1912. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
309 
MORE FREAKISH FRUITS. 
Seeing the article on page 269 by W. 
J. Wright about freakish fruits reminds 
me of some I have seen. Within the 
past two years I have seen three cases 
of triple apples and in two of them 
the three parts were about equal size 
and shape, except one was between the 
other two and they were on the same 
stem but had three distinct blossom 
ends. We often find two grown to¬ 
gether, but it is a rare occurrence to 
find three or more. It is very frequent 
that we find double plums of some vari¬ 
eties and occasionally double cherries 
and peaches. I recall a seedling peach 
tree a number of years ago which was 
a curiosity just after the bloom dropped 
to several observers who noticed that 
there were few single fruits, but plenty 
of them multiples of all kinds, some 
had as many as seven and eight grown 
together, and those on the outside 
seemed to stand still, but the strongest 
ones developed some and we hoped to 
gather some great freaks when they 
ripened. However, all of such wasted 
away and fell off before maturity. The 
tree was that way two or three years 
and never bore any ripened fruit of 
that kind, so it was cut down. 
In regard to bud sports we have a 
Rome Beauty with one limb that bears 
fruit which is rusty, almost like a Rus¬ 
set, and they have been that way for 
several years, but they vary from sea¬ 
son to season in the amount of rus- 
seting, and sometimes they get some 
color over the russet late in the season. 
Last year they were the ugliest half 
russet color I ever saw them, but the 
shape and taste is like the Rome Beauty 
and wood and foliage the same. Every 
apple on that limb grows the same, and 
every one on the remainder of the tree 
is of regular type. I have several 
sprouts that came up at the roots of 
old Rome Beauty trees which bear fruit 
which is the same as the parent tree, but 
has different color, and there are several 
distinct types of Rome Beauty growing 
that way, but as far as I have noticed 
none of them is superior to the old 
type or different enough to warrant giv¬ 
ing them a new name. The taste is the 
same or almost so. Did the scion or 
bud that had been inserted in the root 
change the character of its fruit, or 
what did? I have not noticed a sprout 
that came up from below the graft of 
Rome Beauty that was just like the 
parent tree, but many of them are al¬ 
most like them. We have one seedling 
that was entirely seedless for a number 
of years, till some trees that had been 
set out in the same field around it be¬ 
gan to bloom, and since then it has 
seeds, due to cross-pollination. 
I have noticed in top-grafting that 
the scions in some seedling may nearly 
all grow, and in another they may all 
die, all being done the same time and 
same way, the scions being the same 
too. Some recommend top-working 
other varieties to get better trees than 
can usually be found in the nursery on 
all kinds of seedlings. I have only had 
experience on some seedlings and 
worthless varieties, and have some suc¬ 
cesses and some failures, and I am a 
doubting Thomas. I do not intend to 
set out an orchard with the idea of 
top-working to suit me. u. T. cox. 
Ohio. 
Selecting Seed Potatoes. 
IF. J. S., Canandaigua, N. Y .—How 
should seed potatoes be selected for best 
results? 
Ans.—F or “best results” the seed po¬ 
tatoes should have been selected last 
Fall in the field. In every field even 
of the same variety you will find certain 
plants which show extra vitality and 
size. When you dig you will find that 
these strong plants also give the best 
yields. Some plants produce only lit¬ 
tle tubers, while others produce all of 
good size. Now the theory which has 
often been demonstrated, is that those 
extra good plants give tubers which 
when used as seed, will reproduce 
themselves. The plants which yield 
only small tubers will pass this bad 
habit along. Therefore the “best” way 
is to mark the best hills in the field 
and dig them separately. That being 
now impossible you must select from 
the mixed stock. We should look for 
sound, medium-sized tubers of the 
desired variety, rejecting those with 
“prongs” and those which show scab. 
Do not use either the very large or 
undersized tubers. 
Turnips in the Potato Crop. 
In answer to S. E. M., page 189, I would 
say as to turnips that potatoes are the 
only decent crop to raise them in. The 
way I do it is to get my potatoes hilled up 
first, and then after a few days sow broad¬ 
cast about one pound of Purple Top Strap- 
leaf turnip seed per acre, and then shut my 
one-horse cultivator up as close as I can, 
and go once in a row to cover the seed. 
That only brings turnips in about 15 inches 
between the rows, and so does not spoil 
the potatoes as it would if they grew on 
top of the hills. 
As to harvesting them, they ought not to 
be pulled before November, as otherwise 
they will begin to grow and spoil. I have 
a cellar under my barn in which I keep 
them after pulling and topping them, and 
I raise an average of 200 bushels per acre 
in my potatoes each year. I suppose they 
could be buried, but would not be so con¬ 
venient to get at in the Winter. They make 
a very good succulent feed in the Winter. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. g. w. p. 
Radishes Run to Tops. 
Can any of your readers suggest a remedy 
for hothouse radishes growing to tops? I 
attribute it to one of three facts, want of 
ventilation, seed too thickly sowed, or ex¬ 
cess of nitrogen. The facts in my case 
make it difficult to tell where the fault is. 
Both sides of house had the same treat¬ 
ment, yet one side produced 50 per cent 
of tops only and the other side not 10 
per cent. w . H H> 
Matawan, N. J. 
The inquirer is right in deciding that ex¬ 
cessive top growth of radishes under hot¬ 
bed or greenhouse treatment may be caused 
by want of fresh air, too much nitrogen, 
or sowing too thickly. In the case referred 
to, it is possible that the soil in one bed 
before sowing contained more moisture than 
the other. If the writer is certain that he 
used the same amount of seed in each bed 
and that the temperatures were equal, it 
seems to me that there can be only one 
cause, namely, more nitrogen in one bed 
than the other. In the greenhouses which 
are devoted to student practice at the Penn¬ 
sylvania State College I have often noticed 
that a very slight increase in water used 
in one bed may cause an excessive top 
growth. I think there is no doubt about 
the fact that excess of water is more likely 
to cause too much top growth than too 
much nitrogen, and yet. fresh horse manure 
nearly always causes an excessive growth of 
top. In the forcing of radishes in hotbeds, 
greenhouses and cold frames, the following 
factors are important: (1) seed sown 
thinly: (2) some fresh air admitted cverv 
day; (.3) temperatures hold as uniform as 
possible and not too high at any one time, 
high night temperatures being especially in¬ 
jurious ; (4) avoid making the soil too wet. 
R. L. WATTS. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
HARD TO DROP 
But Many Drop It. 
A young Calif, wife talks about 
coffee: 
“It was hard to drop Mocha and 
Java and give Postum a trial, but my 
nerves were so shattered that I was a 
nervous wreck and of course that 
means all kinds of ills. 
“At first I thought bicycle riding 
caused it and I gave it up, but my 
condition remained unchanged. I did 
not want to acknowledge coffee caused 
the trouble for I was very fond of it. 
“About that time a friend came to 
live with us, and I noticed that after 
he had been with us a week he would 
not drink his coffee any more. I asked 
him the reason. He replied, ‘I have 
not had a headache since I left off 
drinking coffee, some months ago, till 
last week, when I began again, here at 
your table. I don’t see how anyone 
can like coffee, anyway, after drinking 
Postum’! 
“I said nothing, but at once ordered 
a package of Postum. That was five 
months ago, and we have drank no 
coffee since, except on two occasions 
when we had company, and the result 
each time was that my husband could 
not sleep, but lay awake and tossed 
and talked half the night. We were 
convinced that coffee caused his suf¬ 
fering, so he returned to Postum, con¬ 
vinced that the coffee was an enemy, 
instead of a friend, and he is troubled 
no more by insomnia. 
“I, myself, have gained 8 pounds in 
weight, and my nerves have ceased to 
quiver. It seems so easy now to quit 
the old coffee that caused our aches 
and ails and take up Postum.” Name 
given by Postum Co., Battle Creek, 
Mich. 
Read the little book, “The Road to 
Wellville,” in pkgs. “There’s a reason.” 
Ever read the above letter? A new one 
appears from time to time. They are genu¬ 
ine, true, and full of human interest. 
ROOFING 
Tin makes a good roof if yon 
paint it. 
Canvas makes a good too! if y oil 
paint it. 
Any felt makes a good roof if 
you paint it. 
Even paper makes a good roof 
if you paint it. 
But Amatite makes a good roof 
if you DON’T paint it. 
On a painted roof, the paint is 
what gives the real protection. 
The rest of it has no function 
except to provide a smooth un¬ 
broken surface with no seams or 
cracks, to which the paint can be 
applied. Anything which has 
strength enough to keep the wind 
from blowing it away or the rain 
from beating it in, will be water¬ 
proof if you use paint enough. 
Amatite Roofing, however, needs 
no painting. It is a real roofing— 
Modern View* 
the Roofing Question 
a roofing that can be left out in the 
rain without the slightest damage. 
The wearing surface is mineral 
matter embedded into a heavy 
coating of pitch and never needs 
painting. 
We shall be glad to send you a 
sample of Amatite free of charge 
if you will send a postal request 
for it to our nearest office. The 
sample will show you what the 
mineral surface is like. 
Everjet Elastic Paint 
A lustrous carbon black paint, very 
cheap, very durable—for protecting all 
kinds of metal and wood work. 
Barrett Manufacturing Company 
New York Chicago Philadelphia 
St. Louis Cleveland 
Pittsburg Cincinnati 
Kansas City Minneapolis 
New Orleans Seattle 
London, England 
Boston 
Quality in 
Fertilizers 
It pays to buy quality in your fertilizer, as it 
does to buy good seed, a sound horse, or a well made 
tool. Price is not the only thing to consider, nor is 
analysis always a true guide. The kind of materials, 
the kind of factory the kind of men who run that 
factory tell the story. 
Our Buffalo factory covers fifteen acres, with 
eleven acres under roof. It includes every facility 
known to the business—sufficient storage for all stocks 
to thoroughly cure, the latest machinery, both steam 
and electric power, the latter from Niagara Falls. 
Half of the factory is filled with the best materials 
money can buy and the other half with the best 
manufactured fertilizers. Yet this is only one of our 
factories, each equipped with the best facilities, and 
each directed by the best men. 
Wherever you live, we can reach you with the right 
fertilizer, the right service, and the right price. 
Write today for copy of “Plant Food”, a practical 
hand book ®n fertility. No advertising in it; sent 
without cost. 
Agents wanted in unoccupied territory. Liberal 
terms and goods that sell. It pays to sell our fertiliz¬ 
ers as well as use them. Ask for agency proposition. 
The American Agricultural Chemical Co., 
Makers of brands with fifty years 
of quality and results behind them. 
129 Lewis Street, Buffalo, New York. 
