SEPT, U 
6 
6 
4 
time to sow the wheat, it is either sown broad¬ 
cast and scratched in with cultivators, or else it 
is drilled in between the rows with a one-horse 
drill. In mi hour’s ride T could show hundreds 
of acres that wore put in in this way last Fall 
among the standing corn, and which cut from 
ten down to three bushels to the acre. I am 
satisfied that the reduced yield from wheat 
sown in standing corn, is not altogether due to 
the fact that the land cannot be put in as good 
condition as that from which the corn has 
been removed. Whether it is the shade 
which makes the wheat grow spindling, or 
something else that hurts it, I cannot tell, but 
I.have experimented in the matter until 1 
know that the standing corn injures the 
wheat. 
In the Fall of 1870 Mr. L. N. Bonham sowed 
a field of wheat on rich bottom land, near 
where I live. One half of it was sown in the 
corn and the other half a little later after the 
corn was cut up. The part sown in the corn 
yielded 14 bushels to the acre, and the other 
half of the field 28 bushels. Mr. B. assured 
me that the land was put in excellent con¬ 
dition for the entire crop. The next year he 
grew 38 bushels to the acre on a. field where 
the corn was cut up. My crop of 1879 was all 
sown on corn land. I had two fields of six 
and twelve acres respectively, and the yield 
was 30 bushels to the acre on the smaller, and 
22 oil the larger field. My crop of 1880 was 
30 acres and only four acres of it were corn 
land, but the yield on those four acres was 
above the average of the crop, although it was 
not sown until October 8. 
The first thing to be done when you are in¬ 
tending to seed corn land, is to keep it clean ; 
then when you cut up the corn make the shock 
rows from 10 to 20 rows apart. Do not break 
up the land, but with a good harrow or the 
cultivator and roller, make the surface fine 
and mellow and drill in your wheat. This pre¬ 
paration gives just the right kind of a seed¬ 
bed, but if the land is plowed and the corn 
roots turned under, the seed-bed is not com¬ 
pact enough, and the wheat is likely to freeze 
out. I can usually put in my wheat with less 
lalxn* on corn laud than on stubble or sod. As 
I have been uniformly successful in growing 
profitable crops on corn land, and there are 
many who have made repeated failures, and 
it is very desirable to seed corn land in order 
to bring about a proper rotation, I have 
thought best to give my experience condensed 
into a nut-shell—it is this : Keep your corn 
land clean ; cut up the com as early as possi¬ 
ble ; make a hue, mellow surface, and drill in 
your wheat, and you may reasonably expect 
a good average crop. 
Butler Co., Ohio. 
-» ♦♦- 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL FARM. 
We have now to report the exact yields of 
the Fultzo-Clawson and Shumaker Wheats, 
both of which are offered in our next distribu¬ 
tion. The first was drilled in on a plot meas¬ 
uring ISO x 55 feet or, let us say nineteen-one- 
hundredths or a little less than one-fifth of an 
acre. The yield was seven bushels or at the 
rateof a fraction less than 37 bushels to the 
acre. The Shumaker was drilled iir upon a 
plot measuring 109 x 150 feet, or three-eighths 
of an acre. The yield was 12 bushels, or at 
the rate of 82 bushels i>er acre. The soil is 
poor - —a sandy loam. Five tons of farm-yard 
manure were spread upon the wheat stubble 
Sept. 20. The disc harrow was used twice and 200 
pounds of pure hone flour were sow n. It was 
then again well harrowed, the seed of both 
kinds drilled at the rate of one-and-tbree- 
foirrths bushel per acre on Sept. 23, and the 
field wars finally rolled. It will be seen that 
the land received no special fitting and but a 
moderate quantity of manure—that is farm 
manure at the rate of about 10 loads to the 
acre and bone at the rate of about 400 pounds 
to the acre. The Fultzo-Clawson is the heav¬ 
iest yield we have ever raised upon this farm, 
unless upon specially prepared plots of small¬ 
er size. Thu grain ow ing, doubtless, to rainy l 
and cloudy weather during its Spring growth, 
is not so plump or large as it was last year. 
We have nu doubt whatever that in more fav¬ 
ored wheat-growing sections, Mr. Wysor’s 
claim that it yields the largest grain of any 
early-ripening, hardy wheat in cultivation, 
will be supported. 
-- 
CORN IN SEPTEMBER. 
As late as it is in September, if a one-horse 
cultivator can be run through corn by a small 
boy, there will be an earlier ripening, a last 
crack at the weeds, and a loosen iugof the hard- 
baked crust, which will be repaid by sounder 
corn for early use or market either. This 
course is equally valuable for all crops (garden 
as well as field) which will admit the horse 
between the vows. Don’t let any crop go into 
winter-quarters with a hard, hide bound soil. 
Try a stack of corn fodder built up iu alternate 
layers of fresh now hay and the corn, and let 
tho cows gi ve their opinion of it during the com¬ 
ing Winter, or the calves either ; the cows will 
reply through the milk pail, the calves by their 
improving condition while the stack lasts. Dig 
potatoes early; cover them in a pile in the 
field till after the first sharp frost, then take 
them in. 
Go to all the fail's within your reach, note 
the animals ; look around for a change of seed 
for tho better ; let the female port of the 
family inspect the cookery from an economical 
point of view, and the patchwork from an 
artistic platform. Give them money enough 
to spend for all they see worth buying, and so 
shall your farm and its products for tho future 
bo fair to see. A live fair isone to which every¬ 
body goes determined to learn something, and. 
to apply the new ideas at home. Now, to 
wind up with corn, as I began : corn is your 
mainstay, so put your faculties to work to 
grow it and house it in the very best manner. 
Dodge Co,, Neb. s. R. M. 
SUCCESS WITH RURAL SEEDS. 
I have this year a half acre of Blount Corn 
from seed of my own raising. The seed 
proved to be well ripened in 1880; but this 
poor corn year will perfect but a small propor¬ 
tion of ears. For fodder, however, the Blount 
is worth one-third moro tbanany other variety 
1 ever tested. It stands eleven feet high. I 
planted it quite too close for a corn of such 
immense leafage; and am as a consequence 
going through and cutting out the weaker 
stalks. By the time this cutting is finished 
I can cut the remainder as ripe com. I con¬ 
sider the Rural has done us an inestimable 
favor in introducing so generally this com. 
I feel confident of ripening it thoroughly in 
this section except in such exceedingly bad 
years as the present. 
The Rural Branching Sorghum is a curiosity, 
at least, for it grows faster for being cut down. 
Its value as fodder I do not feel sure of. But 
the cow pea tho Rural sent me last year I 
shall not willingly let go. It is the most as¬ 
tonishing grower, and the delight of my sheep. 
For soiling sheep it is admirable. It ripens 
perfectly here. 
The Ovoid Beet is another real treasure. 
It is a grand cropper and is harvested with 
as much ease jus Rutabagas. From flower 
and shrub seeds .1 have only moderate results 
and in the flower lino nothing first-class. The 
willow is fine. The White Elephant stands 
the drought hotter than the most of my varie¬ 
ties of potatoes; but 1 am inclined to think 
the Burbank is so far the people’s potato ; 
while for early the Early Rose has not been 
surpassed. I lxdieve that the Blount Corn 
will prove as groat a revolution in the fodder 
as in the ear. By carefully selecting the 
earliest ears to ripen, we shall soon shorten 
its season ten or fifteen days. E. P. Powell. 
Oneida Co., N. Y. 
Keeping Irish Potatoes in the South 
A querist lately asked how to keep Irish pota¬ 
toes in the South. We have some now, Sept. 
5th, that were dug last March. I don’t think 
we have lost a peck by decay through the 
whole Summer. In tho first place they must 
be dug as soon as ripe: it will not do to wait 
for the tops to die, for they do not die down, 
as they do at tho North. Ours were perfectly 
green and in bloom when the tubers were dug. 
Our house stands up four feet from the ground 
and we have kept our potatoes by simply put¬ 
ting them in boxes under the house, and leav¬ 
ing the covers open a little to admit the air. 
Bradford Co., Florida. Mrs. I. Sumner 
♦ ♦♦- 
“Golden Grains" Wheat.—E arly in the 
Spring I received a small sample of what pur¬ 
ported to be Golden Grains or Palestine Mam¬ 
moth Wheat; also a circular requesting me 
to take an agency for it. I concluded to test 
the wheat before investing. Besides being 
very badly used up with rust, its growth was 
very short and it did not head. G. s. 
Carrol, la., 
[This was precisely our experience -with 
the sample of seed kindly sent to us at our 
request, by Mr. Haines. Eds.] 
Sljccp IjusbflnDnj 
COTSWOLD-MERINO SHEEP. 
The Cotswold, a very old and long-estab¬ 
lished breed of sheep, has been extensively 
used for crossing and improving other breeds. 
It has given stamina and constitution to the 
highly and closely bred Leicester; it has helped 
to give size and weight and length of fleece to 
all the cross-bred Down breeds; one-half of 
the Shropshire blood is Cotswold; a fourth of 
the Oxfordshire is the same; the Hampshire 
owes some of ils excellence to it, and as a sire 
for half-bred mutton sheep from the common 
native ewes of the United States and Canada, 
it is unsurpassed by any other race. Of late 
years it lias been used to cross upon the Merino 
and the cross-bred race has been found to 
possess remarkably valuable points. In fact, 
there is no race of sheep with whose blood 
that of the Cotswold lias been mixed, without 
producing a progeny better than the inferior 
parent, and in some cases tho sire itself has 
been surpassed. 
Perhaps the Cotswold-Merino cross is the 
best of all. The Merino has an iron constitu¬ 
tion, possesses a most valuable fleece and flesh 
of the sweetest flavor. But its wool is short 
and fine and useful only for the finer, softer 
fabrics and tho more expensive goods, while 
its carcass is too light and its lamb, although 
extremely fat and rich of flesh, is too small 
for profit. Crossed with the Cotswold, a 
lamb is produced which at six months weighs 
more than its dam; and a sheep which ranks 
with the sire in weight and with the dam in 
quality of meat, and has a fleece which is 
worth more for coarse clothing fabrics and 
shawls than the pure dam’s wool, and is 
equally valuable us that of the sire. Such a 
sheep is essentially the farmer’s sheep; for it is 
marketable from the age of three months, as 
a choice fat lamb which brings the top price, 
up to the age of three years, when it is a ripe 
wether, reaching a weight, when fully fatted, 
of 250 pounds. In the mean time its fleece of 
combing wool—the Basis of the worsted and 
bunting goods, and the extensively used 
small woolen wares, fringes, braids, and trim¬ 
mings—is always salable at a fourth more 
than double or treble X fine wools. 
Mr. Joseph Harris, of Rochester, N. Y., 
was the first breeder to make an extensive 
business of crossing Cotswolds upou Merinos. 
The Gerrish Brothers, of Webster, N. H., have 
also been engaged in this pursuit for some 
years past. Mr. Harris has been successful 
in raising some fine sheep and his success has 
led many others to follow his example. The 
Gerrish Brothel's have also achieved success 
in the same way. As an example of what 
they have done, we give the accompanying 
portrait of one of the cross-bred rams as it ap¬ 
peared when eleven months old. It then 
weighed 101 pounds and its fleece It pounds 
and five Ounces. The Merino parentage is 
visible in its face and fore-quarters, but its 
general make-up and its liiud-quurteni are de¬ 
cidedly like those of its Cotswold grandsire, 
wliich was a well-bred Cotswold from Canada. 
This ram is the produce of a curious crossed 
crossing, if we may so express it. The sire 
was the product of a pure Hammond Merino 
ram and a Cotswold ewe; the dam was from 
a Hammond ewe nearly pure and a pure Cots¬ 
wold ram. The sire and dam being each half- 
bred, the produce of these is half-bred also 
and tho owners of tho young ram, being well 
contented with the. result of their experiment, 
have mimed it “ Golden Mean.’’ Just now 
when sheep rearing is attracting much atten¬ 
tion as a promising pursuit, it is interesting to 
notice this cross which certainly offers un- 
usuul opportunities of success with materials 
which can be obtained at small cost and with 
the greatest ease. A flock of well selected 
grade Merinos which can be procured for 
throe dollars per head and a vigorous young 
Cotswold rum at 825, will lay the foundation 
for a flock one of which may easily double 
the value of the dam before it is four months 
old. 
Pain) ijiRbaruRi), 
THE DAIRY COW. 
HENRY STEWART. 
Indications of Disease. 
Cows are usually healthy and robust. The 
exceptions are the high-bred and high-fed ani¬ 
mals kept by breeders who force their stock 
by every possible means to undue production. 
Life and vigor cannot be drawn upon so ex¬ 
cessively, and last to the end of t he common 
period of usefulness. The stock of these is 
something like a fixed quantity from which 
one may take small or large drafts; the larger 
these are the sooner will the supply be ex¬ 
hausted ; and this is very much the case with 
high-kept dairy stock. The common dairy 
cow, moderately fed, never pushed beyoud 
the natural period and capability for milking, 
lasts for 20 years without an ailment or an ac¬ 
cident, except as the result of some careless¬ 
ness or neglect On the other hand, the high¬ 
bred Jersey cow, valued at thousands of dollars 
because she responds liberally to a system of 
forcing and makes a remarkable product of 
butter from high-feeding, is constantly suffer¬ 
ing from garget or threatened with serious 
disease, and finally dies of milk fever. And 
yet tho Jersey cow, notwithstanding her occa¬ 
sional want of constitution, will always be the 
favorite family cow and the “butter-machine" 
of the dairyman. It is therefore necessaiy that 
precautions should be used both to avoid acci¬ 
dental disturbances with common cows and to 
avert threatened dangers from those which are 
more subject to disorder. 
The owner of a cow should know when his 
animal is doing well and be able to recognize 
at once the first approach of t rouble. A healthy 
animal exhibits certain unmistakable signs 
of its condition: the apj>etite is regular and 
vigorous, the muzzle is moist and covered with 
drops of perspiration, the eye is bright and ac¬ 
tive, the coat is smooth, the horns are moder¬ 
ately warm, the milk is given in full quantity, 
the respiration is easy, the pulse is regular, 
and the process of rumination is constant soon 
after eating. When an animal is ailing the 
first effect of the disturbance is more or less 
fever, and this is indicated by the dryness and 
heat of the muzzle, uneasy or rapid breathing, 
coldness or excessive heat of the horns, falling- 
off of the appetite, rise of temperature and 
increase of the pulse. The frequency of the 
respiration and of the pulse varies iu different 
animals, but in health the respiration is always 
easy and the pulse never more than 50 in a 
minute in adult cows. The pulse may lie felt 
most conveniently on the jaw near the large, 
flat muscle which closes the jaws. Here 
the sub-maxillarv artery comes from the in¬ 
side and passes over the edge of the bone and 
up the side of the face in front Of this large 
muscle. The artery may be felt by placing 
the first anti second lingers of the right hand 
on the left jaw towards the inner side of the 
bone, and the thumb ou the outside to keep a 
steady pressure. The brachial artery may be 
felt on the inner side of the fore-arm, below 
the shoulder, level with the elbow joint, and in 
advance of it. A little practice with moderate 
pressure of the fingers will soon fix the places 
where these arteries can be found and the 
pulse examined. 
The next usual symptom of disorder is the 
suspension of rumination, or “loss of cud.” 
This is generally accompanied by roughness 
of the skin, dullness of the eyes, and apparent 
lassitude, the cow moping and standing apart 
with the head down and occasionally grinding 
the teeth. When these symptoms are noticed, 
it is time to be oa the alert to discover the 
cause of the trouble and apply an immediate 
remedy. Usually some circumstance may be 
recalled, which will account for the disturb¬ 
ance—some over-feeding, some exposure, or 
neglect, or even some change of feeding, which 
is often sufficient to disarrange the system and 
