JUNE 2 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 1883. 
Ttte wide-awake agricultural editor of 
the New York Sun says that, “our best 
botanists admit that they know nothing 
of the seed of Bermuda Grass.” This 
editor has been sleeping. He ought to 
read the Rural. We could have shown 
him, as our readers know, a plot of Ber¬ 
muda Grass from seed two years ago. 
The Sharpless Strawberry has proved 
to be just about all that was claimed for 
it when olfercd for sale—a surprising 
thiug! It is, however, a matter of prin¬ 
ciple with the good, old, enterprising firm 
that distributed it to test new claimants 
for public favor thoroughly before adver¬ 
tising them for sale. The rule is to praise 
them to the skies tirst and test them 
afterwards—which usually proves to be a 
veductio-ad-absurdum process. 
We are gratified to know that the Ru¬ 
ral Niagara Grape seeds have, where care 
has been taken, sprouted and grown 
freely. The next step is to transplant 
them. They may be transplanted either 
to the open ground or to small pots, being 
careful iu either case to remove them with 
all the earth about the roots that can he 
made to adhere. Keep the soil moist and 
mellow- about the vines. By “moist” yve 
mean not wet by any means, but merely a 
preservation of some moisture about the 
roots so that the vines may be kept grow¬ 
ing. In the Fall it will be well to protect 
them from the Winter. 
-♦- 
RooT-PRUNrNG of corn, indeed! What 
a fuss was made over this a few- years ago. 
And how much harm its positive advoca¬ 
cy by a few enthusiastic individuals and 
parlor agricultural journals brought! It 
is now five years ago since the Rural gave 
its method of corn-planting and cultiva¬ 
tion to the country, viz.: “Plow T well 
before planting and nor after: surface 
broadcast manuring or lertilizing; dril¬ 
ling in the seed; flat and shallow culti¬ 
vation.” Many of our friends who have 
tried this method write us that they could 
not be induced to return to the old method. 
Corn needs all its roots and this is es¬ 
pecially true in dry seasons. 
From our own experience with millet 
we do not believe it will ever pay to sow 
it on poor land or even on rich land that 
is but half fitted. We have grown it and 
Hungarian Grass, which is also a millet, 
for three j'enrs on light soil, and have nev¬ 
er succeeded in obtaining a satisfactory 
yield. In one case we attributed this to 
the fact that the land was not well 
prepared; in another to drought, though 
it is said to withstand drought well, and 
in the third instance to poor land and 
poor preparation. Writers instruct us to 
sow iu June with the assurance it will ma¬ 
ture in 60 day 5, or less. That is true, but 
we have never seen even a fair yield on 
any kind of land if grown during a very 
dry season. We have sown one bushel 
(48 pounds) to the acre. 
In view of the terrible suffering and 
great loss inflicted by the late tornadoes 
and cyclones in so many parts of Illinois, 
Iowa and Missouri, it is earnestly to be 
hoped that neighborly generosity and 
charity will promptly relieve the great 
distress that must prevail in man}' places. 
While the deaths are reported at over 100, 
the maimed and wounded triple that 
number at the lowest computation. The 
aggregate loss of property has not yet 
been estimated, but from estimates made 
in special cases, it must run into millions. 
The distress will, of course, be circum¬ 
scribed, as the track of the cyclone is al¬ 
ways narrow. Local liberality, therefore, 
must be depended upon to relieve it; and 
we sincerely hope that, local liberality w ill 
not be found deficient. 
As we anticipated, Queen Victoria's 
recent efforts to discourage thu consump¬ 
tion of Spring lamb have caused consider¬ 
able dissatisfaction among English sheep- 
owners. At a recent meeting of the Berks 
and Oxon Association for Promoting the 
Welfare of Agriculture resolutions were 
unanimously passed declaring that, while 
the meeting fully recognized the desira¬ 
bleness of an increase in the stock of 
sheep and in the meat supply, it was of 
opinion that discouraging the use of lamb 
w'as a very sure way of defeating both 
these objects, and also that the sudden 
diminution of the demand for lamb meat 
must inflict serious logs on those who had 
arranged their farming operations for its 
production. Owing to a multitude of 
such representations Her Majesty has 
modified her order; but the whole affair 
w as au instance of ignorant, ill-considered 
interference in ordinary industrial ar¬ 
rangements. 
According to Secretary C. R. Garfield, 
(Mich. Hort. Society), careful observers 
are of opinion that the large proportion 
of one-sided apples last year was due to 
imperfect fertilization of the flow ers. That 
means, presumably, that of the usual five 
divisions of the core, only those on the 
sw ollen side of the apple contained seeds. 
But. we often find fleshy fruits containing 
no seed at all, and this is a constant case 
with regard to some sorts of pears, grapes, 
oranges, etc. Strawberries have been 
known to develop well ns to the flesh 
of the berry w ithout containing any fer¬ 
tilized seeds, and it is a question with 
many -whether the proximity of a stami- 
nate sort is in all cases essential to pro¬ 
ductiveness so far as the edible part of the 
berry is concerned. This is an inviting 
field for observation, and w 7 e shall be glad 
to publish the results of any careful isola¬ 
tion of pistillate flowers, or of examination 
of fruits imperfectly fertilized, with a view 7 
of determining whether pollen contact is 
essential to the development of the fleshy 
covering, in esses where it may fail to 
fructify the seed. 
-- 
Since large capitalists have entered the 
business of raising cattle in Texas, great 
bodies of laud have been bought up for 
ranges and fenced, and soon desirable 
free pastures will be a thing of the 
past, especially as the Legislature lately 
passed an act leasing the public lands. 
Great areas of these leased lands, too, 
have recently been inclosed in wire 
fences, and the cowboys, seeing that their 
occupation is almost gone, have resorted 
to terrorizing measures to prevent further 
fencing in the northern and northwestern 
parts of the State. In many instances 
the wire fences have been cut, and threat¬ 
ening placards affixed to the fence posts, 
such as “We have fought the wmlves and 
Indians and will now fight the stockmen.” 
The question of an increase of wages is 
becoming subordinate to that of any wages 
at all. Raising stock in fenced pastures is 
no doubt a great improvement on open 
range herding, and what great improve¬ 
ment has ever" been made in general prac¬ 
tice that did not cause a great deal of 
special misery? In all cases the rule is 
that one general advantage entails a thou¬ 
sand individual hardships. 
PROGRESS OF RURAL FIELD WORK. 
Since our last record we have planted 
Winslow’s Seedling from Aaron Low, Es¬ 
sex Co., Mass., iu three different ways. 
Iu the first the manure (different kinds— 
ashes, potato fertilizer, hen manure and 
old stable manure), was spread above the 
seed pieces; in the second, befoir. In the 
third no manure was used. We have also 
planted Lady Franklin, from Jno. J. 
Kiesling, of Michigan. Mr, Iv. says that 
it is a new late potato which grows thrift¬ 
ily until the tops are killed by frost and 
that it has yielded at the rate of 645 bush¬ 
els per acre with poor cultivation. He 
regards it as a good table potato and a 
first-rate keeper. As he lias kept no 
record of liis seedling potatoes, its parent¬ 
age is unknown. We have received 10 
other new potatoes from our subscribers, 
but as the cards or letters of advice were 
not sent at the same time, we have no 
means of naming them correctly. 
Of tomatoes we are making exten¬ 
sive trials this season. We have seven 
different kinds of our own from selec¬ 
tions made through the last 10 years, 
several of which have been referred 
to from time to time. The selections 
have been made mainly with a view to 
obtaining longer-keeping kinds. Our se¬ 
lections during all these years to obtain 
an earlier variety have resulted in no defi¬ 
nite improvement. Other tomatoes being 
tested tiffs season are the following:— 
James Davis’s Acme, Sibley’s Rochester, 
Ferry’s New (not yet offered), Hurs¬ 
ton!’s cross between Trophy and Acme, 
a “wild" tomato, from D. * W. Shively; 
Cardinal, from W. At lee Burpee, and sev¬ 
eral which we are requested not to mention. 
Of the new kinds of watermelon, we 
may mention Crawford No. 2, Wysor’s 
Matchless No. 3, Scaly Bark, LandretJi’s 
Boss, and Carter. This last comes from 
our friend Mr. W. L. Dulaney of Bowling 
Green, Ky. This is what he says of it:— 
“It has superseded all others in our vicin¬ 
ity. It is prolific. The flesh is a bright 
pink with solid pale-green rind. It is 
simply delicious. Market Gardeners show 
them 50 pounds in weight. A man 
named Carter Obtained the seeds from a 
sport and kept them until his melons ran 
all others out of our market. I am con¬ 
vinced they are better than the Cuban 
Queen. Their only fault is their thin¬ 
ness of rind requiring care to get them 
to market. 
Prof. Budd, of the Iowa State College, 
sends us seeds of two kinds of melons 
gathered in Russia. One is called a Per¬ 
sian musk-melon, the other Russian 
Round. The seeds of the last named 
are flat, round and black. 
Mr. B. St.Clair, of Wyoming Territory, 
sends us a melon of which he writes as 
follows:—“It is a native of Arizona and 
New Mexico, resembling in appearance a 
Hubbard Squash—but the flesh is like a 
musk-melon, though far sweeter." Next 
we have the Golden Gem musk-melon, 
from Johnson & Stokes of Philadelphia; 
Burpee’s Netted Gem, Green Montreal, 
from B. K. Bliss, No. 1 musk-melon, from 
E. E. White of Cherokee, Iowa, and sev¬ 
eral others which will probably prove 
old varieties. Of beans, cucumbers, 
squashes, etc., we are planting many kinds, 
of which we shall give an account later, if 
any of them prove to he worthy of mention. 
-• ♦ ♦ 
THE PROPOSED NIAGARA FALLS 
PARK. 
Among the bills passed by the late New 
York Legislature none has met with more 
general commendation than that which 
provides for the appointment of five 
“Commissioners of the State Reservation 
of Niagara,” Avho “shall have power to 
select and locate such lands in the village 
of Niagara Falls as may in their opinion 
he proper and necessary to be reserved for 
the purpose of preserving the scenery of 
the Falls of Niagara and of restoring said 
scenery to its natural condition.” The 
gentlemen whom the Governor lias ap¬ 
pointed Commissioners are Ex-Lieut.- 
Gov. William Dorshcimer. Ex-Assembly¬ 
man J. Hampden Robb, and Ex-Comp¬ 
troller Andrew U. Green, all of tills city, 
together with Prof. Martin B. Anderson, 
of Rochester, and Sherman 13. Rogers, of 
Buffalo. The term of office is five years, 
and the Commissioners are to receive no 
salary, but their actual disbursements will 
be paid, and for this purpose$10,000 have 
been appropriated. The first meeting to 
organize and take preliminary steps in 
the work w ill be held in Albany next 
Tuesday, May 29. 
After the Commissioners have selected 
the land on the “American” side of the 
Falls, a map of it must be made and a 
notice be published in two papers, for 20 
successive week days, declaring that the 
State of New York intends to appropri¬ 
ate the land described in the map and 
that the Commissioners intend to take the 
necessary proceedings. The Supreme 
Court is then to appoint three freehold¬ 
ers to act as Commissioners of Appraise¬ 
ment for ascertaining the just compensa¬ 
tion to he paid to the owners of the 
property required. Their report must be 
filed within six months of their appoint¬ 
ment, and upon application by the Reser¬ 
vation Commissioners the Court wdll con¬ 
firm the report and direct to whom com¬ 
pensation shall be paid. Any of the 
property owners can appeal to the Su¬ 
preme Court, and m its discretion this 
may direct a new appraisal which shall be 
final and conclusive. All these prelimi¬ 
nary proceedings, together with all other 
information, are to be reported to the State 
Legislature, and if that body fails to make 
the appropriation for the payment of the 
land owners within two years after the 
passage of this act, all the proceedings for 
acquiring the land titles shall be null 
and void. 
The land necessary will be a narrow 
strip running along the river together with 
the islands, amounting in all to about 80 
acres, and the cost lias been variously esti¬ 
mated at from $1T>0,00<) to $5,000,000. 
Commissioners Robb and Dorsheimer are 
of opinion that a round million will not 
only buy the necessary land, but also pay 
the cost of restoring to their primeval 
condition the islands and river bank, as 
well as the expenses of the necessary “im¬ 
provements.” Whatever may he a reason¬ 
able outlay, now that the first stop has 
been taken, it is firmly believed by the 
friends of the project that the appropria¬ 
tion necessary to perfect it will be granted 
in the near future. On principle we arc 
strongly opposed to all inconsiderate ap¬ 
propriations of the public money; hut, 
much as we object to all unnecessary tax¬ 
ation of the people, xve are very decidedly 
of opinion that it is desirable that the 
necessary appropriation should he made 
for the establishment of Niagara Falls 
Purk. It is a shame that the Falls, the 
grandest piece of natural scenery of the 
kind on the globe, should, as at present, 
be belittled by associations of petty exac¬ 
tions and ubiquitous greed. Moreover, un¬ 
less the State promptly intervenes, all the 
natural beauties of the surroundings will 
soon be obliterated by “trade’s encroach¬ 
ing train.” The creation of the “State 
Reservation of Niagara” is a question of 
interest not only to New York State, but 
to every State in the Union and to every 
country on the globe. 
BREVITIES. 
Why is one of the most pathetic of our old 
songs like the stigma of a flower? Because it’s 
“ Sitting on a Stole.’’ 
We suppose that most, of our readers are 
aware that it is a hard matter to make the 
soil too rich for cabbages, either early or late. 
Au application of two or three hundred 
pounds of hone-flour added to farm manure 
would, in most soils, tell pow erfully. 
A table of freight charges in the last im¬ 
port of the Bureau of Statistics upon foreign 
commerce shows that the average freight 
charges for wheat from Chicago to New York* 
have gradually fallen off to about one-third 
of what they were in 18(58, not only bv rail, 
but by lake and canal and lake and rail—and 
still they are too high. 
Owing to the bad weather in the central 
western winter-wheat States the price of 
wheat advanced %c. for the week here, while 
in Chicago the advance was as much as 1 1 ,.c. 
In the latter place about the middle of the 
week “private advices” went so far as to say 
that Ohio. Indiana and Illinois would have no 
wheat to sell this year, and Iowa only a little. 
How soon can this sort of thing be said of 
areas just as large in this country i The total 
acreage of Scotland is 18,946,694/ Of this one 
single nobleman owns 1,82*5,000 acres and his 
wile 149,879. Another has 481,000 acres; a 
third 424,000; a fourth 378,000. Twelve pro¬ 
prietors own oue-quartor of the whole acreage; 
seventy proprietors own one-balf. Nine-tenths 
of Scotland belong to 1,700 persons, and, in 
the w'ords of Truth, “4,000,000 Scotchmen 
spend their lives earning rent for these 
monouolists ” 
One of the largest sales of lands ever made 
was reported the other day from Chicago 
where the niu-cha.se of 1,100,000 acres of the 
4,000,000 acres of cotton land iu Mississippi, 
lying along the river, together with 400,000 
acres of the pine lands in the southern end of 
the State, was consumated by the banking 
house of Drevcr & Co., on behalf of a foreign 
syndicate. The price per acre w as 81.35, the 
total consideration beiug 81,975,000. Tin's im¬ 
mense purchase is said to he the first of four 
such tracts soon to pass into European hands. 
The Codling Moth deposits its egg in the 
flower end (calyx) of the little apple just, as it. 
has set. The worm (grub) as soon as it has 
hatched, eats its way towards the middle of 
the apple Prof. Cook recommends for the 
destruction of the pests spraying the trees with 
poisoned w ater—say a heaped lenspoonful of 
Paris-green to 10 gallons of water—just be¬ 
fore the grubs hatch out. As the newly-set 
fruit is upright, the little cup or calyx w ill 
hold a drop or so of the poisoned water which, 
it is thought., kills the grub ns soon as it begins 
to eat into the apple. Fountain pumps or 
spray bellows may be used for distributing 
the water. We are at present experimenting 
with a pair of bellows that work quite sat¬ 
isfactorily. 
Professor Budd suggests that on the open, 
windy prairies a plan iu use for ages on the 
similar hot, dry, open plains of Central Rus¬ 
sia could be adopted with profitable effect. It 
is the establishment of open groves of trees of 
a sort not liable to bo mjured by cattle and 
least inimical to the growth of grass. These 
trees afford shelter to the grasses, which, 
w hen thus defended from beating winds, make 
more and better grow th. No doubt the cattle 
would benefit too from the shelter, ns well ns 
from the better pasture. UY know how much 
better we feel ourselves in the shelter of trees 
than in open wind. Varieties of Poa and Ag- 
rostis constitute the pasture on the great parks 
in Russia, and the Professor recommends our 
native Blue Grass, and for t ree the Box Elder, 
set. 12 feet, apart at. first, and thinned out for 
fuel later.' The Yellow Locust with Orchard 
Grass w onld till this bill satisfactorily in many 
parts of the country. 
Mellow the soil about young celery plants 
and keep it moist —Do not forget to supply 
plenty "i gweet com. Cultivate the field earn 
often enough not only to suIkIuc weeds but to 
keep the surface mellow, so that it may be 
pervious to dew-sand air.—A few hills of cu¬ 
cumbers may be planted now for an early 
supply.—You cannot, have a fine crop of onions 
unless you keep the soil free of w eeds.—Use a 
pair of old scissors to cut i IT the peas instead 
of “picking'' them Vines are often destroyed 
at once by breaking the stems or disturbing 
the roots.—It is time lor this climate to set 
sweet potato plants—The growth of the flow¬ 
ering stalks of rhubarb weakens the plants, 
it is worth while to cut them off as soon as 
thev appear.—It is belter to dust the currant, 
bushes with hellebore as soon us the currant, 
worms begin to eat the leaves than to wn't 
until the leaves are half destroyed. Helleboix 
may be applied iu water if desired. A table 
spoonful in n pailful of hot water and applied 
through tl}erose of a flowering-pot is a good 
w-ay.—You should uot cut asparagus after the 
25th of June —Sow carrots at once. Prepare 
for haying. Remember that it. is as important 
to cure hay properly as to raise a good crop. 
