as on the previous occasion, stood the Winter 
well, and there is an excellent plant at the 
time I ddi writing, but the produce is very 
small and would hardly pay for the expense 
of cutting. 
In another experiment in the same field 
where the turnips in the rotation have receiv¬ 
ed a very liberal application of artificial 
manures every fourth year from the com¬ 
mencement, the clover is an exceedingly 
large crop. 
When this lend was first put under experi¬ 
ment in 1848, it was in what we should de¬ 
scribe as rather high agricultural condition; 
the failure of the clover crop when repeated 
in the seventh year from the commencement, 
could not therefore be due to want of food in 
the soil, as in the interval between 1854 and 
1874 the removal of twenty umnumired crops 
must have greatly impoverished the land, yet 
we still obtained a crop, though a very small 
one; and even eight years later than this date 
we got a crop without disease. We have 
therefore before us the singular fact that 
disease is not due to poverty of the soil; and 
that it is not due to richness of the soil is 
proved by our having succeeded in growing 
continuous clover crops upon a rich garden 
soil. 
Here I may observe that the remarkable 
circumstance of other leguminous plants grow, 
jug luxuriantly where clover would not grow 
must not lead us to conclude too hastily that 
we can continue to grow them; after a few 
years they may in their turn fail just as the 
red clover has failed. 
I have not referred to the numerous analy¬ 
ses which have been made of both soils and 
crops in connection with this subject; nor 
even to the elaborate operations carried on by 
Dr. Gilbert on bis small beds, in which he 
placed the various manure ingredients in 
layers, several feet below the surface. 
My object is to point out to those of my 
American readers who are interested in the 
subject, and to the lady—xvbo I am sorry to 
find has so low an opinion of the farmers and 
scientific men of England—that here at least, 
some attempts have been made to investigate 
the causes of clover sickness; and it is not 
from any sparing of time or money bestowed 
upon the subject if the results have not as yet 
proved altogether successful. 
Rothamsted, England, July 20. 
SOME AMERICAN EXPORTS TO ENG¬ 
LAND. 
PROFESSOR J. P. SHELDON. 
English farmers are recovering from the 
state of perturbation into which they were 
Ihtown a few years ago on the "American 
Meat’" question. They no longer believe that 
the i ew country is going to extinguish the 
old cne, in beef and mutton; and they are 
rapidly coming to thiDk she is not going to 
distinguish l.erseif in tny very special man¬ 
ner, in tb< sf departments. But our men were 
more than a little disturbed, at first. The 
suddenness of the thing startled them very 
prolound.y, and for some months American 
meat was the salient topic of conversation in 
agricultural circles, and out of them for the 
matter ot that. Tnis was probably ow ing to 
th'headlong and characteristic plunge which 
many Americans took into the meat trade. 
The suddenness of the rush, rather than its 
volume, was iu a sense overwhelming. We 
came to the conclusion that American re- 
souiceswere greater than they have proved 
themselves to be. Instead of making large 
fortunes in the trade, many of the exporters, 
we hear, have lost sums of money. '1 he mar¬ 
gin of profit, therefore, is not large enough to 
admit of, for some time to come, a very large 
expansion of the trade, whereat our farmer s 
are taking heart again. This year, for in¬ 
stance, the volume of American beef sent 
over, is such as to encourage a marked advance 
in prices on this side. Immigration, no doubt, 
has had a good deal to do with this; but, 
whatever be the cause of the diminished sup¬ 
ply of American beef, we become convinced 
that the American bark was w orse than the 
American bite on this meat question. Time, 
however, may again modify these notions of 
ours. 
We want you Americans, who claim to be 
able to do anything under the sun, and espec¬ 
ially to do wbat nobody else can do. to give 
us a clean bill of health w T ith the cattle you 
send over to this side. We have no wish to 
exclude your stock, or even to kill it where it 
lands on our shores 1 It is the disease we don’t 
want and won’t have, thank you! Your 
stock w r e want, both fat and lean, and as 
much of it as you can afford to send us at the 
price we ean afford to pay. Your lea" stock 
we want particularly, for fattening; for our 
own is scarce and dear. We want every¬ 
thing—every good thing, that is—that you 
can spare, at prices we are willing and able to 
pay for it. 
In this respect you will admit that we are 
here more magnanimous than you are; for 
you do all you can—your Government does, 
I mean—to make your people the poorest im¬ 
aginable customers to us, while we are the 
best imaginable customers to you. Surely 
this sort of thing is very uufilial conduct to¬ 
ward your aged parent? Surely it is out of 
joint with the vast resources and the magni¬ 
ficent pretensions of your country and its peo¬ 
ple ? Will, "please yourselves, and you will 
live the longer,” as the old saw hath it. 
Another thing of yours we don’t want—nay, 
two of them unless you tell us plainly what 
you are sending—viz., your lard cheese and 
your oleomargarine-butter. I regard it as a 
trifle odd that America, the country pur ex¬ 
cellence of ran materials in abundance, should 
have such a hankering after spurious imita¬ 
tions. Sam Slick’s wooden nutmegs demoral¬ 
ized your people “some,” as it would seem. 
You have even started the immaculate Dutch 
nation on a career of deceit in the dairy. You 
send over to that interesting people a great 
deal of oleomargarine, or whrtever else in the 
devil’s name you call it, and they are tempted 
to make it up and send it to us for butter. 
Our men buy it and trade it to the public as 
butter pure and simple; but, then, our men 
have never pretended much to be immaculate. 
We want to deal with you, and must deal 
with you, but we require that you should deal 
squarely with us. Let us know the bi t'ora 
truth about the stuff you send, and we’ll take 
it gladiv, and pay you well for it—if we want 
it I With regard to your diseases of stock 
and your sham butter and cheese, we want 
you just to do to us as you would have us do 
to you,—that’s all 1 Later on, we expect you 
will apply the rule to various other things as 
well—so soon, that is, as your education in 
economics is completed. 
College of Agriculture, Salisbury, England. 
The Rural New-Yorxer is for the North, 
Sout h, East and D’cst it is the only National 
Rural Journal in America-the only journal 
that conducts Experiment Grounds purely in 
the interests of its subscribers. It has never 
in any instance sold seeds or plants to sub¬ 
scribers and its advice is disinterested. It 
has nothing to sell or to offer for sale, except 
subscriptions to itself. 
■ -*-■»■-»- 
(^xpmmrnt ffvmmrtsi of tltc Itufut 
gtew - syoyfcrr. 
GREEN PEAS. 
Tests with the latest English Novelties. 
NG IMPROVEMENT !N EARLINESS 
LANDRETH’S EXTRA EARLY AS 
EARLY AS ANY. 
American Wonder the Best and Earliest of 
the Dwarf Marrows. 
Telephone and Telegraph the Best of the 
Tall-Growing Intermediates. 
CARTER’S STRATAGEM THE MOST 
PROLIFIC. 
WHEATS. 
A PROLIFIC VARIETY FROM SIR J. B. LAWES. 
THE BLACK-BEARDED CENTENNIAL. 
Rural Crosses of Wheat. 
SEEDLING POTATOES. 
Several years ago the Rural tested 27 
different kinds of peas—most of them well- 
known—a report of which will be found in 
the R. N.-Y. of Sept. IB, 1877. Three years 
ago, we tested the then new Telegraph and 
Telephone, and were so well pleased with 
them that the latter was placed in our own 
Seed Distribution, and sent to all applicants 
as faras our limited stock enabled us so to do. 
Both kinds are now recognized as the choicest 
of intermediate peas. We have now to rep jrt 
upon tests made the past season with 14 differ¬ 
ent kinds. The seeds of most of them were 
procured from the originators or introducers 
in England, the older kinds being raised be¬ 
side them for purposes of comparison as to 
yield, productiveness, habit, etc. 
The soil, a clay loam, was well fitted by 
spading and raking, and manured with chem¬ 
ical fertilizer at the rate of 400 pounds to the 
acre and a light dressing of hen manure and 
muck. The peas were planted two inches deep, 
two inches apart, in drills three feet apart. 
Our object in planting the Old Philadelphia 
beside Landreth’s Ex. Early, was to determine 
how much improvement the latter, which is 
now one of the most popular of the earliest 
class, showed over the former from which 
many of the earliest peas of to-day have 
sprung. 
Our object in planting the Little Gem be¬ 
side the American Wonder, was to note dif¬ 
ferences which had previously seemed a little 
obscure. 
Our object in planting both the Telephone 
and Telegraph was to ascertain by more care¬ 
ful observation than we had made in our tests 
of throe years ago, whether there were any 
marked differences between them. All were 
planted (by hand) April 3d. 
Landrkth’s Extra Early. —June 18th 
there were more peas upon this variety fit to 
be picked than upon any other. The first 
mess was gathered June' 31st, when a few 
were also picked from Lnxtou’s Earliest of 
All. The vines grew a little over three feet in 
his'rtt. They branch very little, are rather 
slender and average seven to eight pods to the 
vine. This strain is evidently carefully se- 
1 >cteo— the vines growing to a uniform bight 
and maturing the fruit as nearly all at once 
as it seems possible for any variety to do. 
On June 26th we picked 200 pods which 
weighed 33 ounces—contained 1202 seeds 
which weighed 13 ounces. 
The Old Philadelphia Extra Early.— 
This proved to be, with Laxton’s Earliest of 
All, the second early. In point of earliness 
we could note no difference between the two. 
The first picking was made June 23d, and at 
American Racer. Fig. 264. 
the same time a few were ready to be picked 
upon the American Wonder and Wood s Ex. 
Early. The vines are strong, not much in¬ 
clined to branch and grew 3,l a feet in bight. 
June 26th—200 pods weighed 32 ounces, 
which contained 970 seeds which weighed 10 
ounces. 
Laxton’s Earliest of All.— This pea was 
extensively advertised in England last year 
as the earliest pea known. We found it no 
earlier than the Old Philadelphia. The vines 
grow a little over three feet and are notably 
slender and never branching, and bear seven 
pods to a vine. The variety has been care¬ 
fully selected. All the vines grew to the 
same higbt, were uniformly productive, ma¬ 
turing to the tops nearly at the same time, 
so that the entir s crop may be taken off be¬ 
fore wrinkled peas are ready and the ground 
be prepared for later crops. The same, how¬ 
ever, may be said as to the Philadelphia, 
Landreth’s, American Wonder, etc., etc. 
On June 26tti we picked 200 pods which 
weighed 82^ ounces—contained 1,300 seeds 
which weighed 13 ounces. 
Wood’s Extra Early.—A n excellent vari¬ 
ety maturing with Philadelphia, from which 
itis distingu'shable by a more vigorous growth 
of vine. It also grows one foot taller. 
June 27 th we picked 200 pods which con¬ 
tained 1,020 seeds weighing 14 ounces. The 
pods (fruit entire) were not weighed. 
American Racer —This very distinct pea 
was sent to us four or five years ago by the 
Rural's esteemed contributor, T. H. Hoskins, 
M.D., of Vermont. It will be offered for sale 
next Spring by B. K. Bliss & Sons. The 
vines grew to the hight of five feet. The 
pods which formed near the ground were 
ready to pick Jane 25th, though those imme¬ 
diately above were quite immature. Still 
higher up the blossoms had not yet set, while 
at the tops of the vines the flowers wero not 
even in bloom. July 2d we were picking 
them from within a foot of the top. The 
tips of the vines were then in bloom while 
just beneath were many young pods. The 
last picking was made July 10th, which was 
16 days after the American Wonder was in 
bearing, and other wrinkled peas, such as the 
Telephone, Edinburgh Beauty, etc., were in 
use. As to quality, there is very little choice 
between the smooth kinds. We testedj the 
quality of each kind, cooked separately, of 
course, and, provided they are in the same 
stage of maturity and cooked just alike it is 
hard to detect any differences. It is very- 
evident that nobody wants a smooth pea 
when he can get a wrinkled pea. The pe¬ 
culiarity of the Racer, that it is in use along 
time, is therefore no great merit. On the 
one hand, we hare earlier peas—as Daniel 
O'Rourke, First and Best, Philadelphia, 
Landreth’s Extra Early, etc., and, on the 
other, peas very much better in quality. 
The Racer bears an average of 14 pods to 
a vine, each pod having from five to seven 
peas, never over eight. The pods are well 
filled. The engraving, Fig. 264, is from )i s. 
June 27th we picked 200 pods which con¬ 
tained 1,090 seeds weighing 14 ounces. 
American Wonder.—A full-page portrait 
from life appeared in the R. N.-Y. of July 
22d of this popular,dwarf,wiinkled pea. The 
vines grow from six to eighteen inches high, 
depending upon the soil and situation. Ours 
averaged one foot. Tiie stoma are strong, 
neediog no support and generally branch 
near the surface of the soil, the branch bear¬ 
ing from two to four pods—the entire plant 
from ten to fifteen. 
On June 26th, we picked 200 pods, which 
contained 954 seeds which weighed 10 ounces. 
The Wonder, besides being of the first qual¬ 
ity, is within two or three days as early as 
any of the smooth kinds. This, we are 
aware, to the vigilant market gardener is of 
the first importance, and may determine a 
loss or profit upon his main crop. But for 
home use, we should sow sparingly of the 
smooth kinds and trust to the Wonder for 
the bulk of our earliest peas. There is all 
the difference in sweetness between smooth 
and wrinkled peas that there is between sweet 
and field corn. 
McLean’s Little Gem —This is scarcely 
less prolific than the Wonder, and the quality 
is much the same. But the vines grow taller 
under the same conditions and it seems to he 
about one week later. The pods average 
fewer seeds, while the seeds average larger. 
On July 1st we picked 200 pods which con¬ 
tained 720 seeds, weighing 10^ ounces. 
Telephone. —Vines very strong, growing 
four feet high, averaging 18 to 20 pods to a 
plant. It branches considerably, the branches 
bearing from three to five pods. The pods 
average six to seven large wrinkled seeds of 
the first quality. First picking July 4th. 
The engraving, Fig. 208, is from life, and 
shows the average size. 
On July 9th, we picked 200 pods which 
weighed 66 ounces, contained 1,320 seeds 
weighing 28^ ounces. 
Telegraph. —Vines very strong, growing 
four feet high, averaging 16 to 18 pods to a 
vine. The vines branch, each branch bearing 
three to five pods. The pods average six to 
seven large, wrinkled seeds of the first quality. 
First picking July 4. 
On July 9th, 200 pods weighed 65 ounces, 
contained 1,332seeds which weighed 28 ounce s . 
Edinburgh Beauty —Vine3 very strong, 
two to two-and-a-half feet high. Each seed 
usually sends up two main stalks, each of 
which branches freely. There are often 50 
pods from a single seed. Almost invariably 
two pods to every fruit stem— i.e., the pods 
are borne in pairs. Peas (aeecL) of large size. 
They are darker when cooked and not quite as 
sweet as the next—inferior to the Telephone 
or Telegraph in quality. 
On July 10th—200 pods weighed 30>£ounces, 
contained 876 seeds which weighed 18kj ounces. 
Considering the hight of the vines, their won¬ 
derful fruitfulness, and the large size of the 
peas (seeds), this is a remarkable variety. 
Dean’s Dwarf Marrow.— Vines very 
strong, two to two-and-a half feet high—15 to 
20 pods to a vine. Small pods for marrows, 
though larger than those of the Edinburgh 
Beauty. Much branching; uniformly large 
seed; often two pids to each peduncle. When 
cooked they are of a very light green color, 
sweet, but not quite so tender as Telephone. 
On July 10th—200 pods weighed 40 ounces, 
contained l.ltiS -eeds which weighed 24 ounces. 
.Carter's Stratagem. —A remarkable vari¬ 
ety. Vines very strong and needing but a 
slight support. Twenty pods to a vine. The 
vine branches just under the surface of the 
soil, two stems generally of equal vigor grow¬ 
ing to a hight of 2 to 2% feet. The pods are 
generally borne singly. 
On July 11th—9)0 pods weighed 80 ounces, 
contained 1,420 seeds which weighed 42ounces. 
The quality is excellent. It will be seen that 
this is tho most prolific of oil and gives the 
greatest number and weight of seeds to a pod 
as well as the largest pods. Still, it must not 
be overlooked that whereas this averages but 
20 pods to a vine, the Edinburgh Beauty, for 
instance, bears 50. The engraving, Fig. 265, 
shows the average size of the pods. 
Pride of The Market.— Vigorous vines 
