February 9, 
108 
T11E RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Pluralisms • 
• W WW W WWW W V ▼ 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Tiif. Gloomiest Ever. —Winter gloom 
and darkness is a climatic feature always 
anticipated and discounted by glasshouse 
gardeners in northern latitudes, but the 
current season appears to have broken all 
records for sustained dreariness. The 
deficiency of average seasonal sunlight be¬ 
gan in early Autumn, and with the ex¬ 
ception of a single week of brilliant wea 
tlier in November there has been almost 
continual murkiness, depressing the vi¬ 
tality of growing plants to a most un¬ 
usual degree, weakening blooms, causing 
them to come off-color, with lank and 
sappy stems, and sharply curtailing the 
output. Vegetable growers are having a 
particularly trying time in getting cucum¬ 
ber and tomato blooms to set. In fact, 
the majority of blooms failed to advance 
even to the stage of pollination, but with¬ 
ered without opening. This shortage is 
reflected in higher quotations for glass¬ 
house products, but increased prices do 
not in every instance compensate for 
such light crops. The few clear days 
we have had between weeks of dullness 
found indoor plants so tender that espe¬ 
cial care was needed in watering and 
ventilation to keep them from flagging. 
Modern greenhouse construction seeks a 
maximum of lighting surface, as we can 
well control heat and moisture, but must 
depend on natural conditions for light. 
Fairly successful experiments have been 
made from time to time with artificial 
lights to tide over the dreary season of 
short days and frequent storms. Elec¬ 
tric illumination in the form of arc lights 
outside the glass and incandescent globes 
within were advocated some years ago. 
and the former used near Boston with a 
claim of commercial success by a practi¬ 
cal greenhouse lettuce grower. MJore 
recent trials at Cornell Experiment Sta¬ 
tion show that acetylene affords a light 
more congenial to plant life, and there is 
promise that this means of illumination 
may economically be used in the depths 
of 'Winter for glasshouse leaf and root 
crops, such as lettuce or radishes, though 
probably not foi fruits or flowers. 
Fruits Not Harmed. —Although the 
Winter has so far been mild as well as 
dull and humid, fruit buds appear quite 
dormant,' and in condition to withstand 
quite low temperatures should they oc¬ 
cur. The always excitable buds of apri¬ 
cots and Japan plums show some swell¬ 
ing, but peach buds arc still firm. Cer¬ 
tain ornamentals, especially those na¬ 
tive to the Orient, have been stimulated 
into premature growth. Japan quinces 
show swollen buds, while the Chinese 
honeysuckle, which often drops its foli¬ 
age with the new year, is not only rankly 
green this year, but has even made new 
growths of an inch or so during the 
warm and rainy weeks of early January. 
Crimson clover has also visibly grown, 
though frequently disturbed by short 
freezes. Strawberries and herbaceous 
plants generally are in fine condition. 
Some Goon New Deutzias.— Deutzias 
are highly ornamental shrubs, fairly hardy 
in the Northern Atlantic States, but not 
reliable in the prairie regions. There are 
something over 15 species, all, with a sin¬ 
gle Mexican exception, natives of eastern 
Asia. The largest and perhaps the most 
showy is Deutzia scabna, a bold shrub 
growing quite eight feet high in good soil, 
tfi« white or peach-colored flowers liter¬ 
ally smothering the branches in late June. 
A superior form with larger, somewhat 
laciniated blooms, is catalogued by nurs¬ 
erymen as D. crcnata, and several double- 
flowered forms of the latter, varying in 
color from white to rose and purple, are 
also offered. The gem of these is prob¬ 
ably Pride of Rochester, raised by F.ll- 
wanger & Barry, Rochester, N. Y. The 
very profuse double blooms are of the 
largest size, white, tinged with rose, and 
open about a week earlier than the other 
sorts. Deutzia Sieboldiana and D. parvi- 
flora are less well known but distinct and 
.handsome, both with small white flowers 
with spreading petals. Sieboldiana sel¬ 
dom grows more than two feet high, and 
carries its blooms in spreading panicles, 
while Parviflora often reaches six feet in 
height and disposes its flowers in dense 
flat corymbs. D. discolor is nearly as 
tall growing as D. scabra, occasionally 
reaching six or seven feet high. 1 he nu¬ 
merous flowers are bell-shaped, pink and 
while in color. The shade of red deepens 
to purple in the better-known variety. D. 
discolor purpurascens, which has been 
successfully used in breeding charming 
new rose-flowered hybrids with the dwarf 
and lovely Deutzia gracilis, so widely ap¬ 
preciated, both for garden decoration 
and Winter forcing. D. gracilis forms a 
rounded shrub seldom over three feet 
high, with drooping branches that are 
covered in June with racemes of pure 
white lily-of-the-valley-like flowers. It 
is the earliest of the genus to bloom, and 
would be even more generally planted if 
the flowers were not so often destroyed 
by Rose beetles. 
Hybrid Deutzias. —Quite a number of 
hybrid Deutzias have been put in com¬ 
merce during the last 10 years by the Le- 
moine nursery, Nancy, France. About 
all tested in this country have turned out 
meritorious acquisitions. The first was 
named Deutzia Lemoinei, and claimed to 
be the result of crossing D. gracilis' with 
D. parviflora. The pure white flowers are 
borne on strong rather upright branches 
in the. greatest profusion. While less 
dwarf in habit than D. gracilis, it is high¬ 
ly decorative outside, and has proved en¬ 
tirely hardy on the Rural Grounds. It is 
well liked by florists and is used in in¬ 
creasing quantity for pot culture under 
glass. The blooms open well at com¬ 
paratively low temperatures, and the flow¬ 
ering time is readily hastened by increased 
heat, so that it is a very manageable sub¬ 
ject. A dwarfer and more compact form 
having the same general character but 
more useful for glasshouse blooming has 
been disseminated under the naipe of D. 
Lemoinei compacta. Other hybrids of the 
Lemoinei type and of similar parentage arc 
D. gracilis venusta, a medium-sized shrub 
with large white Azalea-formed flowers, 
probably the largest of this type, and I). 
Lemoinei Avalanche, rather erect in form 
and covered, as the name indicates, when 
in bloom with a bank of snow-white 
blossoms. The union of Gracilis with 
Discolor purpurascens has rewarded the 
Messrs. Lcmoine with an especially dis¬ 
tinct lot of hybrids, with large, bell-shaped 
flowers with predominating rose and pink 
colors. The best known in this country 
are D. campanulata, with nearly white, 
broadly bell-shaped blooms, and D. gra¬ 
cilis rosea, with smaller rose-colored 
blooms. More recent and highly promis¬ 
ing varieties arc D. discolor grandiflora, 
with the largest flowers of all, quite an 
inch in diameter, light pink with a deep¬ 
er shade on the reverse of the petals. 
Deutzia kalmiseflora, with clusters of pink 
flowers, disposed in broad clusters like 
our Mountain laurel, is highly spoken of 
abroad, and D. Fleur de Pommier (Apple- 
blossom) is also regarded as particularly 
choice. New varieties are issued every 
year by this enterprising nursery, but they 
are slow in finding their way to this coun¬ 
try. Plants of Deutzia species, varieties, 
and of some of the older hybrids are 
generally offered by nurserymen at 25 to 
50 cents each. 
Home-Grown Seedlings. —The Rural 
Grounds’ experimenters have grown quite 
a number of Deutzias from hybridized 
seeds, chiefly from the species so success¬ 
fully used in France. Some attractive 
varieties have appeared, but too closely 
imitate the foreign kinds, with the excep¬ 
tion of one seedling of Lemoinei pollinat¬ 
ed with D. parviflora, which appears es¬ 
pecially suitable for cutting and general 
florists’ uses. It forms at five years from 
the seed a low bush, scarcely two feet 
high, covered in mid-June with long, fea¬ 
thery panicles of cream-white flowers, big. 
'11, page 10.1, rather unsuccessfully repre¬ 
sents a blooming branch. 1’he individual 
blooms are nearest in form to those of 
1). parviflora, hut disposed in such an open 
and feathciy manner as to render it highly 
decorative and useful for cutting. There 
is little of the compact, cone-like arrange¬ 
ment of D. Lemoinei, and not a trace of 
the flat corymb of 1). parviflora. The 
panicles are more numerous and extend 
further down the branches than those of 
any Deutzia we know, thus greatly in¬ 
creasing the decorative effect. w. v. F. 
THE “KANT-KLOG” SPRAYERS 
Somethlnn New. Gets twice the results with* ame labor 
and fluid. F lat or round, fine or coarse sprays from same 
Nozzle. Ten styles. For trees, vines, 
vegetables, whitewashing, etc. 
Agents 
C\ .rid J MTK 1 Wanted. 
I y ®°°* c * ets ace. 
I Rochester Spray Pump Co., 16 East Ava., Rochester, N. T, 
SAVE YOUR TREES 
from the Ravage of SAN JOSE, COTTON V 
MAFLE SCALE, PSYM-A, Kte. 
all you need is 
“SCALEC1DE,” Water, 
Simple, more effective and cheaper than LIME, 
SULPHUR and SALT. 
For sample, testimonials and price delivered 
at your Railroad station, address Dept. A. 
B.O. Pratt Co., XI Broadway, New York.N.Y. 
Big Crops of Corn 
can be depended upon from land 
that has been liberally fertilized 
with a complete fertilizer contain¬ 
ing 3 j / 2 % nitrogen, 8 % available 
phosphoric acid and 9% 
Potash 
Just how and why 9% of Potash 
is necessary our booklet will show. 
GERMAN KALI WORKS 
93 Nassau Street, New York 
GALVANIZED IRON SPOUTS ARE 
TREE KILLERS. 
They should not be used. Let me send you 
a free sample 
GRIMM SAP SPOUT 
Which is guaranteed to produce one-fourtli 
more sup, with less Injury lo the tree than any 
other or no sale. 
Grimm Spouts per¬ 
mit p-actical ream¬ 
ing and use of a 
practical B u c k e t 
Cover. I make 
l!rii;lit Charcoal 
2 oUe C ak : at the^ame < irimm S ( l \ out f N °‘ , 5 ' 
price as leaky Coke with or without hook. 
Tin Cans. Also 
Evaporators and all first-class maple sugar making 
utensils. Order now from dealers or direct. 
Ask for print K G. H. GIUMM, Rutland. Vt» 
Spray Your Fruit Trees 
AND VINES 
Destroy the fungi and worms, 
and dins he sure of large yields of 
perfect fruit. 
Excelsior Spraying 
Outfits and 
Prepared Mixtures 
t are used in large orchards 
and highly endorsed by suc¬ 
cessful growers. Write for our 
money-saving catalog, which also 
contains a full treatise on spraying 
Fruit and Vegetable crops. 
WM. STAHL SI'KAYEK CO., 
Box ?«-!», Quincy, 111. 
GET THE BEST 
DESTROY 
SAN JOSE 
SCALE 
before it destroys your trees. The 
0110 absolutely sure way to eradicate 
this nest entirely is by using 8 ALI¬ 
MINE—the best, safest, cheapest, 
concentrated spray on the market. 
The original 
TRADE 
SALIMINE 
MARK 
istlio result of ton years "At H" and 
"Know How.” It is a Lime, Salt, Sul¬ 
phur, and Caustic l’otnsh solution. 
Recognized by all experimental sta¬ 
tions as the best insecticide for thor¬ 
oughly eradicating scale. One gallon 
mixed with cold water makes 20 gal¬ 
lons of the standard solution. Write 
to-day for freo circular with prices. 
Monmouth Chemical Works 
Dept. A. SHREWSBURY, N. J. 
A Good Spray Pump earns big 
profits and lasts for years. 
THE ECLIPSE 
is a good pump. As 
(practical fruit growers 
we were using common 
sprayers in our own orchards 
-—found their defects and 
invented the Eclipse. Its 
success forced us to manu¬ 
facturing on a large scale. 
You take no chances. We 
have done all the experi¬ 
menting. Large fully illustrated Catalog and 
Treatise on spraying FREE. 
MORRILL & MORl.EY, Benton Harbor, Mich. 
■ •—-. 111 *■’’ 
MAPLE EVAPORATORS 
Most Durable, Most Economical, Cheapest 
Syrup Cans ami Sap l’alls. 
McLANE-SCHANCK HDW. CO., LinesvIHe, Pa. 
It Is Worth Whilo 
Buy a machine that does the 
work right—that cleans its strainer 
automatically with a brush, mixes liquid 
mechanically bo that foliage 1 b never 
burned, but gets its duo proportion. 
EMPIRE KING, and 
ORCHARD MONARCH 
do those things. They throw fluent spray, 
are easiest to work and they never dog. 
You ought to know more about them. Write 
for instruct ion book on spraying, formulas, 
etc. Mailed free. 
K11CI.I> FORCE FI Ml* CO., No. S311 til ML,Elmira, N.Y. 
Also, Mfn. of the “Sunlight” Acetylene Gas Machlnrh 
/^Save Your Trees>v 
Kill Sar. Jose Scale and otlu*r dostructivo 
parasites with a spraying solution of 
Good’s 0 mlSSif'Soap No. 3 
Sure death to Insects. No sulphur, salt , 
mineral oils, or any substance harmful to 
plant life. Endorsed by U. S. Department 
of Agriculture. Rocket Manual of cause, 
treatment and cure of tree diseases, free. 
Write to-day. JAMES GOOD, Original 
Maker. 945 North Front St., Philadelphia. 
The man behind 
the Planet 
knows it takes more work off his hands, and makes him do better gardening, than 
any other garden implement made. Resides, Planet Jr. Seeders, Wheel Hoes, and 
Cultivators are well made and they are guaranteed — no other maker uses such 
materials or puts such work into hh> tools. Elalf a million users know how long 
they last. 
The New No. 6 Planet Jr. Combination Hill and Drill Seeder, Wheel 
Hoe, Cultivator and Plow is a whole set of the strongest and most useful 
garden tools ever turned out. It saves your time, labor and seed and runs easily 
in any soil. Does the work of three to six men, and does it far better. Opens 
the furrow, sows any kind of garden secu accurately iu drills or in hjlls 4 , 6 , 
8 , 12 or 24 inches apart, covers, rolls the ground and marks out 
the next row — all at one operation. As Wheel Hoe, Cultivator, 
or Plow it adapts itself to every kind of crop, and is used ali 
through the season. 
We are glad to scud anybody interested, our New Catalogue 
showing many scenes of successful gardening and 1907 Planet Jr 
implements—Seeders, WhceT Hoes, Horse Hoes, One- and Two-Horse 
Riding Cultivators, Harrows, Orchard- and Beet-Cultivators —45 kinds it) all. 
Even if you have a Planet Jr. send for the 1907 catalogue and see the new 
things. Write today. 
S. L. Allen & Co., Box M07-vPhiladelphia, P«. 
