240 
THE RURAL I4EW-Y0RKER. 
MARCH 26 
report of the Conn Ex. 8tation. “ This is. in 
fact, generally speaking, sound doctrine as 
applied to mixing fertilizers with lime before 
application. It should be remembered, how¬ 
ever, that few fertilizers contain much am¬ 
monia-salts. Stable manure contains but 
three or four pounds of ammonia to the ton, 
and the ordinary BUperphospbates and special 
manures rarely contain more than two or three 
per cent, of ready-formed ammonia. On mix¬ 
ing with lime, enough ammonia might be lib¬ 
erated to affect the sense of 6mell, more or 
less powerfully, but the loss thus occasioned 
would be in most cases comparatively trifling, 
and far smaller than might be inferred from 
the odor, because the nose is a very sensitive 
te6t for ammonia, and because the intermix¬ 
ture and contact of the lime and the manure 
would be exttemely rough and incomplete, 
and therefore such a mass might be left for 
days, giving oil the smell of ammonia all the 
time, aud then have lost but a fraction of 
that originally present. It has also been 
taught that it is a wasteful or injurious piac- 
tice to apply lime to the land at or near the 
time of dressing it with stable manure, guano 
and superphosphates. This teaching is not 
always or altogether correct. 
The mixing together, in the Boil, of lime and 
fertilizers containing ammonia-salts, can 
scarcely occasion much loss, because the soil, 
by its moisture, by its humus, i. e., vegetable 
matter in decay, and by the absorbent silicates, 
which are never absent from earth that has 
any moderate productive power, is ready to 
take up at once the liberated ammonia, and 
prevent any sensible waste.” 
As quoted by Green’s Fruit Grower. Mr. 
J. J. ThomaB says :—"The banker canuot in¬ 
vest a million dollars safely without knowl¬ 
edge of finance; the captain with no knowl¬ 
edge of navigation, would sink his ship. In 
no business iB the serving of an apprenticeship 
more necessary thau to him who plants an 
orchard for profit. He must know how to 
select the site and the varieties best adapted 
to his locality; he must select fruit that can 
be marketed to the best advantage ; under¬ 
stand just how much to manure for the best 
results; know about cultivation, pruning, 
thinniHg, sorting, packing, shipping and sell¬ 
ing, and these may involve innumerable qual¬ 
ifications. It would be interesting to inquire 
how many millions of trees have been set out 
for market orchards by persons who knew 
nothing of any of these particulars, and who 
supposed that all they bad to do was to bay 
the trees and set them, when they would grow, 
take care of themselves, and, without further 
attention, bear heavy crops of Bilver dollars. 
Bags ok BAKUKLsr Which ?—The question 
of substituting bags or cotton sacks for 
flour barrels is the subject of a lively discus¬ 
sion among Minnesota millers just now, says 
the Prairie Farmer. They maintain that sacks 
are preferable for several cogent reasons. 
First, on the score of economy sacks are the 
be6t, for while flour barrels are worth forty- 
five cents each, cotton sacks, holding half a 
barrel, are worth ten cents apiece. Again, it 
is declared that flour does not sift through a 
good cotton bag as much as through a barrel. 
All the flour shipped to Glasgow and Rottei- 
dam goes in cotton sacks j and then the sacks 
are worth as much there as here. The advan¬ 
tage seems to rest with the sacks. It ought, 
if the change is made, to result beneficially to 
the farmer in the price oi his wheat. 
Dr. Lawr?B ays, in the London Ag. Gazette, 
that the complete exhaustiou of the soil is 
not sooner effected is not due to any modera¬ 
tion on the part of the cultivator, but rathtr 
to the resistance which the soil itself offers to 
the too rapid removal of its treasures. 
When we hear a man boast of the length of 
his ancestry we are reminded of the quaint 
saying of the farmer, ‘‘The older the 6eed 
the worse the crop.”.. 
There are a great many moralists in the 
world who caD write a good prescription for 
honest living but who seldom take any of their 
own medicine. ..... ...... 
We have read the report of one farmer who 
has tried the White Russian Oats and, judging 
by this, we should adviBe that they be sown 
only for trial this Spring. 
Fjtznoodlb Bays In Puck, "This man, (Jay 
Gould}, by hiB powah, is now verwy little we- 
moved fwom an aatocwatic wulah or emper- 
wab, and ha6 weally a gweat deal maw to say 
than many a Eurwopean potentate. It is 
quee-ah, extwemely quet-ab, that such things 
should exist in a wepullic which pwetends to 
be beltah in everwy respect than any othaw de- 
sewiption of government. 
Jodge Frank of the Montgomery County 
Horticultural Society (Ohio) said that his 
mother always succeeded in causing Eeed to 
sprout by placing coffee sacks over the seed- 1 
bed... 
The Washington Post says that Com¬ 
missioner Le Due intends to stand by the 
agricultural interests of the country, just 
as long as the President will let him. The 
very fact that theie is such a ecramble for this 
position shows to our minds that General Le 
Due, whether he has proven a wise, efficient 
officer or not, has certainly elevated the re¬ 
spectability and importance of the Depart¬ 
ment. A committee consisting of W. O. At¬ 
water and others had au audience with the 
President to urge O. Judd for Le Duc'6 place. 
We no longer wonder why Judd's Agricultur¬ 
ist has so condemned General Le Due. We 
should deem it a very sad blow to the interests 
of our agriculture if this Judd were success¬ 
ful. 
31b. Barry, who brought the Sharpless 
Strawberry to notice, says it has more than 
realized hiB expectations. It might have been 
added that the It. N.-Y. was the first horticul¬ 
tural paper that ascertained Us merits by its 
own tests. .... *.. 
A well- known Illinois writer says, accord¬ 
ing to Mr. C. A. Green in the Fruit Grower, 
that the average Western farmer toils hard, 
early and late, often depriving himself of need¬ 
ed rest and sleep—for what ? To raise corn. 
For what? To feed hogs. For what? To get 
money to buy more land. For what ? To feed 
more hogs. For what? To buy more land. 
And what does he want with more laud ? Why, 
he wishes to raise more corn—to feed more 
hogs—to bny more land—to raise more corn— 
to feed more hogs—and in this circle he moves 
until the Almighty stops his hoggish proceed¬ 
ings.” . 
BOOKS, CATALOGUES, ETC. 
John Saul, Washington, D. C. Catalogue 
of new, rare and beautiful plants, 104 pages. 
Crotons, draeaeuas, carnations, fusebias, vej- 
benas, phloxes, etc., with a beautiful colored 
plate of the roses, Duke of Connaught, Pearl 
and Beauly of Stapleford. Sent free. Also a 
Descriptive Catalogue ot Roses of all kinds. 
Hoopes Bro. A Thomas, Westchester, Pa. 
Hand-book of Beautiful flowers, 80 pages. 
Finely illustrated and full of trustworthy in¬ 
formation, Each plant is correctly named 
and full instructions for successful cultivation 
are given. Sent free to our subscribers. 
T. S. Hubbard. Fredonia, N. Y. Wholesale 
price-list of grape-vines, fruit trees, etc. 
L. W. Goodell, Amherst, Mass. Illustrated 
Catalogue of seeds and bulbs. 
Miscellaneous, 
The American Cane Manual with descrip¬ 
tions of the American sugar machinery, manu¬ 
factured by Geo. L. Squier A Brother, Buffalo, 
N. Y. 
Cibculab and Price-list of D. B. Wooster’s 
Perfeeliou Creamery, manufactured by M. D. 
Chapin, Poultney, Vt. 
Catalogue ov Sandwich Corn Shellers, 
fully illustrated, made by the Sandwich Manu¬ 
facturing Company, Sandwich, DeKalb Co,, III, 
Address of the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, 
and the other proceedings of the New England 
Historic Genealogical Society. Published by 
the Society ; 18 Somerset St., Boston, Mass. 
Watertown Spring Wagon Co. Illus¬ 
trated Catalogue of wagons and baggies. Man¬ 
ufactory at Watertown, N. Y. This will be 
sent to applicants without charge. 
A treatise upon Extracted Honey, Har¬ 
vesting, Handling, Marketing. By Charles 
and C. P. Dadant, Hamilton, Ills. 
A Sketch of the Tobacco Interests of North 
Carolina. By J. D. Cameron—109 pages. 
Single copies 50 cents, in postage stamps or 
otherwise. W. A. Davis A Co., Oxford, N. C. 
Illustrated Catalogue of Bee-Keepers’ 
supplies—30 pages. Alfred H. Newman, 973 
WeBt Madison St., Chicago, Ill. 
The Cornell University Register, 124 
pages, Ithaca, N. Y. 
Walter A. Wood, Hoosick Falls, N. Y. 
Twenty-Eighth Annual Circular of Harvesting 
Machines, manufactured exclusively by the 
Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine 
Co.—32 pages, fully illustrated—free. 
The Warrior Mower Co., Little Falls, N Y. 
Farmers’ Almanac—illustrated. Free. 
Foreign Catalogue*. 
Daniels’s Illustrated Guide for Amateur 
Gardeners, Norwich, England. A large, hand¬ 
some work, beautifully illustrated. Price one 
shilling sterling. Daniels Bio’s, Norwich, 
England. 
Sutton’s Amateur Guide in Horticulture. 
A costly work, beautifully illustrated with 
many engravings and several colored plates. 
Sutton A Sons, Reading, England. Also Sut¬ 
ton’s Farmer’s Year Book and Grazier’s 
Manual. 
Carter’s Vade mecum and Seed Catalogue, 
fully illustrated with many engraviugB and 
several colored plates. James Carter & Co, 
High Ilolborn, London, England. 
Diokson & Robinson, 12 Old Millgate, Man¬ 
chester, England. Illustrated, descriptive 
catalogue of vegetable and flower seeds. 
H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley Junction, 
Kent, England. Illustrated floral guide, 275 
pages. 
Geos Jackman A Son, Surrey, Eugland. 
Catalogue of trees, shrubs, etc.—50 pages. 
William Bull, King's Road, Chelsea, Lon¬ 
don, 8. W., England. Catalogue of new, 
beautiful and rare plants—160 pages. Also 
Seed catalogue of flower and vegetable seeds, 
lilies, gladioli and other bulbs. 
Anthony Wateker, Surrey (near Woking) 
Englaud. Catalogue of rhododendrons, azal¬ 
eas, hardy shrubs and trees, etc.—50 pages. 
Osborn A Sons, London, S W., England. 
Catalogue of kitchen garden and flower seeds 
etc.—50 pageB. 
Downie A Laird, 17 Frederick St., Edin- 
buigh, Scotland. Descriptive catalogue of 
garden, flower and agricultural seeds—50 
pageB. 
J. Cheal A Sons, Crawley, Sussex, Eugland. 
Catalogue of vegetable and flower seeds and 
amateur’s guide. Dlrstrated; 50 pages. 
John Lang A Co., London, S E , England. 
Catalogue of garden, flower and farm seeds. 
William Barron A Son, 16 Market St., 
Nottingham, England. Descriptive Catalogue 
of ornamental plants—S5 pages. 
B S Williams, Upper Holloway, London, 
N., England. Descriptive and illustrated cat¬ 
alogue of flower, vegetable and farm seeds—75 
pages. 
Hooper A Co., Covent Garden, London, 
England. Seeds, plants, roots—90 pages. 
The Rural a National Paper.—I read 
with great pleasure the interesting report on 
the large com crop raised on the Rural Ex¬ 
periment Farm, and would like to see a full 
description of the farm together with an ac 
count of its situation and surroundings. This 
should be given for Long Island’s sake. The 
reports of the experiments in corn raising 
are very valuable and should be extensively 
known to Long Islan I farmers, so that the 
Rural’s light may shine in dark places that 
still prevail on a large part of the surface of that 
highly favored island. In it there are still 
thousands and thousands of acres that lie un¬ 
cultivated, though excellently suited for gar¬ 
dens or farms, and if it were known that these 
could produce good crops, they would Boon 
yield abuudant wealth under the influence of 
judicious tillage. E. F. Peck. M. D. 
(We thauk Dr. Peck for his suggestions. 
Though the Rural's Experiment Farm is on 
Long Island, we. have the same interest in Col¬ 
orado, Kansas, Texas aud New England as in 
Long Island. We must consult the interests 
of our subscribers who are as numerous, ac¬ 
cording to population, in other States as in 
this State, There is no better miter for a 
national agricultural paper than New Yoik. 
A full description, together with a bird’s- 
eye view, of the Rural Farm was given in our 
JTair Number last year. Eds.] 
The Blanchard Churn.— One of the oldest 
if not the oldest manufacturies of churns is 
located at Concord, N, H. Messrs. Porter 
Blanchard’s Sons are pioneers in the business, 
aud the materials used, and the woikmanship 
employed are the best that money can procure. 
One of our staff had the pleasure recently of 
making a thorough examination of the works, 
and we can unhesitatingly say that the Blan- 
.chard Churn is made “ upon honor’’and, with 
proper usage, will last a life-time. Those of 
our readers who are in need of a first-class 
churn, should examine into the merits of the 
Blanchard before purchasing another. b. 
dftotrjjtoljtrt. 
WINTER WEST OF THE MISSOURI 
RIVER. 
A very general remark, even with oar own 
people, is: "This is the most severe Winter 
we have ever gone through,” While perhaps 
true in certain respects, in most others it is 
not. The weather has not been colder than it 
has been quite frequently before. The WlDter 
has been more protracted; there has been 
more cold weather; it has been continuous 
from about November lBt to March 1st. There 
ha6 been more snow, the ground belug well 
covered for more than one half the time indi¬ 
cated. Notwithstanding all this, hardship, 
suffering, loss of stock, etc. have not been 
greater than corresponded with other Winters, 
all things considered. Crops last year were 
good and food for man and beast is abundant 
and cheap. As a rule, the people were in all 
matters better prepared than heretofore for 
Winter, and consequently they have been more 
comfortable. Stock that has been provided 
for has gone through the Wluter well, and is 
in good condition. Large herds on the plains, 
with little, If any, provision or protection save 
what was afforded by nature, have suffered, 
and some have been lost. The accounts of 
losses, however, which have obtained publicity 
in the East, have been greatly exaggerated. 
Storms have scattered cattle, driving them 
from aecn.-tomed ranges, and water supplies 
have been short by reason of freezing. These 
misfortunes have contributed to make the 
losses rather heavier than usual. The natural 
food supply has been as good as, if not better 
than, usual. Upon the whole, cattle-men 
have no particular reason to complain. Such 
losses are always taken into consideration, 
and are expe ited. This is about the sum and 
substance of the past Winter between the 
mountains and the Missouri River. 
Unless we shall have a late Spring every In¬ 
dication favors bounteous crops this year. 
The soil was well saturated with Fall rains, 
and, as said, snow has been abundant, there¬ 
fore the ground cannot fail to be in good con¬ 
dition for farm operations. The Winter being 
steady, regular and dry, with altitude favor¬ 
able, fruit prospects are good, with the excep¬ 
tion, perhaps, of peaches. All other standard 
fruits as yet promise well. Winter wheat, of 
which an increased acreage was put in last 
Fall, ought to open up well this Spring. It 
has been well piotected by snow. The ground 
is yet well covered. Spring wheat will oe late. 
Usually seeding Is done principally during the 
latter part of February and early March. This 
Spring but little will be done in March even. 
Late Springs are characterized by rapid growth 
and progress and followed by late Falls. There 
is about " so much ” growing and producing 
season, be Spring or Fall late or early. Trust¬ 
ing. persistent lilicrB of the soil look forward 
with faith to abundant crops the current year. 
Brownville, Neh., Meh.15. R. W. Furnas. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Ind , Newton’s Retreat, P. O., Tippecanoe 
Co., March 14.—This has been the severest 
Winter this place has had since 1843. The 
ground has been trozen all the time since the 
ISth of November. j. a. 
Kan., Edgerton, March 7.— This has been the 
most, severe Winter I have known during a 
residence of 24 years in this place. Never be¬ 
fore in the history of Kansas has the earth 
been frozen to such a depth and over so large 
an extent of country as during the present 
Winter. In many places the ground is frozen to 
a depth of from two to three feet, and has been 
in this condition for over four months, the mer¬ 
cury on one or two dayB reaching 16 deg. below 
zero. Daring December and January the 
ground was bare, the weather dry and cold— 
fine for feeding, aB stock eat everything up 
clean, and there was no waste. But with the 
advent of Februarv came our share of storms, 
both snow and rain, the snow being drifted so 
that the highways In many places were impass¬ 
able. Fruit trees are uninjured, although 
peach buds are all killed and some cherry buds. 
A. B. D, 
Kansas, Havenville, Pottawatomie Co., 
March 10.—The wheat crop of Kansas was 
rather under the average last year, and the 
same may be said of corn and oats; but, take 
Kansas all together, the crops were a fair 
average. This is a hard Winter. Our big 
snow is mostly gone, but we had a light one 
lately. Stock in these parts have wintered 
well; but there is a good deal of black-leg 
among calves. Butter is worth 18c; eggs, 14c j 
wheat, 60c to 70c; oats, 23c; corn, 23c. 
A. H. W. 
Mich,, Saugatuck, Allegan Co., March 9.— 
This has been a cold Winter for our " Ameri¬ 
can Italy still I think there will be a fair 
crop of peaches on the higher grounds, usd 
plenty of other fruit. This is the paradise of 
the fruit grower. Peaches have only been 
killed twice since the settlement of the coun¬ 
try aud then the buds were not entirely killed; 
the trees never have been killed. The North¬ 
west furnishes an insatiable market almost 
at our door, or just across Lake Michigan— 
our great warming-pan. j. s. 
Minn., Fair Haven, Stearns Co., March 14,— 
The Winter has been a very severe one, with a 
great amount of snow and a great deal of 
wind. The depth of snow has greatly impeded 
lumbering in the pineries; business is, there¬ 
fore, dull, every one complaining of hard 
times. m. r. l. m. 
Neb., Jamestown, Dodge Co., March 9 — 
No Winter wheat is raised in this vicinity 
Last crop of Spring wheat about 10 bushel per 
acre. Corn light. Dry weather and chinch 
bugs ruined some fields. Yield from five to 
forty bushels per acre; perhaps one-third the 
latter. Oats exceedingly light. Potatoes a 
very poor crop. Rye poor, and very little 
sown, No sorghum is raised. A few have 
just begun to put out fruit trees and berries. 
Some of the neighbors have wild plums set 
out. The fruit was very good last Fall. I 
moved ou a y /arm one year last October. I 
have set about 125 fruit trees. They did well 
last season, but my small fruits wore nearly 
all killed by the dry weather, still 1 am trying 
again. Our Winter has been very cold and 
windy almost since November. a. m. 
