402 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 14 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
Low Down Fruit. —On page 457 our 
market reporter calls the western apri¬ 
cot, so plentifully sold on our streets, a 
“white-livered plum-peach,’’ and com¬ 
ments on its poor quality as offered here. 
This criticism may well be applied to all 
the California stone fruits now flooding 
the markets. The cherries and plums 
which monopolize the attention of the 
fruit-stand and push-cart men are laTge 
and fair to see—superb specimens, beau¬ 
tifully packed and displayed, but ’way 
down when it comes to flavor and eating 
qualities. Some are barely tolerable, as 
compared with home-grown fruit, and 
others, often the most showy, are a mis¬ 
erable combination of “rag” and vine¬ 
gar. Some of the “new creations” in 
plums are particularly obnoxious to the 
taste, as sold here. The reason is not 
far to seek. The fruits are picked green, 
and slowly ripened at a low temperature 
during the long transit from the Pacific 
coast. There is plenty of evidence to 
show that the quality is good when the 
various kinds are fully ripened where 
grown, but years of experience have de¬ 
monstrated that most fruits cannot be 
shipped long distances without a 
marked deterioration of quality. These 
showy western fruits probably do much 
to discourage the consumption of good 
home-grown material. 
Useful Minor Home Berries. —Our 
Downing mulberry tree, planted six 
years ago, is producing a fine crop this 
season, and we find the large and high- 
flavored berries very agreeable, in which 
opinion the chickens fully agree, as they 
never fail to be on hand to gather the 
fallen iruvts as they are being picked. 
Whether one likes the mulberry or not, 
there can be little question as to the de¬ 
sirability of the tree in a poultryyard, 
as it makes a deep snade and ripens ber¬ 
ries for several weeks during midsum¬ 
mer. The Downing mulberry 'is such a 
strong grower when established, that it 
is well to keep the top headed in to pre¬ 
vent damage from storms when the 
branches are laden with heavy foliage. 
The Amelanchiers, or tree Juneberries, 
have also been heavily laden, but the 
lion’s share of the crop was captured by 
the birds before they fairly ripened. 
Robins, catbirds and thrushes haunted 
the trees incessantly while the berries 
lasted, entirely deserting cherries and 
strawberries for the time. These birds 
did such creditaole service during our 
cutworm campaign that we had not the 
heart to drive them from the Juneberry 
trees. Success Dwarf Juneberries are 
now ripening finely, and in the past 
have been less disturbed by birds than 
the tree varieties. We 1'ike these berries 
for table use and for pies, using in the 
latter a few currants to give the desired 
acid, ^ey are quite ornamental and 
easy to grow, but one should plant a 
good many if he desire to take his 
chances with the birds. 
Elaeagnus Longipes, the Goumi of 
Japan, is now coloring its showy fruits, 
which are seldom molested either by 
birds, insects, or small children, yet a 
taste for its sprightly, astringent flavor 
is rapidly acquired by many people. We 
like it as a dessert relish, and find it 
makes a most appetizing and character¬ 
istic jelly for Winter use. The Rural 
bushes, six years old, are well covered 
with the fourth crop they have borne, 
but a row of plants in a neighboring 
nursery, t.iree or four years older, are 
veritable marvels of horticultural pro¬ 
ductiveness, they are so completely cov¬ 
ered with masses of berries. Fig. 161. 
on page 479, shows a typical fruiting 
branch. 
Why Bother With These Odd 
Fruits? —It may be asked why The R. 
N.-Y. snould advocate the planting of 
fruits of sucu limited usefulness, having 
no recognized market value. Our reply 
would be that one cannot have too great 
a variety of fruits on the home grounds. 
Their cultivation lends spice and in¬ 
terest to country life. Let the city peo¬ 
ple eat their tough and tasteless Califor¬ 
nia fruits, their Kieffer pears, Ben Davis 
apples, and other showy delusions. The 
farmer is entitled to the freshest and 
best, and it lies in his power to possess 
the greatest variety of horticultural 
products. Some one in every country 
family is sure to like each of the fruits 
mentioned, and their growth and devel¬ 
opment will interest the young people 
and tend to keep them on the farm. 
A New Type of Clematis. —Several 
years ago some hybrids between the 
large-flowering Clematis, Star of India, 
purple barred with red, with our native 
little coral Clematis (C. coccinea), were 
produced by an English grower. They 
have been highly praised, and several 
varieties are offered this season. We re¬ 
ceived a plant of Countess of Onslow 
from Henry A. Dreer, of Philadelphia, 
Pa., for trial, and consider it a meritori¬ 
ous addition. It has grown with grear 
vigor and flowered profusely. The 
blooms are large and of great substance, 
lasting well in water as a cut flower. 
The color is violet-purple, with a band 
of scarlet down the center of each petal. 
It does not open as widely as Jack- 
mani and other well-known varieties, 
but makes a pleasing appearance with 
its odd combination of colors. We can¬ 
not have too many good hardy plants of 
this character, and the field for develop¬ 
ment of our native forms would seem to 
be an attractive one. 
A Strawberry Curiosity. —We mail 
you a curiosity in the way of a straw¬ 
berry. We thought it might be of in¬ 
terest to you and the readers of your 
paper. The advanced botanist might be 
pleased to know that such a thing has 
occurred. The berry is a Bubach, but 
very irregular in shape. The berry has 
a bloom growing out on one side. 
J. M. VAN DERVORT & SON. 
New Antioch, Ohio. 
R. N.-Y.—The berry was certainly an 
oddity, and we regret it came in too 
soft a condition to have it reproduced. 
The Lilliputian flower, set in three tiny 
leaves, was born on a short stem issuing 
directly from the flesh of the berry, and 
with no visible axil connecting it with 
the stem. It was a curious instance of 
adventitious cell growth, the seed germ 
being roused into activity and attempt¬ 
ing to produce another plant by a short 
cut, without the formality of germi¬ 
nating and producing a root system. 
Peaches In Massachusetts. —In con¬ 
nection with the general farm work, 
dairy, etc., we are trying to do some¬ 
thing in the peach business here in 
Hampden County, Mass. We started 
our orchard in the Spring of 1892. In 
the Spring of 1894 we set out 1,200 or 
1,400 trees, mostly Crosby, with a small 
proportion of Mountain Rose. These 
were followed by more in 1895, and in 
1896 by 1,000 Elberta, Mountain icose, 
etc. In the Spring of 1899 and 1900 we 
set out 2,500, mostly Elberta, Mountain 
Rose and Champion, so we now have 
5,500 or more. The orchard as a whole 
is in excellent condition; healthy, and 
the foliage is of the darkest green. But 
to keep it in this condition we have to 
furnish plenty of plant food and a large 
amount of cultivation until the end of 
August or beginning of September. We 
always find our best fruit grows on the 
same trees that have the large healthy 
foliage. In 1897 we had our first fruit, 
1,000 16-quart baskets. In 1898 the same 
trees and some of the younger ones were 
loaded with beautiful luscious fruit, 2,800 
baskets. It was visited by hundreds of 
people in the fruit season, all declaring 
it a sight never to be forgotten. 
January 1, 1899, killed all the fruit buds. 
This Spring had bloom enough for a 
dozen crops, but the two cold nights, 
May 9 and 10, froze the blosisoms, so we 
shall not get over one-third of a crop. 
The variable New England climate is 
rather nard on this fruit, but we have 
faith in the peach business, and shall 
try hard to win the race. e. b. 
Roses and Raspberries. —You said, 
perhaps a year ago, that Crimson Ram¬ 
bler had no perfume. Mine has a dis¬ 
tinct sweet-brier scent when it first 
opens. It is noticeable when passing the 
plant. Later it loses it, and after the 
pollen has been discharged, none is dis¬ 
cernible. If Ruby Queen is as strong a 
grower as Crimson Rambler, she must 
be a good one. I have canes of Rambler 
five or six feet high of the present sea¬ 
son’s growth. I have four other Ram¬ 
blers, but none can compare with Crim¬ 
son in vigor. Caroline raspberry is a 
sight to behold. There is no other rasp¬ 
berry that I have tried that can come 
anywhere near Caroline in hardiness 
and vigor. I have taken pleasure in 
watching literally millions of bees as 
they gather honey from its blooms. 
Where they come from is a mystery. 
None are kept within two or three miles, 
yet from dawn until dark my raspber¬ 
ries and White clover are alive with busy 
workers. There are Italian, hybrids and 
common bees among them, but they 
labor with great harmony. 
Conn. c. p. augur. 
Strawberries on Long Island. 
Gladstone, medium early, very good 
flavor, good bearer, healthy foliage, large, 
desirable for house or commercial. New 
York, unknown—Hunn, large, late, good 
quality, very productive if carefully tend¬ 
ed; medium grower, foliage rusts, easily 
checked with Bordeaux, and will repay for 
extra trouble. Glen Mary, very promising 
in every way—so is Mary. Parker Earle 
Improved not fruited yet. Clyde, large 
bearer, quality poor, profitable with some, 
strong grower, no good for home use. You 
will please bear in mind there are no 
high-quality berries with us this year. 
Wet and cold. Seaford is a great cropper, 
good grower, good quality, too soft for a 
long shipment, but for home or near mar¬ 
ket, fine. Brandywine, large berry, strong 
grower, fruit of good color, good quality. 
Anna Kennedy medium size, round, glossy, 
rather light color, fine flavor, free bearer, 
a most beautiful berry. Nick Ohiner, one 
of the largest even-shaped berries—a very 
beautiful fruit, good color, heavy bearer. 
Perfect flower, good snipper; one of the 
best, if not the best 1 have tested this 
year. Marshall, for one who likes a very 
dark berry, this will suit; large cropper, 
fair flavor, strong grower. Gibson, large, 
rather dark, fine flavor, strong grower, big 
bearer, fine market sort, being largely 
planted at Milton and Marlboro. All 
these on fairly heavy sandy loam as we 
have here. A very desirable soil, not too 
heavy or too light. n. h. 
Pea Notes.— We had Nott’s Excelsior 
peas June 7, and between that date and 
June 21, we gathered over four bushels 
from the planting of a peck and a quart of 
seed. Just as we had finished picking the 
last, we discovered the Pea louse. It has 
about destroyed the later crop. We had 
experimented with Crimson clover right 
next the peas, which, according to Pro¬ 
fessor Sanderson’s article, was the very 
wrong thing to do. m. e. l. 
Union Co., N. J. 
Strawberries In Connecticut.— Hunn 
is very rusty and appears worthless. 
Glen Mary is doing nicely; Clyde fruiting 
very heavily, but soft; Parker Earle Im¬ 
proved similar to old Parker Earle. All 
three varieties do well on any soil, with 
proper cultivation and heavy mulching. 
Ridgeway and Sample are the only two 
recent introductions on our ground worthy 
of further propagation, and Sample is in¬ 
clined to rust. Fine varieties for general 
cultivation are Haverland, Bismarck, Glen 
Mary. G. s. butler. 
Prof. Butz, of the Pennsylvania Agri¬ 
cultural College, describes a scale insect 
that is injuring peach trees in southeastern 
Pennsylvania. It is not the dreaded San 
Josfe scale, but of a dark purple color, al¬ 
most black, measuring one-eighth of an 
inch in diameter. The insects cluster upon 
twigs and smaller branches, often crowd¬ 
ing together on the underside of the twigs. 
They can do serious injury to the trees. 
The most satisfactory remedy for this 
scale insect is kerosene emulsion applied at 
once. It is easy to destroy the young in¬ 
sects while they are creeping about, and 
before their mature covering is developed. 
An exchange remarks that a woman with 
two “shoos” and a flirt of her apron can 
drive a hen and a dozen chickens into a 
coop with less trouble than four men and 
10 dogs could do the job. 
Sometime ago my two nieces were taken with 
Whooping Cough. One was placed under care of our 
best doctor, but she died. To the other, mother and 
I administered Jayne's Expectorant. She got well, 
and to-day is robust. She was by far the worst of 
the two. 1 believe that had we given the same medi¬ 
cine to the other, she would have been living to-day. 
—(Mrs.) ALVIN B1XBY, Garden City, Minn., Oc¬ 
tober 20, 1895. 
Easy to take and effectual, Jayne’s Painless Sana 
tive Pills.— Adv. 
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