4888 
THE RURAL «EW-Y©RKER. 
843 
should not pass unnoticed. The agricultural 
press is an institution of modern times. By 
means of the press the knowledge of experi¬ 
menters and scientists may be placed within 
the reach of every farmer and farmer’s son in 
the country. Practical farmers may exchange 
useful experience and information through 
the columns of their agricultural journal 
Valuable information presented by practical 
and interesting writers makes the agricultural 
journal an interesting medium for the com¬ 
munication of new ideas and a most effective 
agent for the education of farmers’ sons 
and daughters. To realize the highest 
object of an agricultural press. I would com¬ 
bine the agricultural journal and the agri¬ 
cultural college or experiment farm. Devote 
a small portion of the weekly agricultural 
journal to the experiment or field work at 
these schools, and to giving a synopsis of the 
more valuable features, and thus make the 
press a medium to bring this valuable 
technical instruction home to the thousands 
of readers on all the farms of the country. 
Many young men who were disappointed in 
their ambition to attend an agricultural 
college, would be greatly benefited by this 
innovation upon the long-established ways of 
agricultural journals. The agricultural 
journals are a weight in the land. We have 
weeklies, monthlies and quarterlies. We have 
journals devoted to general agriculture, and 
to the general live stock interests. All these 
journals are not without considerable in¬ 
fluence. A great many farmers take at least 
half a dozen of them and the influence 
exerted in this way upon the minds of the sons 
and daughters of such farmers can hardly be 
appreciated. The reading in a farmer’s library 
should not be confined to agricultural reports 
and equally dry agricultural text books, nor 
should the journals upon the center-table be 
exclusively of an agricultural character. A 
taste for reading can be better cultivated by 
other than agricultural works. The farmer’s 
son is dull indeed who can not appreciate 
narratives of travel, discovery or adventure 
and a judicious selection of works of this class 
should be upon the shelves of every farmer’s 
library. Books purely interesting should be 
supplemented by books that are instructive, as 
histories, biographies and the standard poets. 
The farmer who takes one or more agri¬ 
cultural journals for his own convenience, 
should also provide his family with one or 
more of the American monthlies. The satis¬ 
faction to be derived from such an outlay is 
ample compensation for the money expended. 
The farmer who provides good agricultural 
journals for his own convenience and the ben¬ 
efit of his family has performed but one-half 
his duty. He should procure late and reliable 
works treating upon different classes of farm 
stock and different branches of agriculture,and 
consult these books as occasion seems to re¬ 
quire, and encourage his sons to pursue the 
same course. There is nothing that will make 
a bright, active, quick-witted boy love his 
work upon the farm more than the understand¬ 
ing that it is a work that requires intelligence 
and thought. To this end the farmer who 
cares to cultivate a love of agricultural pur¬ 
suits in the minds of his children will proceed 
to the best advantage by encouraging a habit 
of inquiry, no matter how troublesome such 
habit may prove at times, and also by devel¬ 
oping a habit or propensity to study every¬ 
thing connected with the farm. 
I have discussed briefly and in outline cer¬ 
tain of the means by which our farmers’ sons 
and daughters are educated agriculturally. 
The farmer of the future, however, demands 
something more in the way of education than 
can be acquired in the ways I have described. 
Cattle shows and the press are useful and 
valuable in their way, but the information 
conveyed is necessarily of a most general 
character. The time has come when the farm¬ 
er, to win success and a competence on the 
farm, must prepare himself by a careful train¬ 
ing and education not inferior in scope or com¬ 
prehensiveness to the training and education 
of the aspirant for professional honors. Land 
is worth too much, capital, labor and the ex¬ 
pense of living are all too costly to admit of 
any trifling in the matter of preparation for a 
life-work upon the farm. The time has com 6 
when agriculture, to be successful, must de¬ 
pend to a great extent, upon a knowledge of 
scientific principles. 
We must follow the teachings of science in 
breeding and feeding cattle, in dairy work, in 
the production of crops and, in short, in all 
the details of farm work. Science has proven 
the folly of many things hitherto accepted as 
proper and right. And hence it follows that 
our farmers’ sons and daughters are not prop¬ 
erly equipped for their life work upon the 
farm until they are well grounded in the scien¬ 
tific learning that is applicable to operations 
on the farm. A farmer should be a chemist. 
1 do not mean by this that it is necessary that 
a chemical laboratory should be established 
upon the farm and experiments involving val¬ 
uable time and labor attempted. This would 
be chimerical. It is safer and easier for the 
farmer to rely upon the labors and experiments 
of specialists, which usually cover all practi¬ 
cable ground, and are the result of the skill, 
time and labor that the farmer cannot devote 
to the subject, and on the whole are much 
more elaborate in their results than the farm¬ 
er could hope to attain. I do not urge ex 
treme special training in the farmer, but I do 
urge that the farmer should know enough of 
the principles of chemistry to make the proper 
deductions from the experiments of learned 
specialists. To this end the farmer should 
have a knowledge of chemistry as applied to 
the work of the farm, the production of crops, 
the application of manures and the feeding of 
cattle. A knowledge of chemistry will give 
the farmer a starting point, a point from 
which he can reason as to the advisability of 
any particular course which he desires to pur¬ 
sue and upon which the science of chemistry 
has a bearing. Without a knowledge of 
chemistry the farmer is not qualified to verify 
or appreciate experiments that may be brought 
to his notice and is very liable to commit the 
grossest blunders. I know of nothing that is 
so well calculated to unlock Nature’s store¬ 
house for the farmer as the science of chem¬ 
istry. 
[.To be continued.) 
(Rvttymtytxt. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
California. 
Auburn, Placer Co., July 4, 1888.— In Cali¬ 
fornia we are passing through an off year. 
Last year the rains began late and the wheat 
started late too, the winter being cold. It 
grew slowly, then the rains ceased early and 
it looked very much as if we should have a 
very short crop, but cool weather came on 
and the wheat kept growing and filled well; 
not a full crop, but better than we expected. 
I have written of the poor quality of the 
California potatoes; those raised in the valley 
and irrigated just for growth are flat in flavor 
and not good keepers. I raised my own this 
year in the foot-hills and I have excellent 
potatoes, but not as large a crop as some of 
my neighbors. Those that do not bother to 
raise potatoes, were much surprised at the 
difference in flavor between the potatoes I let 
them have and the much irrigated ones from 
below. There is the same difference in most 
vegetables and fruits where extra, size is 
obtained by excessive irrigation; it is done at 
the expense of the flavor of the fruit and the 
keeping quality also. The grape crop will be 
immense this fall, and the peach, prune and 
pear crops are good, but in the foot-hills there 
are no oranges to show this year. The 
orchards are recovering from last winter’s 
freeze and will probably bear next year. 
Down in the lower country if the thermometer 
did get so low, the cold was not as continuous 
and did not have the same bad effect as with us. 
We have several fruits they cannot grow, 
that more than compensate us for an occa¬ 
sional loss of oranges. 
You must be getting a rest hearing of the 
rapid rise of California real-estate. A big 
boom of any California town will be hard to 
start again, for there is too much country 
that can be resorted to for health and fruit 
growing. People had better stay on the east 
side of the Rockies, and save disappointment, 
than make a wrong selection of site. Many 
believe any part of California is as good as 
any other for health, whereas there is a great 
difference. We have a town of 1,500 inhabi¬ 
tants with seven large hotels and several 
boarding houses. All are filled, and more 
people would come if there were room. They 
are mostly people from the coast cities who 
come up to enjoy the dry, warm atmosphere 
of the foot-hills, and so escape the damp, 
chilly air of the coast. I have met many 
Eastern people that have been in various 
parts of the State for relief, who found out at 
much expense, that all the State was not a 
health resort. 
The labor question continues to agitate this 
State. The cry is to shut out the Chinese, 
and good arguments can be urged in favor of 
it. But if we have to hire white help at 
nearly double the price of Chinese, we must 
have more for our fruits, or not hire at all. If 
we could hire white help at Eastern prices, it 
would help solve the Chinese problem, and 
stop fetching in colored help from the South, 
as people have done at Fresno. The white 
laboring class complain of the scarcity of 
work, and work is scarce at the prices they 
ask for it. Agriculturists cannot long pay 
$1.50 to $2.00 for a day’s work, when they 
know by experience that they will not get 75 
cents’ worth for the outlay. It is considered 
an insult to offer a white man the same pay a 
Chinaman works for, and as long as the Chi¬ 
nese are here, the labor question will be un¬ 
settled. Two distinct classes, two prices, and 
in most work except teaming, scarcely any 
difference in amount done. Under these cir¬ 
cumstances you will not be surprised to learn 
the tendency in the foot-hills is for farmers 
to hold small places, do what they can, enjoy 
the climate and fruit, and make haste slowly 
to get rich. Twenty to40 acres are enough, 
and 10 acres are much more land to tend 
when we irrigate, than Eastern people think ; 
while ten acres of fruit require a great deal of 
attention. 
California stock will eat and live where 
prairie cattle would starve. We depend upon 
Alfalfa for green foliage, but we have to give 
it with other food, or it imparts a rank flavor 
to the milk and those that supply cities with 
milk are careful about using it. We are now 
keeping a few city people and have five up 
here for the air. We have a good garden and 
plenty of fruit, and we give them all the air 
they want and such as we have in the eating 
line, and they fail to fret if we don’t set a city 
table. My wife enjoys it and the boarders 
feel better satisfied than in town. It makes a 
good home market for a part of what we 
raise, for plain living aud high thinking and 
pure air are all we guarantee. 
California needs some new industries ; 
wheat lands are getting worn out. It can never 
be a stock country and Eastern people can 
never understand why it is so when its sum¬ 
mer lasts the year round. But cattle cannot 
eat enough grass in four or five months to last 
the remainder of the year, and to feed hay at 
$15 to $20 per ton and corn at the same price 
as wheat does not pay. With these figures 
before him any man can figure out the why. 
We are in dread of the future in respect to 
the water for irrigation. It costs now fully 
five dollars an acre in this section per year, 
for what land we irrigate. When one has a 
farm, it is only a small share that he attempts 
to irrigate. The price of water the past year 
has advanced 50 percent. One can hardly feel 
to be an independent farmer after he buys 
the land to be at the mercy of the water com¬ 
pany to decide how much he is to pay for the 
privilege of using the land for fruits, etc.: so 
water and labor are questions that agitate the 
mind of a Californian rancher. j. j. b. 
PennsyWauia. 
Annville, Lebanon Co., August 3.—Report 
of crops in Annville town; hay, rye and wheat, 
are 98 per cent, of a crop ; oats, 75 per cent.; 
apples and potatoes, 60 per cent. Corn is well 
ahead, but must have a good rain soon for a 
full crop. j, B- 
m.a.iiiVi 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
(Every query must be accompanied by 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 on a separate piece of paper. 
‘‘CROSSING” ROSES; MANURE FOR ASPAR¬ 
AGUS; TOMATOES ON OVER-RICH LAND; 
ROSE “ SPORTS.” 
A. B. H., Brooklyn , N. Y.—l. How does 
the Rural cross roses—another sort with 
R. Rugosa, for instance. I’ve tried a fine 
camel’s-hair brush, several times, but couldn’t 
get pollen enough during the hot June days. 
2. On my spring-planted asparagus I find 
a small spotted bug, and also a slug or worm, 
from one-fourth to three-eighths of an iu chlong 
with a black head, three black tips on each 
side near the head; what are they, and would 
the pyrethrum mixture be a remedy? 3. This 
bed had no previous preparation but is doing 
finely; would the Rural recommend yard 
manure or Mapes’s special asparagus 
fertilizer the coming fall? 4. For two years 
I have not used any manure when putting in 
tomatoes, but on certain parts of my ground 
where it is rich, the vines grow as high as 
my head and are bushy, but not more than one- 
third of the blossoms come to anything. How 
can they be made to set fruit in spite of this 
rank growth? 5. A friend has an old Blush 
rose and beside it a Gen. Jacq. They have 
been growing together for from eight to ten 
years: for some years he imagined he saw a 
change; but this year he is sure of one. Four 
of the Gen. Jacq. roses are different from what 
they have always been. Some of the petals 
are spotted.^and ;.in ^others _the edges are 
brighter than they usually are. I don’t know 
whether any change was noticed in the Blush 
rose. How did this occur? My theory is 
that if a plant will gradually absorb bone, it 
might absorb the sap from another set of 
roots close-by, and as the Jacq. was a rampant 
grower, it was able to draw the sap from the 
Blush roots. What does the Rural say? 
Ans— 1, A fine pair of scissors,or even a needle 
is all that is needed to remove the anthers of the 
flower which is to be made the seed-bearer. 
Taking Rosa rugosa (Ramanas Rose) for il¬ 
lustration : first cut off the bud as far down as 
possible without cutting into the anthers. 
Then by slitting down what is left of the petals 
the anthers are easily removed. The destruc¬ 
tion of the petals will not lessen the chances 
of success in crossing. Now a camel’s-hair 
brush or any other brush is not needed at all. 
Cut off the rose which is to furnish the pollen, 
or become the father, remove the petals and 
brush the anthers upon the stigmas of the 
rose which is to be the mother or seed-bearer. 
There is no simpler way to do it that 
we know of. Of ^course, the mother flower 
must be inclosed in paper (fine, strong 
tissue is best) from the time the anthers are 
removed until there is no longer danger from 
impregnation other than that desired, remov¬ 
ing the covering only while the pollen is being 
applied. 2. We cannot say what the slugs are 
from this description. Probably ashes or 
plaster would drive them off. There is little 
doubt but that pyrethrum would destroy 
them. 3. If it has had no previous prepara¬ 
tion we should spread old manure upon it this 
fall to a depth of several inches and plow it 
under in the spring. This would, in the Ru¬ 
ral’s judgment, be more effective than any 
chemical fertilizers, though they might well 
be added if the expense is not minded. 4. We 
have frequently advised our readers 
not to attempt to raise tomatoes on 
rich land. The crop will always be late 
and light. In your case we can think of noth¬ 
ing that will induce the blossoms to set except 
some interference with the roots,and this must 
be carefully tried or the p ants may be injured 
beyond help. 5. This is whatlflorists call a 
“sport,” a word which means merely a de¬ 
parture from the parent. It is also called 
“bud variation.” Our own explanation is 
this: Gen. Jacq. is of hybrid origin and 
the variation is the cropping out of the 
blood of some of its ancestors or of 
its immediate parents, which had previously 
remained impotent. Such “ sports ” are con¬ 
stantly occurring, and it is to them we owe 
some of the finest varieties in cultivation. In 
our own experience we have often had varie¬ 
gated shoots appear from pelargoniums other¬ 
wise green, one of the parents of which was 
variegated. Had this plant at the time of 
sending out the variegated shoot been in the 
hands of one who knew nothing of its parent¬ 
age, he would have called it a “sport.” The 
“sport”.in the case of the Jacq. alluded to, 
can have nothing to do with the proximity 
of any other rose. We do not see any philos¬ 
ophy in our friend’s “sap” theory. The 
“ sport ” in question may be preserved by bud¬ 
ding it upon some other stock or by cuttings. 
GRASSES FOR PERMANENT PASTURE. 
W. A., Minaville, N. Y .—I have a piece of 
black slate, rich, dry, hilly land, which I want 
to seed to permanent pasture. I intend to 
sow rye on a part of it this fall and oats and 
barley on the rest in spring. How much of 
each kind should be sown per acre ? What 
kinds would be best to sow with the rye ? 
What would be the cost per .bushel ? Which 
would be best the first year—to mow or pas¬ 
ture ? 
Ans.— If the object is to get a good dense 
pasture, early next season, on your dry hill¬ 
side soil,then you ought to seed down late this 
month and without any grain whatever; for 
what you would gain by seeding with rye or 
any other cereal, you would lose in grass. It 
is quite certain that if you grew a heavy crop 
of grain, the grass, at best, would be weak 
and thin and the growth would be retarded 
for one season so that there would be no good 
pasturage for that season. How often do 
meadows fail to produce Timothy and clover 
where a heavy crop of gram has been i alien 
off during hot,dry weather ? Now the grasses 
best adapted to the above described soil and 
situation for pasture are such as are of slow 
growth and they should not be robbed at the 
root or smothered in the blade by any other 
dominating crop, but should have exclusive 
possession of the soil. We recommend seeds of 
the following varieties, intimately mixed : 
five pounds of Kentucky Blue grass; five 
pounds of Bent grass—Agrostis alba—three 
pounds of Crested Dog’s-tail; three pounds of 
Pacey's Rye grass; three pounds, of Various¬ 
leaved Fescue, and two pounds of White Clover. 
This would be a little over one bushel and 
ought not to cost over $3. To this should be 
added one peck of Timothy seed, and that 
with the other mixed grasses would be the 
