THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
popularly looked upon as of value in diseases 
of the respiratory organs. In reference to the 
use of the above. Dr. Quinlan, of Dublin, 
writes to the British Medical Journal that 
three ounces of the green leaves should be 
boiled for ten minutes in a pint of new milk. 
The liquid is then strained, sweetened to taste, 
and drank while warm. This dose can be 
repeated twice or three times a day. This 
high authority has no doubt of it* efficacy as 
a curative in the earlier, and a palliative in 
the later stages of pulmonary consumption. 
Care should be taken to use the leaves of the 
great mullein, known by its thick, mucilagi¬ 
nous, uud woolly leaves. 
Rot in' Potatoes. —lu comparative tests of 
125 varieties of potatoes, at Rochester, last- 
season. on heavy soil conducive to disease, a 
few sorts were markedly free from disease, 
says Mr. E. H. Libby, iu Our Country Home. 
Those showing no rot whatever, he says, were 
the Dakota Red, Rural Blush, Vick’s Prize, 
St, Patrick, Garfield, Brownell’s Best, 
Broesee’s Advance, North Star, and Hancock. 
Those which rotted badly were Brownell’s 
Superior, Jones’s Seedling, Oswego, aud 
Peachblow. Those showing a medium 
amount of rot were Wall’s Orange, Arundel 
Rose, Pride of America, Magnum Bonum, 
Burbank, Mammoth Pearl, White Rose, 
Belle, James Vick, Early May flower, Early 
Rose, Beauty of Hebron, Dunrnoro, Boston 
Market, Early Vermont, and Parson's Proli¬ 
fic. To be wholly free from disease we 
should, Mr. Libby thinks, plant the disease- 
resisting varieties on light soil, and use pro¬ 
perly made mineral fertilizers, which contain 
a considerable amount of potash. 
We regret not having been able to find 
space for the following a week or so earlier. 
It is a list of the best roses as continuous 
bloomers for out door culture, and of the best 
hardy roses adapted to general cultivation, 
recommended by the committee appointed by 
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 
CONTINUOUS BLOOMER*. 
Alfred Colomb, Gen. Jacqueminot, 
Xavier Ollbo, A mile Wood, 
Marie liuumunn, ‘Charles Darwio, 
Boleldleu, Mine. Victor Verdlcr, 
“Countess of Oxford, Caroline do Snnsnl, 
Mows. K Y.Teas, *Dr. Howell, 
Fiaher Holmes, Pierre Soli tag. 
♦Marg'te do 8t. Amande, Francois Mletidon. 
Rev. j. B. M. Camm, ♦President Thiers. 
The live marked with stars ure lino, constant 
bloomers, but liable to mildew. 
ha 1UJY HOSES FOR GENERAL CULTIVATION. 
Alfred Colomb, Francois Mich cion, 
llrae, Victor Verdlor, Anna do Dlesbueh, 
Gen. Jacqueminot, Moiw/Bonoenne, 
Annie Wood, John Hopper, 
Mon*. E. Y. Teas, Baron deBoustetlcn, 
Jules Margottln, Paul Neyron, 
Baroness Rothschild, 1-a Roslore, 
Rev. J. B. M. Camm, Charles I.efebvre, 
Mario Baumann, Thomas Mills, 
Duke of Edinburgh. Marquise de Castellano, 
♦Louis Von Houtte, Etienne l-evot, 
Maurice Bernardln, •Mile. Marie Rady, 
Kl«her Holmes, Mine. Gabriel I-ulzet, 
♦Plorre Nutting, Mine. Htppolyte Jutnain. 
The three marked with stars are difficult and un 
certain, but so remarkably tine that the committee 
could not refrain from mentioning them. 
Gen. Jacqueminot, 
Annie Wood, 
Mon*. K. Y. Teas, 
Jules Margottln, 
Baroness Rothschild, 
Rev. J. B. M. Camm. 
Mario Baumann, 
Duke of Edinburgh. 
♦Louis Van Houtte, 
Maurice Bernardln, 
Kl«hor Holmes, 
♦Pierre Nottlng, 
For a year or so in succession in every score of 
years the prices rule discouragingly low. But 
the wise fanner will plant, the usual area to 
potatoes all the same, assurred that, year-in 
and year-out there is no better paying crop... 
Prof. Johnson states that it iskmt always 
practicable in the.analysts of a commercial 
fertilizer to distinguish some ok the best front 
some of the poorest forms of the ingredients. 
For instance, an analysis may not determine 
whether the nitrogen of a fertilizer is derived 
from blood or animal matter, or from leather 
or shoddy.-..... 
The Weekly Press tells that Jay Gould once 
faltered by the wayside and sought strength 
in prayer. “ He was evidently refreshed and 
strengthened by praying,” said one who 
imagined himself a victim of Gould, “because 
be has been preying ever since.”.• - 
The New York Tribune remarks that for 
three years the Rio Grande Hugar Company 
in New Jersey have fattened swine on sorg¬ 
hum seed. There has been no sickness, and 
they value this feed as equal to corn. It is 
cooked by steam-pipe coiled in a tank. 
Try the Mammoth Iron-clad Water-melon, 
the Dark Icing, the lleedland. and the Ameri¬ 
can Champion— old and‘new sorts. See which 
you like the best..... 
Is there a better carrot for farm or family 
use tbun the Ox-heart? The Early Scarlet. 
Horn is excellent for family use. 
Prepare the laud thoroughly for sugar¬ 
cane seed. Half-an-inch is deep enough to 
“Knowledge is Power.”*—W e are glad to 
learn, from the Report on Labor and Industries 
of New Jersey, that the Russule Rolling Mills 
Company have built and furnifthed a flue hall 
for the useof their laborers, uud atthe dedica¬ 
tion of that hall Mr. Fayerwcather said: 
“ Knowledge is power,” but knowledge is not 
a natural gift, it must be acquired. This can 
only be done by study, by observation, by 
association. And the best and the most suc¬ 
cessful workmen, all things being equal, are 
those who have the most knowledge, and who 
apply it to the best purpose, He could not 
have used truer or more appropriate words 
if he had been addressing a farmers’ club, 
instead of the laborers of an iron mill. 
Prof. HiLLGarp, of California, says a com¬ 
munity of fruit growers must be exception¬ 
ally intelligent. They generally have smaller 
places, aud are more closely related than 
grain growers, and then, there is so much dif¬ 
ference in the price of good fruit and poor, 
that the grower is compelled to be intelligent. 
Yes. intelligent and educated; there is a de¬ 
gree of popular intelligence among fruit 
growers that it is difficult to iind anywhere 
else. 
■-- 
BOILED DOWN AND SEASONED. 
Have you bought aud planted any of the 
new, high-priced potatoes, peas, oats, etc.? 
Tell us how you are pleased wit Li them. 
Thk prettiest of the early blooming spiraeas 
—Thunberg’s Spira-a. 
Josiah Houcks says, iu the New York Tri¬ 
bune, that after an exjierience of ‘JO years he 
is convinced that plums budded ou peach 
stocks aredecidedly superior for light soils- 
In the long run there is no better paying 
prop for the Northern States than potatoes. 
The Broadway Drawing-Room Companion 
says tnat all will agree that t.ne perfectio i of 
peas is to be found in the Champion of Eng¬ 
land, No. not exactly. Those who have test¬ 
ed several of the newer, tall-growing kinds, 
within the past five years, will not agree to 
anything of the kind... 
A member of t.lie Farmers’ Club, as reported 
in the Husbandman, says that, he cut a tield of 
oats when the grain was in the milk, and the 
fodder was estimated by the one who fed it as 
worth twice as much as good hay. He also 
estimates oats cut green for cattle feeding, as 
worth more for cows in milk than any other 
fodder. Cattle and horses eat the whole—the 
last bit of straw . 
Is there a more refreshing sight curly in the 
morning than an arbor or trellis covered with 
Morning Glory vines and flowers? Riant seeds 
of the Cypress Vine. It is the daintiest of 
vines. Riant the Canary-bird vine; the Bal¬ 
loon vine; plaut the Maderiu vine. The tu¬ 
bers can be bought for ten cents. The foliage 
is flue and the flowers deliciously fragrant.... 
It need not lie expected that the new 1 breed 
of fowls called “Wyandotte*” will come true 
to standard qualifications. They must be bred 
for several years yet. ..... 
Prof. Kedztk says that unleached ashes 
are worth $1 Iff per 100 pounds,* as compared 
with commercial fertilizers in general. 
I’ROF. 8. W. .Johnson calls attention to the 
fact that castor pomace is extremely poisonous 
when taken internally, causing violent vomit¬ 
ing aud purging. A small number of the 
beaus from which the pomace is prepared, in 
several instances have caused the death of adult 
persons who have eaten them. The beans are 
not at first unpleasant to the taste. There is 
little doubt, therefore, that cattle may be pois¬ 
oned if allowed to get at the pomace. 
The Lobanov Shakers found that the ensi¬ 
lage covered with hemlock did not mold, 
while that with oak planks on top did mold.. 
The Weekly Herald states that Paris-green, 
mixed with water, as for the potato beetle, 
will kill the squash and pumpkin bug. We 
have tried it, aud it does not harm the bug at 
all .*. 
The work of feeding and looking after bens 
is light, and above all healthy; how much 
more so than bending over the wash-tub or 
sewing machine, and how much more inde- 
pendcut, is the position. Thus speaks the 
Massachusetts Ploughman ...... How many 
tired, overworked, and half paid fe¬ 
males there are to day, shut up iu the 
confined air of salus-room* aud workshops, who 
might be breathing the healthful country air, 
running an honorable profitable busiuess of 
their own. if they would but engage in this 
busiuess, aud become interested enough to 
make themselves fully acquainted with it.... 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Canada. 
East Williams, Out., May 7. — We had a 
very steady Winter here aud a cold, backward 
Spring, with but few really warm days. Fall 
wheat, geuerally, does not look very well, aud 
the acreage is smaller than usual; but there 
will be more spring wheat sown than usual. 
We had a very good crop of Mold’s Ennobled 
Oats last year. 1 think it is our best variety, 
although we liad 56 bushels as a third crop 
from the little packet of White Washington 
Oats sent by the Rural, and it weighed 41 
pounds to the bushel, and was entirely free 
from rust. The Cutbbert Raspberry is doing 
Splendidly. The frost never injured it in the 
least, although the temperature was 22 deg. 
below zero last Winter. Our “National poli¬ 
cy,” along with the partial failure in crops, i« 
making times rather dull, and wo are almost 
“protected” to death. J- M - w - 
Kentucky. 
Shelby Co., May 7.— All our peaches are 
dead, except a few branches on some young 
trees. There will be some apples. Of plums 
and cherries we shall have fewer than we 
usually have. Of the 20 years I have lived 
here, this will be the first in w hich no peaches 
will be seen in my orchard, though in some 
years they have been very scarce. We will 
have grapes, currants, strawberries and goose¬ 
berries—the first gooseberries for three years. 
The blackberry bushes wete frozen to the 
ground. All rose bushes were frozen dead to 
the ground, including our hardiest, some never 
before known to he winter-killed. Raspber 
ries also were killed to the ground. Sleet, 1 
think, caused Ihe greatest destruction of trees 
and lmshes. Wheat looks well, though most 
of it is too thin on the ground. J. P. p. 
New YurU. 
Wright’s Corners. Niagara Co., May 10. 
—Four days of the past week have been rainy 
and drizzly, with thermometer from 50 to so 
degrees. I never saw spring grain come up 
so quickly or grow more vigorously. The 
fields are already green. I sowed, Ride by 
side, two acres each of Welcome. American 
Triumph and Rural Champion Oat*. The 
ground for all was prepared iu the same way, 
and all were sowed the same day. 1 his will 
oe a fair test, and 1 will report results at the 
proper time. [Thanks.—Ens.] 
The abundant rain lias thoroughly soaked 
the ground, and wheat and clover never 
looked better at this season. We are almost 
certain to have big crops; so if we are com¬ 
pelled to take low prices we can live. m. h. j. 
Ohio. 
Greenwich, Huron Co., May 8 .—The sea¬ 
son has been very favoi able so far here. Grass 
very good. Stock all in pasture and doing 
well. Corn largely planted. Favorable out¬ 
look for agricultural profits, so far as season 
is concerned. E - L - M * 
Texas. 
Cove, Coryell Co., May 4.—Crops are fine; 
wheat heading out and looking fine; but there 
is some rust. The ground is soakiug wet, aud 
it is still raining. Farmers are up with their 
work; but if the ground does notdry off soon, 
they will not lie so, long. The Cleveland Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker Reas are doing finely, a. J. s. 
MY FIRST MONTH IN ARKANSAS. 
Being a new comer here from New 5 ork 
State, 1 will give my first impressions of Ar¬ 
kansas. 1 came here to fiud a more genial 
clime for bodily comfort and health, and a 
location for the successful culture aud sale of 
choice and tender fruitsaud vegetables. After 
searching several days in the vicinity of 
Little Rock, the State Capital, w ithout finding 
a site to suit me, I came 40 miles farther south 
to Malvern, at the junction of the St. Louis 
and Iron Mountain Railroad with the Hot 
Springs Narrow Gauge Road leading to the 
famous Hot Springs, MO miles northwest of 
Malvern. Here L soon found that desirable 
orchard and garden lauds were still to be had 
near the depAt, at a moderate price, and after 
a careful survey in different directions, occu¬ 
pying several days, 1 finally bought 160 acres, 
mile uorth of the depot and village of 
Malvern, and near the track of the Hot Springs 
Railway. Forty acresare clearedand fenced, 
with buildings such as are usually found ou a 
new place, and 150choice young peach trees 
in bearing: price$10 per acre. Prices of laud 
here depend, of course, ou the location and 
improvement*, varying from $2.50 to 850 per 
acre. Several wide-awake fruit men are 
already located here, and are busy improv ing, 
and planting choice fruits aud berries for 
shipping uorth, south aud to Hot Springs, 
which is quite a market Population about 
10 , 000 , including transient visitors coming and 
going continually. The very earliest and 
latest sorts of peach, plum, pear aud apple pay 
best here; the early to ship north, aud the 
/ate to ship south to New Orleans and cities iu 
Texas. The first ripe straw berries weiepieked 
hereon April 25, which is said to be two weeks 
later than usual. There was more rain here 
in April aud May than ordinarily, keeping 
the ground saturated and retarding garden 
and soil work considerably. 
The surface soil here is somewhat sandy, 
while the subsoil is generally a heavy clay 
loam. The timber is a mixture, pine being 
the most abundant, mixed with four kinds of 
oak, hickory, Sweet and Black Gum, Soft 
Maple, Dogwood. Black-walnut. Cottonwood, 
Sycamore, Persimmon. Pecan, etc. Huckle¬ 
berries of four tort* arc found all through the 
woods in great profusion. Immense quantities 
of t hese lierries might be saved by drving and 
canning. "Wild blackberries uud Dewberries 
are plentiful. There will be h moderate crop 
of peaches. The Amsdens are now as large as 
the end of a man’s thumb. The surface of the 
country is quite undulating, affording drain¬ 
age for surface water. It is difficult to find 
many acres in one field entirely level. There 
is among the inhabitants quite a diversity in 
habits, culture and character. Among my 
neighbors I note two families from Ohio, four 
from Michigan, one from Pennsylvania, three 
from Tennessee, two from Kentucky, one from 
Virginia, two from Scotland, two from 
Sweden, one from Ireland, one from Ger¬ 
many. On the whole, I am quite well satis¬ 
fied, so far, with my present location. I have 
no individual or pecuniary interest in the sale 
of land here. • a. b. 
Malvern, Ark., 
KAIN1T AND MURIATE OF POTASH. 
G. M ., Shiloh,N. ./.-On page221 of the Rural 
of April 5, Prof. Johnson says: “ Potash costs 
nearly twice as much in kainit, as it does in 
muriate.’’ Katuit is quoted ut 816 per ton in 
the market, aud muriate at 842 50, ou a bast* 
of 80 per cent, of muriate. Kainit at $10 per 
ton, containing 13 per ceut of potash, would 
be 260 pounds per bm, or a cost of 8,80-100 
cents per pound, instead of 7j*j cents— 4}i cents 
less than the muriate,j How can this be? 
[EXPLANATION BY PROF. S. W. JOHNSON. 
1 gave tbe retail prices usually paid by far 
mersin Connecticut,as I believed 1 was answer¬ 
ing tbe inquiry of a Connecticut farmer. 
Seven samples of kainit analyzed at tbe Con¬ 
necticut Experiment Station in 1883. sold, 
four for $15, one for 816, one for $17. and 
one for |18 per ton; average, nearly $16. I 
was fully aware that the wholesale cost 
of kainit iu New York last year ranged 
from 87.60 to $8.85, and that it had retailed 
in ton lots at $5) in New York and Philadelphia. 
I am glad that this correspondent, has c alled 
attention to the fact that my estimates for 
potash in kainit were nearly twice as high as 
they ought to be in Connecticut. The “ Sta¬ 
tion Valuations” iu New Jersey, Connecticut 
and Massachusetts for 1884. rate potash in both 
muriate and kainit ut 4}4 cents per pound. 
The fact that kainit contains u large amount 
(20 to 25 percent.) of sulphuric acid, is some¬ 
times made use of ns an argument for valuing 
its potash as high as thut of high grade sul. 
plmte of potash. The German chemists on 
whose certificate of analysis theartide is >old, 
usually, if not always, reckon its potash as 
sulphate. For this they have no just reason. 
The superior agricultural value ot sulphate of 
potash (for the tobacco crop) depends, not 
upon the presence of sulphuric acid, but on 
the absence of chlorine. Now since kainit 
contains 25 to 3(1 per cent, of chlorine, or well 
on to as much as exists in muriate, the agri 
cultural value of the potash of kainit is 
greater than that of the muriate. Further¬ 
more, the “ avidity,” or chemical strength, of 
sulphuric acid for potash, is but one-half that 
of hydrochloric acid for the same base, while 
for magnesia the “ avidity” of sulphuric acid 
is three-fourths as strong as that of hydro¬ 
chloric acid. It follows, therefore, that when 
kainit is dissolved iu the w^ater of the soil, it 
is rather a mixture of muriate of potash w ith 
sulphate of magnesia, than one of sulphate of 
potash with muriate of magnesia. There is 
then every reason to deny to the potash of 
kainit the superior agricultural value of sul¬ 
phate of potash. The commercial value of 
kainit at Stassfurt iu Prussia the place of 
production, ou January 1,1884, was one mark, 
or 25 ceut*. per 50 kilos, or 110 pounds in bulk, 
at t he works. This equals $4.54 per ton of 2,000 
pounds; it* potash therefore costs two cents per 
pound. At the same time and place 80 per 
ceut. muriate of potash delivered at the R R. 
Station iu bags, was quoted at 6 65 marks per 
50 kilos, or $ 1.66 per 110 pounds. This cor¬ 
responds to $30.18 per ton, and its potash cost 
three cents per pound These figures show 
something of the relative estimation iu which 
kainit aud muriate of potash are held in Ger¬ 
many for agricultural uses, although the large 
consumption of muriate of potash for various 
manufacturing purposes affects* it* price, it 
argues strongly against the prevalence of 
“Yankee euteness” among the Connecticut 
farmers, and as strongly in favor of its high 
