494 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 25 
and some of the largest specimens through the sea¬ 
son, are flat or fan-shaped, but have a smooth surface 
and make a very attractive appearance. In the spring 
of 1894, Mr. Crawford sent me three plants ; late in 
the fall of 1894, and in the spring of 1895, these few 
plants rusted very badly, I cannot say from what 
cause, only that other kinds not subject to rust, were 
affected at the same time ; but I have never seen any 
sign of rust on the Wm. Belt since, and it appears to 
be absolutely free from disease. It is a staminate 
and firm enough to be a good shipper. 
Enormous is simply enormous in plant, in size of 
fruit, and in productiveness. Color a bright crimson, 
having the appearance of being varnished. The shape 
is somewhat irregular, running from cone shaped to 
fan-shaped, but has a smooth surface and presents a 
catching display. 
Clyde is one of the good ones that has, without 
doubt, come to stay. It is a strong, vigorous grower, 
makes an abundance of large, deep-rooted plants, 
amply able to sustain its immense load of large and 
shapely fruit. It is of good quality and firm. Ripens 
medium early, and is a strong bisexual, suitable to 
plant with large, early and medium early pistillate 
kinds. Timbrell has again failed here ; I shall never 
set another plant of it. With me, it is the most 
worthless of the worthless. 
Paris King is a large berry of considerable mei it 
that comes from Illinois. It is quite productive of 
medium large berries, borne on long and slender fruit 
stems, somewhat like Haverland. It is a free and 
healthy grower, and a strong bisexual, especially 
recommended as a pollenizer. 
Hall’s Seedling is a new berry that will, prob¬ 
ably, be put on the market in the near future 
It was originated in Somerset County, Md., by Mr. 
John W. Hall. I saw this fruit on his place last 
spring, and it was, certainly, very fine there. It has 
never been fruited elsewhere that I know of. The 
plant seems to be entirely healthy and vigorous. It 
was on medium light land, with a clay subsoil. 
Staples is a firm, early berry of medium size ; it was 
earlier than anything I had, except Michel’s Early 
and Meeks’s Early. It is a moderately good grower of 
the Warfield type, and bore a good crop of firm ber¬ 
ries, which will hang on the vines for a week after 
being ripe enough to pick, without rotting. 
Annie Laurie is large, good quality and good shape; 
but if it is as unproductive elsewhere as it is here, 1 
can’t see why it was ever put on the market. Glen 
Mary, for large size, productiveness and quality com¬ 
bined, is certainly “on top” of anything that I have 
seen. Marshall may bear some specimens as large, 
but it will not average nearly so large, and is not 
more than one-half as productive. If there are any 
others as productive, they are not nearly so large, 
and the quality is nearly as good as the best. The 
plant growth is vigorous and strong, and as healthy 
as was ever grown. It is a bisexual, amply able to 
provide for its own crop, but not recommended to 
plant with others. If I were confined to any single 
variety, 1 would unhesitatingly say, “ Give me Glen 
Mary.” w. F. allen jr. 
Salisbury, Md. _ 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
Long Island Flower Notes. —In reply to certain 
queries in Ruralisms (page 419), I would say that the 
Blue spirea, Caryopteris Mastacanthus, is not hardy 
here. This is to be regretted, as it is such a hand¬ 
some, vigorous-growing, free-flowering plant. And 
how partial are the bees to its flowers ! Citrus tri- 
foliata (the so-called Hardy orange) is not thoroughly 
reliable as a hardy plant here. It may survive a mild 
winter, or when grown in a sheltered situation, a 
winter or two ; but sooner or later, it will be more or 
less injured, if not killed outright. How the plants 
will do when well protected, I cannot say. Jasminum 
grandiflorum and Callicarpa purpurea, although adver¬ 
tised as hardy shrubs by some nurserymen, are killed 
to the ground almost every winter unless the branches 
are laid close to the earth and well protected with a 
covering of some coarse, littery material ; even then, 
in severe weather, they will be more or less injured. 
I may here say that the covering on plants protected 
in this manner, should not be applied until the ground 
becomes frozen in December, and gradually removed 
the ensuing spring. chas. e. parnell. 
Long Island. 
Down on Saghalin. —Notwithstanding the claims of 
the introducer, the disseminators, and The R. N.-Y., 
that Saghalin will grow under almost all ciicum- 
stances, my own experience is quite to the contrary. 
In the spring of 1895, I bought a few roots at an out¬ 
rageous price for a weed. No instructions how to plant 
were sent me, so I made a small hole and covered the 
roots with three to four inches of fine soil. Some 
were planted in rich, alluvial soil, some on higher, 
gravelly soil, and the rest on still more elevated, 
sandy loam of only fair quality. My object was pri¬ 
marily simply experimental, that I might be able to 
report its behavior under different conditions. I 
greatly feared that I was introducing a weed that 
might prove a troublesome pest. But after waiting 
several months to see the promised marvelousgrowth, 
I at last scratched away the soil only to find the roots 
a black, shriveled mass. I cannot say that I was sorry 
at the time, but I was disappointed in not being able 
to make the experiment. It seems that I am not the 
only one that has not made a success (?) of Saghalin. 
Mr. John L. Shawver, page 410, likewise states that, 
with him, “ it failed utterly.” Prof. Massey, of the 
North Carolina Experiment Station, and a very trust¬ 
worthy authority, says in a recent article : “We have 
been unable to get any results from two plantings of 
Saghalin roots, and we do not regard it of any value 
in the South.” I hold the same opinion, and reared 
as I was in the North, and, therefore, familiar with it, 
I unhesitatingly include that also. It never, no never, 
will supersede our well-known cultivated forage crops 
anywhere. The very nature of its growth where it will 
thrive, precludes its being planted in arable fields- In 
my opinion, it will, before long, be buried again in that 
oblivion from which it was so suddenly resurrected a 
little over a year ago. ,t. c. senger 
Virginia. 
How to Plant Chestnuts. —As to the distance 
apart to plant chestnut trees, I would plant the 
standard sorts, such as Ridgely, Paragon and Numbo, 
30 feet apart, according to the following diagram : 
Standards are indicated by X, and dwarfs—the Japans 
—by O, making the trees in an orchard stand 20 feet 
apart : 
X 
o 
X 
O 
X 
o 
X 
o 
X 
o 
X 
O 
X 
o 
X 
o 
X 
o 
X 
o 
X 
foregoing 
is 
my 
plan 
of 
planting 
orchard. At the crossings of a plot 40 feet square, 
also in the center of the square, I plant a long- 
lived and more vigorous and spreading kind or 
variety, and then at the 20-foot crossings, I plant the 
shorter-lived and early-bearing varieties, such as 
Yellow Transparent, Williams’s Early Red, Fourth of 
July, etc., which varieties will give the most profit¬ 
able period of their lives before they have to be cut 
away to make room for the loDger-lived varieties. I 
feel like indorsing the idea of your Connecticut 
reader of planting the Ridgely, Paragon and Numbo 
as close as 20 feet apart. He will have many years of 
bearing before he will have to cut away every 
other tree. p. Emerson. 
Delaware. 
Blast the Woodchucks —I have a plan for killing 
woodchucks with blasting powder, which is as effec¬ 
tive, and much more simple than the use of sulphur 
as described by J. H. R. Place in a little cloth bag, 
two tablespoonfuls of blasting powder; insert one 
end of a piece of fuse about 15 inches loDg, and tie 
securely about the fuse. Any desired number 
of the bags may be quickly made on the sewing 
machine. Place the charge down the hole, placing 
stones or slicks next to the powder ; then pack to the 
mouth, leavmg enough of the fuse to light. If there 
should be two holes, close up both of them, one charge 
being sufficient. This makes pleasant work for the 
boys, and, as in the use of sulphur, leaves the wood¬ 
chucks buried, as they are quickly smothered if the 
smoke be not allowed to escape. c. m. h. 
Cheshire, Conn. 
Substitutes for Hay. —The article by Prof. Brooks, 
page 462, with the above title, was very interesting, 
and valuable as well ; but when he says that “ the 
peas will not stand heavy frosts,” I am a little sur¬ 
prised, though what might be a heavy frost in north¬ 
ern Ohio, might be regarded as next to no frost at all 
in Massachusetts. It is my custom to sow a field of 
oats and peas late in August for the purpose of late 
October and November soiling of the cows, and last 
fall especially, we had frost after frost late in 
October and on, and it did not seem to affect the crop 
to any appreciable extent. It kept very green and 
if I remember aright, the last was fed as late as Nov¬ 
ember 8 to 10. As a green food to keep up the flow 
of milk at the period between the last of the usual 
green foods, and going into winter quarters, I have 
never found anything so good; but it may be that the 
oats with the peas, may have had something to do in 
protecting them from the frost. We put the crop in 
the last week in August, first sowing the peas, 1% 
bushel per acre, upon bare land, and plowed them in, 
using a Cutaway revolving plow, which put them 
down about four inches, the six disks plowing a 
full three-foot furrow. This made their seeding 
very rapid, and they came up as though they had 
been drilled in. A few days before the peas came up, 
bushel of oats was scattered on the land and 
harrowed once. Although the fall was a very dry 
one. the crop made a fine growth, and afforded a fine 
soiling crop at the time when succulence is rather 
difficult to furnish a dairy. To-day (July 9) we 
sowed a field to oats and peas, and next week, we 
shall sow another to Crimson clover and see if we 
cannot have a greater variety to feed in the fall, 
instead of all corn fodder, though some dairies would 
vote themselves lucky to get two full meals a day of 
even that—especially if home grown. With respect 
to the oats and peas, I have a notion that, on worn 
land, the crop could be moderately pastured, and 
then the residue turned under with manifest benefit, 
and add not a little to the nitrogen, and the humus 
would play an important part in the mechanical con¬ 
dition of the soil. I intend to grow a field of ensil¬ 
age corn on such a field, so treated. john gould. 
Ohio. 
COMPARISON OF OLD AND NEW BORDEAUX 
MIXTURES. 
The age of Bordeaux Mixture has much to do with 
the uniformity of its application. This fact has, fre¬ 
quently, been noticed, but the rate and the duration 
of the changes that take place in the mixture do not 
appear to have been determined. The recommenda¬ 
tion has, nevertheless, been made that only the fresh 
mixture should be used ; jet the reason for this 
advice has not always been made clear. The follow¬ 
ing experiment shows, at least, one cause for the 
superiority of the freshly prepared fungicide ; and the 
results are sufficiently emphatic to show clearly that 
the use of the old mixture is unadvisable in the 
majority of cases, especially where the best machinery 
is not employed. The proper agitation of the Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture is one of the most serious problems 
connected with its application ; yet there is a period 
in which the inconvenience from this source is reduced 
to a minimum. Of course, the use of the mixture at 
this time is highly desirable. 
A dilute solution of copper sulphate was placed in 
a quart fruit jar, and to this was added the milk of 
lime until a slight excess had been used. The Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture thus formed was, therefore, similar to 
that which is commonly used in spraying. The color 
was fairly dark blue, and the strength of the mixture 
was slightly less than that of the normal prep¬ 
aration, the copper sulphate being used at the rate of 
one pound to ten gallons of the mixture. The can 
was so placed that the height of the sediment could 
easily be measured. At the end of every 24 hours, the 
can was shaken thoroughly, and then allowed to stand 
undisturbed for another day. The depth of the blue 
sediment could be seen very plainly, so that no diffi¬ 
culty was experienced in taking the measurements. 
The following table represents the rate of settling 
as shown by observations made at definite intervals : 
Time of 
Observation ,— -Amount of Settling in Inches.-> 
after shaking. 1st day. 2nd day. 3d day. 4th day. 5th day. 
7 min. 1-12 2-12 1 2-12 2*4 2 11-12 
15 min. 2-12 3-12 2 2 8 12 3 
1 hour 10 min. 6-12 10-12 2 8-12 3 3 
3 hours 30 min. 1 7-12 1 10-12 2 11-12 3 3 
4 hours 45 min. 1 10-12 2 1-12 3 3 3 
14 hours 30 min. 2 4-12 2 8-12 3 3 3 1-12 
24 hours . 2 5-12 2 10-12 3 3 3 1-12 
Comment upon this table is scarcely necessary. It 
may, however, be said that, during the first 24 hours 
following the preparation of the BoYdeaux Mixture, 
the sediment settled to a point nearly as low as that 
reached after a few days. The most rapid precipita¬ 
tion took place during the first five hours. The rate 
of settling during the second 24 hours was somewhat 
faster than during the first, especially during the first 
two hours ; after this, the differences were compara¬ 
tively slight, although the sediment eventually sank 
five-twelfths of an inch lower. During the third, 
fourth and fifth days, the sediment fell rapidly. On 
the third day, after one hour and ten minutes, the 
sediment was lower than the lowest point reached 
during the first 24 hours ; an equal fall took place on 
the fourth day during the first 15 minutes, while on 
the fifth day the sediment had dropped to a still lower 
point in seven minutes. 
This rapid change in the rate of settling of the 
sediment in the Bordeaux Mixture, is, probably, not 
due to any chemical change in the preparation, but it 
may more naturally be ascribed to a change in the 
physical nature. The sediment, which is at first more 
light and floceulent, seems to become, gradually, more 
compressed, and, therefore, sinks more rapidly 
through the water. No change seemed to take place 
in the color of the mixture, and the only apparent re¬ 
sult of the standing was the change in the rate at 
which the sediment settled to the bottom of the jar. 
The above result has an important practical bear¬ 
ing. Since the sediment contained in the Bordeaux 
Mixture settles but little during the first few hours 
after the preparation of the fungicide, it is evident 
that, at this time, the mixture maybe most uniformly 
applied with the least amount of agitation. The 
milk of lime should, of course, be as fine as possible, 
