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Vol. XLYI. No. 1950 
NEW YORK, JUNE 11, 1887 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, In the year 1887, by the Rural New-Yorker, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
XANTHOCERAS SORBIFOLIA. 
In the Rural New-Yorker (then Moore’s 
R. N.-Y.) of February 26, 1876, the'present 
writer said of this new shrub: 
“This plant is still rare and not as yet offer¬ 
ed by our nurserymen. Nevertheless, we 
think it well to familiarize our readers with 
the names and characteristics of novelties that 
promise at no distant day to become valuable 
to us.” 
The promise has been fulfilled. 
The same number presented an'.excellent 
cut of the iuflorescenee, which was re-engraved 
from our respected London contemporary, the 
Garden. We succeeded in procuring a plant 
from Mr. John Saul, of Washington, D. C., 
shortly after. This died. Another died, and 
the Xanthoceras was permitted to drop from 
our memory for a time, as we half concluded 
it was not hardy. In the spring of 1885 Mr. 
Saul, among a lot of rare plants which he sent 
us to try, sent another little plant of this 
shrub, and it is from this, though but two 
years old, that our carefully-drawn engraving 
was made. 
Last year Mr. Falconer, of Glen Cove, Long 
Island, was kind enough to send us some seeds. 
Every one germinated almost as readily as if 
they had been so many beans. These were 
permitted to remain out-of-doors last winter, 
though scarcely more than six iuches high, 
and though in au exposed place and somewhat 
thrown out by the frost, all survived and are 
now in good health. No doubt this shrub is 
hardy for this climate, with a fair promise 
that it will prove hardy further north. We 
should like our friends in the Northeast and 
West to try it 
Our engraving (see Fig. 215) shows a raceme 
of (lowers (the only one borne by the little 
plant, which is but 1 18 inches high), which 
should not be accepted as a fair specimen. 
The individual (lowers cousist of five petals, 
white, slightly rose-tinted, with u reddish cen¬ 
ter, and an inch in diameter. In general ap¬ 
pearance it reminds one of a well-grown hya¬ 
cinth raceme, except that here and there the 
compound leaves, consisting of half a dozen 
or more ovate, serrate leallets. are interspersed. 
The shrub is said to be of a bushy habit, not 
exceeding ld'or 12 feet high, blooming in April. 
Our specimen bloomed in early May, though 
in bud as early ns April 15. The fruit is about 
two inches in length by less thnu two inches 
in iliarncter, and the seeds resemble those of 
Kudreuteria pauiculata, near which in the 
order of Snpindamo (to which the horse-chest¬ 
nut belongs) it is placed. It is said that the 
fruit rarely forms in England or perhaps other 
countries, but Mr. Falconer tells us that it 
fruits freely with him, and it will be interest¬ 
ing to find out what changes seedling cultiva¬ 
tion will effect. It is said to be a native of 
North China. There is no reason that now 
appeal's why it should not take a first place 
among our oarly-bloomiug, hardy shrubs. 
AT JOSEPH HARRIS’S FARM. 
CHARLES A. GREEN. 
Farmers’ gardens are planted too late. 
Work in them is often postponed until the 
hurried season is past, and then the dry spell 
comes on and the seeds do not start well, or 
the vegetables are out of season. Our garden 
is no exception, lienee it was but recently that 
I drove into Joseph Harris’s grounds for 
garden seeds. I found Mr. Harris, hoe in 
hand, and he carried it on his shoulder while 
guiding me about the place. 
“Here are the old Russell’s Prolific, the 
Manchester aud other strawberries, partly 
planted in August, partly early in the spring 
of 1886. A good prospect for fruit.” 
“Yes, and here you have trodden upon the 
heresy that strawberries should not be culti- 
overshadow the plants. On sandy soil, or 
where grass and weeds do not grow so ram¬ 
pant, cultivation might be omitted. There 
is no arbitrary rule about such work.” 
“Your currants are heavily laden. What 
kinds do you find most profitable, and what 
price do you receive for the fruit?” 
“Victoria is our favorite. We sell at 
hoed and cultivated, as you see. We might 
have received considerable profit from the 
sale of cuttings, but have failed to preserve 
them.” 
“Pretty early for squash and melon to be so 
far advanced.” 
“Yes, those were started under glass and 
transplanted. My son and daughter delight 
in horticultural work, and this is a part of it. 
This section of land they devote to testing 
various seeds.” 
“These acres of young asparagus roots are 
looking thrifty. What is your method of 
producing roots?” 
“We sow the seed very early with an ordi¬ 
nary farm drill, IS inches apart between rows, 
and cultivate frequently. The plants shade 
the soil the second season so that weeds do not 
trouble them much. Three-year asparagus 
plants bear transplanting well, but older roots 
are worthless, except to plant in cellar or 
under glass for forcing. We sow onion seed 
for onion sets with the same two-horse farm 
drill. This plat was sown with onions before 
the frost was entirely out beneath. You can 
see the rows of young plants now for a long 
distance. They must be sown very thickly or 
the sets will grow too large.” 
“How do you harvest and store the onion 
sets?” 
“We dig them in August, and after the sets 
have become thoroughly dry we run them 
through a fanning mill, then store them in 
some dry loft. Frost does them no injury. I 
once sold several loads of large onions, but 
though paid for, they came back on my bands 
through some misfortune of the buyer. We 
carelessly threw them in piles under the ever¬ 
greens, where they remained all winter, often 
covered with snow banks. In the spring they 
came out in fine condition and were all taken 
to market.” 
“These large fields appear to be well 
drained,” 
“Yes, a large portion of this land was a 
swamp when I came here, hut now such land 
is the most productive. We spent $500 in 
draining this thirty-acre field, aud it has been 
a good investment, but I could do the work 
far cheaper now with the experience I have 
had since. We found a current of water 
under the subsoil, and, once tapped, it 
drained the land for a long distance on 
both sides. I should not now permit lateral 
drains to flow into an open outlet, but would 
lead them to a large covered maiu outlet by one 
large line of tile. Laterals opening into open 
ditches are continually becoming clogged from 
one source or another. This main outlet, as 
you see, is six inches in diameter, and flows 
like a brook. 
“The colored plate of the Jessie Strawberry 
pleased me very much,” remarked Miss Har¬ 
ris, in a complimentary tone. 
•‘It is easy enough to make any thing look 
well on paper,” added Mr. Harris. “Mr. 
Green himself is good-looking in print.” 
“You are testing the Jessie, I presume?” 
said I. 
“No. We have not a plant growing.” 
How strange, thought l, as I drove toward 
the city, that so enterprising a firm should 
not be testing the new fruits. But if Mr. 
Harris should come my way he might think 
it queer that I was not testing the new veget¬ 
ables. 
Rochester, N. Y. 
wm 
NzW'-TqRKEA 
XANTHOCERAS SORBIFOLIA, Fi 
cents per pound at the canning factory, and 
pay one cent per pound for picking. It gives 
a fair profit. This is my sou's enterprise. 
My protits cousist of a fishing excursion giv¬ 
en annually by my son, who is quite a sports¬ 
man. We use 25 pounds of powdered helle¬ 
bore early each seasou, sifted on the damp foli¬ 
age for the currant worm, which gives little 
trouble thereafter. Wo keep the bushes well 
vated the beariug seasou before fruiting, just 
as I tread on it every season. You have hoed 
and cult ivated, yet have been told again and 
again by wise men not to do so.” 
“In regard to cultivation,” replied Mr. Har¬ 
ris “every one must be governed by circum¬ 
stances. This is u grassy soil naturally, aud 
it is better to give shallow cultivatiou early 
than to permit the grass and other weeds to 
STRAWBERRY PACKING. 
Strawberries are our first fruit, and when 
properly prepared make a most delicious pre¬ 
serve. We have three methods of packing 
them. All. have their merits and none are 
poor. Each reader may take his or her 
choice. 
1. Take medium-sized smooth berries— 
