JAN S3 
58 THE BUBAL NIW-Y0B5CIB, 
gravelly piece of land that has been in culti¬ 
vation for several years. It was seeded to 
Orchard Grass last spring, and I am thinking 
of planting it with Damson Plums next spring, 
and do not like to plow up the grass for a 
while yet. Would the trees do well if set out 
without plowing, and allowed to grow for a 
year or so without cultivation? Is the Shrop¬ 
shire Damson superior to the common blue 
plum? Would it succeed here? The old blue 
Damson pays well here; there are no Sbrop- 
shires planted that I know of. 
Ans. —Dig holes two and one-half or three 
feet square and one and one-half foot deep— 
not less than 10 feet apart each way. Fill the 
holes to within five or six inches of the sur¬ 
face with good, rich soil, and pack it down 
firmly. The surface soil immediately under 
the leaves in a forest or woodland is excellent 
for this purpose. Make a small hole in the 
center for the tap-root of the tree. Set the 
trees not more than three inches deep¬ 
er than they grew in the nursery. 
Spread out the laterals and fibrous roots and 
pack the soil firmly about them. As your 
land is thin, it would be well to put around 
the trees a mulch of coarse stable or barnyard 
manure at least six inches deep and to extend 
two feet or more in every direction from the 
tree. You can then let the Orchard Grass or 
any other grass grow, and your trees will grow 
also and do well. The plum tree needs but 
little cultivation, and the Damson less than 
any. You may let the mulch remain all the 
summer. Late in the fall or the following 
spring, the mulch may be removed and the soil 
around the trees may be loosened a few inches 
deep with a hoe, when the mulch may be re¬ 
placed. A Kentucky- friend has about 50 
young Damson trees growing in a solid Blue 
Grass and Orchard Grass soil. They have 
never had any cultivation, except the mellow¬ 
ing of the surface soil a few feet around them 
once a "year. They have all lived and have 
made good growth. He has other Damson 
trees growing in a back yard, which never had 
any cultivation at all. The soil around them 
is packed as hard as a public road. They have 
made a fine growth, some of them being 20 
feet high, and they yield enormous crops 
every year. 2. We have never grown the 
Shropshire Damson, and can only say that we 
know it is held in high esteem by prominent 
horticulturists. The fruit is said to be much 
larger than that of the common Damson, and 
equal to it in quality, while the tree is very 
productive. 
IMPORTATIONS OF RUSSIAN APPLES. 
Subscriber, Alexandersville, Ohio .—When 
was the Government’s importation of Russian 
apples made, especially the Duchess of Olden¬ 
burg, Red Astrachan, Alexander and Tetof- 
sky? When did Messrs. Budd and Gibb make 
their importations? What varieties are likely 
to prove desirable for this locality ? 
ANSWERED BY T. H, HOSKINS, M. D. 
The Government importation of Russian 
apple trees and cions was made in the fall or 
winter of 1800-70; but the varieties named in 
the inquiry were then in the country and 
widely distributed. So far as I can learn, 
they were brought from Svveeden, via Eng¬ 
land, nearly 50 years ago, to Massachu¬ 
setts, and thence disseminated. The Gov¬ 
ernment had no part in this. Messrs. 
Budd and Gibb went to Russia in the summer 
of 1883. So far as I know, none of the varie¬ 
ties of apples, pears, cherries and plums ob¬ 
tained by them has yet fruited in America. 
Those apples reported to be most highly es¬ 
teemed in Russia are Antonovka, Red and 
Yellow Anis, Babuschino, Bogdanoff. Long- 
field, White Russet, Switzer, Titovka, Ostre- 
koff Pippin, Prolific Sweeting, Heidorn’s 
Streaked (sweet), Enormous aDd Yellow 
Transparent. These are named in the order 
of their keeping. The first six are good keep¬ 
ers in Russia, but our hotter summers and 
longer seasons (caused by a difference of from 
15 to 20 degrees) reduce their keeping quality 
to mid-winter, at best. There are, However, 
two or three Russian apples which have proved 
good keepers, though otherwise faulty. Not 
all of the above list are entirely “iron-clad,” 
but they average much hardier than Ameri¬ 
can apples, none of them being inferior to 
Fameuse in that respect, while they are nearly 
all heavy and early bearers of large, handsome 
and good apples. In dessert quality, contrary 
to the general belief, based on the early im¬ 
portations, the Russian apples average quite 
as good as those of any other country. 
PREPARING FOR VEGETABLES, FRUIT AND 
POULTRY. 
B. F. L., Merrill, Wis .—I have 10 acres of 
new ground, a part of it dry and rolling and 
a part level, low ground. It is a sandy loam 
with a dry subsoil. It is covered with a 
growth of poplars, willows, briars, etc. About 
two acres are cleared and plowed. How 
should I treat the soil, and what would be the 
best kind of vegetables to grow on it this year? 
I intend it for gardening and poultry, as there 
is a good market for everything. What kinds 
of small fruits would be best; and what varie¬ 
ties of poultry? I have already 33 common 
fowls. Some of my neighbors say the land 
will produce nothing until it has been worked, 
rotted and well brought up. A fine spring 
flows through it. 
Ans. —The land seems well adapted for gar¬ 
dening and the poultry business. First of all, 
clean it of trees, briars, etc., by cutting or 
grubbing them out so deep that the roots will 
not interfere with future plowing. Next 
plow deep and subsoil. If wood ashes can be 
had, apply about 100 bushels per acre broad¬ 
cast. If they cannot be had, use instead 
about the same quantity of common, air- 
slaked lime, and over that apply a liberal coat 
of barnyard manure (new is the best), and 
immediately incorporate it with the surface 
soil by going over it with a disc harrow. 
The ashes or lime will neutralize the acids and 
help to decompose the vegetable fibers; while 
the manure will directly enrich the soil. For 
a first crop there is nothing better than pota¬ 
toes. After the first crop the ground will 
answer very well for general garden crops, 
except that the low, level ground will be 
found best for cabbage, cauliflower, celery, 
and onions, and the higher, rolling ground 
for sweet corn, tomatoes, melons, etc , and all 
small fruits will succeed best upon the 
high ground. Hardly too much manure can 
be used for most varieties of vegetables, but 
for small fruits upon new land, but little will 
be needed. Grapes should be planted upon 
the highest and driest ground having a south¬ 
ern slope. Strawberries, raspberries, and 
blackberries would probably bring the best 
returns. Winter protection must be given. 
All things considered, we think the Plymouth 
Rock the best breed for profit. 
THE LARGEST TREES. 
T. Bros., N. Y. City .—What is the largest 
circumference of any living tree and where 
does it grow ? 
Ans. —No one can say with certainty that 
the largest living tree has yet been seen by 
civilized man. Until recently it was supposed 
that the largest race of trees were the Mam¬ 
moth Redwoods or “Big Trees”—Sequoia 
gigantea—of California. There are four 
groups of these—the Calaveras, Mariposa and 
Fresno groups situated in the counties of the 
same names, and another group lately discov¬ 
ered on the western flanks of the Sierra Ne¬ 
vada. They range in diameter all the way up 
to 30 and 38 feet, and if their enormous but¬ 
tresses are included, the diameter of the 
largest is even still greater, while in hight 
they run from 250 to 450 feet. As the circum¬ 
ference is estimated at three times the diam¬ 
eter, the largest of these must be over 144 feet 
iu girth without including the buttresses 
round the bottom of the trunks. Travelers 
tell us, however, that the Eucalyptus of 
Australia is still larger. Eucalyptus amyg- 
dalina, we are assured, often attains a hight 
of 480 feet, with a diameter of 81 feet, indi¬ 
cating a circumference of 243 feet. It is sup. 
posed that still larger specimens still exist iu 
the unexplored interior of Australia. 
GALLOWAYS. 
E. C. /?., Alden, la— l. Are Galloway cat¬ 
tle desirable for farmers in this State? 2. 
How do they compare with other polled breeds 
as regards milk production? 3. Who are re¬ 
liable breeders in this section? 
Ans.— 1. The Galloway is a very hardy 
breed, maturing early under favorable condi¬ 
tions, and producing a fair carcass of prime 
beef. It is best adapted for the ranges or for 
beef-producing farms, as it isn’t at all a dairy 
breed, though one of the best beef breeds. 2. 
The Galloway hardly gives as much milk as 
the Aberdeen-Angus, which it resembles in 
most respects, though not so large as a rule. 
The Red Polled Norfolk and Suffolk is much 
more of a general-purpose cow, giving a large 
mess of milk and also a fair carcass of beef 
when turned off for the butcher. Where milk 
is an object this is the most profitable of the 
polled breeds for the general farmer. 3. Hugh 
Paul, Heron Lake, Minn.; E. R. Hardy, 
Abingdon, Ill., and M. R. Platt, Kansas City, 
Mo., offer Galloways for sale. 
WOOD ASHES. 
“ Subscriber,"Hanover,Mich .—I have about 
50 bushels of partially leached wood ashes, 
which I wish to sow on my wheat. 1. Should 
I sow them on the snow this winter, or in the 
spring after the frost is out? 2. Would they 
be more valuable sown on two or three acres 
than spread over a field of 10 acres? 3. When 
is the best time to sow plaster and salt on pas¬ 
tures and meadows? 
Ans.—I n the case of wood ashes, nothing 
that we can think of will be gained by spread¬ 
ing the ashes now, while unless the land is 
quite level the ashes will be carried more or 
less to lower places or accumulate in dishes or 
inequalities. Leached ashes contain little but 
lime with a small per cent, of magnesia and 
iron, and from one to two per cent, of phos¬ 
phoric acid. Their chief value is the lime. 
We should spread the 50 bushels on not over 
three acres. You may sow plaster in the fall. 
Salt might better be sown in the spring. 
COTTON-SEED MEAL AS A FERTILIZER. 
11 Progress,' 1 ' Pine Bluff * Ark .—Would cot¬ 
ton-seed meal that has been slightly damaged 
by heating before it was manufactured be as 
good a fertilizer as undamaged meal? The 
former costs $12.50 and the latter $18 per ton; 
which would be the more profitable? The in¬ 
jured meal is a trifle darker than a first-class 
article, but emits no bad smell and seems all 
right. 
Ans. —This damaged seed is not injured in 
any way for use as a fertilizer but rather im¬ 
proved, because its partial decomposition will 
have made the nitrogen in it more readity 
available. Its dark color indicates that the 
meal is made from the whole seed; if this is 
the case it is not so valuable as that from 
the hulled seed, as the hull is not so iich in 
nitrogen as the kernel. The following figures 
show the difference betwen the two kinds of 
meal and the values estimated on the same 
basis as other fertilizers: 
Per cent, of 
Whole 
seed 
meal. 
Hulled 
seed 
meal. 
Value per 
pound. 
Nitrogen. 
3.8 
7.09 
17 cts. 
Potash. 
2 3 
2.00 
6 cts. 
Phosphoric acid. 
8.1 
8.00 
10 cts. 
Total value per 100 lbs. 
99cts. 
$1.47 
CRANBERRY CULTURE. 
S. and H., Thompson Falls, M. T .—How 
are cranberries raised, and what soil is best 
adapted to them? 
Ans. —Cranberries are indigenous on marsh¬ 
es which contain more or less mucky soil, sel¬ 
dom if ever thriving on drier lands. Plants 
may be obtained at the East from cultivated 
plantations. At the North and West they may 
be obtained from marshes, where they occur 
in the wild state, as well as from those under 
cultivation. Plants can be grown from seeds 
taken from berries offered in the market; but 
the plant grows naturally among marsh 
grasses, and the effort to grow, them from the 
seed, (which is very small,) would be quite 
sure to fail, unless the soil was kept moist, and 
probably also, unless either naturally or arti¬ 
ficially sheltered from sun, wind and frost, 
until the plants are well established. 
Miscellaneous. 
V. D. S., Lewiston, Pa. —1. What is the 
objection to root-grafted pear and apple trees? 
2. Is it possible to raise a fair crop of cabbage 
on a light, sandy soil, such as is found in the 
peach belt? 3. I expect to plant 40 bushels of 
seed potatoes and use three tons of the best 
fertilizer. Would it be advisable to have the 
rows 18 inches apart, using 20 bushels of seed, 
and 3,000 pounds of fertilizers per acre, or 
three feet apart, using 10 bushels of seed and 
1,500 pounds of fertilizer per acre, the object 
being to get the largest yield of marketable 
potatoes? Land no object. 
No. 1. We know of no objection to root- 
grafting. It is probably the cheapest way of 
obtaining stock. 2. We can not answer this 
question. Cabbages thrive on sandy loam. 
3. We should make the rows three feet apart 
by all means. 
IF. K ., New York. —1 have several Dutch 
hyacinths in glasses. Some are coming up in 
the center; others are sending up shoots at 
the sides, small and weak. Should I cut these 
away, or allow them to grow? I fear the 
center growth will be weakened if they are 
permitted-to remain. 
Ans. —The first thing to attend to in the 
glass cultivation of hyacinths is to get the 
roots well developed before the buds push. 
We doubt if the side shoots will weaken the 
central shoots. The bulb can easily furnish 
food for all. 
B. T. P., Bowling Green, Ky. —The best 
way to obtain the necessary facts regarding 
dehorning cattle is to send 30 cents to H. H. 
Haaff,box 193,Chicago, Ill., for his little book. 
Most of the cases of successful dehorning pub¬ 
lished in the Rural have been the outcome of 
a study of this book. We learn that Mr. H. is 
about to publish a new and larger volume on 
the subject. 
C. W. G., Trout Bun, Pet.— What does the 
Rural think of Australian millet so highly 
extolled by seedsmen? 
Ans. —We don’t know what Australian mil¬ 
let is; but after looking up what is claimed 
for it, we conclude it must be Johnson Grass. 
D. B. P., Dana, III. —Where can I get the 
Everbearing Ear'nart Raspberry ? 
Ans.— G. H. & J. H. Hale, South Glaston¬ 
bury, Coud., are the headquarters for the sale 
of this variety. 
S. A. A., Beverly, Mass .—You can obtain 
the book on Alabama, by sending 10 cents in 
stamps to L. C. Holt, Montgomery, Ala. 
L.N. B., Springfield, Vt. —The plant vo 
send for name is Mublenbergia sylvatica. In 
its native situations it fills an important part 
among indigenous grasses. 
S. B., Philadelphia, Pa .—You can send a 
sample of the muck to Professor H. B. Arms- 
by, State College, Center Co., Pa., for analy¬ 
sis. 
DISCUSSION. 
SELECT LISTS OF THREE VARIETIES OF FRUIT. 
E. P. P. Clinton, N. Y.—I appreciate the 
enterprise of the Rural in securing those 
pomological lists that have lately appeared in 
its columns: but in my judgment they are 
nearly valueless, and in some cases misleading. 
There is a palpable effort in some cases to 
boom a fruit for sale by the writer, and in 
other cases a filling in of what has been best. 
Take a list of pears, for instance, and leave 
out Sheldon and Anjou, and what can you 
say of it? There is only folly in any longer 
putting into recommended lists such fruits as 
the Downing Strawberry—good as it is. It is, 
except in rare localities, far surpassed by 
Sharpless, Lida, Buback, Cumberland, Itasca, 
etc. Think of a list of red grapes in these 
days with Brighton left out! Iam specially- 
pleased that the Versailiaise currant gets into 
Mr. Augur’s list. It is the best red currant in 
existence. He also, with Mr. Campbell, gives 
the Herbert grape the place it deserves. On 
grapes, no authority surpasses Campbell. Is 
it not amusing to see Rebecca, superior in 
quality, as it is, recommended to be grown as 
far north as Vermont? Prentiss is so bad a 
failure that Hubbard, who boomed it, now 
formally withdraws it. Can any sane man 
recommend Adirondack for general cultiva¬ 
tion? And there is the Bidwell strawberry! 
and the Wilson! The Clapp pear is losing all 
popularity, so some of our best dealers refuse 
longer to handle it. The paper of Governor 
Furnas aims at giving what information he 
can, and does not go on to fill out a specific 
list. It is certainly not to the Rural’s inter¬ 
est to help boom the Kieffer! 
R. N.-Y.—Our correspondent may nos be 
aware of the fact that the Rural has never 
said a word in favor of the Prentiss grape ed¬ 
itorially. We could never see anything in it 
to praise. As to the Kieffer Pear, he should 
know that the R. N.-Y., alone among the farm 
press and much to the displeasure of interested 
parties and advertising patrons, estimated it 
as inferior in quality at its best and valuable 
only for its fine appearance and for canning. 
CETEWAYO POTATO. 
D. S. M., Watertown, N, Y.—In the no¬ 
tice of this potato in a late Rural no 
allusion is made to its botany. I raise the 
question of classification which is theoretically 
of some importance; otherwise the variety is 
only a novelty. If it is really a new African 
species, it may have value to re-invigorate the 
failing health of Solanum tuberosum. My 
opinion is that it is only a sport of S. tuber¬ 
osum. The color is not a genuine black, but 
a dark purple outside and a lighter purple in¬ 
side and it runs in streaks of white and purple 
exactly as some of the streaked purple sports 
of S. tuberosum do. It may have originated 
in Africa from seed of S. tuberosum, and it 
may never have been in Africa. 
J. J. T., Forest City, Ia.—I read Cor¬ 
respondents’ Viewsin December 3 Rural, and 
G. O. G. of Kankakee, Illinois, speaks my 
sentiments about the Rural exactly, for it 
does certainly have a cheering effect on me 
every time I read your paper. It is the first 
paper that I look at when they come. Some 
say “Why don’t you take a Western paper,” 
but I can not find its equal. 
The Michigan Agricultural College. 
—The Rural Vermonter editorially speaks 
of a recent visit to the Michigan Agricultural 
College. 
The college has a silo; food for the cattle is 
put up and fed in various -ways, and the most 
careful and accurate account of the feeding 
and its results is kept, so that the students may 
have definite knowledge of the value of dif¬ 
ferent kinds of foods, and the way in which 
they should be fed to give the best results. 
The students are required to exercise their 
judgment in regard to the value of stock in 
the following manner: A scale of graded 
points, not accessible to students, is kept of 
most of the animals on the farm. The student 
takes a given animal, and after carefully 
looking it over, rates it on the different points 
in the scale, according to his judgment. A 
tutor at hand with the true scale then points 
out the errors in judgment, if any, giviug rea¬ 
sons therefor. This practice is followed uutil 
