AUG. 23 
337 
eating their modification, and has frequently, 
in his writings and addresses, pointed out their 
evil effects. Among 10 essential parts of high 
farming enumerated by Mr. Mechi, in the 
Farmers’ Gazette of 2d lust., No. 5 is; “Free¬ 
dom of action as to cropping, selling and gen¬ 
eral management of the farm." The Farmers’ 
Alliance is steadfastly hostile to these restric¬ 
tions, and is about to press their abolition, or 
at least their radical modification, upon the 
projected Royal Commission- Its president, 
Mr. James Howard, in a recent letter to the 
Times, quoted iu the Agricultural Gazette of 
July 21, makes a strong plea for their removal, 
and fortifies his position by two examples, one 
of the good effects of their absence and the 
other of tho injury done by their enforcement. 
If there is one grievance which the tenant- 
farmers of the country find more oppressive 
than another, it lies in these one-6ided regula¬ 
tions. 
“ There is no instance," says our friend, “ of 
any leading English farmer complaining of 
fox-hunting as a grievance”—he should have 
added, “within my recollection." During a 
residence of a dozen years or more among 
farmers in the North of England, the writer 
heard a large number of complaints on 
this score, and that, too, from some of those 
who were locally considered “leading farm¬ 
ers,” although our friend may deny them that 
title, on account of their complaints. True it 
is, the grumbling seldom directly reached the 
ears of the landowners, ^specially from the 
lips of tenant-farmers ; but what it lacked in 
loudness it “ made up ” in depth. Of course, in 
the “hunting counties," the injury done by 
the amusement is regarded as one of the in¬ 
evitable evils of life, and is therefore more 
patiently submitted to and there it brings 
not a few counterbalancing advantages in 
the way of trade. Of the lordly generosity or 
voluntary justice of the huntsmen, spoken 
of by our correspondent, “there is no in¬ 
stance”—within the writer’s recollection; 
although, no doubt, such largesses are oc¬ 
casionally bestowed. 
Our friend “ points with pride” to the excess 
of agricultural products per acre in England 
over those of some parts of this country ; but 
he has forgotten to speak of the extra cost of 
such productions. The English tenant-farm¬ 
er’s capital averages from $40 to $45 per acre, 
and it seems universally agreed that, to pro¬ 
duce the best results, it should not be less than 
$100 per acre—which should be the least 
amount of a freeholder’s capital. In what 
part of this country does the average capital 
of our farmers amount to this sum? Yet 
American farmers arc growing prosperous 
while their transatlantic cousins are becoming 
impoverished—unless they clamorously belie 
their own condition. The fact 6eems to be 
that, while we may learn many useful lessons 
from the practices of British agriculture, it 
would be the hight of folly for our farmers, 
under their present conditions, to adopt the 
costly methods of farming practised iu Eng¬ 
land. In the most notable case where the ex¬ 
periment was made here, it ended in a disas¬ 
trous failure. 
In view of the growing competition with im¬ 
portations of foreign cattle within the last few 
years, it is a trifle doubtful whether the trans¬ 
formation of agricultural England into a vast 
stock farm would be the panacea for all her 
agricultural misfortunes, which our friend 
seems to think it. In uny event, in view of 
the estimate that one-fifth of tho cattle iu the 
country are yearly sent to market, and two- 
fifths of the sheep, such a transformation 
would be the work of years, besides sending 
abroad a large proportion of the small farmers 
and agricultural laborers who would then find 
no employment, and utterly ruining the vari¬ 
ous branches of industry at present supported 
by the current system of agriculture. 
With regard to that 000-acre farmer, some 
of whose shortcomings our correspondent in¬ 
fers. while he guesses at others, there is no in¬ 
tention here of defending him. His communi¬ 
cation to the Times was copied in full into 
our Euglish, Irish and Scotch agricultural 
“exchanges” as affording a fair idea of the 
losses from which British agriculture is now 
suffering. The writer was reported to be a 
thoroughly practical farmer; skillful iu his 
calling, careful in his methods and fortunate 
in his leasehold. Wero his losses exceptional, 
we should be disposed to attribute more weight 
to the faults our correspondent finds with him; 
but as the average loss to British fanners last 
year is estimated by the best authorities at over 
20 per ceut. of their yearly income, it seems 
fair to regard the mishaps or faults of this man 
as typical of those of English farmers gener¬ 
ally. 
From what source, boyoud his own inward 
consciousness, our friend has learnt that at the 
present momeut there are, throughout Eng¬ 
land, ten applicants for every farm to be let, 
it is impossible to imagine. That may be the 
case in a few isolated parts of the country, but 
unless all ihd'Eoglish papers and the Euglish 
correspondents of American papers, that refer 
to the matter, are grossly mistaken, our friend 
is—well, inexact. According to these authori¬ 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
ties, in many parts of the country farms are 
“ going a-begging,” and tenants can often 
make nearly their own terms for them. So 
late as two or three years ago, the Duke of 
Argyle expressed the idea that the demand for 
farms was practically inexhaustible, and thou¬ 
sands less notable agreed with him, but recent 
events have given this notion a rude shock, as 
Mr. Howard remarks in the above-mentioned 
letter.— [Eds. Rural New Yorker. 
UfarfUaitfoits. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
Clover Catch—Sommer Fallows etc.— 
We take the following from the always in¬ 
teresting proceedings of the Elmira Farmers' 
Club as reported in the Husbandman: Judge 
Balcomsaid; The great mistake in seeding 
with clover is in sowing too late. Get the 
seed in early, before the ground has settled 
down hard, and there will be no difficulty. 
You need have no fear about frost for it will 
not hurt the young clover. It is not half as 
bad as dry weather in May, for that is almost 
Bure to ruin clover sowed late and it puts 
back even the early-sowed. 
W. A, Armstrong said: Farmors talk of 
summer-fallowing with little understanding 
of its purpose. They seem to assume that it 
should increase the yield of the succeeding 
crop vastly, and when they find that it does 
not they are ready to condemn it, although 
I have not heard until now that it increases 
the spread and growth of weeds. The true 
uses of a summer fallow are : 1st, to destroy 
weeds by promoting germination of the seeds 
and afterward destroying all growth; 2d, to 
fit the land for subsequent crops. I do not 
say the labor will be repaid in the succeediug 
wheat crop, but I affirm that with the work 
well done, the benefits will be received by 
many subsequent crops. 
Mr. Miller. Top-dressiug is my plan. Har¬ 
row land no matter how much after the man¬ 
ure is applied; but the manure on the sur¬ 
face is the best plan. 
Dr. Cuddeback. Will it do to plow timothy 
and sow wheat on the inverted sod? 
Judge Baleom. The best wheat 1 ever raised 
was obtained iu that way. I turned timothy 
sod the last of August and first of September 
and sowed wheat in the usual season. I had 
forty bushels to the acre, the only time I ever 
had so great a yield. 
W. A. Ward. The best crop of wheat I ever 
raised I got from a seeding made just after 
the field was plowed. The very day 1 finished 
plowing, the seed was sown. I know it is not re¬ 
garded as the best way. Most farmers believe 
land should lie some time after plowing be 
fore the seed is sown, but in the case reported 
there was full success with the seeding made 
on the ncwly-turued soil. 
D. W. C. Curtis. Last year I summer-fal¬ 
lowed part of a field, turning under timothy 
and clover when a foot high, or more. I 
plowed It twice. Five acres were so treated 
and another five acres wore plowed just be¬ 
fore seeding. On the summer-fallowed lot I 
had less wheat and more weeds. 
Col. Brewer: For wheat I prefer once plow¬ 
ing and frequent 6tirring of the surface after¬ 
ward by cultivating or harrowing. That sum¬ 
mer-fallowing kills weeds uo farmer will 
deny. 1 have killed Canada thistles by fre¬ 
quent plowitig. In one case I plowed six times 
during the summer, and this completely de¬ 
stroyed the thistles. 
Pears Withstanding Blight. —The four va¬ 
rieties which on an average through the coun¬ 
try have withstood the blight with fewest 
exceptions, are Duchesse d'Angouleme, Seckel, 
Winter Nelis and Anjou, says the Country 
Gentleman. Time and experiment will doubt¬ 
less add others to the list. We observe that 
the Canada Horticulturist speaks of the Doctor 
Reeder as escaping where others have been 
destroyed. It is a seedling of the Winter 
Nells, and partakes of the hardiness of its 
parent. 
“ The Pentstemons.— What we have seen this 
summer of the wild Pent6temous, on hillside 
and rock, convinces us that all the different 
species merit wide favor iu our gardens. In 
point of healthiness and capacity to endure 
the hot sun, as also in brilliancy, and continu¬ 
ous blooming power, they certainly hold a 
leading place among those garden perennials 
which have flowers arranged in ilusters, 
umbels, or spikes. The large hybrid Peut- 
stemous are glorious ; yet we know of no col¬ 
lection on this coast, aud of but few single 
plants. The flowers are Gloxinia-like, and 
have nearly as much variety in shade and 
markings as the best Gloxinias, though they 
are considerably smaller, and are differently 
arranged." 
We clip the above from the California Horti¬ 
culturist, aud would add that we believe some 
of the new sorts are destined to create a “ flo- 
rieultural sensation ” ere long. We 6hall have 
more to say of them in our fair number. 
Plowing for Wheat.—Rural, Jr. says, in 
his interesting notes in the Chicago Weekly 
Tribune, that in the early cultivation of all 
new countries, the soil is not plowed deep. 
the farm grows older, the plow goes down 
deeper, and the wheat-crop grows poorer with 
each succeeding year. Careful and observing 
wheat-growers, who have had many successes 
and few failures, have observed these facts ; 
and now, instead of wanting a deep, friable 
bed on which to sow wheat, they adopt the op¬ 
posite. Ground intended for a crop of winter- 
wheat should be plowed as soon as possible, be 
it oat, wheat-stubble, or meadow. The plow 
should not be run over four inches in depth: 
and the soil should be left in a rough state 
until germinating weed-seeds make it neces¬ 
sary to harrow it. The oftener the ground is 
harrowed, and the closer the soil is packed, 
the more certainly is there to be a good crop. 
As a general thing, we put off the plowing until 
later in the season ; but now is the proper 
time. We would urge this upou all those who 
intend to grow a crop of this cereal next 
year. 
Angle-Worms as Agenc ies in the Forma 
tionof Loam.— E. Lewis Sturtevant, M.D.. says 
that along the edge of the backwoods in Eastern 
Maine, he noticed that the new land was not 
black in color as is loam, but rather of a gray 
or light-brown cast. Only in the meadows and 
along the moist edges of the meadows did 
the soil appear black. Some years since, some 
angle-worms were buried iu a suitable spot to 
serve as a nucleus for a permanent supply of 
bait for fishing. This spot, now occupied 
rather sparingly by the worms, has taken on a 
dark appearance, and is the only spot resem¬ 
bling Massachusetts loam that is to be observed 
in the vieinity. So far as be has observed, 
loam ouly appears in localities where the angle- 
worm is to be found, and he from experiment 
knows that this worm is capable of transmuting 
white sand covered by a vegetable layer into a 
fine-appearing loam in a short time. 
“A Matter of Surprise to Many.” —In the 
Home and Farm [Louisville, Ky..) B. F. J. 
says: “ West of the Rocky Mountains, in 
California, where the climate favors the pro¬ 
duction of lable grapes of good, if not first-rate 
quality, and where wine grapes grow as they 
grow nowhere else in the world, the wine¬ 
makers have ascertained that the liquor pro¬ 
duced from them is little better than that 
which can be * manufactured from molasses 
and water,' Iudced, California wine, when 
thrown on the markets of the world, has been 
pronounced ‘worthless stuff,' and the vine- 
yardists, accepting the fact and the situation, 
are abaudouiug the business just as fast as it 
is possible to do 60 ." This, “B. F. J.” says, 
will be “a matter of surprise to many," for 
which reason he fortifies his statement with a 
narration of facts from authentic sources, 
Mules. —“Waldo” says in the Ohio Farm¬ 
er that after eleven years of experience with 
mules on the farm he considers them far 
superior to horses, and would always recom¬ 
mend, where two teams are kept, that one 
should be a mule team. They are better than 
horses for the following reasons: They en¬ 
dure the heat much better and are not so liable 
to sickness or injury, and when lamed or 
galled, they recover much sooner than horses. 
They also have greater endurance and will do 
more work. They require less feed and will 
last many years longer than horses. Not¬ 
withstanding the prejudice existing against 
them, they are, as a rule, as trusty as horses 
and more responsive to kind treatment. 
Change. —** We are sorry to learn, (“we, too, 
are sorry,—that Prof. C. L. Ingersoll, ofjtho Ag¬ 
ricultural College, Lausing, Mich., has decided 
to accept the position of Professor of Agricul¬ 
ture in Purdue University Lafayette, Indiana. 
He has been a hard-working and faithful mem¬ 
ber of the faculty of the College, and one whose 
place will be hard to fill. The Lansing Repub¬ 
lican speaking of the causes which led to Mr. 
Ingersoll’s leaving the College, says: “ Better 
salary, and less fault-finding from outside igno¬ 
ramuses, are the reasons for Professor inger¬ 
soll’s seeking a new field .”—Mich Fanner. 
Hint for August. —A wide-awake farmer, 
whose purse permits, should take a few 
of these sweltering days in August and take 
a look at the outside world, suggests Mr. Hyde, 
in the N. Y. Times. If his home is in the in¬ 
terior, he should visit the sea-shore, where he 
cau breathe salt air aud see meu and women 
who affect style aud refinement. If he has a 
level head, there is no danger of his becoming 
discontented with the simple style of his owu 
home by seeing the dress, manner* aud equip¬ 
age of thefashiouables whoresortlothe water¬ 
ing-places and claim to be the upper cruet of 
society. 
Agricultural Colleges.— The New Eng¬ 
land Farmer says that it is perfectly aware 
that our agricultural colleges are not, as yet, 
what we might wish them to be, but it must 
be remembered that they are still young, aud 
while having had very little of the experience 
of others, to profit by, they have had aaiy 
amount of opposition from those who should 
be their best friends and supporters. 
Depth to Sow Wheat.—A great deal has 
been said first and last as to the depth at which 
to sow wheat, remarks the Prairie Farmer. 
Experiments have shown that upon ordinarily 
compact and moist soil, wheat germinates 
most promptly and produces the strongest 
plant when sown at a depth not exceeding one 
inch; from thence up to 6ix inches it came 
more and more feebly. 
To Purify Cistern Water. —But suppose, 
say6 Geo. Geddea in the N, Y. Tribune, the 
water has become offensive, and it cannot be 
spared, how can it be made fit to use ? A 
bushel of hard-wood ashes, suspended in a sack 
in a cistern of 100 barrels capacity, has accom¬ 
plished this object with entire satisfaction in 
two cases that have come under his observa¬ 
tion. 
Scraping hogs by machinery is one of the 
innovations adopted by the packing-houses of 
Chicago. As the animals pass over revolving 
flukes they are scraped clean at the rate of 10 
hogs per minute. This process occasions an 
immense saving of time and of manual labor, 
while the work is done quite as thoroughly.— 
Gerrnantovm Telegraph. 
American Style of Gardening. — Prof. 
Meehan says: “ It is a pleasure to note the 
growing style of gardening favors a distinc¬ 
tively American one. Europeans cannot have 
the thiugs we have, and we may as well avail 
ourselves of these, as to be copying inferior 
ideas from them.” 
■--- 
Ropy Milk from cows. “ Grandmere ” writes 
us, is caused by eating straw from a manure pile, 
drinking pond or other stagnant water, suffer¬ 
ing from want of salt, or from violent exercise 
in the hot sun; and any of these causes will 
make the milk striugy or ropy, iu which con¬ 
dition it is more or less poisonous. The pre¬ 
ventives are .* good feed, plenty of salt, clear 
water, shade iu the pasture, aud a trustworthy 
cow-boy, who knows better than to run his 
charges. _ 
PAMPHLETS AND CATALOGUES. 
Scientific Horseshoeing for the different 
diseases of the foot. By William Russell. 
Published by Robert Clark & Co.. 65 West 
Fourth street. Cincinnati, Ohio. This work is 
the result of the experience of a man who has 
been practicing farriery for forty years. Its 
aim is claimed to be to give the practical 
details of the most approved and rational 
plans and principles of horseslioing, in the 
plainest aud in jst complete manner. A large 
share of the work is devoted to the “ Diseases 
of the Foot,” aud the subject of pathological 
shoeing is fully treated. The work is printed 
in large type on tinted paper, well illustrated 
with 55 handsome cuts, neatly bound in cloth 
and sells for $1. 
Report of the Chief 
Signal Officer—War De¬ 
partment—for the year 
1878. This costly con¬ 
tribution to the old pa¬ 
per dealer is furnished 
with so many plates and 
has evidently required so 
much careful work, that 
oue canuot help regret¬ 
ting its inevitable con¬ 
signment to the paper 
mill unread iu nineteen 
cases out of twenty. Its 
700 or more pages con¬ 
tain a multitude of re¬ 
ports from the various 
Signal Service posts 
throughout the country. 
Our friend W. C. Drew, 
of El Dorado, Cal., has 
issued his first annual 
catalogue of California 
Lilies aud native bulbs. 
Wagon Jack. — See Among them are Liliums 
p. 588. Humboldtii, Washingto- 
nianum, Pardalinum ; Cyciobothras, Caloehor- 
tus, Brodheas, etc., etc. We wish great success 
to this enthusiastic young florist. 
Analyses and Statistics of Commercial Ferti¬ 
lizers inspected, analyzed aud admitted to sale 
iu Georgia. Duriug the season 1878-79. Cir. 
No. 66. Department of Agriculture. Atlanta, 
Ga. 
William H. Moon, Glenwood Nurseries 
Morrisville, Bucks Co., Peuu. Descriptive 
price-list of Strawberry plants (pot-grown aud 
others) for the present season. 
John S. Collins, Moorestown, Burlington Co. 
N. J. Pamphlet of all the new and valuable 
Strawberry plants, potted and otherwise. 
Reports upon the condition of crops, July 
1,1879. This is oue of the usual pamphlets is¬ 
sued by the Department of Agriculture. 
Pincknei 's United States School and College 
Directory and Guide for 1879. T. C. Pinckney, 
publisher, 80 Union Square, this city. 
Circular Letter from the Commissioner 
of Agriculture relative to the manufacture of 
maize and sorghum sugars. 
