Vol. XLII. No. 1759. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 13, 1883. 
[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.] 
PRICE FIVE CENTS 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
Huml topics. 
Experiment (grounds' of the $uvnl 
^Xeu-llovher. 
WATERMELONS. 
The first merit in the quality of a water¬ 
melon is sivectness. We may talk of spright¬ 
liness, aroma, purity,sub-acidity,high quality, 
richness, etc., in strawberries, grapes and 
apples; but a good watermelon in flavor is 
simply sweet and nothing more. The second 
merit is tenderness of flesh. Any new variety 
of watermelon that is not tender and sweet is 
unworthy of introduction, no matter what 
the color of its edible flesh; no matter how 
thin the rind or white flesh; no matter if the 
melons grow to the weight of 8u pounds. 
Those who like apples or strawberries or even 
musk-melons may enjoy them even if of in¬ 
ferior quality, because there is a combination 
of flavors which makes up their quality. 
Sugar will make the sourest strawberry 
palatable. Salt will compensate for insipid¬ 
ity in the musk-melon; a Baldwin or Ben Davis 
apple is never insipid, and if we can get none 
better, we may enjoy either, because its qual¬ 
ity does not depend upon one flavor alone. 
But to eut a poor watermelon is much like 
eating a tasteless, fleshy fiber saturated with 
water sweetened only so far as to render 
it insipid. 
The Cuban Queen has many characteristics 
of the perfect watermelon. It is a good ship¬ 
per and grows to an immense size under favor¬ 
able conditions. The white flesh, or rind, is 
thin; but its lack is in tenderness of flesh and 
sweetness. It, may be esteemed as a flrst-rate 
market melon, as are the Wilson, Crescent 
and Capt. Jack, among strawberries; and the 
Duchess, KielTer or Beurrc Cl&irgeau among 
pears; but it will never satisfy the taste of 
those who know what u flrst-rate water¬ 
melon is. 
We have grown and tested all of the water¬ 
melons offered in seedsmen's catalogues, and 
from 2(1 to SO k iuils which have been sent to us 
as new varieties. Of all of them the “Boss” 
is the best in quality. Its white flesh in well 
grown specimens is but half an inch thick. 
The edible flesh is of a rich scarlet, crystal¬ 
line, melting, tender anti very sweet. Seeds 
of this melon were first obtained from Ltiu- 
dreth & Sons, of Philadelphia, Pa., the intro¬ 
ducers, and spnt to the members of the Rural 
Youths’ Horticultural Club. Last year under 
the name of “Perfection” it was sent to appli¬ 
cants in our regular free seed distribution and 
the mauy reports received have well sup¬ 
ported our claims that it is the best water¬ 
melon as to quality iu cultivation. It ap¬ 
pears, however, that it requires a warm, rich 
soil and favorable conditions to mature iu 
perfection and that it does uot ship long dis¬ 
tances as well as other varieties, owing to its 
comparatively tliiu shell. 
WATER-MELON TESTS. 
Boss. The largest melon this season weighed 
29 pounds; last season, 2<l 1 . l ponuds. The 
shape' is oblong, nearly the same diameter 
throughout. The skin is a dark green, ob¬ 
scurely uetted or veined with u darker green 
—never striped—seams or lobes almost im¬ 
perceptible. The seeds arc small and of a 
dark brown color. The llcsh is a dark red or 
deep pink, the white flesh or rind in good 
specimens varying from three-eighths to half 
an inch iu thickness. Iu quality it, is tender, 
melting aqd very sweet. On the evening of 
September 15, some 25 guests assembled at the 
Rural Grounds, hen one dozen different kinds 
■of now varieties of watermelons mud 25 of 
grapes were tested. All expressed the opinion 
tlmt the “Boss” Watermelon was the best iu 
quality. The seeds do uot germinate as readily 
as those of most other kinds, and the vines, 
though productive, are less vigorous. 
Russian Round. Seeds were sent to us at 
our request by Professor Budd, of the State 
College, at Ames, Iowa, having been collected 
by him during his late visit to Russia. The 
shape is that of the geographical definition of 
the world, “round like a ball flattened at the 
poles.” If we were to call it the shape of a 
cannon ball, ten inches to a foot in diameter, 
we should not be far astray. The color of the 
skin is a yellowish-white, sometimes a gi en- 
ish-white a little golden on the sunny side, 
Hales’ Mole Trap.—Fio. 655, 
with faint streaks of a pea-green in the place 
of seams. It is perfectly smooth. When per¬ 
fectly ripe, the seeds are neariy black and 
round iu shape. The rind or white flesh is 
half an inch thick. The flesh is of a rose 
color, coarse in texture and not very sweet. 
The vines are vigorous and immensely pro¬ 
ductive. Strange to say, the melons ripen 
late. Seeds of 
Anew watermelon sent by Johnson & 
Stokes, of Philadelphia, were accompanied 
by this note: “We send you something new 
and distinct in the way of watermelons. Said 
to be a suiuil melon of delicious quality. Will 
you kindly test and report?” 
The viues proved to be very fruitful, the 
melons rather small, round and marked like 
the Citron, the skin being a dark green, with 
light, irregular stripes. The flesh was rosy in 
color, rather crisp than tender or melting. 
Quite sweet, but not of the first quality. 
White flesh, half an inch thick: seeds dark 
brown or black. 
Scaly-bark. This was advertised by sev¬ 
eral leading seedsmen the past season. The 
first melon was not ripe until Sept. 20. Flesh 
pink: seeds, white; flesh coarse, though quite 
sweet and very juicy; shape, thick-oblong. 
Weight of best melou 20 pounds. White flesh, 
three-quarter inch thick. There is little about 
this variety, according to our test, that will 
insure it popularity. The 
Carter was received from Mr. W. L. Du¬ 
laney, of Bowling Green, Ky. His letter said, 
“It supersedes all others in this vicinity. Mar¬ 
ket gardeners show them from 15 to 50 pounds 
in open market. A man named Carter ob¬ 
tained the seeds from a sport and cultivated 
them until his melons ran all others out of our 
market, paying for a good farm from this 
crop alone. 1 am convinced that they are 
better thau the Cuban Queen. Their only 
fault is thinness of rind, so that they require 
care to get them to market.” 
Sept. 2 we harvested the first melon, weigh¬ 
ing exactly 28 pounds. The tendril was dead 
and the flesh cracked slightly under pressure, 
but it was not ripe. Sept. 15 one was cut 
from the vines, weighing 30 pounds. All are 
egg-shaped; that is. larger at one end than at 
the other. Flesh pink, very sweet and ten¬ 
der, seeds white. The white flesh, however, 
in these specimens was rather thick. The 
color of the skin is a pale green. 
Our reports of Wysor's Matchless No. 3 and 
Crawford No. 2, are essentially the same as 
those of last year. 
The Persian Muskmelon, seeds of 
which were distributed by Prof. J. L. Budd, 
having been by him gathered in Russia we 
believe, proved to be a downright failure. 
The shape was oblong-elliptical, the skin being 
streaked, blotched and uetted with yellow 
upon a dark green. Of 12 good-sized melons 
raised on one vine not one was fit to eat. 
grape notes. 
According to our taste, it will be hard to 
improve upon the quality of Ricketts’s Jetfer- 
sou Grape. The skin is firm, the flesh meaty 
without any tough pulp, and the flavor is pure 
and pleasant. It ripened at the Rui al Grounds. 
Sept. 20. The viuo is thus far healthy. The 
color is with ms rather that of a ligtit-colored 
grape shaded with rosy-pink than that of a 
red grape, as it is catalogued, We have no 
gra[>e that is superior to it in quality. 
The Lady Washington is an aggravating 
variety. If it were just a little different im 
about one dozen respects, we should call it the 
most remarkable of all the one hundred kinds 
of recent introduction. As it is. the vine, 
though wonderfully vigorous, is uot quite 
hardy; the bunches would be uniformly the 
largest of any we have ever raised were it not 
that the berries of many rot and fall. Still 
many of them are marvels both as to size and 
beauty; but they ripen late, or rather some 
of them do uot ripen at all, remaining hard 
like bullets and of poor quality. The Lad}' 
Washington is a grand, magnificent failure in 
these grounds, it just barely misses iu all re¬ 
spects beiug both the grape for the million and 
for the gods., if ever we change our location 
for one more favorable to grape-growing, this 
variety is the first we should attempt to grow 
in perfection. The Pocklingtou rijxens just 
with the Concord. W e are disappointed in 
the size of the berries, as they average but 
little larger thau the Coneox-d, w'hile the 
bunch is smaller and rarely shouldered. It is 
rather sweeter than the Concord. The color 
is a pale greenish-yellow when ripe. 
8ALIX LAUIUFOUA (?) 
Prof. J. L. Budd, of the Iowa Agricultural 
College, calls attention in the Iowa Home¬ 
stead, to the Laurel-leaved Willow as a novelty 
worthy of general propagation and culture. 
In Europe he says, it is prized as a lawn, park 
and street tree of moderate size, popularly 
known as the Bay Willow. Cuttings which 
he imported from Riga. Russia, put in last 
Spring, have made plants over three feet high. 
Visitors fail, he says, to recognize them as 
willows. 
In 1879 the Rural New-Yorker distribu¬ 
ted cuttings of this willow to all applicants, 
and again in 1880. The specific name “Lauri- 
folia” is not authorized. According to our 
Isbell Mole Trap.— Fig. 656. 
own inquiries, it seemed nearer to Salix pen- 
tandra than to any other. But as in several 
respects it did not answer to the description, 
we sent leaves to the editor of the Loudon 
Garden, who replied that, according to Mr. 
Gordon, it was the Salix lucida of Michaux 
and Salix Forbesi of Sweet’s Hortus Britan- 
uicus for IsSO. Nevertheless, there are very 
decided points of difference between this tree 
aud S. lucida. as we have seen it in several 
nurseries. The leaves of this are more ovate 
and more abruptly acuminate: the upper sux*- 
face is darker, the entire leaf heavier, the 
petioles shorter aud the stipules more kidney 
and less heart-shaped. Whatever may be its 
true botanical name, the familiar name of 
Laurel-leaved Willow is most appropriate. 
The leaves, often four inches long, are so 
