T8 
The “Station"Tomato, 
Reports from Prof. Goff, the 
Originator, Prof. Bailey, Dr. 
Collier, N. Hallock 
and the R. N.-Y. 
The R. N.-Y. has raised this hybrid for 
two seasons from seed sent by the origin¬ 
ator. The first year, of 10 plants one is 
well shown by the illustration, the only 
one resembling the French Upright (the 
female parent) as regards the plant itself. 
The tomatoes were of medium size and 
much smoother and earlier than the pro¬ 
duct of the mother. The other plants 
varied both in habit and fruit, none show¬ 
ing any special merit. Seed was saved only 
from the upright specimen, and from 
this seed a dozen plants were raised and 
cultivated the past summer. It is quite re¬ 
markable that not one of these resembled 
the mother (French Upright). All were of 
rather dwarf form with the prostrate habit 
of ordinary tomatoes. Some bore tomatoes 
of the form of Alpha (the male); others 
were pear-shaped and others of a squarish, 
angular form. The illustration is a faith¬ 
ful portrait of a plant exhibited at the late 
tomato exhibition held in the ware-rooms 
of J. M. Thorburn & Co., of this city, by N. 
Hallock, of Queens County, Long Island. 
FROM PROF. E. S. GOFF. 
The Station Tomato originated in 1883 at 
Geneva, N. Y., from the French Upright 
(Tomato de Laye) fertilized with pollen 
from the Alpha, and was first described 
and illustrated in the report of the New 
York Agricultural Experiment Station for 
1886. It has been only within the past two 
or three years that the plant has come suf¬ 
ficiently true from seed to merit any claims 
to its being a distinct variety. I have been 
developing two strains of it—one early, 
fruit medium to small, entirely smooth, re¬ 
markably solid, and growing on a plant 
not larger than a potato top ; and the other 
a larger and later-maturing fruit, equally 
smooth and good in quality, but growing 
on a plant about one-half larger than the 
other strain. The past season these two 
strains came almost entirely true. 
My chief hope for the Station Tomato 
was that it would fill an important place 
as a forcing variety, but in our tests at Ge¬ 
neva it did not prove very productive un¬ 
der glass. It is possible, however, that 
with further trial a strain of it may yet be 
found that will be as productive under 
glass as it is in the open air. The small¬ 
ness of the greenhouse at the New York 
Experiment Station precluded anything 
like an extensive trial in this direction. 
The Station has always attractel much 
attention wherever it has been on exhibi¬ 
tion and the interest in it does not diminish 
in the least. Feeling that it has not been 
sufficiently fixed for dissemination, I have 
taken no pains to call attention to it for the 
past three seasons; but notwithstanding 
this fact, many letters of inquiry have 
come to me regarding it. 
Experiment Station, Madison, Wis. 
FROM N. HALLOCK. 
In my test of tomatoes last summer the 
seed of the Station Upright Tomato was 
obtained direct from Prof. Goff with whom 
it originated. Like its parent, the “Tree,” 
it keeps that shape and habit of growth, 
but in no other respect is it like that parent, 
which failed to ripen fruit before the 25th 
of September—143 days from planting— 
whereas the Station was ripe 110 days from 
planting the seed, being the earliest ripe of 
82 tested varieties. The fruit of the Sta¬ 
tion is of medium size—from eight to 10 
ounces—very solid when cut and of excellent 
flavor, and it has fewer seeds than any other 
tomato I ever saw—fruit of ordinary size 
having only 75 to 100 seeds and even less. 
Although the growth of the plant seemed 
slow, it being so dwarf, its fruit came 
early to maturity, having started flowers 
on June 10 and bearing ripe fruit on July 
20. The fruits are borne all along the 
main stem and side branches in com¬ 
pact clusters so that they look as if they 
might have been tied to the plant, so thick¬ 
ly did they grow. A weak point, perhaps, 
is that they do not ripen quite so fast as 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
TAN. U 
some other kinds. At the end of the season 
—August 10—when the vine was killed by 
frost it was still full of fruit in all stages 
of ripeness. I would advise no one to plant 
it by the acre, but for small gardens it can 
be planted 2}4 feet apart and will, I think, 
prove worthy of a fair trial. 
Creedmoor, L. I. 
FROM DR. COLLIER. 
In 1887 the Station Tomato ripened the 
first 10 fruits of 70 market varieties. In 
1888 it was the earliest of 10. In 1889 it 
was the earliest of 17. In the winter of 
1886 and 1887 plants were grown in six-inch 
pots in the greenhouse, making stocky 
plants, taking up no more room than the pot, 
and yielding a very fair crop of fruit, there 
being from three to six good-sized fruits 
on each plant. With a forcing-house to 
plant them in, we think they will prove the 
thing for early fruits. We have found it a 
benefit to fertilize the blossoms artificially, 
as the humidity of our greenhouse keeps 
the pollen moist and not in condition to 
spread itself. If the plants were grown in 
a forcing-house adapted to them, it might 
not be necessary to do so. We consider the 
variety a good thing well adapted to small 
gardens, and easily protected from spring 
and fall frosts. 
Director of the New York Expei’iment 
Station, Geneva.- 
FROM PROF. L. H. BAILEY. 
I had one batch of seed of Goff’s Station 
Tomato. The plants did not vary, but 
were almost indistinguishable from the 
French Upright, the female parent. The 
fruit was much smaller, very uniform in 
size, and almost regular; while the French 
Upright is wrinkled. We discovered no 
promise in the plants we had. Prof. Goff 
ought to collect the stock of it, and make a 
study of it in the direction of plant varia¬ 
tion. Some of the forms of it are good, ac¬ 
cording to many observers. 
Cornell University. 
RRUSSELS-SPROUTS. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
An excellent and profitable vegetable be¬ 
longing to the cabbage family; varieties; 
planting and cultivating; harvesting 
and storing; its rank in the cuisine; 
marketing ; how to cook. 
This is an excellent and easily grown 
vegetable and one of the most serviceable 
of the cabbage race for private use, and 
profitable to raise for market. It is a fancy 
vegetable and commands a fancy price. It 
is a kind of cabbage that, instead of form¬ 
ing a short, stocky growth and producing 
large, broad, close-together leaves, and ul¬ 
timately big, solid heads as ordinary cab¬ 
bages do, is of tall habit with moderately 
small, wide-apart leaves up the stems and 
somewhat dense at top, and instead of hav¬ 
ing one terminal solid head, the plant 
towards fall, produces a number of solid 
sprouts, one from the axil of each leaf all the 
way up the stem, and the solider these lit¬ 
tle sprouts are the better they are. 
We generally grow two kinds, namely, 
the Tall and the Dwarf, and both are good ; 
but I rather favor the Dwarf, as it usually 
has larger sprouts. The different varieties 
that are catalogued are strains more than 
decided varieties. 
Brussels-sprouts require a long season of 
growth, longer than cauliflower, and fully 
as long as cabbages or savoys, and there is 
no danger of bursting in the fall as is the 
case with early-planted cabbage. But early 
sprouts are somewhat bitter, indeed, like 
savoys and curled kale, they are in fine 
condition only after frost, and there is not 
much demand for them before November. 
And, to their great praise let me say that, 
kales excepted, they are the hardiest of the 
cabbage race—by far hardier than any cauli¬ 
flower, even hardier than savoys. 
I make two sowings a year, one towards 
the end of April at the same time when I 
sow the main crops of celery; and the other 
late in May, at the time I sow my main 
crop of cabbage. In.sowing, planting, and 
summer cultivation, I treat them exactly 
as I do the cabbage crop, except that I plant 
them closer—say 2x2 feet or 2%x2 feet for 
sprouts, and six to 12 inches more than 
this for late cabbage. But if the potatoes, 
peas, corn or other early crops are not off 
the ground in time for cabbage, I often 
delay planting for a couple of weeks, but 
this should not be done for sprouts ; they 
need all the growing season available. 
About September the early planting will 
begin to make sprouts, but they will not 
be in very good condition till October; 
indeed, they will keep improving into win¬ 
ter. The main sowing begins hearting in 
October when growth is slow; at the same 
time very solid little sprouts contimie to 
form till severe weather sets in. 
I pit Our cauliflowers about the first of 
November, sometimes earlier, and bury the 
cabbage about the middle of the month, 
but leave out the Brussels-sprouts till the 
first of December, for I have no place empty 
for them till then. First strip off the 
rougher leaves from the stems, leaving only 
a little tuft at the top, then pull the plants 
and wheel them to a shed, cellar or pit, and 
there heel them in firmly but not deeply, 
heads up and erect, and pretty close to¬ 
gether ; and give them abundant ventila¬ 
tion in favorable weather. Don’t store 
them in the dwelling-house cellar, as they 
have a very pronounced and disagreeable 
odor, and this too when they are perfectly 
fresh and without a particle of decaying 
matter about them. Pick as needed, and 
throw out the stumps as you pick the 
sprouts from them. 
Brussels-sprouts grow well and bear well 
and they do not suffer from club-root any 
more than cabbage, if as much, and cer¬ 
tainly far less than cauliflowers. But some 
of them bear loose, flabby sprouts, and 
some others poorly developed ones, and as 
these are no good they should be pulled 
out and fed to the hogs. 
Brussels sprouts will never displace cab¬ 
bage and savoys as everybody’s vegetable ; 
at the same time they are so toothsome and 
easily grown that every farmer should 
plant some for his own family use. And they 
are in perfection in midwinter, after caul¬ 
iflowers have passed and when any tasty 
tid-bit is very desirable. For market this 
is a fancy vegetable, always in demand and 
at a high price and is sold by measure—us¬ 
ually by the quart. Cabbages or savoys, 
nowadays, never find a place upon fashion¬ 
able, aristocratic tables, but Brussels- 
sprouts are one of the appreciated green 
dinner vegetables on the tables of Me Allis- 
ter’s “400.” In fact, in December, January 
and February, this and spinach are the 
principal green vegetables used by the elite 
of New York ; and added to them from 
the cold-frames and pits are cauliflowers, 
and from the forcing-houses, snap beans 
and asparagus. 
To Cook Brussels sprouts.— “Trim the 
sprouts with care * * put them into a bowl 
of water containing plenty of salt, about 
half an hour before cooking them. Then 
throw them into the boiling water, taking 
care to have abundance of it, with a rather 
liberal allowance of salt, and a very little 
soda. Boil fast, and push the sprouts down 
occasionally, and look for them to be cooked 
in about 12 minutes. Serve without any 
sauce. Any gravy will suit them.” 
FRESH. SWEET-CREAM BUTTER, 
Importance of the sweet-cream butter 
question; growing use of butter from 
sweet t ;ream and milk; old and, new 
opinions on the matter; relative propor¬ 
tions of butler from siocet and sour 
cream; profit the all-important consid¬ 
eration; importance of the centrifuge 
extractor as a factor; a problematical 
method of getting all the butter; rela tive 
keeping qualities of butter from sweet 
a nd sour cream; how long should finc- 
Jlavored, butter keep ? average age of the 
best butter; cold-storage test of the keep¬ 
ing properties of sweet and sour-cream 
butter. 
The most important subject that agi¬ 
tates the minds of the butter-makers at the 
present time relates to the quantity and 
keeping quality of butter made from fresh, 
sweet cream or milk. It has long been ac¬ 
knowledged that the best butter markets 
in the world—Paris and London—demanded 
an article free, or nearly free, from salt and 
without the slightest suspicion of sour 
cream about it. From a number of inter¬ 
views with the makers of the best butter 
on the Boston market, published last year, 
it appeared that that city was rapidly fol¬ 
lowing in the footsteps of Paris and Lon¬ 
don, while in New York and other large 
cities the intelligent observer will note a 
rapid progress in the same direction. This 
change has been brought about in the face 
of the most persistent opposition both from 
the makers and the dealers in butter. The 
butter dairyman has always claimed that 
the less he soured the cream, the less but¬ 
ter he got, and that the more he soured it 
up to actual acid destruction, the more he 
got, and the farmer’s practice has generally 
proved this proposition to his entire satis¬ 
faction. The dealer in dairy goods has just 
as persistently claimed that the sweeter the 
cream is, the shorter will be the keeping 
life of the butter, while the correct souring 
of the cream will give something very 
nearly approaching immortality to the 
butter. 
In view of these two prejudices and the 
prevailing demand by the consumer for 
fresher and fresher goods, how are we to 
reconcile the conflicting elements? So far 
as the farmer is concerned, I take it that 
his first and only purpose is to make the 
most money from his dairy. All other 
matters are subordinate to this, and there¬ 
fore a mere prejudice must not tie allowed 
to handicap the money-making capacity of 
the dairy. It matters net what the indi¬ 
vidual taste of the dairyman may be, his 
task is to please the consumer that pays 
the highest price, and if the latter wants 
sweet-cream butter, he must have it pro¬ 
vided he is willing to pay for it. This 
principle has been accepted and acted up¬ 
on for a long time by those dairymen who 
supply the highest-priced butter that 
reaches the cities above named. They did 
not stop to debate whether or not they 
were losing a certain per cent, of the butter 
when they were satisfied that they were 
getting a still greater per cent, of money 
in the price of their goods. There is, how 
ever, much conflicting testimony as to 
whether or not there is any loss, if the 
cream, though sweet, has been properly 
ripened before churning. I once kept a 
record of about 200 churnings of sweet and 
sour cream in a factory, and while first one 
and then the other would be ahead in 
the amount of butter produced, when the 
record stopped the gross sum of sweet- 
cream butter figured up a little more than 
that made from the sour cream. A late 
experiment, reported by Prof. Babcock, 
of the Wisconsin Experiment Sta¬ 
tion, makes a loss with sweet-cream 
ripened 24 hours. Calling this an open 
question, the point still remains which 
will make the most money. If the ex¬ 
tractor is the success that its past perform¬ 
ance gives promise of, this machine will 
eliminate this question of loss altogether, 
because it claims to skim down to the 
“bare bones.” Prof. Meyer, of the West 
Virginia Experiment Station, reports that 
he has discovered a method by which all 
the butter can be secured from fresh milk. 
On receipt of the milk he runs it through a 
separator and immediately churns the 
cream, with of course, considerable loss of 
butter; but the butter-milk without fur¬ 
ther delay is again passed through the- 
separator and the resulting cream is 
churned with the lowest possible loss of 
butter fat in the butter-milk. This is 
something very new and needs further 
trial before any one outside of that station 
can swear to it. Necessity, however, is the 
mother of invention, and so long as there is 
such a growing demand for sweet-cream 
butter some one will soon discover how to 
get all the butter out of the sweet cream. 
Let us now consider the keeping quality 
of fresh-cream butter. We all know how 
strong the prejudice of the average com¬ 
mission-merchant is against this article. 
He grows red in the face if you mention it 
to him. It is the pride of many writers to 
tell of the butter their grandmothers made 
in June, that was laid down in the cellar 
and grew sweeter day by day until, when 
it was taken out in the middle of the next 
winter, it was more aromatic and nutty in 
flavor than the best of Elgin tubs can 
boast of being. This may be true, but, for 
one, I don’t believe it, and I am certain 
that the lauded butter would not sell on 
the market for much more than half the 
price of good fresh butter. 
Sweet-cream butter, if made with as fine 
a flavor as it should have, has no need for 
very great keeping qualities. All that is 
asked of it is to stand the vicissitudes of 
railroad travel for a few days, and then it 
should be ready to make its exit from the 
butter plate. In order to form a correct 
idea of the length of time sweet-cream but¬ 
ter is required to keep, let us consider the 
average age of the finest class of Elgin but¬ 
ter. I have talked with a number of New 
York commission merchants who are in the 
habit of handling this class of goods, and in 
their opinions as to the length of time they 
differ all the way from eight to 30 days. 
The 30-day estimate was predicated upon 
the idea that the butter came from Elgin 
and was seven days old when it started and 
that it was eight days on the road, and the 
rest of the time loafing about the store. If 
it was “ Elgin butter ” from Western New 
York and was shipped the day it was made, 
as it should be, and met the hungry de¬ 
mand that always awaits such goods, 
