Vol. 60. No. 17.. 
Philadelphia, April 26, 1890 
ESTABLISHED 1855.—PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE FARMER COMPANY. 
Price, 5 Cents, {1 Por rear 
POSTAL CARD CORRESPONDENCE. 257 
AGRICULTURAL. — The Plow and Har- 
row Controlled by Brains.—The Wash- 
ington Seed Distribution—Viewed from 
the Other Side.—Southern Agriculture. 258 
Piowing Fields.—Spent Bone for the 
Land.—Fences on a Farm.—Agricultu- 
ral Atoms. 
Agricultural Depression —Its Causes 
and Possible Remedies, 
STOCK.—Drying Off Cows.—Not Good to 
Crowd.—Stock Siftings. 261 
HORTICULTURAL,.—Strawberry Beds.— 
English Morello Cherry.—V ines for De- 
cayed Trees.— Horticultural Topics.— 
Fungi on Fruit Trees. 262 
GARDEN. —Garden Suggestions. —Grow- 
ing Asparagus.—Garden Gleanings. 263 
POULTRY.—Poultry one of the Leading 
Industries.—Why Farmers Fail.—Poul- 
try Pickings. 263 
APIARY.—On Bees and Honey. 263 
EDITORIAL,— Arbor Day Observance.— 
Still Another Premium for One New 
Subscriber. —Secretary Rusk on the 
Agricultural Depression. 264 
THE WEEK’S HAPPENINGS. 265 
COMMERCIAL. 265 
HOME CIRCLE.—Letters to the Home Cir- 
cle.—Hints for the Girls. 
YOUTH’S PAGE.—Arbor Day.—Falthful- 
ness in Humble Piaces.— Your Spe- 
cialty.— Let the Girls Romp, 267 
OUR FOREIGN LETTER. 268 
OUR ILLINOIS LETTER, 268 
HYGIENE.—Remedies for Insomnia. 269 
SOME NONSENSE. 270 
HOUSEKEEPING.—Recipes 271 
NEW YORK LETTER. 272 
CHICAGO LETTER. 272 
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Lat. 41° 50’ North. Long. 8° 38’ East from 
Washington; 83 miles North of New York 
City and 12 miles Eastof the Hudson. We 
have had a very warm, wet Winter. High- 
est temperature 65°, lowest (March 7th) minus 
3°, Farmers have plowed every month this 
Winter. Roslete ng for two years. March 
10 and 11 gave us all the ice we have had, and 
the quality was inferlor. The wet weather 
last Summer was detrimental to all crops, and 
many farmers did not finish haying until Sep- 
tember. Fruit of all kinds was plenty. Far- 
mers in this locality furnish milk for the New 
York market and local factories Heretofore 
farmers have been subject to the extremely 
small prices dictated by the New York Milk 
Exchange, but this Winter they have become 
aroused and have formed a Milk Producers’ 
Union which has fixed its price at 234c per 
qt. until further notice, Prices: corn, 5oc. per 
bu.; oats, 30c.; rye, 50c.; potatoes, 75c. per bu.; 
c ae wor 
New Tea-Polyantha Rose—'‘Clothilde Soupert.” 
for $2.50 to $3.00 per acre cash, or one-third to 
two-fifths ofcrop in crib, and is in good de- 
mand. Tame grasses and clover do well. The 
latter, when sown in field, will run under fence 
and occupy roadside, driving out the native 
grass; when sown on prairie sod it “catches” 
and improves the pasture. Corn Is the staple 
crop. New land is check-rowed; old land 
raostly “‘listed.’’ Crop averaged last year 55 
bushels per acre. Large acreage of oats raised 
is mostly cultivated in our cornstalk ground; 
was injured by rust; average 45 bushels; wheat 
average 16 bushels. Acreage small on account 
ofchinch bugs. Apples and small fruit crops 
good. Apples sold at picking time for. 25@40c. 
per bushel; Ben Davis and Geniton lead. No 
peaches; trees were nadly winter-Killed not 
Many Winters ago. Stock healthy and looks 
well. Very few sheep raised; too many wolves, 
and takes too much fence. Horse-raising re- 
ceives much attention; is now running more 
This new rose is the result of hybridizing the Tea Rose Mme. Damaizin with the Polyantha 
Rose Mignonette, giving the new rose tine strong growth of the Tea class, added to the profuse 
flowering habit of the Polyantha, The plant Is a vigorous grower, 15 to 18 inches high. The 
flowers are borne in sprays, as shown In the engraving; they are large, very double and hand- 
somely formed; the outer petaisare pearl white, shading to acentre ofrosy pink, but varying 
sometimes on the same plant from pure white to deep silvery rose. 
plant or as a garden bedding variety. 
stant bloomer. It is equally good as a pet 
It is fragrant and acon- 
Weare in- 
debted to J. C. Vaughan, Chicago, Ill., for the above illustration. 
onions $1 to $2 per bu.; appler, $2 to $i per bbI.; 
hens, 12c. Per 1b.; butter, 15 to 23c. per lb.; 
hams, 13c.; lard, 6 to 10c.; beef, 6c.; cows, $20 to 
$50; farm horses, $30 to $150; land, $15 to $10; 
wood, $3 to $5 per cord; labor, during Summer, 
$17 t0 $25 per month. Wheat and barley are 
not raised here. Hay is plenty, of poor qual- 
ity and low. Peach buds are Killed. G. H. D. 
Bangall, Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
Lat. 39° 50’ North, Long. 96° West, 70 miles 
West of St. Joe, 10 miles Seuth of Nebraska 
line. Rolling prairie country; soil deep, light, 
rich, of dark brown color; contains five sand 
sufficient to make it work nice and be lively. 
Timber belts 14 to 44 mile wide along streams. 
Elm, oak, ash, walnut, cherry, etc.; not many 
large trees; some coal mined in the county, 
vein thin, quality poor; get mostof our coal 
from Illinois; stone scarce; water good. Up- 
land wells 20 to 50 feet deep; ‘‘slow’’ wells for 
stock 12 feet. Some drilled wells are much 
deeper. Land all fenced, worth $20 to $50 per 
acre according to location and improvements. 
Not much changing hands. Plow land rents 
tocouch strains instead of draft. Some money 
in feeding hogs, but little in cattle. Several 
catileinen have failed; cause, reckless buying 
and por markets. Farmers’ Ailiances are 
being organized rapidl Present prices—Fat 
steers, 3'4@3%4c. per! Ogs, $3.35; good horses, 
$100@$125; cows, $12@$15; corn, 15¥e. (reduction 
of 10 per cent. in rates failed to help the farmer 
out as yel); oats, 12c.; wheat, 55c.; hay, $3.00@ 
$1.00, delivered; eggs, 12c.; butter, 15¢c.; wood, 
$3.50 per cord; coual, 18c. per bushel; potatoes 
prenty, no sale; 12 lbs, granulated sugar for $1. 
arch came in with’ mercury at 0. Much 
cloudy weather. Farmers not very busy; some 
hauling manure, trimming hedge, etc. Winter 
has been rather unhealthy. G.T. P. 
Oneida Kas. 
Muncy, one mile East of the Susquehanna 
River, fourteen miles East of Williamsport, the 
county seat of Lycoming county. ere was 
once the homeof Capt. John Brady, the patriot 
and renowned warrior, whose granite monu- 
ment was erected ten years ago in the Muncy 
cemetery by a grateful people. 100 years after 
he was ambuscaded and killed by the Indians. 
Farm land in the Muncy Vallev, $50 to $200 per 
acre, according to location and improvements. 
The Muncy Hills, reaching from the West 
branch of the Susquehanna to the North 
branch of thesame river, is proverbial for gnod 
health and pure water: the land sells from $15 
to $40 per acre. Peach culture is becoming 
quite #n industry on those hills, with prospects 
of a good crop of peaches the comine season. 
Prices of farm products: wheat, 80c.; corn, 40c.~ 
oats, 40c.; potatoes 60 to 7ic. per bu.; horses, 
$50 to $200; cows, $15 to $35; sheep, $3 to $4 per 
head; stall fed cattle, $344 to $4 per hundred 
tbs.; butter, 25c.; eggs, 12c.; honey, 16c. per tb.; 
chickens, 35c, to 50c.; each; clover seed, $5 per 
bu,; farm help, $12 to $15 per month and board, 
the year ronnd. J.Y.E. 
Muncy, Pa. 
A miJd Winter; Jast snow enough for good 
sledding, except in roueh places. Principal 
industries, farming and lumbering; logs are 
driven down the different streams to large 
saw-mills, where they are cut up for com- 
merce Hardwoods mostly worked up in lo- 
eal factories into spools, chairs, sleds, etc. 
These mills furnish profitable em ployment for 
most ofour young men. But few farmers can 
afford to pay us good wages as these mills, so 
most of the farms are being tilled by old men, 
or are left to grow vp to wood, which seems 
more profitable. This isa favorite resort for 
Summer travel, as the scenery is grand, and 
the air and water the purest; fish and game 
are quite plentiful. The loca) demand for nice 
fruit, berries and garden truck is good. 
Poultry and eggs sell well. Those who are 
favorably located and devote their energies to 
these crops are not complaining of hard times. 
Apples, pears, plums cherries, and all hardy 
fruits and berries thrive. Too cold for peaches 
and but few grapesripen. Main exports, ice, 
lumber, granite, potatoes, apples, school- 
marms, Governors and Congressmen. 
Locke's Milts, Oxford Co, Me. W.H. P. 
This place is 44° N. Lat., and 43° W. eT 
Crops last year were short, owing to the drout! 
Last Winter was hard on stock, which is the 
principal industry ia this county. Below is a 
few of the prices paid for produce: Hay, aver- 
age price $12 per ton in stack; oats, le. per 
lb.; berley, 4c. per lb.; wheat, $1 per bu.; 
horses, from $20 to $100 per head, according to 
what kind wanted; cattle, $20 per Lead; beef, 
2iye. per |b. live weight; sheep $2 per head, 
mutton sheep, $2.50 per head; v.0ol, per lb., 17c.; 
improved land, from $5 to $15 per acre; poultry 
aud garden produce in good demand. M. E. S. 
Hardin, Crook Co., Oregon. 
We farm here altogether by irrigation; raise 
alfalfa, corr, barley, potatoes, andall kinds of 
vegetables. Watermelons, pumpkins and cab- 
bages grow to enormous size; nothing uncom- 
Mon to see melous weighing 60 J)bs., and 
pumpkins 100; cabbages will average 15 lbs. the 
patch over. Alfaifa is the principal crop; we 
mow jt five times, and get a ton each time; 
sells here for $12.50 per ton inthe stack. (Corn, 
85c. per bu.; potatoes, 2'ec. per lb.; cabbage, 3c.; 
pork, 8c.; land high; no water, only on the 
river. This isa mining country. Silver City, 
Lordsburg and Clifton our murkets. Altitude 
6,000 feet. N.N.R. 
Carlisle, Grant Co., N. M. 
10 miles N. E. of Florida City, Mich., Lati- 
tude 43° 5’ N. Longitude, 8° W. of Washington, 
Our past Winter has been quite out of the ceom- 
moon Jine for thisclimate We have had no 
sleighing, but a succession of light snow- 
storms, the snow remuining on theground but 
a few days at any time. Theroads have either 
been very muddy or very rough most of the 
Winter. The weather is now very pleasant. 
Fruit buds are swelling, and birds singing. 
Our fruit is uninjured, except peaches, which 
are mostly killed. Wehaveagood country for 
plums, apples and pears, and a partofthe time 
for peaches. Prices in Ionia are, wheat, 75c.; 
corn, 40c.; oats, 23c.; potatoes, 30c. per bu.; hay, 
#8 per Lon; butter, l6c. ner Ib. eggs, 10c. W.S. 
Palo, Ioniato., Mich. 
Weatuer here in Southwest Va., very good 
till the last few weeks, which have been pretty 
tough. Farmersare beginniog to sow oats; 
wheat Jooks fine; g ass is beginning to look 
greeu, and the apple tree buds are swelling. 
The peach crop is killed, even many of the 
trees being damaged. The Farmers’ Alliance 
is pee organized in the county, Wheat is 
worth $1; corn, 50c.; oats, 35¢.; rye, 60c.; pota- 
toes, 50c. per bu. Cati!le don’t seem to look 
very well, owing to wet weather; plenty of feed 
though. Fat cattle are worth 244@3%4e. per Ib. 
on foot; pork, 5@6c.: sheep, $3 to $5 per head; 
milk cows, $20 Lo $50; horses, #90 to $150; mules, 
$125 to $200. This is a great country for fine 
horses and cattle, no less than 10 thoroughbred 
stallions on the stand in thiscounty, andsome 
four or five Ken. jacks. Butteris worth 20c.; 
eggs, 10c.; fat hens, 15@20c.; turkeys, 5c. per lb. 
on foot.; farm hands get from $10 to $20 Ree 
month and board. w.C. 
Thompson Vatley, Tazewell Co., Va. 
O Deron \pooe Fe Pracreod Somer NARA AR Ry ews WOUS nen. 
