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NEW YORK, NOV. T9, 1881 
[Entered according to Act of CongreHs, In the year 1881, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
troublesome, and this for two good reasons. 
First, it camiot well be made large enough 
to hold half, or indeed, a quarter enough fer¬ 
tilizer—so that at almost every bout the lid 
must be raised and the box refilled. Second, 
it must be thoroughly cleansed immedi¬ 
ately after use or the fertilizer becomes cor¬ 
roded and baked upon the zinc or other lining- 
small garden plots, it is better to select those 
kinds of sweet corn whose tassels bloom and 
shed their pollen at the same time that the 
silk appears and is ready to receive it. A 
small plot of Moore's Early or Black .Sugar, 
for example, would probably set more kernels 
to the ear than a small plot of Sto well’s Ever¬ 
green, because each plant of the first two may 
be self-fertilizing, while each plant of the 
Evergreen, as a rule, has to depend upon some 
other plant for pollen. 
With the object of having the best kinds of 
sweet corn for every-day use from the middle 
of July until frost we should select, as the 
result of the above tests, the following: Early 
Minnesota, Moore’s Early, Triumph, Black 
Sugar, Stowell’s Evergreen. 
There are several kinds which have been 
offered of late years that are earlier than 
Early Minnesota. We tested, last year, Mr. 
Gregory’s Marblehead Sweet Corn which gave 
boiling ears in fit days. But the limit of earli¬ 
ness in sweet corn, as in tomatoes, seems to 
have been reached. Any further gain is more 
than lost in quality, size ami yield. 
As to quality in the earliest varieties of 
sweet corn, we could not distinguish one from 
the other. Triumph is sweet and tender for 
an intermediate, and Black Sugar and Stowell’s 
Evergreen are probably the sweetest and rich¬ 
est of the late kinds. For family use we 
choose the BUck Sugar as of the first quality; 
but the ears are rather small and many object 
to their color. All of the kinds that matured 
at the same time were more or less mixed. 
Some of the Evergreen ears were one-eighth 
Black Sugar, while some of the Black Sugar 
ears were liberally sprinkled with w hite ker¬ 
nels. Black Sugar kernels were found one- 
quarter of a mile distant iu earn of Blount and 
and Chester. 
Crops 
WHITE FOUNTAIN WHEAT. 
We herewith present an engraving from 
life of White Fountain Spring Wheat, the 
original of which was sent to us by Prof. A. 
E. Blount of Colorado. It has been cultivated 
in a small way at the / 
Rural Farm as a Win- j\y I 
ter wheat, and, though Zb ntfaj/, 
late, we have some ( 1 1 l> JvS 
hopes it may yet prove , v \ }, / 
valuable as a Winter , S'AWww 
wheat. Mr. R. Park- || 
hurst, of Montana, sent 
us several heads of a 
wheat which he said 
was there called r VliAx II 
“ White Aowse,” as we 
Our readers may re- 
member that we re- 
marked upou the unu- 
sually large number of 
breast, . V\ 1 
The warm weather continues with gentle 
rains. Wheat is growing rapidly. Many 
young apple and pear trees are in second 
bloom and leaf, thus exhausting the material 
which should have remained stored through 
the Winter for Spring growth. 
Early Narragansett and Minnesota 
were ready for the table July 20, though the 
ears were small aud imperfect—those of Min¬ 
nesota being rather more matured. The plants 
were four feet high to the tip < if the tassel. 
There seem to be two or three days in favor 
of Early Minnesota. The ears are ready for 
cooking as soon aB the silk browns; while with 
Narragansett the ears are not ready until the 
silk is blackened. Both of these liear but one 
ear of from eight to twelve rows to a stalk. 
These were the only kinds in use to August 11. 
Moore’s Early Concord was then ready. 
The tassel of this kind is in bloom at the same 
time that the silk appears. It is more prolific 
than either of the above. The ear is generally 
12-rowed aud six inches long. The stalks were 
slender and four-and-a-half feet high. 
Triumph was ready for use August 10. This 
grows about five feet in bight, generally one 
ear (12 to 14 rows) to a stalk. There are few 
barren stalks ; in silk and tassel at the samo 
time; that is, the silk (pistils) were ready to 
receive the pollen from the tassels (stamens) 
when ripe. 
Tuscarora ripened at the same time, 
August 10. Stalks six feet high. Generally 
two ears to a stalk. Silk and tassel ripe at the 
same time. Ears long and from eight to ten 
rows—often widely separated. The kernel is 
large, oval, rather fiat and as white as snow.. 
They do not shrivel as in most kinds of green 
corn and, though tender, are not sweet. 
Hiokox grows six feet in hight. Boiling ears 
ready August 12. They are generally eight 
to 12-rowed, loug and tapering; often two to a 
stalk, but more barren stalks than in Tus¬ 
carora. Silk and tassel matured at same time. 
Asylum grows five-and-a-half feet high, one 
ear to stalk; ripe August 11, The ears are 10 
to 12-rowed, regular and well filled out. Silk 
and tassel matured at the same time. 
Mammoth. First ready August 16. Stalks 
seven feet high. Generally large ears, one to a 
stalk, 12 to Id rows. Silk appears before the 
pollen. 
Black Sugar or Mexican: Stalks six feet 
high; leafy, thin stalks. Often two ears to a 
stalk; generally eight to 10 rows, eight inches 
long. They are ready for cooking several days 
before they show color, though they are excel¬ 
lent for several days after. Silk and tassel ma¬ 
tured at the same time. First mess August 17. 
Stowell’s Evergreen: Stalks six feet 
high and heavy, shapely ears, 14 to 20 rows, 
small kernels, ready for boiling August 10. 
The tassels shed their pollen generally before 
the silk appears. 
Egyptian or Washington Market: Ready 
for cooking August 10. Stalks seven feet 
high. Often two ears to a stalk, about 14 
rows, short', stubby—well filled out. Tassels 
usually shed their pollen before the silk is re¬ 
ceptive. Though many of the stalks bore two 
good ears, there were quite a number that 
TOBACCO-GROWING NOTES, 
Tobacco that is not fully cured at the ap¬ 
proach of cold, freezing weather so that some 
of the leaves on the plants are frozen before 
they are entirely cured, makes what is usually 
termed “ fat” tobacco. If the stems of the 
leaves only are green at the time of the freez¬ 
ing, the effect is less disastrous than if the 
whole or part of the leaf were frozen, touch 
tobacco has what is known as “ fat stems, ’ 
and may by artificial moans for drying, be 
converted into a valuable article. For the 
leaves when the body of them is frozen so 
that they turn black after being dried, there 
is no remedy, und they should always find 
their wuy to the compost heap. 
grams ui a 
many of which con- 
tained five and a few \ \ ^ 
seveu. The heads so , wVS &mT- j 
closely resemble those V7 
of White Fountain that 
we believe them to be //S&sh' 
the same. The follow- 
ing note has since been \vfW 
received from Mr. 
"You slightly mis- 
took the name of the 
stoat! of White Aowse, \ NAv/' J' J 
it is White TowsO. It wm,/ $ j 
is a Spring wheat.” At 
(our request Prof. v 
Blount kindly furnish- ^ 1 r; 
es the following infor- 
“White Fountain 
(Spring wheat) was re- 
ceived from Ohio last y., . 
year. The seed re- \u'y1K/V 
ceived was by no XlVjvSJ 
nteuns attractive—soft, k Y\VW/7jM 
dark and very light 
and shriveled. It is a \i iSS f/jWJ* 
pedigree variety, huv- x-to,. 'Jq ,j 
ing been improved by \u \Y / 
selection. In Colorado x 
as a Spring wheat it \J:yl 
succeeds admirably, 
producing from four \ \J 
ounces sown 101 pounds 
of clear hard and beau- l Ijjjl 
tiful grain. Smooth l|l 
bead, white chaff and 
stiff straw.” B 
Wo have only to add 
that wo commend a I 
trial of this wheat to _ . ^ 
our friends of Colorado 
Montana, and of Spring wheat growing sec¬ 
tions generally. Yet wo can furnish no in¬ 
formation as to where sood can be procured, 
beyond giviug tne addresses of the two gen¬ 
tlemen above named. They are Professor A. 
F„ Blount, Fort Collins, Colorado; R. Park- 
hurst, Stevensville, Missoula Co., Montana. 
Stripping tobacco is in order as soon after 
the tobacco is thoroughly cured as the grower 
can give to it his undivided attention. The 
plants should not be taken from the poles or 
laths until the leaves are moist and pliable, 
and if any “ fat ” leaves are found, the strip¬ 
ping should succeed the taking down as soon 
as possible. When stripping, all ‘ fat ’ or 
green leaves should be thrown aside, and 
not placed in bundles or “ hands with 
sound tobacco for the reason that such leaves 
are likely to induce sweating after the tobacco 
is placed in “ rank,” which sometimes injures 
the quality of the crop. It is economy to 
perform the work of stripping us far as 
practicable during the warm days in Novem¬ 
ber rather than allow it to remain until cold 
Winter weather, which necessitates doing the 
work indoors by a tiro. 
We have never valued grain drills the more 
for being provided with fertilizer attach¬ 
ments. They are troublesome, cumbersome, 
and worse than useless. The object of drill¬ 
ing in fertilizers is, as we understand it, to 
give the grain (wheat, let us speak of) au 
curly start. This may be very desirable, it is 
true, w hen for any reason the grain is sown 
late and a shorter time is allowed before freez¬ 
ing weather begins for the plants to tiller and 
fortify themselves against the severities of the 
long winter through which they are to pass. 
But if the land is fertile—and unless it is 
wheat cannot prove a profitable crop—and 
well fitted, and the wheat is sown early, why 
should fertilizers of any kind be used merely 
or primarily to give the wheat a start ? Ex¬ 
cept in periods of great dryness, the w heat 
will start in three or four days and a fertile 
and well prepared soil will insure a sufficient 
growth ere the advent of frozen ground and 
settled winter weather. It is a plain case that 
if wheat could be sown broadcast aud cov¬ 
ered as well as by the drill, broadcast sowing 
would produce a heavier crop than drill sow¬ 
ing—the same quantity of seed being sown— 
for the reason that each plant would lie less 
, rowded by its neighbors aud each root would 
find more nourishment. Fertilizing in the 
drill—the same as fertilizing in the hill for 
corn—stimulates the young plant. It induces 
an excessive growth of plants which, without 
the fertilizer, would take full possession of the 
soil. But in the topring t he roots have pene¬ 
trated beyond the fertilizer, so that the seed¬ 
bearing culm or stalk which requires the most 
food, receives the least. The young plant has 
been pampered at the expense of Ibe old plant 
to which we look for our crop of grain. It is 
equivalent to eating a hearty meal in the 
morning for heavy work which is to bo done 
the next day. When concentrated fertilizers 
are sown broadcast, all parts of the soil are 
treated alike and the roots of the plants 
through every stage of their existence expe 
rience the benefit. 
We stated that the fertilizer attachment was 
The time required for tobacco to cure de¬ 
pends very much upou the condition of the 
plants as regards ripeness, when they were 
cut. Thoimughly ripe tobacco will cure in at 
least threo weeks less time than is required to 
cure that cut in a green state. This is an¬ 
other good argument in favor of allowing to¬ 
bacco to become fully ripe before harvesting it, 
es]ieeially is this true with late crops; for ex¬ 
perience has proven to many growers that one 
week in the field while the tobucco is ripening, 
is worth two weeks after the tobacco is hung 
in the curing barn, in hastening the process of 
curing. 
A tobacco protective insurance organiza¬ 
tion is likely to be formed in the Chemung 
Valley, for the mutual benefit of tobacco 
growel's, in protecting then against losses 
from hail or wind. Such an organization, if it 
could be made succ ssful in its working, 
would put a new face upon the tobacco-grow¬ 
ing industry in the locality or district of 
which it is comprised. The industry is, as it 
now stands, one of risk, and those who en¬ 
gage in it may find it remunerative or the 
reverse as fortune favors them. It often 
happens that the outcome of a whole sea¬ 
son’s toil and the whole resources of an in¬ 
dividual are destroyed in a few moments of 
snow, hail or wind. A protective organization 
such as is being considered would make the 
business fairly safe for those who desire to be¬ 
come members thereof. G. A. G. JR, 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL FARM. 
Tests With Leading Varieties of Sweet 
Com. 
All of the kinds remarked upon below 
were planted May 9, one foot apart in drills 
four feet apart. No manure was used. The 
chief object of the experiment was to ascer¬ 
tain the best kinds for succession, so as to give 
