4 
One ton of clover hay is worth a trifle more 
than three tons of corn stalks. The corn¬ 
stalks used in the experiment were taken 
from the shock after the ears had been 
husked, and were much tougher aud less nu¬ 
tritious than stalks grown in drills. Counting 
the feeding values of both stalks and grain 
from an acre of corn, the coin was found to 
produce $89 90 worth of milk, or $87.80 worth 
of butter. On our ordinary land, eight times 
as much weight of stalks can be raised per 
acre as the ordinary yield of hay... 
The oleomargarine men are putting into 
their work an amount of “science” that is 
astonishing. They are seeking to lower the 
price of manufacturing their stuff, and with 
this end in view have used the cheaper fats 
and cotton seed oil. Now they are using gel¬ 
atine made from the hoofs of cattle, and even 
horses. Gelatine is valuable from its power 
to absorb water. It is about time to “ draw 
the line”—about the neck of this industry. 
We see now the absolute necessity of opposing 
all attempt at adulteration. When the vile 
work once begins, it will never stop, for there 
will be as much competition in it as in any 
legitimate business.. 
The Mirror and Farmer says that heifers 
may often be made to develop a larger udder, 
and to produce more milk by handling. Rub¬ 
bing and handling the udder will increase its 
size, and frequent milkings will tend to bring 
out a greater flow of milk. Many dairymen 
make a practice of handling the udder even 
while the calf is quite small This is a poor 
thing to overdo,ho wever. We have seen many 
a cow’s udder “developed” all out of shape by 
this practice. A reasonable amount of hand¬ 
ling is good, but there is a tendency to overdo 
it. . . . 
Many members of the Elmira Farmers’ 
Club agree that burying apples is the best 
way to keep them. Besides, they are much 
improved in quality... 
G. W. Hoffman, remarked that there can 
be no doubt that apples in pits will keep as 
well as by any other method. The air is ex¬ 
cluded, so is light, and the fruit is left to the 
slow process of ripening under conditions very 
favorable to its preservation.. 
The Breeders’ Gazette reminds its readers 
that apartments into which the sun never 
penetrates are no more healthful for live 
stock than for their owners.. 
Hooghton Farm tests show that seed corn 
may be gathered as soon as it begins to 
glaze... 
In treating hedges of Osage, Honey Locust, 
or other deciduous plants, Mr. Meehan likes 
the plan of letting them grow as they will for 
two or three years, aud then, when the stems 
are a couple of inches thick, sawing to the 
ground. A mass of strong sprouts then starts 
up, which can be pruued as needed. 
All interested in our regular Premium- 
List and new posters may now send for 
them... 
For a good stock cow in Colorado, prices 
have ranged about as follows, according to the 
Live-Stock Journal: I860, $10; 1870, $15; 
1880, $25; 1885, $30.*. 
The average yearly cost of keeping cows in 
New York is estimated at $37.50; in Wiscon¬ 
sin, at $25.... ... 
A CORRESPONDENT tells the N. Y. Tribune 
that his way to make cider vinegar is to fill 
barrels three-fourths full of cider, leave the 
buug out, theD in July put two bucketfuls of 
the sour cider into a cask of vinegar; in one 
week draw from the vmegar cask two buckets 
of vinegar, and theD jmt two more buckets of 
sour cider into the vinegar cask, and so on. 
Always leave the bung out, except in Winter, 
and all barrels not full.............. 
The agricultural editor of the Peoria Trans¬ 
cript is of the opinion, that the society of hogs 
is preferable to that of an alleged man half¬ 
full of sour cider. 
The N, Y. Tribune says that mention is 
made of three cows poisoned by rotting pota¬ 
toes. One died; the others were “saved with 
difficulty.”...... 
Our much respected friend and contributor, 
Pres. T. T, Lyon, speaks of the Lawson Comet 
Pear in the Michigan Farmer. His estimate 
of this pear is exactly that of the Rural 
except that it is decidedly more so. He ad¬ 
mits that it is a beautiful pear, but deems the 
quality so poor that there is uo sense in its dis¬ 
semination. He says it is of the same season 
as the Sterling, which is of similar size and 
fully as beautiful, while it is far better in 
quality. 
Prof. Stewart believes that a young lamb 
or sheep may be fattened with ten pounds of 
turnips, and one-and-one-half pound of corn, 
faster than on three pounds of corn alone.... 
It is a good time to boe around the trunks of 
fruit trees, and to pull up the grass that 
grows among the stems of currant trees..... 
W0¥ 28 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Connecticut. 
Gale’s Ferry, New London Co., Nov 16 — 
Our Summer was so exceedingly dry that the 
Rural peas had no show at all; I didn’t get 
back my seed. The beans grew and boi'e 
some; we have not tried their quality yet. 
The tomatoes were excellent, though they 
rotted quite badly; but that was the com¬ 
plaint with all the tomatoes around here this 
season. The women folks watered and nursed 
the Rural Treasures and managed to get a 
great deal of enjoyment out of them. 
w. m. w, 
Indiana. 
Logaksport, Cass. Co., Nov. 6.—The farm¬ 
ers in gathering crops in this county had 
very good luck. Potatoes very plentiful 
and cheap, being only 25 cents per buBhel. 
Owing to the great amount of rain corn kept 
green till the frost injured it somewhat. A 
good deal of it is soft and sappy. Cattle 
plenty and cheap—three cents for grass-fed. 
Hogs are dying with cholera—worth three 
cents for grassers. Apples are nearly an en¬ 
tire failure. w. h. h. t, 
Kansas, 
Fort Scott, Bourbon Co.—I sowed the 
seed of Johnson Grass about the middle of 
May, and it was two or three weeks before it 
germinated; but it came up and the chickens 
kept it eaten close to the ground until I des¬ 
paired of seeing it live; but a few plants 
lived and I have saved nearly a pint of seed, 
and if what was left in the ground keep sprout¬ 
ing and throwing up stalks, and if nothing 
happens, I shall get considerably more seed. 
Rome of the stalks were five or six feet high. 
The peas did well, and we had a few nice 
flowers, though the hot weather was too 
much for tbe most of these. The beans did 
not amount to much. H. R. R. 
Lyons, Rice Co.—The Rural seeds have 
been harvested. Peas fair. I have half a 
pint of each variety, which I shall save for 
seed. The Flageolet Beans were destroyed by 
rabbits. The tomatoes were tine, one variety 
being extra good. What 1 take to be King 
Humbert was good. The Rural com did 
not do so well, It was luxuriant and matured 
well, but most of it proved to be a small eight- 
rowed flint. I saved four ears of yellow 
com for seed. 1 sowed the Johnson Grass on 
a piece of land three rods long, and four feet 
wide. It grew feet high, very coarse. I 
think it superior to millet. What effect does 
it have on stock? [It is fed largely at the 
South with good results.—Eds.] Should it 
prove hardy, I think it will be of value. Its 
serious fault is lateness in starting; the weeds 
get a chance to outgrow it. The Garden 
Treasures were nice. The Rural system of 
potato culture, without the fertilizers, proved 
successful with me. From seven rows, 60 rods 
long, planted May 23d, I dug 62 bushels of 
marketable potatoes. I used a lister with 
three horses, and threw out a furrow 14 inches 
wide and sezen inches deep. The potatoes 
were covered with a hoe, and I put on four 
inches of short straw. This is a good yield 
for our climate. The Rural is well worth 
its price, having saved me many dollars. I 
never invest in fruits or novelties of any 
kind till I see them noticed in the Rural. 
I find I am seldom cheated then. We have 
men who will give their notes on ayear'stime 
for $125 organs, but they can’t come down to 
what they call “small things.” Prices are 
low. Crops average; corn 40 bushels; wheat 
7>a; oats 88. 
ftlnsiuich linens, 
Charlton, Worcester Co., Oct. 27,—The 
Johnson Grass did not come up. The Flageo¬ 
let Beans did well, but no better than those I 
had. The tomatoes were good. The corn is 
from five feet to 11 feet high; some of the ears 
are seven feet from the ground. A few ears 
ripened well. 1 have saved them for seed; the 
rest is too late for this climate. The Garden 
Treasures were very beautiful. e. c. 
New York. 
Orient, Suffolk Co.—Tbe corn Bent out by 
tbe Rural, in its various seed distributions, 
has not met the demands of our farmers, 
being in every case too long in reaching ma¬ 
turity, while the stalk a have been too large and 
tall. In a few days I shall send you by ex¬ 
press a few ears of a kind of corn grown on 
the farm of one of your subscribers, John 
Henry Young. It was brought here some 10 
or 12 years ago from Vermont, by one of our 
farmers, and has been carefully selected ever 
since. It is a white flint; the stalks are fine 
aud short, hardly ever exceeding five feet in 
higbt, and with leaves extending close to the 
ground, making it invaluable as a fodder 
plant. Our farmers consider a load of well- 
cured stalks worth two-thirds as much as Eng - 
lish hay. Everything bears an ear, and, as you 
will see by tbesamples, the ears are of average 
size, well filled out on the .ends, with a.very 
small cob, and they will average about three 
bushels per stack of 49 hills, or 75 bushels of 
shelled corn per acre. It ripens four months 
from planting, which is two weeks earlier 
than any other kind I am acquainted with. 
The objection we have to Western corn, so- 
called, arises from its large, hard, tougb, 
woody stalks, with no more than one decent 
ear on each, that one has to take off the 
stalk with a step-ladder. We prefer to have 
our cord-wood and corn stalks separate. 
e. e. p. 
Vernon, Oneida Co.—The 50 crosses of 
Rural corn made a magnificent growth, quite 
a number of the stalks producing three and 
some even four ears apiece; but one unlucky 
night about August 25, my neighbor’s unruly 
cow broke into the garden and destroyed 
most of them. I had watched that patcb of 
corn all Summer, and when I saw the loDg 
ears lying on the ground partly eaten, while 
the stalks were crushed and maDgled, I felt 
very much like crying, could that have done 
any good. At that time some of the ears that 
were broken off were beginning to glaze, and 
I am sure, could it have been left uninjured, 
we would have had some grand corn. I have 
saved what was left and will try again. Po¬ 
tatoes are nearly a failure here on account of 
the rot, and were it not for the Blush Pota¬ 
toes, produced from one little tuber in a for¬ 
mer Seed Distribution, I fear we would have 
to go without potatoes, as all others (except 
the Alpha, which we raise for very early, 
beiug about two weeks earlier than tbe Early 
Ohio) have rotted so badly that we shall 
scarcely be able to save enough for seed of 
some varieties. Tbe Snowflakes are all gone; 
Early Ohio comes next, being about three- 
fourths bad; then the Beauty of Hebron, 
Compton’s Surprise, Early Sunrise, which are 
about one-half rotten, while of tbe Blush only 
bushels were affected out of 18 bushels, 
and as they were sorted very closely and put 
into a cool, airy cellar, they have kept per¬ 
fectly so far. Tbe Flageolet Beans were 
eaten by a little black bug, so that I only 
saved one plant; but from that one I bad a 
large handful of beaus, which I shall plant next 
year. The Stratagem Peas did well, and I 
have saved them for seed, but the Prince of 
Wales mildewed and blighted. ,r. k r, 
Pennsylvania. 
Milan, Bradford Co,, Nov. 15.—This year 
I have raised 180 bushels from the single 
Blush Potato sent me three years ago by tbe 
Rural. The tubers do not rot like the other 
potatoes raised this year. The corn does not 
do well here. The tomatoes did well. Long 
live the Rural! w. h. y. 
Utah. 
Ogden City, Weber Co., Nov, 10.—From 
all accounts that I can glean, almost every¬ 
one has been abundantly prospered. In fact, 
all grain, root and fruit wops have been much 
larger than in other years. The weather, up 
to a recent date, was beautiful, farmers hav¬ 
ing every oppoctunity to garner their crops 
in a good condition. But tbe low price of 
produce makes it very discouraging, notwith¬ 
standing the productiveness of the soil. The 
Flageolet Beans are very good. The peas did 
not germinate well. I did not find much im¬ 
provement in the tomatoes. The flowers were 
very fine. The other seeds sent I gave to a 
friend. w. J. H, 
Vermont. 
Tbetford, Orange Co.—The King Hum¬ 
bert Tomato is early and very productive, 
but of poor quality as compared with May 
Flower, Cardinal, Acme, and other standard 
varieties. The Prince of Wales Pea is very 
productive and of excellent quality. I value 
it highly. Carter’s Stratagem did uot come 
up well and did uot do well. No pea which is 
not bushed does well with me. i inteud to try 
the Stratagem next year with short bushes. 
I saved Beed enough for a fair triaL Tbe 
Flageolet Bean did finely, averaging more 
than 86 well filled pods to a plant—quality 
excellent when green; not tried dry.- The 
corn came up well and grew finely, to all 
hights, from live to nearly ten feet; but not 
one ear of any kind was ripe at the end of Sep¬ 
tember when my common corn was ready 
to cut, and when impending frost compelled 
me to cut that. It is all too late to be of any 
value here. The Johnson Grass I did not 
plant. Among the Garden Treasures were 
many fine flowers. I was especially glad to 
see umoDg them some of my earliest acquaint¬ 
ances among flowers, some of which I have 
not often seen since boyhood—say for more 
than 50 years. All were good. E. c. w. 
Wyoming. 
Logan, Johnson Co., Nov. 8.—The good old 
Rural New-Yorker comes regularly, and is 
as a ray of sunshine to us in these mountains. 
I would not know how to get on without its 
good advice. Crops are all gathered, and 
grains all thrashed. Oats are the largest crop 
ever harvested in this country; some fields 
went as high as 70 bushels per acre. Our 
wheat is the best crop ever knowu bere. Hay 
short and the range is bare of feed, and cattle 
are Buffering. The cattle barons are looking 
sick. What with the poor feed aud the stand 
the Government is taking about their fraud¬ 
ulent land entries, they are in a close place. 
They are driving all of their cattle to the di¬ 
vides to save them from starvation. The cat¬ 
tle are poorer than any they ever bad at this 
time of year, and if we get a hard Winter 
they will die by the hundreds. Tbe Rural 
New Yorker isjioing well in showing up the 
cruelty to those poor dumb brutes in its true 
light. Bergh would find plenty to do here. 
This would be a good county for the poor man, 
if we could loosen the hold of the monopolizing 
monster, whose grasp is on the throat of the 
farming interests of the entire section. We, 
the farmers, pray the Government and the 
good people of the East to help us to strangle 
this hundred-headed hydra, and force it to let 
go its hold of the public domain. People at the 
East have uo idea of what we homesteaders 
of the West have to undergo from the meat 
little persecutions aud the flagrant outrages, 
of the barons and their reckless rapscallions. 
Fraud, perjury, and bribery are the rascally 
means by which they commouly gain their 
ends in keeping and driving farmers out of 
the country. If they are allowed to go on, 
they will soon compel all of the poor men to 
get out. The Rural New-Yorker is our 
best friend among the agricultural papers of 
the country; and we trust It will continue its 
brave denunciations of land-grabbing rascals, 
until an end is put to their robbery and out¬ 
rages. J. Q. D. 
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 uot answered In 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one ttme.l 
QUERIES FROM A NEWLY SETTLED FLORIDIAN. 
ANSWERED BY SEO. E. WILLIAMS. 
E. S., Volusia Co., Fla., having recently 
moved there from Kansas to engage in fruit 
culture, finding the land samly and poor and 
fertilizers an absolute necessity, asks a string 
of questions on which he needs light, These 
are answered, so far as my knowledge extends, 
in the following remarks: 
Notone person in 10 in Florida has land 
suited to successful strawberry culture. If he 
proposes to plant on poor, sandy laud, he 
may as well abandon the idea before put¬ 
ting it in practice. The land should be good 
with a goodly admixture of clay loam and 
sufficiently moist to avoid tbe burning up of 
the plants. He would do well to look about 
his neighborhood and see what success bis 
neighbors similarly situated have met with in 
the same line. The Neuuan is probably the 
best well tested variety suitable for the ex¬ 
treme South. Strawberry growing in Flori¬ 
da, as a general thing, is as yet an unsolved 
problem, and extensive local observation and 
experience will be his best guides. Of rasp¬ 
berries, it is extremely' doubtful if any of our 
native varieties, outside of the Black cap 
family, would adapt themselves to such 
changed conditions ns Florida presents, and 
all experiments that I am cognizant of with 
these have proved entire failures. I do not 
remember seeing any indigenous variety of 
the Rubus family in all my rambles through 
the State, except some blackberry plants. In 
Alabama, Georgia, and even in Northern 
Florida, there is a trailing variety of the 
blackberry or dewberry, that grows in abun¬ 
dance. The berries are small, about the 
diameter of a good sized Downing Mulberry, 
but shorter; tender; pleasant flavor; seeds 
small, in season the latter part of April and 
fore part of May. On tbe 6th of last May 
they were served at my evening rneul at Arl¬ 
ington, opposite Jacksonville, anil I fouud 
them a very pleasant and acceptable dessert, 
much more so than our Northern species, 
beiug tender all through and less acid. I 
learned that, they were quite abundant in that 
vicinity; but whether they do, or would thrive 
as far south us Volusia C'ouuty I do not know. 
I think it extremely doubtful whether any of 
our Northern varieties would succeed any¬ 
where in the State. Gooseberries ditto. They 
are as unknown to rnauy of the people of 
Florida as some of their tropical fruits are to 
people of the North. 
Asparagus l am told does well in the State 
A 
