THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
particular to state the kind of soil, what fer¬ 
tilizers are used, and what care the plants re¬ 
ceive. 
I know of localities in which the Sharp¬ 
less is considered superior to all other varie¬ 
ties. and yet t have talked with well known 
fruit-growers, with whom it was “nothing 
extra.” And thus it goes. This variety will 
do well here, but poorly there: is recommend¬ 
ed by this one. spoken disparagingly of by 
that one. Which are we to believe? It is an 
undisputed fact that were muny of our gar¬ 
dens and fields manured and tilled as they 
should be, their yields would be relatively 
greater, and the class of produce turned out 
be correspondingly improved. To grow straw- 
Stowkt.l Evergreen. Pig. 366. 
berries on dry soil, poorly fertilized, and then 
judge of their quuifty and character is decid¬ 
edly unfair. And yet the man who puts ou 
a given space one-half the manure that his 
neighbor does, and gives much inferior culti¬ 
vation, rarely stops to consider this in making 
a report. Now varieties of fruit* liuvo been 
condemned that, hail they been properly cared 
for and cultivated, would have boon spoken 
of differently. 
And right here should come In the value of 
the experiment stations. The originators of 
new varieties ol' fruits are usually the people 
who do all the puffing for the same, and, of 
course, all in their own interests. Should 
Nk Plus Ultra. Fig. 367. 
these new fruits and vegetables be submitted 
to thorough testing at the various experiment 
stations, before being placed in the hands of 
the salesman, the reports might serve as a 
valuable guide to the farmer and grower, as 
to whether the fruits tested were worthy of 
his cultivation. The experiment stations were 
established for this very purpose, and the or¬ 
iginators should have no fear of careful tests, 
if they have faith in their fruits. Up to the 
present date, the most careful work of that 
character has been done at the Rural Nkw- 
Worker Experiment Grounds, but the test 
should be of such a wide-spread nature, that 
all, and notone, station might be enabled to 
give an opinion on merits and demerits. If 
one man’s experiments are valuable, how 
much more so ought those of 100 to bef 
I have no desire to criticise any grower’s re¬ 
port, as each honest one has a real value; but 
if more details nregiven concerning the same; 
if we know just how the crop is grown; the 
kind of soil; how cultivated: kind of manure, 
and how applied; conditions of temperature 
and weather during growth—whether favora¬ 
ble or unfavorable—cross-fertilization, if any, 
and with what variety; how ofteu tilled, etc., 
the value of the report would lie greatly en¬ 
hanced. CHARLES S. PLUMB. 
Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y. 
THE WHITE PLUME CELERY. 
A word about tne White Plume advertised 
and for the first time offered for sale by Peter 
Henderson & Co. last 
Winter. Small indeed 
were the packets which 
were sold at fifty cents 
jfa'/ ift each; but no one who has 
;sj|i 7 ■ 'V hod reasonable success 
'if will regret either the price 
''' l >a *d or the experiment. 
‘ • •-< If Peter Henderson had 
\ • i never before originated 
: V-" •> . / and introduced a good 
i —flung, this alone would 
's , V* »Z •£ '-y s ™ 
P ’ v V entitle his name to bo in- 
scribed upon the roll of 
4 ..honor. Requiring neither 
W; high banking nor other 
V ' V % expert care and handling, 
{ ’ any one can now produce 
celery of a good quality. 
While it was growing in 
the seed-bed, and for 
some time after being transplanted, it had the 
appearance of any other celery: but now, as 
I look along the rows and see the rich, white 
plumes on stems as clear as ivory, there is 
nothing else in the garden which appears half 
so beautiful. Q w. 8. 
Mansfield, Ohio. 
The Vermont Wonder Pea is with me a 
little earlier than the American Wonder, 
while it is as large aud productive as the 
Little Gem. I am very much pleased with 
the variety. Next year it will ruu very close 
to ty pe, as all variations are carefully removed. 
Charlotte, Vt. “x.” 
tie lit Crops. 
BWEET CORN (Zea saccharata ). 
its history and varietal differences 
ILLUSTRATED. —No. IX. 
E. LEWIS STURTEVANT, M. D. 
varieties (continued). 
23. Stowell’b Evergreen. Fig 306 (syn. 
Evergreen.) Introduced iu 1654. Ears seven 
to eight inches long, and about 2j.ij inches in 
diameter,tapering, often sharply so. aud again 
nearly cylindrical; 16 rowed, ear-stalk 
medium to small. Kernels deep, long, 
truncated, wedge-shaped; summit Mat; 
wrinkled und shriveled; never in con- 
tact; shelling with greatreadiness from 
the ear; translucent; of a pale whitish- 
amber color. Plant large, with much 
V foliage; prolific, and it bears its ears 
_, -v rather high. Remarkable for the long 
J ’■fy time its ears remain in edible condit- 
jY wff ion. Average weight of 100 kernels, 
338 grains; the extremes of nine samples, 
240 and400grains. Described ears, from 
seven different seedsmen, iu nine col¬ 
lections, and station crop. 
24. Ne Plus Ultra. Figs. 367. Intro¬ 
duced about 1861. Ears six to seven iueheslong, 
and about 1% inch in diamotcr, strongly taper¬ 
ing ; 12 to 16 rowed, but oftener too irregular to 
count; ear stelk small; many ears taper from 
the center towards both extremities; cote 
slender. Kernels deep, narrow, peg-shaped, 
crimped and wrinkled, often shriveled; not 
closely set; very thin aud translucent, and 
separate readily from the cob. Color pale, 
whitish amber. Plant medium, slender, pro¬ 
lific, the ears borne rather low down. Average 
weight of 100 kernels, 106 grains; the two 
samples, 2bl and 167 grains. Described cars, 
from Tborburn, 1883, and Btatiou crop from 
the same source. 
The generalizations that our sections admit 
may bo expressed by the terms, early,medium, 
late as regards season; and good, better, best 
as regards quality. 
The following tables are deserviug of ex¬ 
amination:— 
Table i. 
Table 2. 
Section A. 
Kir—A ta, ' t: * heIli °K with greatreadiUfc: 
/' the ear; translucent; of a pale v 
V L - • ■_ ■ t\*j**^^ amber color. Plant largo, with 
'jgr. • , /pp '3-— V ’! foliage; prolific, and it bears i 
y -i • rather high. Remarkable for tl 
Days from plant 
EarJlness of the varieties In 
Iuk tosllklng, 18S3. Section A, Section B, Section C. 
50 to 60 days. 10 0 
till to '-5 days. 5 0 0 
65 to 70 days. 12 0 
70 to 75 days. 8 2 o 
75 to 80 days. 2 2 1 
80 to 86 days. 1 2 3 
Total varlet les Krown 
by us.13 8 \ 
Variety. 
CO X Q •'* 
Qo“ j D, 
Eight-rowed Early. 1832 
Golden. 1 H 4 S 
Dwarf Early . isss 
DarllnK’s Early. IS'l 
Black Mexican . isbii 
NurriiKansett, Karlv. mat 
Tom Thumb. isiw 
Minnesota Early. 1874 
Triumph . 1874 
Marblehead. 1878 
Pratt’s Early. 18-1 
Dolly Dutton. isTH 
Wyoming. 1883 
Section R, 
Asylum . UMi-i 
i'rushy’s Enrly. ISCX) 
Moore a Early Concord. |8ii9 
Mammoth. 1880 
Amber Cream. 18*2 
Smiantum . 1888 
Hlekok .. 1883 
Early Orange. 1833 
Section C. 
Stowcll’s Evergreen. 1854 
Potter’s Excelsior . 1878 
Egyptian . 1878 
Ne Pins Ultra. 1881 
Table 2. 
Belonging to 
r make the potatoes less scabby than those 
fertilized with barn-yard manure, on a plot of 
the same size and with the same caro—which 
was not a great deal. john oinck. 
Adams Co . Pa. 
farm Cconomij, 
.. .rx.. ut-uiuu O. OtK-Tum u. 
Varieties Days Days Days 
Introduced to to to Total 
hriween No. Silk. No. Silk. No. Silk. No. 
o To 0 — () _ q 
1850 60. 1 6 >| 0 — a 84 8 
’ 1860-70. 3 66 4 78 0 - 7 
1870-80. 6 66 l 1 2 81 9 
1880-84. 3 64 fi 77 8 85 1 : 2 
Totals.... 16 11 "7 84 
An analysis of these tables give the follow¬ 
ing conclusions:— 
1. Interest in the improvement of sweet 
corn commenced about 1860-70, und at the 
present time it is greater than ever before. 
2 Earliness has been more sought after 
than any other one quality until within a few 
years, when size of eurs has shared with it in 
the efforts at improvement. 
3. Quality seems to have become important 
as a factor in selection only since 1670 . 
4. The prevent demand Is for a combination 
of qualities, with reasonable size and earliness. 
The descriptions of the varieties indicate that 
crossings between Sections A and B.have given 
us some of our beat early varieties, and that 
the crossings with C have only been recently 
undertaken, and that these latter crosses are 
to attain a greater importance as the public 
become educated to the recognition of superior 
quality. We may, therefore, expect in the 
near future a greater proportional develop¬ 
ment, of new varieties under Section C than 
heretofore. The gain in earliuess, under the 
assumption that there has Ixien no gain in the 
earlier varieties through selection, is expressed 
in the following tuble:— 
Varlet It'* Days Required between Planting and 
introduced. Silking 
Seel Ion A. Section H, Section C. 
Before 18(4).... 72 0 oi 
After I860. (id 78 gy 
Av. gain In ear. . 6 days. Fday. 
Iu the 13 varieties that were grown during 
the seasons of 1682 aud 16,63, the data for ear¬ 
liness being the silking in 1663, and the edible 
condition of the ears in 1882, we note the fol¬ 
lowing correspondences:— 
Order of EarllncHS. 
Bolling Ears Silking. 
1882. 1883. 
Narragansett Early .. I a 
Marblehead Early. 2 
Minnesota Early. .... 3 3 
Oi o by ’sEurlv. . 4 4 
Darling’s Early .. 5 5 
Triumph .. g 9 
Moore* Early Concord. 7 g 
Bight-rowed Early. 8 8 
8 lowell’s Evergreen. 9 11 
Black Mexican. 10 7 
Mammoth. 44 42 
Egyptian ... 12 10 
Ne Plus Ultra. ... . 13 13 
Varieties 
introduced. 
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A GOOD WORD FOR THE BELLE POTATO. 
Of five kinds of potatoes, viz., White Ele¬ 
phant, Beauty of Hebron, Blush, Early Ko.se 
and Belle, the Belle has proved by far the best 
in quality, size aud quantity. Two hundred 
Pounds of special potato fertilizer, mixed with 
one hundred pounds of plaster, applied to one- 
eighth of an acre, did not increase the yield 
SORGHUM. 
ITS GROWTH AND THE MANUFACTURE OF 
SUGAR AND SIRUP.—THE WHOLE STORY. 
VIII. 
PROF, n W. WILEY. 
APPLICATION OF SULPHUROUS DIOXIDE. 
This gas may be applied directly to the 
juice:—(1). By conducting it into a vessel con¬ 
taining the juice, and allowing it to he ab¬ 
sorbed. The juice to bo treated should be 
cold, and the tube (lead or copper) delivering 
the gas, should end in an oxnunded nozzle 
punctured with flue holes. In some cases the 
tank holding the juice is furnished with a coil 
of copper tubing perforated with fine holes. 
A more even distribution of the gas through 
out the liquid is thus obtained. If the gas is 
made by burning sulphur, it is forced by a 
pump, first through a wash bottle and then 
into the tank. 
(2.) The juice may lie mixed with the gas iu 
a sulphur box. Two lemdsof box can boused, 
ftt) A tight, box (Fig. 30!!) is constructed of a 
size proportionate to the quantity of juice to 
be sulphurized. Fora mill grinding 25 tons 
of cane a day, the box should be about eight 
feet high and three feet square, Shelves with 
fine* perforations are attached alternately to 
opposlio sided of the box, as seen in the cut. 
They are sot so as to facilitate the flow of the 
juice towards their freo edges. The perfora¬ 
tions should be sufficiently numerous to allow 
nearly the whole volume of juice to pass 
through each shelf in. drops or spray. The 
sulphur is burned in the furnace (B), passes 
through a horizontal flue (G), in the bottom of 
which is water, for the purpose of absorbing 
any sulphuric acid t hat may be formed during 
the combustion. This, however, is generally 
so small iu quantity that for sirup-making 
the water Is not necessary. As plainly indi¬ 
cated in the cut, the sulphur fumes, in passing 
upward through the box, must come into Inti¬ 
mate contact with the juices (lowing down 
The great difficulty with this apparatus—so 
simple that even the smallest sorghum worker 
can have it—is iu securing sufli- umt draft. 
Where steam is employed, tins difficulty is 
easily overcome by putting the steam jet, E, 
in the flue. Whore steam cannot he had. the 
flue should be made high, and the furnace tie 
built with special reference to creating a draft. 
The bottom of the box .sets in a base (D), so 
constructed as to allow the juice to escape at 
F, and permit no air to enter. The dotted 
lino marks the hight of the juice in the box as 
well as of the water in the flue. The device by 
which the air is excluded and the juice allowed 
to escape, is easily seen iu the cut 
(b.) A better method of mixing the gas with 
the juice is illustrated in the mechanism shown 
in Fig, 370. Here is represented a section 
through the center of the box. The sulphur 
fumes enter through the opening (X' in the 
side of the box. A flue leading from the fur¬ 
nace where the sulphur is burned, fits into this 
opening. The dimensions of the box are in¬ 
dicated In the cut. A box of this size will be 
sufficient for juice from 50 tons of cane per 
day.. 
The paddle-wheel turns in the direction of 
the arrows, aud with sufficient velocity to 
throw the juice into a spray, aud to project it on 
to the shelf, whence it passes through the out 
let. to the juice tank. The paddle-wheel is so 
adjusted that there is always enough juice in 
the bottom of the box to seal the inlet and 
prevent the air from catering. The box should 
be as nearly air-tight us possible. The suction 
produced by the motion of the paddles causes 
a sufficient draft to readily burn the sulphur 
in the lurnuce. The mechanism which turns 
the paddles should bo geared to the mill that 
expresses the juice. The speed of revolution 
may vary from 150 to 300 per minute. This 
box, while more complicated and costly thau 
the one first described, is much more effective. 
The quantity of gas which it is desired to mix 
with the juice is much more easily controlled, 
and the action of the machine to that extent 
more satisfactory. 
<T!)e IjerDsmati. 
NOTES BY A BTOCKMAN. 
At last, and most unhappily, pleuro-pneu- 
monia has broken out in the West, and in the 
State where a stringent law was enacted to 
prevent it, and in spite of the quarantine and 
the Treasury Cattle Commission. It is the 
