JUNE 40 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
393 
fUriatlfttrrtl. 
THE GIANT KNOTWEED. 
(See p»ge 383.) 
This is a vigorous growing, bold and hand- 
eotne appearing, hardy herbaceous perennial 
from Japan, and botanically known as Polygo¬ 
num cUBpidatum. It belongs to the buckwheat 
family of plants, and to the same genus as our 
wild knot weeds, sumrtweeds, tear-thumbs and 
block bindweeds. The young shoots come 
up in the Spring bare as a stout shoot of 
asparagus—indeed, they are sometimes used 
us a substitute for asparagus—and when 
they have grown a foot or two in hight 
they leaf and branch out and incline in 
seemly arching form. Under ordinsry cir¬ 
cumstances they attain a hight of five to 
six feet, and in moist, fertile land they 
maybe had as high as eight or nine feet or 
more. During the whole period of their 
growth they are striking and handsome 
plants, and exceptionally so when they are in 
bloom in August. The blossoms are yellow¬ 
ish white ami produced in bundles of racemes 
at the axils of the leaves all over the branch- 
lets, as may be seen In our illustration, with 
this exception that they are borne in vastly 
greater profusion than the artist has shown 
them. But, notwithstanding its bwld and 
comely stylo and profusion at a time when 
most hardy perennials are out of bloom or 
enervated by the drought,the Giant Knotweed 
is not a plant to bo recommended for grow¬ 
ing in choice garden borders, because of its 
disposition to spread about by underground 
runners. If once established in the garden it 
costs much trouble t) remove it, as every 
piece of root will grow. But, naturalized in 
half-wild places, by the banks of potuls or 
streams, or elsewhere where the laud is good— 
and the better the laud the grander will the 
knotweed be—is an appropriate place for it, 
and there it can display itself in all its fine, 
inujestic beauty. 
But tlirre is a Japanese variety of this same 
Giant Knotweed, called Cmpulum, which 
does not grow more than two feet high and 
has all the good qualities of the Giant, to¬ 
gether with more (if possible) and whiter 
flowers, and it makes an elegant garden bor¬ 
der plant. Its lesser growth submits to easier 
management, so far as keeping witbinbounds 
may be concerned. There is also another 
Giant Knotweed from Northeastern Asia, 
called P, Sachaliense, which is more of a 
giant than the first, and as free and handsome 
a plant as it, but, being “newer,” it is more 
uncommon. 
There are also some pretty little garden 
knotweeds, for instance, the Indian Knotweed 
and the Cranberry-leaved Knotweed. 
Another and very common knotweed in 
gardens is that stately Indian annual called 
the Prince’s Feather, also its white variety. 
NOTES AND COMMENTS. 
There are some thirty or more varieties of 
abutilons enumerated iu the catalogues of our 
florists. To select a few distinct varieties suit¬ 
able for cultivation in the window garden is a 
rather difficult ta9k, as we desire those that 
are of dwarf growth and profuse-flowering 
qualities. For this purpose the following are 
in my opinion the best: Blood Red is a very 
profuse-flowering sort with deep red-colored 
flowers; Darwini-majus, the Bovvers of which 
are of a light orange color, with purple veins; 
they are very large and of a parasol shape. 
Santana, or Pattersonii as it is termed by' 
some, has flowers of an immense size and of a 
brownish-crimson color. Rosaeflorum is a 
splendid pot plant and a profuse bloomer, the 
rosy piuk flowers being veined with bright 
orange. Boule de Niege is of dwarf habit, 
with pure white flowers which are freely pro¬ 
duced; this variety is not so robust in growth 
as the others. Voxlllarium is of creeping 
habit and produces its scarlet and yellow 
flowers in the greatest profusion. 
In addition to the varieties above mentioned, 
the following sorts will l>e found to be well 
adapted for cultivation in the greenhouse or 
conservatory: Arthur Belsham, deep crimsou 
flowers, without any markings on the outside, 
with large, fine-formed, brilliant and attrac¬ 
tive flowers; J. H. Skinner is an excellent, free- 
flowjring variety, with large reddish salmon- 
colored flowers; Joseph Hill is a variety of 
vigorous growth, with large line formed, deep 
orange-colored flowers; L. 11. (Ihase has large 
flowers of a crimsou red color, with purple 
veins; Robert George is a vigorous-growing 
variety, with large, crimson flowers vhich are 
veined with bright orange. 
Tne scarlet Japan Quiuee (Cydouia Japon- 
ica), or, as it is often called, the Burning 
Bush, is at the present time (May 19th) iu full 
bloom, and is truly a very attractive and 
showy plant It forms a compact shrub of 
vigorous, erect growth, attaining a hight of 
from six to eight feet, with bright, glossy, 
green leaves which retain their freshness and 
verdure throughout the entire season, and, 
moreover, it is perfectly free from insect 
pests. It is so beautiful in both flower and 
foliage that it deserves special mention. The 
flowers are of a bright orange-scarlet color and 
are produced in the greatest abuadance so as 
often to cover every branch. They are pro¬ 
duced before the leaves appear. It bears 
pruning very well, and with a little care and 
attention may be grown to any form. 
Cvdonia Japonica alba is a beautiful 
variety of the above, with flowers of a del¬ 
icate white color tinged with pink. This is also 
a very distinct and beautiful sort, and the 
above remarks on the scarlet variety are 
equally applicable to this. 
TnERK are some eighteen or twenty varieties 
of the Cydouia Japonica, of which two very 
distinct and desirable sorts are: Atrosan- 
guinea, with deep crimson flowers; and Auran- 
tiaca, with flowers of an orange-scarlet color; 
while C. J. tricolor is a very rare and choice 
sort, with neat, variegated foliage. It is how¬ 
ever, of slow growth. 
The most practical notes that I have seen 
for some time, on tne planting of Lima Beans, 
are those given on page 323 of the Rural for 
May 13. Without desiring to be critical I 
would suggest that the manure be thoroughly 
incorporated with the soil around the stake, 
and that at least eight or ten beans be placed 
around each stake. After the vines are up 
and have become strong and robust all should 
be removed with the exception of two or 
three of the most promising. 
Moles may prove to be very useful animals 
(see Rural May 13, p. 329); but this Spring 
they have given me a great deal of trouble and 
annoyance by their burrowing under my small 
seedling plants in cold-frames. Sinking planks 
in my case proved useless, as the moles would 
work under them. Can any one suggest a 
remedy ? (No, speaking for the Rural. We 
are ready to cry out with vexation at the 
damage they have done to our experiments. 
Eds.] 
Flag of Truce, Azalea Indica, is iu my 
opinion, one of the most beautiful of all the 
double azaleas. The flowers are of large size, 
averaging two inches in diameter, and the 
habit of the plant is excellent, being of 
healthy, compact, symmetrical growth. It is 
deserving of a place in all collections how¬ 
ever small, and if I were confined to the choice 
of one azalea I would select this. 
Queens, L. I. C. E. Parnell. 
Tub Pkdlak'b Visit.—(C atalogue Acad. Design.) 
Fiq. 135. 
Various. 
(tfrprrimfnt Ground* of the $ur«l 
- pother. 
The way of the experimenter is sometimes 
hard and unsatisfactory. Of 150 different 
kluds of strawberries which we are tenting, 
all cultivated in hills so os to keep them dis¬ 
tinct, we have not over a dozen kinds to pick 
for family use. Many of the others are fee¬ 
ble, many half dead, rnuny have been killed by 
the past Winter. Much the same may lie said 
of most other plants here under trial, whether 
for fruit or ornament. Though we have from 
one to several plants of all the raspberries, we 
shall not this year have enough for fumily use. 
Of 70 differeut kinds of grapes, one or two 
vines of each, we have never had a fair family 
supply—though the present season, at this 
writing, promises to be an exception, many of 
the vines showing fruit buds. 
Of strawberries the following are the most 
vigorous and have best stood the weather, 
moles, grubs, or whatever other causes injure 
them; Sharpless, Kentucky, Miner’s Prolific, 
Scarlet Globe, Memphis Late, Naomi, Fowler’s 
Seedling, Garden, Piper’s Seedling, Sucker 
State and Manchester, marked here “ Battey’s 
8eedling,” from the originator, after whom it 
was first called. 
The following kinds have suffered more or 
less, as the percentages will serve to show: 
Photo, r 15 per cent, were killled or worth¬ 
less ; Cinderella, 75; Glendale, 50; Wind¬ 
sor Chief, 60; Queen of the West? 10; Bid- 
well, 10; Long John, 20; Burr New Pine, 25; 
Oceana Co. Ag. Soc., 20; Duncan, 30; New 
Seedling (Roe), 75; Forest Rose, 30; Panic, all 
killed; Erwood’s Globe, 80; Luckhurst, 80; 
Weilandy, 75; America, 75; Emma’s Favor¬ 
ite, 25; Gen. Sherman, all killed; Hooker, 90; 
Miller’s No. 7, 80; Kissanny, 30; Miller’s No. 
5, 80; Romeyn’s Seedling, GO; Caroline, 40; 
Longfellow, 40; Shenandoah, 90; Grace; 25; 
Hervey Davis, 30; Oliver Goldsmith, 25; Un¬ 
known (Lovett), 40; Brilliant, 80; Woodward 
No. 1, 10; Franklin, all killed; Frontenac, all 
killed; Iowa Prolific, 90; Latham’s Seedling. 
75; Pawtuxt t, 95; Endieott’s Seedling, 40; 
Co wing’s Seedling, 25; Crescent Seedling, 10; 
Warren, 00. 
We make no account of those kinds set last 
Fall or this Spring, of course. 
We have now small quantities of 57 different 
kinds of potatoes planted all new—for the 
most part not yet offered for sale—except a 
few, like Beauty of Hebron and Early Rose, 
for the sake of comparison. The seasou has 
been very favorable for potatoes thus far. 
They have sprouted freely, and we have had 
no frost to cut bock the tops, which are green 
and strong. The potato beetles have been kept 
in subjection by hand-picking, going over the 
vines generally twice a day. It is a tedious, 
time-absorbing job, and would be quite out 
of the question in anything but experimental 
work. Poison cannot oe economically applied 
to young vines as, to be effectual, it must be 
made strong, in which case it harms the vines 
more than the beetles. 
-- 
A POOR FARM IMPROVED. 
In the year 1877 a farm of 50 acres 
came into my possession that had been 
worked as a side farm for 25 years. Daring 
that time there had not been a single head of 
stock wintered on it; everything that had 
grown on it had been hauled off. The farm, 
naturally flat, had been made more so by 
plowing around some fields instead of plow¬ 
ing them into lands. Consequently, it lay 
dead and level, with no chance for water to 
run off. The first season I built a dwelling 
and managed to raise enough to keep my 
stock from starving. During the season I got 
together all the manure, coal ashes, etc., I 
could, and managed to putin five acres of Fall 
wheat, iu fair condition. I had a fair crop, 
and got a good catch of clover, which was 
my first foundation. So I have keptou, and 
to-day I have as good-looking Fall wheat as 
auy of my neignbors on a farm that was 
considered almost worthless and on which 
some of my neighbors said I would starve, 
and jet I don't think I have done anything 
great—only worked hard. I have simply put 
back as much as or more thau I took off. I 
plowed some pieces four times during the sea¬ 
son to get them in shape to drain and to kill 
thistles, i lose nothing from water, and sell 
nothing I can use on the farm. Last season I 
picked Dears, quinces, currants and bushels of 
berries where wheat and rag weed grew in 
1876. Last Fall I sold $500 worth of grain, 
besides what I saved for use, and I can say 
I consider it a paying piece of property, and 
it is not for sale. I hope I may be pardoned 
for feeling tall when my neighbors say, 
“What a nice hedge you have been growing! 
What thrifty, young trees! Your wheat 
looks splendid, etc., etc. I will add that there 
were 38 old apple and five forest trees, all 
told, on the place when I took hold of it. 
Seneca Falls, N. Y. Subscriber. 
LATE-SOWED VEGETABLES. 
Among the general farmers it is exceedingly 
difficult to And tender and juicy beets, carrots 
and parsnips in late Winter, for the reason, 
evidently, that the thrifty former strives to 
have large and early vegetables rather than 
sweet and teuder ones late in W inter. One of 
the advantages of farm life is the ease with 
which farmers can have fresh and delicious 
food, and among the eatables there is no 
greater difference than between fresh and 
storo dried and culled vegetables. 
“ In the heat of Summer prepare for ths 
cold of Winter/’ applies with no stronger force 
to the methods of living than to vegetables for 
Winter use. That they may be juicy and 
stringless in mid-Winter and Spring, beets in 
particular should be sowed in Summer. In 
this latitude, about the middle of June is a 
good time to put the seed of beets and carrots 
into the ground when the vegetables are in¬ 
tended for cooking the following Winter and 
Spring. If the season is hot and dry, the 
lawn sprinkler or watering-pot should be used 
to make the seeds germinate, but this extra 
trouble is more than recompensed by the dif¬ 
ference between early and late-sowed veg¬ 
etables for Winter eating. 
At harvest, after thoroughly drying beets, 
parsnips and carrots, they should be packed in 
dry sand and kept from the air. By carefully 
replacing the sand, late sowed beets will be 
juicy and crisp In spring-time, and parsnips 
kept in the cellar in this way will be just as 
good then as those allowed to remain in the 
ground through the Winter. G. r. d. 
Pittsfield, N. H. 
-——- 
A GOOD WORD FOR THE BURBANK 
POTATO. 
As several correspondents of the Rural 
have given their opinions of the Burbank 
Potato in late issues, I will also offer mine. 
I live in a section of the country where a 
great many potatoes are raised, and the 
Early and Late Rose have been cultivated 
since they were first introduced. A few 
planted Burbank’s a few years ago; many 
more planted them two years ago; last year 
almost every one planted part Burbank’s, 
and this year I and my neighbors discarded 
the Rose, Early and Late, and Burbank’s are 
planted for the main crop. 
The quality of the Burbank’s in this vicinity 
I consider at least equal to that of Early or 
Late Rose, Beauty of Hebron or St. Patrick, 
and the yield is 40 par cent, larger than the 
three first mentioned. 
For proof of quality as a market potato, I 
would refer to the quotations of Burbank’s 
compared with Rose in the reports of the 
potato market during the last few months in 
the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Cin¬ 
cinnati. Whether the Burbank will be 
crowded out in two or three years by new 
kinds, such as the White Eiephauc or Belle, 
remains to be seen after they shall have been 
more thoroughly tested. 
From one yeir’s experience with the White 
Elephant, I believe it will prove a valuable 
potato. The Belle I plant this year for the 
first time. A. V, 
Waterloo, N. Y. 
A Cheap and Durable Fence. 
No doubt that there are a great many 
farmers who wish to make a cheap fence for 
this year or next, so I will try to discribe a 
good fence, one that is receiving good recom¬ 
mendation around here. The first thing to be 
done is to Bet the posts ten feet apart, instead 
of eight; then the boards should be twelve 
feet long and six or eight inches wide. Take 
a six-inch board and saw it in pieces four feet 
long for the “cap?,” using spikes five-and-a. 
half or six inches long. Now take four boards 
to commence on—two six-inch and two eight- 
inch. Put the wide ones at the bottom. Put 
on a cap over the boards, driving the spike 
through the cap first under the second board, 
and let the board drop down on the spike. 
Lap the boards now on all the posts, and spike 
just under each board. Sixteen-feet boards 
are as good as twelve-feet, for one may saw 
off a cap from each and have the twelve-feet 
boards left. Oue should not get too many 
sixteen-feet boards, however, or he will have 
too many caps. 
In making this fence, a farmer may have a 
pair of bars wherever he wishes, for by taking 
out a panel of boards, he can drive a wagon 
through. If he wants to do this, care should 
bs taken not to drive the spikes too tight. 
Another advantage with this fence is, in the 
Spring when the owner wishes to drive the 
posts that have been heaved out by the frost, 
he can go along and drive them in and not 
break off all the nails in the fence. Let the 
Rural readers try it, aud see if it isn’t a good 
and cheap fence. Bertly Wilder. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. 
GRAFTING GRAPE-VINEB. 
Having seen several articles on grafting 
grape vines, as no one seems to know much 
about it, I will tell what I did several years 
ago. I hud a Frost grape-vine growing in my 
garden; I cut it off an inch cr so below the 
surface, inserted two cions of the Martha 
(using no wax), hauled the dirt back, banked 
up a little and shaded for a time. They giew 
well; I cut one out; the other made a two- 
branch viue running in opposite directions. 
The vine is now over two inches through at 
the base and over twenty feet long each way, 
and is loaded with grapes each year. I aiso 
had another grafted on Isabella stock; it grew 
well till destroyed. My neighbor grafted one 
and it grew welL Neither of us grafted till 
the buds were full. From what 1 have seen I 
do not see how grafting the grape-vine is any 
moie risky than grafting the apple, if the 
vine has oue good stock an inch or so below 
the surface. Rural Reader. 
Middle Haddam, Conn. 
