432 
■£ 
rod at c, one of the hind end boards can be 
used for a foot-rest, b. a. c. carpenter. 
Dakota County, Minn. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
Injustice of Taxing, in Full, Mortgaged 
Property. —Many thanks for the Rural car¬ 
toons, as they preach volumes that the pen 
never could; for people will read pictures. 
Now as the N. Y. Legislature is wrangling 
and has wrangled over the tax question, please 
give us and them one more cartoon showing 
up the injustice of compelling our mortgage- 
ridden farmers to pay taxes on what they do 
not own, simply because the law is against the 
mortgagor. Within a stort time two men 
have died hereabouts who were assessed respec¬ 
tively at 8400 and $2,000, personal property, 
yet their deaths showed them to be worth 
$15,000 and $20,000 respectively, and while 
they had what they wished those that paid 
them good interest had to pay their tax, for 
which their families were forced to do with¬ 
out many labor-saving things that the amount 
of this tax would help to purchase—the It. N.- 
Y. among them. 
Yes, 1 see hard-tolling farmers awl their 
families working in the dark side of farm 
life, denying themselves many necessaries 
and all luxuries while these vulture sfeed on 
their hearts and vitals, while they deny them¬ 
selves nothing. L. s. 
Wayne Co., N.Y. 
Plowing in Grass Seed. —Here is my ex¬ 
perience in plowing grass seed. I was born 
in Maine. At the age of 21 I and my older 
brother took the old farm, as my father was 
getting too old to manage it. He had always 
been in the habit of sowing the grass seed 
after harrowing, sometimes brushing it in and 
sometimes raking it in with hand rakes. We 
followed his way some two or three years. 
One spring a neighbor came there just as we 
were sowing, and said: “Why don’t you plow 
it in?” We told him we did not think it 
would ever see daylight. He said “Try it, 
and if it does not come I will pay the damage.” 
As he was a responsible man, we sowed on top 
of the ground and plowed it in and it came 
up just as well as it did when put in in the 
old way, and ever afterwards we plowed in 
our grass seed. The object was to get it deep¬ 
ly rooted so that the frost would not heave it 
out. Wo generally sowed one-half bushel of 
Timothy and about six pounds of clover per 
acre. G. w. G. 
Mandan, Dakota. 
Among other mischiefs that the sparrows 
are guilty of that have not been mentioned, is 
destroying corn. They commence as soon 
as the ear forms, and tear open the ends as 
far as they can, which burns and destroys a 
great many, and greatly injures all, and they 
go for every ear in the held. I think if the 
Government would use about ten millions of 
that awful surplus each year in destroying 
the sparrows, that would be the best way of 
disposing of it. 
I sent to a seedsman of Philadelphia for a 
few seeds and received them in less than 00 
hours from the time the letter was put in the 
office—distance 300 miles. If other seedsmen 
and nurseymen would imitate this one in being 
prompt, it would pay them better then their 
big circulars. If anything is more annoying 
and exasperating than the way some of the 
seedsmen deal with their customers, I don’t 
know of it. B. R. 
Broad Ford, Pa. 
In regard to the Rural’s query what to do 
with the left-over small fruits I cannot tell 
what to do with the surplus, but I can tell 
what I do with such as I control; first, I con¬ 
sume all I can by eating them up; second, 
I lay in a liberal supply for winter use by 
canning them; third, 1 feed the birds, etc, with 
them. Seven quarts of strawberries, our first 
picking, yesterday, went on our tables and 
there was no surplus to dispose of. What a 
splendid shower we had last week and it was 
most needed. Strawberries were very thirsty. 
I reckon it reached the Rural Ex. Grounds 
and was duly appreciated. The berries this 
season are evidently demoralized, and are all 
trying to ripen at one time. It is queer, much 
rust, and the promises of two weeks ago are 
not the promises of to-day by at least one-half. 
Essex Co., N. Y. e. williams. 
Fighting Army-Worms.—I am trying 
now a mixture of Paris-green and corn meal 
on army -worms that are working on my 
corn, and believe that it will prove effectual. 
They first attacked my wheat, stripping off 
every blade. The stripping off the blades 
does not appear to have damaged the wheat 
at all, and I would not be surprised if it 
proves to be a benefit, as I don’t think that 
where the blades are stripped off there will be 
any danger from rust. Our wheat is filling 
out well. The Fultz and Finley have from 
three to four grains to a mesh. The Velvet 
Chaff and Tasmanian Red are not doing quite 
so well. The Hydrid Mediterranean is good, 
but the heads are short. Harvest will com¬ 
mence about June 25th. E. M. 
Naples, Ill. _ 
My land is more or less filled with light 
stones, so that those splendid cultivators so 
valuable on soil free from stones, here often 
catch and break. T made one by taking five 
teeth from my spring-tooth harrow, attaching 
them to suitable wood, and it works to my 
satisfaction. I raise the outside teeth so they 
do not work the ground more than one or two 
inches while the others stir it four or six 
inches in depth. L. H. spear. 
I have never taken the Rural until this 
year, but 1 am well pleased with it and look 
anxiously for it to come every week. I think 
if every farmer in the country could be in¬ 
duced to take it and obey its suggestions, there 
would be a vast improvement in the looks of 
the farm and the feel of the farmers’ pocket- 
books. f. R. w. 
Monroeville, N. J. 
There is a vinegar barrel in my attic, be¬ 
side the chimney, that was placed there over 
45 years ago, by my father, and it has never 
been empty of pure cider vinegar since. There 
is “mother”in it over one-and-a-half inch thick, 
covering the entire surface of the barrel, and 
it contains over 20 gallons of good, sharp vine¬ 
gar to-day. h. a. w. 
Allow me to add a word of commendation 
about the Rural New-Yorker. Go on with 
the good work. Hold up the hands of the 
poor farmer. His back is bent with the bur¬ 
dens of many who ought to bear their own. 
Stanton, Va. g. w. k. 
Outlook for Wheat in New York. —The 
Rochester Morning Herald has reports of the 
wheat crop in thirteen of the principal winter 
wheat-growing counties in this State, includ¬ 
ing Yates, Wyoming, Cattaraugus, Steuben, 
Allegany, Niagara, Seneca, Ontario, Orleans, 
Monroe, Wayne, Livingston and Genesee. 
The winter-wheat crop is a partial failure in 
Yates, bad in Wyoming, good for all crops in 
Cattaraugus, though but little wheat is grown 
there; good for wheat in Steuben; wheat in 
Allegany not much grown, better than in 
1887; acreage about same as in 1887. In Ni¬ 
agara county the acreage of wheat is smaller 
than in 1887; prospects of a good yield poor. 
In Seneca county wheat will be a Tight crop; 
spring grain crops promising. In Ontario the 
outlook for the winter-wheat crop is poor. In 
Orleans county winter-wheat promises an ave¬ 
rage crop; oats, barley and corn promise ave¬ 
rage crops. In Monroe county wheat is var¬ 
iable in the different towns—some x>oor and 
some good. In Wayne county about three- 
fourths of a winter-wheat crop expected; some 
towns good, others poor. In Livingston 
county wheat promises below average. In 
Genesee county the promise is for an under¬ 
average crop. The wheat crop in the State 
in 1887 was 10,187,000 bushels, against 11,093,- 
000 bushels in 1886. 
Wiiat has Made the Money?— Have you 
stopped to inquire just w T hat has made the 
money in farming for the last year or two? 
It would perhaps be easier to tell what has 
not made money, says the National Stockman, 
for in the latter category are to be included 
our two greatest staples—wheat and beef. It 
is the lesser staples that have paid—hogs, 
fat sheep, potatoes, beans, poultry, eggs, and 
many of the still smaller sources of income on 
the farm. Corn has been a source of profit 
to those who have had that grain for sale, and 
especially to the few who can now place it on 
the market; but the many farmers who have 
bought it and fed it to cattle have no very 
cheerful remarks to make on this source. The 
average in smaller products, however, has 
not been bad; and do not forget that the farm¬ 
er who makes money every year—and there 
are those who do—is the one who always has 
some of these smaller products for sale. 
Breeding Roots and Grain for Milk.— 
Prof. Brown, of the Guelph (Canada) Ag¬ 
ricultural College, in a late bulletin gives the 
results of trials in feeding roots as against 
grain in milk production. His objects were 
(1) cheaper production of winter milk; (2) to 
get milk equal at least to the average Ontario 
summer records; (3) the use of a large quan¬ 
tity of roots without tainting the milk; and 
(4) to maintain the milk flow and condition of 
the cows without grain. He makes the fol¬ 
lowing deductions from his experiments: 
1. Tbat 81 pounds of a mixture of roots, 
an unusually large quantity per head per day, 
with 12 pounds of hay gave almost as much 
milk as did the unusually large quantity of 
21 pounds of a mixture of grain and 12 pounds 
of hay. 
2. That this result was accomplished—(1) 
without spoiling the milk, (2) without reduc¬ 
ing animal weight, (3) at 30 per cent, less cost, 
and (4) even though the root ration was scien¬ 
tifically 37 per cent, lower in nutritive value. 
3. Thus, food of a succulent character, 
four times more bulky and of much less value 
proportionately than dry grain, demands a 
very high place in winter dairying. 
4. The large relative percentage of water 
in roots seems to possess an influence in the 
production of milk which, if not exactly un¬ 
derstood, yet seems to depend for its effect 
upon the fact that the natural food of milch 
cows contains a larger proportion of water 
than is found in the more highly nutritious 
grains. 
5. Thirty-three pounds of Swede turnips 
per day if fed whole and separately will taint 
milk, but when sliced and mixed with an 
equal quantity of mangels, or when pulped 
and mixed with hay, will not give a bad flavor. 
6. The manure values scientifically result¬ 
ing from the consumption of these rations are 
about four cents for roots aud nine cents for 
grain per cow daily; thus, in balancing all the 
points in this experiment, that of manure 
must not be lost sight of. 
7. Take two such cows as Prof. Brown 
used for this test over a winter of 180 days, 
one upon each of these rations, and all other 
conditions being alike, we obtain the following 
comparison: 
Milk. 
Value 
Cost of 
Manure 
Net 
Lb. 
of Milk. 
Food. 
Value. 
Gain 
Roots, 
3.762 
$47 
$35 
$7 
$19 
Grain, 
4,020 
56 
56 
16 
10 
WHICH MAY REMIND YOU. 
Grass cuttings fresh from the lawn make 
an excellent mulch for flower beds. 
Why did my land respond fairly well when 
other land as good almcst or quite failed? 
asks good Mr. Terry in the Ohio* Farmer. 
There may have been several reasons, but he 
thinks the most important one to consider 
is the matter of cultivation. In his estima¬ 
tion, to thorough cultivation at just the right 
time, next after good seed, does he owe his crop 
of potatoes, that paid over one hundred per 
cent, profit last year, when so many all around 
him failed. Good cultivation at the right 
time and good seed. Ah, those are two mighty 
factors in a big potato yield... 
An article in Orchard and Garden in regard 
to our potato contest, makes several misstate¬ 
ments: “We are pleased to see Mr. Carman, 
after years of vacillating between one-eye 
pieces and heavier seeding, speak out in favor 
of planting pieces containing several eyes, 
supporting each eye with the largest possible 
piece of tuber, etc.” 
The Editor of the R. N. Y. has never advo¬ 
cated the use of oneneye pieces. 
Again in a P.S. the Orchard and Garden 
Editor speaks as follows: 
“We have been slightly mistaken. Mr. 
Carman is not going to put his trust in the 
uncertainties of a whole half acre, but will 
confine the test to a few coddled hills, agree¬ 
ing to raise potatoes, in a small way, at the 
rate of 700 bushels to the acre. That is an 
altogether different thing. On the other hand, 
we are bound to say that Mr. Carman also 
has planted a larger plot (one-half acre, we 
believe) according to his approved fashion, and 
promises to inform the public of the final out¬ 
come. However, he is not very sanguine 
about gettiug 350 bushels on the area; 100 
bushels will probably come near to the actual 
yield.” 
There are 165 hills and these will not be 
“coddled” any more than the potato plots we 
have cultivated for the past 12 yoars. They 
will, in fact, receive no more care than ought 
to be given to potato culture on large areas if 
large crops are desired. The only difference 
between this plot and field work will be that 
the cultivation in the former case must neces¬ 
sarily be done by hand. 
Yes, we do put our trust in a half acre, or 
an acre or 10 acres just as much as in this plot 
of one-eightieth of an acre, provided the land 
were of the same lay and in the same condi¬ 
tion. The half-acre alluded to is not such 
land. It is greatly impoverished by years of 
cultivation without manure and a portion 
needs draining. It was, however, the only 
available large plot on the Rural Farm, and 
our aim was to show what could be done on 
such land by the Trench system. 
It is to be hoped that should we succeed on 
this impoverished piece of land in raising con¬ 
siderably more than 200 bushels to the acre, 
the Orchard and Garden Editor will chronicle 
the fact for the benefit of his readers as free¬ 
ly as he makes a prediction of the “probable” 
yield... 
Why this editor or any other editor should 
seem to take pleasure in belittling the R. 
N.-Y.’s endeavors to make known the advan¬ 
tages of what we have good reason to believe 
an improved system of cultivation, is hard to 
understand. Farm papers should try to help 
one another the same as they are ever ready 
to help the experiment stations of the country. 
Indeed a farm journal is entitled to special 
recognition if, in addition to journalistic 
labors, it is enabled to carry on effective ex 
perimental work in the field as well.. 
The following paragraph from the same 
paper, incongruously enough, seems to recog¬ 
nize the good which will probably flow from 
the contest: 
“ We do not expect that the results of this 
contest will settle all the yet unsolved prob¬ 
lems and knotty questions in potato culture. 
Undoubtedly, however, some good will come 
from it, aud we earnestly hope that we may 
be able to learn some new things, and gain 
some valuable points, when the results are 
made known. And here is where we expect 
the real fun will come in.”. 
We respectfully suggest to the editor of 
our esteemed contemporary tbat he, for the 
present, confine his attention to the facts in 
the case as patiently as may be until the re¬ 
sults are made known by the Judges next 
fall. If then he finds material for ridicule, 
we shall try to bear it gracefully. 
The Orange County Farmer strongly urges 
upon its readers the duty of destroying the 
tent caterpillar, which is infesting so many 
apple trees as well as trees of other sorts in 
parts of the country. They will denude thous¬ 
ands of trees of their foliage if their depreda¬ 
tions are not stopped. Go around early in 
the morning, it says, and burn them out, and 
while you are at it, note the wild cherry 
trees, which seem to be favorites with them. 
Do not leave a nest of them alive. It is a dif 
fieult matter to destroy tent catterpillars in 
this way and a disfigurement to the tree. Still 
we heartily agree with our friendly contem¬ 
porary that burning is better than no attempt 
at all to exterminate the pests. For some 
years past we have preserved our own trees 
from their depredations by the use of Pyre- 
thrum powder or Buhach (the American pro¬ 
duct.) It is easily blown or sprayed into 
their tents. In 15 minutes thereafter every 
one will have fallen to the ground to perish 
—perish as we assume, since wo see no 
more of them. 
At the great show of Shire horses held annu¬ 
ally in Loudon, England, all the exhibits are 
rigidly examined by skilled veterinarians, and 
all animals in any way unsound are disqualified 
from taking prizes. By this means it is expected 
that the number of unsound animals in the 
breed will, in course of time, be reduced to a 
minimum, as there will be no breeding from 
animals known to be unsound. There are un¬ 
sound horses in all breeds, and the best policy 
is to get rid of them as soon as possible, aud 
this can be best done by an honest inspection 
of the show animals of all breeds by skilled ex¬ 
ports, and the exclusion of all unsound ani¬ 
mals from breeding. 
WORD FOR WORD. 
Orange Co. Farmer: “In relation to the 
Empire State Grape we agree with the Rural 
The one vine of that sort on our place, which 
last year made a vigorous growth, ripening 
its wood well, is this spring killed to the ground 
though sprouting from the root.”-Amer¬ 
ican Garden: “If, when preparing mixtures 
of soap and kerosene, the soap and kerosene 
be put together in a vessel and allowed to 
stand over-night, a few minutes’stirring with 
a stick will bring these mixtures into the 
right state next morning. By letting the coal 
oil stand on the soap its chemical powers are 
brought into play as well as by beating it 
about, though mores lowly.”-Industrial¬ 
ist: “It is plain to us that the Experiment Sta¬ 
tions were never designed to take the place of 
the agricultural press, agricultural colleges, 
and farmers’ institutes. They will be, un¬ 
doubtedly, a valuable adjunct to the ordinary 
educational means, but it certainly is a misuse 
of funds to make the bulletins and reports o 
the Stations simply essays, the subject mat¬ 
ter of which is already before the public.” 
-N. E. Farmer. “Some farmers are all 
brains and others all elbow-grease, and neither 
succeed.”-Uncle Esek’s Wisdom in the 
June Century: “He who has no enemies has 
no friends—that he can rely upon.” 
“The most economical man is the one who 
can spend the most money to advantage.” 
“Beauty has no rules; or, rather, it has so 
many that no one can define them.” 
“Debt is a good deal like the old-fashioned 
wire mouse-trap—the bole to get in is four 
times as big as the one to get out at.” 
“If I could write three lines that could not 
be Improved upon, I would limit my literary 
fame to them as long as time lasts.”-Farm 
Journal: “Cultivate, cnltivate, cultivate 1 this 
s the watchword, of the good farmer.”——~ 
