WOV 4 
748 THE RURAL WEW-YORKEB. 
ihe Editor of the Neve England Farmer. He 
is anxious to try again, and intends to do so. 
We find the following in the Connecticut 
Courant: “The Rural. New-Yorker —from 
an experimental garden patch, of course—an¬ 
nounces a yield of 1.391% bushels of potatoes 
per acre. The editor of the New England Farm¬ 
er, who has himself produced 4 W 8 bushels per 
acre, reckoning from a measured rod of 
ground, discusses the above figures, admits 
that hills 16 by 33 inches apart with about 
half a peck of tubers in each, would hold the 
1,391% bushels per acre claimed,and expresses 
his intention to try again.” 
SAMPLES. 
“Rurticus” reports to the Ohio Farmer 
that among many trials of the earliest peas, 
the Rural New-Yorker was a failure. 
The Times favs that at present prices, 
wheat is the cheapest food for stock. It 
should be coarsely ground and mixed with 
wetted cut hay or straw. Mixe-d with cooked 
potatoes or boiled with them, it is fine food 
for bogs... 
With two fast-walking horses and a first- 
rate plow, how many acres of fallow land 
can you plow iu one day? How many of 
stubble? How many of sod?. 
The birch that the Ag. Ed, of the Phila 
Weekly Press knew best when a boy grew in 
the border of a wood lot near the school- 
house. The branches were tough and flexible. 
It was Betula lenta (het-you-lent-a charm 
when applied to the skin) doubtless. 
Joseph Harris says that we want steam 
plows, and he thinks they will surely come... 
There is no better variegated hardy shrub 
than the hardy Hibiscus Syriacus. It is, in 
fact, the only one that ronlly sticks to its 
variegation (yellowish-white and green) 
through the Summer. ... 
Now, you see, Charles Downing, in a late 
N. Y. Tribune, agrees with the R. N-Y. in its 
statement that the Champion Quince is too late. 
The N. E, Homestead says that we should 
make every effort just at this time to save t he 
largest amount of mauure possible. Do not 
expose it to the weather—its best constitu¬ 
ents will bo washed out. Provide an abun¬ 
dance of absorbents to soak up the urine— 
the richest part of the manure.. 
A Kansas farmer says, according to the 
N. Y. Tribune, that he put a stop to the beat¬ 
ing of wheat by uiixiug with each titty bush¬ 
els a bushel of sail, and also kept weevils a way. 
Take the Rural’s advice, repeated through 
three'years, and plant plum trees iu the hen 
yard... 
The power of the soil to yield food is the 
measure of the power of men to live together. 
A Pennsylvania farmer was unexpected¬ 
ly converted to friendliness to the crow. He 
shot, one which he saw “pulling corn.” 
Prompted by curiosity to ascertain just how 
many kernels it had taken, he “opened the 
crop of the bird” and found—“twenty-one 
large cut-worms,” and nothing else. 
Let the American farmer feed his cheap 
wheat and make it into dear meat. So ad¬ 
vises the London Mark Lane Express. 
The irrepressible question as to whether 
trees should be set out in the Fall or Spring 
is answered by the R. N -Y. in this way: “If 
you live north of Chicago and New York, bet 
them in the Spring; if south of Chicago and 
New York, in the Fall. But wherever you 
live, give the roots large holes and mellow 
soil. Compact the earth well about the roots 
and cover it with a few inches of manure, or 
something of the kind ”. 
When fruits are first gathered, they, as it 
is technically expressed, sweat—that is, they 
exude their superabundant ™oisture. Green's 
Fruit Grower says that if this moisture be 
carefullv removed twice, and the fruir, neatly 
wrapped in paper, theu stored in an atmos¬ 
phere that is uniform and moderate, it will 
keep with ease far into the next year. We 
would suggest that filling the barrel with 
clean, dry sand will do just as well, with less 
trouble ..... 
Quoting from the N. Y. Tribune, Green's 
Fruit-Grower says that a resident of New- 
burgh, N. Y„ Mr. E. H. Clark, is said to have 
200 different sorts of apples grafted upon one 
tree—187 of them in bearing last year. 
Ik you want a hardy shrub with purple 
leaves, that, retain their color during the en¬ 
tire season, try Prunus Pissardii. 
Are your strawberries in matted rows or 
hills? Fill up between the plants with stable 
manure...... 
Remember the Rural New Yorker of the 
eighth of November, Over $2,500 worth of 
presents will be offered to subscribers who 
send us the largest clubs. No matter if the 
largest club should be but one dozen, it will 
be entitled to the first present... 
TRANSCONTINENTAL LETTERS. 
XIII. 
mary wager fisher. 
It was nearly two o’clock in the morning 
when we boarded the “Queen of the Pacific” 
at San Francisco,for the Puget Sound country, 
for which the fare to any of the ports to be 
touched, including rooms, meals, etc., is 
twenty dollars, and the voyage covers from 
four to five days, which is certainly cheap 
ocean travel in comparison with the rates be¬ 
tween New York and Liverpool, which re¬ 
quires double the time, but for which tbe fare 
is four or five times as much. The distance 
made by the “Queen” und its alternating 
steamer, is about a thousand miles, and could 
be traveled in considerably less time; but the 
ships move in accordance with schedule time, 
and there is something to be saved iu coul at 
a slow rate of speed. The engine of this ship 
consumes coal at about the rate of sixty tons 
per day. Tbe vessel is lighted throughout 
with electric lights, finished superbly in ma¬ 
hogany and oak,and it has windows of stained 
and jcwel«d glass—a superb vessel, and quite 
iu keeping with the magnificence of the 
methods employed on this coast, not, only in 
the way of transportation.but in other things, 
t mention this as a disclaimer against tbe 
popular notion on the Atlantic coast that to 
go anywhere west of the Alleghanies is to go 
into a sort of exile—into a back woods exist¬ 
ence. The “back woods” my be here: but I 
have not yet seen them. Whatever radiance 
the “Golden Gate” may have on a sunny day. 
was obscured by fog. as our good ship steamed 
out of this fatuous land-locked harbor, some 
two miles wide at the entrance Everybody 
says that to enjoy Bun Francisco and its har¬ 
bor, one should see them in Winter, say in 
January and February, when the hills are 
green with verdureand the climate is “lovely,” 
and there are no fogs. 
To be at sea in n fog is not pleasant, for, 
aside from not being able to see anything, the 
continuous blowiug of the fog-horn is a re¬ 
minder of possible danger. However, we had 
not much to complain of in the voyage, as we 
had clear weather and a smooth sea for the 
most part,ami could see the Cost Range Moun¬ 
tains for most of the way; then along the up 
per California coast, a peak was pointed 
out as being that of Mouut Shasta (it has 
two), but. we did not feel altogether certain 
that we were enjoying a far away view of 
that fatuous mountain. The “laddie” thought 
that he could not really bo on the Pacific 
Ocean because the water did not roll up iu 
largo billows, and be danced over tbe decks 
with a sense of perfect horizontal security. 
But toward the first night there was some 
roughness, aud the passengers who w ere in¬ 
clined to sea-sickness, sought their berths with 
wau faces and looks of disgust, Even the 
laddie parted with his supper at. his bed time, 
but protested that he was not sea sick, “it is 
being in this wretched state room, mamma, 
I wish you'would let me sleep on deck,” he 
said. But for the rest of the voyage he was 
as good u sailor as is his mother, and enjoyed 
seeing the whales, always in considerable 
numbers, leap up in the sea and send up the 
water from their nostrils like spouting geysers. 
1 had for my ri.s o m at table, a gentleman 
of unusual intelligence and information, who 
lias lived in California for 30 years, and iu the 
course of conversation he said that the day 
for making large fortunes in California was 
over, and that money-making had settled 
down to a solid business basis, aud that- al¬ 
though no pennies are in circulation, they are 
badly needed, as a flve-eent piece—the small¬ 
est coin in use—is too much for poor people 
to be obliged to expend for every trifling pur¬ 
chase. He regarded the dairy business as 
very profitable, and said that he paid as much 
for milk to-day as he did 30 years ago—40 
cents a gallon. Eggs and poultry are always 
high: but large beuneries never do well in 
California, while a small flock of fowls thrive 
and richly compensate their owners. With 
cows, pigs and poultry, be thought any in¬ 
telligent and “good managing” person could 
make money, even if all the food for the cows 
had to be bought. He mentioned one woman 
who had made $85,000 ju this business. Ire- 
marked that I supposed $35,000 was not much 
of a fortune in California, when he emphatic¬ 
ally replied that it was indeed considered a 
large sum of mouey—just as large as it would 
be anywhere. In reply to my remark that I 
had been surprised to find fruit, and general 
produce so high, he said that it was owing 
solely to middlemen, who bought of producers 
at a low figure, and sold at a great advance. 
Life at sea, although in a way monotonous, 
has also a certain charm of variety. The 
water assumes a multitude of phases,, from 
inky blacknesstoa silvery phosphorescent brill 
iancy, which at night surrounds and follows in 
the wake of the ship like a track of splendid 
light. The sunsets, too. are sometimes magnifi¬ 
cent, and there is always a pleasurable excite" 
ment in passing other vessels. 
On the evening of the third day out, we 
descried tbe light—a long way off—of Capo 
Flattery, or rather of the light house on Ta- 
toosh Island near that point, and heard the 
unwelcome news from the captain, that we 
would round that point about nine o’clock, 
enter tbe Straits of Juan do Fuca. and b» in 
port at Victoria, Vancouver’s Island, British 
Columbia, at day-break. I had often heard 
Anaximander say that ho thought I would be 
quite transported with the scene, if I should 
enter these straits in a clear day; and now, 
after four thousand miles of journeying, we 
were at last to enter them in the night and 
sail on for eight or nine hours without being 
a* le to see a thing! Verily, the ways of 
transportation companies are not adjusted to 
the desires of the tourist. But tbe captain 
cheerily cried, “Oh, you’ll see enough of the 
Sound, for you’ll have all of to-morrow in 
which to use vour eyes.” 
It was with an odd sensation that we opened 
our eyes next morning upon a town over 
which floated the English flag, on an island 
clothed in tbe green of vegetation instead of 
upon “a watery waste.” As a greut deal of 
freight was to be unloaded, it was announced 
that the "Queen” would be in that port for 
six hours or more; so, after breakfast, we 
went on shore and hired a carriage to facili¬ 
tate our sight-seeing. Victoria is a city of 
eight to ton thousand inhabitants, and tbe 
business part of It is a mile or more from tbe 
place where our ship landed. It is tbe capital 
of British Columbia, and our driver, of course, 
drove to tbe residencoof the Governor and by 
tbe public buildings, none of which are in 
any degree pretentions. Comfortable-looking 
homes were ou all sides; but no elegant ones. 
We drove out to Erquimalt (pronounced 
Equimalt). which is two miles, perhaps, from 
Victoria, and a beautiful drive over an excel¬ 
lently macadamized roud. We found all the 
roads and bridges first-class, aud there were 
no tolls. Vancouver’s Is and should have 
belonged to tbe United States, but if it had, it 
would not now be blessed with its fine romlx. 
In that one particular the English Govern¬ 
ment is made manifest, for it must bo con 
fessed that in some things John Bull does 
better than Uncle Sam. Erquimalt is a beau¬ 
tiful village. The Hudson Bay Fur Company 
has here its headquarters, und in port was a 
stately man-of-war. All along tbe way I 
looked for wild flowers, but saw nothing 
but dandelions in bloom. Ferns grew lux¬ 
uriantly, and English ivy festooned build¬ 
ings as does our own ampelopsis in the 
Middle and Eastern States. I saw very few 
flowers of any kind—an occasional Clematis 
Jackntaiiii, a rose tree, an unhappy looking 
gladiolus, and much woodbiue. Wild rose 
bushes grow in abundance in waste places. 
But the king beauty of the place was its superb 
trees of Mountain Asb, brilliant with berries. 
Best of all, 1 saw for the first time in many 
weeks fields of Red Clover, looking precisely 
as it does iu the State of New York. The trees 
were pines, cedars, maples and a handsome 
tree, with short, dark-green leaves, looking 
like Live Oak, that tbedriver said was willow. 
Pear utid apple treos were loaded with fruit— 
no peaches or grapes. The climate is mild, 
rarely freezing in Winter. The Island is 300 
miles long, aud its first railroad is in process 
of construction. The land is rolling, and 
much of it is wooded with fir. 
There are some lumber interests, aud some 
iron aud brass foundries; but the place is 
quiet: no “boom.” nut much building. Car¬ 
penters get from $3. to $8 50 per day, and 
brick layers $4. There are about 2,000 Chinese 
iu Victoria, aud a Chinese commission was iu 
session to discuss the restriction of the im¬ 
portation of the “Celestials.” Some of the 
ladies oa ship board, who visited the shops 
with a view to finding furs aud kid gloves 
cheap, reported complete disappointment— 
they could do quite as well in Ban Francisco. 
A large part of the ship’s cargo for Victoria 
consisted of California fruits—peaches, grapes, 
melons, pears and plums. We had tbe felicity 
of eating our noon-day meal ou ship-board be¬ 
fore leaving Victoria; but shortly after one 
o’clock we were again under headway, and 
about two hours later, we were near Port 
Townsend on the American side, and tbe 
ship's cannon boomed, ason entering Victoria, 
to announce her arrivaL It was cloudy aud 
cool aud there was nothing in the scenery to 
make oue enthusiastic, except the great ex¬ 
panse of water and the blue-gray effect of the 
stately firs that covered the top of the high 
shores and the islands, most of which are so 
large ihat ihey have the appearance of belong¬ 
ing to the mainland. At Port Townsend we 
spent but a short time; but we went on shore 
aud climbed up to the top of the bluff on 
which the main part of the town is built—a 
pretty town of 2.000 inhabitants, and beauti¬ 
fully located Apple, plum, and pear trees 
were loaded to breaking; some pretty flower 
gardens; huge saw mills, and tbe air fragrant 
with the sweet smell of newly sawed lumber. 
Tbe Port Townsend harbor Is said to afford 
the best anchorage in the Sound. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
California. 
Lemoore, Tulare Co., Oct. 10.—We are 
having glorious weather now. We bad a 
slight frost October 1st; but not enough to do 
any damage. Farmers are very busy putting 
up their last crop of Alfalfa. We bad good 
crops of all kinds. Fruit crops unusually 
heavy. I gathered some late cling peaches 
to-day—seedlings planted two years ago; very 
fine and large. This is ono of the greatest 
fruit countries in the world. Farmers are be¬ 
ginning to turn their attention mnro to stock 
racing than in former years, finding it pays 
better than raising so much grain. You know 
what an immense wheat crop California has 
this year. Long may the Rural live! I shall 
never do without it again. G. H. w. 
Connecticut, 
Gale’s Ferry, Now London Co., Oct. 16.— 
The Rural Union Corn did well here; with 
ordinary care on a rather poor, sandy soil, it 
ripened large ears by the first of September. 
The tomatoes were splendid; among the 59 
plants that ripened first not a poor one was 
found. There were many varieties. They 
all ripened up well around the stem. We 
shall save the seed for next year. The peas 
we kept over. w. M. w. 
Dakota. 
Raymond, Clark Co., Oct. 13 —Thrashing 
is being vigorously carried ou. Wheat is 
yielding from 12 to 20 bushels per acre; in no 
case is it coming up to the estimate made 
while growing. Prices here at the elevator 
are 42 to 5<> cents—a condition of tilings very 
discouraging to the farmers; but as nearly all 
have machine bills to meet and this is their 
first crop, they uru obliged to sell. A great 
number intend to raise flax next year, and as 
a consequence, it is Bringing, on an average, 
$1.00 a bushel for seed. Quito a number of 
other things will be tried, so that next year 
the amount of wheat raised will be consider¬ 
ably reduced. Stock is iu great demand, and 
is fast becoming an important element in “the 
struggle for existence.” Quite a number are 
going East this Fall to return in the Spring 
with car-loads of stock, so that we are fast 
emancipating ourselves from the slavery of 
wheat raising. Corn, even on the sod, is a 
splendid crop, aud has ripened and been out 
of the way of frost for over three weeks, aud 
were it not for high railroad freights wo could 
swell the already large amounts that the 
Chicago cornerers are receiving every day. 
T. M. 
Indiana. 
Lagrange, Lagrauge Co., Oct. 16.—The 
season is winding up with a fair average crop 
of all kinds of grain. Large fruits mostly 
failures. The acreage of wheat sown is larger 
than usual, aud it looks well. E. r. 
Michigan. 
Lawton, Van Huron Co., Oct.l7--The Rural 
has a large number of friends in this locality, 
aud, judging from the frequency with which 
it is quoted, it has also a good number of 
readers; yet I have never seeu one word 
descriptive of the fruit interests here in its 
columns. Indeed, its correspondent in men¬ 
tioning the fruit exhibit at the recent State 
Fair at Kalamazoo, spoke of the fine exhibit 
of grapes from the “ interior” of tbe State. 
Had he observed the labels on the plates, he 
would have seen five exhibits of grapes by the 
Lawtou Bornological Society, four of which 
took first premiums. A kind word is appre¬ 
ciated by t hose who make such exhibits. V\ r e 
kuow that iu quality and quantity of fruit 
there are very few T localities that possess ad¬ 
vantages superior to this. Our orchards and 
vineyards have proved highly remunerative 
to their owners, and that I suppose is tbe test 
of success. 1 send you a cluster of Salems. 
It. will give you some information as to the kind 
we grow, both as to quality of fruit and size 
of berry. [We never saw finer Salems either 
in size or quality, aud if these are the criterion 
from which to judge, we can fully indorse all 
our friend says of this locality as a fruit coun¬ 
try.— Eds.] The Niagara does well here. 1 
measured,a few days ago,several canes of the 
Niagara, aud I found quite a number over 17 
feet long—this season's growth, well hardened 
and measuring five-eights of an inch iu diame¬ 
ter at the base I know of no locality that grows 
Concords of as high a quality in flavor, sweet¬ 
ness, color, bloom and size of cluster, as are 
grown here. Our bills are the natural home 
of the choicest Northern fruits, and if any one 
doubts it, let him visit us and be convinced by 
touch and teste. fructus. 
