718 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October l, 
Pluralisms 
■^r 
/VOTES FKO/W THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Progress in Mushroom Culture.— 
It has long been known that the finest 
mushrooms could only be grown from 
virgin spawn or myeclium that had not 
been partially exhausted in producing the 
fruiting or spore-bearing growths we 
know as mushrooms. The spores or true 
reproductive bodies of the mushroom 
plant are very different from ordinary 
seeds, and their requirements for develop¬ 
ment into “spawn” or mycelium are so ex¬ 
acting that until very recently it has not 
been considered practicable to propagate 
tne plant by this means, and the spawn 
maker has depended on finding his unex¬ 
hausted or virgin spawn where it grew 
naturally in pastures, manure piles or 
about open-'air mill tracks trodden by 
horses or mules. Occasionally it appears 
in prepared beus, if the conditions hap¬ 
pen to be just favorable for the germina¬ 
tion and further growth of the spores, 
which are very minute, and likely to be 
abundant in such places. This spawn is 
used for the propagation of other spawn 
by a process somewhat like propagation by 
cuttings in tne higher plants. Mu sir 
room spawn consists of a network of 
minute threads of living tissue permeating 
the soil or nutrient matter, and may be 
divided and used to inoculate fresh mater¬ 
ial that is sterile or not occupied with 
antagonistic fungi. Its growth may be 
arrested h” drying and again started under 
favorable conditions after long intervals. 
Commercial Spawn Variable. — The 
natural laws concerned in the manufac¬ 
ture, storage and transportation of mush¬ 
room spawn have not been well under¬ 
stood. Much disappointment and loss 
ccmes from its variable nature and from 
lack of exact methods of culture and 
subsequent handling. Frequent efforts 
have been maue during the last half cen¬ 
tury to elaborate reliable methods for 
growing mushrooms and manufacturing 
spawn direct from spores or tissue taken 
from selected individuals, as mushrooms 
are as varianle under cultivation as many 
other plants. Partial successes have been 
reported by Trench investigators, but their 
methods are still kept secret. Our De¬ 
partment of Agriculture has taken up the 
work with such good results that a prac¬ 
tical method of starting new spawn from 
selected young mushrooms is described in 
the recently published Farmers' Bulletin 
No. 204, issued by the Department of 
Agriculture, and the prediction made that 
within the coming year, the growing of 
mushrooms direct from spores of the best 
specimens wnl be so perfected as to be 
available for all careful cultivators. Al¬ 
ready “pure virgin” and tissue culture 
spawn is offered by reliable dealers, and 
the constant selection and improvement, 
now seemingly made possible, may lead to 
great cnanges in the cultivation of this 
delicious but hitherto uncertain product. 
Mushrooms may never be as “cheap as 
potatoes” as an enthusiastic press corre¬ 
spondent predicts, but it is to be hoped 
they will become more plentiful than in 
the past, i he preparation of virgin 
spawn oy the new methods is still a mat¬ 
ter of expense, requiring careful bacteri¬ 
ological methods to prevent contamination 
with injurious materials. The new spawn 
is offered in compressed tablets, to. be 
broken in pieces and planted much like 
the usual brick or flake spawn and now 
costs 35 cents a tablet. Three distinct 
varieties of edible mushrooms, all derived 
from the wild species, Agaricus catn- 
pestus, are now grown under the names, 
Alaska, white; Columbia, cream or gray, 
and Bohemia, brown in color. As the 
art of direct tissue and spore cultivation 
is further developed we may get other 
kinds exceeding in size and productive¬ 
ness any now known. The mushroom is 
not an important essential in this coun¬ 
try as yet, but is very highly appreciated 
abroad, where its culture gives employ¬ 
ment to great numbers. In the city mar¬ 
kets of Paris alone nearly 10,000,000 
pounds were sold in 1901 at an average 
price of 24 cents, returning the growers 
almost two ar.d a half miliotis of dollars. 
Another Wild Storm. —Almost on the 
anniversary of last year’s destructive gale 
the Rural Grounds were visited by an¬ 
other fierce storm on the morning of Sep 
tember 15, the wind blowing from the 
northeast with huricane velocity for sev¬ 
eral hours. Less damage was done than 
might be expected from the violence of 
the storm, though there are more late 
fruits under the trees at this writing than 
attached to the branches. Not many trees 
were uprooted, and few branches blown 
away. A month of dry weather preceded 
the storm, hardening the soil while check¬ 
ing growth and reducing foliage on the 
trees, so they were in better condition 
to withstand the violent blasts. The heavy 
crops carried by Winter apple and late 
pear trees apparently had a steadying ef¬ 
fect, and saved many branches from de¬ 
struction. The wholesale thinning may 
even be an advantage in some cases, 
though the tons of fallen fruit appear at 
the moment a dead loss. Our Yellow 
Newtown apples were never larger nor 
fairer at this season. Two-thirds of the 
finest speciments were blown off, yet ex¬ 
perience has taught us that Newtowns, 
not badly bruised, if barreled in mid-Sep¬ 
tember and kept cool are excellent eat- 
ing in early Winter. Those left on the 
trees will greatly increase in size if not 
disturbed by later storms. Winter pears 
like Lawrence, Nelis and even Anjou are 
not so accommodating. They do not 
sufficiently mature before October to fin¬ 
ish up well even if carefully stored. 
Unpruned Kieffers Best. —The obvi¬ 
ous lesson of these untimely storms is the 
advantage of low-headed and lightly 
pruned trees. One quickly understands 
that every foot of necessary trunk gives 
the wind an increasingly powerful lever¬ 
age on a tree, but it is not so easy to see 
the advantage of long and willowy 
branches for safely carrying heavy loads 
of fruit through violent winds, yet the slen¬ 
der, swaying limbs of unpruned Kieffer 
pears and Russet apples to-day carry more 
fruits than close or stub-pruned trees of 
the same varieties. Lanky branches break 
more readily from the weight of attached 
fruits, but their motion in high winds is 
less violent and does not snap off sway¬ 
ing fruits so readily. It is different with 
peaches and many plums. The wood is 
stiff and brittle at best, and the natural 
tendency is to fruit far out where the 
weight is a great disadvantage. As a rule 
the closer a peach or plum can be headed 
in and still maintain a fair amount of 
bearing wood the less risk of storms in¬ 
juring the fruits or trees. w. v. F. 
Everbearing Raspberries. —Our experi¬ 
ence with everbearing raspberries is very lim¬ 
ited. We think that fruit out of season could 
not be marketed, unless in a case of a grower 
who had a nearby market, his customers tak¬ 
ing them as they ripened directly from him. 
New Jersey. d. baird & son. 
Disking for Grain. — I heartily agree with 
S. B. Pulton, page 052, upon disking for either 
1-ail or Spring grain. On the other hand, the 
oat stubble plowed and fitted in the “usual” 
way only gave 10 bushels. That usual way 
with most farmers is a very thoughless, and 
I may say, lazy way, i. e., plow, harrow and 
drill just at seeding time, and expect the land 
to yield its best. L. W. 
Madison, O. 
Vegetables or Flowers. —I have been in 
the vegetable business and changed to flowers 
because it was too much bother with the 
drivers to haul the greens away. It is hard 
to get a good driver for the market wagon. 
1 know of others who had no success in vege¬ 
tables, so they went into flowers and had good 
success. Others changed from vegetables to' 
flowers and went back to vegetables because 
they had no success in flowers; others 
claimed there was more money in flowers. I 
had good success in both vegetables and flow¬ 
ers, but would not go back to vegetables, for 
there is more regular work in flowers. With 
vegetables you will have to wait until the 
sun is not so warm before you can cut, and 
then you will have to work too late at night 
to get a load. Flowers you can pick any time 
in the day and quit at evening to suit your¬ 
self; vegetables cannot be planted and cut 
when it is too warm, so you see it is the work 
a man likes and the success a man has in the 
greenhouse. Jacob p. phili.ip. 
Chicago. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8. 
n strain of hard work on 
tan or beast is quickly 
relieved by 
SLOAN'S 
LINIMENT 
Williams' 
Shaving Soap 
“ The only Soap fit for the face ” 
William'-' Shaving Sticks and Tablets sold every¬ 
where. Free trial sample for 2 .-cent stamp to pay 
postage. Write for booklet “How to Shave.” 
The J. B. Williams Co., Glastonbury, Conn. 
_owners should read article bv Alva Agee on Land 
Drainage entitled “The Making of a Farm,” in 
The National Stockman andFarmer, of Pittsburg, Pa., 
July 21st. page6. Copy will be sent free on application. 
Vitrified Drain Tilelasts forever. Nobreakage. Saves 
costof laborin laying. Write for p-Tcesand Informa¬ 
tion TbeH. B. Camp Co., Bessemer Bldg.,Pittsburg,Pa 
g IT IS 
H LOADED 
V *!th 
^gvrr ircwi 
AGENTS 
_ MEND-A-RIP" 
Docs ail kinds of Light and Heavy Stitching 
__ Does all kinds 
WANTED 
all kit 
of light and 
heavy riveting 
Will Save the Pbici of Itself 
Many Times a Year. A Perfect 
Hand Sewing Machine and Riveter combined 
To Show It MeniiM a Sale. Agent* 
make from $!> to $15 a day. One 
_ agent made |20 first day and writes to hurry 
more machines to him. Write for special agents’ price. 
J.C. Foote Foundry Co., Fredericktown, O, 
The Great Agents Supply House. 
niklO The Double-Acting Rams open 
nnlYlO the valves as well as shut them 
off with the power of the water. More 
water raised in proportion to waste than 
any ram made. No stopping. 
C. & A. HODGKINS CO.. Marlboro.N.H. 
The WAGON to BUY. 
lalK>r, annoy¬ 
ance and expensoof repairs. 
STEEL WHEELS SaToW: 
Your address on a postal will bring you free catalog. 
The Geneva IVletal Wheel Co., 
Box 17, Geneva, Ohio. 
Galvanised Steel Tanks 
Guaranteed to the user. Built to 
suit your particular needs at re¬ 
markably low prices. Also 
manufacture Corrugated Iron 
and steel roofing, etc. Write for prices to-day. 
GIDGE BROS. IRON ROOFING CO. Gedge Si, Anderson, Ind. 
Satisfaction 
is the first re¬ 
quisite, price 
the next. For 
both try 
Arrow Brand Asphalt Ready Roofing 
No trouble, no repairs, Proof against heat, cold, 
rain and sun, Sand or gravel surfaced. Send for 
samples, booklet and prices. 
Asphalt Ready Roofing Co,, 80 Pine Street, New York 
OATS AND RYE 
to produce large, full grains require 
a complete fertilizer rich in 
POTASH 
-S"~ 
MSS/KS?' 
BOOKS FREE 
Write to-day for our valuable 
books on “Fertilization.” The 
information contained in them 
means money to you. Address: 
i GERMAN KALI WORKS 
93 Nassau Street New York 
GASOLINE 
ENGINES 
for pumping or commercial pur¬ 
poses, from to 2S horse power. 
Also Steam Boilers and Engines,Saw 
Hills, Feed Mills, Cider Presses and 
supplies. Machinery guaranteed. 
Catalogues free. 
HYDRAULIC PRESS MFG. C0„ 
39 Cortlandt St„ New York City. 
SAN JOSE SCALE 
and other INSECTS killed by 
GOODS 
Caustic Potash Whale-Oil Soap No. 3 
Endorsed by U. S. Dept, of Agri. and State Experiment 
Stations. This soap is a Fertilizer as well as an Insecti¬ 
cide. 60-lb. kegs. $2.50; 100-lb. kegs,$4.50; half barrel, 
S701b.,3Wcperlb; barrel.4251b.,3J4c. Send for booklet. 
JAMES GOOD, Original Maker, 
939-41 N. Front Street. Philadelphia, Pa. 
CIDER 
PRESSES. 
Investigate the “Monarch’’ 
Hydraulic Press before 
buying. Special Con¬ 
struction, Added Con¬ 
veniences, Maximum 
Capacity and Jiesults. 
Catalogue free. 
MONARCH MACHINERY COMPANY, 
41 Cortlandt Street, New York. 
THE NIAGARA 
FRUIT LADDER 
It always stands and never 
rocks. A model for 
strength, lightness 
and durability. 
Wo manufacture a full line af 
BASSWOOD LADDERS for 
fruit picking, painting and fire 
purposes. Also crates, boxes, 
and fruit packages. Write to 
BACON & CARPENTER, 
Appleton. N. Y. 
RAIN or SHINE 
No matter what the weather, it has no effect upon your 
farm buildings if they are roofed with 
4 farm buildings if they are roofed with ^ 
Ww.REX FLINTKOTE ROOFING 
■w/.. . “ 
8fe /^ Why will you continue being dissatisfied and disgusted with the ordinary 
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j |yJ rusts and corrodes ; tar sags and drips ; and shingles are inflammable. Rex , 
Sybr Flintkote Roofing is waterproof and fire-resisting. We know a great deal about ., 
yy roofs and roofings, and our book is filled with rooting facts. Let us send it to you 
" with free samples. We have an agent in your locality ; send for his name. 
J. A. & W. BIRD & CO., 70 India St., Boston, Mass. 
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Handsome illustrated catalogue free for the asking 
We have transfer houses at many different points thus 
insuring prompt delivery’to any section 
Vermont Farm Machine Co., Bellows Falls, Vt. 
See the exhibit of U. S. Separators at the St. Louis Exposition, space 58, 
opposite working creamery, Agricultural Building. 
