MARCH @4 
THE RURAL, WEW-YORKER. 
495 
riefcy by the New Orleans people, was a visi t 
to the orange grove of Major Roundtree, 
where all celebrated Washington's birthday 
with a dinner under the orange trees, which 
still retained a portion of their last year’s 
fruit., and were thou crowned with their 
wreaths of bridal flowers. Major Koundtree 
has something over 7,(1110 trees in 11 1 is orchard, 
and ns \vc stood looking down the rows three- 
quarters of a mile in length, and breathed the 
delicious fragrance of the soft, and balmy air, 
we could hardly realize the snow and ice and 
frozen peach buds which we had left only four 
days ago. Major Roundtree told me that 
from about 0,000 trees in bearing, two years 
ago, his sales amounted to about£1,000. A 
severe freeze the next year cut the sales down 
to $1,000, while last year his receipts were 
over $s,()00, and that with ordinary success 
this year sales would aggregate fully $12,000. 
The Society completed its business on Satur¬ 
day evening, one of the closing ceremonies be¬ 
ing the presentation of a beautiful gold watch 
to Prof. Tracy, who has acted as Secretary of 
the Society ever since its organization. Ow¬ 
ing to the pressure of other duties, he declined 
a renomination, and the election of officers for 
the ensuing y car resulted ns follows, us men¬ 
tioned in the Rural of March 3:—President, 
Parker Earle, of Cobden, Ill.; First Vice- 
President, S. H. Nowlin, of Little Rock, Ark.: 
Secretary, W. H. Kagan, of Clayton, lad.; 
Treasurer, J. C. Evans, of Harlem, Mo. 
After adjournment the Society went to Mo¬ 
bile to visit the truck gardens, which are prob¬ 
ably more extensive there than anywhere else 
in the South. Fields of from 20 to 30 acres of 
cabbage were very common, andsnme garden¬ 
ers had as much as so acres devoted to this one 
crop. As the crop was then being sold at an 
average of about nine cents per head, and was 
being cleared from the ground in time for to¬ 
matoes and potatoes, it proves a very profita¬ 
ble Winter investment. 
But the best of days must end, and reluct¬ 
antly we bade farewell to the sunny shores of 
the Gulf of Mexico, hunted up our forgotten 
overcoats, and in oil hours we were shivering 
over our stoves with an out-door temperature 
of only five degrees above zero. “Hartford.” 
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY HORTICUL¬ 
TURAL SOCIETY. 
[RURAL Special Report.] 
This organization held its fourth annual 
meeting in the city of New Orleans, La.. Feb¬ 
ruary 21 to 24 inclusive, the Hon. Parker 
Earle. Cobden, 111., being President, and Prof. 
S. M. Tracy, Columbia College. Mo., Secretary. 
There was an excellent attendance of repre¬ 
sentative men and women not only from the 
valley of the Mississippi but from Eastern and 
Gulf States, The press. too, from various 
pa its of the United States was well represent¬ 
ed. The meeting would have been much larg¬ 
er but for the great flood prevailing along 
the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and their trib¬ 
utaries. 
The people of New Orleans, in the exercise 
of that hospitality for which Southerners have 
ever been characterized, left nothing undone 
to make enjoyable and profitable the visit of 
the many from other and distant parts of the 
country, iu fact, acceptance of numerous 
courtesies wore such as to result in the inva¬ 
sion, seriously, of business hours. 
A steamboat excursion was given, down and 
up the river to the famous orange grove of 
Major Roundtree, participated in by all visit¬ 
ors and mauy prominent gentlemen and la¬ 
dies of New Orleans. After the labors of the 
convention had closed, the good friends at Mo¬ 
bile, Ala., tendered u special railroad train, 
and the hospitalities of the city, wliieli were 
accepted and greatly enjoyed. 
(Jut of these meetings of men and women 
from distant and different parts of the coun¬ 
try much good will come in many ways, not 
the least among which will be a healing ten¬ 
dency of sectionalism, and a closing of the 
“bloody chasm,” of which all parts of the 
country have heard and read so much of late 
years. It has been the writer's good pleasure 
to attend many such meetings since “this cruel 
war was ended.” Let there In* more of them. 
During the session of the Society a large 
number of valuable papers were read and dis¬ 
cussed, pertaining not only to horticulture, 
hut agriculture generally, forestry and ot her 
kindred subjects. A month’s time could have 
been put in profitably. 
President Earle was re-elected. Professor 
Tracy's professional engagements compelled 
him to decline re-elect ion. He had served the 
Society faithfully from its organization with- 
out- compensation, A few minutes’ work re¬ 
sulted iu a voluntary cont ribut ion, with which 
a handsome gold watch was purchased and 
presented to t he Professor. \V. H. Itagan, of 
Indiana, was elected to succeed him. 
The next meeting will be held at Louisville, 
Ky.. some time in September next, when it is 
proposed o have the largest fruit exhibit 
nowu of anywhere. r. w. k. 
Remedy for Cabbage Worm. 
Thk cabling!•-worm has been so destructive 
here for the last three or four veers that we 
could not. raise any cabbage. Last year two 
of my neighbors raised good heads and not a 
worm could Is* found in the patch. One of 
them had a few plants of tobacco in the patch; 
the other had n tobacco patch adjoining the 
cabbage patch. t. k. h. 
(Jl)C Poultry Davt). 
PLAN OF POULTRY HOUSE AND 
YARD. 
[For Illustrations, see pane i9,.] 
A, Fm. 153, is a hatching room (12x12 feet) in 
the Spring, fattening room during the Fall 
and retreat and feeding room during the 
Winter when the hatching bins have been 
placed iu one corner piled up. Floor, sand 
gravel and ashes. B. 12x12 feet with board floor 
about two feet aljove ground, is used for laying, 
roosting und exit to the yard. C. is an inclosed 
yard, which should lx* as huge as convenient, 
so that the chickens or fowls are not crowded. 
Soil sandy and kept dug up about three feet, 
the length of the yard, and well supplied in that 
space with w ood and sifted coal ashes. I), is a 
shod with glass front about five feet high and 
12 feet long close Up to the house and covering 
tin entrance to B. at K. It serves for n retreat, 
in stormy weather and keeps B. warm. E, 
low shrubbery for shade ami scratching. F, 
water tanks kept supplied with fresh water. G. 
plank walk in frontof laying boxes, somewhat 
covered as iu side view 1 . H. hatching bins 
about three by three feet with slunting roofs, 
tight board partitions and slat fronts; they 
are large enough to allow the hen some exer¬ 
cise, and an opportunity to scratch in the sand 
without being disturbed by the others. In the 
FalJ we put therein poultry for fattening pur¬ 
poses and a week or 10 days if properly fed, 
make them all that can be desired. J. shows 
two or three rows of boxes, 1:ix 1- inches, and 
loose in the partitioned shelves for laying: they 
are filled about half full with dried Arbor- 
vibe leaves and chaff and wood ashes. They 
are easily kept.clean and free from vermin on 
account of not being fastened. At .r are said 
boxes in position with sitting hens. At 
Fig. 156, K. shows entrance holes from the 
yard and from A to B. which have a slide, anti 
when closed at night, keep out all intruders. 
L. stops to the floor of B. and also to the roost 
SEED CORN. 
See IU. UAL of Feb. 17 th 
description by br. 
-Sturtevantmi 1st page. 
Yellow Flint, ? row etl, ha? produced 123 bushels |mr 
acre. The most rnrefutly bred Italian corn In exist¬ 
ence. Our need wns grown on Wnushaknni Farm and 
from seed selected by Dr. Stnrfe vnnt Bushel. *1 
peek, $1.25; i|imrt, by mull. 13 rente. 
Sibley’s Pride 
Yellow bent, tit- 
rowed: earliest nio- 
, taring Dent Corn 
grown. Originated and the seed Is grown on the 
northern border of Iowa. If ripened In Minnesota 
Michigan, New York, Vermont, etc., last season, the 
worst for corn in 25 years, In many localities where 
bent Corn had not before been ripened. Ordinary 
yields, 9U to 100 bushels per aere. Bushel, $4.50; peek 
$1.25; rinart, by mall 45 cents. 
IS SCARCE. 
During the last unfavorable season very little corn 
matured suitable for seed, therefore 
Get the Best. 
We keep full stocks of all the standard varieties of 
Seed Corn which we are confident will germinate, 
because we semi out none except Its vitality has been 
Carefully Tested. 
We have recently published the only work of the 
kind ever Issued, n GRAIN AND FARM SEEDS MAN¬ 
UAL (Illustrated, S3 pages), containing histories of 
Indian Corn, Wheat and other cereals, by Dr. E. L. 
Sturtevaui; Methods of Culture by B. F. Johnson. 
Essay on Grasses by Prof. W. J. Deal; and descrip¬ 
tions of all the new anil standard varieties of Farm 
Seeds. Price 10 cents. Annual Catalogue and Price 
List Peek. 
HIRAM SIBLEY A CO.. Seedsmen. 
Rochester. N. Y.. and Chicago, Ill. 
M.v Annual Priced Catalogue now ready and mailed 
free to all applicants. It contains all the leading and 
most popular sorts of 
"Vegetable, Field, 
AND 
Flower Seeds- 
Besides all the desirable novelties of last season, and 
nearlv everything else In my line of business. 
ALFRE0 BRiDGEMAN. 
3? East tilth Street. NEW YORK CITY. 
above, M. windows. N. ventilator. O. roost 
sticks about 14 inches apart bv eight inches 
above the lower roof. P. Inside double roof 
beginning at the top about 30 inches from the 
outside roof, increasing in slant to about 5 l < 
feet from the floor in B. with space to allow all 
droppings to fall close to the wall out of the 
wav. CJ. aiv the several doors, provided with 
lock and key to prevent “temptations." 
In ortler to succeed in obtaining plenty of 
eggs and raising poultry, 1 find it essential to 
kwp all parts of the house clean. I therefore 
have early in the Spring, and again in the mid¬ 
summer, the whole inside, the space between 
the double roofs, the layiug Ijoxoh and their 
shelves thoroughly white-washed, and the 
roost poles at the same time moistened with 
kerosene. The ground floor in A. Fig. 153, is 
ralti-d and loosened; the board floor iu B. 
cleaned and swept once a week; the droppings 
of the fowls are then mixed with wood ashes* 
and packed in barrels, placed in a dry place 
for later use, forming ns tine a guano manure 
as can be found in the market at considerable 
less cost. I lmd as much as 35 barrels per an¬ 
num of this excellent fertilizer when kee]»- 
ing more fowls. Give the fowls n variety of 
food at regular intervals, plenty of goud, soft 
water and loose soil and sharp sand, with ac¬ 
cess to wood ashes and coal ashes, which con¬ 
tain material for assisting iu making the shells 
of eggs. Keep A. and B. somewhat darkened 
as the hens prefer seclusion to bright day-light 
for laying and hatching. IVhen i find a hen 
ready to hatch I select 13 well-shaped eggs, put 
them in a box from the laying shelves, placed 
it one of the hatching-bins H. in A. and carry 
th© heu, after roosting time, in her owu 1k>x 
to her new apartment very gently and put her 
on the eggs. She soon feels satisfied, as the 
closed slats kwp her entirely to herself and the 
bin is large enough for exorcise. During hot 
weather, suv June, July and \ugust. give suf¬ 
ficient, but not direct, ventilation upon the 
fowls. I take the windows out and put in 
their places frames with slats, like blinds, 
stationary and not far a part. These udtuit air 
and give shade at. the same time. As soon as 
it gets cooler the window s are replaced. We 
got plenty of eggs and the hatchings average 
fully 11 chicks from settings of 13 eggs. In 
the upper part of A, I have arranged box-neats 
for pigeons, with exit holes over the windows, 
and they do exceedingly well there This 
hennery answers well for about 130 fowls, and 
should 1 h> enlarged in proportion to a greater 
number. Wm, f. Heins. 
♦ [IT Is a bail plan to mix hen manure with wood 
uslicH. as we have often pointed out.—Ens.) 
SMALL FRUIT PLANTS, WX 
leading varieties, both new and old, at reasonable 
rates. New Illustrated Catalogue free. Address 
IRVING ALLEN, Springfield. Mass. 
SEED POTATOES. 
WHITE STAR anil BROWNELL'S BEST,*5: EARLY 
TELEPHONE, $4.Ml, HKI.I.K, $. WHITE ELEPHANT 
amt EARLY BEAUTY OF HEBRON, *3.V! per bbl. 
One bushel lof *5 lbs > at half price of a bbt. I few 
bbls. of second size, suitable for seed at one-half 
above price*. All wlil tie put up In gm*l Ib'Ur barrels 
and shipped soon as safe from frost when conve¬ 
nient remit by money order on Ft. Edward. N.Y.l'.o. 
FRANK QU A, Hartford. Washington Co., N. Y. 
THE RURAL 
Premium Corn. 
Thoroughbred Flint, 
and Rural Dent. 
Price of each, 25 cents per packet: 60 cents 
per pint; J 1.00 per quart, bv mail, post-paid, 
B. K. BLISS & SONS. 34 Barclay St., N. Y. 
GRAPE VINES! 
I nnn nnn of Concord, 1 venr. $15 to$2Uper 1,000: 
I . UUU, UUU ~ years. 835 to $40. All Othoi varieties 
cheap. 
UK. II. Si’ll IS «K 
plnnt: 
»KU. 
Itbmmll'gton, Illinois. 
W/?SERYtS» 
Hardy Trees, Shrubs, Vines, Hoses. «C. New .-spring 
PRICK LIST, with prices per vj. mi, ;,'Hi. mailed 
hike. Send stamp for descriptive l-Rl lTand Illus¬ 
trated ORNAMENTAL catalogues, ti cents, fair 
prices, prompt intention ami reliable stock. 
Address \\ H.s». LITTLE, Rochester. N. Y. 
GROWN AND IMPORTED EXPRESSLY FOB 
MARKET GARDENEKS. 
; Wholesale Price List sent free to all engaged In 
growing vegetable lor market, 
.A I). COWAN ,Y CO., lUChnmbersNt., New York. 
CRAPE VINES. 
—Nursery Established 25 Years.— 
Delaware and Lady Vines at special Tow rail's by the 
100 or loon. By mail, ■> of either, for * 1 . 00 , or U of "each 
for 42.00. Also our 100 varieties, host, new and old 
sorts, including Concord, Hartford, Ives, Iona, Early 
Victor, Pocklington, Prentiss, Jefferson, Vergennes, 
Ae„ Ac, Also other small fruits. Splendid Stock. 
Prices low. Catalogue Free. 
GKO. \V. CAMPBELL. Delaware, Ohio 
Kissena Nurseries, 
Trees and Plants. 
Parsons & Sons Co., 
LIMITED. 
Flushing, N. Y. 
TO NURSERYMEN. 
I have a large number of 
new v arletlea of Potatoes, 
Grape-vines, Clover Seeds, etc., recently Imported, 
which r will sell cheap. Address F. IIOUFNAGEL, lid) 
Graham Av.. Brooklyn. E. lb, N. Y. 
SPECIAL PRICES 
for large quantities. Fine 
stock or Garden Peas, 
„ own growth; Imfrovkp 
i klt.ow Danvku Onion sfud. Descriptive Catalogue 
of other Seeds, Plants, vines, etc., mailed free. Ad¬ 
dress JOHN H. M VEILS, Saratoga Springs, NT. Y. 
NFW RD9P9 Our Catalogue No. 7. describing 
IlLil I1UOLO, the best Boses recently intro¬ 
duced, is now randy. It la u carefully compiled, 
systematized index—the only catalogue in which a 
variety can be found at a glance. Free to all appli¬ 
cants. EL LAV ANGER At. BARRY, 
Rochester, N. Y. 
MALLFRUITS 
CARNATIONS 
ROSES and PANSIES 
UvOnc Dollar! ollectinns, 
safe arrival by mml. guaran¬ 
tee.!, are the CHOICEST 
in cultivation. My Carna¬ 
tions. Geranium?, Pansies. 
Hardy Hoses, CtiiYsanthe- 
R.utitsand Grape Vines nm 
especially good. A cata¬ 
logue with ./"I! itmlrurtiou* 
for t>*W culture of SMALL 
FRUITS and FLOWER 
P L A N TS /rtt uppUratum. 
GS.WALES NrTvSS: 
Apple Tree Planters 
Will prefer for Spring setting, tree? unharmed by the 
past severe Winter. Save a few Irou-clads, our en¬ 
tire stock of one ami two year apples was last Fall 
taken up and packed in moss in u frost proof store- 
cellar; henee they are perfectly sound. Assortment 
very large, both uld and New Northern and Russian 
kinds. 
POTATOES— Many choice varieties. Catalogue 
free. F. R. PH.JEN IX, 
Phoenix Nursery, Delavan, Wla. 
SMALL FRUIT PLANTS. 
Strawberries. Raspberries, Blackberries, Grapes. 
&c. Good plants at reasonable prices. Send tor full 
descriptive price list to COE A CONVERSE, 
Fort Atkinson, Wls, 
Raspberry, the host. Every one should 
have It. all KuialI nYulr. Send for Cata 
logue free. 
J. IRVIN JOHNSON, 
PALMYRA, Wayne Co.. N. Y. 
Hidwel!, Manchester, Janies Tick, Sharpless 
and over one hundred other 
STRAWBERRIES 
for sale In large or small quantities. Also a full nssor 
meat of Raspberries, C 111 'runts, buoseberrirs. 
Blackberries, and Grapes, true to name and care 
fully handled and packed. New and promising varie¬ 
ties'a specialty. Price list free to all applicants. 
T. T. LYON, iSontli Haven, Mich. 
“EL PASO” POTATO. 
Propagated and for snlc hy J. M. STONLBRAKER 
Panola, Ill., ami 410 W. Baltimore st., Baltimore, Md. 
Circulars giving price, history. and much other infor¬ 
mation, malledyrce ou application, to any address. 
"‘TPS* 
_ —J&on 18Q3 —_ 
Will be named fkjus to *JT sppucanta. *nd to cus¬ 
tomers of last year without orauring It It contain? 
»bout 175 page*, Aw illustrations, prices, accurate 
_ Trees,etc. Invaluable to a 
lolly to Market Gardener*. Scad for it J 
D. M. FERRY &. CO. Detroit Mich- 
500.000 Manchester 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS, 
Bv Tint Originator at Reduced Price* for Spring 
of 1JW3. Huy nt the fountain heap and get the pi ke. 
Averages twice a* large as the \\ Usou and y adds fully 
double the number of quARTS tier acre: is an excel 
lent shipper, vkky attbactptk in appearance. or ex 
CKU.KNT flavor, and retains Its color ami flavor to a 
remarkable degree after being picked. Circulars 
free at an early date. J. BATTKY, 
.Manchester, N. J. 
A NEW TOMATO. 
The ROCHESTER is the product of a cross be 
tween the Acme and Lester’s Perfected, and is own 
sister to the Mayflower. As large as the Garfield, but 
as smooth as the Acme. It is undoubtedly the lar¬ 
gest smooth Tomato. Firm, dark skin; bears 
transportation well; absolutely no cores ripens 
close to the stem; did not decay last season on heavy 
or light soil, delicious flavor. For sale by the 
packet only, -A ot». t five packets. HI.00. 
1IIKA.U SIBLEY A CO M Seedsmen, 
Roeheter, N. V, Chicago, 111. 
DBT IF YOU LOVE 
R VRK FLOWERS, semi lilc. for packet of Hibis¬ 
cus Coecineus sred, ourspeclalty for l)-S3, One of the 
choicest nevN plants grown, Blooms first summer rrom 
seed. 12 packets s>« d$t. Plants$1 each. PINGRHK A 
KINGS IKY. Seedsmen, Box 4 tJ, New Haven, Conn. 
