232 
MOOBE’S BUBAL HEW-YORKER. 
4 
cdpdtl (Crops. 
ABOUT ORCHARD GRASS. 
Mr. John Biegrist of San Jose, Mason 
Co., Ill., has written to me to answer a few 
questions about Orchard grass through the 
Rural Nkw-Yorker. I write the questions 
and the answers thereto :—1. “ Will orchard 
grass succeed in Illinois in a rich, loamy 
soil ?” 1 should say that it would certainly 
su cceed. After Orchard grass has once form¬ 
ed a sod, it is very hard to kill either by 
drouth or by cold, and is less affected by 
either than almost any other kind of grass. 
2. “ What is the best time for sowing f* 1 
think seed sown in March, in this State, 
would bo more likely to take hold than if 
sown at any other time. The fall is the beet 
where the winters are mild. Experience 
would soon show whether it would be able 
to stand the winter if sown in the fall iu Il¬ 
linois. Here in the mountains of Virginia 
we find it surer to sow hi (ho spring. 3. 
“ How do you sow Orchard grass seed ?” 1 
always sow by hand, and on wheat land or 
land that has not been plowed recently. 1 
always harrow immediately after. 4. “How 
much docs orchard grass seed weigh ?” Four¬ 
teen pounds to the bushel is generally recog¬ 
nized now as the standard weight; but some 
of our merchants have a habit of buying at 
14 pounds and selling at 13. Bo we should 
always make them say which they intend 
giving before buying, ft. “ Is Orchard grass 
hay as easily cured as timothy Y” It is as 
easy or easier, and will stand getting wet 
and yet make good hay. 0. “ How does it 
last for pastures ?” It Is the best pasture 
grass that, I know of, and (what will suit 
most farmers) it should be grazed close. 7, 
“ Where can good, clean seed be bought, and 
at what price (” I received a sample of yood 
seed a few days back from Allison* & Aum 
son of Richmond, Va., at $2,2ft per bushel, 
do not know howmany pounds to the bushel 
I think if Mr. Biegrist would get “Flint 
on Grasses,’’ and read what he says about 
Orchard grass, he would gain some valuable 
information on the subject. Iu conclusion, 
would say that, taking all things into consul 
oration, (liny posture, seed, Improvement of 
the land, &e.,) Orchard grass is the very be 
grass that we have. W. F. Tallant. 
Christ iansburg, Va. 
-- 
CHUFA OR EARTH ALMOND. 
good green crop to plow under. But the 
profit to be realized from rye as a crop will 
differ in different localities and under differ¬ 
ent circumstances—hence when we recom¬ 
mend rye as a paying crop, we. do not recom¬ 
mend every man to make it one. of his crops 
until he Las found out what its straw, grain, 
or it as a forage, soiling or green manure 
crop is to him. This can on’v be done by a 
knowledge of the facts and figures. 
-» 
FIELD NOTES. 
In answer to the questions in the Rural 
New-Yorker of September 27, I will say 
that if j ou will keep sheep or pigs, you 
should grow the “Chufaor Earth Almond ” 
In the spring take any clay or.sandy soil, and 
when tlic ground is warm put it into ridges 
of four light furrows, or wide enough to work 
with a oue-borse cultivator if you have one ; 
run a light harrow over the ridge, make 
drill with a plow or marker; drop two chu- 
l’as every eighteen inches in the drill ; cover 
two inches deep. When they' have grown 
about four inches high, throw the dirt from 
them with a plow, chop out the grass with a 
hoe, sprinkle a little ashes around the chul'u, 
then throw the dirt to them ; when they have 
grown about a foot high, or about the 1st of 
J une, turn on your sheep. Wlieu you think the 
sheep have eaten close enough, take them out 
of the field until about August 1 ; turn in 
your sheep again for a few days ; about Oct. 
1, dig enough for seed next year, and plenty 
for the children to eat through the winter; 
turn in your sheep and let the pigs follow the 
sheep; for the pigs will do your fall plowing, 
and gel, f it while they are at it. I have no 
chufas to sell, but to any one who will send 
me a package of wheat, oats, barley, buck¬ 
wheat, millet or any grass seed, I will send in 
return a package of Chufas or of Japan peas 
Box 69, Natchez, Miss. A. AY. Stuart. 
“DOES IT PAY TO GROW RYE 1” 
So a friend asked us the other day We 
replied, yes—when the straw, after the 
grain is out of it will bring SIS to $25 per ton 
for manufacturing purposes. It does bring 
this iu many localities and is grown for no 
other purpose. Bosidas the grain itself is 
growing in favor as material for bread. The 
consumption of rye bread annually increases. 
Germans use it extensively; its sweetness 
uud nutrition as Served in the German res¬ 
taurants and beer saloons is attracting the 
attention of Americans. It makes a delicious 
bread ; and our people should know how to 
utilize the grain and the straw and remember 
that it is not only an excellent late fall, -win¬ 
ter and early spring forage crop, but an 
excellent summer-soiling crop as well as a 
Treatment of Meadows. —The Ohio Farmer 
says:—“We have iu mind meadows which 
have not been plowed in twenty years, and 
yet they yield not only heavy but first qual¬ 
ity hay ; they having always been pastured 
in early fall, never fed close, and occasionally 
harrowed and top-dressed with fine, well- 
rotted manure. The habit into which many 
farmers have got of allowing sheep lo gnaw 
meadow’s In the winter is a bod one, for they 
nip to the very root s, to get the nutritious 
and sweet feed.” We cau say that wo have 
seen meadows whose proprietors told us had 
not been plowed in fifty years, and the only 
fertilizer they received was a dressing of lime 
once in five years. 
A “ White Peach Tilow Pulido.” —Inclosed 
1 send you a potato I found among my Peach 
Blows. I showed it to a few friends and 
none could tell to what variety it belonged ; 
some thought it might be a hybrid. What. 1 
want to know is this: 1- it a distinct variety? 
If so, please name it. Some of them are long, 
resembling (slightly) the Early Rose iu shape. 
They arc all alike, ‘however, In color of : kin ; 
they all have the little specks that, you ace on 
the sample.—N. T. Phillips, Cum Co., Mo. 
The now very common White Peach Blow 
potato is only a “sport” of t he old red sort; 
and it is probable that the white variety 
found among your genuine old Peach Blows 
is only another sport of the same style. Per¬ 
haps it is worth preserving, if for nothing 
more than the determination of origin. 
Cotton Can be Transplanted. —A correspon¬ 
dent of t he Southern Farmer, who had some 
rare cotton sued, found that part of it did not 
come up and, he says, “although I had often 
heard that cotton could not be transplanted, 
1 determined to try and get a perfect stand, 
and while transplanting one day, a couple of 
my neighbors called, and 1 was laughed at a 
good deal by them for trying to transplant 
cotton. 1 transplanted the fifty-two stalks 
und not one died, although I took no particu¬ 
lar pains to preserve the earth around the 
roots, and to-day theix* is hardly any percep¬ 
tible difference in the stalks transplanted and 
those not.” 
Klnp of thCParlies Potato —I want you to 
know that I think this one of the best pota¬ 
toes I know of. It is just splendid, and the 
wonder to me is, that more has not been said 
about it.—p. a. s. 
We have seen this potato growing, and 
agree with our correspondent that it has 
many excellent qualities to recommend it 
but we should like the experience of those 
who have grown it in different and widely 
separate localities. 
<$lff | 3 oultltj| fulfil. 
MARKETING POULTRY AND GAME. 
1 1 
CP 
SUGAR BEETS FOR SWINE. 
Jonathan Taloott gives a statement in 
the Boston Cultivator of an experiment per¬ 
formed on a Buffo!k pig where sugar beets 
were largely employed for fattening. Tlie 
annual was about a year old, and the feeding 
on boiled sugar boots, tops and root, began 
on the Kith of August, and was continued 
three times a day until Lhe 1st of October, 
after which ground feed was given, consist¬ 
ing of two parts of corn and one of oats, 
three times a day, till the animal was slaugh¬ 
tered, the meal being mixed with cold 
water. The result was, on the 10th of Au¬ 
gust, when the sugar beet feeding was be¬ 
gun, that the weight was 300 lbs. ; (Septem¬ 
ber 1st, 3'JO lbs. : October 1*1, 450 lbs. ; No¬ 
vember 1st, 520 lbs. This is the substance of 
the statement given, by which we perceive 
that the increase the last Of August, when 
fed on boiled sugar beets, was at the rate of 
two pounds per day ; the same rate of in¬ 
crease on the same food continued through 
September. When fed on ground corn and 
oats, made into cold slop, the gain for the 
next fifty days was less than a pound and a 
half per day, 
-»♦» 
A New Hog Disease.— The Rural World 
says :—A singular disease has broken out 
among the hogs in Morgan county. Ill., and 
is attended with considerable mortality. The 
first symptoms are swelling of the forefeet, 
generally the right, cue. and loss of appetite. 
The legs swell from the feet upward until 
the swelling reaches the body, when erup¬ 
tions begin to show themselves, mortification 
sets in, and death ensues in a few hours 
afterward. 
CnAS. Htglet & Co.’s circular gives the 
following hints in reference to 
POULTRY. 
Stock should be kept from food twenty- 
four hours before killing; full crops injure 
the appearance, are liable to sour, and will 
very much injure the sale. Opening the 
veins of the neck with the small blade of a 
knife is the best mode of killing ; deface the. 
neck as little as possible, but let them bleed 
freely. For scalding, the water should be 
as near the boiling point as possible and not 
actually boil. The poultry, being held by 
the legs, should be dipped about three times, 
raising it quite out of the water, the motion 
helping the wa.er to penetrate the feathers 
and take proper effect upon the skin. Pick 
the feathers off immediately—pin feathers 
und all—without rubbing or era ping, which 
breaks the skin and makes it turn dark. It 
should next he “plumped,” by being dipped 
into scalding water—say ten seconds—and 
then into clean cold water for about as many 
minutes. Before packing it should get thor 
ouyhly dry and cold, but not frozen. The 
intestines or the crop should not be drawn 
the head may be left on. Boxes holding 100 
to 200 lb-i. each are the most desirable packa¬ 
ges, though barrels will do. For packing rye 
straw is preferable, wheat the next best; cut 
off the heads, and be sure it is dry and free 
from m list. Place a layer of sti aw over the 
bottom of the box. Commence and pack a 
layer, backs up, breasts snugly against one 
end of the box; the legs should not bo 
cramped up under the body but straightened 
well out, over which the next layer of p,.>ul 
try should be packed, fetching the breasts 
snugly up against the last layer. At the end 
of each course a few pieces should be placed 
crossways over the legs of the last layer, to 
keep all snugly in its place. Sprinkle over a 
light layer of straw, aud pack the next 
course in like manner, and so ou until the 
box Is full. Avoid, when possible, putting 
more than one kind in a package. Mark on 
each box gross weight and tare, also the kind 
it contains. 
Early in the season the unsteadiness of the 
weather and irregularity of receipts causes 
wide and sharp fluctuations in prices, ship¬ 
pers aiming for high quoted markets, and 
withholding when prospects show less favor¬ 
able. A oool snap sets in, preceded, per¬ 
haps, bv a term of mild weather, during 
which time a shipper aeeutnulates a large 
quantity of live stock, and seizes this oppor¬ 
tunity to forward his supplies. All opera¬ 
tors, naturally being under the same circum¬ 
stances, do likewise, which concentrates 
heavy 1 receipts ou the market at one time, 
perhaps just as the weather commences to 
soften. Although cold and dry weather is 
favorable for preparing shipments, we see 
many advantages in keeping out of this gen¬ 
eral current of supply as far as practicable. 
By using extreme cure in procuring dry, 
sweet straw, and having the poultry not 
only cold but dry when packed, there will 
be very little danger of injury on the road, 
and very likely the shipment will arrive hero 
under circumstances just the reverse of the 
former illustration. 
0RESS1NQ AND PACKING POULTRY FOR LATE MARKETS. 
Late in the season our market is supplied 
largely from Wisconsin, Iowa and Northern 
Illinois. The poultry is killed aud frozen 
firmly in the packages at favorable times 
during the winter, Shipments are made by 
freight, commencing about the middle of 
January. It is not only placed here at a 
moderate expense, but arrives at a season 
when our market is most favorable. This 
has generally been found to apply with fa 
vorable results only to Canada, Vermont and 
Northwestern section mentioned. Central 
and more near-by points lack the steady cold 
and dry temperature to freeze the stock 
properly, besides rates by express are more 
admissible to forwarding in the regular way 
aud during the bight of the season. 
Dry pick the poultry, us it will keep long¬ 
er, hold its color much bettor, and command 
better prices late in the season. The head 
may be left ou, and the manner of packing 
is much the same as in general directions, 
except no straw ■ or packing of any kind 
should be used. Boxes of the following di¬ 
mensions are preferable—say 4 feet long by 
2 feet wide and 15 inches deep (outside meas¬ 
urement). Use new inch lumber, smoothly 
planed, for the inside of the packages. They 
will pack two layers of turkeys or three of 
fowl. Larger sized packages are inconveni¬ 
ent to handle, and do not meet with as ready 
a sale. Place them in the open air, and pack 
a layer of poultry in as many boxes as will 
be required to make one layer for each day’s 
work. When frozen sufficiently the second 
layer may be pncketT In like manner. When 
full the covers should be placed on a nd snugly 
nailed, aud the boxes placed together and 
well covered with straw say two or three 
feet in depth—or, should the. weather moisten 
aud thaw when tho boxes arc but partly 
filled, they shoul 1 be protected in the same 
way—in which manner the poultry can be 
held and forwarded with entire safety. 
GAME. 
Venison and pigeons are a large item in 
our game trade. The latter arrive most 
freely during April, May and June—a season 
when there is but little other game offering 
—and dealers make them a specialty, and 
large quantities are used. The venison trade 
opens in October, and closes, by restrictions 
of our Game Laws, January 1st, but can he 
sold lip to March 1st, when there is proof 
that the killing was not in violation of the 
law where it was killed. Early in the season 
prices are uniformly good, and so with nearly 
the entire variety. Later, much depends on 
the fall of snow to aid in securing a supply. 
Whole deer, when sent to thi3 market, should 
have the liver and lights taken out, they 
being detrimental to its sale. When shipping 
from a long distance, on account of freight 
we would advise sending only the hind 
quarters, including the loins and ribs, with 
the skin stripped down tlio forepart and 
wrapped about the saddle, thus keeping it 
clean uud in good order, in cutting the car¬ 
cass do not cut square across but closely fol¬ 
low the ribs, which will include all worth 
sending. Game birds of all descriptions 
should not be drawn—before being packed 
they should be thoroughly cold and dry. 
After the holidays it is well to wrap in paper 
prairie chickens, partridge and quail; buyers 
then give such the preference, but. during 
the forepart of the season, when the weather 
is more changeable, the paper proves dam¬ 
aging to the keeping of the game, and should 
not be used ; barrels are favorable packages, 
except for quail, for which boxes that con¬ 
tain 10 to 15 dozen each are very much pre¬ 
ferable. Avoid as far as possible having 
more than one kind in a package ; mark 
plainly the kind and quantity each contains. 
-♦♦♦- 
POULTRY KEEPING ON A LARGE SCALE. 
In answer to your correspondent’s inquiry 
1 would state that fowls may be kept with 
profit in large numbers if properly cooped 
and managed ; but like all other enterprises, 
some persons succeed with great profit while 
Others fail One must have a taste, and take 
pleasure, iu the business, and with watchful, 
industrious care, poultry business can be 
made very remunerative. To keep 1,000 
fowls, it should require about 80 apartments, 
eacli room to contain 12 hens, with as touch 
outside room as can be had. The best, yet 
with a more expensive outlay, is to inclose 
three or four acres of land, and erect smalt 
coops—say 40 feet apart—around the lot, and 
after each flock has been let out separately 
a few times, they can all be allowed to roam 
together, and will each return at uight to 
their own apartments, With this method 
the coops can be ventilated and kept much 
cleaner than one large building. \Ye have 
such an establishment at Lynnflekl ; the pro¬ 
prietor keeps about 1,000 fowls, and I under¬ 
stand his net profits last year were about 
$ 2 , 000 . 
I would advise, for eggs and poultry, your 
correspondent should keep the Partridge Co¬ 
chin fowl, in purity or crosses, allowing the 
blood of this variety to predominate. I find 
them very hardy and great layers tho year 
round ; mature early, and a superior, broad¬ 
breasted, market fowl; arc very domestic, 
and can be confined with four-foot pickets. 
I shall breed them almost exclusively another 
season. J. S. Ives. 
-- 
POULTRY NOTES. 
Corn the Cause of Chicken Cholera. —A 
theory is promulgated that corn is the cause 
of chicken cholera—that it and hog cholera 
are most prevalent when pigs and chickens 
are fed almost exclusively on corn—that corn 
contains less of the phosphates and more of 
fatty matter than other cereals, and this 
accounts for chicken and hog cholera. Well, 
let us have facts, gentlemen. Let those of 
our readers whose chickens und pigs have 
been afflicted with cholera tell us now they 
have been fed. 
Buckwheat for Foirls. — I have given it 
ouee a day to all my young stock (Brahmas), 
and they have done' wonderfully well, and 
not ono has been sick or ailing since it was 
hatched. I never give it to the hens, as 1 
consider it too fattening. My fowls are in a 
small, enclosed run.— Zit. 
