NOV. 21 
o 
THE RURAL MEW-YORKER. 7&7 
Canada, Frazerville, Quebec, March 9.— 
Your Mold’s Oats and Golden Mangels did 
splendidly with me. The oats were sowed on 
the 25th of May and cut on the 25th of Sept¬ 
ember, well ripened. The Cnthbcrts entirely 
failed ; they were too dry when put into the 
ground. Nomagnolia seeds have yet sprouted, 
but the pentsterpOHS have come up ; also two 
of the man-root seeds and many of the Iris 
Lwvigata. Two of the Abies Sibirica had grown 
in the house, but died in July when in the 
open ground. jr. e p. 
III.,; Ludlow, Champaign Co., Nov. 6th.— 
During the first half of October the weathor 
was fine, with no hard frosts till the 17th, when 
the Btorm which prevailed over the Northwest 
amounted hereto a Texas "norther,” and gave 
us a skim of ice and a light flurry of snow. 
Since then we have had some pleasant weather 
and some chilly and November-like, but dry 
and favorable for work. But to-day is snowy 
with about two inches on the ground, and a 
chilly wind blowing keenly from the north. 
A groat deal of Fall plowing has been done, 
and corn husking is only fairly begun. Corn 
is turning out from 15 to 40 bushels per acre, 
with 25 about the average, as nearly as I can 
judge, which, considering the large acreage, 
poor cultivation and unfavorable season, is as 
good as could he expected. Wheat Is looking 
well thuB far with about the right amount of 
top. Fat hogs are worth $4.15 to $4 25 ijNcwt, 
live. Stock hogs arc in good demand and hard 
to buy, probably because poor corn is consid¬ 
ered worth more to feed than to sell. There 
is no disease among swine as yet. A few cases 
of epizooty are reported among horses, "o.” 
Indiana, Hall’s Cornors, Allen Co., Nov. 5.— 
The Ennobled Oats did well; I have about 
three quarts for seed another year. The cow- 
peas also turned out a good crop; but unless 
the stock will eat them, I don’t know what 
they arc good for. The other seeds also did 
well. 1 think the Seed Distribution worth to 
me the price of the paper. Your corn state¬ 
ment shows a very good crop, though I think 
my boy, under 18, can make as good a show¬ 
ing on one acre. We. gave him one acre for 
competition with other boys of this State and 
others, for a premium offered by one of our 
papers for the largest yield of corn on an acre. 
w. H. H. 
[Please send us particulars about the yield, 
culture, kind, etc., etc., of that boy’s acre. 
Eds.] 
Kansas, Freedom, Butler Co.—The acreage 
of wheat is larger than ever in this section 
and Jt is looking very well considering the 
dry weather; no rain in four weeks. Feed¬ 
ing commenced this year on Oct., 5> and we 
have to feed until April 20 or May 10. Mar¬ 
kets are active. Hogs have been up to $4 85 
per hundred; but are down now to $3.25. 
Beef cattle have been selling tor $4,50 from 
the sward ; butter, 25c; wheat 65 to 80c., and 
not much coming into market. w. j. b. 
New York, Pitcher, Chenango Co., Nov. 
9 —The last two days have been warm and 
pleasant. Last Sunday the air was quite full 
of snow, and the wind blew a perfect gale. 
Wc have had heavy rains during the past few 
weeks; the ground is full of water. It has 
been very wet for plowing. The great crop 
of apples is nearly all gathered. Wo dispose 
of them mostly by feeding them to stock. Cows, 
horses and hogs all help to save them. One 
of my neighbors had over 3,000 bushels of 
grafted apples. He saves a few for family 
use and the rest he feeds just as fast as the 
cows will take them. l. w. s. 
Wis., Louisville. Dunn Co., Nov. 6.—We 
have had good weather for husking corn and 
plowing. Prices are good and farmers are in 
fine spirits. So are laborers, as work is plenti¬ 
ful and wages good. Wheat, No. 1, 80c; hay. 
$9 per ton; live hogs, 4$e; beef aud stock cat¬ 
tle, 2Jc, to 3c; potatoes, 30c. a great many 
of them are rotting. Prices of good land are 
low; good, Improved farms can be had for $10 
to $20 per acre with good water. We always 
have a healthful climate, aud plenty of work 
for all who come to ibis place to live. Wages 
now, $1 per day and board. We have bad 
some snow but it has all gone and the weather 
is delightful. T. m. b. 
Wisconsin, Eagle, Richland Co., Nov. 6.— 
Fall wheat was Dever known to be so 6low in 
making a start. Quite a large aereugo has 
been sown. Wo sow by the first of September 
or the last of August, aud get about 25 to 30 
bushels per acre. Corn-husking Is well under 
way. Com is only an average crop and we 
have plenty of hogs, sheep and cattle to feed 
it to. The weather has been rather dry for a 
mouth ; it is raining now. Lots of Early Am¬ 
ber Cane arc raised here -over 6,000 gallons of 
sirup have been made in this town. a. n. r. 
Wis., West Salem, La Crosse Co., Nov. 4.— 
My Mold’s Ennobled Oats rusted badly and 
were lulo in ripening. The beets wore fine, aud 
the cow-peas ripened. Biounl’B Corn matured 
earlier and better thau last year. The weather 
has been quite hot the past week; farmers are 
busy husking their corn ; the crop is not as 
good as was expected. m. l. h. 
ANSWEES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and 
address of the writer to insure attention.] 
Constructing n Privy, 
«/., Leroy, N Y., askE how to construct a 
privy vault adjoining a dwelling-house so that 
no unpleasant odor shall arise. 
Ans. —This is a question that presents two 
pojnts of consideration ; first, the construction 
ot the vault, and, second, the disposal of the 
refuse. For if this is allowed to accumulate, 
no means whatever can prevent the inevitable 
consequence of decomposition and foul odors. 
We suggest the following plan which will be 
found convenient and effective at very little 
cost and trouble and which will completely 
avoid every inconvenience that attaches neces¬ 
sarily to our present barbarous and dangerous 
system. Let the house be raised three feet 
above the ground, upon a close basement. In 
this basement have a movable vault mounted 
upon low wheels which can bo drawn away 
when filled or at regular intervals of a week 
or a month, and emptied upon the manure 
heap where it will disappear; or, in places 
where there is no manure it may be thrown 
upon the ground and covered up or buried i» 
it or reduced by the admixture of earth to an 
inoffensive eompost. The following sketch of 
PRIVY VAULT.—FIG, 390. 
the basement (the doors being removed), will 
help to make the method plain. Thu movable 
receptacle may have a foot of earth or 
sand in the bottom as an absorbent or 
deodorizer and a box of dry earth with a 
scoop may be kept in the house and one re¬ 
sponsible person should make a practice every 
day of adding sufficient of this earth to keep 
the contents of the box inodorous. When ne¬ 
cessary it may be removed to some convenient 
place and allowed to accumulate until it can 
be used or disposed of. There is no better fer¬ 
tilizer for grass lauds than such a compost and 
any farmer would be glad to have the disposal 
of it. This plan would remove what is now a 
nuisance and a constant menace to health and 
life. 
Feeding Hairy C’owh, 
A. W., Everett, Pa., says—"Rye is worth 
66 cents per bushel; oats, 30; corn. 35; millet 
and Hungarian each about 60; buckwheat, 
50; wheat bran and middlings, $1 00 per hun¬ 
dredweight; and brau, separate, 85cts.; clover 
hay, $10 per ton ; Timothy, $12.; corn fodder 
five centB per bundle; butter, from 20 to 25 
cents per pound. Now, I would like to know 
which of the above-mentioned grains I had 
better feed to make the most clear money on 
my butter, and which kind of hay 1 had better 
feed, or had I better feed fodder? Will it pay 
to cut the fodder? We have tread-power and 
can hire a cutter at $1 per day. I would also 
like to know how many cows it would pay me 
to keep at the above prices for feed Butter 
gets as low as 10 cents per pound lu Summer. 
Grain-fed beef can be sold for four cents, live 
weight—which will pay the best? Would It 
pay to stearu the feed at the above price ? 
Could I get a six-horse vertical steam engine 
that would ruu my machinery profitably, 
which consists of a small Separator Union 
Gristmill and other farm machinery, and that 
could be made to stcuiu the feed also by means 
of pipes or uuy way you could suggest?" 
Ans. —The cheapest (that is the best) feed 
for cows is clover hay and corn finely ground 
mixed with an equal portion of bran aud raid- 
dliugB. Corn fodder at five cents a bundle, is 
dearer thau clover hay at $20 a ton, unless the 
buudles are very largo indeed. The compara¬ 
tive value of good clover hay aud corn-stalks 
is as 20 to 8; that is, hay at $20 per ton Is 
equal to corn-stalks at $8 By all means cut 
the hay, wet it and mix the meal with it. Ten 
pounds ot cut hay thus fed are worth 15 
pounds given loose. You can get an excellent 
fodder cutter for $30 to cut for 40 cows. A 
horse-power will he better for you than a 
steam englue and much cheaper; steaming 
food is one of the obsolete, so-called improve¬ 
ments, and is rarely practiced by those who 
farm for profit. Keep as many cows as you 
can get feed for, If they are good ones, and 
make butter only in the Winter and grow feed 
in the Summer. 
Roup In Fowls, Etc. 
J. 8., Greenville, Pa , asks, 1, which do we 
think the best breed of fowls for general pur¬ 
poses—the Plymouth Rock or Light Brahma; 
2, which of the two is the ardler; 3, what 
will cure the roup. 
Ans. —1, Plymouth Rocks. Both are excel¬ 
lent but we think there is a little point in favor 
of the P. R. 2, There is little difference in 
that respect. 3. This disease Is very conta¬ 
gious, and the affected birds should therefore 
be promptly separated from the remainder of 
the flock, and put into a dry, warm but well- 
ventilated place. There is a great number of 
nostrums for the cure of this disease. An old 
remedy is five drops of tincture of iron iu a 
tablespoonful of water three times a day. 
Give Bcalded feed well seasoned with Cayenne 
pepper. Another is confinement alone in a 
warm, dry place, and a tablespoonful of castor 
oil every morning for a week. In aggravated 
cases the following recipe is strongly recom¬ 
mended:—Powdered sulphate of iron, half a 
drachm; capsicum powder, one drachm; ex¬ 
tract of liquorice, half an ounce; make iuto 
thirty pills, give one at a time, three times a 
day for three days. Then take half an ounce 
of sulphate of iron and one ounce of Cayenue 
pepper finely powdered ; mix carefully a tea¬ 
spoonful of these with butter, and divide iuto 
ten parts; give one part twice a day. Wash 
the head, eyes and Inside of the mouth and 
nostrils with vinegar, which is very cleansing. 
Melon Raising In Oregon. 
A correspondent whose name we have mis¬ 
laid, asks several questions respecting the 
raising of melonB in Oregon, to which we reply 
as follows: 
Ans. —We should doubt melon growing for 
market being a paying crop in Oregon, hut 
of that our correspondent must be the best 
judge. There are two plans for advancing 
the plants earlier; one by selecting the warm¬ 
est ground at command, and after thorough 
cultivation, marking out spots at the proper 
distance for the hill throughout. Then make 
boles, say a yard wide aud six inches deep, 
fill with horse mannre in a state of fermenta¬ 
tion (other manure is not so good, being too 
cold) and replace the soil over the top. This 
will make hills, and be warmer and drier 
than ou the level. These hills may be covered 
with any cold-lrame lights, or, if such lights 
are of use for other purposes in the Winter, 
they may bo used for both purposes. If no 
such lights are used, a rough frame, 18 Inches 
square, covered with glass, may be uBed and 
raised up to allow the plants to run under, 
aud be removed when the cold rains are over. 
But probably the be6t plan would be to pre¬ 
pare a hot-hedin the usual manner with rnau- 
ure; sow the seeds in four-inch pots, and plant 
out, without breaking the roots, on hills pre¬ 
pared as before advised, after the cold rains 
are over; but we think neither would pay 
unless melons are very high-priced, and we 
should try the venture on a small scale first. 
Treatmeut of Skins, etc. 
W. J. II., address lost, asks, 1, how to tan 
skin6 with the hair ou, so as to make them 
soft; also, how to tan skins with the hair off; 
2, how to preserve bird Bkins until they are 
mounted—three or four weeks; 3, Is there any 
creamery that will do where ice cannot be had, 
but where there is cold well water ? 
Ans —1, Skins cannot be tanned with the 
hair on ; Instead they must be tawed and not 
tanned. Tawing is done with alum and salt. 
The skin, either fresh or steeped iu water, is 
spread and covered with a mixture of powder¬ 
ed alum and salt in equal parts. It Is then 
folded iu two,the flesh-sides together, and either 
rolled np, if it i6 a single skiu, or plied in a 
heap if thsre are many, aud kept so for i.0 
days. Each is then scraped, aud rubbed dry 
with a piece of chalk, being pulled and stretch¬ 
ed meanwhile to make It soft and pliable. If 
the hair is to be removed, this is done first by 
spreading lime paste on the flush-side and leav¬ 
ing the skins placed in pairs, llesh-sldes to¬ 
gether, in a heap until the hair parts easily. 
The skins are then steeped in alum and salt 
liquor. 2, Bird skins are dusted with arsenic, 
which preserves them from decay and from 
vermin. 3 Cold well water will make a good 
substitute for ice as far as it goes. Read care¬ 
fully the articles on "The Dairy Cow,” iu 
which ail such points as these are treated. You 
can have a cold-water tank, as described in 
article No. 14 on Spring Houses, If you will 
change the water. 
Lost Nation »h a Winter Wheat. 
E. H r . G , Somerset , Pa., asks for full infor¬ 
mation about Lost Nation wheat as a Winter 
variety. 
Ans. —We must refer our inquirer to late 
Rurai.s for a report of the yield of Lost Na¬ 
tion as a Winter wheat. From our plot of last 
Summer we carefully selected the best heads, 
the grain of which was sowu again In Septem¬ 
ber as one ol' the seventy-seven varieties now 
growing at the Rural Farm. We cau state 
positively nothing as to the value of this wheat 
J as a Winter sort. Another year will probably 
enable us to do so. Of all the wheats we have 
thus far tried, we are best pleased with Silver 
Chaff, Velvet Chaff aud Shumaker. 
MlHcell&ueouii. 
S. S. B., Westchester, N. Y., asks, 1, when 
should ground bone be applied to grass land ; 
3, will it be of any service to clover; 3, when 
should it be applied to corn. 
Ans. —t. Ground bone, if the flour of bone, 
will be felt in its effects in one or two months 
if the weather is moist, but it is safest to apply 
it three to six months before it is expected to 
be wanted by tho crop. Coarse grouud bone 
does not become as readily soluble. 2 When 
applying coarse ground bone to a field of corn 
one Spring there was a quantity left over which 
was directed to be sown upon an almost barren 
place in the meadows, but where there were 
some Timothy and soma red clover growing. 
The result was not perceptible at haying, but 
in the Autumn the growth of grass aud espec¬ 
ially clover was three times as great as in the 
surrounding field, and the cattle ate it very 
closely. 8. Coarse hone applied to corn in 
the Spring has but little influence upon the 
crop; if applied the Fall previous bone stimu¬ 
lates the starting of the corn crop, but unless 
other manure is used to continue the food 
supply, the corn shows that the food from the 
bone Is early exhausted. 
J. L , AuhurndaUi, Mass., says: "This Spring 
I sowed a lot of large " Red Weathersfield ” 
onion seed on poor land very thickly, and did 
not cultivate them, intending them for setts, 
next Spring, for early onionB ; they havegrown 
about as large as hickory-nuts ; will it be safe 
to set them out next Spring or would they be 
likely to run to seed ? The tops have all died, 
and they appear to be quite ripe.” 
Ans —Our frieud does not state when they 
ripened off. If they have grown all Summer, 
the onionB will have main red and will certainly 
run to seed next, season, if planted out. 
N. J. A., Grand Rapids, Mich., asks, 1, 
whether Blount’s Corn is likely to mature in 
that latitude; 3, where seed can be had; 3, 
where can Ennobled Oats be bought. 
Ans —l. We are of the opinion that it 
would. You should save seeds to mature, aud 
we have no doubt your season would be long 
enough the second year. 2. Probably of D. M. 
Ferry, Detroit, Mich.—price about $2 50 per 
bushel. 3. B. 1C. Bliss & Sous, N. Y. City, are 
the only firm we know of at present that offer 
the oats. 
I), <fe 0., Banbury, Conn., ask whether if 
corn-stalks are thoroughly steamed they will 
be all eaten up, and whether it will pay to cat 
and steam them ; will it pay to steam all kinds 
of fodder? 
Ans.—T he expense of labor aud fuel is usu¬ 
ally more than the saving in using steamed 
fodder, if there is uuy economy at all. Catting 
the fodder and grinding grain mil pay beyond 
a doubt, but this generally is as far as economy 
can go in preparing food. 
n. P., Cornxoall, VI., asks how to kill ferns 
or brakes. 
Ans— There is no known remedy but up¬ 
rooting them and often where the pastures 
are so rough that it is impracticable to plow, 
there is no other way but to dig them np with 
a grub hoe, or to confine a drove of hogs up¬ 
on them. In the latter case water must be 
supplied the hogs and some oorn scattered 
among the brakes. 
R. S. P., Bolster's Mills, Me., sends a fern 
for name. 
Ans.— This is Adiantum pedatum— the Maid¬ 
en-Hair Fern—tho most beautiful of all our 
ferns, abounding in damp, rocky woods. The 
above question was mislaid. 
A. S. S, Union Co., Pa... Mr. J. G. Burrow 
will furnisu you a catalogue without charge 
which will give you all the information re¬ 
specting the Jefferson Grape you desire. His 
address is Fishkili, N. Y. 
Inquiries are made respecting the dictionary 
offered in advertising columns for ten cents. 
Ans.—I t is the same as that previously of¬ 
fered, only the cover is paper. 
S- L. L., Hanley, la., asks how much should a 
large maugel-wuizel weigh. 
Ans.—D ue weighing 15 pounds would be 
considered of fine size. 
Y. J. IK, Topsham, Me., sends leaf of a 
shrub for name. 
Ans.—T he leaf is not known to us. 
Communications rkckivkd for the week end¬ 
ing Saturday, Nov. ‘20. 
A. L. J.—I. P. R.—T. H. M.—A. B. A.—M. L. T.— 
Wo do not care for poetry.—W. J. B.—L. W. 3.— 
F. M. S., no, much obliged, we do not want the 
gopher—T. K. 8.—w. J. B. (Kansas), Reserved for 
Corn number.—M. J. G.—W. L. T.—L. T.—O. S.— 
J. M. B.-A.B. A.-F, II. S.-G. W. Ll.-T. b!— 
L. S. H.—SI. P.B.— A. G.-C. C. (L—R. C.—Elsie.— 
W. LL—II. W.—W. S.—L. 8,, thanks—.J. A. F.- 
J. T.—J. S.—E. G.—G. L. A.—J, 8.—J. W. L.—T. 
W.—II. E. MCC.— J. B.—A. 8,—J. H. P. 
- ’ + ♦ » - 
When life Is a drug, and you have lost all hope 
then trust In Hop Bitters. 
