THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The product can now be drawn off and the 
process repeated. A little experience will 
show how often the retort is to be recharged. 
The sulphur-dioxide, which is made in the 
manner just described, contains an equivalent 
amount or carbon dioxide. This gas at first 
combine* with the lime, but is finally all dis¬ 
placed by the excess of sulphurous acid. A 
convenient strength for bisulphite solution is 
10 ° B. IVhen of this density, it cont ains about 
7 per cent, by weight of SOt. When made at 
home it can be used in a more dilute form. 
The bisulphite used by the Rio Grande N. J. 
Co. is made much stronger than 10° B 
I think it would be well for everyone mak 
ing any considerable quantity of sorghum 
sirup, to construct a simple apparatus like the 
one described. H*> should, however, remem¬ 
ber that oven an apparatus.so simple may give 
trouble in its use. and that patience and exper¬ 
ience are factors that are always valuable and 
useful. 
Let mo, in closing this letter on sulphur, 
protest against the frauds that are sometimes 
perpetrated on farmers by selling them mys¬ 
terious liquids and chemieals for clarifying 
the roots and trunks of trees and shrubs, ver¬ 
min of various kinds are sure to congregate, 
ami that means destruction to the bark and all 
smell limb* that, are within reach Manure 
that is partly rotted should be used here if it 
is to be had. ('hip-dirt is excellent, if line and 
well rotted. Leaf-mold from the forest is also 
good 1 have used good black muck for this 
purpose, and like it very much Tender shrubs 
can be carried through the Winter, if the 
trunks and lower limbs are wrapped around 
with sacking, rags, or even twisted hay. It 
does not take long to fix u tree in this way, 
audit will usually lie found effectual, for it is 
tho trunk of the tree that first shows the effects 
of the alternate freezing and thawing, so fatal 
to the hark of tender trees Now is the time 
to attend to these little matters about the gar¬ 
den and orchard, before the frost gets into tho 
ground. Don’t forget the mulching. 
Outagamie Co., Wis. w. d. boynton. 
LOW OR HIGH LANDS FOR FRUIT? 
In a late Rural, “S.” is right in not allow¬ 
ing himself to be deceived by the apparently 
greater vigor of fruit trees grown on low lands 
compared with those grown on the more ele¬ 
vated ridges. If the soil on the ridges had 
been as rich ns that of the low lunds, there is 
no doubt that t he orchard set on the uplauds 
would have beeu the longest-lived and most 
productive. 
Northern Vermont has a climate which is 
severely trying to fruit trees; none but the 
hardiest succeed. Three - quarters of a 
century ago farms wore being rapidly 
cleared in the then almost unbroken wil¬ 
derness, of which l write. Nearly every 
farmer planted apple seeds or Obtained 
seedling trees of his neighbor. Many of the 
old orchards, then so freely planted, flourished 
for a seasou; most of them, however, suc¬ 
cumbed to the effects of climate years ago. 
Js&m&m 
-<Z- ‘V^fvTvA'- 
Raspberry Rancocah. (From Nature.) Fig. 378 
THE NEW “RANCOCAS" RASPBERRY. 
Plants of this (Fig. 873), upon which a few 
berries ripened, were received from the Chase 
Nurseries Apr il tho 1st of this year. It is a 
“chance’’ seedling, found and propagated in 
the grounds of Albert Hansell, of Runcocas, 
Now Jersey, it is Claimed for it that it is 
very early, and that the whole crop ripens in 
a week. The plants start rather late m Spring, 
“when they push out numerous brauches from 
the top to within a foot, of the ground, giving 
it the shape of a miniature tree," As to this 
latter claim, we cannot, of course, speak from 
experience; nor, indeed, should we pretend to 
judge it in any particular from the first sea 
son’s trial. From what we have seen and 
from tho careful inquiries we have made, the 
following statements may be fairly relied 
Upon; It is well to compare it with the Man¬ 
sell which, at. the Rural Grounds, has proven 
the earliest raspberry. Tho Rancocas ripens 
a few days later, but gives at that time (the 
second picking of the Mansell) as many berries 
as the Mansell, and afterwards more. Ft may 
FALL MULCHING. 
The falliug leaves remind ns that we too 
must imitutc Nature iti her care for her 1 i v 
ing charges. Hhe is adding another layer to 
the mold about the roots of tho trees and 
shtubsin their native haunt the forest. The 
trees and plants that we take from her pro 
tenting care and transplant into tho open, 
wind-swept, field, must be cured for by the 
hands that have plucked them from the 
natural protection, If 
Nature’s functions, 
SORGHUM. Fig. 37 
the juice. These are mostly useless, and, when 
valuable, they will be found bi-sulphites in 
disguise. Sorghum juice will do very well 
with two simple remedies, and should not be 
doctored to death. These medicines are lime 
and sulphur. There is little hope of good 
from anything more, although there are many 
chemicals, like alum and sugar-of-lead, that 
help to purify the juice. They are, however, 
either too costly or too poisonous for general 
use. 
The parent stock was not a hardy race of trees, 
yet on some of our bleakest hills, exposed to 
the coldest winds of Winter, even now there 
can be occasionally found a remnant of those 
old orchards, maintaining a vigorous old age 
Under tie- adverse circumstances of neglect, 
depleted soil, and exposure to the cold of al¬ 
most arctic Winters, Of lowland orchards 
set by early settlers, I know of scarcely a 
stump remaining. 
An example of the effects of elevation on 
temperature, was rather forcibly shown me a 
few mornings since. In order to give a clear 
understanding of what I am about to relate, 
it will be necessary for me to describe the lay 
of the land that composes the farm on which 
I li vc Near to the eastern and southern border 
of the farm flows a. brook crossing those two 
sides of the furra; west and uorth from the 
brook, a bank riHes abruptly to the hight of 
30, to perhaps 50 feet in the highest place, Tho 
laud at the top of the buuk is nearly level, 
sloping slightly to the west. This constitutes 
the main portion of the farm. East of the 
brook the land has a slight and gradual rise. 
The portion to tho cast of the brook is subject 
to untimely frosts; the main part of the farm 
is never touched unless there is a general 
freeze. Beyond tho brook, ou the frosty 
ground, 1 have this year a three-acre field of 
potatoes. The evening of the 13th of June 
was quite cool. 1 awoke a little pust midnight; 
the air in the i oom felt chilly. I fell to think¬ 
ing of the loss a frost so late in the seasou 
would occasion; could I do anything to save 
anything? I knew that in case there was a 
frost, the potato Held beyond the brook would 
surely suffer. 
I had read in the Rural the evening before 
how a New York fruit-grower had saved his 
crop from the frost by smoke about two weeks 
earlier. 1 remembered that there were several 
piles of brush on one side of the potato field 
The thought crossed my mind, “Firo the brush 
heaps, perhaps the smoke will save the pota¬ 
toes.’ 1 hurried out-of-doors; no frost ubout 
the buildings; no frost in the orchard. Pass¬ 
ing across the furm, down the hill, across the 
brook, I came, as it were, into a different cli¬ 
mate. The grass gleamed white with frost in 
the pale moonlight; taking hold of some low 
bushes I fouud them cased in ice. The brush 
Sir 
we would usurp 
we must also, to some 
extent, adopt her methods of treatment. By 
working with Nature we can greatly improve 
und develop her creations; but we ure not 
doing that when we plant trees and shrubs, 
and then neglect to cover their roots as they 
would be covered if loft in their native wilds. 
No amount of cultivation arid care otherwise 
will avail if this precaution he 
neglected. Even the hardy native 
varieties need some protection. 
They may live through without K 
Buell care; but nearly all their 
vitality will be exhausted in the 
struggle for existence, and then 
we blame them for not yielding as 
a large crop of fruit the uext Sum WM.J+n 1 
mcr. The less hardy varieties are L - i? 
killed outright by our long and 
severe Winters, 
WHEAT AFTER CORN 
The practice of sowiug wheat after corn is, 
for the Northern farmer, a striking feature ic 
Southern farm management, and might, in 
some instances, be adopted also in northern 
sections to good advantage. 
Early In September, when the com has 
come to maturity, three or four rows, at in¬ 
tervals of about GO (eat, ure cut down. The 
open spaces are then thoroughly harrowed 
and sown to wheat with the drill. After¬ 
ward* the corn is nil cut anti placed in shocks 
ou these seeded strips, when the rest of the 
field is ready for harrow and drill. If the 
soil is hard or baked, the harrow is ofteu 
weighted down with a short piece of timber or 
a small log, for tho purpose of making a 
smooth and mellow seed-bed. 
The advantages of this method in a mild 
climate ai-p obvious. Tho labor of preparing 
the field for the drill is reduced coa minimum. 
Late weeds are destroyed, and a stop is put to 
the production of seed by them. The only 
disadvantageous circumstance connected with 
it is that it may put off the seeding to a rather 
late season ; but I am told by some very suc¬ 
cessful Southern farmers that the yield of 
wheat on corn land, after a favorable Fall, 
generally exceeds that on stubble, which was 
treated with plow and harrow. 
There are many localities in New York State 
and elsewhere with lands full of weed growth, 
where the corn crop matures early enough to 
make the adoption of the above practice feasi¬ 
ble. But rye, more particularly, should always 
be grown after corn and potatoes. Save the 
labor of plowing, and make your laud free 
from weeds. * j 
f riot well cared ift&iih </, w 
t»r. imf 
A few hours’ labor, judicious wHwKpSlu 
ly expended, will put our trei's, 
shrubs, and plantain good condt- 
tion to withstand any amount of 
ordinarily cold weather. Thor- ^ 
ough mulching is the maindepend- 
ence in this mutter of protection. 
Let it be generously applied, for it is to serve 
three purposes: protection from frost, as fertil¬ 
izing material, and a means for preventing 
the growth of weeds and grass about tho 
roots of the tree. A little conical houp about 
the trunk is not enough; it should roach hack, 
so as to cover the feeding roots, depending 
somewhat upon the size of the tree. Shrubs 
and bushes should be half buried by the mulch¬ 
ing. If their nature will admit bondingdowu 
and covering, so much the better. The aspnr- 
ugus and rhubarb beds need u generous coat, 
and their early shoots next Spring—large and 
tender—will be ample recompense for the labor 
bestowed. Nor should the strawberry bed be 
neglected. It should not receive so heuvy a 
coat as fhe others, but it needs enough to keep 
the roots from thawing anti freezing alternate 
ly. The covering used for strawberry plants 
may be coarse and strawy; but for the other 
purposes mentioned, course mulching should be 
avoided. Where strawy material is used about 
Banquet Strawberry 
be considered as more fruitful than the Han 
sell. The size, color, and firmness, as nearly 
as we could distinguish, are much the same; 
tho quality not quite so good. The plant is a 
strong grower—decidedly more so than the 
Hansell. while it suckers more freely. As a 
matter of fact, it would require a close famil¬ 
iarity with both varieties to distinguish the 
one from the other. 
Our illustration is from specimens grown at 
the Rural Grounds. 
BANyUET 
This is a seedling raised by J. R. Hawkins, 
of Mountainville. Orange Co , N. Y., in the 
season of 1.880 Fig. 374). It is said to be a 
cross between Miner's Prolific as female, fer¬ 
tilized by pollen from the wild strawberry. 
It produced its first fruit in 1881, eight months 
from the seed. In growth it much resembles 
its mother, Miner's Prolific, though perhaps 
