4884 
fHE RURAL NEW-YORKEh. 
the land without the aid of man, and also for 
other reasons, it seems to me that Dr. Gilbert’s 
definition of agriculture, p. 638, is a faulty 
one Agriculture is an art the purpose of 
which is the obtaining of useful vegetable 
products from the land. Strictly speaking, 
stock breeding and feedtng, and the manufac¬ 
ture of butter and cheese, are not agriculture, 
but arts subsidiary or related to agriculture. 
The Rural’s ‘'Triplicate Method” (p 638) 
was practiced on my farm a good while before 
there was a Rural Farm, aud advocated, even 
if not popularized, in the old Vermont Farmer, 
early in the ’70 s. But it needs a good deal of 
insistence to make farmers try it thoroughly 
and faithfully. When they will do that, they 
will afterwards ‘mse no other”—on suitable 
soils. 
Rural, Oct. 4.—I am glad the Rural pub¬ 
lishes so many plans for cheap buildings, such 
as the great majority of farmers perforce 
must have. Mr. Strohecker’s barn (p. 649) is 
a good piece of work. It would have been 
better could it have had a lighted basement 
for swine, poultry and manure. 
trying to make industrial education as re¬ 
spectable as auy other. Perhaps this is un¬ 
just, but I have good reason for my opinion, 
from no little practical observation. It is not 
unreasonable that it should be so, as most of 
ordinarily grown? My Manchesters and 
Windsor Chiefs (ho past season grew with a 
bed half Wilson aud half Bidwell between 
them, yet the fruits of both, at both ends of 
the beds, were quite uniform in all external 
around it with u deep mulching of strawy 
litter. It was nil rightin t he Bpring,and I then 
cut over the old grass; the new grass started 
well and grew vigorously, and toward the 
eudof August several silvery plumes appeared. 
Japanese Anemones (A Japonic* )—Both 
purple and white, are uow in full beauty, aud 
the white ones especially will rank among the 
loveliest of hardy (lowers of any season. They 
are vigorous plants, three to four feet high, 
green aud fresh-looking the whole Bummer 
through,and now most, copious in blossom, and 
they will continue to (lower till shurp frost des¬ 
troys them. We cannot consider them perfectly 
hardy they often die in Winter. But with a 
heavy mulching over them, they are likely to 
survive all right. Oftentimes (he crowns 
may die, aial we find a lot of little plants ap¬ 
pear all about where the old ones grew. These 
come from the Ueshy roots, by which this 
anemone is the most easily propagated. Heeds 
of it are often advertised, but I don’t think 
you will often find a seedling. 
Coreopsis Lanukolata is a “perpetual” 
blooming, hardy, herbaceous perennial, neat 
but vigorous in habit, aud bears its lurge, 
bright, golden-yellow flowers singly on long, 
wiry stalks, and in great profusion. Old 
plants come into blossom in May; young ones 
in June; and they bloom iu great profusion 
for some weeks, then constantly but iu lesser 
degree till October, when they appear with 
resuscitated energy, bloom more freely and 
continue iu their gayety till hard frost over¬ 
comes them. Blight frosts do not hurt, them 
much. They grow well iu auy good garden 
soil; but prefer that which is rich and sandy. 
They mature a great quantity of seed, which 
becomes scattered about, and multitudes of 
young plants come up from it. These may bo 
transplanted where required, or, if more 
plants are not needed, hoed up and doneawav 
You are right Mr. Tracy (p, 650): peas will 
mix, if grown side by side. The American 
Racer, which the Rural described as a very 
distinct pea, was produced by planting Car¬ 
ter’s First. Crop and Daniel O’Rourke together, 
and seh cting from the next year’s growth 
from the seed of the Carter vines. The Yel 
low Dwa f, which the Rural has also tested 
and know sto be remarkably distinct, being a 
fully wrinkled yellow pea, was produced by 
sowing A uericau Racer aud Little Gem 
together a nd planting seed selected from 
Little Gem plants. When I began these trials 
Mr. Pringli, (our great Vermont hybridist) 
told me it would not work, for the reason 
named by Mr. Tracy; but facts are stronger 
than theory. 
That “Fraudulent Picture” ( p. 651—657) is 
very likely a “made up” picture, and is evi¬ 
dently the work of an unskilled band, but yet 
I think it uufuir to cull it fraudulent iu pur¬ 
pose. Moore’s Arctic is u profusely productive 
plum. 1 thiuk I have seen the plums hanging 
about as thick on my trees as in that picture, 
but nature is more artistic in her disposition 
of the fruit. The great value or the plum is 
the hardiness (against cold) of the tree. 1 
doubt if any plum is “curculio proof;" but it 
is a fuct that the curculios never touch my 
Arctics, though they utterly riddled the native 
red plums near them. 1 think it, however, 
probably a ease of preference, aud this per¬ 
haps because the red plums are considerably 
the earlier to bloom aud set fruit. 
Dr. Grceuleaf s experiment (p. 656) is very 
interesting aud instructive. In selecting from 
my cross bfed peas I find that even the same 
pod will give me distinct sorts, which in 
future crops will differentiate into plants very 
unlike iu habit and seasou, as well as in color 
and quality of seed. In fact, variation is un¬ 
limited, and any named variety is really made 
up of a large uuuibor of minor varieties, 
which, if more productive, soon over ride the 
original sort, or “run it out.” The Alpha Po¬ 
tato, being a little mixed with a more produc¬ 
tive sort, came at lust to be practically lost iu 
the bauds of the Introducers, and were it not 
that 1 had, aud have carefully preserved this 
sort pure, it could not have been replaced. 
There are important lessons in these facts. 
Rural, Oct. 11.—Well, there is one Russian 
apple glorified on the Rural’s front page. 
It is very much inferior in quality to many 
other Russian apples; yet the Alexander will 
outsell them, ju»t as the Concord outsells the 
Adiroudae Grape. Mr. Beunab, of Orouo, 
Me , says the Alexander is one of his most 
profitable apples, and it is placed among the 
live most profitable sorts tor the Montreal 
market in the horticultural reports of that 
city. Most people choose fruit by the eye 
more than by the palate. That is why the 
most productive and showy sorts, even if 
much inferior in quality, like Ben Davis and 
Alexander, are profitable to the growers. 
What does Prof, Morrow’s article on agri¬ 
cultural education (p. 666) prove?—that agri¬ 
cultural education is not wanted, or that the 
teaching profession is not ottering it to us of 
the right kind, or in the right way? That 
agricultural classes are not well filled every¬ 
where, is no proof that agricultural education 
is a failure. Literary education was equally 
a failure when literary colleges were first 
established in America. Read the early his¬ 
tory of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dart- 
in appearance; tho attraction in the plant 
rests in its fragrant foliage. It grows wild in 
Europe, and has escaped into some woods and 
by-ways iu the older settled parts of our own 
country; nevertheless, it Is well worthy of a 
corner in our garden. 
The Mansciiurjan Angelica Tree (Di- 
morphauthus Manscburicus,— Forming a 
clump on our lawn, we have three plants of 
the above; two are about seven to eight feet 
high, the other about 1() feot. On account of 
their very large, bipluuately compound leaves, 
they uru ornamental, and present a rather 
tropical appearance. The two lesser plants 
PRUNUS PISHARDII. (From Nature.) Fig. 416. (Bee page 716.) 
these men came from literary schools. As 
our ludustri il schools get to be managed by 
Industrially educated meu, they will become 
better, aud consequently better appreciated. 
A rnan never succeeds well in a business for 
w hich he is not fitted, and which he despises. 
characteristics, and, so far as uoted, in quali 
ty also, 
Newport, Vt. 
fUrintllitml 
It seems to me that Prof. Lazeuby’s experi¬ 
ments in tile pollenization of the ‘pistillate” 
strawberries (p. 669) prove too much—that the 
female parent has almost no influence upon 
The Pampas Grass. —For some reason or 
other—perhaps the moist Hummer Pampas 
till the middle of September. Beyond 
the variation iu time of blooming, I 
cannot see any varietal difference be¬ 
tween the plants. The blossoms are 
yellowish-white, small, and borne on im¬ 
mense panicles of little umbels situated 
amoug the bunch of leaves that termin¬ 
ate each branch or shoot. They are 
somewhat hardier than our Hercules’ 
Club (Aralla spinosa), which they much 
resemble, aud when in bloom are not 
only highly ornamental, but have a 
striking effect in the landscape or among 
other trees and shrubs. Their coming 
into bloom when most other shrubs, ex¬ 
cept althaeas and panicled-hydrangeas, 
are not in flower, also enhances their 
value. 
Veronica Rubsesilis.— Coming on a 
good specimen of this at, Woolsou’s the 
other day, I exclaimed: “Ah! I want 
this!” “Perhaps you do,” said Wool- 
son; “but you can’t have it, as that is 
all I’ve got of it.” This is one of the 
best and showiest of thu erect, blue- 
flowered speedwells, and, in America, 
at any rate, a very scarce plant, it it 
hard to import, too; that is, in import¬ 
ing it from Europe it is very liuble to 
die on the way hither. Three years 
ago. when t was ut the Botanic Garden, 
C ambridge, Mass,, T succeeded iu saving it 
from among a set of plants from Ware, of 
England. It, grew well, and flowered fc»Hiiti* 
PRUNUS PISSARDII 
the color, shape, texture or quality of the Grass 
fruit it bears. How, then, can these varieties plants 
be so distinct and uniform as they are when gathei 
