1013. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1381 
Ruralisms 
FRUIT NOTES FROM MISSOURI. 
Last year I made mention in these 
notes of a new Japanese persimmon seed¬ 
ling grown by J. E. Fitzgerald of Texas. 
This seedling was one of a lot purchased 
from the nursery of T. V. Munson, and 
raised from the seed of his own bearing 
trees. Mr. Fitzgerald named it the 
“Eureka” and described it as one of the 
best in fruit and hardiness of all the 
Japanese varieties he had tested. Two 
years ago he sent me a small tree of it. 
It was planted by a fence where it re¬ 
ceived no cultivation and consequently 
Missouri Raspberries. Fig. 559. 
made a slow growth. It endured a temp¬ 
erature of 10 deg. below zero the first 
Winter and 5 deg. above the second with¬ 
out injury. This last Summer its central 
stem shot up to a height of five feet, and 
near the close of the growing season set 
two persimmons at its top, which soon 
fell off. This reveals its precocity. Re¬ 
cently its introducer sent me two of its 
fruits growing on the same stem, as 
shown in Fig. 5G0, natural size. The 
larger one soon showed a ripeness by be¬ 
coming soft, and I was agreeably sur¬ 
prised to find it of a quality quite super¬ 
ior to any other Japanese sort I had 
tasted. It was indeed delicious, and an 
treme heat. But there is this to say in 
their favor, and that is that some of 
them are of sufficient value as Spring 
bearers to justify their continued culti¬ 
vation here. The St. Regis, for exam¬ 
ple, seems to be worthy of a place among 
the standard kinds as a Spring bearer 
alone. It has never Winter-killed and it 
is a free bearer of bright red and firm 
berries of good quality. Near it stands a 
row of King, a producer of fine large 
berries, but one whose canes die back 
too regularly to warrant its planting for 
market. Ruby has been discarded on 
account of execrable quality. The Her¬ 
bert is in the same class as King, unable 
to endure our peculiar Winter conditions. 
Worthy is a good reliable berry with no 
serious defects, but seems fated not to 
find popularity. The new Manitou does 
not seem to be superior if equal to 
Cuthbert, which I should still rank first 
for general planting. The Loudon is best 
of all here, but is said to be too easy a 
victim to the root-gall elsewhere. Eaton, 
identical with Iowa, did better this year 
than ever before. It is the largest of 
all red raspberries, and of good quality, 
but shows three defects here; one is its 
dwarfish growth, another the tendency 
of its berries to crumble unless at exactly 
the proper stage of ripeness, and the last, 
a sort of mildew that attacks its berries 
when dead ripe. On the other hand it 
has unrivalled size, fine color and flavor. 
L. R. JOHNSON. 
Cape Girardeau Co., Mo. 
THE DASHEEN. 
The Department of Agriculture has 
sent out a circular regarding the dasheen, 
a little-known vegetable suited to south¬ 
ern localities. This vegetable is the root 
of a plant resembling the well-known ele¬ 
phant’s ear (Colocasia). Several varie¬ 
ties of Coloasia are cultivated in India, 
the Pacific islands, and the West Indies, 
their conns, under the general name of 
taro, being an important article of food. 
It has been suggested by various news¬ 
papers that the dasheen may be expected 
to relieve any shortage in potatoes hut 
it is not yet cultivated to any extent, and 
uncommon experience it was to slice it 
in halves and eat the contents with a 
spoon after the manner of grapefruit. 
There were six small seeds in all. The 
coining Winter I shall consider very near 
a conclusive test of its hardiness here, 
and undoubtedly it will mature some 
fruit next Summer. If indeed the Eureka 
proves to be hardy and fruitful this far 
north it will mark a very important date 
in the history of the persimmon, and a 
beginning of a revolution in its culture. 
As usual all the Fall or everbearing 
species of small fruits were a failure this 
year and I no longer set any stable value 
on them in a climate such as we have 
here near the center of the Mississippi 
Valley. The heat and drought which 
characterize August and September near 
three years out of four push plant life 
to an extremity where it requires all its 
energy to sustain life itself and leaves no 
bit of surplus wherewith to make fruit. 
This year the season was drought from 
April to mid-September, and in conse¬ 
quence the everbearing strawberries did 
not have vitality beyond bare mainten¬ 
ance even to blossom, and the same was 
true of the St. Regis red raspberry. They 
appear to be a case for the specialist who 
prepared himself to irrigate them, and 
perhaps even to shade them during ex- 
tho public is not yet educated to demand 
it. The Department says: 
From the Carolinas southward the 
dasheen may be cultivated with a high 
degree of success in any rich, sandy loam 
or soil, where there is plenty of moisture 
and heat. It will not grow in soil suit¬ 
able for cotton, but may be grown in 
soil suitable for potatoes. The import¬ 
ance of the dasheen to the Southerner lies 
particularly in the fact that it matures 
iu the Fall, whereas the main potato 
crop in the South matures in the Spring, 
and in Winter the Southern States have 
to obtain their potato supply from the 
North. If dasheens were grown and 
properly appreciated, there would prob¬ 
ably be little need for the South ever to 
buy northern-grown potatoes for food. 
The vegetable looks like an undersized 
cocoanut. although it sometimes grows to 
considerable size. An exceptional one 
recently received by the Department 
weighs 6% pounds. The dasheen origin¬ 
ally came from China, as its name seems 
to indicate a corruption of the French 
"de Chine.” It has already been grown 
successfully iu our South and should 
eventually become one of the most im¬ 
portant field crops there, but as yet not 
enough people have become interested in 
it to justify dealers in putting in on 
the market. 
A bulletin entitled “The Dasheen, a 
Root Crop for the Southern States,” has 
been issued by the Department of Agri¬ 
culture. 
Your Grandfather Read It 
Your Father Read It a 
Are YOU Reading It ? " 
Which Bull’s-Eye 
Are You Aiming At? 
Field Crops ? 
10,000 Bushels From 100 Acres tells you how one man has made 
a fortune from a run-down farm. Starting from less than you have, 
very likely, he has made his farm a wonder in the production of corn. 
Think what hismethods—we’ll tell you what they are—might do for you! 
Doctoring Sick Soils is a lesson that will give you a physician’s 
degree to diagnose the ailments of your land and prescribe for its cure. 
You can’t expect soil that is sick to work for you successfully any 
more than a horse that is off his feed or a hired man who has a fever. 
You must give it the proper medicine and nurse it—we’ll tell you how. 
Better Breeds of Corn mean better yields of corn and better 
yields mean more money. The champion corn breeder of the country 
will tell you how he does it, and you have only to follow his example. 
Beef Cattle? 
Replanning the Stock Farm is one answer to your question. 
As it stands today your farm may not be planned for success with 
livestock. Why not make it over ? Other men have made old farms 
new—we have the experience of a man who replanned a place that 
didn’t pay S450 a year so that it now returns him more than $2500 a 
year. You can do it, too. 
Cheaper Money—Cheaper Beef is another story you want to 
read. Interest charges amount to 42 per cent of the total cost of 
carrying a four-year-old steer to market in the Southwest. If money 
could be had at 4 per cent the producer would make more profit and 
meat would cost less to the consumer. One of the biggest beef raisers 
in the country tells you why. 
Chickens? 
The Little Farm Hen is the series of articles you must read. 
No farm is complete without its chickens, but many a farm would be 
better off without the mongrels that it keeps. Here’s a complete 
course in poultry raising for profit—read it and make the little farm 
hen fill the family purse. 
Orcharding? 
Apples Without Plowing, by the sod-mulch system, is a way of 
growing big apples that you might adopt. You may be too busy to 
pay much attention to the orchard, but trees on rough land will help 
to take care of themselves if you follow this method. 
Farm Management? 
The Best Farm I Know is a series of articles from the West, the 
Northwest, the South, the Corn Belt, the Fruit Regions, written by 
experts who point out why certain farms are better than the general 
run. It will tell you how to manage your own place so it can get into 
the “best” class. 
Better Marketing? 
Advertising Farm Products is only one of the solutions of the 
problem of marketing that we shall give you. The manufacturer and 
the merchant advertise; why shouldn’t the farmer? This valuable 
series of articles means better prices for your products. 
Better Home Comforts? 
The Woman’s Department is a weekly magazine in itself for 
the wife and mother. If you want new recipes we have them. If you 
want new ideas in fancy work we have them. If you want the latest 
styles in dress we have them. If you are interested in short cuts in 
housework we’ll explain them to you. 
If farming 
is your 
Business 
You need 
Ifie COUNTRY 
GENTLEMAN 
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