in the foliage and stalks of the young growth. 
The row planted without the seed ends were 
of a deeper, healthier color, and the stalks 
also were much stockier. It was plainly to be 
seen that the row planted with the seed ends of 
the potatoes removed had the advantage of the 
other row planted with the seed cut in the usual 
way. The growth was stronger and larger in 
the former row as could be plainly seen several 
rods away. The treatment of the two rows 
from the time the seed was planted was 
precisely the same. London-purple was ap¬ 
plied to the foliage as the bugs made their 
appearance, but the treatment was not suffi¬ 
cient, for enough bugs remained to test the 
strength of the plants. The row planted in 
the usual way, having a feebler growth of topp, 
suffered most. 
When the potatoes were dug the same differ¬ 
ence noted in the growth of the tops was visi¬ 
ble in the size and yield of the tubers, Owing 
to carelessness on the part of a workmen 
the product of the respective rows was not 
measured, but it was plainly noticeable both in 
size and quantity of the tubers in favor of the 
row planted with the seed the seed ends of 
which had been removed. g. a. g jb. 
Elmira, N. Y. 
erto we have been unable to control the mat¬ 
ter, owing to the fact that every succeeding 
season has brought an unexpected increase of 
labor. Again, in the case of imported seed, 
we are unable, In miny cases, to procure them 
in time. 8uch was the case with the Datch 
and A'-genteuil Asparagus^of our last Dlatribu- 
bution. We look for no delays in our comiog 
Distribution, for the reason that most of the 
kinds are growing upon the Rural Furm.— 
Eds.] Our corn is planted about the first of 
—torchlights—burning in and about tobacco 
fields during the night time. The moths are 
attracted by the lights and are destroyed either 
by the fires themgelves or by attendants. But 
no care on the part of a planter can prevent 
the appearance of the larvae of this tobacco fly 
in a greater or less number, and the utmost 
vigilance is necessary to prevent them from 
causing serious damage to the crop. Worm¬ 
ing should begin as soon as the first one is 
seen, and the work should be thorough or 
of growth and of the maturity of corn. It oc¬ 
cupies a period of the year marked by numer¬ 
ous thunder showers and a torrid temperature, 
when the production of nitric acid is known 
to be greatly in excess of that at any other 
season, and probably, if not certainly, greater 
than the product of the whole of the rest of 
the year ; while wheat is mature and ready for 
harvest before the hot weather fairly begins. 
Corn, In fact, is a tropical plant, and cannot 
be j ustjy compared with wheat, oats and barley, 
Which thrive in the cooler parts of. the temper¬ 
ate zone, and is, therefore, as Dr. Liwes 
admits, “less dependent npon an artificial 
supply of nitrogen than wheat, oats or barley." 
Now wherein do we differ in respect to the 
character of corn as a gatherer of natural ni¬ 
trogen ? I have read with great care all that 
Dr. Lawes has written in criticism of my 
paper, but I leave it with the satisfaction of 
believing that Dr. Lawes really agrees with 
my views j or 1 would rather say that my 
views appear to be based on a true understand¬ 
ing of Dr. Lawes’s teachings, to which I con¬ 
fess I am indebted for the most of roy opinions 
and beliefs on this subject. I disclaim any de¬ 
sire to stand in the relation of a disputant with 
Dr. Lawes: I rather claim the relation of a 
disciple, and recognize him as my apostle and 
authority in this investigation, and shall re¬ 
joice if it may induce him to study still more 
closely the subject of American corn culture, 
in connection with our peculiar climate, and 
onr enforced necessity for mineral fertilizing, 
with continuous cropping to a great extent. 
In conclusion, I would say that I am much 
pleased to have so favorable an opinion in re¬ 
gard to the permanence of mineral fertilizers 
from Dr. Lawes, when he says that “phos- 
poric acid and potash enter into fixed com¬ 
pounds with the soil and are only recovered 
over long periods of time." American farmers 
can scarcely have any more encouraging evi¬ 
dence of the permanence of artificial fertilizers 
than the fact that at Rothainsted ihe potash 
and phosphoric acid applied 30 years ago are 
still showing their effects upon the crops. In 
my attempts to grow corn continuously, and 
cbltfly with artificial manures, I have already 
had evidence of the same fact; and if the most 
costly ingredient of these fertilizers, viz., ni¬ 
trogen, Is required only in the small propor¬ 
tion admitted by Dr. Lawes, I can see my way 
clearly to grow corn cheaper than I can buy it 
from Western farmers, and either feed it in 
my dairy or dispose of it at a profit. 
ORNAMENTAL WALL-TRAINING—PEACH WITH APPLE CORDON IN FRONT.—FIG. 377. 
March, and if I had the sorghum seed at 
at that time I would have had an extra cutting 
for stock this Summer. On Jane 18 I com¬ 
menced using it for feed, and will report prog- 
re s if you think it will be of any interest to 
yonr readers. [Most assuredly it will.— Eds ] 
I may state it was planted in poor prairie soil, 
in my garden, without the application of any 
manure whatever. It has had but one plow¬ 
ing and one hoeing, but is free from weeds and 
grass. I have a very poor stand; the seed 
must have been at fault, for I planted it with 
all the care possible, while only one seed in 
twenty germinated. [That is our experience. 
—Eds ] If ensilage is a success, and it seems 
The Washington Oat*. 
What’s in a name? I have grown the 
Washington ORs, and about half the yield is 
smut. Indeed I have grown the same oats 
for years! having got them from the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture first, and afterwards I 
bought a bushel from B. K Bliss & Co., of 
N. Y. City, under the name of English Chal¬ 
lenge O its. Having compared all, I know 
they are identical. After harvest I will send 
the Rural samples of a sort of heavy white 
oats imported from Scotland, and also of the 
Washington Oats. G. c. 
[We should much like a quart of the heavy 
oats from Scotland sent by mail at our ex¬ 
pense. We have the Washington O its, as 
well as several kinds of English and Austra¬ 
lian. They very nearly resemble each other.— 
Eds ] 
those that are not destroyed will cause much 
harm. The eggs of the larvae can be found by 
a careful eye, and it is well to keep a sharp 
lookout for them also. 
Lvtb tobacco can be hastened to maturity 
by watering the plants with liquid manure. 
Water from the barnyard—leaebings from the 
manure—is as good as anything for the purpose. 
It is best to apply it in cloudy weather or just 
previonB to a rainfall, as when the soil is dry 
and the weather bright and hot, it is likely to 
cause the surface soil about the plants to bake, 
when composed in large part of clay. Next 
to this there Is nothing that will promote rapid 
GOOD DRAINAGE ESSENTIAL FOR 
WHEAT. 
FRAME AND BELL GLASS USED BY PARIS MARKET GARDENERS FOR YOUNG PLANTS —FIG 378 
growth and early maturity better than con- to be from the Rural writers, then we have 
stant cnltivation. G G. JR. found the coming fodder plant. G. G 
Chemung Co., N. Y. Texas, Latitude 30°. 
The past two or three years should convince 
farmers in this section that land sown to wheat 
in the Fall should be well drained. The Win¬ 
ter of 1878 was a very open one with consider¬ 
able rain, very little enow and very mild 
weather generally, and the consequence was 
that we had considerable wheat. On low land 
that was poorly drained, however, it was 
water-killed while the crop on an average was 
veiypoor. Last year we had an unusually 
hard, cold Winter with considerable snow, 
and we had an uncommonly good yield of 
wheat. This year we have again had an open 
Winter with considerable rain, scarcely any 
snow and very mild weather generally, and 
the prospects now are very poor, the wheat 
having been considerably water-killed and in¬ 
jured by the fly. Hence I conclude that land, 
to produce the best yield of wheat, must be 
well drained so that the water will not stand 
on the wheat at all, either from a rain or from 
melting snow, as it seems to take very little 
water standing on wheat to kill it. Then it 
seems that where the land is plowed once, and 
the volunteer wheat is allowed to come up and 
the land is then plowed again, well harrowed 
and rolled, the fly does not injure the wheat 
so much. This has been the result for the last 
three years, and since these facts are known it 
seems to me that in order to raise a good crop 
of wheat the land should be plowed well and 
as early as possible after harvest, especially if 
it has been in wheat the year before. By plow¬ 
ing early the volunteer wheat has a good 
chance to sprout and grow, and the land should 
be plowed the second time to kill this well, 
and then harrowed and rolled before it is 
seeded, to get it as solid a6 possible before 
seeding it. It should also oe well drained so 
that the surface water can all ran off easily 
and as quickly as possible. With these prep¬ 
arations we can expect a reasonable harvest. 
Miller Co., Mo. n. j. s. 
TOBACCO GROWING NOTES 
It may be safely affirmed that land can hard¬ 
ly be manured too highly for tobacco. Yet we 
sometimes hear complaints of positive damage 
to crops from too much manure. This is only 
the case when the mannre is wry coarse and the 
season is dry. The combined Influences of dry 
weather and a large amount of coarse, unpul¬ 
verized manure are destructive to a large 
growth of plants. 
RURAL BRANCHING SORGHUM 
EXPERIMENTS WITH SEED POTATOES 
An Important Report from Tmih, 
It is with great satisfaction I state to the 
many readers of the Rural New-Yorker that 
the above sorghum Is a perfect success in this 
latitude. Notwithstanding that we had no rains 
in June, it stood the drought without wilting 
in the slightest degree, while the corn in the 
adjoining row was yellow half way up the 
stalk. I can truthfully say I am repaid ten¬ 
fold, in this one item of the Free Seed Distil 
bution, for the price of the paper. 
It was planted on the 28ffi of April, and on 
Carefully conducted experiments have re¬ 
peatedly proven that the manner of cutting 
the seed has much to do with the yield of a 
crop of potatoes. Having been told last Spring 
that a treat difference exists in the growing 
and yielding qualities of the stem and seed ends 
of a potato, I decid id to prove the assertion 
correct or otherwise by experiment. I care¬ 
fully planted and marked two rows of potatoes 
planted at the same time and in rows side by 
side, in one row the seed was cut in the usual 
With corn and some other hoed crops it is 
sometimes impossible to have a fall Btand of 
plants. Insects of various kinds cause “mis¬ 
sing" bills until it becomes too late for re¬ 
planting. With tobacco, however, it Is differ¬ 
ent ; there is little excuse for “ missing” 
plants, and where vacancies are found, it Is 
pretty good evidence that the planter is a care¬ 
less grower or one not experienced in the busi¬ 
ness. All that is necessary, in the majority of 
cases, to secure a full stand, is to set, at the 
time of planting, enongh extra plants to fill 
vacancies that may appear later in the season. 
It is best and safest to re-set from the plant- 
bed for a time or until the first plants have 
commenced to grow, after which the “ extra” 
plants Bhould be used. If the work of re-set¬ 
ting is done in damp weather, when the soil is 
moist, and the plants are removed with a ball 
of earth upon the roots, they will bear removal 
without apparent injury, and a perfect and 
even stand of plants may be effected. 
A full stand of plants is always very im¬ 
portant to the outcome of the crop. A full 
yield cannot be expected in fields where there 
are “ missing" hills, as is often the case where 
care is not exercised to make the stand per¬ 
fect. The labor of cultivation and manipula¬ 
tion is almost as great where a percentage of 
hills are missing, as the ground mast be passed 
over just as often as when every plant is in, 
and the loss from the “ missing" bills is ap¬ 
parent. 
It is now time for the tobacco fly to make 
its appearance. It is well to watch for the 
peBts and to adopt some method for their de¬ 
struction. The Jamestown-Weed (Stramo¬ 
nium) which is common in a wild state in 
many parts of the South and West, forms a 
useful medium for destroying this insect. The 
blossoms, which are eagerly sought after by 
the fly, should be charged with a solution of 
cobalt or other poison, and the fly is destroyed. 
In the North where the Jamestown-Weed does 
not mature early enough, the flies are some¬ 
times killed in large numbers by keeping fires 
THE NIAGARA GRAPE 
To Mr. C. A. Green 
Your reply to Mr. Suel Foster in reference 
to the Niagara Grape, in the Rural of July 
16, should be given a wide circulation, be¬ 
cause there is an inkling of truth in it that 
should have seen the light at an earlier date. 
Mr. Foster has probably declined the splendid 
offer of the operators for making an everlast¬ 
ing fortune. It is my (private) opinion that 
the Niagara Grape has hung fire too long for 
the good of the incorporators; and, as the 
GEOMETRIC BED AT THE BARIS BXBOSITION 
wav and two pieces planted in a hill. Iu the 
adjoining row the seed ends of the potatoes 
(the ends having numerous eyes) were first re¬ 
moved and cast aside and the remainder 
of the potato cut in the usual way and planted 
as above, two pieces in a hill. 
Watching carefully the mauner of growth 
iu the respective rows, I noticed as soon as the 
potatoes were fairly up a decided difference 
June 15 it was about eight feet high, with ten 
and thirteen stalks to the hill. It is assuredly 
a marvel of luxuriance and productiveness. 
If our kind Rural farmer would in future 
send our free seed a month or two earlier, it 
would greatly help the good work down South. 
[We have fully appreciated the necessities of 
the case and have always endeavored to send 
Southern seeds at the earliest day. But hith- 
