THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
i9 
seeding time, and seldom fails. If the failure be only 
partial, or in spots, I sow seed on them at this time, 
instead of waiting till spring, so as to get a full crop 
the next season. In the latter case, I omit the har-* 
rowing and rolling. If any of The R. N.-Y. readers 
have a better way of dealing with this trouble, 1 would 
be glad to hear from them. j. w. w. 
Allegany County, N. Y. 
An Experiment in Vertical Drainage. 
I have in one corner of my farm, a depression which 
receives the surplus surface water from, perhaps, 20 
acres of land. When water is high, there is a pond of 
nearly half an acre. When I was a boy, I often went 
skating on it, and it made a fine skating park when 
the ice was good. In ordinary times, the water did 
not cover more than four or five square rods, and in a 
dry time it was dried up altogether. The former 
owner had scraped out the lowest place to make a 
reservoir for stock water. Last spring the only stand¬ 
ing water was in this hole, which had been scraped 
out, and I filled the hole and plowed the entire hollow 
with the rest of the field and sowed it with oats, hop¬ 
ing that breaking up the ground and working it would 
permit the water to soak away quickly enough so that 
the crop would not be seriously damaged. In that I 
was disappointed, for although the season was com¬ 
paratively a dry one, with a hard drought commencing 
in July, the oats in the hollow were drowned out. After 
harvest. I had a well sunk right in the corner of the 
lot, as close as practicable to the fences. This was 
they were material improvements upon the old Queen 
of the Prairie. 
The varieties tried during the past season were 
Waterloo Extra Early, White-cap Early Dent, Joe 
Waite, Early Butler, Smoked Flint, White’s Mam¬ 
moth, Iowa Beauty, all from W. Atlee Burpee & Co., 
of Philadelphia, Pa.; Bristol 100-day, from Johnson & 
Stokes, Philadelphia, Pa., and the Conqueror, from 
the Northrup & Braslan Co., Minneapolis, Minn. All 
except the Conqueror were planted in drills, May 17. 
four feet apart and about a foot apart in the drills— 
the soil being an impoverished clay loam. At the 
rate of 1,000 pounds to the acx*e of Bradley’s potato 
fertilizer was broadcasted before the last harrowing. 
The Waterloo Extra Early, a cross section of which 
is shown at Fig. 8, grew to the height of about seven 
to eight feet, without suckers. The ears—one or two 
to a stalk—were borne midway. The kernels (yellow 
dent) began to glaze August 27—no doubt hastened by 
the terrific drought. August 15, the corn was ready 
for boiling. The rows vary from 14 to 18, perfectly 
straight, close and beautifully regular. The ears— 
about 12 inches long—tapered from the butt to the 
tip. The kernels were deep, obovate, round ®r oval 
on top, the cob small, as shown. 
Bristol 100-day—a cross section of which is shown 
at Fig 9—grew, without suckers, a little taller than 
Waterloo. Ears tapering, 14 rows, close together and 
perfectly straight. Began to glaze August 28. It is 
a yellow dent much like Waterloo, except as to height 
of plant. 
kernels are of medium size, broad, but not deep, of a 
yellowish color, and 58 to 60 to a row. The cob, as 
may be seen by the photo-illustration, is very small, 
too small and long to be shelled without breaking. 
The earliest of any to mature, being fully ripe August 
23, or 106 days. It strikes us that this Smoked Flint 
ought to be a most valuable variety for ensilage. 
White’s Mammoth grows to the height of about 
seven feet, bearing the ears midway. Ears 8 to 10 
inches long; butts often disproportionately large, 
tapering to the tip, like a narrow wedge. Rows are 
irregular and variable, about 14. The kernels—yel¬ 
low dent—are crowded together, and medium size. 
The kernels began to glaze August 30. 
Iowa Beauty grows to a height of about eight feet 
and suckers somewhat. The ears which are borne too 
high are 8 to 10 inches long, 18 rows, regular ; kernels, 
yellow dent, medium size, obovate and deep. Cob 
small. There are two objections to this variety. It 
is late, and the ears are borne so high that the plants 
would lodge during ordinary storms. These are the 
great objections to the Chester County Mammoth 
which, at the Rural Farm, 15 years ago, yielded on 
about five acres, over 130 bushels of shelled corn to 
the acre. 
The Conqueror, from the Northrup, Braslan Co., is 
another variety which we would be glad to have our 
friends try in a small way. The claim is made that it 
is “earlier than Pride of the North and a much larger 
yielder; gives double the fodder ; has outyielded 
Learning ; early as Minnesota King ; ear much larger, 
BRISTOL ONE HUNDRED-DAY DENT. Flo. 9. 
WATERLOO EXTRA EARLY. Fio. 8. 
WHITE-CAP EARLY DENT. Fio. 10. 
JOE WAITE. Fio. 11 
EARLY BUTLER. Fig. 
only a few rods from the 
lowest part of the hol- 
of coarse sa n d a n d 
edly the same stratum < 
which furnishes water fcL v 
for all the wells in the /1.\ j&jlfoS 
water-bearing stratum jfc, Jg Si * 
would take up and carry p & 
away the surplus water 
J , T . , EARLY BUTLER. Fig. 
or not. I sunk a large 
barrel into it the whole 
length, determined to have either a well or a drain, or 
both, and then walled it up as high as necessary. I 
then had a broad, open ditch dug leading into it from 
the lowest part of the pond hole. So far, it has worked 
to perfection. The well has been filled full of surface 
water to the level of the pond several times, but at each 
time it has taken all the water out of the pond within 
24 hours, and sunk to its normal level in the well within 
48 hours. The only remaining question is whether it 
has capacity enough to carry away the water as soon 
as it ought to be done in a wet time. If not, I shall 
sink another well, run two or more lines of tile into 
it, arch it over at least two feet below the surface. 
Michigan. f. hodgman. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
THE EARLIEST FIELD CORN. 
The past season we made an attempt to find out 
“which is the earliest field corn,” a question often 
asked by our readers. A similar trial was made at 
the Rural Farm many years ago, resulting in favor of 
the two-named variety, Pride of the North, so in¬ 
troduced by Hiram Sibley, and Queen of the Prairie, 
so introduced by B. K. Bliss & Sons. It was tried at 
the Rural Farm a year or so before its introduction, 
and it so happened that we were thus enabled to make 
known their identity. This variety of yellow dent has 
since bobbed up under many other names as a novelty— 
“ the earliest dent ever introduced, and for the ear¬ 
liest, the most prolific,” But we have not found that 
SMOKED FLINT. Fig. 13. 
THE CONQUEROR. Fig. 14. 
White-Cap Early Dent.—Boiling ears August 13. 
Cobs thicker than either of the foregoing, tapering 
from butt to tip, often not well filled out at tip. 
About 14 rows, eight inches long. A few days later 
than either Waterloo or 100-day. An advantage is 
that the plants—about seven or eight feet high—carry 
the ears lower. See Fig. 10. 
Joe Waite—Fig. 11—grows about seven feet tall, 
without suckers. Ears variable in length and thick¬ 
ness—about eight to nine inches, having from 12 to 24 
rows, yellow dent. The kernels are small, closely 
set, and about 40 to a row. Stewing ears August 15. 
Ripe August 30. 
Early Butler, Fig. 12.—Plants about eight feet, 
without suckers. Ears 8 to 10 inches, 16 to 18 rows, 
not tapering, but nearly the same size from butt to 
tip. About 40 to the row. Kernels, yellow dent, 
rather narrow and deep, cob comparatively small. 
Stewing ears August 15. No earlier to mature than 
the preceding. The variety is pretty close to Queen 
of the Prairie. 
Smoked Flint, Fig. 13.—Here we have a variety 
quite different from any we have hitherto raised. The 
main stem is slender, growing from six to seven feet. 
But there are six or more shorter leafy stalks growing 
only two feet high—all from one seed, forming a sort 
of dwarf bush with a taller, central stem. There are 
from two to three ears to every plant, and these are 
borne near the soil or in the bush portion of the plant. 
The ears are long—12 inches or over—about 8 to 10 
rows, which are often more or less separated. The 
_ averaging 9 to 10 inches 
long and having from 8 
very broad leaves, suck- 
a ering sparingly. Boiling 
^ ears were ready August 
A' n °f planted until May 
17. The kernels began 
being 106 days from the 
W \ a time of planting. The 
,%” kernel, as shown in 
Fig. 14, is broad, the 
!ONQUEROR. Fig. 14. ® . ,. . 
cob of medium size, the 
rows quite regular and 
usually close together, averaging 10 in number. The 
ears average 8 to 10 inches long, thicker than would 
be supposed because of the breadth of the kernel. 
There are about 40 to 45 kernels to the row. 
SOME FACTS ABOUT DYNAMITE. 
HOW TO USE DYNAMITE OR GIANT POWDER. 
This very useful substance may be used by any one 
with perfect safety, if the following directions are ob¬ 
served. Remember always these cautions. The ex¬ 
ploder is very powerful and is set off by fire or heat. 
The dynamite freezes at 40 degrees Fahr., and should 
never be used while frozen. It is exploded by con¬ 
cussion. Use a fuse which just fits the cap, and No. 
2, or 40 per cent powder. To put on the exploder, cut 
the fuse smooth so that the cap may be slipped on, 
gently in contact, or nearly so, with the fulminate. 
Fasten securely by puncturing or indenting with an 
awl the free edge of the metal cap, into the body of 
the fuse. Be sure that it is fastened, and avoid dis¬ 
turbing the fulminate end. Remember, this exploder 
is the most dangerous, but is absolutely safe if you 
avoid friction with the end of the fuse. It is the ful¬ 
minate of mercury, the same as a common gun cap. 
Thaw the powder until it can easily be dented with 
the fingers. Caution : Thaw the powder in the sun 
if possible ; otherwise in any way, so that the thaw¬ 
ing is gradual and even. Never use old powder, or 
any on which the paper is spotted or blistered. 
In charging, the exploder must be in contact with 
