684 - 
THE BUBAL WEW- 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Canada. 
Stratford, Ontario, Sept. 19. — The potato 
crop in this section is almost ruined by rot, in 
many cases not being- worth digging. Con¬ 
tinued wet weather is the cause. The only 
exception, so far as I know, is the “Ontario” 
Potato, sent out by the Provincial Fruit Grow¬ 
ers’ Association some years ago. I grew it 
this year under unfavorable conditions, aud 
have not yet seen a diseased tuber. It is of 
excellent quality, fine, regular shape, and the 
heaviest I know for the size. I adopted the 
Rural trench mulch system this year, aud 
while, on account of the wet, I cannot give 
details as to weight of product, I am satisfied 
it is a good thing, and pays a good many times 
for the extra expense. c. w. I. 
Idaho. 
Weiser, Sept. 15.— The Rural tomatoes are 
good, except the big pear tomatoes, which are 
hollow. The King Humbert is a beautiful 
tomato. The peas were the best I ever saw, 
especially Carter’s Stratagem; I saved all for 
seed. The beans came up well, but dried out; 
I will have about a pint of seed. A good deal 
of tbe corn seems to be the dent varieties, 
which have not heretofore succeeded very 
well in this country. Crops did not turn out 
nearly as well as expected, and there will not 
be much more than half as much wheat 
thrashed this year as there was last. Bar-ley 
is not as good a crop. w. c. s. 
Iowa. 
SpRINGVtlle, Linn Co., Sept. 9.—The Sum¬ 
mer has been unprecedentedly wet here; there 
has been but little time this year when tbe 
gronnd has heeu dry enough to work nicely, 
and the meadows and fields have been so wet 
and heavy that extra horse power had to be 
attached to machinery in order to get harvest¬ 
ing done. Oats were a fair crc-p, but are now 
much damaged by hard continued rains, and 
are rotting in the sheaf. Corn has been tossed 
in every shape by bard winds, yet if frost 
should stay off a few week3 longer, a fair crop 
is anticipated. Not much wheat grown here. 
Potatoes and all garden truck good. Apples 
are rather scarce, and bring 61.00 per busheL 
Small fruits grow in abundance with a little 
attention. Grapes were badly winter-killed. 
Wild plums are plentiful, and eagerly sought 
aftej at §1.00 per bushel. Dairying is the 
principal support of farmers in these parts. 
This is a towu of about SOO inhabitants, situ¬ 
ated on the C. M. & St. P. R. R. between 
Cedar Rapids and Anamosa ; yet the ship¬ 
ments of dairy products from Springville 
alone, for the week ending August 29,amount¬ 
ed to 28,975 pounds of butter, 4,780 pounds of 
cheese, and creamery butter sells here for 22 
cents per pound. R. C. s. 
Kansas. 
Whitehall, Cherokee Co., Sep. 18.—Corn 
on upland will be very good, but late; will 
not do to put in shock before September 20. 
Every thing 30 days later thau usual. The 
bottom lands have all been laid waste, there 
having been three overflows of the Neosho 
River this season. The plants from Rural 
seeds were nearly all destroyed by the web- 
worm. The mixed corn has partly matured: 
some early and some very late. The tomatoes 
have tbe largest vines I ever saw; but the 
fruit is very small. The Johnson or Hurrah 
Grass failed to grow. C. G. 
Minnesota. 
Leslie, Todd Co., Sept. 10.— We have had 
no rain since the commencement of harvest. 
Harvest is now over, stacking nearly done, 
and thrashing begun. Grain is turning out 
very good. The weather has been very cold 
for a week back, and we had a frost on August 
24 8nd another on August 81, and one every 
night since. It has killed everything it could; 
but corn was out of the way. All mine is 
shocked; but there is plenty that will need 
two weeks more of warm weather to get ripe. 
a. l. 
Pennujl vaula. 
Wilawana , Bradford Co., Sep. 17.—It has 
been cold and wet for some time, but now it 
is fair and warm. Have had no frost suffici¬ 
ent to injure anything yet; but we need 10 
days vet for crops to be out of danger. I sow¬ 
ed the packet of Rural rye in two drills 15 
inches apart and 35 feet long, or 87)^ square 
feet, and harvested 10 11-lB pounds, which is 
at the rate of 95 bushels per acre! I expect 
many doubting Thomases with regard to this 
statement; but it is true, nevertheless. Many 
have doubted the accounts of the enormous 
yields of potatoes at the Rural Grounds; but 
weren’t they also tiue nevertheless? G. a. p, 
Texas. 
Savoy, Fanin Co.—Carter’s Stratagem Pea 
did only tolerably well. Prince of Wales are 
the best we have. The Rural corn did well, 
but is too small for a field corn with us. The 
Flageolet Beans are too tough and stringy. 
The tomatoes are excellent — the best we 
have. Tbe Garden Treasures did very well. 
Corn is an average crop. Cotton ditto. 
Wheat and oats about an average in yield, 
not average in acreage. Fruits of all kinds 
very good. Small potatoes fine. J. k. j. 
West Virginia 
Farmington, Marion Co.—I tried two 
rows of potatoes according to tbe Rural 
plan, but did not see much difference between 
them and others grown in the ordiuary way. 
Soil of a rather sandy nature, but rich with 
barn-yard manure. The Rural tomatoes did 
well in tbe way of growing vines and green 
fruit; but all rotted before they got ripe. I 
have some fine-looking corn from the Rural 
seed. Some fine ears are ripe, and some just 
silking. The Rural Blush Potatoes are hard 
to beat. s. c. 
Wisconsin. 
Greenbush, Sheboygan Co.—We have bad 
a wet haying and harvest; some hay and 
grain damaged. Oats very heavy. Barley, a 
good crop, but some badly injured. Potatoes 
and corn promise good crops. We have not 
bad any heavy storms: but we have had rain 
three or four times a week. I have the nicest 
tomatoes I have ever had. The Johnson 
Grass did not grow. Long may the Rural 
wave! a. m. s. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 
[Every query must be accompanied by thename 
and address of tbe 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.] _ 
ROUP IN POULTRY. 
R. L,, Liberty, Mich .—Some of my hens are 
suffering from swelled heads and diarrhea; 
others are lame, and all are weak, some being 
hardly able to get up. 1 have already lost sev¬ 
eral, and others, old and young, appear ready 
to die, though the appetite of all remains good; 
what ails them? 
Ans,— Roup. This contagious malady is 
really malignant catarrh which affects the 
head, throat, stomach or bowels, or all at 
once. Often the inner corner of the eye con¬ 
tains froth; the lids swell, stick together, and 
at last close; so do the nostrils from accumu¬ 
lation of offensive matter. In the present 
case, the lameness is not in the limbs, but is 
caused by tbe tenderness of the abdomen, and 
tbe consequent pain of moving. As treat¬ 
ment, wash the head with warm vinegar, and 
give 10 drops of a solution of 20 grains of 
chlorate of potash in one ounce of water, once 
a day. Feed quite lightly, as aver feeding is 
sometimes the cause of the ailment, producing 
indigestion, irritation of the intestines and 
then inflammation, which poisons tbe blood, 
and spreads through the system. Another 
remedy is: powdered sulphate of iron, half a 
dram; capsicum powder, one dram; extract 
of licorice, half an ounce; make into 30 pills, 
and give one three times a day for three days; 
then take half an ounce of sulphate of iron 
and one ounce of Cayenne pepper in fine 
powder; mix a teaspoouful with butter, and 
divide into 10 parts; give one part twice a 
day. In all cases, the affected birds should be 
promptly separated from the rest of tbe flock, 
and be placed in a dry, warm location. 
PREPARING A SHEEP PASTURE. 
M. W., ColumbiavUlc, Mich.— 1. I have a 
sandy hill that I wish to put into sheep past¬ 
ure next Spring. It is now in corn. Could 
I do it by sowing to rye this Fall and to 
clover in the Spring? 2. Who is a reliable 
commission merchant in Detroit? 
Ans.— 1. The coarse you line out would not 
give very good results, uor would any other, 
if the field is pastured next year, as grass, 
to endure as a pasture, should have the first 
year to become rooted. If you sow the rye 
very thick, it would give a good deal of feed, 
but clover sown next Spring would amount 
to very little, if pastured when just coming 
up. Better let the rye grow till heading, and 
cut it aud allow the other grasses till Septem¬ 
ber or October to get established. Sow clover, 
ten pounds; Orchard Grass, one bushel, aud 
Blue Grass (June Grass), one bushel. This 
would make a good pasture, if the ground is 
made rich. 2. It is generally a risky business 
to recommend any particular commission 
merchant where one can personally inves¬ 
tigate his standing and mode of dealing 
with his consignors; and still more risky to 
recommend one at a distance. We cannot, 
therefore, run the risk of recommending one 
in Detroit. 
SLABBERING IN A HORSE. 
M. L., Stillwater, Minn.—One of my horses 
slabbers a good deal, especially when kept on 
grass and White Clover; what will prevent 
him from doing so? 
Ans —Slavering or slabbering frequently 
occurs when horses are fed on White Clover, 
the flowers appearing to possess some peculiar 
property which produces irritation of the 
mucous surfaces and salivary apparatus of the 
horse. Some horses, however, are not affect¬ 
ed in this way; or if they are at first, they 
soon get accustomed to the clover, and grow 
sleek and fat on it, with the addition of grain. 
The sharp edges of worn teeth, or an ulcerated 
tooth, or even a rough bit will also cause 
slavering. Poor food or impaired digestion 
are also likely to produce an increase of the 
salivary secretion and slavering. It is alBo a 
symptom of various maladies. The only 
remedy is to remove the cause. If the trouble 
arises from a decayed tooth, extract it; if 
from the sharp edge of a tooth irritating the 
inside of the cheek, use the rasp until it is 
smooth. Should it be caused by irritation of 
the glands of the throat and mouth, use a 
stimulant application of hartshorn and oil. 
If it is due to noxious substances in the food, 
change the diet—give sound grain, grass and 
hay. Use vinegar and water or viuegar and 
honey as washes for the mouth. If the saliva 
is offensive, use water slightly tinctured with 
carbolic acid as a wash, and in all cases pay 
attention to the general health of the animal. 
ABOUT SOME MANURES. 
J. L , Qlanworth, Out., Can.— 1. What can 
I pay per cord for livery-stable mauure where 
very little straw is used and haul it 10 
miles? 2. Will it pay to sow salt on wheat, 
on clay lands when it costs 80 cents per 
barrel? 3, What is tbe phosphate which A. 
L. Crosby writes about on page 592 com¬ 
posed of? Would it be of any value used 
with other manure, or is it a complete fertil¬ 
izer of itself? 
Ans. — 1. If (your time is needed at any other 
work, we think it would hardly pay to haul 
manure 10 miles, even if given to you. We 
should rather buy tbe food material and feed 
some sort of stock. At least 75 or 80 per cent, 
of the weight of the manure would be water, 
while in grain or other dry foods but a very 
small per cent is moisture. 2. No one can tell 
you this without a trial, as it all depends upon 
the laud to which the application is made; try 
alternate pieces, and carefully watch the 
results, applying some in Fall and some in 
Spring: then you will know better than any 
man can tell you. 3. The phosphate men¬ 
tioned is the dissolved South Carolina rock 
phosphate, and contains, on an average, from 8 
to 14 per cent, of phosphoric acid. It con¬ 
tains but little of auy other fertilizing element. 
It is not a complete manure, and on most soils 
would be greatly bettered by being mixed 
with barn-yard manure and wood ashes. 
ABOUT BONE ASHES. 
J. I, C., Burlington, Kan. —1. I have a lot 
of bone ashes, the result of burning some bones 
that smelled so bad I had to burn them; what 
are they good for ? 2. What is their value as 
compared with that of bones ground before 
burning? 
Ans —1. The bone ashes contain a large 
amouut of phosphate of lime, at least 85 to 90 
per ceut,, and not far from 50 per cent, of 
phosphoric acid. Burning makes them so 
reducible that this will become available 
plant food much more readily than before. 
The ashes are good for use in the orchard, on 
wheat, and on almost all crops. If piled with 
fresh manure and allowed to ferment, they 
will be still further reduced aud made more 
available. 2. In burning, the organic matter 
was driven off, and this contained all the am¬ 
monia or nitrogen, amounting, if the bones 
were good, to about five to seven per cent. 
Aside from this, they have lost no vulue in 
burning, and they have become more reduc¬ 
ible, aud consequently more quickly available, 
and if mixed with barn-yard manure, this 
will supply sufficient nitrogen for the use of 
orchard or grain crop. Use all the bones you 
can get, but a better method than burning is 
to mix the fresh bones with plenty of stable 
or yard manure in tbe compost heap. This 
will absorb all tbe offensive smell, and reduce 
the bones at the same time. 
GRASSES FOR MUCKY BOTTOMS AND FOR 
LIGHT SOIL, ETC. 
J. S.,Maple Rapids, Mich. —1. What grasses 
shall I use on mucky bottom land for perma¬ 
nent pasture? 2. How should 1 prepare the 
soil and oow the seed! 3. What is the best 
grass for a light, sandy land? 4. What is the 
best way to got uew grape-vines from my 
present stock? 
Ans. —1. Much depends on how dry the bot¬ 
tom land has been made. If fairly well 
drained, sow of Red Top six pounds; Meadow 
Foxtail two pounds; Rescue Grass two pounds; 
Rough-stalked Meadow Grass three pounds; 
June Grass (Kentucky Blue Grass ) five 
pounds; Timothy 10 pounds,aud Alsibe Clover 
four pounds per acre. 2. Tbe soil should be 
fitted as for wheat sowiug, and the seed should 
be sown as soon as October first, or as early in 
Spring as possible. 3. Sow Orchard Grass 
one bushel; Blue Grass (Northern June Grass) 
balf-a-bushel; Red Clover 10 pounds; Peren¬ 
nial Rye Grass six pounds; White Clover five 
pounds per acre. Apply 15 bushels of hardwood 
ashes per acre. 4. The only way to get them 
before layeriug next Summer,is to grow them 
from cuttings. These can be made after the 
leaves drop, cutting them to three eyes in 
length. They should be hurried in dry earth 
below frost or iu a dry cellar, until next 
Spring, and then planted in rich soil up to the 
top eye, pressing the soil firmly about tbe base 
of the cuttings. It is also a good plan to 
mulch the surface with sawdust or tan-bark. 
SHIPPING CABBAGES AND ONIONS. 
C. E. P., Lyons, N. F.—1. I have a crop of 
cabbage and onions with only a home market 
for a small proportion of them. Could the 
cabbage be placed in large piles covered with 
straw, and shipped in cold weather? 2. If so, 
should the roots be left on while in tbe pile? 
3. Can tbe onions be barreled and placed in 
apple houses, aud shipped in Winter by keep¬ 
ing fire iu the cars? 4. Where is there a reliable 
commission house in Albany, N. Y., and in 
Philadelphia, Pa. ? 
Ans —1. Cabbage could not be so piled and 
kept for very long at a time, as there would 
he great liability of heating and decay. 2. It 
is usually kept by being turned bottom up, 
and placed in rows two heads at the bottom 
and one between the two and a little above 
them, thus with the roots inclined inward, 
the whole being then covered with dirt and 
Jitter, but not deep enough to exclude all 
frost. 8. Yes; only care must be used that 
that they be not kept too warm. A consider¬ 
able degree of frost does no harm whatever, 
while a little too much heat causes them to 
grow and spoil: onlv they must not be moved 
while frozen. 4. Evans Brothers, No. 56 
North Water St,, Philadelphia, Pa.; J. B. 
Jump, Albany, N. Y. 
CAKED BDDER IN A COW. 
J. S , Polona,Lewis Co., Mo .—A flue cow last 
Spring had one side of her udder badly caked, 
and she was turned out to fatten for beef. A 
neighbor thinks she is again with calf; will 
her udder be all right when she calves agaiu, 
or will it still be useless? 
Ans.—I t is quite possible that tbe teats can 
be restored after tbe next calf by the proper 
treatment, though it is by no means certain. 
In case your cow calves and the udder again 
becomes hard, bathe it with hot water and 
gently knead it uutil it becomes soft. Milk 
out all the contents. Sometimes it is neces¬ 
sary to iD ject a solution of carbonate of soda, 
which will dissolvo the curdy matter. Give 
a pound of Epsom salts and keep the bowels 
loose. The application of auy good liniment, 
like dilute arnica, will tend to relieve the 
udder. It is by no means certain that your 
cow is with calf. If she is six months with 
calf, as your neighbor says, the movements of 
the calf should be noticeable. Place the fiat 
of the baud on the cow's flank nine inches 
forward of the udder aud in a line with the 
stifle. Press firmly, and the short, quick 
jerks of the calf cau bo noticed, especially 
when the cow is drinking. Observe the form 
of tbe body; if the abdomen is noticeably low 
down in front of the udder, you may decide 
that the animal is with calf. 
WYANDOTTES. 
S. M., Lincoln University, Chester Co., Pa. 
—What is the Rural’s opinion as to the lay¬ 
ing and othei; desirable qualities of the Wyan¬ 
dotte hens? 
Ans.— The Rural has tried every kind of 
poultry known to beamong the more valuable 
breeds. The Wyandottes have given us more 
j eggs than uny other. They begin to lay 
early; they mature early. They are quiet 
fowls, good mothers, faithful sitters, though 
easily broken if not di sired to sit. Still there 
are many strains of Wyandotte*. They are 
far from fixed in their markings or size. By 
reference to buck files of the Rural, the num¬ 
ber of eggs to the pouud will be round as given 
when the pullets first began to lay and at later 
periods duriug the year. The eggs of our 
strain are a little under size — not quite 
as large as those of Plymouth Rocks. The 
shells are generally more or less colored. 
TREATMENT OF AN ORCHARD AND GRASS 
LAND. 
C. B. T., Kingston, K. C.—l. I have an or¬ 
chard 30 years old, on a sandy loam, which 
bears fairly, but iu which some of the limbs 
are dying. It has been plowed each Spring 
for the past five years, and has been dressed 
with as much barn mauure or aBhes each year 
