510 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 15, 
Ruralisms 
Shortage in Strawberry Plants. — 
The persistent drought last Fall in prac¬ 
tically all eastern strawberry - growing 
districts so diminished the normal in¬ 
crease of strawberry plants that a se¬ 
rious shortage in many varieties is evi¬ 
dent. Some even failed to reproduce 
themselves, and in other instances the 
supply is so limited that prices have 
been advanced and quotations by the 
thousand and larger quantities omitted 
from price lists. There have been fail¬ 
ures to deliver in full large orders 
booked, before the scarcity became so 
apparent. The demand appears to have 
been greater than ever indicating the 
increasing popularity of the strawberry 
generally, as well as local failures to 
propagate particularly desirable kinds. 
It is plain that enough plants to meet 
requirements were not grown and 
Spring planting is thereby curtailed. 
Though generally dwarfed by dry weath¬ 
er, fruiting plants wintered well, and 
are making a good start. With ordinar¬ 
ily favorable weather there should be 
sufficient increase to meet the demand 
for Fall setting which is likely to be 
much stimulated by the Spring short¬ 
age. Home growers having satisfac¬ 
tory varieties may do well to plan for 
an increased output of August plants, 
either pot-grown or in vigorous layered 
runners, to meet local and near-by de¬ 
mands. 
Chilly Blooming Weather. — Thus 
far the blooming season for orchard 
fruits has been anything but favorable. 
Rains and cold winds have been so fre¬ 
quent and continuous that insects have 
had little chance to visit the blooms. 
Apricots flowered by April 10, and were 
promptly frozen during the only really 
frosty wave that materialized during 
the month. Plums, peaches and pears 
caught the most unfavorable weather, 
but were not actually injured by freez¬ 
ing. There is an enormous bloom on 
Kieffcr and Le Conte pears, at this writ¬ 
ing, with enough unopened buds to war¬ 
rant a fair crop even if all now open 
should fail. Cherries are coming out. 
as are also the later varieties of native 
plums. May they escape the dreaded 
“blossom rain” that comes here three 
years out of five. Apples hold much 
promise. Buds are abundant and well 
developed, and should bright and warm 
weather prevail when they open chances 
for a full crop would be promising. 
The trees were generally off crop last 
year, and should be in condition to bear 
well this season. Currants and goose¬ 
berries are full of bloom and are look¬ 
ing well. They are less affected by cold 
and rain than tree fruit. 
\ t ew Potatoes by Tuber-Grafting! — 
That amazing feature of modern jour¬ 
nalism, the horticultural section of the 
Sunday newspaper, has scored a hit 
with an illustrated account of the meth¬ 
ods of a Connecticut potato experimen¬ 
ter who claims to have produced new 
and immensely superior varieties by 
grafting together the tubers or rather 
sprouts proceeding from the tubers of 
differing parent kinds. The usual meth¬ 
od of breeding new kinds is by grow¬ 
ing seedlings of the most available va¬ 
rieties and selecting those showing su¬ 
periority for various purposes. It is 
an old idea, however, that potatoes, Dahl¬ 
ias and other tuberous - rooted plants 
may be made to mix or produce new 
and distinct kinds by binding the cut 
halves of different varieties together 
and planting them. A similar notion 
is prevalent that by binding or graft¬ 
ing together smoothly-halved buds of 
fruit trees, such as the apple or peach, 
the resulting growth produces new va¬ 
rieties. The theory is enticing, but it 
does not work well in practice. Thou¬ 
sands of experiments have been tried 
—some are still under way—but all ap¬ 
pear to result in failure. The Sunday 
paper biologist, however, claims that by 
carefully splicing the tubers and sprouts 
of his parent potatoes together he got 
a hybrid union of the “intra cellular 
zone,” resulting in bud variation that 
produced not one but many distinct and 
varying “graft hybrids.” 
Uncertain but True. —Now this pro¬ 
duction of genuine hybrid varieties by 
grafting is an actuality, but so extreme¬ 
ly rare that not one authentic instance 
of the intentional production of a graft 
hybrid is on record, though perhaps a 
score of undoubted instances are known 
—the chance outcome of the millions of 
grafts and buddings that have been 
made since the development of horticul¬ 
ture. One of the most familiar is La¬ 
burnum Adami, that resulted from 
grafting the golden chain tree, Labur¬ 
num vulgare, with the nearly related 
purple broom Cytisus purpureus. The 
new variety appeared *as an outgrowth 
near the union. It has the habit and 
foliage of the golden chain, but instead 
of bright yellow flowers has them of a 
dull purple shade, intermediate between 
those of the parents. Occasionally its 
hybrid origin is made more evident by 
producing branches having flowers and 
leaves like those of Cytisus purpureus 
or yellow flowers like the Laburnum 
vulgare. 
The Theory. —All plants grow from 
a single cell, but in seeds the actual 
ovum or growing cell is a composite 
made up of two individual cells, one 
often coming from a separate plant, 
and bears through its whole developtpent 
the heredity derived from its double ori¬ 
gin. In ordinary grafting or budding 
there is no fusion, but the cells retain 
their individuality, only absorbing nour¬ 
ishment from their host or stock. Thus 
a Baldwin apple on a crab stock is a true 
Baldwin and not a hybrid,, nor is a 
pear changed by grafting on quince 
roots except in altered habit, resulting 
from lessened nourishment. Rarely and 
obscurely, as mentioned above, the cells 
appear really to unite and produce a 
true graft hybrid that can be perpetu¬ 
ated by the ordinary methods of propa¬ 
gation. It is this work that the Sunday 
paper breeder pretends to have accom¬ 
plished, describing his methods with re¬ 
sounding scientific terms. Grafting po¬ 
tato stems is easy work. Varieties may 
not only be grafted together but the 
-potato may without difficulty be grafted 
on the tomato and probably other mem¬ 
bers of the Solanum family, but the va¬ 
rietal identity of the scion has hitherto 
never been lost. 
Many Potatoes Planted. — Mon¬ 
mouth County (N. J.L growers, stimu¬ 
lated by last year’s short crop and re¬ 
sulting higher prices, have made an 
enormous planting of potatoes this j 
Spring. While estimates are still in¬ 
complete, it is safe to say that 10,000 
acres of “spuds” have already been put 
in, requiring more than 30,000 barrels 
of seed tubers, most of which came 
from Maine and northern New York. 
With an average crop this acreage ought 
to produce nearly a million barrels of 
marketable potatoes. The chemical fer¬ 
tilizer bill of these potato farmers prob¬ 
ably exceeds $ 100 , 000 . w. v. f. 
mm 
MORE 
PER, 
ACREfea* 
That’s what the New York Experiment 
Station reports as a 10 year average (lain 
by Spraying Potatoes. Don’t let blight, 
scab, rot ana bugs cut your crop in Half 
— but get a HURST Sprayer and make 
Big money out of your POTATOES or 
fruit. These sprayers SPKAY ANY¬ 
THING— potatoes, orchards, vineyards, 
truck, etc. “Man-Power and Horse- 
Power.” Powerful pressure. Easy on man 
and horse. Strong and durable. Brass 
valves, plunger, strainer, etc. Guaran¬ 
teed for 5 Years, and 
Shipped on Free Trial 
without-a-cent in-advance. No bank de- 
§ osit—“no strings” to our triai offer. 
pray First, then if you buy—pay us out 
of the Extra Profit. Wholesale Prices. 
We pay Freight. Write us a lot ter or card 
and tell us which machine 
you are interested in—and 
you’ll get free our valuable 
Spraying Guide and Cata¬ 
log, and our Free Sprayer 
Oner to First i u eacn local¬ 
ity this season. Be First 
to write and save money. 
H.JL. HURST MFG. CO., 
48 North St.,Canton,0 
Niagara Brand 
Products 
Unsurpassed for— 
Convenience, Economy 
and Effectiveness. 
Niagara Lime Sulphur Solution— 
For Sucking Insects and Fungus. Better than 
any other Spray material. 
Niagara Arsenate of Lead— Kills Bugs, 
Beetles, Caterpillars, Etc. 
Niagara Bordeaux Arsenate —Insecti¬ 
cide and Fungicide Combined---beats all sum¬ 
mer sprays. 
Niagara Tree Borer Paint— Controls 
Borers absolutely. 
Niagara Gas Sprayers- Built in 7 styles. 
Send for descriptive catalogues,prices, etc., FREE. 
Niagara Sprayer Co. 
Middleport, N. V* 
A WESTERN ELECTRIC 
RURAL TELEPHONE 
Is Your Most Valuable Servant 
It will bring you and your family into closer touch with your 
neighbors, the general store, the broker, the post office, the 
family doctor and the en¬ 
tire outside world. It does 
away with the isolation of 
farm life and “keeps the 
boy on the farm.” 
The “Bell” 
’Phone is the Best 
If you will cut out this adver¬ 
tisement, write your name and 
address on the margin and mail 
it at once to our nearest house, 
we will send you a copy of our 
Free Bulletin No. -18 on 
1 
HOW TO BUILD 
RURAL TELEPHONE LINES 
which explains how you and your neighbors can. by cutting your 
own poles, buy all the rest of the material required for building 
nn absolutely standard system at an expense of about 20 bushels 
of wheat each. You cannot afford to do without a rural telephone. 
WRITE TO-DAY 
EASTERN 
New York 
Philadelphia 
Boston 
Pittsburg 
Atlanta 
CENTRAL 
Chicago 
Indianapolis 
Cincinnati 
Minneapolis 
The world’s oldest and largest tele¬ 
phone manufacturer. There are over 
4,000.000 Western Electric Telephones 
in use in the’ United States to-day. 
Rural Telephones a specialty. 
WESTERN 
Saint Louis 
Kansas City 
Denver 
Dallas 
Omaha 
Northern Electric and Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Montreal and Winnipeg 
PACIFIC 
San Francisco 
Los Angeles 
Seattle 
Salt Lake City 
(JET 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 ourown orchards 
—found their defects and 
invented the Eclipse. Its 
success forced us to manu- 
? facturing on a larp ; 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. 
ffYour 
Hat to the 
The only Glass Valve Pump—never 
sticks — never fails — always readv. 
Also HAY TOOLS, Bum Door 
Hangers, Huy Back damps. 
Write today for Circulars and Prices. 
F.H.MysrsA: Itro., ^^Orange St., Ashland, O, 
BINDER TWINE 7^c. 
guaranteed. Farmer agents 
LB. 
wanted. 
RSil • 
/ d Sample and Catalogue Free. 
TIIEO. lil'KT A SONS, Melrose, Ohio. 
S I>D AV Your Fruits, Crops, 
* * Poultry Houses, and 
do whitewashing with The 
AUTO-SPRAY. Factory price 
and guaranteed to satisfy. Kitted with 
Auto Pop Nozzle does the work of three 
ordinary sprayers. Used by Experiment 
Stations and 300,000 others. We make 
many styles and sizes. Spraying Guide 
Free. Write for book, prices and Agency 
Offer. The E c> Brown Co . 
28 Jay Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
THE 
PUMP 
THAT 
PUMPS 
POTATOES 
WITH 
THE 
Watson—High Pressure 
— Automatic —including Agitator and Strainer Cleaner— 
Sprays 40 acres daily—Slate experiments show gain of more 
than $75 per acre by using the WATSON. Booklet KREE. 
F1KLD FOIiOE PUMP CO.. * 11th St., Elmira, Ji. t 
POTATO CROP- 
INSURANCE 
Spraying: is a necessity. Do it with the ma¬ 
chine that makes your work count. There’s 
nothing: up to the great 
Aspinwall 
4-Row Sprayer 
That’s what potato growers 
say, and they know. Book free. 
Get it and see how we lead the 
world on potato machines. 
ASPINWALL MANUFACTURING CO. 
437 Sabin Street Jackson, Mich. 
Canadian Factory: Guelph, Canada 
The Deyo Power Sprayer 
The original. Others have copied. Our 3 h. p. air¬ 
cooled engine easily detached and used for other 
work. No isxperiiuent. seven Years of suc¬ 
cess. Ask the user Our 1!^ air-cooled complete 
power spray outtit, $195.00 Write for catalogue 19 
and our liberal proposition. 
R. H. Deyo & Co., Binghamton, N. Y. 
Nitrate * Soda 
Nitrate Sold in Original Bags 
NITRATE AGENCIES CO. 
64 Slone Street, New York 
Keyser Building, Baltimore, Md. 
36 Bay Street, East, Savannah, Ga. 
S05 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 Yob 
Order9 for All Quantities Promptly 
Filled—Write for Quotations 
TRADE MARK 
USED FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN FOR 27 YEARS. 
SOLD BY SEED DEALERS OF AMERICA. 
Saves Currants, Potatoes, Cabbage, Melons, Flowers, 
Trees and Shrubs from Insects. I’ut up in popular pack¬ 
ages at popular prices. Write for free pamphlet on Dugs, 
and Blights, etc., to 
B. HAMMOND, FishkilFon=Hudson, New York. 
THE PERFECTION 
MM SAVINS 
Th^impTes^Tt^nges^^u^mos^po^r^jT^prayerrCanbeciianged^ 
from horse to hand power without any trouble. Easy to work. Will 
spray upper and under side of leaf: mixture can be di¬ 
rected at any angle. Send for our new book—FREE— 
and see how you can increase your profits 25 to soper 
cent.—how you cau spray thirty acres of potatoes, 
cotton or vegetables in a day. 
THOMAS PEPPLER, Box 45, Hlghtstown, N. J. 
