487 
THE BUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
“The Niagara, have you got it, and what 
do you think of it/” are questions often asked. 
I am obliged to say I have not been able to 
obtain this grape upon any conditions con¬ 
sistent with docent self-respect; consequently, 
I do not think much of it. I have seen it fre¬ 
quently upon exhibition; I have a number of 
seedlings grown from it, and have the testi¬ 
mony of competent and disinterested ob¬ 
servers who have visited the vines for pur¬ 
poses of careful examination. I am disposed 
to regard the grape favorably, and to think 
it worthy of trial; but have seen nothing in 
it to justify the belief that it is any better than 
many others of the new varieties that are 
neither hedged about with selfish restrictions, 
nor withheld from the public with suspicious 
exclusions. In quality it is inferior to the 
Duchess, Prentiss, or Lady Washington. It is 
generally classed as not better than the Con¬ 
cord, though, to my taste it is. The following 
description, from Charles Downing, is proba¬ 
bly as fair and as correct as any that has been 
given. 
‘‘Bunch medium to large, compact, occa¬ 
sionally with small shoulders, berry, large, 
roundish, slightly inclining to oval, quite uni¬ 
form in size, pale green at first, but changing 
to pale yellow when fully ripe, with a thin 
whitish bloom; flesh soft, tender, sweet, pleas¬ 
ant, and inquality about the same as Concord, 
and ripening with it or soon after; it has quite 
u ‘foxy’ odor when first gathered, but loses 
much of this when fully ripe.” 
Now, w hat there can be, in a grape of this 
character, to got unduly excited over, I can¬ 
not understand. Nor can I see sufficient in¬ 
ducement to pay a high price for the privilege 
of growing it for the benefit of the Company, 
who still practically own the vines and their 
most valuable products for a long term of 
years, and acquire also the right to a supervis¬ 
ory espionage over the victims who purchase. 
I do not want the Niagara Grape upon any such 
terms. From reliable accounts, the viue is vig¬ 
orous and productive atLockport, N.Y., where 
it originated; but I am informed that many of 
the vines even in that favorable locality had 
their buds badly killed lost Winter. An 1 the 
seedlings from it have already developed that 
peculiar disease of the foliago which always, 
accompanies the grape-rot. 
Francis B. Hayes is the name of a small, 
white grape of the Concord class, exhibited at 
the hist session of the American Bornological 
Society at Boston, and which will probably be 
offered to the public before very long. It is 
about the size of the Martha; and resembles 
that variety in appearance. It is more spright¬ 
ly, however, in flavor, and somewhat less foxy. 
Not very rich, bub pleasant and quite good for 
its class. 
White Ann Arbor was also exhibited at 
the same time, and I noticed this grape with 
some interest, as I had received from its orig¬ 
inator very flattering accounts of its excel¬ 
lence. I was disappointed in finding it of very 
indifferent quality. It seemed to have been a 
fair-sized bunch of medium to large berries; 
but they had all 6helled off the stems and were 
lying loose upon the plate. It wus worse in 
this respect than the Hartford, or any other 
variety I have ever seen. 
Early August was another medium or 
small grape, apparently of the Concord type, 
also white, with tender pulp, good flavor, thin 
rather tender skin, small seeds, and which 
seemed quite promising as a very early white 
variety. 
Early Victor I have mentioned in a former 
article for the Rural; but will say I have 
more confidence in this grape, for an extra- 
early, black, hardy, prolific and healthy 
variety for garden and home use, as well as 
for market, and extensive vineyard planting, 
than in any of the new or old varieties of 
similar character. Vine os vigorous and 
hardy as the Hartford, and muck like it; 
bunches and berries of medium size, compact 
and handsome; flavor sweet, pleasant, spright¬ 
ly, and without foxiness. Can be put into 
market with the very earliest, and no one will 
even desire to smell of Ives, Hartford, or 
Champion while the Eurly Victor is around. 
There are others of the new grapes which I 
may notice hereafter; but this will do for the 
present. I have about 100 new varieties un¬ 
der trial, including several of the Missouri 
seedlings of the Riparia class and whose per¬ 
formance and development I shall observe 
with much interest. 
Delaware, Ohio. 
-- 
FUNGI AND FRUITS. 
Volumes might be written on this subject ; 
but I am only going to throw out a hint. 
Insect enemies and parasitic fungous ene¬ 
mies bring to grief many a fruit grower. We 
know in a measure how to meet the insect, 
how shall we meet the fungous / 
In my travels on one occasion I was in an 
outbuilding of the Shakers at one of their 
“ homes,” and there on a floor I saw a large 
bulk of very fine, dry, air-slaked lime, slaked 
to almost an impalpable powder. 
“ For what is this ?” I asked. 
“ O this is what we always keep on hand.” 
said the elder. “ This is a valuable antidote 
for some forms of fungi ; this we fully be¬ 
lieve to be a safeguard against leaf blight on 
the apple, pear, quince, or strawberry. An 
early application before the blight has made 
its ravages is efficacious and valuable. 
W hen the blighted leaves of the raspberry 
plant or vineyard have fallen, they should all 
be raked off and burned to destroy the breed¬ 
ing spores, thus aiding in checking the disease 
in future. Au application in May of 10 bushels 
per acre of air-slaked lime will tend greatly 
to prevent mildew on the grape or rust on the 
strawberry, raspberry or blackberry. In the 
vineyard let the above lie followed with a 
dusting of sulphur about July 1, from tbo 
sulphur bellows, to be repeated at intervals of 
two or three weeks, somewhat according to 
the damp, sultry weather which may pre¬ 
vail. When culture, pruuing, and thinning 
have been good, the owner may with great 
profit use these well known antidotes of all 
the destructive fungi with many varieties of 
grapes, this will be an essential condition to 
prevent failure and loss. P. M. Augur. 
Middleflehl, Conn. 
CmTijui I) ere. 
RURAL SPECIAL SEED REPORTS. 
Ilnkota. 
Tetonka, Spink Co.— T cut my W. Elephant 
into twelve pieces, one eye in a piece, and 
planted them in as many hills on prairie sub¬ 
soil the 5th of Juue, after the sod had been 
taken off. They did not do well, owing to a 
dry spell and being planted on the subsoil. 
On digging them they proved to be pink Ele¬ 
phants instead of white. Some of them are 
darker than others; I had 40 small potatoes. 
The W. Oats I sowed on the same kind of soil, 
about the same time, but owing to the late 
sowing, hens, and blackbirds, I got only about 
as much as I sowed, and that not very well 
ripened; they smutted a little. The aspara¬ 
gus seed all came up well, and grew about 
six inches high. The R. B. Sorghum I plant¬ 
ed, one seed in a hill, the same time that I 
planted the other seeds, but it did not do very 
well; it only grew about 2)4 feet high, but 
showed its branching habit. h. h. c. 
Illinois. 
Edwardsvillk., Madison Co. All the 
Rural seeds sprouted well, but drought and 
the chinch bugs played havoc with them. 
The W. Oats, for instance, grew end headed 
out finely, but the chinch bugs destroyed the 
whole in a single day after the wheat was 
cut - s. A. B. 
Harvard, McHenry Co.—Although planted 
late, my W. Elephant yielded a peck of nice 
tubers. The sorghum came up poorly, but 
grew well; some seeds ripened. The other 
seeds did fairly. L . 
Kingston, DeKalb Co.—White Elephant a 
good yield and of tine quality. Our Cuthbert 
Raspberries are a flourishing little plat now. 
If they do as well as they did last year, we 
shall have plenty of fruit next Summer. 
They taste like the harries I used to get in 
boyhood in the “ roughness ” of one of New 
York’s roughest counties, and that’s praise 
enough. Celery did well,and was a good 
kind. We have plenty yet, so tender and 
good. Plenty of pinks—beauties, too. b. b. a. 
Kingston, Delvalb Co.—The R.B. Sorghum 
did well; we shall have more seed than we 
shall want. Flowers beautiful. The aspara¬ 
gus succumbed to the drought. The W. Oats 
rusted and didn’t head out. We have a few 
W. Elephauts to try again, L. p. 8. 
Mahomet, Champaign Co.—My small W. 
Elephaut had 15 eyes, and by splitting a couple 
of them I planted 17 hills; growth vigorous, 
but unsuitable soil and hot, dry weather 
ripened the tubers before they were fully 
grown. What few asparagus seeds germina¬ 
ted grew well. W. Oats hadn’t a fair trial; 
rqjened late and were light. R. B. Sorghum, 
planted ubout May 15, grew 10 feet high, with 
from 10 to 20 stalks to a hill. Wasn’t cut till 
after two or three freezes; keeps green much 
longer than corn; only a few heads ripened. 
My cattle wouldn’t eat it till the frost had 
partly killed the loaves—ditto with corn-stalks. 
Then they ate stalks and leaves—on the whole 
a valuable) fodder plant. H. H. 
Mason City, Mason Co— My 12-eyed White 
Elephant 1 planted in a dozen hills. One sprout 
died and the others were sorely bothered by 
drought and bugs, yet I dug nine pounds of 
nice potatoes. The It. B. Sorghum grew 
about 10 feet on sandy soil: some seed ripened. 
The Washington Oats smutted badly ; I have 
a peck of grain. The asparagus grew finely. 
The flowers were beautiful. w. mc. 
Iowa. 
Cherokee, Cherokee Co.—From my W.Ele¬ 
phant, cut into 11 pieces, I obtained 21 pounds 
of medium to small tubers. Every seed of the 
R. B. Sorghum grew eight feet high—relished 
by horses and cattle. Asparagus made a 
growth of 10 to 13 inches. The W. Oats were 
eaten off once, but I have a nice packet of 
seed—some smut, but not so liable to rust as 
common oats. Blowers beautiful, e. e. w. 
Davenport, Scott Co.—Considering the 
dry weather, my seeds did first rate. Thir¬ 
teen of the 15 pieces of the W. Elephant grew 
and yielded 40’^ pounds, some weighiug two 
pounds each. All through the season, when 
grass, corn and all other forms of vegetation 
were burning up, the R. B. Sorghum was 
green and flourishing; my cows ate it in pre¬ 
ference to anything else; but it didn’t mature 
seed. Flowers just beautiful. The aspara¬ 
gus didn’t make a large growth, owing to the 
drought, though it came up well. The 
oats for the same reason didn’t do very 
well. G. w. s. 
Kansas. 
Colorado, Lincoln Co.—About a quar¬ 
ter of the it. B. Sorghum grew. July 15 
I cut six hills, having from 12 to 10 stalks 
apiece; cut them again Sept. 10, when they 
each had from 25 to 45 stalks four feet high. 
The uncut stalks grew about eight feet high, 
but showed uo signs of seeding, and au early 
frost killed them. Were it not for drought, 
the growth must have been enormous. My 
W. Elephant potatoes grew so splendidly and 
escaped the bugs so completely that I wouldn’t 
have taken >'5 for the prospective yield; but, 
in one night, all were ruined by the moles, 
which cut the roots about four inches under 
ground. Half the W. Oats smutted, and the 
other half blighted — worthless for seed. 
A few of the flower seeds blossomed pret¬ 
tily* T. w. A. 
Michigan. 
Dowagiac, Cass Co.—My W. Elephant was 
cut into lb pieces, with one eye in each, and 
planted in as many hills. Growth rapid; 
yield, 140 tubers, many of them small on ac¬ 
count of the drought. Wouldn’t take ?5 for 
my half bushel. W. Oats did well. r. c. 
Minnesota. 
Long Lake, Hennepin Co.— Every seed of 
the R. B. Sorghum grew, aud avoraged 16 
stalks apiece. The asparagus did very nicely 
indeed. The oats smutted considerably, but 
will, I tbink, be a valuable grain on my ex¬ 
tremely rich soil, where all kinds of grain 
lodge badly. The straw of the oats was larger 
and stronger than any I had before seen. 
What pleased me most of all was my White 
Elephant; it had 14 eyes and was planted in 
14 hills, from which I gathered 60 pounds— 
some very large indeed and some quite small: 
but even the least are preserved with jealous 
care, and I hope to report a big yield next 
year. x . H> 
Steele City", Jefferson Co.—We had reas¬ 
onable success with our Rubai, seeds last 
year, considering our great drought and a 
terrible hail storm just as the oats were head¬ 
ing out. Nearly every seed of the asparagus 
grew, and the R. B. Sorghum was the last 
thing to be attacked by the chinch bugs. The 
flowers were splendid, aud are still in bloom 
in the house. L. Bros. 
Missouri. 
Salem, Dent Co., Feb. 6. — The Rural 
free seeds, w ith the exception of the W. E. 
potato, did well. The potato was an entire 
failure, why, I am uuablo to say, No pota¬ 
toes, however, did much here last year. The 
Washiugtou Oat made a very large growth; 
smutted somewhat, but did not rust. Grain 
very light. I think a good oat for dry 
weather. The growth of the Branching Sorg¬ 
hum was simply “prodigious.” It did uot 
seem to “care a snap” for the drought; planc- 
ed the last of May; soil very sandy; did not 
head, for which I am very sorry, I differ 
from your correspondent from Lafayette Co., 
this State, iu that the Branching Sorghum 
does uot stand the drought, and that the West 
does not need forage plants. More grass and 
less coni would be better for soil, stock, and 
ergo for the farmers’ pockets. w. h. t. 
Nebraska. 
Ashland, Saunders Co.—My W. Elephant 
cut into 14 pieces, yielded one peck—much in¬ 
jured by drought. The W. Oats grow tall, 
but rusted very badly; yield, four quarts of 
good graio. The R. B. Sorghum did well, 
and matured seed. Asparagus excellent, h. c. 
Now York. 
Akton, Chenango, Co. — The W. Oats 
sowed rather late, were more than a quarter 
smut; yield not quite three pounds. Berry not 
nearly so nice and plump ns the White Prob- 
steier. My W. Elephant was injured by frost, 
was cut into 13 pieces and yielded one medium¬ 
sized tuber aud several small ones—better 
than expected. The Dutch beat the French 
asparagus a long time iu starting but, whem 
the Argenteuil once got a going it made up for 
lost time and was two feet high when frost 
came. About a third of the R. B. Sorghum 
grew in drills; stalks, three quarters of an inch 
thick and three feet tall; seed just in tne milk 
when frost came; tried to save some by cover¬ 
ing the heads and stalk?, but frost too severe 
Pinks tho admiration of all beholders; more 
than one third of the other flowers also blos¬ 
somed finely. w. h, h. 
Albion, Orleans Co.—My little W, Elephant 
Potato made nine hills; grew finely, but were 
too much shaded, having been planted among 
peach trees—yield 16 pounds of nice tubers. 
The oats grew rank and tall, but there wasn’t 
a grain in the entire lot, so, of course, they 
were pronounced a hoax for certain. Flowers 
a fine show. j, b. 
Avon, Livingston Co., My 14-eyed W. 
Elephant yielded half a bushel of nice tubers, 
which I thought very good until I read of a 
yield of 6)-£ bushels from a potato of about 
the same size. The R. B. Sorghum remained 
green until severe frost—not a large growth. 
The W. Oats I think a failure, although the 
berry is very large. I counted one stool with 
l’J heuds, the longest measuring 15 inches had 
133 berries, but the growth is not even, some 
heads being nearly ripe while others are just 
beginning to show. L. j. 
Brainard, Rensselaer Co. — I got 29 pounds 
of W. Elephauts from a little one; nine pounds 
of W. Oats — some smut. T. M. 
Broadalein, Fulton Co.—My White Ele¬ 
phant I cut into seven pieces, an eye to each, 
and planted them 15 inches apart in a drill. 
They received no extra attention, and in the 
Fall I harvested 50 good-sized tubeiu. The 
drought did not seem to affect them quite as 
much as the other potatoes. No paper aids 
me like the Rural, and I cannot afford to do 
without it. I wish every farmer knew what 
valuable assistance it wo old render him. B. N. 
Mayfield, Fulton Co.—My little six-and-a- 
half-year-old daughter took charge of the 
“baby” Elephant, badly injured in tbemail 
and never larger than the first joint of my 
thumb. She cut It into two pieces, gave a 
hill to each, petted the hills all Summer, and 
got seven fine tubers, the smallest 11 and the 
largest 17 ounces. She also had a gay lot of 
flowers of many sorts and shades. The W. 
Oats did well, but smutted somewhat. As • 
paragus flue. M. h. 
Ridgewood, Que«ns Co., Long Island. 
My hen’s-egg like W. Elephant had 10 eyes, 
was cut into 10 pieces, got. ordinary cultiva¬ 
tion in garden soil, and after the bugs had 
eaten the leaves, yield 22 pounds of fair¬ 
sized tubers. W. Onts grew five feet high, 
smutted somewhat, but otherwise did well— 
a hardy sort. Owing to dry weather the as¬ 
paragus didn’t do well. The flowers managed 
by my wife gave a rare profusion of beautiful 
blooms. L. B. H. 
Ohio. 
Anthony’s Mills, Crawford Co.—Allow¬ 
ing for the unfavorable season, my Ruiia l 
seeds all did well. The R. B. Sorghum I think 
will prove a valuable forage plant. I got 
six-and-a half pounds of White Elephants— at 
the rate of 46 bushels from one. a. p. 
Pennsylvania. 
Mifflintown, Juniata Co , Feb. 17. — 
Two young White Elephants found their way 
to the premises of Gen. Wm. Bell and myself, 
and. as he had no suitable ground for them, 
they were placed under my care. The first 
one, weight just 2oz., I cut into 11 pieces, 
with an eye to each fiece. The other weighed 
3 OK., and was cut into 13 pieces. Wishing to 
plant in two rows of the same length, I cut 
two pieces of the first again; eye or no eye 
they all grew. The pieces were planted one 
foot apart in the row, and the rows 2% ft. 
apart, on the 15th of April: manured with 
chicken manure. The season was the driest 
we have had since the year 1838, when, if 
memory serves me right, it. did not rain from 
the last week in May until the last week iu 
September. The tops grew finely. I worked 
them well, kept the bugs off, and, when done 
working them, I mulched the ground with 
strawy manure and gave them frequent wa¬ 
tering. The result was 25 pouuds—good for 
the season, but not as good as I expected, 
judging from the reports in the Rural. The 
Washington Oats did fiuely; stood up well, 
fine, plump grain, and no smut. It produced, 
as near as I could tell bv measuring and 
weighing, at the rute of 105 bushels per acre. 
The Ennobled Oats I raised last year from the 
Rural seed I sowed on 6.1 rods; it produced 
at the rate of 61 bushels per acre, about the 
same per acre as our common oats, but it 
was later getting ripe, and weighed only 39 
pounds to the bushel. H. m. 
[This is about their usual weight.— Eds.] 
Pleasant Mount, Wayne Co.—My White 
Elephant was cut to make 17 hills; three were 
killed by beetles, leaviug 14, which yielded 35 
pounds of nice tubers. The W. Oats did quite 
well. After my home had eaten the heads off 
all' e could by reaching over the fence, I had 
five quarts left when gathered; grain fair, 
