332 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
®ft Centrist, 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
8. J. B. and A. F. A., Hackensack, At. J.— We 
havo a fow queBtions to luk about tbo lauds hi 
Kansas aud Missouri, ou the lines of the Atchi¬ 
son, Topeka and Santa Fo and the Missouri, 
Kansas aud Texas Railroads. (1.) Can you tell 
us of any person or persons to communicate 
with, on those railroads, about the lands aud the 
prices of stock and farming implements ? (2.) 
What part of Kansas or Missouri is the best for 
grain aud stock farming? (8.) What do you 
think of Neosho Valley, in Kansas ? (I) Which 
is the shortest and cheapest way to St. Louis or 
to Kansas ? (5.) What is the faro ? (6.) The 
freightage from Now York to Topeka, Has., by 
the car ? (7.) J f you have any readers in that 
part of the country, do yon think they would 
give any information, through the JUuui,, as to 
the cost, per acre, to hire a man to break up 
prairie ground—that is, to have it ready for 
grain ? (8.) Row much per acre for sowing ? 
(9 ) How much per acre for harvesting and 
threshiug it? (10) What is the general aver¬ 
age of bushels per acre, for sowing ? (11.) 
What is the average yield, per acre? (12.) 
ich is the best part of Kansas for sheep rais- 
? 
Ans.—J. We are sorry we cannot refer you to 
Borne disinterested parties. The railroad author¬ 
ities are willing and eager to answer all questions 
of this nature. Ir you choose to apply to them, 
your best course would be to address their Land 
Commissioners, at Topeka and Emporia. The 
A , T. and S. F. Road has its land office at To¬ 
peka. The roads havo brauch oflioes in this city, 
at 417 and 239 Dread way. 
2. Northern Kansas and Western Missouri are 
said to be the best for stock aud grain. 
8. The Neosho Valley has an abundauoo of rich 
farming land, and is plentifully supplied with 
good timber, but it is said to be a fever and ague 
region. 
4. Wc do not know the shortest route. The 
fares are about tho same by any road from the 
East. 
6. The tirst-class faro to Redalia, Mo., is £35.50; 
emigrant, $'20.30. To Kansas City, $35; emi¬ 
grant, $21.55. To Topeka, Kas., $40.85; emi- 1 
grant, $24 49. Land tickets are issued over the 
roads, from those points, tho money paid for 
which will bo refunded, if the purchaser buys 
100 acres of land. 
6. Freight from New York to Kinsley, on the 
A., T. aud R. F. Road, which is in the midst of 
tho land district, is $2.35 per 100 pounds, or 
$260 per car load. To Topeka it would be much 
loss. 
7, 8, 9, 10. Will some one of the Rural readers 
answer thoBe questions ? 
11. The average yield of corn is thirty-six 
bushels to tho acre; of wheat, fifteen bushels 
to tho acre. 
12. The Northern nnd Western part. 
M. IF., Poquonoc Bridge .—I have been tak¬ 
ing up some Oxalis that I plauted out in border 
this spring. The roots have grown as largo as 
good-sized onions. To each is attached a great 
number of small bulbs, from the size of a hazel¬ 
nut to that of a small shot. Shall I save the 
whole, or ouly the bulbs attached to tho root ? 
Ans.—I t may be propagated from the bulb- 
lets. These Bhould be taken caro of the same 
as bulbs or bulbiela of Gladioli. We can not 
speak from experience, but should say that they 
might bo best preserved in sand in a tem¬ 
perature just above freezing. 
O. Doppei has four loailets to the leaf and red , 
flowers. The roots are parsnip-shaped, bearing 
tho bulblots at the top. Think you this is your 
sjiociOH ? 
J. W. t Jr., Grass Lake, Mich .—How can I i 
mend rubber boots, and mike them as good as 
now? i 
Ans.—T ho best thing wo know of for this pur¬ 
pose is a "repair cloth” and cement sold by 
dealers in rubber goods. Directions for apply- 1 
ing these articles wo believe accompany each 
parcel. D. Hodgmau & Co., 27 Maiden Lane, 1 
have them for sale. 
: 
J. I*. Baldwin .—There is no "best sheep pa¬ 
per,” because no single journal devotes its eu 
tire attention to sheep husbandry. If you are 
interested in sheep and know little about them, 
wo should advise tho purchase of some good 
book on the subject, and thon depend for cur¬ 
rent information on almost any first-claSB agricul¬ 
tural journal. 
L. M. F., Chestei'field, Va. —Address, Princi¬ 
pal Brooks Seminary, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
IT. D. Foster is referred to page 323 for an 
answer to his question. 
Mrs. Augusta Archer .—Tho only poem we 
know of, which embodies the legend you name 
is one by La Fontaine, a translation of which 
we publish in Ladies’ Portfolio of this issue. 
James Osmond .—Specimens received. Wo 
do think them worthy of mention. 
Mrs. G, N. 2?.—In the course of a few weeks 
we will publish an article on new designs in em¬ 
broidery, with illustrations. 
Geo. Iladslead, Carlton, AT. Y .—Will you 
please inform me through the Rural whore I 
can find a market for 20 bushels of pop-corn, and 
what it is worth ? 
Anb.—P op-corn is worth from 2% to 3 cents 
per pound, according to the condition in which 
it arrives. Old corn is most salable. I. L. 
Allen, 164 Greenwich St., is a manufacturer of 
the article, and will buy. The fruit and nut 
dealers many of them buy pop-corn; wo rcoom- 
mend nobody, however. Your best course is to 
sell at homo if you can get a fair price. 
Communications received for the week ending 
Saturday, loth inst. 
W. A. Graham —John Saul —Annie L. Jack— 
J. W. Kerr—F, K. Phoenix—T. H. Haskins—Geo. 
Gardner—F. A. Wood -M. Oakey—Sword-stick— 
Dr. Goodenougk—Mrs. J. 8. Swiss helm, thanks— 
T. T. Lyon, thanks—Louis H. Clement— T. W. S,— 
Enoch Spencer—T. B. Miner—Prof. W. J. Real— 
A. lb—E. A. lb—Win. Falconer—S. lb Loomis— 
Delver— Eva Edgerton — Nemo—Carolus—C. C.— 
Fannie A. Wayte. 
Ildus of % twitch. 
HOME NEWS PARAGRAPHS. 
The bonded debt of Texas 13 $ 1 , 000 , 000 . 
Cornell University has 400,000 acres of land In 
Wisconsin. 
A late cargo st sugar In Boston paid Uncle Sam 
$ 121,950 duties. 
The decrease of the public debt for the month 
Of October Was $4,236,034.30. 
Wheat, wrest of Omaha, averages about eighty 
cents per bushel to the farmers. 
Less than eight per cent, of the area of the 
United States la at present under cultivation. 
The total number 01 voters registered In New 
York City, this year, was 143,870, and last year, 
183, oci. 
The experiment of shipping fresh meat to 
France Is being tried, tho first cargo having left 
New York last week. 
Minnesota claims to have In its surveyed and 
unsurveyed territory, 7,ooo lakes, with a total 
water area oL 2 ,ioo,uoo acres. 
it is estimated that turbine water wheels have, 
since tin. lr Invention, saved the country over 
$iHi(>,i>oO,uuo in the one single Item of fuel. , 
A shock of earthquake was felt In the eastern 
part of Now York State aud throughout the East¬ 
ern States at 2 o’clock A. M. on the r>t,h last. 
Eels so clogged a mill race-way at Suugertles, 
N. Y., a few days ago, that a llourlng-mlll had to 
cease running for two days, till the obstructions 
were removed. 
A musical Journal says that fifteen per cent, of 
the Inmates of lunatic asylums arc musicians and 
singers. And all the musical lunatics are not lu 
asylums, either. 
The Newfoundland cod-fishery is a complete 
failure, and a terrible winter Is lu store ror tho 
fishermen, on the western coast much destitu¬ 
tion already exists. 
Slxty-one failures occurred In New York City 
during October, the largest number during any 
month this year; but the liabilities, $3, 000 , 000 , are 
not as large as In some other months. 
The attempt to propagate shad in fresh water 
has proved successful, a ilvo-and-a-half pouuder 
having been caught In Lake Ontario, where the 
fry were placed by Seth Green In 1372. 
Statistics of traffic on all the New York canals 
up to the first day or November, show an increase 
or 638,650 tons In tonnage, and a decrease of $407, 
96? in tolls, as compared w Itb last year. 
David Eastman of Lyndon, VC., in the last 
twenty-one years, has manufactured from tho 
2000 trees on his farm 66,900 pounds of maple 
sugar, from which he lias received $6,690. 
The committee on dist ribution of birds through¬ 
out the forests of South Jersey, have been au¬ 
thorized to expend $ 1,000 during the next year lu 
purchasing birds and attending to their proper 
distribution. 
The amount of sugar consumed in the United 
States last year, was 638,369 tons, of which 561,369 
tons were Imported, and only 71,000 were of do¬ 
mestic production—nearly eight times as much 
foreign us domestic. 
Wilmington, ill., boasts one of the largest crea¬ 
meries lu the state, using the milk of 1,200 cows. 
The product of the factory Is all marketed 
through one house In «t. Louis. Mr. E. Allen Is 
manager at Wilmington. 
Massachusetts farms produced more butter In 
1855 than In 1875, and four times the quantity of 
cheese; but on the other hand, during the same 
period the production of milk has Increased from 
3,300,916 gallons In 1855 to 35,698,169 In 1875. 
Michigan Is a great frult-produclng state, arid 
many parts of It are fully up to New York. The 
crop of apples In that State is estimated by Vice- 
President Lyon at $ 2 , 000 , 600 ; peaches at $1,000,- 
000 ; other fruits, $ 1 , 000 , 000 —or a total of $ 4 , 000 , 000 . 
The forthcoming report of the Commissioner of 
Internal Revenue will show that last year Ohio 
paid over $15, 000,000 of the revenues collected. 
New York, for a similar period, paid $14,291,201. 
Illinois heads the list with $ 21 , 000 , 000 , with Ohio 
second. 
Goldsmith Maid has been finally withdrawn 
from the turf. Her owner states her age at nearly 
twenty-one, aud declares her In perfect health. 
As corrected by the Canadian authorities, our 
domestic exports tq the Provinces of (Quebec, On¬ 
tario and Manitoba, In the fiscal year is?*, Includ¬ 
ing $1,453,348 specie, were $ 12 ,098,133, and exports 
or foreign merchandise to the same Provinces, 
$2,019,723. 
At the close of the first centennial of the United 
Slates there were 26,717,907 hogs In the whole 
country ; 15,903,loo were In, or on route to, Cincin¬ 
nati, and the rest chit fly between St. Louis and 
Chicago. Thl3 is less that two-thlrdB of a hog to 
each citizen. 
tgAbout 2 , 400,000 bushels of wheat were shipped 
rrorn the port of New York last week. The Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture has returns Indicating 
that England will have to buy 101 , 000,000 bushels 
or wheat this year, and thinks this country will 
be able to supply the entire deficiency. 
Traces of t he battles around Petersburg are in 
the main obliterated. Only a few of the exten¬ 
sive fortlflcatlona are now visible. The place 
known as the Crater Is overgrown with young 
peach trees, that nave sprung up from the peach 
stones thrown away by soldiers during the siege. 
Canada claims to have produced the largest 
cheese on record. From the Ingersoli (Onfc.) fac¬ 
tory has been turned out a cheese weighing 7,000 
pounds. It was six feet ten Inches lu diameter, 
three feet In bight, and twenty-one feet In cir¬ 
cumference. it required one milking of T, 000 eo\vs, 
or thirty-five tons of milk, to produce it. 
The original Seek'.] pear tree, 125 years old, Is 
said to be still standing on tho Girard estate, 
near Point Brcose Part, Philadelphia, This tree 
Is uow much decayed In the heart, and one side 
Is entirely gone. It is about thirty feet In bight 
and about two feet In diameter; and, although 
but a wreck of its former self, it still bears fruit. 
It is estimated, according to advices received at, 
the Treasury Department, that the yield of the 
precious metals In Nevada and California will 
aggregate for the present, calendar year $33, 000 ,- 
<100 of gold and $27,000,600 of silver, as follows; 
Mines 01 the Comstock Lode—silver, $ 20 , 000 , 000 ; 
gold, $17,000,000 ; rest of State of Nevada, $6,000,. 
006 silver, f1,000,000 gold; Ntate of Calllurnlu, 
$16,000,000 gold and $1 ,oi>0,U9i) sliver. 
The palmetto has been Considered one of the 
most worthless trees of Florida, a gentleman 
from Volusia, uow comes forward with a display 
of brushes, mattings, and ropes, made, from the 
Inner barn, ana contemplates the building of a 
manufactory at Volusia. The wild orange, also, 
has always been regarded as a worthless fruit, 
and millions havo rotted every year. An enter¬ 
prising Yankee has engaged In manufacturing 
from them essences, m rups, and marmalades, 
lie has met with considerable success. 
FOREIGN NOTES. 
Glass windows were first Introduced Into Eng¬ 
land In the eighth century. 
Seven hundred pounds of diamonds, valued at 
$7,000,000, were shipped from South Arriea In 1875. 
Out or the thirty-three millions of people In 
Great Britain fillccu millions live upon imported 
food. 
A French paper gives a list of 120 duels which 
have taken place during the last year In and 
about Paris. 
The Ottoman Embassy at Berlin has arranged 
an exhibition of photographs depleting the Rus¬ 
sian atrocities; 
The Chinese language Is spoken by about 350,- 
000,000 people. The English language Is spoken 
by rrorn 80 , 000,000 to 85,0119,000. 
The uatlve press of India Is said to be growing 
so sedulous and Insolent. In tone that public at¬ 
tention Is seriously concerned. 
Lord Shaftesbury has opened the new building 
of the Liverpool Young Men’s Christian Associa¬ 
tion, which has been erected at aeo3t of £20,000. 
France annually exports abroad 36,000 ions of 
butter valued at over $17,000, 000 . most of which 
goes to England, notwithstanding all the boasted 
cattle there. 
During the last twenty years England has paid 
to foreign counties for food—according to the 
report, of Mr. Stephen Bourno or Her Majesty’s 
Customs—$10,000,000,000. 
It is officially announced that the Russian 
armies have lost, since the commencement of 
hostilities to the 25t,h of October, In killed, woun¬ 
ded aud missing, 01,942 men. 
The wheat product of tho leading countries of 
Europe. Russia produces 1 , 606 , 000,000 bushels, 
Germany 742,600,000, Austria 550 , 000,000 bushels 
The United states produces 1,881,760,925 bushels. 
The criminal and Judicial statistics of Ireland 
for the year 1876, Just issued, show that crime has 
diminished in Ireland for six years in succession, 
namely, from 9,515 convictions In 1870, to 6,261 In 
1876. 
The surplus bedding plants from the parks of 
London, the royal gardens at Kew, and the 
pleasure grounds of Hampton Court, are to be 
distributed this Fall among the working classes 
of London. 
Intoxication is said to be unknown in Burmah. 
If one of the people gets drunk In that pleasant 
country he Is liable to have his head cut off— 
a law as rigidly enforced as Is that for premedi¬ 
tated murder. 
The Chinese Government has issued a procla¬ 
mation of religious toleration, which mentions 
with especial favor the work of Christian mis¬ 
sions, and enjoins the Provincial Governments to 
favor their work. 
Tne total nominal capital in all the railroads of 
tho United Kingdom, at the end of last year, was 
$3,291.1,000,000, which Is about $195,000 per mile of 
railway opened. More than $ 190 , 000,000 of capital 
received no dividend. 
They are at work on the Straits of Dover tun¬ 
nel. The tunnel will belong to its proprietors for 
thirty years; then tho Governments of France 
and England will be able to take possession of It 
on certain conditions. 
The total number of lunatics, Idiots and per¬ 
sons of unsound mind, registered as such, In En¬ 
gland and Wales, on the first, of January last, was 
66,636, an increase of 1,780 upon the number 
registered on the first of January, 1876. 
An English sheep breeder sheared IS5 Lincoln¬ 
shire sheep this spring, all under 14 months of 
ago, which produced 3.257 pounds or wool; 60 of 
their fleeces weighed 1,201 pounds, and 4 weighed 
23,24.'.,, 25V , ahd S0»< pounds respectively. 
France bus Just sustained a rather serious pe¬ 
cuniary loss by the burning of three-rourths of 
tie immense forests which slm held In her 
Algerian colony. These forests occupied 200,000 
acres lu the province of Constantine, and 150,000 
acres have been destroyed. 
The longest bridge In the world la over the 
River Toy on the line of the North British Rail¬ 
way. It Is 10,142 feet long, and has Just been 
completed at an expense of $2,250,000. There are 
elghty-llvo spans. The celebrated bridge at 
Montreal Is 6,894 feet, or, with approaches, 9,194 
feet. 
Methodism has a firm foothold In Germany, 
according to Dr. Nast, who says that there are 
now in that country more than 103 preachers, 
11,000 members, 62 churches, 623 stations or 
preaching places, one theological school, and 
a book concern which publishes thousands of 
volumes and millions of t racts every year. 
A million and fifty thousand men are reported 
to boon the military register of the German Gov 
ernment. Of this number 398,000 are upon a so- 
called,black list, for not having served, including 
190,000 who had left tho country to avoid serving. 
It Is estimated that one German in every eight 
expatriates himself to avoid military service. 
VARIOUS. 
The yearly salary of a colonel In the United 
States, until five years of service, is $ 3 , 500 . After 
live years, hla monthly stipend Is Increased to 
$320 83 ; alter ten years, to $350; after fifteen 
years, to $375, when tho maximum salary for the 
grade, as fixed by Congress Is reached. A lieu¬ 
tenant-colonel receives In yearly salary, $3,000. 
Ills monthly pay Is increased after five years, to 
$275 ; alter ten years, to $300 ; after fifteen years, 
to $325 ; and after twenty years, Is $333 88. For 
major, the salary up to five years Is $2,500. After 
that period he receives monthly, $829 17 ; after 
ten years, $250; after fifteen years, $870 83 ; after 
twenty years, $291 67. A mounted captain re¬ 
ceives * 2,000 until live years havo passed In the 
service. After that, his monthly salary Is $183 33; 
aften ten years, $200 ; after fifteen years, $ai6 67 ; 
after twenty years, $233 33. For a captain not 
mounted, the regimental adjutant and quarter¬ 
master, the salary up to tiro years Is $1,800. 
Monthly pay la Increased after that period to 
$165; after ten yeurs, to $180 ; after fifteen years, 
to $ 195 ; after twenty years, to $ 210 . For a first 
lieutenant not mounted, a second lieutenant 
mounted, and a chaplain, the salary up to live 
years Is f 1,500. After that time the mouth’s sti¬ 
pend Is advanced to $137 50 ; arter ten years, to 
$150; after fifteen years, to $162 50 ; after twenty 
years, to $ 175 . A first lieutenant, mounted, re¬ 
ceives $1,600 salary ror five yearo. After that time 
he receives each month $146 67 ; after ten years, 
$ 160 ; after fifteen years, $173 33 ; after twenty 
years, $lso or. A second lieutenant, not mounted, 
receives $t,40o yearly for five years. After five 
years his monthly salary la $128 33; after ten 
years, $140; after fifteen years, $15167; after 
twenty years, $163 33. 
It is stated that, the wool crop of Ihe United 
States for 1876 was about 800,000.000 pounds, of 
England, Ireland and Scoilind, about 162 , 000,000 
pounds, mostly combing ; of the continent of Eu¬ 
rope about 463 , 000 , 000 ; of Australia, about 350,- 
oiiojuin, of Buenos Ayres and River La Plata, 
about 207,000,000 pounds. These are the prlncl- 
pal^wool-growlng countries ol the world, and pro¬ 
duce 1,382,000,000 out of the estimated 1,419,000,000 
produced on the entire globe. The Belling value 
of the total clip would probably aggregate $450,- 
000,000. Out of rourtecu hundred and nineteen 
million pounds of wool (the estimated clip,) 
there would be fully a loss of 567, 000,000 pounds 
in scouring, making the net yield of clean wool 
abou 1952 , 000,000 pounds. 
Aki hma.—Those of our readers who suffer from 
this distressing complaint, are referred to the 
advertisement of Jonas Whitcomb's Remedy In 
another column. 
Reliable help for weak and nervous sufferers. 
Chronic, painful and prostrating diseases cured 
without medicine. Pulvermacher’B Electric Belts 
the grand desideratum. Avoid Imitations. Book 
and Journal, with particulars, mailed free. Ad¬ 
dress PtTLYERitACHKK gxlvanxo Co., Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 
