4*85 
30 to 35 cents; corn, 40 cents; barley, 45 to 54 
cents; rye, 00 to 70 ceots; butter, 12 to 16 
cents; cheese, from three to nine cents; eggs, 
10 to 12. Cattle are worth from $3 to $1.50; 
bogs, $3 to $4; sheep, $4 to $5; hay about $ 10 
per ton. J. O. N. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 
i Every Query must be accompanied by thename 
an 1 address of the writer to insnre attention. Before 
auloutf a Question, pleaae see if It Is not answered In 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one tlwe.l _ 
WIRE-WORMS AND POTATO SCAB, ETC. 
H. B S., Rockport, Ohio, —1. What is the 
name of the accompanying apple? 2 Is the 
wire-worm of which 1 inclose a sample, the 
one that causes scab on potatoes? 3. I send 
two potatoes; one I call scabby, the other is 
pierced by worms; does one worm cause 
both? 
Ans. —Mr. T. T. Lyon, to whom the apple 
was submitted, replies: “With a single speci¬ 
men that has been long kept and much 
handled, and with no description of the tree 
or its habits, it is impossible to be sure as to 
the variety. It very closely resembles and I 
think it is, the Ciayton. described by Downing 
in Appendix I, page G, where a description of 
this tree may also be found. If the tree 
bearing the apple should agree with the de¬ 
scription, it is safe to say it is that variety.” 
2 The inclosed worm was the Elater (Melan- 
otus), communis the larva of the May Beetle 
or Bnapping-Bug. which infests soils in which 
grass (particularly Timothy) has been grow¬ 
ing, and which takes from two to five years 
to go through its whole life to the perfect 
“bug.” 3. One of the potatoes was badly bored 
into and through by the Elater “wire-worm;” 
the other was a case of genuine scab, in 
which we always find another wire-worm, the 
lulus, a member of the myriapod family 
(thousand-legged worm ). This never bores 
into the potato, but at the Rural Grounds is 
found in the irregular, shallow cavities, sur¬ 
rounded and covered by the exudations which 
are always present in scab. 
COTTON SEED HULLS. 
M. M. B R., Washington, N. C. —1. Not 
long since it was slated in the F. C that the 
ashes from the bulls of cotton seed contained 
25 percent, of potash; do they contain other 
valuable fertilizing properties; if so, what? 2. 
Suppose 1 can get the hulls delivered on the 
farm at $3 per ton, would it pay to use them ? 
3. How should they be prepared—by burning 
or composting, for use another year? 
Ans. —1 Ashes from pure cotton-seed hulls, 
that is, from hulls alone, not mixed with coal 
or wood ashes, contain more than 25 per 
cent, of potash—nearly SO per cent. They 
also contain about ten per cent, of phosphoric 
acid, making them worth not far from $55 
per ton for the pure ashes. 2 A ton of the 
hulls would make only 80 pounds of ashes 
anil as these would contain 20 pounds of pot-J 
ash and eight pounds of phosphoric acid, this 
would make the hulls worth $1.80 per ton. 3. 
As there is but little nitrogen in the hulls 
whcu carefully sepuratod from the kernels, 
we hardly believe it will pay to purchase 
them at $3 per ton. It is better to buy the 
ashes where the hulls are used as fuel at the 
mills; these would be cheap at $20 per ton. 
It, might pay to use the hulls as bedding ami 
thus mix them with other manurial substances 
and in this way compost them. 
GRASS QUERIES, ETC. 
W. B. T,, Round Knob, N. C— 1. What is 
the best grass for permanent pasture on damp 
laud? 2. 1 have already mowed clover and 
Orchard Grass once, would it pay to cut them 
the second time, or is it better to paslure them; 
and if l pasture, can stock be put in at once 
after cutting? 3. Which is the best time to 
sow grass seed, Fall or Spring ? 4. Who deals 
iu refrigerators aud butter tubs? 
Ans.— 1. It is quite difficult to tell just how 
wet damp land may be, and on this depends 
entirely what grass to sow. In a general way, 
you might try Agrostis vulgaris (Red Top), 
Alopecurus pratensis iMoudow Fox tail), Lo- 
lium Italicuui (Italian Rye Grassland Alsike. 
These all thrive in dampsitnationsaml endure 
a hot gnu. 2. You can mow the meadows 
once or twice more, or pasture, as you like; 
which will pay the best depends upon which 
you need the most, pasture or hay. It is bet¬ 
ter to lot, the after growth get a fair start after 
mowiug, before turning on the stock. 3 For 
the South we should recommend the Fall m 
all ca..-es. 4. Refrigerators are usually sold iu 
hardware stores, aud butter tubs by grocers 
SHE BUBAL NEW-YORKER* 
and dealers in dairy supplies. Your nearest 
dealer should be able to get them. 
WANTED, A SMALL WINDMILL. 
A. J. W., Riverton , Neb. —Where can I get 
a small, nice and cheap windmill with power 
enough to pump from a well, only 12 or 15 feet 
deep, sufficient for the house and two 
horses? I have a 10-f >ot mill on the farm, and 
it would pump water enough from a 50-foot 
well for 300 cattle. I only want power 
enough, and think a five or six-foot mill would 
answer the purpose. 
Ans. —We would not advise the use of a 
mill smaller thou one eight feet in diameter. 
One smaller would cost very little less than 
one of that size aud would not run in so light 
a wind: but when it did run it would revolve 
very much more rapidly, and would, of course, 
be very much more liable to derange the 
pump. You cannot do better than to write 
to the several makers advertising in the Ru¬ 
ral. for circulars and prices; they will, no 
doubt, be glad to give their opinions also. 
MANURING CORN. ETC. 
II. 17, F., address mislaid.— 1. When the 
laud is not rich aud not more than 10 loads of 
manure can be had for each acre, do you 
think your way of manuring corn better than 
to use a part broadcast and the rest in the 
hill? 2. I have a fine pear tree that always 
blossoms full, but bears only a few specimens; 
can anything be done to make it bear? 
Ans —1. Where the manure is applied 
broadcast and only worked into tbe surface 
soil, the corn can get all there is in it, and get 
it as ueeded during growtn, and this we re¬ 
gard as better than having an abundance 
during its early growth and then be starved 
as its roots extend beyond the mere bill. Corn 
roots occupy the entire surface. 2. We can¬ 
not tell from so meager a statement. Some 
varieties always do as you describe. 
CANNING QUERIES. 
J. T. W. L., Decatur, Ind. —1. How can I 
eau green corn and beans? 2. How put up 
pumpkins and squash in cans? 
Ans.— 1. It is very difficult, if not impossi¬ 
ble, to can corn or beans in a domestic way,so 
as to be sure of their keeping. They require 
cooking a long time and at great heat. In 
the factories they are put into tiu cans when 
cold, and at once soldered tight. The cans are 
then put into steam vats and steamed under 
pressure from a half an hour to one hour. 
They are then taken out, and each can is 
punctured, letting out the steam and gases 
that have accumulated. Afier these have 
escaped, the puncture is closed at once by a 
drop of solder, and the caas are returned to 
the steam vats aud steamed two hours, and 
even then more or less spoil. 2. Pumpkin or 
squash can be thoroughly cooked and strained 
and then when boiling-hot, put into tiu or 
glass cans and sealed up tight, the same as 
fruits or berries, and they will keep equally 
well and with no more trouble. 
LOSS OF FKATHER8 IN FOWLS. 
A. L. M , Steubenville, Ohio —My fowls 
which have only a small yard to run in, have 
lost most of their feathers, why ? 
Ans. —This loss of feathers, when not 
caused by tbe natural process of moulting, is 
most prevalent among confined fowls. In the 
natural healthy, moult the fall of the feathers 
is caused by the protrusion of new feathers 
from the skin. In the diseased state, which 
we now speak of, no new feathers come to re 
place tho e that have fallen, but the fowl is 
left bald aud uaked. The affection is prob¬ 
ably constitutional rather than local. Exter¬ 
nal remedies will probably therefore not be 
efficacious. Stimulants applied externally 
will, however, serve to assist the operation of 
whatever medicine may be given. Sulphur, 
Cayenne pepper and fresh butter in proportion 
of a quarter each of the first and second, aud 
a halt of the third, form a good mixture to 
give internally, acting as a powerful altera¬ 
tive, restoring the healthy functions of the 
body without any sensible evacuation. The 
diet should be chauged and cleanliness and 
fresh air are essential. 
Miscellaneous. 
J J. VV., Guilford, N. 1'.—1. Last year, the 
White Grubs injured coru and cabbage by 
eating the loots; what can I do to get rid of 
the pests? 2. How eau I protect cabbages 
from giubsl 8. What potato gives the largest 
yield ? 4. W bat is ilie best kind of phosphate? 
Ans. —1. The grubs, if of the white kiud, 
will all lie gone by this lime this year, and 
will do no harm; but if cut-worms, they could 
have beau trapped by scutteriug about the 
field clover or cabbage leaves which have 
boeu dipped in water, aud then thickly dusted 
with a mixture of one part of Paris-green to 
20 of flour. 2. By w hiding paper around the 
stalks of cabbages from below ground to the 
bight of the leaves when plantiug, they will 
be protected from the cut- worms. By scatter¬ 
ing a handful of salt about each plant, 
White Grubs will be kept away. 3. Corlis’s 
Matchless, Green Mountain and Hodgman’s 
Seedling have been tbe heaviest yielders at 
the Rural Grounds. 4. There are now so 
many good phosphates that it is bard to say 
which is best; and then, which istbe“best,” 
would depend entirely upon tbe crop and soil 
upon which it was to be used. 
W. E. T., Boothby Hill, Md,—\. Does the 
“strength” of phosphates go up or down in the 
8oil? 2. Will harrowing pack ground more 
than rolling. 3. How deep should corn be 
planted ? 
Ans. —1. Phosphoric acid for the'most part 
remains in the soil near the surface until re¬ 
moved by the roots of plants. A small part 
passes through the soil,as shown by tbe analy¬ 
ses of draining water. It can not be said, 
therefore, to pass either up or down. 2. The 
roller packs the surface more, but tbe compac¬ 
tion does not extend so deep as under the pres- 
ure of harrow teeth. 3, Two inches in sandy 
soil—one in heavy soil. 
C. S , Pulaski, Fa., sends a clipping from 
an Abingdon paper, which says that, in that 
sectiou, there are several apple trees which 
bear fruit without showing any bloom. All 
are grafts from one tree. Another peculiarity 
is that the fruit has neither core nor seeds; 
and our friend asks for an explanation of the 
phenomenon. 
Ans. —We should be glad to receive a speci¬ 
men of these apples. By “bloom” is probably 
meant the white petals, and their suppression 
is net improbable. The stamens and pistils are 
the important parts of the flowers, however. 
Tbe seedless apples, pears, lemons, etc., are not 
uncommon. We should be surprised to find all 
of these peculiarities in one tree. 
C. S., Plover , IFis.—In my asparagus bed 
(three years from seed), is it best to break off 
the small stalks that are not fit to use? Will 
doing this not tend to let tbe crowns grow so 
that they will produce larger shoots another 
year? 
Ans. —Plants so treated will produce fewer 
and larger shoots. 
J. C., Elkicood, Pembina Co., Dak —Who 
are the nearest dealers or breeders of Holland 
Cattle? 
Ans.—W. Hanke, Iowa city; S Aiken, De¬ 
corah: W. C. Nichols & Son. and C. Jasper 
Jr., Cresco, all of Iowa; Jere Allis, Isinours, 
Minn. So far as we know, these are tbe near¬ 
est to you. 
C. A. S„ Cuba, N. F.—In a late Rural it 
was said that mole skins are worth from five 
to ten cents apiece, will the skins of common 
moles bring these figures? 
Ans —Yes. Write to W. H. Fleet, 92 Gold 
Street, N. Y., for full particulars. 
C. jP. 2’., Seymour, Texas. —Sends a long 
list of plants aud asks where they can be ob¬ 
tained? 
Ans.— From P. J. Berckmans, Augusta, Ga. 
G. W. W., Dedham, la.— Where can I get 
full-blooded Golden Polish chickens? 
Ans. —Of T. B. Hoover, Wellsville, York 
Co„ Pa. 
H FT. S., Americus, Ga.—Sends specimen 
of wheat for name? 
Ans. —We should say it is Fultz. 
Mrs. Thotnas B. Harvey, Columbus, New 
Jersey. —Of whom can I obtain bulbs of Gla¬ 
diolus Colvilii albus? 
J. O., Nigh, New Cassel, Wis., wants infor¬ 
mation about William Nigh, an Englishman 
aged about 50, his brother. 
DISCUSSION. 
O. J. C., Sycamore, III.— I have beeu 
greatly amused at the raids of Col. Curtis and 
Stockman against “baby beef,” etc., and their 
preaching the necessity that an animal should 
be three or four years old before its meat is tit 
to eat. It is strange that people will be so 
foolish as to pay six or seveu dollars per head 
for lambs only two or three mouths old, as 
you report getting, and proportionally as 
large prices for veal calves, unless there 
can be found plenty of people who love such 
meat and are willing to pav for it. I raise 
meat for the money it brings, and the profit 
I can make, and I don’t care a cent what one 
man may think of an animal I have to sell, if 
there are plenty of others ready to take it aud 
pay me a good price for it. It seems to me 
that it I can make an animal at one year old 
und with a certain amount of food, dress as 
much as another at three years old, using 
only twice as much food iu the three years, I 
stilt make more clear money on it, aud I have 
uo fear but I cau always find a market much 
more easily. It may be, as they say, that 
people who buy such “stuff” are fools; but 
fool’s mouey is to me worth just as much as 
auy other. Those people who cry “baby beef” 
will have a hard time before they convert the 
world to their way of thinking. so that the 
“old stags” will be rated as choice morsels. 
Why away back in Bible times, “baby beef’ 
was greatly in vogue. It had such a reputa¬ 
421 
tion that in their feasting and sacrifice, the 
old Iraelites always selected the kids, lambs 
or fatted calves, and there is not on record an 
instance where a feast was held over tbe car- 
cas of some old stag or bulk Such a thing, 
would have been such an innovation, that it 
would certainly have been recorded. For 
my eating, I must say that, although it may 
not stand as much chewing, I prefer a nice 
cut of a young animal, and so do other people 
to such an extent that it will pay to grow it. 
R. M., Newark. Ohio.— While reading the 
severe things that have lately been said in the 
Rural by the critics of “Stockman,” I have 
frequently felt a sort of pity for him and a 
strong inclination to cry “Hold! Enough!” 
But this feeling of commiseration is pretty 
sure to be removed by something insincere, 
misleading or absurd in the next batch of his 
Notes that appear in the paper, and then I am 
disposed to exclaim, “Lay on the lash, oh 
friends, and remember Macbeth’s imprecation 
on the man who first cries ‘Hold! Enough!’ ” 
So many of bis misstatements and blunders 
have been already exposed, that here I will 
merely refer to a few foolish inquiries of his . 
in the issue of June 6th: 
Speaking of the danger from pleuro-pneu- 
monia among American cattle, he says, “If 
there was such well-defined disease in Eastern 
herds, why did not the Bureau of Animal In¬ 
dustry go to work and root it oat in the States 
east of the Alleghanie3, instead of everlast¬ 
ingly investigating and writing about it? 
And why was not the traffic in diseased 
cattle prevented? And now why does not the 
Bureau drop this foolish play, and procure 
the passage of a law making the sellers of 
diseased cattle responsible for full damages, 
as . well as liable to fine and imprisonment, 
for selling diseased cattle, and spreading the 
disease?” And then, after this string of fool¬ 
ish questions, with his usual malevolence 
which is so hitter and persistent that it evi¬ 
dently partakes of personal enmity or ill-will, 
he insinuates that this i3 not done because by 
the stamping out of the disease the employes of 
the Bureau would lose a profitable job. Despite 
tbe character of some of his “Notes,” Stockman 
is certainly no fool, lie either has, or ought 
to have before speaking so authoritatively, 
some knowledge of the Constitution of this 
country, the course and limitation of legis¬ 
lation in Congress, and the functions legiti¬ 
mately appertaining to the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, 
He ought, therefore, to know that the chief 
duty assigned to the Bureau was to investi¬ 
gate and report the nature and extent of dis¬ 
ease among live stock; that,outside the Dis¬ 
trict of Columbia.it has had no po wer whatever 
to “root it out in the States east of the Alle- 
ghanies” or elsewhere; that it could not by 
auy stretching of its powers do anything 
whatever to prevent traffic in cattle; and 
that, bey ond recommending and urging such 
legislation in Congress and the Legisla¬ 
tures of the various States, it can do nothing 
to procure the passage of laws for the purposes 
mentioned, or any other. Through proper 
channels the Bareau has repeatedly recom¬ 
mended such legislation to the National and 
State Legislatures, but hitherto its recom¬ 
mendations have received but little attentiou, 
owing, in part, no doubt, to the language, 
written and spoken, of just such cavilers and 
malcontents as “Stockman." It is a very 
delicate question to decide the limits of Con¬ 
gressional and State legislation in this mat¬ 
ter. and however much the owners of en¬ 
dangered herds may wish for speedy legisla¬ 
tion by jCongress to prevent the spread of 
the disease, the action of that body must be 
retarded by the fear of infringing on the 
rights of the States. 
A believer in Stockman's writings might 
readily suppose that it is the easiest thing in 
the world for the Bureau to procure the pas¬ 
sage of the laws he recommends; but similar 
laws have beeu recommended repeatedly by 
others by far more influential than a mere 
anonymous grumbler, yet I do not know of 
auy State or Territory that has as yet paid any 
heed to the recommendations. 
After belittling the danger from contagious 
pleuro pneumonia by the general tenor of his 
Notes for years. Stockman now says he agrees 
with Mr. Feriaiu in regard to the enormity of 
the danger and prospective losses from itl 
Here is richness for you t He will soon say he 
has always been emphatic on this point; for I 
have long noticed that he can very easily 
bring bimself to believe that he has said what¬ 
ever it may be at any time convenient for 
him to have said. 
-- •» * » 
Communications Received for the Week Ending 
Saturday, June 18.18S5. 
C. P. T —K K. S.^J. M. G., thanks—J. J.—C. O. F.— 
\V. S. W\— S.— W. M. E.. corn received too late. — J. 
F, R, -J, R. W.—A. O. Van H.—I). S, B.—G. D.—Mrs. 
A. B.-A, L.C., it will bo treated of In notes.—R. T. 
R„ thanks, will comply further on.—H. S.— R. C. D. — 
Mrs. F. B.—H. H. F.—D. S. B.—R. and H.—J. M.—A. 
B. A.— K. A. P.—D. S. H.—M. W. F—W. C.—J. M, G.— 
J. S. P.—A- L. O. -I. J. B. 
