674 
THE RURA-Ii NEW-YORKER 
December 19, 
Ruralisms 
French Market Gardens. —The 
great skill of French gardeners has 
long been acknowledged, but has lately 
been brought into especial prominence 
by exhibits at the Anglo-French Expo¬ 
sition recently held in London, and as 
a result of the interchange of visits by 
delegations of French and British gar¬ 
deners to the most highly cultivated 
portions of the respective countries. 
Foreign horticultural journals have 
much to say about the highly success¬ 
ful intensive culture, especially of salad 
plants, that is carried on in the vicinity 
of Paris. Probably the best account 
of actual conditions is furnished by 
Dean B. Mason, Vice Consul-General 
of the United States at Paris. He says 
vegetables are there grown so exten¬ 
sively and to such perfection that not 
only is the city better supplied than 
any other, but that very large quan¬ 
tities are shipped to England, Germany, 
Austria and even as far as St. Peters¬ 
burg in Russia. The London and 
Cologne (Germany) trades are most 
important, as a very large proportion of 
the finer vegetables sold in those popu¬ 
lous cities in Winter and early Spring 
are grown in the close neighborhood 
of Paris. It is claimed that the metro¬ 
politan French gardeners have so thor¬ 
oughly developed their methods that 
families live comfortably on the out¬ 
put of plantings as small as one or two 
acres. Some idea of the extent of this 
industry may be gathered from the 
statement that within a radius of six 
miles of the fortifications of Paris there 
are 1,200 of these miniature truck gar¬ 
dens, few being of greater area than 
two acres, and that the average sales 
from each acre are not far from $1,600 
every year. According to our last cen¬ 
sus the average return from an acre 
of vegetables in this country is $42.09, 
and the average value of vegetable crops 
in Queens County, one of the best gar¬ 
den districts of Long Island, now with¬ 
in the limits of New York City, where 
conditions of soil, market and fertil¬ 
izer supply are quite similar to those 
of Paris, is $140, not one-tenth of the 
results attained by the French garden¬ 
ers, but the highest average of any 
county in the United States. 
Labor, Manure and Glass Protec¬ 
tion. —Ws learn from Mr. Mason’s re¬ 
port that the French method of soil 
treatment does not greatly differ except 
in thoroughness and intensity from the 
best methods followed elsewhere. It 
apparently consists of continually work¬ 
ing the top soil and mixing it with com¬ 
posted manures, which can be had in 
great abundance; in close planting, ju¬ 
dicious rotation and faithful hand 
labor, intelligently and unstintingly per¬ 
formed. The heat for growing vege¬ 
tables in cold weather is derived from 
ihe fermentation of manure, great quan¬ 
tities of which are collected during 
Summer and pressed hard to retard 
fermentation. In Winter the top soil 
is moved away and fresh manure mixed 
with the old material thickly spread 
over the land and covered with a thin 
layer of the composted top soil. The 
slow fermentation that follows gives 
off a steady heat that is conserved for 
the use of the plants by hinged glass 
frames and thousands of cloches or bell 
glasses, each large enough to cover a 
cauliflower or large head of lettuce. 
Suitable land is very costly so near 
Paris, a two-acre truck garden with 
house being valued at $10,000 to $12,000, 
with rental value of at least $500. No 
French garden is complete without an 
effective irrigating plant, which is gen¬ 
erally in the form of a petroleum motor 
pump with underground piping and con¬ 
nections, so that all parts may be 
reached by spray from the hose. The 
expense of equipment, consisting of 
motor, bell glasses, frames and imple¬ 
ments, averages about $5,000, and is 
borne by the gardener, who in addition 
must maintain at least four field hands, 
a horse and cart for hauling his pro¬ 
ducts to market, and make constant 
purchases of manure. Workmen re¬ 
ceive about 60 cents a day when board¬ 
ed. Without board wages range 
from $1 to $1.20 the day. The average 
yearly savings of these intensive truck¬ 
ers, after deducting living and current 
expenses, rentals and interest on invest¬ 
ment, are said to average $500, but oc¬ 
casional extraordinary profits are real¬ 
ized from special crops when grown 
with unusual skill. 
A quick crop rotation is maintained 
throughout the entire year, but the ac¬ 
tual profits are gained in Winter and 
early Spring, as in Summer the com¬ 
petition from large truck farms on 
cheaper land is so great that export 
trade ceases to be profitable. A few 
specialties, such as muskmelons, which \ 
are nowhere better grown, bring pay¬ 
ing returns in Summer, and are often 
shipped to cities far south of Paris. 
The gardeners as a rule are content if 
they realize running expenses in Sum¬ 
mer. The most important and profit¬ 
able vegetable grown is lettuce, of 
which it is estimated that 100,000,000 
heads are yearly raised about Paris, the 
surplus of which is shipped away after 
being carefully wrapped in paper and 
crated. The tender upright cos or 
Romaine varieties are practically all 
grown in frames or under tall bell 
glasses, with broad-heading hardier 
kinds in the spaces between. There is 
never a foot of unoccupied space at any 
time of year except as the soil is being 
renovated by fresh applications of ma¬ 
nure. Besides lettuce a great variety 
of salads and greens, as well as car¬ 
rots, radishes and cauliflowers, are con¬ 
stantly grown. The development of 
Algiers and other tropical countries has 
made the production of early asparagus, 
tomatoes and similar crops less profit¬ 
able on high-priced lands and it is like¬ 
ly they will eventually be only pro¬ 
duced in the South, as in this country. 
It is claimed that the French methods, 
if thoroughly carried out, would likely 
be very successful in this country on 
account of our greater intensity of 
Whiter sunlight. Although the quality of 
Parisian vegetables, especially salads, 
is usually described as perfection itself, 
a friend who has lived long in that 
city declares the lettuces smell of com¬ 
post, and so often contain worms that 
his family could not use them. He 
much prefers the kinds sold in Wash¬ 
ington and Fulton markets in New 
York City. 
Rugosa Roses Fruitful.— Rose 
plants of the Oriental Rosa rugosa 
type have bloomed with extraordinary 
profusion the past season, and all but 
the sterile forms have been unusually 
fruitful. The late crop of heps has 
never, in our recollection been so abund¬ 
ant and showy. Some hybrid forms 
that rarely perfect fruits are now fair¬ 
ly well laden, to the great improvement 
of their apearance. The Fall coloring 
of foliage has also developed more in¬ 
tensity than usual, many bushes being 
clothed with rich gold and crimson 
foliage as late as the first week in De¬ 
cember, after quite ’severe .freezing. 
This is in notable contrast to the Au¬ 
tumn coloring of woodland foliage] 
this year, which was somber and dull 
owing to the long drought. The cheery 
effect of profuse large and brilliant 
fruits is highly appreciated at this 
rather depressing season. A fruiting 
twig of a hybrid between the Siberian 
Rosa rugosa, known as R. ferox, and 
our native Rosa nitida, is shown in 
natural size in Fig. 463, page 974. These 
fruits are not as large as those of the 
typical Rugosas, but are considerably 
more lasting and are generally borne in 
greater profusion. The plant is more 
upright, and does not sucker as freely 
as most Rugosas. The handsome pli¬ 
cate foliage is smaller, but colors more 
brilliantly in Autumn, intense scarlet 
red predominating. The blooms are 
smaller, clearer pink in color and borne 
in such profusion as to cover the bushes 
in Spring. The immediate hybrid is 
single, but further crossing has devel¬ 
oped good double flowers, though with 
corresponding loss of fruitfulness. The 
Rugosa rose is one of the most import¬ 
ant contributions of the last century 
to our flowering shrubs, and in time 
will work wonders in the development 
of hardy rose gardens. w. v. f. 
More Big Pumpkins. —On page 878, F. 
E. P., Massachusetts, asks for the record 
weight for squashes. This reminds me of 
the mammoth vegetables grown and ex¬ 
hibited by Mr. F. W. Roel, garden super¬ 
intendent at the Brattleboro Retreat, Brat- 
tleboro, Vt. I have no record of the im¬ 
mense squashes produced by him, but from 
clippings taken from the Vermont Phoenix, 
under date of September 30, I find in part 
the following under the heading of “Some 
Pumpkins” : “Mr. Roel is superintendent 
of Agricultural Hall, and bis zeal in mak¬ 
ing that department shine, spurs him on 
to the accomplishment of great things. 
Every year he does a little better than 
the preceding year. This is particularly 
true of his pumpkins. He displayed 20 
at the fair aggregating in weight 3,817 
pounds, the smallest of which weighed 156, 
and the largest 288% pounds, respectively.” 
Again in 1907 the Phoenix says that Mr. 
Roel exhibited the world’s record pumpkin 
at the Grange Fair, weighing 387 pounds, 
and it was the wonder of the exhibit. Ver¬ 
ily I say, this is “some pumpkins,” and no 
mistake. Can anyone beat it? 
Michigan. b. w. putnam. 
l v. 
K»_- 
w 
The gift that 
gives most Joy 
to a boy is a 
STEVENS 
Any boy will be immensely de¬ 
lighted Christmas morning if he 
gets a Stevens Rifle “in his 
stocking,” 
And his delight won’t be 
merely of a day or a month— 
he’ll have rare good fun every 
time he goes out with his 
gun. 
It’ll be the making of 
him — the health-giving 
tramping he gets in the 
woods and the fields. It’ll 
develop keen eyes, quick 
thinking, prompt acting. 
Send for Stevens Catalog 
See how dependable the 
Stevens is; and how safe; 
and how low in cost. 
You’ll learn also just 
how to choose a gun. 
Andyou’ll learn of the 
new Demi-Bloc Double- 
Barrel Shotgun which 
will please a man just 
asmuch asa Stevens 
Rifle will please a 
boy; 5 c for postage 
brings it. 
“Guns and Gunning," 
by Dan Beard,tells 
what a boy likes 
so well to know 
about guns and 
their care, and 
abouthunting and 
shooting. Sent 
postpaid for 2 oc, 
paper cover, or 
3 oc, cloth cover. 
Most dealers sell 
Stevens guns, or 
we will ship di¬ 
rect on receipt of 
catalog price, 
if no dealer 
can supply 
you. 
J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. 
200 Grove Street 
Chicopee Falls, Mass., U.S.A. 
ijr/i) 
The Deyo Power Sprayer 
Buy the original and save trouble and ex¬ 
pense. Others have copied. Our 3 H. P. Air- 
Cooled Engine is furnished with pulley for 
other work. Seven years of success. Ask the 
user. Write for catalogue 19 and our Liberal 
Proposition. 
R. H. DEYO & CO., Binghamton, IN.Y. 
Why Not Use Hubbard’s 
HE DID—AND WAS SATISFIED. 
Melrose, Ma.as., Aug. 31, 1906. 
Rogers & Hubbard Co., 
Middletown. Conn. 
Gentlemen:—Our crops this year are the 
best I have ever grown. You will not be 
surprised if we apply for an Agency later. 
Our crops are the best ad. we could give. 
Sincerely and truly yours, 
No. 65 Green Street. H - Harris 
Hubbard’* Fertiliser Almanac for 1909 now 
ready and will be sent free to any address. 
THE ROGERS & HUBBARD CO., 
Makers of Hubbard’s Fertilizers. 
M’ddletown, Conn. 
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. 
i nvr e 
F O 
Ground Lime 
Agricultural Lime 
Hydrated Lime 
WRITE FOR PRICES 
NEW JERSeYTiNIE CO., 
HAMBURG, N. J. 
EXCELSIOR SWING STANCHION 
Warranted the Best. 
30 Days Trial. 
Unlike all others. Stationary when 
Open. Noiseless. 
THE WASSON STANCHION CO. 
Box 60, Cuba, New York. 
FOR ALL ROUND USE 
Increase the production and make more money 
on your live stock, poultry, etc., by feeding well 
cooked feed. The most economical way is by 
__ the use of a 
IT “Farmer's Favorite” 
Feed Cooker and Boiler 
Valuable also for many other uses such 
as canning fruit, boiling sap and cider, 
rendering lard and tallow, sterilizing 
i milk cans, boiling spray mixtures, 
scalding hogs and poultry, etc. Well 
made, inexpensive, guaranteed satis¬ 
factory. Write for illustrated circular. 
LEWIS MFG. CO., Box C, Cortland, N. Y. 
SEE THEM CROW 
WHEN YOU HAVE SPRAYED YOUR TREES, PLANTS AND VINES WITH 
NIAGARA BRAND 
LIME SULPHUR SOLUTION 
The great all around Spraying Material. It acts as a tonic and it kills S<-ale and 
prevents Fungus. Put up in packages to suit the lady with her rose garden oi the 
man with an orchard. Prices with full description mailed you Free for the asking. 
Address NIAGARA SPRAYER CO., Middleport, N 
The double layer of glass 
———does it " --- 
Lets in the light always. 
Never has to be covered or un¬ 
covered; no boards or mats 
needed. 
Retains the heat, excludes the cold. 
Makes stronger and earlier plants. 
.Class slips in; no putty; cannot 
work loose; easily repaired. 
Ask for catalog O • It tells all 
Sunlight Double-Glass Sash Company about Sunlight sash. 
*29 £•*» BtWwo, LOUISVILLE, KY. Special catalog for greenhouse material 
PRATT’S 
“ SC ALECIDE 
99 SOLUBLE 
PETROLEUM 
TRADE MARK REGISTERED U. S. PATENT OFFICE. ^ r.lienner than 
Will positively destroy SAN JOSE SCALE and all soft bodied sucking insects without injury to the tree. Simple, more Effective> ami i uneaper vnun 
Lime Sulphur. Not an experiment.—Write for FRKE sample and endorsements of leading fruit glowers and entomologists who have usea y 
PRICES:— 30 gal. bbl. $25.00; 30 gal. tin $15.00; 10 gal. can $6.00; 5 gal. can $3.25; 1 .g® 1 - ‘Mention this paper. 
One gallon makes 16 to 20 gallons spray by simplv adding water. Pocket Diary and Spray Crlendar for l5(J9 bciU FUL L. Mention t is I I 
B. Gr. Pratt Oo., UVEfs. Chemists. Dowt. 3ST. 50 Church St. Yorlx City, 
