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WESTERN NEW YORK HORTICUL¬ 
TURAL SOCIETY. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT.) 
( Concluded,) 
Ammonia arresters; new fruits; — berries; 
[trapes; quinces;—remedies far bliyht; in¬ 
secticides; last season's fruit craps; re¬ 
paying our orchards; best fertilizers for 
orchards; reform needed in vctjetable 
names; best dozen hybrid perpetual roses; 
line- displays of fruit, etc. 
Mr. Smith, of Syracuse, said he always 
used sail for scattering in and over manure 
when putting it into compost heaps, and he 
also thought it. valuable about pear and quince 
trees. Mi 1 . Root thought salt had great power 
to absorb both moisture and ammonia. Dr. 
Caldwell said the only good salt can do a 
manure heap is by its absorption of moisture: 
salt has no affinity for ammonia or nitrogen. 
Water or damp earth would lie a much better 
addition to the manure, and gypsum would 
be much better than either, as that would 
really absorb aud Ox the ammonia. 
In discussing new fruits, the Marlboro was 
highly commended. Hansel had proved dis¬ 
appointing to nearly every one. Rancocas 
so far as tried, was well spoken of. Shaffer 
is gradually working its way into favor. Dr. 
Van Dusen, of Wayne County, said it was 
the finest berry for drying of ah he knew: 
quarts made a pound aud the dried fruit, 
even in these low-priced times-, readily sold 
for 30 cents per jxjund. Mr. A. J. Caywood, 
of Marlboro, N. Y., hail a new white rasp¬ 
berry, which he would send, free of cost, to all 
who wished to test it. The Jewell Straw¬ 
berry had in every trial proven very satisfac¬ 
tory. Parry pleased many by its good quality, 
but was reported deficient iu foliage. The 
old Wilson still has many frieuds in Western 
New York. 
Among grapes, Worden and Moore’s Early 
were in good favor. Niagara is rapidly gain¬ 
ing favor in New York. "What was said of 
it more than substantiated the opinion here¬ 
tofore given by the Rural. Jessica, Pough¬ 
keepsie Red, Ulster Prolific and Empire State 
were all mentioned favorably, but no one 
present, except the introducers, had fruited 
either. 
The Apple Quince was recommended for 
general culture in Western New York, but 
when asked just what the Apple Quince was, 
no one could describe it. There is great con¬ 
fusion iu quinces, and people cannot be too 
careful iu buying so-called new sorts. Mr, 
Ellwanger considered Rhea’s Mammoth the 
best of all quinces—Champion was pronounced 
too late. 
Prof. Arthur, of the Experiment Station, 
iu discussing remedies for pear blight, said 
the application to the soil, to the bark of the 
tree, to the limbs or foliage, of sulphur, salt, 
lime, etc., could have no effect upon the dis¬ 
ease. He recommended (lie selection of 
healthy varieties,good cultivation, proper ma¬ 
nuring, etc. The best remedy now known is to 
cut from the trees promptly, on the first ap¬ 
pearance of the blight, every limb or branch 
showing its presence, cutting at least a 
foot below any sign of it. aud the immediate 
burning of the parts cut off. 
In a discussion on insecticides the evidence 
was so strong t hat no one can doubt the effi¬ 
cacy of Paris-green and London-purple in de¬ 
stroying canker-worms and also codling 
moths, as well as curculios. 
Iu the reports from County Committees as 
to the extent of the fruit crops and condition 
of the orchards, there was uniformly an 
abundant crop of pears, aud consequently low 
prices. Apples were very abundant in the 
extreme Northwestern Counties, and quite so 
in many others as far east as Central New 
York, Niagara is the banner apple county of 
the State, und probably of the world, when 
compared with an equal number of acres any¬ 
where else. The reported yield was 700,000 
barrels of shipping apples, 350,000 of evapo¬ 
rating, and 150,000 of canning apples, aud no 
body pretended to keep any record of how 
many went to the cider mills. One mill alone 
took as many ns 0,000 bushels in a single day. 
The last was the largest crop ever grown in 
the county, and probably iu any like area in 
any country. The budsof the peach trees were 
reported killed at Geneva, Waterloo and other 
places in central New York. 
Mr. Powell thought our fruit growers should 
bestow better care on their orchards, aud 
could see no reason why we could not profit¬ 
ably raise fruit at present prices, when Cali¬ 
fornians rim raise it on land costing twice as 
much per acre, ship it thousands of miles, pay¬ 
ing heavy freights, and sell it at a profit in 
competition with ours. 
Mr. Woodward, in answer to the ques¬ 
tion, 11 What should we do to pay our 
orchards for the last tine crop of fruit?” 
said, first, we should realize how badly 
we had been robbing them, not only by the 
annual large eropsof fruit, which have been all 
taken away; but also by cropping them with 
grain. All that has been given back has Iteen 
a little wet straw, trampled perchance by the 
stock, which wo in our foolishness have called 
manure. We should realize the extent to 
which we have exhausted the land, and then 
study how we can restore it to its original 
fertility. The best of all manures for au 
orchard is barn-yard manure made by the 
consumption of rich feeding stuffs, thousands 
of tons of which we are now annually export¬ 
ing There is no doubt but this eau be made 
on every farm of Western New York at a good 
profit, if the farmer only has the requisite 
knowledge. He did uot believe it would pay 
to buy the ordinary manure of the cities for 
application to our orchards. 
He said the orchards needed potash, phos¬ 
phoric acid and nitrogen. The potash could 
lie got iu wood ashes or iu kainit, sulphate and 
muriate of potash—bethought most cheaply 
in the latter. Phosphoric acid could be bad 
iu South Carolina phosphatic rock, in the 
apatite of Canada, and in bones. He thought 
the latter the best, all things considered. 
Nitrogen can be obtained iu blood, tankage, 
fish scraps, nitrate of soda and sulphate of 
ammonia. In superphosphate, as sold, we 
usually get all three of the above elements, 
but pay au extra price for having them in a 
more soluble and available form. 
Mr. Goff, of the Experiment Station, in a 
paper on vegetable names, said he often found 
a single vegetable with eight or ten new 
names; often a single seedsman offers the 
same thing under two or more names. We 
want some authority with power to test and 
report on varieties, and also to reform names. 
As bad as were some of the old names of 
fruits, they were as nothing compared to the 
names of vegetables. We think there is a 
crying need for this good work, and the New 
York Experiment Station is doing much to 
help it along. We hope the stations will soon 
speak right out and let us know who is re¬ 
sponsible for this jangle aud confusion. 
Mr. Geo. Ellwanger. iu discussing hardy 
hybrid i>erpetual roses, named as the best 12 
for Western New York, Alfred Colnmb, Anna 
de Diesbach, Baron de Boustetten, Baroness 
Rothschild, Eugene Verdier, Fisher Holmes. 
John Hopper. Marshall P, Wilder, Paul Ney- 
ron, Madame Gabrielle Luizet, General Jacque¬ 
minot, Fraueois Micholon and Caroline de 
Bausal. He recommended to hill the soil up 
six inches high about each plant, and then to 
cover the whole with a foot of straw as the 
best treatment for wintering. 
Messrs. EDwauger A Barry made their usual 
fine display of fruits, showing 27 varieties of 
apples and 20 of pea rs. There were over 100 
plates of fruit, among which we noticed a new 
variety of grapes from the above firm, two 
new seedling apples from A. M. Smith, St, 
Catherines, Ontario. Canada: the Mildling 
Apple shown by R. G, Chase & Co., Geneva: 
also some Catawba Grapes from A. G. Newton, 
Parma Center: also a basket from Mr. .Sander¬ 
son of Crooked Lake, all in splendid order. 
We also noticed a combination picking and 
shipping berry crate exhibited by our friend, 
George Wilkin, Dundee, N. Y.. which struck 
us as being very strong, handv and practical. 
“w.” 
miscellaneous. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
James Vick, Rochester, N. Y.—Vick’s 
Floral Guide, 150 pages, full of illustrations, 
clear print and interesting, plain instructions, 
A colored plate of gladioli is the best we have 
seen, and is worthy of a frame. This old, 
good firm is very chary as to novelties, testing 
them carefully before offering them for sale. 
The catalogue commends the Eclipse Beet as 
to quality, earliuess, shape and color. King 
of the Garden Lima Bean,*Vick's Dwarf Cau¬ 
liflower, Low’s Early Cabbage. Arlington 
Celery, Perry’s Sugar Corn, Cory Sweet Corn, 
all the new melons, several kinds of peas, rad¬ 
ishes, turnips, Vick’s American Banner Oats 
(which we shall try), spring wheats, winter 
wheats and many llornl novelties are highly' 
commended. Ten cents is the price of the 
Guide, which,in case seeds or plants are ordered, 
may be deducted from the order. 
John Saul, Washington, D. C.—1st. A 
descriptive catalogue of a selection of roses. 
Here we have the grand new roses, Wm. 
Francis licnnett, American Beauty, and Her 
Majesty, which latter bears the largest flower 
of any iu cultivation, namely, six inches in 
diameter. The list of all the classes of roses 
is well selected. 2d. A descriptive catalogue 
of new, rare and beautiful plants, including 
new pelargoniums, Pitcher plants, Crotons, 
Ferns, Alocacias, Yuccas, Palms, Begonias 
Primroses, Bouvardias, hardy trees and 
shrubs, Caladiutus, Coleus, Fuchsias, Dahlias, 
Chrysanthemums, Carnations, Azaleas, Cac¬ 
tuses, Bamboos, etc., etc. These catalogues 
will please many of our readers. Send for 
them and mention the R. N.-Y. 
The Cleveland Axle Manufacturing 
Co., Cleveland, Ohio.—Circular and price 
list of the various axles made at the above 
factory. It contains illustrations of the half 
patent, the swell taper, Brown pattern axles 
and also of the celebrated Arrow sand-band 
axle, and the Kritch improved self-lubricating 
axle, in perfecting which this firm has spent 
much time and which has justly a wide and 
favorable reputation extending even abroad; 
and so favorably are the goods known in other 
countries, that the company has already a 
large export trade. We advise all who 
wish a first-class axle to send for these circu¬ 
lars and read up on this point,. 
Johnson & Stokes. Philadelphia, Pa.—A 
catalogue of seeds of all kinds; also eggs for 
hatching of Wyandpttes, Inngshans, Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks, Houdans, turkeys and ducks: 
also sheep, swine and collie dogs. The new 
Christinas Watermelon is praised in high terms. 
There is no end to novelties, sevei’al of which 
we hope to test next season. The catalogue 
will be mailed free to our readers who apply 
as a 1 Hive. 
Price & Knickerbocker, Albany, N. Y. 
—Illustrated catalogue of seeds, etc. Among 
novelties, the Conqueror aud Sunrise Potatoes, 
Surprise Musk-melon, Pee & Kay Sweet 
Corn are specialized. This firm offers collec¬ 
tions of potatoes from 20 to 400 different 
kinds, one tuber of each put up separately, 
charging from five dollars upwards. 
Z. Deforest, Ely & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
—Garden Almanac and Seed Manual (95 
pages). Various onions, squashes, lettuces, 
beaus aud peas are offered among the special¬ 
ties. Among peas, we see the Prince of 
Wales and Rural New-Yorker, both intro¬ 
duced through our Free Seed Distributions. 
E. & J. C. Williams, Montclair. N. J.—A 
circular of the new and promising strawberry, 
the Jewell. A second circular of the Niagara 
Grape—the “white grape for the millions.” 
A pamphlet of fruit and ornamental trees, 
grapes, small fruits, etc. All will be mailed 
free on application to the above firm. 
A Pleasant Excursion.— People in the 
East, whether North or South, who are tired 
of the tremendous cold weather of the 
present Winter and who wish to get to a sunny 
clime and luxuriate amid fragrant groves 
laden with the finest fruits, should take ad¬ 
vantage of the excursions which the Burling¬ 
ton Route is now running from the Missouri 
River in connection with either the Central 
or Southern Pacific Railroads. They connect 
at Omaha and Pacific Junction with their 
regular trains from Chicago, Peoria and St. 
Louis. First-class excursions leave for Los 
Augeles February 17th, and for San Francisco 
March 3d. Very low rates are made to all 
California immigrants on every Wednesday 
until June 30th, inclusive. We only wish we 
had the time and money; we would get where 
it is wanner, on the double quick. 
In answer to many inquiries sent to us of 
late about Florida land schemes, we condense 
the following particulars from a mass of in¬ 
formation of the absolute correctness of which 
we are assured. It is the result of personal 
inquiries of friends aud acquaintances living 
near the places mentioned, or who are well 
acquainted with the localities and with the 
parties who have launched the enterprises, or 
their Florida agents. Much of it has been 
confirmed by reports furnished to the Herald 
of this city by a special Commissioner sent to 
Florida to investigate the matter. Investi¬ 
gations of such subjects are necessarily very 
slow by correspondence, for unless one is 
liersoually acquainted with the parties ques¬ 
tioned, there is no assurance that the answers 
will not be misleading. Indeed, we have re¬ 
ceived several letters with regard to the 
character of some of the places, which we 
knew to bo false. One of these purported to 
bo from a clergyman who professed to know 
all about Surusota Buv, the advertised mis¬ 
representations about which we exposed in 
the Rural of December 19th. 1885. Having 
personally visited the place some years ago, we 
knew the statements therein were misleading, 
and the screed went into the waste-paper bas¬ 
ket. We have received several other letters 
of remonstrance, contradiction and explana¬ 
tion, about the eight other widely-advertised 
Florida land frauds, exposed and denounced 
in the Eye-opener of November 28th, last. 
The lisigiven^in both these issues contains the 
names of nearly all the places about which 
several papers have since made such a hubbub. 
The Rural New-Yorker was the very first 
paper to expose those rascally swindles. 
Now for a few brief words with regard to 
the “paper towns,” nnd imagiuary "orange 
groves” widely advertised in many of our 
most prominent papers, and through the mails. 
Most of the “reclaimed” Di.ston swamp land 
in Polk, Hillsboro and Manatee Counties is, 
aud will be for years, unfit for settlement. In 
these counties there are nearly 700,000 acres; 
but tlie other 3,300,000 acres which the concern 
was allowed to select, according to its contract 
with the State in 1S81, are located in 12 other 
counties, aud almost the whole is unsuitable 
for occupation, especially by Northern people. 
It is wet, swampy, under water iu rainy 
weather, and the little dry land is sandy and 
barren and malaria is unavoidable in most 
places in Summer and Fall. No one should 
invest a dollar in any of this land, until he 
has thoroughly examined the exact location, 
either personally or through a reliable and 
competent friend. The companies now con¬ 
trolling the land are the Florida Land and 
Improvement Company, the Atlantic and 
Gulf Coast Canal and Okeechobee Land Com¬ 
pany. and the Kissiinee Land Company. 
Sarasota Bay is the wretched hole described 
in the Eye-opener of December 19. Many of 
the 350 or more Scotch settlers, who were in¬ 
duced to immigrate to the place a few weeks 
ago, have returned in disgust to this city, and 
their accounts of the swindle transcend our 
account of the place. Others, whose money 
gave out, are forced to remain there still, 
while a considerable number have settled in 
Georgia and Alabama, having already had 
enough of Florida. Palma Sola Is a beautiful 
place on paper, hut is a miserable, unhealthy, 
God-forsaken, barren spot in reality, and the 
Palma Sola Land Company, which claims to 
own 13,000 acres, is a fraud of the worst kind 
in its presentation of the advantages, attrac¬ 
tions aud nature of the place. . . . St. 
Andrew's Bay is another fraudulently puffed 
up place—a nice, populous place on paper—a 
miserable hole in reality. 
The other places dishonestly represented are 
Marion City. Grant Park, Parkersburg, Park- 
ersville aud DeWitt; Belmore City, Silver 
Springs Park and Bertram. We shall have 
more to say of Florida land frauds hereafter. 
for Women. 
CONDUCTED BY MISS RAY CLARK. 
NURSERY SONG. 
Go to sleep my baby dear— 
God, the Father, now Is near. 
Close those heavy eye lids, close, 
Rest, in heavenly repose. 
In the heavens, to and fro. 
Fly the angels, white as snow.. 
They their watchful eye still keep, 
While my little baby sleeps. 
Seraphs bright and seraphs blest.' 
Calm my little babe to rest: 
Then within Its little bed 
Love will hover o’er its head. 
All without is white with snow. 
And the storm winds fiercely blow. 
But the God of love still keeps 
My little liaby while he sleeps. 
ETTA POTTER. 
SKETCHES OF GERMAN LIFE. 
BERTHA A. ZEDI WINKLER. 
COUNT AND PEASANT. 
The village nobility generally consists of a 
Count or a Baron aud his family. When not 
of sufficient political importance to be con¬ 
sidered necessary at the seat of government, 
or to hold a colonelcy in the army, he is super¬ 
intendent of the forests that surround his 
birth-place. Strictly speaking, he is the king’s 
forester and game-keeper iu the domains once 
owned absolute by his own ancestors. But 
that humiliating fact does uot make him one 
whit less of a nobleman, either in his own 
eyes or iu those of the peasantry. The vicissi¬ 
tudes of the rolling ages, and the destruction 
they surely work for certain worn-out institu¬ 
tions. classes of tueu or of creeds, seem to have 
made him more of a stoic gazing into the eye 
of inevitable fate, with the proud silence be¬ 
coming the heir of yonder historic ruin, whose 
battlements have bid defiance to many a siege 
and battle-storm, only to succumb to time and 
the levellug hand of civilization. 
Such, at least, was the bearing of the par¬ 
ticular nobleman 1 have still vividly in my 
memory. A proud, prime old man he was. 
His erect figure, his military step, his iron gray 
moustache, and his perpetual frown, scarcely 
lessening as he returned the salute of a passer¬ 
by. -was in perfect keeping with his spare 
words and his reputation of being au “iron 
man.’’ He was the village notability. Pastor, 
burgo-master,school-master and beadle togeth¬ 
er, could not create the stir that greeted the ap 
