7o6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 7 
-A. A. -A. A A. 
Pluralisms ; 
v ' ^ y * - ^ ••’ ■yv^ ’ t ^ ^ 
FALL-FRUITING STRAWBERRIES. 
Few fruits are so popular and inter¬ 
esting to the public as the strawberry, 
and none has a greater number of en¬ 
thusiastic devotees. Modern native va¬ 
rieties leave little to be desired in the 
way of beauty and productiveness, hut 
the average quality is far from satisfac¬ 
tory, and the bearing season is entirely 
too short to suit the ideas of strawberry 
consumers. Recently numerous attempts 
to popularize the best new European 
sorts have been made, and we are glad 
to say, with some promise. Seeds of 
several varieties of Alpine strawberries 
have been offered for the past three or 
four years. If sown early under glass, 
say in February, and planted out in 
May, the seedlings will usually bear 
fruit by July. The various kinds come 
quite true, and vary from pinkish white 
to dark red. The berries, however, are 
scarcely larger than blackberries, rather 
soft, but of good flavor. They need rich, 
moist soil, and should have some protec¬ 
tion from the midday sun. They are 
lusty growers, if the conditions suit 
them, and the runners often bloom be¬ 
fore they are fairly rooted. 
Some of the larger hybrid varieties like 
Louis Gauthier and Saint Joseph are 
being offered by some of our 
most reliable plantsmen. We 
have not seen Louis Gau¬ 
thier, but fine berries of this 
variety have been produced 
by so many well-known 
growers, that there is no 
longer room for doubt. It 
is said to be of the largest 
size, remarkably high flavor, 
and to produce two fair 
crops each season, one on the 
parent crown, and the suc¬ 
ceeding berries on the run¬ 
ners, after they become par¬ 
tially established. The ber¬ 
ries are nearly white in 
color. 
Greater confidence, how¬ 
ever, is shown in the adapt¬ 
ability of the St. Joseph to 
our climate. We saw it at 
the trial grounds of H. A. 
Dreer and Johnson & 
Stokes, both near Phila¬ 
delphia, in early September. The plants 
looked vigorous and healthy, despite a 
most protracted drought, and were mak¬ 
ing runners vigorously. Only a few 
berries were noticed, growing on the 
earliest layers. These plants were, of 
course, being grown for propagation, and 
no effort was made to secure fruit, but 
we were assured that berries had been 
constantly produced during the greater 
part of the Summer. If properly fed, it 
is said to continue to make crowns, and 
the new crowns fruit as they develop, so 
that the production of late crops is not 
dependent on the production of runners. 
The berries are of average size, sweet 
and well-flavored. The color is pinkish 
red. These interesting berries may 
never achieve market prominence, but 
they are fine subjects for further experi¬ 
mentation. 
HYBRID GERANIUM, FLASHLIGHT. 
It is well known that our favorite bed¬ 
ding and window plants, universally 
called geraniums, are really Pelargo¬ 
niums, very few species of the true 
Geraniums or Cranesbills being in cul¬ 
tivation. Occasionally some of our wild 
hardy Geraniums are grown in the her¬ 
baceous border, but the purplish maroon 
flowers are not generally considered at¬ 
tractive. All the tender varieties of 
geraniums sold by the florists belong to 
the several species of the genus Pelar¬ 
gonium. It is useless to combat so wide 
an error, and the shortest way out would 
seem to be the renaming of the two 
groups, giving the Cranesbills an alto¬ 
gether new generic name. 
Pelargonium multibracteatum is a 
small-flowered species found in the 
warmer parts of Asia. It is of a creep¬ 
ing habit, with deeply-cut bronzed foli¬ 
age, and bears a profusion of white 
blooms. After innumerable attempts to 
hybridize it with the improved Zonale 
bedding “geraniums”, the writer secured 
a single viable seed pollenized with a 
then-popular variety, Gettysburg. The 
result proved a complete fusion of the 
characteristic features of both parents, 
a quality which is rarer in a hybrid than 
one would imagine. 
This new and distinct plant was intro¬ 
duced last year by Peter Henderson & 
Co., under a number, and this season 
was named Flashlight. Fig 262 well 
shows the extraordinary profusion of 
bloom this new comer is able to produce 
when well established for bedding pur¬ 
poses. It does not take possession of 
the soil as quickly as the ordinary 
geraniums, but when it gets fairly into 
the business of throwing up flower 
trusses, its luxuriance and brilliancy 
surpass anything yet seen in its color, 
which is a bright carmine, and does not 
burn or fade as the flowers age. The 
florets or individual blooms average 
about an inch across, and being pro¬ 
duced on very long, stiff stems, are very 
useful for cutting, especially as the 
petals do not fall as readily as most 
geraniums. They resemble trusses of 
pink Bouvardias, or large and highly- 
colored stems of candytuft. 
As a pot or window plant, it is not 
likely to be a success, as the habit is too 
rambling; but as it is much less formal 
in appearance than Zonale geraniums, it 
will, doubtless, be welcomed as giving 
variety to borders as well as for effective 
beds. The photo was taken during early 
September in The R. N.-Y.’s Seaview 
trial grounds, Monmouth Co., N. J. 
Can Mummified Sweet Peas Realty 
Grow?—A well-known daily newspaper 
recently stated that sweet pea blooms, 
grown from seeds inclosed with an 
Egyptian mummy, therefore several 
thousand years old, were on exhibition 
at an English flower show. The colors 
were said to be pink and white, and the 
size smaller than those now grown. As 
the commercial life of sweet-pea seeds 
does not much exceed six years, with 
considerable deterioration toward the 
end of that period, one naturally feels 
rather skeptical. We planted some 
garden peas last May that were care¬ 
fully saved and labeled 'in 1892. While 
appearing perfectly - sound and bright, 
not one germinated. 
Although the vitality of most seeds 
lessens rapidly after the lapse of a few 
months, under ordinary conditions, 
there seems to be irrefutable evidence 
that one variety of wheat, known as 
Talavera, was grown from a seed found 
in an Egyptian tomb. Wheat ordinarily 
will not germinate when more than 
three years old; not one grain of a sam¬ 
ple grown by us in 1893, and planted in 
the Fall of 1898, grew. Seeds of a Cen- 
taurea, or cornflower, a heliotrope and a 
dwarf clover, found in a sealed casket 
in a tomb in St. Denis, France, which 
dated back to about A. D. 300, have 
grown and reproduced the above-named 
plants. Other seeds taken from a depth 
of eight feet among articles used by 
European savages long before the 
Christian era, produced a well-known 
weed. Finally, seeds from a botanist’s 
herbarium known to be 300 years old, 
have reproduced the plant called Viper’s 
bugloss. These and many other undis¬ 
puted evidences of the longevity of fully 
ripened dormant seeds, preserved under 
the most favorable circumstances, give 
a tinge of possibility to the newspaper 
item. It may be that, in time, when we 
more fully understand the conditions, 
the period of commercial viability of 
useful seeds will be greatly extended. 
Selection of Seed Corn. —Any one 
experienced in the growing of farm or 
garden crops, realizes that environment 
is capable of working a change in char¬ 
acter, without changing the variety. 
After a few years of selection, a variety 
becomes especially suited to a certain 
locality, and unfit for widely differing 
conditions. Concerning this, J. M. West- 
cott, of the Kansas Experiment Station, 
writes as follows: 
It is generally the ease on the farm that 
the corn from all the fields, both upland 
and bottom, is cribbed together. When 
the time for seed selection comes, the 
largest ears are picked out irrespective of 
the kind of soil that grew them. As the 
bottom land produces the larger ears, it 
is more than likely that the bulk of the 
seed will be from the lower and moister 
portions of the farm. This is the proper 
seed for the lowland, but it is not so well 
adapted to the drier and poorer upland as 
is seed that has been raised there. It is 
advisable to select the seed, either before 
or at husking time, when not only the 
quality of the ground but the character 
of the individual stalk and ear can be 
taken into consideration. By a little ju¬ 
dicious selection for a series of years, a 
strain can be established on the upland 
portion of any farm, which will be well 
adapted to that and other soils similar in 
location and composition. An eight-inch 
ear from the upland will ordinarily prove 
better for planting on the upland than will 
a 12-inch ear from a draw in the lower por¬ 
tions of the farm. 
Prof. L. H. Bailey has this to say 
concerning such a plan of selection: “I 
am most throughly convinced that the 
suggestions are correct. That is, select¬ 
ing corn indiscriminately from the crib 
because the ears are largest and finest, 
is not the best way of providing corn for 
seed. One should select in reference to 
the character of the entire plant. There 
have been sufficient experiments to 
show that, in general, a single large 
fruit on an unproductive plant will give 
inferior progeny to that which is raised 
from a medium-sized fruit on a pro¬ 
ductive plant. Whether there is any use 
in differentiating between corn grown 
on uplands and lowlands, is a matter 
upon which I can scarcely advise; but if 
there is very great difference in the two 
locations, so that the corn is consider¬ 
ably unlike in the two places, I should 
certainly think it worth while to follow 
the correspondent’s suggestion.” 
A New Idea. —Do you or any of your 
readers know that some plants grown in 
close proximity to some varieties of 
fruits will impart their flavor to the 
fruit? I had a melon vine run in a 
small patch of peppermint, and the 
melons had a decided peppermint flavor. 
My neighbor had a gourd vine which 
ran on a peach tree, and the peaches 
had a disagreeable, gourd-like taste. I 
have noticed while gathering wild black¬ 
berries, that those which grew close to 
the French mulberry [a species of Calli- 
carpa.— Eds.] had a peculiar fragrance 
which was quite an improvement over 
the others. I took the hint, have planted 
this shrub among my patch of black¬ 
berries, and produced berries which are 
far superior to any blackberry I have 
ever tasted. j. l. n. 
Marksville, La. 
R. N.-Y.—This seems to be a new idea 
in pomology. There may be something 
in it, and it is at least worthy of being 
tested by several careful experimenters. 
It may be reasonable to suppose that one 
fruit may absorb flavor from another, 
provided it is very strong. 
Wild Gooseberries.— Mr. Robt. Mc- 
Anally, of Saxon, N. C., sends a package 
of wild gooseberries with the following 
note: 
“They are found growing wild in this, 
the Piedmont section of North Carolina. 
I think it an excellent little fruit, and de¬ 
serving of cultivation. If we had a 
Luther Burbank to take hold of it, we 
would have a superb fruit.” 
The berries had a strong “wild” flavor, 
which was, to us, quite objectionable. 
They would, however, probably be much 
better when cooked. 
New Jersey Melons.—C. C. Hulsart, 
who writes on page 703, raises about the 
best muskmelons that come to New York 
from that part of the country, at least. 
That is what his neighbors.say, and when 
a man’s neighbors speak well of his farm 
or crops, they are pretty sure to be correct 
in their estimate. ‘Mr. Hulsart tells us 
that, last year, growers in that part of 
New Jersey bought a number of crates of 
the Colorado Rocky Ford melons. They 
saved the seeds for home planting. The 
melons from that seed this year are of the 
true Netted Gem type, but a little differ¬ 
ent in shape from the Colorado melons. 
So far as quality is concerned, they are 
quite equal to the western fruit. 
If you are a farmer or want to be one, 
send for the “Western Trail.” Published 
quarterly. Full of pointers as to settling 
in Kansas, Oklahoma and Indian Terri¬ 
tory. Handsomely embellished and con¬ 
cisely written. Mailed free. 
Address by postal card or letter. 
John Sebastian, G.P. A., Chicago.— Adv. 
Largest manufacturers of 
Steel Wagon Wheels and 
Handy Truck Wagons in 
America. Guaranteed su¬ 
perior to any other make 
WRIT! us 
Metal Wheel Co. 
HAVANA. ILLINOIS 
Sharpei your own Horso. 
THE BLIZZARD 
% 
the greatest of all 
HORSE ICE CALKS 
Agents Wanted. Address, 
S.W. KENT,Cazenovia,N.Y. 
UfCI I DRILLING 
VvCLL Machines 
Over 70 sizes and styles, for drilling either deep or 
shallow wells in any kind of soil or rock. Mounted 
on wheels or on sill's. With engines or horse powers. 
Strong, simple and durable. Any mechanic can 
operate them easily. Send for catalog. 
WILLIAMS BROS., Ithaca, N. Y. 
