Vol XLII. No 1730. 
NEW YORK, MARCH 24, 1883. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
*2.00 PER YEAR. 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by the Rural New-Yorker, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
fielir Crops. 
(Jrxpeviment 6vauml$ of the ituvat 
ilnv-Hlovhct. 
POTATO TESTS CONTINUED. 
ONDER. Test No. 
56. — Planted May 
‘JO as above. Rus¬ 
set-like skin,pinkish 
about eyes, irregu¬ 
lar surface, round- 
isli-flattened. White 
flesh. Originated 
from the Peach- 
blovr. In our yield 
there were few 
small — all were 
shapely. The yield 
was 205 bushels to 
the acre. Large 
aud small, 72,600, 
The largest live weighed two pounds, four 
ounces. Quality not yet tested. Our engrav¬ 
ing shows the characteristic shape and aver¬ 
age size. See figure 178. 
Chautauqua Beauty. Test No. 55.—Sent 
to us by Mr. J. Ingersoll, of Kiantine, Chau¬ 
tauqua Co., N. Y. Planted May 26. Seed po¬ 
tatoes were handsome, regular, finely pre¬ 
served. One measured 5}^ inches long, 2}-{ 
wide—many eyes, not stmkeu, as showu by our 
portrait which shows the average size of our 
crop. The skin was white, piuk about the 
eyes; white flesh, slight liue of purple beneath 
the skin. The skin of our own potatoes from 
this seed was buff and red mixed, not distinct¬ 
ly blotched or striped. The yield was 206 
bushels to the acre. Large and small potatoes 
90,750 to the acre. Best live weighed one 
pound 15 ounces. Quality: tasteless, of the 
best quality. Very fine grain, floury on sur¬ 
face, dry within, the grains separating in the 
mouth without salviuess. See figure 125. 
Faultless, Test No. 57.—This is from seed 
of the above. Much the same shape as the en¬ 
graving (Fig. 188) shows. Planted same date. 
The potatoes could scarcely lie more closely to¬ 
gether. One forkful clears the hill. In color 
of skin some were red and buff, some all buff, 
some all red. Uniform in shape—few small, 
none very large. The yield was -114,70 bushels 
to the acre. Large and small, 105,788. Largest 
live weighed two pounds six ounces. Eaten 
September 80. Floury, dry, mealy and good. 
Wysor's Peach blow. Test No. 9.—Origi¬ 
nated with Hugh L. Wysor, Newborn, Va. 
Seed round and small. Splendidly preserved. 
White skin, yellow flesh. The potatoes of our 
yield were often splashed with bright red. The 
yield was 408.82 bushels to the acre. Large 
aud small, 169,400. Largest live weighed two 
pounds five ounces. Quality nutty, dry and 
excellent. 
Mammoth Pearl. Test No. 27.—Planted 
April 14. This was tested lust year. The 
yield was then light. Light skin; in shape 
roundish-flat. The average was not so many 
large potatoes as last year, though a few were 
larger. The largest potato weighed 19 ounces. 
Yield, 514.21 bushels to the acre. Large aud 
small, 117,612 to the acre. September 15, eat¬ 
en by six persons. All pronounced it “watery” 
or “salvy.” 
Belle. Test 26.—Planted April 14. Skin 
buff aud rose-colored. Yield 486.92 bushels to 
the acre. Small and lurge, 79,050. Five heav¬ 
iest three pounds 15 ounces. 
Matchless. Test No. 19.—From B. K. 
Bliss & Sons, New York. Planted April 14. 
White skin, line shupe, smooth, round ish-flafc- 
tened. Yield, 411.40 bushels to the acre. 
Large and small, 194,56S to the acre, mak¬ 
ing the average size small. Five largest 
weighed 27 ounces. Eaten November 28— 
tasteless, dry—of the best quality. 
Waverly. Test No. 51.—From W. H. 
Page, Norwich, Conn. Planted April 3. 
Characteristic shape of Beauty of Hebron. 
One of the shapeliest potatoes for one of so 
large a size. Smooth, few eyes, and those on 
the surface. Pinkish skin. Yield, 826.70 bush¬ 
els to the acre. Large and small, 135,100. 
Five of the best average weighed 42 ounces. 
Quality quite dry and mealy—tasteless. 
The above seed potatoes were cut to one 
strong or two weaker eyes aud planted one 
ground with only a slight covering unless they 
can be planted at once in the seed drills. Mr. 
J. J. Jenkins, often quoted as a successful 
grower of forest seedlings, says: “White 
Ash will not grow the first year if planted 
dry in the Spring; the seeds may be kept in 
moist sand, or they may be “sandwiched” be¬ 
tween la3’ers of forest leaves, which is the near¬ 
est approach to Nature's unerring method of 
keeping tree seeds.” The same is true of the 
Blue and the Black Ash, and of the Fraxinus 
Chautauqua Beauty—From Nature—Fig. 125. 
foot apai-t in drills three feet apart. The soil 
was a clayey loam. At the rate of 500 pounds 
to the acre of Baker's Potato Fertilizer was 
sown broadcast., and upon the seed pieces, 
lightly covered with soil, another 500 pounds 
of the same fertilizer per acre were strewn in 
the wide drills. The cultivation was perfectly 
flat. A hand cultivator alone was used be¬ 
tween the drills. Paris-green was applied 
twice to the potato grubs. The early beetles 
were removed by hand picking. 
^Irb oricii Uitrot. 
FORESTRY No. 33. 
Forest Nursery. Part IV. 
DR. JOHN A. WARDER. 
Ash seals, Alders and Birches, Hornbeams, 
Tulip-trees, Catalpas. 
SOFT SEEDS, CONTINUED. 
The several species of ash ripen in the early 
Autumn, when they should be gathered from 
elatior of Europe, but the widely distributed 
Green Ash grows readily from the seed, as is 
well known to every prairie nurseryman. 
Alders and birches have small winged seeds 
in dry aments that may be gathered in the Fall 
or early Winter: when they are easily shed out 
from their’ catkins, and may be stored in the 
seed-room or, better, planted in prepared beds 
rather than in drills, as their growth is apt to 
be slender during the first Summer, and they 
will need nursing after being pricked out into 
seedling beds or nursery rows. In sowing 
such small seeds they should be covered very 
slightly or simply firmed by pressing the sur¬ 
face—they should also be slightly shaded, both 
when sow u and after they have germinated. 
The hornbeams, having winged nutlets, may 
be grouped here. They ripen in the Fall, 
when they should he stored for Spring sowing 
in beds or boxes, if not planted at once to get 
the benefit of Winter frosts: they are often slow. 
The Tulip-Tree has cone-shaped clusters of 
winged seeds, which should be gathered from 
the trees before they are quite ripe enough to 
be shed. They may be sown in beds or in 
Wysor’s Peach blow—From Nature— Fig. 126. 
the trees, and after a partial drying they con 
be consigned to the seed-room. Some of 
the species when thoroughly dried, so far 
lose their power of germinating as to lie 
dormant u year after planting in the Spring; 
hence it is found best to winter them upon the 
drills in Fall or Spring, putting (hem in rather 
thickly, because many of the seeds ore infer¬ 
tile. Each lot of the cones should be critically 
examined so as to ascertain the proportion of vi¬ 
able seeds,as this will enable the planter to judge 
of the amount necessary to insure a good stand 
of plants. Mr. Jenkins thinks that not more 
than one-third of the seeds of this species are 
fertile. 
Bagneris says that the seeds of hornbeam 
and ash do not generally germinate until the 
second Spring after their fall. These seeds 
are liable to dry up. They cannot be sown di¬ 
rectly in the forest with success and need the 
nursery culture. They keep well enough when 
placed in rather shallow holes dug in the 
ground, and covered with earth, where they 
may remain until the second Spring. 
CATALPAS. 
The seeds of the species of catalpa are pro¬ 
duced in long, rather slender, pods. The fruit 
ripens with the fall of the leaf and hangs until 
Winter, but should be gathered as soon as the 
pods are dry and before they open to shed 
their contents. When sufficiently dried under 
cover they are easily tramped or thrashed and 
separated, when they may be stored until 
planting time in the Spring, but they must be 
guarded from the inroads of mice, which are 
very fond of the oily seeds, and the soft mem¬ 
branaceous wings furnish a favorite nesting 
material. 
The oily nature of these seeds makes them 
liable to become rancid, and thus lose their vi¬ 
tality if kept over S umm er; they should be 
planted the first year. The Catalpa speciosa 
is the most valuable species for timber pur¬ 
poses: the C. Kaempferi from China, though 
growing rapidly when young, appears to be 
only a small tree at maturity, and the new so- 
called hybrid of Mr. Teas, which is remarka¬ 
bly vigorous iu its first years, has not been 
known long enough to be recommended for ex¬ 
tensive forest plantations, though a very prom¬ 
ising tree for ornamental planting. The East¬ 
ern or Southeastern species, C. bignonioides, 
from Georgia, long known and widely dissem¬ 
inated. is in every way an inferior tree to the 
Speciosa. and should be discarded from the lists 
of desirable forest trees. These several species 
may all be distinguished by their seeds after 
an inspection and comparison. 
Sowing: —When the ground has been well 
prepared and after it has been warmed by the 
sunshine in the Spring, shallow furrows or 
drills may be made by a light plow or by a 
corn-marker, into which the seeds, without 
any preparation, may be dropped by hand, 
rather thickly, so as to lie an inch apart in the 
furrow, and they must be covered at once with 
fine soil from a quarter to a half inch deep, 
j according to the character and condition of 
the ground as to humidity, and to the prospect 
of showers; if the soil be very loose and sandy 
it may be firmed with advantage by using a 
light roller. The seeds soon germinate, when 
they should be well cultivated aud kept clean 
during the early part of the season. Vegeta¬ 
tion is checked and the leaves fall with the first 
frost; after remaining a few days for the tis¬ 
sues to harden the young trees may be taken 
up with a spade or by a small tree-digger, or 
even by using a small one-horse sub-soil or 
share-plow’—when they arc gathered, assorted 
for size and stored in cellars, or heeled in se¬ 
curely out-doors unless it be preferred to plant 
them at once in their penmyneut locations. 
Mr. C. Teas, formerly of Indiana, where he 
was the first to propagate the valuable C. 
speciosa aud to distribute it widely, has had so 
much experience in its culture that his state¬ 
ments may very appropriately be quoted: 
“ The seed is very light and thin, it does not 
require soaking, freezing or other preparation, 
as most seeds do. The. best time to plant is 
after the ground has become warmed by the 
sun and when the Spring frosts are mostly 
past, say in April or May. The ground should 
be made mellow and smooth by plowing and 
harrowing, then laid off in drills about an inch 
deep, and three-ond-a -half or four feet apart, 
unless in small lota to be worked by hand, 
when two feet will suffice; but in larger lots 
most of the work can be done more cheaply 
