588 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
3L3T ANNUAL FAIR NUMBER. 
OUR CLUB OFFERS FOR 1880-81, 
The Rural New-Yorker lias never 
heretofore published a list of other jour¬ 
nals with which it clubs. We have, 
however, for 1880-81, for the benefit of 
many of our readers, been at great pains 
to procure the lowest cash rates of the 
journals mentioned below, so that any 
of them with the Rural New-Yorker 
may be subscribed for at vory much less 
rates than the two separately. 
The Inter-Ocean and Rubai, New-Yorker.. . .$2.75 
Detroit Free Press “ •* ....3.50 
Weekly World " “ ....275 
Globe-Democrat " “ .... 2.75 
rionter-Press “ •' .... 2.75 
Evening Post (Weekly) “ *• ....3.20 
Any person ordering for one year the 
Rural New-Yorker and any one of the 
above Weeklies will receive the Plant and 
Seed Distribution without application 
and without charge for postage. 
-♦ »» 
Among our potato experiments, one 
series was cj.-duoted to ascertain how far 
it is best to place the eyes in the hill. 
We shall give the details in a few weeks. 
We may new sta^e simply that single 
eyes placed six inches apart produoed 
the best yield. 
-+♦» 
Which is better for transplanting, 
Spring orFa'l? Our answer would be, 
Spring n -rth of this latitude; Fall, south 
of it. This has r< ference to deciduous, 
fruit and oramental trees and shrubs. 
We prefer eirly Spring to any other 
season of the year for evergreens. 
--- 
There is a small fortune and a great 
reputation in store for the ingenious in¬ 
dividual who will furnish a cheap, safe 
and < ffieit-nt remedy for the European 
0 ibbage-worm. There have been hun¬ 
dreds claimed, but few are of auy value, 
and most are nearly worthless. 
Among rural pleasures, what is more 
gratu^iug aud satisfactory than digging 
p itatoes where they turn out smooth, 
r >uml aud large, at the rate of 300 to 350 
bushels per acre— provided one has not 
t x> many to dig ? It is something akin to 
the gratification of husking corn which 
yields 75 bushels per acre, or cutting 
wheat which will make 33 or 35 bushels. 
We have seeu complaints made that 
where bone flour or superphosphate has 
b eu us d in the hill—in the hill alone— 
for corn, though the young plauls showe d 
uuu»ual vigor, the subsequent growth 
has piovm veiy unsatisfactory and. iu 
some cases, the crop Las nearly failed. 
Is there anything unaccouuta le about 
this? If not, when will farmers learn 
that neither phosphates nor auy other 
fertilizers in the hul can exert more than 
a temporary influence ? Tue young root- 
1 ts are fed a <d th i young plauta thrive. 
But as the roots extend, there is nothing 
for them to feed upon, and the old plants 
languish. 
-- 
It lias been stated by some of our 
agricultural papers that one objection to 
the Souther i cow- < as for the North is 
that tue season is too Bhort to admit of 
th> ir ripening seeds. This is one of 
those errors that occur from perfunctory 
experiments. The variety of ciw-pea 
ca.l d “Poor Laud” ripened seeds at 
the Rmal Farm iu large quantities by 
August 12tu. This variety is, indeed, oue 
of tue best for N /rthem fields. The 
seeds germinate lreelv aud produce an 
immense amount of vine, which com- 
Those who may feel apprehensions | 
concerning the fate of next year’s Winter 
wheat crop in the West, on account of 
the severe and protracted drought, may 
dismiss their foars. Though increasing 
the labor of preparing the soil in a con¬ 
siderable measure, a Summer and Fall 
drought is one of the bcBt natural prep¬ 
arations for a full crop tbe succeeding 
year. This fact old wheat growers know 
and recognize in their dealings with the 
crop, aud the result will be a consider¬ 
able increase of acreage, Thus the ac¬ 
counts tell ns that no such crops of 
wheat have been produced in Macoupin 
County, Ill, as in 78 amt ’80, and the same 
is true of the browu clays of that whole 
section—a section where a severe Summer 
and Fall drought prevailed both iu 78 
and 79, and is in course of being repeated 
in 1880. Now, so far as Winter wheat 
is concerned, whatever may be said of 
the Spring crop, a severe drought, is not 
likely to diminish, but rather increase 
the acreage; and if the labor of putting 
in is small, the outcome is pretty sure fc> 
be large in proportion. 
-»»♦ — 
ORCHARD GRASS AND CLOVER. 
A correspondent who has a large 
dairy in the Western part of New York, 
writes us that he finds Orchard Grass 
and clover so superior to other grasses 
for early Summer soiling his cows, that 
he is going 10 greatly extend the growth 
of them by sowings nextSpring. He adds 
that when these grasses are cut early for 
hay, he much prefers them for Winter 
fodder for his dairy stock, as he has his 
cows to calve mostly iu August and Sep¬ 
tember, so as to make the greater amount 
of his butter during Winter. It costs 
Icbs to make it then than in Summer, and 
it brings a higher price, thus yielding 
him a double profit. 
Iu the latitude of 40 deg., and perhaps 
a little higher, Orchard Grass may be 
sown as late as the fore-part of September. 
We sowed it then last year, aud got an 
excellent stand before heavy frost set 
in, and a large yield from it the past 
Summer. 
4 * »- 
OUR PRESENT PROSPERITY. 
When an ancient people were released 
from slavery and established in freedom, 
it is related that they regretted the time 
“ when they sat by the flesh pots and did 
eat bread to the full.” In like manner 
there are some persons to-day that are 
not satisfied with their present condition 
of prosperity, and look back with regret 
to tbe time when, in the flash of a ruinous 
expenditure of borrowed capital, every 
man made money, became rich, and dwelt 
iu air castles of the greatest maguificeuce. 
The present is an unusual, and in fact, 
an unexampled season of prosperity, and 
should be wisely considered and used. 
We have leaped suddenly from a position 
of distress to one of comfort and opu¬ 
lence. We have plenty to sell to eager 
buyers at good prices, and the habits of 
economy created in our distress have not 
yet been destroyed by our present easy 
circumstances. 
Let us take warning. “ In the day of 
prosperity be joyful, and iu the day of 
adversity consider. ” We have bad time 
for consideration in the past, and our 
time of rejoicing is at hand; but to forget 
the past and to monrn over the departure 
of a period of inflation which brought 
upon us our time of distress is folly and 
shows that some persons, at least, have 
not rightly taken to heart the lessons 
which they have learned. We are in a 
g od, sound, prosperous condition, and 
we have every promise of a continuance 
of it. if we still practice the economy, 
prudence and industry which have 
brought us to this condition, 
- ♦» ♦ - 
TRY IT. HOW TO INCREA8E THE YIELD 
OF CORN. 
As a rule among our farmer acquaint¬ 
ances, fair, plump, large ears of corn are 
selected for seed without any regard to 
the number growing on a stalk. From 
our own experiments we deem this a mis¬ 
take. It is better to save the largest, 
fairest ears than those which are imper¬ 
fect or collected indiscriminately. But 
such selection is just as liable to encour¬ 
age a lesser as a greater yield iu the 
future crops. 0>rn is very susceptible to 
change from selection, as we may kuow 
from tbe scores of distinctly marked va¬ 
rieties known. If we would increase our 
least prolific, we doubt not the farmer 
would, in a very few years, be amply 
compensated for his pains. In this case, 
seed would be saved which had on both 
sides the most prolific parentage. We 
attribute our immenso yield of Blount’s 
Corn at the Rural’s Farm, in a great 
measure, to our very careful selection of 
the seed. There can be little doubt that 
such selection will in a few years increase 
the yield of any variety of corn. On the 
other hand, if only the largest, hand¬ 
somest ears are selected, regardless of the 
number of ears borue on a given stalk, 
simply what may be considered the nor¬ 
mal yield of the variety will be con¬ 
tinued from year to year. 
■- 4 -*-*- 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 80UTH. 
As ws all know, at one time cotton was 
called King, when it. was by far our 
most valuable crop, and brought more 
gold into the country than any other. 
But the recent enormous development of 
the northwestern country has given only 
a second place to cotton in our list of ex¬ 
ports. Thus, while in 1879 tbe export 
of cotton was $182,058,841, that of wheat 
and flour amounted to $191,136,240, aud 
other agricultural products reached to 
nearly $200,000,000 more. So that wheat 
has taken the first position among our 
soil products, aud the great northwestern 
fields occupy the attention of European 
countries as their future bread producers. 
Still tbe Southern States doubtless 
have a wonderful future before them. 
The product of cotton is rapidly increas¬ 
ing, aud during the last 15 years has 
exceeded that, of the 15 years preceding 
them by 9,600,000 bales, valued at $600,- 
000,(300. In addition to this, the value 
of the cotton seed, now mostly wasted, 
amounts to an enormous sum, for the 
3,000,000 tons yearly produced are equiv¬ 
alent to 90,000,000 gallons of oil; 1,300,- 
000 tons of oil-cake, and 1,500,000 of 
hulls, which are of value as a fertilizer. 
The sugar production, too, must doubt¬ 
less soon increase to a very great extent, 
for it is enormously profitable. A Louisi¬ 
ana planter made, from 3,287 acres of 
laud last year, a product which sold for 
$565,000, an average of $175 per acre. 
Yet the whole crop of that State reached 
but $19,000,000, while our importations 
from Cuba amount to more than $80,000,- 
000 yearly. The South wants men and 
money, and the North lias these to spare. 
— i ■■ -4 4 4 
THE HERDWICK SHEEP. 
The London Agricultural Gazette of 
a late date gives a particular account of 
this peculiar breed of sheep, rangiug the 
mountains of West Cumberland lying 
between the Derwent and the Dudden 
Rivers, Their pasture extends 1,800 feet 
high above tbe sea, aud is so cold, bleak, 
aud poor that these sheep alone can sus¬ 
tain themselves there. Not even the 
black-faced mountain sheep, which are 
next in hardiness to these of all in Great 
Britain, can do it. 
The tradition of their origin is that 
some 40 of them escaped from a Spanish 
vessel stranded many years ago on the 
Cumberland coast. These took to the 
high hills, aud bred and supported tliem- 
BelveB so well there that pure flocks of 
them have been kept, up by the owners 
of the land ever since. They are of 
small size, finely formed, and wear horns. 
The lambs come black in color, but as 
they grow up change to mixed white aud 
black. The ewes do not breed till three 
years old, and Beldom drop twins. Fat 
wethers attain a weight, when four years 
old, of 90 to 100 pounds, and shear an 
average fleece of indifferent wool of three 
pounds or so. Their mutton is of excel¬ 
lent quality. Draft ewes which are not 
wanted fot y the purpose of keeping up a 
pure flock are bred to Leicester or South 
Down tups, aud the lambs of this crops 
are taken onto good lowland pastures, 
where they grow rapidly, fatten kindly, 
and attain a considerably larger size than 
those of the pure breed. 
We presume no flockmaster would 
continue to keep so small and slow- 
maluring sheep as the Hardwicks, were it 
not that no others are sufficiently liardy 
to live and thrive on the miserable, scanty 
herbage and in the cold, wet, bleak cli¬ 
mate of the Cumberland mountains. It 
was at the foot of these that the poets 
Wordsworth and Southey dwelt, and 
immortalized the scenery in their admira¬ 
ble verse. 
pletrly covers the earth f ur a space of not 
less t.nau six feet. Tbose who have tried 
tue mixed binds wh.ch we distributed 
la-it se^B.iu, and who would pronounce 
them a Imlure are advised to try the 
“Pu>r Land.” It can be supplied by 
S mthern dealers, and perhaps by North¬ 
ern ones as well 
yield, we must select seed from the most 
prolific plants. This, which is true oi ail 
plants, is especially so of the corn plant. 
If, further, an isolated plot, as far re¬ 
moved as possible from other corn, were 
planted yearly for seed and the tassels as 
soon as they appear were destroyed on 
both thosewhich were sterile and the 
BREVITIES. 
Readers are requested to keep this number 
for reference. 
Whether we learn little or much at the fair, 
much depends upon whether we go there to 
see or to be seen. 
The Rural New-Yorker wants scents 
everywhere. The work, we think, will he 
found easy, and an examination of our pre¬ 
mium list will show it to be very profitable. 
Our readers will acree with us that they have 
never (or rarely ever) seen a higher class of 
advertisements than are eollected locetber in 
this Fair Number of the Rural Nkw-Yi>rkkr. 
There are two sorts of agricultural fairs. 
One is to benefit the farmer. The other is to 
get his money. The worst of it is that far¬ 
mers themselves don't put themselves out to 
discriminate between them. 
The new Turban Tomato has a turban to be 
sure. Iu other respects It Is much the same as 
any other tomato. Why th'8 little top knot 
should entiileitto a place among lareer and 
smoother sorts is not very apparent. Our first 
fruit ripened August 10th. 
There is nothiug more important t.o success¬ 
ful sweet-potato cultivation than preventing 
tbe vines from taking root. Thi i is fully un¬ 
derstood in the South, but we find it. is often 
neglected iu the North. Just as snou as the 
viuesiake root, in st of the nourishment be¬ 
yond goes to the new roots instead of to the 
tubers lortning in the hill. 
We beg that our r«»dera may notralv up the 
Rural Branching Doura with other D<mra-», 
Brown and White Egyptian Corns, China Corn, 
Rice Corn and the like. We have tried them, 
and though ihrir grain may be valuable for 
poultry, etc., they "send up” but one stalk 
and are not to be recommended as fodder 
plants. 
Among the fifty kinds of grapes which we 
have under trial, ‘’Lady” was the ftn-t to 
ripen ils fruit. We pulled plump, ripe 
bunches of this excellent white s« Hpe, Augu-t 
13h. Owing to its soft skin and liability to 
crack, it can never prove of moch value for 
distant mar. ets; but tor Lome use it should 
be cultivated iu every collection. 
"Golden-leaved” shrubs aud trees are 
rnucu wiitun about. Bji, as a matter of fact 
there are few worthy of the name. We have 
the Go 1 lieu Oak, Golden Spiias*. Golden C»t- 
alpa. la early Bpring their leaves are of a 
beautiful yellow—but this changes to green as 
soon as the leaves aitam their mature size. We 
know of but one haidy plant that can fairly 
lie called "golden” and that is the Golden El¬ 
der. Its leaves are golden throughout the en¬ 
tire season. 
The disputed question as to whether glass 
in-ulutors or insulators of auv kiud are n c* s- 
bury iu oider to givelightning rods their great¬ 
est protective power, is one that common- 
sense ought to be able to settle. We emp'ny 
lightning rods boesn-e they are better con¬ 
ductors Of electricity than the materials of 
which onr dwellings aie built. It is plain, 
therefore, that insulators are ot no use what¬ 
ever. Tbe wiser plan would be to connect all 
iron parts of a building with the rod. 
President T T. Lyon advocates aiule at 
fairs, ngidiy tnforct-d. lorhiddmg any person 
handling the fruit on exhibition except by 
auti oi ity or permission. The rule should be 
printed and posted up where all could not help 
but see it. One or two severe examples made 
of transgressors would soon came it to be re¬ 
spected. Fruit men themselves are the w< ret 
to manage. Even they Bbould he prevent* d 
from handling their own fruit after It is once 
in place. 
It will be remembered that the E litor of tbe 
Germantown Telegraph and the Editor of this 
journal had a little controversy as to the ex ict 
value of weevil-eau-n ueas. A wager of a 
large amount was made and accept' d and a 
fair trial made bv tbe Editor of the Telegraph, 
which determined the question In the 1 ■ tier’s 
favor. Upon receipt of the wager M j. Freas. 
the venerable Editor, replies: 
"Many thanks for the $500,003. Of course, 
I expected nothing. I will use it iu remem¬ 
brance.” 
Of ail the wheats we tested last season, 
"Fultzo Clawson bore the largest, h-aviest 
kernel, though it did not yield as much as 
many others, We ufon distrust the reputed 
parentage of so-called " hj bad ” plants. Ws 
are satisfied that the p<*reotnge of many new 
sorts of potatoes Is merely guessed at. owing, 
as we said before, to tbeexiretue difficulty of 
procuring pollen from the anthers of the 
flowers. ut tbe Fnlz» Clawson shows a 
marked likeness to b alt nareots. We hope 
under continued cultivation It may prove as 
prolific aa the kei uelB are heavy. 
Experiments, though they usually require a 
deal of ca e and time, sometimes result In 
great bent fit to the farmers who conduct t hem. 
For years past we have deemed Clawson wheat 
ihe mod pr ductivo variety we could raise at 
the Rui-'l Faun. Tbe past season we have 
raised 25 d tte.rent varieties of wheat, each 
upon a plot one-fortieth of an acre in area. 
Among tnetn wo believe there are no less ihau 
three kinds which will yield more heavily aud 
make a better quality of flour than Clawion. 
(Toe matter is referred to elsewhere.) It. Is a 
a uestion whether this discovery will not more 
mn pay us for the cost of the experiments. 
A feverb struggle Is likely to occur In Cou- 
gress during the next session between the 
brewers aud muleters on the quesilou of tbe 
import duties on Canadian and other foreign 
malt. The tax now is 20 per cent, ad x>alorem t 
aud lest Spring the maloters urged that it 
should ,oe raised to 25 c utts per bushel. Their 
earnest work had Hourly secured the passage 
of the bill, when tbe brewers were aroused arid 
started a vigorous opposition, on account of 
which final action was de’*-rr. d nn*il next ses¬ 
sion of Congress. About 50 000 000 bushels i f 
malt aru now used in thiscoiiuity, aud of this 
large amount it Is said only 500 <XX) bushels artj 
imported. As between these confl cling inter¬ 
ests we have no care in the mailer, but the 
question is one that has bows bearing on the 
price of hom>- raised barley, and therefore wu 
cannot allow it to pass without calling public 
attention to it. 
* 
