. so 
acre, and the yield averaged 30$ bushels, 
Last Fall, too, the same neighbor, declaring 
that it was the abundance of seed that made a 
good crop, sowed two bushels per acre, and 
harvested an average of 17 bushels. 
With regard to that 15 acre lot, I must state 
that I seeded it down to clover ir. the Spring of 
’79. but on account of the wheat having lodged 
so badly, It smothered the young clover all out. 
It was against my inclination, therefore, that 
I sowed it once more to wheat, so as to Beed it 
down to clover again last SpriDg; and the yield 
this year averaged 22 bushels per acre, and, 
moreover, I got a good stand of clover and 
Timothy. 
This Fall my neighbor sowed to wheat a field 
adjoining one of my wheat fields. Adhering 
to his old rule, he sowed two bushels of seed 
per acre, while I sowed at the rate of only 1$ 
bushel; and engaged to huve a larger average 
yield than he would have Dext year. I am 
thoroughly convinced that the condition of the 
ground has more to do with a good crop than 
•the quantity of seed. 
In the Rural of October 9, under “What, 
Others Say," reference is made to a discussion 
between two farmers, one of whom says that 
should wheat drop to 80 cents a bushel at 
Chicago, maty would drop wheat-raising, 
while the other asserts that a farmer must get 
a dollar a bnshel to make a profit. Now, in 
my opinion, both are right; for the cost of 
raising wheat rests a good deal with the farmer 
himself. If he farms so as to harvest only 15 
bushels peraere. heshould receive at least $1.35 
per bushel for his wheat; but to make wheat- 
raising profitable, he must get a yield of up¬ 
wards of 30 bushels per acre, and obtain one 
dollar per bushel for hts crop. lie cannot 
raise wheat with profit with a smaller crop cr 
a lower price for that yield. I would prefer 
the profit on sheep, with wool at 35 cents per 
pound, to that on wheat at per bushel, with 
a yield of 30 bushels per acre, provided the 
farmer is not too careless to count his sheep 
before housing them at night, and not too lazy 
to be out at five o’clock every morniDg in 
lambing time to see by what percentage hij 
flock had increased during the night, particu¬ 
larly in bad weather. 
Kendallvllle, Ind. J. s. 
ontological, 
OUR FRUIT PROGRESS. 
A LETTER EROM MARSHALL P. WILDER. 
My Dear Sir :—I am much pleased with the 
Rural, especially with your enterprise in fruit 
culture and the new varieties which are con¬ 
stantly coming to notice. It is our good for¬ 
tune to live in an age of extraordinary pro¬ 
gress m pomology. 
No country has such facilities for fruit cul¬ 
ture, and no nation has made snch rapid ad¬ 
vances as we have witnessed in onr day. The 
nurabei of new and really fine kinds of Amer¬ 
ican grapes that have appeared within a few 
years Is astonishing. It is only about 40 years 
since we talked of the hybridization of the 
grape, and it was then considered by many as 
of no practical value. Look now at the re¬ 
sults. and these are only the beginnings of that 
day when every section of our broad land is to 
be furnished with varieties suited to the 
Beveral localities ; varieties which will be as 
hardy and certain of success as our most com¬ 
mon fruits. See the number of fine sorts of 
which the Concord is the mother I and it is only 
26 years since it came to notice. Look at the 
hybrids of Rogers, Ricketts and others, and 
note the progress. Look at Ricketts’s Lady 
Washington, a graft of which has made this 
year 75 feet of wood, aud which possesses more 
vigor than the Coueord, Us mot her. 
Look at the Prentiss. Duebess, Pocklington, 
Niagara and other white grapes of this 
year, and who oau doubt the beneficial influ¬ 
ences of cross-fertilization, either natural 
or artificial. I have written more than I in¬ 
tended, and so close. MarshallP. Wilder. 
Dorchester, Mass. 
•-- 
Penciled Zinc Labels. 
An esteemed contributor writes us as follows 
under date of Oct. 9t 
“You are manifestly unaware that the use 
ot these penciled zinc labels was warmly ad¬ 
vocated a dozen or more years ago by the dis¬ 
tinguished horticulturist, Mr. Marshall P. 
Wilder, of Dorchester, Mass. The subject 
was much talked about at the time, and I 
remember to have myself heard Mr. Wilder 
describe his experiences, as long ago as the 
Winter or Spring of 1866-67, at a meeting of 
the Boston Society of Arts. I examined the 
labels which were exhibited by Mr. Wilder at 
that time, and understood that many of them 
had been in actual use for considerable periods. 
Together with the other members of the 
Society, 1 was a good deal interested in seeing 
how the graphite of the pencil had shielded 
the zinc beneath it from oxidation. The writ¬ 
ing was plainly visible in the Bhape of non- 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
oxidized or comparatively little oxidized 
markings on a field of more completely oxidiz¬ 
ed zinc. 
AGRICULTURE IN SCHOOLS. 
Ireland has taken a step in advance of all 
other countries in regard to the teaching of 
the rudiments of agriculture in the public 
schools. Perhaps there may he reason and 
wisdom in this as well as justice, for agricul¬ 
ture in that unfortunate island must neces¬ 
sarily be in a deplorable condition, when the 
soil, proverbial for its excellence, does not 
support Its occupants. In snch a case the first 
principles of the profitable culture of the soil 
may well be taught in the schools, which are 
the only means of reaching a population that 
is quite without any other source of instruc¬ 
tion. But it is an evidence of a popular need 
of rudiraentarv instruction, that a beeinning 
has been made, in Ireland, in the way of teach¬ 
ing children as much as possibe of the first 
principles of the industry by which they are 
supported and must soon support themselves. 
This need is as apparent in America as in Ire¬ 
land. 
It is a fundamental one, at least, so far as 
regards the rural population. It is admitted 
that it is the duty of the State to instruct the 
youth in such knowledge as shall make them 
industrious and useful citizens. This is one of 
the first principles of our beneficent form of 
government. In urban schools, children and 
youths are taught the principles of mechanics 
and other useful sciences, as well as to read, 
write and figure; they are also taught the 
principles o i commercial industries, and in all 
useful and practicable ways are prepared to 
enter the several employments open to them In 
towns and cities. In rural schools the system 
of education does not adapt itself so well to 
the special requirements of the children and 
youug men and women who attend them; and 
when the time comes for these to leave school, 
they are too apt to look from home for em¬ 
ployment, because their minds have not been 
turned in the direction of their home pursuits. 
More money can be made by a young man 
upon a farm than in a city store or office. The 
wages paid by farmers are more than the aver¬ 
age paid in Btorcs and offices. A youth of 16, 
who thinks himself well paid at three dollars 
a week in a lawyer’s office, can earn as much 
in money, with hia board in addition, on a 
farm. This is the lowest rate paid by farmers 
and a competent farm workman can earn more 
money than that. The young man who earns 
eight or ten dollars weekly in a city is thought 
well off. But when the cost of board, and the 
requisite expensive clothing, and the wasteful 
habits of city life are all covered, there is 
nothing left to lay by. The young farmer ea" 
easily save a hundred dollars a year, and in a 
few years by study and observation can become 
such a master of his art that he can rent a 
farm, stock it with his savings, and earn a 
comfortable and independent living. It is 
worse than useless for those who have influ¬ 
ence in molding popular opinion to lead young 
men to believe there is no place for them in 
the country, and to say that a man cannot be 
a farmer unless he owns his farm. I'o do this 
in all cases is an impossibility. Does every 
man engaged in busiuess own his 6tore, his 
stock or his business? Not by any means. 
Every one hopes to do this in lime, but the 
prizes which fall to the successful ones are 
buried under thousands of blanks and failures. 
It is not so on the faim. The industiious 
young man who is able to rent a farm, has a 
far better chance of owning it, or auother, in 
a reasonable time, than the clerk in a store or 
a workman iu a factory has of owning a sim¬ 
ilar business for himself. Farmiug is a pro¬ 
gressive business. Stock accumulates very 
fast and in a few years a small beginning at¬ 
tains to respectable proportions. If one only 
knows how! And here is the point which we 
wish to enforce. 
Rural youths should be educated in the 
prin ciples of the art and science of agriculture; 
Laught to think and reason about it; and be¬ 
come possessed of the ability to be their own 
teachers afterwards. This rudimentary knowl¬ 
edge can only be taught in schools. We pro¬ 
pose to make an effort in this direction We 
begin in this number, on page 730, a series of 
articles ou Farmiug for Boys and Girls, to 
which we earnestly call the attention of par¬ 
ents and teachers. We ask that these articles 
be tead and criticised. They are inteuded for 
the older children and will be written plainly, 
in a style that shall be correct as examples of 
composition, and as such admissible into 
schools. We suggest that they be read in 
families, as the children are gathered around 
the evening lamp, and made the subjects of 
conversation aud discussion : also that they be 
read in schools, by oue of the scholars who is 
capable of reading them well, and that the 
i class then recompose them in their own words 
and style, as an exercise not only In agricul¬ 
tural science, but In composition. The matter 
will be found interesting and instructive, and 
may thus be made to Berve two useful pur¬ 
poses. We ask the co-operation of school di¬ 
rectors and teachers In this important work 
and shall be pleased to receive suggestions 
from them in aid of onr design. 
ftttmitatf. 
TEXAS FEVER. 
D. E. SALMON, D. V. M. 
The Interest in this disease, which had nearly 
died out among Northern Btock raisers since the 
great outbreak of 1868. seems to he once more 
aroused by the report that Texas cattle affected 
with it have lately been landed in England. 
As a consequence, many of our papers have 
contained accounts of the nature of the dis¬ 
ease, which are more or less misleading: and 
even the most trustworthy statements that 
have appeared contain important assertions 
which, it seems to me, can hardly be j astified 
by what is at present known of the disease. 
One thing is certain, and that Is, that in a vast 
district in the Southern States the cattle, 
though apparently healthy, harbor the germs 
of a fatal disease that may be transmitted by 
them through the pastures to Northern cattle; 
and, on (he other hand, Northern cattle taken 
to this district almost invariably contract the 
malady. 
The northern boundary line of this district 
begins, at the Ea6t, somewhere in Virginia, 
and has a southwesterly direction, following 
very cIobcIv the line of the Blue Ridge Moun¬ 
tains, crosses the northern parts of Georgia 
and Alabama and deflects somewhat to the 
north through Arkansas and the Indian Ter¬ 
ritory. 
Another point may be safely admitted, viz., 
that cattle which have never been within the 
habitat of the disease, as outlined above, 
thongh they may contract it, are incapable of 
transmitting it to other susceptible animals. 
We may go a Btep farther, even, and admit 
that the cattle from this infected district are 
not sound; that their enlarged spleens and 
th.ir stomachB covered with erosions, or scars 
where these have been, are indubitable evi¬ 
dence that they are suffering from an affection 
to which they have become inured, by long 
exposure, to such an extent that their general 
health, under ordinary conditions, no longer 
suffers from it. 
But we must hesitate before accepting the 
assertion that Southern cattle never show the 
disease in the acute form after being taken 
North; and that, consequently. Texas 6teers 
coaid not have been landed in Etuland while 
suffering from it. Usually they do not; but 
when exposed to the fatigues and sufferings of 
long transportation, there is reason to believe 
that their powers of resistance are so reduced 
that the germs, which they carry in their sys¬ 
tems, gain the ascendancy. Thus, Gamgee 
saw in Kansas a Texan steer suffering from 
the acute form of Texas fever as a consequence 
of the fatigue induced by being stampeded. In 
1868 large numbers of these animals died at 
Cairo, Illinois, where they were landed from 
the boats, and it was believed that their death 
was due to Texas fever. Again, the New York 
Commissioners found two Texas steers at 
Buffalo in a dying condition, and on beiDg 
slaughtered, “ they presented every character¬ 
istic symptom of the genuine Texas cattle 
disease." A similar case has been reported to 
me in the mountains of North Carolina. It 
seems probable, therefore, that the fatigues of 
an ocean passage may be sufficient to produce 
the acute symptoms even in Texas steerB. 
Now, what is the danger to onr English 
friends by the importation of Texas cattle ? It 
would seem that under existing regulations 
there is absolutely none. The disease is only 
transmitted through the pastures; Northern 
cattle have stood in the same stables with 
newly imported Texans, they have pastured 
in lots separated from them only by a board 
fence, and have not contracted the disease. 
American cattle, being all killed at the port of 
landing, there is, then, no possibility of an 
extension of Texas fever in England. 
The effect of using the flesh of acutely dis¬ 
eased animals os food is not well known. The 
New York Commissioners attributed certain 
epidemic affections of the digestive organs, 
which occurred in New York city in 1868, to 
the use of meat from such diseased cattle. 
The evidence iu favor of this view, however, 
was not very tangible. As a rule, the flesh of 
animals suffering from an acute disease should 
be rejected, no matter what the nature of the 
malady. The fleBh of Southern cattle, not 
affected with the disease in an acnle form, is 
used over the extensive region I have men¬ 
tioned, with impunity. The animals are not 
feverish; their flesh is perfectly normal in 
appearance; and the slight lesions I have 
mentioned as generally to be found, evidently 
have no inj nrions effect upon it. 
But these animals harbor a contagious germ 
—is this without effect on the heailbfulneea of 
the flesh as food ? The habitual use of snch 
flesh over a large district, must be t’:e answer 
to this question. We are in complete igno¬ 
rance as to the nature of the germ in question, 
and it may be doubted if its habitat, in the 
body of these animals, extends beyond the 
digestive organs and bile ducts. 
In my report to the Commissioner of Agri¬ 
culture, which will soon be published, I have 
furnished evidence which proves the gradual 
extension of the infected district towards the 
North, and I have insisted upon the importance 
of adopting measures for checking this exten¬ 
sion. These measures are the well-known san¬ 
itary regulations which nearly all civilized 
nations, with the exception of the Uaued 
States, have adopted to limit the destructive¬ 
ness of contagious diseases. The individual 
States seem powerless in this matter, and it is 
only by a Congressional law of general appli¬ 
cation that we can hope for relief; but while 
the contagions pleuro pneumonia of cattle iB 
not deemed of sufficient importance to receive 
the attention of our Congress, it is scarcely to 
be hoped that Texas fever will receive any 
notice from this august assembly until it is 
too late to accomplish beneficial results. 
fiaicu §)itsbairtni. 
THE DAIRY COW-NO. 13. 
HENRT 8TEWART. 
Milk-Houses. 
Milk-houses may be constructed of wood, 
of stone or of brieK. If well constructed, one 
kind may be made as useful as another. For 
Borne purposes a frame house is the best, re¬ 
taining an even temperatnre better than any 
other. Air passes through brick and plaster 
with much greater facility man is generally 
supposed- In a test once made the air, forced 
by a wind pressure of only three pounds on a 
square foot, passed through a brick wall plas¬ 
tered inside, with such ease that, when collect¬ 
ed by a funnel one foot square and discharged 
?IG. 347. 
through a small orifice, it was sufficient to ex • 
tingmsh the flame of a common candle. It Is 
this passage of air through brick, which causes 
a deposit of ice on the inner surface of the 
wall of a warmed house when a coid wind is 
blowing outside, or a deposit of dew on the 
inner wall of a cold house when a warm wind 
Is blowing in the Summer. But a frame house 
mnst be well constructed, otherwise it will 
soon begin to decay at the foundation and this 
will at once destroy its usefulness. The frame 
honse should be supported upon brick founda¬ 
tions, and if the soil is suitable, the foundation 
should be 6nnk at least four feet below the 
surface. A section through the center of a 
convenient milk-house is shown in the illustra¬ 
tion—fig. 347. 
tig. 34S. 
The foundation is of brick or stone, and is 
carried up sniff dentiy to preserve the timber 
from decay. The floor is covered with hy¬ 
draulic cement concrete three inches thick, 
and is fiuished with a light coat of clear 
cement and sand in eqnal parts. One window 
is on the north side, and is protected by a wire 
genze screen against flies. A space of two 
feet is left above the ceiling, and through this 
