OCT $ 
667 
wool 8120. He keeps 12 cows, and has sold his 
buttei-, so far, for 20 cents a pound. He asked 
him which gave more profit, his cows, or his 
sheep? He said the cows. 
Mr. Wixon remarked that a farmer can 
keep 10 sheep on the land that would be re¬ 
quired for one cow. 
Mr. Billings thought that seven or eight 
sheep to the cow would be the proportion. 
Cows or Sheep:— Mr Armstrong said that 
20 cow s, at 200 pounds to the cow, would pro¬ 
duce 4,000 pounds of butter, which at 20 cents 
would bo 8800. That would represent the 
produce of the farm, leaving the question of 
labor out of view'. One hundred-and-sixty 
sheep, shearing four pounds each, 040 pounds, 
at So cents per pound, would yield 8224. These 
sheep, of course, should be ewes, and it is 
the usual rule to count one lamb for each 
ewe. Iambs will sell in early Summer for 
four dollars, which would be 8010. By this 
estimate the advantage would be with the 
sheep, but this does not show all. It may be 
too large a sum has been allowed for wool and 
lambs, aud too small a price for butter, but 
the cows are allowed 200 pounds each, which 
is more than the average product. The prob¬ 
ability is that there is not much difference in 
gross receipts between sheep and cattle, but 
there is less labor required to keep the sheep, 
aud they turn all kinds of coarse products to 
bettor account; the manure returns are much 
better, so the land improves under them more 
than under cattle. If it were possible hr keep 
them ou fields that require dealing from foul 
stuff, or from bushes, it would certainly lie ad¬ 
vantageous to take them iu preference to cows. 
Dogs, Sheep and Cattle: —Me. Sessions of 
Michigan shoots the dogs when they make 
trouble among his sheep. He went into Michi¬ 
gan when wolves abounded. He could hear 
them howling any night, but wolves never 
gave him hal f as much trouble or inflicted any 
thing like the amount of damage on his flocks 
that dogs have every year, Sheep pay. Dogs 
do not. Keep sheep on your laud and they 
w ill make money for you besides making your 
land richer. You can draw to market a 
thousand dollars' worth of wool at a load, it 
is true, sheep want care, aud they must have 
it; they want suitable exercise, and suitable 
food, but they return good pay for all, and 
what is of first importance, they will make 
your land grow richer aud richer. He can raise 
good w heat, good oats, barley aud other farm 
crops, but there is nothing Mr. Sessions thinks 
that will turn everything to profit better than 
sheep. They will not do so well as cattle iu 
rank, heavy pasture, it istrue, but a good plan 
is to keep cattle as well as sheep. Turn on the 
cattle where pasture is rank, let them graze it 
down all they will, then turn on the sheep and 
they will find enough to grow fat on, and they 
will also keep down weeds and bushes. Mr. 
Sessions says that American Meriuo sheep are 
the most common in Michigan—raised for 
wool. He deems it almost a crime to butcher 
lambs It may do to sell lambs in localities 
where mutton breeds are kept near large mar¬ 
kets, but he does not want to keep sheep for 
that purpose, neither does he want to keep the 
mutton breeds, for they will not do well in 
large flocks. 
We hope that Rural New-Yorker read¬ 
ers have not forgotten the report we made of 
the Soju Bean three or four years ago. Mr. 
Henry Stewart sowed half a pint ou 10 square 
rods of ground on May 15, and ou the same 
day planted just as many rows of Evergreen 
Sweet Corn, The sweet coni kept the house 
supplied with cooking ears, and from this 
small plot he had a bushed of seed aud half a 
ton of stalks, which made the best of fodder. 
The Soja beans were not in blossom Septem¬ 
ber 1st, were but three feet tall, and about 
one-quarter of an Inch thick, aud would make 
iu all about 100 pounds of dry fodder. He 
does not want any more Sojas! 
WHICH REMINDS ME. 
A friend writing us as- to dairy articles 
says: "People evidently do not want facts. 
They seem to prefer a diet of wind.”. 
Consider how much is lost by delay and 
cut your corn iu time... 
TltE little country of Belgium, says the 
Times, has 4So persons to the square mile, or 
three to every four acres. That is, four acres 
are made to support three persons. If the 
United States were equally crowded the pop¬ 
ulation would bo 1,650,000,000, or more than 
the population of the whole world. One acre 
perfectly well cultivated can easily support 
one person... 
A DISTINGUISHED physician says that the 
practice of medicine is the art of amusing the 
patient while nature cures the disease. But it 
s a very costly amusement iu many cases...,. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Queen of Queens is a new English rose of 
the hybrid perpetual class, roundly praised by 
the London horticultural press. 
Old gent. —Ah, Mrs. B., did you keep a 
diary during your visit to the country? Mrs. 
B.—indignantly—No, sir, I didn’t. The family 
bought milk from the neighbors.—This from 
the Merchant Traveler.. 
Does the Rural New -Yorker deserve a 
more extended circulation? That is the ques¬ 
tion we ask its readers, for we cannot ask it of 
those who do not read it. Is it the duty of in¬ 
telligent farmers to assist in increasing the in¬ 
fluence of good agricultural papers? The best 
time to do this work is from the present time 
until the first of January, and then, second, 
from the first of January until the first of 
March. 
A Kansas farmer raised last year, it is 
said, 5(3 bushels of w-heat per acre. He attached 
iron wheels to the drill, back of the spouts, 
which pressed down the soil upon the grain, im¬ 
bedding it in a narrow furrow- below the sur¬ 
face. 'These furrows collect the soil which 
would otherwise be blown away by the winds. 
Sow lettuce seed and when the plants are 
large enough, transplant to the cold-frames 
for Winter use... . 
In the Rural's experience there is nothing 
better than Red-top for lawns...,.. 
The agricultural editor of the Courant, who 
manages to present iu bis columns an idea or 
so instead of hashing up the results of others' 
inquiries and presenting them as original 
matter, says: ‘‘For whiling away a ‘dry time’ 
there is nothing like having a wet piece of 
land to work on. ”... 
BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Art. Roozen & Son, Overveen, Holland. 
Represented in America by J. A. DeVeer, 818 
Broadway, New York City. A comprehen¬ 
sive catalogue of Dutch and Cape Bulbs. An 
old. trustworthy house. Orders forwarded to 
Mr. DeVeer will receive the promptest atten¬ 
tion. 
Annual Catalogue of the State Agricul¬ 
tural College of Michigan. Robert G. Baird, 
Secretary, Lansing. Mich. 
V. H. Hallock, Son & Thorpe, Queens, 
N. Y. A catalogue of new plants, Dutch 
bulbs, lilies, hardy plants, strawberries, grape¬ 
vines and other small fruits, w ith a beautiful 
double-paged colored plate of Lilies. Those 
who desire instructions as to how to treat 
bulbs in the house for Winter blooming will 
find them in this interesting catalogue. 
Peter Henderson & Co., 35 aud 37 Court- 
land Street, New York. "Bulbs for Fall 
Planting; Plants for Winter Flowering; Seeds 
for Fall Sowing,” are what this very pretty, 
illustrated catalogue offers. It also offers 
small fruit plants aud vegetable seeds for Fall 
sowing. 
H. S. Anderson, Union Springs, N. Y. 
Descriptive catalogue of the Cayuga Lake 
Nurseries, A fine list of strawberries and 
raspberries and a colored plate of the Duchess 
Grape. 
Dewet’s Classified Catalogue of 
Original Colored Fruit Plates and 
Specimens of Wax Fruits and Nursery¬ 
men's Requisites. This is a list of colored 
portraits of over 8,000 varieties of the most 
popular large and small fruits, flowers, roses, 
shrubs, ornamental trees, etc., for 1884, D. 
M. Dewey, Rochester, N. Y. 
J. T. Lovett, Little Silver, Monmouth Co. 
N. J. A handsomely illustrated catalogue of 
small fruits, trees aud plants, which all should 
examine. 
RURAL SEED REPORTS. 
Canada, 
Waterloo County, Out.—My Blush Pota¬ 
toes did very well; I got 21 pounds from two 
ounces. The Shoe-peg Corn is a failure— 
too late. E , w . b. 
Dakota. 
Colfax, Richlands Co,—The Shoe-peg Corn 
doesn’t peg out wPll. Too late for this coun¬ 
try, The seed looked nice. The Blush Potato 
had eight eyes and made eight hills, planted 
May 14; yield good but not as early as the 
Rose. Grape seeds didu't grow. Of the wa¬ 
termelon seeds only three germinated, and 
they came so late that the fruit will not ripen. 
The miscellaneous seeds sprouted and are 
growing nicely. H . b. c. 
Illinois. 
Herscher, Kankakee Co., September 19.— 
1 harvested the Rural Blush Potato yesterday. 
From the two ounces of "seed” planted in 
eleven hills, one eye to a hill, I obtained 57« 4 
pounds of tubers. From one eye (one hill), I 
dug pounds. Twenty of the largest pota¬ 
toes weighed 20 ounces each; the largest was 
22 ounces. From the White Elephant Potato 
I have one weighing three pounds thirteen 
ounces. No fertilizer was used. Common 
field cultivation. [Isn’t this the largest yield of 
Blush Potatoes yet recorded—57b? pounds from 
two ounces ?-Eds.] Thirty-two Niagara Grape 
seeds grew: the vines are looking well. Before 
planting them in the open ground I set them 
in pots until thoroughly rooted. They were 
not set in the open ground until the middle of 
August, jr. h. s. 
[If you will send us, at our expense, the 
large White Elephant, stating how it was 
raised, we will have its portrait taken and 
presented in the Rural — Eds.] 
Mulkeytown, Franklin Co., Sept. 14.—I 
like the Rural better and better. I admire 
its spirit and enterprise. I raised 27 pounds 
of Blush Potatoes from the two small ones 
sent last Spring. Most of them are large, five 
of them weighing pounds. The White 
Elephant is a remarkable yielder of fine pota¬ 
toes. I have an acre of them from the small 
one sent me. m. m. l. b. 
Onarga, Iroquois Co., Sept. 21.—My two 
small Blush Potatoes were planted in 18 hills, 
one eye to a hill, and cultivated flat with hoe 
and cultivator. Manure spread broadcast and 
plowed under. Length of row 25 feet. Dug 
potatoes on Sept. 1(3: had 152 of merchantable 
size, and 56 small ones, making, in all, 
208 tubers. V r eight, 73," s pounds, and my 
chickens scratched out and ate at least five 
pounds, in addition to the above. Five pota¬ 
toes weighed five pounds twelve ounces. My 
Rural wheats were not worth cutting. My 
Niagara Grape seedlings came up well, but 
have not done well since. The Shoe-peg Corn 
and the flower seeds came up well. j. b. c. 
Michigan. 
Bay City, Bay Co., Sep. 18.—I cut my 
Blush Potato to eight pieces; seven grew. 
Planted on best of sandy loam. Dug one hill 
of one stalk; got 50 tubers, large and small; 
yield at the rate of 1,113 bushels per acre. 
The potatoes have been planted 138 days, but 
the tops are quite green yet, as I have covered 
them on frosty nights. Shoe-peg Corn ruined 
by frost on Sep. 10 , like all other corn. We 
have had a severe drought and the ground is 
very hard on heavy land. It has been the 
poorest potato season that I ever knew. Wheat 
a good crop: grass good; oats ditto: no corn. 
Wheat sowing, etc., commenced. t. r. 
Brooklyn, Jackson Co., Sep. 15.— My Blush 
Potatoes were planted in 15 hills, one foot 
apart in a row, and I have just dug 60 pounds 
of potatoes, some weighing over one pound 
each. The yield was at the rate of 7S0 
bushels per acre—the best of nine different 
kinds. I wouldn't take 810 for my Blushes— 
they have more than paid for the paper dur¬ 
ing the two years I have taken it. e. d. m. 
Eaton Rapids. Eaton Co.. Sept 17.—My 
small Blush Potato was cut into six pieces 
with a single eye in each, and planted May 
25, iu light sand covered with fine stable man¬ 
ure. It received flat culture. The po¬ 
tatoes were not ripe when the tops were 
frozen ou the mornings of Sept. 9,10. and ti¬ 
the hardest freeze ever known iu Michigan in 
September. I dug the tubers on Sept. 12; 
the six hills yielded 30 potatoes which 
weighed seven pounds. The four largest 
weighed one pound. The Shoe-peg Corn was 
doing well before the frost, but it is dead 
now—not a siugle ear matured. The stalks 
are six feet tall; nearly all have two, and the 
best, four ears to the stalk. The Garden 
Treasures have afforded my daughter great 
pleasure. The melons were all frozeu before 
any were ripe. s. r. r. 
Union, Berrien Co., Sept. 14.— My two 
small Blush Potatoes were cut to one eye iu a 
piece aud planted in 22 hills on May 10, all one 
foot apart. Ou Sept. 12 I harvested 42 pounds 
of fine tubers. The soil was a dry sandy 
loam cropped for years, but enriched with 
well rotted stable manure. No raiu for the 
last six weeks, but the tops were greeu when 
dug. I wouldn’t take the subscription price of 
the Rural for my 42 pounds. The late frosts 
did great damage to corn and buckwheat. 
The soil is too dry for seeding. f. g. 
JIlMNOiirl 
Elder, Mills Co., Sept 30.—My two Blush 
Potatoes were about the size of walnuts with¬ 
out the hull. I cut them to single eyes and 
obtained 14 pieces which were planted in a 
black, loamy soil, well dug aud raked flue, one 
eye being set in each hill and the hills being 
18 inches apart. No manure was used. The 
soil was new—never had been in cultivation 
before. It was plowed twice and hoed twice. 
On Aug. It I dug the tubers. The first hill 
the mice hail destroyed, leaving me half of 
one potato. From the remaining hills 1 dug 
96 tubers, w eighing 16 pounds three ounces. 
They were all good, medium-sized potatoes, 
none extra-large and none small. n. j. s. 
New Jersey, 
Schbaalkkburg, Bergen Co,, Sept. 23,— 
Mr. A. M , of Woodstock, Shenandoah Co., 
Virginia, must try again. From my Blush 
Potato I raised 105 tubers, same number as A. 
M. raised. He says his averaged three ounces 
each, which would make them weigh,in bulk, 19 
pounds 11 ounces. Mine were planted May 7th 
iu gravelly loam, well enriched with barn¬ 
yard manure. They were dug Sept. 12. The 
largest weighed 13 ounces; a number of them 
weighed 12 ounces. The total weight was 34 
pounds. c. s. c. 
New York. 
Blenheim Hill, Schoharie County, Sept. 
23.—I received one Blush Fotato which made 
seven hills from which I dug 62 tubers. One 
weighed one-and one-quai ter pound, and the 
62 weighed 23 pounds, l. G. c. 
Coventry, Chenango Co., Sept,, 24.—I cut 
my Rural Blush Potato to cne eye in a piece 
and made eight hills in all. I planted about 
May 10, and dug. September 20, 38 pounds 
of potatoes; five of the tubers weighed seven 
pounds. E . s. w. 
Hogansburg, Franklin Co., Sept, 17th. 
Cold, wet weather last Spring used up my 
Black-bearded Centennial Wheat. Perfection 
Watermelons all killed by the frost. My 
Shoe-pegCorn, met the same fate, as didabout 
all the corn in this section. Of the Blush 
Potato I have 19 hills which have done re¬ 
markably well; so have the Garden Treasures. 
c. b. 
Lockpobt, Niagara Co., September 18.—My 
two Blush Potatoes had two ex es each. Yes¬ 
terday one of my neighbors told me they must 
be setting again, because the tops were as 
green as ever and at least five feet long. I 
dug one hill and found no small ones; hut four 
large ones; the largest weighed three-quai ters 
of a pound. I dug another and found several 
small ones and the rest of good size. To-day 
I dug the other two hills; in the two were 10 
potatoes, one weighing thiee-quarters and one 
a shade less than a pound. The whole four 
hills weighed 10}^ pounds, and were within 
the space of six feet of ground. c. A. b. 
Middletown. Orange Co.. Sept 22.—My 
Blush Potato weighed three-and-one-half 
ounces. It was cut into eight pieces containing 
one eye each, and these were planted separ¬ 
ately one-and-one-half by two feet apart, 
occupying 24 square feet of ground, which has 
been cultivated as a garden for fifteen years or 
more without seeding. Some wood ashes 
and land plaster were used while hoeing the 
potatoes, but no manure. The tops remained 
green until dug, which was on Sept. 18. Prod¬ 
uct 75 potatoes weighing 30 pounds, being 
equal to 137 to one, and at the rate of 907)£ 
bushels per acre, which greatly exceeds my 
former experience of 40 years of potato 
raising. 0. p. b. 
Rome, Oneida Co., Sep. 12.—The three kinds 
of wheat sent out by the Rural in the Spring 
of 1882, rusted so badly that I do Dot think 
it will be of any use to try them again. From 
the four ounces of Blush Potato I raised 86& 
pounds. The Beanty of Hebron yields fairly, 
and is our favorite potato for cooking. The 
White Elephants are not elephantine in 
size, but from the few hills dug, I think they 
will prove of fair size. None of the Rural 
corn gets ripe in season here. f. d. p. 
Sherburne, Chenango Co , Sept. 14.—My 
Blush Potatoes I cut to single eyes, 10 in all, 
with which I made 10 hills. Sept. 12 I dug 
12 10-16 pounds—33 large tubers aud nine small 
ones. My Shoe-peg Corn cauie up ami tas- 
scled out well but no ears have set. My 
watermelon seeds did not come up. From my 
Niagara Grape seeds, sowed in a jar in the 
house, I have 16 nice vines which I have set 
out. My wheats I have not sowed yet. w.h.s. 
Watts Flats, Chautauqua Co.. Sept. 14.— 
I have just taken the first premium on my 
Blush Potatoes at our fair, r planted 13 hills 
on April 22, one eye in a hill, l'j foot apart 
in the row. The vines were still green on 
Sept. 10; but we had a severe frost that 
killed everything, so I dug them. I had 85 
pounds, the largest weighing 1)4 pound; the 
10 largest, MR* pounds. There were about 
two small potatoes to the hill, ami none were 
very ripe. I should call it late for this country. 
None rotted. My Shoe-peg Corn w as planted 
May 15 and made a fine growth, but failed to 
ripen, as did all other kinds of corn. There 
will be no seed corn for next year. Oats 
average high. Hay good. Potatoes rotted 
badly on low ground. a. h. 
West Lodi, Seneca Co., Sept. 15.—My 
Blush Potato was planted in seven hills at the 
end of April. They were;dug about, the first 
of September, and yielded 43V, pounds of 
potatoes, the four largest of which weighed 
six pounds. Can any one beat that? n. m. 
West Oneonta, Otsego Co., Sep, 20.—I 
received the Blush Potatoes which weighed 
two ounces. They were cut into 13 pieces 
with an eye in each, and on May ; 10, planted 
in drills two feet apart, the pieces being a foot 
apart iu the drill, A small handful of rotten 
