JULY <7 MOORE’S RURAL WEW-YORIKER. 
cffield ®i|0|)a. 
the future of the fotato crop. 
Wilt, the beetle destroy the potato crop 
and make the growth of this important 
edible either impossible or greatly restrict¬ 
ed ! Wo give a decided A'o to both these 
questions, frequently asked of us personally, 
and almost every day suggested by the fears 
of our exchanges. 
The potato is far too important a crop to 
be stamped out. of existence by the beetle. 
Intelligent and enterprising farmers would 
find means of growing potatoes enough for 
general use were the difficulties fourfold 
what they are. Possibly the price of pota¬ 
toes might be doubled, or even trebled, tint 
the use of the vegetable would not. lie dis¬ 
continued, and its production would be more 
profitable than ever before. Potatoes have 
always been too easily grown. Hence the 
price has been low and the farmer has not 
had fair pay for the hard work which 
handling a potato crop implies. Henceforth, 
by doing some additional light, work in de¬ 
stroying potato beetles, by planting on better 
soil and giving better culture, the crop will 
be larger, the price better, and the receipts 
perhaps trebled, at a slight additional cost 
per acre. The potato beetle will, without 
doubt, increase the price of potatoes some¬ 
what, and in this the consumer must suffer ; 
but farmers who know how to deal witli the 
enemy can and will make more money from 
potatoes than ever before. The potato is 
henceforth transferred to the list of crops 
not easily grown, and therefore always most 
profitable. It is skill and patience which 
hest, pay in farming and not brute Strength, 
and these are what potato culture needs. So 
long as it was a business that mainly em 
ployed strong arms and backs in digging and 
securing the crop, potato growing was not a 
very inviting occupation, however profita¬ 
ble. Now, by the perfecting of machines for 
planting and digging potatoes, the manual 
labor has been reduced 50 per eeul. It is 
now a question of moral and intellectual 
qualities, and only those farmers will succeed 
who are able to see what is needed and have 
the perseverance and patience to do it. Iu 
less words, potato growing is to be in fewer 
hinds unt il a larger proportion of American 
farmers are more thorough and successful in 
their business. 
The potato beetle, in common with most 
insect enemies, will prove a blessing in dis¬ 
guise to American farmers. Many of them 
may not sec this now, but ten or twenty' 
years lienee they will. The midge in wheat, 
compelled farmers to prepare their ground 
better, to put in seed more carefully, and to 
manure better than over before ; and we be- 
lieve the potato beetle will ultimately have 
as good an effect on growers of the potato. 
There is neither reason nor religion in de¬ 
spondency. Reason and experience tell ua 
that when any insect becomes too numerous 
something is sent to check it, and we are 
told in the Good Book that while the earth 
endureth summer and winter, seed-time and 
harvest shall not fail. 
-- 
TO GET LAND INTO GRASS. 
A New Jersey correspondent (Cyrus Rrs- 
leb) asks : 
Will some of the readers of the Rubai. 
give their experience in getting land into 
good sward for pasturing with sheep, with¬ 
out plowing f Alino is a moderately stiff 
day, hut not springy, covered with a present 
f rowth of Poverty glass, Five-finger and 
loss. Could such land bo got in with Orch¬ 
ard grass, how would it be for sheep pasture, 
and what sort of grass would do best i 
A\'e should advise a shallow plowing of 
such soil as the bust preparation for getting 
it into grass. Still a thorough pulverization 
of the surface to make a good seed bed 
would answer. If intended for permanent 
pasture, sow this fall a mixture of Timothy 
and June grass. It is probable tliat the land 
is not rich enough, and in that case SOW a 
mixture of Orchard grass and Clover next 
spring with one bushel of Oats and Barley 
per acre. The Clover will be the chief crop 
the first year, and should be let grow with¬ 
out pasturing till it is in blossom. Orchard 
grass will spread rapidly as the Clover runs 
out. Do not pasture the Orchard grass until 
the sod is fully established. After that the 
closer browsed it is kept the better. Sheep 
are just the stock to feed down Orchard 
grass, as they bite close and distribute their 
manure evenly. 
LATE SOWING OF TURNIPS. 
In our general climate—say the average of 
the Connecticut shore going westward into 
Kaqsas, all the line for 100 miles above it 
can and should bo successful in growing a 
late crop of turnips. The best ground for 
them is an old sod turned over ; next, an oat 
stubble, and last, an old-worked ground tlmt 
has bad no fresh or uurotlod manure placed 
upon it Ihis season. Any and all these 
grounds should be plowed four to live days 
before sowing, and theu harrowed just be¬ 
fore the sowing. Then sow the seed, and 
my advice is to use a good seed sower, by 
which I hc most perfect, work is done, and 
that, rapidly. The varieties that l would 
advise are the old White Dutch, Red Top, 
Strap Leaf and Long French. The first will 
be the most marketable, the second the best 
for your own table until about midwinter, 
and then the Loug French will carry the 
line through to April. As soon as the plants 
show a leaf above ground go over the patch 
with a sowing of plaster of Paris, at the rate 
of one bushel to the acre, sowing it as well 
as you can on and along the rows. When 
you drill iu your seed, make the rows 10 
inches apart, and work once through them 
with a horse and cultivator fitted to the 
width ; then thiu the plants in the row to 
four inches apart. F. R. Elliott. 
ofjitiim <&conontu. 
COMMON SENSE IN PLOWING. 
The Editor of the Practical Farmer has 
the following common-sensible remarks on 
the above subject:— “Teams drawing loads 
on the roads get a breathing spell on the de¬ 
scending ground, while in plowing the draft 
is the same from morning till night. There 
is a certain number of pounds that a team 
can draw day after day and not worry them, 
but if more bo added, even as little as fifteen 
or twenty pounds, they walk unsteadily, fret 
and soon tire. No amount of feeding will 
keep them in condition. I have many plows 
iu use on which it has been an easy matter to 
decrease the draft twenty-five pounds, and if 
men had been drawing them instead of 
horses it would have been done. It, must be 
plain to the farmer that every pound taken 
off from the draft of his plow is so much 
gained for his horses. It may be done i n this 
way : 
“ For a ny soil except sand or gravel, use a 
steel plow. Their cost is but little more, and 
the draft enough less to pay the difference in 
plowing t wenty acres. In plowing sod the 
coulter does a groat deal of the work and 
should bo kept sharp by forging at the black¬ 
smith’s and gi hiding every day if necessary. 
Of course it will wear out sooner, but new 
coulters are cheaper than new teams. Set 
the coulter In liny with the plow, the edge 
square in front, with an angle of I V' from 
the point, to where it is attached to the. beam. 
When the share gets worn out it is poor econ¬ 
omy to use it. any longer, but replace it with 
a new one. Let the traces be as short as will 
allow tho horses bo walk without hitting 
their heels against the whifHetrees and have 
just pressure enough of the wheels on the 
ground to make the plow run steady. If the 
handles crowd continually one way, the draft 
is not right, and if the plow is a good one it 
can be easily remedied at the clevis. To pre¬ 
vent the horses stepping over the truces in 
turning, fasten a weight of about three- 
fourths of a pound on the outside of each 
single tree—that is, on the right end when 
you turn to the left, and vfcei vert a. Every 
observing farmer knows that horses are sus¬ 
ceptible to kindnessuud equally so to unkind¬ 
ness. 1 have seen horses that were working 
steadily made reckless with sweat in a short 
time by a sharp word or a jerk on the bit. 
Let your horses do their work as you do 
yours, as easily as possible, and be as willing 
to overlook their mistakes as you would the 
mistakes of human beings. 
-»»♦ - ■ 
DESTROYING WEEDS. 
July and August are probably the best 
months in the year for destroying weeds. 
The summer heats are at their fiercest and all 
annual weeds cut down at the root speedily 
wither and die. The tougher perrcnials have 
made their growth for the season and have 
nearly perfected their seed. The root then 
has least vitality, and if the top bo cub off a 
feebler effort is made to reproduce it, es¬ 
pecially if the weeds grow in a tough sod of 
grass. We have known frequent mowings 
of thistles in sod to reduce the vitality of the 
patch so much that it would produce only 
here and there a stalk until the field was 
again plowed. 
In the growing com August is, of all 
months, the time to destroy Canada thistles 
and quack. Keep the plant down as much 
as possible early in the season, then, us the 
corn begins to tassel out, go through with 
a. light hoe and cut out every spear of thistle 
and pull up every blade of quack with all the 
root tlmt con bo got attached. The quack 
should be put in heaps and burned, but the 
thistle roots will seldom if over start, again, 
and pulling up at this season of the year, or 
even cutting off, is final and certain destruc¬ 
tion. The cost of doing this is not large, 
varying with price of labor and abundance 
of weeds; but we are satisfied that it is 
always a profitable operation on all land 
foul with thistles. We have repeatedly had 
the cost more than repaid not only in the 
corn crop but in the. succeeding oats and 
barley, besides leaving the land cleaner for 
years thereafter. 
- . 
PROVIDING HAY CAPS. 
Cotton cloth is cheap this year, and farm¬ 
ers who have much grass or grain to gather 
will find it economy to purchase buy caps. 
Any good cotton cloth will answer, but the 
closer the threads the better ; oil and varnish 
will make it nearly impervious to water, 
though a very fair protection will be afforded, 
hy the simple cloth covers to heaps of hay or 
shocks of grain. In a “ catching” season the 
saving of crops in one year will more than 
repay the cost, besides the feeling of rest and 
contentment they give at a time when there 
is always worry enough. For curing clover 
hay they are absolutely essential, as clover 
needs to bo mainly cured in coek after the 
first day’s sun, this retaining its freshness 
into the winter. The codes of hay may be 
made, large, and safely protected under hay 
caps, may be allowed to remain four or five 
days In stormy weather without injury. 
Then with the approach of fine weather, open 
them to the sunshine and the hay, perfectly 
cured, will be ready for the barn. A slight, 
heating in cock is the best preventive of heat 
ing in the mow or stack, for the reason that 
the slight heating dries the juices of the 
plant more rapidly even than the sun and air. 
—--- 
Feeding Old Potatoes.—A. Brewster, in 
Boston Cultivator, recommends storing old 
and unsalable potatoes in a dry shed cham¬ 
ber through the summer and feeding to cows 
when the pastures fail. The potatoes shrivel 
but neither sprout norrot if spread thin, and 
they a,ru, more valuable for cows late in the 
season than in the spring and early summer. 
Jnilu5ti|ial 
AMONG THE HOOSIER FARMERS. 
The editor of the ludinna Farmer has been 
visiting two intelligent and enterprising 
farmers of that State, both of whom have 
their barns built between house and road¬ 
way so that visitors have to cross the barn¬ 
yard before reaching the house. The men 
appear to be sensible and good farmers, not¬ 
withstanding the bad tastodisplayed in their 
surroundings. Wo quote what the Farmer 
says of Isaac Barker’s success in hog 
growing, poultry raising and bee keeping : 
Ho has eleven aged Berksh ires and twenty- 
nine pigs, all in good, healthy, thriving con¬ 
dition. Ho has never lost any of this breed 
from cholera, and thinks them more hardy 
than other breeds. Hoosier Prince is only 
four months old and is a perfect pig, if we 
have ever seen one. Unfortunately for his 
looks, about two inches of his tail has been 
bitten off by another hog. In the ordinary 
pig this defect would not be noticed, but in 
one so trim and neat as he, the blemish is 
quite noticeable. Mr. B. sells nearly all the 
pigs he raises each year, and generally sends 
away an average of one hundred during the 
season, at prices ranging from £10 to £\!5. 
His business is constantly increasing, and he 
could have sold doable the number named 
the present year if he had possessed them. 
He is a great lover of blooded chickens, us is 
well known. In the various yards about the 
house are Buff Cochins, Partridge Cochins, 
Light and Dark Brahmas and Sebright Ban¬ 
tams. If he had any game fowls he didn’t 
show them to us. llis favorites are Bull’ und 
Partridge Cochins, of which varieties he lias 
some splendid specimens. He buys the best 
he can find, and is a careful, painstaking 
breeder. 
Among our friend’s numerous accomplish¬ 
ments is that of bee growing. He is quite 
successful with the mysterious little sweet- 
gatherers and has fifteen strong, working 
: stands that bid fair to make him an average 
I of sixty pounds of prime honey each, the 
present summer. 
£T”3 
43 t 
The farm is old but in good cultivation and 
partly underdrained and yields fair crops of 
corn, wheat and grass. 
-♦ ♦ » 
WEEDS OR INSECTS!! 
The troubles of life are much more evenly 
allotted to man and woman-kind than 
troubled men and women are willing to ad¬ 
mit. Just now all American farmers are 
suffering in fact or anticipation the devasta¬ 
tion of insects, bugs, worms or beetles. The 
cotton worm in the South, the grasshopper 
in the extreme West, the Colorado beetle 
now almost everywhere, constitute a triad 
of troubles not to Vie despised. Add to these, 
orchflrdists suffer from the canker-worm, 
codling moth, ouroulio, and gardeners from 
the cabbage worm, turnip flea, and a host of 
other depredators, and it is hardly to be 
wondered at if American tillers of tho soil 
and fruit growers deem themselves particu¬ 
larly under the curse originally pronounced 
against Adam on his expulsion from the Uar- 
den of Eden. Our tropical American sum¬ 
mers and sunny skies arc just, tho weather to 
breed myriads of insect enemies. Our En¬ 
glish friends are having great fears lest the 
Colorado potato beetle should gain a lodg¬ 
ment among them. Spite of all (heir pre¬ 
cautions we do not doubt that he will; but 
the chances are that if the Doryphora ar¬ 
rived in England its moist, foggy climalo 
would prove ungenia!. It would not breed 
fast nor grow to maturity rapidly and could 
be much more, easily kept in check than here. 
If our climate is ‘too favorable to in suets, 
the same dry, hot weather gives American 
farmers a chance that English farmers might 
envy to “get even” with the weeds. Damp, 
cloudy, rainy days, often for weeks in suc¬ 
cession, keep the soil moist so that thoslight- 
est root will grow. Here, if once fairly 
uprooted, our drying winds and bright sun¬ 
shine dry them to powder. No doubt our 
farmers do often suffer from drouth. Thor¬ 
ough and frequent culture will remedy that 
evil and prevent it from doing any damage. 
Iu fact, we believe it is a general rule tlmt 
in all good farming sections excessive drouth 
usually does less harm than the ot her evil of 
excessive moisture. It is certainly a less 
dangerous enemy to good farming, which is 
almost, siways an accompaniment to good 
crops. 
American farmers, with their fine, climate 
and the ease with which their weeds may be 
destroyed, ought to be the best farmers in 
the world. Their fields ought to be the clean¬ 
est. Wo have reason to hope that in time 
they will be. The present difficulty with in¬ 
sect enemies is only temporary until the 
parasites which prey on the depredators can 
increase. Even now, troublesome as our in¬ 
sect pests are, we prefer all the plagues of 
which American farmers complain rather 
than a climate which by its dampness and 
cloudiness makes thorough farming almost a 
miracle of patience and energy. 
-- 
FOLLOWING “NATURE’S METHOD.” 
The editor of the Farmer’s Journal, Cedar 
Rapids, Iowa, does not believe in one or two 
eyes of potatoes per lull for seed. In the 
course of an article on this subject he admits 
that large crops are thus grown, but adds : 
“ For common field culture, however, with 
but ordinary t illage, it is not safe to rely on 
tins mode of planting. Nature’s mode of 
perpetuating the individual potato plant is 
from whole tubers, and the further we di¬ 
verge from her ways the more cure we have 
to bestow and the less certain become the 
results.” 
“Nature’s method” is not only to grow 
from whole tubers but without any culture, 
and the “results” of this method arc multi¬ 
tudes of small potatoes so poor that it is a 
wonder anybody ever t hought of using them 
for food. Tho exact following of nature’s 
method would, in time, revert the potato to 
its original wild type, which is what nobody 
wants. Undoubtedly, also, the more we di¬ 
verge from nature’s ways, and the more care 
given to growing potatoes, the less certain 
farmers will be of the results which natural 
growing of potatoes would produce. But 
this prospect, also, is not very uppaling to 
those who remember that all good farming, 
all improvements of every kind, and even 
civilization Itself, are the results of diverg- 
ence from natural barbarism. There may 
be good arguments against using small seed 
in potato growing, but we feel safe in saying 
that the Farmer’s Journal lias not guessed 
them this time. 
--- 
Ip Hay in the Mow be heating cover it 
with dry straw to absorb the moisture. 
