4889 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
204 
3ntaisfl Sflfkties. 
THE TWENTY-SECOND SESSION OF THE 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL 
SOCIETY. 
(R. N.-Y. SHORT-HAND REPORT.) 
Cross-fertilization ; different opinions as to 
the first year's effects of cross-fertilization 
—very slight or wholly unnoticeable, as a 
rule; cost and advantages of bagging 
grapes; the Japan persimmon 1 , progress of 
fruit growing in the South; oranges and 
other Southern fruits ; fertilizers for 
oranges; bird and insect enemies and 
diseases of the orange; a newly imported 
orange borer; varieties of oranges. 
The essay of D. M. Neal on cross-fertiliza¬ 
tion was full of suggestions to the progressive 
fruit-grower. He was flooded with questions, 
many of which could not be answered. “As 
a rule,” he said,“you get vigor of growth and 
flavor from the maternal parent.” The great 
point in which all were most deeply interested, 
was as to the visible effect of crossing, the 
first year. Many did not believe in any such 
effect at all. Some knew for a fact that an 
effect could be noticed, others were on the 
fence, and open to conviction. Dr. Moore 
had seen the Navel oraDge affected at once. 
Mr. Van Deman had yet to see any effect the 
first year in any fruit or plant. Ex-Gov. 
Reed, of Florida, had seen oranges on his Na¬ 
vel trees without the mark and with 
seeds, and also on the same branch 
oranges with the mark, but no seeds. 
Since the advent of the Navel in Mr. Moore’s 
grove, he has found it scattered all through 
the place. Mr. Van Deman alluded to its de¬ 
ficiency in pollen; in 100 good flbwers only 
three or four stamens had been found. Rev. 
Dr. Phelps, the orange expert, was undecided 
as to the direct influence being visible the first 
year, but he felt sure that nearly all oranges 
would in a few years, show Navel marks. A 
Navel with numerous seeds and otherwise 
like the wild orange, was already among his 
seedlings. President Berckrnans reported 
strange sports of the pear on a Vicar of 
Winkfleld tree which had been planted among 
Seckels and Flemish Beauties. A single 
branch bore specimens of each—one being 
russet like the Seckel, another an apparent 
Flemish, a third a true Vicar. The same thing 
between the peach and nectarine had come 
under his eye, and he wanted to know the 
reason of it all; but he got very little light on 
tne subject. Mr. Phelps bad, years ago, 
learned to see how very much he didn’t know. 
Dr. Neal said there was a strikiug analogy 
between plants and the human species, and be 
cited an instance of the marriage of a black 
mau to a white woman, where both in time 
became mulatto in color. 
One cent a pound Mr. Parry thought was 
the cost of bagging grapes. Mr. Newman got 
ten cents for bagged grapes, and four for un 
bagged fruit. He preferred this rot remedy 
and thought it would pay in a commercial 
vineyard. The Ives’s quality is vastly enhanced 
by bagging. He sold all such this year for ten 
cents net, while every uncovered berry rotted 
The Japan persimmon was the subject of 
the next paper by B. F. Livingston, Florida. 
No other fruit grows so vigorously in the 
State, he said, and without fertilizer, at least 
if grown on native stock. No manure is 
needed. His grafts began to fruit when five 
months old. His GOO one-year-old trees were 
eight feet high. There is no trouble to grow 
them. Varieties are numerous, there being 
about 4G distinct sorts knowu in Japan. But 
marketing, packing and shippiug are yet 
problems. He advised wrapping the fruits in 
tissue paper, and that they should be packed at 
once when fully ripe, in trays one layer 
in each. 
On Thursday morning the reading of the 
report of the Sub-Tropical Committee was 
first in order. The document was a very com¬ 
plete and instructive review of the progress 
of fruit growing in the South, and included 
special reports from separate States in detail. 
Many of the fruits named were unkuown to 
many of the Northern delegates, and they 
listened closely to the descriptions and char¬ 
acteristics of each. The strawberry is the 
only small fruit grown much in Florida. New 
plums of the oriental strain are promising. 
Lemon culture is rapidly increasing. The 
lime deserves more attention. The shaddock 
is grown only as a curiosity, being without 
value for the table. The guava is very popu 
Jar, and is extensively grown. It cannot bear 
any frost and is very perishable. Figs are 
also raised with profit. Olives do well near 
Fernandina. Dates may bo found in a few 
gardens, and the cocoauut is largely grown 
near; Lake^Worbh and the Key's. The pine¬ 
apple is the most important tropical fruit 
raised in Florida and some of the “pineries” 
are successful and very profitable. There are 
several varieties in cultivation. 
The minor citrus fruits were then described 
and reported upon in an excellent essay by 
the Rev. Dr. Moore. He spoke of the antiq¬ 
uity of the citron. It was the first mem¬ 
ber of the family brought to Europe and pre¬ 
ceded the orange there by a thousand years. 
Its blossom is superior to the rose in fra¬ 
grance, and very salutary. It is easily grown 
and handled, and he ^thought there was no 
excuse for the present neglect to grow it. 
We should export it largely instead of im¬ 
porting it as we now do. 
The lime, originating in the West Indies, 
has never been properly appreciated here. 
Quanquat—a small oblong yellow fruit—is 
most delicious and refreshing in flavor and 
excellent preserved in sugar. Pomologist 
VanDeman made an earnest protest against 
the use of the term “Grape-fruit” which was 
not only incorrect but unreasonable as a name 
for that friut. The true name being Pomelo, 
he urged the society to adapt the latter name 
and avoid further question and confusion. 
Then followed one of the most interesting 
and valuable essays of the session, especially 
on the subject of sub-tropical fruits to which 
the extra day was practically devoted in 
deference to the Florida people. It was by 
Senator C. F. A. Beilby, of Florida, and was 
also a scholarly production. He gave a com¬ 
plete history of the great “ Orange Industry 
in Florida,” with much valuable data and care¬ 
ful details of culture and general manage¬ 
ment. The further east you go, he said, the 
further north you may venture to plant 
oranges. The possibilities of orange culture 
here are limitless. Nearly all soils will pro¬ 
duce oranges; no one can decide which is best; 
fertilizers are not absolutely necessary until 
the trees begin to bear. The notion that 
oranges cannot be successfully grown on 
the flat lands is erroneous. The trees 
should be set high with the crown 
roots at the surface, without exception. The 
supply of moisture should determine the 
method of culture. Too much ammonia is 
now used as a rule. It makes the fruit coarse 
and impairs the vitality of the tree. Such an 
amount would answer only on dry pine lands. 
Pure raw' none is the thing to use. It is slow 
but sure, and perfectly safe in all cases. 
Cotton-seed meal, aDd potash in the form of 
sulphate should also be used. The “foot-rot” 
and “die-back” are the most troublesome 
diseases in the State. Three-fifths of the 
latter come from improper fertilizing. The 
“ scale” and the “ rust” are not serious as yet. 
In closing he paid a glowing and beautiful 
tribute to the orange, to Florida and her 
wonderful climate. He was roundly ap¬ 
plauded by North and South, and was the 
target for an avalanche cf queries for some 
time afterward. Dr. Neal considered “ foot- 
rot” a fungoid disease. Growers were 
warned by him of the approach of a borer 
from Mexico via Texas, which, he said, was 
most dangerous. It bores into the orange 
much as the codling moth bores into the 
apple. The Rev. Dr. Phelps said it was 
already here and it was high time to talk 
about its extermination. The Woodpecker 
and Jaybird were also credited with an in¬ 
creasing appetite for oranges, aud the wild 
cat bounty w'as advised to be transferred to 
these feathered “insects.” The sap-sucker 
girdling the tree at the base with holes, is an¬ 
other enemy in the orange grove. E. H. Hart 
followed with a somewhat humorous and in¬ 
genious paper on “Varieties of the Orange.” 
The late P. W. Reasoner, of Manatee, had 
compiled a list of 150 kinds. There is fashion 
in oranges as there is in ladies’ bonnets, he 
said. Few growers know which is best to 
plant. For flavor the Maltese Blood and Na¬ 
vel strains were mainly preferred. Califor¬ 
nia growers pride themselves on being able to 
supply our markets when our Florida crop is 
gone, but what will they do when with proper 
care and selection of varieties, we drug the 
markets all summer ? h. h. 
(To be Continued.) 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
solve this question practically, would be for 
the producers in each county or locality to or¬ 
ganize themselves into an association, elect¬ 
ing one of their number as head officer, whose 
business it should be to obtain the best mar¬ 
kets possible for the use of the association— 
said officer to be paid for his time and trouble 
by an assessment upon all of the members. 
The outlook for the coming season is compar¬ 
atively good, there having been a little more 
activity in the money market for the past six 
months. This has had a tendency to brighten 
the hopes of all in regard to the near future. 
At least it will be safe to say that this will be 
no worse than the last season for the farmer 
in general. It is always best to look on the 
bright side when we can. 0. H. f. 
Pennsylvania. 
Saeoerstown, Crawford County, March 
5.—We have had an unusally good season 
for crops in this section. Hardly in years 
have our crops been more generally good 
than they were last season. Hay was an 
average crop, and put up in good order. 
•'Winter wheat was good. Corn and potatoes 
were never better. I raised on six acres 954 
bushels of ears of as good sound corn as I ever 
saw—level culture. Potatoes were a good 
crop; but there is no sale for them at any 
price. I raise the Rural Blush sent out by 
tne Rural. It is the best "potato so far as 
yield is concerned I have ever had. Oats were 
a good crop—very heavy. Apples were a 
fair crop. We have had a very mild winter. 
Ice-men began to think that they would “ get 
left;” but they have got some at last. Feed 
is plentiful and stock low. I have been a sub¬ 
scriber to the Rural for 21 years. Success to 
it! D. A. K. 
Womans Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
chews gum. Everywhere we go now, on the 
street-cars, the ferry-boat, in the concert-hall, 
and even the church, we meet the girl who 
chews gum. We won’t say anything about 
the hygienic side of the matter; but simply re¬ 
gard it as a matter of looks. Can you im¬ 
agine anything uglier than the constant con¬ 
tortions of the face, caused by the mastica¬ 
tion, especially when in a jolty car. The 
jaws seem tireless. And the worst of the mat¬ 
ter is that gum chewers never seem to know 
how to masticate properly. They open and 
shut their mouths, twist their tongues, and 
make every ungainly face it seems possible. 
Perhaps if they only knew how ugly they 
look, they might give up the habit. The fact 
that it is vulgar, annoying to others, and plain 
evidence of ill-breeding, does not affect them 
in the least. 
* * * 
A valued correspondent offers a suggestion 
for another Women’s Special, viz 
JS’ew York. 
Forestville, Chautauqua County, March 
6.—The sugar season has at last arrived. The 
indications are right for a good long oue, yet 
it is quite liable to be otherwise. The great 
want of the maple sugar producers in this 
part of the country is knowledge of the mar¬ 
kets t. <?., where to send the sweet. There are 
plenty of good markets all over the land, but 
the, average farmer has no time to" spend in 
looking up these, places. The only, way to 
‘The 
4 6/CLEANLINESS is next to godliness.” 
V_>/ But a woman who considers her sur¬ 
roundings clean, merely because she scrubs 
around and sweeps and dusts, may ignore 
some essential rules of health, in spite of her 
housewifery. We have gone into many 
houses, clean enough otherwise, where the en¬ 
tire place was haunted by the ghosts of dead 
and gone dinners. There were the aggressive 
odors of the cabbage they had yesterday, of 
the fried steak of that day’s breakfast, of 
smoked bacon from a previous meal, and an 
under-current of vegetable odors remaining 
from weeks past. The air in the "rooms 
seemed dead, aud somehow the entire family 
gave the impression of sleeping in their 
clothes. Maybe they were clean. The chil¬ 
dren wore clean pinafores, and the mother a 
neat gown, but it was evident enough that 
ventilation was a thing unknown. Now, from 
experience of poorly-heated country houses, 
we know that it often seems quite an infliction 
to throw open the windows in the bitter win¬ 
ter weather: the ventilation seems enough to 
chill everything in the house. But it is a cer¬ 
tain fact that you cannot warm foul air" and 
make it fit for breathing. Certainly, there is 
danger from drafts, but it is a good deal bet¬ 
ter to go about one’s work wearing a shawl, 
while the rooms are well aired, than to con¬ 
tinue absorbing into the sensitive lungs nox¬ 
ious gases charged with all sorts of impuri¬ 
ties. There is always a stuffy odor about 
these unaired houses, aud the dwellers therein 
always seem to carry this atmosphere with 
them. Pure air aud cleau water—plenty of 
both—then there is no trouble about stufliuess 
or staleness. 
* * * 
Says oue of our correspondents: “ I want 
to add a word of approval, or appreciation, of 
• J. H. G.’s’ sentiments expressed in the arti¬ 
cle Smoking in Public Places, on page 94. 
It is a very lamentable fact that so many men 
are lost to reason, right, and regard for others’ 
feelings, that they allow this one ruinous hab¬ 
it to so blind them to justice that they will 
with their impudent impunity, force innocent 
people, aye, in many cases, hapless babes, to 
breathe air so loaded with filthy and disgust¬ 
ing tobacco smoke that it becomes almost un¬ 
bear able. When will 811 men aspire to be 
gentlemen? I hope ‘J. H. G. ’ may—as 
Gail Hamilton once said—have frequent 
‘spasms of sense’on this same subject. It is 
so closely allied with that great question, or 
issue, which now interests every good Penn¬ 
sylvanian— Prohibition." 
* * * 
While we are, in popular phrase,pitching 
into ” the men for their tobacco, we want to 
add a few deep-felt remarks on the girl who 
Health of Children : How best Secured; Its 
relation to present modes of eating, drinking, 
studying, playing, working, resting, bathing, 
etc.”—a very important subject, too. In spite 
of objections to the rigorous training of our 
grandmothers’ days, the children of that age 
seemed to make more vigorous men and wom¬ 
en than the present generation. Singularly 
enough, in spite of their disadvantages in 
dress and the like, the girls in small towns 
and villages are apt to be finer physically than 
the boys in corresponding circumstances. So 
many of the young men we know among peo¬ 
ple in easy circumstances are narrow-chested 
or are under-sized, while their sisters are com¬ 
paratively robust. But then it is fashionable 
nowadays to be rosy and muscular. 
* * * 
The French fashion of weariug artificial 
flowers on winter hats and bonnets seems on 
the increase; they certainly brighten up the 
headgear wonderfully. Violets are first fa¬ 
vorite, especially on a black bat, and they 
make a charming finish for a velvet toque. 
A pretty hat was a turban of sage-green 
cloth, the covering being laid in folds along 
the sides, while it formed a high shirring in 
front. Down the center of the crown was a 
very natural sprav of dog-roses and foliage, 
and a bunch of the same blossoms was in 
front. It was very pretty, though dog-roses 
do seem a little summery for February. A 
very dainty capote bonuet was completely 
covered with single violets put on flat; at the 
top were rosettes of black lace, with a bunch 
of violets in the middle. A bonnet having a 
puffed tulle crown, and a brim covered with 
violets, can be readily made by a handy girl; 
it will cost but little, aud is very dressy. 
ONE THING AT A TIME. 
OLIVE K. DANA. 
T> 
ON’T train yourself to do two or three 
things at once, my dear Mrs. Busy 
Hands, especiallv if one of them is unneces¬ 
sary. Yes. I know that it is very enterpris¬ 
ing of you: it seems so much time gained if 
vou do the spring cleaning and alter the chil¬ 
dren’s spring clothing within the same fort¬ 
night, aud maybe tack a comforter or two 
beside Or, again, does it take away the 
sense of drudgery and satisfy your intellect¬ 
ual aspirations to read Tennyson or Macaulay 
while you darn the stockings ? Or have you 
found that you cau take the Chautauqua 
Course by having a book alwavs at hand— 
propped above the kitchen-sink, open by your 
work-table, pinioned near the bread board, 
or. maybe, under your pillow ! 
But you would better not do'these things in 
this way. Tf you cannot do them oue at a 
time, it would be better to leave them undone, 
most likely. 
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
with thy might.” The old rule of “ the next 
thing ” is the best, wisest, most Christian. 
One thing at a time, and toil is sweeter, sleep 
sounder, life nobler. Most of us cannot use 
two or three faculties at once without undue 
drafts upon our strength and vitality. Don’t 
imagine you must plan out that article, if you 
are a writer, while you do the morning dishes; 
or arrange the details of the day’s work even, 
dear, busy mother, while you eat your break¬ 
fast. Wait for the real opportunity and sea¬ 
son for the article. Sit down a bit between 
tasks and take life easy, especially if you are 
tempted to hurry. You will find the day’s 
work unfolding as you go on, and your 
strength will last better. 
It is hurry and worry that wear and strain 
aud kill. There will, very likely, come a time 
when you will be supremely thankful to be 
able just to go out to that kitchen-sink and 
wash those dishes, a work that now seems so 
distasteful a task, and when you would esteem 
it bliss to “be half a day doing the chores.” 
Just “bide a wee and dinna fret." " 
