unlir greps. 
MORE ABOUT BIG CORN CROPS. 
Alvah Beeman of Crawford Co. Pa., 
made a statement in the Rural New-York¬ 
er that he raised last year 179 bushels of 
ears of corn ou an acre of underdrained land, 
by plowing deep, and said if any of the shal¬ 
low plowcrs would beat it. he would quietly 
try again. As ft banter had been offered, I 
informed him through the Rural that I had 
more shelled corn to the acre last year with¬ 
out plowing, than lie reported ears with deep 
plowing. Instead of quietly “ trying again,” 
as lie promised, lie informs the readers of the 
Rural that my communication was long, 
and the minds of the readers of the Rural 
in his vicinity , discredit my statement and 
propositions. He says, in the number of 
May 6, he has been looking over the Agri¬ 
cultural Reports, carefully , from 1845 to 1869 
inclusive, (twenty-four years,) and lluds only 
125 bushels of shelled corn reported, and ar¬ 
rives at the conclusion that more has not 
been grown, and therefore challenges my 
veracity. If the readers of the Rural will 
turn to page 278 of Agricultural Report for 
1850 ami 1851, they may find 150, to 175 
bushels reported; and to page 269 of same 
Report, they will find Lhe premium crop on 
ten acres, awarded at the Lexington fair, 
Kentucky, was 185 bushels per acre—more 
than double A. B.’s premium crop. This 
account comes as well authenticated as that 
of Ills 179 bushels of ears. If they will ex¬ 
amine a later Report, containing the crops 
grown in 1850, they may find a premium 
was offered for the best ten acres to begroion, 
and that several farmers competed for the 
premium—that one man raised 189 bushels 
to the acre, (1,890 bushels on ten acres,) and 
that uian measured the coru of the one who 
had ten quarts to the acre more, and to whom 
the premium was awarded. I have quoted 
enough, I apprehend, from Agricultural Re¬ 
ports to prove that 179 bushels and upwards 
have been raised ou an acre, and that A. B. 
did not carefully examine said reports, or lie 
might have known better what large corn is, 
and reported more correctly. 
I will now repeat I had more corn to the 
acre last year than A. B. reported ears, and 
I have seen published statements of corn 
,rop (shelled corn) in New Jersey (not in 
Salem Co.,) exceeding his crop of ears by 
fifty bushels to the acre. His garbled quota¬ 
tions from my propositions, in order to inval¬ 
idate them, amount to nothing, for he does 
not attempt a refutation. A mere matter of 
opinion canuot overturn them, nor the laws 
of Nature, which govern the vegetable king¬ 
dom ; neither can it invalidate the fact that 
public cisterns were dug in level sod grouud 
in the city of Salem, in 1870, eight feet deep, 
aud that all was dry atui dusty to that depth; 
and I will now add moisture was not reached , 
as witnessed and can he attested to by many 
citizens, if necessary. 1 will add, too, that 
within one mile of the cisterns, where the 
weather was equally dry, more than one 
hundred bushels of shelled corn were raised 
to an acre, on land not tilled nor manured, 
and with less than three inches plowing,— 
more than A. B.’s premium crop. 
He says “ various Rural readers have 
been measuring the depth at which his pre¬ 
mium corn roots ran,” as if the outside world 
had never seen such corn ! It would he no 
difficult matter to find instances, where, in a 
dry lime in underdntined land the roots of 
corn had entered and choked the tile, but 
but this is no evidenceof the natural ten¬ 
dency of the roots. AY hen a Committee of 
the American Institute Farmers’ Club visit¬ 
ed Salem they reported the main body of Lhe 
corn roots within three inches of llie sur¬ 
face; and subsequently when a Committee 
was u>',sod for to investigate the matter, the 
point was conceded and no Committee was 
appointed. 
Since this subject lias taken such a wide 
range, T will add 1 know more than 200 bush¬ 
els of shelled corn have been—and can be 
again —grown to the acre; and when fa¬ 
vored wiili an ordiuttry fair season u state¬ 
ment will be made at a suitable time, prop¬ 
erly attested (as It seems to be necessary for 
the doubting Thomases,) or to verily the 
assertion, with very shallow cnlilvution,too. 
Salem, N. J.. 5 Mo. 4 . 1871 . David Petit. 
■ 
CORN IN DRILLS AUD IN HILLS. 
At the Michigan Agricultural College, in 
1868, two plots of laud were set apart, sub¬ 
stantially equal in character of soil, each 
measuring forty-eight rods in length by two 
iu width. The ground was plowed May 5th, 
and manure was spread evenly and worked 
in by cultivator and harrow. Yellow Dent 
corn was planted May 21st, in rows four feet 
apart; one of j he plots being planted in hills, 
the other in drills. The plots werecullivnled 
and hoed Jane 15lh, and again July 7th, the 
plants being thinned so as to leave the same 
number of stalks on each plot, including an 
equal distribution of plants throughout Hie 
subdivision of the idols, As nearly us possi¬ 
ble, each of the two plots received the same 
amount of labor in cultivation. The stalks 
were cut at the bottom September 17th, and 
stooked in good order. Three weeks after¬ 
ward Hie corn was husked and weighed. 
The stalks were then agaiu carefully stooked, 
and were hauled aud weighed, in good con¬ 
dition, October 12th. The corn on the por¬ 
tion planted in hills was rather better iu 
quality than on that planted iu drills. But 
the drilled portion produced 74 1-16 bushels 
of shelled corn and three tons of stalks to the 
acre, against. 65^ bushels of corn und two 
aud two-thirds tons of stalks per acre produc¬ 
ed by the portion iu hills.— Ag'l liejiort. 
Tun results of the experiment referred to 
above accord with our own practice and the 
suggestion made 111 the Rural New-York- 
KR, October 8,1870. The old hill system of 
cultivating corn will be abandoned when our 
farmers experiment sufficient to determine 
the best mode. 
--♦ ♦ » 
FIELD NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Winter It ye lor JSpiliiR Forage, 
1 am going to tell you about my experi¬ 
ence as a village farmer on a small scale, for 
the benefit of your readers. I sowed rye 
very thick, hist fall, on the back end of my 
garden, which was very richly manured. 
The last day of April 1 began to cut with a 
scythe and feed to my cow, when it was 
two and a-halt'to three feel high. The cow 
is thriving upon the feed and steadily gain¬ 
ing it) her milk. 1 regard litis as decidedly 
the best way to get early green forage for 
feeding, and excellent food to produce milk. 
One-quarter of an acre will furnish ample 
food for a cow till summer, or it will pro¬ 
duce a second crop. I would strongly 
recommend this plan to he adopted by all 
families owning one cow, as the cheapest 
and most certain way of producing an early 
and abundant crop of sweet, green and nu¬ 
tritious fodder, of which cattle are very fond. 
—J. J. Griffiths, Towanda , Pa. 
Clover Seed In Niagurn Co., N. Y. 
Having given you, in Rural New- 
Yorker, page 29, current volume, a view of 
the " other side” of the “picture” of” Farm 
Life,” allow me to give, in contrast , the re¬ 
sult of forty acres of clover seed, harvested 
by me in September last, fourteen acres of 
which I purchased of a neighbor: 
1870. „ DB. 
Bent.—To 14 ueies purebnsod. lit C6. <0 
-To 7 days’reaplnir tout Rathertna. S3 
" —To UauIniK iu 40 ud'ea. id 75c. 30 
1871 
Jiuiy.—To threshing SLichltio, 6 days.,. 100 
—To threshing extra, 4 men and 3 teams. 50 
•* —To cleaning and markt-iing... 0 
Feby.—Bv 5 bushels prtrae seed, at $6. 30 
Maroh.—by 106 bushels prime seed, at *6.50........ 689 
—By4 bushels prime seed on hand, at *7... 28 
“ —By 6 bushels tattings on hand, at *4. 24 
'• By 24 tons straw, at *5... 120 
*891 
Netproflt...$602 
“liow is this for high?” Can anyone 
beat it tor the number of acres?—J. S.W., 
Suspension Bridge, X. T., 1871. 
Winter Onts in Illinois. 
I have a piece of winter oats, one and a- 
half acres, sown last August, that com¬ 
menced to head April 38(1. Some of the 
stalks to-day (May 15th) measured one and 
one-half inches in circumference, three feet 
and eight inches in bight, aud still growing, 
with blades one and three-eighths inches-in 
width. Many of the heads measure fifteen 
to sixteen inches in length, and are not yet 
fully developed. One stool counted one 
hundred and ten stalks, many of them hav¬ 
ing fifty and sixty. It is grown on ordinary 
compact, clay soil, rather wet, Without fer¬ 
tilizers of any kind, nor lias the land been 
manured during thirty years’ cultivation— 
only by pasturing or laying out to the com¬ 
mons, The extreme cold weather this win¬ 
ter—thermometer 13° below zero—did not 
injure it iti the least. Spring oats, sown 
March 22d on adjoining land, is about four 
inches high, and suffering much from the 
drouth. I am using this winter oats for 
early feed.—A. D., Da Quoin, IU. 
Corn lu Ki-titncky. 
I wish to give the readers of your excel¬ 
lent. paper a little of my experience in corn 
raising. It is said all seeds run out in a few 
years. My experience is quite different. In 
1843 I began to open a farm in Daviess Co., 
Ky. Cleared a few acres and planted it in 
corn—a white corn, called the ” River Corn.” 
I have planted the same coru ever since; 
have never found a red ear nor a blue grain. 
1 always gather corn when thoroughly ripe 
and dry; pick my seed com through the 
winter when feeding. Have made an aver¬ 
age of sixty bushels to the acre; have al¬ 
ways planted four feet each way, three grains 
in the hill; never replanted a field nor thin¬ 
ned one.—A Subscriber, Owensboro, Ky. 
To Keep Weeds out of Meadow*. 
A correspondent at Pulaski, Tennessee, 
writes: — “I wish to learn how to keep 
weeds out of meadows. I seeded a meadow 
two years ago, sowing lhe seed very thickly, 
In order to keep down lhe weeds; hut I find 
the various kinds of weeds—dock, hog-weed 
(:ts wc call it,) and white clovov-are yearly 
increasing.”—White clover is not, necessa¬ 
rily, an injury to a meadow; the dock and 
“ hog-weed,” if not too plenty, may be erad¬ 
icated by defoliation, if thoroughly persisted 
in; but if very weedy, we should turn such 
a piece of land into pasture, or summer-fal¬ 
low it thoroughly and reseed it. 
Pasturing Winter Wheat with Sheep. 
Last fall the early 60 wn wheat in many 
portions of the country grew very rank, aud 
there was considerable of it fed down in the 
fall by sheep and other stock. I shoifld like 
those who had such experience in feeding It 
to give, through the Rural New-Yorker, 
a statement of the apparent effect upon the 
crop. Did it injure it? Would you feed so 
again—and with what kind of stock ?—An 
Ohioan. _ 
Will Potatoes 1)1 fx in the IT 111 ? 
A very remarkable instance of the union 
of two distinct vorielies of the sweet potato 
(Nansemond and Large Red) occurred last 
year in my potato patch, A single vine had 
two or three of t he huge round red tubers and 
one long,slim, yellow. The two kinds were 
planted side by side, but no others were 
mixed, and we have heard of none among 
our neighbors who have both sorts.—D. B. 
Higgins. __ 
Ilow to Get ltid of Artichohes. 
A Subscriber at Clyde, N. Y., asks us 
how he ean kill lhe wild artichokes in his 
garden ; says it is impossible to keep them 
out. If we were so troubled we should buy 
two or three hogs, with whole noses, and 
compel them to root for a living or die. If 
fed nothing else, they will quickly clean out 
the artichokes._ 
Hop* in New York 8tate. 
The Cooperstown, N. Y., Journal says: 
“ Old yards do not look as well as usual this 
spring, and many of the new ones are rather 
backward. The number of acres under cul¬ 
tivation in the great hop district of New 
York may be safely reckoned at one-eighth 
less than last year.” 
itmiirmn Orparfnuut 
CANADIAN FLOUR PRODUCTION- 
In the Report of the Hon. Edward Young, 
Chief of Bureau of Statistics at Washing¬ 
ton, is a statement of imports of principal 
articles of foreign and colonial merchandise 
into Great Btiuin during the year ended De¬ 
cember 31, 1870. In this list of imports 
British North America is credited with hav¬ 
ing supplied 2,876,530 cwts. of flour. That 
this amount of flour was received by Great 
Britain and justly credited to British North 
America, there can be liLtle doubt; but the 
inference drawn from such a statement, with¬ 
out due explanations, would lead to very er¬ 
roneous results, 
It is readily understood by such a state¬ 
ment that British North America 1ms a sur¬ 
plus of flour above its actual wants or con¬ 
sumptive necessity, and that it was really a 
source of supply of breadstuff's for the Moth¬ 
er country. This, however, is a mistake, 
which is very apparent in taking into account 
the exports aud imports of wheat aud flour 
of the Dominion of Canada. The Dominion 
imported 88,450 barrels of flour more than it 
exported of wheat aud flour iu 1870. In¬ 
stead of being a source of supply, we are 
depending on the United States fora supply 
to make up any deficit. 
Imports of wheat for the Domin¬ 
ion for I #70 . 4 , 877,028 bush. 
Imports ot Hour for the Dominion 
tor 1S70 . 300,522 Uhls. 
Exports of wheat for the Domin¬ 
ion for 1870 . 3 . 557,101 bush. 
UxporH ot hour for the Dominion 
f«.r 1870 . 382.177 bbls. 
Dividing the wheat by 5, will reduce it to 
flour estimate and make the balance as above 
iu favor of import. A few words by way of 
explanation may make apparent that which 
appears incredible to Canadians as well as 
Americans. 
The Province of Ontario (or Canada West) 
being tbe only one of Lite British North 
American Provinces which has heretofore 
had a surplus of wheat, and the only one 
now, it will he understood that all of the 
Eastern Provinces look here for a supply 
when commercial intercourse offer's sufficient 
inducement, and the quality and price are 
favorable to meet the demand of the Eastern 
consumers. Previous to Confederation the 
estimated consumptive demand of the Mari¬ 
time Provinces was laid at 900,000 bbls. of 
flour, aud w hen Ontario does or cannot sup¬ 
ply this estimate, there will be a dofiqjency. 
Tito fact of New Brunswick ami Nova Sco¬ 
tia making a part of the Confederacy does 
not change the status for lhe demand for 
flour. Assuming that. Newfoundland con¬ 
sumes of flour 125,000 hi-Is.; Prince Ed¬ 
ward's Island, do,, 80,000 bbls.; import 
over export of the Dominion, 88,450 bbls. 
—total, 293,450 bbls. 
This product will give tbe deficit of bar¬ 
rels of flour instead of a surplus. This 
amount, although large, is small in com¬ 
parison to our deficit since 1862, the year 
1864 showing us over six hundred thousand 
barrels of flour short of supplying the de¬ 
mand for the British North American Prov¬ 
inces. M. W. B. 
Purls, Ontario, May, 1371. 
P* «Apiaxta:n. 
ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES. 
Dear Rural :—Being unable to answer 
the nuineroug inquiries we are constantly 
receiving from the members of the “ Rural 
Brigade ” by mail, please permit us to answer 
one and all through your excellent aud en¬ 
tertaining columns. And that we may not 
occupy any more space than is necessary, 
we will not repeat the questions, but will 
give only the answers, under appropriate 
headings, that all may readily find the in¬ 
formation they desire. 
Substitute for Pollen. 
The best substitute for pollen that we 
have yet tried is rye flour. It. should be 
ground very fine and not bolted. To feed it 
advantageously, take a board a foot and a 
half wide by t hree feet loug, and nail to its 
sides thin strips about four inches in width. 
This will make a shallow box of three inches 
in depth. Now pour in the flour to the 
depth of an inch, and set it in some place 
near the apiary, out of the wind. Rye flour 
led in this manner induces early breeding, 
and consequently early swarming. It 
should, however, be fed early in the season, 
before the bees can get supplies from natural 
sources. 
Distance Apart lor Hives. 
As bees are ordinarily kept, they should 
beset at least twenty feet apart. Especially 
where natural swarming is allowed, the 
hives should he set as fur apart as they can 
he conveniently. When hives are crowded 
close together there is great danger that the 
young queens will he losL when returning 
from their “ wedding flight.” 
Number or Qnoens in n Swarm. 
Iii ordinary cases but one queen issues 
with a first swarm, and that is the old one. 
Second and third, or after swarms, often con¬ 
tain several queens. When unfavorable 
weather delay* the issue of alter swarms for 
several days they are almost sure to contain 
several queens. I have known as many as 
twelve queens issuing with a single swarm. 
Weak Colonic*. 
There are many reasons why swarms of 
bees are weak and feeble, and consequently 
unprofitable to their owner. There are 
thousands of hives that, contain too much 
drone comb for profit. This is especially true 
of box hives. Another and common cause 
of feeble swarms is small and unprolific 
queens. Where bees are kept in small num¬ 
bers and in isolated situations, the queens 
are apt to meet with drones from the same 
hive, which results in “ In-and-in” breeding. 
Colonies that are weak in spring, if they 
have a good queen and plenty of good work¬ 
er comb, can be built up by a regular and 
judicious system Of feeding. If they are in 
movable comb hives a frame of comb may 
lie occasionally exchanged with one taken 
from a strong slock containing brood that is 
nearly mature. To all apiarians who do not 
find their bees a source of profit, I would 
urgently recommend the Italian bee. Pro¬ 
cure a pure queen from some reliable dealer, 
and rear all queens from this one, paying no 
attention to what drones they meet. In 
this way you will have colonies which will 
be prolific in both bees and honey, provided 
they receive proper care and attention. 
Bee* Deserting tlielr Hive*. 
Many bee keepers complain of bees de¬ 
serting their hives. Often when bees are 
hived in swarming time they will stay blit a 
short time and take ” French leave” for the 
woods. A common cause for this is that- the 
hives are left exposed to the direct rays of 
the hot sun. If the hive he new and clean 
ami is kept cool Imt few swarms need he lost 
in this way. Those who adopt artificial 
swarming have no trouble with their bees 
leaving, as an artificial swarm, properly 
made, never leaves its hive. I never yet had a 
swarm leave a hive in the full that contained 
a fertile queen and was in good condition 
for wintering, consequently can give neither 
cause nor remedy. 
Transferrins: Bee*. 
The best time for transferring swarms from 
box to movable comb hives, is, in our opinion, 
when the apple tree is in blossom. It is also 
a good time three weeks after swarming, as 
the combs contain but very little brood al 
that time. Select the middle of a flue clear 
day in which to perform the operations and, 
removing the hive to he transferred, setting 
an empty hive or box in its place, for the 
returning bees to cluster in, blow a little 
smoke in at the entrance of th© hive, and 
turn it over, bottom side upwards. Now 
place a box without any bottom on the hive 
and if there be any crevices where bees can 
escape, tie a cotton sheet around them where 
they come together. 
Now with a couple of light sticks rap on 
the hive, and the bees will begin to ascend 
into the box. When the bees have nearly 
all ascended, which will be in about twenty 
minutes from the time the drumming was 
commenced, untie the sheet and remove the 
box. setting it on a board so that the bees 
cannot get out. Now take the old hive to 
some convenient place—a clean barn or shop 
floor being as good as any. With a chisel 
and hammer pry off one side, and with a 
long, ihin-bladed knife cut out the combs 
one by one. Have a smooth board a lim e 
larger than your combs, and luy a couple of 
thicknesses of flannel cloth upon it; then as 
you cut. out each cotnb brush off the adher¬ 
ing bees and lay it upon the cloth. Now 
place your frame upon the comb aud mark 
the size of the inside of the frame. Cut the 
combs a trifle larger, so that it will fit snugly 
within the frame. To hold the combs in 
place, we use a mixture of molted resin ami 
beef tallow, applied to tbe edges of the combs. 
All combs containing brood should he 
placed together iu the centre of the hive. 
Reject all drone com b. When all the frames 
are full, carry the hive and place it upon the 
old stand, being careful not to dislodge any 
of the combs. Now bring the box contain¬ 
ing the bees and shake them down in front 
of the iiive, and if the entrance be large, ns 
it should be, they will readily enter. In 
transferring care muBt be used not to expose 
any honey where the bees will find it, or 
robbing will generally be the consequence, 
unless the flowers are yielding an abundance 
of honey. 
Prevention of Switrtnlna. 
We have not as yet found any method 
whereby swarming may be absolutely pre¬ 
vented, if the bees are kept strong in num¬ 
bers. Remove the old queen, and give the 
colony a young one of the present year’s 
raising; and if the bees have plenty of surplus 
room, easily accessible, but few swarms will 
issue. If artificial swarms arc to be made, 
it should be done early—as soon as the bees 
arc strong in numbers, or just before they 
would issue naturally. And now if any of 
our readers have trouble with their bees, or 
if' there is anything upon which they wish 
more light, if they will send their inquiries 
directly to us, we will promptly answer them 
through the Rural New-Yorker. 
Herbert A. Burch. 
South Haven, Mich. 
be Horseman. 
MAMBRINO BERTIE 
This is the name of the new Kentucky 
wonder recently purchased by Robert Bon¬ 
ner, price paid still a secret, hut proclaimed 
to be very large. This colt is from the es¬ 
tablishment. of Dr. Herr, near Lexington, 
Ky. He is not quite three yearn old, is on 
in-bred Mumbrino, a son of Dr. Herr’s 
“ Matnbrino Patchen,” the full brother of 
“Lady Thorne" His two-year old perform¬ 
ance stamps him as the swiftest trotter for 
his age ever raised in America. He trotted 
on the Buckeye Course last fall, on an un¬ 
favorable day, and rough track, a full mile 
in 2:42)^. He repeated it without being 
taken out of the harness in 2:44}^, and in 
twenty minutes he trotted a two-mile heat 
—the* first mile iu 2:41, and the second in 
2:48—without any apparent distress. This 
lime is seventeen seconds faster than was 
ever before made by a two-year-old ou the 
trotting turf. A writer in Wilkes’ Spirit 
says:—“His speed is inexi licably Wonder¬ 
ful. His stride at full speed, by actual 
measurement, was found to be nineteen 
feet; yet bis legs are brought well up under 
his body at every revolution, which shows 
that his muscular power to gather us well us 
to stride is absolutely enormous. Mr. Bon¬ 
ner j list 1 v says, ‘ I never saw a horse that 
trotted with :ls much ease.’ His temper is 
as quiet as Herzog’s in his best condition. 
Young us lie is, even a running horse at his 
side in full motion never disturbs him. 
“From the start he has Imt one motion, 
and that is a clean, square trot. Slow or 
fust, it is always thesame; no irregularities, 
no hitching, no dragging of either hindleg, 
no forcible knee action or striking-stifle de¬ 
monstration, bin every movement a graceful 
curve—the hind legs widening just enough 
to pass liis front feet, the head and body 
steady in a line, and the stride showing the 
uniform precision of an accurately-adjusted 
piece of human mechanism. 
“ As he increases It is speed, of course his 
movements become more rapid, but there is 
no other change. His body never labors. 
Although it sinks in proportion to Ids speed, 
it never struggles, but remains perfect y 
level and steady. His neck and head only 
seem to straighten out like a wild swim 6 en¬ 
joying his swiftest flight. Like all the fust 
Mambrinos, lie does all his work with his 
legs and feet.” 
--- 
That AlHlci«d Mule. 
You may tell Florida Subscriber, (pnge 
315, Rural New-Yorker. May 30 .) 'hat he 
can cure bis mule by using Urn followtiio 
recipe, which I have seen used in a nuinner 
of instances, and have never know n to ‘fit n 
subduing the most obstinate ulcer, whetnrr 
tubercular or otherwise:—Make a ly© on <> 
lhe ashes of red onk bark ; boil down to lhe 
consistence of molasses, and cover the nicer 
with it; in about nu hour afterward, covet * 
with a coat of tar. 
Remove this in a few days, and if any pro¬ 
tuberances remain in the sore, apply mote or 
the oak bark potash and tar plaster, amt 
continue until it is cured. Heal llie 
which is left with a mixture ot sweet oil a 
pint, beeswax an ounce; melt together, 
when nearly cold add nitric and, halt i 
ounce. Applv this once or t^vic;e a day. 
Pir-rui! noTTRiLL. Biidaeoort. W. K«- 
