4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 7 
from the building adjoining the barn, and they built 
a stone root-cellar. Wm. Deacon told me that the in¬ 
surance companies said that they had a loss to pay 
every time they insured an incubator house. I ran, one 
season, two Prairie State incubators (100-egg and 200- 
egg), had two “flashes” and two “smokes” in that 
time, and I was careful. I could not trust the thermom¬ 
eters to regulate the heat, and could do better work by 
turning up and down the wick. Neither in the 200- 
egg machine could I get two thermometers to report 
the same degree of heat, and I experimented in all 
sorts of ways. While investigating this lamp ques¬ 
tion, I wish you would go further. Why do oil stoves 
burn well when new, and smoke offensively when 
old ? Why do oil heaters burn nicely one season and 
smoke badly the next, though thoroughly scoured— 
new wicks and everything. An incubator lamp run 
steadily night and day for three weeks is a dangerous 
machine. Keep it away from your poultry house. 
Trust it as you would a powder mixer ! Isolate it ! 
Westchester County, N. Y. bknj. Durham. 
A MARYLAND STRAWBERRY PLANT. 
HOW IT IS GROWN AND DUG. 
A Perfect Glutton For Food. 
| EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. I 
Part II. 
Good Itoots Wanted. —In growing strawberries 
for plants , the object is to force the greatest possible 
growth, both above and below ground. In this sandy 
soil, the roots make a strong growth and the runners 
tip and grow rapidly. When set early in Spring and 
given plenty of manure and water under best con¬ 
ditions, an average of 125,000 plants per acre may be 
secured. Of course, not all of these will be first- 
class plants with perfect root development. It is root 
rather than stem and leaf that the buyer should be 
after—just as the dairyman should look for stomach 
and udder rather than head and hams in the calf. 
The roots are the teeth of the plant. As between two 
cows or horses otherwise equal, we would always take 
the one with the better teeth. 
Mr. Allen says that this sandy southern soil is best 
for producing strawberry roots , because it is loose and 
open and the climate so mild that the plant can grow 
several months longer than in the North. This idea 
of growing the animal or plant in the section where 
it develops the best constitution or root, and then 
taking it to the place where it can utilize its food to 
best advantage, is getting to be quite common. As 
far apart as Sullivan County, N. Y., and Oktibbeha 
County, Miss., are two sections where cattle with 
Jersey blood in them grow fast and gain great vigor 
of constitution. It is a good business move to take 
them as three-year-olds to richer pastures near good 
markets, and force them for milk production. 
Plant vs. Fruit. —The ground is stuffed with 
manure and fertilizer before the plants are set out. 
Then the object is to keep the weeds down and the 
ground well stirred so as to make the plants grow. 
At the time of my visit, the plants were in thick, 
matted rows nearly covering the field. In digging, a 
man starts at one end of the row with a fork, and 
forks the whole thing up as he works backward, shak¬ 
ing out the roots and rejecting the culls. The good 
plants are quickly picked up and taken under cover. 
The plant’s root workshop should never be illuminated, 
and the sun should be kept away from its roots. The 
details of sorting, tying and packing are so familiar 
that it is hardly worth while to describe them. 
There is about as great a difference in growing 
strawberries for plants and for fruit as there is in 
producing beef or butter. For plants, the object is to 
cover as much of the ground as possible with runners. 
With fruit in view, comparatively few plants are de¬ 
sired—15,000 strong ones to the acre are too many— 
and each plant should have its fair chance for sun and 
soil. The trouble is that too many growers cultivate 
the strawberry for plants, and then feel disappointed 
because they do not obtain more than half a crop of 
fruit. With every crop except hay, I think our tend¬ 
ency is to try to grow too many plants to the acre. 
We go to the other extreme with hay by seeding too 
lightly with grain and thus not having half plants 
enough. 
I asked Mr. Allen where he spends his time during 
this rushing season. He said that he goes right into 
the packing shed and “ lives there,” while Mrs. Allen 
goes into the office and attends to the books and 
orders. A mistake of figures may be corrected, but a 
mistake of varieties in packing would be fatal in such 
a business. A packer must be able to distinguish 
hundreds of varieties at once, often by slight differ¬ 
ences of leaf and stem. Some varieties are so much 
alike in appearance that it would seem as though 
the packer must decide by instinct. 
A Talk of Varieties.—Of course, among io,oco,ooo 
plants, there are hundreds of different varieties. Mr. 
Allen tries to keep posted as to the behavior of new 
and standard varieties in various parts of the country. 
Sometimes, he will get a large order from people who 
ask him to select varieties for them. This is not always 
an easy thing to do,for varieties will often di ffer greatly 
in their behavior when moved from one kind of soil 
or one climate to another. The larger growers usually 
find what they want by testing, and thus their orders 
give a fair idea as to the general value of varieties. I 
asked Mr. Allen which five varieties he grew most of. 
“ Clyde, Glen Mary, Gandy, Bubach, and Wm. Belt,” 
he said, after some thought. “ The next four would, 
probably, be Sample, Excelsior, Nick Ohmer, and Jerry 
Rusk.” 
“ Do you still handle the old Wilson ? ” 
“ Yes, we have 300,000 plants. They are mostly sold 
in Oswego County, N. Y.,and in Minnesota. It is not so 
good as formerly. Yet hundreds of growers still 
like it.” 
“ What about the Henry ? ” 
“ We have 200,000 of Henry and Marshall. I can 
only say that they are so much alike as grown here 
that one could safely pass for the other. As we fruit 
them, there are but slight differences in leaf or in 
fruit. There is always a good demand for Marshalls, 
usually in smaller orders from men who are prepared 
to give the variety great care. It is, evidently, best 
suited to hill or narrow-row culture on heavy soil. 
Marshall is not a good variety to recommend to the 
average grower. It requires the finest care ” 
“ What variety would you select for your own eat¬ 
ing ? ” 
“ Brunette—but not for market.” 
“ What varieties are in your own fruiting beds—the 
fruit you send to market ? ” 
“ The largest proportion is of Clyde—then Glen 
MEXICAN JUNE CORN IN WEST VIRGINIA. Fig. 5. 
See Ruralisms, Page 6. 
Mary, Wm. Belt and Manville. Clyde is a little earlier 
than Glen Mary—which is an advantage in Maryland.” 
“ Do you have much of a Fall trade ?” 
“ Quite a good many plants are sent to Florida. 
Clyde and Glen Mary set there in the Fall will fruit in 
February. Gandy and Brandywine are, also, very 
popular in Florida. Parker Earle is, as you know, a 
native of Texas. It has not been of the best with us, 
especially in dry seasons, as it starts more berries 
than it can mature. Arnot’s Improved Parker Earle 
comes from Pennsylvania, and seems able to mature 
its berries better. Otherwise it is much the same 
thing.” 
“ Next week I want to tell of some of the social and 
economic sides of this great business. h. w. c. 
ELECTRIC EXPRESS SERVICE FOR FARMERS 
Those Electric Yankees.— New England seems 
to be leading the country in the matter of locating 
trolley or electric lines. They run up and down 
through the country. Hartford, Conn., is headquarters 
for this service, and light lines run in every direction, 
so that one may start from Hartford and practically 
travel all over Connecticut and Massachusetts on an 
electric car. These Yankees are never satisfied to 
half-do anything, and the possibilities of carrying 
freight or express packages by electricity were quickly 
apparent to them. Of course, the steam railroads ob¬ 
jected to this service because it meant a great loss to 
freight. Gradually, however, the express business has 
been extended. ' For several months, a trolley express 
has been operated between Hartford, Newington, 
New Britain, Plainville and Bristol, something over 
20 miles. Another line runs east for 11 miles, and 
still another west for 12 miles. These lines run 
through a country section, and the express business 
has become a popular feature. 
A few weeks ago a new line was opened up north¬ 
east of Hartford for about 18 miles. Some of the 
larger Hartford merchants made a contract for the 
free delivery of their goods in leading towns along 
the road. The idea was to induce the country people 
to come to Hartford to buy their goods, and have 
them delivered on the trolley by express. This worked 
so well that the local merchants along the road became 
frightened, and at several places, have petitioned 
the president of the trolley line to withdraw the ex¬ 
press cars. Thus far, however, this has not been 
done, and there is no good prospect that they will be 
taken off. Id fact, the chances are that this trolley 
express service will be greatly increased all over New 
England. The result, of course, will be a loss of trade 
to the local storekeepers, just as the great department 
stores in the West have nearly ruined the business of 
local tradesmen. In New England, however, the great 
convenience to the public from having these express 
cars running through the country, is so great that, 
probably, no power can btop them. 
Possibilities ol' It. —J. H. Hale writes us that 
there are now trolley lines all the way from Hartford 
to Springfield, Mass , and on beyond to Holyoke and 
North Hampton. This coming Summer he expects to 
ship peaches to Hartford, Springfield and Holyoke on 
the trolley lines, direct from the farm to the grocery 
stores along the principal streets of these towns and 
cities. This service, of course, will be in the night, 
or very early in the morning, before passenger service 
begins. Mr. Hale has already taken advantage of this 
service to Hartford for the last three years, and the 
chances are that, within 10 years, New England will 
be a perfect network of trolley lines, so that produce 
can be shipped quickly and cheaply in every direction. 
The steam railroads of New England seem to have 
fought this extension of trolley lines, but now they 
apparently realize that they will be obliged to com¬ 
pete with it. Some of the roads use what they call 
the third-rail system, which is a rail placed between 
the two ordinary rails so that it may be charged with 
electricity and used for quick service on ordinary rail¬ 
road cars. This great exten ion of electric car ser¬ 
vice indicates something of the possibilities for trav¬ 
eling and shipping that are opening up for the farm¬ 
ers of the future. The local dealers and tradesmen 
are bound to suffer while the new conditions are be¬ 
ing adjusted. It is to be hoped, however, that most 
farmers and the public generally will be benefited by 
placing the country people in closer communication 
with the town and city In time, the old water pow¬ 
ers which formerly gave life to country villages will 
be used again for generating electricity. 
THE NEW YORK STATE INSTITUTES. 
SOME OF THE FAVORITE SPEAKERS. 
The institute workers, such as Gould, Cook, Van 
Dresser, Chapman, Ward and Fenner are giving us 
some eye-openers. John Gould surprises us by sayiDg 
that square silos are better than round ones. We 
have two round ones and one square, and would not 
think of exchanging round ones for any square ones 
we have ever seen, simply because we don’t see aDy 
white mold next to the wall, and have failed to find a 
square one that does not show it. Mr. Gould tells me 
that the round silos in his section that are being aban¬ 
doned, were put up without grooving the edges; ours 
are grooved. 
Mr. Gould is truly a Buckeye hustler, but I guess 
he is like us in some respects, judging from his talk 
on caring for the farmer’s garden. He would have us 
mulch the garden with straw, as he says, “the lazy 
man’s way.” 
Mr. Cook is telling us not to pay so much for com¬ 
mercial fertilizers, and the local agents don’t enjoy 
hearing him at all. Cook is all right; I wish we had 
more as fearless as he. Mr. Fenner keeps the crowd 
in good spirits, and tells of his failures as well as his 
success at farming. 
Mr. Chapman gave us some pointers on potato cul¬ 
ture, which he proved by simple illustrations. He must 
prepare his ground as some would for onions. During 
Mr. Chapman’s fruit talk, he asked every woman in 
the room that had an abundance of strawberries dur¬ 
ing the bearing season, to rise ; not one came to her 
feet. One man, whose wife was not present, said 
they had strawberries seven months of the year. Mr. 
Chapman thought that must be a happy family. 
All of the farmers are interested in The Selection 
of a Dairy Cow as given by Mr. Van Dresser. He re¬ 
minds us of the old saying, “ There’s always room at 
the top ” ; and so it is and always will be in breeding 
cattle as in other pursuits. 
