684 
THE RURAL ISiW-YORiCER. 
C&talpas, 75 acres. 
Ailanthus, 40 acres. 
White Ash, GO acre3, set 2x4 feet, 326,400. 
This planting was continued the present 
season. 
The catalpa plantation, set four by four 
feet, has been easily cultivated, and has re¬ 
quired no pruning. The trees that have three 
years’ growth required little growth the 
third Summer, and pruning can be entirely 
dispensed with. The tops shade the ground 
completely and prevent the growth of weeds; 
the plants are very uniform in size, so that 
they will stand 2,500 to the acre of contract 
size, “four to six feet.” 
The contract is thus described in the Herald: 
“ A Boston capitalist has contracted for the 
planting of 560 acres of prairie land in eastern 
Kansas. This contract is made with the 
Messrs, Robert Douglas & Sons, of Waukegan 
Ill., the largest and most successful raisers of 
forest tree seedlings in the United States, and 
is peculiar and novel in its provisions. They 
agree, at a certain price per acre—which 
would differ, of course, with different condi¬ 
tions and location—to break and plow the 
land, prepare it for planting, plant not less 
than 2,720 trees to the acre, and cultivate 
these uutil they shade the ground and so re¬ 
quire no further cultivation to keep down 
the weeds and strong natural grasses. At the 
end of this time—probably in three or four 
years—the trees will be delivered over to the 
owner, one cent being deducted from the final 
payment for every tree less than 2,000 to the 
acre delivered, which must be at least six feet 
high at the time of delivery. The advantage 
of this plan, which is the one also adopted by 
the Fort Scott Railroad, is that the trees will 
be carefully planted and attended to 
by experienced men, for whose interest 
it will be to use the best plants and 
to cultivate and care for them in the best 
manner, so as to be able to deliver the great¬ 
est number or trees in the shortest possi¬ 
ble time, that they may get quick returns for 
the money invested in plants, planting, etc. 
Any plantation in which the trees are six feet 
high, and in which the ground is so shaded 
that weeds and natural grasses cannot grow, 
will require no further attention until the 
time comes for thinning them out for fence- 
posts, etc. The plan relieves the owner of the 
great risk always attending the early years 
of a plantation, and makes bis investment 
practically safe. This plantation of 560 acres 
is to consist of 300 acres of the Western Catal¬ 
pa, 200 acres of ailanthus, and 60 acres which 
will serve as an experimental ground on which 
will be testod trees of several varieties, to be 
selected by Professor Sargent, Director of the 
Harvard Arboretum. The Western Catalpa, 
a native of the low lands bordering the Lower 
Ohio and the banks of the Mississippi in Mis¬ 
souri, Kentucky and Tennessee, is a rapidly- 
growing tree, easily cultivated, and producing 
timber which, although soft, is almost inde¬ 
structible when placed in the ground, and, 
therefore, of the greatest value for fence- 
posts, railway ties and similar uses. The 
ailanthus will grow with great rapidity 
wherever the climate is not too cold for it, 
and in spite of its wonderful quick growth, 
produces hard, heavy timber, valuable for 
fuel, ties, cabinet work, or almost every pur¬ 
pose for which w T ood is used. 
It is believed that this plantation will soon 
lead to the formation of others, both by the 
railroad companies and by individuals, or 
corporations chartered to plant and own tim¬ 
ber lands in the Prairie States. Eventually a 
great deal of capital will be invested in this 
way. The returns will be alow, and a man 
investing thus should consider that he is doing 
it for his children. But when the returns do 
come they will be enoimous, even at the pres¬ 
ent prices of lumber, and it must be remem¬ 
bered that, before a crop of trees planted now 
can be harvested, the price of ties and other 
forest products will be more than doubled in 
the Western States. An encouraging fact, 
and one which show s that public attention is 
being directed to the importance of providing 
for the future demand of such things is, that 
the Iron Mountain Railroad Company, which 
runs for hundreds of miles through a heavily 
timbered region, and possesses in its own 
lands some of the finest White Oak on the con¬ 
tinent, has also made a contract with the 
Messrs. Douglas to p,aut near Charleston, Mo., 
100 acres of Western Catalpa as an experiment. 
They do this because catalpa ties have stood 
on their road scarcely affected by decay 
more than twelve years, and because the tree 
is so valued by the farmers for fence-posts 
that it is already practically exterminated in 
Illinois, Indiana and Missouri, and so not to 
be procured for ties, although the superintend¬ 
ent of the railroad is willing to pay three 
times as much as for the best White Oak t'es. 
If the planting of trees is good policy for a 
railroad running through a heavily timbered 
country like Missouri and Arkansas, it will 
certainly pay for roads in Jow T a, Nebraska, 
Minnesota and Kansas to do the same.” 
fieri.citititral. 
CLIMBING ROSES. 
There is a great variety of climbing roses 
of free and flowing growth, which Lear flow¬ 
ers of every shade of white, red and yellow, 
and although the majority of them are avail¬ 
able in the Middle States, and a part of 
them in the Southern, only a minority 
are reliably hardy in the North. As dwarf 
roses in beds we can use many roses that are 
barely hardy, by protecting them in Winter 
with earth, litter, leaves or evergreen 
branches, as we do grape-vines, raspberry 
canes and the like, but in the case of climbing 
roses such a care would be too laborious and 
not infrequently impracticable, and we should 
therefore aim at growing only such kinds as 
are positively hardy in our several localities. 
True, the very hardiest sorts by reason of a 
late Fall growth, immature wood and other 
causes may now and then get killed back a 
good deal, but that is to be expected, and can 
be mended considerably by timely pruning in 
Spring; that is, cutting out all dead wood, 
and the injured shoots back to wood that is 
perfectly sound. Indeed, beyond an annual 
tbinniDg out of dead and weakly wood, climb¬ 
ing roses should get but little further prun¬ 
ing. And ia order to encourage their growth 
and profusion liberal feeiling and a sunny 
situation are desirable. The many ways in 
which climbing roses can be employed are evi- 
dent to every lot owner. We want to run them 
up the pillars by the door, up and over the 
archway, around our windows, on trellises, 
through and over scraggy shrubs and low- 
grown trees in clematis or honeysuckle fash¬ 
ion, as is so beautifully represented in our 
illustration, Fig. 337. 
The Prairie Roses are the best of all for 
Northern use, they run so far and are so 
hardy, and in the Fall their leaves assume a 
crimson hue. The well-known Baltimore 
Belle, white; Bun of the Prairies, red; 
Queen of the Prairies, rosy red; Mrs. 
Hovey, blush; Anna Maria, blush, and Tri¬ 
umphant, deep rose, are among the bet¬ 
ter varieties of Prairie Roses. The Ayr¬ 
shire Roses are of long-running, vigorous, 
growth and do better on poor than rich land. 
Barnett’s Seedling, white, and Queen of 
Ayrshires, crimson, are among the best of 
them. The climbing Hybrid Roses are less 
vigorous than the Prairie Roses tut more ram¬ 
pant than the Hybrid Perpetuals, of which 
they are but climbing varieties. They are 
well-fitted for tying to pillars and trellises 
that are not very high, and as they may not 
be perfectly hardy in our colder States, a 
warm, sheltered position should be allotted 
them. Some of the most serviceable of them 
are Princess Louise Victoria, salmon pink; 
and the climbing varieties of Bessie Johnson, 
rose; Jutes Margottin, carmine shaded with 
pick; and Victor Verdier, carmine and roses, 
somewhat tender. 
In the Southern and Pacific States roses 
thrive amazingly, and the lovely Marechal 
Niel and Cloth of Gold Rises, that in the 
North we only know as greenhouse flowers, 
grow there as freely as a Pipe-vine or a Hop> 
and clothe their arbors, verandas and house- 
sides with a luxuriance of leaves and a multi¬ 
tude of blossoms. Besides these Noisettes, 
we may also add 8olfaterre, Lamarque and 
climbing Aimee Vibert. And among Tea- 
scented Roses what can be grander than 
Gloire de Dijon, so large, so sweet? Its chil¬ 
dren, too—Maria Berton and Heine Marie Hen 
riette, are likewise excellent climbing roses. 
Indeed, most of the Noisette Roses and many 
Teas, even although of lesser growth than 
ordinary climbing kinds, can, in favored lo¬ 
calities and with a little assistance in the way 
of tying up, be coaxed to climb. Then there 
are the evergreen. Banksia Proses, white and 
yellow; and Fortune's double yellow, and our 
naturalized Cherokee Rose, all used in and 
well-fitted for the decoration of our Southern 
homes. Although the Cherokee Rose is usu¬ 
ally met with as a hedge or bush plant, we 
have seen it trained as high as 20 feet to build¬ 
ings. 
We do not wish our readers to interpret us 
as saying that Tea Roses cannot be grown 
out-of-doors ia the Northern States, as the re¬ 
verse is the case. Sometimes Teas, left out-of¬ 
doors and well covered up for the Winter, 
may in Spring be in good condition, and with 
a little pruning and attention bloom all Sum¬ 
mer long; again, some gardeners propagate 
Tea Roses from cuttings in the Fall as they do 
geraniums, and plant them out in the Spring; 
and repeat this year after year. 
%oc'uiu$,&c. 
MICHIGAN STATE FAIR. 
(Special Report for the Rural New-Yorker. 
The thirty-third annual fair of the Michi¬ 
gan State Agricultural Society was held at 
Jackson, Mich., Sept. 18 to 23. The society 
was not blessed with good weather, as it 
rained on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurs¬ 
day, which dampened the pleasure of a large 
crowd of visitors who attended in spite of the 
weather. There were over 30,006 visitors on 
Thursday, insuring the financial success of 
the fair. The exhibition was grand, all the 
different departments being well filled. The 
only thing to mar the display was the abun¬ 
dant number of catch penny side-shows which 
the society licenses yearly, aud the number of 
booths where liquor is sold openly. The State 
Agricultural Society has a large surplus which 
it adds to each year, as its fairs are always 
successful, so it cannot excuse it« faults on the 
ground that it is in want of funds. 
The Horticultural Society’s building was 
well-filled with fruit and vegetables. Mr. 
J. N. Stearns showed the Richmond peach— 
hardy, dwarfish in habit and likely to take 
the place of the Crawford in his section. He 
also showed the Susquehanna as an interme¬ 
diate peach that does very well in the Michigan , 
Peach Belt. On the Lake Shore and around 
Ann Arbor the peach crop has been very good. 
There was a large display of apples, but they 
were deficient in quality. PearB are a good 
crop in the State, and there was a fair display 
of them. Plums are a full crop in the Sta 
and of them there was the largest exhibit ever 
shown at the State Fair. The cold, backward 
and moist season of 1SS3 has told disastrously 
on the Michigan grape crop; as a consequence 
only a few grapes were shown now in eating 
condition. Some fine clusters of Worden, Con¬ 
cord, Salem, etc., though just coloring, show 
the capabilities of this fruitful State in a. good 
season. None of the newer grapes were shown 
excepting the Prentiss and Niagara, the for 
mer coming from Central New York, but 
from sample tasted I should think it not 
nearly ripe. The Niagara wasshown in quan¬ 
tity by our friend, Mr. Woodward, of Lock- 
port, N. Y., and though not fully ripe, they 
were the only grapes that were eatable. I 
think there can no longer be a question as to 
the earliness of the Niagara. 
The vegetable shows are increasing every 
year, and the present one covered two sides 
of one of the wings in the horticultural build¬ 
ing. Among the 56 varieties of potatoes shown 
by W. H. Overbolt was anew late variety, 
the “Pride of Mason,’’a good yielder, which 
gives promise of being a valuable addition to 
our many new varieties. Beauty of Hebrons 
and White Elephants showed up grandly. C. 
M. Hubbelt made a fine display of vegetables 
of all kinds. David Woodman, second, made 
a flneexhibit of 46 different varieties of wheat 
in the straw: among them the Black bearded 
Centennial, which with him as a Winter 
wheat did very finely; straw strong and 
bright; stands up well, and is of good hight; 
heads extra-heavy, and, as far as tested, the 
wheat is a great success. He also tried it as a 
Spring wheat; it made a very rapid growth, 
and looked bright and healthy up to the time 
the rains commenced; then it rusted aud failed 
to head. Corn is very late, and there is a 
poor show of it here. 
The display of foliage and pot plants, cut 
flowers, designs, etc., was very large. The 
exhibits would have appeared to a better ad¬ 
vantage if they bad been all in one building, 
but as they were divided up into three sec¬ 
tion®, in two different buildings, the general 
effect was not as good as it otherwise would 
have been. James Vick bad the center of 
Horticultural Hall well filled with a hand¬ 
some display of cut flowers, bouquets, de¬ 
signs, etc. There were also a few pot plants 
shown in this building. In the main hall the 
pot and foliage plants filled the center of one 
wing and made a fine display. The cut flow¬ 
ers and designs shown in this building by 
amateurs were very fine, and, if anything, 
beat those of the professionals. 
The horse show was the largest ever made 
in this State, over 400 eutries having been 
made, nearly all Michigan-bred. In the cav¬ 
alcade, when they were all on the track to¬ 
gether, the display was grand, thoroughbreds, 
roadsters, draft, Normans, Clydesdales and 
all the prinoipal breeds being represented. 
The cattle show was also very large, and 
some splendid herds competed in the ring for 
the much prized blue ribbon. Short-horns, 
as usual, were the most numerous, but they 
were closely followed by the Holsteins and 
Jerseys. Here tbo Short-horns are about 
equally divided between milk and beef fami 
lies. H. H. Hines showed a fine herd of milking 
Short-horns, IS in number, headed by the bull 
“ Clarence,” 43,198. A. F. Wood showed an¬ 
other herd of 17 milkers, headed by “ Paris 
Oxford,” 44,536. Phelps Bros, showed a fine 
beef herd of 10, headed by “Lord Compton.” 
Wm. Ball exhibited a herd of 12, headed by 
“ Duke of Corn Farm.” L. L. Brooks’s herd 
of eight was headed by the fine bull “ Duke 
of Lexington,” 85,163. Jno. Lessiter’s herd of 
10 was heuded by “ Meadow Duke Flower,” 
39,949. H. K. Billing’s herd of six was headed 
by “ Red Duke.” II. Hosner exhibited a flue 
herd of 17 grade Short-horns. The Holsteins 
gave the Short-horns a very close rub; 90 fine 
animals were shown, including the fine herd of 
Unadilla Valley Duteh Friesians, exhibited 
atthe Ohio Fair. Smalley Bros., of Burr Oak 
Farm, showed a herd of 15, headed by the 
four-year-old bull “Beppo,” 183, A. H. H. B., 
weighing 2,203 pounds. The other exhibits 
were: Phelps & Seely’s Dutch Frisians herd of 
12, headed by “Fyn,” 39, D. F. H. B. ; W. 
H. Sexon’s herd of 13, headed by “ Neder¬ 
land,’’two years old; J. H. Clark & Cos.’s 
herd of 7, headed by “ Gotleib,” 1,046, A. H. 
H. B., sired by Smiths & Powell’s “Ebbo;’ 
Stone & Briggs’ herd of 8, headed by “ Col. 
Brownlow,” 660, A. H. H. B., 4 years old; W. 
A. Rowly’s herd of 4 Dutch Friesians, headed 
by “ Aac,” 17, D. F. H. B.: and A. P. Cook’s 
herd of 8, headed by “Major Gregg.” A. 
Underwood showed a large, fat Holstein bull, 
weighing 8,000 pounds, that would make a flue 
exhibit at the Chicago Fat Stock Show. There 
were SO head of Jerseys, including 23 head of 
the Clover Leaf Herd, shown by II R. King- 
man, aud headed by “ SpirsePs Lennox,” No. 
5,197, 2 years old .W. J. L. Dean’s Oak Lawn 
herd of 13 head was headed by the 8-year-old 
bull "Duke of Willow Grove,” 4,813, sired 
by Grand Duke Alexis, 1,040; Judge Mars- 
ton’s “ Riverside Park” herd of 14 was headed 
by “ Kiskankoo,” 3,583, aud N. Pinney & Co.’s 
Climbing Roses. [After Robinson’s Wild Garden.]— Fig. 337. 
