«THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Vermont, Williamsville, Windham Co., 
Sept. 23.—On May 101 turned over some green¬ 
sward that had been in grass ten years, spread 
and harrowed in a light dressing of green 
manure from the barn cellar. On May 13 1 put 
horse manure that had been worked over by 
hogs, in the hill for Early Vermont and 
Beauty of Hebron potatoes and Blount’s While 
Prolific corn. My Beauty of Ilebron weighed 
2| oz. It was cut into 13 pieces—there being 
13 eyes—and planted in 13 hills. The vines 
came up quickly and commenced cracking the 
ground to make room for tubers in the hill 
two weekB earlier than Early Verm on ts. 
They yield more, and are as nice-looking as 
I have seen this year. On Sept. 16 1 dug them 
and got 31 5-16 pounds. One potato weighed 
one pound two ounces, and several were a 
poumLeach. I planted 70 bills of corn, two 
kernels in a hill; in seven days 140 stalks ap¬ 
peared above ground, all looking thrifty. 
Some of the stalks stand 13 feet high to¬ 
day. I took one stalk 12 feet four inches, 
and two others with more fully developed cars 
and a sample of Beauty of Hebron potato to 
the Windham Co. Fair, and received a pre¬ 
mium of 50c. on each. On Sept. 4 I counted 
281 ears silked, and on Sept. 16, 363. 1 think 
some of it must be full in the milk, but the 
season will be too short to perfect the whole 
of it. 
We had a slight frost on Sunday morning— 
the first this fall. It nipped vines but not corn 
leaves. 
Definance Wheat rusted badly by July 1st, 
consequently the heads are but poorly filled. 
The Lost Nation Wheat is the variety in favor 
here now. I shall try Defiance on a different 
soil. Pearl Millet came up, but soon turned 
pale and died—some frosty mornings, proba¬ 
bly, the cause. Planted the second time, a 
few came up, but to-day they stand not more 
than three feet high, a total failure. s. m, 
Conn., Poquonock Bridge, New London Co., 
Sept. 17.—Our Beauty of Hebron is just splen¬ 
did. Planted side by side with the Early Rose 
and Early Vermont, with precisely the same 
treatment, the Beauty far excels both the 
others in every respect. m. w. 
New York, Upper Red Hook, Dutchess Co., 
Sept. 12.—In this section, as far as rain is con¬ 
cerned, this has been an exceedingly favorable 
season for farmers. With the exception of a 
slight drought during the latter part of April, 
the ground has been kept almost continually 
moist with numerous and copious showers, 
and vegetation of all kinds has made a line 
growth. Corn looks well; there is a large 
show of stalks, and it is eared accordingly. 
Many farmers are busy cutting it.. Potatoes 
gave a fair yield, but the wire-worm has in¬ 
jured them to a slight extent. Rye and oats 
are hardly loaded as well as last year. Sow¬ 
ing is about completed. Fruit of all kinds we 
have had in abundance, pears being especially 
plentiful. Of apples there is a large yield for 
an odd year, many orchards giving almost a 
full crop. Most of those from this locality will 
be shipped to England, and speculators are 
active. The Rural has done a noble work in 
distributing snch valuable seeds, and is enti¬ 
tled to the thanks of the whole country. The 
Beauty of Hebron potato is a grand success. 
I dug mine lately, and everybody was aston¬ 
ished at the yield. From a little potato, 
weighing not over three ounces, 1 have grown 
21J pounds of splendid tubers. Five of them 
weighed over a pound, the «two largest, one 
pound and three ounces each. One of them 
measured 16} by 8} inches (outside measure); 
no small ones among them. The seed potato 
was ent into 11 pieces, all single eyes. 1 mado 
ten hills of them. All came up, but one, I be¬ 
lieve, was destroyed; another grew in the 
shade and diu not do as well as the otbeis. 
They were planted m rich garden soil, of 
rather a moist character, which has been well 
manured for three or four years. I hoed them 
but twice, and kept the weed; away. For the 
purpose of comparison, I dug niue hills of 
Early Rose which grew alongside and received 
precisely the same treatment, except that 
whole potatoes were planted; they weighed 
but 12} pounds: this is quite a difference. I 
did not notice much difference in the time of 
ripening, though the Beauty was planted a few 
days later than (he Rose. A correct uarue 
has been applied to them; they are really 
beauties; the large, handsome and symmetrical 
tubers were a pleasure to behold, aud every 
one will be saved and planted next spriug. 
w. s. t. 
N. Y., Canaserga, Albany Co., Kept. 18—My 
Blount's corn was planted May 12. It grew 
unusually tall and has from four to seven ears 
to the stalk, but 1 fear it will not ripen here. 
Although the Pearl Millet seems to have been a 
failure at the Rural Farm, it is a success with 1 
me, 150 miles to the north of that place. It is i 
How in full head and nearly ripe. The Beauty < 
,of Hebron potatoes are indeed beauties. Several 
weigh a pound apiece, and I raised 50 pounds 
from the single specimen sent me. The orna¬ 
mental beets are not large, but the. foliage is 
beautiful. The Bronze lettuce raised alongside 
the Hansen, is fully as good. I have bushels of 
Acme tomatoes from the. seed sent me, and they 
have a uniform size and ripen perfectly about 
the stem. 1 have quite a large number of Holly¬ 
hocks, Hibiscus, Weigela6 aud Callicarpas 
growing finely. 3. e. m. 
N. Y., Coxsackie, Greene Co., Sept. 15.— 
From the Voorhis watermelon seed I gathered 
two melons on Friday last, and had one of 
them for dinner on Sunday. I think it was 
the sweetest melon I ever ate. It weighed 24J 
pounds. The other weighs nearly the same. 
I have saved all the seeds. My tallest stalk of 
Blount’s corn is 14 feet high; and the greatest 
number of cars on a stalk is six. I had 45 
pounds of Beauty ot Hebron lubers from my 
own seed : potato, and from Ihe two which a 
couple of Rural subscribers in town gave me. 
J. II. L, 
N. Y,, Fulton, Orange Co., Sept. 22.—The 
two 6mall Beauty of Hebron potatoes sent me 
I cut into 12 pieces with one eye in each piece, 
and planted one in each of a dozen hills. From 
these 1 dug oue heaping bushel of fine, good- 
sized tubers which are far ahead of Early Rose 
or Early Vermont in the same field. Half a 
peck of them took the first premium at our 
local agricultural lair whiclj has just ended 
financially successful and to the satisfaction of 
all our farmers. Pearl Millet was a failure. 
Crops are first-rate except apples which are 
poor. v. w. o. 
N. Y., Sharon Center, Schoharie Co., Sept. 
15.—From two ounces of Beauty of Hebron 
potato, containing nine eyes, I have dug 17} 
pounds of fine tubers. The Acme and Golden 
Rural tomatoes are both fine; but the Acme 
ripened 10 days earlier than its comrade. I 
don’t know where to get a more perfect to¬ 
mato. Defiance wheat is shriveled up. I won’t 
say a word yet about Blount's phenomenon. 
Tailby’s Cucumber is good; but Green Prolific 
is far ahead of it in productiveness. s. l 
N. Y., Potter’s Hollow, Albany Co., Sept. 
17.—Last spring I got a barrel of the Beauty of 
Hebron potatoes from au advertiser in the 
Rural, and divided them among my neighbors, 
all of whom make good reports of them. One 
to whom I gave three potatoes, has raised 50 
pounds from them, another had a bushel from 
eight hills. 1 think this will prove a valuable 
variety, one that will take the place of the 
Early Rose, which is failing hereabouts. The 
Acme lomatoce were fine. a. p. 
N. Y., Bridgeport, Madison Co., Sept. 22.— 
I planted the Beauty of Hebron potato about 
the first of May. It weighed about one ounce. 
I had ten hills, with a single eye in each. I 
dug them on Sept. 6 and got 36 pounds of as 
fine tubers as I oversaw all large, no small 
ones. My Blount corn is a curiosity; but not 
a profitable one in (bis locality, although it is 
from 11 to 12 feet high with from four to nine 
ears to a stalk. s. f. s. 
N, Y., Bethlehem, Albany Co., Sept. 12.—My 
Beauty of Hebron potatoes were dug yesterday 
aud yielded about a peek of the uiecst tubers I 
ever saw. 1 have had such success with those 
of the last*RuRAL seeds that 1 tried, that f shall 
plaut all of the next seed distribution. 
J. V an A. 
N. Y., Orient, Suffolk Co., Sept. 21.—The 
farmers are busy digging potatoes. My Beauty 
of Hebron potatoes are of fine appearance and 
the best I ever ate. I shall plant them next 
spring in preference to the Early Rose. 
s. L. T. 
N. Y.,Honeoye Falls, Monroe Co., Sept. 14.— 
Thu Beauty of Hebron potato yielded 41 pounds 
by weight. Corn is 11 or 12 feet high and still 
going up. m. r. p. 
Micu., Mayville, Tuscola Co., Sept. ^.—De¬ 
fiance wheat was with me a signal failure. Jt 
shrank very badly aud was generally worth¬ 
less. ’Twits sown on light sandy soil—a piece 
not particularly favorable for wheat. The 
Beauty of Hebron sprouted very tardily, the 
sprouts were thin and spindling, and 1 was 
greatly disappointed, but as the season ad¬ 
vanced, it grew better and stood the drought 
first-rate. The yield from a fractiou less than 
two ounces of seed was seven pounds four oun¬ 
ces, or about sixty-fold. Bloiiut’s corn started 
well and grew vigorously on light, sandy loam 
well fertilized. It stood the drought well aud 
is now vigorous and hardy and just in the 
milk. Jt is probably too late for this climate. 
I count as many as four stalks from one ker¬ 
nel, with from three to five cars to a stalk. It 
would iudecd be prolific, if warm weather 
lasted a month or two longer. The Pearl 
Millet was a failure with me. The beets and 
lettuce did well. The Acme tomato was 
splendid—the ng plug ultra of the early lux¬ 
uries. w. L. 
Mica., psseo, Hillsdale Co., Sept. 15.—The 
Rlogups eor» stands 12 feet high, with from 
two to eight ears on a stalk. On one stalk 
there are roots 20 inches from tbe ground. 
Our crops here have been beautiful, l have 
some Minnesota Amber sugar cane that makes 
the best kind of sirup, and if this is allowed to 
stand six months, it will turn to soft sugar 
without drainiug. The sirup is of an amber 
hue and far better than any molasses I ever 
ate, Commissioner Le Due sent the seed here, 
aud quite a large number of people are testing 
it. C. E. T. 
Wrs., Louisville, Dunn Co., Sept. 12.—Pearl 
Millet was a failure. From nine eyes of the 
Beauty of Ilebron, I raised 22 pounds of nice 
tubers, so I think I can claim the palm on that 
seore. Tall as our Blount's corn is, a flood in 
the fore part, of July nearly drowned it to 
death, so that I “step down and out" from 
among the competitors for corn premiums. 
Our crops here arc nothing to brag of. Wheat 
yields only from five to ten bushels per acre; 
oats, about 30 bushels. Corn is out of the way 
of frost. It is nearly all hard, but dry weather 
has made the ears small. Potatoes are a good 
crop. Prices are : corn, 30c. per bushel; oats, 
15c.; potatoes, 15c.; wheat, 70c. for No. 1. 
Jlelp has been scarce this summer so that 
wages have been about 816 per month for the 
season. The outlook for farmers is rather 
gloomy, still large numbers of them arc sowing 
Odessa wheat. v. m. s. 
Wis-, East Troy, Walworth Co., Sept. 18,— 
We have had no good rains in two months; 
the pastures are dried up. and we are feeding 
sowed corn. Winter wheat yielded from 20 to 
50 bushels per acre; spriug wheat, from 8 to 
20 bushels, and oats from 30 to 60. Potatoes 
are a fair crop, and corn a heavy one. n. a. t. 
Minn., Riceford, Houston Co., Sept. 16.—We 
have been gettiug plenty of rain this month, 
but it has been almost too late to help any 
growing crop. It has been a great help to the 
plowing, however. Our crops were rather poor 
and thin, but what we did raise was of the best 
quality. Our Beauty of Hebron potato yielded 
well, we got 23 potatoes from the one, with no 
extra care. Corn is nearly all cut; the yield is 
good. Fruit is a fair crop. Wild fruits are in 
abundance. s. s. s. 
Mo., Springfield, Greene Co., Sept. 14.—We 
haveliad an unusually hot, dry season ; but our 
crops, as a rule, are very good. Fruits of all 
kinds, however, wore failuree; but we had a 
few grapes and are getting a few apples, but 
not half enough for home consumption. 
E. A. W. 
Va., Nokcsville, Prince William Co., Sept. 
18.—Our wheat crop is less than half the usual 
yield. Corn has been hurt by drought; the late 
sort may make a fair crop, however. Peaches 
are .too plentiful for profit. Pearl Millet I raised 
last' year and this. 1 think a great ileal of it. 
The Beauty of Hebron did well for the season ; 
we haven’t eaten any as we want all the tubers 
for seed. We have a live grange here. I think 
that a stranger coming to this section could 
tell its boundaries by the superiority of the im¬ 
provements within its limits. n. c. 
La., Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Sept. 13.— 
The oat crop is good in this section. No wheat 
is grown here. Cotton is good and the weather 
fine for gathering it. Blount's corn turned out 
satisfactorily. The Beauty of Hebron rotted 
in the ground—it arrived here too late. 
s. w. s 
Texas, Salado, Bell Co., Sept. 8.—The 
drought still hangs over us, shutting out all 
prospect of rain soon. The thermometer 
moves steadily from 24° to 26° every night and 
day. Most of our farmers estimate that it will 
take from 8 to 10 acres to yield a bale of cot¬ 
ton ; tbe usual yield in good seasons is an 
average of half a hale per acre hereabouts. 
Corn is being gathered ; not only is it short, but 
of poor quality. Fruit is nearly an entire failure. 
Many are collecting their cattle and driving 
them north and west to hunt for water as well 
as grass. The fine springs at this place arc yet 
flush ; hut H is distressing to see people come 
from eight or ten miles with barrels for all the 
water for use at home. The Rural, alw ays 
welcome, has been a blessing to me this year. 
e. o. M. 
Texas, McKinney, Collins Co., Sept. 13.— 
Wheal sowing is now in full sweep, although 
the weather and grouud arc still dry. Stock 
water is scarce, the rainfall this season having 
been only 3} iuches. For cotton picking the 
weather has been fine ; the yield will be about 
half a crop ; but prices are much better than 
last season. Our section is blessed with good 
heal i h. w. n. w. 
Canada, Oxford Center, Ont.. Sept. 13. — 
Fall wheat is good; it will yield about 30 bush¬ 
els per acre. Spriug wheat is very poor; it will 
not be an average crop. Oats are very heavy. 
There is a fair prospect of a good crop of po¬ 
tatoes. Apples will be scarce this season. Pears 
are au exceedingly good crop; they are now 
selling at from 5Qe. to 75c. per bushel. The 
weather lias been exceedingly dry through the 
last of August and the first part of September, 
making the ground very dry for fall seeding. 
A large area of fall wheat will be sowed this 
season. y. r . 
Canada, Newry Station, Perth Co., Ont., 
Sept. 16.—All the Rural seeds I planted, did 
well. The tomatoes were the finest ever grown 
in these parts, and ripened earlier than any 
others. The yellow ones were especially ex¬ 
cellent. the flavor being very fine and the skins 
thin. 1 am saving the seeds of both kinds. 
The Pearl Millet is a failure so far north- It 
grew pretty well, but au early frost, has cut it 
down. The wheat rusted badly, but grew well 
and had fine ears—it deserves another trial. 
®|)c (^urrist. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Inquiries nlimit Fodder Plants, <Stc. 
M. M. 8., Iheber. Cal, asks, 1, w hat kind of 
roots has Guinea Grass, and whether it would 
he likely to catch on tule slough for hog feed; 
2, what, kind of root has the English Gore 
Vetch and whether it is good for hogs; 3, 
what kind of grain is Egyptian corn and what 
are its merits as a crop; 4, Our friend got a 
quantity of Feeds from Arthur Taylor Watson, 
of Mo., who advertised what he called West 
India Green Valley Grass. It was to produce 
from 3,000 to 3,000 bushels of seeds per acre. 
Of the two dollars’ worth our correspondent 
received not a single seed ever sprouted, aud 
a desire is expressed to learn whether the 
thing was equally a fraud elsewhere. A small 
packet of the seed is forw arded to us for name. 
5, Our opinion is asked about eye-cups for im¬ 
proving the eye sight of short-sighted persons. 
Ans, — 1. Perhaps Sorghnra halepense is 
meant. This grows like com and should be 
treated in every way the same. If you were 
to send us the flowers or seed heads we could 
speak more intelligently. 3, Vetches are not 
raised for their roots, but for the stems, leaves, 
tendrils aud pods. All domestic animals are 
fond of them, butthey are chiefly used as forage 
for cattle and sheep, especially for the latter. 
Analysis shows that in nutritive properties they 
are equal to clover. The stems are from one 
to two feet, and the pods as rnauy inches long. 
The latter contain from 10 to 13 globular seeds, 
which are a favorite food of pigeous aud poul¬ 
try. 3. There are several varieties of what is 
called Egyptian corn, such as China corn and 
Brown and White Egyptian; but they arc all 
of the species producing a drooping panicle; 
hence it has been named Sorghum cernuum. 
The seeds are about the size of small apple 
seeds, Borne white, some brown. The white 
seeds make a fine flour for paueakes, etc. 
These plants are said to produce large crops of 
grain—300 bushels or more to the acre. It may 
be, hut we cannot believe it. As for fodder, 
none but Sorghum halepense is worth cultiva¬ 
ting. The others rarely sucker. They throw 
up one tall, heavy stock, like corn, about eight 
feet in hight. But Sorghum halepense will 
produce an average of eight stalks to a seed. 
The stems are small, the leaves large. This 
grows to the bight of about ten feet aud will 
bear cutting once. We have the several soi ls 
growing at both thoFAHw and Rural Grounds 
and shall speak more fully of them in a few 
weeks. 4. This “Green Valley Grass" is Sor¬ 
ghum halepense mentioned above. The seeds 
you send are not those of this plaut. 5. We are 
not willing to say that the eye-cup is alto¬ 
gether a worthless invention. We remember 
that they were advertised some twenty years 
ago. We have never heard of a ease in which 
they improved the sight.permanently. Iu many 
cases, nscdjcauliously, they effect a temporary 
improvement, but in several eases within our 
knowledge, this improvement has been fol¬ 
lowed by a relapse to a worse condition than 
before their use. 
Leached and Fnlenchcd Ashes. 
IF. M. K., Washington, I). G\, asks what is 
the worth of soap-boilers’ leached ashes as 
compared with the unleached article. 
Ans —The most valuable fertilizing ingredi¬ 
ent in wood ashes is the potash they contain. 
In the process of leuehiug a large part of this 
potash is abstracted; but a good deal still 
remains. Now, unleaehed ashes are dry and 
loose, while the leached sort, are much more 
compact, so that a bu6hel of the former con¬ 
tains considerably less ashes than one of the 
latter. Accordingly, in spite of the withdrawal 
of a good deal of the potash from the ashes in 
leaching, a bushel of the leached ashes often 
contains a& much, or nearly as much, potash as 
one of the uuleaehcd kind, owing to the great¬ 
er compactness of the article. The poorer the 
leaching, of course, the richer the ashes in 
potash. Moreover, other fertilizing ingredi¬ 
ents of the ashes, especially the phosphates, 
are but little affected by the leaehiug and are 
therefore proportionately increased iu tlm 
leached ashes. By measure, therefore, there 
is often but little difference for fertilizing pur¬ 
poses between a lightly compressed bushel of 
unleached ashes, and a bushel of the poorly 
leached sort; but if taken by weight, the un¬ 
leached ashes are nearly as valuable again as 
the leached kiud. 
Show Points of Plymouth Rocks, **ie., etc. 
E. 1L, Brookfield, l J a., asks 1, what are the 
exhibition points of Plymouth Rock fowls • 
