seed—yes, she must spare five cents for a 
little mignonette for the grave of tlio loved 
anil lost. If the widow’s garden does not 
blossom it is not my fault. A thousand let¬ 
ters every year 1 write to Just sucli persons, 
with words of encouragement that do me 
good, and 1 hope others also !” 
cvj £0 
tfani) department. 
FROM GEORGIA CITY, MO. 
The letter published in the Rural, Nov. 
Otli, from me, lias called forth more letters 
than L can liiul time to answer separately. 
But, with your permission, I will answer 
them all in one through the Rural. 
“ Is the water permanent, or does it Jail 
when most needed ?" The water is perma¬ 
nent, and more abundant than in any prairie 
country 1 ever saw. 
“ Is it soft or hard ?” We have both soft, 
and hard. 
“ Do you know of a good mill site for 
sale that would atford power enough to run 
saw and grist mills, woolen factory ami 
other machinery?” Inquire of J. C. Guinn, 
Georgia City, Jasper Co., Mo. 
“ Is your society good V” Our society is 
made up of a good, peaceable, energetic 
class of people, who have come to this 
country to make permanent, homes for them¬ 
selves ami families, and therefore are rapidly 
building up all good institutions. 
“ Are your people Northern or Southern V” 
We have both ; the majority Northern. 
“School and church privileges?” Good 
school houses are quite frequent all over the 
county. The school fund av i11 give every 
child in Jasper county, for all time to come, 
a good education free of charge to the par¬ 
ent, and it can never be diminished. There 
are hut few churches in the county. 
“Do you have any religious meetings?” 
Religious services are held in the school- 
houses where there are no churches. 
“ Market privileges?” The emigration at 
present consumes all the produce raised, at 
good prices. 
“ How far are you from railroad, saw and 
grist mills?” One year ago we were one 
hundred and fifty miles from a railroad; 
now Fort Scott, is our nearest point, forty 
miles, and the road is being rapidly built, 
running through near the eastern line of 
Kansas, which will give the western part of 
this county good and immediate railroad 
and market facilities. Preliminary surveys 
of two or three different roads have been 
made through the county, and one or more 
will no doubt he built before parties now 
coming here will raise produce to need them. 
There are two saw and grist mills within 
three miles of me. 
“ What wages do mechanics and common 
laborers get?" Mechanics get from $2 to 
$5 per day. Farm hands get $20 per month, 
and $1 to $1.50 per day. 
“ Have you good mail facilities, and how 
frequent?” Oflr mail facilities arc not as 
good as where they have railroads. Wo get 1 
a mail about three times a week. 
“ What are horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, . 
poultry, fanning tools and fruit trees worth i 
with you?” Horses, from $100 to $150; i 
oxen, $100 to $125 per yoke; cows, native i 
and broke, $55 to $50; Texas, unbroke, $18 
to $2.1; three and four year-old steers, Texas, | 
$13 to $25; two-year-old, $12 to $10; year- < 
lings, $8 to $10 per head. Good heel', on i 
foot, $5 per hundred ; sheep, poor grades, j 
$1.50 to $2; good grades, $8 to $5 per head; , 
hogs, $0.50 per hundred on fool; chickens, n 
$3 per dozen. A good many tanning tools * 
are sent, here and sold on commission at East- < 
cm manufacturers' retail prices at home. On 
some heavy machinery we have the freight j 
added. Apple and peach trees cost from fif- , 
teen to twenty cents each. { 
“ Can good blooded cattle, horses, sheep 
and hogs he got, with you at reasonable i 
prices ?” There is hut little blooded stock , 
in ibis country, and those coming here, s 
wishing to keep such, had better bring it v 
with them. j, 
“How do your sheep prosper, and how (i 
do you now like the country?” My sheep 
have been and still are doing very finely. |< 
Out of four hundred that I drove in, ^ 
ami one hundred and seventy-five that I 
raised last, spring, I have had but three ], 
sicken or run down and die; and that is for y 
fiftecn and a half months’ time. But I sold 
down to about ihreu Hundred about, the first S ; 
oflast November. I am well pleased with c 
the country—better than when I bought. p 
“ What are wheat, corn, outs, apples and I 
potatoes worth with you?” Wheat, $1.25; o 
corn, 75e.; oats, 50c.; apples, last fall, 25 to 
50e.; potatoes, last fall, 40c., are now worth $ 
75c. to $1 per bushel. C 
“What arc improved farms worth ?” From h 
$12 to $30 per acre. d 
“ Slate general characteristics of improve- i 
“Whnl are wild prairie lauds worth?” 
From $5 to $10 per acre. 
“ Have you any for sale ?” Not any. 
“ Do you know of any for sale?” I know 
of some very fine tracts lor sale, and a few 
farms. 
“ What is the quality of your soil?” Wo 
have a deep, rich and productive soil; we 
have the black loam, red and mulatto soils. 
“ Is the country level or hilly ?” We have 
some level land, hut most of it is gently roll¬ 
ing, none hilly. 
“Can a man rent land and make any¬ 
thing?” Land rents here for one-third of 
the crop for use of land. Crops are good 
and prices also. The remainder depends 
upon the renter. 
“ Can range be got close to villages ? ” It, 
can. 
“ Will the range be likely to last many 
years?” There will he range in some parts 
of the county for several years. 
“ What proportion of land is timber, and 
what is timber land worth?” Of the west¬ 
ern half of the county, about one-third; of 
the eastern half, about one-sixth. It is worth 
from $ 10 , 1,0 $20 per acre. 
“ What are the kinds of timber?” Oak, in 
variety, is the principal timber, with some 
black walnut, hickory, hackberry, soft maple, 
sycamore, birch, mulberry, red bud, red elm 
and some lew oilier kinds. 
“ Can good locations be got with prairie 
and timber adjoining, with stock water con¬ 
venient; and what would be the price?” 
Such locations can begot and at about $12.50 
per acre. 
“ Is there any Government land in your 
section of country ?” Not any. 
“ Is the land easily tilled ?” It is, very, 
“ Is the country adapted to general farm¬ 
ing pur] loses?” Its adaptability to general 
to this country have not much means; but 
those who have energy and ability are sure 
to do well. 
“ Have you a pleasant climate ?” We have. 
“ Is the weather changeable ? ” Not as 
much so as hi Iowa or Northern Illinois and 
Northern Missouri. 
“ Did you have much snow last winter?” 
There was hut very little snow last winter. 
This winter wc had one fall of snow in De¬ 
cember of eight or ten inches, I should think, 
which stayed about two weeks, which is un¬ 
common here, both as to amount and length 
of time. 
“Is the country subject to chills and 
fever?” We have some chills and fever, 
which is the case in all parks of the West 
that I have been hi. The great, if not the 
whole, cause is improper exposures and im¬ 
proper living. We have no local cause here 
for chills and fevers. Our country is a high, 
dry, rolling, healthy country. My health is 
better here than it has been for the last 
twenty years. 
iflh 
raps. 
QUACK GRASS AND BUCKWHEAT. 
with but very little manure returned to re¬ 
place the waste, and it produces about as 
well as ever. It is a very rich piece of 
ground, rather wet, and undoubtedly receives 
t he wash of the surrounding land. 
Romulus, N. Y. Petek Wykoff. 
I nAvK seen several inquiries in the Rural - 
about getting rid of quack grass. I wjll an- GINSENG CULTURE, 
swer briefly, plow three times and sow with ~ 
buckwheat. 1 have often heard it said that 1 nAVE never noticed in an Y agricultural 
thistles, quack grass, and all that are in the , ^ por aliy suggestions on the practicability 
weedy category, are blessings to mankind. °J b-ansplanting aud cultivating the Ginseng 
Wherever there is a nice bed of thistles or P lant ( fl * M ® quinqric folium.) This plant, 
quack grass you may be sure of a rich and as you kn<nv > £ rows “P°“ lll « ricl 'cst soil in 
dry piece of land, that, when sufficiently cul- , Shady hollows of our mountains, and 
rivaled to keen them in subiertinn brings in ias 8,11ce 110 Cttl '■?* settlement of W est \ ir- 
tivated to keep them in subjection, brings in . . 811 J UJL ca ^ settlement <>» » est V ir- 
higlily remunerative crops. «“ ,R been no ^considerable article of com- 
Whilc a boy in my teens, my father set mcrce amon # us i anri tbi f 19 mom specially 
me to work in a ten acre corn field in ,bc case ' vkcn 'he price is up high enough 
Which were three or four patches of a half t0 cncoura fi R 1hc l *> turn out in mini- 
acre, or less, each, where the quack grass b , ers > “ ck,n f ,n t,m ilolIoW8 and m PSSCS ° r 
monopolized the ground. As assistants I , ' <J " ? a,1< lon>sl3 sonic lavorable locality 
had an old-fashioned cultivator and an old 
horse. With these 1 pegged away; and 
What are the prevailing diseases?” If when I came to the quack grass, gave it an 
wo have any that can be called prevailing, 
they are bilious complaints. 
“ Would your country be healthy for one 
troubled with rheumatism ?” I do not 
know; but I am credibly informed that per¬ 
manent cures have been effected by bathing 
in the Hot Springs of Arkansas, which are 
not far from here. 
“ Wlmt can hoard he got for by the week ?” 
From three to five dollars. 
“ What kind of game and serpents abound 
with you?” Small game, rabbits, prairie 
chickens, &e., are plenty; also some wild tur¬ 
keys and deer. Serpents arc scarce and 
small. I do not think a man could make 
much here in the snake business. 
extra dose of hot sun on tbe top of the 
ground, carefully removing the roots from the 
teeth, lest it should infect other places. This 
field has several times been summer fal¬ 
lowed, and several times been planted to 
corn. It lias been worked carefully each 
time, and the quack is there yet, and proba¬ 
bly will be till treated with the buckwheat 
course. 
One of my neighbors had a piece of ground 
containing about three acres, covered, every 
foot of it, with quack or thistle, mostly quack. 
The soil was a perfect mass of roots; did not 
raise anything on it, nor could not. About 
four years ago, the first tiling in the spring, 
lie plowed it shallow. It laid a few days, 
and he harrowed it ready for second plow- 
m 3 fun poses : ii- adaptability to general “The best route to gel to your country ? ” and he harrowed it ready for second plow- 
iuiming is what, makes our location so very I will only give the route from Quincy, III., ing, to do which lie used a very sharp coul* 
<lesii able, fin wc can produce almost every as all who have made inquiries .should come ter, and plowed very little deeper. The 
ihiug that can be grown in iho United to that point. From Quincy to Cameron, reason wc plow shallow is, the roots are near 
ritates; and a liner stock country 1 have by the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad; the top of the ground; plowing too deep 
ne ver seen. from Cameron to Kansas City, Mo., by rajl- will preserve the roots. After the second 
Do hint and vegetables do well?” They road; from Kansas City to Fort Scott, by plowing is harrowed it. may be plowed the 
glow huge, Lave a fine flavor, and the yield railroad; at Fort Scott take Baxter Springs third time just in rime to sow with buck- 
is abundant and sure. stage, and step off at Neutral City, six miles wheat about July 10th. This operation used 
Is stone for building plenty? ’ We have from Georgia City. M. G. Skinner. up what few thistle roots might have been 
both lime and sand-stone, easily worked, Georgia City, Mo. in the soil: and Messrs. K.1im. * snob ... 
thing that can be grown in the United 
States; and a finer stock country 1 have 
never seen. 
" Do fruit and vegetables do well?" They 
grow large, have a line flavor, and the yield 
is abundant and sure. 
“ Is stone for building plenty?” We have 
both lime and sand-alone, easily worked, 
and plenty for building purposes. 
“ What, material is generally used for 
building and fencing?” Wood is mostly 
used fi>r building; but sonic brick and stone 
are used. Fencing is mostly the common 
worm rail fence and post and rail. The 
Osage hedge is being extensively set, does 
very finely, and is to be the fence of this 
country. 
“ Have you any coal ?” There is not much 
coal yet developed in this part of the State. 
But the great coal fields of Kansas lay to the 
west and northwest of us about eight miles 
—beds that have been developed enough to 
know that it is very abundant. 
“Arc you subject to drouth?” From 
what I have seen and ran learn 1 think we 
are not any more subject to drouth than the. 
Eastern Slates. 
“What, is the length of feeding time for 
stock ?” Last winter good feeders fed about, 
one hundred days. But some did not feed 
their stock anything last winter. 
“ Do clover, timothy and blue grass do 
well?” 1 liaye not seen any clover and 
timothy growing in this part of the State, 
but see no reason Avby it will not do well. 
Blue grass docs finely. 
“ What is lumber worth?” Hard wood 
lumber of the country, at the mills, is worth 
$1,50 to $3 per hundred. Hard pine, at Ihe 
mills, sixty miles south, is worth $1.50 to $2 
per hundred feet. Soft pine, at. Fort Scott, 
dressed Hiding, $2.75 per hundred; dressed 
ami mulched flooring, $4 per hundred; inch 
undressed, $3 to $5 per hundred. Shingles, 
$4 to $0 per thousand. 
“ What was the price of wool last sum¬ 
mer?” Medium good-conditioned Merino 
wool brought, thirty-five cents at Carthage, 
and found ready sale. 
“How could a person dispose of a few 
hundred fat sheep, and how would the price 
Compare with that of store sheep?” Fat 
sheep would be worth only what 1 hey are 
worth to keep, as wc are too far from any 
market at present that uses mutton in any 
quantity. 
“ Would a thousand sheep thrive well if 
kept together ancl given the range of your 
prairies?” They will, if properly handled. 
“ Could a man do well to drive four or five 
hundred sheep Hrom Ohio or Illinois into 
your country?” If parties will drive in 
early, good, young, healthy sheep, prepare 
shelter, if it is temporary, and then take 
care of them, they are sure to do well. But 
if they drive in a lot of diseased scalawags 
they will be sure to lose money; and they 
ought to. 
“ What could a man do with a capital of 
$2,000 to $5,000 for himself and family V s 
One with that amount of capital can get, 
him a home and put himself into shape to 
do well. 
“ Could n man do well in your country 
meats ? ” Cheap house, land partly fenced who lias plenty of energy, ability and means 
and broke; old farms, good orchards and combined ?” He could, or Jn any other that 
some out-builclings. I have any knowledge of. Most that come 
ITEMS FOR THE PIGGERY. 
Wlin K now* 1 — x have got, a sow that, will 
farrow about, (bo first day of April and I want to 
fret another litter from her as early in the fall as 
I I can. Now thou J would like to know if any 
body knows whether she cun bo got with pig 
again until after her first pigs are four weeks old 
and weaned or not. 1 have heard it said Hint it 
could be done by turning in the boar a certain 
number of days after the sow farrows. I would 
like to know how \V. J. K.,of Boone Co., Ivy., in 
No. 1011 Herat,, manages t o get Ms pigs In April 
and August. H. A. c,.. M,moh, Essex Co., iV. Y. 
-*♦«- 
Swine In Clover.—I should like to know if a 
man can keep hogs op clover in summer to ad¬ 
vantage? IIow much ground In clover will be 
required to summer eight hogs and have them 
do well - What is the best, breed of swine and 
whore can I get thorn ?-J. H. T., Palmyra , 0. 
Hoes can be kept well on clover past ure. As 
to the land required for eight hogs and the most 
profitable breed, we shall let men of experience 
answer. 
-»♦*- 
Another Weighty Pig.- t>.C. Hobart, Homer, 
N. Y„ writes of n pig of his eight and a half 
months old, which weighed, dressed, 392 pounds. 
He Kiys:—“ I keep but one cow, and, as I raised 
the cair, the uiilk was insufikuent. for both call’ 
and pig, therefore had to feed gome meal, with 
the slop from the kitchen, to the pig; in the fall 
J fed boiled potatoes and pumpkins, with milk; 
t,lie last three or four weeks, cooked meal, with 
milk." 
--H*- 
Hog Tamers.—Can you or anv of your readers 
(who have no u.v to grind) recommend the prac¬ 
tice of ringing or taming hogs with any of the 
paioni devices or hog miners now offered to the 
public? 0. 1\ I '., timnd Rapids, Midi. 
No ] hi tout is needed. When we want to turn 
a pig into a field we, with a sharp knife, cut, the 
rooting rim off the end of the nose, and the ani¬ 
mal is “ tamed.” No need of paying for patents. 
•-*♦*- 
Heavy Wisconsin Pig.—L. M. KKLbOa, Edgor- 
ton, Wls., writes of a Chester while pig, bred by 
Geo. Ham,, Albion, Wise, and fed by U. It. 
Brown of Edgerton, which was killed at the age 
of nine months and sixteen days, and weighed 
four hundred and thirty pounds. The feed was 
raw corn meal and the usual slops from the 
house. 
-♦+«- 
Diseased Liver in Swine.—What is the cause of 
the liver of tattooing bogs being diseased? 
What remedies should be used? 1 had a very 
fine bog die a short time ago, (ho liver of 
which was ono mass of ulcers.—T. H. K., Spring- 
field , Missouri. 
-tf*- 
Confining Hogs.—J oseph IlARsn, in the Ger¬ 
mantown Telegraph, Bays his loss in small pigs 
this season has been $120, by close confinement. 
He believes every eighty-acre farm should have 
five acres devoted to a hog range. 
-«♦»- 
Good Porkers-- Chester Whites.—Mr. S. W. 
Sharp Nowville, Pa., recently dressed a Chester 
White hog, weighing net, dressed, 028jtf lbs., also 
a ten months’ old pig of samebreed, dressing 288# 
pounds. 
-*A«- 
Cheshire vs. Chester While Hogs.—How do 
Cheshire hogs compare with Chester Whites? 
How m uch wi 11 a pair of pigs cost ?—Vermonter, 
Muldlchury, VI. 
the Lills and forests sonic favorable locality 
where it abounds. The foundation of the 
fortune of soma old families of the State has 
been laid from the traffic in this perennial. 
Can you give any information as to 
whether it, can be successfully transplanted 
from its native forests to our open gardens 
and fields, or whether I lie experiment, lias 
been fairly tried? If this can be done, I 
think there is no question about the immense 
profits that would follow' from its artificial 
cultivation. In appearance the Ginseng 
bears a close resemblance to the parsnip, of 
which the average produce per statute acre 
is nine to eleven tons. Now if the Ginseng 
can be grown in cleared land, and allowing 
it to be only half as productive as parsnips, 
say five tons to the acre, 10,000 pounds at 
eighty cents per pound, about the average 
price, would amount to $8,000—the product 
of a single acre. 
China, whose inhabitants attach extrava¬ 
gant. medicinal virtues to this weed, and 
which is said to have been worth its weight 
in gold at Pekin, w ould furnish a market 
for all this country can or is likely to pro¬ 
duce. Its commercial importance may lie 
inferred from the fact that the exports from 
wheat about July 10th. This operation used Unit(:<1 T Statcsani .° u,Uod 1,1184110 “early 
up what few thistle roots might have been 4 llUVC l' ,1k3 hesitation in pro¬ 
in the soil; and, Messrs. Editors, such a nou “ cm S lta Cultivation, il c »“ «'« culti- 
death to quack grass I never saw! The va,<d ’ a,al 11101 0 rem ““ ej ’atlve pursuit than 
ground looks clean to this day. It answered codon or '" u « ar plantin S’ T * p * r ^is. 
for a summer fallow, and got an enormous Momoe Co., w. \ a. ^ ^ 
crop of buckwheat the same year. For 
aught I know, he might, have sowed the COTTON CULTURE, 
stubble to winter wheat in the fall had lie T , , . “—~ 
chosen, and Harrowed it. in without plowing, ^ coking over t he Kckac, Jan. 15,1 no- 
with as good a chance of success as the *“* inqmrlc* of your Nebraska corre- 
great proportion that is only half put in. 8 > ,M >-l<-nt relaUvc , “ ll “ r,,l “ re - 
A ,. your permission I will briefiy reply to them 
A summer fallow that will till thistles ,s „ „ „ ro numbcrea wttk0 „ t 
not, commenced early enough for quack. , . . , , 
The amok will flourish with those who 1 11 not n( -cessary to break the land 
i he quac.k will flou sli with those who twice; first a good breaking, then throw the 
carelessly and halt do the work with the ex- lands into beds of three or tour feet by plow- 
pcctation of getting a full crop. Manure ing across the first plowing, will, unless in 
will not hurt it. I have found it growing vcr y s, ’fi lands, be a sufficient pepamtion. 
in the barn yard, in the fence corner; have 2. The light gray lands with us are con- 
covered the same with, coarse manure, eight- si dared Hie best, not producing as much 
ecn inches deep, to smother it; but it will \ v f cak but 1110,0 fruit, than the heavier clays. 
crcc-p oul after a while. I bad a patch ^^ 1 /"^“', Ucko“ry“d WwSf 
about four feet square in the asparagus, on produce good cotton 
this I threw considerable refuse brine early, , Ftat , anmA wIlll a scape,, , e „ v . 
and m June sowed about, a pint of salt, for ing a narrow ridge for chopping' to a stand 
an experiment, once a week. Common (about six to twelve inches in the drill,) with 
weeds made their exit. There is a little as- h° es i 11,0 alter plow culture should he with 
paragus left, but I believe the quack all right S ' V0 °P 3 ninniw; very flat, not over one or 
to commence Rowing ,870. The seed wil, 
he dormant, stand the heat aud cold, wet Uic “Dickson a weep ” is now extensively 
and dry weather, and ho sure to he where used in the cotton region, 
you don’t want it the first thing you know. 4 . The yield varies so much with the sea- 
The seed is something smaller than a kernel Son that a definite reply cannot lie given — 
of oats and is sometimes obtained by pro- from 300 to 1,500 pounds of seed cotton, 
curing oats, barley, or wheat from some which will make 100 to 500 pounds of lint, 
r m . . , . according Lo soil, season and cultivation, 
other farms. Those unacquainted with its rn ’ 
nature may like it at first .but they are sure Ifi° hale* are packed in a press or 
,, ... . • . screw, and secured by ties (four to six to a 
to d.shke it m time. As a pasture grass, it bale,) ol hoop iron or rope. The iron ties 
is tough eating, except early in the spring, with buckle ready prepared arc used almost 
It ripens in July and stands up good until exclusively now, 
the grain is secured. When a whole farm C. Five hundred pounds of lint cotton is 
is seeded with it, I would advise the buck- considered a bale. 
wheat course on about the tenth part yearly. The above are brief replies; if other in- 
Larley is not good to raise after buck- formation on these or other points is desired, 
wheat, as the malting qualities may be in- it will be furnished cheerfully to the extent 
jured. Oats, w heat or corn may follow buck- of my ability. j. c. c. 
wheat ; whatever it is, you need not fear Woodhill, S. C. 
worms. --- 
Some people think buckwheat unhealthy SMUT IN OATS. 
diet, producing a sort of buck wheat itch, - 
and, sometimes, scrofula. I have no doubt 4 wish to aalr whether you, or some of 
u./. r.i/.t .... n :,. . ,• ... your numerous readers, can tell me how to 
M ‘ tmny limes prepared for prevent smut in oafs? We have'here what 
the table, borne make the batter very thick, we call the “Egyptian Oats.” The first of 
to save baking so many. It should he thin, this kind of oats sown on this coast was 
and each cake turned as quick as it will 'weight from the Patent Office, Washington, 
hang together; then let them remain till well ! ,y Scnat01 ' doa,:, V t Lo ° re £°B< ;l|l0Ut 
w "™ ' vcl ! "r- 1 ' *•« S^Tir^aM^i 
done. When well browned, well baked, 
and eaten once a day, if not swallowed too 
quick,as is the habit with most of folks when 
in a hurry and eating warm victuals, there is, 
I think, no injurious result. 
Buckwheat should lie sown between the 
4th and 10th of July, so as to escape the hot 
sun of summer and frosts of full. The nicest 
way to cut it is with the reaper. It can be 
set up on the butt end right away, and it 
will stand about as well without tying the 
tops; squeeze them together a little, because 
the butts are very even. One neighbor, 
Skillman Doughty, has a piece of land 
that, with the exception of one year, has 
the last two seasons, when it has been very 
much affected with smut, some fields as 
much as one-third. Before the smut ap¬ 
peared, it was not uncommon to obtain crops 
of from eighty six lo one hundred bushels to 
the acre, weighing forty pounds to the bushel. 
If you can tell us how to prevent the smut 
in this kind of oats, you will confer a favor 
on a great many farmers in this section. 
Boise Co., Idaho Ter. A. Beard. 
Wk have treated oats for smut just as we 
do seed wheat, and with beneficial results— 
that is, wash them thoroughly in strong 
brine and dry them with fresh slaked lime, 
letting the seed remain in the limed condi- 
been sown in buckwheat the last thirty years, lion twelve hours before sowing. 
