57o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 21, 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Strawberry Observations. —As antici¬ 
pated. the strawberry crop was bountiful, 
though rainy weather cut short the sea¬ 
son, little commercial picking going on 
after June 25. The berries were gener¬ 
ally large and of good quality. The local 
demand was satisfactory at prices rang¬ 
ing for first-class fruits from 15 cents 
per quart at the commencement of the 
season to seven cents at its height, and 
again to 12 cents for the later pickings. 
Some injury was caused by late frosts 
affecting blooms. Probably the total 
yield was not greatly reduced, but the 
early set of a few varieties was consid¬ 
erably thinned, and the crop value to 
that extent lessened. 
New Varieties Creeping In. —Com¬ 
mercial success is seldom achieved by a 
variety while it is “new” in the eyes of 
the novelty hunter. Even if exceptionally 
meritorious years of trial and experiment 
are needed to develop its especial ad¬ 
vantages and requirements, but it may 
be considered new until growers are gen¬ 
erally well acquainted with it. Success, 
now about 10 years before the public, is 
largely replacing Michel in this locality 
for first early. It makes a strong, healthy 
plant, and has abundant perfect blooms, 
acting well as a pollenizer for other kinds. 
The berries are bright red and shapelv 
and generally of fair size. Their earli¬ 
ness and attractive appearance seldom 
fails to secure a good price. With fair 
culture it is a reliable cropper, the only 
defect being lack of sufficient firmness 
for shipment. 
Glen Mary comes next, and is steadily 
growing in favor for the large size and 
quick maturity of the berries. They are 
often rough in form, and the quality is 
by no means as good as Success, but 
they are presentable when boxed, and sell 
readily on account of their early season. 
“Good money” is realized from Glen 
Mary, and the acreage is being much in¬ 
creased. The plants have the accommo¬ 
dating habit of spacing themselves about 
the proper distance apart, without undue 
crowding, thus rendering it easy to care 
for old beds. While classed as stam- 
inate or perfect in flower it does not ap¬ 
pear to produce more pollen than is need¬ 
ed for its own fruits, and is therefore of 
little value for planting with pistillate 
kinds. Glen Mary plants are much in 
demand, and dealers suffer from a chron¬ 
ic shortage of them. 
New York or McKinley is consider¬ 
ably grown, and furnishes some good 
pickings of very large, mild-flavored ber¬ 
ries, greatly liked by consumers afraid 
of the ordinary acid varieties. New York 
requires liberal treatment to bring out 
its good points. The berries lack firm¬ 
ness, and rapidly fall off in size as the 
season lengthens. The plant is healthy 
and vigorous. Suited only for home 
trade, and not regarded as productive 
enough to be highly profitable. 
William Belt gains friends among 
consumers as well as growers. Properly 
handled it is a most attractive and de¬ 
licious berry, sprightly, rich but quite as 
free from irritating acids as New York. 
Where the name is known to consumers 
a real demand for well-ripened Belts soon 
occurs. There appears good confirmation 
of the claim that invalids can eat this 
berry with less discomfort than most 
other kinds. In this locality the foliage 
is healthy, and the plants are the heaviest 
all-season croppers we know. Though 
classed as a main-crop variety, if a fair 
breadth is planted one may have luscious 
berries, early, midseason and late. The 
perfect blooms have pollen to spare for 
pistillates planted near by. 
President is growing in favor where 
liberal culture is practiced. The plant is 
vigorous at fruiting time and ripens its 
great berries to perfection, but does not 
always make runners freely, and some¬ 
times fails aft:r bearing. Best success is 
had from setting strong August layers 
that make good stools and bear well for 
two successive seasons if properly cared 
for. The blooms are pistillate and re¬ 
quire the near presence of good pollenizers 
blooming at the same time, such as 
William Belt and Nic. Ohmer. When 
well done no berry makes a finer market 
appearance or realizes better prices. The 
table quality is not of the highest, but 
its great size and beauty win favor with 
consumers. Is likely to be increasingly 
grown by those seeking fancy markets. 
The Profitable Gandy. —Gandy is 
still the leading late strawberry with 
growers having rich, moist soil. It is 
not productive on light land, and is sel¬ 
dom a heavy cropper even under favor¬ 
able circumstances, but the lateness, firm¬ 
ness and attractive finish of the berries 
command attention in both home and dis¬ 
tant markets. The quality is well known 
to be acid and is occasionally astringent, 
but is tolerated by consumers, and the 
variety is highly favored by dealers, as the 
berries will stand up and look well longer 
than those of any other kind grown here¬ 
about. The bloom is perfect and the 
variety a good plant-maker. The only 
trouble with Gandy from the grower’s 
standpoint is that there are never enough 
berries. 
New Home was introduced last year 
from Maryland. It should replace Gandy 
if the disseminator’s claims hold good in 
localities other than that of its origin. Here 
the berries are late and firm, but distaste¬ 
fully sour, and average small in size. The 
plant, under our conditions, is by no 
means as vigorous as Gandy, but may im¬ 
prove in future seasons. The blooms are 
perfect and have abundant pollen. 
Mead, from Massachusetts, is a most 
attractive variety, bearing a profuse crop 
of well-formed bright-red glossy berries, 
of agreeable quality, mostly of good size. 
The blooms are perfect, and most abun¬ 
dantly borne, while the plants are pic¬ 
tures of perfect health and vigor, making 
a satisfactory number of runners. 
Bubach is still grown for market by 
those knowing how to meet its require¬ 
ments. Marshall and Sharpless are little 
cultivated outside, but much used for 
forcing under glass. 
Work of tile Rose Beetle. —Fig. 232, 
page 567, is not intended to represent a 
crude attempt at skeletonizing leaves, but 
instead shows one of the trying features 
of the Rose beetle’s activity. Almost 
every leaf on the young cherry tree from 
which the specimen was picked, was rid¬ 
dled in the same way and a most serious 
check to growth thus administered. Most 
of the small crop of cherries was also 
eaten, 10 to 15 beetles clinging to a single 
fruit during the process. As only the 
leaf pulp is usually eaten, the ribs being 
largely spared, the leaves do not readily 
fall, but make a brave attempt to live 
on. Three weeks after the injury most 
of the ragged foliage is still on the tree, 
but is yielding to the heat of the sun. 
Most of the ribs are still green, but the 
leaves must soon wither and fall, while 
a new growth pushes from the terminals, 
of course at the expense of any possible 
crop next year. Prof. Felt, page 541, 
recommends, with little enthusiasm, ar¬ 
senate of lead for this pest. It would 
require a deal of arsenate to carry a tree 
or plant through the late ordeal of Rose 
beetles. They surrounded the trees like 
swarming bees for days during the flight, 
hundreds of newcomers visibly arriving 
every hour. _ w. v. f. 
The small boy had just smoked his 
first cigar. “Boss,” he gasped, with a 
troubled look, “w-where^was dat cigar 
made?” “That cigar, my lad,” replied 
the man who had given him the weed, 
“was made in Santo Domingo.” “Gee! 
I thought so.” “Why did you think so?” 
“It—it started a half a dozen revolutions 
in me stomach.”—Chicago News. 
THE OLD STRAWBERRY BED. 
I have had considerable experience in 
working out old strawberry beds. It all 
depends on the condition of the ground 
as to best method to pursue. If there is 
plenty of rain, so the ground is moist, 
I like to back-furrow, then cultivate the 
narrow strip left often, also work over 
with hoe and get all grass and weeds out, 
and the berry plants will make a nice 
growth and produce a good crop the fol¬ 
lowing season. If the season is dry I 
prefer to use cultivator alone. You can 
by going back and forth work out the 
old plants, and leave a narrow strip of 
plants, say 10 or 12 inches wide and con¬ 
tinue to work as you would on the fur¬ 
row plan. While I would not advise 
keeping a bed more than two years, I 
have had good success with a bed for 
three and four years. If the season is 
dry use spike-tooth harrow crossways 
and then roll down with a heavy roller. 
Rolling is very essential in a new straw¬ 
berry bed the season through, especially 
between the rows. h. e. Wallace. 
Indiana. _ 
How to Blanch Celery. 
A. K., Kemblesville, Pa .—Will you explain 
the method of blanching celery without 
banking with earth? 
Ans. —Growing and blanching celery is 
comparatively easy to what it used to be 
some years ago. The newer methods and 
new varieties have, to a great extent, 
simplified its culture and rendered very 
easy what in former years was a labor¬ 
ious and awkward task. Where celery 
is grown for market the self-bleaching 
varieties are used almost to the entire ex¬ 
clusion of all others. Good plants are 
about the first and most important thing 
in celery culture. One-half of the crop 
is grown when we have large, healthy 
plants to set in July. Those who have 
had a long experience in growing celery 
will, I am sure, agree with me that the 
average quality of celery plants sold by 
many growers and planted by amateurs is 
rather poor, and usually a disappoint¬ 
ment to the planter, who is looking for¬ 
ward to fine well-grown celery. Blanch¬ 
ing celery by means of boards is the 
best and most practical method we have 
yet found, and is coming more and more 
in favor with the progressive market 
gardener. When the celery has grown 
to a proper size the plants are handed up 
in the usual way; that is, to draw all the 
stalks together in one hand and firm the 
soil around the base of the plant with the 
other. When this is done set 10-inch 
hemlock boards on edge against the rows 
from each side. They are held in this 
position by tying a string around each 
end of the two boards, and one in the 
center. One set of boards will of course 
bleach from 14 to 16 feet of row, or 
about 25 plants. For a succession the 
boards should be placed in such position 
every few days, in proportion, of course, 
to the quantity that is wanted for use. 
By this method you can bleach celery 
beautifully in two or three weeks, and as 
in no other way. t. m. white. 
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Write for Special Waterworks 
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Samples sent 
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Sold only in 
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PITTSBURG, PENN. 
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Self-contained, simple, light, pract¬ 
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Steam Engines 
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THE BOSS POTATO DIGGER 
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Corning, N. Y. 
