THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
S2 7 
aud this is in the best possible condition for 
decaying and enriching the soil, and when 
plowed up in the Spring, it forms the best of 
all preparations for a paying crop of barley, 
oats or early potatoes. 
It is surprising how prone men are to per¬ 
sist in t'ie old fogy, expensive, soil exhausting 
system of summer fallowing when a way so 
much quicker and better exists for cleaning 
their land. rustic. 
“Memphremagog Seed Farm,” and have him 
show me any new kiuks he may have in root¬ 
growing. T. H. HOSKINS, M.D. 
Newport, Vt 
when I had takeu up the hill proper, I noticed 
several fibers and iu pulling them up I found 
good-sized tubers six and ten iuehes apart until 
1 had dug 37 inches before I got the last tuber 
and end of the fiber. Other fibers ran 15, 88, 
and 37 inches, aud, like the first, had tubers 
at intervals. None of the tubers were more 
than from one to three inches in depth; in 
fact, some were scarcely covered. Another 
hill that looked decidedly more promising, and 
made tops double the size of those of the 
others, had but three potatoes, at the depth of 
one foot. These were deep eyed, and really 
looked like another variety, Iu digging 
where the seedlings grew last year, the first, 
dug were near the surface, none being more 
than three inches deep, and there were 11 
good-sized, smooth tubers. The next, as in the 
began. A late Spring followed an unusually 
severe Wiuter in this latitude, and as all my 
vines were without protection, 1 was anxious 
for the outcome. The Souhegau wintered 
without losing a tip. and bore a remarkable 
crop of large, firm berries. The Gregg was 
badly winter-killed, aud what escaped failed 
to properly mature the berries. My short, 
experience with the Gregg demonstrates the 
fact that it requires exceedingly close pruning 
to ripen its wood, and unusual care to mature 
its fruit. While t have great respeet for it 
as a native of Indiana, and highly prize its 
large, fine fruit, I should discard it for the 
reasons above named. The Mammoth Clus¬ 
ter, Doolittle, Turner, and others were badly 
injured by worms, aud did not fruit as well as 
anticipated. The Sonhegan will stand 80 
degrees below zero without injury, and has 
thus far beeu proof against the ravages of 
insects, rt, is the most prolific bearer 1 have 
evei seen, and its early rinenitie' mmht.ips 
WHY DON'T FARMERS GROW MAN 
GELS!” 
I wish the writers of the Rural corps 
could meet together and become personally 
acquainted with each other. Why can’t we 
have a Rural convention? We should then, 
in our discussion, not be liable to make the 
mistakes about each other that some of us do, 
and that J. B. B. makes about me in the Ru¬ 
ral of July 20. Iu short, his remarks, under 
the North Star Seed Farms as “ the earliest 
good sweet corn known.” a week ahead of 
the Early Minnesota. Weight of 100 kernels, 
320 grains. (Described ears, from North Star 
Seed Farms.) 
PROBABLY BELONGING TO SECTION A. 
Early Boynton. Introduced by Ferry & 
Co. in 1877, and one of the earliest sweet sorts: 
the ears are small, cylindrical, rather pointed, 
and, when mature, crimped. Ferry’s Cata¬ 
logue. 1884. 
SECTION B. 
Twelve-rowed; ears slightly tapering; ear 
stalk rather largo to large; kernels crinkled 
and crimped, (u general more so than in Class 
A; in contact, the sides straight, the summit 
more or less rounded; colors various. Riant, 
medium to largo. Season medium to late. 
WHITE COB AND WHITrSH-AMBER KERNEL. 
6. a. Genesee Early, Fig. 200. syu., Eur- 
ly Genesee. Introduced in 1883, and said to 
be a cross between Minnesota Early and Am¬ 
ber Cream. Ears six to seven inches long, 
and about, I % inch in diameter, nearly cylin¬ 
drical but tapering in the upper half, 12-row- 
ed, with a medium-large ear-stalk. Kernels 
blunt, wedge shaped, with slightly rounded 
summits, hut with a tendency to form a shal¬ 
low, angular furrow between the rows, closely 
and compactly set, rounding over the butt 
and nearly filling at the tip, of a whitish-am¬ 
ber color. According to Bliss, it Is earlier 
than the Minnesota Early. The weights of 
100 kernels from two ears were 297 aud 300 
grains respectively. (Described ears, from 
one seedsman in one collection,) 
7. Crosby’s Early, Fig. 267. syn., Extra 
Early Crosby, Crosby’s Early Twelve-rowed, 
Boston Market. Introduced about 1860. Ears 
six to seven inches long, and about l)f to 1% 
inch in diameter, slightly tapering, 12- 
rowed. with large ear-stalk. Kernels blunt, 
wedge-shaped, slightly rounding at the sum¬ 
mit, with a tendency to form a shallow, an¬ 
gular furrow between the rows, deeper than 
broail, of whitish-amber color. Plant of me¬ 
dium size, prolific, bearing its ears low down. 
Apparently derived from a crass with a Sec¬ 
tion G. type. Average weight of 100 kernels, 
312 grains; the extremes iu twelve suinples. 
262 aud 344 grains. (Described ears, from 
seven different seedsmen, in twelve collec¬ 
tions, and -Station crop.) 
13. Moore’s Early Concord. Fig. 268, 
syn., Moore's Early. Moore’s Concord, Early 
Concord. Originated by J. B. Moore, of 
Concord, Mass., its claimed parentage being 
Crosby’s Early and Burr’s Improved. It was 
first crossed in 1865, and again in 1867, and in 
1869 exhibited, but its character was not then 
permanently fixed. If this lie so, we have a 
hybrid between corns belonging to Classes B 
and C, and the appearance of the ear seems 
so to indicate. Ears six to eight iuchs long, 
and about two inches in diameter, tapering, 
rather pointed at the tip, twelve-rowed, often 
more, ear-stalk not small or even large. Ker¬ 
nels not closely set, crimped deeper than 
broad, with more or less rounded summits, of 
whitish amber color. Plant seven to 1% feet 
high, prolific, hearing its ears low down. Av¬ 
erage weight of 100 kernels, 310 grains; the 
extremes in six samples being 235 and 361 
grains. (Described ears, from three diil'erent 
seedsmen, in six collections, aud Station crop.) 
Red River, 
the above heading, are about all wrong. He 
says that every farmer knows that farm help 
are not averse to working on farms where roots 
are grown oxteusively. Does not J. B. B. 
know that the failure of the beet-sugar exper¬ 
iment, m Now England was solely due to the 
aversion, not only of the help, but of the far¬ 
mers and their sons, to the “knee and-flnger 
work” of the sugar-beet field ? One thing only 
he is right about—few of our farmers know 
how to grow roots so as to avoid the vast 
amount of this kueo-and-finger work that is 
unnecessary. If J. B. B. will give us in the 
Rural a sound, practical article on this point, 
I shull, no doubt, with muny others, lie bone- 
fited by his instructions, for although I have 
been a truck farmer and seed-grower now for 
uearly 30 years, t hope I am not yet too old 
to learn. I am certainly willing. 
J. B. B. urges me, as a disciple of ensilage, 
Crosby’s. Fig. 267. 
former case, made a fine show; but I had to 
dig 11 inches deep to get three small tubers 
and one large one. They had deep eyes, as in 
the former case. All the seedlings raised last 
season were remarkably smooth, with the 
eyes on the surface. The soil is remarkably 
fine and good to the depth of seven or eight 
inches. The ground had a stiff 1 brick clay 
suhsoil. 
The question now arises: Does deep planting 
iu a heavy day soil produce coarse growth 
and deep eyes? Again, does not the growth 
of the libel's in the former case settle the 
question as to how potatoes mix in the hill? 
It seems to show clearly that fibers will run 
to adjacent rows, and there coming in contact 
with manure or fertilizer, expand and form 
uy cneanove heading 
my mind lately nearly every time 
f have crossed the remnant of 
what was my strawberry field. 
Webster says a pistillate blos¬ 
som is one destitute of stam¬ 
ens; but botanists all agree 
Glut st,aanuis are necessary 
K, for the self fertilization of the 
$j!l< blossom; such being the case, 
IK* why call .strawberries like 
|fe\ Manchester and ( 
■a?!- tilln.r.iiV 
rescent pis- 
How do 1 know that 
Gi<*y are self-fertilizing? may 
be asked. Lot me relate a 
jf facts, and if a somewhat 
limited experience in straw¬ 
berry culture has Jed me to 
mm form wrong conclusions, then 
will some one kindly correct 
me? I have, or rutber had 
last Autumn, a half-acre field of strawber¬ 
ries, consisting mostly of Crescent and Man¬ 
chester. with a few rows of Bill well and 
Charles Downing for fertilizers of the iirst- 
nutned. For the third Winter in succes¬ 
sion my strawberries winter killed badly. 
1 bo Bidwoll and Downing were almost 
completely destroyed; the others were less 
injured. Ihe past Spring the plow was run 
through, turning under the Bidwell and 
Downing, thus leaving me nothing but the so- 
called pistillate plants. 1 did this not expect¬ 
ing to obtain fruit this year, but intending to 
plant new and hardier varieties of perfect- 
tlowering kiudsthe present season. 
Speaking of what I had done to Dr. Hos¬ 
kins, the well-known contributor to the 
Rural, he replied, “I think you will find 
the Crescents to he fertilized by wild straw¬ 
berries; both kinds bloom about the same 
time.” The cultivated strawberries, however, 
retarded by the injuries they had received 
during the Winter, did not come into bloom 
Until after the lust wild strawberry blossom 
was gone; yet I never saw strawberry plants 
more heavily laden with lrnit then these same 
Manchesters and Crescents were this year. 
Genesee Early. 
not to throw discouragement on root-grow¬ 
ing. This made me “latT right eout,” for, 
with my home trade here in Vermont in tur¬ 
nip, mangel and sugar beet seed of my own 
growing reduced one half by the ensilage 
craze (ttisour root growing farmers generally 
who have taken up ensilage, in order to get 
rid of tin- kuec-and finger work), It is not very 
likely that I should be going against my own 
interest to such an extent as that. I should 
expect my family would be consulting about 
takiug me to the Brattleboro’ Asylum, if that 
were true. Having lost some of my best help, 
time and time again, because I grow so many 
roots, and they “want to work on farms where 
they can work standing up,” and finding that 
§10 a month extra will not retain some of 
them, I feel that I am justified in saying 
what I said on this matter. At any rate, if I 
am wrong, it is not for want of practical ex¬ 
perience. as J. B. B. thinks. He does not give 
his address, but if he lives near enough, I 
should be very glad to welcome him to the 
Moore s Earlv Concord, 
tubers, aud these give rise to the reports that 
varieties do mix in the row from contact of 
tops or blossoms, which is certainly a mistake. 
New Castle Co., Del. r. p. greenleaf. 
in uie opring oi iw several potatoes came 
up where Wall’s Orange grew the previous 
year, and there having beeu uo others in the 
ground or near them for several years, I 
allowed them to gro »v; and also some that came 
up on a plot on the opposite side of the gar¬ 
den, where some seedlings grew. Last Fall I 
dug them with the following result: the yield 
was very large, one stalk in particular giving 
30 good-sized tubers, the largest weighing 8j^ 
ounces; but what most surprised me was that 
EXPERIENCE WITH STRAWBERRIES 
AND GRAPES IN INDIANA. 
R. W. Smith, in a late Rural, speaks of 
gathering his first raspberries on June 15. 
These were Hausells. On June 10 1 gathered 
my first berries, and these were from the Sou- 
J 
rj 
C ic. T 
