862 
December 24 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
much as possible, in order to facilitate pollination. 
It is a skillful point to spray just enough to keep down 
Red spider, yet not interfere with pollination. On 
every sunny day, the newly-opened flowers are hand 
pollinated, using a camel’s hair brush and watch 
glass. The surplus pollen from bi-sexual varieties 
may be used to pollinate pistillate flowers; but Mr. 
Hunn has concluded that it does not pay to carry 
pistillate varieties when we have so many other excel¬ 
lent forcing varieties which are perfect-flowered. No 
pistillate plants were potted for this Winter’s forcing. 
There is a marked variation in pollen production 
among bi-sexual varieties. Beder Wood produces pol¬ 
len most freely, and is able to set fruit in clear weather 
without hand pollination. Sharpless is a good second, 
with Glen Mary, Marshall, Brandywine and Margaret 
not far behind. Patrick aDd Manwell are poor. Last 
Winter, Clyde blossoms seemed to be partially self- 
sterile. Pollen was produced in abundance, but no 
well-formed fruit resulted except under cross pollina¬ 
tion. After the fruit has begun to swell, the plants 
may be stimulated with liquid manure till color 
shows in the berries, the amount and frequency of 
application varying with the richness of the soil and 
condition of the plants. In moderate soil and with 
plants not overgrown, twice a week is none too much. 
Five Points in a Good Forcing Variety.— The 
forcing of strawberries is a special industry, and spe¬ 
cial care should be taken in the selection of varieties. 
Obviously the early or mid-season varieties will be 
found most profitable. It is an important point to 
have long, stout fruit stalks, which bear the berries 
well out beyond the foliage, where they can be seen 
to advantage. Many varieties which otherwise have 
excellent forcing qualities must be discarded for lack 
of these. Again, the berry must have color, the 
darker and glossier the better. Marshall, Brandy¬ 
wine and Margaret are ideal on this score, Glen Mary 
and Sharpless good, Beder Wood poor. Another re¬ 
quisite is solidity and quality. Here again Marshall 
excels, and Beder Wood falls short. Finally, the 
character of the plant should have much weight in 
the selection of varieties, particularly when the plants 
are to be used for table decoration. A symmetrical, 
upright grower with an abundance of clean, bright 
foliage, is the essential point. Beder Wood easily 
takes the lead here, while the somewhat straggling 
Marshall and Glen Mary are less desirable. 
The following varieties have been given a more or 
less conclusive trial at Cornell: Beder Wood, Bismarck, 
Brandywine, Clyde, Glen Mary, Hunn, Manwell, Mar¬ 
garet, Marshall, Marston, Middlefield, Noble, Ona, 
Patrick, Ridgeway, Sharpless, and William Belt. 
Last Fall, only Brandywine, Glen Mary, Margaret 
and Marshall were retained, the others having proved 
deficient in one or more of the desired qualities. 
Carrie and the two English forcing varieties, Royal 
Sovereign and Commander, will be tested this Winter. 
Brandywine is an exceptionally fine grower in the 
field and frames ; it makes magnificent crowns. Glen 
Mary and Marshall are not far behind, though the 
blight is somewhat partial to the latter. Margaret 
mildews badly early in the season, but picks up in 
the Fall. 
Thinning and Supporting.—When the berries 
are well set, they must be thinned to five to eight ber¬ 
ries per plant, according to its strength. Six was the 
average number last Winter, but Mr. Hunn counts on 
eight from the stronger crowns now ripening in the 
frames. Some method must be found to keep the 
fruit from resting on the moist soil. Crotched sticks 
are used in England, but this is practical only where 
few plants are grown. The strips of wire screen 
shown at Fig. 390 have given satisfaction at Cornell, 
but are not ideal. They would be somewhat unsightly 
on plants used for table decoration, and are easily 
shaken loose. 
Forced strawberries are marketed either as dessert 
fruit, or as specimen plants for table decoration bear¬ 
ing the ripe berries. Hitherto prices for the fruit 
have ranged from $1.50 to $5 per quart, according to 
quality, season and demand. Decorative plants like¬ 
wise bring from 50 cents to $2.50. Prices will depend 
wholly upon the skill of the grower and his judgment 
in marketing. 8. w. fletcher. 
A CORNER OF NEW ENGLAND. 
FARMING HISTORY OF A MAINE TOWN. 
Town Fair Dead. —Twenty years ago, there was 
held in this town an annual fair, at which were ex¬ 
hibited the products of the soil, the stock of the farms, 
and the handiwork of the women. Only those who 
lived in the town exhibited at the fair, yet the dis¬ 
play of stock, produce, etc., was equal to that shown 
to-day at the county fair. Then every farmer kept 
from one to five yokes of oxen ; to-day there are but 
two or three yokes in town. Then but very few horses 
were kept, now every farmer keeps from one to four. 
Farming was the chief business, and the farmers took 
pride in their work. Farmers raised their own bread ; 
now I think that not an acre of wheat is raised in the 
county. Many acres of fine corn were produced ; now 
scarcely five acres are grown in town. 
“ From Horns to Bars.”— There never were, and 
probably never will be, any canning, butter, or cheese 
factories in town, so we never had opportunity to pro¬ 
duce special crops or products to supply them. There 
were several good locations for establishing ice plants 
in town, and several years ago, large ice buildings 
were erected, some capable of storing 50,000 tons. 
This gave employment to men and teams in Winter, 
and to many men in Summer and Fall. This was an 
inducement to change from “ horns to ears.” Farmers 
neglected their farms to work on ice. This meant 
keeping less stock, for one does not like to do many 
chores after working hard all day on ice. Hay was 
EFFECTS OF SUNSHINE ABOVE; CLOUDY WEATHER 
BELOW. Fig, 392. 
sold instead of beef, mutton and wool. Less manure 
meant smaller crops, and run down soil, and now 
nearly every field is bordered with a row of bushes 
from four to five feet wide. 
Neglected Butter Markets. —A few years ago, 
this section of the State began to attract attention as 
a Summer resort, and now about 3,000 people spend 
the season within five miles of here. They consume 
a large amount of produce, which sells for good 
prices, always cash. At Boothbay Harbor, by judic¬ 
ious canvassing, 150 families could be secured as cus¬ 
tomers for fine dairy butter at 25 cents a pound for 
the entire year, yet but two men make any effort to 
secure this trade, and they keep about six cows each. 
Several that keep one to three cows supply a few 
A CLOUDY-WEATHER PLANT. Fig. 393. 
families, the rest use creamery or store butter. The 
demise of the Grange and farmers’ club marked the 
beginning of the decadence of farming in this town, 
and it looks as though it might be a long time before 
it returns. c. e. s. 
Boothbay, Me. _ 
IS SOUTHERN PEACH CULTURE OVERDONE? 
SOME REASONS FOR NOT THINKING SO. 
Are There Too Mauy Trees ?—On page 819, 
opinions were invited by S. R. C., of Rome, Ga., con¬ 
cerning the danger of overdoing the peach industry 
in Georgia, and the advisability of planting orchards 
of mixed fruits. It is true that the acreage of peaches 
will be greatly increased by this season’s planting, 
and that the nurserymen can hardly supply the de¬ 
mand for peach stock ; yet, properly viewed, there 
will not be such an increased acreage of bearing 
trees. We have necessarily to plant largely to keep 
up the present acreage. Peach trees are short-lived, 
and are continually dying out. Thousands of trees 
that hope this season will never bear again, and I 
think I can safely say that, at least one-third of the 
trees planted this season will never come into bear¬ 
ing. This is rather a strong prediction, but I think 
the present condition of affairs will bear me out in 
the statement. 
What Thins Them Out?— To grow a peach 
orchard, requires the very closest attention—clean 
cultivation, proper fertilization, careful pruning and 
constant treatment for insect pests and diseases. One- 
third or more of the orchards of the State do not re¬ 
ceive such attention, and they go down. Over 100,000 
trees have already been dug up this season on account 
ex the San Jos6 scale, and as many more will, per¬ 
haps, have to come out from the same cause before 
the Winter is over, besides the destruction that has 
been caused by the West India Peach scale and the 
Forbes scale. The Peach borer, also, ranks among 
the worst enemies to the peach growers of this State. 
Hundreds of trees are annually destroyed by this per¬ 
sistent pest. If an orchard is neglected for two years, 
and the borers not removed or treated, and during 
that time one heavy peach crop is taken from the 
trees, they will be so weakened by the effects of the 
onslaught of the borers, and the shock of the heavy 
fruit crop, that they will never recover. 
An Immense Business. —This is not said to dis¬ 
courage intending planters, but rather to encourage 
those who will care for their orchards. There is 
money in the peach industry in Georgia for the intel¬ 
ligent grower, over $1,000,000 net having been earned 
from it the past season. One grower sold four cars of 
peaches for $6,468. The same grower shipped 90 cars in 
all. It is true that the New York market was glutted 
at one time during the season, but only during the 
heaviest shipments of one variety, the Elberta. This 
can be avoided by planting different varieties to cover 
the season, and properly distributing the fruit to the 
various markets. Bad packing and handling and 
irresponsible commission merchants caused a great 
many growers to get poor returns and become dis¬ 
couraged. In my opinion, there will not be the over¬ 
production predicted by S. R. C. There is always a 
demand for choice fruits. w. m. scott. 
Georgia State Entomologist. 
THE FARMER AND A LICENSE. 
SOME HARM DONE BY PEDDLERS. 
The Bights of All.— There has been some discus¬ 
sion in The R. N.-Y. and other papers about the right 
of a farmer to peddle his products in town or city 
without paying a license. The R. N.-Y. says : 
We maintain that a farmer has a right to go where he will on 
public property, and sell his goods. We do not fear that the 
courts will ever decide a case of this sort against a farmer. A 
city may provide a market place, and charge a fair fee for stalls 
or stands in it; but no town on earth should make a farmer pay 
for driving his wagon around through it. 
It seems to me that The R. N.-Y. has not looked at 
the question from both sides. There are several ques¬ 
tions to be considered, aside from the question of the 
right of the farmer to go where he will on public 
property. My experience as salesman of our products 
in this city, for the last 10 years, has brought me face 
to face with this problem more than a score of times 
each year. I believe that the majority of farmers are 
short-sighted in regard to the benefits derived in this 
manner, and do not fully realize the effects of their 
irregular work in the line of retailing goods. 
I do not wish for a moment to argue against the 
farmer, for I am one myself; or against giving him 
all the liberty to sell his goods that others enjoy. But 
when he comes into the general market with a load of 
goods, knowing little of the state of the supply, or of 
the ruling prices for the day, he is very likely to run 
up against a problem, that he solves generally to his 
own disadvantage, and much more so to that of other 
farmers. Right here I think is the keynote of the 
whole matter. It is not the individual gain that 
should be considered, but the good of all the dealers 
who are supplying the market. 
The Harm Done. —To illustrate. Potatoes were 
selling in this market at 75 cents per bushel. The 
market was fairly well supplied by the local truckers 
(who, by the way, make their deliveries regularly 
every day). Some farmer (who does not make it a 
regular business) came into town, not having made 
any previous arrangements for the disposal of his 
load. He found himself unable to dispose of his load 
at the price named. He wouldn’t sell to the grocer at 
a lower price, so in order to dispose of it he peddled it 
around the streets at the wholesale price, because in 
order to sell at all, he must make it some object to the 
grocer’s customers to purchase of him, as they would 
not be likely to pay a stranger the same as they can 
buy for at their own grocer’s in small quantities as 
wanted. 
What is the result ? The farmer sold to the grocer’s 
customer ; when that customer qaHs on his grocer for 
