•a colored plate of pansies is one of the best we 
have seon. 
TheStakbr Seed Co., Mount Lebanon, 
N. Y.—A descriptive and illustrated catalogue 
a n l amateur’s guile to the flower anl vegeta¬ 
ble garden, also several circulars of special¬ 
ties including Cleveland’s Alaska Pea, which 
at deems ‘‘the earliest, purest, most prolific, 
best in flavor, bast keeper in the pod, best 
•color when shelled,” etc. The catalogue is a 
good one. 
Waldo F. Brown, Oxford, Ohio.—Twenty- 
first Annual Price-list of seeds of all kinds. 
In connection with his seed business Mr. 
Brown offers for sale various articles which 
are mole l on every farm, such as buggies, 
harness, sowing-machines, harrows, plows, 
potato diggers, corn planters, drills, rakes, 
milking tubes. Finally he offers thorough¬ 
bred poultry. 
B. L. Bragg & Co., Springfield, Mass.—An 
illustrated catalogue (90 pages) of seeds, farm 
implements, fruit trees, small fruits, etc. 
Here we have a new oat, the Wide Awake; 
the Top-Over Corn and a new potato the 
Hampden Beauty which is said to be as 
early as the Hebron, an abundaut yielder, 
a good keeper aud of the first quality. 
-"J. M. MgCullouou's Sons, Cincinnati, 
Ohio.—A large, comprehensive catalogue of 
garden, field and Bower seeds; plants, vines, 
bulbs, roots and farm and garden implements, 
etc. “A year’s work in the garden” will 
prove a reminder of the m03t important work 
to.be thought of for every month in the year. 
Robert B gist, ,Tr., Philadelphia, Pa.—An 
illustrated catalogue (110 pages) of seeds of 
all kinds— a first-rate list. Those who need 
instructions us to preparing a kitchen garden, 
constructing cold-frames and hot-beds, etc., 
will fiud them in this well-arranged cata¬ 
logue. 
Francis Brill, Hempstead, Long Island, 
N. Y.— Here we have a price-list of seeds for 
market gardeners and others. Mr. Brill’s 
•cabbage seeds, especially, eujoy a high repu¬ 
tation for purity. 
Ellis Bros., Keene, N.H.—Illustrated cat¬ 
alogue of such popular plants as Fuchsias, 
Pelargoniums, Chrysanthemums, Carnations. 
Eggs of several of the best breeds of poultry 
are offered also. 
A. W. Livinoston’s Sons, 96 N. High St., 
Columbus, O.—An illustrated catalogue of 75 
pages of all kinds of seeds. Mr. L. is the orig¬ 
inator of tha best varieties of tomatoes in cul¬ 
tivation. 
J. W. Hall, Marion Station, Somerset Co., 
Md.—Price list and descriptive catalogue of 
‘•High-bred Seed Potatoes.” 
C. E. Allen, Brattleboro, Vt.—An illus¬ 
trated catalogue (97 pages) of seeds, plants and 
small fruits. 
Cole <& Brothers, Pella, Iowa.—An illus¬ 
trated seed catalogue and guide. 
J. 0. Manson, Harford, Sus. Co., Pa.—A 
catalogue of seeds. 
miscellaneous. 
Stained Glass Substitute. Circular 
from W. C. Young, 795 Arch St., Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa. This material is used for ornament¬ 
ing windows, doors, tmnsoms, etc. It costs 
from one-thirtieth to one-teutb as much as 
stained glass, and for all practical purposes is 
just as good. There are hundreds of churches 
in this country that would bo greatly beauti¬ 
fied by the use of this material. The ladies 
should look into this. 
FARMERS’ CLUB. 
(Continued from page 170.) 
ARBORICULTURAL. 
A. C. (?., Plumsteadville , Pa .—Where can 
I get hardy eatalpa seeds, and what do they 
cost? 2. How must they be treated? 
Ans. —1. From J. M. Thorburnifc Co., 15 
John St., Ntnv York. Twenty-live centsau 
ounce or less by the pound. 2. It sprouts free¬ 
ly and may be sown in any well-prepared soil 
and covered half an inch. Sow in drills. 
DAIRY. 
A. B. B., Pendleton , Kan .—Which would 
be the cheaper food for milch cows—wheat 
at 60 cents per bushel or wheat bran at §1 per 
cwt ? 
Ans. —The bran, by all ’means. The wheat 
contains eight pounds of protein, 63 pounds of 
fat, and 39.6 pounds carbohydrates. The bran 
contains IV i pounds protein, 3'^ pounds of 
fat, aud 53.6 pounds carbohydrates. 
FARM topics] 
MANURIAL VALUE OF TOBACCO REFUSE; 
SWAMP MUCK. 
J. B., Union, N. Y .—I can get the fine to¬ 
bacco (dust) from cigar factories seven miles 
away for? I per box of 390 to 490 pounds; 
aDd another sort of wast9 consisting of bits of 
leaves, for 2> 'cents per box of 299 to 25. 
pouu Is, while tobicoo stems can b8 got for $2 
per ton of 2,009 pounls. Will any or all of 
these pay as a fertilizer on a gravelly anl 
sandy soil used for truck farming? I have a 
muck patch where the tnuek is fro u one to 3o 
feet deep an l lo oks as if uvula or decayed 
grass, moss an 1 bushes, drying out in the hot 
sun until it uiikos a goo l fire in the stove; 
becoming pulverized when exposed to frost. 
Would it be a lvisable to spread four or six 
inches of this on the land at tha opening of 
winter, leaving it exposed to alternate freez¬ 
ing an 1 thaw,ng till spring, and then mix it 
thoroughly with thesoilby plowing? Auother 
man an 1 myself with a horse anl cart, could 
put out 29 to 3J loads a day. Pretty coarse 
horse manure ousts 75 cents to SI per one-horse 
load 1!^ mile away. Wnich is the b3sfc and 
cheapest? Should tha tobacco waste be com¬ 
posted with either yard manure or the muck, 
or spread alone around the plant? 
Ans.—T he price mentioned for tha “dust” is 
the value of a ton of the refuse tobacco for 
fertilizing purposes. Tobacco contaius a large 
quantity of ash, and rhe ash is exceptionally 
rich iu potash and lime. Dr. Wolff’s tables 
give 24.03 as the per cBntof the ash in to uacco, 
and tha potash as 27.4 per cent of tha ash, the 
lime as 87 per cent aud phosphoric acid as &0 
percent. Thasa figures differ widely from 
more recent analyses made by American 
chemists. Professer Goessmvn, of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Agricultural College, for instance, 
gives the following figures; total ash. 12 53 per 
cent, and pitash 6J per cent of this amount, 
lime, 29 per cent au l phosphoric acid, 4 per 
ceut, the money value being $14.66 per ton. 
The nitrogen, equal to 2.65 per C8nt, makes up 
the large part of this valuation. The leaf 
waste at 25 cents per 209 pounds is evidently 
a cheap fertilizer. This waste material may 
be used on any soil, and the best way to use it 
is to compost it with stable manure aud some 
coarse materials, as swamp muck or other 
suitable matter. Swamp muck such as de¬ 
scribed, must be very useful applied in tha 
way described, but a dressing of lime—39 or 
40 bushels per acre—spread on the land after 
the muck is plowed in would be desirable. 
The tobacco stems, swamp muck and what 
manure you have, put into a compost, would 
be an excellent fertilizer an l cheaper than the 
manure at the price mentioned. The tobacco 
stems contain ouly 10 per cent of water and 
consequently there are 1,S00 pounds of dry 
matter iu a ton: coarse manure will have 75 
to 80 per cent of water iu it and therefore only 
250 or 200 pounds of dry matter for the ton, 
and it is less rich in the most costly element of 
fertility than the tobacco refuse maaure. 
Such swamp muck as is described will proba¬ 
bly contain 20 to 60 pounds of nitrogen to the 
ton, worth 15 cents a pound as soon as it is 
made available. 
BURNING BONES. 
E. C. B., Wilmington, 1 7 l .—In a late Ru¬ 
ral Dr. Hoskins says burning boues is the 
most effective way of reducing them to a fer¬ 
tilizer. How can they be best reduced in large 
quantities—by the ton or more—and on what 
crops would they have the best effect. I can 
get bones here at $10 per ton; are they worth 
that price? 
ANSWERED BY DR. T. H. HOSKINS. 
The bones are collected during the summer, 
and kept under cover, so far as it is conve¬ 
nient to do so. In the fall a good foundation 
of dry refuse woo l is laid on the spot where 
they are to be burned, which should be where 
the fumes will not reach t he buildings. Then 
a layer of bones, six or eight inches thick, is 
laid; then half as much wood, aud so on until 
the pile is completed. The lower tier of wood 
should have some good kindliug material 
amougst it, so that it can be easily lighted on 
the windward side. As soon as the heat gets 
up, a large amout it of fat stews out of the 
hones and drops into the fire, creatiug a fierce 
heat, which, if the pile is properly made and 
the fire well managed, will bugn every bone 
quite white iu n few flours. As soon as the 
heap is cool enough these burut bones should 
be placed under cover, to prevent them from 
beiug wet, and ou a strong, heavy floor, to be 
beaten with an implement like a pavior’s ram¬ 
mer. The operator soou learns how much to 
spread out at once. A riddle with four or five 
meshes to the inch is used, and every bone 
that does not pass through is thrown aside un¬ 
til the Whole pile is gone through with. This 
harder residue is then pounded again, sifted 
aud then a third time pounded aud sifted. 
Some pieces will still be refractory, but only 
a small percentage of the whole. These can 
be kept for the next burning. In regard to 
the question whether it will pay or not, [ cun 
only say it pays me. But every one should un¬ 
derstand, what few farmers have yet learned, 
that bones alone do not make a complete fer¬ 
tilizer capable of taking the place of dung, or 
of a complete commercial fertilizer. They sup¬ 
ply phosphoric acid only, in combination with 
lime, aud to be useful there must be the due 
proportions of potash and nitrogen added. 
M. L. W., Butler, Mo .—When is the best 
time of the year to cut do wa trees and bushes 
to prevent sprouting, anl how high above 
grouud should they be cut—l want to clear 
my land as quickly aa possible? 
Ans. —We have bad best success where the 
lanl wai cleared during the hottest part of 
the summer. If the rapid clearing of the land 
was [the only object, we should cut at once, 
and use the grub hoe on the roots at every 
spare moment, 
J. E. M ., Orange C. FI., Va .—What is the 
best way to get rid of rag-weed in a clover 
field, and where does it come from? 
Ans. —Tnis is botanieally known as Ambro¬ 
sia artemisael’olia—an annual herb. It 
blooms in late summer. A very rank growth 
of clover will subdue it. There is really no 
way of getting rid of it, except by the clean 
cultivation of hoed emos. 
FIELD CROPS. 
PLANTING POTATOES ON SOD LAND. 
J. R. FI., Franklinville, N. Y. —In planting 
five acres of potatoes the coming spring on a 
gravelly soli, under pasture for 15 or 20 years, 
what kind of fertilizer should be used, and 
where could I get it? What variety should I 
plant (Burbank or Early Rose), and how should 
the “seed-pieces” be cut? 
Ans. —We would have plowed it last fall. 
Plow as soon as the land will .“permit. We 
should then use a shovel-plow, or, if that is 
not at hand, plow both ways, forming a 
trench. Plant the seed-pieces a foot apart, 
and cover slightly by running a drag over the 
land. Then sow evenly, at least 600 pounds 
per acre, of high-grade potato fertilizer in the 
trenches , and plow the soil back. Let the 
double furrows (or trenches) be three feet 
apart. Do not hill up. For a large crop of 
shapely potatoes, the State of Maine would at 
present be our choice. We should cut the po¬ 
tatoes to two good, strong eyes, with all the 
flesh possible. The fertilizer cau be pur¬ 
chased of any of the many fertilizer firms ad¬ 
vertising in the R. N.-Y. 
W. S. IF., Haley, Tenn. —Where can I ob¬ 
tain Tankard Carrot ? I wish to sow a 20- 
acre meadow with Red Top, Orchard Grass 
Timothy and Clover or Alfalfa; which of the 
two last would be the better, and where can 
Alfalfa seed be got? 
Ans. —There is a yellosv Tankard Mangel, 
but no Tankard Carrot that we know of. The 
seed is sold at 90 cents per pouud. Any 
seedsman should be able to [supply it. Ex¬ 
amine our advertising columns for names. 
Alfalfa cannot be grown with grass as clover 
is. It requires the whole ground. Alfalfa 
seed can be procured without any trouble. 
Sherman & Co., of Louisville, are probably 
the nearest source of supply for you. 
N. J/., Hutchinson, Minn. —What grasses 
shall I use to make a permanent pasture on 
strong land? 
Ans.—S ow Timothy, four pounds; Ken¬ 
tucky Blue Grass, seven pounds; Orchard 
Grass, four pounds: Red Top. four pounds; 
Perennial Rye Grass, four pounds; Mammoth 
Red Clover, six, and White Clover, four 
pounds per acre. 
E. R. B., Fayetteville, TFis.—I want to sow 
barley and seed down a field which yielded 12 
bushels of wheat per acre last year; will it 
pay to borrow money at seven per cent, to buy 
fertilizers for it? 
Ans.—T aking the case just as it is stated, 
our answer is, No, it will not pay. 
HORTICULTURAL. 
PLANTING CABBAGES. 
A Subscriber , Marion, Va. —A small plot 
of sod ground, with a clay subsoil, on which 
lime was scattered the year before, was plowed 
up last fall and winter ami planted with corn 
iu the spring. 1 want to plnur. the same in cab¬ 
bage this spring: which would give the best 
returns, first, to cover with a coat of raw 
stable manure[and plow, say, four or five inches 
deep, and afterwards plow again six or seven 
inches (as the soil is not very deep), or second, 
to plow to the same depth, say six or seven 
inches, and put the same kind of manure ou 
top—in both eases cabbage fert ilizer to be used. 
The ground might bear plowing to a depth of 
eight inches. 
Ans. —VV'e would recommend that the land 
be plowed early, as deep as it will bear with¬ 
out briuging any crude soil to the surface. 
Then with the best tools at your command 
work it thoroughly after every rain hard 
enough to pack it. If you have a disk or Acme 
harrow, there is nothing better, but cultivat¬ 
ors (either one or two-horse) will answer. Put 
manure in flat piles not more than four feet 
high aud turn it every ten days or two weeks, 
until it is perfectly fine. It will pay to give 
it at least four turnings. Apply th9 manure 
two or three weeks before planting ani’with 
the harrow work it into the soil thoroughly. 
Wethink it would be profitable to sow theseed 
where it is to grow au l save the labor nfjrans- 
ptanting. You can make a sled to mark it off 
any distance you desire and mark three or 
more rows at once. Mark both ways and drop 
the seeds at the checks, covering them with the 
foot. You must of course plant the seedsome 
weeks earlier than you would set plants. We 
think Flat Dutch Cabbage could be planted 33 
inches apart each way, which gives nearly 6,000 
plauts to the acre. 
L. D. F., Naples. Can. —1. Are blackberry 
roots, taken from the tips of the second year’s 
growth, as desirable for settiug out a planta¬ 
tion as tips taken from the first year’s setting, 
provided they are strong ami healthy? 2. 
Would it be advisable to fertilize a field, de¬ 
signed for setting out black caps this spring, 
with bone meal, muriate of potash aDd coarse 
barnyard manure, before plowing it in spring; 
then harrow and sow the other fertilizer 
broadcast? 3. Would a three-year-old planta¬ 
tion of black-caps be benefited by an applica¬ 
tion of salt aud ashes before plowing it in the 
spring; if so, what proportion should the 
salt bear to the ashes? 
Ans.— 1. We know of no difference. 2. Yes, 
it would. Your view is exactly right, we 
believe. 3. No, we have no faith in salt. 
The ashes will be good, no doubt. 
J. R. G., Walkerto n , Fa.—What are the com¬ 
parative merits of the Crimson Cluster, Jew¬ 
ell and Jessie Strawberries as to prolificness, 
size, and quality for family use? Are they 
superior to the Sharpless? Where can the Jes¬ 
sie be obtained t 
Ans.-T hey cannot as yet be compared. 
Crimson Cluster aud Jessie have yet to run 
the gauntlet. Chas. A. Green, Rochester, N. 
Y., is the introducer of the Jessie. 
J. J. L., Messoula , N. F.—Why do my 
tomato plants die—they look as if a string 
had been tied around the stems near the 
ground? 
ANS. —The trouble is either that they are 
kept too wet, or that there is some insect or 
insect grub in the soil. Transplant at once to 
a mixture of garden soil and sand well mixed 
together. 
H. W. H., TF, Walworth, N. Y. —Is‘there 
a black, thornless raspberry? 2. Is The Story 
of a District School published in book form? 
Ans. —The Davidson’s Thornless isjpracti- 
eally thornless. So also is the Springfield. 
Some say they are the same. 2. No; it was 
written for the Rural New-Yorker by one 
of its editors. _ 
POMOLOGICAL. 
APPLES AND PLUMS FOR CENTRAL OHIO. 
“ InquirerLewis Center, Ohio. —1. Are 
any or all of the following varieties of apples 
suitable for General Ohio: Rome Beauty, 
Mother, Melon. Primate, Stump, Salome, 
Kirkland, Kentish Fillbasket, Calvert and 
McIntosh Red? 2. Plums: Moore's Arctic, 
De Soto, Weaver and Wild Goose? 
Ans. —I. Rome Beauty being a native of 
Southern Ohio, would doubtless succeed in 
Central Ohio. Mother, a native of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, aud Primate, believed to have originated 
in New Jersey, nearly iu the latitude of Cen¬ 
tral Ohio, would doubtless prove successful 
there, Melou aud Stump, natives of New 
York, would probably ripen in middle or late 
autumn in the above latitude. Salome, which 
is hardy and productive on the prairies of its 
native State, has not been properly tested out 
of its place of nativity, but it will surely 
prove hardy enough for Central Ohio. Kirk- 
laud is so little knuwu anywhere away from 
its place of origin that little cau confidently 
be said respecting it. Kentish Fillbasket 
seems to succeed everywhere at the north and 
east of the prairie regions, but is nowhere es¬ 
teemed valuable, anil the same may be said of 
Calvert. McIntosh Red is a recent variety, 
valued for its great, hardiness. It would, no 
doubt, prove hardy in Central Ohio. Actual 
trial there only cau determine. 2. Moore’s 
Arctic Plum, a native of Maine, is valued for 
hardiness and productiveness. It may be ex¬ 
pected to succeed in Central Ohio as well as 
do the other varieties of the class “domestiea,” 
to which it belongs. Wild Goose Plum is not 
productive north of Central Ohio, but suc¬ 
ceeds everywhere farther south. De Soto and 
and Weaver are only valued for hardiuess, 
both being native varieties, and the latter, at 
least, quite unproductive. Nothiug is known 
as to their success in Ohio. 
♦ 
S. J. S., Salt da, Colo .—I am going to plant 
more fruit trees in the spring; would it pay 
to put a beef skull under each tree when they 
cau be had for the handling? 
Ans.—W e do not see the use of it. The im¬ 
mediate decay of the flesh would as likely as 
not harm the roots—while the ultimate decay 
of the bone would uot serve the roots, which 
by that time would have extended far away. 
