434 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 21 
Ruralisms ; 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Unpropitious Weather. —From cold 
and dry to hot and dry may be a wel¬ 
come change physically, but it is not 
stimulating to shallow-rooted plants. 
The local rainfall since early March has 
been noticeably deficient. Showers have 
been very light and infrequent, while 
keen winds have been very constant. We 
started in with a more complete satura¬ 
tion of the subsoil from Fall and Winter 
precipitation than for the past 25 years, 
but evaporation has been so constant 
and the Spring rains so light that the 
surface, particularly of uncultivated 
tracts, has dried out to a distressing de¬ 
gree. The close of the first week in 
June brings no relief, and it is evident 
that grass and early forage crops will 
be very scanty, and that strawberries 
are likely to be cut very short, though 
the first pickings are large and fine. 
Lawns and grass plots are burned to a 
dreary brown, and in many places, even 
when well fertilized, grasses have not 
started at all, the persistent cool winds 
and chilly nights retarding them until 
the surafce dried out too much. The 
deeper-rooted perennial weeds, such as 
the dandelion, plantain and buckhorn, 
were little checked, and thrive with phe¬ 
nomenal vigor. We have never had such 
a brilliant dandelion display before, but 
even these hardy natives now yield to 
the prevailing aridity. Orchard fruits 
are in a promising condition, cherries 
being especially abundant. Blackberries 
and raspberries were badly winterkilled 
in many places, but the remaining canes 
are blooming profusely, and with suffi¬ 
cient rain should perfect a tolerable 
crop. Cultivated soil still shows con¬ 
siderable moisture when stirred, and 
the “dust mulch” treatment is being 
maintained with good results on all 
young crops. Peas and early potatoes, 
though growing vigorously where well 
treated, begin to show their dislike to 
the drought. Roses and flowering 
shrubs are exceedingly fine, opening 
their blooms well in the dry air. New¬ 
ly-planted trees and shrubs are having 
a hard time, and many good specimens 
will be lost. 
Alfalfa and Cow Peas. —Alfalfa is 
being sown in increasing quantity in 
this locality, though no one succeeds in 
getting a very good stand. Apparently 
not enough seed is used, the recommend¬ 
ed 10 or 12 pounds an acre not being 
enough under our conditions of germina¬ 
tion. It is usual to seed down in mix¬ 
ture with other clovers with grain as a 
nurse plant in the usual way, and great 
numbers of the young Alfalfa seedlings 
are smothered or starved the first sea¬ 
son, resulting in a scattering stand. It 
is very permanent, the survivors finding 
a congenial foothold in our light and dry 
sandy subsoils, and grows stronger each 
season, forming great tufts with thick, 
carrot-like roots. A nearby street grade 
has just been carried through an Al¬ 
falfa field two years planted, and the 
cutting, over five feet deep in one place, 
shows the long tap roots going still 
deeper in search of food and moisture. 
Not much has been definitely ascertain¬ 
ed as to the local value of Alfalfa. It is 
known to make good hay, and help out 
a mixed pasture, as well as to hold light 
lands from blowing in Winter, and its 
use for these purposes is likely to con¬ 
tinue. Cow peas are being tried for soil 
improvement purposes more extensively 
than before, and if the Rural Grounds 
experience for the last two seasons is a 
fair criterion, they are certain to prove 
highly beneficial. 
Crimson Clover. —Crimson clover, on 
the other hand, is well intrenched in the 
regard of Jersey farmers and truckers, 
and is largely sown to succeed early 
grain and vegetables. It holds the soil 
against washing or blowing during Win¬ 
ter, and fills it full of highly nitrogenous 
humus for the consumption of succeed¬ 
ing crops. Though occasionally thinned 
out by March frosts enough plants gen¬ 
erally pull through to make a thick 
growth for plowing under, though many 
think this clover pays its way in soil 
enrichment by Fall root-growth alone, 
even if the tops never start in Spring. 
Crimson clover is seldom cut for hay, as 
it comes at an inconvenient time in late 
May, but is often pastured when grown 
in enclosed fields. Its acknowledged 
value is as a soil renovator. 
Plant Breeding hy Selection. —Fig. 
169, reproduced from the English Gar¬ 
dener’s Chronicle, graphically illustrates 
the enormous changes brought about in 
a florist’s flower by repeated selection 
through many generations. The sub¬ 
ject is a single flower of a prize green¬ 
house Cineraria contrasted with that of 
its supposed progenitor, Senecio, or Cin¬ 
eraria cruentus, from the Canary Isl¬ 
ands, as it naturally grows. Though se¬ 
lection for size, perfection of form anc 
vivid color has been the main factor in 
this extraordinary change, cross pollina¬ 
tion has been freely used, and it is 
necessary even now in order to main¬ 
tain the high standard reached by these 
biilliant blooms. Seeds saved from even 
the best plants are quite certain to de¬ 
teriorate in one or two generations un¬ 
less carefully pollinated from other 
equally good specimens. Modern Ciner¬ 
arias, when well done, present probably 
the most intense and brilliant color ef- 
Rcts known to horticulture, but the 
plants as a whole are still coarse and 
weedy in outline. They are easily 
grown if one has a shaded glass struc¬ 
ture to carry them over Summer and to 
bloom them in the following Spring. 
They require careful watering and lib¬ 
eral feeding, but are not otherwise diffi¬ 
cult to grow. Their greatest enemy is 
an aphid or green louse, which is hard 
to dislodge when established under the 
succulent broad leaves, but it may al¬ 
ways be kept in check by persistent mild 
fumigation. The range of color is from 
white to almost crimson, and includes 
some of the richest purples known. 
There are double varieties, which can 
only be perpetuated by cuttings, but 
they are after all not nearly as hand¬ 
some as the best singles. w. v. f. 
A Good Apple Country. 
Not long since, when on a trip of in¬ 
vestigation in the Soutn, I spent nearly 
a week in the famous apple belt of the 
Blue Ridge country in Patrick County, 
Va., which touches the North Carolina 
line. The general elevation of good 
apple lands in all that region is from 
1,000 to 3,000 feet above sea level. 1 
never saw so much land suitable to the 
culture of high-grade apples in a body 
in any county this side of Idaho, Ore¬ 
gon and Washington. There is scarcely 
a farm or a wild tract of any great size, 
that does not have a large part of it 
that impressed me as well adapted to 
apple culture. The land is generally 
rough, and some of it is truly mountain¬ 
ous and sometimes stony, but this is 
just the sort of land the best quality of 
fruit is grown upon. The character of 
the soil is mostly reddish clay, and this 
seems to be quite uniform, for many feet 
in depth, sometimes reaching to the bed 
rock. As the mountain slopes are reach¬ 
ed the color changes to dark gray, and 
some of it is black with the great pro¬ 
portion of humus it contains. On the 
slopes of the steep mountain coves it is 
so loose that one can run a stick down 
a foot or more with little effort. Here 
is where the far-famed Newtown (Albe¬ 
marle) apples grow. It is Real apple 
land, and the climate is cool enough and 
yet warm enough to suit this fastidious 
variety. Most other kinds attain their 
highest development in such locations. 
Those who wish to escape the rigors of 
long northern Winters and grow good 
fruit with almost certainty might do 
well to investigate Patrick and adjoin¬ 
ing counties in Virginia and North 
Carolina. Stuart is the county seat, and 
has a live business men’s club, which 
is not always found in places which are 
apparently more progressive. 
II. E. VAN DEMAN. 
V /R.ITE roR. 
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MAIL"KING CORN'TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS.- 
58 
Wagon World Awheel. 
Half a million of these steel 
wheels have been sent out on 
our own wagons and to fit other 
wagons. It is the wheel that 
determines the life of any 
wagon, and this is the longest 
lived wheel made. Do you want 
a low down Handy Wagon to 
use about the place? Wewillflt 
out your old wagon with Elec¬ 
tric Wheels of any size and 
any shape tire straight or stag¬ 
gered spokes. No cracked hubs, no 
loose spokes, no rotten felloes, no resetting. Write for 
the big new catalogue. Itis free. 
Electric Wheel Co., Box 88« Quincy, Ills. 
A Dry Sprayer 
No Water or Plaster. 
DUSTS TREE, BUSH 
OR VINE. 
Two rows of potatoes as 
fastas you walk, wide or 
narrow planting. Agents 
wanted. Catalogue and 
spray calendar free. 
Leggett & Brother, 
301 Pearl 8t., New York. 
Dutton’s 
Improved. 
Knife and 
Tool 
Grinder 
$ 2.50 each 
SAMPSON 
TOBACCO PRESS. 
CLARK'S 
DOUBLE¬ 
ACTION 
Cutaway Harrow will easily move 
15,000 tons of earth one foot in 
a day. 
CLARK'S SULKY 
Gang Disk 
Plow, 
From 2 to 8 feet. 
For horse or 
Steam Power. 
CUTAWAY HARROW CO., HIG6ANUM, CONN. 
The Pump 
That Pumps 
SPRAY Double-acting, Lilt, 
PUMPS Tatak and Spray 
w PUMPS 
S Store Ladders, Etc. 
HAYTOOLS 
Valve kH of all kinds. Write for 
Circulars and Prices. 
MYERS STAY0N 
Flexible Door 
with steel roller bearings, 
easy to push and to pull, 
cannot be thrown on the 
track—hence its name— 
“istuyon.” Has no equal. 
Thousands sold. Ask your 
dealer or write us for de- 
_ soriptive oiroularH. 
F. E. MYERS <fc BRO., Ashland, Ohio. 
Big Profit on Small Investment 
in owning a wagon scale. Everyone 
says so about the 08G001>. Best 
materials and workmanship. Simple. 
Accurate. No repairs. Any 
kind of beam or platform. 
Guaranteed 30 days trial. 
Prices and terms reasonable. 
OSGOOD SCALE CO., CwtalBt.7L 
CHARTER 
Gasoline Engine 
USED 
Any Place 
By Any One 
For Any Purpose 
| Stationaries, Portables, Engines 
and Pumps, Holsters, 
Sawing Outfits. 
Send for Illustrated Catalogue and 
Testimonials. State your Power Needs. 
Charter Gas Engine Co., Box 26, Sterling, III- 
i 
If You Drink Wafer 
from a well or cistern not 
deeper thuu 3U l'eet.you should 
send for our free catalogue Il¬ 
lustrating our Cleveland 
Chain Pumps. A Complete 
Pump for $0, DELIVERED. 
All steel and galvanized. Steel 
Tubing, Purifying Rubber 
Buckets, etc. Sold under post 
tivo guarantee to be the best 
on earth. We have equipped 
300,000 wells. 
Cleveland Galvanizing Works, 
14-24 Cooper 8t., Cleveland,O. 
