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MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
to be productive of no good results. Thousands 
of miserable, weak-minded people, idiots, and lu¬ 
natics, attest the evil results of marrying between 
blood relations. If such be the consequences re¬ 
sulting from “breeding-in-and-in,” as it is general¬ 
ly termed, from the human family, will not the 
same principle apply to fowls? Will not a stock 
of fowls, let us ask, degenerate from year to year, 
both in size and other good qualities, if no addi¬ 
tions from other vaiictics or yardB are made? Look 
to the chicken commonly called “dung-hilt fowl,” 
a variety more generally had than any other kind 
in this country, and which, although Bmall and 
comparatively of little value, were doubtless, at 
one time, in every respect equal to those for which 
such enormous and unwarrantable prioes have 
been paid. 
The reason of this degeneracy is very easily ex¬ 
plained. The idea of improving the breed of 
fowls rarely visits a farmer's mind; and in the 
multiplicity of duties resting upon him, he does 
not think it a matter of sufficient importance to 
ohange cocks with his neighbors, or to kill oft his 
old ones and purchase new. This is a great error, 
as we shall endeavor to show by facts gathered 
from experience. 
We are convinced, from our own experience and 
observation, that by changing the plan of breeding 
chickens wo can materially improve them in some 
essential particulars, by procuring the very best 
cocks that can bo found, paying attention to size, 
form and vigor only—color being a secondary 
consideration. Then, by selecting the finestform- 
ed and largest pullets of the previous season, cross 
them with selected cocks, provide comfortable 
quarters for them during the cold weather, and 
feed them well with animal and other good, sub¬ 
stantial food, and, our word for it, you wil receive 
in return a fair supply of eggs. None of the 
the tubers before they were taken from the ground 
took place. 
The predisposition and actual decay were in pro¬ 
portion to the degree and continuation of the heat, 
and the rapidity of the growth of the tops. Where 
the potato tops were less exposed to the heat there 
was less “rot.” and less predisposition to it, alter 
the tubers were gathered. Asa proof of this, (in 
addition to my own observations.) one of ray neigh¬ 
bors planted potatoes late in the season, in his 
cornfield where there were failures in the corn hi 11s, 
the same year when the potatoes in this part of the 
country were most badly rotted, and the produce 
was sonnd, and without rot Another neighbor 
planted his “patch” on the south side of his field, 
where the potatoes were shaded by an adjoining 
foreBt; and his potatoes were nearly free from the 
“rot” before and after digging. In another in¬ 
stance, I witnessed a man digging his potatoes 
from one of the most “weedy” patches I ever saw. 
So tall, large and dense were the weeds that, when 
digging, the man could not be seen at a greater 
distance than three or four rods. The potatoes 
appeared to be all sound aud good. Excessive 
heat, I have no doubt, is the immediate cause of the 
“disease.” In a future paper I may attempt to 
show the remote causes of that immediate cause. 
Feb. 20,1S57. ’Hiel. 
Decrease of FIorsks in Ouio.—I t, appears by 
the Assessors’ returns made to the Ohio State Au¬ 
ditor's Office, that horses are annually decreasing 
in that State. In 1854 there were 032,593, In 1866 
there were 024,746. In 1656 the number is 621,443. 
Over 11,000 in three years, The N. Y. 'IVibune 
says:—“ A very small portion has been brought to 
the New York market; probably not as many in 
the three years as in any one of the preceding 
years; aud the number will be Btili smaller In pro¬ 
portion to those years in 1857, owing to the high 
prices of horses in the West. We suppose a por¬ 
tion of the decrease can be accounted for by the 
largely increased use of mules; but there must be 
a deeper cause than that, which we think wc can 
explain. A few years ago, when railroads began 
to be extensively built in Ohio, it was a matter of 
common observation that it would ‘ruin the stage 
business;’ and as a matter of course destroy one 
of the farmer's most, reliable markets for horses, 
and many determined at once to stop raising colts. 
Then came transportation of beef cattle by rail¬ 
road, and a very great increase of price, and con¬ 
sequent conviction that raising and feeding bul¬ 
locks was more profitable than raisiug colts and 
selling horses. The result, has been the falling off 
in numbers noticed above, while at the same time 
there has been a great increase of prices. The 
value of the diminished number is set down at 
$5,000,000 more than the value of the whole before 
the decrease commenced.” 
BLACK AND YELLOW LOCUST. 
Eds. Rural:— Will you please to inform me 
through the Rural, what the difference is between 
the Black aud Yellow Locust, and which is the 
best kind to raise on those prairies for shade and 
timber?— N. Hamilton, Farmersburg, Iowa. 
The Yellow Locust is the variety most frequent¬ 
ly found west of the Alleghany Mountains. In the 
scale of value it stauds second—the Red variety 
being considered superior—while the Black, by 
common consent, we believe, occupies the third 
position. In addition to the kiuds enumerated, 
there are the Green aud White, the latter being 
considered the least valuable of all. It. is estima¬ 
ted that posts of the Red variety, perfectly season¬ 
ed before beitig put in the ground, will last double 
the lime of the White, while the latter has about 
the same advantage over the Black. Browne, in 
his Trees of America, says that in these three 
kinds “the varieties are supposed to be owing 
entirely to the soil and situations in which they 
grow, being caused in a similar manner as the 
various colors of the flowers of the hydrangea, 
which depend on the nature of the earth in which 
they are planted, and even on the color of the 
water with which they are irrigated.” We should 
be pleased to hear from such of our readers as 
have experimented with the different varieties of 
this tree, and can impart information as to the 
value of each, both for fencing and shade.— Eds. 
LARGE VS. SMALL POTATOES FOR SEED. 
Eds. Rural: —It is not time for planting pota¬ 
toes, but I would like to write a little, or ask a few 
questions, about seed potatoes, Ac. Will some of 
your correspondents give me their experience on 
usinglarge or small potatoes for seed. Last spring 
in planting my potatoes I cut them in small pieces 
and put two eyes in a hill, with the exception of 
one row through the field. In this I put a large 
potato (with probably ten or twelve eyes in each,) 
in each hill, and when they were dug could see no 
difference in the light or heavy seeding. They 
were of the “flesh-colored” variety and good fair 
size. — A Subscriber, Barry, Mich., Feb., 1867. 
Remarks. —“ Large vs. Small Potatoes for Seed” 
Is a question unrivalled in interest by any except 
perhaps the transmutation of wheat. Each side 
lias ardent and capable advocates, while both sides 
claim to be right. Wo doubt whether a test suffi¬ 
ciently practical has been made to give a decision 
that would stand as a flnalitv.— Eds. 
Salk of,'Fink Stock. — Mr. S. p. Chatman, 
Mount Pleasant Farm, Clockvillc, Madison Co., N. 
Y., has recently made several sales of line animals. 
The first we notice is a fine lot of Berk shires, two 
sows and a boar, to W. W. Franklin and R, G. 
Dun, of Waboo, Madison Co., Ohio. Those were 
excellent specimens of the breed, and the sows 
were in the two lots that won the first and second 
prizes at the Fair of the N. Y. State Ag. Society 
in 1855. Mr. C. has sold his celebrated prize bull 
" Halton” to W. B. Roberts, Norristown, Penn.— 
Hatton won the first prize at the show of the N. 
Y r . State Ag’l Society, at Rochester, in 1851, and 
first, prize at the Madison Co. Fair same year_ 
the first prize at the 8tate Show held at Utica, in 
1852, and the Diploma at the State Show held at 
Elmira, in 1855. Mr. C. K. Ward, of Le Roy, Gen¬ 
esee Co., N. Y., has lately purchased of Mr. C. 
a two-year-old heifer, “Fanny,” (in calf to Halton,) 
and a yearling heifer. “ Bright Eyes 5th,” (in calf 
ASHES AS A MANURE, 
Eds. Rural 
Facts in agriculture, though of 
seeming insignificance, are always interesting and 
valuable. I do not suppose that I have any of 
much importance to offer, yet thinking light want¬ 
ed on the. use of ashes as a manure, I would state 
a few items of my experience. 
It is well known that, ashes are of much benefit 
to corn—applied as a hill-dressing about the time 
of the first hoeing —enabling it to get a better 
start in the early part of the season, and thus pre¬ 
paring it better to withstand the drouth of mid¬ 
summer. The past summer we noticed a material 
difference in the yield of corn fields, dressed and 
undressed, which could only be attributed to this 
fact. Some mix plaster with the ashes, others salt 
and plaster,—we have made use generally of ashes 
applying about two tablespoonfulls to each hill.— 
It is a course we would recommend to all corn 
growers in this section,—but it should be remem¬ 
bered that corn needs manure beside, and we can¬ 
not well get too much of It, 
For potatoes, ashes form a valuable fertilizer.— 
The past season, we plowed up a portion ofloamy 
sward ground, some of which had been dreesed 
with ashes in considerable quantity—perhaps at 
the rate of twenty-five bushels per acre. They had 
been ppread there ill different times the season 
previous, as taken from the kitchen stove, to the 
manifest improvement of the meadow—but their 
influence on the potatoes, planted this season, was 
far more striking. Where no ashes had been ap¬ 
plied, the growth of the vines was small and much 
retarded by the drouth—the soil itself seemed less 
mellow and friable—while the ashed part gave a 
luxuriant growth of vines, and the potatoes were 
more than double in size and quantity than those 
on tbo unashed. Piaster, it is well known, is a 
valuable top-dressing for potato vines—but I find 
ashes equally good applied in the same manner. 
The application of muck and ashes, plowed in 
for barley, at the rate of a load of the former to a 
bushel of the latter, twenty to the acre, has beon 
tried, but the composite character of the dressing, 
prevents my saying in what proportion to each the 
credit of a better growth is due. Other experi¬ 
ments in field, garden and orchard, have been 
made, but without particular note of effect and re- 
suit, which would enable me to speak definitely 
upon them. I hope those of your farmer readers 
who can give facts showing the effect oi’ ashes, 
either beneficial or otherwise, as an application to 
different crops and soils, will not fail to do so 
through the Rural. A Young Parmer. 
Niagara, Co., N. Y., 1857. 
Points in a Good Horse. — In purchasing 
a good horse, sight, wind, feet and limbs must 
be the uppermost objects of inquiry; for nine 
horses out of ten are defective in one of these 
particulars. First, then, examine his eyes, and 
do this before he comes out of the stable; sec 
that they are perfectly clear and transparent, 
aud that the pupils or apples of the eye are ex¬ 
actly alike in size and color. Next examine his 
pipes; if good and sound, on being nipped in the 
gullet, he will utter a sound like that from a bel¬ 
lows; hut if his lungs are touched and he is broken 
winded, he will give vent to a dry, husky, short 
cough; look to his limbs also, and in passing your 
hands down his legs, if you find any unnatural pro¬ 
tuberance, or puflincss, or if feeling first one leg 
then the other, you discover any difference be¬ 
tween them, disease, more or less, is present; he 
may not be lame, but he is not clean upon his legs. 
If he is broad and full between the eyes, he may 
bo depended on as a horse of good sense, and ca¬ 
pable of being trained to almost anything. If you 
want a gentle horse, get one with more or less 
white upon him; many suppose that the parti¬ 
colored horses belonging to otreused, shows, Ac., 
are selected for their oddity; but it is on account 
of their docility and gentleness; in fact, the more 
kindly yon treat horses, the better you will be 
treated by them in return.— Spirit of the Times. 
Short horns for California.— We learn that 
Messrs. B. A C. S. Haines, of Elizabeth, N. J„ ship¬ 
ped several Short,-horns to California by the steam- 
er Illinois, which sailed on the oth inst. The 
shipment comprises one 2 year old bull, one bull 
calf Bix mouths old, and two yearling heifers._ 
They were purchased by Geo. II. Howard, Esq, of 
Bun Francisco. The auimals will be taken to the 
Isthmus by the Illinois, crossing which they will 
take the steamer on the Pacific—being from three 
to four weeks on the voyage. They were all bred 
by the Messrs. Haines, but the two year old bull 
was owned jointly by them and J. McGk'aw, Jr., of 
Dryden, Tompkins Co., N. Y. This is probably the 
first shipment of Short-horns to California, and 
therefore specially worthy of being placed upon 
record. 
instance. Some of the finest fowls we have seen 
were a cross of Dominique on the Cochin and 
Brahma. To keep up vigor and stamiua, we would 
recommend an occasional croBS.with large sized 
Game cocks. By pursuing this system every 
spring, or, at least, every other spring, the progeny 
would attain a size superior to iheir progenitors. 
Their constitution and laying qualities would cer¬ 
tainly be much better. 
The third year the chickens will not only be 
greatly improved in size and appearance, but in 
the quantity of eggs from the same number of 
liens. This plan pnrsned, or even that of selecting 
the largest and most vigorous cocks of the com¬ 
mon “dung-hill,” we cannot but commend to our 
farmers generally, as the fowls will be one half 
larger, and cost no more food or trouble to keep 
them, and when sent to market they will command 
a much better price. 
It is hardly necessary to draw the attention of 
breeders generally, to the fact—how few animals 
maintain their superiority for a series of years in 
any particular variety. A11 being of the same bluod 
their offspring are puny, weakly, and highly sus¬ 
ceptible to disease. This can only be obviated by- 
procuring the cock birds from another strain or 
family, and if well selected, there is little fear hut 
there will be ample cause for self-congratulation 
as to their produce. 
If we were asked to give what we consider the 
points of excellence desirable in fowls, we should 
say-—they should have a small head, beautifully 
taper neck, which sweeps in a grace- 
COAL ASHES AS A MANURE. 
Eds. Rural: —Please to inform us through your 
paper if fossil coal ashes are good for any purpose, 
and if so, for what are they best adapted? By so 
doing you will oblige— Consumers of Coal, 
Phe ps, "n. Y., 1867. 
Remarks. —Coal ashes possess a certain degree 
of fertilizing properties, though not enough to 
guarantee sufficient returns for an expenditure of 
much money or labor in their collection. Accor¬ 
ding to analysis they contain only from 4 to R 
per cent, available matter. Those possessing ashes 
of this kind, however, should not. allow them to go 
to waste, but make them an ingredient of the 
compost heap or scatter them broadcast over the 
fields. The action of coal ashes upon the soil, we 
are inclined to believe, is almost purely of a me¬ 
chanical nature, in rendering it porous and con¬ 
sequently increasing its powers of absorption. In 
England they arc saved, mixed with guano and 
sulphate of lime, thus giving greater bulk to these 
concentrated manures and enabling them to be 
more evenly scattered over the soil when the drill 
is used as a means of application.—E ds. 
Sowing YVheat in Winter.— The Detroit Tri¬ 
bune of the 28tli ult., say-s Mr. Daniel Wolfe, living 
near Centerville, St. Josephs Co., commenced 
sowing spring wheat on Monday the 23d. 
Aid to Agriculture in Illinois.— The Illinois 
Legislature has authorized the publication of 8,000 
copies of the 2d volume of Transactions of the 
State Agricultural Society, and it is designed that 
the work shall be published and distributed so that 
the County Societies enn have their copies to serve 
as premiums at their exhibitions next fall. The 
Legislature has also made an appropriation to the 
State Agricultural Society of $3,000 a year for two 
All which is commendable, and 
FAEM LIFE 
years, ah which is commendable, and evinces 
that the Legislature of Prairiedom maybe truly 
denominated “the assembled wisdom of the State.” 
The 1 ansy, and its Y'alue. —M. De Morogues 
announces that this plant — dried—is excellent 
sheep food, and that, when fresh, it make capital 
litter for domestic animals. Its peculiar balsamic 
odor most effectually drives away ficus. A lapdog 
sleeping on a bed of fresh tansy, is immediately- 
freed from these vermin. It should be renewed 
when the leaves are quite dry. This seems a bet¬ 
ter application of the plant than following the ex¬ 
ample of our grandmothers and making it into 
cakes. 
poised upou a 
fully expanding line to the broad shoulders. The 
breast must be very full, round and prominent, 
like that of the Durham cow, broad and well de¬ 
veloped in the cock; the body square, the legB 
light-colored and small. They should be of good 
size, quick of growth, hardy, meaty, and fit for the 
tabic at an early age; abundant layers, especially 
in winter, good mothers, and quiet in their habitB 
and disposition. 
The chicken cocks, or cockerels, will be first 
ready for klllirfg, and they should all be killed 
during the first season; then the extra or old 
cocks, and lastly the pullets, which are not re¬ 
quired to recruit the stock. The old hens should 
be killed before they are three, or, at the furthest, 
in their third year, as after that they are nearly 
worthless. C. N. Bement. 
Rochester, March, 1857. 
Loss of Cud.— Can you or any of your corres 
pondents tell what will give to cattle a cud after- 
having lost it?—J. C., York, Feb., 1857. 
Remarks. —The cessation of rumination is more 
a symptom of disease than a disease itself.— 
Most inflammatory complaints aro connected with 
it, and it, often arises from debility. We must first 
know the cause and then adapt the mode of treat¬ 
ment to the particular requirements of the case.— 
A dose of physic with a small portion of aromatic 
medicine, will be necessary if a fever is detected; 
atonic and alterative if general debility be indi¬ 
cated. An ounce of carraway and half an ounce 
of ginger are recommended by Y'ouatt as the best 
aromatics that can be employed; as a tonic and 
alterative, four ouuces of epsom salts, two ot pow¬ 
dered gentian and half an ounce of ginger should 
be given. If any of our correspondents have had 
experience in this matter we should be pleased to 
hear from them.—E ds. 
upon the formation of character. What, a man 
does, as well aa what ho studies in hooka, educates 
him. The sceneR amid which his boyhood is pass¬ 
ed, out of school, the objects which occupy his 
thoughts, the problems he daily solves in earning 
his bread, quite as much shape character as the 
scenes and problems of the school-room. Agricul¬ 
ture is the largest and most important of all our 
material interests, the occupation which the lar¬ 
gest portion of onr countrymen are born. It is a 
matter of interest to consider the bearing of this 
pursuit upon the characters of those who are en¬ 
gaged in it. 
There are those who consider this menial occu¬ 
pation-degrading to the body by the toil which 
it imposes, and belittleing to the mind by the atten¬ 
tion it requires to the minute details of Its busi¬ 
ness. They regard its implements as the badges 
of servility, and look with disdain upon the plow- 
boy's lot. They deprecate the influence of farm 
life upon social and mental culture, and look upon 
the vustlo man as a type of boorishness and ig¬ 
norance. They think It maiuly a business for 
brute muscles, where mind can achieve no con¬ 
quests, and where skillful labor liuds a poor re¬ 
ward. They think the way of the man of genius is 
inevitably hedged up upon the farm, that thcro is 
no heroic work to be performed, no laurels to be 
won. If he would do deeds worthy of his man¬ 
hood, gain wealth, gain honor, make himself a 
name that will live, ho must turn to nobler occu¬ 
pations. 
If those who are strangers to the farm alone 
cherished this view, we could abide it in silence. 
But when farmers themselves admit this impeach¬ 
ment of their calling, and the pestilence of this 
heresy finds its way to onr firesides, and makes our 
sons and daughters discontented with our rural 
homos, it is time to speak out. If comparisons 
must bo made, which are invidious, the shadows 
shall not all full npon the farmer's lot. It is time 
that other callings should bo stripped of that ro¬ 
mance in which they are vailed, and that the sons 
of the farm should know what they have in pros¬ 
pect when they turn their hacks upou the homes 
of their youth. It is meet that they should better 
understand the blessings of their lot, its capaci¬ 
ties for improvement, and its superiority to all 
other occupations. We would arrest that feeling 
of disquiet which keeps so large a part of our 
rural population perpetually longing for new fields 
of enterprise. Wc would have them settled, at 
least a portion of them, in the old parish, and 
bend all their energies to the improvement and 
adornment of their homes.— Rev. William Clift. 
SELECTION OF SEED COBN 
Good Y t ield of Buckwheat.—A t a late meet¬ 
ing of the Board of Managers of the Monroe Co. 
Ag. Society, Mr. N. N. Treat, of Mendon, Inci¬ 
dentally made a statement which ho will please 
excuse us for placing on record. Ho last year 
Bowed 1J bushels of Buckwheat on an acre of 
ground, and harvested therefrom sixty-nine bushels 
of the best quality of breakfast cake material.— 
The seed was sown about the 20th of June, ou a 
deep, rich, mucky soil. 
THE POTATO ROT, 
Dr. Dadd, the Veterinary Surgeon and Author, 
of Boston, will accept our acknowledgments for 
a finely engraved Chart (enlarged from Blaine) 
representing the Brain of the Horse. It comprises 
two illustrations—one of the “base of the brain, 
shewing its nerves,” and the other representing 
“the arteries at the base of the brain.” The ave¬ 
rage weight of the brain of the horse is given as 
two and a half pounds. Price of the Chart, $2. 
Wurn the Potato Rot fell upon us, in 1845, I 
went to my "patch” and commenced a series of 
observations and experiments to ascertain the 
cause of it, and continued them in after years as 
opportunity offered. In watching the progress of 
the "disease,” I noticed that the top of the vines 
appeared to be first affected. The leaves turned 
brown, and soon dropped from the stems. Very 
soon afterwards the stems also died. On examining 
the withered stems, I found them in the incipient 
stages of decay. On chewing them discovered that 
the juice contained a very nauseous and disagreea¬ 
ble acid, the scent of which was like that of a rot¬ 
ten potato. 
On digging the potatoos I noticed that those 
which lay nearest the surface of the ground were 
much the most affected by the “rot.” Of those 
deeply imbedded, but few, comparatively, were rot¬ 
ten. Subsequent observations corroborated those 
first made, and in all cases where my potatoes were 
rotted I found that the earth, over and about them, 
was too warm to stand upon more than 10 to 15 
minutes at a time daring the hottest part ol the 
season. Well knowing that excessive heat often¬ 
times did great damage in “ rusting ” wheat, in 
smutting corn, Ac., Ac., I 60 on came to the con¬ 
clusion that the potato rot was owing to the same 
cause,—that the tender leaves and stems of the 
Bearded YVheat Grass. —We send you a speci- 
ment of grain found in our wheat last year. It is 
unknown to us. Can you tell what it is?—J. Cul- 
LiNGS, York, Feb. 23,1857. 
Remarks. —The sample gent is “Bearded Wheat 
Grass,” or “Dog Couch Grass” of England. It is 
said by Sinclair to be a grass of considerable 
value, “ because it affords lo-rbage early in spring.” 
According to his derails it yields, “at the time of 
plowing,” when grown on “sandy loam, 12,251 
pounds to the acre.” It wonld be considered an 
inferior grass for hay or pasturage in our country.— 
Eds. 
Black Hawk still Erect.— A late Boston paper 
states that the celebrated horse Black Hawk has 
been donated by its owner, David Hill, to the 
“Boston Veterinary College.” It has been pre¬ 
pared and articulated by l)r. Dadd, of that city, 
and will be ready for inspection in the course of a 
few weeks. Mr. Hill's donation is one of great 
value to tills infant college, and will interest vet- 
erinary students and horsemen in general. 
Plaster on Clover for Seed. —When shall we 
sow plaster on clover designed for seed? My ex¬ 
perience in raising clover for seed is simply this: 
In 1854 I had a piece of clover and sowed on plas¬ 
ter about the middle of May; harvested about the 
first of August; product was a rather light crop. 
The spring of 1855 I plastered it again, and kept 
my sheep on it until the middle of May, then har¬ 
vested as previously; product as before. In the 
spring of i860 I had a piece of clover; did not 
sow any plaster, and product was better, notwith¬ 
standing the dry season. This was the largo kind 
of clover. What little experience I have had in 
raisiug clover seed, T never have been able to get 
a crop of hay and one of seed in ono season, as 
frlenTl “I. L.8.” describes; and itia acknowledged 
by seed-dealers, I believe, that all clover which 
will produce a crop of hay and then a crop of 
seed must be the small variety. The large pea 
vine will not do it. With us I contend there are 
but two kinds, the large and the Bmall; but when 
you get into onr Eastern cities, a variety will be 
found coming from Pennsylvania that is still 
smaller than ours, and is called the medium seed. 
—A Subscriber, Marion, N. K, 1857. 
Journal of U. 8. Ao. Society.— We are in¬ 
debted to Mr. President Wilder for a copy of the 
Journal of the IT. S. Ag. Society for 1850, compri¬ 
sing its transactions for the year, list of officers, 
life and annual members, Ac. It is u neat pamphlet 
volume of 209 pages, principally occupied with 
the report of the Fourth Nutionul Exhibition of 
the Society, held at Philadelphia in October last. 
The Peanut.— Will you, or some of your nu¬ 
merous correspondents, inform me what is the 
be9tsoil, mode of cultivation, Ac., for the peanut, 
and oblige a subscriber to the Rural?— C. S. C., 
Hyattsville, Ohio, 1857. 
Remarks. —The best soil is a loam — one not 
very heavy, nor yet what would be termed light— 
and of medium fertility. If the soil he too rich 
the tendency of the plant is to the production of 
vine at the expense of the fruit YVhat is com¬ 
monly called fair corn land will produce a good 
crop.—E ds. 
YVinterino Bees.—A short time since I read an 
article in the Rural, on feeding Bees, by E. W. 
Phelps, N. J. I would like to inquire of him 
through your columns bis mode of treatment lu 
wintering a stock of bees. Take as much pains as 
I will, I lone from thirty to fifty dollars worth of 
Wees each winter. Good healthy swarms die, leav¬ 
ing from 26 lbs. to 76 lbs. of honey in each hive.— 
If E. YY. Phelps, or any other person, will offer 
some practical suggestions they will be highly ac¬ 
ceptable.—A Constant Reader, Lee, Mass. 
