as 
Ruralisms 
American Wonder Lemon. —Under 
the names American Wonder and Pon- 
derosa, the mail order nurseries in var¬ 
ious parts of the country offer a large 
and wonderfully prolific variety of 
edible lemon, especially adapted for pot 
culture in greenhouse and window 
garden. It bears about the same rela¬ 
tion to commercial lemons as the now 
well-known Otaheite orange does to the 
orange of commerce, except that the 
lemons are well-flavored and really use¬ 
ful for culinary purposes, while the 
fruits of the Otaheite orange, though 
ornamental, are insipid and worthless. 
Both are apparently toy varieties only 
suited for amateur cultivation. An 
average-sized fruit of the new lemon is 
shown in Fig. 11, page 23. The cata¬ 
logues say the fruits sometimes weigh as 
much as 2j4 pounds. The specimen 
figured was almost a pound in weight 
and was grown on a newly potted 
plant, 18 inches high, submitted for triaj 
by the Conard & Jones ( o., West 
Grove, Pa. The plant was kept under 
light shade outdoors during Summer 
and rather sparingly watered. It bloomed 
freely at intervals of six or eight weeks, 
and set many fruits, all but two of which 
were removed to avoid checking the 
growth. These fruits matured under 
glass in November, and were tested as 
pie material and also for lemonade- 1 hey 
were excellent for the latter, the bever¬ 
age having a refreshing lime-like flavor 
in addition to the cooling acid. Al¬ 
though a full-sized Ponderosa lemon 
is claimed to furnish timber for 12 
pies (size not stated) the pulp of our 
specimen was not sufficiently juicy and 
two pies only of the usual nine-inch do¬ 
mestic pattern could be made from a 
single fruit. The lemons are quite seedy 
and the fibre or “rag” slightly more 
bitter than ordinary commercial lemons, 
but otherwise they form an admirable 
substitute. The skin is noticeably thin 
and smooth, giving the fruit the appear¬ 
ance of a gigantic lime, which is further 
enhanced by the peculiarly aromatic 
odor and flavor, but the American Won¬ 
der is undoubtedly a true lemon va¬ 
riety. As a matter of fact the lemon, 
the lime and the thick-skinned citron of 
commerce are all considered as botan¬ 
ical varieties of one species, Citrus 
Medica, though there is a vast differ¬ 
ence between them horticulturally. 
Need Little Space. —The ordinary 
glass house or window garden lemon 
tree is a seedling or budded plant that 
grows five or more feet high before it 
fruits, and requires a pot or tub 
large and heavy enough when 
filled with earth to tax the 
strength of a muscular man if it is to be 
moved. From four to seven years of 
culture are needed to bring ordinary 
pot-grown lemon trees into bearing, but 
the new kind fruits within a year or two, 
like the Otaheite orange, from rooted 
cuttings, when grown in a five or six- 
inch pot, and no larger than a com¬ 
mon flowering geranium. We commend 
it as well worth growing to persons 
fond of tropical or semi-tropical fruit¬ 
ing plants. The requirements are firm 
potting in good loamy soil containing 
some wood ashes, and a small percent¬ 
age of coarse bone meal, very free 
drainage, so that the roots may never 
be covered with water, and a light situa¬ 
tion in Winter free from draughts or 
sudden chills. No great warmth is 
needed, an average temperature of 60 
degrees suiting Citrus trees very well, 
but all lemons are too tender to bear 
actual freezing. During Summer par¬ 
tial shade outdoors is best, and regular 
watering is necessary, though slight 
dryness at the roots during the resting 
period in Spring is an advantage. Bone 
dust and wood ashes are the best fer¬ 
tilizers, though light applications of 
guano or liquid fertilizers may be used 
while the fruits are growing. Yearly 
shifting to pots one size larger will be 
needed for a time, and this is best done 
in Spring, just after the fruits have 
ripened. Lemons normally bloom and 
make new growth several times during 
the year. The flowers are of the usual 
orange-blossom character, handsome 
and fragrant. They contain much pollen, 
and are freely produced, but unless they 
come at a season when insects are plenti- 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 9, 
ful it is necessary to po'.lenize with a 
brush to insure setting of fruits. Only 
one or two lemons should be allowed at 
first to mature on a plant, but the num¬ 
ber may be increased as it gains age and 
strength. The foliage is large and 
glossy, while the heavy fruits arc carried 
out well on strong twigs that thicken as 
the lemons gain in weight, so that sup¬ 
ports are seldom needed. 
Large Lemons Not Wanted in 
Market- —However desirable large¬ 
sized lemons may be for home use they 
are not wanted in commerce. Commer¬ 
cial lemons are picked without regard to 
degree of maturity when they reach a 
diameter of about 2)4 inches. Those to 
be held long in storage are permitted to 
grow a trifle larger in order to allow 
for shrinkage. Pickers are provided 
with rings of the proper diameter with 
which to gauge the fruits before clip¬ 
ping them from the twigs. Acidity and 
flavor are better developed in lemons 
that are green-skinned when picked 
than those that actually ripen on the 
tree, but all assume the same yellow 
color during the curing and storage 
processes. Lemons of even size pack 
and sell better than irregular ones, as 
they are universally retailed by count 
and not by weight. Mediterranean 
lemons as imported, run much less even 
in size than those shipped from Cali¬ 
fornia, and cause much trouble among 
dealers. The quality, however, is much 
better than the domestic product, owing 
probably to more effective curing, as 
substantially the same varieties are 
grown in the Citrus region of the United 
States as in southern Europe. Progress 
has been made in controlling the blue 
mold and brown rot organisms—the 
most dangerous enemies of lemon grow¬ 
ers and dealers—by excessive care in 
picking, handling, scouring, curing and 
packing the fruits. It is scarcely suffi¬ 
cient to say they are from the first 
handled like eggs. These rot germs 
rarely find entrance except through 
breaks or pricks in the skin, so that 
every effort is made to avoid the slight¬ 
est abrasion until they come into the* 
retailer’s hands- One of the ticklish 
operations is scouring or washing the 
lemons as they come from the tree, to 
remove dust or the sooty fungus that 
follows infestation with black scale. 
This is commercially done by passing 
them between brushes submerged in 
tanks of water, thus quickly scouring 
them bright and clean. During seasons 
of brown rot infection the washing 
water is usually disinfected with solu¬ 
tions of copper sulphate or .permangan¬ 
ate of potash- After washing they are 
carefully dried and sorted into colors 
representing the various degrees of ripe¬ 
ness, so that they may be separately 
cured and stored. w- v. F. 
DISK 
HARROW 
Solid or Cut Out Disks 
'll /With this disk harrow the farmer 
///can do the work of a plow, and 
v /finish work a plow cannot do. 
Made in eight widths from 4 ft. 4 in. 
to 13 ft. and every size tills the entire 
width of cut, cutting and pulverizing 
thoroughly all soil. 
Works up the soil into a perfect seed 
bed. 
Cutting angle always under driver’s 
control. 
Special convex center bumpers take 
care of end pressure, and make this 
the lightest draft disk harrow manu¬ 
factured. Disks are hard to nick,being 
made of highest quality of tough steel. 
Write today for our 1909 Library des¬ 
cribing all the Johnston farm tools. 
The Johnston Harvester Co., 
Box 110, Batavia, N. Y. 
TWO "FRIENDS" 
PRICE $1.00 EACH 
Positively our own idea. 
Any others like them 
are infringements. 
O.S.PAt. 
740. 
CAA.Ptf 
6-4-W. 9-SSI 
OTHER 
PATDTS PEKM 
“ Friend ” Regular 
The original large spray 
Nozzles doing away with 
the cluster. 
The only ones with the maker’s name and the word 
“Patented” stamped upon them. 
“Friend” Angle They have no horns, hooks, nothing to catch, drip 
or clog. Makes the finest mist-like spray. Drives the spray farther into the 
trees than the cluster. The “Angle ” sprays up under the leaves and down 
into the CALYX. The “Regular” is for ordinary work. State which is 
wanted. Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded 
“ FRIEND ” 
BULLETIN 
now reaches 
forty-four 
buyers of 1909 
Model Power 
Sprayers. 
Talk, think, 
listen, write and 
read about others, 
but remember that 
there is only 
One Real 
“ FRIEND.” 
“ FRIEND 99 MFG. COMPANY", Gasport, Niagara Co., New Fork. 
Mlj-rs. of the first complete Gasoline Power Sprayer._ 
IT PAYS TO SPRAY 
The Tron Age 4-row Sprayer gives I 
perfect satisfaction. Puts solution ' 
just where needed and in fog-liko 
mist. Pump delivers spray under 
high pressure, thus reaching every ( 
part of vine, effectually kil ling bug 9 
and preventing blight, lias 
Orchard Spraying attach^ 
ment. Write for free 
catalog illustrat¬ 
ing this and 
other Iron 
Age tools. 
SAVE 
HIRED 
HELP/ 
Iron Ar» 
Four-Kow 
Sprayer 
Nozile Strainer 
Prevents Clogging 
Bateman Mfg. Co.. Box 102-S Grenloch, N. J. 
Nitrate of Soda 
Nitrate Sold in Original Bags 
NITRATE AGENCIES CO. 
64 Stone Street, New York 
Keyser Building, Baltimore, Md. 
36 Bay Street, East, Savannah, Ga. 
305 Baronne Street, New Orleans, La. 
140 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III. 
Holcombe & Co., 24 California Street 
San Francisco, Cal. 
603-4 Oriental Block, Seattle, Wash* 
Sea Green or Purple Slate" 
is nature’s own product—not man made. 
Quarried from solid rock—*plit into con¬ 
venient form for laying,and then in its 
natural state ready for tne roof. 
SOLID ROCK CAN NOT WEAR OUT 
It can’t burn, rust, warp, crack, tear or de¬ 
cay. That’s why Sea Grom or Purple 81ate 
Roofs never wear out and never require 
paintingand repairinglike all ot her roofing. 
Sea Green or Purple 8!ate Roofs are suit¬ 
able for any building, new or old. Give 
perfect protection. Reduce insurance rates 
because spark and fire-proof. Afford clean 
cistern water. Not affected by heat or cold. 
First cost—only a trifle more than short 
lived roofing. Settle your roof quest ion for 
all times. Don’t spend more money for 
poor roofing. Write to us f r our free book 
“ROOFS it wi! I save you moner. Give 
name of your local roofer. Write today. 
AMERICAN SEA GREEN SLATE CO. 
Address Office Nearest Vos 
Orders for All Quantities Promptly 
Filled—Write for Quotations 
I 
EXGELL 
IRON 
and 
8HI 
1 
AAnmn 
ROOFING 
STEEL & SIDING 
Direct To You from our own factory' 
at lowest factory prices. We are man¬ 
ufacturers and handle no 2nd hand 
nor short length stuff. Every part o i 
our roofing and siding is made in our 
factory from genuine Charcoal Iron, 
Double Refined Puddled Iron or Steel. 
Put on the kind of root that wears. 
Ours is guaranteed. Ifit isn’t the best 
you can buy anywhere, don’t pay for 
it. Eaeytolay. No oxperience needed. Teli 
ue about your building and lot us quote you 
factory prices. Writ© for Metal Goods Cata¬ 
log. It is free. 
THE UNITED FACTORIES CO. 
Dept. Now Ml R, Cleveland, Ohio. 
GET THE BEST 
A Good Spray Pump earns 
big profits and lasts for years. 
THE ECLIPSE 
is a good pump. As 
practical fruit grow¬ 
ers 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 larg e scale. 
You take no chances. We 
have done all the experi¬ 
menting. Large fully illustrated Catalog 
and Treatise on spraying FREE. 
MORRILL & MORLEY, Benton Harbor, Mien. 
4*^. ISl^RSs It will pay you to Spray your Fruit 
xj Ij U a 1 Trees and Vines for protection from 
fi iKgS * scale and all insect pests and fungus 
a j j» diseases. FREE Instruction Book 
shows the famous Garfield, Empire Kins 
Orchard, Monarch, Leader and other sprayers; also 
gives a lot of formulas and other valuable information. 
FIELD FORCE PUMP CO.. No. 2 11th St., Elmira. N. Y. 
SEE THEM GROW 
WHEN YOU HAVE SPRAYED YOUR TREES, PLANTS AND VINES WITH 
NIAGARA BRAND 
SULniUn SOLUTION 
The great all around Spraying Material. It acts as a tonic and it kills Scale and 
prevents Fungus. Put up in packages to suit the lady with her rose garden >>i the 
man with an orchard. Prices with full description mailed you Free for the asking. 
Address NIAGARA SPRAYER CO., Middleport, N. Y 
PRATT’S 
“ SC ALECIDE 
99 SOLUBLE 
PETROLEUM 
TRADE MARK REGISTERED U. S. PATENT OFFICE. _,. _ 
Will positively destroy SAN JOSE SCALE and all soft bodied sucktng insects without injury to the tree. Simple, more Effective and Cheaper than 
Lime Sulphur. Not an experiment—Write for FK EE sample and endorsements of leading fruit growers and entomologists who have used i for years. 
PRICES:—50 gal. bbl. $25.00; 30 gal. tin $15.00; 10 gal. can $6.00; 5 gal. can $3.25: 1 gal. can $1.00 f. 0.1 j. New York. 
One gal lon makes 16 to 20 gallons spray by simply adding water. Pocket Diary and Spray Calendar for lp sent FREE._ Mention this paper. 
33. Gr. Co., JVLfs.' Cliemists, IDoiot. 3ST, 50 Church St. JST&-W Yorli City. 
WHY NOT USE HUBBARD’S? 
