■fOS THE BUBAL UEW-Y9BKEB, FEB 43 
THE LATEST A ND BRIEFEST. 
(Continued from page 105.) 
Mr. R awson, an experienced celery grower, 
estimates, in the Massachusetts Ploughman.the 
exijen.se of growing an acre of 7,000 plants at 
$250—that is about four cents per plant. 
Blight is caused by a check in the growth, and 
the remedy against the check is water. Mr. 
Rawson’s average selling price is six cents per 
bunch or root... 
Good seed and rich land for cabbages. It 
will soon lie time to sow seeds in hotbeds for 
the earliest crop—the first of March for this 
climate. Mr. J. Harris recommends the true 
Early Jersey Wakefield, Henderson’s Early 
Summer and Newark Early Flat Dutch; the 
first for earliest, the others for second early... 
Have you any Moss Roses in your garden? 
They are (piite hardy, and if there is a more 
delicately tieautiful object than a Moss Rose 
bud just before the petals unfold, we don’t 
know what it is. 
Our friends should know that the so-called 
Monthly or Everhlooming Roses are the only 
roses which bloom at intervals from June till 
frost. But they are not hardy without protec¬ 
tion when the thermometer goes to zefo. and 
sometimes perish even with the carefullest 
protection... 
If hardy roses are desired, we must select 
from the so-callod Hybr id Remontant (or Per- 
petuals), Mosses or Climbers. These, however, 
bloom but once or twice (June and Fall). 
If we can rely upon what the new catalogues 
say, the Cory Sweet Cora is the earliest in 
cultivation. It resembles the Marblehead, 
but the ears are said to. be somewhat larger.. 
The Industry Gooseberry, though a foreign 
variety, promises well. We hope to be able 
to make a report as to its behavior next sea¬ 
son If it should not mildew, it would be well 
to raise seedlings from it. 
Try the Arlington Celery. Try the hardy 
variegated grass Eulalia Japonica Zebrina. 
Try Silver-Hull Buckwheat, the Industry 
Gooseberry, the Frederick Clapp Pear, the 
Eaton Grape, the American Banner Oats, the 
All-seasons Cabbage, the Oak-leaved Lettuce, 
the Tomliannock Lettuce. King of the Garden 
Lima Bean. Send for the catalogues an¬ 
nounced in our advertising columns. 
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society 
deems the Jefferson, McLaughlin and Wash¬ 
ington Plums the best. The new Belmont 
Strawberry was alluded to as most productive 
and, in quality, from fair to good. The 
Jewell was thought to be better in quality 
than the Belmont; while in size it compares 
favorably with the Sharpless, the form is 
better and it is a good bearer. 
Pres. Wilder recommends the Washing¬ 
ton Strawberry Apple as next in value to the 
Gravenstein. The Prince of Berries is con¬ 
sidered as high-flavored as any berry, while 
the Parry and Henderson are promising. 
The American Dairyman thinks the Hol¬ 
land men lost caste by taking their cattle to 
the Fat Stock Show. The cattle received 
only second prizes though there were no com¬ 
petitors. Prize beef cows should have little 
offal and much meat. Prize dairy cows must 
have large offal. The two characteristics can 
hardly be combined. 
In filliug the ice-house go to a clean pond. 
Don’t take frozen water that contains the 
germs of disease, Bent into it by the drainage 
of stables or graveyards. We have seen both 
used. It is by no means proved that water 
is purified by freezing. Dr. Edsou states, in 
the Analyst, that typhoid fever germs can re. 
tain their vitality at a temperature of 20 de¬ 
grees below zero. The taking of a disease 
through a glass of ice water is by no means 
impossible. Avoid all stagnant pools either 
as solids or liquids. 
Many people appear to think that air can 
not pass through ordinary wood and stone. 
This is a mistake. We have seen air blown 
from the lungs through wood, brick, stone 
and leather so strongly as to cause a flame to 
flicker. Rubber is almost the only substance, 
from which wearing apparel is ordinarily 
made that is entirely impervious to air. A 
man incased in an under-suit of rubber for 
any length of time would suffer seriously. 
Air and damp readily penetrate ordinary 
building materials. Stone allows from four 
to six cubic feet of air to pass hourly through 
every square foot of surface, while brick per¬ 
mits eight feet to pass through. A freshly 
made brick takes up from eight to JO per cent, 
of its weight of water; and a good-sized house 
will often contain in the bricks of the founda¬ 
tion walls about 1,000 gallons. 
The dairy cattle men are calling for a state¬ 
ment showing the cost of food used in fatten¬ 
ing a steer for the Fat Stock Show. Good- 
let us see if a pound of this tallow costs as 
much as a pound of “test” butter. 
In some parts of England the farmers and 
butchers are fighting each other. Last Au¬ 
tumn when fat stock of all lands were plenty, 
and butchers had their pick, they combined 
to keep down the prices of live stock while 
the price of dressed meats remained the same. 
Then the farmers began to slaughter at home, 
selling the meat cheaper than the butchers 
did. Now the butchers refuse to buy of such 
farmers. It seems probable that in many 
places, fanners will combine and do their own 
slaughtering... 
The Kansas Ag’l College recently lost a 
valued friend. The Short-horn cow Grace 
Young 5th died at the age of 15 years. She 
was bought 12 years ago for $1,080. Six of 
her offspring have been sold for $1,395. The 
college now owns a small herd of her deseend- 
ents, worth several thousand dollars. 
Tt seems likely that the word “yard” will be 
left out of the “farm manure” of the future. 
There is no reason why home fertilizer should 
be thrown into an open space to have the good¬ 
ness washed out of it. It is well worth a shed. 
Mr. Guilford Dudley, of Kansas ,fed 87 
steers on an average grain ra rion of Is \.£ pounds 
bran and 11V pounds shelled corn, They 
were fed in open lots, and made an average 
gain of 88 pounds in 30 days. One steer, very 
gentle, made a gain of 140 pounds in 30 days. 
The Live Stock Indicator rightly says that the 
nearer a fattening animal comes to being a 
pet, the greater the profit in feeding him. 
At a recent English Agricultural dinner, 
the growing of tobacco was advocated as a 
means of productive labor for English farmers. 
The Mark Lane Express thinks there is enough 
of the “weed” now in the tight little island 
without adding a lot of poor home-grown 
stuff... 
The Rev, F. 0. Morris proposes the organ¬ 
ization of what he calls a “Plumage League,” 
an association of ladies formed for the purpose 
of discouraging the barbarous and cruel fash¬ 
ion of wearing birds or their plumage as or¬ 
naments to dress. We say yes, certain!. 
SPEAKING of ranching in the future, the 
Live-Stock Indicator says that while the West 
is locked up in immense pastures, growing up 
into juugles of cactus, mesquite anil other 
growths of almost indestructible vegetation, 
there can he no material development of that 
section. Stock-raising should be placed on 
the basis that it is in Kentucky, fewer in 
number but finer in blood. Stock-raising and 
farming go hand in hand, and one should en¬ 
courage the other... 
Mr. Thomas Meehan, the Philadelphia 
botanist, concludes that the use of the spines 
in the cactus is to prevent the full force of the 
sun on the leaves. Plant lovers set out their 
treasures in Summer under “arbors'* of fish 
netting or galvanized wire, knowing by ex¬ 
perience how the moving shadows of the twine 
or wire lower the temperature.. 
There is one thing that fanners do not fully 
realize, viz., the difference between good and 
indifferent or poor help. The temptation is to 
hire any help that comes along, at a low price, 
and to trust to luck that he turns out a good 
investment. In nine times out of ten, we are 
disappointed. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Canada. 
Andover, N. B.—An exceptionally fine 
Winter, with little snow. Hay a very fine 
crop and correspondingly high-priced. Oats 
good. The R. N.-Y. Peas very early and pro¬ 
lific—a decided success. Prince of Wales pro¬ 
duced a good crop of flue large jkxIs, but not 
nearly equal to Carter’s Stratagem, which 
arc a great acquisition. Flageolet Beans a 
total failure. Rural corn all too late for this 
climate. Garden Treasures a complete success. 
w. B. H. 
East Mines, Colchester County.—The 
Blush Potato has done well with me, and 
I think it is just the potato the farmers 
want, as it will grow well with less manure 
than any other good table potato I know of, 
and I have tried all sorts in the market. It 
cannot be beat when grown in Nova Scotia 
soil as a table potato, and as to yield, I will 
give what it has done with Die. In the Spring 
of 1883 I received two small potatoes, of svhich 
I made five hills. I dug fi7 potatoes. From 
these, in 1884, I dug one barrel and a half, the 
season being the poorest I ever knew in Nova 
Scotia. These I planted on poor land with a 
light manuring in the hills, and dug 104 bush¬ 
els of good, large potatoes, many weighing from 
one to oue-and-a-lialf pound, having repeated¬ 
ly dug hills giving 12 potatoes fit for any 
market, witli no small ones. The Diehl-Medi¬ 
terranean Wheat and the rye I sowed in the Fall 
of 1884, and gathered two quarts of good, full 
wheat, and of rye three quarts. The ground 
was bare, with hard frost until the first of 
February. I gave it up as lost, but it came 
up in the Spring and did well. I have sowed 
both rye and wheat this Fall, but we have 
had no snow to lie on the ground as yet. But 
as it came out all right last 'Winter, I hopo 
for it this, aud if it does it will be the hardiest 
we have ever had. All kinds of the peas were 
good. Cleveland's is the earliest. The toma¬ 
toes were all good, hut King Humbert is the 
best for all uses. The Flageolet Beans yielded 
heavily, but are small, aud I think will not 
give any more bushels than Other sorts I have. 
The Johnson Grass did not grow. The corn 
is too late for this climate. The flower seeds 
were nice and were really admired by my 
neighbors. .1. E. F. 
Mount Royal Vale, Notre Dame de 
Grace, Prov. of Quebec. —Only two or three 
of the Marlboro Raspberries lived, and they 
did not grow a foot last year. My flowers did 
uot do well. Neither did the beans; but I 
never saw such beauties as the peas. The 
Prince of Wales Pea did well aud was good, 
but the Carter’s Stratagem Pea was splendid. 
M. E. s. 
Dakota. 
Beotia, Spink Co.— I like what the Rural 
says about Western lands. We men out here 
on the frontier may be all rascals, but let us 
believe our women are still honest and true. 
I know teu young women in this township 
who support themselves by hard work and yet 
have made improvements on their claims. 
They lived on the laud all they could. They 
appeared on their claims every four weeks, ate 
and slept there, and then went back to their 
work. When this land was taken the nearest 
town was 18 miles away. These girls worked 
in the town and made the journeys to and 
from their claims, spending every cent they 
could spare iu improvements. One that I 
know of walked 15 miles in a blinding snow 
storm that she might sleep on her claim. An¬ 
other walked from my house one mile and a 
half through the dark for the same purpose. 
It takes grit for a women of 25 to spend a 
stormy night alone in a shanty, with no neigh¬ 
bor within tw o miles, yet hundreds of our Da¬ 
kota girls have done it time aud again in the 
hope of making a home. It seems as if women 
who work so hard, ought to have their rights 
protected. Now, after all this hard work aud 
exposure, Commissioner Sparks says they shall 
not have a patent, because they have not lived 
on their claims constantly. It seems hard to- 
think that the United States Government, has 
got so low that it must turn out these noble 
women. There is no justice in such a dicision. 
Why make war on these defenceless women, 
who have worked for homes with a patience 
and devotion that will put to shame many a 
man? The honest settlers of the Northwest 
do not support such acts as this. It costs too 
much work and heart-breaking to make a 
home out here, without being obliged to do it 
all over again, when it is once done. o. H. P. 
Yorktown, Dickey Co., Juu. 25.—Here in 
far-off Dakota the Rural finds a welcome in 
an humble prairie cabin, 12x12 feet, built of 
boards, covered with tar paper. We burn 
twisted hay for fuel, and often live in houses 
built of sods. The reading of the “Rural” 
passes many an hour pleasantly and profitably 
these cold winter evenings. Mercury 12 to 30 
degrees below zero. Dakota is a new field of 
labor, a new country, a rich, productive soil. 
Thousands upon thousands of hard-working 
men, poor in purse, have come hither to seek 
a home. With energy and perseverance, in 
the coui’se of a few years their object, will lie 
attained. Very many of the settlers had no 
experience in farming, consequently the crops 
of Dakota have been wheat in the north aud 
coni in the south, these grains finding a cash 
market—and cash has been the needful thiug 
to keep soul and body together in the settler; 
but the past year the farming has been more 
of a mixed character, aud with excellent re¬ 
mits. Flax was raised to a great extent. 
Millet yields largely; so docs barley; while 
many have paid attention to the raising of 
stock. The Blue. Bunch and Buffalo Grasses 
are eagerly sought after by horses, cattle and 
sheep. Even when the thermometer indicates 
below zero, stock prefer feeding at the stack 
to being iu stables. Thus the settlers are grad¬ 
ually working into a general mixed fanning. 
Barley is dest ined to he a prominent crop in 
the near future owing to its superior qualities 
as feed for stock. The home production of 
this cereal will largely increase the raising of 
stock. LENOX. 
Illinois. 
Champaign, Champaign Co.—The Rural 
seeds germinated pretty w'ell, and did well ex¬ 
cept the corn aud Sorghum halapensc; I never 
saw auy of the latter after 1 sowed it, aud 
only about one-tliird of the corn came up, and 
that only had four or five little flinty ears on 
it. Wheat was a light crop, but of good qual _ 
ity; very little wheat sown last Fall on ac¬ 
count of grasshoppers; it looks tolerable yet. 
Oats were only a moderate crop; the average 
was about 30 bushels to the acre; generally of 
good quality. Corn averaged about 40 bush¬ 
els to the acre, of good average quality. 
W. F. h. 
Kansas. 
Damorris, Morris Co., Jan. 2fi.—Diehl-Medi¬ 
terranean all winter-killed. Stratagem and 
Prince of Wales Peas good—never saw larger. 
King Humbert uot worth growing. Garden 
Treasures fine. Saved all the Flageolet Beans 
for seed. Sorghum halnpense has not put in 
an appearance yet. D. B. 
Maryland. 
St. Michael’s, Talbot Co., Jan. 29.—The 
Rural Pens did well; the tomatoes w r ere of all 
kinds. The beans did w 11; hut are not favor¬ 
ites either for snaps or soup. Sorghum bala- 
pense came up badly and tardily. The Gar¬ 
den Treasures had the season against them, 
but some did well. The com did not suit our 
soil and climate. J. c. a. 
Michigan. 
Climax, Kalamazoo Co.—The Rural toma¬ 
toes did well, but I do not consider them equal 
to the old standard varieties. The Prince of 
Wales Peas bore an enormous crop, but the 
quality was not equal to that of other varieties 
which I raised, such as American Wonder, 
Little Gem, Abundance, Bliss’s Everbearing. 
The Stratagem vines were nearly all destroyed 
by moles. The corn was all sorts—some small 
and early and some large and so late that it 
did not fully ripen. F. h. 
Olivet. Eaton Co.—The recent article 
headed “A Board of Agriculture” surprises 
me. Is it possible that the great State of 
New York is so far behind the times? We 
hear on all sides loud complaints about the 
low prices for farm products, particularly 
wheat and wool. We farmers of Michigan 
are seeking to learn the best wav of getting 
out of our troubles. We hold Farmers’ Insti¬ 
tutes with grand results. If we cannot get 
speakers from our Agricultural College, we 
use our home talent. Each year, in connec¬ 
tion with the meeting of our county agricul¬ 
tural society, we deVote a day and evening to 
this work. Last week our Opera House was 
filled to listen to such a discussion of farm 
topics. Muny able papers were presented by 
our l>e.st farmers aud their wives. Om> farm¬ 
er's wife presented an experience in butter 
makhig, which, if followed, would brush away 
all fear of competition from bogus butter. 
As necessary in profitable stock-feeding, the 
following points were brought out: Warm 
stables, exact times of feeding, quiet and gen¬ 
tleness, daily grooming, no strangers in 
stables, and variety in food. In crop grow¬ 
ing it was conceded that there must be a rota¬ 
tion, constant and free use of clover, all the 
barnyard manure possible to make, and no 
more land tbau could be thoroughly worked. 
These rules will drive the slip-shod farmer out 
of existence. Our farmers are becoming more 
and more interested in these Institutes. They 
teach the principles, and the fairs show the 
results. The farmer must study his business. 
In no place can he do it to such good advan¬ 
tage as in these meetings. l. s. 
[We eaunot commend too highly the ideas 
advanced by our correspondent. It is a shame 
that the great Empire State is not as progress¬ 
ive in this direction as are the States to which 
she has sent so many of her sous.— Eds.]. 
Ohio. 
Coe Ridge, Cuyahoga Co,—Hereford's M. 
G. Pea we liked very well. The Rural New- 
Yorker Pea is very early aud prolific. The 
tomatoes were very fine, one especially, which 
appeared like Mayflower. The corn (of 1885) 
did not ripen (all corn was'very poor here this 
season): hut few of the Stratagem Peas came 
up; I saved enough for seed, so I will lie able 
to test them another year. Prince of Wales 
Pea was good. But a few plants of Sorghum 
lialapense came up. I did uot find any toma¬ 
toes that I knew were Bicolors. King Hum¬ 
bert did not ripen well; we did not like it. A 
small plum-shaped tomato was excellent aud 
very prolific. The Flageolet Beans blighted; 
it. was too wet here for them this season. The 
Garden Treasures were given' to a neighbor 
and appreciated. There is on this place a 
cherry tree which is IV0 or 01 years old. The 
seed or young tree was brought here from 
Connecticut aud planted by my grandfather. 
The circumference is nine feet, five feet above 
the ground, and below the branches. The 
spread of the branches is 45 feet. The fruit 
appears identical with Downer’s Late, and 
until a few years was borne abundantly. The 
tree is nearly dead uow. a. m. c. 
Oregon. 
Tangent, Linn Co.—We are having the 
finest Winter we ever did see here. Full wheat 
made a Hue growth. The 'Rural seeds gave 
good satisfaction, except the Johnson Grass, 
which.did not germinate at all. a. l, b. 
