ions for 18TO and 1880 to l>e had, as I suppose, 
while the supply lasts, at one dollar each of 
Henry Strolun, Iowa City, Treasurer. For 
fruit growers in the State of Michigan and 
all interested in its wonderful fruit products, 
the State Pomologienl Society’s Transac¬ 
tions for 1880 is surpassingly rich and is to bo 
had of C. IF. Garfield, Hec'y, Grand Rapids, 
Michigan at the same nominal price of one 
dollar. I must attribute the value of Muse 
Mich, and Iowa reports very largely to the es¬ 
tablishment in each of those States of a noble 
State Agricultural College. Every State 
should have such an institution—and not mere¬ 
ly a State Agricultu ral chair in a State Uni¬ 
versity. This notice is for the benefit of many 
inquirers desirous of knowing where to get 
the latest and best books on Western horticul¬ 
ture.” 
James J. H. GREGORY, Marblehead, Mass. 
Full of plain instructions given by a practical 
man. Jt is a large-sized illustrated catalogue 
of warranted seeds—vegetable, flower and 
grain. Among novelties we see Lax ton’s 
Minimum Pea, the dwarfest of all peas, and 
said to be the most prolitic of 100 tested kinds; 
Sugar-loaf Lettuce; Bliss’s American Wonder 
Pea—it is worthy of note Mutt Mr. Gregory’s 
catalogue is about the only one that attaohes 
Ihe introducer's name to this excellent pea;— 
Paragon Tomato; Soja Bean, recently illus¬ 
trated in the Rural New-Yorker; Blount’s 
Corn, etc. Mr. Gregory selects the following 
potatoes, which are all well worthy of trial; 
Bello, Pride of America, Beauty of Hebron, 
Late Beauty of Hebron, Clark’s No. 1, Chica¬ 
go Market, American Magnum Bonuui, Mam¬ 
moth Pearl, Early, and Late Ohio, Dunmoro 
and Burbank’s Seedling. We are sorry to 
see that Mr. Gregory still offers the Black- 
bearded Centennial Wheat ns ‘’Golden G rains. - ’ 
This catalogue is “ free to all ” and it is well 
worth applying for. 
D. M. Ferry & Co , Detroit, Mich., Seed 
Annual for 1881. This is a brilliant catalogue 
indeed, with illuminated covers, colored plates, 
mauv engravings and IBS pages. It is the 
costliest catalogue we h ive yet seen that is 
sent out free to all applicants. The White 
Star among potatoes, the Russian White, 
among oats; the Perfect Gem, amongsquashes; 
the Cuban Queen, among watermelons; the 
American Wonder, among peas, are given 
prominent notice with many other novelties. 
Johnson & Stokes, 11U Market St., Phil¬ 
adelphia.—In this illustrated catalogue for 
the garden and farm, of 50 pages, we find the 
American Magnum Bonum, Chicago Market, 
St. Patrick, Pride of America, White Ele¬ 
phant and other new varieties of promising 
potatoes ottered. The Chester Co, Mammoth 
among field corns, Livingston’s Perfection To¬ 
mato—an excellent kind—are also offered. 
Sent free t:> applicants. 
W. Attee Burpee & Co., 219 and 221 
Church St.,, Philadelphia, Pa., Catalogue of 
50 pages of all sorts of seeds for the garden 
and farm, illustrated. This firm last year in¬ 
troduced the Cuban Queen Watermelon 
which seems to have given very- general satis¬ 
faction. 1 he $50 prize then offered was taken 
by a gentleman in Georgia. The melon 
weighed 81 pounds. This catalogue will be 
sent free to our subscribers upon application. 
J. M. McCullough's Sons 130 Walnut St,, 
Cincinnati, Ohio. Illustrated, descriptive and 
priced catalogue of garden, field and flower 
seeds—everything for the farm and garden. 
This is a finely gotten up catalogue of 70 
pages well illustrated. Sent without charge to 
our subscribers upon application to the above 
establishment. 
Transactions of tiik Minnesota State 
Hort, Society. —Proceedings, essays and re¬ 
ports at the Annual Winter Meeting held in 
Minneapolis, Jan. 18—20, 1881, The work is 
prepared by U. 8, Hollister, Secretary, St. 
Paul. All interested in the horticulture of 
Minnesota should obtain these valuable re¬ 
ports. 
Vanderrii.t Bros., 23 Fulton St., New 
York. Catalogue (free to applicants) of farm 
and garden implements, garden, field nnd 
flower, bird, fruit and tree seeds. This firm 
are agents also for the well-known Soluble 
Pacific Guano. 
The Niagara Grace Co., Lockport, N. Y. 
An illustrated pamphlet setting forth the 
conditions of dissemination and the merits of 
the remarkable Niagara Grape: free to appli¬ 
cants. Address the above firm. 
RURAL SPECIAL LEPORT3. 
I’enuaylvnniii. 
Clark, Mercer Co., Jan. 30.—We are hav¬ 
ing a miid Winter. Wheat looks well this 
year. Last year’s crop was good. Oats 
averaged about fifty bushels an acre. Corn 
was a failure; the dry weather and the cut 
worm destroyed it. Buckwheat poor. Pota¬ 
toes were hurt bj r the drought. j. l. 
AVuMhiiiKlon Territory. 
Van Couvkr, Clark Co., Jan. 22.—We are 
now well into January and have not yet had 
a particle of snow this Winter, and hardly any 
frost worth mentioning, aud this in a country 
above the 45th degree of latitude, where the 
Summers are delightfully warm, though never 
so warm but that a person enu enjoy a 1 lanket 
at night. 1 have Pansies iu bloom in my yard 
at the present moment, and have had all Win¬ 
ter; they are in the open air aud have not had 
any protection whatever from the weather. 
Eggs are selling! at 30(J3oe. per doz.; butter, 
25®35c. per lb.; potatoes, 50c. per bush.; soft 
wood, $3 per cord. There is abundance of 
room for settlers, and we expect to get lots of 
them when we have railroad communication 
with the East. The population of Washing¬ 
ton Territory is now about 75,000. 1 think one 
might estimate with safety that in 10 years 
from now the population will he nearer a 
quarter of a million. If so, what a chance is 
here offered to settlers who are early to ar¬ 
rive. According to the census, Washington 
Territory is now the best wheat producing sec¬ 
tion of the United States. The average yield 
per acre is reported at 20'g bushels, while the 
average for the whole country ri 13 bushels. 
Montana comes second in the list. I seoliy a 
paper of recent date that Mr James Rose, of 
Putaha Prairie, in Eastern Washington Terri¬ 
tory, raised 202 bushels of wheat from three 
acres and 274 bushels from four acres—an av¬ 
erage of MS bushels per acre from the seven 
acres, This seems to me to be a pretty largo 
yield. We are glad to see that our neighbor 
State, Oregon, got away with a majority of 
the prizes offered by the Rural New-Yorker 
for the five largest and heaviest heads of 
w heat. For 1 immigrants who do not desire to, 
or cannot, take up land plenty of work can 
be found here during the coming season on 
the railroads. Many more men w ill be needed 
for this business than can possibly be obtained. 
Railroad building promises to be extraordi¬ 
narily active hero for some time to come. 
This is a pretty good country, too, for the 
sportsman. I have killed two dozen ducks in 
two hours’ shooting this year, aud seldom go 
out with a guu but I cau get a few ducks. 
Pheasants are numerous in the timber; so are 
deer, but I am not enough of a hunter to have 
bagged any of the latter. At times there are 
innumerable quantities of geese, swans and 
sand-hill cranes. J. J. B. 
Wisconsin, 
Madison, Dane Co., Jan. 25.— The Rural’s 
reports are among the most interesting fea¬ 
tures of the journal, and also among the most 
valuable. Each subscriber is thereby allowed, 
measurably, to be at all points. He may sre 
the widely varied causes which from week to 
week are determining the value of his growing 
crops. In these weekly reports the farmer 
may read the approaching success or defeat of 
his Summer’s labor. Often by this means ho 
may turn his efforts into a new channel aiul 
ward off disaster. I appreciate this feature 
iu modern journalism, and very willingly do 
my little to help on the w ork. Beiug, at best, 
a novice in farming, I began by subscribing 
for a monthly. It was an excellent journal, 
but came at such long intervals my memory 
failed to hold the valuable points it presented, 
and so I cast about for a paper that would 
rouse my drowsy powers once a week, I hit 
upon the Rural, and have not only not been 
sony, but am very glad, I did so. Aly little suc¬ 
cesses I can trace, generally, to the light from 
its pages; my failures never to a fault in its 
advice. b. 
-».».■»■- 
RURAL SPECIAL SEED REPORTS. 
Illinois. 
Mount Palatine, Putnam Co., Jan. 27.— 
From the two Cuthbert Raspberry plants I re¬ 
ceived I have already taken up over fifty 
young plants. They spread so fast care 
should be taken to put them where they will 
do no harm. Early in the Spring I thought 
my plants were all dead, as the outside bark 
peeled off, but there was not a dead one. 
Fruit large and of good flavor. c. G. 
KunHiiB. 
Blaine, Pottawatomie Go., Jan. 30.—My 
White Elephant I cut into twenty-two pieces, 
dividing most of the eyes ; twenty-one grew 
well; in fact, looked healthier and grew more 
vigorously than any of the eight varieties I 
planted; when I dug them I got three pota¬ 
toes, the largest one about the size of a filbert. 
The sorghum grew about four feet high and 
stopped owing to much drought and chinch 
bugs. The asparagus came up well, I have of 
both kinds 150 plants. Some of the pinks were 
beauties ; several plants did not blossom ; if 
they stand the Winter, I expect to have some¬ 
thing worth looking at next Summer. One 
plant produced blossoms two inches in 
diameter. Bugs took the oats. One of my 
Cuthbert Raspberries lived, and T hav9 now- 
fifteen. The main vine bore some splendid 
berries last Summer. 1 would not take the 
price of the Rural for them alone. The flower 
and tree seed of 1880 distribution, did not 
grow. h. r. M. 
Council Grove, Morris Co., Jan. SO.— 
The Branching Sorghum I think a decided 
success; for in spite of lato planting, bad care, 
extremely dry weather and chinch bugs it 
made a splendid growth, and was eaten by 
my cows and horses with a relish, and w hile 
corn planted close by it was eul i rely destroyed 
by chinch bugs, the sorghum was not touched 
at all. d. ». A. 
illichittnn. 
Athens, Calhoun Co.. Jan. 31 —The White 
Elephant I planted April 23, cut to 18 pieces; 
it yielded one huudred-fold. The Washington 
Oats did very fairly; no smut. The Rural 
Branching Sorghum 1 think is all that, is 
claimed for it— an excellent fodder plant. The 
asparagus came up slowly and sparsely on ac¬ 
count of the drought; but I have enough plants 
of each kind to test rhe varieties. The flower 
seeds came up nicely, but I set them out on a 
fair day and all got killed, either by sun or 
cold wiuds. » r. d. b. 
• PennsySvnn ia. 
Factoryvjlle, Wyoming Co., Jan. 30.— 
The White Elephant was cut into as many 
pieces as it bad cy< s, and 1 put cue eye in a 
hill. When they' began to show themselves 
above ground, I set iny man to cut out the 
weeds from among Ihem, and ho cut off four 
hills, so it spoiled them. The drought was 
very severe here, but I dug 42 lbs., ami very 
nice tubers at that. The Washington Oats 
grew finely, and I have a nice lot of them—no 
rust. The sorghum cam > up well, but the 
drought was so severe hero, that it did not do 
so well as in some other places. The aspara¬ 
gus grew finely, notwithstanding the drought. 
The flower seeds all grew and did well, and 
were very much admired by all. On the 
whole, I think the seeds worth much more 
than the price of the Rural, and the Rural 
is w r orth many times the price of it. “May 
its shadow never grow less.” j. b. c. 
£i)C (Querist. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query mutt be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to insure attention I 
RATIONS FOR WORKING HORSES. 
W. B. H., Canandaigua, N. 3'., having 
closely studied the tables on the relative value 
of foods in Professor E. W. Stewart’s articles, 
published in the Rural of October 15 and No¬ 
vember 26, asks whether the principles there 
applied to the feeding of cattle are equally 
applicable to the feeding of horses at severe 
labor; that is, whether for them, too, u well- 
balanced ration should consist of albuminoids 
and carbohydrates in proportion 1:6. If this 
is the case, wouldn’t a combination of corn, 
oats and malt sprouts, equal parts by v. eight, 
together with three parts of clover hay and 
three parts of straw, be a ration suitable for 
horses doing Spring work, and how many 
pounds of such a mixture would form a good 
day’s ration. 
ANSWER by PROF. K. \V. STEWART. 
The same principle governs the feeding of 
horses as of ci tile, except that the difference 
iu the digestive apparatus of ruminating ani¬ 
mals gives them the ad vantage in the digestion 
of 'coarse, fibrous food over the horse that 
masticates its food but once and has hut one 
stomach. The horse has also, comparatively, a 
small stomach, Much experience has taught 
the omnibus and street car companies, in large 
cities, who employ large numbers of horses 
every day in the year, that grain in some form 
is the cheapest for two-thirds of the nutritive 
part of the ration for horses; consequently 
they feed about 16 pounds of grain and 12 to 
14 pounds of hay to each horse of 1,000 to 1,200 
pounds’ weight. For quick motion more 
bulky food than this is quite incompatible. 
The horse cannot digest hay enough to per¬ 
form rapid work; but the horse of slow move¬ 
ment, upon a farm or drawing loads at a slow 
walk, cau take comparatively a larger quan¬ 
tity of bulky food. On the other hand, at¬ 
tempts to keep horses on too concentrated food 
—that is, almost wholly upon ground grain— 
have proved disastrous by producing indiges¬ 
tion for the want of fibrous food to separate 
the particles of meal in the stomach, and thus 
allow a free circulation of gast ric juice through 
the mass. It does not matter much what 
coarse fodder is fed with grain, so that it be 
wholesome. Horses will work as well on 
good, bright oat, wheat or barley straw, with 
a proper combination of grain, as upon hay; 
that is, you may have as well-balanced food 
or ns nutritious a combination with straw as 
with hay. It was long a customamong German 
farmers of Pennsylvania to feed their horses 
(and they were sleek and strong, too,) upon 
ground rye fed with its straw, and rye straw 
is one of the toughest and most innutritious 
Those who use large numbers of horses in cities 
do not buy straw to feed, because it sells 
higher than hay in proportion to its real value; 
but the New York companies are noted for 
buying hay as nearly ripe as they can get it 
w ithout the seed shelling; and the excuse they 
give isthatit makes more bulk in the stomach, 
according to weight, than early-cut hay, thus 
showing the purpose for which they feed it. 
Mr. H. speaks of a ration made of oats, corn 
and malt sprouts iu equal parts, to be fed with 
half clover hay and half straw. The follow¬ 
ing formula will show what this ration is in 
detail:— 
No. 1. 
•Dry organic sub¬ 
stance. 
Digestible 
nutrients. 
!>* 
e 
c+ 
2. 
C"» 
s 
CO 
o 
> 
5* 
| 
5* 
: 
CL 
» 
Carbohy¬ 
drates. 
.mi 
8 pounds clover lia.v. ... 
6.72 
n.56 
3.0! 
0.10 
8 “ barley straw. 
ti.rt.-i 
n.i!) 
3.21 
lUU 
5 “ oats. 
4.118 
(1,15 
2. IB 
o.2;l 
—< 
5 “ corn meal. 
4.28 
II, 42 
8.08 
0.24 
5 “ malt sprouts. 
4. ft) 
0.87 
2.25 
0.08 
__ 
26.63 
2.9) 
]•> .V2 
U.i>;i 
Here are almost 17 pounds of digest ible food 
properly balanced, and sufficient to well sus¬ 
tain a 1,200 pound horse in slow work on a 
farm. But let us take what we consider a 
better ration for work horses, and one quite as 
cheap:— 
No. 2. 
P> pounds oat straw.i 
5 " corn-meal.| 
13.70 
0.23 
6.41 
| 0.10 
j- 
4.28 
0.42 
3.03 
0 24 
O 
5 " l nsted meal (ox- 
- traded)_.... 
4.51 
1.20 
1,60 
0.10 
o 
5 “ wheat bran. 
4.35 
0.08 
2.14 
0.13 
26.81 
2.6/ 
13.27 
0.57 
— 
It will bo seen that this last ration is very 
similar to the first in composition, having 
slightly more albuminoids, and the linseed 
meal is more easily digested than the malt 
sprouts, besides having an excellent effect 
upon the digestive organs. This grain ration 
only costs 20 cents per day for a heavy work¬ 
ing horse, and straw is not usually counted 
when fed on the farm. I will give a few more 
rations:— 
No. 3. 
12 pounds Timothy hay 
ll " corn-meal 
5 “ malt sprouts 
10.2!) 
o.fi!) 
5.20 
0.17 
9.57 
0.82 
7.10 
n.."4 
4.50 
1.1)1 
2.19 
I). Of) 
24.36 
2.55 
14.79 
0.56 
No. I. 
Spounds Swedish clover.. 
6 • “ corn fodder___ 
6.72 
0.67 
2.57 
0.15 
— 
^T 
0.20 
2.60 
0.06 
Jo “ corn meal. 
8.70 
0.75 
6 73 
0.31 
6 “ rye bran. 
5.28 
0,04 
3 HO 
11.11 
3 " linseed meal_ 
1.79 
0 60 
0.02 
0.O5 
2(5.81 
2.86 | 15.52 
0.71 
No. 5. 
6 pounds meadow hay. 
5.1410.33 
2.10 
0.06 
8 
• wheat straw. 
6.86 | 0.07 
2.SS 
0 03 
8 ‘ 
‘ corn-meal. 
G.% 1 0.60 
5.38 
U.25 
6 
‘ pea-meal. 
5.14 | 1.21 
3.26 
UJU 
2 * 
cottonseed meal. 
i - T8 | 0 M 
0.35 
0.32 
25.90 | 2.87 
11 03 
0.76 
These are given as specimens of rations that 
may be made iu almost endless variety. These 
rations are carried out in detail by giving the 
whole dry substance and then the separate 
elements, so that the reader will get a com¬ 
plete idea of each food. The nutritive ralio 
of each complete ration is given to show that 
each has about the same nutritive value. The 
nutritive ratio is found by taking two-and- 
a-half times the fat and adding it to the car 
bohydrates and dividing the sum by the albu¬ 
minoids; so that this ratio means that there is 
one of albumidoids to so many of carbohy¬ 
drates; fat is estimated as hav ing two-and- 
a-half times the value of starch, sugar, etc. 
It must lie understood that all these ground 
grains, or concentrated food, are to be fed 
cut fodder, which is slightly moistened so that 
the meal will adhere to tho fodder. This leaves 
the food in the stomach porous, so that the 
gastric juice can saturate the whole conteut 3 
of the stomach at once. If ground food is fed 
alone (which is not recommended), it should 
lie fed dry. 
COW-PEA CULTURE, ETC. 
F. A. K., Nashville, Tenn,: asks, 1, which is 
the best stock cow-pea for sowing broadcast: 
2, how much seed per acre ; 3, information as to 
culture, treat ment and use. 
Ans.—I. TheWhippoorwill or Speckled Pea. 
2. From one to one-and-a-half bushel per acre. 
3. If to begrown as a green crop for turning 
under,sow about one-and-a-half bushel ofBlack 
Bunch Pea broadcast on land well prepared, 
and harrow them in early in tho Spring. 
When pods are well formed, pass a heavy rol¬ 
ler over them , and turn them under with a 
good plow. If ibis is done early in July 
another crop con be grown nnd treated in tho 
same way, and the land can be seeded to 
wheat iu October. If it is desired to save the 
crop, first. as forage (pea hay); then sow as 
above (using Clay Pea)and cut the vines, w hen 
in full bloom with scythes ; avoid over cur¬ 
ing ; when sufficiently dry, pack away in 
barn or stack, inserting rails or poles through 
the mass to secure access of air. Second for 
