OCT 20 
drop in large quantities. The crop with us is 
good in quality and almost full in quantity. 
I have been to see the Horticultural Ex¬ 
hibition for this province. The apples are 
very flue and make a grand display, thirty 
plates of some varieties beiDg shown singly, 
besides collections in dozens, half dozens and 
by counties. Grapes are large, but not ripe. 
We exhibited and carried off first prize for 
white grapes, consisting of Lady, Niagara and 
Duchess. Niagara was the largest berry, 
Duchess the ripest, Lady, medium, but fair to 
look at. 
A disappointment awaited me to-day. 
Looking over my roses I found three Mabel 
Morrisons procured from a distant city, at 
some expense, were grafted and had only 
sprouted below the graft, with long, thrifty 
suckers, but not what I wanted. It made me 
very sad, for I do not like to be “ sold’ - —and 
I love new roses as well as old ones. 
The finest, grape of its color is the Brighton; 
the darkest, almost black, is Othello, a frost 
grape, very large and juicy, that is not in¬ 
jured by frost that destroys the flavor of the 
Concord. 
We found two or three fine, large straw¬ 
berries last week (the middle of September), 
among the Monarchs. What a pity it is that 
they do not give us fruit as the Hybrid Per¬ 
petual Roses give us flowers, making Autumn 
seem a renewal of the richness that is the 
eharra of early Summer. But all the ever- 
bearing strawberries that I remember, are 
small and tasteless. Does any one know a 
better kind that fruits in Autumn ? 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
Holstein Prize Butter. 
At the recent Onondaga County Fair, held 
at Syracuse, N. Y., the first prize for the best 
20 -ponnd package of butter from a private 
dairy, was awarded to the butter made from 
milk of Smiths & Powell’s herd of thorough 
bred Holsteins at Lakeside Stock Farm. This 
is, -without doubt, the best County Fair in 
New York State, and as this butter had to 
compete with packages from several fine Jer¬ 
sey dairies, the admirers of Holsteins have 
reason to feel much gratified. The fact that 
the butter was “Holstein” was unknown to 
the judges until after the prize was awarded. 
Flowers of the Rural F. S. Distribution 
A lady writes me to “suggest the best 
method for preserving the flowers of the 
Rural's F. S. D. for the coming Winter as 
house flowers.” Mine are mostly annuals, 
which would not thrive well and bloom in¬ 
doors unless under exceptionally good circum¬ 
stances. Drummond Phlox seed might be 
sown for Winter blooming, as well as that of 
Mignonette; but the best method would un¬ 
doubtedly be to carefully save the seeds for 
sowing next Spring. For the window garden 
in Winter I know of no ordinary flowers that 
give more satisfaction than the Crab Cactus, 
Sweet Alyssnm, Lobelia Erinus, aud varieties 
of Oxalis aud Cyclamen, with always the 
never-failing Geraniums or Pelargoniums. 
Bryn Mawr, Pa. m. w. f. 
Old Readers, Is This Charge True? 
I notice that whenever fruit growing is 
spoken of in the Rural, information is given 
on only one side of the subject. All seem to 
think that fruit is grown only for shipping 
and profit, while those that grow just enough 
fruit for their own family use get no atten¬ 
tion. Shippers want the hard, tough and un¬ 
eatable stuff, while we want the mellow, ten¬ 
der, delicious aud eatable varieties. Large 
fruit-growers are generally well informed and 
do not need the information the paper gives 
them, while we small fruit-growers need in¬ 
formation and get none. 
Try and help us a little; give us a list of 
choice, eatable grapes, with descriptions, etc. 
Will. Sponge. 
[We presume Mr. Sponge has not read the 
R. N.-Y. very long.—E ds.] 
BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Transactions of the Wisconsin State 
Horticultural Society, F. W. Case, Sec¬ 
retary. Vol. XII.; pages 350. This volume 
contains the addresses and papers presented, 
and the proceedings at the Summer and Win 
ter meetings of the year 1881-2. A valuable 
list of fruits for Wisconsin is given, from 
which we quote those thought to be best for 
that State: Apples—Duchess of Oldenburg, 
Wealthy. Pewaukec, Walbridge, Fnmeuse, 
Plumb’s Cider when hardiness, productiveness 
and quality are considered. Strawberries, for 
general cultivation. Wilson's Albany. Boy- 
den’s No. 30, Green Prolific, Crescent, Charles 
Downing, Sharpless and Captain Jack. 
Grapes, for general list, Worden, Concord, 
Delaware, Wilder, Agawam, Janesville, 
Lindley. Raspberries, for general cultiva¬ 
tion—black, Gregg, Miami, Doolittle; red, 
Cuthbert, Philadelphia. Turner, Brandywine. 
Blackberries, for trial—Snyder, Stone’s 
Hardy, Bartel’s Dewberry. Pears—Flemish 
Beauty is most likely to succeed for general 
cultivation. Plums—De Soto is the only one 
recommended for general cultivation; Lom¬ 
bard, imperial Gage, Magnum Bonum, Yel¬ 
low Egg, Duane’s Purple are recom¬ 
mended for trial. Early Richmond, Late 
Richmond or Kentish and English Morello 
Cherries for general cultivation. 
In the transactions of the general meeting 
the Gregg Raspberry was placed at the head 
of the list for general cultivation. The Cuth¬ 
bert was placed at the head of the list of reds. 
This volume contains much practical, com¬ 
mon sense reading. 
J. C. Vaughan, Chicago, ni. Wholesale 
catalogues of bulbs and all florists’ supplies. 
John B. Moore & Son, Concord, Mass. 
Circular of new grapes, including engraving 
of the F. ancis B. Hayes. 
Hiram Sibley & Co,, Rochester, N. Y. 
Catalogues of Hyacinths, Tulips, Crocus, Nar¬ 
cissus, etc.; also hardy herbaceous plants. 
Bloomington Nursery Co , Bloomington, 
Ill. Wholesale catalogue of fruit trees, etc. 
Barr & Son, 12 King St., Covent Garden, 
London, W. C., England. Descriptive cata¬ 
logue of Daffodils and epitomized list of hardy 
bulbs and plants. 
William Parry, Parry P. O., New Jersry. 
Catalogue of strawberries, blackberries, 
grapes, currants, gooseberries, apple, peach, 
pear, cherry and ornamental trees and shrub¬ 
bery. Also circular of the new blackberry 
"Wilson Junior. Mr. Parry praises the Kieffer 
Pear altogether beyond its merits. 
CUTTING TIMOTHY AND CLOVER 
GRASS AT DIFFERENT STAGES 
OF GROWTH. 
From the results of two years’experiments at 
the Pennsylvania State College, it appears that 
the time of cutting grass for hay must be care¬ 
fully considered if farmers would secure from 
their grass a hay crop of maximum value. 
The maiu factors affecting the value of the 
hay crop are quantity and quality, and, as is 
well known, both these are influenced materi¬ 
ally by the age at which grass is cut The 
proper time of cutting grass has been the sub¬ 
ject of much discussion. Formerly, in many 
hay-producing regions, grass was allowed to 
stand until quite ripe. Later, many adopted 
the other extreme, and cut it when quite 
young. At present, practice varies with dif¬ 
ferent localities, though it is probable that a 
majority of fanners cut Timothy when in 
bloom or soon after. A great deal of clover, 
however, stands until the heads are partly or 
wholly dead. It seems to be quite generally 
hold that grass in the last stages of matur¬ 
ity furnishes the maximum quantity of hay, 
but of a poorer quality than if it had been cut 
earlier. What is the golden mean by which 
we secure the best quality and most quantity ? 
Doubtless no one ntle should be followed 
under all conditions of practice. The demands 
of other branches of farm work, the use for 
which the hay is intended, the kind of grass to 
be cut. these and other considerations deter¬ 
mine what is wisest in each individual case. 
The facts concerning the cutting of grass, 
were obtained in the following %vay: From 
one to two ncres of grass, especially uniform 
in character and grow tb. were selected each 
year for each experiment. These carefully 
measured areas were divided into two or more 
equal plots, one or more plots being cut at each 
stage of growth. The grass was carefully 
cured, and the hay weighed when stored m the 
barn. After lying in the barn for five or six 
mouths, each lot of hay was reweighed, in 
order to determine the amount of “ dry ” liny 
from each cutting. Samples of each cutting 
have in overy case been subjected to chemical 
analysis. Experiments were conducted with 
Timothy in 1881 aud 1882, and with clover in 
1882. 
Experiments with Timothy.— The grass 
was cut in each experiment at only two stages 
of growth, viz. in full bloom and when ap- 
proachiug ripeness. The area of each cutting 
was one aero except in one instance, when it 
was 11 * acre, There were four cuttings in 
all. The average time elapsing between two 
cuttings was about 16 days. The experiments 
show that during these 16 days the average 
growth was sufficient to produce an increase 
of 546 pounds of dry hay per acre, or an aver¬ 
age increase of 18 5 per cent after the period 
of bloom. This increase varied, in the several 
cases, from 113 pounds to 1,083 pounds of 
dry hay to the acre. The average shrinkage 
in weight of the early cut hay (in bloom,) after 
it was stored in the barn, was 25.7 per cent., 
and of the late cut (nearly ripe), 18.8 per cent., 
varying, in the former case, from 14.9 per 
cent, to 36.5 per cent., and in the latter case, 
from 15 percent, to23.4 per cent. The aver¬ 
age loss for all cases was 22.2 pei cent. 
Analyses of samples of hay carefully select¬ 
ed from the various cuttings, show that the 
chief difference observed between the hay 
from grass in bloom and from grass nearly 
ripe, is the larger percentage of protein in the 
former. The relative amount of crude fiber 
is also larger in the early cut hay, while of 
other carbohydrate material the late cut hay 
contains the greater relative quantity. It is 
generally true that the crude fiber (woody 
material) increases in relative proportion as 
grass grows older; and had there been ana¬ 
lyzed samples of hay cat during the younger 
stages of growth, this undoubtedly would 
have been found to be the ease. 
Dry Timothy contains on the average about 
12.5 per cent or one-eighth of its weight of 
water. After due allowance for any error, it 
is still evident that nearly all the increase of 
weight was due to the growth of the nou-ni- 
trogenous constituents of the grass, or such 
compounds as cellulose, starch and allied sub¬ 
stances. while the nitrogenous compounds 
(protein) increased none or very little. 
Experiments with Clover, 1882.— A piece 
of especially uniform grass, nearly all clover, 
containing about six-sevenths of an acre, was 
selected. This was accurately divided into 
six plots, each 213 feet long by 29feet wide. 
Two plots, not adjoining, were cut at each of 
three periods of growth, viz: the clover 
heads in bloom, partly dead, and nearly all 
dead, the dates of cutting heiug June 22, July 
3 aud July 19. As in the experiments with 
Timothy, the bay was weighed when put in 
the barn, and then reweighed after five or six 
months, in order to know the yield in ‘ ‘dry ’ 1 
hay. Instead of an increased yield of hay 
from the late cuttings of clover there appears 
to be a decrease. The difference shown can 
hardly be due to lack of uniformity of t he field 
of grass, for it was very uuiform. It is not 
difficult to understand bow hay from clover 
that is quite ripe may be inferior in quantity 
and qualitv to hay from clover in full bloom. 
After the period of hloom there is, many 
3 'ears, a quite rapid decay of the leaves, espe¬ 
cially with heavy grass, aud there is also much 
more loss of the finer parts of the plant in 
curing old grass than iu curing it when cut in 
bloom. In the case of grass which is a mix¬ 
ture of Timothv and clover, with considerably 
less Timothy than clover, it is suggested that 
some may make a mistake in allowing the 
grass to stand until the Timothy is quite ma. 
ture; for iu most years the clover is by that 
time quite dead, and it is possible that the loss 
in quantity aud quality of the clover may 
often much exceed the gam from the greater 
yield of Timothy. There is one advantage, 
however, in letting grass stand until quite 
ripe, it being then more easily and cheaply 
cured, and iu a rainy harvest season, much 
more safely cured. 
The experiments show that the youngest 
grass furnished the largest quantities of the 
most valuable ingredients of cattle food. The 
reason for this is not that growth did not take 
place after the period of bloom, nor that there 
was'a destruction of certain compounds iu the 
plant. The true explauation of the decrease 
of the protein from 589.5 to 420.7 pounds per 
acre is undoubtedly due to the greater decay 
and loss of the finer parts of the plant, espe¬ 
cially the leaves in the case of the old grass. 
The extent of this loss, or whether it occurs 
at all, depends very much upon the season. 
The important facts involved in the two years’ 
experiments on grass are briefly as follows; ( 1 ) 
The average growth of Timothy after the pe¬ 
riod of bloom in the four experiments recorded 
was 546 pounds of dry hay per acre, or ls.oper 
cent, increase. ( 2 ) This increased growth 
was entirely of the non-nitrogenous constitu¬ 
ents of the Timothy. (S) The yield of hay 
from clover in full hloom was greater than at 
any succeeding stage of growth. (4) The 
composition of the clover hay from each pe¬ 
riod of growth indicates a constant decrease in 
total nutritive value after the grass passed 
the period of full bloom. (5) The loss in 
weight after storing the hay in tho barn va¬ 
ried with the Timothy from 15 per cent, to 
36.5 per cent., averaging 22,2 per cent.; and 
with the clover it varied from 25,7 per cent, to 
44.2 per cent., averaging 37.4 per cent. 
Experiments similar to the above will be 
continued, and it remaius to be seen whether 
the above results are au indication of what 
generally occur*. 
Breeding for Milk. —If farmers only 
realized that inferior milk, whether as to 
quality or quantity, or both, means an un¬ 
profitable cow. they would, we may think, 
soon change her for another. But, instead of 
this, the bulk of them go on for years, not 
only milking such cows, but actually breed¬ 
ing from them, and so perpetuating the mis¬ 
chief. Prof. Sheldon says in the London 
Squire that milk Is the chief atm and end of a 
cow's existence, and beef at the last. We 
want her to milk well for half-a-dozen years, 
and to make a good carcass then for the 
butcher: we want her to give us a calf and 
six hundred gallons of good milk in a year, 
commencing when she is three years old. and 
going on till she is eight or nine, and then a 
carcass of beef as a finale. This is the sort of 
cow for dairy farmers; and the aim should be 
to breed her always, and none worse than 
she, if there is to be profit in dairying. It is 
worth while to remember that breed has 
more influence than food on the quantity and 
quality of milk, so that to breed the right sort 
of cows is a matter of the first importance. 
He thinks that every dairy farmer should 
have a set of graduated cream-guages—sim 
pie things, costing only a few shillings—so 
that he may ascertain the quality of each cow’s 
milk, and he should keep a record of this, as 
well as of the quantity, entering both of them 
in a book, against the cow’s name. This 
method of going to work has a very consider¬ 
able educational value; it is essentially prac¬ 
tical. and not at all theoretical in its bearings; 
it tells the farmer which are his best cows, 
which is the best to keep and breed from, 
which of them responds most freely to im¬ 
proved food, which of them is the best “all¬ 
round” cow, which has the greatest “staying 
power," and so on, actiDg and reacting in 
various ways to the farmer’s advantage. 
The question of beef, indeed, is one of great 
moment in these days, and it is for this reason 
that the Short-horns, as a breed, find favor all 
over the land, and in many other lands than 
Britain. Were it not for this, the Ayrshires 
would beat them out and out; and in the pres¬ 
ent day we cannot well afford to look for 
milk alone, or beef alone, in a breed of cattle; 
but we must have both in the highest degree 
attainable, combined with early maturity 
and vigor of constitution. The breeding of 
stock pays well, and will continue to pay 
well, where good stock are bred. But where 
there is breeding there must be milking , and 
we must look equally to the three crops a cow 
gives—the calf, the milk and the beef, each 
of which has a high value of its own; and no 
cow is truly valuable that does not yield a 
good crop in each department. Breeding, 
then, is the foundation of success, for hereup¬ 
on is laid the superstructure of the three 
crops—a superstructure which is peren- 
nially repeating itself, improving or deterior¬ 
ating as the foundation is kept in repair, is 
strengthened and improved. Few men have 
a genius for selection and classification of 
animals in breeding, aud there are fewer 
still who have attained the highest possible 
results; but at the same time the rank and 
file of dairy fanners can go on improving 
their stock, if only they will take the pains 
that are necessary, 
In a communication to the Mass., Plough¬ 
man under the title of a “Gross Deception,” 
Mr. C. M. Hovey expresses the opinion that 
the famous Kieffer's Hybrid is no hybrid at 
all, hut the Sha Lee (Sand Pearl exhibited 
00 years ago by Sir Thomas Andrew Knight 
before the Royal Uort. Society' of England. 
A graft was obtained by Mr. Knight which 
was worked on an old pear tree aud bore fruit 
in 1828. It is described thus: “It was nearly 
three inches long aud two-aud-a-half in diame¬ 
ter in the middle, aud nearly equal at both 
ends, forming almost a perfect oval. The stalk 
was unusually long, the eye small, close, deep- 
13 * sunk; the skin pale, dull 3 ’ellow, covered 
with uunierous rough, brown spots; the flesh 
w hite and crisp, with the flavor of an apple 
rather than a pear, and of no particular ex¬ 
cellence.” “Now” says Mr. Hove 3 ' “if 3*011 
can make up a better description of the new 
hybrid seedling Kieffer Pear, I wish you 
would do so.” All that we have to say is that 
if our readers have been deceived as to the 
quality of the Kieffer Pear from the state¬ 
ments to be found in some nurserymen’s cat¬ 
alogues, it islaot the fault of the Rural New- 
Yorker. 
The Agricultural Gazette of London says 
that poultry coops no longer needed, should be 
cleansed and put away. If still used for shel¬ 
ter or roosting, renew the bedding ofteu with 
clean hay or straw. Get rid of surplus 
cockerels. Don’t allow 3 *oung birds to begin 
roosting too high or on small perches, lest they 
contract crooked breasts. Old birds begin¬ 
ning to molt should uot be fed too generously; 
