THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JULY 40 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1880. 
WHAT WILL THE HARVEST BET 
In this issue of the Rural New-York¬ 
er practical farmers from every part of 
the country declare that, on the whole, 
the present harvest will be extraordinar¬ 
ily good. Here and there, it is true, 
shortages or even failures of one crop or 
another occur, but even in these sections 
other crops are excellent, while the out¬ 
look for the country as a whole is em¬ 
phatically good for nearly every crop ex¬ 
cept hay, which nearly everywhere has 
been rendered very short by the killing 
of clover last Winter and the severe 
drought during the past Spring and Sum¬ 
mer. 
Although Winter wheat was seriously 
injured or entirely killed by the past 
open Winter throughout nearly the whole 
of the broad belt intermediate between 
the acknowledged Winter and Spring 
wheat regions, yet the favorable weather 
in early Summer greatly helped what 
survived, while much of the land ou 
which the Fall-sown wheat had perished 
was re-sown to Spring wheat, and on 
this account among others, an unusually 
large area, especially in the Northwest, 
was sown to this sort. Owing to the in¬ 
creased aoreage under both Winter and 
Spring wheats, aud the fine condition of 
both crops as a whole, there is now no 
doubt but that last year’s aggregate pro¬ 
duct of nearly 450,000,000 bushels will be 
considerably* exceeded this year, while 
the quality of the grain from present in¬ 
dications will be better. 
The largely increased acreage under 
com this year, especially in the border 
States, and - its fine condition throughout 
nearly the whole country, leave no doubt 
that the enormous aggregate production 
of about 1,400,000,000 bushels iu ’79, 
will be surpassed iu ’80. It speaks well 
for the general prosperity of the country 
that, according to almost all our reports, 
this peculiarly American product prom¬ 
ises to be an exceptionally fine crop 
everywhere, even where it failed last 
year, as in Texas, or where wheat and 
several other crops are very short this 
year, as in Western Arkansas, Kansas, 
and Nebraska. Besides serving as a con¬ 
venient substitute as human food for the 
other cereals that are short in our Western 
and Southwestern frontier settlements, 
the vast yield of corn will also advan¬ 
tageously supplement our scanty hay 
crop as food for stock. 
The yield of oats this year will be un¬ 
usually heavy and the acreage considera¬ 
bly larger than last year in the Southern, 
Western and Pacific States, though there 
is probably little or no increase in the 
area under it in the Atlantic and Middle 
States. According to the statistics of 
’78, the latest at hand, the total product 
that year was 413,000,000 bushels, aud 
as the aggregate yield yearly increases, 
it will probably not fall far short of 450,- 
000,000 this year, to which Illinois, Penn¬ 
sylvania, New York, Ohio, Iowa, and 
Wisconsin will be the chief contributors, 
probably iu this order. 
Barley is generally reported a good 
crop wherever grown, and as it is well 
adapted to all sorts of climate and thrives 
well on land on which wheat would prove 
a poor crop, no grain is so widely distrib¬ 
uted throughout the world or more gene¬ 
rally used. In this country less atten¬ 
tion is paid to this cereal than iu Europe, 
yet iu ’78 the total product was 42,000,000, 
bushels, of which California contributed 
4,350,000, double the amount of the pre¬ 
vious year, while in the other large pro¬ 
ducing States, New York, Wisconsin and 
Illinois, there was a large decrease in 
acreage. This year, too, it is most likely 
that whatever increase in area there may 
be under this crop will be chiefly in the 
trans-Mississippi State9, though the yield 
is reported good everywhere. 
Of rye there was an aggregate produc¬ 
tion of 25,842,790 bushels in ’78, and this 
will doubtless be considerably exceeded 
this year, as both the area and yield are 
reported large, especially in New Eng¬ 
land to whose poor soils this crop is 
well adapted, as it thrives well on light, 
sandy land on which wheat, or even bar¬ 
ley, would fail. Owing to the shortage 
in hay, it is probable that a large area 
will be sown to rye for foddering pur¬ 
poses, for which it is excellent both in 
late Autumn and early Spring. Penn¬ 
sylvania, New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, 
and Kansas have each hitherto contrib¬ 
uted. in this order, more than double as 
much as any other State to the aggregate 
of this crop. 
Potatoes throughout nearly the entire 
country are a line crop. The acreage in 
the older-settled States is perhaps hardly 
so great as last year, but the yield seems 
to be greater, and it is highly probable 
that they will prove comparatively one of 
the most profitable crops this year. It 
is a trifle early yet, however, to form a 
decided opinion with regard to the 
yield, as the Colorado beetles are unusu¬ 
ally numerous nearly all over the coun¬ 
try, and considerable labor will be needed 
to realize the present excellent promises 
of the crop. 
Of fruits, apples promise to be fax' away 
the most abundant, although, as a rule, 
there will not be the excess which often 
occurs in the “ bearing ” year. The 
drought seems to be the chief foe of 
apples this year, as reports from nearly 
all quarters tell of their dropping off 
heavily from that cause. Pears are an 
unusually light crop, and the complaints 
about a shortage in peaches appear to be 
at least partly verified this year, except 
in Michigan, whence reports of the crop 
are almost unanimously good. Grapes 
are a fine crop on the whole, and so are 
small fruits, though the latter seem to 
have suffered from the dry weather con¬ 
siderably more than the former, particu¬ 
larly in New Jersey. 
The hay crop—among the most valua¬ 
ble of all—is very short nearly all over the 
country, and prices of hay the coming 
Winter are sure to be high in nearly 
every section. The shortage is especially 
great in the Middle States, for although 
the crop will he considerably below the 
average in New England and the North¬ 
west, yet reports from both these sections 
give hopes of a modarate crop, while 
those from nearly all parts of the Middle 
States give no such consolation. Unless 
substitutes or supplements are liberally 
provided, stock will be sure to suffer and 
likely to sell low the coming Winter. 
In New England but little corn and 
less wheat is grown, although there is a 
slight increase in the area under both 
the present year, aud both promise a 
pretty fair yield. Oats, rye, and barley, 
all three are good crops, as are potatoes, 
apples and grapes ; while pears, peaches 
and small fruits generally are reported 
inferior crops. Potatoes seem to be 
especially good in Vermont and Maine, 
and apples in Massachusetts and Con¬ 
necticut. 
Hay excepted, all field crops, are, on 
the whole, fine in the Empire State. 
The reports of rye, oats and barley are 
almost universally favorable, while those 
of wheat and corn are generally encour¬ 
aging, although the outlook is darker in 
a few places than throughout the State 
generally. AppleB will be abundant, 
peaches a moderate crop, pears a poor 
one. In New Jersey the late extremely 
dry spell and that in ’May seem to have 
been peculiarly disastrous, as the reports 
from that State are almost as unfavorable 
as those from Western Kansas. Wheat 
and grapes, however, seem to have suf¬ 
fered less than other crops and hay more. 
Pennsylvania appears blessed with abun¬ 
dant crops of all kinds this year, the re¬ 
ports about wheat, oats, potatoes, apples 
and grapes being especially favorable and 
those regarding hay the most discourag¬ 
ing. Of all the States in the Union, Ohio 
at present seeniH to he the happiest in 
her harvest, all field crops, except, of 
course, hay, being splendid both in quan¬ 
tity and quality. The wheat harvest, 
however, has been interrupted by heavy 
rains, which may injure the grain in the 
shocks and lay that standing. Apples 
and grapes are good crops, peaches a 
moderate one, and even pears seem bet¬ 
ter than in most other States. 
In Michigan corn and wheat seem to 
be an average, avoiding both extremes, 
while the reports concerning oats, rye 
and barley are unusually good. Pota¬ 
toes, too, are reported fine, and the 
accounts of the hay crop are the most 
favorable that have reached us. Michi¬ 
gan may well be proud of her fruits, 
judging by the almost uniformly favora¬ 
ble accounts given elsewhere of her 
apples, peaches, grapes, small fruits, and 
even pears. Like most of the Northwest¬ 
ern States, she seems to have escaped, 
at least partially, the extreme drought 
that has scorched the rest of the country. 
Northern Indiana appears to have shared 
her good fortune in this respect, and the 
crop reports from nearly all over that 
State are remarkably favorable, except 
those about apples and peaches, whioh 
seem to be poor crops in several places* 
Illinois also rejoices in an excellent har¬ 
vest, present or prospective, reports con¬ 
cerning com, oats, rye, potatoes, grapes, 
small fruits and pears being particularly 
good. In the central and southern part 
of the State the wheat crop, too, is nota¬ 
bly excellent, but in the northern portion 
a good deal of the W T inter sort was winter- 
killed, and much of the replowed land ap¬ 
pears to have beendevoted to other crops. 
From Wisconsin crop reports are good, 
with few exceptions, while those with 
regard to oats, rye and barley are uni¬ 
formly favorable. Corn, wheat and pota¬ 
toes, too, are promising, while hay is 
better than in any of the Middle'States. 
From beyond the Mississippi, Minne¬ 
sota reports a wheat crop unusually 
large both in area aud yield and of excel¬ 
lent quality. Oats, barley and potatoes, 
too, are highly promising and corn is a 
large and fine crop. Iowa follows with a 
splendid corn crop, good ones of oats, 
potatoes and fruits, and inferior ones of 
wheat and hay, the Fall-sown wheat hav¬ 
ing been mostly winter-killed, while the 
area under Spring wheat seems to be less 
than usual. Kansas’s splendid promise 
in the Spring of more than 30,000,000 
bushels of wheat has been nullified by 
the severe drought, which has been espe¬ 
cially disastrous along the western portion 
of the State. The corn crop, however— 
the main crop for sustenance and stock 
feed—is at present highly promising, and 
the comparatively new crops of Rice corn 
and Castor beaus are unanimously report¬ 
ed good. Nebraska appears to be nearly 
as severe a sufferer as her sister State, 
Kansas, from the drought, but the out¬ 
look for her corn crop also is unusually 
encouraging, while her potatoes and fruit 
seem better than her neighbor’s. Color¬ 
ado, New Mexico aud the Western Terri¬ 
tories do not yet raise sufficient crops 
even for the support of their sparse pop¬ 
ulation, and this year the whole region 
has been subject to a drought more se¬ 
vere than any that has visited the more 
easterly States, with effects proportion¬ 
ately more disastrous. 
In the “ border ” states of the South 
hay, grain, and fruit crops have been 
greatly injured by the drought, except 
com, whioh is still very promising. Far¬ 
ther South the acreage under cotton has 
increased 7.36 per cent., making the total 
area under it probably 13,612,978 acres. 
Assuming the crop of last year to have 
been 5,675,000 bales, from 12,679,962 
acres, the acreage of this year would yield 
6,085,000 bales; but in view of the labor 
and insect questions, it is hardly safe to 
come to a conclusion in tho matter at this 
day. Other crops throughout the South 
seem to be almost an average, all average 
yields of grain in that section being con¬ 
siderably below the average of the same 
crops in other parts of the country. 
•» ♦ ♦- 
Ootton-seed Meal.— This ought all 
to be consumed iu our own country, in¬ 
stead of exporting so great a proportion of 
it, as it is not only a highly nourishing, 
but a health-keeping food. The oil in it 
lubricates the bowels of animals, and 
keeps them in good condition, while the 
other elements of which it is composed 
assist in building up the muscles rapidly. 
But it should be fed sparingly, and mixed 
with either bran, midtllings, oats, or 
other meal. From a pint to two quarts 
per day is a fair ration with other food, 
according to the size of the animal, 
although at tho South, we are informed, 
they feed it still more abundantly. There 
they usually feed the seed whole as gin¬ 
ned from the cotton, and after boiling 
they let their animals eat as much as 
they please with impunity, almost en¬ 
tirely fattening their swine with it, fin¬ 
ishing off with oom two weeks or so 
before slaughtering. 
Teaming at the Cape of Good Hope. 
—The English General Cunynghame de¬ 
scribes some extraordinary teams both of 
horses and cattle which he encountered 
during his travels in the Cape Colony. 
He says : “As we were driving out of 
the town of Swellendam we met a wagon 
with a team of ten horses, which a Dutch 
farmer (his nose surmounted by a huge 
pair of green goggles) was conducting 
with perfect ease. This ten-in-hand 
passed us at a rapid rate. He w r as as¬ 
sisted by a Hottentot who sat beside 
him on the box, with a whip resembling 
a 17-foot salmon rod, which he wielded 
with the utmost dexterity, touching-up 
any horse that his master ordered him, 
exactly on the part that ho considered 
advisable. ” 
Aud again, when driving inland from 
Fort Elizabeth, “ On the road we met 
at least one hundred and fifty large 
wagons, each drawn by a ‘span’ of six¬ 
teen pairs of oxen abreast, thirty-two in 
all, loaded with twenty-two bales of wool. 
On a rough calculation the value of each 
load was about £700 (or, say $3,500). 
Thus we met upwards of $500,000 worth 
of wool on its way to Port Elizabeth. 
Most extraordinary sounds proceeded, 
from the drivers of these wagons. ” 
“At Port Elizabeth we observed the 
milk-boy (native) going his rounds. His 
manner of carrying tlie milk deserves 
mention. Over his head he wore a sack 
with a hole for his head, and one for 
each arm. At both front and rear were 
seen rows of pockets, in each of which 
he had placed a bottle of milk,—milk at 
the Cape being invariably sold by the 
bottle.” 
-♦♦♦- 
It barely occurs to country people 
that trees and shrubs may be successfully 
transplanted iu Juue—iu fact iu July or 
August. All transplanting that is not 
accomplished in Spring or Fall is left 
until the next Spring or Fall, as if failure 
would inevitably attend au iutermediate 
season. No doubt this is true of plauts 
ordered from a distance. But wc have 
many times removed small shrubs aud 
trees from oue place to another in our 
grounds during the Summer months. It 
is best, however, to preserve all the earth 
about the roots, that can be preserved, aud 
then to oover the ground for three or four 
feet about the stem with hay or straw six 
inches or more in depth. This will pre¬ 
serve the moisture about the roots until 
growth recommences. Thus we havo 
treated two peach trees transplanted the 
middle of J uue. Oue of them did not 
even lose its leaves. 
-*-*-♦- 
Plowing by Lightning. —We notice 
that M. Feliz of Franco, at tho Bar-le- 
Duo Agricultural Show, attached his 
electric machine to a double-furrow plow 
and turned up the soil of hard, uneven 
ground, to the depth of seven to eight 
inches. We hope this was not done at 
lightning speed, if so, it would puzzle 
the plowman, we fancy, to hold on to the 
handles. But, perhaps, it was a self¬ 
regulator, aud knew when to stop and 
turn of itself. We shall be glad to learn 
more of this motive power hereafter; but 
we much doubt of its superseding ani¬ 
mal power, at least for the present; so 
the breeders of strong horses, mules aud 
oxen need not despair of their soon be¬ 
ing displaced by chain lightning. 
-- 
The great amount of editorial labor 
involved in gettiug up this number of the 
Rural New-Yorker— which is probably 
the most complete and trustworthy crop 
report ever before presented by any jour¬ 
nal—together with the Fourth coming 
upon our day of going to press, has de¬ 
layed us one day. 
BRIEFLETS. 
It will be seen that Clawson is the favorite 
wheat of the country—Fultz next. 
Wk are sad to hear of the dangerous illness 
of Mr. M B. Bateham, of Painesville, Ohio. 
Mu. M. B. Prince of North Caroliua writes 
us : “I can make a trifle better report on wee¬ 
vil-eaten peas than some of your correspond¬ 
ents. March 24 planted 200 peas or rather 
shells, 44 germinated and produced fruit.” 
At the present time, we should select among 
raspberries, Turner for early; Cutlibert fol¬ 
iate ; Belle de Fontenay (Henrietta) for size 
aud quality ; Caroline (yellow) and New Ro¬ 
chelle (purple) to complete a handsome aud 
excellent little assortment. 
It will be seen that our present reports 
uuder “What will the Harvest Be” are a cor¬ 
roboration of the probabilities predicted in the 
crop reports of the Rural New-Yorker of 
April 10. We cannot look upon these numbers 
otherwise thau as ot great value to the far¬ 
mers and horticulturists of this, and. m fact, of 
other countries. 
The hay crop of Long Island may be fairly 
estimated by the following: Mr. A. J. Hewlett 
has 40 acreB, and has harvested 20 tons of hay. 
Mr. Gtorge T. Hewlett also has 40 acres, and 
has harvested 10 tous. The Rural Farm has 12 
acres (mostly low-lands) of mowing ground, 
and has harvested 12 tons. Scarcely less than 
two tous per acre is the average of these flue 
lauds in ordinary seasons. 
Dr. Salmon, who is at present living near 
Asheville, N. C., writes us: M l6ee by the Rural 
you have been at Tryon Mountain. The ther¬ 
mal belt, so-called, is said to exist ou all of 
our mountains at a certain hight; but more 
has been made of it iu the neighborhood of 
Tryon than elsewhere, though the belt seems 
to me to be le68 accessible than in some other 
localities. Doctor McAboy is very enthusiastic 
iu regard to it. however.” 
One of the regrets we are constantly feeling 
is that, in the growing season, we find it im¬ 
possible to visit the many goon friends of the 
Rural New-Yorker, who urge us to do so. 
Oue of these pressing invitations, just received, 
reads as follows: "You owe us a visit. We 
want you to pay the debt tlii6 week, aud see 
us in the driest time that ever was. You waut 
a respite—a change. So do we. You need not 
wait to notify us. Come unheralded, any day 
or hour most suitable. Conveyance from de¬ 
pot 25 cents per head. To depot, lodgings, 
meals, Aic., tree, gratis. Come quickly. Any¬ 
thing to tempt rain. Bring Mrs. Rural, too! 
Declinations out of order. N« proxies! Lan¬ 
guidly yours, w. 
