9*e RURAL NEW-YORKER 
47 
Notes from a Maryland Garden 
I have been very much interested in 
looking over an old volume of the Amer¬ 
ican Farmer , published in Baltimore in 
1823. There was quite a spirited dis¬ 
cussion of the cheat question, for many 
then believed that wheat and oats would 
turn to a different genera and produce 
Bromus grass with seed that would per¬ 
petuate the same cheat grass, a thing 
which if possible would give us a world 
of chance, instead of the laws that in¬ 
exorably govern life in plants and ani¬ 
mals. One man went so far as to claim 
that if the weather was too wet when a 
hen was set her eggs would hatch crows, 
hawks and owls. m This, of course, now 
sounds very ridiculous, but it is not a bit 
more ridiculous than that wheat or oats 
should change to an entirely different 
plant. But cheat is not always the same 
plant. In one section the plant that 
grows from the wheat or oats is Bromus 
secalinus. In another section the cheat 
is Lolium temulentum, the spiked darnel 
or poison rye grass. 
Oats never turn to cheat in the North, 
it is the wheat only that is transformed 
there. But in the South it is oats which 
turn to Bromus. It is easy to explain 
this, for you may sow oats in Spring that 
are mixed with cheat seed and get a crop 
entirely clean of cheat, simply because 
cheat seed sown in the Spring will not 
head out with the oats as it does when 
sown in the Fall, and in the South oats 
are generally sown in the Fall. The 
writers thrashed this cheat matter out 
fully in 1823. So please do not take 
the matter up again and write to me 
that you know wheat turns to cheat, fo; 
you do not know anything of the sort, 
though you may sincerely believe you do. 
I do not wish to start this perennial 
superstition again. 
One man in the old paper said that he 
had found out the cause of so many peo¬ 
ple dying with apoplexy. It is caused 
by people wearing cravats. I wonder if 
he thought the wearing of stockings 
caused the gout. It did not seem t*► occur 
to him that over-eating and wine-drinking 
were responsible for both diseases. 
One man said that his rutabagas were 
mixed with cabbages, for they made more 
tops than roots. Alfalfa was being dis¬ 
cussed under the names of French clover 
and Lucent. One man claimed that he 
could feed six beeves on the produce of an 
acre. 
Mr. Joseph E. Muse of Cambridge. Md.. 
exhibited samples of rice grown by him on 
his dyked marshes on the Nnuticoke River 
and cotton was regularly planted on the 
Missouri River in Central Missouri, 
where one man claimed to have lO.(XX) lbs. 
of lint on a little more than 10 acres 
And yet today no rice is grown in Mary¬ 
land nor cotton on the Missouri River. 
Great efforts were being made to grow 
the Vinifera varieties of grapes. John 
Adluin of Georgetown. D. 0., reported 
making 25 bbls. of wine from two acres 
of Constantin. Tokay. Madeira and 
Worthington grapes, and a keg from the 
wild fox grape. A man at Sunswick 
N. Y., (the P. O. Guide does not show 
any such place today), said that he grew 
White Tokay. Queen with clusters 15 ins. 
long. White Muscat and White Chasselns 
grapes. He also grew Seupperuougs and 
ripened them October 1. I doubt that a 
Seuppernong vine would survive one 
Winter in New York today. Some of the 
French grapes, grafted on our native 
vine roots and sprayed regularly, might 
make some grapes today, but with the im¬ 
proved native grapes we do not need 
them. 
Frost in September, 1823, nearly de¬ 
stroyed the tobacco crop in Maryland. 
Today we seldom have any frost at all 
till last of October, and this year the 
first, frost came November 10. I have a 
letter written from North Carolina by 
my father’s uncle, Nicholas Massey, 
which states that the frost in May, 1774, 
had killed every green thing. The letter 
was written June 11, 1774. and said that 
the leaves were beginning to grow again 
on the forest trees. 
Among the large yarns in the old paper 
was a statement from a man who said he 
had sown Guinea grass seed (Pauicum 
maximum) in his garden in rows five feet 
apart and it grew 14 ft. tall before bloom¬ 
ing. A pretty tall yarn, though it may 
grow now half that tall. w. f. massey. 
ATLAS Cement can Le used successfully for indoor concrete construction during the 
Winter months, particularly when there 
busy. Send the coupon below to our 
Crete On The Farm ” and “ Concrete 
which tell what and how to 
is little other work to keep farm help 
nearest office for our books “ Con- 
on the Farm in Cold Weather ” 
build with ATLAS. 
Milk Cooling Tanks 
Now is the time to build 
your indoor cooler. Then 
when warm weather over¬ 
takes you, it will be ready 
to keep milk cool and 
sweet. The protection af¬ 
forded against loss will save 
many times the cost of the 
few bags of ATLAS re¬ 
quired. Build now—in spare 
time. 
PORTLAND 
ATLAS 
CEMENT ■ 
J. TRADE. MARK- , 
Atlas 
Cattle Feeding Alleys 
Built with ATLAS Cement 
they not only prevent food 
waste but permit cleaner, 
weight-producing food con¬ 
sumption. Easily kept clean 
and sanitary—and are per¬ 
manent. 
Another suggestion; con¬ 
crete your cellar floor this 
winter. Make it warmer in 
winter, cooler in summer 
and dry always. 
“ The Standard by which all other makes are measured ” 
The Atlas Portland Cement Company 
NEW YORK Boston Philadelphia Savannah Dayton Minneapolis Des Moines St. Louis CHICAGO 
The Atlas Portland Cement Company 
(Address the Atlas Office nearest you) 
Please send me a copy of “Concrete On The Farm” and “Con¬ 
crete On TheFarm in Cold Weather”without cost or obligation. 
04 
Name . . 
Address 
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When the harvest is gathered your profits 
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-ka vh. tv nte ror ^awiutr 
In Stock 
- Near 
You 
\ 
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Box 840 
Utica, N.Y 
• Don’t give the Farmer 
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