482 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 1 
; Ruralisms 
A RARE TREE. 
In contriving the most effective way 
of laying out home grounds, the neces¬ 
sity of a varied collection of shrubs and 
trees should never be lost sight of. 
Home grounds in which evergreen 
shrubs and trees predominate are far 
from satisfactory during the growing 
season. There is a stiffness about them 
—something antagonistic to one’s sense 
of the lavishness and diversity of Na¬ 
ture’s methods. So, too, in selecting de¬ 
ciduous shrubs and trees, let us select 
so as to spread the blooming period as 
nearly as possible throughout the en¬ 
tire season from April to November, and 
finally, let us not disregard the value of 
foliage as dissimilar as possible in color 
as well as in form. 
Among large-leaved trees, the hardy 
Magnolias are indispensable in helping 
to produce such effects. Among them 
tne comparatively new Magnolia hypo- 
leuca, for which we have suggested the 
appropriate familiar name of the Pine¬ 
apple Magnolia, is entitled to a first 
consideration. The name is appropriate 
because the buds and flowers have the 
distinct odor of pineapples, while those 
of other hardy species, like the Umbrel¬ 
la (M. tripetala) and Great-leaved Mag¬ 
nolia (M. macrophylla) have a some¬ 
what disagreeable odor. 
The leaves, varying in number from 6 
to 12, are clustered near the ends of 
long, cane-like stems, so that, if we 
look up into the tree following the main 
stem, we see a skeleton tree densely 
sheltered by the great leaves above and 
on every side. The leaves quite closely 
resemble those of the Great-leaved Mag¬ 
nolia, being of nearly the same outline. 
There are three differences: First, the 
latter are slightly ear-shaped at the 
base; second, the leaves of the Great¬ 
leaved Magnolia are glaucous or silvery 
beneath, which may not be said of the 
Pineapple Magnolia, and third, they are 
larger, being often more than two feet 
from the base to the tip. Both leaves 
are broader just above the middle or, as 
described by botanists, of an obovate 
shape. 
The bud of M. hypoleuca, as shown in 
Fig. 189, first page, is nearly ready to 
open. The three leaves below are not 
true leaves; they are calyx sepals of the 
same creamy-white color, though flimsy 
in texture. The true petals are leathery 
and thick, varying from six to nine in 
number, and of the shape shown. The 
bud itself is of average life size. 
Fig. 193 shows the cone-like pistils in 
the center, which afterwards form a 
cone about four inches long, and of a 
pinkish color. The whitish parts of the 
many stamens outside are the anthers 
(longer than the darker lower parts, 
filaments) and open inwardly so as to 
fertilize the stigmas of the cone as it 
grows through them. The dark portion 
of the stamens is of a bright crimson 
color, and this extends so as to form a 
band of the same color an inch wide 
around the inside base of the petals. As 
the tops of the pistils (stigmas) in the 
young flower are of a delicate lilac, we 
have in flowers of this tree a very pretty 
combination. 
The Rural Grounds specimen was 
planted 12 years ago. Thus far, it has 
not been harmed during the Winters, and 
has never failed to bloom. It seems as 
hardy as the native kinds, though a na¬ 
tive of Japan. In the Rural Grounds, it 
forms one of a group of Magnolias, 
Soulangeana, Lenne, macrophylla, acu¬ 
minata and glauca. The last mentioned 
is the well-known Sweet Bay or Swamp 
Magnolia, which seems to thrive as well 
on high land as on low land. It is a 
lovable little tree. Its flowers have nine 
white petals nearly two inches broad, 
and of a rare fragrance. 
The Four Ramblers. —It is rarely the 
case that a new plant of any kind is not 
over-praised when introduced. The 
originator over-praises it (we may par¬ 
don him, perhaps), and those who pur¬ 
chase and introduce the novelty over¬ 
praise it, often knowingly and without 
the least regard to its real merits. It 
rarely—very rarely—occurs that it is 
just about impossible to over-praise a 
newcomer. Such a newcomer is the 
Crimson Rambler rose. It is all that 
has been said of it, and we may now add 
another merit, that of exceeding hardi¬ 
ness. At the Rural Grounds, it would 
be fair to say that the plants were not 
harmed by the past Winter, next to the 
severest known to the writer. Our old¬ 
est plant now covers a trellis about six 
feet high and ten feet long, and, in a 
few days, it will be almost a solid mass 
of crimson flowers borne in pyramidal 
PISTILS AND STAMENS OF MAGNOLIA 
HYPOLEUCA. Fig. 193. 
panicles of from 25 to 75 or even more. 
There is a peculiarity of these little 
beauties, perhaps not noted before. The 
roses are at first a bright crimson; then 
instead of changing to a washed-out, 
tawdry color, they change to a bright 
pink, so that the plants are well divided 
between pink and crimson flowers. 
We have said about all that could rea¬ 
sonably be said in praise of this rose in 
past volumes, and it is not our purpose 
to speak of it at length now except to 
compare it with its three sisters, the 
White, Pink and Yellow Ramblers. If 
we could have but one, it would be the 
eldest sister, the Crimson. But having 
seen them all, we want the quartette. 
Could we have but three, we would omit 
the Pink, because it is not a decided 
pink, and soon fades to a white, not so 
pure as that of the White Rambler. The 
Yellow, too, is yellow only in the bud or 
partly-opened bud. The catalogues tell 
us that these roses will withstand a tem¬ 
perature of two degrees below zero. 
Over 20 degrees below zero failed ma¬ 
terially to harm the Rural set. 
The foliage of all four is much the 
same, the habit is much the same. There 
are two important distinctions, how¬ 
ever. The Crimson Rambler has no 
odor, the others have, and, second, the 
Crimson does not begin to bloom until 
the others have ceased to bloom. Thus 
the Crimson began to bloom this season 
June 10, a few days earlier than usual 
because of the scorching drought. The 
others began to bloom June 1. The 
catalogue name of the Pink Rambler is 
Euphrosyne, that of the White, Thalia; 
that of the Yellow, Aglaia. 
In Ruralisms of June 17, a com¬ 
parison was made between the two 
unique varieties of radish, viz., Triumph 
and Leafless. This report showed that 
both kinds are early, and that there is 
but little difference between them—the 
Leafless being about three days earlier. 
Fig. 192, page 479, shows a little bunch of 
the Triumph, and Fig. 191, page 479, a sin¬ 
gle specimen of the Leafless. The qual¬ 
ity is much the same, the Leafless being 
a rich, darkish crimson, the Triumph 
white and crimson, variously splashed 
and dotted. The latter is nearly round, 
the other generally oblong. Doubtless, 
a larger quantity of the Leafless may be 
grown on a given plot, because of its 
scanty leaves. The question of relative 
value seems to depend upon which 
would sell more readily in the market, 
the solid-colored Leafless, or the varie¬ 
gated Triumph. Our illustrations may 
serve to guide the reader in forming an 
opinion. 
THE RUSSIAN THISTLE. 
IIOW IT HAS CHANGED FARMING. 
We read in some of the daily papers, quite 
startling reports about the great value of 
the Russian thistle. Several years ago, the 
Government was devising means for kill¬ 
ing off this plant, which at that time was 
called a dangerous weed, and farmers were 
urged to take united action against it. 
Now, the story is that the weed turns out 
a “big thing”, valuable as a feed for stock, 
and also possessing other good qualities. 
Is it a fact that the Russian thistle pos¬ 
sesses these good qualities, and has it be¬ 
come a useful plant, rather than a weed? 
Ans. —The Russian thistle has com¬ 
paratively slight feeding value. For a 
short time early in the Spring or toward 
midsummer, sheep feed on this plant. 
In very dry years, it grows better than 
almost any other plant. After it gets 
hard, animals do not care for it. Sheep 
will eat it longer than other animals. 
There is no “big thing” in this plant. 
It has revolutionized the agriculture of 
South Dakota. In some respects, it has 
made the farmers use a better method 
that will keep down other weeds as well 
as this one, but where they are raising 
large quantities of wheat, which com¬ 
pels them to do nearly all their plowing 
in the Spring, it is a very great disad¬ 
vantage. 
After farming has settled down to a 
permanent system of rotation of crops, 
sufficient live stock to bring grass and 
cultivated crops into the rotation, and 
better methods generally, this weed will 
not be a serious factor, except in very 
dry years. The excitement mentioned 
was brought about by a series of dry 
years in the early nineties, which caused 
this plant to spread very rapidly. This 
period was followed by moister seasons, 
in which other plants so crowded the 
Russian thistle that it does not amount 
to much. When another series of dry- 
years comes, we shall have abundant 
evidence that this weed is a veritable 
pest, and its bad qualities far over¬ 
balance the small amount of food it will 
furnish to sheep and cattle. 
Minnesota Exp. Station, w. m. hays. 
Two New Fruits. 
IF. F. C., Auburn, Me.— Are the King rasp¬ 
berry and Mersereau blackberry all they 
are claimed to be? For the Maine climate, 
would they prove the most profitable mar¬ 
ket berries as compared with Cuthbert and 
Snyder? 
Ans.-—O ur plants were set in 1896. 
Canes green like the Taylor canes. Ber¬ 
ries as large as those of Kittatinny, and 
of a conical shape. The plants bore 
more than Eldorado plants set in 1894. 
The berries are glossy, but not quite so 
firm as we would like them. The King 
is praised highly by so good an authori¬ 
ty as H. E. Van Deman. Plants were re¬ 
ceived at the Rural Grounds from the 
Cleveland Nursery Co., during April of 
1894. They showed less vigor, were less 
productive than, and the berries were 
neither so large nor so firm as, those of 
Loudon or Miller. 
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