694 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 12 
Ruralisms 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
Tire Austin or Mayes Dewberry.— 
The following note is self explanatory. 
It would seem that Mr. Austin had the 
right to name this valuable berry if Mr. 
Mayes, who first brought the variety in¬ 
to cultivation, did not avail himself of 
his privilege. As a matter of fact, more 
novelties are named by disseminators 
than originators, though the latter have 
undoubtedly the first right to designate 
their productions. Unfortunately the 
name of Mayes has been adopted in 
most trade publications, and is given 
preference in Prof. Card’s Bush Fruits, 
which may be regarded as about the 
highest authority on the subject. It 
will take much time to undo the mis¬ 
chief. 
On page 614 you say: “We want more 
light on dewberry varieties.” It seems 
that you and Mr. Holmes are both con¬ 
fused about the name of a dewberry you 
call the Mayes. You have been misl<>d by 
some one, so I make the correction. Its 
name is “Austin’s dewberry.” It was 
brought to my notice first in 1889 on the 
Mayes farm here, near Pilot Point, Texas. 
Mr. Mayes gave me permission to name it, 
which I have done, and it is grown in 
many parts of the world as Austin’s dew¬ 
berry. Some other persons In Texas by 
might Instead of right called it Mayes one 
year, but they know better now. The rules 
of nomenclature give the originator the 
first right to name a fruit and the intro¬ 
ducer the next. Mr. Mayes did not want 
to name it, but gave his permission to me; 
and I being its original propagator and in¬ 
troducer, had a double right to name it. 
There has probably been more discussion 
over the name of this berry In Texas Farm 
and Ranch than any variety of fruit in 
any paper in America, besides thousands 
of circulars issued in defence of the right 
of its Introducer. The first year after be¬ 
ing on my grounds 90 select berries filled 
a quart box, then 64 and later 53 berries; 
the same time it took 347 selected Early 
Harvest blackberries to fill it. When I be¬ 
gan growing this berry in 1889 I had neyer 
seen an article on dewberry culture; our 
State horticultural societies or State Ex¬ 
periment Stations had paid no attention to 
them, but in 1894, when I sent a crate of 
them to Texas Farm and Ranch, they ex¬ 
claimed that 53 filled a quart box packeil 
in layers like peaches. J. w. Austin. 
Pilot Point, Texas. 
Watermelons for Home Use. —Ex¬ 
cellent watermelons were formerly 
grown in Monmouth Co., N. J., in large 
quantity for the New York and New 
England markets, but since the irrup¬ 
tion of the Georgia product they have 
generally ceased to be profitable. The 
idea that melons require newly-cleared 
ground is very prevalent, and the re¬ 
sults of planting in soils badly infested 
with disease germs would often seem 
to bear out the claim, yet melons of high 
quality may be grown for home use on 
any well-prepared light garden soil if 
early-maturing varieties are selected, 
and the plants well fed from start to 
finish. Large shipping kinds of the 
Kolb’s Gem type do not, as a rule, de¬ 
velop sufladently to compare with the 
southern product, but early ones, such 
as Cole’s Early, Fordhook First and 
Kleckly Sweet, ripen up perfectly dur¬ 
ing August, and far exceed the southern 
kinds in table quality, though the rinds 
are too brittle for shipment to distant 
markets. A well-ripened Kleckley 
Sweet is the most delicious of all water¬ 
melons in Rural Grounds estimation. 
Cole’s Early is also very good. Ford- 
hook First is the earliest to mature, and 
while not up to the others in sweetness, 
is generally better than melons bought 
in the market at the same time. 
More About thjs Sultan Plum. —The 
following note concerning Sultan plum, 
illustrated on page 658, is from J. H. 
Black, Son & Co., Hightstown, N. J.: 
The plums of Sultan grew on grafts set 
two years ago. It is a strong grower, and 
has the beauty of the Satsuma and size of 
it also, and the good quality of the Dela¬ 
ware, than which there is no better. We 
like it very much. The only plum that 
did not rot with us outside of the Sultan 
was the Shlro, which had a tremendous 
crop, and carried them until they were 
overripe. 
We can add further testimony to the 
good quality of the Delaware. It is a 
most excellent keeper, ripening gradual¬ 
ly if picked while still firm, after full 
development. The solid, meaty, dark- 
red fiesh is sweet and of better flavor, 
from our standpoint, than any of the 
Domestica varieties. The trees, how¬ 
ever, are rather deliberate growers, and 
do not seem inclined to bear profusely 
at this early stage, having been set four 
years. Prof. John Craig, of Cornell Ex¬ 
periment Station, says, on page 678, 
that he does not like the quality of the 
Japan plums and their hybrids as well 
as the European varieties, but he does 
not mention Delaware or Sultan in com¬ 
parison. The flesh of the hybrids be¬ 
tween plums of the Botan type and na¬ 
tive sorts is somewhat washy, but where 
Satsuma or Prunus Simonii enters into 
the combination the flavor is excellent, 
as far as we have been privileged to 
test them. 
The New Giant Montbretia Ger¬ 
mania. —This new large-flowered Mont¬ 
bretia was sent out last Spring by 
Henry A. Dreer Inc., Philadelphia, 
Pa., and our corms were received from 
that source. The plants grew nearly 
three feet high, and produced spikes of 
brilliant scarlet flowers, about three 
inches across. The base of the broad 
petals shades to bright orange, and the 
throat is blood red. We are told that 
this fine variety is the result of a cross 
between one of the new profuse-flower¬ 
ing hybrid Montbretias and the splendid 
Crocosmia aurea imperialis, which we 
have grown for many years. Imperialis 
has immense flowers for this species, 
usually more than four inches across, 
bright orange in color. It is somewhat 
erratic in growth, sometimes reaching 
four feet or more in height, but is rather 
difficult to carry over Winter, the tuber- 
like corms not keeping well. Germania, 
from its intense color and pi-ofuse 
blooming habit, will doubtless become a 
great favorite, and make a permanent 
addition to our short list of Summer¬ 
flowering bulbs. Several years ago nu¬ 
merous crosses were made between Cro¬ 
cosmia imperialis and various Montbre¬ 
tias on the Rural Grounds, and many 
brilliant, large-flowering varieties re¬ 
sulted, some of which we are still grow¬ 
ing, but none have quite the intense or¬ 
ange scarlet of Germania, combined 
with a dwarf leafy growth. The colors 
are much varied, however, some of the 
markings being almost as diversified as 
among the Sparaxis. Montbretias and 
Crocosmias unfortunately are not al¬ 
ways easy to Winter well, as the corms 
dry up if kept too warm in the cellar, 
and are seldom able to endure the frosts 
of Winter outside without the protec¬ 
tion of a frame. We find the best 
method is to take up the clump just be¬ 
fore the ground freezes and Winter 
them in the cellar in boxes of dry sand, 
without removing the tops. w. v. f. 
MULCHING THE APPLE ORCHARD. 
The exhibit of apples at the New York 
State Fair was a remarkable display, and 
the finest of all was the fruit shown by 
Grant M. Hitchings, of Onondaga Co. 
We have mentioned this fruit before. 
Mr. Hitchings says his orchard has not 
been plowed or cultivated for years. 
While the best authorities in the State 
have been urging farmers to plow and 
cultivate, Mr. Hitchings has gone exactly 
contrary to their advice. He lets the sod 
remain in the orchard and ffiauls in 
straw, manure or other vegetable matter, 
which is spread as a mulch all over the 
ground. He is even growing Alfalfa for 
this purpose. The Alfalfa is grown out¬ 
side the orchard, cut and hauled in to 
spread under the trees. Little if any 
fertilizer has been used, but with this 
system of heavy mulching the trees keep 
strong and vigorous and bear regularly— 
while the fruit is very fine. Mr. Hitch¬ 
ings is a fruit farmer, and says he keeps 
only one cow and a work team. The 
experts go to see his orchard, and many 
of them admit that they cannot grow 
finer or more fruit even with the extra 
work of constant cultivation. Still, they 
do not feel like i-ecommending this 
mulching plan for general adoption, for 
they say that there are probably special 
conditions of soil and location which 
make the plan best for Mr. Hitchings. 
They ought to make a careful study of 
these conditions and tell us just when 
and where the mulch will pay. On my 
own farm there is a hillside field where 
the rock comes close to the surface. I 
notice that in a dry time this thin layer 
of soil will bake hard even when the top 
is kept well cultivated. When there is 
a thick mulch of grass, weeds or leaves 
on the surface, I observe that this bak¬ 
ing does not occur, but that the soil is 
always cooler and more open. In fact, 
on such a soil I am satisfied that a mulch 
of straw, grass or leaves will be far more 
useful than a “dust mulch” so-called— 
which means the upper soil well pulver¬ 
ized with harrow or cultivator. While 
Mr. Hitchings was explaining his plan 
of mulching, an old farmer stood near by 
listening carefully. At last he broke in 
about this way: 
“I can take hemlock boards and lay 
them down on the ground close together 
so that the soil will all be shaded. Let 
them stay there a year or all through 
the Spring and Summer. Then work up 
the soil and plant any crop, and you will 
get as good a yield as you will on ordi¬ 
nary soil that has had a fair lot of ma¬ 
nure. Some years ago the scientific men 
talked nothing but culture: culture!! 
Now, they are talking 'cover crops’ 
stronger yet, which leads me to think 
that they now realize that they have 
overdone the culture advice, and burned 
up too much of the humus or cooling 
material in the soil.” h. w. c. 
Munson’s Grapes in Louisiana. 
I was much interested in that account 
of Prof. Munson’s new grapes by G. L. 
Tinker, M. D. Twelve years ago I plant¬ 
ed an acre to Concords mostly, some 
Wordens, Moore’s Early and a few vines 
of several other varieties. Concord 
and Worden did fairly well, ripened un¬ 
evenly some seasons; some varieties 
rotted at the start. Finally, the vine¬ 
yard seemed to become so infested with 
both black and brown rot, and some 
vines died out, that I dug up the whole 
lot four years ago. Last year I planted 
a few vines of Prof. Munson’s, the Car¬ 
man, Presley, Brilliant, Delago, Wapa- 
nuka. Beacon, Pern Munson. Last 
Spring I added one vine each of Manito, 
R. W. Munson and Husmann. I don’t 
expect all those varieties to do well 
down here, and I may have omitted one 
or more varieties that would, so should 
any readers of The R. N.-Y. have tried 
any of Prof. Munson’s new varieties of 
grapes in about this latitude (54 miles 
north of New Orleans) I should like an 
account of them. I had a few bunches 
of the following: Carman, Presley, 
Wapanuka, Delago, Beacon, Fern Mun¬ 
son, and the fruit was just as described 
in The R. N.-Y., but the Pern Munson 
did not ripen evenly. The Carman is 
the most promising. B. J. M. 
Hammond, La. 
For the land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth.— Ad/v. 
Rain and sweat 
have no effect on 
harness treated 
with Eureka Har¬ 
ness Oil. It re¬ 
sists the damp, 
keeps the leath¬ 
er soft and pli¬ 
able. Stitches 
do not break. 
No rough sur¬ 
face to chafe 
and cut. The 
harness not 
only keeps 
looking like 
new, but 
wears twice 
as long by the 
use of Eureka 
Harness Oil. 
Sold 
everywhere 
in cans— 
all sizes. 
Made by 
Standard Oil 
Company 
\ 
\ \i 
Cyanide 
Guaranteed q 8 to qq per cent., for generating 
Hydrocyanic Acid Qas 
the most effective fumigating material, to 
destroy scale insects on fruit trees and 
plants. The only positive eradicator of 
the dreaded San Jose Scale. Endorsed by 
all Agricultural Experiment Stations. ‘‘ A 
perfect practical remedy,” says Prof. W. G. 
Johnson, State Etymologist of Maryland. 
MANUFACTURED HY 
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No. too WlllUm Street, New York. 
ROVEFJTY CLJFRE:. 
Sure Buy o£ tha Maker, We umlersell Kverbody on 
WAGOIM SCALES. 
JONES (HE PAYS THE FREIGHT.) 
BINGHAMTON, N. Y. 
NO VACATION 
for PAGE Fence. It’s on duty 24 hours every day. 
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GRINDS 
EAR CORN, SHELLED CORN, OATS, 
RYE, BARLEY, KAFFIR CORN, ETC. 
Fine or coarse, for feeti or family pur- 
purpccies. Has ahake feed. Burn 
made of white metal,so hard that neither ti 
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For Hard 
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