744 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOV. 9 
dbtrutolifre. 
U 
TRADE AND AGRICULTURE IN ENGLAND. 
PROFESSOR I. P. SHELDON, 
OF THE ROYAL AO RICH LTDR AL COLLEGE. CIREN¬ 
CESTER, ENGLAND. 
For some time past things in general have 
been growing worse, gradually but not slowly 
worse, in those islands. The I'ranoo-Gorman 
war gave an extraordinary stimulus to trade, 
and through trade to agriculture, in Britain, 
and the country, for the time being, waB almost 
sated with prosperity. But that prosperity was 
essentially fleeting and abnormal in character. 
Born of war and bloodshed, of tumult RDd anar- 
ohy; springing out of those convulsions which, 
wherever they ocour, shake the foundations of 
society ; comiug to us because it was driven for 
the time away from other countries, this snd- 
den and extra prosperity was fugitive and 
ephemeral. Commerce and manufactures were 
at a standstill, or next to a standstill in some 
of the finest and most industrious parts of 
Europe eight years ago, and they naturally 
gravitated to other parts where they could be 
carried on in peace. So the bulk of them came 
to Eoglaud which, always exoepting America, is 
the finest country on earth for refugees to flee 
to! Bat the war came to an end, as all wars 
must when men’s evil passions have calmed 
down aud their lust for blood is satiated; trade 
began at once to return to the places from which 
it had been exiled, and we in this country began 
to feel the effects of the inevitable reaction. 
It is a law in mechanics that if you swing a 
pendulum violently in one direction it will, of 
its own aooord, Hwing nearly as far in the oppo¬ 
site ouo, and that it will be some time before it 
again becomes settled. So it is with trade. 
Eight years ago we were very busy and very 
prosperous; our coal and iron industries had 
never before been so brisk; our ships were all 
profitably employed, aud our insular trade and 
manufactures were in a state of the highest 
prosperity. As a matter of course, agriculture 
sharbd in the general welfare. Many of our 
people became in a sense intoxicated with suc¬ 
cess, and they thought their good fortune would 
continue forever—or at least they seemed to 
thiuk so. These infatuated ones were found 
principally amoDg the working classes, and there 
were strange scenes of wild extravagance 
amongst them. They were earning very high 
wages, and they squandered their oirniugs in 
reckless prodigality. Ilab.ts like these once 
acquired, are difficult to relinquish. But the 
time soon oame when employers could no longer 
afford to pay such high wages, but soonor than 
submit to the redaction which was inevitable, 
the working classes struck work. Thus it was 
that our prosperity vanished like a dream—war 
drove it into our hands, our own folly drove it 
away again. 
Thus it follows that we are suffering from 
long-sustained depression of trade, aud agricul¬ 
ture is in a far from satisfactory state. The 
purchasing ability of our bread-winners is very 
much reduced, and they are learning habits of 
frugality—compulsory frugality. Our colliers 
no longer drink champagne themselves, or give 
legs of mutton to their dogH. They have to 
make one dollar go as far now as they made 
two or three go only a very few years ago. This, 
of coarse, is wholesome discipline, but it is 
diminishing the profits of our farmers. Bread, 
beef, mutton, cheese, butter—all are much lower 
in price than they were two years ago, nor are 
there any signs that the markets will improve 
very soon. Some people say they can detect 
symptoms of a revival in trade in some of its 
branches, but these speak their hopes rather 
than their convictions. 
It is true, the oonntry is wealthier now than it 
was ten years ago, but the wealth is less scat¬ 
tered than it was two years ago. When bad 
times come, money immediately begins to collect 
into tbe hands of a few people, just as ships has¬ 
ten into port when Btormy weather comes on at 
sea. The masses of our people are never frugal 
except when they are compelled to be, aud they 
lay up no store against a rainy day. They are 
like the Esquimaux Indians, who grow fat in 
summer and in winter Btarve. Extravagance 
and its slater, improvidence—ugly twins, these— 
are the evil genii of the hubs of our people, and 
the wise have to support the fooliBh when pov¬ 
erty comes. 
Then, to make matters worse, we have a bel¬ 
licose government in power who are talcing the 
right way to iooreaso the taxation of the coun¬ 
try and to add to the national burdens. You 
arc wisely payiug off your national debt we are 
augmenting ours. Lord Beaoonsfield is squan¬ 
dering Mr. Gladstone’s Havings, and with ex¬ 
quisite fatuity our people have hitherto encour¬ 
aged him in it. The tide of popular favor is 
beginning to turn at last; we are now called 
on to pay for onr swagger, our " epirited foreign 
policy,” as it was vainglorionsly termed. We 
are pr ictically at war with Afghanistan, and it 
is quite possible we shall be at war with Russia 
before long, for our Government has done all it 
could to stir up ill blood between ourselves and 
{.he nssians; we should have been fighting 
them now but for Mr. Gladstone’s influence in 
favor of peace. 
Meanwhile, the only thing that seems to be 
flourishing in this country at the present 
time, so far as agriculture is concerned, is 
the breeding of pedigree Shorthorns. The 
Duke of Devonshire sold off a portion of his 
surplus stock the other day, when thirty animals 
fetched close on .£20,000! But it is only the 
longest pedigrees, the choicest strains of blood, 
and the most fashionable tribes that will fetch 
these high figures, and this because they are 
comparatively limited in numbers, and are all 
in the hands of wealthy men. Shorthorns of 
moderate purity of blood and limited pedigrees, 
but witbal, sound and superior animals, can 
now be bought for moderate prices, within the 
reach of rent-paying farmers ; they are, indeed, 
much lower than they were a short time ago; 
but this is owing not to depression in the agri¬ 
cultural world, but to the welcome and enoour- 
aging fact that the country is now full of well- 
bred stock; and the same remarks apply to 
sheep. Pigs we don't value so highly as you do 
in America. 
The crops in Eoglaud this year are, generally 
speaking, above an average—the hay crops espe¬ 
cially. Wheat is about two shillings a bushel low¬ 
er than it was a year ago—it is now worth about 
5s. 3d. per bushel, or 42s. per quarter. Beef is 
lower; 4Lj to 9J. per lb; mutton 5d. to 9d., 
prime ; Southdown, 10t£iL Cheese, inferior, 40s. 
to 50s,; middling, 50s. to 60s. ; good, 60s. to 
70s.; prime, 70s. to 80s. per cwt., aud within 
these limits there are all kinds of qualities and 
prioes. On the whole, cheese may be said to be 
5s. to 10s. lower than it was a year ago. 
---- 
NOTES FROM KENTUCKY. 
Wheat is growing finely. A few are yet sow¬ 
ing, but a large majority here, in Hunter’s 
Bottom, finished during last month. We have 
taken more pains in preparing the ground than 
ever before. Many of ns have planted on long 
fallows and, although the ground broke up 
cloddy, we are amply repaid for the extra rolling, 
harrowing, An., by the thrift aud ev-nness of 
the plants. We never before saw wheat look so 
beautiful at this time of the year. It seems as 
though each tried to have even the drills 
straighter than his neighbors’, and so confident 
of victory are we that each has run his drill per¬ 
pendicular to the road. It is gratifying to see 
such emulation, as it gives us a better prospect 
for an abundant harvest in 1879, than tvci 
before. 
Potatoes. —We are now, Oct. 20, in the bight 
of potato digging, We will not average more 
than forty barrels per acre, owing to the early 
and protracted drought and the rot; for these we 
fiud ready sale at our Lading at forty cents per 
bushel. I dug 58 barrels on half an acre—va¬ 
riety, Hootch Nobles ; soil, a dark a'luvial, heavily 
manured in 1876 for celery in ’77. I do not 
think the rot any worse on this plot than in my 
clover sod. My next neighbor has dug about 
20 acres, and ho has averaged 40 barrels 
of salable, 11 barrels of rotten aud about 
five barrels of small potatoes per acre. No es¬ 
timate is made of tho tubers that were entirely 
destroyed; only those that were partly sound 
were picked up. These figures, I think, will 
closely approximate the average of this section. 
Ai-fles have fallen badly and have rotted on 
the trees more extensively than for many years. 
They are worth from 40 to 60 cents per bushel. 
Stock.— Our cattle will go into winter quarters 
in better condition than for many years. Price 
2)4 to 3Ji per lb. on foot. Hogs are fattening 
finely. No cholera or other disease as yet. h. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Berlin, Hartford Co., Conn., Oct. 23, 1878. 
Everything was in advanoe of ordinary sea¬ 
sons, nearly two weeks earlier. The hay crop 
was abundant, rye aud oats good. Corn prom¬ 
ised very well, but a dry spell oame on about the 
time of its setting, and the ears are not filled 
out a3 well as expected, though there is Borne 
good corn. The “ potato bugs ” came on in 
force, aud they, with the white grub, made the 
potato crop rather small. The grubs did not 
coniine their attention to potatoes, bnt took 
strawberries, raspberries, and especially grass 
roots, killing, in the aggregate, many acres of 
grass. In some fields whore they took the po¬ 
tatoes, the moles went through nearly every 
hill and took the grubs. It is a question 
whether tho mole is not of greater benefit than 
haim to farmers. There is no doubt about its 
doing much apparent harm to meadow lands, 
but as it works for grubs, it very likely saves 
more than it destroys. 
Tears were not very abundant,, but the apple 
crop was too large for use. Besides this, the 
apples, ripening so much earlier than usual, 
promise to decay much earlier still. They are 
rotting very badly, and it is a question whether 
apples will not be scarce by mid-winter. They 
have been very low thus far, in some oases 
hardly paying for the trouble of picking and 
getting them to market. The grape crop was 
small, owing largely to tho ravages of the “ rose 
bugs.’ They took blossoms and leaves, too, es- 
Decially on the Clinton. I have seen no rot or 
mildew worth naming, though the Dianas rotted 
most. Ipse. 
Hbnkt Co., Ohio, Oct. 21. 
Wheat is a good crop— averaging 25 bushels 
to the acre. A larger amount has been sown 
chis fall than ever before. It is looking finely 
now. The favorite varieties are Clawson and 
Blue-stem, which appear to do better here than 
any others. Potatoes are only half & crop. Ap¬ 
ples are abundant, but the blight has injured 
pear trees so that pears are small and poor. 
Corn is a better crop than it has been for sever¬ 
al years, being far better than was expected 
daring the growing soason. Rust has injured 
the fodder somewhat. Altogether the farmers 
are prosperous. 
There is a cry here, as elsewhere, from a cer¬ 
tain class, that they can’t get work; but where 
work is to be done, it is difficult to secure hands 
at reasonable wages. In many cases laborers 
demand the same wages as before the general 
fall in prices. Crops often receive injury from 
the difficulty of securing laborers. One of my 
neighbors was obliged to do part of bis harvest¬ 
ing with only himself and a single hired man to 
follow the reaper. Yet plenty of laborers (?) 
complain that they can’t get work 1 
I Y. J. Emery. 
Amherst, Mass., Oct. 31,1878. 
Our fall has been very dry and warm until 
the last two weeks during which wo have hod 
copious rainB. No hard froBt until the 2'Jth. 
Apples area glut in tho market at 75cts, to $1. 
per barrel, and cider the same at *1.00 to 1.50. 
The crop of apples is the heaviest ever known 
in this valley, the trees fairly breaking down in 
many instances with their loads of fruit, which 
is of very fine quality, though not generally of 
large size. Potatoes are one-third or one- 
half a crop and are worth 75cts. to *100 per 
bush.; they are mostly of poor quality and 
were badly eaten by the white grubs of the May 
beetles which have iucreased rapidly within a 
few years aud bid fair to become one ot tbo 
worst pests the farmer has to contend with. 
Grapes were a failure, being * nipped in the bud’ 
by the late spring frosts. Corn a goud orop. 
Tobacco a good crop and curing np finely and 
the growers are expecting good prices. 
l. w. G. 
Coventry, Chenango Co., N. Y., Oct. 23th. 
Spring opened warm and dry. Potatoes, as a 
( general tfiiug, wore planted in April, also some 
corn. May averaged dry ; June cold and wet; 
July hot and dry up to about the 20th; after 
that light showers. Fall warm and dry up to 
about the 14 th of October, when we had a cold 
rain with snow. Fall feed good ; hay crop, un¬ 
precedentedly large; corn, good excepting on very 
wet pieces; oats a rather light crop, but quality 
good; buckwheat a good yield in this immediate 
vicinity. Potatoes were almost a total failure. 
Wheat, of which there is considerable raised 
hereabouts fi r a dairy region, was extra gcod, 
yielding about thirty bushels on an average. 
Spring wheat was hardly worth enttiug. Corn 
is worth 50o.; buckwheat, 40c ; rye, 75c.; wheat, 
$1.10@S1.25; oats. 30c.; butter, 18@22c.; pork, 
53^c.; dressed beef, about the same by tbe side. 
j. II. M. 
St. Clair Co., Ills., Oct. 27. 
The wheat orop was very poor, averaging m 
this section about ten bushels to tho acre. 
Nearly every one was disappointed, as the pros¬ 
pects before harvest were good for a heavy crop. 
The weevil damaged the wheat a great deal after 
it was stacked, and now quite a number of farm¬ 
ers aro hauling it to market for fear it will bo 
eaten up by this peBt in the granaries. Corn 
and potatoes are not very good, the long, hot, 
dry summer having cut both orops short. There 
was considerably more wheat sown this year 
than last, but it was all a little late, as farmers 
were afraid to sow aH early as usual on account 
of danger from tbe Hessian Fly; but consider¬ 
ing the time when it was sown, it looks very 
well. 
Land in this vicinity is considered worth from 
820 to 860 per acre—820 for unimproved timber 
land, and 860 for improved farms. 
N. J. Shepherd. 
Corning, Steuben Co., N. Y., Oct 25,1878. 
Glorious weather we are having for fall work, 
and most farmers %re improving it. A large 
acreage is sown to wheat, but seeded very’ late, 
too lato, I think. I have seen no appearance of 
the Fly on my own yet; dry weather has given 
it a small top, otherwise it is doing finely. I 
always cultivate my ground for wheat until it is 
as mellow as possible, Mr. Fowler to tbe con¬ 
trary, notwithstanding. I am preparing to set 
a half acre of raspberries—a part this fall aud a 
part in the spring. J. l. 
Hugo, Ill., Oct. 24,1878. 
We had considerable frost and some snow here 
from the 18th to 20th, and some ice formed. 
Oats, 12)^c.; corn, 20o.; wheat, 75o.; hay, 88 
per ton ; labor, very low. Fine times generally. 
A larger area than usual has been planted to 
wheat. Apples are a light crop. Some orchardist 
who would come here and put out Ben. Davis, 
Rawle’s, Genet or Gennetting, and work for 
annual crops, would do well. a. o. w. 
Attica, N. Y„ Oct. 30. 1878. 
First snow to whiten the ground fell here 
last Monday morning, Oot. 28th. Tho weather, 
however, is warmer since this snowfall. We had 
rain on Tuesday mghtandit is a {Tinkling to-day. 
Grape vines are green yet, with tips quite fresh. 
This is tho latest fall weather we have had yet. 
Fastui e is still fresh and good. s. v. 
Jackson, Mich., Oct. 27tfi, 1S76. 
It has been snowing here all to-day and yes¬ 
terday. The surrounding country is already 
buried beneath a spotless, white pall, and even 
the streets are covered with it, only that here 
and there, the mud shows its murky color 
through a rent in the texture. k. 
Cambkidgr, Mass., Oct. so, 1878. 
A sharp frost yesterday morning. Cannas, 
Morning-glories and other tender plants were 
spoiled. It rained all day to-day. The fall 
throughout has been unusually extended—mild 
and dry._*'• 
York, Neb., Oct. 28th, 1878. 
Very dry weather hereabouts. Grain turning 
out finely. Wheat worth 40 to 50o.; oats, 16 to 
18c.; corn. 15c.; potatoes, 25o.; apples, 81 per 
bushel; hogs, 82 to 82.50 per 100 lbs.; wages, 
81 per day, _ j. b. n. 
Dallas, Texas, Oct. 20. 1878. 
We had such a wet harvest that a deal of our 
wheat was spoiled; it is worth 50c. to 85o. a 
bushel, according to quality. Cotton, 8 to 9 
cents. w. t. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Destroying Insects on Canary Birds. 
W. H. W., Welland, Out., Canada, asks for 
some way of destroying insects on canary birds. 
Ans.— Powders warranted to kill parasitio in¬ 
sects are sold by all bird dealers. Quite a num¬ 
ber of remedies are recommended, such as sprink¬ 
ling a pinch of Scotch snuff under the wings, 
etc. One Btrongly recommended, from his own 
experience, by Rev. F. Smith, in his work on the 
Canary, is the following : Dissolve a couple of 
cents’ worth of white precipitate powder in half 
a teacupfnl of warm water; dip the bird bodily 
into the solution, taking special care that none 
of the poisonous stuff gets into its beak or eyes; 
then dip it in a basin of warm water; then wrap 
it in a piece of flannel, lay it before the fire until 
partially dry; then put it in tbe oage, which 
should be kept before the tire until the bird is 
thoroughly comfortable. As preventives, a free 
use of the water and dust baths, thoroughly 
cleaning the nests and sifting the food well can¬ 
not be too strongly recommended. 
Treat ment of Smllax. 
Mrs. E. N. C. is in trouble about her Smilax. 
About two weeks ago, unlike Borne other men, 
her husband managed to remember her order to 
bring the plant from the greenhouse. Since 
then, the young thing has been turning yellow 
and drooping, as if afflicted with the yellow fever 
or with regret at parting from its comrades. 
Like many other men, her husband forgot to 
ask all about how his now purchase should be 
treated, and accordingly she Bonds to the Robal 
for information on this point. 
Ans.—T ake up the bulbs (it belongs to the 
Lily family) See that the drainage is perfect. 
Make the Boil loose. Replant. After a rest, 
they will grow finely. 
Miscellaneous. 
W. IT. W., 'Westborovgh, Mass., says that 
among some plants he received from the Rural 
Grounds last fall was one whose name he could 
not make out. It has made only a small growth 
th’S season aud seems to be a kind of vine or 
runner. He asks its habit, right name and uso. 
Ans. —It i8 Vitis heterophylla. For a con¬ 
densed account of it, see Rural columns this 
week under hoadiug. Free Heed Distribution. 
W. F. Mitchell, Ferth Co., Canada, asks how to 
propogate White Thorn for hedges, by cuttings. 
Ans. —If everything is favorable, it may grow 
out-of-doors from cuttings a foot long. It oan 
also be grown by layers. A safe way is to grow 
it from cuttings of two or three eyes under 
glass. 
We must again ask the indulgence of those 
whose questions are not gi t answered. 
Communications received for the week ending 
Saturday, November 2nd : 
F. H.—W. II.—J. 8.—8, F.—J. LeR. N.—G. D.— 
H. S.-S. P.-W. II. U.-E. W. S.-I. P. S.—Mr. W. 
accept thank8.—F. D. C.—T. T. L.—S. L. F.—H. 
Bros.-G. W. C.—C. D.—T. II. H,—E. M. we are 
always happy to give both bides, so as to aid in 
establishing the truth.—N. J. 8.—8. F.—Dr. A. C. 
W.-C. T.-L. W. G.—W. F.-E. W. S.-J. II. W.- 
M. B.— c. 8 . A—It. C. the Rural is invariably 
discontinued ateDdoI subscription term.—L. W. 
S. We do not care ror any vines or specimen 
plants except for trial, In which case we endeavo 
to report according to merits.—G. L. W.—M.— 
Renoclaf.—O. W.—T. A, P.-1L M. S.-R. R.-W. 8 
W.—W. D. 
