98 



Experiments with grass-seeds and corx. — Mr. Charles Wallace, 

 Eoseville, Frankliu Couuty, Arkansas, says : 



In order to give yon an idea of our soil and climate, I would state that on the 22d 

 day of April last I sowed one acre in Hungarian grass-seed, wliich, by the 19th of 

 June, was ripe enough to cnt. I mowed it, broke up the ground and planted corn 

 June 30th, and made 30 bushels sufficiently matured to save. Again, on the 15th of 

 March, I sowed 4 acres of Norway oats, and cut a very heavy crop of it July 1. I then 

 broke it up with siugle horses and planted it to corn July 12 and 13, h.arvesting 

 full 30 bushels sufficiently matured to save. The fodder was pulled off of both pieces ; 

 the season was drier than any since the war, and the land upon which the experi- 

 ment was made had been in cultivation for thirty-five years. 



From your correspondent in Johnson County, I obtained a small quantity of Italian 

 and perennial rye-grass seed; sowed them in separate beds " well prepared," March 14. 

 They were both quite slow in germinating, being very much shaded, but in the latter 

 part of May they commenced growiug finely. By the middle of June both beds were 

 thickly covered and were much admired by all who saw them. 



Cotton has been raised to the exclusion of everything else in this section, and, as 

 yet, no effort has been made to develop its agricultural resources. I have experi- 

 mented considerably in the last few years, and have thus far succeeded in raising fair 

 crops of everything planted. 



Haud TniES IN Wisconsin. — Mr. E. E. Jones, Eandolpli Station, 

 Dodge County, says : 



The condition of the farmers is deplorable ; it costs one-half of their produce to get 

 it to market. For the last two years our crops in this State were not over 10 bnshels 

 per acre, and the whole county is overrun with wild oats. 



Grasses for the South. — Mr. John F. Eollins, Fort George, Florida, 

 in soliciting a supply of the seed of Lespedeza striata, or Jajjau clover- 

 seed, says: 



I have a large plantation, consisting of an entire sea island, and I am satisfied that 

 many of the old fields now under cultivation would be much more profitable if planted 

 in grass or clover and devoted to stock than under the present system of annual crops. 

 What is true in my case is equally true all over the South. If the Agricultural De- 

 partment can aid us in finding a plant that will take the place of the wild grasses and 

 furnish forage for stock, a great work will be done. 



Fruit and fertilizers in Georgia. — Mr. E. J. Purse, of Marlow, 

 Georgia, has been experimenting with several varieties of the straw- 

 berry, viz: Agriculturist, Wilson's Albany Seedling, Triomijhe de Gand, 

 and Green Prolific. He finds the two first named well adapted to south- 

 ern culture. Heat affects the berry much more than cold, the finest 

 berries being found between March and July, and from October to the 

 middle of December. Mr. Purse says : 



I have a small farm and have succeeded very well in the manipulation of a fertilizer 

 that is abundant and cheap ; that is one part clay, one leaf-mold, and one swamp- 

 muck, with a barrel of lime or land-plaster .to the ton. \Yhen the leaf-mold is not 

 procurable leaves will do as well. I use the cow-peu, stable, or night-soil, as the stim- 

 ulant, by mixing with my standard as the iilants need. Reserve the chicken-house for 

 liquid applications. 



Fruit in Southern Illinois. — A letter addressed to the Depart- 

 ment by a number of farmers of South Pass, Union County, states 

 there were shipped during the late fruit season from that railroad sta- 

 tion 11,24:2 bushels ofstrawberries, 10 gooseberries, 310 cherries, 962 

 raspberries, 308 blackberries, 29 plums, 88,081 peaches, 131 apricots, 

 772 pears, 16,953 apples, 2,633 tomatoes, 1,603 sweet-potatoes, 312 Irish 

 potatoes, 200 onions, 32,130 pounds of grapes, and 57,075 of dried fruit. 

 It is proposed to introduce tea-culture, among other industries. 



Soil and crops in Nebraska. — Mr. W. J. Mclntyre, Ashland, Saun- 

 ders County, says : 



The soil here is rich vegetable loam, slightly intermixed with a very fine sand, and 

 is of great depth and fertility. The surface of the country is rolling, with the best 



