NEW YORK, DEC. 23, 1882 
PRICE FIVE CENTS 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1882, by the Rural New-Yorker, In thelofflce of the Llbi arlan of Congress at Washington.] 
A Good Word for Pot-grown Plants. 
I DO not agree with Dr. T. H. Hoskins and 
the Rural as to the value of pot-grown straw¬ 
berry plants. The past Summer I planted a 
bed of IS varieties, all grown in pots, and 
shipped a distance of 100 miles, and notwith¬ 
standing the severe drought of the past sea¬ 
son, they have made a plendid growth and 
are as promising for fruit next June as plants 
set in the Spring. It has been my experience 
that potted plants properly grown, packed 
and planted, will in the end prove the cheap¬ 
est to all those who ruay wish a small bed 
for family use. S. J. D. 
[When potted plants are properly grown, 
packed and planted, we have nothing to say 
against them except it may be the cost of 
transportation. Eds ] 
Origin of the James Vick Strawberry. 
—1 notice in the last Rural Nhw-Yorker an 
them out in the open ground until all danger 
of frost is over. They may then be set out in 
moderate ridges three to four feet apart, and 
two feet apart on the ridge, in good ground— 
not too jncJi. Too much manure, we find here, 
gives a tendency to run to vine at the expense 
of the tubers. The vines, as they get long 
enough and begin to throw out rootlets, should 
be lifted occasionally, so as to force all the 
nourishment into the tubers. 
I have had two cases reported to me of the 
seeds of sweet potatoes having been cultivated 
—both occurring many years ago. In both 
cases it was said that the small tubers formed 
differed very much in appearance (just what 
would be expected), bat as no special care was 
taken iu saving and propagating them the ex¬ 
periment came to nothing. 
I have but a few seeds but the Rural shall 
have specimens of each, which are herewith 
inclosed.—[Many' thanks.—E ds.] 
-»♦ «• 
RIPENING LATE TOMATOES. 
GEN. W. H. NOBLE. 
Some years since, through the Gardeners’ 
Monthly, I told how to carry the tomato sea¬ 
son two or three months beyond its usual table 
limit. My plan was the only one then readily 
available. The fully grown and about all 
the unripe fruit of any size I picked and 
placed in an empty hot-bed and covered over 
with the sash. Boards were first placed in the 
bottom on the ground and t he tomatoes spread 
over them. In the ordinary course of frosts 
and freezing weather this would give the table 
about two months’ extra taste of the tomato. 
My article brought out several other plans 
which have been adopted by gardeners to 
stretch out the tomato season. One was to 
pull up the tomato vines and hang them up 
by their heels in some cool place, bringing 
them out to ripen in the sun as wanted for the 
table. Another was to pick them from the 
vines aud put them in some place protected 
from frost and heat. Another was to place 
them upon boards in some empty room or 
attic with a southern outlook, an . run out the 
boards to the sun and withdraw them from 
the rain or frost, as New Eugland housewives 
often do with their dried apples. 
I do not think the tomato gets much benefit 
from the plucked-up vines. I think, therefore, 
t e best treatment is to pluck the fruit suita¬ 
ble for ripening, end put all except such as 
may be desired for speedy supply for the table 
away in a cold place; thep place those which 
you desire to ripen where they will get the 
benefit of dryness and warmth. As you eat 
them put others iu their place o gladden your 
board. 
Those who have a green-house, or any place 
sheltered with glasss where t e ripening sun¬ 
light can strike, wi'l find lit tie trouble (with 
trifling protection when the weather is very 
cold) in having ripe and luscious tomatoes way 
up to Christmas. 
THE BARBERRY. 
RAISING SWEET POTATOES FROM 
SEED. 
H. W. KAVENEL. 
In your “ Query” column of Nov. 251 find 
the following from an inquirer, writing frcm 
Everton, Mo.; 
“ Will the Rural tell Mr. H. W. Ravenel, 
o South Carolina, that I have 13 pods of 
sweet potato seed, and would like t -■ know 
how to plant aud cultivate them ?” 
I take pleasure ia replying and giving what 
little information I have on the subject. A 
year or two ago i made inquiries through our 
local paper if any one had ever seen the per¬ 
fect seed of the sweet potato. 1 had myself 
been looking for them for many years, and 
although our vines bloomed freely every sea¬ 
son the capsules were always false (not fertil¬ 
ized) aud dropped away soon after the flower¬ 
ing. However, this season one of our country 
farmers who had seen my inquiry, sent in a 
vineol’ the “common yam” with a few mature 
seeds. I had also a few days previously, for 
the first time, V und a few capsules on my own 
vines of the “Florida Yam,” a different va¬ 
riety. These last were not mature, but I hope 
sufficiently far advanced to ripen the seed. 
Seeing a notice in a St. Louis agricultural 
paper that Mr. O’Flaherty, of Hartford, Ky., 
had found perfect seeds, I wrote to him to in- 
The Purple-Leaved Barberry.—From Nature. Fig. 478. 
With respect to the inquiry of the Rural as the earliest Spring vegetables, eing Kept 
correspondent as to how they should be culti- in the sun during the day and protected at 
vated, I can only say that I would advise the night. Of course it will not be safe to plant 
S regards the common char- 
acteristics of this shrub most 
of our readers are doubtless 
familiar with it. Itisofmedi- 
. um size with y ellow inner bark 
or wood, and its flowers are 
b orue graceful, drooping 
racemes. Its leaves aud fruit 
are acid. The green and 
P ur P le are both hardy, 
an< * e fl uall y desirable except, 
s perhaps, when one wishes a 
s fancy foliage, in which case 
the dark leaf is preferable. The barberry 
will grow in almost aay soil, and requires as 
litle care as any other shrub. It is propaga¬ 
ted from seeds, suckers and cuttings. The 
berries should be gathered when fully ripe and 
placed m boxes until the pulp becomes soft 
when the seeds may be washed out and sown 
or put away in the sand until they are wanted 
for use. Sow them in drills and cover about 
an inch in depth. Fall is generally the best 
time for sowing the seeds. 
The barberry throws up numerous suckers 
on the base of which roots are produced. 
These suckers may be taken off and planted 
out when it is desired to increase the number 
of plants. If cuttings are to be used, they 
should be taken from one or two-year-old 
wood, in the Fall, care being taken not to crush 
the wood iu the cutting; use a sharp knife. 
Place them w here they will not freeze aud in 
the (Spring plant them out in rows, covering all 
but two or three inches of the upper end. The 
cuttings should be six or eight inches in 
length. When fully grown give the plants 
plenty of room, especially ii cultivated for 
their fruit. 
Besides being a beautiful ornamental plant 
for the lawn, its vigorous growth and numer¬ 
ous prickles make it useful as a hedging plant. 
W hen so used it is best to sow the seeds first 
in the nursery and transplant. It need not be 
guarded from cattle, as they do not care for 
it as an article of diet, aud its prickles are not 
agreeable. The illustration which we present 
at Fig. 478 ia a portrait of a spray taken from 
the Rural Grounds, showing the shrub in 
flower. 
quire, and he tells me he has saved about 80 good 
seeds. Now comes another finding from Mis¬ 
souri. This proves that the sweet potato does 
same treatment I shall give the few seeds I 
have. The sweet potato requires a long 
growing season to ge the best growth from 
The Dey Peach.—[From Nature]—Fig. 477.—See Page 864. 
occasionally—though very rarely—ripen seed 
in this country. Perhaps there may have been 
something favorable in the season this year; 
or, what is more probable, it may be that by a 
closer search the seeds would oftenerbe found. 
the tubers. The seeds should therefore be sown 
as early as possible If one has access to a green 
or hot house, they may be start* . in a box as 
early as February. If, then, there are no such 
facilities, they may be sown at the same time 
