574 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
July 30 , 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Gladiolus Princeps Abroad. —Princeps, 
the finest hybrid variety of Gladiolus 
raised on the Rural Grounds, meets with 
hearty commendation abroad in the very 
home of this splendid Summer flowering 
plant. M. Ph. de Vilmorin in La Revue 
Horticole, the chief French gardening 
journal, devotes much space to tracing 
the genealogy of this “beautiful variety, 
of large size and brilliant coloring,” and 
concludes his interesting paper as fol¬ 
lows : 
The honor of producing this hybrid be¬ 
longs to an American—Dr. Van Fleet, of 
Little Silver, N. J. It is now more than 25 
years since Gladiolus cruentus, originally 
from South Africa, was sent to William Bull 
by a Swiss living in the Drakensberg, in 
Natal, when it was figured in the Botanical 
Magazine. But the specimens sent did badly, 
and M. Max Leichtlin (from whom I ob¬ 
tained these details), who was the only one 
to have the plant in its full beauty, gave it 
to Dr. Van fleet. The latter, under the 
propitious climate of North America, ob¬ 
tained excellent results with it, and crossed 
it with G. Childsii. 1 am sure he himself 
must have been astonished at the result. 
The hybrid Gladiolus, to which he has given 
the very appropriate name of Princeps, is 
remarkable for the rich scarlet-red of its 
flowers, by their size, and by their beautiftil 
form, surpassing any with which we are at 
present acquainted. The petals are very 
large, and their bright coloring is intensified 
by slight white spots, often accompanied by 
a median line of the same color on the in¬ 
ferior and lateral divisions. These latter 
are larger and not so spreading as in G. 
Nanceianus. 
Gladiolus Princeps does not bloom until 
August and September, in this respect re¬ 
sembling G. cruentus; that is to say, it is at 
its best when other Gladioli are almost or 
entirely passed. This is another point in its 
favor. On the other hand, its flowering is 
continuous, and it never has more than three 
or four blossoms open at the same time. 
But what does it matter if quality com¬ 
pensates for quantity? It is, unfortunately, 
an inexorable law of nature that the size 
of flowers shall he in inverse ratio to their 
number. From the decorative point of view 
the effect is almost the same, and when the 
blooms are cut the advantage rests with 
G. Princeps. The variety here represented 
(in a colored plate), a new and typical one, 
so far stands alone in this series. M. Max 
Leichtlin, that indefatigable worker, has 
tried many crosses, but red continues to pre¬ 
dominate in the seedlings, and will not go 
beyond orange-tinted scarlet in the scale 
of clear colors. We need not, however, de¬ 
spair, and I shall be much surprised if a 
few years hence we have not new colors in 
G. Princeps. 
The behavior of Gladiolus Princeps in 
various foreign countries and distant lo¬ 
calities generally is as gratifying as its 
unrivalled excellence at home. We have 
grown many seedlings from Princeps, but, 
like M. Leichtlin. have not been able to 
secure colors lighter than orange. There 
are magnificent dark and velvety reds of 
great size and firm substance, but as yet 
the coloring of its seedlings' and hybrids 
does not tend to become much lighter. 
Grow Peach and Plum Seedlings.— 
Probably more peach and plum seedlings 
are grown in the United States than in 
all other countries put together. A great¬ 
er number of plum species are here culti¬ 
vated, and the interest in the develop¬ 
ment of our native kinds is so great that 
one western experiment station alone now 
has over 500,000 seedlings under way. A 
multitude of hybrid varieties has been 
produced by plum breeders all over the 
country, and hundreds of growers are try¬ 
ing their luck in raising seedlings of 
more or less mixed parentage. The Ori¬ 
entals do not highly regard the plum as a 
fruit, though idealizing it as a flowering 
tree, and devote little effort to its im¬ 
provement. The European species have 
been highly developed, and the cultiva¬ 
tion of the splendid varieties derived from 
them brought to great perfection in the 
fruit growing localities of northern Eu¬ 
rope, but no great interest is now evident 
over there in the raising of new kinds. 
Peaches in America and China.— 
The peach as an orchard fruit only suc¬ 
ceeds well in that part of North America 
occupied by the United States and in 
China. While grown to some extent in 
Europe it must be coddled under glass 
or protected by walls, except in limited dis¬ 
tricts near the Mediterranean Sea. It is 
likely that portions of South America, Af¬ 
rica and Australasia will in time be found 
congenial to this luscious fruit, but at 
present peaches are only grown exten¬ 
sively in the two countries named above. 
Almost without exception the peach vari¬ 
eties cultivated in America have been 
raised here. The proportion of varieties 
we have received from abroad is not 
worth considering. Travelers tell great 
stories of the size and quality of the 
peaches found in Pekin markets, but it is 
quite probable the best Chinese fruits are 
equalled here, and there is steady prog¬ 
ress in evolving new and better varieties 
through the constant raising of seedlings 
by fruit cranks in every part of the coun¬ 
try. We have only one peach species, 
but it has been split up in many races so 
that a considerable range of cross-breed¬ 
ing is possible. 
The Radiance Plum. —J. D. Breece, 
Fayetteville, N. C., has been growing 
plums and other fruit tree seedlings for 
many years. Samples of two promising 
new varieties were sent us early in June. 
One was the Radiance, thus described by 
Mr. Breece, and shown in natural size 
in Fig. 252: 
This seedling came up in the Spring of 
1890, and was transplanted into a nursery 
row with others the same Spring. 
In 1900 it bore a full crop of fruit, of 
such unique qualities that I top-worked a 
number of trees in orchard with the variety. 
TIIE RADIANCE PLUM, NATURAL SIZE. 
Fig. 252. 
Each season I have added to the propagation 
and planting till I now have about 800 trees. 
In 1903 I commenced shipping on May 10, 
and bad in all 09 half-bushel carriers. This 
year I commenced shipping on Ma.V 23, and 
gathered through the season 230 carriers. 
In growth and habit the tree closely re¬ 
sembles the Marianna, but it is not thorny, 
and branches are not so dense. Its flowers 
are small, like those of a Chickasaw. Its 
parentage is probably Botan crossed with 
Marianna. It does not show any character¬ 
istics of Caddo Chief, although I kept that 
in my orchard several years as a cross 
breeder. The seedling continues in season 
about three weeks, and finishes before any 
other begins. It was about over before we 
got any fully ripe Alexander peaches. It 
was over when the N. Y. merchants reported 
“Georgia plums have begun to come.” 
The color is light red and yellow. Flesh 
yellow, firm and juicy. Quality very good, 
far surpassing Red June, Burbank and 
other varieties shipped in from the South 
and West. The extreme earliness, good 
flavor and shipping qualities of the Radi¬ 
ance should make it a useful market plum. 
The other sample was a fine seedling of 
Wickson, having the shape of that variety, 
but was of richer coloring and better 
flavor. It ripens with Red Nagate, better 
known as Red June, much earlier than its 
parent. Mr. Breece thinks it likely to be 
useful in the North, as it does not appear, 
like Wickson, to flower so early as to be 
caught by late frosts. 
Care of the Pits. —Selection of pits 
should be made, as a matter of course, from 
productive, healthy trees, and should be 
taken from well-ripened specimens. The 
testing of the quality of fruits from which 
pits are to be saved is a pleasant opera¬ 
tion and nothing more need be said of it 
here. Pits from clingstone fruits should 
be well freed from pulp and dried for a 
week or two in the shade. Freestone pits 
need little drying. Plum pits, especially 
those of Japan varieties, do not endure 
much drying out, and within a week 
should be packed away in damp sand in 
boxes, which should be freely exposed to 
frost in Winter or the pits may be planted 
two inches deep and six or more inches 
apart in drills in the garden during Octo¬ 
ber, covering the rows with boards to 
keep out vermin and check heaving. A 
very large percentage will usually fail to 
grow if the pits are from high quality 
peaches, or Japan and hybrid plums, 
whether the Blooms producing them were 
pollinated by hand or by natural means. 
Those from native or European plums 
usually germinate better. It is therefore 
a good plan to carry the pits in frozen 
sand and carefully crack them in Spring 
when ready to plant. The sound kernels 
may then be planted in the garden or in 
pots or boxes under protection and much 
space saved. When four or five inches 
high the seedlings may be transplanted as 
safely as cabbage plants if the roots are 
i.ot mangled and placed where they are 
to fruit or transferred to a nursery row, 
a foot apart, allowing three feet or more 
between the rows, and grown on for a 
year or two, until large enough to set in 
the orchard. Peaches, Japan and hybrid 
plums will usually fruit in three or four 
years, though an occasional seedling bears 
the second year. Native plums require 
a year or two longer to grow to bearing 
size, while Europeans, particularly of the 
Domestica type, may not show bloom until 
seven or eight years from the seed. A 
higher proportion of acceptable fruits may 
be expected among plum seedlings than 
peaches, and the trees are likely to prove 
more vigorous and long lived. Thousands 
of promising peach seedlings die aftei 
bearing a crop or two, apparently from 
inherited weaknesses. Apricot seedlings 
may be grown and cared for in every re¬ 
spect like plums and peaches, but the pits 
are often inferior to either in germinating 
power. w. v. f. 
Arsenate on Apples. 
J. E. Ii., Denver, Col .—Would a spray made 
of arsenate of lead, Milestone and lime be 
safe to use on half-grown apples? Will this 
poison stick to the apples so as to make them 
dangerous for use when ripe? In my mix¬ 
ture I have used four pounds of arsenate of 
lead to 50 gallons of water. Of course I do 
not wish to use this spray when the apples 
are half grown unless it is entirely safe. 
Ans. —I would not hesitate a moment to 
apply the combination of Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture properly made and arsenate of lead 
to half-grown apples. I think, however, 
that four pounds in 50 gallons is stronger 
than necessary for apples. I would not use 
more than two pounds in 50 gallons of 
water or Bordeaux Mixture. m. v. s. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
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Poultrymen and farmers find 
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PAROID 
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Standard for 13 Years. 
The pioneer prepared ROOFING. Outlasts metal or 
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WiU not melt. Fire-resisting. Send for Booklet K. 
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“BE GOOD” 
TO YOUR HORSES 
USE FRAZER’S AXLE GREASE 
AND MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM. 
wwww 
WEAR TWICE AS,l- 
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Recognized as the STANDARD 
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Ask your dealer for FRAZER’S with Label on 
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BORDEAUX MIXTURE «*»«*"■ 
To 1 1 
TRATED.) 
gal add -filgallonsof waterand ready for spraying 
CONVENIhMT and EFFECTIVE. Cost only $1 
MONEY OKDElt. REGISTERED LETTER orCHECK 
SMEDET CHEMICAL COMPANY, 
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PINELAND 
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Concise Catalogue from 
PINELAND INCUBATOR & BROODER C0 n 
Box K. * Jamesburg, N. J., U. S. A. 
s 
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Steel Roofing 
lOOSq. Ft. 
S2.00. 
WE PAY FREIGHT EAST of COIORADO 
Strictly new, perfect steel sheets, 6and 
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Flat, *2.00; corrugated or V crimped, *2.10 
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West^Hh <fc Iron Sts., Chicago. 
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Manufactured by THE ROGERS & HUBBARD CO., Middletown, Conn, 
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