becomes infested. The winter spores are found 
in the interior of the dry leaves and hibernate 
within those of the ground. In Summer they 
again get on to the young leaves by the agency 
of animals, wind and rain. 
(To be continued.) 
earliness. It gave us the finest early berries 
last year. The plant is fairly vigorous— 
flower perfect.. 
The Rural was the first journal to praise 
the Cumberland Triumph Strawberry. The 
fruit is always shapely and of fine quality, 
though it is not of the firmest. 
The Henderson is unquestionably of fine 
quality and goodly size. As to its productive¬ 
ness and vigor, we must try it another year 
before a just report can be made... 
The Jewell is the most productive straw¬ 
berry ever raised at the Rural Grounds. The 
plants are vigorous. The quality of the berry 
is fair. Flowers pistillate. All should try the 
Jewell. We shall make an early report of its 
behavior next season....... 
The Breeders’ Gazette truly says that many 
a man who is wide-awake to the necessity of a 
reaper in the harvest field, is fast asleep to the 
importance of improved stock in the stable: 
yet one is no more important than the other.. 
March, 125; April, 102; May, 152; June, 162. 
I have several times weighed their eggs, and 
find them average 29 ounces for 12, so that 
these seven hens have produced in six months 
122 pounds of meat, equal to 17>£ pounds for 
each hen.” This rather large hen story we find 
in the Scottish Agricultural Gazette. As will 
be seen, each hen laid an average of over 9 7-12 
dozen eggs in six months, or 115 eggs in 181 
days, and by weight they produced more than 
four times their own live weight iu very rich 
food. Who will say that hens do not pay? What 
other stock can make as good a showing? 
Results of Starvation.— The National 
Live Stock Journal speaks of the hereditary 
results of starvation. The health and vigor 
of all animals depend upon regularity and 
sufficiency of the supply of nourishment. 
This fact is time even of wild breeds, and it 
becomes 0101*6 and more apparent as animals 
are improved. An improved animal is the 
product of special care and is trained to re¬ 
guard against the ill effects of sudden freezing 
and thawing. 
From the above cause, probably more in¬ 
jury is done to plants during late February, 
March, and even April than during any other 
part of the cold season... 
Most of the catalogues thus far received 
announce Welcome Oats. As already stated, 
it has been ascertained that there are several 
names for this oat. Perhaps Welcome is as 
good as any. It is certainly one of the best 
varieties in cultivation. 
John Thorpe says, in the Floral Cabinet, 
that the Fall of 1886 will see chrysanthemum 
exhibitions far surpassing any ever held. We 
do not doubt it. He mentions that one horti¬ 
cultural society alone will offer $500 in one 
premium for 25 plants; *50for 100 cut blooms, 
and others in the same proportion. 
The Wine and Fruit Grower says that some 
may consider it a foolish proceeding to keep 
on testing novelties; but we take lots of com¬ 
fort and pleasure in this land of 'foolishness. 
If we like to dance we are willing to pay the 
fiddler,... .......... . 
Mr. J. T. Lovett says of the Golden Queen 
that it is head and shoulders above all other 
yellow* raspberries. He dees not think it is 
the best market berry, or ns a market berry 
superior to all red varieties. “It cannot fail 
to win the affections of the amateur,” he says. 
Mr. Lovett also asserts that the Early 
Harvest Blackberry is hardier than the Kit- 
tatinny. Don't mistake the Brunton for the 
Early Harvest. 
Prof, Brown, an English author, in his 
work on -'Animal Life.” says that the ten¬ 
dency of animal life in domestication is, in his 
opinion, “the survival of the unfirtest.” He 
looks upon an animal as “a tub with a hole in 
the bottom," which must be filled by pouring 
into it quickly, because the more quickly you 
pour in the less the waste. 
To make both ends meet: Eat beef tongue 
and drink ox-tail soup. 
Rose-comb Leghorns may be preferred to 
Single-comb Leghorns, for the reason that the 
rose comb does not freeze so easily. 
The Poultry Keeper saysuthat the Pekin 
duck is the largest in size ancTflso most easily 
kept within an 111 closure, lait the Aylesburys 
are the better layers on an average. The 
Rouens are the most beautiful and attractive, 
while the common puddle duck is the hardi¬ 
est, The Muscovey is a large breed; its rank 
flavor of flesh has been an obstacle to its 
popularity. 
The Orchard and Garden, after detailing 
many of the merits claimed for the Earhart 
Everbearing blackcap, concludes thus: “We 
cannot relate all the other good points claimed 
for this ‘wonderful’ berry, as they are draw¬ 
ing almost too heavily on our credulity.”. 
Counterfeiters should be sent to the peni¬ 
tentiary. It makes no difference in their 
guilt whether they counterfeit bank notes or 
butler, says the Orange County Farmer. 
The N. Y. Times says that if the owner of a 
100-acre farm worth $20,000, were to sell his 
property for cash he could not possibly invest 
his money nearly so well as it was in the farm, 
for the interest at five per cent, on the capital 
would not begin to provide him with house, 
provisions, comforts and luxuries which he 
enjoyed on the farm, but never took any ac¬ 
count of in his bookkeeping. 
“Will the butter of the future be the pro¬ 
duct of the cow or the hog?” asks the Phila¬ 
delphia Press. The hog is rooting his way 
ahead. Nothing will help him more than poor 
cows, poorly fed, poorly milked and the but¬ 
ter poorly made. Bad butter, though genu¬ 
ine, is the best aid the butterine man cau hope 
to have. Unless the cow is sustained by the 
best dairy methods, she will be left in the 
race......... 
The Press says that “Mr. Cay wood can’t 
understand why people are not allowed to buy 
fruit for its beautiful appearance on the table 
alone. They buy flowers with no tasre at all. 
Why decry beautiful fruit because its flavor is 
not the best?” Mr. Cay wood may have refer¬ 
ence to the Lawson (Comet) Pear, or possibly 
to the Kieffer. We would humbly answer 
that it is lietterto buy flowers for their beauty 
and fruits for their quality, since the one is 
not fit to eat while the other gives us the most 
delicious and healthful of foods. But Mr. Cay- 
wood overlooks the fact that the most delicious 
fruits are, as a rule, the most beautiful. 
It seems to be the general opinion that the 
hogs, the poor cows and the slovenly fanners 
are doing their best to aid oleomargarine. The 
hogs have come to stay, but the rest of the 
allies must “go.”. 
Bro. Gardner, of the Lime-Kiln Club, 
thinks little of men who try to be ruled by 
mottoes. He knew a man once who had “Time 
is money” posted in every room. He always 
put in bis corn 10 days too early, and bad to 
Let us Use our Feed-stuffs at Home.— 
Some time since, Mr. Moretou Frewou sent 
from the Far West to England some steers as 
they come from the ranges, for the purpose of 
having them fattened by the farmers of Great 
Britain. Bell’s Messenger, in noticing their 
arrival, says that it is surprising that we 
Americans do not see that it must pay us 
better to expend $22.84 (the cost of transporta¬ 
tion from the Plains to Liverpool) for the 
transportation of a *100 steer, than upon one 
worth only $60. It is preposterous not to feed 
the animal on mixed meal and hay on the 
spot w'here those foods are grown, in prefer¬ 
ence to sending the half-fatted animals to 
Great Britain to be there fattened on the self¬ 
same food also sent over and greatly raised in 
cost by the transit. There is so much truth 
and common sense in these remarks, that every 
American farmer should commit them to 
memory and ponder on them well. Not only 
are full-grown, but half-fattened animals sent 
forward, thus taking in the bone and muscle 
the largest proportion of the expensive phos¬ 
phates and nitrates to the gross weight, but 
we are sending abroad, at a price scarcely 
above the cost of transportation, thousands of 
ship-loads of feeding stuffs rich in the very 
elements of plant growth for which our fields 
are languishing. The sooner we realize the 
full truth of these facts and heed them, the 
better for our future. 
Absorptive Power of Milk.— Dr. Dougall 
of Glasgow, Scotland, has been trying some 
experiments to determine the absorptive power 
of milk, which he details in the Scottish Agri¬ 
cultural Gazette. He inclosed in jars a portion 
of milk, and in different jars but not in con¬ 
nection with the milk, different substances 
giviug off flavors. At the end of eight hours a 
portion of the milk was carefully drawn from 
near the bottom of each jar, by means of a pip¬ 
ette so as not to disturb any other part of the 
milk. In every one. of 15 trials, the milk had 
absorbed the flavor to such an extent that it 
had penetrated the very lowest stratum. This 
shows the great importance of having all 
places in which milk is kept perfectly free 
from any bad odor oven though very faint. 
The Manurial Value of Food a Matter 
Worth Considering. —Sir John B. Lawes 
has given a table of the value of the manure 
made by the consumption of different foods. 
As determined by chemical investigation at 
Rothamsted. the maximum values of dung 
yielded from the consumption of different 
foods are shown in the following table in the 
figures opposite: 
HUBBARDTON PIPPIN. From Nature 
quire that care. To starve such an animal 
does not lower it to the condition of wild ani¬ 
mals, but puts it beneath their level. Its con¬ 
stitution is an artificial product, and by 
starvation we lose all that enables us to con¬ 
trol the form and quality of the animal. De¬ 
generacy sets in and only death or infertil¬ 
ity can prevent the “improved” breed from 
rearing a race of weeds below the scrub in 
form and vigor. Every man who procures 
an improved animal assumes a duty. 
The same paper thinks that * ‘salt and pepper” 
is a better term than “marbled” in speaking of 
the best beef. There should be not only 
streaks of fat and lean, but the two should be 
blended in every part.„. 
The good and enterprising John Thorpe 
speaks of the Progressive Chrysanthemum as 
the plant that extends the floral season for a 
month into late Autumn and early Winter. 
He mentions its other merits, as cheapness, 
simple culture, bright colors, hardiness, an 
ability to thrive in a variety of conditions, 
and its gay appearance when gardens are 
bare.,. 
Josiah Hoopf.s expresses the opinion in the 
N; Y. Tribune, that the longer he lives, the 
more he is convinced that very little, if any, 
The Poor Editor!— Mr. C. A. Green has 
the following to say of the editor who is 
heartily interested in his work: “Of all hard¬ 
working men, none labor so hard as a success¬ 
ful editor. During every working hour his 
burden bangs heavily; in the still hours of 
Mamirlal residue from 
one ton o t 
Total money value 
of fresh manure. 
Decorticated cotton cake 
Rape cake. 
Linseed cake........ 
Malt sprouts. 
Meadow hay 
Pea straw... 
Bean straw.. 
Oat straw.... 
Wheat straw 
Barley straw 
Wo have only included the feeding stuffs 
commonly iu use iu this country. Dr. Lawes 
estimates that of these values one-half is ap¬ 
propriated by the first crop, one-third of the 
remainder the succeeding year, and so on, each 
succeeding crop appropriating one-third of 
what remains in the soil from the proceeding 
year. While these figures are, of course, too 
high for this country, they are. no doubt, 
comparatively correct. That is, they give the 
comparative value of the manure made from 
a ton of the several foods therein named. 
Egg-laying Properties ok Minorca*.— 
Mr. J. Physicksays: “On January 1st, 1885, I 
placed seven Minorca hens that were hatched 
iu May, 1884, with a stag on a grass run, with 
the intention of knowing what quantity aud 
weight of eggs they would produce iu 12 
months. They remained there until the end 
April, when, for want of room for chickens, I 
placed them, without the stag, ou a flat roof, 
over a small store. Dimensions of flat roof, 
including roosting house, 20x9 feet. Eggs 
taken as follows: January, 69; February, 108; 
The same. Cross Section 
night his harness is uot removed, but hangs 
like a nightmare upon him. There is no hour 
when his paper is dismissed from his mind. 
He reads to gather items for his journal. He 
travels to gather information. He talks with 
people that he may fill his pages. He has no 
vacation, no rest until the daisies blossom 
over his grave.” 
harm isTdone to trees or plants by priming in 
midwinter. 
Wijat is the reason that people go on plant¬ 
ing the same old trees and shrubs, when there 
are others that are far better—handsomer, 
hardier, longer-lived?..... 
Mr. Lowell sent the following stanza to 
Dr. Asa Gray on the occasion of his 75th birth¬ 
day: 
"Just rate prolong hi* life well spent. 
Whose Indefatigable hours 
Have been ns gatly tnnoeent 
And fragrant aa his flowers." 
The Congregatioualist says thut a “duck of 
a mau” usually makes a “goose of a husband.” 
It seems that it cannot be too often repeated 
that we do uot mulch for the purpose of keep¬ 
ing plants or their roots team, but merely to 
MULTUM IN PARVO, 
The Shai*pless Strawberry will continue 
among the most valuable varieties for size of 
berry and vigor of plant. In these two re¬ 
spects we do not know of its equal. 
We like the Parry for the large size and 
symmetry of its berry; for its quality and 
