SEPT. 25 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
reared under a system which gives them 
plenty of exercise, which will produce bone 
and muscle and lengthier bodies, will better 
meet the requirements of the market and 
more ready and extensive sale. 
We might add that this change of system 
will furnish a purer air, which of itself would 
be reason enough for urging a reform in the 
fattening of pigs. A pen reeking with filth 
and the vapors which inevitably arise there¬ 
from, and which must be inhaled by the pigs, 
certainly cannot be conducive to health. 
Lungs thus constantly filled with Impurity 
cannot purify the blood. In order to insure 
rapid growth and fatten pigs they are usually 
given food in a concentrated form, which has 
the effect to promote fever. 
Practically, perhaps, pigs cannot always be 
fattened out of pens ; but they can be fed food 
less concentrated so as to promote a healthier 
condition; and, practically, breeds may be 
selected of less chunky character, in which 
lean meat and fat are both combined. Either ot 
these reforms can easily be reached and will 
result in improving the quality of pig meat. 
Iffrfrsmatt. 
GREAT SALE OE THE TILLYFOUR HERD. 
This came off in Scotland on the 26th ult. 
The cattle were of the black polled breed call¬ 
ed Angus, aud sometimes, though not so prop¬ 
erly, Aberdeen. The herd was bred by the 
late Mr. William McCombie, of Tillyfour, and 
has long been the most famous of its kind. 
Animals from it. illustrated in the Rubal of 
February 15, 1879, received the champion 
prize as the best group of cattle exhibited at 
the great show at Paris in 1878, and they have 
been equally successful at the shows for years 
past in Great Britain, whether for breeding 
purposes or as fat cattle. 
About 1,500 persons were preseut at this 
sale, most ol whom came for the express pur¬ 
pose of buying. Seventy head were offered, 
28 of which were cows and three-year-old 
heifers; 13 two-year-old heifers; 15 heifer 
calves ; and 14 balls from calves to two-year- 
olds. The prices obtained were from 11 to 270 
guineas ($55, to $1,350.) The cow sold for 
this sum is called the Pride of Aberdeen 9th, 
and it is considerably the highest price ever 
paid for a polled cow of any breed. The sale 
was spirited, and the prices realized far ex¬ 
ceeded expectation. 
We are groatly disappointed to find that no 
American buyers were present at Urn sale, as 
the few black polled cattle which have been 
taktn on to our great Western plains for 
breeding purposes, have been very success¬ 
ful there, and their half-bred stock from 
miserable, lean, long-horned native cows, 
Lave generally come of good form, and with¬ 
out horns. Steers of this cross bring an extra- 
high price in the Western markets, and are 
sought for with avidity, and the only fault 
found is, that they cannot get anything like as 
many as they want of them. 
The Canadian Government had an agent 
present at the Tillyfour sale, but he did not 
bid high enough, it Is reported, to obtain any¬ 
thing—the more is the pity. 
-- 
Short-horn Cattle for Beef and mile.— 
In a review of all the different breeds of cattle 
in Great Britain and the Channel Islands, by 
the Agricultural Gazette, it estimates the num¬ 
ber of cows and heifers there at 2,250,000. 
The particular merits of each of these breeds— 
which are 20 iu number or more—are fairly 
estimated as to beef aud milk. Some excel in 
the former yet are deficient in the latter, and 
vice versa; but the Gazette emphatically adds 
that “It is tbe great merit of the Short-horn 
that it holds the foremost rank in both of these 
classes. Tbe exceptional aptitude of the Short¬ 
horn cow to lay on lieBh whenever, whether 
by accident or age, she has become no longer 
adapted for the dairy, is a very great addition 
in the eyes of the dairy farmer to her merit as 
a mere milk producer.” In consequence of 
this, Short-horn cattle, which early in this 
century only occupied a few of the narrow 
districts of England, have now Bpread over 
the whole islaud, where moderately good pas¬ 
tures abound ; also into the south of Scotland, 
and in Ireland. All the British colonies pos¬ 
sess them, from Canada ou the northwest, to 
distant Australia in the southeast. 
American breeders have always had the good 
sense to take the same views on this question 
as the English ; but in tbe Western States they 
have hitherto paid more attention to the meat 
than the dairy qualities of their Short-horns. In 
this point, however, a decided change is going 
on with many breeders, and to show what this 
is, Mr. L. F. Allen, in his circular for the next 
volume (the twentieth) of the American Short¬ 
horn Herd Book, has asked for accounts, 
wheuever possible to be sent to him for publi¬ 
cation, of the weekly, monthly and annual 
yields of milk and butter obtained from single 
cows, or a whole herd. 
€xop. 
WHEAT. 
It certainly is of great importance to farmers 
to know the “bottom” facts of raising good 
crops of wheat—good in quality and m quantity. 
If my experiments this season will be of any 
value to tbe many readers of the Rural, they 
may have them so far as the results have yet 
been ascertained:—In 84 rows 100 feet long 
and about one and two feet apart, on a plot of 
ground six rods long by three wide, I sowed 34 
varieties of Spring wheat—one ounce only in 
each row. Half an ounce of each kind I wet 
with sulphate of copper; the other half I sow¬ 
ed dry; three of the 34 smutted wet and dry ; 
11 smutted dry but not wet, and 20 did not 
smut at all. 
I cut low with a sickle and weighed the 
straw which came to 210 pounds—grain 202} 
pounds; all without any fertilizer and on poor 
soil. The largest yield produced was 10 pounds 
of Rio Grande from one ounce sowed, or 160 
from one. The smallest yield was Sonora—56 
from one. 
So far as thick and thin sowing go, the re¬ 
sult is in lavor of the latter. In four rows 720 
feet long I sowed one pound of seed, and in 
five rows of the same length, right beside the 
other, I sowed nine pounds of the same seed. 
The four rows yielded the most. Of the 70 
varieties I now have on exhibtion—all of which 
I raised on these grounds—the most prolific 
and attractive are the Rio Grande, Australian. 
Black Centennial, Clawson. Of my hybrids Nos. 
10, 13, 16, 18, 19 and 21—18 is by far the finest 
of any; No. 10 is next. These results are the 
croppings of quite poor soil without a shovel¬ 
ful of manure or a pound of any commercial 
fertilizer. 
My hybrids are not yet named. When they 
become fixed in color, etc., I shall give them 
a name. A. E. Blount. 
-r-M- 
How Much Wheat Seed to the Acre 1 
In a late Rural a Virginia contributor said 
that one and a half to one and three-quarters 
bushel of wheat seed to the acre is the right 
quantity. On this head I will give my exper¬ 
ience for three years:—In ’77 I sowed one 
peck in rows 18 inches apart, and cultivated 
in the Spring—result, 35 bushels. The aver¬ 
age crop of the neighborhood was about ten 
bushels per acre. In '781 used 40 pounds of 
seed on two and one-third acres, and got 70 
bushels. It was a good wheat year, the aver¬ 
age yield on my neighbors’ land being from 
15 to 25 bushels per acre. In '79 I sowed 100 
pounds of seed on five acres iu rows 12 inches 
apart, and harvested 18 bushels per acre. This 
was a poor wheat season, tbe average yield in 
the neighborhood being from five to ten bush¬ 
els per acre. I shall sow the last-named 
amount again this Fall. If our Virginia friend 
will again try the peck of seed with the pro¬ 
duct of which he was not content, on land 
less heavily manured, he may be better satis¬ 
fied. If farmers would experiment more, 
they would learn more, to their profit, w. u. 
Daviess Co., liy. 
- *-+-* - 
Good Crops. 
In a late issue of tbe Rural those who have 
raised unusually flue crops are invited to tell 
how it was done. I raised 222 bushels of very 
flue red wheat from seven acres, or at ihe rate 
of 31} bushels per acre—aud this after the 
Army worm, millions of them, had passed 
through the field and trimmed off all the 
leaves, as well as the beards and a great many 
of the short heads. This crop was raised on 
ground that had been planted to potatoes the 
previous year. The wheat wa3 drilled in— 
about 1} bushel per acre—from September 20 
to 30. No fertilizer was used tor the wheat 
except what had been applied in tbe Spring for 
the potatoes—home-made manure, horse dung 
from tbe city stables and some fisb and fish 
scrap. Last year I dug from 3} acres—some 
of the land this year under wheat—1,200 bush¬ 
els of Burbank's Seedling potatoes. This year 
I have about 14 acres under the crop, and my 
Beauty of Hebron is yielding from 250 to 300 
busbel6 per acre—the handsomest tubers 1 ever 
saw. Burbank’s Seedlings will, I think, do 
about as well. s. l. t. 
Orient, L. I., N. Y, 
[We are always thankful for such communi¬ 
cations as the above. Eds.] 
®jjf U iiuprli. 
ELECTRICITY APPLIED TO GRAPE CUL¬ 
TURE. 
Horticola, in the the Rubal of August 21, 
expresses the wish that I should tell of the ef¬ 
fects upon the grapes of the lightning that 
struck one of my grape trellises. It was July 
27th; a member of the family happened to be 
sitting, face to the window, overlooking the 
trellis and saw the ball of fire strike the post 
and, scattering, play along the wires. There 
were four wireB on the trellis which runs east 
and west, the ground rising about four feet 
in a hundred. The two upper wires were 
burnt off at tbe post; the two lower ones about 
six to seven feet from it; from one at least a 
piece a few inches long was taken out clean, 
and afterwards found on the ground. 
The next morning the wires were mended and 
the vines readiusted, when, in company with 
“ Horticola,” we made observations and found 
no difficulty in tracing the course of the electric 
current by the burnt, scorched leaves and 
withered stems along nearly the whole length 
of the row. The Salem, the second vine from 
the post where the lower wires were cut in two, 
had the fruit really burnt. In a few days tbe 
effects began to be more plainly visible tbe 
whole length of the row, the berries of the 
Worden, at the extreme end, dropping at the 
slightest touch. Every few days a change 
was noticeable. Up to that time the vines 
had been well cared for, tied up and pinched 
in. The foliage was as heavy, thick and vig¬ 
orous as I ever saw, without the least evidence 
of mildew any where visible. I certainly was 
•very hopeful of some fine grapes, if not proud 
of the vines. This morning I have made 6ome 
measurements and notes which will convey a 
tolerably clear idea of the present situation:— 
The stricken post stands seven feet high sixty- 
five feet from the northwest corner of 
the house down which runs one of the five 
seven-sixteenths-inch square rods that protect 
it. 
The Salem vine next the post has made a 
strong growth; some mildew and rot present. 
10 feet distant—The fruit of the Salem that 
was scorched, has dried up; foliage almost 
gone; wood well ripeued; some mildew. 
15 feet.—Merrimae, foliage and fruit on 
lower wireB somewhat injured; on top wires 
the fruit is of Sue size and color, and ripe. 
20 feet.—Merrimae, fruit and vine below 
badly injured ; fully half of tbe canes are dead. 
25 feet.—Agawam, fruit and foliage on low¬ 
er wires badly injured ; fruit ripening unevenly; 
a little mildew on lower leaves. 
30 feet.—Agawam, ditto, ditto, ditto. 
35 feet.—Lindiey, slightly injured; a little 
mildew on bottom and top leaves. 
40 feet.—Agawam, fruit, and foliage below 
more or less injured. 
45 feet.—Wilder, below fruit, pink ; foliage 
gone ; above fruit, black and clusters large. 
50 feet.—Goethe, foliage gone below ; some 
rot, and some bunches gone ; some mildew. 
55 feet.—Goethe, lower clusters aud some 
canes inj ured; mildew and rot. 
60 feet.—Senasqua, part of vine killed ; fruit 
and foliage ditto. 
65 feet.—Senasqua, vine nearly killed ; fruit 
shriveled; foliage gone. 
70 feet.—Croton, vine dead, not fruiting. 
75 feet.—ditto, ditto, ditto. 
80 feet.—Martha, foliage injured below ; mil¬ 
dew as abundant as ou any. 
85. Martha, vine, fruit and foliage badly in¬ 
jured ; will probably die. 
90 feet.—I vcb, foliage below injured; canes 
ditto; top foliage good. 
95 feet.—Ives, fruit and foliage on top in¬ 
jured; of two clusters hanging side by side on 
tbe same cane almost touching each other, 
one is killed and the other unharmed. 
100 feet.—Cornucopia,vine apparently dying; 
foliage drying up ; canes have made a strong 
growth. 
105 feet.—Brighton, foliage and fruit injured 
most of the bunches dried up. 
110 feet.—Elvira, foliage almost all dead and 
gone; clusters all shriveled. This was the 
most heavily loaded vine on the trellis, having 
probably 10 pounds of fruit, and did not show 
any evidence of serious damage for perhaps 
two weeks. 
115 feet.—Black Eagle, foliage and canes in¬ 
jured; fruit dried up. 
120 feet.—Black Defiance, foliage and fruit 
all gone. 
125 feet.—Cambridge, foliage and cane in¬ 
jured; vine vigorous; wood ripening; some 
mildew. 
130 feet.—Moore’s Early, vine and foliage de¬ 
stroyed. 
135 feet.—Moore’s Early,foliage injured. 
140 feet.—Canada, fruit aud foliage destroyed. 
145 feet.—Canada, foliage destroyed and 
only two or three clusters remaining. 
150 feet.—Champion, no apparent injury. 
155 feat.—Champion, two or three canes 
killed. 
160 feet.—Worden, fruit injured and most of 
it dropped within a week or two; foliage, 
with the exception of two or three canes, un¬ 
injured. 
165 feet.—Worden, fruit injured; vine and 
foliage apparently unharmed. 
1 conclude that these vines are paralyzed 
and consequeutly less able to resist the attack 
of mildew, from tbe fact that the adjoining 
row in which are Lady, Martha, Brighton, 
Duchess, several of Rogers’s Hybrids, etc., is as 
free from it at this date as any one can desire. 
But there are other points on which my con¬ 
victions are not fixed. Did the lightning rods 
protect the house ? Are they any protection 
anyway j or did the four trellis wires—which 
combined, would amount to about one-fourth 
the size of a single rod—contain more attrac¬ 
tive capacity ? Are we to conclude from this 
experience that wire should not be used for 
trellises? These are questions on which doubt¬ 
less there is, and will be, different opinions; 
but in regard to the benefits of electricity in 
horticulture, I think we will all agree that 
the application, if made in this way, should 
be in much smaller bomceopathic doseB. What 
say the scientific readers of the Rural ? 
Montclair, N. J., Sept., 8. E. Williams. 
JiffritttUaral. 
HYBRID FLOWERING PLANTS. 
I noticed in the Rural of August 2lst, under 
the head of “Brevities,” that we were told 
that while the coleus, gladioli, and geraniums 
(pelargoniums) are aiuoug the most interest¬ 
ing plants for seedling cultivation, seedling 
pelargoniums are “ the least compensatory," 
and that “ninety-uine out of one hundred 
will prove inferior to those in the market.” 
Now permit me to say such has not been my 
experience, at least to the extent indicated. 
I have of late experimented somewhat in that 
direction with more satisfactory results. I 
have now in my grounds five different speci¬ 
mens of pelargoniums selected from seedlings 
originated by myself, either of which is, in my 
judgment, equal, if not superior, to a majority 
of those usually offered in the market, and 
surely I have never bad 500 seedlings to select 
from, and perhaps not to exceed a tithe of that 
number. True, a large majority of the seed¬ 
lings aie rejected as unworthy; but when I 
find one that is satisfactory in some distinct¬ 
ive feature or marking, I feel impelled to ex¬ 
claim “ Eureka!” and feel amply repaid for 
all my painstakieg. To me there is a peculiar 
satisfaction in exhibiting such plants to others, 
and there is an additional satisfaction when I 
present a plant or a cutting to a lady friend or 
visitor, to be able to inform her that Lhe kind 
was originated by myself. Call it a feeling of 
■pride, if you choose, but I cannot restrain it, 
neither do I Beek tOi for I feel, in some degree, 
compensated by it for all my troubles and re¬ 
peated failures. 
One of the advantages the cultivation of 
seedling pelargoniums has over that of the 
gladioli is, that you ascertain the results so 
much Booner—sometimes the first season, and 
certainly the second—whereas with tbe glad¬ 
ioli I have always been obliged to wait till at 
least the third year to witness their bloom, 
which, to an elderly person, is a somewhat 
serious consideration. I have, however, soma 
of the gladioli thus grown, which, iu the esti¬ 
mation of good judges, are fully equal to some 
advertised by the florists, with high-sounding 
names at from one to four dollars per bulb. 
The coleus will show its peculiar color and 
character, at the latest, within a few months 
after the germination of (he seeds, and by 
those who are impatient of delay, and who 
are desirous to witness the results of their ex¬ 
periments at an early day, the coleus would 
probably be preferred for tbeir purpose. But 
to one who has neither the necessary time nor 
patience to enable him to attend properly to 
tbe matter of cultivating seedling plants, ex¬ 
periments in that direction to any considera¬ 
ble extent could not be recommended. Still, 
I believe that something of the kind may be 
done by anyone who has even a small plat of 
ground for a flower garden. For iastance, 
if Instead of buying his verbena plants of 
some traveling plant peddler, or at some green¬ 
house, he will be careful to select seeds from 
the most desirable plants in bloom, sow the 
seeds carefully early tbe next Spring in boxes 
in the house, keep them iu a suitable tempera¬ 
ture till they germinate, prick tuem out into 
thumb pots as soon as they will answer, and 
set them rather thickly in the flower bed as 
early as the season will warrant, be will get 
stronger and more satisfactory plants than 
if he had taken them at once from tbe green¬ 
house without a previous process of haiden- 
ing. True, they may not bloom quite as early, 
but they will usually be found to be stronger 
plants and more abundant bloomers through 
all tbe later portion of tbe season. This, at 
least, has been my experience. 
Tbe reason for plauting them rather thickly 
is, that if any undesirable plants should be 
found among them, they may be removed 
without leaving a vacancy, and they can be 
properly thinned after showing their bloom, 
and only the most desirable retained. The 
same rule will apply to most seedlings. But 
with any seeds the tyro must nuderstand that 
success can only be attained by care and 
patience and perseverance. Experience will 
soon be gained, which is often of more value 
than tne most labored instructions. 
Clinton. 
[We should have said that “ ninety-nine out 
of every hundred will prove inferior to the 
best of those offered in the market." For the 
rest, we heartily agree with our respected con- 
I tributor.—E d.] 
