722 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOV. g 
(Stagtojjm. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Conn., West HaveD, New Haven Co., Oct. 
24.—We have had a favorable season for the 
growth of vegetation and all kinds have im¬ 
proved it. There have been frequent rains all 
through till within a few weeks, with very 
good haying weather in its season. There are 
some drawbacks, however. Potatoes have de¬ 
cayed badly, except those planted verj’ early 
and on dry ground. Then about the middle 
of August we had heavy winds, which blew 
the corn down, breaking off many stalks and 
damaging all more or less. Of the White Pro¬ 
lific I planted 128 kernels in 61 hills, 3£ feet 
each way; 134 stalks came up, most of which 
grew vigorously to the hight of 12 feet aud 
more. The stalks arc larger and the corn of a 
later kind thau I like. Perhaps I shall bo 
happily disappointed when it is husked and 
shelled. The Hebron potatoes grew well, bat 
shared the fate of other kinds; I have about 
20 sound ones left. The Acme tomatoes are 
very nice, but did not ripen quite as early as 
the Trophy, Pearl Millet, planted May 30, 
grew very slowly at first. It was only two 
feet high when 6wect corn, sowed at the same 
time, was five feet. Afterwards it grew 
rapidly. Hal it becu cut at three feet, it 
would probably have been ready to cut again. 
Defiance wheat is much shriveled. But few 
came up. I shall try the little I have again. 
The flower 6ceds did not germinate well, ex¬ 
cept the Hollyhock ; perhaps partly from our 
own fault. l. a. b. 
N. Y., Croton, Delaware Co., Oct. 25.—The 
season just past has boon a very productive 
one in this locality, with perhaps the excep¬ 
tion that the fall product of butter will be 
very light, owing to a scarcity of fail feed 
caused by the severe drought of the latter 
part of the summer and fall. Very little rain 
has fallen hereabouts since haying, and con¬ 
sequently water is very low. October, un¬ 
til a few days past, has been uncommonly 
warm, there being two or three days, the 
second week of the month, when the ther¬ 
mometer stood ut about 85 deg. in the shade, 
but yesterday and to-day have been cold 
enough to remind us forcibly of the approach 
of winter, and the ground is covered with 
snow. A large proportion of the butter iu 
this immediate vicinity has beeu sold at prices 
ranging from 15to20cts; but within the past 
week prices have advanced to about 25c. aud I 
bear of some refusing an oiler of 20 cts. and 
even more for their entire dairies. We farmers 
begin to assume a more cheerful expression of 
countenance than for a year or two past, and 
feel that brighter times are in store for us. 
E. J B. 
New York, Corning, Steuben Co., Oct 25.— 
I am very much pleased with the product from 
the Beauty of Hebron potato received from 
the Rural. The one I plauted weighed only 
about two ounces, aud it produced ju*i 16 
pounds. Now, if any one can show a better 
yield, let us hear from him. I have not had 
any cooked, as I wish to save them all for 
seed. As to Pearl Millet, I think it is a failure 
in this locality, judgiug from my own aud my 
neighbors' crops. I planted a plot iu the cen¬ 
ter of my corn field, which was well manured 
and cultivated, and it did not produce as much 
fodder, to a bill, as the corn. However, 1 shall 
give it another trial next year. Buckwheat, is 
only about half a crop, owing to the drought, 
which has been quite severe. Many wells are 
dry. Corn is generally quite good, though not 
as good as it would have been if it had uot 
been so dry; and pumkins are quite small. 
Potatoes are not as good a crop as was antici¬ 
pated, hence it would seem that the price 
should be higher. f. h. d. 
Pa., Derry Church, Dan. Co., Oct. 23.—The 
weather has been very dry again for the last 
six weeks, so that the fly has made its appear¬ 
ance iu the wheat. Corn turned out to be a 
better crop than was expected, especially that 
which was late plauted, as it had the benefit 
of a rain just as it was setting ears. But alas 
for my Blount corn ! About three weeks ago, 
one night two half-starved, vicious cows— 
which, by the way, are the pests of the -w hole 
neighborhood—got into the patch and broke 
and trampled it down so that out of a hun¬ 
dred and nineteen, there were only eight plants 
left standing that did not bear any marks of 
the beasts’ teeth. The day before I had been 
through it, and counted, with not a little 
pride, 119 line growing plants, with few suck- 
ered ones, and from two to seven ears on a 
stalk, which 1 had raised out of 137 seeds sent 
me. When I received the seed I looked over 
it and laid asido soveu seeds which I thought 
were worthless. I planted them, nevertheless, 
and four of them came up, bnt three of those 
I considered good did not sprout, so I had in all 
120 Hue growing plants until about four weeks 
after they were up when one of the plants 
died, so I had 119 left. I must say I had some 
thoughts of taking a prize, as mo6t pf It had 
ripened finely before frost came. Well, 
through my misfortune there is one competi¬ 
tor less. I still have a few fine ears left, which 
I shall carefully preserve for seed next year. 
From all I could learn of it, I think it is a very 
healthy and hardy grower, and one of the 
most, if not the most, prolific sort I ever grew. 
Wheat has been rising in price—it is now 
$1.30; corn, 55c., aud oats, 32e. per bushel. 
Butter Is worth 12c. per lb.; eggs, 16c. per 
doz., and potatoes, 55c. per bushel. 
E. E. B. S. 
Central Pennsylvania., Oct. 23.—The wea¬ 
ther has been remarkably hot and dry since 
we had one snap of frost, Sept. 26. Wheat, 
turnips, unwatered strawberry beds, etc., are 
at a forced standstill, and fruit is ripening on 
the trees and rotting in cellars most alarm¬ 
ingly. The crop was very good and the sam¬ 
ples handsome. The favorable side is that all 
trees and shrubs have ripened their wood un¬ 
usually well. The forest leaves colored in the 
first week of October, and are falling fast so 
dry that fires have been prevailing for two 
weeks aud the air is now thick with smoke. 
w. 
Mien., Bradley, Allegan Co., Oct., 19.— 
Farming prospects are brightening greatly. 
Corn, wheat, potatoes, onions, hogs, milk, but¬ 
ter etc,, are all coming out much better than I 
expected, and sell at good prices. Onions cost 
me 50c. per bushel, I am now eelliug them at 
75e. per bushel. Potatoes cost me 28c. per 
bushel, the price now is 35c, but I have not sold 
my crop yet. Everything is correspondingly 
on the mend. h. f. b. 
Ohio, Conncaut, Ashtabula Co., Oct, 22.— 
My Beauty of Hebron had eight eyes, which 
I planted in as many hills, on May 10, in sandy 
loam soil without manure of any kind. I dug 
them Sept. 30 and got 45 good-sized tubers, 
which I consider a good yield for the past 
season winch was very dry here. Pearl Millet 
I planted about the middle of May. It all 
grew up rapidly and headed out, some of it 
three times. A part of it that I left to ripen 
stands from five to seven feet high aDd is ripe 
at this date. I have been a subscriber to the 
Rural for 30 years, and it has always been 
a good paper, but now it fills the farmer’s 
bill much better thau ever before. Defiance 
wheat did first-rate. Blount’s Prolific I 
planted, May 15, ou a sandy loam in six rows 
30 feet long. I manured it once soon after it 
came up with hen manure, cultivated it the 
same as field corn aud the result has been 221 
ears of lar ge size, sound and ripe. Some stalks 
had as many as live or six cars, while others 
had none. The tomatoes did splendidly in 
productiveness and flavor. I think they are 
hard to beat. p. j. b. 
Ohio, Garrettsville, Portage Co., Oct. 20.— 
My Blount corn was planted too late, so that it 
did not have a fair show ; but it did well for 
the chance it had, growing from 12 to 14 feet 
high aud setting from two to five ears to a 
stalk. My Beauty of Hebron had 10 eyes; one 
eye was plauted in each of 10 hills which 
yielded a peck of nice potatoes in look and 
shape like the Early Rose, color white, quality, 
first-rate. The Acme tomato was the best I 
have ever raised—a valuable variety. The 
lettuce was spleudid and very prolific. Pota¬ 
toes in this section are reported as rotting 
badly—price 35@30c. per bushel. This year 
the Rural saved me $40 in my potato crop. 
r. b. c. 
Illinois, Kankakee, Oet. 24.— I planted, May 
12,123 grains of the Blount corn. From these 101 
stalks came up. Five of these were destroyed 
after they appeared ; the rest grew rapidly till 
they silked out, when there were from three to 
seven silks to a stalk. But the weather after 
this was rather dry, and the result Is, 14 stalks 
had no ears and none of the others had more 
thau three ears to a stalk. So my name can 
be dropped from the list of competitors for 
premiums. The Beauty of llebrou potato is 
good. I had a fair yield, but the quality is not 
so good as that of the Snowflake. j. m, 
Wis., Lavalle, Sauk Co,, Oet. 23.—We had 
quite warm weather from Sept. 27 to Oet. 19, 
when we had another frost and it is cooler 
now. A large breaiih of wheat has been sown 
aud 6ome of it is quite heavy on the ground. 
Wheat is selling for $1.05 to $1.16 per bushel; 
potatoes are a good crop; price, 25c to 30c; 
corn is late. w. s. h. 
Iowa, Red Oak. Montgomery Co., Oet. 22.—- 
We are having a most delightful fall. No frost 
that has touched the tomato vines in any gar¬ 
den, has yet visited us. We are haviug nice 
lettuce from second crop. I am highly pleased 
with the Acme tomato and the Beauty of He¬ 
bron potato, Voorhis watermelon aud Pearl 
Millet, from each of which we have saved seed 
for next year. Bloiml'B White Prolific has 
secured very little favor from me. u. L. tv. 
Kansas, Hutchinson, Reno Co., Oct. 22.— 
The season has beeu quite dry in this region, 
and sill) more severe farther west of this. Oar 
crops have been much shortened as a result of 
the drought. Much of the wheat failed entirely 
from this cause and owing to a severe hail¬ 
storm on the 30th of April, Oats are short, 
much of the crop having failed entirely. Corn 
did well and gave promise of an unusually 
large yield till about the filling time, when it 
yielded to the influence of the drought aud 
was seriously shortened. Stock of all kinds 
has done exceedingly well. On account of the 
low prices that prevailed last winter, farmers 
became discouraged in the bog business, and 
the number of these in this county is, I think, 
far less than last year. There is a growing 
disposition among farmers to turn their atten¬ 
tion mainly to cattle and sheep. The demand 
for young cattle is so great here that probably 
not more than one-tenth of it can be met 
without going out of the county to find a sup¬ 
ply. We have as yet very few sheep in tills 
county; bnt what arc here are giving such ex¬ 
cellent satisfaction that T think before many 
years sheep husbandry will bo among our lead¬ 
ing industries. The fine climate and abundance 
and excellence of grasses for botli bay and 
grazing, make this a very desirable locality for 
the sheep raiser. A large amount of prairie 
bay is being shipped west to Colorado aud New 
Mexico from this place. The highest price 
paid here is three dollars per ton, and it brings 
at various points west from $40 to $120 per 
ton. Dealers aud shippers make the profits. 
Our county is filling up rapidly, but still there 
is room for thousands more. l. j. t. 
Neb., Purple Cane, Dodge Co.—Some twenty 
odd years ago a party of young men left 
Omaha on a hunt to the westward. They 
were in high glee and bent upon a good time. 
One of the number In his rollicking humor 
averred that for fun ho would shoot the firstln- 
dianhe saw. Upon the second or third day out, 
they came upon a small party of Indians mostly 
women, as at first appeared. The young man, 
true to his threat, drew his rifle upon a squaw 
and killed her. The report roused from the 
tall grass near a sluggish stream a number of 
Indian braves, who surrounded the young men, 
and upon learning who the guilty party was 
and the cause of the wanton act, seized the 
perpetrator, and while they compelled the rest 
of the party to look on, absolutely flayed him 
alive, stripped off bis raw hide, and then al¬ 
lowed the rest to pass on. This gave the name 
of Rawhide to a water-course which starting 
from Schell Creek in Colfax Co., runs In a 
S. E. course till it meets the Elkborn River in 
Dodge Co. It is about 30 miles long from bead 
to mouth, but is so extremely tortuous as to 
become at least 40 miles in length Anally. In 
the spring of tLe year it is impassable for man 
or beast, but in the fail dries up; and in win¬ 
ter watery spots freeze solid to the bottom, 
when teams, cattle and people cross anywhere. 
When a person stands on the bluffs and looks 
dowu upon it, it looks as if aBtringof “hooks 
and eyes” had been sketched out through tlio 
level prairie. Here is the home of the mos¬ 
quito, and as a wet season produces them in 
most astonishing abundance, I have often 
wondered what they lived upon, as I do not 
believe there is in all Nebraska, among all the 
men, women, children and animals one feed 
of blood for each mosquito. Can any Rural 
reader tell how they exist? 8. r. m. 
California, El Dorado, El Dorado Co., 
Oct., 20.—Defiance wheat did very well, con¬ 
sidering that the birds gave it no peace. I 
saved five and half pounds of it which I shall 
test agaiu next spring. Blount’s corn was the 
admiration of all who saw it. It was from 12 
to 14 feet high, with from three to seven ears 
to the stalk. I took two hillB, containing 
three stalks aud fifteen ears, to the county fair, 
and they took the first premium and would 
have taken the flrst premium at the State fair. 
Lad it been there. My premium will pay for 
another year’s subscription for the Rural. 
This is one of the finest fruit-growing counties 
in tlic State. Considerable attention is also 
paid to dairying and sheep raising j. a. 
Kentucky, Bowling Green, Oct. 13.—The 
Blount corn came up splendidly and looked 
finer than anything I ever saw. It was planted 
iu drills 18 incheB apart; towb 3J feet wide, 
manured with w ell rotted manure. I ihiuk I 
had a pretty good chance for ono of the pre¬ 
miums, but some breathy cattle broke in one 
night in early September and destroyed all but 
five stulke aud left only two aud three ears; ou 
those stalks, where they had from four to eight 
cars before. The Pearl Millet I don’t like at 
all; the stalks are too large, aud I don’t think it 
would mature, or at least mine has not. I saved 
only one vine from the Voorbis watermelon 
and that had only one melon pu }t, but it was 
the sweetest melon I ever ate. The Defiance 
wheat was drilled and made a little over three 
quarts of as flue grains as you eversaw. Thero 
has been a larger acreage sirwu to wheat this 
season than ever before. Ou account of the 
drought oi Juae, July and August, the corn 
will not “turn out” more than half a crop. 
Everything was cut short about half by the 
same cause. J. d. 8. 
N. C., Chapel Hill, Orange Co., Oct- 20 —The 
weather ha9 been remarkably dry. There has 
been very little rain-fall dfiringthe year—sinep 
early spring. The drought was severe, but not 
po destructive as one would have supposed. 
Occasional light or brief showers seemed to- 
have wonderful effect. The Equinox failed to 1 
bring its expected relief. The streams are very 
low. Springs and wells have held out surpris¬ 
ingly, but are failing now. Some that have 
scarcely ever been known to give out, are 
yielding to the long-continncd drought. Still 
the season has been highly favorable to cotton 
and tobacco, as to the picking and curing. 
Sowing wheat is backward, for the want of a 
fit season. Turnips are a comparative failure. 
Potatoes, a light yield. No frost here ye*. 
State Fair in full blast, with a very fine exhibi¬ 
tion expected. Plenty of horse-racing to make- 
it a success (?) “ O temporal O' mores !" m. 
N. C., Henderson, Granville Co 1 ., Oct. 21.— 
There is plenty of room for improvement here¬ 
abouts. We have been here three years, and* 
every year we Lave kept adding to our culti¬ 
vated area. This is a fine climate, and espe¬ 
cially favorable to flowers and garden vcgeta»- 
bles. r. at 
Florida, Rock Ledge, Indian River, Oct. 16. 
—We are begining to realize the fruits of our 
labor 1 Lime trees paid us last season $25 per 
tree; a neighbor's averaged $26^. At this- 
price 200 trees per acre make a nice thing. The 
Lime is quite susceptible to frosts, and cam 
only be grown successfully where freezes sel¬ 
dom obtrude. They bear the third year lrom 
the seed, aud & tree five years old will pay $15 
to 5#J5. The juice can be expressed from the 
fruit and put up in bottles and kept for months 
for “limeades ” and culinary purposes, and is 
an excellent substitute for cream-of-tartar. 
Thousands of seeds will be planted this season, 
and iu four years Limes will be one of th<y 
leading products of our River. What fine- 
sports we have, sailing our yachts upon old* 
Indian River; bathing and sporting ia her 
waters; angling for her variety of salt-water- 
fish, and hauling in 10 to 40-pound fellows p 
throwing nets and taking in 20 to 66 fine 
mullet at a throw ; spreading turtle nets and 
entangling 10 to 60-pound fellows from which 
we fry the finest steaks, and “gulch the 
green turtle soup.” And, then, too, her 
oysters! the finest that ever grew, we roast, 
fry and Btew. A. N. 
Arkansas, Greenwood, Sebastian Co., Oct. 
20. —Splendid fall weather. No signs of frost 
at present. Cotton pickers very busy. Crops 
abuudant. Corn all secured ; not an average 
crop. Prices for produce :—cotton, 8e. per 
pound; corn, 30c. per bushel; sweet potatoes, 
25c.; Irish ditto, 75c.; sorghum, 50c.; cottou 
seed, 5c.; wheat, $1; oats, 40c,; butter, 13Jc.; 
eggs, 10c. ^ beef and pork abundant and cheap. 
This conuty is fast filling up with northern, 
settlers. Land is plentiful and cheap. Ilomee 
for all who are willing to work, Best country, 
for fruit on this side of the Rocky Mountains. 
K. K. 
Canada, Brantford, Brant Go., Ont., Oct., 
21. —My Blount's corn is not yet ripe; I am 
afraid that it will require a longer season than 
we have here to mature it. The Beauty of 
Hebron potatoes arc taking a fast b-rid here-- 
about. I sent to Thorburn of New Yo?li and* 
purchased seven and a half pounds besides the- 
one the Rural Bent. I gave them no par¬ 
ticular care; yet I obtained three bushete,- 
good measure. They are spoken of very highly" 
by ail who bare cultivated them, both in re¬ 
gard to yield and quality. I think the Acme 
tomato is quite an acquisition. The meat is 
firm and of good flavor. Most of the flower 
seeds obtained of the Rural grew, and I have 
no doubt all would bad I treated them prop¬ 
erly. I have Raspberries whose second crop 
is ripe, and strawberries of a good size, with 
the vines in full bloom. We have had sev¬ 
eral weeks of some wonderfully warm 
weather, although it was very cold in Septem¬ 
ber, when we had some very heavy frosts. 
s. V. 
Canada, Pelham, Welland Co., Ont., Oct. 20.--- 
The Beauty of Hebron sent us by IheRuJtAL was* 
a small potato weighing three ounces aud con¬ 
taining 6cven eyes, yet wc have harvested from 
it no less than 20 pounds of as fine tubers us- 
one could wish to see, being a yield, as you* 
will sec, of nearly 14.000 per cent. Wer have- 
not noticed such a yield in any of your conne-- 
spondences, and being Canadians, you know* 
you will please pardon the national pride we 
feel in the matter. b. b. 
®jjf (flutist. 
ANSWER8 TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Postal Rules for Mailing Package*. 
J. G. li. K., Loveltsoille, Va., writes, “ Pleaso 
help us out of the postal muddle. We are cau¬ 
tioned not to write on or in any third-class 
mail matter. Now tell us how to get the editors 
to kuow from whom the specimens of fruit or 
plants etc., arc sent, especially the former. 
Is it allowable to write the name oi the article 
or separate articles on the parcel* or the name 
of the sender ou the package ?” 
Ans —The law declares that any package 
containing writing, otherwise than what is 
