1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
87 
Mr. D. H. Talbot Talks Back. 
D. H. Talbot, Iowa.— In The Rural 
New-Yorker of December 27, I find that 
Mr. Robert C. Auld has been making 
charges against me in The Rural similar 
to those he has been making in the Amer¬ 
ican Field and, perhaps, in other papers. 
I can here say, however, it is absolutely 
untrue that I ever asked Mr. Jones a single 
question respecting his method of breed¬ 
ing, or, for that matter, any other person. 
Mr. Jones received much information from 
me, and was apparently a friend until I 
would not assist in helping him in his 
scheme to get wealth from the government. 
He tried his best to get me to cooperate 
with him in buying the Bedson herd. He 
came here to my place to see me about it 
and I challenge him to say truthfully that 
up to that time he had ever seen a half- 
blood buffalo; and, if so, let him tell us 
where, and who was the owner ? Respect¬ 
ing my keeping people out of my grounds, 
this is a privilege I feel justified in exercis¬ 
ing after the treatment I have received 
from Mr. Jones and some other visitors 
who had been courteously received there. 
Sioux City land sharks have long wanted 
to get an entrance to my place for the pur¬ 
pose of making it an attraction whereby 
they could sell lots. In fact, the belief that 
I would establish a semi public park when 
I began to bring animals here, really 
started the boom in suburban lands near 
this city. The simple fact that I have con¬ 
tinued my work of crossing animals and 
making notes respecting them instead of 
helping to boom the place has made me 
enemies; but I care not a fig for that; I 
state precisely what I know, nothing more. 
I would like to learn when I invited either 
Mr. Auld or Mr. Hornaday to visit my 
place, and also the date when either of 
them tried or refused to do so. 
[The R. N.-Y. gives Mr. Talbot the same 
chance it gave Mr. Auld. We cannot con¬ 
tinue a personal discussion, but shall be 
glad to print facts regarding the breeding 
of grade buffaloes.—E ds.] 
Spreading Manure in Winter. 
C. E. Fox, Loraine County, Ohio.— I 
am a little afrai 1 that the advice to haul 
and spread manure in winter is wrong— 
for some parts of the country at least. Even 
if land is nearly level, there are times dur¬ 
ing winter when the temperature suddenly 
changes and perhaps heavy rains begin to 
fall. The ground is frozen hard and would 
need several days of thawing weather to 
allow much water to soak in; consequently 
the water finds its way to the lowest parts 
of the field quite rapidly, and if the surface 
is covered with manure, the latter is the 
first to thaw and be soaked by the rain or 
meltiDg snow, and streams of dark colored 
liquid will be seen seeking a level. Is it 
not reasonable to suppose that fertility is 
being carried where it is not needed and 
that land that needs it is being robbed f 
R. N.-Y.—This season we have met a 
number of farmers who have changed their 
views on that question. Formerly they 
spread the manure in winter. Now they 
leave it in small, compact heaps until 
spring, when it is spread. The labor of haul¬ 
ing is saved, but there are still objections. 
Another Champion for Japan Clover. 
A. P. Rowe, Spottsylvania County, 
Va. —In The Rural of December 27, page 
897, a correspondent asks for some informa¬ 
tion in regard to Japan Clover, and Mr. 
Henry Stewart in answer says: “It is not a 
plant worthy of cultivation, but to prevent 
washing on poor old fields, that will pro¬ 
duce no better plants, it may be made use¬ 
ful.” Now this fact alone proves that it is 
a plant of great value ; but its greatest 
value consists in this, that if the smallest 
quantity of seed is scattered about at inter¬ 
vals on a poor, worn-out field during the 
winter, when the ground is frozen, though 
the field be kept as a standing pasture, and 
grazed all through the year, the plant will 
grow and spread, and more than double its 
area annually, until the whole field is 
more or less covered with a thick, matted 
sod of high nutritive value for grazing pur¬ 
poses. The plant is an annual, and blos¬ 
soms about September 1, when the seeds 
soon form on the stems and ripen before 
frost, and it never fails to reseed itself in 
this section of Virginia, which virtually 
makes it a perennial. But Mr. Stewart 
says: “ I have never seen cows eat it at all, 
even where it is most abundant.” Will 
Mr. S., please, let us know, through The 
R. N.-Y., whether he has had any prac¬ 
tical experience with this grass, as his 
assertions are utterly at variance with 
all well known facts here in Virginia, 
and in many other Southern States ? 
Now, I invite him to honor this section 
with a visit next summer, when he will 
be shown a standing pasture of about 50 
acres on worn-out land now covered with 
a thick sod of Japan Clover that affords 
pasturage for upwards of 30 registered 
Jersey cows; but this same field did not 
afford grazing for one half the number of 
stock before it became covered with a sod 
of this valuable and nutritious grass. 
After Mr. S. has had ocular demonstration 
of what this field is doing, if he then says: 
“It is not a plant worthy of cultivation,” I 
will bind myself to pay for all the time he 
will have lost, as well as the expenses of 
the trip each way. Mr. S. says: “ No doubt 
much extravagant eulogy has been given 
to this weed by persons whose object has 
been to sell the seed.” I can speak for my¬ 
self, that I have never raised or sold any 
Japan Clover seed, but for several years I 
have been purchasing seed raised in 
Louisiana. Will not some of the south¬ 
western subscribers of The Rural who 
have had many years’ experience with this 
valuable grass, let us hear from them 
through its valuable columns ? 
THE PERFECT MAN. 
“ How to come to the perfect man ” is a 
subject upon which the N. Y. Herald 
sought the views of certain prominent men. 
Lord Randolph Churchill suggested 
that a good digestion is the essential quality 
for the “ all round development of a human 
being,”. 
The Venerable Archdeacon Farrar 
writes that that man approaches most 
nearly to such perfection as is attainable in 
human life whose body has been kept in 
vigorous health by temperance, soberness 
and chastity ; whose mind is a rich store¬ 
house of the wisdom learned both from 
experience and from the noblest thoughts 
which his fellow men have uttered; whose 
imagination is a picture gallery of all things 
pure and beautiful; whose conscience is at 
peace with itself, with God and with all the 
world, and in whose spirit the Divine Spirit 
finds a fitting temple wherein to dwell. 
C. A. Dana, the N. Y. Sun editor, de¬ 
clared that he must be perfect in bodily 
constitution, and in eating, drinking, sleep 
ing, digestion, circulation, athletic strength 
and personal beauty. His temper must be 
sincere, cheerful and optimistic; his dis¬ 
position generous, magnanimous and be¬ 
nignant ; his tranquility and patience 
immovable, especially under the attacks of 
fools; his delicacy of feeling and his un¬ 
willingness to crowd others even greater 
than his courage. His mental operations 
must be aggressive, rapid, many sided and 
far reaching. What he knows he must 
know exactly. His reasonings must be 
logical and sure, and his conclusions wise 
and true. Of course the ability to love and 
be loved must be his. To the above and 
other qualifications, which Mr. Dana men¬ 
tions at length, let us, he says, add active 
and companionable habits of life and a 
steady income of $10,000 to $30,000 a year— 
sufficient for the needs of taste, affection 
and benevolence—and our description of the 
perfect man would seem to be tolerably 
complete.. 
A CLEAR conscience, an earneslrpurposp, a 
bright mind and a healthy body, is the 
reply of Geo. W. Childs. 
Chauncey M. Depew gives a startling 
answer. A perfect man, he says, would be 
a creature who could find no congenial 
companion in the club, society, business or 
politics, and no woman would live with 
him. 
BRIEFS. 
A little over 40 years ago It was claimed 
that the chief value of manure was due to 
the mineral matter or ashes that it con¬ 
tained. To test this matter in a practical 
way, Sir J. B. Lawes, the first year of his 
since celebrated experiments on wheat at 
Rothamsted, applied 14 tons of barn-yard 
manure on one plot and on an adjoining 
plot, the ashes of 14 tons of barnyard man¬ 
ure. The result was as follows: 1. No 
manure, 15 bushels wheat per acre. 2. 
Fourteen tons barn-yard manure, 20% 
bushels wheat per acre. 3. The ashes of 14 
tons barn-yard manure, 14% bushels wheat 
per acre. Since then it has been shown 
conclusively that all there is of actual 
value as plant-food in the large mass of or¬ 
ganic matter which we apply in barn-yard 
manure, is the nitrogen which it contains 
The Red-Seeded Vaucluse Water-melon 
differs from other varieties in having red 
seeds. Its flesh is intensely red also, giving 
it an unusual appearance. The flesh is 
colored to within half an inch of the rind, 
and is said to be of excellent flavor. The 
melons grow to a fair size and incline to 
the shape of an egg. The skin is dark. 
ABSTRACTS. 
-N.Y. Tribune : “As to the advisability 
of painting newly laid shingles with linseed 
oil, it may be stated that a house was 
erected in Delaware County, N. Y., upward 
of 60 years ago, and the pine shingles 
(shaved) were given a thorough oiling. 
They are sound yet and performing as good 
service as ever.” 
-Donald Mitchell ; “Any bumpkin 
may raise a crop which will keep him from 
starving. But to develop the utmost 
economic capacity of a given soil by fer¬ 
tilizing appliances, or by those of tillage, 
is the work of a wiser man than belongs to 
our day.” 
-New York Herald: “Men usually 
credit their successes to their ability and 
blame fate for their failures.” 
“no time lost. 
You do your duty, clock, rltrht well. 
The time you accurately tell, 
And though you strike - take notice, men, 
You go right back to work again.” 
“ If New York State is to have a great 
park in the Adirondacks, we must have a 
new Forest Commission rightaway.” 
Pi.s'ceUnneoujs ^dvcrtisinfl. 
In writing to advertisers please always 
mention The Rural. 
MAULE’S SEEDS 
LEAD ALL. 
Our Catalogue for i8qi is pronounced ab¬ 
solutely the best seed and plant book issued; 
printed in good legible type, on good paper, it 
excites the admiration of all. 664 varieties 
of Vegetables, Flowers, Flowering Plants, 
Small Fruits, Fruit- and Nut-bearing Trees, 
etc., are beautifully illustrated, as many as 
38 of them being in colors. This catalogue is 
mailed free to all who ordered in 1890; but as 
the postage on the book alone is five cents, we 
must ask all others who are not customers, 
desiring a copy, to send us twenty-five cents 
in stamps for it; and in addition to sending 
our catalogue, we will also mail you, without 
extra charge, a packet of the wonderful BUSH 
LIMA BEANS, THE MOST VALUABLE VEGE¬ 
TABLE NOVELTY INTRODUCED IN YEARS; 
AND A PACKET OF THE NEW MARGUERITE 
CARNATION, THE FLORAL WONDER OF 
1891. These two packets of seeds are worth 
25 cents; so it virtually means the same thing 
as mailing our catalogue free to all who answer 
this advertisement. Address 
WM. HENRY MAULE, 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
Seeds, Plants, Shrubs, Vines, 
Fruit & Ornamental frees, Etc. 
CATALOGUE FREE. 
Over 150 pages illustrating and describing one of the largest 
and best assorted stocks of Seeds, Trees and Plants in the U. S. 
Best value for the money in our Tested Novelties and Special 
Low Priced Collections. 
37 YEARS. 25 CREENHOUSES. 700 ACRES. 
THE STORRS & HARRISON CO., 
Painesville, Ohio. 
THE DINGEE & GONARD GO’S NEW GUIDE 
If you want ROSES, FLOWERS or SEEDS of any kind, 
write for OUR NEW GUIDE—FREE. It will help you select the best things NEW and OLD 
—Correct prices, careful service, whether you buy much, or little, or nothing, is immaterial. 
If you are interested in Flowers we want you to have our Book, and understand our methods 
of business. If not interested don’t send for it, it is intended for those who plant things. 
THE DINGEE &, CONARD CO., West Grove, Pa. 
MAY’S NORTHERN GROWN SEEDS. 
THIS ENTIRE COLLECTION OF SEEDS ONLY IO CTS. 
MOST PRODUCTIVE. 
ncCCD Kin 0 SURE HEAD CABBACE. The surest heading variety, largo size, firm and fino 
UfTtn NUi Li texture. W. Kluno of Kokomo ind. says. Sure head exceeds anything I ever saw in the eal>- 
bago line. Out of some 400 plants not one failed to mako a line,solid head. CHRISTMAS WATERMELON. 
The finest keeping variety combined with the richest flavor of any melon grown. C. Weaver of ltendvillo, Ohio 
says; Christmas Melon is tho finest producing melon I overgrew, 1 had 22 largo melons from four vinos, and had 
them after Christmas. LENTZ BEET. A splendid sort, dark red color, will produce a crop in six weeks, ailno 
keeper. H. Miller of Ooshen Inch, says; Lentz Beet takes tho lead in ourmarket. They 
sell like hot cakes and are fine croppers. Test Northern Crown Seedsand 
be convinced they are superior to all others. To introduce) 
our seeds, we will send one package each of 
the above cabbage, melon and beet to any ^ ^ 
address on receipt of lOets. and our finely illus- HSk j, . ' 3 
trilled catalogue which is indispensable to any 
one interested in Plants, Seeds or Jlulbs. being 
tho most complete manual ever published. . 
1 Contains over 500 illustrations and a colored I 
j plate of tho famous Diadem Itoses. f ?7' E V e ry l 
f Person sending silver and mentioning this 
paper will receive extra a package of tho 
famous Extra Early Carmine Radish. Mention 
number of offer. L. L. MAY & CO., 
Seedsmen and Florists, st. Paul, Minn. 
May's Catalogue acknowledged the finest and most complete ever published. 
SMALL FRUITS, 
TDCKTC V|NES > seeds, 
I nCkvyORNAMENTALS, 
CRATES and BASKETS. Everything for the fruit grower. Frlccs Low. 
Estimates Free. You save one half by seeing our list. NEW FRUITS a specialty. 
Catalogue FREE. E. W. REID, Bridgeport, Ohio. 
1891. 
Home Grown, Honest, Reliable. 
J'smllr 
i£ATALOGyi 
1891. 
I offer you my Vegetable and Flower Seed Catalogue for 
1891 FREE. Note the immense variety of seed it con¬ 
tains, and that all the best novelties are there. Not 
much mere show about it (you don’t plant pictures) 
|but fine engravings from photographs of scores o f the 
choice vegetables I have introduced. Would it not 
be well to get the seed of these from first hands? To be the 
oldest firm in the United States making mail and express 
business a specialty proves reliability. Honest and hon¬ 
orable dealing is the only foundation this can rest on. My Cata¬ 
logue is FREE as usual. A matter on second page of cover will 
interest my customers. J. J. H. GREGORY & SON. Marblehead, Mass. 
VYJ/F ARE SOME PEOPLE ALWA VS LATE?—I hey never look ahead nor think. People 
have been known to wait till planting season, run to the grocery for their seeds, and then repent over it for 12 
months, rather than stop and think what they will want for the garden. If it is Flower or Vegetable Seeds, Plants, 
Bulbs, or anything in this line, MAKE NO MISTAKE this year, but send 10 cents for Vick’s Flokal Guide, 
