4888 
supply wonderfully. The people heie are 
anxious for a tariff on foreign dried 
fruits. I ask them if they expect the people 
that have to live in as hard a country as they 
describe you to be in, will be willing to pay 
an extra price for dried fruit so that Califor¬ 
nia lands can keep going up as they have gone 
in the past, and those East live on lands that 
are not appreciating. But take this State 
as a whole, it is a delightful country to live 
in. One must conform to things as they are. 
The stories told are mostly true, and lots of 
things are true that are left untold. One hears 
one side only and must rely on his judgment 
for the other. But farming is so different: 
one has to be here, and stay here, and 
learn slowly. To take the conceit out of an 
Eastern farmer after looking around and tell¬ 
ing what should be done, is to have him settle 
down and follow bis own device, for he blun¬ 
ders all along. They say a tender-foot knows 
more the first year than ever afterwards. Let 
one stay here a few years, successful or not, 
he becomes an ardent admirer of the State, 
and he is like one from the country living in 
town; successful or not, he seldom wants 
country life again. But as one goes out time 
after time and realizes how perfect the day 
is, he can think of no change for the better, 
and he soon feels as if he would bate to change 
for a variable climate. I feel the attractions 
individually: it may be I shall see the time 
when I shall boast of the bright side of the 
State, but I see now too clearly on both sides 
to be one-sided. In speaking of irrigation, I 
left out some methods: one is where water is 
st 
comparatively clear. They run iron pipes and 
use hose, so as to put water where they wish 
it. Some large vineyards are irrigated that 
way, especially if level. It takes much less 
water, and cultivation can be done easily. 
AVherc we irrigate with running small streams, 
cultivating fills up the water ditches that run 
through the orchards or vineyards. Our soil 
is a dark orange color; underlying it is tilted 
slate. This is quite crumbly and tree and grape 
roots find much moisture in following the in¬ 
terstices downwards. It would astonish a 
stranger to see what growth vines will make 
on the slate rock that is set up edgewise. 
Three miles from here, New Castle, the forma¬ 
tion changes to granite, and about six or seven 
miles are extensive quarries, whence they ship 
building stone to various parts. As you get 
to the granite formation, the soil changes to 
a dark loam and is easily cultivated. But 
you will not find here or thei’e even a 40-acre, 
or I might say, hardly a 10-acre piece with¬ 
out some places where the rocks thrust them¬ 
selves through, so you have to go round, but 
there are no sloughs and no tile drainage. 
The capillary attraction from the underlying 
rocky formation causes wet places early in 
the season, but they soon disappear. The 
Italians and Portuguese take to fruit culture 
more readily than any other foreigners. 
^IrlioriatUircol. 
SILVEB-TINTS IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN 
EVERGREENS. 
Having handled many thousands of these 
beautiful trees, and studied them and their 
habits closely for years, perhaps a few obser¬ 
vations concerning them will not be amiss. 
A new world of beauty is coming to our 
landscapes through these trees. We have im¬ 
ported foreigners long enough. Our White 
Pine soon overtakes and overshadows the 
Scotch, while our White Spruce is far more 
beautiful and healthy than the Norway. The 
foreigners get ragged, and they are short-lived, 
contrasting widely with the graceful, majes¬ 
tic evergreens of the Rockies. 
Silver-tinted trees are largely sports of their 
respective varieties. Probably the most at¬ 
tractive tree on this earth is the silvery Pun- 
gens. To be convinced of this one has only to 
see those superb specimens in the grounds of 
Robert Douglas,or wander for days,as I have, 
in their own mountain home. They grow in 
pyramid form, and each year’s growth makes 
a distinct shelf of branches. I have seen them 
where they would be laden with snow, which 
would make any other tree droop permanent¬ 
ly; but as soon as the snow is off they assume 
their rigid, horizontal position. I have 
loug sought the cause of that exquisite coloring 
which gives this tree its prominence. 
You may gather pounds of seeds from the 
deepest tinted of this species, and yet have 
but few of the highly colored ones. In their 
own home, some will be light green; others 
blue, and others up to the full standard of 
beauty, with that marvelous blending of sil¬ 
very sapphire. I find this rich coloring is 
almost entirely owing to the position. I never 
found a silver Pungens that stood out on a 
bold bluff, where it got the full light and 
the full sweep of the winds. Both itself and 
its ancestors had been influenced by position. 
It is down in deep gorges and often on th 
north side of a steep mountain that you find 
the richest specimens. In those sequestered 
spots, for ages, the parent has handed those 
peculiarities down to the child, and thus 
through generations of favorable surround¬ 
ings this tendency is confirmed. Seeds from 
these trees will have a greater percentage of 
richly colored specimens. 
A Pungens to be at its best should not be 
planted where it will get the full sweep of a 
Nebraska sirocco, or where it will have a full 
southern exposure. There should be as much 
protection as possible from the “fiery lances” 
of the two o’clock sun. 
The Concolor in favorable locations has a 
strong tendency also to put on a silver robe. 
This tree grows at a much lower altitude than 
the other,though I have seen both growing to¬ 
gether at an altitude of 9,000 feet. 
At Benia,in Colorado, that charming health 
resort in Pueblo County, is a beautiful silver 
Concolor, greatly admired by its rich contrast 
with the neighboring green. I employed an 
expert artist to paint it. I have the picture 
before me. It is as well done as mortal touch 
can produce, but there are some things in Na¬ 
ture before which art is helpless. That rich 
mingling of white and green cannot be put on 
canvas. This tree is in a valley which has an 
altitude of 6,000 feet above the sea level. All 
through the neighboring gorges you will also 
find rich specimens. 
But in no tree is this rich color more exquis¬ 
ite than in the Red Cedar. We have large 
members of the same species along the Platte 
River. They probably all have a mountain 
parentage. I have both kinds on my grounds, 
one yet rich in varying tints, and the other 
a deep, dull brown. The cedar of the plains 
has been buffeted by the winds and tanned 
by the sirroccos of the plains,and has received 
so much climatic abuse that it no longer wears 
rich clothing. I can take you to some deep 
mountain gorges and show specimens which 
you would hardly expect to see on earth, crys¬ 
tals and emeralds combined. I have now un¬ 
der my screens over 1,000 of these trees, and 
they are a source of delight to my visitors If 
they can be kept away from these terrible 
winds they retain to a great degree their 
mountain foliage, but a full exposure to these 
prairie blasts gives them a brownish coat in 
winter, nothing like their relatives of the 
Platte, yet showing the same results under the 
same conditions. 
The Douglas spruce has much the same color 
as the Norway, and yet in favored localities I 
have seen the young trees with their silvery 
hues. 
If you want to see the most delicate shades 
seek some deep canon of the Rockies, where 
you will see such a blending of beauty as 
will leave a memory picture for long years. 
There kind Mother JN ature has been at work, 
which no artist can copy. Just lie there in 
the shade while a gentle breeze passes by to 
put that beauty on exhibition. There on the 
background is the gray granite. There is the 
Ponderosa clinging to the very brow of that 
awful precipice, waving its plumes in defiance 
of all danger. There a Douglas in fair green, 
and here a Concolor with cloak of ermine. 
There, nestled in that cosy nook, is the cedar; 
you wonder what it can be till you examine 
it. No Pungens down here; you must go fur¬ 
ther up. As you mount higher you first leave 
the cedar, then the pine. Away up where 
snowflakes sometimes fly in the summer you 
find those warm-tinted children of the storm 
in their glory. And how hardy they are! 
They transplant as easily from their mountain 
homes as Nor ways from the nursery. Last 
spring I brought some from those high alti¬ 
tudes and put them, without a protection, in 
the full blaze of the sun and in the blast of 
the hot winds. A hail storm killed hardy 
trees by them, and they live and thrive. Our 
seed gatherers have just got in from the 
mountains with their stories of difficulties and 
dangers, bringing the cones on the backs of 
burros, along almost impassable ways; but 
they have a good harvest, and we are going 
to transplant the glory of the Rockies on 
these broad plains. c. s. harrison. 
Franklin, Nebraska. 
CATALOGUES ETC., RECEIVED 
Smiths, Powell & Lamb, Syracuse, N. Y. 
—Here we have a trusty catalogue of apples, 
pears, with excellent selections of each, cher¬ 
ries, plums, peaches, apricots, nectarines, 
grapes, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, 
blackberries, strawberries and nuts. So much 
for the fruit department. The next lists are 
of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, 
vines, and roses. The catalogue gives “hints” 
on transplanting, distance between trees, in 
planting, etc. It is a good, old firm, having 
uuder cultivation about 500_acres of land. 
Fred W. Kelsey, No. 208 Broadway, New 
York.—A catalogue of specialties among 
hardy deciduous and evergreen shrubs and 
trees, such as Rhododendrons, Calico Bush, 
Japan Maples, Japan Chestnut, Blue Spruce, 
etc., together with regular lists, including 
herbaceous plants, vines, and small fruits. 
All fishermen will be pleased with two new 
books sent out by Harper & Brothers. These 
are. Fly-rods and Fly-Tackle, and the Ameri¬ 
can Salmon-Fisherman. Both of these books 
are entertaining and authentic. All anglers 
will enjoy them, and all who desire to learn 
angling will find them very useful. 
J. Wilkinson Elliott, Pittsburgh, Pa.— A 
beautiful and costly treatise, and catalogue of 
hardy plants, finely illustrated. The illustra¬ 
tions are of the finest kind and the reading 
matter will interest all who are laying out or 
beautifying their grounds. 
Nanz & Neuner, Louisville, Ky.—A hand¬ 
some illustrated catalogue (92 pages) of roses 
geraniums, chrysanthemums, fuchsias and 
general collections of plants for in-and-out- 
door culture. 
L. H. Read, Cabot, Vermont.—A catalogue 
of seed potatoes and seeds in general. Mr. 
Read offers the true seeds of potatoes saved 
from 90 different varieties last year. 
The Specialty and Novelty Seed Co., 
Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England.—A 
descriptive catalogue of “over 100 new varie¬ 
ties of vegetable and flower seeds.” 
William Parry, Parry P. O., N. J. — A 
catalogue of small fruits, apple, pear, peach 
and plum trees, Japan Pears, Japan Chestnuts, 
quinces, etc. 
Brackenridge & Co., Govanstown, Balti¬ 
more Co., Md.—A catalogue of orchids, pre¬ 
senting a long list 
The following parties manufacture road 
machines and other road-making implements. 
Send for their catalogues: 
American Road Machine Co., Kennett 
Square, Pa. 
Fleming Manufacturing Co , Fort Wayne, 
Iud. 
Vulcan Road Machine Co., Media, Pa. 
C. E. Parker, Vergennes, Vt. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
(Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to Insure attention. Before 
asklnK 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. 
VALUE OF WHEAT, BRAN, ETC., FOR STOCK 
FEED. 
G. W. G , Manclan, Dakota .—The Roller 
Mill Company on coming to Mandan prevailed 
on the authorities not to tax it for ten years, 
if it would build a mill and elevator. After 
the mill was finished the company wouldn’t 
grind for us farmers; but it offered to take our 
wheat and give us 196 pounds of flour for nine 
bushels of wheat. Just think of it—one bar¬ 
rel of flour for nine bushels of wheat, when 
five bushels of good wheat will make a barrel 
of flour besides allowing a good toll! The 
Company has a large amount of bran for sale 
and it wants the farmers to think there is a 
great deal of nutriment in it so that it can be 
sold at a high price. Accordingly it publishes 
in a local paper a long article giving the nu¬ 
tritive constituents in a ton of wheat and a 
ton of bran and a ton each of other feeds as 
follows: 
Protein, Carbo 
Fat. 
per hydrates, per 
cent, per cent. cent. 
In wheat grain. 
. 9.5 60.9 
1.9 
In wheat bran . 
.12.6 44 4 
2.9 
In flaxseed. 
.17.2 18 9 
35.2 
In oil meal. 
.27.1 33.1 
7.0 
In corn fodder. 
. 2.5 35.1 
0.6 
Accordingly there will be: 
Carbo¬ 
hydrates 
Protein, 
and fat, 
lbs. 
lbs. 
In a ton of wheat . 
..190 
1256 
In a ton of bran. 
...252 
910 
In a ton of flax. 
_344 
1082 
In a ton of oil meal 
.542 
802 
In a ton of corn fodder. 
. 50 
714 
From these figures it says that with wheat 
at 60 cents a bushel and bran at $18 a ton, 
wheat would be cheaper for fattening hogs. 
In other ways, also, it puts the value of bran 
very high. What does the Rural think on 
the matter? And what does it think of the 
conduct of the Rolling Mill? 
ANSWERED BY H. STEWART. 
The feeding value of wheat and bran may 
be stated as follows: 
Albumi- 
Carbo 
Fat, 
nolds, 
hydrates, 
A ton of wheat contains. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs 
. 260 
1328 
30 
Digestible. 
. 234 
1286 
24 
A ton of bran contains... 
. 258 
1182 
70 
Digestible. 
200 
970 
62 
Bran differs mostly from wheat in contain¬ 
ing the most of the fat which is inclosed in 
the cells of the inner husk of the bran. It also 
contains nearly three times as much indigesti¬ 
ble fiber, viz.: 162 pounds in the ton in bran to 
60 pounds per ton in wheat This bran is that 
made by the old process from the best white 
winter wheat. 
The bran made by the new, or roller 
process, undergoes various operations for the 
purpose of taking every particle of flour from 
it, and this of course changes its character 
somewhat. Thus: 
Album!- Carbo- Fat, 
uoicls, hydrates, 
lbs. lbs. lbs. 
A ton of new process bran 
contains. 353 1057 77% 
showing the loss of starch and the gain of 
gluten (albuminoids) and fat, by reason of the 
greater freedom of the bran from the flour. 
But bran contains much the larger propor- 
tion of mineral matter 
lows: 
in the 
wheat; as fol- 
Phosphorfe 
A ton of 
Ash, 
lbs. 
Acid, P’tash, 
lbs. lbs. 
Wheat contains . 
. 33% 
16 
10% 
Roller bran contains... 
. 103 
64 
29% 
Common bran contains. 
. 80 
58 
27 
The ash elements are entitled to considera¬ 
tion in estimating the feeding value of the two 
substances because potasb is indispensable to 
healthful nutrition, and phosphoric acid is a 
necessary constituent of the bones, which 
need repair in old animals as well as nutri¬ 
ment in young ones. No doubt the great 
milling establishments are doing all they can 
to spread abroad a knowledge of the great 
value of bran for feeding, and it is quite pos¬ 
sible the figures you give to the effect that 
wheat contains only 9% per cent, of protein or 
albuminoids are published for this purpose; at 
at any rate, they are not correct as above 
shown. 
As to the money value of the two substances, 
if a ton of bran is worth $20, a ton of wheat 
should be worth for feeding considerably 
more, as the feeding value in proportion to 
the digestibility of the food, and should be 
worth at least 70 cents per bushel. In feeding 
wheat it should be coarsely ground and it is 
better if ground with half its bulk of oats. 
When a miller gives only a barrel of flour 
for nine bushels of wheat he commits a palpa¬ 
ble robbery, and is no better than a highway¬ 
man who presents his pistol to enforce a de¬ 
mand for your property, and all the more so 
when the miller has a monopoly of the busi¬ 
ness given to him, with a bonus for the estab¬ 
lishment of a mill. The instance given—if 
there is no mistake—is a striking proof of the 
justice of the cartoon recently given in the 
Rural, illustrating the grinding monopolies 
to which farmers are subjected. 
ANALYSES OF STOCK FEED STUFFS. 
IF. C. H., Shrewsbury, Mass .—What are 
the analyses of shorts, cotton-seed, and lin¬ 
seed ? W hat is meant by the expression nu¬ 
tritive ratio as 4 to 1 and 1 to 5, etc.? Would 
old-process linseed meal and wheat bran be 
good for cows at pasture, and what propor¬ 
tion of each should be fed? Can I feed cotton 
seed or linseed with cob-meal and shorts or 
middlings to good advantage? 
Ans —The composition of these substances 
is as follows: 
Per cent of 
Album- Carbo- 
lnoids. hydrates. 
Fat. 
Shorts.. 
..11.1 
66.5 
2.8 
Bran. 
57.0 
3.5 
Cotton-seed .... . 
15.4 
41.0 
Whole cotton-seed meal . 
. .23.6 
30.5 
6 1 
Hulled cotton-seed meal , 
.. .41.5 
24.4 
18.0 
Linseed. 
19.6 
37.0 
Linseed meal . 
....324 
31.5 
11.6 
Do. new process. 
.. 33.2 
38.7 
2.3 
A standard nutritive ratio means one part 
of albuminoids or flesh-forming matter to 5 % 
parts of carbohydrates and fat or fat-forming 
matter. In making this estimate the fat is 
calculated at 2)4 times as much as the other 
carbohydrates. Thus bran contains in all 
about 60 parts of carbohydrates to 12 of albu¬ 
minoids and it is thus a completely nutritious 
food. The nutritive ratio of cotton-seed is seen 
to be exceedingly wide of the standard, hence 
in feeding this and other foods it is necessary to 
make calculations so as to bring the aggregate 
to the standard ratio which is the only really 
healthful one for permanent feeding. Corn- 
meal and bran are better for cows than linseed 
meal aud three or four pounds daily, given to 
good cows,are generally found to be profitable. 
A pound or two pounds of cotton-seed meal 
(hulled seed) may be mixed with three or four 
pounds of bran with advantage when it can be 
bought reasonably. When it is given with 
poor hay or straw, cut into chaff, it is most 
valuable. 
ORCHARD QUERIES. 
J. K., Hickory, Md. —1. What kind of fertil¬ 
izer is good for peach trees? The orchard is 
six years old. 2. When and how should the 
trees be trimmed? 8. When cultivating the 
trees, ^wbat.crop would be best to grow with 
