FES 2 
ftutral topics. 
NOTES ON BACK NUMBERS. 
T. H. HOSKINS- M. D. 
Rural Deo, 22.—'Hie Rural’s experiments 
with potatoes (p. 83?) have all been valuable,, 
and ought to be especially valuable to grow¬ 
ers in New Jersey and Long Island, who so 
generally complain that they cannot begin to 
get such crops of this tuber as are grown in 
Northern New York and New England. The 
Rural has shown them that it can be done,and 
how to do it. Such crops as you report are 
rarely seen anywhere. 
B. F, Johnson’s remarks (p. 838) to the effect 
that immature corn will germinate and grow 
I have fully tested a great many times. The 
later sorts of sweet corn never really mature 
in Northern Vermont, yet the immature seed, 
if carefully dried, is as good as any for plant¬ 
ing. I say “ carefully.'’ because the ears need 
to be dried quite rupidly bystove heat, and if 
this is allowed to intermit, every kernel on the 
ear will sprout with astonishing promptitude. 
I found this out by letting the lire go out for 
only 24 hours, by which time every ear looked 
like a small hedgehog. Yet if it had not been 
heated at all, it would not have sprouted, 
though it might have molded. 
I am glad to see so many favorable reports 
(p. 889) of our Vermont grape, the Vergeunes. 
It bids fair to be most valuable away from 
home, since it is too late for all but the most 
favored localities in this State line. 
Isn't it queer that according to “Anglo” (p. 
840) the Kyloes make the best beef in the Lon¬ 
don market, far ahead of the Short-horns, 
and yet a single Kyloe cross, supposed to have 
occurred early in Mils century, and indicated 
by a smoky nose, today eoudemns a Short¬ 
horn for breeding purposes’ Old women’s 
notions about “ mother’s mark,” and various 
other baby lore from the same source, are not 
more ridiculous than the doctriues adhered 
to amongst the breeders of cattle. 
Referring to what Mr. Lyon says (p. 840) 
about the prevalence of black-knot in Michi¬ 
gan while it is apparently disappearing in 
the East, may it uotbe that in the older States 
the wild cherry, upon which the black-knot 
revels, is becoming a comparatively rare tree? 
The children destroy them to get the fruit, so 
that though once as abundant as hi relics I now 
find it difficult to get seed, except by raising 
it. By the way, theseedlings make excellent 
hardy stocks for budding the cultivated va¬ 
rieties on. 
I am glad to see “A. A.B," approves ip. 841) 
of a flue and hardy Vermont seedling pear, 
the Grand Isle. None of the Maeomber seed¬ 
lings are inferior to it. The one named (by 
myself) “Maeomber” is the most piquant in 
flavor of any pear I ever tasted, and the 
Flemish Beauty seedling is as good as its pa¬ 
rent, without its defects. 
The Rural is surely entitled to the credit 
claimed on p. 843 for advocating shallow cul¬ 
tivation for corn. But I claim to have advo¬ 
cated not only shallow cultivation of the 
growing crop, but shallow plowing and sur¬ 
face manuring for the corn crop in all the 
northern tier of States for nearly 20 years, 
By this method the crop is out of the way of 
frost some weeks earlier than by the opposite 
practice. 
Prof. Voelcker’s failure with bone-dust upon 
grass may be for the reason given (p. 832), but 
1 have never been able to produce much effect 
upon old grass by the application of auy 
commercial fertilizer. On new seeding such 
fertilizers often do u great deal of good. 
Rural, Dec. 20.—Mr. Hardin's remarks 
upon grade Jerseys (p. 853) accord with the 
experience of Vermont fanners, though I 
have heard no fault found with the cross of a 
Jersey bull upon a half -blood, among them. I 
know of a good many three-quarter and 
seven-eighth cows that are in every respect 
desirable dairy beasts. 
I fully agree with Mr. Ritter iu his estimate 
of the Champion Grape (p. 855). But T have 
a good many neighbors who are perfectly 
satisfied with it, and it is certain that large 
quantities are sold in the cities. Now unless 
we insist upon forcing our tastes upon the 
public, why is uot the Champion * ‘good enough 
to sell?” I like the Champion quite as well as 
I like Limburger cheese. 
Rural, Jan 5. —It is pleasant to know that 
at least occasionally a new thing iu horticul¬ 
ture is “ up to the recommend.” The Ver- 
gennes Grape was introduced‘specially as a 
long keeper. On trial, the Rural finds (p. 2) 
that the Vergennes is the longest keeper out 
of a considerable list of keeping sorts. 
Mrs. Jack (p. 8), though in Canada, has a 
locality where the Concord Grape matures, 
but still I am pleased to see that her choice 
agrees with mine in preferring Moore’s Early 
and Brighton. Eumelan also does well with 
me, and to her list I would add Salem and 
Delaware. 
There are in medical records a few cases 
mentioned of death caused by some small,bard 
substance becoming impacted in the appendix 
vermiform is, as mentioned on p. 5. Such cases 
will continue to occur, yet so rarely that per¬ 
haps in the whole United States one will not 
be heard of in a dozen years. If grape seeds 
are tabooed on this accouut so must be pop¬ 
corn, nuts, and indeed anything hard what¬ 
ever. A hard, carbonized fragment of bread- 
crust is just as dangerous, when of the right 
size. 
The refusal of other agricultural papers to 
print the advertisement of the Rural, as men¬ 
tioned on p. (i, is a plain avowal of self-con¬ 
scious inferiority which should be highl y grat¬ 
ifying to yon, Mr. Editor. [No, it was not, 
dear sir. We take the view that it is the duty 
of all farm journals that really care for the in¬ 
terests of agriculture, not to stand in the way 
of their readers choosing their own reading 
matter. We believe that in some cases it 
may be well for a farmer to give up a better 
journal for a poorer one. That most of the 
New England farm papers should have de¬ 
clined to publish the advertisement of the 
Rural Nkw-Yorkkr is evidence that those 
journals are devoted to agricultural interests 
in just so far as it seems profitable to them¬ 
selves so to be. It is right that we should say, 
in this connection, that the New Englaud 
Homestead accepted the Rural’s advertise¬ 
ment freely.—Eos.l 
Prof. Arnold is quoted (p. (i) as saying that 
cheese has not proved so useful for food as 
chemists make it out to be. Cheese is not very 
much eaten iu America, where other animal 
food is so abundant and cheap: but in the old 
countries the poorer classes instinctively in¬ 
dorse all that the chemists say of it, by choos¬ 
ing it as the best purchase they can make with 
their money, just as the poorer classes in our 
cities buy beans, the cheapest of our protein 
foods. By the same instinct our French 
Canadian neighbors became “pea soupers.” 
“Gray Beard,” of Amerieus, Georgia, (p. 9) 
speaks of Dunmore’s Seedling as a potato ex¬ 
cellently adapted to the South. This potato 
was originated from a seed of the Peerless by 
A. J. Kelsey, of Salisbury, Yt,, and was first 
introduced bv me in 1875, under the name of 
“Floor Ball.” The name was subsequently 
changed to “Dumnoro,” in honor of Lake 
Duntuore in Salisbury, upon the shore of 
which it had its origin. It is a noble potato, 
but somehow has lacked the appreciation it 
deserves. 
I hardly ever g't over so far as the Domes¬ 
tic Economy Department in my notes, but this 
week it is “mighty interesting reading.” I 
feel sorry for “Charity Sweetheart,” aud offer 
her an old man’s advice to be patient, keep her 
face towards the light and struggle on, be¬ 
lieving in a loving Father above, who does not 
needlessly afflict his children. “Zena Clay- 
bourne’s” troubles about the rubber question 
are unnecessary if she will accept an assur¬ 
ance, based on much experience, thut rubber 
kept clean will do no harm, though a sore 
mouth may come while it is in use. But sore 
months were known long before rubber was 
used for this purpose. What a savage fellow 
that “Man” (?) is, who replies to * ‘Disgrace!” 
Rural, Jan. 12. —“Jersey Cow” is a fine 
type of a serviceable, hardy, “ homely” dairy 
animal, without any of the air of hot-house 
frailty that we see iu so many of the pictured 
favorites. 
W. G. W.’s article on “ Improved Leeusts” 
reminds me of a locust seedling which sprang 
up in one of my apple nursery rows a few 
years ago, and at the cud of the second season 
was over nine feet high. I then cut it off near 
the ground, intending to make a cane of it, 
but found it too large. A measurement‘just 
made shows it to be l ’ > inch iu diameter at 
the butt, inside the bark, and IV inch at the 
small end (18’ , feet). It is of course now 
thoroughly seasoned. The seed from which 
it grew was planted six years before, and 
the ground had been subsequently in wheat, 
and then grass during the time, uutil plowed 
for nursery use. 
Gen. Clay’s article on Monopolies (p. 22) 
should be read by all the Rural constituency. 
It tells the truth—not all'the truth, indeed, 
yet nothing but the truth. Can Legislatures 
by charter to a corporation, permanently 
alienate the rights of their constituents? Can 
they give what cannot be taken away by their 
successors? Such is the doctrine of many of 
our legal authorities, Do the people know 
that but very few of their representatives in 
Congress who are lawyers are free from pecu¬ 
niary obligations to great corporations, either 
in the form of retainers, permanent passes, or 
otherwise? It is stated there is never of late 
years a majority in either House of Congress 
that is not interested pecuniarily in behalf of 
our worst monopolies. How long will such a 
state of things be endured by the people? 
fbrintllitml. 
RAYS. 
The geraniums we lifted in the Fall are now 
breaking into growth and in a few weeks 
will be in blossom: the same with ahutilons 
and other plants. Keep them clean from ail 
decaying leaves, cut off dead snags, shorten 
them back if needed to make them shapely, 
and rearrange them so tliat they may have as 
much sunlight as possible. That is, let gera¬ 
niums, petunias, oxalises and other sun-loving 
plants and such as are in blossom occupy the 
sunniest windows and places in them, and such 
plants, as cactuses of all sorts, ferns, German 
ivy and the like have the shadier places. 
Those of your plants, as Calla Lilies, Paris 
Daisies, abutilons, growing roses and the like, 
whose pots are well filled with roots, should 
receive some stimulating food, and as apply¬ 
ing liquid manure to plants is not very pleas¬ 
ant in the sitting-room, you cannot do much 
better than scratch out a good deal of the old 
soil from the surface of the pots and till up 
with fresh compost, say, leaf soil or loam and 
well rotted manure in equal parts, and pack 
it down very firmly; and to the plauts that 
are blooming and growing vigorously give 
lots of water. 
But at this time of year be careful about 
watering your plants. If the water stands in 
the pot without immediately sinking into the 
soil, turn that plant out of its pot and pick 
away some of the earth from the bottom of 
the ball, or if convenient repot the plant. 
Worms clog the drainage. You may some¬ 
times catch them by turning the plants out of 
the pots and picking out the worms: but if 
you fail to see the worms, apply some lime or 
soot water. Most plants relish it. but worms 
dislike it. While vigorous plants, as cinera¬ 
rias, want copious waterings, such plants as 
coleuses, iresiues. ageratums, and the like, 
that you are merely wintering over for next 
Summer’s garden, should not get more than 
will keep them fresh and plump. Succulent 
plants as cactuses, Century Plauts, house- 
leeks and the like, require very little if any 
water. Old fuchsias. Lemon-scented Ver¬ 
benas and deciduous woody plants of that na¬ 
ture, if kept cool and dry in Winter, start to 
grow more kindly in Spring; and when you do 
wish to start them, sprinkle them overhead 
oftener than at the root, aud it will help them 
to break more evenly. 
Aphides, or green flies, as we commonly call 
them, are a great nuisance at this time, and 
aud flower buds and young growths are their 
favorite food. Fumigating them with tobac¬ 
co smoke in the dwelling house is a pretty 
story “for the marines.” My practical ob¬ 
servation has uot boon very limited, but when 
it comes to fumigating plants in dwelling 
houses, I know nothing at all about it, would 
not allow it to be done in my house, and I do 
not know of any one who would in his. 
Still I have rend of its being recommended 
often enough, and how prettily people would 
do it too—under barrels, wet sheets, in the 
cupboard, an empty room, or the cellar! The 
simplest way is to wash off the insects with 
soap-suds, soft water, or warm water, say at 
u temperature of 120 deg.; or dip them in 
tobacco water tbe color of tea, afterwards 
washing them in clean water. In washing 
them you can stand them, pots and all, in a 
tub of water aud with your hand throw the 
water up among the leaves and shoots, and 
bring down the enemy—a nice amusement on 
washing-day afternoons. But for safety’s 
sake, if you stand the roots iu tbe water, do 
not use it over 110 deg. or a very little over. 
Tobacco water won’t hurt the roots of the 
plants, or, let me assure you, the grubs or 
earth-worms iu the soil. 
“ Syriuge your plants daily” is another 
stereotyped advice to those who have a few 
plauts in their windows, aud a stupid one it 
is too. Now let me ask you, how many far. 
mere’ wives among you, who grow window 
plauts, have a garden syringe with which to 
wash or sprinkle them? Very few, indeed, I 
guess. But if you had one, unless you had a 
specially prepared place for your plants, 
would you use it in your sitting-room or par¬ 
lor? Syringes have no conscience, and when 
they expectorate the range of their spraying 
is not very limited. But with a small water¬ 
ing-pot with a finely perforated rose you can 
shower your plants gently. But for this pur¬ 
pose a syringe is more useful than a watering- 
pot, providing you wish to go to the expense 
of one aud yon have a convenient place in 
which to use it. w. falconer. 
•f'tlisccUrtnccms. 
RAMBLING NOTES. 
H. W. RAVENEL. 
EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE UPON VEGETATION. 
The recent cold snap (January 6th) through¬ 
out the country and extending down to us 
here, was almost unprecedented in this region, 
the thermometer reaching as low as 13 c above 
zero in Charleston and 8 V at this place, 120 
miles in the interior. This would only be a 
light frost for your latitude, but as every re¬ 
gion adapts itself to the plants which are 
hardy there, unusual cold is trying everywhere. 
Perhaps a few rambling notes on our out¬ 
door vegetation—ornamental as well as use¬ 
ful—may be of interest to readers of the 
Rural, includu g besides those which may 
be termed “ hardy," a certain number which 
are only half-hardy, which do well in ordinary 
seasons, but which are injured more or less by 
exceptional degrees of cold. 
We are here just outside the limits of the 
orange family. I have had in my grounds 
for several years some sour oranges (grown 
from seed) which are considered the most 
hardy of the citrus tril>e. They grow luxu¬ 
riantly in Summer, attaining a hight of five 
to six feet, but are invariably killed down to 
tne roots, springing up again the following 
season. Of course, they never can become 
trees. I have had eucalyptus and the Date 
Palm to survive a mild Wiuter, but they were 
killed the next year. They will not do. I 
once carried a bauaua safely through one 
Wiuter with some covering protection. but it 
is so generally killed, even under protection, 
that we give them up as too tender. Pome¬ 
granates are rather uncertain. I have had 
them do well for several years in succession, 
and they bore abundantly of fruit, but an ex- 
tremelv cold spell, like that just passed, de¬ 
stroys them. 
Oleanders grow very well without protec¬ 
tion. but in a cold season the ends of the 
growing limbs are killed back more o r less. 
Pampas Grass and Eulalia Japouica are per¬ 
fectly hardy here, though the former was 
somewhat injured by the severe cold snap of 
December. 1880. [Eulalia is perfectly hardy 
here.—Ens.j I see no ill effects yet from the 
late cold snap. 
We have a number of bread-leaved ever¬ 
greens, which are generally cultivated and are 
perfectly hardy. Of these we may mention 
onr native Cerasus Caroliniana (a general 
favorite), known here as “ Wild Orange,” 
growing to a tree 20 to 30 feet high, also 
the exotic C laurocerasus, Euonymus Japon- 
ica, mostly used for ornamental hedges, which 
are now displaying their bright scarlet fruit; 
Gardenia florida, or Gape Jessamine; Gor- 
donia Lasiauthus (Loblolly Bay) and Persea 
Carofiueuais (Red Bay), both natives and 
growing to trees; Ulicium parvillorum (Anise 
Tree); Oloa Americana, also a native, and Olea 
fragrans; Pittosporum Tobira and Thea Bohea 
(the Teu Plaut). One of onr most beautiful 
broad-leaved evergreens is Mesnilus Japonica 
or Japan Medlar. It is perfectly hardy here 
as to the plant, but never perfects fruit. It 
blooms into large clusters of pale, white, fra¬ 
grant flowers in Autumn, but the cold of our 
Winters prevents the fruit from maturing. I 
have seen large trees in Charleston loaded 
with fruit in April; and in New Orleans and 
Texas the fruit is iu the markets. 
Magnolia grandiflora, the pride of our for¬ 
ests, aud the most magnificent t f all the broad¬ 
leaved evergreens, is perfectly hardy here. 
For the best results, this tree requires a deep, 
rich, dumpish soil. I have seen them in the 
woods in lower Georgia. Florida aud Texas, 
upwards of 40 to 50 feet high, with a trunk 
over two feet in diameter. All the magnolias 
are hardy. The dwarf exotic M. fuscata (Ba¬ 
nana Shrub) blooms in April and May into a 
profusion of white flowers of a delicious per¬ 
fume like to ripe banana. 
Pawlonia imperialis and (Mella Azederach) 
are about, our streets, the latter perfectly natu¬ 
ralized aud multiplying iu all quarters. The 
Century Plant (Agave Americana) is scarcely 
hardy here. We have it growing, but it suf¬ 
fers more or less in very cold seasons. Iu 
Charleston and further south it seems per¬ 
fectly hardy.J 
