8o 
A, A A 
; Pluralisms ; 
•■VW 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
EVERGREENS 
February 4 
THE R. N.-Y. POTATO FLOWER¬ 
POT EXPERIMENT. 
WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD OF FINDING 
OUT WHICH ARE THE MOST PROFIT¬ 
ABLE KINDS OF POTATOES ? 
A New Method Proposed and Tried. 
ALL OF OUR POTATO-INTERESTED READERS 
AND THE EXPERIMENT STATIONS WERE 
SOLICITED TO CO-OPERATE. 
In order that our later readers may 
understand the scope and object of the 
experiment, it may be well for us to 
quote from The R. N.-Y. of January 29, 
April 9, May 14, June 4, 1898. The Rural 
Trench System, as has been stated again 
and again, has helped, as we believe, to 
furnish equality of soil, etc., for trials of 
new varieties. It was our purpose to 
amplify the Trench System so as to 
furnish, if possible, 'precisely the same 
conditions to all of the kinds to be tried. 
It was, so to say, to make a huge flower¬ 
pot. It would not be difficult so to mix 
a given quantity of soil that 100 flower 
pots, a foot or more in diameter, could 
be filled with soil of just the same poros¬ 
ity and texture, containing just the same 
amount of plant food. Instead of the 
flower-pots, we purposed making a huge 
flower-pot of, say one-fortieth acre of 
level, thoroughly-drained soil. The soil 
was spaded over a dozen times, or more, 
interchanging every portion, until all 
portions were as nearly alike as the soil 
could be made. The expense of this in¬ 
termingling of the soil is not to be con¬ 
sidered. If such a trial would answer 
the question for a given soil, “ Which 
is the most profitable potato, old or 
new ? ” potato growers would not regard 
it. The answer would pay the cost many 
fold, and we could afford to try it again 
and again, or as long as promising varie¬ 
ties shall be offered for sale. 
We concluded to make the plot 33 x 16K 
feet, bounded on the four sides by 12- 
inch hemlock boards, which were sunk 
perpendicularly into the soil, so as to 
leave them but one inch above the sur¬ 
face. See Fig. 32. For two reasons, this 
was thought to be desirable : first, the 
entire field has always been infested 
with moles—traps are some protection, 
certainly, but the moles would often do 
much damage in so careful an experi¬ 
ment before they could be killed ; second, 
in case of heavy rains, the boards would, 
in a measure, prevent the water from 
running into parts of the in closure from 
the soil outside of it—w r hat we wanted 
was that all portions should be alike as 
to the texture of the soil and distribu¬ 
tion of plant food. 
It was spaded a foot deep so often and 
the parts so thoroughly mixed that, in 
so far as the eye could detect, there was 
perfect uniformity. But we continued 
to intermingle the parts, now and again, 
until the day of planting. Without this 
perfect uniformity of the soil, our ex¬ 
periment could not prove all that we 
hoped to prove by it. The soil of the 
plot is naturally thin and unproductive, 
and it has never been manured, to the 
best of our knowledge, founded upon 25 
years of residence near it, and the state¬ 
ments of the oldest inhabitants. The 
last turning and intermingling of the 
soil was done in this way : Two wide 
basins were dug out a foot in depth; 
either within about 15 feet of the north 
and south boundaries. The soil was 
scattered as evenly as possible over the 
entire plot. Then soil was taken from 
all parts of the plot to form cones of soil 
on either of these basins, six feet high. 
Then this soil was redistributed over the 
plot. The surface was carefully leveled, 
the man using a long-handled rake so 
that it would not be necessary to tramp 
upon the plot. The distances for the 
rows were then marked out, and a 16-foot 
rod, marked off in foot spaces, showed 
where the seed pieces were to be planted. 
The soil was now so fluffy and spongy 
that the foot of the planter would have 
sunk several inches had he not used wide 
boards to stand upon. These were placed 
between the rows. In order to secure 
for every seed piece or tuber the same 
depth of planting, a Richards trans¬ 
planter was used. This, as we have be¬ 
fore described, is a galvanized iron 
cylinder four inches deep and nearly 
four inches in diameter. This was 
pressed into the soil and removed. The 
seed potato was then pressed into the bot¬ 
tom of this round hole so that the top of 
the potato should be nearly even with the 
soil at the bottom of the hole. The soil 
held in the cylinder was then replaced 
The boards were then removed, and 16 
pounds of high-grade potato fertilizer 
which had been previously mixed with 
an equal bulk of moist soil, were then 
spread as equally as possible over the 
entire plot, and carefully raked in, using 
the boards when necessary so as to avoid 
stepping on the plot and compacting the 
soil more in one place than in another. 
Commencing during the early morning 
of April 18, and finishing during the 
< IS>jFT> 
III 
o 
o 
o 
OPUNIJJq 
«o 
O 
o 
o 
° O 
r\ 
o 1 
o 
o 
vj 
. o 1, 0 
o 
1 ° 
o 
: l' s f 
o 
‘ 1 O I 
o 
r\ 
1 o 
o 
o O 
o 
O 
1 ° 
o 
o 
0 
1 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
O O 
o 
o 
o 
° 0 
o 
o 
o 
o o 
o o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o ^ o II 
o 
o 
o 
0 4, ° 
o 
o 
o 
° 1 ° 
Ml, 
o 
° k 
O 1 
1 o 
o 
°o 1 
o 1 
o 
o 
1 o 
o 
o o 
o 
o 
o 
0 o\ 
o 
o 
o 
o o 
o 
o 
o 
o 
0 
o 
o 
o 
o o 
°, 
o 
o 
o o 
O 
0 
o 
o o 
°l 
o 
o 
o o 
OtriANlJ O 
Si 
O 
O 
O 
o'l 
o 
o 
o 
o 
THE BIG FLOWER-POT POTATO TRIAL 
Fig. 32 
afternoon of the same day, the follow¬ 
ing varieties were planted : Gem of 
Aroostook, Farmers’ Favorite, PiDgree, 
Alexander Prolific, Quick Crop, Mil¬ 
waukee, Read’s Early Pink Eye, Yukon. 
Klondike, Read’s Early Snowball, 
Washington, Superior, Vjgoroso, Pride 
of Michigan, Early Hurst, Sir Walter 
Raleigh, Bovee, Early Virginia, White 
Peach blow, Burpee’s Extra Early, Thor- 
burn, Early Thoroughbred, Great Divide, 
Enormous, Carman No. 1, Sir Walter 
Raleigh, Early Andes, Pat’s Choice, 
Standard, Early Ohio, Carman No. 3 
Uncle Sam, White Beauty, Bovee, Car¬ 
man No. 1, and Sir Walter Raleigh. It 
will be seen that we have planted some 
kinds more than once. For example: 
The Sir Walter Raleigh is first planted 
as No. 16 ; second, as No. 26 ; third, as 
No. 36, the last in the plot. The object 
was to show, in so far as possible, the 
difference in the yield of different parts 
of the plot. The seed was selected with 
regard to weight and number of eyes 
with all care. For example : Of the Car¬ 
man No. 1, eight medium-sized tubers 
were selected, the smallest of which 
weighed three ounces. Several weighed 
a fraction over three ounces. In such 
cases a small part of the stem end was 
cut off so that all should weigh the same 
as the smallest tuber. 
Well, something may come of the Po 
tato Flower-pot experiment, we sincerely 
hoped. Something ought , we reasoned, 
to come of it, barring blight or other 
accident. We want to know whether 
uniformity of soil and nutriment wil 
not, in a measure, guarantee that, if the 
seed tubers be carefully selected, one 
hill will produce as many potatoes as 
another. We want to know which pota¬ 
toes are really the earliest , which are the 
best and most productive intermediate 
and late, and this can only be ascertained 
by giving the same conditions to the varie¬ 
ties planted. 
Well, they were given last season at the 
Rural Grounds as carefully as we knew 
how to give them, and the result will be 
placed before our readers next week. 
100, 6 to 8 In. $1; 12 to 18 tn. $2.50. 
100, 2 ft. $10 prepaid. 100, 4 to 6 ft. 
• varieties, $15. 45 choice Fruit trees, 20 
varieties, $10. Ornamental A- Fruit 
Trees. Catalogue and prices of 50 
great bargain lots SENT FREE. 
Good Local Agents Wanted. 
D. HILL, i;®53, Dundee, III. 
mm TREES 
varieties.A Iro UrapemSmall Frults,ete. Best root¬ 
ed stock. Genuine, cheap. 2 sample currants mailed for 
10c. Desc. price-list free. I.KIVI8 KOKSCII, Fredonla, S. Y. 
Small 
Fruits 
Grape Vines.. 
low price*. Descriptive list fre*. YarletU*. 
Extra fine stock CURRANTS, Gooseberries, 
CAMPBELL’S EARLY Grape. Quality extra. 
Warranted true. T. 8. HUBBARD CO., Fredonla, N.Y. 
Nursery Stock. 
Buy direct—save agents’ profits. We carry a com¬ 
plete assortment of High-grade, Warranted Stock, 
which we sell at lowest prices. Certificate of Inspec¬ 
tion with each order. Send for Cata- 
logue, containing Spray Calendar, For- *||PK 
mulas, and valuable information; ifs B 
CHAUTAUQUA NURSERY CO.. Geneva, N. Y. 
Choice Fruits 
are the only kind that pay for the cost of 
growing and marketing. My catalogue tells 
all about the Echo Strawberry, Loudon and 
Columbian Raspberry, Erie and Rathbun 
Blackberry, Pearl Gooseberry, Pomona and 
Red Cross Currant, etc. All varieties are 
strong, fresh dug, well rooted. Immense 
stock. Warranted true to name. Catalogue 
(worth dollars to you), telling all about 
small fruits, free. 
ALLEN L. WOOD, 
Wholesale Grower. Rochester, N. Y. 
SUGAR PRUNE 
CLIMAX PLUM 
THE TWO 
RECORD BREAKERS. 
Other grand new Creations In FRUITS and FLO WER8 
1892 Catalogue free to Rubai, readers. 
LUTHER BURBANK, Santa Rosa, Cal 
fiifimniiimiiaiinininniidniiiiiioiniinuiuiiiiiiuniiiiiiiiuciwiiiiJii 
CAMPBELL’S EARLY Be Swallowed. 
■First of all Grapes,” says Rural New-Yorker. Scaled 96 points In possible 100. “Will 
I ship round the world.’ 1 Early or Late. Insist on our Seals and get what yon buy. 
I Largest stock of other Grape Vines, Small Fruits. Elegant Catalogue FREE 
GEORGE S. JOSSELYN, FREDONIA, NEW YORK. 
THE TRUTH 
is good enough to tell, and that’s what 
you get in our new 80 (not l>4) page book 
Orchard Improvement. No catalogue 
_ more carefully prepared, and as different from 
others as the truth alone can make It. No overdrawn descriptions, no novelties or kindred misrepresenta¬ 
tion, but TRUTH, the best foundation. Contains information on the improvement aud care 
of orchards from leading horticulturists. Tells about our specialty, “ business trees —the Bhsl trees, 
and it’s free to “ business farmers.” 
Th(f Business Farmer. THE ROGERS NURSERIES, DARSVILLE, HEW YORK. 
and especially Fruit Trees, should be grown with a 
view to Long Life and Fruitfulness, such are made 
Constitutionally Strong by guarding the Parentage 
in Propagation. Men of thought know this to be 
FACT, not theory. If you want proof, write us. Many 
of our customers after trial increase their orders. A trial order will make a lifetime customer of 
you. We promise only best values. Among the new but well-tested FRUITS we are offering the 
pncCDC A II Dl APIf DTODV We also offer a whole Peach Orchard 
IVI t rCw 1 1 \ tD L A w Iv D Q It IT T ■ for $5, and many other things that will 
Interest you. Free catalogue If this paper is named. Cash Premiums with Choice Seed Potatoes. 
established 1847. WILEY & CO., Cayuga, N. Y. 
OUR 
THE 
MONEY FOR YOU. 
catalogue will save 
trees aud plants make 
The plain truth by those who know. Write to-day, 
it costs you nothing, and will help you. 
BUTIjER tfc JEWEXjL OO., CROMWELL, CONN. 
WHY WAIT FOREVER ? 
For whips of trees to grow, wben our t/rees, Japanese Miples, Colorado Blue Spruce, 
Retinosporas, etc., are from 10 to 20 feet high, and from 5 to 10 feet broad in head, 
have been repeatedly transplanted. H. E. BURR, 
MONTROSE NURSERIES, WARD PLACE, SOUTH ORANGE, N. J. Ora ifJe*'2084. 
a IBigger Fruit C^opssi 
and better fruit will repay the grower who plants Black’s trees. Every 
tree we sell is selected from the very healthiest, most vigorous stock, 
and is free from scale. Certificate of inspection sent with each order. 
The finest stock of Peach Trees it is possible to grow—the Mercer 
Cherry, the Japan Chestnut, and Japan Walnut, are all de¬ 
scribed in our handsome, illustrated, 1S99 Catalog. Everyone who 
raises fruit, nuts or berries should write for a copy —mailed free. 
' JOS. II. BLACK, SON &. CO., HIGHTSTOWN, N. J. 
RHP',, 
FRUltSj 
Every tree, plant or vine bought at Reid’s is well- 
rooted, vigorous, and true to name. Every care isi 
taken in growing to insure absolute certainty to the' 
buyer. Save one-half on anything you need in the 
nursery line, by buying at Reid’s. 
We’ll help you to choose by sending complete catalog, esti¬ 
mates, or any information you may ask for, free. 
REID’S NURSERIES, BRIDGEPORT, OHIO. 
Finest lot of PEACH TREES in the country, free from borers, scale, 
yellows, etc. Large stocks of Pear, Plum, Apple, Cherry, Apricot, 
Quince. Immense supply of Small Fruits. Headquarters lor 
Ornamental Trees, Roses, Shrubs. 
Extra fine lot of Teas Weeping Mulberry, Kilmarnock, New 
American and Wisconsin Weeping Willows, Camperdown 
Elm and Cut Leaved Weeping Birch. 44 greenhouses failed with 
Roses, Palms, Ficus, Geraniums, etc. Correspondence and personal in¬ 
spection solicited. Catalogue and price list free. 45th year. 44 green¬ 
houses. 1000 acres. 
THE STORES & HARRISON CO., Box 448 Painesville, O. 
FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL 
7 KTTS 
AT REASONABLE PRICES. 
Small Fruits, drapes, Shrubs, Climbing Plant#, 
Roses, Evergreens, Hardy Plants, Pseonies v . 
Largest and choicest collections in America. 
BEST NOVELTIES 
Descriptive Illustrated Catalogue free. 
ELLWANCER & BARRY. 
MOUNT HOPE NURSERIES, Rochester, NT. Y. | 
Fifty-ninth Year. 
