OEC IS 
624 
at Rio Grande (p. 722) and elsewhere is very 
gratifying:. And now, at the very inception 
of this promising enterprise, is Congress going 
to take off the duty on sugar? It is said that 
the iron, cotton and woolen manufacturers 
will favor this to save themselves, as the 
revenue must be reduced to preserve the 
bonds for the national banks (!) How univer¬ 
sally are agricultural interests shoved to the 
wall in our national legislation! 
Rural, November 10.—Mr. Hovey’sreview 
of grape culture (p. 738) is interesting, and 
bis defense of “the grape for the million” (the 
Concord) is vigorous and characteristic. 1 
urn glad that he is willing to allow in all the 
world one grape (Muscat of Alexandria) to be 
better than the Concord. He is just that 
much more liberal on grapes than on straw¬ 
berries, the Ilovey being king of all, in his 
estimation. Mr. Hovey is surely a “Positiv¬ 
ist.” 
According to Mr. Bensel (p. 739), when you 
have a good ice harvest on the Hudson the 
peach trees have to go. Better leave the ice 
business to the Kennebeckers, and keep the 
peaches—if you could! But, after all, perhaps 
the ice is more profitable, and quite as much 
of a luxury. 
The apple-tree blight (Querist, p. 743),which 
is so destructive in the West, especially to the 
crabs, appeared first in Vermont after the 
Winter of 1880-81. a season of great varia¬ 
tions—freezing, thawing, and late Spring 
freezes. There has been a little of it since. 
It acts very much like pear blight, and in 
some places it is equally destructive to the 
crab-apple. It is regarded as contagious in 
the West, the same as the peach yellows. 
Some Russian apples suffer from it. 
Mr. Talcott’s remarks (p. 745) in reference 
to his single experiment with seed from the 
ends and middles of potatoes, “ In this ex¬ 
periment both of those theories were proved 
unfounded in fact” (referring to other beliefs 
in regard to the relative value of ends and 
middles for seed), illustrate the utter lack of 
capacity to make valuable experiments, in 
many otherwise intelligent men, Dr. Sturt > 
rant's corn “ experiments” were another 
striking illustration of the same fact. Such 
single tests prove absolutely nothing. They 
will seem to show one thing one year, and the 
very reverse the next, according to season, 
soil.f ertilization, moisture, variety and vitality 
of the seed, aud many other things of which 
no account is taken. I never was more aston¬ 
ished than when a report of this kind was 
issued from a State experiment station. We 
have been having such “ bob-tailed science” in 
the newspapers ever since i could read. Unless 
we can get something better from public in¬ 
stitutions, the money had better be put where 
it will do more good. 
“ Elm” on “ The Babel of Varieties” (p. 745) 
says something that needed saying. There 
is too much, a great deal too much, of the 
introduction of “ novelties” not in the least 
different from things old and well known. 
The Rural did not think very much of my 
American Racer Pea ,” but it did say it was 
“ very distinct,” which cannot be said of any 
other pea of its class since the advent of 
“ Carter’s First Crop.” 
Rural, Nov. 17. Mr. Wysor’s list of apples 
for the South and Southwest (p. 754) omits 
many valuable sorts. Among these Nieka 
jack is as good every way as Ben Davis. 
Hoover is far better, though not so good a 
keeper. Cullasaga and Cannon Pearmain 
are valuable sorts. Great Unknown is a 
Georgia apple of great beauty; tree an early 
and profuse bearer, early Winter. McAfee’s 
Nonsuch is widely distributed, and gives 
great satisfaction. Lawyer, a seedling of 
%IcAfee, is a fine apple, aud a good 
keeper. Stevenson’s Pippin, of Arkansas, is 
a first-class apple in every respect; tree a fine 
grower and productive. I give these mainly 
on the authority of R. J. Black, of Brernem 
Ohio, who, I hope, will give Rural readers 
the results of his extensive study of Southern 
apples. 
Rural, Nov. 24. Glad to see the school- 
house plan on p. 770. But neither the red 
school-house, nor the bare, unpaiuted school- 
honse is extinct in New England by a long 
way. At least three-fourths of the school- 
houses iu Maiue, New Hampshire and Ver¬ 
mont are still of those two classes, mostly 
unfurnished with any implements of teaching 
save an occasional black-board. Within a 
mile of where I sit there are five school- 
houses of this type, aud but one better. None 
but the last has any decent convenience, nor 
can the others be properly warmed or ven 
tilated. This is a big field for the Rural to 
work and do good in. 
THE BUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
That’s an excellent article on plums by 
Mr. Devereaux on p. 770. I believe the 
eurculio is now* kept uuder by parasites to 
such an extent in many places that even 
slovenly culture of the plum will succeed. 
Axn what au honest, truthful statement of 
the most important facts is Mr. Stewart’s 
article on Milk Setting (p. 771). A dairymau 
who would be offended at instruction in such 
absolutely essential matters, would be bene¬ 
fited by getting mad enough to go out of the 
busiuess. 
Thanks, too, to Prof. Storer for his strong 
dose of common sense and good science on the 
bran bread question. W bile l practised medi¬ 
cine I frequently demonstrated my unfitness 
for the trade by ridiculing “Graham” flour, 
ususally made out of refuse wheat, and ab¬ 
solutely unwholesome, and thus, as au old 
doctor said, I “bucked my brains out against 
people’s prejudices.” As well eat the hulls of 
rice Or the husks of your corn as wheat bran 9 
unless you need it as a medicaie. 
THE EYE-OPENER. 
actions on the farm, and several of our con¬ 
tributors, speaking from personal experience, 
have been still more urgent in the matter. 
Slip-shod farming is unprofitable fanning in 
four cases out of five, and ought to be iu every 
case, and farming in which no attempt is 
made to keep regular accounts mast be slip¬ 
shod farming. Even where, owing to a fer¬ 
tile soil and shrewd management in other re¬ 
spects, a profit is made on a farm on which no 
regular accounts are kept, the profit would 
be greater if this shortcoming were avoided. 
It is by keeping accounts with each field, 
each crop and each cow, that losses are 
avoided and profits increased. It is not every 
farmer, however, who can form a system of 
accouut-keepiog at once easy, plain and regu¬ 
lar. In the above work, containing 10(1 pages, 
9j^xl8 inches, such a system is presented. The 
pages constitute a daily record of all that oc¬ 
curs on the farm, and of all the works of the 
kind that have come under our notice this is 
certainly the most complete and best. It is 
an account book that should be in the hands 
of every farmer, and one that will be in the 
hands of every progressive fanner to whose 
notice it may be brought. It is sold only 
through canvassing agents to whom exclusive 
“territory” is given, and full information as 
to terms, etc , can be obtained by writing to 
the above address. 
1881, and that the wet season which it has so 
far braved (as it often docs for a while in the 
West), will, nevertheless, tell on the hibernating 
bugs. In this view there is cause for encour¬ 
agement rather than alarm. A careful survey 
would undoubtedly show, as Mr Lintner sug¬ 
gests, that it exists iu many places iu the State 
where it has not yet been detected. 
-*♦-«- 
The Marks on a Cow's Horn.— The N. Y. 
Times remarks that the marks upon the horns 
of a cow indicate her age aud not, as some 
misguided persons would have us believe, the 
number of calves she may have had. As 
these marks or rings arc the same upon the 
horns of an ox or bull as upon those of a cow 
it cannot be the calves which cause them. At 
two years old a wrinkle maybe found forming 
at the base of the horn, and as the horn grows 
the next year this wrinkle is easily seen. This 
marks three years' growth. At five years a 
second wrinkle appears. After that one ap¬ 
pears every year until at the age of 11 or 12 
the wrinkles are smaller and closer and less 
conspicuous, and some of the earliest will have 
beeu worn away. The horns are no guide to 
the age after thirteen years, nor are the teeth, 
as the condition of these depends on the amount 
of pasturing done, the goodness or the bad¬ 
ness of the pasture and the sandy or clayey 
character of the soil. 
A good deal of the hard-earned money of 
country, city, town and village dupes disap¬ 
pears forever in “wild cat” mines or rather iu 
the pockets of their projectors. Very seduc¬ 
tive to nincompoops are the prospectuses 
issued and the advertisements published by 
the sharpers who get up such swindles. The 
rascals know that rich promises are the only 
returns their dupes will ever get for their in¬ 
vestments, aud they are liberal iu that line. 
Frequently their list of directors contains the 
names of prominent citizens widely known 
throughout the country, but these names are 
used without their authority or knowledge, 
and uufortunately there is no law in most 
States to punish such fraudulent misuse, 
Oftener still the names used bear a close re¬ 
semblance to those of well-known people, 
but the initials or the spelling are slightly 
different. Colorado aud Montana are favor¬ 
ite locations for such mines; but the projec¬ 
tors advertise from hundreds of places East 
and West. There is no kind of property 
whieh a person ought to investigate more 
closely before investing in it, than mines 
which are not “listed” in the Mining Ex¬ 
changes, and few of these wild-cat concerns 
are. To farmers we say very earnestly, if 
you wish to paid, with your money, give it 
away, and thus get rii of all anxiety about it, 
but never, never, never put it in a mine. 
-»-M- 
THE KIEFFER PEAR. 
My first impression of the Kieffer Pear hav¬ 
ing been of the most discouraging kind, I can¬ 
not but say that it has improved somewhat 
with nearer acquaintance, i have recently 
received a few specimens from Mr. William 
Parry, which were probably of as good qual¬ 
ity as a Kieffer can possibly be; that is, they 
were in edible condition, which was not the 
case with those I had tasted previously. Y et 
even with these choice samples in mind, I feel 
pretty certain that most, people would rather 
go without pears than eat Kieffers in their 
raw state. As to its handsome exterior, there 
can be no difference of opinion; it is as beau¬ 
tiful a fruit as can be imagined, and cannot 
fail to attract the attention of those not fam¬ 
iliar with its quality. The Kieffer will, I 
think, soon find its proper place, and that is 
for canning. Stewed with sugar, it retains 
its shape aud whiteness perfectly, loses much 
of its grittiuess aud coarse, nondescript flavor, 
while it develops a delicate, quince aroma and 
a sprightly piquancy highly agreeable t,o most 
people. I n comparison with preserved Ba rt- 
letts, several persons of cultivated taste have 
preferred the Kieffer. dr. f. m. hexamer. 
-- 
The ‘ • tree agent” has beeu around offer¬ 
ing novelties in the way of new fruits. A 
plum, produced by erossiug a peach aud plum 
(curculio-proof) called German Prune, price 
82.50 each; Dewberries, similar to black¬ 
berries that grow on a vine, like grapes, 
price $1 each. His apple trees are stock- 
grafted, and are so much better tbau root- 
grafted that they do not die. 1 think if the 
people that patronized him had been sub¬ 
scribers to the Rural, his patronage would 
have been slim. m. e. m. 
Guilford, N. Y. 
- »♦ ♦ - 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Farmers’ and Planters’ Record and 
Account Book, by I. D. Affleck, A. M.; W. 
C. Cook, Publisher, room 8, 248 Broadway, 
New York. We have ourselves frequently 
urged upon our friends the numerous advan¬ 
tages of keeping correct accounts of all traus- 
A Southern California Paradise. Pub¬ 
lished by R. W. C. Farnsworth, Pasadena. 
California; 132 pages. Price, in cloth, 81.25; 
paper, 75 cents. We have been much pleased 
in reading this book, to note the impartial 
manner and air of candor, which the various 
writers contributing to the work, have ap¬ 
parently endeavored to give to their articles. 
The object of the book is to record the early 
annals of this locality; to furnish residents 
with such a description of their home and sur¬ 
roundings as they can conscientiously send to 
friends and to all who are inquiring about 
this land; to put something trustworthy into 
the hands of tourists and prospectors, aud 
especially to afford reliable aud satisfactory 
information to those who are longiug to make 
a home where they can fiud health and com¬ 
fort amid sunshine, fruits and flowers. The 
editor states that three restraining rules have 
been kept in mind, namely, no exaggeration, 
no deceptive concealments, and no invidious 
comparisons. The localities treated are Pasa¬ 
dena, Ban Gabriel, Sierra Madre and La 
Canada. This nicely gotten up publication 
commends itself to all those who desire to 
obtain a fair account of ibis most delightful 
portion of the United States. 
The American Naturalist. December, 
1883. Published by McCalla& Htavely. Phila¬ 
delphia, Pa. Price per year, 84.00. This 
number of the Naturalist is decidedly inter¬ 
esting. It contains, among other discussions, 
one upon the “ Development of a Dandelion 
Flower,” by Prof. John M. Coulter, and one 
“ On the Position of the Composite and Or- 
chideee in the Natural System,” by Prof. 
Joseph F. James. 
The Chinch-bug in New York.— Why 
should Mr. Liutner conclude that the chinch- 
bug was brought to St. Lawrence County, N. 
Y , in a freight car from the West? asks 
Prof. C. V. Riley iu Science. Harris corrects - 
the erroneous idea that it is confined to the 
States south of 40 deg. of latitude by demon¬ 
strating its occurrence iu Illinois aud Wiscon¬ 
sin, while Fitch’s record of finding it in North¬ 
ern New York would justify us in assuming 
that it has always existed there, especially 
when we know that its range is much farther 
north. Packard found it on the top of the 
White Mountains; aud it is to-day the most 
serious enemy that threatens the vast wheat 
fields of Dakota. It seems to Prof. Riley 
more rational to consider this injurious mani¬ 
festation in New York a result of undue iu- 
crease of a species always there than to call it 
an invasion. Though we rarely hear of its in¬ 
jury in the Atlantic States, yet it. is commonly 
mot with where collecting is done near or in 
the ground, and in dry years is by far the most 
common Heteropter in grain and grass fields 
and dunes. This he knows from personal ex¬ 
perience and he has found it as far north us 
Boscaweu, N. H, 
Should it prove less susceptible to heavy aud 
continued rains in New York than elsewhere, 
the fact will be remarkable. Such rains 
affect it most., however, iu Spring and early 
Summer. Prof. Riley’s own interpretation of 
the interesting facts recorded by Mr. Lintner 
would be, that the species multiplied exeeed- 
Ingly during the very dry scasous of 1880 and 
Recording Cows’ performances.— From 
the Dairy we take the following amusing illus¬ 
tration of the necessity for keeping strict ac¬ 
count of each cow’s produce: 
I was milkiug iu the barn when young 
Squire Lawton came in. I lifted up the pail 
and hung it on the spring balance. “Just 18 
pounds,” said 1 and marked it on the little board 
on the wall just opposite where the cow stood. 
" What do you do that for?” said he. “Why, 
I always count, measure and weigh every¬ 
thing on this farm,” said T. “My father 
taught me that when I was a boy.” “But > 
what’s the use here?” said he. “You have all 
the milk, aud no cue can cheat you.” “Don’t 
you be sure of that. Now look here. You 
see this board. That’s Topsy’s milk account. 
Here you see is 17 pounds, 161$' pounds, 18 
pounds, and then conies 11 pounds. That 
struck me all of a heap, and 1 went right there 
and then to Topsy to see what was the matter. 
Her nose was hot and dry aud her mouth was 
slobbering, and she was not eating. I soon 
found what was the matter. She had been 
chewing the fence rails, and a big splinter was 
jammed into her mouth between her teeth, and 
her jaw was swelled badly. Now I mightn’t 
have found that out for two or three days if I 
hadn’t, weighed the milk. But you see I soon 
set her right again. I saved a good deal of 
trouble by it. And then look here. Here is 
13t£ pounds, 15 pounds, 17 pounds, 12 pounds, 
II pounds, 14 pounds, and then here you see is 
only six-and one-half pounds, and all down 
six-and-one-half pounds, seven pounds, seven- 
aud-oue-huif pounds, fivu pounds, tivc-and-one- 
half pounds. Now look at that cow. She’s 
pretty, ain’t she. But bless you, handsome is 
as haudsome does, aud that cow don’t stay 
here any longer than she is fat enough for 
beef; for she aiu’t half handsome enough for 
a dairyman to keep. Then you see these glasses. 
These are to measure the cream by. A cow 
that won’t give 15 per cent, of cream won’t 
pay to keep with the feed I give them; and a 
heifer that won’t make 10 per cent, won’t pay 
to raise, and is only good to sell to those who 
sell milk. Now, how could 1 tell all this if I 
didn’t weigh aud measure? Bee here; this is the 
food measure; one of these goes on to the feet! 
for every com at every meal, and that scoop 
holds just two quarts. This basket holds a 
full bushel and every cow gets that full every 
feed. And two or three get a scoopful more. 
You see, it’s all brought down to rule. No 
thumb rule either, but weights and measures 
every time. A man that don’t weigh aud 
measure everything about a dairy can't tell 
what he is doing, aud it’s just as easy for him 
to lose a dollar a day as it is to fall off a log. 
Now, my boy, put that wrinkle on your horn. 
It’s worth a thousand dollars to you if you 
don’t forget it, but you arc welcome to it for 
uothiug.” 
Improvement in Commercial Fertili¬ 
zers. —It is a noticable fact that the fertilizing 
mixtures thrown upon the market by the differ¬ 
ent manufacturers are of much better quality 
thau those sold five or ten years ago. Still, os 
1’opular Science News remarks, there is room 
for improvement not only in the quantity, but 
hi the quality of the ingredients. It is not only 
important that every mixture should contain 
the full quantity of each form of plant-food, 
but the form should be adapted to the needs of 
the plant; a compound may appear well, as its 
value is estimate* 1 by the chemist, but the 
chemist does not state in what form the nitro¬ 
genous aud phosphatic pi inciples are Jpreseu 
iu a mixture. Nitrogen, as presented in gela- 
tiuous substances, is fur less valuuble than that 
found in nitric acid salts; and yet analysis 
