320 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 15 , 
£ 
uralisms 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Big Spanish Onions.— Most growers 
are now familiar with the idea that the 
immense mild-flavored brown onions im¬ 
ported during late Winter from Spain, 
Portugal and to a lesser degree from 
Central American ports can be grown 
here with only macerate attention to the 
cultural needs of the variety. Portuguese 
gardeners in California and Rhode Island 
regularly grow these big fellows, and here 
and there a "pecialist raises a fine crop, 
but they are not yet cultivated to any ex¬ 
tent in home gardens. Hope Farm has 
successfully grown two crops of big 
Prizetakers, the variety most nearly repre¬ 
senting the large Spanish onion, as re¬ 
lated in past numbers of The R. N.-Y., 
and appears to have adopted the “new 
onion culture” as a regular feature of its 
work. On the Rural Grounds we grow a 
few hundred plants each season by the 
transplanting process with most satisfac¬ 
tory results, having little li ing for our 
strong-flavored but long-keeping native 
market onions. The Egyptian Perennial 
for early and Prizetaker or Gibraltar for 
Fall and Winter use seem about all that is 
needed. The plants for the purpose are 
started in boxes under glass about the 
first of February, and well hardened off 
in frames before planting out. We aim 
to have the stems about half the thick¬ 
ness of an ordinary lead pencil, and allow 
the soil in the boxes to get nearly dry for 
several days before transplanting to 
toughen the plants still more. The soil is 
prepared by digging in a good application 
of old stable manure and raking in a top¬ 
dressing of a reliable complete commercial 
fertilizer at the rate of one quart to the 
rod of drill, spreading it about one foot 
wide. The plants are shaken out of the 
boxes, tops and root trimmed back with 
the knife, the latter being left not over 
two inches long. We then dip the roots 
in water and freely sprinkle them with 
dry earth, which puts them into the best 
possible condition for immediate planting. 
They are put in, four inches apart, with 
an ordinary dibble and the soil com¬ 
pacted by tramping along the row. Nearly 
every plant lives with this treatment, and 
the after culture consists simply of keep¬ 
ing the soil about the plants mellow and 
free from weeds. The weed problem is 
reduced to a minimum if the soil is pre¬ 
pared, with the xception of the commer¬ 
cial fertilizer, early in Spring, and hoed 
over as weeds germinate until the onions 
are planted out in May. A varying per¬ 
centage of plants usually fail to bottom 
out, but-form in late Summer large scal¬ 
lions of very good quality to those who 
may be fond of green onions. When the 
tops die down the onions are pulled and 
cured for a week or more on the ground 
in the shade before storage. We find they 
keep better than if taken at once to the 
cellar. If very large onions are wanted 
they should be set eight or 10 inches 
apart, continuously cultivated and fed 
.with nitrate of soda raked in the soil near 
the rows, or frequent applications of liquid 
manure of various kinds. We find bulbs 
weighing half a pound very desirable for 
home use, but the larger ones sell more 
readily. When the Spanish grower trans¬ 
plants his onions he spaces them accord¬ 
ing to the market for which they are in¬ 
tended. Americans want the biggest, and 
they set the plants a foot apart. British 
buyers prefer a smaller size, grown eight 
or nine inches apart, while for home use 
and the Paris market bulbs grown about 
four inches apart best meet the demand. 
In each case he uses the best soil and 
most intensive culture available. The 
“new culture” or transplanting process, 
in distinction to raising onions directly 
from the seed or from dormant sets or 
bulblets kept over Winter, is probably as 
old as the art of onion-growing itself, but 
was little practiced in this country before 
1889, when it was much exploited by hor¬ 
ticultural writers, some of whom appeared 
to think they had discovered a new proc¬ 
ess. Seedsmen now offer many varieties 
of large, sweet Mediterranean onions, but 
we find American-grown seed of Prize- 
taker to be, on the whole, most satisfac¬ 
tory. The bulbs grown from this seed are 
very large, solid and well-formed and ex¬ 
cellent keepers when properly cured. The 
quality is very good, but probably not as 
mild as some of the more perishable 
kinds. The large imported onions are 
sold by weight at from four to eight cents 
per pound, according to scarcity. 
The Crimson Fountain Grass. —One 
of the most ornamental grasses we have 
grown is the new Crimson Fountain grass, 
a variety of Pennisetum macrophyllum, 
recently introduced from New Guinea. 
A small plant received last April from 
Henry A. Dreer, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., 
was planted out at the end of May as a 
specimen on the lawn. A circle of sod four 
feet in diameter, was cut out, the soil dug 
20 inches deep, and well enriched with 
fine manure, ground bone and wood ashes. 
The plant grew rapidly in the warm wea¬ 
ther that followed, and reached a height 
of nearly five feet before, frost, making 
a huge clump of coppery-bronze foliage 
with many tawny crimson plumes a foot 
long rising from its midst. The leaves 
are more than an inch wide, and droop 
in a most graceful manner. It is one of 
the most vigorous and graceful dark¬ 
leaved plants we have ever grown. The 
rich coloring was not evident on the 
young plant, but intensified as the weather 
grew warmer and was preserved until ac¬ 
tual freezing. This beautiful exotic grass 
cannot, of course, survive our Winters, but 
grows freely from seeds, which must be 
started early under glass. Clumps can 
be carried over Winter under greenhouse 
protection, and divided before Spring. 
Plants are offered by the introducers at 
25 cents each. The genus Pennisetum. to 
which Pearl millet, the well-known for¬ 
age plant, belongs, contains many luxuri¬ 
ant and highly ornamental grasses. One 
of the finest is P. longistylum, nearly 
hardy at Washington, D. C., but usually 
grown as an annual from seeds. The 
foliage is dark green, large and fine, 
while the long greenish-white plumes are 
gracefully disposed. P. Ruppelli, usually 
catalogued as Purple Fountain grass, 
grows nearly six feet high, and has im¬ 
mense plumes of silvery purple; it is ex¬ 
cellent for garden decoration, and for 
dried bouquets, as the plumes retain their 
lovely color for a long time when cut. 
It grows freely from seeds, which may be 
had for 10 cents a racket. Either of 
these grasses make stately specimens for 
the dooryard border or farm lawn. When 
planted singly the soil should be well dug, 
strongly fertilized, and water given with¬ 
out stint in dry weather, so as to encour¬ 
age a luxuriant and imposing growth. 
w. v. F. 
Pure Canada Hardwood Ashes 
The Best, Cheapest and Most Lasting Fertilizer, 
The Joynt Brand is the best 
Joynt’s ashes are all collected from house to house. 
Now is the time to order a carload for this season. 
Write for prices to JOHN JOYNT, 
Lucknow, Ontario. Canada 
Reference: Bradstreet’s Agency 
—THE— 
Deming Knapsack Sprayer 
leads everything of its kind. 5 gal. cop¬ 
per tank, brass pump, bronze ball 
valves, mechanical agitator. Easily 
carried. Pump right or left hand. Knap¬ 
sack and Bucket Sprayer combined. 
We make 20 styles sprayers. 'Write for Catalog. 
THE DEMINC CO., Salem, O. 
Henion A Jlubbcl), West’n Agta., Chicago. 
RCHARD PROFIT 
0 depends upon working all the 
fruit into a salable product, 
cider for i nstanee. If clear and 
¥ ureit sells readily at a profit, 
bo best is produced by a 
HYDRAULIC c % s 
Made in varying sizes, hand or 
power. Catalogue free. 
HYDRAULIC PRESS MFC. C9„ 
38 Cortlandt St., New York. 
fe' f 
KOI 
ft 
it 
Wash Sprayer No. 28 
White-wash your poultry-houses and stables. 
Killslice ami ve min. Easy to operate. Sprays 
white-wash rapidly. Impossible to flour. Also 
for spraying trees, washing wagons, etc. 
Double a tlon pump, will spray 30 It. high, 
has 3 1-2 feet heavy hose, extension-rod, brass 
nozzles,steel stirrup, ball valves. All brass 
pump, $3.50: Galvanized Iron, $2.f>0. Cash 
with order. Express prepaid. Agents wanted. 
I). Ii. Smith & Co., Utica, N. V 
Save Your Trees 
vines and 
plants 
, , -from the 
ravages of scale, fungi and worms. Neglect 
means no crop. Spray with Excelsior Spray¬ 
ing Outfits and save the fruit. Send for free 
descriptive catalog. Do it now. 
WM. STAHL, 70 B guiucy, Ill. 
What sprays 
do you use ? 
Bowker’s 
are best 
they are carefully and scientifically made 
Uvvauav combinations, many of them prepared 
on government formulas, and all of them are specifics 
for the pest to be destroyed. Not one remedy for all 
ills, but each the most effective of its kind. All ready 
to use by adding water. 
fifiANA for instance, kills all insects 
vllvj which chew, such as codling- 
moth, canker-worms, elm-leaf beetle, gypsy and 
brown-tail moths, etc. The most powerful insec¬ 
ticide known. Sticks like paint to foliage; not washed 
off by heavy rains. 2-lb. sample, 50c. Enough for 75 
gallons spray, $ 1 . Enough fora large orchard, $4.25. 
Large Illustrated Catalogue Free 
BOWKER. INSECTICIDE COMPANY 
For All Leaf Eating Insects 
spray with 
SWIFT’S 
Arsenate of Lead 
It will not burn. It sticks 
and will not wash off. 
MADE ONLY BY THE 
MERRIMAC CHEMICAL CO., 
BOSTON, MASS. 
Be sure and get Swift’s. If your dealer 
does not handle it. write direct to us. 
Hardie Spray Pumps 
Make perfect Fruit 
Ton don’t have to take our word 
for It, read what The French Nursery 
of Clyde, O., says about their HAKDIB 
SPRAY PUMP* 
“The spraying outfit we purchased of yon 
has given tho very boat satisfaction. Any¬ 
one in need of a spray pump makes no mistake 
when they buy the Hardie*' 
The French Nursery, Clyde, Ohio. 
Bend today fer our free book on spray. 
Ing, complete formulas and valuable infor- A 
(nation on how to makeyour orchard pay. 
U00K-I1 AUDI*: CO., Hudson,Mich. 
Ill Mechanic 8U 
NITROGEN FIXING BACTERIA. 
Air is four-fifths nitrogen. ZET JiACTERIA 
HATH lilt IT EOlt 1£OU! Inoculate your soil 
and seed with Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria. 
Safe and easy—anyone ean do ,t. Used on alfalfa, 
clover, peas, sweet peas, cow peas, beans, et.-. One 
treatment lasts for years! Half acre package $1; 
one acre $1.50. Send fore rcular. 
Vermont Soil Inoculation and Seed Co. 
GET THE BEST 
A Good Spray Pump earns big 
profits and lasts for years. 
THE ECLIPSE 
is a good pump. As 
practical fruit growers 
we were using the com¬ 
mon sprayers iu our 
own orchards — found 
their defects and then In¬ 
vented THE ECLIPSE. Its 
success practically forced us 
Into manufacturing on a 
large scale. You take no 
chances. We have done all 
the experimenting. 
Large fully Illustrated 
Catalogue and Treatise 
on Spraying—FREE. 
MORRILL & MORLEY, Benton Harbor, Mich 
43 Colchester Avenue, 
Burlington, Vt. 
SAVE TREES BEFORE DISEASED 
by spraying, and thus add to your profits. Use THE 
PERFECTION SPRAYER for all insects and fungi. 
Sprays everything. Saves its cost in one season. 
Combined hand and horse power. Catalogue FtiEK. 
THOMAS PEPPLEK, Box 45, Hightstown, N.J. 
Good Fmiit 
Versus Bad 
is the subject at issue and no 
wide awake farmer will doubt 
which is more desirable. 
The 5pramotor 
absolutely insures you 8o% of an 
increase in the crop from your 
orchards. The Spramotor pays for itself many 
times over which is better than costing you 
nothing. Don’t confuse it with Spray Pumps. 
Write for Booklet (A). Full particulars free. 
SPRAMOTOR CO. 
Buffalo, N.Y. London, Canada. 
AGENTS WANTED. 
EMPIRE 
,ht KING 
„, wSrim.n.i.«siasLsiai.‘Ki 
I No leather nor rubber valves. All styles of Spray I 
Pumps. Valuable book of instructions free. 
FIELD FOBCE PUMP CO., it 11th St., Elmira, * y. 
“FUIMA 
■ ■kills Prairie-Dogs, 
Woodchucks,Gophers, 
and Grain Insects. 
“The wheels of the 
gods grind slow but 
exceedingly small.” 80 the weevil, but you can stop 
""W* "Foma Carbon Bisulphide "S&S 
EDWARD R. TAYLOR, Penn Yan, N. Y. 
THE JUNIOR, No. 2 
Meets the demands of parties who, for a small investment, 
wish to engage in the Cement Stone Business for the mar¬ 
ket, or purchase machine for their individual use 
It is so simple and easy of operating and change for 
different sizes that it can be successfully used by in¬ 
experienced operators, 
It is thoroughly adapted to any and all kinds of con¬ 
struction. business blocks, factories, dwellings, barns, 
foundations, porches, yard fences, chimneys, etc. 
It not only makes hollow blocks, but by using a parting 
board will make veneer or partition walls, four- inch bed 
or thickness and two stones at one operation, one of 
which can be rock or bevel edge, smooth. Manufactured by 
Brady Cement Stone Machine Co., Ltd., 
CS" ». Jackson, Michigan, U. S. A. 
