754 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November JO 
; Ruralisms ; 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
Keiffer Pears. —This is the season 
for the ali-pervading Keiffer pear. The 
numerous young orchards in the fruit¬ 
growing districts form an almost domin¬ 
ant feature of the horticultural land¬ 
scape. The upright growth of the trees 
and the glossy foliage, now changing 
from darkest green to bronze and pur¬ 
ple, is unmistakable when once known, 
and the undersized, stone-like, green 
pears rushed to market in ever-increas¬ 
ing quantity, are also painfully evident 
to all who test their gritty flesh and 
washed-out flavor. Notwithstanding the 
general ill-repute of the Keiffer as a 
table pear every grower knows that 
fruits fully developed, taken from trees 
not permitted to overbear, and ripened 
gradually under cover, are most accept¬ 
able in flavor, being rich, tender and 
juicy, though always somewhat coarse 
in texture. The time will doubtless 
come when large, well-colored and 
ripened Keiffers will be in demand at 
the fruit stands and stores under their 
true name, and not as now, in the guise 
of “choice Bartletts,” but not until more 
care is used to produce perfect speci¬ 
mens. Keiffers are now quoted at about 
the same price per barrel as good apples, 
and it is safe to say that the cost of 
production is much less, when the pre¬ 
cocious and heavy-cropping character of 
the trees is taken into consideration 
Where the thousands of barrels annually 
sent to market go to has always been 
held as something of a mystery, but 
when one realizes that practically every 
canning establishment packs Keiffei’S 
under the name of Bartlett the wonder 
is not so great. Bartlett pears canned 
in the commercial manner scarcely hold 
their form six months, while the Keiffer 
is good for two years under the same 
conditions. It is said that only one firm 
has the courage to put “Keiffer” on the 
labels of their cans of pears. Surely they 
are entitled to the greatest respect for 
their honesty and the missionary work 
they are doing in raising the popular 
status of this truly valuable fruit. The 
Keiffer pear is now developing a new 
feature of value. It is found that its 
seedlings make fully as good stocks as 
those grown from the imported French 
and Japanese seeds, and their use is 
likely to increase, as the seeds can now 
be obtained in quantity from the pack¬ 
ers. The Keiffer and other pears of the 
Chinese type have not proved successful 
as stocks when top-worked, but for 
budding and root-grafting the seedlings 
are very good. 
The Last Flowers. —Frosty weather 
has held off so long that much color yet 
remains in the flower border, but the ef¬ 
forts of Cannas and- geraniums to open 
after the long and chilly nights are not 
very successful, though the foliage is 
still luxuriant. The pansies that sur¬ 
vived the Summer heats are increasing 
in size and vigor, and the dwarf snap¬ 
dragons are a mass of crimson and yel¬ 
low, but the flower of chief interest is 
now the Japan Anemone in the newer 
semi-double varieties. It is true that the 
hardy Chrysanthemums are beginning to 
flaunt their brilliant colors, but they are 
not yet at their best. The old single 
white Anemone is found in many gar¬ 
dens, but has been generally superseded 
by Honorine Jobert and Lady Ardilaun, 
both of which have larger white flowers. 
A. Japonica elegans is pale carmine with 
the usual yellow center. The plants are 
tall and stately, and the dainty flowers 
with their long stems are very useful 
for cutting. They like rich and rather 
moist soil, and should be well watered 
in dry weather if a good bloom is ex¬ 
pected. The semi-double white varie¬ 
ties, Whirlwind and Coupe d’Argent, are 
much finer and more lasting. Whirl¬ 
wind has several rows of petals, giving 
the flower great substance. Coupe d’Ar¬ 
gent is more double and is the better of 
the two in flower, but appears to be 
somewhat less resistant in constitution. 
The gem of the Fall Anemones, how 
ever, in our opinion, is Queen Charlotte, 
a new semi-double rose-colored variety 
from Germany. The plant is of very ro¬ 
bust growth, with large, nandsome fo¬ 
liage. It is much earlier than the old 
varieties, the flowers commencing to 
show in August and continuing until 
freezing weather. They are three to 
four inches across and of a most pleas¬ 
ing shade of silvery pink. The intro¬ 
ducers compare the color with some jus¬ 
tice to that of the lovely La France rose. 
We had hoped to get a picture of a par¬ 
ticularly fine specimen, but the flowers 
were stripped by a sudden gale just as it 
had arrived at the most perfect stage. 
It is likely that further progress will 
be made in the development of these de¬ 
sirable hardy plants, as their usefulness 
is being more widely recognized. 
The Delaware Plum. —On page 750 a 
belated portrait of this excellent hybrid 
plum is given in Fig. 286. Better-de¬ 
veloped fruits than those described on 
page 642 were afterward ripened, carry¬ 
ing the season well through September. 
The rich quality and firm flesh of this 
plum should gain favor for it wherever 
it thrives and produces well. The new¬ 
er hybrids will have to be very good to 
beat it in flavor. No one seems to know 
muen about the bearing qualities of old¬ 
er trees here in the East. 
Remontant Hypericums. —Several of 
the more liei’baceous varieties of St. 
John’s-wort, including H. Moserianum, 
the new hybrid Gold flower and its par¬ 
ents, H. calycinum and H. patulum, 
bloom throughout the greater part of the 
Summer, continuing from July until 
early Fall. The shrubby species, of 
which the hardiest and best are na¬ 
tives of this country, on the other hand, 
have a rather short season of bloom in 
midsummer. The herbaceous species ai'e 
shortlived, and generally have to be re¬ 
placed every three or four years, while 
the shrubby ones are quite permanent. 
In order to combine, if possible, the 
qualities of permanence and freedom of 
bloom H. aureum, the best American 
species, and H. Moserianum, were hy¬ 
bridized together on the Rural Grounds 
in 1899, and some of the resulting seed¬ 
lings bloomed in July and again late in 
September this year, so that a remon¬ 
tant character seems to be assured, even 
if they do not prove to be constant 
bloomers. The young plants possess the 
upright shrubby character of Aureum, 
but the flowers are larger and more at¬ 
tractive. w. v. F. 
WINTERING CANNA ROOTS. 
Many amateurs fail to understand how 
easily the roots of choice Cannas may be 
carried over Winter in an ordinary cel¬ 
lar, if kept secure from frost. Do not 
wait for freezing weather before taking 
them up, but lift the clump on a dry 
day, soon after the first fi’ost. Cut off 
the stems within three or four inches of 
the ground, and preserve all the soil 
that adheres to the clump. Store one 
layer deep in flat boxes, filling in the 
spaces with loose earth. Remove to a 
rather dry and warm place in the cellar 
or dark room, free from frost. They 
will not bear actual freezing, but are 
not affected by prolonged low tempera¬ 
ture if fairly dry. They should be ex¬ 
amined occasionally during the rest, 
and moistened if they show signs of 
drying up. They should never be al¬ 
lowed to get dust dry, and on the other 
hand too much dampness may cause rot. 
In the Spring the clump should be di¬ 
vided and started into growth, either in 
boxes or pots in the house, or planting 
can be deferred until the ground be¬ 
comes warm, when the tubers can be set 
directly where they are to bloom. 
Sweet Apples. —Mr. H. M. Stevens, of 
Franklin Co., N. Y., sends two sweet 
apples and writes. 
Please examine and tell me their name 
provided they have one. I suspect that 
they are seedlings and consequently name¬ 
less. If such is the case does the variety 
in your opinion have sufficient merit to 
warrant a nurseryman in introducing it? 
My own opinion is that they are the best 
sweet apples I ever tasted, but as this 
opinion was formed many years ago when 
I was a ‘‘little kid,” I am afraid it is not 
worth much. It probably is like one’s 
opinion of “mother’s victuals,” too preju¬ 
diced to be of any value. 
This apple is probably a seedling. 
There are several sweet apples of the 
same season that are better, such as 
Bailey, Ramsdeil, Stark or T- umbuil 
There are many worse apples, but we 
would not advise you to have this one 
named and “sent out.” 
A Plum Talk.— In The R. N.-Y. of 
October 13 a correspondent at Clare¬ 
mont, Va., asks for information about 
the Juicy, Shipper, Delaware and Hale 
plums. The first thi’ee varieties fruited 
in my orchard this year, but the Hale 
produced nothing, although the trees 
blossomed full, the crop being destroyed 
by a late frost. Hale plum is an early 
bloomer, which is a great fault, as the 
fruit is liable to be cut off by late frosts. 
Juicy is a vei’y handsome plum of a 
bright yellow color, with i’ed spot on 
one side, a little oblong in shape, of good 
quality but not quite so good as Abund¬ 
ance, and not quite as large. The trees 
are late bloomers and almost as pro¬ 
ductive as Robinson or Pottawattomie, 
but a part of the fruit rots on the tree 
befoi-e ripening, at least such was the 
case this year. The plums are very 
juicy, perhaps too much so, and should 
be sevei’ely thinned. The time of ripen¬ 
ing here is about August 25 to Septem¬ 
ber. Whether they would sell readily in 
the market I do not know. Shipper is a 
large d&rk red or purple plum of hand¬ 
some appearance, but only fair quality, 
ripens from September 10 to 20, and a 
portion of the fruit rots on the trees be¬ 
fore ripening. Delaware is a dwarf¬ 
growing tree producing fruit of the same 
color inside and out, as Satsuma, not as 
large as that plum, but of better quality, 
and not inclined to i'ot; ripens October 
1. Its fault is that it is not productive 
enough for market, but when older the 
ti’ees may be moi’e prolific. It will not 
be a mistake to keep enough to supply 
your own family. These four varieties 
are none of them early bearers. Abund¬ 
ance and Burbank fx-equently bear the 
next year after planting, but Juicy and 
Shipper required three years, and Dela¬ 
ware four before fruiting. The season 
has been very warm and dry, and some 
fruit has not been as large nor of as 
good quality as last year, and more dis¬ 
posed to rot than usual. The value of a 
new variety of fruit cannot always be 
known until after a trial of two or three 
yeai's. e. a. 
Norwich, Conn. 
A Penny Spent 
in building a warm house 
is a Dollar Saved 
in heating it afterwards. 
will make it wind and frost proof; keep out 
the cold of winter or the heat of summer. Costs 
less than ic. a foot, and one layer is equal to six 
of rosin-sized paper. Send for free sample of 
CABOT’S 
Sheathing Quilt. 
Agents at all central points. 
SAMUEL CABOT, Sole Manufacturer, 
81 Kilby Street, Boston, Mass. 
Sudden and Severe 
attacks of 
Neuralgia 
come to 
many of us, 
but however 
bad the case 
St. 
Jacobs 
Oil 
penetrates 
promptly 
and deeply, 
Boothes and 
strengthens 
the nerves 
aud brings 
a 6ure cure. 
How to Drain Land Profitably. 
On every farm there is probably some land 
that could be made more productive by under¬ 
drainage. Properly drained land can always 
be worked earlier, and more profitably. The 
best and most 
economical way 
to drain is ex¬ 
plained in the 
book, “ Benefits of Drainage and How to Drain,” 
which is sent free by 
JOHN H. JACKSON, Third Ave., Albany, N. Y. 
© 
n 
(0 
b. 
o 
a 
>, 
© 
(D 
E 
3 
ft 
Designed expressly for Farmers, Thrashers, Well- 
Drillers. Simple, Strong. Durable—Absolutely Safe 
Mention this paper. Manufactured by The Bing¬ 
hamton Gas Engine Co., Binghamton, N. V 
4 Uuggy Wheels with tire on, #7.25 
with Axles Welded and Set, 11.00 
1 make all sizes & grades. Send for cat. giving 
instructions for ordering. Special Grade 
iVheetsfor repair work, $5.50 ft prepaid, if you 
write to-day. W. It. BOOB. Centre Hal) l’» 
We are the largest manu¬ 
facturers of Steel Wheels 
and Truck Wagons in the 
World. Write foe Cotefcgue. 
daw (til.) dfetil WM fin. 
Save 50 Per Cent 
by building your own fence 
with a SUPERIOR FENCE 
MACHINE. You can build 
any kind of fence you de- 
sire with it. Ask your 
Btrg- Hardware Dealer for one; 
if he cannot supply you, 
» we will send one on receipt 
Of price. #4.75. SUPERIOR FENCE MACHINE 
CO., 182 Grand lllver Avenue, Detroit, Mich. 
SO LONG AS OUR MILLS 
are outside of the Trust, shouldn’t you buy PAGE 
FENCE and help keep them out? 
L. B. Robkbtson, Receiver, 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., ADRIAN, MICH. 
MILLIONS OF ACRES 
fenced with them this year. The fences that 
grow more popular every season. Real 
saving, service aud satisfaction in 
Ellwood Steel Wire Fences 
Fully guaranteed. Best steel and galvaniz¬ 
ing. If you can’t find our local agent write to 
American Steel & Wire Co., Chicago or New York. 
1 nAiAiaiAiAiAiAAiAiAiAiAiAiAi* 1A1A1A1A1A 
i 
. A lA.AiA.A.^ 
INCHESTE 
FACTORY LOADED SHOTGUN SHELLS 
■ “NewRival, 99 “Leader , 99 and “Repeater 99 
i Insist upon having them, take no others and you will get the best shells that money can buy, 
1 ALL DEALERS KEEP THEM. 
' , <y | T | v | v | T | T , Y | T l v i T | e' | y | T , v | T | T | T , y , 'v | v , y r y | y , T , v | v i i v i T | Y , ’f 
