i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
789 
where the land Is adapted to the production of so many 
varieties of grain, vegetables and grasses, should do more 
mixed farming. Farmers, many of them, say they are dis¬ 
couraged ; but in most cases the outcome might have been 
different had the management been different. Crops 
must be put in in season and no one should try to get in 
more than he can take good care of. It is far better to 
have six acres under beans and as many under corn, and 
take good care of them, than to have GO acres under beans 
as some farmers in this section have had, while they have 
not taken proper care of them on account of late planting 
and wet weather this fall. The only way to succeed when 
the conditions are as they have been the past few years, is to 
keep the work well in hand and not try to do too much. On 
account of the wet weather last spring, most farmers in 
this section planted no corn at all, thinking they could 
buy what they might need from the West cheaper than 
they could raise it. They see their mistake now. I put in 
Bix acres to corn, that being all the corn ground I could 
get properly ready in season. The remainder of the lot I 
sowed to oats, which were not sown as early as I wished : 
but, then, they did better than late-planted corn would 
have done. My corn is about all husked and is a good 
crop; but I have had to watch the clouds and get a few 
loads into the barn at a time. Of barley I raised none 
this season, but I carried my last year’s crop over and sold 
it, not long ago, for 80 cents per bushel. Last year the 
most I was offered was 40 cents. In disposing of a crop it 
is best to be governed by circumstances. I do not think it 
good policy to sell hay off the farm where grain is the main 
crop. I intended this fall to buy sheep to use up the large 
crop of good hay I secured last summer. Good lambs are 
high—six cents per pound—good breeding ewes are in 
great demand also at $4.50 per head I can buy first-rate 
yearling steers for $20 per head and good ones for $16. By 
May next I can have them ready to turn off at a good 
profit, even though the price may be low. for they will 
have been bought low and fed mostly on clover hay, on 
which they will thrive. About February 1, I intend to 
commence feeding them corn meal, which will make fat. 
I so manage that half of my cows come in about Septem¬ 
ber ; the other half in spring. My winter butter is in good 
demand. In fact, my wife has special customers in Roch¬ 
ester, where she gets 25 cents per pound for it. I have no 
Jersey cows either, or half or three fourths bloods. Of 
course, I know the Jersey is the butter cow. As I raise the 
calves mostly for beef, I find the Short-horn purebred or 
grade the most profitable. The price of surplus butter 
goes into the good wife’s purse, and I am entirely satisfied. 
I raise my own cows and when I have a heifer that is not a 
rich milker I turn her into beef at the first opportunity, 
and thus always have good cows. P. G. frutchley. 
Livingston County, N. Y. 
Driving a Hog. See Page 788. Fig. 370. 
Here is a Thanksgiving item from Minnesota: “I 
learned something the other day which may be of use to 
readers of The Rural. It was that a hog which could not 
“ Said to Weigh ” 306 Pounds. Fig. 372. 
be coaxed, driven or pushed up an inclined chute into a 
wagon, could be made to back up very readily by holding 
a bushel basket over his head and following him as he 
backed. Four or five of us were trying to load a lot of 
hogs which were just having fun with us, till a young 
neighbor, with the necessary ‘know how,’ came along 
and loaded them all while we looked on. J. M. DREW.” 
R. N. Y.—See Figure 370 for a picture of this •'new 
method ” There are lots of other individuals in the world 
who can be made to “ back ” into places that they will 
not ‘’drive” into. 
A Business That Is “Some Pumpkins.” 
In these days of fierce competition, about the only way 
for a merchaut to increase his sales is to advertise in an 
unique and striking way. Some of the shop-keepers in 
New York have reduced this advertising business to a 
positive science. A restaurant keeper on Fulton Street 
has attracted such attention to his pumpkin pies that he 
has been obliged to enlarge his tables in order to provide 
for his guests. 
Is this because his pies are better than those found at 
other restaurants ? No; they are no better, in fact they 
are not so good as some others. What is the reason then T 
Simply this : The pumpkins from which the pies are made 
are the largest to be found. Everyone is a “monster.” 
Now if these big pumpkins were brought quietly into the 
back of the restaurant and made into pies without any 
outcry they would not draw a single customer But no, 
each one does duty as an advertisement before it is cut up. 
A picture of the front of the restaurant is shown at Fig. 
871, with three of the big pumpkins at Figs. 372, 373, 374. 
Some of thet-e are said to weigh over 300 pounds, but we 
have no proof of their weight. They are like big steers in 
this respect. They are certainly very large and look like 
monsters to the city people who stand in crowds to ex¬ 
amine them. Each pumpkin has some legend in “ natural 
engraving ” on its side. The words are marked or cut on 
the pumpkin’s pide when about half grown and as the 
pumpkin grows the wounds heal and leave scars which 
show the rudely formed letters. What country boy has not 
practiced this “ natural engraving ” by cutting his sweet¬ 
heart’s initials on a big pumpkin ? Here are a few of the 
legends carved on these big pumpkins : 
“ You make the pie, we’ll do the rest! ” 
“ To test my weight, lift me.” 
“ Why wasn’t I born handsome ?” 
“ Fat, fair and fit for pie.” 
“ A pious pumpkin.” 
Thousands of people stop and examine these big pump¬ 
kins. They are great curiosities to the average city man. 
In front of the door is a large sign in the form of a wooden 
plate which reads: “ Take home a pie on a wooden plate 
for 18 cents ! ” Hundreds of them are sold at this price ! 
There are several men near New York who make a busi¬ 
ness of growing these big pumpkins. They claim to have 
a secret or “patent” system for turning out these mon¬ 
sters, but that idea is all nonsense. The big fellows are 
produced on rich, well-worked soil, well fertilized and 
watered with liquid manure. The buds are nipped off so 
that all the strength of the vine goes to one pumpkin. 
Every now and then somebody starts the old story about 
feeding a pumpkin on milk and finding a lump of butter 
inside of it! These big pumpkins teach a lesson in adver¬ 
tising that is well worth studying. Boom your business. 
WELL TESTED FRUITS. 
E. P. POWELL. 
The people need no other horticultural service so m«ch 
as honest and judicious reports concerning what ber¬ 
ries and other fruits may be planted by them without 
danger of loss or disappointment. Unfortunately there 
are a few nurserymen engaged in the booming business. 
Horticulture with them has lost all that ennobles it. I 
propose to write for The Rural New-Yorker a series of 
articles with the Intention of giving a few lists of fruits 
tested and reported on in different localities, and so gen¬ 
erally favorably received that we can rest assured of their 
general good qualities. 
As we are just closing the season for grapes and just now 
every one is enamored of this healthful and delicious food, 
I shall select the grape for this first article. If, after care- 
Let us Have Pies. Fig. 373. 
ful personal testing, and after receiving the reports of the 
best judges, I were to select a list of 10 varieties for plant¬ 
ing for home use I would write it down in this way: 
Worden, a black grape, so like the Concord in appear¬ 
ance that only by the taste can the bunches be distin¬ 
guished. The Worden colors only a trifle before the 
Concord, but is sweet and fine for table two to three weeks 
before its rival. In fact, the Concord, as far north as this, 
is never ripe unless the season is very favorable. I under¬ 
stand that it is sold and eaten as ripe ; but let this kind be 
compared with a Hudson River or Ohio or Missouri Con 
cord and the difference will at once be noticed. The Con¬ 
cord in such localities is a truly noble fruit. Here I have 
had it this year ripe on or about October 15. I had bushels 
ripened on trellises by September 25. They did not, how¬ 
ever, get to be bottled sunshine. On my barn I can to day 
—October 28—pick real Concords. But the Worden is de¬ 
licious as soon as it is colored, and differs from the Con¬ 
cord in not being better after it has hung a long while on 
the vine. The latest Wordens are not the highest flavored. 
Everybody should plant Worden, it is an enormous 
bearer, and is no more inclined to any disease than the 
Concord. In manner of growth it is perfect. It will do 
well with high culture, or will run over the barn with 
glorious results. 
NIAGARA has overcome all antagonism aud adverse 
criticism, and has proved itself, all In all, a remarkable 
affair. The size of the bunches and berries and the quantity 
produced; the superb beauty of the grape aud its excellent 
quality ; the close approach to perfection it exhibits every 
w r ay have won the admiration of all who have seen it. It 
is pot absolutely of the highest quality, being (not so fine 
as the Hayes or Lady; but it is very good. Its growth is 
strong, and there is in it no special tendency to disease. 
Brighton is in quality best; in color a fine red ; in 
bunch very large; in berry large enough; in productiveness 
unsurpassed ; only it has short stamens, and fails of self- 
fertilization unless the conditions are very favorable. 
Therefore Brighton must always be planted with other 
grapes in order to insure a crop. I remember a sharp word 
from a correspondent of The Rural, who asserted that 
the Brighton was worthless, and that whole vineyards of 
it had been plowed out. His grapes lacked fertilization 
from friendly neighbors. The Brighton is a child of Iona; 
but the Iona grows better the longer it hangs; the Brighton 
does not. 
Herbert is a superb grape in size, prolificacy and qual¬ 
ity. But, like nearly all of Rogers’s Hybrids, it needs good 
neighbors to impregnate it with abundant pollen. It is 
ripe later than Worden by two weeks and is a grand 
keeper. It may hang on the vines till freezing weather, 
and then be kept for months. I like it more and more each 
year. 
Diamond is now well tested and proves good everywhere. 
It has a large berry and good bunches. Its characteristics 
are juiciness and high flavor. The vine grows well, with 
a light yellow foliage that is conspicuously pretty. I have 
yet to find a bad point about it; but have found a* out all 
the good ones. 
Hayes.—I have so much to say of the superb quality of 
this variety that I place it at least sixth in the line. In 
quality it is highest. A white grape, with medium-sized 
berry and fair sized bunches, it is simply delicious. The 
seeds are small, the flavor of the sugary and perfumed 
sort, a fine cropper and a good grower; I recommend it as 
good enough for anybody. It hangs long on the vine, and 
is as good the last of October as it was the last of Septem¬ 
ber. It is ripe just after the Worden, and before the 
Niagara. 
Gaertner, Salem, Etc. —I am in doubt whether to place 
the first before the second, or the reverse. Perhaps it is 
as well to class these two grapes together, and then, close 
to them, place Ulster and Agawam, as making up the 
required 10. Agawam, unfortunately, is the name for two 
very dissimilar grapes. Ulster was sent out for a long 
time so miserably forced that the vines were good for noth¬ 
ing. I think, however, it is going to prove one of our best 
grapes. Close after these 10, Wilder and Barry are almost 
universally successful. Lindley is popular but liable to 
sadly disappoint the grower. Jefferson, Goethe and Iona 
are an unequaled trio for a warmer latitude. Walter is ex¬ 
cellent, so is Purity. Vergennes is at least good. For a 
late red on good, open trellises, in warm localities, Diana 
is admirable. It may be kept through half the winter. 
Objectionable Sorts.— Of the grapes I would warn 
all against planting, I put together Jessica, a small 
white, half seeds ; Moore’s Early, a wretchedly poor bearer 
on the average, but sometimes very profitable because 
early and large ; Lady, the most delicious of grapes, but 
the vine will not give a decent crop ; Prentiss poor every¬ 
way : Champion, early, but viciously poor; Early Victor, 
which has not enough to recommend it; Amber, too late 
“Natural Engraving.” Fig. 374, 
and flavorless ; Woodruff Red, too late by all odds and in 
quality positively bad ; Golden Gem, very small and a very 
poor grower ; Grein’s No. 7, a worthless thing, all seeds ; 
Empire State, which is late, not of high quality, and 
rattles off the bunches. It is possible some of these grapes 
may do well in certain localities, but the burden of proof 
is vastly against them. 
Of the newer sorts it is unsafe to speak confidently. 
I am of the opinion that several of them will prove fit for 
the select list, probably Green Mountain, Colerain, Witt 
and Moyer will pay to test. 
Locally Fine. —This leaves a long list of good grapes 
that cannot be put in the very first line, but are, never¬ 
theless. locally fine. Among them are Pocklington, too 
late; Duchess, needs covering, and several of Rogers’s 
Hybrids and Miner’s Victoria and Antoinette. I am not 
sure but these last will yet come to the front. 
Plant grapes for food and health. Run them over your 
barns and fences and trees for beauty and profit. Educate 
your children with them. 
Oneida County, N. Y. 
Lively Now, Farmers.— Farmers generally do not push 
their work in the spring as they ought. They are late in 
planting, except a few early peas, potatoes and a little 
sweet corn. For the past three seasons early potatoes, as a 
rule, have beeu better than late ones. The latter have 
rusted, and many farmers have not dug them until very 
late, and in some cases, not until the ground has begun to 
freeze; but if they had dug them as soou as the tops were 
dead there would have been fewer rotten ones. If planting 
were done earlier, hoeing could be done before haying is 
begun, and there would not be so many weeds. If potatoes 
are planted early and dug as soon as ripe the ground can be 
sowed with turnip seed, that will makegood food for cows, 
Stafford Couuty, N. H. w. e. rines. 
