546 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 1] 
Ruralisms [ 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
A Sharp Drought. —Two weeks with¬ 
out rain does not seem a lengthy in¬ 
terval by the calendar, but during the 
long July days, with the temperature 
skirmishing among the nineties, and a 
lively breeze blowing most of the time, 
moisture is extracted from the plants 
and soil at a rapid rate. The grasses 
on the slopes and terraces quickly 
browned, and the Gladioli hung 
their newly-formed bloom-spikes in 
a most disconsolate way, barely 
straightening up during the short, 
dewless nights. However, plenty of 
moisture could be found under the two 
inches of dust mulch maintained by our 
wheel hoes. We cultivate the Rural 
Grounds entirely by hand power, and 
staple crops did not suffer at all. Even 
the pansies, fully exposed on a slope, 
stood up and opened thousands of fine 
blooms, but the rapid abstraction of 
moisture was plainly taxing the roots to 
the utmost, when the strain was relieved 
by an all-night rain, which deposited 
more than three inches of water on the 
soil, fully saturating it and assuring a 
bountiful yield of many choice products. 
This rain is particularly timely in re¬ 
gard to the very fine crop of blackber¬ 
ries in Monmouth County, which had be¬ 
gun to fall off in quality under the fierce 
and continued heat and decreasing mois¬ 
ture. The Gladioli suffered because 
blooming corms throw out very few 
roots until the flowers have opened, and 
at this period of rapid development are 
often called upon to exhale moisture 
faster than it can be absorbed from the 
soil. A little later many roots are de¬ 
veloped from the new corm, forming on 
the top of the old one, and the plant can 
then endure considerable drought. 
Blooming Gladioli should be well wa¬ 
tered whenever practicable. 
The Balloon Berry.— Plants of a 
Japanese raspberry offered by J. L. 
Childs, Floral Park, N. Y., as “Balloon 
berry,” are fruiting for the first time on 
the Rural Grounds. They were grown 
from seeds procured from Mr. Childs, and 
have endured the Winters with but little 
freezing of the late growth, and we re¬ 
gard it as quite hardy. The canes grow 
long and thick, with a tendency to trail 
at the tips, and are covered with silky 
red hairs. The foliage is very much di¬ 
vided and quite handsome. The fruits 
ripen during a long season, and are in¬ 
flated in a manner to render the name 
of Balloon berry quite appropriate. They 
are large and of a bright yellow, shaded 
red at the apex of the drupes. The fla¬ 
vor is much more agreeable than the 
Strawberry-raspberry, to which this 
plant appears related, though the ber¬ 
ries are somewhat dry and devoid of 
acid. The fruiting bush is most attrac¬ 
tive, and would seem to have a place in 
ornamental planting, though the berry 
is too collapsible to be of any use even 
for table use, except possibly for deco¬ 
ration. Mr. Childs got this berry from 
Luther Buroank, who grew it as re¬ 
ceived from the interior of Japan. We 
have never heard its botanical name. 
The Brown Rot of plums and grapes 
has appeared on the Rural Grounds for 
the first time in several years, and is 
much promoted by the high tempera¬ 
ture. Where these fruits were thor¬ 
oughly thinned the damage is small, and 
a sharp lesson has been impressed for 
next season’s utilization. It takes nerve 
and experience to thin growing fruits 
effectively. 
A Neglected Native Plant. —Am- 
sonia Tabernsemontana is an herbaceous 
plant, belonging to the. Apocynaceas or 
Milkweed family, found growing rather 
sparingly on moist slopes from North 
Carolina to Texas. Though of southern 
origin, it appears entirely hardy about 
New York. The flower heads appear in 
May and June, and are of a pretty porce¬ 
lain blue, but not very showy. They are 
followed by slender milkweed-like seed- 
pods. The real attractiveness of the 
plant lies in bright green, willow-like 
foliage, which keeps its color and fresh¬ 
ness into late Autumn, maintaining a 
clean and neat appearance through try¬ 
ing droughts that is not exceeded by any 
hardy plant of our acquaintance. It 
forms a dense tuft, two to three feet 
high, and is very long-lived. There are 
many pi’ettier hardy plants, from a floral 
point of view, but none more refreshing 
in its cool greenness during a late 
drought. Fig. 184 gives a fair repre- 
sentation of the flower heads, except 
that they had drooped before the pho¬ 
tographer received them. As they grow 
on the plant they are gracefully erect. 
Another species, A. angustifolia, with 
narrower foliage and less showy in 
make-up. is also found in the southern 
States. A. Tabernaemontana is offered 
by a few nurseries carrying a full as¬ 
sortment of herbaceous plants. It 
grows x’eadily from seed and can also 
be propagated by cuttings and divisions 
of the clump._ 
JAPAN PLUMS AT THE SOUTH. 
What is your opinion about the profit in 
growing Japan plums in the Southern 
States, as compared with peach growing? 
This is a question that is of much interest 
to many horticulturists. Some of them 
seem to have an idea that there is more of 
a future in the Japan plum than in the 
southern peach, and we should like, if pos¬ 
sible, to get the opinion of men who know 
what they are talking about, so that we 
may give our readers the facts in the case. 
Extremely wet June rotted so many 
plums that it is not safe to say what 
their i-eal value will be in fine seasons. 
Better hold on a few years before plant¬ 
ing many more. j. h. hale. 
In my opinion the Japan plum cannot 
compete with the peach as a profitable 
commercial fruit. This opinion is 
founded upon these facts: First, the 
Japan plum, or any other plum, is not 
so popular with all classes as the peach, 
therefore the demand for plums will 
never equal that for peaches. Second, 
Japan plums, as a rule, are more uncer¬ 
tain on account of liability to being 
killed by frost, more so, at least, than 
the peach crop. Third, I consider it 
rather more expensive, requiring a 
somewhat higher degi’ee of skill and 
gi’eater labor to cultivate plums than 
peaches. r. j. redding. 
Georgia Exp. Station. 
If I intended to plant stone fruits, 
peaches would be my choice for this 
southern part of Mississippi. We had a 
good crop of peaches this year, seedlings 
as well as buds, Elberta, Imperial, Waldo 
and Chinese Cling are well adapted to 
this part, and so far the “little Turk” 
has not done much damage. Japan 
plums have been a complete failure here, 
eight to 10-year-old trees, healthy and 
full of flowei’s every Spring, but never 
any ripe fruit; either they do not set, 
or rot in one week when nearly ripe. 
The only Japan plums (Satsuma and 
Kelsey) I have seen doing well, are 
planted in a chicken yard, soil hard red 
clay, no cai’e given except by the chick¬ 
ens, but nearly every year a fair crop of 
plums. Is it a mistake to cultivate plum 
trees? chas. e. pabst. 
Mississippi. 
On our experiment grounds here and 
at Southern Pines in Moore County, N. 
C., we have tried nearly all the leading 
Japan varieties of plums. We find those 
varieties ripening early more satisfac- 
tory than later ones. The two leaders 
for market are Red June and Abun¬ 
dance. They are out of the way before 
good peaches come in, and we advise 
planting them extensively in the South 
for market purposes. Later varieties 
come in competition with the large fine 
peaches, and do not sell so well, and be¬ 
sides the long hot days are too much for 
them, which causes them to be tough 
and insipid. We find most Japan plums 
fruit as often as peaches, and the Red 
June oftener. In 1899 we had no peaches 
at all, but a good crop of the Red June 
plums in the same orchard. The Bur¬ 
bank has always rotted with us, and gets 
hurt by the long days of hot sun. The 
Kelsey ripens well, but gets killed too 
often by Spring frosts. It is an early 
bloomer. It is one of the finest when 
it does fruit. It ripens here from Au¬ 
gust 20 to the end of the month. We 
fruited the Climax this year. It is even 
larger than the Kelsey, but there was 
not enough fruit on the little tree to 
show what it will do here. We have 
originated a new plum here, a cross be¬ 
tween Satsuma and Marianna, which 
Prof. Bailey has named Lindley. We 
believe it will prove a valuable acquisi¬ 
tion. It ripens halfway between Red 
June and Abundance. It has a sprightly 
good flavor with some acidity, which is 
rare among Japs and Jap crosses. 
Pomona, N. C. J. van lindley. 
THE TRIUMPH GOOSEBERRY. 
We take much pleasure in publishing 
the following letters as throwing more 
light on the origin of the best gooseberry 
yet grown on the new Rural Grounds, 
and to correct the error concerning Mr. 
Achelis’s death, which was caused by a 
transposition of names in a notebook. 
We are glad to learn he has still the 
true stock of the Triumph to sell. 
I notice in the article speaking of the 
Triumph gooseberry, that the writer says, 
“It was first propagated by George Achelis, 
a nurseryman of West Chester, Pa. Mr. 
Achelis died before many plants were sold,” 
etc. This is a mistake, because the writer 
of this is “Mr. Achelis,” therefore not dead, 
but alive and well, and is still in the nur¬ 
sery business, and is still propagating the 
Triumph gooseberry. george achelis. 
You say “The Triumph originated in 
West Chester about 17 years ago,” while 
it rea.lly originated on the grounds of F. F. 
Merceron, of Catawissa, Pa., who sold all 
his stock to George Achelis of this place. 
Mr. Achelis is very much alive to-day, and 
is the proprietor of one of the largest and 
best-kept nurseries in Pennsylvania. 1 
have the Triumph, presented to me by Mr. 
Achelis, and the Columbus from Ellwanger 
& Barry growing side by side, and I can 
detect no difference either in their growth, 
productiveness, or fruit; they seem to be 
identical. The same with Downing and 
Pearl; there is no difference in these two 
sorts as they grow on my grounds. I have 
nine varieties of gooseberries fruiting in 
my specimen garden, and consider Industry 
tiie best red, and Triumph or Columbus, 
the best white. abner hoopes. 
West Chester, Pa. 
Mr. Hoopes’s conclusion that the 
Triumph and Columbus are identical is 
interesting, and coincides with the opin¬ 
ion of tne late Mr. E. S. Carman and 
some others. It shows that either the 
stocks are mixed, or that two strains 
differing in habit and resistance are in 
existence. The record of the origins of 
the Downing and Pearl gooseberries are 
clear and unmistakable, yet they so re¬ 
semble each other when grown under 
Mr. Hoopes’s conditions that they ap¬ 
pear identical, while each possesses 
more or less distinct qualities when 
grown in other localities. The R. N.-Y. 
is only anxious to get at the truth of the 
matter, and is glad that a nurseryman 
so well informed as Mr. Hoopes has 
given his opinion. 
Last year we had 300 32-quart crates of 
currants on P/ 2 acre. We grow the Fay 
and Victoria. The Victoria is our surest 
cropper, and I grow it for the same reason 
that Mr. Van Epps (see page 489) grows 
the Prince Albert, later than the Fay. 
Pennsylvania. w. a. f. 
Specimens of the Freedom or a tree-dried 
cherry were sent us by the Blair Co. Nur¬ 
sery Co., East Freedom, Pa. This cherry 
was described on page 108, February 17. 
The specimens were ripe when they reached 
us. They were kept in the box without 
special care and slowly dried, leaving a 
rich, mellow fruit well suited for stewing. 
I did not like the use of kerosene with 
water and I had the best of appliances. As 
for crude petroleum it damaged and ruined 
most of the trees. Two barrels were bought 
of Standard Oil Company, and we had quite 
a fight with plant lice on the 70 acres of 
fruit. We use now whale-oil soap and it 
is effectual, easily applied with any good 
spray pump, and plant lice and Pear psylla 
are easily controlled by it. 
ALBERT WOOD. 
THIS IS A 
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You ought 
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Introduc¬ 
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27 Fargo St. 
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Send for Catalogue and 
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The New I 
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