AU8. 7 
502 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
large size and handsome. On account of its 
unproductiveness I have pllowed it to rnn out. 
Suarfless has sustained its high repu¬ 
tation the past season with one exception. 
This, however, is an important, hence an un¬ 
fortunate one, and is that it failed in field 
culture to be suflieienily productive to make 
it so profitable as desirable. 
Glendale—W as the most profitable berry 
1 fruited the past unfavorable season. It stood 
the severe drought better than most others, 
yielding bountifully of large, exceedingly fine 
be,rries. For shipment to a distant market I 
esteem it as the most profitable variety that 
has yet been thoroughly tested. 
Windsor Chief is still Champion — 
nothing more and nothing less. I have failed 
under the most profound scrutiny through the 
blossoming and fruiting season, that I was able 
to bring to bear upon them, to detect the 
slightest difference. 
Cinderella— Last year this was decided¬ 
ly unproductive, hence I neglected it this year, 
but it “came out stroug under difficulties.” 
The past season it was of vigorous growth 
although the plants were small, resembling the 
Jucundaatid fairly productive. Berries me¬ 
dium to large, conical, glossy scarlet, very 
attractive, of superior quality aud firm. It is 
one of the very few, 1 may say only eaily berry 
that 1 have fouud both firm and ol high quali¬ 
ty. I shall increase my plantations of it—lor 
should it continue iu future as it was the past 
season, it will he very valuable. I may add 
that I have seen it in several places through¬ 
out the State the past season, and in every 
instance it has produced the surprisingly good 
results that it did with me. J. T. Lovett. 
Strawberries. 
Gen. Sherman. —Plant small and a slow 
grower. Unproductive. Foliage smooth, dark 
green. Calyx small, hairy', close. Fruit me¬ 
dium size, rouud, dark crimson. Flesh mod¬ 
erately firm, pink; flavor fair. Season medium. 
Suarfless. — Plaut very vigorous, and 
hardy. Has stood the drought well—better 
than most kinds. Berries all large to the end. 
I fouud the fiuit more uniform in size this 
year and with less irregularity in shape. U 
will be a popular standard sort, having nearly 
all that is needed, size, beauty and quality. 
Glendale. —If it always does as well as 
it has done with ns this season, I shall consider 
it the best late market variety we have. I have 
proved it the finest berry among one hundred 
varieties. The plaut is hardy, vigorous and 
productive. A strong grower. Leaflets large, 
strongly creased, dark green. Calyx large, 
hairy, recurved. Fruit medium to large, con¬ 
ical. slightly necked, dull, dark crimson. Flesh 
very firm, pink to a paler center, flavor rather 
acid—to my taste, poor. Season late to very 
late. 
Windsor Chief.— Said to be a seedling 
of Champion. I can see no difference in either 
plant or fruit between them. This is no dis¬ 
paragement, as I regard Champion as one of 
the very best of o ir pistillate varieties and im¬ 
mensely productive. 
Cinderella.— Plant a rampant and rapid 
grower, unproductive with us. Fruit large, 
conical, uniform,glossy, bright scarlet. Season 
medium. 
Seneca Queen.— A variety that will some 
duy stand in the front rank of standards. Plaut 
agood stroug grower with a tendency to form 
stools. Immensely productive. Fruit large 
to very large, round, uniform, very dark crim¬ 
son. Flesh red to pale center, moderately firm> 
flavor only fair. Season early. 
H. G. Corney. 
-♦ ♦ ♦- 
The Gregg Raspberry. 
The Gregg raspberry is destined to take a 
high rank as a market berry among raspberry 
growers, certain Lo supersede all other varie¬ 
ties of the Black-cap family. Having had the 
berry lor years, and being fully convinced of 
its superior merits, 1 did much LO Introduce it 
to the publie, therefore take great pride in re¬ 
cording the fact that I am receiving many un¬ 
solicited letters from gentlemen in different 
parls of the country (even from Canada), all 
praising this raspberry in the highest terms 
for its many good qualities, some saying that 
enough had not been said in its praise. 
Having acres of them, some in full bearing, 
many of the readers of the Rural New-Yor¬ 
ker interested in the berry, desire (judging 
from the rnauy letters I receive) to know how 
they behaved for me this season. My answer 
is “ Splendidly, in qnantity, quality, aud tue 
prices for which they were sold.” I have 
about 13 acres of them, about six acres iu full 
bearing, four acres bearing a partial crop, aud 
three acres of new plantation. The entire 
crop was sold to Win. Kiefaher and Bro., of 
this city, they furnishing packages and pay¬ 
ing, on an average, five dollars per stand (two 
bushels), or one dollar per stand in excess of j 
the price given for Mammoth Clusters. The 
total amount I realized was nearly 2,000 dollars. 
Be it remembered that this iB a great berry 
region, where prices rule low. Those in full 
bearing averaged not less than 100 bushels per 
acre. Kiefaher Bros, told me that they never 
handled berries that gave such general satis¬ 
faction ; there was no complaint from anyone 
except that they did not get enough of them. 
The Giegg is a strong grower, requiring no 
tying up to stakes or wire, lor support, if 
pinched back at the proper time (when about 
two feet high), therefore they can be grown 
very cheaply. N. Oiimer. 
Dayton, O, 
♦ ♦♦ - 
Improvement in Early IVns. 
Dear Rural:— Your remarks, in “Brevi¬ 
ties,” upon improvements in earliness in garden 
products are in the main unfortunately cor¬ 
rect. Bat while it may be true that the Phila¬ 
delphia is siill tlie earli jst of the yellow class 
of peas (it is not so here), in the class of green 
wrinkled peas you surely have not forgotten 
the gain so rapidly made by McLean with his 
Advancer, aud then with his Little Gem; while 
still more recently Mr. Arnold’s American 
Wonder has easily “ spurted ” up along side of 
the earliest of the other class. These are not¬ 
able aud most important gains, for the yellow 
class which until recently so greatly led in 
earliness, are vastly inferior in table quality to 
the green wrinkled peas, of which the excel¬ 
lent bat altogether too late Champion of Eng¬ 
land was so long the type. Let us at least 
give credit where credit is due. 
Albany Co., Vt. T. H Hoskins, M. D. 
[We tested the Wonder the first season it 
was introduced and picked from it the same 
day as from Little Gum, from which it does 
not materially differ as we remember. — Eds.] 
RURALISMS. 
I see in front of some of the seed stores a 
placard as follows: ’‘Potted strawberry plants 
put out now will produce a full crop next 
Spring." The same announcement is made iu 
borne circulars. Many ol those who make it 
know better, or, at least, ought to. It is very 
misleading especially to those who are not 
“ well up ” iu strawberry culture. There is a 
certain advantage iu the early planting of good 
pot-grown plants ; but that is no reason at all 
for misstatements. Good pot plants, put out 
iu August and September, will usually produce 
about as much fruit as ruuuers put out in the 
Spring will produce the followiug Spring; aud 
that is a considerable gain, as it leaves room 
for au intermediate crop of another kind. 
That is the most that can be said ol pot-grown 
plants, aud it is a good deal, but no straw¬ 
berry does its best when a year old. Very few 
kinds, in fact, give their greatest yield and 
best fruit till they are two or three years old. 
To those, however, who follow'the malted sys¬ 
tem it makes but little difference, for they 
never see a strawberry in its best condition. 
They have something to learn, if they only 
knew it. Let me say briefly to the readers of the 
Rural, that a poor pot-grown plant is worth 
less than a well-grown runner put out at any 
time. Get good pot plauts if you would get 
the worth of your money. There are men 
who grow such, and pack them carefully; and 
there are others who do not. 
I have been about among the grapes lately, 
and everywhere the prospect for a lull crop is 
very encouraging. As the sale of grapes in 
New York exceeds perhaps that of any other 
domestic fruit, the news will be gratifying to 
everybody. I must add, however, that the 
grape crop is never assured until the berries 
begin to color. 
I am pleased to learn that the American In¬ 
stitute will this year open a department for 
the encouragement of *’ Amateur Art Work.” 
This is a move in the right direction that 
should have been made years ago. It is pro¬ 
posed to admit without charge the exhibits of 
apprentices and amateurs in all branches of 
mechanical, industrial aud decorative art, sub¬ 
ject, of course, to the approval of a committee 
appointed for the purpose. The grouud cov¬ 
ered will include painting, drawing, fancy 
work, embroidery, wood carving, sawing, etc. 
Full particulars may be learned at the Insti¬ 
tute, Room 22, Cooper Union, New York. 
A correspondent (p. 420), in an interesting 
letter from Tryon Valley, Lynn Co., N. C\, 
says: “It will be seen in the agricultural re¬ 
ports of the United Htates for 1870, that the 
object of cultivating grapes under glass is to 
get clear of the moisture in the atmosphere." 
There is a mistake here. If a statement of 
that kind is made iu the reports alluded to, 
somebody has been trying to make shoes who 
is not a shoemaker. The shoe is on the wrong 
loot. It is just the other way. It is the com¬ 
mand of heat and moisture uuder glass which 
enables us to grow the foreigu grape with so 
much success. J say this as the result of a 
long experience, aud 1 have never heard of 
anything different from any grower of grapes 
under glass. This statcmoul lakes mo by sur¬ 
prise. I have grown foreigu grapes in a dry 
atmosphere under glass, (and have some so 
growing now,) but the result has always beeu 
unsatisfactory, and a vexation from beginning 
to end. There is neither pleasure nor profit 
in it. 
I have no doubt, however, that your corre¬ 
spondent can grqw the foreign grape in the 
open air on that famous “ Thermal Belt,” and 
make a fine wine. The foreign grape is hardy 
enough, even in the latitude of New York. 
The trouble is not hardiness or the want of it, 
but mildew, which has hitherto defeated all 
attempts to grow the foreign vine in this 
vicinity in the open air, except here and there 
a vine in a favored locality, and in such a lo¬ 
cality I have seen the Black Hamburgh more 
than forty years old bearing fair crops of fruit. 
The vinC6 start well in the Spring, and settbeir 
fruit, but just so soon as our dry. hot weather 
sets in, mildew attacks both foliage and frnit, 
and that ends it I would suggest to your 
correspondent that he try the Black Ham¬ 
burgh. Espariono, (if he can get it) Rlessling, 
Trammer, and others of that kind ; and let him 
on receipt of the vines, wash both roots and 
canes with 6oap-suds. 
I have noticed many times the Japan Climb¬ 
ing Fern (Lygodium scandens), twines to both 
the right and the left. I have just been look¬ 
ing at it, and find two 6hoots twining in oppo¬ 
site directions on the same string It looks 
singular. I think I have seen the same thing 
in some other twining plant. Have others no¬ 
ticed it ? 
Last Spring three sets of new coleus were 
sent ont, comprising forty or more so-called 
different kinds. The greater part of them are 
of the Multicolor type. There are some that 
are vei y pretty, but they are nearly all much 
too delicate to be of auy use out-of-doors, and 
many of them are of a very changeable, char¬ 
acter. Many of them, too, are so much alike 
that it would require a remarkable microscope 
to discover any difference in them. (Hiawatha 
and Parroqnet. for example,) and it seems al¬ 
most like a fraud to offer them as different 
kinds. All the coleus now in cultivation could 
with advantage, be reduced to a dozen kinds or 
less, and old Verschaffeltii (as the Rural has 
more than once intimated) would still be the 
best of them. Horticola. 
- - ♦ « ♦ - 
JOTTINGS. 
“ Horticola." —I am glad to welcome Hor¬ 
ticola back to the field of horticultural litera¬ 
ture in the columns of the Rural. He 
wields the pen as gracefully, pleasantly and 
interestingly as of yore, and with apparent 
old-time vigor. May be long continue so to 
do. Knowiug as I do that Le has keen per¬ 
ception combined with good judgment and a 
mind of his own. I am assured he will 
” Nothin ir extenuate, or sot down cnurlit in malice,” 
but cautiously and truthfully speak of things 
as he finds them, commending nothing except 
he firmly believes it deserving. A life long 
horticulturist, a close, careful and extensive 
observer, his noteB cannot fail to he of Interest 
to Rural readers. 
The Best Contrivance to Kkef Birds 
from the Strawberries that I have ever 
found 1 b to hide the berries under the foliage 
provided by nature. In beds under the “let- 
’cm-run" system, with plenty of foliage, the 
birds take very few. except on the outer edges. 
In the hill system the stools should be so close 
that the foliage meets each way; the birds 
would then confine their invasions chiefly to 
the paths ; they are rather cautious abont get¬ 
ting in out of sight for fear of being surprised. 
HoKTtcoi.A’s mention of an old-fashioned 
garden awakens in me memories that go back 
to childhood’s happy hours, to the gardeu long 
since passed away where we took our first les¬ 
son in horticulture, where the “pinics,” 
“marigolds,” “sweet williams," “johuuy 
jnrnp-ups.” and “morning glories ” comprised 
our floral treasures—gone, all gone—and our 
assistants and companions are scattered fur 
and wide. Ah! who as he contemplates those 
childhood days does not sigh “ and wish he 
were a child again.” YeB, in our tbirst for the 
new, let ns not forget to retain a place for a 
few of the old friends of our infancy. 
The Drought Does Some Good. —I am in¬ 
clined to the belief that the drought, severe as 
it ha been, was a benefit in some respects ; for 
instance, onr apples, plums, peaches and cher¬ 
ries are much fairer than usual. Of the latter 
we have had bushels, smooth, fair, and of the 
best quality- I have not seen a dozen wormy 
oues this season, from which I infer that the 
drought in some way has materially lessened 
our carcnlio crop. It has been a wonder to 
me how our cherries and strawberries could 
develop as well as they did with such a 
high aud dry temperature. Cherries were u 
daily diet for over a month. k. i. t. 
[Anything fiom the peu of the above writer 
would be welcome at any time. We wish to 
nay that we welcome at any and all times 
short, condensed notes (of which the above 
may be takeu as samples as to length) from 
any of our contributors. Thu pith is what the 
Rural wants.— Eds ] 
THE TRUMPET CREEPER-Bignonia or 
Tecoma radicans. 
We wish to call particular atteutiou to this 
magnificent shrub, as its blossoms are larger 
aud more gorgeous than any other we know, 
which is cultivated in our latitude. The one 
on our lawn has grown up as a shrub, and not 
as a creeper, the whiter killing iust as much 
of the ends of its branches as was necessary to 
make it a shrub, instead of extending it in long 
vines. 
Our Bignonia is now six feet high, with a 
circumference around the outer ends of its 
branches of 17 feet. The petals of the blossoms 
are three to three aud-a-half inches long from 
the green calyx, forming a cup three to four 
inches broad on the top. Their color is a re¬ 
splendent light red on the outside, aud brighL 
scarlet, varying to light orange within. We 
have counted from 400 lo 500 flowers ou this 
shrub, the number varying somewhat as the 
season is wetter or drier. The reader may now 
judge what a gorgeous display this shrub 
makes when in full bloom. It is the admira¬ 
tion of every one passing the road fronting our 
lawn; at the time of its blossoming, inquiries 
are frequently made of its name and where it 
can be purchased. 
It began to bloom Jnly 11th, 1878, and con¬ 
tinued till August 20th. On September 10th a 
few more blossoms came out aud continued 
till the 17th. July 8th, 1870. it began to blooiu 
and continued nearly as above. This year, 
1880, it began to bloom June 20th. We cannot 
account for the earlier blossoming this year, 
except from the dry season, and the unusual 
excessively hot weather of the latter part of 
May aud early in June. We know of no shrub 
which keeps in flower so long during the sea¬ 
son as this Bignonia. or that presents so mag¬ 
nificent a Bight. 
Jitlii Crops. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL FARM. 
RARBly in years past at this season have 
we had so many days of rain and gloomy 
skies. The old pastures are green aud 
beautiful iu coneequunce. The long drought 
aud excessively hot weather destroyed noth 
clover and Timothy, aud wheat stubbles 
are again being plowed up and reseeded. 
Up to tbie time there has never been a 
more favorable season for corn than the 
present. It is very tall and well set. But this 
remarkable growth has beeu somewhat at the 
expense of roots which, in the soft muddy 
grouud, could scarcely hold up the stalks 
should a brisk wind occur. Our Mold’s En¬ 
nobled oats gave us a great yield, being raised 
upon ground that suffered less from the drought 
than the higher surrounding farm lands. Oue- 
tweutiuth of an acre was measured off from 
which we shall be able to determine the yield 
of the entire field with tolerable accuracy. 
We are now thrashing and weighing our ex¬ 
periment wheat plots—a tedious task—aud 
shall soon be enabled to give our readers what¬ 
ever there may be in connection with them 
that is worth their knowing. We may remark, 
however, that Mold’s (English) white and red 
winter wheats have proven nearly worthless 
here. The straws are heavy aud short—the 
leaves broad. The heads are large aud showy, 
but the kernels are small and shriveled. We 
know not what effect the wet weather may 
have upon our potato experiments. At present 
the viues are thrifty and green. 
Onr eleven kinds of the cow-pea have only 
begun to vine Within the past few days. They 
were plauted in drills 13 feet apart, upon sandy 
laud without manure. 
Early Minnesota Cane and a new kind of 
Broom Corn of each of which a half acre was 
sown were killed by the drought. We received 
from Mr. J. J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, Mass., 
the seeds of a new kind of Chinese fodder 
plant. The seeds germinated freely, but less 
than a dozen plants have withstood the burn¬ 
ing drought. From the same seedsman we re¬ 
ceived a package of sweet eorn said to be the 
earliest of any known. It was planted May 
20, at noon. We picked our first mess ou the 
morning of July 20-01 days. It is very pro¬ 
lific, beariug its ears almost upon the ground. 
They are of medium size—8-rowcd swe :t and 
tender. 
Weeds are having their own way aud field 
work iB aud has been for a week at a stand¬ 
still. Our oats are still iu shocks and we de¬ 
spair of gettiug it in stacks in a sweet coiuli- 
Beauty of Heuron 1’otato.— This potato 
proves with me a valuable acquisition. Blunt¬ 
ed upon the same grouud and at the same time 
as the Early Rose, it was large enough for 
cooking 10 days sooner than the Rose. The 
yield is double und the quality at least as good. 
Thanks to the RURAL for disseminating it. 
Nelson Ritter. 
