JAN. II 
it will be found to be sweet and wholesome. 
She has so treated butter which was too ran¬ 
cid for cooking, and when put upon the table 
after such treatment, it could not be told from 
fresh butter. _ 
The London Ag. Gazette holds confidently 
to the belief that there is no better agricul¬ 
tural implement than a good farm book or a 
good farm journal. It agrees with the late 
Charles Dickens when he said that that por¬ 
tion of a farmer’s holding which best deserves 
cultivation is the little bit within the ring 
fence of his skull. 
on land in poor condition. This is a sine qua 
non of such experiments, and a great deal of 
the uncertainty, unsatisfactory results, and 
misleading impressions arising from experi¬ 
ments as commonly conducted, have resulted 
from the disregard of this essential condition. 
George Ville carried out most of his experi¬ 
ments on soil that was little better than pure 
sand, and in spite of some heretical prepos¬ 
sessions which detract from his teachings, his 
record of experimental results is well worthy 
of useful study. 
The Palestine or Golden Grains wheat sheds 
the beard as it ripens, while the Black-bearded 
Centennial does not shed it at all (3) ; and, fur¬ 
ther, it is a short, flat head, and Golden Grains’’ 
is a long square (4) head. It is true the grain 
is very much alike. I got the variety called 
Black-bearded Centennial under the name of 
New South Wales Wheat.’ ” 
1. S. Y. H. & Co., it should be borne in 
mind, at first refused to give us any informa¬ 
tion respecting the Golden Grains Wheat, 
which they were selling at from $60 to $125 
per bushel. They merely replied to our letter 
of inquiry that the two kinds were “ as differ¬ 
ent as day is from night." Further—and this 
was what we did not like in the above firm— 
they said that were they to give us the infor¬ 
mation which we asked, the Ruka r. would 
then know as much about the “Golden Grains' 
Wheat as they themselves did. Later they 
manifested a desire to join us in searching out 
the history of the two kinds. As, however, 
according to the above letter, S. Y. Haines & 
Co. procured tbeir seed of the “originator,” 
they might just as well have furnished the 
information from the Oregon gentleman then 
as now. 
2. In the letter of S Y. Haines & Co. the 
word “introducer” was scratched and '‘origi¬ 
nator ” written above it. No doubt the word 
was used advisedly. It is strange they should 
have overlookd the fact that Mr Prettyman 
himself says that he “got the variety called 
Black-bearded Centennial under the name of 
New South Wales Wheat.” Mr. Prettyman 
did not therefore originate it at all. Now 
where did he get “ Golden Grains ?” Did be 
originate that ? If so, how ? Is it the result 
of a cros<5 ? Of selection ? We respectfully 
ask Mr. Prettyman these questions through S. 
Y. Haines & Co., since we are not favored 
with his address. 
3. Mr. Prettyman’s statement that Black- 
bearded Centennial never sheds its beards is 
incorrect. Generally it does. 
4. The heads of Black-bearded Centennial 
which took the first Rural New-Yorker 
prize were not short. We have seen no less 
than twenty which were nearly as long, though 
not proportionately heavy. The type head 
of this wheat could not better be described 
than by the words “long” and “square.”. 
Mu. G. A. Goff, Jr., the well known to¬ 
bacco grower of Chemung County, New \ ork 
State, writes as follows: 
“ I very much wish you could perform some 
experiments in tobacco growing at the Rural 
Farm This important product is certainly 
being neglected by the agricultural press of 
the country, and its culture, curing, manipula¬ 
tion. etc., furnish a broad Held for useful in¬ 
vestigation which would doubtless result in 
valuable discoveries which would help tobacco 
growers greatly, i am confident that you 
could do great good at the Rural Farm in this 
way Growers generally are too poor or too 
practical to try experiments or to undertake 
anything now. I hope some time to be able 
to make an effort myself to answer some of 
the questions relating to this subject, which 
. * * -. — 4. cntief nnfni’ilir an. 
gia white variety. Its color is a light red or 
amber; but all white wheats cultivated here 
will, in the course of four or five years, take 
that color, no matter how white their color 
when brought here. Red wheat is best adapt¬ 
ed to our soils and climate, out-yielding white 
varieties by far, as a general thing.” 
The grains are of medium size and more 
nearly red than amber as we understand those 
terms as applied to wheat. We should be 
glad to hear from Mr. Jones as to its yield 
and how it is known to have originated in 
Georgia. 
One of the foremost professors of the Mich¬ 
igan State Agricultural College seuds us 
the following letter: 
“ I must sincerely thank you for the manly 
and true words you say on page 864, under 
“ Agricultural Colleges." It is a grand thing 
for agriculture to have some such paper on 
which we can rely, on which there is no taint 
of partiality or catering to interests of adver¬ 
tisers at the expense of truth. T think few 
persons saw this in the Rural sooner than 
myself. What, you say of “ flippant ” remarks 
against agricultural colleges is good. Some 
of our agricultural colleges are very weak 
when they should be strong, just for the want 
of some encouraging words, confidence and 
work I am glad you see the influence of the 
schools of agricult ure. They are already ex¬ 
erting a very great influence in favor of pro¬ 
gressive agriculture. This can be seen by no¬ 
ticing the list of contributors to our host agri¬ 
cultural papers. It can be seen in most of our 
wide-awake societies which are scattered all 
over the country working in the interests of 
some department of agriculture. There was a 
time when this influence was so prominently 
seen in our own State Horticultural Society 
that. It awakened some jealousy. But the So¬ 
ciety has grown stronger and stronger. It is 
a power for good in the State We are proud 
of our Secretary, who is a graduate of our ng- 
ricultu ral college. At the meeti ngs are gener¬ 
ally not less than ten or a dozen graduates of 
the agricultural college. Many of them read 
or speak well. Some of the professors turn 
out almost every time. At onr Farmers’ In¬ 
stitutes about the State onr graduates are ac¬ 
tive and efficient. Other States are meeting 
with a like experience, which will become 
more and more conspicuous as they grow 
older.”.,...... 
We should be glad if all our readers, who 
have not done so, would try the Telephone 
I’ea next Spring. This was introduced several 
years ago in this country by the Rural IJew- 
Yorker, and with us it has no superior among 
the intermediate kinds. Many of the cata¬ 
logues soon to be noticed in these columns will 
offer the Telephone. 
The Marquis of Lome, when speaking of 
the advantage of emigration to Canada, gave 
the opinion of a young woman on the climate 
of Manitoba. She said it consisted for a ma¬ 
jority of months of snow and for a minority 
of months of mosquitoes. Her married sis¬ 
ter, however, liked the country during both 
periods. 
Knowing the power of lime to dissolve the 
silicates of the soil to which it is applied, ami 
the universal presence in both sandy and 
clayey soils of insoluble silicates of pota.-u, it 
is only reasonable to attribute much of tin- 
useful effect of lime to this action up<~ the 
unavailable potash, by which it is loosi-m-d 
from its combination with silica and rendered- 
soluble and available for plant food. So hat 
it is really the potash which produces the f- 
feet perceived, the lime being the agent or 
power which enables it to act. 
A correspondent of the Northampton 
Mercury speaks well of the treatment of draft 
horses in Liverpool. He says: “I had the 
good fortune to spend a week in Liverpool 
during the last Autumn, and among the many 
wonders of that wonderful district, nothing 
gav i . ■sater pleasure than to witness the 
sc kindness with which the horses 
wore treated. The whip is a thing of the 
past in Liverpool The kindly tone of the 
human voice is used instead, and the results 
are some tiling to remember for a lifetime. 
Everywhere I saw these beautiful creatures 
doing their work with intelligence and power 
that wen- quite new to me, guided only 
by the vo • - and a wave of the hand of their 
attoi dams -I was almost saying drivers, but 
that would nave been a libei.” “ This is say¬ 
ing a good leal for the horse-keepers of Liver¬ 
pool, for there is no town in England where 
the work is aarder,” adds the Mark Lane Ex¬ 
press. 
A writer in the Practical Farmer says that 
the man who invests his cash capital in farm 
macbinery will find his capital always in- 
reasing, f t such investments bring large re¬ 
turns. Nut only will they save money, but 
they will uake money. The virtues of the 
policy ind; ited are not of a negutive charac- 
t r alone; Hey are many of them most posi- 
tive in the;/ nature. The man who has the 
money to in vest in good farming implements 
md machi ry, and who does so spend it, will 
m his cr os in well and carefully. Not 
only will improved implements assist in the 
preparation of the ground, but he can use them 
just w hen '0 needs them and when they can 
be employ* l to the best advantage. When be 
has his corn ground ready to plant he can pi o- 
eeed to do so without waiting till he can get 
an idle I er. When he wishes to use a drill 
o/mower V* has one to put to work without 
crops will be put in well and thor¬ 
oughly, wi be tended and cultivated care¬ 
fully and iroughly, and saved economically 
condition, because from the first 
h*i the last improved machinery and 
have been employed. The ulti- 
, i this is large crops of a superior 
quality, ' as a result a larger cash capital 
j start with the next year. 
It is economy, remarks the agricultural 
editor of the New York World, to look after 
the wood-work of tools and machinery. Al¬ 
ternate wetting and drying soon injures any 
wood, causing cracking and final decay. This 
may be prevented by the timety and occasi 
al application of some cheap paiut. When 
wood-work from exposure has become cracked 
it is advised to give it a wash of crude pet re 
leum previous to an external coat of pain: 
Petroleum not only improves all wooden iouIs 
but is alike valuable for rustic furniture, d, 
as arbors, garden chairs and vases, that : 
exposed to the weather. Gas tar is some 
employed as a paint for wagon wheel 
correspondent who has made use of it i: t s 
way says that it forms a hard, durable : 
polish, something like Japan on tinware, 1 
dries in the Summer sun—on wood in one day, 
aud on iron in two days. 
The Germantown Telegraph says th > 
contemporary, in answer to a correspon ' 
says that “probably" the English Wi.i 
would be found to do well in the vicini v of 
Philadelphia. There is no doubt about i' It 
would not be too much to say that thei ' 
thousands of English Walnut trees in tl 
gions referred to, some of them at least a I 
dred years old, and many of them trees 
the third or fourth generation from the < 
nal trees—perhaps “ settlers” on the lan 
der William Penn. 
One very apparent lesson of the Islington 
Fat Stock Show, says the Mark Lane Express, 
is that the Scotch polled cattle have proved 
themselves capable of making high daily aver- 
Hkre ; - two odd methods of starting a 
balky hors \ from our London exchange, the 
hive Stock ournal:—“ 1. Tire your steed out 
hr remtunieg perfectly quiet until he starts 
of himseb t once sat in my cart nearly two- 
and-a hnl: hours in this way. 2. Now and 
then < lu: se is met with that refuses to draw 
at all; pu: min. a cart in a shed, and keep 
hiv c on til he walks out. In one instance 
that <v my knowledge the obstinate one 
was 36 lu in the shafts before he gave in.” 
A lady writer in the Albany Cultivator 
A correspondent to the Rural New- 
Yi'KKKr ys the London Mark Lane Ex- 
press, ridioi es a certain writer for proposing 
that the ricultural colleges should deter¬ 
mine whet handling” means, and is justly 
severe on : 1.• phraseology of a portion of the 
English | IV--—“the thick crops," the “full 
bosoi i," • “sweet, delicious handling,” the 
‘ iv,*; . of hair,” and “all the other slang 
: aid ibsurd u of some of the English amateurs 
Live stock." 
Carolina, congratulates the 
Rural upon its portraits of 1 
animals. So far as his obser- f 
vation extends the Rural is 
the first journal to present 
them in such a natural way 
that one can feel that it is pos¬ 
sible to have as good in reality. 
Mr. Prince concludes: “ I well 
remember when, in my boy¬ 
hood days. I gazed with ad¬ 
miration on the square-built, 
beautifully-rounded and sym¬ 
metrical engravings of Short¬ 
horns and others in our agri¬ 
cultural journals of that day, 
and how I longed and hoped 
to own such myself some day. 
But, alas! such were not to be 
found ! Now, the farmer boy 
has a mark for his aim which 
he may hit.”. 
We have already spoken of 
the “ Bill Dallas" Wheat— a 
large quantity of which was 
said to have been purchased 
by Commissioner Loriug for 
distribution, at a high price. As it was 
said to yield heavily, we requested the Com¬ 
missioner to send us a quantity of seed to be 
tested at the Rural Farm. But other kiuds 
were sent instead, so that we missed the “Bill 
Dallas.” A week or so ago Mr. J. F. Jones, of 
Hogansville, Troup County, Ga., sent us asmal 
bag, accompanied by the following note: 
“ The ‘Bill Dallas’ Wheat is aj native Geor - 
■ If! ' 
lug/*.. . s > MJLUl uu- 
vertised in English journals as the 
earliest of all potatoes. 
Professor Sanborn calls ensilage “ watered 
stock.”.A little more of the 
spirit of John Osborne is what is needed in 
many parts of our country. President Warder 
states that he walked from Richmond, Ind., to 
Flushing, Long Island, to collect grafts of 
tine fruits, the journey and its results being 
the beginuing of fruit culture in Indiana and 
Ohio.The Mark Lane Ex¬ 
press (London) remarks upou the fact that 
there is not a single farmer iu the United 
States House of Representatives. 
Dr. Lawes spends annually upon experiments 
at his farm at Rothamsted, England, be¬ 
tween $10,000 and $15,000 .Mr. 
Brown of Canada says that apparently about 
one-fifth of ground corn passes through the 
cattle beast undigested and that pea meal 
roughly ground, gives 21 per oent. greater re- 
Dr. Voelcker and Mr. Jamieson agree, re¬ 
marks tne above journal, in stating that ex¬ 
periments with manures should be carried out 
