214 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
March 28 
come. Something is done in the way of forcing let¬ 
tuce, radishes, etc., in hotbeds, and several thousand 
celery and other plants are sold every year. 
In a good year, with a good market, the sales of 
produce ought to amount to over §1,000, besides all 
the vegetables and fruits for family use which are 
grown on the farm. The expenses for keeping a 
horse, hired help, manure and seeds, are less than §200. 
A problem which 1 am now working on, is the new 
celery culture with irrigation, the results of which 
experiments I cannot give within the limits of this 
raise another root, and in so doing, help to increase 
the demand for celery of the best quality, and also 
keep the price so that a living profit could be realized. 
w. w. BAWSON. 
We have grown and tested the quality of nearly 
every variety of celery, and consider that the quality 
of the Golden strains is much inferior to that of the 
white varieties. They lack the sweet and agreeable 
nutty flavor which is so characteristic of the white 
varieties. m. h. beckwxth. 
I have found the red or pink-tinted celeries very 
much superior in quality to all others. White Plume, 
to my taste, seems the poorest of all, and the “Golden” 
sorts are but little, if any, better. Giant Pascal is of 
excellent quality, but in some seasons, it lacks a little 
in the way of solidity. I shall grow, hereafter, New 
Rose for my own use. e. g. fowler. 
sprayed with the ordinary wet form of Bordeaux 
Mixture. 
Encouraged by these results, we gave both the Fun- 
giroid and our homemade Bordeaux powder more ex¬ 
tended trials the past summer. The weather of this 
season was quite different from that of 1894. Abund¬ 
ant rains fell during August and September, in con¬ 
sequence of which we had a most magnificent growth 
of potato vines ; single stems of R. N.-Y. No. 2, six 
feet long, remaining well clothed with leaves until 
cut by frost in October. Some of the unsprayed plants 
began to show the late blight in August, the disease 
became general in September, and as a certain conse¬ 
quence, there was a large amount of rot in the later 
potatoes where they were not sprayed. Here, then, 
was the opportunity we had failed to get in 1894 for a 
thorough, practical test of the dry Bordeaux Mix¬ 
tures. The results were unmistakable. The dry mix- 
FRAME OF A HOMEMADE ROLLER. Fig. 66 . 
article. But I think that I can see a possibility of 
doubling the produce from my farm. w. h. jenkins. 
Delaware County, N. Y. 
FLAVOR IN CELERY. 
IS THE GOLDEN INFERIOR TO WHITES AND PINKS ? 
Our experience has shown that the now popular strains of 
Golden celery, are inferior in quality to white or pink kinds, and 
that this inferiority is quite marked. Will you be kind enough to 
tell us whether this is also your experience? 
All Against the Yellow Varieties. 
The so-called self-blanching varieties, whether 
white or golden, have usually beennfound to be of in¬ 
ferior quality. When carefully blanched by artificial 
means—whether by boards or by earth—little differ¬ 
ence in quality has been observed in the best strains 
of the two classes named. The pink varieties are, 
usually, somewhat more delicate in flavor than are 
those of either of the other classes, w. m. munson. 
I have often noted the*-inferiority of the Golden 
Self-blanching celery. It* is often stringy and tough, 
and, to my taste, decidedly inferior to most 
other kinds in quality. The Giant Pascal is 
better, but, excludingo the White Plume, my 
preference is for the white and pink, or rose- 
colored varieties. w. J. green. 
The celery question is a mixed one. Whether 
the self-blanching varieties are better than 
the pink or the various types of what is 
known as the green celery, is a matter that 
depends upon the conditions of soil and 
growth. The Golden Self-blanching may be 
superior or inferior to the others, just in 
proportion as the conditions of growth are 
favorable or unfavorable. In some soils, one 
can get celery that has a rich, nutty flavor, 
no matter what variety is planted, in others 
he cannot. The Golden Self-blanching celery 
is a sport from the Sandringham, one of the 
finest of all celeries, and the sport, *in flavor, 
partakes of the character of the parent. 
Plant this alongside of any other, and it will take the 
lead. But plant it where the conditions of soil are 
unfavorable for good quality, and compare it with 
other varieties, grown under favorable conditions, 
and it will be inferior to them. It may be well to re¬ 
mark that none of the self-blanching varieties of 
celery is of good quality unless earthed up, by which 
process the acrid properties are drawn out by the 
soil’s influence; this may, in a measure, account for 
the poor quality of the Golden Self-blanching variety, 
which is quite likely to be eaten without having been 
earthed up. c. l. allen. 
My experience in reference to the quality of the 
Golden celery, especially the Paris Golden, is that it 
is very inferior in quality, and always has been. The 
Golden varieties have seen their best days. Many of 
the largest growers would be glad to agree not to 
THE USE OF “DRY'’ BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 
IT DOES NOT STICK FAST ENOUGH. 
The R. N.-Y. recently asked that any one having 
given the dry Bordeaux Mixture a fair trial, would 
give results. We have been testing the dry powder, 
together with other forms of Bordeaux Mixture, at 
our station for the past two summers. In this work 
we have used the prepared powder sent out by 
Leggett Brothers under the name of Fungiroid, and 
a similar powder made by ourselves, which we call 
“Bordeaux powder.” In preparing the latter, we 
make a concentrated Bordeaux Mixture by dissolving 
15 pounds of copper sulphate in one-quarter barrel of 
water, and adding 10 pounds of freshly slaked lime. 
This is thoroughly stirred, the blue precipitate or 
sediment allowed to settle, then the clear water above 
is poured off. This blue precipitate, or sediment, 
which, of course, contains all the virtues of the Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture as usually applied, is then spread out 
in a thin layer and allowed to dry thoroughly. When 
dry we take it to a mill in the city where they grind 
poultry foods, etc., and have it powdered between 
regular millstones. There is a little waste in making 
this, so that out of our 25 pounds of ingredients, we 
have got about 20 pounds of powder, costing us as 
follows: 
15 pounds copper sulphate.$0.75 
10 pounds lime. 0.05 
Grinding. 0.50 
Total. $1.30 
or about 63^ cents a pound. They will grind a much 
larger “ grist” at this mill at the same price, as the 
charges are chiefly for cleaning the stones. We are 
satisfied, therefore, that the powder can be produced 
cheaply, if found efficient, and in our experiments we 
have applied it liberally, aiming to use the same 
amount of copper salts in this dry powder that we 
have in the wet mixture. 
Now for the experiments. In 1894 so little rain 
fell that practically no fungous diseases or “ blights” 
attacked our potato plants, and consequently, there 
was no opportunity to determine the values of dry 
A HOMEMADE ROLLER: THE WHEEL. Flo. 68. 
tures were almost entire failures, the plants dusted 
with them soon blighted, and the tubers rotted nearly 
as badly as in the unsprayed rows, while the rows 
sprayed with the ordinary wet Bordeaux Mixture 
stood up until frosted, and showed much less of rot. 
I give the following statements of yields, which 
carry their practical lesson with them : These figures 
represent in each case the average yield in pounds of 
12 rows of White Star and 12 rows of Polaris potatoes, 
planted May 20 ; fungicides were applied three times, 
July 25, August 13, and August 31 : 
Sound tubers of Rotten tubers of 
marketable size. marketable size. 
No fungicides. 
Bordeaux powder (dry)>. 
Bordeaux Mixture. 
Pounds. 
158 
170.7 
301.7 
Pounds. 
147.5 
159.3 
66.9 
EARLY ADVANCE. Fig. 67 . 
See Notes from the Rural Grounds. Page 230. 
powders as fungicides. Insects, however, were unusu¬ 
ally abundant that summer upon our potatoes, the 
flea-beetle being especially troublesome. As already 
noted in your columns, some of the preparations 
applied by us primarily as fungicides proved excellent 
insecticides. This was true of the Bordeaux Mixture 
in all its forms, including the dry powders. These 
powders were applied with a powder gun, under most 
favorable conditions, when the leaves were moist, so 
that the powders would adhere, and heavy applica¬ 
tions were made, in some cases at the rate of 40 
pounds per acre. The results were encouraging. In 
the absence of rain the powders adhered well to the 
leaves, and appeared to deter the insects nearly as 
well as the wet mixture. The rows thus treated 
showed decided benefit from the powders, approach¬ 
ing though not equaling in vigor the adjoining rows 
Several trials were made of Fungiroid and Bor¬ 
deaux powder on adjoining rows in our experiments, 
and the two gave practically the same results. Conse¬ 
quently, we feel confident that the dry powders can¬ 
not safely be substituted for the wet Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture in spraying potatoes against the late blight and 
rot. As may be seen from the above figures, the cir¬ 
cumstances of this trial were most severe, 
the loss from rot being serious even where 
the plants were sprayed with Bordeaux 
Mixture. This came from the continued 
rains, and consequent slow but persistent 
progress of the blight during September, 
after the last spraying was done. It was 
largely a test, therefore, of the adhesiveness 
of the fungicides during protracted rains. 
But any fungicide which will not adhere 
during wet weather, is of little value against 
late blight. We feel, therefore, that the test 
of the past season was a fair one of the dry 
powders in Vermont, and when tried, they 
were “ found wanting.” l. r. jones. 
Vermont Experiment Station. 
R. N.-Y.—In spite of these results, we still 
think that the dry Bordeaux Mixture will 
find a safe place in horticulture. We have 
reports of unmistakable success with it on 
tomatoes. We shall be pleased to hear from others 
who have tried it. 
A HOMEMADE LAND ROLLER. 
THINKERING THAT LED TO “ TINKERING.” 
Last winter, it came to me that I was in great need 
of a land roller ; but how I could expend §25 or more 
for a roller, when my crops were so poor and prices 
low, was a problem not easily solved. I visited a 
young farmer living in another part of the town, who 
had built a roller, taking the wheels of two old 
mowers for the foundation, and connecting them by 
the tumbling rod of an old horse power. The wheels 
were drilled, and two-inch maple staves were bolted 
on. I would, probably, have made use of his pattern, 
but every one who had an old mower within a day’s 
journey, would not part with the wheels. When they 
