SEPT 8 
da Strawberries have been grown there, but 
the most satisfactory sorts so far tried are 
Charles Downing and Wilson’s Albany. That 
whole section being rather dry, berries can¬ 
not well be expected to thrive there without 
shelter, a little shade and lots of water. 
DYNAMITE FOR REMOVING STOMPS, ETC. 
W. P. II, Sturgis, Mich— 1. Where can 
cartridges for blasting stumps be procured i 
and has this mode of removing stumps been 
successful? 2. Has the Rural ever tided the 
Fluke Potato? 
A ns.— 1. We suppose this inquiry is about 
dynamite, or giant powder cartridges. If so, 
we do not know any dealer who will furnish 
the explosive directly to people who want to 
use it for removing stumps or stones. It has 
been extensively used for this purpose, aud 
several illustrated articles on the subject have 
appeared in back issues of the Rural. 'I he 
Atlantic Giant Powder Company, V arney & 
Doe, Agents, 01 Park Place, N. Y., are the 
most extensive wholesale dealers in the coun¬ 
try, but they do not supply it directly to users 
of small quantities. If requested, they will 
furnish the name of the dealer nearest the in¬ 
quirer, through whom they will supply the 
article; but the newest dealer in gun powder 
should be able to furnish it. The powder is 
sent either loose or in cartridges in boxes of 25 
to 50 pounds each. The cartridges are eight 
inches long and of any diameter required. 
For small stones or stumps the cartridges can 
be cut up in pieces. There are two kinds of 
powder in the market, known as No. I and 
No. 2. No. I being very powerful, is used for 
heavy work; No. 2 is less powerful but quite 
strong enough for blasting stumps, etc. The 
cartridges are exploded by caps made for the 
purpose, and the cap is ignited by moans of a 
fuse. Purchasers should state the kind of t 
powder—whether No. 1 or No. 2—the mini- j 
her of pounds, the diameter of cartridges, the 
number of caps (one for each explosion) aud j 
feet of fuse they require. Here are the prices I 
of the requisites:—Powder No. 1, $1: No. 2, 
50 cents per pound; caps (100 in a l>ox) $2; 
single-tape water fuse, per 100 feet, 75 cents; 
nippers 50 cents. Full instructions as to the 
method of usiug the cartridges are furnished 
to applicants in the form of a pamphlet. With 
ordinary careful handling there is uot much 
danger iu using dynamite, though records 
of fatal accidents are frequent. The better 
plan would be for all in a neighborhood who 
wish stumps or rocks removed, to combiue 
and hire a man who is accustomed to the busi¬ 
ness to do the work. 2. No. 
GROWING SWEET POTATOES, ETC. 
L. E., Plymouth. Iowa.— 1. Can 1 take slips 
from sweet-potatoes of this year’s growth; if 
so, how is it done? 2. Can onions, if dried, 
be used as “sets’' uext Spring? What time 
must they be planted? 
Ans. —No: uot from potatoes of the present 
season’s growth In this vicinity we place the 
potatoes in a hot-bed early in April, aud cover 
them with a few inches of light, rich soil. 
Their buds or eyes will soon start and form 
shoots, which are carefully removed when 
about six or eight inches in length, leaving the 
smaller to grow on. These shoots if carefully 
removed will be found to have roots, aud 
should be planted three or four inches deep iu 
a shallow box of light soil. Keep close and 
moist until well established aud then treat as 
other hot-bed plants, being very careful to 
prevent them from becoming drawn. Gradu¬ 
ally harden olT, and plant out when frost is 
over. 2, Yes, if not too large; sots vary in 
size from tluit of a small pea to three-quarters 
of an inch across; if larger there is danger of 
their running to seed. They should be planted 
as soon ns the ground can be properly pre¬ 
pared in the Spring. Plant about four inches 
apart iu the row, the rows being from one to 
three feet apart according to circumstances. 
KEEPING GRAPES. 
R. S.. DunsvUle, Va. —What is a good 
way to keep Catawba grapes ? 
ANS.—There are quite a number of ways 
for preserving grapes for Winter use, among 
which the following are well spoken of : Sim¬ 
ply placed in packing boxes with alternate 
layers of paper, one grower says his grapes 
keep in good condition during the Winter. 
Another picks his grapes on a clear, dry day 
with grape scissors, so as not to handle them 
much, aud all imperfect berries are removed. 
They are then placed in clean, dry earthen 
jars iu layers a bunch deep, dry straw paper 
being placed between the layers, aud the jar 
filled in this way. A double sheet, of paper is 
placed over the top layer and the lid put on. 
Strong, unbleached muslin is pasted entirely 
over the lid, or cover, so as to entirely ex¬ 
clude all air. When the covering has dried 
aud hardened, the jars are buried on a dry 
knoll, deep enough not to be touched by frost. 
Isabellas have been kept in this way until 
late iu February. Very good success has at¬ 
tended twigging with paper sacks, then pack¬ 
ing with dry sawdust (the bags remaining on 
the clusters) in a tight box and storing in a 
dry, cool cellar. A temperature of 40 degrees 
is best for keeping the grapes in, the air be¬ 
ing kept clear and dry. No decayed or im¬ 
perfect berries should be allowed to remain 
on the bunches. Great care should be taken 
in handling them. 
GROWING POTATOES FROM SEED-BALLS, ETC. 
O. W. P., Porlville, N. 1'., 1. How should 
potato balls he treated to get a new set of po¬ 
tatoes? 2, How much Winter wheat should be 
sown to the acre of Summer-fallowed land? 
8, I have about 15 bushels of hen-manure and 
the same amount of wood ashes, how would 
it do to mix and apply to my wheat land and 
harrow the mixture in with an Acme Harrow, 
and how much should be applied to the acre? 
Ans. —1, The potato ball is the fruit of the 
potato, the same as the pear is of a pear tree. 
In it, of course, are the seeds. Our plan is to 
| sow r these seeds in a box or pot in late Winter 
' in the house. As soon as the young plants 
| get two inches high, transplant them to little 
pots, placing one in each.' These will become 
well rooted so that they may be thumped out, 
planted in the garden a foot apart iu the row 
—the rows three feet apart—about the middle 
of May. The seeds may lie sown in the open 
ground iu April; but the tubers at the end of 
the season will be very small 2. If the land 
is in good heart, we should sow one bushel 
aud-a-half. 3. Mix with twice the bulk of 
muck or soil or plaster and use from 10 to 25 
bushels per acre according to the fertility of 
the soil. Something is needed to hold the 
ammonia which would otherwise escape. 
The Acme is an excellent implement to use. 
THE ELVIRA, BACCHUS AND RIESLING GRAPES. 
“ Subscriber," North Bass, Ohio, —1. Has 
the Rural fruited the Elvira or Bacchus 
Grape ? W ill they make good wine j 2. W ill 
the Riesling succeed in Northern Ohio ? 
Ans. —1, We have not fruited either. The 
Elvira is said to be very hardy, free from dis¬ 
ease, productive and vigorous. The berry is 
the size of the Catawba, light green in color 
in the shade; pale yellow in the sun—sweet, 
juicy, without foxiness, ripeuing a little later 
than the Concord. Mr. Husmauu says that it 
makes a fine quality of wine. The must is as 
heavy as good Cataw ba—specific gravity 85 
degrees. The wine is of a greenish-yellow 
color without foxiness. Its fault is that the 
berries crowd each other in the bunch and are 
thin-skinned. The Bacchus is said to be 
healthy and productive. The berry is black, 
rather small, juicy, sprightly. The wine is 
said to be heavy and of a fine flavor. 2. The 
Riesling is a Taylor seedling, hardy, produc¬ 
tive and healthy. Bunch medium; berry 
rather small, greenish-white, no pulp, good 
qualitv. Said to make fine wine. Can not 
say where it will succeed. 
SCROFULOUS ULCERS IN HOGS. 
J. O, It. K„ LoveUsnlle , Fa.: What ails my 
hogs ? A couple of weeks ago I noticed a sore 
about as large as a quarter of a dollar, just iu 
front of the shoulder, aud a slight scratch on 
the side of the neck, but there was no fester¬ 
ing. The sores soon grew' wider, the flesh 
showing as if the skin had been cut a wav. 
Now one of the sores is five inches in diameter 
aud the other 2x4 inches, aud they are still in¬ 
creasing. Another hog has just begun to suf¬ 
fer in the same way. Both eat moderately all 
tlie time. 
Ans. —These are no doubt scrofulous ulcer s . 
The probabilities are that if these had uot 
broken out some internal disorder would have 
ariscu. To treat the sores wash them with 
warm water, to w hi *h a few drops of carbolic 
acid have been added; then paint them over 
with tincture of benzoin. Give the animal 
one drachm of hyposulphite of soda daily; 
powder it finely aud give it with some food. 
Continue it for a mouth, although the sores 
may be healed before then. 
SOWING CLOVER SEED. 
C. P. G., Manchester, N. H .—What is the 
l>est time to sow clover seed to get a good crop 
on a sandy soil? 
ANS.—Clover seed should lie sown early so 
that the plants may have as good a growth as 
possible before the ground freezes up. The 
ground should be plowed carefully to a good 
depth, then immediately and thoroughly har¬ 
rowed, and, if clover alone is to be grown, 
20 pounds of good seed of the medium variety 
should 1)0 evenly sown, nud on sandy laud well 
rolled, or dragged with a plank drag. The 
quicker the whole operation is performed the 
better, so that the moisture of the new-turned 
soil will not evaporate before the seed has time 
to grow. A barrel of good superphosphate to 
the acre sown on before harrowing will give 
the young plants a strong start. A plain phos¬ 
phate—i. e. unammoniated—is what is re¬ 
quired. If ashes, leached oruuleaehed, can 
be had, 10 bushels to the acre will pay well iu 
addition. 
GOITRE IN A COW. 
M. A. G. Lee Center, N. F.: I have a valua¬ 
ble dairy cow atVeuted with throat swelling 
inside and outside. The tongue seems very 
much thickened, nearly filling the throat,mak¬ 
ing it difficult for her to eat. She drools con¬ 
stantly, is very thin and almost dried up in 
milk, yet seems to have a good appetite and 
often chews her cud. The throat outside di¬ 
rectly under the tongue is badly swollen. What 
should be the treatment: 
Ans. —This seems to be an attack of goitre. 
But whether it is or not, the most reasonable 
treatment will be to apply iodine ointment to 
the swelling and give one drachm of iodide of 
potassium daily dissolved iu water and mixed 
with some feed, or powdered and mixed with 
molasses and smeared on the tongue. 
BLOODY MILK. • 
S , Brocton, X. F. What is the cause 
of and cure for bloody milk in a cow ? 
Ans. —Bloody milk is caused by congestion 
of the udder and the fine net-work of milk 
glands. The glands simply fail to change the 
blood into milk, Sometimes it happens with¬ 
out any apparent cause, especially with cows 
that have lately calved and which are in good 
condition. The only effective treatment is to 
reduce the condition and plethora of the cow 
by giving a cooling laxative, as a pound of 
Epsom salts. Feed no meal whatever, and let 
the pasture be light. Give also one ounce of 
nitrate of potash every second day for a 
few days. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
11. S. Ti., ,Jackson , Pa. 1, I have a fine Jer¬ 
sey heifer calf, dropped March 1 last, and 
large for her age. Would it be advisable to 
raise a calf from her next Spring—say when 
she is 10 to 17 months old ? 2. What is the es¬ 
cutcheon of a cow ? 
Ans —1. If she has been fed ou good muscle¬ 
making food, and her growth has not been 
stunted, a heifer may be safely coupled with a 
bull at the above age. and if possible the 
bull should be small, thus producing 
probably a smaller fetus and calf than 
if the sire were larger, so that the dam 
will not be obliged to furnish so much 
fetal nourishment as if the offspring were 
larger. 2. The hair just above the udder of 
cows grows tranversely or upward- This 
growth of the hair Guenon calls the escutch¬ 
eon, and he assei ts that the more the upward 
growth of the hair extends outward from the 
udder and ioner parts of the thighs, and up¬ 
ward towards the urinary passage from the 
bladder, the better milker the cow is, and just 
as the hair fails to extend upward and out¬ 
ward in those directions so much the less like¬ 
lihood that the cow r w ill be a good milker. 
B. F. H., Phceni.r, N. Y. —1. Will straw¬ 
berries thrive in the vicinity of Howe’s Cave, 
Schoharie Co., N. Y. It is a limestone region 
and I have heard that they will not do well in 
such localities ? 2. What is the average num¬ 
ber of bushels of onions raised from good 
ground ! 3. Do naturalists make their living 
from their profession ? What salary do they 
receive from the Government when upon ex¬ 
ploring expeditions I 
Ans. -1, W ith plenty of manure, good soil and 
enough moisture, strawberries will undoubt¬ 
edly do well. 2. Three hundred and fifty 
bushels. 8. Yes, either as teachers or by per¬ 
forming government or public work. Of 
course, their salaries depend upou the work 
done, aud the ability of the worker. 
J. H. C., Bradford, Mass. What is a good 
paint for a roof 
Ans. —For a wooden roof a coating of tar is 
as good as any—the hot tar to be covered with 
fine sand or water-lime. The latter will 
harden with the tar almost like stone. The 
roof will be light and air-tight as well as wa¬ 
ter-proof. Gas tar, costing about a dollar a 
barrel, should lie used. A good brown fire¬ 
proof mineral paiut is made by the H. W. 
Johns Manufacturing Co., 87 Maiden Lane, 
New York City. It is used for roofs, fences, 
barns and rough wood-work generally. It is 
sold by the barrel at 81.00 ]>er gallon and in 
one-gallon cans at 81.15 per gallon. The prepa¬ 
ration you mention would also do. 
J. E. C., Humboldt. Tenn., asks if there is 
a thornless raspberry i If so, what is the 
name and is it a profitable variety ? 
A NS. — A. 11 of the Red Raspberries of the 
Antwerp class are thornless to all intents aud 
purposes. Among the Black-caps, which class 
embraces the thorny kinds, is Davison’s 
Thornless, a variety which is entirely destitute 
of thorns as much as the red ones. It is not 
so strong a grower as most of its class, but 
fully a week earlier, uud in other respects 
quite as desirable as any of them where they 
are uot subject to the fungus so prevalent in 
some sections. 
IF. M„ Poplar Groce, Ind. —What will pre¬ 
vent smut in wheat; 
Ans.—T he seed wheat should be steeped in 
a strong brine, or in a solution of sulphate of 
ceppevi This may be done as follow s j Dis 
solve a pound of the sulphate in a couple of 
gallons of hot water, pour the solution into a 
tub and add three or four gallons more of w a¬ 
ter. Then place a basket in the liquid and 
turn the wheat into it. Let it soak twenty 
minutes, then take out and spread the seeds 
on the floor and sift plaster over them to dry 
them, and sow at once. 
M. B. S.. Niagara, Dak., 1. How far 
north can the Yellow Danver Onions be 
grown by the usual field culture ? 2. 
Would not the climate of a section of country 
which matures good quality plums, cherries, 
and Fall and Winter apples, be suitable for 
growing onions ? 3. Does stony land usually 
produce a crop of stones every year ? 
Ans. —1. Just how far north onions will 
grow can only he determined by experiment, 
the location, soil and length of season deter¬ 
mining the matter. 2. We should think very 
likely. 3. Certainly not. 
E. IF., Porlandville, N. F., sends for name 
specimens of an insect found in large numliers 
on the trunks of his plum trees. 
Ans.— The specimens are the larvae of Psoeus 
venosus \Burm.) a common insect belonging 
to the family Psocidae, Order Neuroptera. 
The species is not injurious to cultivated plants 
as it is known to feed on lichens and small 
fungi that grow upon the branches and trunks 
of various trees. 
T. J., Spring Grove, Minn. —Name five 
plants inclosed ? 
Ans. —No. 1 is the Swamp Milkweed, or As- 
clepias incarnata: No. 2, Asclepias purpur- 
ascens; No. 3, Blue Vervain—Verbena has- 
tata: No. 4, appears to be the same as No. 1; 
No. 5 is commonly called Lead Plant (Amor- 
pha canescens), and is supposed to prefer lo¬ 
calities in which lead ore abounds. 
E. B. C., Fargo, D. T., sends samples of 
grass for name, 
Ans. —No. 1. Fresh Water Cord Grass, Spar- 
tina cynosuroides, of no value. No. 3 is 
Quack Grass—Triticum repens—a valuable 
grass, liked bv some, abhored by others, be¬ 
cause it is hard to get rid of when once in¬ 
troduced. 
T. B., Clyde, Kansas. —Where can barberry 
plants or seeds be bought? 
Ans.— The plants may be bought of any 
nurserymen. The seeds are offered we think 
by Thomas MeehaD, of Germantown, Pa., or 
J. M Thorburn & Co.. New York. Probably 
Robert Douglas, Waukegan, Ill., can furnish 
the plants. 
D. G. B.,Ella, I FA., sends grass for name, 
and asks whether Megarrhiza Californica 
will stand a Wisconsin W iuter. 
Ans. —It is Equisetum sylvaticum—Wood 
Horse tail. Plowing the land several times dur¬ 
ing hot. dry weather will destroy it. 2. No, 
it is an annual. 
.4. T. Thager, Kansas, wishes names of 
two grasses sent. 
Ans. —No. 1 is Crab Grass, or Eleusine In- 
dica; No. 2 is Eragrostis poa?oides. or Strong- 
scented Meadow Grass. W e would not advise 
the cultivation of either of these. 
F. S. Dotes, Iowa, sends two grasses for 
name. 
Ans.— One is Panieum filiforme, Slender 
Crab Grass, of little value. The one without 
flowers we cannot name. Always send flow¬ 
ers or seed head. 
D. T. G., Highland, Neb., sends seed 
for name. 
Ans.—' his is Red-top, Agrostis vulgaris, a 
valuable grass. 
J. E., Church Hill, Md., sends grass for 
name, and asks where seed can be obtained. 
Ans.— It is Orchard Grass, or Dactylis 
glomerata. Of any seedsman. 
G. S. IF, Tabor, Kan , wishes a cheap 
plan of a hen-house: 
Ans.—W e must refer our subscriber to back 
numbers of the Rural. 
C. II t ightstoicn , Minn. Can l enter the 
wheat contest for premiums on the Fultzo- 
Clawson wheat I received oi you last Summer? 
Ans.—Y es. 
Communications Received for the week Ending 
Saturday, Sept. :. 
O. F. F.—T. A. B.—J. S.-H. E. S.-B. P.—A. B. B.— 
O. Y. —Yellow Myrtle - Ursa Major- R, F.—M. R. M.— 
Fanny May —F. E. R.—E. P. B.—\V. P. A.—J. C. G.— 
J. R.-J. D. K.-Mrs. C. C.-M. C. H. K.-F. K. P.-J. 
E. C.-B. F. J.-W. P. B.-C E. F.—T. B.—T. J.-D. G. 
B J. H. H.—J. H. T.-H.H -J.G. K.-W. V.-J. M.N. 
- M. B. S.-J. M S.-C. C. B. D. 0—.H. C.-J. S. P.— 
T. B L.-C. C. F.—K K.-K. S.-G. N C —T. T. L.-L. 
P. -E, E R,—J. H. F.—Picket.— W, E. B —IV. H. Y.— 
D. H. D —R. S.-J, M. H.-J L.S.-E. U.-E.B.C.—T 
H. H.— ••Farmer.'' -Mrs, James A,—F. S.—H. H—R, 
H.-E, S.-E. W.-C. R. C.-l. J.-L. C.-O. E. P. 
tbanks.-E.H.C.-M.E.C-J.C. H.-A L.W.-H.L — 
J. H.M., thanks-G.W.P.—N. P. H.-E McC.— T. B 
CL— M. H — E. A. S.-B. C. C. -Pa««ev.-A. B. C. 3 —S.Y. 
K^W H R.—B. C. B„ thank# = #. B.— T. T. I». 
