THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
233 
hardy constitutions are likewise suited to our 
severest climate. As milkers, they will not equal 
the Jerseys, for it must be a physiological fact 
that so much stoutness of limbs and propelling 
muscles has been developed somewhat to the 
detriment of milking functions. The Jerseys, 
tiaviog short aud comparatively level pasture 
ranges, or being tethered (not walking at all), 
have very floe limbs and lank, thin, propelling 
muscles. The color of the Swiss cattle is more 
uniform. Their milk is rich, aud from it. in 
their native land, the battery Swiss cheese is 
made. Wo have no doubt but that as but ter 
makers, the breed will improve in this country, 
and that their stocky, beefy forms will change 
to a better standard. 
-♦♦♦—- 
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 
BY T. B. MINER. 
Professor Beau, in the Rural of Oct. 20, 
shows that the Michigan Agricultural College 
approaches the nearest to what such an institu¬ 
tion should be, of any similar colleges in this 
country, while it is apparent that the Michigan 
College is yet far behind what it should be, in 
order to moot fully the wants of farmers gener¬ 
ally. It is now about sixteen years since Con¬ 
gress donated largo tracts of public lands in 
various States, to be sold for the support of 
such colleges ; and a number were soon there¬ 
after established, cither alone, or in connection 
with other educational institutions; but they do 
not seem to have done much for the bene lit of 
farmers. Indeed, with all the leading agricul¬ 
tural papers before me for many years, I do not 
romomber to have soon a single report published 
in auy of them of any experiments made by 
such colleges, that oau bo considered of auy 
especial value to our agricultural and horticul¬ 
tural population. Some of the Professors are 
correspondents of the agricultural press la their 
private capacity; but we want reports from 
them as a college, showing what they are doing 
to benefit fanners generally. Professor Beal 
says; 
“Occasionally a thoughtless person says, 
‘ Why, yon cannot turn out young men from the 
college who will go hack to the farm and beat 
the old farmers at work.’ 
“ Of course not; neither does a law or medi¬ 
cal school turn out proficient lawyers or doctors ; 
but does that prove that a student is not better 
prepared for success after a training in a law or 
medical school ?" 
This is not well put, for the reason that law 
and medical students should be ablo to practice 
their professions as soon as they graduate ; and 
all do so, more or less, when they are situated so 
that they can practice. But not one farmer in a 
hundred knows anything about agricultural 
chemistry, entomology, botany etc. as taught In 
an agricultural college; consequently, when a 
farmer sends a son to one of these institutions, 
remaining there four years, with three hours 
practical labor daily in farming, gardening etc., 
ho ouglit to be able to “ beat the old farmer,” 
or his education Las been gravely defective. 
For instance, we will take the application of 
lime to lands, as a teat of what one of these 
students has learned in college. lie goes home 
at the end of his college term, and his father 
says: 
“ John, I hear a good deal about applying 
lime to land; now I suppose you can tell me 
all about it. If John has been properly edu¬ 
cated he will reply: 
“Yes. father, I think I can give you all the 
information that you desire on that subject ”; 
and he goes on and tells his father that lime 
should bo present in the soil in some degree, 
either naturally or otherwise—that sandy or 
silicious soils are more or less barren if lime be 
absent, while the addition of this Hubstanco 
renders them susceptible of producing better 
crops—that, in fact, lime is indispensable in all 
sods, though the quantity may be quite small. 
This is all new to the “ old man," and Le is 
delighted with his sou's knowledge of the sub¬ 
ject ; so, he says : 
“Sow, John, tell mo how I am to know 
whether & field requires lime or not—how much 
to apply when it is uoeded—at what season of 
the year—whether to apply it upon the surface 
of the land or otherwise—at what periods of 
time to apply it how it affects vegetation— 
whether it is a fertilizer per se, or whother it 
only acts chomically upon the soil,” with many 
other questions in regard to lime which John 
answerd correctly, thus showing that in many 
things he can “ beat the old farmers ” at their 
own avocation ; and this is as it should be. 
Again, these students, if properly educated, 
should “ beat the old farmers ” in everything 
pertaining to scientific agriculture. They should 
be better informed on Carbon, Oxygen, Hydro' 
gen and Nitrogen, aud their properties aud 
relations to vegetable life; they should be well 
informed on the characteristic properties of 
organio and inorganic matter, aud how these 
elements minister to the growth of plants ; they 
should understand the nature of the constituents 
of the atmosphere in its relation to vegetation— 
the functions of the roots and leaves of plants— 
the fertilizing properties of commercial ma¬ 
nures—how to apply them to different crops, 
and hundreds of other things, that ordinary 
farmers know nothing about; aud if an agricul¬ 
tural college education is worth anything, the 
students, on returning home, can and will 
“beat the old fanners 
But the difficulty lies here : Prof. Beal says 
when set at work in the fields “ they will shirk." 
That shows why they do not “beat the old 
farmers.” They have generally been brought 
up to do little or nothing at home, and are Rent 
to an agricultural college to be eduoated—not ro 
much in agriculture and horticulture, as in 
other branches of a collegiate education. They 
take little or no interest in out-door, hard work, 
not expecting in most cases to be farmers ; and 
the result is, they return without knowing 
much more about ordinary agriculture than 
when they left home; and their knowledge of 
scientific agriculture is too superficial to be of 
any real advantage to them or to anybody else. 
An agricultural college, to satisfy the country, 
should annually make a report on all experi¬ 
ments made; aud these experiments should 
embrace many matters of great importance to 
farmers. They should he published, or the 
cream of them, in every agricultural paper that 
exists, iu order to reach as many farmers as 
possible; and they should ho reports that will 
be positive benefits in tilling tlio soil, atoek- 
raising etc. We want to know (if such informa¬ 
tion ho obtainable) what commercial fertilizers 
can always bo applied to crops profitably— the 
quantities to apply—tho particular crops that 
require certain fertilizers—that is, what orops 
require nitrogen, what potash, and such us 
must be fed with tho phosphates. As these 
questions now stand, it Beems to bo impossible 
to obtain any information on them that is reliable 
in all oases. Agricultural chemists have already 
attempted to give this information ; hut farmers 
have too ofteu used their formulas at a loss. 
Barnyard manure is never applied at a loss ; it is 
a bank that always honors tho drafts of the 
farmer; and as the agricultural population iu. 
creases, and farms decrease in size, aud we have 
a greater domand for grain, wo begin to realize 
that we must use more commercial fertilizers, 
if they can bo used profitably; and our agri¬ 
cultural colleges are looked to for information m 
regard to them. 
On not only such questions do our farmers 
need authoritative information, but also on many 
others equally important; aud if our agricul¬ 
tural colleges fail to enlighten us on them, 
their Professors should not be disappointed, if 
our farmers look upon these institutions as 
“ more ornamental than useful.” 
Linden, N. .7. 
- 
NOTES FROM THE BACK WOODS. 
Given a quarter section (160 acres) of heavily 
timbered land, to make a farm; time, twenty 
years ago ; place, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, 
timber, Maple. Beech, Basswood, White and lted 
Oak, Elm, Abh, Irouwood, etc ; soil, do- p, rich 
loam, free from stones. The first thing to be 
done was to clear the laud of timber, which, at 
that time, was worthless, except what was 
wanted for fencing. Still it did look too bad to 
burn up the nice, straight timber, as we did by 
cutting, piling and then burning it. 
The first crop—Winter wheat—having been 
sown on the newly cleared anti burned ground 
and harrowed in among the Btumps without any 
attempt at plowing, a good harvest was bo sure 
that when a piece of wheat was sown, wo could 
calculate that our next yew’s bread was secured, 
the yield being from twenty to thirty bushels 
per acre. The cost of clearing and fencing 
varied from ten to fifteen dollars per acre. Grass 
and clover seed wero usually sown with the first 
crop, and not much plowing was done for the 
first eight or ten years, when moBt of the stumps 
were bo rotten that they oould bo easily taken 
out. A small field was plowed for orchard and 
garden, corn and potatoes. A new field was 
cleared for wheat ever}' year, and we could raise 
splendid turnips and rutabagas on the fieshl}- 
btirned ground. 
Our sales consisted of the surplus wheat, 
sheep and cattle and, once a year, a few fleeces 
of wool, as well as, now aud then, a pail of butter 
aud a basket of eggs. Our mill and market 
town was ten miles away, aud to it we wont as 
seldom as possible with au ox-team over not 
very good roads; but living in the woods in a 
log-house and making it a rule to buy nothing 
which could be produced on the farm, our wants 
were few and easily supplied. One luxury—the 
Rural New Yorker -we have indulged in from 
the beginning, until now it is a household neces¬ 
sity. 
Now, although we are using a reaping and 
mowing machine on the older parts of the farm, 
we have still a flue piece of Winter wheat sown 
among the stumps on newly cleared ground. 
The timber, however, is uot burned on the ground 
at present, but hauled ten miles to Appleton—a 
busy manufacturing town on the Fox Iiiver— 
where it finds a ready market at paying prices. 
A new house and barn have taken the place of 
tho Jog-house and stable. The church and 
Nchoolbou.-e arc in sight, but to go into the 
woods in sugaring time and again when the 
beech and butter-nuts are ripe, is still tho delight 
of tho half a dozen boys and girls who have 
grown np on the old farm. 
Freedom, Wts. John Rusticus. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
October 22. 
THE SEASON. 
Never before, within our remembrance, haa a 
season opened ho early and closed so lato. The 
leaves of Apple trees are now as green as in 
spring. We have Castor Oil plants, fourteen 
lout high, not a leaf of which has been injured 
by the two slight frosty already noted, which oc¬ 
curred two weeks ago. 
Honeysuckles are blooming luxuriantly ; Har¬ 
dy Phlox, Phlox Drummondii, Portulaca, Pelar¬ 
goniums, Snap dragons, Petunias, tho White 
Woigela and even Heliotrope, are blooming here 
and thoro. We have never before seen the Tri- 
toraa uvaria so striking, Its blooming stalks, 
which always suggest to us the stick of a sky¬ 
rocket, instead of the handle of a soldering iron, 
or a red-hot poker, are form feet in bight, aud 
the flowers, which equally remind us of the body 
of a rocket, are of as brilliantly various shades of 
tlame-color, as if the ditto were Sept. 15 instead 
of Oct. 20. A correspondent mentioned the fact 
that a Tnoyrtis grandiilora was this season 
blooming with him for the first time. So it is 
with us as to those grounds. Invariably, here¬ 
tofore, the innumerable buds have been blighted 
by frost, and wo had already concluded to dis¬ 
pense with tho coarse leaves and rank growth of 
this plant, which so poorly requited us for its 
board and lodging. But it is now profusely 
blooming, aud although the flowers are not of 
tho roduod or delicate sort, they attract the eye 
agreeably as one passes by. 
WHY? 
While admiring tho splendid autumn colors of 
our trees, we noticed that some lose their top¬ 
most leaves ttrBt, and others their lowermost, 
and that this is noticeably constant in the same 
species and varieties. If it were the rulo that the 
Lighest leaves should fall first, as iu the Horse 
Chestnut, Yellow-wood. Ac., perhaps we should 
account for the preservation of the lower leaves 
by tire mutual radiation of heat between them 
and tho ground. But looking upon a Tulip tree, 
and seeing that the last leaves to color (or dis¬ 
color, as you choose,) and to fall are the topmost, 
such a theory would have to be relinquished. It 
is a trilling thing to write about,, but, trilling as 
it may bo, difficult to explain, 
TRANSPLANTING. 
We have already several times said that we 
prefer to transplant in the spring for this cli¬ 
mate, yet many are of a different opinion. It is 
better, in such matters, that each should be 
guided by his own experience, if he has had any, 
and if not, by that of his neighbors who have. 
Two sections of country, within ten miles of each 
other, may bo so differently situated that good 
advice for ouo would be bad for the other. Our 
valley runs duo north and south. We are, there¬ 
fore, in a measure protected from west storms, 
but quite exposed to the northern blast. If, 
therefore, we were protected upon the north, in¬ 
stead of upon tho west, our experience might 
have been different. The character of the soil 
and natural drainage are also points which ren¬ 
der any general udvico of little value. 
To those, then, who propose to buy aud plant 
fruit or ornamental trees, wo would briefly re¬ 
mark :—Do not allow a lower price to influence 
you lo purchase of men whose trustworthiness 
you have the least reason to doubt. A penny 
thus saved at tho time of purchase will oft-times 
be found to be many dollars lost, years hence. 
Do uot purchase trees or plants of any kind, 
without knowing whether or uot they are adapt¬ 
ed to your soil and situation. Select young trees 
always. Inexperienced people are allured by 
size, thinking that years of time will thus bo 
saved. If tho trees could be removed with a 
ball of earth and with the greater part of the 
roots intact, it would be different. The simple 
truth is, however, that, in nine oases out of ten, 
if a three-year and six-year apple tree, for in¬ 
stance, be transplanted, and in every way treated 
tho same, the three-years-old will bear first, and 
at the expiration of four years be the larger of 
the two. And the rule holds good with few ex¬ 
ceptions. But, besides this, the danger of losing 
the older tree is far greater. 
OBSERVE. 
The one great desideratum in treating trees 
received from a distance, is to keep the roots 
and fibers thereof moist and protected from both 
sun and wind until placed in the ground, and 
this advico holds good under all circumstances, 
and we do uot believo there is another moro pro¬ 
lific source of disappointment than that which 
results from disregarding it. 
When roots are injured, there can bo no doubt 
that the branches should be cut back to an ex¬ 
tant proportionate to the injury. But no gen¬ 
eral rule for guidance can be laid down, for the 
reason that the extent of the inj ary is not always 
apparent to the eye, and also because some Bpe- 
cies are benefited by more heroic treatment than 
others. Quito large trees, for examplo, of the 
Yellow-wood (Cladrastis), above referred to, may 
have the entire head cutoff with advantage, leav¬ 
ing only the main stem ; while, if a Giuhgo Tree 
(Salisbmia adiantifolia,) were similarly treated, 
we should expect that it would die iu conse¬ 
quence. Young fruit trees, less than three-quar¬ 
ters of an inch in diameter, may he cut back to 
within a foot of tho grafted stock, if so desired, 
and the tree thereafter trained to a low pyra¬ 
midal form. Better this, by far, than tho long, 
slender stems too ofteu sent out by nurserymen 
who, with both oyes upon profit, trust to luck 
for reputation. 
For young trees — evergreens excepted— we 
have never deemed stakes necessary. If pre¬ 
ferred, however, a very slight stake answers 
every purpose of tho ill-looking, cumbersome 
things often used. A single one suffices, if 
driven in the ground so as to form, with the 
stem or tho treo and tho ground, tho hypotlie- 
nuse of a right-angled triangle, thus : 
The stake and the tree are to bo tied together 
closely and socurely at letter A. 
Having said something as to transplanting— 
and wo refer to Mr. Samuel Persons’ article for 
other particulars—in uext week’s Rural we shall 
present our good readers with a list of fruit trees, 
from which we trust they may select those best 
adapted to thrive about their homes, either for 
this fall or for next spring’s transplanting. 
" - 
NOTES FROM TEXAS. 
Clerodkndron fcetidcm I have often seen 
catalogued as C. Buugei, but I never knew that 
the one referred to lately in the Rural was the 
plant. It makes rather a rich specimen as a 
pot-plant, but is a nuisance as a bedder, on 
account of its profuse root-suckeriug proclivi¬ 
ties. 
Meyenia erect a is often seen hero in collections 
on plaut-Standa, in which position it is rather 
a si.y bloomer. Last spring l planted one out 
on the south side of my house, in an exposure 
where even a berl of Portulacas burned np. In 
spite of this, as I thought, unfavorable location, 
this plant waB covered, every day, with nuu- 
dreds of rich flowers, without being watered 
once through the protracted drought and heat 
we had hero daring summer. 
Just now wo are treated to a display of such 
gorgeous flowers as Brugmansia arboreta and 
Hibiscus mutabilis. Mespilus primus, called 
here the Japan Plum, is full of flower-buds. 
This is a fino, low, bushy evergreen tree, with 
large, oblong-eliptical leavos. Its inflorescence 
is a largo panicle with very sweet, greenish- 
white, substantial flowers. The tree iH hardy 
here, though, owing to its particular habit of 
flowering and ripening its fruit through the 
winter, this frequently gets killed by the frost. 
The fruit is eatable and resembles, in shape, 
size and color, a persimmon. 
Late, last spring, somebody gave me some 
seeds of a West Indian fruit or vegetable, which 
was said to grow and resemble somewhat a 
cucumber. I sowed them to see what they 
would turn out. Of about two dozens of plants, 
I potted one in order to better protect it over 
winter, if it should prove a tender perennial. 
This grew about 20 feet, when it commenced 
throwing out laterals with multitudes of oorym- 
bous flowers. But it has failed to set any fruit as 
yet. I cannot find any stamens in the dark- 
brown, almost blackish, stiff flowers. In the 
middle of the five sepalod and petalod (lowers is 
a roundish five-cornered body, with five nec¬ 
taries. Below this, and enclosed by it, tho 
ovary with style is found. How this can be 
fertilized, entirely shut off as it is, is a mystery 
to me. The plant is milky, twining againbt the 
sun, with cordate opposite leaves, it undoubted¬ 
ly belongs to the order of the Asclepiadeco. 
Only the one I have potted has come to bloom. 
If it is a perennial and stands this climate—and 
