lijdmstrial topics. 
Homo, but I have made this gossip im- 
mensely long, and perhaps you will tliink it a 
bore. 
RURAL NOTES FROM EUROPE. HAVE WE BAD LAND AMONG US? 
[Toe Itev. Dr. 8. S. Uirrrmo, Into of the Uni¬ 
versity of Rochester, now traveling In Europe, 
writes tho Editor of thin Journal un interesting 
letter, from which wo segregate the following 
notes and suggestions pertaining to ltural Af¬ 
fairs:] 
Thhkf, h nothing more constantly sug¬ 
gested in foreign travels than topics suited 
to the pages of a journal swell as your Rural 
New-Yorker. Whatever may he one’s in¬ 
terest in the past, or in art or literature, the 
living present is always addressing itself to 
one’s thoughts and compelling the kind of 
attention which makes vivid and profound 
impressions. I could not travel through 
England, even in the unfavorable weather of 
November and March, without noting its 
agriculture and comparing it with that of 
my own country, — nor without observing 
here what goes to make up life, its comforts 
and conveniences, its embarras: inents and 
drags, compared to like features among our¬ 
selves. Even Switzerland, buried under 
Wic took tills country “for better or for 
worse,” and have no business to “go back” 
on Divine Providence, the British, the Indi¬ 
ans, or any other of our voluntary or invol¬ 
untary grantors. We ought, perhaps, to 
forgive the Russian*; for there is ground to 
suspect the Creator would not take the 
trouble to make land that was entirely worth¬ 
less, inside and out. But if anybody sets up 
that we have not, a ?v>ry large o mount. of wry 
poor land, considered agriculturally, I shall 
he forced to dispute him with considerable 
emphasis. 
In Moore's Rural New-Yorker, I brief¬ 
ly and incidentally alluded to some of these 
lands, as follows:—“Of all our vast public 
domain, not one acre in three hundred is 
worth one dime for farming purposes. Ex 
eepting a few fertile valleys on the Pacific 
slope, which generally have to be irrigated 
in order to produce crops, there is no laud 
fit to farm on west of a line drawn through 
Nevada, Idaho and Arizona.” And yet 
“Old Settler” certifies to the superior ca¬ 
pacity of this region for agriculture! 
During my recent journey over the Rocky 
Mountain*; I took great pains to converse 
with numerous residents of Colorado and 
contiguous States and Territories, and that I 
formed correct opinions will be evident from 
t he following test imonyMr. Bliss, writing 
in the interest of Colorado, in Patent Office 
Report, 1861, page 155,confesses that “not, 
an inch of rain falls there for nine months,” 
and that “her people must strive to over¬ 
come tills deficiency by artificial appliances.” 
“ Mineral Resources of the United States," 
page 89, speaks of “ Nevada in common 
it does seem to me that an intelligent and 
progressive farmer should obtain and test all 
the improved grains and animals that ex¬ 
hibit a fair promise, of suiting themselves to 
his wants aud peculiarities. If he is not 
well advised us to their value, or lias much 
doubts on the subject, a few dollars, or a few 
cents, perhaps, would be all that is advisable 
to invest, lie may thus avail himself of the 
benefits of years of patient toil and watch¬ 
ing of some one else, for a mere trifle. 
Beside, how few farmers have the neces¬ 
sary facilities, skill, energy or tact to conduct 
intelligent experiments for a term of years to 
improve a variety of grain or a breed of ani¬ 
mals ! And who of us that have the eom- 
witli the great American basin or desert of mon hogs, cattle, and sheep of the country 
which it forms a part,and on page 90 do- would make it, profitable to commence to 
scribes this vast “desert" thus:—“Most of breed them up to the standard of perfection 
these mountain streams, being small, sink exhibited by modern Berkshires, Short- 
out of sight, being absorbed by the dry and horns, or Merinos rather than expend the 
porous earth as soon as they reach the mar- necessary amount, for imported animals to 
composition in spring and in fall. Ho ob¬ 
tained the best results when he applied die 
winter manures in the latter part of May or 
first of June. lie commenced hauling the 
manure immediately alter the spring's work 
was completed, and when the grass on the 
meadows was from four to six inches high. 
The residt was altogether better than any 
application he had ever made in the fall with 
"‘ell rotted manures. The effects were ob¬ 
servable in largely increased crops extending 
over four years. He had often tried the ex¬ 
periment, and always with the same good 
results. He hauls out and deposits it in 
small piles and then carefully spreads. The 
weat her is usually moist at that season. .Mr. 
K.'s soil is the Utica slate. 
In proof that imferniented manures could 
be used in spring with good result* upon 
grass lands, the practice of .Mr. Lewis was 
referred to. Mr. Lewis uses saw dust, to 
absorb the liquid manure of life stock. This 
snow, as. much of it was, could not hide itself Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Minnesota, 
from a natural and earnest scrutiny, nor fail 
to reward the comparisons which, at every 
step, it invited and compelled. 1 have 
learned a great, deal in this way, whether I 
would or no, and if the result is to make me 
appreciate more highly my own country, its 
(for Minnesota, read Dacota.) This line will 
leave at least one-third of those Slates ‘out 
in the cold,' or, more definitely, out in the 
dry, for drouth conies in to spoil what sterile 
fy has spared.” 
This i controverted by a Colorado corre- 
,H A'”* of *1>" valley, leaving the latter without begin with, and thus at a single bound leap is mingled with the solid excrement, and as 
K any general stream flowing aboveground over ground that it has (akun several genera- fast as it accumulates in winter, it is hauled 
10 through its midst. In cases where there is tions of breeders to span, to gay nothing of directly upon the meadow. In the spring, 
“ a miflieient accumulation of water to cause the risks of failure for the lack of the skill of after it is well thawed out, the manures are 
' a stream to run above ground through the a Collins, a Bakkwell, an Atwood, or a carefully spread or brushed down fine. The 
' valley, there is usually a strip of arable or Hammond? results are of a most marked character, the 
'• meadow land along the margin, the quantity It seems to me clearly evident that what yield of hay being on an average from’three 
generally being proportioned to the magni- is good advice in regard to grains and trees, to four tons to the acre, 
tude ot the stream. This strip of good land would be good advice in regard to animals, The question here arose as to whether the 
is often but a few rods wide, again spreading and that the above quotation does not look difference, in the effect which hail been ob- 
actuul condition and its possibilities, it Las spondent, in the Rural of March 13th, who 
been likewise to impress me with the im- begins by saying, “ The truth is, in Colorado 
portance of many suggestions which these alone there are - 1 , 000,000 acres of farming 
observations have awakened. lands, according to report of Surveyor-Gen 
Draiuluir—Scientific Fannin*. eraI J,m>1 Fierce.” 1 may here mention 
For example, your own columns, and wl.ut, thc i a ^ls wdlich are suitable lor crops 
I have noticed in Western New York, had ftnd fffneml cultivation, are called fanning, 
long ago impressed me with the economic "^'"'oltural or ciillivalahle lands, in distinc- 
value of draining, and vet 1 could not but feel t,0I \ ,Vmn ihim lhal or wiI1 unl V 
this value still more deeply as I surveyed the I,rotlucc «”“* » ,rof, ' abl - v - 11 occurs to mc to 
farms of England. It is the first ffsson of “ K,mr<; 1 h ? what instrument was Surveyor- 
tl.eir surpassing beauty and fruitfulness. . TCn,T!il Jo,,N l P ! ,,KCR <! “ ablod t0 n,n ,h( ’ 
England learned it by the slow experience of m6 80 n0a, l m,0, ; v ,M! ' T' n U, ° and <jram 
centuries. We are taught by her ripened l! ‘ ,u,s of Colorado ? 1 have not his report, 
experience, and if our farms‘are ever run but 1 fiiu1 on 327 Resources 
out, to be reclaimed by tedious processes, the of ,ho I7niUj<1 S P ecial Colimii «- 
shame to ns will be great, indeed. To bring ***** J ’ Uos8 liuowMC aud ’>f 8 - W - Tay ’ 
together the fruits of such experience is your 10l, .tbe.se words:—" 1 ho area ol Colorado is 
good labor, and I he improvement of our 07 ’ 723 - 520 acres, and the most sanguine view 
farms will, 1 trust, be your reward. I think, of 1,8 future ^culture is com,wised in a 
too, that these English farms are the virnli- B,ttlemeut ,J - V Surveyor-General Pierce, in 
cation of scientific farming, iisim- that term t8C6 ' t,ult ‘ thepc aro about 4 - 000 - 000 lu ' resot ' 
in its t-ruo sense,—the farmitm which pro- a ^ lc ' Utural laud **«*&&* of irrigation , 
coeds on the principles whirl/science has wh "' U wil1 ‘farms.’ ” 
gathered up from experience, aud which ex 11 lhat is ' vhil1 ' 8llI ' V0 Y nr p,,fiH(,K "’I'.V 
perience again confirms. While, however "'" 8 l,n !l,Muond to niy statement ? 
I speak in praise of English farming, do not T ’ ,v ol ’j ,rHon wn * ApocfflcnHy Hurt they were 
think that. I am in danger of praisim- it, be- to ° “ dr d'' : "" 1 . v<, ‘- ,Vom O'o “ 
cause it is foreign, or because it seems to me » uil,e rii « f Mr - 1>,K,!( K l,i,ns,,|r U,! " «•<* 
without defects. Some of our own voung m l ,,ire “ irrigation!' in order to "make pro- 
farms vie will, tl.ose of older England, and duc,iv * , ' iU ' m *” 1 knew « 8 W( ’ 11 ,J »” 
here, as in America, there am specimens of 0011,(1 1< ‘" ni ° tbat lar /? e P roduc '« went ob- 
farming which am a reproach to any people. on * omo S P U,S 1,1 ( "olorado and adja 
' cent, countries by irrigation, for 1 had seen 
I 1 <ii-h< m-F.ii&IimIi nm! From-li. ,, , . , , ,. , ,, 
these products. I knew also that but a small 
If 1 had access to your columns I should fraction of these lands were susceptible of 
discourse a little about horses. 1 have a irrigation, and most of these / would not. ta/ce 
constitutional weakness foi lini c flesh,.•illicit, a, {/(ft, when 1 can buy good lands near 
I do not eat. the article, for carriage horses Lower Missouri and the Mississippi from 
gi\c me English. I here is a grace in their , wo p. n dollars per acre that require no 
nobility, and a nobility in their grace, which outlay for irrigation. That is the whole of 
it, is hard to equal. For ponies commend me „ G rant that “ 50,000 acres were under cul 
to Italy. At, Florence I saw the sprighlliost, i.ivaUon in Colorado in 180(1, which yielded 
the most beautiful, the most serviceable 
which 1 have ever seen. But, for work¬ 
horses give me French. These large, shaggy- 
legged English horses, as stout, as they are 
ponderous,cultivate! no esthetics in the soul; 
they are an unnecessary deformity. Look 
at the omnibus horses of Baris, and the 
great, strong fellows who earl the stones 
with which Baron I Iaissmax js building 
up the now city. You have seen Rosa 
Bonheuk’s picture of the Horse Fair, and 
remember the great, gray in the foreground; 
he is the perfect copy of a hundred grays 
that you may meet in any ten minutes in 
Paris. How perfectly they are kept,- how 
nobly they do their duly ! Above and below, 
the omnibus may be crowded, but it bouts 
nothing to them. With gait as uniform as 
their color, with gait just, fitted to their 
work, they press into the collar, and the 
whole process seems but play to them. Pray 
suggest a few such lmrses lbr Broadway, 
New York, and East Avenue, Rochester. 
Foii'iiiu A SuKRCSiion. 
One other topic, which interested me much 
while in France was fencing,— if it is not 
absurd to speak of w hat in some parts does 
not exist. On the route from Basle to Paris 
we traveled large distances without, seeing 
a fence. I remember to have heard it said 
of very good farms in Massachusetts, that 
they would not sell for enough to replace the 
stone walls,-—and everywhere we are spend¬ 
ing fortunes on fences. Why the need of 
this? Why not diminish the amount, of 
fencing, even if we cannot, dispense w ith it 
altogether? 1 am in earnest about this, and, 
if 1 had power according to my will, I would 
compel my neighbors to lake care of their 
cows, setting them a good example myself, 
and try the experiment, of turning the cost 
of fences into drains and manure. 
I did mean to allude to the gray oxen of 
over 1,500,000 bushels of grain,” One town¬ 
ship of eight miles square in Eastern Ne¬ 
braska would yield that, amount of grain in a, 
good season, Irrigated lands are sometimes 
vastly productive, but their value depends 
upon the cost, of irrigation, and on 1 lmt point 
the Rural’s correspondent, is entirely silent.; 
indeed, lie takes no pains to mention that 
they reip/.m irrigation- at. all! In exceptional 
seasons fair crops are. obtained in some parts 
of this territory without irrigation, but pru¬ 
dent. farmers do not think best, to run (lie 
risk of failure by omitting it. Of course 
there is a small fraction of land that is easily 
irrigated, and that is the land first cultivated. 
Coder flu premire of extreme hnjk prim», it is 
not remarkable t hat a small area in Colorado, 
”50,000 acne" out of sixty ecreti iniltionn , was 
trail red ami planted, ami produced good 
crops. A large mining population had *o 
be fed,and they could better irrigate at, great 
expense than to draw their corn overland 
from Missouri. Occasionally the water from 
the mountains percolates through the. soil, 
making it. fruitful by natural irrigation, but 
this is a very email exception to a very la rye 
rule. 
The country is “dry,” as I stated, and 
neither the Rural’s correspondent nor fxur 
veyor-General Pierce can toll how wide an 
area of this thirsty soil the mountain streams 
can moisten. But, a fraction of the whole 
can ever be tilled, and the cost of irrigation 
will consume! the profit on much of this, ( 
after railroads have opened the country to 
competition. That farming is expensive 
t hrough all this region may be inferred from 
the statement on page 198“ Mineral Resources 
of the United States.” “The cost of the 
necessaries of life generally for laboring men 
is three times as great in the mining coun¬ 
ties of California as in the interior counties 
of New York, and from four to six times m 
out to a mile or more in extent, while in 
many places, as where the hanks of Iho 
stream are high, it, disappears altogether, 
Other valleys are destitute of even the small¬ 
est amount of good land.” Ami again, 
“ The more extended plains are, in fact, for* 
the most part, nothing but, absolute deserts." 
This is said in the report of J. Ross 
Browne and J, W. Taylor, whose special 
burimm it was to explore this country and 
report its resources, and who have qualified 
themselves by a most thorough examination. 
They continue (page. 194) to speak of the 
vast. Pacific slope, with an area, of 900,000 
square miles, as follows:—“ The interior ba- 
siiuis divided, up intoa number of independ¬ 
ent minor basins, all of which are high, arid, 
and, in their natural condition, desolate; al¬ 
though there are a few valleys which, by the 
hand of man, have been irrigated and culti¬ 
vated. Along the, count considerable quanti 
ties of rain fall; the surface of the earth is 
in the lowlands covered by a deep mould,” 
&e. “ Nevada and Utah are high, dry, arid 
and desolate.” Page 197 affirms:—“There 
is much resemblance between the climates 
of Idaho and Nevada. The summers are 
very worm, the winters are cold, and 1h a foil 
of rain scanty, but the rain fall is greater in 
Idaho than Nevada.” 
Secretary McCulloch submitted these 
statements, made on the highest authority, 
as late as January 8, 18(57. Will interested 
parties call this “trash” and “ ignorance of 
the West?” Mr. Albert D. Richardson, 
the well known tourist and Tribune corres¬ 
pondent, in his “Beyond the Mississippi,” 
page 511, says:—“ Idaho, one of our very 
best, mineral states, has little land attractive 
to the farmer. With irrigation the narrow 
valleys of the Boise, t he Snake, and their few 
tributaries produce good vegetables and 
small grains." 
McNally a high geographical authority 
speaking of New Mexico says: “ The dryness 
of the climate renders a great, part of the 
soil unproductive. Colorado is generally 
mountainous. The climate is very dry owing 
to the elevation of the surface.” 
Department of Agriculture’s Report, 18G2, 
]i. 595, speaking of “the extent of farming 
lands” in an area of a “ million square miles,'" 
including Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, 
Dakota, and parks of Oregon and California, 
says: “Between the small amount of level 
country, its elevation, and the and. not a re of 
the climate, adequate farming lands cannot be 
found to sustain those engaged in mining. 
Its valleys are, few, narrow, but fertile, de¬ 
manding irrigation.” 
I spoke of Ibis country as not fit to farm 
on owing to drouth and sterility; if any thing 
is plainer to well informed people 1 don’t 
know what, it. is. A pittance of the whole 
can be irrigated, but. is it best for our citizens 
to roam over desolate desert, regions to find 
land that can’t be used till that expense is 
incurred, and then find t wo grasshoppers to 
one stalk of wheat ? 1 think not. I will con¬ 
tinue this in a future number.— u. t. b. 
-♦♦♦- 
IMPROVING GRAINS, TREES, ETC. 
“ Non are we prepared to advise our readers 
to pay enormous prices for any kind of grain, 
tree or plant. He I ter, its it rule. Spend the name 
amount of money in improving waat you tm ve.” 
The above quotation may be found in the 
Rural of February 20, in reply to inquiries 
about, Norway Oats. It did not suit me when 
I read it, believing, as I do, that it pays, and 
pays largely to have the best, of all kinds of 
grains, trees, plants and animals, notwith¬ 
standing the price at first may seem large 
or enormous. 
1 should not, of course, advise a farmer to 
buy largely of anything where he had 
doubts of its value, or in aity case to spend 
large sums of money for an article that has 
not been tested in his climate and soil. But 
progressive or liberal. T am decidedly in served in the application of fresh manures in 
favor ot being liberal toward men that spend spring upon meadow lands was not partly 
their lives to improve our grains, trees, due to Lfie manures being evenly spread and 
plants, or animals, as I consider they are in condition to be readily pulverized or 
conferring a lasting benefit on their own and finely divided up and distributed, ho as to 
future generations. Berkshire. reach the roots of plants; and whether in 
itiflge Furm, Ill., isea. the application of well rotted manures 
----- something of their good effects might not be 
APPLYING MANURES. (lnc to this principle rather than be attrib¬ 
uted wholly to a progressed state of decom- 
Ton DresHitic Grass Lands in Spi iiiK. position. 
At a recent discussion by Herkimer county In the case of Mr. Lewis the mixture of 
Dairymen m regard to (he economy of ap- the sawdust renders the solid excrements 
plying fresh manures ns a top dressing to more ea y of pulverization. Much, doubt- 
meadow lands m spring, some facts were less, was gained by a more complete savin- 
brought out showing the very best, results of - the ij qili d manure. But when manures 
coming from such application. A large inn- !ire carelessly spread and allowed to remain 
jonty of those present, were in favor of top in i urg0 jumps over the surface much of the 
dressing meadows in fall, or immediately benefits to result from its application it is 
alter haying, with manures well rolled. evident, must be lost. 
The usual practice with Herkimer county The question of using winter manures in 
tanners is to bed stock during winter in the Hprinff upon , r;iS3 hinds was not fully settled 
stanchion at die barn, a lowing no straw or to the „ lilul , of farmers 1>rcscnt) ,hough the 
other material tor bedding. The manures i.„Ur of ir.=iimnn„ *.i.„ i,„ Y. „ 
then consist, for the most part of Hie solid 
and liquid excrement, of the cattle partially 
mingled together. These arc sometimes 
hauled out as fast, as made in winter and 
dumped in small piles upon meadows where 
they are to be used and spread in spring. 
Others throw the manure into piles at. the 
barn and then haul out in spring or allow it 
to remain in an exposed condition until fall, 
when it is applied. A third class place the 
w inter manure under cover, either in cellars 
below the cattle, skills, or in piles under cover 
near the barn, w here it remains during sum¬ 
mer, and is used as a top dressing in the fall. 
The question sought to be determined was 
whether this winter manure could be ap¬ 
plied in spring on grass lands to the best, ad¬ 
vantage, or whether bettor results would not 
be obtained by allowing it to decompose and 
rot, applying it. in fall. 
Hon. William J. Skinner said if the 
question was whether it, was most economical 
to apply these winter manures in spring or 
to allow them to remain in an exposed 
condition at the sides of the barn during 
summer and then apply in the fall, it would 
be much better to spread at once upon the 
ground in winter or early spring. When the 
in ami re could be placed under cover and 
property cared for lie found the best, results 
to be obtained by allowing it to rot during 
summer and then apply in llio fall. 
Mr. Whitman hud received but. little 
benefit from unrolled manure used ou 
meadows in spring, lie believed manures 
ill that state were not in condition to be 
used by the roots of grasses—manures he 
thought possessed hut slight if any fertilizing 
properties until they had decomposed and 
by which they were fitted to be taken up 
and appropriated by plants. 
Mr. Shell was also opposed to using 
bulk of testimony seemed to be in favor of 
storing manures under cover, and applying 
in fall. 
Sun 
pi an an. 
REARING YOUNG QUEENS. 
As in swarming, so in rearing queens. 
Certain principles must be borne in mind in 
order to succeed, but when these are well 
understood, thoughtful persons can vary the, 
operations as they please, if they do not go 
contrary to these principles: 
1st. The queen-rearing hive must be 
always well stocked with young bees, since 
these are the ones that build queen-cells or 
work wax in any way. 
2d. As these young bees do not gather 
honey or water, the little hive should always 
be supplied with necessaries. 
3d. No eggs from any queen but. a pure 
one should be allowed in the small hive until 
nHer the queen-cells are sealed over. Bees 
can and do move eggs from one, cell to 
another. 
4lh. Never give an unimpregnated queen, 
or one that is not laying, to a new colony, 
riiie will surely be killed. \ 
5th. \\ hen you leave a young queen in a 
small hive until she commences to lay, about 
the time she hatches give that, hive a comb 
with ft little brood in it. Many complain 
that, when the queens leave those small hives 
to meet the drones, thebe.es all go with them 
and do not return. If a little brood be given 
them, it will be, found a sure preventive of 
this loss, as bees never desert combs contain¬ 
ing brood.— E. S. T., in Bee Journal. 
•—-- 
Rye Meal r.,r Bee*.—Mrs. E. S.TcppeB. inRu- 
fresh manures upon grass lands. Much of rat World says: “In localities whore willow. 
their value, he said, was lost by evaporation, 
and as they were not easily broken up and 
pulverized in spreading, the land was strewed 
with lumps, which soon became bard under 
the action of the sun, clogging up the mow¬ 
ing machine at haying, and being collected 
with Hie. rake in the hay. The benefits 
from fresh manures had been quite unsatis¬ 
factory. 
Air, Burt said the benefits rcsiiUm- from 
an application of fresh manure in spring upon 
meadow lands depended very much upon 
the season. If the application was made 
early, before grass started, and the season 
following be moist, excellent results wore, 
obtained; but if the season was dry, the 
benefits were not so apparent, while Ihe hard, 
dry lumps complained of by Mr. Shull 
would be more frequent if the spreading was 
carelessly done. 
Mr. Emets bad had large experience in 
applying manures at different stages of de- 
liazel, elm and soft maple abound, liens Unit nnt 
oral pollen almost as soon asttiovcun tty in Iho 
sprinR. In oilier places It is of great advantage 
to place rye meal in.shallow vessels near the bees 
every pleasant day, as a substitute lbr pollen. 
They gather it eagerly, and rear brood much 
earlier for having it. If no stream or brook is 
near your bees, provide them with water in some 
way : they need it specially in spring, and many 
arc lost if they go far to obtain it." 
-♦-*-*- 
Unlntp f<»r Rees. ,\ corn spondent of the Roe 
Journal plants catnip along the fences and in 
mil of the way places where weeds ordinarily 
grow, for forage for bees. He says the bees 
work on it in all kind* of weather. A slight 
frost does not kill ii as it does ol her flowering 
plants, and ii is in bloom from the time il first 
makes Its appearance until killed by the frost in 
the fall. 
■-- 
A Book on Hoc Keeping. — A subscriber in 
Cattaraugus Co., N. V., asks us to name a work- 
on hoc-keeping “that is thorough and roatly 
good, and not written for an advertisement of, 
or based upon, the supposition of the use of 
any particular hive.” Wo do not know any 
such work. 
