The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-12-06

The following We take from the la~t
issue of the Country Gentleman:
Lying here on the sunny ~loDc ne
tween the mountains and the sea we en-
JOY an exceptional climate. While Tho
papers tell US OF killing froSl~ far down
South in the Mississippi Valley we have
here reached the 9th Of November. and
50 far there has been nothing to nip the
leaves Of the coleu~ or the heliotropc. and
IN the vegetable garden the
shoots Of tn lima beans are still flourish
ing. Westward. toward the mountains.
theSe have been KILN" fro~tS. and in
the low country east of Us there has been
some damage. Last fall our first killing
frost came Oh the night Of November
18th. nnd j looks a. though we may
have 4 repetition of-tliS. The frost Of
the 18th last year was 4 killing frost
only III the low ground. and in our lawn
here thu roses bloomed profuSeIy. till
checked by a slect and snow the last Of
the month. the only snowfall OF the
whole winter.
The winter Of lS91-'9S was rather
mild even for North Carolina. and a. /
result We have had an unusually fine
crop OF figs. - the little figs set late in
the fall calue through and Swelled out.
XIV ItI' SUN Years Ddck IL cOlItG-
ton of over fifty varieties of figs. but
have gradually discarded unsuitable
kinds till We have fallen back on Il very
few. The hard winter of 1S93-'34 gave
our figs such i bad setback that il has
been only within the last two seasons
that the trees have recovered. Some Of
the finest hgS are so uncertain here that
we had about concluded to root them out.
Among these is the White Adriatic.
which is so tender that Il CROP of fruit
here on il Is rare. But this season our
White -Adriatic has lone finely. and has
decidedly the best fg we have. This
morning November 9th, | gathered fine
fruit from it. and there are still II few
left that will ripcn. The latest fig we
have is the Black Bourjasotte. bur it is
such Il Door thing that the tree stands
to-day full Of ripe fruit. and wen the
children will have nothing to do with it.
The most hardy. and the best If all
for our use. IS the little brown fg known
az Celestial. 1t never fails to give uS
Il CROP. and it is the best Of all figs. to
our taste. 10 eat out of hand. since there
is no acidity III the skin. and we can
pull and eat them like plumS. while the
larger sorts have to be skinned for the
dessert. OF the larger sorts the most re
liable are the Brown Turkey and Bruins
wick. Down near the >la. where all
FIGS do finely. they grow the Negro
Largo. til" long black liz. which is very
snowy. but. like all black figs | have
ever seen. i, OF Very poor quality. w.
have over 100 fig trees. I or = years old
which We grew from seed Of the dried
Smyrna figs out Of the stores. But these
Will not hold their fruit here. where we
have not the BlaStophaga insect to set
it. and the plantation will now be dc
stroycd.
Great interest now being taken here
III the production OF towering bulbs for
the Northern trade. We have lemon
Strated that the Lilium candidunn can be
produced here to greater perfection than
the imuorted bulbs: and every one Of
these that has been produced has been
engaged Il year ahead by the Northern
dealers. Experiments are now being
made with the Bermuda lily. in hopes
that We may be able to produce this lily
in i healthy condition. as the Bermuda
crop has become SO badly diseased that
it IS probable that the culture may be
abandoned there. The station has now
over 10000 Of these under trial. both at
our wv grounds and elsewhere. and we
look for success. Thousands of Roman
hyacinths and n&rcissi are Icing painted
and the nlrclsStS known as the Chinese
sacred lily is grow here 50 well that
our bulbs bloom in water earlier than
the Chinese. The Department Of Agri-
culture is taking an interest in bulb
growing here. and we hope To divert to
this purpose some Of the money that
has been wasted in scattering turnip seed
over the land. w. +. MASSEY.
North Carolina Experiment Station.