476 
THE RURAL WEW-YORKIR. 
JULY 26 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT B. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
No. 84 Park Row. New York. 
SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1888. 
It is often suggested that we select the 
very long heads of Timothy which one 
often sees on plants growing under 
peculiarly favorable conditions, with the 
object of improving this grass. But what 
advantage is there in Timothy heads a 
foot long? Is the hay better for them? 
The new wheat bulb-worm which Prof. 
Forbes has been studying and of which 
he some time since sent out a circular ac¬ 
count, turns out, we learn, to be an old 
enemy. It has proved by breeding to be 
the American Mcromyza £Meromyza 
Americana—Fitch) originally described 
by the late Dr. Fitch, and more fully 
treated of and figured by Prof. Riley in 
his first Missouri report in 1868. Its 
work at the base of the stalk has been 
overlooked, as it is more commonly found 
at the base of the top joint. 
Don’t you know what strawberry is the 
lest ? You say you have tried 150 kinds. 
Don’t you know which is the best rasp¬ 
berry ? You have tried them all. Tell 
me which is the best potato. Iso ? Well 
then, what’s the use of testing every new 
kind ? Can you tell me which is the best 
chemical fertilizer? Had I better use 
Bowker’s, Baugh’s, Mapes, or whose ? 
Can’t you tell ? Well, what’s the use of 
all your experimenting! Alas, the Rural 
doesn't know much—that’s a fact. 
-♦ » ♦- 
We now again remind our readers that 
they should be making selections of potato 
seed-balls for seedling plants another sea¬ 
son. Seed-balls (the real fruit of the 
plants) may be gathered before the foliage 
dies. Expose them for a week to the 
light and air and then separate the seeds 
from the flesh. The seeds may then be 
placed in envelopes, the same as any other 
seeds, and planted in February in small 
pots placed in any sunny window'. By 
May they will have made plants six inches 
or more high, and with the hall of earth 
intact, should be transplanted to mellow 
soil a foot apart in rows three feet apart. 
In favorable seasons some tubers will form 
as large as hens’ eggs. The most shapely 
should be placed in sand and kept in a 
cool, dry cellar until the next Spring, 
when they may he treated, of course, 
the same as other potatoes. 
The promised article on mole-traps! 
We are ready to give our experience as 
soon as we can get it; but we can’t with¬ 
out moles to work upon. The hitherto 
mole-infested land of the Rural Grounds 
is infested no longer. All the moles have 
gone to—some watering place, we sup¬ 
pose, for a season. We have used four 
traps and are ready to report upon them; 
but the fifth, and possibly best of all, has 
not been tried. We may say to our read¬ 
ers that prior to this season we had tried 
ineffectually almost every remedy against 
these so-called pests, that had ever been 
recommended. There are now two traps 
made and soid which will catch them every 
time, and they are set very easily. Hav¬ 
ing had several billions of inquiries as to 
how to get rid of moles, during the last 
six years, our readers will be glad to hear 
of them. But the season is already far 
advanced, so that they will bear with us 
until we can make a full report. 
-»»» 
Persian Insect Powoer, blown through 
a bellows about a room, will bring every 
fly to the floor in a few minutes, where 
they remain for a time buzzing about in a 
helpless manner. Then they should be 
swept up. This maybe repeated as often 
as the flics become troublesome. The ob¬ 
jection to this powder is the dust thus 
scattered over walls, carpets, mantels and 
furniture. We have used Persian Insect 
Powder during two Summers in this way 
and prefer it to ‘‘fly paper” or any other 
method of getting rid of flies. A con¬ 
temporary recommends that it be used in 
stables to give relief to the animals that 
are tormented by these “vicious, blood¬ 
sucking enemies.” The fact, however, 
is quite overlooked that if they are not 
swept up or out while they lie in a help¬ 
less condition on the floor, the effects of 
Pyrethrum Powder pass away in a few 
hours, and they are all the more ferocious 
in their attacks upon the animals for their 
temporary intoxication and fast. 
- » ♦ «- 
Grounh Limestone.— From a private 
letter just received from Sir J. B. Lawes, 
we take the liberty of printing the follow¬ 
ing remarks: “ I can hardly think that 
limestone ground to powder can be an 
economical mode of applying lime to the 
soil. By burning you get rid of fifty per 
cent, of worthless matter, saving carriage 
and obtaining a much more valuable pro¬ 
duct. Lime is largely used in many parts 
of England as a manure for the land, but 
no one would use ground limestone. I 
live upon the chalk; I could raise it, and 
deliver it upon rail for less than $1 per 
ton; it requires no grinding, as when spread 
upon the land the frost reduces it to a fine 
powder. The chalk is sometimes raised 
and spread upon the land in the localities 
Avhere it is found, hut there is no demand 
for it elsewhere, and it could never take 
the place of lime where the latter sub¬ 
stance is used, For the above reasons I feel 
somewhat doubtful whether from an ag¬ 
ricultural point of view ground limestone 
can be profitably used.” 
Our seed distribution for 1883-4 is now 
settled upon, and we hope for once 
that we shall be enabled to send it out 
precisely as it will be announced in our 
Fair Number. Our last distribution was, 
in some particulars, a disappointment to 
us. The Black bearded Centennial Wheat 
crop of the Colorado State Agricultural 
College nearly failed, and, judging from 
several heads sent to us from subscribers, 
was badly mixed at that. 
We do not wish to anticipate the full 
announcement in the Fair Number any 
further than to say that we have given 
much time to our selections, which. will 
consist for the most part of varieties never 
offered for sale and those which in our 
OAvn tests have proven both distinct from, 
and superior to, those which have been of¬ 
fered. In this connection we desire to 
thank several of our friends for their gen¬ 
erous response to our request for seeds of 
rare or superior kinds to add to our Garden 
Treasures, which, in greater variety than 
last year, will again he offered in our next 
Free Seed Distribution. 
The last Congress, among its praise- 
Avorthy deeds, appropriated $100,000 to 
enable Secretary Teller to investigate nu¬ 
merous fraudulent land entries. A few 
months ago a number of special agents 
w r ere sent throughout the Far West to 
hunt up evidence of fraud in a large num¬ 
ber of cases about which complaints had 
been made. Down to July 1 over 600 re¬ 
ports had been received by Mr. McFar¬ 
land, Commissioner of the General Land 
Office, from 30 agents engaged in this 
business. In many cases supplemental re¬ 
ports have been called for, covering points 
which were not explained clearly enough 
to warrant official action. Of the reports 
about 350 show' sufficient evidence of 
fraud to justify the Land Office in sum¬ 
marily canceling the entries. In all cases 
the records show that the fraudulent en¬ 
tries, whether homestead or preemption, 
cover the full area allowed by law—160 
acres. Already owing to these reports 
56,000 acres have been restored to the 
public domain, a great deal of which is 
located in rich valleys and is held by the 
Government at double the minimum price 
per acre. The approximate saving to the 
Government has hitherto been fully $125,- 
000, and doubtless these figures will 
be doubled when action shall be taken on 
the reports still unexamined. Moreover, 
all fraudulent entries have not yet been 
reported upon, and the presence of the 
special agents has the effect of checking 
the consummation of fraudulent schemes. 
“In the case of the Waushakum corn,” 
says the Director of the N. Y. Ex. Sta¬ 
tion, ‘ ‘ the selection being made by castrat¬ 
ing the barren stalks for two years in suc¬ 
cession, the seed saved being not from the 
most prolific stalks that were left, hut 
merely of the perfect ears, raised the 
average crop from about 45 bushels to 
about 80 bushels to the acre.” 
We should much like to know what is 
meant by an average crop of 45 bushels and 
an average crop of 80 bushels per acre. 
ITow many years did it take to determine 
each average ? Were the cultivation and 
fertilization the same during those years ? 
Might not the land have grown richer 
from year to year 1 How does Dr. 
Sturtevant know that he has increased the 
yield at all ? We certainly do not be¬ 
lieve that by merely cutting off the tassels 
of standnate plants and by selecting the 
best-looking ears for two seasons, this 
Waushakum corn was raised in yield from 
45 to 80 bushels. We have done more 
than that in the case of what was orgin- 
ally “Blunt’s White Prolific” for five 
years, and we have as yet no positive 
evidence that it is changed at all. We 
have selected seeds from the best heads of 
wheat for six years, and the average head 
of to-day (judging by this season’s crop) 
is no larger than when we began the 
selection, though two years ago we 
thought a decided advance had been 
made. It seems to the writer of this 
note that at least 15 years Avould he re¬ 
quired to determine that the yield of any 
variety of corn had increased from 45 to 
80 bushels, and we should not feel that, 
unless carefully tried under \aryina; con¬ 
ditions. there was any A'ery trustworthy 
proof then. 
DR. JOHN A. WARDER. 
There is not in the Union a State or 
Territory in which there arc not hundreds 
of homes in which regret will he caused 
by the announcement that the good and 
kindly Dr. John A. Warder died at his 
home in North Bend, Ohio, last Satur¬ 
day, July 14. From early childhood till 
stricken down at the age of three score 
years and twelve his groat object in life 
was to increase the happiness of others by 
aiding them to find delight in the beauties 
and bounties of nature. Of remarkable 
modesty at all times, he did his work 
quietly and unostentatiously; but though 
other men engaged in the pursuits lie 
loved may possibly be better known to 
the general public, there is none whose 
influence is more widely felt among those 
interested in those pursuits, or upon whose 
knowledge and sincerity more implicit 
confidence is placed. 
Dr. John A. Warder was the eldest son 
of Jeremiah and Ann A. Warder, and was 
horn on January 19, 1812, at the home¬ 
stead, named Woodside, near Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa. At a very early age he dis¬ 
played that love of nature which distin¬ 
guished him through life, and when not 
over twelve years old the other mem¬ 
bers of the family elected him “Profes¬ 
sor of Tilings,” his duty being during 
their walks to teach object lessons on 
trees, plants, stones, etc. In 1830 the 
family moved West, settling near Spring- 
field, Ohio, where they established 
another “Woodside.” While living there 
young Warder, in addition to his de¬ 
votion to botany, became much en¬ 
grossed also in the study of domestic ani¬ 
mals, and his interest in comparative anat¬ 
omy caused him to decide to study medi¬ 
cine. For this purpose he returned to 
Philadelphia, where he attended the Jef¬ 
ferson Medical College. While in the 
City of Brotherly Love he married Miss 
Elizabeth B. Haines, and, in 1837, the 
young couple went to Cincinnati where 
the Doctor began the practice of medicine 
Avitli Avhich he remained identified for the 
next eighteen years. 
While practicing his profession Dr. 
Warder was actively interested in the or¬ 
ganization of several scientific societies, 
among which were the Cincinnati 
Astronomical Society, the Western 
Academy of Natural Science, the Cincin¬ 
nati Society of Natural History, the Cin¬ 
cinnati Horticultural Society, the Wine 
Growers’ Association, the Old Cincinnati 
College and the Ohio Medical College. 
Of the Society of the Western Academy 
of Science Dr. Warder was the zealous, 
hard-working President for five years. 
He was also for many years President of 
the Oliio Horticultural Society, Vice- 
President of the American Pomological 
Society, President of the American 
Forestry Association until its consolida¬ 
tion with the American Forestry Congress, 
at Montreal, last Summer, and a member 
of the American Association for the Ad¬ 
vancement of Science. Less than three 
months ago, he was appointed Forestry 
Agent by the Agricultural Department for 
the purpose of investigating the forestry 
resources, etc., of the country lying be¬ 
tween the lakes and the Gulf and the 
Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi. 
In 1855 Dr. Warder gave up the prac¬ 
tice of medicine, and having always had 
a love for horticulture and pomology, he 
bought, a part of the President Harrison 
Farm, at North Bend, Ohio, to which he 
added until he possessed upwards of 300 
acres. There he spent more than a quar¬ 
ter of a century, a great part of the time 
occupied in testing varieties of fruits and 
methods of culture. The farm in reality 
became an experiment station, and the 
lessons learnt there were embodied in nu¬ 
merous papers read before horticultural 
and other societies and circulated through 
the agricultural press. Of late years most 
of his attention was devoted to the sub¬ 
ject of forestry, on which he was the 
highest authority, having qualified him¬ 
self to speak on all branches of it by years of 
close observation and practical experience. 
The last fifteen or more years of his life 
were spent in imparting to others the val¬ 
uable information he had acquired, by 
lecturing before agricultural and scientific 
societies in nearly every State in the 
Union. The ripe fruit of his experience, 
however, was to he embraced in the work 
which for more than a year lias been ap¬ 
pearing as a serial in the. columns of the 
Rural New-Youker. 
In addition to his numerous contribu¬ 
tions to the press, Dr. Warder Avas also 
the author of several works on his favor¬ 
ite studies. As long ago as 1853 he fully 
described the Hardy Catalpa (O. speciosa) 
Avhich has since become so valuable a 
forest tree, especially on the bleak Wes¬ 
tern prairies. His “Hedges and Ever¬ 
greens” was published in 1858, and his 
valuable “Report on Flax and nenip” ap¬ 
peared in the Department of Agriculture’s 
Report for 1865. His “American Pomol¬ 
ogy—Apples” published m 1867, was the 
result of 16 years’ close observation. In 
the same year he edited Du Breuil’s 
“Vineyard Culture,” to which he added 
many valual.de notes adapting the work 
to American practice. In 1873 he was 
appointed United States Commissioner to 
the Vienna Exposition, and on liis return 
prepared a careful “Report on Forests 
and Forestry.” 
Dr. Warder was a member of the 
Society of Friends and avss widely heloA'ed 
for his kindly disposition, unobtrusive 
benevolence ancl modest, worth .His daugh¬ 
ter writes us that it is over two months 
since, he became so unwell as to need 
medical attendance, and that for over 
three weeks before his death he was con¬ 
fined to bed. The disease culminated in 
paralysis, and though the patient evi¬ 
dently suffered intense pain at times, he 
bore his sufferings like a hero, or, better, 
like a Christian, making no complaint. 
-*—- 
BREVITIES. 
Mr. GeorgeW. Campbell sends us a bunch 
of Timothy heads about eight inches long. We 
haA'e often seen them longer. 
Our celery plants are set five inches a part, 
in furrows well fertilized, five inches deep and 
four feet apart. We have encouraged this 
method for four vears past in preference to 
either surface setting or deep trenches. 
Tie a cord tiyhtly about several grape-vine 
canes just below a good-sized bunch. This 
will not prevent the floAv of sap to the bunch, 
but it will impede its return and cause the 
berries to grow larger. 
Early Marblehead is again the first to ripen 
of our several kinds of sweet corn this season. 
It was planted Mav 7, and the first ears were 
nulled July 14. The plants are three feet 
high to the tip of the tassel. The oars are 
borne nearly at the ground. Early Minne¬ 
sota will be about three days later, growing 
a foot higher. 
Mr. T. H. Horhford, of Vermont, writes 
us, in resoonse to our inquiry, as follows: “y 
have made two attempts at crossing oats, with¬ 
out success and. liml I not grown Mr. Pringle’s 
crosses before they were done sporting. I 
would believe it impossible. Mr. Pringle savs 
it, must lie done about nine or ten o’clock in 
the morning." 
We have to thank Mr, E, P. Powell, of 
Clinton, N. Y . for the following valuable as¬ 
sistance in making our next Garden Treasure 
collection. Our friends have little idea of the 
immense quantity rcQTiired for the Seed Dis¬ 
tribution. and we desire to have our next more 
A’ftl liable and to Rend to applicants a larger 
quantity than ever before. Mr. Powell says : 
“ 1 observe your call for seeds. 1 am prepar¬ 
ing to send vou another paokagoof those choice 
Sweet Williams—and shall also select a pack¬ 
age of Purr White Hollyhock, that lovers of 
that flower will admire. If you desire, can 
send you Geranium seeds from PH) varieties; 
Pose seats from 100 varieties of the choicest, 
also. Gladiolus seed ehoirr.'' Since preparing 
the above for the compositor, we have received 
several other offers from kind fri«nds, all of 
which are highly appreciated. 
A telegram from the Indian Territory yes¬ 
terday. after specifying the owners and mun- 
l*»rs of the herds that had passed nn the trail 
during the previous week, amounting to 26,- 
816 head, savR that, the latest estimates of the 
great rattle drive from Texas. Arkansas, 
Loniainnn and the Indian Territory render it 
probable that it will reach ft million, A month 
ago the highest estimate was 600.000, but then 
figures were “growing” vigorously. It is all 
bosh to suppose the increase of life stock here 
is not relatively ns great, as the increase of 
ocr population. In 1870. with n population of 
85,500,000. wo had 77.000.000 head of cattle, 
sheep and swine; In 1880 with a population of 
80,000,000, wo had 125.000.000 head of the 
ftbovo animals. Then t he propnrt ion of humans 
to beasts was two to four; now it is two to five. 
Our supply of beef for borne use is kept short 
chiefly by the canning and export industries. 
In the former we use annually from 350,000 to 
400.000 head; 75 per cent, of which goes 
abroad, while the latter furnishes an outlet 
for 140,000 live cattle and 100,000.000 pounds 
of dressed beef—a grand total of 600,000 cattle 
annually taken out of the country. Small 
wonder that during the past decade the price 
of beef here has been steadily rising as our 
exports [have been increasing. 
