0E8. 40 
THE BUBAL HIW-YOBKIR. 
(txm'Vfivljtxt. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Canada. 
Uplands, Township of Machos, Ontario, 
Canada.—Circumstances having taken me 
from homo the greater part of the past Sum¬ 
mer, I have not been able to give to the cul¬ 
tivation of the Rural seeds the attention they 
deserved. The Rural Branching Sorghum I 
unfortunately pi a mod too early for this 
latitude; it came up well, however, but was 
badly cut down by frost on the 6th of June, 
It recovered, however, and made fully as 
vigorous a growth as corn planted at the 
same time, making from three to four feet in 
liight, branching well all ro nd. My cow ap¬ 
peared to relish it very much, preferring it to 
corn. I think it %vould make a valuable fod¬ 
der plant, and I would like to-try it again if I 
can get some seed. The Washington Oats 
grew well, but smutted badly. Both varieties 
of asparagus grew well, and I have some line 
plants, and hope in due time to make some 
fine beds of this valuable vegetable. My wife, 
who is very fond of flowers, is especially 
pleased with the picotee and carnation plants. 
The dianthus have been much admired; in 
fact, they, with her other flowers, have called 
forth the remark from more than one that the 
surroundings of our shanty here in the forest 
were more like those of a suburban city resi¬ 
dence, making them almost forget they were 
n the bush. r. c. * 
Indiana, 
Reminoton, Jasper Co., Nov. 21.—The 
Rural Branching Sorghum is a valuable 
acquisition to farmers as a fodder plant. It 
was planted May 21, on rich Blue Grass sod, 
about in the same manner as corn, three to 
four seeds in a hill. It all grew nicely and 
branched out so as to completely cover the 
ground when five feet high. I cut some in 
August but it did not make much growth 
after cutting, the weather being so very hot 
and dry at the time that it did not head out 
until very late. Still most of it ripened so 
that I shall have seed to spare. The Wash¬ 
ington Oats I sowed April 21. They grew 
rank and stood up well, there was some smut 
aud hens got in and damaged them badly. 
The White Elephant was a total failure. Only 
a few of the asparagus seed grew. The pinks 
were nothing extra. We have bad a terribly 
hot, dry season. Corn was hurt by chinch 
bugs and dry weather; average 30 bushels per 
acre. Oats were hurt by the army-worm. 
Prices of produce are about as follows: Wheat, 
not much of it raised, $1.35 per bushel; rye, 
$1; com, 50c; oats, 38c; buckwheat, $1; 
potatoes, $1.40: hogs, live weight, $5.50; but¬ 
ter, 25c; eggs, 25c; hay, $S per ton. x. s. 
Roanoke, Huntingdon Co., Nov. 23.—We 
have rain here three to five days out of the 
week; roads very bad. Corn a fair crop—was 
shortened by Summer drought, and the wet 
has injured it somewhat. Potatoes a very 
light crop. Wheat is looking well, though 
the fly has damaged some fields and it is feared 
will do more harm in the Spring. The Rural 
Brandling Sorghum ripened seed. I did not 
cut it; it grew six or seven feet high. Stock 
eat it well, but no better than Early Amber 
cane. The White Elenhant did well for the 
season; we got about half a bushel from a 
very small potato with IS eyes. The Wash¬ 
ington Oats were late and rusted badly. Com 
brings f50<gj65o,; eggs and butter, 20@25c.; po¬ 
tatoes, $1; wheat, $l.25@1.30. A. C. H. 
Iowa. 
Hansel, Franklin Co., Nov. 21.—We have 
had a great deal of rain the last two months, 
and grain is badly damaged; but now we are 
having a cold spell. The ground is frozen 
hard and the roads which were almost im¬ 
passable with mud are now very rough and 
traveling is quite bad. Crops .are very good 
and prices for almost everything are quite 
fair, blit farmers cannot, get them to market 
on account of the condition of the roads. We 
like the Rural well nnd the Agricultural 
News we prize very highly and also the seed 
and plant distribution. The White Elephant 
produced 33X pounds of nice tubers. The as¬ 
paragus has done nicely, and the flower seeds 
also. The Washington Oats rusted and 
smutted very badly—no seed saved. We did 
not plant the Branching Sorghum but intend 
to do so next year. w. f. 
Nebraska. 
St. James, Cedar Co ,Nov, 22—The Bl anching 
Sorghum was planted on a hillside and as the 
weather and the ground were extraordinarily 
dry it didn’t amount to anything. In view 
of the dry weather the Washington Oats did 
first-rate. 1 got two pounds of clean seed. 
I like them well. Owing to the miscarriage 
of the first White Elephant Potato sent to me, 
I didn’t get the second until June 8, and it 
was planted that day, cut to 15 pieces with 
an eye in each. There was just one row set 
12 inches apart. It was cultivated with the 
hoe—soil a deep, rich, black loam. On Oct.i 
4, I dug 18 pounds of tubers, one of which 
weighed one pound. I think this variety will 
do well in this country. The flower seeds 
were planted in the same sort of soil as the 
potato. The pinks grew finely and of them 
we had a big bed with blossoms of over 40 dif¬ 
ferent colors. The asparagus grew first-rate 
aud I have nice beds of both kinds Both the 
potatoes and pinks got diplomas at our coun¬ 
ty fair. Indeed we got about 30 premiums 
at that fair, having exhibited 30 different 
kinds of flowers, fruits, vegetables, etc. The 
weather was very wet during the fair and 
our Agricultural Society came out about $200 
behind. Our president “flew the track” aud 
hired a brass band, and had a dancing hall 
on the fair grounds. The money for the hire 
of the band and hall, and the premiums for 
horse running would have brought the society 
out all right, if used to promote the agricul¬ 
tural part of the show. j. n. s. 
New York. 
Glknville, Schenectady Co., Nov. 25.—The 
past season has been very hot nnd dry, but it 
has generally been good for farmers. My 
White Elephant Potato was very small; I 
planted it in six bills and dug 10 pounds of 
very fine tubers. 1 think the quality No. 1; 
the yield was light on account of the drought. 
The Washington Oats grew very finely and I 
harvested 10 pounds of very nice grain. Too 
far north for Rural Branching Sorghum; I 
like sweet corn better fur feed. Crops in my 
section were a good average. Farmers sowed 
a good acreage of wheat, which yielded from 
20 to 30 bushels per acre the last season. 
Prices are good for all farm produce: Wheat, 
$1.25; corn, 75c.; oat.-*, 48c,; rye, $1.05; pota¬ 
toes, $3 per barrel; hay, $15 per ton; butter, 
27c. per pound; pork, $8 per 100. J. H. c. 
Fluvanna, Chautauqua Co , Nov. 21.—The 
harvest is over aud everything secure; crops 
have been an average except potatoes and 
corn. The hay crop was more than an aver¬ 
age. Wheat, oats, barley, peas and buck¬ 
wheat all good—fairly up to the yield of for¬ 
mer years. The Washington Oats were sown 
in a drill 22 rods long and produced 15j^ 
pounds of grain of line quality. 1 have care¬ 
fully labeled them for seed for the Spring of 
1883. The weather has been fine for Fail har¬ 
vesting. Winter wheat, though sown late, 
looks fully as promising as in previous years. 
Pastures aud aftermath are more than usu¬ 
ally good at this season. Hay is worth $14; 
oats, 50c.; corn, 70c.; butter, 28®30c.; pork, 
8c.; beef, 6c.; milch cows, $2551.35. There is 
in this county alack of Jersey and Holstein 
cattle—only one herd of the latter. 1 am of 
the opinion that we may improve the milking 
quality of our cows by crossing with the Jer¬ 
seys. Many farmers think there is nothing 
equal to Short-horns for milk and butter. I 
have failed to find those equal to the grades. 
I should lie glad to hear from my old patrons 
—former subscribers to the Rural —and will 
supply them as promptly as in former years. 
I should be glad to hear from those receiving 
the buckwheat as premiums what the result 
Was. H. A. WtUTTEMORE. 
Oneida, Madison Co., Nov. 21.—The aspar¬ 
agus of both kinds did very finely. The Rural 
Branching Sorghum came up well and nearly 
all ripened. I have more seed than 1 shall 
sow next year. The White Elephant Potato 
was nearly a failure ou account of the dry 
weather. The Washington Oats did very well. 
The pinks are the finest vve have of several 
kinds. 1 have a very fine lot of seedling po¬ 
tatoes from seed sowed last Spring, j, l. w. 
Penn Yan, Yates Co., Nov. 24.—From the 
White Elephant Potato I raised about a peck 
of fine tubers. They stood the drought better 
than other kinds. The Washington Oats did 
first-rate, yielding over one-half a bushel of 
very plump grain—no smut iu them. n. w. 
Port Jervis, Orange Co.. Nov. 24.—My 
White Elephant weighed just two ounces, was 
cut into six pieces with an eye in each and 
planted in six hills iu the garden. I dug 65 
tubers, weighing 33 pounds; 25 of them weigh¬ 
ed 25X pounds—average weight, half a pound 
apiece. I had a splendid crop of potatoes and 
corn this season, and sold my potatoes for a 
good price—$1 per bushel. Pm glad the 
Rural is distributing more garden and field 
seeds than formerly; for while farmers like 
to please the ladies of the family with flower 
seeds, they also like something that will pay 
themselves in cash for their trouble. J. w. 
Oregon. 
Cannon, Lane Co., Nov. 20.—The Rural 
seeds I had gave good satisfaction. From 
the small White Elephant Potato I obtained 
58 pounds, and there were three potatoes of 
good size that were not weighed and the ground 
was not manured or watered. a. d. h. 
Wisconsin. 
Mt., Ida, Grant Co,, Nov., 23.— The Rural 
seeds did well. I raised 60 pounds of White 
Elephant and eight pounds of ripe Rural 
Branching Sorghum seed. c. R. s. 
<Tl]c (Ourrist 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure attention ] 
FRUITS FOR TEXAS. 
T, G., Trenton Falls , N. J., intending to 
move to Texas next month and there engage 
in fruit raising, asks what kind of berries, 
grapes aud peaches can be successfully grown 
in the neighborhood of San Antonio. 
A ns. —Most kinds of peaches do well in 
Texas. As the early varieties ripen in May, 
they are perhaps the most prefeTable; the 
cling-stones are in greater demand than free¬ 
stones for local markets. The trees grow well 
and come into bearing early; but they are 
not long-lived. Spring frosts or cold, wet 
“northers” often hurt the peach tree blos¬ 
soms, and in that way shorten the crop, but 
taking everything into consideration Texas is 
an excellent peach State. Early Beatrice, 
Rivers, Tillotson, Amsden, Alexander, Troth’s 
Early, Crawford’s Early and Late, Large 
Early York, Coe’s Early Red, N’tump-the- 
World, Amelia, Columbia, Druid Hill, Yellow 
St. John, Lady Parham, Baldwin’s Late, 
Mountain Rose, Piequett’s Late, Smock, Sus¬ 
quehanna, Chinese Cling (the most favored 
of all), Indian Blood Cling, Lemon Cling. 
Old Mixon Cling, Heath Cling, Washington 
Cling, Rodman’s Cling. Grapes are not such 
a certain crop as peaches are. The* vines 
grow well for a few years, but in many cases 
soon become enervated. They often bear 
heavy crops of fruit and not infrequently the 
grapes rot before they ripen. It is evident 
we are in need of a set of grape-vines espe¬ 
cially adapted for.Texas. The Vitis vinifera 
or foreign grapes have not been grown very 
successfully in Texas; in fact, phylloxera 
often kills them there. Agawam, Concord, 
Delaware, Merrimac, Massasoit, Iona, Isra¬ 
elis, Delaware and Hartford Prolific do fairly 
well iu Southwestern Texas aud very well in 
Eastern and Northern Texas, hut the Herbe- 
uiont is the very best of all grapes so far 
generally tried for Texas. For San Antonio 
we cannot recommend currants, gooseberries, 
or raspberries; with considerable trouble and 
pains some of the latter may be grown. 
Blackberries in moist places do fairly well. 
Triomphe de Gaud and Jucunda Strawber¬ 
ries have been grown there, but the most 
satisfactory sorts so far tried are Charles 
Downing aud Wilson’s Albany. The neigh¬ 
borhood of San Antonio being rather dry, 
berries cannot well be expected to thrive 
there without shelter, a little shade and lots 
of water. 
PARSNIP CULTURE. 
C. C\, Ontario, Canada, thinking that pars¬ 
nips would be a valuable crop for feed in that 
northern latitude, asks how to grow them 
successfully. 
Ans. —The parsnip is not so extensively cul¬ 
tivated for a farm crop as its value warrants. 
A yield of from 600 to 800 bushels per acre 
may be obtained on good soil free from stones. 
The roots are hardy and may be left in the 
ground all Winter aud fed to stock iu the 
Spring, or they may be “ pitted” or put in the 
cellar for Winter feeding. Parsnips will yield 
best on a deep, rich loam. The ground should 
be plowed iu the Fall, and in the Spring 15 or 
20 loads of manure to the acre should be ap¬ 
plied aud turned under. The seed should be 
sown just as early in the Spring as the weather 
will permit and the ground is dry enough to 
work. The seed should be drilled in rows 
about two feet apart, so as to admit a horst 
cultivator. It is well to sow the seed thickly, 
say four or five pounds to the acre, and after 
the plants are two or three inches high, thin 
to three inches apart in the row. It is neces¬ 
sary to use great care in the selection of seed, 
as no dependence can be placed on seed over a 
year old. 
WHAT AILS THESE APPLE TREES ? 
E. S. B., Attica, N. Y., says that a good 
many of the trees in his apple orchard have 
been killed by some insect that kills the bark 
at the surface of the ground. This is done in 
small patches and the surrounding live bark 
in trying to grow over them forms bunches 
full of holes. He attributed the condition to 
borers, but the wood is all sound, the bark 
only being affected. There are ant hills 
around the trees and he is inclined to blame 
the ants for the trouble. Some plum trees, 
however, are affected iu nearly the same way 
although there are no ants near them, and he 
asks for the cause aud a preventive. 
Ans. —We know nothing of this disease per¬ 
sonally nor have we been able to find out 
anything definite about it by inquiry of 
several well known pomologists. It would be 
well, however, for our friend to wash his 
trees in Spring with whale-oil soap or such 
soft soap as most farmers make, putting it on 
as thick as he can with a brush. This 
would be likely to prevent this disease. Or 
he might take away two or three inches of the 
earth about the tree and wind around the lat¬ 
ter a piece of stiff paper a foot or so wide, 
which should be tied at the top, and then re¬ 
place the earth at the bottom. This would 
probably prevent those trees not affected by 
the disease from taking it. To use both the 
wash and the paper would be the better plan. 
ANTHRAX IN POULTRY. 
W, B, McL., Hudson, Mich., asks what ails 
her chicks: one after another limp as if they 
were hurt, shed their feathers, lose the use of 
their legs and, finally, after tumbling about 
for five or six days they die. Appetite good; 
discharge thin; back weak. 
Ans. —The disease is a species of anthrax 
similar to that which is known as black leg in 
calves. The lameness is the first indication of 
the trouble and this is caused by an inflamed 
condition of the muscles of the legs which soon 
changes to gangrene. As this comes on the 
feathers die and fall off. The disease pro¬ 
ceeds from disorder of the liver; diarrhea and 
blood poisoning follow and death ensues very 
rapidly. The disease is too virulent for any 
hopeful treatment, and when the lameness oc¬ 
curs the case has progressed too far for cure. 
Preventives only are of any use. These are 
to avoid overfeeding; to keep the fowls per¬ 
fectly clean, dry and warm, and to thorough¬ 
ly ventilate the poultry house. The most 
perfect sanitary arrangements of every kind 
in fact are required. 
RED AND WHITE WHEATS FOR MILLING. 
P. It., Tom's Hirer, N. J., says: “I have 
read that white Clawson wheat is not liked 
by millers, ns it contains but. a small quantity 
of gluten, and consequently makes a poor 
quality of flour. It is said red wheat contains 
more gluten than white and makes better 
flour. Where is the best red wheat to be had 
for seed and what is its name?” 
Ans. —The percentage of starch in Winter 
wheats varies from 65 to nearly 77. Clawson 
probably contains about 74 per cent., and of 
albuminoids about f J}^. If our friend will 
refer to our Wheat Number, he will find quite 
a number of varieties of wheat classed with 
reference to their milling qualities by Prof. 
Thorne of the Ohio University. Tuppahan- 
nock, a white flint, ranks first, followed 
closely by Lancaster and Red Mediterranean, 
both red. Either c>f these two last would, no 
doubt, suit Mr. R. as to their milling quali¬ 
ties. They can be had of many of the seeds¬ 
men who advertise in the Rural. It would 
appear from analysis that Spring wheats 
ought to be more nutritious than Winter, as 
the} contain, on an average, more gluten. 
PREVENTING A HORSE FROM PULLING ON THE 
HALTER. 
//. P., Ivanhoe. III., asks how to break a 
horse from pulling on the halter. 
Ans. —The most effectual way to break a 
horse of pulling at the halter is to tie it by the 
tail. The crupper shoul l be made strong with 
a ring sewed to the strap on top of the hips, 
which strap leads to the crupper. In this 
ring fasten the end of a rope which should be 
conducted to the head through one of the 
line rings and through the bit. When in the 
stable a crupper should be buckled around the 
tail and th& tie rope attached to it by a ring 
sewed on it; and then passed through a ring 
fastened to a surcingle round the Dody and 
through a ring in the halter. A horse thus 
fastened will not pull more than once and 
cannot get loose. A horse in the habit of 
pulling at the head will break any halter, but 
when fastened by the tail, as described above 
a small rope will suffice to hold it. 
THE RURAL DENT OR FLINT CORN-^WHICH ? 
.4. F. K., Wayne, Ills., says: “In offering 
premiums on corn the coming year, do the 
two kinds of corn compete for the same 
prizes or is there a prize for each variety ?” 
Ans. —Each subscriber is entitled only to 
one kind, as may he seen by reference to our 
first announcement of this Free Seed Dis¬ 
tribution and the premiums therefor in the 
Fair Number, page 585. There we say that 
for the higher latitudes, the Rural Heavy 
Dent Corn is not suitable, and therefore the 
Rural Thoroughbred Flint, which is ex¬ 
tremely early, will be sent instead to all who 
will kindly designate their preference in their 
applications for the Distribution. The offer 
of premiums applies to both alike—the best 
yield from either takes the first prize, and so 
on with the other premiums. 
Miscellaneous. 
.7. S. B., Bristolville, Ohio, asks, 1, for a de 
scriptiou of the Amorpha fruticosa, seeds of 
which were in our free seed distribution of 
1878; 2, do the asparagus plants from our last 
distribution need any Winter protection; 3, 
are blue jays a benefit or injury to the 
farmer. 
ANS.—1. This becomes a tall shrub, very va_ 
riable in different soils and situations. It 
bears compound leaves with 8-12 pairs. In 
form and growth it is spreading and, unless 
cut back from year to year, somewhat ram¬ 
bling. The flowers are of purple color 
crowded in clustered, terminal spikes. The 
