Vol. XL.—No. 1648.} 
NEW YORK, AUGr. 27, 1881. 
(PHIOE FIVE CENTS 
l $2.00 PER YE-aR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by the Rural New-Yorker, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
fectly ripe—which may be known by the tips 
and seed cnps turning brown—the plants 
should be removed and hung up in a dry, airy 
lott until cured, after which the seed may be 
shelled out and put away for future use. To¬ 
bacco seed will remain good for many years if 
kept dry. When a desirable variety or strain 
has once been secured it is well to save enough 
seed to last a number of years, which will pre¬ 
vent the deterioration so common with most 
planters when seed is saved each year for use 
the succeeding year. 
to apply to the bed a liberal coating of man¬ 
ure, that it may have time to become thoroughly 
rotted and mixed with the soil before the bed 
is again needed for plants. With this man¬ 
agement all seeds that may be in the manure 
will germinate, and the forking over of the 
soil will destroy them. A little care thus ex¬ 
ercised in the after management of tobacco 
plant-beds, will greatly lessen the labors of 
next year’s plant growing and go a long way 
towards insuring good success in the work. 
the work should be procured in good season 
and everything made ready. 
Thb natural desire of the tobacco plant to 
produce seed shows itself clearly even after the 
top of the plant has been broken off in the 
process of " topping”. Side or lateral branches 
start out at the axils of the leaves, which 
would ultimately form blossoms and seed if 
not prevented, thus sapping the stalk of the 
the elements which it is desired to contribute 
to leaf growth. Hence it is that these sprouts, 
or “Buckers," should be broken o£E as fast as 
they appear. The work is termed ” Bucket¬ 
ing" and must not be neglected. 
Chemung Co., N. Y. o. a. g. jb. 
OLD WITCH GRASS, HAIR GRASS 
(Panicum capillars.) 
Thb leaves and sheaths of this annual grass 
are usually covered with large numbers of 
bristling hairs. The culms grow from one to 
two and a half feet high. They are rather 
stout and bear broad, linear leaves. The pan¬ 
icle is large, pyramidal, with very slender 
branches which are quite spreading with age. 
The bases of the branches are enlarged and 
when mature are quite brittle and easily sep¬ 
arated. It grows in waste places and fields 
where it is generally considered a weed. It 
varies much in appearance. In color it may 
be green or dark purple. The dowers appear 
in July and later. It does not seem to be a 
promising grass for lawns, meadows or pas¬ 
tures. Owing to its stiff hairs and coarse 
texture, cattle are not fond of it. The chief 
place where it can claim attention is in the 
garden of ornamental grasses. If cut when 
young the panicles will not easily break in 
pieces. They are very ornamental in suitable 
places. The seed is often sold under a variety 
of names. I obtained the grass, among many 
others, from the Kew OardenB under three dif¬ 
ferent names. It is very easy of cultivation 
and, when once introduced, will not be readily 
exterminated. It is common on the prairies, 
where it is admirably provided with means 
for wide distribution. The panicles, when 
ripe, easily break off. The branches stand out 
As the season for harvesting tobacco ap¬ 
proaches, the grower should look to his cur¬ 
ing barn, and if not already in readiness fr r the 
work of hanging the plants, no time should 
The tobacco plant-bed should not be for¬ 
gotten during this season: in order to pre¬ 
vent it from becoming foul with the roots and 
COST, OF WHEAT GROWING 
WALDO F. BROWN, 
If every farmer could be induced to keep an 
account with each wheat field sown on his 
farm, I believe it would do more to improve 
his methods of management than anything I 
can suggest. The farmer likes to be paid for 
his labor as well as any one else, and a careful 
account kept with his wheat, would soon show 
that all the profit came from the bushels 
grown above an average crop, and that the 
cost per bushel decreased in proportion as the 
bushels per *£re increased. I b.'gan keeping 
an account with my wheat in 187), with a two- 
acre patch. My account with it is as follows: 
Breaking two acres...$ 3 00 
Harrowing- and rolling. 4 00 
Seed wheat m bushel.. 1 80 
Drilling-... 80 
10 loads of manure. 5 00 
Harvesting. 3 50 
Total.......$18 10 
The two acres yielded 70 bushels of wheat 
which sold for 85 cents a bushel, making 
459 50. Deducting the expense, It leaves 
$41.40 net Income from the two acres. I have 
allowed nothing for hauling and thrashing, 
because after a cartful estimate I believe the 
straw is worth to me this amount. But even 
deducting this, which I estimate to cost IS 
cents a bushel, it leaves $32 SO, and coanting 
the land at $75.00 per acre and eight per cent, 
or $6 an acre, for the nse of the land, it gives a 
net profit of $30.80 besides the straw. In 187S 
I kept an account with a six-acre field. Four 
acres of this were corn land and the other two 
acres, the same as above. 
Plowing, harrowing and rolling.$13 60 
Picking off corn butts . 5 00 
bushels of seed at 30 eta. 4.95 
Drilling. 3 40 
Harvesting. 9 60 
Total.$35 45 
This field yielded 30 bushels per acre, or 180 
bushels, and was sold at 95 cents per bushel, 
making $171 00, less $35 45, equals $185.55 or 
$33.59 per acre for rent of land, estimating that 
the straw paid for hauling and thrashing. The 
cost of Ihls wheat per bushel, after allowing $0 
an acre rent for the land, is a fraction less than 
40 cents, or, if we do not count the straw any¬ 
thing and add 13 cents per bushel for hauling 
and thrashing, 53 cents. The same Fall I 
sowed 11 acres of wheat on some cheap land* 
I bought, in the Spring of 1877,50 acres of run¬ 
down land for $1000. and these eleven acres 
were a part of it. About seven acres of it were 
corn land, and the remainder beans, potatoes, 
and millet. The crops were very tight, all of 
them, scarcely paying for the labor. The ex¬ 
pense account with this field is as follows: 
Plowing, rolling and harrowing.$33 00 
Forty loads of manure. 30 00 
One barrel of bone meal. 6 00 
Eleven bushels seed wheat. 11 00 
Drilling..... 4 40 
Harvesting..... 17 75 
Total. „J.$91.15 
Credit 341 bushels of wheat at 95 cents, 
equaling $238 95, making for the use of the 
land $12.53 per acre, or more than half of the 
cost of the land; or, If we count the straw 
nothing and charge 13 cents for hauling and 
thrashing, it still leaves over $9.50 per acre 
for the use of the land. The cost of this wheat, 
OLD WITCH GRASS—FIG. 418. 
at a wide angle. The light mass is freely 
driven for long distances by the wind, scat¬ 
tering seeds on the way as the brittle branches 
separate from the panicle. It may sometimes 
be seen very lightly piled as high as the top 
of the fence which checks Its motion, or in the 
tops of shrubs or even in the tops of trees, 20 
or 30 feet from the ground. I have frequently 
seen It tumbling over the fields driven before 
the wind with great speed. > 
Prof. W. J. Beal. 
TOBACCO-GROWING NOTEB 
As tobacco worms continue their work of 
destruction upon tobacco plants throngh the 
whole growing Beasou, the work of "worming" 
most be continued as long as the crop remains 
standing in the field, ft is also important that 
no worms are upon the plants when hung in 
the curing barn, as they will there continue 
their depredations until the plant has become 
partially cured, causing much damage to the 
crop. 
The selection of seed is an important point 
in tobacco culture. As a general thing, it is 
best for growers to raise their own seed, as 
they may then be certain of procuring a good 
article. Unless great care Is exercised In 
choo&ing the plant from which seed is to be 
saved, the variety, or the strain of the variety 
grown will deteriorate in quality or •* runout." 
The best plants for Beed are not usually those 
first to show their blossoms; but those of me¬ 
dium earliuesB that have rich, healthy color 
wlthlurge, well developed leaves closely setup- 
on the stalk. The top should be trimmed to a sin¬ 
gle seed-stalk so that the Beed will become more 
perfectly developed. When the seed Is per- 
HAIR GRASS—Fig. 419. 
be lost to put it in proper order. Let the 
building be cleared of all rubbish and of what¬ 
ever else it may contain that will be in the 
way of free working, so that there may be 
little delay when the harvest has been once com¬ 
menced. Materials and implements needed for 
seeds of grass and weeds it is necessary to 
prevent grass and weeds from growing and 
maturing their seeds in or about the bed. This 
is best accomplished by frequently forking 
and raking over the soil in the bed during the 
months when it is not in use. It is well also 
