JULY 20 
THE RURAL WEW-YORKfR 
457' 
Commerce, (6)6. Chemical Technology, (6)7. 
Manufactures, (6)8, Mechanic Trades, (6)9. 
Building. The same classification divides Agri¬ 
culture into—(63)1. Soil and preparation, (63)2. 
Pests and hindrances, (63)3. Productions of the 1 
soil, (63)4, Fruits, (63)6. Garden, (63)7. Dairy, < 
(63)8. Bees and silkworms, (63)9. Fishing and i 
trapping. (This ninth division is put here, not < 
because it really is a part of Agriculture, but bo- ; 
cause any other place for the subject would be 
still more unnatural). 
Suppose the classification is a good one. We I 
read an article about the diseases of cows, and 
wish to make a note of it. Shall it go under 619. 
Veterinary medicine, or 632. Pests and hin¬ 
drances, or 636. Domestic animals, or 637. 
Dairy ? Will anybody else know what classifica¬ 
tion you have adopted, and where you have 
placed your subject? 
Suppose the classification is not a good one, or 
that you are not satisfied with it, can you make 
a better one, and will other people accept yours 
when it is made ? Can you remomber uoxt year 
what your arrangement of subjects was thiB 
year ? Will you not want to make a new clas¬ 
sification every year aB your knowledge growB 
and you see things in new relations ? Such has 
been the experience of former workers in all 
times. It is necessary to have an alphabetical 
index to the classified index, in order to bo able 
to use the latter, and to change the latter as 
often as wo find it is unnatural, unless wo 
prefer the inconvenience of a changing one. 
Still, for some purposes a classified arrangement 
is needed, and learned men have made such. 
How nice it would be if they had only made one! 
If you will adopt aud stick to one of those which 
other people have access to also, then, and then 
only, can other people use your index, or cnn 
you use it yourself after a few years. 
To obviate the difficulties mentioned above, 
it is pretty generally agreed that it is well to 
make alphabetical indexes, and to avoid all 
classification, when this can be done. We ail 
know the alphabet—the classification of the 
letters. In a systematic index we do not know 
whether horses come before pigs, or hogs before 
cows, or cattle before swine; but in an alpha¬ 
betical index we can turn immediately to bull, 
calf, cattle, cow, ox, or to colt, hog, horse, mare, 
pig. But bore is another difficulty. How 
shall we choose the word which is to determine 
the place of our subject in the index ? Shall 
one writing be indexed under the word swine, aud 
another under hog, and another under pig? 
Shall this which I am writing now, be referred to 
under Capt., or under Cuttle, or under Advice, 
or under index ? For you kuow you want to 
look for the article some time in your index, and 
you will have forgotten what the title of it was; 
you will look for what has been written on the 
subject. The publishers of the Bubal New- 
Yorker say that the Bubal is indexed with 
great care, but I look for articles on grasshop¬ 
pers aud find them indexed thus: 
Around, the Republic. Grasshoppers,* visit from.. 235 
Editorial. GrussUuppera in Minnesota.204 
•> " on the plains... 124 
“ Locusts, Rooky Mountain.. lob 
Entomological. Grasshopper, Coi>«ros:‘ and the... 24J 
» *• scourge, con tcreuce 
of Governors on the, ...2112, 263 
** Locusts. Uie VVeaturu........ .202, 203 
Farm Etonomi/. Grasshoppers, prutccttou ag’st... UM 
•. •> routed, the ........ o 
Industrial topics. Grasshoppers' Convention.... 3A2 
If those leaduig words, which have a very ac¬ 
cidental relation to the subject, were removed, 
aud the subjects arranged alphabetically without 
them, I might find all these articles under two 
words, “Grasshoppers" and “Locusts," with¬ 
out haviug to read every title in ten columns of 
fine print. Here are some more entomological 
titles from the Bubal N mv-Yokkee, arranged 
without reference to such division headings as 
those above. 
" A liltle learning not always a dangerous thing,” 70 
American vines in France. S3& 
Exterminate the potato bug.3S1 
Facts aud iaucies irom the Rocky Mountains.377 
Fighting ihe potato beetle,,,. 32 
Hennery, the pest of the.. 41. 
Nuw potato enemy....••4S> 64 
i en-hnors un tomatoes. R4 
The hickory soulytus. 114 
To drive away grasshoppers.384 
Wonderful power of an insect. 318 
YOUNG MAN, GO WEST 1 
Having choBon our kind of index, shall we make 
it continuous or shall we leave spaces for future 
insertions? If the latter, where shall we leave 
spaces, and what will we do if we want space 
where we have not left it ? To overcome this 
difficulty, general use is made of slips of paper 
or card, large enough for one full reference, 
but small euough so that a new oard may be 
afforded for each new reference. My eards are 
so ruled that I can put at least fifteen references 
on each card, but yet each oard is confined to 
only one subject. For instanceIceland; 
Ignorance; Entomological; Immigration; Im¬ 
mortality; iDdia; Infant mortality; Inheritance 
of mental qualities. 
The librarians and the publishers have most 
occasion to make indexes. Those of the I nited 
States and of Great Britain have agreed upon 
the manner in which indexes should be made, the 
size of card that should be UBod, and co-operation 
in the publication aud exchange of these oard- 
iadexes, so that soon all the English-speaking 
people will be working in harmony in making 
the former writings more accessible to future in¬ 
quirers. 
HAVING JUDGMENT, AND USIN0 IT NOT. pe 
Very much gratuitous advice to go WeBt haB ec< 
been given to a class of individuals who may be to 
considered as haviug natural sense and jndg- rei 
ment, but who seem to be lacking in independence of 
of character and executive abilities, or having ho 
judgment, use it not. The advice may be all ne 
well meant and honestly expressed, but may it th 
not be somewhat differently expressed, and at the pa 
same time be more practicable ? I imagine that 
those who give such advice do not look at it in 
all its bearings. 
Why is it thus expressed, and given ? a ques¬ 
tion I am unable to answer, unless those who ds 
give it, do so without looking at the matter from 
every side. The more general reason given for 0 { 
recommending this course of going West, is that ^i 
these men may become possessed of cheap lands; 
have a home of their own ; become producers flt 
instead of consumers only. What if we all, at g ( 
least all the surplus not actively engaged in bus¬ 
iness, become producers ? From certain stand¬ 
points the advice is good, but viewed from a ^ 
different point it may assume another aspect. 
Look at it as it really is: do not the farmer- 
producers of the West find their surplus pro- b 
ducts have a slow market, and at very low prices, 11 
and that they must produce in very large quan- '' 
tities iu order to pay their way, or often to make 1 
even enough to meet taxes, beyond a meager 
support. And how is it that anything is aocu- ^ 
mulated ? Let those who have there gained a 0 
corny etency tell us if they have got it by legiti- J 
mate farming only. Setting aside the rise in value I 
of farm lands, etc., they have probably done it by 
close economy, hard work, and denying them- h 
selves most of the luxuries and privileges of life, J 
if not very many of what are usually considered 1 
its necessities. 1 
Now, I claim that one living in any of the older- 
settled States and communities, by exercising 5 
the same self-denial, etc., may do even better at ^ 
home than he would by going to some far-awav , 
place to settle. In Ihe first place, he is at home ( 
among friends and acquaintances, is acclimated, 
knows all the “ ropes,” is in the vicinity of as 
I od markets as there are in the country, can 
oduce and sell at a better profit than can be J 
me where markets must be sought at long dis- 
nce, saves the expense always attendant upon 
eating in a new country and escapes conse- 
mnt hardships, besides many other considera- 
ms of social and other privileges ; advantages 
bioh are not so freely offered in new settle- 
ents. 
Ab to products; let u« consider the oue pro- | 
ict of corn, which is so largely depended on iu j 
any newly-settled sections. Can we not at the 
ast grow it at a better profit than the settler 
i new land ? And is not the value of the farm 
inducts, taking into aocouut the whole acreage, 
s great, or even greater here, than at the West, 
snerally ? Let us see: here in Massachusetts, 
ot more that 50 miles from Worcester, a few 
ears since—and it is done yearly although not 
sported or notioed as publicly—a reverend 
entlemau grew a field of corn, produced en- 
irely by hired labor—the yield of which was 100 
ushels of shelled oorn per acre, costing, at that 
ime, only 15 cents per bushel, in the barrel or 
iag. This same corn sold at 90 cents per bushel 
,t home, thus netting a profit of $45.00 per acre. 
Vith later improvements in culture, the cost of 
(reduction would be less; will the richest virgin 
oil do better, or even aH well ? 
Take a farm of 100 or 160 acres at the East or 
Yest, if on the line of B. R. or near com- 
nunioation with good markets, the price per 
icre of land, will range nearly as high iu the 
iVest as in the East. At the latter place, how¬ 
ever, this will include fair to good buildings, 
fences, etc. If the products are the same, those 
in the eastern seotion will bring the greater sum, 
bo that the gross produet will be greater at the 
East, because of better homo-markets, and then 
home-products are worth more than those 
produced at a distance, handled and rehandled, 
sweating and often moldy. I believe experi¬ 
menters claim that corn grown iu New England 
is worth for feeding at least one-fourth more 
than the average corn we get from the West; 
some claim it to be even better. 
Look at the deprivations whioh the pioneer 
settler must put up with. In order to obtain 
free homesteads one must go into parts where 
settlements are very far apart, where perhaps 
none of his kind may be found in a day’s jour¬ 
ney; where there are no social or other privi¬ 
leges except such resources as they may have 
within themselves. If sickness or accident over¬ 
take them, what then? A young man from a 
village in this locality went to Kansas, four or 
five years since, stook raising for a relative of 
his ; a year or two afterwards, his married 
brother and wife visited him and stayed some 
three weeks. The lady, in speaking of it after¬ 
wards, Baid that she saw only one other woman 
during her stay, and she. a washerwoman who 
came to do the young man’s washing, etc. Now, 
suppose this, or auy other young man, would 
work as hard, deprive himself of as much, in any 
of the Eastern or Middle States, whore he was at 
home, etc., and was in every way as economical, 
who supposes he would be less successful at 
home than abroad ? The truth of it is, that it 
is not what a person receives that constitutes 
wealth, financially, but what he saves after ex¬ 
penses are paid. And one working and doing as 
economically where he is already known, close 
to good markets, will usually take the lead of the 
restless one who desireB change and can see all 
of the advantages in some different locality. All 
honor, however, should be accorded to the pio¬ 
neer who opens new territory, when he can do 
the same without injustice to previous occu¬ 
pants. W. H. White. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Lasell Seminary for Young Women, Auburn- ] 
dale, Mass. ; 
We would invite attention to Cel. Cubtis’ 
offer to Bubal subscribers, of Duroo pigs at re¬ 
duced rates. 1 
E. E. Hardin & Oo. Descriptive Circular of : 
superior pure-bred ohioks, to be delivered after 
Sept. lBt. Scotia, N. Y. 
Ryder’s American Fbuit Drier or Pneu¬ 
matic Evaporator. A catalogue of sixteen pages. 
Chambersburg, Pa. Catalogue free. 
R. H. Halves, Saugerties-on-Hudson, N- J. 
Sommer Price-list of Strawberry plants. The 
rapidly increasing demand for plants for setting 
out at this time of the year, induces Sir. Haines 
to issue this list. 
The Texas State Hort. and Pomolog. ABS'n 
will hold its fourth annual exhibition in the city 
of Houston, Texas, commencing Wednesday, 
July 17, aud continuing three days. A. B. Small, 
Pres.; Geo. Kidd, Seo'y. 
Catalogue of the List of Premiums offered 
by the Jefferson Connty Ag. Society for 1878, 
Annual Fair to be held in the city of Watertown. 
N. Y., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 
17-19. W. B. Skeels, Sec’y. 
L. L. Crocker, Buffalo Fertilizer Works, No. 
252 Washington St., informs his customers and 
friends by circular that he intends immediately 
to rebuild his works which were destroyed by 
fire aud which involved him in a loss of over 
$100,000. He will be prepared to meet the 
wants of his customers for the fall trade and 
guarautees to furnish a super-phosphate which 
shall he at least equal in quality to his former 
shipments and which oan be used in any drill. 
The American Berkshire Association, through 
the earnest efforts of the Secretary, Mr. Phil M. 
Springer, Springfield, Mass., and other officers, 
is growing apace. Volumes one and two of the 
American Berkshire Record, have been issued, 
and volume three is in course of preparation. 
That the advantages of a recorded pedigree are 
appreciated, is evident by the fact that the second 
volume contains some five hundred more entries 
than the first, and the approaching issue bids 
fair to show a still groater increase. These 
records are one of the best guarantees that inex¬ 
perienced buyers will got pnre stock in their 
purchases, and breeders should lose no time in 
forwarding for entry pedigrees of their stock. 
Blanks for the purpose will be furnished, by ap¬ 
plying to the secretary. 
A. Hance & Son, Bed Bank, N. J. Pamphlet 
of pot-grown and other Strawberry plants. Cul¬ 
tural Notes; Soil and Situation; Preparing the 
Soil; Hill System—Matted-row System ; Mulch¬ 
ing. Messrs. Hance give a tabular list which, 
from their many years of practical experience, 
they have found to be the best: 
ARRANGED IN ORDER OF MERIT. 
For light soil. For loamy soil. For heavy soil. 
EARLY. 
■Wilson. Duchesse, Duchesse, 
>y nsou. Wilson. Black Deiiance, 
Black Deflance. Wilson. 
MEDIUM OR MAIN CROP. 
Chas. Downing, Monarch. Monarch, 
SethBoyden. Cnas. Downing, JucuQda 
WUson. SethBoyden, T. de Gand, 
Agriculturist. Wilson. heth Boy den. 
Agriculturist. Chas. Downing. 
ish-black, with several bright yellow rings mark¬ 
ing the body transversely. Of course, all that 
portion of the branch which is above the punct¬ 
ure speedily dies, materially disfiguring the 
shrub. Ciroumstances beyond my control pre¬ 
vented my making as full an investigation at the 
time as I intended, and now—July 2— I am una¬ 
ble to find any specimens remaining. From my 
imperfect description of the inseot, can any of 
your readers name it ? 
CHELLEBORE AND THE CURRANT WORM. 
I am somewhat surprised that a writer possess¬ 
ing the evident general intelligence of your cor¬ 
respondent, Col. F. D. Curtis, should, at this 
late day, even indirectly recommend the use of 
soap suds, as a remedy for the currant worm. 
After using the white hellebore a few times, he 
will find it to be the most sure remedy, aud if it 
is properly applied, the expense for the material 
is but a trifle. My method of applying it differs 
from Dr. Hoskins’, as desoribed by him in the 
Bubal of June 8, and for my purpose, I think it 
is much more convenient. He mixes the drug 
with water, aud applies it with a sprinkler. 
His method, it seems, involves the necessity of 
a horse, a Htono-boat, and a barrel of water. 
The necessity for these incumbrances may be 
obviated by using the material in a dry state. I 
take a tin box, like a cook’s dredger, put the 
powdered material in that—first crushing the 
lumps, if there be any—substitute for a cover a 
piece of gauze or mill cloth, large enough to 
fold down the outside of the box sufficiently to 
I be tied with a piece of twine, and I am ready for 
action. A sufficient number of thicknesses of 
covering should be used tc prevent the hellebore 
from coming oat too rapidly when the box is 
shaken. Taking the box by the bottom, shake 
it rapidly about and among the bushes, so that 
the powder shall pass out, like a fine, impalpa¬ 
ble dust, and settle on the leaves. This should 
be done when there is no wind, and if the leaves 
are wet with dew, the drug will adhere to the 
leaves as surely as if applied with a sprinkler. 
It is surprising what a small quantity of the hel¬ 
lebore will prove sufficient, if properly applied. 
As Dr. Hoskins says, it is entirely uuoecessary 
to apply it to the under-eide of the leaf, as the 
worm eats the leaf clean, aud is sure to get the 
poison, if it is on the leaf at all. But L notice 
in your “ Brevities," in the same number of the 
Rural, you refer to bis opinion as being just 
the reverse of this—probably a mm-prmt or an 
oversight. [It was our neglect.—Eos.] 
THE POTATO BEETU-IS HE PLATED OUT? 
S. E. Hampton, of Kentucky, iu the Rural of 
June 8th, gives to the Potato Beetle an exult¬ 
ant "-farewell," because he found ou his field of 
15 acres of potatoes, but very few of the beetle’s 
eggs had hatched up to the 26th of May. The 
Rural expresses a similar opinion in its “ Brevi¬ 
ties" of June 15, with reference to Bergen Co., 
N. J. I confess I had been inclined to lay the 
same “ flattering unction to my soul" until quite 
recently. But at this date, July 2d, with the 
mercury r&ugmg from 85 to 95-’ in the shade, the 
eggs are hatching in great abundance, and I 
shall at once resort to the use of Paris-green, as 
formerly. The delay in the hatching of the 
eggs cannot be attributed to any frosts in this 
locality; for. although we are in the latitude of 
43° north, yet we have had no frosts in our val¬ 
ley to injure vegetation iu any perceptible de¬ 
gree since April, and, of course, not sufficient to 
affect the eggs of the potato beetle. At the 
identical time that the Rural Grounds, and 
other localities even fnrther south, suffered so 
severely from frosts, I had in my grounds, not 
only Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Squashes and other 
tender vegetable plants, but also such house- 
i plants as Heliotropes. Achyrantnes, Coleus, 
JBalaams and choice Pelargoniums, standing out 
without auy protection whatever, and coming 
out entirely bright and uninjured. It was not 
> so in other parts ef the county, however. 
Chas. Downing, 
Seth Boyden, 
WUson. 
Agriculturist. 
T.de Gand, 
Seth Boyden, 
Chas. Downing. 
Seth Boyden, 
Kentucky, 
Capt. Jack. 
Kentucky, 
Capt. Jack. 
Seth Boyden, 
Kentucky, 
Capt. Jack. 
Col. Cheney. 
VERY LATE. 
Kentucky, 
Col - Cneney, 
Capt. Jack. 
Jncunda, 
Setn Boyden, 
T. de Gand, 
Pres't Wilder, 
Col. Cheney. 
Pres’t Wilder, 
T.de Gand, 
Col. Cheney. 
The pamphlet will be sent free to applicants. 
JOTTINGS FROM MY NOTE BOOK. 
CLINTON. 
A NEW INSECT. 
A new insect haB appeared this Beason, infest¬ 
ing my Wiegelas—at least it is new to me. It 
would 6eem to be the produot of an egg, depos¬ 
ited in the newly-grown wood, usually a few 
inches below the terminal bud. The first indi¬ 
cation of the presence of the iueeot is the wilt¬ 
ing of the branoh above the place where it is 
punctured. On examination, I have usually 
found oue, and sometimes two insects iu the 
heart of the branch, evidently eating their way 
upwards. The inseot, when full grown, is about 
one-eighth of an inch in length, which is about 
three times its diameter. The color is a brown- 
MALADIES OF STOCK. 
INQUIRIES ANSWERED BY D. K. SALMON, D.V.M. 
Bone Sprain and Ringbone. 
F. H. D. No address —inquires if there is 
any sure and safe cure for bone sprain and ring¬ 
bone of several years’ standing ? 
Ans. —No; there is no certain, care for either 
of these troubles; and, unfortunately, the same 
holds true in most other diseases. Proper treat¬ 
ment, however, greatly increases the chances of 
recovery. In case of an old-standing sprain or 
ringbone, there will always remain more or less 
enlargement. The best treatment is to apply 
bandages aud keep constantly wet with cold 
water, for about a week; then blister several 
times in succession or until the lameness disap¬ 
pears. Cantharides ointment—one part to four 
of lard—may be used, with the usual precau¬ 
tions, to only blister one limb at a time, to tie 
the animal so that it cannot get its nose to the 
part, to wash off the ointment and apply oil or 
lard after a suitable effect is produced, etc. 
Firing.some times succeeds when blistering fails. 
Blind Staggers in Horses. 
S. Hoxie , Madison Go., X. Y,, asks the cause 
of blind staggers in horses and a remedy there¬ 
for. 
Ans.— Blind staggers is a term applied to seve¬ 
ral diseases, and it generally requires an expert 
to decide what 1 b the matter. Thus, it may be 
caused by pressure of the collar on the large 
veins of the neck; by congestion of the brain ; 
tumors or effusion in this organ. The term is 
also applied to the brain symptoms resulting 
rfom overloaded stomach or indigestion, or from 
poisons. In other cases the real trouble is blood 
poisoning from disease of liver or kidneys, or, 
perhaps, cerebrospinal meningitis. It is impos¬ 
sible for us to give particulars in regard to 
all of these diseases; a' good veterinary surgeon 
is indispensable for the successful treatment of 
most of them. 
