0 
SEPT. 40 
824 
►' 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
A National Journal for the Country and Suburban Hama. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
KLBJtBT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, SEPT. 10, 1881. 
TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS. 
D cuing the same length of time we 
have never before received so many words 
of appreciation and good will from our 
readers as during the present year. 
We hope this has been merited. 
Whether it has or not, it lias been gratify¬ 
ing to us beyond measure, and we arc 
moved to return our sincerest thanks to 
our patrons. The. wish still further to 
improve this journal is sincere and con¬ 
stant. But we beg to say that the margin 
between our receipts and expenses is but 
narrow. It may be said without arrogance 
or exaggeration, we hope, that there is no 
other rural journal that pays more for 
original illustrations; no other that is 
printed upon better paper; no other 
whose pages are filled with a higher class 
of original matter. The changes in our 
present number will be apparent to our 
readers without further remark, it is de¬ 
signed to maintain the Rural New- 
Yorker during 1882 as it now appears, 
without change in the subscription price, 
whether our future increase in circulation 
shall justify it or not. We respectfully 
ask from our readers what we have often 
asked before, viz., that they will mention 
the Rural New-Yorker to their friends 
in such terms as in their estimation it 
seems to deserve. 
Under notes from the Rural Farm, the 
yield of many kinds of wheat spoken of 
is merely estimated. The exact yield 
of all the kinds will not be known for sev¬ 
eral months. 
The inner kernels of wheat spikelets are 
always smaller than the outer ones, and 
they are later in ripening. In establish¬ 
ing any new variety of wheat from cross¬ 
breeding, the outer kernels should alone 
be saved for seed. 
•-♦ ♦ ♦- 
We beg again to call the attention of 
farmers to the fact that whether a variety 
of wheat bears two or three grains in a 
breast makes a difference of one-third in 
the yield, all else being equal—a fact 
which, apparent as it is, we believe the 
Rural New-Yorker has been the first to 
call special attention to. 
As a character by which to distinguish 
wheat, the color of the chaff should never 
be mentioned. For example, in Colora¬ 
do, the chaff of Clawson is white; in cer¬ 
tain parts of New York and Pennsylvania 
a light huff-brown; in other parts of the 
same {States, a dark brown. And the same 
may be said of most other varieties. 
Mr. Klippart states, in his book on the 
Wheat Plant, that the middle kernel of a 
breast or spikelet is larger than the outer 
ones, and he gives illustrations showing 
the difference. Now, in the generality of 
wheats the middle floret proves sterile, or 
rather most, of them do, and when fertile 
the grain is, as a rule, as much smaller than 
the outer grains as Mr. Klippart makes it 
larger. 
The beards of bearded kinds of wheat 
add materially to the weight of the heads. 
Given the weight of kernels to be the same, 
and the strength and llight of straw, as be¬ 
tween bearded and beardless kinds it is 
plain the bearded will lodge before the 
beardless. Beards are of no known val¬ 
ue' Hence, all other things being equal, 
it is desirable to cultivate beardless kinds, 
Fro. 447 on page G21 shows the instru¬ 
ment. used at the Rural Farm for crossing 
wheats. It answers the purpose nicely. 
The blade is made of cigar box sharpened 
at one end and receiving a camel',s-hair 
brush at the other. The brush end is 
used for collecting the pollen—the other 
(pointed) end for opening the palets and 
removing the anthers. 
Clawson Wheat is so well known 
that it was not deemed worth while to 
have a sketch made of one of the premium 
heads. The engraving of Black-bearded 
Centennial on page 619, is not of Prof. 
Blount’s, but a fair average of those 
raised at the Rural Farm. So far as can 
be seen, the head of the so-called “Golden' 
Grains" is merely the Black-bearded Cen¬ 
tennial, minus the beards which, as is 
elsewhere stated, fall off when fully ripe 
and dry. 
- » ♦ » 
Our older readers will remember that 
we succeeded in carrying the Lost Nation 
(Spring) Wheat through the Winter of 
’79 and '80. Of last, year’s crop we se¬ 
lected the largest heads for seed and 
planted them Oct. 5, ten inches apart 
each way, in a plot carefully prepared. 
Nearly every plant was killed, the entire 
yield being only two heads. We may 
therefore consider our effort, to change 
this to a Winter wheat a failure. 
' - 
It seems to be generally conceded that 
wheat needs a mellow surface and a 
greater or less degree of compactness un¬ 
derneath. In one of our trial plots the 
western part was used for men and teams 
to pass to and from the other parts of the 
field. The ground therefore became hard. 
The surface was somewhat mellowed by 
the harrow, and the seed drilled in. The 
wheat on this part of the plot was at 
least as heavy as on the eastern portion, 
which was not used as a thoroughfare. 
--- 
Op all our wheats, many of which 
were sown as Winter wheats for the first 
time, very few would have been appreci¬ 
ably winter-killed had the land iu all 
parts been so drained or leveled, that the 
water could not have long remained on 
the surface, or beds of ice have formed. 
There js no wheat hardy enough to grow 
under such conditions, and it is of the first 
importance, therefore, that in fitting our 
lands for wheat, hollows should be filled 
in or thoroughly drained. 
Those of our readers who are raising 
the Rural Branching Sorghum would 
oblige us if they would cut some of their 
plants just above the ground—say six 
inches. The value of this plant can never 
be known until the rapidity and luxuriance 
of the second growth are ascertained. 
The question as to whether it will seed 
here or there seems to us unimportant. A 
small quantity of seed serves for a con¬ 
siderable area, and plants enough to yield 
a sufficient amount of seed may be started 
in frames, hot-beds, or in the house as ex¬ 
plained in previous numbers. 
Fultz is unquestionably one of our 
hardiest wheats, and it has been said that 
it is of all wheats the best adapted to ill- 
drained land. To test this we sowed 
(drilled), on a poorly-drained plot of half 
an acre, three-aiul-a-half pecks of seed. 
Missouri Yellow was raised upon the same 
plot last season. The land was plowed 
and harrowed Aug. 15. Again, Sept. 23, 
it was harrowed with a disc harrow both 
ways; then with an iron tooth; then 
rolled. Concentrated fertilizers, 250 lbs. 
(raw bone), were sown, and the seed then 
drilled in as above. The yield will not 
exceed six bushels. The lesson we learn 
is that it is better not to sow wheat at all 
than to sow it on poorly-drained land— 
no matter how well it is prepared or 
what kind is sown. 
♦ - 
Productive Wheat from Dr. J. B. 
Lawes. —As we do not always get the 
greatest yields from those kinds of Indian 
corn which bear the largest ears, so we 
must not necessarily look to varieties of 
of wheat which bear the largest heads for 
our heaviest wheat yields. A letter re¬ 
ceived from J)r. Lawes (Rothamsted, 
England) a few days ago, incloses a sin¬ 
gle head of wheat which is barely three 
inches in length. Of this he says: “I in¬ 
close a head of one of the varieties which 
has proved to be very productive iu this 
country. What it will yield this season 1 
do not know—possibly fifty bushels per 
acre.” Again he says; 1 ‘ 1 generally sow 
two bushels per acre the end of October.” 
The kernel of the head scut by Df. Lawes 
is only of medium size, of an amber color. 
But there arc twenty spikelets on both 
sides, most of which have four grains. 
IMPROVED VARIETIES OF WHEAT. 
While great and successful efforts have 
been made to improve most of our orna¬ 
mental plants as well as those cultivated 
for their seed or fruit, is it not surprising 
that the wheat plant, which stands fore¬ 
most among the agricultural crops of the 
country—of the world, should have been 
so overlooked, so neglected ? Recogniz¬ 
ing this, the Rural Farm years ago by 
selection; by changing Spring varieties 
into Winter varieties ; by testing every 
kind it could procure from whatsoever 
source ; and, of late, by cross-breeding, 
has obtained a great number of varieties, 
many of which seem, as thus grown at the 
Rural Farm, to he notably superior to 
those in general cultivation. Those who 
visit us express surprise, as they ex¬ 
amine our wheats, at seeing among 
them heads and kernels of a size larger 
than any which they had deemed it possi¬ 
ble to raise in our soil and climate. These 
wheats may not thrive as well elsewhere 
as with ns. Only a comprehensive test 
could determine this, and it will be two 
or three years before we can distribute any 
of them among our subscribers. But we 
shall cultivate them with that object al¬ 
ways in view. Such work is one of the 
many pleasures of earnest, liberal-minded 
agricultural journalism. 
THIN SEEDING OF WHEAT. 
Captain Jared Abrams last year raised 
the largest quantity of Clawson wheat 
to the acre of any of the fanners in the 
neighborhood of the “Rural Farm.” We 
interviewed the Captain as follows : 
“ How much wheat did you raise tier 
acre ?” 
“ Thirty-four bushels.” 
“ How much manure did you use ?” 
“None,” he replied. “The land was 
in onions last year and well manured 
then.” 
“ How much and what kind of manure 
did you then use ?” 
“Twenty-five loads of farm manure.” 
“ Did you then drill in the seed or sow 
it broadcast ?” 
“ I drilled at the rate of one and three- 
quarters bushel per acre.” 
“ If with your present experience you 
were to set about producing a greater 
yield of wheat, would you use more or 
less seed ?” 
“ 1 should not use more.” 
“ Are we to uudersaud you would use 
less ?” 
“I should rather sow less than more,” 
the Captain laughingly and somewhat 
evasively replied. 
It should be stated that this farmer 
some years ago strenuously advocated two 
bushels and over to the acre, and that of 
late years he has been reducing the 
quantity. 
THE FIRST GREAT GRAIN BLOCKADE. 
Several times we have called atten¬ 
tion to the evils of the grain blockade 
which of late years occurs every Fall at 
the termini of most of the great Northern 
railroad trunk lines. This blockade is 
injurious alike to the trade of the place 
where it impedes traffic and to the farm¬ 
ers and grain dealers along the line of the 
railroad whose terminal storage capacity 
is insufficient. Last year the worst; 
blockade of this sort was at Baltimore, 
and in spite of the notice then given of 
the need of greater storage room there, a 
similar blockade lias, thus early in the sea¬ 
son, already demoralized the Baltimore 
grain trade. Warned by the trouble last 
year, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad has 
built a new elevator which will be ready 
to receive grain to-day. so that no em- 
barrasment will be felt with reference 
to that line ; but the Northern Central’s 
elevators, capable of holding only about 
1,000,090 bushels, are already over¬ 
flowing, while about 2,500 grain-loach d 
cars now blocking up all sidings as far 
north as Harrisburgh, Fa., contain about 
1,500,000 bushels—more than enough to 
repack all the storage room were its pres¬ 
ent contents jit once removed. The rail¬ 
road company lays the blame on the pro¬ 
duce speculators, who, instead of ship¬ 
ping the grain within a reasonable time, 
are holding it back for higher prices ; 
while the grain dealers insist that it is the 
duty of the railroad company to provide 
ample storage room for all the freight it 
brings. The railroad threatens to raise 
the storage fees on grain now in the eleva¬ 
tors unless at least, half a mil lion bushels 
are at once removed; and the grain 
dealers threaten litigation in case such an 
increase is made. The merits of these 
recriminations interest us but little ; but 
for the interests of the farming community, 
we trust their outcome will compel a bet¬ 
ter management of the grain received at 
the chief collecting points. 
THE DROUGHT AND THE CROPS. 
From nearly all parts of the country 
the mail and telegraph have lately been 
bringing news of a disastrous drought, of 
exceptional length and severity. Its sev¬ 
erity and long continuance may be 
estimited from the fact that from 
August 1st to September 2nd the rainfall 
amounted to only 1.55 inch in New 
York, 1.16 inch in Buffalo; 2.03 inches 
in Albany; 1.85 inch in Montreal, 1.18 
inch in Philadelphia; 0.57 inch in 
Oswego; 0.50 inch in Lynchburg and 
a still smaller precipitation in most oth¬ 
er sections, except in the Northwest, 
where 3.20 inches fell at St. Paul, Minn., 
and 3.82 inches at Dos Moines, Iowa. 
Corn, which even before the drought 
was in much poorer condition than last 
year, has been still further damaged, prob¬ 
ably to the extent of a couple of million 
bushels; cotton, which promised an 
exceptional yield, will most likely prove 
a smaller crop than that of last year; to¬ 
bacco, according to the latest advices 
from Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky 
and Connecticut, will be a very short crop; 
pastures have been literally Imrni up, and 
stock have had tube fed or struggle along 
in a half-starved condition on the scanti¬ 
est sort of herbage; streams everywhere 
have been cxtraordinarly low; wells have 
dried up, and all industries depending on 
water for motive power, have been more 
or less paralyzed, and in most, sections 
water for stock and even for household 
purposes has been scarce. Over most of 
the West this terrible drought, was part¬ 
ially broken up last week, over three inch¬ 
es of rain having fallen at Springfield, 
III., in less than an hour on August 31, 
and two-and-a-half inches at Des Moines, 
Iowa, in three hours. According to a re¬ 
port of the Signal Service sent, here on 
Friday evening last, the rainfall during the 
preceding week at 23 stations in the South 
was 0.95 inch, against 1.41 inch dur- 
the corresponding week last year, and 
0.16 inch during the week before, the 
heaviest precipitations having been 6.04 
inches at Charleston. S. 0. ; 3.42 inches at 
Smithville, N. O. and 1.20 inch at Mont¬ 
gomery, Alabama. Everywhere, however, 
the rainfall came too late to prevent a 
world of damage and was insufficient to 
satisfy the needs of the thirsty earth and 
of the parched vegetation. 
-» * ♦ 
BREVITIES. 
Does any one of our farmer readers recall 
that he ever prepared a tield for wheat too 
carefully i 
A farmer remarked to us while looking at 
a red-strawed wheat that he preferred red to 
yellow straw, having found it stronger. 
The season for wheat at the Rural Farm 
was not favorable to a heavy yield. Rains 
and cloudy skit's prevailed from first to last, 
and the grain of ail kinds was shrunken. 
A letter just, received from Dr. J. B. Lawes, 
of Rothamsted, England, dated Aug. 27, 
says: " lam sorry to say our harvest is in a 
very critical state. I began to eut, wheat on 
the 1st of August and it is not carried in yet,” 
If an acre be laid off iu ten-iiicli squares it 
will take, in round numbers, 67,500 grains to 
plant it. Suppose (bat every grain were to 
produce 20 beads ami every bead 20 grains. 
Allowing 600,000 grains to the bushel, we have 
a crop ot 45 bushels to the acre. 
It will be seen by reference to Prof. Shel¬ 
ton’s interesting article on ‘‘Western Wheat 
Experiences ” that wheat does not shrink from 
evaporation in the bin when put lip perfectly 
dry. Two careful tests which he made showed 
there was u slight increase in weight. 
The Genesee Valley was once famous as the 
wheat region par excellence of the United 
States. Other and wider wheat area* carry 
the belt” now, but not owing to any wearing 
out of the Genesee lands if the account given 
by Mr. J. L. Lyons of that, region, at, an East¬ 
ern Farmers’ (hub, be correct. Me said that 56 
bushels of Fultz wheat to the acre had been 
raised there, and that Mediterranean yielded 
30 to 45 bushels }*cr acre last year. 
A breast or ,s pikelet of wheat is the same 
thing. Some breasts or spikelets bear three; 
others live llowers. In the l,hree-floweral, the 
middle one is often abortive, as in Clawson, 
which usually, therefore, bears but two grains. 
In the live flowered, two are usually abortive, 
so that (lie breast bears but three kernels. 
These differences make, of course, a great dif¬ 
ference in the yield, and we should by selec¬ 
tion endeavor to establish and to cultivate 
those varieties which bear three or four grains 
in a breast. The outside sheaths (chaff) of the 
breast are yl nines and correspond to the calyx 
of other llowers. Immediately within a 
glume or external chaff are two other sheaths 
which are called pules, palets or pale®. Tho 
outer of tin'so alone, in boarded kinds, is 
boarded, while iu beardless varieties, merely 
the rudiment of a beard or awn appears. Be¬ 
tween these two palets, as elsewhere stated, 
are to be found tho reproductive organs—the 
stamens, pistil and ovary, 
