THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
44 
should not be suffered to want for one thing by 
an apple-appreciative community. 
What Tomato Plants May Do. —The Garden¬ 
er's Chronicle received from a correspondent a 
piece of the 6tem of a tomato-nlant measuring 
four inches in circumference. The plant is 
stated to have produced heavy crops of fruit tor 
over two years, and would have lasted another 
year, notwithstanding that the stems are begin¬ 
ning to decay in the center. The plant was 
raised from a cutting, and planted two years last 
September, in a pino bed. in the old tan and 
leaves used for forcing. 
Among the excellent florists' catalogues which 
have reached our table tLis season, that of 
George fine it, South Amboy, X, ,l , is certainly 
one of the very best. It is not Qlted with showy 
pictures, but. what is of more value, it gives the 
names and brief descriptions of the very best 
species and varieties of plants usually desired by 
those who only want really choice things for 
their conservatories and gardens. Mr. Seen 
cultivates plants from a pure love of floriculture, 
more than from what can be made out of it; 
consequently, his remarks in regard to the value 
of the different kinds, may be considered trust¬ 
worthy in every particular. Wo hope those of 
our readers who may want anything in the line 
of plants cultivated by the gentleman named 
will give him a call in person, or write him for a 
catalogue. 
PRESERVING SWEET POTATOES-GARDEN 
PATES. 
Sweet Potatoes are rotting badly. Being 
obliged to store mine in pits, and having no ex¬ 
perience, I followed the advice of others as 
nearly us possible, covering first with straw, 
then a few inches of earth, good ventilation 
in the center from bottom to top and lastly a 
plank shed to protect the hills from rain. When 
opened toward the latter part of January, I 
found them ouc-half decayed, the remainder 
soon went in the same way. I commenced 
making inquiries of experienced growers ns to 
where I had made a mistake, and soon found 
that they were nearly all in the same boat. One 
who usually has good success in packing in 
sand, gave an extra covering when the extreme 
cold weather came on, yet all lotted. Another, 
who puts them in his barn in alternate layers 
with cotton seed, lost a hundred bushels. An 
old colored gardener placed some twenty bushels 
in a box out doors, no packing except u litfclo 
straw around the sides, covering the whole with 
a pile of leaves and they arc keeping finely All 
agree that wo have kept them too warm. There 
Boems to bo no sure way but to store in a room 
where the temperature can be regulated to a 
fraction. 
An item in a late Rural recommends straight 
walks for small yards, with which 1 agree, but 
would go a little farther and would say make nil 
paths straight, where practicable, if they are in¬ 
tended for practical use. When laying out the 
grounds, large or small, first grade it as you 
like, divide it into lawn, flower and vegetable 
garden, Ac., as your necessities require. Plant 
your trees as seems most desirable, then wait a 
little. Yon will soon learn where is the best 
route to the spring, barn and front gate, and 
there construct walks. Of course the landscape 
gardener and he who has money to employ one, 
will perhaps sneer at this. For such it is not 
written, but to assist plain, practical folk, who 
prefer to economize in the matter of steps and 
sole leather and ntthe same time enjoysuiTOund- 
ings that are pleasant to the eye. having a 
natural appearance, which very few of the 
scien!ideally planned places can boast of. 
How many hundreds of farmers forget that 
distance as well as time is money when arranging 
their fences and locating gates. I once knew a 
farm on which the fields all opened on a public 
road, one field of low land was used for 30 or 40 
years as a cow pasture for at least four months 
each year. Now this field extended along the 
road borne thirty rods, the corner nearest home 
being wot. the bars were located at the more 
distunt corner, whore they are yet. This man, 
like many another, had never stopped to think 
that a half day's work of himself, team and 
hired man, would have saved him more than a 
thousand miles of travel in driving his cows to 
and from the pasture, as a few loads of stone 
and gravel would make a dry passage way 
through the wet corner. This is only one of a 
hundred similar wastes any observing person 
will notice In a day's ride in any rural districts. 
Is it strange that some farmers are always 
complaining of the times ? M. B. Prince. 
Ridgeway, N. c. 
THE BATTLE OF LIFE AMONG PLANTS. 
The following interesting article on the battle 
of lire among plants from the Boston Transcript, 
accords with theories advanced of late years by 
our most careful observer in the various field of 
natural science: 
There is a struggle for existence among 
plants on every farm, in every garden, orchard, 
wood or forest, which farmers and gardeners 
may study with profit to themselves and advant¬ 
age to the public. Plants are social beings and 
endowed with life, organs, vital processes pecu¬ 
liar to organization, not less than animals. 
Without their antecedent growth and daily as¬ 
sistance, man and his domestic animals could 
not live, Not only agriculturists and horticul¬ 
turists, but mauldinl as a whole, are deeply 
interested in the results that may accrue from 
the battle of life between plants that number 
some 100,001) conflicting species. How so many 
tribes of vegetables came to exist might not bo 
altogether a barren inquiry; yet it is doubtless 
of more importance that we learn how to 
strengthen and multiply the plants that do us 
the greatest good, and keop down weeds and all 
other growths that do us harm. Without our 
interference in the matter, sedge, brambles and 
forest trees soon cover our best worked planta¬ 
tions and gardens. Choice fruits, vegetables, 
cereals, grasses, cotton, and other staples cannot 
contend successfully with docks, sedge, sassa¬ 
fras, old field pino and oak, without human 
labor. 
Edward Forbes was wont to say that the 
movement of a periwinkle over a rock might bo 
of greater consequence to mankind than the 
progress of an Alexander, and the results of the 
wars of plants are of no less importance, seeing 
that tlio very existence of a Grant or a Congress 1 
depends upon them. A bushel of wheat and a 
loaf of bread are not more real than the cam¬ 
paigns of which we speak. Tlio enemies of the 
wheat plant aro many, both vegetable and 
animal. A German entomologist has found and 
named some 2,000 insects of different species 
that subsist more or less on the plant and its 
seed from which our blood is largely formed. 
Yellow dock is a type of common intruders 
whose lengthened roots and broad leaves take 
more food from the soil and the atmosphere 
near a wheat plant than the feebler roots and 
narrow leaves of our bread-corn can possibly 
command. Hence, if this cereal—and the same 
is true with others gets no assistance from 
matt, the battle goes in favor of docks and other 
weeds. Our best crops are as powerless to fight 
their way as sheep are to defend themselves 
from the attacks of dogs and wolves. 
If this view of plant life bo correct, and no 
sane man will question it, tlio farmer’s calling 
and risiug profession will never become a thing 
of the past and out of fashion. It will grow in 
dignity as population increases and Nature dis¬ 
closes her laws to t he observation and researches 
of Bcionce. 
In 1825 Bureau do la Malle called attention to 
tbo curious phenomenon of natural rotation of 
plants. From long observation of what takes 
place in woods and pastures, ho established the 
fact that an alteration of growth, as lie called it, 
occurs as a natural phenomenon, In pastures, 
for instance, the grasses got the upper hand for 
a time, then the leguminous plants, so that in 
thirty years the author was witness to five or six 
such alterations. Dean Herbert pointed out the 
fact that a plant does not necessarily grow in 
tlio situation best adapted to it, bat where it 
can best hold its own against hostile neighbors, 
and best sustain itself against unfavorable con¬ 
ditions generally. The sources of success in 
the contest are numerous, and vary more or less 
in each individual case. A soil sometimes 
becomes “ clover sick ’ mysteriously. The ex¬ 
cretions of plants have no influence in the 
matter, as was oneo believed. 
On properly fertilized land clover has been ' 
known to retire from the field of competing 
plants, from a cause which is not known. Such 
instances are exceptional, arid wait for future 
discoveries for their solntion. The ground has 
been regarded by Alphonse de Candolle and 
Darwin as a vast magazine of seeds, capable of I 
retaining their vitality indefinitely, bnt ready to 
spring into life when all the conditions should 
favor them at any time. Some of these dormant 
seeds and tubers, bulbs and buds, may bo 
covered in floods many feet doep and with mud 
or earth. The air being excluded, chemical 
action does not take place; so that solar light 
and hea t with moisture are sufficient to produce I 
germination in a tuber or seed as old as a river 1 
or the mountains that may form a water-shed. 
Underground runners and nuts like those on 
some grasses have great tenacity of life and 
power to hold the soil. Nut grass, Bermuda 
and twitch grass are cases in point. 
CULTURE OF QUINCES. 
I wish you or some of your correspondents 
would give some information in regard to the 
cultiv.i tion of quinces. Are they profitable ? On 
what kind of soil do they succeed best, and what 
care is required to keep the trees growing and 
healthy? c. B. 
Hunterdon Co., K, 
While quinces can be made to grow on almost 
any kind of soil, still, a rather deep, rich, and 
moist soil is far preferable to one of an opposite 
character. 
Quince trees, planted alongside of ditches, or 
on the banks of small streams and borders of 
ponds, always seem to thrive better and hoar 
larger fruit than those growing on high and dry 
ground, which is probably owing to an abund¬ 
ance of moisture within reach of their roots dur¬ 
ing the hot and dry summer months. But the 
proper conditions for the success of quince trees 
can be secured on almost any soil, by tlio appli¬ 
cation of manures mid mulching; and while we j 
cannot speak positively in regard to the profit¬ 
ableness of quince culture in Now Jersey, or 
elsewhere, it may be safely asserted that the re¬ 
turns from them will compare favorably with 
those front the pear and apple. 
In soleoting a location for a quince orchard, 
the depth and richness of the soil are all-irnpor- 
tant considerations, and land rather heavy and 
tenacious is better than a light sand or gravel, 
although we would plant on the latter kind, if no 
other was procurable, and then endeavor to rem¬ 
edy auy defect by liberal applications of coarse 
manure to the surface about the trees every fall 
or spring. 
VARIETIES. 
The many varieties of the quince, found iu old 
gardens and nurseries throughout the country, 
have never been gathered together and properly 
described. There are, probably, not less than a 
hundred which are propagated and cultivated 
under the names of Apple and Orange. Some of 
these are very large, with a distinct neck, into 
which the stem is inserted; others are small, 
round, and shaped like an apple ; some are early, 
others late . and a few arc distinctly pear-shapod, 
or pyriform. Still all are varieties of the same 
species. Then from the thousands of quince 
stocks imported from France, under the names of 
Angers and Fontenay Quinces, a number of ad¬ 
ditional varieties have become scattered over tlio 
country ; some of which are good market sorts. 
Under existing circumstances, a man who 
wishes to secure plants for an orchard should 
either scud Ids order to some trustworthy nur¬ 
seryman. or look among the old gardens iu sum¬ 
mer for a good sort; and, when found, engage 
cuttings from which to raise Ids own plants. As 
large quinces generally command a hotter price 
in market than small ones, it is quite important 
that the cultivator should start right iu this mat¬ 
ter, and not waste timo over any of the many in¬ 
ferior sorts too frequently propagated by men 
who will not take ti e trouble to get better. 
Roe's .Seedling is a very handsome variety of 
the apple or orange quince, wLicli of late has 
become quite popular ; but it is no better or 
larger than many other sorts to be found in vari¬ 
ous old gardens in the Eastern States; still a 
man had better pay a little more for plants of the 
Ran than run auy risk of getting those of infe¬ 
rior quality. 
The true iwlugul Quince is a coarse-growing 
shrub, with large leaves, fruit medium, shape 
pear-like, and is covered with .. dense pubes¬ 
cence ; ripens late, is inferior in quality, and not 
worth cultivating, except as a curiosity or for or¬ 
nament. 
The Chinese Quince (Cydonia sinensis ) is a 
tall-growmg shrub, or small tree, with round, 
smooth leaves, the edges being finely serrate, 
and in t lie autumn changing to a beautiful crim¬ 
son color. The fruit is very largo, of oval shape, 
hard, dry, and worthless, except as a curiosity. 
This species is not worth cultivating as an orna¬ 
ment. The flowers are white, with a rosy tinge, 
appearing late in spring. 
The Japan Quinces of gardens (Pyrus Japon- 
ica) arc low-growing shrubs, cultivated solely for 
ornament, the fruit being dry, hard, aud scarcely 
edible, although possessing a very aromatic 
fragrance when ripo. 
INSECT ENEMIES. 
The quince has its insect enemies, like all other 
cultivated fruits, and in some localities they are 
so abundant that the cultivator must keop up a 
constant warfare in order to keep his trees alive 
or obtain any fruit. 
The first and perhaps the greatest enemy of 
the quince tree is the well-known two-striped 
apple-tree borer (Hapcrda. Candida). TLis beetle 
appears in spring, about tbe time Iho apple and 
quince trees arc in bloom, the female depositing 
her eggs on the stem near the ground, and some¬ 
times just beneath the surface. These eggs 
soon hatch, the young grubs eating their way 
through the bark and into the Bolid wood. They 
remain in the stem of tlio tree some three or 
four years before reaching maturity, conse¬ 
quently do a great amount of injury, even if the 
tree is not lulled during the time named. 
The remedies are: first keep all weeds and 
grass from growing about thu stem, in order 
that the first attack of this insect may he readily 
discovered. The sawdnst-likc excrement of the 
the grubs pushed out of their burrows, will show 
tbe presence of this pest, which can be readily 
dug out with the point of a knife, or killed by 
thrusting a wire into its burrow, if taken in 
time; but if this precaution bo delayed six 
months or a year, the grub may be beyond the 
reach of such implements. 
Lime or ashes banked uo to the depth of two 
or three inches about the stem, will also do 
something toward warding off tlio attacks of this 
pest; but the best preventive is to keep tlio 
lower portion of the stem constantly inclosed in 
tar-paper: or good, heavy straw-paper may be 
put round the Btom and the outsido painted 
with tar. This apple and quince tree borer can 
bo very easily managed; bnt not so the 
QUINCE CURCUUO, 
which attacks the fruit, depositing its eggs 
thereon, the grubs boring into it, causiug many 
specimens to drop off before half-grown, aud 
what is left to become distorted in shape, un¬ 
salable in market, and unfit for use at home. 
This quince curoulio is becoming almost rs 
great a pest as ita near relative, the plum cur- 
culio, and wo may add that it is quite plentiful 
in New Jersey, and more or leas numerous wher¬ 
ever the quince has been cultivated for any con¬ 
siderable time. Shaking the bcctlca off upon 
sheets, and killing them in various ways, may 
lessen the number to some extent; but in somo 
localities they seem to defy all tlio inventions 
and exertions of man, increasing in number from 
year to year. 
- 
PLUMS BY THE AID OF FOWLS, 
Many a time here we advised persons who de¬ 
sired to raise plums on regions where the plum 
curculio abounds, to plant, tin ir trees in a yard 
whero fowls were confined in summer. We havo 
known fine cropB to bo raised under such condi¬ 
tions and to encourage further experiments in 
this direction wo copy the following from the 
Scientific Fanner: 
Gan plums bo successfully grown in the older 
portions of the country notwithstanding the 
strongly intrenched curculio ? My success in 
this direction lias far exceeded my expectations; 
lmt, it extends over 80 few years that I am not 
ready to give an emphatic aflirmatlvO to the fore¬ 
going query. Upon my farm was standing a 
large plutn tree which was annually clothed in a 
rohe of snowy whiteness, which soon gave place 
to numerous small plums. At this stage I was 
always doomed to disappointment, for the saucy 
little turk was always ready to nip my hopes—if 
not in the bud, in the unripe fruit. Nature 
seemed to struggle ho against such odds in tier 
vain efforts to give uh a crop of fruit, that. I de¬ 
termined to help her. 
I know well that fruit growers would tell me 
to jar the trees and destroy the curculio as they 
were caught upon a sheet spread beneath the 
tree; but one who lias a largo farm to attend to 
would quite likely neglect it. Just in tlio “ nick of 
time " and thus lose the crop. 
I therefore decided to make a trial in another 
direction. About eight years ago I set, an or¬ 
chard of 25 plum trees, cultivated them well for 
two years, and then put a fence about them and 
a hen holme among them. A bout fifty hens were 
confined within the enclosure, and from that 
time no cultivation has been required, ns tlio 
Lens allow no vegetation to grow among the trees. 
And now for the result : Two years ago, one tree 
gave a good, crop of plums ; last year two of them 
did tlio name ; ami this season twelve to fifteen 
of the trees produced crops that entirely beggar 
description. Many people came to look at them 
as tlio fruit covered the trees, and 'twas the 
unanimous exclamation: “Never saw such a 
sighbbefore.” Branches a foot in length were 
packed with plums, like grapes in clusters. I 
greatly fear that my indiscretion in allowing so 
largo an amount to remain and mature has jeop¬ 
ardized my prospects for a crop the coming year, 
for t think the trees must bo much exhausted 
after such an effort at production, t he crop being 
not only numex-ically large but the fi ult was indi¬ 
vidually largo, at least, so it looked to mo as my 
eyes had never looked upon Buck a sight before. 
In size, all tbo way from Unit of an ordinary 
Damson to a fair hen’s egg. Color, from nearly 
white, to green, red, pink, light and dark purple. 
Time of ripening, August 20lb to October 20t.li. 
Should any one bo at a loss to know what kinds 
to plant. I will say that I sent to F.llwangcr & 
Barry, ltockonter, N. Y., for fruit catalogue; 
fvom tlmt I selected those kinds, all things con¬ 
sidered, that I thought best suited for my pur¬ 
pose, then sent my order as above. 
In production of eggs tbo hens pay a good 
profit, in cultivation they save hand work, in de¬ 
struction of Curculio they have saved the plums 
and thus havo fulfilled their mission. 1 think it 
would not be wise to attempt to utilize hen labor 
l unless Uiey were confined, iih they were not par¬ 
ticularly fond of Curculio, aud probably would 
not destroy thorn if allowed te roam where more 
palatable insects wero to be had. I havo thrown 
the Curculio to a lot of liens; the first picked it 
up an dropped it, tbe second did likewise, but 
the third came along and put the little fellow 
beyond the roach of plums. 
But for this one obstacle no fruit is more 
easily grown than the plum, and if a little fur¬ 
ther trial shall confirm my opinion of the feasi¬ 
bility of plum growing, I shall be richly repaid 
I for the experience. 
Any one who keeps a dozen hens can easily 
have plums for family use, for hans will do quite 
as well for thu shade of tho trees, and at the 
same time keep the trees well fertilized. 
