THE FSyfSAL ?5EW-V©BKEB. 
AU6. SI 
pasturing in the Fall quite necessary as well 
as a profitable way to use the second growth. 
It seems to me the more profitable way is to 
have no more meadow than can be kept suffi¬ 
ciently rich to furnish two good crops. The 
less acres one tills to produce the same result, 
the more profit he usually receives. Many men 
Grow poor on large farms, while their neigh- 
oors on smaller ones constantly, if slowly, 
accumulate fortunes. 
Tobacco continues to be the crop depended 
upon by the farmers here to bring them ready 
money. It is looking well at present, but it is 
a hazardous crop at best, and from the time 
the seed-beds arc planted until the crop is sold 
and the money therefor collected, it is always 
in danger of damage or destruction. A Mutual 
Insurance Company, intended to protect grow¬ 
ers from loss by hail storms, was incorporated 
by the Legislature last Winter, and is now in 
working order. The grower pays for every 
hundred dollars' insurance two dollars and a 
half, and becomes liable for an assessment not 
exceeding five dollars more. If his crop is 
damaged by hail the Company agrees to pay 
him the amount of the damage as appraised. 
The whole amount planted in the township 
will not vary much from that of previous 
years; but there is not so much of the Spanish 
as last year, that variety not selling for as 
much more than the Seed Leaf as was expected, 
while the weight per acre is considerably less. 
Said a gentleman in my bearing to one of the 
largest and most successful tobacco growers in 
the vicinity : " How do you manage with less 
manure and less labor than your neighbors 
sec-m to use, to get crops equal to, if not larger 
and better thau tbcir6?" “i doit by cultiva¬ 
tion" was the reply. “I always plow and hoe 
a little while before it seems absolutely neces¬ 
sary, and 1 find it puts me ahead and keeps me 
ahead.” There are other crops beside tobacco 
in which cultivation can be made to stand in¬ 
stead of manure and labor, to advantage. 
Apples are abuudaut and good. Pears are 
scarce. Peaches are becoming year by year 
more plentiful. It is yet an unsolved question 
why, during the past forty years, there have 
been times when peaches were abundant here 
for a while, then for ten or fifteen years it has 
seemed impossible to raise them except in a 
few peculiarly favorable situations, after which 
trees would again grow vigor ously ami bear 
prolific crops of fine fruit. There 16 no doubt 
that for the next ten years peaches will be 
plentiful iu this neighborhood. Butternuts, 
hickory-nuts and chestnuts are indigenous to 
the neighborhood, and I have often wondered 
why no more attention is given to having 
a few trees close at hand. A tree or two of 
each, if no more, could be planted on every 
farm, giving enough for home supply and 
probably some for market. They are readily 
raised from seed, or cau be easily transplanted 
from forests. The hickory is most difficult to 
move in consequence- of its long tap-root with 
few fibers; but if this root be cut off in early 
Spring, a foot or more below ground, the depth 
depending on the size of the tree, fibers will start 
and six mouths or a year thereafter, it can be 
transplanted with as much certainty of life as 
trees from nurseries. It is also a matter of 
surprise to city people that there are so few 
small fruits—strawberries, raspberries, grapes, 
etc.—cultivated, when they require so little 
labor aud attention. I asked the reason, and 
was informed that the principal obstacle in 
the way, not of their culture, but of their suc¬ 
cessful gathering by proper hands, is boy6, 
and that when there are four churches, each 
having a Sunday school, within ritle-shot of 
where I write, there must be something wrong 
somewhere. l. a. r. 
--- 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Kv., Forks of Elkhorn, Franklin Co., Aug. 
0—The harvest now is just about over. Bar¬ 
ley, rye, wheat and oats are all splendid crops. 
Hay is hardly an average. Corn will be excel¬ 
lent; but there was less put in than usual. 
We had a fine rain a couple of days ago, which 
was most gladly received, as we had a very 
hot, dry spell. l. m. b. 
Michigan, Eastport, Autrim Co., Aug. 7.— 
Fall grain was never better, on au average, 
since the country was first settled. Spring 
crops are not all harvested yet: those that 
were got iu early will be an average; but late- 
sown will be an entire failure. The extremely 
wet weather we had the first of June injured 
Spring crops, aud the continuous wet caused 
late-sown Spring wheat to rust. Such violent 
wind and rain storms as we have bad have 
never been 6cen in this section by the oldest 
settlers; but while these have damaged some 
crops, they have been the means of producing 
the largest hay crop we ever have had. Berries 
and fruits of all kinds are abundant. Young 
orchards that never bore before are groaning 
uuder their loads of fruit, so that it was neces¬ 
sary to thin out iu order to save the trees from 
breaking down. It is very dry here at this 
present time ; if we do not have rain soon late 
potatoes will suffer very much. There is not 
a great deal of corn raised here; what there is 
looks well, but is not as forward as it was last 
year at this time. The potato beetle does not 
seem to be as plentiful as in years past. 
M. M. p. 
Mich., Memphis, Macomb Co., August 5.— 
We have had a fine growing season—rather 
wet for some grounds. Crops are all 
good except barley. It is a “ catching” 
time for harvest, but wheat has been se¬ 
cured without much injury aud is uow being 
thrashed, and farmers are busy in the oat har¬ 
vest when the weather will admit. Apples arc 
so abundant that they are rotting on the 
ground. We don't want any more orchards 
for market. The Mold's oats are splendid. So 
are the cow-peas ; they are now filling, and if 
they get ripe I shall be pleased with them. 
Thu Golden Ovoid mangels are fine, some of 
them, I think, would measure eight or nine 
inches through the center. The little Hebron 
potato the Rural sent me last year produced 
about a peck. I planted them this Spring and 
they are doing the best of any of the several 
varieties I am growing. The Blount’s corn is 
towering high; but I fear our seasons are not 
long enough for it. n, s. 
Michigan, Three Rivers, St. Joseph Co., 
Aug. G.—Wheat is a eood crop. Hay was 
heavy. Potatoes are doing well, where the 
bugs have left any; where they were vigorously 
fought, ihere's a fine crop. Corn is very good, 
but needs ram. Peppermint also, which is 
grown considerably here, is in good condition. 
3. M. S. 
Onio, Winfield, Tuscarawas Co., Aug. 6.— 
We have had a very favorable season. There 
is au immense crop of wheat, and an average 
one of hay. Oats were damaged somewhat by 
rust. Corn is exceedingly promising, and for 
pasturing and dairying a better season has not 
been enjoyed here for years. w. m. k. k. 
Texas, Dayton, Liberty Co., August G,—Our 
crops are very fine. No sign of the cotton 
worm yet, though if rainy weather is a sure 
token, he will be along after a while. How¬ 
ever, thanks to the Rural, I am ready for him 
at any moment, and off he must march to the 
music of Pari6-green aud a two quart, perfora¬ 
ted tin cup. G. G. 
Utah, Richfield, Sevier Co., Aug. 7 —As far 
as prospects go, there will be about 530 bushels 
of wheat to the acre here. Corn has always 
hitherto been a failure. Oats will average 30 
bushels per acre: potatoes, about 75 bushels; 
barley, 40 bushels. Our main crops are wheat 
and oals. There are iu this county about 
1,000 acres of wheat aud 1,500 of oats, and 
Borne 500 of potatoes, corn and barley. Sugar¬ 
cane is as yet a failure, hut the Early Amber 
may prove a success ; it has just beeu intro¬ 
duced. Some 200 acres of Lucerne are raised 
here. It cuts a heavy crop three times a sea- 
sou. This is ihe first year iu which apples 
have been a success. They generally blossom 
in April and freeze off in May or June; but 
this year Spring came very late, and hence we 
have a good crop. Pears do well, but are but 
little raised , peaches and apricots froze down 
last Winter—some trees clear to the root. 
Currants of all kinds are raised extensively, 
and are a very heavy crop. Gooseberries are 
almost an entire failure aud have been for sev¬ 
eral years. All kinds of vegetables grow ex¬ 
cellently ; yet beaus, melons, etc., will freeze 
off occasionally. Our crops have but one live 
enemy yet here—the grasshopper. One kind, 
a little yellow native, has done considerable 
damage this year; the common traveling 
locust has not been here yet, j. o. n. 
Wisconsin, Eall City, Dunn Co , August 7 .— 
Haying is done in this vicinity; grass was 
good on clay soil, not so good on sandy 
prairies. At present we are in the midst of 
the wheat and oat harvest. The former is 
good on new land generally, but was hurt some¬ 
what by hot weather and ehiuch bugs; while 
on old land some is not worth cutting. Wheat 
is an uncertain crop in this part of Wisconsin 
and farmers will have to depend on some¬ 
thing else to get a living, unless the seasons 
become more favorable for raising wheat. 
Oats are a good crop—will average 40 or 50 
bushels per acre. Corn is very promising and 
if we have no early frosts will be a good crop. 
There is a large acreage under itinthis county. 
We have a line growing season here; rains 
come just when needed. My Mold's oats aie 
doing well. I drilled them iu a row six rods 
long, but find they would have planted an¬ 
other of the same length. They tiller out so 
much I think a bushel of seed would sow one 
acre. I measured a stalk to-day and it was 
four feet nine and a half inches in bight, head 
included. They are a great curiosity to my 
neighbors who look at them, I have several 
Kinver's mangels that are 17 inches in circum¬ 
ference and growing finely. The cow-peas 
are doing well, bnt I am afraid they will not 
ripen iu this climate. We need more laborers 
here, as help is scaice and wages $2 per day 
for harvesting. Pfenty of work at lumbering 
in winter time for good men. G. w. i\ 
Wis., Eagle, Waukeska Co., Aug. 4 —Crops 
are good, corn never was better. Mine is 
good for 100 bushels of ears to the acre. Fall 
wheat is splendid; a large acreage was Bown. 
Apples are a fair crop; no peaches; few 
pears; a considerable amount of sorghum is 
growu here; a new mill has been set up within 
a few miles of us. The Early Amber cane is 
being experimented with this year, c n.w. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must lie aecomvanied by the name and 
address of the writer to insure attention.! 
A DncUwoods Lime-kiln, etc. 
8. II., South Oshaim, Out., Can., asks: 1, 
how to build a lime-kilu in the backwoods— 
it must be very simple; 2, how many feet must 
there be on each side of a piece of ground 
measuring six acres; 3. what grass or creeper 
would cover rocks in a pasture ; if fit for cat¬ 
tle, so much the better; 4, will Lucerne do 
well in that lalitudc; 5, how much Timothy 
seed should he bow with rye the coming Fall— 
the rye to be for grain aud the Timothy to re¬ 
main for a bay crop; 0, is Clawsou the best 
kind of wheat he cau sow on new land, aud 
what sort of wheat is American Spring wheat, 
and will it do for Winter sowing ; 7, Having 
a log-house, and his wife being desirous of 
obtaining a vine that will run up and cover it, 
our friend asks what kind of vine would be the 
best. 
Ans.— 1. When a farmer has a supply of 
limestone which he wishes to burn for bis own 
use, the simplest, way is to make a pit some¬ 
thing like those Jn which charcoal is burned. 
This is made by layiug down a floor of small 
logs or split timber in a hollow place. A layer 
of broken limestones is thrown on this floor, 
the blocks being arranged as at Fig. 270, so as to 
form tlue6 by which the pit is set on fire and 
fig. 370. 
ventilated during the burning. The pit is 
built up of alternate layers of wood or small 
coal and broken limestone, a sort of chimney 
Laving been left in the center. The outside is 
laid up with cam In a conical shape, and plas¬ 
tered over with clay mud. Fire is then applied 
to the flues, which, like the chimney, should be 
filled with light wood. The fire should be kept 
burning slowly by plastering all the cracks that 
may appear iu the wall as the mass settles, or 
by thrusting into them sods or pieces of lime¬ 
stone and covering these with wet clay. Once 
the fire is well started, the tlueB should be filled 
with fresh wood, packing it in as far as possi¬ 
ble, and then cloBiug the mouths with stone 
or clay. In 72 hours the burn will be com¬ 
plete, and when the whole mass is red-hot, it 
may be left to burn without further attention, 
except to punch it well together aud fill up any 
openings by which fresh air could enter to 
cool the pit too soon. The unburned pieces of 
stone outside may be kept, for auother burning 
and the perfect lime be taken o it for use. To 
use it, it should be thrown in heaps of two or 
three bushels and exposed to the weather, or 
to one or two showers of ralu, by which it will 
be slaked, failing to a dry powder, when it 
should be spread at once upon the laud, fine 
ton of good limestone will yield a little over 
half a ton of burned lime, aud in slaking one 
bushel of lime, weighing 80 pounds, will absorb 
2G pounds of water and swell to more than 
twice its bulk. 2. One acre has 43,560 square 
feet; six acres contain 261.360 feet. The side 
of a square having this area is 511.233 feet, or 
511 feet three inches and a very small fraction. 
Thus a field 511 feet three inches each way will 
contain Bix acres. 3, We think of nothing 
better for your climate thau Triticum repens, 
Quack, Quitch, Quick or Couch grass. 4. We 
have known it to do well in Southern Ontario. 
5. About one peck. 6. Clawson is productive 
and very hardy. We know of none better for 
new laud. There is a large numbei of varie¬ 
ties of American Spring wheat. Some of them, 
when sown in the Fall, in more Southern lati¬ 
tudes, do pretty well. 1. Akebia quinata 
would probably’ 6tand your climate. Aristolo- 
chia Sipho (Pipe-vine) is also very hardy and 
appopriate for your purpose. 
Uuerien About Cheese Making. 
E, II. A , While Rive)’, Col., asks: 1, how 
much reuuet is required lor 100 pounds of milk 
in cheese making; 2, to what temperature 
should the milk be brought when the rennet is 
applied; 3, how long should the curd stand 
before being put iu the press ; 4, how should 
the rennet be prepared; 5, how much salt is 
required for the curd of 100 pounds of milk. 
Ans.—1 and 2. The neual allowance is half a 
pint of infusion of the rennet for 100 gallons 
(880 pounds) of milk. Auother measure is to 
take a piece of the dry rennet, 2x4 or 3x3inches 
in size, and steep it in a pint of salt water for 
12 hours in a warm place. This is for 100 gal¬ 
lons of milk. An accurate measurement is 600 
grains of the dry rennet steeped in 24 ounces 
of water at a temperature of 70 degrees for 24 
hours for 100 gallons (880 pounds of milk) 
heated to 90 degrees. In the Cheddar system 
the milk is heated to 100 degrees. 3. The time 
during which the curd is kept in the vat de¬ 
pends altogether upon whether the cheese is 
made on the sweet-curd or acid-curd system. 
Very little add is developed in an hour and a 
quarter with two turnings and exposure to 
ttie air iu a heap, and the curd may safely re¬ 
main for this time, or even longer, but this 
depends very much upon the weather. The 
curd should stand only until it is distinctly 
sour, aud not longer, when it should be put to 
press. 4. Rennet is made by drying the 
stomach of a sucking calf, after well rubbing 
it with salt. The stomach should not be 
washed, but only emptied of its eoutente, and 
is stronger if the calf lias not beeu fed for 
some hours before it is killed. 5. Two pounds 
of salt arc u-ed for 100 pouuils of curd; 100 
pounds of milk make 10 pounds of cheese; 100 
pounds of milk would require one tablespoon¬ 
ful of the infusion above mentioned. 
Miscellaneous, 
J. F. A., Saline, Mich., asks whether rais¬ 
ing clover for seed exhausts the soil, and if 
60 , whether it docs so as much as wheat. 
Ans.— Nothing cau be taken from the soil 
that grows upon it without impoverishing it 
according to the amountthat is taken. Clover 
seed is no exception. The advantage of clover 
is that the roots extend to a considerable 
depth in the soil and nutrient matter previously 
unavailable is brought nearer the surface. 
The roots also improve its mechanical condi¬ 
tion. To raise wheat is more exhaustive than 
to raise clover seed. The difference betweeu 
removing equal amounts of wheat and clover 
seed would be the difference in their consti¬ 
tuents for which see analyses in previous 
numbers. 
A. II. G., Auburn, N. 1 wishing to make 
conversational connection between two houses 
100 rods apart, asks what has been our expe¬ 
rience of the telephone made by Prof. Brooks, 
of Phelps, Ontario Co . N. Y., which was highly 
spoken of iu the Rural last Spring. 
Ass.—We value it as a sort of plaything. 
Ours needs so much attention that we have 
abandoned it for any serviceable use; but 
others have pi'aised it. iu high terms. We 
would advise you to write to Prof. Brooks, 
whose word we are far from having any 
reason to distrust. It. is not right that neg¬ 
ligence on our part should be permitted to 
prejudice the sale of the said telephone. 
/’. S. W-, Newmarket, Va., asks whether 
there is any machine for harvesting corn. 
Ans. —There have beeu seveial attempts to 
perfect a machine for harvesting corn, but 
none has as yet beeu successful. The invent- 
or of such a machine will not only confer au 
enormous benefit on his race, but will make a 
vast fortune for biiusclf. "There’s millions 
in it ” every way it i6 considered. 
W. K-, Franklin, N. J., asks would it be 
good policy to plow in a coat of yard manure 
and then apply 30 or 40 bushels of lime per 
acre as a top-dressing where he intends to sow 
rye and seed down this Fall, or is there a bet¬ 
ter time or way to apply the lime. 
Ans.— We do not know ol a better time or 
way. 
A. E. W., River Falls, Wis., sendsplants for 
name, 
Ans.— No. 1 is Elyinus Canadensis—Var. 
glancifolia—Lyme grass—Wild rye. No. 2. 
Bromus ciliatus—Ciliated Broom-grass. It is 
worthless. 3. Hordeum jubatum—Squirrel- 
tail grass. 
1). C. asks for the name and price of the 
best work on breeding fish, especially speckled 
trout. 
Ans. —Roosevelt <fc Greeu’e Fish Hatching 
and Fish Calching, $150. The American 
News Co., Chambers Street, New York. 
8. A. L., Clyile, N. Y.— Box of Hulles6 Bar¬ 
ley received. We have the same. What ad¬ 
vantage has it ? 
COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED FOR THK WEEK END: G 
Saturday, August 14th. 
C. E. G.—A. II. & S., all right.—B. F. T.—T. II. 
II.—8. W. H.-N. R., thanks—T. T. L.—E. L. T.— 
D. W. C.—C. A 8.—D. 8. M —J. R. J.—J. W. W 
J. H.—A. 8. 8.—B. M. S.—S. O.—C. J. P.—A D.— 
W. B. K.—E. R. W.-B. .J. II,—J. L. E.-J. F. W. 
—Aunt Km.—A B. A. A. I,. J,—M. J. G., thanks. 
E. K. B.—N. It.—T. H. II.—A. 11 G.-F. L. T„ 
thanks.—E. H.S.-S. B. P.—B. S—A. B. A.—S. O. 
grape-vln rec’d.—J. C. G.—8. J. M.—E. A. D.—R. 
P.—J.B.—J. S.-K. G.—M. E. McO.—R. W. F— 
L. R. 8.—E. W. S.-J. B. L.—A. L. J.— 1 T. R. H. 
