the State Agricultural Society, which I ask 
you to let me state. 
You will notice that one, and only one, arti¬ 
ficial fertilizer is brought forward in Mr. 
Habieshaw 's table; anil when you have been 
asked to correct and have corrected an error 
in the printing, you will find that this one 
manufactured fertilizer is made to appear 
cheaper and better for farmers than any oth¬ 
er guano. Then, this manure will hare the 
valuable indorsement of the State Agricultu¬ 
ral Society, When this occurs, will it have 
any connection with, or relation to, the fol¬ 
lowing facta f 
Mr. J. D. Wing, a broker, tiow or formerly 
doing business at 74 Beaver street, is Vice- 
President of the New York State Agricultu¬ 
ral Society, and is President of, and a stock¬ 
holder in, the Manhattan Manufacturing and 
Fertilizing Co, Mr. T. H. Faii.k, grocer, 130 
Water street, was recently Vice-President of 
the State Agricult ural Society, and is a stock¬ 
holder and one of the directors of the Man¬ 
hattan Manufacturing and Fertilizing Co. 
Mr. riAXD, the business manager of the Man¬ 
hattan Manufacturing and Fertilizing Co., is 
an active and prominent member of the State 
Agricultural Society. This Manhattan Fer¬ 
tilizing Co. makes the “ Fhosphatic Blood 
Guano,” which by some chance is the only 
manufactured manure reported upon. Mr. 
Habibsuaw, the chemist who makes the re¬ 
port, is an intimate personal friend of Mr. 
Hand, and is also the chemist for this same 
fertilizing company, sometimes making pur¬ 
chases for it and receiving a salary or foes 
from it. I do not yet know whether Mr. 
Cocks or Mr. Gocld are stock holders in the 
Fertilizing Co., but they are the familiar ac¬ 
quaintances and friends of those gentlemen 
who are stock-holders. Is not there excuse 
for the thought that the beat portions of the 
bugs of guano might not have been looked for 
to be used in comparison with the product of 
the Manhattan Fertilizing Co. ? G. e. w. 
-- 
VALUE OF CITY WASTES. 
Mb. Leppmann, director of the Central Sta¬ 
tion in Bavaria, speaks of the loss of fertili¬ 
zers in the wastes of tire city of Munich, which 
he est i mates as containing a population of 177,- 
000. The amount of available nitrogen yearly 
lost in the human excrements, fluid and solid, 
of that city, hu places at 1,807,714 pounds ; to 
which he gives a value (reduced to our cur¬ 
rency) of £433,407, This gives au aggregate 
loss of nearly half a million of dollars. While 
this waste is being suffered the German fields 
are enriched by an annual importation of 
1,000,000 hundred weight of Peruvian guano, 
at a cost of about three millions of dollars. 
Munich, however, is but one of a number of 
German cities whose wastes, if calculated at 
the same ratio, would be equal in value to the 
fertilizers impui-ted. Mr. Leppmann proposes 
that tills waste be saved. American cities 
are even more wasteful of this element in the 
productiveness of the soil than the European. 
There is a good opportunity for some one to 
mike equally startling figures here, and to 
invent some system of saving our wastes and 
utilizing it and make money by doing so. 
--. 
TO PRESERVE FENCE POSTS. 
A correspondent of the Rural New- 
Yorkeh says :—"We have, in Wisconsin, a 
simple preparation that .will make a Bass¬ 
wood fence post as good to last as Rod Cedar, 
at a cost of 2% ets. per post. It is claimed 
that the post, after it is saturated, will never 
rot any more. An experiment of eight years 
with some of our frailest timber seems to 
prove the assertion. 1 mention it and give 
you the recipe if you are interested in mak¬ 
ing any fence :—1 part corrosive sublimate; 
0 parts arsenic ; Vi parts salt; % lb. to a post. 
Bore three holes with an inch auger, equal 
distance, so as to leave four equal spaces in 
the post; plug the hole with a com cob ; don’t 
go to whittling out pine plugs. If your corn 
is too small import some from Wisconsin.” 
--— 
COLLINS AND CO.’S STEEL PLOWS. 
Do you or any of your readers know, by 
experience, of the merits of the Collins and 
Co.’s Steel Plows/ In their circular to me 
they are recommended as a superior plow ; 
but I should like to know of some one who 
hag used them whether their work in the 
field will sustain their recommend. Believing 
the plow to be the farmer’s starting point 
toward success, I wish to obtain the best that 
ls m ade. C. B. Van Slyke, 
---- 
POLISHING PLOWS, 
A correspondent informs the Practical 
l armer that he cleans and polishes his plows 
with muriatic acid. Tins searching stun does 
the work in short meter, but it should not be 
allowed to remain on the metal. 
Jttdus5tt[ial ©crjitcfi. 
THE SITUATION IN THE WEST. 
Ha vino made a journey from the rugged 
hills of the “ old Granite ” to this State, stop¬ 
ping at various places in the most important 
agricultural localities, it may be interesting 
to your readers to know the actual condition 
of the farmers compared to that of those 
“ Down East.” 
ILLINOIS WINTERS. 
As Illinois was the first place where I 
stopped long enough, in the various sections, 
to get a knowledge of the actual condition of 
the farmer’s finances and prosperity, it will 
be first on the list of States. 
My inquiries drew forth statements that 
so nearly corroborate that of a contributor to 
a leading agricultural journal, that the pith 
of his statement is adduced in the following 
quotation. After speaking of the severity of 
the present Winter's weather, which is said 
to be greater than that of the average, he 
says : — “ I have uover seen so much gloom, 
so much dullness, so much doubt and so much 
anxiety, among farmers and business men, as 
at the present time. The great Wiutor fes¬ 
tivals have passed by with scarce a tenth the 
recognition of former times. A great many 
of us are beginning to see and understand 
that we, for the last five or six years, have 
been growing poor year by year ; and we 
begin to see, too, if we do not arrest this 
downward tendency, we shall arrive at bank 
ruptcy and poverty In a few years more. To 
liquidate our debts and so pay our taxes now 
is our great aim and object; and, os hard as 
the lesson rnay be, we are about ready to 
own and acknowledge that we and our fami 
lies must submit to general privation to suc¬ 
ceed. We have been borrowing money 
privately and voting taxes publicly in order 
to get out of debt; and, contrary to our ex 
pectations, we are on the verge of min. 1 
should be glad to believe that wa had reached 
the bottom—“that things could be no worse, 
and, therefore, they must mend; but I 
doubt it.” 
Further on in his letter, he speaks of the 
com crop by saying that “so early in the 
season, I may say that there is already a 
strong sentiment abroad among farmers that 
the crops of com of >72 is the last crop they 
Intend or mean to moke and sell at 20 to S45 
cents per bushel.” 
As this contributor has introduced the 
"king crop,” it may be well, here and now, 
to make use of some facts collected concern¬ 
ing the prices of com at the farmers’ cribs 
and the same when it reaches its great whole¬ 
saling market, and the great variances of 
the two as caused by the king of all monopo¬ 
lies the railroads. Their present rates for 
carrying a hundred pounds of freight from 
Central Illinois to New York is seventy- 
five cents, varying above or below this to 
other markets, according to distance or 
competition with other lines. Com be¬ 
ing worth—I will write “sellsfor” instead, 
for that word is a misinterpreter — only 
twenty cents, and it takes two and one-fourth 
bushels at this price to get one to New York. 
If the grain is sent to a “shipping,” or mid¬ 
dle, man it takes another half of a bushel, so 
that ordinarily it takes all of three to get one 
bushel of corn to the New York market. This 
state of things is terrible to the producers and 
an outrage on the consumers ; but what can 
be done ? It is simply money antagonistic 
to muscles and brains ; and facts now being 
developed in every station occupied by man, 
from the Senate down to the church warden 
and country school committee, seem to indi¬ 
cate that the great object of universal devo¬ 
tion—the almighty dollar—is more than a 
match, an even match, for ail opposition, 
whether in the representatives of the pulpit, 
forum, field or workshop. The fanner, the 
working and the professional man—ip fact 
every one whose viscera has qot become 
enormously extended on the spoils of the 
railroad monopolies—are demanding a change 
in [this state cf affaire, and the firet-named 
class are holding monster meetings in many 
parts of the State for the agination of this 
appalling subject, then and there to speak 
with vehemence on, this topic. A few* meet- 
ings are held, a great excitement is gotten 
up, when all at once there is a lag in the pro¬ 
ceedings of some expected oxoiting gather¬ 
ing. The most loquacious debater grows 
more calm over the subject, to the surprise 
and regret of the interested but stage-mute 
listeners. This is a “wet blanket” on the 
whole proceeding ; no one can explain (!). 
But I have the reason from a supposed reli¬ 
able source, whiehis to the effect that Esquire 
Loquacity has been gratuitously furnished 
with a free return railway ticket that very 
morning, on which to visit the enormous 
gathering. Farmer Garrulousness, from an¬ 
other point, has a free pass, “good for a year 
on his local railroad,” in his vest pocket; and 
these are the reasons—some of them—why 
these monster gatherings work so little, good 
as a remedy against these evils to the farm¬ 
er’s prosperity. 
But enough of this ! “ ’Tis true, ’tis pity ; 
and pity’tis, ’tis true.” The’general condi¬ 
tion of farmers here is bad, with a tendency 
to despondency. Crops were generally good, 
wheat, perhaps, being an exception; but prices 
are low—alarmingly so ; fuel and taxes are 
high. This, linked with the fact thut many far¬ 
mers got aristocratic ideas on dress and living 
during the better times, it is hard to return from 
the verge of luxury to that of poverty. Days 
and times like these cannot always last; the 
somber clouds will soon be dispelled ; the sun 
of luxury will soon make his appearance, and 
the good times of old will again come back, 
and he who has good cheer, a good companion 
to drive away gloom, cultivates deeply and 
thoroughly, raises good stock, feeds it well, 
constantly, uniformly, and improves, instead 
of exhausting, his soil, saves what crops he is 
not now obliged to sell, will be prepared for 
better times, and ready for a good opening 
when it does come. 
IN CENTRAL IOWA 
the condition of the farmers is similar, ex¬ 
cepting that it is a little more favorable ; but 
the outlook is not very auspicious. ’Tis true, 
taxes are not so high as in Illinois ; the crops 
were all good, but the prices verge on starva¬ 
tion to tile producer. Wheat sells for one 
dollar and five cents, and is the only paying 
crop harvested In 1872. The farmers are put¬ 
ting all their surplus wheat on the market, 
but all who are not obliged to do otherwise 
are holding all of their other crops. More 
particularly is this tine of com, for more re 
munerative prices. Where the average acre 
ago yield approximates forty-five bushels, the 
cost of producing eacli of the forty-five is fif¬ 
teen cents—just the figure it sells for in the 
market. This computation is made with 
manual labor reckoned at twenty dollars per 
month. Oats are selling in the same priced 
notch ; barley and potatoes are worth about 
two New England shillings, potatoes occa¬ 
sionally dropping off two or throe cents, so 
the certain price could not be definitely fixed 
at much abovo thirty cents. However, the 
intense severity of the past Winter may have 
frozen some of those not well protected, which 
may give prices on upward tendency. One 
of the greatest banes to farmers, not only in 
Iowa but In all of the Western States, is the 
indifference they have about running into 
debt. It is very rare to find an apparently 
well-to-do farmer that is not owing from 
one-tenth to one-half the value of his proper¬ 
ty. The less fortunate ones are paying ten, 
twelve, or fifteen per cent, on from one-hall' 
to four-fifths the value of their property. And 
unless a fuvorable change in the tide of affairs 
soon comes, their foredoom is bankruptcy. 
And this, to a New England funner, seems 
to be largely brought about by shiftlessness 
or indifference. When prices are good, and 
the times easy, they “five in clover,” and 
when the reverse of luxury comes, they live 
as best they can. A splendid institution for 
farmers is 
THE PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. 
Go into any small town or village in Iowa, 
and you are almost as sure to find a Grange 
of this order aa you are eertain of seeing a 
meeting or a school house. These societies 
not only develop agricultural facts, but allow 
the members to obtain their groceries, agricul¬ 
tural implements, and clothing at a general 
discount of ten per cent,, with the provision, 
however, that the Grange make tliis arrange¬ 
ment with the dealers, and the trade is a cash 
one. This last proviso will have a tendency 
to break up the universal habit of buying, 
selling and dealing “ on time.” If a farmer 
once gets into this unfortunate habit, it cre¬ 
ates a financial laxity, and is usually a death- 
token to his prosperity. 
To speak of the meteorological history of 
the present Winter in Iowa, would be to say 
that there has been an usual quantity of 
both snow and intensely cold weather, which 
has made sleighing in this State of a very un¬ 
usual length of time. It is a fact oftentimes 
mentioned by those most conversant on the 
weather topic, that the Winters are growing, 
annually, more lengthy and severe, and, the 
snow-fall is also yearly increasing 
Having now spoken of the formers’ circum¬ 
stances in two of the most important of the 
Western States, Uext in order will be viewed 
that of 
KANSAS, 
known politically, agriculturally, and poetic¬ 
ally, as “bleeding,” “droughty” Kansas, 
and the “Paradise of the World,” Slavery 
questions, dry seasons, and editorial excur¬ 
sions, have each been the source of these epi¬ 
thets ; but it is hoped the two first-named are 
issues of the past, while the last, or third, is 
the only one up for discussion. Although a 
recent arrival here, 1 cannot correctly deter¬ 
mine the veracity or untruthfulneaa of the 
various statements made concerning this as 
an agricultural section of our “ broad do¬ 
main ;” yet it is opined that those genial 
editors who visited it last, and at previous 
Summers, feeling so good while relaxed from 
the arduous duties of their respective sanc¬ 
tums, could scarcely refrain from expressing 
their joy at their relief, and hence were in¬ 
clined to make this State the recipient of 
their uneontrolable joy, that must have some 
subject on which to vent itself. Hence, they 
are excusable ; but only to a certain extent, 
for I my BO If believe that this State has some 
advantages in the form of fertile soil, climate, 
and sanitary conditions not to be boasted of 
by other regions ; but even then tiie subject 
can be overdone, 
\ isiting this and other regions of the West, 
wit!) no pecuniary object in view, and in the 
interest of no land swindling or co-operative 
humbug, owning no land, and making no ex¬ 
pectation of purchasing any here, but being 
here simply to visit friends and obtain an 
unbiased opinion of its advantages and dis¬ 
advantages to a settler, I think my opinion 
of it will be entitled to the credit for candor 
which a disinterested man is entitled to. 
In the adaptability to different, pursuits, 
Kansas seems to take first rank among all of 
the Western States. The bottom lands are 
excellently adapted to corn culture, the sec¬ 
ond bottoms to wheat, aud the high prairie, 
rolling as it is, seems to be well adapted to 
stock grazing. The bottoms are so narrow 
that a person can have under his supervision 
a tract of lund not immensely large, and yet 
have a soil adapted to all the requisites of a 
mixed system of farmuig , but more espe¬ 
cially stock raising. To settle here m times 
like the present, one must have considerable 
pluck, or a large amount of money, to make 
a handsome living. With all the candor that 
is due to any one desiring to settle here, 1 say 
tlio times are blue—terribly so—here now ; 
but I believe it to be a golden opportunity 
for any one desiring to settle here who has 
money to invest largely, for there must be 
better times soon, and than the price of land 
will go a-ldting upward, Then those who 
have lived economically, kept their cultivated 
laud free from weeds, aud hourdod the crops 
not compelled to sell during this dull time, 
will receive the reward of their economy, 
diligence and patience. 
On the contrary, those who have despond- 
ingly given up, will lose their foot-hold, and 
when this good sailing does come, they will 
be breaking the waves without rudder and 
by a broken compass. To those who are 
about to give up in despair, let mo tell them 
to keep up their courage, for the bottom is not 
kicked out of farming ■ that the forty mil¬ 
lions of active and industrious people must 
havo vegetables, aud there must be a bottom 
for this state of affaire. In tliis and all sec¬ 
tions of the West, 
THE FUEL QUESTION 
is becoming a very important one, on account 
of the scarcity of wood. Some are burning 
corn, and advocate it to be the cheapest fuel. 
At the present prices of com, coal and wood, 
there Is little chance for argument against 
the sinful practice (to a N. H. man) of burn¬ 
ing the king of cereal grains, which sells for 
twenty cents per bushel, and it takes two to 
purchase one of coal. In this vicinity but 
little is burned, but iu tliat part of lowa 
where my principal stay was made, corn was 
generally the only article of fuel ; but 1 think 
not wisely so, for a bushel of coal was an 
even exchange for one of corn. 
During my short visit hero, it has been my 
good fortune to attend the meetings of sev¬ 
eral farmers’ clubs, and it is a rare tiling to 
find so much intelligence displayed in similar 
clubs of the same size in other places that I 
have visited. The members are making 
propositions to grocers, clothiers and dealers 
generally to effect, the same arrangements as 
made by the Patrons of Husbandry Granges 
in Iowa. That State has 754 out of the 1,338 
Granges in the Union. G. r. d. 
PUay, Saline Co., Kansas, Feb. 7. 
-- 
ROTTED CORN AND OATS FOR MANURE. 
T. V. A. asks what is the Value of rotten 
corn and oats for manure composed with 
horse manure. We havo no data by which 
an accurate comparison and estimate of value 
can be made ; but we should regard it as valu¬ 
able, especially if composted with other 
manures. 
