52? 
of the Diehl-Mediterranean Wheat. The seed 
was somewhat. mixed, as we believe. We 
fear this was the case with yours. Still, it 
may have sported in both cases. 
HOEING SWEET POTATOES. 
At this time of year, sweet potatoes should 
betaken great care of. They should be well 
weeded out, and the ground should be m de 
very loose, without disturbing or interfering 
with the plants. For hoeing, use the back of 
the hoe, which should always be used simply 
to loosen the earth around each hill or plant to 
the depth of one inch—no deeper. Hold the 
vines in ono hand, and hoe with the other. A 
great mauy use the sharp, or front side of 
the hoe. This is certainly a great mistake. I 
have raised sweet potatoes for the last 10 
years, and find this will not do. While I 
who work with the back of the hoe have fine 
potatoes, my neighbors who use the edge have 
small aud poor ones. This is easily explained. 
After the vines have become four to five feet 
long, they put forth small fibrous rijots 
which, in a short time, form potatoes, and, of 
course, if these arc cut or bruised, it would 
stop the growth or injure the plants, and at 
the same time ruin the prospect for large po¬ 
tatoes, and produce only a small quantity in 
each hill. I have tried both ways and have 
satisfied myself on this point. More sweet po¬ 
tatoes would lie raised with the same quantity 
of manure if the back of the hoe were used. 
Hightstowu, N. J. j. s. b. 
fann (L'conomtj. 
FODDER CLAMP. 
Every farmer has realized the inconven¬ 
ience of handling loose fodder. To obviate 
this trouble the clamp shown at Fig. 322, has 
been used by me for a short time. By its use 
much is gained in time, when handling, and 
there need be very little waste, as till loose 
blades can be gathered and placed in the clamp, 
and bound with the longer fodder. The clamp 
is made from a piece of scanning 2x3 inches 
by three feet long, having two uprights and a 
board nailed crosswise to the bottom, to pre¬ 
vent the clamp from falling over. The up¬ 
rights are IS inches high and placed in mor¬ 
tices 14 inches apart, and nearer ono end than 
tin other The uprights should stand two 
inches farther apart at the top than at the 
bottom. A saw kerf is made half an inch 
deep in the top of each to receive the twine, 
(t use reaper twine). The clamp is light and 
valuable in field or barn. To use it, make a 
loop at the end of the twine, and place it in 
the kerf at the top of one upright; leave the 
slack as shown, aud pass the twine on through 
the other kerf. Husk an armful of fodder and 
lay it in the clamp, aud so on until it Ls full. 
Place ono knee on the bundle, and bring the 
twino together, aud tie by passing through the 
loop aud making a simple kuot. Cut the 
twine; place one foot on the board and lift the 
bundle out, and replace the twiue as before 
The bundles can be easily Itouud as tight as the 
twine will bear. A /damp of this size will 
make about four bundles from a shock of 100 
hills, aud once used will always be wanted. 
Oregonia, Ohio. w. c. s. 
CAKE OF TOOLS. 
It is good advice to tell us to keep the tools 
sharp, but we must keep them clean as well. 
I am a great hand for keeping my tools bright. 
I hate the sight of rust, and, as a consequence, 
my workmen say that work at my place is very 
easy. I keep an irou kettle within a few feet 
of my tool house, and every workman Ls ex¬ 
pected to wash his tools after using them. 
They are then dipped into a box of powdered 
slaked lime, and then hung up. Large tools, 
like plows, are washed aud then have lime 
dusted over them. They keep bright and 
clean till wanted. I have had a shovel in use 
since 1831. It is now as bright as when it 
came from the maker. Partners might save 
hundreds of dollars by taking care of their 
tools properly. One Spring I saw two strong 
men, with pick aud crowbar, digging a plow 
out of ground where it had been frozen in dur¬ 
ing the Winter. In this township there are 
thousands of dollars’ worth of machinery just 
eaten worthless by rust. It all might have 
lieen sa ved by proper care. There should be a 
good tool house on every farm. a. l, o. 
Brockport, Ill. 
per intent (SvoutuT.s; of the |8urat 
£teu)-HJovker. 
A GOOD WORD FOR THE KIEFFER 
PEAR, AND A GOOD METHOD 
OF GRAFTING. 
Near the Rural’s Farm on Long Island is 
that of our good friend, Augustus T. Hewlett. 
He is one of those farmers who have never had 
occasion to complain that farming doesn’tpay, 
and any one who knows something of his 
methods; of his intense Interest in all that may 
have to do with an improved agriculture; of 
his trials of new grains, potatoes, roots, poid- 
try aud fruit, albeit they are made in a small 
way, is not long at guessing the reason why. 
Seventy-five yards from his house stands a 
pear tree 100 years old. Three years ago, last 
April, this was grafted to the Kieffor. A 25- 
foot ladder was needed to roach a ad saw off 
the higher branches, many of which were six 
inches in diameter. The cut was made paral¬ 
lel wit h the land, or at right angles to the 
stock. Blits from four to a dozen (according 
to the size of the stems) were then made 
through the bark from the top downward (as 
in budding), and the cions, hoveled only on 
one side, inserted, as sliowu at Fig. 324, and 
as often before described in the It. N.-Y. The 
cions arc not l>ound with bast or anything 
whatever. They are merely covered with 
grafting-wax, and DO per cent, so treated 
unite and grow. Tho KielTer cions arc now 
from five to six feet high. They bore tho 
second year two peach baskets heaping full, 
though many pears were blown off. They 
were picked October 1st, and, placed in a cool, 
dark cellar, ripened in from two to three 
weeks as yellow as gold, with the bright red 
cheek characteristic of this variety at its best. 
They were juicy, and pronounced very good 
by all who ate them. This year the tree is 
laden, and Mr. Hewlett promises to send some 
of the fruit to the Rural. 
Mr. Hewlett grafts old cherry trees in es¬ 
sentially the same way, with entire success. 
On account of the exfoliation of the bark of 
the cherry, however, it is necessary to cover 
the wax with something. He prefers tarred 
papur which is bound around the grafts and 
raised above the top of the stock, forming a 
rim an inch high. This is held in place by a 
Fig, 324. 
cord tied tightly about it, while the space be¬ 
tween the top of the stock and tho paper is 
puddled with mud even with the rim, forming 
a round layer of soil an inch deep The cord 
and paper in a year or so decay and fall off, 
leaving the clean stein with its thrifty cions. 
THE RURAL’S SEEDLINGS. 
Here in one box we have seeds of Rosa ru- 
gosa crossed with Jack aud Harrison’s Yel¬ 
low. The Rarnanas Rose has but one row of 
petals and forms lots of fruit when self-fertil¬ 
ized, and “takes” with foreign pollen readily. 
Something desirable ought to come out of 
crosses with this rose. Its foliage is peculiar, 
is rarely attacked by insects, aud the plant is 
harny aud long-lived. 
In another box we have seeds of the rasp¬ 
berry crossed with the blackberry; in an¬ 
other seeds of the blackberry crossed with the 
rasplierry. In still another, seeds of a thorn¬ 
less blackberry are planted, and, finally, those 
of a large foreign gooseberry. 
These boxes are six inches deep aud of vari¬ 
ous sizes. They are filled with garden loam, 
placed in water until the whole mass is wet 
and then glasses are placed over them to re¬ 
tain the moisture. It is proposed to winter 
them in pits. 
i) ini H'itU unit. 
A NEW STRAWBERRY OF PROMISE. 
E. WILLIAMS. 
The best-looking and most attractive seed¬ 
ling I have seen this season, was shown by Mr. 
Walton, of Moorestown, N. J. Owing to its 
bright scarlet color, conical form, slight neck, 
reflexed calyx aud very uniform size, it comes 
nearer to my ideal of perfection than any 
berry I know of. Every berry seemed almost 
an exact copy of every other. I subsequently 
had an opportunity to sample anil examine it 
freely at. the table of the originator, and in 
his field, and it seemed to be deficient only in 
two features to constitute a perfect straw¬ 
berry. The quality is fan - to good, but not 
the highest, and the (lower is pistillate. Grow¬ 
ing in rtelil culture, under very ordinary care, 
with Monarch (of the West) on one side, and, 
I think, Atlantic on the other as fertilizers, it 
proved a vigorous, strong grower, abundantly 
productive. Berries large and very uniform. 
I tried iu vain to Hud ono of abnormal growth. 
I gathered numerous samples with a view to 
illustrate it, but Mr. W. objected, fearing 
they would not fairly represent future possi¬ 
bilities under extra high culture, and thus do 
it an injustice. In deference to his wishes, I 
abandoned my intention, but not the idea that 
a fair average representation of what a berry 
will do under ordinary treatment, as compar¬ 
ed with possible results under high culture, is 
much tho fairest, and most honest, no matter 
what the custom is. I do not know that Mr. 
W. has determined to send it out, or whether 
he has even named it yet; but he will himself 
try it on a much larger *cale and more thor¬ 
oughly as a market fruit, first. In this he is 
right. Meanwhile, if, in view of the prevail¬ 
ing condition of our market, any berry-grower 
is verdant enough to see a prospective fortune, 
largo or small, in strawberry growl g, this 
berry of Mr, W.’s may be worth looking 
after; but, as a large grower remarked to me, 
the present low prices do not justify much 
attention or expenditure for new varieties; 
the old ones are just os good to lose rnouey on. 
My position is, that the certain and sure pro¬ 
fits in small fruits are found in an abundant 
and free home consumption. 
Montclair, N. J. 
[A box of the berry above referred to by 
Mr. Williams, was sent to this office Juno 10. 
Fig. 320 is true to nature, and Fig. 321 shows 
Fig. 321. 
a half section, The following notes were made 
at the time: “Color, bright scarlet; shape, 
ovate-conical, rounding at tho top; flesh solid 
aud colored; seeds a little darker than the 
flesh, aud imbedded somewhat deeply; calyx 
ample and slightly reflexed; quality fair—as 
good as the Jewell, The remarkable things 
about this berry seem to be. first, the size, 
which averages very large; second, uniformity 
of shape.”—Ens.l 
THE LUCltETIA DEWBERRY. 
In your “Plain Talk on Blackberries,” in 
the Rural t. f July 31st, the Editor says, “The 
Lucretia Dewberry, after what we considor 
to be a fair trial, is not judged to be worthy 
of introduction.’’ Can it be possible that you 
have the true Lucretia? I am almost sure 
you cannot have it, but some of the spurious 
plants that have for years boon mixed up with 
the genuine Lucretta. This, as I have seen it 
growing in several States, is to my mind the 
most valuable of all the blackberry family 
yet introduced. With us the plant isas hardy 
as the Kittatiuuy, very productive of berries 
as large as Lawtons (some berries picked here 
last week were 1 ! i inch long, by one inch 
cross-diameter),ripening as early ns the Gregg 
Raspberry, and far better in quality than any 
other blackberry 1 know of, I must confess 
to being charmed with if as a family berry; 
and being so large and productive and so ex¬ 
tremely early, it must prove valuable for near 
markets. It is not firm enough to stand long 
shipment. Having often visited the Rural 
Grounds, and knowing how fair and impartial 
your tests are, l cannot thiuk you have ever 
seen the real Lucretia, and shall take the lib¬ 
erty of sending you some of the plants at 
the proper time for planting, in October. 
So, Glastonbury, Conn. j. u. hale. 
Remarks. —We nre always very glad to be 
corrected, and thank Mr. Hale for the above 
important note. We fancy that we have the 
true Lucretia. The berries are large, ripen 
early, etc., os Mr. Hale states. Tho vines are 
great bearers. But the sprier they cover 
should lie considered. Suppose that one Lu- 
cretia plant covers twice the space of a stand¬ 
ard, and yields twice as much fruit; do we 
guiu anything? It is certainly harder work 
to gather the berries of the Lucretia than 
those of standards. Its earliness and hardi¬ 
ness, however,are certainly points in its favor, 
which should be duly considered.—E ds. 
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE SHARPLESS 
STRAWBERRY, ETC. 
In the Rural of July 31 I notice that Presi¬ 
dent Wilder gives Ellwanger & Barry credit 
for introducing the Shurploss. That is a mis¬ 
take. I offered them the control of it, but ns 
they flid not accept my offer, I disseminated 
it myself, and sold to other nurserymen, who 
put it on the market at the same time. I 
mention this in justice to other parties. 
The Alaska Pea with me seems to be identi¬ 
cal with Early Kent. The Triumph Goose¬ 
berry does not mildew iu our place, where it 
is said that it originated. 
Catawissa, Pa. j. k. sharpless. 
“the MUCH TALKED OF DEACON.” 
If Mr. Falconer’s Deacon Lettuce is tho 
same as tho White Summer Cabbage, it is 
quite different from the one that I havo 
grown. The most careless observer would 
hardly call them the same. Although the 
White Summer is an excellent heading lettuce, 
with me Deacon has surpassed it in tho size 
and neatness Of the head. The Deacon that I 
have grown, the seed of which I secured 
directly from the introducer, more resembles 
the old Imperial than any other that 1 have 
seen. Indeed, I thiuk it has probably been 
developed from that variety by selection. 
Until this season, I have not seen a synonym, 
of the Deucon, but a lettuce called West 
Indian, received last Spring from a European 
seedsman, appears to bo tho same. 
Geneva, N. Y. E. s. goff. 
Almost every one that has any room, grows 
something to give flowers, and my customers, 
at least, like to read and talk about them; but 
they complain that they can not understand 
half the books aud papers they buy. I don’t 
wonder, for I get puzzled myself sometimes. 
Ho many things are recommended for ama¬ 
teurs to got, that require the care of an expe¬ 
rienced gardener, that failure must bo the sure 
result, and I am only surprised that more do 
nut get disgusted. Wo havo so many beauti¬ 
ful things that grow easily, that there seems 
no need of coaxing jieople to buy plants that 
one knows cannot succeed. I know of a case 
where a dozen fancy caLadiums were bought, 
by advice of the gardener, for a rockery, and 
when I expressed my surprise, he laughed and 
said he did not expect they would grow; but the 
lady might as well spend her cash in that way 
us in any, If she liked them. I like to try 
u ovelties, and do every year, still I do not 
