88 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 8 
Ruralisms 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
Gorgeous Nasturtiums. — While 
most gardeners know that the name 
nasturtium is not botanically applied to 
plants of the genus Tropasolum, it is so 
universally associated with these bril¬ 
liant Summer blooms that it seems use¬ 
less now to attempt the correction. 
Nasturtium is the generic name of the 
humble and piquant water-cres's, which 
has the same pungent flavor, but, of 
course, no beauty in flower. Flowering 
Nasturtiums have been wonderfully im¬ 
proved during the last five years, and 
can now be had in a great range of 
colors, from almost pansy black through 
flaming scarlets, crimson and yellows, to 
the palest primrose. Indeed, white va¬ 
rieties are offered, but the flowers 
usually turn out to be corn-colored in 
effect. There are rose tints, and com¬ 
binations of brown, culminating in a 
very presentable deep mahogany speci¬ 
men in one of our later trials. The 
blotches and markings are often elab¬ 
orate, and of delightfully contrasting 
colors. Then there is much variation 
in form and color of the foliage, which 
runs from light yellow-green to deep 
bluish tints. Some quite closely imi¬ 
tate dark-leaved ivy in outline and col¬ 
oring. The varieties generally grown 
belong to the dwarf and climbing spe¬ 
cies, Tropseolum minor and T. majus, 
respectively, though a few other species 
are cultivated. Tropseolums are natives 
of South America, and are especially 
abundant in Peru. There are many 
fine named varieties of the above two 
species, but in our experience they do 
not always come true from seeds. The 
best sorts may easily be perpetuated by 
cuttings, which root quickly, and are 
easily carried over Winter in the win¬ 
dow garden if given a fair amount of 
sunlight and warmth. The most ad¬ 
mired feature of the Rural Grounds last 
year was a little rockery, scarcely five 
feet across, on which three selected 
climbing nasturtiums, a Hypericum or 
‘•gold flower,” and a tall Dracaena ter¬ 
minals were planted. The nastur¬ 
tiums were of sharply contrasting but 
harmonious colors, and made a blaze 
of beauty the entire Summer, sending 
out trailing branches six to eight feet 
long in every direction. Of course, they 
were well cared for, being highly fer¬ 
tilized and irrigated in dry weather. 
Cuttings of these choice kinds have 
been carried over Winter for several 
years, and seem to become freer in 
bloom each successive season. These 
tall nasturtiums demand good feeding, 
especially the section known as Lobb’s, 
T. Lobbianum, which is probably only 
a very ornamental form of T. majus, 
and not a true species. Its varieties 
have smaller foliage and flowers, but 
more than make up the deficiency in 
profusion and intense brilliancy of 
bloom. They are rather tender when 
young, and it is best to raise the seed¬ 
lings under glass, and plant them out 
only after the soil is well warmed. A 
choice strain of this section is sold as 
Madame Gunter’s hybrids, which are 
very satisfactory from their wide range 
of colors. 
The dwarf nasturtiums, on the other 
hand, show up best when planted in 
light soil of only moderate fertility, 
and often make their most brilliant ap¬ 
pearance in dry weather, as surplus 
moisture promotes too rank leaf 
growth. Some of them grow very com¬ 
pact, and make neat miniature bou¬ 
quets when well done, but, singularly 
enough, the dwarfest of all is the Lili- 
tall Lobbianum type. They retain the 
unusual brilliancy, wide range of col¬ 
ors and great profusion of bloom of the 
parent. There are many fine named 
sorts in the ordinary dwarf or Tom 
Thumb class, however. A bed of these, 
from seeds furnished by W. Atlee Bur- 
fee & Co., Philadelphia, Pa., has been 
a great pleasure to us for several years. 
Other species of Tropaeolums, less wide¬ 
ly cultivated, are the Canary-bird 
flower, T. peregrinum, well known for 
its deeply cut foliage and curious 
fringed yellow flowers, and the almost 
hardy Potato nasturtium, T. tubero¬ 
sum, having edible tubers and many 
orange-red flowers. Some very beauti¬ 
ful tuberous species, having flowers of 
many brilliant colors, are occasionally 
grown in greenhouses. 
An Eclipse for the Kieffer Pear. 
—It was noticeable that during the late 
meeting of the New Jersey Horticul¬ 
tural Society little was said in favor of 
the Kieffer pear, except that it and 
other Oriental pears were more resis¬ 
tant to Pernicious scale that the com¬ 
mon type. It was agreed that the era 
of high prices for Kieffers had passed. 
Although the scant apple crop was ex¬ 
pected to create a brisk demand for 
pears, which were none too plentiful in 
the most favored localities, only low or 
very moderate prices were obtained for 
Kieffers, and it is predicted that grow¬ 
ers must henceforth be content with 
low average prices. The older orchards 
that formerly returned such good prof¬ 
its are generally failing, and it is not 
likely that newer plantings will re¬ 
ceive as thorough attention in the face 
of falling prices. 
put strain, which originated from the 
For the land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth.— Adv. 
Mushroom Nonsense. —A New York 
daily, much given to horticultural and 
natural history yarns, had recently an 
obviously “faked” story of the incor¬ 
poration of a society for the suppres¬ 
sion of mushroom culture. The claims 
of the spokesman of the alleged society 
were to the effect that the cultivated 
mushroom is a vile and unwholesome 
product, grown upon masses of street 
sweepings in coal holes or cellars, often 
in the hotels and restaurants where 
served, and that the natural product of 
the fields and pastures is the only 
proper and healthy form of this ad¬ 
mirable esculent. The actual truth was 
used with extreme economy in this 
plausible tale, but its free circulation 
is likely to harm a legitimate industry. 
The mushroom, in common with many 
allied fungi, requires a highly nitrogen¬ 
ous medium of growth, and does not 
need light for its development. The 
real plant consists of a network of 
slender fibers, termed mycelium, rami¬ 
fying indefinitely through the masses 
of partially digested vegetable matter 
used by mushroom growers to form 
their beds. The growth in the field is 
precisely the same, the mycelium run¬ 
ning among the decaying grass roots 
underneath the sod, and is especially 
abundant in the vicinity of animal 
droppings. The object is the same in 
both cases—to appropriate nitrogen as 
soon as it is set free by fermentation 
caused by the action of nitrifying 
germs. No plant food is absorbed by 
the mushroom mycelium until it has 
been chemically fitted by this natural 
method. When the mycelium reaches 
a certain stage of development buds are 
formed, and what we know as the 
mushroom—the fruiting or spore-bear¬ 
ing portion of the plant—is quickly 
thrown up. If this takes place in the 
darkness of a well-appointed mushroom 
house or cellar, with its abundant mois¬ 
ture and surplus of rapidly available 
plant food, the mushroom will be solid, 
heavy and well-flavored; far more di¬ 
gestible than the thin and papery tis¬ 
sues of the half-starved specimens gath- 
gathered from the pastures in early 
morning, but they are quite likely to 
be flimsy, and, worst of all, buggy, most 
of them being infested with maggots 
quickly developed from eggs deposited 
by tiny flies as the buttons first emerge 
from the ground. The cultivation of 
mushrooms is a difficult art, not to be 
compassed by every one under all sorts 
of conditions. The mushroom is exact¬ 
ing in its requirements, and much care 
is needed to meet its special wants. The 
heating and fertilizing material used by 
successful growers is stable manure, the 
same as used for all garden and farm 
crops, when procurable. It is safe to 
say not a pound of mushrooms is grown 
by restaurant or hotel keepers in the 
large cities. Those served on the tables 
are grown by competent specialists, and 
vast quantities are imported in cans 
from abroad, where they are grown in 
caves, as an important industry. 
W. V. F. 
Wanted; Truth About Emma Peach. 
On page 854, Mr. Hale, after giving the 
Emma peach a very poor name, owns up 
that "a few growers in the South have 
made some money out of it,” and concludes 
by saying: “All the same, it is a peach 
for planters to let alone.” Just at this 
time this peach seems to be claiming a 
great deal of attention. The more reliable 
information about it the agricultural press 
can give us the better. Up here in Sussex 
County it has been planted, but the trees 
are young—three years old next Spring— 
They bore a few peaches last Fall, the 
li uit being of good color, with a clear skin. 
While the foliage is not as heavy as that 
of Elberta, the growing habits of the tree 
are equally as good as Chairs, if Emma 
does what its friends claim it will, it 
should be closely watched, for doubtless it 
will prove itself profitable, if any of the 
northern readers of The R. N.-Y. have 
marketed their fruit, it is to be hoped they 
will give us their experience. r. 
Sussex County, N. J. 
i have both Emma and Matthews, two 
years old last Spring, and each has borne 
just a few peaches. The quality of Emma 
is No. 1, and i think from what I have 
seen it will be a handsome fruit. The skin 
is very clear, with some red on one side. 
As a tree, is makes wood as fast as Chairs, 
and they have the same limb habits. The 
foliage is not so rich and green, and not so 
waxy as Elberta. It ripens its fruit about 
one week later than Elberta. Matthews is 
of the Smock strain, has Smock flavor, and 
ripens a week before Smock. The tree is a 
much better grower than Smock, and car¬ 
ries a better foliage. A friend told me that 
he picked some Matthews last Fall, from 
two-year-old trees, and they were fine. 
I place confidence in wflat Mr. Rumph of 
Georgia says. He is the originator of the 
Elberta, Emma and several other peaches. 
He says he called the Emma after his 
wife, for it was the best peach he had 
ever produced. I admit that there is some 
risk in any new peach. But I shall plant 
the Emma again in the Spring in line with 
the old adage: “Nothing risked, nothing 
gained.” w. d. hoggertt, 
Sussex County, N. J. 
Experience with Hotbeds. 
in The R. N.-Y., page 5, under heading, 
“Everybody’s Garden,” Mr. Morse tells of 
hotbeds and cold frames, excellent in most 
of the details. Having had experience in 
the use of sash and cloth covers several 
years, I suggest a slight modification. As 
essential to success I find nothing to take 
the place of glass in all cases, yet the 
cloth (heavy cotton muslin) is very useful 
many times in shading young plants from 
the sun, or to harden off for setting outside, 
and can be used to covei the glass, as I 
have frequently done; zero weather would 
need board covers in addition. I at first 
used the paint on the cloth, but on account 
of the cloth cracking badly, discontinued 
it, and now use no paint, just the plain 
cloth, thoroughly stretched lengthwise first, 
fastening with .small wire staples, used in 
laying carpets; when wet they stretch 
tight, which witli the incline of the frame, 
carries the water off, but little dropping 
through. Lumber is to be had in 12, 14 and 
16-foot lengths, stock boards, so called. 1 
found most convenient sash and frames 
for cloth covers six feet by three feet two 
inches, using seven panes in each of the 
four rows. In cutting glass for 6% panes, 
doubtless some will be broken. The head 
piece of the sash has a groove in which 
each glass there is shoved in, and so the 
lap will not average one-half an inch. I 
suggest using 16-foot lumber for sides, a 
12-foot board makes the ends. If desired a 
part of such frame can be used as a cold 
bed, by cutting off with a board fitted in¬ 
side, from side to side. e. h. 
Wellston, Mo. 
Apples in California. 
I. F., Redlands, Cal .—Having a mountain 
hillside sloping to the north and east, soil 
dark oak loam with clay subsoil, elevation 
5,000 feet, I wish to plant the same to the 
following variety of apples this Feb¬ 
ruary, cultivate the trees till they come 
into bearing, and then irrigate: York Im¬ 
perial, Stayman and Newtown for the main 
varieties, with Rome Beauty, Paragon and 
Ingram as fillers. Which pairs of these 
would do best together for cross polleniz- 
ing? Which would do best on the heavier, 
colder, damper soil, and which best on the 
lower, warmer and looser soil? Is there 
any variety of apple or other fruit trees 
that would make a good wind-break in the 
above location? 
Ans. —All of the varieties mentioned 
are self-fertile, and do not need to be 
planted alternately with each other or 
with any other varieties. York Imperial 
is more likely to succeed in damp and 
unfriendly soil than any of the others, 
but unless the land is really so it is 
probable that all of them will do well. 
If it is not good apple soil I would ad¬ 
vise not to plant at all. Apple or other 
fruit trees do not usually grow high 
enough to make good windbreaks. How¬ 
ever, two or three rows of York Im¬ 
perial trees set about a rod apart, and 
so as to overlap each other, or come al¬ 
ternately and not in squares, will serve 
in some measure in this way. 
H. e. v. D. 
Poor 
Soils 
are made rich¬ 
er and more 
productive and 
rich soils retain 
their crop-pro¬ 
ducing powers, 
by the use of 
fertilizers with 
a liberal percentage of 
Potash 
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