466 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 24 
Ruralisms 
r T T T TVT T TTT ^ 
Tiik last of The R. N.-Y. rose hybrids 
between Rosa rugosa (female), and many 
of our best hardy sorts as males, are now 
blooming. There are two of them 
worthy of special notice. One is so like 
Mme. Georges Rruant that except by a 
close examination, they cannot he dis¬ 
tinguished the one from the other ; the 
other bears little, white, five-petaled 
flowers less than an inch in diameter. 
They look precisely like Rosa Wich- 
uraiana flowers, but they are not so 
glossy. (J Mme. Rruant was introduced for 
sale, as has been said several times, a 
year or more after the announcement of 
the AgneB Emily Carman, the first 
Rugosa hybrid. The male parent was 
Harison’s Yellow. The male parent of 
Bruant was Sombreuil. That the Hari¬ 
son’s Yellow and Sombreuil upon Rosa 
rugosa should have produced plants and 
flowers so closely resembling one an¬ 
other, is surprising. That the pollen 
from our finest hardy everblooming 
varieties upon Rugosa should have given 
a variety with flowers less than an inch 
in diameter, is, also, surprising. Its 
habit is that of a vine or pillar rose. 
Junk 8. —The burning weather still 
continues with not a drop of rain since 
May 20, though showers have occurred 
all about the Rural Grounds. Lawns 
are burned up irreparably, for the sea¬ 
son. There is no longer any prospect of 
any hay crop. Strawberry plants are 
suffering and the late berries will yield 
only buttons. Here is a sample of the 
thermometrical record for a few days, 
the thermometer placed on the north 
side of the house, which is protected by 
a wide, covered veranda : 
J une 
5.- 
12 
15 P M., 
93 
12 
30 
<( 
94 
1. 
,30 
(l 
95 
June 
6.- 
10 
00 A M., 
,92 
12 
30 p M , 
97 
1 
30 
1 » 
98 
3 
30 
U 
98 
June 
7.- 
10 
00 A M , 
87 
12 
30 i 
• M., 
,94 
J une 
8.- 
3 
30 
( l 
91. 
June 
9.- 
3 
30 
(( 
85 
June 
10. 
—Cloudy, 
3 
30 
(( 
80 
June 
11.- 
—Windy & cool 
.,3 
30 
( ( 
75 
June 
12.- 
—Cloudy, 
3, 
,30 
u 
80 
June 
13.- 
_ ( t 
3. 
30 
u 
85 
June 
14. 
—Fair, 
3, 
,30 
(I 
95 
No rain in sight. 
The New York papers of June 7 have 
this: 
“Yesterday’s highest temperature as 
reported by the local Weather Bureau 
was 98 degrees, which is without a par¬ 
allel in June, at least since 1890.” 
It already seems evident that, not only 
will the later strawberries be destroyed, 
but raspberries, blackberries, currants 
and gooseberries, have received a check 
from which they cannot fully recover. 
Rains may yet save grapes. In the his¬ 
tory of the Rural Grounds, such a severe 
drought with so high a temperature has 
never been known before so early in the 
season. 
The Climbing Hydrangea, Schiz- 
ophragma hydrangeoides of the cata¬ 
logues, has had time to be appreciated 
as ranking nearly, if not quite, first 
among those vines that climb and cling 
at the same time. Though the appreci¬ 
ation is wanting as yet, it is sure to 
come when its claims to popularity are 
better known. 
Our own specimen must be nearly 18 
years of age. It was planted at the base 
of an old apple stump about four feet 
high and nearly two feet in diameter, 
within six feet of the northern part of 
the house, so that it has never seen the 
sun. There it has grown vigorously, 
never having been harmed by the frosts 
of Winter. There has been nothing else 
for it to climb upon, so that, all these 
years, it has been obliged to be satisfied 
with the apple stump, and a poor, dry 
soil as well. It is well adapted for cov¬ 
ering the trunks of living or dead trees, 
and this it does as thoroughly as the 
Japan ivy, with the advantages of hav¬ 
ing much larger leaves and a wealth of 
flowers in June. The flowers are much 
like those of the bush hydrangeas and, 
in this vine, fully make up in profusion 
what they lack in delicacy and odor. It 
clings to the rough bark of trees ten¬ 
aciously by its aerial rootlets, and the 
writer is told that it will cling to stones 
and brick as well, though he can not 
corroborate this statement from his own 
experience. Years ago, we were told by 
Mr. J W. Clarke, then of the Massachu¬ 
setts Agricultural College, “ When seen 
climbing over the front of dwellings in 
Japan, the effect was very pleasing. In 
a wild state, as seen trailing over and 
around rocks and trees, its appearance 
is charming. It is found growing after 
this fashion in the higher mountain val¬ 
leys in Japan. The Japanese also grow 
it as a dwarf tree.” 
The leaves of this Climbing Hydrangea 
are opposite, about five inches in diam¬ 
eter, nearly round, regularly toothed 
and sharply pointed at the apex. 
The flower cymes average from 6 to 10 
inches in diameter. There are a few 
sterile blossoms on the outside, having 
only stamens within the central bud 
SECTION OF STEM OF CLIMBING 
HYDRANGEA. Fig. 188. 
which never opens. The four white 
leaves of the outside flowers are really 
the calyx, the little mite of a central 
bud the true flower. The so-called fer¬ 
tile flowers make up most of the cyme. 
They bear 20 stamens or more, which 
furnish an abundance of pollen, but the 
pistil is imperfect, since fruit fails to 
form. See Fig. 181, first page. 
Josika’s Chionanthus-leaved Lilac. 
—Are you fond of lilacs ? If so, you 
should have, in your collection, a speci¬ 
men or so of Syringa Josikma, just for 
one reason, if for no other, viz., it is in 
its height of bloom nearly in the middle 
of June, long after the panicles of other 
lilacs have passed away. The single 
flowers are not so large as those of the 
improved early kinds, but they are neat 
little trumpets of an intense lilac color. 
You are familiar with the White Fringe, 
Chionanthus Virginica ? Its leaves are 
like it, being longer, narrower, more 
pointed and more glossy. It grows to 
the height of 15 feet, and is a symmetri¬ 
cal little tree. 
Ten to One. A Love Tourney. —The 
Calico bush or Mountain laurel (Kalmia 
latifolia) grows wild in the northern 
States, and south to Kentucky and Ohio. 
It varies in height, according to soil and 
locality, from three to eight feet. It 
seems to prefer a rather moist, half- 
shaded home. At the Rural Grounds, 
it commenced to bloom this season May 
31. But the urn-like buds are nearly 
as pretty as are the open flowers. Those 
who look upon bud or flowers for the 
first time, must regard them as queer; 
as very different from all other flowers, 
except its dwarf sister, the Sheep lau 
rel or Lambkill (K. angu6tifolia) which 
bears just such queer buds and blossoms, 
only they are of a red color, and smaller 
in size. As we look upon the Calico 
buBh, of which we are writing, we see 
more of blossoms than of the coriaceous, 
elliptical, dull green leaves. The pro¬ 
portion is nearly as three to one. The 
bush itself was transplanted from a 
neighboring woods 26 years ago. It is 
now nine feet high. It should rank 
among our choicest hardy evergreen 
shrubs, and it, like its relative, the Rho¬ 
dodendron, should be more prized, be 
cause it does not mind shade. “ Calico ” 
bush is a suitable name for it. The 
blossoms are so regular, and the dark 
purple dots so pronounced as really to 
resemble calico patch-work. 
The flowers are in compound corymbs 
—made up from 10 to 50 simple corymb* 
—bearing from 50 to 500 flowers. 
Some flowers are variously and 
strangely fertilized ; but we know of nc 
other that so stands alone in its whim¬ 
sically anomalous method of love-mak¬ 
ing as do the flowers of the Calico bush. 
The female part of the flower is a single 
upright pistil in the precise center, and 
it is surrounded by 10 males, which arc- 
captive in the Inal, their heads (anthers) 
being held securely in the 10 pockets 
These beads or anthers are the terminals 
of 10 stamens which surround the base 
of the single pistil, the filament (or 
slender thread-like connection between 
the base of the stamen and its head or 
anther) being bowed over. Now as thf 
bud unfolds, these anthers are released 
from the pockets, and the elasticity of 
the filament is such as to throw the 
anthers with their ripe pollen grains 
directly towards the top of the awaiting 
pistil, the stigma (top) of which is at this 
time covered with a tiny glutinous- 
liquid drop. Some of the pollen grains 
hit, more miss ; but it is an unequal 
contest—there being 10 males to one 
female—so that the female is sure of at 
least one suitor among the 10 that are 
firing away at her. We have seen these 
pollen grains shot from an inch or so 
to several feet. The grain that hits the 
stigma is held by its sticky, receptive 
surface, the male life-germ begins its 
descent through the pistil tube until 
the ovary is reached, and the ovules are 
fructified, and we have an end of the 
“love tourney ” of “ten to one.” See 
Fig. 184, page 463. 
A Sulky Wkkdkr. —Mr. Z Breed, the 
inventor of the weeder, has now per 
fected what he calls the sulky weeder, 
and with it, he says, a boy 10 years old 
can cover 10 acres a day. Mr. Breed is 
80 years old, and he says he can do the 
same. The weeder can be detached in 
five minutes, and a cultivator put in its 
place. Mr. Breed wants those who work 
10 or 12 acres of potatoes to figure up 
how many miles they would walk in 
working a walking weeder, and how 
many tons they will work both in bear¬ 
ing down and in lifting the weeder 
around. All this is saved by the sulky 
weeder, and a better job can be done, 
too. We know that Mr. Breed’s argu¬ 
ment holds good with cultivators. With 
our Iron Age two-horse cultivator, we 
are certain that a man can do better and 
faster work than any two men with 
single cultivators. There will be fewer 
plants ripped up, the work will be done 
closer to the rows, and a steadier and 
better job all around. 
rotits ot rarmiiu, 
Jj GARDENING AND FRUIT CULTURE. * 
£ depend upon Good Crops and they In 
J turn upon Good Fertilizers. The 
2 uniformly best fertilizer for all Crops 
^ and all soils is made by 
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and be convinced of the merits of those 
new Fertilizers. 
THE AMERICAN JADOO CO., 
£ 815 Kairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 
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The 1 
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sprayer 
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make it the fa¬ 
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plants, green¬ 
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trees 12 feet high 
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20 years. 
Regular price 02,00. First . 
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2 Market St., Lockport, N.Y., 
Wear for 
Write for 
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If 
A Dry Sprayer 
No Water or Piaster. 
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Two rows of potatoes as 
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LEGGETT & BROTHER, 
301 Pearl St.. New York. 
onr new patent 
NE SPRAYERS 
is simple indeed. Kerosene Kmul- 
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Guaranteed 98 to 99 per cent., for generating 
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perfect practical remedy,” says Prof. W. G. 
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MANUFACTUKEI) BY 
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No. 100 William Street, New York. 
Is not used in my Killer of Cab¬ 
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EDW. 8WARTS, Blockton, la. 
FumaCarbon Bisulphide 
Now is the time for Uf finnOllllPIFC to sleep 
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®fi 
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by the Peck." 
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Sample trap 85c. by mall 
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10 lleek St., Abingdon, III. 
WE SAVE FARMERS 40 PER CENT. FERTILIZERS 
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