loam from one-and-a-half to three feet in 
depth. It contains a small percentage of sand 
which not only gives it warmth but accounts 
for its loose and mellow character and the 
ease with which it can be pulverized and pre¬ 
pared for crops. It appears to contain all the 
elements necessary to the successful growing 
of flax. 
In selecting ground for this crop, that upon 
which corn was grown the previous year is in 
every respect suitable. The first step in pre¬ 
paring the ground is a thorough plowing. I 
then go over it with a harrow in order to level 
and pulverize the soil which is then ready for 
seeding. I have practiced both drilling and 
broadcast sowing and both methods have 
proved equally successful: but, as a general 
rule, I would recommend the use of the drill 
to all who are not experienced broadcast sow¬ 
ers. If the seeding has been done with a drill 
I then go over the ground with a heavy roller, 
which completes the process of pulverizing 
and packing the soil and leaves the ground 
smooth and level and in proper condition for 
reaping. If the seeding is done by broadcast 
sowing, it is then necessary to go over the 
ground with a harrow or brush to cover the 
seed: then finish up with the roller. The right 
time for seeding in this latitude seems to be 
the latter part of April and not later than the 
first week of May. The proper quantity of 
seed to sow per acre is about three pecks. 
In harvesting the crop I use the Improved 
Buckeye Reaper, with the table self-rake, 
which throw's the flax off on the ground in 
small bunches or gavels, in which condition it 
is left to dry or cure, which usually takes from 
four to six days: if the weather should be wet 
or unfavorable it will be necessary to turn the 
gavels over with a fork, or, what is better 
still, set the gavels on end in small bunches 
with the heads up (just as Buckwheat is sot 
up) iu which condition it will stand through 
repeated rains and then dry out without in¬ 
jury to the grain. The proper stage of ripe¬ 
ness when ready for reaping, is when the bolls 
assume a rusty-brown color, and it matters not 
if the leaves and stalks are still green then is 
the proper time to reap it. 
When the gavels have become sufficiently 
dried out or cured, it is then ready either for 
thrashing immediately from the field, or for 
stacking to be after-wards thrashed at leisure. 
I have usually practiced the latter plan for 
the reason that to keep the machine running 
the former requires a strong force of men and 
teams, that is not always available. The lat¬ 
ter plan requires but a small force to stack the 
grain, which can afterwards be thrashed out 
at one’s convenience with a small force of 
“ help.” I usually let the grain remain in the 
stack from six to ten weeks before thrashing. 
The yield of straw' after thrashing is usually 
from one-third to one half ton pur acre. This 
I carefully stack at the time of thrashing and 
feed it to my horses and cattle during the 
Winter. It makes a good substitute for hay; 
stock are very fond of it aud eat it with a rel¬ 
ish; and it apparently has all the nutritive 
qualities of the best of hay. The area of my 
flax crops has ranged from 40 to 65 acres; this 
year it amounted to 50 acres. The average 
yield per acre for all previous years has 
been from 11 to 13 bushels ; but this year, 
in consequence of the prevailing drought, my 
crop only averaged six bushels per acre— 
barely half a crop, and I might remark that a 
half crop of all other kinds of grain as well as 
hay will be the result iu Kansas this year. 
I have usually marketed my crop of flax 
during the month of ^October. The average 
price has been about $1 per bushel; this year 
the present market price is $1.25, I have 
found flax culture one of the most profitable 
industries that I could engage in; and flax now 
occupies an important place among the agri¬ 
cultural products of this part of the country. 
The soil and climate here seem well adapted 
to its production; it is entirely exempt from 
the ravages of the chinch bugs that damage 
other crops more or less; its production is at¬ 
tended with less labor than that of any of 
the cereals and in the routine of crops it 
plays an important part. For instance, there 
is no better ground for flax than that on which 
corn has grown the previous year; the flax 
then leaves the ground clean and iu fine condi¬ 
tion either for wheat or rye or for oats or 
corn the following Spring, which makes a very 
desirable rotation for crops. Leroy Saxon. 
Atchison Co., Kan. 
A POTATO EXPERIMENT. 
Hauling manure and applying fertilizers. 2.00 
Planting, one ilay for teams aud throe men. 5.00 
11 hush, of pntutoes for planting. 14.45 
May 28, M day cultivating, going t>vlee to row. . .50 
23, plowing and cultivat ing, going four times 
to row. 75 
u tlaya’ hoeing, at $1.25 per day. 7.50 
June 1,1M lb. London-purple....25 
2 bush. plaster.70 
Applviug plaster and purple, 1 day. 1.25 
* at)’ la " " .50 
‘ 22, 1 “ pulling weeds. 1.25 
1W1 lb. London-purple and 3 hush, plas¬ 
ter. 1.28 
l day applying. 1-25 
July 8 . !<$ ib. purple, 1 bush, plaster.42 
‘ 23, 2 men digging potatoes 1 day. 2.50 
team bo day. 1.00 
‘ 25, 2 men and boy '■* duy dlggiug, and team. 2.25 
• 26, 2 men and boy and team hs day digging.. 2.25 
Aug. 4, 2 men b# day and team R day digging. 1.70 
Total.SS0.85 
No rent is here charged for the land, as I 
calculate that the succeeding wheat crop will 
be benefited by the manure enough to pay the 
rent of the land. 
Yield- 
Order of rlpeulng. 
Am't of seed. 
Rows, bush 
(Early Ohio. 
bus. small seed. 494 
11 
1 Bliss’s Triumph. 
. % " 
.1 " large 
% 
2 
Early Vermont. 
4 
12 
King of the Earlies... 
,2 “ small 
12 
88 
Beauty of Hebron 
3'i “ medium 
10 
50 
l'rlde of America. 
w “ large 
.1 « 
.1 tt>. •• 
1 « 
5 W 
30 ft. 
5 
< Magnum Bomnn.... 
; queen of the Valley 
H 
12 
X 
Adlrnndne. 
.1 “ small 
30 “ 
$ 
Brownell's Beauty . 
. W bus. “ 
t< 
1 row 
. st. Patrick. 
.1 
1 " 
12 
j Burbank's. 
. W “ 
l«" 
4 
i Peerless. 
< Dunmore. 
. H “ 
1 " 
. ‘4 “ " 
lg “ 
4 
t Mammoth Pearl. 
. “ large 
4 
Bliss’s Imp. Peachblow M “ small 
• i 
1 “ 
159 
Thus at the time of digging the yield was 159 
bushels of tubers, costing $80.85, or about one 
cent’per bushel more than it would have cost to 
buy the potatoes,counting nothing for the value 
of the new varieties over the old ones. It is 
proper to state that no rain fell on the pota¬ 
toes after July. On July 4th three-quarters of 
an inch of rain fell, and on the 11th one-six¬ 
teenth of an inch, followed on the 14th by one 
of the driest days, the wind blowing hard from 
the northwest and lulling the leaves on the 
vines. This will account for the light yield of 
the later varieties. 
I am now positive that the Burbank and the 
St. Patrick did originate with different par¬ 
ties, although they look very much alike in 
growth of tuber and vine, and the time of 
ripening is the same. The St. Patrick will 
rank as first quality; the Burbank, second. 
Both are good croppers. The Magnum Bou- 
umswere uniformly large, audit is a desirable 
potato. The Beauty of Hebron is first this 
year for size, productiveness and quality. I 
raised 17 pounds of the W bite Elephant from 
t.wo ounces of seed—nice potatoes so far as 
tested, though not high enough iu quality, as 
they cook a little heavy. They may do better 
hereafter. 
Pride of America is the only variety that 
has rotted any, and this has not rotted badly'; 
otherwise it is a nice, smooth, desirable varie¬ 
ty. Mammoth Pearl will take a front rank, 
being of good form, running large, and cook¬ 
ing dry and flue. Queen of the Valley did 
well, considering how the dry w eather hurt it. 
Adirondac has the appearance of the old 
Peachblow•; it did pretty well, being late. 
Early Ohio, to get a crop, must be planted 
close, as it will only turn a few' to the hill of 
even-sized tubers, that are among the earliest, 
and cook dry and mealy as soon as they are 
lai’ge enough to dig- 
The potatoes were plowed under every third 
furrow and planted about ten inches apart in 
the furrow s, the furrows being also ten inches 
apart. I intend to put on double the quantity 
of barnyard manure next time, and drop the 
potatoes six to eight inches in the row. I shall 
harrow as soon as the potatoes come up, first 
turning a ridge over the vines, thus sa ving the 
cost of hoeing, and tending the crop better. 
We had a wet spell at the time this should 
have been done this year and it took all the 
profit for the hoeing. Among all the potatoes 
that I have a knowledge of the Ohio, King of 
the Earlies, Beauty of Hebron, Magnum 
Bonum, Mammoth Pearl and St. Patrick I 
think the best. 
Titusville, N. J. 
--- 
TOBACCO-GROWING NOTES. 
A Tobacco bam should stand in a sheltered 
location or where it is not exposed to driving 
storms. The usual shape of these buildings 
being long, narrow and high, they are more 
liable to injury from heavy gales of wind than 
most other outbuildings. It is also preferable 
that they extend north and south rather than 
east and west. Tins applies to localities where 
the prevailing winds are northerly. 
IRA. J. BLACKWELL. 
In the following statement I give the cost of 
raising one acre of potatoes, the size of the 
pieces, the yield of 16 different varieties, and 
the order iu which they came to maturity. 
The land w'as cropped with com last year. 
The potatoes were planted from April 12 to 16, 
all the work not having been done on one day: 
The aore was manured with 550 poo ml6 of Mai>es 
Potato Manure, applied iu furrow with pota¬ 
toes, value..... 
1,000 tt'B. potash salu.sowu broadcast. w.uo 
7 loads barnyard manure, spread on land before 
^plowing..... 1U.0 
In times of dry w’eather, after tobacco has 
become nearly or quite cured, the leaves are 
very brittle and if handled or iu any way dis¬ 
turbed while in that condition, the soundness 
of the leaves is impaired. For this reason 
great care should be exercised that strong 
winds should not bo allowed to blow directly 
upon the plants when dry, as it will always 
cause damage to the crop. A tobacco bam 
should be so made that strong winds may be 
excluded when desired, or so that it can be 
amply ventilated when the condition of the 
weather is damp and “muggy,” which Is 
otherwise liable to cause damage from “pole- 
sweat,” 
TOBACCO-curing barns are usually made to 
contain three, four or five tiers of hanging 
plants according to their hight, with a half 
tier extending through the gable end of the 
building and supported by purline plates. 
The barn for three tiers is preferable, al¬ 
though the cost of a building to. contain a 
given number of acres is more than when 
made to hold four or five tiers of plants. The 
following are the objections to high tobacco- 
curing barns: 1st. The labor of harvesting a 
crop is increased with the hight the plants are 
hung from the ground. 2d. The quality of 
the tobacco is not so good when cured in the 
upper tiers of a high barn, probably because 
it cures too rapidly there. 3d. The bam itself 
is more liable to receive damage from high 
winds. Growers who contemplate building 
curing barns will do well to consider these 
points. 
It is not safe to judge of the profits of to¬ 
bacco growing from the results of a single 
5 'ear’s crop. It must be remembered that 
once in a period of five or six years a crop is 
quite certain to receive serious damage from 
the elements, which tends to reduce the profits 
of that year’s crop, if it does not result in 
positive loss when all things are taken into 
account. Storms of wind or hail sometimes 
cause almost entire ruin to a crop while 
standing in the field, and I have myself, with¬ 
in the past fortnight, suffered heavy loss from 
the result of a terrific cyclone which complete¬ 
ly demolished a tobacco barn filled with a re¬ 
cently harvested crop of tobacco, which was, 
of course, almost destroyed. The profit from 
one crop may seem almost fabulous, while the 
following year may result in little or no gain 
owing to unfavorable weather. t>. a. g. jb. 
Elmira, N. Y. 
%\)uy 
THE OXFORDSHIRE DOWN SHEEP. 
The Oxfordshire Down is a comparatively 
newly-established breed which lias lately been 
gaining a high reputation on this and the other 
side of the Atlantic. Tn 1833 Mr. J. T. Twy- 
nam, of Wbiteehurch, Hampshire, the chief 
originator of the breed, describing its origin, 
in the Farmers 1 Magazine, said that six or 
Seven years before he had introduced an im¬ 
proved Cotewold ram among a few Hampshire 
Down ewes and the progeny soon convinced 
him of their vast superiority. He continued 
his efforts to form the breed, but his plan was 
in direct opposition to the general opinion re¬ 
specting crossing, for, instead of going back, 
after one cross, to the original breed on either 
side, he used half-bred mins with half-bred 
ewes—a practice he found condemned by 
three-fourths of the old school of breeders. In 
1857 the breed received its present distinctive 
name; but it was not until 1862 that it was 
awarded a separate class at the English fairs. 
Iu addition to its strain of South Down blood 
through the Hampshire Down, the Oxford 
Down also received a draft directly from cross¬ 
ing South Down ewes with Cotswold rams, the 
progeny being used with crosses of the Cots¬ 
wold and Hampshire Down in the formation 
of the breed. To produce large size, however, 
the latter cross was that chiefly employed. 
The progeny was a sheep heavier than the 
Hampshire Down and more closely resembling 
the Cotswold in size and fleece. The wool, 
however, is finer and firmer than that of the 
Cotswold and from five to eight inches 
long. Of the various Down breeds the Oxford¬ 
shire alone is classed among the long-wools. 
A sheep of this breed has a head a good deal 
like that of a Cotswold, with a tuft on the 
forehead, but the great prepotency of its re¬ 
mote ancestor, the South Down, is manifested 
by the dark color of its face and legs, it charac¬ 
teristic transmitted through its immediate 
ancestor, the Hampshire Down, which was 
formed, 75 years ago, by a cross between the 
South Down aud a white-faced, horned sheep, a 
native of Hampshire and the adjacent districts. 
The Oxford Downs are nearly as large as the 
other long-wool breeds, the Cotswold and 
Leicester, and yield nearly the same quantity 
of wool, which is thick-set and somewhat 
curly, and in great demand for the manufac¬ 
ture of worsted. They have a long barrel, 
short legs, and yield a large quantity of 
mutton, which, when under two years old, 
is claimed to be better than oven South 
Down, though inferior to it when over 
two years. It is the excellent quality' of their 
meat rather than the high value of their 
fleece, that is giving them a “boom” just now 
in England, for prime mutton there is now 
profitably high-priced and is likely to con¬ 
tinue so, while the great increase in the 
growth of wool in Australia, New Zealand 
and South America, and the vast scope for 
producing it there on land of nominal value, 
are pretty sure to keep down the price of wool 
in Great Britain. 
Oxford Downs were first introduced iuto 
this country by R. S. Fay, of Massachusetts, 
and Hon. W. C. Rives, of Virginia. The for¬ 
mer found them of good constitution and let¬ 
ter adapted than South Downs to rough pas¬ 
tures. In England they are found to thrive on 
wet soils on which neither the Cotswold nor 
South Down could get along well. They are 
very hardy, active and excellent foragei's, re¬ 
quiring little purchased food and standing 
winter exposure well—at any' rate in a climate 
like that of England, destitute of extreme se¬ 
verity. The cut, Fig. 511, re-engraved from 
the Agricultural Gazette (Eng.), represents a 
very fine ram of this breed owned by Mr. 
Charles Howard, one of the oldest and most 
extensive breeders of Oxfordshire Downs. 
(ll-jt IHimjtu’i). 
SEEDLINGS FROM HYBRID GRAPES. 
There seems to be some inherent difficulties, 
such as the violation of some law of nature, 
pertaining to plant life, in our attempts to ob¬ 
tain improved grapes from hybrid plants. I 
have grown a good many of these hybrid 
seedlings, and seen a good many more origin¬ 
ated by other horticulturists, aud I do not now 
know of a seedling of much practical value 
from a hybrid grape. There seems to be lit¬ 
tle known upon the topic, and few observa¬ 
tions of experiments recorded, but what posi¬ 
tive knowledge we have is not in favor of 
hopeful results from this class of seedlings. 
Of course, there is no sterility in the case un¬ 
der consideration; but such seedling grapes 
are usually of feeble habit, and when one does 
grow vigorously', it seemingly discards its dual 
origin, and goes back to the side of the 
stronger parent. I have grown, and seen 
many seedlings of the Delware; not one of 
them approaches the parent in the quality of 
its fruit, and most of them are imperfect in 
their reproductive organs. A like rule seems 
to hold good for all vines of this class. As 
near, then, as we can arrive at the mutter, it 
is the tendency to revert that prevents success 
or improvement in these seedlings, and all 
hybridists and propagators should carefully 
note this law of nature. Tins tendency to 
reversion seems to be greater in hy brid than 
in uumixed plants. Improvements are usually 
gained by slow processes, the change in 
hy'brids is too sudden, and seems to violate 
nature’s methods. D- s - m - 
ctlumtons. 
RURAL BRIEFLETS. 
We are glad that more attention is being 
paid to the improvement of the watermelon 
which is so unlike all other fruits aud which 
when grown iu perfection is scarcely excelled 
by any other. But this cun rarely bo said. 
Farmers have hithei-to looked too much upon 
a watermelon as being a watermelon an they 
have been correspondingly indifferent us to 
the variety planted. During the past season 
we raised six different kinds, and two of these 
—the one below noted and Cuban Queen—were 
so superior to the well-known Black Spanish 
and Carolina, that we should never cultivate 
the latter again if the others could be obtained. 
Whitewash the hen-houses. Clear out aud 
put iu order the stables and cattle sheds. At¬ 
tend to all painting at this season of the year: 
there is no bettor time. Cut out the old canes of 
blackberries and raspberries. Prune grape¬ 
vines. Bank up celery. Weed the asparagus 
beds and spread salt and manure utter the 
first hard frost.. Prune currant bushes. Pre¬ 
pare the covering for strawberry bods. Col¬ 
lect bean poles ami pea brush and store in a 
dry place. Provide lime for Winter use. 
Give the cellara thorough overhauling, cleans¬ 
ing aud whitewashing. Construct frames 
for vegetables, roots and plants. Collect seeds 
of nut-bearing, late peach and ornamental 
treeaandshrubs; mix with sund, place in boxes 
and bury the boxes in well-drained soil. 
Raspberries, blackberries, currants and. goose¬ 
berries may still be planted, better, indeed, 
than iu the Spring. Hill the earth about the 
newly-set plants somewhat aud cover eacn 
with a shovelful of coarse manure. It is a 
good time to plant grape cuttings. Set them 
at an angle in trenches and pack the cartn 
firmly about them. Let the cuttings include 
two joints ami place them at such a uep i 
that the upper end of the cutting sball be one 
inch out of the ground. Then cover with hay 
or straw.•.V' /‘ 
A ll who admire the incomparable beauty 
of beds of spring-blooming bulbs should now 
prepare the ground and. plant them, “the 
anything in the floral world more gratifymg 
than the brilliant colors of hyacinths and tu 
lips blooming in all their brilliancy while y 
the leaves of trees and shrubs have not un¬ 
folded 1 Crocuses, crown imperials, anemones, 
oxalises, ranunculuses had letter I*e left until 
*1n selecting hyacinths choose every eolm 
that any trustworthy catalogue nicntions 
dark and light blue, rose, red, deep ied, white 
^In selecting tulips choose those which wffi 
insure the longest season of bloom. J-ne 
earliest are the Due Van fhola-cnnison, red, 
white aud yellow, growing about six lncues 
