8©Q 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 21, 
Ruralisms 
Hybrid Beans. —It is not an easy task 
to pollenize garden or field beans arti¬ 
ficially, but it has, without doubt, been 
accomplished. The National Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture has some hybrids 
of the cow pea, which we all know is 
not a pea but a true bean, with other 
Oriental beans. The crosses effected 
from time to time between the Peruvian 
Lima bean and representatives of the 
European pole beans, especially the 
variety known as Horticultural, are 
probably examples of manual work. 
Pollination of bean blooms naturally 
occurs while they are yet in bud. The 
selected flowers must carefully be 
opened and the anthers removed before 
they are sufficiently mature to dis¬ 
charge pollen. The organs concerned 
are far more difficult to handle than 
those of pea blooms at a similar stage 
of development. The style is especially 
tender, and can rarely be isolated from 
its appendages without injury to the 
stigmatic surface. Pollen appears 
scanty, and its application most uncer¬ 
tain, but occasionally good results follow. 
Most hybrid or cross-bred beans, how¬ 
ever, appear to be the results of natural 
crossing through the agency of minute 
soft-bodied insects that inhabit the 
buds and opening blooms, and occasion¬ 
ally carry fertile pollen from one variety 
or species to another when growing 
close together. While beans and peas 
are normally self-pollinating, there is 
always a chance that good pollen may 
be brought from another source to, 
blooms having perfect stigmas and 
ovules, but barren anthers, and thus 
cross-bred seeds result. Varieties show¬ 
ing crossed parentage at times appear 
in bewildering profusion in the stocks 
of commercial bean-seed growers where 
no intentional hybridizing has been done. 
By selecting from this mass of volun¬ 
teer material excellent varieties have 
been developed and placed on the mar¬ 
ket. 
Two Cross-bred Pole Beans. —We 
do not know just how the two hand¬ 
some pole beans shown in Fig. 416, 
page 891, originated, but they appear 
well worth trial. They were sent by 
Mr. E. P. Powell, Clinton, New York, 
as selections from hundreds of new 
cross-bred varieties. Mr. Powell says 
they are vigorous, early and productive, 
resisting drought in a remarkable man¬ 
ner. These beans have speckled seeds 
and red-mottled yellow pods, after the 
manner of the Carmine-podded Horti¬ 
cultural pole variety, but are much 
larger than those, of that very choice 
novelty. A cooking trial showed the 
pods meaty, well flavored and nearly 
stringless at the stage of development 
shown, when the seeds were large 
enough to be shelled and separately 
cooked. Perhaps the greatest benefit 
derived from cross-breeding beans is 
the elimination of the fibrous or stringy 
feature of the edible podded kinds. 
“Stringless” varieties have greatly in¬ 
creased in numbers during late years, 
and have been brought to high perfec¬ 
tion. 
The Asiatic Bittersweet. —The com¬ 
mon native bittersweet or Roxbury 
waxwork is a highly ornamental climb¬ 
ing shrub, far too little regarded and 
planted. It is reliably hardy every¬ 
where in the United States, the foliage 
is glossy and persists late in Fall, and 
the brilliant scarlet and orange fruits 
bang in dense clusters until Spring. It 
is a most desirable plant for covering 
trees that are past their best, or un¬ 
sightly fences, rocks and walls. For 
the latter some support is at first 
needed, as the shrub is a twiner and 
does not throw out tendrils or rootlets, 
but soon takes firm hold of branches 
or projections. It is pot of rapid 
growth when young, but in time attains 
great dimensions and becomes quite 
fruitful. Nurserymen propagate it from 
seeds or by cuttings both of green and 
mature wood. The botanical name is 
Celastrus scandens, and the natural 
range is from Canada to Dakota and 
New Mexico. A very effective com¬ 
panion to the native bittersweet is the 
Asiatic species, Celastrus orbiculatus, 
native of China and Japan. It is a 
more rapid grower, bears younger and 
nearly always with greater freedom. 
The fruits, however, are less showy, in 
coloring, as the capsule is yellow in¬ 
stead of orange, and the fleshy arils 
of the seeds a lighter shade of red. 
They are almost as persistent as the 
berries of the native kind, and are well 
adapted for vase decoration in company 
with bouquet grasses and dried immor¬ 
telles. We are informed they are much 
used by the Japanese for such pur¬ 
poses. Seeds of this Oriental bitter¬ 
sweet were planted in the Rural 
Grounds six years ago. The plants 
have grown with great vigor, fruiting 
when three years old, and are now cov¬ 
ered with bright berries that are begin¬ 
ning to show their glowing interiors. 
While naturally lofty climbers plants 
endure clipping well and may effectively 
be grown in bush form. As it is more 
vigorous than the native species, it is 
perhaps better adapted for covering 
large walls, banks or rocks, but is never 
quite as vivid in color effect. We have 
made several attempts to hybridize 
these species together, but have thus 
far secured no good seeds. Plants of 
both species are offered by a few nur¬ 
seryman. 
Carbon Bisulphide a Plant Stimu¬ 
lant ?—Recent German publications 
contain accounts of good results at¬ 
tained by treating the soil of old vine¬ 
yards with carbon bisulphide aside 
from the destruction of phylloxera and 
other subterranean insect pests. It has 
especially been noticed that new vines 
set in old vineyards after treatment of 
the soil with carbon bisulphide as an 
insecticide, grew with unexpected lux¬ 
uriance, also that grain, Alfalfa, beets 
and garden vegetables showed remark¬ 
able growth on soil thus treated. The 
long established vines in these orchards 
braced up to some extent, but required 
extra fertilization to ensure permanent 
results. Newly planted vines on treated 
soil come into bearing in three years 
if supplied with fertilizers, as against 
five or six years under usual conditions. 
The theory most favored is that the 
carbon fumes destroy or alter the vital 
action of certain harmful fungi or bac¬ 
terial organisms that tend to increase in 
soil long cultivated to special crops, but 
that the useful nitrifying bacteria are 
more resistant and are not injured to 
the same extent. Growing plants are 
thus freed from hindering influences, 
and soon receive fresh supplies of 
elaborated nitrogen, enabling them to 
respond in greatly increased develop¬ 
ment. Many careful tests have been 
made, nearly all showing favorable re¬ 
sults. The most promising conclusion 
appears to be that old “vine-tired” soils 
filled with organisms or excretions 
harmful to grape vines or other plants 
may be restored to usefulness without 
the ordinary long and unprofitable rest¬ 
ing period, extending in some instances 
over 10 years, by comparatively inex¬ 
pensive treatment with carbon bisul¬ 
phide. From three to eight liquid 
ounces of bisulphide are used for each 
square yard of area, pouring it into 
holes punched two to three feet deep in 
the soil. Four or five holes are used 
to each square yard, according to the 
nature of the soil, porous soils requir¬ 
ing fewer holes than those ihat are 
heavy or compact. The liquid is poured 
into the holes, getting an equal quantity 
in each, and the holes are immediately 
sealed with clods or sods compactly 
forced in, as when the chemical is used 
as an insecticide. The treatment should 
be given at least six weeks before plant¬ 
ing, and one authority applies the car¬ 
bon bisulphide in July or August and 
does not plow until the following 
Spring. Although this chemical is ex¬ 
tremely volatile, some of the experi¬ 
menters declare that vaoori of carbon 
bisulphide may be detected in the air of 
the soil, even quite near the surface, 
for three months after the treatment. 
The cultivators of the worn and “plant- 
sick” soils of the Old World should 
welcome this treatment, if practical. 
In this country, with our broad ex¬ 
panses of almost virgin lands, there is 
less urgent need for restoratives. 
w. v. F. 
The pay is good, the work congenial, and promo¬ 
tion rapid in the U. S. Civil Service. If you are an 
American man or woman over 18 you are eligible 
for any government position if you pass the Civil 
Service Examination. To learn how you can qualify 
in your spare time , write for our free I. C. 8. booklet. 
INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS, 
Box 1158 . Scranton, Pa. 
All up-to-date Fruit Growers watch 
for the Bulletin of the buyers of 1909 
model “Friend ’’ Power Sprayers. 
“ FRIEND ” MFG. CO., Gasport, N. Y. 
Cheap Tennessee Farms 
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Fortunes are being made on fertile Tennes¬ 
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to go one way 
extra cost. You 
west than you 
and can better 
Ask the ticket 
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Birmingham, 
If you will tell me 
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send you a map- 
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inform you of 
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eyes to new 
for free copies 
JOHN SEBASTIAN, 
1914 Las&lle Sta., 
1914 Frisco Bldg., 
Dec. I and 15 
Jan. 5 and 19 
Plan to go on one 
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The trip will not 
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decide where to locate, 
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Island-Frisco-C. & E. I. 
through Chicago, St. Louis, 
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according to your location, 
where you want to go, 
the cost of a ticket and 
schedule. 
you some interesting 
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and will open your 
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today. 
Pass. Traffic Mgr. 
Chicago 
St. Louis 
When you write advertisers mention The 
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how 
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r better still, 
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THE DEYO 
POWER SPRAYER 
It is protected from spray mixture. Our 3-H. P. 
air-cooled engine can be easily detached and used 
where ever power is needed. Six years of success. 
Ask the user. Write for catalog 19. 
R. H. DEYO & COMPANY., Binghamton, N. Y. 
JARVIS’S SPRAYING COMPOUND 
FOR SAN JOSE SCALES 
We make this compound, quality guaranteed, and 
Bell to the consumer, f. o. b., Manchester, Conn. 
Cash with order. 
In bbls. containing 50 gals., 30c. per gal. 
Less than bbls and more than 5 gals., 40c. per gal. 
6 gal. lots and less, 50c. per gal. 
All orders filled promptly. Order NOW. 
THE J. T. ROBERTSON CO., Box R, Manchester, Conn. 
X_A I 
FOB. 
FARM 
SCALE DESTROYER 
FOR SAN JOSE SCALE 
For sale at a thousand agencies 
covering all important fruit sec¬ 
tions. Send for name of dealer 
nearest you. Evidence proving it 
CHEAPEST as well as 
MOST EFFECTIVE 
remedy also mailed free on request. 
TARGET BRAND, Box 721, Martinsburg, W. Va. 
Ground Lime 
Agricultural Lime 
Hydrated Lime 
WRITE FOR PRICES 
NEW JERSeYuHE CO., 
HAMBURG, N. J. 
The double layer of glass does it 
Lets in the light always. 
Never has to be covered or' uncovered; no 
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Retains the heat, excludes the cold. 
Saves three-fourths of the labor and expense 
and makes stronger and earlier plants than 
single-glass sash. 
Ask for catalog O It tells all about it. 
, Address. .. « 
Sunlight Double-Glass Sash Co. 
506 Floyd Street LOUISVILLE, KY. 
WRITE NOW FOR OUR FREE BOOK 
IT GIVES FACTS 
WE CAN SAVE YOU 50 PER CENT. 
IN COST OF KILLING 
SAN JOSE SCALE 
with none of the objectionable features of 
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OUR PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN SOLD ON MERIT FOR 25 YEARS. 
F. G. STREET & CO., 26 Railroad St., Rochester, N. Y. 
PRATT’S 
44 
SCALECIDE 
99 SOLUBLE 
PETROLEUM 
TRADE MARK REGISTERED U. S. PATENT OFFICE. 
Will positively destroy SAN JOSK SCAI.K and all soft bodied sucking insects without injury to the tree. Simple, more effective sintl Cheaper than 
Lime Sulphur. Not an experiment.-Write for FR KB sample and endorsements of Leading fruit growers and entomologists who have used it for years. 
PRICES:— 50 gal. bbl. $25.00; 30 gal. tin $15.00; 10 gai. can $6.00; 5 gal. can $3.25; 1 gal. can $1.00 f. o. b. New York. 
One gal lon makes 16 to 20 gallons spray by simply adding water. Pocket Diary and Spray Calendur for ]009 sent FRljjE. Mention this paper._ 
B. Gr. Pratt Co., TWTfs. dicmists, IDopt. ZKT, 50 Church St. JSTg^t Yorlt City. 
