576 
THE BUBAL $81W-¥C>BfCEB. 
SEPT I 
any more than I could do without the binder. 
I raise mostly Beauty of Hebron potatoes, and 
my land is only moderately rolling. 
POTATO DIGGERS. 
I know of no really successful potato 
diggers except those where a broad steel point 
or share runs in the ground, under the pota¬ 
toes, and takes dirt, tubers, vines and every¬ 
thing, up an incline, by means of an endless 
chain, working out the dirt as the mass goes 
up, and throwing the potatoes on the surface 
in the rear, entirely uncovered and in a close 
row. We have at least two costly machines, 
now, made on this principle. All others, so 
far as I know, are simply helps. They do not 
do a finished job. From my experience 
many of them had better be called “hinder- 
ances 0 ’ I would sooner depend on a potato 
fork in the hands of a stout man. A letter 
just to hand from Mr. C. H. Kimball, of 
Dunbar, Pa., is to the point. He says; “I 
have been using the-digger, whieh 
operates, as you know, with a shaking grate, 
and which is pretty good; but it necessitates 
a good deal of work clearing up, to get all the 
potatoes.” Yes I know. Some such a ma¬ 
chine was once operated by the inventor in 
my field. I nearly wore my fingers out picking 
up after it for a few hours, we had to pull the 
dirt out so much to get the partially covered 
potatoes, and even then the fork found eight 
bushels per acre left in the ground! “Is that the 
best you can do?” I asked the operator. He 
replied: 44 It is.” “Then,” I said, “I do not 
want it. We will have a machine that digs 
potatoes or we will stand by the fork.” 
“But,” says he, “You can harrow the field 
over a couple of times and get most of-” 
“ But,” says I, “ we won’t,” and back went 
the machine to the depot, and I lost $5 freight 
paid on it. (Not the first loss of this kind.) I 
am told that some 500 potato diggers have 
been patented. It would be best, probably, 
to beware of buying at least 490 of these. 
TENDENCY TOWARDS MAKING A SPECIALTY OK 
POTATO GROWING. 
Many are opposed to specialties in farming; 
but we are tending in that direction. The 
men who make some one crop a leading one, 
and push it for all there is in it, are the 
ones who are making the money and who are 
heard from. Take growing potatoes as an ex¬ 
ample. The bulk of the business is fast work¬ 
ing into the hands of a few men, comparative¬ 
ly. The large grower has his planter and 
rides while he marks out the ground, plows a 
furrow, drops the seed, puts a little dirt over 
it, drops some fertilizer and then finishes 
covering, all done up perfectly as he goes 
along at the rate of an acre; every two hours. 
The writer saw a friend putting in an acre or 
two this season and doing all the above work 
by hand, and he felt the greatest pity for 
him. The fates are against his making much 
money. Times have changed. 
The large grower has his long fields, where 
men can do almost twice as much cultivating, 
digging, etc., in a day as in the little lots. 
The large grower can have a spraying ma¬ 
chine that will put poison on four rows of 
potatoes at once, if he wishes, only taking the 
labor of one man and a horse. Picture in 
your mind the man with an acre or two going 
over one row at a time with his sprinkling can ! 
Then a man who only grows a few can not 
think of having a digger. The large grower 
can ride and make more than a dollar an hour 
digging his crops. The small grower must 
sweat on, with aching back, and be content 
with about one dollar a day. I haven’t told all; 
but enough has been said, perhaps, to show 
that now, with so much labor-saving machin¬ 
ery for the potato field, one cannot do as he 
did ten years ago with a hope of making much 
money. As well might be go at his haying 
with the old scythe and hand rake. 
(I'niomolotVicftl, 
THRIPS (TETTIGONIA VITIS.) 
D. S. MARVIN. 
Nature and ravages of the pest ; when and 
how to attack it; carbolic soaji-suds as an 
exterminator ; other probably effective 
insecticides ; life-history of the pest ; a use¬ 
ful study for entomologists. 
This is supposed to be the name of the so- 
called 4 4 thrips, ” that has become such a scourge 
in the vineyards of New York. The insect is 
also called the 44 Leaf-hopper,” but belongs to 
the genus Erythroneura, instead of Thripidae. 
It^was first described by Harris in 1831, and is 
redescribed by Prof. Lintner, page 30, 
Second Annual Report, as a small, slender 
spindle shaped parti-colored leaf-hopper, which 
n its larval, pupal, and perfect stages is very 
destructive to the foliage of the vine.” For a 
number of years I have looked upon this in¬ 
sect as the worst enemy of the vine wherever 
it abounds. 1 have been studying its habits in 
order to find its weak point, but until the 
present season I have seen it annually increase, 
with no vulnerable or weak point by which I 
could control its increase. It was so destruc¬ 
tive last year that I devoted much time to it, 
during the early spring of the present year. I 
had never paid much attention to it, until it 
became troublesome. I found that early in 
spring the pests were collected in colonies at 
the lowest and most sheltered points of the 
vineyard, and not spread over the whole. 
Herein I conceived was my opportunity. I 
had previously tried tobacco-water,py rethrum, 
and the kerosene emulsion with such in¬ 
different success, that I resolved to try strong 
carbolic soap-suds. This has proved so 
eminently successful, that if I may take the 
present season’s experiment as conclusive, I 
may truly say that I no longer dread the at¬ 
tacks of the insect in the garden or vineyard. 
I can hardly find enough insects now—the last 
of July—for study under the glass to enable 
me to write this paper. 
If I may judge by my own experience this 
information will give gladness to many gard¬ 
eners and vineyardists; still with only one trial 
and a single season’s experience, I realize from 
past exploiting in the same direction, that it 
will not do to say that the insect is under con¬ 
trol, but the facts do afford this hope. The 
strong point is the observation that the insects 
are weak of wing, avoid the wind and collect 
in dead air to lay their eggs or hybernate for 
the winter, and that they do noo spread over 
the vineyard generally in the spring until the 
vines afford shelter from wind and storms. I 
have never made the attempt to study out the 
life history of these insects; but I desire to 
commend the topic strongly to our entomolo¬ 
gists. They can do no more acceptable work. 
In my experiments I used common Woodason 
spraying bellows, and they did the work. I 
experimented upon about an acre of vines 
but did not have to go over any part except 
the lowest corner, where the insects were 
collected. I spent from half an hour to an 
hour every other morning during May, and 
chose an early hour in the morning while the 
insects were yet somewhat torpid from cold, 
so that I could wet down whole colonies of 
them as they were collected upon the ground 
at the base of the vines and the lower portions 
of the expanding foliage. I tried London- 
purple with the same apparent success, but 
cannot recommend it, as 1 found it injurious 
to the young and tender foliage. I think 
that the kerosene emulsion and other insect¬ 
icides might be used successfully at this season. 
The insects do not seem hard to kill until 
after they are sheltered by the foliage of the 
vines. 
There is a likeness of the insect copied into 
Packard’s Guide for the Study of Insects, but 
it does not seem to me to represent our species. 
I do not know whether the insect hybernates 
over winter in the adult stage, or hatches in 
the early spring; fori have, for want of time, 
only endeavored to find its vulnerable point 
rather than to study its life-history. I think 
I may finally safely add that, if upon repeat¬ 
ing these experiments next spring, the same 
results follow, the greatest practical benefits 
will result. I give the facts publicity now so 
that others may aid in the practical solution 
of this tough problem. In the confined air 
of gardens these insects especially abound, 
and here is where they require subduing the 
most. 
Jefferson County, N.„Y. 
TWO NEW JAPAN PLUMS. 
Mr. Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa, Cal., 
sends us two each of two varieties of Japan 
plums, viz., the Blood Plum of Satsuma, or 
Satsuma, as it will be called, and the Burbank. 
The specimens of the first measure two inches 
each in diameter, and are nearly round with 
an obscure suture. The color of the flesh is 
a dark purple or claret; the pit is very small • 
the flesh is rather coarse-grained but extreme¬ 
ly juicy and of fair quality, though a trifle 
tart. Mr. Burbank writes us that it is nearly 
six weeks earlier than the Kelsey Japan Plum; 
that the tree is an enormous bearer, and more 
vigorous than any other of 43 varieties of the 
Japan plum be growing. 
The .Burbanxs were about 1 % inch in 
diameter, yellow-fleshed, very sweet and 
agreeable. The pits are also small. 
These plums were picked July 21. They 
were received at the Rural office, August 18, 
in first-class condition, except from the jolt¬ 
ing caused by loose packing. Mr. Burbank is 
confident that there is no other plum that will 
keep so long as the Satsuma. 
ONE MEAL OF FRUIT. 
Having been afflicted with chronic consti¬ 
pation, I have found out by experimenting 
that one meal a week entirely and exclusively 
of fruit, is better than medicine. I am each 
week surprised at the beneficent results. Be¬ 
sides its invariably good physical effects, it 
clears the mind and makes the spirits bouyant. 
There is no suffering or any of the bad effects 
sure to follow the use of physic. If thirsty, 
water may be used, but no tea or coffee. I 
usually take a light breakfast and dinner on 
Sunday and for supper the entire meal is of fruit 
I begin with the fruits at their several seasons, 
and see to it that I always have some. I esteem 
tomatoes as one of the best of fruits, and 
seldom eat them cooked in their season. Mon¬ 
day is always my best day in the week. Let 
those who are afflicted with constipation try 
this easy remedy. d. s. m. 
THE NEW FRUITS. 
By all means look over the new fruits at the 
fair aud compare them with what you already 
have planted, and if you have none planted, 
then look over the old ones and make a list of 
what you will plant this fall or next spring. 
Resolve in your mind that if others can grow 
peaches, plums, pears, apples, strawberries, 
currants, gooseberries, raspberries, water¬ 
melons and the many other good things, you 
can grow them also. I often think of years 
back when a good pear was a wonder. 
Peaches were not plentiful and the small 
fruits were hardly thought of. Now is the 
time to prepare for planting, and after you 
get your list made out, the best thing to do is 
to reduce the list of new fruits to one tree of 
each variety, or a dozen of the small fruits. 
Then take a walk among your neighbors and 
plant whatever kind yon find that gives most 
satisfaction. Always remember that the home 
orchard needs variety. For instance, you 
want apples from July 1st to June 1st of next 
year; then this kind usually bears in even 
years, that in the odd years. Crab apples are 
good for jelly, and for market you want the 
best and nothing more. By best I mean those 
that are productive, large and fair and sal¬ 
able. I. J. BLACKWELL. 
CHERRY CURRANT. 
This is a shy bearer but this is not the only 
fault of it or of its seedlings. The growth of 
the shoots is so rapid in the spring that they 
become too succulent, and they are blown off 
by the wind, or fall to the ground half severed 
and useless. I have been crossing it with the 
Dutch and White Grape for a number of 
years, to see if I cannot correct these defects. 
I am also growing some hybrids with the 
Missouri and the Black Currant. It now looks 
as if I had made a success with the former; 
but the seedlings of the latter are yet too young 
to allow an opinion to be expressed about 
them. d. s. marvin. 
i^'UscfHancoits. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
Harrow the Corn.—How few people there 
are who rightly appreciate the value of the 
fine-tooth harrow in the corn-field just before 
and after the corn comes up. Mellow ground 
aud no weeds are conditions that push the 
corn to a maximum development an I the 
earliest maturity. Thus this early harrowing 
in mellowing the ground and in exterminat¬ 
ing the weeds works a double benefit. Those 
who have seed-drills—and what farmer has 
not ?—can plant rapidly and easily by stopping 
all openings, except the two outside ones. 
Besides, they can plant 10 or 12 quarts to the 
acre, and so the corn will be so thick that 
some may be dragged up. Thus the harrow 
can be kept at work till the corn is up three 
or four inches; and we have no use for the 
hoe, and save much hard labor, a. j. cook. 
Effect of Manure in Wet and Drough¬ 
ty Seasons.— In February of last year I 
manured a piece of land quite heavily with 
fairly well rotted barn-yard manure, and in 
the spring planted it with sweet corn. The 
result was a splendid crop despite the scorch¬ 
ing drought. Last winter I manured another 
piece of rather low land with the same kind of 
manure and planted it with corn in the spring, 
and though it has been washed with water to 
a depth of four or five inches three times this 
summer, I Gan tell to a row where the manure 
was applied. The stalks are large and tall, 
the leaves a dark green, and the ears—often 
two on a stalk—3tick out like yard-arms. 
Where no manure was applied, the corn is tall 
I enough, but it looks yellow, all the lower 
leaves have withered, and nearly a third of 
the stalks are destitute of ears. Verily the 
application of manure pays in any season. 
Christian County. Ill. f. grundy. 
A Word of Appreciation. —I am greatly 
pleased with the Rural of August 4th inst., 
containing the very interesting articles on 
Agricultural Experiment Stations and a 
sketch of the life and work of Sir J. B. Lawes. 
How few tillers of the soil, even among the 
more intelligent, know the value of the labors 
of this gentleman, by which they so much 
profit. It is doubtless a great advantage to 
agriculture that so many States of the Union 
are establishing experiment stations. It is 
to be hoped that the bulletins of these stations 
will be found in all the farmers’ homes of the 
several States, alongside of some good farm 
paper and the local newspaper. J. B. 
Ocean Co., N. J. 
Trimming Street Trees. —As I walk along 
the streets of our rural villages and note the 
uncouth shape and lack of natural and grace¬ 
ful development of the shade trees, I marvel 
at the stupidity of the force of habit, every¬ 
where the same. Some barbarian ancestor 
must have set the example and cut off the top 
of the first shade tree, and ever since man¬ 
kind has followed this barbarian’s custom, 
not regarding or observing that natural trees 
in field and forest are far more beautiful. 
Then such mutilated trees, besides being made 
ungraceful, are made short-lived, for a crotch 
is formed about the cut-off end, and when this 
rots away there is left a hole in the best pos¬ 
sible place for rain-water to soak in and rot 
the tree. The terminal shoot of the tree 
should never be cut off, and if by any chance 
it becomes lost, then a side shoot should be 
tied up and allowed to supply its place. 
d. s. MARVIN. 
How to Select Seed Corn.—Two points 
are specially to be aimed at in securing seed 
corn—earliness and prolificness. To those 
may, in many cases, be added a third—a large 
amount of fodder. Theoretically the best 
time to select seed corn is just before the corn 
is cut up, but in my own practice I seldom 
find time for this, aud have to leave the selec¬ 
tion until husking time. When I find two 
good ears upon a stalk I save them. My ideal 
ear of corn is long and small—the smaller the 
cob the better; so when in husking I find such 
an ear I break it off, leaving three or four 
husks on it. These are collected and the best 
specimens are reserved for seed. They are 
braided up in lengths convenient to handle, 
and hung in a closet through which a stove¬ 
pipe passes. As this pipe connects with the 
kitchen stove it is hot much of the day, and 
when the door of the closet is shut, its tem¬ 
perature goes up pretty high. I keep the seed 
corn here till planting time, aud find it ger¬ 
minates very much better than corn hung in 
the open air. I have placed seed ears withiu 
two inches of a stove pipe which gets hot 
every day. and after eight months, I have 
found its germinating qualities unimpaired. 
Lamoille Co. Vt. J. w. newton. 
Road Mending. —After an experience of 
a few years in looking after the roads, I have 
become convinced that all crossings or cause¬ 
ways should be formed of gravel or stone. 
When made of dirt they cut right through, 
and the water following the ruts, not only 
washes out the road, but fills it with sink¬ 
holes. A great share of the work on our 
roads is wasted because the overseers do not 
finish the work; that is, when they get the 
road in a condition almost to turn the water, 
they stop, then the road-bed settles after the 
first heavy rain, and the water follows the 
middle of the road which is soon back to 
the old condition. The remedy for bad roads 
is to elect men who know how to make a road, 
without regard to their politics. At present a 
poor road-master usually gets the office, and 
the greater the remuneration the greater will 
be the number of inefficient officers. The poorer 
the road-master the more money he will want. 
The railroads in the older sections of the 
country are taking most of the travel from 
the country roads. If any one thinks he can 
improve the road let him get elected to office, 
and try his plan. I. J. blackwell. 
The Keystone Loader.— Again I have 
tried the Keystone Loader, and proved its ex¬ 
cellence. Next to the mower and reaper, it is 
one of the most valuable machines on the 
farm. This year we took all our hay right 
from the swath on to the load, aud our haying 
moved on so easily that in place of being cross 
and tired, our help wished haying might last 
all summer, instead of hardly more than 
