JULY 2 
32 pounds of potash, 45 pounds of phosphoric 
acid, and GO pounds of nitrogen. These are 
worth, at the lowest price sold in commercial 
fertilizers, $15. The manure made from a 
ton of it, after being fed to cattle, is worth 
much more than the seed costs at the above 
rate. This plain statement shows the need of 
reform in Southern husbandry to prevent great 
waste with thiB article. 
Giant Powder aa a Stump Extractor. 
T. I) W., Little Welf, Wis., and several oth¬ 
ers elsewhere, ask a number of questions about 
the use of giant powder for blowing up 
stmups, etc., all of which are here answered. 
Ans.— Giant powder and dynamite are two 
names for the same thing, a sort of sili- 
cious earth saturated with about three times its 
weight of glycerine, and resembling damp 
Graham flour. There is some danger attending 
its use. of course, but it iB generally consid¬ 
ered the safest of violent explosives. There are 
two kinds of powder, known as No. 1 and Nw. 2. 
The first is the more powerful, and is therefore 
used for heavy work; it costs $1 a pound. 
The second is the less powerful, but quite strong 
enough for blowiug up stumps or blasting 
rocks on a farm ; it sells for 50 cents a pound- 
The powder is furnished, either loose or put 
up in cartridges, in boxes of 25 or 50 pounds 
each. In appearance a cartridge is much like 
a candle. It is eight inches long and of any 
required thickness. All who wish to use the 
explosive, unless they are experts, should em¬ 
ploy the cartridges only. They are made by 
one. firm exclusively—so far as we know—the 
Atlantic Giant Powder Go., Varney <fe Doe, 
agents, 59 Park Place, this city. These agents 
do not supply private parties, mainly on ac¬ 
count of the objections to transport it to a dis¬ 
tance in smaller quantities than those men¬ 
tioned. Should any one apply to them, how¬ 
ever, they will send him the name of the near¬ 
est agent through whom a supply can be ob¬ 
tained. Full instructions for using it are fur¬ 
nished with each amount sold. The cartridges 
are exploded by caps made for the purpose, 
and these are ignited by means of a fuse. The 
caps cost $2 per box of 100; the fuse costs 75 
cents per 100 feet. A pair of nippers—price 50 
cents—are also handy, Whenever a consider¬ 
able number of stumps or rocks are to be got 
rid of in aDy neighborhood, it would “ pay ” 
those who intend to blast them with giant 
powder to unite in hiring an expert to do the 
work. 
Ducks. 
M. G. 77., Miller ton, TV. Y., asks, 1, the best 
way to raise ducks ; the be6t for home use 
and market; what Is the distinctive name of 
pure white ducks. 
Ans. —We have found that to keep duck¬ 
lings warm and diy till they are feathered is 
the best way to rear them safely. Then they 
will do well if they have access to water when¬ 
ever this is convenient. To decide which 
breed is the best for the above purpose is no 
easy matter, for some people prefer one sort, 
and some another, and each prominont breed 
has its enthusiastic advocates. 8ome raisers 
of ducks are loud in their preference for the 
Rouen tor table ; others like the Aylesbury bet¬ 
ter. iuonr experienceit has been impossible to 
tell one sort from the other when cooked where 
there was no foteknowledge about the matter* 
Probably no one could distinguish any differ¬ 
ence in taste between them. If both were fat¬ 
tened and served up alike. The Aylesbury, 
* Call and Pekin ducks are white. White ducks 
are preferred by many on accouut of their 
plumage, white feathers being preferred to 
those of other colors. Pekin ducks are very 
excellent layers, besides being very good table 
fowls. 
The Seventeen-Year Loeuxt*. 
J. W. 77, Paducah, Ky b&vb there are mil¬ 
lions upon millions of the seventeen-year lo¬ 
custs thereabouts, and he asks how they are 
generated—do they produce eggs, and if so, 
after tlat, what. 
Ans. — i'he seveuteen-yaar locust (Cicada 
septendecim) lays its eggs in the bark of trees. 
They are about oue-twelfih of an inch in 
length and of a pearl-white color. They hatch 
in about six weeks. The young cicada is very 
active and soon casts it6elf to the ground, in 
which it burrows down, and subsists on the 
exudations of rootlets. It has been found to 
the depth ol 10 and 12 feet. According to 
Harris, it remains there until 17 years have 
elapsed, when it ascends to the surface. It 
then prepares to cast off its “ old clothes," and 
by repeated exertions makes a longitudinal 
rent in its skin on the back, and the cicada 
becomes a winged insect. In about a fortnight 
after its final transformation it begins to lay 
eggs, and in about six weeks the generation 
ceases to exist. 
A CuriouH Case. 
G. 77. P., Brooklyn, N. I 7 ., says :—“ I have a 
field in which I raised good millet when ma¬ 
nured with phosphate ; then I used barn-yard 
manure and got a good crop of wheat, but the 
grass seed did not* catch"—on account of 
dry weather, I suppose. Last Fall there was 
on it a good stand of rye, hut grass seed "took" 
no belter. In Spring clover was sown on it, 
THE BUBAL MEW-Y0BKEB. 
and the field is now covered with sorrel. What 
is the difficulty, and what the remedy? S Ml 
granite gravel.” 
Ans. —Such a case has never occurred in onr 
experience. We have submitted the question 
to several excellent farmers, who agree essen¬ 
tially with Mr. Talcott, who writes as follows; 
"I submitted this case to the Central New 
York Farmers’ Club at their last meeting. The 
Clnb decided that Mr. P.’a description was not 
full enough to give a definite answer ; but they 
suggested that lime, ashes and salt be used as 
a corrector of the acidity in the soil; also that 
a dressing of clay (if to be had) would be ben¬ 
eficial in such a case.” 
Treatment of Bloated Steer. 
W. 77., Galt, Mich. has a three-year old steer 
that bloats badly, especially on the left side. 
It has been wintered poorly ; it is a good feed¬ 
er and our friend asks how to treat it. 
Ans —Cows aud oxen always bloat most on 
the left side as the paunch lies there. Bloating 
is caused by indigestion and indigestion may 
be caused by poor feeding or over-feeding. 
To remove the trouble give the steer a pint 
of linseed oil and repeat if necessary to cleai 
out the bowels. Then give everyday a table¬ 
spoonful of salt, with half as much carbonate 
of soda and a teaspoonful of ginger mixed to¬ 
gether. After a few days, the mixture may 
be given twice a week and alter some time 
longer, give it every week, or as long as the 
steer shows any symplons of indigestion. 
Corn Bran fur Feed. 
J. M. Selma, Ala., asks how much corn bran 
should be fed daily to milch cows together 
with other feed. He is now feeding about 
four-quarters of corn bran, a pint and a half 
of cotton-?eed meal, aud one quart of corn 
meal to each cow every day m two meals, but 
they are getting rather loo fat for milch cows. 
Ans. —Four quarts of corn bran and one pint 
and a half of cotton seed meal will be ample 
daily feeding for a cow, without any corn meal. 
r ihe corn bran contains the oily part of the 
gram, with most of the nitn gen, and when 
ltd with cotton-aeeil meal it makes a very fat¬ 
tening food, as well as a very healthful one. 
To reduce its fattening tendency a quart of 
wheat bran might be substituted for one quart 
of the corn bran. 
Quack Seed Wanted, 
J. G. Livingstone, Lewis, N. Y., says: “ Ihave 
just seen an article in the Rural about Q rack 
Grass (l'riticumrepens). I want two sacks or 
bags of the seed. I want it for sandy land 
because its roots arc bo tenacious and wide- 
spreading that it will not let our strong winds 
blow the soil away. 1 do not kuow whether 
any seed store keeps, or whether any one ever 
saves the seed for sale. If any man will send 
mo two bags of it I will send him the money 
by return mail, at the price of Timothy seed ” 
IIow Can Irlxii I’otntocs lie Kept In the South t 
" Buckle.” Slormville , Miss , asks the above 
conundrum, and some of our Southern readers 
would oblige us by answering it through our 
columns. 
Miscellaneoua. 
C. I) , Ml. Cisco, TV. I"., a6ks, 1, whether 
the Agricultural Reports are furnished gratis ; 
2, how to obtain information about the fitness 
for farming of the eastern slope of the Blue 
Ridge, N. C.; 8, what is a reliable work on 
dairying and dairy cows. 
Ans —1. We suppose the Reports of the U. 
S. Department of Agriculture are referred 
to: these are furnished gratis through mem¬ 
bers of the United States Senate or House, to 
whom application should be made, each appli¬ 
cant addrepsing either the Senator of his Slate 
or the representative of his district. 3, Write 
to the Secretary of the State Board of Agncul 
ture, Raleigh, N. C. The best work on dairy¬ 
ing and dairy cows is Daiiy Farming by Prof. 
J. P. Sheldon, now being published in monthly 
numbers—price 40c. each—by Cassell, Petter, 
Galpin & Co., 596 Broadway, this city. The 
19th number of this splendid work has already 
been issued, and it will probably be completed 
In about half a dozen more. Willard’s Prac¬ 
tical Daily Husbandry, $3, is also a good work 
—to bo had through the American News Co., 
this city. 
Jv. M T., Philippi, W. Va.. 1, having found 
some wild strawberry vine6 that produce ber¬ 
ries an iuch iu diameter, asks when should 
he transplant them to the garden with a 
view of cultivating them so as possibly to ob¬ 
tain a valuable new variety. 3, He has some 
specimens of the Yucca filamentosa planted in 
April 1880, and now five feet high and still 
growing, and he ft6ks whether it is a common 
thing for the plant to grow so tall. 
Ans.— The wild plants which bear berries 
an inch in diameter should be trans¬ 
planted to the garden, suy in August or 
next Spring. They may prove worthy of cul¬ 
tivation. 3. Unless you have reference to the 
flower stalk, no; otherwise yes, and taller. In 
previous seed distributions the Rural sent out 
seeds of this fine plant. 
B. F. T. cfc Co ., Humboldt, Miss., have a clover 
field which was plowed under last August with 
the intention of planting it to corn last Spring; 
but there was then so fine a stand of young 
clover that it was thought best not to put in 
the corn. Weeds, however, came up nearly 
as vigoronely as the clover, and as they, if not 
cut, would be in the way of next year’s crop 
and damage the hay, they will be mowed down 
to prevent this and give the hay a better 
chance, and right here comes in the question 
which is referred to us Junior pays, "Rake 
them up and take them off;’ Senior says, 
"Let them lie as a mulch to protect the clover, 
should a drought come.” 
Ans —Cut before maturing seeds, we should 
by all means let the weeds remain. 
E B , Aust inburg 0 , has a three-quarter- 
inch lead pipe from a spring to a trough 12 
rods away. Id Summer the water often stops 
running, but when once it is started in the Fall 
it keeps on running right along ftU through 
Winter, though the water in the Spring is the 
same hight all the time, and we are asked for 
the cause of the Summer stoppage, and 
whether an inch pipe would be likely to prove 
more regularly accommodating. 
Ans —It may be that the Summer vegetation 
—leaves, flowers, stems, etc. that collect upon 
the surface water of the Siring—obstructs the 
pipe. When cleared in the Fall this possible 
cause no longer exists. A one-mch pipe would 
be less liable to be obstructed. 
77, S M, West Spring Creek, Pa., incloses 
two thread-like worms which he found when 
plowing greensward, and wishes to know 
what they are. 
Ans. —They are the so-called hair-snakes or 
hair-worms. These entozoans are all parasites 
upon insects in one form or another. 8orae 
species are first parasitic upon aquatic iarvie; 
then live in the stomaehs of fishes and, later, 
in some unexplained way, make their way into 
land insects. They leave their hosts to lay 
their eggs, and in this free state are often 
found, it is probable that 6ome species under¬ 
go their entire transformation on laud. 
5 W. P. Madrid, N. Y. says: " I send by 
mail specimens of a worm which is making 
great havoc in pastures. It somewhat re¬ 
sembles the Army worm. The roots of the 
grass are not injured, but the grass is cut off 
close to the ground. Can you tell me what 
it is ?” 
Ans. —The specimens did not arrive ; but 
from the description we should pronounce 
it the Bronzy Cut-worm, the larva of Naphe- 
lodes violans. The worm is striped and of a 
bronze color when full-grown. It will pro¬ 
bably not prove as injurious as the Army- 
worm. 
E. II L , Homer, N. Y., asks, which is the 
colder—the arctic or antarctic region. 
Ans. —Appleton’s CvelojiB'iia a good au¬ 
thority—nnder the heading Polar Seas, and 
subheading, Antarctic Ocean, In speaking of 
the antarctic region, say6: "With regard to 
the climate, observations, deficient as they are, 
still point conclusively to ihe fact that the 
Winters are milder and the Summers cooler 
than in the North polar regions, thus indicating 
a more ruaratiine climate caused by a less 
amount of land.” We see no reason for disa¬ 
greeing with Appleton’s. 
W, B K , Abingdon, Va , sends a couple of 
samples of minerals to find out whether they 
are valuable. 
Ans —The larger greenish sample is chlorite 
—of no value. The small light-colored sam¬ 
ple, wrapped in newspaper, contains consider¬ 
able gold and would indicate the proximity of 
rich deposits We would advise our corres¬ 
pondent to have an assay made of this mineral, 
for which a sample weighing three or four 
ounces would be needed. A. R.,Ledoux & Co., 
chemists and assayers, 17 Cedar Street, this 
city, arc a trustworthy firm who do that sort 
of business. 
F. C. W., Orion. Ill, wishes to know if the 
Persian Insect Powder is poisonous to ani¬ 
mals ; 2, how Bhall he apply it. 
Ans. —1, It is not. Therein it has an advan¬ 
tage over Paris-green or London-purple. 
When breathed it is no more disagreeable than 
any vegetable dust. 3 Mix with flour in the 
proportion of one part of the pyrethrum to 20 
parts of flour or a tablespoonful of the powder 
iu one gallon of water will prove effective. 
The point is to bring the poison in contact 
with the insect when a very little of it will do 
the work. 
A Subscriber, Blackstone, Mass., asks what 
makes his half-grown cherries drop off the 
trees; there is no visible worm ; the trees ap¬ 
pear healthy, and made 18 inches of new wood 
this Spring. 
Ans. —We have observed that after a full- 
bearing year cherries may bloom and Bet well 
the next year, but the fruit falls off before ma¬ 
turity. Too much rain or too much dry weath¬ 
er may cause the trouble. 
G. C., lilandford, Mass , asks whether, uuder 
favorable conditions, the Rural Branching 
Sorghum will ripen seed iu that latitude— 
about 43 deg. 
Ans. —Probably not. This is not material, 
however, so few seeds suffice for an acre that, 
as seeds mature abundantly in many parts of 
436 
the country, the price of enough of them for 
ordinary purposes is a mere trifle not worth 
considering. 
F S L., Smithfield Va., asks, 1, where can 
the Beauty of Hebrou Potato be had, 3, when 
to sow Bermuda Grass. 
Ans— 1, The Branty of Hebron was intro¬ 
duced by the Rural New-Yorker and is for 
sale by all seedsmen 3 Bermuda Grass does 
not seed iu this country. Cuttings of the roots 
are usually made iu 8pring. spread over the 
ground and dug or harrowed in. 
J- S , Greenville, Pa., asks, 1, for directions 
for training a shepherd dog to drive cows; 
what set of words should be used; 3, are kid¬ 
ney pads of any benefit. 
Ans —We could not give such instructions 
very well. O ie set of words is j *ist as good as 
another. It is quite conventional. We know 
nothing about the kidney pads. 
77. B , Janesville, Mich., asks where the 
Westcott’s R ourn Batter Pail is made. 
Ans —It used to be made bvSilsby and Karas, 
Belmont, N Y , but it seems to have been too 
high-priced ; for after conducting the busi¬ 
ness several years, they abandoned it as un¬ 
profitable. We do not know whether it is or 
is not manufactured anywhere now. 
G B , Adamsville, R I , asks how to cross 
two varieties of corn. 
Ans. —As good a way as any is merely to cut 
out the tassels of one kind so soon as they ap¬ 
pear. Then the silk (pistils) will receive the 
tassel dust (pollen) from the other kind. Of 
course, the two kinds must bloom simultane¬ 
ously. 
G W S , Patchogue, L I, asks howto get 
rid of the apple tree aphis and the pear tree slug. 
Ans. — A syringing with tobacco water, 
whaie-oil soap or Paris-green will kill the 
aphis. F or slags, add a little pi aster to very 
fine coal ashes, and when there is no wind 
thiow this up into the tree so that it will settle 
upon both the under and upper sides of the 
leaves. 11 must be dry. 
J P. C., Union Co . Pa. asks the best way 
to kill Canada thistles. 
Ans —If the patch is small one can afford to 
give the time necessary to their complete exter¬ 
mination. Wait until they are in bloom. Then 
cut them down and dig up the roots thoroughly. 
Some plants will again appear; dig these up 
at once. 
u Sub ", Cane Spring, Ga.. asks what to do 
for ihe blight that has befallen his roses, ow¬ 
ing doubtless to the severity of last Winter— 
abundant blooms but none perfect. 
Ans —We should rather attribute this to too 
much wood or rather to an impoverished soil 
than to the cold of the past Winter. 
J. W. B , Barre, Mass , having his pastures 
injurtd by a curled fern, locally called " Pod,” 
asks how to kill the pest which has a strong 
hold on life. 
Ans. —It is the common Poly pod—Poly pod¬ 
ium vulgare—we presume. Plowing and cul¬ 
tivating will subdue it, 
Ii W. 75 , Wdey Center, Kan , sends for 
name a head of grass which he takes for Jane 
Grass. 
Ans —No, It is Orchard Grass—Dactylis 
glomerata—one of the most valuable and wide¬ 
ly known of all the pasture grasses. 
G M. T., Factory Point, Vt, a«ks whether 
the R. B. Sorghum should be cat before it 
seeds, 
Ans. —It will not seed in Vermont at all. It 
is best to cut it when four or five feet high and 
let it continue to grow. 
L ft. Me. A , Lynn, TV. C , sends a specimen 
of grass and asks " What is it ?” 
Ans —It is the common Canary Grass—Pha- 
laris canariensis. It is cultivated for the seed 
for canary birds. 
77. TV. P , Walton, JV. Y., asks how to apply 
land plaster to corn. 
Ans. —We should sow the plaster the same 
a8any concentrated fertilizer—then cultivate. 
G W. 77. North Sanford. TV. Y. , asks where 
can he get parts of the Clipper Mower. 
Ans —From the Clipper Mower Co., Keene, 
N. H. 
W. E W., Cornwall, VI, wants a remedy 
for grubs that are injuring grass at the roots. 
Ans.—W e do not know of any, unless to 
plow it up. 
Communications received eob the week end¬ 
ing Saturday, Junk 25 
B. F. C.— J. W. M —W. II. R.-F, M.—T. R.—A. 
M. T» — M, J. W.—M. M. MCK.-J. D K.—F. B.—J. 
W. E.—«. V R. G —E. O. T.—J. S. G;-J. B —8. 8. 
D.—H. F.—J I>. D— FI. A.—15. R. W.-H. B. H.— 
J. G — r;. E, P,—R. W. F.—R. L. M.—E. B. D.-D. 
B C —8. B — L.— B.-U, M. L.—G. P — O, Y.—C. E. 
K. -E. C.-S. K.-D. W,—W, B.—Ii.—B.-J. P. H. 
—C. C. B. -II. B.—R. V. L.—W. Y. M.—W. P. D — 
Coe Brothers - D. S. M., thanks.—W. W. Clason. 
thanks for Buffalo Peas.—P. M. A.—M. C. W.—P. 
B. M —R W. F—W. B. H.—"Edgerton." 
There are also about 1,200 other contributions 
to our crop reports, the receipt of which Is hereby 
thankfully acknowledged. 
