93o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 30 , 
uralisms 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
The Jersey Beauty Egg Plant. —The 
New Jersey Experiment Station has been 
doing good work in breeding vegetables 
of the market garden type. This is per¬ 
haps the most difficult and uncertain 
phase of plant breeding. Most garden 
vegetables are grown annually from seeds 
and cannot be propagated extensively by 
any method of bud division, so that it is 
particularly difficult to fix securely de¬ 
sirable variations brought about by hy¬ 
bridization or selection. Then, too, vari¬ 
eties have been brought to such perfection 
by centuries of patient and skillful work 
that useful departures from the best types 
are now extremely rare. Prof. B. D. 
Halsted, the horticulturist of the station, 
believes in steady work toward certain 
desired modifications in truck vegetables 
now extensively grown. One of bis suc¬ 
cesses is Jersey Beauty egg plant, fruits 
of which, much reduced in size, are shown 
in Fig. 425, page 926. Prof. Halsted 
crossed the Long Purple, a well-known 
variety of distinct form and high quality, 
not sufficiently productive for market pur¬ 
poses, with the wdl-known New York 
Spineless, the ideal market variety in 
everything but table quality, with a view 
of combining the good qualities and if 
possible eliminating the defects of both. 
New York Spineless, especially in the later 
improved strains, is early, vigorous and 
productive in plant, with very attractive, 
• large, oval, deep-purple fruits. They are 
good when young, but seedy and tough 
when of the usual market size. Long Pur¬ 
ple needs rich soil to induce strong 
growth, is rather late in setting, and not 
very productive, but the quality is always 
high. Several years of carefi 1 selection 
followed the cross-breeding, and the final 
result was distributed two years ago under 
the name Jersey Beauty. The Rural 
Grounds’ trials of the new variety have 
been very satisfactory. The plants are 
more delicate in the seedling state than 
New York Spineless, but are strong and 
rapid growers when established outside. 
The first fruits set about with New York 
Spineless, and grow quickly to good size, 
attaining best table quality when six or 
seven inches long, but remain in good 
eating condition until quite a foot long, 
or until the seeds are well developed. The 
form is r. long oval, just intermediate be¬ 
tween the two varieties; color rich dark 
purple. The few seeds are formed in the 
lower or blossom end of the fruits, thus 
allowing many seedless slices to be taken 
from the upper portion of the more ma¬ 
ture fruits. This useful feature is well 
shown in sectional view in our illustra¬ 
tion. When at the best cooking stage the 
seeds are scarcely in evidence, and may be 
entirely disregarded. Our plants were 
highly productive, branching freely and 
fruiting without interruption until hard 
frosts. While Jersey Beauty may not 
prove a serious rival to New York Spine¬ 
less in the ordinary market, it is likely to 
be appreciated wherever quality receives 
consideration. We know of no better egg 
plant for home use. Too few farm gar¬ 
deners grow this most acceptable vegetable 
at all. There is little comfort in raising 
the coarse-grained market kinds for the 
household, and it does not seem worth 
while to bother with late, unproductive 
sorts, even of fine quality, Jersey Beauty 
in its present stage of development ap¬ 
pears good in all points and well worth 
trying. Seeds have been distributed only 
by the New Jersey Station but will prob¬ 
ably soon be listed by reliable dealers. 
Night Soil for Egg Plants. —The use 
of night soil and sewage products has 
been very much curtailed of late to meet 
the very natural reluctance to use salads, 
roots, and vegetables often served raw, 
when grown with such fertilizing material. 
The objection does not hold with tall- 
growing plants whose edible parts are not 
in direct contact with the soil and are well 
cooked when prepared for the table. Corn 
and Lima beans utilize such wastes to 
great advantage, getting more benefit than 
from the most elaborately balanced chemi¬ 
cals. They do equally well, however, 
with well-composted stable manures. To¬ 
matoes and peppers are highly stimulated 
by night-soil fertilization, but are barred, 
as the fruits are extensively used in the 
uncooked state. The egg plant is not 
open to this objection, and appears par¬ 
ticularly benefited by such highly nitro¬ 
genous fertilization. The most successful 
growers of egg plant we know depend 
quite exclusively on night soil compost, 
working a liberal allowance well into the 
soil before the plants are set. Some ni¬ 
trate of soda may be used late in the sea¬ 
son to stimulate flagging growth, but these 
growers think no other form of organic 
manure is so well utilized by egg plants 
that are called on to make especially rapid 
growth and develop a multitude of gigan¬ 
tic fruits during a comparatively short 
growing season. The idea that egg plants 
should never be checked from seed germi¬ 
nation to maturity is sound, but the plants 
are so exacting in their love of heat and 
high fertility that their requirements can¬ 
not always be fully met. A good supply 
of old, well-composted night soil or sew¬ 
age will go far to insure success if the 
weather does its part. 
Insect Pests Inside and Out. —Crop 
damages from insects are always beyond 
computation. Though we may sum up 
the actual cost of lighting specially de¬ 
structive pests we cannot get at the real 
harm done by their presence, nor always 
at the amount of injury caused by our 
remedial measures. There do not appear 
to be figures enough in the arithmetic to 
express the reality as regards insect dam¬ 
age to agricultural interests. The Na¬ 
tional Department of Agriculture occa¬ 
sionally issues stunning arrays of statistics 
estimating losses caused by insects, but 
they probably fall short of the real total. 
Two comparatively new pests now engage 
the very earnest attention of gardeners in 
this locality—the San Jose scale in the 
orchards and the white fly or Aleyrodes 
on vegetables under glass. The R. N.-Y. 
lias printed volumes of information con¬ 
cerning the scale, and from present ap¬ 
pearances many more may be needed be- , 
fore it is even reasonably under control. 
We have sptayed about 50 well-infested 
young fruit trees each with “Scalecide” 
and “Target Brand” scale emulsions. Both 
are “soluble oils,” that is, a base of pe¬ 
troleum emulsified or made miscible in 
water by the addition of sulphur and cas¬ 
tor oil in one and rosin in the other. One 
gallon of Scalecide was mixed with 19 
of water, and one of Target Brand with 
24 of water, heating the oils well before 
mixing and using warm water, making 
mixtures, in both cases, as smooth and 
uniform as new milk. The applications 
were made November 13 and 20 under 
rather ideal conditions of weather. The 
trees were most carefully sprayed, using 
fine Vermorel nozzles and a first-class 
hand pump. When dried the trees 
showed a thorough coating of oil and 
chemicals. A smaller number of equally 
infested trees were sprayed a few days 
later with limoid and kerosene—20 per 
cent kerosene—well mixed and emulsified. 
Rain held off until the last of November, 
a week after the kerosene-limoid treat¬ 
ment, so that all three of the remedies 
should have opportunity to show what 
they are able to do in the way of clearing 
off the scales. 
The White Fly. —This new tropical 
pest is rapidly increasing in glass-garden¬ 
ing localities, being largely carried over 
Winter in greenhouses devoted to gerani¬ 
ums, Begonias, Coleus, tomatoes, cucum¬ 
bers and other broad-leaved plants, and is 
disseminated during Summer on bedding 
plants generally. We found it largely in 
evidence in plantings of Salvias, gerani¬ 
ums. Coleus, and to some extent, on 
strawberries in the open. It has become 
troublesome in most glasshouses growing 
mixed stock, but is particularly destructive 
in tomato houses, where it is now con¬ 
sidered the most serious pest. Soap 
water, tobacco infusion and other sprays 
have proved useless. Tobacco fumigation 
has some preventive influence, but is not 
able to check the pest when established. 
Hydrocyanic gas fumigation is effective, 
but tricky and dangerous to operator and 
plants. So far the white fly does not 
greatly harm plants in the open, but must 
be sternly reckoned with under glass. 
A Sample P'umigation. —We published 
experience with hydrocyanic fumigation 
for white fly in the Rural Grounds glass¬ 
house, early in 1904. We did not grow 
tomatoes last Winter, allowing the glass¬ 
house to remain empty the greater part of 
the cold weather, so that when fired up in 
early March there was no appearance of 
the little white pest. We started our quota 
of tomato plants last August, and inspect¬ 
ed them carefully when housed, about Oc¬ 
tober 1, but could find no traces of the 
fly. All other plants taken in were criti¬ 
cally examined for the pest without result; 
nevertheless a few adults made their ap¬ 
pearance in November. By the last of the 
month the increase was so great, though 
tobacco stems enough were used over the 
pipes entirely to suppress aphids, thrips, 
and other insects, to make hydrocyanic 
fumigation necessary. The house con¬ 
tains something over 2,000 cubic feet of 
air space, not reckoning space occupied by 
pipes, benches and plants. We used two 
ounces 98 per ce-nt cyanide of potassium 
tied up in two one-ounce paper packets, 
and four ounces commercial sulphuric 
acid, diluted with an equal quantity of 
water. Four ounces of the diluted acid 
each was placed in two glass quart jars, 
put in position in the paths at each end 
of the house, the packets quickly dropped 
in, furthest one first, and the house in¬ 
stantly vacated and closed. The time se¬ 
lected was eight o’clock on a dark night, 
taking care the plants were dry and the 
temperature not over GO degrees. The 
house was not entered until morning, and 
was first ventilated from the outside, prob¬ 
ably a needless precaution after so long 
an interval, but hydrocyanic gas is too 
dangerous to trifle with. All adult white 
flies were found dead, but house flies and 
a chance mosquito were as lively as ever. 
No injury appeared among the plants at 
first, but within two days bleaching and 
death of portions of young foliage oc¬ 
curred in nearly all the tomatoes, beets 
and roses, showing the limit of endurance 
had been passed. Lettuce and many thick¬ 
leaved plants showed no harm. Search 
was made for eggs, nymphs and pupae of 
the white fly, and all infested leaves 
burned. The poisoned plants quickly out¬ 
grew their slight injuries, and absolutely 
no white flies could be found for 15 days 
after the fumigation, when a stray indi¬ 
vidual, probably developed from the re¬ 
sistant larval stage, was noticed. We 
hope to get through the season with not 
over one or two more fumigations, and 
will reduce the quantity next time to one 
and one-half ounce of this high-grade 
cyanide. w. v. F. 
©ur Good Carriage Heater, makes a vehicle as com¬ 
fortable as your fireside, in the coldest weather; 
every drive a pleasure. Ready for usein a few min¬ 
utes, absolutely safe, costs J^ct. per hour to operate, 
handsome appearance, polished brass ends, Brus¬ 
sels carpet covered. Price of Heater $1.65 cash with 
order. We supply the best heating fuel for carri¬ 
age heaters, burns without flame, smoke or odor 
gives steady uniform heat, extinguished at will! 
compact brick form, % brick enough fora drive. 
Price of fuel per case (x doz. bricks) 65 cts. 
ALFRED BATH0, 700 East Ave,, Rochester, N- ^ 
OUR FREE CATALOGUE 
Tells all about our no-money- 
witli-order-plan,freight offer,two 
year guaranty and 30 days 
free trial oiler. We sell 
direct, giving biggest bug¬ 
gy bargain of the year. 
26 years experience back of 
every job. We make Open 
Buggies from $22.60 up, Top Buggies $27.90 up, 8ur- 
ries $42.00 up, Wagons $33. 90 up, Harness, $4.30 up. 
Write today for Free Money Savina Catalogue. 
U S. BUGGY & CART CO., Sta. 527, Cincinnati, Ohio. 
AVE YOUR BACK 
Save time, horses, work 
and money by using an 
I Electric Handy Wagon 
Low wheels, broad tires. No 
living man can build a better.- 
Book on “WheelSense”free. 
Eltctric Vhea’Co. Bx 88, Quincy,III. 
AGENTSi 
WANTED 1 
}For Mend-a-Rip 
Greatly Improved. Better than ever. 
Dues all kinds of light and heavy 
rivetingand 
stitching. 
Saves its 
cost many times a year. A per¬ 
fect Hand Sewing Machine and Riveter 
eombined. Notice the Automatic Spacer 
which makes neat, even stitching. To 
show it means a sale. Agents make 
$3 to $15 a day. One agent made |*20 first 
itesfii hurry machines to him. Write forflpeo 
ial agtfl. price. J B. Foote Foundry Co.Dep. 337 Fredericktown,0 
(The Great Agents Supply House) ' 
5 % Paid for 12 Years 
Assets, 
# 1 , 750,000 
Surplus and Profits 
# 150,000 
THK Industrial Is a strong, progress- 
* Ive, carefully managed HavingsIn¬ 
stitution, under New York Hanking 
Dept, supervision, with an excellent 
reputation for reliability and prompt 
dealing, which handles Havlnga from 
all over tlie country, Including those 
of prominent clergymen, professional 
and business men—and during 1 *4 
years has never paid less than 
Let us show you how we can handle 
yomvnoney to belter advantage than 
most other banking institutions. 
We will pay t># PKK YKAR 
Earnings reckoned tor everyday your 
money is left with us, Write for 
particulars. 
Industrial Savings and 
Loan Co., 
r. TIMKS BLDG., BROADWAY, NEW YOU* 
Saw 
Service 
A good example of the remarkable service given by 
Keen Kutter Tools is shown in the Keen KutterHand 
Saw illustrated here. This saw was used for twelve 
years by a carpenter, who pronounced it the best saw he 
had ever used in thirty years experience, and as perfectly 
satisfactory in every respect. 
And every other tool in the Keen Kutter line is as 
good a tool of its kind as Keen Kutter Hand Saws 
The long life of tools bearing the 
trade mark is not chance or accident. It is due to the fact 
that nothing is spared to make Keen Kutter 'Fools the best 
that brains, money and skill can produce. 
The Keen Kutter Line has been Standard of America 
for 36 years and Ivas alvarded the Grand Prize at the 
World’s Pair, St. Louis, being the only complete line of tools 
eber to receibe a relvard at a great exposition. 
I hink what it means to you to be able to buy the best tools 
that are made, of every kind, simply by remembering the one 
name—Keen Kutter. 
Following are some of the various kinds of Keen Kutter Tools; Axes, 
Adzes, Hammers, Hatchets, Chisels, Screw Drivers, Auger Bits, 
Files, Planes, Draw Knives, Saws, Tool Cabinets, Scythes, Hay 
Knives, Grass Hooks, Brush Hooks, Corn Knives, Eye Hoes, 
Trowels, Pruning Shears, Tinners’ Snips Scissors, Shears, Hair 
Clippers, IlorseShears, Razors, etc., and Knives of all kinds. 
If your dealer does not keep Keen Kutter Tools, write us and 
learn where to get them. 
r 
C.SlMMO^rj.’ 
mu 
mm 
Every K pen Kutter Tool Is sold under 
this Mark and Motto: 
Note how this 
saw has been 
ti 1 fed down 
without de> 
stroyi ng itt 
efficiency. 
' The Recollection of Quality Remains 
Long After the Price is lorgotten.’ 1 
Trade Mark Registered. 
w SIMMONS HARDWARE CO., 
r St. Louis, U. S. A., 298 Broadway, New York. 
Send fur Tuul Booklet- 
