feet in length, 38 feet in width aud 47 feet from 
the basement floor to the peak of the roof. It 
stands on the side of a steep hill from which 
there is an entrance to each floor. 
On the north side of it aD enormous silo has 
been built, at a cost of §1.500, for the preser¬ 
vation of green fodder during Winter. It is 
56 feet long, 10 feet wide and 23 feet in inte¬ 
rior depth. In making the foundation the soil 
was removed for three feet below the bottom, 
and the space HU-d up wiih cobble stones, on 
the top of which rests a stone pavement. The 
walls are three feet thick and pointed outside 
and inside. The interior is divided crosswise 
by a brick partition 20 inches thick, grouted, 
like, the whole interior, with Portland cement, 
thus forming two silos. To fill these, eight acres 
of a species of Southern yellow corn were sowed 
iD drills 14 inches apart, about June 10. It 
was cut about September 10, when the ears 
were still iu the milk. The stalks were nearly 
as large as those of the Blount Corn, averaging 
12$ feet high and weighing from four to five 
and a half pounds each. The silos are at 
present only half full, though they contain 600 
loads of fodder corn. In filling them a cutting 
machine, run by steam power, was placed on 
an opening high up in the side of each tilo at 
the level at which the corn was delivered, the 
delivery end of the machine projecting 
over the silo, so that as fast as the stalks 
were cut they dropped to the bottom, 
where three men were kept busy distrib¬ 
uting and trampling them down. It took four 
days to fill one silo, and three the other. Each 
silo ia covered with boards 16 feet long, 
tougned aDd grooved together in sections three 
and a half feet wide. These are covered with 
planks laid across to bind theft! together, and 
the whole weighed down with 50 tons of stone 
for each silo. This enormous Superincumbent 
weight, com pressing the contents into a solid 
mass, has already caused a sUriukage of several 
feet since the silo3 were filled. These are now 
hermetically closed and will not be opened 
until the first of December. 
---- 
56inc Plant Labels. 
From several articles going the rounds of 
newspapers I notice much is said of the excel¬ 
lence of zinc labels for fruit trees, as though 
they were of recent u6e. By reference to the 
volumes of the Horticulturist of A. J. Down¬ 
ing, published some 30 years ago, it will be 
found that I had used ziue labels, written upon 
with the black lead pencil, for many years be¬ 
fore. A chemical ink had been used for this 
purpose before that time, hat this not being al¬ 
ways at hand, I occasionally wrote without it, 
and soon found that the writing becaire inde¬ 
structible, the plumbago being so, while tne 
zinc corroded and wore away, thus making 
the inscription permanent, So much for the 
history aud application of the thing of which I 
have had at least forty years’ experience. 
Dorchester, Mass. Marshall P. Wilder. 
-- 
CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURAL EXPERI¬ 
MENT STATION. 
Bulletin No. 43, Oct. 23, 1880. 
Forrester’s Fertilizers. 
The seven fertilizers whose analyses are 
herewith reported were manufactured by H. J. 
Baker & Bro., New York, aod were sampled 
in May, June and July, and sent to the Station 
by 8. B. Wakeman, dealer, of Saugatutk. The 
samples were received July 17th. 
i73 was taken from stoek bought by A. C. 
Lyon of Easton. 
469. Forrester’s lawn dressing. 
470 . “ fruit tree manure. 
471 . “ wheat manure. 
472. “ Etrawberry manure. 
473 . “ tobacco manure. 
474. “ grass manure. 
475. “ rye manure. 
ANALYSES. 
8. W. Johnson, Director* 
BRIEFLET8. 
Ip the age of men were to be reckoned only 
by hours and days well spent most of us would 
be in our infancy—some of us not yet born. . . . 
. . We have received a sample of excellent 
sugar made by our occasional contributor, 
“Hector Bertram” of Corning, N. Y., from 
Early Amber Cane. His aceomp&Dying letter, 
which we intended to publish, was lost. 
Mr. H, B. EUwauger, writing of peaches to the 
London Garden, says that Alexander and Ams- 
den are so much alike that one will answer for 
the other. They ripen a week before Early 
Beatrice, the Alexander averaging the larger; 
—thcAmsden being a trifle better in quality. 
Like their parent,Hale's Early, they are semi- 
clings, juicy, large and of high flavor. Water¬ 
loo, judging from the fruit of the original tree, 
averages larger and earlier.Early 
Beatrice aud Early Lonise are of poor quality. 
Early Rivers ripens within a day or so of Louise 
and is a superb sort, the best in flavor of any 
Mr. Rivers has raised. Cooledge's Favorite is 
one of the most desirable varietiee for any 
purpose, that we have. Scarcely any other 
sort combines in equal measure the qualities 
of hardiness, productiveness aud high flavor. . 
.... Mr. EUwauger deems Crawford’s Early 
and Crawford’s Late our most popular yellow- 
fleshi d market varieties."We should 
like to make our special Corn Number worth 
from $100 to ,$5,000 to eyery subscriber. It 
will be the Hist, number in January. All of 
our writers, all of our subscribers are solicited 
to contribute any valuable information they 
may be possessed of in relation to coru. . . . 
. . The vintage of California is now pretty 
well ascertained to be the largest ever produc¬ 
ed iu that State. It is estimated at as high as 
fourteen million gallons.Mr Courad 
Wilson issues this month a doable number of 
his Business Farmer and Station Record. It 
has been somewhat delayed by Mr. Wilson’s 
sudden aud severe sickness; but it is a grand 
number and we tru6t Mr. Wilson may long 
carry on his good work without interruption 
and with all the zest and earnestness that 
characterize bis present work.Rob¬ 
ert Douglas and Sons, of Waukegan, Ill., 
speak of the ailanthuB tree as follows: "It 
may be planted in every part of the United 
States south of the 40th parallel, in the very 
poorest soli and most exposed situations. It 
will grow with great rapidity while young. 
Produces limber of great value for fuel or cab¬ 
inet work. It should not, on aeeount of the 
disagreeable odor of the male flowers, be 
planted near dwellings. It is especially recom¬ 
mended for poor, dry, barren soils.”. 
They recomuieud the Red Cedar (Juuiperus 
Virgiuiana) Jor the plains of Kansas and Ne¬ 
braska, where, in fact, it is the ouly indigen¬ 
ous tree. We think that enough has not been 
said in favor ol this tree as a hedge plant. It 
will bear cutting back as well us the arbor- 
vi'.se, and is more hardy.It is sugges¬ 
tive that, notwithstanding the fact that many 
die of starvation in India, the poppy in many 
parts of the country displaces the cereals. . . 
. . . Professor Cook finds, from experiments 
begun in 1872 aud continued every year since, 
that sulphate of ammonia has no beneficial 
effects upon corn, but that, on the contrary, 
both corn and stalks are diminished in weiuht 
by its use. He finds that the use of muriate of 
potash has been beneficial to both corn and 
stalks and this has been the case so many times 
that he considers that it establishes the fact 
that corn is a potash plant. 
—-_- 4 - ♦ » - - ■ 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Manual of Cattle Feeding, by Henry P. 
Armsby, Ph. D., Chemist of the Connecticut 
Agricultural Experiment Station; published, 
by John Wiley & Sons, 1 > Astor Place, N. Y. 
This handsome, cloth-bound volume of 525 
pages goes a great way towards filling a great 
desideratum lu American agricultural litera¬ 
ture. Investigation luto the laws which form 
the basis of the rational feeding of live stock 
has been industriously carried on of late years, 
and many important advancesbave beenmade, 
especially in Germany, particularly within the 
last 20 years; but unfortunately the ascertained 
results have been almost inaccessible to Amer¬ 
ican readers, as only fragments of the works 
containing them have been translated, chiefly 
for the columns of agricultural papers. The 
present work draws largely upon the work6 ol 
the celebrated German scientist, Wolff, but 
Kuhn’s tables of the composition and digesti¬ 
bility of feeding stuffs have been substituted 
for those of the former expert, because tables 
arranged on the latter’s plan are thought pref¬ 
erable to those containing simple averages, as 
do Wolff’s. The author, however, has not 
been content to confine himself to mere trans¬ 
lations of foreign works, valuable as these 
would have been ; but he has made many ad¬ 
ditions aud given numerous new illustrations. 
Nor has he merely stated the results, for he 
has also indicated theproeusses by which these 
results have been reached, and the degree of 
certainty attached to them, as well as pointed 
out the dim:Won )u which our knowledge is 
still deficient. The work is written and 
arranged in a form intelligible to ordinary read¬ 
ers who are willing to beBtow on it the fair 
share of attention and Btudy without which no 
valuable information can be obtained. We 
strongly recommend it to all our readers who 
desire to avail themselves of the profitable re¬ 
sults of the special studies of many careful 
scientists who have spent years in investigat¬ 
ing the subject of economical stock feeding. 
Annual Report of the Michigan State 
Board of Agriculture for iS79. This report is 
very full ill Farmers’ Institute reports and 
miscellaneous papers covering all the impor¬ 
tant features of State agriculture, and show¬ 
ing that the society is in a very flourishing 
condition and doing the most efficient service. 
North American Axkbhire Register, Vol. 
IV., This handsome volume of 176 pages, 8 
mo., by Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant, South 
Framingham, Mass., contains the pedigrees, 
traced to importations, of 232 bulls and 482 
cows of the Ayrshire breed, together with 
some additions to, and corrections of, the 
contents of former volumes, and a list of the 
Ayrshire breeders in this country. 
Quarterly Report of Statistics, Treas¬ 
ury Department, relative to imports, exports, 
Immigration and navigation of the U. S. for 
three months ended June 30,1880. Also con¬ 
taining other statistics relative to the trade 
and industry of the country. 
Specimen Book of 100 Architectural 
Designs, showing plans, elevations and views 
of suburban houses, villas, sea-side and camp¬ 
ground cottages, homesteads, churches and 
public buildings by Biekuell As Co., 194 Broad¬ 
way, N, Y. _ 
Report of the Entomologist of the Uuited 
States Department of Agriculture for 1879 by 
J. Henry Comstock. Illustrated. This is full 
of practical, timely information and reflects 
much credit upon Prof. Comstock. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
Superabundance of Apples. —We wish to 
suggest for the consolation of orehardists who 
are inclined to murmur at the superabundant 
crop of apples this year, that already there is 
evidence that this superabundance will be 
overruled for good to American fruiL-growors. 
Apples are being shipped to Europe this Fall 
in greater quantities than ever before, and as 
they are cheaper than ever, they will adver¬ 
tise themselves thoroughly and successfully, 
aud we shall hereafter expect a foreigu de¬ 
mand such as we have not known in the past. 
So Mr. Ilyae expresses himself iu the N. Y. 
Times, agreeing with our " Brevity” iu the 
Rural of October 9. 
Digging Potatoes —A Maine farmer says 
in the N. Y. Herald that he paid his men $1 25 
per day for digging aud pitting potatoes, which 
coBt six cents per bushel. He told two of 
the men he would give them five cents pei 
bushel if they would do the work. They took 
the job and went to work, and dug and pitted 
100 bushels per day, and went home sometimes 
by four o’clock iu the afternoon. The farmer 
saved one cent per bushel, or §1 per day ; the 
men doubled their wages. 
Sugar from Amber Sugar Cane. —Mr. 
E. M. Potter, of Kalamazoo, Mich., sends the 
Telegraph of that place a sample of sirup from 
the Amber Sugar Caue and the following state¬ 
ment of the manner in which he grew the cane 
and had it made: 
May 10—Planted about 1-5 of an acre in 
eight rows, 3 1-2x2 12 feet, 20 rods long. May 
10—Hoed and thinned to four to five stalks in 
a hill. June—Cultivated aud hoed again; 
afterwards cultivated two or three times. 
Sept. 16—Stripped off leaves aud cut off seed- 
top. Sept. 17—Cut and hauled 68 bundles in 
two loads to Anderson’s mill one mile west of 
Comstock and corded it up, piling each tier 
of bundles crosswise. It was made Sept 23, 
aDd brought home 8ept. 27, S3 gallons of mo¬ 
lasses equal to the best New Orleans. Paid 
20 cents per gallon for making. We find the 
above in the Michigan Farmer. 
Effect of Removing Potato Blossoms. 
As the potato plaut is propagated by its tuber 
after the manner of a bud or cutting, the ef¬ 
fort made by the plant to produce its flowers 
and seeds must be a waste of power, which 
detracts from the desired crop—the tubers. 
We (Mark Lane Express) Know an instance 
in which a six-acre field of potatoes was tested 
to 6how the truth of this postulate; three rows 
had the blossoms cut off and three rows 
were left intact, alternately all over the field, 
and the produce of the rows which had been 
deprived of the flowers showed a very marked 
increase over that of the rows which had not 
been so treated. 
Adorning School Grounds— If parents 
aud school trustees cannot be induced to re¬ 
gard common decency in the matter, says Mr. 
Thomas, it would be well to procure the pas¬ 
sage of a law that no district should receive 
public money, that did not have at least a 
dozen thrifty shade or evergreen trees on the 
school grounds. These trees would not cost 
ten dollars. Agricultural and horticultural 
societies should take hold of the the matter. 
It would be more important than giving 
premiums for fat pigs and big apples. 
American Arbor vita;—Thuya Occidenta¬ 
ls. —We find the following in a catalogue just 
received from Robert Douglas <fc Sons, of Wau¬ 
kegan. Ill. Specimens of the above were sent 
to the Rural Grounds two years ago where we 
have found them to be as described below. 
Earlier reference has not been made to them 
in these columns for the reason that we were 
not informed us to when they would be offered 
for sale. The Golden Juniper referred to in 
the last paragraph is especially attractive aud 
has not during the two years been in the least 
harmed by frosts or heat -. 
“ We take great pleasure in introducing to 
the trade for the first time the following varie¬ 
ties of Thuya occidentalis originated on our 
own grounds: 
Little Gem. —One of our own seedlings, 
most dwarf and compact growth ever intro¬ 
duced. The original plant is over ten years 
old, eight inches high, and 45 inches iu circum¬ 
ference, a beautiful dark green. It is by far 
the finest arbor-viUB for edging we have ever 
aeen. 
White-Tifped. —This is one of the most 
beautiful of our sports of which we have about 
15 different varieties. Theeuds of the branches 
are tipped with white from the last of June 
until the foilowiug Spring. During the grow¬ 
ing Seasou the variegation is not as blight as 
it is after it has finished its growth, when it is 
very handsome, as the dark green color 6hows 
off the white tips to good advantage. 
A Golden Thuya Occidentalis lhat holds 
its golden color nine months in the year, dur¬ 
ing which time it is very conspicuous. 
A Thuta Occidentalis, pyramidal in form 
and with very distinct foliage, somewhat resem¬ 
bling a retinospora. 
Next year we will introduce a very flue Gol¬ 
den Juniper. It is one of the best, plants for 
ornamental rockwork we ever saw. It is as 
bright as the Golden Yew, aud retains its color 
nearly or quite all the season.” 
European Larch, —Robert Douglas of Wau- 
kegaB, Ill., says of this that it succeeds best 
planted on gravelly upland, anywhere north of 
the 40th paiallel; grows rapidly even on thin, 
poor soils. Timber durable and valuable for 
lies, posts, etc. If planted on very rich or un¬ 
drained soils, the timber ia said to be of little 
value. Must be planted very early iu the 
Spring. 
White Ash. —This they remark may be 
planted in rich, strong soil, in any portion of 
the United Slates north of the S8lU parallel. 
Wood unequaled for all purposes requiring 
strength, elasticity and lightness. It is be¬ 
coming scarce, and is in great demand. 
Hard* Catalpa, C. speciosa, may be plant¬ 
ed in rich, strong soil, anywhere south of the 
42d parallel, but has not been tested in New 
EDglaud. Is especially recommended for t’se 
Western praiyies, where the growth is exceed¬ 
ingly rapid. Wood uuequaled for durability, 
and in great demand for ties, posts, etc.; also 
valuable for cabinet work. Especially recom¬ 
mended. 
Wild Black Cherry. Frunus serotina, may 
be planted in any part of the Uuited States, in 
a dry soil. Grows rapidly. Wood iu great de¬ 
mand for cabinet making. 
Scotch Pine —Will grow rapidly in the 
poorest 6oil and most exposed situation, 
where it will make better timber than on too 
rich soil. 
Acclimating Cattle in Texas.— Oue of 
the greatest obstacles to the improvement of 
the vast herds of cattle on the Texas prairies by 
crossmg the cows with bulls of the Short horn, 
Hereford, Polled Angus or other desirable 
breeds, lies in the difficulty of acclimating 
these. The great majority of cattle imported 
from the North or Europe into the Lone Star 
Stale soon succumb to the Texas fever ; nor is 
there any kuown system of treatment by 
which the animals can be guarded against 
itsattackB. lu thfi National Live-8Lock Jour¬ 
nal for October, a l’exan correspondent gives 
hi6 experience with repaid to 30 head of cat¬ 
tle he imported from Kentucky iu '79. These 
consisted of 30 Short-horn heifer calves, five 
Short-horu bull calves, two yearling Short¬ 
horn heifers and three Jersey hc-iiers. On 
their arrival in thrifty condition on Decem¬ 
ber 13, they were put in a lot where no other 
cattle had been for severul months, and care¬ 
fully rationed on crushed corn, ground oats 
and cotton seed with hay and oal straw 
rb rough feed, the feed being changed 
slightly several times as judgment directed 
until March 20. when, the prairie grass being 
good, the heifers were turned out 
