OCT. 30 
723 
THE RURAL NEW- YORKER. 
county is about two-thirds prairie and one- 
third timber. There is an abundance of build¬ 
ing stone and stone coal. We have two rail¬ 
roads, one from St. Louis north, and the other 
from QuiDcey west. Improved land can be 
bought for no to $25 per acre ; wild land for $5 
to $10. There is no place in the northeast part 
of the Slate that offers greater inducements to 
immigrants than Adair County. We have scores 
that have been father west and northwest 
and who have returned satisfied to stay here. 
Oar population is made up largely of Eastern 
people, and we claim to have got out of the old- 
fogy rut that was worn deep iu slavery times. 
Tbepeop.e are uow free, happy and intelligent. 
Kirksville, Adair Co., Mo., Jake. 
-- 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Kansas, Elliuwood, Barton Co., Oct. 10.— 
The prospects for Western Kansas, at present, 
for a full wheat crop next year, have not been 
so good for the five years that I have been 
here. On October 2 we had very good rains, 
so that the farmers have again begun plowing 
to put more wheat in. The area of wheat sown 
is larger than last year, and it comes up ut 
once. Lust year much did not even sprout. 
The corn crop is far below an average this 
season. A heavy frost oa October 4, killed the 
late vines, such as squash, etc. J. o. 3. 
Montana, Warm Springe, Deer Lodge Co , 
Oct. 10.—Grain crops have been badly dam¬ 
aged by hail, and will yield only about one- 
flflh of an average crop. The hay crop is 
larger this year than last. Potatoes are a fine 
crop ; the average yield all over this valley is 
fully 300 bushels per acre. Lust year I had 
poor luck with the Rural's Beauty of Hebron, 
saving only six tubers, which I planted this 
year and dug one bushel this Fall. The Rit¬ 
ual's mangold are splendid; all the people 
here want some. They weigh from eight to 
thirteen pouudB apiece. Fanners are through 
with haying and grain cutting and are thrash¬ 
ing and gathering their potatoes and root 
crops. a. j. 
Mo., Tipton, Moniteau Co., Sept. 24.—Our 
corn crop was light. Fruit is abundant,. 
Wheat was considerably injured by r chinch 
bugs; sowing the Fall crop is very nearly all 
finished. m. s. 
N. Y., Farmer Village, SenecaCo., Oct. 18.— 
We have hud a very dry Summer. Wheat crop, 
good; corn, ditto; oats and barley rather 
short, owing to dry, hot weather at the time of 
heading; very little seed clover in the county. 
A great deal of Timothy has been sown this 
Fall. Fall wheat does not look well—not 
much top and it is turning yellow from 
drought. A great deal of phosphate is need in 
this part of the county ; very little wheat is 
sown without it. Apples are plentful and cheap, 
Belling at from 50 to 75 cts. per barrel; wind¬ 
falls, 10 cts. per bushel at the dry house. Fall 
pasture is short; hay scarce and high ; straw 
iu great demand. w. m. c. 
N. Y., Jonesvllle, Saratoga Co., Oct. 19.— 
Fall rains have hitherto failed us, and water is 
scarce; many wells are dry and some farmers 
nave to drive their stock a considerable di - 
tance to water. Crops in general were fair. 
Hay and potatoes, however, are light. Fall 
feed has been very poor. Hay sells at $16 to 
$30 per ton; oats, 45c. per bushel ; potatoes, 
$1.25 per barrel; butter, 28 to 3 c. per pound ; 
pork, $7 per 100 pouuds. The ground is so 
dry that we cannot plow. f. b. w. 
ifnmit. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be Accompanied by the name and 
address of the writer to insure attention.] 
Choice Peaches. 
G. II., BoBsardsville, Pa., asks, 1, the names 
and a description of ihe best varieties of 
peaches for market; 2, the names of three or 
four varieties of peaches that ripen about the 
same time—September 1—in thatsec Jon. Mon¬ 
roe Co., Pa. 
An8. —We can devise no better reply to the 
queries of our fiiend, than to refer him to 
ihe lists and recoinmendaiions of John Rutter, 
of West Chester, Pa., to be found at pages 86 
io 88 of his book, recently published with the 
eoiumeudaibnof the Peun-ylyauia Fruit Grow¬ 
ers’ Society, Mr. Rutter’s long experience, 
on the spot, ought to be a guarantee for the 
soundness of his advice; although it is to us 
a matler of astonishment that the society 
should become committed to such a rnedly 
of crudities, not to say ignorance, as appeal s 
upon its pages. We cannot even commend 
hiB list of varieties, without a measure of 
dissent. Amadeu’s June and Alexander (both 
included lu the list) are, for all practical 
purposes, identical; hence one may oe 
omitted. Downing aud Wilder are yet too 
little kuowu; while, last year, they rip¬ 
ened with the foregoing, and were in no re¬ 
spect better. Beatrice is too small for market, 
hence of doubtful value for the purpose. Hale’s 
Early is under similar condemnation, on ac¬ 
count of its strong tendency to rot before ma¬ 
turity. For these reasons, these varieties, if 
ydanted at all, should certainly be planted 
but sparingly till their succees shall be 
more fully assured. George IV. is a very fine 
amateur peach, ripening in advance of Early 
Grawfoid; but it lacks the firmness of tex¬ 
ture so essential iu a market peach ; aud hence 
if planted for this purpose, it should be because 
of a lack of others to fill Its particular season. 
Yellow Rareripe may mean any one of quite 
a number of varieties to which this name is 
applied ; hence the planter should assure him¬ 
self as to its identity before planting. Sus¬ 
quehanna is a large, beuuliful and exrellent 
yellow peach; but it has neen charged with 
persistent lack of productiveness; and for thiB 
reason, it should be employed with caution. 
Sal way. Late Heath and lleadly (?) are com¬ 
mended as October varieties ; and may be ex¬ 
pected occasionally, in uufavoiable seasons, 
to ripen imperfectly. They would, doubtless 
prove more satisfactory farther south. The 
peaches recommended by the N. J. Hort. So¬ 
ciety for general culture are: Crawford's 
Early, Honest John, Large Early York, Moun¬ 
tain Hose, Stump the World, Old Mixon. 
Crawford's Late, Morris Co. Rareripe, Smock, 
and Keyport White. The four last named are 
late varieties. 
The Agricultural Colleges In the United 
States. 
E. E. B , Manor, Texas, asks us to publish a 
list of all the agricultural colleges in theUnited 
States where boys can pay for their education 
by their work. 
Ans.—I n all our agricultural colleges, so 
far as we know, some fees are charged all 
the Btudentf, and in all of them the latter have 
to pay for their own board. In most of them, 
however, wages are paid to those among the 
students who work on the college farms. Full 
information as to the terms on which students 
are admitted can be obtained by writing to the 
president of each college, and for the conven¬ 
ience of mch of our readers as may desire to 
obtain such information, we here give a list of 
all the agricultural colleges iu the country. 
Colleges with no farms are marked with a 
6tar. 
Xante of the institution. 
I Post-office ad¬ 
dress of the State. 
I president. 
Atf. and Meet). Col. of Ala.Auburn. Ala. 
Ark. Industrial University.Fayetteville.. Ark. 
Ax., Mtiling, .-ml Meeh. Arts 
Cot , Uuiv. of Cal... Berkeley.Cal. 
•Sheffield Sci«i.Sch’l. YaleGoL!New Haven., Conn. 
A*. uepATtinental Del. Col......[Newark.Bel. 
Florida State Ag'l Col .Tallahassee.. Fla. 
•lia. State Col of Ag’l audMeeU. 
arts .AthouB. Ha. 
NorthGa. Ik'I Col.DMilonfiKH .. .a. 
Illinois IudUnlriU Ciiiv..... Irwna .... ill. 
1’nrUMo Uruv. Ag’l Col.... La Fayette.,, tud. 
IoWA otatc Ak' 1 Col... Ames......... Iowa. 
Eauh&s -Stati? Ag’l Col....,.Manhattan... Nan. 
AK'land Meet). Oil., Kv. Diuv.. Lexington.... Jxy. 
Aif'l and Meeh Col oi La.. New Orleans. La. 
Me. State Col. or AK- and Meeh. 
Arta..Orono.Me. 
Maryland Air’l Col....... 'g’l ColMd. 
•Mass. Inst, of Technology.Boston. Mass. 
Mass Ajg'l Col.Amherst. Mass. 
Mlull. Sluts Ag'l Col. Lansing.Mich. 
Cul. of Ag. ana Meeh. Arta.UniV, 
of Miuu ,. .. .... Minneapolis.. Minn. 
Col.oi Ag. and Meeh. Arts,Uuiv. 
of Miss...,.(Oxford.'Mias. 
Alcorn Uuivornity.... Rodney.Miss. 
Ag\ and Meeh. Col., Uuiv, of Mo. Columbia..,.. Mo. 
Mo. School of Mines aud Metal¬ 
lurgy, Uuiv. of Mo.I Rolla .] Mo. 
Ag 1 Col., Uuiv. of Neb. 1 Lincoln. Nod. 
CM. of Ag , Uihv. of Nov . Elko... h'ev. 
N. H. Cot of Ag. and Meeh. Arts. 
Dartmouth Col.... Hanover.'N. H. 
Scientific School oi Rutgers Col X. Brunswick N. J. 
Col oi Ag., Meeh. Arts, Ac., Cor- 
i ell Uuiv ..... Ithaca.N. Y. 
Ag'l and Meeh. Col,. Uuiv. oi 
N. C ..... Chapel Hill.. N. C. 
Ohio Ag’l and Moch. Col.Columbus... Ohio. 
Btute Ag’l Col , Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis.Oreg. 
Penn. Mute Col. Of Ag.State College. Fa. 
•Ag'l and iicieutilic don't Brown 
Unit.. Providence ., B. J. 
S. C. Ag’l Co!., and Meeh. Inst., 
Claflin Uuiv..•.. OrangehiU'gh S. O. 
Tenu. AgTCol n I ulv.of K. Tenu. Knoxville l'eun. 
Ar’ 1 auu Meeh Col. oi T exas College Stat’u Texas. 
-Uuiv.of vt and State Ag’l Col Burlington .. Vt. 
\ a. Ag'l aud Meoll. Col. Blacksbiugti, Vu. 
Hampton Normal aud Ag’l lust. Hampton_ Va. 
Ag’l dep’t. Uuiv. of W. \a. Morgantown. IW. Va. 
Cel. of Arts,&e.. UaiV.Of Wis... Madison.....,| Wis. 
Fruit Houses. 
Rev. V. Le Roy Lockwood. D. D., Ann Arbor, 
Mich., writes us: “We have in our city a 
1 poinologicul society,’ composed of many fruit 
growers, especially of peaches. This is a very 
fine region for this fruit, aud this season the 
yield was unusually large, as it was indeed 
everywhere else. We had two weeks of very 
hot weather accompanied with rnneb rain and 
dampness. It was impossible to gather aud 
ship the fruit crop at once, and the market 
became glutted, while great, quantities per¬ 
ished on the trees. Hence our society feel the 
need of some way of protecting and preserv¬ 
ing the fruit for a few days in such emergen¬ 
cies until the market is relieved, the weather 
cooler and prices more remunerative. This 
season’s experience shows that nearly all the 
profits are lost under such circumstauces 
We have been discussing the feasibility of 
making a large union fruit-preserving house 
where all interested could place their peaches 
in baskets on shelves for a few days, when 
necessary, and so have them in good condition 
for the market when the great pressure is re¬ 
moved. Now we have only some vague hints 
as to the best mode and plan for making snch 
a houao, but uo practical experience. Can you 
put us in correspondence with proper parties, 
or refer ua to any book or paper containing 
such plans, instructions, etc., as we need? I 
believe there are some patented houses for 
such purposes. We prefer a house which It 
will pay one or two Individuals or more to 
erect without paying a patent royalty. Are 
there any such within your knowledge ? 
[We have no information of any value upon 
the above subject, and therefore publish the 
letter so that those who have may reply, if 
they will. Eds ] 
A Southern Cow. 
(?. S. H., War then. Ga., asks, 1, what is the 
best cow for milking purposes; 2, what kind 
of food is the best for milk; 3, how many 
pounds of food can a cow consume per day; 
4, what is a cheap and convenient plan for 
building stables for stock ; 5, what is the aver¬ 
age weight of a grown bronze turkey ; 6, where 
can such turkeys be had; 7 1 , where c in four- 
gallon cows be purchased and at what price. 
Ans.— 1. For Georgia the Ayrshire would be 
found the best in all probability, or perhaps a 
high grade Jersey; but the Ayrshire is very 
hardy and wili keep in good order where other 
cowswillnot. 2. In the Southern States wheat 
bran and eulton-seed meal, two quarts of each 
daily, with grass, corn fodder, green or dry 
hay ; or cow-pea vines would be excellent food 
and easily procured. 3 Such a cow as could 
be kept in the South, that is, one oi the smaller 
breeds, as Ayrshire or Jersey, would consume 
60 pounds of grass or 15 pounds of hay daily 
with the meal above mentioned. 4. There is 
no cheaper or more convenient plan of stalls 
for stock than the dairy sheds described in the 
article on The Dairy Cow, page 634. 5. Bronze 
turkeys weigh from 12 to 40 pounds, according 
to breeding and feeding. 6 These turkeys are 
quite common and can he procured of any 
poultry dealer. Study the advertising columns. 
7. Sixteen-quart bows are very plentiful aud 
can be purchased for $50 upwards. Doubtless 
a short advertisement in the business columns 
of the Rural New-Yorker would bring you 
several offers of such cows. 
'Vomitlon In a Cow. 
A. W., Southold , Suffolk Uo., W, FI, has a 
yearling heiter that appears well and has a good 
appetite, but she vomits during the night 
nearly all the food she has eaten duriDg the 
day. In what she throws up stones as large 
as a crow’s egg, have been noticed sometimes. 
His cattle are well supplied with good water 
drawn three or four times a day; but this 
beast will drink the drainage from the cow 
yard in preference. She does not appear to 
fall away in flesh, though she bas been vomit¬ 
ing in this way for about six weeks. 
Ans —This is a very rare condition and due 
to a depraved appetite, probably induced by 
indigestion. Confine this animal in a stall that, 
she may eat only what is given her; feed light 
but nutritious mashes, not cooked, with a small 
quantity of Timothy or other good hay. Gi\e 
a mild purgative, from half a pound to a 
pouud of Epsom salts, after which, give with 
food, daily for a month, sulphate of iron, one 
drachm ; nux vomica, one half drachm ard 
ground anise-seed, two ounces. 
Compost of Ashes and Cotton-seed. 
B , no address, asks whether hard-wood 
sawdust and unleached wood ashes will make 
a good compost if mixed with one-tenth by 
bulk or weight of cotton-seed meal. 
Ans. —This compost would not be advisable. 
It would be too concentrated and too dry. If 
you can procure muck from a swamp and use 
10 parts of this with one part each of ashes 
aud whole cotton-seed, you would have a good 
compost. Whole seed is preferable to the 
meal for this purpose, as the hulls are rich in 
potash and phosphoric acid. It would be best 
to burn the sawdust and convert it to ashes 
and use these. Sawdust is too dry and en¬ 
courages dry rot in manure or composts; it 
does not rot soon in Ihe soil, and there is little 
in it that is valuable except the ash. If swamp 
muck or pond muck is not available, the earth 
from a cow-pen or the black soil aud decayed 
leaves frein woods might be used. The heap 
should be kept moist. 
BlllygoaUawny, 
V. G- F., Flushing, L. I., asks the meaning 
of the above word whiph he styles long, odd 
and unpronouncable, and which he lately 
found in a description of the dishes at a 
dinner. 
Ans. —If our correspondent will divide this 
void into three parts, he will find it easily 
pronounced. " Billy," the first part, is the 
name usually given to a domestic ‘‘he 1 ’ goat. 
The second partis “goat." The third part, 
“ tawny," may mean the color, which, if so, 
sbouta be written with e left out. The name 
Billygoattawny was given to a dish of kid or 
goat soup, set ved up as one of fhe dishes at 
the “ Kid Dinner.” lately partaken by the 
members of the British Goat Society, when 
' they held their superb show of goats at the 
Alexandra Palace Id Eugland, reference to 
which was made in our last issue, and is again 
in this. 
Patent Bee-hives. 
C. G., Damascus, Pa., asks for the names of 
the various patented bee-hives, if any, as he 
is informed that there is no patent on any hive 
now, all haviDg “expired." He and several 
of his neighbors would make the “ American " 
and several other hives, if they were sure that 
they would not infringe on a patent by doing 
so. 
Ans. —There are a few features patented in 
certain hives ; for instance, Shock of Iowa, has 
a patent on the porous walls to his hives ; Geo. 
T. Wheeler, on the shoulders on bis frames, 
etc , etc.; tut when the Langstroth patent on 
movable frames “ ran out or expired ’’ in 1876, 
all that was practical in bee-hives became pub¬ 
lic property. There is no patent of any de¬ 
scription whatever on the American, Lang¬ 
stroth, Qulnby, or Gallup hive, and these are 
the best hives in use at the present time. 
Miscellaneous. 
W. II. C., Springboro', Ohio, asks, 1, whether 
clematis can be propagated iu this country 
and, if so, how; 2, do we know anything about 
a preparation called " Ozone Preserving,” ad¬ 
vertised in a Western agricultural paper. 
Ans. —1. Clematis may be propagated by 
cuttings, grafting, layers or seeds. Seeds ger¬ 
minate slowly, requiring generally from six 
months to two years. The cuttings should be 
placed in sand and subjected to bottom heat. 
The finer kinds of clematis are best grafted 
upon vigorous-growing stocks. Upon their 
own roots they ofttimes prove feeble. 2, The 
number of fresh nostrums that are being con¬ 
stantly introdneed to the dear public is too great 
for us to “keep track of" any of them, unless 
onr attention has been epecially called to it, 
hence we at present know nothing about the 
above pieparation. 
F, E.B., Keene, N. H., asks, 1, the address 
of Gen Le Due, Commissioner of the National 
Sheep and Wool Exhibition; 2, the best place 
to commence sheep raising on a capital of 
$900. 
Ans.— 1, Washington D. C. He is the Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture. 2, Some parts of 
Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas. Califor¬ 
nia. Oregon and the Western Territories, are 
especially adapted to raising sheep profitably, 
as are many other sections; but success de¬ 
pends on so many contingencies that it would 
be unwise for us to recommend specially any 
particular locality. 
A Sxibscriber, Bedford, N. FI, asks, 1, 
whether air-slaked lime is as good as un- 
slaked lime for composting with swamp muck; 
2. whether it will pay to buy lime at $1.50 per 
barrel for that purpose. 
Ans —I, Yes if placed in layers very thin 
and flue. But unslaked lime is always lumpy, 
which would make its action too fierce in some 
places. Better slake the lime by water. Thi& 
is better than air-slaked lime. 2, If the land 
needs lime, yes; if not, farm manure, ashes, 
fish, flesh, ulood, offal, night-soil, bird dung 
or potassic fertilizers had better be used. 
See article, by Prof. Storer, entitled “A Sci¬ 
entific View of Composts," in the Rurals of 
Aug. 7. 14 and 28, especially the last, and 
“The Value of Lime in Composts" in “ The 
Historv ol a Poor Farm ” in Rural of Nov, 
15th, 1879. 
T. B. N , St. Joseph, Mo., referring to our 
statement, in a late issue, that the sod of the 
field on which grew our great yield of Indian 
corn, was plowed under in early Winter and 
thoroughly harrowed and rolled last Spring, 
asks whether it would be well to break prairie 
now for corn and harrow it in the Spring. 
Ans.—W e cannot answer this question bet¬ 
ter than by saying we 6hall plow our field in¬ 
tended for corn next season (now in pasture) 
as soon as our more pressing farm work is 
completed. 
L. II. Warren, O., asks for full instructions 
In flax culture. 
Ans. —The article on this subject under 
“Field Crops,” was written iu answer to 
this and several other inquiries oh that topic, 
all of which are answered in one par t or an¬ 
other. of the article. 
W H. J., Kewark. IV. J., asks whether the 
suckers from old Strawberry plants are as 
good to set out as young and vigorous plants. 
Ans. —The young plants are produced from 
suckers of the older ones. 
J. B.A , Collmgtcood. Canada, asks whether 
the magnolia can bo wintered out-of-doors, or 
must it be housed. 
Ans. —It must be housed in your climate. 
M. N. N-. Hermitage, Mo., sends a specimen 
of an apple for name. 
Ans —The apple, though well packed, was 
wholly decayed when received on Oct 15. 
COMMUNICATION'S RECEIVED FOR THE WEEK END¬ 
ING Saturday, Oct. lfl. 
L. S. H.-J. W. L.-J. E. R.-G. W. F.—R. G. K. 
—W. M- C.-E- P. F—J. B.—G. TJ. S—R. M. L.— 
J. A. M.—J. H.—G. H.—A. W.-J. C. M.—J. S. W. 
—W. G,—J. P.—M. P. W.—J. H. M.—W. II. B.—W. 
S. C.—J. G. B.—N. F. H.—T. T. L.—C. N. G.—C. 
D., thanks.—H. K.—N. J. S.—F. K. P.—C. N G.— 
W. M —A. J.-B. P. M.-F. W. S.—C. A. B,—F. B. 
W.-H. A. W.—R. A.—W. H. C.-D. E. 8. 
To restore nerve and brain waste, nothing 
equals Hop Bitters. Believe this. 
