1689 
rs RURAL MEW-YORKER. 
U3 
best quality and the vine is productive, and 
of medium hight. 
Bush Beans. —Early Six-Weeks has no 
merit except earliness. Black Wax is but a 
little later, and is showy and of good quality. 
For succession, the old Valentine will not be 
soon crowded out. For pole the Giant Wax 
is still a favorite. There has rot been much 
improvement on a good strain of the common 
Lima. Dreer’s is not popular here, as it is 
hard to shell. 
Squashes —The ’ "bite Scalloped Bush for 
earliness will no dou hold its own for some 
time. For quality, 1 .f^ct Gem has no su¬ 
perior. Boston Marrow, Hubbard and Marble¬ 
head still remain favorites, though many ex¬ 
cellent varieties have appeared since their in¬ 
troduction. 
Tomatoes. —Among the many varieties we 
have found none superior to Livingston, 
Paragon, Favorite, '.Perfection, Beauty and 
Acme. The last is unexcelled for quality, 
but it is rather tender for shipping. From 
the foi mer varieties wo have by careful selec¬ 
tion secured a strain that we believe to be un¬ 
surpassed, and consequently we buy no seed 
except for testing. 
Celery. —We have tried many varieties, 
but have found nothing that suits us better 
than Golden Dwarf. We grow some White 
Plume for early, [and some red for the best 
quality. 
Cabbages —The best strain of Wakefield 
is as yet unexcelled if equaled for early. 
Large Wakefield and Early Summer are 
prime for medium, and the best strains of Flat 
Dutch for late. 
Cauliflower.— Snowball, Erfurt and 
Long Island Beauty are all fine. 
Beets. —Egyptian and Eclipse for earliest, 
Early Blood Turnip for medium and late can 
hardly be surpassed. 
Cucumbers. —White Spine for slicing and 
Green Prolific for pickles are our choice. 
The latter is exceedingly productive. 
Egg Plants. —Good strains of New York 
Improved are as yet unsurpassed. Black 
Pekin is a trifle earlier, but it is not a profit¬ 
able market variety. 
Carrots. —Early Horn for earliest, and Im¬ 
proved Long Orange and Half-long Red for 
the main crop have given us best results. 
Radish. —For forcing, we prefer Early 
Scarlet Turnip to French Breakfast, Olive- 
Sbaped or any others, as it does not get spongy 
so soon. For out-door culture Long Scarlet, 
and Beckert’s Chartier, and for winter Rose 
China. 
Turnips.— Early Purple-Top Strap-leaf for 
early and White Globe for late[are our prefer¬ 
ence. 
Spinach. —We have tried several varieties, 
but have settled on the Savoy-leaved varieties 
as being the hardiest, and of the best quality. 
Onion. —Yellow Danvers is the best for 
bulk of crop. Silver-Skin is more salable, 
but it is not a good keeper. Extra Early Red 
is our best early variety. 
Corn. —There are so many varieties of sweet 
corn claiming first honors for earliness as al¬ 
most to confuse the inexperienced planter; 
but they bear almost invariably small ears. 
Of this class we grow a small percentage; but 
tor several years we have selected Crosby’s 
Early as the earliest that will produce ears 
of good size. For the main crop or succession 
we consider Stowell’s Evergreen the best. It 
combines more good qualities than any other. 
Lancaster Co., Pa. 
FROM A. B. COLEMAN. 
There are so many good vegetables that it 
is diflicult to say which are the best. Many 
of the old varieties are about as good as 
any of the much lauded new kinds, if not bet¬ 
ter. Our seedsmen seem to have contracted a 
mania for the introduction of new varieties 
of vegetables, whether they are meritorious 
or not. The catalogues give us something 
new every year, at a high price. Now and 
then we stumble upon a novelty which proves 
a little better than anything of the kind we 
Have before struck; but, more frequently, 
than otherwise, we pay out 35 cents per packet 
and get something altogether inferior tc a 
five-ceut packet of an older variety. New 
vegetables, new fruits, and new implements 
are desirable if they possess special merits; 
otherwise they should never be thrust upon a 
confiding public with such high-soundiug, 
eulogistic, and, it may be said, false descrip¬ 
tions, simply to fill the pockets of the intro¬ 
ducers. The introduction of a new bean, to¬ 
mato or melon does not always carry with it 
the assurance that the novelty is, in all re¬ 
spects, superior to anything of the kind ever 
catalogued. As often as otherwise, the new¬ 
comer is, in all respects, inferior to many 
othei varieties which preceded it many years. 
It is best to touch new things lightly, unless 
tbe testimony of their superiority is indispu¬ 
table, and unimpeachable. The following 
vegetables have proved about as valuable here 
as any ever tried in this section for field cul¬ 
ture. 
Beans. —Early Valentine, Early Mohawk, 
and Refugee are my selections for bush 
varieties. Sow them in drills 2% feet apart. 
Drop the seeds from five to six inches apart— 
(many plant closer), cover an inch and a-half. 
The soil should be well fertilized. Give level 
and shallow cultivation after every rain. 
For pole beans I prefer Horticultural, 
Southern Prolific, Dutch Case-Knife, Southern 
Crease Back, Red and White Cut-Short. The 
last three are excellent varieties and are 
planted almost exclusively here in corn-fields, 
where they do splendidly. When poles are 
used, drill in rows four feet apart, and drop 
the beans 15 inches apart. Cultivate as for 
bush beans, and when the vines are 10 inches 
high stick a pole seven feet high in each hill. 
Sieva or Small Butter does better here than 
any of the Limas. It is enormously prolific 
and early, and bears until frost. These beans 
are planted and cultivated as ordinary pole 
beans. Some, however, make a trellis for 
them as for grapes, and plant in the same 
place for several years. Beans should not be 
planted until the ground is fairly warm, as 
they are quite sensitive to cold. The Navy 
and White Kidney are grown here almost 
exclusively for winter use. 
Beets.— Extra Early Egyptian and Bastiau’s 
Early are as good as any. Sow them as early 
as the ground can'be worked, in rows two feet 
apart. Thin them out to four inches apart. 
Use those pulled out for “ spriDg-greens.” 
The soil should be very .rich. Give level sur¬ 
face cultivation. 
Sweet Corn. —Early Minnesota and 
Stowell’s Evergreen are the favorites here. I 
have never regarded sugar or sweet corn as 
making the best roastxng-ears, and I have 
never grown this kind extensively for this 
purpose. A good variety of field corn, to my 
taste, makes a better, more palatable and 
more substantial dish than any sweet corn I 
have ever tried. For such a dish, I do not 
know of anything better than Pride of the 
North. I have been using it for roasting-ears 
ever since its introduction by the late Hiram 
Sibley. It is very early, prolific and fine- 
flavored, while the ears are of good size. It 
makes a choice pudding. It should be planted 
for a succession. 
Cabbages. —Hereabouts we prefer Early 
Jersey Wakefield, Henderson’s Early Summer, 
Fottler’s Improved Brunswick, Premium Flat 
Dutch or Burpee’s Surehead. For the early 
varieties I sow seed in hot bed or cold-frame 
in February and set out plants as soon as they 
are large enough, 2)4 feet by IS inches apart. 
For late cabbage I sow the seed in April and 
plant in May or June, three feet apart each 
way. Give level cultivation, keeping the sur¬ 
face stirred after every hard shower, so that 
the loose surface soil may act as a mulch and 
preserve the moisture. This is a crop that 
will not materialize on thin land. The soil 
must be rich—very fertile Good loam, well- 
drained, but inclined to moisture, is the best. 
The cabbage is a heavy feeder and drinker. 
It requires an abundance of plant food and 
water. Good composted stable manure is the 
best fertilizer I have ever tried for this crop. 
The following preparation is the best pre¬ 
ventive of the cabbage worm: Take an ordi¬ 
nary coal-oil barrel and fill it two-thirds full 
of water, and stir m it a gallon of coal or gas- 
tar. Mix it thoroughly. Let it stand three 
or four days, stirring every day three or four 
times. With a garden sprinkler put a little 
of this mixture on each plant. It should be 
applied once a week, about the time of the 
first appearance of the cabbage fly. 
Cucumbers. —Nichol’s Medium Green for 
table, and Green Prolific for pickles are my 
choice. Plant five feet apart in good soil and 
cultivate until the vines cover the ground. 
Squash. —Summer Crook-Neck for sum¬ 
mer use, and for winter use I would substitute 
the Sweet Potato pumpkin which is about as 
good as the winter Squashes, besides being 
very prolific, a fine keeper and a sure cropper. 
It is not disturbed by the Squash-bug. Plant 
seven feet apart each way. 
Potatoes.— Early Rose and Potentate for 
early use, and Mammoth Pearl for medium or 
late, can’t well be excelled. 
Tomatoes. —I have never grown any better 
sorts thau Essex Early Hybrid and Optimus. 
They are early, of good size, smooth and of 
fine quality and prolific. Set the plants four 
feet apart each way, in good soil. Put a tea- 
spoonful of salt in each hill and mix it thor¬ 
oughly with the soil. Drive a stake five feet 
long in each hill, and tie up the vines as they 
grow. 
Field Corn. —I prefer Mammoth Cuban, 
yellow; Gould Hill Prolific, white. Mam¬ 
moth Cuban is a yery early yellow dent 
variety, very prolific and is practically 
drought-proof. It is the best corn with which 
I am acquainted. Its feeding value is un¬ 
surpassed. The Gould Hill Prolific is a large 
pure white corn said to be a cross between 
Blount’s Prolific and Mountain Giant. It has 
a large grain, large ear and large stalk. It 
makes the very finest snow-white meal. It is 
the most prolific white corn I have ever grown. 
Plant the seeds from three to four and a-balf 
feet each way according to the size of the 
stalk; or drill in rows three to four and a-half 
feet apart and thin to one stalk every 15 or 
20 inches. Thorough preparation of the soil 
is absolutely essential to make a good corn 
crop. Level, surface cultivation should by 
all means be practiced. If I could do so, I 
would cultivate 'my corn after every heavy 
shower, just deep enough to effectually break 
the surface crust, and put the soil in condi¬ 
tion to absorb and radiate heat and not re¬ 
flect it. The reflection of the rays of the sun 
from a hard.glazed surface soil, is fatal to any 
growing crop, particularly corn. Shallow 
cultivation after every hard rain will break 
up this reflective condition of the soil, and, be¬ 
sides, the stirred surface will act as a good and 
effective mulch to prevent the rise and escape 
of moisture. These shallow cultivations may 
be continued with profit until the corn is in 
the roastlng-ear state. Plowing the corn 
from five to 10 inches deep, in deep cultiva¬ 
tion, multilates and tears the roots to pieces. 
All cultivation should cease before the corn is 
a foot high. Corn roots should never be dis¬ 
turbed by cultivation; but if they are to be 
wounded at all, let it be done when the corn 
is small. 
Caldwell Co.,|Ky. 
FROM JONATHAN TALCOTT. 
Rhubarb.— Victoria suits me as well as 
aDy; yes, rather better. 
Squash, —summer, Yellow Crook-Neck; 
fall, Essex Hybrid; winter, Hubbard. 
Peas —Bliss’s American Wonder for early; 
McLean’s Advancer, for second early; Cham¬ 
pion of England for late. Plant at different 
times for succession. 
Cabbages. —Early Winningstadt is an ex¬ 
cellent sort for family use, but for sale, a 
Drumhead is preferable. Gregory’s All Sea¬ 
sons is a good sort for me. 
Pumpkins —The common field pumpkin, 
generally called Connecticut Pumpkin, suits 
me best. 
Beets.—B assano has been the standard, but 
some of the darker sorts are now preferred. 
Carrots —The Danvers is my choice. 
Cucumbers —White Spine is my favorite. 
Onions. —Yellow Danvers. 
Beans —For white I prefer the Mountain 
Bush or Marrow; for string, the Golden Wax. 
I do not raise pole beans. 
Corn —Earlv Minnesota I like best for 
early; Moorp’s Early Concord for medium, and 
Stowell’s Evergreen for late. Use a succes¬ 
sion of plantings. 
Tomatoes. —Rawson’s Puritan. 
Field Corn.—D utton. 
Mangels.—G lobe. 
Beans. —The Speckled Cranberry for a pole 
variety is best with me. 
Oneida Co., N. Y. 
FROM F. H. VALENTINE. 
Any list of garden vegetables which I might 
select from positive knowledge would not in¬ 
clude many varieties of most recent introduc¬ 
tion. for this reason: When I first began gar¬ 
dening I studied the seedsmen’s catalogues in¬ 
tently and, in my innocence,was carried away 
by the glowing descriptions of their wonder¬ 
ful new varieties. I was led to buy many 
seeds at exorbitant prices, only to find after¬ 
ward that many of them were no better than 
the old varieties which were sold at moderate 
rates, if, indeed, some of them were not iden¬ 
tical. To be sure, I got some good things 
among the novelties, but my ardor was cooled 
to such an extent that I have invested very 
sparingly of late, preferring to let others bear 
the expense as well as the disappointment of 
a trial. I can recommend the following as 
good in our locality, although other varieties 
may be as good, or even better. 
Peppers.— The Golden Dawn Mango is the 
best I have tried. I like its yellow color, and 
it is not so fiery as some of its more ruddy 
relatives. Peppers must have a warm, rich 
soil, must be kept in a hot-bed until the weather 
is quite warm, and should be of good size, 
even in blossom, when transplanted. 
Rhubarb. —Linmsus I find as good as any. 
It should have a warm exposure to bring it 
on early in spring when we need it most. 
Half a barrel set over the hill, and sur¬ 
rounded with fermenting horse manure, as 
soon as the ground is bare, will push it on 
several days. 
Squash. — I like White Scallop best for a 
summer variety, although 'some prefer the 
vellow ones because they “ look better.” The 
W. S is a little earlier than the'Crook Neck, 
and is good in the fall after the shell hardens. 
Mix well-rotted manure in the hills, hoe often, 
and sprinkle with a weak solution of Paris- 
green to kill the bugs. This is a good remedy 
for bugs on all similar vines; but needs to be 
about half as strong as for potatoes, to avoid 
injury to the vines The Hubbard is good 
enough for me for a winter squash. Plow 
under all the manure you can, no matter how 
coarse, plant in bills ten feet apart each way, 
or in drills 10 or 12 feet apart. Rotten ma¬ 
nure in the hill won’t hurt the squashes. They 
are excellent for stock, producing very rich 
milk, and can be grown very cheaply. Farm¬ 
ers should grow them more extensively for 
this purpose. As they yield heavily, much 
valuable feed can be grown on a small area. 
Handle very carefully those stored for winter, 
as they will decay if bruised, store only the 
hard shelled ones in a dry cool place, and they 
will keep for a long time. 
Tomatoes — I would plant some of the 
Golden Queen for home us«, on account of a 
preference for its 'flavor, and also because 
it makes a pretty contrast to the red 
varieties. The Mikado is early, large, very 
productive, but very irregular in shape. 
There is not much choice between Essex Hy¬ 
brid, Cardinal, New Red Apple, and Living¬ 
ston’s Favorite, excepting, perhaps, that Es¬ 
sex Hybrid and Favorite do not rot quite so 
badly here. I have tried the Station, origi¬ 
nated at Geneva, but it is no earlier or better 
with me than the older varieties, while it is 
smaller. I don’t take any stock in “ tree 
tomatoes ” so liberally puffed by some seeds¬ 
men. Do not transplant tomatoes until the 
ground is warm, even though it be the middle 
of June. They will not grow when it is cold, 
and serve only as food for the omnipresent 
Colorado beetle. Plant a few potatoes near¬ 
by beforehand to have them ready for “ ug 
feed.” A trellis for tomatoes will pay in se¬ 
curing both early ripening, and exemption 
from rot. A good hot-bed made the first 
week in April, will give plants quite large 
enough for transplanting as soon as the 
weather is suitable. 
Peas.—F or early, plant Carter’s First Crop; 
for medium, Premium Gem; for late, Cham¬ 
pion of England. Plant early ones shallow, 
and late ones deep. Plant in drills at inter¬ 
vals of two weeks. 
Beans. —I wouldn’t plant bush varieties for 
my eating as “snaps,” although they make 
good succotash. The Golden Dwarf Wax I 
call the best. Different seedsmen give a half- 
dozen variations on the “Wax” bean, but they 
are all practically the same. The Golden But¬ 
ter Pole is incomparably the best bean I ever 
saw. It bears early, and holds out late large, 
beautiful, translucent pods, which are very 
tender and sweet for snaps. This is the only 
variety I would raise for green beans for my 
own use. Do not plant beans too thickly, 
or hoe them when wet. 
Corn. —The Cory is the earliest I have yet 
found. The ears are large and sweet for so 
early a variety. A little sugar added to the 
corn while cooking, will improve it, and the 
same is the case with early peas. For second 
early. Perry’s Hybrid is the best. It has very 
large ears of 10 or 13 rows, and is quite ten¬ 
der and sweet. The greatest objection to 
these two varieties is their red cobs, but this 
feature can be bred out by care in selecting 
seed. For late, the Mammoth is the sweetest 
corn I have ever tasted. It is later than the 
Evergreen, and has much larger ears. If 
these three varieties are planted at the same 
time as early as the ground is warm, they 
will furnish a succession lasting a long time. 
Plant some Mammoth early in J une for late 
use, and for winter use also, according to 
some late writers in the Rural. 
Cauliflower—T ne Early Snowball forms 
the most solid and best heads of all I have 
grown; it is good both for early and late. 
Celery. — I am much pleased with Early 
Arlington, which is an improved Boston 
Market, but several weeks earlier. White 
Plume is an early sort, and is very ornamental, 
but it is a poor keeper. The red varieties are 
coming into favor, but I have never tried any 
of them. 
Cabbages.— Extra-Early Wakefield has 
always been my standard early sort, but last 
season I tried New Express, and was so well 
pleased with its good quality, its solid heads, 
which stood long without bursting, and it 
good size, that I shall plant it again for extras 
early. For intermediate and late, I would 
plant All Seasons and Fottler. 
Lettuce. —Prize Head and Hansou furnish 
all the variety I care for. They are both 
tender and sweet, and without that bitter 
taste so often found. Sow some in a hot-bed 
for early use. 
