586 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 5, 
NOTES FROM THE RURALGROUNDS 
The New “Fadeless” Flower. —Some 
very sensational statements have been 
given out concerning the prospective value 
of the new fadeless flower developed by 
Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, California. 
It is declared the blooms are so attractive 
and permanent that they may be expected 
largely to displace artificial flowers for 
millinery and similar decorative purposes. 
Burbank’s variety is not to be given to 
the public for a year or two, but seed 
of Cephalipterum Drummondi, the species 
from which it was selected, is freely of¬ 
fered this season by leading seedsmen 
for 25 cents a packet. This plant, a half- 
hardy annual, was discovered in Central 
Australia not long ago It is easily grown 
from seeds, quickly making good-sized 
plants, growing freely in any light garden 
soil. The blooms are shown in natural 
size in Fig. 246, page 582. The color of 
the flowers varies from blush white to a 
very pretty rosy crimson, and they are 
produced in great profusion in clusters, 
at the end of every branch. \ here is 
a faint but agreeable fragrance that is 
preserved to a slight extent when the 
blooms are dried. The color and shape are 
preserved in the dried flower, as is the 
case with other popular everlastings, im¬ 
mortelles or eternal flowers, long known 
in our gardens, such as Xeranthemum, 
Helichrysum, Gomphrena, and the Helip- 
terums, formerly catalogued as Acroclin- 
ium, and Rhodanthe. This new Austral¬ 
ian everlasting as now offered, is not 
equal in beauty to many of these old 
favorites, and it is not easy to under¬ 
stand why such great value and interest 
is assigned to Burbank’s selection, even 
though it may produce larger and finer 
blooms. Our plants of Cephalipterum 
Drummondi are already dead at this writ¬ 
ing, July 18, having bloomed freely for 
about six weeks. The flowers are neat 
and th 1 color attractive, but they show 
little indication of being more durable than 
Other immortelles when dried, as the at¬ 
tachment to the stalk is of a rather flim¬ 
sy character. The color though delicate 
and agreeable will not suit everyone, and 
the idea of artificially colored eternal 
flowers for millinery purposes and per¬ 
sonal decoration is not to be tolerated. 
The retained perfume is a pleasing fea¬ 
ture we have not noticed in other garden 
everlastings, though it is common with 
many grasses used for drying. Some of 
the older everlastings are effective garden 
flowers. The Gomphrena or globe ama¬ 
ranth makes a most compact and effec¬ 
tive plant, useful for small beds or edge- 
ings. The colors of the round clover¬ 
like flower-heads varies through white to 
rose, violet and crimson, and there is 
also a fine orange-colored variety. It 
makes a superb pot plant when in 
bloom if one cares to take the trouble to 
grow it in that manner. Of the other 
species mentioned Helichrysum is easily 
first in desirability as a garden plant. 1 he 
blooms are large and striking, with a 
good range of color; most useful for cut¬ 
ting in the fresh state, as well as dried 
for Winter bouquets. Helipterum, or 
Aeroclinium roseum is also fine in bloom, 
but the plant has something of the weedy 
appearance of the Australian Cephalip¬ 
terum. 
Cheap Potatoes. —Potatoes are about 
the only local crop that has so far grown 
well through this trying season. There 
has been a constant deficiency in rain¬ 
fall since Winter, but the effects of the 
prevailing drought have been greatly mod¬ 
ified by dull cool weather only recently 
broken by seasonable heat. Potatoes find 
such conditions quite congenial, and have 
made a thrifty growth, generally showing 
dark and luxuriant foliage, little troubled 
with insects and disease. The beetle ap¬ 
peared late, and was easily controlled by 
the usual arsenicals. Cultivation and 
weed destruction were made easy by the 
limited and infrequent rainfall. I lie dust 
mulch on frequently stirred ground has 
seemed particularly successful this year 
in retaining the moisture left by melting ; 
snows, and the difference between most 
cultivated crops and grass land is quite 
startling. The early potato crop, con¬ 
sisting almost exclusively of Irish Cob¬ 
bler and Early Rose, is on the whole, 
very good, but the current prices are so 
low that few growers care to dig them. 
Market quotations run from $1 to $1.35 
the barrel. At these figures growers can¬ 
not count on a much greater return for 
the entire labor and expense of production 
than 70 cents the barrel—a most inade¬ 
quate compensation. Our growers have 
learned from much uncomfortable experi¬ 
ence that higher quotations as far as the 
producer is concerned are very delusive, 
and that the lowest one—minus transpor¬ 
tation and commission expenses—is all 
that can be looked for. Few potatoes 
have been dug, most farmers preferring 
to keep them in the ground at the un¬ 
satisfactory prices now quoted. The av¬ 
erage cost of growing an acre of potatoes 
in this vicinity is estimated as quite $50. 
Early varieties do not often yield more 
than 75 barrels to the acre, though 100 
barrels or 300 bushels to the acre are 
commonly expected for the more pro¬ 
ductive late kinds. If the grower can 
realize $1 per barrel exclusive of selling 
expenses a fair profit is made, but the 
crop is considered rather risky of late 
years. Local dealers are often willing to 
pay as much as potatoes actually bring 
in the city markets, but growers for some 
reason are not inclined to sell to them. 
The result is that while shipments are 
made to New York and sold at a practi¬ 
cal loss, the identical potatoes may 
be bought and shipped back at in¬ 
creased expense to supply consumers 
where grown. This does not seem a very 
business-like transaction, but many factors 
go to make up such a losing system. The 
chief reason appears to be the readiness 
with which the local markets are over¬ 
stocked. 
A New Scarlet Balsam. —When the 
red-flowered Sultan balsam, Impatiens 
Sultani, was introduced from Zanzibar, 
a very useful window and conservatory 
plant was given to cultivation. All are 
now familiar with its free growth, trans¬ 
lucent stems, glossy foliage and abun¬ 
dant rose-red blooms, varying in the later 
varieties from pink to purple and even 
blush white. A particularly choice sport 
of a pleasing chamois shade is known as 
Queen Carola. It comes fairly true from 
seeds, and is a really superior variety. A 
new but nearly related species from the 
mountains of Central Africa, discovered in 
1902, was sent out this season under the 
name of Impatiens Holstii. Seeds cost 
25 cents the packet, the quantity inclosed 
is very small, and the average germina¬ 
tion of those tested on the Rural Grounds 
does not exceed four plants to the packet, 
but the new kind seems to please all who 
are growing it. While the resemblance 
to the Sultan balsam in foliage and form 
of flower is very close the plants have a 
more upright and compact habit, grow 
faster and come into bloom at a much 
earlier stage of development, showing 
buds soon after passing the seed leaf 
stage. The flowers are produced well out 
of the foliage, and arc larger and far more 
brightly colored, the shade being brilliant 
vermilion, closely approaching scarlet, 
though without any tinge of yellow. 
Many of the blooms almost reach two 
inches across, and they are produced in 
endless profusion, according to the dis¬ 
seminators, from June to frost outdoors, 
and continuously indoors. The plants j 
grown outdoors from seed sown inside 
in March are said to form by Autumn 
very elegant b ..es two feet or more 
high. The flowers bleach to some extent 
under the fierce July sun, but our plants 
are growing very thriftily, both in pots 
and in the border, and we can well be¬ 
lieve we have in this new comer a most 
desirable Summer bedding and Winter 
window garden plant. There is sufficient 
variation in plant and bloom of the seed¬ 
lings to indicate that considerable im¬ 
provement from the present quite satis¬ 
factory type can be made by selection. 
Desirable specimens may likely be per¬ 
petuated by cuttings or layers, though cut 
tings from T. Sultani do not quickly make 
good plants. Seed propagation of these 
fine tropical balsams in very certain, and 
sinmle if temperature and moisture can be 
controlled during germination. They are 
tender plants and should have a rather 
warmer place than geraniums, w. v. f. 
Detroit TONGUELESS Disc Harrow 
Doesn’t Worry the Life Out of the Horses. 
Team Does More Work, 25 Per Cent Easier* 
No pole to annoy by whipping and pushing the team side¬ 
ways. No neck-wcight. No side draft. No crowding of 
the team in making short turns. Just a steady, even 
pull, like plowing. This TONGUELESS Disc Harrow 
soon saves its cost in horseflesh. 
The Front Truck 
>**■— 
The Only 
Tongueless 
Disc Harrow 
on the Market 
supports the front end 
of the machine and 
perfectly balances the 
weight of the driver. 
Aside from its great 
advantage of having 
this truck instead of a 
pole, the Detroit 
TONGUE LESS Disc 
Harrow has every de¬ 
sirable feature of any harrow. It has a 
Steel Frame, rigidly braced, amply 
strong for heaviest work; Steel Discs on 
Hall Hearings; Double Levers, which 
hold Steel Scrapers ia any position desired. The Detroit Tongueless Disc Harrow is 
made in 12 sizes and guaranteed to give perfect satisfaction or money refunded. Fully 
warranted QN TIME OR FOR CASH 
Let us put one on your farm. Get the catalogue. It’s interesting. Write for it now. 
AMERICAN HARROW CO., 166 Hastings St., DETROIT, MICH. 
I 
CUTAWAY TOOLS FOR LARGE HAY CROPS. 
Clark's Reversible Itush & Bog l’low, cuts a track 4 ft. wide. 1 ft. deep. Will plow anew 
cut forest. His Double-Action Cutaway Harrow keeps the laud 
true, moves 18,000 tons of earth, cuts 30 acres per day. His Rev. 
Disk P ow cuts a furrows to 10 in. deep. 
All these machines will kill witch- 
grass, wild mustard, charlock, hard- 
hack sunflower, milkweed, thistle 
any foul plant. Send fore ir'lars. 
CUTAWAY HARROV7 CO., 
Higganum, Conn., D. S. A. 
14 in. wide 
f Look at 
Sprocket 
Drive 
The Success Manure Spreader 
is the one to buy. These are among the reasons why: It is the result of 26 years of continuous Manure 
Spreader making. It covers every requirement and every condition for the spreading of all kinds of ma¬ 
nure, lime, plaster, ashes, salt, fertilizer, etc., broadcast or in drills. Spreads thick or thin as wanted. 
Apron returns automatically. Spreads largest load in 3 to 6 minutes. Strongs*!, easiest to load, spreads 
most evenly and has lightest draft. Made in 4 sizes to suit requirements of all sections. All about it and 
much more of value in our free book, "Farm Fortuity." Write for it. 
KEMP A BURPEE MANUFACTURING CO., Box 38, SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
The new Ready-Roof¬ 
ing that the people are talk¬ 
ing about. It’s so good, 
buyers are astonished at the 
low cost. Once use it and you will buy 
no other. 
Anyone can put it down. All you need is a 
hammer—we supply nails and cement with each 
f °^’ Free Sample Sent on Request 
BARRETT MANUFACTURING COMPANY 
New York 
New Orleans 
Chicago 
Cleveland 
Philadelphia 
St. Louis 
Allegheny 
Cincinnati 
Kansas City 
Minneapolis 
ROOFING 
Steel Roofing, $1.50 Per lOO $q. Feet 
Painted red both side.; most durable and economical covering for roofing, siding or ceiling, for barns, 
sheds, houses, stores, churches, cribs, poultry bouses, etc.; easier to lay and cheaper than any other 
material; no experience necessary to lay it—a hammer or hatchet the only tools you need. At this price 
to all points enst of Colorado, excepting Oklahoma, Texas and Indian 
Territory. At this price we furnish our No. 15 semi-hardened flat 
steel roofing, sheets 24 inches by 24 inches. At $1.60 this same material currogated as shown in illus¬ 
tration, or in "V” crimped, or standing seam. At 50 cents per square advance over above prices we will 
furnish this material in 6 and 8 feet long; $2.25 for brick siding or beaded ceiling or siding. Send us 
your -order for immediate shipment. Time will prove its enduring qualities. It withstands the elements 
the best of all coverings. Ask for further particulars. WRITE FOR FREE CATALOGUE NO. A. M. 67 
on building material, wire, pipe, plumbing material, furniture, household goods, clothing, etc. 
We buy at 8HEKIFFS’ AND RECEIVERS’ SALES. 100,000,000 feet of lumber from the World’s Fair. 
CHICAGO HOUSE WRECKING CO., 35th and Iron St*., CHICAGO, ILL. 
