APRIL 2 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
223 
the importance of destroying the pests 'while 
they are small. There are usually two crops 
of worms, the first coming on in the early part 
of July while the plants are young. The 
second crop appears nsurily about the middle 
of August and is generally more destructive to 
the crop than the first brood, as at this time 
the plants are so large as to m3ke it very dif¬ 
ficult to find them. “ Worming " tobacco is a 
very laborious and costly task in seasons 
when the worms are numerous. It is a work, 
however, which must not be neglected if a good 
crop is to be expected, for the quality and 
quantity of the crop depend largely upon it. 
Various means have been adopted for destroy¬ 
ing tobacco worms, but of them all none is so 
effectual as picking them off by hand and de¬ 
stroying them. Turkeys will devour them 
greedily and are veiy useful to aid in the 
work of hunting and destroying them, yet the 
chief reliance must be placed on band-picking 
them. It is supposed that worms are less 
numerous in the Summer succeeding a wet 
Fall. They are also less numerous in wet 
rainy seasons, when the continued heavy rains 
wash off the eggs in large numbers. They 
are always present, however, in numbers suf¬ 
ficient to cause great "damage to the crop, 
unless the utmost vigilance is employed in 
destroying them. In seasoits when they are 
numerous, the tobacco field should be passed 
over at least once a week, the leaves examined 
and the pests destroyed. A little experience 
will enable one to tell where they are most 
likely to be found. Eggs also should be looked 
for and destroyed. The work may be done by 
small boys with profit if a premium be offered 
to the boy who secures the greatest number of 
worms, or the searchers may be paid by the 
dozen or hundred, in which case it is best to 
have the pests collected in some kind of a dish 
or a vessel so that they may be correctly 
counted. A good way of lessening their num¬ 
ber is to destroy the millers that lay the eggs. 
A method practised largely in some tobacco¬ 
growing districts is to plant Jamestown Weed 
in the vicinity of the tobacco field, the blos¬ 
soms of which are eagerly sought after by the 
flies. Poison is injected into these blossoms, 
which poisons the miller and thus prevents it 
from depositing its eggs. 
“ Topping." 
In order to throw the energies of the entire 
plant into a few large leave.*, the top, or seed 
bud, which makes its appearance when the 
growth of the plant is nearly completed, is 
broken off; the process is called “ topping.” 
The work requires some experience and 
judgment to perform it correctly. It is better 
that the plant be not permitted to blossom, 
and the sooner it can be topped the greater is 
the saving ot vitality. Care should be taken 
in pinching or breaking off the top or t ud not 
to iujure the leaves immediately below. A 
common mistake made In topping tobacco is 
in topping too high. Low topping is advis¬ 
able, as it gives larger leaves and better qual¬ 
ity. From ten to fourteen leaves should re¬ 
main on the stalk. 
-- 
Spiked Wild Oat-Graaa or Old Fog—Danthonia 
Spirals, 
This is another grass of small size found on 
poor soil, The stems are short and few in 
number; the leaves short, twisted and gener¬ 
ally hairy. The grass grows in small bunches 
and is not considered of good quality for any 
kind of stock. There are some 60 species of 
Danthonia, nearly all natives of South Africa, 
where they afford much valuable pasture. The 
species above is generally found on poor, thin, 
high clay soil, The late Hon. John Stanton 
Gould, in his excellent article on grasses, says 
he once gave this grass a good trial. ‘‘When 
it was fed to the cattle In the Winter, although 
the mangers were kept well filled, they bel¬ 
lowed with hunger. The horseB became hide¬ 
bound and the cows shrank in their milk. 
They got along very well when they were fed 
twice a day with Timothy and Blue Grass and 
were allowed to pick at the Danthonia at inter¬ 
vals as they felt inclined for it. It was rather 
better than rye straw, but not much. It was 
certainly better than nothing ; but the better 
plan Is to manure the soil, so that it will pro¬ 
duce the rleher grasses.” Prof, W. J. Beal. 
ortifttltural. 
RAISING CELERY. 
It Is less difficult to ra ; se good celery than 
Is generally imagined. Ordinary skill, atten¬ 
tion and j udgment are all that are necessary 
to produce a good quality of celery, and we 
wonder that farmers do not more often at¬ 
tempt its cultivation. The first requisite is 
moderately good soil, not necessarily very 
rich, except immediately about the roots of 
the plants, and not too light and dry. The 
ground should be thoroughly and deeply work¬ 
ed, so that it will the better retain sufficient 
moisture for the growth of the young plants. 
In the latitude of New York City and south¬ 
ward the seed may be sown in open ground in 
April. The soil should be well prepared and 
mixed with thoroughly decomposed farm-yard 
manure o e some commercial fertilizer. Sow 
the seed thinly and equally, cover with half 
an inch of earth; slightly pack down; and 
water, if it does not rain in afew days after 
sowing. When the plants are one or two in¬ 
ches high, they should be transplanted into 
another bed—a few of the larger leaves hav¬ 
ing been taken off—and set about four inches 
apart but no deeper than before. In July the 
plants may be set in rows four feet apart and 
six inches apart in the row. It is not neces¬ 
sary to plant in trenches, but a little manure 
may be dug in along the furrow in which the 
plants are to be set. The time of blanching, 
though depending upon the time when the 
celery is to be used, is generally in September. 
A plow is run between the rows; the stalks 
must be gathered in one hand and the dirt 
pressed up against them with the other. 
More earth should be thrown up against 
them with a hoe; but the t®ps must be left ex¬ 
posed several inches and, as they grow, more 
earth must be banked up against them. 
The blanched plants are stored in a trench 
about one foot wide and just deep enough to 
contain them ; packed closely and more or less 
heavily covered according to the severity of 
the weather. 
-*--*-♦- 
CUCUMBERS. 
Earlt cucumbers for slicing I plant in cold- 
frames with other plants, and when the latter 
are removed the cucumbers occupy the 
grouBd. I thus get a double use of sash. I 
and is a small yielder. Early Russian is good 
for late planting. 
Late cucumbers for pickles I have always 
found a profitable crop. I plant the main 
crop as late as the Fourth of July, as a sec- 
SPIKELETS OF WILD OAT GRASS.—FIG. 181. 
ond crop following peas, early onions, lettuce, 
etc. I always manure them in the hill, either 
with phosphate or well-rotted stable manure. 
When the latter is used l dig a hole eight or 
ten inches deep, and put in about a half bushel 
of manure, tamp it down solid, cover it with 
three or four inches of soil, and leave the “hill,” 
when planted, a trifle below the surrounding 
surface. It then gets the full benefit of all the 
rain that falls, and, if I wish to water it, the 
SPIRED WILD OAT GRASS—DANTHONIA SPICATA.— FIG. 182. 
do not believe in hot-beds for cucumbers. It is 
too much work to keep them supplied with 
water when they commence to bear. There is 
nothing like having them down on a level with 
old mother earth, where she can assist the 
cloudB in watering them, provided we 
have the conditions right, which a*e: a rich 
soil and good cultivation. With regard to 
kinds of cucumbers, I have found Early Frame 
as good as any. I do not like Long Green 
Prickly. It does not make a handsome pickle, 
advantage is apparent—the water all runs the 
right way towards the center of the hill. I 
hear a great many complaints from my cus¬ 
tomers every Fall sis to the injury to their 
vines from di y weather, and In most cases I 
find they have planted them on raised hills. 
What their object was I never could find out. 
It is needless to add they were not readers of 
the Rural. I also find another fault is in not 
keeping the vines picked clean; they need cut¬ 
ting every other day. I use a sharp-pointed 
knife and leave a half inch of stem on each 
cucumber. This gives them a tidy appearance 
when taken to maiket, and they are said to 
keep better; bnt of this I have no proof ; but I 
do know that they should be either pickled or 
salted pretty soon after they are picked. 
Keeping them has a tendency to toughen the 
outside rind and cause them to shrivel up 
when put in the brine. One thing more I have 
learned from experience—not to plant in the 
open ground until the soil is thoroughly warm 
and warm nights are the rule, not the excep¬ 
tion. About the 10 th of June is early enough 
for this latitude. Adalbert Wakefield. 
Oneida Co., N. Y. 
-♦ ♦ ♦-- 
PEAS, 
Peas produce best on a light, rich, well-tilled 
soil, and a good crop may be raised with the 
application of bat little manure. The soil, for 
the first crop, should be prepared as early as 
possible in Spring after the frost is out of the 
the ground, and the peas put in as soon there¬ 
after as possible. Other sowings msy be made 
at intervals of two or three weeks until July. 
If a succession of crops is desired. We prefer 
to sow the early, medium and late varieties at 
the same time, the peas thus being matured in 
succession, and the excessive heat, and, per¬ 
haps. drought of July and later, are avoided. 
Peas, when grown in small quantities for 
private use, may as well be sown in double 
rows six or eight inches apart with a space be¬ 
tween of about three feet in order to give 
room to bush the taller-growing varieties, aud 
plenty of space to pass between the rows in 
gathering the crop 
We believe that nothing is lost in bushing 
even the medium-growing varieties, as it 
gives them a neat appearance, keeps the 
vines from mattiDg and trailing in the dirt, 
and, above all, keeps the good farmer from 
saying harsh things when, during a light 
shower or heavy dew, he is requested by the 
mistress of the the house to go out and pick a 
mess of peas on the plea: “We mast have 
them for dinner.” No one relishes the over¬ 
hauling of wet, dirty vines, or the picking of 
the bespattered pods from those trampled be¬ 
neath his feet. 
Earliest Varieties -.—Philadelphia is the 
earliest of all, and close upon it come Early 
Kent, Daniel O’Rourke, Laxton’s Alpha, Car¬ 
ter’s “ First Crop,” Kentish Invicta, and Tom 
Thumb. The last variety can he raised with 
least trouble and mt>y also be said to produce 
least, as it grows but half a foot high. 
Earlt: —McLean's Advancer, Laxton’s Pro¬ 
lific Long Pod and McLean's Little Gem are 
good early varieties. 
Medium: —Champion of England, Laxton’a 
Marvel, McLean's Premier, and Eugenie. 
Late; —British Queen, Black-Eyed Marrow¬ 
fat, Tall Sugar, and McLeau’a Best of All. 
Champion of England for a main crop is still 
considered the best. Thi6 grows five feet high ; 
the pods are large and well-filled. For an 
early pea there is aone better than McLean’s 
Little Gem. 
♦ » »- 
Experience with new Vegetables. 
Having seen several articles in the agricul¬ 
tural papers of late stating that the Alpha was 
a first-class tomato, I concluded to write 
and give my experience in the matter. Last 
Spring I procured two packets of this variety, 
and from the seed raised about 500 plants. 
These I set out In a favorable situation with a 
view of saving Ike seeds, thinking that if the 
variety proved valuable there might be a 
sale for it; but it proved quite the contrary. 
The plant itself is very weak-growing, tven 
under high culture; the fruit is small, irregu¬ 
lar in shape and veiy liable to crack and rot. 
It is one of the poorest varieties, without ex¬ 
ception, I have ever seen. Among other va¬ 
rieties I tested the past season were the Acme, 
Paragon and Hath way’s Excelsior. Of these I 
think the Excelsior is by far the best. It is 
very productive, solid and of excellent quality. 
The Acme and Paragon are very good ; but 
In most cases will crack and rot to some ex¬ 
tent. 
I also tested some other novelties in the veg¬ 
etable line, among which were the Golden Wax 
Bean. Red Drumhead Cabbage and Bliss’s 
American Wonder Pea. This little pea is truly 
a wonder, being very early, highly productive 
and of excellent quality. The cabbage, though 
not a new variety, is comparatively unknown. 
It is a great improvement on the common Red 
Dutch, being larger and of better quality. The 
Golden Wax Bean is much better than the 
old Black Wax in productiveness and quality. 
Shelburne, Vermont. w. h. r. 
On the 24th of April, 1875, the thermometer 
was 24 °, at seven in the morning, and the 
sleighing for that and the next dey was good. 
Be not in loo great haste to uncover plants 
Lit the mulch still remain upon the strawberry 
patch. One cannot sow his Spring wheat and 
oats too eariy after the ground is dry enough 
to plow. But plants that have been protected 
during the Winter are tender now and need, 
protection more than ever. 
