464 
f HI RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JULY 44 
Greenleaf, Underwood, Corliss’s Matchless 
Alexander No. 1, and State of Maine. 
Nevertheless, whatever may be the out¬ 
come of this half-acre, we have supplemen¬ 
tary trials which, without the aid of the many 
Rural readers who are co operating with us, 
will determine whether or not the system is 
one to be discarded or adopted. Adjoining 
our half-acre, a neighbor has planted a quar¬ 
ter of an acre, all of which is trenched, while 
five rows are mulched. A short distance to 
the East auother neighbor has planted two 
acres or more in a field, a part of which is a 
Plan of Ground Floor. Fig. 386. (See 
first page.) 
fertile valley, the other part a sandy hill. In 
order to give our plan the severest trial, the 
hill-portion was trenched and mulched. 
Again, the experiment is being tried on an 
extended plan at the Long Island Rural 
Farm. 
We have no preposessions or prejudices,and 
merely desire, for the benefit of our readers 
and agricultural progress, that the truth may 
appear. 
PROLIFEROUS STAWBERRIES. 
Mr. J. H. Foster, of Orange Co., Fla., 
sends us the originals from which our engrav¬ 
ings, Figs. 289, 290, 291, were drawn. He 
writes: 
‘*1 send you three samples of a peculiar 
growth of strawberry—a plant or plants on the 
end of the berry. In the cage of Fig. 289, the 
berry was advancing toward ripeness, being 
well colored on the lower two-thirds. It is 
from a plant of the Neunan. The berry at 
Fig. 290 is not much developed; but can be 
plainly seen, and the calyx is there sure. Fig. 
291 shows a well developed green berry with 
two plants. Figs. 289 and 290 represent 
Northern varieties from my experimental 
bed of 25 kinds, which I am testing. 1 did 
Plan of^Second Floor. Fig. 287. (See 
first page.) 
not notice what kinds. Roots are issuing 
from Fig. 291. I noticed one in the patch 
where the roots had had a fair chance to en¬ 
ter the soil, and they were at work. Last 
year I had one with a nice plant at the apex 
of the berry, and just below at tbe seeds,each 
seed was accompanied with a small leaf like 
those on potatoes which develope above 
ground. ” 
(Remarks —Such abnormal growths arc al¬ 
ways interesting, though not uncommon. 
They are probably, in this case, due to some 
check in the formation of the fruit, the 
growth continuing in the form of leaves from 
which every part of a plant has its origin— 
sterns, flowers and fruit. Proliferous roses, 
petunias, pelargoniums are common enough, 
in which the axis pushes on through the in¬ 
florescence, bearing leaves or other flowers. 
We have often known green margined petuni¬ 
as to revert to whorls of green leaves. The 
Green Rose bears really green leaves instead 
of petals.— Eds.] 
|30molo0kal 
THE OSTHE1M WEICHSEL CHERRY. 
PROF. J. L. BUDD. 
Over a large portion of Europe, where tbe 
Heart and Duke varieties of cherries fail to do 
well, and even iu many parts where the latter 
succeed perfectly, the Ostheim is a geueral 
favorite,of prince and peusant. As European 
pomologists unite in reporting it hardier in 
tree, firmer In leaf, and much higher in 
quality of fruit than any of the Montmorency 
varieties (of which our Richmond is one), it 
seems strange that it has not been introduced 
and propagated by our large nurseries of the 
Eastern States. Possibly the small size of the 
tree and its bushy habit of growth may ac¬ 
count for this general neglect; yet, without 
the aid of nurseries or horticultural societies, 
it has been introduced at a number of points 
in the West by settlers from Eastern Germany, 
Poland and Silesia, and is rapidly coming to 
the front as one of the best and most profitable 
of the sorts yet tried iu the Mississippi Valley. 
At several points in Minnesota, it bus lived 
and fruited where the Richmond has utterly 
failed, wiiile in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and 
Missouri, it has radiated from several centers 
of sprout distribution. 
During the Summer of 1884 the foliage of 
the Richmond and English Morello was so 
injured by rust that the wood failed to prop¬ 
erly mature, and during the past test Winter 
the trees have been lost, except on the most 
favorable soils, while the thicker and firmer 
leaves of the Ostheim were free from rust, 
and the trees now promise a heavy crop of 
fruit. 
My experience and observation fully sustain 
Downing’s estimate of the fruit, viz.: Fruit 
large, round sh-oblate. Skju red, dark liver- 
color at maturity. Stalk, long. Flesh, liver- 
colored, tender, juicy, almost sweet sub acid. 
It may be well to say that a number of va¬ 
rieties of the Griotte race have the name of 
Ostheim in various parts of Europe. 
We have Ostbeimer, Cerise d’Ostheim, Os- 
Fig. 292. 
theim Weichsel and Griotte d’Ostheim im¬ 
ported from Europe. These all seem identical, 
as does also the variety introduced by settlers 
from the Old Country into Kansas and Mis¬ 
souri under the name of Ostheim, which is 
shown at Fig. 292, and a leaf of the same at 
Fig. 293. 
Fig. 293. 
The variety introduced into Minnesota 
from Wiirtemberg, Germany, by Mr. Myers, 
of St. Peters, seems one of the variations 
found among the peasants of the Swabian 
Alp. While closely resembling the Ostheim 
in tree and leaf its fruit is earlier in season, 
smaller and lighter-colored. 
Ames, Iowa. 
Citterna Logical. 
DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS OF THE YEAR. 
PROF. C. V. RILEY. 
Every year brings its surprises in economic 
entomology. Cut-worms have recently ap¬ 
peared in countless numbers In the extensive 
onion-growing district around Goshen, 
Orange Co., N. Y. Several hundred acres of 
drained swamp land are cultivated in onions, 
in general divided into small holdings of two 
or three acres. The worms appeared shortly 
after June 1st, as soon as the onions had start¬ 
ed, When young, they climbed to the top of 
the stalk and worked downward, but as they 
grew larger the normal cutting habit prevail¬ 
ed, as the stalks were too small to support 
them. Hand-picking has been carried on ex¬ 
tensively. Arsenical poisons do but little 
good. Kerosene, pure, blackens the stalk 
but does not kill it, arid destroys the worms, 
and I am now having experiment#made with 
the emulsion. The species (not yet bred to 
imago) is doubtless Agrotis umltdida, of which 
1 have given an account iu my last report as 
U. 8. Entomologist, but this has hitherto pre¬ 
vailed only in the 8outh Atlantic States. 
A strawberry weevil (Authouomns muscu- 
lus) made its appearance as a strawberry pest 
on Btaten Island, iu several fields in the 8priug 
of 1884. It attacked the buds, piercing them 
with its beak and afterward piercing the stem 
a short distauce below the bud. causing the 
bud either to droop or shrivel and dry up. 
It also did much injury in Michigan and was 
treated of by Prof. A. J. Cook. This year 
(1885) the beetles mad© their appearance about 
May 20, with the first buds of the Sharpless. 
All “perfect” varieties have suffered severely, 
particularly the Sharpless. Mr. Samuel G . 
Wiuaut, of Rossville, is one of the heaviest 
losers, and was the first to communicate with 
the Department. 
But still more remarkable is the widespread 
destruction in the West and Southwest, oc¬ 
casioned by a little web worm belonging to 
tbe family of Pyralid®, and known to ento¬ 
mologists as Eurycreon rantalis. Withiu two 
or three days I have received over a dozen 
letters making inquiry about this insect, and 
describing its great injury. 
Specimens come from Crawford, Cowley, 
Labette and Montgomery Counties in Kansas; 
Vernon and Jasper Counties in Missouri; 
Cook, Erath and Hopkins Counties in Texas; 
the 8eminole Natiou iu Indian Territory, and 
Crawford County in Arkansas. The crops 
suffering most from it are, cotton, corn, hemp, 
beets, tomatoes, potatoes, beaus, peas, cab¬ 
bage, melons, cucumbers, sweet potatoes 
egg-plant. 
Washington, D. C., June2G, 1885. 
Sikust’l Bedriks. 
TENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF 
NURSERYMEN. 
[Tbe publication of tills report.by a special corres¬ 
pondent of the R. N.-Y.,bas been delayed on account 
of our Special Crop Number.—E ds.] 
Over 300 of the earnest,wide-awake propa¬ 
gators of fruits, trees, shrubs, and flowers met 
in anuual convention at tbe Grand Pacific, in 
Chicago, on June 17th. The most casual ob¬ 
server could not fail to agree with the remark 
of Mr. Leo Weltz, of Ohio, that he knew of no 
profession that could turn out a like number of 
jovial, even-tempered, earnest and intelligent 
workers. 
The main purpose of these annual gather¬ 
ings is the extension of personal acquaintance 
with co-workers in all parts of the Union; 
the discussion of best niodeB and methods iu 
propagation; the formation of correct esti¬ 
mates of the amount of stock on the market; 
exchanges and purchase of stock, etc. Very 
largely the interchange of thought and stock 
is brought about in the dozens of little knots 
formed continually In tbe offices of the hotel 
or the ante-rooms of the hall in which the 
business sessions are held. At the regular 
sessions topics were introduced by tbe reading 
of a few papers, but the noise of the busy 
streets and the heat of the necessarily closed 
hall, prevented the proper hearing of the papers 
or the spirited discussion of the topics pie- 
sented. The general feeling was in favor of 
a more quiet and airy hall for the next ses¬ 
sion at Washington, D. C. 
The paper of W. F. Heikes on “Tbe effect 
of distant removal of trees and plants,” at¬ 
tracted much attention. It was a clear state¬ 
ment in regard to “individuality” of the tree 
or plant. As an instance, the Oldenburg 
Apple was long grown in England, France 
and Canada, yet when introduced into the 
Upper Mississippi Valley, it has proven true 
to its individual habits in its native home on 
the Volga. By general consent the idea was 
presented thatspecial varieties must be select¬ 
ed for special soils and climates, but that it 
mattered little where these varieties were 
grown, provided the conditions were favor¬ 
able to perfect foliage and perfect ripening 
of wood in Autumn. 
The subject of educated help iu the nursery 
was introduced by Mr. Jenkius, of Minnesota, 
who argued in favor of the growing idea that 
the element s of horticulture should bo taught 
in our common schools, and that experts 
should be trained in the agricultural colleges. 
Mr. Leo Weltz, of Ohio, and others sustained 
this view, while Mr. Obiuer and others urged 
that the nursery was the only reliable train¬ 
ing school. Mr. 11. said he had no use for 
collegf-bred boys, but that young ineu who 
were trained for special divisions of the 
nursery work could bo relied ou. Reports on 
“stock in sight" in the States were unusually 
vague and indefinite. In nearly ull the inter¬ 
ior portions remote from large bodies of 
water, heavy losses of all kinds of stock were 
reported as the effect of the past severe Win¬ 
ter. In most parts of the Mississippi Valley 
west of the lakes unprecedented losses of or 
chard trees were also reported. Mingled with 
the State reports were constant admissions 
that a hardier set of varieties of fruits 
were needed, and that the climate seemed to 
be changing for the worse with the destruc¬ 
tion of the forests, In the Central and Eastern 
States, and the destruction of the primative 
grasses and the drying up of the morasses 
and dogged drainage centers of the Western 
States. 
Reports on nursery implements, the trans¬ 
portation problem, special fertillizers, the les- 
