65 o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 2. 
Ruralisms • 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Good New Currants. —The red or 
white currant is scarcely esteemed as 
highly as such an appetizing* and health¬ 
ful fruit deserves. White varieties are 
seldom grown for market, but the red 
ones, though grown by comparatively few 
cultivators, always seem to be in over- 
supply, as consumers appear quite gener¬ 
ally ignorant of or indifferent to their 
refreshing qualities. Currants are not 
as commonly grown in farm gardens as 
they should be. No other fruit can quite 
take their place, where they are appreci¬ 
ated, either for dessert or culinary use. 
There are many fine old varieties and 
occasionally new ones come out of even 
better promise. Large size of bunch and 
berry, vigor and increased productive¬ 
ness are the features sought by breeders, 
but high quality has not been overlooked 
in developing the newcomers. 
Perfection, from C. M. Hooker & Sons, 
Rochester, N. Y., planted October, 1903 . 
A healthy and fairly robust grower. Foli¬ 
age thick and large. Clusters large, long, 
tapering very little, and generally well 
filled to the end. Berries very large, 
bright crimson, with thin skin, juicy and 
pleasant- Seeds rather small for so large 
a currant. The fruit is generally borne 
on the old wood. Our young plants are 
very productive. Perfection is said to 
be a seedling of Fay crossed with White 
Grape, and certainly is a choice variety, 
worthy of extensive trial. It was award¬ 
ed the Barry gold medal for a new fruit 
of superior merit, and is figured in color 
in the U. S. Department of Agriculture 
Year Book for 1904 . 
Comet. —Imported plants from Ell- 
wanger & Barry, Rochester, N. Y., and 
Storrs & Harrison, Painesville, Ohio. 
Planted November, 1902, and March, 1903. 
This highly lauded British currant was 
figured from introducer’s illustration in 
The R. N.-Y. as long ago as August, 
1895 , but has only been lately offered in 
this country. Our plants have made a 
fair growth, though rather weak, 
when received, from the effects of their 
long journey. A moderate crop was borne 
this season. In every respect, as judged 
by these newly established bushes, Comet 
is identical with Fay. so largely planted by 
all commercial growers that it may be 
regarded as the standard American cur¬ 
rant. Comet is said to have originated 
in Guernsey, one of the British Channel 
Islands. Maybe the Guernsey grower 
raised it from seed and felt entitled to 
offer it as a new and superior kind, but 
it has turned out so near Fay in every 
characteristic where comparison is made 
that careful English nurseries do not now 
offer it. Some of the most astounding 
pictures of Comet currants, as regards 
size, have been issued. The nurseries 
from which The R. N.-Y. plants were ob¬ 
tained offer it, without indorsement, as 
a foreign novelty. Fay is a most meri¬ 
torious currant and has probably “made” 
more money for originator and intro¬ 
ducer if not for planter than any known 
fruit- If Comet is the same it is a good 
variety, but the name must be discarded. 
Time will tell. 
Chautauqua Climbing. —From J. T. 
Lovett, Little Silver. N. J. Planted March. 
1904 . Climbing, or rather tall growing 
currants are in themselves no great nov¬ 
elty. Several wild species of currant and 
gooseberry naturally produce long, weak 
branches when growing in shady places, 
and can be trained many Let high against 
a wall or trellis, but they bear fruit of 
little value. The Chautauqua variety dif¬ 
fers from these wildlings in that it pro¬ 
duces red currants of excellent quality al¬ 
most the size of Fay. It was found grow¬ 
ing in a thicket in Chautauqua Co., N. Y„ 
and when transplanted to the garden and 
trained against a building it grew more 
than 12 feet high. It is not a true climb¬ 
er, but the slender branches train very 
well- It is probably a seedling variation 
of the common red currant, Ribes rub- 
rum. Our plant has borne a few bunches 
of good currants, but is still too young to 
show the sprawling characteristics. 
White Imperial. —From Ellwanger & 
Barry, Rochester, N. Y. Planted March, 
1903 . This is not new, but is a splendid 
white or rather translucent variety. The 
bushes are healthy and rapid in growth, 
the clusters long, and beyries of large and 
uniform size. The quality is of the high¬ 
est : rich, pleasant and sweeter than any 
variety we have tried, if the term “sweet” 
can be applied to an essentially acid fruit. 
It will be hard to beat Perfection and 
White Imperial in their respective classes. 
New Type of Dahlias. —Dahlia blooms 
have been brought to such a symmetrical 
stage of perfection that we overlook the 
defects, from a gardener’s standpoint, of 
the plants on which they grow. Florists’ 
Dahlias nearly all are descendants of the 
wild D. rosea and its brightly colored off¬ 
shoot, D. Juarezii, the parent of the cac¬ 
tus-flowered type. The plant as usually 
grown is too weak to stand without stak¬ 
ing through ordinary Summer storms, too 
densely branching in habit, while the foli¬ 
age, though ornamental in character, is 
crowded too near the blooms, not allow¬ 
ing stems enough for best effect in cut¬ 
ting. Some few handsome new varieties, 
evidently from the intermingling of the 
blood of D- Mercki, have finely cut or 
fernlike foliage, sometimes dark red or 
purple in color, and are vastly more at¬ 
tractive in character. The plants are more 
spreading at the base, and are better able 
to support themselves, while the blooms 
are borne on longer stems. The flowers, 
however, are not as varied in coloring, 
and have not yet arrived at the exquisite 
finish of the older kinds. 
Our Department of Agriculture not long 
ago received through one of its explorers 
in Mexico two new species of Dahlia, 
bearing handsome broad foliage near the 
ground, and sending up extraordinary 
long flower stalks. G. W. Oliver, the ac¬ 
complished propagator of the Department, 
has hybridized these promising species 
with selected old varieties, and the re¬ 
sulting seedlings are now coming in 
bloom. The writer has just examined 
them with much interest. They form 
tall, conical plants, with heavy foliage at 
the base, surmounted with long, grace¬ 
fully arching flower stems, bearing good- 
sized single or semi-double blooms, mostly 
orange-red in color. One form has the 
leaves almost as hairy as a mullein, while 
the other has very broad, smooth foliage, 
diminishing in size as it ascends upwards. 
The plants are now five or six feet high, 
and look as if they would be very fiorifer- 
ous. We understand they are far more 
hardy than our present varieties, but 
probably cannot bear frost. They make 
handsome and imposing garden plants, 
though the blooms at present are too near 
the wild stage to bear any comparison 
with decorative varieties. Color, form and 
finish of flowers will doubtless come with 
careful breeding, but there can be no ques¬ 
tion of the superior attractiveness of the 
plants in their present form. We under¬ 
stand the botanical classification of these 
distinct new Dahlias has not been de¬ 
termined. 
Gladiolus Princeps Abroad. —Gladiolus 
princeps has not failed to make a good 
impression in all parts of the world where 
ornamental flowers are grown. It appears 
to succeed wherever tried, and invariably 
takes first rank in comparison with others. 
European catalogues all give it promi¬ 
nence and offer it at from 75 cents to $1 
each. It is described as “a most magnifi¬ 
cent novelty”; “the largest flowered and 
perhaps the most showy Gladiolus ever 
raised,” and other highly flattering terms. 
A very extensive firm of Gladiolus grow¬ 
ers offer a considerable prize each year 
for the best photograph of flowers grown 
in any part of the world from bulbs sup¬ 
plied by them. This year’s prize picture 
comes from the Island of Malta, in the 
Mediterranean Sea. and shows a remark¬ 
ably fine spike of Princeps backed by 
lighter colored varieties, all grown in 
that distant locality. This ability to suc¬ 
ceed in widely diverse situations and cli¬ 
mates is a most important quality in any 
plant novelty. Princeps apparently feels 
at home everywhere, and amply rewards 
the grower for the most ordinary atten¬ 
tion. w. v. F. 
No More Leaky Roofs 
Leaky roofs 
spoil thousands 
of dollars worth of prod¬ 
ucts annually, and are a 
constant source of worri- 
$$0jM men ^ an d annoyance. 
1 here is little cause for 
this if a good roofing is 
used—one that is really 
proof against all kinds of 
weather. This is what 
the manufacturers of 
A M A T I T E Roofing 
claim for their product. 
This roofing is not only “Ready 
to Lay, but is coated and mineral 
surfaced at the time of manufacture 
so that after being nailed in place on 
the roof it requires no further atten¬ 
tion in the way of painting, coating 
or repairs, for many years. 
Ever since the day of Noah, Pitch 
has been used to resist water. Water 
is absolutely powerless against it. 
Thus, an AMATITE Roof, which 
consists of two layers of Pitch be¬ 
tween sheets of tough felt, with a 
mineral surface on top, is absolutely 
AMATITE — 
COMPOSITION - 
TARRED PfciT 
COMPOSITION - 
TARKtD PtlJt 
waterproof, and most attractive in 
appearance. Not only is it water, 
wind and weather proof, but it is 
also a tire retardant and will not take 
fire from sparks or embers falling 
on its surface. 
No skilled labor is required to lav 
AMATITE; any man can do the 
work by simply following the in¬ 
structions which come with each roll. 
Enough nails and cement are sup¬ 
plied free to complete the job. 
Of importance to buyers— 
AMATITE is also the lowest-priced 
mineral surfaced Ready Roofing 
made. 
Readers of this magazine who are 
interested in a good Roofing will do 
well to write to the manufacturers of 
AMATITE for a Free Sample. 
The Sample is not large, but it 
will give a very good idea of what 
you may expect, before investing 
your money. 
The manufacturers are one of 
the largest and most rep¬ 
utable concerns in the 
country, and any claim 
of theirs can be relied 
upon. 
We 
suggest writim 
Mo-day for the Sample t( 
the nearest of 
fice. Address 
Barrett Mann 
facturing Com 
pany at any o 
the following 
cities: 
New York 
' Chicago, Alle 
gheny, Kansa 
City, Cincinnati 
Phi lad e 1 p h i a 
Cleveland, Min 
neapolis, Nev 
Orleans or St 
Louis. 
\\ hen you write advertisers mention The 
It. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8. 
SAN JOSE SCALE 
and other INSECTS killed be 
GOODS 
Caustic Potash Whale-Oil Soap No. 3 
Endorsed by U. S. Dept, of Agri. and State Experiment 
Stolons. Thissoapisa Fertilizer as well as an Insecti¬ 
cide. 5n-lb. kegs. $2.50; 100-lb. kegs. *4.50; half barrel. 
270 lb.,3-qcper 'b; barrel,425 lb.SMjc. Send for booklet. 
JAMES WOOD, Original Maker, 
939-41 N. Front Street, Philadelphia. Pa. 
The machines that get nil thepotatoes In 
any kiml of soil, deep orshallow.NSdN/' smooth or 
rough. Delivered to pickers clean and sound. 
Easily handled, strong and durable. Simplest and 
most practical machine made for potato harvesting. 
Send for catalogue. 
DOWDEN MFC. CO., Box 522 Prairie City, la. 
WE LEAD THE WORLD 
We are the largest manufac¬ 
turers of Grooved and Plain 
Tire Steel Farm Wagon 
Wheels in America. We 
guarantee our patent 
Grooved Tire Wheels to 
be the best made by anybody 
anywhere. Write us. 
HAVANA METAL WHEEL CO. 
BOX 17 HAVANA. ILL. 
CUTAWAY HARROW CO. 
CLARK’S REV. 
BUSH PLOW and HARROW 
Cuts ft track 5 feet wide, 1 
foot deep. Connects sub¬ 
soil water. Can plow a 
newly cut forest, stump, 
bush or bog land. 
CZAltK’S Dbl. ACTION 
CUT A HAT Mores 18,000 
Tons of Earth in a I>ay. 
Send for Circulars. 
HIGGANUM, CONN., U.S.A, 
IT MAKES A-;, 
SALE THAT 
HAY 
BUYER 
WANTS 
THE “NEW WAY” PRESS 
is a horizontal press. It bales tyj to 23^tons per 
hour. Size of bale is 46x23x19 inches. Feed bole 
46x50 inches—easy to feed, no tramping, fork only 
used. Revolutionizes the loose baling system. 
Makes the very desirable eastern market bale. Heats all 
Box and Upright Presses by doing 100 per cent more work. 
StandM at work just as you see it in the cut. Very portable. 
Adapted to bank barn work. Write for Illustrated Catalog. 
SANDWICH MFC. CO., 157 MAIN ST., SANDWICH, ILL. 
Alow wagon 
at a low price. 
Handy for 
[the farmer. 
Will carry a 
load a n y - 
where a horse 
can travel. 
Low Down Wagons 
soon earn their cost on any farm. 
Steel Wheels 
for farm wagons. Straight or stag¬ 
gered spokes. Any size wanted, any 
width of tire. Hubs to lit any axle. 
For catalogue and prices, write to 
Empire Mfg. Co., Box 70 H Quincy, III. 
a EXTENSION MTTTQ Sent on 
AXLE * ’ U 1 *3 A.pproval 
Cure wabbles and make old buggies run like 
new, SAMPLES free to agents. (Profitable) 
II Alii)W ARKSPECIALTY CO., Box I-13,Pontiac,Mich 
APPLE BARRELS AND BOXES. P Ks 
Prompt shipments. R. GILLIES, Medina. N. Y. 
PEACH BASKETS 
2, 4, 6, 8,10,12,14 and 16 Qt. Sizes. 
PEACH CRATES 
Six Basket Georgia Carriers. 
Picking Baskets 
Made of Oak. Smooth and Durable. 
Write for Quotations and New Catalogue. 
COLES & COMPANY, 
109 and Ilf Warren Street, 
NEW YORK. 
Established 1884. Telephone 3751 Cortland t 
