68 
the rural new-yorrer 
January 
Ruraiisms 
A New Hardy Climber. —Early in 
1905 seeds of an undetermined species 
of Vitis or grape-like climber, col¬ 
lected in Central China, were received 
for trial from the Foreign Seed and 
Plant Introduction Division of the Na¬ 
tional Department of Agriculture, un¬ 
der the identification number of 17938. 
About 20 joung plants were grown 
and wintered over in an exposed po¬ 
sition without protection. All came 
through without harm and have since 
grown at about the rate of Virginia 
creeper, Vitis quinquefolia, seedlings, 
under similar conditions. They are now 
three feet high with strong woody stems 
and ample root systems that ensure vig¬ 
orous growth in the future. Last Sum- , 
mer the stronger plants fruited, bear¬ 
ing dull orange- colored berries, 
the size of peas, with rather pleas¬ 
antly flavored pulp. This species has. 
now been identified as Vitis serialise- 
folia, and while not likely to be con¬ 
sidered as edible-fruited, it has un¬ 
doubted value as an ornamental 
climber: The foliage, bright green 
during growth and yellow in Fall, 
is very attractively cut or in¬ 
cised as shown in Fig, 31, page 63, 
which reproduces a fruiting twig but 
does not show the tendrils that are 
abundant on the main growths. The 
blooms are inconspicuous and produced 
over a long period. This Chinese 
woodbine may take rank with our Vir¬ 
ginia creeper as a decorative porch or 
trellis climber if it finally grows as 
tall, but owing to the absence of suck- 
Dry Weather Crops. —Contrary to 
general expectation the cauliflower and 
celery crops of New Jersey and Long 
Island turned out not only of excellent 
quality, but rather above the average in 
'yield. The hot, dry Summer and Fall 
did not appear congenial to such mois¬ 
ture-loving plants, yet growth was all 
along better than could be anticipated. 
There has not been finer cauliflower for 
many years. Explanations are that the 
rainfall, though extremely light for the 
season, was generally timely, and the 
subsoil was so well filled with moisture 
from previous rainy years that it did not 
become exhausted until the end of the 
growing season. Better care was given 
the plants from the start on account of 
the prevailing dryness, and also 
good culture of the “dust mulch” char¬ 
acter to conserve moisture and suppress 
weeds. The abundant sunlight and ab¬ 
sence of germ diseases had doubtless 
muchr to do with the satisfactory out¬ 
come, but there is a quite general 
opinion that the real secret of growth 
lay in the comparatively undisturbed 
condition of the fibrous or feeding roots, 
especially in the upper layer. Owing to 
the infrequent rain cultivation to break 
the soil crust was little needed. Feed¬ 
ing roots rarely penetrate surface dust, 
but find abundant soluble food in the 
upper layers of: moist’soil below the dust. 
The lessened mutilation of these active 
rootlets and a bare sufficiency of mois¬ 
ture brought from below by capillary ac¬ 
tion appears a satisfactory explanation. 
As to the quality, that' of cauliflower al¬ 
ways depends on unchecked growth, but 
celery is more or less influenced by char¬ 
acter of' soil. That grown on loamy or 
clay soils, other: conditions being equal, 
is always more solid and of better flavor 
than the muck-grown product. Com¬ 
parative dryness is always likely to favor 
quality if not' quantity. The two vege¬ 
tables under consideration were highly 
satisfactory, but potato quality was al¬ 
most universally low, and the crop little 
i more than half an average one. 
w. v. E. 
When buying a steel rake examine 
the rakehead, because the rake- 
head bears most of the weight 
and strain. 
Johnston rakeheads are of angle 
steel", steel trussed—will not sag 
or twist. , 
Weight of Driver assists in operat- ^ 
ing rake. 
s Rake lifts high for. dumping. 
• Y.ou want a rake that is strong," 
, yet light, and simple in construc¬ 
tion. Being made of steel, it pos- 
" sesses durability and wearing 
i qualities. Made in several sizes so 
? you can get just the rake you need 
, to give you satisfactory service. 
Let us send you our Library—all 
about Johnstons Farm Tools. 
THE JOHNSTON 
HARVESTER CO. 
Box 310, Batavia, N. Y. 
A Comitioti-Sense Suggestion. 
A great deal of" useful information 
can be had for the asking, and when 
manufacturers of agricultural imple¬ 
ments invite our readers to correspond 
with them relative to any problems 
that confront them—such as what 
style furrow opener will be found best 
adapted to the locality in which a 
grain drill is to be used—there should 
be no hesitancy on the part of the 
farmer in writing for that information. 
The American Seeding-Machine Co., 
Incorporated, Richmond, Indiana, man¬ 
ufacturers of that, old, time-tried grain 
drill—the Empire—invite our readers 
to correspond with them relative to 
this matter, and wish it understood 
that it is no trouble for them to an¬ 
swer questions pertaining to any seed¬ 
ing conditions' in any part of the grain¬ 
growing world. The Empire Grain 
Drill is manufactured in many styles 
and sizes—both plain grain and com¬ 
bined grain and fertilizer. This com¬ 
pany makes' every style furrow opener 
—single disc, doublfe disc, hoe and 
shoe—and are prepared to furnish 
grain, drills that are guaranteed to do 
the work as it should be done any¬ 
where where grain is grown. Write 
to the-manufacturers to-day for a free 
copy of: tlreir Empire catalogue. After 
having, read- this catalogue and re¬ 
ceived any special information desired, 
go to your local implement dealer and 
insist on seeing' the Empire before 
purchasing any other make. The Em¬ 
pire is- guaranteed in such a fair and 
liberal manner by the manufacturers 
that our readers run no risks in pur¬ 
chasing it. The drill must do all that 
they claim for it. 
gntife will pay you to Spray your Fruit 
^ Y Trees and Vinesfor protection from 
■ scale and all insect pests and fungus 
aj| diseases. FREE Instruction Book 
shows the famous Garfield, Empire King 
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. 
ers or disks on the tendrils it is not ' 
1; kely to adhere to wails like the es- 
tremely popular Boston or Japanese ivy, 
Vitis inconstans, usually catalogued as 
Ampelopsis Veitchii. It is probable that 
the foliage will gain in size and beauty 
as the plants increase ; n stature like 
these of the related species above men- 
1 .oned. 
Mix-up in Names. —Botanists now 
prefer the generic name Vitis for 
all the grape-like climbers, of which 
something over 50 species are known 
as inhabitants of the North Temperate 
zone, but nurserymen find it more con¬ 
venient to use the term for the true 
gi apevines mostly bearing edible 
fruits and liavimy dark interior pith 
and bark shedding in strings or shreds, 
while the generic names Ampelopsis 
and Parthenocissus serve to designate 
the species with smooth or lcnticellate 
bark and white pith, the Virginia 
creeper and Boston ivy being conspic¬ 
uous examples of the latter. One of 
the newest and most valuable of this 
section is the scarlet Virginia creeper, 
catalogued as Parthenocissus Engle- 
mani. a southern variety, having small¬ 
er leaves ;and more refined growth 
than the common species, but especially 
useful in that it has disk-like tendrils 
that enable it to cling to walls like 
ivy and clamber anywhere over smooth 
surfaces without additional support. 
A hybrid between the common Virginia 
creeper and the Boston ivy, having the 
close-cliiiging habit of the latter has 
long been desired. Many breeding at¬ 
tempts have been made on the Rural 
Grounds and we have at last a seedling 
that appears to combine the desired char¬ 
acters in a successful manner. It is now 
three years old, but several seasons of 
trial are needed to determine its real 
possibilities. Europeans appear to have 
been unfortunate in the forms of Boston 
ivy or Vitis inconstans that they have 
been growing, as some importance is 
given to the late introduction of a cling¬ 
ing variety. While it is a variable species 
the forms we have in this country that 
reproduce themselves from seed appear 
universally very close-clinging, finding 
their way even over painted clapboards 
without difficulty. 
A Neglected Species. —An Asiatic 
species of much beauty, long known but 
fallen into cultural neglect is Vitis or 
Ampelopsis heterophylla, with con¬ 
spicuous marbled green-and-white 
foliage often tingled with rose and 
bright turquoise blue berries in Fall, 
borne in considerable numbers on old 
plants. It is of vigorous growth, 
clambering over shrubs and trees like 
a wild grape vine but scarcely able 
to climb smooth walls without addi¬ 
tional support. All species of Vitis 
are readily orooasrated by means of 
seeds or cutitngs. 
SAN JOSE SCALE 
VACUUMSPRAY OIL 
MADE ONLY BY 
VACUUM OIL COMPANY, 
Rochester, New York. 
Send for booklet telling you how to 
SAVE YOUR TREES. 
New York Office - 29 Broadway. 
.Destroy Tree Pests. 
■A 
Kill San Jose scale, apple scab, fungi, lice, bugs, 
etc. Thoroughly spray with 
Good’s ca \vhaie-mi Soap No. 3 
Sure death to enemies of vegetation. Fertilizes the 
| ground. Nothing injurious. Used and endorsed by 
U. S. Department of Agriculture 
■ r,0 lbs., S2.nO: 100 lbs., #4 no: larger quantities propor- 
■ tionately less. Write for booklet “Manual of Plant 
- Diseases’’—it’s free. 
James Good, Original Maker, 945 No. Front St..Phila. 
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 largj 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, Mich. 
It 
FUMA 
jr kills Prairie Dogs, 
Woodchucks, Gophers, 
a 11 d G rain Insects. 
"The wheels of the gods 
grind slow but exceed¬ 
ingly small.” So the weevil, but you can stop their 
^uli “Fuma Carbon Bisulphide ”artfc! 
EDWARD K. TAYLOR, Penn Yan, N. Y. 
Nitrafs Soda 
Nitrate Sold in Original Bage 
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, Ill. 
Holcombe & Co., 24 California Street 
San Francisco, Cal. 
603*4 Oriental Block, Seattle, Wash* 
Address Office Nearest Yon 
HARNESS 
By Mail 
You can buy custom-made 
Kak-tanned haniessdiieetfrom 
/our factory at wholesale prices. 
You save two profits—the jobber’s 
and dealer’s. Write for onr new il¬ 
lustrated catalogue and see for your¬ 
self just how much money you can 
save. All our harness is guaranteed, 
and weleave yon to he the judge. If 
you’renotsatisfled.money back. Every 
farmer should haveourbooklet. Write 
to-day and ask for catalogue F. 
THE KIXU HAKXE8S CO., 
6 Lake St., On ego, Tioga Co., X. Y. 
Orders for All Quantities Promptly 
Filled— Write for Quotations 
POTATOES PAY 
Make them pay by using the machines that 
really do the work-— 
cut, plant; 
SPRAY. 
DIG and 
SORT 
There’s nothing in 
potato machinery 
up to 
ASMNWAL.L EQUIPMENT 
Write for copy of our free book telling how | 
to make money, growing potatoes. 
ASP1NWALL IVIFG. GO. 
437 gabin St., Jackson, Mich., ILLS. A. j 
Pioneer Makers of Potato Machinery 
operated.by hand. 
'ILLS’ shows the IT. I > * 
S P R A M O T O R , 
arranged fhr spraying 
potatoes-, three nozzles to a 
row and four rows, two 
spraying from the sides and 
one from the top, adjustable 
as to height and width up t o 
40-inch rows. Nozzles abso¬ 
lutely will not clog. 12 
gallon air tank automatic 
and hand controlled; 100 1b. 
pressure guaranteed With 12 
nozzles open. An acre can 
he sprayed in 20 minutes, 
lias agitator clean-out pres¬ 
sure relief into tank, and 
nozzle protector all under 
control of the driver from 
seat. For one or two horses. 
Fitted for orchard, vine¬ 
yards, and grain crops. Can 
T-liis arL will not appear again in this paper. If interested write now. 
:. K. HEARD, 1237 Erie Street, Buffalo, N. Y. 
SEE THEM GROW 
WHEN YOU HAVE SPRAYED YOUR TREES, PLANTS AND VINES WITH 
IAGARA BRAND 
LIMB SULnitTR SOLUTION 
The great all around Spraying Material. It acts as a tonic and it kills Seale and 
prevents Fungus. Put up ill packages to suit the lady with her rose garden oi the 
man with an orchard. Prices with full description mailed you Tree tor the asking. 
Address NIAGARA SPRAYER GO., Middle]toPt, N. Y. 
"""“SCALECIDE 
• •WILL POSITIVELY 
DESTROY 
SAN JOSE SCALE 
and all soft bodied sucking insects without injury to the tree. Simple, more effective and cheaper than Lime Sulphur. Not an experiment. 
Write for FREE sample and endorsements of loading- fruit growers and entomologists 'Vhohave used it tux’years. 
“POCKET DIARY WITH SPRAY CALENDAR FREE IF YOU MENTION THIS PAPER.” 
gal. tin $16.00; 10 gal. can $(5.00; 5 gal. can $3.£5; 1 gal. can $1.00 f. o. b. New Yor... 
to 20 gallons spray by simply adding water. Order now; spring spraying your last chance. ___ _ 
, CHemists, Dept. 3ST, 50 Church St. LPtfexTcr York City. 
PRICES: 50 
gal. bbl. $25.00; 30 
One gallon makes 16 
G. Pratt Co 
