State the yield of milk has been poor from the 
beginning of the season. Spring opened cold 
and wet. then the drouth, coming about, the 
first of July, has been severe and contiaual, 
cutting off after-feed, so that the Fall make 
of cheese will be the lightest we have had for 
manv years. In view of these facts, 1 think 
the New York make of cheese this year must 
fall short of the average yield during good 
seasons at least 20,000,0(10 pounds. 
But, so far as the export trade is concerned, 
the shortage of the cheese crop in the United 
States will be more than counterbalanced by 
the exports from Canada. During the past 
few years the dairy industry of Canada has 
been largely extended, and, as nearly all the 
surplus cliecse goes to Great Britain, the Do¬ 
minion’s exports become an important factor 
to be considered in connection with our export 
trade. Last year (18S1), according to ollieial 
statistics obtained by the Woodstock Board of 
Trade, the exports of cheese from Canada 
were upwards of -10,000.000 pounds. The open¬ 
ing of many new factories this season in the 
Dominion, especially in the eastern provinces, 
together with the favorable yield, will, it is 
believed, swell the cheese exports from Canada 
this year to 50,000,000 pounds, or upwards. 
Canada cheese is now of very good quality, 
and as skimming has not been practiced in 
the Dominion to the extent that it has in the 
States, Canadian cheese has obtained a good 
reputation in England, though it may not 
have reached the highest point of excellence 
obtained by New Y r orb fancy factory. In 
tbe London market Canadian cheese is usu¬ 
ally quoted from one to two shillings less than 
that from the States. Canada, it will be seen, 
is becoming a formidable competitor with us 
in the British markets, and her large export 
has a tendency to steady the prices. Tbe 
English make of cheese is said to be larger this 
year than usual. If tbe increased production 
be very considerable it goes to show that Brit¬ 
ain can do with less cheese to be exported 
from America. 
On the other h*»nd, our home consumption is 
increasing, and that renders us less and less 
dependent upon foreign markets. We have 
w a population of over 50,000,000, and our 
home trade ought to clear off any surplus—in 
case the English d<*nnnd should fall off—and 
thus maintain fair prices. 
In view, then, of the situation from all 
sides, it would seem reasonable to expect an 
advauce in rates above those now ruling (Sept. 
IS) for fine September cheese—the choicest of 
the season’s make. But that the very high 
prices counted on by some are to be obtained, 
appears at this writing to be extremely doubt¬ 
ful. Dairymen often overdo the market by 
refusing good values for their product when 
prices are high, thus tukiog great risks in 
holding goods and selling in the end at a loss. 
The only advice we can give is to study the 
equation and take such advantage of the 
markets as circumstances and the trade seem 
to warrant when the goods are ready for ship¬ 
ment. 
iiitvrtl <i oincs. 
i 
XFORD PRACTICAL FARMERS’ CLUB 
Keeping Up the Farm. 
(Special Report to the Rural New-Yorker.) 
The above topic was the one chosen for 
discussion at our September meeting. The 
sub topics were: 
1st. Preventing washes. 
2d. How eau the stock be made to help. 
3d. Rotation. 
4th. Repairs of buildings and fences. 
5th. What proportion of the land should be 
plowed. 
The first sub-topic was opened by Mr. 
Nicho). He was now for tbe first time living 
on a rolling farm, and was endeavoring to get 
his runs and lands most liable to wash into 
pasture. He found rye a great help, as it 
would come up and take root quickly, and hold 
the soil till grass could catch and form a sod. 
He found difficulty, however, as the water 
would gather iu the lowland and make gullies. 
Mr . Brown: “We must wateh against the 
beginning of this trouble. Often we can 
divide the stream into two or four, and thus 
reduce the volume of water and the force. If 
the stream is one that overflows the fields, we 
can often prevent this by straightening the 
channel.” 
Mr. Murphy: “Where a stream flows through 
a field a stone dam may often be buiU, so as to 
oatch the soil and broaden the stream and 
lessen the force of the water. This dam, built 
on the line, will serve as a fence and save 
keeping up a water gap." 
Mr. Nichol’s question: Will it help these 
places to lay tile in them? was answered by 
several members showing that under some 
circumstances it would do; but it was best 
lay the tile a little to one side of the chan¬ 
THE RURAL BEW-YOMEB. 
OCT 7 
nel, and large tile should be used, particularly 
at tbe outlet. 
Tbe second sub-topic was opened by B. 8, 
Miller. Poor spots can be enriched by fold¬ 
ing the stock, particularly sheep, on them 
by night through the Bummer. All the stock 
should be kept in the stable or barn-yard all 
Winter, and supplied with bedding, so as to 
save the manure. 
Mr. Nichol: “What is the best stock for 
keeping up the farm ?” 
Mr. A. L. Miller: “In our system of mixed 
farming we need cattle, sheep and hogs, and 
they can all be made to help. Sheep not only 
enrich the land but keep down briars. We 
should have cattle enough to eat our corn 
fodder, three tons of which are worth two 
tons of good hay, leaving one ton of stalks j 
which are excellent absorbents. Hogs fed 
on a sod field which is to be broken for corn 
the next season, enrich it cheaply. They 
should be fed in a different place each day.” 
Mr. Brown: “Yes; and pastured on a clo¬ 
ver field during the Summer they help it 
wonderfully.” 
Mr. Hancock: “We must arrange our 
barnyards so as to save all the droppings of 
the stock, both liquid and solid; and to do this 
they must be small and so well bedded as 
never to become muddy, and they should be 
changed so that no water can enter from out¬ 
side to leach the manure.” 
The third sub-topic—“Rotation”—was start¬ 
ed by Mr. Benis: “Our rotation al way s includes 
clover, but on our best lands we may grow 
three or four crops of grain between, say, 
two of wheat or barley and two of corn. On 
our thinner land we grow clover every third 
year.” 
Mr. Murphy; “1 plow clover sod for wheat, 
then plant corn on the stubble and sow wheat 
on the corn land, making a three-year course, 
but on our bottom land we grow corn several 
seasons in succession, and only change when 
we see it is needed." 
Mr. Nichol: "A wise rotation keeps the 
land up to a high state of fertility; yet many 
of our farmers do not practice it. The best 
field on the farm I have recently bought the 
neighbors tell me has been cropped for 40 
years.” 
Mr. B. S. Miller: “I follow a three-year ro¬ 
tation; but follow clover with corn instead of 
wheat, as Mr. Murphy does. Occasionally 
clover failsand breaks up our rotation. When 
this happens rye and timothy can be sown to 
make a pasture and keep up the rotation.” 
Tbe fourth sub-topic was opened by Mr. 
) Schultz: “For making repairs, the ‘stitch in 
time saves nine.’ A little neglect of the fences 
makes breuchy stock. It is a wise economy 
to hire extra help, so that the little repairs 
can be attended to promptly.” 
The question was asked, “What is the com¬ 
ing fence?” This brought out the views of 
most of the members of the club, and showed 
that none of them favored hedge, and that 
those who had the most of it liked it least. Wire 
in some form was believed to be the coming 
fence; but as a valuable horse had just died 
In the neighborhood from injuries received on 
a barbed wire fence, there was some doubt as 
to it being safe to use. 
The general impression was that one board 
should be used so that stock would see it, and 
a member reported that he had seen this done 
with the posts 32 feet apart. The w ires were 
fastened by staples to strips of inch board of 
hard wood, four inches wide and one inch 
thick and of such length as to rest on a fis t 
stone and reach to the top of the fence. These 
upright strips were used four feet apart and 
one end of each of the sixteen-foot boards 
could be nailed to the post and then attached 
to these uprights by a single wrought nail 
clinched. This would make a cheap fence, as 
three-fourths of the posts and postholes would 
be saved. 
The last sub-topic—“What proportion of 
land shall we plow," was opened by Mr. A. L m 
Miller. ‘‘We should keep enough land in grass 
to grow stock to consume all the grain grown 
on the farm. It is the besetting sin of this 
grain-growing region that tbe farmers keep 
fully two thirds of their land in grain.” 
Mr. Brown: “M f experience shows that 
profitable farming calls for less land plowed 
with more manure and clover ami very much 
more tillage. I believe in bushels rather 
than acres.” 
Mr. Nichol, “Amen.” 
Mr. B. 8. Miller, “We plow our corn four 
times. I believe it w ould pay to plow it eight; 
each extra plowing would only need to add a 
bushel to the acre to pay, and I know that 
often it would add several bushels.” 
NOTES ON BACK NUMBERS. 
T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
Ron ax, Sept. 3.—W. S. B. writes intelli¬ 
gently on hog cholera. It is a long-vexed 
question in pathology whether the so-called 
contagious diseases ever originate de novo, 
that is, whether one may have, say, the rneask* 
without having contracted it by contagion 
either direct or indirect. While this question 
may not be positively settled to the satisfac¬ 
tion of all, I believe the balance of evidence 
inclines strongly to the affirmative. Hog 
cholera is contagious, strongly so, yet I think 
there can be no reasonable doubt that it fre¬ 
quently originates from other causes, and that 
careless, filthy and unvaried feeding i6 the 
most frequent of these causes. Com alone is 
an ill-balanced food, but that the feeding of 
corn alone, other unsanitary conditions being 
excluded, causes hog-cholera, seems to me 
highly improbable. 
I am glad that the Rural is compelling the 
hybridists to toe the mark in regard to their 
work. By bringing them down to details, the 
careless and ignorant, as well as the fraudu¬ 
lent, who are, or who profess to be, engaged 
iu the work of plant-crossing and hybridising, 
will be made unmistakably to expose them¬ 
selves. Atthe same time the Rural hybridiser 
may get some new ideas, and bear of methods 
among workers in this field now- unknown to 
the public. Among these workers 1 think 
there can be none more conscientious, and 
few of longer experience or greater skill than 
Mr. C. G. Pringle, of Charlotte, \’t., whom 
the Rural has several times criticized. He 
is a very modest, reserved person, but I do 
hope you may be able to draw him out on this 
very interesting subject. [That is our opinion 
and we should be glad to hear from him. Eos.] 
What a hasty, high-strung old gentleman 
Mr. Hovey is! But I am glad the Rural is in¬ 
dulgent to him, for he has been a great worker 
and a great benefactor in American horticul¬ 
ture. [Yes, indeed. Eds.] Perhaps, in com¬ 
pany with such equable uud well-balanced co¬ 
adjutors as Wilder aud Downing, Hovey may 
be admired as contributing the spice of his 
vivacious personality. 
Mr. Parnell does well in praising the 
Alpha potato for forcing purposes, and he 
might add for an early garden potato gen¬ 
erally. It is the only potato I have eve 
found that is really mealy before it is ripe. 
In congenial potato soil I have found it as pro¬ 
ductive as Early Rose, but this is not the usua 
experience with it. 
“The Rural is vain,” is it? Well, it has as 
good a right to be as any newspaper in the 
world, for ib does its work in a workmanlike 
manner, heartil/ aud thoroughly. But ohl 
good editor, be careful of yourself, tor all 
our sakes! 
Rural, Sept. 16.— The Rural’s crops of 
potatoes on hen manure and artificial fertili¬ 
zers seem to me to demonstrate that only 
good farming is needed to make our older 
Eastern soils as i>roductive as, or even 
more productive than, when they were fiist 
cleared. Even on the virgin lands of 
Northern Vermont and Maine 400 bushels 
of potatoes to the acre is a big crop. And 
were not- your big corn crops and very good 
wheat yields proof of the same thing? [With 
many thanks to Dr. Hoskins for his kind 
allusions and thoughtful notes, let us say that 
our potato reports thus far have been made 
from jilof culture, or what might be termed 
garden culture, though thesoil without manure 
is but an indifferent clayey loam. We have 
50 reports of this kind still to make, tbe great¬ 
est yield of which, thus far, is over 700 bushels 
to the acre. Our field culture has been con. 
fiued to the While Elephant, Beauty of 
Hebron, Early Rose and Blush. Eds.] 
professor a. j. cook. 
As the Winter again approaches, bee-keep¬ 
ers begin to inquire how they may safely 
winter their bees. This matter of wintering 
is the only element in apiculture that is pre¬ 
carious, and when we remember that such 
men as John Davis, of Michigan, with his 
scores of colonies, aud O. O. Poppleton, of 
Iowa, with his hundreds of colonies, and D. 
A. Jones, of Ontario, with his thousands, all 
located in the cold, bleak North winter with¬ 
out loss every Winter, may we not conclude 
“Leon” in “Rays” makes good points on the 
tomato question. With me Acme and E irly 
Essex are decidedly the best, and I do not 
know what anybody wants, or hopes for that 
is better. Canada Victor and Conqueror are 
both early, but not uniformly well-shaped. 
Gen. Grant is fine lookiug, but not so solid as 
its namesake. Let us hear more about Liv¬ 
ingston’s Perfection. [We have tested it with 
several others and shall report in due 
time. Eds.] 
Dr. Warder’s papers on Forestry are most 
timely and valuable. I wish there were more 
evidence that this question is interesting, as it 
should, the farmers of the Atlantic slope. I 
know of nothing being done in this State 
for tbe preservation, to say nothing of the 
improvement, of our forests, and except upon 
the sandy coast lands of Massachusetts,nothing 
in New England. Meantime not only the 
pines, spruces, hemlocks, tamaracks ami 
arbor-vitsas of New England are being rapidly 
exterminated, but our hard-wood forests are 
being cut down and worked up into furniture, 
machinery, paper stock and spools. It is 
astonishing to see how the demand for such 
material is deforesting our hills. First-rate 
maple groves by the hundred are being cut 
down in Northern Vermont, while Yellow 
Birch for veueers, White Birch for spools, and 
poplar and fir for wood-pulp are going like 
snow before the sun. Many of our villages 
are supplied with fuel from the waste of these 
manufacturers, but it cannot be for long. 
Our farmers are selling their woodlands to 
pay off their mortgages, but it is a fearful 
loss to future generations. 
Rural, Sect. 9. —Mr. Davis’s experience 
with muck simply duplicates the experience of 
many farmers in this vicinity. Much more 
attention is now being paid by New England 
farmers to the utilizing of home resources for 
fertilizing the soil than formerly. Among 
these are the urine of our animals and the 
muck of our lowlands. Together they make 
a perfect and powerful manure, capable of 
restoring worn farms with surprising rapidity. 
Mr. Green on cheap wagons strikes a pro. 
jecting nail in our farm economy sharply and 
well. Worn-out vehicles are good things to 
sell, never to buy. 
Mr. Woodward’s article on subduing Can¬ 
ada thistles would be worth millions to the 
readers of the Rural if they would follow 
the advice it gives. There are no perennial 
weeds that cannot be exterminated by this 
method, as I have proved by repeated ex¬ 
perience. Unless a plant can make leaves it 
cannot make roots, and the roots in the ground 
when so treated soon sicken and die. The 
task is not nearly so big as it looks. But there 
must be thorough work or the whole thing is 
in vain. 
The “infallible cure for stifle” contributed 
by W. B. N., (p. 635) is based upon the idea 
that the astriugency of the alum will pene 
trate the skiu and act upon the tissues beneath 
This is not the fact; the theory is wrong, and 
in practice the result promised will not be 
secured. 
Why have not mechanical potato diggers 
been more successful? Implements substan¬ 
tially identical with Travis’s have been us id 
long ago, but these and all others have been dis 
carded. The reason seems to be that they all 
waste potatoes enough to pay for hand digging- 
Orleans Co., Vt. 
--- 
WOOLEN MANUFACTURERS AND 
GRO W ERS. 
At the rec°nt joint-meeting of wool-grow¬ 
ers aud manufacturers iu the State of New 
York it was made evident that the woolen 
manufacturers are seeking to dupe the wool- 
growers before the Tariff Commission and 
secure a report for a reduction of duty on 
wools and retain substantially the present 
rate on woolen goods. It is known by every 
well-informed person that under the woolen 
tariff of 1807 the manufacturers obtained an 
undue advantage of rates, aud now they ask 
a still greater one. Such class legislation as is 
sought to be obtained through the Commission 
is a fraud upon the country, and particularly 
on the farmers and wool growers. If the 
proposition made by the manufacturers at the 
meeting is to be evidence of their tactics 
towards the wool-growers, the sooner t he 
uniou that has heretofore partially existed be¬ 
tween them is dissolved the better. 
They, our pretended friends, have imported 
and used more shoddy, waste, mu ago, flocks 
and carpet wools for the last 15 years than 
at any former period since the foundation of 
our government. Aud this, too, to avoid 
paying a higher rate of duty on wools such as 
compete with those grown in the United 
States. It is thought that President Arthur 
lost sight of ihe interests of the farmer and 
wool-grower in his selection of A. M. Gar¬ 
land, of Illinois, to represent them on the 
Tariff Commission, especially when he could 
have obtained the services of lion. Columbus 
Delano, a man whose ability and experience 
would have beeu a great benefit to the coun 
try. The prevailing opinion is that the woolen 
manufacturers could not have selected a more 
willing person to serve their interest than Mr. 
Garland. Let this be as it may, the farmers 
and wool growers demand that there he no re¬ 
duction of the present rates of duty on wool. 
A Wool-Grower. 
