AUG 21 
137 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
and barn are infested with them, and even my 
shanty is not sacred. I have tried strychnine 
“Rough on Rats,” etc., but unless the stuff is 
eaten immediately after being laid down, the 
earth absorbs the poison, and it is useless. I 
have shot great numbers, but after all they 
increase, and “the cry is still they come.’’ 
Something more effectual has yet to be de¬ 
vised before we get rid of this most destructive 
animal. More than half of the corn planted 
last Spring was eaten up by them. 
Clark Co., Dakota. T. K. 
WHEAT. 
With another harvest over, I am still in 
doubt as to the best method of sowing wheat. 
Having always been used to taking consider¬ 
able pains to prepare the ground and sow the 
seed for this crop, since coming to this place I 
have often expressed the idea that the main 
cause of the failure of the wheat crop was the 
carelessness in preparing the soil and sowing 
the seed. I have always used a good drill and 
put my ground in the best possible condition. 
Last Fall I sowed a piece that gave me a 
good chance to experiment a little. On the 
north side was a strip about 60 feet wide, that 
hud been well manured with rotten stable ma¬ 
nure, applied before plowing, and then plowed 
in and harrowed well with a vibrating har¬ 
row. Next to this was a strip about the same 
width, that had beeu sowed to buckwheat the 
last of June. When ripe this was taken off, 
and as the ground was very mellow the wheat 
was drilled in without any preparation. There 
was some Crab Grass, and as the buckwheat 
was cradled and then pitched into wagons 
without tying, there was considerable trash 
upon the ground, which, according to the the¬ 
ory of wheat-raising in this country, would 
act as a mulch aud keep, in some measure, 
the wheat from freezing out. The rest of the 
field had been iu corn, and raised a good crop. 
The corn had been kept clear of weeds and the 
soil loose; the last plowing was given the third 
week in July. The corn was cut and hauled 
off the middle of September and the field well 
harrowed aud put in as good a condition as 
possible; the soil was very loose, harrowing 
having put the surface iu a good condition. 
Five pecks to the acre were drilled in at the 
last part of September. The weather being 
favorable, it came up nicely and made a good 
growth before hard-freezing weather came on. 
That manure pays, and pays well, was shown 
by the difference in the three plots at harvest 
time, the crop on the strip of manured land 
being at least os heavy again as that on the 
rest of the field, yielding at least 20 bushels 
per acre; while, taking the whole field over, 
the yield will hardly average Over 10 ; the strip 
that was iu buckwheat beiug t he next best.. 
That the trash left upon the buckwheat 
ground was of some benefit I have no doubt, 
as the wheat was of a better color and made a 
better growth thau on the remainder of the 
land. The area where the manure was spread 
could be told from the road to a drill over as 
far as it extended across the field. 
This, with the experiments of last year, has 
made me conclude that one of the first and 
main requisites to successful wheat-raising in 
this county is a good application of manure, 
aud that in case of a loamy, sandy soil that in 
the Whiter opens up when thawing out, 
mulching is a decided benefit ; and that if 
wheat can be protected from the northwest 
wimls by a strip of woods as a wind-break it is 
less liable to freeze out. N. J. Shepherd. 
Miller Co., Mo. 
Clvlumnt Ultra l, 
“TIMHER GROUNDS.” 
Using the caption “timber grounds,” one 
can appropriately write, or speak, of either or 
both regions, where timber naturally abounds 
or where it should and can be propagated, on 
denuded lauds or treeless plains—l’uget Sound. 
or the great American Desert, to more par¬ 
ticularly illustrate. Many years' experience 
in the latter, and recent observations in the 
former enable me to speak of both. Impelled 
by the aphorism. “.Not so much what we are 
as what we may become,” we are more in¬ 
terested in adding to the timber supply than 
in considering what we have. Therefore, a 
word as to what has been, what is being, and 
what may be done toward tree-planting in the 
naturally timberless domain, Nebraska, which 
is a part of the country once denominated, and 
sgeuerally conceded to be, the “ Great. Ameri 
can Desert. ” 
M hen those of us who came her© thirty year 
ago—more, perhaps, to gratify a Young 
American characteristic, to “see things at 
they are, rather than view them from secluded 
closets, ”—arrived here, there was nothing en¬ 
ticing, especially in the way of timber. Col. 
Fremont and Lieut. Miles, of the United States 
Army, had officially recorded, and authors of 
“geographies" had designated, as treeless- 
barren, arid, unproductive, all west of the 
Missouri River. Early settlers, however, soon 
discovered that along the borders of the 
streams and ravines, where fires were kept 
out, there was a promising spontaneous, indi¬ 
genous growth of valuable varieties of timber, 
and, further, they discovered by experiment 
that native seedlings, transplanted on the open 
prairies, wlieu the ground had been well pre¬ 
pared, not only flourished and did well, but 
grew with remarkable vigor and rapidity, 
showing characteristics of excellence as to 
quality. Still, the most sanguine did not in¬ 
dulge even in dreams that in our day these 
naked plains would be transformed into 
groves of valuable timber. But omnia cum 
Deo !—“ all things with God's help!” Time, pa¬ 
tience, perseverance and experience have mad 
tree-growing in Nebraska a grand success. 
From the date of the first settlement to the 
year 1882, inclusive, covering a period of 28 
jems, by official figures, with some few' esti¬ 
mates to cover data not thus provided, it. is 
shown there have been plauted in what is now 
the State of Nebraska, 244,836 acres of forest 
trees. We estimate the spontaneous growth, 
since fires have been controlled, at one-half 
the area planted. Many close and reliable 
observers make both equal. My own experi¬ 
ence warrants an assertion that trees of spon¬ 
taneous growth are more than half the number 
of those planted, Add one-half, then, and we 
have 366.53(1 acres. Deduct, for loss, one-fourth 
from the area planted, and we still have grow¬ 
ing to-day 305,450 acres more timber than we 
commenced with 23 years ago. Planted four 
feet by four, which is the usual custom, we 
have 2,622 trees to the acre—a grand total 
of 981,052,158 trees! While most of this plant¬ 
ing is of soft w'ood, rapid-growing varieties— 
Cottonwood, Soft Maple and Box-Elder— 
there are many thousands of acres of Ash, 
Walnut, Oak, Chestnut, Hickory, etc. 
Robert W. Furnas. 
Brown ville. Neb. 
iPXiscdiamous. 
NOTES. 
I see Mr. Purdy says, in a late Rural, the 
objections to whitewashing trees is “ all bosh/' 
as he has practised it for 30 years with success. 
I know' of a man who has taken a few drops 
every day. with great benefit to his health 
and I also know another man who killed himl 
self in tw'o years. I suppose Mr. Purdy has 
read of the mau w r ho tried a few grains of 
guano on his Roses with such success as to cany 
off the prize for fine blooms, and of another 
one whose branches dropped all their leaveg 
when a good dose was applied. Whitewashing 
is a good thing; it covers up many defects, 
especially in politiciaus. But when the dose 
js too strong, then comes iu the trouble. I 
once was spoken by an old apple-grower 
who raised the finest apples, cultivating aud 
exhibiting more thau 200 varieties; all at 
once the foliage on his trees turned about as 
yellow as an Autumn leaf, and he wished me 
to look at the orchard aud give my opinion of 
the trees. 1 looked at them; they had beeu 
plastered with lime so thick that it cauter¬ 
ized the whole bark! There is uo “bosli” 
about such treatment. 
Mr. W. C. Strong is quoted by the. Rural 
as sayiug that in his judgment it is time that 
the truth should lie published that there are 
few kinds of pears and apples worthy of culti¬ 
vation. Why didn’t he keep ou, and say the 
same of other fruits ! Yet he offers for sale 
plenty of worthless raspberries aud straw¬ 
berries. I quite agree with Mr. Stroug when 
the object is dollars aud cents, and would 
reduce strawberries to five kinds, raspberries 
to three kinds, currants to four kinds, and 
peaches to about a dozen—that is, on the utili¬ 
tarian principle. But I like to make a new 
acquaintance occasionally, even if all his 
qualities are not to my liking, and if he has 
even one good one (which.few of the new fruits 
lmvei, I am satisfied with the novelty to be dug 
and thrown out for the next. 
Does Mr. Stroug include amoug the few 
pears worthy of cultivation the Kieffer, of 
which lie ex hibitod specimens of the trees two 
years ago, to show its grand characteristics, 
aud which is offered iu his catalogue as having 
the “quality of Bartlett,” and as “worthy 
of trial ff So, too, of the G regg Raspberry, 
“better thau any other of its class,” which 
certainly is rather faint praise, for a drier, 
poorer, more tastless berry, of any kind, was 
never imposed uponthe public, c. M. hovey. 
A Seedling Crab. 
Mr. Joseph Hubbard, of Ingham county, 
Michigan, sends us specimens of what he calls 
crab apples from a seedling tree, that were 
picked last November. Mr. H. says the tree 
has the general character of the wild crab, and 
is exceedingly prolific. The apples are about 
one-and-a-balf inch in diameter, roundish- 
oblate in form, color yellow-russet, flesh sweet, 
coarse-grained, and of poor flavor. It has kept 
exceedingly well, As an apple we should say 
it is of little consequence. It bears no resem¬ 
blance to the crabs, except in size. 
A Pig as a Milkmaid. 
A short time ago I read in the columns of 
the Rural of a man who discovered a snake 
milking his cow. I thought that was worse 
than a similar instance in my own case. I 
bought a two-months-old pig from a neigh¬ 
boring farmer and put him into a pen adjoin¬ 
ing a cow stall. In the morning about milk¬ 
ing time, I went to tbe barn and found Mr. 
Pig running loose. I put him back into bus 
pen and began to milk, but, lo! there was no 
milk to be had, and I concluded that the pig 
had so worried the cow that she would not 
give down. But the next time I went I found 
piggy out again and standing on his hind legs 
sucking the cow, and to all appearance enjoy¬ 
ing the fun. It is needless to say that his pen 
had to be made higher, as his assistance in 
that line was not needed. 
Bradford, Mass. H. c. 
Hog Cholera. 
As a remedy for this disease, roasted or char 
red corn 1 think of very little value. Crystal, 
lized carbolic acid, dissolved according to di_ 
rections on bottle, then fed in slop (bran makes 
good slop to feed it with) 10 drops to 100-pound 
porker, fed once a day, will cure hog cholera. 
It has been tried here for several years with 
success. Do not get the black mixture put up 
by druggists; hogs do not like that The pure 
article resembles camphor gum very much. 
Lincoln, Neb. d. b. m. 
Extermination and Restriction of Phyl. 
loxera in Switzerland. 
An important report has recently been made 
to the French Academy of Sciences by Valedy- 
Mayet who was delegated to make an investiga 
tion of the methods adopted by the Swiss gov¬ 
ernment to eradicate or arrest the Grape 
Phylloxera. It seems that by the use of large 
doses of bisulphide of carbon (300 grammes to 
a vine in two differereut applications of 150 
grammes each) they succeed in effectually 
killing the vine and all insects or other anim¬ 
als affecting it. The work is done by special 
agents, and the expense defrayed one-third by 
the Con fedora tion, one-third by the Canton and 
one-third by a tax levied on the grape-growers 
of the country proportioned to the value of 
the vineyards. The replanting of the disin¬ 
fected vineyards has to be authorized, aud this 
is energetic treatment, but it has enabled 
Switzerland to restrict the pest for the past 
seven years to a very limited area, (from 30 to 
40 acres) aud prevent the invasion of the grand 
vineyards of Lausanne and Vevey. C.V.R. 
Indigenous Potato, etc. 
The indigenous potato spoken of iu the 
Rural as having been discovered in Arizona 
I think will never amount to much. C. G. 
Pringle who has been botanizing in Arizona 
for the last three years pronounces it worth, 
less for anything. Parties now testing it will 
undoubtedly find this to be the case. Mr. 
Pi-ingle discouraged me from having anything 
to do with them. 
Having tested Pringle's Hu Hess Oats by the 
side of the Chinese Hulless, I find the former 
grow much earlier, taller aud bush out 
more. The kernels, however, look alike. 
Charlotte, Vt. O. H. a. 
The Rat Nuisance—a Specific. 
In regard to the rat uuisance, from nin ny 
years’ experience I believe that powdered 
strychnine put on thin bits of fresh meat an 
inch square or less, is an absolute specific. For 
each bit of meat hike a very little of the poi¬ 
son—what will adhere to the point of a sliver, 
using the same to work in the staychniue on 
top only of each bit of meat. These poisoned 
bits of meat are scattered where the rats have 
easy access and, of course, where humans, or 
valuable meat-eating animals will not find 
them. It might be very dangerous to use this 
remedy where hogs would be likely to find the 
poisoned rats. The poisoned rats sometimes— 
but rarely—emit a bad odor. 
Delavau, Wis. F, K Phcenix. 
-» »» 
Cherry Sprouts. 
I have been a reader though not a subscriber 
of the Rural for several years, aud consider 
it among the best of farm journals, making 
perhaps the fewest mistakes of any in its 
statements. Yet in the questions and answer 
for July 7, some Iowa reader asks if “ Sprouts 
from the Early Richmond Cherry will pro¬ 
duce the like if transplanted ? ” and the reply 
was “ No.” 
Now I do not question the correctness o 
tbe answer, but I would like to state my ex 
perience with cherry sprouts. In the Spring o 
18601 purchased and set out Early Richmond 
cherry trees. As soon as they came into bearing 
sprouts came up, and wishing trees for orna¬ 
ment as well as use I transplanted several of 
the sprouts, expecting only shade trees for my 
trouble. Judge of my surprise when the trees 
had obtained sufficient size to find that the frui 
was the identical Early Richmond Cherry. I 
have since transplanted nearly a hundred 
sprouts, and in every instance when the trees 
have attained sufficient age, they have been 
true to name. I conclude therefore that I wa 
either swindled in my first purchase or else the 
sprouts will bear fruit like the parent tree. 
Knox Co., HI. D. COREY. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Report of the Proceedings and Address 
es at the annual meetingof the Western New 
York Agricultural Association, held at Sin 
clairville, last April. Newel Cheney, Sec’y 
Poland Center. 
J. T. Lovett, Little Silver, Monmouth Co. 
New Jersey. Illustrated cataloge of (Sum 
mer and Autumn) pot-grown and layer straw - 
berry plants, with instructions for their cul¬ 
tivation, with pamphlets of the New Atlantic. 
E. P. Roe, Cornwall-on-Hudson, N. Y. 
Illustrated catalogue of small fruits for Sum¬ 
mer aud Fall Setting. In his “Chat with 
Patrons,” Mr. R.oe touches upon a personal 
matter to which we are glad of the opportun¬ 
ity of calling the kindly attention of our 
readers. 
A Manual on Poultry, prepared under the 
direction of the Commissioner of Agriculture 
of Georgia: J. T. Henderson Com.—54 pages, 
illustrated. 
Bulletin of the Iowa Agricultural College 
(Ames). Experiments with and Investigation 
of North of Europe fruits, trees, and shrubs, 
58 pages: confined to the progress the college 
has made in investigating, propagating and 
disseminating for trial the horticultural prod¬ 
ucts of the steppes of the Old World. 
Catalogue of Trees and Shrubs growing iu 
the Denison Nurseries, Dexison. Texas, T. V. 
Munson, Proprietor. Free on application. 
Forests and Forest Trees of Texas, by T. 
V. Munson, of Denison, Texas. A pamphlet of 
18 pages devoted to condensed description of 
the trees of this State. 
Fourth Annual Register of the Col¬ 
orado Agricultural College, Fort Col' 
lins, Colorado ; 54 pages. A list of faculty, 
students and course of instruction. 
Eighth Report of the Montreal Horti 
cultural Society and Fruit Growers 
Association of the Province of Quebec 
for the Year 1881-2; 167 pages. The sub. 
jeet of Russian Fruits, which is at present one 
of great importance to fruit growers in local, 
ities where iron-clad trees seem necessary, is 
fully discussed in an article by Charles Gibb, 
of Abbottsford. A very lengthy list of these 
fruits with the characteristics of each variety 
embraces a considerable portion of the vol 
ume. A report on “Experimental Horticul¬ 
ture,” by Prof. J. L. Budd; “Hasty Notes on 
Trees and Shrubs of Northern Europe and 
Asia/' by Charles Gibb; “Our Fine Fruits” by 
H. Goegginger, of Rega, Russia; and the 
“Principles of successful Orcharding in the 
Province of Quebec,” by R. W. Sheppard, of 
Montreal, are valuable essays. 
Transactions of the Mississippi Val. 
ley- Horticultural Society' for 1883. W! 
H. Ragan, Secretary. Clayton, Ind. 
279 pages. 
The meeting of the Mississippi Valley Hor¬ 
ticultural Society, as reported at length in the 
Rural at the time, was held at New Orleans 
iu February last, and much interest was taken 
all ever the country in its work, representing 
as it did the sentiments of the great mass of 
people engaged in horticultural work in the 
Mississippi Valley. The official report of the 
meeting now lies before us, and a finely gotten 
up volume it is. Lovers of the strawberry 
will find much to interest them in this volume, 
74 pages being devoted entirely to that fruit 
and the insects affecting it. Notwithstanding 
that the Wilson is generally failing in 
the East, for the millions the general impres¬ 
sion seemed to be that it was the best berry 
for the West and South, although it was uni¬ 
versally admitted that it lacks the vigor of 
Crescent, Cumberland Triumph, Kentucky 
and others of like growth. Samuel Edwards, 
of Mendota, Ill., a fruit grower of 40 years’ 
experience, says: “The Wilson does not suc¬ 
ceed aud 1 have excused it.” Dr. John A. 
