The Washington Seed Store. —It already 
begius to look as if the Rural were to have a 
vigorous support in its opposition to the De¬ 
partment seed business from the press and 
agricultural societies as well as from indivi¬ 
duals. The New Jersey State Horticultural 
Society protests ngaiusttho miscellaneous and 
promiscuous distribution of seeds by the Ag¬ 
ricultural Department, so called, at Washing¬ 
ton. It requests the New Jersey members of 
Congress to oppose any appropriation for the 
Seed Bureau, unless some provision be added 
to the bill restricting this costly gift-enter¬ 
prise to the limits intended by law. 
These limits are defined in section 027 of 
the Revised Statutes: 
“The purchase ami distribution of seeds by the De¬ 
partment of .Viniculture shall be confined to such 
seeds as are rare and uncommon to the country, or 
such as can be made more profitable by frequent 
changes from one part of our country to another; and 
the purchase or propagation and distribution of trees, 
plants, shrubs, vines mid cuttings shall bo confined to 
such as are adapted to general cultivation and to pro¬ 
mote the general Interests of horticulture and agricul¬ 
ture throughout the United States" 
It is a notorious fact, says the N. Y. Sun, 
that the system of seed distribution from 
Washington has been swollen to its present 
enormous cost through the desire of Congress¬ 
men to lie provided at public expense with 
little gifts with which to propitiate their rural 
constituents. About $ 100,000 a year are ex¬ 
pended in this way. It is equally notorious 
that the practical fanners thus favored with 
seed packages regard these gifts, in a majority 
of cases, with contempt, sometimes slightly 
blended with amusement. Then, too, the De¬ 
partment injures, as far as its free seeds are 
worth anythiug, the business of the profession¬ 
al seedsmen anti horticulturists. This is uot 
one of the proper functions of the Government 
of the United States. In the nature of things, 
there is just as much reason, continues the 
Sun, for a Shoemaking Bureau at Washington 
to conduct, scientific experiments in the con¬ 
struction of shoes that won’t pinch the foot or 
run down at the heels, and will last 10 years 
of ordinary usage, and to distribute samples 
of improved foot-wear among the citizens 
generally. Such a bureau would concern the 
interests of more people than the Agricultural 
Department even, and would be quite as 
legitimate a brunch of Government. Instead 
of aggrandizing the importance of the Agri¬ 
cultural Department by milking its chief a 
member of the Cabinet, Congress ought to 
restrict it to its proper limits. 
The Department of Agriculture and 
Pomology. —President Barry contributes a 
thoughtful article to Green's Fruit-grower on 
what the Department of Agriculture can do 
for pomology. As the Department is at pres¬ 
ent constituted, ho says, it can do for fruits 
what it isdoing for other farm crops,viz: Gath¬ 
er and publish monthly, or otherwise, statistics 
of the fruit crop throughout, the various fruit 
growing sections of the country. This will 
be valuable and is about all it, can do. All 
tho rest must be done by the individual States, 
and by voluntary effort as in the case of the 
American Homological Society. Mr. Barry 
is aware that the government is asked to estab¬ 
lish experimental stations all over the coun¬ 
try, and to send experts to explore the fruit 
culture of other countries. All these can bo 
done better by the individual States, and 
should be done by them. Each State knows 
best what it wants. What one State needs 
others do not need. The hardy fruits of Rus¬ 
sia, for instance, will be of little use in New 
York,and of no value whatever at the South. 
Experimental stations will be founded by the 
States, ami arc already founded in mauy 
States, and they will be much better managed 
by the States than they would be by the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture, the beud of which is 
usually changed with every change of admin¬ 
istration. A gootl many years ago, when the 
Department of Agriculture was young, it at¬ 
tempted to do something for pomology. It 
established an experimental orchard at Wash¬ 
ington, it employed artists to make models of 
fruits, and of insects injurious to fruits, ami 
these formed at one time quite an interesting 
museum. But what became of them ? What 
did they do tor pomology i He is sorry to say 
very little. Ours is not u paternal govern¬ 
ment. We are a free people and are expect¬ 
ed to help ourselves in the development of our 
industries, ami not wait for the Government 
to do our Work. The American Homolog¬ 
ical Society, without a dollar of natioual or 
State aid, has done for American pomology 
in the last "> years,more than the Department 
of Agriculture could have dune with $50,000 a 
year, ludeed all the progress we have made I 
In agriculture and kindred arts is due to State 
and volunteer societies. We mast look to 
them in the future as in the past. This, brief¬ 
ly is his view, and people must take it for what 
it is worth. If he had time to enter into this 
subject more at length he could show that even 
in most of the European countries, whatever 
has been done for the advancement of pomolo¬ 
gy, has been done by societies and individuals 
independent of the government. 
Congress and Hleuro. —Chairman Hatch 
of the House Committee on Agriculture re¬ 
ceived last Monday from Commissioner Col¬ 
umn a reply to the resolution offered a few 
days before by Mr. Swinburne, of Now York, 
in which tho Commissioner sets forth compre¬ 
hensively the difficulties met in the attempt to 
extirpate or control the pleuro-pneumouia 
scourge in the present state of the law and 
with the machinery at baud, and reinforces 
his recommendations previously made for 
more heroic methods. The Commissioner 
argues that the quarantine of infected cattle, 
even if it could he efficiently done, does not 
prevent the spx-ead of the contagion, except in 
isolated cases, and that the losses from restric¬ 
tions in trade are greater than those caused 
by the disease itself. He has, therefore, recom¬ 
mended, and does now recommend, as the only 
measure which w:ll extirpate the plague, and 
prevent tioth the direct and indirect losses, 
that wherever an infected herd is discovered 
all exposed animals be slaughtered, the pre¬ 
mises thoroughly disinfected, and the owner 
compensated for the loss to which he is sub¬ 
jected for the protection of the public. He 
urges upon the committee the necessity of 
legislation giving to the Department power to 
carry out the measures required for extirpat¬ 
ing pleuro-pneumonia untrammeled by State 
laws or State authorities, if it is expected to 
promptly suppress this disease. At present he 
can only co-operate with the State authorities 
in accordance with State legislation in the 
matter. In some States there are* no laws on 
the subject, and iu all the rest they are alto¬ 
gether inadequate for the prompt extirpation 
of the plague. There is little doubt, however, 
that strong Constitutional objections will be 
raised in Congress to such legislation as the 
Commissioner recommends. 
Cotton Seed in India.— The embargo on 
the exportation of cotton from this country 
during the civil war induced England and 
other cotton-manufacturing countries by 
every means to encourage cotton-growing in 
all other countries suitable to the production 
of.the staple. It was tried in several of the 
South American States, and iu Egypt and 
British India ou a large scale, and on some of 
the islands in Eastern Asia. Tho staple every¬ 
where proved inferior, however, and at the 
close of the war American cotton at ouee be¬ 
gan to drive cotton from other places out of 
the market. Now Egypt aud India are the 
only countries outside the United States 
where it is cultivated to auy considerable ex¬ 
tent, though recent experiments in Southern 
Russia are reported to have proved quite 
promising. A recent exhaustive article ou 
cotton cultivation on the Rutijnb, India, notes 
that 84 per cent, of the yield of cotton seed is 
retained at homo—calculated at 504,504 tons, 
iu no trade returns of India is cotton seed 
mentioned as an item of export, nor is any 
allusion made to it as an article of commerce. 
It is stated the laborers employed to separate 
the cotton from the seed are "commonly paid 
by receiving the cotton seed which they ex¬ 
tract,” and the only use to which it is put ap¬ 
peal’s to be the feeding of goats and buffaloes, 
and this only to a limited extent. It has 
sometimes been used for illuminating pur¬ 
poses. There is no reason why it should uot 
prove as profitable in India as it has in Amer¬ 
ica. The Government of India "has turned 
its attention to the development of various in¬ 
dustries—fiber, wheat, cotton, ensilage, etc., 
and it is hoped it will add another to the list— 
the extended use of cottou-seed. Here is a 
chance for American enterprise. Will the 
Cotton Oil Trust Company seize upon this ex¬ 
cellent cbaucu of extending its monopoly in 
cotton seed oil just as its congener, the Stand¬ 
ard Oil Company, is reported to be rapidly 
gaining control of the marvelously productive 
petroleum fields of Southern Russia? 
“Doctors ' 1 Disagree. —Some veterinary 
surgeons who went out to Nebraska last spring 
to make original investigations of the diseases 
of swine, particularly of what is called "hog 
cholera,” report that the conclusions reached 
by Din. Dctrnar, lgiw and Salmon are not iu 
harmony with their own observations in re¬ 
gard to the swine plague. They do uot think 
the question as to whether it is a contagious 
or infectious disease U settled, but are iu- 
elinod to the belief that it belongs to the latter 
class, in which “ the infected animal cunnot 
transmit the disease to other auimals, but cau 
carry the infectious elements in its body, and 
thereby infect other localities, through its 
excretions, which may then become centers I 
of infection to other susceptible animals as in 
Texas fever, cholera, anthrax, yellow fever.” 
A New Procesb of Toughening Wood, 
it is claimed, produces such an effect on white- 
wood that a cold chisel is required in order 
to split it—this result being accomplished by 
a specific method of steaming the timber and 
submitting it to end pressure. By this means 
the cells and filters are compressed into one 
compact mass, and some of the timber, com¬ 
monly considered unfit for use iusueh work as 
carriage building, for example, cau be made 
by this means a substitute for ash, hickory, 
etc. This method is applicable, of course, 
only to wood in comparatively small quanti¬ 
ties or sizes. 
Fish Ponds in Saxony.— A traveler in 
Saxony relates his surprise at tho large num- 
of ponds of all sizes which stud the fields in 
every direction. These ponds are as carefully 
tended as are the fields and are a source of in¬ 
come to their owners. They teem with carp, 
tench, and other fish that will thrive in slug¬ 
gish water. These are taken out in the fall 
andsohl at prices ranging from 12 to 20 cents 
per pound. The ponds are then restocked 
with a young brood, which costs from 50 cents 
to $1.25 per 100, according to size. These fish 
are left to shift for themselves until they are 
a year old, when they are usually fit for mar¬ 
ket. In winter the ponds yield a crop of ice, 
which is disposed of at a fair price. 
Cheap Fruit Driers. —Before the practice 
of canning tomatoes was introduced, many 
industrious housewives used to dry the pulp 
of ripe tomatoes on dishes in the sun aud oven, 
the seeds aud skins being strained out by pres¬ 
sure in a coarse cloth. The Americau Garden 
says that this practice is common in Italy still, 
the plants being grown iu vineyards largely, 
between the rows or against the lower bars of 
the trellis. The dried pulp is broken up fine 
for marketing. This method of preservation 
obviates the injury to health that, uo doubt, 
attends in greater or less degree, all use 
of this acid fruit preserved in tiu cans. Good 
drying ovens of sheet iron and woven wire for 
setting on cooking stoves and utilizing waste 
heat for drying fruit of all kinds, can be had 
or made for about $3, and should be in use 
in every country family where larger driers 
are not employed. 
A citizen of Focahontas, la., has invented 
a new fuel, which bids fair to take the place 
of coal in the prairie countries. He grinds 
cornstalks and coarse prairie grass together 
and moistens them. This pulp is pressed into 
blocks about 12 inches long aud four inches 
thick aud dried. One block will give an hour’s 
steady heat*. This fuel can be produced for $2 
a ton, and the inventor claims that it will last 
twice as long as the best soft coal. 
SAMHLES AND COMMENTS. 
Frobably the last article that the lamented 
Marshall F. Wilder wrote is one of a column 
or more iu length in the January issue of 
Green’s Fruit-grower.... 
If we may judge by several columns in 
Green’s Fruit-grower filled with praises of 
the new "Jessie 1 ' Strawberry, it bears the 
largest aud best berries and the plants are the 
most robust and productive of any known 
variety. We shall test it next season. 
Cleveland’s Alaska Fea introduced iu the 
Rural’s Seed Distribution of 1885, is regarded 
by Cohnau’s Rural Work! as the earliest pea 
in the market aud the best of the earliest peas. 
John J. Thomas— we kuow of no better au¬ 
thority—says that the Shaffer for rampant 
growth and productiveness, as grown on his 
grounds, is unexcelled. The berries are more 
than three fourths of an inch in diameter, soft 
aud dull in color. Next for strong growth he 
mentions the Marlboro. The fruit ripens 
early aud is handsome in appearance, though 
tho quality is uot high. 
At the fat-stock show (Chicago) one dealer, 
according to the N. E Farmer, admitted that 
he made a grade of butterine for the lumber 
camps which he could sell at eight cents per 
pound. Ho said it was made of material that 
was a little “off.”. 
Mr. E. F. BownrrcHsavs that a grade Per- 
cherou can do any sort of work better than 
auy other. A colt will pay for its keeping 
the third year, aud if he lues style and action 
he will sell for a fancy price the fourth year. 
If he is heavy he is good for work. A four- 
year-old weighing 1,200 to 1,300 pounds ought 
to bring $175. They cau travel eight or nine 
miles an hour, are docile, and make first-rate 
family, saddle and driving horses. He 
advised farmers to raise colts. ... 
There’s nothing that he likes better than to 
see oxen used by some other man. 
Not costly walls and elegant furnishings 
make home; love must abide within its walls. 
Ah! there lies the charmed secret of sweet 
home. So says, and effectively, too, the 
Maine Farmer..... 
Mr, Russell advises fanners not to raise 
colts. He has laid awake nights wishing some 
of his colts would die. He did not want to 
kill them aud he didn’t know what to do with 
them.... 
Mr. Russell says that there are no more 
Morgans now. There can't be, any more than 
there can be an original Smith. 
Who wrote this stanza we do not know. It 
is from the N. Y. Tribune: 
“You’ll And that luck 
Is only pluck 
To try things over and over; 
Patience and skill, 
Courage and will. 
Are the four leaves of luck’s clover.”. 
The Tribune agricultural editor calls it 
"Bureau-pneumonia.”... 
TnE Orange Co. Farmer speaks of the 
officers of the N. Y. S. Ag. Society as a band 
of beer-selling patriots, "few of whom die, 
none resign.” "The more we see and hear of 
this antiquated society,” says the editor, "the 
more anxious we are to write its obituary 
notice.”......... 
Among the mistakes iu cottage building 
mado by inexperienced parties, says the In¬ 
dustrialist, that of constructing narrow chim¬ 
neys is one of the most frequent. A large 
number of smaller cottages have flues meas¬ 
uring but 8 by 8 or 4 by 16 in the clear, while 
a chimney intended to serve a coal stove 
should measure at least 8 by 12, 12 by 12 or 8 
by 16 inches; and where two stoves are con¬ 
nected with the flue, at least 12 by 10 of 16 by 
16 inches..... 
A chimney, saysTrof. Walters, should rest 
directly upou the foundation wall, should be 
straight aud perpendicular, should have ample 
flue space, should be neatly plastered on the 
inside, aud should extend several feet above 
the roof—the more the better... 
The Prairie Farmer makes two objections 
to the Hatch Bill. First is the lack of compe¬ 
tent men to properly conduct the stations; 
second, that the amount to be appropriated is 
too small. “It ought to be four times as 
great.” The bill appropriates $15,000 dollars 
to each State, which amounts to about $750- 
000. The Farmer would make this at least 
three millions. Our owu opinion is that the 
sura of $15,000 is enough to enable auy State 
station to conduct in a thorough manner all 
experiments which will be likely to prove of 
service to the average fanner.. 
COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED FOR THE WEEK ENDING 
January 1,1S37. 
F. A. G.-S. B.-E. G.-C. R. M.-W. F. B—J. O. L„ 
yes—N. F. D.-J. O S.-J. E. M.. thanks—C. H. E.-L. M. 
M.—J. D. T.. thanks—B. H.—B. F. J.—T. T. L.—R. L. B. 
-F. A.-R. B. C.-p. D. K.-H. G. O. E.. thanks-D. H.- 
W. D. G.—G. M. M— K. Van D. thanks.—B. F. J.—F- A. 
—A. O.—A. 8. A.—W. G. L. D.—U, M. MUnger. thanks.— 
J. P. S., thanks-J. S. W.—J. L. B., thanks-d. H. H.— 
H. M.—J. H. P.-D. B.B.-T. W. W —M. B. P.-J. L. B.— 
J. A.-H. C. G.-W. FT. S.-E. W. P.-H. H.-B. G.-C. A 
R’-T. T.-C. * B.-W. H. N.-M. H.-C. L. B.. the seed 
distribution wfll begin about the first of next month— 
R. C.—A. E. M. B.—A. B.—W. H. C., we are behind In 
our answers to questions—O. A. C.. later—F. D. C_H. 
S. —A. L. J.—B. B.—H. C.—C. A. L. (Mrs.), yea—H. B. S., 
thanks—G. G.-J. H. S..-H.C. G.,—W. T.. thauks-E. 
S. E.-A.A. C.—W.R. S.—C. D.-J. F. G.-S. C.-J. H. 
Jr.-E. W. S.—T. H. Y.—W. D. P.—H. S. C.— 
gUi.scvUauvau.s Advertising, 
SPRING VEGETABLES ANO FLOWERS. 
Also Early aud Prime Tobacco Bed Plants. 
FARMKBS, G ARDENEtts, and Floiusts, use the PATENT 
PROTECTING Cl-OTH originated and prepared only 
by undersigned, it is equal to glass sash tattd costs 
but tenth as much) on Cold Frames and Hot Beds, and 
for Tobacco Plant Beds tui* nn equal. Protects from 
front. Promote iiardv and rapid growth. Don’t 
shrink or decay rapidly. Widely known, srrcnglv 
endorsed, and freely used by large growers. Retails 
forS. 6, aud 9 els per yard, an*I Is 3a Inches wide. Send 
for circulars. Samples, etc., free. 
1. S. \V A T Kit PROOFING FIBRE CO., 
5ri SOUTH STREET. NEW YORK. 
MRECH’g PROLIFIC QUINCE* 
LAW SON, KIEF FER, O ET A O C 
and LECONTE “ fc A K O, 
Km wire State, GRAPEVINES, 
and Marlboro RASPBERRIES 
and Jewell STRAWBERRIES 
A Complete Stock of everything desirable to plant. 
Send immediately ror price list ami,ireolars. Address 
AV E8T JERSEA N l KSElt Y Co.,Bridgeton,N.J. 
MILL CO., 
MIflufKteTTO of It U!H1- 
ST VNDAKD BURR SI 
G KIN DING ...J FLOP I 
111 1.1. 1 of »U ■(.*•, La*! vxrVj 
Suuo, W»im-, 
,k ll&od 
P'swssltn; gooM 
ty »a,t <tur»hUi 
.■tv MU! wa 
•h> fntnbl w 
for it. W rito (or par Lrt 
trxlvd vfttulogutt unit d 
this pj»i»*r. TheKdw.il 
Co. New Hivea.Ct., or Colon 
KilTSFORD W t«ft\ BOLSTER SPRITS 
Raises spring board only tlve in¬ 
ches. NY in ntj.Sim pit' and IMirtible. 
For sale by dealers or address 
Peoitrej A Oareoo, tovhport, N. X. 
