1889. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
625 
year, or less than one-third the amount of 
premium demanded by old-line insurance 
companies. 
That cartoon in the Rural of February 
2nd, showed forcibly what constitutes the 
farmers’ load, and the profits of insurance 
companies and middlemen are two heavy 
weights we are trying to shake off. We shall 
be successful in a measure and have bright 
hopes for the future. M. T. w. 
Sandy Hill, N. Y. 
The Tell-Tale Account.— One day when 
I was a boy, I chanced upon what seemed to 
me a very old account book. The hand that 
bad written it had long since ceased from la¬ 
bor; but the man whose name stood at the 
head of the account I recognized as a miser¬ 
able churl in the poor house. Tradition con¬ 
nected his name with a certain broad farm. 
It was called the Bounds’ Place. 
J BOUNDS. 
DR. 
July 5, 
1805 To 2 Quarts Rum 
.30 
“ 
“ To 1 Quart Rum 
.15 
“ 8, 
“ To 6 Drinks Rum 
.20 
“ 9, “ To 1 Quart Rum and 11 Drinks .35 
Thus the account went on from page to 
page like an accusing angel. At the moment 
of my discovery Jerusalem Bounds was in the 
poor-house, whither his able-bodied wife bad 
followed, and their children had been bound 
out by the select-men and the old home was 
in the hands of strangers. Farmers who are 
at present engaged in pouring their farms 
down their craving throats are hereby re¬ 
minded that such accounts as the above had 
better not be kept for their posterity. 
o. n. 
Early Planting of Corn.— The year 
1889 has been very peculiar thronghout. 
Last winter was exceedingly mild—there 
was not an inch of snow all put together, 
while ice was never an inch thick the whole 
winter. March was dry; as a natural con¬ 
sequence farmers took advantage of it to 
plant corn, but not to the extent that they 
might and ought to have done. It is the 
only really good corn that we have in this 
section this year. It has long been a well- 
established fact (in this section) that March 
corn is our safest crop, coming in, as it does, 
ahead of the drought that we ordinarily 
1 tiive in July and August. It is planted so 
early that the lmd-worms do not inter¬ 
fere with it. This is the only sure way 
with which I am acquainted to circumvent 
the little pests: either plant very early— 
say March for this section—or very late—say 
June 15th to 20th. In either case the crop 
will be safe from the bud-worm; cut-worms 
do no material damage to corn, as, though 
they may cut it off even with the ground, 
this neither kills it nor checks its growth. 
If it is impossible to plant corn either very 
early or very late, all that can be done is to' 
plant enough for one’s self and the bud- 
worms too. Strew it about the same as you 
would sorghum seed. I would much rather 
plant an extra half-bushel, or even a bushel 
of seed corn to the acre than to replant, as 
the replants rarely make anything, and it is 
impossible to cultivate corn well—as it 
should be cultivated—when it is of all sizes. 
Early corn has in the cotton belt the st ill 
further advantage that it can Ik? laid by 
early, and is off one’s hands before the busy 
part of the cotton season sets in. I have 
heard it said, and fully believe it myself, 
that the oftener corn is bitten down by 
frost the better will the final yield be. Our 
March corn this year will make 40 or 50 
bushels per acre; April corn about half as 
much; May corn nothing. We have land 
lying idle that was well broken and har¬ 
rowed wit h the intention of planting it in 
corn in June. It rained the whole month 
through, so we were deterred by flood after 
flood from either planting corn in June or 
working that which had been planted in 
May. Exactly the same misfort une befell 
us three years ago. Moral: Plant early; 
there is nothing to be lost by it, and there 
is a great deal to be gained. G. 11 . T. 
Denmark, Miss. 
(Ucnjibljcvc, 
CLIMATE OF THE PUGET SOUND 
COUNTRY. 
As soon as I can collect the data 1 pro¬ 
pose to write up for the readers of t he RU¬ 
RAL something of the horticulture and 
pomology of the Northwest; as climate is 
always one of the chief factors in the cult i¬ 
vation of the garden and orchard, 1 will 
speak of the climate fit first. Rut as the 
opography of a country is one of the chief 
factors in controlling the climate, I will take 
this up before speaking of the great influences 
of the Japan Current, over the climate of the 
coast. Puget Sound is an arm of the ocean 
made up of narrow bays and inlets, and 
owes its existence to the glacial period 
wherein conditions somewhat similar to 
those now prevailing in Alaska, existed 
here, but perhaps upon a larger scale. The 
valley is about 100 miles wide between the 
Olympia Mountains, which are about 8,000 
feet high, upon the west, and the Cascade 
Range upon the east, culminating at Mt. 
Rainier or Tacoma, 60 miles distant, a little 
south of east, in a peak, 14,444 feet high, the 
grand central point of glaciation, from 
which glaciers once crawled out into the 
ocean, plowing out the bays and inlets as 
they moved onward through the Straits of 
Juan de Fuca. The water of a great 
ocean like the Pacific is always a conserva¬ 
tor of heat from the great center of heat, 
the sun. The heated waters of the tropics 
form rivers and cause currents that How 
first northerly, then bend easterly as they 
impinge against the currents of cold water 
flowing southward from the north polar 
circle. This current in the Piicific is known 
as the Japan Current. As it expands and 
spreads out over the area of the north Pa¬ 
cific, it heats the air that comes in contact 
with it, and causes what is known as the 
warm or chinook wind, that constantly 
blows landward from the ocean. The influ¬ 
ences of this warm and moist current of 
air are felt all over Washington, Idaho, 
Montana and Dakota, being gradually, as 
it passes eastward, overcome by continental 
currents or winds. The influences of the 
Chinook are felt as a silent benediction and 
almost unobserved beneficence without the 
noise or tumult of ordinary winds. 
The breaks in the continuity of the 
Olympia Mountains, usually snow-clad at 
all seasons of the year, caused by the mouth 
of the Columbia River upon the south, and 
the ent rance of the St raits of Juan de Fuca 
upon the north, must always be taken into 
consideration in order to understand the 
climatic conditions of the Puget Sound 
country, for they exert a more or less pro¬ 
found influence upon local conditions. 
This will be understood when we consider 
that the air resting upon the surface of the 
land or water always assumes a more or less 
stratified condition, especially at night, 
while the day is often consumed in an effort 
to break up these strata of air. Cold air is 
heavier than warm air. This cutises the 
warm air to rise. It will now lie seen that 
the mouth of the Columbia and the Straits 
of Juan de Fuca act as conduits for the in¬ 
rush of ocean-heated air, but these are not 
the only factors to be taken into considera¬ 
tion. Puget Sound itself is a large body of 
ocean-heated water, much of which is chang¬ 
ed twice every 24 hours as^ the tide comes 
in and goes out. The usual fluctuation is 
about six feet, but it is often much more. 
I have no immediate, means of estimating 
the vast climatic influences exerted upon 
the surrounding country by this introduc¬ 
tion of ocean-heated water between these 
ranges of mountains, upon such a stupen¬ 
dous scale, twice every 24 hours. 
But it will readily be seen that these two 
ranges of mountains lifting their even, 
snow-clad summits into the air, coupled 
with the repeated withdrawal and re-intro¬ 
duction of ocean-heated water through 
these breaks in the Olympia Mountains, 
must bring a great inflow of heated air 
from the ocean, to say nothing now of the 
greater flood of warm air brought by the 
chinook over and above the summits of the 
mountains themselves. It will require 
fuller study and consideration of these fac¬ 
tors before we can arrive at a proper esti¬ 
mate of all the climatic conditions that 
prevail here, but it may already be seen 
that it is neit her a coast nor an ordinary 
inland climate, nor a valley nor a mountain 
climate, but that it partakes of some of the 
features of the four combined. The result 
is about t he most equable climate upon the 
globe—neither too hot in summer nor too 
cold in winter, and when 1 come to speak 
of t he pomology, it will be seen how the 
climate stimulates some of the finest bud 
and fruit development to be seen anywhere 
in the world. i>. s. MARVIN. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
JVew York. 
HoKNKLLSVILLK, Steuben County,Aug¬ 
ust 26.—The acreage of potatoes here is 
about two-thirds of an average. During 
spring some rotted and never came up, the 
others have blighted badly and are now 
rotting. The crop will not be more than 
one-half of.au average, and the rot.may re¬ 
duce it below that before digging. In hills 
examined, the rot on an average now affects 
about one potato in six or eight, and it has 
just begun. None will be dug before the 
last of September or the first of October. 
We are on sandy land, on the river bottom. 
In this town the potatoes are reported to be 
from one-lialf to two-thirds rotten. Oats 
and hay are about an average. j. E. p. 
Friendship, Allegany County, Septem 
ber 2.—The condition of potatoes is bad. 
They are rotting to a great extent. 1 do 
not think there will be half a crop. j. n. it. 
Ohio. 
Caryville, Champaign County, Septem¬ 
ber 5.—Much of the farming in this region 
is done by tenants, who, as a class, do not 
read much agricultural literature. The 
owners of the farms either own too much 
land or have “retired” and moved to some 
town, and care for the farm only for what 
they can get off it. Still we have a few 
first-class farmers, who by their industry 
and economy are prospering. The masses 
simply make a living and pay their 
expenses and have nothing left. This 
has been a poor season here—a season re¬ 
markable for its extremes. We had a mild 
winter, and an early, very dry and cold 
spring. About the middle of May wet 
weather set in and continued till about the 
10th of July. This proved to be about the 
worst wet spell we have had in this region 
for many years, and consequently we have 
much poor and weedy corn, as well as poor 
potatoes, hay and wheat. The oat crop is 
rather good. The weather is now very hot 
and dry. Many farmers will commence 
sowing wheat this week. u. D. 
Texas. 
Circleville, Williamson County.—In 
all my life I’ve never seen so near a failure 
in potatoes. We had a very warm winter, 
and a great deal of rain. For weeks the 
fields could not be worked just at the time 
working them was most necessary. The 
early planted rotted very badly, and not 
more than one-fourth of a stand came up on 
an average, and yielded small potatoes. The 
second plot made a few scattering potatoes. 
The third did not make any. The R.-N.-Y. 
No. 2 was planted about March 15 in nine 
hills. It made fine tops, hut died in July 
from drought. I got only two small tubers 
not very well matured. As a general thing, 
I think it would do well here. This has 
been a bad year for testing potatoes. 
MRS. N. M. 
answers to correspondents 
[Every query must be accompunlml by the name 
amt adilresa of the writer to Insure attention. Before 
askln« a question, please see tf it Is not answered In 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions al 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper. | 
AIIOUT SHEEP. 
J. L. W., Worcester, N. Y— 1. Will it be 
best for me to buy, say, 25 sheep to commence 
with and breed up to the required number, 
or buy at. the start what I could keep? 2. 
Should I buy store sheep of the mixed breeds 
around here, and breed up or buy the kind 
I want of some sheep raiser? 3. How many 
sheep will eat as much as one cow? 4. How 
many sheep can be safely kept together? 
5. When should they be bought? 6. I want 
information about early lambs. 7. What 
is a good paper devoted to sheep hus¬ 
bandry? 8. Can the RURAL give any more 
useful hints on this subject? 
ANS.—1. Better purchase all you want to 
begin with. 2. You had better purchase 
large fine-wool (not pure Merinos) Michi¬ 
gan ewes in the Buffalo market. Then 
purchase a well-bred South Down, or 
Shropshire, Hampshire or Dorset ram. If 
you aim to raise very early lambs perhaps 
the Dorsets will he t he best . Save all of t he 
good ewe lambs until your flock is bred to 
the size and character you want. Feed 
heavily enough in the winter to mature 
the lambs rapidly and keep the ewes fat. 
Shear the ewes in January and the lambs 
in March. Sell all ewes to the butcher be¬ 
fore they go to grass except those that ’are 
superlatively good. During the summer 
increase the flock from new purchases at 
Buffalo. 3. Six to seven coarse-wools and 
eight to nine fine-wools are equal to a cow 
in the amount of food consumed. 4. Fine- 
wooled sheep may be kept in the fields in 
large flocks (200-300), coarse-wool flocks 
should not exceed 50. 5. Buy your sheep 
from June to September. 6. You would 
better address J. S. Woodward, Secretary 
of New York State Agricultural Society, 
Albany, if you desire the latest and most 
reliable information in regard to purchas¬ 
ing, breeding, feeding and selling sheep and 
early lambs. 7. American Sheep Breeder, 
Chicago, Ill. 8. In order to improve your 
pastures and get. the most out of your 
sheep, you should purchase more animals 
than the pastures will carry during the late 
summer and fall months. Feed liberally 
as soon as the pastures begin to decline on 
bran, cotton-seed meal and oil-meal com¬ 
bined or separately. By this method more 
plant food is returned to the soil than is 
taken off. Weeds and brambles are all 
stripped of their foliage by the sheep and 
hence must die. 
“german hares.” 
-4 Subscriber, Brighton, O .—I inclose a 
circular advertising “German hares,” and 
should like to know if the statements as 
given are facts. They are important if 
true, and if not deserve a place in the Eye- 
Opener. 
A ns.— The st atements referred to are that 
the German hares, known also as Scotch 
rabbits, and Belgian hares, are very prolif¬ 
ic, are extremely hardy, etc; that they are 
eagerly sought for by epicures and restau¬ 
rants in New York and other cities; that 
they weigh from 12 to 15 pounds, and readi¬ 
ly bring from $1.00 to 81.25 each in the New 
York market. Then some delusive figures 
are given based on their fecundity, to show 
that two acres of land stocked with a few 
pairs of German hares will produce more 
clear cash per year than a 100-acre farm. 
The most important statement (to the ad¬ 
vertiser) is the fact that he is prepared 
promptly to fill all orders for breeding stock 
at 85 per pair. A dealer in breeding pmil- 
•try, dogs, pigeons, etc., on Cortlandt Street, 
this city, tells us that he has been selling 
these hares for a long time; that his regu¬ 
lar price is 83 per pair, and that he has num¬ 
erous letters from breeders of them offer¬ 
ing them to him at 81 per pair. This doesn’t 
look much like selling them readily for 81 
to 81.25 each. We failed to find a dealer 
who had ever heard of any demand for 
them. One German had shot them in the 
“ Old Country ” when a boy, and said they 
were somewhat larger than our common 
rabbits, a large one sometimes weighing 10 
pounds. He thought they might sell at 
Christmas, when there was usually a great 
demand for game, at 81 per pair, but he 
said that rabbits often sold for as low 
as 15 cents per pair. We have no confidence 
in any of the statements made, excepting 
perhaps that with regard to their fecundity. 
11 is a very easy matter to figure out big pro¬ 
fits on any such scheme, but the profits 
usually fail to materialize. 
SEEDING FOR A PERMANENT PASTURE. 
J. C. O., Somerset, Ky .—I want to make 
permanent pasture on land now thinly set 
iu clover and Orchard Grass : soil, thin and 
samly clay mostly underlaid by stiff, red 
clay subsoil. When should seed be 
sowed? What kinds and how much of 
each per acre ? How much and what 
kinds of commercial fertilizer? 
ANS.—In Kentucky one can seed down 
for permanent pasture at any time during 
September. As we understand it, our in¬ 
quirer does not intend to break up his thin 
soil, consequently the grass seed should lie 
harrowed in with a Thomas smoothing 
harow. The kind of seed best adapted to 
liis soil would he a mixture, in about equal 
proportions, of Meadow Fescue, Pacey’s 
Rye Grass, Rough-stalk, Red-top, Kentucky 
Blue Grass, Crested Dog’s tail and Timo¬ 
thy, at the rate of one bushel to the acre. 
To this mixture a sprinkling of Sweet Ver¬ 
nal Grass and White Clover might be 
added. As to what commercial fertilizers 
ought to l>e put on, we think that one ba rrel 
of kainit and one of superphosphate to the 
acre, sown on and harrowed in at the time 
of seeding, would be helpful, and that kind 
of fertilizing, for the sake of obtaining pot¬ 
ash cheaply, ought to be continued as 
a top-dressing every alternate year after 
the grass is well established. If our friend 
can obtain good hard-wood ashes cheap, 
it would l»e best to do so and to put on 
about one ton to the acre instead of the 
kainit. 
“Herbrand” Fifth Wheel for Buggies. 
