280 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
‘‘Hasten slowly.” Read Mr. Hardin’s article 
in the Rural for Dec. 7 1878. Study his table. 
An old Englishman of my acquaintance, who 
has a wide, experience, says that table is about 
as he found the breeds to be. 
Brown Co., Wls. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Kansas, Parsons, Labette Co., April 14.— 
We are not surprised here at our continuous 
and changeable Aviuds. for they are almost of 
certain occurrence in the spring and the fall, 
but we are surprised with a dry spring. 
Usually there is great difficulty in having 
weather dry enough to plant. This year avc 
haA’e not had more than one inch of rain, ex¬ 
cepting the December snows, some of Avhieb 
entered the ground in January. There is sup¬ 
posed to be enough moisture in the ground 
uoav to cause the seeds to germinate Avlieu suf¬ 
ficient heat has been received. Oats are up 
and look Avell. Some pieces of winter Avheat 
(no spring Avheat here) look fairly; others 
look poorly. Castor beans and corn will he 
nearly all planted at the end of this Aveek, 
four-fifths of the whole being now in the 
ground. The Beed tvas never placed in a more 
fitting couditiou of soil, and it is an excellent 
aid to a big crop. Our season is fifteen or 
twenty days later than last, but is as early as 
the average season. Our Peaches and Black¬ 
berries have been affected injuriously by the 
severe Avinter, and already there are signs of 
higher prices for dried fruit. Away off totvards 
Colorado, in the Avestern ami northwestern 
portions of this State, the drought has been 
felt more than here. The splendid wheat crop 
of that region last year induced an unprece¬ 
dented immigration this spring, and there are 
signs of damage to the crops there, by the re¬ 
turn from that region of quite a number of 
emigrants. The neAvspapers, of course, say 
that there has been a splendid rain all along 
the line, but if not more than Ave haA'e received 
during the same storm, it Avill hardly do any 
good. The land beyond the 100th degree of 
longitude must have pieuty of rain to make a 
crop. Two or three wet years have set men to 
generalizing on the change of the climate, just 
as they did last winter, when the winters tvere 
said to be getting milder, and this Avinter 
found their generalizations fallacious. Peo¬ 
ple, however, must have the fatal 1(50 acres; 
Avhilc, if they Avould survey the State through, 
they would discover that of every 160 acres 
that are settled, an average of over 40 acres 
area loss to the owner. Coru in the northern 
portion of the State sells as low as 10c. per 
bushel, and as this rate is less than $8 per ton, 
and as coal is from $4 to $6, the corn of course 
is the cheapest fuel, and it is thrown about as 
if it were chips, or weeds, or rubbish. In re¬ 
gard to grass, it can be bought at 10c. to 25c. 
an acre for hay, and stock are herded and 
salted for 25c. per head per month. So, forty 
acres in cultivation at 10c. per bushel for corn, 
is bad enough, but the product of the grass 
will not even pay the taxes, so people that 
must have 160 acres are “ laud-crazy.” j. b. 
Texas, McKinney, April 13.—Our prolonged 
drought Avas brought to an end by a heavy hall 
storm, the like of which was never Avitnessed 
here by a av bite man. I’ve been a resident of 
Texas for 30 years, and Hail in drifts three or 
four feet thick, 12 days after it fell, Avitli ther¬ 
mometer often at 70‘ Fah., I consider a re¬ 
markable phenomenon. The belt along Avhich 
this scene could be Avituessed, however, was 
only from three to four miles wide. We are now 
busily engaged in planting cotton, haviug finish¬ 
ed drilling pearl millet this week. The Storm¬ 
proof cotton seed is in great demand, selling 
as high as at the rate of 75c. per bushel, with a 
limited supply. There’s a fine opening in this 
country for manufacturers of wood work of all 
kinds for Avagons. reapers and mowers, plows, 
axe-helves, hoc-haudles, etc. We haA'e here 
an abundance of Bois-d’arc, the best kind of 
wagon timber; still, Baeine, Wis., sends us our 
wagous ; Avhilc reapers and all Avoodcu imple¬ 
ments are likeAvise sent us from the far North, 
Fine Pecans, Ashes, Oaks, etc., abound in our 
bottom lands, still, avc go to the wooden and 
hardware dealers for the implements made of 
such Avood, so that lack of enterprise or 
capital may be justly attributed to this seetiou. 
Real estate was never so low here since the 
troublous days of the Texan Republic, away 
back before ’45. Farms once valued at 820 per 
acre, could now be bought for ono-fiftli of that 
amount. Money is so scarce that usury is pop¬ 
ular; for men in debt are glad to be able to 
borrow enough to pay off old mortgages, at20 
to 24 per cent., and to get it at this rate they 
readily burthen themselves with new mort¬ 
gages. Just, now Ave are having copious show¬ 
ers, and farmers are jubilant over their crop 
prospects. av. n. av. 
New York, Coming, Steuben Co., April 19. 
_We are having an unusually backAvard 
spring, snow to the depth of two Inches cov¬ 
THE 
ers the ground. No seeding has been done 
yet, and tbe excessive moisture in the ground 
will not admit of it within several days. The 
fallacy of sowing winter wheat late on account 
of the depredations of the Hessian Fly, is 
apparent this spring in the innumerable fields 
which show scarcely any top at all. It is 
strange how readily farmers adopt almost any 
new theory at the outset. 
I had Intended to sow the barley this week, 
but a cold storm of rain and snow has changed 
Va., Henrico Co., April 22.—The past winter 
has beeu quite severe here. We have had but 
little snoAv; the ground was frozen only about 
six inches. Wheat aud rye Avintered well and 
are now looking fine. Winter oats did not do 
so well; spring oats are all up early. Potatoes 
are about coming through. Fruit trees are all 
iu full bloom, and I do not think they are 
much injured by late frost, On tbe 11th of 
March I took a trip to Wayne Co., N. Y. I 
found the roads in a fearful condition. There 
flowers and vegetable seed, teaches me to go 
slowly. The weather has been dry for six 
Avecks or more; still everything looks well on 
land that Avas broken early and thoroughly. 
Wheat and Apples scarcely pay their expenses 
in this county; but all other grains aud fruits, 
as well as vegetables, do well. Our “ branch 
and river bottoms are the caue-groAvers’ para¬ 
dise. With a little winter care Oranges hear 
some fruit here. Wheat is Avorth 80c.; corn, 
oats, rye, barley aud sweet potatoes, 50c. per 
bushel; golden millet, $1.80; bacon, 6c. to 8c. 
per pound; butter, 10c. Chickens and eggs 
find no market. 
Minnesota, HoAvard Lake April 20.— 
Winter still lingers in the lap of spring. Farm¬ 
ers managed to soav quite an amount of wheat 
in March by doing it at intervals of good 
Aveather. After having a remarkable scarcity 
of water—'wells going dry so that people 
from the country for miles around, draw water 
from the Lake here—we had a pleasant i ain 
in just the way the Avheat needed it. SloAvly 
and quietly it fell on the 10th iust. but the Avells 
do not fill yet. No 2. wheat from yesterday 
fell a t rifle. It is only 73 ets; corn, 30c ; oats, 
30c; potatoes, 25c ; best butter, 15c. s. A. M. 
North Carolina, Henderson P. O., Gran¬ 
ville Co., April 12.—We had splendid Aveather 
during March, aud on the 30th Peaches, Pears, 
Plum6. Crab Apples and Cherries and some 
of the early Apples were in full bloom. On 
the following night a cold north wind chilled 
us, aud siuce then the nights haA’e been bleak 
aud frosty, so that our prospects for fruit are 
entirely blighted. w - M - 
Ohio, Atlanta, April 20.—Spring late. Far¬ 
mers very busy plowing. This time last year 
some were planting corn. Prospects for wheat, 
good. Grass, fine but late. Apple trees be¬ 
ginning to hud; all sorts of fruit apparently 
uninjured. Corn, 35c.; oats,20c.; wheat, 85c.: 
horses from $50 to $125; cows from $40 to $60; 
land from $40 to $60 per acre. a. l. 
New York, Cornell University, Ithaca, April 
20.—We have had no spring Aveather yet worth 
the mentioning. Grouud still covered with 
snow; no seeding or planting done. President 
White leaves us in a week. We are sorry that 
he is leaving us, but rejoice that our country 
is to have so able a representath'e at Berlin. 
>’. B. L. 
New York, Sharon Center, Schoharie Co.. 
April 19.—Two feet of snow fell here yester¬ 
day and it is still snowiug. Prospects for an 
early spring have all vanished. Hay Is abun¬ 
dant ; stock scarce; cows are Avorth $25 to 
$35 j butter, 12c. to 14c.; eggs, 10c.; Avages, 
$10 to $15 a mouth and board. s. L. 
Nebraska, Brownsville, April 19. — I have 
already planted nearly 40 acres of orchard and 
am still at work. Fruit prospects in this sec¬ 
tion are good. R- w. f. 
UtiscfUancous. 
A GOOD USE FOR OLD LOGS. 
With very little trouble hollow logs can be 
made to serve a good purpose in the rustic 
decoration of lawns. In Fig. 1 is shoAvn one 
plan of utilizing a section of a holloAV t ree. A 
part, from one to two feet in diameter, with a 
solid rim from two to four inches thick, is cut 
to a length of about two feet, set upon end in 
any desirable spot, filled with good soil in 
which seed may be sowu of plants either of a 
trailing, or aloAv upright habit, like Candytuft, 
dwarf Asters, etc. 
Should a larger surface for planting be re¬ 
quired, a section may easily be cut six or eight 
feet in length, and divided lengthwise some 
distance above the center. Then strips may 
be nailed across the ends of the. larger part; 
the hollow filled up with earth, and set with 
such free bloomers as the Petunia and Verbena ; 
or, a strip through the center may be devoted 
to low-grOAving annuals, and the sides and ends 
to trailiug vines, as shown at B. in Fig. 2. 
Leave the bark on, and in the split section bore 
small holes in the bottom to let off superabun¬ 
dant moisture. When the plants are Avell 
established, it is a Avonder to mauy how such 
mounds are kept in position, as their floral 
embellishments seem to grow from mounds of 
solid earth. L. D. Snooks. 
—--- 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
Htgienic Views. —At a late meeting of the 
W. N. Y. Farmers’ Club as reported in the 
American Rural Home, Mr. P. C. Reynolds 
said that one cause of weakened digestion 
leading to dyspepsia, is the habit of eating, In 
hurrying seasons, when very weary. The farm¬ 
er is laboring hard in the field, the dinner-horn 
blows, lie hastens to the house, sits doivu to 
the table und hastily eats his meal. The body 
iB so exhausted that the vital forces are drawn 
from the stomach, and digestion proceeds 6lowly 
aud imperfectly; the system is not properly 
nourished by the food, aud, after a Avhile, the 
horrors of dyspepsia are experienced. No man 
has a right to allow the urgency of work or 
SECTION OF HOLLOW TREE USED AS A VASE. 
my intentions. I haA'e always been most suc¬ 
cessful Avhen my seed was soAvn early, yet it is 
poor policy to get seed into the grouud before 
it becomes warm and sufficiently dry to be 
thoroughly pulverized. I shall soav the six- 
roAved variety ; for what is lost iu difference 
in price between that and the two or four- 
roAved, will he more than made up by the 
heavier yield. Any good corn land will pro¬ 
duce barley and its culture in this section is 
gaining in extent every year. Nearly as much 
barley as oats can be grown on an acre, aud 
Avhile oats bring but 30c., barley I have never 
Bold for less than 80c. per bushel. Added to 
this, the straw is fully equal to that of oats for 
feeding purposes, the grain superior, while 
the land is left in fair condition for any other 
crop. I know men who consider barley stub¬ 
ble fully equal to summer fallow for Avheat. 
In proof that oats are very exhaustive to the 
soil, we have but to observe the farms about 
us whose owuers grow oats as a principal 
crop. 
New York, Upper Red Hook. Northern 
Dutchess Co., April 19.—Winter seems to be 
unwilling to allow spring to assert her su¬ 
premacy. and has accordingly presented us 
-with a snow storm of nearly four inches. 
Farmers are anxiously looking forward for 
good weather so that plowing may be com¬ 
menced in earnest; but little of that has been 
done as yet, and a little garden alone has been 
made. About ten days later than this last 
year, the trees were commencing to bloom ; 
hut as appearances indicate at present, the buds 
will not open in a month yet: A larger quan¬ 
tity of manure than usual Avas made during 
the Avinter, owing mainly to the greater amount 
of straw, and the low prices it has been selling 
for. Most farmers are realizing that it is far 
better to convert straAV into manure, thau to 
sell it at $5 and $6. per tou. Winter graiu 
generally looks very well, though Ave have 
not so large an acreage as last year. Wheat is 
again growing into favor among us, more be¬ 
ing sown each season. Apples have kept a 
treat deal better than usual and are uoav quite 
abundant. We have scraped a large number 
of young apple trees this spring and for this 
purpose have found that au old iron candle¬ 
Avas neither sleighing nor wheeling, while here 
the weather was like summer, and the roads 
Avere dusty. We want more men from the 
North to come here to take up the land that is 
lying idle and can be bought for from $2 to 
$30 per acre. It is true it needs improving, 
but it is easily bettered and holds improve¬ 
ment. Here we can raise anything that can 
be raised in any other States, except tropical 
fruits and some other things that cannot be 
produced North. I have been here tAVo years, 
but I do not talk like Holt from Missouri or 
borrow trouble, because the weather does not 
act just to suit me. We are looking forward 
to better times; economy and perseverance 
will soon bring those happy days about. 
W. B. H. 
Ohio, Tontogany. Wood Co., April 20.— 
Weather pleasant now; very little frost. Wheat 
looks well. Last year’s crop was good, the 
average yield in this part of the country hav¬ 
ing beeu from 20 to 30 bushels per acre. Corn 
was a medium crop, average yield 30 to 50 
bushels per acre. Oats, too, were only an aver¬ 
age crop. Wheat sells for $1 per bushel; corn, 
from 30c. to 32c.; oats, 20e to 22c.; hogs, $2.75 
to $3 per 100 lbs.; clover seed, $3.90 to $4. 
The farmers in this neighborhood are getting 
along well with their spring Avork. They are 
uoav sowing oats and spring wheat and making 
gardens. Farms here are being drained ex¬ 
tensively. Tiles are always used with much 
advantage. Six years ago my farm of 70 acres 
Avas lying in the bush, and uoav it is all im¬ 
proved except 13 acres. I have built a house, 
barn and other necessary buildings. Land 
here is a sandy soil ivith clay bottom aud is 
good for every sort of crop. We have a fine 
outlet for draining and plenty of all kinds of 
“privileges’' that contribute to make a coun¬ 
try prosperous. w. h, b. 
AVisconsin, Arcadia, April 20.— Our spring 
opened about the usual time, although much 
later than last year. Seeding for wheat is 
nearly completed. Many are selling out and 
going West. Few improvements are being 
made hereabouts at present—all are wailing 
for better times. This is a good place to come 
to settle, if one wants improved farms at a 
moderate price, together with school and 
HALF OF HOLLOW 1.00, WITH HTRIOnT AND TRAILING ANNUALS. 
stick is an excellent thing—the most conven¬ 
ient instrument to handle, and one that will 
do the work to perfection. The small end 
can be used in the joints of the Limbs, and 
will effectually remove all 6orts of dirt. The 
edges, if too sharp, may be filed a little, so as 
not to injure the young bark. In eases Avhere 
the old bark is very stubborn, a glove should 
be Avorn to protect the hand, though in most 
instances this will not be necessary, w. s. t. 
ehurc.h privileges. There is plenty of wood 
and Avator; the soil is a 6audy clay und loam. 
Prices are about us follows; Avheat, 80c.; 
corn, 30c.; oats, 20c.; potatoes, 40c. ; butter, 
8c. to 10c. ; eggs, 6c. per doz. ; hay, $8 per 
ton. f. A. R. 
Texas, CaldAvell. Burleson Co., April 21.— 
My children as AA'ell as m3’sc If are great lovers 
of flowers; the experience derived from the 
outlay of $100 spent in three years for trees, 
