times, and less to quantity it would pay them, 
at least in certain markets. wm. hewitt. 
Mercer Co., N. J. 
MANSHURY BARLEY. 
This year Manshury Barley has very mar¬ 
kedly shown Its superiority over the other 
six-rowed kinds. While they ripened prema¬ 
turely and are light in weight—some very 
seriously so—Manshury, by its strong growth 
and deep-rooting stood the burning heat and 
drought, and has ripened a fine crop. I think 
ours will go considerably over 50 bushels per 
acre for the whole crop. Besides this, the 
malsters have got over their prejudice, and 
aro offering from five to 10 cents per bushel 
more for it than for common six-rowed. One 
at Phelps, N. Y., told me the other day that 
U was by far the best barley he had ever 
handled. 
Loekport, N. Y. j. s. w. 
-*♦«- 
JAPAN CLOVER. 
Japan Clover —Lespedeza striata—is the 
plaut for the South. It is self-propagating, 
and affords valuable and inexpensive pastur¬ 
age. In 1865 we found it occupying a small 
space near the roadside surrounded by broom 
sedge. It soon displaced the sedge, gave good 
pasturage, and covered thousands of acres. 
It ran out noxious weeds and grasses, and ren¬ 
dered worthless land profitable. It appeal's to 
grow anywhere, stands drought, and even 
grows luxuriantly at an elevation of 4.000 feet 
above the sea. It requires no cultivation, and 
will not run out. Grazing does not appear to 
injure or retard its spreading. It is a peren¬ 
nial, and as a stock-fatteuer and improver of 
soil, we have never found its equal. J. av. \v. 
Macon Co.. N. C. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
Rutgers Scientific School. —This school 
enjoys the income from the U. S. grant for 
colleges. There aro 50 students in attendance; 
how many of these are studying agriculture 
AA'e are not told. The course in agriculture is 
designed to afford young men “the scientific 
knowledge necessary to success in practical 
forming.' 1 Free tuition is afforded for40 stu¬ 
dents from New Jer«ey each year. The college 
farm consists of 07 4*10 acres. Last, year 90‘ j 
acres were under cultivation, producing good 
crops. The stock consists of six horses. 47 
cows, eight hogs and 117 head of poultry'. The 
stock products were 119,487 quarts of milk, 
$08.00 worth of pork and $82.82 worth of eggs 
and poultry. Many interesting experiments 
with soils, grasses, etc., are carefully conduct¬ 
ed. Parlies desiring information regarding 
the Avorkings of the institution, should send 
for the catalogue to Prof. G. H. Cook, Ncav 
Brunswick, N. J. 
Colorado Agricultural College.— Sev¬ 
enth Annual Register.—This institution is lo¬ 
cated at Fort Collins, Colo. There were at 
the close of the last session 87 students, repre¬ 
senting seven counties of Colorado and six 
other States aud Territories. The college 
appears to be doing excellent work, and its 
influence is increasing. C. L. Ingersoil, Presi¬ 
dent, W. F. Watrous, Secretary. 
Fair Play. —Messre Lord & Thomas issue 
an attractive circular givingalist of the agri¬ 
cultural papers that, issue special fair editions. 
According to the circular nearly 4,000,000 pa¬ 
pers will be given out at. the various fairs of 
the country. The circular Avrongly states that 
the Rural’s Special Premium List will be 
distributed in part at fairs. The papers Avill 
not lie so used. They will be sent direct to the 
best farmers in America. 
Nkav York Education .— 1 Thirty -second an¬ 
nual report of the Superintendent of Instruc¬ 
tion of New York State.—This well-printed 
volume of 000 pages is sent us by Superinten¬ 
dent A. S. Draper. It should be read by ever}’ 
teacher iu New York State. In the various 
reports from schools and colleges some excel¬ 
lent hints may be secured. Teaching is a pro¬ 
fession, uud teachers should aim to master 
every detail of it. The trouble with too many 
teachers is that they never try to rise out of 
the common routine. They teach children by 
machinery that has been iu use for generations. 
We need brightness, originality and tact in 
the school-room. We would gladly have every 
teacher iu the State study this volume care¬ 
fully. The educationul system of New York 
State is a wonderful affair. The office of Su¬ 
perintendent is really one of the most impor¬ 
tant offices in t he State in its hearings upon the 
welfare of the people. We had, in 1885. 11,254 
school districts, 11,012 school houses, aud a 
total school population of 1,721,13d. The 
number of pupils attending school for some 
portion of the year avos 1,024,845. The aggre¬ 
gate value of school houses aud sites in 1885 
Avas $28,1347,581. The total expenditures, for 
the maintenance of New York schools for 1885 
was $13,896,650.59. There were employed 
81,399 teachers (6,021 males and 25.378 females) 
who received as salaries. $8,762,950.23. These 
figures show the magnitude of our school sys¬ 
tem and the vital importance of carefully 
handling this vast yearly expenditure. No 
public expenditure can he so easily reached and 
controlled by the people and none can be made 
to accomplish so much when properly handled 
or to accomplish so little when neglected. Few 
public documents are of more importance 
than these reports. In one of the reports we 
find these words: “If meD are in need of a 
doctor, they want not only an educated man, 
but one who understands the practice of medi¬ 
cine. Why not use the same common sense in 
selecting a teacher i" Why not indeed! That 
strikes to the A’ery root of the matter. Instead 
of selecting a teacher because he is a friend of 
the family, because ho is a good singer or a 
“nice fellow.” pick out a good tracker. Every 
teacher and every school official in New York 
State should secure this report and study it. 
Neav York Dairying.— Second Annual 
Report of the New York State Dairy Com¬ 
missioner.—Many papers in th is Stab 1 have 
been loudly asking what Commissioner Brown 
has done in return for the appropriation 
granted him last year. They should read 
the report and find out. We think the 
Commissioner is doing a good work, and 
heartily approve his work in behalf of dairy¬ 
men. There are people in the State who ap¬ 
pear to think that so long as a single pound of 
oleomargarine is sold in this city, or if the 
Commissioner does not personally inspect 
every suspected grocery store, he does not 
earn his salary. For such people this report 
will be valueless ; but for thinking and pro¬ 
gressive dairymen it is a valuable document. 
The figures showing the extent which the sale 
of bogus butter has injured the dairymen 
are appalling. Iu 1882 there were handled 
in New York city 79.864,840 pounds of butter, 
valued at $28,025,295.05. The receipts in¬ 
creased in 1885 to 93 500.850 pounds, but the 
value decreased to $19,502,977. If this one mar¬ 
ket can show such a loss, what might the total 
loss of the country amount to I It is esti¬ 
mated that the total loss to the dairy interests 
of the country, in consequence of this bogus 
trade, cannot be less than $70,000,000. During 
1885, 8.072 samples of suspected butter were 
purchased. Agents spent 3,885 days in the 
work of convicting dealers in dishonest but¬ 
ter. It is almost impossible to convict a 
dealer in New York County. The course of 
procedure in the courts is too complicated. 
To bring an offender to trial in this city re¬ 
quires three times the labor that it does in 
Brooklyn. The success of the operations 
should not be measured solely by the number 
of absolute convictions. The activity of the 
agents in the city, and the acknowledged hon¬ 
esty of their purpose, have kept oleomargarine 
in an unpopular position and prevented much 
dishonesty. It is estimated that the enforce¬ 
ment of the laiv has reduced the amount of 
oleomargariue handled in New York by about 
sixty per cent, while the quantity manufac¬ 
tured in the United States has increased over 
fifty per cent. In the report on milk vre are 
told that during the year ending December 21, 
1885, 197,219.560 quarts of milk, 3,7.58,320 
quarts of cream and 3,088,320 quarts of con¬ 
densed milk were brought by rail into this 
city. One can readily understand how, with¬ 
out supervision, the milk could he easily adul¬ 
terated a ml a vast amount of disease sent in 
with it. The State agents have spent 1.978 
days, traveled 88,165 miles, examined 19,409 
samples of milk, anil inspected many dairies, 
creameries, condenseries and stables. We be¬ 
lieve the department is doing good work—one 
worthy the support of the people. 
Rather mixed as to wheats.—W e have 
received bulletin No. 16 from the Ohio Agri¬ 
cultural Experiment Station. It treats of 
“Tests of Varieitea of Wheat.” These tests be¬ 
gan in the fall of 1882. The present harvest is 
therefore the sixth successive crop of wheat 
grown upon the same land. The plots are one- 
thirty-second of an acre in size. Of theDiehl- 
Mediterraneau Wheat the Director says: “The 
seed was received from Department of Agri¬ 
culture. A tall-growing variety, straw rather 
weak The heads are not large, bat are square, 
close-set on the raohis, bearded, bronze-col¬ 
ored glumes, kernel red. This variety has* 
been recently introduced, slid avo have it, or 
something almost exactly identical,under four 
different names. It has nothing to commend 
it over the best well-known varieties.” At the 
RuraljFarm (Long Island, N. Y.) we have 
given this wheat a good trial and, as we have 
thrice or more said, don’t see anything remark¬ 
able about it. But the above remarks are 
rather indefinite. It is not particularly a tail- 
growing variety in most places. The straw is 
not weak. The heads are not set on the rachis 
at all. The head includes the rachis. If the 
Director has four other kinds "almost identi¬ 
cal” he should state what they are. The 
writer of this does not dispute that the so- 
called Diehl-Mediterranean is an old variety. 
He has questioned from the beginning the fact 
of its being a neAv variety, but has not felt at 
liberty to state his doubts until noAV. 
The Director speaks of the Landreth (Arm¬ 
strong) as having strong straw and large, 
loose heads. It is superior, he. says, to the old 
Silver Chaff which it closely resembles. Then 
he describes Silver Chaff as a well-known vari¬ 
ety not desirable for his section and as “quite 
similar to Landreth (Armstrong) and Martin's 
Amber." Silver Chaff is by no means “well- 
known” as such, out of Ohio at least. Its straw 
is weak and it differs materially from Arm¬ 
strong or Landreth in other important re¬ 
spects. It is, for instance, by no means as 
hardy;it stools less, the kernel is smaller, and 
it is later: theculms aud leaves are of a silvery 
green color. 
The Director says that “Golden Grains 
Wheat was all killed but a few stalks, and these 
were about equally divided between the old 
Black-bearded Centennial and another smooth 
sort.” Are not Golden Grains and B-b. Cen¬ 
tennial for his elimato spring wheats ? Again, 
the Black-h. Centennial is a densely bearded 
kind. Hs speaks of it as smooth. The Direc¬ 
tor says “it is unworthy of cultivation.” By 
no means. It may be in Ohio, but in Cali¬ 
fornia. Colorado, etc., it is one of the choicest 
kinds. 
Of the Surprise, he says : “ Medium to tall- 
growing sort, strong, stands perfectly. Heads 
large, closely set and well-filled, beardless, 
glumes white, kernel white. Looks very fine. 
A fine A’ariety to be sure.” Bui then the Director 
adds—“ hut it will hardly become a faA’orite.” 
Why not pray ? Why praise a variety to the 
skies simply to tell us it isn’t worth cul¬ 
tivation? He says that Martin's Amber is 
similar to Landreth.” Are not they the 
same ? The Station has grown them for 
“several years” and ought to know. The 
report says that both Martin's Amber and 
Landreth are superior to Silver Chaff, which 
they closely resemble, implying they are the 
same. But in describing Silver Chaff, he 
remarks that it is not desirable. Does he find 
Silver Chaff the same as the old Treadwell t 
And is this the reason why he says it is “ well 
known ” i Are Martin's Amber and Lan¬ 
dreth desirable ? We should suppose they 
were since the report makes the following 
statement: 
Laniiretb. 89,9 bushels per acre. 
Martin's Amber. S6.7 bushels per acre. 
the latter weighing 63.5 pounds per bushel, 
the former 60.5 per bushel. We fancy that 
the A’ariety described as Golden Prolific is an 
old sort; that the EgVDtian is not Egyptian, 
that no particular variety is understood by 
Velvet Chaff. It seems to us impossible for 
any one to make a A’aluablo report on wheats 
until more, pains have been taken to learn the 
true and synonymous names of the kinds de¬ 
scribed. __ 
llYBiun or Cross-Brkd.— The Rural New-Yorker 
replies to our recent note on this subject tlm, while 
there may be differences of Judgment as to what may 
be a good species and what n variety onlt. neverthe¬ 
less. when crosses are made between plants which 
botanists class as different species we should ml here 
rlttldly to the term "hyhrtd." That Is what "hybrid” 
means. AVhen fortllintn* the pistil of one variety with 
the pollen of another variety of the same species we 
are “cross breed but. ” and we should sa.v so. With 
more light In the future these varieties may be erected 
Into separate species, or what are now species may be 
reduced to the rani: of varieties. It will then be time 
enough to designate whar are now cross-breeds as true 
hybrids and vice versa. Upon the whole, we think the 
Rural has the host of the argument. There wtll al¬ 
ways be enough careless language, and there Is little 
danger of being too accurate. And .vet If any one 
should willfully or carelessly offend In this particular 
we would not vote to have him burned at the stake. 
The above is from a late number of the 
Weekly Press. The very best evidence in the 
world that an agricultural editor is striving 
to do Vi is best for farm interests is shown when 
he fully acknowledges himself in the wrong. 
There are some “ farm” papers and some men 
who can afford to confess their emirs. There 
are others Avho can’t afford to confess any¬ 
thing. 
Sowing Grass Seed in Kansas. —Our 
friend Prof. Shelton, of the Kansas Ag. College, 
says, in his last report, that the time to sow 
grass seed iu Kansas is. without exception, iu 
the Spring, and recent experience shows that 
this Avork should not he undertaken too early 
in the season. Seed sown after the spring 
rains have fairly set in has never failed with 
him since 1874 to give a good stand of grass. 
In a few instances, aud Avhere the Winter fol¬ 
lowing has been warm and open, he has had 
good success Avith clover and Timothy sowed 
in the Fall, but the result of sowing Orchard 
Grass, Alfalfa and Blue Grass in the Fall has 
certainly been disastrous. The seed germin¬ 
ates rapidly if sown In the Fall, even more 
quickly than in Spring, but as the native veg¬ 
etation fails from the action of the frosts, the 
young grasshoppers collect upon the young 
grass, doing it serious damage; what remains, 
suffers seriously and is often destroyed by the 
action of wind and frosts. On the other hand, 
when the seeding is sown too late in the 
Spring the young and tender plants are con¬ 
sumed by the sun as soon as they appear. 
Seed sown any time during April will rarely 
fail to germinate and succeed well in making 
a vigorous growth. However, he does not 
adAdse Seeding before the warm Spring rains 
have set in. He has sown both Orchard Grass 
and Alfalfa during the early part of May with 
most excellent results. Fall seeding may be 
said to he better than spring seeding in the 
case of all plants Avhich make a growth in the 
Fall sufficient to withstand the rigors of Win¬ 
ter. This, corn and oats and most of our 
grasses will not do. But at whatever season 
the seed is soavu, nothing should be put in Avith 
the grass seed. Bye. wheat or oats, among 
which grass seed has been sown, are a serious 
detriment to the growing grass, and the grass 
plants, without doubt, are injurious to the 
growing grain. It is often argued that the 
tall grain will shade and protect the young 
grass. But grass does not need shade 
when groAvn in proper season; it needs the 
sun, and especially it needs moisture; and this 
the Arigorous grain is continually taking from 
the soil, thus robbing the young grass from 
the start. Every farmer knows how spind¬ 
ling, sickly and lacking in strength of root 
and stem is a grass or clover plant growing in 
a dense mass of grain. When this grain is 
harvested in June or July, just when the sum¬ 
mer heats are greatest, the delicate, starved 
grass plants are certain to perish, unless long- 
continued cool and cloudy weather prevents. 
He is aware that, in favorable seasons, consid¬ 
erable success is obtained by seeding the grass 
with another crop. But, even during these 
favorable seasons, a better and more vigorous 
stand may lie obtained without the rivalry of 
vigorous grains: and. upon dry seasons, a fail¬ 
ure of the grass is almost certain when seeded 
with a grain crop. 
Honey for Sweetening.—A Avriter in the 
Pacific Rural sa\’s that during the 16 years in 
which he has been in the bee business he does 
not remember having bought a single pound 
of sugar for his own use. He uses honey as 
sweetening for tea and coffee, for stewed 
fruit, and anything else where sweetening is 
required. If a good article of honey is used, 
having no strong or pronounced flavor, one 
can soon become accustomed to it and never 
miss the sugar. At the present Ioav price for 
extracted honey it ought to be used in every 
bee-keeper’s house, if only as a matter of 
economy and to save the expense of sugar. 
The English Commission appointed last 
year by the Conservative government to in¬ 
quire into the causes of the depression in trade ‘ 
arrives at the conclusion that, as a matter of 
fact, low prices and consequent diminished 
profits constitute the only evidence of depres¬ 
sion. The commission does not believe that 
legislation regarding labor has injured trade. 
It deprecates any increase in the hours of 
labor or any diminution of wages, and it 
looks Avith favor on labor organizations. 
Mixture for Liming Eggs.—To four gal¬ 
lons of boiling water add half a peck of new 
lime, stirring it some little time. When cold, 
remove any hard lumps by a coarse seive; add 
ten ounces of salt and three ounces of crearn- 
of-tartar. and mix the whole thoroughly. Let 
the mixture stand a couple of weeks to temper 
before using. Pack the eggs as closely as pos¬ 
sible, and they should be kept closely covered 
with the preparation. Tf treated Avhen newly 
laid, niue months after they will taste nearly 
as good as wheu fresh. Eggs to be preserved 
by any method should be treated the same 
day they are taken from the nest; their quali¬ 
ty de(>ends upon this being observed. This is 
Dr. Hoskins’s recipe, as we find it in the Ver¬ 
mont Watchman. 
Farmyard Malaria.— The editor of the 
New England Homestead recently visited a 
farm upon which there had been much sick¬ 
ness, one child having itied of diphtheria and 
there being a general complaint of “malaria.” 
He found that the sink spout emptied into a 
sickening pool directly under the kitchen 
window, while above %vas the bed-room that 
had been occupied by the deceased child, with 
its window also opening upon this scene of 
filth and source of disease. Now, if instead of 
this nastiness and waste of fertilizing mater¬ 
ial, the farmer had rigged up a barrel on 
wheels to catch the drip from the sink and the 
house slops generally, and had emptied it in 
his,' garden *as often^as[full, Ave^lbirk tteie 
