SEPT. 4 
SS7 
this, especially the cutting of our early hay 
crop. 
The result—the Minnesota Sweet Corn was 
fit for table about the 1st of August and was the 
largest crop of forage corn ever grown on the 
farm, of lhat variety; and the feed is now very 
opportune to feed to any animals, from fatten¬ 
ing hogs to dairy cows and working horses. 
Alt like it and it does them good to eat it, as it 
increases the growth of the young stock, also 
the milk from the cows, and puts flesh on the 
fattening animals, and for the crop of 1881 it 
increases the manure pile in the cattle-yard, 
making labor, and increasing the products of 
the farm at the same time. For the calves we 
cut the green corn ears, and stalks, so that 
nothing is wasted. For the older animals it is 
simply pnt into their mangers and all is eaten 
without waste. For horses it is also cut in 
the hay cutter before being fed, and if any is 
left—which is not often the case—the refuse 
is taken from their mangers and fed to the 
cattle and ail is thus eaten up clean. 
We cut our corn soon after dinner aud put it 
in the managersfor all animals, exceptthe hogs 
and horses. The hogs have theirs thrown into 
their yard ; the horses get their feed at night; 
the cows and other animals feed on the corn 
fodder in the afternoon, and thus partially 
avoid the flics, as these do not annoy them as 
much in the stable as in the field, as we close 
the doors of the stable when the cows are put 
up. They go into the field at night and in the 
forenoon to graze what they will before and 
after their feed of corn. 
(It is right that we should remark that Mr. 
Mold does not claim that his oats or wheats are 
new varieties, but old varieties '* ennobled,” to 
use his word. The Ennobled Oats are the 
Black Tartarian, as has several times been 
stated in these columns. Eds.] 
longs to the other. What likeness has the 
being or purpose of the dwelling to that of the 
garden ? What is akin in the life and growth 
of vegetable and man. A regimen good for 
one might work disease and death to the 
other. What cures the ills of the dweller and 
his home might kill the fruit-tree and the 
such a rash opinion, backed by such thin, dis¬ 
jointed logic. I hope either the writer’s 
doubts or mode of putting them will gain but 
a lean following. 
This is the argument set to his credit: 
Proposition. — Close, overhanging shade 
and smothering belts of hedge and vegetation 
shelter overpays its cost in increased product 
and home zest. 
The Cntalpa. 
I am at a loss to understand the puffing 
given to the Catalpa in latitudes where there 
are half-a-dozen other native trees superior to 
it, measured by the shade they afford, their 
beauty as a tree, and the value of their timber. 
Among these are the Osage Orange and the 
Blue Ash for hard woods, aud the lime or 
basswood and the cottonwood for the soft¬ 
wood trees. As for lasting qualities, there 
is nothing superior to the Osage Orange, 
whether small or large, in the ground or oat of 
it; and the timber of the Blue Ash has almost 
every excellence — strength, size, durability, 
elasticity, hardness, and toughness. Besides, 
like the Osage Orange, it grows readily when 
transplanted, acquiring that merit from its 
numerous fibrous roots which the Osage Orange 
does from its soft ones, which considerably 
resemble a carrot in color and consistency. 
B. f. J. 
MUSHROOMS, READY FOR MARKET 
around the house shutout the healthy currents potato. T 
of air. The dryness of the breeze, thus barred against the 
leaves dampness to beset its borders, invit- and clima 
ing mildew, miasm, fungoid growths and pretty muc 
iu6ect pests. The brooding shade and close- that court! 
ness make the cellar dank and unwhole- Shelteh 
some; the closets distil vile smells and viler Then all 
vermin ; every corner riots in nncleanliness. ripeness, tl 
Conclusion.—J ust so, where you shut out high winds 
the currents of air from thegardeo and orchard fruits and 
by belts of verdure, you invite to fruit and steady wai 
flower like harm. The inside stillness, stirred this waste 
only by the sifted breeze, breeds hurt to leaf all cost an 
and limb. Ineects swarm, fungoids and and better 
noxious dampness beset its growth and fruit- can have 
age. In short, the way to a healthy garden frosts aud 
and orchard is over an open field, where q OME 
nothing stays the sweep of the Summer breeze den _^| ie 
or the frosty grasp of the wintry wind. . . 
This is the frail logic backed by which this drhfkiiftL 
writer asks us io uproot an old belief which .. 
study and trial toll us stands on hard-pan. , - , 
But if shelter and belts of douse growth hurt 
” , too much 
the garden this writer does not prove it by ^ , 
showing how they smother and befonl the than'hs'go't 
home. The hedge may hurt in a different down to tt 
way. The dampness, the unaired closeness of ^ 
the dwelling may be jiut what the garden ture’s w n 
likes. If a hedge hurts vegetable, flower, or climate is 
fruit, the harm may come from causes very . ’ 
unlike dampness or shutting out the currents 
of the air. Because a thiug is bad to have in Sheltei 
the house it does uot follow that it may not be Pleasant. 
the best possible for the garden- In fact, to den Is E 
each it does pretty much so happen. chill a ' r ci 
How Exposure Hurts and Shelter Helps. ‘' ur6e lheil 
—I know and yearly feel the good of shelter silliness pi 
to the garden aud the orchard. Ten miles of 01 truu ^> ( 
unbroken wiuiry winds sweep down upon my are not ' tQl 
place from the high hills. Along the rift of a ltlL1 11 ue - 
valley they pour dry and frosty. Lots of harrier sec 
plants aud shrubs rejoice and l loom not three tu<le 1U eai 
hundred feet to the leeward which come to shelter for 
grief on my premises. A belt of trees and . , haslv ' 
feuee and houses sift and temper and bar air . “ m 
out the frosty currents which strike me so or in s ? u 
savagely. walled in 
„ ,, „ mildew, o 
The Good of Wind sifts and Breaks.— niorelv bei 
In Summer or Winter anything that checks the ^ 
wind blast helps the growth and yield of vege¬ 
tation. No vine, plant, or tree but joys to ^ mattc 
have stayed the whirl and thrash of leaf and shelter. 1 
limb. It is not the northern blast—6tiff, dry, e< * hy billf 
aud frosty—that alone hurts. The full sweep quickest e 
of the early or midsummer breeze singes like we ^ ma d» 
a lire blaze the young growth of leaf and fence. Tl 
shoot. The snap and whip of the wind blasts fastened b 
and blackens the tender foliage aud unripened trees may 
wood. This hurts and dwarfs both the tree cost eut 
and the maturiug fruit. The growth of the wire held » 
stock and the swell and luseiommess of the It 9 I ac c s< 
fruitage feed through the leaves on that full grapes the 
flow and alchemy of the sap which sunshine open grou 
and shower provide. When the leaves arc long and h 
maimed aud stripped, when the dry wind Not a sc 
drinks deep the moisture of the soil, that the quiet 
work stops, such there 
What does the above author find common to Thescrear 
the home and things rooted to the soil ? Na- on your i 
ture does not admit the likeness. The home sheltering 
SOUTHERN FIGS 
In answer to B. F. J., in Rural of July 24, 
I may state that during a long residence in 
Texas, I have never seeu a barren fig tree. 
The chief difficulty in the way of utilizing 
this fruit, except for home use, is that in 
moist weather they sour very quickly. Last 
evening I picked a small basketful, and after 
we had eaten as many as we wanted, I had to 
throw the remaiuder away this morning, ow¬ 
ing to their sourness. Another objection to 
their larger cultivation here is, that they grow 
so easily aud are so plentiful that they are con¬ 
sidered of no value. 
About a quarter of a mile from where I live, 
are a number of trees that were planted fifty 
years ago and all the time they have been ex¬ 
posed to all the cattle and horses running 
wild on the prairie, so it can at once be seen 
that they are long-lived, for they bear fruit 
every year. The owner of the place is still 
living; but he now resides out West, having 
left this country when Santa Anna was driving 
all before him, uutil Sam Houston stopped his 
career at Sau Jacinto. 
The trees I grow—latitude 80 deg.—are the 
Violet, a large fig, and a small yellow one, 
I do not know their botauieal names, but they 
are good enough for any one. Some cuttings 
that I put out last Winter, are two feet high 
aud have fruit ou them now. They seem to 
grow like a weed, and chickens and hogs are 
remarkably fond of the fruit. My trees, about 
20, are eighteen years old, have never had any 
disease, aud produco all the time up to frost. 
They seem to grow well in any soil, either 
in sandy or clay land, in the woods, or ou the 
prairie, in dry weather or in wet. They star d 
head aud shoulders above all the lazy men’s 
fruit, that I ever read of, as they require no¬ 
working, manuring or trimming. 
I do not know that I can say any more in 
their favor, unless it is, that I never saw any 
one that was not fond of them—children more 
especially. As one offset to the above, I may 
state that I have planted three orchards of 
poach trees during the last twenty years, aud 
always made a failure. To-day I have not a 
peach tree, unless those I planted last Fall. 
As ihe years roll along, I become still more 
slrougly impressed that the bulk of the fruit 
business will remain in the North. A few down 
South, possessed of rare energy and executive 
ability, will succeed, but the bulk of us will 
be driven to the wall. Cotton will always 
be our main dependence. No spot in America 
can compete with us ia that. Early Amber 
Sugar-cane can be raised in .Minnesota, but the 
North must take a back seat when it comes to 
cotton picking. Aud though it is not a very 
paying crop under our present system of labor, 
I begin to take heart under the cheering 
articles of your intelligent correspondent, W. 
1. Chamberlaiu, on Western Farmiug. 
Our piesent ohl-fogy system of going four 
times in a row, must be superseded by a riding 
cultivator going ouce, and doiug ihe work 
equally well. I am afraid I am too old for 
this myself, but my boys must be taught to do 
it, as well as to use that big harrow that crosses 
three corn rows at one swoop. o. o. 
Payton, Liberty Co., Texas. 
POTATOES IN THE SHADE-PLASTER 
POTATO-BALLS. 
No doubt potato bugs avoid vines growing 
in the shade, and I has if the mature insects arc 
very hardy, the larvae are quite susceptible to 
cold. This fact may be used as a means to 
destroy them. Il just previous to a cold rain 
storm or a change which lowers the tempera¬ 
ture from teu to fifteen degrees, the lame are 
brushed from the vines they will become so 
cliilhd and benumbed that they will lie there and 
perish. Aud this suggests that if large potato 
fields were gone over with a roller before or 
during cool weather the result would be to 
destroy a groat many bugs and with no injury, 
if not with positive benefit, to the crop. 
It has been suggested that Paris-green not 
only does no injury to potato vines, but seems 
to revive and bighten their color. This im¬ 
provement is probably due to the presence of 
the plaster in which the poison is extended, 
aud is a good reason why it should be chosen 
in preference to dry ashes, lime or flour. 
In my experience with potatoes I have found 
the popular varieties, like the Early and Late 
Rose, the Peachblow and the Early Ohio, ex¬ 
ceedingly shy bearers of seed balls. Indeed I 
don’t know that I ever saw one of these on 
the Early or Late Rose in a course of fif¬ 
teen yeurs’ cultivation. But this year I pro¬ 
cured a lew pounds of a new potato, Wilder’s 
Seedling, 1 think, planted them in ground 
very heavily fertilized with a half-and-half 
of wood and coal ashes, and the production of 
seed halls ia something surprising—two or 
three quarts to 40 hills. What is the explana¬ 
tion ? Is it iu the variety or the fertilizers 
used ? The vine growth has been large, and 
from the bursting of the hills, I conclude the 
yield will be handsome. b. f. j. 
WIND SHELTERS 
OEN. WM. H. NOBLE, BRIDGEPORT, CONN 
l welcome earnest opinions. 1 like the 
mood that holds them by a firm though easy 
leash. There is no divine right ol thought, no 
infallible council. The faith it might set up 
to-day would be upset to-morrow. Truths aud 
methods upheld by 6ound logic and trial, 
stand; whims backed by flimsy props go 
down with the first push of 6ense. 
The mighty changes iu our century iu 
thought aud methods are the outcoiffb of a 
mental temper which favors neither the old nor 
the new but for the logic aud tests behind 
them. They owe nothing to gues6 or cavil. 
Showy veneers or shammy novelty have uo 
place iu the work. No opinion gains u last¬ 
ing foothold unbacked by sound logic. None 
but those who study up the records of trial 
aud opinion ought in any line to start a new 
departure. None but such should sit iu the 
philosopher’s chair and essay to tear down 
or build anew the ideas of man. 
I say these things in view of the Rural’s 
lately-quoted doubts of a writer about the 
good of shelter to the garden or the orchard. 
1 wonder that the Rural did not demur against 
FRUIT NOTES 
We have suffered in this vicinity nearly the 
whole Summer long from a severe drought. 
The strawberry harvest was injured consider¬ 
ably, especially on thin, dry soils Raspberries 
and blackberries were quite reduced in size, 
many of the latter shriveling upon bushes 
which were mulched for any ordinary season. 
Among varieties of strawberries, I was much 
pleased this season with the Duncan, Prouty’s 
Seedling, Monarch. Cumberland Triumph. 
Sharpless, Miner’s Prolific, and Glendale. The 
Sharpless did best with me where fully expos- 
V1EW IN A MU8OR00M CAVE.—FIG 
and things rooted to the soil have uot enough 
in common to warrant his logic and advice. 
Trees and flowers live under laws unlike those 
befitting the dwelling. They have their being 
and beat estate in unlike footings and environ¬ 
ment. It is, therefore, not very good logic or 
doctrine that counts on UkeneedB or ails, or 
like cures or preventives for both. There is 
hardly a feature or quality of the one that be- 
even in bleak, dry days of Winter, there is joy 
iu a sunbath in its quiet nooks. There we 
stop to rest and chat, in the rouud which every 
lover of the garden makes again and again 
among his trees and shrubs. One never tires 
of such review, there is no sameness in this 
dress parade of his favorites. Each round 
offers some new feature of iuterest, or presents 
some new subject for his care. Thus your 
