70S 
TUI RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
©CT 22 
KEEPING CIDER SWEET. 
F. A, H., Beattie, Kans .—What is the 
best way of keeping apple cider sweet? 
A ns. —Make it from ripe sound apples. It 
can be kept nearly sweet by filtering it 
through perfectly pure sand and at once bar¬ 
reling it tightly; but this is practicable only 
in a large way and in a cool climate. When 
freshly made It may be put into large boilers 
and gradually brought to the boiling point 
and carefully skimmed, but it must not boil. 
Theu put it into absolutely clean barrels, fill¬ 
ing to within two inches of the bung, put iu 
a tablespoonful of pure olive oil and bung 
tightly. It may also be canned or bottled 
and sealed up, but this must be done when the 
cider is boiling hot. There are lots of drugs 
that will keep eider, hut they are all more or 
less injurious to health, and they impart a 
bad taste to the cider. 
DEHORNING A BULL. 
G. W. A'., Staunton, Va .—How can I de¬ 
horn a Jersey bull over three years old? Is 
there much risk? 
Ans. —The operation of dehorning as de¬ 
tailed by Mr. HaafF, Prof. Henry and others, 
is Simple. The unimal is placed in a stanchion 
with a stout halter placed on the head. The 
halter strap is thrown over a hook in the ceil¬ 
ing and two men pull the creature’s head as 
high as possible and to one side, by drawing 
down on the strap. The hair is then pushed 
buck from about the base of the horn and a 
carpenter’s tine saw is used just where the an¬ 
nual rings start. In most instances the opera¬ 
tion is more merciful tliau cruel and the risk 
is light when intelligent men perform it. 
Miscellaneous. 
Subscriber, Fort Atkinson, TFfs.—1. How 
can sweet corn be cured for seed? If it is kiln- 
dried how great a heat oau it stand without 
injury? 2. How can tomato seed be cleaned 
for market? 2. "Were the June Eating and 
Extra Keeper potatoes plauted Ihisyear at the 
Rural Grounds? 
Ans.—1 . It is not necessary, or, in our opin¬ 
ion, advantageous to 14 kiln-dry” sweet or auy 
other kind of corn. Put the oars in a dry 
frost-proof place, and we fancy you will in¬ 
sure its highest germinative power, a. Put 
them in a barrel, after breaking open the to¬ 
matoes. Then scoop out the pulp containing 
the seeds and let them stand in a crock or 
tight barrel until fermentation takes place. 
The seeds separate readily from the pulp. The 
juice is poured off and the seeds rinsed. Then 
they must be spread on papers or cloths placed 
in the sun, very thin or the seeds will blacken. 
8. No. Our plots wore for the most part tak¬ 
en up with our own seedlings. 
Evans, Weld Co,, Col ,—I have about made 
up my mind to swing to oats this year. The 
millers are the wheat bosses. 
DISCUSSION. 
A WORD FOR THE ENGLISH SPARROW. 
A. C. B.—On Page ©23 a correspondent says: 
“Let us join in getting up a raid on the Eng¬ 
lish sparrow.” “The times are ripe for such a 
movement,” adds the Rural. The English 
sparrow is a nuisance,” etc., etc., advising 
murder, wholesale destruction, etc. Peter 
Henderson, on page 103, of “Gardening for 
Profit,” speaking of the cabbage caterpillar, 
says: “At all events, the farmer will gaiu by 
encouraging ami caring for the sparrow;” 
and he goes ou to give directions for housing 
and caring for them, instead of having “men 
and boys armed with long sticks destroying 
their nests.” I planted a row of Savoy Cab¬ 
bage near the house, where the sparrows con¬ 
gregate. They watched that row faithfully 
and not. a worm made its feeding ground 
there. On the same day I planted a row of 
Brack’s Drumhead at n distance out of the 
range of the “terrible sparrow," and the re¬ 
sult is I have spent much time iu pick ng 
and powdering to save uiy “Drumheads.” 
Early in the spring, when peas were three 
iuches high, the sparrows would walk up 
and down the rows picking something. I had 
one killed, opened his craw, and found it 
full of insects. A friend of mine came in 
and told me the English sparrow was eating 
up his cabbages entire. “Thousands of them” 
said lie; but he remarked that he did uot care 
nmeh as the “worms would have eaten them 
anyway.” I told him to let the sparrows 
alone and seethe result. Seeing him with a fine 
lot of cabbages, 1 asked him about the spar¬ 
rows and he replied that “the worms and 
sparrows loft at the same time—the worms 
inside of the sparrows.My rule is to plant 
enough for my family and the birds much 
preferring to have sound apples, peaches or 
pears and good, smooth cabbages etc., even if it 
is at the expense of feeding a few grains of 
wheat rye, etc., to the sparrow which needs a 
small change of food. I allow no hoys or 
men with long poles on my five acres to des¬ 
troy the pests etc. 
R. N.-Y.—The Rural means th a t every¬ 
thing talked about in its columns shall have a 
fair showing and a chance for a defence. We 
have long known that the sparrow destroys 
some insects, but in all our experience it has 
done more damage than help. What edition 
of “Gardening for Profit” have you? Some 
of the very men who now curse the English 
sparrow were praising it 10 years ago. It was 
first introduced into this couutry by some be¬ 
nevolent persons who thought to aid arbori¬ 
culture and agriculture by importing a now 
insect destroyer. Now, in the language of Dr. 
Merriam, who spent years in studying the 
subject, “like a noxious weed transplanted to 
a fertile soil, it has taken root and dissemin¬ 
ated itself over half aeonlineut before the sig¬ 
nificance of its presence has come to be under¬ 
stood.” The sparrow so far as we can see is a 
town bird by nature. When it goes into the 
country it is as much out of place among use¬ 
ful birds as a city thug or loafer would be 
among farm bands. We know that the spar¬ 
row pecks and destroys fruits, vegetables and 
grains. It seems to destroy grapes out of 
mere wantouness. In our plot of new wheats 
and wheat and rye hybrids the sparrows have 
caused a vast loss both in labor and money. 
They have killed or driven away many birds 
that killed iuseets or cheered us with song. Iu 
tact we believe the sparrow’s life is divided 
into one-fifth good and four-fifths harm. 
There is poor economy in protecting him on 
this basis. 
EXPERIENCE WITH A CHEAP WOOD SILO. 
A. T. T., Franklin Park, N. J.—Some 
correspondents of the Rural express the 
opinion that the moisture of silage will pro¬ 
duce decay in the walls of a wooden silo. 
My experience with a wooden silo built six 
years ago is entirely the reverse of this. It 
was built above grouud 1(1 feet deep. Hem¬ 
lock planks 13 feet long were set two feet iu 
the ground. These were painted over with 
coal tar. Against them were placed hemlock 
boards one iilRh thick nailed to the planks so 
as to break joints with the latter. Over 
these tar roofing paper was nailed and, dual¬ 
ly. again hemlock planks, two inches thick 
were nailed so as to break joints with the 
boards. The last layer of plank was also 
painted with coal tar. This season, before 
filling the silo,I prodded the inside with a knife 
and found the wood as hard its a bone—uo 
evidence of decay whatever was present—The 
entire cost was about #100, Filled, it holds 
65 tons or nearly that. It has never failed to 
do the work perfectly. It was built iu one 
end of a barn, and of course proper timber 
supports were used on which to nail the 
planks. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Itelawa re. 
Dover, Kent Co., Oct. 8.—This week has 
been a busy one among the farmers. The wet 
weather of the latter part of September put 
us back in seeding, hut this week has been all 
that any one could ask for, although almost 
as hot as summer, and a large percentage of 
the wheat has been put in, in line order: 
about theusual amount seeded. The low price 
of wheat this season has induced nearly every 
one to use cheap phosphate instead of bone or 
other high-class fertilizers. What the effect 
of this will be on the laud if continued,remains 
to be seen. Although for one crop these 
cheap goods may produce ns good results as 
high-grade materials, little is left to benefit 
the soil. The State Fair held at Dover last 
week was a success in every respect, taking 
the weather into consideration. Each de¬ 
partment was well filled with exhibits which 
did credit to the exhibitors. The speed de¬ 
partment had over a hundred entries. The 
attendance was larger than could be expect 
ed as it rained every day except one. Home 
little corn has been husked but the weather 
has been so warm that farmers are afraid to 
husk much. We have had but two frosts— 
uot. enough to do any harm. Late potatoes 
are a poor crop. Sweet are line. Tomatoes 
are iu demand and our eatiuers will not be 
able to fill their orders for them; the price 
has ndvnueed to $9 per I,(1(H). Sweet potatoes 
are being dug, and are worth 25 cents 
per basket—five-eighths of a bushel—at the sta¬ 
tions for shipping. Pasture is holding out 
well ami if this weather continues, will be 
good for another month. Times seem to be 
better, and work of all kinds in active pro¬ 
gress. a. G. s. 
Illinois. 
Godfrey, Madison Co , Oct. 5.—On account 
of dry weather crops of all kinds are short, 
starting with the strawberry and ending with 
corn. The Surprise Wheat did finely, yield¬ 
ing 90 bushels on 2>£ acres. The Garden 
Treasures have supplied flowers all summer 
The Taylor Blackberry does well here, bear¬ 
ing every year. It seems to be ns hardy as 
the Suyder and more prolific, if auythiug. 
Potatoes are worth $1.25 per bushel now; 
wheat, 65; Timothy hay, $15 per ton; clover 
hay about $10 per'ton. w. J., .ir. 
Missouri. 
Union, Franklin Co., Oct., 8. —The drought 
is over and farmers can make a full estimate 
of all the crops they have raised. Wheat is a 
full crop; oats and hay twc-thirds of one. 
Early potatoes a full crop; late ones a failure. 
Corn three-quarters of a crop owing to the 
superabundance of chinch bugs. We had a 
few peaches ami apples—not enough for home 
supply. There was no rain to do any good 
from July 3 until the last week in September. 
The weather is pleasant at. present; the ground 
is iu good condition; all farm work is progres¬ 
sing rapidly and most of the farmers have 
finished sowing wheat. Almost all cisterns, 
ponds and some springs went dry this summer 
and in some places stock suffered for water. 
Stock is now in fair condition, however, but 
cheap, and feed of almost all kinds will be 
scarce. j. k. 
New York. 
Johnson’s, Orange Co., Oct. S.— The last 
season has been remarkable for the heavy 
rainfall, although the wet season did not set 
in till past the middle of July, very seriously 
interfering with the getting of the hay crop, 
Low meadows were badly flooded, and were 
not cut till late along with the second growth. 
Some meadows were not cut at all, owing to 
standing water. The hay crop will be fair, 
but not up to last year’s. Thrashers report 
oats and wheat light crops. The corn crop 
bids lair to be first-rate. It was all cut ahead 
of the frost and ripened well. The low price 
of our staple product, milk, which Is about 
all scut to the New York market, keeps 
farmers very humble with a very light mar¬ 
gin for profit A good many who have black 
dirt raise onions which command a fair figure, 
and they realize good returns; while others to 
piece out, raise small fruits in addition to their 
farm crops, and do well. All who bad peach 
orchards have done well owiug to the heavy 
crop, although peach prices are lower than 
last year. The peach industry is causing 
farmers to look that way for relief; but the 
crop is uncertain. M H. c. o. 
North t'orollnn. 
Highlands, Macon Co., Oct. 4. —You ought 
to see our landscape, brilliant sunshine mak¬ 
ing vivid the most gorgeous coloring of the 
foliage just brought out by the ripening of the 
leaves, a touch of frost, and a rain. The clear 
air brings out each separate leaf ns distinctly 
as if carved, and one can see right into the 
trees and woods. Such perspective, due to 
the pure, clear air, I have never seen before. 
How beautiful nature is when one looks into 
it. Wu are about entering the best part of 
the year here; a sunny, bright winter, not 
cold enough for overcoats, dry underfoot and 
the clearest air possible. H. s. 
Wisconsin. 
Fort Atkinson, Jefferson Co., Oct. 1.—The 
drought made our crop small, especially the 
early varieties of potatoes, which are not over 
one-third of an average. Late varieties have 
caught the late raius, and are getting a sec¬ 
ond growth, which gives them n larger size, 
but prougy and soggy. There are but very- 
few good potatoes here of eatable quality and 
size. This is the second year of drought here, 
so the Rural seeds have not had a fairebauco. 
Last year the Alaska Pea was planted late, 
but grew so rapidly that I kept all for seed, 
and this year 1 planted them April 8th, and 
had them for the table June 8th—earlier than 
auy others in this vicinity. The New Pedigree 
Sweet Corn was very curly. Planted May 4tli, 
it was gathered for seed July 9th, but was 
very small. The melon seeds produced one 
small melon. The other seeds failed entirely. 
I planted on April 1.2th, 28 varieties of pota¬ 
toes: those that, stood the drought best were 
Jones’s Prize-taker,Potentate, Bonanza, Extra 
Early Essex, Rocky Mountain Rose and June 
Eating. Some varieties were not worth dig¬ 
ging. t. c. 
Canadian Butter Tests. —During the 
very' dry weather in the first two weeks of 
August, Professor W. Brown, of the Ontario 
Agricultural College at Guelph, Canada, 
made Some suggestive creamery experiments. 
Attached to his college is a creamery at which 
the milk from 800 cows belonging to neigh¬ 
boring farmers, is handled. The patrons are 
instructed to set the milk iu cans, 20 x 8 
inches and keep it in water not over 50°. 
Skimming is done by them, and the cream is 
gathered and valued by the Comp. Oil Tester, 
at irregular intervals, and paid for accord¬ 
ingly. The standard for one pound of but ter 
is an inch ou a cream cuu 12 inches in diame¬ 
ter, or 16 gauges or ounces iu the oil tester. 
The experiments tested the butter value of 
milk and cream from nine different sources 
on the college farm for comparison with tie- 
average received from the patrons of the 
creamery. Thirty milkings or portions of 
milkings were taken from Short-horn, Aber- 
deen-Argus, Hereford, Devon, Holstein, Ayr¬ 
shire aiid Guernsey cows, as well as from n 
spayed common Canadian cow and Hhort- 
lioru grades—in all 13 cows, running on per¬ 
manent pasture. The milk was set iu meh 
test tubes and iced water at from 4U U to 45 s -' 
for 24 hours so as to copy as nearly as possible 
the conditions of the creamery patrons. The 
average per cent, of cream from all sources 
was only 11. The mean of the three beef 
breeds — Sh0rt-horn, Aberdeen-Angus and 
Hereford—was 12 per cent, while that from 
the two heavy milking breeds — Ayrshire 
and Holstein—was only 7*:j per cent.; from 
the two acknowledged butter breeds — 
Devons and Guernseys—the percentage was 
12!£ and from the grades 12 per cent, of 
cream. The separation of mam was very 
indistinct in the cases of Devons and Ayrshire. 
The highest per cent, was a mean of 18.8 from 
the Guernsey, and the lowest (I 1 ,j from the 
Holstein. 
The oil tester showed the following quaetitv 
of butter fat, namely, ounces per inch of the 
cream can, 16 being the standard for ouo 
pound of butter: 
Durham.16V 
A. A. Poll. .17 
Hereford.... 17 
Devon .11 
Holstein. 7 
Ayrshire. iO}-.< 
Guernsey.17 
Spayed grade.15X 
Grades on permanent pasture... 16 1 6 
Mean.... ..14J^ 
The mean of 293 tests at the creamery duriug 
the same period was 13 1 ?, and for the previous 
part of the season 14. 
The cattle of the district are principally 
Short-horn grades with a touch of Devon, 
Holstein, Ayrshire and Galloway here and 
there. 
Taking the standard of 16 gauges per pound 
of butter ou the oil tester as a base for com¬ 
parison, iriespective of the quautity of milk 
and of cream, the three beef breeds—Short¬ 
horn, Aberdeeu-Augus, and Hereford—gave 
oue ounce over the pouud; the Grades exactly 
a pound; the two heavy milkers—Holstein 
and Ayrshire, seven ounces under, and the 
two butter breeds—Devon and Guernsey—two 
ounces under. Taking into consideration the 
quantity of cream, in addition to its butter 
value, the following were the results: 
Guernsey.30 per cent, over standard. 
Grades....14 “ under “ 
Hereford.IS “ “ “ 
Durham.20 “ “ “ 
A. A. Poll ....25 “ “ “ 
Ayrshire..... ..65 “ “ “ 
Devon,...,70 “ “ “ 
Holsteiu.82 “ “ “ 
Accordingly if the standard represents 
pounds of butter to 100 pounds of milk, the 
Guernsey yielded 4 l i and the Holstein two- 
thirds of a pound of butter per 100 pouuds of 
milk. This is very different from the results 
of a large number of other experiments in 
other places, and, altogether, the experiments 
at the stat ion appear to have beeu by uo means 
satisfactory. 
India ah a Wheat Producer.—T he re¬ 
port of Consul-General Bonham at Calcutta, 
British Indies, treats at length of the wheat 
interests of that country during the fiscal year 
euded March 31, 1880, The area devoted to 
wheat, was about 27,500,000 acres and the to¬ 
tal yield 289,000,000 bushels. As compared 
with the wheat, of the Pacific coast the Indian 
wheat is iuferior, but when exported to Eu¬ 
rope it is mixed and grouud with wheat of a 
superior quality, by which process a fair mar¬ 
ketable grade of Hour is obtained. The meth¬ 
od of cultivating the soil is in the main the 
sumo us it was centuries ago. and there seems 
to be great difllculty iu inducing the farmers 
to invest in modern agricultural implements, 
and yet with all the simple and primi¬ 
tive methods the Indian farmers can, 
in the opinion of the Consul-General, suc¬ 
cessfully compete with those of the United 
States in the production of wheat. This is 
due to the fact that the Indian farmer’s outfit 
represent* a capital of not more than $40 or 
$50, and his hired help works, feeds and clothes 
himself on $2.50 a month. A table is annexed 
showing that the export of wheat from Brit¬ 
ish India has increased from 800,000 ewt. in 
1868, to 21,000,000 ewt. in 1886, and 
that the increase of 1880 over 1885 
amounts to about 5,000,000 ewt. The Consul- 
General says that some of his predecessors 
