DEC 9 
THE RURAL 
835 
Dr. Williams, of Hugo, Ill., says that 
Early Ohio is as early as one could desire, 
but there are too many small tubers. 
Curnyui Ijcre. 
NOTES FROM EAST OHIO. 
We have had most delightful weather so 
far, except just a day now and then. There 
is one general characteristic of the weather 
this Fall, which, as a rule, will hold good 
from the start. Our rains have been followed 
by nice, clear weather. Although a little 
frosty just now, it is just the sort of weather 
that is desirable at this season. Rain and 
weather have been excellent for wheat grow¬ 
ing; still wheat has not done well, as a rule, 
especially that put in previous to Sept. 25. I 
think the wire-worm is the greatest trouble. 
On some fields there are spots almost bare, 
while there is but here and there a field that 
looks fresh and green, with the ground bid as 
it should be. Thero never was a crop put in 
with greater care, or on which more labor 
and expense were bestowed, and there is a 
feeling of disappointment as to present ap¬ 
pearance and future prospects. That sown in 
October has made a very line start, and is 
looking the very picture of health; and as 
about half the crop was put in late, take it 
all in all, there is perhaps no reason to com¬ 
plain. A great deal depends, however, on the 
Winter; if it should be open with much freezing 
and thawing, it will certainly be very hard on 
it. The corn crop is turning out beyond the ex¬ 
pectations of the most sanguine, and farmers 
are in the very best of humor over it. Take 
it all over, I have the best field of ten acres I 
ever raised, and while it would not be regard¬ 
ed as anythiug extra in many parts of the 
country, in this neighborhood it is very good. 
It was put in with a corn planter, and being 
drilled was only worked one way. The plant¬ 
er had a fertilizer attachment, and a quan¬ 
tity of superphosphate, equal to about 100 
pounds per acre, was put in at the time of plant¬ 
ing. Although somewhat of an experiment, 
it was entirely satisfactory, both as to tend¬ 
ing and results. It is an entirely different 
thing to work corn drilled with a planter, to 
what it is where it is dropped by hand. There 
are no deep furrows ; the coru stands in a 
straight, narrow row, and plow or cultivator 
can be ruu close up to it, which enables a per¬ 
son with care to cover up the weeds, and a3 
to the labor in planting there is no compari¬ 
son between the two methods, especially if 
fertilizers are used. 
The potato crop is a failure, compared to 
what was expected. The early ones turned 
out good, and were nice and sound, but the 
later planting yielded poorly, and they have 
rotted badly; so that instead of there being 
an over-supply at low prices, potatoes are in 
demand at advanced rates. There are a good 
many apples along the Ohio River, but aside 
from those there is none worth mentioning, 
and people will have to do without their usual 
supply for Winter use. There are a good 
many shipped from the South, but the price 
puts them out of reach except as a luxury. 
In the early partof the season hogs sold atseven 
cents per pound and even more, but they are 
now dull at six cents. Fat cattle are in good 
demand all the tune, aud bring from four to 
five cents. The coal mining interests are in a 
prosperous condition, the greatest drawback 
being the inability of the railroads to furnish 
flats. Winter will find people with plenty of 
work for all, and general prosperity. 
IRONDALK, O., Nov. 23. M. N. R 
-*--*--*- 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Nebraska. 
100th Meridian, Dawson Co., Nov. 14.—A 
few years ago the wise men confidently stated 
that at this line was the extreme limit of raiu- 
full; but from the crops yf this anil last year 
we judge they were mistaken. Wheat will 
average through the county 15 bushels, mauy 
fields yielding as high as 25; oats, 50 bushels; 
rye, 25 to 50; barley, 25 to 40; flax, an aver¬ 
age of 15, some fields yielding 20 on sod 
broken this Spring. Present prices are: 
Wheat, OS cents; corn, 30 cents; oats, 25 cents. 
Eighty thousand cattle have been shipped to 
Eastern markets this Fall up to Nov. 1, and 
the shipping season still continues. The above 
figures are for Nebraska alone. The whole 
number shipped over the Union Pacific Rail¬ 
way up to that date was 180,000. A large 
amount of Eastern and English capital has 
been invested in the West this year in stock 
growing. Fremen Brothers of Loudon have 
$1,500,000 in cattle and ranches at Tongue and 
Powder Rivers, in Montana aud Wyoming. 
Nebraska will do her share in answering the 
question, “ Where will our meat come from i" 
The time is near when the slaughtering will be 
done near the base of supply and the meat 
sent in refrigerator cars from Nebraska, j . a!J 
New York. 
Middlesex, Yates Co., Nov. 20. —In this 
section there was a large yield of wheat. Rye 
more than an average. Oats a good crop. 
Barley not np to the average on account of 
the dry weather in July. Corn a good crop 
and of fine quality. Potatoes about half a 
crop. Apples nearly a failure: here and 
there, however, an orchard bore a fair crop 
of inferior quality. The wind blew off most 
of the fruit before it had ripened. Peaches 
an entire failure on account of “curl leaf.” 
Small fruits were plentiful. A large acreage 
of wheat was sown this Fall and the crop is 
looking well. Two of my neighbors had 40 
acres of ccrn from which they husked 4,000 
bushels. w. H. 
Pennsylvania. 
Rochester Mills, Indiana Co., Nov. 23.— 
Wheat, some plots good and some very poor; 
average about 12 bushels. Rye,'good. Hay, 
ditto. Oats a light crop. Corn is not a full 
average crop; some fields are good and some 
very poor. Potatoes not a full average, some 
rotting. Apple crop very light. Wheat $1; 
rye 75c; oats 50c.; corn, ear, 40c.; apples $1 
per bushel. G. H. 
Tippecanoe, Fayette Co.—Wheat is an av¬ 
erage crop. Corn, three-fourths of a crop; 
potatoes, three-quarters; apples a failure— 
all fell off. n. j. p. 
Wisconsin. 
Minnesota Junction, Dodge Co., Nov. 20. 
—Wheat good; yield from 15 to 28 bushels 
per acre. Oats good; 30 to 40 bushels per 
acre. Barley good; 40 to 42 bushels per acre 
A good many acres were sown last Spring. 
Price low; 40 to 60 cents per bushel; colored 
badly. Com a fair crop. Fruit very good. 
"Winter apples 50 cents per bushel. We have 
not had any snow yet. Farmers are plowing. 
Fall work nearly done. Fall wheat looks 
good generally. a. 
-- 
RURAL SEED REPORTS. 
Illinois, 
Onarga, Iroquois Co., Nov. IS.—Hollyhocks 
and celery fine. Squashes did not get ripe. 
The Washington Oats did well this season; 
they weigh 40 pounds to the bushel. I took 
several first prizes on them at the fairs. My 
White Elephant Potatoes gave me a fine crop 
this season, yielding at the rate of 522? s bush¬ 
els per acre. H. H. c. 
West Jersey, Stark Co., Nov. 21.—The 
wheat grew finely, but rusted badly, and 
didn’t fill out well. Corn not planted. Gem 
squash splendid; celery, ditto. h. e. m’c. 
Minnesota. 
Warsaw, Rice Co., Nov 23.—Planted 109 
grains of Rural Flint coru on May 10: 55 
germinated. To prevent frost from injuring 
it I made use of paper and blankets, covering 
it up every evening. There were four, five 
and six suckers which I couldn’t tell from the 
main stalks, and all bore big ears. Some of 
it grew 15 feet eight inches high; and some of 
the ears were 17>£ inches long, and some of 
the cobs that didn’t fill out were 20 inches 
long. Drought hurt it at the eud of August 
and the beginning of September, but I got 
over 200 eais and 78 pounds of shelled corn. 
I have 72 Perfect Gem squashes. Flowers 
fine. e. s. 
New York. 
Keeney's Settlement, Cortlaud Co.— 
Perfect Gem Squash did finely, yielding 30 or 
more excellent squashes; like them very much. 
Planted four seeds of the hollyhock of which 
three grew and are lookiug fine. I have 
planted the wheat which you sent ine and in¬ 
tend to take good care of it aud see what it will 
do in this section. We have had a very poor 
season for corn this year. T. j. w. 
I’enitsy Ivutiiu. 
Tippecanoe, Fayette Co.—The Rural 
seeds have always done for me better than 
was represented by the Rural. I think the 
corn is a wonder. When I planted it 1 had 
no intention of trying for the prize; all I 
wished was to see if it was suited to my land, 
as the farm has been run down and worked 
till it would hardly sprout^pennyroyal, and I 
think the corn will suit. N. J p. 
Wisconsin. 
Appleton, Outagamie Co., Nov. 23.— 
Planted 156 kernels of Rural Flint Corn on 
May 23; 88 germinated. Cut it October 20— 
nearly five mouths from planting—weighed, 
uushelled, 100 pounds; shelled, 60 pouuds. 
Fifty splendid squashes from three vines. Fif¬ 
teen celery plauts and 12 hollyhocks. H. m’c. 
Minnesota Junction, Dodge Co., Nov. 20. 
—Planted 130 grains of Rural Dent Coru on 
May 19; had 115 stalks and 159 ears, which 
weighed 144 pounds 14 ounces and shelled 96 
pouuds 14 ounces. A trifle too far north for 
Dent corn. Gem squash splendid. Holly¬ 
hocks fine. a. 
<ll)£ (Stxwxisi. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure a ttention.l 
THE BEAN WEEVIL. 
E. J. B., Bremen, Ohio. —As the Bean 
weevil—the great pest of bean growers in 
the East—is likely ere long to spread all over 
the West too, unless some preventive or 
remedy is devised, what would the Rural 
suggest in this line ? 
Answer by Prop. C. V. Riley.— In reply 
to the above questions regarding the Bean- 
weevil I would say that it is difficult to sug¬ 
gest any one sovereign remedy. The question 
would be answered best by stating in regard 
to this pest a few facts not generally under¬ 
stood: 1st. Unlike the Pea-weevil, the Bean- 
weevil continues to mutliply in the stored 
beans, 2nd. These, when infested, are usually 
reduced at last to nothing but powder, and 
have no value as seed. 3rd. As there are 
several weevils usually infesting the same 
bean, there can be no object in destroying the 
weevils with ‘a view of saving the beans 
whether for food or for seed, 4th. The ob¬ 
ject should, therefore, be either to prevent 
the attack of the insect or to limit its multi¬ 
plication in stored beans already infested. 
The accomplishment of the first object is, I 
suspect, well-nigh impossible, as the insects 
doubtless begin to work on the ripening beans 
before theso are harvested. The accomplish¬ 
ment of the second object is possible^but only 
with considerable care and expense. Hot 
water can scarcely be used to advantage for 
the simple reasou that it would tend to injure 
the beans both for seed and for culinary pur 
poses. Dry heat may, however, without 
much doubt be used with advantage, though 
no sufficiently careful experiments have yet 
been made, so far as I am aware, to test the 
best mauner of applying it, or what degree of 
heat would destroy all eggs, larvae and mature 
weevils without seriously affecting the beans 
that are yet sound or uninfested. Large bean 
growers could afford to build some special 
oven in which the whole crop might be gradu¬ 
ally quarantined aud disinfected in this man¬ 
ner, and no other care would be necessary 
then than to keep the disinfected crop in ab¬ 
solutely tight sacks or vesselo. Bisulphide of 
carbon, poured in small quantity into air¬ 
tight vessels containing the beans, might be 
used as a substitute for heat, and will doubt¬ 
less prove effectual. I should be willing to go 
to some expense in testing the efficacy of 
either of these methods if I could be assured 
of having a sufficient quantity of infested 
beans for carrying on the experiment. 
paralysis in hogs. 
E. C., Eatontoivn, N. J.— One of my hogs is 
afflicted with paralysis—what is the cause and 
a remedy ? 
Ans. —Paralysis in hogs, so far as one-half 
the body (paraplegia) is concerned, maybe 
due to more than one cause and it is very dif¬ 
ficult to distinguish one cause from another 
until post mortem examination. The causes 
may be, first and most frequent, inflamma¬ 
tion of the covering membrane of the spine 
called spinal meningitis: second, azotcemia 
due to disorder of the liver; third, rheuma¬ 
tism,and fourth, but more rarely, from parasi¬ 
tic worms in the kidneys or the tissues of the 
lumbar region. The very common neglect in 
regard to feeding and sheltering swine and 
the comparative infrequency of the parasites 
referred to, as well as the popular readiness 
to attribute disease to occult, rather than to 
simple and prevalent causes, explain why 
this complaint should be so frequent and, at 
the same time, why it should be thought due 
to the least probable disorder. The first and 
second causes may be both due to indiges¬ 
tion from over-feeding or in consequence of 
feeding upon coarse aud innutritious food. A 
hog is a gluttonous feeder aud it requires the 
closest watch fulness to regulate the food as 
to quantity and kind, and it is here that fail¬ 
ure generally occurs. Poor lodging “ upon 
the cold ground” is usually the fate of the 
hog, aud this, too, sometimes produces this 
disorder. The preseuoe of worms in the kid¬ 
neys may be easily known by subjecting the 
urine to a microscope, when the eggs of the 
parasites can be perceived. Without the 
presence of these eggs there will be no worms 
in the kidneys. As the effects of these dis¬ 
orders are wholly upon the nerves, and the 
disease is wholly due to weakness or inaction 
of the nerves of motion, which control the 
hind limbs, the flesh is not injured in any 
way for use. But it is not wise to use animals 
so uffeeted for breeding, as nervous disorders, 
especially one of this kind, very readily be¬ 
come hereditary. 
PULLING ON A WH1FFLETREE. 
E. C. E., Sandusky, O. —In pulling on a 
common whiffletree does the horse that keeps 
ahead have any advantage over the other? 
Ans. —It depends upon the shape of the 
double-tree. If the aft-holes are all in 
line as shown at Fig. 466, first illustration, 
Fig. 466. 
the draft would be the same for each horse, 
whether one was ahead of the other or not. If 
the holes are not in line, there is a difference 
in favor of the forward horse or the backward 
horse a3 the holes may be placed. For in¬ 
stance, if, as is usual, the center hole is forward 
of the end holes, as shown in the second figure, 
the forward horse would have the advantage, 
as may be 9een by taroing the double-tree a 
little, when the forward hole will be found to 
be further from the center on the line of draft 
than the hinder one. This may be seen by 
the lower illustration in Fig. 466, and 
the horse which has the longer half of the 
lever will, of course, have the easier work. 
ROUP IN FOWLS. 
H. S. P., Monroe, N. S'., wants a remedy 
for roup in fowls. 
Ans. —We have mentioned various remedies 
heretofore, a few of which are: Give a tabls- 
spoonful of castor oil fora week, with mashed 
and chopped vegetables. Or swab the throat 
with strong copperas water every night and 
give a tablespoonful of solution of chlorate of 
potash three times a day. Perhaps the follow - 
ing is as good as any: Feed lightly on oat meal 
mixed with ale or beer and chopped vegeta¬ 
bles. Wash the head and bill in warm water 
and giye a grain of sulphate of iron daily. 
The fowls must be kept warm, and the heads 
clean by bathing. 
WHITE SPECKS IN BUTTER. 
J. M. C., Ballston. O., asks what causes 
white specks in butter. 
Ans. —These are caused by a too rapid sour¬ 
ing of the milk or by keeping the cream in too 
warm a place. The cream should be stirred 
every day as fresh cream is added to it. When 
fresh cream containing more or less milk is 
mixed with that which has been skimmed pre¬ 
viously and has become somewhat sour the 
milk is at once curdled and the small Hakes of 
curd become inclosed in masses of cream 
which it is quite impossible to separate from 
the butter after churning. Careful manage¬ 
ment of the cream is the best preventive. 
Miscellaneous. 
«!?. B., Kenyon, O. 1, What is the best 
time to purchase bees ? 3. About how many 
bees should there be in a strong colony ? 3. 
About how much food should a colony have 
on going into Winter-quarters ? 
Ans. —1. Bees may be safely purchased any 
time in the Summer. If they are bought in 
the Fall they should be obcained somewhat 
cheaper, in view of the risk of wintering, un¬ 
less the seller will guarantee that they will 
winter safely. 2. A strong colony, at the be¬ 
ginning of tho swarming season, should have 
a fertile queen, a few hundred drones and 
about 40,000 workers. 3. About 30 pounds of 
honey or coffee “A” sugar. 
E. C. O., Indianapolis, lnd., referring to an 
item about pig-nuts as horse feed under What 
Others Say in a late Rural, asks what is 
pig-nut and how is it prepared for feed. 
Ans.—P ig nut is a species of hickory—Carya 
glabra. It is widely distributed among the 
hickories as far west as Iowa. With re¬ 
gard to its use as feed, we have given all the 
information in our possession. 
O. T. Shaft, Savannah, Oa. —We are sorry 
to be unable to name either the strawberry 
or bean. 
Communications Received fob the week Endin'* 
Saturday, December 2. 
R. 31.—H. E, DcG.—E. S.—J. V. P.—R. E. H.—J. S. V 
W.-L. N.-A. B. D.-W. R.-H E. 3leC.-H. D.-E. 
C B.—A. S.—T. T., l Uauics for carol corn—J. V. Cotta, 
thanks for blackberries—A. J. C.. grapes received— 
Nelson K., yes, September 1st.—J. T. \ —T. D. B.— 
31. Nelson, we should be glad to have your experience 
—Albert Flagg, corn reeelvod—E. W.—H. S. S.—\V. 
B. 31.—T. u. H.-T. N. B.-J. i. S., a tine report- 
W. H., give the full report -D. U.—F. II.—T. J. W.— 
E. S,—II. F.-E. J. C.—C. O.D.-A. R.-S P. O.-P.B.— 
A. F.-G. W. J. \Y. D.-H. H. C.-Mra. I. F.-E. J. R.— 
C. D. S.—G. T. K — J. B C.-E. L. S.—C. W. S.—F. H, 
Mrs. J. McJ. Sen.—C. W. H.—J. T. A —E. O. R.- 
C A. G.—E. W. T.—S. N. P ,—John Burr. Kansas, Early 
Victor, Nos 1, 2, S, 4.7 aud'Jreci Ived—S. O. A.—H. S.— 
M. B. C.-G. W. H.-a R.-E. N. 8.-K A. I_A. L. 
C.—J- S —G. \\. T.— A. J. C.-D. M.-B. D. R.-L. R. 
W.—J W. C.—G. C. DeBu, thanks-S. D. C.—A. H. \V.— 
S. B. K.-C. H.—YV. YV. H.-W. W. H.-E, 8. T.-C. C. 
