534 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Aiig-ust 3 
; Ruralisms ; 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
/ Perennial Flowering Peas. —One 
does not often see perennial or “ever¬ 
lasting” peas about country homes, 
bhough t/here are few reliably hardy 
plants better deserving general culture. 
It tahes a year or two to grow bloom¬ 
ing plants, but once established they 
gain In vigor and beauty for an indefi¬ 
nite period. Their long tough roots re¬ 
semble thongs of buckskin more than 
most plant roots, and greatly resent re¬ 
moval, though seedlings may be easily 
transplanted when they have made their 
first Six inches of growth. The seeds 
are hard, and germiinate very slowly 
unless well soaked befoi’e planting. It 
is best to put the seeds in water in a 
warm place, and examine them two or 
three times a week, picking out and 
planting all seeds as they swell up. As 
it may take a month to soften all the 
seeds it is scarcely necessary to say 
that the water should be frequently 
changed. The seeds of many legumin¬ 
ous plants have this peculiarity of re¬ 
sisting the absorption of moisture for 
a considerable time. If a number of 
seeds of any of the common clovers are 
soaked in water it will be noticed that 
some will swell in a few hours, while 
others of the same lot will require as 
many days before a change is noticed. 
The softened pea seeds may be planted 
in a box or pot for future transplant¬ 
ing, or at once where they are to bloom, 
but in the latter case they require care¬ 
ful weeding and cultivation, as the 
young plants are very weak and slender 
for a considerable time. They make 
splendid trellis plants, and are very 
useful for covering rough places, scram¬ 
bling over bushes and rocks in strong 
competition with native growths. They 
are too rampant for planting in the 
border, and should De confined to situ¬ 
ations in the background, where they 
will reward the planter year After year 
with their fresh and pretty flowers, as 
useful for cutting as decorative on the 
plant. We have been thus particular to 
note the difficulties of germinating the 
seeds, as ordinary planting of the hard 
seeds in the manner ot the sweet-scent¬ 
ed or annual flowering peas is usually 
attended with failure and disappoint¬ 
ment. It takes them so long to come 
up that they are forgotten, and the 
tender seedlings are overgrown and 
perish from drought or neglect. 
The best varieties come from the spe¬ 
cies Dathyrus latifolius, a native of the 
forests of Europe. The common type 
pi-oduces large rose-colored flowers in 
clusters of four to seven. The variety 
L latifolius albus is similar, but milk 
white in color. An improved form, L. 
latifolius splendens, is sometimes plant¬ 
ed, but does not come very true from 
seeds. The colors are dark purple and 
bright rose red. Fig. 233 shows the rose 
and white blooms in natural size. Be¬ 
sides L. latifolius there is L. grandiflorus 
from southern Europe, which makes a 
thicker but less rugged vine, and pro¬ 
duces large purple blooms in clusters of 
two or three, and L. rotundifolius from 
Russia and the Orient, with rose-colored 
flowers in larger clusters. It prefers a 
rather cool and shady place, and is like¬ 
ly to die out in three or four yearo. L. 
splendens, the “Ptide of Oalifornia,” is 
claimed to be the best of all. It is found 
on the dry hills of the coast mountain 
ranges of California. Although often 
advertised by seedsmen the seeds of the 
Splendens variety of L. latifolius are 
generally sent out instead. The true 
Splendens is rather shrubby, and bears 
large clusters or peduncles of bloom, of¬ 
ten containing as many as 12 large rose 
or violet flowers. It is not hardy in the 
greater portion of the eastern United 
States, but can be grown under glass, 
where it remains very dwarf, seldom 
getting more than a foot or two high. 
We have also grown L. Magellanicus, 
sometimes known as Lord Anson’s Blue 
pea. It flowered sparingly the first sea¬ 
son, and perished during the Winter. 
The flowers were small and clear, dark 
blue. There is also a white variety. The 
foliage was retained until a hard freeze 
killed the plants. We would like to see 
a more extended use of the best peren¬ 
nial peas, as they will repay through a 
long series of years the slight difficul¬ 
ties attending their early development. 
The Rury Queen Abroal.—A corre¬ 
spondent in The Gaiden, the foremost 
British horticultural journal, says of 
our Ruby Queen rose: “The delightful 
blending of color is so pretty, the ruby- 
red predominating over the white eye 
and the edges of petals, and the contrast 
reminds one much of the Zonale Pelar¬ 
gonium, Mme. Jules Chretien. It is a 
distinct and charming hybrid of Rosa 
Wichuraiana.” 
Black Solublp: Insecticide Soap.— 
This promising new insecticide 'is first 
offered this season by V. Casazza & Bro., 
190 Prince Street, New York. We have 
made several trials of it on aphids and 
other soft-bodied insects, and find it 
very effective. It quickly rids the plants, 
and adheres well, leaving a white de¬ 
posit on the foliage, which persists after 
heavy rains. We are not informed as to 
its ingredients, but infer that it is not 
poisonous to higher animals in the quan¬ 
tities used. In the solution recommend¬ 
ed, one part of soap to 20 of water, it 
injures tender vegetation to some ex¬ 
tent, but in a strength of one to 30 it 
seems harmless, and is equally effectual 
against the insect pests. The soap solu¬ 
tion is easy to prepare, and develops no 
unpleasant odor, which is more than 
can be said of some horticultural soaps. 
w. V. F. 
ASPARAGUS BUGS AND POTATO BUGS 
Asparagus. —For years we have had 
an asparagus bed in the house garden, 
that has been annually cut until our 
first peas were grown, and very little 
rust ever appeared on it. Last year 
there were many weeds in the bed, and, 
as I had set out a new and larger bed 
three years ago in our farm garden, I 
risked cutting the bed clean with a 
scythe the last of July, and digging it 
over thoroughly. The asparagus came 
up fresh and nice, and, until the frost 
killed it, was green and healthy. The 
farm garden patch was quite different. 
Bugs came on it in June, and long be¬ 
fore frost it was brown and apparently 
dead. In fact, some plants did die, as 
I found this Spring. This season we 
cut the farm garden patch for the first 
time, leaving the weaker stalks to grow. 
The latter part of June I found the 
stalks left with bugs on and ap¬ 
parently rusting. In doubt as to wheth¬ 
er I had bought the rust with the plants, 
as I had never seen it in the house gar¬ 
den, I mowed it over, burned the tops, 
and ran a cultivator over the ground. 
The bug and rust season seems to have 
passed on, and there is a splendid 
growth of healthy looking plants. It 
may be a little late now, but, if I had a 
patch of rusty asparagus, I should cut 
it clean, burn the tops, and cultivate 
now, as it seems to be a dead sure thing 
if the rusty tops are left on the roots. 
Paris-Green and Water. —I see that 
the Hope Farm man has a formula for 
sprinkling potato vines. One of my 
neighbors has a $10 outfit for sprink¬ 
ling, and he read in a Government re¬ 
port that 5 1-3 ounces of Paris-green was 
the correct amount for a certain num¬ 
ber of gallons of water. He measured 
the water, and weighed the Paris-green 
down to the third of an ounce. He has 
kept his potatoes and the bugs sprinkled 
up to date, and, like the Hope Farm 
man, he has the stalks left—the bugs 
have stripped the leaves. It is a rare 
occasion when I have a chance to brag, 
but I am credited with having the best 
looking two acres of potatoes in this 
section. We planted Maine-grown seed 
early, using $25 worth of commercial 
fertilizer on the hills after planting. 
They grew so fast that we only got a 
chance to cultivate and hoe twice, and 
they have been dusted with Paris- 
green once. My son and I did that our¬ 
selves using what, as it has no special 
name, I call a fanning mill. I bought 
10 pounds of “farmer’s” Paris-green in 
boxes for the two acres, but we have 
half a pound left. My neighbors felt sure 
that we had killed everything in the 
lot, but all we miss is the bugs. The 
weather was hot and dry for a week 
after we applied the poison, and, at the 
end of that time, I failed to find a single 
old shell-back, and only an occasional 
slug. I assume that the stuff I bought 
was nine-tenths some harmless mix¬ 
ture, but it was the same that my neigh¬ 
bor weighed so carefully and put into 
his watering cart; and I assume that, 
instead of 5 1-3 ounces, he actually got 
less than a third of an ounce of poison 
to his barrel of water, and consequently 
might as well have squirted it in front 
of his house to keep down the dust. 
Stevenson, Conn. r. s. h. 
R- N.-Y.—The Hope Farm man killed 
the bugs. Some of the vines were badly 
eaten before he could get at them. 
Experience with Strawberries. 
In the Pall of 1899 I planted about 1,500 
feet of land to strawberries. Wishing to 
find the best berry for my environment, I 
planted Gandy, Wm. Belt, Glen Mary, 
Marshall, Henry (sic), Chas. Downing, 
Carrie, Star, Nlc Ohmer, Parker Earle Jr., 
Margaret, Mary, Tennessee Prolific, Michi¬ 
gan and Ridgeway. Last year, in single 
plants, Wm. "Belt, Glen Mary, Ridgeway 
and Gandy all did well. This year. In 
matted rows, there was only one berry— 
Gandy—the others were nowhere. I don’t 
think a plot of 30x6 feet of Nlc Ohmer 
produced two boxes of large fruit. Parker 
Earle Jr. was a small Imperfect Wm. 
Belt. Ridgeway last year was fine, but 
this year no good. If I did not have a 
plant trade I should grow nothing but 
Gandy, but, unfoi'tunately, the Gandy does 
not thrive in light soil. My land is heavy 
reclaimed swamp. Gandy grows not only 
large and handsome, but the most prolific 
of any plant I have tried. Carrie Is so 
small and sour that I wonder at the good 
word it gets now and then from The R. 
N.-Y. Star seems to be a very poor Sharp¬ 
less. Margaret is a poor grower and shy 
yielder of indifferent fruit. It is fair to say 
that all these plants were grown in land 
(new) that never had any manure, and no 
fertilizer except 100 pounds nitrate of soda 
last year. I harvested 400 boxes good fruit, 
but I got most from Gandy per plant. 
Wm. Belt last year produced some im¬ 
mense berries, but in matted row they 
were almost too small and poor to pick. 
I believe this experimenting with many 
varieties is the only way to find out what 
fruit is best adapted to a person’s land. 
Massachusetts. a. l. c. 
Killing Chinch Bugs.— Prof. J. M. Sted- 
rnan, of the Mo. Exp. Station, says in a 
recent bulletin: 
By plowing for a space of 10 feet around 
the cornfield, harrowing and dragging 
brush after the harrow, so as to make as 
much dust as possible, it will be found that 
when the young bugs begin to migrate from 
the wheat to the corn, they will not, as a 
rule, be able to cross this 10 feet of dust. 
When the insects develop wings, they may 
fly over the plowed space (this will happen 
about once in 10 times) and. If they alight 
upon the first few rows of corn, the second 
method may bs used for destroying them. 
When the insects collect, as they frequent¬ 
ly do, upon the first few rows of corn, the 
best way to kill them and prevent their 
spreading through the field is to spray im¬ 
mediately with kerosene emulsion. This 
will not injure the corn, and will kill the 
bugs readily. Kerosene emulsion Is made 
as follows: Dissolve one-half pound of 
hard soap in one gallon of soft boiling 
water; add two gallons of kerosene or coal 
oil, and then by means of the force pump 
with the spray nozzle removed, churn this 
mixture for 10 minutes by pumping it back 
into itself. Then add to this emulsion 
19 gallons of water, stir thoroughly, and 
use as a spray. This spray kills only by 
contact, and hence one must actually 
touch the bugs with the spray In order 
to kill them. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
‘ ‘a square deal. ’ ’ See our guarantee 8th page. 
''ft 
^ i-V 
To 
Users of 
Fertilizers 
we recommend 
our books. Over 
a quarter of a 
million of these 
have been sent 
to American 
farmers — upon 
their request. 
They are free, 
and we desire every 
farmer’s library to 
contain them. 
Send your name and ad¬ 
dress to 
GERIMAN KALI WORKS, 
93 Nassau Street, New York. 
.v- 
If you want to double your crops, have 
large healthy trees and sound fruit, spray 
them with a solution made from 
Black Soluble 
Insecticide Soap 
Greatest Success of the Century. 
Awarded on its merits Grand Prize at the Paris Ex¬ 
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INDORSED BY NURSERYMEN AND 
ALL USERS. 
Boston, .Inly IC, T.Hil. 
V. CASAZZA & BRO., 
T.HJ Prince Street, New York City. 
Gknti.k.mkn— Replying to your favor 
of the 12th Inst, in reference to Black 
Soluble Insecticide Soap, our foreman, 
who is at the otlice at this writing, 
reports from few aiiplications in the 
nursery rows. He Is quite entliusiastic 
about it, and thinks it is the article to 
bank on. Yours truly, 
WIITITNG NURSERY CO. 
Pamplilets, prices and other information fiirnislied 
promptly on application. 
For sale by all reliable seedsmen. 
V. CASAZZA & liKO., 
Sole Agents for the United States and Canada, 
190-19a Prince St., New York City. 
Best and cheapest 
Send for catalogue 
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' Water StrccL 
SYRACUSE. N. y; 
How to Dram Lana Profitably. 
On every farm there is probably some land 
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drainage. Properly drained land can always 
be worked earlier, and more profitably. The 
best and most 
economical way 
to drain is ex¬ 
plained in the 
book, “Benefits of Drainage and How to Drain,” 
which is sent/rfis by JOHN H. JACKSON, 
76 'Third Avenue, Albany, N. Y. 
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