THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
root-crop on those soils that are suitable to 
the growth of turnips or mangels; barley is 
usually taken the following year, next after 
the roots, because barley likes the loose state 
into which the cultivation of the roots has re¬ 
duced the soil, and with the barley the land is 
seeded down with clover and Italian rye-grass. 
The following summer the clover and rye-grass 
are either mown off for winter forage? or are 
grazed by sheep, and the clover-root, as the 
land is then termed, is plowed up about the 
eud of July or in August, and the wheat is 
sown on it six or eight weeks later. If the 
land at this stage is found to be foul with 
weeds, the steam-tackle is set to work on it, 
and it gets a thorough knocking about and 
cleaning before the sowing time comes on, pro¬ 
viding the weather is suitable. This plan, 
however, is a costly one, as may he thought; 
hut it is necessary if the laud is foul, for weeds 
impoverish the soil and choke the crop. 
Our time for drilling autumn wheat is usual¬ 
ly in the end of September and sometimes in 
October The time depends, however, on 
several conditions and cannot he stated in a 
hard-and-fast manner. I have known wheat 
sown in November to do well, providing only 
that it has been well got in, m suitable weather, 
and with the laud in a proper condition. We 
seldom sow wheat broadcast or by hand ; the 
drill is used almost everywhere. There are 
two great advantages in using the drill:—less 
seed per acre is required, and it is all deposited 
at an uniform depth; whereas by hand-sowing 
some of the grain is one inch and some three 
inches beneath the surface, and the result is 
that the crop comes up irregularly, and is ripe 
at different periods. The drill also deposits 
the wheat in rows and this is indispensable to 
facilitate the process of weeding in the follow¬ 
ing spring. The rows are usually nine inches 
apart, so that the horse-hoe can pass freely 
down between them, cutting up the weeds with¬ 
out injuring the wheat. A well-managed field 
of wheat where the laud is free from weeds and 
the rows of wheat plants are clearly defined, 
is a sight which no lover of agriculture could 
fail to admire. 
But wheat-growing in Britain is a losing 
game. It is becoming each year increasingly 
difficult for us to compete with the cheap and 
virgin soil and the rough-and-ready farming 
of the Western States of America, and with 
wheat at five shillings a bushel, our farmers 
are ou their beam ends. The outlook for 
wheat growers is serious enough, and those of 
them who can, are laying down their land to 
permanent pasture, where the land is suitable 
for that purpose; and where it is not, they are 
throwing up their farms in despair. We are 
on tile edge of a serious crisis, the result of 
which will probably be a great change ill our 
systems of land tenure. In the meantime, 
farmers are losing capital, landlords are losing 
income, and laud is diminishing almost as 
rapidly in value as it is in your Empire State. 
Steam is tiie great leveler of the present age, 
and all kiuds of products are approximating 
in value, no matter where they are found, on 
the basis of cost of transit. It will be very 
interesting to watch the progress of events in 
the agricultural world in the next four or live 
years. 
- ■ — » — 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL FARM, 
The Culture of Wheat—Result of Experiment. 
We have had during the past year a good 
deal to say as to the Cultivation of wheat. Last 
October 1st, we prepared a piece of laud ltibx 
33 feet or one-eighth of an acre. It was plowed, 
harrowed twice, then broadcasted with hone 
flour at the rate of 500 pounds per acre, raked 
iu by hand, marked off 18x12 inches and three 
grains of Clawson wheat planted at the inter¬ 
sections. As soon as the blades were distin¬ 
guishable, two plants were pulled up, leaving 
only the middle one. Thus there was left but 
one plant for every one-and-a-half square foot. 
The plants tillered remarkably, as engravings 
in our issue of June 7, have already shown. 
The straw was very heavy and the heads near¬ 
ly twice the size of those of our five-acre field 
sown broadcast, as our engraving of an aver¬ 
age-sized spike will show. But mauy of them 
were poorly filled ; many of them, while in the 
milk and subsequently, were broken over owing 
to an apparent weakness of the stem near the 
spike, as if there alone the stems were not 
strong enough to support its weight during 
high winds. From this plot of one-eighth of 
au acre we harvested but oue bushel and-arhalf 
or at the rate of twice bushels per acre, while 
Olir average upon the broadcasted field of five 
acres, was 27-i bushels. So far, therefore, as 
may be judged by this one experiment, there is 
little to be said iu favor of the cultivation of 
wheat. It may be that other varieties or other 
land would produce better yields. It may he 
that if the wheat were planted closer together, 
a larger yield might result. 
Yellow Missouri, Silver Chaff and Swamp 
Wheats. 
These were sent to us by Gen. Le Due, pur 
Commissioner of Agriculture, to be tried. The 
first is a new variety of wheat which origina¬ 
ted iu Gasconade County, Missouri, in 1875 
“by crossing the Blue Stem with the Mediter¬ 
ranean.” It was badly winter-killed. Ripens 
with Clawson. There is au average of three 
spikclets in Ihe length of one and one-sixteenth 
inch ami au average of seven ranks ol spike- 
lets. Generally there are two grains in a 
spiltelet. Small kernel. Beardless. It was 
sown in drills 12 inches apart oa one-third of 
au acre. Yield. 141) pounds, or about 20 bushels 
to the acre. (See cut.) 
Silver Cjiafe was introduced, we thiuk. 
about three years ago by Mr. Rennie of 
Toronto, Canada, and has since been offered 
by several of our own seedsmen. It origi¬ 
nated in York County, Province of Ontario. 
It is said to withstand the severest frosts 
and to be "not liable to disease or rust.” 
The culms, leaves and ears are of a very 
light, silvery-green color, so that it could 
be detected among our several varieties as 
far as it could he distinctly seen. It is not 
bearded. There Is an average of three spikclets 
iu the length of l J inch, and an average of eight 
spikclets to an ear. The epikoleta have throe 
grains oftoner than two. The kernels are loug 
and plump, uud of an amber color. The yield 
is at the rate of 1(5 pounds or about 10 bushels 
per acre. VYe are much pleased with this 
wheat, nevertheless, and shall cultivate it 
more extensively in the future. It was sown 
in drills six inches apart. 
8wami\ —This was grown in Scioto County, 
Ohio, and is said to make flour of au excellent 
quality. The heads are bearded, the beards, 
or awns, being rather longer than the ruehis 
The ears are very short, the kernel reddish, 
long and narrow. It is the earliest wheat we 
have ever cultivated. Yield at the rate of 123 
pounds or It'd bushels to the acre. (See cut.) 
A VISIT TO THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
C. C. GEORGESON. 
To readers of the Rural New-Yorker the 
Rural Grounds have become so familiar a 
term as to lie almost a household word. The 
frequent reports that appear in the Rural, 
under the heading af "Notes from the Rural 
Grounds,” are too valuable and given too dis¬ 
interestedly not to merit the readers’ appreeia- 
" TELEPHONE,” AS SHOWN BY CARTER, ENGLAND, 
tion, arid a wish to please them is my excuse 
for offering this brief description of the place. 
Several visits to this lovely and hospitable spot 
have created a desire on my part to give this 
sketch, and at last, though reluctantly, It has 
been granted a place in the Rural. 
The Rural Grounds is the name given to the 
home of the Editor-in-chief of the Rural New- 
Yorker. He named it thus because, putting 
heart and sonl into the work in which he is 
engaged, he intends not only to make the 
place his home, but to devote it, as well as his 
time and talents, to the interests of the read¬ 
ers. The place is located in Bergen county, 
New Jersey, about 17 miles from New York. 
From the Metropolis it can best be reached by 
■way of the N. Y. aud N. J. R. R. Alighting at 
River Edge, a station on the Hackensack river, 
aud following for about a mile a road running 
almost direfuly west, scaling in its course a 
range of lofty hills, the visitor finds himself in 
Spring Valley, the pleasant aud favored uook 
of the earth in which the Rural Grounds are 
situated. The valley runs north aud south, is 
about half a mile wide, aud is bordered on 
each side by a high range of hills. The lay of 
the laud is undulating, the soil rich and well 
suited to farming and horticulture. 
The whole extent of the Rural Grounds is 
but a fraction over two acres, though the 
manner in which the place is laid out aud the 
variety of interesting objects it contains cause 
it to appear much larger. The place has the 
general form of a trapezoid, one side of which 
abuts on the road rnuning through the valley 
iu a northerly and southerly direction. Aloug 
the same road are several handsome dwellings, 
belonging to well-to-do farmers and city busi¬ 
ness-men. the latter preferring, like the pro¬ 
prietor of the Rural Grounds, to live in the 
country. Here, iu a retired position, about 
120 feet from the road, stands the neat aud 
spacious dwelling-house. It is built in cottage 
style, aud, though plain, its large bay windows 
aud the conservatory on the front side give it 
an elegant appearance. 
To conduct the readers inside and give them 
a glimpse of the admirable lady of the house, 
would be a violation of sacred hospitality, and 
for this reasou I must refrain ; but I feel as¬ 
sured that they would be .delighted to hear 
more of one with whose pen they are already 
well acquainted, and whose influence is felt 
through almost every number of the Rural. 
The house is new, having been built seven 
years ago, wheu the place came into the pos¬ 
session of the present owner. The site it now 
occupies was originally the lowest spot on the 
grounds, but it has been filled so as now to be 
the highest portion of the lawn. 
The. conservatory forms a part of the house. 
It is small, but as it is not tbe proprietor’s ob¬ 
ject to keep a large stock of show plants on 
band, but rather 10 test new varieties of 
stove aud greenhouse plauts, it affords quite 
euough space for this purpose, aud, small as it 
is, it eoutains au interesting aud highly varied 
collection of novelties. 
The Lawn. 
The passers-by often stop, half involuntarily, 
to survey the beautiful Iuwd ; for It Is a strong 
contrast with the neglected "yards” that are 
commonly seen surrounding country homes. 
These very primitive lawns too often consist 
of a weedy grass plot over which are scattered 
a few evergreens, with a straight path leading 
to the front door, and without any other pre¬ 
tense to floriculture than a Peony or au Aquile- 
gia here and there struggling to reach above 
the tall grass. 
The Rural Grounds furnish au excellent 
model for small places. The graceful walks 
meander about the house and through portions 
of the lawn where they at once add variety to 
the scenery, aud admit of reaching points of 
interest most conveniently. The shrubbery is 
so grouped that there me eoustant variations 
in the view:—now one stauds before a group 
of flowering bushes, while a few steps to either 
side open a view over a little plain of grass or 
bring a captivating flower-bed in sight. On 
small places where landscaping, in the proper 
6ense of the word, canuot be attempted, such 
variations must be provided by art. if all is 
beheld at a glance, the scene soou becomes trite 
aud loses in interest. Here every tree and 
plant bear evidence of individual attention, 
aud all tell plainly that to direct and watch 
their growth is a pet employment of the pro¬ 
prietor. With the exception of a few Oaks and 
two or three Willows, the trees are all small; 
and, owing to the large number of uoveltles 
that every fall and spring are sent by nursery¬ 
men from all over the country, to be tested, 
the grounds are as full as good taste can well 
permit. The proprietor informed me that to 
try all that were sent him, ho waa yearly 
obliged to dig up aud give away many valu¬ 
able specimens that were already established, 
iu order to give place to the new-comers and 
enable him to report upon their value through 
the Rural. These reports, with which the 
readers are well acquainted, are valuable not 
only because they are given impartially by one 
who has no interest iu Ihe introduction of the 
articles, but also, because, owing to the situa¬ 
tion, in a valley, the place is subjected to early 
aud late frosts aud exposed to the severity of 
the winter weather. This circumstance ren¬ 
ders the reports more reliable, as anything 
that has here been tested and prououuced 
hardy, is sure to prove hardy in latitudes much 
farther north. 
The variety id lawu trees is very great and 
not more than one-fourth of them is found in 
common cultivation elsewhere. All over the 
lawn is scattered beauty in profusion. Here 
stands a purple-leaved nazel, making a 
pleasing contrast with a Golden Spirsea. 
There is a small group of the choicest low 
evergreens, such as Golden Arbor-vitae, 
Retinospora, Cupressus aud many others. 
Here stands a solitary Purple Beech and there 
a graceful vine hangs luxuriantly over an old 
Cedar trunk. Several varieties of the very 
MISSOURI. SWAMP WHEAT. 
handsome Japan Maples are on the grounds. 
These little trees cannot be praised too much 
for a small place. They are hardy, and the 
graceful, cut foliage, which may be found in 
all shades from dark purple to light yellow, 
makes an agreeable contrast with the prevail¬ 
ing green of the lawn. There ftre uumerous 
varieties of Beech, Birch, Elm and Oak up¬ 
on which I caunot dwell. Fine specimens 
may be found of Magnolia Lenuci, corduta, 
auricttlata, Solaugiana, macrophylla, hypo- 
leuca and ot several other varieties. The col¬ 
lection of evergreeua is large and varied. A 
handsome specimen of Abies Siberica has a 
prominent position near the entrance. It is 
singular that this superior conifer is not more 
generally planted than is tbe case. If I were 
a prophet I would venture the prediction 
that this tree will not only receive more at¬ 
tention in the future, but that iu time it will 
supersede even the Norway Spruce for gener¬ 
al lawn planting. Abies Engelmanni, A. Gre- 
goriaua, A. Aleoqniana, the curious dwarf 
variety A. Canadensis macrophylla are met 
with on the grouuds besides Pines and Arbor- 
vita 1 ! in great variety. Near the north-east 
corner of the dwelling house is 
The tloekery. 
built of rough stones in the form of a semi¬ 
circle and half inclosing a summer-house. Here 
many choice stone plants are grown, while the 
summer-house is covered with a thick blan¬ 
ket of foliage from no less than ten species 
of vines among which the Dutchman's Pipe— 
—Aristuloehia Sipho—Clematis and Virginia 
Creeper are conspicuous. Some handsome 
Willows, Liquidambars and numerous other 
trees deserve to he mentioned, blit the space 
already occupied warns me to hasten on to 
The Lake, 
and the experiment garden beyond it. A beau¬ 
tiful stream of water, mostly from natural 
springs, originally ran through the grounds, 
aud having fall enough to admit of being 
dammed up and collected in a considerable 
body, this basiu was formed with much labor 
aud expense. Its outline is very irregular, 
and ou both sides the grass sod ruus clear to the 
water's edge. A rustic bridge thrown over it 
ut the north end, leads to the barn, poultry 
yard aud experiment garden, while at the south 
end is a dam some 70 feet long. The clear 
water teems with a multitude of perch, catfish, 
and pickerel, and around the edges are in some 
