SEPT. <4 
WEW-VORKER. 
5SS 
THE RURAL 
Dis-horning Cattle. —In reference to articles 
on this subject, in the oolutnns of the London 
Ag. Gazette, one of which we copied last week, 
a writer says that the quietness in demeanor 
of dis-horned cattle arises from fear of injury to 
the weakened defenses of the head. The gouge 
or the saw are the usual implements employed in 
this process—the former for youngsters, and the 
latter for adnlt cattle. The root of the horn is 
a most sensitive part, and any violent interfer¬ 
ence with it is a cause of intense pain, as is evi¬ 
dent on witnessing the accidental wrenching off 
of a horn. If the operation of dis-horning is 
carelessly or unskillfully performed, the blood 
oozes and drips for several days, and not un- 
frequently the wouud becomes fly-blown, and, 
unless promptly attended to, the animal is lost. 
The man who saws off or gouges out an ani¬ 
mal's horn deserves a somewhat similar experi¬ 
mental application to his own scalp. 
Whitewash fob Tbees.— Mr. Meehan says 
that whitewash is frequently resorted to by 
farmers, but the great objection is its unsightly 
appearauce—the result is otherwise good. The 
great opposition to washes formerly was, that 
the pores of the bark were closed by them--this 
was on the supposition that the bark was alive, 
but the external bark of most trees has been 
dead years before the time of application ; and 
‘ the breathing,’ if so the operations of the 
pores can be called, is through the crevices 
formed in the old bark by the expansion of the 
growing tree, by which the living bark below 
has a chance of contact with the air. No mat¬ 
ter what kind of coating is applied to the bark 
of a tree, it will soon crack sufficiently by the 
expansion of the truuk to permit ail the ‘ breath¬ 
ing ’ necessary. 
Inspecting the unsightliness of whitewash 
upon trees, why not adopt the Bubal’s plan of 
adding red mineral powder and lamp-black to the 
whitewash ? The oolor of the bark may in this 
way be so closely imitated that the wash will not 
be observed. 
Seel Wheat. —“ Any mau," says J. B. Kelle- 
brew, “who will establish in his garden an ex¬ 
perimental plot, can select the best heads of the 
most prolific wheat, sowing the next year the 
best heads alone, and still selecting from this 
the best hoadH, using the balance for field use, 
and in this manner keeping always one year 
ahead. This will make good seed. A practice 
that has resulted in a largely increased produc¬ 
tion has prevailed in some sections, and merits 
special mention : 
“ Select a few bundles and strike them over the 
head of a barrel lightly. The heaviest, best ma¬ 
tured grain will fall out, leaving those not fully 
ripe iu the bundle. A few minutes will suffice 
to Becure, iu this manner, seed that will improve 
the ordiuary yield very largely. This proves the 
necessity of seod wheat being allowed to get 
fully ripe before cutting.” 
Gbass Dressing. —A writer ^in the London 
Farmers’ Chronicle, who had just visited Mr. 
Lawea at Kothamsted, Bays that one plot of the 
experimental grasB is heavily dressed with wheat 
straw cut into fine chaff. It was seven years be¬ 
fore the slightest benefit was perceptible from 
the yearly application of this chaff. From that 
time to this a decided improvement has been 
manifested. This is consoling to common farm¬ 
ers. The groat bulk of our farmyard manure is 
composed of straw in a more or less rotten state. 
Consequently it is many years before the whole 
value of a coat of farmyard manure is exhausted, 
whereas the nitrogen in the artificial fertilizers 
is gone in a single season—possibly some of it 
with the first heavy rains of spring. 
Db. E. Lewis Sturtkvant, the able editor of 
the Scientific Farmer, holds that the farm is a 
manufactory as well as a farm, and after the 
normal capaoity of the soil is attained by render¬ 
ing available its real resources by good culture, 
he would buy the raw material of plant food at 
a low price, and convert it into farm products of 
a higher value, thus making a profit in the con¬ 
version, and the larger the quantity of material 
thus converted the greater the gain in the busi¬ 
ness. 
Feeding Young Chicks. —But few are aware 
for what a length of time chioks just hatched 
out, may be left unfed without any detrimental 
effect. A writer in the Berlin Presse oommuni- 
oates to that journal a well-marked ease in point. 
In the course of the summer a newly-hatohed 
brood of his chicklings were accidentally over¬ 
looked for three days and nights, aud yet at the 
end of that time were found well and active, and 
quite as large aud strong as others of exactly 
the same age that had been fed, according to his 
usual practice, about thirty hours after leaving 
the shell. 
Oabe of Fruit Trees. —Mr. Charles Downing 
tells the oditor of the Weekly Tribune that it is 
quite surprising, to those who have not tried the 
experiment, what thinning out the top, scrap 
iug, and washing with potash, the truuk and 
large limbs, and digging up and manuring the 
soil, at least so far out as the branches extend, 
would do for even a very old apple tree—seem¬ 
ingly past holp. 
English Sparrow. —A writer in the Indiana 
Farmer says: “Your pestiferous English Spar¬ 
row has found its way into our cabbage patches 
and haB cleaned out the more pestiferous cab¬ 
bage worm." 
A Good White Shirt, at the extremely low 
price of 60 cents, or two or more for 50 cents 
each by mail, post-paid, may seem so improba¬ 
ble as to suggest a fraud of Borne kind, but 
manufacturing in large quantities, of regular 
standard sizes and Belling them directly to the 
wearer with no intermediate or middlemens’ 
profits, will in a measure explain how such a 
thing can be done. The shirts advertised in our 
columns are really well-made, from good, sub¬ 
stantial materials, and any one can convince 
J. J. MEC 31. 
Probably there is not a farmer that reads an 
agricultural paper, or one who strives to improve 
his farm, or one who is in anywise really inter¬ 
ested in his pursuit, that has not heard of the 
genial, enterprising owner of Tiptree-Hall 
order to get that additional capital, greater se¬ 
curity should be given for all the money in¬ 
vested. 
“On Tiptree Heath,” he says: “with soil 
much below the average for Ihe United King¬ 
dom, I grow crops much above the average of 
the United Kingdom. Here is a table of the per¬ 
centage of the crops—which enable me to pro¬ 
duce three times the quautity of food per acre 
that is generally the case in this country—on my 
poor farm of 175 acres, aod of the 47,000,000 
acres of the United Kingdom. 
Percentage grown of 
! United 
Kingdom. 
Tiptree. 
Wheat.. 
8 * 
37 
Barley . 
4X 
12 
Outs... 
8 X 
3* 
Pens and beans. 
2 
12 
Root and preen crops. 
J 11 
8 * 
Clover and grasses. 
12 * 
20 
Permanent pasture. 
50 
Bare fallow. 
1 
0 
98 
97 
“ These results have been obtained in conse¬ 
quence of my having security for my capital, and 
by my having sufficient capital to farm profita¬ 
bly. We want liberty and security, if the most 
is to be made of our land.” 
We have read that Mr. Mechi’s name has be6n 
received with hisses and groans in many an agri¬ 
cultural gathering, and yet he has gone on in 
the path he has marked out for himself without 
once losing his temper or saying an angry word. 
But if all his theories and practices had been 
wrong, one of his actions has brought many a 
blessing to reduced farmers. We allude to the 
founding by him of the Royal Agricultural 
Benevolent Institution, a charity which is this 
year distributing annuities amounting to nearly 
$55,000 to destitute farmers, farmers’ widows, 
and farmers' orphans. 
As a writer, Mr. Mechi has a style at once 
pleasant and forcible. His agricultural “Say¬ 
ings and Doings ” are recorded in three volumes, 
entitled, “ How to farm Profitably,” and another 
volume, the last, will shortly be added. 
Our portrait of Mr. Mechi is an excellent rep¬ 
resentation of one which was published in the 
London Live Stock Journal of July 26, from a 
recent photograph. 
himself of the genuineness of the offer and 
the full value of the article by remitting 60 
cents for a sample shirt. To borrow an express¬ 
ive Western phrase, no one need now be without 
a “ biled shirt,” when they can be had for this 
low price. The makers of these shirts, the 
Newark Shirt Go., are responsible, and will send 
goods fully equal to the value of the money, and 
one shirt will certainly make many new custom¬ 
ers without further argument. 
- • » ♦ - 
To Expel Foul Air. —The quickest way to 
expel foul air from a well is to heat a bar of 
iron red hot, and lower ii down into the water ; 
the sadden formation of steam is effectual. 
Dodge Co., Neb., Aug. 21. s. r. m. 
■—— - 
CATALOGUES, &c„ RECEIVED. 
J. C. Plumb & Son, Milton, Wis. Descriptive 
Price List of ornamental and fruit trees. 
Catalogue and Price list of the Co-operative 
Nursery and Fruit Co., of Los AngeleB County, 
Cal., Orange and Lemon Trees. 
Premium List for the Second Annual Fair of 
Burlingame Union Ag. Soc. to be held at Bur¬ 
lingame, Kansas, Sept. 25-27. Max. Buek, 
Seo’y. 
Leoture on Orange and Lemon culture, de¬ 
livered by request before Raisina Grange, Cen¬ 
tral California Colony, by Thomas A. Garey, 
Fresco, Cal. 
Premium List, &o., of the Sixth Annual Fair 
of the Colorado Industrial Association to be held 
at Denver, Colorado, Sept, 24-28. W. R. 
Thomas, Seo'y. 
James Vice, Rochester, N. Y. Floral Guide 
for autumn. One of the best aud most instruc¬ 
tive autumn catalogues published. Everything 
needed for the garden with plain instructions. 
Accurately and fully illustrated. 
Premium List and Regulations for the Thirty- 
seventh Annual Exhibition of the Queens 
County Agrioultur&l Society to be held on the 
Society's Grounds at Mineola, L. I., Sept. 24-26. 
J. Howard Rushmore, Old Westbury, N. Hemp¬ 
stead, Sec'y. 
John Saul, Washington, D. C. Descriptive 
Catalogue of Hyacinths, Tulips, Crocus, Nar¬ 
cissus, Lilies, and other bulbous flower roots 
with a choice selection of winter - blooming 
plants for afltumn. 1878. This is sent gratis to 
all applicants. 
House-plans for everybody for village aud 
country residences costing from $250 to $8000, 
including full descriptions and estimates in de¬ 
tail of materials, labor, and oost, with practical 
suggestions and 175 illustrations, by S. B, Reed, 
architect, published by tbo Orange Judd Com¬ 
pany, 245 Broadway, N. Y. This is chiefly a 
compilation of various hou3e-plaus which have 
appealed during the last three years in the 
Amerioau Agriculturist. They embrace almost 
every variety of arrangement aud style, and to 
professional builders as well as to private par¬ 
ties intending to build, it will prove a valuable 
handbook of reference. 
Farm. From memoranda and journals which 
Mr. Mechi has kindly sent to us, we have com¬ 
piled the following particulars of his life and 
farm, and we are confident that they will be 
read with a keen interest by American farmers. 
Mr. John Joseph Meohi was born on May 26, 
1802. In 1819, after two years’ education in 
France and a further education upon his return 
to England, at the age of 17 he entered a mer¬ 
chants office in London. After remaining there 
eleven years he commenced business for him¬ 
self. Of this part of his life the Stook Journal re¬ 
marks : “He soon saw that enterprise begets 
success. He lived in the early days of advertis¬ 
ing, and his success was greatly due to the fact 
that he embraced all the f acihties which the new 
movement offered. London woke up one fine 
morning, and found itself plastered all over with 
bills announcing the excellence of Mr. Meohi’s 
wares. This brought many customers, and Mr. 
Mechi's personal care was that those customers 
should be perfectly satisfied. Not so very long 
ago he said to the present writer, “ I always en¬ 
deavored to satisfy every person that came to 
me for business. If a sohoolboy came to me 
for a pock’et-knife, I always did my best to help 
him to choose a good one, and I always told him 
that if it did not suit him or he did not like it, I 
would willingly change it. The result was that 
the majority of those casual customers, brought 
to me by advertisements, became regular cus¬ 
tomers, and continued so.” 
Mr. Mechi’s agricultural life commenced in 
1841, when he purchased Tiptree farm, at a cost 
of £25 per acre, as we have already told our 
readers. He at once set about improving it. 
He removed fences, adopted a complete system 
of drainage and irrigation, made good roads, and 
erected new and suitable buildings with steam- 
engines and new and improved machinery. In 
1843 Mr. Mechi wrote his first letter on agricul¬ 
tural matters:—“I may be asked,” said he, 
“ what can you as a Londoner know about farm¬ 
ing ?” I will answer, “ I always love the beau¬ 
ties of nature, the pure air of heaven, the sportB 
of the field, and the hospitality of our honest yeo¬ 
men. I have seen one farmer making a fortune, 
and his next neighbor losing oue. I have seen 
one field all corn, and another nearly all weeds. 
I asked, * How is this ?’ inquired into the causes, 
noted the results, obtained from all the best 
farmers and all the best agricultural books 
within my reach, every information bearing on 
agricultural pursuits, practised in my own little 
garden, on a small scale, a variety of experi¬ 
ments—and, after carefully woighiug the evi¬ 
dence, I came to the oouclusiou that waut of 
drainage, waste of manure, shallow plowing, and 
short leases, are among the greatest curses to 
this country; and I, as far as my individual 
means will permit, am resolved on remedying 
them.” 
Time has proven that the above was not a 
mere flourish of words. Mr. Mechi stuck to his 
programme. For nearly forty years he has been 
telling all who oared to listen to him that British 
agriculture requires more capital invested in it, 
in order to properly develop its resources, and in 
BLUE, WHITE, RED AND YELLOW FOND 
LILIES. 
Mr. Jas. H. Campbell of Toledo, Ohio, apro¬ 
pos of Mr. William Falconer’s article on the 
above snbject in Rural for August 17, page 521, 
says :—“ I dispute the possibility of three pri¬ 
mary colors existing in any one species of plants. 
Two colors and their combinations are seen 
in Roses, Verbenas and various others, but the 
complimentary color is always absent. Red and 
yellow Boses with their combinations, are com¬ 
mon, but a blue Rose is an impossibility. A yel¬ 
low Verbena, being complimentary to the red 
and blue, is also an impossibility.” 
And he says to Mr. Falconer, “Bring on 
your proofs of three primary colors In one 
species.” 
In reply to this challenge Mr. Falconer 
writes: 
“Permit me to inform Mr. Campbell that what 
I stated as regards white, blue, red and yellow- 
oolored pond Lilies (Nymphara), I emphatically 
assert as tenth, and I defy him to refute the 
existence of any of the species I mentioned. In 
fact, if he comes to Cambridge I will be pleased 
te show them to him; but if he finds that incon ■ 
venient, I refer him to the botanists of Harvard 
University,—Dr. Asa Gray, Prof. Sargent. Prof. 
Goodale, Sereno Watson and Dr. Farlow, gen¬ 
tlemen whose veracity is indisputable. 
Mr. C. says:—“ I dispute the possibility of 
the three primary colors existing in any one 
species of plants.” Would readers of the Rural 
kindly refer to my article on “ Pond Lilies,” and 
see for themselves if I said the Pond Lilies in 
question were members of one species ? No. I 
spoke of the blue, white and yellow-colored ones 
as distinct species, and the red one as a hybrid 
between two other species. Surely that is plain 
enough to the merest tyro ? But they all per¬ 
tain to one genus, namely, Nymphaa. There¬ 
fore I recommend that, if Mr. Campbell does 
not know the difference between a genus and a 
species, he should consult some “ School Botany” 
before he dabbles in botanical challenges. 
Nor is the genus Nymphiea alone in having 
so variously colored flowers; blue, red, yellow 
and white occur in Columbines, Anemones, Ac. 
Mr. Campbell concludes by—“ Bring on your 
proofs of the three primary colors in one spe¬ 
cies.” Yes, sir. Did yon ever see red, blue, 
yellow and white-colored common garden Hya¬ 
cinths ? If you have not, I have, aud so have 
millions of people besides me ; and those vari¬ 
ously colored Hyacinths all belonging to one 
species, namely, Hyacinthus orientalis. 
William Falconer. 
Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass. 
-♦ »♦ — 
Okra.— The Okra plant at this season assumes 
quite an odd and pretty appearance. The 
flowers are like the Hollyhock. This is one of 
the plants we should recommend to ornament 
the vegetable garden. 
