204 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
SPECIAL SEED REPORTS. 
Canada. 
Chatham, Onfc., Kent Co., March 11.— 
There is quite an excitament through Ontario 
Province over a temperance act known as “the 
Scott Act.” The vote on the passing of it has 
been taken in several counties; in the majori¬ 
ty of cases the Act is carried; hut Kent Coun¬ 
ty gave 2,393 in favor of it—the largest ma¬ 
jority of any. It will be enforced here in the 
Spring of 18S6, The crops in this section were 
a good average in 1884 The prices of wheat 
were so low in the Fall that there was not so 
much wheat sown; though it has been, and is, 
so well covered with snow, that a good crop is 
looked for. Farmers are now turning their 
attention more to beans, clover seed, corn, 
live stock, small fruits, etc. There is a very 
large circulation of the R ural In this section. 
It is looked upon with much satisfaction as a 
most practical and reliable journal. The cut- 
ting of the leaves and the pastiugof the paper 
are grand improvements. It comes so fre¬ 
quently and regularly that we never lose an 
interest in it, and hope we never will. 
F. W. W. 
Pennsylvania. 
Baden, Beaver Co., February 28.—Wheat 
looted well last Fall, but as there has been 
very hard, freezing weather, and scarcely any 
snow on the ground, it will go hard with the 
crop. Wheat is selling here at 1)0 cents; corn, 
60 cents; oats, 40 cents; hay, 818 per ton; ap¬ 
ples, 81.00 per bushel; potatoes, 50 cents; 
butter, 30 cents; eggs, 80 cents per dozen. 
Cattle and hogs are coming down in price. 
J. W. s. 
Tennessee. 
Clairbon Co., March 3.—Our county is 
bounded on the north by Kentucky and Vir¬ 
ginia, on the east by Hancock County, on the 
south by Hawkins and Granger Counties, and 
on the west by Union. We have schools, 
common and graded. We have plenty of 
iron, copper, zinc, and lead ores; our timber 
is walnut, oak, poplar, hickory, etc., and our 
people do a good business in the way of log¬ 
ging. This county is 1,321 feet above the level 
of the sea. The weather is never very cold, 
seldom below 20 degrees above zero; never 
very hot, seldom above 70 degrees. W e raise 
corn, wheat, oats, rye, tobacco, hemp, flax 
sweet and Irish potatoes in abundance, and 
we have meadows and plenty of milk and 
butter. Hogs thrive well, as we seldom, or 
never, have any cholera. Corn and wheat 
raising are the principal industries. Laud is 
very cheap, ranging from 83 to 815 per acre. 
Many farms containing from 500 to 3,000 
acres should be divided up. We want enter¬ 
prising men among ns to open up our great 
undeveloped resources. G. w. r. 
Vermont. 
Brandon, Rutland Co., March 8.—Farm 
affairs are progressing in a quiet way. 
Hay is getting scarce, and finds ready sale at 
$10 per ton; oats, 40 cents per bushel; pota¬ 
toes, 40 cents; corn-meal, $1.35 per cwt. Corn 
was nearly a failure last season. The unpre¬ 
cedented duration of severe weather causes 
some anxiety for the forthcoming fruit crop; 
meanwhile old sugar-makers prophesy an un¬ 
usually large supply of Vermont’s sweetest 
products. N. B. 
West Virginia. 
Waterville, March 9.— Ours is a border 
county lying near the top of the Allegheney 
Mountains. The Winter has been very cold 
and rough. Times are hard. Crop* were 
about an average last year. The crops raised 
here are wheat, corn, oats, rye, and buck¬ 
wheat. I like the Rural more and more. 
s. w. B. 
■ »♦«- 
RURAL SEED REPORTS. 
Ohio. 
Waynesville, Warren Co.—Although I 
cannot boast of such yields as some report 
from the Rural seeds, still some things have 
proved quite valuable. Gardens in this sec¬ 
tion suffered from drought last Summer. The 
R. N.-Y. Peas were splendid, aud so were the 
tomatoes. I think Rural su bscribers should 
not only feel grateful for so good a paper, but 
should acknowledge the benefits derived from 
the Free Seed Distribution. a. e. o. 
Pennsylvania. 
Bradford Co. —Times are dull here; prices 
for produce are so low that the outlook is not 
very flattering for farmers that are in debt 
fortbeir farms. We haye had some very cold 
weather, which has spoilt a good many pota¬ 
toes by freezing. Wheat was not looking very 
well before the snow came. About the same 
amount was sown as last year. Stock is looking 
good,but seems to be cheaper than last year ; 
the average price of cows is about $28 or $30. 
Good horses are high compared with other 
things. l. 
lEvery query must be accompanied by thename 
and address of tbe writer to Insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please see Jf It Is not answered In 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one time.] 
A BUTTER CELLAR: PRESERVING BUTTER. 
G. W. N , Hubbard, Ohio .—What is a good 
plan for a butter cellar in which bu ter cun 
be stored away in Summer for sale in Winter, 
and what is a good recipe for keeping it? 
ANSWERED BY HENRY STEWART. 
A cellar for butter needs to be perfectly well 
drained, ventilated attd free from all earthy 
odor. One of the best dairy cellars I have 
ever seen was a deep,two-storied one having a 
subcellar about 16 feet deep. It was arranged 
as shown at Fig. 123. The excavation was 
about 10 feet deep in a dry gravely soil, a well 
dug close by helped to keep the soil quite free 
from water or dampness. The wall was built 
up with hriek and the floor was of cement. 
The wall was cleanly whitewashed, which 
gave sufficient light when the large trap door 
over the stair-way was opened. Some stone 
shelves were arranged around the cellar, upon 
which the tubs of butter were stored. There 
were more than 100 tubs of butter in it when 
I saw it, aud the cellar was fragrant with the 
sweet scent of the clean sweet tubs. This 
was an old-fashioned Pennsylvania dairy 
about 20 years ago, and before creameries 
were thought of. and the butter, as was then 
the custom with the best dairies, was packed 
through the Summerand stored for sale when 
the prices ruled high iu the Winter. In such 
a cellar good butter could be kept a year, aud 
improve in quality, Tbe upper cellar was 
used for storing tubs, churn and clean pans 
and butter crocks, and was only partly under¬ 
ground, well aired, with large windows and 
green blinds, and was kept as eleau as a new 
pin. If I were building a butter cellar, I 
would make just such a OQe, because of the 
even cool temperature, and if it was not quite 
dry enough to suit me, I would keep it dry 
by putting a peck of freshly burned lime in it 
in a pail to absorb the dampness, and I would 
renew it when it became slacked to a fine 
powder. 
Tbe packing of the butter is of more import¬ 
ance than the cellar, for poorly packed butter 
cannot be well kept in the very best cellar. To 
pack butter for long keeping, first make per¬ 
fectly good butter. Then procure new white- 
oak tubs tightly put together. ISeald them 
thoroughly and then steep them with clean 
brine and riDse them with clear water. Dust 
tbe inside with floe salt and immediately pack 
the butter in the tub as soon as it has been 
finally worked. Pack iu a layer of about four 
iuches at once, and press it down firmly, leav¬ 
ing no air spaces. Drain off auy water that 
may be pressed out of the butter, and sprinkle 
a little salt over tbe layer; theu pack dowm 
anotherand so on until the tub is full within a 
quarter of an inch of the top. Spread over 
the butter a clean muslin cloth previousy 
soaked with brine, aud one inch larger each 
way than tbe top of the tub; press it down 
closely on to the butter, leaving no air under 
it; and close to the edge of the tub; cover it 
witb dry fine salt, pressing this close to tbe 
tub all round, aud turn the edge of the muslin 
over it; theu press down t.becoverand tighten 
the hoops or nail it firmly; putting four bands 
of tin over the edge to keep it tight and safe. 
The tub should be weighed just before the but¬ 
ter is put iu aud the weight, with one pound 
added for salt, should be marked on the cover. 
It is weighed again when finished and the 
weight then is marked over the other figures; 
the difference is the net weight of the butter. 
Butter so packed and kept in such a cellar as 
above described need not be sold until the 
price suits. 
RING-WORM IN CATTLE. 
A. P. L., Sheboygan, Wis. — Early in the 
Winter several spots the size of a quarter ap¬ 
peared on the bead and neck of a yearling 
heifer. They soon began to spread, and are 
uowround,light-coloredand rough. One-third 
of my stock are now affected in the same way 
about the eyes and mouth; what is the matter? 
Ans.— The disease i* ring-worm, which is a 
vegetable parasite which grows in the skin 
and is exceedingly contagious. It should he 
treated as follows: the diseased parts are 
washed with a sponge and warm water aud 
soap, to which one part iu 40 of carbolic acid 
is added. After drying with a soft cloth, the 
spots are dressed with an ointment made as 
follows: four parts of lard, two parts of flow¬ 
ers of sulphur, aud one part of creosote; wash 
and dress the parts twice daily. Give the 
animals each one tablespoonful of a mixture 
of one quart of molasses and eight ounces of 
sulphur every morning before feeding; smear 
it upon the tongue and feed a little bran or 
meal. 
REMOVING PROUD FLESH. 
“A Subscriber ,” Hunger, Mich. —How can 
“proud flesh” be removed from a wound on 
an ox’s jaw? 
Ans —To remove proud flesh there is noth¬ 
ing else so good as caustic potash applied in 
dry powder or strong solution, or just the 
granulations Kith burnt alum; or with finely 
powdered sulphate of copper, and when the 
wouud is healthy, dress it with tincture of 
benzoin and put a bandage about it to protect 
it, placing over the sore a rag steeped in the 
tincture. 
PILES IN HOGS. 
C. S. B. Cushing, la. —What ails my hogs? 
They sit on the ground and rub themselves; 
switch their tails as if iu paiu; but their ap¬ 
petite is good and they drink welL 
Ans. —The bogH are troubled with piles, 
caused by costiveness. Feed scalded bran 
partly cooled, with a handful of liuseed.added 
to it and steeped for two or three hours. A 
dose of a quarter of a pint of raw linseedoil 
will be useful. Keep the bowels free, and the 
trouble will disappear. 
Miscellaneous. 
L. D. C., Laurel Hill, N. Y. —1. What is the 
best work on sbeep-raising aud the price? 2 
Who is U. S. Senator for Queens Co.? 3. 
What work is there on maple sugar-making 
and the price? 4. What is the best work on 
bees, and its price? 
Ans.—1. Stewart’s Shepherd’s Manual $1 50, 
aud Randall’s Practical Shepherd $2.00 are 
both fine works, aud can be obtained of the 
American News Co., this city. 2. Warner 
Miller and Wiliam M Evarts are the Senators 
for New York State. There is no special 
Senator for Queens Co. 3. There is no special 
work ou maple sugar making. 4 The Bee- 
Keepers’Guide, $1.25, A. J. Cook, Lansing, 
Mich. 
N. K. G., Page's Comers, N. Y.—Wbatistbe 
name of a reliable firm in N. Y. from which 
I can buy sugar, tea aud coffee at wholesale 
for my own use? 
Ans. —No wholesale house would sell so 
small a quantity, aud if any would, the 
freight on a single barrel or a small quantity 
of tea or coffee would make it cost you much 
more than the price in your local market, if 
you purchase in quantity. 
B. C., Tonganoxie, Kans.— Where can I 
get the Mrs. Garfield Strawberry? 
Ans. —Of Hale & Bros., So. Glastonbury, 
Conn,, the introducers; Silas Wilson, Atlan¬ 
tic, Iowa; T.T. Lyon, South Haven, Mich., 
or of Parker Earle, Cobden, Ill. 
C. D. B., Buffalo, N. Y .—What will prevent 
hens from eating their own eggs? 
Ans. —Cut their beads off—that’s the only 
effectual preventive. 
J. A, C\, Concord, iV. H .—From whom can 
I obtain eggs of pure bred Black Spauish hens? 
Ans.— From X. L. C. R. Poultry Yards, Mt. 
Vernon, Ohio. 
E. N. J., Bergen Co.,N. J .—What is a trust¬ 
worthy commission firm in New York City? 
Ans —S. H. & E. Frost, 100 Park Place; 
or E. & O. Ward, 270 Greenwich St. 
B. S., Vilas, Wis —What is a reliable tea 
company iu New York? 
Ans. —The Union Pacific Tea Company 
(R. McBride), 70 Water St. 
DISCUSSION. 
T. H. H., Orleans Co., Vt. If 1 thought 
I were wroug I would yield to the Rural 
(page 152) on the subject of bone as a fertil¬ 
izer. But I don’t, aud I hope you will allow 
me to say that it Is entirely misleading on the 
part of agricultural chemists to call the tri- 
calcie phosphate of bone “insoluble.” True, 
it is insoluble in pure water, but as a fertil¬ 
izer it is uot, pure water that it has to do with. 
The soil water carries many substances which 
give it power over fire bone, and, besides that, 
the root-hairs contain solvent fluids of stilt 
greater power, to which their intimate con¬ 
tact witb soil particles gives free chance for 
activity. Fine roots will, in a single season, 
sink themselves visibly into the surface of 
limestone and slate, and the lichens so erode 
even granite that beneath them the less sol¬ 
uble particles of the rock will be found 
loosened abundantly from tbe general surface. 
Marble structures, especially in moist ciima tes, 
are rapidly eroded by the various plant;, 
(not only cryptogams, but vines and shrubs.) 
that fix themselves on the stone surfaces, and 
it is frequently necessary to clean them in 
order to preserve them from being devoured 
by vegetation. Experience shows to me that 
fine bone, free from fat, is so rapidly soluble 
under these various influences, that, as a rule, 
it is unwise for the farmer to pay, as he 
does, a double price for having its tri-calcic 
phosphate made more soluble by tbe use of 
acid. Tbe triflB of sulphate of ammonia 
which 1 use iu connection with bone as a fer¬ 
tilizer cannot, possibly furnish acid enough 
perceptibly to aid the solvent power of the 
soil water and the erosive pow r er of the root 
hairs in making the boDe phosphate available. 
My long, careful, much varied experimenta¬ 
tion makes me as certain as I can be of any¬ 
thing, that fine bone, free from grease, is 
for most crops quite as available as an acid 
superphosphate, and 50 per cent cheaper. 
G. W. W., Tyrone, Fa.—I f J. V. O., who, 
on page 168, inquires how to get rid of a wil¬ 
low hedge wishes to avoid the task of digging 
out the roots, he can destroy the hedge with 
little trouble at this season (mid March) by 
taking a sharp adze-like mattock, and cutting 
the whole growth off quite even with the sur¬ 
face, or a little below it. It will sprout again, 
but if the sprouts are promptly and closely 
cut off, the roots will very soon be exhausted. 
Mild winter weather is chosen because the 
shoots, beiug held by the frozen ground, are 
then very easily hacked off close. All sorts 
of low bushes can be readily cleared off pas¬ 
ture ground in the same way, and tne work 
is all done in the season of most leisure. 
F. L. A.. Enfteld Centre, N. LL—I notice 
in the last Rural, in reply to a question as to 
the value of cob ground, witb the corn, that the 
writer did not seem to favor the plan. Many 
of our best farmers here prefer to have corn 
and cob ground together to feed to cattle, aud 
to do the first fattening of hogs, and consider 
it as good, pound for pound, as the clear wes¬ 
tern meal, and, as far as my experience goes, 
for many purposes I would rather have it 
ground together, but L prefer to pay for the 
griuding, for as you say, the toll for all is 
taken from the corn meal. 
H. S , Bergen Co., N. J.—“No one claims 
there is auy fertility in salt," (page 174.) Lit¬ 
erally this is true, blit that is not what is 
meant. I suppose element of fertility or fer¬ 
tilizing value Is meant. Now salt is a fertil¬ 
izer, because it contains soda and chlorine, 
both of which are contained in all plants, and 
if nitrogen potash, etc., etc., are elements of 
fertility, why not soda aud chloriue and salt? 
Why make fish of one and flesh of another? 
This is a popular Delief, but a fallacy, aud an 
evident one. 
H. S.. Bergen Co., N. J.—Don’t cross Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks on Wyandottes. Mr. Cooper is 
right. And thus: Wyandottes are a cross of 
P. R. and Hamburgs. One can see that very 
easily; but 1 think it is admitted. Then if you 
cross them with P. R. the effect of the cross 
will be wholly destroyed. You will have too 
much ‘ rock” iu your concrete, and it won’t 
hold together. 
R. N -Y.—We never before heard that there 
was any Plymouth Rock blood iu the Wyan¬ 
dottes, except iu us fur ns both the P. R. and 
the Wyandottes are crosses of the Asiatics, 
the former probably with the Dominique, 
aud the latter with the Hamburg. 
Communications Received for the Week Ending 
Satuuday, March 21, 15S5. 
R C.-C. S -L. V. S.-H. & H.-F. L.T.—K. L—J. M. 
-J. M. J. M. H.—W. F. B.-J. L. B., thanks.— C. N. 
E.—R. S.-G. E. P. - O C. W.-P. 41. G-. thunks—F. K. 
P.—R. H. C.-T. V. M.—S. 1). C.-J. P. 11., thanks.— 
k <a. F, G, u . n. K. ,M. II L. P. a. -c. K. 
B.-O. B. G., thanks. K & C. J. H.-S. D. C.— 
W.P L w..i IV 0.5. O, A. k N.—O (i.R.-F, 
L. A.-A. J. B.-W. F. K.-W. B. T. J. IV. 8. -S. B. B. 
a. j. i.. u. u 11 . w. i.. a. n. Gognito. J. S. - 
a. a, \v It. L. w. j u. f. i! w. IT. p. H.-W. 
f. u - C B. P. J. W. s. j. i. n —\\. r*. B.,apples 
received, but Injured —K. W.—E. L. S.—J. L. B.— 
1). H. K.—J. 11. M Cole, thank* for tomato seeds.— 
J. 8.-H. S.-M. H. B. A. E. G.-K. D. C.-T. McG — 
L. L . thanks. -II. 8. 8 \V. T. & C. Y.—J. R.—W. T. 
K. —W. A. D., yes, very glad to get them —J. U. 8., 
thanks, coin received. -J. H. C.—H. B. S.—W. S. B.— 
8. 8. B , wo shall quote prices tu market reports.— 
J. A. 11. 
