1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
695 
RURALISMS — Continued. 
give the canes support during the grow¬ 
ing season, and to lay them down and 
cover them after hard frosts. 
The Strawberry-raspberry has bloomed 
moderately during the entire summer, 
but has borne no fruit. Our plant is now 
three feet in height, and 3% in diame¬ 
ter. It was planted during April of 
1895. The leaflets, seven to a petiole, 
are narrow, plicate, and strongly serrate. 
It is not a bad-looking bush, but has no 
value among small fruits, while its 
suckering habit is very objectionable... 
On September 3, four persons com¬ 
pared Campbell’s Early with Moore’s 
Early as grown at the Rural Grounds : 
“They ripen just at the same time. 
Campbell’s Early is more vinous. At 
this time, there is just as much acidity 
about the seeds of one as the other. It 
has less ‘ fat ’ between the skin and pulp. 
It has a firmer skin and less bloom. 
Moore’s is a larger berry, Campbell’s is 
the better grape.”. 
It may be added to the above report 
that Campbell’s remains ripe upon the 
vine without shriveling or dropping 
longer than does Moore’s. It is a better 
shipper. 
Our final judgment regarding the new 
Japan Morning-glories, as judged by the 
present season, is that the flowers are 
much larger and the colors more varied. 
But they do not bear so many flowers, 
and the vines do not begin to bloom so 
early. 
A. J. Collins, of Moorestown, N. J., 
describes the new peach, Triumph, as 
the earliest freestone yet introduced. It 
ripens with Alexander. It is said to be 
a good shipper, and will keep for a week 
after it is fully ripe. It is a fair-sized 
peach, small pit, yellow with red and 
dark crimson markings on the sunny 
side. The flesh is yellow, and of good 
quality..... 
The last roses of summer at the Rural 
Grounds are this year, as they were last, 
borne by Mme. Bruant and Clothilde 
Soupert. The latter is an immense 
bloomer during the entire season, but 
the buds and flowers are generally im¬ 
perfect, the outer petals withering be¬ 
fore the inner petals open. In the fall, 
this blemish is less noticeable. 
It may be well for those who purpose 
trying the new and beautiful orchid 
cannas next year, to note that in mod¬ 
erately rich soil, Austria grows to the 
height of 6% feet, Italia, five feet, Bur¬ 
bank a few inches less than five feet. In 
a group, therefore, it would be well to 
place Austria in the middle. 
Thoughts on Free Mail Delivery. 
B. T. W., Rochester, Mass. —There 
are always two sides to every question. 
I think that farmers are too strenuous 
in demanding unusual and, frequently, 
unreasonable favors through legislation, 
etc. Oleo, butterine, cottolene and vari¬ 
ous other manufactures are intended to 
take the place of butter and lard. They 
are made from agricultural productions, 
making a market for cotton-seed oil, 
suet, etc., and are said to be wholesome 
productions. For myself, I want none 
of these imitations, believing that, if 
they were really superior, there would 
not be so strong efforts made to sell the 
imitation for the real and, to my mind, 
any soap grease would be just as attrac¬ 
tive as the various preparations referred 
to. But they are made from agricul¬ 
tural productions, some people claim to 
like them, and their sale should be per¬ 
mitted for what they are, without re¬ 
strictions except that heavy penalties 
should be imposed for selling them for 
what they are not. 
We are largely favored by agricultural 
colleges and experiment stations sup¬ 
ported at public expense, a favor that 
is extended to no other class or kind of 
business, yet right because of the pecu¬ 
liar character, necessity and benefits of 
tilling the soil. But it seems to me un¬ 
wise for farmers to ask too much. The 
matter of free mail delivery is one of the 
questions that is not always fairly pre¬ 
sented. Very few fourth-class or rural 
post offices are self-supporting, and it 
is the profits of the larger offices that 
help to make up the shortage. To de¬ 
liver a letter or 100 letters in a rural 
community would, probably, cost from 
10 to 100 times as much as it would to 
deliver the same number in any of our 
cities. In other words, one letter car¬ 
rier in a city would deliver 10 to 100 let¬ 
ters while the country carrier was deliver¬ 
ing one—for two reasons, one because of 
difference in distance between houses, 
and the other because most of the busi¬ 
ness correspondence of the country is 
concentrated in the cities. 
Another consideration. I know a 
country place containing about 20 acres 
of land, on which the buildings are 
good, one-half or more of the land is in 
excellent condition, and the whole is 
taxed for less than $1,200. These same 
buildings within the letter-carrier system 
of any city would readily rent for from 
$400 to $800 per year, according to loca¬ 
tion. The place referred to is very 
pleasantly situated on a prominent 
thoroughfare, healthful and attractive. 
Ten per cent on the assessed valuation 
would make the rent a little over $100, 
or less than one-quarter of the rental 
of the buildings alone in any city 
and, probably, less than a twentieth 
in some of the larger cities. The place 
is within one mile of school, store, 
church and post office. I think it a bit 
unreasonable to ask or expect as much 
from the public or from public expendi- 
tares from a taxable valuation of $1 as 
from $10. If, however, letters could be 
delivered at the same cost per letter in 
the country as in the city, then general 
delivery would be right. 
Very many—probably, most—country 
post offices have one mail daily—one 
out in the morning and one in at night. 
At my own office, the mail closes at 
7:30 A. m. and is due at about 6:30 p. m. 
In this case, the patrons of the office 
cover a territory of, probably, 15 or more 
square miles. A mail carrier would 
hardly be expected to deliver the mail 
of this territory after 6:30 at night, and 
those who take daily papers or have im¬ 
portant mail, would prefer going or 
sending for it to waiting until the next 
day for the carrier. Farmers think that 
they are already taxed quite as much as 
they can pay, and the cost of additional 
facilities will surely lead to additional 
taxes in some form, direct or indirect. 
While taxation, like law, should be for 
the “ greatest good to the greatest num¬ 
ber,” it is next to impossible so to regu¬ 
late it that taxation and benefits will 
fall with exact and even justice upon all. 
Quality of Japan Plums. 
Prof. F. A. Waugh, Vermont Ex¬ 
periment Station —I note that on page 
566, speaking of Japan plums from the 
notes of Stark Brothers, you give the 
usual report “Maru is of poorer quality,” 
etc. It has been a matter of frequent 
remark between Mr. J. W. Kerr and my¬ 
self, as we busied ourselves eating for¬ 
ward and backward across his Maryland 
plum orchards, that Maru has been wo- 
fully libeled in respect to quality. Eaten 
from Mr. Kerr’s trees, it is, I believe, as 
good as Burbank, and Burbank ought 
to be the standard of quality among the 
Japan plums. It does not seem to bear 
shipment at all, however. Samples 
which I brought home with me from 
Maryland, deteriorated so much in the 
trip, that one would not have recognized 
them by taste as the same plums. Bur¬ 
bank and Abundance in the same crates 
did not lose quality. Isn’t it possible 
that some of the derogatory reports of 
Maru were made from specimens not 
fresh ? At any rate, I can testify that 
this much-abused plum has high possi¬ 
bilities of quality, and I hope that others 
will be fortunate to realize them, for 
we haven’t enough good varieties of 
Japan plums to spare one like Maru. 
We might live along some years without 
Satsuma. 
"A Six-Leafed Clover.” 
A. F., New York.—The R. N.-Y. asks 
whether any one ever saw a five-leafed 
clover. Inclosed find a six-leaf plucked a 
few weeks ago, and pressed. Once or 
twice before, I have found them, but they 
are rare. Since they are but twin three- 
leafed clovers, it would seem that they 
would occur oftener. As to perpetuat¬ 
ing four-leafed clover, I have noticed 
for several years, in two places in our 
back yard—which is not clipped often— 
a good many four-leafed clovers reward 
the “luck hunters”; as this clover is 
not allowed to bloom, the freak must 
continue from the same roots, year after 
year. 
We “three lone women” who are try¬ 
ing to “ run ” a 200-acre farm, find The 
R. N.-Y. most helpful, as did the dear 
father before us, who spent nearly all of 
his earthly life of 83 years on this farm. 
As he trained us, to some degree, for our 
present work, and we have a real love 
for farm life, it is not so hard for us as 
it would be for some women. Of course 
we find much work, worry and expense, 
but we mean to do our “ level best ” to 
make both ends meet, and keep our old 
home from mortgage or renters. 
R. N.-Y.—The specimens kindly sent 
by our respected friend had six full 
clover leaves ; they were distinctly in 
two whorls. 
A Blighted Apple Tree. 
A. G., McKeesport, Pa.—O n page 532 
of The R N.-Y., is an article on Medi¬ 
cines for Blighted Pear Trees. I will 
give my experience with a Wealthy ap¬ 
ple tree. For the last five years, this 
tree has blighted, It is six inches 
through. A neighbor told my father to 
bore a hole in the trunk of the tree and 
put copper sulphate in it, and plug the 
hole. I told father that it would kill 
the tree. He said all right, it would die 
any way, to go ahead and put it in. So 
I got an inch auger, bored a hole slant¬ 
ing close to the ground, six inches deep, 
and put in it two ounces of copper sul 
phate and two tablespoonfuls of salt to 
help kill it, as I thought. Then I cut off 
all the blighted wood to sound wood. 
On April 1, I cat off two limbs to graft 
on, and when the sap started, it brought 
the copper with it. It ran out of one of 
the places where the limb was cut off, 
and down the side of the tree to the 
ground five feet below. The graft on 
this limb did not take, but the other 
did, and at this date, it is fall of apples 
and not a sign of blight on the tree. I 
put the copper and salt in July 25, 1896 
Coughs and colds need not 
be endured; they can be 
cured, and that quickly. 
Many mixtures are tem¬ 
porary in effect, but Scott’s 
Emulsion of Cod-liver Oil 
with Hypophosphites is a 
permanent remedy. 
The oil feeds the blood 
and warms the body; the 
hypophosphites tone up the 
nerves; the glycerine soothes 
the inflamed throat and lungs. 
The combination cures. 
This may prevent serious 
lung troubles. 
50c. and $1.00; all druggists. 
SCOTT & BOWNE, Chemists, New York. 
Home-Mixed 
Fertilizers 
A man can save hundreds of 
dollars by mixing - his own 
fertilizers. He saves about 
half the first cost; he can use 
the materials best adapted to 
the particular crop, and conse¬ 
quently secure the best re¬ 
sults possible for the money 
spent. Nitrate of Soda should 
be used to furnish the nitro¬ 
gen (ammonia). It is not only 
the cheapest , but the most sol¬ 
uble, available, and in every 
way the best formof nitrogen. 
pt*pp A 40-page book, “Food for Plants.” 
P1CC Tells all about mixing - and using" 
fertilizers. Please ask for it. 
S. M. HARRIS, MORETON FARM (p. O.) N. Y, 
W ideTires Make Good Koaas. 
GOSHEN 
LOW WAGON 
WHEELS 
have wide tires— 3% to 6-in. 
Justsee how it’s made—layer 
upon layer of kiln dried In¬ 
diana White Oak, cut wedge 
shaped, grain running from 
hub to tire. Look how it’s riv¬ 
eted. Look at the broad 
flanges with bolts running 
KELLY F’NDRY & MACH. CO. clear through. 
27 Purl St. Cosher), Inch Circulars &c. free. 
Steel Wheels 
;] Staggered Oval Spokes. 
BUY A SET TO FIT YOUR NEW OR OLD WACON 
CHEAPEST AND BEST 
way to get a low wagon. Any size 
wheel, any width tire. Catal. free. 
ELECTRIC WHEEL CO., Quincy, III. 
Eli” Baling Presses 
S8 Style* A Sizes for Horse and Steam Power. 
Stay Gir P 46 Inch Hell 
Straw Feed Opening i « - ■**». 
_ ' Power Leverage 64 to I '^SpSTEEI 
Largest line In the world. Send for Catalog. 
COLLINS PLOW CO., 1111 Hampshire St.,Quincy,III. 
HAY PRESS] 
FAST 
WORKING 
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 
Light Draft 
Write for catalog. A price list. 
[SANDWICH MFG.C0.119 Main St. Sandwich,Ill.? 
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 
s ■ ■ ■ ■ it'fj Illinois. 
i 
- 
— 
• V 
■ rti 
55 
Iks 
La 
Ma 
A Boundary Dispute. 
Thati.9 what many line or “party” fences 
become “Good fences make good neighbors." 
Never heard of a quarrel “over, through or 
under” Page Fence. 
PAGE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., Adrian, Mich. 
begins with good fencing. The Keystone r 
Fence will increase the value of your farm. * 
No damage to crops from stock depredation. T 
No loss of crops from smothering under snow J 
drifts. Can’t blow down. Can’t burn up. All * 
about it In our free book on fence building. ? 
KEYSTONE WOVEN WIRE FENCE CO., Z 
No.19 Rush Street, Peoria, Ill. • 
I ELASTIC WIRE CABLE FENCING 
IS ECONOMICAL. Old customers report 
that after 30 Years’ wear the cable is still 
perfect. It Don’t Retain Kinks, 
fike proof. Rust proof. Neat. 
Does Not Injure Cattle. 
Cheaper than Post and Rail, and three times more durable. Sold only In bundles of &00 yards. 
PHILIP S. JUSTICE & CO., 14 N. Fifth Street, Philadelphia. 
