142 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAR 
all and its delicate yellow color is most at¬ 
tractive. 
For pies I have found the Mammoth Red 
Etampes pumpkin much superior to the com¬ 
mon yellow field variety. The flesh is richer 
and more meaty, cooks more quickly and is 
less stringy. This variety keeps till about 
Christmas in a cool cellar. 
Of the varieties of celeriac that I have test¬ 
ed, the Apple grows most regular and uniform 
in size. Celeriac is too little appreciated. It 
is as easily grown as cabbage, may be kept 
throughout the winter, and is surpassed by 
few other vegetables m flavor. 
Of the egg-plants the Extra Early Dwarf 
Purple is decidedly the earliest and most pro¬ 
ductive variety I have grown. It may be de¬ 
pended upon to mature a large crop every 
year. The fruits are small, but I do not know 
that they are inferior inequality to the larger 
varieties. 
The spinach known as Viroflay is decidedly 
more vigorous than other varieties when 
grown on very rich soil. I regard it as one of 
the best. The Long Standing is also excellent 
and is especially late in running to seed. 
I have been much pleased with the Early 
Albino potato. It has proved very early, ex¬ 
cellent in quality and as productive as other 
early varieties. 
Geneva, N. Y, 
FROM FRED GRUNDY. 
Rhubarb. —I have found it best to open a 
trench 18 inches deep, and about the same in 
width, fill to within six inches of the top with 
well rotted manure and fine soil mixed and 
trampled down; on this 1 place large pieces of 
roots, having one strong bud, three feet 
apart, and cover with good mellow soil, 
rounding it up in a ridge. This ridge will 
settle four to six inches and cultivation levels 
the surface. Planting is done as early in the 
spring as the ground can be worked. The 
soil is kept mellow and free of weeds with cul¬ 
tivator and hoe, and the plants make a rapid 
growth. Late in the fall they are covered 
with six inches of strong manure, which is 
raked aside early the following spring. 
Rhubarb sells well and brings a fair price 
very early in spring. The demand ceases 
when strawberries begin to come in. Two 
good crops of large stalks are all I expect from 
one planting. In the rich, mellow soil of 
river bottoms it is not necessary to trench 
and manure as I do. The variety I first set 
out was called Linuaeus, and I have used the 
same stock ever since. Once 1 grew a large 
number of seedlings, but not one proved 
superior in any respect to my old stock. I 
hare also tried some of the highly lauded new 
(•) varieties and found them so nearly like the 
old that only an expert microscopist could 
detect the difference. Only the richest of rich 
soil will make large rhubarb. 
Peas. —Every seedsman has the earliest pea 
for sale, and he names it to suit his fancy. It 
may be “First and Best,” “Lightning Belle,” 
or simply Dan. O’Rourke, but it is the same 
pea all the same. The ground is plowed in the 
fall, harrowed smooth as early in the spring 
as possible, furrows two inches deep and three 
feet apart are drawn out and the peas are 
sown with a hand-drill, and covered with one 
inch of soil. Tney can be sown too early. 
Nothing is gained by sowing them in our soil 
before spring fairly opens,or before the ground 
is entirely thawed out. I have lost several 
sowings by rushing tne season. Tne wrinkled 
varieties are sown when tne ground is some¬ 
what warm. They are cultivated almost ex¬ 
clusively with an A-barrow and light cultiva¬ 
tor. For earliest, the Extra Early, or some¬ 
thing to that effect, is best. American Won 
der and Premium Gem do very well for sec¬ 
ond, and they take up little room. For a late 
pea to eat I like Champion of England. It 
must have plenty of room, frequent cultiva¬ 
tion and high crush to climb on. I have seen 
it in Minnesota fully seven feet high and 
yielding good pickings until frost. 
Beets.— -I grow only Early Blood Turnip. 
It is ready to sell as early as any beet grown, 
and, what is better, it is smooth and easily 
cleaned. The ground is enriched in the fall, 
plowed, harrowed and fined with a plank 
drag in the spring, and the seed is sown with 
a drill in rows five mches apart. The plants 
are thinned to about four inches apart at the 
first weeding. Cultivation is done with hoe 
and steel rake. I tried a wheel cultivator one 
season and dropped it. 
Carrots —Land is prepared as for beets, 
and the seed is sown at thesame time and the 
cultivation is the same, except that it is con¬ 
tinued longer. Stump-rooted sorts are best 
because easiest to dig, handle and store. 
Onions. —Of these I grew hundreds of 
bushels some years ago. I grow but few now. 
The Yellow Globe Danversyields well and sells 
best of all. Tne preparation of the ground and 
cultivation are the same as for beets. The 
seed must be got in early or the crop will as¬ 
suredly be failure. Onions must get most of 
their growth before the hot, dry winds of 
July strike them and cut short their career. 
Squash. —For summer use I plant the Sum¬ 
mer Crook-Neck; for winter 1 use the Per 
feet Gem. Some people do not like the 
Gem, but ten of it are sold for one of any 
other variety. There is a vast difference in 
the flavor of Gem squashes. Some of them 
taste like a water-logged sweet potato; others 
are stringy and tough, andstill others have a 
sickly sweet flavor. It must be brought up 
to the eater’s standard by careful and con 
tinued selection. I tried Boston Marrow one 
season and had the pleasure of feeding the 
crop to the cows. I plant squash seeds, at the 
same time I do corn, in hills five feet apart, 
10 seeds to the hill, and the ground is kept 
loose and free from weeds with the cultiva¬ 
tor, which is always run the same way when 
working among Gems. The plants are thinned 
to four to the hill when they get two rough 
leaves, and when they are ready to take com¬ 
plete possession of the ground cultivation 
ceases. Striped bugs are the worst enemies of 
squashes. They will destroy every plant in 
two days if not checked. A thin mixture of 
fresh cow-dung and water, sprinkled over the 
plants with an old broom, has always proved 
effective. 
Tomatoes. — I have tried 15 or 20 varieties 
and settled on Acme. Favorite, Beauty and 
Perfection rotted badly. Others are objec¬ 
tionable in size, form or color. Acme has al¬ 
ways done well. The plants are grown in 
boxes under glass, hardened off and then set 
three feet apart in rows four feet apart, and 
cultivated the same as squashes. 
Beans.—I grew two good crops of. Navy 
beans when this country was new, and before 
the weevil arrived. When that pest came he 
came to stay, and he destroyed the bean¬ 
growing business. For snap beans, Black- 
seeded W ax gives the best satisfaction. The 
cultivation is the same as for early peas. For 
pole beans I plant Large Lima, one good bean 
in a place, eye down, one mch deep, and two 
feet from the next. A small pole is stuck by 
each bean, and three of these poles are tied 
together at the top. It takes quite a cyclone 
to overturn them when the vines have 
climbed up. 
Sweet Corn. —Moore’s Early is good for 
first, Evergreen tor second. Some other va¬ 
rieties mature a few days before Moore’s 
Early, but the ears are too small. The past 
two seasons I have started 30 to 40 hills under 
glass in pint berry-boxes filled with rich soil. 
When danger from frost was over, these hills 
were set out close by the earliest outside plant¬ 
ings, the sides of the boxes being simply 
broken down and mellow soil drawn around 
the plants, which were three to four inches 
high. The roots were not disturbed in the 
least, and the corn grew on without a check. 
Last year, corn started in boxes was ready 
for eating six days before the first from out¬ 
side planting. Two years ago the former was 
ready eleven days before the latter. I plant 
all sweet corn two feet apart in rows three 
feet apart, two to three grains to the hill, and 
cultivate w,th the horse. 
Cabbage. —Early Wakefield is my choice for 
early, Henderson’s Summer for second early, 
and Premium Flat Dutch for late. Plants of 
the first two are started in boxes under glass, 
hardened off and set out as soon as the ground 
is ready. Flat Dutch plants are grown in the 
open ground and transplanted early in June. 
Early cabbage generally does well. Late 
caobage is not always a blooming success 
owing to cabbage worms and drought. 
Cucumbers. ->-1 prefer White Spine for slic¬ 
ing and Early Russian for pickles. There is 
not much demand for either. Cucumbers are 
grown like squashes. 
Turnips are generally grown on oat 
ground, which is plowed and prepared in the 
latter part of J uly. Red-Top Strap-Leaf is 
the favorite. The roots sell at 10 to 25 cents 
per bushel. 
Mangels. —Yellow Globe is decidedly the 
best. The ground is prepared and the seed is 
sown the same as for beets. The rows are 
three feet apart, and cultivation is done with 
hoe and cultivator. The seed must be got In 
early, or not half of it will ever grow. 
Potatoes, like most other vegetables, 
must be planted early to insure a crop. I 
grow early varieties exclusively. Late succeed 
about once in five years. Beauty of Hebron 
and Early Ohio seem to do best and yield 
very good crops. I tried the trench system once 
but was obliged to earth up some to save the tu¬ 
bers that were exposed by heavy rains. I shall 
try it again. It is best to plow the ground 
in spring as early as it will turn up mellow. 
It is worked down fine; shallow furrows are 
made three feet apart, and large seed-piece 3 , 
out the ;ame day, are dropped 15 to 18 inches 
apart and covered with two inches of mellow 
soil. When the first weeds appear the ground 
is curried over with the back of a harrow 
which puts a quietus on them for a couple of 
weeks, and by that time the plants are large 
enough for the cultivator. But little hoeing 
is done, it is cheaper to use horse implements 
early and often. Beetles are treated to a 
solution of London-purple. 
Field Corn. —The two varieties of field 
corn most extensively planted in this great 
corn region are yellow and white. There is 
great diversity of opinion as to which is best. 
With good soil, thorough cultivation and a 
favorable season, either will yield a good 
crop. If planting yellow, I would select the 
pure quill—perfectly yellow, with a large 
deep grain and small red cob. If white were 
my choice, I would select pure white, large 
deep grain and white cob. Continued careful 
selection, aided by rich soil and good culti¬ 
vation, will do wonders with corn The 
best bred and most wonderfully named corn 
on earth will rapidly deteriorate when 
grown on poor soil or only half cultivated. 
If the soil is rich and strong we put four to 
five grains in a hill. If it is somewhat run 
down two to three are sufficient. We begin to 
cultivate as soon as the corn is planted, and 
keep at it until the plants are two feet or 
more high. I never saw corn that was culti¬ 
vated too much or too often. Three to four 
inches are deep enough for any corn cultivator 
to run When the farmer comes out ot his 
corn-field to hang up his cultivator, he should 
leave the corn at least two feet high, the soil 
perfectly loose and mellow to a depth of four 
inches, and not a weed visible. The thread¬ 
like feeding roots of the plants will then take 
entire possession of the soil, and the growth 
will be rank and rapid. 
Novelties. —Not one in 50 is better than 
the old varieties. I expend about a dollar a 
year on them, for amusement mainly. If 
they are valuable they will remain on the 
lists and become cheap in due time. If not, 
they will disappear. 
Christian Co., Ills. 
FROM H. L. WYSOR. 
It is only within a period comparatively 
recent that the business of market-gardening 
has assumed an/ noteworthy proportions 
in this section of the State. Owing to the 
fact that there was no market for vegetables, 
the country was given up to the raising of 
stock, which, requiring little outlay in labor 
or other expense, gave very profitable re¬ 
turns up to the time of the severe decline in 
cattle. Since, however, the development of 
our iron industries, the building of furnaces, 
the opening of mines, etc., the area devoted to 
growing^vegetables has been yearly increas¬ 
ing to supply the demand for them occasioned 
by the large number of laborers employed in 
these works. For some kinds of vegetables— 
such as rhubarb, egg plant and squash—there 
is still no market, and these kinds are not 
grown. The following, however, are grown 
here to a considerable extent. 
Beans. —For snap bush beans no kind sur¬ 
passes the Early Valentine, and none equals it 
in quality. The wax sorts are productive, 
but spot badly in wet seasons, and are with¬ 
out any pronounced flavor. As compared 
with green beans, they are tasteless. For dry 
beans, the Navy or Pea bean is grown almost 
exclusively, It is generally sown broadcast, 
no cultivation being given, and it is harvested 
with the reaper. Some yields have been re¬ 
ported as high as 25 bushels per acre. Pole 
beans are planted with some of the taller 
field corns as a support. The Southern Pro¬ 
lific is the kind mostly used. No Limas are 
grown except for home use. 
Beets are raised to a very limited extent. 
The BiOod Turnip is the best and sweetest. 
Cabbages are more largely grown than any 
other vegetable, principally for Southern 
markets. Till this season they have been far 
more profitable than tobacco in the eastern 
part of the State. Owing to the great 
drought in the West in 1887, such profits were 
realized from sales of cabbages here that a 
large increase in area^was brought about in 
1888—no less than 0,000 acres are said to have 
been planted in Wythe county, alone. Conse¬ 
quently they were a drug in the market, in 
many instances shippers having to pay the 
ireiglit. The Flat Dutch is the kind usually 
grown, and it is the best adapted to this cli¬ 
mate. One of the best late cabbages 1 have ever 
grown is the Hard-Heading introduced last 
year by Gregory. It is very hard and heavy, 
seldom bursts or rots, and keeps remarkably 
well. It will, uodouot, be largely grown here 
when its merits become known. In growing 
cabbages here fertilizers are largely used. 
They are placed in the hill when the seeds are 
sown. The area is too large for the economi¬ 
cal use of barn-yard manure, even if it 
were to be bad in sufficient quantity, and 
for the same reason no transplanting 
is done. The seeds are sown in checks 
2% feet each way, giving nearly 7,000 
hills to the acre. The plants are dusted with 
ashes or plaster to prevent the attacks of the 
flea-beetle, and are thinned when out of dan¬ 
ger, “missing” hills being filled at thesame 
time. 
Corn. —The Learning is the best I have ever 
tried, and is now largely grown tor stock, yel¬ 
low corn meal not being palatable to Southern 
taste. It has a comparatively large cob, 
which is, however, light and pithy, drying 
out readily and rapidly without spoiling the 
graiu On further trial, the Brazilian Flour 
corn proved to be utterly worthless except as 
a forage plant. The ,*n, of which the 
yield is not great, c(» . , so slowly and is so 
soft that it spoils in curing. Of sugar corn 
for a succession, I prefer the Cory, Early 
Concord, Stowell’s Evergreen, and Late Mam¬ 
moth. 
Onions. —The potato onion is almost exclu¬ 
sively grown throughout the State. It is set 
out in the fall—in November—is protected by 
a covering of pine brush or other coarse litter, 
and is harvested in July. Onions from the 
black seed are not to be relied upon here. I 
have, however, frequently succeeded with the 
Large Red Wethersfield sown early in the 
spring. It is the best keeper of all, though of 
rather strong flavor. The Italian onioDs are 
such poor keepers that they are not worth 
planting. They begin to grow again almost 
as soon as matured. 
Potatoes.— Early Rose is still the leading 
early variety and commands a higher price 
than any other in our markets. I have always 
regarded it and its class as tasteless, but it 
seems to suit the popular idea, beiug dry and 
mealy. I myself grow potatoes largely for 
market, but do not plant early varieties as 
the late kinds are more productive and are 
better keepers. For some years I have planted 
the State of Maine, which, as the Rural is 
aware from its own tests, is a very heavy 
yielder. [Yes, it is a fine variety.— Eds.] It 
is smooth, ot good shape, and seldom knobby. 
It is better adapted to level cultivation 
than any other, since it never grows out of 
the ground to become sun-burned. An objec¬ 
tion to it is the scattering habit of the tubers. 
I tried, last season, Rose’s Beauty of Beauties. 
The name is a misnomer. There was not a 
smgle potato in the peck which I purchased 
that was not ill-shaped. In my soil it has be¬ 
come much smoother ; but still it does not 
come up to my idea of a beauty. The tubers 
are few, but average very large, and the 
quality is excellent, lully equal, if not supe¬ 
rior to that of the old Peacholow. My plan 
of planting is in rows 32 inches apart, and 
two-eye pieces are unllea in 12 inches apart. 
In cultivation, tne ground is kept as uearly 
level as possible and free of weeds until cov¬ 
ered by the vines. 
Pumpkins are grown in the standing corn. 
The large Cheese is the best, being thicker- 
meated and of better quality than the Con¬ 
necticut Field. Pumpkins are grown for 
stock—principally milch cows. 
Pulaski Co., Va. 
FROM H. M. ENGLE & SON. 
Potatoes are not confined to the garden; 
but what farmer’s wife will not have some 
planted in the garden so as to be sure to have 
some for the table in advance of any of her 
neighbors. The same rivalry applies also to 
peas. The variety that matures first is, of 
course, selected, and in this there is a wide 
difference of opinion. 
We have thus far found no potato that has 
matured earlier than the Early Ohio. Side 
by side, we have grown Early Rose, Early 
Maine, Early Vermont, Early Beauty of 
Hebron and others. The Early Omo can be 
planted closer than any we have yet tried, and 
has in some seasons yielded more than the 
Early Rose. Moreover, it does not sprout in 
the cellar as soon as the latter, and in quality 
it is about equal. We do not plant medium 
crops, as they generally mature in the hottost 
part of the season, which is not congenial to 
their nature. We plant the early varieties as 
soon as the weather and soil wull permit, so 
as to have them mature before heat and 
drought set in. For the later varieties we 
calculate their period for maturing, and plant 
so as to extend their season as uearly as possi¬ 
ble to the first fiosts. In such a case they 
rarely fail to get the benefit of the fall rains 
and cool weather, thus securing, almost with¬ 
out fail, good crops. For late crops we have 
been giowing Peerless and Mammoth Pearl— 
which are almost identical—White Elephant, 
White Star, Burbank, Snowflake, Peaehblow 
and others; but the Peerless aud Pearl have 
given us tne best satisfaction. 
Peas. —Almost every seedsman has the 
eailiest with his name prefixed, aud the differ 
ence is so little that we have no choice. For 
succession, we grow McLean’s Advancer 
which combines about as many good qualities 
as any we have yet tried. The pea is of the 
