APRIL 47 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
253 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Cal., Smith's Ranclie, Sonoma Co.—We have 
had one of the coldest winters ever known In Cali¬ 
fornia. The cold snap came on about Christmas 
and continued until about March 25. consequents 
ly feed Is short, slock poor and dairy products 
reduced about one-half; a considerable amount of 
grain, too, has been winter-killed, and had to be 
resowed. The late frosts have damaged the early 
fruits, and In some sections peaches, apricots and 
almonds are nearly ruined. The acreage In wheat 
Is much larger than last year. The wheat craze 
has been general. Less potatoes and barley than 
usual. Good prices for wool have put sheep on 
the up grade, and many will sell their cows and 
Invest In Sheep. Grain, although backward, prom¬ 
ises a good crop; but the season will be over a 
month later than usual, but should It from this on 
be favorable, the grain crop will be Immense. 
b. n. c. 
Cal., CedarvlUe, Modoc Co.— We do not sow fall 
wheat In this section. We sowed It two years; 
but the frost killed It. since then we have put 
in our crop In the spring. The spring Is backward, 
we commenced plowing only on March 22 . The 
Hessian tly Is not known In this section. The 
acreage will be much larger than on any former 
year. We havo had a great deal of snow this 
winter. The prospect for large crops la good. A 
part of this valley has been troubled with grass¬ 
hoppers for the past live years and they have de¬ 
stroyed our crops, but its the winter has been very 
severe, we feel confident we shall not be troubled 
with the peats this season. e. & u. 
Cal,, El Dorado, El Dorado Co.—Wheat In our 
Bectlon Is backward ou account of the very cold 
winter we have had ; much of the late-sown was 
Injured, early-sown wheat is In fine condition. 
No disease or Injure by tlcsslan tly is now appar¬ 
ent, and with a favorable spring none Is feared. 
Iu general compared with other years, It is fair 
to average, a slight advance, In fact, If any thing, 
acreage larger. Generally a good crop la looked 
for. w, o. l. i*. 
Cal., Brighton, Sacramento Co.—We have had 
a very cold winter; frost almost every night for 
the last three months, and very little rain for a 
California winter. The farmers finished putting 
in their crops, “ which Is barley mostly," and are 
summer-fallowing now. In this vaclnlty we are 
having considerable north winds which are very 
detrimental to the growing grain, unless we have 
more rain, of which there arc tokens now. a. m. d. 
cal., Penryn, Placer Co.—The wheat in our 
section looks better than usual, not being affected 
by our unusual season, we have no disease and 
no Hessianfiy. Appearances Indicate at present 
over an average crop. Acreage about the same 
as last season. j. w. u. 
Conn., Guilford, New Haven Co —Wheat as far 
as 1 know has wintered well. No trouble from the 
fly or from rust except In one field. In 1879 wheat 
was good and yielded well. The acreage Is doubled. 
I sowed clover In the fall of '77 and It did well; in 
’781 sowed two fields to rye seeded with clover, the 
one that was covered with snow did well, the 
other was entirely killed. j. a. p. 
Conn., New London, New London Co—Wheat 
doesn't usually do well in this section, consequently 
there Is seldom any sown; rye Is raised Instead, 
and that Is looking very woll. Potatoes rotted 
badly last year; some farmers lost nearly their 
wnole crop. Hay, strawberries and potatoes are 
the crops to which we turn our attention. 
n. g. s. 
Dakota, Brighton, Union Co.—No fall wheat 
growing here this season. It Is but experimental 
with us as yet. Grasshoppers destroyed nearly all 
kinds of grain last year, and as all the fall wheat 
was lost, we are still undecided as to the variety 
best suited to this locality, or whether It will pay 
to grow it largely In preference to spring wheat, 
which has heretofore held sway and probably will 
continue to do so. The season being late, we are 
now busy sowing wheat. Owing to past losses 
the acreage will probably be one-half.; corn will 
preponderate. Cattle largely Increasing, j, m. 
Dkl., Hollandvllle, Kent Co. —Wheat in this 
section looks well. Early-sown has some fly, but 
looks promising, I sowed the last week In Sep¬ 
tember, again about the 5th of Oct. and again 
about the loth of Oct. That sowed In Sept, showed 
fly late In the fall, but looks tolerably well at 
present. That sowed about the 6 th of Oct. Is per¬ 
fectly healthy and grows rapidly. That seeded 
about the 15th of Oct. looks well, though not as 
large as either of the others. So far as my ob¬ 
servation extends, the acreage Is somewhat larger 
than last year. 0 . m. 
Illinois, Ludlow, Champagn Co., April 8 .—The 
winter here being open and changeable, was un¬ 
favorable to wheat, but Its appearance has greatly 
Improved of late and many fields thought to be 
nearly mined, now show promise of half a crop; 
while some fields look really well. The early-sown 
generally looks the best. Fruit is thus far safe, 
as the buds have not started enough to be Injured. 
The demand for live stock seems to be unusually 
good tills spring, especially for horses. The low 
prices of late years seem to have ohecked the 
rearing of horses to such an extent that the sup¬ 
ply or good, sound, heavy horses has run short, 
such being wanted now at from $125 to $200 each, 
while sound plugs and light horses bring $ 100 . 
Common cows bring $30 to $ 10 ; live hogs, $3.90 to 
$4 79 100 lbs.; chickens, 5c. 7S tb; corn, shelled, 
30c.; oats, 300.; liay, $7 to $8 79 ton. Potatoes vary 
much in price according to quality; Early Rose, 
30c.; l’euohblows, 10 c. The trimming uud laytng 
of hedges and the husking of corn form the prin¬ 
cipal occupation of farmers Uero during the win¬ 
ter. A good part of the past winter the corn-fields 
were too soft to get over with a team, consequent¬ 
ly considerable corn remained In the field during 
winter, and some farmers who, In other parts, 
might be called shiftless, had to finish husking 
before commencing spring work. Perhaps in jus¬ 
tice to such, It would be only fair to mention that 
the spring of '79 was late, and the frost. In the fall 
came early; a considerable amount of late com 
was scarcely ripe when froBt came, and such dried 
slowly and was unfit to ortb In fall or early winter 
when the work should have been dono. 
The trimming and laying of hedges la no small 
Item In the round of larrn work In this prairie 
country. The road and outside farm fences are 
almost entirely of the Osage Orange thorn, and 
when properly growu It forms a perfect barrier to 
all kinds of stock. When a few years old, or when 
the plants are about two Inches In diameter at the 
ground, they should be trimmed and cut nearly 
off close to the ground, bent over nearly horizon¬ 
tally, and held in place by stakes or woven between 
stems left standing upright for the purpose, about 
two or three feet apart. From the horizontal 
stems upright Hhoots start thickly, which soon 
form the complete fonco which thereafter only 
needs an annual trimming to keep it In repair. 
Many farmers neglect this annual trimming and 
do the job only once in four or live years; but 
while the high hedge makes a good wind-break, It 
occupies more ground, and, on the whole, but little 
labor Is saved as the annual trimming Is light 
compared to the heavy one. g. 
III., Deer Park, La Salle Co.—Winter wheat 
looks bad and in some Instances is killed out¬ 
right. Rye promises well. The frul# prospect is 
very good; apple trees are full of buds u s. k. 
Ind., Canton, Washington Co.—Wheat looks 
splendid at this writing; there was considerable 
complaint of the fiy last fall, but It shows no effects 
of It now. Not hurt by the winter, in the least. 
Acreage at least 20 per cent, greater than in 1S7S, 
many farmers use bone meal as a fertilizer, which 
doubles their crop. This Is a good fruit country. 
Fruits are uninjured so far, and promise a good 
crop. w. j. 
Iowa. Florence, Benton Co.—A great many sup¬ 
posed that the Strawberries were winter-killed 
entirely; but since the rain they have come up. 
I think there will be enough of the vines for quite 
a crop if no mishap occurs. Before the rain the 
woods and fields were as dry and dusty as they 
are In August. s. t. s. 
Kan., Meadow Brook, Johnson Co.--Our hay 
crop last year was light, but our grain crops of 
all kinds were good. We have had plenty of rain, 
and prospects for cereal and Du It crops are very 
fine. Land has advanced 40 per cent. n. s. 
Ky., I’aducah, McCracken Co.—We have had a 
very mild winter -no snow but a great deal of 
rain. Wheat looks well and bids fair for a good 
crop, unless It should be Injured by rust, as It 
Dearly always Is after a warm winter. The Amber 
wheat yields more than any other sort per acre— 
from five to twenty-five bushels, according to the 
land and the season. On March 17th, while Ap¬ 
ples and Peaches were In full bloom, we had a 
sleet storm which injured about half the Apples. 
The tobacco plants are up and have not been in¬ 
jured by the insects yet. Cow-peas are as com¬ 
mon as corn or tobacco with us. a. a. 
Maine, Atkinson, Piscataquis Co.—The fields 
In this section are well covered with snow and 
have been all winter, so what little winter wheat 
was sown Is probably safe. The fly Injures wheat 
la some seasons. The acreage Is about the same 
as last year. a. t. p. 
Mich., Montgomery, Hillsdale Co., April 2.—Ten 
days ago the farmers were quite disheartened In 
regard to the wheat crop; but the thorough rain 
of one week ago, followed by an equally effective 
one of to-day, completely changes the outlook. 
While predictions continue to be made that we 
are. to have a cold, late spring, the wonderfully 
mild, pleasant, weather of tho past month, keeps 
abreast with the advancing season; and we are 
fully Justified in saying that southern Michigan 
will do her full share In meeting the expectation 
of an abundant comlDg harvest. It Is doubtful If 
the dairy Interests will immediately recover from 
the discouraging outlook of last September, al¬ 
though some at least regret that they did not wait 
a little longer before deciding that there was more 
money in wheat. c. 0 . k. 
Mich., Eckford, Calhoun Co.—The past winter 
here was the warmest known to the oldest settler. 
Last harvest was a good one—wheat yielded 18 to 
40 bushels per acre, of extra-good quality of grain. 
Markets: —Wheat, $1.15; oats, 4t)c.; corn, 45c. 
per 70 Its.; clover seed, $4.50 ; butter, 22c. per lb.; 
eggs, 10 c. per doz. The wheat on the ground looks 
well, except on low land, on which It had been 
heaved up by frost and killed badly. Clover is 
killed very much. w. h. t. 
Minn., Ash Creek, Rock Co.—There Is very little 
winter wheat sown in this part of the State, and 
what little la sown is only In small patches and 
tried simply for experiment. Oar past winter has 
been very severe and most of the wheat has been 
killed out, and from ail that I can ascertain, I 
should call the winter wheat raising in this part 
of Minnesota a failure. Nevertheless, I will put in 
15 or 20 acres this fall and give It a fair trial. 
Seeding was commenced here on the 25th of 
March, and was pushed vigorously, l started my 
drags, five seeders and ave drags, on wheat on the 
24th. This Is the region of large farms, although 
we cannot boast of quite as large a farm as that 
of Oliver Dalrymple, on the Red River; yet we 
have In this county the following large tarma ; _ 
Rook Co. Farming Co., who have a farm of nearly 
30,000 acres ; the Eau Claire Farming Co. whose 
farm covers nearly 3,000 acres; the Harrison Farm 
of 3,200 acres, and also quite a number of farmsof 
rrom 3*20 to 640 acres, and lastly Sunnystde Farm 
of 2.000 acres of which we have about son under 
cultivation, and It will be seeded about as follows: 
—350 acres of wheat; so acres of oats ; 30 acres of 
bailey; 20 acres of flax (which Is raised here for 
seed only); 20 acres of millet; 80 acres of corn ; 10 
acres to garden and trees, and about 10 acres to be 
used as an experimental ground in which I will 
test different varieties of oats, corn, flax, sugar 
cane, spring and fall wheats, potatoes, etc. 
M. L. R. 
Nebraska, Lincoln, Lancaster Co.—Wheat little 
Injured by the winter. Early sowed the best. 
No signs of disease. No Hessian fly in this sec¬ 
tion of country yet.. The appearance of the wheat 
Is as good as the average. Spring wheat Is sown 
here more than fall wheat. The acreage of tall 
wheat tills year Is more than double the previous 
years, and less spring wheat la sowed. 0 . b, 
N. Y , Johnson’s Creek, Niagara Co.—Wheat In 
this section got a very large growth last fall. The 
winter has been very open with much freezing and 
thawing, still its color Is good, and It Is not much 
heaved out. No disease or Hessian fly that I have 
heard of. The prospect Is much better than usual; 
acreage about one-fourth larger than common; 
variety mostly Clawson. j. m. b. 
N. Y„ Great Valley. Chattaraugus Co.—Little 
wheat growu hero; acreage greater than last year, 
however, hut It has winter-killed somewhat. 
There has been but tittle snow this winter, and 
the freezing and thawing have been hard on It, so 
that It looks brown and sickly. e. b. 
Ohio, Kingsville, Ashtabula Co.—The wheat 
crop is looking well now. The winter has not 
hurt It as much as usual. There Is no sign of Its 
having been harmed by the Hessian fly. As to the 
accrage. It Is larger than usual, and It shows no 
signs of disease. a. j. p. 
Ohio, Camden, Preble C.—Wheat looks moder¬ 
ately well; but Is considerably Injured on flat 
landwhen not underdrained. Fruit Is uninjured 
and the prospects are fair for a crop. w. si. 
Ohio, Mt. Vernon, Knox Co.—Wheat has so far 
wintered splendidly. I hear no complaints of dis¬ 
ease or Hessian fiy. More wheat has been sown 
than for many years past. j. t. 
vt., Randolph. Orange Co.—Very little winter 
wheat Is soon In this section. It Is too apt to be 
a failure from various causes. There will pro¬ 
bably be a larger acreage of spring wheat put In¬ 
to the ground this year than usual. The variety 
known as the Lost Natlou has done wonderfully 
well for two years past, and will be tho kind used 
the comlug year. It makes a good growth, makes 
splendid flour and yields an average of thirty 
bushels to tho acre. 1 .. h. r. 
Damns. 
THE RILEY CONTROVERSY. 
Denver, Col., March 20 , 1880. 
Editor Rural New-Yorker —Dear Sir:—My 
attention has been called to a lengthy card of 
Prof. C. V. Riley, published In your Issue of Feb¬ 
ruary 21 , relating to the severance of his connec¬ 
tion with the Department of Agriculture. 
He finds it necessary for his purposes to contra¬ 
dict therein the published account of a brief inter¬ 
view I had with him, In the course of which 
he denied most emphatically that he had circu¬ 
lated slanderous statements regarding the Com- 
sloner. 
So far as Professor Riley’s statements relate to 
my connection with this matter, they are false— 
absolutely untrue both In statement and Insinua¬ 
tion. To show the recklessness of his malice, I 
desire to call attention to hla assertion that I was 
“ at one time engaged at a salary In preparing and 
editing Items Intended to popularize the Depart¬ 
ment and laud the Commissioner,” and also that 
I have “ been sent to Colorado to investigate min¬ 
eral lands.” These statements are not only false, 
but there can be no doubt whatever that Mr. Riley 
knew them to be false when he made them. I 
was at one time invited by the Commissioner to 
prepare for publication, in the agricultural press, 
a weekly bulletin of the reports received by the 
Department, the intention of the Commlssloaer 
being to use, In this way, a large amount of valua¬ 
ble Information which must necessarily be crowd¬ 
ed out of the annual reports. This idea, which I 
believe to be an excellent one, was abandoned, 
because of the difficulty, owing to limited appro¬ 
priation, of carrying it Into execution at that time. 
Inasmuch as Prof. Riley furnished me with a por¬ 
tion of tho matter edited, he must know very well 
that hla statement is untrue. It he had said ; " to 
laud Prof. RUey.” 1 would not havo been so much 
surprised, as the report which he turned over to 
me was prefaced by a tew remarks of a nature 
calculated to enhance the importance of the Ento¬ 
mologist. which preface It became my painful 
duty to eliminate. 
In regard to hla other statement. At the time 
of my departure, most of the papers at the Capi¬ 
tal contained some notice of my mission, which 
was to examine and report upon the question of 
Irrigation for the arid lands of Colorado and the 
West. Inasmuch as I am by education an engi¬ 
neer, and have made somewhat extensive personal 
examinations of systems of Irrigation, Including 
that of the Chinese Empire, the press universally 
spoke of my appointment in complimentary 
terms. “ Prof.” Klley, on Che outlook for Items 
concerning the Department, could scarcely havo 
failed to see one or more of these notices. I may 
be pardoned ter mentioning, in ihls connection 
that my mission has been so far successful that 
my suggestions have been embodied In a bill which 
has already received the favorable consideration 
of one branch of congress. When I called upon 
Prof. RUey with a copy of his malicious utter¬ 
ances to the Courier-Journal, he was aware that 
I came as the fileud of General Le Due. and made 
haste to deny that be was the author of the slan¬ 
der I was very particular, suspecting the idio¬ 
syncrasy of the man, to write down his exact 
words Immediately upon the termination of our 
interview. The words published were exactly as 
uttered by him. with the omission of the one 
word damned " before the word “ outrage.” 
It was a notorious fact that after his dismissal— 
it was equivalent to such—he haunted the offices 
of Newspaper Row. unrolling, wherever he was 
permitted to sit down, his scroll of malicious 
slanders, In the hope of finding some one willing 
to aid him tu his work of detraction. It was at 
this stage of his career that he came to be alluded 
to by facetious correspondents as the • Crushed 
llugologlst.” 
An examination of Prof. Riley’s published fic¬ 
tions will show that they do not hold together— 
that they are of a curiously contradictory charac¬ 
ter. Yours truly, John Bkisiun Walker. 
;fot Utonifn. 
CONDUCTED BY MISS RAY CLARK. 
ONLY. 
EVA EDGERTON. 
Only a woman with aching heart. 
That sits in the firelight’s blur, 
And muses over the tangled threads 
That fate has woven for her. 
Only a woman, with hope all slain 
And buried within her breast, 
That values life but a sad refrain. 
And ouiy lontrs for rest. 
Only a woman in woman's pride, 
That smiles when her heart is dead. 
You cannot tell by her laugh and jest, 
That her light in life is fled. 
Only a woman that grieves alone 
Away from curious eyes ; 
Grieves for one who sleeps to-night 
Out under the autumn skies. 
Only a woman that fain wouldlie 
Her head by the dear one's side, 
Rather than live her loveless life 
That begins this eventide. 
- ♦ -- 
TALK ABOUT MY JEWELS. 
BY MARGUERITE. 
I think the reading of “ Helen’s Babies” 
awakened many a one to the fact, that the 
world Is full of mischievous children, and although 
the taking care of them Is the purest joy the 
mother ever knows, still there are times when the 
body falls In performing all that the heart would 
gladly do. Therefore, every mother needs a little 
rest, and running away from children and domes¬ 
tic cares entirely, Is the surest way of gaining It. 
Thus I reasoned to myself, while Bob kept re¬ 
minding me of my promise to be present at the 
University when he graduated. Finally I decided 
to go, although there were many invisible cords 
with wonderful strength, that kept binding me to 
the home circle. I had never left Fred, and it was 
no easy thing to do. and the parting from John 
and Gertie at the depot was nearly as difficult. 
About two minutes before the train arrived, I 
turned to Gertie and said, one more kiss and love, 
then mamma Is off. Immediately the little arms 
Clung tenderly around my neck, and kisses were 
given, but In so doing she struck my hat and away 
It went to the floor. 1 picked it up hurriedly, re¬ 
placed It quickly and just had time to get on the 
train before It drew a long breath and was off, 
while blinding tears filled my eyes so that I could 
scarcely get a last glimpse of the home ones. How 
long the weeks seemed then, that I had planned 
to be absent and the possibility of sickness or 
accident occurring came forcibly to mind; but I 
cast all care on the Father who eareth for us, or 
tried to do so—although we mothers are prone to 
hold on to one corner ourselves—and attempted to 
give myself up to rest. It was a perfect June 
morning, and my journey lay for miles along the 
beautiful Lake shore. 1 had provided myself with 
one of Miss Muloch’s books to read if I wished. 
There were lady passengers on board who looked 
so sensible and good, that I could almost Imagine 
them to be pen Mends In the Rural. We con¬ 
versed together while I sat a little ahead of them, 
and one remarked, how much of a study the 
fellow passengers were to her,” while another 
was en-roure lor California where my sisters had 
gene the week before; so amid a little interchange 
of thought, and such perfect bodily rest, and free¬ 
dom from care as I had perhaps iu?ver experienced 
before, because never before so deserving, I 
reached Cleveland. Several hours I had to wale 
there, which pleased me well, as I wanted time to 
go to the city. I passed Into the dressing room to 
leave a package and see If I was presentable, so I 
peeped Into the mirror behind a dozen other heads. 
I was some time deciding on my own—the face 
looked familiar, but the hat —but I comprehended 
anally that it was my own, only when Gertie 
knocked It off with a “love,” I had replaced It 
wrong end before. I changed It, thinking mean¬ 
while of the solid comfort taken so far on my jour¬ 
ney, all unconscious of the mark of Gertie's loving 
arms. A friend remarked when I told her, “ that 
It made little difference about hats nowadays, as 
they could be worn either way,” 
*• But there Is a difference In hats,” I answered, 
“ and I'm sure mlue must have been quite a ridicu¬ 
lous affair with my own class badge fastened in 
its trimmings,” 
Night found me toward central Ohio, and Rob’s 
dear, strong arms, helped me off the train, and 
then, like children, we walked away, talking over 
our hopes and plans, although they had matured 
as the years added to our stature. There was 
much to hear and enjoy for the next week, in¬ 
deed every hour was full, and in mind I lived over 
the last of my own school days, while every pulse 
beat was in sympathy with the beloved brother 
and his friends on the stage. The meeting of the 
Alumni, Cook’s lecture, the juniors contest, the 
jollity of Class day and the exercises of Com¬ 
mencement, all were entered into with spirit, and 
the resolutions formed there for self-unprovement, 
I hope may extend through life. When these were 
over, I hastened away to see my mother and In a 
few days triumphantly recurned, bringing her 
with me to my own home for a short visit, and 
found everything in as perfect order as I had left 
It. Who can estimate tho new impetus brought 
Into this home of ours from the outside world or 
measure the strength aud rest gained for the re¬ 
newal of life’s battle and the training of its sol¬ 
diers ? None on earth. Mothers do not give your¬ 
self up to the same work for years, but seek rest 
In some form, If It Is only a cluuuje, lor often 
a ehuapproves a rest. 
