This is why I refrain from mentioning the 
plows that did the work which received 
awards of merit. There were seven entries 
for the prizes for best workmanship. In all the 
entries the plows were nicely adjusted and the 
teams well trained to their work. The prizes 
were offered by local business firms, and con 
sifted of plows, coils of barbed wire, clothes 
wringers and in one instance $10 in gold. 
A manure spreader attracted considerable 
attention. A test was given in the use of 
coarse corn-stalk litter and leached ashes. In 
both instances the work was completely per¬ 
formed. The general criticism was, that the 
implement cost too much money for the field 
of work to be performed by it. There were 
numbers of spring-tooth harrows exhibited 
and among all the farmers who had used them 
there were plenteous words of commendation. 
To almost every one present the Acme Harrow 
was new, but the men who had to deal with 
day. It will be observed that in open cultivat 
able land, well prepared and marked out, we 
have the great advantage of being able to set 
treble the number of trees, to say nothing of 
the great desideratum of more rapid growth 
as a result of the cultivation they may receive, 
and the sooner, as a consequence, they may be 
left to themselves. 
Notching and fitting must be resorted to by 
your correspondent and by others similarly 
situated. By all means let them plant such 
lands to trees, even though it should be more 
expensive. In open woods that were not sup¬ 
plied with native stock for the reproduction 
of desirable forest trees, and in young planta¬ 
tions with accidental vacancies, the notching 
process for the introduction of young oaks, 
ashes and other species, has been rather exten¬ 
sively practiced by the writer and with prom¬ 
ise of good results. 
But to return to the hilly lands of your cor¬ 
respondent, let the notching or the pitting plan 
be introduced, or, where practicable, let hor¬ 
izontal furrows be plowed at close intervals 
as guides to the planter of seeds or of little 
trees, which can receive such cultivation by 
hand as it may be convenient to apply, at least 
enough to subordinate such weeds and other 
undesirable growth as might interfere with 
the trees, that will eventually constitute the 
preponderating crop. These trees may not 
increase in size so rapidly as though they 
were well cultivated; they will require a 
longer period to cover the soil, after which 
they will grow fast enough. 
The kinds mentioned by your querist, Catalpa 
(speciosa, of course), White Asb, Black Wal¬ 
nut, Black Cherry, and other equally valuable 
species will grow well enough on their con¬ 
genial soils, when once well established, even 
without the thorough preparation and the 
cultivation recommended for arable lands, 
but they must be planted thickly, either alone 
or with nurses, and they must be kept 
free from the intrusion of weeds until they 
completely shade the surface, eveu if this re¬ 
quires double the number of years usually 
found necessary on the more level plantations, 
In such a case the free use of low-growing 
bushes would be advisable. Of this character 
even the common Elder and Sumac bushes 
might be very desirable nurse plants as they 
are readily produced by inserting bits of roots 
into the spade notches and because, when 
shaded by the growing trees, they will grad¬ 
ually be smothered and disappear, after hav¬ 
ing for a few years pretty elfectually shaded 
the surface of the ground and yielded some 
profit as a subsidiary crop of berries and 
leaves. In Europe the heather, which natur¬ 
ally springs up after filling the forests, is 
allowed to cover the surface, which requires 
about three years, when it becomes a pro¬ 
tector to the little conifers which are then set 
out thickly among the heather plants, and 
have the benefit of their partial shade until 
the pines and spruces shoot up and overpower 
their nurses; but we must beware of the 
effects of our rank, coarse-growing annual 
weeds and also of the insinuating Blue Grass 
of our rich soils. Finally and emphatically, 
to “produce a tall and healthy growth of 
trunk ” on your trees, whether planted on hill¬ 
side, in valley or on the open plain, rest 
assured Mr, O., and everybody else, that alter 
you shall have selected judiciously the species 
best adapted to your soils and situation, they 
should be planted very thickly, say every four 
feet, or about 3,000 trees to tbe acre, and you 
may anticipate the happiest results with the 
least expenditure of labor. 
ing in the stubble. Sometimes they disappear 
by the last of June, but at other times they are 
to be found through the Summer. The report 
says that in some cases the destruction was so 
great that the fields were plowed and planted 
to corn, but the beetles destroyed the young 
corn in the same way that they had the cane. 
Some doubt seems to exi-t as to the early 
stages of the cane beetle. Feeding, as it does, 
in the perfect state upon caneorcorn.it would 
be natural to infer that it might be found in 
the larva state as some form of a white grub 
at the roots of the same plants, and this infer¬ 
ence seemed to be borne out in one instance 
by finding in May some grubs that produced 
the cane beetles, though search in other in¬ 
stances had failed to reveal them. 
As to remedies, little can be said till more 
is known of the early stages of \he insect. It 
has been found, however, that these,like many 
other insects, are readily attracted to light, 
satisfactory explanation than anything we 
could write. G. b. b. 
<il)C 
DRENCHING PIGS. 
A common form of administering medicine 
to cattle, sheep and pigs, is by “ drench¬ 
ing” them. The medicinal ingredients of tbe 
“ drench” are mixed with some fluid, as ale or 
some sort of gruel, and the mixture is usually 
administered by means of a horn, the base of 
which is cut off diagonally so as to produce a 
large opening. The head of the animal is 
raised a little by an assistant while the opera¬ 
tor pulls away the cheek of tbe right side of 
the mouth, which forms a pouch or pocket,and 
into this the medicine can be poured without 
any danger of causing suffocation. Owing to 
their obstinate and contrary character, there 
is generally considerably more difficulty in 
drenching pigs than any other domestic ani¬ 
mal. When small, the animal is usually seized by 
the ears, placed between the holder’s legs and 
the fore legs are raised a few inches from the 
ground. Another person, having the medi¬ 
cine properly mixed in a basin or other vessel, 
pours a quantity of it from tune to time into 
the pig’s mouth by means of a large spoon. 
The slight elevation forward at which the ani¬ 
mal is held causes the liquid to flow backward 
and be swallowed without risk of choking. 
Larger animals are fastened to a post or rail 
by means of a running noose, as illustrated at 
Fig. 100. Here the medicine is poured into the 
mouth on the t ight side, as in the case of the 
smaller pigs, the cord being raised with the 
left hand whenever the head has to be ele¬ 
vated. By this means, although the beast’s 
dissatisfaction finds utterance in loud and 
frequent screams, the medicine can be readily 
administered, 
“ Drenching.”—Fig. 190. 
use clay lumps all thought it must be just the 
the thing to pulverize them. 
ms . The novelties upon the grounds aside from 
ex- these named, were the spiral spring buggy 
this and Tucker’s Draft Equalizer. The latter con- 
ippi trivance.as most of Rural readers understand, 
bey is a harness attachment by means of which 
.red the use of wbiffietrees is dispensed with, and 
,cts. in handling a team among stumps or trees, 
___ one has tbe same advantages in the use of 
horses as with oxen, as the draft is by means 
of a chain attached to a bar beneath tbe 
horses, which in turn is attached to the 
hames at the shoulder. 
I was very much pleased to note how many 
farmers had given their boys and even hired 
men a holiday to attend this trial. This 
seemed to me not only a benevolent way of 
dealing with the members of the family, but 
a good business scheme on the part of farm 
proprietors. Such education is not lost upon 
the boys and men who are depended upon to 
do tbe plowing. A day’s seeing may be worth 
a month’s telling . 
There is very little expense attending meet¬ 
ings of this sort and there should be more of 
them. The result is more directly aud more 
surely reached than at the Autumn fairs where 
there are so many things to De seen, aud 
where, I am sorry to say, mountebanks, patent 
medicine and jewelry swindlers aud their ilk 
receive the greatest attention. 
iXtizcd lam'dws 
We have, as already stated, the common 
and hardy catalpa (C. speciosa) planted within 
100 feet of each other for purposes of com¬ 
parison. Neither was in the least harmed by 
the past Winter... 
Instead of hellebore for the currant worm 
try the following: To a barrel of water add 
a peek of quick lime aud let it stand until the 
water becomes clear. Sprinkle it either with 
an old whisk broom or through a watering- 
pot upon the infested bushes . 
We gather the potato beetles found upon our 
experiment plots by hand and throw them in 
a tomato cau as gathered. One day last week, 
having lorgotten the tomato-can, a pair of 
pruning-shears was used to cut them iu two as 
they were found. The next day at about the 
same time we were surprised to find many i,f 
these bisected beetles alive and creeping 
about as if unharmed. Iu se me cases less 
than one-eighth of an inch of body was 
left to tbe head. In one case a wire-worm 
had attacked the little portion of body left to 
the head aud eaten it clear out, while the 
head itself, with the fore legs, was crawling 
and drawing the wire-worm slowly after it... 
Captain John B. Moore, of Concord, 
Mass., kindly sends us a bunch of his “cross¬ 
bred” asparagus, which in size and beauty of 
shoots is handsomer than is often seen. 
Two years ago he sent us for trial roots of 
the same strain which were planted and have 
this season yielded cuttings that in size and 
vigor wo have never seen surpassed, consider¬ 
ing that the bed was not richly manured and 
the soil not unusually fertile. But we must 
protest against the claim that it is cross-bred. 
What does Captain Moore meau by this? Did 
he use pollen from the male flowers to im¬ 
pregnate the female 11 >wors.' There are no 
female asparagus (lowers that ever we could 
find. There are staiuiuate flowers and perfect 
flowers, or those that are self-fertilizing. 
And the impregnation occurs before the 
flower opens before, indeed, the bud seems 
well formed. 
The only way, to our mind, that asparagus 
cau be improved is t.y climate, soil or by se¬ 
lecting seeds from those female plants alone 
which are the most vigorous aud throw up 
the heaviest shoots. If selections during a 
series of years were made in this way, it is 
reasonable to suppose that a strong-growing 
variety might be established. We should be 
glad to hoar from Mr. Moore ou this sub¬ 
ject... 
Last year, it will be remembered, tbe Ru¬ 
ral sent seeds of the insecticide plant (Pyre- 
thrum rosoutu) to the members of the Youths’ 
Horticultural Club. We hope they were sue 
cessful in raising plants from this seed, since 
besides its useful properties it bears one of the 
handsomest fiowors of any hardy perennial of 
its class, that we have over seen. The flower 
TEST OF AGRICULTURAL IMPLE¬ 
MENTS AT GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 
[Special Report to the RURAL NEW-Yorker.] 
Ttte West Michigan Farmers’ Club decided 
some weeks ago to hold au out of-door meet¬ 
ing to teBt farm implements. On Tues¬ 
day, June G, this trial was held, and fully 
3,000 people gathered at the farm of Martin 
L. Sweet, a mile north of Grand Rapids, to 
look over implements, listen to some short 
addresses, and gather information for use in 
their own operations. 
The gathering was for the purpose of com¬ 
paring the good points of various implements 
and discussing the experience of various 
farmers in their use upon diverse soiln, and as 
such it was a grand success. 
There were a great many plows shown of 
all patterns, from the old-fashioned, wrought- 
iron mold board, guided with a single han¬ 
dle, to the most improved steel pattern, with 
framed beam. Farmers were very much in¬ 
terested iu the trial of sulky plows, of which 
there were several patterns exhibited. After 
trying them upon the smooth ground ar- 
Tjie Fearless Railway Thrasher, an illustra¬ 
tion of which appears on this page, is manu¬ 
factured by Mr. Miimrd Harder, Cobleskill, 
N. Y. For the past S3 years Mr. Harder’s 
name has been before the public, as manufac¬ 
turer of thrashers aud cleaners, and railway 
horse powers, and he combines his practical 
THE SUGAR CANE BEETLE. 
Ligyrus Rugiceps—LeConte. 
See pains £21. 
PROFESSOR G. H. FRENCH. 
The cut accompanying this represents what 
Professor J. Henry Comstock, in his report to 
the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1880, 
denominates “the most serious insect enemy 
of the sugar cane known in the United States.” 
This beetle is about half au inch long, built 
very much like a May beetle but tbe May 
beetles are some shade of brown in color while 
this is jet black, the head roughly shagreened, 
the thorax minutely punctured, the wing 
cases with several lines formed of small 
punctures. They have been known as destruc¬ 
tive insects for several years aud mentioned 
by Beveral writers, but the most complete 
history is that given by Professor Comstock 
in the report above referred to. 
The presence of the beetle is usually indi¬ 
cated by the withering of tbe terminal leaves 
of the stem, these being often easily separable. 
An examination of the stem shows the beetles, 
sometimes in considerable numbers, burrowing 
into the cane, the cut showing the place of 
entry. They often begin operations before 
the cane is above the ground,burrowing in the 
seed cane, and also they have been found work- 
