The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
559 
Notes from a Maryland Garden 
It is St. Patrick's Day, and we are in 
dread of March, for the fruit trees are 
in full bloom, and the early shrubbery, 
too. The Narcissus and hyacinths, too, 
are blooming, and one garden border of 
Princess of Wales violets is fairly purple 
with bloom. A freeze now would make 
a great calamity, and yet for March to 
pass without frost will be a rarity, in¬ 
deed. We had sharp frost February 26, 
and since then the finest of Spring 
weather, with eunny days and showers 
at night. We have not had an inch of 
snow, and, in fact, only two cold waves 
that would have hurt a dormant orange 
tree. If we could always have such Win¬ 
ters no one would need to go to Florida. 
But unfortunately such Winters are rare, 
though we can claim a mild climate as 
compared with our Northern friends. 
The garden peas are up and growing rap¬ 
idly, the Irish potatoes sprouting and 
will soon be above ground. Four plum 
trees, two of a kind, sent me from the 
Government station at Chico, Cal., a few 
years ago, bore a handful of plums last 
Summer, and today they are covered all 
over with a snowy 'bloom, and if they 
escape frost promise a fine crop this year. 
One of them bears a long, prune-shaped 
fruit, while the other sort has large, 
round plums, like a small apple, yellow 
with a red cheek. Both are fine fruits 
and are the result of hybridizing experi¬ 
ments. 
Having more salsify than my family 
can consume, and as it seems inclined to 
take on new growth, I tried to dispose 
of it to the greengrocers here, but they 
say they have tried it and it will not sell 
here. Where the real oysters are so 
abundant the people do not care for the 
imitation. 
The shad are in our river, but those on 
the market stalls seem unusually small, 
and yet the pi-ice is $1 each, and not a 
big roe fish to be seen. In my boyhood 
I have seen the river here churned to 
foam by the multitude of herring and 
shad, but with the growth of the city and 
the quantity of sewage poured into the 
river the fish have been driven back. 
Our friends seem to know of my fond¬ 
ness for trying all varieties of tomatoes, 
and are sending me samples of many new 
ones. From the Adirondacks I have re¬ 
ceived the Red Head. A Newark, N. J., 
friend sends his Red Jumbo, which 
weighs as high as 24 ounces, and no kin 
to the Ponderosa. lie also sends a yel¬ 
low one of fine quality, he says. Then a 
seed firm in the far South sends a paper 
of Magnolia Mystery tomatoes. I do not 
know what the mystery may be, but I 
will try to find out in growing it. Then 
a firm in Connecticut offers the Burbank 
tomato, and claims that seed sown out¬ 
doors will fruit sooner than the early 
plants set out. I have no faith in Mr. 
Burbank’s “creations,” at least for East¬ 
ern conditions, and frankly I do not be¬ 
lieve a word about it earliness. But all 
the same, I sent 10c for a packet of the 
seed, though none of the leading seed 
houses list it. Then a local greenhouse 
man has what he calls an Early Paragon, 
and that, too, will have a place. With 
all treated alike I expect to learn more 
about some tomatoes. For a pink tomato 
I grow the Globe. 
Cannas left out last Fall are sound and 
sprouting, and Dahlias need not have 
been lifted and buried. My best Cannas 
are still in the cellar, and are being cut 
out as we have opportunity. Then I have 
hundreds of seedling Cannas. only a few 
of which bloomed last Summer. These 
will be set out entire, and I may be able 
to get more really good ones. Those I 
left out last Fall are the old-style, small- 
flowered kind, grown because of their mas¬ 
sive foliage and six to seven feet in height. 
I have often had these to live out over 
Winter. These warm days, with the sun 
shining so bright and the mercury run¬ 
ning up above 80, one feels like nutting 
string beans and cucumbers, etc., in the 
ground, and we have daily to remind our¬ 
selves that it is March and not May. 
W. F. MASSEY. 
. “Yes, my friends,” said the lecturer, 
“in China human life is considered of very 
little value. Indeed, if a wealthy China¬ 
man is condemned to death he can easily 
hire another to die for him. In fact, many 
poor fellows get their living by acting as 
substitutes.”—New York Globe. 
Western Electric distributors in this territory 
National Dairy Equipment Co. 
C. U. DeVoe 
Perry L. Young 
Amos Barnes 
Utica, N. Y. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
Green, N. Y. 
Ithaca. N. Y. 
Farmers' Light & Power Co. 
Farmers' Service Co. 
Rusterholtz Electric Co. 
Bernell Service 
Delhi, N. Y. 
Middletown, N. Y. 
Erie, Pa. 
Sussex, N. J. 
Theodore M. Guenther & Sons, 
D. G. Babcock, 
D. & F. Engineering Co. 
Smith Electric Co. 
Buffalo, N. Y. 
Lake Huntington, N. Y. 
Ogdens burg, N. Y. 
Bound Brook, H. J . 
Get All Your Wool 
The only way to get ALL your 
wool crop, and in condition to bring 
top prices, is to shear by machine. 
Hand blade shearing wastes wool 
—the loss equals the fleece of about 
one sheep in seven. You can easily 
figure it out in your own flock. 
Machine shearing gets all the wool. 
The Stewart No. 9 is the world’s 
best hand-operated machine. Ball 
bearing — easy running — strongly 
built. Your dealer has it—only $22 
—or send $2 to us and pay balanca 
on arrival. 
Power operated equipment for all 
size flocks. Write for Catalog No. 
69 and price list. 
CHICAGO FLEXIBLE SHAFT CO. 
Dept, a 141 
5600 Roosevelt Road, Chicago 
CIDER PRESSES 
Work up your apple culls into profitable cider, also 
make good money pressing for others. 
Our high pressure construction gets all the 
juice with minimum power and operating 
expense. Presses built in sizes suitable f 
all conditions. We also have 
a complete line of pumps, 
racks, cloths, etc. Catalog 
and instructive new booklet I 
“Bi-Products of Fruit’ 
mailed free to 
orchardlsts. 
Other Farquhar 
u cts include 
Engines and 
Boilers, Steam 
and Gas Trac¬ 
tors, Sawmills, 
Threshers, 
Potato Diggers, Grain Drills, 
Cultivators, etc. Write for 
descriptions. 
A. B. FARQUHAR CO., fctd.. Box 130, York, Pa. 
PAINT 
$ 1.25 
PER 
Gallon 
ORDER DIRECT FROM FACTORY 
We will send you as many gallons as you 
want of good quality red or brown 
BARN PAINT 
upon receipt of remittance. We are paint special¬ 
ists and can supply you with paint for any pur¬ 
pose. Tell us your wants and let us quote you 
low prices. We can save you money by shipping 
direct from our factory. .Satisfaction Guaranteed. 
On orders for thirty gallons or over we will prepay the 
freight within a radius of three hundred miles. 
AMALGAMATED PAINT CO. 
Factory: 372 WAYNE ST., JERSEY CITY, N. J. 
