West for best success iu dairying ; the grasses 
at the time of our visit having a brown ap¬ 
pearance, and of much less succulence than 
further East. The town is 290 miles west of 
Omaha, with an elevation of 2,789 feet above 
the sea level. 
of grain and vegetables. The grasses of 
these high plains and mountain slopes, when 
ripe, dry upon the stalk, forming uncut hay 
as nutritious as that prepared by the most 
careful curing at the East. There are no 
rains during the cold months, and as the 
snow is dry it does not freeze upon stock, 
and is soon evaporated or blown away. Of 
course there are large tracts of land that 
cannot be Irrigated, and that must, for the 
present, bo useless for agricultural purposes, 
but perhaps in the future, by some system 
of artesian wells, may in part be made avail¬ 
able. This, however, is a question which 
need not now ho discussed. 
At Truckeo we are to make an excursion 
to Lake Tahoe, and I shall hope to send you 
noteB from that point. x. A. w. 
our address at the first meeting of the Dairy¬ 
men’s Association at Utica in 1804-5. It is 
the most rational system of cheese-making, 
in our opinion, that has yot been adopted, 
and our observations of different methods in 
Europe in I860 confirms the opinion. From 
1865 our factories gradually worked into this 
method, and the Bystem to-day of the best 
cheese made in America for export is essen¬ 
tially after the Cheddar process, modified 
somewhat to suit our factory apparatus, and 
it is doubtful whether we have improved in 
the main features of that process, though we 
have learned the reason and philosophy of 
many things connected with it which the 
English did not appear to understand. Tho 
acid process, which is tho distinguished fea¬ 
ture in the Cheddar method, was not prac¬ 
ticed in American dairies previous to I860. 
DAIRY NOTES ON NEBRASKA 
The population is about 700, 
and the United States land office is located 
here. Mr. Webster stated the reason for 
choosing tin's Iocatiyu was that it afforded a 
summer and winter rauge for stock. His 
original idea was to herd bis cattle and grow 
stock in this section, but more recently the 
thought occurred to him that cheese dairy¬ 
ing in connection with his herds could be 
carried ou with profit. A cheese factory 
was therefore erected, and went into opera¬ 
tion about the middle of May of the present 
year. Ho has a herd of about 600 cattle 
feeding on the plains, but of cows giving 
milk, which is used at the factory, there 
were only about 150. He was expecting, 
however, to increase the uumber in a week 
or more to 200. The stock consists largely 
of Mexican cows purchased in the spring, 
and the plan is to raise the calves, feeding 
them with milk for about four weeks and 
then gradually weaning. He was not yet 
fully satisfied whether it would be better or 
more economical to feed the calves by hand, 
as is the usual practice at the East, or to let 
them suck ; but he was inclined to think the 
latter plan the more economical. 
CHARACTER Of THE MILK. 
The milk which we tasted from the vat 
was of fine flavor and very rich, and al¬ 
though wo had expected it might possibly 
be tainted with the flavor of weeds or of the 
wild onion, which is sometimes found on the 
lowland? of the Platte, nothing of the kind 
was observable in the milk, and Mr. Web¬ 
ster says his milk has never shown this 
taint. 
THE CHEESE. 
There wore about 175 cheeses in the curing 
room, pressed after the Ohio fashion, flat or 
thin—this style being suited to the home 
market. The choesc, a number of which we 
tented, were of good flavor and “ full of 
meat,” and gave ample evuleuce that good 
cheese can bo made, from the natural grasses 
of Nebraska. Tho cheese maker informed 
us that on an average 8 16-100 pounds of milk 
made one of cheese, which indicates that the 
milk is rich. Mrs. Randall, widow of the 
late Postmaster-General, who is part owner 
of the ranch, and who was ou a visit at 
North Platte, kindly presented ouo of the 
cheeses to our editorial party, and it was 
duly cut and eaten of from time, to time on 
our journey Westward, and was universally 
pronounced excellent. 
THE BUTTER. 
In the cellar of the dairy-house we found 
a number of large crocks of butter, and here 
also we were agreeably surprised to find it 
so uniformly good. And from all we saw 
LETTER FROM A RURAL EDITOR—CLIMATE. 
The climate of Nebraska is claimed to be 
distinguished for its salubrity. From its 
central location it escapes at once the severe 
cold and long winters of t he Northern, and 
the hot, relaxing influences of the Southern 
States. Distant from the ocean and great 
lakes of the interior, it is exempt, from the 
chilly, damp winds and the mists and fogs 
so prevalent In the countries bordering on 
these large bodies of water. Fever and ague 
and other disorders resulting from miasiua tic 
influences so common in many of the fairest 
portions of the West do not prevail to any 
extent, and the country is very free from 
epidemic diseases. 
The high altitude, the dry and bracing 
character of the atmosphere, and the univer¬ 
sal purity of the water render central and 
eastern Nebraska favorable to persons pre¬ 
disposed to pulmonary and rheumatic dis¬ 
eases. The general healthfulness of the 
climato was especially referred to as an im¬ 
portant characteristic of the State among all 
those with whom we conversed, and from 
what we saw of the inhabitants we had no 
reason to doubt the statement. 
FRUIT. 
We have referred in our previous article 
to the wonderful facility with which all 
kinds of vegetables are grown in the State. 
Root crops yield very largely, and It is 
claimed that the Platte Valley is peculiarly 
adapted to the culture of the sugar beet. 
Sweet potatoes, sorghum, tobacco, &c., are 
also easily grown. But U3 a fruit-growing 
State Nebraska will, without doubt, hold 
prominence in the future. The freedom from 
severe frosts during the months of May and 
September, in connection with the dry win¬ 
ters and warm, quick soil, renders the State 
eminently adapted to the cultivation of fruit. 
Apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, 
grapes, currants, berries, &c., have been 
sufficiently tested to prove that they can be 
produced with ease ami profit. Wild fruits, 
plums, grapes, and harries grow luxuriantly 
in the groves, along tho streams, and on the 
prairies, and are a valuable product to the 
early settler, supplying the place of the cul¬ 
tivated varieties before they liave time to 
grow. This is an important feature, be¬ 
cause fruit is at once a necessity and luxury, 
and any country whore fruit cannot be 
readily grown must be regarded as having 
serious disadvantages. 
STOCK RAISING. 
For stock growing Nebraska must be re¬ 
garded, in our opinion, as pre-eminent. 
With its wide range of rich pasturage, 
clothed iu luxuriant grasses, its numberless 
streams and springs of clear, pure water, 
its mild, dry and healthful climate, and the 
excellent market advantages afforded by the 
Union Pacific Railroad and its branches, 
Nebraska, ft seems to us, ia destined to be¬ 
come especially distinguished as a stock 
growing State. The boundless unfenced 
prairies covered with nutritious grasses, with 
abundance of sweet, pure running water and 
groves to shelter from heat and storms will 
for years to come furnish wide ranges of free 
pasturage. The grasses known uh the blue- 
joint, red stem, bunch, and buffalo are 
REQUIREMENTS IN A FIRST-CLASS 
SHIPPING CHEESE. 
SOWING CLOVER IN THE FALL 
“ A Reader,” Evansville, ind., asks if red 
clover is sown in the fall whether it will 
yield a full crop the following year, also 
what time is best for full sowing. Our own 
experience is decidedly against fall sowing 
of clover-seed. Occasionally in very mild 
winters, and with the ground well covered 
by snow, the young plants might survive, 
but this rarely happens. Young clover ia a 
very tender plant, and very liable to be 
“hoven” out of the ground, Its root strik¬ 
ing downward rather than spreading lat¬ 
erally. Even if clover should survive the 
winter, it would hardly reach full growth 
the following summer. Hence it would not 
be advisable to sow clover-seed in fall even 
if it would certainly survive the winter. 
Such clover plants would undoubtedly seed 
the second season, and tho result would bo 
that the plant would perfect its seed and die 
with the smallest possible growth. This iB 
exactly the reverse of wlmt is wanted. Sow 
clover-seed as early as possible in the spring, 
then apply gypsum or land plaster, to give it 
vigorous growth, and leave it unpastured 
till late iu the fall. This would allow the 
largest possible increase of roots, which 
would insure a heavy crop the second year. 
Such a course is most beneficial to tho laud, 
whether the crop be mown or plowed under. 
In localities further South than Indiana 
fall sowing of clover-seed might be safe, but 
we would not advise it iu any case. 
SWEET POTATOES, 
I grow my plants principally over a fur¬ 
nace, whero I can control the heat, and find 
they have bettor roots than when hot-beds 
are used. 1 plant much closer than was 
formerly the custom here. The rows aro 
made by Rheil's Ridgcr, described in tho 
Missouri Agricultural Reports, I think, of 
1868. I put a peg iu tho rear of it to make a 
straight row to set tho plants by, as every¬ 
thing is easier cultivated when planted 
straight. The rows are .3 feet apart and the 
plants 12 inches. I find they produce as 
mauy potatoes to the hill as when further 
space is given, I use what the cotton plant¬ 
ers call a sweep, similar to a shovel plow and 
two feet wide. I start with low ridges, and 
pull soil up to the plants every time they are 
hard, which is easily done with the assist¬ 
ance of the sweep. When I commenced 
digging I cut the vines with a scythe fasten¬ 
ed to the bar of the plow at one end and the 
beam near the clevis at the other. I dig 
with Hexainer’s Prong Hoe, though many 
think plowing them out better. I prefer 
smooth seed, because smooth potatoes keep 
better than rough ones. I think new rich 
land or old poor land preferable, and rolling 
land generally better than flat, though the 
past year flat land did much better, owing to 
the drouth. 
I plant the St. Louis Red, the Bermuda 
and the Nansemond. Can’t tell tho differ¬ 
ence between the last© of the first and last. 
The Red produces the larger crop, and only 
requires two plants where the Nansemond 
requires three.—W m. Outen in N. Y. Tri¬ 
bune. 
