Raspberry, Ralix pentandra, ^tc., but the 
flower seeds were nearly a failure with me. I 
intended to give them what they call high cul¬ 
tivation, but Blobbs’ like, 1 must have butch¬ 
ered the flowers anil hoed up the Jamestown 
weed, which prospered finely. H - 
Wisconsin, 
Rosenoale, Fond du Lac Co. My on® 
ounce,five-eyed W. Elephant was cut into five 
pieces allot which grew and yielded 14 pounds 
of tubers—the largest weighing a pound and 
all being of good size. The W. Oats rusted 
badly. The flowers bloomed splendidly. Some 
I potted in the Fall, were in bloom till Christ¬ 
mas, and this year some began to blossom the 
first week in March. The R. B, Sorghum 
grew finely to a highfc of nir.a feet. After 
extra good. To illustrate how poor our last 
year’s crop was, I should say 600 acres aver¬ 
aged three bushels per acre; the year previous 
the same acreage averaged 23 bushels, and in 
1879 it averaged 25 bushels per acre. Corn 
and oats fair; potatoes, light yield. h. c, 
Nebraska- 
Steele City, Jefferson Co., April 5.—We 
are having flue Spring weather; very little 
rain as yet, but the ground is in good condi¬ 
tion. Small grain nearly all sowed and look¬ 
ing well. Corn ground nearly plowed. Peas 
and onions show the rows plainly, a. t. r. 
New York. 
Cato, Cayuga Co.—Fruit tree ageuts are 
selling the White Elephant potato here at 50c. 
per pound. The yield from the one the Rural 
sent me weighed 73 pounds. At the price they 
are selling at, they would come to $36.50, 
which makes a profit to me of $34 50 in taking 
the Rural. I intend to plant most of them. 
There will be considerable Amber Cane 
planted here this season; Van Paten Bros, of 
Cato, are making arrangements to put in a 
No. 1 wheat, $1.30; oats, 50c.; corn, 75c. and 
80c.; potatoes, $1.50; butter, 30c.; eggs, 15c. 
The Rural is a welcome visitor to our house¬ 
hold. d. 
Illinois. 
W illiamsville, Sangamon Co., April 5.— 
Winter wheat never looked better in this 
county at this season excepting ou flat land. 
iNo farming has been done yet, but the weather 
s fine and nearly all are ready to make a be¬ 
ginning at once. The Winter just passed was 
very mild, and exceedingly wet up to a week 
ago. It is the general belief that all kinds of 
fruits are as yet uninjured by frost. The corn 
crop of ’81 was good here, and nearly all was 
gotten in in fair condition. It is nearly all 
held yet, as it has been impossible to get it to 
market. w. w. c. 
" Iowa. 
Chester, Howard Co., March 27. We had 
a very open Winter here. The 21st inst. was 
worse than any day we had the past Winter 
Then we had a regular Minnesota blizzard 
What is a blizzard? It is four thousand 
it may also prove an antidote to the worm 
nuisance. There is a somewhat similar worm 
affecting clover in the field, causing the leaves 
to blacken and dry up. It might readily be 
mistaken for the above species by the uniniti¬ 
ated, but has no connection with it, producing 
a moth of totally different appearance, belong¬ 
ing to the genus Tatraloplm and marked 
trifolli in my MSS. notes. 
years ago. Une or tne apples was uunueu w 
an cld nurseryman to name. After eating it, 
he said that it excelled every apple he had 
ever eaten, and ever since it has gone by the 
name of Excel in these i arts. Its season is 
from the first of November to the middle of 
January.” 
Mr. Downing kindly furnishes the Rural 
with the following description of the Excel: 
“ An old variety which originated in the 
town of Sharon, Conn., many years since, but 
it has not b eu largely disseminated nor has it 
become as well known as it should be, being 
an excellent Wiuter aj pie tor the table and 
also for culinary purpo.-.es. Tree a vigorous 
grower, spreading in its hubits, : n early and 
an abundant bearer on al ernate years, with 
a partial crop on the intervening ones. Fruit 
fully medium in size, roundish otlate, striped 
and splashed with light and dark red on a 
yellowish ground; flesh yellowish, tender, 
juicy, rich subacid, and slightly aromatic.” 
(Il)t (Querist 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure attention 1 
Coal Tar for Fruit Trees* 
In reference to J. R. D’s inquiry, page 111, 
about using coal-tar round the collars of fruit 
trees as a protection against borers, I want to 
say that I have seen such good effects from its 
uss (aud uo bad ones so far), that it seems full 
of promise as a simple remedy for one of the 
orchardist’sgreatest difficulties anl losses. It 
is the practice of several about here to pour a 
dipperful of the fluid tar into a gutter first 
made round the collar, and some claim that 
the fume or spirit of the t ir penetrates through 
the rampart of chips which the (apple) borers 
build solidly behind them, and kills the grub. 
Applied in time (about June 15) it is pretty 
sure to repel the beetle which, like curculios 
and other beet les, is very sensiti ve to odors, and 
very choiee aud careful iu selecting stems on 
which to deposit its eggs; and there is great 
gain in preveutiwj the least open running sore 
in the main stem of a tree. French arboricul¬ 
turists excel, aud they use gas tar largely, 
coating deutided surfaces of the wood with it 
and employing it against insects They mix 
it with sand to put round the collars of trees, 
which may be a very good plan wffiere there 
is a fear that the tar used may prove too 
caustic. A tarry stick stirred iu dry sand 
which is then sprinkled over seed beds repels 
vermin. Gas lime, so used, repels worms aud 
snails. Penn. 
Tyrdue, Pa. 
The Excel Apple.— Fr< 
different whirlwinds blowing in nine thou¬ 
sand different directions. Last Fall it was so 
wet that the farmers ab.'ut here did not get 
their Fall plowing half done. Some did not 
even plow a furrow, which will make them 
late this Spring. They will have to put in 
more corn than usual, as the failure of the 
wheat here for the past four years has about 
ruined some farmers, but some people will 
nnf learn an v thins except in the school of 
very open Winter uere—not mucu &uuw, 
plenty of mud. The roads bave been very 
bad, and hold their own that way yet. .Win¬ 
ter wheat looks very good on new ground; 
but on old it looks pretty brown. Everything 
is pretty high around here; butter is 45c. per 
pound. We bad more rain last Winter than 
in two years before. The weather is very 
chan ceable; warm yesterday, cold to morrow. 
We need a weather prophet. UNO. 
Ithaca, Tompkins Co. April 1,—Cold and 
windy, Injuring wheat daily, especially where 
ground was not well prepared and fertilized. 
Peach bu'is killed. Fair prospect yet for 
apples. Sheep wintered badly; cattle fairly 
well, though this cold weather will be hard on 
animals thin in flesh. I. P- R - 
Oregon. 
Tangent, Linn Co., March 29.—Spring is 
with us again, and the farmers of Oregon are 
cnee more in the field plowing for another 
crop. The past Winter was quite mild here, 
i s usual, in this Willamette Valley, the low¬ 
est reading of thermometer was 14 above zero, 
and that only for a short time. Early-sowed 
grain looks well, though not quite as much of 
it was sowed as the preceding year. The price 
of wheat is 78c. per bushel; oats, 45c.; pota¬ 
toes, 75c.; good butter, 35c. per pound, and 
eggs are 20c. per doz. R - L - s - 
Pennsylvania. 
Waynesboro, Franklin Co., April 5.— 
Winter wheat looking promising through this 
section. G - B - B - 
The Ott Pear. 
As further information about the Ott Pear 
is asked for, I will add to what is said ou pages 
771 and 860, that the tree is evidently of the 
Seckel strain, having the same sturdy habit of 
growth; quite as erect and fastigiate, but 
stronger; the leaves similarly dark ami thick, 
but larger; proves very hardy and blight- 
proof, and is very productive and pleasant- 
flavored. The pear, too, resembles the Se kel 
in shape and size, but, being much earlier, is 
much less rich. Mr. Parnell’s remarks about 
its early ripening, quick decay, and other dis¬ 
qualifications, agree exactly with my experi¬ 
ence. w * 
Of course, all kinds of vegetables do well, ana 
occasionally we get a goud wheat crop. 
Farming operations have commenced; grass is 
growing finely. Dr. Warder thinks the 
“ Black Locust a valuable tree,” blit it is not 
so for this country. We would give a penny 
if they had never been introduced. Borers 
kill them, and they spread from the roots. H. 
Viola, Linn Co.—Farmers here are pros¬ 
perous. The dairy business is foremost. 
Fat hogs are scarce at $6 per hundredweight. 
Corn was only half a crop hereabouts. Feed 
generally scarce, but with economy the farmer 
will get through all right, for hay is abundant 
at $5. per ton. Corn, 50c. @60; oats, 33c. @40e.; 
bran, $18. per ton; butter, 25o.@30c. per pound 
for roll; eggs, 10c.; potatoes very scarce— 
*1 for seod. C. W. 
Dover, Kent Co.—The W. Elephant I cut 
in ten pieces; all came up and grew finely, but 
to my surprise 1 only dug some half-dozen 
tubers the size of walnuts. R. B. Sorghum 
made a rapid growth. Asparagus all came 
up and made a growth of three feet. Flowers 
were grand to behold. H. M. d. 
Illinois. 
Williamsvtt.le, Sangamon Co.—W. E. 
Potato, from 16 hills out of 18 planted, pro¬ 
duced 25 pounds of tubers, nearly all of mar¬ 
ketable size. The R. B Sorehum grew right 
along till frost, attaining a hight of 10 feet, 
but only a few of the seed ripened. W. Oats 
yielded about a quart—smutted badly. As- 
Y\«r«£»-iiR did well. W. W. C. 
Hesper Blush Apple —In a late Rural 
a correspondent asks for information about 
the “ Hesper Iioss” apple. I suppose he must 
have meant the Hesper Blush. 1 his is a Min¬ 
nesota Crab which has been condemned as 
worthless by the Fruit Grower’s Association 
of Abootsford, Quebec. H H. m l. 
Templetou, Canada. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS, 
Delay* arc. 
Dover, Kent Co.— Wu had a very open Win¬ 
ter, with one or two cold snaps to make ico 
seme three inches thick; therefore, very little 
was housed. Spring, so far, is cool, which is 
favorable for our peaches; trees are very full 
of buds, and a few warm days would bring 
them in full bloom. Wheat in fine condition. 
