207 
MARCH 26 
THE RURAL. HEW-YORKER. 
eirable, especially for preserving and canning. 
Season, end of September. 
Lite Red Rareripe, although long since 
recognized as one of the most excellent of 
peaches, and by no means^snperseded in this 
respect by any of the*more modern introduc¬ 
tions, has apparently bean almost forgotten by 
planters, in obedience to the behests of the 
commercial idea. Planters of family orchards 
might do very much worse than to fall back 
upon this worthy old favorite. 
Stump the World is considerably planted 
here to follow the still popular Old Mixon Free 
—a purpose for which it is available on ac¬ 
count of its fine size and showy appearance, 
although it cannot be commended for high 
quality- Season, near the end of September. 
Tippecanoe Cling seeina, with us, to ac¬ 
quire the high quality for which it is noted in 
Eastern Pennsylvania. It ripens fully within 
our ordiuary seasons, and is, we think, one of 
the finest flavored of all our very late yellow 
peaches. Were it not a cling it would doubt¬ 
less at mice become a general favorite. 
Heath Cling is one of the finest and most 
profitable when It fully ripenB, which it will 
do here about the middle of October, but oc¬ 
casionally our seasons do not suffice for this 
purpose. 
Smock Free may be said to be the latest re¬ 
liable freestone, market peach for the “ fruit 
belt.” Within the past three or four years, 
I think it can be safely assumed that, south 
of the Kalamazoo River, the planting of com¬ 
mercial orchards has been more extensively of 
this than of any other single, late variety. 
Delaware White. We have a bright-look¬ 
ing, large, creamy-white peach occasionally 
planted iu this region under this name. Very 
little seems to be known as to its origin, nor is 
it highly esteemed as compared with others of 
its season, which is very late—about the begin¬ 
ning of October. It is of only moderately good 
quality, but is a good culinary fruit, and with 
an infusion of •* patent color ” would very 
probably have become popular. 
- *-»-■* - 
DOCTORS CONTINUE TO DISAGREE. 
The extremely cold weather which prevailed 
over a very large area during the latter part of 
December last, has given rise to much specu¬ 
lation and discussion among the fruit growers 
in different sections of the country- The New 
York Tribune, in an article headed “Frost on the 
Peach Trees,” gives the opinions and theories of 
Mr. Samuel Townsend, of Delaware, on several 
pointB connected with this subject, that are not 
exactly iu harmony with the conclusions of 
the horticultural editor of the “Prairie Farm¬ 
er ” Delaware’s veteran of the orchard says : 
“Zero is too cold for peaches, and 4° or 5° 
below for 34 hours will kill the fruit-bearing 
buds and the limbs they are on." Mr. Town¬ 
send, furthermore, declares: “There is no 
remedy for peach trees where the thermometer 
falls to from8 9 to 15 3 below zero.” 
Now hear from the indomitable Illiuois 
editor: “ We have, for a long time, believed 
that a class of varieties may be obtained by 
careful selection of seedlings from the hardiest 
varieties in a few generations, that will prove 
hardy far north of the preseut limits of the 
•• peach belt.” * ♦ We have by continued repro¬ 
duction of hardy varieties from seed, obtained 
sorts that have withstood a reported general 
temperature of 30® below zero, both iu tree 
and fruit bud, and matured a crop of peaches 
the Autumn following; and we feel consider¬ 
able confidence in picking peaches from one 
of these trees next Autumn, notwithstanding 
that the tree has been tried this Winter by 28® 
below zero." 
It is plain that the gentlemen quoted above 
hold different views regarding the capabilities 
of the peach to withstand cold ; but the fact, 
so common to all experienced growers, that 
there is a plaiuly noticeable difference in the 
hardiness of different kinds, would give the 
greater weight to the views of the editor. Mr. 
Townsend is at variance with another theory— 
one laid down by the scientific class of horti¬ 
culturists—regarding the cause of the fatal 
disease among peach trees, commonly called 
“yellows." He maintains that extremely cold 
weather will cause this disease; that this is 
“one of the most fruitful" causes. In this, 
Delaware’s gentleman of practice is at issue 
with the most profound scholars and acute 
observers belonging to the “ craft.” “ A fun¬ 
gus that attacks aud preys upon the roots,” 
says the scientific, “ is the cause of the yellows 
in the peach.’ That the disease is generally 
fatal is not debatable; but the reason for this 
fatality is fouud In the fact that it rarely 
occurs that the disease receives any treatment; 
hence It Is not surprising that Mr. Townsend 
should be quoted as saying : “ Never has there 
been known a single tree, which, when once so 
affected, was cured.” To this my own person¬ 
al experience with the disease in question, 
compels me to take exception, because 1 know 
of its having been permanently cured after It 
had so weakened the tree as to cause the fruit 
to color and soften weeks iu udvance of its 
proper season, the foliage to assume au en¬ 
feebled aud abnormal color, the wiry and weak 
suckers to be thrown out along the heavier 
limbs, etc., etc. It was a case of veritable 
yellows, without doubt, cured through the 
agency of strong alkalieB placed in contact 
with the roots. Here it will be noticed that ex¬ 
perience goes once more against the views of 
the Delaware peach-grower, who by reputa¬ 
tion is known by the writer to be a gentleman 
of long apprenticeship to the “ art” of grow¬ 
ing peaches for market. J. W. Kerr. 
Caroline Co., Md. 
Jielil Crop, 
TOBACCO CULTURE.-NO. 4. 
G. A. GOFF, JR. 
Setting the Plant*. 
Tobacco setting commences here usually 
about June 1st. and continues during the 
month, as the weather allows. The plants are 
set immediately after a rain while the soil is 
saturated with water. Boys are usually em¬ 
ployed for the work and are paid by the hour. 
for in the morning, when they may usually 
be found on or near the top of the grour.d 
around the plants. The tobacco field should 
be passed over frequently after the first set¬ 
ting and plants from the seed-bed Bhould be 
set in wherever any are found lacking. It 
is well to have plenty of plants for thia pur¬ 
pose, as sometimes a great deal of re-setting is 
necessary to insure a perfect stand. 
Cultivation of Young Plant*. 
As tobacco is a native of a tropical climate, 
and as quick growth is essential to produce a 
good quality of leaf, it should be the aim of 
tobacco growers to push the growth of the 
young plants as fast as possible after they 
have been transplanted into the fields. Fre¬ 
quent stirring of the soil has much to do with 
the growth of tobacco, because it prevents the 
surface from becoming hard or baked and 
lessens the injurious effects of drought. Next 
to a mulch, there is nothing more beneficial 
to growing crops in dry weather, than a mel¬ 
low surfuce, which acts as a mulch in pre¬ 
venting the soil from drying out. This fact 
seemed to be generally understood by early 
tobacco growers in different parts of the 
world. Early growers of the “ weed” in Vir- 
SHEEP’s FESCUE — FE8TUCA OVINA.—FIG. 177. 
One boy goes ahead and drops a plant in each 
mark made by the cleats on the roller, while 
others follow and set them. One boy can 
drop for two to set. Care should be exercised 
to have the roots set in straight. When the 
soil is hard or stony a dibble is useful in mak¬ 
ing the hole for the plant. The droppers are 
instructed to drop occasionally an extra plant, 
to be used to fill vacancies later in the season. 
Before pulling the plants from the seed-bed, 
the latter should be thoroughly Bprinkled with 
water, so that the roots will not be injured. 
Should a little dirt adhere to these, they will 
be more likely to grow and do well. 
As soon as tobacco is set in the field, Insect 
enemies usually commence their depredations 
upon the plaute. The first of these insects to 
work upon the plant after it Is transplanted to 
the field, are the cat-worms. These sometimes 
are vei y destructive. They eat off the young 
plants at the surface of the ground. When 
they arc troublesome they should be hunted 
gtnia laid great stress on frequent hoeing, 
sometimes going over their fields five or six 
times, and Stirling the soil around the plants. 
Our improved implements for cultivating 
make it possible for tobacco growers to do 
much of the work by horse power that was 
formerly done with a hoe. A good cultivator 
managed by a skillful workman, may be run 
very close to the plants without injuring them, 
thus saving much hand wotk. Cultivating 
should begin as soon as the plants commence 
growing, after having been transplanted to 
the field. The cultivator is run twice between 
each two rows, when they are hoed or 
“ scraped,” aB the process is usually termed, 
which consists of skimming off the surface 
of the soil with the weeds from around the 
plants and substituting fine, mellow soil from 
between the rows. The cultivator should be 
kept running between the rows as long as the 
work can be done without injuring the leaves. 
The oftener the field is passed over the better, 
especially in dry weather. About two weeks 
after the first hoeing, the tobacco is again hoed. 
This time the work is done thoroughly and 
the extras which are not needed to fill vacan¬ 
cies are removed. Most growers practice hill 
culture and hill their tobacco at the second 
hoeiDg, which makes the work very laborious 
and costly. 
It is doubtful whether this hilling is bene¬ 
ficial to the plants. Experiments have failed 
to prove its utility, and it is probable that the 
work might be omitted without detriment to 
plants if the soil is made perfectly mellow be¬ 
tween them. The Alden thill cultivator is 
the most popular Implement in use here¬ 
abouts for cultivating tobacco where the 
soil is not too stony. When the Boil is hard 
or very Btony the common five-toothed “ dig¬ 
ger" is preferable because it is stronger and 
penetrates deeper into the ground. 
Chemung Co., N. Y. 
-- 
Sheep’* Fescue—Festuca oviua. 
The genus festuca contains about 300 species 
widely distributed over various parts of the 
earth Some of them are our most valuable 
grasses for meadows and pastures. The one 
above named is exceedingly variable, so much 
so that botaniBts differ in regard to what 
should be regarded as a species. 8h ep’s Fes¬ 
cue is common on the hills of maLy of the 
Northern States, Canada and many portions 
of Europe. It extends far northward. It 
flowers early, makes a nutritious feed and is 
a favorite of sheep. It grows in small tufts 
which are quite attractive to a lover of nature. 
The writer admires it, especially on thin 
soil or lawns under the shade of trees. It is 
good for edgings. The leaves are slender and 
more or less glaucouB. In some of the high 
lands of Europe it constitutes the chief herb¬ 
age. It is too small for profit as a grass for 
hay. It roots deeply, stands dry weather well, 
and often grows on soil so poor that no other 
nutritious grasses can thrive. On rich soil, 
other grasses usually crowd it out. 
Professor W. J. Beal. 
■ -» ♦ »- 
Heeding Oat* aud Gran* in Virginia. 
There is a Farmers’ Club called the Goose 
Creek Valley Club in this valley. The mem¬ 
bers on the 4th inst., met at my house, the sub¬ 
ject for discussiou being “Seeding Oats and 
Grass." The opinion of the club was that 
Winter oats should be sowed iu the Fail from 
September 1st to the 15th; ami that Spring oats 
should be sowed as soou as the Wiuler breaks, 
and that the proper quantity of seed is one bushel 
to the acre. It was also decided that grass 
seed should be sown directly after the harrow 
that pula in the oats, before rain falls on the 
land- Timothy ought to be sowed, without 
other grasses, a quarter of a bushel per acre. 
Clover and Timothy mixed should be in pro¬ 
portion of ont-third of the former to twr-thirds 
of the latter. Sow 11 lbs. to the acre. Orchard 
Grass and clover seed should be mixed 1J 
bushel of the first to 1-16 oushel of the second 
to the acre. It was the opinion of the club 
that plaster sown on young oats and grass 
p jys well. It Is the practice with our farmers, 
as soon as the oats are ripe, to cut with the 
old five-fingered cradle; bind in moderate¬ 
sized bundles; shock in shocks of from 13 to 
15 bundles, and, as soon as cured, stack or put 
away in barns. The oats with as have been 
an uncertain crop for some years past. 
Bufordvllle, Va. p. l. b. 
Yellow Hackbbrry Corn. — A corres¬ 
pondent writes ns from Akron, Ohio, that this 
corn is sold in that market at 30 cents per 
bushel. It is earlier than most varieties of 
Dent; but it will not mature in 90 days—as a 
late inquirer asked—but it may mature in 110 
days. It will not give so many bushels to the 
acre as other sorts; but its yield of shelled 
corn will be proportionately greater. In husk¬ 
ing it is hard on the hands, having a rough, 
prickly surface. 
- •-*-* - 
Damaged Clover Seed.—A correspondent 
writing io us from Adrian, Michigan, early in 
the month, says that the clover seed dealers iu 
Toledo, Ohio, had most of their stock sub¬ 
merged duriug the dood that visited that town 
a short time back, and that they afterwards 
had it dried for market. He considers that 
such seed would be so damaged that to palm 
it off upon fai mers as good seed, would be a 
swindle. 
Jarm fojnrs. 
SOLUBLE vs. INSOLUBLE PHOSPHATE, 
PROFESSOR G. C. CALDWELL. 
Phosphoric acid exists in manures, whether 
home-made or commercial, almost entirely in 
in the form of phosphate of lime. There are 
different phosphates containing the acid in 
different proportions, and there are varieties 
of phosphate of the same composition, all of 
which differ from one another to a greater or 
