THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ways be selected in the field, not from the larg¬ 
est stalks but from those that are the best- 
formed and have the finest stover. 
8even years of experimenting, working on one 
variety,have given me one that is almost invalua¬ 
ble in almost every respect. It is very prolific, 
having on each 6talk several ears, each yield¬ 
ing from five to eight ounces of grain. My best 
specimen of a stalk badfourteen ears and shell¬ 
ed sixty-three ounces. My best 100 stalks 
selected from off an acre, shelled 170 pounds, 
and my best acre on highly improved land 
made me 103 bushels shelled. I merely state 
these facts to show what can bo done by way 
of improvement in our cereals. 
A word about the physiology of the plant 
may not be out of place right here: It is the 
largest of the grasses. It is monoecious and 
susceptible, perhaps, of greater improvement 
than any other. My opinion is that, m its 
original and primitive state, every joiut that 
has a groove bore an ear. One may see on ex¬ 
amination an ear or an embryo ear on every 
node from the roots to within six or seven of 
the tassel. Then I aBk, why do not all develop 
as does that on the last joint generally about 
two-thirds of the way up ? [Our answer would 
be, because it doesn't.— Eds.] I find an ear can 
be made by careful selecting and saving the 
seed, feeding and proper culture. 
Wheat, too, can be wonderfully improved by 
picking by hand the center heads of the 
largest tillers, that ripen earliest. This insures 
pure seed, reliable and fiee from every foreign 
variety as well as from all cheat, cockles, etc. 
I do not mean that a farmer should pick all his 
seed, but I do say that he Bbould pick a bushel 
or two which, when sowed on a choice, clean 
acre or two, will produce his seed for the next 
season. This picking should be done every 
year, so that the wheat may not deteriorate. 
The most reliable preventive for the rust 
and perhaps one of the best top-dressings, is a 
mixture of salt and ashes—half and half. By 
mixing in December, or early in January, and 
keeping it stirred twice a month, it becom csin 
two months one of the best of fertilizers. Put 
it on in February or early in March. Four to 
ten bushels to the acre will pay any one twice 
the amount of expense and labor expended. 
A. E. Blunt. 
Monroe Co., East Tennessee. 
- -- «-♦ — -- 
THE BEST POTATO I 
IpsrfUaitttfttS. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
For the past few years the Peach-blow, which 
was formerly the standard potato, has fallen 
into disrepute with fanners generally. All 
agiee that, when perfect, it is a noble variety; 
hut we cannot afford to raise it. A good crop 
is the exception. My own yield from half an 
acre this year, was twelve bushels of merchant¬ 
able potatoes. (My Early Rose iu parallel rows 
gave me at the rate of 100 bushels per acre). 
Last year the crop was better; but not large 
enough to make up the deficiency. 
The Early Rose, which succeeded the Peach- 
blow in popularity, has done well for me al- 
xoays; but I hear complaints from many of my 
neighbors, who say it is running out with them 
and they want something more reliable. I am 
inclined to think that in the majority of cases 
this gradual failure is due to poor seed and in¬ 
sufficient cultivation—by which I mean lack of 
manures aB well as lack of stirring the soil, in 
Borne cases aggravated by putting the same 
crop on the field year after year. 
To those who may be seeking something bet¬ 
ter, I would recommend a trial of the Snow¬ 
flake and the Carpenter’s Seedling, both of 
which have done exceedingly well with me— 
soil, a very heavy clay, made rich with good 
stable manure and tillage. The Snowflake is 
perhaps too well known to need a description 
here- It is the best potato for the table I have 
ever seen; and my experience is, that if you 
will make the land rich enough, there will be 
but little trouble of small potatoes iu the hill. 
With me it is a good yielder, and keeps well 
enough. 
The Carpenter’s Seedling is a large, white 
potato, oblong in shape, a handsome potato, 
and one that finds a ready market. It is a good 
producer; about the same season as the Snow¬ 
flake ; quality, fair. There are very few small po¬ 
tatoes in the hills, and the tubers are generally 
of even size. It is a good keeper. 1 have tried 
several of the new sorts—the Alpha, Ohio Beau¬ 
ty, Early Ohio, Ruby. Brownell’s Beauty and 
several others—but for home use, I prefer the 
Snowflake to any of the others. For market, 
the Snowflake, Carpenter’s Seedling and Early 
Rose are my choice. Who can name a better 
list? [We should add Beauty of Hebron.— 
Eds.] h - t - j - 
—- 4 — »■- 
at.t. of ns know full well that manure is a 
valuable commodity. But when it is looked 
upon as representing so many dollars and 
cents, no doubt we shall take pains to make 
more manure and to be more saving of what 
we have. There are many farmers who would 
dig a pretty big hole if sooner or later they 
■were sure to find a five-dollar gold piece iu it, 
yet these men for the same amount of labor 
could accumulate more than five dollars’ worth 
of manure that would insure an extra yield of 
perhaps ten dollars’ worth of crops. 
The following prolific questions for discus¬ 
sion are announced for the meeting of the New 
York Horticultural Society, to beheld in Roch¬ 
ester the 22d inst.:— 
Are we in danger of an over-production of 
fruit, and how can we secure a steady supply ? 
Can wc expect a large foreign demand for 
fresh and dried fruit, and how can we increase 
the demand? 
To what extent can the production of fruit 
of an extra quality be profitably carried ? 
How can we most economically, improve the 
quality of apples ? 
What variety’ of apple, aside from the New¬ 
town Pippin, is best for shipping abroad ? 
What description of fruit packages, boxes, 
baskets, barrels, Ac., has been found most 
satisfactory, especially for small fruits, peaches 
and grapes ? 
Is there any new experience of value in re¬ 
gard to drying and canning fruits, and iu the 
construction of refrigerator fruit houses and 
cars, or new method of keeping fruit ? 
What progress has been made in preventing 
the ravages of insects, especially the codling 
moth, and which of the several kinds of 
traps in use have been found most effective ? 
Are auy of the new varieties of Raspberries 
profitable for market; if so, which? 
Should auy now on our list be discarded? 
What is the best method of cultivating the 
Raspberry ? 
What has been the experience of the past 
year with ucw varieties of fruits, Apples, Pears, 
Peaches, Grapes, Strawberries, Raspberries, 
Gooseberries, etc. ? 
What new varieties of Potatoes, Tomatoes, 
Pears, Beans, Squash, Melon, Celery, etc,, are 
worthy of commendation ? 
Which of the receutly introduced species and 
varieties of uew ornamental trees,^ shrubs and 
plants, give promise of excellence ? 
Is it likely to prove profitable, iu W. N. York, 
to plant trees for timber, and if so, what species 
and varieties, deciduous and evergreen, can be 
recommended ? 
What uew implements of value are there, for 
orchard aud garden purposes, viz: pruning, 
cultivating the soil, destroying insects, etc. ? 
New Books, Periodicals, Transactions, and 
other sources of pomological and horticultural 
information—what should the Society do in 
reference to them? 
| What is the latest experience with hedge 
plants? Is the Honey Locust suitable for a 
hedge plant ? What is the best of all hedge 
plants for Western New York ? 
Which can be employed most economically 
and effectively for the embellishment of small 
gardens— Annuals, Hardy Herbaceous Peren¬ 
nials or what are known as “ Bedding Plants ?” 
Can any principles be laid down for the 
arrangement of flowers and foliage in baskets 
and bouquets ? 
The adaptation of the different varieties of 
Apples, Pears and other fruits to different soils 
and exposures—what experience is there on 
this subject ? 
How Many Egos Can a Hen Lay ?— There 
has been so much loose talk about the total 
number of eggs a hen is capable of laying and 
her yearly yield under fairly good treatment, 
that it is a satisfaction to come across some¬ 
thing beyond guesswork or mere inference on 
the matter. The foundation of Bcience is ac¬ 
curate observation, and when a scientist pub¬ 
lishes a statement, it is presumable that it is 
based on this foundation. Its accuracy, too, is 
confirmed, if it is quoted with approval by 
other men of wide experience and knowledge 
on the subject involved in it. Now, Gcyelin 
says, aud Prof. Miles in his excellent work on 
stock breeding, quotes bim with approval: “ It 
has been ascertained that the ovarium of a 
fowl is composed of six hundred ovules or 
eggs; therefore a hen during the whole of her 
life cannot possibly lay more eggs than six 
hundred which, in a natural course, are dis¬ 
tributed over nine years in the following pro¬ 
portion : 
First year after birth. 
has been made to the company to load a vessel 
throughout the year with prime first-class 
meat, either on account of the shipper, on joint 
account, or on account of the company. The 
directors have made a personal inspection of 
various districts in North Germany, Austria, 
Hungary, Transylvania. Bohemia, Galicia, and 
in other portions of Eastern Europe, in order 
to decide as to the quality of meat suitable foi 
the British market, to provide the necessary 
slaughter-house, appoint agents, etc. The di¬ 
rectors report that they find it best, for many 
reasons, to slaughter as near the source of pro¬ 
duction as possible. The meat will be trans¬ 
ported by refrigerated railroad cars and steam¬ 
ers. 
Japan Quince Seedltng.— Our friend Gen. 
Noble planted a “mixed lot” of seeds. The 
seedlings yielded six or seven different tints of 
bloom, all different from the parent. “ But 
they took thirteen years to show the first flow¬ 
er ! Such a tardy reward to trial, dishearteus 
us eager people. Wc tire of paileut waitiug, 
and seek uoveltv in that which absorbs less 
hope deferred.” He tried to hurry up their 
show by grafting his seedlings on the common 
Anglers Quince, hut they would not mate. The 
article appears In the Gardener’s Monthly for 
December. 
Lime for ;Borers.— Regarding borers in 
peach trees, says the Country Gentleman, it is 
useful to heap a peek of dry slacked lime 
about the peach trees after the grubs have been 
picked out and before the earth is drawn back 
to the tree. The lime kills any grubs that may 
be left. If a live grub is thrown into the dry 
lime, it will soon die; this may be tried to sat¬ 
isfy any inquiring mind. Having used lime in 
this way in 1877, the writer found no borers at 
all in bis trees in 1878, and therefore has confi¬ 
dence in this means of repressing the depre¬ 
dations of this pest. 
Jelly from the Japan Quince.— J- W. 
Kerr says, in the Germantown Telegraph, that 
jelly made from this fruit is almost without a 
peer. But the bushes fruit very sparingly and 
it takes a good deal of fruit to make a little 
jelly. Wherefore, considering that this fruit is 
well-nigh as hard as a rock, its excellence is 
not likely to become generally known. Speak¬ 
ing of this beautiful shrub, why is it that it iB 
ouly the blossoms near the ground that ever set 
fruit at all ? 
England’s t Need of Foreign Food. —Mr. 
Caird. the celebrated British agricultural statis¬ 
tician. says that quite one-half of each loaf 
consumed in England is of foreign origin, that 
one-fourth part of their whole meat and dairy 
produce comes to them from across the sea, 
and that almost the entire additions which may 
hereafter be sought to fill the ever-multiplying 
mouths of their dense population, must be 
drawn from other lands. 
A Wonderful Plum Tree.—W e take the 
following from one of our beet \V estern ex¬ 
changes, word for word: 
“We kuew of three large plum trees in the 
western part of Detroit which bore a good 
crop of corn cobs saturated with kerosene the 
past year.” 
Here is a sort of plmn tree that commends 
Itself to the Bridgets of our country. 
Pork.— The Germantown Telegraph says : 
“ Pork unwholesome! Nobody except a lean, 
cadaverous, sedentary biped, who is obliged to 
live, probably on account of early dissipation, 
on Graham bread, aud weak tea, would b* 
guilty of such a slander !” 
The Best Pear.— Major Freas says, if he 
were to be asked to name the best Pear for 
general cultivation, he would unhesitatingly 
say the Lawrence. 
4 «-4 - 
not only done much to forward the Interests of 
agriculture in its own neighborhood, but has 
been a shining light in many distant dark 
places. A recent suggestion comes from this 
club. It is to hold an exhibition of corn, giv¬ 
ing premiums for the best six ears shown. 
This is a worthy idea and will undoubtedly as¬ 
sist more to increase the yield of corn in west¬ 
ern New York than any other device or method 
hitherto made known. Corn shows could very 
profitably be held in every village and town¬ 
ship in the country. 
A Convention of Tile Makers. Those 
worthy aud useful people, the drain-tile makers 
of Indiana, have had a convention. The exten¬ 
sion of the busiuess of draining may be imag¬ 
ined when we state that no less than 500 tile 
factories are kept busy in that State alone. The 
whole of these turn out iu the working season 
of six months about 250.000 tiles each, or 125 
million tiles in all. The benefit accruing from 
the use of so much tile every year must be 
enormous, and the tile makers in their effort 
lo advance their own interests—which we take 
to be the object of the convention—can hardly 
fail to help the public interest as well, if they 
do nothing more than educate '.the farmers up 
to the point of knowing that to drain their wet 
lands will add greatly to the productive capaci¬ 
ty of their farms and to the gcueral wealth. 
New facilities for meat trade with 
Europe. —A contract has just been made by W. 
H. Vanderbilt for the establishment of a new 
line of steamers to ply between this city and 
various European ports, in connection with the 
different railroads under his control, and espe¬ 
cially with the New York Central and its tribu¬ 
taries. They will be large, slow boats, designed 
maiuly for freight. It is the present intention 
to fit up each of them with compartments 
adapted in the beat way for the transportation 
of live stock and dressed meat to Europe, and 
it is expected that our trans-atlantic trade in 
stock of all kinds will receive a vigorous impe¬ 
tus from the facilities iu this way afforded to 
its prosecution. 
--- 4—*-4 - 
The “Perfect Milk-pail” announced in our 
advertising columns this week, is the one that, 
attracted so much attention at the Internationa 
Dairy Fair. It is a very complete contrivance 
that one hates to part with, having used it once. 
gjjotfunltoral. 
SEED “RUNNING OUT.” 
15 to 20 
..100 “ 
..120 “ 
.ICO " 
. 60 “ 
. 60 •• 
. 35 " 
. 15 “ 
. 1 ’* 
120 
135 
115 
SO 
60 
40 
20 
10 
Second 
Third 
Fourth 
Fifth 
Sixth 
Seventh 
Eighth 
Ninth 
Inasmuch as experience demonstrates that 
some breeds of hens are vastly more prolific than 
others, this statement, of course, can be appli¬ 
cable only to the average of. poultry. 
A European Rival for American Meat. 
Stimulated by the success that ba6 attended the 
importation of American meat Into the United 
Kingdom, we learn from the London Live 
Stock Journal, that a company has been organ¬ 
ized under the name of the London Meat Im¬ 
portation Co,, for the purpose of securing sup¬ 
plies from districts near home if possible. The 
report of the directors to the first ordinary 
meeting of the shareholders states that an offer 
NOTES OF CURRENT EVENTS. 
American Corn.— It is fortunate for us now 
when we are looking for enlarged markets for 
onr corn, that Europeans are becoming favora¬ 
bly impressed with its valuable properties- 
“ We go from home to learn the news ” in this 
respect. For instance, a German papev notices 
a recent analysis of maize, which shows a re¬ 
markably high nutritious value and a very 
small proportion of useless residue. In this 
analysis nitrogen is given at two per cent.; al¬ 
bumen twelve and one-half per cent.; phos¬ 
phates one per cent.; starch sixty-two per 
cent., and fat seven per cent.; only one and 
one half per cent, is cellulose or woody fiber. 
In addition, it is stated — and here is the new 
point—that the grain and the stalks both con¬ 
tain an essential oil which develops a sweet 
odor during the process of digestion and im¬ 
parts a delicious flavor to the flesh of animals 
fed upon them. Further, the pate cfe fois gras 
made from the livers of geese and ducks fat¬ 
tened upon corn, has a peculiar delicate fra¬ 
grance which adds much to Us value. The 
more of such favorable notices, the merrier for 
us who can supply all the corn that may be 
wanted by the whole world. 
Exhibition of Corn.— A wide-awake aud 
energetic farmers' club can do wonders in de¬ 
veloping the interests of any locaUty. The El¬ 
mira (N. Y.) Farmers’ Club is such an assoeia- 
I tion, aud during the years of its existence, has 
There is much said about seed degenerating, 
or as it is commonly termed. “ running out,” 
when grown and planted, or sown for a suc¬ 
cession of years on the same soil, or m the 
same locality. This may he true in some in¬ 
stances, but I do not think so. Seed grown on 
rich strong soil will do better on poor soil the 
firat season than seed raised on that same soil. 
On the other hand, seed grown on poor soil 
will not do as well on rich soil the first season 
as seed grown on the same, but it will give a 
larger yield than if planted on its own soil In 
other words, it is the richness of the soil stud 
not the quality of the seed which increases the 
vield. I have grown, for the past ten years, 
one variety of potatoes (the Albany seedlings) 
without exchanging seed, on the same farm, 
and they were never better than the past sea¬ 
son although this has been a poor potato year. 
Early Rose planted near them, did mU yiel 
more than one-fourth as many bushels to the 
acre. And Snowflake, the seed of which I ob¬ 
tained last season, did uot yield a heavier crop 
By the wav, I consider the last-named an ex¬ 
cellent variety. “Anon. 
Ithaca, N. Y. 
- 4-*-4 - 
Strawberrteb.— Mr. Charles Shinn writes 
us from Alameda Co., Cal.: With us, near the 
Bay of San Francisco, the Peabody’s Seedling 
is still the variety used for a main crop. M il- 
son’s has never been a 'favorite. Longworth s 
Prolific is also planted, and, ou sotno heavy 
soils, Jucunda aud Triomphe de Gaud all 
productive and good market berries Nothing 
else which our strawberry men tried was re¬ 
ceived with much favor until recently. I he 
Monarch of the West was a magnificent mark¬ 
et berry this last season, and will be planted 
largely in future. 
I do not yet feel warranted in reporting upon 
any others of the new berries. Our system of 
cultivation is on ridges, with abundant irriga- 
gation between the rows, and we get enormous 
crops from the varieties best adapted to that 
system. Our Monarch of the West planted for 
family use, gave a fourth crop iu one year, and 
the only enemy is a white grub in the collar of 
the plant. It is avoided by irrigation. 
- -- 
Alfalfa—A correspondent referring to an 
inquiry In a late issue of the Rural, about the 
best way to kill Alfalfa, agrees with us that it 
is very tenacious of life, and says that having 
once obtained a good root-hold, it will last for 
fifty years, in his opinion. From 20 to 25 
pounds of seed per acre are needed for meadow 
