« 
If the pigs are confined in a pen a little green 
grass twice a day is excellent,lots of*weeds will 
also find a ready market in the sty if they are 
supplied green and fresh; they will promote 
rapid growth and a shoat will do well on 
them alone without other food. When corn 
is fed in Summer the weeds and grass are 
cooling and excellent correctives A pig shut 
in a pen should always have all of this kind 
of green feed it will eat; they do not like it 
after it is wilted. We never had pigs do so 
well as they have this year; our milk set in a 
Moseley and Stoddard Creamery does not get 
sour and is carried out to the pigs sw-eet 
enough in the morning to last till night, and 
sufficient at night to feed them early iu the 
morning. This milk is kept during the day in 
an iron kettle in the pig house and gets a little 
sour during the day on account of the germs 
of fermentation, or the sour milk on the sides 
and on the bottom, which start the work of 
fermentation actively when the sweet milk 
from the creamery is poured in; fed six times 
a day, the troughs are about empty in a few 
minutes after feeding; the pigs are always 
ready for a meal, and never have any occasion 
to squeal. Once in a w’hile on a rainy day they 
are dipped iuto a tub of soapsuds and washed. 
This is a job the pigs relish about as well as 
the hired men, but nevertheless it does the 
pigs a great deal of good and doesn’w do the 
men any harm; there is a quiet moral about 
it, however, w hich is salutary on a stock farm. 
fttiscclUvnmtg. 
More Anent "Dollar Queens.” 
Had Mr. Doolittle, as quoted in a late 
“Brevity,” said that the article in a late 
Rural, on “Dollar Queens,” by Prof. Cook, 
was the best article ever written against the 
cheap queen traffic, I should agree with him 
entirely. In my humble opinion it contains 
the only real argmneut that has been made 
against “dollar queens." O. O. Poppleton of 
Iowa, (sometimes called the “Doolittle of the 
West”) considers Prof. Cook’s article candid 
and honest, and well worthy of consideration, 
but he does not agree with Prof. Cook. You 
say that Mr. Doolittle “evidently sees and 
feels deeply the tendency of the cheap queen 
traffic to depreciate the quality of our bees.” 
Judging from his writings he certainly does, 
but what are we to think of his rearing, and 
advertising for sale “dollar queens.” Actions 
sometime speak louder than words. 
Rogersville, Mich. W. Z Hutchinson. 
To Destroy Canada Thistles. 
I cut them in August when the “sign of the 
zodiac is in the heart.” They never trouble 
me after that, and 1 also fiud that the best 
time to cut briars. z. d. 
Steuben Co., N. Y. 
The New York Times presents forcibly a 
subject which we constantly endeavor to keep 
before our readers, viz., the importance of 
stirring the soil while crops are growing. 
The theory that stirring the soil met ely acts 
as a mulch to prevent the escape of moisture 
is iu our judgment an erroneous one, as we 
insisted several years ago as the result of 
carefully conducted experiments. We want 
a niellow r surface to hold the rain and dew and 
to enable them to enter the soil and to return 
by capillaiy attraction. The looser the soil, 
within certain limits, the more rain passes 
down through it and the more returns to the 
surface and is evaporated. If the farmer who 
has sow r n his seed neglects to break up the hard 
crust which forms after the first shower upon 
it, he prevents this action from taking place 
as much as the chemist would if he inclosed 
his sample of soil in a tightly corked bottle, 
and of course the sustenance of the growing 
plants is correspondingly arrested. For when 
the soil is run together in the form of mud, 
and is then dried, it becomes more closely 
packed together than if it were powerfully 
compressed, and is made as nearly impervious 
to air as soil can be, and completely imper¬ 
vious to water. And when a shower falls 
upon a surface so crusted and solidified it 
pours off and settles ia low r spots or runs off 
altogether, washing the surface of the higher 
parts and carrying oil' to lower spots the most 
valuable portions of the soil. Water alone is 
not a sufficient solvent of the soil, but yet 
water exerts a beneficial effect in proportion 
to its quantity up to a certain point, be¬ 
yond which it would be in excess and inju¬ 
rious. Water requires to be acidulated by 
carbonic acid and mixed with a certain por¬ 
tion of atmospheric air before it can fully 
exert its necessary solvent power upon the 
soil It derives its carbolic acid from the air, 
in which this gas is mingled to the extent of 
about four parts in 2.500 of air. Water has 
the power of dissolving this gas and holding it 
in solution, and its agreeable flavor when 
drank is due in a large measure to the presence 
ofthisneid .So that not only must the soil 
be made completely permeable by water, but 
it must also be rendered sufficiently permeable 
by air before the water can either exert its 
power of dissolving the elements of fertility 
from the soil or supply the crops with suffi¬ 
cient moisture for their growth. And this 
condition can only be conferred upon it by 
repeated thorough pulverization through con¬ 
tinuous cultivatiou, or at least such frequent 
stirring as to keep it sufficiently open and 
porous, and this must be done irrespective of 
weeds, and although the soil may be perfectly 
free from them. But the water of thesoil issup- 
plied only in part by the rain fall; a large 
portion of it is deposited in the form of dew. 
It must not be supposed that dew is deposited 
only upon vegetation, for it is absorbed by the 
soil very freely, and all the more freely as the 
soil is more open to its circulation through it. 
And the air circulates very freely through the 
soil when it is porous. Changes of tempera¬ 
ture, it is well known, cause very active cur¬ 
rents in the atmosphere. N< t only the gentle 
Summer zephyrs, but the thunder gusts and 
the tornado, are caused by variations of tem¬ 
perature. So iu the soil; every change of 
temperature causes a disturbance of the atmo¬ 
sphere held within its interstices. When the 
sun’s heat warms the soil during the day the 
air in it expands considerably, and much more 
so than it does above the soil, because the lat¬ 
ter absorbs beat very freely, while air only 
takes heat by radiation and absorbs it slowly. 
Then the soil loses its air to a considerable ex¬ 
tent during the day, and this movement of the 
air is all the more active as the soil is more 
porous and loose upon the surface. This es 
caping warm air must come from below, and 
as it comes to the surface it brings up a por¬ 
tion of moisture from the sub-soil, because the 
warmer the air is the more water it eau hold 
in solution. This increased moisture then ex¬ 
erts a double effect. Upon the one hand it 
supplies the roots with an increased quantity, 
and as warm moisture is more actively solvent 
than cold moisture, it has a more powerful 
effect upon the soH in preparing plant f ood for 
the sustenance of the crops. When the soil is 
cooled by the radiation of heat into the atmo¬ 
sphere during the night, the air contained in it 
rapidly contracts, and a fresh supply is drawn 
from the then warmer air above it, which 
quickly deposits its excess of moisture within it 
as well as upon it, and this moisture penetrates 
as far as the air penetrates. But not only so, 
for as the soil absorbs more moisture from the 
air, the dried air will absorb more moisture 
from the adjacent air, and so a very consider¬ 
able circulation of watery vapor goes on con¬ 
currently with the circulation of air. This 
effect is all the greater the more open and 
porous the soil has been made, and cannot go 
on at all if the surface is encrusted or beaten 
har . by rain and wind. 
The Mark Lane Express agrees with Mr. C. 
S. Read iu the opinion that English agricul¬ 
tural practice has advanced backwards during 
the last seven years, so far as soil-tillage is 
concerned; although there have been decided 
advances in the theory, and a wider extension 
of correct knowledge. The decline is attri¬ 
butable to the difficultiesuuder which English 
farmers have lately labored. In dairy farm¬ 
ing, breeding and veterinary science there has 
been none; but on the contrary, steady and 
marked progress. The same paper, while 
giving full honor and credit to Messrs. Lawes, 
Gilbert, Warington, and Scott for their dis¬ 
coveries iu regard to nitrification, expresses 
the fear that one item of their advice may not 
work well in practice. It is that of keeping 
the soil occupied with a growing crop during 
Winter (because the roots prevent the escape 
of nitrogen by leaching). On light soil this 
may be done, but on heavy ground Autumn 
cultivation is a necessity, as it cannot be 
plowed early enough in the Spring, nor be 
properly mellowed without being exposed to 
Winter frosts. 
A writer in the Times emphasizes the fact 
that the profit of the dairyman comes wholly 
from his good cows, and that many a dairy 
might be reduced one-half in number of its 
cows and the dairyman make more profit than 
he may have done from the wneie original 
number; because one poor cow will not only 
“ eat off its own head,” but will eat off that of 
another and a better one, too, before it has 
equalized the profit and loss of the keep of the 
two. 
Unsatisfactory help.— Ignorant, un¬ 
trained farm hands do not strive to learn the 
art of fanning, looking at reasons, causes, ef¬ 
fects, etc., but they plod along, looking for 
meal time, shade and sundown ^ the greatest 
earthly bliss, says the Michigan Farmer. 
. ... . There are some farmers who al¬ 
ways have trouble with hired men, continues 
the above-quoted excellent journal. They take 
no interest in them further than to get the 
most time and labor out of them. They are 
continually scheming to furnish odd jobs to 
fill up all the time, as though the laborer did 
not need an hour for rest as well as the teams. 
This manceuvering has a tendency to make 
machines out of the help. They work to or¬ 
der, right or wrong, and shift all responsibili¬ 
ty on the master.With help 
managed in this manner, shirking is praise¬ 
worthy. It is a constant strife to try and 
beat the “ old man,” as they call him. There 
is no feeling of interest in the work, and con¬ 
tinual breakages and mishaps are occurring, 
which the help delight in attributing to the 
“ order,” or as a result of it. This feeling be¬ 
tween the employer and employed is unfortu¬ 
nate, and 1 here can be no excuse for its con¬ 
tinuance. Every man who is good f >r any¬ 
thing is a better hand if he is treated well. 
The results of experiments made by Pro¬ 
fessor Voolcksr aud others in churning sweet 
cream make it appear, says the New York 
World, that milk to produce the best but 
ter should be set at a temperature of about 56 
degrees, the cream removed as soon as the 
separation is complete and churned immedi¬ 
ately at a temperature of 60 degrees. Advo¬ 
cates for sweet cream butter explaiu that ex¬ 
posure to the air must be given the milk or 
butter therefrom will be lacking in flavor. 
The failure to produce flue butter from sweet 
cream is due in part, at least, to the fact that 
the air was excluded and no opportunity al¬ 
lowed for the oxygen to unite with the less 
volatile <jils of the cream and produce oroin a. 
Life is intensely logical. Everyone learns 
sooner or later that “ it’s the longest pole 
which reaches the persimmons.” Don’t stand 
still then, says the Weekly Herald, and beat 
the air with your short stick and wonder why 
the persimmons dou't drop, but mauage to get 
the long pole and the persimmons are yours. . 
. . . . It is a quaint saying which needs 
no comment that 1 • he who is an ass and takes 
himself to be a stag when ho comes to leap the 
ditch finds out his mistake.”. An 
examination of thermometers, at eleven 
o’clock at the N. Y. Ex. Station, showed 82 
degrees at one inch depth under the soil; 75 
degrees at three inches, 67 degrees at six, and 
64 degrees at nine, or a variation of 18 degrees 
between the depths of one and nine inches. 
The thermometer in the shade was 73 degrees. 
We take the above little item from an inter¬ 
esting account of a visit to the station by the 
editor of the Rural Home. 
The style is that part of the pistil through 
which the pollen is con iucted to the ovules of 
the ovary. A writer in the New York 
Tribune thinks that a fruitful cause of the 
failure of fruit ftowei s to set fruit is an in¬ 
jury to this style caused by a species of 
tlirip. He examined many unopened buds 
and found that 80 per cent contained thrips 
in abundance and the styles were more or 
less injured .... A writer in the Mas¬ 
sachusetts Ploughman notes several cases in 
which milk or butter was tainted with the 
odor of ensilage, the silo in each case beiug 
in the barn. 
CiH'nj where. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
California. 
Cedarvillk, Modoc Co., June 19.—We have 
had a very cold, backward Spring. The pros¬ 
pect has been good for heavy crops of wheat, 
barley and rye, but the prevailing north 
winds for the past two weeks have destroyed 
our hopes. If we do not have rain within a 
few days we shall not have half a crop. Pros¬ 
pects for fruits good. Potatoes bid fair to be 
a large crop. Indiau corn is generally a fail¬ 
ure in this valley. Hay a good crop. c. & B. 
Iowa. 
Liberty Center, Warren Co., June 24. 
—There has been almost a continual rainfall 
since May 3, and in consequence the corn crop 
(our main staple) is in a bad condition, those 
who planted early having but a partial staud, 
while others were still planting up to the 20 th 
inst., hoping for a favorable Fall to mature 
the crop. Even the small grains and grass on 
low, level lands have suffered from the cold, 
wet weather. Every one is putting forth all 
the force at his command to make the most 
be can under the circumstances. Our pros¬ 
pect for fruit is pretty good, excepting for 
cherries and strawberries. Grapes are making 
a splendid show. Apples nearly a full aver¬ 
age. Raspberries, where not injured by the 
Winter, look well and so do peaches. I plant¬ 
ed my Rural Heavy Dent on the 29th of April, 
with the settled determination to make it in¬ 
teresting to the competitors for the Rural 
premiums. But the ’ ‘ best laid schemes of 
mice and men gang aft aglee.” My best effort 
at date is about two-thirds of a stand and 
about one foot in bight. Only four kernels of 
the Rural Flint germinated, but 1 am making 
them do their best. The Gem Squash just start¬ 
ing to run: celery plants nearly ready lor trans¬ 
planting; hollj hock not up yet. Our stream 
—Otter Creek—on the 22d beat any former 
record it had made, about eleven inches, sub 
merging most of the farms along its course 
arid doing considerable damage. J. H. M. 
Melrose, Grundy Co., June 23.—We had a 
very cool, backward Spring for Iowa, with 
heavy frosts as late as May 21 and 23, and a 
light frost on June 5th. Cheiries and plums 
were badly killed in May, but apples will be 
plenty in this part of the State. Small grains 
look well; not much wheat or barley sown; 
a large crop of oats put in, and about one- 
third more corn than usual. Corn is back¬ 
ward but generally a good stand, and most 
farmers are once through with the plowing. 
With a favorable Fall there will be a large 
crop. Of potatoes a large amount has been 
planted—looking fine, but plenty of beetles to 
contend with, CurraDts aud strawberries 
about half crops; raspberries an abundant 
crop; grapes appear to be blooming full. The 
grass crop will be heavy where the land 
was not pastured off close in the Fall and 
Spring, but pastures are short whero cattle 
were allowed to run on all the Fall and Spring. 
Many Iowa farmers saved their grain to sell 
to the detriment of their stock, pastures and 
meadows. Corn is now worth about 55 cents; 
oats, 40 to 42 cents; rye, 54 ceuts; potatoes, 
#1.50; butter from 15 to 20 cents; hogs, $6.75 
7; fat cattle from $5 59 to $6.50; good 
cows sell from $30 to $50, aud young cattle in 
proportion. e. m. 
Nebraska. 
Syracuse, Otoe Co.. June 2lst —Good 
soaking showers are the order of the day, and 
night too The corn crop looks very well, a 
larger acreage than usual, a much better 
stand aud cleaner than is common out West; 
twice or thrice cultivated and many are at it 
with that old Eastern thing—the hoe. It is ns 
forward as common—growth slower but 
planted earlier. Rye ami oats look well. 
Wheat rusting somewhat. Grass extra. 
Peaches will lie plenty. Alexanders swelling 
and coloring. Apples a moderate crop. Red 
June, Maiden’s Blush, Fall Orange, Talman’s 
Sweet, Winesap, Jonathan, Wageuer and 
Rawle’s Janet are the principal kinds that are 
full. Richmond Cherries full and gone. 
English Morrellos full. Grapes full. Straw¬ 
berries and gooseberries “nix.” The Rural 
Shumaker a good stand, strong growth and 
is now shooting. For this wheat one square 
foot of land is not enough for oue pl ait. So 
much I have learned by this experiment. 
Surprise is a surprise—a nice plump wheat, 
more than one-half failed to grow. Its habit 
is more feeble than that of the Shumaker or 
the Fultz, and it is behind both. Of Fultz 
nearly one-half failed to grow, it was feeble 
at first but is now pushing ahead and is about 
ready to shoot. All of these wheats I put on 
old ground, not our best wheat laud. h. t. v. 
Oregon. 
Fern Hill, Clatsop Co.—June 27.—Al¬ 
though the prospects for 1882 are not as bright 
as were those for 1881 at the corresponding date 
last year, yet they are fair. The wheat acre¬ 
age now is as large as then but owing to the 
light snow-fall last Winter, the crop is a shade 
lighter, and the yield will be from two to 
three bushels less per acre. There is very 
little Spring wheat but that little looks better 
than last year. Oats have a fine appearance. 
Barley has suffered from the wire worm. 
What little rye has been sown looks very fine. 
The potato acreage is one third more than 
last year and the crop promises well. Corn 
looks well, but nob much has been planted. 
Grass is making a fine show but will be late. 
A large number of cattle in this section are 
grazing for the Liverpool market. D. w. 
Pendleton, Umatilla Co., June 17th.— I 
have been farming in this county for the last 
four years and the present prospect for a 
grain crop is poorer than I have ever seen. 
This is a newly settled country ; at least one 
third of the land is yet vacant, consisting of 
Government and railroad land waiting settle¬ 
ment. Yet I think we can make a favorable 
comparison with much older-settled localities. 
According to the best information 1 can obtain 
from men who are well informed and close 
observers, and taking the Census Report as a 
basis, the outlook for this season in Umatilla 
County is about, as follows; Wheat, number of 
acres estimated at 50,900; average prospective 
yield per acre, 20 bushels; barley, number of 
acres sown, 20,000; prospective yield per acre, 
30 bushels; oats, acres sown, 4,000; prospec¬ 
tive yield per acre, 35 bushels; Indian corn, 
number of acres, 400, yield per acre, 18 bushels; 
potatoes, number of acres, 1,500, yield per 
acre, 180 bushels; apples, number of acres, 
400; number of bearing trees, 25,000; number 
bushels per acre, 250. The above has been 
carefully estimated, the figures being given 
