64 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 26, 
; Ruralisms [ 
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NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Blue and White Day Lilies. —The 
blue and white clay lilies, or preferably 
Plantain lilies, are better' known than 
most of the Hemerocallis or yellow day 
lilies, mentioned last week. They are in¬ 
cluded in the genus Funkia, and are na¬ 
tives of Japan. There are six or more 
species and a few garden varieties, but 
no intentional hybrids appear to be 
known. They have thick, broad, plantain¬ 
like leaves, very different from the 
grassy foliage of Hemerocallis, and tall 
racemes of white, blue and purple flowers 
that open in the day and close at night. 
The best-known kind, common in door- 
yards throughout the long-settled parts 
of the country is probably the Orange- 
scented plantain lily, Funkia subcordata. 
It forms a handsome, symmetrical clump 
of foliage 18 to 20 inches high, with 
man" racemes of large, sweet-scented, 
waxy, white flowers in midsummer. It 
is a stately plant, hardy and long-lived, 
making fine specimens for growing 
along walks, drives and in angles of 
buildings. F. ovata also forms a hand¬ 
some foliage clump. 1 he leaves are large 
and well formed, disposed with much 
symmetry and of a pleasing, glistening 
g r reen co'lor, The blooms are numerous, 
deep blue in color and carried on rather 
tall stems. It is very common in culti¬ 
vation, and is highly regarded. F. Sie- 
boldiana and F. Fortune! are very much 
alike. Both are fine plants, of vigorous 
growth, and have pale lilac or bluish 
flowers, that in F. Sieboldiana do not 
rise much above the foliage, which has a 
silvery tinge. Fortunei is much more 
commonly grown by -nurserymen, and is 
often catalogued under the name of Sie¬ 
boldiana. F. lancifolia is a narrow-leaved 
species of considerable merit, with lilac 
flowers. The type is seldom seen except 
in botanic gardens, but a pretty dwarf 
variety with wavy, white-margined foli¬ 
age is sold under the name of F. undu- 
lata picta, and occasionally a white-mar¬ 
gined form of F. ovata is offered under 
the trade designation of Thomas Hogg. 
A much larger and later-blooming vari- 
etv of the latter species, with white- 
marked foliage, is announced as a fine 
novelty and named Robusta elegans vari- 
egata. 
The Funkias were formerly included 
in the genus Hemerocallis, but are quite 
distinct botanically as well as horticultur- 
ally, though both genera are included in 
the great family of Liliaceae. It is well 
to keep the distinction' in mind, when 
speaking of Day lilies, that the yellow 
ones all have narrow, grassy foliage and 
belong to the genus Hemerocallis, while 
the white and blue ones have broader 
plaintain-shaped leaves and are known as 
Funkias. 
Persian Walnut in the North. —The 
Persian or Royal walnut, Juglans regia, 
is persistently called English walnut in 
this country, possibly because the early 
imported nuts or trees may have come 
from England, but, as a matter of fact’, 
it rarely thrives well and only sparingly 
fruits in Great Britain, while it is abun¬ 
dantly cultivated throughout Southern 
Europe and Eastern Asia, being native 
to the latter continent. The Persian wal¬ 
nut has been naturalized in this country 
for more than a century, but has rarely 
proved hardv north of the latitude of 
New York City. Occasional frees appear 
to be exceptions to the general rule, and 
attain great size, bearing heavily for 
many years, only to have the tops cut 
back* by unusually severe freezes. This 
does not always destroy the tree, which 
may again bear well when sufficient wood 
is grown. We know of many such trees 
in the Middle Atlantic States and have 
invariably found the nuts of fine quality, 
though generally smaller and with thick¬ 
er shells than the French or California- 
grown specimens. Additional hardiness 
appears to be developed in seedlings from 
native-grown trees, and at least two 
promising native eastern varieties have 
lately been developed. One is the Rush, 
described in The R. N.-Y. for May 1”, 
1905. It is a large, thrifty and appar¬ 
ently hardy tree that originated in cen¬ 
tral Pennsylvania, and is claimed to be 
highly productive. The nuts are of fair 
size, sweet and rich in quality, and with 
shells thin enough to crack by compres¬ 
sion in the hand. The other is t’he Nor¬ 
man Pomeroy, raised in Niagara County, 
N. Y., from a nut borne 'by a tree in 
Philadelphia, Pa. It appears to be the 
only Persian walnut successfully grown 
so far north. The nut was planted in 
1876, and the tree has withstood without 
harm many severe Winters, notably that 
of 1901-2,'when nearby peach trees and 
grapevines were killed. It is claimed to 
be late-blooming, the staminate and pis¬ 
tillate blooms maturing together in June, 
thus greatly lessening danger of frost, 
and ensuring better self-pollenizat'ion. 
'1 he staminate blooms, or catkins, of 
many Persian walnuts precede the pistil- 
lates by several days. I his does not pre¬ 
vent pollination, as the pollen is in some 
way preserved, probably by being caught 
on the foliage, and generally reaches the 
stigmas, but some frees, at least, seem 
nearly or quite barren unless they receive 
pollen from other trees blooming more 
nearly at the same-time. The wood of 
the Norman Pomeroy ripens well before 
Winter, which may account for its unus¬ 
ual hardiness, and the propagated trees 
are claimed to come into bearing at’ an 
early age. The nut is larger than the 
average of eastern varieties, and of very 
good flavor, having received a gold medal 
for quality at the Buffalo Pan-American 
Exposition. It would appear that with 
the aid of this northern variety Persian 
walnut culture may be extended to or 
above the Canadian border. 1 rees are 
offered by -the originator. Norman Pom¬ 
eroy, Lockport, N. Y. \ he fine quality 
of nuts borne by acclimated seedling Per¬ 
sian walnut trees in the. East has always 
been a mafter of surprise to the writer. 
We have had a few nuts too small and 
thick-shelled to be marketable, but the 
kernels of all we have tried have been 
of more agreeable flavor that those of 
the best imported or California nuts. 
Important Industry in California.— 
Persian walnut culture is well known as 
a rather extensive and highly profitable 
industry in California and Oregon, it 
thriving splendidly near the Pacific coast. 
The varieties most in favor appear to be 
Mayette and Franquette, large, showy 
French kinds, though some new ones of 
local origin are attaining prominence. 
These are also large, showy nuts with 
thin shells and generally plump kernels, 
just right in appearance for market and 
confectioners’ uses, but often with too 
great astringency for pleasant eating. 
The imported nuts from southern Europe 
are very much of the same characfer. 
As our eastern varieties are of better 
quality to discerning tastes there should 
be pleasure, even if no great profit, 
in cautiously testing some of the more 
hardy kinds of promise. 
Astilbe Davidi is a new hardy plant of 
great promise from Western China. It 
is closely allied to the long-known pink- 
flowered* herbaceous “Spiraea,” Astilbe 
Chinensis, but differs in much taller 
growth, reaching five or six feet high 
when established in rich, moist soil, and 
in later blooming, as well as the color 
of the massive inflorescence, which is 
rosy purple with blue anthers^ in Davidi 
and light pink in Chinensis. 1 he plants 
are absolutely hardy, needing no protec¬ 
tion but their own feathery foliage, which 
dies down in Winter, as in all species of 
the genus. The. bloom heads, which are 
often nearly two feet long, appear in late 
July, after the Rose beetles, which in¬ 
variably disfigure the flowers of other 
Astilbes in this locality, are gone. They 
are very showy, and are carried in a 
noticeaby erect manner. The foliage re¬ 
tains its decorative appearances until late 
in Autumn. This excellent novelty, as 
well as other members of the genus, may 
be easily grown in every garden, but ap¬ 
pears to best advantage when planted in 
rich soil. Tt is so hardy and apparently 
long-lived that it should readily find fa¬ 
vor. Strong plants cost at present about 
50 cents each. It seeds with some free¬ 
dom, and may readily be increased in 
this manner or bv division of the clumps 
in Spring or Fall. We grew 126 plants 
from one packet' of seeds, purchased in 
1905 for 60 cents. They bloomed mag¬ 
nificently last Summer, and will doubt¬ 
less increase in strength and beauty for 
manv years. Astilbes for garden pur¬ 
poses are generally considered as herba¬ 
ceous Spiraeas, and are frequently cata¬ 
logued under that name. w. v. F. 
lumber or saw wood, make lath or 
shingles, or work lumber in any form, you should 
know all about our improved 
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All sizes Saw Mills. Planers, Edgers, Trimmers, Lath 
-Mills, Shingle Mills etc. Complete line wood 
working machinery. Catalogue tree. 
American Saw Mill Mch’y. Co. 
129 Hope St., Hackettstown, N. J., 
6 I 0 Engineering Bldg., New York Clty« 
/'•Save Y our T rees^ 
Kill Sar. Jose Scale and other destructive 
parasites with a spraying solution of 
Good’s Cs "yl t aS>T"Soap Ho. 3 
Sure death to insects. No sulphur, salt, 
mineral oils, or any substance harmful to 
plant life. Endorsed by II. S. Department 
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treatment and cure of tree diseases, free. 
Write to-day. •* AME8 GOOD, Original 
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U Soluble 
Petroleum 
p»m “SCALEC1DE 
If YOU will guarantee to cover the 
SAN JOSE SCALE, 
WE will guarantee to kill it without injury to the 
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uater. For particulars and circular, address Dept. A, 
li. G. PRATT CO., 11 Broadway, New YorK. 
GET THE BEST 
A Good Spray Pump earns big 
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THE ECLIPSE 
is a good pump. As 
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we were using common 
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-—found their defects and 
invented the Eclipse. Its 
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When you write advertisers mention The 
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.. 
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SAN JOSt 
SCALE 
before it destroys your trees. The 
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The original 
trade 
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Recognized by all experimental sta¬ 
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Monmouth Chemical Works 
Dept. A. SHREWSBURY, N. J. 
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NIAGARA AUTOMATIC PUMP 
• Hydraulic Ham) 
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DRAG SAWS 
Hand and self feed,adapted to 
►team or gasoline engine or 
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HARDER MEG. CO., Capacity 30 to 50 cords a day. 
Box 11, Cobleskill, N. Y. Send for circular. 
THE “KANT-KLOG” SPRAYERS 
Something New. Gets twice the results with* aine labor 
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Agents 
J Wanted. 
\ f Booklets free. 
Rochester Spray Pu 
Rochester, I. Y. 
H Is Worth While 
Bny a machine that docs the 
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EMPIRE KING, and 
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■> 
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m*?. 
A 
Mm 
: , 
\ 
mm 
$ m 
I 
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