336 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[September, 
Exposure on the Farm. —We can remember 
when in the harvest or hay field, we worked until the 
rain came, and then started for some tree, only to be ex¬ 
posed to the danger of lightning, and what was still more 
dangerous, (though we did not think so at the time), the 
beating rain upon the thinly clad back. The shower 
being over, we would continue our work, in the wet 
clothes, it might be in the barn if the shower was a long 
one, but at any rate, it was thought safe to ‘ ‘ let the clothes 
dry on the back, as there was less danger of taking cold.” 
This is all wrong. When the clothing is soaked with 
rain, change it as soon as possible, and never wear it for 
hours with the false idea, that the practice is harmless. 
There is too much of this needless exposure upon the farm, 
which tells in time upon the human frame, inducing 
rheumatism, and other afflictions. Farmers need to be 
all the more careful, as the opportunity for undue expo¬ 
sure, is frequently presented in their occupation. 
Colored Glass and Evaporation of Wa¬ 
ter. —M. Baudrimout, communicates the result of some 
experiments to the French Academy, which show that 
the sun's rays, after passing through green or red colored 
glass, lose much of their power to evaporate water. Of 
all the colors, yellow diminishes this power the least. 
(.Basket Items continued on page 359.) 
Tree-Planting in Quincunx. 
“ R. W. H.,” Flemington, Fla., and others, wish 
to know how to plant trees in the style called Quin¬ 
cunx. By this method of planting, every tree stands 
at the corner of an equal-sided triangle, and in the 
center of, and equally distant from, six other sur¬ 
rounding trees. First, decide upon the distance for 
the trees ; if 30 feet, then make an equal-sided tri¬ 
angular frame of light stuff, with the sides as long 
as the distance between the trees. The frame may 
be braced by cross-pieces as shown in the engrav¬ 
ing. Having decided where the first row shall be, 
place the frame at one end of the row so that A and 
B will fall upon it, and they will designate the 
places for the first and second trees. Set stakes at 
these points. The first tree in the second row will 
beat G, which also requires a stake. The line GI) 
which passes from the angle G to the middle of the 
opposite side of the frame A B, is the distance be¬ 
tween the rows. Go to the other end of the rows, 
and with an ordinary pole, determine the position 
of the rows and set stakes, then you are ready to 
return and lay off the places on the rows and set 
stakes for all the trees. The triangular frame is no 
longer needed, as the position of E and F can be 
obtained by measuring off the distance between the 
trees on the lines with A G and B C, and the posi¬ 
tion of the trees can be laid off as before. If the 
measurements are exact in the beginning, and made 
with due care throughout, there will be no trouble 
in getting all the stakes to “ line ” in the various 
directions which this system gives. The advantage 
of the system is that it gives a more uniform space 
on all sides of the tree, as it is surrounded by a circle 
of trees, seen in the engraving, instead of a square. 
The Dotcb-Friesian Herd-Book.— When 
the Dutch cattle imported from North Holland, first 
became noted in this country, they were wrongly 
termed “ Holstein ” cattle, and in due time a Herd 
Book was established for recording them and their 
progeny. After some years, the absurdity of giving 
to a race of cattle, a name to which they were in no 
way entitled, and which the American Agriculturist 
has ever protested against, became apparent. A 
new name has therefore been conferred upon the 
breed, and a second Herd Record is in progress. 
The name now adopted is Dutch-Friesian, by 
which is meant cattle from North Holland and 
Friesland; but as both these localities are Dutch, 
the compound name would seem to be unneces¬ 
sary, and Dutch would sufficiently identify 
them. But the main point in the new Herd Book 
is one of its rules, by which all animals are excluded 
which have not come up to a satisfactory standard 
as regards milk production, viz., a yield of at least 
6,000 lbs. in 13 months from calving for a 21-year- 
old cow, and 9,000 for a 41-year-old, etc. This, it 
must be confessed, is a step in the right direction, 
and if a similar rule had been made in the “Am. 
Jersey Cattle Club Register,” we should not have 
been amazed to see the editor of that book caution¬ 
ing the public against purchasing any one of “ car 
loads of worthless brutes,” which, having the cer¬ 
tificate of entry in that Record, are supposed, by 
innocent purchasers at least, to be animals of some 
value. But it is something, however, to know that 
even a registered Jersey may be a worthless brute. 
Editorial Correspondence. — Items from 
Notes by the Way. 
[Though his original programme of travel was partially 
interrupted, and materially changed, by temporary ill¬ 
ness, Mr. Judd continued his journeyings for nearly two 
months, gathering information, and making a great va¬ 
riety of notes, which will he drawn upon from time 
to time, though not in regular order.— Eds.] 
The Corn. Crop of 1879, and Its Uses. 
On Lake Erie , August 4th. —Beginning in 1850, 
twenty-nine years ago, I have made very frequent 
journeys Westward, as the settlements have ad¬ 
vanced, and now feel pretty well acquainted with 
the entire country between the Atlantic and the 
Rocky Mountains—at least, as far south as Ten¬ 
nessee, Missouri, and Kansas I have also been 
down and up the Mississippi River, between St. 
Paul and New Orleans, and down the Atlantic 
Coast to Florida, and back through Georgia, Ten¬ 
nessee, Virginia, etc. In all these past journeyings, 
I have witnessed nothing more gratifying than the 
appearance of the growing cokn, as I have seen it 
during the past seven weeks, particularly in Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wis¬ 
consin, and Michigan. It is simply magnificent, 
taken as a whole, with, of course, a few local ex¬ 
ceptions,—and they are very few so far as I have 
observed, or been able to hear of. The late open¬ 
ing of spring caused well grounded fears, but they 
have not been realized. If early frosts do not come 
to blast the later ripening fields, the corn crop of 
1879, taking into account the increased area as well 
as the present condition, must largely exceed that 
of any and every former year.—One is tempted to 
ask, “ What will we do with it all ? ”—Probably 
such a crop could not all have been used in any 
former year. Not so now. While corn has come 
into greatly increased use abroad—it will be more in 
demand this year than ever before—and many mil¬ 
lions of bushels will cross the Atlantic in the 
kernel, it will go far more largely in the form of 
beef, pork, lard, and butter also. The demand for 
these is almost unlimited. The only question in 
my mind is, are there animals enough now growing 
to manufacture this surplus corn into the concen¬ 
trated products. A 300-lb. porker is a condensa¬ 
tion of 1,800 to 3,000 lbs. of corn (33 to 36 bushels). 
In other words, we can concentrate the product 
of an acre of corn into one 300-lb. barrel of pork, 
and in this form it is easily and cheaply freighted 
4,000 or 5,000 miles to reach the European con¬ 
sumer. As freight, especially by water, is usually 
charged by bulk rather than by weight, the 33 to 36 
bushels of corn goes in one barrel in the form of 
pork, while in the form of shelled corn ten to twelve 
barrels space would be needed. The above applies 
also to feeding corn to fattening cattle, and to but¬ 
ter producing cows. 
The Wheat Crop of 1879. 
Chicago, July 35.—Fifteen years ago there were no 
general, systematic, reliable reports upon the con¬ 
dition, area, or yield, of the leading crops, but the 
producers were always in doubt, and at the mercy 
of speculators for a rise or depression in prices, 
who industriously circulated favorable or unfavor¬ 
able rumors as best suited their desires or necessi¬ 
ties. The American Agriculturist undertook to sup¬ 
ply the general lack of correct information. Over 
1,506 reliable, special correspondents were se¬ 
lected in different parts of the country to report, at 
a given date each month, the comparative area and 
the condition of wheat, corn, etc., by a system of 
percentages. Thousands of dollars were expend¬ 
ed, and the enterprise grew so large and important 
that a proposition was accepted to turn the whole 
work, forms, blanks, list of correspondents, etc., 
over to the Agricultural Department at Washington 
—where it has since been carried on with a varying 
degree of accuracy and value. [This Journal has 
never received its proper or due credit for starting 
the enterprise]. At the present time, not only the 
State governments, but a large number of enterpris¬ 
ing-journals are gathering widely extended and quite 
accurate accounts of the actual condition and yield, 
especially of the wheat crop. The result .of the 
Wheat Harvest of 1879 will be known with 
much accuracy before these notes can reach our 
readers. I will therefore say in brief, that having 
just completed a careful examination of the wheat 
fields of representative portions of Minnesota and 
Wisconsin, and previously of Illinois, Iowa, and 
Nebraska, and conversed with many trustworthy 
growers from other sections, I estimate the crop of 
this year, taken on a whole, in the States named, 
with Ohio and Michigan, as just about a good 
average yield per acre. But the area is largely in¬ 
creased, and the total yield in the whole country 
will be considerably above the average in the past. I 
have seen many splendid fields, and I have also 
noticed many thin ones. I have seen the chinch 
bug sucking the juices from the not quite mature 
crop in some places, and in others there were only 
the remnants of stalks on some thousands of acres 
which the grasshoppers had passed over. These last 
were happily confined to a very few localities, and 
the chinch bug ravages were not widely extended. 
The large crop would have reduced prices to a very 
low figure, but the generally poor crops in Europe 
will make a sufficient market to maintain fair, not 
very high, rates for all we shall have to dispose of. 
What Railroads are Doing- for Farmers. 
Lake Kampeska, Dakota, July 18 th, 1879.—We are 
here, 631 miles west-northwest from Chicago, the 
present terminus of one of the numerous lines of 
the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company. 
Diverging at Tracv, 96 miles east of here, this 
Company is building a long stretch of railroad to¬ 
wards, and intended to reach, the Black Hills region 
in Western Dakota. Other companies are also 
pushing forward, and extending their tracks to¬ 
wards the same region, and Southern Dakota with 
Northern Nebraska, will derive great benefit from 
them. The cars have only recently run to Water- 
town, just east of Lake Kampeska. The country is 
a good deal settled as far as Marshall, Minn., 75 
miles east of this, and new settlements are scat¬ 
tered all along westward, but there are millions of 
acres waiting occupants, which have not been in 
the market hitherto. All over Nebraska new ex¬ 
tensions of the Burlington and Missouri and the 
Union Pacific Railroads are now being rapidly 
built, each mile of which will bring thousands of 
acres of fertile land within the easy reach of mar¬ 
kets. At the far Northwest, toward the Red River, 
Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, etc., the extension of 
the railroads is opening up a wonderful wheat re¬ 
gion. as stated by our Associate, who visited that re¬ 
gion last autumn. But I began this item to speak of 
The Great Trunk-Line Railroads. 
Open any good, recent map of the United States, 
especially one of a Railroad Guide, and notice the 
wonderful net-work of iron tracks that cover the 
whole country between the Atlantic and the Mis¬ 
souri River. Through this net-work will be seen 
several leading, continuous roads, beginning with 
the Grand Trunk in Canada, the N. Y. Central, the 
Erie, the Pennsylvania Central, the Baltimore and 
Ohio, and the nearly completed Chesapeake and 
Ohio. There has been a fierce competition between 
