S2 
THE BUBAL MEW’¥©BSCEB. 
until the middle of October, as I wished to 
visit the White River Valley in clear weather, 
and go up the river by boat, as from the deck 
of the steamer one can see the whole valley 
spread out on either side. This river takes its 
rise in the Cascade Mountains, in the neighbor¬ 
hood of Mount Rainier, and the water, when 
low, receives a whitish tint from running over 
chalk hills.. It is a very sinuous stream nud 
navigable for about 45 milas. The lower 
part of the river still bears its Indian name, 
Duwamish, and empties into the beautiful 
bay upon which Seattle is built, at a short dis¬ 
tance from the city. When l went up the 
river on the first of October, the water was so 
low that, wc steamed along at a snail’s pace, 
running on sand-bars and stopping at inter¬ 
vals to pull out snags or to metal the boat’s 
broken rudder, However, the weather was 
fine and the scenery charming, the soft, vary¬ 
ing foliage of the river and valley—alder, 
maple and cottonwood—being in striking con¬ 
trast to the stiff stateliness of the fir and cedar 
on the bluffs of the Sound, The banks of the 
river were heavily fringed with willow, swamp 
dog-wood, bearing numbers of white berries 
(Cornus Califoruiea), wild roses loaded with 
scat 1 let seed pods, and nodding stalks of snow¬ 
drop, which the natives called “hardhack.” 
I was impressed anew with the great beauty 
of the cottonwood, and I am not sure but that 
it is the most beautiful forest tree in the 
United States. The leaves of the vine maple 
(Acer circinnatum) were, scarlet—a red of a 
peculiar and striking brilliancy, and much of 
the foliage of the great maples (Acer macro- 
phyllum) was turning yellow. This maple, in 
habit resembles the oak in the distance, grows 
sometimes to a diameter of four to five feet, 
and a hundred l'eet high, while the leaves are 
from ten to twelve inches across. This valley 
increases in width as we ascend the river and 
is very level, the width varying from a quar¬ 
ter of a mile to three or four miles, and forms 
undoubtedly the finest farming land in the 
Puget Sound Basin. The captain of the 
steamer told me that above the head of navi¬ 
gation the up-laud is excellent, particularly 
for sheep pasturage, and that the trail to 
Mount Rainier up the White River is the best 
route for tourists. He had camped at the foot 
of the mountain, been on its glaciers and re¬ 
garded it as the most delightful camping 
ground he knew of—bears, mountain goats, 
door and other wild game abundant. The cap¬ 
tain’s wife was on board—sbe said she ofteu 
went on the river trip for a rest, as they lived 
on a range up the river. She had in her arms 
her thirteenth child—all 13 alive and well, and 
she still a young woman. She said that at 
one time half a dozen of them were sick with 
diphtheria and at another time as many were 
in lied with measles. She seemed as fond of 
number 13 as if it were her first-born, and she 
knitted stockings for her youngsters while she 
sung the buby to sleep with Methodist hymns. 
The captain was the mildest commander of a 
boat I ever met. 
The navigation was exceedingly perplexing, 
but there was no display of profanity or im¬ 
patience. Orders to the men were given with¬ 
out repetition and iu a quiet tone. When a meal 
was ready, the boat was tied up and all hands 
ate. The boat was tied up at night as well, 
so that we were nearly SO hours reaching the 
head of navigation. The railroad that con¬ 
nects Seattle and Tacoma follows this river in 
a general way. The first settlers in this valley 
went u]i the river in canoes. There is a good 
wagon road on each side of the stream leading to 
the Sound, which is a delightful drive. It is a 
great hop-growing region and we met many 
canoes full of Indians aud their camping out¬ 
fits leaving the scene of their hop picking—the 
season being over, although some fields were 
unpicked, the low price of hops not justifying 
the expense of harvesting the entire crop. The 
hop house-s with conical roofs and tall chimneys 
gave a peculiar architectural effect to the val¬ 
ley, while the farm houses and the farming 
were decidedly the best and the best kept I 
have seen on this coast north of California. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Arkansas. 
Beebe, White Co.—There is no better coun¬ 
try for stock raising than this; Winter mild, 
supply of good running water bountiful, and 
grasses nutritious. Yearling calves command 
from three to four dollars per head. These 
are usually bought up in the mountainous dis¬ 
tricts where such a thing as raising stock for 
the market is unknown. Another industry 
which would bring large returns to the owner, 
is the shpep industry. There is no healthier 
place for sheep, especially among the foot-hills 
Of the Boston Mountains, No feeding is re¬ 
quired during the Winter, and sheep get very 
fat during the Bummer feeding on Japan 
Clover, which thrives here well. Our markets 
for wool, mutton, aud beef cattle are as good 
as can be found in the Union, Our staple pro¬ 
ductions are cotton, corn, wheat, oats, rye, 
barley, vegetables and all the different kinds 
of fruits. Strawberry culture is an import¬ 
ant industry in our section, and many are en¬ 
gaged in it. An acre often yields $300 net re¬ 
turns. Under the Local Option Act of some 
eight years ago, our people have routed out 
every saloon in this county. g. w. w. 
Canada. 
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. — Nearly all the 
Rural Corn came up and grew well, but it was 
almost too late for the climate. Although we 
had the finest ami warmest Summer for years, 
only two or three ears ripened. Of the Strata¬ 
gem Peas, 31) came up out of .*59 seeds planted, 
and several of them failed during Summer; 
none were very vigorous. I have saved all 
that were good. Prince of Wales, about the 
same report as Stratagem. A larger portion 
of them came up, but more failed to grow, and 
both peas and pods were smaller. Johnson 
Grass failed to come up. Of Flageolet Beaus 
1 harvested about, three pints; increase, 40- 
fold; quality good, not extra. I had a very 
fin e lot of tomato plants and fruit from a sow¬ 
ing of about a quarter of seeds sent, and owing 
to the fine Summer, nearly all of them ripened. 
King Humbert was in great variety of form 
and size. From the Garden Treasures packet 
we had a large variety of flowers. h. e. 
Connecticut. 
Long Hill, Fairfield Co., Dec. 21. — The 
Rural Corn did not ripen—season too short. 
Stratagem Pea, fiuest 1 ever saw, very large, 
prolific, an<l of excellent quality. Could not 
say as much for the Prince of Wales Pea. 
Johnson Grass was a failure. Tomatoes not 
as good as Acmes, Flageolet Beaus great 
yield, early and of good quality, but rather 
small. The Garden Treasures were just splen¬ 
did. Last season was a poor One with us on ae- 
eouut of having no rain in June. u. m. b. 
Dakota. 
Aberdeen, Brown Co., Dec. 20.—The Rural 
Blush Potatoes are the finest we have seen. 
They are now selling at 40 to 50 cents a bushel. 
AV heat yielded from 15 to 25 bushels per acre. 
Price from 03 up to 74 cents. Oat yield from 
35 bushels upward. Barley from 25 to 40 bush¬ 
els. Flax from 7 to 15 bushels; price from 81 
to 05 cents. Farm hands, $1.50 to $2.00. 
E. A. 
De Voe, Faulk Co., Dee. 10.—The climate 
here is much more favorable for health than 
that of Illinois, for we have no malaria aud a 
physician would go hungry if he depended on 
his patients’ fees for his bread and butter. We 
have now been here 13 months and we have 
seen uo worse storm than we lmd seen many 
times in Illinois. Last May and June we had 
three hail-storms that destroyed our garden 
and we had some glass broken once, but we 
seemed to be on the outer side of the storms, 
for only a few miles from us a great deal of 
damage was done to the grain crops. As we 
have no wind-break yet, we feel the full force 
of the wind when it blows, and it seems some¬ 
times as though it would take our house. I 
think when, our little trees grow we shall see a 
great difference in the force i >f the wind. In 
coldest weather the thermometer goes down 
to 40 degrees below zero. It is so very still 
Lore that it does not. seem as cold as it did in 
Illinois when it was only 15 degrees below. 
We had very poor success with all the Rural 
seed as well as with those we brought with us,on 
account of insects, frosts in May and June, 
and then early iu September every green 
thing was scorched so badly by frost that, our 
sorghum, corn, buckwheat, melons, squashes 
and tomatoes were all killed. I think plants 
dwarf hero very much, for my pinks and pun- 
sies did not grow nearly as tall as in Illinois. 
The White Elephant and Blush Potatoes did 
well aud we esteem them very highly. We 
have but little min here in the Summer, at 
least so people told us when we came here; 
but last, Summer it rained more or less up to 
September 10, and, since then we have had 
no min to delay work, neither do we get snow 
enough to give us good sleighing mrs. j. t. 
Florida. 
Manatee, Manatee C'o. — No one should 
come to Florida with a view to tropical fruit 
culture. There are great risks aud uncertain¬ 
ties attending such an enterprise. During a 
residence of 20 yearn in the southern portion of 
the State, though not in the extreme south, 
I have learned that owing to the occasional 
severity of the Winters, it is folly to under- 
lake the cultivation of the lemon, lime, guava, 
pineapple, banana, eocoanut, mango, Alligator 
Pear, or any other tropical f mite, and even 
the orange, though more hardy, is frequently 
badly injured by heavy frosts u.s far south as 
the 27th parallel. The lands of the State 
have been gobbled up by a horde of hungry 
speculators, who have no use for them except as 
a winter resort. and who do not hesitate by 
every maimer ol' misrepresentation to delude 
settlers. I am a Northern man aud all my 
interests are here and I want to see the State 
settled up with good people; but knowing as 1 
do from observat ion and experience the risks 
attending fruit culture, and reading the assur¬ 
ance that "‘vegetation is unhurt by cold,” that 
“ice is never seen,” and everything is green 
and flourishing the year round, and the tend¬ 
ency of such reports to mislead parties into 
making ruinous investments and great sacri¬ 
fices, I have determined to say this much to¬ 
wards an exposure of Florida land frauds. 
j. f. b. 
Idaho. 
Horse-Shoe Bend, Boise Co., Dec. 21.— The 
50 different crosses of the best kinds of corn 
were planted as soon a.s the ground was warm; 
a soil rich, sandy loam. The corn was truly a 
crossed lot:—from one to six ears to a stalk; 
stalks from six to 13 feet high. The short 
stalks matured their cal’s: the. tall ones did 
not. 1 selected the earliest short-stalk corn for 
seed. Carter’s Stratagem Pea is not early, but 
it is the most prolific 1 have ever grown. One 
pea yielded 7ii pods, with three to eight peas 
in a pod. Saved all the seed. Sorghum bala- 
pense did not head out. For a dry climate, it 
will prove good. Our dry season lasted 101 
days, and in all that time there was not rain 
enough to lay the dust. The Sorghum lmla- 
pense lived and grew all Rummer without 
artificial watering. The chickens got at it a 
few times, which prevented its heading. I 
shall try it another year. The Bicolor Tomato 
bears and grows well, and is desirable in 
every way. Tbe King Humbert Tomato is 
a good bearer, Intermediate in size, pear- 
shaped, not very good for rating, but excellent 
for preserving. The Prince of Wales Pea did 
not do as well as the Stratagem, The pods 
remained given much longer than other pens. 
The new variety of the Green Flageolet Bean 
is a persistent bearer and a great feeder. The 
season has been a poor one for beans. The 
Flageolet passed through better than many 
others. We did not, succeed well with the 
Garden Treasures. I'm sure we did not treat 
them with proper care. The Thousand-fold 
Rye yielded well. It is better than any rye I 
am acquainted with. The Diehl-Mediterran¬ 
ean Wheat attracted much attention. The 
stools are strong and capable of carrying a 
good weight in a strong wind without falling. 
I believe it will be the coming wheat for our 
locality. I planted all the new seed; it is look¬ 
ing well. a. L. u. 
Michigan. 
Courtland, Keut Co., Dec. 24.—From the 
packets of Diehl-Mediterranean Wheat I had 
13 pounds of very nice grain, very large ker¬ 
nels, very large heads. I think it will be an 
excellent kind. Of the Thousand-fold Rye. 
too, I had 30 pounds. It was very large and 
white—the best 1 have ever seen. I have sown 
both wheat and rye again. The 50 crosses of 
corn got ripe and sound. I had one bushel of 
ears of splendid corn. The peas and beans did 
very well. I have enough for seed of the 
Blush Potatoes. One hill had 52 tubers which 
weighed 9 pounds 14 ounces. The Garden 
Treasures were treasures indeed. l, r, 
Missouri. 
Watkins, Dane Co., Dec. 16. —This is an 
average county, 25 miles square. It has beeu 
organized since 1841. It has 13 post offices aud 
five churches in the county town; Greenfield, 
owned by the Methodists, Cumberland Pres¬ 
byterians, Presbyterians, Campbellites and 
Baptists. There are 75 districts, which have 
four to six months’ school each year. Our jail 
is empty about half the time. Serious crimes 
are extremely rare. Settlers are about four to 
the square mile outside of the towns. Land 
ranges all the way from $10 to $75 per acre. 
The average crop of wheat is 15 bushels. Corn, 
in a moderately good season, makes 40 to 60 
bushels per acre. Grasses all grow near by. 
D. j.m CM. 
Nebraska. 
Nkligh, Antelope Co.—Some pieces of corn, 
usually on fall plowing, have turned out very 
well—about 55 bushels—while that on spring 
plowing was 25 to 30 bushels. Quite a large 
lot of sorghum in this section was wasted, on 
account of neglect till after frost. More land 
was plowed this Fall than usual, as crops are 
heavier on full plowing. Many farmers are 
going largely into stock-raising near here. 
Potatoes are almost a failure, on account of a 
dry spell in August, and corn was light on 
account, of wet weather in September. 
a. f. 
New Jersey. 
Harbourton, Mercer Co., Dec. 21.—Late 
in the Fall of 1884 1 drilled iu half a bushel of 
Diehl-Mediterranean Wheat in half an acre of 
ground, drilling 150 pounds of Mapes’A Brand 
with it. The Winter and Spring of 1884-5 
were very unfavorable for wheat, and as my 
half bushel was sown very late, it had a hard 
time, but I got about five bushels of clean, 
nice, plump grain. The Flageolet Beanseame 
up nicely and set quite full, but the beans wine 
much smaller than the seed 1 planted, and 
white or whitish, instead of being green like 
the seed. The Rural Corn turned out mostly 
Blount’s Prolific. Present prices are as fol 
lows : wheat, $1 per bushel ; corn, 40 to 44 
cents; potatoes, 50 to (50 cents; oats, 35 cents 
| for 30 pounds; apples, 50per bushel; butter, 
30 cents ]>er pound; eggs, 55 cents, per score; 
good Timothy hay, $20 per ton; rye straw, $20 
per ton. d. j. b. 
Westfield, Union Co., Dec. 21.—The Rural 
Beans came up and grew well and were pro¬ 
lific. We ate some, and found them good, but 
not, so good as the Limas. Most, of the corn 
came up and grew well. I cut some of the 
yellow flint und early dent on September 
8th, and the other sorts as t hey ripened. All 
got ripe. The peas of both kinds grew well, 
but owing to dry weather they did not fill so 
well. I raised 90 tomato plants, some very 
fine. The Garden Treasures did not do well— 
too dry just after they were planted, c. r. w. 
New York. 
Johnson’s, Orange Co., Dec. 20.—Orange 
butter and Goshen butter used to be familiar 
names in the market reports; but these names 
have passed away and linger only in the mem- 
ory of the “oldest inhabitant.” The reason 
for this is simple—the butter makers, upon the 
advent of railroads, became milk producers 
and sent their product to New York. This 
used to be a profitable business; but. in later 
years, with the extension of railroads and the 
aid of refrigerator cars, milk is shipped great 
distances and (he market is flooded, causing 
prices to rule low nearly the ent ire year, so 
that there is little profit in t he “milk business” 
now, and producers are on the “ragged edge” 
as they see but little prospect ahead of any 
permanent improvement in prices. Owing to 
the great, scarcity of milk just now, the far- 
mere get. four cents a quart, which is an out¬ 
side figure and will be maintained but a short 
time, as this price generally brings a flood of 
milk, and prices begin to drop till two cents 
are reached, a figure discouraging to farmers 
who are badly in debt or have heavy rents to 
pay. The hay crop was very short, and mows 
looked very open in the beginning of Winter, 
but, large areas of drilled corn were planted to 
“piece out,,’ the hay crop. The corn crop was 
fair, a good deal of it extra good. The oat 
crop was light on account of dry weather. The 
wheat crop was almost a failure, having been 
winter-killed, but the fall sowing got a good 
growth and goes into winter-quarters in good 
shape. A good many farmers in this immedi¬ 
ate vicinity are also engaged in the culture of 
small fruits to quite a large extent, and find it 
profitable, as prices generally rule high in the 
local markets. We have a farmers’ club, 
known as tin- “"West town Farm arid Garden 
Club,” whose proceedings are largely printed 
by three county papers. A great deal of in¬ 
terest is manifested iu those meetings, both of 
a business and social nature. Once a year, for 
three years, there has been a strawberry re¬ 
union supper when the products of the club 
are exhibited, especially strawberries; and in 
the Fall, for two years, there has also been a 
harvest-home supper. The social part is what 
contributes so largely to its success. The busi¬ 
ness meetings are held once each month, when 
the moon is full, at the houses of different 
members, atid are largely attended. The club 
was originated by the Rev. J. B. Fisher of 
West.town, who also is the President Much 
good is already noticeable as the results of his 
efforts. M. H. c. G. 
Pennsylvania. 
Baden, Beaver Co.. Dec.22.—Wheat was a 
poor crop; corn a good one; oats ditto;potatoes 
a light, crop; apples a big one, although this 
is an “off” year for this section: hay a light 
crop. Ib ices are as follows: Wheat about 90 
cents; corn 50 cents; oats 35 cents; hay $15 to 
$20 per ton; potatoes 70 cents; apples $1 per 
barrel. Several apple buyore are picking up 
all the apples they cun get at 75 cents per 
barrel. One said he had bought over 10,000 
barrels in this country so there must be a 
sale for them somewhere, although the far¬ 
mers are (old that the apples can hardly be 
sold for any price. There is considerable ex¬ 
citement here now about natural gas. Several 
large wells and some small ones have been 
struck. About SO or 40 wells are beiug sunk, 
and a great many others are iu contemplation. 
Some of my neighbors laugh at me for pay¬ 
ing $2 jier year for u farmers' paper when one 
can be had for much less. 1 tell them that oue 
number of the Rural Nkw-Yorkkk is worth 
a wagon-load of such trash, for the one num¬ 
ber is sure to contain something useful, while 
the more of the trash a man reads the more 
lie will be misled. But such papers as the 
Rural will win at last. Farmere are getting 
more intelligent every year, and the cheap 
papers and their cheap readers will get scarcer 
as time goes on. f. w. s. 
Wattsburg, Erie Co.—The past has been a 
poor season for farmers and dairymen, as 
crops were rather light and prices low. 
This being a poor wheat, conn try, my Diehl- 
Mediterranean yielded only eighteen bushels 
per acre, I think it a very good kind, though 
it seems more inclined to rust, than some other 
sorts; it makes an excellent quality of flour. 
Spring wheat could not be got in early and is 
