DEC 40 
THE RURAt MEW-TOREER. 
pass through it and tap the Texan traffic. 
This permission is hardly likely to be granted 
till the Territory is thrown open, so the rail¬ 
roads are using their best efforts to accom¬ 
plish this object. Thousands of white settlers 
in the Southwest are also eager to seize upon 
the rich lands in the Territory, hence the 
frequent raids to occupy Oklahoma, a part 
of it; for if one part is thrown open, the rest 
is likely to follow before long. It is probable, 
however, that the Ten itory will continue to 
belong to the Indians for a considerable num¬ 
ber of years to come. 4. Southern Califor¬ 
nia is better adapted to horticulture, pomo¬ 
logy, and stock raising than to general farm¬ 
ing, though parts of it would produce good 
crops of all products adapted to the same lati¬ 
tude. Nearly all the best sections have of 
late been very industriously “boomed,” and 
the prices have in this way been raised in 
most cases, much above the intrinsic value of 
the land. There are therefore many other 
parts of the country in which a persou with 
“only moderate means” would be more likely 
to do well in general farming than in South¬ 
ern California. As a ru’e. with some ex¬ 
ceptions , irrigation is needed to produce good 
crops. 
THE SUGAR IN CORN-STALKS. 
A. S. Level., Mil. —Why does corn-fodder 
become sour when cut rather green? I have 
seen cattle refuse to eat bright, nicely cured 
fodder, and have been told that it was because 
the sap in the fodder had undergone fer¬ 
mentation. Is this so? If it is too ripe I 
know they do not eat it well. A neighbor 
says it lacks sweetness, having lost most of 
its saccharine matter. How does it lose this 
matter? 
Ans.—C orn-stalks contain a considerable 
quantity of sugar dissolved iu the sap. When 
the corn is cut, the sap in the stalks is exposed 
to the air and fermentation logins at once, 
soon proceeding to a p»cint at which the sugar 
is changed to acid. This change occurs in 
the stalks more rapidly and considerably when 
they are green. When they are ripe the 
sugar' is hotter developed and becomes de¬ 
posited through the rapid evaporation of the 
moisture in the stalks, aud is not changed to 
acid. The more rapid the drying the less risk 
there is of any change of the sugar to acid 
If the corn is left to ripen and harden the 
grain before it is cut and the stalks are put up 
so that the air con reach all through the 
shocks aud cure the fodder quickly, it will 
retain its green color and remain sweet and 
palatal le. 
BEGINNING FARMING. 
P. C., Arm Arbor, Mich. —1. Would a young 
man be likely to make a fair living by invest¬ 
ing £ 1,500 in a farm embracing 30 acres; soil 
quite snudy—sand lulls? The place has been 
worn out by cropping without mauuring; the 
buildings need repairing; aud the whole place 
is generally neglected. Could the laud be 
brought up by the use of fertilizers so as to 
produce rcots ami stock feed profitably? 2. 
Would it be better to rent a good-sized farm 
at a fair rent—say r £4 per acre? 
Ans. —1. We should not care to buy such a 
farm at any price. A young man had better 
wait unti I u better chance occurs. Ou r friend, 
by hard, struggling work, might at length 
succeed; but. the game would scarcely be worth 
the caudle. Whether chemical fertilizers 
could be used profitably on such a farm is a 
problem we can not answer. 2. Yes, if the 
farm is in good heart, and you are already 
practically acquainted with farm work. 
W. W,, Robinson, Mich .—1 What is the 
matter with my cherry trees? They were set in 
a row by the side of a road fence from 15 to 
20 years ago, aud have never been cultivated 
or mauured, and a large quantity of small 
brush has grown up among them. Last spring 
five looked sickly aud died. The others are 
also languishing and dying. As they grow 
feeble a dark gum oozes from some of them 
and hangs iu lumps. 2. What is the best all¬ 
purpose book for a farmer who has to treat 
his own ailing horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and 
poultry ? 
Ans. —1. Most likely the cherry trees are 
dying of age and ueglect. It. is probably too 
late to save them, but by clearing out the 
brush and spading the ground about them 
they may be helped. 2. Law's Farmers’ Vet¬ 
erinary Adviser; price £3. To be had from 
Prof. James Law, Cornell University, Ithaca, 
New York. 
J. IF., Canon City , Colo— 1. Will air- 
slaked lime spread on a sandy soil enrich it? 
How much should he used? 2. Does a mixture 
of sulphur and salt with manure enrich it? 
3. What is Golden Guinea Coin good for, aud 
what is the price of it ? 
Ans. —1. Most soils do not need the addition 
of lime as a plant, food. A soil may or may 
not need it. Lime is ehiefly valuable in ren¬ 
dering latent plaut food, so to speak, soluable. 
You may use from 30 bushels up as high as 
you choose. 2. No. 3. Guinea Corn is a sor¬ 
ghum (S. cernuum) cultivated for its grain 
and fodder. It is also called Doura, Chicken 
Corn and White Egyptian Corn, It is pecu¬ 
liar in having the seed head droop over. Prob¬ 
ably it is merely a variety of the common 
sorghum. The price is 25 cents per pound. 
T. A. /?., Montreal, Can —On page 739 of 
the Rural mention is made of tbe application 
of 5G pounds of sulphate of iron per arre to 
grass.mangels,beans and potatoes.with alleged 
good results. How and when should the ap¬ 
plication be made? 
Ans. —It should be made broadcast iu the 
spring. Our own experimt nts, however, with 
the substance did not produce good results. 
Cirfn|w!)crc. 
A TRIP THOUGH THE EASTERN SHORE 
OF MARYLAND AND SOUTHERN 
AND NORTHERN DELAWARE. 
Leaving Princess-Anne, Somerset Co., ou 
the moruiug of Nov. 15, we proceeded through 
Somerset to Wicomico Co. ami thence by 
heavy, sandy roods to Sanlsbury, the county 
seat. Sanlsbury is an enterprising town of 
3,000 population. A year ago the entire busi¬ 
ness portion of the town was destroyed by 
fire; but it is rising from its ashes. Tbe saw 
aud hammer and trowel are accomplishing 
wonders, aud large, substantial structures of 
brick and stone are taking the place of the 
original frame ones. Saul-bury has direct water 
communicatiou with Baltimore, and though 
so much of a business center it is surrounded 
by a high, sandy, anti generally poor country. 
Proceeding to the North we soon cross the 
line between Maryland aud Delaware, and 
thence seven miles through Sussex Co., we 
reach Laurel, Del., a tbriling town of 2,200. 
This place has two good hotels, one of which 
we concluded to patronize for the night, and 
found the proprietor genial and the fare good. 
Continuing our journey next morning over 
seven utiles of sandy road, we found ourselves 
at Seaford, the couuty seat of Sussex. Sea- 
ford is a great oyster mart located on a salt 
water river, the Nauticoke, a tributary of 
Chesapeake Bay. Leaviug Seaford, we find 
the r< ads less sandy. The land, however, is 
generally poor. The corn crop poor and 
small. Fodder is saved here by the topping 
aud stripping process. Corn husking not all 
done. Sussex is a no-fence county. The sur¬ 
face of this county is sufficiently rolliug to ad¬ 
mit of tile being used for draining. 
A few miles northwest of Seaford, we 
again cross the State line into Caroline County, 
Md. Here we notice a decided improvement, 
iu the roads. They are put out by contract 
by the county at a fixed price per mile. Some 
of the farmers were shelling corn,using steam 
power for the purpose. There seems to be but 
little wheat sown iu this county, and that 
looks very backward and there is very lit* le 
grass. There is the same fault here as further 
south—the farms arc too large und are not 
well tilled. A large proportion of the surface 
of Caroline County is covered with pine tim¬ 
ber, composed largely of black or spruce with 
a sprinkling of yellow piue. 
Dentou, situated in the center of the county 
on the Cboptauk River, is the county seat. It 
has no immediate railroad but has direct water 
communication with Baltimore. On crossing 
the Choptauk we are astonished to find it so 
preceptil le a dividing line. The great natural 
improvement in the nature of the country and 
quality of the soil extends to the river bauk, 
and it cannot be otherwise than couceded that 
the upper half of the county is a great im¬ 
provement over the lower half. There are 
but few old peach orchards; but there are 
quite a number of young orchards not yet iu 
beariug. There are also some nurseries iu tbe 
upper end of the county. 
The next county en route is Queen Anne. It 
covers a beautiful section of country, nicely 
undulating and traversed by splendid roads. 
Iu this couuty corn fodder is saved by cutting 
off to the ground aud shocking, w hich I con¬ 
sider a sure indication of a more progressive 
style of farming. There is not so much tim¬ 
ber in this county and wkht there is is prin¬ 
cipally oak. 
Crossing the Chester River by a long, toll 
bridge, we enter Chestertown, the county- 
seat of Kent, This is a very old town. Kent 
county is a fine county and is crossed by two 
railroads, aud no couuty iu the State eujoys 
better water privileges Traction engines are 
much used here for thrashing aud other pur¬ 
poses. The country is sufficiently rolling to 
afford a great deal of water power. Pcaeh- 
growitig is the principal industry, and the 
crop of 188“ being a fuiluie, money is very 
scarce. Very few oats are grown here. They 
are quoted at, 30 cents; com, 40 cents; wheat, 
82 cents. The best of Timothy hay is raised. 
Large quantities of Osage Orange are used 
for hedging. There is no pine timber iu the 
county, and no sand; but the soil is of no one 
quality. 
Cossing the Sassafras River, we are in 
Cecil County, Md., which is a repetition of 
Kent, except that, there is more gravel in the 
soil. Eastward a few miles, once more cross¬ 
ing the State line, we find ourselves in New¬ 
castle County, Del. This county has a fine 
corn crop and wheat looks well. A short dis¬ 
tance farther and Middletown is reached, a 
live town, incorporated, lighted by electricity, 
and with both rail and water transportation 
to Philadelphia, from which it is 50 miles dis¬ 
tant. Twenty-five miles further to the north 
is the important city of Wilmington. It is 
connected with Chester, l’a., and Philadelphia, 
28 miles distant, by a stc.ue pike. The North¬ 
ern part of Newcastle County is hilly and more 
or less rocky. Delaware County. Pa , is too 
well known to need comment here. Chester, 
with its ship-building and many other manu¬ 
facturing industries, affords a good market 
for the varied products of this county of rich 
abundance. s. c. s. 
Westovcr. Md. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Michigan. 
Sethton, Gratiot Co., Nov. 23.—We are 
having splendid weather. A1 ore fall plowing 
is being done here than ever before. Oat. 
ground all plowed and some of the corn 
ground. Corn is all cribbed and fodder mostly 
in the barn or stack. Corn is all sound. This 
county is one of tbo best iu the State, soil, a 
black, sandy loam with a clay subsoil for the 
most part w ith some sand. I do not know of 
any one who has moved hero from the other * 
States who does not like the country, 
B. a. p, M. 
fin w Vork. 
Fulton, Oswego Co., Nov. 211.—Weather 
warm aud pleasant; ground dry and many 
wells failing. About six inches of snow fell 
last week, which disappeared under a gentle 
rain last night. We have had a delightful 
summer; timely showers, no high winds. Corn 
crop best iu some years. Potatoes about half 
a crop. Oats rather light. Hay crop very 
good. Live stock generally in good condi¬ 
tion. Butter, 23 cents; eggs, 21 cents per 
dozen. Pork $fi to ?0.50 per 100 pounds. Live 
hogs scarce. h. c. n. 
Ohio. 
Canton, Stark Co., Nov, 28.—It has been 
very dry here this fall; so much so that wells 
aud spriugs went dry and farmers had to haul 
water or drive stock to the streams in a great 
many parts of this county, and in tbe adjoin¬ 
ing county (Carroll) it was a great deal worse 
as that county is all hills aud vales. Potatoes 
were a short crop. Provision dealers are 
paying 75 to 85 cents per bushel for them and 
retailing them at $1. Those fanners that are 
uot. compelled to sell, are holding their potato 
crop for higher prices. Prices would be high¬ 
er here now were it uot that potatoes are be¬ 
ing shipped bore from New York State and 
Pennsylvania. No apples worth mentioning 
were produced here; but there are plenty of 
them in the market, having heen shipped here 
from New York and Pennsylvania. They are 
retailing at$1 per bushel. It has been a re¬ 
markably warm November for this part. I 
have lived here 20 years and do not remember 
that it has averaged so warm for this monlh. 
There has beeu au average acre age of wheat 
sown for next year’s crop, but it has been 
backward on account of drought. Should it 
stay warm for ten days or two weeks yet, it 
will get ready for the winter, as we had rain 
last week and could stand three times as much 
without iujury. n. w. n. 
No Violence. —There is uo earthly excuse 
for violence m any part of the United States. 
Not everything is as it should be; grant it. 
The relation between capital and labor is 
somewhat strained aud ought to be readjusted. 
True, aud undoubtedly it will lie whenever a 
man with sufficient brains comes to the front 
and tells us, uot that things are wrong—a fact 
that we admit at the very start—but how to 
make them right. We area uatiou of work¬ 
ingmen, says a leading editorial iu the New 
York Herald. Some have had more success 
t han others, hut we all work just the same. 
The merchant goes to his business as regularly 
us the shoemaker to his bench, one difference 
being that the shoemaker can strike for eight 
hours and-the merchant cuu’t. We have a 
small indolent class, but it doesn’t count. It 
puts ou insohut airs once in a while, but we 
all know that the grandfathers of these folk 
worked for their living in their shirt sleeves, 
and the chances are a thousand to one that 
the grandchildren will have to do the same 
thing. We have kicked the law of primogen¬ 
iture overboard and so saved the Republic. 
It is a fundamental idea with us that all work 
is honorable—manual work and brain work 
alike. ‘ Be up and doing” is our motto, ar.il 
if one refuse, why, let him get out of the way 
and not bother other people. Biit no vioknee, 
if you please. We have a very strong preju¬ 
dice against that. We don't like the smell of 
gunpowder or dynamite, and when a man 
uses these things we are apt to lose our tem¬ 
per. Tf.you are not getting on atone thing, 
try something else. If you dou’t like the peo¬ 
ple of Chicago, and the way they conduct pub¬ 
lic affairs there, open your mouth and say so. 
It does no Lnrm to talk. But it is decidedly 
ungracious for a man to iusist-on staying iu a 
place that he doesn’t like when ho has the 
whole country aw ay back to the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains to emigrate to, and when the Govern¬ 
ment stands ready at any moment to give 
him a good farm for next to nothing where 
he can be free from all the ills that society is 
heir to. 
Care of Horses. —As reported in the N. E. 
Farmer, Dr. Lormg, ex-Commissioner of Ag¬ 
riculture, spoke of horses before a. late meet¬ 
ing of farmers in Boston, Mass. According 
to his remarks as matiy horses arc injured by 
over-feeding as by under feeding. Many 
horses do not have exercise enough to dispr so 
of the food they eat. Feeding a young horse 
heavily for crowding him to over-work will 
surely spoil him, He had tried it himself. A 
horse is worth more, if not previously spoiled, 
at eight or nine years old than before reach¬ 
ing that age. Young horses are best wintered 
on hay and Swedish turnips, without grain. 
Carrots are far inferior to turnips for horses. 
A horse needs to be as well cared for as a man. 
He should have a clean stable, sound hay 
and oats, and no swarm of rats to befoul liis 
food or disturb his nightly rest. A hovel is 
uo place for a horse that is expected to lie 
useful. Never abuse a horse in aDy way; it 
does not pay. Never ask one to do more than 
it can do. A dull horse cannot be made a 
nervous, lively one by any artificial treatment 
Never keep a horse on a wood floor. It dries 
the hoof too much. Stone or brick should be 
used. With 30 years'trial of brick. Dr. Lur¬ 
ing had never had a had foot. If one pro¬ 
poses to raise col's, let him not for an instant 
expect he will raise a good one. Pigs and 
Short-horn cattle are easy to breed. They 
come alike, but there is too much nervous in¬ 
fluence in the way of breeding good colts. 
Dr. Loring had raised nine colts from the 
same parents, but no two were alike—more 
than were the boys in an old New England 
family. They weie of all sizes, shapes, colots, 
and disposition. His observation bad taught 
him that mares that have gained a reputation 
on the track never transmit their qualities to 
their offspring. Their powers have beeu ex¬ 
hausted by excessive driving. The breeders’ 
association has greatly improved the horse 
stock of tbe cities and country generally. 
What is needed to second their work is better 
treatment by horse owners. 
“Sulphur for Potato Scab.”— “Referring 
to some of our remarks on this subject, the 
Rural New-Yorker says: ’We should like 
to have Dr. Hoskins use powdered sulphur 
next year as a preventive uf scab. We have 
tried it for three years without a failure.’ if 
tbe Rural will kindly state its method of 
applying sulphur, aud tbe quantity required 
per acre, we will both try it ourself and lay 
it before our readers. The fact that, sulphur 
is a perfect remedy will certainly disprove 
the wet-soil theory, hut it will still leave a 
doubt between the fungus and insect theories. 
Let us buve all the facts ” 
As Dr, Hoskins is aware, in our potato cul¬ 
ture, we dig or plow trenches a foot or more 
wide and about four inches deep. We place 
the seed pieces a foot apart in the bottom of 
the trenches and then cover them lightly with 
soil und apply the fertilizer nu this light cov¬ 
ering. The sulphur may be spread at the 
same time or upon the uncovered seed pieces. 
We do not know what quantity the sulphur 
we have used would make per acre. Wo 
should guess that three bushels would suffice. 
Rulk is given instead of pounds., since the 
weight of a bushel of sulphur is uot known to 
us. The Rural docs uot state that sulphur 
thus used will prevent the scab caused by the 
.lulus, tut simply that iu our trials, the crop 
from sulphured seed has uot beeu scabby in 
auy case. 
WORTH NOTING. 
A writer in the London Ag. Gazette is op¬ 
posed to crossing pure bred poultry because; 
1. It deteriorates a breed, each breed losing 
its individuality. 2. It dees not, as a general 
rule, improve tbe laying properties of the 
breeds crossed. 3, It does not as a general 
rule, improve to any great extent the market 
qualities of the fowls. 4. It destroys the 
beauty and symmetry of breeds, as well as 
regularity of plumage, and other points in 
pure breeds, such as combs, color of legs, and 
other markings. 5. To sum up; it produces, 
