THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
RURAL SEED REPORTS, 
Tomatoes are pretty badly killed in soots and 
not more than a half crop will be made. 
Many truckers are plowing up vegetables and 
planting corn. The orange crop did not turn 
out satisfactorily the past season. Some new 
method of baudliug the crop will have to be 
devised to insure satisfactory prices in future. 
W. A. D. 
Maryland. 
Westover, Somerset Co., March 17.—The 
wheat crop now looks as if it will be only half 
an average one. on account of very dry and 
hot weather when it was planted, and contin¬ 
uous freezing and thawing during the whole 
Winter, and to date. Last year I followed 
the Rural’S plan of planting corn aud pota¬ 
toes, and with about the same quantity of 
corn (2,200 bushels) as in 1883, the cost of 
labor was only one third of that by the old 
way, in hills. My small crop of white pota¬ 
toes (for farm use) was three limes greater 
than I had ever raised in the old way on this 
farm. The Hybrid Diehl-Mediterranean 
Wheat you sent me looked so well, that I 
proeared from its originator four bushels— 
one for myself and three for my neighbors— 
and from the appearauce of the plants at the 
present, it will, I think, suit us here, along 
with our old reliable Fultz. j. a. 
Ohio. 
Lafayette, Madison Co , March 19. -It is too 
much the opinion that any rustic can be a far¬ 
mer. He can be a tiller of the soil, but not a 
successful producer, uoless he notices carefully 
the results of bis crop plautiug. The lands 
of Ohio are becoming worn. For years past 
farmers have been giviug all tbeir attention 
to the raising of corn aud wheat; the yield is 
decreasing, uud the farmers are beginning to 
see that, at the present low prices, there is a 
loss in the production of wheat. I tbiuk the 
remedy is to raise a variety of crops, and to 
replenish the soil with manures so astoiucrease 
the yield—not to farm so extensively, but 
more systematically. Central Ohio has 
had a very severe season. The wueat was 
somewhat injured by the ice during the 
Winter, being smothered out where the 
ice' was very thick. The people think 
the March freezes are hurting it badly. Stock 
is wintering very well, and has been selling 
quite high at the public sales throughout 
the country. The feeders of fat sheep are not 
very well satisfied with the present aspect of 
the market. Probably the reduction of the 
wool tariff had something to do with it. I 
know that the farmers see too much of a dif¬ 
ference between the price of wool and the 
price of woolen goods. c. H. 
Oregon. 
Tangent, Linn Co., March 18.—Mrs. 
Fisher’s articles and the comments of Dr. 
Hoskins on them, page 794, would be amusing 
were it not for the erroneous impressions con¬ 
veyed, aud the damage they may do to the 
tens of thousands of Rural readers. They 
both seem to thiuk all the the opposition to 
the Chinese immigration comes from the Irish. 
This mistake no d on tit arises from the wide 
circulation that was given to the frothy decla¬ 
mations of Denis Kearney a few years ago.in 
California. A good cause may have disrepu¬ 
table advocates, and this was the case with the 
opposition to the Chinese. This opposition js 
not coniiued to California; it is as strong here 
aud it extends as intensely into British Colum¬ 
bia. The people of the whole Pacific Coast 
are a unit in this matter, and woul 1 soon be 
rid of the Chinese, if left to treat the matter 
in their own way. Mrs. Fisher must have 
been very unfortunate iu her stopping places 
when she is compelled to say that the only 
good meal she had eaten was cooked by a Chi- 
namau If she had bad the good fortune to 
have dined in thousands of homes on this 
Coast, she could uot have complained of the 
food or the cooking. She is also uufair when 
she compares the improvements on the farms 
in this valley with those of the millionaires of 
Menlo Park or the surroundings of the well-to- 
do farmers in Napa or Santa Clara in Califor¬ 
nia,or with those on the farms of Chester Coun¬ 
ty, Pa.; nor is it true, as Dr. Hoskins alleges, 
that the pioneers came mostly from Missouri. 
There were some from that State no doubt; 
there were also a great many from Iowa, Illin¬ 
ois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, with a few from 
every other Northern State; and Mrs. Fisher 
should not forget that the settlement of this 
State has been within the hist 40 years; the 
wonder is that there should have been so much 
done in the way of improvement. I cannot 
allow the slander on our good Missouri ueigb- 
bors by Dr. Hoskins on page 55 to pass un¬ 
noticed. I do not believe that the people of 
Missouri intermarried with the Indians. I 
have yet to see the first Missourian with In¬ 
dian blood in his veins, or to hear of one who 
has such parentage. The prosperity of a peo¬ 
ple, has more to do with the improvement*; 
than anything else, and the market for our 
principal products has always beeu very dis¬ 
tant, and of course the cost of niaiketiug has 
to come out of the products. u. L. s. 
CONSTRUCTION OF A WIRE FENCE, 
Connecticut. 
Leete's Island, New r Haven Co.—I cauuofc 
compete with the Rural brothers iu praising 
the tomatoes, as 1 bate this fruit and gave my 
seeds to a neighbor. To all the other seeds I 
gave a fair trial with no extravagant results. 
The flowers gave wife and neighbors a great 
deal of country happiness. The oats were about 
like those we use here, except they were oue 
week later. None of the Rural Corn so far 
has takeu the starch out of the old staudard 
kinds, which have held their ground against 
all new in-comers fora generation. The good 
and bad points of the Blush Potato have been 
thoroughly aired and I have not. been able to 
cure them of their wandering propensities. 
The trouble is less conspicuous lengthwise 
when planted in drills. G. w. L. 
Michigan. 
Mapleton, Grand Traverse Co.—The Ru¬ 
ral seeds all did very well The corn ripened 
but 1 think it rather late for this climate. 
The oats also are too late. The tomatoes were 
very nice. The peas were all saved for seed. 
The Gardeu Treasures were very fine, although 
many failed to ripen seed. F. E. b. 
New Jerney. 
Trenton, Mercer Co.,—The Rural toma¬ 
toes were certainly of great excellence. I 
do not recall a single unworthy specimen. We 
enjoyed them very much and have saved 
seeds for further use. The peas grew and 
produced well, Cleveland’s Rural New York¬ 
er ripened two or three days ahead of Hen- 
dei son’s First of All, and there were more fit 
for pickiug at one time on a given length of 
row tbau there were on Henderson's First of 
All. Horsford’s Market Garden were stocky 
aud vigorous and bore a heavy crop. I was 
so much pleased with their appearance that I 
saved them all for seed. Ihe Black Cham¬ 
pion Oats were carefully planted and har¬ 
vested. They will not, I think, justify 
further experiment here. There were a num¬ 
ber of small grams—under the medium size 
—fearing they might uot do so well as the 
larger ones, I separated them, marked where 
they were planted in the drill, and fertilized 
all alike; but the size of the seed made no 
difference whatever in the growth from the 
start or in the productiveness. The Rural 
Union Corn grew aud produced well. I be¬ 
lieve it will justify further experiment here. 
F. D. 
Orecon, 
Portland, Multnomah Co.—About the 
middle of January we passed through the 
most severe snow r storm experienced in this 
State for many years. The mails were de¬ 
layed more than three weeks. The Black 
Champion Oats yielded well — gram very 
heavy, From 17 pounds of Rural Blush Po¬ 
tatoes the yield was 17 bushels: rate, about 
500 bushels to the acre; quality, second class; 
objections, scattering in the bill, deep eyes 
and pinkish flesh. The White Elephant Po¬ 
tatoes were planted in rows about three feet 
apart, one square rod yielding four bushels 
by weight, without fertilizers cf any kind. I 
could not distinguish the slightest difference, 
either in growth, earliness, or yield, between 
the Rural New Yorker Pea, the First of All, 
and an uukuown variety growii here for sev¬ 
eral years. The Market Garden Pea is a 
valuable acquisition. The tomatoes grew 
finely aud promised an abundance of fine, 
small fruit; but ou ripening nearly ali rotted, 
l’bc Shoe peg Corn proved too late for this 
climate. The Black-bearded Centennial and 
Shuiu .ker Wheats would not head when sown 
in the Spring. Tlte Garden Treasures were 
especially admired for the great abundance 
of rich aud beautiful flowers. j. a. k. 
PfnmjU aula. 
Monroe, Clarion Co.—Wheat generally 
supposed to be badly damaged by hard freez¬ 
ing before the suo w came. W heat now selling 
at85 cents; oats, 82 cents; corn, 80 ceuts; 
coarse feed very scarce and high. Cattle 
plentiful, but no sale at any price. Fresh 
cows selling, if at all, at from $20 to $25. 
Peach buds believed to be pretty generally 
killed. d. m. d. 
Vermont. 
East Clarendon, Rutland Co.—The Ru¬ 
ral corn last year grew about teu feet in bight; 
hut it is too late for this place. The Black 
Champion Oats did well, but are not quite 
equal to the White Russian, sown side by side, 
in quantity of straw and weight of oats. The 
tomatoes were without an equal; while the 
flowers, which were saved from late frosts iu 
the Spring, were quite pretty, k. b. 
The important point in building wire fence 
is to tboroaghly secure the end posts, so that 
they shall not give over when the wires con¬ 
tract with cold, and thus cause the wire to be¬ 
come loose and sag down, on the return of 
warm weather. Our frieud, R. C Stevenson, 
of Polk Co., Iowa, sent us a sketch of a meth¬ 
od used by him, and which has given very 
good satisfaction. We have bad an engraving 
made, which we present, at Fig 133. This is 
GRINDING MILLS, 
That it pays to grind grain for all kinds of 
farm stock, except sheep, no one who has 
tried the experiment for a moment doubts. It 
not only saves time and waste of food in the 
eating, but, if properly ground, it is more 
thoroughly masticated and digested, and the 
nutritive matter is much more thoroughly ex¬ 
tracted. Many experiments in pork-feeding 
have demonstrated that a bushel of corn will 
produce, on an average, somewhat over one- 
eight more pork by being ground, or about 
pound to a bushel of corn. The difference in 
cattle feeding is even greater yet. From this 
we see that the increased production (which is 
a saving) to the farmer who feeds from 500 to 
as many thousand bushels, becomes an item 
worth looking after, and may make all the 
difference bet ween profit aud loss. The trouble 
is,in many parts of the country,the charge for 
grinding is about equivalent to the increased 
gain, and so to have the grain ground, the 
farmer about loses bis labor of hauling to and 
from the mill. But of late years, numerous 
devices have been invented and numerous 
mills made, with which the farmer at small 
cost, and with his farm horses,can easily grind 
all the grain needed for any ordinary farm 
stock. 
Among the more recent of these, the Scien¬ 
tific Mill, made by the Foos Manufacturing 
Co., of Springfield. Ohio, has some novel 
features, for tho purpose of showing which, 
we present two cuts. Fig. 137 shows the mill 
Fig. 133. 
the time when much fence is being put up,and 
this engraving shows the end of the fence, the 
inner B being the end post, beyond which is a 
second post to which a brace wire D ruuniug 
from tbe extreme top of the end post, is to be 
attached near the ground. A is a brace run¬ 
ning from the top of the end post to and rest¬ 
ing against a stake C, which is to be driven 
deeply and solidly into the ground. 
CHEESE MAKING, No. 4 
T. D. CURTIS, 
RENNET. 
A few words about rennet t efore 1 proceed 
further. This is supposed to be the gastric 
juice from tbe calf’s stomach; but asthestom- 
acbsof all milk-eating animals yield rennet of 
a similar character, it is not so sure but the 
stomachs of these animals are smuggled in to 
do duty in the manufacture of the extract now 
so largely used—especially under tbe head of 
‘‘Bavarian,” which comprehends all sizes and 
qualities. These stomachs are called rennets, 
and the preparations from them, rennet. They 
are variously prepared—the “Bavarian’’ by 
blowing up like bladders—the two ends being 
^ ! „>> tied—and dried; some are rubbed full of salt 
and stretched on a bow or crotched stick, 
others are simply filled with salt and hung np 
to dry. These latter, if exposed to a moist 
atmosphere, are apt to attract enough moist¬ 
ure to drip and thus waste streugtb. Another 
mode of preservation is to pack down in salt; 
as meat is preserved in barrels. Some object 
to this method, but I have had good “luck” 
with rennets saved in this way. When hung 
up to dry, it should be in a cool, dry place. 
Heat is bad for them, but freezing and thaw¬ 
ing appear to be beneficial—probably by dis¬ 
integrating the fiber and permitting the secre¬ 
tions to be soaked and washed out more fully. 
Old rennets are much to be preferred. They 
make a firmer and more satisfactory curd. 
Precisely why, I do not know; but the fact is 
within the experience of every old cheese- 
maker. When dried, rennets should be tied up 
in light paper bags, or otherwise made secure 
against the attack of flies; otherwise they are 
liable to become fly-blown and wormy. The 
fourth stomach of the calf is what is saved for 
its coagulative properties, and this should be 
done with care. In cutting it from its con¬ 
nections, do portion of the adjoining stomach, 
or of tbe intestine should be included, as it is 
liable to taint and has no cheese-making virtue 
in it. The calf should go without eating long 
enough to permit the stomach to become com¬ 
pletely empty—say, from feeding time at 
night to the *ext day at noon, when it should 
be killed. By this time there will be a liberal 
secretion of gastric juice ready to digest the 
next meal, aud the rennet will be at its fullest 
strength. Meantime, the calf should be kept 
where it cannot get hay, hairs or other sub¬ 
stances into its stomach to require cleaning 
out. If these are in the stomach, they should 
be very carefully picked off when the stomach 
is turned wrong side out. and great care 
should be taken not to remove the delicate 
secretion that lines the stomach. It is diffi¬ 
cult to wash the stomach without iujuring its 
strength It should be emptied of its contents, 
if there are any, and cleaned, if possible,with¬ 
out washing. 
with the upper casing aud hopper removed. 
The shaft and “running” plate are taken out 
The ribs, or the star-like projections around 
the shaft, make tbe first reduction of the grain; 
the series of finer ribs of peculiar shape still 
further reduce it, and the fine inclines or 
corrugations, shown on the extreme edges, 
finish the meal, giving it much of that soft, 
floury feeling found in meal ground by bubr 
stones. The still plate shown in the frame, is 
put in loose, but is held from revolving by a 
coupleof friction brakes, one of which is shown 
.j list back of and against the plate at the right 
side, and the other brake shoe is shown pro¬ 
jecting above the frame in Fig. 138 These 
brakes, though bolding this plate sufficiently 
firmly for ordinary grinding, will yet allow it 
to run when any bard substance gets into the 
mill. This often prevents breakage and in¬ 
jury. Fig. 138 shows the lower half of the 
case and!he frame all cast in one piece, and 
exceedingly strong. Another novel feature 
of the mill is the unequal number of ribs or 
grinding edges, on tbe plate, so that it is im¬ 
possible for more than one pair of these to 
come in contact at the same time, and also the 
fact that when these grinding edges have be¬ 
come dull by long use, by simply crossing the 
belt and running the plates in an opposite 
direction, it will be found to do as good work 
as at first; and the price of this mill is such 
that it is within the reach of most farmers. 
Communications Rbckjvud for tuu Wkkk Ending 
Saturday. April 1.1881. 
S. S. C.-W. R K W, J.-J. S.-J. D. A.—T. T. L.— 
C. O. W , thunks. A. T. -XI. A. K.-L. L. - U. S.-P G. 
8.-F. W. W.-T. W-K. W. O. W. P.-F. T. G.— 
F. N. S„ thanks.—G. IT. M.-J. H. P.-U. 15. G.-D. D. 
A. A. W.-B.-O. M. G.-B, M DeL., beans reoM.— 
C A. O.-H H.-J.C. H.-T. M. L.-D S M C. E. B. 
F, D. 0.-0, A, H.-T. B. M.-M. C.-E. B. B.-J. S. O. 
F A B.—T. B. W. J. R -H. L. F.-D. G. C.—O. G.- 
A. W. It.—8. B.-C. O. M . tlmnks.—W. M. H.-C. M. 
H -E. B. H.-G. J. B-G. E. 5I.-R. T. K.-R. W.—F. 
D. C.—W. E. K.—“Blanche."—F. II. S.-H-M.-E. C 
V.-U. C.-E. L. P.~H. A. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Florida. 
Boardman, Marion Co., March 11. —Wehad 
a heavy frost on the night of the 9th, and 
vegetable growers got a black eye. The bean 
crop will beexeeedingly short. Well imformed 
parties say that at least 200 acres of beans 
have been killed in a radius of five miles. 
