1 897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
RURAUSMS—Continued. 
Mb. Charles Bell, of West Point, Va., 
kindly sends us a basket of splendid 
Carman grapes. The bunches were very 
large, double-shouldered, the berries of 
medium size, sweet and agreeable. We 
could wish that the seeds are smaller. 
Mr. Bell says that the vine is very 
thrifty and bears heavily.. 
Mr. R. N. Randall, of Sweetwater, 
Tenn., does not agree with Messrs Bell 
and McAnally, in his estimate of the 
above grape: 
The Carman grape does not seem to have much 
taste, and is not nearly so good as Norton’s Vir¬ 
ginia,■•which it somewhat resembles. 
Mr J. H. Saeger, of Bethlehem, Pa , 
says that, from the little tuber of Sir 
Walter Raleigh potato sent to him, he 
harvested 60 tubers, which weighed 14 
pounds 12 ounces. The pieces (he does 
not state how many) were planted May 
7, and dug August 27. 
They are beauties. I can not speak too well of 
them. 
Mb E. P. Babcock, of Waitsburg, 
Wash., writes that he cut his two-ounce 
tuber of Sir Walter into eight single 
eyes, and planted them on April 6. The 
plants made no seed balls. The crop 
was dag August 20, and weighed exactly 
20 pounds. There were 53 tubers that 
weighed from two to eight ounces, and 
nine which weighed just 12 ounces each. 
I think the potato is perfection, and that you 
can not improve upon it in any particular unless 
it be in quality; of that I know nothing. I would 
like your opinion as to its edible qualities. 
We boiled a “ mess ” a few days prior to 
the writing of this note. The flesh was 
remarkably white, floury, nutty, and 
about perfect. But the quality of pota¬ 
toes varies with the soil and season. 
Bromus Inebmis as a Lawn Grass.— 
September 4. A portion of the Rural 
Grounds lawn is so poor that the finer 
grasses have been crowded out, and 
various plants, regarded as weeds, have 
taken their place. Among these is 
Potentilla Canadensis or Common Cinque¬ 
foil or Five-finger. It is a hardy per¬ 
ennial herb, with decumbent stems, pro¬ 
ducing runners like the strawberry to 
which it is related. The flowers are much 
like strawberry flowers, but the petals 
are smaller and the color yellow. As a 
substitute for grass, where grass will 
not grow, it is not so bad. The lawn- 
mower keeps it in good shape, and it is 
soft and pleasant to walk upon. A small 
plot of this sod was spaded under Septem¬ 
ber 4. The earth—one should not call 
jit soil—was raked and firmed several 
times, and then the Awnless Brome 
grass was sown. It was again and again 
raked and firmed and more seeds sown, 
so that, probably, not less than at the 
rate of 200 pounds to the acre were sown. 
The seed is light and as large as oats, 
and fairly resembles them. For our 
purpose, we wanted a close stand. A 
portion of the plot gets no sun because 
of the proximity of an Xrbor-vitue hedge. 
The rest gets the sun for the most part 
of the day. 
We have faith in this Brome grass for 
lawns where Blue grass, Red top, etc., 
may not thrive well, or where the soil is 
depauperated from the use of the lawn- 
mower for many years, the lawn mean¬ 
while receiving no other food than the 
grass clippings. 
Reference has already been made to 
another plot of this grass sown years 
ago in a remote part of the Rural 
Grounds, and in soil which has not, dur¬ 
ing 25 years of our positive knowledge, 
received any manure or fertilizer. How 
rich or how poor the soil was or is natur¬ 
ally we may not say, except that grape 
vines, Prickly Comfrey, etc., thrive very 
well near it. This grass grows as lux¬ 
uriantly this as during any previous sea¬ 
son. Two heavy cuttings have been 
made each season. The stems are far 
more leafy than those of Timothy and, 
as we have said, the Brome grass keeps 
complete possession of the soil. It is, 
according to all the information at hand, 
strongly stoloniferous, and possessed of 
63* 
remarkable drought - resisting powers 
It may be, therefore, that like Couch, 
Quack or'Witch grass (Triticum or Agro- 
pyrum repens), it will be difficult to get 
rid of it when well established in fields. 
We ask our readers to try it merely in a 
small way. There will be no danger in 
that. We have faith in it (a mere mat¬ 
ter of faith, founded upon little experi¬ 
ence) both as a hay, pasture and lawn 
grass. 
The Dandrolene put upon our Abund¬ 
ance and Burbank plums, is now just as 
greasy as when first applied—1 % year 
ago nearly. It is among the things queer 
and strange that good authorities, 
French and American, recommended this 
tree-killer. 
We have mentioned that hundreds of 
well-tried strawberry, raspberry, black¬ 
berry and other plants have been re¬ 
moved from the Rural Grounds and, in¬ 
stead of leaving the soil uncovered, 
Crimson clover has been sown. It has, 
also, been sown between grape-vines 
and other plants. One effect is already 
apparent. The various plots have been 
treated quite differently. Where potatoes 
and strawberries have been grown, the 
soil has received liberal dressings of 
“complete” fertilizers of high grade. 
Other plots have received neither fer¬ 
tilizers nor manure. One need only to 
look at these plots to know which have 
and which have not received the ferti¬ 
lizers ; which have received more, which 
less. Assuming that the nitrogen of 
the fertilizers had either been consumed 
by the plants or leached through the soil 
it would appear that, without nitrogen¬ 
ous fertilizers, Crimson clover, upon such 
land, will make all the growth that it 
is desirable it should make. Upon the 
plots which have received no potash or 
phosphate, the clover is feeble and of a 
yellowish green color. Upon the plots 
which have received an abundance of 
complete fertilizer from year to year— 
as, for instance, the potato and straw¬ 
berry plots—the clover is a foot high, 
as thick as possible, and the color is a 
beautiful, velvety green. 
Bulletin 80, Ohio Experiment Station.— A ton 
of hay carries fertilizing constituents to the value 
of more than 88, as compared with the prices at 
which mixed fertilizers are sold in Ohio, and as¬ 
suming that these constituents are equally aval - 
able with those in mixed fertilizers. It is prob¬ 
able that they are not quite so quickly available, 
but the apparent fact that commercial fertilizers 
can be used with protit in the production of 
cereals only when these cereals are grown in 
rotation with clover, and the high value as fer¬ 
tilizers which bran and oil meal are shown to 
have, all combined, most forcibly indicate that, 
through the feeding of live stock, the careful 
saving of the resultant manure, and its intelli' 
gent employment in a scientific rotation of crops, 
lies to-day, as of old, the road to the economical 
maintenance of fertility. 
Burbank Plums in Pennsylvania. 
S. G., Racine, Pa. —I will give you 
my neighbor’s experience with the Bur¬ 
bank plum. He has a tree that was 
budded in June, 1803, making it four 
years old from the bud. Last year, it 
made a growth of 3M feet and matured 
85 plums. This year, it was in full 
bloom during the hard freeze which we 
had at Easter time ; but in spite of this, 
it matured a fine lot of fruit. On 
account of the plums ripening rather 
unevenly, and his neglect to keep ac¬ 
count of what he picked, we do not 
know the exact amount, but think it 
near one-half bushel. With its matur¬ 
ing this fruit, it will make a two-foot 
growth this year, and it has not had 
what fruit growers call first-class care. 
So if any one from this section asks you 
about Burbank plums, I think that you 
will be safe in telling them that the 
Burbank is all right. 
SPECIAL SALE. 
We are in receipt of price-list of 
“ special sale ” of fruit trees from Call’s 
Nurseries, Ferry, O. For the sake of 
encouraging fall setting of fruit trees 
and at the same time reducing the large 
stock of extra fine trees now on hand, 
Mr. Call is making this “special sale” 
at prices so low that our readers will find 
it a rare chance to secure the best of 
stock at prices that are low enough to 
please everybody. Write them for price¬ 
list of Special Sale.— Adv. 
ARMSTRONG & McKELVY 
Pittsburgh. 
BZYMER-BAUMAN 
Pittsburgh. 
DAVIS-CHAMBERS 
Pittsburgh. 
FAHNESTOCK 
Pittsburgh. 
ANCHOR i 
}■ Cincinnati. 
ECKSTEIN ) 
ATLANTIC 
BRADLEY 
BROOKLYN 
JEWETT 
ULSTER 
UNION 
SOUTHERN 
SHIPMAN 
COLLIER 
MISSOURI 
RED SEAL 
SOUTHERN 
Now York. 
- Chicago. 
-St. Louis. 
JOHN T. LEWIS & BROS CO 
Philadelphia. 
MORLEY 
Cleveland. 
SALEM 
Salem, Maas. 
CORNELL 
Buffalo. 
KENTUCKY 
Louisville. 
I T is a significant fact that re¬ 
sponsible dealers sell and re¬ 
sponsible painters use Pure White 
Lead (see list of genuine brands) 
and Pure Linseed Oil, They 
know their business. Those who 
don’t know, try to sell and use 
the “ just-as-good mixtures,” “ so 
called White Lead,” &c., &c. 
By using National Lead Co.’s Pure White Lead Tinting Col- 
I* r* I - * ors, any desired shade is readily obtained. Pamphlet giving 
valuable information and card showing samples of colors free; 
also cards showing pictures of twelve houses of different designs painted ia 
various styles or combinations of shades forwarded upon application to those 
intending to paint. 
National Lead Co ., / Broadway , New York. 
MANURE VALUE 
depends very largely upon its being 
properly pulverized and evenly spread. 
This can be done quicker, cheaper and with 
more certainly of good results with the 
L € r IWI n MANURE... 
r\ELBVm SPREADER 
than by any means known. Spreads any kind of 
manure better than it can be done by hand. It 
saves all waste from “ bunchy spreading,” makes the 
manure go farther. 16 YEARS on the MARKET. 
Largest and oldest makers of Manure Spreaders 
in tho world. Send for 1897 CATALOGUE—FREE. 
KEMP & BURPEE MFG.CO » Syracuse, N. Y. 
WORKING HAY PRESS 
Will turn out from 4 to 6 tons more per day 
than any press made. 12 to 16 tons per 
day is the ACTUAL CAPACITY of the 
SOUTHWICK 
1 Write for catalog. & price list. 
[SANDWICH MFG. CO. 119 Main St. Sandwich,111.^ 
“Eli” Baling Presses 
88 Styles & Sizes for Horse and Steam Power- 
Hay or P 46 Inch 8 bII 
Straw Feed Opening . IliiTBl ILm ~S* 
^ 1 Power Leverage 64 to 1 STEEL 
Largest line in the world. Send for Catalog. 
COLLINS PLOW CO., 1111 Hampshire St.,Quincy,III. 
:plow to the line. 
0 liow close can you plow to a hedge! Or for that 
•> matter a rail fence or a barb wire fence! Did you 
• ever stop to count up your annual loss from not 
• being able to cultivate that strip of land! You 
0 can plow right up to the posts of the Keystone 
• Fence. There is no waste land when it is used. 
0 We send inquirers a free book on fence building. 
* KEYSTONE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., 
• No. 19 Rush St., Peoria, Til. 
: 
» 
« 
« 
p 
ADAM 
THE FENCE MAN 
Makes Woven Wire 
Fence that ‘’Stands 
Up.” Cannot Sag;, 
Get his new catalogue. It; 
tells all about the Best 
Farm Fence Made. 
Also Steel Lawn and Cemetery Fences 
|t||| W-J- ADAftL Joliet, Illinois. 
CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION 
Called by county commissioners. Topic: 
“Fencing.” With nine competitors Page 
agent walks oil with contract because of su¬ 
perior points of excellence named. Write for 
proof, 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE C0-. Adrian, Mich. 
Why Hire Your Corn Harvested 
WHEN YOU CAM RUY A 
Standard Corn Harvester, 
STEEL FRAME WITH SAFETY GUARDS, FOR 
0 I A DELIVERED AT YOUR R. R. STATION. 
“j ADDRES8 
THE STANDARD HARROW CO., DTICA, N.Y. 
Staggered Oval Spokes. 
BUY A SET TO FIT YOUR NEW OR 0L0 WAC0.1 
CHEAPEST AND BEST 
way to get a low wagon. Any size 
wheel, any width tire. Catal. k-rkk. 
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO., Quincy, III. 
lor ic - a pound. Everlasting Fence Posts 
* HUH Great English Harness Blacking. Rat 
Poison. Paris Green. Preserving Eggs. 
Above valuable recipes mailed for 25c. each, or all 
f<r$l. H. LISTER, London Bridge, Va. 
Another Chance for a Watch. 
Here is the best bargain we have yet 
offered in a low-priced man’s watch. It 
has seven jeweled movements, straight 
line lever escapement, cut compensated 
balance, safety pinion. Plates damas¬ 
keened in nickel. White hard enamel 
dial with depressed secon ds and black 
marginal figures. The case is dust- 
proof polished silverode (that looks like 
silver and wears better). Has 10 k gold- 
filled crown. We have secured a special 
price on a lot of these watches. The 
jobber's price is 83 50. He sells to re¬ 
tailer, and you pay 85 00 for them at the 
jewelry store You may send us one 
new subscription and 83 50, and we will 
send you the watch by return mail, and 
the paper for a year to the new sub¬ 
scriber so that the watch will cost you 
only 82 50. We guarantee this watch to 
keep good time, and return the money, 
if you are not satisfied, but you will be. 
We want the new subscriptions, and if 
you want a watch, now is the time to get 
it. The Hural New-Yorker, New York, 
