596 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
SEPT 5 
an occasional bald eagle flying near, and the 
naval officer said that on one occasion an 
American shot one out here. An Englishman 
expressed surprise that he should shoot the 
national bird; the American made a charac¬ 
teristic response, that “when a bald eagle has 
no better sense than to fly beyond the 49th 
parallel, he ought to be shot.” 
At about six o’clock, when we had entered 
Chatham Sound, the scenery changed into 
quite a sea, with mountains and islands in 
every directions. To the westward, 60 miles 
away, lay the Queen Charlotte Islands, which 
l had hoped to visit, a slight haze had gath¬ 
ered, so that we could not detect the line of 
the islands, as is possible in a perfectly clear 
atmosphere. “King Lear” told me that the 
Indians come over from these islands in their 
eauoesto British Columbia, taking such ad¬ 
vantage of weather as will fill a sail, and by 
pightfall they roach an intervening island 
which lay in full view from the ship. The 
Hyda (sometimes written Haidah) Indians 
inhabit these islands, and are regarded as su¬ 
perior to all these Northwest Indians. They 
have a large fish cannery aud oil factory, get¬ 
ting their oil from the white shark and dog 
fish. They put up the oil in five gallon tin cans, 
like coal oil. It is used for lubricating pur¬ 
poses and a market is found for it in San Fran¬ 
cisco. Their handiwork is much sought after. 
There is a slate quarry on one of the islands, 
and from this slate I have seen some fine spec¬ 
imens of work—a large carved platter and a 
totem pole elegantly carved and polished, and 
set with abelone shells. Mr. Lear thought 
that perhaps we might find some of their 
work at Kowkan, where they have a village, 
on the lower end of Prince of Wales Island 
in the Alexander Archipelago. 
To the east of us, on the British Columbia 
coast, lay the pretty Indian village of Met- 
lahkahtah, where is located the ideal Indian 
school, or mission work on this coast, and 
which is the result of one man, Mr. Duncan, 
an Englishman, who began his work among 
the Indians in 1857, raised some money by his 
own efforts, until he could make the mission 
self-supporting, which it has been for some 
time. Ilia first ami chief work was to teach 
the Indians the elements of morality, aud of 
industry. He did not bother their heads with 
doctrines of the Trinity; but preached clean¬ 
liness and work. The British Government 
recognizes the great value of bis work, and 
directs all its army and navy officials to give 
him such aid as be may need. But there are no 
“paid officials, no annuities, no treaties, no 
thieviug Indians,” and affairs are managed 
like those in a white community. Mr. Duncan 
has been any and everything, as occasion de¬ 
manded—minister, scboolmaster.doctor, build¬ 
er, arbitrator, magistrate, trader and teacher 
of mechanic arts. The miss''on now has a 
schooner trading regularly to Victoria; it has 
a joint stock trading bouse, a market house, 
a soan factory, blacksmith shop, saw mill, 
school-house which cost nearly $4,000, a pub¬ 
lic building 90 feet by 30 fur a court bouse 
and public meetings aud to accomodate 
strangers, a mission bouse, a church that will 
seat a thousand, a woolen factory in which 
they weave blankets, a rope and twine factory, 
a tannery, a boot and shoe factory and 
various other useful Industries, according to 
the account of Mr. Swan, of Port Townsend, 
which was corroborated by all other persons 
with whom 1 have talked concerning Metlah- 
kahtah, But Mr. Lear tells me that Mr. Dun¬ 
can and a party of his Indians have gone to 
Canada to petition the Government, or what¬ 
ever power is sovereign in the matter, to pre- 
venttbe Bishop presiding in British Columbia, 
from removing Mr. Duncan, which he desires 
to do. on account of some lack of adherence 
or devotion to certain church creeds or tenets. 
The Indians, of course, are aghast at the 
thought of losing their great and good friend, 
while any interference on the part of the 
Church with Mr. Duucau and his work is 
absurdly wickeu and foolish. These Indians 
support themselves and their institutions, and 
if ever the right man was in the right place, it 
is the devoted Mr. Duncan at Metlahkahtah: 
and it doesn’t matter a straw whether the 
Indians have more creed or less, or no creed, 
so long as t hey are led to practice the cardinal 
principles of righteousness. 1 have no patience 
with cant and creed, while the bottom virtues, 
the foundation of all true civilization, are 
neglected. The great reason why mission¬ 
aries achieve so much failure lies in the dis¬ 
tressing fact that they lack true devotion and 
common sense, which comprehends tact. But 
it is not desirable, I suppose, that the best 
talent should be expended in heathen fields, 
and heaps of rubbish go into the missionary 
work, as into other vocations. The “Idaho” 
cannot go into a British port without a special 
permit, but sometimes it anchors a few miles 
out from Metlahkahtah, and we hope upon 
our return that wo may he allowed to take to 
the boats and visit the village. 
We have a charming sunset on the evening 
of this day, the sun setting at 9 p. M., local 
time, 9:20 San Francisco time, and the lati¬ 
tude 54° north. At 10 o’clock we reach 
Tongas (pronounced Tuugas) and take on 
board the custom house officer and bis dog. 
This is the first port on the Alaskan coast, 
and the Government has here a bouse of cus¬ 
toms. The cloudless morning of June 12 
finds us still in Chatham Sound, aud all hands 
agree that so much continuously fine weather 
is exceptional. The scenery is more and 
more varied, the islands smaller and more 
plentiful, often but a clump of trees rising 
out of tbe placid water. There are many 
beautiful little bays or coves, aud in one, we 
sight, before noon, the Treasury ship “Patter- 
sou,” anchored. The place is called Ward’s 
Cove, and the mountains rise about it 2,000 
feet. The “Patterson” is one of the finest 
suivey ships in point of equipment in the ser¬ 
vice. and is on this coast with a full corps of 
officers at work on the survey of tbe Alaskan 
coast, which is 25,000 miles in extent, much 
greater than all the rest of the coast line of 
the United States, and if put in a straight 
line would reach around the world. This im¬ 
mense coast line is largely explained by tbe 
numerous islands beloDgiug to Alaska, which 
stretch like a festoou from the mainland 
nearly to Asia. The United States Govern¬ 
ment has some coast survey charts, issued 
from the Hydrographic Office of tbB Navy 
Department, which are tolerably good maps 
of this part of “Uncle Sam’s” domain, for 
which the Government paid to the Russiau 
Empire, in 1867,the sum of 47,200,000, not very 
much money in exchange for 580,107 statute 
square miles of land, to say nothing of the 
water which is by far the most valuable. 
Captaiu Clover, commander of the “Patter¬ 
son,” came on board, a tall well built fellow, 
still young, fair and flaxen. The “Idaho” had 
mail for the survey ship, and exchanges were 
made. At intervals along the shore we noted 
the survey signals. After a half hour we 
steamed northward again, the soil and timber 
improving in appearance. It is very hot in 
the sun—in the shade by our tube 70 degrees 
at 9 a. M , 74 degrees at noon, and 69 degrees 
at 9** m. Lovely wooded isles and bald eagles 
abound. Trees are heavy with moss, and the 
undergrowth is luxuriaut. At noon we an¬ 
chored inNablt Bay. a famous fishing station, 
where freight Is left, chiefly salt for the sal¬ 
mon packers. After luncheon, the captaiu 
has a boat lowered, and we go ashore. In 
descending from the deck of the “Idaho” to 
the small boats, a pair of stairs are swung to 
tbe ship’s side and we walk down as securely 
and easily as down the front stairs at home. 
Immediately leading from Nahd Bay aud con¬ 
nected with it by a narrow, rapid stream, lies 
a lovely lake, set in the mountains, fed by 
their streams and reflecting their glories. 
The captain jumped the rapids with his boat 
and then invited a few of us for a turn on tbe 
lake, he meautime recounting his adventure 
with a bear, and bears come down to this lake 
to catch salmon. The bay here so abounds 
with this fish that it is a saying that at certain 
seasons one can walk on tbe backs of the sal¬ 
mon witboutsinking into the water! The fish 
is split open and first salted and packed in 
large casks, aud afterwards transferred to 
barrels. The rooks under the water were 
gorgeous with layers of moss vivid green, 
yellow aud red. In the woods I found in 
bloom for the first time, the Cornus Canaden¬ 
sis. I take it to be that, the local name is Dog 
Flower, the Salmon Berry (Rubusspeetabilis) 
and a variety of smilax. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Idaho. 
Blacicfoot Farm, Bingham Co.—This 
country is new, but it has been settliug up fast 
for the last four years. The areas of wheat, 
oats, potatoes and garden produce are four 
times greater than ever before, aud the con¬ 
dition of all is excellent. Wild grass is the 
principal hay. Alfalfa aud Timothy, as far 
as tried, produce wonderful crops of good 
hay. Fruit trees aud shrubs have been ex¬ 
tensively planted for tbe last two years, and 
so far prospects could not be better. We have 
to irrigate. p. b. 
Illinois. 
Winchester, Scott Co., Aug. 20.—Oats are 
yielding as high as 65 bushels, and selling at 
12K cents. Wheat is not as good as expected. 
Corn is looking better, as we have bad some 
fine rains lately. Pastures need some rains. 
Stock water plenty yet. j. c. A. 
Indiana. 
North Madison, Jefferson Co., Aug. 24.— 
Wheat is almost an entire failure in this 
county. Corn amost as bad. Oats tbe largest 
crop in the lust ten years. Hay quite short. 
Potatoes ditto. The Carter’s Stratagem and 
Prince of Wales Peas did well for so very dry 
a season. I will get only a few more of the 
Flageolet Beans than I had planted. The sea¬ 
son has been very dry. W e have had only 
two or three showers since June 25tb, until 
Saturday and Sunday—the 22 and 23—when 
we had just two showers. The ground is yet 
too hard to plow for wheat. j. t. 
Dliuntnchnaetts. 
Glendale, Berkshire Co., Aug, 19.—Last 
Winter was peculiarly hard on my evergreens. 
They were very severely sunburnt on the 
south side, aud came out rather brown in tbe 
Spring: but they have made a fair growth 
and have been trimmed. We have had a 
little more rain than usual this Summer, 
which, I think, will help them. A rain on 
August 10 was of great use to us. We had 
had none for two weeks, and corn was suffer¬ 
ing so severely that the leaves were curling 
badly. Only about one in ten of the Strata¬ 
gem Peas came up. The Prince of Wales did 
better, but I do not think I shall like them, as 
they are wriukled white peas. The tomato 
seeds came tip nicely, but the King Humbert 
so far are not much larger than the common 
egg-shaped tomato. I think I never had to 
contend with so many weeds and insects as 
this year; they seem to spring up spontane¬ 
ously almost in a night, as it were. I am a 
stroDg advocate of tbe cultivation of straw¬ 
berries at any time when it can be done, wheth¬ 
er in Spring, or after fruiting, or auy other 
time. I hoed mine before they blossomed, but 
not very deep, I think there lies the trouble 
—in too deep cultivation. J. H. 
Minnesota. 
Vivian, Waseca Co , Aug. 16.—Harvest is 
done and stacking has begun. Wheat is very 
much shrunken; very little will grade No. 2 
and much will be rejected. It was fit to cut 
from seven to 14 days sooner after blossom¬ 
ing than last year. I now estimate the yield 
at one-half of that of last year. s. K. o. 
Nebraska. 
Neligh, Antelope Co., Aug. 17.—We bad 
our first ripe watermelons and tomatoes to¬ 
day. The tomatoes were King Humbert. I 
wonder if the Rural readers know that if 
sorghum is cut off above the lower joint, just 
as soon as it heads out, two crops of fodder 
can be gathered from one planting, as a new 
sprout comes out at the joint. A. k. f. 
Norfolk, Madison Co., Aug. 20.—The 
crops are all good in this part of the county. 
Wheat from 15 to 25 bushels per acre; oats 
40 to 50. Corn looks well. All roots are fine. 
A. R. 
New York. 
Dalton, Livingston Co., Aug. IS.—The 
Rural corn is doing nicely; some stalks are 
10 feet high and bear some very large ears six 
feet from tbe ground. The beans and peas 
were very nice. The Stratagem did not all 
come up, but what did were the largest I ever 
raised. I shall save all for seed. The Garden 
Treasures have, some of them, been very 
beautiful. Last year I raised from the Rural 
Blush Potato 20 bushels of very large, nice 
tubers. Wheat, oats and barley pretty fair. 
Potatoes look very well, but there are lots 
of bugs. We have some apples, but no 
peaches. a. a. 
Palermo, Oswego Co., Aug. 22.—It is 
very wet now, aud has been all Summer. 
Oats are in bad shape on account of the wet 
weather; all of the late crop is rusty, and 
there is a good deal of that kind. Wheat that 
was out in heavy rains sprouted badly. There 
will be but little corn; some pieces planted 
twice and some three times, aud these are so 
late that they will not mature, unless there is 
a change pretty soon. We have had frost 
every month this Summer so far—two in July 
and one this month. Potatoes are rotting In 
some places, and some of them will yield a 
light crop, and rot at that. A large part of 
them were fertilized with superphosphate, 
aud th&se have made a large growth of vines, 
and some tell me there are no potatoes of any 
size—a good many in a hill, and small. The 
hay crop was good: the wet w r eatber has help¬ 
ed the after growth, and the pastures are as 
green as in June. The Rural beans are doing 
nicely, aud have the most pods I ever saw. 
L. E. s. 
Ohio. 
Chagrin Falls, Cugahoga Co., Aug . 22.-™ 
The Rurul seeds are doing nicely. The Strat¬ 
agem Peas are splendid The Rurul New- 
Yorker Pea is worth more than the price of 
paper, if it always does as well as it has this 
year. I saved all the seed last year, and this 
year we had our first mess of peas.wooks before 
our neighbors bad any. After the vines be¬ 
gan to turn yellow, and we thought they were 
through bearing, new shoots came out at 
every joint and gave us a second crop, many 
of the pods touching the ground, and they are 
certainly the best early peasl ever tasted. We 
had a wet Summer here. Tbe weather was 
too wet in the Spring to plow, and too wet to 
plant until quite late, so corn is very back¬ 
ward on all land that ii not hilly or well 
drained. We had good weather for harvest¬ 
ing, and good crops of hay and wheat. Oats 
were good until injured by grasshoppers and 
rainy weather. Many farmers have had oats 
out three weeks, and it lias rained so much 
there has been no chance to dry them until 
this week. Ours were not ready to cut until 
this week. One piece on low ground is being 
cradled, as tbe reaper went down, down into 
tbe mud, when an attempt was made to use it 
this afternoou. We had plenty of strawber¬ 
ries, but only few blackberries, as the grass¬ 
hoppers took most of them. Our Cutbberts 
were splendid uutil the ’hoppers found them. 
The striped potato-bug is the worst pest we 
have, as it will eat everything, and nothing 
kills it but mashing. We have tried Paris- 
green and coal oil, but the pests grow fat. 
Some years we can drive them off, but this time 
they have come to sr.ay. In some orchards 
there are plenty of apples, in others few or 
none. Blackberries are a failure. w. w. h. 
Pennsylvania. 
Hydetown, Crawford Co. — I have half 
an acre of Burbank Potatoes, worked in the 
old-fashioned, ridge method. They pufl’ered 
much as did those in the half acre planted 
according to the Rural's system, from the 
ground having been plowed while too wet in 
the Spring; also from the seed having been 
frost-bitten, so that they did not all come up. 
I replanted the vacant places in June, and 
they look well now, aud every time I look at 
them they seem to say: “We would like to 
compete with the Rural’s half acre, planted 
aud worked on the trench and mulch system. 
No matter, if we do get badly beaten; it will 
be in a good cause and in good company." 
Now, what will each “chip iu” for a premium 
for the best yield, and let all who feel so in¬ 
clined, join in: but let there be a proviso 
that each competitor shall send the Rural a 
full description of his method aud an account 
of tbe cost of the culture. f. s. 
[The plan is a good one, and the R. N-Y. 
stands ready to give its share.—E ds.] 
Bingham, Potter Co. August 20.—Every¬ 
thing is looking well. We have had neither 
drought nor Hood—just enough of dry and 
wet weather to make it right. Hay is a light 
crop. Oats about three-quarters of a crop. 
Potatoes the same. Fruits of all kinds in 
abundance. Winter wheat 8 to 10 bushels to 
the acre. Corn, not much raised. Buck¬ 
wheat about 90 per cent of a crop. Cattle and 
sheep are lower than they have been for 
12 years. Wool 22 to 25 cents per pound. 
This is a great dairy county ; cheese is mostly 
made, as there is most money in cheese, as we 
have to ship butter so far. s. s. o. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 
(Every query must be accompanied by thename 
and address of the writer to Insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please see if It Is not answered In 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one time. 1 _ 
WHEN TO CUT TIMBER, ETC. 
M. L. D., Sherman, N. V, —1. How can I 
build a combined milk and ice bouse large 
enough to accommodate the milk of 20 cows? 
2. Would it be better to ceil or plaster a milk 
room f 3. Which is the best season to cut wood ? 
4. Where can Wyandotte fowls be obtained 
at moderate prices! 5. Where can 1 obtain 
the Davis Swing Churn? 
A ns. —1. Build an ice house separate from 
any room for milk. It can be built on almost 
any plan, so that sufficient sawdust or other 
non-conducting material is used about the 
ice, and sufficient ventilation is provided 
above. We have one just planked up and 
down and covered, on the outside, with inch 
pine Limber, with a shingled roof and with 
both gables open, that keeps ice admirably. 
No room is needed for the milk. It is better 
to use a creamer, setting the milk in deep cans 
surrounded with water and ice. 2. We 
should prefer a dairy room plastered by all 
means, us the ceiling soon gets niusty and 
moldy and imparts a bad odor, unless the 
greatest care is used. When practicable to 
do so, we prefer stone or brick walls, aud the 
plaster directly on them. 8. There appears to 
be Home difference of opinion as to the best 
time to cut wood. F, B. Hough, late Chief 
of the Forestry Division of tbe Department of 
Agriculture, says that where it is desirable to 
get a new growth from the roots or stumps, tbe 
timber should bo cut a little before the season 
when growth Legins. In a climate so varied 
as that of tb© United States, it would be quite 
impossible to flx this time by a general rule, 
and even in a given locality it is likely to vary 
in different years. In the Northern States he 
