446 
JULY 40 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Corn average. Potatoes large. Sorghum reason¬ 
ably large. Fruit abundant. l. j. n. 
Illlnol*. 
Ashley, Washington Co.—The -wheat crop Is 
harvested and the yield very good; the acreage is 
larger by one halt than ever before. The varie¬ 
ties mostly sown are Red Sea, Fultz, Orange Red, 
Amber and Missouri Red. Red sea and Fultz are 
the main crop. Corn Is looking fine In spite ot the 
late Spring, a ratr acreage has been planted. The 
white varieties have the largest acreage. Oats 
will be better than last year ; an average yield Is 
expected; the acreage Is somewhat, smaller than 
In previous years. The variety mostly" sown is 
the common black. Potatoes are good—yield 
above the average: the early varieties are now all 
ripe and are about a week later tban last year 
the late kinds are growing fast. The sorts mostly 
planted are Early and Late Rose, Snowflake, 
Peerless, Russet and Peachblow. The Early Rose 
js the standard for early and the Peachblow for 
late. Rye and barley are not grown to any extent 
here. Sorghum Is grown to a considerable extent ; 
nearly every farmer raised a patch; it, Is not ex¬ 
pected to make 6Ugar in this vicinity this year, 
only molasses, this being a new and uncertain 
thing. The kinds mostly grown are the red and 
white Iinphee. The prospects for all kinds of fruits 
are good except peaches which will be only one- 
half a crop. m. j. c. 
Baileyville, ogle Co.—The harvesting has be¬ 
gun here. Clover la light; Timothy a fair crop 
Rye Is good. Winter wheat that escaped winter¬ 
killing Is mostly good. Spring wheat la promising, 
but of it the acreage Is less than usual, oats and 
barley arc about an average In condition and acre¬ 
age. Corn, potatoes, etc., look well, and are 
growing fast. Fruit la tolerably’ plentiful. Cut¬ 
worms literally destroyed some fields of old clover 
last Spring, but the Chinch-bugs aud Potato 
beetles have hot done much damage this season, 
aud the Army worm has not Invaded this section. 
The weather was stormy’ and wet the first of 
June, but fair from the 4th to the 24th. it has 
since beeu showery, but seems to have cleared up 
now, and all are hoping for favorable weather 
during the harvest. w. a. n, 
Baldwin, Randolph Co.—The wheat harvest Is 
over in this section, and farmers are now busy 
either stacking their wheat or plowing corn. The 
wheat crop, 1 think, Is above the average; but It 
Will not quite come up In y leld to the crop of last 
year, although the Increased acreage will most 
likely make the aggregate number of bushels 
raised nearly' the same. Thrashing has com¬ 
menced, and quite a number of farmers will thrash 
as early as possible, believing that wheat will be 
at as fair a price now as It will be lor Borne time to 
come. y.ulto a large number of Belf-binders were 
sold In tbls section this season, which ract seems 
to be generally known among tramps, who are In 
tne habit ot coming here to work during harvest. 
Consequently there was a scarcity of hands; 
wages varied from *2 to $3 per day In different 
localities. Such wheat as I have been able to ex¬ 
amine is good, w’e.l-filled grain, though hardly as 
fine as last year s. Oats are doing splendidly. 
they will be midy to harvest about July 8thJ 
there wits hardly as large an acreage as last year’ 
the wet, late Spring, preventing sowing, corn is 
doing finely, although most ot It is very weedy; 
but most farmers are plowing it as fast as possible. 
Northeast from ua, towards St. Clair county, and 
in the soutneast part or st. Clair, the chinch bugs 
are damaging It considerably. I saw tw r o fields 
that were very badly' injured by them; and on 
another field from six to ten rows on the side next 
t,o a wheat field, were almost all killed. '1 his pest 
we have not had for five or six years. Hay will 
not oo aa good as usual; in some places the Army 
worm has strlppe j It clean. Potatoes are very 
good. We will have a superabundance of fruit. 
Cherries were plentiful, but are now all gone, 
blackberries are ripening, and all over the coun¬ 
try we see the bushes loaded down with fruit. 
Altogether, this is a very good year, so far, for the 
farmer. We had a heavy wind storm aud hard 
rain on Juna 26 th that may damage wheat 
that is still shocked In the field, n. j. s. 
Bkklin, Sangamon Co.—We are Just In the 
midst ot harvest here, and t he wheat is very good. 
Having been badly winter-killed here last Winter, 
the yield per acre will not be great, but the larger 
area sown will more than aggregate the quantity 
otlast year. The kinds of wheat most grown 
here are the Clawson and Fultz. The climate 
here not being adapted to Spring wheat, there Is 
not much of it raised. 1 sowed five bushels of El- 
dorauo Spring wheat last year—costing me *4.25 
per bushel—and got Kit bushels from the nve 
bushels sown. I am trying some this year, and 
think It will not do as well as last year. Corn is 
very promising and bids fair to make the larg¬ 
est yield we have had for a number of years. Corn 
and grass have lour times the area of all the 
other crops grown here, our cattle may be seen 
mowing a thousand hills—their hat vest time 
lasting about six months. Oats and potatoes are 
growing sufficiently to supply the demands of the 
country, or rye but very little 1 s grown, while of 
barley there Is none. A number of years ago the 
people about here got the sorghum craze badly, 
and went Into the business deeply—erecting one- 
horse Iron crushers for extracting the Juice, and 
evaporating pans lor the purpose of making it In¬ 
to sugar; but the nearest they ever got to that 
consummation was to make what they called mo¬ 
lasses, aud, for my life, J never could tell by the 
taste of it, whether It was sweet or sour. 1 once 
visited ouc of these sorghum mills, and at the 
tune they wore crushing cane that was so lull of 
chinch bugs that i had to hold my noso to keep 
from Inhaling the unpleasant odor arising from 
mashed bugs. The people about here have ef¬ 
fectually got over their sorghum craze and will be 
very loath to embark in the business again. Tne 
apple crop is very light; some orchards are almost 
destitute or fruit. B . h. 
Bunxbr Hill, Macoupin Co.—We are rejoicing 
in an unprecedented degree of prosperity—In fact 
an agricultural boom. The oldest inhabitant re¬ 
tires In disgrace, for he never saw 6uch a crop 
year, and he was here before the “ Winter of the 
deep snow” (1830). The wheat harvest Is well ad¬ 
vanced and the yield Is uncommonly large and 
the acreage fully 33 per cent, larger than in any 
previous year; 1 have heard of only one field being 
thrashed, which turned off 30 bushels per acre. 
Wages lor harvest hands, owing to the great de¬ 
mand and scarcity of help, are $ 2.60 to $3. The 
oat crop la very good and will be In condition to 
harvest before the wheat can be stacked. Few 
were sown because of the great breadth in wheat. 
Corn is very promising—never better. Potatoes 
are first class. Rye Is only sown for pasture, but 
it has produced a fine growth. Barley, none 
raised. Sorghum receives little attention, being 
crowded out by tbe more important crops. Mead¬ 
ows are ratUer light, owing to dry weather In early 
spring. Pasture fine. Cattle lat. Fruit of every 
kind, save apples, in great abundance and of ex¬ 
cellent quality, and It would seem that the long- 
deferred hopes of the granger w ere about to be 
realized. Tbls will apply to Macoupin and the six 
adjoining oountles. w. w. h. 
Champajon, champaign Co.—No crop far enough 
along to be safely reported upon, except Winter 
wheat. That Is very good, with an acreage double 
that of last year—yield per acre between 16 aud 
ao bushels. Harvest under full blast now. Many 
varieties are cultivated, Walker, Red chaff, Medi¬ 
terranean, Alabama, and the Fultz and Clawson 
are rapidly coming In. Sorghum still a small 
crop, though every farmer has a patch to make 
his own sirup—Amber Cane generally, AU fruits 
are good, but apples bloomed large and the fruit 
dropped. This on the east side of the State, on 
west the apple crop is large. a. f. j, 
Fairfield, Wayne Co.—Wheat Is good, mostly 
Swamp and Fuliz. Oats are a fair crop. Pota¬ 
toes are fine. Of rye and barley but little Is grown. 
Some Borghum cane Is grown here. e. a. r. 
11 ills borough, Montgomery Co.—We have fin¬ 
ished cutting wheat, it is good In yield aud quali¬ 
ty. Oats ditto. Potatoes never looked better ; all 
kinds of fruit are abundant. Farmers in this 
county have this year bought self-binders, mow¬ 
ers, plows and other agricultural utensils to the 
value of fully $30,000. o. 
Hugo, Douglas Co.—Wheat crop bountiful, most¬ 
ly of Fulu and Mediterranean, and some Clawson. 
Help can scarcely be secured to care for the crops. 
Corn was never so clean and nice. Potatoes vei’y 
promising now; there are some bugs, they are 
not numerous, however. Oats moderate. Every¬ 
body raises sugar cane here, and the screech ot the 
two-horee Iron mills resounds day and night all 
over the land in the Fall. Fruit will be plentiful. 
Peach trees are breaking whore not cared for. 
Apples very promising. Cherries plentiful; small 
fruit In abundance. Ben Davis, Wlnesap, uenet 
lead the apple list here; the second named bears 
youngest ol all. Oh, we’ll all have lota to eat and 
plenty ol money this Fall if we work and econo¬ 
mize. Meadows fine. Need rain on corn and pas- i 
ture lands. a, c. w. 
Jcrii.YN, Rock Island Co.—The acreage of wheat 
Is large, but the crop is very poor; It will not 
average ten bushels per acre—mostly “Odessa.” 
Cora is our stand-by, and looks well. Farmers 
expect no bushels per acre. Oats are very good. 
Rye Is grown to quite a considerable extent, and 
Is very good. 1 know of no barley in this locality. 
There 1s but a BinaU acreage ol sorghum, and It 
looks Interior. .Small fruits, Buck as cherries, 
raspberries (Black caps), grapes (Concord and 
Clinton), currants and gooseberries are good. 
Apples—Red Astraelian, Early June, Monarch, 
Snow, Bellflower, Komamie, Wlnesap, Ben 
Davis, Pearmaln, Willow Twig, aud many other 
varieties, are rather too lull tor the good of the 
fruit and also of the trees. j. o. a. 
Onarga, lnquols Co.—This is not a wheat-grow¬ 
ing county. Not much oats raised. No barley. Not 
much rye. Poiatoes rotted badly in consequence 
of me cold, wet Spring. Tne varieties mostly 
raised are Early Rose and Peachbtows. There Is 
about the usual acreage of each in our locality. 
Not muen sorghum Is raised, instead a large 
quantity ol flax is grown. The prospect is fair 
lor an average crop of fruits. Small fruits are 
raised quite largely lu this place. j. b. c. 
Peoria, Peoria Co.—The wheat crop looks well. 
The acreage sown is at least 30 per oeut. more 
than last year. The farmers are aU busily en¬ 
gaged in harvesting their rye. We have ours 
ah in snook, aud consider it simply first-class, 
corn never looked better. Oats look well. We 
have had no drought in this locality. My Enno¬ 
bled oais look well, except that they are lodged 
somewhat. They are now about three feet 10 mopes 
high, and Just showing heads. My ovoid mangels 
are doing well, so also are my pentaieinuns, aqul- 
legia, ins Laevigata, cow-peas and willows. The 
apple crop is good. Grapes and small fruits 
are abundant. Peaches look well wherever there 
are trees. 1 have not heard ol the Army worm In 
this section. o. r. s. 
Rock Falls, Whitesides Co.—Winter wheat Is an 
entire failure. Bpring wheat Is Injured by rust und 
chinch bugs, and will be one-third of a crop. Ryo 
good. Corn Is at present very promising, but Is in¬ 
jured some on low lands by wet. Oats good, will 
axerage 40 bushels per aero. Barley Is lair but not 
inuob grown. Potatoes are grown only lor home 
consumption. Taking loo for standard, corn will 
average in acreage, 15; wheat, five; barley and 
rye, nve; oats, 16. Borghum is grown to some ex¬ 
tent and is likely to be more so Ur the future. 
Early Amber variety most satisfactory. .t, w. 
Koscob, Winnebago Co.—Wheat looks good; 
only little, however, Is grown, but that little Is 
double aa much as last year. The corn prospect 
never was better In the last 10 years. The acre¬ 
age is the same aa last year. Potatoes look well 
but are buggy, or will be, If not looked after. Only 
a few small patches were planted. Oats were 
never better. Rye is a light crop. But little bar- 
ey Is grown. Sorghum Is planted mostly for home 
consumption. It maxes a good Sirup. The census- 
taker said he never saw crops of all kinds look 
better than they do this season. A pples are plen¬ 
tiful ; cherries abundant. I have never seen cur¬ 
rants more plentiful than this year. Grass Is 
light. The dry weather in the Spring hurt mea¬ 
dow land very much. h. g. 
VVluconMn. 
Auborndale, Wood Co.—I am on the line of the 
Wisconsin central R. R. a new country sparsely 
settled. Our first settlers located here five years 
ago; the laud is good and a good market. Is at our 
doors; that Is, the lumbermen buy ail that we can 
raise to sell at fair prices. Our crops looked well 
until June Uth, wheu It commenced raining, and 
such a flood has never been witnessed before In 
Wisconsin by “ the Oldest Inhabitant ." In the 
northern part of the State potatoes that were 
not above ground were all drowned out; about half 
of tbe crops was destroyed, but they will bo re¬ 
planted and have time yet to make a good crop. 
Hay lookB better than In any year since our set¬ 
tlement began ;but 1 understand that hay Is very 
poor In the souiliern part ot the State. We have 
not got to raising any wheat yet. Oats are doing 
well, but not much Is grown in tills vicinity. We 
do not attempt to raise corn—the season la too 
short. Of course there are no orchards. As settlers 
are coming In very fast I hope in a few years to 
be able to give a fuller report. j. n. 
Chilton, Calumet Co.—To Judge from present 
Indications tbe wheat harvest In this Immediate 
vicinity will be more tban an average one. Win¬ 
ter wheat that lived through, will be a splendid 
crop. Oats and barley are also looking well. 
Hay is slight and the acreage small. Clover was 
nearly au winter-kiued. Chiueh bugs have made 
their appearance, but no damage has been done 
yet, and we hope the abundant rains we are now 
navlng will destroy young bugs and eggs. Fruit 
of all kinds grown In this latitude will be more 
abundant than ever before. o. o. c. 
Chippewa Falls, Chippewa Co.—Early sown 
grain looks exceedingly fine. 1 never saw it look 
belter at this time ol the year. About two-thirds 
ol the cultivated laud is sown to wheat, and the 
remainder largely to oats. Corn la backward, but 
of good color. Sorghum Is very little grown. 
Small fruits are exceedingly fine. The Duchess 
of Oldenburg has proven the most hardy apple. 
C. E. W. 
East Trov, Walworth Co.—It has been very wet 
here most of the time for about four weeks, which 
delayB work very mucli. We cannot work the 
corn one-half of the time, so that all of the work 
Is coming together—corn cultivating, haying, and 
harvesting. Winter wheat looks splendid, and bids 
fair to be a heavy crop. Spring wheat aud oais 
are good. Corn that has been kept clean is very 
large. The hay crop will be fair, u we can have 
good weather soon to make It Potatoes are look¬ 
ing well. Tills aliernoon we have had a very 
heavy rain aud wind, that knocked down the grain 
very badly. h, a. t. 
Fall City, Dunn County.—Winter wheat was 
badly winter-killed; not much Is raised here. 
There 1 b a large acreage ol Spring wheat, and it 1s 
very promising. Corn was planted late, but Is 
gxowlng finely, and promises an abundant crop. 
Hay crop hgnt. Clover Is all winter-killed. Fo- 
toes very good; plenty of beetles to contend with. 
The irult crop is promising. The kinds of apples 
raised here are Transcendant and Russian crab. 
The standard apples are not raised nere. Wild 
fruit, such us plums, grapes, &o., are abundant. 
There have been some very heavy rains here this 
season, which have done great damage to the 
crops on the Chippewa River bottoms. The river 
was never known to be so high; the lumbering 
business has been seriously lnj ured. Tne weal her 
at present is warm, with fine showers, crops are 
growing finely. o. w. r, 
Louisville, Dunn Co.—Crops ol all kinds are 
looking very well, and will probably be about an 
average yield If nothing happens. We are navlng 
a dry spell at present, wntcu, if It continues, whl 
be hard ou small grain. We Uad a big Hood which 
drowned out several thousand acres of crops on 
low lands. 
Mondovi, Buffalo Co.—The harvest bids fair to 
be goad. The varieties of wheat are Fife and 
Odcdaa; of oats, the common white and a few 
Norways. Barley (the four-rowed) is looking 
splendid. Ol poiatoes we raise the Early Rose and 
the Snowflake. Of corn, the Dent and Finn. 
Neither Is good, owing to a cold spell about plauh 
log thus. The acreage ol these la about the same 
as last year. Minnesota Early Amber cane looks 
well; acreage double that of last year. Our apples 
are crabs aud a few others, such as the Duchess 
of OldenburgR; all are bearing welt Small mills 
are as good as usual. a. p. 
oconomo woo, WaukeBha Co.—winter wheat Is 
looking very fine; the acreage la large, The white 
variety stood the winter best. Spring wheat 
heavy, acreage small on account of so much win¬ 
ter wneat being sowed. Oats very heavy;acre¬ 
age medium. Rye good; acreage small. Barley 
very good; acreage medium. Ir wo should have a 
hard storm all grain would be likely to lodge. 
Corn is small, and on account or rain is very 
weedy. Borghum Is being planted here for the 
first time this year. w. o. l. 
Orion, Richland Co.—Wheat is ripening fast, 
but ib not more than iwo-ihlrds or a crop. Spring 
wheat is very poor and not much raised. Com 
was never better; It lb of a dark green color and a 
good stand. A very large acreage was planted. 
Potatoes have good prospects lor a large crop. 
Hay is a heavy crop on the uplands. All the 
Wisconsin River bottom hay Is ruined with high 
water. Fruit crop, except grapes, is light. 
j. a. f. 
Racine, Racine Co.—II we have good dry cool 
weather for a while ah the grain crops whl be large 
In Wisconsin. There Is a large Increase of acre¬ 
age. Everything now looks fine. Potatoes are 
excellent, with but few bugs; but little sorghum 
Is raised In t his State; It Is one of the “ has beens.” 
The farmers, in this section of the country, feel 
proud of the prospects. a. p. d. 
Salem. Kenosha Co.— The heavy rains last 
month have Injured the grass on the low land 
very much. Rye, winter wheat and clover were 
winter-killed badly. Oats, Spring wheat and flax 
are heavy. A larger amount of corn and potatoes 
has been planted tban usual; the kinds of pota¬ 
toes grown most are Early Rose, Brook s Seedling 
and Shaker Russets. Barley and sugar cane are 
not raised very much. Cherries aud raspberries 
have ripened early this season. Apples whl be a 
light crop, s. j.c. 
• 
West Salem, La Crosse Co.—Wheat—mostly 
Winter Odessa—early-sowed, good but thin; late- 
sowed all killed. Spring wheat has a fair pros¬ 
pect at present. Corn Is growing finely—mostly 
yellow and white Dent.. Potatoes look well; as 
many varieties almost as there are farmers: there 
are, perhaps, more ot the Early Ohio aud Early 
Rose than of any other, oats are thrifty, all 
white. No rye lu our neighborhood. Very little 
barley, but what there Is looks well. More corn 
and oaks than last year; potatoes about the same. 
Rye and barley are Betfiom raised. Very little 
sorghum is planted, no more than enough for 
home use. No very great prospect for fruit; the 
ends ot the limbs are dying considerably. The 
Transcendent and wild crab prove most success¬ 
ful. We have had two splendid weeks for haying. 
m. l. u. 
Minnesota. 
Bloomington, Hennepin Co.—The wheat crop 
looks good; It is Just headlDg. It Is stout In straw 
but will only be an average yield from present 
appearances. Corn Is backward for the season, 
oats look splendid; we expect above an average 
crop, of rye and barley very llule is raised here. 
Potatoes arc good. The variety of wheat chiefly 
raised Is the scotch Fife, oats, common white 
and black. Corn medium yellow Dent. The acre¬ 
age is about tne same aa lu previous years. Ol 
Minnesota Amber cane very llule is raised. The 
general prospect or Irult Is good. The apples that 
have proven the hardiest axe the Siberian Crab 
Duchess ol Oldenburgh, and Wealthy, only the 
hardiest kinds whl stand this climate. Small 
fruits of the hardy varieties do well it. i,. b. 
Kasota, La Sueur Co.—The present prospect for 
an abundant harvest ol wheat and corn la No. 1— 
Minnesota Fife wheat and Early Dent corn. The 
acreage of both Is increased from last year. Po¬ 
tatoes wiu be a light crop—beetles too thick. 
Northern sugar cane crop lu township was, In 
1812 ,30 acres; In 1880, 48 acres. The acreage of 
oats has decreased from 1879 fair prospect. The 
amount of rye and barley raised Is very small. 
Tbe prospect for fruit is fixiremoil/ poor. All 
kinds ot apple trees seem to be dying, it. o. t. 
Marshall, Lyon Co.—In this part of the 
Stale crops are | uat booming. Barley Is pretty 
well headed out and very fine. Oats are just be¬ 
ginning to head out and promise a large yield. 
Wheat has not headed any j et, but Is about as 
thick as it can stand on the ground Corn Is some¬ 
what backward, but, in these parts, it never does 
very much till July and August. We have had 
plenty of rain, and now are enjoying exceedingly 
line growing weather. If we can manage to keep 
free from hah till after harvest, wo shah undoubt¬ 
edly have an unusually large crop. North of us, 
along the Minnesota River, a few days ago, there 
was a severe hah storm, which completely ruined 
some crops, but old not extend far. c. m. y. 
Iowa. 
Dxs Moines, Polk Co.—I have been traveling 
over a portion ol this county tor the past two weeks 
and l never saw better prospects tor crops of ah 
kinds. Corn Is Immense; the area is larger than 
uaual. Wheat, oats and barley promise good crops. 
No chinch bug. Potatoes promise a lino crop. 
w. s. s. 
Russell, Luoas Co.—The Winter wheat was all 
killed, and ol Spring wheat but little Is sown, and 
that Is considerably Injured by dry weather 
Chinch bugs are plentiful, and will Injure the yield 
so that not more than half a crop whl be realized, 
oats bid fair for a large yield; the acreage Is 
larger by one-half than ever before. Com never 
looked better at tbls time of the season than now ; 
acreage fully up to former years. Grass will be 
lighter than usual, owing to dry weather In May. 
Fruitls badly injured by late mists; about one- 
fourth of a crop. Potatoes bid fair for a good crop. 
Weather Is too dry for ah vegetation. a. s. b. 
Kansan. 
Clay Center, Clay Co.—Wheat which five weeks 
ago It was feared would be a total failure on ac¬ 
count of the drought. Is coming in well. The 
rahisof the latter part of Alay saved It. There 
was a larger acreage sown last tah than ever be¬ 
fore. It Is chiefly May and Fultz, tne latter was 
most Injured by the drought, corn and potatoes 
bid fair to be good crops, though the iormer Is 
being damaged in some localities by the chinch 
bug. White and yellow Dent are the kinds gen¬ 
erally grown here. Poiatoes our fanners huve 
plumed on a larger scale than heretofore. Sor¬ 
ghum is grown to some extent. Tiiure are sev¬ 
eral mills lor the manufacture or the sirup in the 
county. There are not many Irult trees in bear¬ 
ing here, as yet, except peaehes and the smaller 
fruits. Peaches were killed by the Spring irosts, 
wfille the latter were Injured by the drought. 
a. k. s. 
Clovekdalk, Chautauqua Co.—Wheat Is about 
one-halt a crop. The varieties generally are Red 
May and Walker. Corn prospects are good where 
the bugs have not destroyed it. The acreage Is 
larger than last year. Early poLatoea are almost 
a failure. Late ones look tine. Oats and rye 
are failures. Barley and sugar-cane are not much 
grown. Peach prospect good; all kinds do well. 
Of apples only few trees are In bearing. Of 
grapes Concord is the standard, it has been ex- 
