§68 
THE BUBAL NEW-YOBKER. 
RECENT APPRECIATIVE WORDS. 
P«ter B. Mead, the veteran horticultural editor and writer, save “The Rural New- 
Yorker is not a.rai l to tell toe truth in the trut interests of Agriculture and Horticulture." 
. tbialt ths Rural is betoer than »v a r. It would b- hard to give a suggestion towurds 
improvemeut durmg cue year. The wrKn rs of J B. Lawes H-nrv S ewarc, Professor W. J. 
Beal, Colonel F. D Carols, Prof-ssor 1. P Rmt-t< and manv others who are known to be 
earnest, honest workers and in knowlel r • an l exosrienci far a»ve the lev^l of the uoial 
^Rers, givs t. the Rua U, a tone aber a th it of other agricultural papers, 
and this is greatly eubancerl by the labor of ics artists an 1 its g*oer d get-uo. and ab v« all 
hi fh! , 7 1 ? IV8S ' | OQ * we ' g»t <* M e .rn-st, exoerlencei agd-ulturist at Its head, a- seen 
by the eliton iW and notes from the Rural Farm, etc. 
Wayne Co. N. Y. W L Devrreaux 
Brant, N. J., Yon labor under a mistake. I sent voi two dilLrs for mv=elf 
end the same for one of my neighbors. I get the oil Rural. I hive taken h tventv- 
five years^ and expect to take it as mu ;h m ire if I an 1 that lives. I w ive no fault to Hnd 
with the Rural I think It is doing an i a aense amiuut ofgiol. Chive '»t b-iuuful ' 
home whicn l think I should not have had if in hat nit been for vonr ptpsr, Or fourteen pa 
pers that we took last season the Rural waaflrdt to be remembered. .L insr r »» * vr j 
- Ralph Evans 
The Rural’s “ Crop Reports," which are a feature of incalculable >«nefl to farmers 
have enabled me the past year to obtain data that have resulted to me in the gain of *3m in 
the sale of one crop alone. Of the three agricultural papers that I read (and they are th- best 
published) the Rural takes the lead. ' y 
Schenectady Co., N. Y. E . g g AUTKB . 
The seeds from the Rural Free Seed Distribution have more than pai 1 rn« for sabscrip- 
tions for the Rural wham is far in advance of any oth°r agricultural paper l have ever 
read. I think it Bhould be named •* The Universal Farmers’ Friend ” P V 
Randolph Co., I1L ' John L Mahews. 
are much superi r in qua ity to Concord 
• Tt-e vigor productiveness and healthiness 
For our first Seed Distribution of the coming 
year. 
The Giant Wheat, 
BLACK-BEARDED CENTENNIAL 
One hundred and four kernels to a relected 
head—weight 107 grains. For sowing 
either in the Fall or Winter 
according to climate. 
“Everybody wants it and is willing to pay an 
immense price Jor it merely as a curios¬ 
ity,'' Prcfeg.-or A. E Blount Col. 
St. College. Fifty-eight bushels 
to the acre—single seeds 18 
inch-s apart. 
SEEDS or THE GREAT 
NIAGARA GRAPE. 
THE WHITE OR APE FOR THE 
MILLION. 
“The Niagara Grape- overshadows all other 
new white grapes as completely as the 
great Fal 1 * bearing the same name 
overshadows other like natural 
scenery. ” C. A. Green. 
Rural New-Yorker premiums for the best 
varieties pre-due* d lrom this seed. 
Let all Rural readers enter th • c r ntc^t and let the 
Rural > kw- Yorker bn lh« Intliri-cL means and 
Its readers t e direct m ansnf a new era 
in KTHpr i-u iurc-1! 
The Blush Potato. 
A new, drought-resisting intermediate variety 
—unsurpassed in quality—in keeping 
qualities and, m far as tested, in 
yield, 
A Grand Treat For The 
Ladies. 
THE RURAL IYI1ZED GARDEN. 
A Treasure of the finest strains. 
The Perfection Watermelon. 
All who have tested it say that in quality it 
is uuequaled by any other kind. 
Flesh, a deep scarlet nearly 
joining the rind-very 
sweet and melting. 
Shapely, Early, Heavy, Y^roduotive, 
Helieioue. 
The Black-bearded Centennial 
This giant among wheats was first sown at 
the Rural Farm four years ago in the Fall, 
and h is been sown in the Fall every year. 
Ouly the largest heads and those first 
to ripen have been saved for seed. The 
past season it was harvested July 18, ripening 
only a few days after Clawson. The Black 
bearded Centennial wheat which we shall 
send to subscribers was not raised at the Rural 
Farm but rn the lands of the Colorado Ag. 
Coliege ag Fort Collins. Last year tho Rural 
off« red prizes for the best five heads of wheat 
of uny kiud. Not less than 500 lots of five 
heads each were sent to this office and Prof. 
Blount of the above college drew the first 
premium with this wheat. The number of 
brea.-ts of the average head was 27; the aver¬ 
age numlier of grains 104 aud the weight of 
kernels per head was 107 grains. It is not as 
yet grown any where in large quantities aud 
has never as yet been offered for sale by 
seedsmen. Prof. Blount sowed this wheat by 
dropping single kernels 18 inches apart. T.e 
yield last year was 58 bushels to the acre. 
Prof. B. writes us under date of August 1, 
1882: “It is the most fascinating wheat I 
ever grew. Everybody wants it, and is will¬ 
ing to pay an immense price merely as a cu¬ 
riosity. I am offered one dollar per pound 
in small quantities right here—100 heads go 
quickly for $1. The flouring properties are 
not yet known. The analysis shows it to be 
medium. It is best here when sown in the 
Spring. In the Western part of Maryland 
the Black-bearded Centennial has doue well, 
and I think it will do well in dry sections and 
mountainous regions.” 
We know of its having done well, so far as 
it could be tested in very small lots, in many 
different parts of (ho Eastern and Western 
Middle States. Oar portrait is from a speci¬ 
men sent by Prof. Blount, though we have 
m-ny heads raised at the Rural Farm fully 
as large tl ough the grain is smaller, which 
may bo set n at tho Rural office. Itis heavi¬ 
ly bearded as it matures. But later the 
beards turn dark-colorod and many drop off, 
leaving the bead beardless, as shown. The 
boards of some heads, however, do not 
change color. [The Rural New Yorker 
has been of the opinion that the Black- 
bearded Centennial and Golden Grains were 
precisely identical. For two reasons, how- I 
ever, we are now inclined to belisv* t*>at there I 
Niagara Grape—From 
Is a difference. They were sown In adjoin¬ 
ing plots at the Rural Farm, and but one 
plant of the Golden Grains survived tho Win¬ 
ter, the largest head of which (with the beards 
cut off) is shown in the engraving. Fig. 275 — 
Page 570. The other heads were less than 
half that size ] 
A small envelope of this seed, (B. b. Cen¬ 
tennial) the grains of which v e are willing to 
guarantee are the largest our readers have 
ever seen, will be sent in our Seed Distribu¬ 
tion to all applicants. In Spring wheat sec¬ 
tions it Bhould be sown as a Spring wheat—in 
many Winter-wheat sections, as at the Rural 
Farm, it will unquestionably thrive as a Win¬ 
ter wheat. 
SEEDS OF THE NIAGARA GRAPE. 
This remarkablo white grapo cannot be pur¬ 
chased or procured at presen*-, except on spe¬ 
cial terms. Vinoyards, under the control cf 
tho owners, havo been planted in 12 States and 
in Canada in order to test it—payment being 
made contingent on one-half the net sales of 
the fruit, 
Nature— Fig 274. 
Dr. F. M. Hexamer says of it: With the 
Niagara the long-felt want of a hardy, 
purely native white grape seems to be sup¬ 
plied It is the greatest step in advance since 
the Delaware , 
Mr. J. J. Thomas says: 
“The leaves are thick, distinctly lobed, and 
hang long on the vine. The bunches often 
measure six inches long, they are compact, 
uniform and handsome; berries three-fourths 
of an inch in diameter, light greenish yellow . 
ripening about as early as Hartford. They 
of the vine, the sice and beauty of the ft uit. 
and the. facility w th n hich it may be sh p 
ped present an unusual combination of val 
uablc qualHi s for market ." 
Chn?. A. Green rayi-: “Its vigor, pmdv.c 
tireness and beauty are its strong points. 
The ' Niagara" grape overshadows all 
other new white grapes as completely as 
the great Falls bearing the same name. 
overshadows other like natural 
scenery .” 
The Niagara originated at 
Lockport, N. Y., and thus far 
the least that can be said of 
it is that it promises to be among 
white grapes what the Concord 
has long been among black grape 3 . 
It promises to be the 
Whi'e Grape for the million. 
Mr, Woodward tells us that a 
one-vear-old vine set in the Spring 
of 1S78, produced 25 fine clusters 
in the Summer of 1879, and bore 
in 1SS0, 57 clusters, end in 1SS1 a 
larger crop. A fonr-year-old vine 
bore in 1881, 140 clusters. 
It is claimed that it is 
freer from the attacks of phyl¬ 
loxera than any other, never 
having been injured. The vine is a 
remarkably strong grower, very 
hardy and has never shown the 
least symptoms cf disease. The 
engraving is from life, showing 
the bunch at its best. 
Our readers will none of 
them take for granted that seed¬ 
lings from tho Niagara will pro¬ 
duce Niagaras, any more than 
seeds cf tho Seckel Pear will 
reproduce t hat excellent variety. 
We guarantee the seeds wo 
send out to bo those of tho Niagara 
—every one—that ?3 all. Great cs 
has been the improvement in our 
native grapes Juriig the past 15 
years, it may will l o supposed that 
we are only fairly started upon 
tho improvement of which our 
native grapesaro capab’e. The dis¬ 
semination cf lhcte scccs through 
tho Rural New Yorker will, it 
i3 qui o reasonable to 8 ’pposc, re¬ 
sult in tho raising and cultivation 
of severs! hundreds of th u auts 
of seedling vines throughout 
the country, and from these, 
children of so grand a pareLt, we 
may hopo for grand results. It 
may bo well to remark (hat all 
may raise a im a from good, Iresh 
seeds as easily as they raise to¬ 
mato plants, except that tho grape 
requires n longer time to germin¬ 
ate. The best way is to sow the 
seeds in pots in early Fehruary 
and to thump them out in the 
open ground in June. The care of 
the young seedlings is then the 
same as of other young grape-vines. Tne 
Rural New-Yorker proposes in due time to 
offer prizes for the Dest verieties of grapes 
springing from this seed, while many of the 
best as well as the priz -taking seedlings will 
unquestionably command a generou p-ice in 
the market. We hope that every Rural sub¬ 
scriber will heartily enter this contest of im¬ 
proving the American grape. 
The Blush Potato. 
This was tried at the Rural Farm last sea¬ 
son for the first, beside 14 other new kinds 
