SVJAV 14 
318 
THE RURAL. NEW-YORKER. 
open plains without shelter and store of food, 
so that at the best, thousands are lost during 
the Winter by starvation and exposure, and at 
the worst, in a severe Winter as the past has 
been, whole herds are left to perish for want 
of food and water and shelter, seems a great 
cruelly and an enormous crime, in which man's 
greed brings vast pain and suffering to the 
unfortunate animals. The glamour and delu¬ 
sion are now over and the costly reality will 
perhaps bring its own remedy. 
The worst sufferers are the pure Short-horn 
bulls that have been taken to the plains to im¬ 
prove the hardier natives. These are reported to 
have been all but extinguished, and the dam¬ 
age is not coufined to the present losses, but 
will extend to future years for want of pro¬ 
geny the coming season. After all, it gives 
a secure promise to farmers that the rearing 
of breeders will never be taken out of their 
hands by the semi-savage, pastoral herding 
syt6em of the plains. It therefore opens up 
to the farmers a steady business of the most 
profitable kind, and one that lies at the very 
basis of successful and improving agriculture; 
viz: the production of choice beef animals by 
means of stall feeding or partial grazing, in 
conjunction with grain and root laising. 
The Short-horn, Hereford and the Polled 
steers and the dairy cow, are the chief stars 
of the agricultural firmament which are about 
to come into conjunction. The livestock In¬ 
terests of America promise to become perman¬ 
ently paramount. Hereafter it would seem 
that to know how to feed one’s products will 
be of even greater Importance than to know 
how to grow them; for if a man can feed them 
successfully, the growing question, will take 
care of itself, being helped by the most impor¬ 
tant element of plenty of manure. 
It follows, then, that if we can increase our 
yield of corn and grow roots in abundance, East¬ 
ern and Western and even Southern farmers can 
compete with the graziers of the plains in pro¬ 
ducing beef, mutton and wool. In view of this, 
the efforts of the editor of the Rural Naw- 
Yorkbr to popularize improved methods of 
growing corn have a most useful bearing upon 
this, the grandest agricultural industry. 
Jielir Crops, 
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES AND 
WHEAT. 
A friend, writing from Ottoville, Ohio, says: 
“I send you a trial paper of Italian Rye 
Grass; it can be aowu either in the Spring or 
Fall, but, if sown in the Spring alone some of 
it will produce seed the first season, whereas, 
if sown with oats or other small grain, it will 
not do so. It is of a more spreading habit than 
Timothy here. 1 send you some specimens of 
seedling potatoes also. I selected them out of 
about 1,000 seeiffings, aud I think they are all 
very good varieties. I saw a remark in the 
Rural about the Mammoth Pearl Potato hav¬ 
ing been selected out of 2,500 seedlings. I am 
not disposed to dispute it in the least, because 
I selected mine in the same way, I should 
judge. In selecting from seed I took the larg¬ 
est aud those ripe the earliest the first seasou, 
and pi anted one or more of each ; the second sea¬ 
son 1 selected the best and planted them, and 
from these the varieties 1 send you were selected. 
It doesu’t require a large farm to grow a large 
number in this way; a small patch is sufficient. 
I have managed my experiments with wheat 
as follows: In 1877 I sowed two small patches 
adjoining each other, one with Smooth Ohio 
River Bottom Wheat and the other with Beard¬ 
ed Wool Wheat, selected seed. In 1878 I se¬ 
lected the best ears of both patches and sowed 
the grain from them close together again, and 
also a patch ot Bearded Egyptian Wheat. In 
1879 I had Bearded Wheat lu the smooth and 
smooth in the Bearded patches, in the Fall 
of 1879 I sowed the beat kernels of them close 
together, and iu 18S0 I bad five distinct varie¬ 
ties out of three, none of which resembled the 
old kinds, but all had larger cars and were 
better filled and plumper kernels. Other va¬ 
rieties 1 have raised in the same way, but from 
different seed wheats. Moreover, I have three 
varieties l got from Europe, that I am trying 
to acclimatize. One of these does very well 
and stands the Winter well, but the others 
dou't turn out well, yet they may after they 
become acclimatized. As yet I have not got 
beyond experiments.” 
Remark.— Ic has been said, and we believe 
generally taken for granted, that wheats do 
not "cross,” because the stigmas receive the 
pollen before the anthers appear outside of 
the pales and glumes. From several who have 
studied the matter we learn that there is good 
reason to doubt this theory and that different 
kinds of wheat do or may intercross.—E ds. 
—- •» » » 
Heed Meadow l»ra»n—Glycerin aquation. 
This tall grass grows three to five or more 
feet high, and thrives in wet grounds north- 
■ f 
ward. The leaves are long, about half an inch 
wide, and flat. The panicle is much branched 
and is often 18 Inches in length. The flowers 
appear in Jnly. It may be sown on wet land, 
though it has seldom been tried in thi 3 coun- 
SPIKELETS OF REED MEADOW GRASS.—FIG. 245. 
try. The quality is thought to be excellent. 
The panicles of this grass are very ornamental 
and it is well worth cultivating for that pur¬ 
pose. The_ spikelets much resemble those of 
Briza, though they are much smaller. 
Prof. W. J. Beal. 
-- 
What Shall he our Bent Wheat;’ 
Mr. Wysor, in a late number of the Rural, 
attempts to answer this question, and probably 
does so satisfactorily for his locality. The 
Rural has also, at different times, attempted 
to answer the same question. The two differ 
in conclusions, yet probably both are correct 
as lief raise kinds satisfactory to the millers 
as to raise the Clawson, aud then we might 
hear less complaint of poor flour. v. j. e. 
Henry Co,, Ohio. 
[We should much like to know more of the 
fl ruring qualities of Shumaker. It is an ad¬ 
mirable variety at the Rural Farm. Eds.] 
Jfarm tgxonorag. 
EXPERIENCE WITH ENSILAGE. 
With others I was, last season, induced 
to experiment with ensilage. I built my 
silo 17x25 feet and eleven feet deep, so 
that it had a capacity for about 60 tons, and 
I nearly filled it from two acres of land. 1 ex¬ 
perimented with different methods of sowing 
the corn—in rows, two feet, three feet, four feet 
apart aud I used seed at the rate of from two 
bushels to one half bushel per acre. The con¬ 
clusion I have arrived at is that I shall sow in 
rows four feet apart, and kernels from five to 
six inchas apart in the row. I know it is 
cheaper to raise one five-pound stalk than five 
stalks of a pound each, and the larger yon can 
get them the better they are, and the leeB liable to 
fall down. I pat230 one-horse loads into the silo 
heed meadow grass— gj.yckbia aquatic a.—fig. 240. 
for their respective localities. No one kind 
will do well in all places. For this region 
(Northwestern Ohio) I think that the conclu¬ 
sions of the Rural are about right. Clawson, 
Fultz aud Shumaker are the varieties com¬ 
monly grown. Clawson is perhaps the most 
prolific, but It is more liable to spoil in the 
shock or bin and is almost always light In 
weight. Fultz is nearly, if not quite, as pro¬ 
lific as Clawson and is superior in every other 
respect. Shumaker is also well liked. 1 never 
like to depend on one variety only. This year 
I sowed both Fultz and Clawson. The Claw¬ 
son will not be fit to cut until the Fultz is all 
harvested, thereby avoiding the wuBte always 
attending the cutting of overripe wheat. Why 
do not millers pay for wheat in proportion 
to its flouring qualities? The best flouring 
kinds are not usually prolific, but if sufficient 
difference were made in prices, farmers would 
after cutting the fodder into pieces four-tenths 
of an inch long. This bulk could not have 
been housed in the barn whote. 1 followed 
the directions i received from Mr. Goff art’s 
book as carefully as I could. 1 walked a horse 
In the pit while filling it, covered Us contents 
with six inches of straw and theu with boards 
well fitted, and two feet of stones on top. The 
ensilage settled so that it was only nine feet 
deep. 1 was the laughing-stock of the town 
all Summer, but I was so confident of success 
that I sold hay in early Fall to help pay ex¬ 
penses. 
I opened the silo on the 1st of December aud 
found a very little that was at the top moldy, 
and iu the corners wet, but. in all, not one-half 
of one per cent was lost. The rest looked like 
drawn tea grounds, having a strong alcoholic 
odor. X fed the cows with it the night I 
opened it, and, although some did not eat it 
readily, in the morning theie was none left in 
the mangers. 1 fed once a day a ration of a 
bushel to each grown cow, together with one 
quart of cotton-seed meal, and hay once. 
After one week I gave ensilage only. I after¬ 
wards increased the grain to two quarts. Ever 
since I have fed 19 bead of cattle, equal to 10 
grown cows, exclusively upon ensilage, aud I 
never had my cows look as well »s they look 
this Spring, and the young stock which have 
had ensilage without grain have grown nicely. 
A few days since my “ help ” took a short va¬ 
cation, and in the morning there was no ensi¬ 
lage out (l take it out 12 hours before using 
it so as to have it ferment), and I fed them hav 
which they refused aud bellowed until they re¬ 
ceived the usual portion. The milk is unusu¬ 
ally sweet, and the butter la very satisfactory 
to customers. I know I make more from the 
same number of cows than I ever did before, 
aud that of better quality. I had enough ensi¬ 
lage to feed the stock to May 1st. 
One piece of good land, well prepared, gave 
mo a return of 60 tons to the acre by weight 
and measure. Tne stulk3 weighed from seven 
to eight pounds and were 14 feet high. 1 think 
my silo coat me, filled, nearly ©500, and con¬ 
tained ensilage enough to keep one cow six 
years with a fair amount of grain, and this 
year with hay at ©25, per ton, it is quite a help. 
Bloomfield, Conn. D. W. Thrall. 
ortinilfural. 
GARDEN HINTS. 
Spring work in the garden is backward 
this year; for that reason I find great advan¬ 
tage in having my plans laid daring the Win¬ 
ter ; seeds and necessary tools purchased, and, 
last but not least, manure aud fertilizers all 
prepared. These form the ground-work of all 
good gardening; manure first and good culti¬ 
vation afterward, is my rule. I use this year 
on one acre of ground about eight ton& of sta¬ 
ble manure which will cost me a dollar a ton. 
For fertilizers I shall pay: 
8 tons stable manure .$8 00 
400 lbs. of superphosphates. 7.4U 
- *0 bushels of wood ashes. 4 uu 
15 “ of hen manure... 3.00 
Total.$23.40 
With this amount of fertilizer lexpect to carry 
through a double crop worth ©501), and leave 
the ground in as good condition as at present. 
■Where is the bank that will! pay such a divi¬ 
dend ? Truly the earth is kind to the husband¬ 
man. You will say I look entirely on lhe 
bright side—and I know of no reason why 
I should not. I am going to take the Rural’s 
advice and put my seed iu better pre¬ 
pared soil than ever before, f >r I have always 
noticed that it is the poorly prepared soil that 
suffers most from too little as well as from too 
much rain. I find there is a chance for a good 
deal of study in laying out an acre of ground, 
to plant to a variety of vegetables where 
two crops are expected iu one season. Small 
vegetables that cannot be cultivated with a 
horse, should be separated from those that 
can. I leave a strip through the center of my 
garden, about one rod wide by 20 rods in length, 
which is occupied with beets, onions, salsify, 
parsnips, etc. The rest of the garden can be 
cultivated with a horse. I believe in planting 
hardy vegetables as soon as the ground can bo 
worked after the first of April. I would not 
plant in February or March even if the ground 
was dry, as it would get entirely out of condi¬ 
tion betoru the seed would germinate. Last 
Spring I planted some peas on March 5. and 
although they were three or four days earlier 
than those planted iu the middle of April, they 
were not nearly as satisfactory a crop and did 
uot stand the May drought as well. The soil 
hud become hard, had become too good a con¬ 
ductor of moisture, had, iu fact, conducted 
all the moislure from below off into the air. 
My theory is that if the soil near the surface 
is loose aud broker, it acts the same as a mulch 
and prevents the moisture, that is continually 
coming from below, from passing off into the 
air except through the leaves of the plant. 
[Stones, sticks, lumps of earth, etc., lying 
upon the surface arrest moisture. Sand arrests 
moisture. The pulverization of most produc¬ 
tive soils, according to our theory, serves to 
increase evaporation, and the pulverized earth 
does not act as a mulch. More moisture 
(rain and dew) is admitted, and, as capillary 
action is more active, more moisture returns 
and passes off into the atmosphere. This theory, 
which we first advanced several years ago, as 
the teachings of a series of experiments, was 
widely discussed at that time. Eds.] 
Raising radishes is an easy matter, if the 
right kind of soil can be obtained. A light 
yellow, sandy soil, about the consistency of 
molding sand, I consider the best, and the best 
fertilizer in my experience is wood ashes. The 
radish bed should beeuttrely free from stones, 
aud no kind of stable manure should be used. 
The soil should be in condition to pack firmly 
together without being lumpy or inclined to 
bake. If thes8 conditions are observed, the 
radishes will be of a handsome shape and ej. 
