THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JAN. 26 
HUsdlwotts. 
THOSE TREE PEDDLERS. 
8. B. PEOK. 
Having met with some vexations in purch b- 
ing viues and trees, I have thought that a rela¬ 
tion of a few of the oases might be interesting, 
if not edifying, to some younger experimenters. 
My experience commences about thirty years 
ago, when I had only a single vine each of Isa¬ 
bella, White Sweetwater, and Clinton. An able- 
bodied man in a farmer’s honest garb, appeared 
with grape vines to sell of greatly Improved va¬ 
rieties, none other than the “Magnum Bonum 
and the Scotch Gray.” The names being new to 
me, although I had read a good deal, excited my 
Buspiriohs, and I took the precaution to take 
down his address, and to question him how those 
new varieties compared with the Isabella and 
Catawba, which he seemed to know all about- 
Well, they were a great deal larger, sweeter, and 
earlier, so I invested fifty cents for one of each 
variety. The second or third year they bore 
Isabella and Catawba grapes ; and the next year 
there appeared at our towtx fair, many splendid 
specimens of Magnum Bonum and Scotch Grays, 
all of which failed to get a premium on account 
of their bogus names. 
Years af ter.I purchased—not of a tree peddler, 
I was too wise fur that—direct from a large 
nursery—now I think extinct—largely of fruit 
trees, grape vines and currant bushes. Of the 
latter were five varieties, all nicely hunched up 
and labeled. In planting them I was very par¬ 
ticular, for I expected to propagate from them 
for sale. In due time they boro all the varieties 
named as near as I could tell; but instead of 
each kind being by itself as I planted them, the 
rows when the berries ripened, looked like va¬ 
riegated flowers. I had seen people shuffle cards, 
which I supposed was for the purpose of mix¬ 
ing them, and the first idea I had when these 
currants began to ripen was, that they had been 
shulll id. 
In 1805 I planted thirty five apple trees of 
nine varieties, selected out of a thousand from 
the same nursery. They were very carefully 
planted and recorded in a book, but up to this 
time they have not borne a single specimen of 
either of the varieties supposed to lie planted. 
This is not the whole of my experience with a 
single uursery ; there is much more of the same 
kind. There are other nurseries, too, where I 
believe the ovVuers were and are houest.; but 
they have been unfortunate in raising very ob- 
Btinate trees that have utterly refused to bear 
such kinds as they ought to. I have bought 
several thousand fruit and ornamental trees and 
grape vines that were stone-dead when they 
reached me aud others that were diseased and 
died gradually for years, without bearing. But, 
in justice to the fraternity of nurserymen, I 
must admit that there bavt been honorable ex¬ 
ceptions. It is bad enough to plant and nurse a 
worthless tree, or to watch for years the devel¬ 
opment of a favorite variety, and meet with one 
which you do not desire ; but I have been un¬ 
wittingly a party to fiaud, for many of the trees 
I have bought have been sold and paid for be¬ 
fore the fraud was discovered. 
SAND FARMING. 
8 B. LOOMIS. 
Sand Farming depends upon how much sand 
there is. If pure sand, then follow the advice 
given in the Loudon Punch by Douglas J khhold 
to oue about to get married, “Don't!” 11 
properly mixed with vegetable matter,a modicum 
of clay, and sufficiently carbonized to give the 
soil a dark color, then for most crops in the 
latitude of Wisconsin, choose all the “law will 
allow ” or ycur means permit, always remember¬ 
ing for particular crops. 
Pure sand, or nearly so, is sought for in the 
valley of the Wisconsin River to raise water¬ 
melons upon, the crops, in ordinary seasons, 
being immense; netting to skillful salesmen 
and raisers from fifty to seventy-five dollars per 
acre ; but this crop is an exceptional one, being 
a luxury rather than a necessity. In planting 
this crop there is no manure used, and as but 
few weeds will grow, the labor is only trilling ; 
bat no other remunerative crop can be raised 
upon the land. 
The foundation crop on such sand land aR it 
will pay to own, is clover and its necessary ac¬ 
companiment, gypsum. This crop mown by 
the 10th. of June, in this climate, and the 
second crop plowed down when part of the 
heads are filled with seed (the earliest formed), 
manures the soil sufficiently during the ensuing 
season for such crop as may he paced upon it.. 
If the chinch bug is not troiib.es nne, wheat 
will sometimes return a reward for labor ex¬ 
pended, but corn will never fail to do so richly. 
Should wheat be chosen, the seed plowed under 
will be sufficient to give a good stand. Next 
year the process of mowing and plowing may be 
repeated, or if thtasoil be sufficiently fertile, the 
second crop may be saved for seed which upon 
Baud soil will yield abundantly, never forgetting 
that where clover is there should be gypsum or 
laud plaster. 
Glover is always necessary as a pasture where 
the farmer raises hogs. Corn, here at the 
West is cheap, but clover is cheaper and better, 
being healthy food in the summer time. The 
past seasou I fenced off an acre aud a-half of 
clover, and when just coming into bloom, placed 
in the inclosure thirty-one hogs half-grown aDd 
kept them upon the same without other food 
until some time in September. They grew, 
were contented and well prepared to appreciate 
the fattening process, quickly growing fit for the 
slaughter pen. A field cf forty acres would 
carry a fabulous number and after that, such 
corn as the best acres can carry ! 
The must satisfactory results on sand soil are 
had here from clover, corn, aud feeding these to 
swine, modified, of course, or controlled by the 
markets. This has been the result cf experi¬ 
ence. Still 1 apprehend that wore wolves and 
curs destroyed, and sheep employed to feed 
down the clover in summer and consume the 
corn in winter, they would improve the land 
more and ret uni as much and cleaner money, 
than the plau heretofore pursued. 
A sand farm is not the IiohI for dairying pur¬ 
poses, as the grasses adapted to permanent 
pastures delight in a cooler soil and one not so 
porous. Could the average farmer, however, 
bring himself to the soiling process and carry 
feed to his fold instead of driving his stock to 
the field, the sand farm would always equal, and 
in most seasons exceed the clay. The ease with 
which large crops of com, clover, and particu¬ 
larly roots, are grown upon sandy soils would 
place them at an advantage—but while labor is 
dear and land cheap soiliug will await the in¬ 
crease of population. Tne ease with which the 
soil is worked, coupled with the fact that none 
but the heaviest rains will stop the plow—which 
sometimes makes a difference of two weeks of 
time in the busiest season of the year as be¬ 
tween saii i and clay—these advantages, when 
both Boils are to be sown to the cereals, will 
place the difference to the credit of the former. 
Sand soils develop seeds with more uniformity 
than clay. The grass seeds will bo in greater 
quantity, but the forage will be less ; corn will 
have less stalk aDd leaves on Baud, but will not 
want in grains; oats, barley, and wheat like 
clay soils best, still an average crop Cleese may 
always be expected from sandy soils and, some 
seasons, will be superior on the latter, but 
rarely. Farming on sand soils lias not as wide 
a range as other soils will permit, but by keep¬ 
ing closely to the line indicated by both soil and 
climate, raising everything except wheat, to be 
consumed upon the land and carried off on the 
hoof or in woo], a competence can be had as 
pleasantly and with less labor than upon heavier 
soils and with more diversified industries. 
Klehland Co., Wls, 
--»-» »- 
SUNDRY TOPICS. 
S. RUFUS MABON. 
THE BIRD AND FRUIT QUESTION. 
I notice that Prof. Beal gives his testimony 
against the buds. Thirty years ago there was 
but little complaint, while now amongst frnit 
growers there is a growing feeling that the birds 
take far more than their share of (be fruit. 1 
think the difficulty lies in the constant destruc¬ 
tion of our forests. Formerly, insects found 
sufficient food and shelter among the trees of 
the forest; but as these are cut away, their 
feathered occupants are driven to orchards and 
fruit gardens, and possibly finding the new past¬ 
ures more congenial to their taste, aud as they 
are also less exposed to their enemies, they have 
increased beyond former precedent. 
The birds, also driven to the orchards, have 
formed a predilection for fruits more than is 
natural to them. Thus the destruction of our 
forests causes both birds and insects to seek new 
haunts, and to become doubly destructive. The 
proposed plau or remedy (to destroy the birds), 
will only increase the evil; we shall then bo to¬ 
tally given over to the rapacious insects. If the 
birds are removed, human computation is abso¬ 
lutely inadequate to number the insect increase 
after one generation. What would, in such a 
case, protect man himself from extinction within 
five years’ time 't Even now the birds are too 
few to be of much help in maintaining the bal¬ 
ance of power. We have but two remedies : 
Either increase the number of birds or restore 
the forests, both slow in execution; but the lat¬ 
ter the only possible means of accomplishing the 
former. 
INSECTS ON THE FARM. 
A vast, an unknown amount of loss is suffered 
every year by the depredations of insects. Many 
farmers, when they see a crop melting away be¬ 
fore the attacks of these pests, are struck nerve¬ 
less, and make no efforts of prevention. There 
is no part of creation that understands the 
“ value of peaoe aud quietness” so well as the 
predatory insects: Jieing “ let alone" is their 
lifo and maiD dependence. 
It iB a maxim in war, always do that to your 
enemy which he least desires and least expects. 
Constant disturbance of the soil or their haunts, 
prevents their increase, and makes their lifo uu- 
oomfortable. Here is the ounce of prevention, 
ready fer use at once. 
MAKING SPRING WHEAT. 
I have read somewhere that winter wheat can 
lie transformed into spring wheat, by sowing it 
in the spring for two or three seasons. If this 
is the case, then the Northwest can supply itself 
with new varieties at little cost. If any one has 
any experience in this line, I should be glad to 
hear from him through the Bubal, stating name 
of variety tried, soil, time of sowing, ripening, 
A-.c., Ac. Seed wheat in this country, where 
threshing-machines travel from farm to farm, 
hood beoomeB badly mixed ; but 1 think a new 
variety of real merit would induce our farmers 
to insist upon a thorough cleaning of the sepa¬ 
rator before use. 
Norseman. 
HISTORY OF THE HORSE, Etc. 
Having noticed, in a late issue of the Rural, 
an article by Geo. Gardner, describing what he 
saw in the horse region of Orange Co., N. Y., 1 
wish the Bubal would tell us about the history 
of the horse, and especially of the Hambletoniau 
strain.—H. H., LaFayelle Co , N. C. 
Ans. — Among modern physiologists, there 
exists no doubt hut that all our contemporaneous 
breeds of horses are descended from an extinct 
perissodactyl mammal belonging to the solidun- 
gulate division or equidre family, aud in sci¬ 
entific nomenclature known by the name of 
hippauion. From au examination of the skele¬ 
tons of this genua found in the later tertiary 
deposits of Europe, Asia, and America, the in¬ 
ference is inevitable that-but we are really 
sorry that the nn dest space here at our corn¬ 
in'nd prevents us from complying with the very 
reasonable request of our correspondent by giv¬ 
ing an exhaustive history of the equiuo race, 
and forces us to limit our remarks to a short 
Dotice of the Hambletoniau breed. The original 
imported Hambletoman was foaled in 1791, aud 
after his importation to this country, had varied 
success as a racer, hut as a stalliou became dis¬ 
tinguished for the elegance and finish, as well 
as for the speed and endurance of his get, equal¬ 
ly for the saddle, harness and trotting course. 
Far more celebrated, however, among modern 
horsemen, is the Bytdyk Hambletoniau, foaled 
on May 15, 1849, got by Abdallah, sou of Mero- 
brino, by imported Messenger, aud bred by Jo¬ 
nas Seelev of Chester, Orange Co., N. Y. Ab¬ 
dallah, his sire, was out of Amizoma, of un¬ 
known blood. The dam was got by imported 
Bellfouuder, second dam by Hambletonian, son 
of Messenger; third dam by Messenger; so that 
both sire and dam were rich in the highly-prized 
Messenger blood. The dam aud foal, afterwards 
famous as By»dyk’s Hambletoniau, were sold by 
Mr. Seeley to Wm. M. Eysdvk of Chester, for 
§125. At two years of age he was bred to four 
old mares, from which three foals were begot, 
oue of which was Alexander's Abdallah, the 
sire of Goldsmith Maid. When three years old 
be was taken to Long Island, and after a test ol' 
a milo in 2.48, it was decided by his owner to 
use him as a Btallion rather than on the trotting 
track. In this capacity he proved eminently 
profitable having, it is estimated, brought Mr. 
Bysdyk §100.000 during tho twenty-five years 
he owned him, his services for some years being 
worth §10,000, tho fee to insure a colt having 
been as high as §500 during the later years of 
bis service. He was the sire of nearly 1,300 
foals, of which 1,225 are known. No less than 
fifty-eight of his descendants have made records 
of 2 30, the most celebrated of which are Dexter 
and Goldsmith Maid. From the marvelous 
speed and endurance of so many of his progeny, 
he is undoubtedly entitled to he considered the 
great progenitor of trotting horses. He was a 
large horse, but without a particle of grossness. 
In color he was a rich mahogany bay, with a 
small star, two white ankles behind, dotted below 
the coronets with dark spots, and hoofs mainly 
dark, llis head — according to an accurate de¬ 
scription in a former issue of the Rural —was 
large and bony; jowl deep; eyes large and 
prominent; ears largo; neck short and heavy at 
the throat-latch, but thin and clean; shoulders 
very deep, oblique aud strong; withers low aud 
broad; back short, coupling excellent; croup 
high, aud enormous length from point of hip to 
hock; legs broad, flat and clean, with tendons 
well detached from the bone; hock well bent 
rather than straight; the pasterns long and 
| elastic; and hoofs splendid. 
SHOEING HORSES. 
In shoeing horses, two methods are practiced 
here:—One is to pare tho wall of the hoof only ; 
the other, to pare the wall, and then with a 
drawiDg-knife to cut out the sole at each side of 
the frog until the sheer feels it yield under the 
pressure of the thumb. Which is the right way ? 
or is either of them right, ?— A. W. H. 
Ass —The advisability of paring tho sole of a 
horse preparatory to shoeing, is a question upon 
which very excellent veterinarian authorities 
differ. The practice is supported by such ex¬ 
perts as Yiutatt, Maybew, Jennings, Wagner, 
McClure, aud Frank Forrester, and repro¬ 
bated by Murray, Clark, La force, (one of the 
most emiuent French veterinarians,) and many 
others. The former claim that in his natural 
state, the sole of the unshod horse would be 
worn down in traveling, and Unit, as its undue 
thickness is owing to tho artificial protection 
afforded by man's handiwork, several evils re¬ 
sulting therefrom are best remedied by paring 
it down occasionally; tho latter, on tho other 
baud, insist that nature will get rid of any excess 
of horn, and that not a few of the ills from which 
horse flesh Buffers,are due to this pernicious prac¬ 
tice. As it is an immemorial usage, there can bo 
little doubt but that, when properly done, if not 
beneficial, it can, at any rate, ho but very moder¬ 
ately hurtful; and that the chief objection to it 
is the abuses to which it is subject. Not a few 
farriers are equally ignorant of the principles of 
their art, and conceited with regard to their im¬ 
aginary knowledge of the best methods of prac¬ 
ticing it. These are the fellows who either pave 
down the sole until it yields under even a slight 
pressure, or are guilty of tho brutality of cut¬ 
ting away until blood oozes through every pore 
in the structure; and all for no better reason 
than that some dolt as iguorant as themselves, 
had done so before them. To avoid some of the 
evils which this tribe, unchecked, are pretty 
sure to inflict on his animals, every horse-owner 
should hear in mind a few important points in 
connection with horse-shoeing, and firmly insist 
that dua» attention should be paid them by the 
horse-sheer. Briefly: never allow the frog to 
be touched with knife or rasp: if you do, it will 
soon become ragged, dry up. and shrivel and be¬ 
come a fruitful source of navicular and other dis¬ 
eases. Never allow the hoof to he rasped above 
the clinches, and as little as possible below. ’1 he 
outer covering of the hoof is exceptionally 
hard, and like the enarned of tho teeth, acta as a 
protection to the softer and more porous inner 
part; injuring it, therefore, by ignorant rasping, 
is a frequent cause of dryness, brittleness, and 
sand-crack. Never allow' an attempt to be made 
to shape the hoof to wliat the blacksmith may 
consider should be the right shape for the shoe ; 
this should he fitted to the hoof, not the hoof to 
it. Novor allow the bars to be cut at tho sides 
for the purpose of “ opeuing out the heels," as 
the effect is only temporary, and will inevitably 
result in weakening the bars and tho ultimate 
contraction of the heels. Of those errors, for 
which many farriers have a partiality, the evil 
consequences are serious and more or less per¬ 
manent ; of their less noteworthy blunders, want 
of space prevents an enumeration just here. 
iioriuultnral, 
HOW FAR APART SHALL WE PLANT 
APPLE TREES 7 
VUOF. W. J. BEAL. 
Tuere is a great difference of opinion on this 
subject. When the land is poor and thin the 
roots will be less numerous and must, spread for 
lung distances in every direction to get the 
nourishment needed. On poor soil it is very 
necessary to give the trees plenty of room. Our 
densest forests aud thickest turf grow on soil 
which is very rich. 
In plauting an apple orohard, aB in most other 
operations, it generally pays to do tho work well. 
When properly taken care of, after twenty 
years, many varieties of apple trees will spread 
twenty feet in each direction, and some spread 
further as noticed in tho orchard of Mr. BSiley, 
a few weeks ago. Tho rapidity of growth and 
tho longevity of the tiecs depend much on the 
soil aud climate as well as on tho variety of 
fruit. I have several orchards in mind in which 
the trees were planted closely together within 
fifteen or twenty feet of each other. Home of 
these were so planted because tho owners had a 
theory that the trees would tho better stand the 
rigors of severe cold wiuters and hot summers. 
One of tho orchards was set twenty years ago on 
sandy land. The trees grew well for a few 
years, till they shaded all tha ground. They 
were well cultivated but never bore very well. 
After shading the ground they began to run up 
for more air and more light. At present the 
orohard is of no value and never will be except 
for fire-wood. It was a poor investment, 
