JUKE 42 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
ria. If I did she thought she would like to 
get me to give her lessons in painting. She 
went on to toll me how she had learned to color 
photographs and would like to be an artist. I 
did not think it difficult to forecast her un- 
artistic future. She had allowed decay to eat 
holes through her front teeth, and the money 
that should have plugged them with gold and 
bought a tooth brush bad gone into artificial 
flowers, cheap ostrich feathers and jetted gimp 
trimmings for her dress. There is not much 
hope for a girl who allows furbelows and 
finery to win the day over care for her teeth. 
One very striking triangular rock, of great 
hight, velvety green in color and with a clump 
of fir trees od the pointed top, goes by the 
name of Cofim Rock, because the Indians 
aforetime buried their dead upon it. A cur¬ 
ious mountain range bears the name of Saddle 
Mountains from its resemblance to a saddle, 
and the nomenclature of the river scenes is 
suggestive of the practical rather than the 
esthetic sense of the early settlers. The scen¬ 
ery was exquisitely beautiful all the way, 
with an occasional clearing, where farms lay 
in luxuriant meadow’s “level as a house floor.” 
Occasionally we passed a saw-mill, or stopped 
at a landing; but the signs of habitation on 
either the Washington or Oregon shore were 
few and far between. But we heard of fine 
farms “lying back.” 
We reached Astoria at four in the afternoon, 
aud after establishing ourselves in the Occi¬ 
dent Hotel we took a stroll about tow n. In 
the hotel where we passed the night in Olym¬ 
pia, there was a hand-grenade hung at every 
door, and a similar, but less bountiful provis¬ 
ion had been made for fire extinguishment in 
the Occident, and judging from the hotels wre 
have since been in, I judge that Pacific Coast 
inns have been generally supplied with them. 
Of course, every American youngster has 
read of John Jacob A-stor. from whom Astoria 
was named, aud of the fact of his having had 
a trading post there. I had fancied Astoria as 
being built on low, marshy ground and with 
a great sweep of level land back of it. aud was 
pleasantly surprised to find the location quite 
the reverse. Indeed so high are the hills and 
bluffs and so narrow the strips of level land 
along the shore, that the business part of the 
to’vu is built on piles over the water, which 
explains, I suppose, the reason why Astoria is 
called, on this coast, the “American Venice,” 
and it is needless to say that it resembles Ven¬ 
ice in not the smallest degree. Saw-mills and 
salmon canneries are the chief industries of 
the town, which has a population of between 
five and six thousand. 
The following day was Sunday, and we went 
out to attend church. The first church we 
came to had, hanging in the vestibule, what 
appeared to be a portrait of the pastor—which 
I thought a new “wrinkle,” and as wo were not 
favorably impressed with that sort of adver¬ 
tising, we went on and entered another, which 
proved to be Presbyterian. An old English¬ 
man preached about heroism and laid much 
stress upon the great moral heroism of the 
working classes in England during our War of 
the Rebellion. As the looms of Manchester 
and other manufacturing centers were largely 
fed by American cotton, the sufferings of the 
people were great, and still they stood solidly 
by the North in then - hatred of slave labor. 
The preacher said that part of the history 
of the war had never been written. I counted 
the poisons in attendance at this service—3S 
men and 50 women, and the number of men 
on this coast is many times greater than that 
of the women. 
After church, we climbed a high hill back 
of the town where we could see the breakers 
of the ocean as they broke on the bar of the 
river 15 miles away—for Astoria is this dis¬ 
tance from the mouth of the Columbia. After¬ 
ward, we went in search of the site of Astor’s 
old fort, and seeing an elderly woman in the 
street accompanied by a younger one, I asked 
her if she could direct us to it. “It was right 
there!” she said, pointing to the opposite side 
of the street, “just the other side of that 
house, in the same lot. Of course, when those 
grounds were fixed up and terraced, the place 
oi the. old fort was filled up. There was quite 
a hole there.” “And who owns this projwrty 
now?” I asked. “I do,” she replied, “I wasthe 
first white woman to come to Astoria, and I’ve 
lived her ever since. I came here in 1 840, aud 
Astor then had sold out to the Hudson Bay 
Company, aud that was removed, soon after. 
Where he had his trading post was a block be¬ 
low here toward the river—a street now rails 
through the identical spot. Won’t you come 
in the house if” Of course, we went in, glad of 
the opportunity to hear this pioneer talk of 
the old times. Her house was new and 
spacious, luxuriously fitted up in modern style; 
but she seemed to be quite alone in it—her 
husband dead and her children married. She 
was fashionably dressed in a gown of black 
satin; but any amount of prosperity could 
not erase from her face the imprint of hard 
work that had been her lot. 
That evening, like the previous one. was of 
great splendor and we sat long aud late on the 
pier of a huge saw mill, watching the sunset 
effect on the broad and mighty river, and the 
far away faint lines of the mountains guard¬ 
ing its mouth. Steamers came in and passed out 
over the bar, fishes darted about in the water in 
myriads, anti it was only the chill of the even¬ 
ing air that drove us from the eliamving spot. 
We went on board the steamer that evening, 
and early next morning were retracing our 
way to Portland. The day, like all the days, 
was perfect in clearness, and when we had 
reached the Willamette junction with the 
Columbia, St. Helen's, Ranier, Adams, Hood 
and Jefferson—all snow peaks—could lie seen. 
All the way up the Willamette to Portland 
I thought the scenery the prettiest I had ever 
seen—the gorgeous Autumn foliage, the beau¬ 
tiful shores of the river, the gathering mist 
with the sunshine illuminating it, indeed it 
was a delicious sight, and like the girl who 
colored photographs, and wanted to be an 
artist, I wished I could paint what I saw. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
KanMH. 
Parson, Labette Co., May 20.—After a 
couple of heavy dashes of rain in the first days 
of the month, we have had dry, hot weather, 
the temperature being from Tic 1 to 98 c in the 
shade at 5 p. M. Wheat and oats are headed, 
but are threatened with the chinch-bug. and 
possibly with drought, as grass, strawberries 
and peas are already suffering therefrom. The 
two latter have sold as low as 70 cents per 
bushel for peas, and $1.00 for strawberries. 
Prices of strawberries would have gone still 
lower if seasonable weather had prevailed. 
Coni is by far the most important of our pro¬ 
ductions, and never looked better. It is now 
from six to 36 inches high, and exceedingly 
clean and vigorous. In the whole of the 
State, it is in this condition. A friend who 
passed hence via the “Santa F£” to Pueblo, 
Colo., says: “Corn is immense in extent as far 
as wo traveled before dark, and invariably 
well cultivated and clean, with a full stand. 
Apples will fall below an average; black¬ 
berries seem to have been “winter-killed: Jan¬ 
uary had an unprecedented number of cold 
days, ranging from 10° to 20° below zero. We 
have had 25° below in former years without 
damage; but only, say. for about one day in 
the month. There is more railroad building 
going on now than at any other period. This 
is induced by low prices of railroad material 
and the willingness of farmers and citizens to 
vote bonds in aid. All these extensions and 
branches will, on completion, fall into the 
hands of the Western and Southwestern 
trunk roads, wnieh are stretching far and wide 
into the' 'unoccupied territory. ” Crops of wheat 
and oats are hardly fair. j. b. 
Hew York. 
Stockton, Chant. Co., May 31.—This has 
beeu the most forward Spring known to this 
section for many years. Crops are all in, with 
few exceptions. Grass is looking well and 
promises a good crop. The chief industry of 
this section is dairying. Many new factories 
are being started. Until this year the factor¬ 
ies made cheese; now nearly all have putin 
separators for the purpose of makiug butter. 
The latest ruling price for butter in this vic¬ 
inity was 14 cents. Prices of produce and feed 
are:—corn 45 cents; oats 40; potatoes 50; meal 
per cwt., 00; bran, 80; provender corn and 
oats, $1; flour from $1.25 to $1.45 per sack. 
8. M. v, 
Texas. 
Clyde, Callahan Co.—The weather has been 
so dry crops are almost all rained—no ram for 
three months, and the ground hasn’t been 
thoroughly wet for 12 months. Wheat and 
oats won’t amount to anytliing—they’re dead. 
Corn looks very well, but isn’t growing much. 
G. W. D. 
Midland, Midland Co., May 25.—We have 
not hail a good general rain since September. 
All small grains are failures. Corn and cot¬ 
ton doubtful. Some little garden truck, irri¬ 
gated from wells. Sheep are doing badly—too 
dry and too much Morrison tariff. Sheep 
can’t be sold at $1.50 per head. J. 8. C. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, 
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and ftddrivtg at the wrlirr to Insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please sec If It Is not armwered in 
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SUPPLEMENTARY FODDER CROPS. 
G. S. S., Middleburgk , Pa .—As clover and 
Timothy are short, what would be a good crop 
to sow to supplement the scanty hay crop ? 
Ans. —Where the clover or the grass are 
light in a meadow, such places, or a whole 
field may be mown and then plowed up and 
sown with millet, and the new crop will be 
ready to cut for hay in two-and-a-half mouths; 
other land can also bo used if there is time 
enough for maturity. Hungarian Grass (which 
is a smaller variety of millet than the common 
kind) will also make a good crop of hay. 
Either may be sowu broadcast at. the rate of 
ton or twelve quarts on an acre, and covered 
with a roller. A peck of seed is ample if the 
ground is in a fine condition, so that the seed 
will not be lost. A top-dressing of jine man¬ 
ure will send the crop along more rapidly and 
make a larger yield. Two hundred pounds of 
some good kind of superphosphate, sown broad¬ 
cast and harrowed in, will pay well. W ith a 
little pains and manuring on the surface in 
good land, three to four tons of excellent hay 
may he obtained from millet or Hungarian 
Grass. There is a coarser and late-growing 
millet which should not be used. Some seeds¬ 
men call this the “German,” aud the kind 
with narrower leaves and taller and smaller 
stems, the “Golden.” The latter is the bet¬ 
ter. In all eases these grasses should be cut 
before the seed matures, and wliilo the stems 
are soft and green. The crop may be cut with 
a mowing machine, and left to wilt, and t hen 
be put up in tall cocks in which form it will 
dry nicely. The cocks should not lie large but 
tall and slim, so the air can pass through. 
It would be well to let the grass lie on the 
ground till the Becond day, if the weather is 
good, turning it over before the first night, so 
that the dew will come ou the green side. If 
a little salt is strewn amongst it when moved 
away, it will keep it from heating aud do no 
harm for feeding. In no way can a farmer 
supplement his hay crop so easily as with mil¬ 
let. All large seedsmen keep the seed, which 
is cheap. Fodder corn will mature in three 
months, or less, if the weather is favorable i 
i. e. warm enough. In Pennsylvania it can 
lie put in any time in June or early in July. 
There should be time enough for it to tassel 
out bofore any frost would kill it. This crop 
should be sown in drills and not too thick, so 
that every stalk will be fully grown and a 
a natural one. When grown in this form it is 
valuable food, but when sown broadcast and 
so thick that the stallcs are mere stems without 
joints or substance, it is very poor food. The 
ground for fodder corn cannot be made too 
rich, aud it should be cultivated frequently. 
This kind of com will insure a large crop 
and a rapid growth. It should always be cut 
and put into stocks before it is touched by 
frost. When bound up in small bundles and 
about a dozen are got up in a stook, and a 
large band put around the top to hold them 
firmly, this fodder may be left out in the field 
till wanted, and it will keep well. The stacks 
may be bound around the top with bands of rye 
straw twisted together, or with willow twigs. 
It may be left till a dry time in the late 
Autumn and then be stored in the barn or in a 
stack, and in either case it will keep well 
and make the best of fodder for all kinds of 
stock. 
EVERSION OF THE WOMB IN A COW. 
P. W. S., Marksboro , N. J .—My six-year- 
old cow, a short time before calving, shows 
symptoms of falling of the womb, and a few 
hours after Bhe “comes in,” the womb comes 
out, and has to be put back aud a st itch or two 
have to be taken in the vulva; what is the 
cause and what should be done? 
ANSWERED BY F. L. KILBORNE, B. V. S. 
1 he condition being unnatural, there is, of 
course, a cause for the eversion in every case. 
But there is not in every case an apparent 
cause. It may be due to an impoverished, re¬ 
laxed condition of the system, brought about 
by insufficient, or unsuitable food; to hot, 
damp, relaxing stables, or to disease. A com¬ 
mon cause is the backward slope of the stall, 
which throws the weight of the abdominal 
viscera against the organ, forcing it backward. 
Violence, either in a natural or an assisted de¬ 
livery, or pulling at the afterbirth may cause 
the eversion. In some cases, the eversion 
occurs without any apparent cause, owing per¬ 
haps to some predisposition on the part of the 
animal. In so far as one can remove the 
causes, there iB u cure; otherwise, no. After 
the mishap has once uccurred.it is very liable to 
occur at each succeeding parturition. When¬ 
ever the eversion docs occur, carefully but 
thoroughly clean the organ with tepid water, 
in whieli may be added a few drops of carbolic 
acid or crystals of permutigauato of potash. 
Then return it to place and retain with a trass 
or by the sutures, the former being preferable; 
place the animal in a stall with the hind feet 
the higher, and feed on sloppy or laxative 
food in moderate quantities for several days. 
Unless this animal is especially valuable for 
breeding purposes, we would advise fattening 
her for the butcher. 
REFUSE ANIMAL MATTER AS A FERTILIZER. 
T. A. P., South Rend, Tnd. —I have bar¬ 
gained for a ton of fertilizer matter once a 
week for three or four months at $2 per ton. 
As nearly as I can tell, it consists of blood and 
a few bones. It smells so bad that I can 
hardly get close enough to it to tell what it is. 
The seller says it is the surplus of what he 
dries, grinds and ships East at $30 per ton. Is 
it cheap enough where barnyard manure can 
be got for 85 cents to 50 cents a cord? How 
should it be handled to keep it in proper sliapo 
until it is used ? 
Ans.— It is not safe to judge of the fertiliz¬ 
ing value, of any manure by its smell. The 
strongest and most disagreeable odor which 
comes from decaying substances, especially 
from animal matter, is sulphureted and car¬ 
bureted hydrogen, produced by the decom¬ 
position of the carbonaceous matter aud the 
sulphur. The odor uf rotten eggs is due to the 
sulphureted hydrogen given off in the de¬ 
composition. Tho odor from dc ay mg am- 
momaeal substaheos is pungent and not always 
disagreeable: the stroug smell of a horse 
stable, for instance, is caused by volatile am¬ 
monia escaping. As to this particular matter, 
no opinion can be given from the statement, 
which is exceedingly indefinite. It is quite 
probable, however, if this stuff consists of the 
coarser refuse of dead animals, that it is well 
worth $2 per ton, unless it is very wet. At 
the price named for barnyard manure, how¬ 
ever, there need be no anxiety as to other 
manures, the price being one that, any farmer 
could well afford to give, even in the fertile 
West, and he would find it sufficient for 
every' purpose. 2, The best way to manage 
decaying animal matter and to avoid the 
offensive odor, is to mix it with earth, and 
compost it; one load each of the decaying 
matter and earth would be sufficient, although 
three times the bulk of earth and a liberal 
mixture of lime is a common proportion in 
composting. There is no reason why manure 
should not lie mixed with the compost, except¬ 
ing that it is unnecessary'. 
APPLE BARRELS. 
F. C. D., Dale vide, Va. —1. What is the di¬ 
ameter of the heads and bilge set or tress hoop 
ot apple barrels? 2. What kind of timber is 
best for staves; also for heads and also hoops? 
8. What machines are used for making the 
staves ? 
Ans. —Two sizes of barrels aroused in West- 
era New York, one having a head 17 inches; 
the other oue 10}$ inches, in diameter. For 
the larger heads, “tress hoop” should be 17}$ 
inches; for the other, ITinehes inside diameter. 
The bilge hoop of the larger barrel should be 
20 inches, and that, of the other 19}$ inches in 
side diameter, to give the barrel the proper 
shape. 2. Elm is the best timber for staves; 
but. 1 leech, soft maple, birch and ash arc some¬ 
times used; in fact, almost any timber that 
does no*, warp too badly will make staves. 
Heading is made of basswood, soft maple aud 
beech. It can also be made of other kinds of 
timber. The hoops are made of ash or elm: 
but could be made of auy tough timber. 8. 
Staves are cut of the proper thickness by a 
machine, from “bolts” (blocks split about six 
inches thick and of any width the timber will 
make). The bolts are put into boxes and 
thoroughly' steamed through, and are then, 
while hot, cut into staves, and these sawed of 
the proper length and then piled in open piles 
to season, after which they are “jointed” by 
another machine which shapes tho sides, so as 
to give the desired bilge to the barrel. Many 
machines ure made for cutting staves, and all 
work with an uji-aud-dowu stroke. The heads 
are sawed by a saw running vary fast and 
cutting lengthwise of the timber, which causes 
them to cut very smooth. They are after¬ 
ward seasoned and then put into a machine 
which planes one side; after this they are 
jointed straight on the edges, and then 
“turned” by a machine of the proper size for 
the barrel. The hoops are made by hand and 
also by machinery. The hand-made are much 
the best, but cost considerably more than the 
others. 
STRAINED SHOULDER MUSCLES IN A MARI^ 
F. C. MeC ., Beech Grove, Indiana. —What 
should be tho treatment of a mare which, eight 
mouths ago, strained the inside muscles of the 
shoulder; efft*et8 never very severe, but more 
so at some times than at others? 
ANSWERED BY F. L. KILBORNE. 
Allow the animal a period of rest in a large 
box-stall or small inclosure, aud apply a mild 
blister of equal parts of strong ammonia aud 
sweet oil over the seat of the sprain. When 
the effect of the find application has passed 
off, repeat, if the animal is improving. If 
there is no improvement apply a more power¬ 
ful blister, such as two drams powdered 
eanthandes, oue ounce of lard and five to ten 
drops of stroug spirits of camphor. Cut the 
hair close and rub the blister well in against 
