itliscfUanc0us. 
“ HAWK-EYE HIVE.” 
Lucas County Agriculture; Thoroughbreds; 
Creameries; Coal Mines; County 
Fairs, etc. 
MESSRS. HOLMES AND SW'EETLAND. 
[Special Correspondents of the Rtrtt.u, Nmv-Y orker.] 
The Hawk-Eye State, as a whole, has ac¬ 
quired the reputation of being a hive of work¬ 
ers, with a minimum of drones in all depart¬ 
ments of its industry; and the traveler East or 
abroad, who hails from Iowa, feels a conscious 
pride in the recognition he recei res as such. 
In many respects the State acknowledges no 
peer; in some it lias equals; in few a superior; 
but none has made more r apid strides alung 
the path of healthy, substantial prosperity, 
in which it. is rapidly verifying the prediction 
of T. J. Potter, General Manager of the Chi¬ 
cago, Burlington and Quincy R. R., in saying; 
“ The time is not. far otf when Iowa, with its 
rich sod, immense coal fields and the thrifty 
cha racier of its peoj.de, will be capable of sus- 
taining parallel lines of railway, twelve or fif¬ 
teen miles apart, across the State. People do 
not yet comprehend the immense possibilities 
of this wonderful State.” 
Lucas County, situated in the second tier 
north of the Missouri State line, midway be¬ 
tween the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, 
with a population at the time of the last cen¬ 
sus, of I t..180 (now certainly over 10,000) pos 
sessessuperior inducements to the home-seeker. 
It is a miniature hive in itself, where the di¬ 
versity in the pursuits of life is so great as to 
furnish profitable employment to the farmer 
in all departments of agriculture, while the 
artisan, the professional man and the laboring 
man arc all assured of satisfactory remunera¬ 
tion for their labor. 
The soil is alluvial, deep, dark and fertile 
containing that modicum of sand which pro¬ 
motes rapid vegetation, resists drought, and 
yet provides good drainage without surface 
washing to any extent worthy of mention. 
There is some difference in the soil in the sev¬ 
eral townships in the county, w hich we have 
not space to mention in detail; but a letter 
addressed to any of the gentlemen wo may 
happen to name will receive courteous at ten¬ 
tion, or we would venture to suggest specially, 
as well informed, the names of Dr. James D. 
Wright, agent at Chariton for the lands of 
the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, 
or Colonel W. 8. Dungan, attorney and mem¬ 
ber of the State Legislature, both old residents 
and reliable authorities. 
All crops indigenous to this latitude do well 
here, and fruit-growing, both in orchards and 
vineyards, is successful, as it will be remem¬ 
bered that, at the Centennial, Iowa presented 
351) varieties, mnl received the first premium; 
yet the topography of this county—beautifully 
undulating; soil, as stated; amply supplied 
with timber not only for fuel, but for shade 
and shelter; with a healthful climate; pure 
water, and nutritious grazing—is peculiarly 
adapted to stock raising and dairy product, in 
which the profit, carefully estimated by com¬ 
petent, practical authority, is placed at, an av¬ 
erage of 515 per cent, per annum. To get this, 
let every fanner raise sufficient wheat, oats, 
etc., for the necessities of his family, just as 
he raises potatoes enough, making coin his 
principal grain crop, and devoting most of his 
land to pasture and meadow, condensing these 
into beef, pork, mutton, wool, butter and 
cheese for market. Thus \\ ill be insured to 
the producer t he maximum of profit upon his 
investment aud labor. To prove the truth of 
this, and the further faet that there is more 
money to be made from the best than from the 
poorer varieties and grades of either horses, 
cattle, sheep or hogs, we note our observa¬ 
tions among .several of the stock growers of 
the county, that the readers of the Rural 
may the better appreciate what is being done 
here. 
S. H. Mallory, President of the First Na¬ 
tional Bank at Chariton, has two large farms 
near the town, devoted almost exclusively 
to stock raising, having about 50 head of 
pure-bred Short, horns, with ‘‘Jacques 535,387”— 
a six-y ear-old-bull, large-boned and well devel¬ 
oped, at the head of Ids herd; he by “ den,’ 
and tracing back to “ J.ouan Duchess” and 
“ Duke of Moscow,” a fine strain. Among his 
stock are also the Short horn Lovely’s Wiley, 
27,130, a four-year-old, having four Duke 
crosses, a clear red; and Moses, a full-blood 
Jersey, three years old, a fine animal; and 
cow's of the Wiley, Medora and Louan fami¬ 
lies. Has grades arc all high, and nice, large, 
thrifty animals. At one of these farms—the 
“ M aj:»lc-wild Stock Farm ”—he has also t wo 
full-blooded Clydesdale stallions, weighing re¬ 
spect ively 1,000 and 1,750 pounds, both well- 
formed and active; also two very fine, highly- 
bred trotting stallions, Ben-Wade, a descend¬ 
ant of Rysdyk’s Hainbletonian, the sire of 
Dexter and St. Julien; and Lucknow Jr., 
grandson of Lakeland Abdallah, a full brother 
to Harold, the sire of Maud S. sold to W T . H. 
Vanderbilt for $21,000. 
D. Wonnley, proprietor of the Chicago 
Burlington and Quincy Eating-house, men¬ 
tioned elsewhere, has a farm of 200 acres near 
town, and is devotiug his attention to thor¬ 
oughbred Holsteins and grades from select 
crosses, believing them better, both for quan¬ 
tity and quality' of milk, than other breeds, 
and equal for beef. 
Robert Barnett, with a farm of 1,200 acres, 
lias a herd of 125 Short-horn grades, which he 
is building up and strengthening for ultimate 
profits; he also turns off about 100 Berkshire 
and Poland-China hogs every year. 
S. L. Bestow, on a farm of 1(50 acres, lias 
about 60 head of three-quarter grades, with a 
fine pure bred Short-horn bull at the head of 
his herd. His yearlings average 1,200 pounds 
and his two-year-olds,sold last season,averaged 
about 1,600 pounds. 
Lewis Bunnett has a faiTU of 3,000 acres, 
with about 800 head of cattle grading in to 
improved stock of the Short horn families; 
but his principal interest is his flock of 3,500 
sheep. At the heads of his several fields he 
has American Merino, Cotswokl and South 
Dow'ii bucks of the best blood in the respective 
breeds. He pronounces in favor of the finer 
ivool sheep as the most, profitable. He sheared 
this year some 500 quarter-blood Merino 
grades, which yielded an average of seven 
pounds to the fleece; 300 fourth-blood C’ots- 
wald grades, averaging six pounds; while bis 
South Downs of the same grades averaged five 
pounds; but the latter were acknowledged to 
be the best mutton. He turns off COO to 700 
head yearly—this year probably 1,000. His 
average net per head is about £0. No foot-rot 
or scab has developed in his flocks. 
Closely allied to the stock interest is that of 
The Creameries. 
Of these we found; The Chariton 
Creamery owned by Marshall & Son, was 
established last Juno, with a capacity for mak¬ 
ing 1,500 pounds of butter daily, their pre¬ 
sent average being about 250 jiounds ; they 
work on the Fairlamb system, or cream- 
gathering plan, collecting the cream with six 
teams from some 500 cows, within a radius of 
22 miles. They use the Davis <fe Fairlamb 
patent cans, and three other styles, and churn 
by steam power with a six-borse-power en¬ 
gine. They buy the cream of the farmers on 
the basis of the price of creamery butter in 
the market, from week to week : manufacture 
their own tubs of uniform size, each holding 
45 pounds, and ship to Boston and Denver. 
The Benton Creamery, Braden & Walton, 
proprietors, commenced business July 5, ’81; 
capacity 2,000 pounds daily ; present average, 
about 250 pounds ; they too work on the same 
plan or ’system, but use ('lark’s Revolution 
Milk Pan for setting ; gather cream from a 
radius of 26 miles, by six teams, from about 
500 cows. They are now using horse-power 
for churning, but expect to put in a steam en¬ 
gine this Fall; they pack in the “ Welsh” tub 
56 pounds, uniform size, and ship to New York. 
This creamery is on the co-operative plan ; 
they do not buy the cream of the farmers; 
but gather the cream, manufacture, pack and 
sell the butter, and turn over the proceeds to 
the farmers, retaining an agreed percentage 
per pound for these services. 
Both creameries require the milk to be set 24 
hours and skimmed sweet, and each has ample 
refrigerator and ice facilities. Mr. Marshall 
and Mr. Walton both told us that their best 
patrons and the most prosperous fanners were 
the readers of agricultural journals. 
From Mr. W. B. Penick of the Chariton 
Bank, an extensive stock dealer, we learned 
that the average weight of oeeves shipped 
from the county is 1,300 pounds for 2Vj-year- 
old steers, and 1,400 pounds fur 8*2-year-olds, 
and the prices for seven years past average, 
on foot, from 4c. to 4Wc, per pound—this year 
5}-0. Hogs range at about the same figures, and 
from inquiry we 'earned that the First 
National and Chariton Banks paid out for 
stock dealers, last year, close to $1,000,000 ; 
and there are several other towns in the 
county. Will this suffice to verify the claim 
of Lucas County to be a profitable one in 
stock-raising. 
The Lucas County Agricultural Society 
have their present grounds of 10 acres three- 
quarters of a mile west of Chariton. Their 
buildings are inadequate, as well as the 
grounds, and after this year they will hold 
their annual fairs on the new grounds belong¬ 
ing to the Lucas Comity Driving Park Associ¬ 
ation, half a mile Northwest from the depot, 
containing 59 acres, and possessing a decidedly 
better class of buildings ; G. C. Boggs is presi¬ 
dent, and Captain A. IJ. McCormick, secre¬ 
tary, both of whom are laboring assiduously 
to insure a good exhibition this Fall ; but the 
farmers of Lucas County should remember 
that it requires their individual and hearty co- 
operati011 to assure success. 
Coal. 
An important interest in this county and 
one upon which columns could be profitably 
used, had we the space, is the abundance 
of bituminous coal-beds which underlie its 
fertile soil. The White Breast Coal nucl Min¬ 
ing Company, with a capital stock of $150,- 
000, own about 1,500 acres of land, have two 
shafts with ample ventilation, and extensive 
drives, amounting in the aggregate to several 
miles. They employ some 450 men, and after 
September 1 can produce about 1,400 tons 
daily*. Their coal is shipped nearly 450 
miles from the mines and retailed at $15.50 per 
ton as a maximum price. The Lucas Mine 
owned and operated by the Chariton Coal aud 
Mining Company, Thomas A. Francis, Super¬ 
intendent, has sunk a shaft 340 feet deep, and is 
driving entries preparatory to opening a 
main shaft—using the former as an air shaft. 
They will be ready for competing t rade in 1882. 
There is no county indebtedness, but a sur¬ 
plus of funds. The assessable real and per¬ 
sonal property is nearly $4,000,000, upon about 
one-tliird valuation. Tlio market facilities 
may be estimated from the statement that 
nine of the twelve townships in the county 
are traversed by the C. B. and Q. R. R. 
Nearly 40,000 bushels is the estimated quan¬ 
tity of flax-seed for the crop of 1881 in this 
county, which item we mention in connection 
with the flax statistics we have previously 
contributed as showing the adaptability of the 
soil to flax culture. 
Chariton —the county seat, with a popula¬ 
tion at last census, of 2,020, amounting now 
probably to 2,300, has a pretty site being upon 
rolling ground, skirted with groves, dotted 
with farms, and beautified with lawns, trees, 
shrubbery and flowers. There are several 
brick buildings neat in architectural design, 
and others in progress of completion which 
are taking the places of “old-timers.” as some 
of the antiquated frame structures are called. 
There are two fine, substantial brick school 
buildings, an excellent, system of graded 
schools with twelve to fifteen departments and 
teachers, and eight religious organizations and 
church edifices. There are also three news¬ 
paper: the Patriot, published both daily and 
weekly, nearly a quarter of a century in the 
service of City and County, is newsy, ably- 
edited, neat in its mechanical department, 
with liberal advert ising patronage and largo 
circulation. G. H. Ragsdale is the editor and 
proprietor; though the editorial mantle now 
rests upon tho shoulders of J. It. Campbell, 
in the temporary absence of Mr. R. We are 
under many obligations to both these gentle¬ 
men for numerous courtesies. The Leader, by 
Best and Branner, is democratic in polities, 
and though younger, is entitled to many of 
tho encomiums bestowed on the former. The 
Times, by R. B. Cooley, “greenback” in its 
proclivities, is young but promising. In ad¬ 
dition to these newspapers there is a well reg¬ 
ulated public library stocked with choice 
books, magazines, aud agricultural and po¬ 
litical papers. The various civic societies. A 
F. and A. M.; I. O. O. F.; K. P.; and V. A. 
S. have lodges well attended. A new build¬ 
ing has been nearly completed for the two 
first-mentioned societies. 
For public entertainments Mallory’s Opera 
Hall is centrally located and convenient in its 
appointments. The city is creditably supplied 
with hotels. The Bates House is “up-town,” a 
good brick structure, well managed by B. An¬ 
derson; and at the depot is the C., B. St Q. 
Depot Hotel, the largest, best and most conveni¬ 
ent building of the kind between Chicago and 
Council Bluffs, 40x200 feet; two stories high, 
with a dining room capacity for 200 guests, fur 
nishing meals for four regular trains; D 
Wormley, lessee. 
The manufacturing interests, yet in then- 
infancy, have the promise of prosperity with 
the future growth of the city. There 
are large elevators and lumber yards, 
well-stocked as well as assorted stores 
in different departments of trade. 
Tributary to the towns is a rich country, 
while the citizens are enterprising: and 
energetic. A fire department and three good 
brass bands added to the interests above men¬ 
tioned, contribute largely to the general at¬ 
tractions of this pretty place and its excellent 
reputation abroad. The Bankers’ Life Associ¬ 
ation, which is acquiring extensive anil popu¬ 
lar recognition, had its inception in Chariton 
byE. A, Temple, cashier of the First National 
Bank. 
Lucas, with a population ol' about 1,300 and 
Cleveland one mile East, with 450, are about 
eight miles west of Chariton. Russel's seven 
miles east of Chariton, numbers some 450, 
All three are on the mainline of the C. B. and 
Q. R. R. and have creditable religious, edu¬ 
cational, social, and commercial advantages. 
All are growing rapidly from the same inher¬ 
ent sources already enumerated. 
Durby, with over 800 inhabitants, is some 
eleven miles southeast of Chariton, on a 
branch of the C. B. and Q. and possesses the 
same elements of thrift; moreover, they were 
boring and prospecting for coal at the time of 
our visit. The main business interests of the 
towns of Lucas and Cleveland, are, of course, 
largely connected with the immense coal 
traffic, which gives employment to hundreds 
and thereby renders the business interests of 
the places unusually brisk. The gentlemen in 
trade are of the thorough-going class of West¬ 
ern merchants, and to a person seeking a home 
and employ ment this locality offers a desirable 
choice. R. Daily at Lucas, has kindly con¬ 
sented to reply to correspondence of the 
Rural readers regarding local or general 
interests. 
REMARKS ON THE WHEAT NUMBER 
HENRY STEW ART. 
Hugh L. Wysor, in his article on page 019, 
makes a mistake in his reference to smut in 
wheat. There is smut, Credo segetum, and 
bunt, stinking smut, or Uredo fo tida. The 
former is the black or blasted ear in which no 
grain has been formed, but a black powder 
fills the place of the ear; while the latter 
consists of a black mess of spores which fills 
the chaff and replaces the grains (or some 
of them) virile the car retains its usual out¬ 
ward form. When t hese grains are burst, tho 
black bunt lias a stinking odor, whence its 
specific name. Whether it is a varying form 
or not of Credo segetum, is not certain ; the 
spores of bot h are similar in appearance, al¬ 
though differing in the fetid odor of the latter. 
Both of these; uredos affect the plant before 
the ear emerges from the sheath, and have been 
found in the ovary before full inflorescence- 
There are other peculiarities common to each 
of these species, which would strengthen the 
suspicion that they a re merely different devel¬ 
opments of the same diseased condition. As 
regards the opinions of the intelligent farmer 
mentioned by Mr. Wysor, 1 have found these 
unsound grains pierced by the midge, and its 
larva present in them in the same ear in 
which sound grains have been pierced and in¬ 
fested with larva-. The small insect (or worm or 
grub) lives equally well on sound and unsound 
grains and will eat. out the heart of one as 
readily as that of tho other and leave the husk 
empty, excepting ns the pupa of the midge 
may occupy it. 1 have seen a dozen of these 
midge pupa - in one husk 1 bus dried and other¬ 
wise empty. 
This midge (Ceeidomyia tritici) is the insect 
which Col. Curtis calls (by a lapsus linguae, if 
I may be permitted to make such a bull) the 
weevil, in his communication page 621. The 
wheat weevil (Cnlandria grnnarin), and the 
wheat moth (Tinea grnnt'Ua) attack w heat only 
in the granary or barn and after harvest. 
Here the former, which is a beetle, punctures 
the grain and deposits an egg in it; the grub 
burrow's into the kernel and cats out all but 
the busk, leaving this light and chaffy so that 
at thrashing it is blown out from the fanning 
mill, along with the shriveled grain blasted 
by the midge. The latter (Tinea grauella) lays 
its eggs on the grain, and the larva' eat out 
the heart, and when hungry for more, attack 
an adjoining grain aud cover it, with the first, 
by a fine web, thus connecting several grains 
or husks together. These are also blow n out 
of the funning mill as are the others. When in 
Central New York about 30 years ago, at the 
time when wheat growing w as abandoned on 
account of the Hessian fly and the midge, I 
saw myriads of t he midge pi 1 pie gathered from 
the screenings of wheat, and burned, aud the 
farmers called them weevils. From the simi¬ 
larity of tho habits of these grain-eating in¬ 
sects and their presence in the grain, this 
confusion of name was by no means siupris- 
ing, and at that time, too, Very lit tie was pop¬ 
ularly known about them anyhow, Col. Cur¬ 
tis refers to the coarse chaff wheat, being free 
from attack from weevils (midges). The 
midge cannot penetrate a thick, hard chaff 
with her ovipositor, and therefore the soft, 
white wheats cannot be grown where these 
midges abound, but the harder umber and red 
wheats are saved by their thick chaff, and 
have been commonly known us “midge- 
proof.” 1 have visited my w heat field at night 
years ago, with a lantern and have seen 
myriads of midges, very small orange-yellow 
flies, busy trying to lay eggs in the wheat, 
which, however, being a very midge-proof kind 
(TreadWell), was not injured in the least, al¬ 
though every chaff w T as marked with several 
small spots where the burglar had made at 
tempt to penetrate. 
- •-*-* - 
Spanish Chestnuts. 
In regard to the hardiness of the Spanish chest¬ 
nut I haven bit of experience for the readers 
of the Rural. 
Nine years ago. Josiah Macy, Jr., Rye, 
Westchester Co.. N. Y„ presented me with 
some Spanish chest nuts grown on his farm, 
the seeds of which he had planted eight years 
before. These nuts were planted on va rious 
part* of Kirby Homestead, bo as, if possible, 
to secure a favorable location in order that 
some of the trees might come to maturity. 
The nuts all grew, and none of the trees 
has ever been injured by the hold, although 
some of them stand in exposed places, When 
live years old, some of these, growing in a 
slaty, rough hillside without any cultivation, 
blossomed and bore burrs but no fruit, This 
yea r a number of them growing on different 
soils and places on the farm have fruited unite 
extensively, with large, plump burrs. This 
is in latitude 48° north, and 1 have lull con¬ 
fidence that they will do well, Tho branches 
are allowed to grow out near the ground. 
The largest tree is 13J* inches in circumfer¬ 
ence and 14 feet high, F. D. Curtis. 
