§l)fcp tjusltitnbni. 
H. S. RANDALL, LL. D., EDITOR, 
Of Corti.asi> Viixagh, ConTUNn Couxty, New York. 
THIRD-CLASS WOOLS. 
“The Intent and Admitiistrittinn of the 
Tarifl' an to Wools of Third Class.” 
We do not dissent from the statement of 
the “ Bulletin of Ilia National Association of 
Wool Manufacturers ” in its reply to the 
Windham County Resolutions (in our last 
issue) that it is erroneous to suppose, “ that 
it was the intent of the law and of the 
agreement of the Joint Committee of Wool 
Growers and Manufacturers, that all wools 
that are lined for clothing purposes shall pay 
the same duties as the first and second-class 
wools." We do not understand the resolu¬ 
tion to contain that precise assertion. But 
they do ask the manufacturers to unite in an 
effort to have the wool tariff construed on 
that principle; ami wo will, therefore, at¬ 
tempt to explain the position of the Growers’ 
Committee on this subject when they assist¬ 
ed in framing the draft of the law. 
The Growers’ Committee had the same 
objects in view with those approved in the 
Windham county resolutions, so far as those 
objects wore believed to be practically at¬ 
tainable. Why the precise conditions ex¬ 
pressed in the resolutions could not be em¬ 
braced in the law, is, in part, stated by the 
Bulletin. It is a fact that, wools of each of 
the recognized classes can be, and actually 
are, used to some extent in the fabrics to 
which the other classes are specially adapt¬ 
ed. Thus a comparatively small portion of 
carpet wool is manufactured into coarse 
blankets; possibly it or its noils are some¬ 
times made into a very low order of clothing 
goods; and we should not. by any means 
dare swear that some of iL does not get into 
combing fabrics. But, in the first place, it 
cannot in the present condition of things in 
our country, be profitably used in these ways 
to any serious extent; and, secondly, the 
slight loss of protection thus incurred by the 
American growers is compensated by the 
use of their wools in carpets. The statistics 
given on the latter head, by the Bulletin, 
are very noteworthy. IT, then, it had been 
enacted that all classes or kinds of wool 
which furnish any clothing or combing 
wool should pay the same duties as those 
two kinds, the practical result, would lie a 
horizontal tariff—all, or nearly all kinds 
bearing the same rate of duties. 
What would lie the consequences of such 
a tariff? From the largo amount of wool 
per yard necessarily used in carpets, the im¬ 
position ot class one ami two duLies on it. 
would raise the price of those fabrics to an 
oppressive pitch on consumers of small 
means. They now have to pay for them nil 
they can afford to do. We do not believe iu 
encouraging popular extravagance, but we 
do believe in placing no unnecessary ob¬ 
stacles in the way of the widest popular en¬ 
joyment of those comforts and adornments 
which both indicate and produce taste and 
culture—all that goes to make up civiliza¬ 
tion. Legislators have no right to render 
such enjoyments less attainable by enhanc¬ 
ing their cost, without the most stringent 
reasons. If protective duties on carpet wool 
were necessary to foster an existing and im¬ 
portant NatiOOul husbandry, which was es¬ 
sential to the public subsistence, to the gen¬ 
eral agriculture of the country, and to the 
Utilization of vast portions of the public do¬ 
main, as-is the case with clothing and comb 
ing wool husbandry, then those duties would 
he as justifiable in one instance as the Other; 
and the same ultimate compensation would 
he made to the consumer by the reduction of 
prices caused by domestic competition. But 
duties equal to those on clothing and comb¬ 
ing wools will not now, and probably for 
generations to come, lead to any extensive 
production of carpel wools in our country, 
because it would cost as much or more per 
Pound to grow them as to grow the former, 
and the aggregate value of the wool and 
mutton would be less. For our growers, 
then, to insist that carpet wool shall perpet¬ 
ually pay the same duties as the seriously 
competing wools, because a comparatively 
small amount of it can he, and is, used in 
clothing and combing fabrics — when, too, 
as already said, this use finds an equivalent 
in the use of the former in carpets—would 
betray a selfishness so inordinate that it could 
not fail to disgust the great mass of our peo¬ 
ple. And it is very safe to say, we think, 
that no such legislation could be procured 
from Congress. 
To attempt to impose duties solely accord¬ 
ing to the use to which every bale of im¬ 
ported wool is actually put—thus doiug 
away with classification and the use of stand¬ 
ard samples, and making use instead of char- 
ader the criterion of duties—would, under 
any system of execution which we can pos¬ 
sibly conceive of, be attended with intoler¬ 
able evils. If the wools were appraised at 
the custom house before being used, the im¬ 
porter or consignee would virtually have to 
appraise his own duties; for he alone could 
declare to what use wools should be put or 
were, intended to be put. But, how could 
the importer make affidavit how wools should 
be used, when he, in a great majority of 
cases, imports them to sell them iu the mar¬ 
ket, and when, of course, his control of them 
ceases with his ownership? Suppose lie 
were required to give a bond that they 
should be used in a particular way, or, wbat 
would lead to the same practical result in 
the mode of collecting duties. Suppose 
government officers were appointed to as¬ 
certain the use to which every bale was put 
ami levy the duties accordingly? (Socrude 
a proposition as this lias actually been sug¬ 
gested tous!) How large an army of offi¬ 
cials—secret agents, spies, detectives and all 
—would it require even to make a slunv of 
keeping trace of each invoice of imported 
wool, scattered in different bauds, mixed 
with other lots, and manufactured at differ¬ 
ent periods? It would require a larger force 
than is now employed In the entire revenue 
service of the United Stales, would cost 
vastly more than the amount of duties col¬ 
lected by it, and the result would lie inquis¬ 
itorial interferences in private business, un¬ 
justifiable hindrances and annoyances in 
trade, incessant litigation, and doubtless 
fraud, perjury and bribery on one side, and 
espionage, black mailing and the acceptance 
of bribes on the other. 
From tlm above facts wc think it will he 
apparent that it was not. practicable for the 
Growers’ committee who assisted in framing 
the wool tariff to carry out the Windham 
county plan to tile letter. But we believe 
the essential object of the wool grower—pro¬ 
tection from foreign competing wools—was 
about as well accomplished in both form and 
matter, as is often done in tariff legislation. 
No tariff law has ever passed Congress in 
which loop holes for evasion did not exist, 
or ill which they were not created by subse¬ 
quent circumstances. 
While we concur with the Bulletin in re¬ 
gard to the objects and meaning of the law, 
to the extent above stated, we cannot con¬ 
cur in its view—taken its full latitude—that 
“there is nothing in this agreement (the 
agreement between the joint committees) by 
which it can he remotely inferred that all 
wools, suitable for clothing purposes, were 
to be subjected to the increased duty; and 
that none lint carpet wools should remain 
iu the class upon which the duty was not to 
he Increased.’’ The reasoning and illustra¬ 
tions which follow seem to show that the 
Bulletin claims that in the designation “car¬ 
pet and other similar wools," the term 
“ similar wools " was intended to cover other 
wools besides carpel wools. Wc cannot by 
any means accept this interpretation. Wo 
have already admitted that carpet wools 
proper may he and are used to some extent 
in other fabrics. The best known and most 
distinctly characterized carpet wools are 
enumerated in class three, and the addi¬ 
tional words “similar wools" merely bring 
within that class all sueli wools of like char¬ 
acter as have been heretofore usually impor¬ 
ted into the United States from Turkey, 
Greece, Egpyt, Syria, and elsewhere." This is 
no extension of the boundaries of that class in 
respect to character or quality. All the 
wools not of 4 * like character”—though tliev 
maybe very near to it—or imported from 
the same countries, are by express provision 
included in class one. The law is clear and 
explicit on this head; and tin* joint committee 
so understood it when they agreed on the 
draft of the law. The standard samples at 
the Custom Houses were approved of by the 
Growers’ committee appointed to examine 
them, on Hi at and no other understanding. 
We think, also, it Is going too far to say— 
at least, as the words are likely to lie gener¬ 
ally interpreted—Unit there is nothing in the 
agreement of the Joint Committee by which 
it can be “ remotely Inferred” that all wools 
suitable for clothing purposes were to he 
subjected to the increased duty. Literally, 
this is true, if there are any wools among 
carpet wools proper, ns defined by the act, 
which are “suitable" for clothing purposes, 
ami not otherwise. All other wools suitable 
for those purposes are distinctly included in 
class one. In the agreement of the Joint 
Committee it was, wo know, the intention 
of one side—and the same Intention was 
avowed by the other side—to make charac¬ 
ter as strictly as practicable the basis of clas¬ 
sification; to make the boundaries between 
clothing, combing and carpet wools as clearly 
defined as the case admitted of. And we 
are not willing to let any statement which can 
be either interpreted or misinterpreted into 
a different view of the facts, appear in the 
official organ ol the National Association of 
Wool Manufacturers, without expressing our 
dissent. 
Some other points in which we disagree 
with the Bulletin, will receive our attention 
next week if our health permits. 
-♦♦♦--- 
To D.m-ot hlii-cp Killing American 
Stock Journal Says:-" A do* muv bu (Infected 
by examining Ills mouth, it lu* Imsnot nicked 
ns teeth, clean, small bits of wool may tin seen 
between them, mid ho may safety be pronounced 
trinity, and ready for a pill. Everyman ought, 
to make it a rule to kill every dog that he sees 
utter the sheep, without asking who lie belongs 
to. Some few dogs can be cured by tying them 
to a stake in nn iuclosure. and telling a closely 
sheared rain at him; lie will teach him a lesson 
in rammer a that he will not soon forget, and he 
wilt ever after give the road to a tloek of sheep. 
WOOL AND WOOLEN EXPOSITION. 
To the Wool (/rowers of Illinois The 
third annual exposition under the auspices 
of the Woolen Manufacturers' Association of 
the West and South, is to he held at Indian¬ 
apolis, Indiana, beginning the first Tuesday 
in August, and will continue for four days. 
A cordial invitation has been extended to 
the wool growers of the whole country to 
contribute for exhibition samples of their 
wools, and all necessary facilities for their 
proper display have been promised. 
It is hoped that the invitation will meet 
with a response from the wool growers ns 
hearty and cordial as the spirit that inspired 
it; and that from all sections of our State 
such specimens will bo sent In as will con¬ 
vince all who see them that there is no good 
reason why Illinois wools should not bring 
as much money as wools of the same grade 
grown in other States, And let the growers 
themselves attend, and form and renew ac¬ 
quaintance with the Woolen Manufacturers 
of the Mississippi Valley, who are, and will 
coutiuue to be, their best customers. 
A. M. Garland, 
Prea't 111 ., State Wool Growers’ Ass’n. 
Chatham, June 6,1870. 
e tmurdist. 
NOTES FOR NATURALISTS. 
A Poimoii l’ntnlo Hug. 
We find the following in an exchange. 
Since it comes from a neighborhood where 
we suppose the Colorado potato bug is 
known it may bo distinct, but wc suspect 
not,:—“ A new bug 1ms appeared upon pota¬ 
to vines at Huntsville, lnd. In size and 
color it. very much resembles a 4 quail head' 
bean, being oval in shape and light buff mid 
dark brown striped, It cannot bo driven 
from the vines like the common bug, but 
when attacked curls up and plays dead, after 
the style of the ‘ possum/ They are said to 
be very poisonous, and as they can only be 
removed by killing, it is well to guard 
against coining in contact with them.” 
Want* to Know How to Destroy Rod 
A lit*. 
M. A. II., Clifton Farm, Va., writes the 
Buhal New-Yorker : — 44 1 wish to ask 
some of the Rural’s readers what will des¬ 
troy red ants. I haven 1 ?ways thought I had 
as much patience as most people; but I can’t 
stand the red ant. Why they will climb 
five and six feet high after cake and pre¬ 
serves. I have tried camphor, chalk, tansy, 
and coal oil, but these do not in the least 
affect them. 1 shall feel very grateful to any 
one who will tell me how to subdue my 
chief enemies.” 
To Destroy Ciirrnut Worms, 
H. Miles writes us that he went to a tin 
shop, had a pint cup punched full of fine 
holes, fitted a cover tight, filled the cup with 
air slaked lime in the morning when the dew 
was on, held up the branches ami sifted the 
lime on the worms until they and the ground 
under them were white. This was three 
years ago and had no more trouble until the 
present season. Plenty of fruit and no 
worms if the work is well done. 
Information Wanted About Minks. 
Rensselaer Hills asks how he can get a 
slock of minks to start with, how and with 
what to feed them, how to keep them, and 
in what kind of a pen. On pages fil l and 
GOo of Rural New-Yorker for 1809, and 
pages 143,191, fi53 of the volume just closed, 
he will find all the information wc have tin 
the subject We shall he glad to publish 
answers to the inquiries if furnished us. 
Currant nud Gooseberry Worm*. 
Mrs. Mary W. Herrick writes the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker in answer to an inquiry 
by 8. G. Roimixs:—“Sprinkle the ground 
under the bushes with wood ashes at least 
Itali an inch deep. Sprinkle the bushes with 
soap suds, and then sprinkle thickly with 
wood aslie3 as often as the worms appear. 
I experimented in this way for several years, 
and had plenty of nice fruit and thrifty 
bushes.” 
Kuirs iu Seed l’ens. 
Rowland Hill asks how to keep bugs 
from seed peas. The best and only way we 
know of is to sow the crop designed for seed 
late in the season—after the season of the 
pea bug is over—say from 10th. of June to 
10th of July, above latitude 42°. 
---*•*•-*- 
Imiuirlca for Naturalists.— A Rural New- 
YoiiKEn correspondent asks:—“Will mink 
breeding pay in the South? or, is the weather 
too warm for t lie fur to arrive at perfection ? 
Will somebody give a plan for a small minkory, 
or advice as to their management. Where can I 
IP-1 a treatlso on the subject ?" We doubt if the 
mink can be raised for its Tor with profit In the 
South. Shull be glad to publish any tnfnruiu- 
tiou concerning ita practical management.—Mrs. 
D. asks sonic one to tell her how to prepare in¬ 
sects and birds where one wants a tittle museum 
of her own. Should water, iu whloh small lisli 
are kept, be changed every day? 
arm feonontth 
MANURING WITH SOD. 
It is well to put manure on corn land and 
plow it in ; it is well to put much on, as the 
corn will bear it. But much—not all—of 
this manure, if the soil be leaeby, will be lost, 
so that there will still be a good growth. 
The reason of this loss is, the manure is so 
far down that the strength goes into the suit- 
soil. The soil being leaclty, that is the last 
of it, save what little the roofs get before it 
escapes them. This is so in leaeby soil, the 
effect of the manure will last hut a year, 
generally. In a well balanced, attractive 
soil, where clay largely prevails, especially 
in a pulverized state, the tiling is entirely 
different. The manure will be retained, but 
below, well down; and all the grains and 
grasses will not get the benefi t, at least at oneo, 
as is generally wanted. And the effect there, 
in the rather cold ground—cold, because far 
down, especially when deep-plowed—is less, 
and will be tardy; decomposition, if raw 
manure, will be slower. 
But, plowed in and worked through the 
soil at once, the case is different, and im¬ 
proved. Here the elements act, the plow 
and cultivator aid, and the soil will hr. mel¬ 
low, light and rich. If in this condit ion un¬ 
til it settles down and becomes “ natural,” 
incorporates, so to speak, the manure, and 
makes it soil, it is just the land for wheat— 
mellow, yet compact, and rich throughout, 
nothing to inflate or give the predominance 
to the straw. But anything will grow in 
such soil. Such is the old soil of the sum¬ 
mer fallows, and we find some of it gets 
with its corresponding crops of wheat. 
Here there is no manure lost; yet, there is 
a loss. Had this manure been applied to 
the surface, worked well down and pul 
verized, there would have been an equal 
effect, not mechanically, not in the texture 
of the soil, (which, however, is mostly 
brought about by the plow,) but. theslrenglh 
would have been there, the attraction of the 
soil would have hold it •, in a leaeby soil only 
the rains would have washed it. down. But, 
even were some lost, there would have been 
—and this Is the point—a gain from the at¬ 
mosphere which the crop Avould have at¬ 
tracted by its increased growth. Here the 
manure has added much more than it lost 
and more than its whole strength amounted to. 
This accounts, in a great, measure, for the 
unexplained and almost incredible effect of 
top-dressing with manure. This, particu¬ 
larly on soil, and in good soil, is sufficiently 
attractive. On land that is leaclty the case 
is one that demands especial attention. Ma¬ 
nure applied on the surface will work down, 
hitting all the soil, striking first the upper 
roots of the grass, when it is greatly arrested, 
most of Ihc strength being taken up; the 
remainder is absorbed by the roots below. 
The first, full, direct effect, is where it, is most 
wanted, in the thick of the sod, the net¬ 
work of roots. This stimulates, and the at¬ 
mosphere aids, and hence the growth we 
see on light soil in the case of top-dressing. 
But whether leaclty soil or not, it strikes 
us as being best to apply manure on the sur¬ 
face of all soils and for almost any purpose. 
The advantage is, the gain front the atmo¬ 
sphere. It is for this reason that sod is the 
great improver of land, even with little or no 
application of manure. Where does this sod 
get its strength from? Not front the soil, 
which imparls something, it is true, but from 
the mineral matter mostly. But that does 
not improve the soil; it adds to it. This 
addition cannot come from the soil. Be¬ 
sides, how much is taken from the land—the 
crops, year after year; in the case of 
meadows, nothing is returned, except the 
aftermath, its own product, to protect and 
enrich it, and in case of pasture, the manure 
Of the stock. Now, we know cases, and we 
know that this is a principle, where the fall 
rowen alone is sufficient to keep up the 
land, continue the grass. Thus meadows, 
as well as pasture, may be made permanent 
that otherwise would have run out. Manure, 
applied on the surface, aids in this matter. 
It is hence that wo see some fanners ma¬ 
nure their land with sod alone; sod must 
do it all, thickened and enriched by manure, 
the ground holding the sod as well. Here is 
a mass to turn under. And this mass ex¬ 
tends down and up. First, clover will en¬ 
rich below, (as well as above,) the manure 
(on the surface) stimulating and driving the 
roots dowti as well as matting them above; 
the coating of manure inducing the roots to 
follow upwards into the manure, which be¬ 
comes soil, especially if compost is applied, 
of which soil is an ingredient, as clay upon 
sand. 
In our dairy region this thing is largely 
practiced. The land is improving constant¬ 
ly. Poor soil—light, naked ridges even—is 
Improved in this way, and made to produce 
remuneratively. Apply the compost, made 
largely with clay, and In a short time there 
will be a sod established, to be continued 
with proper care, tin occasional repetition of 
the manure with other fertilizers, the after¬ 
math, or, in case of pasture, fall growth. 
The manure (clay compost) is best applied 
in the fall. The little grass there is 
will receive the impetus, and the dormant 
seeds vegetate ; tne manure and the fall rains 
will do this, and there will be nothing lost 
from the manure, the clay holding what the 
plant does uot take. 
In the spring early, on the snows, seed 
may he sown, and it will be sure to vogetate 
and grow right along, yielding a fair crop. 
Clover is best. Or the land may lie sown to 
timothy in the fall, after the manure is ap¬ 
plied, and the clover in the spring. 
Bod is a healthy manure, containing only 
the ingredients of the plant, all innocuous, 
all needed, and all to he used at once, ready, 
or nearly so. It lias also its effect upon the 
soil, the mineral part, acting and being acted 
upon. 
This readiness of nse is of importance, 
and for all purposes—growing fruit admira¬ 
bly, grass, corn, and clover in perfection ; 
and Lite grains as but few manures will grow 
them. 
One of our farmers, who lias practiced 
this for years, in connection with drainage, 
has his land—the good and the poor, hill 
and valley, clay and sand—improved, and 
carried to the highest State of perfection. 
Such sod is, perhaps, nowhere seen on so 
large a scale, and so dense and rich. Here 
is grass, pasture and meadow, and grain of 
all kinds, that arc not only stout, but never 
fail. The present season finds an abundance 
that should be seen ; the past season it was 
nearly the same ; and all through sod, sod. 
This is the making of the farm and the man. 
We know others. One farm of a hundred 
and eleven acres, entirely covered with 
sod, save nn acre for potatoes and a small 
hop yard. The whole extent of this farm is 
constantly feeding from the atmosphere, and 
largely this season. 
You will say, “ Too much grass.” This is 
not so. Tin* grass is profitable. A large 
dairy is kept., clover is raised, several crops 
cut in some cases, and timothy and other 
grasses in rank abundance. It is found to 
pay well; it will pay well for grain, when 
that is raised, as it is occasionally, and some¬ 
times largely, and always a sure and highly 
remunerative crop. 
Your sod needs but a few months to pre¬ 
pare (to rot.) it. Then it is perfect. Not, so 
with manure generally. This requires treat¬ 
ment, and in the case of hone, salt, lime, Ac., 
it requires time. But the sod springs to its 
work almost at once; even while decom¬ 
posing its effect is seen. And it needs no 
drawing; it needs no making; it is there, 
except the filth: that is added to aid its 
growth front the atmosphere. It is lienee 
that dairying is prosperous; by grazing, in 
the long run, the land is improved, and the 
crops pay at the same time, while the labor 
is lessened.— F. o. 
- +++- - 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
The Use of Charcoal. 
A youno farmer front Southern New Jer¬ 
sey says he lias about half an acre of char¬ 
coal dust, about six incites deep, mixed with 
decayed wood and vegetable matter, and 
asks what he shall do with it. Apply it to 
any land, clay, loam, or sand, that has no 
charcoal on it, and It will benefit the same. 
Apply inti Straw to Kras* I,amt. 
J. Wilkinson writes the Rural New- 
Yorker :—“ I hope that grain grow ing tann¬ 
ers will test, this year, the economy of ap¬ 
plying all the straw not required Ibr feeding 
and bedding animals, to grass land, by 
spreading it evenly on (lie surface as a mulch. 
A mulch of clean straw, applied on land in 
whiter grain, and newly seeded with grass, 
1 have known to produce beneficial effects, 
making the value of the straw thus used 
fully twelve dollars per ton. I know of no 
use of straw from which so great a profit will 
result generally, as from applying it, as a top 
dressing for grass land, in autumn or early 
winter. 
“ If the condition of the soil newly seeded 
is such that it would be injudicious to haul 
over it after seeding, it may be deferred until 
tlie first freeze that will bear the leatus and 
vehicles, when it may be applied, and thus 
frequent freezing and thawing prevented, 
tlmn which nothing is more injurious to 
young grain and grass,” 
Top-DrcKwiiur will* Stable Manure. 
Some one lias said truthfully, that “ Nature 
is an open book.” We may add that every 
intelligent human being can read Iter book 
without a master; for its lessons are plain, 
practical and unmistakable. We were led 
into these reflections by a simple observa¬ 
tion one day while passing through a large 
pasture where, the year before, a herd of 
cattle had been kept. We noticed huge 
tufts of grass—dark and rich in color—tall 
and rank, being four or five limes better 
than the surrounding grass. These tufts 
were thickly scattered Over the field, and 
we asked ourselves the cause. On taking a 
sharp stick and uprooting one of them, we 
found rattle manure the basis of the growth. 
The tufts were just the.size of the droppings. 
The lesson taught was that such muniqe was 
superb us a top-dressing for grass fields and 
meadows. Is it not equally good l'or any¬ 
thing else?— Woodman. 
