SUPPLEMENT TO THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
seeds and roots, the latter penetrating to the 
depth of three or four feet, reaching the mois¬ 
ture so essential for grass culture. On good 
soil the yield is from one to two tons to the 
acre, and can he cut three times during the 
Summer. With fertilizing the yield could be 
largely increased. * * * The proper time 
for cutting for hay is just as the grass comes 
that will prove more popular. Our seeds were 
imported from France. With the Rural Bi- 
color and King Humbert we shall send out 
seeds of a tomato we have been selecting for 
seven years with a view to keening qualities. 
We have but a few seeds of the three, and 
shall send not over 15 seeds (mixed together) 
is each envelope. Please give them good care, 
Rurai. Bicolor Tomato, (From Nature.) Fig. 453. 
as our entire stock goes to our 
subscribers. Fig. 454 shows a 
cluster and a single specimen 
of the King Humbert. 
Finally we offer, as we have 
done for two years past, the 
RURAL GARDEN TREA¬ 
SURES 
to our lady friends. 
It is manifestly impossible 
for us to collect 15 bushels of 
really new or rare seeds for 
this distribution. But we shall 
collect the best flower seeds we 
can, of ns many different kinds 
as possible; and we hope to 
please our lady subscribers 
better than ever before. 
- ■ ••• 
INSTRUCTIONS. 
ALL SHOULD READ THEM. 
One packet of each of the 
above Seven packets of seeds 
into bloom, when about 30 inches high. * * 
The usual quantity of seed sown to the acre is 
one bushel sown in September or October, or 
early Spring. When sown in early Fall, it 
gets good root, and will give two good cut¬ 
tings the first season The richer the soil, the 
greater the yield. It has proved t> be much 
more profitable than cotton raising. * * * 
In this Johnson Grass, a kiud Providence has 
given the Boutli a mine of wealth, which 
could easily be made the foundation for 
wealth and prosperity such as the South has 
never seen.” 
Dr. Pharos says that it grows on any land 
where corn will grow. On rich land the- 
culms attain a size of over half an inch in 
diameter and a blgbt of seven feet. It 
should be cut while tender, aud then all live 
stock are fond of it. Seeds of the 
JOHNSON GRASS 
were received at the Rural Grounds from W. 
A. Sanders, of Fresno Co , Cal., and planted 
in a drill in ordinary soil May 18, of last year. 
He called it ‘‘Evergreen Millet,” but it is evi¬ 
dently the same as Johnsou Grass. Though 
it grew near a hedge of blackberries, and re¬ 
ceived no manure, it reached the bight of 
seven feet, fully maturing seeds before frost. 
We were surprised to And that the roots, 
though wholly unprotected, all sprouted the 
past Sprirg. The plants bad reached a bight 
of about three fe«*t in early J uly, when half 
of th« plot was cut to the ground. The cut 
half continued to grow rapidly, and was seven 
feet high when the frost killed it, while the 
uncut half was eight feet high. 
ALL MATURED SEED. 
We would not for the world overpraise this 
grass, which very unexpectedly wo have 
found to be entirely hardy. We do not praise 
it at all—merely stating in what estimation it 
is held in the South, and how it has behaved 
at the Rural Grounds through tw r o years. We 
trust our friends will think it worthy of a 
careful test which will determine its value 
beyond a doubt. 
THE RURAL BI00L0R TOMATO 
of which wo have now to speak, was first 
noticed as a sp .rt of the Acme years ago. We 
saved the seed , and have since by selection 
endoavored to perpetuate the two colors 
which in some specimens are definitely mark¬ 
ed. We should still continue the selection Cor 
a year or so, but for the fact that a neighbor¬ 
ing farmer, to whom some of the seeds were 
given, sent some of them to market, aud we. 
therefore fear that they may be disseminated 
by some enterprising seedsman under some 
other name. 
The top of the tomato, as shown in our ac¬ 
curate engraving (Fig. 453, above), is a bright 
yellow: the re->t a bright red. The combina¬ 
tion is very pretty, und we should suppose they 
would command a ready sale when displayed 
in the market. The tomato is smooth, firm, 
and of good quality. The 
KING HUMBEKT TOMATO, 
the seeds of which will be sent in the same 
packet, sometimes resembles a pear, some¬ 
times a red pepper; never the ordinary to¬ 
mato. 3 he flavor is nearly free of acid. It 
grows in clusters of from three to eight, aud is 
remarkably productive For preserving, or 
for pickles, there is probably no other tomato 
Pro fessor .4, ./. Cook, of the Michigan Agri¬ 
cultural College, says: “The Rural New- 
Yorker leads the world.” 
will bo sent post paid to every 
subscriber of the Rural New Yorker, who 
applies before April 1st, 1884, inclosing a 
two cent stump as guarantee that he or she 
is interested in the farm and garden. 
The Distribution will begin early in the 
New Year. 
Applicants need not request us to substitute 
any other kinds of seeds for those offered. The 
entire distribution will be sent to each appli¬ 
cant. 
A large per cent, of miscarriages are caused 
by the fact that the names and addresses are 
imperfect, or illegibly written. We beg of our 
friends—every one—to write every letter 
plainly aud not to take for granted that the 
name or residence is familiar to us. 
lu applying for seeds, merely say “Send 
Seeds’’ and inclose a two-cent stamp, being 
careful not to stick it to the paper. 
-- 
LET IT BE UNDERSTOOD 
that the Rural Nkw-Yokkkr has never in 
any case sold seeds or plants to its subscribers. 
Were this otherwise, the reportsof the results 
of our tests and the descriptions of the plants 
which we introduce, would not be accepted as 
disinterested. But we sell the Rural New- 
Yorker only, the object of whose present 
existence is to advance the true interests of 
agriculture and horticulture. The Seed or 
Plant Distributions of this journal are 
^ABSOLUTELY TREE.^3 
When, by careful tests, we find that a given 
plant promises to be more valuable than others 
of its kinds which have been generally culti¬ 
vated, wo, at once, if practicable, place it iu 
our next Distribution, and send it, without 
charge, toallof our subscribers who apply. Be¬ 
sides, as these offerings are not premiums, as 
they are sometimes made without requiring ei¬ 
ther an application or any payment of postage, 
we hold the right to continue them or to discon¬ 
tinue them as we may determine. 
-»»« 
OF INTEREST TO ALL. 
We would respectfully state to those who 
read this specimen number of the Rural New- 
Yorker, who are not subscribers, that we 
would In.-, pleased to send them specimens of 
any number free, upou application. Those 
who are familiar with this journal will, as we 
believe, support us in the following claims; 1. 
The Rural New YorkerIs filled withoRiGi- 
NAL READING MATTER KROM BEGINNING TO 
end, by the best writers of America and Eng¬ 
land. 3. It is printed upon flue, uatural-eolor- 
ed paper. 2. It contains yearly not less than 
500 engravings, mostly original, by our own 
artists 4, Itis conducted by practical farm¬ 
ers whose first auu it is. irrespective of adver¬ 
tisers and all merely pecuniary or personal in¬ 
terests, to tell the truth. 5, The Rurai. is the 
first newspaper to have established Experi¬ 
mental Grouuds iu connection with journal¬ 
ism. They comprise over 300 acres. All new 
farm and garden implements, seeds and plants 
are there tested aud the results are impartial¬ 
ly reported upon in its columns. 0, The Rural 
New-Yorker is conscientious, progressive, 
aggressive, sparkling and original. It admits 
NO AMBIGUOUS OR FRAUDULENT ADVERTISE¬ 
MENTS. It is pure in tone; it is a farm, gar¬ 
den, religious, news aud literary paper all in 
one, and is, mshort, t he complete family rural 
journal of America. It is national m every 
department and tolerates no sectional animos¬ 
ities. 7, The value of its 
FREE SEED DISTRIBUTIONS 
is now well and widely known. Only seeds 
and plants which have originated at the Ru- 
ral’s Experiment Grounds, or which are new, 
or the best of their kinds, are distributed. 8, 
We have introduced or disseminated during 
the past seven years not less than UK) different 
species or varieties among otir subscribers, 
without cost to them. Among the most popu¬ 
lar may bo mentioned the Beauty of Hebron, 
White Elephant aud Blush Potato; Blount’s 
White Prolific Corn, the Rural Branching 
Sorghum, the Cuthbort Raspberry, Clawson, 
Fultzo-Cla w*on,Shumaker,Surprise and Diehl- 
Mediterranean Wheats; Mold's Ennobled 
Oats, the Rural Thoroughbred aud Heavy 
Dent Corn; the Telephone Pea and Rural 
New-Yorker Pea, the earliest known, with 
garden and flower seeds innumerable. Atten¬ 
tion is respectfully called to the annouoce- 
mentof our Free Seed Distribution for 1S84—5 
on other pages. 10, Truth, progress, the real 
interests of the laud and those who cultivate 
it, the dissemination of improved seeds and 
plants and of the knowledge how best to cul¬ 
tivate them, and so to conduct the journal 
that it may have a just claim upon all who 
love nature.are among the aims of the Rural 
New-Yorker. 
Among its more important departments ere 
cattle, horses, sheep, poultry, swine, arboricul¬ 
ture, dairy, domestic economy, farm economy, 
field crops, garden crops, floriculture, pomolo¬ 
gy—especially grapes and all small fruits, 
farm implements, landscape gardening, vet 
erinary, crop reports from all parts of the 
country, industrial societies, agricultural 
science, chemical fertilizers, news from all 
parts of the world, the Rural Farmers’ Club, 
rural architecture, a department for women 
and also a department for children. All of 
those departments are fairly Illustrated by 
first-class artists, from original drawings. 
The Rural Experiment Grounds, conducted, 
as they are, purely iu the interests of readers, 
offer rare facilities for making the paper 
valuable. All now and high-priced seeds are 
tested at once, and reported upon according to 
their worth, so that subscribers have before 
them a trustworthy guide as to what novelties 
are worthy of trial. The past season, for ex¬ 
ample, we tested 100 different kinds of new 
potatoes,00different kindsof corn, 40 different 
kinds of wheat, 00 of grapes, 80 of strawber¬ 
ries, all of the different kinds of raspberries, 
blackberries, and currants, besides a rare 
collection of the most hardy shrubs, trees and 
herbaceous plants 
We ask ail progressive farmers and horticul¬ 
turists to examine the Rural New-Yorker 
before subscribing for any family journal 
another year . For this purpose, os wo have 
said, specimen copies will bo sent to any ad¬ 
dress. We wish to nrnko the truth appear, 
getting up clubs should send for our new 
posters, which will be forwarded at once. A 
postal card addressed to the Rural New- 
Yorker, 34 Park Row, N. Y., requesting 
specimen copies, premium-lists or outfits, is 
all that is needed. 
—-- 
THE RURAL’S G REAT POTATO YIELD. 
Tiie Agricultural Editor of the N. Y. Times 
visited the Rural’s Experiment Grouuds in 
September, and examined out potato plots, 
and many of the kinds raised thereon. His 
account in the Times is as follows: “The 
largest yield of potatoes deserves to be credited 
to the Editor of the Rural Nrw-Yorker, 
who, in his experimental grounds, has made 
the folio• viu g yields the present seasou: 524 
bushels, 540. 544. 720, 877, 098,1,050. 1,189 and 
1,391 bushels per acre, or at t.h»t rate, in 
several plots, each of different varieties. Tne 
ground was fertilized by a mixture of ferti¬ 
lizers only, and no manure, and containing 
every element of plant food, including salt, 
lime, potash salts, ammonia salts, bone flour, 
etc., etc.” 
Subscribers are requested to read 
the offer the Rural makes to them, on 
p. 741, as a compensation for any 
efforts they may be pleased to make 
to extend its circulation. Should the 
largest clubs reach only 20, or even 
less, the presents will be distributed all 
the same ; while, if ‘here should not be 
as many presents as the number of 
clubs rece'ved, those not receiving 
presents may select articles of suit ible 
value from our regular premium list, 
which is intended to pay the n at the 
rate of 50 cents for each subscriber. 
The offer is to subscribers alone. 
If any of our subscribers do not care to 
work for, or to accept presents for clubs, we 
respectfully solicit them iu renewing to send 
us O ne new subscriber. Wo doiiro to increase 
the Rural’s Circulation and to improve it as 
far as in us lies. If the R. N.-Y has pleased 
you; if you believe it to bo earnest in its good 
work, will you not aid us, kind reader! 
Prof. A. E. Blount , of the, Colorado Agri¬ 
cultural College, says: “I think the Rural 
New Yorker the best agricultural paper in the 
land.” 
Pt'of. E. M. Shelton, of the Kansas Ag. 
College, says: “TJut Rural New-Yorker has 
more influence, and is more quoted, than all 
the rest put together .” 
Rura.1 New-York 
Prince of Wales Pea. (From Nature.) Fig. 451, page 737. 
and to show that those who would meet with Dr. W. J. Beal says: “The Rural New- 
success in land-culture, cannot afford to do Yorker is the Vest paper.” 
without this journal, and that it should be - »-»■-»- 
subscribed for as a measure of economy. Gen. Wm. H. Noble, of Connecticut, says: 
The price is $2 per year, and there is no “Let then our Rural pilot us to greatness in 
club or second price. Those who would aid in home and field,” 
