T 84 
a! 
by the 24th. Tt was wonderful to see at 
that date the Jefferson quite eatable, and 
it was the first time they ripened with us at 
all. Jessica was ripe and nearly all eaten be¬ 
fore we could get a chance to test it, but the 
connoisseurs who did said it was “just.lovely.” 
Buchess was as pood as ever and took ou a 
yellower tinge than ever seen before, mel¬ 
low and sweet. Niagaras not a full crop on 
account of a late frost, were very fine in size 
and quality, and oue bunch of Brighton was 
superb. Tbe leaves are now all gone, and the 
ripened wood suggests pruning time. We give 
as manure all the wood ashes possible, and ap¬ 
ply a coating of swamp muck, as the food the 
vine revels in. Halem, Wilder, Vergenucs 
and Pocklington all ripened by the middle of 
September, and it really was a pleasure to see 
how thoroughly the sun had done its work 
this season—a great compensation for the heat 
of July. 
The apples are clear of spots, ruddy and 
large, especially our chief standby, the Fam-_ 
euse It isa general complaint that they are 
nearly all small in some orchards, and we at¬ 
tribute our exceptional case to the fact that 
lust autumn a ditch bank was moved and the 
soil was dumped in the orchard, aud after¬ 
ward spread and liarrow’ed in; thus the 
ground was aide to resist the intense 
drought. One of the new Russiau ap¬ 
ples is flrfn aud sound at present. For Yel¬ 
low Transparent, which is named as one of 
the earliest, we obtained first prize in Mon¬ 
treal this year, outrivaling those shown by its 
introducer, Mr. Gibb. We still feel that we 
want a late winter apple, with all the good 
qualities of our peerless auturuu fruit, the 
beautiful Fatneuse, that grows better here 
than iu any other part of the country. 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
THE AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SO¬ 
CIETY AT BOSTON. 
(RURAL SPECIAL SHORTHAND REPORT.) 
THE ONLY COMPLETE REPORTS OF THE SESSION, 
i Continued .) 
Incorporation of the society; honoring the 
late President Wilder and Charles M. 
Hooey; commercial fertilisers jot fruit, 
growing; danger of excessive manuring; 
the Wilson Straw her ry again; other varie¬ 
ties; a warm in citation to hold the next 
meeting in Florida enthusiastically ac¬ 
cepted. _ 
Near the close of the last afternoon session 
President Berckmans said that the society had 
been incoiporated by a special act of the Mas¬ 
sachusetts legislature last winter, which was 
made necessary in order to avail itself of the 
bequest of $5,060 left, the society by the late 
President Wilder. In view of this fact suita¬ 
ble action should be taken at this session. The 
act of incorporation was thereupon accepted. 
Then, at the request of Treasure'- Smith, a 
financial committee was appointed to share 
the responsibility with him us custodian of 
this legacy, the by-laws of the society beiug so 
amended. 
Mr. Parsons, Chairman of the Committee ou 
Resolutions, then reported the following, 
which wen-adopted by a rising vote: 
" WhereUS, it has pleased the Ruler of 
events to take from us our honored President 
and. valued associate and, friend , the lion. 
Marshall I 1 . Wilder, therefore .. Resolved that 
ire jdaee upon record, our high apprexiotion 
of his character and of his valuable services 
to our association. His Well tried integrity, 
his uniform courtesy, his executive ability 
united with rapacity for work, his exception¬ 
al readiness with either tongue or pen, his 
liberality with money, his dignified pres, 
cnee, and the warm sympathy of his nature, 
icere qualities which claim J'oe tumour high¬ 
est regard, and. affection. The. loss of such 
men is irreparable to every interest for which 
they have expended the best energies of their 
lives', and alt of vs who have known him 
must always remember with pleasure ., ming¬ 
led with sadness for their loss , the, exception¬ 
al cjualities of his eminent personality,' 1 ' 
•'Whereas, since our last meeting we have 
been called to mourn the, loss of one of the 
most valuable officers of our society, Mr. 
Chas. M. Ilovcy, therefore, Resolved that 
we record upon the pages of our history the 
memory of his great use fulness, and of his 
devotion to the interests of Pomology. Men 
who have thus labored are hard to replace, 
and the want of his services may cause us 
long to remember them." 
The last evening session was opened by an 
essay on “Commercial Fertilizers in Fruit¬ 
growing,” written and read by P. M. Augur. 
Tnis was the last paper lead before the 
society. 
He said in part: “There is much involved 
in this question for us as fruit-growers. If 
our aecouut with our orchards be short, our 
drafts upon them will be dishonored. If we 
would have satisfactory returns from fruit 
culture we must attend to the fertilization. 
Drainage is first important. Stir the ground 
frequently, iterate the soil. Theu we must 
furnish suitable rations. The good effect of 
manure should be two-fold; first its mechan¬ 
ical effect upon the soil, and second the plant 
food furnished. Then the question of diges¬ 
tibility should not be overlooked. Wo could 
increase tbe amount of our borne manures 
fifty-fold if we would. But after all this, 
most persons will need something more to se¬ 
cure profitable production, and hence the fer¬ 
tilizers of commerce come back to us. Lib¬ 
eral application of manure should be added to 
the necessary culture. 
Mr. Green said: ‘‘There is no danger of 
gettiug too much manure. A plant will not 
take up more than it needs. I always advise 
inquirers not to fear using too much manure.’ 
Mr. Powell said, “1 have often seen too much 
manure applied, making the crop a failure.” 
President Berckmans: “A plant can absorb 
too much plant food when it conus to bear¬ 
ing fruit, although not for the production of 
foliage ttud plant growth ” Mr. Lyon: “I 
once drew a pile of compost over a field of 
potatoes. Where I used the greatest amount 
of the compost the crop was a failure, outside 
of its largest iulluence the crop was better.” 
Mr. Hubbard: “I am satisfied that iu grape 
culture too much manure cau bo used." Mr. 
Augur: “We have found that too much 
manure produces an overgrowth in our 
orchard, which leads the .trees to winter-kill 
very badly. Since then we have learned to 
apply manure, especially nitrogenous man¬ 
ure, more moderately. Another thing we 
have learned is to stop cultivation early in the 
season. We would rather have weeds lute in 
the season than to keep cultivating the soil at 
the expense of the vitality of the trees. This 
refers to young orchards which are apt to be 
injured by late growth. Mr. Engle: “In the 
cuse of raspberrries I find the late succulent 
grow th stands the winter best aud buds out 
soonest iu spring. Mr. Fuller: “That is my 
theory. I want red raspberries to grow right 
on until winter. These late growths will bear 
fruit even in Aluska.” (! EDS) 
The Wilson strawberry was then redis- 
cussed at length. Mr. Smith’s eloquent and 
practical plea in its behalf bad evidently set 
members thinking. Mr. Fuller: “In my sec¬ 
tion Charles Downing leads all other sorts for 
field culture. This is the kirnl grown so ex¬ 
tensively and successfully near Newark.” Mr, 
Green: “In our section the Wilson is of no 
account whatever, nobody thinks of planting 
it.” Mr. Thai low: “I live 40 miles north of 
Boston. For 15 years the Wilson was the 
strawberry with us, but of late it does nut do 
so well, aud yet it is raised more than any 
other, with Manchester aud Crescent next.” 
Mr. Hubbard: “The demand for Wilson 
plants from Tennessee and Kentucky is three 
times os great as for any other strawberry. I 
think it beneficial to exchange good plants of 
the same kind between different localities.” 
Mr. Kugle, Pennsylvania: “It is no longer ex¬ 
tensively grown with us. Sharpless is our 
best variety. Crescent is also grown consid 
erubly, but it does not equal the Sharpless. 
We bad to abandon the Charles Downing; the 
foliage would not hold, it browned and 
burned.” Mr. Liudley, North Carolina: “We 
grow Sharpless most extensively. At the 
same time I have usually considered Wilson 
the standard, like the Bartlett pear and the 
Concord grape." Rev. Mr, Hart, of Nova 
Scotia, said: “The Wilson has been considered 
good, the Sharpless better, but when the poo 
pie begin to know what a strawberry really is 
they want the Charles Downing." John Har¬ 
vey, Massachusetts: “The Wilson has gone, 
out of cultivation iu our section.” Mr. Adams 
of Florida: ‘The Wilson does not succeed at 
all with us.” 
Mr, Augur: “In Connecticut the Wilson 
has been very generally abandoned. It gives 
one or two satisfactory pickings; after that it 
amounts to very little. It is then troubled 
with leaf-blight. I think, with Mr. Smith, 
that no strawberry should be allowed to bear 
fruit the first year of planting. 1 want Mr. 
Smith to send me two dozen of his best Wil¬ 
son plants. I will give them the best of care.” 
At the last morning session of the society, 
after tbe reading of the reports of committees 
ou awards, which have already been given in 
substance in the Rural, Dr. Carey, of Geor¬ 
gia, extended an invitation to the society to 
hold its next meeting in the South. Said he: 
I am glad the society is itinerant in its char¬ 
acter. Way down South is a land that is lit¬ 
tle known. It has developed wonderfully of 
late. We want you to come down and see it. 
We have beeu treated cordially here and want 
to reciprocate. We want you to come to Flor¬ 
ida, and I leave the precise place open for tbe 
present, but would suggest that the time be 
fixed for February. We will show fruit that 
some of you have uever seen. Favorable ar¬ 
rangements can be made with the railways. 
We will give you a warm welcome.” 
Dr. Hape seconded the invitation in an earn¬ 
est speecli; speaking of the uniform courtesy 
of the Southern railroads, he said, “They pass 
our delegates free now, If anybody cau beat 
that aud get a lunch thrown iu, why all 
right.” Mr. Adams, of Florida, also second¬ 
ed the invitation. “You will find our doors 
wide open,” said ho. “Come when we cau 
show you our fruits. We want to take you 
out under the orange trees, beneath the palm 
and the banana.” The invitation w'as unani¬ 
mously and enthusiastically accepted. H. H. 
farm Tories, 
MARKET NOTES. 
A GOOD business is done at this season in 
“home-made sausage.” Several stands in the 
market are well patronized and a large pri¬ 
vate business is done by farmers who send 
direct to friends. Almost everybody likes 
good sausage. Many so-called fashionable 
people seem to be a little asbauied of them¬ 
selves at their liking for pork, but they can¬ 
not help liking it. There are many city men 
who passed their boyhood on the farm. Mmij 
pass the summer on some comfortable farm 
and fall iu love with the wholesome* cooking 
of their hostess. All these demand “country 
sausage” and are willing to pay for it. The 
sausage that seems to please such people is 
composed of about half beef aud half pork 
It is pretty highly seasoned uud carefully 
chopped. It is generally neatly packed iu 
muslin rolls, though some parties pack it iu 
small stone crocks uud have the crocks re¬ 
turned. There Is a fair demand for head¬ 
cheese. Of course, the makers of such goods 
have to earn a reputation for honesty aud 
cleanliness before they can find customers. 
Good sausage sells at the markets at 18 cents 
per pound. Some of those who secure pri¬ 
vate customers get as high as SJO cents. 
The history of all “fancy markets” is the 
same. They are slowly built up and re 
taiued ouly by careful attention to details. 
Perhaps the majority of them originate iu the 
farm boarding house. The city guest fluffs 
good cooking, crisp vegetables, good butter 
aud eggs aud prime fruit. Who makes up her 
mind to order her year’s supply of apples, 
potatoes, butter, etc., etc., from the farm. 
The business is kept up just as long as satis¬ 
faction is given, aud city friends are sure to 
join in ordering. 
Many farmers and their wives object to 
doing what they call a retail business. I 
know one farmer’s wife who makes excellent 
sausage. A city friend ate some of it one day 
and at once said: “Jf you will bring me some 
of that every week, 1 will give samples to my 
friends and help you build up a good market. 
After you have got it started, you cau sell 
potatoes, butter and other things at a better 
price than you can ever get in the regular 
market Now then, here is a chance.” What 
did the farmer and his wife say/ “Wo don’t 
propose to turn our house iuto a sausage fac¬ 
tory!” They lost a chauee to make some 
money. Perhaps they felt enough better over 
it to make up, but I doubt it. That same 
spirit prevents many a uiuu from gettiug 
along in the world. Many farmers consider 
it undignified and humiliating to do a retail 
business. They would rather have the grocer 
or marketman have (ho extra price than to 
sell butter, eggs or vegetables from a wagon. 
It is no more undignified for a farmer to 
“peddle” such articles than it is fora grocer 
to sellgthem. 
The grocers, uptown, all want large pota¬ 
toes. Everybody who knows much about 
potatoes knows that the largest ones are not 
the best. The medium-sized ones are always 
the most “mealy.” The reason given by gro¬ 
cers is that large potatoes sell best. Most of 
the marketing is done by servant girls who 
buy r a peck or so at a time. These girls find 
it easier to prepare oue large potato than two 
smaller ones, and they are great economists 
on the work question. This is the great argu¬ 
ment 'given by the grocers, aud there is a 
good deal iu it. So long as servant girls do 
the marketing, large potatoes will be called 
for. 
The market is well supplied with domestic 
uuts. Most of these come from Sullivan, Ul¬ 
ster aud adjoining counties. The Italian 
street roasters supply most of the market for 
chestnuts. They handle a total of from 125 to 
150 barrels per day. There is an abundant 
supply this year and little money in shipping 
either chestnuts or hickory nuts. Many chest¬ 
nuts spoil for lack of proper facilities for han¬ 
dling thorn. 
This has beeu a pretty fair season for pears. 
People have taken to canning and preserving 
pears more than in former years. Most of 
the market gardeners near New' York who re¬ 
tail their truck iu the upper part of the city 
have a small pear orchard. They say that 
the money from this crop is the easiest to make 
of any they handle. 
This is a good season for cabbage. They 
will rank with tomatoes as a profitable crop 
for uear-by market gardeners. Cabbage 
growing ou a large scale—makiug this the 
chief crop—is not so popular as it used to be. 
Almost all the gardeners now have a small 
space devoted to cabliage each year. Most of 
the cabbages are packed in barrels, but stout 
crates are very popular with some shippers. 
Red cabbages find a good sal? among some 
classes of cus orners. but they do not suit the 
popular taste, which seems to have decided 
that a catibage should be green and that a 
potato should be white. Cauliflower is in 
good demand this year. This vegetable be¬ 
comes more popular with each season. This 
is the first year that I have noticed it hawked 
about the streets as cabbage and potatoes are 
sold. An unusually large number of potatoes 
come to market this year marked by wire- 
worms and spiked by potato forks. Such po¬ 
tatoes always in jure the sale of the good ones. 
The men who dig potatoes by machinery 
claim that they have very few spiked or 
injured potatoes. This point, they say, is not 
considered by ihose who object to potato- 
diggers. 1 estimate that the wire-worms des¬ 
troy at least 2d per cent, of the value of the 
marketed potato crop. 
fieltr Crffpsu 
(fxpeviment Ckouncb of the §turnl 
gkui-X) inker. 
Continuation of experiments; cut pieces and 
whole potatoes for seed.', two new potatoes, 
the Early Jhirilan and Delaware', yields; 
rating the yield by the vines' next. 
Size of Seed Fieces. —Ten or 12 years ago 
an extended series of experiments was con¬ 
ducted on the Rural Farm of Long Island to 
aid in determining the relative value of seed 
potatoes cut to one and two eyes, half pieces 
and whole tubers. No less thau fit) kinds of 
potatoes were tried and the results seemed to 
indicate that while one variety of potato 
yielded better from one or two eyes, others 
yielded better from half potatoes and still 
others from w’hole potatoes. The sum of the 
evidence was, however, that in most cases 
where whole seed was used, the potatoes of 
tho crop averaged smaller though of greater 
gioss weight. 
Iu the following experiments of the present 
year the Rural Blush I’otato was alone used. 
The results of the same experiments (series 
No. 2) with the Rural Calico are already be¬ 
fore our readers. Wo may prelude that the 
Blush is a late variety of the lYaehldow kind, 
and that the season was unusually wet. The 
whole tubers used for seed were of rather 
small marketable size, and tho pieces, wbelli 
er of one, two or three eyes, were cut from 
potatoes of tho same average size. They 
were planted one foot apart iu four-inch deep 
trenches three feet apart. The trenches after 
tho pieces were lightly covered with soil re¬ 
ceived at the rate of 800 pounds of special 
