DEC 2 
are all ready for blossoming early in the next 
Spring. They are readily blossomed in the 
house during Winter, if put in six-inch pots 
in November, kept in the dark for a month, 
and then brought to the light and heat of the 
sitting-room. 
o pair of milch cows, and his plow with it, 
bungling wheels, awkward bandies and numer¬ 
ous needless appendages, seemed a fac-simile 
of the old Roman plow described by Virgil 
in the Georgies—so we learn here the lesson 
taught by every densely populated country, 
namely, that those regions where land 13 high 
and wages depressed by sharp competition, do 
not offer the born of plenty to the laborer 
and the poor man. We learn too (what we 
ought to have known long ago) that the aver 
age American who owns and tills the soil with 
improved machinery, has, with his newspapers 
his fanchise and free school, and, above all, 
his intelligent family, more incentives to 
thought and more resources for happiness 
than any other farmer on this planet. 
Remedies for tub Cabbage W orm. —The 
Director of the N. J. Ex. Station, in order to 
test the efficacy of a few of the so-called rem¬ 
edies for the cabbage worm, confined some of 
the caterpillars in a bottle and noted their 
behavior under various treatments. One 
specimen confined for three hoars in a 
bottle partly filled with black pepper, 
crawled away discolored by the powder 
but apparently unharmed. The second, im¬ 
mersed in a solution of saltpeter, and a third 
in one of boracic acid, exhibited little indica¬ 
tions of inconvenience. Bisulphide of carbon 
produced instant death when applied to the 
worm, though its fumes were not effectual. 
The fumes of benzine, as well as the liquid, 
caused almost instant death, but when applied 
to the cabbages small whitish excrescences 
One morning last month ten of our farm 
neighbors assembled in a sod field to try two 
plows—the North Bend and the Syracuse— 
and also the Acme Harrow. The field was free 
from stones, the soil a mellow loam. Three 
teams were used—one of mules, the second 
light, and the last heavy. Each team w as 
put to each plow. In the early part of the 
trial, opinions differed; but the final unani¬ 
mous verdict was that, in the quality of the 
work there was no difference, and that the 
draft of the Syracuse (iron beam) was greater 
than that of the South Bend, As to the Acme 
Harrow, there was but one opinion through¬ 
out, viz , that it did the best work of any har¬ 
row they had ever used. Ail agreed that one 
harrowing with the Acme was equal to two 
harrowings with the old iron-tooth... 
We think that the label problem is solved. 
Lead pencil upon zinc will endure for many 
years—nobody knows bow long. Over three 
years ago vre marked a zinc label two inches 
long ns follows: “ Ulnms gras. Written with 
lead-pencil Aug. 20, 1879On the other side 
was written: “Pres. Gale’s suggestion ” Pres. 
M. P. Wilder has since told the readers of the 
Rural New-Yorker that he has used these 
zinc labels written upon with common Jead- 
nonpil for manv vears. When first letters 
Advice as to Sheep and W ool. —Mr. S. 
W. Dungan advises in the Agricultural Re¬ 
ports of Indiana, to select sheep of good, vigor¬ 
ous condition and to breed ns early ns ewes 
come in heat; an early lamb is worto one nnd- 
a-half times as much as a Into one. Ewes carry 
their lambs from 147 to 153 days. He keeps a 
register of ewes when served, and has his ewes 
all ear-marked. One or two days before lamb¬ 
ing the udder becomes red and looks inflamed. 
He watches them very closely till the lamb 
sacks. Every good shepherd should attend 
closely to bis flock every day. Mr.Dungan is al¬ 
ways on baud at shearing time and stays with 
his flock. He always looks at every hoof and if 
turned under and crooked pares it off nice and 
smooth, and never allows the sheep to pass 
after they become lame. He would always 
dip lambs 10 or 14 days after shearing; be 
shears tolerably early and shelters if there 
come cold rains. Ho weans bis lambs and 
gives them good fresh pasture; always teaches 
them to eit before weaning; feeds ground 
oats, corn and brim, one-third each. Oil meal 
would be excellent also. He would urge that 
no wool grower go out of the business because 
wool is low. A man can keep bis wool and 
the prices will l*e bettor by and by. It will 
not. shrink in weight, if properly baled and tied. 
Ensilage in England.— The ensilage eon- 
tagion seems to be getting a foothold in Eng¬ 
land. The Mark Lane Express does not doubt 
the advantages of ensilage in tbe United 
States, or in any other country where maize 
can be grown properly; but there is no crop 
grown extensively in England which can give 
equal advantages for ensilage... ..It is not 
only because of the advantage of maize for 
ensilage that tho system must always be more 
valuable for us than for British farmers. We 
do not grow roots to any considerable extent, 
and cannot grow them so well as they are 
grown in Engalud, Therefore, speaking 
broadly, we have only dry fodder to set 
against ensilage; whereas British farmers 
have also bulky mangel and turnip crops to 
weigh against the pitted green stuff. Can an 
English farmer get more meat-producing sub¬ 
stance from any et.sila^e crop than he obtains 
from his bulky crop of mangels ? Or can a 
Scotch farmer beat his heavy crop of Swedes? 
These are questions to be decided before Eng¬ 
lishmen all run mad on ensilage. 
Henry Stewart has seen plain log barns 
in which the cattle fared really better, were 
warmer and more comfortable, than in grand 
and sumptuous buildings of the rich farmer. 
Wealth is by no means synonymous with 
happiness, and a fancy barn, gaudy with 
paint and varnish and conspicuous by its tall 
cupola and gilded vane, may afford very cold 
comfort to the cows and horses. Snug, tight, 
neat, comfortable, handy buildings should be 
the aim of every farmer, in which he may do 
his work the most easily and comfortably for 
himself and the best and most economically 
for his stock. And if he can arrange them so 
that he can go in at one end, through a clean 
doorway outside of the yards and nearest tho 
house, and pass through the whole of them 
without going out-of doors, and feed and 
water and care for his cattle in stormy 
weather without exposure, he will fiud it to 
be a most desirable arrangement, and one 
that is easily possible, as welL 
The Best Lily.—A mong the importations 
of lilies that have been made during the past 
few years there h«v<» bcrji many beautiful va- 
Meerschaum Pipes from Potatoes. —A 
discovery is reported in the Agricultural 
Gazette of Vienna which opens up a new 
career to the potato. It seems that the humble 
tuber can be transfoi (tied into a material for 
the manufacture of meerschaum pipes of the 
very choicest quality by the simple operation 
of boiling it for thirty-six hours in a certain 
chemical solution and squeezing it afterwards 
in a press till whatever moisture it may con¬ 
tain has been extracted. The residuum is then 
declared to be “a hard block of a delicate 
creamy-white hue, in every respect as suitable 
to the manufacture of ornamental and artisti¬ 
cally-executed pipe beads as the finest clay.” 
And not only so, but the potato thus treated 
is found to be an excellent substitute for ivory 
in the manufacture of such articles as brush 
and umbrella bandies, fans, and chessmen. 
Farming in Germany.— A very interesting 
article from,the pen of President Welch (Iowa 
Agricultural College) appears in the columns 
of the- N, Y. Tribune. He is traveling in 
Germany and writes of German farming. 
From a squad of laborers whom he met he 
gathered interesting particulars. It consisted 
of a peasant who owns a farm of 20 acres, his 
two hired hands and his daughter, a black- 
eyed girl of 17. This man, who was more 
intelligent than the ordinary peasant, in 
formed him that he paid his hired help one 
mark (25 cents) a day and board; that his 
and, which was not for sale, would bring, if 
offered in the market, an amount equal to 
$300 per acre, and that the potato crop, which 
be was then digging, was very poor through¬ 
out the country from heavy, continuous rains. 
He assured Pres. Welch that, because of tbe 
lightness of this crop, he would hardly be 
able to pay bis help and support his family 
Uncle Waldo asks the readers of the Prac¬ 
tical Farmer if they ever tried growing rhu¬ 
barb from seed. He has had trouble to get 
old plants to grow and has been short of rhu¬ 
barb for Che past three or four years, and last 
Spring, remembering that 20 years ago he had 
been successful in growing it from seed, he de¬ 
termined to try it again. On the 28d of May 
he sowed a row 200 feet long, and he has now 
fine, thrifty plants plenty large enough to fur¬ 
nish stems for pies, and he thinks he shall 
have no lack of this delicious vegetable for 
years to come. It is a much cheaper and eas¬ 
ier way to get a start with it than by buying 
old roots. 
The Discouraged Man.—A newspaper 
once contained an advertisement for a man to 
All a certain position, which concluded with, 
“ No discouraged man need apply.” There 
was a deep worldly wisdom in this, says the 
Rural Messenger, for discouragement is a ter¬ 
rible drawback in fighting life’s battle. The 
discouraged mnu is defeated in advance. He 
carries failure about with him; he faints 
when he needs most to be strong; he falters 
where decision is most needed; he halts 
where he ought to hurry forward; he cannot 
stand up under the strain and burden of the 
race. It is bard that it should be so—harder 
still that so little real sympathy is felt for 
discouragement. The world does not need 
such a man, and has little mercy for him; and 
so he falls into the ranks of the unsuccessful, 
while he of high hope, who is yet new in the 
struggle, who has not supped the bitter cup of 
disappointment and found out all is vanity 
and vexation, strides before him and is ac¬ 
cepted where the much-tried man fails. There 
is something contagious in a buoyant, happy, 
energetic spirit, which carries those who come 
-Yokkiui Ex. Grounds. From Natuuic. 
rieties that are decided acquisitions to our 
gardens, but among them there is none better 
tban our old favorite the Li Hum oandiduru, 
or the Easter Lily. This is the opiniou of a 
writer in the N. Y. Sun, and we fully agree 
with it. Inexpensive, easy of culture, blos¬ 
soming early in Spring, perfect in form, pure 
in its whiteness, its fragrance unsurpassed, 
there is nothiug left to be desired. Mauy 
have been disappointed wiih it, but only be¬ 
cause they have not know u how to treat it, 
planting it in the Spring as they did other lil¬ 
ies, instead of in the Fall as should be done. 
When planted in October, or, where the 
ground is not frozen too early, in November, 
they commence their growth in the Fall, and 
Cross-bhbd Wheats of tuk Rural ne 
appeared on the leaves. Hot water applied to 
the cabbage destroyed a portion of the worms, 
causing also the leaves to turn yellow. One 
ounce of saltpeter and two pounds,of common 
salt dissolved in three gallons of water formed 
an application which was partly efficient. 
The most satisfactory remedy tested, however, 
consisted of a mixture of half a pound each of 
hard soap and kerosene oil in three gallons of 
water. This was applied August 23, and ex¬ 
amination the following day showed many, 
if not all, of the worms destroyed. The grow¬ 
ing cabbage presents such a mass of leaves in 
which the caterpillars may lie concealed that 
it is hardly possible to reach all the worms at 
one application. It is of importance, there- 
