564 
THE RURAL MEW-YORKER. 
THE 
RURAL NLW'YORKLR, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Home* 
Conducted by 
a. is. C A KM AX, 
Editor. 
J. B. WOODWARD, 
Associalo. 
Add rex* 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 80. 1HH4. 
You might just as well test the effi¬ 
cacy of honueputhic 'loses of medicine 
while taking allopathic doses, as to look 
for decided rcsulta from the use of a tpecial 
fertilizer upon a rich soil. 
What depth to plow? That depends. 
If your soil is six feet deep, it would be 
well to plow six feet deep, if you could. 
If but six inches deep, why plow deeper? 
Is the subsoil better on top than below? 
Hefertuno to our accountof wheat and 
rye hybridization, under “Notes from the 
Rural Grounds,” our readers may be in¬ 
terested to know that one of these heads 
was again crossed with rye with the re¬ 
sult that five plump kernels were secured. 
These should be three-quarters rye and 
one-quurter wheat. 
“You tickle me and I’ll tickle you.” 
That is the way the small fruit-growers 
combine to “send olT” their new fruits. 
“ Every dog has his day,” and this cheap 
but plausible method of investing new 
varieties with wonderful qualities to dis¬ 
appoint the credulous purchaser, has al¬ 
ready been carried to a sickening excess. 
See, here, editors and friends—we don’t 
want you to doubt that we really raise as 
many potatoes to the acre as we state. 
We are now digging our potatoes, and 
shall be for ten days. Come hither, all 
ye who doubt, to the Rural Grounds. We 
will let you measure the plots, dig the 
tubers, weigh and figure out the yields. 
If unwilling to do this, don’t sit in your 
easy-chairs and throw doubt upon our 
statements. 
— - » ■» » - 
It may he worth repeating that in our 
careful experiments to ascertain what 
quantity of wheat should bo sown per 
acre to produce the heaviest yield, all the 
way from two peeks to three bushels were 
sown, and that, one and*a-half bushel gave 
the largest yield. The quantity would 
vary, no doubt, if the land were r m-er 
or richer than that of the Rural Farm. 
If richer, less would serve; if poorer, 
more, would be required. 
--»-»■»-- 
The Rural’b cross-bred corn—over 50 
different crosses— will be sent out in our 
next. Free Seed Distribution. These 
crosses have been made with the best, va¬ 
rieties known, and it is reasonable to 
suppose that among them will be found 
those adapted to every part of the United 
States and Canada. A supplement will 
be published about the 1st of November, 
which will give, a full account of the 
Run aIj’s next Free Seed Distribution. 
We ask our readers to try this experi¬ 
ment: Prepare a small plot of 1 ami the 
same as you would for field wheat; mark 
it. over in 12-inch squares, and in every 
intersect ion plant one kernel of the Diehl- 
Mediterranean Wheat. Do t his about Sept. 
20 for this climate- later or earlier, as the 
locality may be north or south. About 
November 10 spread between the plants 
short farm manure, at the rate of from 10 
to 20 tons per acre, evenly oter the 
plot. We think our friends may be sur¬ 
prised with the result, as we have been. 
When young men desire to enter col¬ 
lege, they are obliged to pass an examina¬ 
tion in grammar, algebra, geography, etc. 
Those elementary studies are not taught 
in colleges. The private or public school 
fits the student for college. In like man¬ 
ner, young men should be constrained to 
pass an examination in plowing, hoeing, 
sowing seeds, cte., before entering agri¬ 
cultural colleges. The farm should be to 
them the public or private school. Why 
should fanners’ sons spend their time in 
learning in agricultural colleges what 
they can as well learu at home? 
The outcome of our three settings of 
Wyandotte eggs, hatched in the Spring, 
is 13 pullets and two roosters. They have 
grown rapidly, are compact, healthy birds, 
and we should think would make good 
broilers. The Black Sumatra fowls, 
hatched at the same time, are long-legged, 
long-necked, small-bodied fowls that, in 
spite of clipped wings, manage to fly over 
their inclosures much as if they were 
pigeons or crows. The Wymulottrs, as a 
breed, are not yet perfected by any means, 
but their handsome plumage and tidy, 
snug forms, will engage for them the at¬ 
tention of poultry-lovers everywhere. 
. - - - - 
We will guarantee that if any of the 
agricultural stations or colleges in Ameri¬ 
ca, or England, or France, or Germany, or 
elsewhere, were to announce that the di¬ 
rector, or professor, had succeeded in 
making a cross between rye and wheat, 
every farm journal in America would 
hasten to record the fact. Now, the 
Rubai. New - Yorker has made such 
a cross. We can give lots of evi¬ 
dence— what competent men say who 
have seen the heads, as well as the plants 
themselves. Why don’t our farm journals 
tell their readers? Wouldn’t it interest 
them? Isn’t it a curious fact? Isn’t it 
worth knowing? Oh! there is an im¬ 
mense amount of satisfaction in dorng 
good, in a quiet way, you know. And our 
benevolent contemporaries are anxious 
that we should have this satisfaction all 
to ourselves. Bless them! 
In sowing wheat, it is quite important 
what seed you select, and especially that 
it be the product of the current season’s 
growth. In the Fall of ’83, in sowing a 
field of Clawson Wheat, the seed of that 
year’s growth was so much shrunken that 
we took sorm* very nice, plump seed of 
the growth of 1882, ami cleaned it with 
especial care and sowed a few acres by the 
side of the other, and although we made 
allowance for the much larger and plump¬ 
er condition of the kernels, sons to get, as 
much seed in number as on the other part 
of the field, we were surprised at the fee¬ 
ble growth and scattering stand of plants, 
and at harvest time this year there was a 
marked difference in favor of the ’83 
seed. Very badly shrunken wheat of 
the current season’s growth is much bet¬ 
ter than the plumpest only one year old. 
We notice several samples of the newer 
wheats that have been sent us are not of 
new growth. 
■ ■ — — 
The experience of the present season, 
no less than that of several seasons past, 
during which the Rural has advocated 
the method, has strengthened our faith 
that fiat culture for potatoes, as well as 
for Indian corn, will give larger crops 
than hilling up. Except that, under level 
culture, some of the tubers are occa¬ 
sionally exposed to the air ami light, and 
become green or “burn,” we know of no 
objection to this mode of culture; while, 
contrary to what is the ease in hilling-up. 
the roots which would naturally extend 
from hill to hill, are not interfered with; 
and the rain may sink directly and evenly 
into the ground, instead of being shed by 
the mounds of soil about the stems, and 
carried to the valleys. We have practiced 
this system for five years, both iu randy 
and clayey soil, and we feel very confi¬ 
dent that the crops so raised are more 
than enough to pay for the burnt pota¬ 
toes which are found here and there. 
Lice and filth kill more fowls,and are the 
cause of greater loss to the poultry keeper 
than all other causes combined. People 
whose fowls are not infested with the 
large, black or gray lice, wonder as they 
daily see them growing poor and looking 
rough, why they are so unlucky with 
fowls. If they will closely examine the 
nest aud perches,they will find the cause, 
and bo surprised to see the myriads of 
little miles swarming in every place, liter¬ 
ally eating the poor fowls alive. No 
amount of food or corn can cause thrift, 
so long as these pests are allowed to prey 
upon them. If people care nothing for 
e.>gs or profit, humanity should prompt 
them to get rid either of the fowls or the 
lice, and there is no excuse for the pre¬ 
valence of the pests wheu one quart of 
kerosene, costing not more than five 
cents anywhere, will kill every one of 
them. To apply it, take one pound of 
hard soap and two quarts of water, or 
one quart each of soft soap and water; 
put either into an iron kettle and heat 
gradually till it conies to a boil, stirring 
until the soap is all dissolved; take from 
the tire, and add the kerosene^tirringwell, 
and it will soon disappear; add enough 
water to the mixture to make a strong 
soap-suds, aud with this spray or wash 
the entire inside of the poultry house, 
and especially the perches and nest boxes, 
cleaning them out first, and afterwards 
supplying new nest material. 
TO RURAL READERS. 
Wk do not this year, as hitherto, an¬ 
nounce our Seed Distribution for 1885 in 
this number. It necessarily goes to press 
too early for us to know whether we can 
or cannot procure the seeds we might de¬ 
sire to distribute. When an early an¬ 
nouncement is made, if, from the crop 
failing to ripen, or from any cause we are 
unable to procure the seeds promised, our 
subscribers are disappointed, and some 
are displeased. We hope to make the 
Seed Distribution no less valuable this 
year Chan formerly, and the announce¬ 
ment will be made in a special number, 
which will also contain our premium-list 
supplement about the first of November. 
Every reader of this notice is earnestly in¬ 
vited to send us a list of the names of 
those engaged in agriculture or any r of the 
kindred pursuits, to whom w-e will be 
glad to mail a copy of this special number 
so soon as published. We greatly desire 
200,000 names of the most enthusiastic, 
progressive farmers of the country, and 
will feel under renewed obligations to all 
friends who will kindly interest them¬ 
selves in aiding us in obtaining them. 
EDUCATED FARMERS ALWAYS 
WANTED. 
A Yot'NO mail in Tennessee writes: “ I 
was born and raised on a farm, and like 
farming first rate, but I desire an educa¬ 
tion, and am going to the University of 
Tennessee. I am thinking of completing 
a course and graduating. Should I take 
such a course as would best fit me for a 
scientific farmer, is there any opening 
for educated agriculturists?” Believing 
there are thousands of boys in this coun¬ 
try iu just this position, we will give a 
general answer to this question. 
“ Born and raised on a farm!” Any boy 
should thank God for being so fortunate 
as to be born and raised on a farm. There 
is no place on this green earth so well 
adapted to perfectly develop mind, mus¬ 
cle and manhood, as a farm; there a boy 
has the purest air, the freshest and health¬ 
iest food, plenty of unrestricted exercise, 
the brightest sunshine and the soundest 
sleep; The very conditions necessary fort he 
highest development. Nine tenths of all 
the men who have made their mark iu 
any business, profession or pursuit, have 
been born and reared on a farm; this is 
not so much because there is better blood 
on the farm as because the surroundings 
of farm life are better calculated to call 
out what there is in a boy, and develop a 
full-grown, healthy, perfect, self-reliant 
man. 
The desire for knowledge is a very 
laudable ambition; educated brains fit 
their owner fir the highest positions, aud 
are a great assurance of success. Money 
spent for an education is treasure stored 
iu the mind, which cannot be lost, 
and, if properly applied, cannot- fail 
to return large profits. But remem¬ 
ber, boys, that a sound mind must 
be. the occupant of a strong, healthy body, 
if you would have it. most effective; no 
matter how much brain, or how well dis¬ 
ciplined, it. can never amount, to much if 
in a diseased, or feeble body; so, be very 
eatcful to maintain good health, and se¬ 
cure a fine physical development, aud, 
above all things", shun those excesses and 
vices quite too common among the stu¬ 
dents of many educational institutions. 
Take good care of the casket while pol¬ 
ishing the jewel! 
Are there openings for educated agricul¬ 
turists? No other avenue of life has so 
many, or those that promise such assured 
success. In other pursuits, the great 
brilliancy of the one who succeeds, so daz¬ 
zles our eyesthat we fail to see the wrecks 
of the ten thousand who started but have 
miserably failed; in farming, while suc¬ 
cess is not so brilliant, the failures are ex¬ 
ceedingly few. The wealthy men of our 
cities, by thousands, are now buying 
farms, and desire to have them improved 
and developed in the best manner, and 
this creates an urgent demand for educa¬ 
ted farmers, as uo others are competent to 
fill the position. There is au urgent call 
for scientific agriculturists to mau- 
age the many Experiment Stations 
established, and to be established in 
all the -States, and to fill the professor. 
ships in the various agricultural schools 
and colleges; and the Chairs of Agricul¬ 
ture which will soon be endowed in every 
college of the land. Lastly, but by no 
means least, American agriculture must 
have thousands of bright, educated farm¬ 
ers. There is an urgent, imperative demand 
for them on every farm. Our rich soils 
and abundant acres have been cultivated 
in the rudest and most wasteful manner, 
until the harvests once so munificent, 
are now scarcely above the cost of pro¬ 
duction ; I he time has come when we must 
have more brains, educated, active, scien¬ 
tific brains, on the farms, if we would be 
successful with a success worthy of the 
age. The farmer must, better understand 
the needs of the soil; better know the re¬ 
lations between the plants, the soil and 
the manures, if he would secure a maxi¬ 
mum crop with u minimum of land and 
labor. 
I'ne professions and the arts are all 
crowded to repletion, hundreds of classi¬ 
cally-educated men are measuring tape, 
or weighing soap. We have even seen 
them peddling peanuts on the street cor¬ 
ners; but there is no glut in the demand 
from the farm; in fact, it is but just be¬ 
gun. The stale asse rtion that agricul¬ 
ture pays the lowest profit of all, is being 
proved a lie by the scientific, thinking, 
experimenting farmers of every State. 
We have undisputable evidence that edu¬ 
cated brains will extract from even the 
high priced lands of the older States a 
satisfactory profit. 
We have known plenty of farmers to 
bewail their ignorance. We never knew 
one too wise. So, young man, go to col¬ 
lege. secure such an education as shall 
make you thoroughly master of your pro¬ 
fession, assured that if you make a good 
application of your knowledge you will 
be in demand and reasonably successful. 
Every community has a living witness of 
the efficacy of education and energy com¬ 
bined in the cultivation of the soil. 
Surely, “Brains are the best manure; ” 
but the more higly educated and active, 
the more efficient. 
BREVITIES. 
True hardiest wheat: Diehl-Mediterranean. 
There are very few cabbage worms this 
year. 
Try ou a small plot, sowing Orchard Grass 
seed, instead of Timothy, with wheat. 
Fair play is the ex "option, not the rule, at a 
majority of our agricultural (') fairs. 
Moore's Early, of our entire collection of 
•lark grapes, is the first to begin to color. The 
bunches are small, the berries large. 
Send for the supplement, of the Rural 
New-Yorker containing a full account of its 
free, st't'd distribution for 1885, to be issued 
‘November 1st. It will interest you 
Give your Diehl-Mediterranean Wheat, sent 
out in the Rural’s Free Seed Distribution of 
1883-4, a good chance You will find it very 
hardy and prolific, and that it will make the 
best of flour. 
Orchard Grass may be all that its friends 
claim for it, We have onlv to state that our 
experience with it at the Rural Farm has not, 
been sat isfactory, except in shady places. We 
prefer Timothy. 
Remember this: All soils need phosphoric 
acid; therefore, ttones area valuable fertilizer 
for all soils. What is not taken up by the 
plants remains in the soil from year to year. 
But phosphoric acid alone cannot produce a 
largo crop. 
From first to last we have tested between 
two aud three hundred different so called va¬ 
rieties of wheat, and out-choice at present is, 
first, the Diehl Mediterranean and, s'-cond, the 
Armstrong, also called Landreth. Botli are 
extremely hardy aud prolific. 
Prepare a strip of laud 10 feet long. Weed 
it carefully, and plant grape seeds of your 
best varieties, two inches apart aud one inch 
deep, Cover it with hay or straw, to be 
removed next May. Many of the seeds will 
germinate, and the young seedlings may be 
transplanted the next Spring. 
Take the blossoms of cucumbers, rnelous, 
squashes, etc. Have you ever noticed that 
there ar© half a dozen male flowers to one fe¬ 
male blossom f Why is this? It is merely to 
insure fruit, Were they equal iu number, 
half of the female blossoms plight escajie pol- 
U-tiation and fertilization. Plants are not of 
the Mormon persuasion. 
Tiie earliest, red raspberry? the Hausell, or 
Crimson Beauty. We have not tested the 
latter. The best aud largest, next early: the 
Marlboro. The best large, dark-colored red: 
Shaffer’s Colossal. The best late red: Cutb- 
bert The most promising of the new straw 
berries: Parry. Henderson. Jewell, aud 
Amateur. The hardiest blackberries: Snyder 
and Taylor. One of the earliest and best 
yielding potatoes: the Pearl of Savoy. 
Many of the wheat fields are tilled with 
weeds now higher than t he stubble. In many 
places they are overgrowing the young clover. 
It is much better to run over such fields with 
the mower set rather high and cut off both 
weeds and stubble than to let the millions of 
weed seeds mature, to curse the community ; 
aud, moreover, the cut weeds aud stubble tail¬ 
ing to the ground will act as a mulch, and 
cause the young clover to make a more vigor¬ 
ous growth, and also help it in withstanding 
the Winter. 
