4888 
THE BUBAL HEW-YOBSCIB. 
289 
Rose cuts his seed and leaves them awhile to 
sprout. When ready to plant all seed not 
sprouted is rejected. This, he says, must be 
done to insure a full stand, as one hill should 
not get the start of other hills, or the yield 
will be lessened. 
A duty of §5 each has been imposed by the 
new budget on “pleasure” horses in England. 
Horses used for the purposes of trade or agri¬ 
culture, as well as brood mares and colts or 
fillies too young to work, will be exempt. 
Race-horses, however, as well as saddle and 
carriage horses must pay §5 a head, and horse 
dealers £15. Every vehicle exceeding 10 cwt. 
will have to pay a duty of $5, and in addition 
there will be a wheel tax of 30 cents a wheel 
to which all vehicles over two cwt. will be 
subject. Vehicles used in husbandry, how¬ 
ever, are exempt, and the tax does not extend 
to Ireland. .The Journal of the National Agri¬ 
cultural Society, of Victoria, Australia, re¬ 
cords a remarkable instance of prolonged 
gestation in a cow, which lately occurred at 
Toorak. The period extended from February 
23, 1887, to January 14, 1888—a period of 325 
days, a heifer calf being produced. The long¬ 
est period hitherto recognized by authorities 
as that at which a sound calf could be pro¬ 
duced is given at 321 days.. .The eighth vol¬ 
ume of the Galloway Herd-Book of Great Brit¬ 
ain has just been issued and contains the 
registry of 904 animals, of which 614 are cows, 
and the remaining 290, bulls. The only ani¬ 
mals entered are those whose sires and dams 
are in the back volumes of the Herd Book.... 
. .The import trade in frozen meats from Aus. 
tralasia to Europe amounted to 172,023 cases 
last year from Australia, and 42,969 cases from 
New Zealand, against 61,352 from the former 
in 1886, and 17,594 from the latter. In 1883, 
however, there were 275,881 cases from the 
larger island, and 51,621 from the smaller.... 
Dodder is that parasite plant which overruns 
clover and lucern fields, and injures the crops. 
To detect the presence of dodder in a sample 
of clover or lucern, the seed should be thrown 
into a tub of water. The fodder seeds will 
sink to the bottom, and the dodder capsules 
float on the surface. Another way is to rub 
the seed between the hands hard enough to 
break the dodder capsules and let the seeds 
out. When sifted, the very small seeds of the 
dodder will pass through, whereas the clover 
and lucern seeds will remain in the sieve. 
W. F. Brown expresses a doubt in the 
Farmers’ Review whether there is any other 
crop that will produce so much and such valu¬ 
able food to the acre as carrots. It is as easy 
to grow 500 bushels of carrots to the acre as 
75 bushels of corn. 
They are good for horses, keeping the 
bowels and stomach in a healthy condition 
through the winter and making the hair glossy. 
According to analyses five pounds of carrots 
equal one pound of oats. 
Sow on clean land well enriched about May 
1st, cover the seed just out of sight. Sow in 
narrow, straight rows by a line stretched 
tight and true. The rows should be 15 inches 
apart. Cultivate as soon as the rows can be 
seen so as to mellow the surface—not over 
half-an-inch deep. Thin the plants when 
three inches high to three inches apart. The 
crop should be dug and stored before hard 
freezing. The farmer who once feeds carrots 
to his horses and colts in the winter will be 
willing to assume the labor of growing them 
afterwards. 
As a bushel of carrots weighs 50 pounds, and 
oats but 32 pounds, this makes three bushels of 
carrots equal to one of oats, and as 32 bushels 
of oats to the acre is a large average, aud 400 
to 600 bushels of carrots are easily grown, we 
can afford quite an expenditure of manure and 
labor on a carrot crop, for the land which is 
made rich enough for carrots will be left in a 
condition to grow heavy crops for several 
successive years... 
Get your hellebore ready for the currant 
worms. Those who recommend the use of the 
dry powder have never used hellebored water. 
Take two tablespoonfuls of hellebore and add 
a small quantity of hot water—enough to 
make a paste. Mix this in two gallons of 
water and spray the bushes either through 
spraying bellows or a cyclone of climax nozzle. 
In this way the currant worm will be killed 
with about one-twentieth the trouble of sifting 
powder upon the leaves. 
Try early sweet corn for early fodder and 
evergreen for succession. Or if the earliest 
kinds are used, a second crop may be planted, 
and it will have plenty of time to mature. 
Cut not until the ears are far enough advanced 
for boiling. 
WORD FOR WORD. 
E. P. Roe, in Garden and Forest: “For our 
own sakes—and especially for the sake of our 
children, we would seek to banish the hum¬ 
drum from rural life.”-J. W. Elliott: 
“There is nothing in either tender or hardy 
plants with which so fine a tropical effect can 
be produced as with tbe Abyssinian Banana, 
Musa ensete. Small plants will make fine 
specimens (six to 12 feet high the first season) 
if the soil is rich and the plants freely wa¬ 
tered.”-New York Tribune: “The blend¬ 
ing of fruit and shade trees on lawn or street 
is a mistaken attempt to combine utility and 
ornament.”-Weekly Press: “Too many 
young men consider it a disgrace to be ‘close,’ 
which is only another word for ‘prudent.’ 
The same persons do not consider it unmanly 
to be dependent and run in debt.”- 
“Sweet potatoes fertilized with chemicals are 
fairer in appearance and better in quality 
than are those grown with stable manure. 
They are also less liable to fungus diseases— 
black rot and yellow rot.”-C. A. Dana, 
in Garden and Forest: “No conifers should 
be set out where they are subject to violent 
gales. They require shelter more than most 
kinds of deciduous trees.”. . . “Finally, I 
have one piece of advice for the young planter, 
whether his purpose be aesthetic beauty or ma¬ 
terial profit; and that is, never to plant a 
Norway Spruce. One of the great misfortunes 
that have happened to the gardens and plea¬ 
sure-grounds of our Northern States, is the 
introduction of this ugly and useless tree.” 
. . . Mr. Dana is harder upon the Norway 
than the R. N.-Y. has been. 
SOME POSSIBILITIES OF VERMONT. 
We hear all too frequently that land in the 
East is all worn out, and that it will not pay 
in crop returns for the labor expended upon 
it. This has been held up to the young men 
of Vermont until large numbers of them be¬ 
lieved it, and left the State hoping to find in 
some distant home the advantages they could 
not have here. 
This is theory; now what are the facts? 
We have left in this State, outside of what is 
now in farms,16.5 per cent, of the whole area, 
which is, generally speaking, wild land. Of 
the land in farms 31 per cent is in forests, and 
probably as large a proportion of that which 
is yet wild is forest—more if anything. But 
though so much is taken up, there are hun¬ 
dreds of farms that can be bought for less 
than the cost of the buildings upon them, say¬ 
ing nothing about the fences, a large part of 
which are of stone, built substantially enough 
to last a lifetime with a small outlay of labor 
■ each spring. 1 have been told of farms in the 
Champlain Valley which could be bought for 
£1.25 per acre, which are as fertile as they 
were years ago. They are near a railroad 
and water transportation, and can produce 
crops large enough to pay a good profit. One 
cannot get rich in one year or two by the sud¬ 
den increase of land values; but if a young 
man wants to build himself a home, where all 
the happiness of civilized life can be enjoyed 
with none of the discomforts of the pioneer, 
our State offers him unsurpassed opportuni¬ 
ties. 
As a dairying country Vermont has advan¬ 
tages possessed by no other New England 
State—pure water and plenty of rich, sweet 
grass in summer, aud quantities of che best 
meadow hay, or chances for the establish¬ 
ment of silos for winter feeding. With the 
advent of creameries a new era is dawning 
upon dairying among our mountaineers. 
Creameries are springing up all over the 
State, and wherever one is established we 
see at once an increase in the value of farms 
and an improvement in the stock raised. 
Horse raising is also attracting the atten- 
tention of our leading agriculturists. The 
recent purchase of the famous stock horse, 
Aristos, is but the inception of a movement 
whose possibilities cannot be estimated. 
Sheep husbandry is being revived under 
the stimulus afforded by the call for Vermont 
Merinos to be shipped to all parts of the 
world—in short, we can offer the young man 
facilities in the way of home building or 
money making which are second to those of 
no other State. Come and see. b. h. a. 
Perkinsville, Vt. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Idaho. 
Blackfoot, Bingham Co., April 5.—We 
had a very moderate winter in this locality; 
although the weather was extremely cold 
about the middle of January, yet we did not 
have any blizzards, nor very severe storms. 
Fruit trees have been injured to some extent, 
but how badly I cannot tell, as the season is 
very backward. A great many cattle have 
wintered on the range, but are now suffering 
in consequence of insufficient feed and shelter 
during the cold weather. p. b. 
Illinola. 
Donnellson, Montgomery Co. — The 
drought last fall beat us out of our corn and 
fall pastures, consequently we have had six 
mouths’ feeding, which has been hard op the 
stock and farmers; but all are through so far 
“by the skin of their teeth. ” Farmers gener¬ 
ally are down in spirits, and stock are poor in 
flesh. Grass prospect is good, wheat very 
slim; therefore there will be an increased 
acreage of oats put in this spring, which we 
find from last winter’s experience makes a 
splendid feed for horses, cattle and sheep. 
Mixed with hay, straw and good shelter it 
will, if judiciously fed, keep them in good 
health and in a prosperous condition, which 
some of us found out during the past winter. 
Seed corn will be scarce here, but we put out a 
large crop in hopes of a good yield. The Ru¬ 
ral is on the right track. I admire its true 
grit, which gives us pure, clean and edifying 
sheets that “saint and sinner, old and young,” 
alike are glad to read. a. w. r. 
R. N.-Y.—Of course, we want the “sinners” 
especially to read it. “There’s more joy,” etc. 
Kansas. 
Conway, McPherson Co.—Since March 25 
we have had very fine weather and by April 
5th oats were all sown, and despite the un¬ 
favorable weather during the greater part of 
March, we hear of no failure of oats coming. 
Wheat is growing fast, though a little late. 
Pasture is starting well, and it is thought if 
the weather remains favorable that stock can 
be put on pasture by the 20th. Farmers gen¬ 
erally think the outlook is very favorable for 
all kinds of crops, as the ground is thoroughly 
wet and in fine condition. Potatoes are plant¬ 
ed, gardens made and plowing for corn is in 
progress. j. m. r. 
Michigan. 
Romer, Lenawee Co., April 14.—Spring is 
again upon us. The frost is out of the ground, 
and the roads are in good condition. Farmers 
are plowing for oats. Grass has been started; 
wheat is looking good, and bids fair for a good 
crop. Hay will be a light crop this year, 
owing to the seed not catching for the last 
two years. Stock, as a rule, has wintered in 
good condition. Hay, corn, oats aud seed po¬ 
tatoes are very scarce. j. c. L. 
New Hampshire. 
North Londonderry, Rockingham Co., 
April 10.—There are a great many snowdrifts 
2% to three feet deep. There is no sign of 
gardening yet. I raked over my asparagus 
beds, just before last night’s snow came, and 
put on some superphosphate, which I think 
will work down among the roots. There are 
a great many farmers who have not finished 
getting up their wood piles yet, on account of 
the snow. Most of the. mowing and rye fields 
were quite bare until the recent snow came; 
but they do not look green yet. I see by the 
R. N.-Y. of March 31, that there is quite a 
demand for cuttings of peppermint; now, if 
any of the subscribers of the R. N.-Y. will 
send me their addresses, with stamp to pay 
postage, I will send them some roots as soon 
as the spring opens. I recently sawed off an 
apple stub that measured two feet nine inches 
in diameter three feet from the ground. The 
tree is said to have borne apples enough in 
one year to make eight barrels of cider. 
R. F. 
New York. 
Newark, Wayne Co , April 10.—Winter 
was quite severe, sleighing from December 
20 to March 20. Spring is very backward. 
At this date no plowing of any consequence 
has been done. Last year many planted pota¬ 
toes here in March. Wheat has wintered 
fairly well, but a small amount was sown. 
Of peppermint about one-third less will be set 
this year than last, owing to the very low 
price, £2 being the highest price for 1887 oil. 
Potatoes and barley are the main crops here, 
though many farmers are seeding down, and 
growing hay for market, as they find it one of 
the best paying crops produced. The price, 
for the past two years delivered from the 
field has been £8 to £10; delivered in spring 
£10 to £12. Prices for other farm produce 
are as follows: Wheat 80 cents; oats 40: com 
60; potatoes 75; butter 20; eggs 14; peppermint 
oil £1.85 pound. w. k. h. 
North Carolina. 
Highlands, Macon Co.—We have beauti¬ 
ful weather; have had no snow this winter, no 
ice to cover my mill-pond. The arbutus is 
in blossom, gooseberries are in leaf; apples are 
just bui'sting with bloom, and the meadows 
are green. Potatoes and oats are in, and the 
air is exceedingly beautiful. I am putting in 
some potatoes on the Rural system, using tbe 
largest-sized whole potatoes for seed. I ought 
to do well with this test crop. h. s. 
MAKE HENS LAY 
S HERIDAN’S CONDITION POWDER is absolute¬ 
ly pure and highly concentrated. It is strictly 
a medicine to be given with food. Nothing on earth 
will make hens lay like it. It cures chicken chol¬ 
era and all diseases of hens. Illustrated book by 
mail free. Sold everywhere, or sent by mail for 
26 cts. in stamps. 2%-lb. tin cans, $1; by mail, 
$1.20. Six cans by express, prepaid, for $6. 
I. S. Johnson & Co., P. O. Box 2118, Boston, Mas*. 
AMMONIATED BREAD. 
Ammoniated baking powders—that is, bak¬ 
ing powders in which carbonate of ammonia 
is used as an ingredient and which exhale an 
odor of ammonia when heated—are classed 
by many eminent physicians and sanitarians 
as superior to all others. Professor Hassell, 
of London, who is recognized as highest au¬ 
thority on the subject of food hygiene, com¬ 
mends in the strongest terms the use of car¬ 
bonate of ammonia as a leavening agent, stat¬ 
ing its great advantage to be in its perfect 
volatility, which permits it to be, by the heat 
of baking, entirely thrown into leavening gas 
whereby the bread is raised. The experiment 
with heat would seem to indicate the superior, 
not the inferior value of such baking powder. 
The little heat that is imparted to it when 
held over a gas jet, lamp, or stove, suffices to 
resolve the carbonate of ammonia into leaven¬ 
ing gas and throw it off. The first heat of 
baking, therefore, will effectually develop all 
the gas. thoroughly leaven the loaf and dis¬ 
sipate the gas producing ingredients of a 
powder of this kind; and this is the highest 
test of a perfect baking powder. Where 
other alkalies alone are used they are not in¬ 
frequently retained, unresolved, through the 
whole process of baking, and remain an un¬ 
wholesome ingredient in the finished bread. 
The carbonate of ammonia cannot be used as 
a substitute for cream-of-tartar.— N. Y. Week¬ 
ly Tribune. 
Our Insect Foes; 
How to Deal With. 
Just Published. Price 25 Cents. 
Insects on Fruit and Shade trees; on Rose, 
Currant and other 
bushes, on every liv- 
ing'plant. If not here 
now, they soon will 
be and in great force. 
According to the last 
census the annual 
loss in this country from 
insects is 200 million dollars. 
It is a tax exceeding the en¬ 
tire cost of the standing 
armies of Europe. All soil cultivators are 
confronted by a share of this loss. 
Would you be spared this year ? It may 
be so, and “Our Insect Foes” tells how. 
This, by summing up the latest approved 
means for dealing thoroughly and cheaply 
with all common insects. 140 headings, 160 
practical remedies. By Prof. Cook, Wier, 
and others. Freely illustrated. 
FOR ONE MONTH—In order to advertise Popu¬ 
lar Gardening and Fruit Growing (the most practical, 
terse and the best illustrated horticultural journal in 
the world, 96 columns per issue) very widely this 
month, we oiler the above unique work (26c.) and a 
specimen copy of our journal (l(Jc.), together for but 
luc. if ordered now. Address 
Popular Gardening Pub. Co., Buffalo, N. Y. 
Water Bugs, Roaches, Flies, 
Mosquitoes, Cabbage Worms, 
Potato or Squash Bugs, Aphis, 
etc. Harmless to plants vege¬ 
tables or health. Invaluable 
In every household. Zinc Bellows for house use, con¬ 
servatories, etc., by mail, 25 cts. Linger size, 60 cts. Exter¬ 
minator, by mad. per pound, without bellows, 50 cts. Largo 
bellows for garden use, $1.25. 
JAMES VICK SEEDSMAN, 
ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
Tie A B C of Potato Culture. 
By T. B. TERRY, Hudson, Ohio. 
How to grow them In the largest quantity and of the 
finest quality, with the least expenditure of time and 
labor. Carefully considering all the latest improve¬ 
ments in this branch of agriculture up to the present 
date. It has had an Immense sale and has been print¬ 
ed In foreign languages. Price, postpaid, 38c. 
Mention this paper. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. 
CHOICE FLOWER SEEDST 
Grown and sold by MILTON E, FISK, Lunen 
burg, Mass. Send for Catalogue and receive a sample 
packet free. 
DEATH to insects in house, garden, orchard and 
fields; also Poultry and Cattle Lice. Illustrated cir¬ 
culars free. THOMAS WOODASON, 
451 East Cambria St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
A FEW THOUSAND 
Choice No. 1 Marlboro and Cuthbert Rasp¬ 
berry Plants for sale at 85 per thousand. 
WM, H. GOLDSMITH. Newark, N. J. 
SMALL FRUITS! leading ’New and Old 
varieties at reasonable rates. Catalogues lree. 
IRVING ALLEN, Springfield, Mass. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS FOR SALE. 
Buhacb No. 5 and Belmont, $1 per 100; $6 per 1,000. 
Jessie, $2 per 100; $18 per 1,000. 500 at 1,000 rates by 
freight or express. JAMES LIPPINCOTT, Jr. 
Mount Holly, N. J. 
■ a I > arieneo l tiUH/r ijUvvtiic^L i | 
” PACKET©<fcSf’tjP.PafcJ.J.HUNT.Biiif?hamton,X 
A VV* 
.Y. 
Small FRUIT PLANTS in Variety. 
Blackberries, Currants, Gooseberries, 
Grapes, Raspberries, Strawberries. 
The cream of the old and the new. Sound plants; true 
to name. Send for r r ice list to 
T. T. LYON, South Haven, Mich. 
G AT T\ Stfawberrv, a new Berry of very 
fine quality, now offered for the first 
time. Also, Jewell, Jessie, Belmont, and other 
varieties. Address P. M. AUGUR & SONS, 
Originators, Mifldleflcld, Conn, 
