JULY 31 
THE RURAL fSEW-VORKER. 
Ie68 or very criminal, and in either case the 
crime of murder lies very close to their doors. 
I hope no readers of the Rural are among the 
number. The duty of all Boards of Health, 
however, is very plain: they should not only 
destroy such fruit, but punish severely those 
who offer it for sale. 
As the result of a good deal of observation 
aud some talk with farmers, I am led to the 
conclusion that the highest state ol farming 
will only be reached through the garden, l 
have yet to see a farm in a high state, of cul¬ 
ture where the beginning was not made in the 
garden. That is wheie the a, b, c, of good 
farming is to be learned. 
I remarked to an old farmer back in the coun¬ 
try, whom I had not seen for several years, 
and whose, farm, In the meantime, had im¬ 
proved wonderfully, that his place was so 
changed l hardly knew it. “ Yes," Baid he, 
“I've been fixin’ up a little. The old woman 
pestered me to death about the garden, aud so 
I slicked it up a litile, and fixed about the 
house, and it Joked so nice i went at the farm 
fences and the brush, and saved more manure, 
and kept killUig the weeds, aud the crops got 
better, and bo 1 kept going on, and things do 
look pretty good now. Wife takes a paper, 
and 1 take one, and I get time to read it too, 
and I used to think I hadn’t time for anything.” 
Aud so he ran on, seemingly much pleased 
with what he had done, aud his life aud his 
home without doubt the happier for it- Ex¬ 
amples of a like kind may be found all over 
the country. Papers like the Rubai., there¬ 
fore, should not lose sight of the garden, with 
its vegetables, fruits, aud flowers. 
In some of the leading seed catalogues it is 
stated that the new Holden Wax bean is eight 
to ten days earlier than the Black Wax. It 
struck me that it would be au extraordinary 
beau that should be ten days earlier than one 
already noted for its earliness; and I deter¬ 
mined to lest it carefully. A small plot of 
ground was prepared, aud the soil intermixed 
so that each kind should be placed under like 
conditions. The seeds were then put in at 
precisely the same depth aud the same dis¬ 
tance apart. The Golden Wax came up one 
day iu advance of the Black Wax, bat the lat¬ 
ter flowered one day before the Golden Wax, 
which seemed to equalize things. In the eud 
the black Wax was tit to pick one day befo.o 
ihe Golden Wax. For all useful purposes they 
may be said to ripen at the same time. 
The pod of the Golden Wax is a little longer 
aud broader than the Black Wax, the pod of 
the latter being round. The color of both is a 
blight yellow. Tbe Golden Wax, however, 
has the brighter color wheu cooked, the reason 
being that its seeds are nearly white, while 
the se of the Black Wax are Jdack. From the 
same number ol plants, the Black Wax yielded 
twice the quantity at tbe first picking, and 
thiee times the quantity at the second, aud bo 
on to the end, showing the Black Wax to be 
very much mure productive thau the Golden, 
iu qualvy the Golden Wax is perhaps a trifle 
richer than the Black, but they ure both so 
exceedingly good that this trifling difference 
may be overlooked. They ure of unsurpassed 
exeelleuce, aud a salad of Black Wax beaus is 
a tLiug uot soon forgotten, in small gardens 
aud wheie only oue kind is grown, it should 
be the Black Wax. 
The Rural for July 10, is a grand number. 
It would be difficult to overestimate its value 
to the agricultural and commercial interests 
of the country. It is a great labor well done. 
If the Agricultural Department at Washington 
weie omy a little more teachable, they might 
here learn a most valuable lesson. It is an¬ 
other instance ot what can be done by iuteUl- 
geut, well-directed private enterprise. 1 con- 
giutulate those who are to bo benefited by the 
labor, as well us those who have so success¬ 
fully accomplished it. 
The Rural aims to be right always, aud is 
very seldom otherwise; hut iu “‘Notes from 
the Kurul Grounds," p. 454, there is a mistake 
which, iu the interest of history, 1 wish to cor¬ 
rect. Iu the note referred to the reader is left 
to infer that the Caroline aud the New Rochelle 
originated with Mr. Carpuuter of Rye. You 
received your Caroline plauts from William S. 
Carpenter of Rye, as 1 did mine; but the New 
Rochelle aud the Caroline both originated with 
8. P. CarpenLor, ot New Rochelle, WestChester 
Co., N. Y. Horticola. 
-- 
Remedy for the Roie-Uug ou Grape Vines, 
Thr Rural, to my inquiry for this, thought 
the sassafras tree growing near the vines might 
prove one means ot keeplug Lhe bngB off. But 
it is uot so tu my eas.t, as there arc over oue 
hundred youug sassalrus trees growing within 
30 to 1500 yaids of the grape vlues The bugs 
attacked ttiese alone. I did not find a single 
one ou eherry, plum, peach, apple, or pear 
trees, and none on the smaller fruits. I re¬ 
sorted to picking, as I stated, to get rid of the 
bugs; and after going over the vines three 
times in the course of a week, it rid me almost 
entirely of the nuisance. Only a few stray 
fellows have been seen since, and the grapes 
are so well grown now that these can do but 
little harm even if not picked off, but I do uot 
propose to let a single one remain to furnish a 
new brood hereafter. A. B. Allen. 
Jifll) Crop. 
FORAGE GRASSES. 
PROFESSOR W. J. BEAL. 
Fowl Meadow Grans or False Red-Top.—Poa 
serollna. 
The first common name for this grass is so 
applied, because it was thought to have been 
brought into Dedham, Mass , by wild fowl. The 
grass has also been called Duck grass, and 
Swamp Wire-grass and no doubt by mauy other 
names, as every one takes the liberty, and per¬ 
haps has a right, to call any grass by any com¬ 
mon name he chooses. This is a native grass 
found mostly on low lands. It flowers about 
the same time as Timothy. The stems In damp 
weather branch from the lower joints. The 
panicle, as will be seen by the cut, is quite 
long, aud slightly drooping when past flower. 
The cut 1 b two-thirds of the natural size. The 
splkelets are borue near the ends of the 
branches. It resembles Poa compressa (Wire 
grass or Spear grass) in some respects. They 
flower about the same time, a mouth after Poa 
pruiensiB (June grass). Fowl Meadow grass 
and Wire grass have dark-green stems which 
remain green for a long time after the plants 
have gone to seed. Neither of them spread by 
root stocks, as is tbe case with Poa pratensis. 
The stems are very nutritious. Those of 
Fowl Meadow grass ure rather tali andsleuder 
aud as the top is large and spreading, the grass 
is quite likely to lodge unless mixed with some 
others with stouter stems. Owing to the fact 
that the stems remain green and succulent 
after flowering, there is not so much need of 
cutting this grass when lu flower as there is of 
cutting most other grasses at that time. It 
may be allowed to go to seed before catting, 
then thrashed and the straw fed out. In this 
way it makes a profitable crop, as we get a 
crop of seeds aud a crop of forage. The stems 
of Orchard gruss, June grass or Timothy are 
of little value to feed after the seeds ripen. The 
second growth after mowing for hay starts 
slowly. Like Timothy it is not well adapted 
for pasture. 
Ou sandy loam, well drained upland. I have 
seen this grass thrive with Timothy, June 
grass. Orchard grass, and Red-top. On the ex¬ 
tensive marshes near Lausiug, Mich , this year 
it is largely raised on the farm which belonged 
to the late United States Senator, Zach. Chand¬ 
ler. Where the soil is good, the grass thrives 
and cuts a good crop of valuable hay—perhaps 
as good as any other grass would produce. 
The seeds are small and require more than one 
year to make stroug plants. Pare seeds are 
not often found in Western markets. They 
are so difficult to identify that the seedsmen 
and purchaser are both liable to be misled. 
This is true of most other grasses, and con¬ 
stitutes one of the many “ practical ” reasons 
why farmers should be goed botanists. 
These papers on grosses, no doubt are “dry,” 
foraging for most readers. I see no way to help 
it, except to keep talking about the peculiarities 
of some of the best. It will be Borne time yet 
before the average farmer will know that there 
is much else in the meadow or pasture worth 
talking about, besides Red clovt' - and Timothy. 
After a man begins to believe it is for his pe¬ 
cuniary interest to learn about some grasses 
not familiar to him, he will seek books and 
papers on the subject. 
®j)r |ioiiltrj) gari). 
GUINEA FOWLS. 
Although these birds have beeu domesti¬ 
cated for very mauy years, it is singular to 
notice their peculiar natural waywardness. 
Every species of domesticated animals shows 
some peculiar natural traits that domcslication 
has not entirely eradicated. The horse will 
sometimes dash off at lull speed at some Im¬ 
agined danger. The pig, howevei well fed, 
will root up a garden or lawn whenever It gets 
a chance. Poultry will scratch a ilower-bed as 
recklessly as a dunghill. Ducks will ramble 
along a creek a loug way from home, and will 
even hide and lie quiet when they hear you 
coming to look for them. Each species of ani¬ 
mals 6eems to bo domesticated just up to a 
certain point, and there stop ; their nature will 
not change beyond that limit. Thu dog. being 
endowed with greater intelligence and affection 
thau uuy other unimal, can be admitted to 
greater familiarity with man than any other; 
but even he will sometimes break off into his 
natural weakness for live lambs or other small 
animals. 
Some birds cannot be domesticated at all, 
others only partiully so, as the pheasant, while 
the G’-inea fowl always retains a considerable 
degree of its natural wildness. Unlike poultry 
or ducks, it will ofteu change his roosting- 
place, aud frequently shows an unsettled dis¬ 
position towards night. Soma cauuot be in¬ 
duced to lay iu a house, but ramble oil into 
quiet uooks to bide their eggs; some will do 
this so effectually that one must watch them 
very closely to find their nests, as they will uot 
go ou the nest while they see you watching 
them: yet, in its general habits, there is a fear¬ 
lessness and familiarity that make the Guinea 
fowl a very amusing pet; some persons have a 
dislike to their continually repeated note of 
“come back,” or, as some hear it, “buck¬ 
wheat.” For my own part I like to hear it In 
the farm-yard, its notes are uttered with so 
much vigor and complacency as to give a 
cheerful tone to all the surroundings and— 
what Is more singular—It does not appear to 
annoy other stock. On the other hand, poultry 
will be on the alert for a note of alarm by the 
Guineas ; it is only a pity thev are not as well 
disposed toward poultry. This is their prin 
cipal fault — they will harass poultry while 
feeding or at roosting. 
They are gregarious to a great degree, keep¬ 
ing very close together, especially each flock 
of young ones to the parent bird. Seven that 
were hatched under a Dominique-Leghorn 
hen followtd her so closely as to almost al¬ 
ways surround her, coming quite tamely to 
the door-step every morning; they stuck to 
htr until they were larger than the hen. and 
eight months old; the poor hen began to ap¬ 
pear tired of her charge, yet so closely was she 
beset that she could hardly get a chance to 
have a flirt with Mr. Chanticleer; and while 
she was hiding in the house to lay they kept 
guard at aud aronnd the door, fly ing on the 
roof aud otherwise showing uneasiness at her 
absence. It is generally believed that hawks 
will not visit a yard to kill chickens where 
Guinea fowls are kept. That has not been my 
experience. I never found It so. I have lost 
quite as many chickens by hawks while I had 
many Guineas, as I did when I had none, with 
the same number of chickens in the same 
yard. 
The shells of their eggs are very thick ; it is 
astonishing how the chicks get out of them. 
When first batched they are very quick—as 
lively as partridges—but if reared under a tame 
hen they become much tamer than when raised 
by their natural mothers, and they can then 
be cooped np in wet weather and at nights ; 
but the Guinea mother drags her chicks about 
through early dews and showers, and often 
loses them all. "When raised by hens they 
want many changes of food, and all must be 
good, as tuikeys do; but with their natural 
parent they find much of their food if they 
have room, for the Guinea hen is a most in¬ 
dustrious hunter, and her family are not slow 
tolearu. 
There are three distinct varieties as far as 
color, but nothing more: they are the ordinary 
pearl, silvery pearl and white, but I know of 
no difference except that of color. They are 
late layers, seldom laying before May. The 
chicks feather and mature quickly, and are 
fine for the table. Henry Hales. 
— - +■•»+. — - - - 
Hens Eating Eggs. —Some contend that if 
egg shells are given to hens it teaches them to 
eat their eggs. We have made a practice for 
many years past of feeding all our egg shells 
to our hen6, broken up moderately fine by the 
hand, and thrown out to them twice or thrice 
per week. During this time we have never 
lost an egg by hen eating. In addition to 
giving our bens the shells, we invariably add 
auy that happen to get broken in picking them 
up. In them they get the yolk and white, and 
yet these have not taught them to break a 
siugle egg of themselves for the purpose of 
eating it. Iu the London Live Stock Journal 
of June 4th, a correspondent writes that he 
has followed the practice of giving his egg 
shells to his hens for 15 years, and not a single 
one of his flock has been made an egg eater ; 
ou the contrary, it was a sure preventive, as 
the shells gave them all they craved for to 
assist in forming their eggs. 
£!n liorseman. 
REMEDY FOR SHOULDER GALLS. 
When team horses that have not had much 
work during the Winter are taken out aud 
fig. 343. 
put to plowing >u the Spring, it is very diffkult 
to prevent the occurrence of shoulder galls 
which are ofteu severe enough to disable a 
team, and always occasion uneasiness to the 
FOWL MEADOW GRASS.—POA 3EROTINA—FIG 243. 
