1 889 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
661 
shows the graft or cion in position at q, two 
buds being left above ground. In this sec- 
Fig. 249. 
tion grafting is done from April 1 to May 
10, and if carefully done 90 per cent, will 
live. Those failing to unite, of course, send 
up a Concord shoot. By this plan any deli¬ 
cate or feeble-growing variety can be placed 
on strong-growing roots that are already 
firmly established in the soil. 
Mr. Smith was one of the first if not the 
pioneer in dispensing with wooden braces at 
the end of the vineyard trellises, using wire 
instead. To the last post at the surface of 
the ground is firmly secured a wire, as 
shown in Fig. 250. This is attached to its 
S.’x.T 
Fig. 250. 
nearest neighbor at some point near the top 
and this is usually done ere any of the main 
wires r rrr are placed in position. It is 
plain that the second post is the one that 
bears the strain. This plan is cheap, neat 
and highly satisfactory. For the brace one 
should use wire several sizes larger than for 
the trellises. 
Yates County, N. Y. 
(!hicnjiol)evc. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Delaware. 
Dover, Kent County, September 14.— 
The wet season still continues, much to 
the detriment of crops and farm work. 
Peaches are about all gone. The favored 
few who had them, realize^ fine prices. The 
crop being limited to a very small section, 
very few growers are the gainers. From 
Wyoming Station the peach center of the 
State, if not of the world, growers and deal¬ 
ers could not ship more than three to 10 car¬ 
loads per day during the season, against 30 
or 40 when anything like a fair crop is pro¬ 
duced. Corn is not a good crop. About 
half of the corn-growing section of the State 
will not produce enough for the use of the 
growers until another season, and the heavy 
storm of the past three days has about ruin¬ 
ed corn-fodder. What corn was cut is 
about all down, wet and moldy, and what 
is standing has been completely whipped to 
shreds. This will entail a serious loss of 
feed; for no where else is the full value of 
corn-fodder so highly appreciated as in the 
South, as nearly all stock is wintered on it, 
and certainly where the old Southern plan 
of saving it is still practiced nothing of the 
crop goes to waste. The corn is topped, the 
tops being thrown in convenient piles to cure, 
then bound in bundles set up around a hill, 
then the tops are tied and the shocks are left 
standing to cure. The blades below the 
ear are then pulled and stuck in the hill so 
that by going between two rows one can 
take up the fodder of four, when properly 
cured. This process makes feed which the 
finest hay cannot equal, and hands used to 
the work do it with great rapidity. After 
husking, the stalks should be cut and fed 
in t he yards dry; stock will winter well on 
them without any other feed, and nothing 
except the heavy stalk is left uneaten and 
this is soon tramped into manure. Early 
potatoes were a good crop, and the condi¬ 
tion of late ones indicate a fair one. Apples 
arc mostly on the ground and will be of no 
value except for cider. No fruit has been 
dried except a little fov liowe use. A. great 
share of the wheat crop is still on the grow¬ 
ers’ hands; much of it was damaged before 
it was thrashed. Grapes were a failure. 
Pears were a fair crop. Factories are put¬ 
ting up tomatoes. At present 86 per ton is 
the price paid for them. The present outlook 
is not very encouraging for farmers. Mar¬ 
ket quotations: wheat, 70 cents; corn, 40 
cents; oats, 30 cents: butter, 20 cents to 25 
cents; eggs, 18 cents; potatoes, white, 40 
cents; sweet, 50 cents to 60 cents. A. G. s. 
Michigan. 
Lansing, Ingham County, September 
10.—The present is a very unfavorable sea¬ 
son. The fact that it was cold and wet ear¬ 
ly, and hot and dry later makes the com 
crop very backward. This is another point 
in favor of the silo. This year, unless we 
get rain very soon and have a very late fall, 
the corn crop will be worth very little for 
husking; but with a silo we can save it so 
that it will be of great value. The silo men 
ought to be very happy this year. A. J. c. 
New Hampshire. 
South Sutton, Merrimack County, Sep¬ 
tember 16.—I am a real farmer; not a per¬ 
son who merely makes pretensions, and if 
there is any farm work I cannot do, it is 
simply from lack of strength—I weigh 
only 106 pounds. I have done in the hay 
field this year all but the mowing and pitch¬ 
ing; I spread, rake, (with and without the 
horse) load, and take away the hay. Now 
I do all the work, except that some 
help is given by father whose health is 
very poor, and mother, and I also hire by 
days’ work “some.” I would rather do it 
than have a great lazy, bragging man 
around, most of whose work I would have 
to do besides waiting on him. Since fath¬ 
er’s health failed I have done more out-of- 
doors work, and I am not dependent. Some 
change must come soon for farmers in this 
section or they will fail in many places. I 
never saw stock so low; good seven feet 
well matched oxen, beef, or work, are only 
8100, and no sale at that. Beef is very low; 
good round steak, 11 cents per pound down 
to seven cents; Western beef side, seven 
cmts. Butter is very low. I have a dairy 
of six eow r s and at present prices they can’t 
pay their keep, so that we hold on to them 
only to keep the farm up. I can buy West¬ 
ern meal and corn cheaper than I can raise 
it, at the high price of help. I have been 
much interested in the “ pictures of cattle 
and horses” in the Rural. We have a 
horse which I think is more than common. 
She is in the hands of my brother-in-law at 
Newport, N. H. He had her photograph 
taken in July. She. was foaled in June 
1S54. Her sire was Flying Morgan, son of 
Justin Morgan. Would the Rural like to 
have me write a short sketch of what she 
has done, and send her picture as a type of 
the true farm horse for New Hampshire? 
She is no trotter. She has done a mile in¬ 
side of three minutes only; hut after she 
was 25 she traveled in 20 minutes five miles 
with a common light buggy and one person. 
I drove her from pasture alone, with no 
grain 25 miles in two hours and 20 minutes 
with a light buggy and two persons, and 
to-day she can go a 10-mile gait for a time. 
She is perfectly sound after t hese long years 
of hard work and hard driving. This is the 
kind of horse we want and need here—not 
the little trotter or heavy draft horse. 
Our horse, her daughter, is 21 years old and 
as smooth as a colt; but not as good as old 
Fanny. Give me the true Morgan horses 
every time. Horses are one of my pet 
hobbies, and dear old Fanny is in part the 
cause; for I tended and drove her in my 
“ teens ” and she taught me to know a good 
horse, for neither she nor I like the dust. 
MISS H. B. C. 
(R. N.-Y. Send us the picture by all 
means. We shall be glad to use it.] 
New York. 
New York City, Sept. 17.—To the dili¬ 
gent observer of natural phenomena, to the 
student in any branch of natural history, 
there is nothing so delightful as the wit¬ 
nessing of an event of rare occurrence, of 
the finding of a new species, or of a locality 
before unknown, either in the mineral or 
vegetable kingdom. I had the pleasure 
but a short time since of visiting a little 
mountain lake situated about seven miles 
back of West Point, New York. Even its 
name, Popelopen, is suggestive of the early 
history of one of the most beautiful sections 
of the Hudson River Highlands. Whether 
the name is derived from some tribe of 
Indians, or perhaps from a chief, I know' 
not; or whether it is descriptive in a meas¬ 
ure, does not matter. Though at an eleva¬ 
tion of not less than 500 feet above the 
Hudson, the mountains rise on every side 
to a Uight sulfideut to afford it a most 
beautiful setting. I am fairly well acquaint¬ 
ed with mountain lakes, and ponds; but 
this is certainly the gem of all those I have 
yet seen—a miniature Lake George, follow¬ 
ing its prototype with pure water and great 
depth, and with deeply indented bays and 
lovely islands. Securing a boat, with my 
companion, we made the circuit of the 
lake; and upon reaching the head of a 
little bay, we found growing upon the 
rocky hillside and in some instances reach¬ 
ing down to the water itself, a large 
and luxuriant plantation of rhododendrons. 
This was surprise number one—I had pre¬ 
viously explored, as I thought, every nook 
and corner of the Highlands either for min¬ 
eral or botanical specimens, and was no 
stranger to its wealth in either direction. 
But here, not over a mile from v'here I had 
been before, did I find this far northern out¬ 
post of this most beautiful evergreen. My 
friend said: “ You seem to be so enthusi¬ 
astic, I wdll give you another surprise be¬ 
fore the day closes.” On our way down 
from the lake to the river, and w'hen we 
had reached the outskirts of the little vil¬ 
lage of Highland Falls and the dwelling of 
Anthony Miller, Sr., my friend made his 
promise good. Here I was shown a little 
grove of English walnuts, growing as 
sturdily and seemingly as much at home as 
the native oaks and walnuts, their near 
neighbors. These trees had been planted 
about 12 years ago, are now about 20 feet 
high, and measure from 10 to 12 inches in 
diameter. The leaves run rather thicker 
than those of the American walnut and 
their growth is more luxuriant. The trees 
have been bearing for three or four years, 
and are full of well developed nuts this sea¬ 
son. I think it not necessary to draw any 
moral. In one instance a plant needing a 
favorable location is here found occupying 
a cold hillside and growing, not in a sickly 
manner, but with every evidence of staying 
power. In the other instance, a tree whose 
fruit is imported to the extent of thousands 
of dollars’ worth yearly, is found growing 
not in a hot-house, or partly sheltered, but 
in an exposed position, and holding its own 
with the native tree. A. S. c. 
Johnson’s, Orange County.—The terms 
“Orange County Butter” and “Goshen 
Butter” were very familiar in the mar¬ 
ket reports of thirty years ago and more; 
but the present generation that is growing 
up to be farmers will have to be told what 
these terms mean when they occasionally 
hear them spoken; for within the bounda¬ 
ries of this formerly great butter-making 
region there is scarcely a tuh of butter made 
to-day. This whole territory is given up 
to the production of milk for the New York 
market. As the country is bisected by three 
or four trunk lines of railroads, and many 
short branches, and the temptation to aban¬ 
don butter-making and send milk to mar¬ 
ket is irresistible, so, with the exception of 
what little milk goes to creameries, all goes 
to New r York City. M. H. c. G. 
Wisconsin. 
Barron, Barron County, September 10. 
—Crops in this portion of Wisconsin are 
very good, but prices are ruling low. Po¬ 
tatoes are an enormous crop and will prob¬ 
ably sell for not more than 10 or 15 cents 
per bushel. t. w. p. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the 
name and address of the writer to insure atten¬ 
tion. Before asking a question, please see if it 
is not answered in our advertising columns. 
Ask only a few questions at one time. Put 
questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
BERRY CULTURE. 
J. S. R., Harrisburg, Pa .—I expect next 
spring to move on a small farm in Ohio and 
try to make a living on raising fruits and 
berries. 1. I shall plant one acre each of 
strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. 
About hotv many bushels of berries will 
each acre yield by giving time and attention 
to their cultivation? 2. Hotv early in 
spring should the plants be set out; and of 
what age should the plants be; and will 
they bear anything the first season? 3. 
Where can I get a book on berry culture 
and at what price? 
ANSWERED BY M. CRAWFORD. 
1. Strawberries yield from 75 to 300 bush¬ 
els per acre. In exceptional cases, over 400 
have been obtained. Raspberries and black¬ 
berries yield from 50 to 100 with a possible 150 
2. As early as the ground can be worked, 
using plants of the previous season’s growth. 
No fruit may be expected the first year. 
Strawberries will give a full crop the second 
year, while the others w'ill not yield over 
half a crop and often not more than one- 
fourth. 3. The Rural New-Yorker, Pop 
ular Gardening and American Garden will 
give the best information obtainable on fruit 
culture. It has become so that the person 
who will grow from one to two or three 
acres of each of the fruits named—just what 
can be well grown and sold in the vicinity— 
will make all there is to be made in 
the business. It is no longer safe 
for any one in Ohio to plant a large 
area with the expectation of shipping to 
a distant market. All markets are coming 
to be supplied by growers in the vicinity 
except with early berries from the South. 
There will always be a chance for the one 
who will raise choice fruit and get it to 
market in the best manner. The straw¬ 
berry l-esponds so readily to extra culture 
that it is not very hard to raise 300 bushels 
or more per acre, while black-caps that 
yield from 50 to 75 with no culture can 
hardly be made to produce over 150 with 
the best possible chance. Red raspberries 
are not appreciated in Ohio as they are in 
the East, and one should be cautious about 
planting too many until he knows his mar¬ 
ket. When one is obliged to buy raspberry 
tips he should procure them very early and 
set them out temporarily a few inches 
apart. After they are six inches high they 
may be planted permanently, rejecting all 
that are too weak. In this way the planta¬ 
tion will be uniform, and all vacancies will 
be avoided. In many parts of Southern 
and Southeastern Ohio there is no profit in 
raising blackberries as the wild ones are so 
abundant. The great secret of success in 
raising small fruits is to stir the soil fre¬ 
quently without going deep enough to in¬ 
jure the roots. 
MR. J. M. SMITH'S METHODS OF STRAWBERRY 
CULTURE. 
N. H. O., Wayne County, Michiqan .— 
Will Mr. J. M. Smith of Wisconsin tell us 
what treatment he gives strawberry plants 
after September 1 ? 
ANSWERED BY J. M. SMITH. 
I set. my strawberry plants in the spring, 
putting them two feet apart each way. 
After setting them I set out early onions, 
lettuce, or sow radish seed, dwarf peas, or 
beans between the rows and thus take off 
one crop before the runners really get fair¬ 
ly started. As soon as they begin to take 
root, we go through the beds and train the 
runners around the parent plant like the 
spokes in a wheel, each parent plant stand¬ 
ing for the hub. In this way I get an.even 
stand of plants, and get them fairly dis¬ 
tributed over the ground. We do nothing 
more during the remainder of the summer 
and fall, except to keep the ground clean 
and in the best of order for the young 
plants to do their best. 
The plants occupy the ground so closely, 
that, we are compelled to do the work en¬ 
tirely by hand and our hoes. After the 
ground becomes frozen, which is generally 
by the last of November or early in De¬ 
cember, we haul marsh hay and spread it 
upon the beds in quantities sufficient to en¬ 
tirely hide the leaves from view. After 
freezing and thawing in the spring have 
ceased, we take off the cover and stack it 
for another winter’s use, put a coat of 
wood ashes upon the beds, keep them clean, 
and then expect and generally get a very 
large crop of very fine fruit. As soon as 
we are done picking, we turn the beds 
under and set them with either cabbage or 
celery for a fall crop. This, of course, 
makes it necessary to set new beds every 
year, and it costs more per acre to grow the 
fruit, but the crop is so much larger, and 
the fruit is so much nicer, that. I have 
found it. far more profitable than any other 
way that I have ever tried. 
A MIXTURE OF GRASSES FOR PERMANENT 
PASTURE ON A LIGHT SOIL. 
C. C. P., Hempstead, L. I .—Several of us 
living near here are getting ready to seed 
the pastures; what is a good formula for a 
mixed grass seed, suitable for a permanent 
§tti$ccUanrou$i Advertising. 
“Hftrbrand” Fifth Wheel for Buggie*, 
