DE6H3 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER 
tious one, so that no one need take the trouble 
to write. We believe these frames, or the 
machinery for manufacturing them, have not 
the bottom is unscrewed and removed; the 
fruit is then nicely and regularly laid in, in 
courses on the cover or top. and thus contin¬ 
ued till all is filled, or else after two courses 
are “stemmed in,” the remainder is filled pro¬ 
miscuously; the bottom is then put on and 
screwed down, when the box is ready for ship¬ 
ment. When in market, the tacks are re¬ 
moved, and when unbooked the cover is 
raised, showing the fruit in the best possible 
condition. This package can be returned to 
the grower at a very moderate rate, holds 
one-third of a barrel, and costs about 15 cents. 
It packs in cars or wagons much more com¬ 
pactly and is much more easily handled than 
barrels, and we tbiuk it is in every way pref 
erable as a fruit package. 
POTATO Oh FRUIT CRATE, 
There are many little conveniences that can 
be made for use about a farm, that save many 
times their cost annually. Among these is 
the box or crate shown at Fig 515. It is sim- 
tree, and the supposed uncertainty as to the 
character of new varieties, from whatever 
seed, have discouraged all attempts at im¬ 
provement in any definite direction. 1 do not 
think this state of thing will continue always. 
Future generations will possess Varieties as 
good as ours in all other respects and practi¬ 
cally without cores. They can simply pare 
and then slice them without further prepara¬ 
tion. How soon this happy time will come, I 
cannot say; but it will depend largely, no 
doubt, on bow soon the attention of horti¬ 
culturist* is turned to the matter, and efforts 
are put forth to produce such an apple. 
Ary one w ho will take the trouble to ex¬ 
amine into the matter, will find that there are 
already observable some encouraging phe¬ 
nomena. Apples vary remarkably in the 
number* of seeds, in the shape and size of the 
seed-cells, and in the character of the hulls 
that line them. In some varieties these hulls 
are thick and tough, cutt ing the victim’s gums 
like knives. In others they are so thin and 
tender that they can be chewed up without 
much anuoyauee. I have just observed that 
Borne specimens of Found Sweet (this is the 
name in use here—T suppose ft identical with 
Lyman’s Fumpkin Sweet)—[As synonyms of 
Found Sweet, Downing gives Sweet Fippin, 
Red Sweet Pippin, Polbemus, Pumpkin 
Sweet, Vermont Fumpkin Sweet, und Ly¬ 
man’s Pumpkin Sweet. The name is evident¬ 
ly applied to several Borts. One is large, 
roundish conical, greenish yellow, with slight 
red iu the sun; ilesh yellowish, tender, mod¬ 
erately juicy, sweet. Another Is lurge, round¬ 
ish, red, with whitish flesh, moderately juicy, 
aromatic, sweet. — Eds ]—have remarkably 
thin hulls, which are, besides, not continuous 
over the whole surface of the cells. In the 
town of Newport, Maine, there is grown a 
variety of apple culled the “No-core,” or 
“Stuart’s No-core.” which is asserted to be 
generally destitute of seeds and cores. I once 
received five specimens of this apple, which, I 
regret to say, did not quite sustain its reputa¬ 
tion. All of the five had well defined cores, 
with, however, exceedingly tender walls, 
while one of them had three, and another two 
plump seeds, and the remaining three had 
only minute rudiments of seeds. Doth these 
varieties are worthy of attention as possible 
parents of strictly coreless, or, at least, hull- 
less and seedless upples, They are both winter 
varieties. ' The Found Sweet keeps with us 
till February. Stuart’s No-core is an oblong, 
striped, subacid fruit, keeping till April or 
May. Doubtless search would reveal other 
varieties, with leanings toward the coreless 
state. T commend the matter to the attention 
of philanthropic pomologists. 
Kennebpc Co., Maine. c. o. atkins. 
ga as far north as Simbirsk, we were told 
originally cjime from Shense China, and I 
can well believe it, as in leaf, bud, habit of 
growth, and fruit, it shows its birth marks as 
plainly as does the Kieffer or Mikado. In our 
climate It is as determinate in growth as the 
Oldenburg Apple, and as little afft-cted by our 
test Winters as the Box Elder. The tlatti-h 
round Bergamottes of the Volga, we are told, 
areabo indigenous toSbenseChina, Mongolia, 
and Northern Bokhara, w iden I can readily 
believe, as t hey differ in all respects from the 
indigenous pears of Russia, and are almost 
identical in leaf, bud, habit of growth, and 
fruit with No. 1,144, which was forwarded by 
Eugene Himon as Chinese Bergamotte. 
The object of these hasty notes is to show 
that our hope for hardy pears does not rest on 
the gritty varieties of South China, and their 
crosses with the—to us—tender pears of West 
Europe, but on the juicier and really bettor 
Ileal's from the Minnesota end of China and 
their crosses; and on the native pears of the 
East Plain of Europe and their crosses with 
the pears of the North Flain. Of some of 
these 1 will speak at another time. 
puREHONt* 
API MU OF 
£S &-C0- 
WARRANTED 
Fig. 516. 
as yet been put into the market, but will be 
shortly, when we have no doubt they will be 
advertised. 
Experiment Grounds of the $ura 
2Te«r-^lorher. 
WIRE WORMS AND STABLE MANURE. 
We bought a car load of city stable manure 
in the early Fall, and not caring to turn it 
every day or so to keep it from burning, 
spread it upon a plot six inches deep so far as 
it would go. A few weeks later the manure 
was removed, and the lower portion of it and 
the surface of the soil were found to be, in 
many places, infested with myriads of "wire'’ 
worms (Julus). They left the soil to feed upon 
the manure, it may be presumed. 
IOWA ORCHARD NOTES. 
Rural readers in the East know well what 
the pear blight is. It is but little known iu 
the West as yet—that is, in that part north of 
the south line of Iowa and west of the Miss¬ 
issippi—for we buvo no pear trees worth 
mentioning. The few that have been tried 
give evidence of blighting much worse than 
in the uioister and evener climate of the 
Eastern States. Quito a little interest seems 
to be manifested in the East to obtain seed¬ 
lings of the Chinese varieties crossed with 
some of the better common kind*. In foliage 
the Chinese pears are models of perfect health; 
but for our use this is probably all t hat can 
be said in their favor. Frof. Budd has ob¬ 
tained and tried several varieties, which have 
proved too tender for our Winters. The 
northwestern prairies will, likely, obtain 
their pear trees from varieties of the Grucba 
and Bergamotte races indigenous to North¬ 
eastern Europe. The articles of Professor 
Budd, which, I understand, are to appear in 
the Rural, will probably give them an ex¬ 
tended notice. 
*** 
I have waited and hoped that some one 
would take up and expose the Russian Mul¬ 
berry swindle. Through exaggerated state¬ 
ments and agents who do not blush at any 
lies, man}' hundreds of dollars have been 
taken from the farmers of the West without 
a return of value received. The truth is, the 
fruit of this mulberry, as commonly grown 
from seedlings, is of no practical value. [The 
Rural has stated it many times —Eds ] 
The value’ of the tree for timber has 
been much overrated. With the excep- 
tion of favored specimens, it is doubtful 
if its use for this purpose is worth mention¬ 
ing, its spreading habit of growth is de¬ 
cidedly against it. As an ornamental shrub 
it is inferior to muuy of the more com¬ 
mon kinds. Its good points are healthy foliage 
and rapid growth. But it would evidently 
be useful iu a way rarely mentioned; its 
thickly branching habit and quick growth 
adapt it nicely for screens, and hedges not in¬ 
tended for fences. The high price asked for 
the plants—fiftj* cents apiece through agents 
—has prevented their being tried for these 
purposes. 
*** 
1 hope, for the benefit of prairie horticul¬ 
ture, that the faith of Dr. Hoskins in the 
Wild Bird Cherry (C. Pennsylvanica) as a 
stock to work other varieties on, is well ground¬ 
ed. It is sparingly found through the West, 
and if suitable for this purpose would make a 
hardy stock. T would be glad to hear more 
of it; used us stock does it make a good union 
with the cion, etc? 
. *** -v 
Yesterday morning, Nov. 22d, we were 
having a very warm rain. The thermometer 
must have indicated above sixty degrees Fahr. 
This morning, just 24 hours later, it is at zero. 
A cold, piercing, north-west wind is blowing. 
Everything cracklei from the intense frost. 
A change of nearly one hundred degrees iu 
temperature, aud from extreme moisture to 
extreme dryness of air—no wonder the west¬ 
ern prairies need hardy trees; they need hardy 
nu*n too, o. e. b. 
Ames, Iowa. 
Fig. 515. 
ply a slatted crate; the ends being cut out of 
one-inch stuff planed on both sides, 10}£ inches 
wide and 15 inches long. The bottom and sides 
are made of stuff 18 inches long and one half 
inch thick, and for the sides 2% inches wide; 
and the pieces are put on so as to leave one- 
inch spaces between them. The bottom 
slats can be of the same width, or wide enough 
so that with suitable spaces three will form the 
bottom; in each end should be cut suitable 
places, as shown in cut, to serve as handles 
in carrying. These crates are taken to the 
field and filled with potatoes, corn or other 
produce, and wheu filled set directly into the 
wagon; two will stand endwise aero** the 
box, und if the box is, as it should be, for 
farm work, 15 feet long inside, being rnude of 
16 foot lumber, 11 will easily rest side by side 
in its length, making 22 crates in a tier, and 
as the box will be 12 inches high, two tiers, or 
44 crates, can be carried at a single load, aud 
this will be as much as any team should draw 
over the farm. When the load Is driven to 
the cellar or crib, the crates are picked up, 
carried to the bins, emptied and returned to 
the wagon, thus saving once picking or scoop¬ 
ing up of the produce, and much time. 
Every farmer should have enough of these 
crates for two full loads, and thus he can he 
filling one lot while another is being emptied. 
They are equally convenient, for marketing 
any sortof produce soldiu bulk, by the bushel, 
or weight, as they can be filled at home, set 
directly into the wagon, and are ready to be 
carried to any place for dumping. They are 
also very handy for storiug potatoes in the 
cellar, as they can bo placed ill tiers the full 
bight of the cellar, and are a great conven¬ 
ience when it is ueeessary to pick over or sort 
the produce The material for making them 
should cost from 12 to 20 cents each, according 
to the price of lumber. 
HONEY BOX. 
Nearly all the honey now sent to market is 
in one of two forms—either extracted and 
sold in bottles, jars or cans, or else in single¬ 
cards holding about one pound each. While 
extracted honey i» iu much the cheapest and 
most desirable form, yet such is the facility 
for adulteration, and such the fear of the cou- 
sumers that it will lie adulterated, that the sin¬ 
gle-card comb honey will always commaud 
the most ready sale and the highest price. 
A large share of the frames used have been 
made of a single piece of wood, so grooved at 
the corners as to be bent rouud, so that 
only one corner of the box is nailed The ob¬ 
jection to this style is the great liability of 
these thin corners to break, and, of course, 
wheu they are broken the honey is also broken 
and spoiled for market. A want of some way 
of stamping or printing the cards of the 
apiarist upon these boxes has also been long 
felt; if the name and address are printed oh 
paper,and thus is pasted on the box, it involves 
some labor, and the label is liable to drop 
off on the first damp day, or if the boxes are 
stored in a damp place. An ingenious me¬ 
chanic at Lockport, New York, has at last, 
we understand, perfected a machine by which 
the material for the “nailed” box is cut of 
proper form, and the card of the apiarist is 
printed in ink upon any one of the pieces, all 
by one operation, and at little, if any, addi¬ 
tional expense over the cost of the old style 
of box. A friend sent us one of these frames, 
and we have considered it of sufficient public 
importance to have a cut made of it, which 
we show at Fig. 516. The cut sufficiently ex¬ 
plains the mode of construction, etc , and we 
only say that the address appearing is a ficti¬ 
THE BEST WAY TO PRESERVE CABBAGES. 
Neighbor Uncle John, a* we familiarly call 
him, is a market gardener of many years ex¬ 
perience. He prefers to place bis cabbages, 
heads down and placed closely together, with 
the outer leaves snugly tucked under them, on 
sod ground. Then he covers them with from 
three to five inches of coarse swamp grass, 
aud bolds it in place by rails or something of 
the kind. They will keep well until Spring, 
and are easily taken out as needed. 
Remember that in preserving cabbages we 
need merely to protect them against warmth 
—not against cold. 
THE QUEEN PEA. 
Seeds of this variety were kindly sent to us 
by Gen. Win. G. Le Due, ex Commissioner of 
Agriculture. He writes that they originated in 
Wisconsin and are, he thinks, the best in the 
world. They were planted here April 25. On 
July 2 the vines were nearly five feet' high. 
Pods mostly in pairs. Fig. 517 (p. 827) shows 
the average size wheu borne iu pairs Single 
pods average larger. The first picking was 
made *n July 6. Fifty pods weighed Flounces, 
contained 278 seeds, which weighed 6% ounces. 
Bright, lively green’ when cooked. Of the 
first quality—sweet and tender. 
THE GREAT-PANICLED HYDRANGEA, 
(H. paDiculata grandiflora) libs been written 
of so much during the past mx or eight years, 
that other hydrangeas far handsomer in some 
respects,have been wholly overlooked. Among 
them Is the Oak leaved Hydrangea (H. quer- 
cifolia). It is a native shrub found in Florida, 
Georgia and westward—never northwaid we 
believe It is not quite hardy her e.and though 
often killed back during the Winter, it is 
merely rendered more dwarf : the foliage is 
always luxuriantly beautiful. The leaves and 
stems are wooly (tomentoae), the shape of the 
former being oval aud decidedly five-iobed,ser¬ 
rated on the edges. A small leaf drawn from 
our owu specimen, is shown at Fig. 518 (p. 829). 
The cymes of flowers (Fig. 519, p. 829) are clus¬ 
tered so as to form panicles rather longer than 
broad, the sterile flowers being white, large 
and showy. The panicle somewhat reduced 
in size, is redrawn and re engraved from the 
Gardeners’ Chronicle of Englaud, which states 
that it is a native of t he North-eastern United 
States. It begins to bloom iu June, continu¬ 
ing until frost. It is well named “Oak leaved,” 
since the leaves do strikingly resemble those 
of some oaks, while they change to dark, rich, 
bronzy colors in the fall. 
HANDY FARM CONVENIENCES. 
BOX FOR FRUIT. 
It has so long been the custom to ship fruits, 
such as upples and pears, in barrels and half 
barrels, that people seldom stop to think there 
is a better way. The package of the barrel 
form has many disadvantages; first, its shape 
is sucli tliut iu packing and storing it takes up 
much room, while it contains only a moderate 
quantity of fruit. The shape is such that it 
cannot be piled up in tiers to good advantage, 
and the size is so large that one man can only 
handle it by roiling or sliding. We are in¬ 
debted to Mr. C. W. ldell, of 333 Washington 
Street, this city, fer the invention of a com¬ 
pact, convenient and economical package for 
shipping and handling fruit. As shown at 
Fig. 514, it consists of a light but strongly 
made box, 17 inches square, 7 % inches high, 
and holding oue-tbird of a barrel. The euds 
are three-quarters of an inch thick, being 
made of inch lumber planed on lwith sides. 
The sides, bottom and top are made of half¬ 
inch-thick lumber; each corner contains a 
three-cornered piece of some hard wood to 
which both ends and sides are nailed, round- 
barbed wire-nails being used in the construc¬ 
tion. The cover, as can be seen, is made of 
three pieces of nearly equal width, the middle 
one being one inch wider than the others, and 
being attached to the back piece with a pair 
of light, wide butts,and when it is closed down 
it is fastened by a hook on each end. one of 
which is shown iu the cut, let into the front 
end. The bottom is put on with long, slim 
screws. The manner of filling is as follows: 
The cover is shut, locked and fastened by 
having a large tack driven in behind the hook; 
TESTS OF NEW POTATOES CONTINUED. 
Iroquois.— From B. K. Bliss & Sons, New 
York. Planted April 7; dug Aug. 18. they 
averaged 7 % tubers to the hill, of which (in 
numbers) 55 per cent, were of marketable size. 
Shape roundish; skin smooth; eyes on sur¬ 
face. The yield was at the rate of 802 50 bush¬ 
els to the acre Among the largest , five weighed 
two pounds. Eaten Sept. 10, quality, mealy 
and fine-grained—flesh white. The tops were 
small, of a dark green color—leaves small. 
Trophy —Received from James T. Hawk¬ 
ins, Lisbon, O. It was named Trophy by D. 
M. Ferry & Co. in 1880. Planted April 7; dug 
August 4th: they averaged nine to a hill^ 
of which two thirds were marketable. The 
vines, of medium size, began to die July 16, 
being rather later than Pearl of Savoy. The 
yield was at the rate of 468 89 bushels to the 
WANTED—CORELESS APPLES 
Whether for dessert, for kitchen use or for 
the evaporator, the presence of a core is a 
decided drawback to the usefulness of an 
apple. The seeds and hulls must be removed 
at the cost of considerable trouble or expense, 
and with great waste, or they give great an¬ 
noyance when they get into the mouth aud 
between the teeth. We submit to these dis¬ 
advantages because we are accustomed to 
them, and because the slow growth of the apple 
