778 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
' De Ruiter, sire of 
Aaggle Constance.... 2 
. Clara. 2 
Jennie ... 2 
“ Leila. S 
** Sadie. 2 
*• Merrel........ 2 
" Pauline. 2 
*• Eva.. 2 
76* *,'?929dS,*m. 1 12(1. 
85* 4.45S, 2 in.. 24 d. 
5u 15-18 5.MM*. 4 m .. 15 d. 
57 IU* 7.842,Sm.. lid. 
44 MW*. 7 m.. 1«<1. 
44 511 5.184* 4 in.. 3Ud. 
48 116 R.VilS 18. .* rn.. ]5d 
35 l 16 S.728 1* 16,4 m.,17 d. 
3711-16 *,T:6*. 7 rr... 16 d. 
These records were made iu various herds; 
some in the Southern Suites, others in Ohio 
and New York. The largest two year-old 
record—that of A aggie Constance—was made 
in Syracuse, and has never t>een equaled. 
Huxai topics. 
NOTES FROM AN OLD CONTRIBUTOR. 
CHANGES IN A QUARTER OF A CENTURY. 
Allow a former “special contributor” to 
congratulate the Rural New Yorker and 
it* readers upon the present attainments and 
future prospects of the paper. It has done 
and Is doiug ft good work. “New men and 
new methods.” Writing again after the 
lapse of a quarter of a century, I turn in¬ 
stinctively to the past and recall the men and 
methods of the previous generation. Few 
then prominent in agriculture and horticul¬ 
ture now remain. James 8. Wadsworth, 
Geo. Geddas, A. B. Dickinson, B. P. Johnson, 
John Johnson, Gen. Harmon, Col. Sherwood, 
Solon Robinson and T. C. Peters have passed 
away—I.ewis F. Allen, John J. Thomas, A. 
B. Allen, Charles Downing and Marshall P. 
Wilder still encourage us by t heir presence and 
wise counsels, but others must soon carry the 
burdens they have borne bo long and faithfully. 
Not men only, but methods have changed. 
Farmiug in ’84 is not what it was in '54: im¬ 
proved machinery, commercial manures, the 
development of new territory, increased facil¬ 
ities for transportation have marvelously in¬ 
creased “production the growth of cities 
and villages, the increase of wealth and 
poverty,and improvements in commercial in¬ 
terchange have materially modified demand. 
New products are called for, and old ones, iu 
altered proportions. Owing to multiplied 
complications, it has become a matter of ex¬ 
treme difficulty to decide what among field, 
orchard and garden products, will, in any 
particular case, best reward the grower. Low 
prices for wool discourage sheep husbandry 
in New York, and have led many farmers in¬ 
considerately to abandon it; but rapidly in¬ 
creasing local and general demand for fresh 
meat, and the necessity for fertilizers put an¬ 
other face on the matter, and make well fed 
and well cared for fiocks highly remunerative 
—sheep iu New York, as in England, are 
here to stay. 
WHEAT GROWING. • 
Exhaustive tillage is working mischief with 
Western wheat, growers; they are drawing 
recklessly on their soil deposits; sterility will 
soon relieve Chicago elevators of their ple¬ 
thoric supplies; there is a limit to the fertility 
of virgin soil, and when it is reached, wheat 
and other grains will command higher prices. 
Till then, New York and other Eastern 
farmers will find it for their interest to grow 
wheat very moderately. When spring crops 
have introduced thistles and weeds, a well 
worked summer fallow is the best means of 
purification and the best preparation for fall 
seeding with Red Top aud Timothy; either 
wheat or rye should be sown with grass seed. 
The only condition on which Eastern farm 
ers can raise wheat at present prices is that 
they work their land so thoroughly, and 
manure it so highly, that their average yield 
shall not fall below 3U bushels to the acre. 
DAIRY PRODUCTS 
will find a large aud increasing sale—Ameri¬ 
cans are fond of cheese; it is eminently nutri¬ 
tious and appetizing. Disagreeing on other 
points, people are uuauimous in this—that 
bread ought to be liberally buttered. Milk 
and cream will be more appreciated and more 
used as men grow wiser aud understand 
themselves aud-their necessities better. With¬ 
in the last 30 years there has been a great 
change for the better in the management of 
cows. Formerly breeders scarcely knew what 
cows were made for; they assumed their chief 
end was to be knocked down and skinned. 
Milking qualities went for little; andnotmuch 
grain or succulent food was fed in Winter 
or Spring; short feed in Summer was com¬ 
mon, aud butter and cheese records were not 
encouraging. The coming farmer will keep 
cows, and keep them well. Soiling, grain, 
roots, silage—every appliance that ingenuity 
aud enterprise can devise—will be resorted to 
for the purpose of getting the most value from 
the least laud. 
Poultry, as farm stock, are entitled to the 
very distinguished consideration of farmers 
great and small. Nothing, except the honey¬ 
bee, can make so much out of so little as the 
hen. Eggs are worth as much to mankind as 
meat, and vastly more if the same expense is 
lavished on them. Fowls furnish flesh, too, 
of superior quality. 
Fruits. —Especially small fruits, must have 
prominence under the new dispensation. Our 
Creator did not expend so much on fruits, 
giving them such varied and exquisite flavors, 
to feed worms and tantalize mankind. Cour¬ 
age! There are remedies for all the ill* that 
fruit is heir to—each latitude aud locality is 
precisely fitted for the growth of some varie¬ 
ty of fruit; and there that variety should be 
grown and made a specialty. 
Gardening. —The wonderful increase of 
population and marvelous growth of cities 
and villages are developing local markets, 
and giving premiums to market gardening. 
Very much of the State of New York will 
eventually be devoted to supplying the popu¬ 
lace with fruiis and vegetables. As we near 
the millenium, there are valid reasons for 
supposing that even farmers' gardens will be 
improved by the ameliorating influences of 
the age. I take pleasure in saying, in conclu¬ 
sion, that the last thirty years have witnessed 
a marked improvement in farm-buildings, 
and appurtenances, and that rural life prom¬ 
ises increased enjoyment to the tillers of the 
soil. HUGH T. BROOKS. 
Wyoming Co., N. Y. 
ROAD-MAKING IN THE WEST. 
JOHN M. STAHL. 
Where rock and gravel can be bad the 
problem of good country highways is an easy 
one to solve. But in hundreds of localities in 
the West, aggregating more than half of the 
territory, neither stone nor gravel is avail¬ 
able. On account of our at times impassable 
mud roads, people condemn us, never stopping 
to think that gravel Is not available. It is 
true, we have opened too many roads. Land 
has been so cheap, und it was so easy to make 
a highway on the level prairies, that there are 
few localities which have not twice as many 
highways as are actually needed. The road 
labor has not been sufficient to keep those 
needed in repair, and has not been wisely ap¬ 
plied. There is little money aud no honor in the 
office of road-overseer, and it is refused by 
those l»est qualified to bold it, and thrust upon 
the men of least judgment and most indolent 
habits. In many counties of I Uinois.and of other 
States, the road tax isnow collected in money; 
the olfice of road-overseer is abolished, and the 
duties devolve upou the road-commissioners 
of the townships; and these are as good men 
as can l>e found. Work is let to tne lowest 
bidder, payment being conditioned upon the 
proper performance of the work. This has 
led to great improvement. 
Yet tnere are dirt roads; and dirt roads 
thej* ore likely to remain for many years to 
come. The problem has been to make a road¬ 
bed of dirt, that would be fairly passable dur¬ 
ing the wet season. There are many localities 
where timber can be bad. but not gravel. 
Timber clumps are common along the streams, 
even iu Nebraska. This has led to the forma¬ 
tion of "corduroy” foundations, which have 
proven satisfactory. Poles and small logs are 
cut 12 feet long, and laid across the road-bed 
as compactly as possible, till they are from 12 
to 18 inches deep. Over these is placed a layer 
of 18 inches of earth. The poles afford good 
drainage, so that the road does not remain 
wet long, and rarely becomes muddy. Of 
course, ruts are formed; but on account of 
the good drainage, there are comparatively 
few of them, and repairs are much less tbaD in 
case of dirt roads, while at all times the road 
is better. This system has been most general¬ 
ly adopted where the highway passes over 
“soaky” ground. 
Grading up the road-bed high in the center 
has been thoroughly tried. This improved 
the road-bed very little. Tiling is now done 
in a few localities. Three rows of tiles are 
laid, one along the center aDd one on either 
side five feet away, and the ditches form 
convenient outlets for the drains. From 
the side drains there are outlets every few 
rods to the ditches at the sides, and all 
three lines are connected by cross tiles at suit¬ 
able intervals, and the tile are placed three feet 
underground. The surface water finds its way 
at once iuto the ditches at the sides, and that 
which sinks into the ground reaches the tile as 
in field drainage. In some cases the tiles have 
been laid diagonally across the road-bed, but 
it has not proven so satisfactory. It was feared 
that the constant passage of heavy vehicles 
would displace the tile, but, so far as I have 
been able to learn,this has not been the case. 
It was also feared that on the surface there 
would lie formed a crust, impervious to water, 
but this fear has been proven groundless. 
The road-bed must be kept in good repair. 
Travel is apt to wear it into ruts, and then it 
will soon become muddy, the water being 
held upon the surface. While this system of 
road-making is as yet an experiment, it has 
so far proven satisfactory, and promises to 
become popular where gravel can not be had. 
Where this can be obtained in limited quan¬ 
tity, graveling and underdraining could be 
combined with happy effect. On an under¬ 
drained bed a layer of gravel six or eight 
inches thick, would answer, as the tile would 
take the place of stone, affording the gravel 
a dry, solid foundation. 
-—- 
NOTES FROM NORTHEASTERN 
KANSAS. 
I have been reading the many experiments 
described in the Rural, and find the conclu¬ 
sions arrived at iu some cases agree with my 
own experience; while in others they differ. 
The Orchard Gras* objected to at the Rural 
Grounds, because it is so coarse even for pas¬ 
ture, Is the very best for that purpose in 
Eastern Kansas. It furnishes an abundance 
of feed, and is not checked even by close feed¬ 
ing. The Pocklington Grape is healthy and 
vigorous here, with very little rot, and the 
quality is acceptable. We could prize a good 
late grape; all we have ripen too early, while 
the weather is hot, and they must be used or 
go to waste. Moore’s Early is a good grape; 
so is Lady: but Lady Washington, Prentiss 
aDd others of that class are failures. The 
Kieffer and Le Conte Pears fruited here this 
season, and aregood—uo blight on them. The 
season is sufficiently long to mature the Kieffer 
to perfection. Le Conte trees grown in South¬ 
ern nurseries, come into leaf so early as to be 
in danger from frosts; but as the trees get 
older, they leaf out later, at least so it seems 
to me. I have several others of these hybrids, 
that may fruit next vear. The reports on po¬ 
tatoes are next in interest to me. Here this 
crop is not so sure of being of good quality as 
in the East, and if any of the varieties sent 
out by the Rural should do better here than 
those already In cultivation, it would be 
worthy of several trials. [We have had very 
favorable reports of the Beauty of Hebron, 
White Elephant and Blush, from Kansas.] The 
early varieties do better than the late kinds. 
The E Ohio is the favorite for early, and 
PeachblOw for late. Sweet potatoes are more 
reliable and grown to quite an extent. The 
low prices for wheat have caused a smaller 
area to be sown this Fall than formerly. 
Lawrence, Kansas. a. h. G. 
iultJ Crops. 
WIRE-WORMS AND POTATOES. 
There has been considerable discussion of 
late in the Rural and other papers as to 
whether the wire-worm produces scab iu po¬ 
tatoes, and there has also been some discussion 
as to what is really a wire-worm. Dr. Harris 
was certainly mistaken in saying that the 
American wire-worm belougs to the Myria- 
poda, for wbat is commonly known as a wire- 
worm, at least among farmers, does not be 
long to this class. What farmer's call a wire 
worm answers very nearly to the description 
of the English wire-worm, having a long, 
yellowish, cylindrical body with a Hard crust, 
which gives it the name. It never works 
above ground, and is generally found in rath 
er damp or wet situations where there is, or 
has been, a heavy sward. When corn is 
planted in such places, the central roll of 
leaves is frequently found withered, which is 
caused by the wire-worm boriug through the 
stalk just where the roots brauch out. The 
same effect is produced by what farmers call 
the “bud-worm,” which always pierces the 
stalk above ground. The “bud-worm” is, 
however, an entirely different worm from the 
wire-worm, being of a dark-brown color, and 
its body having a Boft crust It pierces the 
stalks and destroys the buds, both of corn aud 
wheat, but always above grouud. 
Now I am positive that the true wire-worm 
does not produce scab in potatoes, though it 
is often found sticking out of the tubers into 
which it has bored. The scab is a fungous 
growth, as Prof. Beal has said and as 1 know 
from experience. Let the Rural plaut some 
scabby potatoes by themselves next season, 
and it can soon satisfy itself on this point. 
Last Spring L received from the Department 
of Agriculture some early potatoes of a new 
variety, all of which were scabby. I planted 
them iu a row alongside a row of Early Rose 
of my own growiug, and free from blemish. 
The product of the Department potatoes were 
all scabby without exception: but not a single 
tuber of the Rose was so. As another evidence 
that scab is due to a fungus, there are only 
some varieties that are subject to it, others 
being exempt. 1 do not know that I ever saw 
a scabby Peachblow. White potatoes, like 
theDunmore, Mammoth Pearl, etc., frequent¬ 
ly show it. h. l. w. 
Newbern, Va. 
-» ♦♦- 
8CAB IN POTATOES. 
C. T. Kent, Iowa, writes us: “I send you 
a tin box containing specimens of “worms,” 
which, in my opinion, cause scab in potatoes; 
for I found lots of them boring into potatoes 
so that those in tne part of the patch where 
the pests were most numerous, were not worth 
picking. I have often sought for the cause 
of scab in my crops; but until to-day I had 
never been successful. 
Remarks.—The box came; but whatever it 
contained was so dried and broken that we 
could not identify the depredators.— Eds.] 
--- 
POTATOES FROM SEED-BALLS. 
This year I had a nice lot of potatoes raised 
from seed-balls of the "White Elephant. Some 
were as early as the Early Rose; some very 
late. A bright red specimen was one of the 
first to ripen, while another of tbe same color 
was among tbe latest. A white one was ripe 
as soon as the Early Rose. The purple ones 
we cooked and they seemed as good as their 
parent, if not better. Tbe yield was abundant 
for the second year, and some of them weighed 
a pound each. I am highly pleased with them. 
Adrian. Mich. d. r. 
SCAB ON POTATOES. 
A writer in a late Rural speaks of the 
wire-worm as the cause of scab in potatoes; 
there is a brownish worm with a red bead that 
eats a hole into potatoes in low, moist land, 
without, making them scabby. I tried sowing 
salt, but it failed as a remedy. w. connor. 
Belleville, Ont. 
farm topics. 
SUGAR AT A CENT A POUND. 
T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
The Rural has had its experiments belit¬ 
tled or misrepresented by jealous or stupid 
journalistic rivals, and knows how Prof. Peter 
Collier is likely to have felt over the reception 
ot bis investigations us to the possibilities of 
sorghum as a sugar plant. The recent declar¬ 
ation of Dr. Collier, at the meeting in Phila¬ 
delphia of the Society for the Promotion of 
Agricultural Science, has again been made a 
text for the scorners, I have not seen the ad¬ 
dress referred to, as it has not yet been 
printed, but l feel that nothing is risked in 
saying that Dr. Collier is always able to back 
up his allegations upon any chemical subject, 
and to stand the test of time, that proves all 
things. 
As an illustration of this, it is pleasing to 
bear that, in spite of tbe repeated statements 
issuing from the Agricultural Department at 
Washington, that “nobody but Collier ever 
got such results”—intimating that nobody 
ever would, as they were not true—European 
investigators Of the highest ability have, 
during the past two years, fully demonstrated 
as good or better results In the analysis of 
sorghum. Documents lately received from 
France and Italy testify that at Vaucluse near 
Avignon, the experimenters obtained 16.03per 
cent, of cane sugar with 1.7 per cent, of glu¬ 
cose in sorghum juice, and from CO to 65 per 
cent, of juice from the caue by pressure. The 
director of these experiments concludes his 
report by saving that “these results fully ac¬ 
cord with those obtained by Dr. Peter Collier 
at Washington, both as to the arnouut of juice, 
and as to the content of sugar in the juice.” 
The Italian Government, alter Collier’s 
results were published, directed the Minister 
of Agriculture to repeat bis investigations in 
Italy. The report, just received from Mo¬ 
dena, iu Northern Italy, states that they 
found, as an average, in the juice of sorghum 
cut 15 days after the seed w'as quite ripe, 17.66 
per cent, of cane sugar aud 1.63 per cent, of 
glucose, with a yield of juice amounting to 
GO. 53 per cept., of a sp. gr. of 10.89. At 
Reggio, in Southern Italy, they found, in caue 
worked six days after it had been cut, 16.49 
percent, of cane sugar, and 3 30 percent, of 
glucose. In bis conclusion, the Italian Minis¬ 
ter remarks that these results fully confirm 
those obtained by Collier in Washington. The 
course of belittling Dr. Collier's work, which 
has been systematically pursued by the Com¬ 
missioner and his subordinates, is extremely 
discreditable to the country and the adminis¬ 
tration of tbe Department. It is hoped that 
ere lODg there will be changes there that will 
put more competent men in such important 
positions. The farmers should insist upon 
such a change. 
[Hasn't Prof. Wiley worked fairly in the 
interests of the sorghum industry I—Eds.] 
Pomolagicjal 
SOME FINE SEEDLING PLUMS. 
Mr. James Dougall, of Windsor, Canada, 
has been very successful in originating new 
fruits, some of which we have already illus- 
