702 
©ST.45 
Board of* Agriculture. Mr. F. D. Cobuin has 
been elected to fill the vacancy. 
A set of rascals in Chicago have been palm¬ 
ing off rotten fruit upon poor people, at 
low prices, under cover of a nice-looking 
layer of sound fruit on top of the basket and 
a gauze netting over all.A dol¬ 
lar invested in wheat-middlings will pay 
for 100 pounds, and this will feed a calf 
a long time, and really add double its cost to 
the value of the young animal, So says Col. 
Curtis in the if. Y. Tribune. 
Another writer in the same journal says that 
he is of the opinion that the coming harrow 
will not be a harrow at all, but a cylinder 
armed with strong curved knives or teeth re¬ 
volving at considerable speed, and it is not un¬ 
likely that the same implement can tie easily 
and quickly converted into a roller. Tins, of 
course, only applies to Western farms where 
the fields are free from stone and stumps. 
The spring-toothed harrow is a very good im¬ 
plement but too expensive. Another Western 
tool that answers a good purpose is called the 
Jack-plane harrow, a better implement than 
the spring-tooth, but, like it, too costly—$25. 
. . . ' Elderberries nre not so uamed 
because they are any older than any other 
berries. They derived their name, from the 
fact that an older of a church first discovered 
their color by sitting down upon a bunch of 
them at a picnic.—Afloat Brudderly feel¬ 
ing goes a good way in case of sickness, or 
want, or death, but it seldom reaches down 
to a boss trade.—Detroit Free Tress via N. 
Y. Tribune. .... Mr. Randolph Betel's, 
the experienced nurseryman of Wilmington, 
Del., says that in the future for Maryland and 
Delaware lie should plant dwarf pears rather 
than standards. In those States they have 
been found to pay better. 
(l'iuTijibl)rvf. 
NOTES FROM KANSAS. 
I AM living in the southeast corner of Doug¬ 
las County, Kansas, where I first “ pitched my 
tent” ini800, since which time vast changes 
have been wrought. During this time I 
have passed through droughts, grasshoppers, 
chinch bugs, the civil war, etc., but in spite of 
all these seeming drawbacks in the past, Hove 
my adopted State no less than when I first 
landed here in the then Territory of Kansas. 
Disasters are not, as a rule, as great as they 
at first appear, and hence in regard to our 
State, although we would not claim grasshop¬ 
pers to “ be a blessing in disguise,” yet their 
advent “ played out ” the noxious weeds, and 
the ground seemed to have absorbed a fresh 
store of plant food from the atmosphere, and 
we had a succession of fruitful seasons. 
Neither have chinch bugs done much damage 
since then, in fact they “quit” about that 
time and only in the last year or two have they 
been around much. Our dry weather is gener¬ 
ally from the middle of July to the middle of 
August. The last few years our rains here 
have come about the 19th or 80lh of August; 
hence we usually have a good growing season 
for crops before the dry spell, and our prac¬ 
tical farmers are learning to plant so as to 
secure the maturity of their crops as early 
in the season as possible, or else to postpone 
planting such things as late potatoes, sorgh¬ 
um, etc., so as to have them grow and porfect 
themselves after the Fall rains and before the 
killing frosts. On the uplands, a killiug frost 
does not usually occur before the 17th of 
October; but on the bottom land “truck” is 
usually “cooked” two weeks sooner. The 
pastures get very dry here during the 
“ heated term.” D. R. Locke says the grass 
is greener in England than in America and 
I am inclined to the opinion that during mid¬ 
summer. this greenness of the grass grows 
gradually less as one journeys westward across 
the continent. 
But in spite of all that could truthfully be 
said against this State, her course is ouward to 
future greatness and increasing prosperity. 
She is situated near the center of the conti¬ 
nent and the transportation of all her pro¬ 
ducts to the the sea-board is somewhat against 
her; but this matter is measurably overcome 
by converting the corn into pork and beef. 
This is the money-making business of the 
country. 
Our “ feeders ” who buy up their feeding cat¬ 
tle during the Fall—who raise 1 heir own pigs 
and make a business of getting as many 
pounds of flesh as possible upon the animals 
in the shortest time and at the least cost, are 
the thrifty farmers, as a rule. But they add 
also to the prosperity of others. They feed 
large quantities of com besides what they' raise 
themselves, and they buy up all the scattered 
stock through the county, for which they 
usually pay good prices. But this year it is 
thought that there will not bo more than one- 
third of a crop of corn in this part of the 
State, and hence our “ feeders ” are slow 
THE RURAL I8EW-Y0RK1R. 
about engaging largely in the business. New 
corn will be worth 45 to 55 cents per bushel, 
and hence the cattle to feed on com at that 
price would have to be bought “ right ” in 
order to secure the usual margin of profit. 
Douglas Co., Kansas. m. a. o’n. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Idniio Territory. 
Blackkoot Farm, Oneida Co., Sept. 26.— 
When I first subscribed for the Rural New- 
Yorker, it was the seeds I wanted, but now 
since I have become acquainted with the 
paper, it is the pa per first and the seeds next. 
I am satisfied that those having the success of 
the best interests of our great and glorious 
country at heart, should do all in their power 
to advance it and promote its usefulness. As 
regards the seeds, I received all in due time ex¬ 
cept the white Elephant Potato, which was 
not received until about May 10, Not being 
ready for the others, I planted only the 
Branching Sorghum, the Washington Oats 
and the White Elephant Potato. The first I 
planted, I believe, too early, for only one seed 
came up: it grew, but turned out small and of 
no importance. I think the soil and climate 
are not suitable for it here. The oats grew 
splendidly and I think will prosper here, but 
the rust almost entirely destroyed those I plant¬ 
ed. The White Elephant Potato had 12 eyes. 
1 planted them separately on May 12; 10 came 
up and grew very thriftily, except four which, 
compared with the others, were rather feeble. 
I dug them September 12 and got 7!) tubers; 
40 were marketable, one weighed 2% pounds; 
the others were from the size of a hen’s egg 
down to the size of small marbles; all weighed 
31% pounds—I think an enormous yield. The 
land was well manured and well watered by 
irrigation. p. B. 
Illinois. 
Champaign, Champaign Co., Sept. 27.— 
Since the 10 bom's’ rain on the 15th inst. we 
have had several light showers, but hardly 
more than enough to lay the dust. But it has 
been raining north, less copiously south and 
the indications semi to be we shall be ap¬ 
proached from both sides and deluged with 
several downpours. But I have uo expectation 
of a wet Autumn and hardly think we shall 
see much more rain this side of theAutumn 
equinox than we bad upon the other. But as 
moderate as they have been, the late rains 
have done a w orld of good in helping out the 
coni crop, in softening the soil so it could be 
seeded and in germinating the newly sown 
wheat. Besides, the pastures and meadows 
have been freshened up and where 1 he soil has 
not been too much impoverished the sward has 
become a mass of living green. But still the 
creeks are not increased, the sloughs are dry 
and all but the best (say 25 per cent.) of the 
wells of the country, afford no water. Nor 
will they till from three to six inches of rain 
have fallen within a limited time. Nothing 
but actual experience can afford an adequate 
idea of extra work, trouble, anxiety and 
money '.o >s, involved in a drought such as the 
farmers of the south two-thirds of Illinois 
have passed through since early July; even if 
we consider only so much of these as a searcity 
or failure of water insures. Think of having 
from seventy-five to a hundred head of stock 
and half as many bogs to furnish water daily' 
for; when sloughs are dry, wells giving out, 
creeks five or six miles off, pastures short, the 
sun shining through a sky of fire, the mercury 
ranging from 80© at sunrise to 95© and 
sometimes 100 © at noon, and this continued 
for weeks without interruption—and consider, 
further, that water enough having been se¬ 
cured for one day, the same task had to be done 
the next, with the reasonable fear that water 
cannot, longer be had, the animals must be 
sold, or, if kept inclosed, they will die, or 
turned out, wander away in search of water. 
Though the crop losses in Illinois from the 
drought have been confined mostly to the 
thin, light-colored soils south of the general 
direction of the old Ten's Hante and Alton 
Railroad, the stock losses from shrinkage and 
enforced sale from water scarcity have been 
half as large, and possibly more. After such 
enonnous losses in the grain and cattle States 
north of the Ohio and Missouri Rivera, to 
which must 1 >e added the failure of the cane 
crop in the Cotton States, and a decrease in 
the cotton yield from 25 to 35 per cent., the 
total of which will reach several hundred 
millions, it. cannot he otherw ise than the busi¬ 
ness of the country will feel these in a very 
marked way and perhaps new fHsliion. 
Meantime in the Chicago market, the advance 
over this time last year in the five leading ce¬ 
reals, has been equal to an average of 48 per 
cent., the date being Sept. 24. Thus wheat 
has advanced from 90%c. to JM.81%, or 45 per 
cent. Corn from 39%c. to 68c.—70 per cent, 
advance. Oats from 29e. to 41,bfc., or 43 per 
cent, advance. Rye from 82c. to $1.09%, or 
33 per cent, advance, and barley, from 75e. to 
$1.13%, or an advance of 50 per cent. In 
regard to the character of next Winter there 
is nothing to prophesy about it, the whole 
matter of a cold or warm Winter being a 
question of a less or greater amount of rainfall 
absorbed in the soil or lying on the surface. If 
the first condition obtains (in the Mississippi 
Valley') over one or two hundred thousand 
square miles, the Winter will be dry and very' 
cold; if the second, that is, if the ground is sat¬ 
urated with water, the Winter wil' be a mod¬ 
erate one. B. f. j. 
Iowa. 
Magnolia, Harrison Co., Sept. 28.— The 
Washington Oats I put into rich ground and 
they broke down, but I will have a quart of 
seed. From the White Elephant Potato I got 
38 good-sized tubers and it must be remem¬ 
bered that in Western Iowa we have suffered 
dreadfully' from dry v'eather. Potatoes are 
selling for $1 to $1,25 per bushel now. My 
asparagus has grown finely and I will have 
a fine bed next year. My wife's pink seeds 
were a failure. Wheat yielded only four or 
five bushels per acre; oats good; corn half a 
crop. o. v. B. 
Kansas. 
Whiting, Jackson Co., Sept. 29.—A very 
dry Summer. Rural seeds well attended to, 
but only to see them burnt up along with the 
rest of the garden “truck.” Rye good; 
wheat rather light; corn poor. Rye, $1 per 
bushel; wheat, $1.25; old com, 50c.; new com, 
35e.; potatoes, $1. j. e. 
Michigan. 
Caro, Tuscola Co.—We live in the burnt 
district and have saved nothing but our house, 
and feel heart-thankful for a shelter. Pen 
cannot describe the scenes of misery which 
prevail. Many are now dying from 
“gangrene,” the flesh dropping from the 
bones. L. P. R. 
Litchfield, Hillsdale Co., Sept. 28.—The 
drought still continues, though on the 9th, 10th 
and 27th we had some fine showers—enough to 
to make wheat sowing pleasant. Late com 
will be very light. Wheat makes a better 
yield than expected, judging by the straw. 
My Branching Sorghum grew finely; was 
seven feet high. I cut some off in July and it 
is now three feet high again. My White Ele¬ 
phant Potato I cut to single eyes. I have 27% 
pounds of as nice tubers as I ever saw. I also 
planted one pound of Mammoth Pearl—very 
fine tubers—and got over half a bushel. I must 
say r that 1 am very highly pleased that the 
Rural takes such a deep interest iu the wel¬ 
fare of the farmer. I hope the farmers will 
take an interest in keeping the Rural flourish¬ 
ing. May it have a long, pleasant life. 1 had 
the Russian White Oat this year, but it did 
not yield as heavily as some of the advertise¬ 
ments promised, though it grew large and 
looked very fine, G. K. 
St. Louis, Gratiot Co., Sept. 26.— I cut the 
W. E. Potato into 14 pieces of one ey r e each, 
and planted one eye in a place 22 inches 
apart in the row, in good garden soil. The 
vines grew very' strong, promising a big 
yield. The crop counted 90 tubers, 60 of 
which were fair-sized. Weight of crop 24 
pounds. The same number of eyes of the 
Beauty of Hebron gave 22 pounds, planted 
in the same manner and beside the W. E. The 
Washington Oats grew finely', without smut 
or rust, but yielded only six pounds of toler¬ 
ably fair grain. The R. B. Sorghum—what 
we did not cut early—now stands 7 feet high. 
Nearly' every' seed grew and branched out 
prodigiously. Our cow pronounced it excel¬ 
lent feed. I think her judgment good. The 
second growth is about two feet high. The 
asparagus has grown finely, but I can see no 
difference in the two kinds. Our Spring was 
wet and cold; our Summer dry and hot. 
Coni a good crop, but potatoes light and sell¬ 
ing at 80 cents per bushel. Wheat was light, 
but oats good, and selling at $1.30 aud 40 
cents respectively. Butter, 28 cent*; eggs, 
15 cents. Our county is comparatively new: 
flat or gently undulating, and heavily tim¬ 
bered with beech, maple, ash, oak, some pine, 
basswood, aim, soft maple, etc. We get flow¬ 
ing wells of excellent water at a depth of 40 
to 200 feet. I feel like complimenting the 
Rural on its gi'eat. improvement since re¬ 
moving to New York. Father was a sub¬ 
scriber to the old Genesee Farmer of Roches¬ 
ter, and later to the Rural under D. D. T 
Moore, and it came to us regularly till it went 
to New York City, “us” children thinking 
very much of its coming. 1 have the issue of 
1853 complete, and enjoy looking the old 
book over occasionally, partly to awaken old 
sympathies and to note the difference between 
the old and the present manner of conducting 
an agricultural journal You will find my 
$2.00 ready for years to come, or while I live 
aud am able to get2 00 cents in a pile. Su<« 
cess to'the present administration! [Thanks. 
—Eds.] J . w. s. 
Nebraska. 
Austin, Sherman Co., Sept. 22.—Other 
papers as well as the Rural New-Yorker, 
contain so many complaints about dry weath¬ 
er, that it occurs to me to give an account of 
the rainfalls here: June, 10 rainy days; July, 
10 day's; August, four days; Sept, four days 
to date. Among these four the rainfall on 
the 6th was the heaviest during the whole 
year. j. b. n. 
New Jersey. 
Maryborough, Warren Co., Oct. 3.—The 
W. E. Potatoes have done very well, although 
it was too dry for j iota toes. I got 17 ey r es out 
Of the two small potatoes sent me, and plant¬ 
ed a single eye in a place and got 16% pounds 
of nice-sized tubera. I sowed the Washington 
Oats in my garden; there were quite a number 
of smutty heads, but the grain was fair, the 
straw medium-sized and the yield 8% pounds. 
The R. B. Sorghum did not do very well; it 
came up very poorly and did not make any 
growth. p. w. s. 
New York, 
Ausablk, Clinton Co.—All the Rural 
seeds were planted in my garden—heavy, 
stony' ground, manured lightly' every' Spring 
with barnyard manure plowed under. The 
R. B. Sorghum seeds did not come up, unless 
the grubs took them before I could see them. 
The Asparagus seeds all grew. The plants 
are looking fine. The oats came up well, and 
grew very fast until ready' to head; then it 
was too dry and they had to wait a while, and 
rusted badly, and there were a great many 
heads of smut. I let the hens harvest them. 
My potato I cut into 18 pieces and planted 
them on May 9. They' got no extra care, but 
were sprinkled twice with Paris-green and 
plaster to keep off the bugs. I dug them 
Sept. 20, and got 153 tubers; one weighed 
25 ounces; 30 of them weighed 29% pounds, 
and they all weighed 65% pounds. Who beats 
my elephant? The flower seeds did nicely. My 
wife and sister say they are splendid, s. H. c 
Cato, Cayuga Co., Sept. 29.—It has been 
very dry here the past season, but the Rural 
seeds have done well. The White Elephant 
Potato was planted May 13th, 25 eyes making 
25 hills; 24 grow. I dug them Sept. 1; had 73 
pounds of nice tubers, the 13 largest weighing 
10 pounds; one weighed 1% pound. The as¬ 
paragus is doing nicely; it is 15 inches high. 
The Washington Oats were partly destroyed 
by bens, but. 1 have four quarts of nice seed, 
The R. B. Sorghum is making a nice second 
growth. I have left a dozen hills which I 
think will mature seed if frost holds off 10 
days more; it is nearly in the dough state now. 
The flower seeds were not sown this season. 
I have been testing the Amber Cane this 
year. I planted 24 square rods. Mr. Charles 
Kellogg, living about a mile from me, tried it 
last year, using an old feed-cutter for a crush¬ 
er, which did not get half the juice. This 
year he has GO square rods and has purchased 
a three-roll Diamond Mill of Geo. L. Squiera 
& Bros, of Buffalo, N. Y. The firat day he 
crushed out 300 gallons of juice. He had 
altogether 340 gallons of juice which made 
54 gallons of nice molasses. From my' 24 
rods I got 22 gallons, worth 80 cents per gal¬ 
lon. Several fanners will plant Amber 
Cane largely next season as it has proved a 
success with us. I followed vour example 
and planted my corn in drills, using an Al¬ 
bany' planter, dropping the kernels 10 inches 
apart; the result is I have a heavy piece of 
coni, well eared, while corn in hills is less 
than half a crop. j. K. R. 
Grafton, Reuns. Co., Sept. 27.—I planted28 
nice White Elephant ey r es in ordinary garden 
soil, May 7, with no other manure at planting 
than a spoonful of Lister's Superphosphate to 
each piece. They were placed 18 inches apart, 
in row s three feet apart. They soon came up, 
were hoed and watered three times with 
liquid manure dipped from depressions in the 
barnyard during the fore part of the season, 
and once with a weak solution of potash. I 
dug them Sept. 20; the heaviest y'ield from one 
piece or sprout was 4 pounds and 13 ounces; 
the heaviest tuber was 1 pound 15 ounces; 
heaviest 12 tubers weighed 15 ixmnds 12 
ounces; the weight of the entire lot was 87% 
pounds. Query: Is the White Elephant a 
white potato i I supposed it was until I dug 
mine, which I find to closely' resemble the 
Beauty of Hebron iu color. This latter vari¬ 
ety sent out by the Rural, has now' been 
planted and harvested the third time w'ith en¬ 
tire satisfaction; w r e consider it a groat ac¬ 
quisition, yielding this year double what the 
Early Rose does alongside of it receiving the 
same treatment and cultivation, although with 
us ripening somewha t later. The Washington 
Oats stood about six feet high, with strong 
straw, They were sowed in drills in common 
garden soil, with no manure. There were 
many smut heads found, w hich I at flirt at¬ 
tributed to the variety, but afterwards found 
that not only' the Washington Oats, but my 
other varieties in the field were badly' smutted, 
as were also those of the neighborhood gener¬ 
ally. After cutting, the chickens obtained ac¬ 
cess to them aud destroyed many, so 1 esti¬ 
mate that from smut and chickens I lost fully 
one-third. I thrashed and saved 12 pounds of 
good heavy grain. Both varieties of aspara¬ 
gus came up well. I have 127 fine plants in 
all, but can say nothing as to the merits or 
