AUG.20 
550 
adopted the practice in consequence of the 
recommendation of Prof. Nelaton (in hie “ Ele¬ 
ments dc PathoIogleChimrgicflle ") of the Jag- 
lans nigra as a remedy in malignant pustule. 
The use of the gargle was unattended by dis¬ 
comfort, no patient objecting toil; and im¬ 
provement in each instance was rapid, the 
ceiema subsiding, the ash-colored spots disap¬ 
pearing. 
Basswood Trees for Honey. —For a num¬ 
ber of years we have been advising farmers 
who keep bees to plant basswood trees in every 
available place for the purpose of furnishing 
pasturage for the little honey gat herers. Honey 
gathered from the fl owers of any of the nu¬ 
merous species of basswood or lindens—as they 
are known by both of these common names— 
is equal to that obtained from the White Clo¬ 
ver, says the N. Y. Suu, and there is no good 
reason why the farmer should not provide 
pasturage for bis bees as well as for his cattle. 
The European basswoods come into bloom at 
an earlier age than our American species, and 
produce flowers in greater abundance, and for 
this reason are preferable for supplying the 
bees with honey ; but all species are excellent 
for this purpose. 
The Rural Home says that the multiplica¬ 
tion of machinery in farm operations renders 
it Quite important that young farmers should 
study mechanics, and if afterwards they should 
spend a few months in learning the machin¬ 
ists’ trade they would be better qualified for 
their business. 
The sriRiT of gambling, Gov. Seymour 
says, is the greatest evil our farmers have to 
contend with. Take hops, for instance. That, 
is an extreme case. More men have been 
ruined by holding their hops for higher prices, 
when they conld have sold at 30 cents a 
pound, than have been hurt by selling in sea¬ 
son when the market ruled at 10 cents a pound. 
So with wheat. Farmers are always holding 
out for higher prices. This peculiarity Beems 
to be confined to the native or American farm¬ 
ers, and that is the reason why they are put at 
a disadvantage when they have to compete 
with German and other foreign-born farmers, 
who sell whenever they can realize a fair profit. 
Not until the American farmer rids himself of 
the gambling mania can he compete on terms 
of equality with his neighbors abroad. 
We find the following in London Truth 
“One of the strangest farms in the world is 
the gigantic terrapin farm of Mr. Dorton, in 
Alabama, which is stocked at present with 20,- 
000 head of turtle, that are reared and fattened 
for the New York market. They eat nothing 
In Winter, and they cau be fattened on crabs 
in Summer, at a cost of a dollar a dozen. Mr. 
Dorton Bells them at a dollar each in New 
York. Yet we have to pay a guinea a quart 
for turtle soup 1” 
Wheat for Latino Hens —The Mark Lane 
Express (London) says that an American wri¬ 
ter says that as chemical analysis proves wheat 
to contain more albumen than any other grain, 
it should be the foundation of egg production. 
If the white of a heu’s egg contains 12 per 
cent, of albumen, it is certain she cannot pro¬ 
duce so many eggs from food which is deficient 
in albumen. On the other hand, it is not so 
useful as maize for flesh and fat-forming 
thus, while one food is useful for laying fowls 
the other would appear to be more valuable 
for fatting for market. There is, however, 
something else to he considered, viz., coat. 
Wheat may be better than maize, but the ques¬ 
tion is—I b it batter at the price? If wheat is 
50 per cent, dearer than maize, weight for 
weight, does it contain 50 per cent, more in 
feeding value ? If not, it is not so cheap. 
The English say that the relation of friend¬ 
ship between England and the United States 
was never so strong as it is now, and that all 
things are now even. Yet England accuses us 
of sending dynamite, infernal machines, potato 
bugs and trichina, all of which are not half as 
bad as the English [sparrows.-N. Y. Herald. . 
- The Detroit Free Press wonders why 
it is that when a pedestrian is drenched by a 
basin of water from a fourth-story window he 
always wants to whip somebody who lives on 
the first floor.“If ever I deliver an¬ 
other agricultural lecture it will be on ‘ The 
Farmer as a Gambler,’” says Gov. Seymour. 
If all gambling in farm products could be 
stopped, it would be a consummation most de¬ 
voutly to be wished lor.A Michigan 
farmer tells the N. Y. World that to kiU Quack 
Grass he plows the land early in the seaeon 
and cultivates often, so that no grass can 
grow. He does not cultivate the land deep at 
first, but cultivates shallow and often. •' This," 
the editor of the World remarks, “is not in 
accordance with the general opinion. Most 
farmers advise deep plowing in addition to re¬ 
peated cnhivalion as the only true remedy.’' 
It, Is Just in to doing that they make a mistake. 
We rid a field of Quack at the Rural Farm by 
giving It the cultivation which the crop should 
always have—but the cultivation is shallow. . 
THE 
RURAL WEW-tORKER. 
...... Beecher says that Hades is a state 
ratter than a place. Jersey, we’ll bet.—Tur¬ 
ner’s Falls Reporter. A man need not 
flatter himself on everything about his house 
being as regular as clock-work, simply be¬ 
cause he buys everything n tick. Unlike a 
clock, he will run down when his affairs are 
wound up.—Boston Transcript.Long¬ 
fellow says:— 
*• Joy, temperance and repose, 
81am the door on the doctor’s nose.” 
.We heard of a conscientious cow, 
once, that always made a point of filling the 
pail, turning her head to see. A wicked man 
one day milked her in a pail that had a ho’e in 
the bottom ; the pail did not fill; the cow saw 
this and fled: Bhe was hopelessly insane ever 
after. This is the sort of cow we should like, 
without the insanity.—English Live Stock 
Journal, via N, Y. Tribune.Mr. Ho- 
vey pronounces “ the .’golden Pocklington ” as 
large and handsome as aGolden Hamhurgb, as 
rich and transparent as a Thomery Chasselas, 
and quite as sweet; and this, with the black 
Concord, the red Brighton, aud the amber Re¬ 
becca as tbe four finest grapes sufficiently 
hardy to stand 20° below ziro. The Pockling¬ 
ton, comments Mr. J. J. Thomas, is a fine 
grape when ripened into October, but he could 
never place it quite so high as the above esti¬ 
mate, and he would add to the list of fine 
American sorts such grapes as the Delaware, 
Duchess, Niagara, PrenlisB, J?fferson and a 
few others.The Husbandman says 
poik slightly tainted may be saved from fur¬ 
ther harm by putting pieces of wood charcoal 
into the brine. Use freely according to the 
degree of taint, and offensive odors will be ab¬ 
sorbed and decomposition arrested. 
We find the following good item from Harris’s 
Talks on Manures in the Eimira Husbandman: 
One ton of good bone dust contains about as 
much nitrogen as tons of fresh stable ma¬ 
nure, and as much phosphoric acid as 110 tons 
of fresh stable manure. Bat one ton of ma¬ 
nure contains more potash than five tons of 
NOTES FROM SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. 
To the people of the North it is not easy 
to believe one can feel as much at home in the 
South as he really can, and little can they real¬ 
ize the great pleasure that is born of so mild 
and pleasant a climate. To tell them that 
here, Bave along the"creek or river bottoms, 
there is far less annoyance from insect pests, 
such as mosquitos, gnats, etc., than is usual 
at the North, is often considered a mere allure¬ 
ment to settlere ; but all through this intensely 
hot Summer we have lived with windows and 
doors open both day and night, and only the 
common house fly has troubled us, although 
we have had no protection, such aB netting, 
etc. In this respect we nevei passed a more 
pleasant six months than the paBt here. 
It is only energy that iB needed. Land is 
cheap, good, and easily worked—really the 
6es2I ever tilled, and I have seen most of the 
land from Boston to St. Louis and from St. 
Paul to Galveston. Storms are many degrees 
less in severity than in the Northern StateB. 
This region is not subject to the cyclones of 
the West. It is a comparatively new country ; 
yet it has been inhabited for 250 years, more 
or lesB. 
Since the close of the war in 1865, all is 
cbaBged. The former condition of the people 
was based on the labor of the colored man; their 
present condition rest6 on the labor of each 
individual. The country has to be repeopled 
and sb these will come from the “ land of vim" 
there will be an entire change. The choice 
farms (lands that can and will be made such) 
will change from the present dilapidated con¬ 
dition to that of the orderly and productive 
possessions of the Yankee land, and the t-10- 
land now begging for an owner, when properly 
cultivated will have as high a reputation as the 
Genesee Valley of N. Y., or the famed Lancas¬ 
ter Co,, of Pennsylvania. 1 have seen them all, 
and know of their worth and character, and be¬ 
lieve these lands, especially here in Chester¬ 
field Co., will, a decade hence, be appreciated, 
and sought for, and eventually take a front 
rank even above those named. It requires 
light tools, fine-toothed cultivators, rakes, 
plenty of fertilizers, and continued attention 
to produce the highest results; but the re¬ 
turns will well repay all the needed outlay. 
[Strange, isn’t it? that, as a rule, it is the rich¬ 
est land, in tbe most delightful region, and 
among the most charming people, that is for 
sale! Ede.J The old way of “plowing the 
corn," “ hacking weeds" with a three or four- 
pound boe and the various other antediluvian 
methods will soon be memories only. Health, 
one of the most, if not th • most important 
point to be considered in selecting a new 
home, is found here in perfection. The best 
of water ib not far from the surface, while 
much of the land abounds in excellent springs. 
It is necessary to have a small fund to live 
on during the fir6t year. Don’t hurry to buy. 
Come and look. Take no one’s word. Choose 
for yourself j buy of the owner if possible 
Batter stay a season and look around than buy 
too carele6Bly. There will always be found 
more or less fever and ague along rivers : but 
none on the rolling portions. I will add I 
have no land for sale nor am i interested in 
any. I am only a home-seeker, but I like the 
country better than any other I have seen and 
intend to stay the rest of my life in the South. 
The cold North has no charms for me, though 
it 56 uiy birth-place and where I have spent 
nearly 50 years. The 8outh is the “coming" 
land for home-seekers. Life aud property are 
as safe here as in anv portion of tne North or 
West. Churches, schools, stores and all that 
a Northern settler should want are here, 
though often in a different shape from what 
he might have expected. We hear the newB 
from all points of the globe as readily as in 
New York or Ohio. It is a “Snnny South;” 
yet tbe heat is no more intolerable than at 
higher latitudes. Two crops cau be grown per 
year : eo if the first one is a failure there is 
plenty of chance for another. The advantages 
of this region can only be appreciated when 
one ha? had personal knowledge of it. [While 
willing to permit onr correspondent to give 
his early Impressions of the country, we 
would attach more Importance to what he 
says of it, if he spoke from a personal expe¬ 
rience of a few years.—Ens ] It must be re¬ 
membered that this portion of Virginia has 
been settled and worked, and that the soil has 
been more or less drained of its fertility by the 
wasteful and careless culture of the disinter¬ 
ested laborer for over 200 years. Where else 
cau a soil be found, that, under such treat¬ 
ment, would be capable of producing even 
pines ? but here a quick and strong growth of 
both pines and hard wood immediately suc¬ 
ceeds the close of culture. This is the home 
of the grape. Wild ones produce very large 
berries and grow everywhere. Strawberries 
aud blackberries (cultivated) are always a sure 
and plentiful crop, while whortleberries of 
some three or more sorts grow at every turn. 
I care not where one may go there will not be 
found anywhere more good points in one lo¬ 
cation tham can be here met with. 
Chesterfield Co.. Va. a. q. m. 
♦ »»- 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Arksium, 
Grand Prairie. Near Carlisle, Prairie Co. 
Aug. 5 —When so good and widely read a pa¬ 
per as the Rural New-Yorker publishes such 
an article as that from “Arkansas" in the 
issue of July 80, it requires special notice. 
Mr, H. B.’s three years’ residence has not fully 
qualified him to be a reporter of the State. 
The fact is there is not on the face of the globe 
a section at this latitude which produces more 
eoi n and oat6 per acre than this, if any atten¬ 
tion is given to cultivation such [as the soil 
and climate demand. Every variety of grape, 
sweet potatoes, peanuts, melons, early peas 
and strawberries are No. 1. Tobacco does 
finely, as do broom corn, sorghum, beans, etc., 
etc. The White Mulberry grows luxuriantly, 
and undoubtedly tbe raising of silk-worms 
would be a first-class success. While it is gen¬ 
erally considered good, successful farming to 
produce from half a bale to a bale of cotton to 
the acre, ArkaneaB has rich bottom lands that 
always produce a bate to the acre, along the 
rivers which are numerous, four large navi¬ 
gable ones crossing the State. It has a great 
number of beautiful prairieB which produce 
large quantities of good hay that is cut, baled 
and shipped, being considered nearly as good 
as Timothy. A kind of grass called Crab Grass 
in this locality grows up after oats and makes 
excellent feed and hay worth $8 per ton. I 
milk a cow (a Short-horn brought from Mich¬ 
igan) and she gives more ir ilk at a milking 
than she did North. The fact is people that 
come from the North, as I did, are apt to de¬ 
mand things that are quite unreasonable in 
this climate; for instance, an average of from 
20 to 30 or 40 bushels of com per acre so far 
8outb of the grasB and corn belt of the North¬ 
ern Btates; and yet in this vicinity there are 
many places that will yield nearly that quan¬ 
tity. The soil is a fine compound of fine sili¬ 
cate, alnmine and sedimentary vegetable de¬ 
posit. This couutry is about one-half occu¬ 
pied by people from the North—Iowa, Illinois, 
Indiana, etc. The other half are native-born 
or from the States further east, and they are, 
many of them, colored. West of the center 
of the Slate there are fine mountain ranges, 
valleys and clear Btreams ; here we get water 
that 16 good at Irom SO to 40 feet. J. A J. 
Canada. 
Perth Court, Oat., Aug. 6.—Crops as a rule 
in Canada are much better than was expected. 
The severe Winter killed out much of the 
Fall wheat, but what is left is of excellent 
quality and a good yield. Spring wheat 
has been to a great extent given up, 
but yields exceedingly well this year where 
grown. Barley and oats are heavy ; and a 
very fine sample. Peas, owing to the bug, 
have been mostly given up. Roots have im¬ 
proved since the late rains and will average 
nicely. Fruit of most binds is a failure. The 
potato bug was never so plentiful or so de¬ 
structive. C M Y. 
Connecticut. 
Naugatuck, New Haven Co., Aug. 6 —Grass 
was a full average and very fine. Corn prom¬ 
ises a full crop. Rye was extra-good; so 
were oats. Potatoes promised well till the 
present week ; the rot haB appeared on many 
vines. Apples are scarce. Blackberries were 
mostly winter-killed; other small fruits are 
plentiful. Pears are a lavge crop—equal to 
that of 1879 Quinces were destroyed; some¬ 
thing eats them and eats off small twigs also; 
yellow fungus begins on the stem and destroys 
the quince. h. n. w. 
Knnxntt. 
Edgf.kton, Johnson Co,, Aug. 5—1 have 
thrashed my wheat and it only made eight 
bushels per acre—I expected 15 bushels. The 
wheat crops of my neighbors have turned out 
about the same ; aud so will all those in this 
section—ou thrashing, wheat will yield about 
half ns much as was estimated in forecasting 
the harvest. w. f. jr. 
Kentucky. 
Wilsonvii.le, Spencer Co., Aug. 3 —Our 
wheat is very light; oats very good ; rye ditto 
—very little sown. Potatoes excellent. My 
Beauty of Hebron is large and flue and will 
yield more than the Early Rose. My Argen- 
tenil Asparagus came up nicely aud did well, 
bntR B. S. did not follow itscxcellent example. 
My oats did, however, and the flowers, pinks, 
etc., have J net begun to bloom—they are beau¬ 
tiful. We appreciate our Rural seed very 
highly. J- r. 
Missouri. 
Pleasant Mount, Miller Co., Aug. 1.—We 
have had a spell of very hot, dry weather 
curling up the leaves of corn and damaging 
late corn and all kinds of gardeu vegetables 
to a considerable extent- Wheat thrashing 
ha6 fairly commenced and so far the yield is 
very poor, being from three to eight bushels 
to the acre while the qua'ity is equally poor. 
Oats yield better, but the grain is light, weigh¬ 
ing about 25 pounds to the measured buBbei. 
Corn that was planted early and well culti¬ 
vated is very good, while late corn will amount 
to nothing unless we have a good rain in a 
short time. A few farmers who lost their 
wheat by cbinch bugs plowed up the ground 
and sowed buckwheat which seems to be do¬ 
ing very well. Potatoes are not doing well— 
too many bugs and too little ruin. Iu short, 
there seems to be a general failureof all kinds, 
no crop of any kind making a full average, 
unless we except grass. The chinch bug has 
damaged wheat, corn and oats to a large 
extent. I hear of a few cases of cholera 
among hogs. . . n. j. a. 
Montana. 
Stevbnsville, Missoula Co., Aug. 8—The 
Telephone Peas and the Washington Cits ap¬ 
pear to be grand acquisitions. I would not 
take five dollars for the oats I will raise 
from this year’s sowing. k. p. 
IlinbrukR. \ 
Albion, Boone Co., Aug. 4 -Harvesting is 
in progress. A very poor crop of wheat. Oats 
pretty good. Corn magnificent so far. Pota¬ 
toes, a fair yield. w. f. 
N«w Jersey. 
Columbus, Burliugtou Co., Aug. 4 —I have 
dug my Elephant Potatoes and got 21 pounds. 
My Washington Oats yielded three pounds. 
My Argenteuil Asparagus came up finely and 
now stands eight inches high. It has been too 
dry for theR. B. Sorghum ; what is standing 
looks pretty well. I had 20 grainB of ' Golden 
Graius” wheat sent to me last Spring, and out 
of the 20,18 sprouted. They were sowed on 
March 2, but owing to tbe drought the ears did 
not fill very well. I think it would do best as 
a Winter wheat. I have one-fifth of an acre 
of Marvin Strawberries from which 1 picked 
514 quarts. They were the finest berrieB 
grown around here; some of them measured 
six inches in circumference. I have set out 
about au acre for next year; they are looking 
fine. I have tried them on three different 
kinds of soil and find they do best on that 
which is light with clay bottom. o. o. 
North Carolina. 
Henderson, Vance Co., Aug. 2.—Hot, hot 
and dry. Corn can hardly recover. Cotton 
suffering. Grape6 ripening rapidly; Ives will 
all go forward this week; Concords close on 
their heels. 
p. 
©jjf ^nfrist, 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
The IlenWhrnlnesN of Manure Cellars. 
S. L Shnron Center, 2V. )'■, aayB: " Intend¬ 
ing to remodel my stables with a vi-w not only 
• • a A. __MnmnxA O C IDoll UR tn Jivold 
