732 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOV. 46 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
PRACTICAL DEPARTMENTS I 
Fruit Tres* and Fruit on the Farm — Henry 
Htewnrt. 
A Few Words About Apple* and Pears—T. T. 
Lyon.. 
A Nurseryman's Selection of Apples t'oranOr- 
etiard — Ira. J.Blackwell.. . 
The. Apple Orchard—Clinton. 
Some A liable Apples—(Illustrated)... 
Lady Klgln irub (lilustruted). 
Stump Apple..... . 
Grand Sultan Apple •(Illustrated).. 
The Si. Peter’s Apple— (lliU8traied(... 
The Fanny Apple—(Illustrated. . 
How tur shall Wr. no In tlie Attempt to Create a 
Demand tor Fruit of the Best Quality 7.. 
Bonne On I’uit.s .Ansnnlt pear. 
IViO'Culture in Nebraska—J5x.-Gov. It. W. Fur¬ 
nas..... 
Twelve Good Market Varieties ot Peaches—J.W. 
Kerr. ..: .. 
Sal lie Worrell Poach. ......... 
Fruit Notes From .\ehrnxka 11. U. Crane. 
Experiments to Planting Corn—F. Hodgman.... 
Milk Heconlof Jerseys .. 
Grape Leaves—No. 3—W. C. Bellamy.... 
Clover fur American Farmers —W. J. Fowler.... 
Jottings at Kirby Homestead — Col. F. D. Curtis 
Florida Note* F. U Pc-noyer. 
What Others Say. 
Everywhere: 
OrloansCu,, Yt. 
Kanawha Co., W. Va. 
E Sherman. N. V. 
I OOerle. Kansas. 
■ Grand Rapids, Mich. 
Ktdgetiold, Conn. 
i lobi, Kansas.... 
, Cornlrig, N. Y... 
Stark Co., ill. 
Books Received.. 
725 
728 
720 
727 
727 
727 
727 
727 
728 
728 
728 
728 
728 
7211 
729 
729 
729 
729 
729 
730 
730 
730 
731 
730 
730 
730 
731 
731 
731 
731 
731 
731 
731 
731 
731 
731 
731 
731 
Answers to Correspondents: 
Money at Two per-cent Per Annum. 
Prickly Comlrcy—Alfalfa. 
Dynitnitie C'li iridges — Carbonate of Soda Pre¬ 
serving Milk.... 
Miscellaneous..,... 
Communications Received. 
Editorial Page: 
Apples Bearing Alternate Years. 732 
Agricultural Literature...... 732 
Timely Hints. 732 
Brevities.732 
Domestic Economy : 
Pen Thoughts from Every-day House—Annie 
L. .Tuck.736 
RiiK’-Cnrpcts—Mrs. S. 786 
Domestic Recipes.736 
Questions Answered. 736 
Notes.736 
Literary : 
Poetry. 733,735 
W euker Than u Woman. 733 
Mrs. Purdy's" Parquisitea ”.734 
Magazines.. 734 
Letters from a Country Girl—Margaret B. Harvey 735 
Why Should Farmers not be Legislators ? — 
U. N. U. 7.35 
Finish H Off Mrs. J. M. MoC.735 
Talks on Timely Topics—Rose Geranium. 735 
Heading for the Young: 
Singing Mice—Henrv Lee.. ... 738 
Learning to Spell—W. 73s 
Letters lrom Boys and Girls. 738 
PuHior.738 
Sabba th Reading : 
Stability of God’s Church.788 
Serving the Lord With Gladness. 788 
Be Strong in iho Grace that is in Christ Jesus.. 738 
News ot the Week—Herman. 736 
Personals. 736 
Wtt an*l Humor. 740 
Markets. ..737 
Advertisements. 737, 739. 740 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERT 8ATURDAI, 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
8ATURDAY NOV. 16, 1878. 
We shall issue our premium List as a supple¬ 
ment of four pages next week. Notwithstanding 
the reduction of our paper from two dollars and 
a naif to two dollars ; notwithstanding our free 
seed distribution which, at our lowest estimate, 
will require us to supply two hundred thousand 
envelopes of seed, we have never before offered 
so valuable a premium list, or one in which the 
articles were sealed so low. They will be found 
to be as represented, and so varied that everyone 
may find something that he needs. All may 
rest assured that $2.00 ia the very lowest yearly 
subscription to this journal either in clubs or any 
other way. Those sufficiently interested in the 
Bubal’s welfare to bo willing to secure clubs, 
will be entitled to a oasb commission or to seleot 
suitable articles from the premium list, which 
are, of course, more valuable to those who wish 
them than a cash commission, since they are in 
part paid for by those who find it advantageous 
to advertise in our columns, and we are there¬ 
fore enabled to offer them for less than their 
market value. 
Our readers who apply will have the Beauty 
of Hebron potato sent to them separately, be¬ 
cause to send this with Beeds makes an awkward 
package, and also, because the seeds may be for¬ 
warded at any time regardless of the weather, 
while the potatoes may be injured by frost. We 
mention (his for the reason that our friends re¬ 
ceiving the potato only, may think the rest of 
their selection has been overlooked. 
Many of oar friends continue to send us Two 
Fifty instead of Two Dollars, the new price of 
Bubal. In such cases we will either refund the 
fifty cents or make the subscription term fifteen 
months, as may be preferred. 
Oub Free Seed Distribution will remain open 
to all subscribers who may apply for them, until 
further notice. 
The Bubal New Yobkeb is invariably discon¬ 
tinued, at the end of the subscription term. 
APPLES BEARING ALTERNATE YEARS. 
ing year, or on the even year, where the 
odd year is the year of fruit. 
Pear that was much esteemed in France and 1 
England twenty-five years ago. 
Fob Apples and Pears which thrive best" 
throughout the various parts of the country,- 
see Bubal of Nov. 17, 1877. 
Mb. Meehan inveighs against the weight of 
name that the excellent pear Bonne du putts' 
Ansault beara. It is well and good. 
Andre Leboy (Angers, France) is probably 
the most extensive nurseryman in the world'. 
He recommends the general cultivation of Rus¬ 
sian Apples. 
Thousands of pages have been written and 
published about the horizontal training of pear 
trees, all of which to practical men in this coun¬ 
try, might as well never have been written. 
Anybody that reads the many reports of Po¬ 
mologies! Societies and all of the pomologioa! 
book* that are published, will be forced to the 
conclusion that new ideaa of value come very 
slowly. 
Mb. Downing writes us that he thinks many 
western apples, such as Ben Davis, etc., which 
are now very large and fair, but not equal to> 
our* in flavor, will, some years hence, when the 
virgin soil is somewhat reduced, not be so large- 
and oc arse-floshed, but less in size, more com-- 
pact anil richer in quality. 
The English papers think that it ia not Amer¬ 
ican choose but Euglish carelessness that will 
be the r- al reason of English dairy losses. They 
grant, however, that American importation is- 
growing not only in quantity, hut in quality,, 
and it is only by manufacturing the best quali¬ 
ties that cheese-makers can now-a-days succeed. 
Some love winter—Some love summer—But as 
for us, if we may be allowed freely to express 
ourselves, we would prefer fruit; that is, apples, 
pears, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, cur¬ 
rants, blackberries and gooseberries. Plums- 
are too pecurculio to be added to this list, and 
as for cherries, we are convinced that robins and’ 
cat-birds need them all. 
Robekt Douglas & Sons, bo states the Prairie 
Farmer, null about twenty millions of trees an¬ 
nually from their nursery in Waukegan, Ills. So 
far as we are aware, this is the most extensive 
evergreen nursery in the world. Last spring, 
Mr. Douglas sent us a number of “ sports ” of 
American Arbor-vltao and other evergreens 
which are very distinct in character. 
It ib always well to plant, dwarfs so that the 
quince stock is beneath the surface of the 
ground. The borer is especially fond of the 
quince—but not of the pear stock. Some plant 
dwarfs deeper than is necessary to elude the 
borer so as to induce roots to form on the pear 
stook, thus converting the dwarf into a standard. 
This seems to us objectionable for several good 
reasons. 
Very little is said at present about the Para- 
dii-o stock for Apples. This stock dwarfs th» 
variety worked upon it as much as or more than, 
the quince dwarfs the Pear- The Paradise-Btock, 
dwarf Apple can not be reoommended for large 
growers or for market purposes, but for the* 
garden or amateur, we can not hesitate to re¬ 
commend it from the gratifying results of our. 
own experience. 
G. H. & J. H. Hale of So. Gladskonbury' 
Conn: oal! upon us to say that the Henrietta 
is a Seedling Raspberry and is everything that 
they represent it to be. That it resembles Belle 
de Fontenay and may possibly he a seedling of 
that variety, they do not wish to deny. They 
claim for it superiority over Belle do Fontenay 
in several respects which, they think, will be¬ 
come apparent after further trial. 
We condemn the praotioe of heaping up the< 
earth about the stems of fruit trees as generally 
recommended. Some say this mound will steady 
newly transplanted trees and will also tend to 
keep away mice. The only effects of this mound, 
to our thinking, are to soften the bark under¬ 
neath. rendering it more sensitive to t he alterna¬ 
tions of freezing and thawing of February and 
March, and to induce sprouts from the parts so 
covered. 
Some varieties of Apples are hard workers. 
Some are not fond of bearing progeny and pre¬ 
fer the lighter work of Tormlng leaves and twigs. 
Some work so hard during one summer that 
they are forced to rest all the next. It iB so 
with tua.u and animals. After a hard season of 
work, a longer period of rest is needed. This is 
the “ off” Besson of Applo trees and of anim&lB. 
too. It does not seem worth talking about in- 
the latter case, but iu the former it is a matter- 
worthy of grave speculations. 
Bome of the l’oars which succeed best as 
dwarfs (that is, grafted on the Quince) are 
Louise bonne de Jersey, Beurre d' Amalia. Glout 
Morceau, Duchosso, Vicar of Winkfiold, Easter 
Bourre and Dearborn Needling. In some places 
the Beckel thrives also much better on Quince. 
There are many that succeed well both on Pear 
and Quince. Or these we may mention Buff am, 
Tyson, Madeleine, Beurre Superfin, Rostiezer, 
White Doyenne, Jamiuette, Bloodgood, Beurre 
d’ Anjou, Urbaiiiste, Josephine de Malines and 
Doyenne Boussock. 
Trees may be transplanted in winter during 
mild spells. But if not ordered from tho nursery 
already, we should now, for this climate and 
further north, prefer to wait until spring. Trees, 
however, may be heeled in now aud then planted 
in the spring. For this purpose, dig trenches in 
dry places, as wide as the roots of the tree. Dig 
the trench iu the form of an inclined plane and 
place the roots in the deepest part. Only the 
upper portion of the trees will then be above the 
level of the ground. Work mellow soil about 
the roots and fill until the soil of the trench 
forms a mound above the ordiuary level of the 
earth. Here they will winter in perfect safety. 
-■» » » — 
We earnestly request that all letters containing 
money, or any communication intended for the 
Business Department of the paper, be addressed 
to the Editor, Hue Publisher, or Tub Bubal Nkw- 
Yobkeb, and not to any individual. We cannot 
otherwise guarantee the prompt entry of names 
upon our books, or the acknowledgment of money 
There seems to be muoh more myste¬ 
ry made about this question, of the 
reason why apple trees produce most, of 
their fruit on alternate years, and in most 
localities, North, on the odd years, than 
there is any need of. Let ns look into it 
a little, and see whether there are not 
good reasons for it, sufficiently obvious 
to one who will think a little, if not exact¬ 
ly on the surface of things. 
In the first place, nature aud the po- 
mologists agree in dividing apple trees 
into the two Glasses, of profuse bearers on 
alternate years and of moderate annual 
bearers. There are two other possible 
classes on this basis,—the shy bearers 
every year, and the profuse bearers every 
year. But the first of these are not 
knowingly planted to any great extent, 
and the second are few iu number, and, 
except in very favorable localities, short¬ 
lived ; for they soon die of over-bearing. 
The question, then, as regards the first 
great class, resolves itself into the one 
why the profuse bearers on alternate 
years all get to bear, or not to bear, to¬ 
gether. Plainly, it seems to us, for cli¬ 
matic causes. Take a young orchard, for 
instance, and it does not show this pecu¬ 
liarity for several years after it comes into 
bearing. Then comes a season that, by 
winter injnry or spring frosts, destroys 
the fruit-buds or the bloom, and that year i 
there are but few apples, and afterwards 
the trees in that orchard, so far at least 
as the biennial bearers areconcerned,bear, 
or do not bear, simultaneously. The 
moderate annual bearers do not fall into 
line with them ; but, for the reason that 
they arc moderate bearers, and that on 
the off year of the biennial trees all the 
insects are concentrated upon them, they 
have little effect upon the aggregate pro¬ 
duction of the year. 
Now about the " odd year ” of which 
so much has been said and written since 
Mr. Cole brought up the subject, and 
persistently kept it before the public iu 
his paper and in his “ American Fruit 
Book.” It is plain that if our first expla¬ 
nation is correct, namely, that climatic 
causes are the causes that unify the bear¬ 
ing of the biennial bearers, then, as there 
are only odd aud even years, the year on 
which they bear must be either an odd 
or an even one. Now, in Mr. Cole’s time 
the main bulk of the commercial orchards 
of the country were contained iu the 
district comprising southern New Eng- 
land and the country south of the great, 
lakes, extending down into Pennsylvania. 
The climate of this section is quite uni¬ 
form, the same changes or “ waves,” as 
they are now called, occurring at the 
same time over the whole of it, with 
slight local exceptions. Consequently 
the orchards were brought into line by 
the climate, and mainly bore the same 
year, which happened to be the even 
year. That this was not a rule without 
considerable exceptions, was plain from 
the many contradictory examples brought 
out in the controversy raised by those who 
discussed the matter; yet substantially 
it was demonstrated that the even year 
was the bearing year, with exceptions. 
As apple culture has extended into cli¬ 
mates more or less diverse from that of 
the section referred to, the exceptions 
have increased. Yet even now, that sec¬ 
tion produces so large a percentage of the 
whole crop that failure there has a great 
effect upon the supply, and the conse¬ 
quent prices of fruit. But there are now 
large areas where the odd year is the 
bearing year ; and for this reason, though 
prices are higher on the odd years, the 
country is tolerably well supplied with 
apples every year. This will be increas¬ 
ingly so as soon as some sections of 
the South, excellently adapted to or¬ 
charding, have developed their capabili¬ 
ties in that direction. And the same may 
be said of a considerable section North, 
if the attempt to carry orcharding into 
successful operation there on a large 
scale, by the introduction of hardier va¬ 
rieties, attains the success that is hoped 
for, and already partly realized. 
Now there is an important corollary to 
be drawn from the above stated facts, 
which is worthy the attention of fruit 
growers, namely, that no human efforts 
can alter the bearing year. It now hap¬ 
pens to be, over a large area, the even 
year. A freak of climate may change it 
to the odd year over the same area, but 
nothing else can. High culture will 
compel some varieties that are naturally 
biennial to become annual bearers, but 
all fruit produced on the years when the 
majority of orchards do not bear, will be 
inevitably subject to an onslaught of in¬ 
sects which will greatly injure the crop. 
Some orchardists maiutain, with a show 
of reason, that for this reason it would be 
better if not an apple were grown the 
odd year, where the even year is the bear- 
-♦ ♦ ♦- 
AGRICULTURAL LITERATURE. 
According to the newspaper statistics 
sent out by the advertising agencies, the 
combined circulation of the agricultural 
newspaper press is about 600,000, whioh, 
as the census reports 6,000,000 farmers in 
the Union, is about one oopy to every ten 
farmers. 
It used to be queried in England, with 
a contemptuous accent and a supercilious 
wrinkle of the forehead, “ Who reads an 
American book?” They have got over 
all that, what with the popularity of our 
poets and historians across the sea ; but 
the question “Who reads an agricultural 
book ?” still awaits a satisfactory reply. 
The agricultural book trade is about the 
very smallest branch of the great business 
of publication, and though the book- 
agent pervades the land, and knocks 
often at the farm-house door, it is with a 
volume of Mark Twain, or of some popu¬ 
lar theologian,—it is never with “ How 
Crops Grow,” and “How Crops Feed.” of 
America’s great agricultural chemist, or 
with Downing’s “Fruit Trees of Amer¬ 
ica,” that he beguiles the scrip from the 
farmer’s pocket. He knows his market 
and equips Himself accordingly. He may 
Bell the life of some general or politician, 
or even of “Josiah Allen’s Wife,” but 
the lives of the great farmers, stock¬ 
breeders and horticulturists are still un¬ 
written, because nobody cares to read 
them. When we Bee the portraits of 
Liebig, of Johnson, of Lawes, Bates, 
BftKewell, Hammond, Downing and 
Thomas, looking down upon us from the 
walls of the farmer’s sitting room, and 
their lives and writings iu his bands, or 
upon his table, we shall expect to see 
a surcease of leading editorials in onr 
agricultural exchanges upon that well- 
worn topic, “Does Farming Pay?” 
“Beading,” says Bacon, “makes a full 
man,” but too many of our farmers, as 
yet, prefer to be full of bacon rather than 
of Bacon’s wisdom,—or of the wisdom 
that is profitable (if they only knew it) to 
the production of bacon aud beef, or of 
cream and peaches. 
-- 
Timely Hints,—If there is a likeli¬ 
hood of your barn blowing down during 
the coming winter, or of its falling to 
pieces of its own accord, it would be well 
to prop it up I Of course, all the cracks 
should he stopped up —but it might be 
well to bear in mind that a nail hole or so 
might be left as ventilators, so that the 
animals will not be in danger of smother¬ 
ing to death ! We would like much to 
vary our Hints from week to week and 
from month to month, bo as never to re¬ 
peat the same suggestions. If we have 
ever before advised “ stopping up the 
cracks,” we trust the importance of the 
advice will prove a sufficient, excuse. The 
origin of cracks lias never, that we know 
ot, been scientifically investigated. Are 
they of fuugoid origin ? Are cracks in 
the barn related to Pear cracks ? What 
a field for scientists ! Whatever the ori¬ 
gin of cracks, no doubt the intelligent, 
farmers of the country are under a load 
of obligations to agricultural editors who 
never fail to warn them of the best time 
to stop up those in their barns. Without 
this timely advice, we must suppose the 
barns of our country would be all cracks. 
If we could only ascertain the cause of 
cracks and wipe the cause out of exist¬ 
ence, there would then be no occasion for 
stopping them up. That is plain. We 
have a mind to call the attention of Con¬ 
gress to this subject in the hopes that an 
adequate sum of money may be appro¬ 
priated for its thorough investigation. 
-- 
BREVITIES. 
“ You are a dwarf beside me,” said the Quince 
to the Pear. 
A barbel of fine apples or pears is a sensible 
holiday present. 
A temperature of j ust 32° Far. is probably 
the best rur keeping apples. 
Ex-Gov. Boutwell thinks borers are the 
cause of “yellows” iu the peach. 
Now is as good a time as any to apply manure 
to fruit-trees, and there is none better than 
barn-yard. 
Mr. Downing Bays, in reply to our inquiry, 
that the Bourrassa is said to uuooeed well in 
Canada, but is not profitable here, although of 
good quality. 
The Madeleine Pear is said to have derived its 
name from ripening about the period of the fete 
of St. Madeleine. 
Fob cur part, we wish the Duchesse (her of 
Augouleme we mean) had remained iu the hedge 
near Antwerp where she was born. 
Ah! Mem Dim or Poire (T Abondance is a 
