THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The superintendent took hold of this matter 
with energy, cut the bushes, trimmed the 
trees, scraped the bodies and large limbs with 
an old hoe. plowed the ground and applied 
uuleaehed ashes at the rate of 75 bushels per 
acre, and seeded to grass. The result was 
astonishing. The difference in the color of the 
foliage of that part so treated and the re¬ 
mainder, could be distinguished at a long dis¬ 
tance, and while several hundred barrels of 
first-class fruit were gathered from the part so 
treated. ou the other part there were but few 
apples, and those of cider quality. The 
superintendent says that if there is never an¬ 
other spear of grass cut. or another apple 
gathered from this orchard, the county has 
lost nothing, for one year’s crop has more than 
paid the whole outlay. The soil is a gravelly 
loam, underlaid by hard-pan—moraine clay. 
Siler. 
must not at all regard it as hardy around New 
York. WILLIAM FALCONER. 
tucky, too, always fails to ripen well at the 
close of the season, but Golden Defiance, 
especially on young plants, fills out its berries 
perfectly and ripens them equal to the very 
last with me. 
I have also the neglected but most delicious 
Black Defiance, which, though not a very 
heavy bearer and inclined to furnish imperfect 
fruit, towards the close of its season, 1 have 
not yet seen surpassed in flavor by any of the 
high-blooded new sorts, and I have tided 
nearly all of the prominent ones. Of course, 
strawberries for the private garden are one 
thing and for the market garden quite an¬ 
other; and the James Vick and Manchester, 
though healthy aud prolific, do not give us the 
kind of return which we demand in the “home 
acre.” 
Dorchester, Mass. 
THE MARLBORO IN N. J. 
Mr. J. T. Lovett, the nurseryman of 
Little Silver, N. J., writes us as follows: “The 
Marlboro Raspberry is almost a failure here 
this year, and I hear the same reports from 
all over Jersey. It has at last gotten through 
the petting stage, and then put to stand on its 
merits; it docs'nt stand at all hut goes back ou 
its best friends. Too much foreign blood 
‘that’s what's the matter.”’ 
STRAWBERRIES IN CANADA. 
The following were sent to me for testing: 
The Jewell Strawberry I put first for 
size of berry, vigor of plant and productive¬ 
ness. 
Crawford’s No. fi is the largest, heaviest 
and best berry on my grounds. 
Amateur is rather more productive than 
either of the foregoing, but not so large, 
though better-flavored. 
Hathaway’s No’s 8, 5 and 9 do very well; 
but are not so large as any of the former; but 
they are prolific and keep fruiting longer than 
the others. J - L * 
Gran ton, Ont., Can. 
VEGETABLE GARDEN NOTES, JULY 12. 
Potato Bugs were never more numerous 
than they are this year, but a little Paris-green 
in water kills them quickly. 
Snap Beans.— From sowing time till eating 
time is about eight weeks. 
Pole Beans in low, moist ground run 
high and pod well. Peas in the same places 
will mildew' badly. 
Cauliflower.— My best heads now are 
from April out-door sowings. 
Grow Spinach. Radishes and Lettuces 
in the coolest aud moisted spot in the garden. 
Seed onions look fine. Maggots went to 
work in May, but didn’t stay long. 
Turnips. —I got very clean turnips from 
late July and August sowings, and from 
ground in which they all get wormy before 
July. 
Egg Plant.— I have been using Early Long 
Purple for some time. The other popular sorts 
sown at t.he same time and grown under the 
same conditions, are not yet big enough to use. 
Peas.—I am now sowing this year’s seed. 
The peas 1 didn’t, pick from my early sowings, 
1 left for a week or tw'o to ripen: these are 
now harvested, cleaned, and I am sowing them 
in succession for late crops. 
Early Peas.— From Fii-st of All (from 
Henderson) aud Improved Daniel O'Rourke 
(from Young & Elliott) we gathered our earli¬ 
est peas on June, 3. If there is any difference 
between these two sorts, 1 cannot lind it out. 
Alaska Peas. —What on earth is there in 
this pea to make a fuss about/ With me it is 
not any earlier or better than Daniel O’Rourke. 
And who w ould eat round peas like them after 
the wrinkled peas, like Alpha, are tit to use? 
My earliest Alphas came in about five days 
after my earliest peas of any sort. 
The Deacon Lettuce. —1 had the Deacon 
from Farquhar Brothel's, Boston, and White 
Summer Cabbage from Peter Henderson, New 
York. Both kinds were sown on the same 
day and under the same circumstances, and 
both are now hearting alongside of each other, 
and not a particle of difference in appearance 
or flavor can I detect betw r cen them. In fact, 
both are the White Summer Cabbage as I 
Lave known and grown it for years. It is one 
of the very best summer lettuces growm, still 
that is no reason why we should moke it a 
“Deacon.” 
The Oak-leaved Lettuce is good enough 
in its way, and to grow as an extra variety; 
but for general use it will never become popu¬ 
lar. 
The Salamander Lettuce is my favorite 
for summer use; it Dever fails me. It is good 
to eat and good to look at, but it will “bolt” 
in hot summer weather, like any other let¬ 
tuce. 
Henderson’s New York Lettuce is veri¬ 
tably a giant and the finest exhibition lettuce 
I have ever seen. But isn’t this the same that 
I have known and growm under the name of 
Breen’s Prize-taker since ’84Anyhow, I am 
now' giowing both side by side and cannot see 
a whit of difference between, them. This 
Breen’s is annually exhibited at the Queen’s 
Co. (N. Y.) Summer Fair and I believe is al¬ 
ways the prize-taker. When I first grew it I 
almost thought it w’ould turn out biennial it 
was so slow to “bolt” iu early Summer; but 
July came, and off it “bolted” quickly enough 
Its size is enormous and it forms a very solid, 
white heart, but for my own eating I prefer 
Salamander. 
Asparagus.— Our main crop of asparagus 
is Argenteuil, bat. I don’t think it is any bet¬ 
ter than Moore’s or Conover’s. My neighbor, 
Mr . M. Ham, who runs a large asparagus 
farm, has a decided preference for Conover’s. 
Dwarf Shadbush.— An editorial note on 
page 4<5S of the Rural reminds me that we 
have two dumps of little plants, 12 to 40 
inches high. One lot is in an open, sunny 
place; the other iu better but shadier ground. 
In both eases the little bushes bore an extreme¬ 
ly heavy crop of fruit, ripe between the 20th 
of June and 1st of July. The fruit was in 
small clusters, large, nice-appearing, and not 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
Mrs. Fisher speaks of some wonderful 
samples of Timothy seen at a fair at Portland, 
Oregon. I send you a few heads to show 
what our Northern Vermont soil aud climate 
are in the habit of producing. [The specimens 
sent were over five feet high, with heads nine 
inches long.—Ens.] Mrs. Fisher’s account of 
the fair gave me an idea that Oregon would 
be o fine State to immigrate to, but there is 
another side to it. A gentleman, a good 
farmer and botanist, who has been carefully 
through the West, smiled a very knowing 
smile when I told him about those wonderful 
heads of Timothy. “That is the way most 
tourists are apt to observe and write,” he said. 
“They see the exceptional rather than the 
average. A fair is just t he place to ] tresent an 
average that is equal to the best, and even the 
most candid and observant travellers are apt 
to be misled with reference to the natural pro¬ 
ducts, manufactures, etc,, of a country.” He 
showed that the average production of many 
of the highly-praised sections of the A\ est was 
really no higher than that of our Eastern aud 
Middle States, and often not so good. He de¬ 
clared that the meadow, pasture, tillable aud 
fruit-bearing lands of Oregon are confined to 
narrow valleys—a very small proportion of 
the entire area. Their productions will not 
average a wh.it better than those of Vermont. 
These valleys are sparsely settled, and their 
roads are killing to travel on. They are clear 
mud in wet weather, deep under snow in 
Winter and romrh aud dusty in Summer. 
ONION RAISING IN MONTANA. 
Last August I sowed some red onion seed, 
AfAfV- , ... V -r 
The Crystal Creamer, which I secured for 
my list of subscribers, came in good order aud 
I have given it a fair trial. It gives the best 
satisfaction of anything I have yet seen. 
Every farmer who keeps three cows should 
have one. Tt will pay to sell a cow and buy 
a creamer, if it cannot be bought in any other 
way. I never got better pay for so little 
work. Every housewife should insist upon 
having such a creamer. She needs it just as 
much as a man needs a mower or reaper. She 
can use it the whole year and make it pay 
well, turning out t.he best of butter aud keep¬ 
ing sweet milk always ou haml. One piece of 
ice, 8x12 inches, placed iu this creamer will 
keep the milk cool all day, aud all the cream 
rises iu less than 12 hours. We gave it the 
hardest test it could have, for the weather has 
been very hot—'JO'' in the shade. We have 
grade Holstein cows. They are half thor¬ 
oughbreds, none of them over four years old. 
They give good satisfaction. I began grad¬ 
ing up my stock a few years ago, and few 
things have paid me better. 
Saginaw Co., Mich. henry bkythan. 
CRESTED MOSS ROSE. Fig. 303. (See first page.) 
intending to have it right for sets iu Fall; but 
it did not look worth gathering in October, so 
I let it go. In the Spring it looked nice and 
green, so I broke off the seed sprouts and when 
the growth was thick I thinned out and trans¬ 
planted, and by the middle of July the onions 
averaged over two-and-one-half inches in di¬ 
ameter, and will be very large by September 1. 
So I have accidentally stumbled on to h way 
to raise nice, large onions here, tuid they are a 
valuable crop, never selling for less than five 
cents per pound, and generally for more. 
Gallatin Co., Mont. b. p. van horn. 
There is very little difference between the 
others; Viroflay is perhaps a little the heaviest 
Japan Persimmon. — We have two plants, 
one a nice-looking specimen six feet high, and 
well branched, the other rather a scraggy 
sample. The first we cover over with barreLs 
in Winter; the last is in a sheltered place, and 
The only “patent” 1 can get for bringing 
out a superior new plant or fruit is the credit 
that should go to any one who brings out 
something useful and |>ern anient. The invent¬ 
or of a useful implement is lauded by press 
and public, aud the Government protects his 
rights by giving him entire control of his in¬ 
vention. That is all right and proper. It is 
a tribute to patience and brains. Yet the in¬ 
troducer of a new fruit has iio such reward 
for his patient labor. The first dozen plants 
be sells give the purchaser a chance to dis¬ 
seminate the new variety. J. M. ogle. 
Pierce Co., Wash. Ter. 
HOW TO RENOVATE AN OLD 
ORCHARD. 
In the Rural of December 5, an inquiry is 
made how to renovate an orchard. Allow me 
to state the follow mg facts: 
Many years ago, a Mr. Gerrish owned a 
large farm in Boscaweu, N. H., on which he 
set out what at that time was the largest orch¬ 
ard iu Merrimack County. Afterwards he 
divided his farm between his two sons, the 
dividing line running through this orchard, 
cutting it into nearly equal parts. Both parts 
were treated alike—with neglect. Subse¬ 
quently the eouuty lmught the southern farm, 
ou which is now located the Alms-house. Two 
years ago, when the present superintendent 
took charge, this orchard was u forlorn-look¬ 
ing pluee, grown up to bushes, the trees being 
covered with moss and dead bark, aud for 
years the crop had hardly paid for harvesting. 
DOUGAL NO. 2 GOOSEBERRY. Fig. 305 
unprotected in Winter. Both bloomed and 
set fruit, but 1 am disappointed to find that 
almost all of the fruit has dropped off. Mr. 
Thomas Hogg when here a few weeks ago told 
me that it ripened fruit out-of-doors in New 
York with him a few years ago. But we 
