8i8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 12 
Uncle Sam Knocks the Carman No. 
1 Out. —Here is a note from Mr. Guy N. 
Crawford, of Letcher, S. D. The Uncle 
Sam yielded heavily at the Rural Grounds 
the past season, but the tubers were of 
all shapes, and the quality not of the 
best. Not so with Mr. Crawford. Here 
is his note : 
I secured 10 pounds of Henderson’s new potato, 
Uncle Sam, last spring, and with me, it comes 
very near to justifying the strong claims made 
for it. I cut the seed to one eye and, in •some in¬ 
stances, the eye was split; the pieces were planted 
1^x3 feet. It is a strong grower with very heavy 
foliage, and covered the ground completely. From 
the 10 pounds of seed, I dug 21 bushels of pota¬ 
toes, fully nine-tenths of which were of market¬ 
able size. It outyielded Carman No. 1 over 50 
per cent, when planted side by side. 
Get a green tomato, if possible—as 
green as can be—and put it in a warm, 
sunny window, not in a dark, damp cel¬ 
lar as is usual. Then watch how it 
colors. It is very interesting. It colors 
and ripens more perfectly in this way 
than will any other fruit whatever. 
November 14, we received from Luther 
Burbank, of Santa Rosa, Cal., two toma¬ 
toes. They were Hathaway’s Excelsior, 
which we raised at the Rural Grounds 
over 20 years ago. Mr. Burbank’s toma¬ 
toes were grown from seed saved in 1876. 
He says that the seed germinated well, 
but that 62 per cent of the plants were 
“ blind;” that is, the cotyledons grew, 
but the true leaves did not. This was, 
he fancies, on account of weakened 
vitality from the age of the seeds. The 
other plants grew and bore as well as 
plants usually do. The two tomatoes 
were as smooth as tomatoes can be. 
There was not a trace of irregularity, 
and they were as ripe about the stem 
portion as in any other part, the color 
being between the dull red of Ignotum 
and the crimson red of Acme. It is in¬ 
structive to know that tomato seed 20 
years old remains viable. It is interest¬ 
ing to know that, probably, there is not, 
to-day, a better early tomato than Hath¬ 
away’s Excelsior. 
All grown from a little tuber of the 
R. N.-Y. No. 2, sent the firm some years 
ago, Brainerd & Beaumont, of Gaines¬ 
ville, N. Y., have shipped 30 car-loads to 
New York this fall. It is rarely, however, 
that this variety is sold by retailers 
under its true name. 
Mr. W. H. Ritter, of Mascott, Green 
County, Mo., has this to say of the be¬ 
havior of the Carman No. 1 and R. N.-Y. 
No. 2 in his soil. This is the third sea¬ 
son since he received a small specimen 
(two eyes) of the Carman No. 1. He has 
now three barrels of the largest potatoes 
he has ever raised, and the quality is 
the best of any he has ever raised. He 
planted them beside the R. N.-Y. No. 2; 
they are much larger bu t not so shapely. 
He finds the one objection to the Car¬ 
man No. 1 that it has a tender skin. 
Many of the tubers were scabby, while 
those of the No. 2 were not. 
Mr. George Van Buskirk, of McGraw- 
ville, N. Y., says, that his No. 1 yielded 
at the rate of 300 bushels per acre, while 
others beside them did not yield 50 per 
acre. He says that the No. 1 and R. N.- 
Y. No. 2 are the leading potatoes in his 
part of the country. He praises the 
Carman Rose as a “glorious, sweet 
beauty ”. 
Now is the Time. —In Mr. Carman’s 
talk before the Literary Club of New 
York, pelargoniums (geraniums) were 
mentioned as the best plants for begin¬ 
ners in crossing to use. But the reasons 
were not stated. The reasons are these: 
First.—Under cross-breeding, the flowers 
seed freely. Second.—The buds may be 
easily unfolded, and the immature an¬ 
thers rubbed off without injuring the 
pistils. Third.—The stigmas of the pis¬ 
tils and the pollen of the anthers are 
never mature at the same time. The 
pollen ripens before the stigmas are re¬ 
ceptive. Fourth.—The plants, with good 
care, will thrive in any sunny window 
and bloom freely. Fifth.—The seeds 
germinate freely if planted in pots or 
boxes of rich, mellow soil. The seed¬ 
lings raised during the winter will bloom 
the next summer perfect in symmetry, a 
symmetry rarely seen in plants grown 
from cuttings. 
Now is the time, then, friends, for you 
to get your plants and < begin this in¬ 
teresting work, a work that, beginning 
with pelargoniums, is not likely to end 
with them. 
Single-flowering kinds would best be 
selected, and those giving the most con¬ 
trast, as,e. g., light pink and dark red or 
maroon. 
Comparative Quality of Peaches. 
U. E. Van Deman, Virginia. —W. D. 
Barns, of Orange County, N. Y., in dis¬ 
cussing the quality of California peaches 
on page 786, seems to think that Mr. J. 
H. Hale and myself should express our 
opinions on that subject. It is true that 
I have eaten many peaches from Cali¬ 
fornia, but, as I have never been there 
in peach season to test them in their 
native orchards, I do not feel competent 
to express an intelligent opinion. Those 
which I have seen in the markets, and 
those which have been sent to me for ex¬ 
amination, were all necessarily gath¬ 
ered while yet not fully mature, and, of 
course, had not their best flavor. Nearly 
all the California peaches that I have 
seen were large and highly colored, but 
they lacked the highest quality of rich¬ 
ness and flavor. 
If the California peaches should not 
be fully up to the standard in flavor, it 
would be nothing to mourn over; for 
they have so many fruits there in which 
they do excel, that they could afford to 
allow the prize on peaches to some other 
section. I have grown some good peaches 
myself in several States, and seen and 
tasted in the orchard, those of nearly 
every section of the country this side 
the Rocky Mountains, but none that 
quite equaled those grown from southern 
Missouri to Texas. In size, color and 
flavor combined, they seem to me better 
as a whole than those from any other 
section. Georgia peaches are, also, of 
high quality, but I have never been 
there in peach time, and will not say 
but they are equal to those of Texas 
until I have a chance to test them at 
home. It takes a soil rich in potash and 
a sunny clime to bring out the best 
points in a peach. 
Root-Grafting Trees. 
W. P. B., Liberty Square, Pa.—R e¬ 
ferring to J. M.’s question, page 753, after 
having made a special study of the 
whole-root theory of propagating apple 
trees, for 20 years, I am confident that 
the claims that are made for it are not 
sustained by facts. Since the graft de¬ 
termines the variety, it is more import¬ 
ant that it be large and strong, than 
for the root to be. As the supply of 
apple seeds is mostly obtained from 
cider pomace, nurserymen have little 
opportunity of choosing stocks that are 
naturally of vigorous growth. Careful 
nurserymen use first-grade stocks, but 
the grade or size of these depends more 
upon how thinly they grew in the seed¬ 
ling rows, or on the fertility of the soil 
in which they grew, than on natural 
vigor. If we had the opportunity of 
procuring stocks that were all strong 
growers, we might produce more vigor¬ 
ous trees of the slow-growing varieties 
by using whole roots. But would the 
roots thus produced meet the require¬ 
ments of the trees after they were trans¬ 
planted to the orchard, as well as roots 
similar to those on which the variety 
originally grew ? 
Roots of varieties differ quite as much 
as tops. It is in accordance with the 
laws of Nature to assume that any par¬ 
ticular variety will do best on roots 
adapted to its peculiar growth. My own 
observations and experiments sustain 
this conclusion. If this be true, we can¬ 
not do better than to grow each variety 
on its own roots. The longer the scion 
and the more of it that is placed below 
the surface of the ground when planted, 
the more of its own roots will be pro¬ 
duced. When a long root or whole root 
is used, it is difficult to get the joint 
between the stock and scion far enough 
below the surface to admit of many roots 
being developed above the joint. 
Our own practice now is to procure 
first-class stocks of extra grade, when 
possible, cut these into about three 
pieces, rejecting the lower piece or point 
of the root, and grafting the upper pieces 
to scions about eight inches long, the 
latter selected from the well-matured 
part of strong, thrifty shoots. These are 
set in the ground so that the top bud is 
just above the surface. When grafts are 
grown in this way, the stock performs 
only a secondary part in the production 
of the tree. It sustains life in the scion un¬ 
til the latter can produce roots of its own; 
strong - growing varieties like Smoke¬ 
house and Fallawater, will then have 
(Continued on neai page). 
Successful 
growers of fruits, berries, 
and all kinds of vegetables, 
know that the largest yields and 
best quality are produced by 
the liberal use of fertilizers 
containing at least io% of 
Actual Potash. 
Without the liberal use of Pot¬ 
ash on sandy soils, it is impos¬ 
sible to grow fruits, berries and 
vegetables of a quality that will 
command the best prices. 
All about Potash—the results of its use by actual ex¬ 
periment on the best farms in the United States—is 
told in a little book which we publish and will gladly 
mail free to any farmer in America who will write for it. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS, 
93 Nassau St., New York. 
The Winter Course in Agriculture 
AT DELAWARE COLLEGE , 
will open January 6, 1897, and continue to the last 
Friday in March. The course has been improved 
and enlarged for the coming winter. Tuition free. 
Full descriptive circular will be sent upon ap¬ 
plication to Pbof. W. H. BISHOP, Newark, Del. 
WANTED. 
Farms in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and the 
Dakotas. C. L. CLASON & CO., 47 & 48 Merrill 
Building, Milwaukee, Wis. 
K EVITT’S NEW DISPLAY PACKAGE for the 
shipment of berries requires no Division Slats, 
Hinges or Staples. No berries are crushed or 
injured by Division Slats as in the case of the 
old crate. Send 50 cents for a Detail Drawing. 
T. C. KEVITT. Inventor, Athenia, N. J. 
SEED POTATOES 
Orders booked now. 
nated by purchaser. 
—Carman No. 3. Pure 
Thorburn Seed. Large 
or small quantities. 
Potatoes shipped at time desig- 
J. M. Meredith, Calcium, Pa. 
PDIUCflll Ol flllCD— The latest handler 
bnlHOUn ULUfCn of American-grown 
Crimson Clover 8eed in the United States, is JOSEPH 
K. HOLLAND, Grower and Jobber, Milford, Del. 
Also, Cow Peas, Winter Oats. Timothy Seed, etc. 
Summer and Autumn Catalogue 
Of POT-GROWN and layer STRAW¬ 
BERRY PLANTS. 
FRUIT TREES, Plants, Vines, etc.. 
mailed free on application. 
I. J. DWYER 9 Nurseries, Cornwall, N.Y. 
100 
Doses One Dollar is true only of Hood’s Sarsa¬ 
parilla. It is economy to get Hood’s when you 
need a blood purifier and nerve tonic, because 
Hood’s 
Sarsaparilla 
Is the best—in fact the One True Blood Purifier. 
Hood’s Pills 
cure Liver Ills; easy to 
take, easy to operate.' 25c. 
GOOSEBERRY 
AND CURRANT—50,000. 
Other Nursery Stock. 
T. G. A8HMEAD. Nursery, Williamson, N. Y. 
TREES AND PLANTS. 
Full assortment. Special prices on PEACH TREES, 
Large stock CALIFORNIA PRIVET, NORWAY and 
SILVER MAPLE. 
N. P. BROOKS, Lakewood, N. J. 
GREENSBOR 
The finest white flesh peach in ex. 
istence. Ripens before the Alex¬ 
ander. Extra large, fine flavor. 
Donaldson’s Elmira As¬ 
paragus Roots. A new pro¬ 
duction of rare merit. Straw¬ 
berry Plants, Janan Plums. 
Small Fruits, Tenn. Peach 
Seed. Catalogue fbee. 
HARRISON’S NURSERIES, 
PEACH 
erlin, Aid. 
Buy direct and pay but one profit. No nursery carries 
a more complete assortment of the best in 
Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, 
Plants, Roses, Vines, Bulbs, Seeds. 
. Don't buy trash. Don’t pay two prices. But send fori 
r our free catalogue today, it tells ft all, an elegant book 
of 168 pages profusely Illustrated. Seeds, Plants, 
Bulbs, Small Trees, etc. sent by mail postpaid. Larger 
by express or freight. 8afe arrival and satisfaction 
_ guaranteed. 43d Year, 32 Greenhouses, 1000 Acres. 
THE STORRS & HARRISON CO., BOX 29 . PAINESVILLE, OHIO. 
"SNOWED UNDER” 
Suffolk County, L. I., N. Y., 11/9/1896. 
ISAAC C. ROGERS, Dansville, N. Y.: 
I must compliment you on those pear trees. I have 
handled a multitude of pear trees, but unhesitatingly 
award them the top notch of merit. Yours truly, e. a.c. 
with kind words for ROGERS FRESH-DUG DANS¬ 
VILLE TREES. Here are some from a Rubal Reader’s 
letter. We can do as much for you. 
As we’ve told you before, we tell you again, 
no matter where you have been buying, we 
can make it pay you to give our Fresh-Dug 
Sf “Rogers Nurseries, Dansville, N.Y. 
TRIUMPH 
k T 
The only Yellow Freestone PEACH 
Ripening with Amsden, 
m 
The Latest and Largest 
Yellow Freestone PEACH, 
“▼EMPEROR 
MERCER { 
The only Sure-Bearing, 
Non-Rotting CHERRY. 
For full descriptions send for Catalogue (10c.) We will send our BeantiftUly Plus. Catalogue with 
i the Col'd Plates of the 3 Wonderful New Fruits, and 1 Emperor Peach June Bud bv 
mail, postpaid,for 10c. J0S.U. BLACK,SOX dt CO., Village Xurseries.iiightstowiioA'.i 
