8o6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 30 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
The Vaeue of Varieties. —There is a 
well-founded objection to the indiscrim¬ 
inate introduction of new varieties of 
economical and ornamental plants. Un¬ 
less the newcomer is distinctly superior 
in some important particular to well- 
known kinds, there is little excuse for 
unloading it on the public, though the 
temptation to disseminate a new plant 
showing local excellence is always 
strong. As plant cultivation becomes 
more specialized and intensive, greater 
discrimination is needed to find varie¬ 
ties having the desired qualities of 
product, and in addition resistant to 
parasites and diseases such as appear 
to be favored by high cultivation. An 
important work of the near future will 
be the breeding of such resistant varie¬ 
ties by the selection of seeds or propa¬ 
gating stock from individuals appearing 
to resist the invasion most successfully, 
and continuing the selection through 
generations enough to render the new 
strains sufficiently immune for practical 
cultivation, and to create summarily new 
resistant varieties by hybridization 
whenever such result may be possible. 
While waiting for these vigorous new 
kinds, earnest investigators are looking 
over our stock on hand, and find here 
and there a standard or obscure variety 
already possessing, from some peculiar¬ 
ity of constitution, the needed resistant 
qualities. Thus the Ives grape is suc¬ 
cessfully grown where other kinds are 
destroyed by rot, the Argenteuil and 
Palmetto asparagus resist the rust to a 
considerable degree and so on. The dis¬ 
covery of a peach immune to “yellows” 
is announced in a bulletin of the 
Bussey Institution of Harvard Uni¬ 
versity and reports of a cow pea, the 
only one of 75 varieties, entirely re¬ 
sistant to the “eel worm,” so common 
in southern soils, which kills the plants 
by forming knots on the roots, comes 
from the Agricultural Department at 
Washington. The peach is known as 
White Magdalene, and has been grown 
for nearly 160 years in the family of 
Edmund Hersey, Hingham, Mass., the 
original tree having been raised from 
a seed brought from southern Europe 
about 1740. It is of medium size, white- 
fieshed, freestone and good fiavor, and 
remains essentially the same after re¬ 
peated generations have been raised 
from seeds, withstanding all the vicis¬ 
situdes of the harsh New England cli¬ 
mate. The seeds germinate as readily 
as in the early days, and always repro¬ 
duce the parent, it not appearing to 
cross with any other near-by variety. 
The wood ripens well, and is rarely 
killed by cold weather. No tree has 
ever shown the slightest indication of 
yellows, though some have grown so 
near other peach trees that have died 
of the disease that the branches of the 
two have intertwined. Peach yellows 
is so prevalent in the vicinity that trees 
of other varieties, grown both from 
seeds and buds, live but a short time. 
The White Magdalene does not appear 
to be widely disseminated, though it is 
spoken of in Downing as a foreign vari¬ 
ety of fine quality, ripening by the 
middle of August, 
The resistant cow pea is named the 
Little Iron, and is apparently too hard 
a customer for the minute and almost 
invisible worms causing the root-knot 
disease. The Department’s experiments 
with certain strains of the Little Iron 
cow pea have been so satisfactory that 
an extensive distribution of the seed for 
widespread trials will be made as soon 
as a sufficient quantity can be procured. 
Root-knot galls infest a 'wide variety of 
useful plants, such as roses, violets and 
peaches, as well as cow peas, though 
different species of “eel worms” may be 
concerned in the injury. At any rate it 
is comforting to hope for a resistant 
cow pea to be used as a cover crop in 
peach orchards, if for no other purpose, 
though the cow pea root-knot has hith¬ 
erto been quite limited to southern soils. 
Eel worms and root-knots must not be 
confounded with the nitrogenous no¬ 
dules and their accompanying bacteria 
normally found on the roots of healthy 
cow peas. The latter is a friendly part¬ 
nership, of the greatest value to the 
cow-pea plant and to the cultivator by 
determining the fixation of nitrogen 
from the air, while the former is a dan¬ 
gerous and often fatal disease. 
The Cattse of Peach Yellows. —The 
various theories as to the cause of the 
obstinate and fatal disease of yellows 
are thoroughly overhauled in the Bussey 
Institution bulletin by Prof. E. W. 
Morse. There is not yet sufficient evi¬ 
dence to fasten the distinctive process 
on microbes, unsuitable conditions of 
soil or climate, or injuries from in¬ 
sects or of mechanical origin. The only 
remaining factor seems to be infection 
by a poisonous enzym conveyed to the 
seed germs through pollen from dis¬ 
eased trees, or more directly by budding, 
grafting or possibly pruning with tools 
used on affected trees. The strange 
thing is that few young trees show any 
sighs of the disease, else they would not 
be transplanted to orchards, but after 
attaining bearing size, and especially 
after producing a crop or two of fruit, 
they sicken and die. The explanation 
is that the enzym, which is a secretion 
or alteration of the protoplasm of the 
living plant cells, lies practically dor¬ 
mant, or at least is unable to provoke 
its characteristic alteration of nutrition, 
ending in the phenomenon known as 
yellows, until the vigorous youthful 
growth has been checked by maturity 
or cropping. The reason why a potent 
variety like the White Magdalene is im¬ 
mune to the yellows contagion may be 
sought in the thorough acclimatization 
it has obtained by being grown for 
successive generations in one place be¬ 
fore the yellows appeared and to its 
harmonious internal organization, en¬ 
abling it to resist chance infections from 
outside sources. Prof. Morse thinks that 
the use of seeds or pits from southern 
localities where the life struggle against 
climate is not so severe is an important 
factor in the progress of the disease in 
the North. 
The Close of the Gardening Year.— 
It remained for the night of November 
10 to bring a killing frost, or rather 
light freeze to the Rural Grounds. All 
fiowers except a few hardy Chrysanthe¬ 
mums in a particularly well-sheltered 
place were blasted, and the most bril¬ 
liant late Autumn display we have yet 
seen quickly ended. All crops, including 
late celery, are safely housed, and only 
a little grading, covering and tree plant¬ 
ing remains to wind^ up the season’s 
operations. Instead of raking up and 
burning all rubbish and leaves, as gen¬ 
erally advised, we are covering exposed 
slopes not in grass or Crimson clover 
to protect the soil from Winter rains. 
We have allowed few, if any, weeds to 
seed, and are convinced that the soil 
is benefited by a light covering during 
Winter, even if only of the past Sum¬ 
mer’s dead growth. Such trash will 
greatly diminish in bulk and weight by 
next Spring and be easily removed. 
W. V. F. 
SENSIBLE FRUIT NOTES. 
What I say and think about the 
Stringfellow method of planting trees 
is this: While it may be a success or 
partially so under some conditions, the 
principle is radically wrong for general 
application. If it would succeed any¬ 
where I should say it would on rough, 
stony hilly soil. If we should plant trees 
here on our level sandy and loamy soils 
with little or no cultivation we would 
have a sorry looking orchard. I went 
several years ago to Berks Co., Pa., to 
Christopher Shearer, to see the Globe 
p<.ach. He had the finest show of 
peaches anyone ever saw, growing on 
the hillsides, with practically no culti¬ 
vation, and an enthusiast would jump 
at the conclusion that peaches did not 
need cultivation, but a very long prac¬ 
tical experience has taught me different¬ 
ly, and should you succeed with the 
Stringfellow method it would by no 
means be conclusive that the principle 
was right for general application. 
Wet soil is not fit to plant any kind 
of a fruit tree, and the stone fruits least 
of all. I would not advise one to plant 
quinces on it if at all wet; if it is not fit 
to grow potatoes it is not fit for quinces. 
The prevalent idea that the quince 
needs a moist or wet soil is an erron¬ 
eous one, and I have seen many fail¬ 
ures from the practice. Tree agents ad¬ 
vise people to plant quince trees where 
it is too wet for general purposes, and 
they invariably fail. I have grown 
more or less quinces for several years, 
and my best success with fruit and the 
trees has been on good sandy loam. 
New Jersey. chas. black. 
A Superior Grape. 
Several years ago Prof. Munson, of 
Texas, sent me a grapevine, the name of 
which I have lost. I planted it at a place 
very much exposed to all kinds of weather. 
Last year it bore a few bunches. I made 
a bottle of wine from it. Judging from the 
small quantity of wine made, I think it 
will make a lirst-class claret, superior to 
Virginia or Missouri Kiesling. This vine, 
which bore about 18 pounds of grapes this 
year, grows in close proximity to about 
1,500 Concord vines, which owing to the wet 
Spring and the inability to spray them, 
were all spoiled by the black rot; but on 
this vine not a berry is affected. The wood 
and leaves are perfectly healthy. 1 may 
add, this vine grows at an elevation of 
about 925 feet above sea level at the foot 
of the Alleghany Mountains; has never re¬ 
ceived the least Winter protection, and 
seems in our climate perfectly hardy. 
Hollidaysburg, Pa. f. j. 
The grape is either a Carman or an 
America, or possibly R. W. Munson. 
If the variety has much very dark vio¬ 
let red juice, it is America. If it has 
white juice, or only rosy red when fer¬ 
mented on the skins, it is Carman, or 
possibly, R. W. Munson. Neither of 
these is troubled with black rot, and all 
of them make good wine. America, 
very dark violet juice, R. W. Munson, 
clear claret red. Carman, white or pale 
rose. All excellent for market, 
T. V. MUNSON. 
Gathering Leaves. —Those who live 
near forests have a supply of excellent 
bedding at hand; and, unless rains are 
too frequent, the leaves may be gathered 
to advantage and stored for Winter use. 
They are bulky and difficult to handle. 
Readers give the following methods of 
doing this work, which have been found 
satisfactory. Of course, the leaves must 
first be raked into piles. Then take 
large bran sacks, and, while one holds 
the sack, another can stuff in the leaves. 
By treading them down once or twice 
while filling a surprising amount can 
be put in. The sacks need not be tied, 
and can be loaded on to a hay rigging. 
If one has a wagon with a large box. 
like those used in hauling charcoal, and 
can drive close to the piles of leaves, 
they may be thrown in quickly with a 
barley fork, or a special rack can be 
made for holding them on a hay rig¬ 
ging. Where it is not convenient to get 
close to them with the waeon, a four- 
bushel basket works well (this is also 
handy to have around the barn for 
handling chaff or other light stuff); or 
a sheet may be made of coarse sacks, 
which, when the corners are brought to¬ 
gether, will hold a good many leaves. 
BEFORE BUYING 
A NEW HARNESS alogue glv- 
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double harness and save 2.1 per cent. 
I/:-- U_II V 
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Bought at Receivers’ Sal* 
Sheets either flat, corriv 
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tools except a hatchet oi 
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enough paint to 9f YE 
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A square means 100 square ft. Write for Free Citalotne 
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Wrecking Co.. WestSSth and Iron Sts., Chicago, 111. 
FARM TELEPHONES 
How to put them up—what they cost—why they save 
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ICE PLOWS 
*13 Also le’e Tools. 
Write for discounts. 
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Made 
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CUTTING 
Is quickly done with 
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