1913. 
far fc 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Ruralisms 
HI T 
FLORAL NOTES. 
Care of Rambler Roses. —Though 
the Crimson Rambler, with its newer 
form, Philadelphia, is the most popular 
of all Rambler roses, there is a deep- 
rooted objection to it on account of its 
unsightly foliage after the blooming sea¬ 
son. This condition forms a marked 
contrast to the glossy foliage of the 
American Pillar and Dorothy Perkins 
varieties at the same period. However, 
the appearance of the former may be 
greatly improved if proper care is given 
the plant at critical times. Plenty of 
nourishment at the root is sure to estab¬ 
lish an abundant leaf growth of a dark 
green color and of superior substance. 
During hot weather, and especially during 
extreme drought, the red spider, an 
enemy to the welfare of all rose bushes, 
puts in its appearance and begins its 
work of destruction. Frequent syringings 
with the hose upon the under part of 
the leaves soon puts this invader to rout. 
Green fly or aphis in great numbers 
frequently feast upon the soft and ten¬ 
der shoots of the plant, weakening to 
a surprising extent the vigor and sub¬ 
stance of the flowers. The best remedy 
for this post is one of the many tobacco 
extracts upon the market, used accord¬ 
ing to directions or a liberal dusting of 
tobacco upon the affected parts. This 
treatment, followed by a thorough use of 
the hose, rids the plant of this trouble. 
Rose bugs and other insects that chew, 
can be taken care of with a mild solu¬ 
tion of Paris green. Arsenate of lead is 
also used for this purpose but as it 
leaves the foliage spotted white, the 
Paris green is preferable. After the 
blooming period the withered flower clus¬ 
ters should be removed. With a little 
care of this kind the seared, rusty and 
unsightly condition of the Crimson Ram¬ 
bler at midseason can be obviated. 
The Popular Hanging Basket.— 
This form of porch decoration does its 
best when placed in partial shade. Such 
plants as Dracaenas, Fuchsias, ferns and 
ivies, which are commonly used for this 
work, do not thrive in the open sun and 
when subjected to its glare for any length 
of time, lose their freshness and charm. 
With hut a thin layer of moss upon the 
wire the hanging basket affords splendid 
drainage to its contents. For this reason 
and being virtually full of roots that 
require it, a copious supply of water 
can be given without danger of souring 
the soil. When the season becomes well 
advanced it is probable that the fer¬ 
tility in the comparatively small quan¬ 
tity of soil in the basket is exhausted; 
under these conditions a few applica¬ 
tions of weak liquid manure—given four 
or five days apart—will nourish and 
improve the growth. A common mis¬ 
take in the making of vases and urns 
is the allowance of a ridiculously small 
space to contain the soil. By the time 
the roots of the plants are crowded into 
the vase there is little soil left in the 
small space and the chances for having 
a pleasing and vigorous effect are small 
indeed. j. M ’ L . 
Elyria, Ohio. 
experiments in tobacco breeding. 
Bulletin 17G of the Connecticut Ex¬ 
periment Station at New Haven, by col¬ 
laboration of H. K. Hayes, E. M. East 
and E. G. Beiuhart, is a report of four 
years co-operative work in tobacco breed¬ 
ing between the United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, the Bussey Insti¬ 
tution of Harvard, and the Experiment 
Station. The bulletin is a report of 
progress, as the complex nature of the 
problems makes it impossible to reach 
a final solution at present. 
1 be authors give a discussion of the 
tobacco plant, and report favorable re- 
s, ilts which have been obtained by using 
inbred seed. In order to produce self- 
pollinated seed the flower head is eov- 
"d with a 12 -pound manila paper bag 
before the blossoms open. By this 
method seed can be saved from those 
plants which have the more desirable 
characters, such as leaf shape, number 
ea\ es, etc. As tobacco can be in- 
,r °d without detrimental effects and the 
M" improved by this means, it appears 
desirable that growers use this method 
01 seed selection. The appearance of a 
plant is not a criterion of that plant’s 
breeding qualities, as a more favorable 
position for development of the plant 
than for its sisters may be the cause of 
its more desirable appearance. The cor¬ 
rect method of determining the breeding 
nature of a plant is by growing its 
progeny. 
The bulletin describes the results of 
crossing experiments, and the report of 
the “Halladay Havana” is of especial 
interest. This type, which has a good- 
sized leaf and a large number of leaves, 
appeared in the third generation of a 
cross between Havana seed and an im¬ 
ported Sumatra variety, made by A. D. 
Shame!. This type has particular in¬ 
terest in that it produces a large number 
of leaves of good shape and size. A yield 
per acre of as high as 3,000 pounds has 
been obtained. 
The Halladay Havana was commer¬ 
cially tried in 1900, about 125 acres being 
grown. Some few crops were good, 
but the majority of them were unfav¬ 
orable, the general faults being lack 
of burn and a too large percentage of 
dark leaves. For this reason the com¬ 
mercial culture of the Halladay was 
discontinued. Selection experiments 
which have been carried on from 1909 
to 1912, inclusive, with a number of 
different families of the Halladay 
Havana, show the reason for its com- 
HALLADAY HAVANA TOBACCO. 
Fig. 289. 
mereial failure. By selection, a number 
of distinctly different strains have been 
produced, which proves that the Halladay 
in 1909 was of a hybrid nature. As 
uniformity of field habit is a necessity 
to produce a uniform quality of cured 
leaf, selection experiments were instituted 
to obtain a uniformity of type of com¬ 
mercial value. 
A number of strains which have been 
grown since 1909 and on which selec¬ 
tion has been practiced were harvested, 
cured, fermented and assorted in 1912. 
These were compared with Havana seed 
grown on the same field. Some of the 
selections gave much lower relative 
values, and others gave considerably 
higher values. 
Other crosses are reported which look 
promising, but these have not been 
grown for a sufficient time to determine 
their commercial possibilities. The re¬ 
sults obtained are important, however, 
from the plant-breeding standpoint, as 
they show the methods that should be 
followed in producing improved forms 
by hybridization. The different char¬ 
acters, such as leaf shape, number of 
leaves and leaf size, are in a large meas¬ 
ure inherited independently. Therefore, 
by crossing and subsequent selection the 
desirable features of one parent can be 
united with those of the other parent. 
The first generation, after a cross be¬ 
tween tobacco races which differ in such 
characters as leaf size and shape, is as 
uniform as the parents and of an inter¬ 
mediate value. Self-pollinated seed from 
these first generation plants gives a 
variable progeny, and often new forms 
come into being, due to the re-combina¬ 
tion of parental characters. Some of 
these second generation plants will breed 
true the following year, and others will 
produce a variable progeny, and the only 
method of determining the breeding value 
of a particular plant is to grow and 
observe its descendants. The production 
of fixed forms which contain certain de¬ 
sirable plant characters is not, however, 
a simple problem, due to the large num¬ 
ber of factors in which plants of dif¬ 
ferent races differ, and because a super¬ 
ficial resemblance does not necessarily 
mean a germinal resemblance. It is 
necessary to grow large second genera¬ 
tions after crossing, and to save seed 
from those plants which most nearly 
conform to the desired type. Progeny 
of these selected plants should be grown 
in row tests the following year, and se¬ 
lection continued in later generations un¬ 
til the desired type has been obtained. 
The picture. Fig. 2S9, shows a Halladay 
Havana strain which averages 29 leaves 
per plant. A first priming of five or six 
leaves has been harvested. 
YELLOW SWEET CLOVER. 
I have a field (17 acres) that has a 
splendid stand of yellow sweet clover, 
and I wish to know about the time to 
cut the same for seed. This field was 
in corn two years ago and the volun¬ 
teer clover was pastured last season. 
The cattle prefer this clover to their 
Blue grass. This year the yellow clover 
came up so thickly I decided to let it 
stand for seed. The field is now a mass 
of yellow blossoms and the clover is 
standing about four feet high and is very 
thick. Yellow clover has always been 
considered more or less as a weed in 
our locality, but as this is a perfect 
stand and so clean I want advice about 
gathering it for seed. Some people tell 
me that it is just the thing to inoculate 
the soil for growing Alfalfa, while others 
say it is to coarse to cut for hay, and 
is only a weed. f. k. w. 
Stephens City, Va. 
The yellow melilot or yellow sweet 
clover, Melilotus officinalis, is not re¬ 
garded as a useful forage crop. This 
inquirer says cattle prefer it to Blue 
grass, but usually animals dislike it, 
either green or cured, because of a pe¬ 
culiar bitterish taste. It is very coarse 
and woody, except in its earlier stages, 
and is said to be difficult to cure well. 
The melilots are valuable, however, as 
soil renovators, because of their rank 
growth and ability to gather nitrogen; 
they are very helpful in renovating hard 
sterile soil. It appears to be proven, too, 
that the root tubercles of the melilot 
inoculate Alfalfa soil, while its growth 
is said to indicate soil adaptability for 
Alfalfa. Melilot is excellent bee pasture. 
It may very easily become a troublesome 
weed ; it m very common in New Jersey 
and New York covering railway embank¬ 
ments or sterile roadsides. It is cut for 
seed when most of the flowers are dry 
and brown, but before it begins to shell 
out. _ 
AUSTRALIAN POTATO NOTES. 
We are on a large swamp which the 
State Government drained about 20 years 
ago. situated on the Main Gippsland 
Railway line, or rather between the Main 
Gippshuid and South Gippsland Railway, 
about 50 miles east of Melbourne. In 
some places the peat was from one foot 
to 10 feet deep; now it is growing im¬ 
mense crops of potatoes, onions, carrots, 
oats, and hay, which, with dairying and 
fattening sheep, are the general features 
of the district. Being a mid-season dis¬ 
trict for potatoes Carmans take first 
place for white skins; Cook’s Favorite, a 
potato which originated in a crop of 
Carmans in Mr. Cook’s paddock at Rom- 
se.v. has a lot of friends; however, it is 
sold as Carman No. 3. Another potato 
that does well is the Up-to-Date, a heavy 
cropper but not as good eating as Car¬ 
man. but is sold as such. 
The red skins (Brownell’s Beauty) 
and Excelsior are the general favorites 
for export. What is meant by export is 
any potato that has to be carried by boat. 
The growers have to consider the likes 
and dislikes of Melbourne and Sydney, 
as these two places are the greatest con¬ 
sumers. Melbourne people prefer a white 
skin, Sydney a red skin. As far as my 
experience goes white skins are the 
heaviest croppers, but during the export 
season red skins fetch from $1 to .$4 per 
ton more than whites. The prices have 
been very good this season, averaging 
about $27 for 2,240 pounds; sacks are 
higher this year, 14 cents a sack, about 
15 sacks to a ton. j. l. Rogers. 
“Have you done your share toward 
making life more cheerful for anybody?” 
asked the genially serious person. “i 
have. I gave a crowd of people the time 
of their lives this morning. My hat blew 
off and I chased it two blocks.”—Wash¬ 
ington Star. 
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