77o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 4 
• Pluralisms • 
4 X ► 
I TT r T F ¥ y T T VT'y^ r V* 
The Melon Season. —This has been a 
good year for muskmelons. The slim 
prospects of the orange and peach crop 
early in the season, induced many fruit 
growers to plant muskmelons, or canta¬ 
loupes, as the southerners will have it, 
extensively, and the results generally 
justified them in doing so. The first 
carloads received in New York brought 
all the way from $1,000 to $1,500. Two 
or three carloads, of 7,000 to 15,000 
melons each, are often raised to the 
acre, so one can easily figure out quite a 
bonanza, but all the melons do not ripen 
at the accepted time. The price rapidly 
declined, and in August Jersey melons 
of fine quality went begging at 25 cents 
per barrel. The public is becoming 
more critical in its appreciation of a 
good muskmelon, and the quality of the 
offerings is undoubtedly improving. 
The Petoskey Melon. —The following 
note is from Paul Rose, So. Frankfort, 
Mich.: 
The Petoskev and g aul Ros e melons 
are the same, but it seems to have got 
away with two names attached. The 
melon originated with me, and I gave it 
tjhe name Petoskey. I sold the seed to 
j. C. Vaughan, under that name. Mr. 
Vaughan is wholly responsible for giv¬ 
ing it the name Paul Rose. I would pre¬ 
fer that the melon be called Petoskey 
instead of Paul Rose, for reasons that 
need not be explained here. The melon 
is a cross between the Osage and Netted 
Gem. I worked upon this melon six 
years before selling the seed. I am still 
working to improve it further, and hope 
some time lin the near future to make of 
it a perfect melon. 
A word in regard to the celebrated 
‘‘gO£ky_E©rd.” This melon is the Net¬ 
ted Gem, and nothing else, and not very 
wellbred at that. Seedsmen who are 
offering this as a variety must surely 
know better. I think that this “rabbit's 
foot’’ has been worked upon the people 
long enough, and should be severely re¬ 
pressed. 
Second-Crop Strawberries. —I think 
that the Enhance has the great¬ 
est tendency to bear a second crop of 
berries, of any of the old varieties. Per¬ 
haps some of the older strawberry 
growers will remember that the old Ag¬ 
riculturist was inclined to do double 
duty. I think that the year I got my 
largest crop of Fall strawberries, the 
plants suffered for want of rain at the 
time of bearing the first crop. I sold 
some of the Fall crop at $1 a quart. I 
haven’t any doubt that it would pay, if 
we could get plants that would produce 
berries in the Fall. To show you my 
faith by my works, I will say that I 
sowed the se§d from second-crop En¬ 
hance, with the expectation of getting 
a better second cropper. I also put a 
small lot of plants, early in the Spring, 
in cold storage, and kept them there till 
August, expecting to get fruit from them 
in September, but this experiment, thus 
far, has not proved successful. The 
plants were kept in a room at a temper¬ 
ature of 34 degrees, never over 36, nor 
lower than 33 degrees. At this tem¬ 
perature they all started to grow before 
removing them. Only a few bloomed, 
and but one gave me a ripe berry. In 
my next trial I intend to keep them in 
a colder room, and keep them frozen. 
Massachusetts. s. h. warren. 
The Virginia Creeper. —The picture 
shown at Fig. 286 shows the entrance to 
the grounds of T. J. Dwyer, Orange 
County, N. Y. Mr. Dwyer describes it 
as follows: 
The arch is formed with large Red 
cedar posts for pillars, with a sign 12 
feet long connecting these pillars on the 
top. The passageway between the pil¬ 
lars is 10 feet in width, and 12 feet in 
height. The two vines that form a cov ■ 
ering for this woodwork are the Vir¬ 
ginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinque- 
folia), and were planted eight years 
ago. The woodwork was completely 
covered after the third year’s growth of 
vine. The trees on the right of the 
arch are the American arbor vitae. 
White ash, and the Scotch pine, which 
persists in growing into the arbor vitae. 
The small trees in the tubs on the right 
and left of entrance are dwarf Mugho 
pine. The other small tree in tub is the 
Norway spruce. The vines on the rustic 
cedar fence on the right are the climb¬ 
ing rose. Seven Sisters and Wistaria. 
The large-leafed vine on the rustic fence 
on the left is the Dutchman’s pipe 
(Aristolochia Sipho). The rustic cedar 
fence runs the entire length of the place, 
about 300 feet. On either side of this 
fence are samples of nearly all the 
hardy trees, flowering shrubs and vines 
that will endure this climate. From 
early in May until November we have at 
all times shrubs or vines of some kind 
in bloom. The cost oi maintaining this 
solid hedge of ornamentals is less than 
$15 per year. 
SOME RELIABLE HARDY SHRUBS. 
Part II. 
Syringas; lilacs. We now have a 
variety of these grand old-time favor¬ 
ites. The common white and purple 
lilacs should never be omitted from 
even the smallest collections. Their 
Rosa rugosa, crimson purple, and R. 
rugosa alba, should always be consid¬ 
ered among extra hardy shrubs, though 
usually listed with other varieties of 
roses. Indeed, it is a question if the 
Rugosa roses are not among the best of 
all shrubs for general planting. Their 
ironclad hardiness, healthy and hand¬ 
some foliage, large and abundant single 
rose blossoms, the delicate and refined 
odor, coming nearer to our ideas of a 
“wild rose” perfume than any other, and 
the succeeding clusters of brilliant 
fruits, together with their long season 
.of bloom, make up an unique combina¬ 
tion of merits. For best results they 
should have an open situation and good 
deep soil. The crimson variety is the 
stronger grower of the two. 
Viburnum Lantana and V. rugosum 
bloom in May. They bear large clusters 
of white flowers, followed by reddish- 
purple berries. They are large, robust 
shrubs, with heavy foliage that is re¬ 
tained very late. V. Opulus is the well- 
known Snowball, or Guelder rose, bear¬ 
ing globes of snow-white sterile flowers 
in late May. It has always been a fa¬ 
vorite, and may be regarded as indis¬ 
pensable. V. plicatum, the Japan snow¬ 
ball, really is a native of northern 
China, and is one of the very finest 
shrubs we have. The habit is fine, and 
the foliage very handsomely plicated. 
The large clusters of flowers are whiter 
and more regular and delicate than 
THE VIRGINIA CREEPER IN ORANGE COUNTY, N. Y. Fig. 286. 
handsome smooth foliage and wealth of 
odorous bloom are familiar to all, and 
may be considered the first real har¬ 
bingers of Summer, as they develop in 
early June, or in favorable seasons, the 
latter part of May. The Persian and 
Siberian lilacs have small foliage and 
large panicles of bright purple flowers 
in the one variety, and bluish white in 
the other. They are both very hardy 
and desirable. There are now numbers 
of fine named varieties, great improve¬ 
ments on the old types of the common 
lilac, bearing wonderful trusses of both 
double and single flowers, often of the 
greatest size. They are quite expensive, 
costing about $1 each. Probably the 
very finest of these excellent novelties, 
in their respective colors, are the fol¬ 
lowing: Frau Dammann, immense pan¬ 
icle of medium-sized pure white flowers; 
Ludwig Spaeth, long, large panicle of 
large single purple-red flowers; Michael 
Buchner, dwarf plant, very double flow¬ 
ers of a pale lilac color; President 
Grevy, fine blue, double flowers, panicle 
nearly a foot long. Besides the above 
we have S. Josikaea, from western Eu¬ 
rope. It is of fine tree-like habit, with 
dark, shining leaves, and pearly purple 
flowers in late June. Fine and distinct, 
S. Japonica is a giant or tree-like lilac, 
forming a stout, well-branched tree. 
The foliage is large and handsome, and 
the white flowers are not produced until 
midsummer, when other lilacs have long 
been gone, but it is best adapted for 
planting on large grounds. 
those of the Guelder rose, but the leaves 
sometimes burn in exposed situations. 
The Japan snowball blooms in June. 
Blue Plumbago.— One of the prettiest 
blue flowers of the season is Plumbago 
Larpentse (now known to botanists as 
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides). It takes 
a deep hold of good soil, and spreads 
freely. The rich dark blue flowers are 
produced in great profusion throughout 
the Summer until hard frosts. It seldom 
winterkills, as its roots run deep There 
are white and red varieties, but they are 
less showy and much more tender. 
The Persian Winter Melon.— For sev¬ 
eral years a late or Winter-ripening musk¬ 
melon has been offered by a number of 
seedsmen. The California Experiment Sta¬ 
tions have also been sending out seeds of 
a similar variety. Our own trials have 
shown the late melons to be worthless, as 
the fruit is set so late that it does not at¬ 
tain sufficient maturity to ripen into any¬ 
thing palatable. J. A. Kemp writes from 
Dickson County, Tenn., that seed of this 
type received from California, produced 
melons of the old Casaba type, showing 
no promise of keeping later or becoming 
edible by the middle of October. 
“Better Be Wise 
Than Rich.” 
Wise people are aiso rich when they 
know a perfect remedy for all annoying 
diseases of the blood, kidneys, liver and 
bowels. It is Hood's Sarsaparilla, which 
is perfect in its action — so regulates the 
entire system as to bring vigorous health. 
{Mootld SaMafwuKg 
Prepare 
for 
Winter. 
Now is the time to think 
about keeping your stock warm 
during the coming winter. Be¬ 
fore cold weather sets in look 
over your outbuildings and see 
if there are any leaky roofs, 
any shingles or clapboards 
coming off, or any cracks that 
need stopping up to make the 
buildings warm. 
It is poor economy to have 
cows and horses sleep cold in 
the winter, and every farmer 
knows how much more profit¬ 
able hens are, and how much 
faster the chickens grow if they 
are kept warm. 
If you will accept a sug¬ 
gestion from us, of which the 
editor of this paper will ap¬ 
prove, you can fix up your old 
outbuildings, prevent leaky 
roofs, make warm your sheds, 
barns, henhouses, hot beds or 
greenhouses at very little ex¬ 
pense. 
Go to your nearest hardware 
dealer and get a roll of Ne- 
ponset Red Rope Roofing, 
which is made for any out¬ 
side covering, and is positively 
water-proof, wind-pioof, and 
f ost-proof. There are five 
hundred square feet in each 
roll, and it will only cost you 
$5.00 including the necessary 
nails and tin caps. 
Don’t confeund Neponset 
Roofing with common tar pa¬ 
per, which, when exposed to 
the weather will crack, crumble 
and quickly rot away. 
Tar paper was all right 
for your grandfathers, but in 
this age of advancement a 
covering which is very much 
more durable and economical 
is required, and that is 
Neponset. It takes the place 
of shingles or clap-boards on 
outhouses, and back-plaster in 
dwellings. Any one can put it 
on and it will last for years. 
If you would like to have a 
sample of this roofing and full 
particulars before you buy, 
send a postal card to F. W. 
Bird & Son, East Walpole, 
Mass., and they will send it to 
you by return mail free. 
