562 
AUG. 27 
not counting the rent of lard and balancing 
the etrsw egainst banlirg tmd ihrasbirg, was 
about cents ;er bushel. I have charged 
manure at only 50 cents a load because I find 
its bem fi s extend through several tears, and 
I think thi6 is all that ought to be charged to 
one crop. I can bnv good manure delivered 
on the fie'd for tl 25 Der ha f-’OiQ lo<d. 
The m-xt je»r this same field was put in 
wh-at at an extense, when harvested, of 
$97 62 and the yield was but 15 bushels per 
acre, which brought the cost of ihe wheat 
to nearly sixty cenis a bushel, not includ¬ 
ing ground rent or thrashing. From the 
accounts kept with my wheat crop dur¬ 
ing the last four years, f find that the crop 
mast excetd twelve bush’-ls to the acre, orehe 
the price must be considerably above one dol 
lar a bushel, to meet expenses. 1 have never 
grown a crop ol 20 bushels or upward to the 
acre, that did rot give a fair profit, and when 
1 have raised 80 bushels to the acre and sold 
for much above a dollar a bushel, I have found 
it largely profitable, la closing this article I 
wish the bone6t opinion of the Bubal readers 
as to the value of straw. I have been severely 
criticised for saying that the straw would pay 
for haul ng and thrashing. What do exper¬ 
ienced fanners sat ? 
Butler Co., O. 
WHEAT IN IOWA. 
In the early settlement of Iowa 25 or 80 
bushels of Spring wheat per acre were con¬ 
sidered a fair y it Id. The average crop, of late 
y ars. has so far d creased that hereafter very 
litile wbeaii will be sown in Ct ntral Iowa. 
In ny experiments with the various wheats 
two Very important points In successful wheat 
culture are apparent: Lot. the want, of an 
extra-early variety not easi y iff.cted by 
rust; 2 jd, the need of a sptclal fertil z=r 
adaptidioihe perfect growth and develop¬ 
ment of the plant. Aside from the result of 
experiments establishing this fact, there is 
abundant evidence to be found in the wheat 
fields of any county in our S.ate. This asser¬ 
tion applies to all kinds of soils, provided they 
are well drained, i stnd you a list of wheats, 
all grown under similar cunait.on- (on a clay 
loam), with the rtmaik that this year has 
proven to be the most unfavorable, not on'y 
for wheat but for all other crops ever known 
in Iowa. The various Russian wheats named in 
the list, though in appearance they promised 
to be very flue, being entirely free from rust or 
blight, tailed to mature at the p oper time. 
Trie grain shiuuken and a \ey peculiar 
insect destn ycd a large portion of it, though 
on no other Variety was this insect observed. 
I give the names of varieties m the Older of 
their evident relative value lor this year, judg¬ 
ing only by the number of pounds they have 
yielded per acre. 
1 . Eng Gem. bearded 20. Golden Globe 
2 . 'J ouzelle (bearded} 
H. Champlain (Pringle’s) 21. Vtlutc .Michigan 
4. S .xoni Fife (uaiu; (Lear led) 
o Oolj lbe»i UeUi 22 l>’y, ti .> (b< nrded) 
6 . Jnukiu i b..Id) 18 , brook's (bald) 
7 . scotch File 24. f keintuu ’* 
5. Bca i<du,.u (bearded) So. Ucdi trn “ 
y. \\ tut.. Kin-Blau | bald) LB. . urtraliau Club 
Jit. Dominion “ 17. Canada Club 
li. China Spring “ L8. Oduspa 
la. Oaluornia .dammoth '.9, Dliie etrm 
jbearueu > So. tioioen orains, or Pal- 
13. Vi hue t ife (bald) estlne 
14. LrO't Nation Rufcsiau varieties, 
15. i lilua iei (bearded) 'lnUcum No 3 
lleUiUrrane-ii “ “ No, 4 
luo or-nue “ Dimm So. I 
10. Go. den Drop ” S»rSU/n No 6 
17. l'efi .nco. Pringle's Yaigare Annus No. 1 
(boil) “ No. 3 
18. is ilu . oosc (bald) Samara No. 2 
19 . Rtu Chaff "• Karat No. 6 
I have carefully noted the habit of Mr. 
Pringle's hybrids for two years, and while 
1 have no disposition to defraud Mr. 
Pringle of any merit due him as au improver, 
I must say that I have failed to observe the 
fainleit ind cation of a hy brid or cross pro¬ 
duction, and would pAce them on record as 
the first and only exception to the rule, v z , 
that all hybrids or crossts are less fixed in 
their characters than an established variety. 
Finally, 1 cannot close this article without 
referring to your efforts to introduce new and 
valuable additions to our list of farm and gar¬ 
den products. I hope and believe that your 
work will be appreciated. 1 acknowledge 
my-eif your debtor on this score, as well as 
for the mbny practical suggestions found in 
your txceJJtnl paper. W. T. Scott. 
Polk Co,, Iowa. 
--•» + » 
COEN RAISING IN C NTRAL NORTH OHIO. 
This is how we raise corn in Central North 
OhioIn the first place we tile the low places, 
dig out all the stumps, raise all the stones 
within reach of the plow and draw them all 
off; then break up in April, plowing pod five 
or six inches deep. Then we harrow thor¬ 
oughly be foie planting, and plant about May 
20 . using a twe-borse, three-row marker; then 
we plant with a two-horse planter from three 
and a-half to four feet apart each way, \ utting 
from three to five grains to the bill; we n« xt 
go over it with ihe harrow, straddling the row', 
before the corn comes np ; then cultivate as 
soon SB possible, first with the iron ’’fake,” then 
with the two-horse walking cultivator at least 
once a week, if big rains don’t interfere. We 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
cultivate shallow above the sod- If is never have largely been marked by a certain swell 
too diy to wo k co n. Going over four or five 
limes will bring harvest, when there is no 
more time for corn plowing. 
A f ter breaking sod this depth, next year we 
plow an incl or two deeper and we have a soil 
seven or eight inches deep—enongh for prac¬ 
tical purposes. Our soil is a black loam with 
a stiff clay subsoil This same field we plant 
in corn three or four successive years. The 
universal practice is to shock the corn In the 
field. 12 bills square—144 hille—husk, and feed 
or crib it in the Fall. Put the fodder two or 
three shocks in a i lace; tie it well; then haul 
out and feid when wanted, but if possible 
when the ground is dry, as treading injures 
the fields 
After three or four crops of corn .then we 
eow wheat in the corn if not ripe early 
enough to cut. The next year we break up 
soon alter harvest and sow wheat in Septem¬ 
ber, patting a peck of Timothy seed to the 
acre and in the Spring half as mnch clover. 
We use no fertil z -r6; hence it is not best to 
run land too low—three or four crops of corn 
and two of wheat are enough. By rotating 
crops in this way, and by not pasturing too 
closely, laDd will Improve. Under this treat¬ 
ment mine products 50 per cent, more than 
it did 20 years ago, yielding of shelled coin 
from 40 to 75 bushels and of wheat from 20 to 
80 bushels per acre. Com land rents for half 
in the shock; wheat fur one-third in the bln 
or half in the shock. Wages. $18 a month; 
by the day, $1; in harvest, $L 50 pei day. 
Scott. Marion Co., Ohio. w. j. v. 
Au Interesting Report. 
I mail you to-day a few heads of Golden 
G'ains Wheat sowed March 21; it is not ripe 
yet (Aug. 8) and is blasting badly owing to 
rust aDd dry weather. I do not think it will 
mature. I obtained the seed from J J H. 
Grigory. Marblehead, Mass; it was repre¬ 
sented as being a Spring wheat in the S >uth. 
I 6end a sample of ihe *e«d Mr. Gregory sent, 
also two heads of Arnold's Victor, sowed last 
Fall. I dug the White Elephant Potatoes on 
August 8« ihe yield, as anticipated, was enor¬ 
mous. 'Ihe potato received I think would not 
exceed three ounces. It contained 13 eyes. I 
cut it in 13 pieces, making as many hills, and 
planted them on April 11. Every eye came up 
and grew vigorously. I weighed the tubers 
when dug and got 336 ounces, or 21 pounds, of 
good potatoes. I Weighed six tubers that 
weighed four pounds or an average of 10J- 
ounces. I shall save what 1 have for seed. 1 
procured from Benson, Maule & Co., Phila., 
one pound each of Biauiy ol Hebron and Wat 
eon’s Saddling Potato. Tae package of 
Biau yof Hebron contained three potatoes 
from which I made 26 hill-i. Watson’s Seed¬ 
ling coutained five, making 81 hills. 1 planted 
boih March 26 dug them on JuQe 22 and got 
88 pounds ot mc». smooth potatoes ef B auty 
of Hebron, and 46 pounds of Watson’s Seedling 
60 nearly resembling Early Rose that I am un¬ 
able to distinguish them. a. w. p. 
Prince George Co., Va. 
Jarra Copies. 
ENSILAGE AT THE WEST. 
W. I. CHAMBERLAIN. 
Young mothers complain that for sound 
advice on nursing babies and training chil¬ 
dren. no one can equal the traditional •' old 
maid J” And so I am not at all surprised that 
those who have tried ensilage are restive un¬ 
der the criticisms of those who have not. And 
yet they provoke criticism by their tone and 
manner ('>f which I shall speak again) and by 
losing sight of certain general principles. 
One of those general principles is that “cir¬ 
cumstances alter cases." Ensilage may pay 
in France or Massachusetts, with dear lands 
and cheap labor, and not in Oaio or Illinois, 
except near cities or under peculiar circum¬ 
stances. I have before me three essays on 
*• soiling,” two of them prepared, delivered 
and published in 1819. They were by that 
flue writer and able statesman, Josiah Q t'ncy, of 
Massachusetts. His arguments then, 52 years 
ago, in favor of "soiling” were essentially the 
same as those now used for ensilage; viz : 
economy of land, fencing and fend; increased 
product of milk and manure ; and better con¬ 
dition and greater comfort of the cattle. His 
facts were moderately and truthfully stated, 
and his arguments were fair and courteous, 
and were conclusive for his latitude and lon¬ 
gitude-twenty miles from Boston. Fifty-two 
years have passed and soiling has not been 
found to pay except in a few city localities. 
And ensilage, its younger sister, will probably 
succeed under similar circumstances, and be a 
necessity when our population is five hundred 
(instead of fifty) millions, 
In marked contrast with Josiah Qiincy’s lit¬ 
tle book have been the writings ot the apostles 
of ensilage—the “new dispensation.’’ They 
and swagger, a kind of “ It’s so and you re a 
fool.if you don’t believe and practice it.” The 
“facts” have of tin been exsggcrations, the 
figures untruths, and the arguments the sheer¬ 
est special pleadings. Everything has seemed 
to have an air of extravagance and even of 
charlatanry, that antagonizes and puts one on 
the defensive. 
The qnestion is. does the evidence thus far 
warrant the adoption of ensilage at the West, 
or even its tiial. For the change must be rad¬ 
ical and most expensive, and should not he 
made except on the fairest, most candid and 
disinterested evidence—just the reverse of 
that thus far (ffered, I suy the change is rad¬ 
ical. Ensilage is called a " new dispensation.” 
Our bains, tools, implements, methods, help 
and training ; in short, our whole system of 
agriculture is adapted to the old. Succession 
in farm labor, diversified farming and rotation 
of crops distribute the labor through the year 
as we can handle it. Shall we change all this ? 
Again, land is cheap and rich at the West, and 
we have more than we can till well even under 
our present system. Shall we immensely in¬ 
crease the necessary labor, and mass it at one 
time of the year? Aeain, we have more coarse 
feed, straw, corn-stalks, etc,, that- we can feed 
to our stock now, shall we increase and en¬ 
silage it? 
I note a few of the assumptions of the “new 
dUp^tisation” that lack proof :—that grass 
loses immensely in nutritive value by (proper¬ 
ly) curing ; that if succulent food is beet in 
Summer aid for one purpose, it is also beBt In 
Winter and for all purposes. Man craves suc¬ 
culent fo^d iu Summer; but at zero he asks 
somethit g more solid than cucuoibeis. melons 
and radirhes. Possibly cattle have similar 
tastes and requirements. It is assumed that 
the milk is as rich from ensilage as from right¬ 
ly cured clover hay. But June milk is hardly 
half as lich a3 that of October, when the grass 
is not so rank and succulent. It is assumed 
that the alcoholic element In the ensilage will 
not injure either the cow or her product or 
progeny, whereas several years may be re¬ 
quired to establish this important negative. It 
is assumed that if ensilaged ma’ze will keep 
most cows per acre, it is necessarily most 
economical, whereas this ts purely a question 
cf local prices and circumstances. 
If one withes to keep the largest possible 
number of cows per acre, probably maize or 
roots (with some meal) will do it. simply be¬ 
cause they will stand more manuring. AU the 
other grains snd grasses will lodge with too 
rich a soil. M»ize will not. And if maizs is 
to be used for Winter, it must be ensilaged or 
left in the field in shocks. It cannot well be 
cured like hay for storage, or buried in trench¬ 
es like roots. 
In short, the whole question is one of local 
circumstanced A few city milkmen in Ohio 
are building Biles. For them it will probably 
pay. For the average Western farmer, prob¬ 
ably not. For the most of us it will probably 
be wisest to “ go slow.” 
Columbus, Ohio. 
.- «♦ ♦ 
THE EVAPORATION OF FRUIT-NO. 3. 
JT. G BINGHAM. 
It* Benefit*. 
In properly evaporated fruit there is no 
Iobs of pleasant or valuable properties, but an 
actual increase of fruit sugar, from the fact 
that evaporation is essentially a ripening pro¬ 
cess, the development of sugar ranging from 
10 to 25 per cent, in different fruits as deter¬ 
mined by chemical analysis. Instead of a re¬ 
trograde transition awaiting our really unsur¬ 
passed fruits, berries and vegetables at their 
full stage of ripening, we have in the U6e of 
tne evaporator a culmination of the same or¬ 
ganic forces, and In a few hours the jaices, 
which heretofore formed and perfected the 
fruit (but which after this hasten decay) are 
qnickly matured and the maximum develop¬ 
ment of sugar secured and the water evapo¬ 
rated, the change being analogous to the trans¬ 
ition of the grape to the 6weeter raisiu, or the 
acid green apple to ripeness, with correspond¬ 
ing delicacy. The cell structure remains un¬ 
broken and the articles when placed in 
the rejuvenating bath of fresh water 
return to their original form, color and 
consistency. Thus, a few ounces of pumpkin 
flour make a sauce or custard at all seasons, 
and rarely can an expert distinguish a pie or 
pudding of evaporated apples from that made 
from fresu fruit, by sight or taste. The Sum¬ 
mer squash becomes an all-the yaar vegetable 
for every climate and inaiket on the globe. A 
large load of pnmpkinB may be driven in from 
the field in the morning, and the next morn¬ 
ing shipped to the antipodes, in a barrel. 
The sweet potato which perishes so rapidly as 
to be unknown to most of the markets of the 
world, is reduced to an imperishable condi¬ 
tion by pneumatic evaporation, and will soon 
become a familiar luxury on the tables and 
markets of the world, and at all seasons of the 
year alike. Its slices, placed in oold water 
and brought to a boil for 80 minutes, are ready 
for the table or fryiDg pan, and are in no re- 
Fp?ct inferior to the original vegetable. The 
Northern potato, like the turulp, improves by 
evaporation, and for Spring use, for ship 
stores and for exportation, leaves Its original 
out of sight, occupies little room and is proof 
against decay. 
Sweet corn is rejuvenated. If taken strict¬ 
ly in the milk and treated before wilting, 
it will be as tender and sweet at the world’s 
end as at the start. Green currants and 
gooseberries retain their favorite charac¬ 
teristics of flavor sealed up in them for 
travel and time. Forty pine-apples have been 
compressed into a small cake which an Infant 
might hold in its hand, and afterwa’d resur¬ 
rected as 40 pine-appleB. The evaporated to¬ 
mato is a remarkable product. No successful 
attempt had ever before been made to remove 
the condition of fermentation (water) from 
this fruit. The pneumatic evaporator reduces 
the whole pulp of the tomato to a condition 
like that of the dried fig. A bushel of the fruit 
after evaporation, is compressed into a solid 
cube like plug tobacco, measuring four or five 
inches each way. Every pound of this makes 
eight quarts of tomatoes in the original state. 
Tomatoes may now be raised with advantage, 
like so many other things wherever there is an 
evaporator at hand. The manufacture of 
evaporated fruit by the individual farmer and 
orchardist has popnlarized the industiy, the 
future of which it would be difficult even to 
anticipate. With an apparatus of universal 
adaptation and suited to the wants of thelarge 
or small orchardist and fairly managed, the 
business is made both remunerative and 
pleasant. Few farm implements can be so 
continuously employed, beginning with the 
early Summer berries, vegetables and fruits, 
extending its usefulness through the Winter 
upon the Fall crops, the daily wasting pro¬ 
ducts of the farm suggesting itB use and in¬ 
culcating the maxim, “ It is not what we 
make, but what we save that accumulates 
wealth.” 
In the close rivalry and competition of the 
markets, it is interesting to note the high rep¬ 
utation that American evaporated fruits have 
lately obtained abroad, and that the industry yet 
in its infancy has accomplished so much. It 
certainly promises to become a fertile source 
of revenue to onr agriculturists. 
McGrawville, N Y. 
orlirultnrai. 
The Rural has asked for reports from those 
who have used sawdust as a mulch for straw¬ 
berries. “ Wallace ” says h * tried it this year, 
and considers it worthless, as the berries 
rotted badly by lying on it. The past season, 
however, was so wet that strawberries lotted 
badly with mulchings of all kiods. I have 
found sawdust to be a good mulching when 
the ground is not too thickly covered with it, 
and I have seen it used by others in un entire’y 
satisfactory manner, though some have 
thought it produced an iijarious fungus, 
which I have been unable to discover. There 
were writers among us at one time who fairly 
had fungus on the brain, and who saw in it 
the latent as well as the apparent cause of all 
the ills that plant life is &ffl cted with. I re¬ 
member that some years ago the Cheney 
Brothers frhe large silk manufacturers) used 
sawduBt very largely as a mulch for straw¬ 
berries, and may do so still. Yonr correspon¬ 
dent, Mr. Goodman, of Lenox, saw these large 
beds many times, aud will probab’y admit that 
he seldom saw better. Oue trial is insufficient 
to prove the value of a mulch of this kind, or, 
indeed, ot any kind. Roofiug Blate and cedar 
shingles make the best mulch for strawberries 
i ever used. 
I was ftt Mr. Rattey’s with the visiting com¬ 
mittee, and will state that the WilBon (as well as 
Russell’s Prolific) was growing in beds adj lin¬ 
ing the Manchester, the Wilson belDg chiefly 
used as the fertilizing plant. The Wilson and 
the Manchester had been growing side by side 
in this way for several years, and no better 
opportunity or conditions for comparison 
could have been asked for. Mr. Allen is un¬ 
questionably right in Baying that the past molBt 
season was a good one for growing strawber¬ 
ries in sandy soils like that at Manches¬ 
ter; but the Wilson was unmistakably beaten, 
not only daring the past moist season, but 
also during the exceptionally hot and dry one 
that preceded it. It seems to have been the 
fact that the two varieties had been grown for 
years in adjoining beds, that determined the 
visiting committee to use the Wilson as the 
subject for comparison, several member* hav- 
