1570 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Cheap Roofing, 
Robert 0. Brown, Chautauqua Co , N. Y. asks 
whether there is not some roofing that is better 
than, and just as cheap as ehinglee,for bams, Ac. 
Ans. —With shingles at .$3.50 per thousand. 
100 sq. feet would coat $3.50. to which add for 
labor and nails according to rapidity of hands 
and amount of wages. This is the best roof 
known. Its quality and durability, however, 
depend almost entirely on the perfection of the 
work. No poor shingler can make a good roof 
even with the best material. In some parts of 
the country where a good carpenter is a rarity, 
roofs are often made of floor boards. Flooring 
at $30 per thousand, allowing one-sixth for 
waste, tongues and grooves, will cost the same as 
shingles at $3 50. And on this basis, the rela¬ 
tive price of the articles in different sections, 
will determine their comparative cost. Prepare 
the rafters and shingling lath as for 8hingles, 
but use only one-third as many laths; let the 
boards be dry, to run up and down the roof. 
White lead should be iu the joints, and the 
boards should be laid by tneaQs of floor pins, 
like a floor. The joints should be tight, and one 
coat of auy cheap paiut should be applied to 
bind the wood, and few men will live to see it 
worn out. A ooat of paint should be laid on 
once in three years. The boards should not be 
spliced, but they should be bought of a length 
to suit the engtb of pitch. This roof sheds 
water like a duck’s back. 
Angora Goats. 
J. Layne, Grayson Co,, Texas, asks for some 
information with regard to the Angora goat; 
what has been the result of its importation into 
this country; can it be made profitable here; 
how would the climate of Texas suit it; where 
can pure-blood animals be bought; and where 
and at what price can their product be sold. 
Ass—The Angora goat is a native of the 
vilayet and town of Angora, in Asiatic Turkey, 
220 miles east-south-east of Constantinople. It 
is situated on an elevated plain abounding in 
pasture and is famous for the breed of goats, 
whose soft, silky, white hair, about eight inches 
long, foims the chief article of export. Iu 1869 
the number of these goats in and near the town 
of Angora was estimated at 1,000,000. They are 
Bhorn twice a year and the annual yield of wool 
is about 2.700,000 pounds. The fineness of the 
hair is by many ascribed to some peculiarity 
in the local atmosphere, for even the cats, dogs, 
and other animals of the country are, to a cer¬ 
tain extent, affected in the same manner as the 
goats, and they all lose some of their distinctive 
beauty when taken to foreign countries. The 
first importation of these animalB was made into 
this country in 1849, iu South Carolina, and 
again in 1863 further importations were made. 
Since thou, experiments have been made with 
them iu several States, notably in Ohio. Califor¬ 
nia, Tennessee and Maryland, but within the last 
five or six years little is known to the public of 
the results. About eight years ago a Mr. Euty 
cides imported about 240 of them into Maryland, 
where he held them for sale at $100 each, a price 
at which they sold very slowly. Afterwards he 
took a farm in Virginia where he was unfortu¬ 
nate with them, losing a number of them 
through their having eaten poison ivy. Should 
any of our readers bo able to answer more fully 
our correspondent’s inquiries, we shall be happy 
to publish the information in the Rural. 
Water-Lilies Wanted. 
Mr. Robert Brewster, Houston , Teams.—Hav¬ 
ing a fondness for Water-lilies and having read 
in the Rural a description of those grown by 
Mr. William Falooner, inquires where he could 
purchase the yellow and white varieties. They 
grow wild about thirty miles from Houston, but 
he oonsiders it would be easier aud cheaper to 
buy them than to search for them iu their native 
retreats. 
Ans —We have seen them advertised, but can¬ 
not at this time recall the advertisers. Wo 
print the above so that parties having tix 9 m for 
sale may answer the above question. 
Miscellaneous. 
J. F. 8., Lewis Centre Ohio, asks, (1.) How to 
propagate Clematis Sophia; can he do it by lay- 
ering; is it hardy in his latitude; had he better 
take it down and cover it on the approach of 
winter; is it considered a good variety. (2.) 
He also desires to learn why he fails to make 
cuttings of the single Petunia grow, for, al¬ 
though he is anxious to propagate from some 
very finely marked ones iu his possession he 
cannot succeed for some reason. 
Ans.—C lematis Sophia is perfectly hardy with 
us. If taken down carefully and covered lightly, 
no harm will follow. Bat our method is to out 
back the Clematis severely every fall to within 
a few feet of the ground. Then they may be 
covered, if so desired, with very little trouble, 
and they bloom the more profusely for it. It is 
a splendid variety. You can propagate it from 
layers. 
(2.) We cannot say, inasmuch as you do not 
state your method. If cuttings at this season 
THE RURAL HEW-Y0RKER. 
be placed in sand and kept moderately moist, 
there will be no difficulty. A common box or 
large flower-pot, well draiued and filled with four 
or five inches cf sand, is all that is needed. It 
may he exposed to the sun, in which case more 
water will be required. It is best to cover at 
night or to remove the propagating box to a 
warm atmosphere. 
B., Linn Co., Minn., asks; 1st. Are seels of 
Gladioli and Dahlias formed in the flower or in 
the ground ? 2d. Is it well for the bulbs to cut 
the flowers as fast as they grow old? 3d. I 
wish to remove my Crocuses—when Bball I do 
It ? 4th. Are fresh seeds of Salpiglossis slow to 
germinate ? 
Ans.— 1. The fruit of all flowering plants is 
formed from the flowers. The ovules of the 
ovary form the Beed. Hence there is no seed 
where there is no flower, except in the lower or¬ 
ders of plants which do not bear flowers, These 
latter produce spores in ’place of seeds. The 
conn (or bulb) of a Gladiolus and the tuberous 
‘• roots ” of Dahlias are merely underground en¬ 
largements of tho stem. Some fruits form un¬ 
der ground, as the peanut, for example. The 
flower unfolds above ground, then the stile 
elongates, makes its way into the ground, where 
the ovaries enlarge, forming the fruit and seeds. 
But they are no more roots than an apple is a 
root. 2. It is well to cut off the flowers as soon 
as they begin to lose their beauty, because tho 
formation of the fruit which follows, exhausts 
the vigor of the plant. 3. Remove them now. 
4. Not that we remember. 
G. H. Babcock, Jefferson Co., N. Y. asks 
whether a Honey-Locust hedge set out this 
spring, the plants of which were then one year 
old, should be clipped at all this season, and if 
so, about how much. 
Ans. —We Bhould wait until next spring to cut 
back. 
S. L. N., Pa., inquires where he can get the 
seeds of Trumpet-creeper—Tecoma radioans— 
lately spoken of in the Rural. 
Ans — Wm. H. Carson, Tborburn & Co., B. K. 
Bliss & Sons, R. fl. Allen & Co., ail of this city. 
Landreth A Sons, Philadelphia. 
V. Mexico, N. Y., asks 1, how to rid a barn of 
ben lice; 2, how to get them off a horse or cow. 
Ans. —1, We know of no better way than a 
thorough clearing out and cleaning. White¬ 
wash every part, or paint with dilute carbolic 
acid or kerosene. 2. Washing with carbolic 
add soap. 
hands, which has hardly paid expenses when 
raised by hired labor. Lands are cheap here, 
ranging ah the way from government price to 
25 dollars per acre for unimproved, and from 10 
to 50 dollars for improved lands, which moans 
here, lauds cleared and fenced. 
Building material of all kinds, rock, clay for 
brick, sand, gravel, eto., can be had for the 
taking, as also fuel; aud in the mining re¬ 
gions houses, i.e. cabins, free of rent. Anyone 
who will examine Horace Greeley's barn, or 
Prof. Fowler’s octagon house, in Westchester 
Co., N. Y., and loam to build of rock and con- 
creato, need not be without a cheap and sub¬ 
stantial house in this region, where all the ma¬ 
terials are at hand, free of cost, and only the 
man’s own labor is needed to put them together. 
[Name lost.] 
•» ♦ » 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Watsonville, Santa Cruz Co , Cal., Aug. 18. 
The crops hereabouts are in a somewhat 
mixed condition. The wheat crop in this sec¬ 
tion will not be much over half a mop, if indeed 
it will amount to that, owing to the rust, as the 
very wet winter and continued fogs have been 
severe during the past year. Barley will be 
about on an average with other seasons. There 
was not a large acreage of oats sown, and the 
yield of that rowa will be light. No rye was 
sown in this neighborhood. Corn never looked 
better at this season of the year, though it is 
rather early yet to judge of the yield, as it will 
be fully two months before it will be ripe, and 
the cut-worms are very numerous Ibis year on 
the early sweet-corn, and will be likely to inj are 
the late corn to some extent. Potatoes are, so 
far as I oan learn, light. The fruit crop also is 
light; apples half a crop ; pears heavy; plums 
and cherries a full crop; peaches, but few raised 
here, as they do not succeed well in this section; 
but what we have are very good this season. 
Grapes are not raised at all here. Beans look 
well so far, except one or two varieties. Vege¬ 
tables of all kinds are very abundant. Hay is 
the heaviest crop ever raised here, and I under¬ 
stand it is so all over the State. This account 
applies only to this section of the State, but the 
papers assert that the wheat crop of California 
will be heavier this year than ever before, and 
of a better quality generally. Money iB very 
scarce here and times are very hard—harder 
than last season. A. c, 
Topeka, Kansas, Aug. 22 . 
The corn crop in this State will be above the 
average of previous years. Statistics just pub¬ 
lished, show that we have under this crop an 
area of 2,563,112 acres, which will probably 
yield 42 bushels per acre. There are in this 
State under winter wheat, 857,125 acres ; spring 
wheat, 206,868; oats, 310,226 ; rye, 119,972: 
millet, and Hungarian grass, 164,539 ; Timothy 
and meadow, 25,214 ; prairie meadow, 503,612; 
prairie pasture, 553,717 acres. a. c. 
Dakota City, Dakota Co., Neb. Aug. IT. 
The corn crop hereabouts was never better ; 
this is an excellent county for corn. There was 
a good crop of wheat raised, but, just before 
harvesting, it whs bo damaged by rain and wind 
that not much over half of it was saved. The 
little thrashed averages about fifteen bushelB to 
the acre. Apples few; currants, plums and 
grapes, destroyed by the cold snap in May. 
_ c. c. B. 
Byhalia, Marshall Co., Miss., Aug. 24. 
The com crop is very fine, and tbe acreage 
larger than any year since '62, when tbe whole 
county was planted iu corn. The yield will 
average 25 bushels per acre. Wheat, a failure. 
Peach crop heavy, but fruit generally defective; 
few apples. Cotton promises better than any 
year since ’55. In some localities I hear of 
worms, but do not credit it. h. c. s. 
El Doha do, El Dorado Co., Cal., Aug. 19. 
In El Dorado Co. there is no corn raised ex¬ 
cept sweet-corn for table use. Very little wheat, 
barley or oats is raised here, except for fodder. 
There is a considerable acreage of hay here, 
and this season tho crop was extra fine. Fruit 
crop unusually good. d. 
Baini ijusbitninj. 
SCALDING MILK FOR BUTTER. 
T. H. HOSKIN8, M. D. 
As great as iB the improvement in cream- 
raising, by the use of deep vessels set in ice- 
water, for large dairies, quite as great, in my 
judgment, is that of scalding the fresh milk be¬ 
fore setting it in small pans, for dairies whero 
only a moderate number of cows is kept. 
F. M. Beers, Lima Co., Mo., inquires about 
the scope of Secretary Sohurz’slate decision with 
regard to the “ entry " of railroad landB. 
Ans.— See “ News " department. 
Communications received for the week endino 
Saturday, august 31st : 
B. C. D.—G. G.—G. A.—C. H.—A. M. V. A.—C. 
C. B.—J. P. S.—W. C. L. D.—Cousin T.-J. F. D.— 
A. C.—A. B. G.—L. J. T.-J. B. J.—W. B.-8. M.- 
S. B.—J. A. Y.—R. B.—T. C. D—G, E. M J. C. 
W.—U. S.—M. J.—S. B. P.—•* Moore.”—E. S.— 
Mir. S. C.—H. II.—F. C. P.—J. C., thanks, we 
have them. — R. A. B , not received. —“ Con¬ 
stance.”—C. T., we answer questions In their 
turn.— B. C.—X. 
ttlifnjtuljftr. 
SOUTH-EASTERN MISSOURI NOTES. 
Although, “as the crow flies,” only some 
fifty miles from St. Louis, the “Future great 
city of tbe Mississippi valley,” this region is 
rarely heard from through the public press. 
The great tides of immigration moving west¬ 
ward sweep into Minnesota, Dakota aud Nebras¬ 
ka, north of us, while tbe abnormal flow from 
North to South, in the case of Texas, rushes 
over our own Iron Mouutain Railroad, and 
while picking up and transporting to that 
promised land, occasionally, one of our citizens, 
rarely leaves “ a new-comer.” And yet, as com¬ 
pared with many much-sought aud lauded re¬ 
gions, this section does not deserve such utter 
neglect. 
It is a splendidly timbered and watered country, 
with pineries convenient, and soil and climate 
peculiarly adapted to the growth of winter 
wheat, helping, to a small degree, to give to 8t. 
Louis the raw material for the manufacture of 
tba„‘ high grade of flour, that in days prior to 
the “N. ew Recess,” gave her a world-wide repu¬ 
tation om>' equalled by that of the Richmond, 
Va. mills. Adl 5' et ' comparatively little wheat 
has been grown *. here tul ^thin a few years 
past. Corn has been tlv 8tapl ° crop - ou drou S ht y 
ridges as well as river bctu ’ mH ‘ But . a cbaug0 
haB taken place, aud it is at onS e an iudication 
and an act of progress. Last year ^ leaat 33 ^ 8 
per cent, larger acreage of wheat was sov U tban 
ever before in south-eastern Missouri. 
The wheat harvest commenced this year from 
1st to 10th June, at least ten days earlier than 
usual, and the weather was cool aud pleasant. 
We had the heated term later on. The yield was 
not as good as hoped, scarcely exceeding te.» 
bushels per acre ; but the quality was generally 
excellent and the grain was saved in good order. 
It is now mostly thrashed, and marketed at the 
low price of 60 to 70 cents per bushel from first 
[We cannot tell how long ago the following 
communication was received. It was found 
among a mass of old unpublished communica¬ 
tions, and may prove of interest to the present 
advocates of tea culture.— Eds ] 
McIntosh P. O., Liberty Co., Georgia. 
In your Rural New Yorker of July 26tb, (no 
year) you desire a sample of Southern grown tea 
sent you. I take pleasure in sending you some, 
which I prepared iu April, from plants growing 
on my ’“father’s farm in this county. The tea 
was not prepared with any special care, as it was 
intended only for family use ; I would be glad to 
hear your opinion of it, in tho columns of your 
interesting paper. 
The tea plant grows luxuriantly hero, and 
bears seeds every year, in great abuudaifce. 
Thousands of plants are growing in this county, 
cf various sizes, from ten to twelve feet high, 
down to plantB that have just sprung from the 
seeds, this last spring. If some enterprising 
northern gentlemen would only interest them¬ 
selves in tea culture, in a few years our country 
would be supplied with southern-grown tea. 
Mrs. R. I. S. 
Dayton, Montgomery Co., Ohio, Aug. 21. 
Harvest is over, and most of it thrashed. 
Farmers generally are feeling good over their 
large yield of wheat, although one can find some 
men who complain, but I suppose it takes that 
kind to help make up this world. Oats have 
turned out a little above an average crop. Mea¬ 
dows did their part well towards making up the 
harvest. Corn is looking well. Wo never had 
better prospects as regards this crop. Unless 
we have early frosts we shall have the largest 
yield we have had for some years. Tobacco, 
although not so much planted as usual, is look¬ 
ing well. Apple and other fruit trees are load¬ 
ed. Wheat is selling at 95 cents ; oats, 23 to 26 ; 
corn, 45 to 50 cents ; potatoes, 60 cents; apples, 
30 cents; butter, 25 oents. Considering all, 
farmers will make more, for the prices of gro¬ 
ceries are down. a. h. 
Fort Howard, Brown Co., Wls., Aug. 20. 
Our harvest is over, and we oau report, wheat 
at half a crop; oats, two-thirds of a crop; bar¬ 
ley, half a crop—and poor grain—rye, two-thirds 
of a crop ; bay, a very largo yield. I Lave pri¬ 
vate information from points in our own State, 
and from Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Kansas, 
and from all points oomes the complaint of 
“ wheat is a failure.” 
*s is not much of a corn county, aud will 
muoh difference with the crop of the 
hilo our ooru’hus a lino growth of 
well, it doesn’t noom to ear out 
1 in the fruit line is good. 
Van, 
Tu. 
not makb 
U. S.; but, w. 
stalks, aud looks 
well at all. Prospeo,. 
’ , , ’itor and proprietor of 
* Mr. Wm. Jones former su. '•&. 
the Southern Cultivator, Athens, >. 
METHOD OF SCALDING MILK. 
Though it has long been known that scalding 
milk hastens the rising of the cream, while pro¬ 
longing the period of sweetness in warm weather, 
it is only lately that this method has been re¬ 
duced to a system, aud to a considerable extent 
popularized, through tho efforts of Mr. Ells¬ 
worth, of Massachusetts. By experiment he has 
ascertained tho precise temperature—135 de¬ 
grees—for securing tho best and most uniform 
results. I have, myself, tested his praotice, and 
find it excellent. The milk is strained into a 
brass or copper kettle, large enough to hold a 
single milking, and the temperature slowly and 
carefully raised to the proper degree. It is 
maintained there for about half an hour, and 
then poured into pans and set upon the rackB of 
the milk-room which should always be wel 
abed, so as to remove tho vapor arising from 
the milk, and prevent its being deposited upon 
the wallB and wood-work. The cream rises with 
astonishing rapidity, and is of a firm consist¬ 
ency, which admits of its removal in from 12 to 
24 hours, leaving the residue quite sweet. 
It is desirable not to have a skin form upon 
the milk. This “Bkin” is made of the coagu¬ 
lated albumen of tbe milk, aud when the milk is 
scalded in the pans, in the w ay sometimes prac¬ 
tised, it is entangled in the cream, removed with 
it to the churn, and remains in the butter. 
When the butter is sold for immediate use the 
evil thus caused is not noticed, but it seriously 
impairs tho keeping, when the butter is put 
down for future use or sale. 1 think it best to 
strain out of, as well as into, the soalding kettle, 
to insure the removal of all coagulated matter. 
BENEFITS OF SCALDING MILK. 
This method of scalding secures perfect but¬ 
ter, not only during the hot months of summer, 
but also during the cold weather of winter 
when quite as much difticully is experienced in 
making good butter, in the old way, as in tbe 
summer. It prevents alike tho hasty souring, 
before tbe cream is up, in summer, and tbe bit¬ 
terness so often developed by tho long setting of 
winter. By its effect of hastening the rising of 
the cream, all the inevitable evils and losses of 
delay are avoided, and a uniform make secured 
at all seasons. 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF IT. 
I have been interested iu studying into the 
philosophy of both this and tho cold method of 
setting milk for cream, and think I have reach¬ 
ed its rational explanation. It is woll known 
that large-globulod milk throws up its cream 
quicker and more perfectly than that which 
holds its fat more finely divided. Now, the 
effect of scaldiDg is simply to enlarge the globu¬ 
les by coalescence, or running together. At the 
temporature of tho milk when drawn from the 
cow—about 98 degrees—the butter-globules are 
not perfectly fluid, but when it is heated to 185 
