1911. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
81 ! 1 
Ruralisms 
PRACTICAL BOTANICAL NOTES, 
Chestnut Diseases. —In the report 
of the botanist of the Connecticut Ex¬ 
periment Station Dr. Clinton gives 
many interesting facts about his work. 
Along the Atlantic coast our farmers 
are only too familiar with the chestnut 
disease. This fungus trouble is slowly 
killing off all the chestnut trees in cer¬ 
tain localities. On our own farm it has 
practically destroyed a beautiful grove 
of 30 acres of chestnuts, but scientists 
have said that there is no way of check¬ 
ing the disease and certainly no way of 
fighting it. The disease has appeared 
in Connecticut and is spreading. Dr. 
Clinton believes that the fungus which 
causes this trouble is a native weak par¬ 
asite, that it has been in this country 
for a long time, but rarely noticed, as 
it has not done great damage. He thinks 
that the unusual Winter of 1904, by 
severely injuring the chestnut trees gave 
this disease a chance to spread rapidly, 
and that four successive years of 
drought have helped to keep up the 
trouble. If this theory is correct Dr. 
Clinton believes that with the return 
of several wet years the trouble will 
gradually grow less. We certainly hope 
that this is true. 
Smut in Wheat. —At least four 
times in recent years samples of wheat 
feeds, usually middlings, have been sent 
to the Connecticut Experiment Station 
because animals refused to eat them. 
Two of these samples came from feed 
men and two from farmers. Examina¬ 
tion with a microscope showed that 
these middlings contained the spores of 
the stinking smut, a well-known dis¬ 
ease of small grain. In one case so 
much of this smut was present that 
hogs were made sick when fed the 
middlings, and actually refused to eat 
more of it. Grain which gave such a 
quality of middlings would be of no 
value for flour, although it is possible 
that such flour is made, mixed and sold 
as low grade. It is not known whether 
the smut spores themselves form the 
injurious principle, but there can be no 
question that the action of the fungus 
produced in the plant tissues injurious 
effects. It is claimed that this smut 
possesses poisonous properties which 
make both the flour dangerous to hu¬ 
man beings and the straw or chaff in¬ 
jurious to cattle. One case is reported 
from Australia where 650 Leghorn 
hens dropped in a few days from a 
daily average of 100 eggs to 16, when 
they were fed the smutted wheat. When 
clean wheat was substituted these hens 
went back to a daily average of 80 
eggs. There can be no question there¬ 
fore about the injurious effect of smut¬ 
ted wheat. We have frequently given 
the treatment for seed corn by soaking 
or sprinkling it in a solution of for¬ 
malin. 
Sulphured Oats.— In another case it 
was found that horses refused to eat 
certain samples of whole oats. Exam¬ 
ination proved that there was no fungus 
disease which could have made these 
oats musty. It was concluded that the 
oats were bleached with sulphur, and 
this had left it so that the horses would 
not touch them. There was also a case 
where farmers bought oats for feeding 
purposes. They looked so plump and 
white that they were also used for 
seed. None of these oats ever came 
up, and the grass seeded with them 
also failed. It is probable that these 
oats had been sulphured and that this 
destroyed their vitality. Not long ago 
we spoke of this matter of bleaching 
oats. In many cases this is done with 
the oats where the color did not look 
right. It is doubtful if many of the 
retail buyers are ever told that these 
oats are bleached. It is a swindle to 
take up badly weathered stock in this 
way, brighten it up with sulphur and 
sell it as fresh. 
Sprayed Potatoes. —In the same re¬ 
port there is an interesting discussion 
of spraying potatoes. Dr. Clinton 
found that aside from any protection 
from potato blight or rot the sprayed 
potatoes gave an increased yield over 
the unsprayed. What was the reason 
for this? Many of the botanists under¬ 
took to explain this increase, but the 
theory was that the Bordeaux mixture 
stimulates the work of the potato leaves 
by increasing their production of starch. 
Dr. Clinton believes that the results 
spoken of are largely due to the retain¬ 
ing of moisture in the leaves in a dry 
season by clogging up the breathing and 
water pores of the leaves with the sedi¬ 
ment of the spray. He thinks that the 
potato leaves through their numerous 
pores lose water very easily. He thinks 
the unsprayed vines suffer earlier and 
more severely from tip burn than the 
sprayed, because the latter did not give 
up so much moisture through the 
leaves. 
GRAPES AS ORNAMENTAL VINES. 
Very few gardeners take into consid¬ 
eration the usefulness of grape vines for 
ornament, and if they do, do not select 
varieties of beautiful foliage. The vine 
is as sweet in the Spring as mignonette, 
is as free from worms and caterpillars 
as any other vine. I have some 250 va¬ 
rieties, and would suggest for ornamen¬ 
tal planting those varieties which have 
deeply lobed or notched richly colored 
leaves and graceful shoots. First, for 
beauty comes the Poughkeepsie Red, the 
end of the shoot is reddish bronzy. The 
Croton is as beautiful but not quite so 
graceful. The Senasqua has Autumn 
coloring as the leaves ripen and the 
veins of the leaves are very prominent. 
For rampant healthy growth the 
Duchess is matchless. To these if fur¬ 
ther variety is desired add the Elsinberg, 
Gazelle, Peabody, Naomi and Quassiac. 
All these are favorites of mine as to 
their fruit except the last, which I have 
not fruited. A Monticola seed sent me 
by Munson has produced a beautiful 
vine, but fruit is of little value—a ram¬ 
pant grower of graceful habit, small 
deeply notched leaves, thin as tissue 
paper, and of the greenest green color. 
Arnold’s Brant is fine for ornament, but 
the fruit is not even good. I regret that 
for looks the very best grapes are not 
equal to these named. I refer to the 
Walter and Iona. They should be in 
every garden however. Two of Mun¬ 
son’s productions I think should be 
added, his Ben Hur and Tamala, these 
are a pleasure to see. Try these on 
your arbors, pergolas, piazzas and ter¬ 
race balustrades instead of Crimson 
Ramblers and Ampelopsis. They are 
far prettier and are useful. 
Long Island. elbert wakeman. 
More About “Swamp Root.” 
I noticed on page 686 an article re¬ 
lating to “swamp root.” This term is 
applied to a plant, a specimen of which 
I enclose, by the colored people here. 
They gather and steep in water, making 
a sort of tea, which is considered good 
for kidney or bladder troubles. Those 
who have used it claim it cures “de 
misery in de back.” Having never had 
occasion to use it, I do not vouch for 
its beneficial effects, but I thought 
probably you would be interested in 
seeing the plant, so had an old “uncle” 
secure the enclosed for me. I read every 
issue of The R. N.-Y., and then pass it 
on to my neighbors, that they, too, may 
learn what one fearless paper can do 
towards obtaining a “square deal” for 
the farmer and the farming interests. 
Fairfax Co., Va. chas. e. babcocic. 
R. N.-Y.—The plant sent is agrimony, 
Agrimonia Eupatoria var. hirsuta. It 
is a mild astringent, with a faintly aro¬ 
matic, slightly rough and bitter taste. 
Both leaves and root have some medi¬ 
cinal value,, though we believe it is only 
used now in domestic practice. 
The name swamp root is applied to 
“Queen of the Prairie,” Spirjea lobata, 
with pinnatifid leaves and panicles 
of large roseate, exceedingly delicate 
flowers; found on prairies south and 
west, flowers June and July. The root 
of this plant is and was used by the 
old settlers of this section of Ohio 
(Western Reserve) and is known to 
them as Queen of the Prairie or swamp 
root. Its medical properties are much 
esteemed in cases of bladder and kid¬ 
ney trouble. It will very likely be found 
growing among thoroughwort, or as 
it is sometimes called, boneset, the 
flowers of boneset being white, those 
of Queen of the Prairie roseate. 
The root should be gathered as soon 
as the bloom begins to fade. The 
Spiraeas contain several plants of medi¬ 
cal value. j. u. G. 
Ohio. ^ 
R. N.-Y.—This is an example of the 
uncertainty of local names, Spiraea in 
Ohio and Agrimonia in Virginia, both 
being called swamp root, while neither 
of them possesses the long pod-like 
fruit described in the first inquiry. The 
U. S. Dispensatory says that the flowers 
of the Spiraea possess to a very feeble 
degree the medical virtues of salicylic 
acid, while the roots are astringent, and 
have been used for intestinal disorders. 
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Hardy Rubber Trees. 
C. C. (No Address ).—I have read in the 
papers about a rubber tree growing in the 
Arnold Arboretum near Harvard University. 
It is said that the tree gives a fair quality 
of rubber and is hardy in New England. 
What are the facts? 
Ans. —\Ye have at the Arboretum sev¬ 
eral young trees of the so-called Chinese 
rubber plant, collected in China by our 
collector Mr. Wilson. The plant in 
question is Eucommia ulmoides, and is 
said to yield rubber from all parts of 
the plant. We have distributed all the 
seed for trial in the United States and 
outside of the few planted in the Arbor¬ 
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being planted on a bleak hillside, and 
without covering have withstood our 
New England climate for four years. 
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Supt. Arnold Arboretum. 
Killing Burdock.— I see in a late num¬ 
ber of The R. N.-Y. a question asked as to 
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dock (and I also include wild parsnip) the 
easiest weed we have to exterminate. Let 
them grow until they are in full bloom, as 
they are a biennial. Then cut off beneath 
the surface at a depth of three or four 
inches and they are finished. I would 
prefer to have either of these plants set one 
to each square on 40 acres of land as to 
have the seed of one vigorous weed known 
by various names as stampweed, pie or 
cake print scattered over some tract 
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