Cham . 
Shape, round-cylindrical, as shown in the 
illustration. Fig. 102 (page 165), sometimes 
flattened. Skin often russeted. ISaten Sept. 
18 , Dry and good in quality. 
Cream of the Field. Received from A. 
Williams, Homer, N. Y. Planted April 18; 
dug Sept. 3; a late intermediate. Very tall, 
wide-spreading tops. The^ yield was at the 
rate of 1,075,55 bushels to the acre, as certified 
to by J. G. Webb, Justice of the Peace, who 
saw them dug and weighed. Atnoug the best, 
five weighed live pounds five ounces. There 
were '.)>„ to the hill—78 per cent, (in numbers) 
marketable. Buff skin; eyes rather sunken; 
shape irregular, cylindrical, long, one end 
larger than the other, sometimes eoruueopia- 
sliaped. as shown in our careful illustration, 
Fig. 103 (page 165). Many of the potatoes 
were prongy. Eaten Feb. 24; of excellent 
quality, dry and mealy. Flesh yellowish. 
Solancm Ohronmi Received from Vilmor- 
iu, Audrieux& Co.,Paris.France. Two tubers, 
one of which w T as one inch long, the other as 
large as a medium-sized egg, did not sprout. 
Fig. 106. 
Stalwart Received from Samuel P. Fergus, 
Washington, Pa. Planted April25; dug Sept. 
8; a late intermediate. Spreading tops. 
•Yield at the rate of 500 bushels to the acre. 
Shape, oblong, often tapering at one end; 
sometimes round, flattened; buff-white skin, 
often russeted. Eyes not deep. 
A NEW WAY OF FORMING AN ASPARAGUS BED. 
Do you want an asparagus bed' It is the 
easiest thing in the world to have one. Spade 
up the plot as deep as possible. Mellow the 
soil and make drills lengthwise every four 
feet and one inch deep. In these sow the 
seed two iuches apart. One ounce of seed, 
which will cost 25 cents, will suffice for five 
drills, 12 feet long. Now it is only necessary 
that this plot should be kept free from weeds 
and the soil friable. In the full the bed should 
be covered with well-rotted farm manure. 
The plants should be thinued out to 18 
inches apart in the drills next Spring. We 
have in this way an asparagus bed that, w ith 
out the laborious old plan of loadiug the soil 
with manure two feet in depth, that the plant¬ 
ation may “’last a life-time;” without the 
labor and expense of transplanting will in 
three years give as vigorous sprouts as if the 
one-year plants were transplanted or brought. 
Of course, the laud must be well drained, and 
it is better to select a sandy loam or, in the 
absence of it, to ruiugle pure saud with the 
soil, in giving the above directions, we mere¬ 
ly write the result of our own experience. 
How widely soever the directions of books 
and office writers may differ from them, were 
we to form another asparagus bed, it would 
be in the manner described. We have tried 
Moore’s Cross bred, Colossal, Argenteuil, lied 
Dutch Mammoth and several other alleged 
kinds, without being aide to see much differ¬ 
ence. The Argenteuil shoots are of a lighter 
color; more of a steel or glaucous green. 
more pendent habit of growth. Its flowers 
are dark pink in color, with a few short stam¬ 
ens in the center, some of which show the first 
stages of development into petals. The ex¬ 
pression of the plant is so peculiar that visi¬ 
tors ask “What is itf” The nurseries of War¬ 
saw, Poland, grow these roses quite extensive¬ 
ly, as they do well on the sandy soil of the 
Eastern part of the province. They are also 
grown atVilne and Riga,Russia,quite largely 
for the interior trade. The double Rugosa 
makes a beautiful object growu in tree form 
on account of its beautiful foliage and weep¬ 
ing habit. 
TIME TO CUT TIMBER. 
The Rural asks: “ When is the proper time 
to fell timber to have it last.” The forestry 
system of Russia is managed by the Minister 
of the Public Domain. Under the direction of 
this office, the Forestry Directors of all the 
Provinces were instructed, some forty years 
ago, to commence a series of experiments, 
with a view to the correct answering of this 
leading question. At the great forestry con¬ 
vention at Moscow, we were told that the 
united results of the many trials had been in 
favor of trees felled the latter part of June, 
while (he bark would yet slip. The common 
practice now in all the government forests is 
to fell the trees at this time, and at once to 
peel the bark from the trunk as high up as it 
is valuable for timber. Above this point the 
limbs and foliage are left to aid in the work 
of evaporatiug the water from the cell struc¬ 
ture of the log. In about teu days after fell¬ 
ing', the logs are cut, and at once sawed or 
split into lumber, ties, posts, etc.: after which 
the drying process is completed as vapidly as 
the most favorable conditions will permit. 
Theory and practice unite to favor this time 
for the cutting, and rapid drying, of timber 
If cat in the Fall, Winter, or early Spring, 
the cell structure of the wood is stored with 
starch for the extension of growth the suc¬ 
ceeding Spring. However useful this starch 
may be to the growing tree, it is evident that 
it cau only tend to feruieutation and decay iu 
the dead post, tree, or stick of timber. So far 
as I know, the teaching in all the forestry 
schools of Europe has recently favored the 
Fig. 107. 
views here expressed; yet I notice that the 
older writers, and most of the recent writers 
who follow them, favor the winter cutting of 
timber. 
Incidentally, we have much home experi¬ 
ence with the durability of poles for fences 
and sheds when cut at different seasons and 
treated in different ways. For instance: 
Quaking Asp poles cut in June, peeled, and 
nailed on posts for fencing, have lasted fifteen 
or more years; while winter cut poles rotted 
in three .yeaYs. Agaiu, Box Elder poles have 
been cut, peeled, dried, and set for posts for 
fence or straw sheds, and have lasted sixteen 
years, when poles of the same kind, used for 
the same purposes, rout'd iu four years, when 
cut in Winter and set green. 
ir\ r* v- 
night, such a provision might save life, or at 
least avoid disagreeable results. The cost is 
but a trifle, and bj doiug without some need¬ 
less finish, it could well be afforded. The bath¬ 
room would be put where the closet over the 
vestibule is, iu the plau, and the pipes would 
be carried up from the range in the kitchen 
along the chimney iu a box, of which one side 
is screwed in so that it can be removed to 
reach the pipes easily in case of need. This 
arrangement avoids all danger of freezing the 
water in the pipes and bursting them. What 
would be needed area kitchen range, a boiler, 
and the requisite pipes, with a tank in the at¬ 
tic to hold a sufficient.supply of water. There 
would then be hot and cold water in the kitch¬ 
en. aud the bath room and the dressing-room, 
with fixed wash-stands; all of which are a 
very great comfort and a great help to make 
a country life pleasant,cheerful,and healthful. 
ttural topics. 
(Experiment (Srnuntl.si of the $«ral 
3Jfui-lorher. 
OBERON grape. 
A vine of this fine grape was sent here in 
November of 18S2. We cannot, therefore, 
speak of it from experience, further than to 
say it has not made a very vigorous growth as 
yet. It originated with Mr George W. Camp¬ 
bell, of Delaware, Ohio, from seed of Concord 
crossed with Muscat Hamburgh. We very 
much hope this new grape will thrive at 
least in places, and, judging from bunches 
sent to us by Mr. Campbell, we have eaten 
PorcA. 
be mentioned for different parts of the East’ 
North, South and West. We must give up 
the idea of a grape of the first quality that 
will grow in perfection everywhere. There 
is no fruit of any kind on the face of the earth 
that will do it. Teu years ago it was thought 
hereabouts that it was useless to plaut any¬ 
thing but the Concord or Delaware. Now our 
neighbors who have seen the grapes we have 
raised, are planting the Victoria, Jefferson, 
Wilder, Rockingham, Vergennes, El Dorado, 
Brighton, Moore’s Early, Lady, Cottage, 
Liudley. Niagara, and others—while many of 
the latest varieties will be tried as soon as 
they are offered for sale at reasonable rates. 
No, we shall never again plant a Concord. 
The grapes remain on our several vines un¬ 
picked. It is true no grapes are sent to mar¬ 
ket from these grounds, or the case might be 
different. But the poor, benighted people who 
support the markets, though easily satisfied 
with quality while looks satisfj' the eye, will 
one day stick up their noses at the Concord— 
and the day is not far distant. We predict 
that those who set new vineyards of the Con¬ 
cord w ill have occasion to regret it. 
AX ALARM-GUN. 
NEW VARIETIES OF POTATOES CONTINUED. 
SOIL. CULTURE. ETC. 
Teu soil Is a moist, mellow loam. Inclining a little 
to clay, and this Is rhe fourth consecutive year iu 
which potatoes have hern raised on it. It has re¬ 
ceived liberal quantities of potato concentrated fer¬ 
tilizers and occasional dressings of salt, kainit.bone, 
etc , perhaps at tueraleof 1,200 pounds to the acre 
altogether. Trenches two spades wide, five Inches 
deep and three feet apart, as In past seasons, were 
Mr. Hale, of South Glastonbury, Conn., 
speaks, in his catalogue, of au alarm-gun 
which he proposes to depend on in the future 
to do the work of a night watchman iu his 
nurseries. This is a double-barreled gun six 
inches long, that may be loaded with powder 
alone or with shot also. It works on a pivot, 
and twine attached to it may be carried 
wherever oue chooses. We bought two of 
these alarms from the manufacturer. Goo. M. 
Pratt of Middletown, Conn., and have since 
tested them fairly. The contrivance is a clever 
one, but the mechanism imperfect. One nip¬ 
ple is higher than the other, so that but one 
cap explodes, and that, because the spring of 
the hammer is not powerful enough, does not 
always explode, unless a very light cap be 
used, which, not being waterproof, could not, 
of course, stand rain or moisture. The retail 
price is about $3.00 each, but this alarm-gum 
can never prove serviceable until the imper¬ 
fections above noted are obviated. 
NO MORE OF THEM. 
Jonathan Talcott writes us as follows: “I 
fear the Empire State Potato is praised too 
highly. It failed sadly with me. Dakota 
Red also is too highly praised. Rosy Morn, 
Rubicund and St. Patrick are so far behind 
the White Star and Beauty of Hebron, either 
Early or Late, as to be comparatively worth¬ 
less. I shall plant no more of them or of the 
Rural Blush either.” 
PROF. J. L. BUDD. 
In the editorial “Brevities” of the Rural 
you say “We are glad to hear of a double vari¬ 
ety of Rosa rugosa.” I first saw and admired 
the double variety of this peculiar species of 
the rose iu the fine gardens near Warsaw, 
Poland. Afterwards we saw many variations 
of the species in the botanical gardens of 
Central Russia. We were told that the native 
home of the primitive form of the species was 
Mongolia and the valley of the Amur in Asia. 
1 can well believe that it was introduced into 
Japan and East China, as no indigenous plaut 
of these sections has proven such a perfect 
iron-clad iu all parts of the Northwest as this 
rose. 
Its tendency to variation in size, color, and 
fragrance, and the transformation of its 
stamens into petals, while the rare beauty and 
perfection of the foliage, peculiar to this spe¬ 
cies, are retained, encourages the belief that 
it will bo the parent of a race of roses of great 
value to the Mississippi basin, uud, indeed, 
to the whole country. 
. One of the double varieties we have intro¬ 
duced from Central Russia has smaller and 
denser foliage than the single form, and a 
I am au unfortunate. I try to be agreeable 
and to say nothing but what is true; but I am 
always raising a rumpus. All the world aud 
his uncle (with one exception) are down on 
me because 1 remarked that “native cattle 
are ‘sat down’ upon by the managers of the 
fairs.” Aud a host of angry writers hurl 
their ink upon me and point their sharp pens, 
and ask a lot of conundrums, such as “What 
are native cattle I” “Who are native citizens 
in this country ? ’ “Arc there any stock iu the 
country that have not descended from imported 
stockf” and a great many more of like import. 
One friend, in whose judgment 1 have great 
confidence, sends me the clipping from the 
Rural with his note “‘Very good.” upon it. 
Let us go back to the beginning of this. 
My remark referred to a case which occurred 
iu Koutucky, where in a test of dairy cattle, 
some superior native cows were ruled out of a 
competition because they were not pure-bred, 
and some inferior pure bred ones were given 
the first premium for yield of milk. Hence 
my remark. Tki9 bias in favor of pure-bred 
stock at the fairs is almost universal. I know 
of but one State fair where natives are put on 
ADVANCES IN HORTICULTURE. 
Fig. 100. 
dug. The soil In the bottom was raked mellow, the 
pieces (two eyes each), placed one foot apart upon 
this, and then covered with an Inch of soli. The 
fertilizers were then evenly strewn, and the trench 
tilled to the surface. The cultivation Is done be¬ 
tween the rows eutlrely with wheel cultivators, and 
between the plant* With the hoe. Very little hoelUR 
Is required since the plauts meet before the weeds 
start. The soil Is never about tho plants, 
but keptai the same level over the entire plot. In 
testing new potatoes here, our object 1 b to ascertain 
their quality, growth of Vine, time of maturity and 
the greatest yield of which they arc cupable In a 
rich soli especially prepared for them. 
Halton, from William Rennie, Toronto, 
Canada. Planted April 7; dug August 8. A 
second early potato. Tubers very close in the 
hill; low tops. Yield at, the rate of 524.33 
bushels to the acre, averaging 11 to a hill, of 
which (in number) 70 per cent, were of 
marketable size. Among the best, five 
weighed two pounds thirteen ounces. Skin 
pinkish; eyes rather deeply sunken, though 
variable iu this respect. Flesh yellowish. 
NOTES BY A STOCKMAN. 
ROSA RUGOSA AND ITS VARIETIES. 
Fig. 99. 
few that pleased us better. The berries re¬ 
semble the male parent, the foliage the fe¬ 
male. The original seedling has borne for 
four years, improving in size each successive 
year. The wood, Mr. C. says, ripens perfect¬ 
ly, and is very fine grained, hard and firm. 
The foliage, he says, is almost equal to Con¬ 
cord, and during last season and the season of 
1883 did better in every way than that of 
Moore’s Early or Worden. Mr. Campbell 
thinks it will prove valuable at least where 
any grape of mixed parentage will succeed, 
such as Brighton, Jefferson, or Rogers’s seed¬ 
lings. The vine, he says, is only a medium- 
strong grower, but it bears well and is pro¬ 
ductive, ripening all its fruit (about 30 clusters 
last season/ perfectly. We show, at Fig 101 
(page 175), a bunch of them drawn from na¬ 
ture. 
SHALL WE PLANT CONCORDS? 
Quite a number of Rural readers have 
takeu us to task for saying that we should no 
longer plant the Concord Grape for any pur¬ 
pose whatever except as a stock upon which 
to graft less thrifty kinds. But iu saying this, 
we do not pretend to speak for j,he whole 
country. In many parts the Concord thrives 
while better varieties fail; or, it they do not 
fail, the bunches are comparatively small, or 
the vines mildew. But we do not believe that 
there is any place in the country where some 
of the newer kinds which, in quality are bet¬ 
ter thau the Concord, will not succeed fairly 
well. The trouble is they have not all of them 
been tried. People who at considerable cost 
and trouble have planted half a dozen new va¬ 
rieties, only to find them not adapted to the 
climate, are ready to condemn the whole list 
of new grapes and to fall back upon the Con¬ 
cord as the stand-by. It may be thut another 
grape never will be found that will succeed so 
well over an extended range of country and 
climate as tho Concord, but this fact should 
not deter us from trying to obtain a better 
grape that will thrive just as well iu a giveu 
district. For instance,some of Ricketts's Seed¬ 
lings, the El Dorado for example, which, in 
quality is nearly perfect, succeeds well in the 
neighborhood of its origin. Here, then, as a 
market or homo grape, the Concord Is not to 
be compared with it. Similar examples may 
