either, as far as known, and a record made 
for future reference. 
Plans for future work should be prepared, 
tools, implements and harness inspected, and 
needed repairs made. All stock should be 
carefully looked after. 
Then, having taken care to provide for the 
social comfort and happiness of the home cir¬ 
cle, make yourself one of that circle and enter 
heartily into its comfort and social enjoyment. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
Soiling Notes —For years the Rural has 
urged farmers to sow a small piece of rye 
near the barn so that the cattle can get a 
green bite early in the spring. I tried it last 
year and it paid so well that I shall never stop 
the practice. There is no telling how the cat¬ 
tle enjoyed it. An armful or so cut for the 
horses went where it did good. Now, if I had 
a good patch of Orchard Grass to cut till the 
clover comes along, I am inclined to thiuk I 
should keep my cows in the barn all day and 
feed out the stalks of the sweet corn later in 
the season. a. b. henry. 
Morris Co., N. J. 
On page 3:24 the Rural speaks of its early 
advocacy of lint cultivation and drilling in of 
corn. Inquiry is made for an earlier advo¬ 
cate of the plan. Mi\ A. C. Tower, of this 
county, has been for years an earnest worker 
for the adoption of this system, and 15 years 
ago invented a cultivator designed specially 
to Cultivate Shallow. SAMUEL EDWARDS. 
La Salle Co., Ill. 
Against the Seed Bureau. — I have 
watched with much interest the views of farm¬ 
ers in regard to the Department of Agriculture. 
I have long known that the farmer had only 
the crumbs that fell from the politicians’ table, 
and I now believe as a majority they are con¬ 
tent with them. If the Department was 
properly managed in a business-like manner, 
by appointing to the offices in it, our most 
practical farmers and seedsmen, and they 
used the means at their command to intro¬ 
duce new modes of farming, new and improved 
seeds, improved breeds of horses and cattle, as 
well as the study and cure of all diseases 
which afflict our domestic animals, the Depart¬ 
ment would be of the greatest value to the 
farmer. But let us see how it. is managed:— 
First by appointing to the positions, not farm¬ 
ers, but the politicians who have secured most 
votes for the party which may be in power. 
These politicians are liberally paid, uot to 
promote the cause of agriculture, but the 
political iu to rests of their party. At the end of 
the year, what do these men show as the 
result of their experiments in agriculture? A 
lot of seeds, good, bad and indifferent, pur¬ 
chased from some favored seedsman without 
reference to their value. These are put up in 
five ceut papers and sent to* farmers by men 
iu ofiiee, who hope by this means to get the 
farmers’ vote. Whit are the seeds? Long 
Blood Beet, Strap-leaf Turnip, Flat Dutch 
Cabbage, Orange Carrots uud beaus that our 
fathers aud grandfathers raised from time 
immemorial, with the humble request that we 
test them and report as to their earliness, 
productiveness, etc. Now let us be as charit¬ 
able as possible with these men aud suppose 
they do not know nay better; but it looks very 
much as if they did not kuow “beaus” so far 
as agriculture is concerned. Farmers, let us 
demand that, the Department of Agriculture 
be managed iu a business-like munuer iu the 
interest of agriculture, or be abolished. Let 
not your eyes be blinded by a few papers of 
seeds which can be bought for a few cents a 
pound at any seed store. EMMONS pond. 
Green Co., N. Y. 
Tricking the Cut-worm.— Some of my 
choicest seedling plants have been cut off aud 
destroyed by cut-worms soon after planting. 
I have stopped this work with pieces of glass. 
The pieces are cut about throe inches square. 
These are put around each plant, standing 
them up edgewise and pressing them into the 
grouud just enough to keep them standing. 
Care is taken to keep the edges close together. 
Unless there is a worm inside, the little plant 
is safe, for the worms cannot climb the glass. 
Charlotte, Vt. j. t. macomber. 
fix I'D Crops. 
I 
DOES CLOVER ENRICH THE LAND? 
SIR J. B. LAWES. 
The extract from the New York Times 
which the lie ual has sent me is, iu a sense, 
both true and not tme. The writer says that 
it is “a mischievous error to say that, a crop 
of clover loaves the soil richer than it was be¬ 
fore the seed was sown.” Assuming it to be 
an established fact that the source of the ni¬ 
trogen is the soil and that none is derived 
from the air, it is impossible not to admit that 
to remove one or two hundred pounds of ni¬ 
trogen in the crop of clover grown upon an 
acre of land, leaves the whole volume of soil 
so much poorer, even though there is evideuce 
that the surface soil has become richer in ni¬ 
trogen. Still in our present state of knowl¬ 
edge regarding the composition of soils, we 
cannot help being influenced by the amount 
of actual food in our soils. Even upon a soil 
from which crops have been removed for over 
30 years and which has received no manure 
during the whole of the period,most luxuriant 
crops of clover have been obtained by us, 
merely because clover was not one of tbo 
crops grown and clover food (whatever that 
may be) hail accumulated, although the soil 
had all the time been losing its fertility. We 
find it very difficult to account for the im¬ 
mense quantity of nitric acid which we find 
in some of our soils after they have grown a 
leguminous crop. Although there may he 
difficulty iu tracing the source of this nitric 
acid, the fact that it exists clearly explains 
the beneficial effect obtained by the growth 
of these crops. 
Rothamsted, England. 
CORN RAISING IN TEXAS. 
In the R. N.-Y. of May 14, page 3:24, the Ed¬ 
itor speaks of his method of planting corn. 
When I came to Central Texas, 37 years since, 
I prepared the land for com and planted on 
ridges; but soon learned that- would not do to 
stand such droughts as we sometimes have. 
We now break up laud deep in the fall, leave 
it rough until plauting time, then smooth or 
level it down; then furrow it out deep with 
a two-horso plow, drop the coru with a plant¬ 
er, cover it in this furrow just deep enough to 
keep it moist until it comes up. Then we cul¬ 
tivate with a oue-horse diamoud-tooth culti¬ 
vator or a two-horse sulky with fenders on 
just so as to let enough soil go down around 
the plant but uot to cover it; then by a second 
cultivating the furrow will be nearly level with 
the soil, and the third will fill it up. By such 
a system and frequent level shallow cultiva¬ 
tion so as to keep the ground from cracking 
or baking, we find the crop withstands 
drought best, aud does not sucker as it does 
iu shallow planting. We have just been try¬ 
ing to thin ours, and find it so firmly and deep¬ 
ly rooted that we cauuot pull it up. It will 
break every time before starting. We have 
concluded to let it stand awhile until larger 
aud jointed, and if we cannot then pull it up 
we will have to break or cut it off low down 
as best we can, to thin it a. m. ramsey. 
Burnet Co., Texas. 
Death to the Potato Beetle.— The fight 
with the potato beetle has to be renewed every 
year. Half a dozen methods for killing the 
pests are reported Many large growers prac¬ 
tice hand-picking and flud it so effective that 
they continue the practice from year to year, 
We have had the best results with Paris-green 
and plaster. Many prefer the water mixture 
or solutiou of Paris-green and London-purple; 
but for reasons which we have frequently 
given, we prefer the dry mixture. A table- 
spoonful of Paris-green well mixed with two 
pailfuls of plaster will do excellent work. It 
eau be mixed on the barn floor with a hoe or 
rake or iu a machine like a Blanchard churn. 
The mixture is dusted thickly upon the plants 
iu the morning, while the dew is wet, or just 
after a rain. A muslin bag on the end of a 
stick is useful for this work and several tin 
“shakers” are made aud for sale at most seed 
stores. 
farm (Jr column). 
WHEN SHALL WE CUT HAY? 
This question comes up for discussion every 
year, aud both early aud late cutting have 
strong advocates. As a rule, farmers wait too 
long before cutting hay. They are too anx¬ 
ious to get an added bulk, and let the grass 
get woody and harsh. Of two evils, cuttiug 
too early and too late, the latter is the worse. 
To strike the condition of the grass that Is just 
right requires a long experience. A good 
hay-maker scorns to know instinctively when 
to start the mower. This instinct is nothing 
but the unconscious result, of many years of 
experiment. Two years ago the Rural gave 
the views of a number of farmers ami scien¬ 
tists on this subject. The matter is of suffi¬ 
cient importance to warrant us iu giving brief 
synopses of their opinions. 
Professor J. W. Sanborn, after experiment¬ 
ing with both weighing aud feeding early and 
late-cut. hay, writes that he would cut Timo¬ 
thy after it has gone out of bloom and after 
the seed is well formed. Clover, he says, can 
be cut after the heads are browned. Early- 
cut hay, he thinks, will excel late-cut in the 
quantity of milk per pound of hay,and also iu 
the color and flavor of the butter, but it will 
be inferior in value for maintaining the cow, 
and about even as to the total amount of but¬ 
ter from a given amount of hay. On the 
whole less butter will be made from an acre 
of early-cut hay than from an acre 
of late-cut, but makers of gilt-edged butter 
will always prefer to cut early. 
Waldo F. Brown would cut clover when 
half the heads have turned brown. If it is 
not cut soon after this, he believes that it 
rapidly deteriorates. 
D. W. Smith would cut just after the bloom 
is off the Timothy aud while the clover is in 
full bloom—not the seed bloom. He finds that 
cows seem to prefer the early cut hay, while 
horses prefer that which is cut later. 
Daniel Batchelor claims that the nearer the 
hay resembles greeen grass, the better it is for 
all economic purposes. Hence grass should be 
cut early, while it is sweet and tender, before 
the seeds are formed. Hay should be “dried 
grass.” 
L. N. Bonham would out Timothy while the 
seed is in the dough—soon after the bloom is 
off. If cut before blooming, he considers the 
work of curing increased and the weight of 
hay lessened by 30 per cent. He would cut 
clover when in full bloom which state does not 
usually occur until about one-fourth of the 
blossoms turn brown. 
F. P. Root says clover should be cut when 
fully in blossom and before any heads are 
snuffed. The Timothy intermixed will not be 
at full maturity, or in full blossom, but will 
make better and sweeter hay than when 
further advanced. 
Thus we see that authorities differ in this 
matter, with good reasons on both sides. The 
“new school” writers argue that early-cut hay 
more than makes up in qualit 3 r what it may 
possibly lack in quantity. 1 hose who cut hay 
late are the most numerous, still every year 
brings new advocates of early cutting. If 
farmers would try a little experiment this 
year—cutting a part of their hay earlier than 
usual and comparing it with that cut late— 
they might prove to themselves some valuable 
points. Let the cattle decide the matter to 
their own satisfaction. 
CUHvflricitltm'ftl. 
THE NORWAY SPRUCE AND BALSAM 
FIR. 
» william falconer. 
Nowhere in America are trees more ten¬ 
derly cared for than they are on this—Dosoris 
—island. We study their needs, and so far 
as we can, supply them. With surface dress¬ 
ings of barn-yard manure we feed the hun¬ 
gry, and from the water-barrel cheer the 
thirsty; we keep the grass about them al¬ 
ways short, and the ground under the 
branches clean at all times and mulched in 
summer. We endeavor to preserve u well aud 
evenly furnished aud baudsomel}* propor¬ 
tioned form from the base up: and it is not an 
annual, biennial or occasional trimming that 
we exercise, but continual vigilance, and at 
once shorten or remove the smallest shoots that 
mar the symmetry or beauty of the tree or 
tend to its discomfort, and suffer not a dead 
or dying twig within our reach. Purt of our 
land is very sandy and dry, part sandy, but 
well enriched, part good soil and part rich 
“filled-in” loam. The place is open on all 
sides, but in some parts sheltered by trees and 
undulations. Our collection of spruces and 
other trees is quite eutensive. 
We have many Norway Spruces, typical 
and fixed varieties, but of all the hardy ever¬ 
green trees on this estate the common Norway 
Spruce is the meanest in appearance and the 
most ungrateful for the indulgence given it. 
Within the reach of salt water spray we 
have failed to get it to live at all; unsheltered 
against our prevailing northwest winds of 
winter it gets sadly damaged, and its branches 
on the wiudwnrd side much killed or defoliated. 
Used in mixture with White. Segue, Red, 
Pitch. Scotch and Austrian Pines and White 
Spruces.in a shelter-belt on the north and west 
sides of our orchard the Norways had so 
many branches killed on the cold side that we 
now have cut out most of the trees. On the 
neighboring mainland t here are large old trees 
growing in capital loamy moist grouud. 
Their branches have a rather naked appear¬ 
ance and are full of dead, twiggy growth and 
the trees present a gaunt, forbkhliug look. 
Look at them on the Stewart estate at Garden 
City. The plants are young and should be 
well, but there are no comely trees among 
them. Visit the Central Park, New York, 
aud see the Norways there, large trees and in 
quautity; but what a wretched lot they are! 
Not a decent tree among them 1—wierd and 
worn-out, brown as a berry from the summit 
to the ground and “alive”»with red .spider. 
But the Norway is a ready grower, easy to 
raise and get up a stock of, easy to transplant, 
pretty when quite young, and in the nursery 
rows it has always a well-furnished, thrifty, 
good look about it, that will commend it to 
inexperienced buyers. It makes a good hedge 
plant. As masses or supernumeraries in plan¬ 
tations it may be used to good advantage. 
But hereabout, anyway, it is unfitted for per¬ 
manent use in ornamental gardening. So far 
as hardiness is concerned, it is nowhere the 
equal of the Colorado Blue Spruce—Picea 
pungens—nor does it bear up against winter 
winds so well as do the Tiger-tail Spruce (P. 
polita), the White Spruce (P. alba), or the 
Douglas Fir (Pseiulotsuga Douglasii) of the 
Colorado Mountains. And so far as its cheap¬ 
ness is concerned, I do believe there is more 
lasting pleasure, even to the poorest among 
us, in Maxwell’s Golden, Colorado Blue or 
Tiger-tail Spruce, costing §1 each, than in a 
Norway at 25 cents. 
Mr. Hicks, p. 336, tells ns that there “are 
many new and, as yet, but little tested ever¬ 
greens iu the nurseries, protected by ever¬ 
greens and other trees, that, when exposed to 
our changeable climate, * * * in the open 
lawns or fields, grievously disappoint the 
planter.” Maybe so; but we have many kinds 
well tested that the planter can safely depend 
on as being more beautiful and of more last¬ 
ing beauty and better able to survive, unhurt, 
exposure in our fields and lawns than is the 
Norway Spruce. 
The Balsam Fir is another easily gotten 
np and cheap tree, that under any fair condi¬ 
tions at all makes one of the prettiest of 
nursery plants. But how deceptive! It hasn’t 
left the nursery many years before its youth¬ 
ful beauty fades and it becomes and is ever 
afterwards one of the most miserable-appear¬ 
ing evergreens that you can have inside your 
garden fence. Never, in private garden, 
public park or arboretum or nursery, have I 
seen a well-furnished, handsome specimen of 
it even 20 feet in hight. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied br the name 
and address of the 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. Put questions ou aseparale piece of paper.] 
UNLOADING HAY. 
R. T. R. (address mislaid ).—What is the 
best way to unload hay ? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. I. P. ROBERTS. 
The best way, by all odds, where circum¬ 
stances will admit, is to drive or draw, by 
rope and pulley, the wagon and load into the 
very top of the barn. Some have the track 
so that either side can be elevated at will; 
this cants the load so that it can be discharged 
to one side by a very little labor. Others do 
not elevate the track, bat tie the ends of three 
ropes to one side of the .wagon-rack and the 
other three ends of the three ropes to a 2x4 
scantling, one rope being near each end and 
the other near the middle. These three short 
ropes tied to one outside bar of the rack are 
long enough to admit the seautling. to which 
the other ends are attached, to hang on the 
outside and a little below the outside bar on 
the other side of the rack. The load is thrown 
off sidewise by the horses pulling on one end 
(Continued on next page.) 
Cuticura 
a Positive Cure 
for forrr) of 
SK>n and Blood 
-^Dis^as^- 
■ ^ from —^— 
Pimples to Scrofula. 
O KIN TORTURES OF A LIFETIME INSTANTLY RE- 
O lie vet I by a warm bath wlrta Ccncunx Soap, a real 
Skin Beautlflcr, ami a .tingle application of Cuticcra, 
the great .8 km Cure, 
This repeated dally, with twit of three doses of Cirn- 
ccra Resolvent, the New Blood Purifier, to keep the 
blood cool, the perspiration pure and unlrrltuting, the 
bowels open, the liver aud kidneys active, will speed¬ 
ily cure 
Eczema, tetter, ringworm, psoriasis, lichen, pruri¬ 
tus seal I head, daudruff. ami every species of tortur¬ 
ing, disfiguring. Itching, scaly amt pimply diseases of 
the skin and scalp, with loss of htur, when physicians 
and nil known remedies fall. 
sold e*<ry where. Price, Ccncciu. 50c.: Rfsolvknt- 
$1. Soap. 35c. Prepared by the Potteb Daua and 
Chemical Co.. Boston, Mass. 
PT'Send for “How to Cure Skin Diseases.’’ 
PIM 
PLUS, black heads, chapped and oily skin pre¬ 
vented by Cuticuba Medicated Soap, 
