548 
HEW- 
a 
AUG 45 
made between the old ones, crossed, dropped 
and covered with an A-harrow. It was truly 
a rough way of farmiug, and the only excuse 
offered was that it was a necessity to surface- 
drain well. Of course, the yield was gener¬ 
ally light, there beiug much waste between 
the ridges: but this has entirely disappeared 
and the treble plows lurk in the by-placts to 
give room l’or the improved drill, with every 
variety of chilled plow. The yield used to be 
from 10 to 15 bushels per acre, with many 
pairs of colored men and women cutting ami 
binding. We now raise from 20 to 50 bushels 
per acre aud cut and bind by machinery. 
Perhaps no section is ahead of this in im¬ 
proved farm implements. Every binder finds 
its home with us: and the steam thrasher soon 
follows, getting out ready for market from 
100 bushels and upwards per hour. It is a 
novel sight to see a traction engine with ten¬ 
der, the huge thrasher and cleanerin the rear, 
moving over our roads from one farm to an¬ 
other, having as freight 20 colored men sing¬ 
ing gayly. Nearly 80 meu are required to 
bring the giaiu, handle the straw, supply 
water and fuel, aud house the wheat; and 
frequently 1,500 bushels are thrashed per day. 
The varieties of wheat grown are few. Of 
late years Fultz has taken the lead. It grows 
a stiff, purple straw, with beautiful, plump, 
yellow' grain, often weighing 03 and 04 pounds 
per bushel. Fertilizers are as numerous as 
the days in August, aud every granger has 
his preference, but coming more aud more 
into favor is the most unpopular one at the 
starting—South Carolina Rock, with from 
SOO to 1,200 pounds of the oil of vitriol per 
ton. “granger.” 
Minnesota. 
Bloomington, Hennepin Co., July 29.— 
Weather warm aud plenty of rain lately—too 
much for haying. Grass good. Wheat—all 
spring—is very poor aud chinch bugs are 
worse than ever before—some fields ruined. 
Oats fair. Cora good. Potatoes, where bugs 
have been checked, are fair. Small fru ts 
were good. Apples and pi urns in fair bearing, 
but falling badly. Gardens look well, but we 
have a continuous fight with all the destruc¬ 
tive insects. We can handle the potato bug, 
but the others nearly baffle us. The chinch 
bug quite does. Some farmers are going to 
plow the wheat under; others will cut itgreen 
to try aud save it from the ravages of the 
pests. E. B. M. 
Missouri, 
Lebanon, Laclede Co., August 3.— The 
harvesting of wheat, oats and bay is about 
over. Wheat generally poor, though some 
pieces on w'ell prepared ground, are very fine. 
Oats and hay good crops. Owing to hot, dry 
weather, corn on upland is suffering for 
want of rain, but, as a rule, corn will be a 
good crop. All varieties of potatoes planted 
in the latter part of May aud early part of 
June are good; the late growing varieties are 
not a fine crop, but the Early Rose, Beauty of 
Hebron, Snowflake and Burbank are all very 
fine. I shall commence digging tins week, so 
as to put in turnips for a second crop. We 
grow choice turnips here, sown as late as Au¬ 
gust 15. Stock of all kinds are doing well; 
no disease of any kind is prevailing in these 
parts. A. n. 
Nebraska. 
Arlington, Washington Co., July 2(1,— 
The Prince of Wales Pea has many pods, but 
there are few peas in them. The Stratagem 
is much better. The Rural New-Yorker is 
nmiutainiug its earliuess and fills up in the 
pod. The weather is unusually hot and dry, 
causing the potato vines to turn yellow. Corn 
is immense aud looking well, but needs raiu. 
Wheat looks as well as it did last year. Oats 
ditto. Too dry for buckwheat. Watermelons 
a failure with me. Potato bugs were trouble¬ 
some in the first part of the season, but seem 
to lie all gone now. The Rural tomatoes are 
in blossom, but the vines are small—too dry. 
The Rural should waru farmers never to 
plant the Princess Feather, for once planted, 
always planted. g. n. s. 
New Jersey. 
Mendham, Morris Co., July 29.—Farmers 
have had fine weather for harvesting crops. 
Wheat not half a crop. Hay light, but of 
good quality; gathered in fine condition. Corn 
looking very good; gives promise of a heavy 
crop. Oafaa medium crop; nearly harvested; 
a few days more of dry weather will put them 
in fine condition. d. h. l. 
New York. 
St. Johnsville, Montgomery Co , Aug. 
3.—The Johnson Grass did not germinate at 
aM. Corn and beans are doing nicely. Car¬ 
ter’s Stratagem Peas did not all come up, but 
what did, yielded long pods which contained 
very large peas. The Prince of Wales Peas 
did well. 1 shall save all of both kiuds for 
seed. 1 planted my potatoes somewhat ufter 
the trench system, using Mapes’ Potato ma¬ 
nure as a fertilizer, and I have the promise of 
a good crop. b. k. 
Ohio. 
Barnesville, Belmont Co., July 30.—Crops 
are looking fairly well. A great many fields 
of wheat have been plowed up or cut for 
meadow; but there are some few very good 
pieces where it was protected by hills or tim¬ 
ber. Corn looks well, but needs rain. Oats 
are being harvested now, and the best crop 
for 10 years. Grass is lighter than last year. 
Potatoes an average, or above. Small fruits 
fair crops; between 9,000 and 10,000 bushels 
each of strawberries and raspberries have 
heeu shipped from Rarnesville this season. 
E. w. s. 
Grkensbcrg, Trumbull Co., Aug. 3.—Har¬ 
vest is about over, except oats. Hay was a 
fair crop; wheat fully up to the crop of 1884; 
oats are good, but late, owing to the backward 
Spring, which is very unfortunate for the 
farmers, as the grasshoppers are quite numer¬ 
ous. One geutleinau says that he thinks they 
clipped off 100 bushels in an eight acre field 
that had just began to turn, aud it does look 
as if the late oats would be all cut off. Corn 
is backward, but healthy in color. J. k. n. 
Ohio. 
Tarlton, Pickaway Co., August 3.—The 
prospects for an immense yield of corn all 
through Central Ohio was never equal to that 
we have now. With the fine showers that 
came to-day the early plauting is insured. 
Area planted, as compared with the average, 
125; couditiou at date, 115. Potatoes, area 
100, condition 80. Oats, condition 100. Wheat 
and rye failures. Hay, area 40; condition 20. 
Apples, half crop; cherries and grapes, full 
crops; other small fruits good crops. Rural 
seeds excellent so far as tested. Stratagem 
and Prince of Wales Peas are the best ever 
raised here. m. l. s. 
Tennessee, 
Sadlersville. Robertson Co., July 27.— 
Our crops—corn, tobacco, oats, and potatoes 
—are above an average. Wheat harvested 
aud thrashed, aud not more thau one-fourth 
of a crop, on about 80 per cent of the usual 
acreage. Grasses 75 per cent, of an average 
yield. Tobacco lookiug well; a largo acre¬ 
age, and at preseut a splendid prospect for a 
heavy yield. Peaches ami apples half crops. 
Garden products fine. My corn received 
from the Rural's last year’s Distribution, has 
proven itself to be valuable here as au early 
variety and a good sweet corn for the table, 
being at least two weeks earlier than Willis 
Corn, which we generally plant. 1 have this 
year got my first roasting ears from the 
Rural’s last year's Distribution; but the 50 
crosses 1 thiuk will contuiu au earlier and bet¬ 
ter corn from present prospects. Some of my 
50 crosses are uow gettiug hard, while others 
are silking. Some have very large and tall 
stalks, while others are low and slender. My 
peas and beaus did well, producing a good 
yield, of which I shall plant largely next 3 'ear. 
My fiower seeds received special attention, but 
were all planted promiscuously in one bed, 
and I can’t say that I admire so many varie¬ 
ties planted together, as the coarser and larger 
Boris shade and injure some of the finer. 
We now have a creamery company organ¬ 
ized iu our county, which is something new 
for us. It is in operation, aud I believe finds 
a ready sale for its butter at home—Clarks¬ 
ville, Tcnu., containing about 7,000 popula¬ 
tion. Many of our old farmers predict that 
it will not pay in this country to raise tuy- 
tbiug but tobacco, aud try to so persuade us, 
but the young and rising farmer is trying to 
find something that will na 3 r as well, if not 
better, with less labor, aud at the same time 
keep up the farm, aud we think what we are 
iu search of can be found iu grass and stock. 
We believe that we can make more clear 
money from two acres of grass than we can 
from two acres of tobacco, aud certainly with 
half the labor. The reason why mauy of our 
farmers don’t give up the culture of tobacco 
and try something else is, because they are 
fixed for tobacco, and are loath to depart 
from the hitherto staple of the country, while 
it is plainly to be seen that they aie annually 
exhausting their soil by shipping off its fer- 
tility r without having it replenished by the 
best of all fertilizers—stable manure and 
clover. We have a good red clay soil, well 
adapted to clover, and all we need is enter- 
prizing farmers. w. h. h. 
Texas. 
Denison, Grayson Co., June 2(1.—I have 
just dug three square rods of Mammoth Pearl 
Potatoes, planted ontheltLiRALtrenchs 3 T stem, 
and find I have just eight bushels. How much 
would that be per acre? The soil was a light 
sandy lcam. [420 2-8 bushels. Eds.] ,T. n . 
Ida. (Jraysou Co., July 27.—The Rural’s 
D iehl-Mediterranean Wheat is much better 
than the Red-Mediterranean, which is consid¬ 
ered the best wheat, for this section. Both 
were planted side by side; conditions the sunie. 
While the Red-Mediterranean lodged, the 
Diehl-Mediteraneau did not. The latter is 
more productive and of better quality. I am 
much pleased with it. Neither the Thousand¬ 
fold Rye nor the Flageolet Bean has done well 
here, the weather was too wet for them. Ru¬ 
ral Tomatoes aud Garden Treasure ver 3 r fine. 
J. w. 
Washington Territory. 
Port Townsend, Jefferson Co., July 24.— 
Fruits, especially apples,are almost failures for 
this year, owing to late frosts. Vegetable 
crops just medium. Wheati8 not extensively 
raised here; but what there is will give a fair 
yield. Oats a good crop, yielding from 50 to 
00 bushels per acre. Ha 3 r , the best crop ever 
known here, owing to rains in June. Last 
year’s Rural New-Yorker Peas are the earliest 
we have ever raised, aud good. The Carter’s 
Stratagem of this year’s Distribution are the 
largest and best I have ever seen, and yielded 
well. Farmers here are mostly engaged in 
small dairies; almost everything else iu the 
way of farming is interfered with by the 
Chinese. White meu cannot live on rice, etc., 
like these saffron hued semi savages; and as a 
white man’s living cists more, be cannot work 
for the same wages. The employers of labor 
who are always anxious to pay as little as pos¬ 
sible for it—to semi starve the laborer while 
growing fat in person aud pocket on the pro¬ 
ceeds of his toil—of course favor the introduc¬ 
tion of the Chinese. Others also, especially 
conceited, disdainful females, whose affected 
gentility is shocked at the idea of familiarity 
or a lack of cringing submissiveness in white 
help, are loud in their praises of Chinese 
kitchen “help;'' and this isespecially the case 
among greenhorns from the East, whom we 
tolerate, but by no means admire. It is the 
well considered opinion of the great body of 
those acquainted with all aspects of the ques¬ 
tion, that the Mongolians are a curse to all 
sections where they locate. The chief business 
here is lumbering, as there are large sawmills 
wh^re a great number of meu are employed. 
We have had beautiful weather for haying, 
onty a few drops of rain and one little shower 
since early in the Spring. Hay almost iu. 
Washington Territory is the place to live. 
H. w. 
’Wyoming. 
Logan, July 27.— This is a newly settled 
place and there are not many farmers here. 
The country is mostly held by large cattle 
men who have filed desert entries on most of 
the best of the laud. I have been farmiug 
here for three years, and the outlook for good 
crops is encouraging Oats about 90 per cent, 
greater than last year, and the yield will be 
double. Potatoes are looking better on my 
place, which is not irrigated, than on any 
other in the county. They are doing well, 
but will uot be as good as last year. Toma¬ 
toes are better and will be ripe in 10 days. AU 
kinds of garden truck are looking well. Beaus 
will be 50 per cent, greater iu yield but not so 
early as heretofore. Some Limas are doing 
finely. I grew the seed. We do not need the 
trench-mulch system here for potatoes. 
J Q D. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 
(Every query must be accompanied by thename 
and address of the writer to insure attention. Before 
aakiug a question, please see If It Is not answered In 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one tline.l 
VIRTUE OK GREEN MANURE. 
1. G. B., Ashtabula, O .—What virtue is 
there iu rye or buckwheat to be turned under 
as manure, and is it an economical way of 
manuring to sow rye in the Fall to be plowed 
down in Spring? My laud is a mixture of 
clay and sand, and L wish to briug it up as 
cheaply as possible, and my supply of manure 
is limited. 
Ans.—I t is a very good practice to sow all 
vacant laud in the Fall with rye to be turned 
under when from a foot high to full head. It 
helps to put organic matter in the soil, and in 
rottiug most likely helps to liberate other 
mammal elements. But we hardly think oue 
can In this way keep up the fertility of a 
soil that is constantly cropped. At most, the 
rye could only add to the soil what it had 
taken from it in mineral elements and what 
organic matter it had abstracted from the 
air. We think an intelligent use of phos- 
phatic aud potash fertilizers, with what man¬ 
ure you can get, and the plowing in of green 
rye should keep the land iu productive condi¬ 
tion. We have but little faith in buckwheat; 
there is but little of it, aud what little there is 
must be grown in Summer. 
KILLING SMUT SPORES. 
D. G. B., Ella, Wis.— How can I manage 
seed wheat that has some smut on it, so that 
it will not reappear in next year’s crop ? 
Ans —Smut is a vegetable parasite that 
grows on the sulistance of the kernel before it 
matures. Another kind destroys the embryo, 
chaff as well as grain, and comes from the boot 
in heading out, simply a mass of smut. In 
whatever form it appears, the black particles 
—the spores—are the seed, and these adhere to 
the seed grain that is sown, and by some means 
fasten themselves upon the growing grain. 
Now the soaking of the seed grain in a strong 
solution of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) or 
sulphate of iron (green vitriol) will destroy the 
spores, aud thus prevent, the smut from grow¬ 
ing iu the succeeding crop. Put one pound of 
Sulphate of copper iu two gallons of hot water, 
and when dissolved, add three gallons of cold 
water. Into the tub containing this, place a 
basket, aud iuto this pour the seed wheat, let- 
tiug it soak 20 minutes; then drain the wheat 
and empty it out on any convenient floor, aud 
treat more in the same manner. When 
euough is prepared it will be found dry; if 
not, dry with plaster, and sow. 
Miscellaneous. 
IF. II. H, Sadlersville, Term.. —1. I have a 
pond of half an acre, with a muddy bottom, 
in which are large numbers of lizzards and 
turtles; will they injure the water for use 
for watering stock; aud how can I get rid of 
them, and if they remaiu can I stock it 
withfisb? 2. I have a large lot of clover, cut 
last 3 r ear for seed; I also wish to cut more 
this yeur; can I thrash it so as to utilise the seed 
for sowing, without the expense of buying a 
buffer? 3. I have many bare spots on the 
farm; how can I get them seeded? 4. How 
can 1 prevent the flies from worrying my cows 
to death? 5. Can I sow rye this Fall aud Red 
Clover in the Spring so as to have the laud 
for pasture? 
Ans.— 1. Neither tbe lizzards nor turtles 
will iujure the water for stock uses; they will 
much improve it. We know of no wa 3 ’ by 
which they can be got out, and if they were, 
they would not stay out. They would be quite 
destructive to fish spawn and the young fry. 
2. Thrash the seed in the chaff from the straw 
and sow early iu Hpriug iu tbe chaff, putting 
on an abundance of seed. It will catch better 
than if huffed. 3. Sprinkle ou a slight coat¬ 
ing of manure, and hard-wood ashes at the 
rate of 50 bushels per acre, sow plenty of 
the clover in the chaff, and harrow the knolls 
or spots thoroughly: clover will undoubtedly 
“take’’ on these, if sowed very earty in Spring. 
4. Get some couitnou sheeting, aud make 
blankets for the cows, having a crupper, and 
striugs to fasteu it around the horns; put on 
a surcingle ami strings to tie the blanket 
about tbe neck. Make a strong infusion of 
waluut leaves, into which put an ounce of 
carbolic acid to each two gallons, and wash 
the cow’s legs and other parts not covered 
with the blanket. 5. Yea. Sow the rye this 
Fall and the clover as early in Spring as 
possible, and if you have it, sow 25 bushels of 
hard-wood ashes per acre. They are almost a 
specific manure for Red Clover. 
W. T. C., Salina, Kansas. —1. In fitting a 
piece of land for potatoes. I have turned un¬ 
der a crop of rye, and there is now growing on 
it a crop of corn to be turned under before 
frost. Now, which would pay better—to haul 
ou it old rotten stable manure, which has 
been piling up exposed to the weather for 20 
years, or fresh stable manure? 2. Will fruit 
trees do well ou prairie land, if kept well ma¬ 
nured, and a spot 10 or 12 feet square is fork¬ 
ed up and cultivated around each tree? 
Ans. —1. We should prefer the old, well- 
rotted manure by all means; but if we had a 
farm even on the rich prairie, we would 
surely not let such a pile of manure accumu¬ 
late within a couple of miles of us,if we could 
get it for tbe hauling. Manure wont hurt 
even new prairie. 2. We should say, yes; 
but would prefer to mulch all about the trees 
every Winter with strawy manure; this would 
protect the roots iu case of a very hard 
Winter. 
C. B. II., Leicester, Vt. —1. Where can I get 
strawberry plants iu quantity’? 2. Which 
varieties would be best to set out at this sea¬ 
son, and also next Spring? 3. How can 
1 destroy Poison Ivy on the lawn without in¬ 
juring the sod? 4. Where can 1 get the best 
bill-6ide plow for light soil? 
Ans. —1. O. H. Alexander, Charlotte, Vt., 
or L. M. Macomber, North Ferrisburgh, Vt., 
would be convenient persons from whom to 
get strawberry plants, and they are reliable. 
2. An 3 ’ variety may be set at au>’ time of the 
year when the ground is not frozen. Read 
the uotes in the Rural on the value of vari¬ 
ous varieties. There is no risk in setting Wil- 
son, Crescent, Manchester, diaries Downing, 
Windsor Chief, Kentucky, or auy other well- 
tested sort of ackuowledged merit. More 
varieties succeed iu heavy than in light soils. 
3. A teaspoonful of sulphuric acid (oil of 
