NOTES ON BACK NUMBERS. 
scarce, but they should uot be. Why are there 
not more bred ? 
together aud buy him to prevent his being 
killed. May I suggest another plan—that the 
owner sell him alive for what ho would bring 
as l>eef. Fancy prices, and not ignorance or 
indifference, are what keep farmers from 
buying, i hey want some of the profit them¬ 
selves, aud not to pay in advance all they can 
possibly make on the beast—if he lives. 
Clem Auldon tells it just as it is in his ar¬ 
ticle concerning cabbage pests (p, 520), There 
has never been a practical remedy for the 
cabbage worm proposed yet, that was worth 
anything on a large scale. Cauliflower aud 
savoys aud all loose headers must be given up 
where this pest abounds. All we can do is to 
pray for the parasites. 
Evert reader of the Rural will be truly 
sorry to hear that the editor is not getting the 
advantage he hoped for in his trip to the 
mountains, and trust it may yet come to him 
and his. 
[Many thanks.—E d.] 
strawberry that never sun-scalds either in 
fruit or foliage? Have we any single sort that 
is at once high-flavored and very productive; 
anything that is vigorous in growth, yielding 
heavily largo fruit, uniform and smooth; any¬ 
thing that is vigorous, productive, fine- 
flavored and firm in texture for market? Have 
we, in short, a single sort in the whole list that 
an impartial, intelligent observer has watched 
under varying condit ions from year to year 
aud can describe firmly without an “if.” This 
is a question of vital import to every grower, 
and if it can be answered affirmatively, let 
the variety be given, and let everybody plant 
it from Maine to California. I must not be 
understood as decrying our whole list of 
strawberries. We have some splendid sorts 
and I regard them with pomologieal pride 
In my own garden they have just fniited 
handsomely, aud I have been delighted. But 
every one of thorn has a dark side to its story 
of merits just as so many of the berries had 
a sour side, or a hard given tip that wouldn’t 
ripen. Not a star would I take from the roll 
of honor of any variety. But I want to find 
a strawberry that we can double-star in State 
after State, year after year. h. h. 
Sucn notes as those of Mr. R. J. Black upon 
“Apples in Central Ohio,” (p. 504), are invalu¬ 
able to pomologists. He speaks of the small 
size of the Early Strawberry. 1 have always 
thought that variety must lie a Siberian crab 
seedling. It has a perfect crab stem and gen¬ 
eral appearance, together with the strong 
aroma that we find in Siberians and Russians, 
eveu when there is no flavor to correspond. 
Has he true Sops of Wine i The variety is 
almost hardy in my cold region. 1 have Oar- 
den Royal growing from cions kindly sent me 
by Mr. Black, which I hope may prove hardy. 
The Blenheim Pippin (heretofore thought to 
be Dutch Mignonue), is an excellent bearer 
and much valued on the Lake Champlain 
Islands. 
Rural, August 4. —The Small Yorkshires, 
(p. 485) are a nice breed as pigs go now-a-days, 
and Mr. Harris sets them up for all they are 
worth, as is his duty. But a physiologist will 
naturally ask where any animal so sluggish gets 
the strong digestive and assimilative powers 
which Mi-. H. claims give more pork to the 
S. Y.’s from the same feed thau to any other 
breed. The tendency in swine breeding for the 
last ten years has been to produce live lumps 
of lard in place of good meaty hogs, from 
which first-class bacon and hams can b3 made. 
Breeding to lard defeats the very purpose of 
hog raising, for lard is not meat. And it soon, 
also, so weakens procreation that the breed 
runs out, as have the Essex and Suffolk, and 
as will the Small Yorkshire, or any other lard 
breed. The illustration is excellent. 
I think Col. Curtis’s mangel seed (p. 50(5), 
must have been very old or injured bj damp 
and mold. I know of no seed that preserves 
its vitality longer than that of the beet family, 
unless it is the gourds. Still, after a good 
deal of experience, and against the dogmas of 
old-fashioned gardeners, 1 have almost come 
to believe that fresh seed is the best in all 
eases, even with melons and balsams. 
Mr, Henry Stewart comes to the rescue 
bravely (p. 48(5), and lifts up the practical as 
against the strictly scientific standard with a 
vigorous hand. Of course, he is right in 
claiming that we cannot know the exact ma¬ 
mmal value of a ton of any kind of feed when 
fed. But, may 1 ask, who thinks we can < 
These estimates are only approximations or 
averages, and it must be a very young farmer 
who does not know it, or know that what he 
gets in a product like milk or wool he must 
not expect in the manure also. But, never¬ 
theless, Mr. Stewart’s article is well worth 
roading, and the discussion cannot but do 
good. 
WANTED: A FAULTLESS STRAW¬ 
BERRY. 
Strawbex-ries on the Hudson. 
I don’t know that I ought to say anything 
more about strawberries in the Rural just 
now, but after reading the recent interesting 
communications of our f rieud Halo and others 
in the various journals, I am inclined to add a 
word or two. Mr. Hale advises the substitu¬ 
tion of Minor’s Prolific for Charles Downing, 
a suggestion in which I cannot agree, much 
as I would like to praise that variety for the 
sake of its lamented origiuator, after whom it 
was named. It nxsted so badly iu my garden 
this Summer that I don’t think I got a single 
well-ripeued berry from the whole row of 
plants. Green, hard and soar—that is the rec¬ 
ord I am forced to write against Miner's Pro¬ 
lific this year; and eveu the plants seem dis¬ 
posed to give up the battle fpr existence, while 
1 have beeu hesitating in offex-s of assistance. 
1 am glad to read that Ellwauger & Barry, 
Secretary Campbell and a few others can still 
grow the good old Downiug as it was in for¬ 
mer days, with satisfaction and profit. Not 
one decent berry did 1 get from my plants 
this year. That is all I have to add to my pre¬ 
vious statement. 
As to the Bidwell, mine were utterly worth¬ 
less this season. No mincing words will state 
the truth so plainly. Myriads of blossoms, 
elegant foliage at first, abundance of fruit set, 
but no ripe berries. Rust, sun-scald, death— 
that’s the record, and that’s the outcome of 
the magnificent promise made early iu June. 
My Manchester report is different. These 
beiTies wore among the most attractive I ever 
saw. Large, smooth, uniform in shape, and 
bright, glossy, aud beautiful in color. It must 
be attractive iu market. Iu flavor, sprightly 
and pleasing to my taste, perhaps needing a 
few grains more sugar thau some others. As 
to productiveness and vigor I must speak more 
qualified!)’. \\ ith me it has borne only moder¬ 
ately, but all the fruit was fine and matured 
nicely. This latter, as it seems to me of late 
years, is a grand thing to say of any strawber¬ 
ry, and I say it gladly of the Manchester now, 
without, however, assuming a shade of re¬ 
sponsibility for its behavior in future or that of 
any other sort. In leafage it is large and vigor¬ 
ous, but uot abundant, aud, I fear, not wholly 
free from rust, though no serious damage has 
resulted from it yet with me. It is longer in 
fruit thau any kind I have, holding out well to 
the end. , 
Sharpless adds nothing to its previous mea¬ 
gre record of merit. It was coarse, soft, in¬ 
sipid, unproductive, inclinea to rot, large, im¬ 
mense—that covers its merits, except that it 
does not rust. 
Among those which have again behaved 
nicely in my garden are President Lincoln— 
and I name it first, because I always eat it first 
when I can get it—Lennig’s White, Pioneer, 
Glendale, Captain Jack and Black Defiance. 
No rust or leaf blight on these. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. h. Hendricks. 
Who will give us a variety of strawberry 
that shall be entirely free from the many de- 
ANSWERS to correspondents (p. 507), says all 
the melon or gourd family will mix. Pump- 
“Do not allow your root crops to grow too 
thick,” (p. 48(5), is useful advice. However 
wide I plant rutabagas and beets I always 
find the outer rows much the larger. 
It is long since I have seen a better or more 
useful article than Col. Cui-tis’s on -‘A Differ¬ 
ence in the Digestion of Animals,” (p 48(5). 
Pax-mere can make money by studying the 
subject cax-efully. 
Mr. Stahl asks (p. 488), “Is it not strange 
that the Guenon system has uot met with moi-e 
favor ?” I think not, for it is so complicated 
aud difficult to learn and apply that few have 
had the patience to make use of it. I believe 
there is a good deal in it. Because we cannot 
trace effect to cause, or show their connec¬ 
tion, we need not condemn it. It is professed¬ 
ly empirical, but not necessarily therefore 
wrong. It was a good while before science 
learned why swallows fly low before a l-ain. 
You may remember my criticism of the 
Telephone Pea—that its pods are single. The 
Houghton Farm trials (p. 488) seem to show 
that those sorts that bear their pods iu pair* 
are much the more productive. Of coux-se, a 
vine of many joints bearing single pods may 
Golden Prolific Wheat.—From Nature.—Fig. (531.—See Page (105. 
kins will mix with Summer Squashes (cym- fects now so common in a greater or less de- 
blins), and with Winter Crookueeks, but not gree to almost every existing sort? Will this 
with the soft-stemmed species, like Hubbard ever be accomplished, or must wo continue to 
and Boston Mai-row. Watermelons do not speak of each kind with an “if” at the end 
followed by a list of faults? Pomology is full 
of vicissitudes, and the history of the cultiva¬ 
ted strawberry forms a conspicuous chapter 
of sti-ange imitation. Every year a batch of 
new vai-ieties is added to the endless list, 
already existing, each one lining heralded 
far and wide by u story of superior merits, in 
large type and bold superlatives. But vei-y 
few indeed get beyond the catalogue aud tes¬ 
timonial stage, and fewer still survive the test 
of years in the garden. How often we plant 
some uew sox-t that seems full of promise, 
grow it courageously a few years, trying only 
to see its good [shuts aud attributing its de¬ 
fects to untoward circumstances, only to bo 
obliged to discard it at last and reach out for 
something else. Degeneracy and uncertainty 
seem to be the ills to which this most luscious 
and wholesome race of fruit is most subject. 
Is it because we have brought it to so high a 
state of cultivation, or do we expect too much 
fi-om this little plant that grows so quickly 
aud easily and fruits so abundantly? 
But perhaps I am assuming too much against 
it. Lot us see: Does anybody know of a 
Hathaway’s No. 5.—Fig,C30.-Sek Page (505. 
exceed one with few joints bearing double 
poils, or may beat by x-eason of fuller pods, 
or lai-ger peas. But as the tall soi-ts must 
have more room, the product per acre should 
be moi-e with dwai-f sorts and double pods, 
and this agrees with my long-contiuued expe¬ 
rience iu growing peas for seed. 
Rural, Aug. 18 .—That horse-trot picture 
is mighty good, and the Rural’s position on 
the subject is deserving of all praise. 
THE HANSELL RASPBERRY. 
Which way is it ? We have been told that 
the old stockmen were cheating the purchasers 
of their cattle ranches in the count of the cat¬ 
tle, badly. Now, “Stoclcmau ’ tells us (p. 518), 
that the herds were greatly swelled by im¬ 
ported calves, and that there are 25 per cent, 
more cattle on the plains than ever before— 
aud yet the buyers ai-e cheated on account of 
the decline m pi-ices due to this increase. 1 
can but feel very sorry indeed for those capi¬ 
talists who must lose, no matter which way it 
is. Hadn’t wc better take up a collection for 
them ? 
As this new raspberry is going to be planted 
quite freely, a few words regarding it may not 
be out of place. 
Uuiike most uew fruits, the Hausoll is not 
nu untried variety. The originator showed 
his appreciation of a valuable fruit by quietly 
increasing hxa plantation, pnttiug out all the 
bushes he could raise, with no thought of 
growing plants for sule. Although an enter- 
prisiug fruit-grower, he believed in lettiug 
this fruit, like till othei-s, stand on its merits, 
and it came up without tender care, solic itous 
attention, or high manuring. The Bi-audy wine 
had been the leading market berry of the 
neighborhood, and naturally the Hansell was 
compared with it. The result wxis very flat¬ 
tering. Iu the Hansell he found a beri-y of 
Is it true that there ai-e few kinds of peai-s 
and apples worthy of cultivation ? (p. 490). 
Isn’t Mr. Strong putting it stroug ? Even if 
he means iu any one locality, I still except. 
I will make up a list of one hundred kinds of 
apples and 25 kinds of pears, evei-y one of 
them worthy of cultivation around Boston. 
Is the Baldwin the only apple and the. Bartlett 
the only pear, because they pi*oduce the most 
marketable fi-uib i Let disease destroy both, 
and apples and pears would still be grown at 
a profit. Destroy ten or twenty other “best” 
kinds, aud the same would still be Li-ue. 
Mr. Moreland says (p. 519) no *500 bull 
ought ever to be sent to the shambles if he is 
a good one, aud he thinks fax-mere should club 
Rural, Aug. 11.— Thanks for the mastiff 
picture and article, (p. 501). These dogs are 
