Jmnt ®ojnrs. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL FARM. 
Wiiat will be tlie effect of thorough cultiva¬ 
tion upon the wheat plant? Will it pay to 
cultivate it? That is the question our present 
experiment is intended to, aiul we doubt not 
will, solve—at least as to our own farm. The 
plot is one-eighth of au acre, and was planted 
October 1st. It was plowed, harrowed aud 
raked, then marked off 12 by 18 inches and 
three irrains planted at the intersections an inch 
or so apart, two of which (where all lived) 
were afterwards pulled up. Thus the plauts 
were 12 inches apart in the row aud ihe rows 
18 inches apart. It is supposed that the mass 
of leaves in a broadcasted or drilled wheat 
field gives protection to the individual plants; 
that is, that each protects the other. It may 
be so. As we looked at our little field last fall, 
just before freezing weather, the belief could 
not be escaped that lew of those spires, so 
few and far between, could pass the winter in 
safety, much less make their cultivation ne¬ 
cessary in the spring in pursuance of the ob¬ 
ject of the experiment. Rut the belief was ill- 
founded. The plant on our first page, half 
the natural size, was selected M ay 18, as of the 
average size of those of this plot, while that on 
the opposite page, is an average plant taken 
from a field sown broadcast. Both are of the 
same variety, viz. Clawson. 
Our selection of a plot for this experiment 
was unfortunate. When too late to go over 
the work again, we fouud that it was infested 
with Rye-grass which In this remote and neg¬ 
lected part of our farm, hud been permitted to 
obtain complete possession. But should we 
harvest a fair amount of grain from the plot, 
the presence of this pest will give additional 
weight to the desirability of the method. Of 
course, we should need special implements for 
seeding and cultivation. But the ingenuity of 
our implement men would not be long or 
severely taxed to furnish them as soon as 
needed. 
The appearauee of this plot of wheat at 
this time (May 36.) is peculiar. The grouud is 
so well covered that cultivation from now on 
would not be advisable. But iustead of the 
upright, spiral appearance of the ordinary 
wheat field, this looks coarse, busby, rank and 
uneven. 
Shriveled Wheat Seed. 
Our readers may remember that our Defiance 
(spring) wheat of last season, was so shriveled 
that it was not worth thrashing. 
It was the same with all of the six varieties 
of spring wheat which we sowed last year. 
But Defiance was shriveled most, though the 
straw and blades were heavier than those of 
any of the other sorts. If an ordinary wheat 
grain were cut lengthwise into four equal 
pieces, each one of these would be as large as 
the average graiu of our Defiance. We desired 
to know if such shriveled seed would germi¬ 
nate at all, and if so, wlmt difference there 
would be in the size, strength and yield of the 
plant. To test this, we sowed (broadcast) a 
quarter-acre. So far as we eau judge, it has 
germinated as well as any other, so that it 
only remains to he seen how much influence 
the quantity of albumen of the seed exerts 
upon the strength and fruiting powers of the 
future plant. 
An Asparagus “ Belt.” 
This part of the country ought to have been 
the native home of asparagus, for, escaped 
from cultivation, it grows wild in hedge, field, 
wood aud meadow.* Thousands of acres are 
in asparagus, and twenty-acre fields are not 
uncommon. As here cultivated, there is no 
such thing as a preparation of the grouud to 
endure for years. Sandy soils are preferred. 
The roots are planted ten inches apart and the 
rows four feet apart. Late in the fall or early 
in spring a furrow is plowed directly over the 
plants, and this is filled with farm manure. A 
furrow between the rows covers this, aud the 
whole is leveled with wood hand-rakes. Thus 
its cultivation is continued from year to year 
upon the same field. No doubt eveu our 
Western readers know of the celebrated Oyster 
Bay asparagus, as if that were a distinct vari¬ 
ety. We hear little of it uow, not because it 
is less esteemed, hut because hundreds of acres 
are now cultivated in various parts of Long 
Island, of the best quality, where oue acre was 
cultivatediu yearspast. The asparagus ‘ hell ’ 
may be considered as confined to the south 
portion of the island. This receives the salt 
vapors from the sea. Some farmers deem it 
necessary to sow salt, others do not, and both 
seem to obtaiu abundant crops. 
Weal her Prospects. 
We are having rains as otten as needed. 
Our wheat, rye aud oats were never looking 
better at this season. Potato beetles, of which 
we have a great abundance, seem that enter¬ 
tained with each other, just at this time, that 
they lose their appetites, while the potato 
vines, with only here aud there a piece nibbled 
out, are growing vigorously We have 15 dif¬ 
ferent varieties of potatoes planted side by side 
THE fURAL NEW-YORKER. 
■JUNE f 
for comparison. Corn, owiug to the moist 
ground, to fewer cut-worms than usual and to 
tarred seed, has come up with exceptional reg¬ 
ularity, and is now four inches high. Doura 
has just appeared above the surface. Pearl 
Millet has not yet shown Itself. 
We are to-day sowing “ Webb’s new Kinver 
Yellow Globe Mangel" beside “Mammoth Long 
lied." The first sort is highly prized by those 
who have tried it; the second makes up in 
size what it lacks in quality, and never fails to 
attract notice at the fairs. 
--- 
THE MOISTURE OF THE SOIL. 
D. E. SALMON, I). V. M. 
The experiments of lire Rural on the above 
subject, some time ago. certainly produced a 
most excellent effect—they brought out the 
opiuous of our leading thinkers on agricultural 
science, and showed wbat a frail foundation 
many of these opinions have; and it is to he 
hoped that they will demonstrate to our farm¬ 
ers the Importance of having these foundation 
principles of their business determined in u 
definite and satisfactory manner. The idea of 
such simple observations putting a whole na¬ 
tion of agriculturists at their wits’ end to ex¬ 
plain them! 
It is very surprising to see how many of 
those who have criticised and tried to explain 
these experiments have considered them de¬ 
fective, because the moisture condensed from 
the air was not taken into account. A writer 
in a contemporary paper lays great stress ou 
this condensation, and attempts to show that it 
takes place, aud for what rcasou. As his ar¬ 
guments cover the whole subject, I shall con¬ 
fine myself to a consideration of them. He 
commences by relating au experiment in mulch¬ 
ing apple trees with three inches of sawdust; 
the trees were newly set and suffering from a 
long drought. In twelve days after mulching 
all hud started into leaf, and on examining the 
sawdust the lowest inch aud the surface of the 
ground were found almost saturated with wat¬ 
er, although when the sawdust was applied, 
both it and the surface of the ground were very 
dry, aud there had been no rain in the mean¬ 
time. 
No farmer who uses his eyes will doubt the 
accuracy of this observation ; but let us exam¬ 
ine the writer’s explanation. The thought oc¬ 
curred to him that the temperature might as¬ 
sist in solving the question. On trial, the earth 
under the sawdust was found from 7 to 10 deg. 
cooler than the atmosphere, from which he 
concludes the water was the result of conden¬ 
sation of atmospheric moisture, since wc know 
that a pitcher of ice-water set in the sun on a 
warm day will soon he covered with moisture. 
To shoiv that it was not drawn up by the capil¬ 
larity of the soil, he cites the Rural’s experi¬ 
ments, which “appear to show that a loose, 
pulverized surface increases the evaporation, 
which might he interpreted that the placiug of 
sawdust on the surface would cause the evapo¬ 
ration from the earth below to he more rapid; 
that is, that rhe moisture, if any, drawn up by 
ihe capillary attraction would he passed off 
more rapidly on account of the mulch!’’ 
If this is not a reductio ad absurdum without 
the author intending it, it certainly has that 
appearance. Does this gentleman expect us to 
believe that evaporation of water is increased 
by restricting’Hie circulation of the air about, 
and hindering its access to, the water? if we 
wish to dry wet hay in the quickest manner, 
do we pile it together to increase evaporation ? 
or do we spread it thinly iu order to give it 
free exposure to the air? Will water evapor¬ 
ate more rapidly from a pan if covered with a 
cloth than if freely exposed to the circulating 
air? And if not, liow eau it he expected to 
evaporate more rapidly from the surface of the 
grouud when this is covered with sawdust than 
when freely exposed ? The idea is too absurd 
for serious consideration. 
The writer made some other observations, 
which I will meution before taking up the ques¬ 
tion of condensation. He found the well-work¬ 
ed soil of a garden two iuches below the sur¬ 
face seven deg. cooler than the border which 
hud not been worked; the latter was three 
deg- higher than the air, the former four deg. 
lower. Soil well worked six inches deep, the 
day after a fresh working, showed a tempera¬ 
ture six to eight deg. below that of the atmos¬ 
phere. i give these points because they are of 
value, and whatever conclusion we roach in re¬ 
gard to his theories, we w ill not neglect to give 
due credit and credence to his observations. 
Now, permit me to ask if it is true that there 
is a free circulation of air through sawdust or 
lreshly-worked soil, as several writers have as¬ 
sumed ? In his article, the gentleman I have 
been criticising says; “We leave an uir space 
between two walls to prevent the conduction of 
cold or heat into the interior of the building, 
and wheu the walls cannot, he made light, we 
fill the space with sawdust or other porous 
substance, and this prevents the conduction of 
heat in summer." Very true; hut why fill 
with sawdust if there is a free circulation of 
air through it ? Air is a bad conductor of heat, 
so if we can confine it in a space like the above, 
we have a non-conducting wall; but if there 
is a free circulation of air, heat is carried by 
convection and the air-space is no longer of 
value; consequently, we can see why filling 
with sawdust has even a better effect than mak¬ 
ing an air-tight space— thp air is confined Mween 
the particles and its rirculation is prevented. The 
same explanation is sufficient to show why the 
soil under the sawdnst was cooler than the at¬ 
mosphere, and why the same was true of the 
soil where the top was loosened by cultivation. 
If there were a free circulation of air. the soil 
through which it circulated would soon reach 
the temperature of the atmosphere; aud this 
would take place the sooner if there were a 
condensation of aqueous vapor, because heat is 
given out during this process. 
In regard to the condensation of atmospheric 
moisture, it mast he remembered that there is 
a difference of over 50 deg. between the tem¬ 
perature of the surface of u pitcher containing 
ice water, and that of the air on a warm, sum¬ 
mer day; while between that of the newly- 
worked soil six indies deep and the air, this 
difference is reduced to from six to eight deg. 
It may well he asked if so slight a difference 
would, under ordinary circumstances, be suffi¬ 
cient to cause a condensation. The water of 
my spring has a summer temperature of 55 
deg., and very often when the air is 20 to 25 
deg. warmer, there is no condensation of mois¬ 
ture on the sides of a tiu or eartheru vessel 
containing it; and I know that this seldom, if 
ever, takes place when the difference is no 
greater than eight deg. Here, in the moun¬ 
tains of North Carolina, we often have very 
heavy night fogs in Bummer, caused by the 
great difference between the atmospheric tem¬ 
perature during the day and at night, aud 1 
have often examined uewly-worked soil early 
in the morning succeeding these fogs, to see 
their effect. The surface of this soil would 
seem very r moist, as though a light rain had 
fallen, but the moisture scarcely penetrated a 
half inch, the soil underneath being as dry as 
powder; the effect on vegetation was certainly 
very slight as it did not reach the roots and 
was evaporated by an hour’s sun. Connected 
with my earth closet, 1 have a room for drying 
the earth in order to use it a second time; here 
I often have it piled ten iuches to a foot deep, 
hnt so far from condensing moisture from the 
air, which is freely admitted by open windows, 
it rapidly dries out and remains in the form of 
dust. 1 have often looked here for condensa¬ 
tion but could never see any sigus of it except 
on the very surface. Ou the contrary, a similar 
pile of earth in contact with tlie soil, though 
protected from rain, will seldom dry as 
thoroughly even iu the hottest and driest 
weather. Again, in preserving ashes, I have 
found that wheu piled ou the earth under cover, 
they soou become almost saturated with water, 
while if similarly situated, hut put in boxes or 
barrels and kept front the earth, they remain 
as dry as wheu freshly burned; and I have 
often seen boxes of dry sawdust to which the 
air had free access hut which, nevertheless, 
remained dry for a long time. 
1 mention these simple facts, which may be 
readily confirmed, because they hear directly 
on the question and are just as decisive as any 
experiments can be. Who does not know that 
a layer of dry sawdust or cut straw three or 
four inches deep on a barn, floor, will remain 
dry for au indefinite time, hut if placed direct¬ 
ly on the soil, it becomes moist iu a few days ? 
The fact is very plain that the moisture comes 
from the soil and not from the utmosphere; 
and this is very fortunate, for otherwise the 
hay and straw which we store iu our barns 
would become saturated with moisture, and 
rot. 
1 occasionally put out a great many cabbage 
aud tomato plants, and in doing this follow 
the advice of our best market gardeners, which 
is to plow the land just before setting, and 
pack the earth around the plants. Though often 
done in a dry time, I have seldom lost more 
thau two or three per cent. ; and have been 
surprised ou goiug out iu the morning, to see 
how moist was the packed grouud about the 
plants and how dry it was where loose. My 
explanation of the success of this plan has 
been that the packed grouud allowed the moist¬ 
ure to rise around the roots, which at first do 
not reach the unstirred soil. If this moisture 
is derived from the atmosphere, how can such 
facts he explained ? Why is the compacted 
soil more moist Ilian that which is loose? 
Further, it lias been shown by recent investi¬ 
gations that it is doubtful if this condeusiug 
power of Ihe soil has any significance as a 
measure of supplying crops with water. (Re¬ 
port of Connecticut Ex. Btatiou, 1877, p. HI). 
But do not the Rural's experiments show 
that moisture is evaporated more readily from 
a louse, pulverized soil than from a compact 
one? Undoubtedly; how eau auy sensible 
man think otherwise? If we loosen the soil 
we increase the surface exposed to the air ; we 
assist the circulation of tlie air through the 
soil, and of course we favor evaporation. Iu 
our stirred soils, we do more thau this; wc 
prevent the water rising by capillarity to the 
surface to be evaporated ; we place a mulch of 
loose, dry earth over the soil holding the roots 
of our crops, which has the same effect as the 
sawdust or cut straw on the surface. These 
experiments show what every farmer ought to 
kuow, viz.: that loose soil evaporates the 
water which it holds more rapidly than com¬ 
pact; hut the conditions of the experiment 
were such that capillarity, as it exists in our 
soils, had no influence upon the results. 
The experiments of farmers all over the 
world, added to those of such scientists us 
Nessler, Wagner. Sehleh (Rep. Ct. Ex. Station. 
’77. p. 95,) and Gr andean (Rural for 1878, p. 
774), are sufficient to show that, in the vast 
majority of soils, stirring the surface does act 
as a mulch, does prevent the water rising 
through the loose part to be evaporated, does 
increase the water available for the use of the 
plant. I see nothing inconsistent with this 
view in the results of the Rural’s experiments. 
ijortiniltural. 
STRAWBERRIES. 
G. GOFF, .1R. 
Garden Culture. 
Strawberries are becomiug more* popular 
every year. The ease with which they are pro¬ 
duced, and the grent variety of soils and cli¬ 
mates to which the plants are adapted, make 
the fruit a general favorite wherever it is 
known. In this latitude, strawberries are the 
first fruit of the season, and ripening as they 
do at the commencement of hot weather, when 
the human system craves and needs a refresh¬ 
ing acid, they are highly appreciated by every¬ 
one. It would he interesting to know the 
number of bushels of strawberries that are 
usually consumed by some of our large cities. 
The quantity is certainly immense, and the 
commercial value of the strawberry crop 
doubtless runs into the millions. But, on the 
other hand, there are thousands of families 
both in city and country that seldom indulge 
In the luxury of a dish of this fine fruit. 
Every farmer’s garden should contain a 
strawberry bed. Many are deterred from set¬ 
ting out the plants because they are ignorant 
of their culture aud think the trouble and ex¬ 
pense required to produce the fruit are more 
thau it is worth. But this is not the case, it 
requires only a small outlay of labor aud 
money to start and care for a strawberry bed, 
aud that outlay will he abundantly repaid by 
supplying the table liberally every day with 
this delicious fruit during its hearing season. 
Strawberries are so easily grown that there is 
no good reason why every person having land 
suitable for producing good corn or potatoes, 
should not have au abundance of this fruit. 
The best soil that could be named for straw¬ 
berries, is probably a deep, rich saudy loam ; 
but almost auy soil, if properly prepared, may 
be made to produce a good crop of very fine 
berries. In starting a strawberry bed, if the 
soil is not already rich, it should he made so 
by applying some kind of manure. If the soil 
is naturally heavy, well rotted barnyard or 
stable manure should he used, which will 
make it lighter and more friable. The ground 
should he plowed or spaded as deep as possi¬ 
ble without mixing it With the subsoil, and 
should be free from weeds. 
Spring is generally considered the best time 
to set the plants, though they may he set with 
good results in the fall; hut when set in the 
spring, they will hear a full crop the next sea¬ 
son; whereas, if set in the fall, hut a partial 
crop may he expected the next summer, and 
there would he more danger from wintei- 
killing. 
For garden culture, the plants should he set 
in rows two feet apart with plants a foot 
apart in the rows. Keep the soil mellow and 
free from weeds by frequently stirring it with 
a hoe or cultivator, When the runners start, 
they may be allowed to take root iu the rows, 
hut not between them. Thus “ matted rows ” 
will he formed, with a space between for a 
path to stand in while weeding or picking the 
fruit. Great care should he taken not to allow 
the grass and weeds to get started among the 
plants ; for if they once get a foothold, it is 
almost impossible to exterminate them without 
destroying the bed. Mulching is of great ad¬ 
vantage, especially on dry or bakey soils. 
The strawberry hud should be covered iu the 
fall with straw, leaves or coarse manure, for 
winter protection. In the spring the plants 
should he uncovered, the mulching removed, 
and the soil between the rows aud around the 
plants loosened up with a spade or a cultiva¬ 
tor, When tlie fruit begins to ripen the 
ground should be mulched, that the fruit may 
he kept clean. 
In selecting strawberry plauts to set, va¬ 
rieties should he chosen that are best suited to 
the soil in which they are to he planted. Ihe 
Wilson is noted for its reliability ; it will suc¬ 
ceed where almost any variety will, hut there 
are other kinds iu cultivation, larger in size 
and superior in flavor. It is impossible to 
name the varieties best suited to all soils aud 
localities. A variety may do well on oue ki«4 
