234 
JHE RORAL ?3EW-Y©RKER. 
APRIL 40 
may make a great difference in the result. It 
certainly looks improved. A much larger 
acreage than in any previous year. h. j. p. 
Alabama. 
Huntsville, Madison Co.—There has been 
a good deal of wheat Bown this year, and it is 
looking better than usual—farther advanced. 
There has been no sign of disease, and as to 
the Hessian fly, 1 have heard nothing of it. The 
winter has been very mild. We have had a 
great deal of rain this month. r. n. m. 
Maysville, Madison Co.—The prospect of 
wheat in our section is good. It does not show 
any sign of disease. We have had no fly. It 
compares very favorably with former years. 
The acreage is a little larger than usual, f. j. 
New Market, Madison Co.—The winter has 
not affected the wheat crop here unfavorably. 
On high land there are some signs of disease 
in it ; but not on bottoms. The same is the 
case with regard to the fly. On the whole its 
general appearance is much better than in 
former years. It is now in joint in some 
Bpots. Farmers would have plowed it up for 
oats, but the rains fortunately prevented them; 
and now the ground is covered with a bold, 
healthy growth. About five per cent, more 
has been sown than last year. We look for a 
fine yield. O, D , 
Sand Spring, Limestone Co.—Wheat here is 
looking fine, especially that put in by Northern 
farmers, as they generally take more pains to 
prepare the ground for it. I have a six-acre 
field, of which a Southerner told me he never 
saw better-looking wheat at this time of the year. 
The acreage is larger than usual, and I hear 
bat little complaint of its being winter-killed, 
No Hessian fly so far as I hear, except in 
southern Tennessee. The Blount County News 
of this week says: “There is an extraordinarily 
large breadth of land in wheat between Blounts- 
ville and Guntersville, and it is looking remark¬ 
ably w'ell." w M 
Tallassee, Elmore Co.—Our winter season 
thus far has been unusually mild. I hear very 
good reports of wheat among our farmers 
through this section of the country ; some, 
though, are reporting rust, which I hardly be¬ 
lieve to be true as’tls too early yet. The crop is 
generally considered better than last year at 
the same time. The acreage of all kinds of 
grain is more than last season—especially so 
with oats. Farmers are trying to help out the 
short corn crop of last season in this way. 
w. e. a. 
Arkansas. 
Greenwood, Sebastian Co.—During this 
month we have had numerous showers which 
have impeded farm work to such an extent 
that farmers did not plant corn as early as 
last season. Therefore, the season here will 
be about one month later than usual. How¬ 
ever, we keep busy at building fences and 
plowing. Early potatoes, peas, lettuce and 
onions are up and growing finely, Some of 
the earlier sorts of peaches “ have gone where 
the woodbine twineth,” on account of frost. 
Working in this dry, sandy soil is much nicer 
and pleasanter than toiling in the mud, as we 
used to do in our former Northern homes. No 
cleaning stables here and but very little feed¬ 
ing of stock. B , R> 
Texas. 
Bkookston, Lamar Co.—The wheat crop iu 
this section looks fine—better than it has for 
several years. I have not heard of anj dam¬ 
age from the Hessian fly. The winter has 
been very favorable for wheai and oats. The 
acreage is smaller than heretofore. Last fall 
was so very dry that but few farmers sowed 
wheat. w. j. n. 
Waco, McLennan Co.—The condition of 
wheat throughout this section is better than it 
has been in any previous season. The wiutcr 
has been unusually favorable—plenty of rain 
and growing weather. On the 13th of March 
we had a severe freeze, but the opinion pre¬ 
vails that the wheat has been benefited by it, 
rather than injured. There are no signs of 
disease, and no report of the Hessian fly from 
any source. The acreage is larger than ever be¬ 
fore, and the prospects at present indicate that 
we shall have an abuudant harvest of wheat. 
A. S. 6. 
Hutto, Williamson Co.—In this vicinity the 
prospects for wheat and oats were never better. 
The stand is unusuaLly good and not less than 
twice the usual acreage has been planted. No 
indications of disease or Hessian fly. The 
late freeze injured com and potatoes and 
killed most garden vegetables and early, for¬ 
ward Iruit. E. e. s. 
Dellas, Dallas Co.—The winter ha6 not in¬ 
jured the wheat here ; but on March 14th a 
heavy frost cut it badly, though the peo¬ 
ple think it is not much hurt after all. Before 
that, some pam were showing signs of rust. 
No insects have hurt it as yet. The general 
appearance compares favorably with other 
years, in spite of the late frost. The acreage 
sown is much larger than usual. j. r. 
Canada. 
Ingersoll, Ont.—The winter has not hurt the 
fall-sown wheat much hereabouts. That bowu 
from Aug. 25 to Sept. 5 shows sigDs of having 
been inj nred Bomewhat by the fly. Its general 
appearance, however, is folly up to that of 
other years, while the acreage is larger by ten 
per cent. Wheat sown on heavy clay land is 
badly winter-killed. Clover is badly injured 
by the winter. j. j. MC > L . 
Pelham, WeHind Co., Ont.—Wheat has win¬ 
tered well—bittir than usual. No signs of 
disease or of the work of the nessian fly. The 
present prospects arc better than usual. The 
acreage has increased about 12£ per cent. 
B. B. 
South Dumfbies, Brant Co., Ont—The fall 
wheat has very seldom looked so well at this 
time of the year. It showed some yellow spots 
early last fall, but towards winter it improved 
in color, aDd had a fiuo appearance when win¬ 
ter set in, and has stood the winter well except 
some on wet clay land that has beenhurt some¬ 
what. I think there is about an average quan¬ 
tity of ground under wheat, and it looks now 
as if it might be above an average crop. We 
are getting pretty Eharp frosts now, that might 
harm it yet. R K 
St. George, Ont.—Wheat in this section 
ha6 not been harmed to any great extent 
by the winter, except in low, undraiued 
places. Ibere is no appearance of any disease. 
Early-sown wheat is slightly injured in spots 
by the fly. Its appearance is nearly as good as 
last year. Acreage larger. About one-fifth of 
the land here was bowu to wheat. a. c. h, 
(Continued on page 237 ,) 
fairji jgttstairrjj. 
FEEDING COWS FOR MILK. 
In the Rural of Jan. 10th, in Henry Stew- 
ait’s article on “ Winter Butter Making,” I 
notice several points that are not quite satis¬ 
factory. When there is so much of real value 
one cannot afford to be without a full and 
complete solution of so important a subject, 
especially if it is known to be in the'possession 
of the author, and that its absence is due to a 
mere inadvertence m not communicating it. 
Then let me ask, What was tbe live weight 
aDd condition of the cows? What was the 
proportion of corn, oats and wheat bran ? Was 
it equal parts by measure or by weight ? Was 
hay given to the cows in addition to the feed 
specified? If so, how much? Was it cut aud 
wet and the meal mixed with it; or given dry 
without cutting? Again he says, in mention¬ 
ing the rations preferred, “ wheat bran n r mid¬ 
dlings.” Does he put the same value upon 
wheat bran that he does upon middlings? Is 
bran that is obtained by the new process of 
brushing or separating all the flour and mid¬ 
dlings from the bran, as valuable as that form¬ 
erly obtained? How many pounds of cut hay 
would he feed per day ? How many pounds of 
dry hay to equal a peck of roots? 
Professor Atwater gives the following food 
properties as laid down by Dr. Wolff of Ger¬ 
many as being contained in 100 pounds, equal 
parts by weight, of corn, oats, wheat bran ; 
with 4.30 of entire amount of cottou-seedmeah— 
water, 13.1; ash, 4.2. Total organic substance 
albuminoids, 18.5; fiber, 13.2; other carbohy¬ 
drates, 50.2; fat, 5.7. In this estimate I have 
taken corn, oats and cotton-seed cake in place 
of the meals, as they do not occur in the table, 
and have been sufficiently accurate for all prac¬ 
tical purposes 
Now, with oat meal at $1.35 per hundred and 
no cotton seed meal in our home market; with 
corn meal at 80 cents per bushel and wheat 
braa at 60, will it pay to add them to our feed? 
In this wheat-growing region nearly as much 
can be obtained for the flour as for the uu- 
ground wheat, aud the coarse feed and the 
thousands of tons of straw that now rot in the 
fields or are o/ttimes set on fire to get the stuff 
out of the way, could he made to return a 
handsome income both in their feeding and 
manurlal disposal. C. H. Ellis. 
Hillsdale Co., Mich. 
Remarks by Henry Stewart. 
In this special case it is immaterial to specify 
the points referred to, as the information given 
simply shows the effects produced by feeding 
a certain quantity of palm-nut meal and cot¬ 
ton-seed meal. But as it may be of interest to 
some, I give the particulars desired, more es¬ 
pecially as I have been feeding cows for years, 
making a large number of tests of different 
kinds of feeding substances and have finally 
settled down to a mixture of corn, oats and 
wheat bran ground together —not merely mixed— 
in equal parts by weight, as the best and most 
profitable food for cows, either for milk or nut¬ 
ter, and on 10 pounds per day as the ration 
that can be most economically employed. The 
bran used is the cotumun commercial Bort usu¬ 
ally procured in the market, and which has 
been cleanly scoured of all panicles of flour or 
middlings, It is difficult to procure any other 
kind except at custom mills in country places; 
the merchant mills clean the bran much more 
closely than other mills. I don’t care how 
closely the bran is cleaned, the phosphates are 
in it anyhow, and it is for these I nee it. The 
cow Minnie is a large cow, eight years old, of 
native or mixed stock, and weighs 1,100 pounds; 
at the time referred to she was fresh or nearly 
60 . Bolivia is an imported Ayrshire in her 
third year, and had been milking ten months 
at the time and was in calf two months. Her 
weight is 450 pounds. Although so small, she 
will eat profitably as ranch meal as a larger 
cow, returning as much milk and butter as 
two or three larger cows together. She has 
milked over 8,000 pounds from Feb. 13th, 1879, 
to Feb. 13th, 1880. The bay given these cows 
varies from 12 to 18 pounds, as much being 
given as they will eat and lick the manger. 
The hay is cut, wetted, and the meal is mixed 
with it. This ent feed is given morning aud 
night, and at noon a peck of cut mangels and 
a pound or two of dry hay. 
I estimate scoured bran to be equal to mid¬ 
dlings, weight for weight; but if I were using 
middlings, 1 would reduce the oats one-half 
and increase the middlings in proportion. 
While I give a good deal ol credit to Prof. At¬ 
water for his valuable work in the direction 
referred to, yet I look upon these theoretical 
investigations as only of partial value, as fur¬ 
nishing a basis upon which one may experi¬ 
ment practically—something as though one 
should stand on the shore and tell a fisherman 
where to drop his net to catch fish, so these 
analytical investigations tell us in what direc¬ 
tion to work to secure the most valuable re¬ 
sults in the easiest and most direct manner. 
After all, it is in the stable, and with the milk- 
pail and churn, that one can best investigate 
the values of food, and, besides, people must 
do it, each for himself; for the reason that this 
man’6 circumstances, being different from that 
man’6, whatever the one does serves only to 
point the direction in which the other may fol¬ 
low, but it does not do his work for him. 
STOCK NOTES. 
Clubbing for Improved Male Stock. 
The very best of these might be had if farmers 
would only unite to procure them; avd the ser¬ 
vice from each would be a mere trifle in com¬ 
parison with the great benefit derived from their 
use. Male swine and sheen, even of choice 
breeds, are so cheap now that nearly- every 
farmer can afford to keep one of his own; but 
when it comes to bulls and stallions, choice ones 
are so high-priced, as to make it necessary to 
form a club for their purchase, as they are be¬ 
yond the means of most single farmers. Colts 
and calves, even out of indifferent females, 
got by superior stallions and bulls, are usually 
worth twice to thrice the amount of those 
bred when both sire and dam are indifferent. 
The cost of feed for rearing a good animal is 
no more, and often less, than that for a 
poor one, aud if when ready for market, the 
former brings twice or thrice the price of the 
latter, it is a matter of great congratulation 
to the farmer—to hie pride as well as to his 
pocket. Be careful that all stallions are not 
oqly of fine form and action, but kind-tem¬ 
pered and perfectly sound. 
-- 
Hereford Munchausenism— An English 
paper, wiser than those of America, informs 
us that 400 young Hereford bulls have been 
lately purchased in Canada and the United 
States to go into the herd of one of our great 
Western cattle kings. This will do very well 
for a Munchausen report. We don’t believe 
that 400 Hereford bulls of all ages can be 
found in America, to say nothing of young 
ones alone. Perhaps the above, if indeed they 
were purchased at all, were grade animals, 
which is quite another thing from pure, well- 
bred Hcreford9. 
- dXOp, 
DIFFERENCE IN THE VALUE OF ROOTS- 
RELATION OF SOIL AND CLIMATE. 
COL. F. D. CUBTIB. 
We have shown that roots form a feeding 
value beyond that given to them by chemical 
analysis, according to the various published 
tables. We do not deny that the chemist can 
determine the component parts of roots, 
so that it may be known, approximately at 
least, what those parts are, but our point is, 
that the variations are so great in the quality 
or character ot the roots, that the tables are 
not to be relied upon as a certain guide to the 
farmer In estimating the worth of roots for 
animal food. No doubt many farmers have 
been deterred from growing roots on account 
of the small percentage of fat or flesh-forming 
material they are staled to contain; when, as a 
fact, they contained much more. An analysis 
of sugar beets, made from those grown on the 
rich black soil of the prairie States, although 
it would cover a large region of country, would 
not be a true analysis for the component parts 
of beets grown in New York, in New England, 
or in other sections of tbe country. Au an¬ 
alysis of the beets grown in California would 
not determine the sugar value or the feeding 
value of beets grown in Maine. In the latter 
State they may be profitably manufactured into 
6ugar, while in the former State it is still an 
nndemonstrated question, owing to the large 
percentage of earthy salts contained in them. 
In Illinois and the other States of similar soil, 
they lack in sugar, and this important con¬ 
stituent is so small that the working up of 
beets for sugar will not pay. Notwithstanding 
this fact, it would no doubt pay the farmer well 
to grow both beetB and mangels to feed his 
animals. If they had done this in all of the 
country where hog cholera has made such 
fearful ravages, and fed raw roots to their 
hogs with the corn, no doubt there would have 
been much less of this disease, which is 
caused by a perpetual diet on corn more than by 
anything else. In some soils the “Impurities,” 
in the juice of beets, which are made up of 
earthy salts, saltpeter, soda,potash, lime, phos¬ 
phoric acid, etc., more than equal the amount 
of sugar. Such beets would make a poor show¬ 
ing for manufacturing into sugar, but would be 
valuable only for animal food in connection 
with such heating and stimulating material as 
corn which cannot be fed to excess, or for any 
great length of time to any animal without 
filling tbe system with fever aud inflammation. 
There is a limit in feeding corn to any animal, 
beyond which it is not healthy. Farmers all 
understand tbiB fact that tbe beef animal must 
not be fed too much, or too long, and that 
the pigs must be turned off as soon as they get 
fat, oi a reaction will take place and they will 
get poor again. Not so with roots, as they 
contain ample juices and material both for 
flesh, bone and fat, combined in a natural 
and digestible form. Beets are richer in sugar 
when grown in soil in which there is not an 
excessive preponderance of vegetable matter. 
This is the trouble in the prairie States. In 
California there is too much alkali. 
These are the extremes, but in both of these 
sections roots arc valuable as food. In the 
Eastern and Middle States there is a more per¬ 
fect combination of mineral and vegetable 
matter in the soil, and here beets will grow to 
the greatest perfection. A loamy soil is pref¬ 
erable, as this contains the elements required 
to the largest degree. On such land the per¬ 
centage of sugar has been found to be, in 
sugar beets, as high as fifteen to eighteen per 
cent. On Kirby Homestead, N. Y., it was last 
year 15.60 per cent. The soil is clayey loam and 
has been cropped with roots of various kinds 
for several years. The true value,or adaptation 
of land for roots, will undoubtedly vary in the 
same locality. This has been found to be the 
case in Europe; as one factory not widely sep¬ 
arated from another can produce a better 
quality of sugar, that is, freer from impurities. 
In the State of Delaware the highest percent¬ 
ages of sugar have been found thus far. The 
manures applied also affect the character of 
the roots. There should be a combination of 
manures, with that from the barn-yard as the 
base. 
A slight sprinkle, about 100 pounds to 
the acre, of Manhattan blood guano, or a 
similar fertilizer, is valuable to oe put into the 
drill with the seed. Hen manure and plaster 
(sulphate of lime) are a good substitute. In 
any case plaster should be sown on the tops of 
the plants when they are growing. Experience 
has demonstrated that the teachings of the 
chemist in regard to the analysis of the soil in 
connection with the growing of crops, cannot 
be relied upon with certainty, in fact, that 
there is very little practical value in their 
analyses, and it is somewhat so in usingspecial 
manures for special crops. The soil bas snch 
a transforming effect upon manures, and also 
the influences of the suo and rains are so great 
that in our judgment there can be no certainty 
in these crop prescriptions; hence manures of 
general character are better to be relied upon 
than any specific doses. The larger the root, 
the less percentage of sugar according to bulk. 
A Brnall beet, then, is not to be despised. 
Sandy land, well manured, would grow beets 
rich in sugar, but sandy loam, or gravelly 
loam would be better; a still clay is the least 
desirable. A dry seasou restricts the growth, 
and concentrates tbe richness of the roots 
and a moist seasou expands it iuto a more 
bulky form with a larger percentage of water 
and woody fiber. Swedes in their growth and 
quality are not so sensitive as the beet family • 
hence they are better adapted to various soils 
and climates. As their chief virtue is in their 
sugar, the same laws and conditions apply to 
them as to beets, but n<Jt in such a particular 
degree. As a universal crop they are, there¬ 
fore, to be commended. There is no better 
guide in root culture than demonstration. We 
have fully demonstrated in our own case their 
practical value for food and cheapness. Tfie 
best way is for others to do the same, in a 
small way at first, perhaps, but to do it thor¬ 
oughly and fully. 
