446 
June 1, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Burbank’s Spinelbss Cacti.— Luther 
Burkank, the California plant breeder, 
has issued a descriptive price list of his 
new spineless Opuntias and also offers a 
selection of the older commercial vari¬ 
eties from which his hybrids have been 
developed. Opuntia is probably the most 
interesting genus of the large cactus 
family, including the Indian fig and 
Mexican Tuna, both long regarded as 
valuable for fruit and forage in the arid 
or semi-tropical regions in which they 
grow. Mr. Burbank’s new productions 
are priced at from $1,000 to $10,000 eacla 
for stock and control, according to the 
supposed merit of the variety. 1 here is 
no novelty in spineless Opuntias, certain 
varieties having been known for geneia- 
tions, but Mr. Burbank claims to have 
made improvements sufficient to war¬ 
rant the prices demanded. Opuntias grow 
naturally in localities subject to prolonged 
drouths. They have been adapted by nature 
to resist aridity that would destroy most 
other plants, and are defended from con¬ 
stant attack of herbivorous animals bv 
their armor of spines and spicules. I bus 
a great store of succulent forage of low, 
but available food value, accumulates to 
be utilized in times of stress, for starving 
cattle, provided the spines are sufficiently 
removed to permit the animals to con¬ 
sume it. This is done by slashing with 
knives, pulping by machinery or singeing 
by fire, usually in the form of a gasoline 
flame. Thousands of cattle have been 
tided over disastrous drouths in the arid 
Southwest by the free use of the wild 
growth of pear or prickly pear, as the 
spiny Opuntias and smaller cacti are 
locally termed, and in the African and 
Mediterranean countries in which Opuntias 
have been extensively naturalized, they 
have been regularly used, after prepara¬ 
tion, as cattle food for more than 50 
years. Under the ameliorating effects of 
cultivation, varieties nearly or quite free 
from spines and spicules appear and may 
freely be increased by cutting to any de¬ 
sired limit, but they require in all stages 
of growth, protection from herbivorous 
animals. They must be fenced in even 
from the wild rabbits that abound in our 
grazing districts, and cared for practically 
in the manner of all forage crops, if they 
are to be grown at all. In consideration 
of its limited nutritive value—cactus con¬ 
taining 95 per cent, water as against <9 
in green corn stover, our soggiest rough- 
age, it may well be doubted whether the 
culture of even the smoothest Opuntia is 
likely to be profitable. However, the idea 
of developing the latent possibilities of 
the cactus family, almost exclusively an 
American group of plants, by systematic 
breeding is an excellent one and credit is 
due Mr. Burbank for undertaking it. 
The Backward Season. —The char¬ 
acter of the present season is so self-evi¬ 
dent in all northern localities as to call 
for little comment. If not a record-break¬ 
er everywhere for unseasonable chilliness 
and delay, it surely is in many places. 
While we have escaped disastrous frosts 
up to May 15, vegetation has been most 
unfavorably affected by the almost con¬ 
stant cold and gloom, and appears weeks 
behind its usual development at this date. 
Peaches, Japan plums and Oriental pears 
bloomed without the benefit of bees, as the 
air was too cold during the brief inter¬ 
vals of sunshine for the flight of winged 
insects. None was observed at any time 
about the flowers, but cherries and Euro¬ 
pean pears had a favorable visitation of 
these insect friends during the transient 
warm wave of May 14. Apples are still 
practically in bud, only a few exposed 
clusters of bloom having opened. There 
will be a good opportunity to observe 
how well or ill our fruit blossoms can 
get along without insect pollination. 1 
There is an overpowering bloom on 
Kieffer pears and it will doubtless be well 
if only a fraction of the flowers set fruit. 
Many peach and plum buds were killed by 
cold and there is doubtless a further re¬ 
duction from the free use of scale ex¬ 
terminators, but enough remains to give 
a fair crop under ordinarily favorable 
after conditions. Apple blooms are gen¬ 
erally scattering and not too plentiful, yet 
there is still promise of a tolerable crop. 
Blackberries and raspberries were much 
harmed by Winter. The greatest loss ap¬ 
pears among the fat, thick canes of vig¬ 
orous raspberries, even of the hardiest 
standard kinds, small, thin canes, often in 
the same stools, came through in far bet¬ 
ter condition, probably from their more 
thorough maturity. The Ward blackber¬ 
ry comes out unharmed in the Rural 
Grounds, showing up better than even 
Snyder and Taylor. The Lucretia dew¬ 
berry is gaining in local favor on ac¬ 
count of the ready acceptance of the ber¬ 
ries in our markets and it is found its li¬ 
ability to Winter injury is much lessened 
by the ever ready natural mulch of crab 
grass, which makes a far safer covering 
than earth, manure or litter, as it protects 
from frost without sheltering mice or 
other destructive rodents. Currants are 
so generally injured by scale as to be 
going out of cultivation and gooseberries 
are correspondingly gaining in favor, as 
they appear practically immune to its at¬ 
tacks. Gooseberry bloom is profuse and 
the foliage finds the cold and dull weather 
quite congenial. Strawberries are scarce¬ 
ly in bloom. A few early fields were in¬ 
jured by the freezes of May 11 and 12, 
but the greatest majority of plantings do 
not yet have their buds sufficiently ad¬ 
vanced to be in danger from ordinary 
frosts. The plants generally wintered well 
but have been most abnormally slow in 
starting. Potatoes, corn and early vegeta¬ 
bles planted weeks ago are slowly coming 
up, but meet such chill reception that lit¬ 
tle progress is made. High prices rule 
in glasshouse products, but they are 
needed to meet the cost of continued fuel 
consumption. Seedsmen are gloomy on 
account of interrupted sales. Amateurs 
do not care to plant this wintry season 
and the usual garden appropriation is 
likely to be carried over and used for 
Summer vacation. Nurserymen, however, 
find this weather more to their liking, as 
it has wonderfully extended their ship¬ 
ping period. _ W. v. F. 
Why Grapevines Fair to Bear. —I no¬ 
tice G. B. P., page 170, lias grapevines which 
fail to Dear, and wants to know what is the 
trouble. I have often seen strong-growing 
varieties fail to bear because making so 
much wood that the buds of large wood sort 
of lose vitality. With such conditions I 
have found that to cut away the main vine 
and use a medium-sized lateral I got much 
better results. This overgrown condition is 
quite likely to be found on rich ground with 
such strong-growing varieties as Concord and 
Niagara. J. s. woodward. 
OSGOODSCALES 
fh^oiip T All kinds: Portable,Pit,Pitless; Steel 
^v. (ESSSJI and Cement Construction. Guaran- 
r .t teed accurate, reliable and dura- 
i .^ nie. ;, c t us send you a scale 
^ on trial. Free catalogue. 
OSGOOD SCALE CO., 157 Central 8U, Binghamton, N.Y. 
g-r-r——■ s —dBlHSHAMTOH | 
THE PAPEG 
PNEUMATIC 
Ensilage Gutter 
will prepare you a better silage and fill your 
silo in less time, with less power and with less 
trouble to you than any other blower ensilago 
cutter made. 
It is the most convenient and the easiest to 
operate. It never clogs, never gets out of 
order, never disappoints. We guarantee every 
machine to be perfect and to do the work 
claimed for it. 
If you need an ensilage cutter you need a 
Papec. Send forcatalog giving full particulars. 
Papec Machine Co., Box 10, Lima,N.Y. 
GET THE BEST 
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- 
■ V'JvJL $ facturing on a large scale. 
y..-.You take no chances. We 
” have done all the experi¬ 
menting. Large fully illustrated Catalog and 
Treatise on spraying FREE. 
MORRILL & MORLEY. Benton Harbor, Mich. 
(JRST POTATO & 
ORCHARD SPRAYER 
ON FREE TRIAL. 
No money In advance—Pay when 
convenient. Sprays Everything— 
Trees; Potatoes, Truck .etc. 4 row® 
at a time—20 acres a day. Doubles 
Your Crop—extra yield one acre 
will pay it first season. A boy can 
operate it. GUARANTEED FIVE 
YEARS. Wholesale Prlee (where 
no agent). AGENTS WANTED. 
After trial, if you keep it—pay when you can. Special FREE 
OFFER for first one in each locality. “SPRAYING GUIDE” and 
full information FREE. Write Today. We Pay Freight. 
H. L. HURST MFG CO., 56, North St.,Canton.O. 
fSPRAfi* 
The 
atson 
Four Row Potato 
Sprayer 
Covers SO to 40 acres per day. 
Straddles 2 rows, sprays 4 at a ' 
time. Wheels adjust for different 
widths. Sprays t o any fineness and gearing 
of pump to wheel of cart gives any pressure desired. 
Automatic agitator and suction strainer cleaner. It 
never spoils foliage or clogs. Free instruction and for¬ 
mula book shows the famous Garfield, Empire King, 
Orchard Monarch and other sprayers. Write for it. 
FIELD FORCE PUMP CO., 2 11th St.. Elmir*. N. Y. 
ENSILAGE 
CUTTER 
BUZZARD 
I with wind elevator, either mounted 
lor unmounted. Cuts hay, straw, feed, 
letc. Elevates to any height. Strong. 
\durable, economical. Fully guaran- 
. teed. Send for new illustrated { 
catalogue FREE 
-V- 
JOSEPH DICK 
AGRICULTURAL WORKS 
Box 69, Canton.O. 
Don’t Push 
The horse can draw the 
load without help, if you 
reduce friction to almost 
nothing by applying 
MicaAxlt 
to the wheels. 
No other lubri¬ 
cant ever made 
wears so long 
and saves so much 
horse power. Next time 
try Mica Axle Grease. 
Standard Oil Co. 
Incorporated 
WEST TEXAS 
THE 
“LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES” 
AND AN 
IDEAL CLIMATE. 
Write E. P. TURNER, 
General Passenger Agent, Dallas, Texas. 
/ c 1 1 -.W V*a k ti v ol-w 
HEAVIEST FENCE, MADE! 
I All No. 9 Steel Wire. Well galvanized. Weighs J 
[more than most fences. 15 to 85c per rod^ 
lelivered. We send free Rumple forinspec-^ 
tion and test. Writ© for fence book of 133^ 
The Thrown Fence Wire 
Co.* Cleveland* Ohio. 
TONIGHT'S 
Saw Mills 
Let Knight, the "Saw Mill 
Man," send you his book free.' 
Telia all about big and little saw mllla, 
and how to mako money with them. I 
N1 no Sizes—portable and station- I 
ary. Advantages and •oonomloa | 
possessed by no others. 
Send for the book to-day. 
The KNIGHT Mfg. Co. #i 
1932 S. Market St.* ^ 
Canton, 0. 
HORSE POWERS 
THRASHERS 
and CLEANERS 
One & two-horse Thrashing Outfits. Level PIITTCRQ 
Tread, Perfect Governor, Feed & Ensilage wU I I LIIO 
Write for catalogue 
ELLIS KEYSTONE AGR'L WORKS, Pottstown, Pa. 
SO DAYS 
ON THIS 
Woodpecker” 
AN ENGINE THAT WORKS 
A hundred-job power for farm 
work. Perfectly simple and never 
any trouble to makeitrun. Try till 
you know. Shipi tbackifyou have 
any kick; no harm, no expense. 
Uses alcohol or gasoline. 7,14 
h.p. A selling plan that’s fair and 
square. Write and let us tell you. 
WOODPECKER, 19th St. Office,Middletown,Ohio. 
$60 
GOES LIKE SIXTY 
SELLS LIKE SIXTY; 
SELLS FOR SIXTY 
iiiiuim GILSON 
GASOLENE 
ENGINE 
For Pumping, Cream 
ror rumpmg, C-ream 
s, Churns, Wash Ma¬ 
chines, etc. FBEE TEIAIi 
M Ask for catalog-all sizes 
OILSON mfg. CO. 144 Part St. Port Washington, Wis. 
Waterloo Vapor Cooled 
GASOLINE ENGINES 
The only horizontal vapor cooled gasoline 
engine in the world. Absolutely frost 
proof and cannot freeze. 
Patented May 15, 1906 
Our 
The King of all gasoline engines, 
catalogues will tell vou all about it. 
Send to-day. 
Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co. 
1106 Park Ave. West, Waterloo, Iowa. 
VERMONT 
99 
In time of need “ The Vermont” Gasoline Engines 
are always ready. They need no adjustment. 3 to 
16 horse power, mounted or stationary, for farm, 
factory and shop use. Write for catalogue E.G., 
describing the most reliable engine made. 
STODDARD MANUFACTURING CO., Rutland. Vt. 
We have a few new Fairbanks Engines 
at a bargain. Ask for description. 
Louden’s Overhead 
Carriers 
Do All Kinds of Work. 
Clean Barns, Stables and Pig Pens. Convey all kinds 
of Feed, Water, Milk, Ice, etc. Handle Merchandise, 
Coal, Ashes, Slop, Saw Dust, and a hundred other 
articles about the Farm, Store, Mill and Factory. All 
the Latest Improvements. The Best Designs and 
Construction. Raise and Lower, and run on Solid 
Steel Track, or on Self Returning Wire Track. 
Warranted Superior to All Others. They will save 
you money and hard work. Then why drag a go-cart 
through the mud when by using our Overhead Route you 
can do your work bo much easier, quicker and better! Our 
Illustrated Catalogue explains it all. Also gives plans of 
installation, tells how to Preserve the Fertility of the soil, etc. It will pay to Investigate. Addres s, 
LOUDEN MACHINERY COMPANY, 39 Broadway, Fairfield, Iowa. 
