4889 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
288 
3niXust’l Botirtks. 
THE TWEN T Y-SECOND SESSION OF THE 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL 
SOCIETY. 
(Concluded.) 
(R. N.-Y. SHORT-HAND REPORT.) 
The White Adriatic jig ; the Peen-to and 
Honey peaches ; the Kelsey and Satsuma 
plums ; next biennial meeting to be held 
m Chicago ; gloom in the evenings', visit 
to some large orange groves; dead-head 
traveling; nut culture ; drawbacks in the 
meetings. 
In continuation of the discussion upon the 
newer fruits at the last session of the society, 
figs were next in order. Mr. Peck spoke of 
the new White Adriatic as doing well. Mr. 
Pierce said : “ It does well on Indian river.” 
The variety was then placed on the list and 
recommended for trial. Peaches came next. 
Dr. Hape inquired as to the success of the 
Peen-to. Mr. Tumblood : “ I have grown it 
successfully, and believe I was among the first 
to grow it in Florida. The only onjection to 
it with me is that it blooms too early; frost 
often catches the blossoms. The tree is very 
vigorous. There are now many seedlings 
from the Peen-to which are better than the 
parent in size, shape, and in general. I think 
a few years more will give us much better 
varieties, and I have great hopes in that di¬ 
rection. The shape and size of the Peen-to 
are objectionable. Some of the seedlings al¬ 
ready obtained seem to partake of the hardi¬ 
ness of the pear. The Honey does well with 
me and always escapes the frost. Neither of 
these varieties is subject to the attack of 
borers.” Mr. Adams: “In South Florida 
there is very little trouble with the early 
blooming of the Peen-to.” Mr. Callanan : “I 
now have trees loaded with the Peen-to peach. 
I have fruited it six or seven years and never 
lost a crop by early blooming. My trees 
stand the frost extremely well. I live in the 
western part of Clay county.” Mr. Trow¬ 
bridge : “ 1 consider it a grand acquisition as 
a peach in Florida, and I move it be placed on 
the catalogue and one star be given to it in 
Florida.” This motion prevailed. 
Plums were then taken up, the Kelsey be¬ 
ing first called. Mr. Callahan: “I have 
fruited it two years and am well satisfied 
with it so far. I have great faith in it, hav¬ 
ing planted an orchard of 6,000 trees, and I ex¬ 
pect to plant more. It promises well for Flor¬ 
ida. 1 think it will make a good prune. It 
stands shipment well. The tree is hardy and 
grows vigorously.” 
Satsuma was next called. Mr. Van Deman: 
“ I think well of it. It has the same quality 
as the Kelsey and is of the same size. It is 
blood-red inside, and earlier by a month than 
Kelsey, and 1 think it is more hardy. It may 
thus prove more valuable for the North 
where the Kelsey will not do.” The fruit dis¬ 
cussion was abruptly closed at this point, the 
hour for adjournment being so near at hand. 
It was then moved by Mr. Trowbridge of 
Ohio that the next meeting of the society be 
held at Chicago. This was seconded by Mr. 
Brackett and many others. Mr. Boon, a 
member of the Illinois State Society,extended 
an invitation to that effect and it seemed to be 
the unanimous desire of all to meet at Chica¬ 
go next time. Such was the recommendation 
made but the final decision was left with the 
Executive Committee. The society then ad¬ 
journed finally about noon, February 32. 
As to the room in which the meetings were 
held, it should be said the Opera House was 
well adapted with one exception, and that 
defect became so anuoying in the even¬ 
ings and the dark cloudy weather as to 
interfere seriously with the transaction of 
business. Want of sufficient light was the 
trouble. There being no gas, a few smoky 
kerosene lamps had to be relied upon. The 
spectacle of the chairman holding a heavy 
lamp that the essayist might see to read a long 
paper while the reporters were scrawling over 
their note-books oy guess in the dark and the 
members were sitting in the ghostly gloom 
peering thorugh the shadows at the speaker 
on the stage, was in no way cheering to the 
average northern visitor, but in direct con¬ 
trast with the real hospitality and enterprise 
in which the Florida people strove so hard to 
excel. 
Iu the afternoon the society was taken on 
an excursion to Citra, where the extensive 
and beautiful orange groves of the Crescent 
Orange Co., Bishop Hoyt & Co., and the cele¬ 
brated Harris grove on Orange lake were 
visited. The latter contains 200 acres in bear¬ 
ing and is the largest bearing grove in the 
State; 46,000 boxes of oranges were shipped 
from it the past year. The trees are all on 
the native stocks just as they grew, being 
from 12 to 17 years old. The visitors were 
given full permission to gather fruit from tho 
trees in all parts of the grove to their hearts’ 
content, there being some 3,000 boxes still on 
the trees. The other groves visited were 100 
and 150 acres in extent respectively, tne 
former yielding 30,000 boxes last season. The 
packing-houses were also investigated with 
much interest. On the following day ex¬ 
cursion parties started out in various direc¬ 
tions to all leading sections and points of in¬ 
terest in the State. Very few of the delegates 
returned home until a week or 10 days after 
the close of the meeting, having such an ex¬ 
cellent opportunity for traveling all over the 
State and seeing ics wonders and bright 
winter attractions. 
An interesting paper presented but not read 
before the society was by H. M. Engle, upon 
“Nut Culture.” He thinks thousands of un¬ 
productive acres might be made profitable in 
this way; large supplies of food for man might 
be obtained with more certainty than by 
equal amounts of money and labor spent in 
the production of other crops. If more of the 
natural products and less of the artificially 
prepared and adulterated articles were eaten, 
mankind would be much the better for it. A 
reliable chemical analysis of the nutritive pro¬ 
portions of edible nuts is needed. Where the 
chestnut will flourish it may safely be put at 
the head of the list, since, for quality it is un¬ 
surpassed. There is a wide field for hybridi¬ 
zation and cross-fertilization in nut culture. 
Combinations of the best qualities of originals 
may be brought together in new varieties, 
and the problem should not be more difficult 
than for stockmen to breed off horns, increase 
muscle and reduce bone. The black walnut, 
butternut, English walnut, pecan, shell-bark 
and flloert can all be improved in the direc¬ 
tion of less shell and more kernel.” 
In concluding this report of this very suc¬ 
cessful aud pleasant meeting of this society, 
it seems to the writer, [and to the editors of 
the R. N.-Y. as well. Eos.] that the essays 
and papers read were, as usual, too numerous, 
and many of them were far too long. Too 
little time was left for discussion. Essays, 
theories, data and statistics may all be pre¬ 
sented in the horticultural press, where fruit¬ 
growers may read them at their leisure. 
Womans Wotrk. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
happy is she who keeps that ignorance of evil 
to womanhood. She is like the lady in Mil¬ 
ton’s Comus—no evil thing may harm her. 
* * * 
As a girl grows toward womanhood there 
are many things she ought to know concern- 
idg her own nature and organization. Un¬ 
fortunately, instead of being instructed mod¬ 
estly but sufficiently by a pure-minded and 
loving mother, she is too often left to pick up 
such knowledge from outside associates; the 
result is that the information received is not 
only often imperfect and erroneous, but it is 
also coarsened in the telling. She is likely to 
suffer in consequence both in mind and body. 
* * * 
We recently heard a mother say that she 
thought girls knew a great deal more now 
than they used to—and more than they ought 
to, as well. There is no question of this; but 
it is not entirely the girls’ fault. A mother 
who allows her little girl to roam at large, 
receiving such impressions as are given by all 
sorts of associates, cannot wonder if her girl 
seems pert, bold and forward. We see little 
and big girls lounging along the streets, 
laughing and talking loudly, staring and 
commenting on everything, and then learn 
that they are the children of respectable and 
well-to-do parents, who wonder why their 
girls are nob more lady-like in deportment. 
If we were asked the time-honored question, 
“What shall we do with our daughters?” our 
first suggestion would be to keep them at 
home. It is all very well to make girls self- 
reliant and able to care for themselves; but 
self-reliance need not become boldness. 
* * * 
We love old-fashioned girls—modest, and 
innocent, yet self-reliant—real mother’s girls, 
whose innocence does not imply ignorance. 
Few girls, however, are actually coarse by 
nature, and the coarse streak may be lessened 
by training. It is for the mother to attend to 
that. 
* * * 
An innocent and pure-minded girl is usually 
a little gentlewoman in her manners. And 
good manners, with good nature, will take 
one anywhere. This is a free country, as we 
often assert with much pride, and we may all 
be gentlewomen in rank, if we choose. Per¬ 
fect manners must be grounded on good tem¬ 
per. sympathy and unselfishness, and a girl 
whose daily conduct is an exemplar of these 
virtues is a thorough gentlewoman, even if she 
does not understand how to use a finger bowl. 
--■ 
OUTINGS IN NEW ENGLAND. 
V. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
really looked until he had made a drawing of 
it. One marked difference between this coun¬ 
try and other nations is that what in them is 
looked after by the government, is here the 
work and care of individuals. So in Ply¬ 
mouth, every spot and relic which "is of 
national interest, has nevertheless been nursed 
and protected by local care and private muni¬ 
ficence, and very little of importance has 
been allowed to perish through neglect. But 
this kind of thrift is characteristic of all New 
England, whose local historians, poets, 
romancers and artists have made the most 
possible of their materials, and Longfellow 
literally wove the entire coast into song. 
Forefathers’ Day is annually observed in 
Plymouth by the Pilgrim Society, which 
dines, presumably, better than did the fore¬ 
fathers. However, as the Pilgrims were so 
much reduced at one time that five kernels of 
parched corn were counted out to each one 
for his meal, so the annual December dinner 
begins with turned down plates on which are 
laid five kernels of parched corn. I am sure 
that I could never get those five grains down 
my throat without choking with sobs—that 
first dreadful winter was so terrible! After 
the corn is despatched a succotash is served 
made of hulled corn and beans, chicken and 
corned beef. Our landlady told me that it 
was a Pilgrim dish, and that the chicken and 
beef in about equal proportion were boiled 
together until the meat fell from the bones 
and could be shredded. Then vegetables cut 
in dice and the corn are boiled in the water 
until tender, and the beans, cooked separately 
and mashed through a colander, thicken tb e 
mass. Services are held in the churches. 
Plymouth Rock, as it now reposes under a 
granite canopy, has had its history. It is a 
granite boulder, and in the early history of 
the country it was in danger of being covered 
up by the construction of a wharf about it; 
and an attempt was made in 1775 to raise it, 
which resulted in splitting off the top part. 
This detached portion was carried to the town 
square and deposited at the foot of a liberty 
pole. In 1S34, on a Fourth of July, it was 
carried with much ceremony—16 pairs of 
oxen being mustered for the occasion—to 
Pilgrim Hall, which had been erected in 1824, 
deposited in front of it, and inclosed by an 
iron fence. But a few years ago Mr. Stick- 
ney of Baltimore, a Massachusetts man by 
birth, and a memoer of the Pilgrim Society, 
with great taste, forethought and liberality, 
defrayed the expense of improving and em¬ 
bellishing various historical possessions of 
Plymouth,upon condition that the two pieces of 
the famous rock should be re-united. So the de¬ 
tached piece was restored, and forms the top 
which is dow exposed above the ground and 
bears the date 1620. At this time, fragments of 
the rock were secured by covetous fingers and 
afterward held for sale at high prices, and even 
to this day, small bits of rock—claiming to be 
of this bowlder—are sometimes offered to tour¬ 
ists. But the rock itself is now so secured that 
immediate access to it is impossible. Amaxi- 
mander said that when he was at Plymouth 
several years ago, he had no difficulty in ham¬ 
mering off a piece, and that it must now be 
lying among some of his collegehood collec¬ 
tions, which statement made the laddie’s eyes 
shine with expectation of finding it when 
going on a grand rummagt through the attic 
in the homestead some rainy day. Near the 
rock rises Cole’s Hill in which the victims of 
that first terrible winter were buried, and 
over whose graves corn was planted, to con¬ 
ceal them from the Indians—for half of the 
little band perished. The bones of some of the 
dead, have in later years been discovered, and 
tablets mark the spot. In 1S55, while trenches 
were being dug in a street crossing the hill, 
parts of five skeletons were found, and these 
were placed iu a metallic box and put in the 
chamber of the canopy over the rock. 
Directly up from Cole’s Hill with the har¬ 
bor at its feet, runs Leyden street, to Burial 
Hill, back of the town. In going up this old¬ 
est street in New England to Burial Hill, one 
to day walks yuder magnificent Euglish elms, 
planted by the forefathers. One in particu¬ 
lar, not far from the Rock, is well worth a 
journey to Plymouth alone to see. Its 
branches reach more than across the wide 
street, and like some of its contemporaries, 
it has been strengthened in various places 
with metal bands and clamps, to prevent the 
great arms from being split off by the wind. 
HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 
E. S. LINCOLN. 
Y OU touch a vital point when you call for 
a Svmpouum on the subject of the wo¬ 
man’s purse. The evil which makes it look 
proper to men-folks in general that women 
should be without money and without vote is 
one that needs thorough^probing. It’sjselflsb 
T HIS is the season when people who have 
overtaxed their digestion during the 
winter months still further torment that faith¬ 
ful servant by a succession of nostrums. It 
was the old idea that the system must be 
thoroughly cleansed every spring, and while 
there is a certain amount of truth in this idea, 
it is greatly abused. If the laws of hygiene 
have been properly observed, care in diet is 
the only thing needed by adults. Growing 
children are very often subject to slight blood 
disorders in the spring, resulting in unsightly 
eruptions, but in most cases the old-fashioned 
remedy of sulphur and molasses is both the 
best and safest to administer, while if it seem? 
a more serious disorder it is best to consult a 
physician. Of course, as the warmer weather 
begins people will ao well to lessen the 
amount of heavy food, fried cakes and all sorts 
of fatty dishes, using fresh fruit or vegetables 
when procurable. It does not cost very much 
for a farmer with plenty of good manure to 
put up a little frame in which to grow early 
lettuce and radishes, and these vegetables will 
not only give a zest to the meals, but will also 
benefit the family health. 
* v * 
Does a girl whose first aud greatest confid¬ 
ant is her mother ever wreck her life morally? 
We don’t think so—that is to say, unless the 
mother herself is morally unfit to act as guide. 
But when a girl begins to keep things from 
her mother she takes the first downward step. 
There are so many things in life strange and 
puzzling to a young girl; so much that she 
ought to learn and so much of which she 
ought never to hear. Unfortunately she 
Is apt to hear the things she should leave 
unlearned, and that from others than her 
mother. There is no doubt that growing 
girls gaiu much knowledge that rubs off the 
girlish bloom through promiscuous associates, 
and the careless mother is certainly to blame. 
The holy innocence of a pure-minded girl is 
too sacred to be smirched by any coarseness; 
I T must be impossible for any one to step 
foot in Plymouth without a rush of feel¬ 
ings flooding the heart, raised by the multi¬ 
tude of associations which have consecrated 
it for all time. More go to Plymouth by 
steamer from Boston than by rail and 
in so doing there is something to be gain¬ 
ed, as well as money to be saved, iu sight-see¬ 
ing, for the steamer traverses a part of the 
same course made by the Mayflower.lands the 
passengers fairly at the foot of Plymouth 
Rock, aud, withal, furnish Q s a view of the 
town from the water, which is exceedingly 
pretty, and of which one of the striking 
points is Forefathers’ Monument. The rail¬ 
road ends at Plymouth, so that to reach any 
place by rail, from there, one must retrace 
his wav, for some few miles at least. But the 
New England coast abounds in what the peo¬ 
ple call barges, which are long, wide omni¬ 
buses, or stages. Until we saw one, however, 
we labored under the confusion that a barge 
was a vehicle for water travel oulv. There 
were a number in Plymouth, some with regu¬ 
lar routes of travel,and others ready to trans¬ 
port parties to almost any point, for a few 
miles around the country. They are gaily 
painted, bear some fanciful name, are com¬ 
fortable to ride in and a decided improvement 
upon the old-time stage for warm weather 
travel. 
We had the good fortune to find suitable 
lodgings iu a quiet, well-kept hotel, and the 
three windows of our airy room overlooked 
Plymouth Harbor, and far out to seaward. 
The sunrises were so brilliant that more than 
once I arose before the edge of the sun was 
above the horizon and hastily sketched in 
water-colors the marvelous hues of the sky 
and water, the long tongue of sand that 
barred the harbor from the sea, and the black 
shadows cast by the scattered buildings on it. 
“ Of course, you’ve exaggerated the coloriug, 
somewhat ?” is a frequeut interrogative com¬ 
ment on the sketches which were so feebly 
copied from nature. I heard an artist once 
#ay that no one knew bow a tree or anything 
