384 
DEC. IS 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
wood. “All that way the plains are as full of 
crooked-backed oxen, as the mountain arena 
in Spain is of sheep." 
What Kansas was in the time of Coronado, it 
is to-day, a country of immense possibilities in 
the production of all the valuablo plants of this 
latitude, but pre-eminently u stock country. To 
the Eastern farmer who has so often pinched 
and scrimped his pasture and fodder, the sight 
of one of these immense stretches of unoccupied 
prairie, uncropped, except by an occasional ante¬ 
lope, is almost a revelation. Here are millions of 
acres of ,f range" often within sight of flourish¬ 
ing towns, covered with, a dense growth of nu¬ 
tritious grasses, and well watered by springs 
and creeks. These lands are, in part, the public 
domain, and in part, tho property of railroads ; 
but they are alike the free pastures of the herds¬ 
man who uses them without tho formality of 
asking. A friend, last Bpring, engaged pasture 
and herding for his bunch of 200 odd head of 
cattle, he being guaranteed against loss, at a cost 
of seventy cents per head, for tho season. The 
cost of wintering stock may ho inferred from a 
single fact; last summer I secured 40 tons of ex¬ 
cellent hay delivered at the barn, for £2 75 per 
ton. 
In another letter I shall aak the readers of the 
Rural to accompany me upon a little excursion, 
having for its object an inquiry into the perma¬ 
nence of the native grasses, and the adaptability 
of this part of the West for the growth of tho 
tame species. 
State Ag’i College, Manhattan, lias., > 
NOV. 2S, 1877. f 
- -»♦■»- 
MORE VEGETABLES FOR FARMERS. 
BY PROF. W. J. BEAL. 
In the first place, they would bo benefited by 
using more kinds, and then most of them can 
learn much about improved methods of raising 
a succession and in properly preserving them to 
prolong the season. Already every uno has a 
yearly supply of potatoes, and in the Utter part 
of summer until the middle of winter, several 
other vegetables are found on the farmer's table. 
Very few of the farmers—especially in the nower 
portions of our country—ever attempt a hot,-bed 
or cold-frame. There is something delicate and 
mysterious about them, and yet a hot-bed is not 
hard to understand or to manage. By its use 
lettuce, radishes, tender and nice, can be had 
Borne weeks earlier than when raisod in the open 
air. A hot-bed is convenient for starting early 
plants of tomatoes, cabbages, cucumbers, and 
other vegetables. ^ 
Too few farmers raise or know the value of 
parsnips as an article of food. If raised, they 
very likely leave them in the ground, and only 
use them during a month or so in spring. Vege¬ 
tables are well kept by burying them in the 
ground ; hut in cold climates they are often in¬ 
accessible dnriug the winter. For family use. a 
supply of carrots, parsnips, beets, turnips, Jeru¬ 
salem artichokes, wiuter radishes, Balaify, and 
the like, should be taken late in autumn into a 
cool cellar and stored in boxes or barrels which 
should be kept closed. Place ouch vogotablo by 
itself in a liberal quantity of sphagnum, or pack¬ 
ing moss, which should be kept Blightly damp. 
In this they may be kept fresh and free from 
wilting. We have kuown beets to be kept till 
the next crop was ready to store in winter. The 
moss can bo kept in the cellar for two years. 
Moist earth may be used in tho absence of sphag¬ 
num. 
Parsnips buried doeply in a shady place and 
left undisturbed, will keep much later in spring 
than is generally supposed. A wilted vegetable 
is rarely good, aud if tough or overgrown, is not 
fit to eat. For groen corn, lettuce, radishes, etc., 
more pains may bo taken to secure a succession. 
No family should think of doing without a few 
roots of rhubarb, a bed of asparagus, a few rap¬ 
idly-growing turnips, aud some vegetable oysters. 
Some people like summer squashes, which are 
easily ruised; and every one should have late 
squashes occasionally, from summer till spring. 
The ITubbard, Marblehead, or Wiuter Crook- 
neck, to keep well, should be very tenderly hand¬ 
led, not even shaken or turned over. Do not 
take them at once into a warm cellar where they 
will soon decay, but place them under a shed 
and cover them with litter till there is danger 
from freezing, when they should be carried to 
the cellar. 
But the crowning vegetable of all, to our taste, 
is celery; and how rare to Cud it, especially on 
tables in the country! There are some difficul¬ 
ties in its management which we need not ex¬ 
plain at present. It is wholesome, delicious, 
and it is worth the trouble of every man to learn 
how to grow and preserve it for winter use. A 
good supply of vegetables ia necessary for com¬ 
fort, for health. Like fruit, they aru absolutely 
necessary for a good living. Fruit and vegeta¬ 
bles are much cheaper than fish and flesn, and 
if well supplied with a good variety in all sea¬ 
sons, less meat would be eaten and, in our opin¬ 
ion, we should all be the better for it. A well- 
kept vegetable garden is one of the signs of com¬ 
fort and happiness. 
-- 
RURAL TOPICS. 
BY T. B. MINER. 
PLEASANT HOME SURROUNDINGS. 
“ What’s the use of spending one's time in 
firin’ up ’round the house ?” said a farmer to 
his wife who wanted the front yard spaded up 
and sown to lawn grass, also a new fence around 
the house, tho walks put in good order, and 
some ornamental shrubbery and trees planted. 
To all such farmers allow me to say that it pays 
well to make a pleasant home ; and especially if 
you should offer your farm for sale- But it 
payR better as a beautiful home for your sons 
and daughters to make them contented. They 
go to the village, and see places with beautiful 
surroundings—lawns with green, velvety grass, 
beautiful trees, flowering shrubs, well graveled 
walks, porches embowered with running roses 
and vines; and they return home to view their 
own desolate residences in sadness, if not some¬ 
times with disgust. No, farmers, you were not 
placed upon the earth to grovel your way through 
life, with the one sole idea of boarding money. 
God, when lie made Adam and Kve, placed them 
in the Garden of Eden, amid delicious fruits, 
beautiful flowers and umbrageous trees. Why 
did He do this ? It was to implant in their 
minds a love of t he beautiful, as much as to say: 
“Behold the beautiful world in which I have 
placed you. Go forth and enjoy it, ye and your 
posterity forever." Had God designed man to 
live void of taste in the surroundings of his 
home, He would have placed Adam and Eve iu 
some desert, with just enough fertility “ to keep 
soul and body together ” during their liveB, some¬ 
what as many farmers non' live, without anything 
around their homes to render them pleasant and 
attractive. 
IS POULTRY PROfITABlE? 
If you have a large yard or unfenced run for 
your poultry, they are profitable, but not other¬ 
wise. Ten hens and a rooster may be profitably 
kept in a yard about one hundred feet square; 
and as the number is increased the run must bo 
enlarged, giving one hundred fowls at least an 
acre of land, a part being constantly in grass. 
A great many men, undoubtedly, are thinking 
of keeping several hundreds, or even thousands 
of fowls. They say •—“1 see many statements 
in the papers showing that from $2 to t 3 a year 
can be made—iu short, nre made —pn fowls in 
lots of twenty to Jirty; and I oau see no reason 
wtyy 1 can't make a living by the business." >No, 
gentlemen, the profits on poultry calbnot be esti¬ 
mated correctly by figures sis, “If fifty fowls 
give a net profit of $100 per annum, how much 
will 1,000 give? Aus., $2,000.” It is said that 
fig ares never lie, but thoy do lie most outrago- 
ously in thiB case. In nine cases in ten, with 
snob management as they would generally re¬ 
ceive, 1,000 fowls will pay no profit, at all; and 
to-day I think 1 cau safely say that in no part of 
the world do 1,000 hens exist, under one roof, 
that can be depended on for a yearly profit, the 
trouble being in the fact that large numbers of 
fowls, in one body, cannot retain their natural 
health and egg-producing powers; hut small 
numbers pay well, according to the following 
safe estimate on fifty hens and five cocks : 
Cit. 
By 125 cfTKs per fowl, or 621 dozen, at 25 cts.$130 w 
loo chickens raised, worth in December 60 
cts... 50 00 
10 bbls. hen mnunre, worth. 25 oo 
60 old fowls ou hand at end of the year, at 60 
cts. 30 00 
$235 00 
Dr. 
To 65 fowls (60 hens and 5 cocks) to begin 
with, ut 60 cts.$33 00 
60 bushels frrain, corn, oats, Ac., for 
Old fowls, at 50 cts. 30 00 
60 bushels gram, corn, oats, Ac., for 
chickens raised. 25 00 
200 cfc-irs for sitting'.. 4 oo 
Incidental expenses. 25 tw 
- 117 00 
Net profits,.. ...,$U8 00 
This estimate is a fair one, showing over 
two dollars profit on each fowl, which has often 
been made. I allow five fowls as the natural 
deaths that may occur in a year, $25 for inci¬ 
dental expenses, which may not he half that 
sum; hut in any case frein *1 to $2 cau bo 
made on each fowl, in moderate numbers. 
PRUNING AND PROTECTING GRAPE VINES. 
The best time to prune grape vines ia as soon 
as the leaves fall off, iu October or November, 
and wheu omitted at that lime, it should be done 
before the sap begins to flow in the spring. Dif¬ 
ferent varieties of vines require different prun¬ 
ing, according to their natural growth—some 
long, and others short pruning. A Coucord vine, 
cut back for a few years to two or three short 
canes, would be badly injured, because its nature 
is to spread extensively, the roots as well as the 
vine; and when the equilibrium between the 
vine and its roots is destroyed, the vine in in¬ 
jured. Slow-growing vines may be pruned much 
shorter than those of a free, rapid growth. It 
is beneficial to prune in the fall, where vines 
are left all winter on the trellises, because of the 
draft that the surplus canes make on the roots 
to sustain their vitality; and when the vines are 
to be laid down for winter protection they must, 
of course, be pruned at that season. The expe¬ 
rience of many grape-growers ia that the close, 
short pruning system, adopted by vineyardists 
in some places, is wrong ; and the general opin¬ 
ion seems now to be that it is best to give more 
wood to vines, especially to those of a thrifty 
growth. 
In regard to protecting the vines in winter, it 
must be done when the thermomoter falls be¬ 
yond 12° below zero. Where snow lies upon t.be 
ground tho most of the winter, the vines may be 
covered slightly with earth, but where the ground 
is bare most of the time, with frequent rains, 
they should merely bo covered with a little hay 
or straw, as a very wet wiuter will kill many of 
the buds, if the vines we covered with earth, 
and particularly if It bo a clayey soil. All choice 
varieties had better be protected in all climates 
north of tho latitude of New Jersey, where all 
the Concords were killed in the winter of 1872-3 
—not killed entirely, but only the upper portion 
of the wood, so as to bear no fruit till another 
season. It is the opinion of many vineyardists 
that it pays to lay down all vines, and protect 
them in wiuter, without regard to climate, in 
the larger cropB of fruit that they bear. 
.-*-*-*- 
COUNTRY MARKETS. 
Is very many places there are so few buyers 
of farmers’ produce that there is practically no 
competition and the producer gets only what the 
middleman chooses to allow. I am surprised 
that the effectual remedy— i. e. each farmer 
shipping what he grows, is not more generally 
resorted to. Tho reports of Now York markets, 
in the Rural every week, are often very sug¬ 
gestive reading, especially when wc sometimes 
see, for weeks together articles, quoted consider¬ 
ably higher than a fair margin for profit to 
country buyers. It would teach the latter a 
wholesome lesson if farmers would more 
generally send their produce to New York, Bos¬ 
ton, Philadelphia, or other metropolitan markets. 
When tho middleman so conducts his business 
that be can psy producers more than they could 
make by doing their own shipping, he is a useful 
member of society. If otherwise, he is a nuisance 
and the sooner be is got rid of the better for all 
honest people. w. j. fowler. 
-- 
BRIEFLETS. 
Care of Seeds is especially necessary daring 
winter, for after all possible care in collecting 
them, they are often lost through inattention. 
Mice are exceedingly fond of some kinds of 
flower and garden seeds, aud their access to 
them ebon Id be guarded against. The desire to 
keep the mice out, however, should not lead you 
to keep the box m which your seeds are contain¬ 
ed, air-tight. Of necessity they must contain 
more or less moisture, and if kept in considera¬ 
ble quantity iu uu air-light vessel, they are ante 
to get moldy. While the temperature at which 
most seeds are kept is of little consequence, 
some are injured by too severe cold. A place 
in which the temperature varies between thirty- 
two and forty degrees, is about the best iu which 
to keep them. As pea and bean seed are apt to 
be infested by the weevil, if these are put in a 
closed bottle, with a few drops of turpeutiue, 
they are most likely to escape injury from these 
little pests. _ 
Wood Asues as a Fertilizer is one of the 
most valuablo within reach of the farmer. The 
unleached ashen contain more potash, but the 
leached article is also very valuablo; for 
although a good deal of shrinkage takes place 
in the process of leaching, the customary addi¬ 
tion of lime counterbalances the loss; and 
moreover, they are usually sold at a lower 
figure. Beneficial to all crops, they are espec¬ 
ially so in the fruit garden and orchard. Iu 
many parts of the country, farmers are in the 
habit or selling their wood in winter in the cities 
and villages, and rather than go home with their 
wagous empty, they should make arrangements 
to carry back ashes and other fertilizers to re¬ 
place the potash, lirne and phosphoric acid car¬ 
ried off in the crops and tho food of the ani¬ 
mals they have sold or slaughtered. The ashes 
Bhould be applied as near the surface as possible, 
spread or hoed into the seed-bed or applied di¬ 
rectly to the growing crops, and the effects will 
be immediately apparent. 
System on the Farm is essential to perman¬ 
ent success. Whatever branch of farming is 
selected should be stuck to, if only moderately 
successful. A man is constantly learning in a 
business to whioli he gives habitual attention, 
and this knowledge ia a part of his capital just 
as much as the money invested iu stock, tools or 
buildings, Tho man who makes wheat a lead¬ 
ing crop, by studying to lessen the cost of pro¬ 
duction, by experience in the best methods of 
preparing the soil, the use of manure, and the 
cultivation of the crop, can raise wheat cheaper 
than his neighbors, and though selling it at the 
same price, will realize a profit when they bare¬ 
ly escape a loss. On the other hand, the man 
who is ever ready to abandon his usual practice, 
in order to follow something that pays excep¬ 
tionally well at the moment—such as sheep hus¬ 
bandry or hop-culture, when mutton, wool or 
hops are fetching high prices—is pretty sure to 
lose money in the long run, either through ig¬ 
norance of the boat methods in his unaccus¬ 
tomed occupation, or an unforseen fall in the 
price of the products. Such ventures are of a 
speculative naturo, and the steady-going farmer 
cannot safely afford to be a speculator. 
Feeding Cattle in the Barn during Win¬ 
ter, though contrary to the ordinary practice 
has several advantages over the custom of let¬ 
ting them feed in the stack-yard. The best the 
advocates of the latter practice can say in its 
favor, is that it saves labor in storing hay, in 
foddering, and in spreading the mamire ; but 
then the value of the liay is considerably dimin¬ 
ished by exposure, not a little of it is trodden 
under foot and wasted, more of it is required to 
keep up the condition of an unsheltered animal, 
much of the droppings of the latter around the 
yard is wasted, while the value of the remainder 
is a good deal lessened by free exposure and tho 
consequent escape of some of its gaseous fertil¬ 
izing elements. Keep three or four head of 
stock in each of the two ways for a single win¬ 
ter, weighing tho animals at the beginning and 
end of the experiment and the food given to 
each lot meanwhile, and you will become con¬ 
vinced, once for all, that the old-fashioned 
method is a thriftless one. Troublesome and 
expensive, eh ? The saving, the first season, 
will about cover the expense, to say nothing of 
that in subsequent years, and few advantages 
fall to the farmer’s lot without painstaking. 
Urtcnnani 
FARMERS AS VETERINARY SURGEONS. 
BY FLAVEL 8. THOMAS, M. D., F. M. M. S. 
With very few exceptions, farmers are poor 
veterinary surgeons. In fact, in tho majority 
of cases they do more harm than good in their 
at tempt to combat disease. Their treatment not 
being according to any system, there being an 
aluiO.it complete ignorance of disease and drugs, 
in any and every disease they try every remedy, 
they (or their neighbors cau procure, in hopes of 
at last getting the right one. So we see that 
usually the animal has a more severe trial to 
survive the remedies than to survive the disease. 
Usually, they first will say the animal has 
horn-ail, no matter what the disease, horn-ail is 
thought of first. For horu-ail, their treatment 
is to take a gimlet and bore a hole in the horn, 
near the head; then they take a wire and push it 
into the cavity of the horn and poke it around, 
not minding the struggles of the tortured animal. 
Perhaps,'after this operation, they don’t feel sat¬ 
isfied Ihatit is horn-ail; (by the way there is no 
snob disease,) but feel sure that it is connected 
wit b the head. Well—they argue that the tail is 
connected with the head, and any operation on 
the tail is as good as a similar one on the head, 
so the next thing is to take a knife and split the 
tail from one to three inches. This is a cruel 
piece of business from which no good can result, 
at any rate, not enough to compensate for the 
the harm done. If it is necessary to bleed, there 
are much better ways, and no one who is not 
a veterinary surgeon should attempt it. In fact, 
it is almost never desirable to bleed in any dis¬ 
ease. Without a doubt, it would be well to 
bleed in a few rare cases, but usually the desired 
effect can ho brought about by some milder 
treatment. Doubtless there is too much preju¬ 
dice against bleeding at tho present day, and 
probably physicians will (in a measure) gradually 
resume this method of treatment in a few years ; 
yet my advice to farmers is—“never bleed, in 
the treatment of your cattle.” 
Another remedy, much used, should bo done 
away with. It is the practice of injecting with 
a syringe large quantities of a mixture of water, 
salt, vinegar and strong pepper, into the nose to 
“ start the nose.” This could not be so severely 
censured if it was only used where it might pos¬ 
sibly do good, but tho trouble is, they will do it 
in almost every case of sickness. Then, how of¬ 
ten, when everything else has been tried, the whip, 
handle is thrust into the mouth to push im¬ 
aginary obstacles down the “ gullet.” It rarely 
goes where it is intended—fully as likely to go 
down the windpipe. 
Thus we see iu the majority of cases the ani¬ 
mal ia much better off with no treatment, for 
tho usual reckless, haphazard course would tend 
to produce death more quickly than most dis¬ 
eases. Remember that most diseases will cure 
themselves if let alone—or more properly, r a- 
ture in most cases will throw off the disease. It 
you wish to do anything, give a laxative which 
3 
