<884 
CHE RURAL NEW-YORKEh 
bat as it has not been made public, it is of 
very little use out of the reach of his saddle 
bags. From the fact that horses suffer most 
from this plant in the Winter and earl y Spring, 
when feed is scarce, it would appear that 
animals kept in herds might be saved from 
the demoralization of the weed by a sufficient 
supply of good fodder, by which the necessity 
for eating it, at least, would be removed. 
A STOCKMAN 
Cntfimo logical. 
SCALE AND WIRE-WORMS. 
HENRY STEWART. 
We need to be more particular. This wire- 
worm business is a proof of it. Now that it is 
clearly shown that wire-worms are the cause 
of the injury to potatoes and some roots, we 
ought to define strictly what the wire-worm 
is. First, it is a worm; next, it is a wiry 
worm; lastly, thero is but oue wire-worm, 
and all other claimants are frauds. The wire- 
worm is a myriapod, and not an insect. No 
insect can be a worm, nor is a worm an in¬ 
sect. A worm differs in having a consider¬ 
able lower type of circulatory system from an 
insect, which is far higher in the scaly devel¬ 
opment; and it does not pass through the 
same tran-formations of egg, larva, pupa and 
mature animal. A myriapod has a pair of 
legs for each segment of its body, and I have 
counted over .50 segments. It is popularly 
called “hundred legs.” or “thousand legs,” 
and the latter is really the meaning of its 
name, myriapod. It is the American wire- 
worm which Harris says is not to be con¬ 
founded with the English wire-worm, which 
is an insect. Aud just here I would say that 
the far too common use of English ideas and 
habits in this country leads to much mistake 
and confusion, and the less we have to do 
with them or iu copying them, the better it 
will be for us. 
Our wire worm, then, is a hard, wiry, dark- 
brown, smooth shelled worm, with a large 
number of legs closely arranged on each side. 
It seems to lie content with the mere possession 
of all these legs, for it does not uso them much, 
never trying to escape, but curling up like a 
watch spring when disturbed, or at rest. The 
English wire-worm—so called—is not a worm, 
but an Insect with six leg9, and it is the 
larva of oue of the snapping or jumping 
beetles, which has a peculiar joint in the back, 
which goes off with a click. This worm is 
not so abundant as the true wire-worm, and 
it is not so much confined to localities, as the 
mature insect can tly, and the true wire-worm 
cau only crawl, and does not do much of 
that. 
The so-called scab in potatoes is a very 
troublesome thing. 1 have had more than 
half my crop spoiled by it. Last year l had 
some potatoes on a piece of ground, wholly 
spoiled by the pests. This year the same ground 
has been in beets, and the beets are scabbed 
over almost as badly as the potatoes were, I 
have some of the snapping-beetlo larva* in my 
ground, but never saw any damage done by 
them to potatoes, nor, indeed, to anything. 
No doubt they do something wrong, but as 
yet l have not found them out, and it is the 
finding out which makes the guilt. 1 have 
been thus particular because 1 tbiuk I have 
discovered a way to prevent the mischief. 
These wire worms feed upon decaying vege¬ 
table matter. I find largo numbers of them 
under every cow dropping on the pasture, aud 
plentifully in cow manure in the yard. They 
are iu rich soil everywhere and generally con¬ 
cealed under any covering, such as a rail, a 
lump of manure, a melon, or a stone. They 
can be caught in great numbers in grass lands 
where they abound, by turning over the cow 
droppings when these are dry. I have picked 
over 30 from one such place. I have also found 
them gathered under slices of potatoes laid 
upon the grouud, and eating into the pieces. 
But I have seen scarcely any in ground that 
has not been manured aud where only fertil¬ 
izers have been used. I am inclined to think 
the acid of the fertilizers is injurious to them, 
or at least distasteful. But whatever the rea 
son may be, the potatoes grown with fertil¬ 
izers have been free from blemish every year, 
while those grown on manured ground, with 
cow aDd poultry manure especially, have been 
much damaged. As an easy remedy, I would 
suggest, first, that the pasture lauds be freed 
from them by gathering them from under the 
dried droppings; that in other grounds they 
be trapped by pieces of sliced potato, or under 
chips or pieces of boards, and then when it 
could be done conveniently, potatoes should 
be grown with fertilizers and not with ma¬ 
nure, especially old manure. 
Remarks. —Our own beets are damaged as 
badly as our potatoes, and this we mentioned 
four years ago. In our richest potato plat 
the past season, the wire-worms attacked our 
potatoes more than in any previous year, 
though little farm manure has been spread 
upon it. We have used salt, kainit and lime, 
all with little if any effect. Colored potatoes 
are injured most.—E ds. 
THE STRAWBERRY POTHER. 
C. M. HOVEy. 
Under this head the Philadelphia Press 
gives us a most interesting article—interesting 
because it touches a subject which I had sup 
posed our Philadelphia friends considered al¬ 
most inviolate. 1 had myself intended, as soon 
as I could find leisure, to discuss the same 
subject, and I am the more pleased to know 
that there are Other cultivators who think as I 
do—ami this, too, from an unexpected source. 
The American Pomological Society has is¬ 
sued many very interesting and readable vol 
cumbers iu hot beds where I could never get 
a fruit in January or February unless they 
were fertilized by baud, yot 1 never saw the 
least change in the latter, of a long ono to a 
short oue, or a smooth one to a prickly one; 
neither have my Christiana melons turned 
redder, or yellower, or greener by their fertili¬ 
zation with each other. I have had the Hub¬ 
bard and Marrow Squashes growing together, 
as well as the Canada Crook-neck, but I nev¬ 
er saw any change until I was foolish enough 
to plant the seeds of such mixtures, when of 
course, I had a mongrel lot. 
Then, again, l have fertilized white azaleas 
with all other colors, camellias of all colors, 
rhododendrons, and Japan aud other lilies— 
even the American sorts with the Japan, the 
white coreuses with the scarlet, and a great 
variety of other plants, shrubs and trees; but 
T never could detect the least, alteration in the 
shape, color, or size of the seed pods of tho 
azaleas, camellias, lilies, etc,, or even tho fruit 
of the cactus, which is usually scarlet, and 
POTATO (not named). (From Nature.) Fig. 389.~7(Soo pago 005.) 
times, as the results of each of its biennial ses¬ 
sions, and, although some of the Btato re¬ 
ports hardly paid for printing, yet it has been, 
on the whole, a fair contribution to our po- 
tnologieal literature. Ho thinking, it was with 
a good deal more than surprise, bordering 
nearly on disgust, as I happened to open at 
tho discussion on strawberries at the last ses¬ 
sion, I saw that tho President, and Secretary al¬ 
io wed the discussion to find a place in its pages, 
and that they did not suppress it. Certainly 
botanists,cultivators,and men of science abroad 
will think our American pomologists are a lot 
of charlatans, desirous of airing their infor¬ 
mation to tho world, and filling an otherwise 
useful book with unintelligible ideas. Hero is 
what the Philadelphia Weekly Press of August 
5th states 
“Heretofore it has not been recognized as a 
satisfactorily established fact that the so called 
fruit of any year was modified by tho pollen 
very delicious to eat. As it is well known to 
every cultivator, and is so stated in pomologi- 
cal works, which is of no great value com¬ 
pared with actual experience, the seeds of tho 
Bartlett or Hoekel have never yet produced 
another Bartlett or Hoekel; and ns they must 
lie fertilized, often with other varieties grow¬ 
ing with the limbs intermixed, they ought to 
show some variation in color as well as the 
strawberry. Yot 1 never could detect the 
least difference nor can to day, in the 500 bush¬ 
els of Bartlett pears on my trees, some on 
pear, some ou quince, some grafted on wild 
pears, some grafted on the delicious white Doy- 
ennd; on the old Poire d’Angora, of world¬ 
wide fame, which the New-Yorkers introduced 
as the most delicious pear iu existence; on 
the Catillao, hard as a rock; or on tho soft, 
mealy, and tasteless old French Jargonelle. It 
would occupy too much space to quote all that 
Mr. Rogers said ou thQ subject, but as Mr. O. 
: X * ’ 
DELMONICO. (From Nature.) Fig. 390. (See page 665.) 
from the male parent of the seed. But last 
year at the meeting of tho Pomological Socie- 
ety, and at various horticultural meetings 
since, it was and has been assumed as a fact 
beyond question, that tho berries ou pistillate 
plants were altered in character, form and 
flavor by the influence of the plant which fer¬ 
tilized them. That is, tho Crescent, a well- 
known pistillate variety, was one berry when 
planted alongside the Wilson, and another 
berry when planted by Charles Downing” (!!) 
Well, I have planted all sorts of potatoes 
together, kidney-shaped, round and oblong, 
red, white and yellow-skinned, but they al¬ 
ways come out of the ground the same kinds 
I planted. 1 have always kept a variety of 
fowls, Shanghais, Sebrights, Plymouth Rocks, 
Dorkings, etc., but I never saw any difference 
in the shape of the eggs, or even their color, 
by associating together. Perhaps my eye¬ 
sight is obtuse. 1 have had melons and cu¬ 
G-ibbs, Jr., of Minnesota, said about his “Glen- 
dales,” I must say of Mr. Rogers, and let the 
readers of tho Rural, who may not have ac¬ 
cess to the transactions of tho society, see how 
Mr. Rogers “pans out.” 
“This year the Manchester has surprised the 
grower ou account of the large size it has at¬ 
tained when planted near certain varieties as 
a fertilizer for it. When first grown on Mr. 
Battey’a place, where the flowers wore fertil¬ 
ized with the Wilson, it resembled tho Wilson, 
and in many cases only a close inspection 
could determine the distinction between the 
two. Last year many experts were fearful 
that there were two or more berries put out 
under this name, as the color of the fruit was 
so variable. This year, however, has demon¬ 
strated tbat its size, shape, color and firmness, 
are greatly altered by the varieties near which 
it may be planted. When the Wilson is used, 
the Manchester is small, hard, not very pro¬ 
ductive—poor iu all respects except color. 
Sharpless yields the largest berries, although 
apt to 11 roduce sports iu tho shape of the Man¬ 
chester ; also renders it iu most instances a more 
firm-carrying berry, llidwell gives good re¬ 
sults; in shape uniform, deeper color, variable 
as to firmness. Cumberland Triumph gives a 
berry much like itself in all respects. Minor’s 
Prolific, as to results, much the same as 
Wilson.” 
Here we liavo tho probable explanation of 
the reason why the Massachusetts Horticultu¬ 
ral Society awarded a prize to the Manchester 
at its late show, winch was nothing but Cum¬ 
berland Triumph! Once more let Mr. Rogers 
give us more of his strawberry experience:— 
“Mr. Hovey having claimed that the Man¬ 
chester aud Hovoy Hoodling were Identical, a 
very close scrutiny was had into the merits 
and characteristics of tho Manchester. Ber¬ 
ries were found of several shades of color and 
sizes. Ml*. Hovey, after n while, advanced 
the assertion that the two varieties were iden¬ 
tical, but not before tho fact that fertilization 
with different varieties seemed to produce 
valuable results as to color, had been noted.” 
It is very curious that l never heard of such 
visionary notions as are above adduced, till I 
read them in tho Transactions of the Pomo¬ 
logical Society. As 1 was not present at tho 
mooting, Mr. Rogers must bo credited as an 
inventive genius. 
Mr. Lovett, of Now Jersey, gave his view of 
the subject in the following lucid way:—“If 
the pollen fertilizing the flower of a pistillate 
variety exerts no influence upon the pulp of 
the strawberry, why place pollen-bearing va¬ 
rieties near pistillate ones? In other words, 
why fertilize the flowers of pistillate varieties 
at all I” 
Mr. Gibbs, of Minnesota, finished the discus¬ 
sion with an inquiry which still remains un¬ 
answered; and if any readers of tho Rural 
can enlighten him, no doubt lie ami many 
others would bn gratified, Mr. Gibbs said: 
“There is another question more interesting 
to me, and that is the fertilization of the bi- 
soxual plants, that are themselves not perfect 
in their sexual organs. We have such sorts 
(what kinds?) that perfect their berries well 
enough iu tho early and middle part of the 
season, and later the berries grow small aud 
seedy at the tips. I have an idea it is because 
the later blossoms aro deficient in pollen. Now 
to give tho point I wish to make it practical 
turn; will any ono tell mo what late-hiootning 
variety there is, free and constant in pollen, 
that I can plant near my Glendales to make 
them ‘pan out’ late In the season.” I should 
like to know that as well as Mr. Gibbs, 
and I hope out* strawberry growers will 
tell us, though they did not answer Mr. Gibbs 
at the time. While waiting for a satisfactory 
solution of tho question, I will, with a great 
deal of modesty, suggest to Mr. Gibbs, that ho 
will find these late kinds to be, knowledge and 
skill, viz.: half or one-thixd tho number of 
plants in the bed; double tho quantity of 
manure; three times the quantity of water; 
aud some skillful wuy of preventing the hot 
sunshine and dry air of June from scorching 
the late, half formed blossoms which some va¬ 
rieties produce in such profusion that Nature 
never intended man should he so greedy as to 
expect a weak litilo plant could possibly perfect 
tbc fruit from blossoms which Nature so lav¬ 
ishly bestowed upon the strawberry, just as it 
does on the pear and apple, where live flowers 
always, and sometimes more blossoms, appear 
in a cluster; but an intelligent cultiva¬ 
tor is perfectly content if only one of them re¬ 
mains intact, and perfects its fruit. It is Na¬ 
ture’s plan to provide against all contingen¬ 
cies of storms, of drought, of galea, and in¬ 
sects of all kinds. 
BIST ILL ATE 8T R A VYB E R R1 EH. 
Several articles have appeared in the 
Rural concerning tho possibility of the so- 
called pistillate varieties of strawberries pro¬ 
ducing fruit when growing alone. Last sea¬ 
son J examined the flowers of soveral well- 
known varieties that are usually considered 
pistillate, and found pollen in all, except Jer¬ 
sey Queen. In some new varieties not yet in¬ 
troduced, no pollen was found. In some flow¬ 
ers of the Crescent no pollen was found, while 
in others it was found in small quantities, al¬ 
though abundant in none. In most of the 
flowers of Manchester, Windsor Chief and Big 
Bob, pollen was found in very small quanti¬ 
ties. With a view to testing the possibility of 
self-fertilization, several varieties, including 
some having perfect flowers, were protected 
from tho wind and insects. Charles Down¬ 
ing, Finch’s l’roJific and Hharpless produced 
berries under these conditions. Whore pollou 
was applied artificially to the flowers of Wind¬ 
sor Chief,Crescent and others, berries were also 
produced, showing the method to be all right. 
Of those deficient iu pollen, none except the 
Crescent produced berries without artificial 
aid, and only two very small, imperfect ber¬ 
ries were found upon it. The other flowers, 
