S2 
THE RURAL fjEW-YOUHER. 
JAN. 28 
Cvcn}u»l}crf, 
RURAL SPECIAI REPORTS. 
Arkansas 
Alexander, Saline Co., Jan. 9.—Wo have 
had a favorable Winter so far for stock, and 
all kinds of farm work. There have been no 
cold rains or snow, and very few freezes. 
There has been more Winter grain sown than 
ever before; all of it looks well and is making 
a favorable growth. Sheep are doing better 
than any other stock, but cattle look very 
well. Hogs have to be fed, as we had hardly 
any mast this Fall, and it is all eaten up. A 
great many immigrants are coming to the 
State seeking homos in a more genial climate 
than the frozen North. To such 1 would say, 
the South will welcome you if you come to 
make a home and help build up the country. 
A good deal of Winter plowing is being done 
and the indications are that a large crop of the 
different products of the country will be 
raised next year. Arkansas is making a noble 
struggle against whiskey, and the above coun¬ 
ty will be exempt from any license next year. 
A new era has dawned on the South, as espe¬ 
cial attention is being paid to the grasses and 
stock, and cotton will be raised more as a sur 
plus crop. The farmers are now busy clear¬ 
ing land, repairing fences, aud getting ready 
for the crop of 1882, as in the latter part of 
next month we plant oats and Irish potatoes. 
The above Saline County took the first pre¬ 
mium on the best two bushels of corn at the 
Atlanta Exposition. C. T. T. 
Illinois. 
Russellville, Lawrence Co., Jan. 9,— 
A cold northeast wind, bringing a storm of 
sleet and snow, gives me time to send a New 
Year’s greeting to the best of our farmers’ 
papers. The year 1881 will long lie remem¬ 
bered by the farmers in this part of the 
Wabash Valley. The Winter was very long 
and cold, proving terribly 
fatal to honey bees, and 
hard on the wheat. The 
Spring was cool and wet, 
so that almost everyone 
was behind with his work, 
and when it stopped rain¬ 
ing the weather clerk for¬ 
got us entirely, and we 
had one of the longest 
spells of dry weather ever 
known in this county. 
The Hessian fly and the 
chinch bug took a large 
part of the wheat that 
Winter had spared. Corn 
was mostly gathered by the 
chinch bug. Oats were a 
fair crop, but few were 
sown. Too dry for beans, 
buckwheat, potatoes and 
all kinds of roots except 
sweet potatoes. Fruit a 
complete failure and pas¬ 
tures so dry that we had to 
feed in August to keep 
stock from starving. Since 
it began to rain in Septem¬ 
ber there has been more 
than plenty, and to finish 
up with, in the last two 
months the Wabash has 
boomed over its banks 
several times. The last time 
the water rose higher than 
at any time since August, 
1875. Some little corn in 
the bottoms that had escaped the drought and 
bugs has gone to partis unknown. The tax- 
gatherer is now abroad in the land, and “ ye 
honest farmer ” wears a very long face when 
he meets him and carries a very light purse 
when he departs. About the usual amount of 
wheat was sown and some barley and rye. 
There is some complaint about the fly, but 
crops are generally looking well. A. J. H. 
Iowa. 
Chester, Howard Co., Jan. 5.—Times are 
very hard herealiouts. Last year was the 
fourth on which wheat proved a failure, and 
I guess farmers will discard it henceforth and 
try something else. N. H. R. 
Maryland. 
Walnut Hill, Harford Co., Jan. 5.— In this 
section 1881 has been rather a dry year, but we 
cannot complain. Our hay and oat crops were 
good. Our wheat averaged about 14 l ushels 
an acre; but our corn did not quite come up 
to the average. Ther.» was not a full crop of 
fruit, but I am satisfied with all crops, and 
we got fair prices. We are making a new 
narrow-gauge railroad from here to Balti 
more, which will give us a good market for 
produce and offer inducements for new set¬ 
tlers who can find for sale at low prices plenty 
of good, fertile, well-improved land. I re¬ 
ceived from you a very small potato; did not 
think it was big enough to be called an Ele¬ 
phant, but I took great care of it. I could 
get but six eyes out of it, and I got 91, pounds 
of nice potatoes from it, which I intend to 
plant carefully. The oats grew nicely but 
had a good many black heads. I gave them® 
to a neighbor to sow with his. J. h. 
New York. 
Port Jefferson, Suffolk Co., Jan. 4.—Our 
work for the season is about finished now, the 
shipping of turnips being the last of the Fall 
work, sometimes extending into the holidays. 
A short crop this year, but good prices have 
made it fairly profitable. Have had a medium 
crop of potatoes. Corn, except where well 
manured and cultivated, poor. But, taken 
altogether, good farming has paid a hand¬ 
some profit this year. p. E. t. 
Henrietta, Monroe Co., Jan. 7.—The Win¬ 
ter has been a very mild one thus far, with 
much rain and little snow. About four inches 
of snow fell the last of December, but the 
weather has turned warm again and the snow 
is disappearing. Farmers are wintering stock 
with less hay than usual, feeding grain, -swill- 
f jed and straw to save the hay until Spring. 
Prices of all kinds of grain are high. Coni, 
State, 80c. and likely to go higher; oats, 50c.; 
barley, $1, and wheat, $1 30(<< 1. ft The price 
of wheat is relatively lower than anything 
else; but it was a good crop here the past year 
and paid well. Wheat on the ground is look¬ 
ing fine, but there has been too much rain 
for it except ou well-drained land, and much 
that now looks well will be poor enough befoi e 
Spring if the Winter continues open, with lit¬ 
tle snow. Potatoes now' sell readily at 95c.@ 
$1 per bushel. The crop was light and has 
been marketed at, 75@80e. There are not now 
enough potatoes in this county for home use 
and seed. The apple crop was very light and 
qualify poor on account of the drought. Few- 
sound ones will be left by the end of this 
month. Altogether the season has been a 
prosperous one for farmers, the high prices 
of produce making up foi diminished crops l y 
reason of the drought. tv. J. F. 
Ohio. 
Bourd, Mahoning Co., Jan. 5.—Wheat 
was about two-thirds of a crop or about 
20 bushels to the acre; oats about 50 
bushels, a short crop; jiotatoes short also on 
account of the dry season; hay a heavy crop. 
Wheat, $1.30(0)1.40; oats, 50c.; corn, 40c.; po¬ 
tatoes, $1.25; apples, $1; dressed hogs, 7c. per 
pound; butter, 28c.; eggs, 25c. Q. 8, 
Fredericks mmo, Wayne Co., Jan. 7.—The 
drought continued until about September 8, 
when we had abundance of rain. The roads 
have been very muddy up to this time, but a 
cold wave struck us on December 81. Wheat 
was injured considerably by the fly, and if 
injured much by the Winter and Spring, I 
think the crop will be light. Pasture was 
quite good here after rain, end stock did well 
in the fields until quite late, consequently 
they went into winter-quarters in good condi¬ 
tion. G. w. F. 
-* ♦♦- 
RURAL SPECIAL SEED REPORTS, 
Dakota. 
Milltown, Armstrong Co., Jan. (I — I got 
all the seeds all right, but no White Elephant 
Potato, for which I was sorry, for I should 
have prized that more than all the seeds. The 
Washington Oats were fair; I got about one 
quart from a little over one tablespoon of 
seed. There were some black heads. The 
asparagus came up well. I did not plant the 
flower seeds or the sorghum; will try- them 
next year. Crops in this locality were fair, 
except w heat aud barley and late flax, e.f.h. 
Indiana. 
Clifty, Decatur Co., Jan. 6.—Last Spring 
I received from you just one-fourth of an 
ounce of seed of the Rural Branching Sor¬ 
ghum. I planted it on rich, w-armsoil without 
fertilizers. By some transplanting, I secured 
125 hills, four feet apart, with one plant in a 
hill, When about two inches high, it began 
to stool out like wheat, until there was an 
average of about 18 stalks to the hill, my ob¬ 
ject being to test it fairly as a fodder plant 
and also to obtain a supply of seed. On 
A ugust 1 I cut one hill and the green fodder 
weighed 14 pounds; the same hill was cut 
again near the last of September and weighed 
II pounds, making in all as the product of 
one s-ee 1 25 pounds, or at the rate of 35 tons 
per acre. The rest was cultivated expressly 
for seed. Thinking that so many stalks in a 
hill would not be for the best, I thinned each 
hill to eight stalks and fed the fodder thus 
obtained to the cows every particle of which 
was greedily- eaten by them. In this thinning 
process, however, to my surprise, I found that 
I had made two stalks grow where only one 
grew- before, as each plant thus cut sent up 
two vigorous shoots which appeared to grow 
faster even than those left standing. I con¬ 
cluded to let them have their own way, and 
before the end of September the foliage had 
met between the rows, and presented one mass 
of living green. Just previous to the setting 
in of the drought we had a rain accompanied 
by severe wind which prostrated nearly all 
the corn in the vicinity, but not a hill of the 
sorghum went down, and during that terrible 
drought not one blade ever withered or faded 
and w-hen every particle of vegetation in the 
29. 
surrounding fields was brown and dead, the 
sorghum patch looked like a miniature oasis 
in a desert, I find the dried fodder relished 
equally as well by the cow s in the Winter, as 
was the green fodder in the Summer. Next 
year I will plant a full supply for Summer 
use, and, judging from it productiveness with 
me this year, but a small piece of ground will 
be needed for the purpose. Lastly, I have 
just finished cleaning my seed ana after fan¬ 
ning out all that were light and immature, I 
find I have 10 pounds of good plump seed, 
every one of which I am quite certain will 
grow. w. h. p. 
Iowa. 
Chester, Howard Co., Jan. 5.—I cut my 
White Elephant into six pieces and planted 
them, one in a hill. Five of them grew. The 
bugs troubled them somewhat, but not much. 
When I dug them in October 1 had about 
a peck of very nice tubers weighing 17 pounds- 
Am saving them all for seed next Spring. 
The Washington Oats did not amount to 
much; I got about one pint of seed. They 
look exactly like the oats that I have raised 
here for the past six years. The Rural 
Branching Sorghum was planted about May 
13, and out of over 100 hills six grew to about 
six inches in hight and then the chinch bugs 
took them. The flower seeds did nicely. The 
asparagus we did not jdant. N. H. R. 
Nora Springs, Floyd Co., Jan. 5.—My 
White Elephant Potato I cut into 15 pieces 
with an eye in each, planted in 15 hills on the 
last of May, and on the last of September dug 
72% poimds of nice tubers. The sorghum did 
well. J. H. M. 
Rising City, Butler Co., Jan. 2. — I planted 
the Branching Sorghum and sowed the Wash 
ington Oats on May 14. All came up in good 
time and promised well. The sorghum kept 
branching and growing until it attained the 
hight of our common corn, but it is of no use 
in this country of grass and stock range. My 
cattle would not eat it. The Washington 
Oats grew to a large size, and at first promised 
to make a large yield, bul owing to the ex¬ 
tremely wet weather all through the growing 
season they rusted very badly and I lost all. 
The asparagus seeds all came up and grew 
finely. The White Elephant Potato, No. 2, 
arrived on May 21— a medium-sized one. I 
planted it in 14 hills the say day; 10 came up 
and did not do so well, for after the rain «wne 
the drought, and that checked the growth of 
everything in this country. I dug about one 
gallon of small tubers. I have laid them 
away and shall give them another trial. E.F. 
Kentucky. 
Cox’s Creek, Nelson Co., Jan. 4. —I planted 
the White Elephant April 15, I cut to eight 
eyes. They came up finely, but owing to the 
drought they did not do well. I dug 50 tubers 
on September 20. The Rural Branching Sor¬ 
ghum I planted Mav 1. It came up well and 
there were from eight to 24 stalks in a hill. It 
grew well till the dry season set in which 
checked its growth. We had rain on September 
10 and it grew on till frost came, and headed 
out hut the seed did not mature. It was 10 
feet high when cut. The Washington Oats I 
planted April 16, in drills, eight inches 
apart; they came up well and grew finely. 
They were four to five feet high when I cut 
them and thrashed 15 
pounds of the finest oats I 
ever saw. The pinks and 
asparagus came up w-ell 
and did finely, considering 
the dry season which was 
the driest ever known in 
this country. J. c. P. 
i>I assn Hi ti set (H. 
Hanover, Plymouth Co., 
Jan. 2.—Seeds not planted 
till very late, and conse¬ 
quently had no chance to 
show their best. I cut my 
White Elephant Potato in¬ 
to single eyes, and got 
about 20 small potatoes 
with which I hope to do bet¬ 
ter another season. Branch¬ 
ing Sorghum not planted 
till July 12; two-thirds of 
it came up, but I scarcely 
thought it would amount 
to anything, being planted 
so late, but the unusually 
warm wea ther of Septem¬ 
ber brought it forward 
very fast, and the first of 
October I cut it. when 
some of it was nearly six 
feet high, and very bushy. 
I think if planted early it 
would prove a very valua¬ 
ble crop to cure for Winter 
or to feed out greeu. Some 
of the p'nks were very fine; 
others were rather ordi¬ 
nary. w. L. K. 
Minnesota. 
Fort Ripley, Crow Wing Co., Jan 4.—The 
White Elephant did not come up to my ex¬ 
pectations, probably through my fault, as this 
is my first year on a farm. The asparagus 
has done well and the sorghum I am pleased 
with. I gave it to my horses until after frost 
and they never left a single cane. e. a. 
Nebraska. 
Fairfield, Clay Co., Jan. 4. —My first 
White Elephant Potato was diseased, the sec¬ 
ond was cut one eye to a piece, and planted as 
soon as received, which was quite late. Every 
eye grew but owing to the lateness of plant¬ 
ing, the severe drought and the bugs which 
attacked the vines suddenly while 1 was so en¬ 
gaged that they were neglected, I got not one 
tuber. Potato crop here generally a failure. 
The Branching Sorghum I planted on my 
farm which I leased for the season, and the 
tenant let his pigs destroy every stalk after 
one hoeing. Of the asparagus about one- 
fourth came up and made a growth of about 
two iuches, Tbe oats were sown in drills, but 
the drought and grass kept them down so 
that I never saw a head. A. S. W. 
New York. 
Sterling Station, Cayuga Co., Jan. 10.— 
My seeds all did well. After having had at 
