S7 
* 
m 
THE BUBAL fSEW-YOBKEB. 
therefore it must be sown pretty thick on 
the ground; two bushels will do this, as the 
grain is small.” Dickson in 1805 (Agricul¬ 
ture, V.'l. I, page 578i describes this oat in 
almost similar language. 
Another writer somewhat nearer our own 
day (British Husbandry, Vol. II (1837) Page 
180), mentions the two kinds, the naked and 
the skinless: “ The species more peculiarly 
adapted to poor soils are the Tartarian, the 
black, mid the naked oat, or Pilcorn and 
Pilez * * * * The naked oat, or, as it is 
not uncommonly termed, ‘Pilcorn,’ from the 
corolla being detached from the seed, as in 
the case of wheat, is thought to be not im¬ 
probably the only surviving branch of our 
primitive corn, if not the only bread corn of 
our remote ancestors; but its only recom¬ 
mendation is its hardiness in producing a 
moderate crop where no other grain can be 
expected to grow.’ Of the skiidess oats the 
same writer observes: “Among the numer¬ 
ous different sorts which are grown, we un¬ 
derstand that a skinless oat has been lately 
brought from a remote district of China, 
which possesses the extraordinary advantage 
of being not only free of husk, but of con¬ 
taining far more farinaceous matter than 
any of the known kinds, while its produce 
has amounted to 2(3 barrels of 14 stone each, 
to the Irish acre. It was, also, not sown un¬ 
til the 4th of May, 1830, and was reaped early 
in August.” Henderson says: “The naked 
or hulless oat is Avena mula, found growing 
wild in many parts of Europe, and con¬ 
sidered merely' a degeneration of the com¬ 
mon oat. A very' line variety' of this species 
has been introduced from China, but its 
merits as a farm crop have not been fully 
tested.” (Handbook of Plants, 1881, Page 22.) 
The three above-mentioned varieties were 
sown broadcast at the rate of four pecks 
per acre on adjoining plats, on April 2, 1881. 
The field w r as in wbert the year before, and its 
soil a very' poor, sandy loam. The plats w ere 
one-fourth acre each, and were dressed with 
200 pounds of the same fertilizer per acre. The 
Rust proof Oats were cut July 3, the Wash¬ 
ington and Chinese Hulless July 8. The re¬ 
sults w r ere as follow's: 
Yield per acre. 
Varieties. 
Straw. 
Grain. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
Red Rust proof.... 
433 
G0S 
Washington. 
3M) 
GOO 
Chinese Hulless... 
800 
520 
X) V 3 
o o * 
rx O 
00 cr P 
•y 
• a? 
9’5 
<p 2 
19 
ll)!4 
K 
FS 
v 
ms. 
31H 
30)s 
45 
raising broom-corn. I prepare my ground 
the same as for corn, and mark the rows 
three feet apart, distance between the hills 
about two feet, with from four to six stalks in 
the hill. I use the common hand planter, to 
which I make an extra dropper small enough 
to drop the desired amount of seed. Brown’s 
horse planter is also good for planting broom- 
corn. I use the Missouri Evergreen variety, 
and think it the best kind to raise in this lat¬ 
itude, or in Illinois. It requires about four 
quarts of seed to plant an acre. I cultivate 
with a two-horse cultivator, throwing the 
soil from the hill the first time I go through 
it, when it is about two inches high. I go 
through it again when it is from four to six 
inches high ; this time I throw the soil around 
the hill, and thereby cover up the weeds. If 
the ground is new and free from weeds it does 
not require hoeing ; but if the ground is old 
and well seeded to weeds it will require 
hoeing, as it must be kept free from weeds to 
insure a good crop. I do not break the stalks 
until the brush is ready to cut, when I break 
two rows together and thus make a table on 
which to lay my brush after cutting, so that it 
can bo easily gathered and taken to the dry¬ 
ing sheds. It must be cut when the seed is in 
the dough, to preserve its bright green 
color. 1 raise my own seed and select it from 
the longest and finest of the brush. 1 here 
are various ways of cleaning the seed from 
the brash by horse power, and all are good. 
It may be baled in a common hay press and 
tied with No. 9 wire. We raise from 700 to 
$1,000 lbs to the acre, and it sells at from $80, 
to LOO per ton here. Seed is w orth half as 
much as corn for cattle, sheep or hogs if al¬ 
lowed to get ripe, and when ground with an 
equal part of corn, the mixture is better for 
feed than all corn. I think it is worth as 
much to raise one acre of broom corn as tw r o 
acres of corn, and the former is a surer 
crop in this State, as it will stand the drought 
mtnh better than Indian corn. 
Greenwood Go.. G. W. IIemenway. 
Tobacco should never be packed crosswise of 
the cases, as such packing interferes with the 
rules followed in “sampling.” Short cases 
should be used for short tobacco and long ones 
for long tobacco; in other w'ords, the length 
of the case should correspond with that of the 
tobacco to be packed. G. A. G., JR. 
Elmira, N. Y. 
The small yields are explained by the long- 
con tiuued Spring and mid-Summer droughts. 
The difference between the yields of grain of 
the first two varieties was very slight, but the 
Washington gave almost double the quantity 
of straw. '1 he straw of the Rush proof was 
short but strong, the heads well filled, and 
the graiu a little the heavier per bushel. The 
straw of the Washington was large and 
coarse and the chaff very white. The stiff¬ 
ness of the straw' will probably prevent this 
variety from lodging even on very rich soils. 
The Hulless gave the smallest crop of grain 
of the three, but almost as much straw as the 
Washington. The grain Separated readily 
from the busk or chaff, and but few “caps” 
remained after fanning. The berry, which 
resembles rye in appearance and size, weighed 
45 pounds per bushel. It is certainly to be 
preferred for oatmeal. It is evident that the 
crops of the two last varieties, if sold in the 
sheaf, would have given the most j rofitnble 
returns. All three sorts may fairly be con¬ 
sidered varieties of decided promise. 
[We would remai >. m connection with the 
above, that we have tried at the Rural Farm 
several varieties of the “ Rust-proof” (slightly 
altered by cultivation in different parts of the 
country); also the Washington (introduced by 
this journal, unless there are tw o varieties of 
this name); also the Chinese Hulless and Prin¬ 
gle’s Hulless which is claimed to be a cross be¬ 
tween the Chinese and the Excelsior. For de¬ 
tailed reports back numbers running through 
four years must be consumed It may here 
be stated that the “Rust-proof” or “Red 
Rust-proof’’has rusted with us, though less 
than other kinds, as, e. g , the Washington, 
White Russian and Mold’s Black Tartarian. 
Pringle’s Hulless show no marked differences 
as compared with the Chinese. We beg to 
say that, though we have worked carefully 
and patiently to cross oats, we have never 
been able to accomplish it. and we cannot see 
how it is possible for anybody to have accom 
plished it.— Eds.] 
-♦♦♦- 
RAISING ROOM CORN IN KANSAS. 
TOBACCO-GROWING NOTES. 
When a number of persons are at w r ork as¬ 
sorting a tobacco crop it is sometimes very 
difficult to perform the work uniformly, be 
cause two persous rarely assort alike. The 
only safe way is todecide upon aceitain stan¬ 
dard for each grade at the commencement and 
keep the standards as guides or models to be 
referred to frequently during the continuance 
of the task or until the crop is all selected. 
It does not matter so much how tobacco is 
assorted provided the several grades are made 
of uniform quality; that is, each grade should 
cover a quality which should be the same all 
through the crop from beginning to end, so 
that when two or more “ hands” are drawn 
from a case as “ samples ” they will give a 
fair, comprehensive idea of that particular 
grade. This is importaut for the reason that 
tobacco after it leaves the producer is usually 
sold by samples, and unless care is exercised by 
the grower to assort into various grades of uni¬ 
form quality the manufacturers, when they 
buy the tobacco by “samples,” may easily be 
disappointed. 
<£l)C Ijcrilsman. 
NOTES BY A STOCKMAN. 
There seems to be little danger of any re¬ 
duction in the present values of live stock, if 
we may judge from the price of corn in the 
West. In Harrison County, Ky., corn in the 
shock is bringing the enormous price of $7 the 
barrel, which is equal to $1.40 per bushel; 
while in Southern Illinois corn is brought 
from Chicago and sold in car-load lots at 80 
cents a bushel and at retail for $1. What with 
dear corn and hog cholera, pork must bring 
high prices, and, of course, beeves will not 
“ sell for a song ” when the raw material of 
wlrcli they are made is so scaiee and high. 
The Wool Growers’ Association of Michigan 
enjoyed an instructive lecture from 1 their 
President at their recent meeting. President 
Ball’s remarks were full of practical common 
sense. When he said it costs no more to raise 
a sheep that will shear 10 to 20 pounds of 
wool and will sell for $20 to $10(4 than a $3 
sheep shearing five pounds, he uttered a plain 
simple fact, but one which seems to be very 
generally neglected. So w'hen he declared 
that “ land is too dear in this country 
to breed and rear inferior animals.” He 
touched the rights, too, of the citizen, in re¬ 
marking that “no man has a right to rear a 
poor-bred, half-starved animal of any kind.” 
For there is a common service due from man 
to man to do his best in his work that society 
may ba the gainer. This is the natural 
obligation wiiich one man owes to another, 
and if one neglects the obligation and service, 
he is not performing his due share of the 
world’s work which is allotted to him. For it 
is very true that “no man liveth to himself." 
I have raised broom-corn fifteen years 
in Illinois, and three years in Kansas, and 
find it to bo u profitable crop, especially in 
Kansas, and Kansas grown broom-corn is ship 
ped to many parts of the Eastern States, and 
always commands the highest prices in the 
Eastern markets. Any 6oil that is adapted 
to raising Indian com is also adapted to 
The foreign trade in mules is said to be un¬ 
satisfactory for the reason that these animals 
do not thrive in the climates where they have 
been tried, notably in Southern Africa where 
the British Government endeavored to intro¬ 
duce them for army purposes. Perhaps our 
American mules, free and wayward in dis¬ 
position as becomes the denizens of a free 
country, move especially' as freedom is known 
in Kentucky and other centers of mule-dom, 
caunot brook the restraints of a monarchy 
nor the somewhat despotic manners of the 
governments of South Africa. Perhaps they 
sympathize with the Zulus and don’t like to help 
fight the sort of persons w ith whom they have 
been ass dated in their native homes. Any¬ 
how, the foreign shipment of mules is sus¬ 
pended: but as they bring $150 a head in the 
New' Orleans market, mu e breeders may 
have little reason for despair. 
Old carpets or blankets are frequently 
used for covering tobacco to prevent it from 
drying up during the Winter manipulation. 
These articles are good materials for this pur¬ 
pose when properly used, but otherwise they 
are a positive damage when used. Wben per¬ 
fectly dry an old carpet or blanket will absorb 
the moisture from the leaves, and hence do 
more hurt than good; if wet the leaves are in¬ 
variably injured wherever the material 
touches them. Such material, when used for 
covering ranks or piles of tobacco, should be 
kept damp, but not wet. Good judgment needs 
to be exercised on this point. 
The foreign trade in poultry promises to 
become important. The turkey is a native 
American bird and should of right have been 
made our national emblem, instead of the 
“spread eagle,” if for no other reason, cer¬ 
tainly because it can spread itself with such 
conspicuous success and has merit behind its 
sp; ead to back it up, too. A new' thing in the 
poultry business is the recent shipment from 
Missouri of a car loud of live poultry, con¬ 
sisting of 3,000 fowls, 450 turkeys and 400 
geese. The chickens were bought for $1.50 a 
dozen, and turkeys for 5J4 cents per pound, 
live weight. At such prices a ready market 
can always be found in Europe where poultry, 
and especially turkeys, are in brisk demand. 
A Christmas turkey in the Leudenhall Market 
of London usually brings $5 and it would be 
a pity if we could not supply this profitable 
demand. _ 
Mr. Hanlan of Maury Co., Tenn., made a 
profitable business of raising two exhibition 
bullocks for the Nashville fat cattle show. 
He captured the first and second premiums 
and won a greater prize still w hen he sold his 
first premium steer at 25 cents a pound, which, 
weighing 1,890 pounds, brought him $472.50. 
The other steer sold for $203.50. 
Complaints are made of the falling off of 
exports of cattle and meat. This cannot be 
avoided just now. High prices always and 
necessarily reduce consumption. The market, 
however, remains, and when the double pen¬ 
dulum of price and quantity swings back or 
forward, quantity always oscillates in the op¬ 
posite direction to that of price, in whatever 
direction that may be. A trade once estab¬ 
lished and rooted becomes permanent; and 
our foreign customers now depend upon our 
meat for their actual living. When prices ad¬ 
vance they buy less and when they fall they 
buy more. 
The necessities of the case may be seen from 
the following figures: Great Britian imported 
last year $830,000,000 w'orth of food. The 
growth of this vast import trade has been far 
in advance of that of the population. While 
the latter increased 16 per cent in the last 20 
years the former increased 160 per cent. This 
increase is due to the improved circumstances 
of the English laboring and mercantile classes. 
It is a maxim of political economy that when 
a people advance in their condition of living 
they never go back. New wants created by 
new supplies, enlarge and expand, but never 
contract. The means of supply for these 
must be forthcoming or there is—a row—not 
to put too flue a point upon it. And no man 
in the universe will sooner make a row than 
a dissatisfied Englishman whose food supplies 
are reduced. Therefore we need not fear for 
the permanence of a foreign trade in meat 
if we only keep the price right and within 
the bounds of competition. The market is 
there, we may not supply it, but if we don’t, 
others will. It is wholly a questionof success¬ 
ful competition, and no other competitors 
posesses the advantages we have. 
In packing tobacco in boxes “head boards” 
should be used at the ends of the cases, one 
inch thick, which leaves one inch of space be¬ 
tween the butts of the “hands” and the ends of 
the case. This space should be left open for 
two reasous: first, it gives room for an air- 
chamber at the ends or stems of the leaves, 
which aids in preventing mold or decay at 
the butts of the “hands,” sometimes termed 
“stem-rot,” and, second, it allows the tobacco 
to be more conveniently “stripped” during 
the process of “sampling,” The term “strip¬ 
ping” in this case means simply the re¬ 
moving or lifting of the case from trie tobacco 
packed within by first removing the bottom of 
the case. The tobacco, when the ease is re¬ 
moved or “stripped,” retains its shape, aud 
when the requisite number of hands are drawn 
by the “sampler” the box is again set over 
the tobacco und the bottom nailed on as be¬ 
fore. Thus it is clearly to be seen that if the 
butts of the hands are pressed directly against 
the ends of the cases in packing annoyance 
will result in the “stripping” above described. 
At the Louisville stock yards there were 
also some good sales of Christmas beef. Mr. 
Hudson of Jefferson Co , sold a three-year- 
old Short-horn heifer weighing 1,750, forceven 
cents a pound live weight, no extra price 
either, and realized $122.50 for the beast. 
Half-bred cattle sold on the market from five 
to five-and-a-balf cents per pound on foot, 
while scrubs brought from one-and-a-half to 
three cents. Some of the owners of this latter 
kind must have felt themselves to be “scrubs” 
as well as their cattle, in comparison with the 
grade Short-horn breeders and feeders. It is 
very easy to compute from this basis what is 
theactvuil value of a well bred Short-horn bull 
in a herd of common cows. Aud yet persons 
delude themselves with the idea—it is not a 
belief at all—that they cannot afford to im¬ 
prove their stock. 
A W estern hog farmer remarked to me 
not long ago that he cared little for hog 
cholera, for the reason that if it were not for 
the losses thus occasioned hogs w r ould be too 
cheap. The reduced number sold for more 
than the whole number would have done had 
there been no losses. “ How many hogs have 
you lost!” “Well I don’t calculate to lose 
hogs,’’ replied he, “I keep a clean pasture 
and have dry, clean shelter aud a cistern with 
a patent water feeder and my hogs don’t die 
off.” “ Ah I I see; your neighbors’ hogs die off 
aud that puts up the market price and you 
make money through their losses!” “Yes, 
thats about the size of it,” said the man. 
What a comment upon this cholera business! 
My remarks upon the polled cattle have 
met with a good deal of criticism from breed¬ 
ers of this sort, but by no means more than I 
expected. If I were afraid of criticism I 
should fear to speak the truth about such mat¬ 
ters. Lest, however, my opinions on the 
merits of Polled cattle should be considered 
unsupported by facts I would like to note 
a corroborative opinion given by Professor 
George E. Morrow’, the Dean of the Faculty 
of Illinois Industrial University. This com¬ 
petent gentlemen recently made an ex¬ 
tended tour through Great Britain and had op¬ 
portunities of gaining information from the 
best sources. Professor Morrow’ has recently 
said in regard to Polled cattle, “ these cattle 
have not much merit as milkers and are not 
the stock for the general farmer. For the 
Northwest and the great plains they seem 
among the best breeds known: if not the very 
best. That they are hornless is in their favor, 
although this point has been made too much 
of.” Had 1 known Professor Morrow's views 
on this subject I could not have got nearer to 
them than I did, but these views are expressed 
in an article in a W estern paper of December 
28. lean therefore use them for all they are 
w'orth. 
The usual opinion among a certain class of 
young men, who love an easy but romantic 
and variable life, is that sheep and cattle ran¬ 
ching on the plains is the very essence of ease, 
romance, variety and, above all, of profit 
which rapidly produces wealth. But money 
is never made but by labor. The golden apple 
falls into uo man’s mouth, and ranching, 
wffiile it is pleasant, agreeable and, on the 
w’hole, profitable to the ambitious, energetic, 
athletic and enterprising man, is a laborious 
business at the best, and full of risks and losses 
when not skillfully managed. It may please 
some that love risks and hardy enterprise, 
and appall others who love ease to know’ that 
on Mr. Hansen’s sheep ranch in California, 
men are employed to hunt destructive w’ild 
animals, and in two years ending Oct. 1881, 
there were killed 181 bears, 22 panthers, 151 
wild cats, 143 foxes, 361 coons (these kill 
young lambs), 728 coyotes and 15 bald eagles. 
