4 
Vol. XLIV. No. 1829. NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 14, 1885. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, £n the year 18-W, by the Rural New-Yorkpr In the o!Rce of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
*2.00 PER TEAR. 
Burnt (Topics. 
Dougall Gooseberry, No. 3. Fig. 59. 
M. Engle & Son, of Marietta, Pa., and several 
others sent to us last Fall. How far they may 
combine large fruit with exemption from 
mildew can only be known by another year or 
so of trial. 
Meantime we advise our friends to select 
the largest berries from their own or neigh¬ 
bors 1 plants, and sow the seeds. This may be 
done as soon as the fruit is ripe. Sow half- 
an inch deep in drills of mellow soil; or the 
seed may be washed out and mixed with sand 
in a box which should be buried in a shady, 
cold place until Spring, as very little warmth 
will cause the seeds to sprout, when they may 
be sown as above. 
TESTS WITH NEW POTATOES. 
(CONTINUED.) 
SOIL, CULTURE, ETC. 
The soil is a moist, mellow loam, Inclining a little 
to clay, and this is the fourth consecutive year in 
which potatoes have been raised on it. It has re¬ 
ceived liberal quantities of potato concentrated fer¬ 
tilizers and occasional dressings of salt, kalnlt.boue. 
etc , perhaps at the rate of WW pounds to the acre 
altogether. Trenches two spudes wide, five inches 
deep and three feet apart, as In past seasons, were 
dug. The soil in the bottom was raked mellow, the 
pieces (two eyes each), placed one foot opart upon 
this, and then covered with an Inch of soil. The 
fertilizers were then evenly strewn, and the trench 
Oiled to the surface. The cultivation Is done be¬ 
tween the rows entirely with wheel cultivators, and 
between the plants with the hoe. Very little hoeing 
Is required since the plants meet before the weeds 
start. The soil ts never IMled-up about the plants, 
but Jtept at the same level over the entire plot. In 
testing new potatoes hero, our object is to ascertain 
their quality, growth of vine, time of maturity and 
the greatest yield of which they are capable in a 
rich soil especially prepared for them. 
To be serviceable to our readers we must 
hasten the reports of the uew kinds of potatoes 
tested here last Summer. 
Dark skinned Seedling of Early Ohio, 
from W. H. Cook,West Point, Wts.,who wrote 
us: ‘"Both the light and dark came from 
this seed. There is no difference in the time 
of ripeuiog or quality. The variety is earlier 
than Early Ohio or Beauty of Hebron, and 
very productive.” The yield was of the color 
of Early Ohio, aud the 
tops were low-grow¬ 
ing like that variety. 
Dug August 4. The 
yield was at the rate 
of 564.1)6 bushels to the 
acre, an average of 13 
to a hill, of which 65 
per cent, were market¬ 
able. Five of the best 
weighed two pounds 
two ounces. It is not 
quite so early as the 
Pearl of Savoy grow¬ 
ing beside it. Eaten 
September-. 1 ), the flesh 
was found to be near¬ 
ly white—the quality 
not very dry. We 
have never seeu a blos¬ 
som, much less a fruit, 
upon vines of the Ear¬ 
ly Ohio. The illustra¬ 
tion Fig 61, shows the 
characteristic form, 
while it is larger than 
the average size. 
Light-skinned. Al¬ 
so from Mr. Cook. The 
seeds w ere large, flue- 
looking potatoes. The 
yield was at the rate 
of 561 bushels to the 
acre. The best five 
weighed three pounds. 
Shape oblong-cylin¬ 
drical, sometimes 
smaller iu the middle. 
Au average of nine to 
(Skoumtsi ot Me $ural 
'ftew-'iloMer. 
RURAL WEEPING GOOSBERRYT. Fig 60. 
new gooseberries. 
In the Fall of 1888 we received a number of 
new gooseberries from James Dougall, of 
Windsor, Ontario, Canada. That shown at 
Fig. 5'J is his No. 8. He says it is a cross be¬ 
tween the English and the Houghton (from a 
seed of the former), resembling in growth the 
former more than the latter. He 6ays it is a 
great and constant bearer of good-sized, dark- 
green fruit, with the flavor of the English 
gooseberry. It has never mildewed in the 
slightest degree with him, and he thinks it 
will make a very profitable market berry. 
It fruited here last Summer on several 
branches, one of which isshown. A little mil¬ 
dew appeared on the tips of the growing 
shoots—otherwise the plant was vigorous and 
healthy. 
Fig. 60 shows a fruiting spray of a “chance” 
seedling raised here. It is quite true to na¬ 
ture. It will he seeu the berries are sm.»ll; but 
they are borne in immense quantities, and 
when fully ripe are quite sweet. The plant in 
habit is pendulous, every branch bending 
over to the ground. Worked upon tall stocks 
(the Missouri Currant would be the best), this 
gooseberry would, very likely, form a little 
weeping tree of some beauty. 
Our object in placing a picture of this seed¬ 
ling gooseberry before our readers, and in 
speaking of its great productiveness aud the 
sweetness of its fruit, is to show how much 
gooseberries may vary from seed, even 
though no attempt at crossing was made. 
The best of our American varieties are the 
Houghton’s Seedling, Downing, and Smith’s 
Improved, which last is a seedling of the 
Houghton, bearing larger fruit. The Down¬ 
ing is, however, considered the best of all. 
The English gooseberries may be divided 
into the white, green, 
yellow andred-lruited 
sorts, of each of which 
there are a great num¬ 
ber of varieties, some 
of them bearing fruit 
an iucu-and-a-half 
through the shortest 
diameter. But under 
the usual conditions of 
cultivation, they all 
mildew in l his country 
after the llrst year of 
bearing. This tnay be 
delayed sometimes by 
high culture, shade, 
mulching and prun¬ 
ing. What we need to 
do now, either by 
crossing the American 
aud foreign species or 
by self-seed lings of the 
former, Is to increase 
the size of the fruit, 
and yet retain in the 
new kinds foliage 
which will uotmildew. 
We are testing Mr. 
Dougall’s Nos. 8, 3, 7, 
ami 10; the Industry,of 
Ellwanger & Barry; 
the Cayuga, of H. 
S. Anderson, of Union 
Springs, N. Y.; a 
variety from Lewis 
Roesch, of Fredonta, 
N. Y.; one from C. H. 
Sumner, of Polo, Ills.; 
the Orange, from H. 
