I 4 
ir o 
THE RUBAI, NEW-YORKER. 
PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENTS IN OHIO. 
We are modest people In Ohio. We do not 
boast of what we have done or intend to do in 
the line of agricultural improvements; but I 
will gently hint to the Rural readers in other 
States, that wc are not disposed to lag behind 
in the onward inarch. There has never been 
a time when the minds of oar farmers were so 
generally alert to discover what can be done 
for the improvement of their farms or families; 
for it an accepted maxim that our sons and 
daughters are the noblest products ol the land. 
This mental awakening of the rural popnlutiou 
Is. no doubt, largely attributable to the social 
and educational influencesof the Grange organ¬ 
izations. It is also both a cause and an effect 
of the increased circulation of agricultural 
papers. 
The l r se of Commercial Fertilizers 
is another grand educational agency among 
our farmers. The influence these were seen to 
exert upon the wheat crops especially, com¬ 
pelled the old-fogy class of farmers to lay 
aside their prejudices against scientific farm¬ 
ing, and to admit that something valuable 
can be learned from readiug; and thus the 
eyes of thousands have been opened to admit 
the light of science. So rapid has been the in¬ 
crease iu the use of those fertilizers that it is 
found that on eaicful inquiry the amount of 
sales, the past year, of superphosphates and 
ground bone, was abont 13,000 tons, and it has 
nearly doubled in the past two years, with the 
prospect of still further Increase. This in¬ 
volves an aggregate .outlay of over $500,000 
per year on the part of the farmers; and it is 
beginning to be learned that there is cheating 
r.n this trade—that a considerable share of the 
so-called phosphates are poor trash, not worth 
half their cost; and there is no way of detect¬ 
ing the frauds but by chemical analysis. We 
propose, therefore, to have passed by our pre¬ 
sent legislature a fair and strlugeut law to pro¬ 
tect the farmers and honest manufacturers 
from sharpers in the trade. This has already 
beeu attempted twice, and failed, but will suc¬ 
ceed thi6 time, or I’ll miss my guess. 
An “ Experiment Station” 
is the next thing wc mean to have; and it 
really ought to be the basis of our fertilizer 
law—as it doubtless will be when established. 
The class of farmers, numbering 93, who were 
Sn attendance at the course of agricultural lec. 
Hires at our State Uuiversity iu January, pre¬ 
sented an able memorial to the Legislature, ask¬ 
ing for such a “ Station” to be connected with 
the University. Petitions for the same are 
also being sent in from a number of Granges 
and neighborhoods of farmers. But the pro¬ 
ject is so new to most of the people, as well 
as to members of the Legislature, that it is not 
expected to pass before another winter. When 
our Station gets in operation we shall expect to 
see all the other States follow suit—and if a 
lew get ahead of us in the race, all right. 
A Boom for Tile-Draiulng ! 
The great clay districts of our State, like the 
dairy region of the “Reserve,” have been mani¬ 
festly declining in productiveness for years 
P isl. not so much on account of any real impov¬ 
erishment of the soil, as because of the need of 
a more thorough and diversified system of til¬ 
lage, and it has been found that this can only 
be rendered possible by tile-draining a large 
portion of the land; aud this operation causes 
wouderfui improvement. A convention of tile- 
makers aud advocates of laud-draining was 
held at Columbus last week. There were more 
present than I expected to see (about 70), aud 
the proceedings were highly interesting aud 
useful. Professor Townsend, of the Uni¬ 
versity, expressed gratification on being pre¬ 
sent, and gave an interesting narrative of his 
experiments in tile-draining on a clay farm in 
Northern Ohio, over 10 years ago. He also 
gave an excellent lecture on the philosophy 
and benefits of tile-draining clay lauds. The 
Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture 
furnished a series of extracts on the resul s of 
tile-draining, copied from the reports of the 
secretaries of county Societies, aud designed 
for the forthcoming Report of the State Board. 
Butthe best of all was an essay written by W. 
I. Chamberlain, and read iu his absence by 
the writer, on the question “ Does Tile- 
Draining Pay ?” The essay is a plaiu narrative 
of the experience of the writer in his efforts, 
with no capital but brains aud muscle, to reno 
vate an old clay dairy farm that was thought 
to be fit for uothing but grass, and to be in¬ 
capable of yielding any profit at that. But as 
a consequence of tile-draining one field after 
another, it has become one of the most produc¬ 
tive and valuable farms in all that section of 
the State, yielding immense crops of wheat, 
clover and* potatoes as well as hay, and the 
value of the land has increased three-fold. This 
essay was written for, aud read in a Grange 
meeting where most of the neighbors of Mr. 
Chamberlain were present; so there can he no 
doubt of the correctness of its statements. It 
also contains reference to the like marvelous ef¬ 
fects of tile-draining on the clay farms of John 
Johnston and one or two others uear Geneva, 
N. Y., where Mr. Chamberlain visited the past 
summer. He thus not only shows mo6t con¬ 
clusively that tile-draining does pay, but that it 
is the very foundation or ground work of im¬ 
provement of these old clay farms ; aud that 
the owners of such lands really cannot afford 
to defer engaging iu this work, for the longer 
they delay the less able they will be to accom¬ 
plish it. This essay, with the rest of the pro¬ 
ceedings of the Convention, will be published 
in the March number of the Iudianapolla Drain¬ 
age Journal, and extra copies will be sent to 
the members of the Convention, for distrib¬ 
ution. The hope was expressed that the essay 
would bo extensively read at Grange meetings 
and the like, in all the clay districts of the 
State. 
A Tile-Drain Organization. 
About 50 of those present at the Convention 
were makers of tile or of tile machines, aud 
nearly all were farmers of clay land, who had 
tried or seen enough of tile-draining to be con¬ 
vinced of its importance. Much discussion 
was had on the form, size and cost of tile; the 
best kinds of clay for tbeir manufacture ; on 
methods of mixing and grinding the clay, and 
dry lug and burning the tile, etc.; the aim 
being to devise Buch Improvements as would 
tend to lessen the amount of losses from crack¬ 
ing, etc., and thus enable the makers to reduce 
prices to the fanners. A very common mistake 
Is iu the location of a factory where the clay 
is not suitablo. Mr. J. \V. Peiificld, of Wil¬ 
loughby, who Is the oldest tile aud machine 
maker in the State, said he made it a rale never 
to send out a tile or brick machine until sam¬ 
ples of the cUy had been sent to him for trial 
and inspection, so that he could know just 
what the machine was wantcif to do, and could 
adapt it to the work. The average prices at 
which smooth, round tile are sold at the fac¬ 
tories in Ohio were said to tie 30 cents per rod 
for 2-inch size, ($6 per 1,000 pieces,) and 10 
cents per rod, or $3 per 1,000 additional for 
each additional inch iu size of caliber up to six 
inches. A few factories located favorably as to 
cost of clay aud fuel, and using cheap labor, 
were selling somewhat below thesi prices, and 
some considerably higher. 
An association was formed of 56 members, 
called the “Ohio Tile Brick and Drainage Asso¬ 
ciation.” The president is S. N. Titus, of 
Marion; vice-president, Peter Swartz, Colum¬ 
bus, aud Secretary, Daniel Hess. Colntsfebus ; 
annual meetings to be held at Columbus, 2d 
Tuesday of Feb. A premium of $25 will be 
paid at the next annual meeting to the person 
n Ohio who lays the largest number of rods of 
tile drain in a perfect mauner the present 
year> M. B. Batbham. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Arkansas, Eldorado, Butler Co., Feb. 25. 
We have becu having one of the most delight¬ 
ful winters I ever experienced. Wheat is look¬ 
ing well but needs rain before wc get the next 
month’s wiuds, which are apt to blow out the 
wheat when the ground is dry. Market quiet; 
wheat, 80 to 95c. per bushel; corn, 20 to 25e.; 
oats, 30c. ; potatoes, 75c. to $1. Hogs, live, 
$3 25 to $3 55 per 100 pounds; fat cattle, $3 50 
on foot; butter, 20 to 25c. ; eggs, 7c. 
w. i. b. 
* 
New York, Elmira, Chemung Co., Feb 
23 rd —With the opening of February came a 
decided chauge in the weather. It grew sud¬ 
denly cold aud it was thought then that the 
month would be the coldest of the winter. But, 
contrary to expectations, after a week of 
genuine winter weather, during which time 
wc had lair sleighing, it grew warmer again 
aud in a few days the ground was bare of 
snow and the river free from ice. Warm 
weather and muddy roads were again the 
rale, so that teaming, which had beeu pushed 
rapidly forward during the week of sleighing, 
was suspended. Feb. 18 brought another 
change and the muddy road6 became tough 
aud “putty.” Since then it has become 
warm again and to-day it 16 warm and spring¬ 
like. Unquestionably the warm weather 
has been a great saving to many farmers in 
this locality. The short supply of forage 
last fall, occasioued the necessity of commeno 
ing foddering very early and some farmers 
have already found It necessary to buy feed 
for their stock; but a less amount of feed has 
been required than In a keenly cold winter; 
nevertheless there will be little surplus of hay 
aud coarse fodder left over iu this section. 
Hay has made a little advauce of late and is 
now selliug for from §13 to $16 50 per ton 
Loose oat straw brings $10 and $13 per ton. 
The bare, opeu winter has been unfavorable 
to small fruits as well as to winter wlieat. 
Strawberries that were not well protected 
have suffered materially and Raspberries have 
been frozen down somewhat, not by steady 
cold weather which seldom injures them, but 
by the alternate freezing and thawing. A 
meeting of the Chemung Co., Agricultural 
Society , was held in the Elmira Court House 
on the afternoon of Feb 18 for the purpose of 
electing officers and transacting such other 
business as was deemed important. Mr. 
Jessie Owen, of Chemung, was elected presi¬ 
dent, Mr. W. A. Ward, Secretary, and Mr. 
Wm. T. Post, Treasurer. A large attendance 
of members from nearly every section of the 
county was present. The annual fair of the 
Society will be held on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 
25th, of September. The Society wisely re¬ 
solved to afiow teams to enter the grounds 
free of charge. The Society is in possession of 
a sorghum sugar machine which it resolved to 
give to any person in Chemung Co., exhibiting 
the best 100 pounds of home-made cano sugar. 
A handsome premium will be given as a prize 
to the best samples of tobacco exhibited at 
the September fair. A prize of $10 will be 
given for the best \ushel of potatoes aud five 
dollars for the best five-pound sample of butter. 
Much interest was shown in the production 
of sugar of sorghum. Numbers present 
guaranteed at lea9t 20 acres of cane for sugar. 
A resolution was passed requesting the Assem¬ 
blyman f rom this county to secure the passage of 
a bill l<> provide a bounty or prize of §50,000 
for the 5,000,000 pounds of home-made sugar. 
o. A. G. JR. 
New York, Walden, Feb. 25.—Warm, show¬ 
ery weather; frost nearly out of the ground; 
quite a scarcity of hay, sells from $14 to $18 
per ton. Oats, 50c.; corn, 60c.; one sale of 
165 bueimls wheal at $1 45. Winter grain looks 
fair. Wages arc expected to rule from $3 to 
$4 per month above, last seaeon’s; a very general 
advance in real estate; three creameries are 
being erected iu this part of Orange county. 
Several engaged iu furnishing milk for New 
York market will change to butter. Times are 
fair and to the industrious and careful agricul¬ 
turist the prospect is more cheering than for 
the past few years. Kuralist. 
Omo, New Antioch, Feb. 27-—We are having 
au exceedingly mild winter in this part of 
Ohio; very little snow, but little fieeziug and 
a great deal of raiu. The wheat crop that is 
now sown bids fair to be a very good one, with 
a very 7 large acreage sown. The mild weather 
of this month is giving the farmers a good 
chance to prepare for spring work. n. b. 
Virginia, Essex Co., Feb. 26.—We have had 
so far au unusually mild winter, with very lit¬ 
tle snow. The ice seasou is over and very little 
has been gathered in the county. Very little 
rain. Wheat is lookiug, we fear, too well, 
especially if we have cold snaps iu May, as we 
usually have. I see a great deal about Cow 
Peas. They are a crop wit h ns so old that the 
oldest in habitant knows nothing of their ear¬ 
liest cultivation. Wc plaut them in lots, say 
one foot by two aud a-hulf, four to six in a hill 
in every second hill iu the rows of corn. We also 
sow them broadcast in the corn the last tune 
it is worked, aud if the season is not too early, 
gather a fine crop of peas ami vines, and if the 
cold weather is too early for the peas to ma¬ 
ture there is no better stock food than the 
vines. I am now feeding to my cows and 
sheep such as I raised in my corn. 
Observer. 
Va., Herndon, Fairfax Co., Feb. 25.—We are 
having very warm weather—the frogs are 
singing while 1 am writing. We have had a 
remarkably warm wiuter ; not many like it in 
the recollection of the oldest inhabitant. Grass 
and wheat have kept green and growing all 
winter. Wheat looks tine aud bids fair for a 
good crop. I have been here 13 years, and 
have never seen as good a prospect for a good 
crop as now. Hay is rather scarce ow ing to 
the short crop caused by the severe drought in 
the early part of summer. The corn crop was 
good aud com is plenty—worth about 50 couts 
per uushcl here, aud 55 to 58 ccuis in Alexan¬ 
dria and Washington, D. C. Money is scarce 
and business dull at this time. Trade has been 
very good, however. 8- K - 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Onion Culture. 
G. J. B., Manchester, Jowa, and B. F. <S’., 
Erie Go., N. Y., both ask questions concerning 
the culture of onions. 1. How should the soil 
be prepared ? 3. The best varieties to sow, 
aud how much seed to the acre ? 3. What ad¬ 
vantage is there in planting sets, and how 
should it be done ? 4. What yield can be ex¬ 
pected per acre on rich soil with good culture? 
Ans. —1. Onious should not be sown on a 
very heavy, clayey soil, or on voiy 7 light 
sand; a rich, mellow loam, free from grass 
roots and weeds, is best suited to this crop. 
As necessary requisites to success, wc will uicu 
tlou :—first, rich soil; second, good seed, and 
third, clean culture. If these three things are 
secured and the details of the work are proper 
iy attended to, oue may reasonably expect to 
harvest a good average crop. If a good coal 
of manure has been plowed under in the 
fall, it will not be necessary to plow the 
laud again iu the spring. If it has not beeu 
thus treated In the fall, however, It should now 
ft 
MARCH 13 
be manured aud plowed about four inches 
deep. Thorough pulverization is of first im¬ 
portance. narrow the plat lengthwise and 
crosswise of the furrows until the surface soil is 
fine and mellow, and if necessary construct a 
Bcraper of a plank about twelve feet long, and 
level off with this. Should the surface he un¬ 
even, a heavy shower soon after seeding is apt 
to wash the seed into the hollows, and, of 
conrse, cause a failure in the crop. There is a 
diversity of opinions as to the kind of manure 
best suited for onions, some growers prefer¬ 
ring one kind, others another. Ordinary barn¬ 
yard manure, pig mauure, Peruvian guano and 
fish guano, all have their advocates, but prob¬ 
ably there is nothing better than night soil 
where this can be obtained. It should be thor¬ 
oughly mixed with dry earth and worked mto 
the soil with a cultivator. When superphos¬ 
phate or Peruvian guano is used, it should be 
applied at the rate of about 1,000 pounds to 
the acre ; half of it to be raked in at the time 
of sowing and the other half when the ouions 
are four inches high. The seed should be sown 
as early in the spring as the land can be pre¬ 
pared; about the middle or latter half of 
March is not too early between the 43d and 
44th degree of latitude. Sow in drills, 15 inches 
apart Either mark out the whole plat with a 
marker, or use a drill that marks the rows as 
the operator proceeds, care being taken to 
make the rows straight. The seed-drill should 
beset to drop about five seeds to two inches. 
The proper depth to drop is from half an inch 
on heavy soils to about three-quarters of au 
inch on light sandy land. Good seed is essen¬ 
tial. To secure ihe best result use only Ameri¬ 
can-grown Feed, and purchase this either from 
the grower direct or from a reliable seedsman, 
and not from peddlars or small local dealers ; 
abont five pounds will be needed per aero. 2. 
The three standard varieties arc White Portu¬ 
gal, Yellow Danvers and the Red Welhersfleld. 
Which of these to choose for the main crop, 
must depend upon the demand of the market 
to which they are shipped, in Boston the 
Yellow Danvers is a favorite, while iu most 
Western towns a large red onion is pre¬ 
ferred ; iu New York a white medium-sized 
oniou takes at present the highest price. 
3. The object in planting sets is to get an 
early crop. By the middle of June sets will 
have attained the size of ordinary onions, 
and can then be marketed- It is not advisable 
to make this the main crop, as these onions do 
not keep well and the market is quite liable to 
be overcharged n ith the article. They are 
planted in rows 13 or 15 inches apart, and 
three Indies from each other. From six to 
ten bushels arc needed per acre, according to 
size. 4. About 300 bushels per acre may be 
considered an average crop. 
Special Potato Kerlillzers. 
E. A. G.. Hartford, Gt, having a piece of 
turf laud plowed last year and planted with 
potatoes, with a liberal amount of stable ma¬ 
nure iu the hill, asks, 1, could a good crop of 
potatoes be expected from the same ground 
this year by using commercial fertilizers and 
without stable manure; 2, what fertilizer or 
fertilizers will produce the best results, the 
above ground beiug a light, mellow loam. 
A„ 9 _l, Surely, yes, if there be any virtue 
in concentrated or commercial fertilizers. 
With a slight difference, we propose to raise 
potatoes uuder the same conditions. 2. We 
can give no better advice thau to suggest the 
use of special potato fertilizers which are 
offered by dealers. If you kneio that your land 
was already well supplied with one or more of 
the chief ingredients of such manures, then 
the others could be purchased separately at a 
saving. For instance, if potash, au essential 
manure for the potato, were not needed, bone 
or lime phosphate would produce the same re¬ 
sults as if both phosphoric acid and potash 
were applied. See our market reports and ad¬ 
vertising columns for names aiul prices of 
suitable fertilizers and for the names of reli¬ 
able dealers. 
Treatment of Wheat in Spring. 
F. W. S., Baden, neks, 1, what is the best 
fertilizer for wheat iu the spring; 2. how 
much should be applied and when; 8, what is 
its price; 3. is it beneficial to harrow wheat in 
the spring and at what time should it be done ; 
5, would it be advisable to run the mowing 
machine over it, if its growth is loo great. 
Anb —1. The best, fertilizer for spring use is 
superphosphate of lime; 2, 250 to 800 pounds 
or even 500 pounds per aero may be applied as 
early iu the spring as may be convenient. 
3. The price varies from $30 to $45 per ton. 
4. narrowing wheat in the spring is beneficial; 
it loofens the soil, kills young weeds, and in¬ 
vigorates the crop. It should be done as early 
as possible but not before the ground is dry. 
If clover seed is sown it should be done imme¬ 
diately after the barrowiug. 5. It would be. 
of no benefit to mow the tops of the wheat un¬ 
less it is very ibrifty, if the mower is used it 
should be set to cut at least three inches high 
and should be employed at once. 
Keeping Butler. 
\V. 8. H.. JDeweyoille, Utah, asks how butter 
can bo kept for five or six months—it is made 
