44 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 20, 
uralisms 
► 
W W W 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
A Kieffer Seedling Pear. —There is 
promise in the Oriental pears. While the 
imported types are worthless, except for 
ornament, such American-grown seedlings 
as Kieffer, Le Conte and Garber are of 
the highest commercial importance, val¬ 
uable alike for their adaptability, vigor, 
productiveness and resistance to pests and 
disease. It is about time, however, to 
have something better in eating quality. 
They are all right for cooking and can¬ 
ning when properly ripened, and are used 
in immense quantities for this purpose. 
Better flavor, without serious loss in other 
valuable qualities, is needed. The fine 
hybrids between Kieffer, Le Conte and 
standard varieties of European type raised 
by Judge Woodbridge Strong, New 
Brunswick, N. J„ noted in The R. N.-Y. 
for October 28, 1905, are of high promise. 
We illustrate in Fig. 22, page 39, another 
seedling of Kieffer raised by D. J. Miller, 
Millersburg, Ohio. The pear is of mod¬ 
erate size, deep golden russet in color, and 
of truly agreeable quality—good enough 
to compare with any but the very best 
table pears. Mr. Miller’s estimate of the 
variety follows: 
This is a new seedling pear—a seedling 
of Kieffer. The tree is the same in habit, 
vigor and thrift. I think It blight-proof, 
like Kieffer. It bears every year. It is a 
late Winter pear of good quality, sweet, 
buttery and melting. With good care it keeps 
all Winter. It has a thick russet skin like 
Winter Nelis, but is larger. 
“Blight proof” is a strong claim that 
may not entirely be realized. Kieffer has 
blighted, though it is regarded as prac¬ 
tically proof against this dread disease. 
A seedling or dilute hybrid having such 
marked characteristics of the European 
pear may be expected to be rather less 
resistant. Any infusion of the vigorous 
Chinese blood in a pear of tolerable qual¬ 
ity may be considered an enormous gain. 
Mr. Miller’s seedling appears good enough 
to warrant testing. 
Blight in California Bartletts— Cal¬ 
ifornia-grown Bartletts are very popular 
in our markets, and by some are regarded 
as the choicest horticultural product of 
that enterprising State. The peculiar cli¬ 
matic conditions out there so greatly fa¬ 
vor the growth of pears that it was 
hoped they would never be troubled with 
the eastern blight, but the disease has 
appeared, not only in one, but in many 
of California’s best orchards. Every 
hopeful remedy devised by science to 
combat the pest will he used, but if the 
blight germ proves anything like as ag¬ 
gressive as Asparagus rust now is on the 
Pacific coast growers will not have a 
happy time. Vigorous Bartletts are pecu¬ 
liarly susceptible to infection, and it is 
the vigorous trees that bear the fancy 
pears. Skill and science may possibly 
triumph in the end, but pending the out¬ 
come the planting of Bartletts is likely 
to be curtailed, and many of the best 
bearing trees killed or crippled, thus re¬ 
ducing the output. Eastern pears for a 
long time will have a better show, and 
if the twin horrors of blight and scale 
can be circumvented by breeding Bartlett 
quality in the resistent, early-fruiting and 
productive Oriental pear, an immense gain 
will have been made. The breeder who 
puts high quality pears on a Kieffer or 
Le Conte tree may not win a fortune for 
himself, but he will he instrumental in 
creating great values for the horticultural 
world and the fruit consuming public. 
Big Weevils and Little Ones. —The 
greatest obstacle to the extensive culture 
of the chestnut, the most nutritious of all 
nuts in this country, is the depredations 
of the large and small Chestnut weevils. 
Both have long snouts, at the end of 
which the mouth parts are situated. They 
bore a minute hole through the young 
burs and deposit eggs in the soft nuts 
that subsequently grow into the fat, white 
little grubs every chestnut-eater knows 
too well. The large weevil infests the 
large and thick-walled burs, the small 
one thin-shelled chestnuts and chinqua¬ 
pins. While formerly very numerous, 
they were scattered through immense 
tracts of chestnut forest, but are now con¬ 
centrated in the smaller surviving groves 
J and in cultivated trees, causing at times 
I most discouraging havoc. No variety 
! seems immune to their attacks, nor can 
they be controlled by the usual insecti¬ 
cides. The best plan of combat is prompt¬ 
ly to gather nuts as they fall, thus pre¬ 
venting the grub& from entering the soil 
in order to pupate and complete their life 
cycle. In the most successful chestnut 
groves, which, by the way, are mainly 
composed of Paragon trees, this plan is 
practised with considerable success. 
The Great Potato Boom. —The British 
potato boom has come to an untimely end, 
and passes into history with the Dutch 
tulip mania, our mulberry-silkworm craze, 
and other horticultural frenzies. Eighteen 
months ago the prices demanded and re¬ 
ceived for the newest seedling wonder 
quite reached $800 a pound. Later on 
weak little cutting plants propagated from 
exhausted eyes of some of the favorites 
sold for about $50 each. Trans-atlantic 
gardening journals were loaded with opti¬ 
mistic praises of the new kinds, and ran 
descriptions of the newcomers in number 
after number in serial form. By last 
Spring, however, the prices had sagged to 
three shillings (75 cents) a pound for the 
most exclusive wonders. Dealers and 
speculators had ceased trading with each 
other, and were trying to sell to a public 
that properly regarded these inflated val¬ 
ues with cold suspicion. The new crop 
of even the most highly-recommended 
novelties is now offered to planters at 
prices ranging from six to 25 cents a 
pound, which may be considered very rea¬ 
sonable trial charges. Virulent and sordid 
as this collapsed speculative boom has 
been in principle, it appears to have been 
founded on a genuine desire to rehabili¬ 
tate potato culture in Great Britain, 
threatened by foreign competition and 
decadent from diseases developed by a 
not too favorable climate, as an important 
national asset. The popular interest 
aroused and experience gained in breeding 
the new seedlings, even though none 
proves really superior to the old kinds, is - 
of inestimable value. A National Potato 
Society has been organized, extensive 
trials of all promising varieties, new and 
old. native and exotic, are being made, 
cultural methods tested and revised and 
giant exhibitions held in which the prod¬ 
ucts are not only compared in their usual 
market condition, but are tested and 
judged as cooked for the table. This is 
useful work, and is sure to result well. 
A start has been made in breeding and 
hybridizing promising wild potatoes with 
a view of securing greater resistance to 
disease. The most likely wild type is 
considered to be Solanum Maglia, from 
the Chilian Islands. This has been 
crossed w r ith some of the best garden po¬ 
tatoes on the grounds of a well-known 
British seed grower, and has produced 
edible white tubers of moderate size and 
fair quality. It appears that California 
and France may not have the monopoly 
of breeding wild potatoes into quotable 
market varieties. 
Solanum Commersoni. —Monsieur J. 
Labergerie of Verrieres, the most enthu¬ 
siastic breeder in France of the Uruguay¬ 
an potato, Solanum Commersoni, is get¬ 
ting into a peck of trouble with his critics. 
He has been more successful in getting 
variations from this interesting species 
than his competitors, and they now inti¬ 
mate his most promising blue-tubered 
variety of the original bitter-flavored spe¬ 
cies—edible, productive and resistant to 
fungi—is nothing more than a very old 
variety of the common Solanum tuber¬ 
osum, known as Giant Blue, now nearly 
out of cultivation. Others consider it 
about the same as the Scotch “Trochie 
Grant” which has bred true since 1745, 
and is never affected by disease. M. 
Labergerie has published a pamphlet de¬ 
fending his position, and claims his blue 
Commersoni seedling is a legitimate 
product of hybridization and selection 
from the Uruguayan species, developed 
in his experimental grounds. Certain 
solemn scientists venture to assert there 
is only one real species of potato, of 
which our common S. tuberosum should 
be considered the type, and all other so- 
called botanical species geographical vari¬ 
ations caused by differences of soil and 
climate, and that the production of M. 
Labergerie’s new variety is but proof that 
one species may be bred into another. 
Others think there are many typical wild 
species, that they readily hybridize when 
grown together, and that our common po¬ 
tato is really the complex product of 
much natural cross-breeding, and may 
produce reversions that resemble almost 
any of^tlie wild ones. 
Theory vs. Practice. —Commercial po¬ 
tato growers are not inclined to attach 
much importance to such theories. They 
want potatoes—good potatoes and plenty 
of them, regardless of where or how they 
originated—but scientific investigation, no 
matter how inconsequential it may appear 
at the time, may ultimately prove of im¬ 
mense value in throwing light on difficult 
cultural problems. The empty guessing 
of the scientist in his study is one thing, 
and the practical work in the soil done 
by M. Labergerie and other earnest 
breeders is another. The trained deduc¬ 
tive mind and the trained experimental 
hand and brain are all needed in solving 
the problem of cultivation, but the more 
the literary scientist gets in actual touch 
with field experiments the clearer his rea¬ 
soning powers will grow. We can scarce¬ 
ly have too much potato work and litera¬ 
ture. w. v. F. 
NOURISH 
the body, don't dose it 
with medicine. Scott’s 
Emulsion is the best 
nourishment in existence. 
It is more than a food; 
you may doubt it, but it 
digests perfectly easy and 
at the same time gets the 
digestive functions in a 
condition so that ordinary 
food can be easily di¬ 
gested. Try it if you are 
run down and your food 
doesn’t nourish you. 
SCOTT & BOWNK, 409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SALIMENE 
THE BEST REMEDY FOR 
SAN JOSE SCALE. 
Liquid or Powder Form. Circulars and price on 
application. 
MONMOUTH CHEMICAL WORKS, 
Shrewsbury, New Jersey. 
SAVE YOUR TREES 
from the Ravage of SAN JOSK, COTTONY 
MAPLE SCALE, PSYLLA, Etc. 
ALL YOU NEED IS 
“SCALECIDE,” Water, 
AND A GOOD 
SPRAY pump. 
aper than LIME, 
SULPHUR and SALT. 
For sample, testimonials and price de¬ 
livered at your Railroad station, address 
IJ. G. Pratt Co.,11 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 
Monarch 
Hydraulic 
Cider Press 
Great strength and ca¬ 
pacity; all sizes; also 
gasoline engines, 
steam engines, 
sawmills, thresh¬ 
ers. Catalog free, 
lonarch Machinery Co., Room 161, 39 Cortlandt St., New York. 
A THRIFTY GARDEN 
whether large or small, needs proper tools for 
seeding and cultivating. We make garden imple¬ 
ments of all kinds, a tool for every purpose. 
MATTHEWS’ NEW UNIVERSAL 
Hand Seeders and Cultivators 
Singly or combined with Hoes, Plows, Rakes’ 
Markers, etc. Over 20 styles- 
, FREE BOOKLET giving de¬ 
scription, prices and valuable 
information mailed to any ad¬ 
dress. Send for it now. 
GARDEN TOOLS FOR 
. EVERY PURPOSE 
AMES PLOW CO., 64 MARKET ST.. BOSTON, MASS, 
MORE MAPLE SUGAR 
From your sugar bush with the same labor and with¬ 
out injuring your trees, by using Post’s Improved 
Eureka Sap Spouts. The reason why is the “air 
trap,'- a special patented feature 
lPOST’S 
[Improved 
[Eureka 
SAP 
SPOUTS 
More Sap 
Every Day 
for More 
Oays and 
Make You 
MoreMoney 
ncrc.ases the flow when 
every minute counts. 
Each genuine Post's 
Spout has signature 
on label thus: “C. 0. 
Post.” Look for it. It 
protects you. No. 1, 3J$ 
in. long, per 100, 41.75; 
No. 2. 2g in. long, per 100, $1.50 
Samples of 
each,6c, lots 
of 300 de- 
livcredf.o.b. 
paid on 
receipt of 
jprice.Agents 
wanted.Cat- 
_ alogue free. 
t. C BTELLE, Sole HTr, 75 Fifth Are., Brooklyn, N.Y. 
It Is Worth While 
Huy a machine tli at does the work 
right — that cleans its strainer 
automatically with a brush, 
mixes liquid mechanically so that 
oliage is never burned, but gets 
ts due proportion. 
Empire King, and 
Orchard Monarch 
do these things. They ilirow lines t 
spray, are easiest to work and they 
never clog. You ought to know 
more about them. Write for in¬ 
struction book on spraying, form¬ 
ulas, etc. Mailed free.' 
FIELD FORCE PI MP CO., 
No. 2 11th St. , F.lmirn, N ♦ Y. 
SPRAY OR SURRENDER 
that is the ultimatum that in¬ 
sects and fungi have served 
on every fruit-grower of 
America. If you do 
not heed the warning 
you will not get profits 
from your orchards. 
Every man who sprays intel¬ 
ligently, at the proper time, 
finds it the most profitable 
operation on the farm. 
Send for illustrated catalogue 
of the ECLIPSE Spray Pumps 
and outfits. 
Morrill & Morley, Benton Harbor, Mich. 
M 
Knapsack 
Spramotor 
destroys all insects or fungi on 
potatoes, berry bushes, trees 
plants or vegetables. 
Copper tank $15. galvanized 
!>' $ 12. Agents wanted. 
^ ^ or 86-page treatise K. 
SPEtAMOTOR CO., 
BUFFALO, N. Y. LONDON, ONT. 
BARREL SPRAYER "FREE 1 
fi Write today to find out how to se- 
/ cure a Hurst “FITZ-ALL” Spray- 
\ J er FREE; fits all sizes barrels and I 
J\^/ tanks. Sprays all solutions, has I 
~ bronze valves, brass cylinder and [ 
plunger, strainer cleaner and three I 
_._ E agitators. More economical, I 
h —. - - andeasierto operate than any 
other sprayer on the market. I 
I GUARANTEED for 5 YEARS. 
Special offer on first one in I 
I each locality, to intro- I 
_ \duce. Full information [ 
K furnished. 
^ L. HURST MFG. CO. 
Canton, 0.1 
Sprayers to Spray “everything’’-($z to $ too.) Sent | 
on todays’ trial. A t wholesale where no agent ^ 
MAPLE EVAPORATORS 
Most Durable, Most Economical, Cheapest 
Syrup Cans and Sap Palls. 
McLANE-SCHANCK HDW. CO., Llnesvllle, Pa. 
Also, Mfrs. of the “Sunlight’’ Acetylene Gas Machine 
EH0DES DOUBLE OUT 
PRUNING SHEAR 
Cuts from 
both sides of 
limb and does 
not bruise 
the bark. 
We pay Ex¬ 
press charges 
on all orders. 
Write for 
circular and 
prices. 
423 West Bridge St., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 
PAT 
RHODES MFC. CO 
Grimm Spout No. 4. 
print “C.” G. H 
SYRUP MAKERS! 
The question is, how many trees you tap ; not how many 
galvanized iron spouts you are lacking. Galvanized iron 
spouts are tree killers; Grimm Spouts lessen the injury. 
The Grimm Spout permits practical reaming. One-fourth 
more sap is guaranteed, or no sale. Grimm Evaporators 
and high grade tin utensils will increase your income. 
Sample Spout and information of value free. Ask for 
GRIMM, Rutland, Vt., and Montreal. P. Q. 
A Never Failing Water Supply, 
with absolute safety, at small cost may be had by using the 
Improved Rider Hot Air Pumping Engine and 
Improved Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine. 
Built by us for more than 30 years and sold in every country In the world Exclu¬ 
sively intended for pumping water. May be run by any ignorant boy or woman. 
So well built that their durability is yet to be determined, engines which were sold 
30 years ago being still in active service. 
8 end stamp for “ C4 ’ Catalogue to nearest office 
RIDER-ERICSSON ENGINE CO., 
*5 Warren St., New York. ^ 239 Franklin St., Boston 
40 Dearborn St., Chicago. 234 Craig St.,West, Montreal,P. Q. 
40 North 7th St., Philadelphia. 22 Pitts St., Sydn.y, N. S. W. 
Teuieute-Koy 71, Havana, Cuba. s_ 
