The Rural Branching Sorghum came up nice¬ 
ly; nearly every seed grew. It was planted 
May 23 and was up May 28. On August 1 it 
was six to eight feet high; by the loth the 
lower blades began to dry up. I cut all but 
six or seven hills. I thought it was so dry it 
would uot grow any more, but it grew about 
18 inches before it rained—about the middle 
of September. The second growth is now 
five or six feet high; what I did not cut is 
about 10 feet, is headed out and some seed I 
think will grow. It is a success. The aspar¬ 
agus came up very well. The weather was 
too dry for the flower seeds. Wheat, ono- 
fourth of a crop; hay, one-half to three- 
fourths; corn, one fourth to one-half. Late 
potatoes are growing yet: they wont average 
more than one-fourth of a crop. About the 
usual amount of wheat has been sown; it looks 
fine. w. H. 
Pennsylvania. 
Brooklyn, Susquehanna Co., Oct. 24.—The 
Rural seeds were all valuable here except 
the oats. I had 21 pounds of potatoes, large 
and very nice. Was much pleased with the 
sorghum; shall try it again if I can find seed. 
We all like the Rural very much, and as long 
as I can make $2 a year you may count me a per¬ 
manent member of the Rural family, e. l. w. 
Middlebcro, Snyder Co., Nov. 5.—The 
Rural was worth a whole crop of corn to 
me; let me explain: In many parts of Penn¬ 
sylvania and other places corn is an almost en¬ 
tire failure this year. In the Rural I saw the 
Hoosier com drill advertised, and got one and 
planted half of 10 acres 10; and half 20 inches 
apart. What was 20 inches apart is very 
good, and that which was 10 is not quite so 
nice in the ears. On tho whole 10 acres there 
are only a few nubbins, while five or six neigh¬ 
boring farmers have hardly any coin, and 
what they have is nubbins and not much of 
that. Now whom shall I thank for this ? Why 
the Rural New-Yorker, for if I had not 
read the Rural I would never have got the 
corn drill. Nor is this the only instance, I 
also get the. Agriculturist but the Rural is of 
a more experimental nature, while the Agri¬ 
culturist merely suggests how it might be 
done. Another instance, when a subscriber 
asks a question of the Rural he is sure to get 
an answer: It pays any farmer to get the 
Rural New-Yorker. q. s. s. 
Wallsville, Luzerne Co., Nov. 7.—I re¬ 
ceived two White Elephant potatoes, one in 
the forepart of Winter tho other in the 
Spring: the two weighed eight ounces and 
contained 37 eyes, I planted them one eye 
in a hill on May 7, in good garden soil. All 
came up except four or five hills. I dug them 
Aug. 13, and got 23 pounds of from small to 
medium sized tubei’s; not white but resemb¬ 
ling the Beauty of Hebron in color. The bugs 
injured them very much, I think. The second 
crop of old bugs cut tho leaves nearly all off 
before 1 was aware of it. The Rural Branch¬ 
ing Sorghum 1 planted June 1. I planted 
Black Mexican sweet com at the same time 
and close beside the Sorghum. Both came up 
well; but from the time they both came up 
until the corn was ripe, I do uot think there 
was a time but what there was double the 
weight of sweet corn on the same amount of 
grouud that there was of Rural Branching 
Sorghum. The corn made a good growth and 
eared well, while the Rural Brandling Sor¬ 
ghum attained but four or five feet in bight, 
the drought affecting it more than it did the 
corn. I am fully persuaded that there has 
not been anything found as yet; nor is 
there likely to be soon that will equal 
com for a fodder crop in this section, 
and to get tho best results 1 would plant 
the laiger kinds of sweet corn in drills 
far enough apart to cultivate and tliin enough 
to permit the crop to ear somewhat. The 
Washington Cats l sowed but do not think 
they are any improvement over the common 
white oats of this section. The Ennobled Oats 
did well this year; but 1 do not like the color. 
I have a tine lot of nice asparagus plants for 
transplanting next Spring, The pinks did 
splendidly and were as near perfection us any¬ 
thing of the kind over seen in these parts. 
Notwithstanding the drought, Winter grain, 
oats aud hay were good crops. Corn and po¬ 
tatoes light. Fruit medium. Tho prices at 
our nearest market (Scranton), arc about as 
follows: hay, $15 to $17; wheat. $1.40; corn, 
75c.; oats, 50c. to 55c.; potatoes, 00c; apples 
per bbl., $1.50 to $2; butter, 28c. w. E. M. 
Texas. 
Denton, Denton Co., Nov. 1.—We had a 
pooi’ crop season here as in most other parts 
of our country. Thousands of acres of corn 
made absolutely nothing; but there was an 
immense lot of old corn loft over, and a good 
oat crop for the small amount sowed, and uovv 
we are having au abundance of rain which is 
making the grass as good jis or better than it 
was in the Spring, so, putting this aud that to¬ 
gether, wo will make out to live if we don’t 
die. This part of Texas is a beautiful prairie 
country and one of grand capabilities. The 
soil is splendid aud from one to five feet deep, 
commonly two or three. We usually have 
two wet seasons in a year—one in the Spring 
and the other in the Fall; and with these ex¬ 
ceptions it is what might be called a dry cli¬ 
mate, and the drier the healthier. My com 
averaged 15 bushels to the acre; wheat, 15 
bushels; barley, 10 bushels; oats, 30 bushels, 
cotton $20 worth to the acre. Our greatest 
trouble just now is caused by the army worms, 
which are eating and killing our young oats, 
wheat and barley. As near as I can tell, and 
as far as my knowledge extends, they have 
killed about 19-20 of all in the State. Small 
grain, however, is chiefly sown only in the 
north middle part of the State, the center of 
the grain region being somewhat west of the 
Texas Central Railroad.. J. h. j. 
Wisconsin. 
Cross Plains, Dane Co.—After reading 
of such large yields from the Rural seeds, I 
am ashamed to say anything about mine, 
butstill I don't think 18 pounds of tubers from 
two ounces of seed so very bad, all things 
considered. They are very nice-looking, 
five of the largest weighed from 10 to 17 ounces. 
The sorghum and asparagus did not germin¬ 
ate very well owing to a dry spell we were 
having at time of planting, but what did grow 
have done well. I left some hills of sorghum to 
see if it would seed and think some of it will 
grow. I can brag ou tho number of s hi Iks 
to the one seed or hill if nothing else, for I 
counted from 22 to 42 from one seed, and after 
the second cutting it started for a third crop; 
but the frost arrested it. The Washington 
Oats promised # fiuely but the wind and rain 
storms broke them down so very badly that 
I got only 2ta pounds of very light oats. I 
sowed part of the. diunthus seed which came 
up well, the plants look very pretty and are 
of a good many different colors, both single 
and double—from white to almost black, 
spotted and fringed. I expect something 
grand from that tied of dianthus next Spring 
and Summer. E. a„ T. 
New Cassel, Fond du Lac Co., Nov. 1. — 
It has been raining almost all of the time of 
late. Farmers are backward with their work; 
it is too wet to plow or to do anything else on 
the land. Corn that is in the shock yet is in 
bad condition, and the fodder is almost spoilt. 
Winter wheat is getting pretty large. Many 
think early sowed will get too large. Rye is 
looking line and there Is a good deal of it 
sowed here this Fall. Potatoas were a pretty 
good crop and command a good price—about 
75c. per bushel; wheat. $1,25; barley, $L; corn, 
75c.; rye, $1; oats, 30c.; clover seed, $5.75; 
Timothy, $3; butter, 20(g;80c.; hay, $8 per 
ton. J. o. N. 
WnsUinKioa Territory. 
Waitsruro, Walla Wall? Co., Oct., 29.— 
The yard is green with young weeds and grass 
which have just sprouted. Wheat, is just begin¬ 
ning to come up. The tenth of this month, the 
people awoke in the morning to find fruit trees, 
which wore full of foliage and ripe fruit, 
and flower-gardens which were radiant with 
bloom, among them, the tender petunia, all 
enveloped in a mantle of snow, w hich was at 
least tin inch in depth. It made a pretty 
picture, but caused many exclamations of sur¬ 
prise, for we never before saw' snow so early 
in the season, in this country ; but it was not 
very cold, and l guess the injury done to un- 
gathered fruit w ill not be very great. Tomatoes 
are still in the market for one cent per pound. 
The very finest, of apples can be bought for 
one cent per pound. Wheat is still HO cents per 
bushel: barley, 87‘ j per hundred pounds. Corn 
is quite high so little is raised. Our nights are 
too cool for the successful growth of it. We 
have to pay five cents per pound for sweet po¬ 
tatoes ; but they are very fine large ones. 
There are many immigrants coming in now. 
Many come in late in the Fall, and often have 
to camp out half the Winter because houses 
are all occupied. They ought to come earlier 
in the season. m. a. r. 
e he (Rumst. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure attention ] 
FATTENING RATION FOR CATTLE. 
A. L, C ., CCLtCMSoillv. Md ., says, “Can the 
Rural help me any w ith a feeding ration for 
fattening cuttle. I propose feeding 42 head in 
box stalls. I have any quantity of corn-fod¬ 
der, about 30 tons of clover hay aud plenty of 
corn; also a mill for grinding and a power 
cutter. Bran is worth $25 per ton; new-pro¬ 
cess oil weul, $28. 1 cannot feed mixed feed 
wet up, without great labor.’’ 
Ans. —Our correspondent is well situated 
for fattening his cattle in luxurious comfort,. 
And if he wishes to do it with the greatest 
economy of food let him run his corn-fodder 
and clover through his cutter together, cut¬ 
ting as short as he can; or, say, one-half inch 
long. This may be cut in the proportion of 
eight of clover to twelve of com fodder. 
These should both be fed into the cutter to¬ 
gether. Had he told us the weight of his cat¬ 
tle, the amount and proportion of the ration 
could better be determined. But we will sup¬ 
pose them to weigh an average of 1,000 
pounds when put up, and that he proposes to 
feed them five months or 150 days. He says 
he has plenty of com, but he does not say 
what com is worth per bushel, yet it can 
hardly be worth less in Baltimore than 75 
cents, or $1.34 per 100 pounds, and this will 
make its cost after grinding as much as new- 
process oil meal, $28 per ton. On this basis 
we will try to give him a ration which will 
be likely to yield the best result from a given 
cost of food. It requires a certain proportion 
of the different elements of food to make the 
best ration for fattening or growing steers. 
Let ns suppose this ration to be, for his 1,000- 
pound steers, eight pounds of clover hay, 12 
pounds of corn fodder, 10 pounds of corn meal 
and four pounds of new-process linseed meal 
per head per day. This is supposed to be the 
average ration throughout the 150 days' feed¬ 
ing, starting with a little less. And to make 
this better understood, let us see of what the 
dry digestible matter of this ration consists. 
It will l>e understood lietter in the following 
formula, giving the amount in pounds and 
hundredths of pounds in each part of the 
ration. 
Digestible nu¬ 
trients. 
H 
*-► 
Rations. 
Albumin¬ 
oids. 
Carbo¬ 
hydrates.. 
.4VI 
c 
T ' 
E3 
CD 
8 lbs. clover hay. 
ins. 
.5*4 
lbs. 
3.04 
tbs. 
.10 
lbs. 
3.70 
12 “ corn fodder. 
.13 
4.44 
.04 
4.01 
10 “ corn meal. 
.34 
I). (Hi 
.48 
7.38 
4 “ linseed meal... 
1.11 
1.35 
.1# 
2.54 
34 *• 
2.01 
U.89 
.70 
18.23 
A study of this ration may be instructive. It 
will be seen the eight pounds of clover have 
more than four times as much albuminoids, or 
muscle-forming matter, as 12 pounds of corn 
fodder, and that four pounds of linseed meal 
have 30 per cent, more of this element than 10 
pounds of corn meal; but in carbo-hydrates or 
starch, sugar, fat, etc., the corn meal is the 
richest. This ration has about the propor¬ 
tions found to be best by the Germans in 
practical feeding. The writer of this has also 
used a ration very similar, with the best re¬ 
sult. Our friend should grind his corn and 
mix it with the linseed meal in the above pro¬ 
portion, and feed the mixture with the cut 
clover and corn fodder. Place three pecks of 
the mixed cut fodder in the manger of each 
animal and then put on this about five pounds 
of the mixed meal dry. In eating the ineal 
the cattle will also eat the cut fodder, and all 
will be raised and remasticated together. The 
meal will thus be all digested. This feed will 
be given three times per day. If the cattle 
are thrifty at the start they should gain 400 
pounds per head and the gain in price per 
pound live weight should be at least two cents 
per pound; and if the sale price is six cents, 
tbe gain will be $44 per head ($24 on the 400 
pounds gain and $20 ou carcass}. This w'ould 
pay for the grata food and leave about $16 
for clover aud corn fodder, and the manure 
will well repay the labor. Its value is greatly 
increased by the use of the linseed meal. 
SALTING PORK, ETC. 
G. IF. B., Klickitat Landing, W. T., asks, 
1, will barrels that have been used for pack¬ 
ing butter in, or barrels that have contained 
sirup or molasses, answer for pork barrels; 2, 
about how many poumls of salt are neces¬ 
sary in salting 100 pounds of pork; 3, should 
anything else besides salt be used, when put¬ 
ting down pork in the barrel, to make it 
wholesome and good; 4, is it necessary to 
make a brine to pour over the pork, or will 
the juice of the moat form its own brine; 5, 
how long should the meat remain in the 
brine before taking out to cure; 6, how should 
the meat be cured after it is taken out of the 
brine; 7, will the manner of curing pork be 
successful if applied to beef. 
Ans. —1. It would be safer to use new bar¬ 
rels for [lacking pork. Barrels which have 
contained sirup or molasses are good for hams 
and shouldei-s. Barrels which have contained 
butter would be very likely to be tainted, and 
this would injure the pork. 2. It is best to 
make a brine for packing pork strong enough 
to float a potato. This is tho common rule. 
The bottom of the barrel should l>e covered 
with salt whenever pork is packed. 3, 4, 5, 6. 
Nothing should be put into a barrel with pork 
except salt. It may be packed without mak¬ 
ing a brine by putting a quantity of salt in the 
bottom and between each layer of meat and 
also ou top, to the extent of 15 pounds to the 
hundred, and then pouring in sufficient well 
water to cover the whole contents. The meat 
should always be submerged in the brine or it 
will rust and spoil. It will keep only a few 
days if taken out of the brine unless it is 
smoked. Pork will only absorb a certain 
amount of salt, but the brine must be as strong 
as stated in order to withstand the effects of 
temperature and keep sweet. Less salt will 
answer if the meat is not to be kept a long time, 
and when it is there should be salt enough so 
that it cannot possibly be all dissolved. Eight 
pounds of salt to 100 pounds of meat are ample 
for hams and bacon, to which two quarts of 
molasses or five poimds of sugar and two 
ounces of saltpeter may be added. When pre¬ 
pared in this manner the meat need not be 
left in the brine longer than six weeks before 
being smoked. It may be cured dry, i. e,, the 
salt, saltpeter, and sugar or molasses may be 
mixed together and rubbed on the fleshy side 
of the meat and the meat piled together until 
the mixture is all absorbed. It should then be 
smoked. When designed for immediate use, 
six pounils of salt to 160 pounds of meat are 
sufficient. 7. For beef a brine should bo made 
which will float a potato, and two ounces of 
saltpeter be added for every 100 pounds of 
meat. If the beef is first sprinkled with the 
saltpeter and left a day or two before it is 
placed in the brine, it will have a redder ap¬ 
pearance and will not absorb so much of the 
salt. 
COTTON SEED AS AN ONION FERTILIZER. 
B. VV. H., Lawrence, Texas, asks whether 
cotton seed is a complete fertilizer for onions 
to be raised on sandy soil—the onions to be 
put in before the middle of November. 
Ans.— We have never applied cotton seed 
as a fertilizer especially for onions, though 
we have seen it used in a general way for 
vegetables with satisfactory results, and have 
found it beneficial to everything, except dur¬ 
ing such dry years as this, when it is likely to 
do more harm than good, burning and pre¬ 
maturely ripening the crop. Much the bet¬ 
ter way woul 1 have been to compost it with 
stable manure in about equal proportions; but 
as the case stands, we would apply it broad¬ 
cast at the rate of 100 bushels per acre; plow 
it under, giving a liberal dressing of wood 
ashes, 40 to 50 bushels per acre, after the 
onions are up. Should the weather be favor¬ 
able to the germination of cotton seed imme¬ 
diately after applying, but little benefit will be 
derived from its use, Good results would fol¬ 
low if, as the weather becomes colder, a slight 
furrow was opened close along on each side 
of the rows in which the cotton seed has 
been placed and covered by turning the soil 
back again. 
Miscellaneous. 
S. F. B., Buckeye Center, III., asks, 1, 
whether the Rural pinks will winter out-of- 
doors; 2, will tuberoses have to be planted in 
the house, and when will they bloom. • 
Ans.—1. Yes. 2. To have flowers in Au¬ 
gust or September the bulbs should be potted 
and put in a hot-bed in March, where they 
should remain until they grow to a bight of 
three or four inches. In June the plants may 
be turned out carefully into the open ground. 
For flowers in October the bulbs should be 
planted in pots in May, carefully tended 
through the Summer and taken into the house 
before frost appears. 
M. B. P., Henderson, N. C., sends a speci¬ 
men of “ Rag Gourd” and asks what is its 
botanical name. 
Ans. —It is Luff a or Cucumis aeutaugulus. 
The fruit is sometimes eaten when young, the 
same as vegetable marrows so esteemed in 
England—but when ripe it becomes strongly 
purgative. When dried and reduced to its 
fibrous parte, it serves as a sponge or dish 
doth and it is sold in various European 
countries as Egyptian Sponge. We have 
tried to raise it at the Rural Grounds with 
poor success. The season is too short. 
G. F. If., Napoleon, Ohio, asks which is the 
better sort of corn — Chester Comity Mam¬ 
moth or the Rural Dent, and where can he 
get half a bushel of each. 
Ans. —We much prefer the Rural Dent 
from this season’s trial. It does not shrivel 
so much. Leading Ohio seedsmen sell Ches¬ 
ter County Mammoth. Rural Dent is not 
yet for sale. 
C. A. T., Dover, III., asks whether we shall 
liave seed of the Rural Branching Sorghum 
for sale next Spring. 
Ans.— We sell absolutely nothing but the 
Rural New-Yorker. All seeds pass out of 
the Rural's hands after our distributions. 
Seedsmen will sell the Rural Branching Sor¬ 
ghum, no doubt. 
-• »» — - 
Communications Received for the week 
ending Saturday, Nov. 12, 1881. 
W. S. B.—W. H.—E. M. P.—W. A.-R. J. 
—R. Parkhurst, Montana, thank you.—M. B. 
P.—J. C.—M, J.—T. G. T-. the flower not yet 
received—A. J. T.—W. F. B.—J. A. F. & 
Co.—J. J. H. G.—H. L. W.—J. H. J.—C. J. 
H.—D. P. CL— W. Z. H.—T. J. B.—A. V. G. 
—J. E. K.—G. H.—T. H.—M. A. R.—A. V.— 
A. E. B.—F. D. C.—M. W.-F.—W. V,—P. C. 
J.—J. O. N,—C. H. G.—A. B. A.—F. S. H.— 
J. S.—G. L. R.—G. W.—O. R.—H. S—D. S. 
M.—H. S. M.—M. B. P., thanks.-J. R. T.— 
B. C. D.—P. B. M.—Farmer’s Daughter, 
thanks—A. L. J.—G. G.—J. C. H.—J. S.— 
A. M. P.-M. R. S.—A. L. J. 
