MAY 24 
Ipswllaturas. 
BUBAL BKIEFLETB. 
Kerosene the nests and rooBts of the poultry 
houses. Whitewash everything in them—ceil¬ 
ings. roosts, nests and all. Sprinkle a little 
flour of sulphur in the nests. First, however, 
change the hay or straw. If confined in rnns, 
give them daily a quantity of grass and clover. 
Provide lime. A little bone flour mixed with 
their food is excellent, and helps provide ma¬ 
terial for shell-making. Keep the houses clean. 
We are well satisfied from experiment that 
rolling (should the weather be dry) after plant¬ 
ing corn is advantageous in securing the germ¬ 
ination of the seed. The best stand of corn 
we have ever raised was sown not until Jun e 
10 , and the land was rolled with a heavy iron 
roller after planting. The earth is thus brought 
in close contact with the kernel and the radicle 
(rootlet) finds support as spon as it emerges 
from the seed... 
Not less than 50 of our readers have written 
us to say that the potatoes received were not 
White Elephants, but Early Rose, Beauty of 
Hebron, or other old varieties. Not so, good 
friends. They are—every one—White Ele¬ 
phants, as those who plant them will ascer¬ 
tain .. 
A farmer and subscriber called at the office 
a few days ago to make inquiries as to certain 
kinds of corn. In the conversation which fol¬ 
lowed we had occasion to allude to our crops. 
“Then,” said he, “you really have an Experi¬ 
ment Farm, without any hnmbug?” 
We are not surprised that people are incred¬ 
ulous as to much that they read in newspapers. 
But it had never before occurred to us that any 
reader of this journal could have doubted that 
the Rural Experiment Grounds were an actual 
existence........ 
Here Is the first report from the White Ele¬ 
phant Potato. It comes from Richard Lee, of 
Florida;—“Bug White Elephant tc-day (April 
36lb). Ten pieces were planted, of which six 
bloomed. The frost had no effect upon the 
plants. The yield was 73 tuberB—38 of large 
size; 30 average ; nine smaller, and five Bmall. 
Duchess Strawberry is, as usual, the first 
to bloom at the Rural Grouuds. At this time 
(May 3) Iowa Prolific, Franklin, Emma's Fa¬ 
vorite, Memphis Late are looking rather more 
vigorous than other kinds—though all look 
well, and an immense crop Is promised. 
Nitrate of soda, superphosphate (burnt 
bone treated to sulphuric acid), muriate of 
pota&b, the three most important sources of 
plant food, are now furnished in small quanti¬ 
ties by dealers, for the purpose of enabling 
farmers to determine what their eoils most 
need, at a low cost. Thus, if phosphoric acid 
alone prod aces as good results as nitrogen, pot¬ 
ash and phosphoric acid combined, it would 
be a sad waste to apply all three. And so of 
the others. Fall and very plain instruc¬ 
tions accompany each bag Of these trial 
sets, which may be purchased for five dollars 
the set. We are assured by our leading fertil¬ 
izer firms that this price barely covers the cost 
of preparing the sets, the object being to fa¬ 
miliarize farmers with their economic use.... 
We are now preparing to plant the following 
kinds of sweet corn, viz., Minnesota, Egyptian 
or Washington Market, Evergreen, Black 
Sugar, Mammoth, Asylum, Tuscarora, Tri¬ 
umph, Ilickox, Concord and Narragansett. 
All that bloom at the same time will mix, of 
course. Our object, however, is to note the 
time of ripening, theyield of each,thehight,the 
quantity of leaves, as well as the quality of the 
corn, and all this may be ascertained as well if 
they do mix somewhat as if they do not. 
It has been ascertained that in many cases 
the 6ilk of a given ear must depend upon the 
pollen from other plauta for pollenation—in 
other words, the embryo kernels (ovules) must 
depend upon other pollen than that which ma¬ 
tures upon the tassel of their own Bt&lk, for 
fertilization. Three years ago we planted in 
about one acre not less than GO varieties of 
field coru. The ears showed about 35 per cent, 
of intermixture, An unusual percentage of a 
failure of the kernels to form, that is, missing 
rowB on the cob, was also apparent. That, 
however, but 25 per cent- of the grains showed 
intermixture is no proof that a much larger 
percentage was uot mixed. Many times, with¬ 
out doubt, a kernel may have every appearance 
of the other kernels upon the same cob, but 
when planted, it» progeny may shww a decided 
intermixture. In our attempts to produce a 
roee-colored sweat corn from a cross between 
the Black Mexican and Stowell’s Evergreen, a 
considerable percentage still comes black, 
though only rose kernels are planted. 
One of the most remarkable results of the 
experiment above alluded to (GO varieties), was 
that though no black seed was planted, an oc¬ 
casional black kernel appeared in the pro¬ 
duct . 
It would appear by the experiments of the 
THE BUBAL 
farm superintendent of the Ohio State 
University, Mr. G. E. Thorne, that the 
value of the seeds of the Early Amber 
Cane is only less than that of Indian 
Corn. He sayB an acre should yield over 
20 bushels of seed. There are other varieties 
of sorghum, however, that, though their sugar 
qualities have not been ascertained, would give 
twice that amount of seed per acre. 
Mr, Thorne gives no encouragement to the or¬ 
dinary, average farmer that he can ever hope 
to make sugar economically by the appliances 
within his reach. The required machinery is 
too expensive, and it requires a special knowl¬ 
edge that he does not possess. 
The Prairie Farmer concedes that Gen. Le 
Dne “is an earnest and not entirely impractical 
man."... 
“It is possible," Mr. Meehan says, “that 
Bermuda Grass will not (in the South) stand 
the close clipping of a lawn mower—Has any 
one tried it?" We would reply that Mr. P. J. 
Berckmans, of Augusta, Ga., has tried it and 
finds that it will stand the lawn mower. 
The best material for plant labels is a peren¬ 
nial. evergreen subject of talk. Wehave shown 
that common lead-pencil marks upon zinc will 
endure for years—will, indeed, grow more dis¬ 
tinct with ago. Such marks become, also, 
indelible after a few months. May we not ac¬ 
cept the lead-pencil and zinc label and call the 
controversy closed ?. 
We take the risk of displeasing Mr. Wood¬ 
ward by publishing the following business 
letter: 
“ Inclosed I send you draft for $65.10.- You 
will observe this is $10 above the amount of 
bill; but our trustees, appreciating what the 
Rural had so generously done for the “ Niag¬ 
ara,” unanimously voted to add the above 
amount over. I guess everybody takes and 
reads the Rural, for the answers to onr ad¬ 
vertisements still come pouring in. We have 
had abundant success with our plan of placing 
“Niagara.” All our vines are placed and we 
are compelled to refuse dozens of applicants 
who insist on being supplied, and some even 
insist on now making contracts for 1882 plant¬ 
ing. The vines have come out of the Winter 
in fine order, although many other kind3 were 
injured.”. 
One of the foremost aims of the Rural 
Nkw-Yohkek is to have a hand in introducing 
new plants of value. We do not know of any 
other way in which we can better aid the peo¬ 
ple for whom we write. The trouble is to es¬ 
cape undue praise in speaking of new plants; for 
where one is offered that iB really an Improve¬ 
ment over old kinds, hundreds are announced 
that prove inferior. It is next to a certainty 
that our praise of the Niagara is well deserved 
and we are glad of the above frank recogni¬ 
tion that the Rural has so aided in its distri¬ 
bution..... 
We are continuing the present season to test 
all the new agricultural plants that we can get 
ahold of, and, as heretofore, we shall report 
upon them according to their merits without 
the slightest regard to the introducers' inter¬ 
ests. We hope to control the Rural New- 
Yorker long enough to prove to certain 
liberal-minded advertising patrons that there 
are other considerations which we prize far 
more highly than even their gracious patron¬ 
age. 
A respected friend and one who is doing a 
noble work for American agriculture, though 
his name is rarely permitted to appear in 
print, writes us as follows; 
"I jast happened to fall into conversation 
to-day with a practical farmer who was once 
a mechanic. He was speaking of the farmer’s 
life and occupation as so much more an art, so 
to speak, ttiau those of the average carpenter, 
surveyor, engineer, and a multitude more in 
the 6ame class. I was so deeply impressed 
with the truth of this observation, that I was 
prompted to write and suggest to you whether 
it is not one of the mistakes commonly made, 
that people think farming a low and inferior 
occupation. Now, it seems that 1 could more 
readily turn out a handl ed mechanics of any 
ten trades you cau mention, than one good, 
well-trained farmer that could be ranked 
first-class. It occurred to me that if you could 
present this thought and view to your readers 
you would be doing an essential service to the 
interest of good farming, and help to honor 
and dignify the cause. If this suggestion can 
be of any service to you, I shall be glad.” 
- ■»»» - 
A “ Sure” Safeguard Against Mosquitoes 
has just been sent us by a friend in Charleston 
S. C. and in view of the speedy appearance in 
this latitude of musical Mrs. Mosquito (the 
females alone annoy us) with her odious lit¬ 
tle " bill,” we hasten to present it to our read¬ 
ers. The use of it may not be considered 
“nice” or practicable ty all of them, but those 
of them who are in the open air at night 
would often doubtless be thankful for its 
protection. Macerate one part of Pyrethrnm 
roseum in four parts of dilute alcohol; dilute 
the mixture with ten times Its bulk of water,and 
apply it to any exposed parts of the body, and 
“ it gives perfect security against all vermin,” 
NEW-Y0BKEB. 
Jliitxm Httstfllaitg. 
LABBIE O’DEE. 
Nov/ the widow McGee 
And Larrie O’Dee 
Had two little cottages out on the green, 
With Just enough room for two pig-pens between. 
The widow was young and the widow was fair. 
With brlghtcHt of eyes and the brownest of hair, 
And it frequently chanced, when she came in the 
morn 
With the swill for the pig, Larrie came with the corn. 
And some of the ears that he tossed from his hand 
In the pen of the widow were certain to land. 
One morning- said he : 
“ Och? Misthress McGee, 
It's washte of good lumber, this runnin’ two rigs. 
Wid a fancy partition between our two pigs !” 
" Indeed, sure it is answered widow McGee, 
With the sweetest of smiles upon Larrie O’Dee. 
" And thin it looks kind o' hard-hearted and mane, 
Rapin' two friendly pig's so exsadingly near 
That whenever one grunts thin the other can hear. 
And yit kape a cruel partition betwane ?” 
“ Hhwftte Widow McGee,” 
Answered Larrie O’Dee, 
“ If ye fale lu yer heart we are inane to the pigs, 
Aiu’t we mane to oursilves to be runnin’ two rigs ? 
Och! it made me heart ache whin I paped through the 
cracks ^ 
Of me shanty, lasht March, at yez shwingin’ yer ax, 
An’ a-hobbin’ yer head, and sthompin' yer fate, 
Wid yer purty white bands jisht as red as a bate, 
A-ahplittin' yer lumllln’-wood out in the sthonn 
Whin one little sthove would cape us both warm !” 
“ Now, piggio.” said she, 
” Larrie’s courtin' o’ mo, 
Wid his delicate, tinder allusions to you; 
So now yez musht tell me Jusht what I musht do. 
For, if I’m to say yts, sthir the shwill wid yer shnout; 
But II I’m to say no, yez musht kape yer nose out. 
Now, Larrie, forsharno ! to be bribin’ a pig 
By toBsin’ a handful of coru in its shwig !” 
” Me dariint, the piggie says yea /” answered he. 
And this was the courtship of Larrie O'Dee. 
—Independent. 
-- 
ADVENTURES OP AN ANTEDILUVIAN 
In The Land of Promise, 
BY JAMBS M’NBILL. 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
TELKHAMIC VIEWS FROM MOUNT KOPIAH. 
We were now nearing our destination. We could 
discern Mount Koplab, like some tall monument, 
towering lar above the lesser peaks of the moun¬ 
tain range, and, by the aid of our glasses, the sub¬ 
stantial building which crowned its summit was 
distinctly brought lato view. It was massive in 
Its architecture, and looked not unlike some an¬ 
cient castle. And though In Its construction the 
Idea of resistance to the high winds of its altitude 
was ever kept in view, it was not wanting in archi¬ 
tectural beauty. The fact that It had the appear¬ 
ance of being chiseled out of the crown ol the 
peak, and that the peak Itself was ol the purest 
white marble, would have Invested It with an In¬ 
terest and beauty in my eyes, independent of 
any architectural taste displayed In Us construc¬ 
tion. 
It was circular in form, its walla being relieved 
by eight, low and very substantial round towers. 
Its roof was a dome, from the center of which an¬ 
other tower rose to the hight, perhaps, of twenty 
teet above It. It was in this tower that the Instru¬ 
ment. was placed wnloh made Mount Koplah fam¬ 
ous. It could be seen by us In the open space of 
about ten feet below the roof, which was a dome 
hi form, and was supported by six Iron pillars, 
which at the same time served the purpose of bolts 
to hold the root against the power of the hurri¬ 
canes. 
Our captain new began to Increase Ills altitude 
so as to strike the level of his landing-place. This 
was a wide terrace some ways down the sides of 
the peak, which extended completely aroun i it; 
so that from whatever quarter the wind might 
blow, a landing could be effected on the opposite 
side ol the peak without difficulty. 
As we approached nearer we could see several 
air-ships laid up on this terrace, their balloons 
being emptied and folded by the side or the cars. 
One was hovering above the terrace like a bird 
preparing to light, while we could oount twelve 
others approaching from different quarters. 
When we camo within about a third of a mile 
from our lauding the cap cam began to reduce his 
speed, and so skillfully did he gauge the distance 
that our sbipcametoa lull stop Just above the 
terrace, and, without a moment’s delay, down it 
went to terra- tirma, with not a Jolt ora Jar more 
than would bo experienced on the elevator of some 
great hoteL 
The phtllego was almost Instantaneously re¬ 
solved, and the balloon lay a placid heap of cord¬ 
age and plymer upon the ground. Attendants 
were at hand who quickly disposed of our ship 
where It would not Interfere with the landing of 
others, whilo we passed on to the inclined rail¬ 
way, by which we wore to be borne up to the 
summit. Here again the all-potent phlllego was 
brought into requisition. By Its Uftlng power, 
the car, which had a seating capacity of twenty 
passengers, was borne rapidly up an incline or 
only about twelve degrees from the perpendicu¬ 
lar. There were grooves in the rails, as on the 
elevated railways, which kept the car from leav¬ 
ing the track if a gust or wind should suddenly 
strike the balloon. I was told that there were 
eight of these Inclined roads at regular Intervals 
around the terrace, and that In pleasant weather 
they were kept constantly busy carrying passen¬ 
gers up and down. 
There was a party of ten seating themselves In 
the car by which we were to ascend, so that our 
party just filled Its complement of passengers. 
Scarcely were we well seated when the manager 
shouted “ all ready,” and we shot up the incline 
344 
of over two thousand feet with a terrible whir 
which makes me shudder even to this day, when 
I think of It. 
Having reached the summit, we stepped out on 
a marblelzed terrace which completely surrounded 
the building to a width of twenty-five feet, being 
guarded at Its outer edge by a stout Iron railing. 
it was now eight o'clock, a m., and, as we had 
left home shortly after three, we had made the 
distance of five hundred mtlps in less than five 
hours. Yet we had only drifted leisurely along 
with a favorable current, without any attempt at 
speed. 
1 was greatly surprised at the number of people 
who were constantly appearing on the terrace 
from the Inclined roads. I was told that the 
building had a seating capacity of 10 . 000 , but I 
began to think It prudent to secure a seat, espe¬ 
cially as the air was thickening with ships ap¬ 
proaching from every quarter like bees flying 
home to their hive. 
As l entered the door of this Immense building, 
I stood for a minute lost in wonder at the magni¬ 
tude of Its Interior. The wall upon my right was 
a plain surface, perhaps four hundred feet long by 
forty high. From each end of this, the rest of the 
wall extended in the form of an elongated semi¬ 
circle. The seats were arranged in rows which 
followed the curve of the wall, and which rose 
with a gradual ascent from front to rear. They 
were not hard and uncomfortable benches or set¬ 
tees, as one might expect to tlnd in a place of such 
magnitude, and which was frequented only during 
a portion of the year, but luxuriant chairs, in 
which one could sic for hours without weariness. 
There were nearly a thousand persons already 
present, and others were crowding in so rapidly 
at every entrance that we thought it advisable to 
secure our seats. 
The entertainment began about half an hour 
after we were seated. The room was suddenly 
darkened, and tho next Instant a great white ob¬ 
ject appeared on the plain surface of the opposite 
wall, which the manager informed us was a snow¬ 
capped moan rain peak some four hundred miles 
away. Gradually It moved over the surface of the 
wall, and lesser peaks and gorges ailed with snow 
and ice were brought into view. Down the side of 
the mountain we seemed to travel. Now a peak 
still snow capped crossed the Held of our view, 
around the side ol which we continued our de¬ 
scent. Little rivulets were form tug from the 
melting snow, and suddenly a mountain torrent, 
foaming along between Us rocky barriers, burst 
upon onr view. 
An exclamation of delight arose from the au¬ 
dience as this swllt stream crossed the field, it ap¬ 
peared so near us, and looked so real that it seemed 
as if we ought to hear the splash of Its waters as 
It dashed down over its rocky bed. 
The snow was now left behind us, and we 
emerged upon green hillocks and grassy slopes 
whose flower be-spangied freshness was indicative 
of the Springtime, The trees were putting on their 
Summer foliage. Birds were flitting about among 
their branches, building their nests, and making 
their Springtime loves. While now. and then a 
fine gray squirrel would Ecurvy across our field of 
view as though It felt the magnetic Influence of five 
thousand pairs of eyes upon it, and was disposed 
to hurry out of sight. Next appeared a man sit¬ 
ting on a ledge of rock with a long staff beside him. 
“Ah I” said the manager, 11 here 1s a shepUerd. 
Let us look for his sheep, for they are doubtless 
near.” Then we seemed to travel off to the right 
again, then up a Uttle, when suddenly the excla¬ 
mation burst from the audienoe ’’There they are!” 
and sure enough, m a little grassy valley, many of 
them quite concealed from view, a flock of noble 
looking sheep appeared, quietly grazing. 
Halting awhile to allow us to fully cake in this 
scene, the panoramic views again passed on. The 
next object of interest which camo within the 
field of the Instrument was a herdsman’s village. 
Situated in a delightful valley, which was guarded 
on either side by a mountain spur, and which 
seemed to form a passage-way from the plain luto 
the heart of the mountain range, It presented a 
most picturesque appearance. Great was my sur¬ 
prise to find that in every detail of construction 
and arrangement Its houses were as tasteful and 
complete as those In any village of the plain, it 
was not more than halt the size of these, but It 
had Its church. Its school-house, its gymnasium, 
and Its pavilion. While a dam thrown across a 
mountain stream farther up the volley caused 
fountains to play all along the well Aved street, 
and brought an abundance or wat«Cinto every 
house. » 
The men and women were out in the fields, 
which extended all about the village, harvesting 
their crops. There was nothing in this part of the 
scene wnlch was new to me. The implements 
which they used were the same as those which I 
had seen. The barns were as commodious and 
well arranged. The manner or harvesting the 
crop was the same, and the crop itself was as 
abundant as any which were raised on che plain. 
There was not, of course, the same variety to the 
productions of this mountain village ; tor by their 
location they were shut up to a single branch of 
husbandry. And except the few products of the 
soli which the people of the village themselves re¬ 
quired, their agricultural labors were directed to 
the maintenance of their flocks. 
This picture was the most pleasing which was 
presented to our view. There was something so 
cosy In Us asoect, and such an air of peaceful con¬ 
tentment analsolated enjoyment about Its every 
feature that I felt as It I should like to fly away to 
It and dwell for the rest of my life within Its happy 
precincts. 
From this mountain village we traveled down 
Into the plain and across a great expanse of coun¬ 
try which presented many interesting objects to 
our view. But upon these I will not dwell, as most 
of them were similar to the scenes which we bad 
seen In our aerial voyage, though much more dis¬ 
tinct and complete. 
The range of mountains In which Mount Koplah 
was situated now crossed the field, but such wan 
