lieve from an experience of a number of years 
with a heavy irou roller. For while the wheat 
roots need compact soil, protecting them from 
the contact of free air, the soil itself, or 
rather its surface layer, requires free entrance 
and circulation of air to prepare, as daily 
wanted, from the nitrogen in the soil or in the 
applied manure, the essential nitrates—the 
dailv food of cereal vegetation. The roller 
effects the opposite of these requirements; for 
it closes and cakes the surface without com 
parting much the stirred soil below. English 
farmers, who have large flocks of sheep, drive 
them over wheat fields in preference to rolling, 
or they use ‘knuckle rollers’ which are 
knobby iron disc? strung on the roller spindle 
so that each revolves independently, the 
whole kneading the soil as with knuckles. 
The sheep’s feet and these knuckle discs com¬ 
pact the lower soil while leaving the surface 
in a broken condition not likely to be run to¬ 
gether into an air-tight crust by the first 
heavy rain. One great merit of the scarifier 
over the plow, and the fork over the spade, is 
that the open mold of the natural surface is 
retained more, and not so completely turned 
down and replaced by crusted sub-soil. 
Our tests of the different kinds of lettuce 
the past season showed that at least one-third 
of the so called varieties might be eliminated 
from seedsmen’s catalogues without any loss 
to anybody.. 
Let us bear iu mind that we do not cover 
strawberries to prevent them or the soil from 
freezing. The covering is intended merely 
to keep the ground frozen or to prevent 
those violent alternations of freezing and 
thawing which destroy the roots. If the 
soil freezes in November and remains 
frozen until February or March we should 
prefer to apply the mulch not until the 
latter month A very good plan is to 
spread the covering, whatever it may be, 
evenly upon the snow. As the snow disap¬ 
pears the mulch is let down and finally rests 
lightly and evenly upon the strawberry plants. 
The Rural. Nkw-Yobker tried the Russian 
White Oats several years ago when so freely 
advertised and reported to its readers that 
they were of no special value. This seems 
now to be the general opinion. The lamented 
James Vick was one of the firrtls to introduce 
these oats. During a call at the Rural Office 
on the day that he started on his last visit to 
Europe wesaid : “Mr. Vick, we have tried the 
Russian White Oats beside six other kinds 
and our report is unfavorable.” “That’s right,” 
said the good Mr. Vick, “ we want both sides.” 
Hon. Cassius M. Clay writee us that he 
deems the watermelon the first of all fruits. 
Mr. Clay's farm Is in Kentucky. 
We were at a loss to know why the new 
potato Wall’s Orange was so named, since the 
skin, with us, was generally splashed with 
purple. We have lately received from the 
originator a specimen weighing one pound, 
seven ounces, the skin of which is really of a 
dull bronzy orange color—the eyes purple. 
The shape of this potato is not good, being too 
convex on one side—too concave or hollow on 
the other. It is certainly very distinct in its 
appearance .. 
There are repeated accounts in the English 
papers of tomatoes being attacked and de¬ 
stroyed there by the bane of the Bolanums— 
of the potato especially— Peronospora infes- 
tans. The English taste inclines to pungent 
flavors in fruits, drinks and food, and soon 
grows partial to the tomato.^ But if this 
mildew is added to the difficulties of climate, 
the noble berries cannot be grown there to 
any advantage, and it will depend upon 
American canners who keep their brands un¬ 
impeachable, to supply what is likely to be¬ 
come a vast demand. Tomato plants often 
perish with mildew here, but not, usually, 
until they have yielded at least a partial crop. 
They are very liaMe to it in England out-of- 
doors, but leas so when inclosed, as they 
usually are there. The Garden says that their 
popularity there has srt in with a rush, aud 
gardeners uso houses and frames which have 
been used to force strawberries and store 
bedding plants, and which have usually re¬ 
mained empty during the Bummer, to grow 
the new favorite—the tomato. The Trophy 
has been much grown, and the Acme is intro - 
dueed. We want a long-keeping tomato to 
send to England... 
We learn from one of our friends living in 
Iowa that the Early Ohio is there considered 
by many who have raised it as the beat early 
and the earliest potato in cultivation. That is 
what we have said of it for the past two 
years at the Rural Farm. 
Mr. Livingston, originator of the Acme, 
Paragon, Perfection and Favorite Tomatoes 
tells us that he has known tomato seeds to 
grow when 12 years old. He thinks they 
will grow when 14 years old. 
Hk also remarked that he raised 19 Cuban 
Queen watermelons in Dea Moines (Iowa) from 
three hills, one to two plants to a hill. He 
does not regard it aud the old Excelsior as the 
\ttme..... 
A correspondent writes to us from North 
Carver, Mass : “ I have been very much 
pleased at seeing in the Rural 90 much about 
sulky plows, and would like to learn in the 
same way about riding cultivators. They are 
not used hereabouts. How would they work 
among potatoes, cabbages, etc., and how wide 
apart should the rows be ? Let us hear on tbe 
matter from farmers not from manufac¬ 
turers.” The Rural has already given it8 
experience. We shall be glad to bear from 
others ..... 
The Rural New-Yorker has not as yet 
made its report upon the strawberries culti¬ 
vated last season—over 100 different kinds. 
These were all spaded under in time to use the 
land for different kinds of celery. A plot for 
home use was then made,and our readers may 
like to know the varieties which, after testing 
250 different binds, we selected. They were 
Charles Downing, Cumberland Triumph and 
Sharpless... 
“ Ci.hm Auldon ” writes u® that the an¬ 
nouncement of E. P. Roe’s article “Straw¬ 
berry Culture” did him five dollars worth of 
good. He also looks forward with interest to 
Ben Parley Poore’s “Making Homes Happy.” 
“ This world," he says “ needs a good deal of 
that.”... 
Our friend, Sir. H. Sweeney, of Kansas 
writes us that pure-blooded Jersey Red hogs 
are gradually growing in favor in the Far 
West, and he thinks that in a few years they 
will be pretty numerous in Central Kansas... 
weekly National journal of agriculture and 
horticulture published in America, It is 
the. onltl journal that conducts an experi¬ 
ment farm and horticultural grounds purely 
in the interests of its readers. It is the 
only journal that has systematically dis¬ 
tributed new and valuable seeds and plants 
free, among its subscribers, thus introducing 
some of the most popular farm and garden 
plants known. Its corps of writers are by 
all conceded to be the best ever col¬ 
lected together to write for a single rural 
journal. Its editors strive to toll the exact 
truth regarding the new seeds, plants, farm 
implements, etc., which are purchased or 
sent to the Rural Grounds to be tried. 
While appreciating its advertising patron¬ 
age, it places the interests of Us readers 
foremost, and condemns or praises accord- 
' ing to deserts. 
-- 
Fowls eor the Table and Market —Our 
friend Col. M. C. Weld delivered a lecture be¬ 
fore the Mass. State Board of Agriculture 
on the above topic. After experimenting 
with all the fancy breeds, he said that he had 
for years past taken more solid comfort in 
cross-bred fowls, in which he had sought to 
combine those traits which were most valued 
in his household, and were not to be found in 
any of the pure-blooded breeds. On a foun¬ 
dation flock of Dorking and Brahma, with a 
few White Leghorn hens, be crossed first the 
Dorking, gaining better bodies so far as the 
Brahmas aud Leghorns were concerned, small- 
er Ieg 9 , more breast meat, and no deteriora¬ 
tion as egg-layers. Eggs of good form, firm, | 
smooth shells and large size, were the only 
ones set for hatching, and now he rarely had 
a hen that did not lay eggs above the average 
size. This flock he crossed with Plymouth 
Rocks, and the result gave great satisfaction. 
The rapidity of growth of the chicks was 
remarkalde. * * * Fattening fowls, he 
says, should not have too large a run. They 
should have free opportunity to stand in the 
sunshine, to dust themselves to their hearts’ 
content, to scratch and run about. They 
should have pure water to drink, and pulver¬ 
ized charcoal should be part of their regular 
diet, mixing it with their soft food every two 
or three days in quantity enough to blacken 
it somewhat. The charcoal should be from 
tbe s’ze of wheat grains down to dust. Its ef¬ 
fect is to regulate digestion and the bowels, 
to prevent disease, and to promote fattening, 
indirectly. Scalded Indian meal is probably 
the most fattening aud the most economical 
form of food. It is very concentrated nour¬ 
ishment, and it is more economical to feed it 
somewhat extended than pure. Small pota¬ 
toes, washed aud boiled and mashed, while 
hot, with meal, or even with wheat or rye 
bran, or middlings mixed half und half make 
excellent and very fattening feed. * * * In 
regard to killing, Col. Weld remarked that 
the best way was to hang several chickens up 
by the legs and then cut the veins and arter¬ 
ies in the back of the mouth or throat with a 
long, slender knife, the point of which is 
thrust into the base of the brain. The fowl is 
thus rendered instantly unconscious, and tbe 
plucking may begin at once without the least 
cruelty. Chopping off the head and then 
throwing tbe bird upon the ground to spring 
and flop about; until life is extinct was depre¬ 
cated as bruising the flesh and hastening de¬ 
cay. The sooner fowls are plucked after they 
are killed the better. The feathers are much 
more easily removed, and the skin looks much 
smoother and fresher than when plucking is 
delayed until the fowl is nearly or quite cold. 
-♦♦«- 
Hedges vs. Fences. —Prof. Thomas Mee¬ 
han at the last meeting of the State Horticul¬ 
tural Society of Pennsylvania said that he 
had about concluded that barbed wire will 
supersede hedges, but when in the West lately 
one of the officers of a long line of railway 
told him that they had about concluded to 
take up their wire fences and resort to good 
hedges only. The wire will slacken, get un¬ 
sightly and unfit for the purpose for which it 
was put up. He said also that persons pry 
out the staples, and, in short, he said they 
“ would not do.” In regard to Osage Orange 
there is often more money spent on it than 
necessary. The Professor has seen them 
planted four inches apart, left to grow three or 
four years and then cut down. It is astonish¬ 
ing what a strong hedge they will make by 
that method. Some object also to the roots 
of Osage as being injurious, bat that is the 
case only when hedges are allowed to grow 
larger than necessary fora hedge. Mr. M. 
very much doubts whether the time has yet 
come when barbed wire will supersede 
live hedges. 
- -- - 
Relaxation for Farmers. — Farmers 
should be quite as independent as those who 
follow other occupations, and should not feel 
that they are obliged to work so many hours 
that there is no time for social enjoyment or 
intellectual improvement. Very truly says 
our esteemed contemporary the Mass. Plough¬ 
man, even the clergy in former days were re¬ 
quired to be on duty fifty-two Sundays in the 
year, and three sermons each Sunday, but 
uow, many of them give but one service a 
week; and become so exhausted that they 
yearly ask for one or two months’ vacation, 
and perhaps to have their expenses paid to 
some foreign country. Surely the farmer 
canuot contemplate these changes without a 
feeling that he, too, should share in the lighter 
labors and larger pay. 
Thus speaks the London Live Stock Journal 
and Fanciers’ Gazette. 
“It is clear that we cannot depend on 
Brother Jonathan sending us all the stuff he 
threatens to do. Once in a while he comes 
down on us like an avalanche, and scares us 
! most profoundly. It is a playful habit he 
has. He tears out like a yard-dog, wildly, and 
is suddenly brought to at the end of his tether. 
He must in fact do things with a ruth, like 
Irishmen in a fight, or not do them at all. 
He rushes everything he can ; or runs it, to 
say the least. And we steady-going one- 
paced, plethoric Britishers are startled when 
Brother Jonathan reckons it is time he “ went 
for” us. He made ub tremble, a few years 
ago, in our very boots, on the meat question ; 
and now we see, or think we see, that the 
bulk of it was blaster after all. In any case, 
American beef has come over very gingerly 
this year ; and, as Englishmen, we deter¬ 
mined to have beef from somewhere, and at 
any negotiable price, our graziers have had a 
better year than any since 1875, though every¬ 
body thought stock could not possibly pay 
at Spring prices.” 
-- 
Handling Milk.— The present system of 
handling milk should be reversed, Major H. 
E. Alvord remarked at the meeting of the 
Mass. Board of Agriculture, as we find it re¬ 
ported in the New Euglaud Farmer. The 
price should be fixed by the producer, and not 
the dealer, and it should be based upon its 
cost. The farmer should not receive less 
than four cents per quart at home, and this 
would not yield a profit, above actual cost, of 
more than three cents per gallon, or five 
cents per day on a cow, One-and-one half 
cent per quart will usually pay tbe cost of 
delivery in near villages, where the farmer 
sells direct to bis patrons. This would make 
fi ve-and-one-half cents a living price to be paid 
the year round by the consumer; but six 
cents would only make milk production a 
fairly profitable business. At six cents per 
quart, milk is one of the very cheapest forms 
of human food, cheaper than beef at market 
prices. When milk is now sold in distant 
markets, there is too great a tax paid for 
transportation. There is no reason whatever 
why a pound of milk should pay two or three 
times as much freight as a pound of BUgar, 
when it is worth less than half as much. 
Twenty-five cents per one hundred pounds 
should pay all expense of transportation, in¬ 
cluding ice and fixtures, from the country de. 
pot to the city terminus. This would bring 
the cost in the cities up to seven cents per 
quart, a price that city patrons would very 
willingly pay for a good, pure article. 
Shade for Stock in Summer.— G. W. 
Hoffman, of the Elmira Farmers’ Club, re¬ 
gards shade as indispensable to thrift and 
comfort of cattle in Summer. We feed to 
give animals thrift and comfort, and when 
we impose conditions that make comfort im¬ 
possible there will not be much thrift. The 
cow that is compelled to graze in the hot sun, 
when she desires shade, will give no good re¬ 
turn for what she eats, and the ox that can¬ 
not refresh himself by shade when the sun 
burns his flesh, will make no profit for his 
owner. We feed cows for milk, it is true, 
but they do not require all the time to fill 
their stomachs. To do welt they must have 
time to ruminate, and in hot weather shade is 
needed to make that process complete, that is 
to say, shade is the condition of comfort, and 
if not provided, the beat returns for what is 
eaten will not be had. Mr. Hoffmann has two 
patches of woodland, to which hiB cows have 
free access; one is eight acres in extent, the 
other fonr, and he does not want the trees cut 
from either. There is waste of droppings, it 
is true, but he thinks there is full compensa¬ 
tion in the comfort found in shade. Quiet re¬ 
pose, with full stomachs, tends to full yield 
of milk. Tbe above is the sense of what he 
says in the Husbandman. 
One often meets the question as to which 
will make the better yield, rolls or stones, 
says the N. W. Miller. As rolls will make 
better flour from a low grade of stock than 
buhrs, or as rolls can go further into the 
wheat and still maintain the difference in 
price between the flour and the feed, (t is evi¬ 
dent that they will make the best yield; that 
is, they will put a larger portion of the wheat 
into a more valuable form than the stones. 
The fact that a miller does not make as good 
a yield on his roller mill as he did on his buhr 
mill does not prove anything excepting that 
he needs more rolls. 
PITHS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
Col. Curtis tells Bliss’s Garden that he 
would rather have a peck of carrots each day 
to go with the oats, than the same amount of 
oats for the horses. For cows, pigs, sheep and 
poultry they are equally nouri.-hing and 
wholesome, not to mention their great value 
as a table vegetable.. 
We believe that salt hay is perhaps the very 
best substance to use as n mulch in the garden 
about or over strawberries, raspberries, etc.. 
Ik any one doubts that it is painful to the 
horse to put a cold bit into his mouth, let him 
satisfy himself by laying a piece of frosty 
iron across his own tongue some sharp morn¬ 
ing, says the New England Farmer. It ie a 
very easy matter to keep the bridle in the 
house where it will be kept warm, when not 
in use. We have seen horses the skin of whose 
tongues and lips wus as effectually burned by 
a frosty bit, as they would have been by a 
red hot one... 
It may not be profitable, says Pres. McCann, 
to provide shade for cattle by allowing trees 
to grow in pastures aud occupy land at the 
expense of grass, but there is in the provision 
a sense of comfort that is worth something... 
The Hon. Ben Parley Poore, says Puck, is 
going to write an article for the Rural 
Nkw-Yorkkr on the subject of making farm 
homes happy. These according to our dis¬ 
tinguished contemporary, are the proper ways 
to make a farmhouse happy i 
I. —Take off the mortgage with an oyster-kutfo. 
II. —Teach the women not. to make sale rut us his- 
OUitB. and to make pumpkin pies thicker than a poet's 
epidermis; and 
III. —Teach the ancient agrlcola the Importance of 
adjusting a pair of hoi lmt-gloves on tbe htnd log* 
of the mule... 
The Southern Planter calls a good agricul¬ 
tural paper one of the best of farm tools. 
The Detroit Free Press asks how many tons 
of coal it takes to Winter a fifteen cent 
geranium........... 
Sit down and think hard. Lay the best 
plans you can for another year. 
Despite their ingenuity, says tbe North 
British Agriculturist, tbe Americans, owing 
to their climate, cannot possibly produce 
cheese equal in quality to Scotch Chuddar.... 
Mirabilis Jalapa, popularly known as 
“Four O’clock," can be preserved and re¬ 
planted in the same manner as dahlias. Dr. 
Hexutuer says. Two-year-old plants produce 
more flowers and give better satisfaction than 
those grown annually from seed. The rootH 
should be planted in the open ground about 
the first of May. 
The cruelty of torturing cows by dealers 
who have cows to sell, by willfully neglecting 
to milk ’hem, is Justly commented upon by 
the Loudon Live Stock Journal. 
Mr. O. H. Bliss tells the N. Y. World that 
he believes the use of air-slaked lime will 
check any tendency to rot in potatoes. He 
has for several years sprinkled a small 
quautity of such lime upon his potatoes at 
time of storing them in bins. Though he 
ventures no positive assertion, yet he beli< ves 
such tre^ment has resulted in checking any 
tendencies to rot. 
