G. F. Morse, South Lancaster Mass.—I 
have been much intersted in what the Rural 
said about the new potato pest. I have a field 
of one and a half acre that is suffering 
severely in the maimer described, and the pest 
is without doubt the same. In the piece are 
Early Maine, Beauty of Hebron, Sunlit Star 
and Chas. Downing. The last has suffered 
most. But through the middle of the field is 
one row of Dandy, planted as an experiment, 
that is perfectly clean and flourishing. In 
another part of the farm I have a piece of 
White Elephants that is as yet untouched as 
is a row planted in the garden according to 
the Rural, system of trenching. 
A Sample Case of Silk Swindling.—A 
Kansas contributor to the N. Y. Tribune, re¬ 
ferring to that journal’s crusade against silk 
culture, gives a pointer on how it is done “out 
West .” By act of the Kansas Legislature, ap¬ 
proved March 5, 1887, there was appropriated, 
by reason, very largely, of the untiring 
efforts of a crank named I. Horner (who has 
since committed suicide), the sum of $13,000 
for the establishment and conducting of a silk 
station in Kansas, the fund to be expended 
for—among other things—“ planting and 
maintaining an orchard or orchards of mulber¬ 
ry trees, paying a bouuty on classic cocoons, 
collection and distribution of mulberry seed 
and thoroughbred silk-worm eggs, stationery 
and literature, instruction in silk reeling ** * 
and the dissemination of knowledge in seri¬ 
culture.” An ample fund and a largo field! 
The station was located at Reabody, the 
citizens thereof having paid, as has been charg¬ 
ed, and not denied, so far as ho knows, the sum 
of $3,500 to the commissioners for selecting 
their town. A little more than a year has 
elapsed and what is the result ? He quotes a 
gentleman who lives at Peabody :“Thefund 
is all expended, the worms all dead ; the stat¬ 
ion between $3,000 and $4,000 in debt, one 
superintendent dead and the second one bank¬ 
rupt, and the assets may be summed up as a 
building of a little value to any one, and 
25,000 ‘Morus multicaul is alba trees for sale.’) 
.Now, the correspondent concludes, ‘If we had 
about half of the $150,000 appropriated (or de¬ 
manded) by Congress for this, we’d ‘worm’ 
ourselves into favor and spin reports as 
rapidly as some of the experiment stations 
‘hatch’ out bulletins. But we haven’t, and all 
we can do is to propose a chaplet of Morus 
multicaulis leaves, to be bound on with the 
gut of the first brood hatched out of the classic 
cocoon at Washington, to the inventor of 
this filature for reeling in the surplus.”— 
Boys and Horses, —The,agricultural editor 
of the Weekly Press is of the opinion that a 
good horse will go farther toward keeping a 
boy on a farm than almost any other influence 
that can be brought to bear upon him. The 
average boy’s visions of future happiness 
have a horse or a gun in the foreground. A 
gun is not always the best thing for him to 
have, and when the choice lies between the two 
you can usually get the boy to compromise on 
the horse. A horse is right in the lino of bus¬ 
iness, and instead of drawing his youthful 
master from his duties, gives him a renewed 
interest in the work in which they both bear 
a purt. There is something wrong with the 
boy who does not love a good horse when he has 
a chance to. The average young American 
warms up to the noble animal naturally, and 
a! very little encouragement and instruction 
make him a horseman. This is a good tend 
ency to encourage. A boy will learn nothing 
bad of a good horse, and his leisure time might 
bo spent in far worse company. The farmer 
boy’s horse should be an intelligent, wide¬ 
awake animal; one he can ride, drive or work 
with pleasure—in fact, a business horse, for 
few farmers feel thatthoy can afford to keep 
a horse simply to ride or drive. It is supris¬ 
ing how much drudgery a boy will go through 
cheerfully with a team that ho can feel justly 
proud of. Fathers are apt to give the boys 
the poorest team and the poorest tools on the 
place to work with, but it is bad policy if the 
boys are to be encouraged to become good 
farmers. If once they become disgusted with 
farm work, the chances are that the dislike 
will always stick to them. 
SPICE. 
Editor Chkkver’s advice after a widoly ex¬ 
tended Western tour, as given in his journal, 
the New England Farmer, to those contem¬ 
plating the procuring of a AVestern farm, is 
to spend at least a year in the country work 
ing for others before decidiug where to locate 
or what to buy. And. his advice to young 
farmers everywhere is not to put so much 
capital into land as to be crippled for tho means 
to work it. Most farms are too big for the 
men that are trying to work them. 
Mr Hoard says that those who know that 
pure lard keeps sweet without salt, ought to 
think a little before they conclude that it is 
the salt that keeps butter. Make butter as 
near to pure fat as possible, and all the salt it 
needs is enough to suit the palate of the con¬ 
sumer. 
That successful gardener, J. M. Smith, of 
Green Bay, Wis., tells the editor of the 
Farmers’ Review that he manures liberally, 
using an average of not far from 1,500 two- 
horse loads per year, all of which is composted 
and thoroughly rotted before being used. In 
his earlier operations he followed the then cur¬ 
rent ideas in applying manure and plowed it 
in deeply, but experience has led him to mod¬ 
ify his practice and now it is simply thorough¬ 
ly mixed with the surface soil. 
Mr Smith says that he has never been able 
to realize any benefit from such of the com¬ 
mercial fertilizers as he has used, except in 
case of land plaster, which fora time gave 
favorable results, but for some years has 
failed to do so. Ho makes two crops per 
season on most of his ground. The five acres 
from which he finished picking 1,(MM) bushels 
of strawberries a little while ago were plowed; 
had beeu given a dressing of manure and were 
being set to late cabbages. He, as a rule, only 
takes one crop of berries from tho same plants. 
The ground in early onions is set with straw¬ 
berries. The onions will ripen and be harvest¬ 
ed in time^for the vines to develop. Late on¬ 
ions have carrots between the rows to make a 
crop after the onions are harvested. 
The Orange County Farmer says that it is 
gratifying to know that many farmers are 
getting tired of the old way of making butter, 
aud propose to “turn over a new leaf,” in the 
language of one it was speaking with re¬ 
cently. No less than a half dozen dairymen 
have informed it within the present season 
that they would build ice-houses another year 
and put in a creamery. This begins to look 
like progress. 
Hard grain and a cold roost in winter with 
tho rango of the garden and fields in summer 
is a summary of the treatment of many farm 
poultry flocks, remarks tho above journal. 
The owners of these flocks usually growl 
about poultry not paying. 
Prof. Henry declares, in the Breeder’s 
Gazette, that if the corn-fodder of tho West 
were properly saved, economically handled 
and judiciously fed, in ten years’ time it would 
pay off every farm mortgage in the Missis¬ 
sippi Valley. 
Yes, we have no doubt it is a fact, as a 
writer in the Breeder’s Cazette observes, that 
the majority of our imported Percherons are 
grays, but their color has always been against 
them, and it is well understood that a black 
Perclieron horse will sell for more money than 
a gray of equal quality. Tho objections to 
the gray or light color in horses are obvious. 
Every hostler will testify that it takes nearly 
twice the time and work to keep a gray in 
presentable condition that it does for a horse 
of some dark color. The gray color on this 
account can never be popular in this country, 
and that this is true is proved by the shrewd 
action of leading Perclieron breeders in plac¬ 
ing black stallions at tho head of their studs 
and importing as many blacks as they can 
poasibly pick up, even at enhanced prices .. 
Our excellent contemporary, tho Philadel¬ 
phia Weekly Press, says that cow-peas will 
not ripen seed in tho Northern (States, but the 
vine grows large enough to make fodder or 
green manure, even in the latitude of Massa¬ 
chusetts. Our friend is quite wrong. Ten 
years ago or thereabouts, tho Rural planted 
many different kinds of cow-peas—so improp¬ 
erly called. Among them, as files of the It. N.- 
Y. will show, were several varieties which not 
only ripened seeds, but ripened them in 
abundance before the 1st of September. 
Though the rows were six feet apart, the 
ground was entirely covered by the leaves aud 
vines...•. 
The Butterfly Weed or Pleurisy Root 
(Asclepias tuberosa).—Although this is one of 
tho finest and most showy of all our native 
perennials, and quite common, it is seldom 
met with in cultivation, says Mr. Falconer in 
the American Florist. This is because it is 
hard to transplant with success. It is propa¬ 
gated from seed. 
Mr. Falconer also speaks a good word for 
tho Climbing Hydrangea, which we have 
occasionally alluded to since its introduction 
some ten years ago. It is a deciduous, high- 
climbing, perfectly hardy vino, he says, and it 
climbs up and around and fastens itself to the 
trunks of trees by rootlets in the same way as 
does the European evergreen ivy or the come¬ 
ly Boston (Ampelopsis tricuspidata) ivy. It 
will also attach itself to tho face of any rough¬ 
skinned wooden or stone work. At first it is 
of slow growth, but after a few years it runs 
rapidly. It does not bloom till it iaseveral 
years old, but strong plants bloom every year, 
and of course the older they become the more 
flowers they will bear. It comes into bloom 
early in June and lasts in beauty for several 
weeks. A full-page illustration of the flower 
w s given in the. It. N.-Y. of February 15, 
187!), page 101. 
Mr. Daniel Bachelor, in answer to a ques¬ 
tion in the Aibany Cultivator, recommends, 
for a lawn among several kinds of grass seed, 
five pounds of Timothy to tho acre, because, as 
he says, it makes an earlier start than the 
other grasses (Red-top, Blue Grass, etc.). It 
is true that Timothy will start before Blue 
Grass, nut as between Timothy and Red-top 
there is very little difference and that very 
little is in favor of the Red-top. This, at any 
rate, is the result of a fair trial made between 
the three grasses last year in little prepared 
jilots at the Rural Grounds. .— 
Garden and Forest recalls a plant we had 
long forgotten. Home 15 years ago we pur 
chased a Weeping Privet, a pendulous variety 
of the Common Privet—Ligustrum vulgare. 
It was grafted on a strong stem of tho species 
and in a season or so became as round-headed 
and pendulous as a Kilmarnock Weeping 
Willow. Later a gale twisted off the head... 
Garden and Forest, by the way, is a 
journal that wo read with a great deal of sat¬ 
isfaction. Nothing of a trashy nature is ad¬ 
mitted to its columns. It is printed on fine 
paper; its engravings are excellent, and it is 
edited with tho utmost care. In all matters 
appertaining to forestry it naturally takes a 
first position with Prof. C. S. Sargent at its 
head, while tho energy and experience of its 
managing editor, Mr. W. A. Stiles, secure all 
else needed to make an authoritative, dignified 
and useful paper. When we turn from such a 
periodical to the catch-penny trash that is 
flooding the country, we are left to wonder 
that the support given to these two classes of 
periodicals is not, in a greater degree, propor¬ 
tioned to their real worth. 
Orchard and Garden says that Chas. A. 
Green disposes of tent caterpillars by shooting 
into the nests. The gun is loaded with powder 
and plenty of paper wadding. How would it 
answer to charge the gun with suit, sand or 
something of tho kind? A very small charge 
of powder would suffice. 
Prof. J. L. Budd mentions that they have 
upon the college grounds (Ames Iowa) va. 
rieties of pt aches from Northern China and 
Central Asia tbut are nearly hardy. 
A. S. Fuller states in Orchard and Garden 
that tar-water wdl kill the cabbage worm or 
green caterpillar of the cabbage butterfly. 
His early cabbages were being rapidly 
destroyed by these worms, but “one sprink¬ 
ling with tar-water, applied with a watering- 
pot, destroyed every worm and egg ”—a most 
valuable fact, if it is a fact. It is prepared by' 
placing a quart or two of coal tar in a tub or 
barrel, and then filling up with water. In 
about 48 hours tho water will smell strongly of 
tar, when it may be dipped off and applied to 
plants with a syringe or common watering 
pot. 
drugs and medicines; put them on sale every¬ 
where; let people indulge freely—and, our 
word for it—the human race will grow 
healthier and wiser, stronger physically, and 
better morally.”-The Dairy World: “In 
small dairies it is a good plan to hold the 
various churnings in the granular form till 
enough is had to fill the sized package 
used for shipping. This insures a uniform 
grade and color in tho package.”- 
Germantown Telegraph : “ Tomatoes make 
excellent food for cows during August and 
September. A half acre will under good con¬ 
ditions produce from five to six tons of tom¬ 
atoes, and in the States south of Pennsylvania 
will continue to bear ripe fruit from August 
until cut by frost. Cattle relish them, and an 
increase in the flow of milk and improvement 
in the butter are noticeable as soon as tomato 
feeding begins. In States where tomatoes can 
be grown profitably that prolific vegetable 
plant promises to be one of the most profit¬ 
able field crops.”-Western Rural : 
‘A boy at school had a large patch 
on one knee of his trousers. A vicious 
schoolmate made fun of him and called him 
‘Old Patch.’ ‘Why don’t you light him?’ 
cried one of the boys. ‘I'd give it to him if be 
called me so.’ ‘Oh,’ said the boy, ‘you don’t 
suppose I’m ashamed of my patch. I’m 
thankful for a good mother to keep me out of 
rags. I’m proud of my patch for her sake.’ 
This was noble. That boy had the courage 
that would make him successful in the strug¬ 
gle of life.”-N. E. Farmer: “No matter 
how rich a man may be, he ought to busy 
himself in helping to produce something which 
the public needs, or to distribute for the 
public advantage others’ productions.”- 
Hoard’s Dairyman: “There was a heap of 
philosophy and sense in tho reply of a Cath¬ 
olic priest when besought by his poor farmer 
parishioner to pray for a fruitful harvest on an 
impoverished field, who replied, as he looked at 
the spindling stalks: ‘This is a case that doesn’t 
yield to prayer—this field needs manure.”-- 
For Sleeplessness 
line Ilorsiord’s Acid Phosphate* 
Dr. C. R. Dvkes, Belleville, HI., says: “I 
have found it, and it alone, to be capable of 
producing a sweet and natural sleep in cases of 
insomnia from overwork of the brain, which 
so often oocurs in active professional and 
business men.— Adv. 
How to SA VK re-shlngllng, (STOP 
leaks effectually ami cheaply In 
roofs of all kinds, or lay NKVV roofs. 
Particulars FREE if you mention this paper. 
ER ROOFINC . 
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ABSTRACTS. 
Farm News:— All Jay Gould’s millions will 
not purchase a good night’s rest, or even an 
hour of sweet dreamless sleep. How happier, 
far, the plowman who homeward plods his 
weary way, to sleep soundly after a hearty 
supper, or tho daily wage-worker who lies 
down to pleasant dreams at night and rises to 
healthy toil each morning.-Orange Co. 
Farmer: “ The house-wife, who has not now a 
full supply of garden vegetables and berries at 
her immediate command, would be pardon¬ 
able for providing her husband with a dinner 
of old beans and last year’s bread."- 
Jefferson: “The greatest blessing that can 
be rendered to any country is to add 
a useful plant to its culture.- 
Breeder’s Gazette: “In many instances in 
tho West, farmers whose land would not sell 
for over $10 per acre pay from $10 to $26 per 
month and board for summer help. To such 
men they give for each 20 days’ labor enough 
money in cash and board to buy from two to 
three acres of the very farm on which they 
work.”-Prof. A. J. Cook, in the Albany 
Cultivator; “A silo, right in tho barn, is one 
of the best paying adjuncts to any farm.” 
-Hoard’s Dairyman: “To get the milk 
cold, and that very quickly after being drawn, 
is a lesson that cannot be too often repeated. 
It means bliss in the cheese factory, uuu cash 
in the farmer’s pocket.”-Orchard and 
Garden: “Fill the bottles now containing 
tho “pops” and “root beers,” and other sus¬ 
picious concoctions, with the pure unferment¬ 
ed juice of the grape—fresh, sparkling, grati¬ 
fying to the taste, pleasant and better than 
R0SSIE IRON ORE PAINT. 
Is made from Red Oxide Ore—Is the bcHt and most 
durab’e Faint for Tin, Iron, and Shingle Roofs, Hums, 
Farm utensils, etc., will not crack or peel —will protect 
roofs from sparks. Samples free. Ask prices of 
ROSSIE IRON ORK PAINT CO., 
OadctiHlturg, N. Y. 
ROFITABLE 
P I 
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a large, red, nhowy apple; good keeper, and 
abundant bearer. Price, iirHfc-cl/iHH trees, 7o cent*, 
second class o(> mils, each. Write to 
C*JCOIt(*K ACilKIilS, Went Chester, Pa. 
GRAPEVINES 
Of all valuable varieties, at lowest rates. Empire 
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GKO. W. CAMl'BBIiL, Delaware, O. 
OXFORD DOWN SHEEP! 
“ Ellciiborougii ” Flock makes another importa¬ 
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Rams and Ewes have been made by Mr. John Tread¬ 
well, the acknowledged leading breeder, and best 
Judge in England. Oxfords are tho largest of the 
black faced breeds (rams weigh • 12 .') lbs,), are heaviest 
shearers, and will outlive "tree wool.” At the last 
Smithfleld, London, Fat Stock Show, Oxfords won 
champion prize for best mutton sheep at the show, 
and were considered the best class at the la>t <treat 
“Royal.” Address F. C. GOLDSBOROUGH, 
Easton. Talbot Co., Maryland. 
Itahornimr (^att.lo Tools, $i.so prepaid a 
i/oiiui Vrttl/io pajjebook particulars 10c 
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