HUE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
to make the wheat field get along with a 
mouthful of fertilizer when it needs a stomaeh- 
ful. They want the cattle to gain flesh on cold 
water and air. 'fhpy are not satisfied unless 
they gain in one cross of blooded stock, a re¬ 
sult that breeders have given years of thought 
to accomplish... 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Canada. 
Hatley, Stanstead Co., P. I., Sept. 12.— 
Crops about average. Corn very backward. 
Fruit, abundant The Rural is cheap enough, 
and the seeds sent are worth half the money. 
I got about, three quarts each from the peas 
and beans sent me. The flower seeds were 
nice, especially the Variegated Balsams. I 
recommend the Rural to all. I am one of 
the boys (in my 82d year), and like to work in 
the garden. f. w. 
Smithvillk. Ont.—We sowed the Johnson 
Crass in May: SO plants came up: the highest 
is five feet and headed out. We raised a 
bushel of ears of the Rural corn lost year, 
and planted some of it again this Spring: it is 
looking well. Some of this year’s corn is ten 
feet high and all looking well. The Strata¬ 
gem Peas did^well till we polled them: then it 
was so wet and cold that they mildewed. The 
Diehl-Mediterranean Wheat did pretty well, 
but rusted somewhat. O. j. a. 
Tkmplkton. Ottawa Co. Sept. 12—The 
weather has bpen very cold here for the past 
three weeks, and grain of all kinds has been 
very slow to ripen; harvesting is not much 
more than well commenced. Early oats will 
be a good crop, but late oats hive not filled 
well. Peas will not be a large crop, as they 
are all more or less mildewed. Wheat 
looks well, but the fly has injured it 
a good deal. Potatoes bad every appear¬ 
ance of being a large crop until the blight 
stopped their growth; I have seen very 
few rotten yet; they are worth from 25 to 
40 cents per bag. The Rural corn is the 
strongest and healthiest I have ever seen; but 
I am afraid it will not ripen, as the season was 
fully a month late in Spring. The tomatoes look 
well, but very few will ripen. The Flageolet 
Beans are lying down with their load of pods; 
I think they will ripen. I had to pull my R. 
N.-Y. Peas before they were fully ripe to save 
them from the hens Apples, plums and all 
kinds of small fruits have been the best crops 
known for years. We are having frost every 
night at present. w. H. L. 
Indiana. 
Grkencastlk, Putnam Co.—Corn and hay 
crops good. Potatoes fair, but on a small 
area. Pears few; no peaches; apples one- 
fourth of a crop. r. s. b. 
Iowa. 
Postvillk, Allamakee Co.—On April 16tb, 
I planted one row of potatoes in hills and one 
in trench according to the Rural’s method. 
Those in the hills were plautcd 2X feet 
apart; those in the trench IX foot apart; in 
the hills halves of potatoes were used as seed; 
in the trench from one to two eyes. Those in 
trench were mulched with lawn raklngs, such 
as leaves und dead grass. The season has been 
favorable. In May and June we bad just 
about ruin enough: in July and early August 
almost too much. Farm yard manure was 
used as a top-dressing and plowed in. Those 
in bills were hilled up in the old way; those 
in the trench received level culture,being hoed 
four times. When dug ou August lltb, the 
tops were entirely dead. Result as follows, 
from 14 feet in each row:—Hill system: 28 
pounds, all told; 24 pounds large euough for 
table; four pounds too small; about 15 per 
cent, sun burned and not fit for table use. 
Trench system: 32 pounds, all told; 29X large 
enough for table use: just one potato sun¬ 
burned; thoBe planted in the trench wore 
more uni form in size. The Carter’s Stratagem 
Pea is best I ever saw. Prince of Wall's very 
prolific, but not so good for table use. The 
Flageolet Bean very nice—better than the 
German Wax, and several days earlier. The 
field corn is an odd lookiug lot, from the size 
of pop-corn to that of forest trees. h. r. 
Hannas, 
Faiumount, Leavenworth Co., Sept. 7,— 
We are having an abundance of rain just 
now, in fact, too much. Haying not yetoom- 
pleted. Wheat was nearly a failure, yielding 
only from four to ten bushels per acre, gener¬ 
ally of Inferior quality. Oats yield from 25 
to 50 bushels per acre; early sown on fall 
plowing are the beat. Potatoes fair to good. 
A great, many farmers here make a serious 
mistake in planting small potatoes. They 
want the best wheat, oats, corn, etc , but any¬ 
thing will do for seed potatoes, yet I would 
not convey the idea that all farmers plant 
small potatoes. Another odd custom some of 
them fall Into is to hill them up until it is 
next to impossible to dig them out again. I 
came here last Spring from Illinois, and I 
have seen men this Summer hilling up pota¬ 
toes with a 14 iocb stubble plow, and with one 
horse plowing a furrow on each side of the row. 
A few days since I had occasion to try to dig 
some potatoes buried in the above way, and 
though I had a good steel beam, 14-inch plow 
in good condition and a good team, yet with 
the plow set to its lowest depth I could not get 
below those potatoes.. Small fruits were fair 
crops. Apples, fall, one-third of a crop; 
winter, not more than one-fourth. Peaches 
none. Pears a good crop for the number of 
trees, though, as a rule, pears do not do well 
here. From one tree (Seekel) I gathered seven 
bushels. About the usual amount of wheat 
will he sown, provided the weather is suitable 
for plowing and seeding. In a late Rural I 
notice a correspondent advises Irish immi¬ 
grant laborers to come West, mentioning sev¬ 
eral States where wages on farms are $30 per 
month and board, Kansas being one of those 
mentioned. Although I cannot answer for 
the whole State, yet I would say that in this 
part of it I know of no farmer paying over 
*20 per month and board, and the average 
v ould not exceed *18 at most, and help can be 
had on short notice at *1 per day, for one day 
or more. Not more than on^hnlf of the men 
could be used this Fall that offered their ser¬ 
vices during thrashing at *1 per day. I think 
I would be safe in saying that I have refused 
the services of a dozen men seeking work 
within the last GO days. I am told that 150 
miles west of here men have been working 
for 50 cente per day. j. m. 
Jewell. Jewell Co.. Sept. 0.—Taking all 
together, I think this the most favorable sea¬ 
son we have had for the past ten years. 8ome 
of the early sown wheat, failed, principally 
on account of the hot, dry weather last Fall; 
crop, the county over, about two-thirds of an 
average. Oats a good crop—from 35 to 75 
bushels per acre. Corn the best ever raised 
in this county; estimated jneld 40 to 80bushels 
per acre, and the acreage very large, as the 
land on which the wheat failed was planted 
in corn. Hay unusually abundant and se¬ 
cured without much rain; consequently of 
good quality. Potato crop splendid, both as 
to yield and quality. In fact, everything 
that was planted in season and cultivated, is 
all that could be wished for. In some locali¬ 
ties of this county hogs are dying from chol¬ 
era, some parties losing almost their entire 
herds in a very few days. As usual, all reme¬ 
dies fail and the hogs die as if nothing was 
being done for them. The following prices 
mile for produce at present;—wheat No. 2 
soft, 70 cents; No. 2, hard, 60 cents; oats, 12X 
and 14 cents: corn (last year’s crop), 23 cents'; 
Potatoes no market at present; butter, 12X 
cents; eggs, 13X cents. I. N . p. 
Minnesota, 
Beaver Cheek. Polk Co., Sept. 8.—This 
southwest part of the Rtate is taking the lead 
in the production of farm products: it has 
also been settling np very fast during the last 
two years. The staple crop Is flax, which will 
average, this year. 15 bushels per acre. We 
have bad too much warm weather for wheat 
to fill well iu Jnlv: the kernel has shrunken 
very much, and the wheat will grade only 
No. 2., with a yield of from 12 to 15 bushels 
per acre. Oats light: 40 bushels to the acre. 
Barley not over 10 bushels to the acre. Corn 
will vary from 30 to 70 bushels of good sound 
grain to the acre. We had a heavy frost the 
night of Sept 3d and morning of the 4tb, 
which killed all corn that was not ripe; but 
there is probahly about 60 per cent, of the 
corn that the frost did not hurt. My corn is 
a good crop, and was not hurt by the frost, 
except my Rural Corn—that is a failure;even 
the smallest oars were not far enough along 
to glaze. My Rural tomatoes were all 
killed by the frost before any got ripe. My 
Rural Johnson Grass did not come up. My 
Rural pens and beans were very good, and all 
ripened some time ago. Potatoes are of good 
size, but few in the hill. Farm labor here is et 
*18 to *20 a month. Land is selling very fast 
for from *7 to *20 per acre in tracts of from 
160 acres to half and whole sections, for the 
purpose of making them into farms. Eastern 
people are mostly the purchasers, intending to 
make the land into homes for themselves and 
their families. p. a. w. 
Missouri. 
Eldon, Miller Co., Rept. 8, 1885.—Taking 
the season through, it has been very fine, 
and with the exception of wheat, crops have 
all been very fair and were all properly cared 
for. Corn will be close to a full crop. The 
acreage in wheat, will be considerably de¬ 
creased, owing chiefly to low prices and poor 
yields. Farmers are turning more attention 
to grass and stock. A considerable acreage 
will be seeded to grass this Fall. Prices for 
stock are low, but pastures have been very' 
good and they are in a very good condition. 
Feed of all kinds is plenty. For throe or our 
days past we have been having more hard 
rains than usual at this time of the year, so 
there has been but little thrashing done as 
yet. Grain poorly stacked will undoubtedly 
be seriously damaged. N. j. s. 
Nebraska. 
W IL80NVTLLE, Furnas Co., Sept. 8 —Pros¬ 
pect of all kinds of crops good. Wheat thin 
on ground, but well filled. Oats and barley 
light. Rye good. Corn prospect best ws ever 
had: area, one-fourth larger. No fruit except 
wild plums and grapes. Orchards all too young 
to bear yet. j, k. 
New Mexico. 
Silver City, Grant Co., Sept. 3.— This has 
been an unusually wet season so far. There 
is very little arable land. Crops are all in 
fine condition. Oats are worth 8X cents per 
pound; wheat, three cents: barley and corn, 
3V cents: potatoes, four cents. One can see 
by these figures that farmers get good prices 
for all their produce. Eggs, 40 cents per dozen; 
butter, 40 cents per pound. Everything is 
high-priced. The country around here is quite 
ri-h in silver, gold, lead and copper, c. f. e. 
New York. 
Sinclairville, Chautauqua Co.—Corn 
backward, rather more than usual number 
of acres planted. Wheat a fair crop, though 
but little is raised here. Oats badly damaged 
by heavy rains at the eud of August; usual 
amount in, but will be a light crop. Grass 
good. Apples and pears plentiful, g. e. m. 
North Carolina. 
Springdale. Haywood Co. — This is pre¬ 
eminently a stock country, though all cereals 
and grasses that thrive in New York do well 
here. Fruit, especially apples, are of fine size 
and flavor. The country hereabents is quite 
elevated and our crops, especially corn, need 
all the sun they can get; and corn and vege¬ 
tables sometimes get caught by early frost. 
My own farm Is at an elevation of 4 000 feet on 
the upper ridges of Mt. Pisgah. Frost visits 
us as late as May 20 and as early as September 
20; but, then, the weather is never very severe 
in Winter, while it is healthful and delight¬ 
fully cool in Summer. L. L. 
Wyoming. 
Logan, Johnson Co., Sept. 7.—There is a 
movement here among the cattle barons to 
get all of the most valuable land in the valley 
of the Powder Ri ver and other streams. They 
do not stick at any thing to gain their end. 
They employ large numbers of the worst men 
in the country, who will break the fences of 
the homesteader and let in their half-starved 
cattle to eat up the crops, and iE we complain 
to the owners,they say they do not allow their 
meu to do anything of the kind—but they do 
it all the same. This is the best bottom land 
in the country, having large areas of cotton¬ 
wood timber and in many cases large veins of 
coal. These are all taken under the Desert 
Land Law. the worst law that was ever passed 
by civilized people. Here are the nnmeH and 
claims of some of the cattle barons:—The 
Pratt & Ferri3 Cattle Company has 12,000 
acres; the Powers Wilder Cattle Company, 
10.000 acres: the Stoddard & Howard Cattle 
Company, 15,000 acres; the Wyoming Meat 
Company, about 8,000 acres; the Grinnell 
Company about 20,000acres; and the Conrad 
& Clark Company 10,000 acres. These are 
some of the small “outfits.” j. Q. p. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 
(Every query mast be accompnnled by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure attention. Before 
aakluK a question, please see If tt Is not answered in 
otir advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at ono time.) 
RAM IB AND JUTE. 
W. F. K .. Clinton, La .—Is there any differ¬ 
ence between the ramie and jute plants? 
Ans. —Yes. Ramie is the name given in 
this country to the plant producing the fiber 
called China Grass. Its botanical name is 
Bu'hmoria nivea, and it is found grow¬ 
ing wild in the greater part of tropical and 
Eastern Asia. It is a perennial, somewhat 
shrubby plant, growing four feet high and 
throwing out numerous stems as thick as the 
little finger. It belongs to the Nettle Family 
(Urticacea*), and is nearly related to the true 
nettles; but the plaut does not sting. A vari¬ 
ety called B. candicans, and also B. tenacis- 
sima, is cultivated in the countries in which 
the family grow wild, the useful portion being 
the fiber of the inner bark; which in Eastern 
countries is stripped from the stems ip two 
iong pieces, dried and assorted according to 
the fineness of the fiber, which depends in a 
great measure on the rapidity with which the 
plants grew. The plant has been used in China 
and other Eastern countries from time imme¬ 
morial to make a variety of fibers, some with 
the fineness and brilliancy of silk. Ramie was 
introduced into Jamaica in 1854. and in 1855 
was sent to the Botanic Garden at Washington; 
but no serious attempt to cultivate it was made 
till 1SG7, when excitement like that caused 
by the Moms multicaulis, wa3 threatened. 
Owing to the deranged condition of the labor 
market in the South, planters were eager for 
any crop which would need less hand labor 
than cotton; marvelous stories were told of 
the product!yeness and profit of ramie, and a 
lot of plants brought from Mexico, where it 
had been introduced shortly before, were 
bought at high prices. All the talk in the 
Gulf States, as we remember very distinctly, 
was about ramie. For a few years those who 
raised plants for sale made a good profit; but 
nobody knew how else to dispose of the crop. 
To prepare the fiber by hand, according to 
Asiatic fashion, wa3 out of the question, and 
the crude material was too bulky for export- 
Macbiues were at length invented for separa¬ 
ting the fiber; but the excitement flagged and 
then subsided. A good deal of interest is still 
felt in the plant, however, in many parts of 
the South, especially in the Gulf States. 
Jute is the fiber of Corcborus eapsularis, and 
the name is also applied to the plant that pro¬ 
duces the fiber. The genus Corchorus belongs 
to the order Tiliaceae.of which the Linden and 
Basswood are familiar representatives. The 
species furnishing the fiber are annuals, na¬ 
tives of Asia,and grow from 10 to 12 feet high. 
Jute dosen’t stand the weather, and therefore 
cannot be used as cordage; but burlaps,matting 
and cheap carpeting are made of the fiber. 
The principal use of it, however, is for gun¬ 
ny bags used in packing rice, coffee, etc., etc. 
Here it is used mainly for baling cotton 
in the South and for holding grain on the 
Pacific Slope, vast quantities being employed 
for both purposes. Experiments show that a 
fine quality of fiber can be grown in the South¬ 
ern States and California, and it is not unlike¬ 
ly that jnte culture may become an import¬ 
ant agricultural industry in both sections at 
no distant day. 
CARING FOR FODDER CORN. 
F. E., Fairview, IF. Fa.—1. Where is the 
nearest glue factory to me, and what is the 
manufacturer’s name? 2. How and when 
should fodder corn, that has been drilled for 
winter use, be cut? 
Ans.— 1. We do not know of any factories 
nearer than Cincinnati, though there may be 
establishments at Pittsburg or Wheeling. We 
do not know the manufacturers’ names. 2. 
Coru fodder can be well cured in shocks. The 
common plan is to cut just before the stalk 
begins to get bard and dry. The corn is cut 
with a “cutter," which is a sickle with a 
straight blade. Sixty-four or more hills are 
put into a shock, the foundation of which is 
formed by fastening together the tops of the 
four middle hills. The stalks as cut are set 
into the corners and the whole shock bound 
near the top with a stout stalk, twine or 
withe. When the work permits and the stalks 
are cured, the ears are husked—generally in 
the field, and the stalks bound Into small bun¬ 
dles with rye straw or hay. They can then be 
easily bandied and stacked or boused for win¬ 
ter use. Some farmers do not husk in the 
field, but bundle the corn as it is cut and feed 
it to cattle with the ears on it. Your fodder 
com can be handled in much the same way. 
It should be cut at maturity, when the little 
ears begin to harden and the stalks to turn 
yellow. Cut aud him! into bundles of conven¬ 
ient size for handling, using stalks, straw or 
withea. Shock by placing the butts of the 
bundles on the grotiud aud leaning the heads 
together. Bind the top securely, and the fod¬ 
der will cure and be ready for hauling to the 
stack or barn hy the time frost comes. If any 
trouble is experienced in building a shock, a 
“horse” can be used. Take two wooden 
crosses—like an ordinary saw-horse—and lay 
a long pole across them. Place the bundles 
up against the pole on either side, and when 
the shock is completed, draw the pole out for 
use at the next shock. Another way to 
strengthen the shock and prevent its being 
blown down, is to cut out a space four feet 
wide in two rows, leaving a few stalks at each 
end, like four hills of corn. Bend down and 
fasten the tops of the four hills, so that they 
will meet over the center, Place the bundles 
in the corners and fasten as before. When 
the fodder is removed the corner stalks can be 
cut. Several devices for shocking com have, 
from time to time, been illustrated and des¬ 
cribed in back issues of the Rural. 
ORIGIN OF THE WYANDOTTE AND PLYMOUTH 
ROCK. 
G. IF. F., Cornmu, ifo.—l. What is the 
difference between the American Sebright and 
