MARCH if 
No. 4.—Dwarf Flat. Dutch. August 29. Me¬ 
dium size, flat, very solid. Weight (average), 
4 ; '.j pounds, measuring inches deep, eight 
iuehes broad. No. 5.—Laudreth’s Earliest, 
July 21. First to head. Narrow, conical, dark 
green leaves. Those transplant erf head first 
and best. No. ().—Bloomsdale Early Market 
Large, round, lialf-conical, sometimes pointed, 
very solid. Weight, 5) r, pounds, measuring 1} 
inches deep, eight inches wide. No. 7.—Green 
Curled Savoy, August 29.—Leaves much 
wrinkled, no heads. Seeds of the above were 
procured from Landreth & Son, of Philadel¬ 
phia. No. S.—Early Dutch. Medium round 
heads. No. 9.—Early Flat Dutch. Small, flat 
heads. No. 10,—Summer. Medium size, flat¬ 
fish heads. Weight, August 29, 5& pounds, 
measuring 6\£ inches deep and nine inches 
wide. No. 12.—Early Arctic. Good-sized, 
flat heads. Weight, 5 b; pounds, measuring 
seven inches deep, nine inches wide. No. 13, 
Early Dwarf Savoy. August 29. Small, loose 
heads. No. 14.— Wheeler’s Coeoanut. Small, 
eouical heads, weighing 21 ounces, and meas¬ 
uring six inches deep, four wide. No. 15.— 
Large, Late Green Glazed. Did not head. No, 
16. —Large Late Drumhead. Medium size, very 
solid, flat. Weight, three pounds, measuring 
5% inches deep, seven inches broad. No. 17.— 
Late Drumhead Savoy. Same as No. 2. No. 
18.—Early Oxheart. Resembles Landreth's 
Earliest. Weight, 2>£ pounds, nine inches 
deep, five wide. Early WinniugstadL, August 
29. Round, half-conical, rather small but very 
solid heads. No. 20.—Early York. Did not 
head. No. 21.—Early Rainham. Small, coni¬ 
cal heads. No. 22.—Little Pixie. Much like 
Early Oxheart. No. 23.—Early Him Savoy. 
One of the best Savoys to head. No. 27.— 
Large, late Bergen. Round, solid. Weight, 
pounds, measuring 5}. 2 inches deep, seven 
inches wide. No. 28.—Filderkraut. Shapely, 
conical and pointed. Weight, two pounds 14 
ounces, measuring 11 1 ; inches deep, five inches 
wide. Leaves always curled about the apex. 
From No. 8 the seeds were procured from 
Thorburn & Co., New York. 
Tire Savoys never form heads so large or so 
fiim as those which are not wrinkled, or blis¬ 
tered, or crinkled, or bullated, as we may 
choose to describe their peculiar leaves. For 
cutting up for cold-slaw, they are uot so Wil¬ 
der or crisp: but for boiling they are sweeter 
and fully as tender for Winter or Spring use. 
Of all this class probably the Dniruhead Savoy 
is the best for home use. 
Remarks.— All of the seeds above men¬ 
tioned were, as at first stated, sown where the 
plants were to grow-, As soon as they were 
large enough all but one plant were cut off— 
uot pulled outr-nnd left, the same as when 
transplanted in the usual way. Some of each 
were transplanted, and these formed larger and 
more solid heads in every ease. 
THE RURAL PRIZE CORN REPORTS. 
How the Crops were Raised, etc. 
Lee Co., Ill.—Number of kernels planted 
May 16 w T as 166. Number of stalks when 
husked was 120. Number of ears of corn when 
husked 196, and weight of ears November 1. 
193 pounds. Weight of shelled corn, 145 pounds. 
Soil was a dark clay loam, timber land. 
This com was the second crop; potatoes were 
raised on the laud last year. The ground was 
plowed at medium depth, and marked with 
plow ?>y 2 feet apart; corn was planted four 
feet in the rows, two kernels in the liill. Fer¬ 
tilizer used was half a spade of well-rotted 
barnyard manure in the bottom of each hill. 
Cultivated once with two-horse cultivator one 
•way and hood three times by hand. I planted 
the corn in the middle of potato-patch and 
could only plow it one way and only once, as 
potatoes were on every side. Corn occupied 
33 feet each way from potato row to farthest 
corn row, or hill; stalks averaged 15 feet in 
bight. H. R. Roberts. 
[The above is 20th in revised list. Yield at 
the rate of 117.2 bushels to acre.] 
Huron Co., Ohio.—I planted the Rural 
Heavy Dent com May 25. I prepared the 
plot 33 feet square; put on two loads of man¬ 
ure from hog pen and plowed it under four 
inches deep. Thoroughly harrowed the 
ground and plowed again teu inches deep and 
harrowed thoroughly. Marked it otf in rows 
just four feet, apart, making nine rows; planted 
in drills one grain in a place about 21 inches 
apart and put a handful of rotted manure 
from the poultry house on each hill. Out of 
the 169 grains but. 155 came up. It suckerod 
from one to three suckers from nearly every 
stalk. I allowed one and two to grow aud 
could scarcely discern them from main stalks 
when matured. The ears on them were about 
as good as those on main stalks. I cultivated 
thoroughly through the season. The stalks 
uveraged about 12 feet high", the largest stalk 
measured six inches in circumference. Some 
of the ears measured nine inches in circum¬ 
ference and 12 inches long; the largest ear had 
915 grains. I husked it the last of October 
and weighed it Nov. 1st: it weighed 259*?; 
pounds. Shelled it Nov. 3 and it weighed 
177)j iiounds of shelled corn. The neighbors 
think it the largest yield they ever saw, 
William Palmer. 
[The above is 24th on revised list.. Yield at 
the rate of 110.9 bushels to the acre.] 
Cedar Co., Iowa.—The corn was planted 
May 23rd, there were eight rows 33 feet long. 
They had n margin on each side of 18 inches; 
173 grains were planted, aud 141 grew, they 
were planted on new land, broken lust Spring. 
Five years ago we stacked straw on the place. 
The corn was planted about 18 inches apart; 
it grew to a bight of about, nine feet. I left 
from one to three suckers to each grain: the 
balance I kept pulled off close: the soil was 
plowed toward the coni twice, and the corn was 
lioed three times. No weeds grew on the gn amd 
the ears were 14 to 15 inches long, and a good 
many of the stalks had two ears. The corn 
was husked November 12t.h, and shelled on the 
16th. Weight of coru in the car. was 325 
pounds; shelled 156 pounds. Enoch Ac ten. 
[The above is 25th, on revised list, yield is 
at the rate of 107.5 bushels shelled corn to the 
acre.] 
Oceana Co., Mich.—I plowed in April, 33 
feet square of sod ground; spread seven bush¬ 
els of hen manure and eight bushels of hog 
manure on the ground and harrowed it in. 
Planted 161 kernels; 133 grew. They were 
planted in rows four feet apart, one kernel in a 
place two feet apart in the row. Planted May 
22. Cultivated twice. Hoed three times. The 
stalks averaged 9s; feet high and bore 300 ears 
besides some nubbins. Ripened October 20. 
Weight of ears, 231 pounds. Weight, of shelled 
corn, 145 pounds. The kernels were planted 
too close together. I am sure it would have 
yielded twice as much had it been planted lorn- 
feet apart each way and one kernel in a place 
I shall try it again next year. When growing 
the com was a perfect mat ; one could hardly 
walk tbrongh it. W. H. Beebe. 
[The above is 20tli on revised list. Yield at 
rate of 105.9 bushels to the acre.] 
-- 
IROQUOIS Co.. Ill.—The soil on which the 
Rural corn was planted is a black loam with 
clay sub-soil. The ground was plowed April 
15th and one two-hoi-se wagon load of man¬ 
ure put on the surface. It was plowed again 
May 3rd. and on May 8th it was furrowed out 
and five bushels of hen manure put iu the fur¬ 
rows and mixed with the soil. The width of 
the plot was 26 % feet the length II 1 , feet, 
making a little less than 1089 square feet, I 
plauted 160 grains of Rural Heavy Dent corn 
iu seven rows, one grain in a plate a little less 
than two by four feet apart: 128 grains 
grew. Five hills blighted and produced no 
com. I gave it level cultivation. It was cul¬ 
tivated four times and hoed four times. Tall¬ 
est stalk measured 13 feet; average bight of 
stalks was 10*, feet. It was husked Oct. 27th 
and spread out to dry aud on Nov. 16 and 17 
it was shelled. Weight in the ear 179 pounds; 
of shelled com 138|?; pounds. H. II. Clark. 
[The above is 27th, on revised list. Yield 
at the rate of 105.3 bushels of shelled corn to the 
acre.] 
HOW TO GROW GRAPES FROM SEEDS. 
Directions for RURAL Readers from Ex¬ 
perienced Seedling Grape-growers. 
FROM D. S. MARVIN, OF NEW YORK, 
The ripest and best, clusters should he se¬ 
lected, the seed of which should be separated 
from the pulp, and either planted soon, or kept 
moist in sand or soil, until Spring, The 
trouble in sowing out-of-doors is that the seeds 
sprout so slowly that the seedlings have not 
time to mature .sufficiently, or grow large 
enough; often they do not grow until the sec¬ 
ond year. Some experts think these latter the 
best. I can see no difference, except that they 
start earlier aud grow larger. The soil should 
be deeply spaded, well enriched and put In the 
best condition. If a brush heap can lie burned 
on new land, the soil be pulverized, and the 
seed sown while the ground is yet warm, good 
results may be expected. The seed should be 
sow n in rows, aud the ground kept well culti¬ 
vated and free from weeds under all circum¬ 
stances. But I have always got the best re¬ 
sults from starting the seed in a hot-bed. 
Sometimes I have let the plants remain therein 
all Summer. I have always obtaiued the 
largest plants in tins way; but, judging from 
past experience, T have made up my mind that 
they are not so hardy as when sown a single 
seed in a pot sunk in the lied and transferred 
to the open ground after warm weather sets 
in; or several seeds may be sown in the pots, 
and when the vines are two inches high they 
are to be repotted singly. The seedlings make 
a better growth if they are staked and trained 
upright. In the Fall they must be laid down 
and well covered, or dug up, and given Winter 
protection, for they seldom ripen their wood 
so as to be hardy enough to go through the 
Winter unprotected. Like new-born babes 
they know nothing of Winter and cold, and 
try to grow on as if they were perennial. But 
after the seedlings have fruited—usually in 
from three to five years—whatever you do, 
don’t jump at conclusions; here is where a 
cool head is needed; more judgment is re¬ 
quired to select than to grow seedlings. 
FROM JOHN BURR, OF KANSAS. 
For the best success iu starting grape seeds 
they should be plauted iu the Fall, or, better, 
place the seeds iu a box of moist sand or 
earth directly from the fruit aud plant them 
iu early Spring us soon as the soil works freely, 
covering the seeds about half an inch or a little 
more, if the soil is light and dry, pressing Die 
earth after planting. The longer the seeds 
are left to dry after haviug beeu taken from 
the fruit, the longer and more uncertain their 
germination. The seeds from the Niagara to 
be distributed will probably be somewhat dry; 
as soon as received, they should be put directly 
into moist sand or earth aud kept in that con¬ 
dition until time to plant in Spring. Heeds, if 
kept dry until Spring, should lie soaked iu 
warn or pretty hot water for three or four 
days before planting. 
FROM GEO. W. CAMPBELL, OF OHIO. 
Ever since the publication of that hand¬ 
some picture of the Niagara grape iu Novem¬ 
ber. aud the announcement that the Rural 
would distribute seeds of this variety, I have 
been intending to offer Rural readers a few 
words on this subject. The growing of so wi¬ 
ling grape-viues has been a kiud of hobby with 
me for more than 30 years; aud, although I 
have enjoyed the pursuit, and produced many 
interesting new varieties, my success has not 
been such as to warrant any very great ex¬ 
pectations of wonderful results from the pro¬ 
posed planting of Niagara grape-seed. L have 
no wish to discourage the planter of grape- 
seeds for. however rare may be any important 
acquisition or improvement, many of our 
good grapes have come from what may be 
called chance seedlings. And i confess that I 
have myself felt sufficient interest in just this 
direction, to have planted and grown Niagara 
seedlings for two years past. I have found 
Niagara seeds to grow very easily, and 
although the seedlings present the usual diver¬ 
sity in habit of growth and appearance, a con¬ 
siderable number appear, in foliage and gen¬ 
eral character, much like the parent vine. 
There is usually little difficulty in groupig 
grape-seeds if they ore not left to get too dry; 
aud seeds kept dry, rarely, if ever, vegetate 
if not planted until the second year. My 
usual practice is to put the fresh seed into 
small vials or bottles labeled and corked, until 
the approach of Winter; t.heu put the seeds 
in small pots of damp saud. and bury them in 
the earth where they will be subject to the 
action of frost, during the Winter. Upon 
thawing out iu Spring, they may lie planted 
in pots in greenhouse or in hot-bods; or in 
boxes iu the house, exposed to the light of a 
south window. Or they may lie planted In a 
garden border of nicely prepared soil. In 
either case a large proportion will usually 
grow. Iu greenhouse or hot-bed they will be¬ 
gin to come up in three weeks; in open bor¬ 
der, in about a month, depending somewhat 
upon the weather. Homo varieties appear 
more difficult to grow than others; and will 
occasionally lie dormant until the second year. 
Home Pocklington seed, planted last Spring 
beside the Niagara and several other kinds, 
failed entirely, though treated in exactly the 
same manner. I expect the Pocklington seeds 
to grow the coming Spring, having kept 
them in the pots where originally planted. 
I was pleased to see iu your report accompa¬ 
nying tho engraving of the Niagara, that your 
estimate of the variety accorded so nearly with 
my own; and that you rate it In quality, as I 
have done, not mueh above that of the Con¬ 
cord. Although my criticisms on this grape 
have aroused the feelings of the company aud 
sonic of its friends, I utterly disclaim any in¬ 
tention or wish to present it in any other than 
its tnie character; and when (as I am assured 
will very soon occur) it is offered to the public 
without restrictions, no one will lie better 
pleased than I. if it proves to tie in every re¬ 
spect even better and more valuable than its 
most devoted advocates claim. And if it, or 
its seedlings, should “climb the north pole,” 
aud encircle the equator, and, like Jack’s bean¬ 
stalk, climb up and hitch on to the horns of the 
moon, or indulge in any other extraordinary 
performance characteristic of such a wonder¬ 
ful grape, I will try and not be astonished be¬ 
yond measure. 
ppmo Logic al. 
KEIFFER, OR KIEFFER ! 
The correct spelling or pronunciation of 
this word seems to be au unsettled conundrum 
to the community. The Rural in tho issue of 
February 3, in its reading matter, adopts the 
“e” sound, while in the advertisements the 
“is” have it. At the late meeting of the 
New Jersey State Horticultural Society at 
Freehold, this same difference of pronuncia¬ 
tion occurred and the question was asked, 
which method was correct. A gentleman 
stated that people in his neighborhood had ex¬ 
perienced the same difficulty, and to settle it 
they appealed to Mr. K. to know how lie 
spelled and pronounced his name. He replied 
K-i-e-f-f-e-r. Iu Germany this would be pro¬ 
nounced lvEE-fer but in this country it is Kiif- 
fer, aud that is what 1 call it. I)r. Hexamer, 
himself a German, who was present, said that 
was right; we are not Germans in this country 
but Americans, hence Kiiffer was correct. 
He was glad this question was raised, aud 
from the spelling of Mr. lv.’s name all doubts 
in his mind were removed and he was satisfied 
Ki-effer was ooiTect. I suppose after all this 
explanation it will still be written and pro¬ 
nounced as heretofore, according to the caprici ■ 
or whim of the person using the word; but it 
is well to put this explanation on record, 
coming as R docs so direct from Mr. K. him 
self. We have in America Keefes and Keef¬ 
ers, pronounced as they arc spelled, but in 
case of the pear I think the "Ts” have it. 
Montclair, N. J. E. Williams. 
-- 
The Blenheim Pippin. 
This apple, which has been mentioned sev¬ 
eral times lately iu the Rural, lias not had 
as much said about it as it deserves. It is one 
of the few sorts with so vigorous a constitution 
as to flourish equally in the cool, humid climate 
of Britain, and in the heat and cold and dry¬ 
ness of America, It is the most popular des¬ 
sert apple in England, and has a price of its 
own, often nearly three-fold that of common 
‘ pot-fruit’—sorts for cooking chiefly. The 
growth is, of course, vigorous; the rank, plump, 
dependent shoots looking in the nursery, in 
color and all, much like those of the Rhode 
island Greening. This lolling habit is against 
its rapid distribution unluckily, for nursery¬ 
men find great difficulty in gett ingerectstems. 
This is easily managed, however, either by 
staking for u year or two. or by grafting at 
standard higlit on some erect-growing, vigor¬ 
ous kind. Being so vigorous a grower, it is 
not an early bearer, but it abundantly makes 
up for the delay when the great spreading 
trees, after eight or ten years of growth, lie- 
gin to cover themselves with the noble fruit; 
for it is one of tho largest and showiest kinds, 
as distinguished-looking in color, form and 
grandeur of proportion as is the Duke of Marl¬ 
borough of Blenheim himself, at court, cov¬ 
ered with his insignia. The finest samples are 
said to roach England from Canada. In the 
latitude of New York the Blenheim often 
ripens in the Full, and does not, keep longer 
than Christmas. The flesh is crisp and crack¬ 
ling and the flavor tart like that of most Eng¬ 
lish dessert, apples, but it is drier than they 
usually arc, less acid than Dutch Mignomie, 
aud with a delicate, pungent, raspberry-like 
flavor, when in perfection. As to the deri vn- 
tion of the word pippin from pip (a seed) it is 
hardly maintainable. The name is reserved 
in England and here for large, handsome, re¬ 
fined-looking, flue-flavored apples; and I re¬ 
member that pips or sjiots upon the surface 
were one of the points of a pippin. It was the 
farthest possible of apples from a mere ‘seed¬ 
ling.’ Dutch Mignonne and Ribston Pippin re¬ 
semble it considerably both in manner of 
growth and appearance of fruit, w. 
The Baldwin Apple Losing Favor. 
What is the present opinion of fruit-growers 
as to the future position of the Baldwin as a 
market apple 1 Looking closely at the New 
York w holesale prices of half-a-dozen of the 
loading market, varieties for tho past two or 
three years, there seems to be evidence that 
the best day’s of the Baldwin tire over. For 
instance, in the early part of the Winter the 
King has uniformly reached higher figures 
than the Baldwin. The Rhode Island Groan¬ 
ing, Northern Spy and Spitzenburgh also rank 
higher in the price-lists. Why, then, is the 
Baldwin so persistently recommended as the 
best, variety for present planting for market 
purposes? Isn’t it possible that this is done from 
past experience rather than from conviction 
based upon the present state and tendencies of 
the market and tho apparent falling off in the 
character of this old favorite? a. m. k. 
[There are many apples superior in quality 
to the Baldwin; many grapes superior to 
the Concord; many T strawberries superior to 
the Wilson; many pears superior to the Duch- 
esse, etc., etc. As market varieties, taking one 
