I'otato seeds may be sown out of doors in the 
Spring when settled weather has arrived. 
But they make comparatively little growth 
of vine, and the average of tubers will be no 
larger than small marbles. Besides, potato 
beetles have to be watched very closely or the 
tender little plants will soon be destroyed. 
Even a few hours of neglect may destroy 
every one. 
A NE T .V KIND OP RYE. 
Has any systematic, persevering attempt 
been made in this country or elsewhere to 
improve rye by selection or otherwise? We 
do not know of any. Mr. B. K. Bliss gave 
ns last August a few seeds of a rye which were 
sent to him from Germany. These were sown 
at the Rural Farm, October 3, and have 
yielded heavily, though, being a single drill 
33 feet long, no fair estimate of the yield per 
acre can be given. The illustration (Fig. 
269) is taken from an average head before it 
had filled out. The kernels are not quite so 
large as ordinary rye, though those sown 
were larger. Some of the stools have 19 
straws, measuring six feet three inches in 
hight. The variety has been named Thou 
sand-fold Rye. 
ter Wheat. Of all kinds this attracts the 
most attention. Its immense heads, with 
breasts as close and with beards as long as 
those of barley; its tall,heavy stems reaching 
above all other kinds; its large, white ker¬ 
nels—all of these attract the eye and capti¬ 
vate the fancy powerfully, and visitors only 
desire to know where it can be purchased. 
By reference to the Rural Wheat Number of 
last year, it will be seen that the first prize 
was awarded to Prof. A. E. Blount for best 
heads of this wheat. The average number of 
breasts per head was 27—the number of grains 
104—the average numl>er of grains to a 
breast 3 8—the weight of kernels per head 
107 grains. 
Unless it is proven that this wheat and 
Golden Grains are the same, Black-bearded 
Centennial has never been offered for 6ale, 
and we doubt if it could now be purchased 
even though $50 or more per bushel were 
offered for it. 
That it thrives»and yields immense crops in 
Spring wheat sections is well known. In 
Colorado it thrives either as a Winter or 
Spring wheat. At this farm it promises to 
prove a valuable variety as a Winter wheat. 
The same may be said as to Pennsylvania. 
The small quantity which will be sent to each 
of our subscribers in the Rural’s Free Seed 
Distribution who apply, will enable it to 
be thoroughly tested in all parts of the 
country. 
SEEDLING POTATOES. 
For years past nothing in the way of novel¬ 
ties has met with a readier sale than new 
potatoes. The usual price when first intro¬ 
duced is one dollar the pound, and in one 
case at least as high as four dollars per pound 
were paid last season. We question whether 
farmers might not just as well raise their 
own potatoes from seeds, and thus at very 
much less expense provide new and valuable 
kinds for themselves. 
two feet high, branching laterally only. Notes 
as to quality missing, 
On July 12th—200 pods weighed 04 ounces, 
contained 1,388 seeds which weighed 32 ounces. 
Giant Marrow.—So many of the seeds 
failed to germinate that we can make no re • 
port. Vines five to six feet high; large seeds; 
pods not well filled. 
No Name. —Our experiment plot was filled 
when this kind was received, so that it was 
tested in another place and in poorer soil. 
Vines three feet, strong. July 17th—200 
pods weighed 44 ounces; contained 860 seeds; 
weighed 22 ounces. 
RESUME. 
Landreth’s Extra Early— June 26th.— 
200 pods (fruits), weighed 33 ounces, 1,202 
seeds, weight 13 ounces. 
Philadelphia Extra Early— June 26th. 
—200 poda weighed 32 ounces, 970 seeds, 
weight 10 ounces. 
Laxton’b Earliest of All —June 26th.— 
200 pods weighed 32X ounces, 1,300 seeds, 
weight 12 ounces. 
Wood’s Extra Early— June 27th.—200 
pods, 1,020 seeds, weight 14 ounces. 
American Racer— June 27th—200 pods 
contained 1,090 seeds, weight 14 ounces. 
American Wonder —June 26th. 200 pods 
contained 954 seed?, weight 10 ounces. 
McLean’s Little Gem—J uly 1st—200 
pods contained 720 seeds, weight 10X ounces. 
Telephone— July 9th.—200 pods weighed 
66 ounces, contained 1,320 seeds, weight 28}$ 
In the Experiment Grounds of I hr Rural 
New-Yorker thepast season mere [trowing 
80 different kinds of wheat, many of which, 
have originated there by cross breeding, se¬ 
lection, etc; 50 different, kinds of new pota 
toes; 15 different varieties of Indian, corn; 
150 different kinds of strawberries; 60 of 
grapes; all kinds of raspberries, blackberries, 
currants, etc., as well as a rare collection of 
hardy ornamental shrubs, trees and herba¬ 
ceous plants. 
DAIRY SCHOOLS AS A NEW DEPAR¬ 
TURE IN DAIRYING. 
X. A. WILLARD. 
A question of much practical importance 
has been agitated among the manufacturers 
of dairy produce for a few years back, and 
will soon come prominently to the front for 
Pride of The Market ^ 
j u iy 12th.—200 pods weighed 
64 ounces, contained 1,388 
seeds, weight 32 ounces. 
Giant Marrow.—F ailure. 
No Name— July 17th.—200 
pods weighed 44 ounces, con- 
tained S60 seeds, weight 22 
REMARKS. 
What is gained either to 
the market or home gardener 
by raising varieties of peas 
that grow five feet high 
when other kinds growing 
from two to three feet high 
■will yield more peas of a 
good a quality ? Compare 
for example, the old and fav- 
orite Champion of England £ 
with Carter’s Stratagem. t 
Why should we sow' smooth 
peas, which are always of in 
ferior quality, when varieties 
of wrinkled j>eas may be sown which are of 
the first quality and will yield just as well ? 
Upon the south half of our pea test-plot, 
salt at the rate of nine bushels to the acre 
was sown broadcast. There was no differ¬ 
ence in germination, growth or yield that 
could be discovered. 
wheats. 
Lawks Wheat —Of the 80 different kinds 
of wheats raised here the past season we have 
now to speak of two kinds only, viz., the 
Lawes wheat and a variety resulting from a 
cross between the Black-bearded Centennial 
and another, a beardless kind, which we 
have not yet identified. The Lawes wheat, 
as we call it, simply because it was 
sent to us by Sir J. B. Liwes, of Rotharasted, 
England, is correctly shown at Fig. 271. The 
heads average the size of the portrait. The 
breasts are crowded together, averaging 11 
to a side and four to five grains in a breast. 
Our readers will not be surprised, therefore, 
to learn that at Rothamsted it has yielded 
50 bushels and over per acre. With us the 
plot sown was too small to enable us to esti¬ 
mate the yield per acre. The kernels are of 
medium size and of an amber color. 
Rural Cross.— Fig. 270isacorrect portrait 
of our cross between the Black-bearded Cen¬ 
tennial (male parent) and an unidentiaed 
kind (female parent.) The heads average 11 
breasts or spikelets to a side, and the grains, 
though shriveled, are decidely the largest we 
have ever seen. It is the size of the grains 
which makes us hopeful it may prove of value, 
though several years must pass ere this can 
be determined. Reports of other Rural cross¬ 
bred wheats, as well os of the best of the 80 
kinds raised, will be presented from time to 
time. 
The Black-bearded Centennial has been 
raised on this farm for four years as a Win¬ 
March 15 we planted seeds MllTOi iV 1 
of the English Magnum Bo- 1 UUVhuU VI V ' I 
num ia n flower pot 10 inches Hu VuWm \' \ 
in diameter. The seeds ger- lllll \ 
miuatedas readily as tomato TOmIW 1 
seeds would, so that by April 
9 they were ready to be 
transplanted to little pots WftlvAuM) 
three inches in diameter. 
The first leaves are shown at VmWW 
A., Fig. 267, and the second 
leaves at B., Fig. 267. Fig. 
266 shows the leaf as drawn 
April 25, which resembles x| 
the petunia quite as much as 
the potato, after which 
they soon assume the irregularities of 
older plants. On May 20 a small plot of soil was 
prepared and enriched with concentrated po¬ 
tato fertilizer at the rate of 500 pounds to the 
acre. The plants were thumped out of the little 
pots, being very careful to preserve the ball 
of earth and roots intact, and set a foot apart 
in rows—the rows three feet apart. No check 
to the growth was sustained and, let us say 
to our loaders, that if we would secure tubers 
of the largest size the first seasou from seed, 
this is all-important. If from becoming pot- 
bound or too dry, the little tubers cease to 
grow, that is the end of their enlargement. 
New tubers have to form while those first 
formed become knobby or sprout again and 
decay. At this writing our vines cannot be 
distinguished from those of other potatoes so 
thrifty has been their growth. Several be¬ 
gan to bloom July 18, and many are in bloom 
now. Later we shall prepare engravings of 
such of these seedling tubers as may illustrate 
any interesting facts appertaining to them. 
Carter’s Stratagem.—Fig. 265. 
solution. It is—in what manner can ad¬ 
vanced dairy science be best promoted and 
the manufacturer educated to his business as 
a profession? That there is need of more sys¬ 
tematic methods for obtaining knowledge con¬ 
cerning milk and its products, concerning the 
production of milk and all the causesthat affect 
its quality and condition, bas loug been felt 
by those who are engaged iu this special in¬ 
dustry. There is a great demand every year 
for experienced and competent makers of but¬ 
ter and cheese—men possessing high skill and 
who are able to turn out a superior and uni¬ 
form product. The difference between 
cheese of ordinary and “fancy” moke, is from 
one to two or more cents per pound, while 
that for the two descriptions of butter is much 
more; and, although great improvement has 
of late been made in the general character of 
our dairy products, it must be admitted that 
the bulk of them is still much below what it 
should be, and is much inferior to the best 
grades. 
There is now greater necessity for the 
finer sorts of dairy goods than ever be¬ 
fore. Consumers have become gradually 
educated in their tastes, and are not satisfied 
with medium sorts, but are constantly seek¬ 
ing for and demanding the very finest descrip 
tions; while the “b ogus butters” and “imitation 
cheese,” in which oleomar- 
garino and lard play an im¬ 
portant part, are taking the 
place of all second class or 
inferior products of the gen¬ 
uine article. The only 
remedy that the dairymen 
has in this competition lies 
in a higher grade of man- 
Pjq _ufactuxe and the pro - 
duction of goods of such superior excellence 
that they will be sought after, and command 
a price far above the “bogus” or imitation 
varieties. There is no difficulty in obtaining 
remunerative and satisfactory rates if the 
quality, flavor and texture of the product are 
of the highest standard of excellence; and our 
dairymen will iu the end be compelled to 
First Leaves From Potato Seed.—Fig. 267. 
adopt this line or see their business decline to 
a point that cannot be made remunerative. 
Indeed, the makers of second-class goods are 
already, in many instances, turning their at¬ 
tention to the manufacture of the ‘ bogu3 ar¬ 
ticle’ as the easier way out of the trouble that 
threatens them ; and there is imminent dan¬ 
ger that large numbers will engage in this 
manufacture to the peril of a great and pros¬ 
perous industry. 
What seems to be needed in this emer¬ 
gency is the establishment of dairy schools 
where manufacturers can be properly edu¬ 
cated for their business in producing the 
finest grades of dairy produce. A large 
number of new men come into the work 
every year. They are employed in a factory 
for a season or two, and then go out to man¬ 
age factories on their own account. Some of 
them, it is true, rise above what they have 
been taught, but the majority, learning only 
how to make inferior goods, like those pro¬ 
duced at the factory where they have been 
employed, never get beyond the knowledge of 
their first teacher, who, in many instances, is 
ignorant and incompetent. Many old factory- 
men are working only by rule, and have 
scarcely any knowledge of the nar.ure cf milk 
or the changes needed in the production of 
very fine goods. They fall on a certain rou¬ 
tine in manipulation and trust to time and 
chance for the result. Half the makers of 
cheese in the country do not know whether 
the cheap thermometer they are using is cor¬ 
rect or is defective by five or ten degrees. 
Many do not know how to test milk prop¬ 
erly and do not understand the lactome¬ 
ter, or know how it should be used A dairy 
school with practical and scientific teachers 
where makers can be properly taught and 
well-grounded in all the principles underlying 
the art of dairying—a school where the finest 
goods are manufactured and reasons given 
for ever}- stage of the process, and results 
demonstrated, would seem to to be a great 
desideratum. A few such schools scattered over 
the dairy region, where men could fit them¬ 
selves for factory managers and learn how to 
investigate for themselves, would soon give us 
the requisite number of competent makers 
and so improve the character of our dairy 
products that vast sums would be saved to 
this industry, that under the present system 
must be lost. 
The dairy conventions have been important 
educators in the past, but their usefulness is 
on the wane. In New York, the American 
Association and some others have “played 
out," and what is left of them is managed 
in the iaterest of salt. In some of the other 
States dissensions and troubles have arisen 
which have alienated dairymeu and impaired 
the usefulness of the associations. These in¬ 
stitutions served a good purpose in the earlier 
days of the associated system; and although 
they may still be made a benefit when not 
used to promote the schemes of ambitious 
men, a higher and more practical means of 
education is demanded. It would not be 
necessary for a pupil to remain for any great 
length of time at these schools. Some would 
