THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
SEPT. U 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Results of a Small Capital on a Farm in the Far 
West. 
E. F. AT., Bucyni *, Ohio, asks wha t a man with 
a small capital can do, if lie invests in Western 
lands with a view to farming ? 
ANSWER BY 8. -T. GILMORE. 
The following figures, illustrating what an 
industrious, energetic man, with a cash capi¬ 
tal of $700 to $1,000, can do in Central and 
Western Kansas. The lands of the Kansas 
Pacific Railway in this region are sold at from 
82.00 to $6 00 an acre. Good average laud can 
be bought at $3.50 per acre, and the net price 
on six years credit would be $3.15. The coBt of 
160 acres would be $504 and the payments would 
be as follows: 
r , , Prlnci- Inter- 
Payments. When due. pul. est. Total. 
W cash down. Nov. 1st, 1S7H *100.80 ...... *100.80 
p-st.... " 1870 . *28.23 28 23 
Second. *• 1890 . 28.28 28 28 
Third.. •* 1881 100.80 28.23 120.03 
P?«fth. • 1SS2 100.80 21.17 121.97 
F'R'l. • 1883 100.80 11.11 111,01 
Sixth. “ 1891 100.80 7.05 J07.85 
Tota >. *504.00 *127.02 *031.02 
The outlay would then be as follows: 
Cash payment on land. 
Cost of neat iwu-ror.im house, well plastered 
“tjd JPA'nted (this cau Lie reduced to say 
ISO.00 for a cabin).. 
Furniture, stove, etc.),. 
Yoke of oxen. . 
Wagon —new.. 
Plow, harrow and other tools!... .!!”””” 
Cow and chickens...”, 
If he comes in the early spring, tile QOBtof 
Iiviuk lor lanilly of three adults till he can 
eet vegetables, potatoes, seed-corn, etc., 
for live months, would bo about. 
Meanwhile he i.*axi break uihJ sow, say 40 
acres wbenl, com of seed. 
10 acres ot rya, M .. 
Add Incidentals, interest,etc., till liecan ae’li 
i his crops of wheat and rye, say. 
*100.80 
250.00 
35.00 
80.00 
70.00 
40.00 
30.00 
75.00 
26.00 
4.00 
125.00 
Tot!1 l . *834.80 
And during the year he should be able to earn 
from $100 to $200, by breaking land, harvesting, 
etc., for his neighbors. 
During the second year, he Bhould realize.! 
‘■™P 40 acres wheat. 20 bushels to Die aore. k 
800 bushels at 00e. *480.00 
Do., 10acres rye, J3 bushels per acre.......!.. 3o!oo 
(Both of the above are put at very low prices 
—wheat for several years having sold here for 
SOo. to $1.10 per bushel.) 
During the months of May, June and July he 
cau break with two teams, say 50 acres more of 
prairie, and in September sow 100 acres wheat, 
which should yield him, the third year, at least 
$1,200, with which ho can pay in full for his 
land and have a balance left for a good house, 
stable, etc ; and his land would be worth at 
least double its cost. Everything seems to be 
favorable to a man of moderate means here and 
in tho counties west. The climate is mild, the 
rainfall ample—but not enough to drown the 
crops; the soil a deep, rich limestone loam, 
very productive and enduring—wheat averaging 
20 bushels to tho acre—this year averaging 23*^ 
bushels, aud in one instance 60 bushels por acre. 
In addition, the markets for the sale of his crops 
are good, churches aud schools are abundant, 
and society much better thau in any other new 
oountry. 
Seed Corn from Tips, Middle and Butts oi Ears. 
A. U, W., Maas,, asks with regard to selecting 
seed-corn; should tho top or bottom ears bo 
taken, w hen two or more ears grow on the same 
stalk; should the corn be taken from the middle 
or ends of the ears, and, if from the ends which 
one is best. 
Anb.—I n answer to this inquiry, wo find the 
following experiment with corn, on the Univer¬ 
sity Farm, Wis., recorded in the “Transactions 
of the Wis. State Ag. Society ” for 1871, “ Seed 
from Tips, Middle and Butts of Ears. Three 
plots of equal area were planted on May 6, from 
Beed grown in the same manner in 1870; distance 
apart three by four feet; three grains to the 
hill: of New England variety. Cultivation uni¬ 
form in all. The re6ultB are shown in the fol¬ 
lowing table: 
Seed from 
■ Time 
of 
ripen¬ 
ing. 
Yield pr 
acre. 
Average 
length of 
25 longest 
ears. 
Average 
circ. at 
butts of 25 
largest 
ears. 
Butts. 
Middle. 
Tips. 
Aug. 21 
Auk. 21 
Aug. 21 
I 
62 .rr> du. 
till.96 bu, 
58.U bu. 
9 inches 
9.1 inches, 
9.2 iuches 
inches 
6 inoiiee 
5.8 Inches 
No difference was visible in time of ripening, 
but in the yield a perceptible difference was 
shown in favor of seed from the butts of the 
ear. The results of the measurements are 
quite curious, indicating that the average length 
of the ears was greatest in those raised from 
seed from the tips, while the average size around 
the butte, was greatest in the product of seed 
from the butts of the ear. In each case, as well 
as in the yield per acre, the product of seed 
from the middle of the ear was a mean between 
the other two. 
This experiment seems to indicate that seed 
from the butt of the ear produces the greatest 
yield. It is not well, however, to establish this 
as a rule by the results of one, or evon a few 
trials. If farmers in different localities, would 
repeat the experiment, with different varieties of 
corn, for a series of years, and compare results, 
then conclusions might be drawn that would be 
safe to follow. 
Nephila Flumipes. 
E. II. Elliott, Suwannee Co., Fla., sends speci¬ 
men of insect found on his farm and asks for its 
name and history. 
ANSWER BY DR. J. A. LINTNEB. 
The insect sent is the large and beautiful 
spider, kuown as Nephila plumipes (Koch). It is 
the onB which a few years ago (in 1865), excited 
considerable interest, from observations and ex¬ 
periments made upon it by Prof. Wilder of Cor¬ 
nell University, who entertained the belief that 
the silk from it could be obtained in sufficient 
quantity to be utilized in the manufacture of 
silken fabrics. 
The spider is one of the largest of its family, 
measuring, in lateral expanse of legs, two inches 
and three-fourths, and in longitudinal expanse, 
three and three-fourth inches. Its body is an 
inch and one-fourth in length, having a black 
thorax covered with silver-gray hairs, and an 
olive-brown .’cylindrical abdomen marked with 
white and yellow spots. Its first, second and 
fourth pairs of legs have on their second and 
third joints whorls of thick-set, stiff, black hairs. 
Prof. Wilder first met with tho spider on Folly 
Island. North Carolina. In a paper read by him 
before the Boston Society of Natural History, 
October 4th, 1865, ho states : “ As it, stood quiet 
near the top of my tout, I wound off silk upon a 
quill for an hour and a quarter at the rate of six 
feet per minute, making four hundred and fifty 
feet in all.” Subsequently, from an example 
taken upon Long Ialaud, west of Folly Island, 
by means of a gear drill stock with cog wheels, 
Prof. Wilder succeedediu wiuding, directly from 
the abdomen, throe thousand four hundred and 
eighty yards, or nearly two mike of sit/,:. He 
8tatea, during a two years' stay on the coast, and 
in the interior of South Carolina and Florida, 
he had not met with any trace of this spider 
elsewhere than near Long Island. The spiders 
are found in the forests, building their webs 
between trees and shrubB. The web is very 
large, from three to four feet in diameter, quite 
strong and very vivid. Its frame-work is com¬ 
posed of silver-colored silk, and tho coucentrio 
circ’esof a bright yellow or golden-colored silk. 
In these webs large and vigorous insects are 
captured, as cicadas, etc., which the spider first 
envelops in a net by turning them over and 
over, before she proceeds to extract their juices. 
Prof. Wilder was, subsequently, ablo to make 
additional experiments upon this insect, which 
were published, but the papers I have not at 
hand. From my recollection, a sufficient quan¬ 
tity of tho silk was obtained to test its quality iu 
the manufacture of some Bmali article. But as 
there were fonnd some insuperable difficulties in 
tho way of rearing the spider extensively, the 
attempt to render it of economic value proved a 
failure. 
The spider iH figured in the Proceedings of the 
Boston Society of Natural History, vol. x, p. 210, 
where the male—quite a diminutive creature— 
is also represented. 
N. Y. State. Museum of Nat. History Albany. 
Miscellaneous. 
M. B. I\, Brookston, N. C., sends for name, 
flower, leaf, twig and ripened seed of a shrubby 
tree, in that neighborhood called Bay-wood It 
grows plentifully in wet prices, along streams, 
etc., sometimes to the bight of 20 foet or more. 
Hitherto he has, with this exception, never 
noticed flowers on it at any time, except iu early 
summer, and lias never seen many fruit matur¬ 
ing. 
Ans.—I t is Magnolia glauca. 
IF. VF. Feck, Colebrooke, Astabula Co., Ohio, 
asks where he could buy a pair of white mice, 
and how much they would cost. 
Ans.—W hite mice can be bought of R. W. 
Zoller, 5 North William St., N. Y. City, for 50 
cents per pair, Mr. Z,, however, states that he 
would not ship one pair at any price. 
Q. M. Bowman, McKeesport, Pa., asks the 
names of the plow manufacturers in New York 
State, who make the most popular plows ? 
Ans. —Syracuse Plow Co., SyracuBO, N. Y.; 
New York Plow Co., N. Y. City; Wiard Plow 
Co., Batavia, N. Y. 
Communications received for the week ending 
Saturday, September 7th : 
“ Leonora.”—C. L. T.—II. C. S.—T. H. H.— W. B, 
D.—M. w.—“A Rural Cousin.”—T. T. L—F. D. 
C.—F. D. C. No. 2.—Mrs. J. T,, thanks—Mrs. M, 
<i. K.— E. B. D.-.I. A. L.—G. G. 1 2.—Mrs. M. O.— 
Anon.—,J. N.—M. L. D.—W. 11. N.—J. C. C — 
“ Mississippi.”—C. B.—D. M. D.—J. K. M. C.—W. 
B. W.-E. Ji. K.-S. B.-W. F.—O. W., tbanks.- 
M. E. P.—J. 1. C.-J. E. L.-S. B. P.—D. F.—F. G. 
M. 1’.—M. J. O.—J. P. McA,—A. H. W. 
dtojitolm. 
WESTERN NOTES. 
Ogle Co., Ill., Aug. 27, 1878. 
Since the harvest has closed “ Ye Grangers ” 
of the West have been busy threshing their 
crops, or preparing to do do, hauling manure, 
etc., and some few have commenced plowing. 
ThUB the farm-work goes on without cessation, 
and there are many, many things not in the 
regular routine or programme that must be at¬ 
tended to when opportunity is offered. 
Order— the first law of Nature,—should be 
the leading principle with every farmer. It pays 
to be methodical and keep things in good con¬ 
dition and proper shape. There has been more 
money lost in agriculture by wastage, slip-shod 
farming, and inattention to business, than would 
be required to pay off tbe public debt and 
release every mortgage in the land! This 
may seem a rather extravagant guess, but 
the facts in the case would no doubt sustain the 
assertion. Too ranch begun and too little done 
is tho cause of many a misfortune and failure. 
Under a too heavy loud but little progress can 
be made, and the eurrior is soon broken down. 
Let no one undertake more than he can accom 
plish in due season aud In a right manner, aud 
success will crown his well-directed efforts. 
Odd Jors, and there are many of them, cannot 
be mapped out for set times, but must be trans¬ 
acted at the most opportune moments, and in a 
manner that seems the most feasible. The 
thoughtful farmer will be at no loss to know how 
to regulate these little irregularities, so as to 
bring order out of chaos, and make or save a 
little “ honest money,” Among the numerous 
odd jobs that present themselves when least ex¬ 
pected, are repairs to fences and buildings; 
tbe mending or gate hinges that have been 
broken from “ too muchee swiugeethe de¬ 
struction of noxious weeds before they go to 
seed ; the demolition of the nests of tent-cater¬ 
pillars on fruit trees—“ let no guilty one escape;” 
tho removal of water sprouts; and many other 
thingH “ too tedious to mention," will be found 
for industrious and willing hands to do. 
Harvest Home pic nics and recreations are 
highly appropriate at, this lime of year. After 
the hard, toilsome work of harvest, through tho 
long, sultry summer dayB, the body needs relax¬ 
ation and rest, and the mind some social enjoy¬ 
ment other than can be obtained in our daily 
avocations and in the seclusion of rural homes, 
however pleasant these may be. As seed-time 
follows the harvest, it is well to pause and con¬ 
template tbe beauties of Nature, and the mys¬ 
terious ways of an all-wise Providence iu the 
productions of the earth. Apropos ot this, 
allow me to quote a beautiful sonnet on “ Life,” 
from “Galileo and Other Poems,” by J. P. 
Johnston, of Bennett, Pa., which I have no doubt 
will awaken an echoing strain in many a con¬ 
cordant heart; 
“ I stood amid the ripened Held oi corn, 
Which covered all the bright and Bmiling land; 
And saw the reapers come, a happy hand, 
With merry songs upon the breezes borne. 
And glad aud joyous shoutings, ’mid the bright 
And balmy ulr, which seemed to bear no blight. 
I said, ‘All nature Itvos. shall man despair? 
Shall fruitful seeds, which long hud darkly lain 
Beneath tbe sod, revive and bloom again, 
And man be left, to sleep forever there ? 
Beneath the sunshine of a future age;— 
Who knows ? perchance a brighter hour may come, 
When storm shall pass, and tempest coiiBe to rage, 
And man arise to shout the world’s great Harvest 
Home.” 
Agricultural Fairs are now about to be 
held throughout tho differout States, and most 
of them give promise to be of unusual interest 
and unprecedented attraction. This season iB 
auspicious for them, as the crops are bountiful, 
live stock in general good condition, and manu¬ 
factures have attained au emiuent state of im¬ 
provement and perfection. Our Western fairs 
will be found of special interest and value. The 
Minnesota State Fair, at St. Paul, promises a 
useful novelty iu the exhibition of the process 
of making sugar from corn-stalks. This will be 
a practical test, as it is proposed to manufacture 
and granulate sugar in the presence of the pub¬ 
lic, from corn-stalks- Stowell’s Evergreen, and 
a species of Chinese sugar-cane have proved to 
be the richest in saccharine matter, so far as 
tested. Tho leadiug feature in the machinery 
department of Western fairs this year will 
again, most likely, be the various self-binders 
that will be exhibited. Some of these labor- 
saving machines now do their work automatical¬ 
ly with astonishing neatness and dispatch. But 
all kinds of implements and machinery will be 
exhibited in bewildering profusion. The Ex¬ 
position at Chicago, under the efficient manage¬ 
ment of Hon. John I’. Reynolds, Secretary, will 
be open from Sept. 4 to Oot. 9, and will be a 
busy hive of industry. More applications for 
space, from the East, as well as from the West, 
have been made than could well be accommo¬ 
dated in the spacious Exposition building, but 
all will receive due attention. 
I also learn that tho managers of the Illinois 
State Fair (to be held at Freeport, Sept. 16-21,) 
are enlarging their accommodations, by the 
erection of additional booths aud buildings, etc., 
as numerous applications for space and letters 
of inquiry are being received by Secretary S. D. 
Fisher, Springfield IU., from ail parts of the 
State aud elsewhere, indicating a largo attend¬ 
ance and fine show. Let Improvement be the 
aim of all our fairs, and suocess, both present 
and prospective, wiU result therefrom. 
Truly these are encouraging “ signs of the 
times.” W. B. Derrick. 
NORTH CAROLINA NOTES. 
TRANSPLANTING TREES. 
Having had some little experience in trans¬ 
planting evergreens, I may be pardoned for tell¬ 
ing the conclusions I have arrived at. But very 
few losses need be sustained where one not only 
plants his trees himBelf, but lifts them from the 
nureery rows also. Too often by far trees are in fit 
condition only to go on the brnBh heap when re¬ 
ceived, the death-blow having been dealt when 
Pat grasped tho top and pnlled with “might 
and main,” while Miko thrust his spado in tho 
earth, loosening the tree, and at tbe same time 
putting in practice to excess the theory of 
root-pruning. Again, in packing too little moss 
or other damp packiug is UBod on the roots, and 
three or four days’ exposure to dry winds re¬ 
sults, in many cases, in tho conclusion expressed 
by the amateur planter in the hopeless words : 
“ It is useless to plant ou my soil.'' 
My practice has been to procure trees as near¬ 
by as possible, preferring au inferior specimen 
handled under my own eyo, to better ones 
handled as above described. As to the time, I 
have never boon successful iu the fall, lutwould 
not hesitate to fill an order any time after the 
froBt iB sufficiently out of tbe ground in March 
until July. Unless the soil is quite wet, give 
each tree a bucketful of water about the roots, 
then with the spade cut around about a foot 
from tbe stem, more or less according to tho 6izo 
of the tree; have ready at hand a sufficient, num¬ 
ber of boxes, 18 to 24 inches square, tho sides 
being only two or three inches high. If one side 
be left open it is more convenient. While one 
man liftB the plant carefully, another loosens 
with the Bpade the ball of earth which, if tho 
soil be any way tenacious, the fibrous roots will 
hold together until it can be placed in the box. 
It is very easy to slide the mass into the bole 
prepared for it. If all be carefully done, the 
growth will not be retarded and no replant¬ 
ing is required When desiring to plant trees 
from the woods or fields, I have found it 
more satisfactory to cultivate in nursery rows 
one or two years before plauting out singly. 
TO DESTROY BURDOCKS. 
Mr. Bertram's failure to destroy burdocks by 
cutting was no doubt attributable to too early 
cutting. Allow them to make a full growth, 
getting nearly ripe, then out, gather together, 
before the seed is dry enough to shell out in 
handling, and burn. This plan followed, two 
years iu succession, will leave but few, if any. 
The burdock is a biennial, producing no seed 
until the second summor, after which the plant 
dies. If cut before fully developed, cheated 
nature persistently exerts herself in the re-pro¬ 
duction of burdocks, throwing out shoots as 
often as destroyed, and well set with seed, until 
frost ends the struggle ; whereas if allowed to 
mature the first orop they die easily. 
M. B. Prince. 
FARM NOTE8 FROM CENTRAL NEW YORK. 
Ithaca, Tompkins Co., N. Y., Aug. 31, 1878. 
Crop Report. —Com will be fully up to the 
average. Early potatoes poor, those planted 
later, a fair crop. A large amount of hay got¬ 
ten in, in poor condition ou account of the un¬ 
favorable weather. Hay worth $6 to $7, per 
ton; white wheat, §1, per bushel; potatoes, 32 
cents per bushel. Weather fine at present, with 
a good prospect for the buckwheat crop. 
Hen Manure on Corn.— I think I havo found 
the most profitable way to use hen manure on 
corn crops. My plan is as follows: Let one 
man go ahead of the planters, aud drop a small 
handful in each hill; let the planter, before 
dropping tho corn, cover the manure slightly 
with oarth; then drop, and cover as usual. 
Try it once, and you will find your poultry pay 
iu their droppings alone, 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Plymouth, Wayne Co., Mich., Aug. 24. 
Wheat, on the whole, is an unusually heavy 
crop, yielding in some instances, forty-four 
bushels to the acre ; where not injured by ruBt 
the average would be about twenty-five bushels. 
Quite a number report thirty aud over. Some 
few complain of too much straw and very small 
heads. 
Oats havo been a source of trouble to 
the farmer all the season. The land intended 
for them was plowed one day, and thou lay off 
nearly the whole of May, and, exoept on light 
land, very few wore sown before the first week 
of June. The majority headed out when about 
eighteen inches high and are, on the whole, a 
light orop. 
Hay was not an average orop, the May frosts 
having injured it considerably. 
Strawberries considerably injured by frostB 
and finished off w a drought, very short season 
and light orop. 
Raspberries, full orop and fine fruit. 
Grapes nearly all out down in May; a very 
light orop will bo gathered from the second 
growth. 
ArrLEs, various ; some orchard 8 in good bear¬ 
ing, others medium to very light. May frosts 
doing serious damage in some situations. 
Peaches, on the whole, are a light orop, but 
fruit is fine. The extra area sown will, in a 
measure, compensate for the lack of yield. 
Potatoes will bo a fair orop. They vary 
muoh both in quality aud quantity and, at the 
present time, tho average yield can soarcely be 
determined. I have Early Rose, Late Rose, 
Snow Flake, Browueli’s Beauty and Peach Blow. 
The throe first I have tried, and they are the 
best in quality of all I have tasted in North 
