THE RURAL WEW-YORKE 
8 
quarters of a bushel of clean nice 6eed, all of 
which I 6hall sow for seed another year. 
Chufas. or earth almonds, do well. But, oh ! 
the digging of them. Sweet potatoes yield 
200 to 300 bushels per acre, but Irish potatoes 
do not do so well Will N. Willis. 
Kansas, Parsons, Feb. 20.—For a couple of 
weeks we hare been kaviug frosty nights, with 
warm and drying days. The winter frost is out 
of the ground, and the present crust is of re* 
cent formation. Fattening cattle have done 
well this winter, giving one more proof of the 
advantage of dry, cold winter for making fat. 
Last winter, which was mild and wet from be¬ 
ginning to end, was exceedingly bad for cat¬ 
tle, many farmers having fed all their corn 
without making much, if any, increase of 
flesh. Winter wheat is said to be looking fair¬ 
ly. Spring wheat has been generally discarded 
here; but, in consequence of the scant sowing 
of fall wheat, many farmers are going to try 
spring. Wheat here is as reliable a crop as 
can be raised, and the quality is dry, making 
the flour eagerly sought, by bakers, who are 
enabled to make more bread from dry than 
from moist flour. 
The slight showiug of prairie grass, which 
we had a week or two ago, has become seared 
by the recent frosts, but the blue-grass is still 
green. Indeed the latter keeps Its color all 
winter. It is a most desirable grass. Our 
prairie grass is not good more than 10 or 12 
weeks—say from the first of May to the mid¬ 
dle of July, v T hen it becomes scarce and wood}-. 
Though its life be short, it makes the flesh 
roll. It seems to excel other grasses during 
this time, but, of course, it is undesirable from 
the shortness of its availability. The hay 
made from it is often cut as late as August, 
and even September, and the best of such is so 
nearly worthless that cattle will eat musty 
corn fodder and corn cobs in preference to it. 
Horses seem to eat it much more eagerly. 
Timothy and clover, wherever tried, have 
given good satisfaction, but grasses other than 
prairie, d* not prevail to the extent of one per 
cent. 
Blue grass is believed to be so congenial to 
the country that it is commonly supposed dose 
cropping will alone induce the growth. I am 
certain, however, that it would require eight 
or ten years to insure a growth. In 1875 I 
sowed forty acres with it in a pasture of eighty 
acres. I looked in vain for its coming, but 
concluded the grasshoppers, which were very 
thick that spring, had takeD the whole. The 
succeeding year revealed a few patches about 
a foot or two In diameter, and these have 60 
extended themselves that the portion in which 
the seed was sown can be easily distinguished 
from the other. Indeed, on the unsown por¬ 
tion there is not a single patch. In another 
year, or perhaps two, I expect to have forty 
acres of good blue-grass. I omitted to say I 
sowed in February, on the prairie grass, at the 
rate of say ten tbs. of seed to the acre. j. b. 
--- 
WORK FOR MARCH. 
Plans made in the two past months are now 
ready for execution, in whole or in part. The 
sun is getting higher, and his rays more pene¬ 
trating. This stimulates activity in ail out¬ 
door work. The melting snow and lengthen¬ 
ing days of March infuse life into every human 
being if he has a spark of vitality left in him. 
CELLARS. 
Sort over the fruit and vegetables, and carry 
out everything which is decayed. The odor of 
rotted vegetables penetrates the cracks of the 
floor and the carpet above, and carry disease 
and sickness to the people who dwell there. It 
is customary t o have a cellar under the house, 
but there are eerious objections to such a cus¬ 
tom. Ventilate the cellar when the air is cool 
and dry, and close it in the warmest part of 
the day, and on all wet warm days. Give the 
walls a good heavy coat of whitewash. 
LIVE STOCK. 
The sight of bare ground and the approach 
of milder weather, and the long, monotonous 
diet of dry feed make all kinds of stock long 
for a change. If allowed they will work for 
hours on an old meadow or pasture where 
there is the least chance for a taBte of green 
grass. They should be kept from these fields, 
as they tread them full of holes, damage the 
grass, lose their appetite, and get nothing 
which is valuable to them. Let off the surface- 
water and keep the yards dry, if possible. In 
such times never feed on the ground, but in 
stalls or racks. The changing weather of 
spring “ between hay and grass” is a critical 
one for most kinds of animals. Several well 
littered box-stalls are convenient and almost a 
necessity for brood mares and cows in calf. 
8uch animals should be well fed, though uot 
highly fed. They need a little, oil-cake, brau, 
shorts or roots to keep them in the best con¬ 
dition. 
WELLS. 
Keep the snow shoveled from the platform 
over the well, also for a few feet each way, to 
prevent the surface-water getting in. This is 
easily done if the ground slopes each way from 
the well as it should. 
ROADS. 
If the water settle away and the roads get 
dry or nearly dry, do not fail to run the scraper. 
This will fill the ruts and small holes. A few 
hours of scraping, just iu the right time, will 
save as many weeks of work later in the sea¬ 
son. The people of some road districts have 
learned this long ago, but there are many who 
have not. 
THE HEALTH. 
The warm days of spring, mixed with sudden 
cold snaps and raw winds, are the most trying 
part of the year to the health ol farmers. The 
appetite should not be stimulated. Whiter 
clothing should not be given up. In sloppy 
weather, the feet need especial care. Cold, 
wet feet are the cause of many ills. In some 
way, keep the feet warm and dry. It will often 
be well to change the stockings during the day 
for a pair that are dry. Warm weather re¬ 
laxes the system, and man and teams feel less 
able to do hard work than iu steady cold 
weather. 
A CHANGE OF BUSINESS. 
Just now pork is low and sheep arc looking 
better. We have heard numerous inquiries 
for sheep, and know of men who are bound to 
get rid of their hogs at any price. There arc- 
many farmers who always buy at the highest 
price in the dearest times and sell off when 
there is a depression. Pork will not always lie so 
low'. It is a good time to buy improved swine 
and give them a good chance. It is probably 
a good time to sell part of the sheep if they 
will bring au extra price. The farmer gener¬ 
ally does the best w ho keeps the even tenor of 
his way, paying little regard to the ‘••ups-and- 
downs” of certain articles or lines of business. 
SELECT TREES AND i’LANTS. 
Almost every farm would be more valuable, 
if it contained a few more fruit trees and grape 
vines of certain desirable varieties. For a 
choice of varieties, consult the reports of fruit 
growers in your immediate vicinity. Every 
farm, even every village lot should have some 
grape vines. How niauy there are without 
this luxury. There is a sort of mystery about 
grapevines, which troubles beginners and often 
keeps them from planting. 
PRUNING APPLE TREES. 
This may be done on warm days. There are 
often good rules for pruning trees, some of 
which the farmer is likely to iguore. In severe 
climates, do uot try to make the head very 
open like an inverted umbrella. Thin out 
small limbs around the outside of the top rath¬ 
er than near the center or about the large 
limbs. Trim moderately every year and uot 
heavily once in three or more yearb. Make it 
a rule to cut off uo limbs over au inch iu 
diameter. 
SELECT GARDEN SEEDS. 
Procure seeds early from a reliuble source if 
you have uot saved a full supply. Plan the 
garden and have everything ready on the ap¬ 
proach of spring, for manual labor. Sow clover 
seed, and to insure a good catch, put on a fine¬ 
toothed harrow. This may seem to injure the 
wheat, but shut up your eyes and go ahead. 
Leave a strip without harrowing and you will 
be convinced that it pays to harrow wheat iu 
the spring. 
■-- 
RADISH (Raphanus sativus.) 
This favorite little vegetable is so well known 
that comments upon it are almost superfluous: 
yet we do not think it is raised in as many 
gardens or found on the table as often as 
it deserves. Every family having a square 
yard of garden, can have a bed of radishes. 
What vegetable is a more sprightly relish 
with one’s lunch than a few cool, crisp and 
tender radishes flavored with salt ? Market 
gardeners raise large quantities which are 
consumed iu the cities during early spring and 
summer. 
The seed may be sow n as early as the weather 
will permit, either broadcast or iu rows six or 
eight inches apart, iu a light but rich soil, 
though it will thrive in any soil. But as 
radishes grow' rapidly and may be pulled be¬ 
fore they have time to interfere with other 
vegetables, the seed is most frequently sown 
between the rows of early cabbage or mixed 
with other 6eed, such as parsnip, parsley, car¬ 
rot and the like- To obtain the best flavor, 
they should be growu rapidly and used while 
youug; otherwise they will be as coarse as 
lurnips and have a strong, pungent taste. 
They should also have plenty of water while 
growing or they will be soft aud spongy. Iu 
Europe they are in such favor with most peo¬ 
ple that they are raised in the hot-beds as 
early as February, and to have a continuous 
supply of young roots, the seed is sown every 
week. 
Any one who has a sunny window cun have 
radishes all winter, by raising them in boxes 
six inches deep, filled with rich, light soil. 
There is any number of varieties, of almost 
all colors and shapes. Long Scarlet, Scarlet 
Olive, French Breakfast, Golden Globe and 
Black Spanish, are some of the best varieties. 
Our engraving shows the Scarlet Olive. 
-- 
PEPPER (Capsicum annuum.) 
The UHe of this vegetable for pickling, and 
other purposes where strong flavor is re¬ 
quired, is known better to every good house¬ 
wife than we can tell it. Suflice it to say, that 
it is a favorite with all good cooks. Its culti¬ 
vation is very simple. It is a tender plant, a 
native of South America, therefore cannot be 
sown in the open ground iu northern latitudes 
uutil the latter part of May. Sow the Beed in 
rows and cover it lightly. When the plants 
are about three inches high, they should be set 
one foot apart in light but rich soil, and kept 
clean during the summer. Larger plants aud 
more fruit muy be obtained by sowiug the 
seed in the hot-bed in March. 
The Cayenne pepper used on the table, is the 
fruit of Ibis plant, dried and grouud to a pow ¬ 
der. It is in no way related to the black pep¬ 
per, whieb is a small berry, the fruit of a 
vine that grows iu the East and West Indies. 
Botauically, Capsicum annuuru is a near rela¬ 
tive of the potato. SoJanum tuberosum, both 
beiug kindred genera of the same family, 
Solanacew. Our illustration represents Sw r eet 
Spanish. 
-- 
COVERING SEEB. 
There are certain principles governing the 
germination of seeds aud the after grow'th of 
the plants, and not only is it of great import¬ 
ance to the farmer to understand these, but at¬ 
tention to them is also of vital moment to the 
plant itself. Seed must be germinated in the 
dark until the young roots are sufficiently 
formed to begin to feed, because If exposed to 
the light, they grow of a green color, which 
does uot belong to roots, but only to the upper 
parts of the plant,—those parts which grow in 
the light. Roots having a green epidermis can¬ 
not feed, because the green color is prelimi¬ 
nary to the formation of bark, which is meant, 
to exclude moisture, aud not to absorb it. 
When seeds are sowu broadcast over the field, 
and then covered sc* lightly as to allow the 
sun’s rays to reach them, instead of forming 
healthy roots, capable of imbibing nourish¬ 
ment from the soil, they become incapable of 
feeding, because the mouths of the roots have 
growu up sealed, as it were, by the change to 
an incipient bark, which, if the exposure to 
light continues, fiually becomes a perfect bark, 
by which their whole character is changed. 
Crops growu from seeds scantily covered, 
suffer from starvation at the moment of germi¬ 
nation, which is continued by natural circum¬ 
stances so long, or so far into the life of the 
plant, as to obstruct its growth in every stage. 
The consequences are a feeble plant, having its 
growiug period throwu into the season for fill¬ 
ing up, and finally its ripening season throwu 
into so late a part of the year as to compel it 
to produce weak, shruukeu and immature 
grain at. a time beyond its natural time of har¬ 
vest. Shallow covering stunts the plant and 
its produce, owing to an excess of light at ger¬ 
mination. S. Rufus Mason. 
Dodge Co., Neb. 
- » - 
Better Times Coming. —Wm. A. Macy says: 
••The foreign demand will carry off all our sur¬ 
plus meat at present prices. If we have not 
made anything iu handling hogs during the 
last year. 1 think wo can look upon the intro¬ 
duction of our meat iu foreign countries as 
beiug favorable to future prices. The day is 
not distant when ive shall be fully compensated 
fur our work, aud fully make up for present 
losses.” 
--- 
LA DOW’S CULTIVATOR. 
This is a modification of La Dow’s harrow, a- 
dapted to working in rowed crops. There is a 
number Of riding and walking cultivators, but 
this one is among the latest improvements, and 
it possesses sterling qualities. The illustration 
shows how' the principle of the wheel-harrow 
lias beeu made to meet the new requirements. 
These discs, or wheels, may be adjusted to 
turn the soil from or towards the growing 
corn ; and may be run extremely close to the 
plants, scraping, burying, or cutting up the 
weeds, without injuring the roots of the crop. 
Iu its tuechauism the Cultivator is very sim¬ 
ple, easily managed and there islittleor nothing 
to get out of order. The draft is adjustable by 
means of the whilllelrees and hangers, aud an 
evener that, it will be seen, is up out of the 
way of tall coru. By loosening a nut the 
gang may be reversed iu a moment, or the 
line of draft changed. A strong feature is the 
lightness of draft. At a recent trial with a dyn- 
amoneter, with driver tiding, only 175 pounds 
were indicated. The Wheeler & Mcliek Co., 
of .Albany, N. V., make the implement, and 
can supply any further information. 
-♦ ♦ ♦ - 
The Eureka Mower Company of Towanda, 
Fa., succeeds the Towanda Eureka Mower Co. 
in the manufacture aud sale of Wilber’s Direct- 
draft Eureka Mower—au implement very wide¬ 
ly known for its thorough work aud light 
draft. The new company is very stroug finan¬ 
cially, including capitalists and business meu 
of Towanda and Wilkesbarre who are well- 
known. The management is under vigorous 
direction, and it is its determination to furnish 
not only the largest, but the cheapest mower 
in the market.” The western trade will be 
supplied by The St. Paul Harvester Works, St. 
Paul, Minn., who manufacture under royalty. 
The Eureka seems to have made u very favora¬ 
ble impression in the West, especially among 
large farmers, because of its practical operation 
with six, seven aud even eight-foot cutter-bars. 
Those uot familiar with the merits claimed for 
the Eureka will find the advertisement on an¬ 
other page. 
- ♦♦♦ - 
The Thomas Smoothing Harrow is said to 
owe its success to the slant of its teeth, aud its 
popularity to the excellence of material and 
workmanship, comblued with the reasonable 
price at which it is sold. It is well adapted to 
"new breakings” aud will put such laud in 
condition to yield a crop the first year. Us 
chief claim—thorough pulverization —makes 
it very effective in sod, clay soil, and in dis¬ 
tributing manure with evenness and fineness; 
aud it has met with success in old corn-fields 
by driving the harrow before the plow, break¬ 
ing the corn-stalk down lengthwise, which the 
plow then easily tnrus under. Us most con¬ 
spicuous success as a specialty is iu its use as a 
corn-cultivator. The best method for securing 
the most satisfactory results in this connection 
is amply explained iu a small pamphlet gratui¬ 
tously issued by the Thomas Smoothing Har¬ 
row Co., of Geneva, N. Y. 
la dow’s corn cultivator. 
