running too far off, and perhaps to clip the 
ends of any vine growing too rampant. The 
cost of this style of trellis, using No. 10 wire, 
is, with us, from §70 to §80 per acre. 
Berrien Co., Mich. JOHN aylsworth. 
Stye Norseman. 
THE SHIRE HORSE. 
The English Cart Horse Society lately had 
a very successful exhibition at the Agricul- 
tural Hall, Islington, London. The entries 
numbered no fewer than 858—366 stallions, 25 
mares, 50 fillies and 17 geldings. The attend¬ 
ance throughout was large and the show, 
which was patronized by the Prince and Prin¬ 
cess of Wales, was quite profitable. The Duke 
of Westminster was elected President for the 
current year. The most notable incident con¬ 
nected with the meeting, however, was the 
change of nameadopte *, from that of English 
Cart Horse Society to Shire Horse Society. 
The Shire breed of heavy horses—an excellent 
specimen of which is shown at Pig. 125—can 
be traced back at least as far as 1050, ever 
since which time there has been little or no 
admixture of foreign blood. Bred pure for 
so long a time, it is no wonder that stallions 
are very prepotent, strongly impressing their 
special characteristics on their progeuy, when 
crossed on other sorts. The great profits said 
to be realized by the importation of Clydes¬ 
dale horses into this country, appears to have 
aroused the breeders of Shire horses to emu¬ 
lation. and steps are being taken to send a con¬ 
siderable number of this old breed across the 
Atlantic. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Little & Ballantyne, Carlisle, England. 
An illustrated catalogue of farm seeds, and a 
treatise on pasture grasses. 
Report of the Professor of Agriculture (E. 
M. Shelton) of the Kansas State Agricultural 
College for 1883, Manhattan, Kansas. 
Ellwanger & Barry, A descriptive cata¬ 
logue of roses for 1884—80 pages; you who 
have roses in your heart, and want them in 
your garden had better examine it. 
King & Co., 25 Lake St., Owego, N. Y. A 
price-list of custom hand-made harness. Har¬ 
ness of every description and parts thereof of 
the best quality supplied at short notice. 
The New York Plow' Co., 55 Beekman 
Street, N. Y. A thoroughly illustrated cata¬ 
logue of ensilage cutters, plows, harrows, cul¬ 
tivators, rollers, clod-crushers, horse powers, 
corn-planters, mills, steam eugines, dnmp- 
carts. etc.; also a circular of the Apex Fertil¬ 
izer Distributor, aud Apex Potato Digger. 
Reynolds & Lang, 17 and 19 East Green 
St., Ithaca, N. Y. A fiuely-illustrated cata¬ 
logue of portable, self-propelling and station¬ 
ary engines; also portable saw-milts, The 
thrasher aud farm engine illustrated, was de¬ 
signed witli reference to the ose of intelligent 
farmers, and it combines the latest improve¬ 
ments sanctioned by praeticaljteste. 
Samuel C, Moon, Morrisville Nursery, 
Morrisville, Bucks Co., Pa. Descriptive cata¬ 
logue of ornamental trees and plants, fruit 
trees, small fruits, etc. “Numbo,” a contrac¬ 
tion, it seem , of maynum bonum, applied to a 
chestnut raised on Mr. Moon’s farm; a Dwarf 
White Pine and the Japan Retinisporas are 
among the rarer plants offered. The Dwarf 
White Pine is well adapted to small places, be¬ 
ing of very slow growth. 
R. B. Mitchell & Co., 24 McCormick 
Block, Chicago, Ills. An illustrated catalogue 
(132 pages) of the Summit Lawn Poultry Es¬ 
tablishment, one of the largest in the world, 
we presume. The catalogue is very interest¬ 
ing throughout, and is full of sound advice. 
The various breeds are remarked upon; re¬ 
cipes for poultry diseases are given, and the 
catalogue will answer hundreds of questions 
which we receive during the year. The guar¬ 
antee is given that the money will be refunded 
if everything be not as represented. 
The Chase Nurseries, Geneva, N. Y. 
This is a descriptive catalogue of nursery stock 
in general. Among the novelties we see the 
Rancocas Raspberry which, it is said, stands 
among early raspberries where the Cuthbert 
does among late. It is also claimed that it 
ranks with the Hansell in earlinees and as a 
shipper, which is high praise. Plants have 
been sent to the Rural Grounds to be tested. 
Here, also, we notice the Downing’s Mammoth 
Dewberry, the fruit of which is claimed to be 
very large. As the flowers are large and showy 
it is quite ornamental. 
The American Manufacturing Co., Box 
P, Waynesboro, Pa. An illustrated catalogue 
of 64 pages, giving the various styles and 
prices of the celebrated American evaporator. 
It also gives very fully the reasons why the 
manufacturers claim these evaporators to bo 
superior to others. It also makes a very fair, 
and certainly a very favorable showing, as to 
the profits of evaporating fruits. Farmers 
should not fail to send for this catalogue; 
there is much worth reading in it. It is cer¬ 
tainly time more of our second quality fruit 
was evaporated, and less of it put into market 
to compete with aud injure prices of good 
fruit. Remember to address Box P. 
Parsons & Sons’ Company, Flushing, New 
York, A descriptive catalogue of 90 pages of 
ornamental trees aud shrubs. 
This catalogue opens with the beautiful 
Japanese maples, of which 36 different kinds 
are offered. Among the novelties we can re¬ 
commend to our readers are Acer Sehwerdle- 
rii, the leaves of which are nearly black when 
they first unfold; Cercidiphyllum Japonicum, 
Cercis Japonica; Magnolias hypoleuca, Len- 
uei, parviflora and stellata: Malus Halleana, 
Philodendron Amurense, Stuartia Japonica. 
These are for the most part deciduous trees of 
smaller stature. Among evergreens we would 
select Abies Aleockiaua, Gregoriaua, oriental- 
is; Sciadopitys verticillata; Abies polita and 
Picea Nordmanuiana. 
The Hercules Wind Engine Co., Wor¬ 
cester, Mass.—A catalogue of 40 pages, beau¬ 
tifully illustrated with lithographs, showing 
the construction, manner of erecting and the 
various uses to which their wind engine can be 
applied. This is constructed on the turbine prin¬ 
ciple, so applied that the wheel is placed in the 
barn cupola aud is not seen at all by a passer¬ 
by, and is no more likely to be blown down 
than any barn cupola. This seems to be au 
entirely new departure in wind engines and, 
judging from the testimonials of those who 
have them in use, as given in this catalogue, 
it must be very satisfactory. We advise all 
our readers who have water to pump, or any 
other work which can be done by wind power, 
to send for the catalogue and read it carefully, 
for they must get some good ideas from it In 
regard to windmills. 
Alfred Herkness & Co., Philadelphia, 
Pa. Catalogue of Imported J erseys, to be sold 
at auction at Herkness Bazaar, Philadelphia, 
Pa., May 1st aud 2d next. This catalogue is 
finely printed on fine paper, contains 150 pages 
and the pedigrees of 145 Jerseys, which were 
selected on the island by Mr. E. P. P. Fowler 
personally, who has had over 50 years’ expe¬ 
rience in selecting Jersey cattle, and has had 
the good fortune to select and import many 
fine animals that have acquired much fame as 
butter-makers, and Mr. Fowler is quite confi¬ 
dent some of the animals of this importation 
will prove quite as good. Among the noted 
animals imported by Mr. Fowler and sold by 
Messrs. Herkness & Co., are Princess 2d, with 
a butter record of 27% pounds in seven days, 
now owned by Mr. S. M. Shoemaker; also 
Ona, owned by Mir. 8. M. Burnham, with a 
record of 25 pounds 13 ouuces in seven days. 
Lovers of fine Jerseys will do well to look 
after this sale. 
John Hall is the name given by a counter¬ 
feit swindler who gives his address as 1,283% 
Broadway, this city, “care of cigar store.” 
He is sending lithograph circulars through the 
mails, and with each is inclosed what pur¬ 
ports to be a slip cut from some paper, giving 
“a broker’s view” of counterfeit money. J. 
H. is not known at the cigar store at 1,283% 
Broadway; or if known, the people in that 
little den will not acknowledge his acquaint¬ 
ance. In the circular there is, of course, the 
usual “patter” about the excellence of the 
“goods,” offers of enduring “friendship,” and 
assurances of “honesty” in a dishonest trans¬ 
action. No money is required in advance—as 
if anybody outside a lunatic asylum would 
send any! The methods followed by counter¬ 
feit currency swindlers were fully explained in 
the Rural of January 26. 
“The Gossamer Garment Free” is a fraud 
extensively advertised. 
The Household Journal of this city offers 
100,009 premiums to its subscribers—a lottery 
scheme which is carelessly or unscrupulously 
admitted into several pseudorespectable jour¬ 
nals. 
We really cannot recommend either Dr. E. 
B. Foote, alias the Murray Hill Publishing 
Co., or the Aural Clinic, both of this city. 
From the number of inquiries we are receiv¬ 
ing about these concerns, especially from the 
Southwest, it is evident they are both liberal¬ 
ly papering the country with their circulars. 
The “dealers in names” appear to be finding 
“heaps” of customers for their “names for 
sharpers.” 
To several inquirers we answer that the 
credit of George Payue & Co., sewing-machine 
agents, Chicago, Ill., is marked “fair” by the 
commercial agencies. 
J. M. Stoddart & Co., New York and Phila¬ 
delphia. This firm publishes subscription 
books principally, aud its credit is “high.” 
The W orld Manufacturing Company, New 
York. This firm manufactures novelties, and 
its credit is “fair.” 
E. F. Davis & Co., Fall River, Mass., ap¬ 
pear to be advertising very extensively for 
“ladies and gentlemen wishing to earn $1 to 
§S every daj r quietly at home.” The work of¬ 
fered is coloring "artographs”—photographs 
on glass. The firm furnishes these at a hand¬ 
some profit and offers to buy back all colored 
iu a satisfactory manner. This kind of business 
is very largely advertised all over the coun¬ 
try ; but we have yet to learn of anybody who 
has found the labor remunerative after hav¬ 
ing made an investment in “supplies,” often at 
no small inconvenience. Most of the advertis¬ 
ers are sharpers; but we have received no 
complaints of Davis & Co.’s conduct, and our 
inquiries with regard to him iuFall River, go 
to show he is ordinarily honest. We cannot, 
however, recommend the business. 
The Floral World, Highland Park, Ill, This 
advertises itself as “a superb illustrated §1.00 
monthly free one year to all that inclose the 
advertisement now with 12 cents for postage." 
It is neither named nor rated by the commer¬ 
cial agencies, aud is evidently a bogus con¬ 
cern, worth what it asks for itself—just noth¬ 
ing. 
Zanesville, Ohio, as well as New Concord, 
in the same State, have been made notorious 
as the headquarters of the J. M. Bain nest of 
poultry sharks. From the former place, 
possibly under the same rascally auspices, 
comes now a circular of “ W. H. Baird,” offer¬ 
ing a formula for making §39 worth of com¬ 
mercial fertilizer at an alleged cost of §14. It 
is said to have been indorsed by the Board of 
Agriculture, a statement which Secretary 
Chamberlain denounces as false; indeed, he 
declares “the whole thing a swindle,” and 
expresses “astonishment that people will 
swallow such bait.” 
Expensive Ar’besian Wells.— These “arte¬ 
sian," “flowing," drill-well circulars are very 
musical and seductive in their wording, says 
Mr. Goodman, in the N. E. Farmer; but 
beware of them until you have pencil aud 
paper well in hand; then with the cold facts 
and hard “ dollars and cents” before your 
eyes, you may decide whether to listen to them 
or not. One of the circulars of these well- 
drillers says: “We drill a six-inch hole down 
through any formation of earth, sand, gravel 
or rock." This is true, and when considerable 
depth is required to reach the water, aud hard- 
pan, or quick-sand or rock must be gone 
through, this drilling and piping “ with heavy 
wrought-iron casing," even at §6 to §10 a foot, 
is cheaper than digging and blasting. But 
when they go on to say: “We drill a six inch 
hole until plenty of pure water is found, 
either in the seam of the rock or in a stratum 
of gravel,” remember that it is you who pay 
for this interesting operation, and to the tune 
of §6 to §10 afoot, and it may be 100 or 200 
feet, before this “ plenty of pure water" is 
reached, “We can always get a good well,” 
they go on to say. Of course they can, at §10 
a foot, and somewhere this side of China! 
Probable Shortage in Potato Acreage. 
—Our excellent contemporary, the New Eng¬ 
land Homestead, says that present appear¬ 
ances indicate that the acreage of potatoes to 
be planted this season will be much less than 
last. This is, of course, owing to the low 
price which has prevailed all over the country 
the jmst season. A common remark among 
the farmers is that they w ill not plant pota¬ 
toes, run the risk of the bugs destroying them 
and then sell for .25 to 40 cents per bushel. 
From the very font that the majority of farm¬ 
ers are discouraged over the crop, the enter¬ 
prising ones should take courage, as, of course, 
a shortage or a diminution iu the country’s 
product means au increase in price. In our 
opinion this Spring is as favorable a season, so 
far as the outlook for prices is concerned, as 
the average Spring, though, of course, several 
years of low prices may follow one another. 
Still, taking the years as they come, there is 
no farm crop that pays better than potatoes.. 
The Michigan Farmer agrees with the R. 
N-Y. that it is high time for our leading seeds¬ 
men to inaugurate a reform. They should 
entirely avoid the red-hot, glowing, flittering 
descriptions of untested novelties and the ex¬ 
travagant terms now in vogue in their cata¬ 
logues; nor should they allow themselves to 
be used as cat’s-paws by unscrupulous persons, 
in inflictiug some worthless, warmed-up 
“ novelty ” upon a confiding and unsuspecting 
public. These seedsmen have a far-reaching 
influence, and this involves a great responsi¬ 
bility..... 
Mr. Peter Henderson remarks, in the last 
Gardeners’ Monthly, that, though at first of 
the opinion that the White Plume Celery 
would not keep well as a winter kind, he has 
found that of over 5,000 plants put away in 
trenches in the usual way, less than one per 
cent, had rotted op to the middle of February. 
We are glad to hear it. 
■ *** - 
. MULTUM IN PARVO. 
According to the Rural Home, the red 
kidney bean stands up better than the white, 
so that the pods are less liable to be covered 
with soil during tillage, which causes them to 
rot. They are more easily cured than the 
white kinds. If they become weather-beaten 
or soiled in curing, it does not affect their 
market value, as that of white beans is 
affected by the same cause. 
An enthusiastic teacher, says the Agricul¬ 
tural Gazette, is sure to exceed the truth—but 
it is only the enthus : astic teacher, after all, 
that is worth his salt; and enthusiasm with its 
errors is always preferable to iudifference 
with its mere dead weight. 
One of the new “ earliest peas in existence” 
is named “MaudS.”. 
Don’t buy Day’s Early Sunrise Pea sup¬ 
posing it to be extra-early. It should be 
called an “intermediate,” according to the 
Rural’s test when it was first introduced.... 
Don’t buy Blount’s Corn for ensilage, unless 
you want a maximum of stalk and a minimum 
of leaf... 
Ex-President Hoffman, of the Elmira 
Farmers’ Club, says that he “ wants no grain, 
except corn, planted over half-an-inch deep.” 
So reports the Husbandman. 
If you have not sown oats early, you need 
not look for heavy grain. 
It is far better to plant peas thick in the 
drills. Many are weevil-eaten; many rot in 
the ground. It is easy to thin them out if the 
plants prove to be too close together.. 
The New York Times says that it is beyond 
the province of any Legislature to forbid the 
public to use colored butter, the same as it 
would be to forbid dyed clothes to be used for 
dress...... 
The Journal of the New Castle Farmers’ 
Club (England) reprints a note from the R. 
N-Y. without credit. It is worth repeating: 
"Lazy farmers usually have two scapegoats, 
viz., bad luck and bad help. They are too 
lazy, too narrow-minded, too mean to place 
the blame just where it belongs—on them¬ 
selves.” We have always thought that farm¬ 
ers, as a class, are better men—more indus¬ 
trious aud sensible—than auy other class of 
people in the world. As an intoxicated woman 
always seems a more disgraceful sight than a 
drunken man, so, perhaps, for an analagous 
reason, a mean farmer seems too mean for 
anything..... 
Dk. Sturtevant notes, what we have seve¬ 
ral times stated, that tomatoes which came up 
in the Station garden as weeds from last Fall’s 
seeding, seemed to ripen their fruit at about 
the same time as the earlier class, as growu 
from frame plants. 
Prof. Beal states, in the Weekly Press, 
that he Las mauy times seeded land to grass 
without another crop, and always received a 
fair yield of grass the first year with Spring 
seeding, aud a good crop with Fall seeding. If 
sown iu early Autumn, the annual weeds die 
out and leave the grass to take the lead in 
Spring......... 
He also says that A. W. Cheever has re¬ 
peatedly tried both ways in Massachusetts, 
and has fully decided that he secures much 
better results when grass seed is sown without 
another crop. The first crop cut rather early, 
even if thin aud not fully grown, checks 
the weeds. Most laud can be better fitted for 
grass seeds in the Fall than in early Spring. 
The statement made, that young grasses aud 
clovers need the shade aud protection of some 
larger plants, has no proof to sustain it. 
Don’t sow oats with your lawn grass seed... 
Prof. Shelton remarks, in the Industrial¬ 
ist, that he has for years handled three or four 
distinct breeds of swine and studied them 
carefully; but if compelled to use but one 
breed, he would be sorely puzzled to know 
which one to take. Every breed has sterling 
points and counterbalancing weaknesses...... 
Again he says that the recent outbreak of 
disease among the cattle of Woodson County 
(Kansas), which has alarmed.the whole nation 
