asked Dr. Hexamer 
by a member of the Club. He replied that the 
cultivator ought to get at least 15 cents per quart 
net, If located where land is $150 per acre and la¬ 
bor anil manures as high as in the vieiuiiy of 
New York. If cultivators can got 85 cents per 
quart for their fruit at home, they had far bet¬ 
ter sell it there than send it to tho New York 
market. It is one of the poorest markets in the 
world for small fruits. If ho were going toad- 
vise a man to locate who desired to engage in 
small fruit culture, he should toll him to locate 
near a village or city of at least 5,000tnliabitnrils, 
and arrange to market his fruit there, rather 
than depend upon the New York market. 
Excelsior strawberry.— A strawberry with 
this name was exhibited. Mr. Whitlock said 
he had known it for seven years. It is a seed¬ 
ling. Ho could not give its history, but it was a 
very productive berry -ahead of any variety 
he knows of, not excepting the Wilson in this 
respect. The Wilson might yield more fruit the 
first week’s picking, but. for two week’s picking 
the Excelsior would beat it, and it does not sell 
80 well in market as tho Excelsior, lie picked 
over ills old bed lust, year fourteen times, aud 
tho fruit on the table was of the third week’s 
picking. Hu regards it of bettor flavor than tho 
Wilson. It is acid it, is true, bill, it Is a straw¬ 
berry acid —not vinegar acid like Wilson. 
Mr. Cavanagh proposed to express h is opin¬ 
ion about Ibis fruit in very plain terms, lie has 
had experience with more than two hundred 
varieties of strawberries, and lias thrown uway 
far bettor varieties than this Excelsior. Ho 
don’t, think it worth cultivating. It is notahard 
berry nor is its flavor good. 
A Gloomy Report.—Mr. WILLIAMS is a straw¬ 
berry grower. Ships to Now York market. 
Consigns to Mr. 1DELL. Sends him only first 
class berries. Each quart costs him to put on 
the market seven cents —not counting in value 
of land, culture nor manures. Hefirst got twen¬ 
ty-four cents per quart, then eighteen cents,and 
now could got but twelve cents per quart for 
first class berries. Last year the same fruit 
would have brought thirty and forty cents per 
quart in this market. It was manifest that the 
strawberry business was being overdone. 
Mulching Strawberries. — Mr. Williams said 
the Wilson was the only variety he would rec¬ 
ommend for culture where tho fruit must be 
shipped long distances to market. But ii should 
bo mulched: it would pay for mulching, lie 
would not attempt to grow small fruits without 
mulching them. He paid one hundred dollars 
for straw to mulch four ucres, and lie regarded 
it a good luvestment . 
ScIl-L’ongnUutalory.— Mr. Fuller said that 
nine years ago lie issued the first small fruit cat¬ 
alogue ever published in tills country. In lHtiO 
there wji3 not a small fruit catalogue, nor a 
small fruit grower, in the United States. About 
that time Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Pardee, and one 
or two Others with himself, commenced talking 
small fruits at tho Club meetings in this city; 
and lo tho fruits the seeds thus planted had pro¬ 
duced I Now there is complaint that there is 
too much fruit 1 Hundred* of cultivators are 
found in all sections. He rejoiced that fruit 
was cheap; Tor the poor or I his city uro to-day 
eating fruit which they could not enjoy if It 
was not chcup; and although n few pockets 
might suffer, the greater number of palates 
would secure enjoyment. Some years since 
he abandoned strawberry leulturo and com¬ 
menced that of raspberries. Last, year his 
poorest, raspberries brought, him forty cents per 
quart. Now let us talk raspberries until they 
are as cheap as strawberries. If he finds he can¬ 
not cultivate one fruit profitably ho will try 
another. He is in favor of cheap fruits, pro bono 
publico. Now that strawberries have reached 
bottom let us tako up something elso I 
-- *-*-* - 
NEW YORK FARMERS' CLUB. 
WB continuo o»ir notes on the sayings and 
doings of this distinguished body of scientific 
agriculturists. 
Cheese Factories.—E. F. Partridge, Moores- 
town, N. J., asks cost of constructing cheese 
factories, average price of milk paid farmers, 
and where a reliable manager of a factory may 
be secured. The questions were not answered. 
Ho should take and read tho Rural New- 
Yorker. 
Peach Region, Midi. — C. P. AVeiiy, Old Mis¬ 
sion, Traverse City, Michigan, writes the Club 
that the peach, apricot and other fruits have not 
been injured there the past winter, amt that 
they all thrive. The coldest weathur in Decem¬ 
ber was twelve degrees above zero, and on an 
average about, twenty-tonr degrees. He grinds 
the ax of that locality as a place for fruit grow¬ 
ers, vigorously. 
Planter on Clover.—MILKS Waterman, Frank¬ 
lin, Ind-, asks If plaster sowed on clover after 
tho first crop is taken off, benefits the second or 
.reed crop; and If it will retard the maturing of 
llie seed? The Professor of Agriculture says if 
plaster will benefit I Ikm lover on tbut. land at all, 
it. will benefit the second crap; and asserts that 
It will not re tan l the maturing of the seed. Ho 
said plaster would not benefit olovar on all soils. 
[There arc very fowsoils indeed when* red clover 
will thrive, to which plaster may not be profita¬ 
bly applied; but wo know that if it. induces a 
rank growth, it. will retard tho maturing of the 
seed proportionately. Wo have tried it. It is 
better to apply the plaster to tho first crop,early 
in spring.- tins. Rural.] 
To Preserve Maple Sugar or Sirup. — MlLEH 
Waterman writes the Club that, tho flavor of 
maple sugar or sirup Is best preserved byputiiiig 
it In Jugs or jars, and burying it four feet deep 
III the ground, lie adds that, it will be well nut 
to lot one’s neighbors know where It is burled. 
Tho benevolent-fuced Commander of the Club 
said, “That advice, l hope, is only applicable to 
his own neighborhood.” 
Ilots ill Horses, JAMES I.ITTLR, Sillg Billg, N. 
Y„ bought a horse which dlod of tho bots before 
ho had paid for it. IIo wants to know if the 
Club knows more about t he bots than tho horse 
doctors tn his locality; for ho says lie would not 
give a dried herring for what the latter know 
about them. Mr. Gregory said that u table- 
spoonful of chloroform had been recommended 
as a remedy. Dr. Thimble says the bot-fly de¬ 
posits its eggs on the iuslrle tho knee and on 
llie shoulder of tho horse -always where tho 
horso reaches them with his tongue, and they 
are thus t ransferred to the stomach, where they 
becomo maggots and feed upon the food which 
the uuitniil takas into tho stomach, and arc 
thence passed out through the alimentary canal. 
I f by ubslincited the supply of food i* exhausted 
they feed upon tho stomach itseir. Keep lip the 
supply of food and they do no harm to the horse. 
If they have commenced feeding upon the stom¬ 
ach they will cease If it (tho stomach) Is supplied 
with food that they like better* But llie 
practice of horse doctors is barbarous — they 
often introduce nostrums into the stomach of 
t he horso, which is more injurious to tho animal 
than tho bots. The Professor of Chemistry rec¬ 
ommended milk and molasses a* a food that 
would causo tbo maggots to cease feeding upon 
the stomach because they like it belter. A 
strong decoction of White Oak bnrk was recom¬ 
mended ; also footling tho animal raw pul aloes 
two or three times a week would provont any 
trouble. 
Ground filmic t<> Destroy Inserts.—An enter¬ 
prising New-Yorker, in some of tho interior 
countios, has a shale which he had ground up, 
dusted Insects with it, and they had vanished. 
Ho proposed to send t in) Club a half barrel of 
it to try. Or. Tki.wule pronounced It. “utter 
nonsense." The gracious Commander of tho 
Club said, “ You'd butter try it first." Dr. Trim- 
ii M 3 replied that ho would not try it, and hoped 
nobody else would. This enterprising discoverer 
of a panacea, for all noxious insects probably 
used It is shale Just as tho insects were disappear¬ 
ing naturally -after they had done what God 
created thorn to do, and Just at the period of 
transformation; and this mao thought, the shale 
was the cause. But now half of you will be¬ 
lieve In the shale, and I'll not muku further 
effort, to prevent you. 
Hellebore for lusectn,— 1 .1. Higgins, Montreal, 
Canada, exterminates garden insects with ono 
pound of black or white hellebore Jn eight or ten 
palls of water applied to infested plants with a 
syrifigo or otherwise, as convenient. Mr. Ful¬ 
ler says leave out the black and only use white 
hellebore and it is a good thing. It was known 
and used in England fifty or more years ago. 
The powdered hellebore may be dusted upon 
the plants or bushes when the dow Is on them. 
It is quite as easy to thus apply it as in water 
and with a syringe, and is quite as effectual. 
Live on Hogs nmi Cattle.—VV. It. Tkrky, Aber¬ 
deen, Miss., wants to know how to destroy lice 
on hogs and cattle. Has hogs which had lice on 
thorn when ho purchased them and has not got 
rid of them. He is recommended to wash them 
thoroughly with strong soap suds mid keep t hem 
clean. 
How Mach i.t Enough I—A New Jersey logician 
discusses tills question with great astuteness, 
and asks “ Why cannot a business man, a 
thorough going one, oversee a thousand acre 
farm in corn, wheat, etc., more profitably than 
to go on in the usual way?” L^ure enough! 
Some men do. — Eds. Rural. J 
A Slde-Wulk Farmer.—'I’he distinguished Pro¬ 
fessor of Agriculture had been to see a "side¬ 
walk farmer” whose farm is in Westchester 
county, ate of Ids fruit, drank of his coffee with 
cream in it, looked at his chickens, talked with 
his accomplished sister, saw till that ho could 
comprehend and came back mid Void the Flub 
how much money I lie said “side-walk farmer" 
expended annually for new things, etc. Mr. 
Fulled asked tbo learned Professor what in¬ 
come this "side-walk farmer" returns from tlie 
farm; and whore he makes the enormous sums 
of money he expends In obtaining new and 
good things. Such stories were all very fine, but 
to be of any value to pract ical farmers the fig¬ 
ures must be furnished. The astute and enthu¬ 
siastic Professor forgot to ask for figures, aud 
could not reply. Dr. Thimble said that when a 
communication comes to this Club from New 
Jersey, a Committee is sent at once to soe ff 
wtiat it says is true. He moved that a committee 
be appointed to visit tho premise* of I his “side¬ 
walk farmer” und see if what the accomplished 
Professor of Agriculture had said was true— 
though lie was not attempting to throw doubt 
upon the truth of tho gentleman’s statements. 
Tho Club’s Commander refused to appoint with¬ 
out, an invitation. Dr. Trimble said ho had at¬ 
tended the meetings of the Club a good many 
years and heard a groa t, dual about Westchester 
county—and It must be a portent paradise but 
for thu East wind l:mt he could never yet get a 
committee appointed to visit it. lb* thought a 
committee of fifty ought to examine that county. 
Quark Grass. VV. P. Hemphill, Ridgeway, 
N. Y„ asks what he shall do with a half-aero 
Hint is over-run with quack or "witch" grass. 
The wide-awako Professor of Early Rising said: 
“Get lip before breakfast ami root it out! " The 
profound Professor of Agriculture said it is easy 
enough lo kill quack grass if you begin right. 
Watt until it begins to blossom, then turn it 
under, with a double Mtolilg*\n plow, twelve 
inches deep, and sow on the turned over sod 
corn al. I ho rate of four bushels per acre. 11 is a 
good plan to plow tliiseoni in in October; hi it if it 
is harvested for forage, plow the laud In tho fall, 
again in the spring, and plant to corn or pota¬ 
toes, and keep down tho qunok grass with tho 
hov and cultivator. Tho third sonstui summer- 
fallpw thu land thoroughly, aud tho quack is ex¬ 
terminated. 
Management of Fowls, W. E. Clark writes 
the Club ns follows: “May not tho failure of 
tho numerous experiments of keeping largo 
numbers of hens have been rather from lack of 
knowledge of their habits and wauls, and a 
proper attention to them than from nay inhe¬ 
rent difficulty? H seems to me Kail tho success 
of ono such practical experiment as Warren 
BHLANIj’S ought to outweigh twenty such as 
that related by Dr. J. V. C. Smith, which ‘ pres¬ 
ently begun to look shabby, then toll sick and 
drooped, ate each other’s eggs, pulled out «ach 
other’ll feather's, then died l»y dozens.’ Now 
may not lilt of tills have boon caused by want of 
proper food. Eggs and toothers contain much 
sulphur, and us these hens ware fed on 1 chicken 
dough,' containing lil.llo or node of lliat ele¬ 
ment, they were compelled to resort to tho eggs 
and feathers of each other for a supply. Mr. 
HELANki feeds largely with meat, probably a 
large proportion of which is animal livers, fur¬ 
nishing a lull supply of sulphur and albumen, 
henco his success. I have kept liens in n. small 
way, say from a dozen to forty, and hat o always 
aimed t<> irivu them Buoh food .is would furnish 
them with llUe material to build up and cloth© 
their hudics, keep up combustion, and aid thorn 
in the manufacture of eggs. I have, therefore, 
given tbeni grain, meat, Including tho livers of 
animals, chopped bones, and when confined 
chopped turnips and cabbago; and when I Imvo 
found them Infested with vermin, I have doll© 
for them thoroughly wliat nature prompts them 
to do for theinselvc?, bid Which they can do 
but. very imperfectly, viz., dust them, and liavo 
always had good success. Sometimes littlo 
chickens Buffer greatly, and are denuded of their 
feathers, and die before they liavo lonrnod to 
dust themselves. They should be thoroughly 
dusted two or IIIrco times and oiled about tho 
head and under t he wings, Ac. I suppose most 
gardonors learn from sad oxpertijnc© tho fond¬ 
ness of fowls for tho top of the sweet frirnip 
and cabbago. I suggest, where largo numbers 
are kept, that those should bo sown for pasture 
for them, to which they can have access after 
Hhoy have obtained u sufficient start. 
Strawberry Talk, — Specimens of Hoyden’S 
“No. 30," Downer's Prolific, “Hilaries Down¬ 
ing," Stringer's Seedling, Jucunda, and 
Barnes' Mammoth strawberries weroon exhibi¬ 
tion. E. Williams, Montclair, .V J., grows 
BuWNKU's Prolific, on stiff loam, and regards it 
the best, early varioty liu lias over tested. It is 
rather too soli lor loug carriage, but ii isoarller, 
full as productive,a bolter grower, ami the fruit 
isof better quality tban tbo Wilson. Though 
warly, it produces fruit as late a." run..! varieties. 
Stringer's Seedling does not sustain Itsliotuo 
(Philadelphia) reputation. It yields a medium 
crop of good sized berries of fair quality. 
Barnes' Mammoth boars a large and handsome 
berry, is a good grower, and a promising new 
variety. JuoumhL in point of quality aud pro¬ 
ductiveness, is lagruat improvement on tho 
Triomphe de Gand. It. does not grow os well as 
could lie. wished, but yields some prodigious ber¬ 
ries. “Charles Downing" (one of Downer's 
seedlings) is a very promising variety, and gives 
Mr. Williams more satisfaction than any now 
variety he has ever tried. I t is a good grower, 
productl re, fruit large, uniform in size, und of 
high flavor. 
Planting Strawberry Seed. Mr. Fuller gave 
his mode of planting strawberry seed. Take 
the strawberries, crush them and mix the seed 
with sand. Sow the sand and seed about ono- 
eighth of an Inch deep, cover, pat down tho 
eartli closely and keep moist until full. Homo 
of the seed will show plants this fall, which 
should betaken up and planted tn rows, and 
these plants will show some fruit next year—not 
enough to determine their value; but the sec¬ 
ond season they will produce a crop, which will 
toil whether thoy uro pro miking enough to cul¬ 
tivate furthor or not. ' 
New Potatoes from Vicksburg, Miss., were 
shown and referred to a committee to test, Mr. 
Gregory asserting that the boat varioty lie had 
ever met. Southern grown, was tho common 
Western lied. 
Some Ax Grinding was done by sundry per¬ 
sons, for a report ol which wo have no space. 
It is a very nice thing for inventors und man¬ 
ufacturers to appear before the Club, show their 
inventions and machine.;, get ft committee ap¬ 
pointed to report upon them and tho report 
published gratuitously. But we are not doing 
that kind of advertising. 
