NOV 4 
740 
THE RURAL NlW-f JRKER. 
Very good to best. Ripens in Northern Ver¬ 
mont from first to middle of September, or 
■with Red Astracban, but much more simultan¬ 
eously. In quality it is the best of the Russian 
early sorts,being far better for eating uncooked 
than Red Astracban, quite as beautiful, equal 
in size, and of about the same season. It will 
push the Red Astrachan hard as a market 
apple if introduced to general cultivation. 
The tree is considerably hardier than Astra¬ 
chan, and bears very much younger, t. h. h. 
tyt IHnnjari). 
THE VICTORIA GRAPE. 
Miner’s Victoria, a white seedling of the 
Concord, has been praised by the Rural in 
past years, and this year’s experience does not 
incline us to recall or moderate anything we 
have said. It is with us the hardiest and most 
productive of vines, our only specimen never 
having been injured or mildewed in the least, 
while it yields more bunches and more perfect 
bunches than any other vine in our collection 
that has been well tried. It ripened this year 
September 5. 
Utterly alone has the Rural kept this fine 
variety before the public, and we dare to say 
that, in spite of its slow entry into public 
favor, it will at length make its way there. 
Its quality is fully as good as the Concord; it 
will ship as well; it ripens as early, and the 
canes have remained uninjured with us while 
those of the Concord have been killed. > e 
speak thus confidently because we know from 
experience that any variety of grape that will 
thrive in tbe Rural’s New Jersey Experi¬ 
ment Grounds, will thrive over a very wide 
extent of country. The bunch presented is a 
portrait of the average bunch. It is compact 
and a trifle clustered. Berries are large, round. 
The skin rarely cracks, and is covered with a 
dense white bloom. 
Our only specimen of the Victoria was given 
to us by Mr. Miner, the originator, in the Kali 
of 1878. It bore the second and every year 
Bince. The present season we counted I8ept. 15) 
55 bunches, all of medium size, Borne shoul¬ 
dered, some not—all free from rot or blemish. 
An excellent illustration of the Victoria was 
given in Moore's Rural New-Yorker, Sep. 
tember 13, 1876, from a specimen procured in 
the gr ounds of Mr. Miner. Those who have 
preserved files of that year may compare our 
own specimen Fig. 414, with that chosen by 
Mr. Miner as a typical bunch. 
iiXiscciiantous* 
RURAL BRIEFLET8. 
A will-known horticulturist writes us as 
follows: “I cultivated the Early Ohio Potato 
for the first time this season, and I was more 
than pleased with it. By the way, why is so 
little said in its praise? It is earlier than the 
Early Rose, more productive, and in all 
respects more desirable for the garden than 
that well-known sort. For the earliest use I 
still prefer the Early Alpha. It is the earliest 
potato that i know of, and la from 10 to 14 
days earlier than the Ohio or Rose. It is very 
productive, but the tubers do not attain a very 
large size. It cooks dry and mealy. 
I also gave Bliss’s Triumph a trial, but I 
would not yet like to give my opinion on its 
merits. With me the vines had a diseased 
appearance and died before they attained half 
their growth; the tubers were below the 
medium size. It appears to be a very pro¬ 
ductive as well as an attractive variety. 
Have you tested * 1 Queen of the Valley” and 
if so what do you think of it? From four rows 
100 feet long,I obtained four buBhelaof tubers. 
It appears to be a variety of wonderful 
growth, the plants attaining an immense size. 
The tubers, however, are quite inferior for 
table use. We often see in catalogues the 
different varieties of potatoes described as 
being “of very good flavor" of “excellent 
flavor” and so on. Now I never could see 
that one variety differed from another in 
flavor only; some do cook drier and more 
mealy than others, but has that anything to 
do with flavor?”...... 
The Rural has certainly done its share in 
praising the Early Ohio. As to the Queen of 
the Valley we find the quality very good for 
so large a tuber. We shall offer our report of 
yield, etc., In due time....... 
As to the quality of potatoes, we find three 
distinct classes. Those of the Early Rose 
class are as nearly flavorless as a potato ean 
be. Those of the Peachblow class have the 
peculiar potato flavor that may well be called 
‘ ‘nutty. ’’ Finally the Scotch potatoes, notably 
the Champion, have a “strong” potato flavor 
agreeable to some—distasteful to many. Any 
potato that does not cook dry and monly is not 
worth cultivating except perhaps for market 
when the variety is unusually productive..... 
The N. Y. Ag. Station, as stated in Bulle¬ 
tin XII., reports the yield of several kinds of 
barley as follows: 
Naked or Hulless, yield at the rate of S3 JS bushels of 
48 lbs. 
Kin ver’s Chevalier •• “ 39.6 11 
48 lbs. 
Two »<\wed yield at the’rate of 41.2 bushels of 48 lbs. 
Four rowed *■ “ 42.2 “ •* 
The Director asks for specimens of the so- 
called Cuzco Com of South America, for the 
. Burn brush and rubbish that have collected 
during the Summer, and place the ashes in 
barrels for use next Spring. 
The publisher of the Sun owns and works 
a farm not far from the New Jersey Rural 
Grounds. Five years ago he dug and hauled 
an immense quantity of muck from his swamp 
Crayon Sketch of the Switzer Apple.— Fig. 413. 
Station Museum, as also to grow for purposes 
of hybridization. The Rural tried this com 
for two seasons, and also sent it to many 
places in the South. With us it grew to the 
hight of 15 feet, with scanty foliage and an 
immense stalk. The kernels plant?d were 
fully twice the size of our largest Dent kinds. 
From one to two sets appeared near the top, 
which “ silked out;” but it was so late in the 
Fall that no pollen could be procured to pol- 
lenate the silk, and the tassels of tbe Cuzco 
matured pollen either before or after the silk 
appeared, we forget which. No kernels 
formed therefore. The several reports re¬ 
ceived from the South were merely those of 
“ failure to ripen.” If it is not Zea Mays, it is 
probably Z. macrosperma, as Z. Caragua is 
described as being smaller than Zea Mays. 
ands, as black as muck could be, and in due 
time spread it upon a field of light soil. A 
few weeks ago we asked him if he was satis¬ 
fied with the effects of this muck. His reply 
was. “Not at all.” 
Does this prove that “ muck” is of no value? 
To ray that it is or is not, is much the same 
as defining the size of anything by saying 
that “ it is as big as a piece of chalk.". 
One of the most productive Concord vine¬ 
yards we know of, has never received any 
manure except an occasional light surface 
dressing. The soil is sandy. The arbors are 
but five feet high, consisting of two wires. 
Tbe plants are ten feet apart. 
The Rural Poster for ’83 is of large size 
and printed in two colors. We should be 
glad to know that one of them adorns the car- 
Thk Victoria Grape.— [From Nature.]— Fig. 414. 
Dr. Sturtevant will see that, unless there are 
“Cuzco” varieties which bloom earlier, it 
will be of little use to cross with other kinds.. 
Enough Is as good as a feast. We have 
often thought that little, if anything, is 
gained by manuring asparagus and grape¬ 
vine plots as highly as many do... 
riage house of every Rural subscriber. 
Keep the potatoes cool and in a dark, airy 
place, until freezing weather. Then remove 
to the cellar....... 
Do not delay Fall transplanting. The very 
beet time, as we believe, is when the leaves 
begin to change. They have then rendered 
all the service to the plant that It is in their 
power to render, and the change of color is 
proof that their work is ended. Transplanted 
thus early, the plant, be it shrob or tree, has 
a long time to become established in its new 
home and is better prepared to face the icy 
blasts of Winter...,..... 
The strongest evidence we have that the 
Hansell is the earliest of the red raspberries 
is that Mr. A. M. Purdy says it is. Mr. John 
T. Lovett is the introducer of the Hansell, and 
as he and Mr. Purdy do not seem to be very 
lovingly inclined towards each other, it is 
natural that the latter should not bestow un¬ 
merited praise upon a plant in which the for¬ 
mer controls tbe chief interest. 
We have harvested our so-called Scotch 
potatoes—the several kinds imported from 
England and sold under this name last Winter 
and 8pring for from $1.75 to $2..50 per barrel. 
Not to waste words in describing them, it 
needs only to be said that they yielded the 
smallest crop and are the poorest in quality of 
any of the 50 different kinds tested during 
the past season.... 
In order to ascertain what effect paper bags 
have in preserving grapes, we have left a num¬ 
ber of bunches bagged until the present time 
(Oct. 20). To-day we removed them from 
several bunches of Wilder and Highland to 
find the berries plump and perfect in every 
way. Goethe (Roger’s No. 1) were mildewed, 
though less than those uncovered. Nothing 
remained of bunches of ElDorado (Ricketts) 
except traces of the stems. This bagging of 
grapes, though it will not keep many of Rick¬ 
etts’s squeamish hybrids and other ne’er-do- 
wells of the same sort, is a splendid success 
upon most kinds, and the person who first 
suggested it is entitled to the thanks of all who 
love to cultivate the queen of fruits, as we 
think the grape is richly entitled to be consid¬ 
ered. Nothing in fruit culture has ever given 
us greater pleasure than, upon removing the 
paper bags, to And the clusters as perfect aa 
if made of war. Everybody will bag his 
grapes, or some of them, at any rate, another 
year, and the grape displays at fairs will show 
the results..... 
Our respected friend and contributor, Mrs. 
A. L. Jack, of Canada, exhibited the Rural 
Beauty of Hebron and White Elephant at the 
Provincial Exhibition at Montreal, and took 
first prizes. 
*-- 
The Editor of the London Ag. Gazette says 
that size, vigor, bone, fecundity, and consti¬ 
tution—all are liable, under ordinary manage¬ 
ment, to be diminished by breeding in-and-in. 
Docility, an inclination to fatten, neatness of 
form, and the disposition to produce one fixed 
type may be, but not necessarily are, increased 
by in-and-in breeding. We believe breeding 
from closest affinities has never been known 
to increase intelligence or courage. We have 
never known horses or dogs improved by in- 
and-in breeding for immediate usefulness. 
A Great Stock Farm.— One of the many 
wonderful enterprises the great West is noted 
for, is the stock farm of M. W. Dunham, 
located at Wayne, Ill., near Chicago. On 
this farm is collected more than half a million 
dollars’ worth of Percheron-Norman horses, 
all-imported from France or bred from im¬ 
ported sires and darns. This establishment 
has been developed in a very few years by the 
energy and perseverance of the proprietor, 
who years ago saw the necessity of improving 
the horses of his country to a more suitable 
size required by the changed demand of times. 
Buckwheat. —A writer makes the follow¬ 
ing good suggestion to the Husbandman. 
Save the buckwheat chaff and use it as an ab¬ 
sorbent in the cow stable. Being fine and 
dry it makes one of the best absorbents for 
this purpose. He finds a corn basket full 
( 1>4 bushel) will absorb all the urine from 
ten cows over night and keep them dry and 
clean. He has made a practice of saving all 
of his own and buying of his neighbors for 
$1 per load of 50 baskets, and it pays well. 
--- 
Mr. W. A. Armstrong says that the very 
best way to thrash buckwheat is with flails, 
and the cost is but little greater than for ma¬ 
chine thrashing—perhaps no more when the 
condition is favorable. In former years he 
had raised a great deal of buckwheat 
and had some pride in getting the cleanest 
grain. His way was to leave the bunches in 
the field until the straw was well dried. 
Frosts intervening had the effect to make the 
stems brittle. With good weather some time 
in October, he had flails ready, men engaged, 
