VOL. XLIX. NO. 2123. NEW YORK, OCTOBER 4, i89o. 
PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 
$ 2.00 PER YEAR. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
HE WATER-MELON called Green and Gold haa 
been before the public for several years. Ruby- 
Gold originated with the same person, Mr. A. W. 
Smith, of Americus, Ga., and was introduced last year. 
We have tried it two years. In shape it varies from oblong 
to narrowly-oblong, and it is usually of a dark green color, 
though sometimes striped. The flesh varies also, being 
sometimes all yellow, sometimes red streaked upon yellow, 
the red being sometimes feeble, sometimes pronounced. 
It is not so sweet as some other kinds, but tender, juicy 
and melting. The white flesh—between the green rind 
and the edible flesh—varies in thickness from three- 
quarters of an inch to over an inch. The melons which 
have ripened here averaged early and large, weighing from 
20 to 25 pounds. A single melon was sent to The R. N.-Y. 
by Mr. Smith, which weighed 40 pounds. The quality was 
no better than that of those grown here. If we cut off the 
rind and serve the edible flesh broken up in pieces (not 
sliced or cut) we are reminded of a dish of ice-cream. It must 
be said that Ruby-Gold is something of an acquisition, 
though the public may not 
take to it at once. The seeds 
are white. 
Not a Hybrid.— In this 
year’s catalogue of W. Altee 
Burpee & Co., a Hybrid 
Hardy Hibiscus is announced, 
which “ is said to have been 
produced by crossing the 
Moscheutos and Californicus 
types.” Roots planted early 
in the spring began to bloom 
with our Hibiscus Moscheutos 
(the Swamp Rose Mallow of 
our brackish marshes) and 
we cannot distinguish the one 
from the other in any way. 
Variegated Prince’s 
Feather.— Seeds of the “New 
Variegated-leaved Poly¬ 
gonum ” (Orientals) were re¬ 
ceived from Peter Henderson 
& Co., and sown in early 
spring. The plants make a 
quick growth, reaching a 
hight of six feet or over by 
late August. The flowers are 
those of the species. It is 
valuable only for its large, 
variegated leaves which are 
liberally splashed with yel¬ 
low. It is a coarse, but showy 
plant. 
The “ Double Golden Da¬ 
tura” does not come true 
from seeds at all. Two plants 
bore large, white, single 
(sweet-scented) flowers; an¬ 
other, single flowers tinted 
with purple; a third *‘ double” 
flowers of a dark purple out¬ 
side and a lighter shade with¬ 
in. These Daturas are very 
coarse plants, as all know, 
and should not be grown in 
prominent parts of the garden; 
but the flowers are certainly 
pretty and not the less inter¬ 
esting because, as stated 
above, they vary indefinitely. 
Blue Rose of Sharon.— 
The prettiest Rose of Sharon 
(Althma) we have ever seen 
or grown was sent to us for 
trial by John Saul, of Wash¬ 
ington, D. C. The flowers are 
large, single, of a sky-blue 
color with purple throats. 
We have raised about 20 seed¬ 
lings from it, but all are vary¬ 
ing shades of light purple. 
The New Paris Pickling 
Cucumber.— Seeds of this sent 
here by W. Altee Burpee & 
Co., of Philadelphia, Pa,, were 
planted last spring. The vines grew with unusual rapidity, 
began bearing very early and remained vigorous until 
September. With the exception of Tailby’s Hybrid, this 
is the only variety of long cucumbers adapted to garden 
culture we have tried. Tailby’s, as a cucumber, is unsur¬ 
passed, the flesh being tender with very few seeds. But it 
is not prolific and is of little value for pickles. The 
reverse is true of the Paris Pickling. For cucumbers it 
is worthless, being tough and inclined to be misshapen or 
clubbed at the blossom end a« shown by the middle of the 
three illustrations—all from nature. The right-hand 
illustration shows the middle size for pickles. Smaller 
than this the pickles are always symmetrical and slender, 
presenting, as put up in glass jars, a neat, attractive ap¬ 
pearance peculiar to themselves. A further distinctive 
characteristic is a rough, prickly surface, as shown in the 
illustration. Mr. Burpee writes us that this variety 
originated with Vilmorin, of Paris. Within a few years 
past Mr. Burpee has tested several hundred kinds of 
cucumbers from Europe and Asia, and this is only the 
third that has been found really worthy of being grown in 
this country. 
For certain places the Hercules Club or Angelica Tree 
is very desirable. Another and not inappropriate familiar 
name is the Devil’s Walking Stick, as the main stems are 
well covered with sharp, short spines. Its botanical name 
is Aralia spinosa- The leaves of the specimen growing on 
the west side of our pond-puddle, which, as our readers 
are too well aware, we dignify by the name of lake, are 
often five feet long, bi and 
sometimes tripinnate, the 
main petiole clasping the 
stem by a swelling similar in 
shape to a horse’s hoof, as in 
the case of the ailantus. The 
little tree is 18 feet high, 
closely pressed on one side by 
a variegated Yellow-wood—on 
the other by a cypress (Taxo- 
dium distychum). It bears 
terminal decompound pan¬ 
icles of white flowers scarcely 
less than three feet in diam¬ 
eter. The individual flowers 
are no larger than pin heads, 
but there are thousands of 
them which, with their white 
peduncles and pedicels, are 
conspicuously beautiful at 
this late season when there 
are so few shrubs or trees in 
bloom. It is a very distinct 
shrub, and helps to make up 
what is always a desirable 
feature in a lake border, a 
variety of marked differences. 
There are other species of this 
Aralia, as A. Mandshurica 
(Dimorphanthus), A. penta- 
phylla, etc., but for the pur¬ 
pose and situation alluded to 
Spinosa is the best suited. 
Potatoes that do not ma¬ 
ture owing to a loss of foliage 
from any cause, should never, 
as we believe, be used for 
“seed.” The R. N.-Y. No. 4, 
the most promising potato 
and the largest yielder ever 
tried here, presents a forcible 
illustration of this. Three or 
four years ago it was selected 
as the leading kind for the 
Contest plot. It was the first 
attacked by the flea beetle 
and, in consequence, the vines 
were the first to die. It was 
found that the potatoes were 
not over half grown. The best 
of these were planted the next 
year and again they were the 
first to “blight.” The past 
season neither flea beetles, nor 
blight attacked the vines. 
The yield, however, is small, 
and the potatoes “scabby,” 
while other kinds in the same 
plot yield well, and the tubers 
are free from scab. Our ad¬ 
vice to farmers whose pota¬ 
toes blighted the past season 
is to import fresh “seed” 
from localities where blight 
did not prevail. 
