spend three-fourths of the money for fruit, 
and I could do better work with the money 
thus spent. As it is, l can provide my own 
fruit, and thus enjoy good health aud save 
money together. A. H. s. 
Bucks Co., Pa. 
pernicious by those who are interested in its 
suppression, is hedged about with severe pen¬ 
alties. Take another case in Indiana and 
perhaps other States. The sale of fertilizers 
is forbidden under penalty except those anal¬ 
yzed by the State Chemist. Every package 
must be accompanied with a tag giving the 
analysis of a sample, made by the State chem¬ 
ist, which may have been done with some 
other package a mouth previous, or a year or 
five years for what I know. This law is al¬ 
most prohibitory as l happen to know, makers 
of fertilizers refusing to go to the expense of 
analyses to introduce their wares hero. Now 
it is well to have every article of commerce 
up to the standard to prevent imposition; but 
how does it happen that this particular article 
is singled out for legislation while a multitude 
of articles of food and drink,which it is vastly 
more important should be free from adultera¬ 
tion, are left unprotected? Here is au article 
that, if hot up to the standard, could cause no 
other harm than the loss of a small sum of 
money, while the others with their dilutions 
aud adulterations not only cause a loss to the 
inhabitants of the State of a thousand times 
as many dollars, but also a loss of health that 
cannot be weighed with dollars. There seems 
to be something wrong in the treatment of 
these questions, and why is it? Have man¬ 
kind in the end of this boasting nineteenth 
century so little sense that they cannot dis¬ 
criminate any better than this? One thing is 
to be noticed, these discriminations are made 
iu the interest or supposed interest of the 
farmer—is there any significance in this fact? 
Crawfordsville, Iud. J. a. f. 
Farm Dogs. —I take the ground that, a good 
dog can more than earn his living on a farm. 
There is as wide a difference between dogs as 
between men. That is saying a good deal. A 
cur is of no use at all, and yet 00 per cent, of 
the dogs found on farms are curs. That is 
why the farm dog has such a hard name. To 
my mind the best farm dog is a Scotch collie. 
I have oue that knows more than any child of 
13 years. A good setter dog is good for the 
farm, but the collie is ahead ol’ all others. 
Lenawee Co., Mich. s. E. M. 
Praise for the Rural.—I subscribed for 
the New York World with the Rural “thrown 
iubut next year I shall subscribe for the 
Rural direct, and you can throw in the 
World if you like, though you now give us 
pretty nearly the earth! The Rural has 
been worth many times the subscription price 
to me. One instance will suffice. I keep a 
good many fowls, but out of upwards of 200 
phosphates from the soil, and not restoring 
them, without gradual aud final exhaustion. 
Manuring wou’t do it; elovering won’t do it; 
rotation won’t do it; and nothing less than 
putting them back in form and body will re¬ 
store lost fertility. The experiment has been 
tried again aud again, for a thousand years, 
but never with anything but fruitless results 
ill the long run. In the stock that is sold off, 
iu the grain and liny marketed, in a hundred 
ways the phosphates leave, and if they go in 
a shape not easily recognized in form and body 
they must be returned. 
Hut even suppose barnyard manure not pro¬ 
duced on the farm, could be bad for the haul- 
iug from towns three or four miles, it is ques¬ 
tionable whether it would not be cheaper to 
buy bone phosphates at a cent aud a quarter a 
pound, and sow at the rate of 2(H) to 800 
pounds per acre, than to haul aud spread a 
coating of manure that would yield as large 
results. That fertilizers originally’ taken from 
the prairies should be returned to them in so 
small a measure, while the bulk goes abroad 
to enrich foreign soils, is a reproach to the 
intelligence of Illinois farmers, a reproach that 
finds permanent expression in average corn 
yields of not more than 35 bushels to the acre; 
meadows so thin they do not make over one 
ton of second quality hay to the acre, and 
pastm es so poor that from late iu June to late 
in August, the average season, 100 acres 
afford insufficient grass for ten hearty, full- 
grown steers. Such is the present condition 
of the prairie pastures and meadows, aud such 
will they continue to be until phosphate fer¬ 
tilizers are employed at the rate of 200 to 800 
pouuds per acre. When this is done the herb¬ 
age will be double, the stock the laud carries 
increase from 80 to 40 per cent., the quality 
vastly improved and the reputation of the 
favored section restored, until it is admitted 
to be the garden of the country and the heart 
of the meadow world. In a sketch like this, 
covering so much ground, details of cost aud 
practice are necessarily omitted, the chief 
object being to enforce the essential truth that 
there cau be no permanent restoration of fer¬ 
tility, except by the use, in form and body, of 
the phosphate fertilizers. 
The Rural Ahead.—I take from six to a 
dozen of the best agricultural and horticul¬ 
tural papers, but the “Rural” distances all the 
others by far. I consider its chief attraction 
to bo its originality, the use of brains rather 
than of scissors and paste. Of course a 
paper made up of judicious clippings from 
others has a value to those who can take but 
one, but to me they seem like second hand 
goods. o. o. grid ley. 
Kankakee, Ill. 
Wanted Too Much.—I met a man the 
other day who thought a mistake had been 
made iu the economy of nature when the 
horse was made as he is. This man wants a 
beast of burden that has all the intelligence, 
speed aud strength of the horse, but which 
cau still bo turned into food when its days of 
usefulness are over. Now is not this about 
like the arguments of the general-purpose-cow 
men? It seems to me so. h. GRAY. 
Summit Co , Ohio. 
tion they pass the winter. The flies begin hatch¬ 
ing from the pup® about April 10, and in a few 
days more the eggs for the summer brood are 
being laid ahout the lower joints of the 
straws. Here the pests feed as in the fall, by 
absorbing the juice of the straw,and the stalk 
usually becomes so weakened as to break and 
fall to the ground before the head fills. 
Remedies. —The most significant of all the 
remedies for this depredator of our wheat 
fields are its insect parasites. Were it not for 
them, it is not probable that winter wheat 
could he raised profitably at all. The old 
remedy of sowing late to escape the attack of 
the fly is going into disuse, aud for very good 
reasons. If it could be certainly known when 
the tiles would appear in large numbers, this 
would be the advisable thing to do, but the 
fact is that we can never tell one year 
whether they will be numerous the next or not. 
This being the case, with the fact that iu the 
majority of cases the fly is not present In de¬ 
structive numbers, it is plain why the farmers 
think they do best, takiug one year with an¬ 
other, when they sow hardy grain upon strong, 
well-tilled ground in t he proper season. Late 
sowing will not save a sickly growth of wheat 
in the spring from the attack of the flies that 
come from a neighboring field to lay eggs for 
the summer brood. It is only the fall brood 
that is escaped lit best, and the probability is 
that there will not be flies to seriously trouble 
that. For these reasons I am strougly in 
sympathy with the idea that more attention 
should be given to thorough tillage, a rich 
soil, and hardy varieties, aud less to late sow¬ 
ing. 
the wheat midge. 
This little pest probably would rank 
next to the Hessian Fly as an injurious insect 
upon wheat. It very much resembles the lat¬ 
ter in appearance, but is smaller, being only 
one-tenth of an inch iu length. It also differs 
from the Hessian Fly in being single-brooded, 
and in doing its injury to the growing kernel 
instead of to the stalk. The flies appear about 
the middle of June, aud luy their eggs upon 
the beads of the wheat. The little orange- 
colored larva* feed upon the soft, growing ber¬ 
ry, duriug the uight, but descend to the ground 
during the heat of the day. Hot, dry weather 
during the latter half of June is sure death to 
both larva- and flies, and cool, damp weather 
is their delight. Hence, low, marshy land is 
much more subject to attack than high, 
sandy, or gravelly soil. 
Remedies. —It is a great mistake to think 
that the larvae that come from the grain at 
thrashing Lime, do not live to produce flies. 
These larvae will stand almost any kiud of 
abuse without harm. All should lie screened 
from the wheat and chaff, and burned. Aside 
from this burning of the larvae, probably the 
only other practical remedy is to plow deep, 
using a good jointer, in hopes of burying 
those left in the field so deep that they will 
never be able to get out again. 
THE WHEAT BULB WORM. 
Mc-romym AmcrE-ami. 
This is ulso u two-wiuged fly belonging to 
the same Order as the two preceding, and its 
presence in the grain is made manifest by the 
premature ripening of the straw aud ear. 
The fly is about one-sixth of an inch iu length, 
and green in color, with three black lines ex¬ 
tending along the back of the thorax aud abdo¬ 
men. There are two broods appearing about 
the same ns iu case of the Hessian Fly. The 
Bulb Worm attacks rye as well us wheat, aud 
has been found working iu oats, l’rofessor 
Forbes thinks the only remedy is late sowing. 
If this worm should appear very often in 
destructive numbers, there is no doubt but 
what late sowing would be necessary, but if 
it is only occasionally a serious enemy, it 
seems to me it should be dealt with as 1 have 
advised for the Hessian Fly. 
THE JOINT WORM. 
This little larva of a four-winged fly did 
serious harm to cereal crops in New England 
25 or 30 years ago, and still continues to bo 
quite injurious iu certain localities. There 
are three of the Joint Worm flies belonging to 
the genus Isosomu, aud they are so much 
alike that in a general way a description oi 
one will answer for all. I can liken the flies, 
Fig. 303, to nothing better than little black 
ants with four wings attached to them. 
Strange to say, they belong to the family Chid 
eididse. The insects of this family are, almost 
without exception, our friends, being para¬ 
sitic for the most part upon injurious species. 
The Joint Worm is ilouble-brooded, the flies of 
the first brood appearing late iu May or early 
Danger of Feeding Wet Grass. —The 
practice of mowing a great quantity of green 
grass aud carrying it to the horse has a dan¬ 
gerous side; as sometimes done, I believe it 
causes colic. Home farmers cut clover or rye 
the last thing at night, while it is still w-et 
with dew, and till the manger with it. When 
a horse is not used to such treatment he is 
sure to bloat. Such a mass of wet green food 
is liable to ferment. It is safer to cut the feed 
at noon and let it wilt all the afternoon. 
Morris Co., N. J. h. s. k. 
A FEW WHEAT ENEMIES. 
The time has come in this country when 
everyone who tills tko soil mast tight insect 
enemies or fail to reap a plentiful harvest. In 
order to wage a successful warfare upou these 
enemies, it is necessary to kuow how, wheu 
aud where they will make the uttaek. These 
things known, we may plan our defense or es¬ 
cape intelligently and with little danger of de¬ 
feat. 
THE nESSIAN FLY 
is, without doubt, the most destructive of all 
HANDLING HAY. 
I wish you would advise farmers of the 
the necessity of cutting and curing hay 
early. Color has very much to do with sale 
of hay, and, besides, the farmer gets more 
weight out of hay cut early and well cured 
than if he lets it stand too long and become 
ripe, or cuts it early- aud lets it lie on the hay- 
tield too long, and spoil in curing. Too much 
care cannot be taken iu putting up the hay, or 
rather in pressing, having bales uniform in 
weight, with four light sticks of wood and 
five wire bands; the bales to weigh from 225 
to 250 pounds each. Farmers should not press 
hay- until ready to ship. Hay deteriorates in 
value much faster after it has been pressed 
than in the bay or mow of a good barn. 
New York. j. wilsey & co. 
THE HAY TEDDER 
I consider a most useful tool. It saved a 
large proportion of the great hay crop in New 
England this y-ear. Haying time was showery 
aud uncertain. We could start the mowing 
machine in the morning, cut till one o'clock, 
then put the horses on the tedder, and keep it 
going through the afternoon. By eveniug 
the hay was ready to go into the barn, and 
with the aid of the horse-rakes and horse- 
forks, it went in in a hurry-. Several days it 
happened that this rapid work saved the day’s 
cutting. H. B. s. 
Worcester Co., Mass. 
the wheat enemies iu this country-. This lit¬ 
tle insect (Fig. 301) is about one-sixth of an 
inch iu length and looks like a small mosquito 
chicks hatched last spring, I succeeded in rear¬ 
ing but 75. They seemed to weary of life be¬ 
fore they were 10 days old. Cause, diarrhoea. 
I could not account for it, as I was conscious 
of no sins of omission or commission on my 
part in the cure of them, and hud fed them, 
with Jeffersonian simplicity,on the hard-boiled 
eggs recommended by so many. But the ad¬ 
mirable article by “An Old Poultryman” in the 
Rural of April 30, put me on the right track, 
and by using his formula for feed for young 
chicks, I have not since lost a single chick by 
diarrhoea. H. a. w. 
Machado, California. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
Inconsistencies in Legislation.— When 
one contemplates the laws on our statute book 
he cannot but be struck at the disparity be¬ 
tween offences and punishment. They cer¬ 
tainly are not constructed with a view to 
mete out the degree of penalty to the offence, 
whether great or small. This is so apparant 
iu two instances that. I beg to call attention to 
wbat seems injustice as compared with other 
enactments. Take the law regulating the use 
or rather prohibiting the use of imitation 
butter by restaurants, etc., under a penalty 
of a considerable fine or imprisonment. Con¬ 
trast this in the Htate of New York with the 
statutes as to the use of liquor. It is con- 
ceeded by a vast majority of the people, in¬ 
cluding even those who use it, that liquor 
drinking is the source of immense evil; but 
prohibition of it cannot be obtained, or if it 
should be obtained it will be by a bare major¬ 
ity. On the other hand,oleomargarine that is 
claimed to be wholesome by some leading 
chemists, and not claimed to be particularly 
Hogs in the Orchard.— I have just mowed 
my orchard. Now the hogs will be turned in 
for two months. They will be given a small 
feed of grain each day, with plenty of water 
and all the skim-milk we have. They will eat 
the apples up clean, and rnuke more out of 
them than we could ever get in cider. Iu 
September the hogs will be penned, and how 
they will turn grain into fat, to pay for their 
summer freedom! s. b. s. 
Chemung Co., N. Y. 
Health and Economy. —I notice that 
“Uncle Mark” urges people to avoid heavy 
meals this hot weather. This I consider sound 
advice. I want my best meal for breakfast, 
by all means. I do not believe in the old idea 
that a man cannot do good work iu hot 
weather without a piece of meat at every 
meal. If I had to buy both I would prefer to 
filled with blood. It belongs to the order Dip- 
tera, being u two-winged fly, and is at least 
double-brooded each season, the flies appear¬ 
ing in April and ugaiu early in September. 
The full brood lay their eggs upou the leaves 
of the wheat, and the maggots, when they 
hatch out, crawl down between the leaf and 
stem. Here they take nourishment by ab¬ 
sorbing tlie juice of the tender plants, and 
