4885 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
88 
commented on the “unusual coasting.” but as 
I talked with old residents I concluded that 
snow fell more or less every Winter. One of 
tbe oldest residents, who came here 30 yearg 
ago. loDg bef re the town bad a name, told 
me that, one Winter snow fell to the depth of 
four feet, and be did not think that iu these 
30 years the climate had varied much, not¬ 
withstanding the opinion of some, that as tbe 
forests are cut off it grows colder and drier. 
But this Winter tbe cold continued until after 
Christmas, and the snow fell to the deot.h of 
nearly two feet, and everybody declared that it 
was unprecedented. The rail wav tracks were 
blockaded.and for more than a fortnight webad 
no eastern mails. There was almost a vege¬ 
table famine, as the vegetables, which here 
are largely loft in the ground, were buripd deep 
under the snow nud here as in Western Oregon, 
the people make no provision against it. and 
seem demoralized by it Shuffling around in 
narrow paths, gloomily waiting for a “Chi¬ 
nook” wind which will melt a deep snow in one 
night. (“Chinook” is also applied to a dialect 
which is used in conversation with the In¬ 
dians, and through tbe medium of which dif¬ 
ferent tribes converse with each other.) One 
man told roe he remembered the first sleigh 
seen in the streets of Seattle—a drygoods box 
set on a pair of runners cut from planks. A. 
sleigh in the Eastern sen°e, of course, is al¬ 
most unknown here, where the snow, ns a rule, 
remains but a few hours. But this Winter, 
with its fortnight of ?uow, developed consid¬ 
erable sledding gear, whi^h consisted of run¬ 
ners. upon which were placed the body of a 
wagon—auv and all kinds of wheeled vehicles 
being so utilized, from a top buggv to a lum¬ 
ber wagon. It is a very good “scheme” as the 
people here say. The Puget Sound people are 
called “moss-hacks” by the Oregonians, and 
the Oregonians are in turn called “web foots.” 
“Mo«s back’’ is in recognition of the extent to 
which moss grows on ever thing in the Sound 
country, while the abundance of rain, par¬ 
ticularly in Winter, in Western Oregon, im¬ 
plies the necessity of webbed feet, with which 
to paddle around in the mud. Tbe climate in 
Western Oregon is colder in Winter and 
warmer in Summer than it is here, and al¬ 
ways more malarial. There is practically, so 
far as I can learn, no malaria whatever in 
this Sound reeinn, and the little that exists 
elsewhere in Washington is the product of 
“settlers.” That ma^pria and plagues do not 
affect all these Sound towns, is solely due to 
the sea air and the climate, which is never hot. 
for what with carelessness, no drainage and 
bad drainage, and the inexcusable and abom¬ 
inable laziness that dumps garbage and kind¬ 
red material into the streets and vacant lots, 
the result anywhere else would be prolific of 
disease. Even here, there is considerable 
typhoid fever, rarely fatal however, and I 
fancy there is more diphtheria on this Coast 
than in the “East.” But 1 am assured that 
all these diseases are of milder tvpes. 
Anaximander recently went to spend twoor 
three days with a friend, on his “ranch” on 
the eastern shore of Lake Washington—tbe 
opposite side from Seattle. They had a walk of 
two or three miles to the lake, and a row of 
about four across the water. He reported the 
soil there as being good, and it i« quite famous 
for fruits, even Including peaches. The price 
the friend paid for bis land was five dollars 
per acre, and there is about one quarter of.au 
acre cleared. There is some good limber on 
the land, but the expense of clearing is alwavs 
a heavy item. One ranch, consisting of 820 
acres, belonged to an “old bach,” of which 
160 acres he hail homsteaded several years 
ago. After some years’ residence on it. bis 
neighbors all left the neighborhood, and then 
he went away, and spent nine or ten years 
elsewhere—in Eastern Oregon. Florida. 
Michigan, and New England, but had finally 
returned to bis Lake Washington ranch for 
permanent residence. The owner of another 
ranch, with a small patch of ole red land, 
valued it at about ten dollars per acre. The 
most profitable farming in Western Washing 
ton Territory is about the Sound, in the river 
bottoms, or where the produce can be sent to 
home markets by boat as railway freights are 
so high everywhere w’estof the Hockiee. as to 
eat up the farmer’s profits. Hay is one of the 
best crops, and butter-making aud poultry¬ 
raising, intelligently conducted, ought to bo 
profitable, with tbe general steck raising that 
a good managing farmer includes in his busi¬ 
ness. At Christmas time turkeys were 35 
cents a pound, and chickens and geese in pro¬ 
portion But as I have before said, cleared 
land is very high; the river bottom lands, 
which are valuable, being rated from 811)0 to 
$300 per acre. The laud varies greatly, some 
of it being worthless. It is much like tho lit¬ 
tle girl with the curl on her forehead—some 
of it is“rery,very good.” and some of it ‘per 
fectly horrid ” A Herman friend of ours, 
who has traveled over this north-west country 
on horse back — his latest jaunt beiug on 
horse-back from. Seattle to. St. Paul—writes 
that of all tbe places he bas been at, be likes 
8 eattle the best. 1 like it too, exceedingly, 
but as I before said. 1 think that people who 
are dependent upon "honest labor’’ for a liv¬ 
ing, can do better East than here. The de¬ 
velopment of this country must be slow, the 
Pcdigon Sap Spout. Fig. 54. (See page 88.) 
capital here employed is largely that of non¬ 
residents. and the people, all told, in Washing¬ 
ton do not exceed 150,000, so that the home 
market for everything is comparatively lim¬ 
ited. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Arkansas 
Malvern. Hot Spring Co.—The past season 
was quite favorable in Arkausas for most of 
the crops grown here, which I will mention 
in the order of their importance. As the 
leading money crop cotton comes first. This 
was a little below the average in yield; it sells 
at eight to nine cents per pouud after being 
ginned and haled. Corn comes next This was 
above an average, the yield on bottom lands 
being about 50 bushels per acre; on uplaud 
about half as much. Pork ranks third Hogs 
have got fat in t he woods, as acorns and other 
nuts have been very plenty. Dressed hogs 
will probably sell at $4 to $5 per 100 pouuds 
Sweet potatoes are abundant and dull at 50 
cents per bushel Ii*isb potatoes scarce at $1 
per bushel. Wheat is not grown much in 
this part of Arkansas. Hay and oats are not 
grown to sell; in fact, but very few farmers 
have hav for their owu use. Corn blades, 
oats unthrashed, aud cow-pea vine; are the 
fodder crops. Grass for hav aud pasture de¬ 
serves, aud will soon got, far more attention 
here than formerly. Orchard Grass, clover, 
and Red Top all do well. Mesquit and Texas 
Blue Grass are also good for winter pasture. 
Winter apples are scarce and dear,$l per bush¬ 
el from the North, simply because the right 
sorts have not beou planted and cared for as 
In the Norih. It is not tne fault of the soil or 
climate that peaches, fall and winter apples 
and pears are uot plenty, for enough has beou 
done to show that a good selection of varieties, 
with proper culture and protection from cat¬ 
tle and other animals, will generally give us 
good returns. Sorghum was a good crop, aud 
considerable sirup was made. Pea nuts and 
melons did very well, but are not grown 
largely Weather during the past Fall mild 
and pleasant Fall, Winter, and Spring are 
very favorable here for heavy out-door work. 
A. B. 
Can 'da. 
Sherbrooke, Quebec.—As long as I am a 
farmer l must have the farmers’ friend, the 
R. N.-Y This is my second year on a farm. 
I find tbe Rural is jmt what I want It is 
the perfection of a farm paper. It is very 
conservative iu its advice to farmers. It never 
gives unqualified praise to things in which it 
bas not entire confidence, and in most cases 
it has tested them. 1 never feel towards tbe 
Rural as f do to roost advice given to farm¬ 
ers in nearly all the papers I look on most 
of what is printed to instruct and benefit the 
farmer as perfect bosb. We are scolded, ad¬ 
vised, and laughed at by men sitting in a city 
office, who know nothing practically of farm¬ 
ing. Tbe only fault I have found with the 
Rural during one year’s readingis the advice 
to keep the boys on a farm. I do not know 
why my sons should be farmers any more than 
tbe sons of Sir John Macdonald should be 
.prime Ministers of our Dominion. At all 
(events, my sons need nob be farmers unless 
they desire it. It is too noble a profession to 
have members in it without heart or enthu¬ 
siasm. Those wonderful potato yielisareno 
great benefit to ns. unless land is very dear 
The most of farmers use their o*n mauure. 
and some in favored plaees can buy barn 
manure. I for ODe do not want to raise even 
500 bushels per acre. As it is. we can’t sell 
the few we raise for more than 25 ceots a 
bushel. We have to put several acres in 
hoed crops to fit the land for barley, and if 
we were to raise 500 bushels instead of 150. we 
could not get 10 cents per bushel. In spite of 
tho fact that there are millions of fellow- 
beiugs starving, we must own there are too 
many farmers, unless we are prepared to bold 
that farmers must work and support them 
without any compensation. As to potato 
culture, tell the Rural readers—those of them 
who cau get baru-yard manure, or who have 
Steel Sap Spout. Fig. 55. (See page 88.) 
it of their own—to drop their seed every third 
row, about one foot apart iu the row. when 
plowing. Put on 25 loads of good manure 
and 50 bushels of wood ashes, and if they can 
sell them at all. there is more money than in 
raising 800 hushels with commercial fertilizers, 
always provided tbe land is cheap. j. L. 
Nebraska. 
Ashland, Saunders Co.—This section is a 
part of the “Corn Bslt.” While other grains 
are raised, they are hardly worth mention as 
compared with corn. Immense crops in the 
aggregate are grown; this year’s is excellent 
in quality, hut below the average id quantity 
per acre. The swine plague or fever, hog 
cholera, or some other disease, has made sad 
havoc here, for thousaods of bogs, young and 
grown, have died, and while it has abated for 
waDt of subjects, still some people are yet los- 
iog from their stock. Tt is a serious loss, in¬ 
deed, and a cause of much embarrassm j nt to 
many. The problem here yet to be solved is 
how to raise stock iu proportion to the grain. 
Corn selling at from 13 to 20 cents per bushel 
would be profitable feed for hogs and cattle, 
which can he sold at 3}£ cents, and over, per 
pound; but bow are we poor farmers to get 
them and have them do well! We have, in 
great part, to depend ou selliog corn at mar¬ 
ket prices. Some are losing young cattle after 
they had been turned out to feed oo the stand¬ 
ing corn-stalks: but there may be other causes 
for the mortality, such as lack of proper care 
in watering. c. s. 
West Virginia. 
Pickaway, Monroe Co,, Jan. 12.—This 
county, in general, is a limestone. Blue Grass 
section, adapted to grazing BDd wheat and 
corn raising, and producing from 10 to 30 
bushels of wheat, and from 25 to 60 bushels of 
corn, according to cultivation. Those farmers 
who plow with the old Livingstone plow and 
harrow very poorly, and plant and sow and 
cover with the clods, and feel their fodder in 
the public road, and stack what little straw 
they have in a sink hole or in a wood land, 
and never fix any shelter whatever for the 
stock, and work but very little, attending all 
public gatherings, whittling store boxes, and 
talking of the hard times we are having and 
the great scarcity of money, always have the 
poorest crops. With them everything goes 
on badly; bat we have not a great many 
such. Those who plow with good plows, and 
harrow effectually, and use good drags or 
rollers to pulverize all the clods, save all the 
manure possible and use some good chemical 
fertilizer—about 200 pounds per acre—and 
drill the wheat in raise as much as 25 to 30 
bushels of wheat to the acre, on as much as 50 
acres, and some sow as much as 150 acres. 
This kind of farmers stay at home and mind 
their owu business, work all the time, have 
money to buy fertilizers and stock and such 
other things a3 they need. They have also 
plenty to eats and, alter alL, have a surplus to 
buv a farm journal or so. We are very highly 
pleased with the Rur.-»l New Yorker, and 
still more since it is cut and pasted. The 
reading matter in it is first-cla^s. s! L. B. 
RURAL SEED REPORTS. 
Callrornla, 
Petaluma. Sanorua Co.—The Rural wheat 
and rye rusted too much, being too late for 
this coast Tbe corn giew well, but, like the 
previous season's corn, did not strike me as 
being as good for this coast as the ktnis com¬ 
monly grown here. The Rural Blush Potato 
pleased us as much this year as last, and I 
think it may prove good for California, c. N. 
Iowa. 
Fxcelsior. Mahaska Co — T must say I am 
more than satisfied witn the Rural. I con¬ 
sider it by far the best paper of its class ever 
published in this country or any other. I am 
surprised to find any farmer who will deprive 
himself and family of such a treasure of in¬ 
formation. Any farmer that does not take it 
loses a wonderful amount of. useful informa¬ 
tion, The free seeds are worth three times 
the price of the paper. I made three times 
that amount out of the tomatoes I raised from 
the seed I got iu the last Froe-Seed Distribu¬ 
tion. Thev heat anything lbave ever-den in 
the tomato line.aud the Garden Treasures were 
a perfect show; or at least I thought so. by the 
number of persons that used to stop on the 
road to look over the garden fence at them, as 
they were something unusual around here. 
My wife says the Rural is the best and most 
attractive paper she ever read. Long life to 
it! w. N. R. 
K annas. 
Trivoli, Ellsworth Co.—The Shoe-peg 
Corn this year did very well; but it did not 
look like the seed. The watermelons were 
splendid, and so was everything else. The 
tomatoes and peas were very early, t. a. b. 
Maryland. 
Spencerville. Montgomery Co.—The R. 
N Y Peas were the best with me. I saved 
all for seed. The tomatoes were spleDdid; 
they were superior to the seed we bought for 
25 cents per package. The corn is a good 
early kind. The wheat did not come up very 
Leitches Sap Spout. Fig. 49. (See page!87. 
