THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 19 
■ I — I. r t. wn n I ... IIIIT . . 
; Ruralisms ; 
THE CHARLTON GRAPE. 
A box of these grapes was received 
October 6. The berries are of me¬ 
dium size, perhaps a trifle larger than 
those of the Brighton. They vary in 
color from amber to a deep purple. The 
skin is very thin, yet firm. There is not 
a particle of acidity in the flesh about 
the seeds, which are small and few. They 
part as readily from the flesh as do those 
of any of the foreign grapes. The flesh 
is meaty without any pulp. It is juicy, 
sweet, and of high quality. 
As we have not tried this variety at the 
Rural Grounds, we, of course, know 
nothing as to its vigor or hardiness. The 
Brighton with us bears loose bunches, 
and the berries shell off readily. The 
Mills, an excellent variety where it suc¬ 
ceeds, mildews at the Rural Grounds. 
The following letter is from John 
Charlton & Sons, of Rochester, N. Y., 
the originators. In order to save our 
readers needless trouble, we will say 
that there are no vines for sale at 
present. The firm desire to try it a sea¬ 
son further when, if it should develop 
no defects, it will be introduced to the 
public : 
The Charlton grape is a cross between Brighton 
and Mills. It has now fruited the past six years, 
and seems to be improving each season. It is a 
strong grower, as shown by the photograph of a 
two-year vine—see Fig. 354, first page. It is 
grafted on Concord, and has two canes 16 feet in 
length; two, 14 feet; one, nine feet, and one, six 
feet, according to actual measurement, of well- 
ripened wood, and bore nine bunches of large, 
showy fruit. We consider this grape superior to 
Brighton in every respect; it is a stronger 
grower, and always sets a full bunch of fruit 
under all circumstances, which is of good size 
and finest quality, with no trace of pulp what¬ 
ever, and which does not, like Brighton, deterio¬ 
rate in quality after becoming fully ripe. It is 
fit to eat when but partially colored. 
This year, Campbell’s Early grape began to 
show its color on August 8, the Charlton, August 
11, the Concord August 19, and the Charlton was 
ripe at least eight or ten days earlier than Con¬ 
cord. Its bunch is medium to large, sometimes 
shouldered, berries medium to large, compact, 
tender, melting and of finest quality; color when 
ripe, that of Catawba. It has been exhibited at 
the Western New York Fair held at Rochester, 
N. Y., for three successive seasons, gaining the 
first prize each year as the best new grape. It 
has also been shown at the American Institute 
Fair, New York, for two seasons, 1896-’97, and*re- 
ceived a diploma of merit each year. We have 
great faith in its superior merits, quality, con¬ 
stitution, etc., as being the superior of any grape 
yet introduced. 
The firm sent us another photograph of 
half a vine which “ carried 19 bunches of 
fruit; all are of large size, there being 
no small bunches among them.” Should 
the Charlton grape develop no serious 
weaknesses, we predict for it a quick 
popularity, since we know of no other 
grape its equal in quality. 
THE WORDEN-SECKEL PEAR AGAIN. 
It must have been about the year 1892, 
that the Smiths & Powell Co., Syracuse, 
N. Y., first sent us a box of this excellent 
pear—a seedling of the Seckel raised by 
S. Worden, of Minetto, N. Y., the origi¬ 
nator of the Worden grape. A few pears 
were again sent to us September 27. 
They are almost exactly the shape of the 
Seckel, though some are more pyriform 
and fully one-third larger. We hesitate 
to say that the quality is better than 
that of its illustrious parent, but we do 
not hesitate to say that it is fully equal 
to it, while the tree has the advantage 
of bearing at a younger age. The color 
of the pear is much like that of its par¬ 
ent, being a rich yellow sprinkled with 
russet dots, and of a bronzy-red color on 
the part exposed to the sun. As it origi¬ 
nated near Oswego, where the original 
tree has borne regular crops for more 
Tq New subscribers to The R. N.-Y. 
1 . will now get the paper from the 
January, time subscription is received until 
lortrt January 1, 1900. If you will send 
IUUUj us a club of four subscriptions, 
•fQ.. new or renewal, with $4, we will 
advance your own subscription 
$ 1 . 00 . one year free. 
than 10 years, it is fair to conclude that 
it will succeed in so far as severity of 
climate is concerned, wherever pear 
culture has proved a success. 
We are not alone in our high opinion of 
the Worden. The Storrs & Harrison Co. 
pronounce it of “ superb quality.” The 
Rochester Nursery Company says: “It is 
equal to, if not ahead of, anything in 
that line that we have ever tasted.” Mr. 
George T. Powell has pronounced it, 
“ One of the greatest acquisitions to the 
pear supply of recent years.” Prof. I. P. 
Roberts expresses this opinion : “I con¬ 
sider this a very valuable variety and 
well worthy of a place among the best 
in the country.” Hoopes Bros. & Thomas 
say this: “It is almost if not quite as good 
as its parent, that famous old standard 
of excellence.” Mr. S. D. Willard ex¬ 
presses his opinion as follows : “ The 
world will have the satisfaction of hav¬ 
ing a better pear when this is dissemi¬ 
nated that it has ever known before.”... 
THE BISMARCK APPLE AGAIN. 
From time to time, we have tried to 
place before our readers all the informa¬ 
tion that we could obtain regarding 
this early-bearing apple which has been 
so highly praised by the nurserymen 
who are offering it for sale. That the 
tree is a dwarf and bears at a very early 
age there can be no doubt. Beyond this, 
however, we do not see that there is 
much to commend it. On October 20, 
our Canada correspondent, Mrs. Annie 
L. Jack, sent us a single specimen of the 
Bismarck. It has since been in a warm 
room, remaining plump and solid up to 
this writing. It measures nearly four 
inches in diameter. The ground color 
is yellow, dotted and striped with crim¬ 
son. The shape is a good deal like that 
of the Baldwin, the flesh nearly white, 
not very tender and of by no means high 
quality. We dare say that it would an¬ 
swer very well for cooking, but to eat 
out of hand, we should regard it as decid¬ 
edly inferior to the Baldwin. Mrs. Jack 
writes: “ I have a little tree three feet 
high. It was loaded with blooms, but 
only four apples were permitted to grow, 
one of which I am sending to you. The 
tree has been planted only two years.”.. 
A Promising New Apple. —We are 
wondering whether the horticultural 
and pomological work that Luther Bur¬ 
bank, of Santa Rosa, Cal., has done, is 
doing and may do will ever be adequately 
appreciated. One thing is certain, viz., 
that the work he has already done is by 
no means appreciated. His latest success 
and, it seems to the writer, one of his 
most valuable successes, is an apple—a 
seedling of Gravenstein, a specimen of 
which he sent to us, and which we re¬ 
ceived October 27. He wrote as follows 
under date of October 17 : 
By this mail, I send you a medium to small 
sample of my new Gravenstein seedling, six 
weeks later than its parent, ripening exactly 
with Baldwin and Rhode Island Greening. The 
tree is a grand grower, and as productive as an 
apple can possibly be. I think the quality, ten¬ 
derness and texture remarkable. 
The apple, a half section of which is 
shown at Fig. 357, was slightly shriveled 
when it was received. The flesh is yel¬ 
lowish, exceedingly tender, spicy, rich, 
sub-acid. It has a flavor all its own, 
and we do not think, taking it all and 
all, that we have ever eaten an apple 
that more nearly approaches all that we 
need ever hope to get in an apple. In 
appearance and coloring, we may say, 
in a word, that it resembles the Ben 
Davis. 
How well this newcomer will thrive 
away from its native home, only years 
of trial can demonstrate. What it is in 
its native home Mr. Burbank has told us 
in a few words, and he is one who 
studiously avoids undue praise for his 
“ new creations”. 
Those of our readers who have grown 
potatoes from the true seed are requested 
to write us the largest number of tubers 
(small and large) they have found in a 
single seedling hill, and also the weight 
or size of the largest seedling tuber. 
The R. N.-Y. has certainly had a long 
and varied experience with raising 
potatoes from seed. Our last season’s 
experience breaks the record as to the 
number of tubers from a single seed, 
and also the size of seedling tubers. 
Do the potatoes which often grow in the 
axils of the vines, if planted again, differ 
from those grown from underground tubers? 
Mr. Charles Marshall, of Stronghurst, 
Ill., has this to say : 
Two years ago this Fall, I gathered from the 
tops of my Rural New-Yorker No. 2 potato vines, 
in the place where seed-balls usually form, a few 
small potatoes. Last season, I planted them, 
and again this season. This year, the potatoes 
were large and quite like the R. N.-Y. No. 2, ex¬ 
cept that they were more inclined to be lengthy. Is 
this a new variety or merely the same as the vine 
on which it grew the first year ? 
The underground potato is a fleshy 
stem, not a root in any sense. The root 
system is distinct. The aerial potatoes 
which often form on the vines are pre¬ 
cisely the same except that they are 
nourished directly by the vines instead 
of by the roots. It is plain, therefore, 
that, if these little aerial tubers be 
planted for seed, the product will be pre¬ 
cisely the same variety. The same thing 
occurs in the well-known yam Dioscorea 
Batatas. Hundreds of little tubers form 
in the axils of the vines, and these may 
be used for seed. 
G. N. Carruthers, the president of the 
Lorain Horticultural Society of Ohio, 
writes as follows : “ I can hardly agree 
with you in your onslaught upon Hydran¬ 
gea paniculata grandiflora,but H. panicu- 
lata is much more desirable. H. panicu¬ 
lata bears upright, close racemes of white 
flowers borne in July, while H. p. grandi- 
flora blooms Later. 
This last is very readily propagated 
from cuttings of the new wood, and 
these young plants will bloom the next 
season, and to our mind, they are far 
prettier than older plants which soon 
become leggy and unshapely. 
Although we have had several sharp 
frosts, sufficient to cut down the more 
tender plants, hardy Chrysanthemums 
are still making a good show in the gar¬ 
den, the second week in November. The 
small-flowered Pompon varieties are 
among the hardier sorts. 
Catarrh 
In the head, with its ringing noises in the 
ears, buzzing, snapping sounds, severe 
headaches and disagreeable discharges, 
is permanently cured by Hood’s Sarsa¬ 
parilla. Do not dally with local applica¬ 
tions. Take Hood’s Sarsaparilla and 
make a thorough and complete cure by 
eradicating from the blood the scrofulous 
taints that cause catarrh. Remember 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
Is America’s Greatest Medicine. SI, six for $5. 
□ Hood’s Pills cure all liver ills. 25 cents. 
Trees — also small 
fruits — our specialties. 
Order early for fall 
shipment and get 
special low prices. 
JOS. H. BLACK, SON&CO., 
Village Nurseries, 
EIOBTSTOWN, N. J. 
PRESIDENT WILDER. 
The Prize Currant. 
PLANT THE MONEY-MAKER. 
Plant In Autumn. 
VT Prioci given on epplioetioa. 
8. D. WILLARD, Geneva, M. T 
NEW STRAWBERRY" 
JOHNSON’S EARLY 
has four requirements. 
Labok. Kakly, Firm, Prolific. Its price In New 
York City last Spring was nearly double that of any 
other berry from my section. One grower has ordered 
40.000 plants. Send for circular. 
O. A. JOHNSON, Upper Fairmount, Md. 
Our Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue 
of Fruit Bearing Fruit Trees and Plants mailed 
FitKE. W. M. PETERS’ SONS, Wesley. Md. 
nr inn TREES, 3c. All kinds of stock CHEAP. 
iLnurl RKi.iANCE Nursery, Box 10. Geneva, N.Y 
100 
MILLER RASPBERRY PLANTS by mail for 
50c. T. C. KEVITT, Athenia, N. J. 
Spare Time or Permanent Employment 
for local or traveling salesmen, on salary or com¬ 
mission. Write for terms. Established 1840. 
500 acres. 10,000 square feet under glass. 
THE M. H. HARMAN COMPANY, 
Nurserymen, Geneva, N. Y 
Uinni/ paying to all honest men. T. W. Bowman 
VI UllA & Son, Nurserymen, Rochester, N. Y. 
WE’LL BUY OR SELL £FFTI<fc 
TIMOTHY,CLOVER,ALSIKE 
SEND SAMPLES FOR OUR BIDS. 
New methods of cleaning enable ns to save all the good 
seeds and remove all the weed seeds. We can therefore 
... fair prices for seeds—every quality—and can sell 
clean seeds at close prices. Booklet 8 Senas free. 
THE WH1TNEY-N0YES SEED CO., BUFFALO, N. Y. 
THE STORRS & HARRISON CO., BOX48 , PAINESVILLE, OHIO, 
leading American nurserymen, offer one of the most complete assortments of 
FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES, SHRUBS, ROSES, BULBS, SEEDS. 
45th year, 44 greenhonses. 1000 acres. Write for valnable catalogne free. 
SHRUBS, FLOWERS AND FRUITS. 
Most complete General Collection in America. Three thousand 
varieties described in a 200-page (fkue) Catalogne. “THE 
LEADING NEW ENGLAND NURSERY-.’ 
High-Grade BONE FERTILIZERS are best, most per¬ 
manent and cheapest. Our goods are especially adapted to 
spring crops. Special brands for potatoes, corn and oats, 
supplying plant food available for immediate use, and leaving 
something for future grass crops. None better or cheaper. 
I. P. THOMAS & SON CO., 2 phIlaiPelp'hIa® pa!’’ 
JADOO FIBRE*- 
JADOO LIQUID 
ARE INVALUABLE TO THE GROWERS OF 
Vegetables, Fruit, Plants or Flowers 
SEND FOR CATALOGUE AND PRICES. 
For Sale by all prominent Seedsmen, and by 
THE AMERICAN JADOO COMPANY, 
815 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 
POTATOES! 
TRUCK 
CORN 
OATS 1 
