Thousaud-fold Rye 121 to one. Like R. C. 
a late Rural, I too think carp pay well. La 
Summer I had in my pond one pair of carp 
three years old. From their family last Fall 
and this Spring, I have sold for stock purposes 
$44.10 worth, and still have as many more left 
in the pond. w. R. F. 
Salisbury N. C. 
New Zealand Grass is suggested for the 
South. I hope there is some man in the 
country with means, foresight and enthusiasm 
enough to act upon the suggestion. The man 
who can succeed in introducing a grass to 
take the place of the native grasses of the 
South, will be a great benefactor. I wish I 
could find Such u gross for Texas. I landed 
here nine years ago, and at once asked, “What 
grass succeeds your prairie grass?” In all 
these years I have never received a satisfac¬ 
tory answer. One of the great misfortunes of 
Texas is her lack of good grasses. J. H. 
Laurence., Texas. 
Fire-wood is the family peace-maker on 
many farms. A farmer who really desires to 
make the Summer but a long series of disputes 
with his wife and daughters, cau easily ac¬ 
complish his object by neglecting the wood 
pile. a. s. 
It is folly to plant potatoes on stiff, heavy, 
or clayey land, or on bottom land. The far¬ 
mer who has no other kind of soil should 
leave potato culture alone, and raise com on 
such land, and buy his potatoes. Potatoes 
grown on such land will be coarse and prongy, 
and have a ground taste. Three years of 
planting ou such soil will transform good, 
smooth seed beyond recognition. e. a. p. 
Chester Co., Pa. 
When my chicks come off the nest, I open 
their mouths and put one grain of black pep¬ 
per down then- throats, grease the top of the 
head well with lard and coal oil. They are 
the brightest chicks I ever saw. 1 have piles 
of broken dishes, pounded line, placed about 
my chicken yard. The hens eat of it with 
relish. It takes the place of gravel. Such 
treatment keeps off cholera. There is no cure 
for the disease when it once becomes firmly 
established in a flock. Our potatoes were 
planted in trenches on the Rural's plan. We 
did not have such a large crop, but we bad 
more and better potatoes than our neighbors. 
The ground was not wet one inch in depth for 
three months. mbs. j. e. m. 
Orange C. H., Va. 
I know of few ways in which my boys can 
be made more useful for a week in Spring than 
in pounding up the hard clumps of manure in 
the pastures. I make a lot of wooden mallets 
out of heavy wood. With a single blow from 
one of these, a hard manure dump can be scat¬ 
tered. This work pays as well as anything I 
know of in the manure line. The boys prefer 
it to spreading manure with a fork. The ex¬ 
ercise of swinging the mallet is as good as base¬ 
ball to them. On a wet day the work can be 
done as the ground is firm and the hurd 
clumps spread easily. m. d. e. 
Queens Co., N. Y. 
and medicinal properties, it is much like the 
Southernwood or “Old Man” of our gardens. 
It can hardly be called beautiful, but single 
clumps of it on the lawn are interesting, espe¬ 
cially in the far Northwest where trees and 
bushes that will live are not over-abundant in 
number. 
Iu riding a year ago over the prairies of 
North Dakota, without seeing a bush or tree 
for hours, the thought occurred that the wild 
artcmisia of the Russian steppesVould'relieve 
the monotony of expression. 
In hedge form it would prove invaluable, 
on the start, to arrest, wind sweep from walks, 
flower gardens, etc. 
In hedge form on the outer and inner bord¬ 
ers of tree windbreaks it will also prove valu¬ 
able for arresting snow. 
It will gi - ow on dry knobs of West Dakota, 
where most other ligneous plants will fail. 
Ames, Iowa. 
SPREADING TREES. 
On page 238 of the Rural, C. W. A. makes 
inquiries concerning upright pear trees. Let 
him use the arrangement shown at Fig. 230, 
and he will he well pleased with the result. 
By means of the little wooden brace shown in 
the picture, the trees can be easily changed as 
desired. These braces can be made of any 
free-splitting wood, from three-fourths to oue- 
inch-and-a-quarter wide, of the length requir¬ 
ed, and thick enough uot to bend. I have 
changed upright, thrifty-growing trees in this 
way very easily. It might uot pay on a large 
scale, but for a few trees it would be desira¬ 
ble. N. CODY. 
Tuscola Co., Mich. 
ends of the middle and the inside end of the 
outer sections are made concave. A tongue is 
used as for a wagon. The bars which hold 
the middle section are of 3>£ inch by one- 
half inch iron, and fastened to the tongue by 
three bolts. Two braces of lighter iron are 
welded at the comers, as shown in the illustra¬ 
tion, and bolted to the tongue. An iron plate, 
six inches wide, is welded to the ends of the 
bars over the ends of the middle section. To 
put the roller together, loosen the bolts on the 
tongue until the bars come Car enough apart 
to cover the ends of tbe middle section. Then 
tighten the bolts well, put tbe pieces in exact 
line, and push the rod through, and fasten it 
with the key at the end. There should be a 
washer at each end of the rod. The rod should 
be two inches thick. Keep tbe boxing well 
oiled for light draft. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS, 
THE COTTONWOOD FOR SHELTER AND 
SHADE. 
Good specimens of the cottonwood are, in¬ 
deed, beautiful; and yet there seems to be a 
sort of a prejudice against it here in the West 
—strange, too, for iu my humble opinion there 
is nothing like it. To the new settler on the 
prairies there is no tree that can take its place. 
I have known it now for 20 years, and the 
more I know it, the better I like it. If we 
were going on a new farm to-day—that is, on 
a prairie farm—the first thing I would do 
would be to plant'at least five acres of Yellow 
Cottonwoods on tbe north of the site selected 
for the buildings, or, if I were going on to a 
farm anywhere here in the West, that did not 
already possess a good grove north of the 
buildings, I should immediately take steps to 
A few years ago I had a large quantity of 
buckwheat straw. I told my man to use it 
for bedding the hogs. He said it would poison 
them and give them some skin disease; but I 
used it all the same. I mowed three or four 
loads away in the hog-pen, and then let the 
hogs iu. In the Spiing I had several loads of 
fine manure and as nice a lot of hogs as I ever 
saw. It pays to bed hogs with a load of straw 
and not expect them to live on a few straws 
laid on a hard plank. Sting}' bedding, iu this 
country, will make a stingy-looking porker 
every time. o. w. f. 
Charlotte, Vt. 
There is no sure cure for a kicking cow. I 
would never keep one unless she was extra¬ 
NOTES ON NEW ROSES, 
JAMES TAPLIN. 
I am afraid these notes’ will not be interest¬ 
ing, as they refer specially to varieties good 
for trade purposes; but yet these' are iu reality 
the best and most useful for the amateur to 
grow—that is, if he has the proper conditions 
for growing them. 
Her Majesty, the latest novelty, is sup¬ 
posed to be a hardy rose. It is a very strong 
grower, and has a very large flower; but it is 
too new for me to give an opinion on its hard¬ 
iness. Its appearance is much like that of the 
Baroness Rothschild; but we do not know yet 
whether it will flower as freely, though, of 
course, it may do so. There is no doubt that 
this is one of the largest, if not the largest, of 
roses; but we can find pceonies as large, that 
is, if size is its only recommendation, for it is 
woefully deficient in odor, 
William Francis Rennet is also a new 
variety, and when well grown, like some ex¬ 
hibited at the N. Y. Horticultural Society’s 
Show, it is a graud rose. It is good under any 
circumstances. It was complained that the 
flowers were nearly single when expanded; 
but we find that from good, strong plants, the 
flowers are full and large, and the scent is also 
fine. Unfortunately, like all the high-colored 
roses, the color soon goes; but I believe this 
will be one of tbe bast new roses. It has not 
yet been proved hardy. It may be, but 
although La France is such a splendid forcing 
rose, it does little good in tbe open ground, 
and the Bennet belongs to the same class. 
American Beauty is said to have orig¬ 
inated from seed gathered in the garden of 
Bancroft, the historian, at Newport, R. I. 
When I saw his garden, it was after a heavy 
thunder shower, and that evening the beauti¬ 
ful green grass to be seen in so few places in 
he United States, with the roses all in full 
bloom, made a lovely sight. Some growers 
think this variety will be a useful Autumn 
rose out-of-doors. At any rate, it is a fine 
grower, and also a splendid bloomer, and the 
scent is delicious. 
Merveille de Lyon appears to be better 
than Mabel Morrison; but all that class, al¬ 
though flue when well grown under glass, do 
not appear satisfactory outside. 
Sunset had, I presume, a good sale and I 
have seen some very good flowers of it from 
various growers; but, like the Perle des Jar- 
dins, from which it sprang, it does not seem 
adapted to outside planting. 
The Bride will, I believe, be the best pay¬ 
ing white rose in cultivation for in-door cul¬ 
ture : but, like its parent. Catherine Mermet, I 
presume it will be of little use outside. This 
sport originated with me, and I at once saw 
the value of it, though I did uot push its sale. 
The stock was sold to a good judge, and is 
meeting with great favor both here and in 
England. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED 
Numerous Facts About Jersey Cattle. 
—A very neat pamphlet of 30 pages, compiled 
by the official tester, under instructions from 
the Board of Directors of the A. J. J. C. It is 
intended for general distribution and can be 
obtained, we presume, from Mr. T. J. Hand, 
No. 1 Broadway, New Turk. As the pamphlet 
is designed to aid the general public in form¬ 
ing a just estimate of Jersey cattle, it would 
have been better to give the name of the 
ollicial tester, as well as to have given the 
ollice of publication iu u more prominent 
place. Members of the American Jersey 
Cattle Club do not. need to be informed as to 
these points, but the general public does. As au 
instance of the need of such information, we 
may say that we have received several letters 
of late from owners and breeders of Jersey 
cattle, asking tor the address of the A. J. C. C. 
As may be imagined, the pamphlet is given 
up to au exposition of the good qualities of 
Jersey cattle. As an argument iu favor of the 
“little butter cow,” it is a great success. We 
have never before seen so many facts aud 
statistics ooueerniug any breed of cattle 
crowded in a book of equal size. Those inter¬ 
ested in any way iu Jersey cattle should secure 
it. The superiority of the Jersey as abutter 
cow has long been admitted, and requires but 
little argument to support the claim. For 
milk duirics, Jerseys are rapidly winning a 
good reputation, both as to quality' and quan¬ 
tity of milk. We do not. think that Jcrseymen 
will add much to the standing of their cattle 
by claiming much in the way of cheese or beef 
for their cows. Figures from Prof. Brown’s 
tables are frequently quoted, but there is too 
much to be saiit on both sides as regards these 
figures to render them very authentic. We 
are told that the Herd Register of the A. J. 
good, and could give milk enough to puy for 
the extra work of handling her. The best cow 
I ever had would kick like a horse, with both 
feet. I put a ring iu the post back of her, 
large enough to hold a good-sized strap. The 
strap could be buckled round her foot, and 
then pass up through the ring. At the first 
sign of a kick, I would get up and pass the 
strap through the ring, and pull on it till her 
foot came off the ground. Then she could 
only kick against the air, for the strap held 
her foot up. She never tried but ouce to kick 
with the other foot while one foot was tied up, 
and then she lauded flat ou her side. She got 
so that tbe^strap, tied about her foot would 
keep her quiet. The foot had to be pulled up 
about once a month. The way some cows 
are treated, they would be fools if they didn’t 
kick. I can take the mildest cow in this coun¬ 
ty and tuna her into a kicker in six months. 
It looks sometimes us though a calf from a 
kicking cow would kick just like its mother. 
Too many cows have not much of anything 
but tricks to hand down to their calves. 
Orange Co., N. Y. J. a. o. 
I think the grade Perchoron comes very 
near to the ideal farm horse for this country. 
The Clydesdales are good heavy-draught 
horses, but hardly active enough for a genera 1 
purpose animal. If the Cleveland Bays are 
large enough to breed on our commou mares, 
so as to produce a grade of proper size with 
their fine action and style, they will surely lie 
the coming fanu horse, prof. s. Johnson. 
Lansing, Mich. 
The yield of the Diehl-Mediterraueau 
wheat, was, with me, 104 to one, and of the 
get one there. I wish I could impress the 
importance of this upon every dweller ou the 
prairies. If the reader hasn’t a grove he should 
make a move towards getting one next Fall or 
Spring, for in addition to its beauty, comfort, 
and pleasure, there is money in it—“big 
money,” too. Don’t set out half a dozen rows 
of trees aud call them a wind-break, for they 
are only a fi‘aud as a wind-break. At least 
four or live acres are wanted, and then the 
protection thus secured will do you aud your 
stock some good. 
Let nobody let some oily-tongued agent in¬ 
veigle him into planting Russian Mulberries; 
for they are the biggest fraud of all; but let 
the inteuding planter get Yellow Cottonwoods 
for the first four or five acres; then if he 
chooses to plant more, let him plant black 
walnuts or ash. I recommend the cottonwood 
as tbe first, only because it is so easily pro¬ 
cured and so early forms a protection, and a 
few about tbe house will soon form a grateful 
shade. The cottonwoods can be removed—or 
at least most of them—when one ha6 had time 
to grow more desirable trees. One objection 
to the cottonwood as a shade tree is the annoy¬ 
ance from Jts millions of downy-coated seeds. 
These can lie avoided by raising trees from 
cuttings, taking these from male trees which 
bear no seed. When we first- came on the 
homestead, the old settlers told us that if we 
planted cottonwood wo would soon have the 
whole farm seeded down; but this was a mis¬ 
take. The seed seldom or never germinates 
except oh sand-bars along the streams and on 
prairie that has been newly broken. 
L Evergreen Homestead. D. T. gautt. 
QUberkwliurjal 
RUSSIAN ARTEMISIA, 
PROF. J. L. BUDD. 
Plants of the above have been sent to a 
number of experimenters iu the Northwest, 
and these parties have requested me to give 
in the Rural a note on its probable uses and 
value. 
It is probably the Artemisia Tobolskianum 
of Loudon, who says of it: “This plant has 
elegant foliage, consisting of finely divided 
leaves. It is a much more vigorous-growing 
variety and larger in all its parts than the 
species (A. Abrotanum). 
It will grow to a hight of from four to five 
feet, with a spreading bushy top, in a single 
season from cuttings. Its ultimate hight does 
not exceed eight feet. In foliage, fragrance 
