128 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February' 
; Ruralisms ; 
• ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ WWW'W^ 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
Variety Test of Potatoes in 1900. 
The following new varieties of pota¬ 
toes were planted April 8 in a plot of 
loamy soil, in rather poor condition. The 
only fertilization was an application of 
two pounds of Mapes potato manure to 
each rod of drill, scratched in with a 
rake before planting. Three applica¬ 
tions of dry Fungii'oid were made dur¬ 
ing the growing season to ward off leaf 
lilight; apparently with fair success. 
The season was locally a bad one, the 
average yield in the neighborhood not 
exceeding half an average crop. A fair 
cultivation was given, and no weeds 
were allowed to develop. Under such 
conditions only a light yield could be 
expected, but it is noticeable that the 
two standard varieties. Carman No. 2 
and Rural Blush, planted for compari¬ 
son, stood the severe test better than 
most of the new kinds. The “hills” con¬ 
sisted each of half a potato planted 20 
inches apart in rows 40 incnes apart. 
Carman No. 3.— Hope Farm. Dug Sep¬ 
tember 12; eight hills, 46 tubers; weight, 
nine pounds. 
Middle West. —Bovee. Dug Septem¬ 
ber 12; three hills, six tubers; weight, 
one pound. White, smooth; quality good. 
Rural Blush. —Hope Farm. Dug Sep¬ 
tember 12; six hills, 34 tubers; weight, 
7% pounds. One of the best in quality. 
Excelsior .Junior, Late. —Woolley. 
Dug September 12; two hills, 10 tubers, 
all small; rather dark red. Vines weak, 
blighted severely. 
Surprise. —T. C. Heath, Tidal, Pa. 
Dug September 20; six hills, 24 tubers; 
weight, 5^4 pounds. White, russeted, 
round and smooth; fine quality. 
Munn’s Earliest. —Name of sender 
lost. Dug August 10; five hills, 31 tu- 
liers; weight five pounds. Large, smooth, 
round, white; early and fine quality. 
Late Beauty.— Heath. Dug August 
12; four hills, 24 tubers; weight, iVz 
pounds. Smooth, white, shallow eyes, 
somewhat russeted; quality excellent. 
Improved New Queen. —Jerrard Co. 
Dug September 9; six hills; 38 tubers, 
29 marketable; weight, four pounds. 
White, russeted, oblong; quality excel¬ 
lent. 
King op Michigan. —Flansburgh & 
Peirson, Leslie, Mich. Dug September 
9; three hills, 20 tubers; weight, three 
pounds. Sturdy grower; sound, russet; 
good quality. 
Stevens. —Jerrard Co. Dug Septem¬ 
ber 9; six hills, 59 tubers, 41 market¬ 
able; weight, six pounds. Strong grow¬ 
er and productive; ripens medium early; 
good quality. 
The Boss.—Bovee. Dug September 
12; three hills, nine tubers; weight, two 
pounds; inclined to be prongy; strongly 
russeted. Vigorous grower, medium ear¬ 
ly; quality fair. 
Heath’s Extra Early Market.— 
Heath. Dug July 29; four hills, 22 tu¬ 
bers, 14 marketable; weight two pounds. 
Smooth and good quality; needs more 
fertility in soil. 
New Queen. —G. W. P. Jerrard Co., 
Caribou, Me. Dug September 9; eight 
hills, 40 tubers, 28 marketable, weight 
8% pounds. White, russeted; quality 
good; fine grower. 
Fourth op July. —James Hoyt, New 
Canaan, Conn. Dug August 10; five 
hills, 38 tubers, 27 marketable; weight, 
six pounds. Large, round, white and 
early; excellent quality. 
' Whiton’s White.—W. W. Whiton, 
Wakeman, 0. Dug September 12; 10 
hills, 66 tubers, 42 marketable; weight, 
12 pounds. Round, white, slightly net¬ 
ted; highest quality. Growth vigorous; 
potatoes grow close together in hill. 
Excelsior Junior, Early. —James 
Woolley, Dover, Ill. Dug August 9; four 
hills, 26 tubers, 16 marketable; weight, 
three pounds. Long, pinkish color; 
good quality; vines weak, tendency to 
scab. 
Millet’s Seedling. —J.W. Millet, Bis¬ 
marck, N. D. Dug September 18; six 
hills, 42 tubers, 31 marketable; weight, 
nine pounds. Early, smooth, white; 
quality very good; vines strong and up¬ 
right. 
Bovee’s Best. —Marion Bovee, North- 
ville, Mich. Dug September 12; three 
hills, 13 tubers, nine marketable; 
weight, two pounds. Smooth, white; 
shallow eyes. Vines rather weak; qual¬ 
ity very good. 
Rur.\l Junior. —Woolley. Dug Sep¬ 
tember 18; two hills, eight tubers, all 
small; weight, one pound. Red, smooth, 
vines blighted; quality very high. The 
Rural Junior was a sixth-crop seedling; 
the other two Woolley varieties were 
fifth-crop seedlings. 
The Bary Primro.se. —Under this 
name a very pretty, small-flowering 
primrose. Primula Forbesii, was exten¬ 
sively advertised two or three years ago 
by several mail-order nurseries. It has 
not met with sales at all commensurate 
with its value as a window plant. The 
pretty rosy-lilac flowers are most con¬ 
tinuously produced during the Winter 
and Spring, and if kept in a moderately 
shaded position a good plant will bloom 
continuously for nine months or more. 
The foliage is good, and the graceful 
sprays of bloom are very useful for cut 
flowers. The Baby primrose may easily 
be grown from seeds, which should be 
planted during Winter in a pot or seed 
pan. The seedlings soon begin to bloom 
if potted off in small pots. Old plants 
produce a multitude of suckers, which 
may generally be detached with roots 
enough to keep them growing right 
along when replanted. Fig. 48, first 
page, is from a life-size photograph of 
an average young plant from the Rural 
Grounds. 
An Extraordinary Hybrid.—A read- 
of The R. N.-Y. sends an account of an 
extraordinary plant he conceives to be 
a hybrid between the raspberry and the 
potato: 
Three years ago I discovered the potato 
vines growing on a berry bush or root. I 
thought at first it was a potato growing 
among the wild bushes in the pasture. It 
is several rods from the potato field; I 
thought it strange, as potatoes in fields 
were little young plants, and these had 
blossomed. Looking closer 1 saw what it 
was.* It blossomed and produced potato 
balls (no berry taste) all Summer till very 
late Autumn. The next Spring I planted 
the seed of the plants; this is as unlike the 
berry as possible. These potato seeds 
sown about April 1 come up as soon as 
tomatoes, mostly a day or so sooner. They 
grow fast, and do not mind frost that will 
kill tomato plants. In July they were 
large, flourishing plants, smelling rank, 
like the real potato and blossoming and 
bearing potato balls. Late in the Fall I 
looked for potatoes; the roots are long and 
white, but no potatoes yet. One would pass 
these vines growing without a thought 
but they were potatoes, but on looking 
closer the stalk grows more viny, the 
leaves narrower, the blossom more slender, 
a beautiful purple with orange middle. 
The balls are red and disagreeable in taste, 
just like the real potato. I have saved and 
planted seed for two years with the same 
result. This potato is too wild; wants mix¬ 
ing again, I think, with the real potato. 
It might give a potato hardy as a cabbage 
or as a parsnip. I do not understand hy¬ 
bridizing, but if this is anything remark¬ 
able 1 am going to have some one who 
understands the art try to see what can 
be done. s. c. 
This description admirably fits the 
Horse nettle, Solanum Carolinense, one 
of the worst native weeds in the South 
and West. It sends up its prickly stems 
with the greatest persistence from the 
thick, hardy, root-stocks, and is quite as 
difficult to eradicate as the Canada this¬ 
tle. The bright, orange red, tomato-like 
berries persist during the greater part of 
the Winter. We have advised our corre¬ 
spondent to destroy every trace of this 
obstinate pest before it gets a dangerous 
foothold on his farm. The idea of pro¬ 
ducing a hardy potato by crossing with 
a hardy berry does not seem so far out 
of the way when one considers the con¬ 
dition under which this plant was found, 
and manner in which it combines some 
of the characteristics of both plants. The 
Horse nettle is a close relative of the 
potato, both belonging to the same fam¬ 
ily, but the raspberry is a member of the 
Rose family, and has no affinity with 
the Solanums, though the prickers on 
this particular species give a slight re¬ 
semblance. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
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ASPARAGUS. All standard 
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Box 29 , Berlin, Md. 
ioo If■ n 1 rTiro ii 
HDIIII ni IlliO in Trial Orchard. 
2oi/ARIrllr\ 1 
Br AN HI IIMN listed for Sale. 
30 ffiniCIlLO Jl 
nr fill I LUIflU Thrown Away. 
We paid from $1 to $5 apiece for trees when introduced, and many times that for experience. We give 
away the experience, and sell the trees at a nominal price. We have some varieties we know are gwd, 
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Dwyer’s Eighteenth A 
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Do 
