4888 
847 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
turning the poultry on' 1 to one at a time, 
leaving the others to grow meantime. 
C. A. U., Fairfax Co., Va.—I cannot re¬ 
frain from very heartily indorsing the 
Rural’s suggestion in reference to the next 
Commissioner of Agriculture. I belive all 
who have personally met Mr. J. S. Wood¬ 
ward, have been very favorably impressed 
by his earnestness and candor, his vigorous 
and lucid expression of opinions which are 
based on practical experience. Those who 
have not had that pleasure, need only read his 
contributions to the literature of the farm, 
to be convinced that he is, most certainly, the 
proper man for the office of Commissioner of 
Agriculture. 
“Uber,” Falls Church, Va.—M y ex¬ 
perience with crude petroleum (light) differs 
from that given in answer to A. S., in 
page 764 of the Rural. About eight years 
ago, or more, whitewash was scraped from a 
building of mine and a coat of light pe¬ 
troleum applied—as much as the wood would 
absorb—and in less than a week, a coat of 
paint (Averill’s) was applied. Since then one 
or two more coats have been but on and there 
has been no sign of peeling. I agree that 
there is no necessity for paint, if shingles are 
soaked (dipped) in petroleum. 
F. H. B., Raleigh, N. C.—i have never 
had such perfect potatoes in my gardening 
experience as this year when I adopted the 
Rural trench system. Can the Rural give 
any definite information and experience of 
its trial in the cultivation of sweet potatoes ? 
R. N.-Y. No. 
THE TROPICAL FRUIT TRADE. 
The New Orleans Picayune refers to the 
vast strides made by that city during recent 
years in building up a profitable business in 
fruit. The fruit is brought from Central 
America and islands to the south by a large 
fleet of both steam and sailing vessels, and is 
distributed from New Orleans to all parts of 
the South and West. The railroads have 
worked in harmony with the importers in 
building up this trade, and it is not uncommon 
to see an entire train-load of bananas leave 
New Orleans at one time. Savannah, Mobile 
and Pensacola are all reaching out to gain a 
share of this profitable business, and hope to 
offset their present lack of handling facilities 
by cheap port charges and lower cost of labor. 
Savannah is about to place a steamship in the 
Bluefields trade, and it is intended if the en¬ 
terprise proves as successful as is hoped to add 
other vessels. 
Greasing sheep for winter protection. 
—The English and Scotch practice of smear¬ 
ing sheep in a preparation for the storms of 
winter, says the Times, has some value which 
presents it for favorable consideration or 
adoption by American shepherds. The wool 
is thoroughly saturated with cheap grease; 
usually the ancient and odoriferous butter 
which is rejected by the inspectors, and is 
stirred by them with a tarry stick so as to 
prevent its fraudulent sale for ordinary con¬ 
sumption, is used for this purpose. The effect 
is to cause the fleece to shed rain as do duck’s 
feathers, which owe this property to their oili¬ 
ness. The sheep is thus spared the injurious 
effect of a soaking with ice-cold water, which 
chills the loins and injuriously, affects the 
nervous system, which is connected with the 
spine. The cost is trifling and is more than 
repaid by the better quality of the wool, and 
there is abundance of the greasy material pro¬ 
duced—sad to say—by the many neglectful 
dairymen who make butter that is fit only for 
this purpose. 
Military Instruction in Agricultural 
Colleges. —A dispatch from Washington 
last Monday, says, gratifying results attend¬ 
ing the detail of military officers as instruct¬ 
ors at agricultural colleges are continually 
being reported to the War Department. 
When the system was inaugurated some years 
ago the details were not solicited by the col¬ 
leges, and the assignments were generally 
avoided whenever possible by army officers. 
As it appears from reports to the Department, 
this condition of affairs has completely 
changed and the places are far too few in 
number to satisfy the demands of both the 
faculties and the officers. The college author¬ 
ities have begun to value the course of mili¬ 
tary instruction, not only on account of its 
favorable results in rendering the boys tract- 
filije rt uc} apiop.able ty tljsoipljne, jtffit; also for 
the reason that it attracts patronage from 
parents who have experienced difficulty in 
educating elsewhere high-spirited boys. The 
details are sought by officers because their 
residence in academy towns brings them in 
contact with highly-educated men. Their 
own children are also afforded the best schol¬ 
astic advantages, living expenses are less than 
at frontier posts or in large cities, and—an 
important consideration with junior officers— 
they are often enabled to increase their com¬ 
pensation by undertaking special courses of 
instruction, such as mathematics, drawing, 
etc. Congress at the last session increased by 
ten the number of army officers that might 
be assigned to such duties, and the demand 
has been filled (although it has drawn heavily 
upon the resources of the Department) be¬ 
cause the Secretary believes that the military 
training afforded by the colleges will result 
in the creation of material that may be of 
great value in officering the militia forces of 
the country. The Navy Department has also 
been authorized to assign ten naval officers to 
duty as instructors in agricultural colleges, 
but no such details have yet been made. 
Agricultural department aids.— The 
new bureau in the Agricultural Department 
authorized to be established at the last session 
of Congress, and known as the Bureau of 
Correspondence with agricultural stations, 
has been assigned quarters in the east end of 
the Agricultural Department building, and 
has begun work under the direction of Pro¬ 
fessor W. O. Atwater. It is the intention, 
says the Philadelphia Record, as condensed 
by Bradstreet’s to supply the agricultural 
experimental stations with all obtainable in¬ 
formation concerning the investigations they 
may be making. Bulletins will be published 
setting out the results of agricultural experi¬ 
ments in this country and abroad, which will 
be distributed among the stations. A special 
library will be assembled which may be 
drawn upon by stations not able to meet the 
expense of maintaining their own libraries. 
A feature of the work will be to engage the 
ablest specialists in this country and Europe to 
compile articles on subjects about which in¬ 
formation may be required. As it often hap¬ 
pens that the persons conducting the stations 
are not able to read publications in foreign 
languages relating to agricultural matters 
the bureau will also undertake to have trans¬ 
lations made of such papers, and these will be 
republished for general distribution whenever 
the importance of the subject seems to war¬ 
rant the expense. Stiff another function will 
be to supply Congress with information that 
maybe found necessary to aid it in legislating 
upon agricultural matters. 
SAMPLES 
We hear only good accounts of the so-called 
Japanese Buckwheat—an item to be borne in 
mind until next summer. 
The Emerald Green Muskmelon is having a 
boom. The R. N.-Y. tried to do it justice 
several years ago. 
The R. N.-Y. is much gratified that so 
many of its subscribers show so emphatic an 
interest in the Women’s National Potato Con¬ 
test. 
Prune the grape-vines and the currant 
bushes. Cut out the old canes of blackberries 
and raspberries. Mulch a plot of wheat. 
Fill in the low places of fields. Repair the 
fences. Dig ditches. Do your plantiug before 
severe weather. Lay down the grape-vines. 
Manure the flower-beds and spade the manure 
under. It is not too late to plant hyacinths 
and tulips... 
The R. N.-Y. finds in curreut farm litera¬ 
ture many good reports regarding the Puritan 
potato. 
It is hard to refrain at this season of holi¬ 
day presents and festivities, from reminding 
our friends that if each present subscriber 
would send us an additional subscriber, the 
Rural’s list and influence would be doubled. 
That would please us greatly. 
T. V. Munson, of Dennison, Texas, writes: 
“ Many thanks for your Potato Text Circular. 
The demonstration is of immense value to the 
world at large as well as to the U.S., especial¬ 
ly to nations of dense population. By such 
intensive cultivation, our country could feed 
a billion people, and it is estimated that at the 
present rate of increase, the U. S. will have 
nearly that many in the year 2,000, only 111 
years distant.”... 
John Gould does not approve of filling a 
silo with whole corn-fodder, ears and all. 
The head of the well-known firm of Land. 
reth & Son, of Philadelphia, was called upon 
to givo evidence to a Seqate Committee. His 
evidence js giye.n from the printed report 
“The chairman—Do you sell the Agricul¬ 
tural Department any seed at all? Mr. Land- 
reth—No, sir; we do not. The chairman— 
They do not apply to you for seed? Mr.Land- 
reth—They ask us, as they do everybody else, 
for quotations, but it is a waste of time to give 
them quotations. We quoted them turnip 
seed at 14 cents a pound. Thorburn & Co., of 
New-York, quoted them turnip seed at 13 
cents a pound, and Henderson & Co., quoted 
them turnip seed at 13 cents a pound. The 
Commissioner bought other seed at 28 cents. 
This turnip seed was sold at Rochester, N. Y., 
by Hiram Sibley & Co., to a seed merchaut, 
who furnished the United States Department 
of Agriculture. Mr. Sibley did not hesitate 
to say it was nearly dead, and that for this 
reason he sold it for four cents per pound. 
The department paid 28 for it. See the re¬ 
cords. The seed-distributing section of the 
Department is a sink of corruption.”. 
We should be pleased to hear from Com. 
Col man.. 
For tour successive years Prof. Sanborn 
earned on experiments in fattening animals. 
He found that the ratio of fat to lean is cap¬ 
able of being varied by food 40 to 60 per cent, 
in the hog; that a highly nitrogenous diet in¬ 
variably increases the weight of the kidneys 
and liver by 50 per cent, more or less, while in 
a test with calves the spleen was found to be 
much increased in weight by a very carbona¬ 
ceous diet. This influence of food extended 
to the hide, wbich with the hair is a nitrogen¬ 
ous body, and he found that an albuminous 
diet materially increased the weight of the 
hide and hair. The ratio of minerals in the 
food affected the strength of the bones. 
Corn meal gives a yellow-colored fat fa¬ 
miliar to all. The finest colored meat that 
Prof. Sanborn has seen was hung up at the 
fat stock show at Chicago, and was fed freely 
on oats. Not enough is known as to the 
superficial or color influence of food on the 
fat formed. The solidity of the fat is likewise 
influenced as well as its flavor. Sudden fat¬ 
tening is followed by laying on the fat in 
layers. 
The free use of corn in the West is seen in 
everything that is fitted for the market. The 
German hog contains but little over 40 per 
cent, of fat, while the few tested in the West 
show nearly 25 per cent, more. 
Years ago Prof. Sanborn was able to so 
feed a shote that it could not stand on its legs, 
and again to so feed as to place it on its legs 
once more. 
The vigor and health of a hog are to some ex¬ 
tent involved in the strength and texture of 
his bones, influencing to some extent his exer¬ 
cise. Corn meal containing but one-tenth of 
the lime that should be found in the growth 
of a pig, it follows that where pigs have not 
access to earth, water or other food contain¬ 
ing lime, they suffer for it—a fault easily 
remedied by the use of sifted ashes or bone 
meal, say one to two pounds to 100 lbs. of 
corn. 
Henry Stewart says that Southern hogs 
are exceedingly poor and unprofitaole. 
Twenty pounds of corn will make but one 
pound of meat, and under the best feeding a 
year-old pig will not make more than 150 
pounds of meat. Usually a pig on the range 
takes five years to reach this weight. 
Clover thrives everywhere in the South 
better than in the North, and remains in 
the ground longer. There could be no better 
preparation for the cotton crop than to sow 
the land with clover, to graze this off with 
swine, and then turn under the surface for the 
cotton. Fifteen hundred pounds of lint per 
acre, which is ten times the average yield, 
have been produced in this way. 
Farm and Home says that if there is any 
one thing that experiment stations need to at¬ 
tend to more than another, it is to the produc¬ 
tion of bulletins such as common people can 
understand. Be simple, plain, direct. The 
reports of the Wisconsin station are a fortun¬ 
ate example of the sort of plain English that 
farmers like. If a professor can’t write the 
result of his labors clearly, let him explain it 
to some man who will, or step down and out. 
The experiment stations are for the people. ... 
Peter Henderson, in Popular Gardening, 
speaks well-deserved praise of the beautiful 
varieties of cannas that have been produced of 
late years. They rival gladioli in brilliancy 
of color while they bloom during a longer 
period. These new cannas are no doubt the 
forerunners of still moro decided improve¬ 
ments. Boulanger was tried at the Rural 
Grounds the past summer. The flowers are 
yellow, speckled with brown dots and really 
quite resemble those of orchids. 
This new class differs from the old cannas 
(which are mainly used in summer, for the 
tropical effects produced by their grand foli¬ 
age), in growiug only from two to four feet in 
hight, blooming continually from midsum¬ 
mer until October. The flower spikes are 
fi’E to 1? inches in lepgf^ nijffiM 
through all the shades of crimson, scarlet, 
carmine, orange and yellow. 
“Mr. Henderson says that canna seed 
should not be started in this latitude, even in 
the greenhouse or hot-bed, until the middle of 
May. At that season (if the germ is perfect) 
they will vegetate, and grow to make strong 
flowering plants in 60 days from time of 
sowing. 
Collect a sufficient quantity of soil for 
winter and spring use. 
Both the National Convention of the 
Grangers and the National Convention of the 
Knights of Labor have been in session this 
week. But, says the N. Y. Sun editorally, 
the Grangers at Topeka have enjoyed far 
more pacific sessions than the Knights at In¬ 
dianapolis. They have not been split into 
hostile factions; have not wasted their time in 
recrimination; have not hurled harsh accusa¬ 
tions against each other, nor have they ex¬ 
pelled or disgraced auy of their leaders. They 
have, on the contrary, worked harmoniously, 
striving to promote certain objects that they 
believed to be in their interest. The Grangers’ 
Convention has been a credit to them. 
The Chicago papers tell of an operator in 
wheat who prayed fervently tor a bull 
market, and the price at onc6 rose so that he 
pocketed a large profit If piety and prayer 
were always promptly rewarded thus, there 
would soon be an unparalleled revival of re¬ 
ligion on the Stock, Produce, and Corn Ex¬ 
changes here. 
ABSTRACTS. 
-Cor. N. E. Homestead: “Whatfarmers 
need most from the Legislature is the repeal 
of all laws made for the benefit of lawyers, 
and the sporting fraternity generally who 
roam over our fields, pulling down fences and 
letting cattle into crops. Nor are they very 
particular if they bag a stray chicken or two 
if they happen to stray too far from their 
roost.” 
- Puck : “ IN NOVEMBER. 
The naked hills lie wanton to the breeze; 
The fields are nude, the groves unfrocked; 
Bare are the shivering limbs of shameless trees— 
What wonder that the corn is shocked?” 
-Idem. 
The naked tree is the defunct old graud-dad. 
And the yellow leaves are his coins of gold: 
And the madcap winds are the wild heirs struggling 
Upon those shekels to get a hold.” 
-John Gould, in the Weekly Press: “I 
am at present cutting and trying to devise 
ways and means to winter about five acres 
of fodder corn that was left over from 
silo filling, and it took but two days to learn 
that when wo put the corn into the silo for less 
than 80 cents for each big two-horse load 
there is no cheaper way to dispose of it. In 
the first place I find that it cost me a little 
less than $8 to put an acre of corn into the silo. 
Now it is costing me about $20 per acre to cut 
and shock it. Now the loss commences on the 
feed itself. It will all have to be husked; $3 
per acre more for my ensilage corn is good 
for 100 bushels of ears (36 pounds) to the acre. 
Then the fodder must be drawn and cut; the 
corn ground into meal, this last costing about 
$4 and then I will be all winter trying to 
make dry feed as good as the silage that was 
made and ‘ done for ’ at the one operation. 
I will build another silo next year.” 
-N. Y. Tribune: “ I dount if any one ever 
saw a hybrid between a melon and a pump¬ 
kin.-Let milking-tubes alone.-Leave 
leaves on the woodlands.-Physicians attri¬ 
bute much of the sickness of farmers to im¬ 
pure cellars.-Several cases of consumption, 
occuring in a large institution, were traced to 
the milk of consumptive cows, and pigs fed 
with their milk were also found to be suffer¬ 
ing from what was evidently a tubercular 
condition of the lungs. It is important that 
we find means for determining in every case 
the soundness or unsoundness of our dairy an¬ 
imals.-Earth from earth closets has very 
little manurial value.” 
Horsford’s Acid Phosphate 
Imparts Renewed Strength 
and vigor where there lias been exhaustion. 
—Adv. 
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 
win make hens lay like it. It cures chicken chol¬ 
era and all diseases of hens. Illustrated book by 
mall ft-ee. Sold everywhere, or sent by mall for 
36 cts. In stamps, ax-lb. tin cans, $1; by mail. 
1.30. Six cans by express, prepaid, for 
«k * C *>,, P. 4? Vox 8118, Boston, Haas, 
