1318 
‘Bh RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October IS, 1024 
money ut it. Mr. Hartman had tried the tomato 
■business, hut couldn’t make a go of that. So it goes. 
Get the right man in the right place, and hooked up 
to the right crop or combination of crops, and there 
is success. By the way, the “Tomato King” comes 
very near to farming both ends of the country, as 
he has relatives here who plant the Livingston Globe 
tomato here, and he comes North to save the seed 
from them, and has built up a reputation for good 
seed of that variety in the South Florida tomato 
section. 
WINTER MANAGEMENT.—Now, as to how we 
get away for the Winter. We expect to spend 
every Winter in Florida, unless, like the Illinois lad, 
w r e get too poor to get there. When the work is 
squared up, usually about the middle of November, 
we sell our horses at a sacrifice. The family cows, 
the neighbors are willing to keep if milking. Last 
Spring we bought three horses which are entirely 
satisfactory for our work at a total cost of $101, 
which is less than the price of the hay and corn 
they would have eaten during the Winter. The 
tractor and truck enable us to get along with three 
horses where we used to use five or six, and to use 
a lower grade horse than was necessary when the 
plowing and disking and orchard cultivation had 
to be done by horses. We hire our early tomato 
and pepper plants grown, so that if we are back* 
by March 15 to get the cold frames ready, and 
spray our orchard, the work moves along nicely. 
Also, we arrange to have 700 or 800 chicks hatched 
about the time we return. We have a man and boy 
living in our tenant house. They have free rent 
and fuel, and are free to work wherever they want 
to in the Winter. 
PLEASURES AND ADVANTAGES—The fare to 
South Florida from here is a little wear and tear 
on the family flivver, 72 gallons of gas, and a few 
quarts of oil. The roads are good, the people along 
the way, and in the .numerous camps are friendly 
and interesting. The children attend the local 
schools with no charge for tuition. The country, to 
my way of thinking doesn’t need more food, but 
there are lots of farmers who need a vacation. Let 
the Florida farmer have the market in the Winter. 
It he needs you to help gather his crops, pitch in 
and help, if he doesn’t—go fishing. It’s a good time 
and place for thinking up ways to get more of the 
consumers’ dollars when the season works North, 
and the market is yours. harkis t. kille. 
New Jersey. 
The Prize Spellers 
T HE spelling contest at the New York State Fair 
lias come to be one of the great features of the 
exposition. Dr. F. P. Graves, of Albany, who con¬ 
ducts this “spelling bee”—that is. gives out the 
words, is reported to have said: 
Graduates of tbe good old “spell downs” of years 
ago, yearn for a chance when they see the youngsters. 
I think it would be just as big a feature as tbe spelling 
bee for children, for no matter bow old we get or bow 
many years out of school we are, everybody likes to 
feel that they can keep up with the best in spelling 
tongue-twisters. It is more than a matter of mere per¬ 
sonal pride or self satisfaction to know that you are 
“good” when it comes to spelling. 
We hope some such plan can be carried out next 
year, so that the adults may line up against the 
children. 
On next page we may see pictures of Commissioner 
Graves and the first and second prize winners. The 
first place girl is 14 years old while Mary Stewart 
is 12. Both girls spelled more than 500 words cor¬ 
rectly and then Edwina won by one word. The fol¬ 
lowing account is taken from the local report: 
Both girls had spelled 500 words correctly and an 
additional list of 25 was given them. In the extra 25 
Miss Weis spelled “emanate” with an "i” instead of 
**a,” and little Miss Stewart misspelled “plebeian” and 
“acoustic.” , ... 
Tuesday’s contest definitely proved that it is the 
individual ability of the pupil and teacher that count 
instead of the size of tbe system involved. Miss Weis 
hailing from a 32-room school house in New Rochelle 
and Miss Stewart claiming allegiance to an old-fash¬ 
ioned one-room building in Harford, being in attend¬ 
ance at District School No. 6. 
This statement that the teacher is responsible for 
good scholarship is correct. It all makes us think 
of Garfield’s remark to the effect that he would 
rather sit on a log with such a teacher as Mark 
Hopkins at the other end than attend some magni¬ 
ficent university with an inefficient or careless teach¬ 
er in the class-room. Reading, writing and spelling 
and the dictionary habit make the real foundation 
for any education. The very best teacher might well 
be sent into the country. 
The following notes are from our own corre¬ 
spondent at Syracuse: 
Girls Excel at Spelling Bee 
Three out of four of the prize-winners at the State 
Fair spelling bee this year were girls. This may not 
prove anything regarding the comparative ability of 
boys and girls. The best two spellers represented the 
extremes of educational facilities in the State, and this 
may only mean that it is individual effort, not the type 
of school that makes the champion. 
Edwina Elizabeth Weis, 14, of New Rochelle, West¬ 
chester County, took first award by missing only one 
word out of 525. Her school is the largest in New 
Rochelle, containing 32 rooms. Certainly the size of 
the school does not handicap the quality of its educa¬ 
tional results in this case. 
Mary Stewart, 12, of Harford, Cortland County, the 
home of other State Fair spelling prize-winners, was 
awarded second prize. She misspelled two words. Some 
of the observers thought that neither girl would ever 
miss a word, as both went unfailingly through two 
lists of 200 words each, then a specially difficult list 
of 50, and another even more so of 25. All the others 
bad dropped out sometime before. 
Then a new list was compiled, and Edwina met de¬ 
feat when she spelled “emanate” with an “i” instead of 
an “a.” Mary Stewart misspelled two words in this 
list “plebeian” and “acoustic.” 
Only four survived the first 475 words. They were 
Gordon Cairns, 12, of South Ivortright, Delaware Coun¬ 
ty, and Mary Clark, 11, of Watertown. 
Edwina Weis was declared State champion speller, 
and was awarded the cash prize of $50, and a silver 
trophy cup, donated by I'. C. Welch, manager of the 
Onondaga Hotel of Syracuse. Mary Stewart won the 
second prize of $25. and had her photograph taken with 
Edwina and Dr. Frank P. Graves, State Education 
Commissioner, who conducted the contest. Gordon 
Cairns won $15 and Mary Clark, $10. 
So great has been the interest in the spelling bees, 
and the actual study of spelling in the schools has 
been, so stimulated that an adult spelling contest for 
next year has been suggested. The matter may be 
taken under consideration by the Fair Commission, 
and some form of elimination contests devised whereby 
county champions may be selected to compete at the 
State contest. 
“The Garden Huckleberry” is Nightshade 
I am sending you a sample of fruit that I have 
grown this season from seed supplied to me as garden 
huckleberry. Not being acquainted with the same I 
would like to have your opinion as to whether the fruit 
is good to eat or not. The plants they grow on are 
full of fruit, about two quarts to a plant. H. T. 
New York. 
HE cluster of berries sent by Mr.' Thorpe is 
shown at Fig. 543. It is a good-sized sample 
of black nightshade, Solanum nigrum, and is about 
as closely related to the huckleberry as a red rooster 
is to a Cheshire pig. We have noted the adver¬ 
tisements of “garden huckleberries” in various farm 
papers, though we did not quite realize the size of 
the “fake” revealed by this incident. The U. S. Dis¬ 
pensatory has this to say about black nightshade: 
Solanum nigrum.—There are numerous varieties of 
this species, one of which is a native of the United 
States. The leaves are the part employed. They are 
said to produce diaphoresis, sometimes diuresis and 
moderate purging, and in large doses nausea and giddi¬ 
ness. As a medicine they have been used in can¬ 
cerous, scrofulous, and scorbutic diseases, and other 
painful ulcerous affections, being given internally, and 
applied at the same time to the parts affected in the 
form of poultice, ointment, or decoction. A grain of 
the dried leaves may be given every night, and grad¬ 
ually increased to 10 or 12 grains, or till some sensible 
effect is experienced. 
It is not likely that a few of these berries would 
injure the ordinary adult though without question 
people have been poisoned by berries of this family. 
We do not care to take the chance. What an extra¬ 
ordinary “fake” this is! The true huckleberry can¬ 
not be successfully grown in good garden soil. Yet 
there is an insistent demand for the fruit. These 
frauds who offer this “garden huckleberry” play 
upon the imagination of credulous people and send 
them seeds of a common wild shrub of little value 
and very questionable safety as a food. 
It brings to mind Burbank’s “Wonderberry” which 
was offered to the public with a great parade some 
years ago. This “Wonderberry” was claimed to be a 
seedling resulting from a cross which introduced 
this nightshade character. It was extravagantly 
termed as one of the most wonderful “creations” of 
Luther Burbank. The R. N.-Y. fought its introduc¬ 
tion and made the truth about it so clear that the 
plant was driven out of the market. This thing of 
inducing the public to buy seeds of nightshade by 
calling the plant a garden huckleberry is a crime 
and should be punished by the federal authorities. 
Satisfactory Cover Crop in Com 
N a recent issue F. M. F. asks for a satisfactory 
cover crop to be sown in corn at the last culti¬ 
vation. We have found that Dwarf Essex rape, 
5 lbs., and Sweet clover, 7 lbs., make the best com¬ 
bination for this section. The rape makes a big 
growth before Winter, and comes up very early in 
the Spring, and prevents the clover from heaving. 
The Sweet clover here makes a very heavy growth, 
and is sometimes 4 ft. tall by the middle of May. 
Rape is usually in flower by that time and gets over 
5 ft. high. Scarified clover seed must be used for 
this purpose, and the land should be inoculated to 
either Alfalfa or Sweet clover. We do not cover 
the seed, but aim to get it on the land as close as 
we can follow the cultivator, usually seeding in the 
evening what has been cultivated during the day; 
have never had a poor stand yet, in the five years 
we have been using this mixture. 
We do not use a seeder, but sow by hand, and it 
is easy to acquire the knack of seeding with both 
hands; I flatten out a light galvanized bucket, so 
that it will lie close against the chest, fasten a 
strap to each ear of it, hang it over my neck, and 
seed with both hands, dipping into the bucket with 
both hands at the same time, and counting steps 
to measure the quantity sowed; in this way I can 
seed seven rows of corn at once, and usually cover 
about 2% acres per hour. Our last cultivation of 
corn comes about the last week in July. The 
Sweet clover does not make a very big growth in 
the Fall, but grows very fast in the Spring. 
Lancaster Co., Pa. e. ruppin. 
Notes on Everbearing Strawberries 
TRYING SEASON.—Colorado has just passed 
through one of the liotest and driest season on 
record. Naturally one would think it a severe sea¬ 
son for everbearing strawberries, yet the opposite is 
true, showing conclusively that this class of ber¬ 
ries do best in dry sections and under irrigation. 
At any rate the size, quality and productiveness 
were never before as good, and the large yield was 
reflected in the lower prices obtained than hereto¬ 
fore on our market. I was again disappointed in the 
variety, Rockhill, which for the second time could 
not be coaxed to fruit in the Fall by any known 
method of culture. 
VARIETIES UNDER CULTIVATION.—I have in 
my collection the following varieties: Progressive, 
Superb, Americas, Ideal, Onward, Peerless, Perfec¬ 
tion, Honeymoon, Ivosato, Lucky Boy, Lucky Strike, 
Gold Coin, Pride of Denver, 999, Duluth, Colorado, 
Victor, Golden Jubilee, Jewell, Majestic, Champion, 
and Rockhill, including a number of new ones not 
yet named. The ground upon which the above varieties 
where grown had never grown strawberries before, 
was new bottom and very fertile. The plants were 
set in April and all blossoms and most of the run¬ 
ners were cut to the first of August. A severe frost 
the last week of September stopped the further 
production of fruit. 
FRUIT PRODUCTION.—All of the varieties men¬ 
tioned bore fruit except Rockhill. Some of the 
plants of Champion, Colorado and Majestic died 
from overproduction, while Superb, Ivosato, Gold 
Coin, Jewell, Victor and others produced apparently 
the right amount of fruit to keep up production to 
the end of the season and to reproduce themselves 
by runners at the same time. At the suggestion of 
the editor to name four of the best, I submitted the 
following which as grown here head the entire list 
of the varieties now in commerce: Superb, Pride of 
Denver, Champion, Progressive. The first two are 
related and look much alike, the others are also 
related and hard to tell one from other, except that 
the Champion produces larger fruit and is more 
thrifty in plant growth. For a home berry and 
where flavor is desired the Champion will fill the 
bill. In localities where a bright berry is demanded 
either Pride of Denver or Superb will do. The 
former is more thrifty and productive, while the 
latter is a little firmer. Champion is, however, hard 
to beat when productiveness and quality are con¬ 
sidered. Its quality will be bal’d to beat. Some 
of the unnamed seedlings may come up to Champ¬ 
ion, but up to date it has been rightly named. 
Colorado. g. w. heber. 
