tutorial ®niuclci;. 
A GLANCE AT OUR WESTERN CATTLE 
TRADE. 
That the far Western States of our Union 
are able to supply the Continent with meat, 
is a fnet patent to any one who may take the 
trouble t,o observe a simple truth ; yet with 
her bou ad lew resourced and rapidly develop¬ 
ing commerce, the groat West is Still sleeping 
in her infancy. The recont, action taken by 
the farmers of Illinois in regard to the rates 
of Eastern-bound freight, will have one good 
effect—it will awaken an interest in the sub¬ 
ject ; although these men did well to declaim 
against fraud on the part of certain middle¬ 
men, they were mistaken in their wholesale 
condemnation of railroad direction. Fifty 
years ago, and still further back, when the 
pioneer woodman essayed cultivation, he 
planted Indian corn, and he did as well as he 
could ; now the Western farmer who looks 
to lids same grain to make hi* fortune, is far 
behind the spirit of the age. To-day Indian 
corn is to the Western States what the potato 
was to Ireland before 'he failure of 1846 —a 
drug on the market, a curse to the land. In¬ 
dian corn i8 heating to the blood and fatten¬ 
ing to the general system ; it is good food, 
when cooked, for pigs and poultry; there its 
value ends. 
In primitive days the backwoodsman shot 
down his meat supply; he had no need of 
flocks and herds ; bounteous nature supplied 
him from her well-stocked larder. Gradually, 
however, agriculture increased, and the cities 
on the Atlantic ^rew, the East looked to tile 
West for food until the proportions of the 
trade have become immense. Still the quality 
of the articles dealt in is, in the aggregate, 
very poor. The semi-wild herds of Texas 
outnumber tho native herds of any other 
State ; tho grade cattle of the country are 
few and the fine herdB of choice breeds of 
thoroughbred stock are, as yet, but a grain 
of sand on the sea shore. 
While agriculture stands thus, no effort 
should be spared to improve it; and there is 
no menus so certain as the extending of rail¬ 
road systems through tho land. Without 
ignoring the vast importance of the grain, 
dairy, fruit and wool producing interests of 
our oommuuity, we will pass at once to the 
cattle trade, and start by saying a word of 
the National Drove Yards, now nearly com¬ 
pleted at East St. Louis, Ill. 
These yards are the best on the American 
Continent, aud will be opened for traffic on 
the first of next July. They contain every 
f acility for tho easy conduct of a large cattle 
trade, and will form a nucleus for many 
railroad lines engaged in the transit of live 
stock. The St. Louis, Kansas City and 
Northern Railroad Company run their road 
275 miles West of St, Louis direct to Kansas 
City, and rim over the line an express cattle 
train that makes tho distance in twenty 
hours, straight into tho National Drove 
Yards at East St. Louis. For the year 1872 
this road conveyed over its lines 88,000 head 
of horned cattle, independent of it* trade in 
sheep and hogs. Tho Kansas Pacific Rail¬ 
way is another important cattle route. Its 
Eastern terminal cattle yards arc at Kansas 
City and have accommodation for 8,000 head 
of horned cattle and 10,000 hogs. As yet their 
sheep trade is small. Their Eastern connec¬ 
tions are via St. Louis, Kansas City and North¬ 
ern Railroad, or via the Atlantic and Pacific 
Railroad direct to East St. Louis, thence via 
the Toledo, Wabash and Western Road to 
Toledo, from that point? to Buffalo via the 
Lake Shore aud Southern Michigan ; there 
the cattle divide ; some go direct to New 
York ria the New York Central and liudsoD 
River Railroads, others to Boston and Phila¬ 
delphia. 
This is not, however, the only branch of 
the cattle trade earned on in Kansas city, 
several packing houses being located there, 
the largest of which is that of Plan kington 
Sc Arrows, where, during the packing seo- 
sou, 1,000 steers are daily slaughtered and 
packed. This beef is chiefly seut to Europe 
in tierces ; the tallow goes to Germany, the 
hoofs to Chicago and Philadelphia, the horns 
to Massachusetts ; the offal is prepared for 
glue and fertilizers. Here, also, during the 
season, 3,000 hogs are daily dressed; part are 
prepared as pickled pork; part as smoked 
bacon. The smoked beef and buffalo hams 
of this establishment are consumed all over 
the w orld. 
Close to the live stock yards is a yard 
where, annually, tens of thousands of buffalo 
hides are handled. These hides are procured 
from the plains, aud are Hint-dried. They 
are sent to England, where they are used for 
soldiers’ belts and other military equipments. 
Their average value is only $3.50 per hide. 
The whole of the buffalo beef is lost, being 
left for the wolves, who grow fat and inso¬ 
lent on it, while hundreds of thousands of 
decent workiug people in the eastern cities 
never taste a morsel of good meat. This in¬ 
discriminate slaughter of the bison, the most 
noble of the buffalo tribe, is a cruel phase of 
western prodigality which needs to be im¬ 
mediately checked by the action of the Fed 
eral Government. 
The Kansas Pacific Railway, which run* 
direct from Kansas City, Mo., to Denver, 
Col., has still on side large tracts of its lauds; 
for miles and miles along its eastern way the 
lands of the company are thickly nettled ; 
but westward there are homes for the many ; 
and to aid and encourage colonists tho com¬ 
pany has determined at once to plow deep, 
wide furrows from Brooksville West, to Deer 
Trail, a distance of 378 miles. This makes an 
impassable Arc-proof belt of 746 milos on the 
course of this line, and must prove of im¬ 
mense value to stock growers as a means of 
checking the advance of prairie fires. West¬ 
ward still, in Colorado, the Stock Growers’ 
Association are effecting much for the pub¬ 
lic good. Tl>ia association consist* of the fol¬ 
lowing gentlemen, aud has been formed for 
mutual protection knd for the more careful 
observance of the herd laws which, in west¬ 
ern districts, are too frouuently sinned 
against: President —J. L. Bailey. Victr 
President —W, W. Roberts. Secretary —W. 
Holly. Treasurer —A. J. Williams. The 
attention of this Association is especially di¬ 
rected to the enforcement of tho act that no 
Texan or Cherokee herds shall be driven 
across settled lands, as these long-horned 
herds carry Spanish fever and death along 
their contaminated trail. m. m. 
dkonontn. 
FILTERS FOR CISTERNS. 
In Rural New-Yorker of may 10th, one 
of your correspondents asks for a plan for a 
“fili/er in the ground.” I inclose a slip from 
the Chicago Tribune of 18th iust., written by 
Hon. M. L. Dunlap, which, among other 
matters, that you may think of interest, con¬ 
tains, I believe, a very complete answer to 
the question above refen*ed to. 
Cook Co., Ill. B. F. Butler. 
[The following is the article inclosed. Eds.] 
BARN-WELLS. 
A well 3lfcfeet deep, that was about 100 feet 
from onq eoj-i^gr^of my irorse-barn, and that 
furnished about ^w i-h-tufl of water daily, 
was placed rn^rftppo rt with the eaves on the 
south side of the barn, by a line of 2 -inch tile, 
laid 2 feet deep, to the corner of the barn and 
along under eaves. It was some weeks before 
we had a res])ectablc shower ; but, when it 
came, tho well was nearly filled with water ; 
and, from that, time forth, there was no want 
of water, as all the water from that seetiou 
of the roof, 24x80 feet, appeared to have 
found its way into the welL At first it was 
my intention to have put conductors on the 
roof, and to carry the water down through a 
bed of gravel to the tile, but I soon found that 
to be unnecessary, and so I had the tile ex¬ 
tended along the front side, with the result, 
as stated. The cost of tliis was three cents a 
foot for the tile, and two days’ work of one 
man in putting it in, besides the hauling from 
the depot. That job saved me at least $50 
last winter in extra work that would have 
been expended in taking horses and cows to 
a distant well. A 4-foot well, 30 feet deep, 
makes a pretty good cistern, aud will bo 
found of no small value in a dry season. At 
this time the well is full of water’, as are 
most wells ; and, when tho water-supply gets 
short, I shall sink another well, so as to take 
the drippings of the roof from the other side 
of the barn. The soil is a clay-loam, but a 
sandy or gravelly soil would not bo quite as 
good for the purpose, as the water might be 
absorbed in tho soil, instead of following the 
tile to the well. Neither manure nor stock is 
allowed to come in contact with this drain¬ 
age, and the water is nearly as soft as rain¬ 
water, and without the least unpleasant 
taste or smell. 
In a dry season this plan 'anil be found val¬ 
uable, not. only to secure a supply of stock 
water, but for the house also. 
In the case of the house, the drain may be 
filled with sand uud gravel, iiLSte.nl of using 
the tile. Now the water that used to stand 
in puddles along the side of the brick wall of 
the barn-basement, disappears at once, and 
finds its way to the well, and thence, as we 
now have a surplus, soaks out through the 
soil on the lower side of the well, as the 
ground from this, as from most farm-build¬ 
ings, slopes away from it. There are few 
farmers in this State, during the past two or 
three years, who did not suffer for the want 
of water, when $10 invested in the tile drain 
would have given them great satisfaction. It 
may be rather late to tell of this now, when 
the rain comes too often, but to us it is a new 
fact, for the first time fully demonstrated, 
aud the reader can afford to treasure it up 
for future use, for rain and drouth have their 
own appointed time, and oven Old Probabili¬ 
ties, with lit* low areas, has only beeuable to 
penetrate some forty-eight hours in advance, 
and then he sees but dimly, a« all of tile groat 
storms that have made the winter and .spring 
of the current year famous, gave him little 
notice in advance. , 
-- jt - 
DEEP VS. SHALLOW PLOWING 
Having noticed in tho Rural New-York¬ 
er discussions, .pro and can, on the merits of 
deep and shallow plowing, I thought I would 
give you my ideas in regard to the subject, 
which you may use or reject as seemeth to 
you best. Nature 1 know* no tillage of the 
soil; but in her relation of crops one dies and 
another spring* up leaving the soil and sub¬ 
soil in theirnaturul relat ive position, that. j>art 
containing the most organic matter nearest 
the surface. Now it appears to me t hat a 
wiBe lesson may be learned from studying 
nature’s ways and laws. We are told that 
milk is lor babes and strong meat or food for 
men. Juat so with plants ; while young they 
require mostly organic matter, consequently 
it should be near tho surface ; and as the 
plant increases in size its root* penetrate into 
the subsoil, where they can obtain inorganic 
food to harden and mature the plant and form 
the seed ; but if wo rtfvwse the order of na¬ 
ture by turning the subsoil on top, tho plaut 
is sickly for the want of it s proper food while 
young. This I have repeatedly observed 
both in wheat and corn ; and the plant never 
wholly recovers from this drawback. 
Therefore, I think we should never plow 
below the surface soil with a common plow ; 
but if we wish to mellow the earth deep it 
should be done with a subsoil plow—one that 
merely loosens the subsoil without throwing 
it to the surface. However, 1 think if farm¬ 
ers would seed often and thoroughly with 
, clover, tho necessity for subsoiling would lie 
obviated, as clover root* extend deep into 
the earth, and their decomposition furnishes 
just the friability and nourishment needed 
by Die succeeding crop. I am furthermore 
of the opinion that if farmers in a grain grow¬ 
ing region would good often and burn tho 
clover on the ground instead of cutting aud 
feeding it tO their horses, to give them the 
hea ves, it would be money in their pockets. 
Nature never turns the tops of plants under 
to can cl) the soil, but suffers them to become 
decomposed upon tlio surface, whence they 
wash by rains into tho soil, consequently but 
little except the inorganic part, ever reaches 
the growing plant to afford it nourishment. 
True, it affords shade for the earth and 
mulching for the growing crop, which our 
mode of culture does not furnish. 
I may be wroug in some of my conclusions, 
but nature ia a groat teacher, aud we can aid 
and improve nature’s gifts, but nature and her 
ways snould never be lost sight of for they 
are valuable indexes. A Subscriber. 
SuhOolcral't, Mich. 
--- 
TRENCH PLOWING PRAIRIE. 
A Woodstock, Kansas, correspondent of 
the Prairie Fanner says:—“1 trench-plowed 
about forty acres of prairie, four years ago 
this spring, and tbiuk it pays, if a man has 
the team with which to do it. I used four 
yoke ol' good cattle—five would have been 
better, fused what is called tho Michigan 
double plow— two plows oil one beam, a ten 
inch one in front, and a fourteen inch follow¬ 
ing. 1 set tiie small one so it would run 
about two inches deep and 1 he other about 
five inches deeper. Then gave the ground a 
good harrowing, aftd planted with Brown’s 
planter. 1 gave ttb cultivation and gathered 
over forty bushels of good corn per acre.” 
•---- 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
Durability of Shingles.— T&e Plumbers’ 
Carpenters’ and Builders’ Guide gives the 
average durability of shaved pine shingles 
from twenty to thirty-five years, Sawed 
pine shingles, clear from sap, sixteen to 
twentv-two years. Sawed pine shingles, with 
sap, four to seven years. Cedar shingles, 
twelve to eighteen years. Spruce shingles, 
seven to twelve years. 
Durability of Superphosphate of Lime .— 
E. M. T. asks those who have used super¬ 
phosphate of lime to tell him how long its 
effects are perceptible upon crops—whether 
for more than one or two seasons. 
To Destroy Canada Thistles a farmer cut 
the thistles off a little under ground with a 
knife, pouring a little old fish brine on the 
roots, then plowed aud cultivated in corn. 
They never sprouted. 
<Jicl(l (ttrup. 
BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
One of the editors of the Rural Nbw- 
Yorker has received a priyate letter from 
Mr. C. IL ROsenstiel, Freeport, Ill., who is 
largely engaged in growing and manufactur¬ 
ing the sugar beet. We have before referred 
to his operations, and now take the liberty 
of publishing the following extract from his 
letter : 
Our sugar beets are, the most of them, 
planted, and I am glad to be able to tell you 
that the farmers turned out nobly to make 
Contract to raise them, so we will get all the 
beets we want to work up this year. I would 
like to Hay a few words to you about the 
necessity of the interests of agriculture and 
the beet sugar industry. 
Tho introduction of beet sugar manufac¬ 
ture into the United States would be of great 
benefit to farmers ; it would insure to them 
superior methods of agriculture, increased 
crops, more remunerative prices, home mar¬ 
kets and enhance the value of farms. It 
would create industry and diversify labor, 
thereby increasing the general prosperity, 
intelligence and happiness of tho community. 
There is nothing, in my opinion, that har¬ 
monizes the agricultural aud manufacturing 
interests more than the beet sugar industry. 
It calls into existence many establishments 
for the manufacture of agricultural tools. It 
gives employment to all kinds of mechanics, 
laborers, railroads, coal mines, the farmer 
and the millionaire as well us the beggar. 
Look how necessary it is that something is 
done for this country :—We urc importing to 
tliis country $80,000,000 worth of sugar — 
more than our whole export of grain and 
breadstuff. Now, if we were making this 
$80,000,000 worth of sugar at home and ex¬ 
porting $80,000,000 of grain and breadstuff, 
• this' would bo $ 100 , 000,000 in our favor; or, 
for instance, if u farmer gets $ 1,000 for his 
grain and pays out $l r QOO, how much better 
off is he than before ? On the other hand, if 
he gets $1,000 and pays out only $500, he 
would gain greatly thereby. Bo it is with a 
country—if it pays more than it gets, it goes 
down. 
Oh ! had I the power to impress it on every 
man, woman and child’s heart, how neces¬ 
sary it is to encourage the beet-root industry! 
There is hardly an interest that would be so 
much beueflt to every person ! Louis Na- 
TOLEON said wherever the beet is cultivated 
the value of land ia enhanced aud the general 
prosperity promoted. In another place the 
same author puts the following words :—“ lu 
the mouth of the sugar industry respect me ; 
for I im prove the soil; I make land fertile, 
which without me would be uncultivated ; I 
give emplyment to laborers who ot herwise 
would bo idlu ; I solve one of the greatest 
problems of modern society ; 1 organize and 
elevate labor; the conclusions to which I 
have arrived are that the skill which is the 
result of the experience of more than a cen¬ 
tury, and which ha- made France and Ger¬ 
many independent of foreign countries for her 
supply of sugar, is available for us to-day.” 
The manufacture of beet sugar c-au be suc¬ 
cessfully transplanted from France and Ger¬ 
many to the United States ; and sugar can 
be produced in this country from the beet as 
cheaply as it can be from the cane in Cuba or 
any other country. 
I wish you would see what the Commis¬ 
sioner, in Patent-) ice Report of 1871, on 
pages Dili, 207-08, : ;ys about the interest of 
beet sugar fanning. I agree with him fully. 
You will see there that we run a great risk 
of losing our foreij i trade of breadstuff. It 
is because France mid Gormany have carried 
on the beet sugar in crest over seventy years 
and have benefited those countries so much 
that they are onablcd to .buy our Government 
and city bonds and i ur in . railroad stocks ; 
and when you speak of the beet sugar inter¬ 
est you find it helps every other branch of 
industry on the globe and keeps the money 
in the country instead of sending it out. As 
we have a better country to raise the sugar 
beet and better facilities for fuel thau the 
old countries have, why should we sir much 
longer and look on and sec v, hat other coun¬ 
tries are doing i I think it is a duty resting 
on you journalists to stir up the capitalists to 
invest their money in this industry, instead 
of putting it in railroads, &c., for we have 
plenty of them. ! 
-- 4 -*>- 
Hungarian Grass may be sowed on clean, 
well-prepared ground, up to June 15. If de¬ 
signed for hay or soiling sow thickly, say one 
bushel of seed per acre. Cut for hay or 
soiling while the plant is in bloom. This 
answers P. N. G. 
