6o6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Rambler hose inquiries. —When Is the 
best time to prune )he Crimson Rambler? 
How often should the canes be renewed, and 
how much do you cut back each year? How 
do you propagate the Rambler, and when? 
Is Philadelphia Rambler as hardy, free from 
disease, and as free a bloomer as the Crim¬ 
son? F. F. B. 
Ayer, Mass. 
The best time to prune Rambler roses 
is in early Spring, when growth is start¬ 
ing. Summer pruning, aside from cutting 
out an occasional weak or crowded branch, 
is usually harmful. As a rule only old or 
weak canes should be taken out in Spring, 
and the branches shortened in just enough 
to remove frozen or dead tips. Ramblers 
bloom best on wood two or three years 
old, and need little trimming. If too many 
new canes start at the base they should 
be rubbed off in the bud stage, or when 
only a few inches long. New ones are 
only needed to replace exhausted canes as 
they fail in vigor. It is well to allow a 
new cane or two to grow prostrate on the 
ground, if the situation of the plant per¬ 
mits, so that it may be protected by snow 
or other covering during Winter. Such 
trailing canes are likely to come through 
an excessive Winter unharmed, and can 
be tied up in Spring to replace any up¬ 
right growth that may be killed. If not 
needed they should be cut away. We 
have in this way preserved in full glory 
some rather tender Rambler hybrids that 
winter-killed where exposed. Crimson 
and Philadelphia Ramblers are very hardy, 
but cannot always endure extreme cold 
without harm. 
Young shoots of Ramblers may be 
taken any time after the bloom fades, 
made into cutting of three or four “eyes” 
or buds, removing all but the top leaf, and 
rooted in moist sand in a warm, shady 
place. The operation is best conducted 
under glass, but succeeds in sheltered 
places outside. Hardwood cuttings, made 
in the Fall before much frost, usually 
root well, but require a temperature of at 
least 60 degrees for six or eight weeks. 
In both cases the sand must be constantly 
kept moist. August and September are 
good months to propagate Ramblers from 
young wood. Growing canes may also be 
layered by bending them down and cover¬ 
ing with three or four inches of moist soil. 
Occasionally a tip will root, like the black¬ 
cap raspberry, if pegged down about the 
middle of September. Commercially, 
Ramblers are propagated from short “one- 
eye” cuttings in midwinter taken from 
plants grown under glass. 
garden fruits. It is a true “ironclad” in 
hardiness—indifferent alike to the zero of 
midwinter and to late frosts in blooming 
season. It has few enemies except at the 
sea level, where it is occasionally attacked 
by an orange-spored fungus that deforms 
a portion of the foliage and fruits. Given 
fine weather at blooming time it is a tre¬ 
mendous cropper, but the ripening berries 
are so highly appreciated by birds that the 
grower must cover his bushes with nets 
as the fruits begin to color in order to se¬ 
cure a share. Apparently every robin, cat¬ 
bird and thrush in the neighborhood will 
locate a Juneberry bush or tree at the first 
indication of ripening, and give it undi¬ 
vided attention until the last berry has 
been plucked. If we could induce June- 
berries to fruit through a long season, and 
plant them in quantity, other fruits would 
be little molested while they were in evi¬ 
dence. The season, however, is short, 
coming just after the earliest strawberries, 
and plantings are so rare that they scarcely 
make a diversion for fruit-eating birds. 
When fully ripe the berries are large, rich 
purple in color, with heavy blue bloom, 
and are particularly well llavored in the 
way of a sweet blueberry. There is little 
acidity, and those who prefer tartness may 
gain it by adding a few currants or cher¬ 
ries ripening at the same time. Although 
closely allied to the apple and pear the 
Juneberry, when cooked, much resembles 
in taste the Mazzard cherry, and is far 
superior as pie material on account of the 
absence of pits. Many think its quality 
for cooking better than any other small 
fruit. The culture is very simple. Once 
planted in good soil this variety only needs 
to be kept free from weeds and grass. 
Pruning is confined to the occasional cut¬ 
ting out of a decrepit branch, or the thin¬ 
ning of too numerous suckers. As the 
bushes only grow two or three feet high 
they are quite easily protected while fruit¬ 
ing by ordinary mosquito netting, which 
may be made to do duty for several years. 
Propagation is effected by detaching suck¬ 
ers during the dormant season. If firmly 
planted without unnecessary exposure they 
are sure to grow, and commence bearing 
in one or two years. Excellent fruits are 
occasionally found on the tree-like species 
of Amelanchier, A. Canadensis, generally 
known as Shad-bush, but many of the 
wild plants are sterile. We have budded 
and grafted Success high up on apple and 
bnad-bush stocks. It makes a queer little 
bushy-topped tree when thus worked and 
bears enormously for a season or two, but 
has a tendency to diminish rather than in¬ 
crease after the third year. The Juneberry 
has been proposed as a stock for root¬ 
grafting pears and apples, on account of 
its absolute hardiness, but we have not 
heard the results of any authoritative 
trials. w. v. F. 
storage tank in ttie top of the house, 
which will sometimes spring a leak, freeze 
up or allow the water to become contam¬ 
inated. Where hand power or windmills 
are the means of raising the water this 
plan of direct pressure is not practicable, 
as there must be storage for the water to 
overcome disadvantages in regularity of 
supply. I do not know of any work de¬ 
voted exclusively to artesian wells. The 
reports of the State Geological Survey will 
give the most practical information on 
that subject for the State in which they 
are issued. g. d. 
Utilizing Stable Manure. 
J. IF. 8., Mexia, Tex .—I have just now two 
wagons hauling manure from town, two miles 
away, for a Fall garden. A good friend, who 
has a very poor place yet closer to town than 
myself, sent me word this morning that he 
has about 20 loads of very good manure in 
his lot, where he fattened beef cattle with 
cotton seed meal, etc., and that if I want it 
I may have it at 25 cents per load. That 
man lias idle teams, and perhaps hands, yet 
will not haul tnat stuff on his own poor farm. 
How far would a man get doing that way in 
your country? 
A ns. —Manure is often sold at auction 
in our country and brings $2 or more per 
load, depending on the shape it is in. A 
farmer who would give it away or sell it 
for 25 cents a load to get rid of it would 
not farm very long. Yet many farmers 
throw away the best part of the manure 
by letting the rain leach through it. We 
have known farmers to do this, and then 
buy fertilizers to make their crops. 
Origin of Crimson Rambler. 
J. II. A., Delaware, N. J .—Will you tell me 
the home of the Crimson Rambler? 
Ans. —The Crimson Rambler was orig¬ 
inally found growing under cultivation in 
Japan by a botanical traveler, who sent it 
to the nursery of Turner & Co., Slough, 
England, it proved so hardy and attrac¬ 
tive that it was there propagated and scat¬ 
tered over the world. It is supposed to 
be derived from the species Rosa Poly- 
antha, native to Japan and eastern China, 
though horticulturally it is quite distinct 
from the species. It is now the most pop¬ 
ular hardy rose in Europe and America, 
and has never been superseded in its pecu¬ 
liar field. We think, however, that the 
Philadelphia Rambler, a seedling of the 
Crimson Rambler, has many points of 
superiority, and will be largely grown in 
the future. _ 
Paint for Metal Roofs. —W. It. T. asks 
what kind of paint to use on metal roofs. 
After trying various kinds on the market 
and finding them unsatisfactory, we were ad¬ 
vised by a roofing company to try a paint 
which they said was good. We ordered 
it, paying GO cents per gallon. We found it 
to be the best we ever used, and also found 
it was common gas tar, which can be bought 
at any gas works at 10 cents per gallon. Ap¬ 
ply with whitewash brush on warm, dry days 
once in three years. No need to take off 
iron roofs for want of cheap and reliable 
paint. l. 
August 13, 
Standard for 13 Years. 
The pioneer prepared HOOFING. Outlast 1 ' metal or 
shinnies. Any one can : pply It. Contains no tar. 
Will not melt. Fire resisting Smd for Booklet K. 
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The 
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For stables, barns, houses 
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in economy and durabil¬ 
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one can put it on. Com¬ 
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each roll. Send for free 
sample and book on 
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F. W. Bird & Son, 
E. Walpole, Mats, Chicago, III. 
Fruit 
Decays Less 
when shipped in our ventilated 
Shipping J foxes. Circulation of 
air keeps them sound. Don’t risk 
loss in shipment and in sales when our 
SHIPPING BOXES 
cost so little and save so much. Mer¬ 
chant and consumer buy quicker 
- when they see the fruit. Ship¬ 
ping Boxes cost 9e each. 
Ask for free illustra¬ 
ted booklet 20 
Geneva Cooperage 
Company 
Geneva 
Ohio _„ . 
0 
NEW CALEDONIAN BEAN 
HARVESTER AND BUNCHER. 
Puys for it, 
self with two 
days’ use. 
Dumps auto¬ 
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and leaves 
the BEANS 
FREE from 
WEEDS, 
DIRT and 
STONES. 
W bite To-Day 
foe Catalog. 
CALEDONIA BEAN HARVESTER WORKS 
CALEDONIA, N. Y 
Philadelphia Rambler lias been tested 
for the last six years in widely separated 
localities, and lias endured without harm 
when unprotected in temperatures running 
as low as 16-19 below zero. It has better 
foliage and may be considered more 
healthy than and fully as hardy as its 
parent, Crimson Rambler, though not quite 
such a tall grower. It is in every way as 
free in bloom, and about 10 days earlier, 
so that the Rambler season is much pro¬ 
longed by its use. The flowers are larger, 
much more double and richer in color, 
though perhaps not so many are produced 
in an average cluster. 
The Dwarf Service-Berry. —Fig. 268, 
page 603, is a fair representation of the 
fruits of the dwarf service or Juneberry, 
Amelanchier Botryapium, introduced to 
cultivation over a quarter of a century 
ago by Prof. H. E. Van Deman. It is 
said to have been first grown in Illinois 
from seeds from the mountains of Penn¬ 
sylvania. Prof. Van Deman found it in 
Kansas, where it had been brought from 
Illinois. It was quite widely distributed 
in the years preceding 1895, being sold in 
the West at times as an improved huckle¬ 
berry or blueberry. Few nurserymen cat¬ 
alogue it now, though it is well worth 
growing by those who care for variety in 
Water Supply With Direct Pressure. 
II., Oswego Falls, N. Y .—Under the head of 
“Water Supply From Springs,” on page 524, 
you say : “The force that would raise water 
to an elevated lank would force it into the 
cellar tank, so that the air pressure will take 
it to any part of the house.” Will you ex¬ 
plain what pressure will be on the water after 
It has been delivered into a cellar tank, lo 
convey it to different parts of the house? 
What publication is there on the subject of 
artesian wells? 
Ans. —The article referred to speaks of 
the plan of supplying houses with water 
by direct pressure. The pressure on the 
tank in the cellar comes from the forcing 
of the water into it by the pump, wherever 
that may be located. Six pounds pressure 
per square inch will elevate water to the 
second story, and if the tank is airtight ad¬ 
ditional pressure may be put on, so that 
water may be used for some time after the 
pump stops, acting much in the same man¬ 
ner as do the compressed air sprayers. If 
a hydraulic ram or gasoline engine is the 
source of power in elevating the water there 
need be no tank at all in the cellar—just 
a system of pipes leading to the different 
rooms that are to be supplied with an over¬ 
flow in a convenient* place. The water 
keeps circulating through the pipes, and 
always ready for use. This system of sup¬ 
plying water has some advantages over the 
Inexpensive, Durable, Attractive 
Farm Houses, barns and all other buildings can be 
erected of our Hollow Buiiding Blocks, either FLA IN 
or JtOCK FACE, at a less cost than of brick. 
Also used for foundations. 
Prices and catalogue furnished upon request. 
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You Can Save From 830 to 850 
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HUBBARD’S FERTILIZERS 
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