S02 
THE RURAL NEW-VORK.ER 
July 11 
; Ruralisms ; 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
SFrCRCTION OR Stbawberry Plarts.— 
Evei-y strawberry grower knows that 
strong plants are needed to produce fine 
berries. Good culture will often do 
wonders with originally weak plants, 
but better results may always be expect¬ 
ed from vigoi-ous, well-chosen ones. A 
certain amount of plant selection is 
practiced by all conscientious growers, 
but the possibilities of this method of 
breeding are not by any means confined 
to using first runners from thrifty new 
beds, as has been often claimed. 
Select Youk Parent Plants. —The 
chances are greatly increased by propa¬ 
gating from strong, productive individ¬ 
ual plants of the desired types or varie¬ 
ties. Most successful growers appear to 
recognize the power of transmission of 
desirable qualities, within the limits of 
a known variety, but sufficient care to 
root runners only from well-balanced 
plants that have borne a good crop of 
typical berries is not always practiced. 
A runner is but a prolonged bud, and 
the young plant is actually a piece of 
the parent. If the mother is of the best 
possible type the youngsters are likely, 
under similar conditions, to reproduce 
the desired qualities, thus starting a 
genuine pedigree strain. 
An OvEiiwoRKED Term. —Some vocif¬ 
erous claims for pedigree breeding are 
made by commercial plant growers, and 
the term is in danger of being discredit¬ 
ed by those who expend more energy in 
talking than selecting. Inke all plant¬ 
breeding operations, the selection of 
parent strawberry stocks requires care¬ 
ful and timely attention, thorough tech¬ 
nical knowledge and keen discrimina¬ 
tion to attain measurable success. These 
qualities demand reasonable compensa¬ 
tion, and it is plain that pedigree plants 
worthy of the name cannot be produced 
cheaply enough to compete with ordi¬ 
nary run-of-the-bed plants, and really 
are seldom offered to general buyers. 
The demand for fancy berries, however, 
is so urgent that all who grow their own 
plants should give as close attention to 
this important matter as their duties 
will permit. 
A Monmouth County Experiment.— 
T. M. White, Little Silver, N. J., is a gar¬ 
dener of long and critical experience. 
When he undertakes the special culture 
of a plant he likes to get the best pos¬ 
sible results that may be attained with 
the facilities at hand. For several past 
years Mr. White has grown small 
breadths of the newer strawberries that 
succeed locally. Gandy, Beecher and 
Wm. Belt have so far seemed best suit¬ 
ed to his conditions, and some remark¬ 
ably fine amateur yields have been pro¬ 
duced. When well done, Wm. Belt is 
large, handsome, of agreeable mild 
quality, and moderately productive. As 
a table berry it is scarcely excelled by 
Marshall, and is here far more reliable. 
A Sport or Wm. Belt. —Except when 
getting new varieties Mr. White grows 
his own plants, making the most care¬ 
ful selection attainable. A year ago two 
very superior individuals were noticed 
in a block of Wm. Belt. While retaining 
all varietal characteristics they were 
much larger and stronger, with immense 
spreading foliage, and bore prodigious 
crops of very large berries, mostly cox- 
combed. The runners from these plants 
were carefully rooted and given an ex¬ 
cellent chance. This year a bed of 150 
August-set pot-plants was fruited and 
made an extraordinary showing. The 
hill system was employed and the foli¬ 
age of many plants covered a circle two 
feet in diameter. Almost every truss car¬ 
ried record berries. Ten of these mon¬ 
sters filled a standard quart box as full 
as they could safely be packed for trans¬ 
portation, while 12 in the box heaped it 
as shown reduced in Pig. 184, first page. 
One of these crooked giants, not by any 
means the largest, is separately shown 
in Fig. 183. 
Monster Berries Not so Comtion.— 
Big berries are found in all well-culti¬ 
vated plantings, and a few may usually 
be got together from well-situated 
plants under ordinary field conditions, 
but the writer has never before seen 
such a high average, which seems due 
in a great measure to the transmitted 
qualities of the parent. Under exactly 
similar treatment, including overhead 
irrigation during the dry weather, other 
varieties, as well as the typical Belts, 
gave no unusual results. 
Are Overgrown Berries Desirable? 
—It is not easy to define the proper size 
of a strawberry. Growers, dealers and 
consumers all want the largest obtain¬ 
able fruits. If presented to the buyer in 
good condition size counts more than 
regularity of form or richness of flavor. 
A good color is always needed to indi¬ 
cate an acceptable degree of ripeness, 
w’hether the berries are large or small. 
Extra size indicates juiciness and com¬ 
paratively fewer seeds. The aromatic 
quality packed away in some of the 
smaller kinds may be lacking in the 
big ones, but the gratification of making 
two or more bites of a berry is distinct¬ 
ly a marketable quantity. Big smooth 
berries undoubtedly sell better than 
larger coxcombed ones, but size itself is 
too important a factor to be neglected. 
Mr. White’s new sport may not prove 
of permanent market value, but it cer¬ 
tainly shows the power of plant selec¬ 
tion along special lines. By marking or 
rogueing out unproductive plants while 
in fruit and propagating oniy from 
those of obvious good charactd? grow¬ 
ers may work a pedigree strain worthy 
of the name. w. v. f. 
Rose Agnes Emily Carman from you 
came through the Winter in good shape, 
and is loaded with blooms this Spring. It 
has a finer color, though not so double as 
our I. A. C. rose. j. t. erwin. 
Traveling Sprayer.— We notice In your 
issue of June 27 J. E. S., of Columbus, N. 
J., is asking respecting a traveling sprayer. 
At the present time the Canadian Govern¬ 
ment operates two Spramotor automatic 
power sprayers, one in the Province of 
Quebec at Montreal, and the Ontario plant 
between IngersoP. and Woodstock, in Ox¬ 
ford County These towns are situated about 
JO miles apart. The plan of operation is to 
contract for as many trees as can be prop¬ 
erly attended to during the spraying sea¬ 
son, and so far they have met with pro¬ 
nounced success, the farmers being very 
.glad to be relieved of the burden of spray¬ 
ing by hand, and at the same time have 
their work done very much quicker and bet¬ 
ter. The operators can spray from 600 to 
800 trees per day. and make their moves, 
which in some instances amount to about 
four miles. They are charging three cents 
per tree for each spraying, and at the end 
of the season they intend to issue a report 
showing the results. spramotor oo. 
London. Ont. 
Nitrate op Soda on Grass.—I find that 
a good many other farmers, as well as 
myself, are wondering w'hether nitrate of 
soda sown just prior to the drought will 
be wasted, or whether it will lie dormant 
in this dry soil ready to get in its work 
as soon as rains come to dissolve it. We 
planned to sow a ton of it, mostly on grass 
land Just as soon as frost was out of 
the ground. The season was two weeks 
ahead of time, and the company with 
which we placed the order failed to ship 
it on date for which it was ordered, so that 
the dry weather arrived about as early 
as the fertilizer. As a consequence, our 
plans miscarried, and some of it is not 
sown yet. Some that had one rain after 
it was sown, showed its presence or ab¬ 
sence as plainly as the streaks in some 
poorly sown fields of grain show the pres¬ 
ence or absence of seed. Wherever there 
is any moisture left in the soil the grass 
is now of a dark luxuriant growth. My 
own opinion is that there will be no appre¬ 
ciable loss of strength during the dry 
weather, but when rains do come, we will 
get the benefit, provided the grass roots 
are not killed. If they are, it will be the 
best policy to plow as quickly as possible 
and get some other crop growing on the 
land. o. w. m. 
ARMSTRONG A McEEtVY 
Pittsburgh. 
BEYMER-BATTMAN 
piiisburgh. 
DAVIS-CHAMBERS 
Pittsl>iirgh. 
FAHNESTOCK 
Pittsburgh. 
^ Cinci; 
Cincinnati. 
New York. 
ANCHOR 
ECKSTEIN 
ATLANTIC 
BRADLEY 
BROOKLYN 
JEWETT 
ULSTER 
UNION 
SOUTHERN 
SHIPMAN 
COLLIER 
MISSOURI 
RED SEAL 
SOUTHERN 
JOHN T. LEWIS & BEOS CO 
Pliiladelphia. 
MORLEY ^ ^ 
Ceveland. 
SALEM 
Salem, Mass. 
CORNELL 
_ Buflalo. 
KENTUCKY . . . 
Louisville. 
^ Cht 
Chicago. 
St. Louis. 
OU may have had occasion 
to use White Lead in one, 
two, three or five pound 
cans and found it unsatisfactory. 
If so, it was because it was not 
Pure White Lead, but some Mix¬ 
ture of Zinc and Barytes (princi¬ 
pally Barytes) labeled White 
Lead..” If you want Pure White 
Lead be sure the package bears 
one of the brands named in the list. 
If interested in paint or painting, address 
National Lead loo William StreeL New Yorkf 
^ 
\\ hile your cows are out on pasture there is 
nothing better than a ration balanced with 
GLOBE 
GLUTEN FEED 
Your supply- of milk will he increased, whicli 
means more money from the milk pail. 
It will keep your cattle in excellent con¬ 
dition as well during the hot weather. 
TMiile oats are high, try Globe Gluten Feed 
mixed with bran for your horses. 
If your dealer does not have GLOBE 
GLUTEN FEED, write to us and send his name. 
NEIN YORK GLUCOSE CO., 
26 Bhoadway, New Yoi'k, 
Wspar^ 
FROM ALL LEAF-EATING INSECTS 
Most powerful Insecticide made; safest to 
use; never injures foliage. One spraying 
remains effective through the season, out¬ 
lasting many applications of Paris green or 
similar sprays. The only one that de¬ 
stroys both broods of the codling- 
moth. Used and endorsed by professional 
foresters and orchardists, park superin¬ 
tendents, tree wardens, experiment stations. 
Springfield City Forester Gale says: “ I 
know of no better preparation.” 
Enough for a large orchard, $4.25 
Enough for 75 gals, spray . 1.00 
2 lb. sample..50 
Large illustrated catalog 2 te free. 
INSECTICIDE 
DwTVIX.Cil\ COMPANY 
Address nearest office: 
Boston, New York, or Cincinnati 
Dr. Chamberlain, ex-secretary Ohio Board 
of Agriculture, says: “Disparene sticks on 
leaf and fruit a long time and kills the 
second brood of Codling-moth worms. 
Since using Disparene we have conquered 
the second brood as never before. It pays 
better than Paris-green.” 
Fuinir 
kills Prairie Uosu, 
Woodchucks,Gophers, 
and Grain Insects. 
“The wheels of the 
gods grind slow but 
exceedingly small.” So the weevil, but you can stop 
"‘•i.'S'" '’Fnma Carbon Bisulpbi(le".rd‘S 
EDWAKD K. TA^XOB, Penn 
SAN JOSE SCALE. 
And other Insects can be Controlled by Using 
Good’s Caustic Potash Whale- 
Oil Soap No. 3. 
It also prevents Curl Leaf. Endorsed by Entomolo¬ 
gists. This Soap is a Fertilizer as well as Insecticide. 
60-lb. Kegs, $2.50; 100-lb. Kegs, $4.50; Half-Barrel, 
270 lbs., 3Hc. per lb.; Barrel, 425 lbs., 3)4o- Large 
qnantlties. Special Rates. Send for Circulars. 
JAMBS GOOD, 939 N. Front St., Philadelphia, Pa 
Best for Water 
RALPH B. CARTER CO. 
WRITE 
FOR 
PRICES 
WRITE 
FOR 
PRICES 
26 Cortlandt St., New York, N. Y. 
CORN HARVESTING Si 
by using the BADGER CHRN HARVENTER than by 
any other known method. Oo not wait, investigate 
nowi Address 1. Z. MERRIAM, Whitewater, Wl*. 
NO PAINTING REQUIRED KJ 
Kooting. Can 
be easily laid 
as the work 
only consists of 
mailing and ce¬ 
menting the 
Joints. Samples,prices & booklet giving instructions 
ASPHALT READY ROOFING CO. for laying sent 
83 Pine St., New York. 
’ free postpaid. 
RUBEROID 
(trade-mark registered) ' 
ROOFING 
For residences, barns, poul¬ 
try-houses and silos. Posi¬ 
tively the most durable and 
economical, roofing on the 
market. Anyone can apply 
it. Water-proof, Contains 
no tar. Will not melt. Lasts 
indefinitely.' 
■ 'SEND FOR BOOKLET K. 
THE STANDARD PAINT CO. 
100 William St., New York.. 
