53o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 2 
; Ruralisms 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
A New Perfumery Rose Promised.— 
A late French horticultural journal con¬ 
tains a portrait and account of a new 
hybrid rose of the sweetest and most 
intense perfume imaginable, raised from 
successive crosses of the old Damask 
rose, Gen. Jacqueminot and a garden 
form of Rosa rugosa. The flowers are 
only of medium size, red in color, and 
continually produced the entire Sum¬ 
mer and Autumn. It is thought likely 
this new variety will prove very valu¬ 
able for the manufacture of the exceed¬ 
ingly costly otto of roses, which is used 
as the basis of most kinds of perfumes, 
and is about all imported from Turkey 
and Bulgaria. We can well believe in 
the odorifertms possibilities of such hy¬ 
brids, and have repeatedly grown crosses 
of Rosa rugosa and both Gen. Jacque¬ 
minot and Damask roses. The progeny 
of both has always been highly perfum¬ 
ed, but none had the everblooming habit 
sufficiently developed to make it useful 
in this way. If the French hybrid now 
named Rose a Parfume de L’Hay, proves 
really valuable when tested on a large 
scale, it will add another triumph for 
the commercial possibilities of plant¬ 
breeding. 
Pi.ant Lots of Strawberries. —Of all 
garden fruits the strawberry is most 
generally welcomed, coming as it does 
first after the long interval of enforced 
abstinence from fresh berries. Those 
who have space should not fail to plant 
a liberal breadth to this most acceptable 
and easily managed fruit There should 
be enough to afford liberal pickings, not 
only in the flush of the season, but both 
early and late, and this may be accom¬ 
plished by setting enough plants of 
locally successful varieties, and giving 
fair culture. If well flavored berries are 
especially desired it is well to grow in 
broad matted rows, taking care each 
plant has 10 or 12 inches space to de¬ 
velop in. Highly stimulated hill plants 
are all right for show, but the berries, 
after making all allowance for varietal 
differences, are seldom of really good 
flavor, being generally too watery. The 
crop, too, is usually borne all at once, 
the later fruits tapering down to insipid 
nubbins. Every berry picker knows the 
last fruits of any given variety, well- 
grown in moderately matted rows, are 
the sweetest and most delicious of all, 
and the hunt for these thoroughly 
ripened fig-like berries to be at once 
eaten is the most pleasing part of the 
season’s experience. To have plenty of 
these high-flavored late berries it is 
needful to have an abundance of plants 
to search over, and it is well now to 
consider planting if it was neglected 
during the pressure of Spring work. 
August-set strawberries as a rule fruit 
very sparingly, if at all, the following 
season, but with a fair chance greatly 
multiply in number and give a maxi¬ 
mum crop the succeeding year. As time 
goes on we put less dependance in pot- 
grown strawberry plants. When just 
at the right stage of root development 
they transplant very readily, but if al¬ 
lowed to get pot-bound they are very 
slow to start off after setting. They are 
excellent for shipment, although costly, 
both from the labor of preparation and 
the added weight during transportation 
of the plant. If a few plants of some 
scarce variety only are needed it is well 
to order pot-grown plants, as they may 
be set in dry weather by compacting the 
earth well about the balls and using wa¬ 
ter freely. When shifting plants on the 
home grounds we much prefer layers, 
moved on a damp day with the aid of a 
strong, broad trowel. We do not use 
the Richards transplanter, though it is 
known to do admirable work. The only 
objection is that it takes considerable 
soil from the row, which is not likely to 
be put back again, thus favoring undue 
exposure of the roots of the parent 
plants. If vigorous young plants are 
wanted early it is best to layer the tips 
of the runners just like a raspberry tip, 
except the little leaves need not be 
buried. Only a fraction of the time 
needed to place and fill a pot is consum¬ 
ed in layering, and for home use the re¬ 
sulting plants are about as good. This 
is not the place to detail methods of 
culture, but experience seems to indi¬ 
cate that clean cultivation, intelligent 
spacing of plants and thorough mulch¬ 
ing in late Winter or early Spring are 
of more importance in securing well- 
flavored and clean berries than high fer¬ 
tilization, though that is necessary for 
the best results in the way of product¬ 
iveness. We would again urge that the 
selection of varieties should chiefly be 
made from those locally successful, but 
one should never hesitate to try prom¬ 
ising novelties in a small way. The 
main thing after all in planting or in¬ 
creasing a home strawberry bed is to 
get it large enough. 
Trap the Moles. —The Editor of The 
R. N.-Y., in response to persistent in¬ 
quiries, was recently obliged to deliver 
his annual message concerning Lhe lack 
of profit in and the general undesirabil¬ 
ity of skunk farming, inflated accounts 
of the money to be made this way were 
published years ago, and still rankle in 
the minds of correspondents, so the sub¬ 
ject must be repeatedly gone over. They 
recall the old exaggerations, but fail to 
remember the exposures since made. 
The getting rid of garden moles is a 
quite similar subject. Repeatedly the 
advice persistently to trap moles has 
been given, but there are always many 
individuals who ask for a sure method 
of poisoning the pests or of driving them 
away by planting something disagree¬ 
able to their taste. It would be very 
agreeable to recommend some such 
wholesale method if one could be found 
in the slightest degree effective, but the 
reluctant fact remains that the only 
practicable way of limiting the ravages 
of moles is to keep everlastingly trap¬ 
ping them. The mischief a mole does 
often lives after him, as the deeper run¬ 
ways are quite permanent, and succes¬ 
sors from the lands of careless owners 
constantly find their way into the most 
carefully guarded gardens. With the 
aid of two Olmstead traps—the Reddick 
is about as good at a less price—we keep 
the Rural Grounds tolerably clear of the 
nuisances, but great promptness and 
close watching is needed, particularly 
after hard rains, to capture the tres¬ 
passers as soon as they begin their raids. 
The annual bag is about 25 moles, and it 
makes one shudder to think of the 
amount of damage they might do to 
rare and unique plants if not captured. 
IE moles bother you get a good trap, 
study the habits of the mole and the 
nature of the runways made in your 
soil. Use the trap persistently and you 
will come out Lhe winner. w. v. f. 
SAVING CHERRIES FROM BIRDS. 
There are two very sensible and prac¬ 
tical ways of saving cherries from the 
birds. 1. Plant mulberry trees. The birds 
like this. It is a softer and sweeter fruit, 
and the birds will choose the mulberries 
in preference. I have seen clouds or oirds 
leave a large orchard of fruit, and let it 
alone to settle on the trees around the mul¬ 
berries. In planting cherries remember 
the birds and plant something for them 
also. 2. Birds are afraid of reflectors and 
rays of reflected light. Here a useful 
trick can be learned from the Filipinos. 
They were troubled by the birds stealing 
fruit from their fruit trees. They put upon 
their trees poles with little mirrors or 
small bright pieces of metal to reflect the 
light, swinging suspended from the poles. 
As they swing around in the breeze the 
reflectors cast their rays of light in every 
direction, and their trees were free from 
the birds immediately. The bird's flew 
away to escape the rays and flashes of 
light. The remedy is simple; very effica¬ 
cious, and requires no watching by the 
farmer. It Is worth $100 to anyone who 
has cherries, and is bothered much by 
such enemies. h. t. w. 
Hood River, Ore. 
Some Pennsylvania Birds.— While the 
bird subject is up, 1 suppose anyone is at 
liberty to say a say. Among the hun¬ 
dreds of varieties of birds that make 
Pennsylvania a home for some part of the 
year, only three or four kinds do much 
injury to fruit, but they are bad ones. 
Very few of the others eat fruit at all, 
and it would be unfair to make them 
suffer for the sins of the rascals. Robins, 
Cedar waxwings, Crow blackbirds, cat¬ 
birds, flickers and thrushes all eat more 
or less fruit; and some others as Orchard 
orioles, Blue jays and woodpeckers do 
some damage. But the three first on the 
list are the leaders in mischief. Robins 
and cedar birds have scarcely a redeem¬ 
ing trait except impudence. Neither mos¬ 
quito netting, scarecrows nor gunpowder 
will keep them away from a tree of nice 
red cherries. I have known a man to keep 
steadily shooting at them about as fast 
as he could load his gun without any ap¬ 
parent effect, and the large blackbirds 
have about as much cheek. These very 
varieties that are so troublesome are the 
ones that multiply the most rapidly. 
Robins have become so nearly domesti¬ 
cated that they will nest almost anywhere 
about a dwelling—on porch plates, win¬ 
dow sills, cornices, brackets or the like. 
This Summer we had a robin’s nest on 
one corner of a projecting cornice, a black¬ 
bird on the other and a robin’s on an at¬ 
tic window sill. While nearly every kind 
of bird and fowl eats insects at some 
stage of their lives, it is rather doubtful 
whether the robin family indulge in such 
common fare after they leave the nest 
unless you class earthworms among the 
insect tribe. Fro,‘m the time the first 
early cherry ripens or shows color till the 
last hawthorn berry is consumed, our 
friend, the robin, does not enjoy a meat 
diet. So marked in his taste for fruit that 
Dr. Warren, in his “Birds of Pennsylva¬ 
nia,” pictures him with a cherry in his 
beak. The market for early cherries is 
becoming better each season, and would 
be well supplied, which it is not now, if 
fruit raisers had some hope of ripening 
a crop. But as it is very few early cherry 
trees are planted, and dealers find hard 
work to sell their stock. Though a great 
lover of the bird family, I am also a great 
lover of good fruit, especially fhe cherry, 
and when it becomes a question of bird 
or fruit, I go for the fruit. I would pro¬ 
tect our game birds to the last ditch, es¬ 
pecially quail and grass p’lover, and 
would never allow one of them to be 
killed if I could help it, but would not 
favor very strenuous protective legisla¬ 
tion for the fruit-eating branch of the 
bird family. w. T. s. 
Chester Co., Pa. 
Lumber 
AT 
Extremely 
Low Prices 
We purchased the Pan-Ameri¬ 
can Exposition at Buffalo, and 
have 33,000,000 feet of fine sea¬ 
soned lumber to offer. It consists 
of joists, timbers, flooring, sheath¬ 
ing, patent lath, and, in fact, 
anything and everything in the 
lumber line. 
IF YOU ARE ABOUT TO BUILD 
Send Us Your Lumber Bill 
FOR OUR ESTIMATE. 
We issue a catalogue. Address 
as follows : 
Chicago House Wrecking Co., 
Pan-American Exposition, Dept. 62, 
BUFFALO, N. Y. 
■ ■ "mi ii 
FARMERS 
can save money by using and make money 
>y selling Hold Fant Corn Hinder*. 
Pull and it’s fast. Ties itself. Costs less 
than string. Never wears out. Lastly 
sold- Liberal terms. (let territory 
quick. Complete outfit mulled free. 
TIE CO.. B.72,Unadilla,N. 
Before Buying a New Harness 
Send 4c. postage lor Illustrated Catalogue; full 
description and prices single and 
double Oak Leather Harness direct 
to consumer at Wholesale Prices and 
Save Money. Address 
KINO IIARNKSS CO y 
CIO Church St., Owego, N. t. 
Drink PureW ater 
By using the Bucket Pump und 
Water Purltler will purify the foulest 
well or cistern in three dayB’ time, or 
money refunded. No tubing to rust, 
burst or wear out. The Chain and 
Buckets made of galvunized steel. 
Can be set up lu 15 minutes. No at. 
tachments below the platform. Will 
not freeze In the coldest weather. 
Makes had water good, and good 
water better. Prevents Scarlet, Ty¬ 
phoid and Malaria Fever. Write at 
once for circular and special price to 
Introduce Into new territory. 
KOSS BROTHERS, 
90 and 92 Front St., Worcester, Mass. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
I t. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
“asquare deal.” See our guarantee 8th page. 
WE’LL PAY THE FREIGHT 
and Bead 4 llu|nry IVhrel., Steel Tire un, - $7.25 
With Rubber Tire., (Hi.00. I mfg. wheels to 4 In. 
treail. Top Buggiea, $‘28.75; Harness, (3.601 Write for 
catalogue, I.earu how to buy vehicles and parts direct. 
Wagon Umbrella FttKK. W. It. BOOB, Cincinnati. <*- 
The Agricultural Drain Tile^^OT 
—— _ , iX . . _ . , hkst that lone experience. Ihor- 
r ^ - .tA- ough equipment and superior clay will produce. TiTe drained land is 
Dai I M T" 1 K E ET Jthe earliest, easiest worked and most productive. Make also Sewer Pipe, 
nUUn L' 1 i Ll -himney Tops, Kcd and Fire Prick, Oven Tile and Supply IWortar Colors, 
s Cement, Plaster, Lime, etc*. Write for what you want. »70 Third Ave. 
NewYork State Fair 
Grand Horse Show 
Will rival anything ever given at a State Fair. 
The finest horses used for coaching and equestrian 
purposes will he In the show ring Many of the 
equipages shown at the New York Horse Show will 
be seen at the Fair. 
The Agricultural Exhibits 
Will be one of the greatest attractions of the Fair. 
The fruit show will be worth traveling a longdistance 
to see. 
The Live Stock 
The flu 58t breeds of cattle, sheep and swine will boon 
exhibition. The most noted stock farms will compete 
for the prizes. The remarkable exhibit of last year 
will be greatly exceeded this year both in numbers 
and quality. 8took buildings thoroughly disinfected. 
Grand Circuit Races 
Promise to produco some of the most Interesting 
events of the season. The list of entries in the early 
closing events Is very large. Tht* best horses lu the 
country will compete for the large purses. 
September 8 to 13,1902. 
GENERAL ADMISSION, 25 CENTS. 
Send for Prize List. 8. C. SHAVER, Secretary. 
$60,0 
100 
IN 
PREMIUMS 
AND 
PURSES 
$60,0 
100 
