1912. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1183 
Ruralisms 
MISSOURI FRUITS. 
Plums. —Plums were a good crop 
again this year, one full crop following 
another. This may be regarded as a 
kind of test, for some varieties have not 
the vitality to produce two consecutive 
crops. As usual, the first to ripen was 
the Japanese Earliest of All, a plum of 
which I think very highly. It is the 
smallest of the Japans, and is not of 
high quality, but otherwise it is above 
criticism. It is a late bloomer, a sure 
bearer, the earliest to ripen and almost 
immune to rot and the curculio. On ac¬ 
count of its early season, it is a good 
seller and can be retailed to advantage 
in quart berry boxes. This valuable 
plum seems to be overlooked, as I see 
no references to it in the papers. A few 
days after this plum, we have the yellow 
McCarty and then the best commer¬ 
cial sorts come in, the Milton first and 
then the Wild Goose and Clifford. Yel¬ 
low plums are wanted by only a few, 
and therefore should be sparingly 
planted, but the red sorts were in great 
demand these last two years and I 
shall have to revise my conclusions that 
plums are not profitable. Earliest of 
All we sold at 25 cents a gallon, and 
the main season kinds at 20 cents. Mil- 
ton is a sweeter plum than the Wild 
Goose and has a tough skin that per¬ 
mits it to be handled without damage. 
Clifford is the largest and handsomest 
of the three and, as it grows here, is 
certainly worthy of extensive propaga¬ 
tion. The tree is quite large, with 
handsome foliage, and the limbs droop 
with the load of their brilliantly colored 
fruit. The plum is slightly necked and 
is of a singular and good flavor. All 
these plums are resistant to rot and 
curculio but it is best to spray them 
once. 
sprayed only from one side. All in all, 
the cherry has not been profitable here. 
This is the first heavy crop in the 10 
years of the life of the trees. There 
has been bloom in plenty, but the fruit 
refused to set, and even this year not 
more than one flower in eight produced 
potato balls on a stalk, and I saved a 
quantity. I would like to know if the balls 
have to be dried to get the seed out. 
Ans. —The balls are not dried; the 
seed is separated from the pulp just 
like tomato seed. Crush the balls, put 
them in a jar with water, and allow 
MILTON. 
a cherry. This may have been due in 
part to a too rich soil, made so with 
heavy applications of stable manure, but 
a number of the trees are now showing 
signs of decline and decay and I fear 
that a good percentage of them will an¬ 
nually die. L. R. JOHNSON. 
Cape Girardeau Co., Mo. 
Saving Potato Balls. 
J. O., Young8ville, A'. Y .—I have lots of 
potato balls. I planted a half acre of blue 
potatoes, and I had a pretty good crop, si 11 
large-sized tubers. There were quite a few 
WILD GOOSE, 
them to ferment; after a little stirring 
the seeds sink to the bottom, when they 
may be separated from the pulp, dried 
and stored in paper bags like any other 
seed. The seed balls should be mature; 
those that are green when frost comes 
are not likely to give viable seed. Seed 
may be sown out of doors in the Spring, 
but it is better to sow in boxes in 
frames or greenhouses, as the seedlings 
need a long season to mature, and are 
also thus better protected against flea 
beetles while very tender.. 
T HE work of your skin in carrying off 
perspiration and waste material from 
the body is most important to your 
health. Block up the pores with air-tight 
underwear and colds and pneumonia are 
the result. Wright’s Health Underwear 
helps the skin keep you well. The fleece 
lining is not only soft and comforting to 
the skin, but it absorbs all moisture, keep¬ 
ing the body dry and of even temperature," 
so draughts cannot affect it. Ask your 
dealer to show you 
Wright’s Spring Needle Ribbed Underwear 
is knitted permanently elastic—it fits com¬ 
fortably to the body wdiamt’c 
all over, and keeps its 
shape. See it at your SPRlHG rr-Ti HEEDtE 
dealer’s and know it tradexA/mark 
by this label:— RIBBED UNDERWEAR 
Farmers Need “40’s” 
Electric Lights 4 Speed Transmission—Big Tires 
All With MICHIGAN “40, 
The Waugh is a strong grower and 
heavy bearer of a large late purple plum 
CLIFFORD. 
with solid flesh and tart flavor. It would 
be a valuable variety if it were not so 
terribly susceptible to the rot and cur¬ 
culio. It may be that the puncture of 
the curculio has much to do with the 
entrance of the rot as has been proved 
to be the case with peaches, but 1 have 
never been able to save a crop of this 
plum, although repeatedly sprayed with 
self-boiled lime sulphur. After the sea¬ 
son of the Wild Goose there come in 
a number of plums, apparently seedlings 
of that variety, that differ more or less 
in size, color and flavor. They sprout 
freely and are thus easily propagated. 
They do well when grown in thickets 
along branch bottoms, and it is a wonder 
that farmers do. not plant them for the 
hog feed they afford. Still later, in 
August or September, comes the season 
of the blue damsons, which are the best 
sellers on the market, always command¬ 
ing the highest prices. This is due to 
their value for preserving, as they are 
worth little fpr eating raw. No doubt 
the damson (of which there are several 
varieties) would be more largely grown 
and consequently cheaper if the fruit 
were not so susceptible to the curculio, 
though resistant to the rot. After all, 
spraying is still confined to the few and 
therefore fruit refuses to become 
cheaper. We sprayed with lead arsenate, 
when blossoms fell and later with 
arsenate in self-boiled lime sulphur and 
saved a good crop. 
Cherries. — Cherries yielded the 
heaviest crop since the trees were 
planted. The varieties were Early Rich¬ 
mond and Montmorency. I agree with 
the general opinion that Montmorency 
is the better of the two, but as the 
period of ripening of the Richmond is 
about 10 days ahead of the Montmo¬ 
rency, the former is indispensable. The 
Montmorency is more erect in growth 
and seems to be the heavier bearer but 
there is little difference in the fruit. 
They were given one spraying with 
arsenate of lead when the cherries were 
just out of the shuck, and it appeared 
to be effective, for there were few 
wormy specimens except on certain 
trees, and this was attributed to the 
fact that some trees along a fence were 
The trend of demand, in the past 
three years, has been to 40-horse¬ 
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engineers devote their whole time to 
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Things Needed 
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For safety, brakes should be extra 
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” at $1,585 
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Owned by the Owners of the Michigan Buggy Co. 
Michigan 
n£y2 o- 
vA, '\]S^ 
Electric lights with dynamo. 
Four forward speeds. 
Tires, 35 x 4% inch. 
Center control. 
Leftside drive. 
14-inch cushions. 
Rear seat, 50 inches wide. 
Wheel base, 118 inches. 
Body has 22 coats. 
4%-inch bore, 5K-inch stroke, 
40 to 46 horsepower. 
Big, comfortable springs. 
Extra efficient brakes. 2% x 
16-inch drums. 
Firestone Q. D. Demountable 
rims. 
Adjustable steering post. 
Adjustable clutch and brake 
pedals. 
Nickel mountings. 
$50 speedometer. 
Mohair top and curtains. 
Windshield built in. 
Robe rail—foot rail. 
Electric horn, etc. 
Choice of gas or electric self¬ 
starter, at moderate extra 
Price - (116) 
