i89i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
and rape—that the rescue of the Down-farms from a state 
of hopeless sterility Is due. Far, as most of them were, 
from any possibility of obtaining manure, the men who 
farmed them were obliged to Invent some means of start¬ 
ing their first crop of sheep-feed ; and they found it in fire. 
Tbey did not trouble themselves about the theory of the 
process; whether the organic matter was or was not dis¬ 
sipated by the Incineration of the top-soil was a matter of 
indifference to them, for they had never heard of such 
terms. It was enough that the burning of a few loads of 
parings produced a crop of rape, and that the feeding off 
of the rape by sheep produced a crop of grain, followed by 
sainfoin, which, after being, in its turn, fed off by sheep, 
enabled the land to bring to maturity a crop of wheat, on 
the lower, or of oats on the upper portions of the hill sides. 
CONFLICTING EXPERIENCES WITH SHEEP. 
If breeding sheep for mutton Is so profitable to many 
farmers, why is it, some ask, that it is so extremely un¬ 
profitable to a few others ? Recently I was told two ex¬ 
periences that will make evident the most common cause 
of this diversity of results. In the mind of the person 
whose experience I shall first recount, the most favorable 
feature connected with the breeding of sheep was that they 
required little or no care and attention. Further, he be¬ 
lieved that during the summer they could live well on the 
weeds and wastes of the wayside and farm, while during 
the winter the refuse feed and other poor fodder were just 
what would be best for them. Soon a flock of 150 ewes 
found themselves governed by such policy. This spring 
the lesson came. In the whole flock 15 lambs were reared. 
From this same farm last year a car load of oats was 
shipped to market. Sheep-breeding was unprofitable and 
always would be under such management. If those oats 
had been kept on the farm and a half pound or even less 
had been fed daily to each ewe during the housing season, 
not a single lamb would have died through inborn weak¬ 
ness. Each ewe would have been able to nourish her 
lamb better and, moreover, the maternal instinct would 
have been stronger in her and she would have been more 
attentive to her offspring. The lambs in addition would 
have come lustier and more active. 
A flock on another farm in the same vicinity reflected 
profitable management. Here I saw 47 vigorous ewes with 
57 hearty lambs at foot. One hale old ewe, a long and ex¬ 
tremely level-backed animal, was specially pointed out to 
me with pride by the shepherd. She was eight years old, 
and during that time had produced 15 lambs. When 
I saw her she had triplets at foot, and from their healthy 
appearance it was easy to see that she was doing well by 
them. Excluding the lambs she is rearing at present, this 
Down grade ewe has yielded a profit from her lambs alone 
of $100. She has yielded heavy fleeces, averaging eight 
pounds, which never sold for less than 24 cents per pound, 
thus more than paying for her keep and care in wool. It 
is needless to say that this ewe must have had a strong 
constitution, developed and sustained by good care and 
wholesome, nourishing food. A three-year-old ewe has 
given her owner a pair of twins each time. Any grain sold 
off this farm ? Not any; unless it paid to exchange a 
high-priced, home grown product for others better for 
feeding purposes. The person who has had this success 
with his sheep is the head of a small family, and though 
he does nothing else of any account besides attending to 
his breeding ewes and fattening a bunch of wethers each 
year, yet he puts in the bank $1,000 annually. His work 
is light and agreeable, his prospects bright and his family 
happy. What more could any one ask ? To point the 
moral of these typical experiences, give your sheep good, 
dry pasturage during summer, wholesome fodder and 
some grain during winter, with kind care and intelligent 
attention at all times, and, my word for it, they will 
multiply and prove profitable. JOHN A. craig. 
Farm Politics. 
Here it is proposed to discuss with freedom and fairness, ques¬ 
tions of National or State policy that particularly concern farm¬ 
ers. The editors disclaim responsibility for the opinions of cor¬ 
respondents. The object is to develop a true and fair basis for 
organization among farmers. Let us think out just what we want 
and then strive for it. 
THAT “$23 COAT” DISCUSSED. 
Under the head of “ Republican Dinner Dissected,” The 
Rural asks Mr. Benninger, “Where do you have to pay 
that money ($22) for a coat ? ” and the writer refers to his 
“ $17 suit.” This illustration hailing from New York City is 
not a fair one, because the writer living there, or near there, 
can take all the advantages of bankrupt and other sales. Not 
a week passes without my reading of wonderful bargains in 
clothing in the New York dailies ; but I am not there, and 
consequently have to pay the $23 prices referred to by Mr. 
B. Let one of The Rural’s correspondents visit this por¬ 
tion of Florida and let him price things wearable, and he 
will at once see the price is up to $22, and higher if on a 
mortgage debt. Give us silver freely coined and a law 
that will improve the Sub-Treasury scheme, nominate the 
Hon. Jerry Rusk as the President to be elected by the new 
third party, and my “mugwumpian” ideas will then be 
partly realized. w. h. Lawrence. 
Leon County, Florida. 
R. N.-Y.-We did not patronize any “ bankrupt sale” for 
the suit spoken of. It was bought of Rogers, Peet & Co., 
one of the soundest firms In the city, and there are thous¬ 
ands more like it to be had. You could get one yourself 
by ordering by mail and paying expressage. There are 
several firms in the country that make a business of sup¬ 
plying clothes made to order at very reasonable rates. 
You can send your measure and select a sample of cloth. 
The clothes fit and are from 10 to 15 per cent cheaper than 
goods found in country stores. We have bought clothes 
from stores in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and 
Florida and know what prices are. The clothes were 
mostly sold by Jews who are either agents of large clothing 
stores in New York, or who buy “ left over” goods at this 
season of the year and sell them at an advanced price. 
Why then do you pay “ $22 for a coat” when you can get a 
good suit for less than $20 by writing for it t Don’t pay a 
Jew 10 to 15 per cent for doing business for you that you 
might do yourself, and then blame the “tariff” for the in¬ 
creased price. 
The “Protection” of that Coat. 
A correspondent who speaks on page 400, is dissatisfied 
because a suit containing only $2 worth of wool costs $20, 
for which he says the protective tariff is to blame. But 
can he take $2 worth of wool and wear it without addi¬ 
tional cost ? Does it cost nothing to clean the wool, card 
it, dye it, spin it ? Does it cost nothing to weave, full, 
and press the cloth, to pack it for shipment, to drum for 
customers, and, after it is sold, to run the chances of pay 
on long time, or no pay at all, through the insolvency of 
some customer t The cloth will probably be exposed for 
sale again, or else the manufacturer makes it up. Can he 
cut, and can the tailor ply his needle for nothing f Then 
the clothiers I and there are more shipping, credits, losses, 
and risk of goods becoming old and unsalable before the 
store-keeper can dispose of them. Several things besides 
tariff will combine to make the goods cost, and how can a 
duty which is only a small per cent of the cost have the ef¬ 
fect of doubling It ? An abolition of duties would un¬ 
doubtedly tend to fill our markets with foreign goods. 
The correspondent in buying a suit could not possibly dis¬ 
criminate between the home and foreign article. It would 
do no good if he did. He would take that which pleased 
him best, and would be willing to wear a suit made of 
foreign cloth and wool, and much of the labor entering in¬ 
to its manufacture can be classed as pauper labor. 
Think of his wearing a suit made in a great measure by 
the alien workmen he exclaims so forcibly against I Why 
not advocate the shutting out of the results of their labor 
as well as the laborers themselves ? If we want to see our 
home workmen employed, give them something to do. 
Ours is a country of vast and inexhaustible resources. We 
have the materials stored away (or can raise them) for 
producing almost anything that comes from abroad. 
Give the country at large some incentive to wake up and 
go to manufacturing, then competition will inevitably re¬ 
duce prices down to, or below those of Imported articles, 
and there will be a host more of workmen to eat up what 
the farmer raises. We shall not only be producing enough 
commodities of all kinds for ourselves, but have much to 
send abroad, and in American ships we hope, built In 
America, owned by Americans, and manned by American 
seamen. Arthur d. warner. 
The Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
| Every query must be accompanied by the name and address of the 
wrl ter to lnsuro attention. Before asking a question please see if it is 
not answered in our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
Protecting Stock From Flies ; the “ Bud-Worm.” 
R. R. Milton, Choctaw Nation.—1. During the warm 
season our animals are sorely troubled and tormented by 
green-headed files. It is almost impossible sometimes to 
drive a team of horses, mules or oxen across the prairies 
on a hot day. Is there any effective means of driving them 
away and keeping them off the stock ? 2. Is there any 
known remedy or preventive for the bud-worm that in¬ 
fests corn by boring into the ears soon after they begin 
forming, often causing them to become moldy and rotten ? 
Ans.— 1. There are two ways which I have successfully 
practiced to keep flies from Irritating stock. That either 
or both would succeed against all flies is too much to say 
until tried in each case. Pyrethrum and water, one ounce 
to two gallons or a decoction, will in many cases give re¬ 
lief. The same may be said of carbolic acid. I use a good 
quality of crude acid and dilute it with water—ten-fif¬ 
teenths of the water to one of the acid. In using either 
we have only to take a cloth or a small atomizer and 
apply it to the neck, breast, flanks, loins, etc., of the ani¬ 
mal infested. I think the kerosene emulsion or a similar 
liquid in which the kerosene is replaced by crude carbolic 
acid of good strength, one-seventh being kerosene or acid, 
If sprayed on to the suffering horse or cow, would bring 
relief. These are easily applied by the use of a syringe 
and cyclone nozzle. I hope this inquirer will try these 
remedies and report to me. 2. I do not know what insect 
Mr. R. refers to as injuring the corn, unless it is the corn 
or cotton boll worm—Heleothis armigera. With such 
meager data I can only suggest that he apply the arsen- 
ites, London-purple or Paris-green—one pound to 200 gal¬ 
lons of water—to the ears, just before the eggs hatch. This 
would be, I presume, just as the young ears form. There 
would be no possible danger in such treatment, the cost 
would be light and I presume that success would be cer¬ 
tain. It would be, beyond question, if the Insects in pene¬ 
trating to the corn or ears had to eat, so as to get the 
poison. [prof ] A. J. COOK. 
Michigan Agricultural College. 
Likes The Thorburn Potato. 
W. D. H., Dutchess County, N. Y — Has The R. N.-Y. 
planted any “ Thorburn ” Potatoes this year with the 
earlier varieties ? I have them in bloom now—May 30th— 
planted April 2nd. I am using for eating now some that 
were dug in July last year, and have not lost one by rot¬ 
ting and I think they are the finest eating potatoes grown 
for both early and late use. They are better than the 
Beauty of Hebron, and about 10 days earlier. If The R. 
N.-Y. knows of any other variety that can beat them in 
earliness, I hope it will advise me of it. I have grown the 
Thorburns in 63 days ready for market, cooking better 
than any potatoes I have ever met with. They do not 
yield as heavily as some (say R. N.-Y. No. 2), but the dif¬ 
481 
ference In price will show a balance in their favor on 
account of their earliness. 
Ans. —In our trials we did not find the Thorburn as 
early as the Early Ohio. It is no earlier than the Beauty 
of Hebron. The quality is unsurpassed. The yield is not 
so heavy as that of some other early kinds. 
Putting a Head on Caboage. 
J. D. H., Summit County, Ohio.— What must I do to 
make cabbages head up hard ? Mine fall to do so. 
Ans —Want of high manuring and lack of proper culti¬ 
vation are the principal causes for failure in either early 
or late cabbages to head up hard, in this section, where 
success is generally met with There are sections, how¬ 
ever, and these among market gardeners, where the high¬ 
est culture and most liberal manuring are applied, where 
late cabbages fail to give satisfaction, though such have 
excellent success with the early varieties. The cause for 
failure in such localities I have never heard explained, and 
not being acquainted with all the facts, would not hazard 
an opinion. If in the same region others succeed in getting 
hard heads where your correspondent fails, then doubtless 
there is a removable cause. Let him manure at the rate 
of eight or ten cords per acre of good stable manure, drop¬ 
ping a heaping tablespoonful of complete fertilizer in each 
hill and mixing well with the soil before planting the 
seed ; then just before giving his plants their first hoeing, 
scatter about a half handful of unleached wood ashes 
around each hill. Manuring liberally with manure very 
rich in nitrogen tends to make, on some soils, a great 
growth of leaves, and though large heads, yet not very 
hard ones. The hardest heads of early cabbage I ever 
raised were on a piece of land where my foreman by mis¬ 
take spread over 300 bushels per acre of ualeached wood 
ashes two years before. This was not wasting the ashes, 
for ashes do not waste in the soil; they remain accessible 
for crop after crop. I simply lost the interest on my 
money. For the past three years the fertilizers on that 
land have had no potash, for they needed none. If when 
full-grown the heads are soft, they cannot be made hard by 
any process I am acquainted with. j. j. n. Gregory. 
Trimming Grape Vines. 
D. II. I., New York. —I have a number of grape vines 
about 15 years old, which have bean allowed to run wild 
over a high trellis and arbor. How shall I begin to train 
and trim them ? They are now full of young fruit. 
Ans. —Nothing can be done this year except to remove 
the weaker of the new shoots and to shorten in the more 
rampant ones. The time to prune is late fall, in winter 
or early in spring—long enough before the sap starts to 
allow the cut canes to callus so as not to bleed. It is a 
difficult matter to prune such long-neglected vines In a 
satisfactory manner. The main point to keep in view is 
to thin out the shoots, preferably removing some large 
canes rather than thinning out the smaller shoots only. 
Shorten the longer canes, bub not to the extent of remov¬ 
ing all of the previous season’s growth, else no fruit will 
result. It is better to extend the pruning over two or 
three seasons, than to try to accomplish the desired result 
in one. Each year the weaker buds should be rubbed off 
where new canes are nob desired, and the summer pruning 
be done to the end of the desired form. 
Fertility of Different Solis. 
A. W. M., Waterloo, Iowa.— Would a soil of clay loam 
six to ten inches deep underlaid by impervious clays be 
apt to be durable ? 
Ans.— The soil you mention should be durable, but It 
needs underdraining and subsoiling to make it most pro¬ 
ductive. The “ ideal ” soil is a dark loam with a good pro¬ 
portion of vegetable mold, with clay enough to secure a 
good foundation and enable it to hold sufficient water and 
sand enough to make it work easily. A dark soil not only 
Indicates the presence of vegetable mold, but will absorb 
much more heat than soil of a lighter color. This is one 
reason why liberal dressings of black muck greatly im¬ 
prove light-colored soils. Coarse, “ leachy ” soils are gen¬ 
erally “ hungry.” The particles of such soils are coarse— 
frequently growing coarser as we descend. Water drains 
through them rapidly, leaving them dry and warm. A 
great deal of the manure used on them also leaches away. 
Such soils are seldom profitable for general farming, but 
for market gardening with plenty of manure and water 
for irrigating, they give better returns because, being 
warm and dry, they favor early planting and quick growth. 
Clay soils are usually fertile. Pure clay represents the 
opposite extreme of pure sand. While in the sand the par¬ 
ticles are so large that they cannot “ hold water ”—because 
there is less surface for the water to cling to—in the clay 
the particles are so very fine that they retain too much 
water and when wet “run” or puddle and afterwards 
bake into hard, dry lumps. It is because of Its peculiar 
mechanical condition that clay—not sand—is used in brick 
making. When clays fail it is generally because of their 
mechanical condition—naturally they are the strongest 
soils. Thorough drainage removes the surplus water and 
admits the air, thus making the soil more porous and thus 
more easily worked. A sandy soil with a hardpan a few 
inches below the surface and a quicksand below that is 
called “ the worst thing that human ingenuity could in¬ 
vent or the powers of Nature create.” 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Sub-Irrigation with Sink Wastes.— B. H. I., New York. 
—This plan has been followed with fair success in garden 
culture. Instead of having the sink drain Into a cesspool, 
the waste runs into a series of perforated pipes laid from 
V/i to two feet below the surface of the soil. This is said 
to keep the soil moist and open, besides supplying what 
fertility there may be In the waste. The plan is expensive, 
however, and very dangerous in a garden near a well. 
