without a particle of rust. Asparagus came 
up nicely. R. B. Sorghum did well. p. c. e. 
Smith Carolina. 
Wedgefield, Sumpter Co. —Owing to dry 
weather the VV\ Elephant did nothing. W. 
Oats made a small yield of shriveled grains. 
I saved only a few hills of R. B. Sorghum, 
which seeded well. a* 
Texas. 
Coryell., Coryell Co. —White Elephant 
Potato, came too late for planting. Grew 
very rapidly ; made some small potatoes. 
Drought commenced 28th of May. No more 
rain, only a few very light showers until Sep. 
the 7th. Rural Branching Sorghum remained 
a dark green all through the drought, making 
a large bunch from a single seed in a hill; 
about four feet high. When the Fall rains 
came it ran op and matured a fine lot of seed, 
stands drought remarkably well. Oats were 
too late getting here; did as well as could be 
expected, 1 think the Ennobled Oats better 
than the Washington, will give them a fair 
chance this year. Planting oats whenever the 
ground is dry enough. Some oats up and 
looking well. W. E, Y. 
Honest, reputable firms—firms with large 
capital and long experience, are forced by 
competition to sell at small profits, while they 
can always turn out goods more cheaply than 
the mushroom concerns that spring up, make 
a big splurge, and vanish into their original 
obscurity, their di&appearance deplored or ex - 
ecrated by thousands of gulled dupe3. These 
remarks arc of general application. The above 
company has been doing business for a consid¬ 
erable time, and we have never heard of any 
complaints made of their dealings. 
Miscellaneous. 
G. C. DcB , Yates Co., New York., asks, 1. 
if the Defiance Asparagus sent out by Mr. 
Smalley is a 
him; 2, is it better than the Colossal; 
distinct variety as claimed by 
3, would 
we advise paying §1.00 per quart for the 
Challenger Lima Bean; 4, do we think them 
an improvement on Dreer’s Lima; 5, can we 
l'ecommend the Golden Stone Head Lettuce of 
J. M. Thorbum it Co. 
Ans. —1, We believe not. We have asked 
twice why and how it is different and have 
received no satisfactory reply. 2, No. 3, No. 
Wait another year. We are in doubt as to 
the value of this bean. 4, No. 5, Yes, indeed. 
E. R. H., Roach, la., asks, 1, what is a dib¬ 
ble ; whether it could be used in planting 
sweet potatoes, and how to raise these. 
Ans.— A dibble is any pointed stick used 
simply to make a hole in the ground. It 
would answer for setting sweet potato 
plants or any other y> >ung plants whose roots 
are not too spreading. Our method is to 
throw several furrows together so as to make 
a ridge a foot high and three broad. The 
plants are set in the middle of the ridge 
18 inches to two feet apart. The vines should 
be raised frequently to keep them from root¬ 
ing. Use plenty of manure. 
V. R. 77, Perry, N. J., asks about how 
much seed he could expect for an ordinary 
crop from one bushel of large onions set this 
Spring for seed. 
Ans.— Nothing more uncertain, the lesult 
being dependent upon soil, season, variety, 
and “know how.” But supposing these favor¬ 
able to success, an average crop would be in 
the neighborhood of one-sixth of an ounce of 
seed to the onion, or, say, three to four pounds 
per bushel. The soil ought not to be so rich 
for onion seed as for onions, otherwise the 
heads may blight. 
77. W. 77. East Springport , Mich., asks the 
best bee-keeping work for beginners. 
ANS.— The Manual of the Apiary, by our 
contributor Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan 
Agricultural College, is the best both for be¬ 
ginners and “old hands.” Pxiee $1.25; to be 
had of T. G. Newman & Son, Chicago, Ill. 
A “WILDE” FLOWER. 
TEsthete—“ Oh ! Oh-h-h ! Would I were with you every hour. 
Colored Gent—“ Golly, Boss ! Wat’s de trubble ?” 
showing the guide inside the flume which di- • 
rects the stream on to the wheel. A small 
wheel of four or six feet diameter and of four 
feet length of axle might have a crank fitted 
to it, and so work a drag-saw without the in¬ 
tervention of any gearing, as the velocity 
would be sufficient. A wheel of this kind 
would be useful to do churning Dumping, saw¬ 
ing or thrashing. 
NOSTRUMS FOR DEAFNESS. 
E. L. McG., Ghestertouw, Md., 1, sends us 
a copy of an advertisement of an oil for cur¬ 
ing deafness, and asks whether we think it ef¬ 
fectual; 2, where in this city is there a charit¬ 
able institution which binds boys and girls out 
to farmers. 
Ans. —1, We have had a great deal of ac¬ 
quaintance with various nostrums and devices 
which have been advertised as cures or allevia¬ 
tions of deafness, and we have no hesitation 
in saying that the claims put forth in behalf 
of this oil, will never be realized. Deafness is 
due to a great number of different causes, and, 
of course, the treatment must, to "a con¬ 
siderable extent vary with the cause, charac¬ 
ter and extent of the deafness, but in no case 
will this nostrum accomplish what is promised. 
Pretended “cures” for all forms of any disease 
may always be safely classed among hum¬ 
bugs. 2, Write to the Children’s Aid Society, 
10 East Fourth St., New York City. This 
Society is constantly sending children to vari¬ 
ous parts of the countiy where places have 
been engaged for them. Full information will 
be furnished on application to Chas. L. Brace, 
Secretary, at above address. 
SEEDING RED-TOP, ETC. 
W. JI., Vanwert,0., asks, 1, how much Red- 
top Grass is required to sow an acre; 2, what 
time of year is best to sow it; 3, what kind of 
land will produce the greatest amount of 
grass; 4, how much would he considered a 
good yield per acre: 5, is it necessary to make 
hills to plant watermelons; 6, would hen and 
horse manure be best to manure the land with; 
7, is low black land best for watermelons. 
Ans.— 1. If sown alone we should say two 
bushels (24 pounds) per acre. 2. Early Fall— 
with you. 3. Red-top likes a moist, well- 
drained bottom land. That is its delight. lu 
such land we have often seen it four feet high 
at the Rural Farm. But it will do well in dry, 
upland soil, wherever Timothy would flourish. 
4. It will yield about the same as Timothy. 5. 
Not at all unless the ground is moist or badly 
drained—then plant in hills. In good, well- 
drained soils, hills are humbugs for all crops. 
6. Old horse mauure is as good as any. Hen 
manure is excellent, but he careful to mix it 
well with the soil. 7. Our best melons have 
been raised on light, dry soil. The last ques¬ 
tion we Bhall endeavor to answer later. 
A WORD AS TO LOW PRICES. 
S. A. B., Edwardsville, III., asks as to the 
reliability of the Manhattan Book Co 1 , 
which is sending out catalogues of very cheap 
books. 
Ans.—A s a rule, we advise our friends to 
have nothing to do with those firms who ad¬ 
vertise goods of any sort at extravagantly 
low prices. Either the goods are poor or th e 
firms, after making a reputation by dealing in 
a fair, satisfactory way for some time, burst 
up, swindling everybody and making a dis- 
■ honest pile. Please bear in mind that what 
the nutritions Bunch Grass—Festuca scabrella 
—abounds. The greater part of the settled 
State is devoted to stock and sheep raising. 
Of cultivated crops wheat is the chief; the 
yield is large and the quality excellent. By far 
the greater part of it is raised in the Willa¬ 
mette Valley. Oats, barley, potatoes, peas, , 
beans and cabbage do well. B.ye and buck¬ 
wheat have been little grown. Corn is not 
extensively raised, the soil being better suited 
for the production of small grains. It thrives 
best in parts of Eastern Oregon and in the 
southern valleys between the Coast and Cas¬ 
cade Mountains. Our Fruit Number shows 
what fruits thrive well in the State. A ma¬ 
jority of the inhabitants of the State are set¬ 
tled in the Willamette Valley, the districts 
west of the Coast range and east of the Cas¬ 
cade range being thinly inhabited. There are 
United States land offices at Oregon City, 
Rosebnrg, Le Grand, Lakeview and The Dal¬ 
les, and these, on application, will furnish 
information about the Government land. The 
best route is by the Pacific Railroad to San 
Francisco, thence by steamer to Portland, As¬ 
toria or whatever other port you wish to make 
—distance fi om Chicago say 3,000 to 3,500 
miles. Information as to routes, fares, etc., 
can be got through the next railroad office. 
UTILIZING THE MOTIVE POWER OF A CREEK. 
F. A. 73., Perry, N. Y., wishing to utilize 
the water of a creek in running a 5}A-foot 
drag-saw, asks wbat kind of a wooden water 
wheel would be best to furnish the desired 
power. The banks of the creek are about five 
feet high and its bed about 18 feet wide, and 
in places there is a fall of about four feet to 
the rod. The water will fill a space of 12x14 
inches. 
Ans. —Your supply of water would give 
practically about half a horse power per foot 
of fall. Theoretically there is two-thirds of a 
SOMETHING ABOUT OREGON. 
C. L. Chelsea, Wis., asks for information 
about the climate, soil, crops and Government 
land in Oregon, the distance from Chicago, 
and the best route. 
3 divided into two unequal 
Eastern and Western Ore- 
ANS.— Oregon is 
parts, known as 1-— 
gon, by the Cascade Mountains, which cross 
the State from north to south at an average 
distance of 130 miles from the coast. These 
two sections differ materially in climate, soil, 
and topography. Western Oregon, extend¬ 
ing from the mountains to the Pacific coast, 
embraces about one-tlnrd of the btatc, and 
is divided by mountain chains into four dis¬ 
tricts, which again differ considerably in soil, 
climate and topography. Eastern Oregon, 
gmturoicijig all the estate eas,. of the Oa cade 
range, consists generally of undulating table 
lands, seamed by deep canyons. It will be 
seen from the above tbat it would be im¬ 
possible in the brief space at om- command 
here to give anything like a satisfactory an¬ 
swer to our friend’s question, inasmuch as 
what might l>e said of one part of the State 
would certainly be untrue of most of the rest 
of it. We may say in general, however, that 
Western Oregon has a moist, equable climate, 
and Eastern Oregon a dry and variable one. 
In Western Oregon there are but two seasons— 
the wot and dry. The wet season begins about 
the latter part of November and lasts till 
March or April, during which time a drizzling 
rain and thick mist prevails, though there are 
many bright days. In the dry season very 
little rain falls, especially from June to Octo¬ 
ber. In the souttiem portion the dry season 
is longer and the wet shorter than at the north. 
Snow seldom falls to any depth, and ice rarely 
F. M. «-A-s whether the New York florists 
use sand or wood mold in which to root cut¬ 
tings of greenhouso plants. 
Ans.— Sand. 
J. G. Evans .—Much obliged for the sample 
of wheat. The Rural has shown during sev¬ 
eral years that it is easy enough to change a 
Spring into a Winter wheat if the variety is 
hardy enough to stand the climate where it is 
sown. We can not well experiment with 
changing Winter into Spring wheats, since the 
latter do not thrive with us five seasons out of 
