saturated with the “bonanza farming” ideis. 
Cultivating grasses and roots they pronounce 
“small business.” They can’t stop to “putter” 
with dairying and fruit-raising and tree¬ 
planting so long as the big corn-field demands 
their attention. There are, however, many 
reasons for thinking that the day of the exclu¬ 
sive corn-field and great wheat-farm is past 
forever, in Kansas. 
The Kansas winter of 1885-6 will be long 
remembered because of its length and severi¬ 
ty; resulting in the total destruction of near¬ 
ly all of the Alfalfa, clover, Timothy, and 
Orchard Grass (about thirty acres) then grow¬ 
ing upon the College Farm. The only ex¬ 
ception to the general fatality was the Or¬ 
chard Grass, sowed the spring immediately 
preceding this severe winter. For some un¬ 
accountable reason, the six acres sowed in the 
spring of 1882, although the field was a very 
exposed one, were not damaged in the least. 
Elsewbeie, in protected situations, the south 
side of board fences and buildings, no dam¬ 
age was done. Neither were Kentucky Blue 
Grass nor its near relative, Texas Blue Grass, 
injured in the least; but the destruction of all 
other grasses, and all clovers, except as stated 
above, was complete. This was, by far, the 
most serious set-back they have experienc¬ 
ed in the course of 14 years of experimenting 
with cultivated grasses and clovers. 
In seeding, Prof. S. has in the course of 18 
years been completely successful in seven years 
and has made more or less complete failures in 
five years; and, in the same period, they have 
bad eight years of great crops of hay, one 
medium crop, and four years when the hay 
crop was light. They have had, in the same 
period, but one season (that of’ 85 and'86) when 
the destruction of grasses and clovers by win¬ 
ter-killing was really serious. They have 
never yet—at least since 1874—had experience 
of a season of drouth that has permanently 
damaged well-set Orchard Grass, Alfalfa, or 
Bed Clover. 
These facts seem to Prof. S. to show, beyond 
any possibility of question, that the tame 
gi asses and clovers, when cultivated with in- 
t< lligence and judgment, are a profitable crop 
in his section of the State, and doubtless in 
others where they have never been tried. 
Their best stands have been had from spring 
seeding. He would in no case be tempted to 
sow grass seed until the ground is thoroughly 
wet from spring rains. 
Mixed Orchard Grass and Red Clover have 
proved, for the general purposes of the farm, 
superior to any single sort or combination 
that have yet eeu tried. A bushel and a 
half of Orchard Grass, or, better still, two 
bushels, with three quarts of Red Clover seed 
per acre is a very satisfactory mixture. En¬ 
glish Blue Grass (Festuca elatior) has often 
been valuable, although it has not the staying 
qualities so characteristic of Orchard Grass. 
When sown alone, two bushels of seed per acre 
should be used, and, if to this two or three 
quarts of Red Clover seed are added, the pro¬ 
duct of the field will be improved both in qual¬ 
ity and quantity. 
There are few Kansas farmers who might 
not grow Alfalfa to advantage. In the abili¬ 
ty to resist drought, and its yield of bay or 
pasturage, it has no equal among the common 
grasses and clovers. About twenty pounds 
of seed should bo used to each acre of ground, 
which must, in every case, be well prepared 
by plowing and harrowing. Of the above 
mentioned sorts, and, indeed, of every variety 
of grass that has been tried, it may be said 
that ultimately it will give place to Kentucky 
Blue Grass. Red Clover will hold its own long¬ 
er than any other grass or clover against the 
encroachments of this conqueror of grasses; but 
the Blue Grass is sure, sooner or later, to dis¬ 
pute with it the possession of the land. Ex¬ 
cept for lawn, Prof. S. would on no account 
advise seeding o Kentucky Blue Grass. For 
the reason that it gives no hay crop worth 
mentioning, and almost no pasturage, except 
during about five weeks of every spring, it has, 
in his section, at least, but trifling agricultur¬ 
al value. Its near relative, Texas Blue Grass 
(Poa arachuifera), seems to him a much more 
useful sort, and, net unlikely, one of the very 
best grasses. A wider experience is needed 
before a statement of the agricultural value 
of this grass can be made. 
There is no drouth-proof fodder plant; al¬ 
though some deep-feeding plants like Alfalfa 
are but slightly affected by the ordinary “dry 
spell.” But grass is like every other crop in 
that it fails when from any cause it is depriv¬ 
ed of its proper supply of moisture. 
He would in no case attempt seeding grass 
upon land that had not been cropped for three 
years. Never, he says, consent to seed with 
some other crop, as wheat or oats: “that is a 
rule with scarcely an exception. 
The unusually low price of wool at present 
—due mainly to the tariff agitation in and out 
of Congress—is likely to have a depressing ef- 
.ect on the sheep-raising industry of the coun¬ 
try. Why don’t farmers and flock-masters 
give more attention to the production of mut¬ 
ton, even if they bestow less attention to the 
production of wool? A writer in the Nation¬ 
al Stockman very opportunely points out that 
mutton is almost at famine prices at present. 
During the autumn of 1885 live cattle whole¬ 
sale were worth in New York from six to seven 
cents; live sheep from three to four cents per 
pound. To-day in New York dressed beef is 
selling at six to seven and one-half cents, and 
dressed mutton at from 11 to 13 cents. Our 
export trade in dressed mutton and live sheep 
has dropped below our receipts of live sheep 
from Canada. Unless we encourage sheep 
farming by removing the cause of the exorbi¬ 
tant price of mutton tc-day, our mutton will 
come from the Old World, and at a price that 
will make the most wholesome meat on 
earth beyond the means of the working classes. 
Agricultural Outlook in Italy.— From 
recent agricultural reportsin Italy, condensed 
by Bradstreet’s, it appears that in 38 out of 
the 67 districts farmers are in fairly good con¬ 
dition. Brices of grain and cattle have depre¬ 
ciated ,it is true, but the crops have been abun¬ 
dant. In the remaining 29 districts farmers 
have been greatly impoverished by poor cul¬ 
tivation and fungoid attacks. The most 
prosperous districts are those in which the 
metayer system of land tenure prevails. Un¬ 
der this system the cultivator makes his en¬ 
gagement directly with the land-owner, and 
pays,not a fixed rent, either in money or kind, 
but a certain proportion of the produce, after 
deducting what is necessary to keep up the 
stock. The proportion thus paid to the land- 
owner is usually one-half of the produce, but 
it varies in several parts of Italy. Wheat is 
extensively cultivated, and the average yield, 
taking the mountain, hill and plain districts 
together, is about 13 bushels per acre. Poul¬ 
try of all sorts are reared largely by the met¬ 
ayers. Stock-raising has become an ob¬ 
ject of importance since the fall in the price 
of cereals, and skillful metayers have made 
good profits out of this business. During the 
past 50 years the area of land under cultiva¬ 
tion has been increasing, at the expense of the 
land devoted to woods. 
Buyers of all kinds of livestock are in¬ 
fluenced to a greater or less extent by the de¬ 
gree to which certain qualities in the animal 
have been developed, says the National Live 
Stock Journal. Ability to draw a heavy load is 
the most essential quality in a draft-horse, but 
a rapid walk and a smooth, well-shaped body, 
with good carriage, are valuable also. A fast 
trotter is prized much more highly if he is 
stylish and handsome, though these qualities 
could not make up for the absence of speed. 
The value of a cow that is a very heavy milk¬ 
er is enhanced if she, at the same time, has 
good looks, though beauty is secondary to a 
profitable yield of milk or butter. Some men, 
in breeding, endeavor to secure beauty os the 
most desirable characteristic, because it is an 
aid in effecting sales, satisfied if, at the same 
time, they secure other useful qualities in a 
moderate degree. In this practical age and 
thoroughly practical country, in our hunt for 
the “Almighty Dollar,” are we not occasion¬ 
ally overtempted to pay too little attention to 
those qualities which please through the eye, 
and too much to those that please through the 
pocket? _ 
TRUE INWARDNESS. 
The Farm Journal asks: “Who knows the 
virtues of Martin’s Amber Wheat? Who 
knows its failings?” 
The R. N.-Y. thinks it can answer having 
raised it or th< Armstrong (now the Landreth) 
with which it seems to be identical some 11 or 
12 years ago. We have now about five acres 
of this wheat growing at the R. N.-Y. farm. 
It makes a very good flour though not the 
best. The kernel is of an amber color, of 
rather large size. The heads are beardless 
and about the size of Clawson though the 
breasts or spikelets are closer together and 
average (as grown on our land) more kernels 
to the spikelet. We shall never again raise 
Clawson or Diehl or Diehl-Mediterranean, or 
Silver Chaff, all of which we have raised on 
considerable areas, while we can get Arm- 
strong-Martin’s-Amber-Landreth. It is as 
hardy as any of the 150 varieties of wheat we 
have tried during the past 10 years. 
Dr. Hoskins writes us that Secretary 
Williams’ article on fertilizers goes right 
against his long experience. He uses no 
acid fertilizers, preferring fine bone or floats 
and ashes used so freely that the question 
whether his land needs manure never arises, 
since it is always fully manured at least three 
years ahead, and this at a small expense—not 
exceeding $12 per acre. It is all applied broad¬ 
cast. He uses a few loads of manure yearly 
and buys perhaps 500 pounds of acid phos- 
ph ,te to use on squashes, melons and the like 
or which the seasons in Vermont are too short. 
He predicts that in a very few years acid fer¬ 
tilizers will be discarded in general agriculture. 
When we can have the unacidified materials 
he says, in impalpable powder, easily and lib¬ 
erally applied, along with all our farm man¬ 
ure carefully saved, we can have our farms 
bring maximum crops and keep improving 
all the time. 
Prof. Osborn before the Iowa Horticultural 
Society speaks forcibly of the wholesale slaugh¬ 
ter resulting from the use of poisonous insec¬ 
ticides. It is worthy the thoughtful consider¬ 
ation of all. 
The general application of poison for this 
coddling moth, though of priceless value to the 
fruit-grower, demands a careful understand¬ 
ing of all the conditions connected with its 
operation. Applied while honey is still secreted 
in 1 he blossoms, it must be taken by the honey - 
gathering insects and cause the death of hosts 
of these while engaged in their office of fertil¬ 
izing the bloom. Honey in the flower is for 
the purpose of attracting insects. Its presence 
is a certain indication of the need of the as¬ 
sistance of the insects attracted to it. What 
must we expect, then, if the reward offered by 
the plant for the service of the insect is chang¬ 
ed to a cup of deadly poison? This instance will 
illustrate the need of intelligent action where 
interference is resorted to. Applied too early, 
the insects necessary to fertilization may 
suffer: deferred too long, the larvae of the 
coddling moth will have penetrated the young 
apple, where they are secure against poison... 
Vick’s Magazine for June is largely de¬ 
voted to roses. We can hardly see too much 
of this queen. 
ABSTRACTS. 
T. B. Terry in the Ohio Farmer: “This year 
we have again planted (with greatcare to have 
conditions all alike) rows with potato seed 
cut to one and to two eyes, and one row is put 
in on the Rural New-Yorker trench system, 
and several are put in with fertilizers, in dif¬ 
ferent quantities, and numerous other experi¬ 
ments have been begun.”-Life: “Ameri¬ 
can newspapers, for many sad months to 
come, will be devoted chiefly to political can¬ 
didates and their chances.”-“Tie a piece 
of meat to a stick; turn loose upon it a select¬ 
ed number of choice bull-terriers and you can 
have the political situation in your own back 
yard.”-Breeder’s Gazette: “There has 
been a great deal written, at one time and 
another, relative to the green sailing of cattle, 
and Hoard’s Dairyman claims that ten acres 
planted to soiling crops will support as many 
cattle as 60 acres of pasturage, and that Hiram 
Smith, the well-known dairyman who keeps 
about 100 cows on 200 acres of land, depends 
largely upon soiling. Mr. Smith is credited 
with the statement that for making a pound of 
butter ordinary pasture is the most costly of 
any kind of farm food.”-Prof. W. A. 
Henry: “The cream from silage milk is 
considerably more churuable than that from 
cows fed on dry fodder.”-John Gould in 
N. E. Homestead: “Dr. Goessmaun’s report 
that corn fodder doubles its nutritive value 
between the appearauce of the tassel and the 
glazing of the ear, is worth thousands of dol¬ 
lars to the farmers, if they will heed it. The 
inferior quality of corn fodder grown as such 
in the past has been due to not recognizing 
this fact. Quite as important, also, is the fact 
that corn fodder gets its largest per cent, of 
food elements from the sunlight an i air, while 
close and thick sowing shuts out both. Farm¬ 
ers who haven’t observed these points have 
failed and blamed the fodder for its poor char¬ 
acter. I am now fully convinced that more 
feed value can begot from an acre of fodder 
by drilling in not over ten quarts of Southern 
or the best kinds of Northern corn per acre, a 
kernel of corn sown six inches in the drill rows 
in drills 3)4 feet apart, than by any other 
system: 400 stalks in a row and 60 rows per 
acre, mean 24,COO stalks. If they weigh two 
pounds each, that means 24 tons of wilted fod¬ 
der per acre, or more than the equal of eight 
tons of No. 1 hay for milch cows. Think of itl 
Is it not the cheapest “roughage” on the face 
of the earth? No wonder 30,000 acres of fod¬ 
der corn were drilled in in Wisconsin last 
year and 600 silos built, and this year 90,000 
acres will be drilled in and 2,000 wooden silos 
built.”-Mail and Express: 
“Sleep and rest abundantly 
Associate with healthy people. 
Don't overeat. Don’t starve. 
Court the fresh air day and night. 
Think only healthful thoughts.” 
Cor. N. Y. Tribune: “This colt is mine until 
sold, and then father takes the money; but it 
won’t be so always.”-Farm Journal: “It 
is a loss to a neighborhood where the custom 
of afternoon visits and tea drinkings has gone 
out of fashion. People grow narrow and sel¬ 
fish when interested only in their own affairs, 
and the giving and accepting of hospitality 
add breadth and interest to life, when done 
with true friendly and neighborly interest in 
one another.”-“The Southern semi-wild 
bog makes the best bacon. Moral: for the 
West, less corn and more exercise.”- 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Indiana. 
Rockville, Park Co., May 27.— Our last 
frosts on the mornings of May 13th and 15th 
were quite severe and destructive. At four 
o’clock in the afternoon of the 14th the ther¬ 
mometer, six feet from the ground, stood at 
52 degrees; one hour later it had risen to 54 
degrees. A rising temperature and a setting 
sun surely indicated a warm wave. The 
morning of the 15th ushered in a stinging 
frost, biting savagely all tender plants in a 
way “ we all despise.” The frost struck right 
and left without rule. In a row of tomatoes 
on high ground it would bite four-fifths of 
them to the ground: the remainder scattered 
in the row would be untouched. Close by, 
in the next row, the tender Valentine beans 
were fresh and safe. Six feet away, the same 
bean, planted on the same day, was killed, 
while tomatoes were unscathed. Across a 
potato lot one hill w as bitten badly, and after 
a skip of twenty hills there was another bite. 
A neighbor covered up his tomatoes with 
sugar buckets, but found all killed, while two 
or three that had been forgotten and remained 
exposed were as fresh as daisies. Grapes 
high up on hills on A’s ground were sale, 
while on B’s all were killed. Lower ones were 
safe, and so on. But we all agree it was a 
destructive frost. All tender vegetation and 
berries were more or less injured, and now we 
are having rain and more rain. Our wheat 
is struggling to yield one-third of a 
crop, but I am afraid it will fail to 
do so. Corn is growing nicely and so 
are oats. Grass is short, owing to 
drought in April and early May. Potatoes 
are making a very even stand and look well. 
All garden vegetables promise an early sup¬ 
ply. Early strawberries are beginning to 
ripen and promise a large yield, the largest 
perhaps we have ever had. Raspberries show 
much bloom and will be a large crop. 
a. c. B. 
Lawrence, Marion Co., May 28 —Corn is 
in the ground here ; some of it is up We 
had a fine spring for work, but the ground 
has been almost too cold. A great many who 
planted early had to plant their corn again. 
Potatoes were planted early and are a poor 
stand. We have had just enough rain to make 
the ground work nicely, but not enough to stop 
work. Yesterday and last night, however, we 
had heavy rains, and I think we will have a day 
or two of rest. Meadows are looking well. 
Oats are backward. More wheat ground was 
plowed under and planted in something else 
this year than I have seen in the last ten 
years; but what is left is looking about as 
well as wheat did last year. The harvest, 
however, will be a few days later. Clover 
was completely done for last year. Cut¬ 
worms are very bad, but they will soon go, as 
their time is about up. c. H. h. 
Iowa. 
Des 'Moines, Polk Co,, June 1.—When I 
wrote my last report, May 4, we had had six 
days of fine, gentle showers, just what we had 
needed for the past two years, and everything 
was very promising indeed for fine crops. 
But the rains have continued all through May 
and at times it has rained fearfully hard; 
hence the land is badly washed and crops are 
seriously damaged. It has also been very cold 
all through the wet spell. Corn planting was 
badly delayed in many places, but our farmers 
worked with an energy between showers and 
got about through planting in May. Corn as 
far as it has come up, is a fine stand except 
that there are some washouts. On Sunday 
night, May 27, we had the most terrific hail 
storm ever know in this section. In fact, it 
was attended with a water spout and the whole 
earth was a solid sheet of water from three to 
four inches deep on the level. Gardens and 
small fruits were nearly entirely destroyed. 
The track of the storm was from three to five 
miles wide here, and reports are so conflicting 
that we do not know yet how loDg or how far 
it traveled. It occurred about 12 o’clock and 
persons that were up and saw it can hardly 
tell which course it was traveling. I was 
among them and 1 never before saw so much 
water on the earth at one time. It only lasted 
a few minutes—perhaps not more than five. 
There was hail in the ditches by the road side 
two feet deep at four o’clock Monday afternoon- 
Corn, oats and grass do not seem to be very 
badly injured, but we cannot tell yet whether 
garden crops will amount to anything. Many 
gardens are entirely washed out. Nearly all 
our market gardens around the city were in 
the storm track and we are all practically out 
of the market this week. Plants and seeds of 
ail kinds are in great demand and almost put- 
