JAN. 34 
75? 
THE RURAL I3EW-Y0RKER. 
has but little value forcultivation. 8hould the 
muck deposit lie in a shallow layer on the sur¬ 
face and form arable land, wc should hesitate 
before dieting it out for manorial purposes. 
Jn that case it would be well to apply muck to 
the laud iu a small way and note the effect. If 
the result was greatly to increase the crop, 
the practical farmer could easily calculate 
whether the benefits derived from its use would 
outweigh the injury to the land from which the 
muck was taken. 
About Water-Ureases. 
Constant Reader, St. Charles. IU., asks: 1, 
how water-cresses are prepared for market, 
and about how much are they sold for: 2, 
when should they be planted. 
Ans. —1, They are commonly sold in the 
market in baskets holding three or four quarts. 
When first offered the price is generally $1 for 
such baskets. This price varies from season 
to season. 2, Early spring. The roots are 
best planted in spring in shallow, running 
water. They iucrease rapidly, as well from 
the spread of the roots as from the seeds which 
the plants sow. The shoots should be cut, not 
pulled or broken off, which destroys or weak¬ 
ens the plants. After they become well estab¬ 
lished, they may bo cut almost weekly during 
the summer, A profitable price may always 
be obtained for water-cresses. 
Curing Skins. 
A. W. B.. Monument, Mass., asks for a 
recipe for curing skins, snch as those of musk¬ 
rat aud mink, so that they can be made into 
carriage robes. 
Ans. —Stretch the skins on a board or a 
frame, aud scrape off all the tlesh. If they are 
dry, soak them with warm water on the fleshy 
side, then cover them on the same side with a 
mixture of powdered alum and salt in equal 
parts ; lay the skins together iu pairs, fleshy 
sides together After a week, shake out the 
skins, and add some fresh mixture. When 
the skins are completely “ tawed" (not tanned), 
stretch them and rub them with chalk and 
pumice-stone until no more chalk will be ab¬ 
sorbed, then pull aDd stretch gently until dry 
and soft. 
Miscellaneous. 
C. W. W , Lewis Co., N. Y., wishes to know 
where the Blue Pearmain apple originated, it 
being grown ou two or three farms only in his 
locality, having been taken there some years 
ago and grafted upon other trees. 
Ans.—M r. Charles Downing, in reply to the 
above inquiry, says:—“I have never seen any 
origin given to the Blue Pearmain, but it is an 
old and very good variety as to flavor, but 
only u moderate bearer, and is uot uow mucb 
cultivated.” We acknowledge a box of apples 
from C. W. W., and regret that we cannot give 
the information sought. We can only say that 
several of those marked “ Secdliugs ” were of 
excellent quality, and should he propagated. 
Probably grafliug will not materially change 
the quality. ,■ 
A.C. II., Roanoke, bid., asks, 1, where he can 
get the Kieffer Pear; 2, when must Larch seeds 
be gathered to grow best; 3, which kind of 
Catalpa would grow the best and make the best 
limber in Western Kansas; 4, when should 
it be planted; 5, where aud at what price can 
reliable seed be bought. 
Ans. —1, Of J. S. Collins, Moorestown, N. J. 
2. Just as soon as ripe in autumn, and they 
should be preserved in sand. Sow early in 
spring in boxes of light sandy soil; 3, Catalpa 
speeiosa The wood is thought to be almost 
unequaled for durability. 4, Spring. 5, Youug 
seedlings can be purchased at a very low price 
In large quantities of R. Douglas & Sons 
Waukegan, Ills., who make a specialty of it. 
I). J. II. seotwal others iu various places 
ask whether La Belle M’f'g. Co. of Chicago, Ill. 
is a trustworthy concern; whether It will do 
what it promises aud whether “ there is 
money ” in its business. 
Ans. —This concern has the reputation of 
doing business honestly. So far as we have 
been able to learn, they do what they say they 
will, just as do other •‘square’’ business firms. 
Whether their business will “pay” an agent 
or uot, will depend in agreat measure upon his 
own energy, address aud persuasiveness as a 
canvasser. The letter copying book and ink 
fur the sale of which they want agents, are 
good enough things in themselves. Of course, 
a fair share of business cautiou is always desir¬ 
able in dealing with strangers. 
A. !(., address mislaid, asks 1, how to germi- 
uale the hardy shrub seeds of the Rdual’s last 
frecsccd distribution ; 2, which would be more 
advisable—to purchase ground bouc at $60 per 
ton of 2,000 pounds, or tuuuuro from a livery 
stable at 50c. a load, to be hauled three miles 
for wheat or corn ou clay soil 
Ans.— 1. We know of no better way than to 
sow in well-drained flower pots of mellow soil. 
Cover them with glasses If you had a green¬ 
house, bottom heat would facilitate germina¬ 
tion. 2. We should choose the manure at 50c. 
per load. 
Notr. —Thank you for your interest in the 
Rural's behalf. 
T. C. T., Born Brook, Pa., has had a choice 
bulb presented to her by a lady. The only 
name she knew for it was “Spirit ofSantia” 
by which name It is known in Chili, 8. A. She 
has never seen the flower, but it is said to be of 
a peculiar shape, resembling a white dove. 
The plant has now two leaves of a very dark 
greeu. She wants to know its proper name 
and culture, for all the books and catalogues 
at her disposal have been searched in vaiu for 
this information. 
Ans.— The plant referred to is an orchid, 
Perisleria elata, also called the Dove Plant. It 
is a choice tropical plant aud requires to be 
kepi in a high temperature, (about 70 v or 75°) 
to grow to perfection. Plant iu a light, loamy 
soil and water freely during the growing 
season. 
L. L G., Catherine., N. Y., asks whether the 
Rural Life, a monthly agricultural periodical 
started In this city about a year ago, is still iu 
existence, as several subscribers in that neigh¬ 
borhood, although they paid subscriptions tor 
a year, have not seen it or heard of it since 
August. 
Ans. —The Rural Life was discontinued sev¬ 
eral months ago. It may again resume. We 
do not kuow. 
M. M. W., Belle Vernon, Pa., asks where 
he ean obtain information on tobacco cul¬ 
ture. 
Ans. —The Rural has published several 
articles on this subject during the past year— 
see pages 277, 311, 220, 534—aud will also treat 
of it during the current year. “ Tobacco Cul¬ 
ture, by 14 Experienced Cultivators” pace 
25c. gives a great deal of information ou the 
industry in different places, and cau be had 
through the American News Co., of this city. 
G. C. W-, Neio Florence, Pa., asks, 1, where 
he can get some spring rye j 2, what is it worth 
per bushel, what kind of ground suitB it best, 
how many bushels per acre will it average; 
3, what kind of ehickens arc the most profita¬ 
ble Id raise for early market. 
Ans —1, Of any seedsman. 2, $1 75 per 
bushel. We have never had any success with 
spring rye. Perhaps some of our leaders will 
answer. 3. We should prefer Plymouth Rocks. 
Wc do not know the persou you inquire about. 
P. L. (?., Hedges, Kg., sends us a specimen 
of a pea or beau, and asks its name. The peo¬ 
ple in the mountains thereabouts use them in 
a half-ripe slate for food, aud as they arc ex¬ 
tremely prolific, only a small patch is pluuted 
by each. From our engraving in a late num¬ 
ber, he thinks it must bo some variety of the 
Cow Pea. There, however, its only name is 
the “ long-pod ” beau or pea. 
Ans. —Yc«, it is one of the Cow Peas, closely 
akin to the variety known as Whip-Poor-Will. 
It. H., Harlan Co., says he has an ample 
supply of wild (choke) cherry and wild plum 
stocks aud asks what he can work ou them 
advantageously. 
Ans.—W e are not aware that the wild choke 
cherry can be used as a stock to work upon. 
Wild plum stocks are ofteu used to work the 
cultivated varieties on; but they should be 
grafted or budded at, or just below, the 
ground, otherwise the graft will over-grow 
the stock. 
J. L, Edinburgh Pa., I, asks whether Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks and Asiatic fowls are kept on 
the Rural Farm for sale; 2, if not, where cau 
they be bought. 
Ans- —1, Absolutely nothing is for sale con¬ 
nected in anyway with the Rural or its Exper¬ 
imental Grounds. 2, Both kinds can be pur¬ 
chased from several parties who are in the 
habit of advertising in the Rural, such as G. 
E. Josslyu, Frcdouia, N. Y., aud others. 
A Constant Reader, Ooonomowoc, Wis., and 
A. C. U., Roanoke, Ind. inquires about cane 
mills and evaporators. 
Ans. —Both the Vermont Farm Machine Co., 
Bellows Falls. Vt., and the Blylayer Mfg. Co . 
of Cincinnati, Ohio, make excellent mills and 
evaporators. Prices v.iry with sizes, etc., but 
all information will be promptly furnished by 
both firms on application. 
II. S. B., CaUtkiU, N. Y., asks where and 
at what price ean refuse salt be purchased. 
Ans. —At the salt works in Syracuse or in 
this city. Almost every salt-laden vessel com¬ 
ing to this port has a gieut deal ol damaged 
salt on board, good enough for fertilizing 
purposes, however. The price is usually 
from 15c. to 20c. per bushel, and sometimes 
even less. 
J, B., Ea. Schodock, N. Y. asks where he cau 
get a work on the manufacture of opium, that 
will describe the necessary machinery and give 
the modus operaruli in. all its details. 
Ans.—T here are several walks on the char¬ 
acter and effect of opium when used as a medi¬ 
cine aud to excess, but we kuow of none that 
offers all the information here desired. 
G. U. A., New Haven, Conn., asks if there is 
such a thing as a pure white Gladiolus—one 
neither striped nor blotched with any other 
color. 
Ans. —There is no pure white Gladiolus yet, 
as far as we know, but at the various floral 
exhibitions of last season we have seen some 
that were almost entirely white. 
Little Oirl, Van Wert, Ohio, asks whether 
“Uncle Mark "will have any choice seeds to 
distribute this year, and if so. where should he 
be addressed to Been re them. 
Ans. —1. He will have some next season. 
He should be addressed at this ofhee. 
K, II., Bolington, Va., asks what is the best 
and most comprehensive work on the diseases 
of horses. 
Ans.— Stoneh-’uge’s. “The Horse in the 
Stable and the Field " $3 50, is as good as any 
with which we are acquainted. 
S. Houghton , Lowell, Mich., asks where he 
cau got some seeds erf the Golden Rural tomato. 
Ans. —VVc have given full address in the hopes 
some of our readers who have saved seeds may 
oblige our friend. We have none left and are 
working with olher sorts. 
F. B. 0 ., Scipioville, AT. Y. writes, will you 
please give me the address of some one who 
furnishes chemists materials,—flasks, glass 
tubes, retorts etc ? 
Ans —E B. Benjamin, 10 Barclay St., N. Y. 
City. 
J. W. H., Jersey City, N. asks what are 
the laws relating to setting trees on the road¬ 
side in New York State. 
Ans —See article on the subject under Arbo- 
ricultural, in this issue. 
J. L., Pharsalia, N. Y., asks whether sor¬ 
ghum will ripen seeds in that section. 
Ans. —Yes. Early Amber cane will mature 
seeds in Chenango county. 
Manx Inquirers.— Seeds of Early Amber 
sugar-cane are sold by all seedsmen. See adver¬ 
tising columns. Price about $5.00 per bushel. 
Darious, 
WHAT OTHERS 8AY. 
Cow PeA3. We are pleased to And in the 
N. Y. Tribune a letter from Mr. Solon Robin¬ 
son respecting the value and management of 
“Cow Peas” to which the Rural Nkw- 
Yorker has of late been giviug so much atten¬ 
tion. Mr. Robinson paid a visit to the farm of 
Col. Richard Peters near Calhoun, in Georgia, 
who, haviug tried to keep up the fertility of 
his soil with clover and all Boris of commercial 
fertilizers with only partial success, and not 
being able to make enough stable manure, and 
finding that sheep only fertilize the fence 
cn-Rers and shade trees; the questiou natur¬ 
ally was: “ What next?” The important 
southern crop, Cow Peas, has been found iu 
this instance more than a subtitute, since it is 
more certain than clover and affords a greater 
bulk of growth to serve as manure for any 
other crop. The Col. led the way into a beauti¬ 
ful green field, covered in its whole extent 
with a most beautiful growth about as high as 
his hips. 
“ You have often recommended farmers to 
bow peas and ;Nuw iu the green crop as a fer¬ 
tilizer; will you uow tell me how to do it?” 
said the Colonel. 
“ I cannot. I acknowledge l am beat,” re¬ 
plied Mr, Robinson. 
“ Then I will tell my experience, if yon will 
tell it to others, for the benefit of the public. 
I was, and still am as enthusiastic us you upon 
the subject of keeping up the ¥ej*Uity of our 
farms with this crop, but as for plowing it In, 
I am skeptical. 1 tried that experiment last 
year, and failed! I am forced to the con¬ 
clusion that no plow has yet been made that 
will plow under such vines as grew upon this 
farm.” 
“ What did you do?” asked Mr. Robinson. 
“ I understood you to say that flue wheat was 
grown upon the pea field. You must have 
managed somehow to plow under the vines.” 
“ No. I didn’t.” 
“ What, then, did you do ?” 
“ I said to myself something must be done. 
This is the only field I have for wheat, and I 
am going to sow it, and I did, and got a first- 
rate crop.” 
“ Pray tell uie how you did it.” 
“ I got out the great iron roller, and the team 
waded through that green sea, pressing down 
the vincB upon which this wheat was sown. 
The roller was followed by a large disc harrow, 
which rolled up some little ridges of loose 
earth, without moving the vines, except to 
press them deeper into the soil. The field was 
then crossed in the same manner, one t«?am 
doing ten acres aday. Thisdouble harrowing, 
if harrowiug It can be called, gave a pretty 
good lillh for the seed, which was covered 
with a heavy brush-drag. I 6hall serve this 
field in the same way. It will answer for wheat, 
rye aud oats, but not for barley; aud if for corn, 
I would sow rye or turnips aud graze sheep 
and goats, which would rot the vines so they 
could be plowed iu the spring. Now you have 
my experience with Cow Peas as a fertilizing 
crop, in which I have full failh.” 
“ Is it a good plan to sow peas and turn in 
hogs ?’’ asked Mr. Robinson. 
“ Yes; or poultry, a little before the puds are 
ripe. Sheep or goats would eat all the leaves. 
Swiue trample them into the ground.” 
“ You glye me leave, then, to reuominend 
Cow Peas as a fertilizer, upon your expe¬ 
rience ?” 
“Yes; but don’t tell people they can plow 
them in, unless their land is poorer than 
mine.” _ 
Effect of Girdling Grapevines. —The 
Amherst Transcript reports the following ex¬ 
periment: “Among the experiments with the 
Grapevine at Amherst Agricultural College, 
girdling has produced some remarkable results, 
both in the quantity of the fruit and the period 
of development. The vines were girdled abont 
the first week in August, when the free acid of 
thcConcoid grape had reached the highest 
state, and th« grape-sugar had begun to in¬ 
crease. Experiments were made with whole 
vines and with branches. Two incisions were 
made through the bark and cambium layers 
from one-quarter to one-third of an inch in 
width, and the substance between removed. 
The fruit on the girdled vines matured fully 
two weeks iu advance of the ungirdled vines. 
Prof. Goessman picked fully matured fruit 
from a girdled vine at his residence fully three 
weeks in advance of fruit on ungirdled 
branches of the same vine. The vines that 
were girdled a year ago were in fine condition 
tliis season, and although In most instances 
fully healed over, the girdlings seemed to pro¬ 
duce the same effect on the fruit as the first 
year." _ . 
Mri.K Fever is far more prevalent than 
formerly, and many dairymen who formerly 
would have refused to buy a cow after ealviug, 
now prefer the event to be over, which they 
know to be frequently attended with anxiety 
and loss. If is easy to note the great and para¬ 
mount cause of this deadly affection, by stating 
too much rich, stimulating, nitrogenous food 
before calving. . . Alderncys, Ayrshires and 
superior milking Short-horns are specially 
prone to suffer. Beef-m«king subjects, which 
are poor milkers, are rarely struck down. Ani¬ 
mals in a state of nature, in which the milking 
capabilities are lightly developed, scarcely ever 
have milk fever: hence its comparative rarity 
either in America or the colonies. 
Good Questions. —The Western Stock Jour¬ 
nal and Farmer asks as follows: 
1st. What grass is the best to feed cattle on 
for beef ? 
2d. How ean the best grass be produced for 
that purpose? 
3d. How can the grasses be utilized to the 
best advantage to make the most pounds of 
the best beef, in the shortest time, and from 
the youngest steers ? 
4th. Is it profitable to the feeder to keep his 
steers until they are three or four years old, if 
he can turn them off at two, or two and a half 
years old,weighing from t,400 to 1,700 pounds? 
Education on the Farm. —“ Asllook back,;* 
says ‘Waldo.’ in the Ohio Farmer, “over a 
third of a century spent on the farm, in which 
I have been to some extent an experimenter. I 
am deeply impressed with the fact that there 
is enough in the farmer’s calling to bring into 
exercise the best powers of both mind and 
body. How erroneous is the judgment of those 
who suppose that mere muscle is nil the farmer 
needs, aud who think that the merchant or 
mechanic needs a better education than the 
farmer, aud that their callings will develop 
h'gher traits of character than his.” 
Pasturing Wheat. —If the growth in fail or 
early spring is too rampant aud likely to be 
troubled with the fly, it is better to tie pastured 
by cattle, not sheep, while the ground Is solid 
enough to bear the weight of the auitnals with¬ 
out, sinking in too deeply. Sheep, if allowed 
much npon the wheat, clip it too closely and 
may injure the crown of the plant. While we 
have never heard of any loss being suffered by 
judicious pasturing, we have no doubt that as 
a rale it is beneficial. The plants may tiller 
more, and assuredly grow up thicker and 
stronger and stand the storms better.—Ger¬ 
mantown Telegraph. 
That tits Best Remedy, says the The 
Nation, for Irish poverty is to be found in the 
great multiplication of peasant properties, and 
not by emigration, as many suppose, there is 
little question. Emigration is good for those 
who emigrate, but it leaves gaps in the home 
population, which are soon filled by a fresh 
poverty-stricken mass. 
“ Kieffer's Hvbrid is of very good quality 
good size, deep yellow color, aud orange yel¬ 
low where exposed to the sun, ripening in 
October, and from what I have seen of it, it is 
a promising variety for market, as well as for 
family nse."—So says Charles Downing in the 
N. Y. Tribune. 
“A Blameless Reputation is no shield 
against the attacks of the partisan hack who 
uses his pen as a poisoned arrow and fills his 
ink bottle with venom ’’—N. Y. Herald. 
If Our Legislatures aud Congress were 
made up by a two-thirds majority of farmers, 
we might be able to get a little honest legisla- 
tiou.—Nebraska Farmer. 
