usually worn during working hours. These 
strips are bent over at the top, so as to bind 
the wire, as shown in Fig. 368 (4, 5) and Fig. 
S‘>2 (2 and 1), The name may be written 
either on the under or upper side, and the wire 
twisted about the stake, as shown at Fig. 353 
(4 and 5). If written on the under side, the 
label may be raised up (see No. 4) to show 
the name, and replaced (see No. 5). A poor 
quality of zinc, after a few days’ exposure to 
the weather, often forms a white corrosive 
end passes extending five or six inches or more 
as desired beyond the loop and merely curved 
over so as to hold the label. As the branch 
grows, the loop will enlarge or may be ad¬ 
justed. 
where machinery of any kind is to be handled. 
Oil is a necessary agent in its place, but it is a 
dirty and slippery article when it is allowed 
to spread out of its proper boundary. In 
Figure 355 the boy has been sent to the shop 
to fill the oil-can. He is in a great hurry, for 
his father wants to oil up the reaper before 
brown and sere as in Winter, are now fresh 
and green, affording a good bite to the stock. 
Much new seeding has been injured, some 
ruined beyond recovery, and still many fields 
on which every particle of clover looked as 
though dead, are starting out with a new 
growth and now look as though with a few 
more showers they would make good mead¬ 
ows- J. 8. WOODWARD. 
Hampshire Down Lambs.— Lately Profes¬ 
sor Wrightson, of England, speaking of Hamp¬ 
shire Down sheep, challenged the breeders of 
any other kind of sheep to produce a flock 
which will give an equal weight of mutton 
at the same, early age. He insists that no 
sheep will give so good a return for the food 
consumed. He gives the live weight of seveu 
of his lambs, averaging 1421.; pounds each. 
Mr. A. W. Wells, of Berks, ''goes some bet- 
tur, ’ as seveu of his Hampshire Down ram 
lambs, born on Xmas Day, aud sold July 27, 
weighed respectively 188, 134, 178, 178, 177, 
174 and 106 pounds. These, it is true, were 
the pick of the progeny of 33(5 ewes; yet the 
weights are wonderful. He claims high 
quality as well as quantity of mutton. A 
number of other accounts of wonderful weights 
of Hampshire Down lambs are given in late 
Euroj>ean papers. This breed is gaining 
THE YELLOW-WOOD, 
The following letter explains itself, and we 
are glad to present it ui support of our own 
appreciation of this beautiful tree: 
In the Rural of June 2fith, page 414, you 
make allusion to the Yellow Wood (Cladrastis 
tinctorial beiug in bloorn June 7tb. Here it was 
in bloom about the same time. Our tree is a 
foot in diameter one foot from t he ground, and 
is about 20 years old. It is.indeed, as you say, 
the most beautiful of trees, especially when 
covered with its graceful white flowers. These 
with the pale green leaves make a delightful 
contrast. The bark is smooth aud somewhat 
variegated as in the sycamore. It is vigorous 
aud hardy—not. subject to attacks of any in 
sects. It Is comparatively rare in this section; 
in fact, I have not seen it planted extensively 
anywhere as it deserves to be. In the report 
for 1885 of the Pennsylvania Fruit Growers’ 
Association, I made special mention of it. 
You certainly have not over-praised it, and 
those who will try it will thank you for the ad¬ 
vice in regard to planting this tree. 
Cumberland Co., Pa E. it. cocklin'. 
BLACKBERRIES. 
If you plant the Snyder or Taylor Black¬ 
berry, you will get about everything there is 
in this fruit except size. The Taylor is a little 
later than the Snyder, and the berry averages 
a little larger. If you plant the Kittatinny 
you will get about evei-ything except the ex¬ 
treme hardiness of the Snyder and Taylor. 
If you plant the Wilscn Junior, you will 
get more berries perhaps than from any other 
kind, if the plant Mill endure your climate, 
M'hich, if severer than that at the Rural 
Grounds, it Mill not do more than two years in 
five. It is, however, hardier than its parent, 
the Wilson. If you want a curiosity in the 
blackberry way that needs protection, try the 
Crystal V bite. The berry is M'hite and sweet 
like a mulberry—the plants not productive. 
Among the new blackberries, Bonanza is M'or- 
thy of mention. It is hardier than the justly 
famed Kittatinny, the berries are about as 
large, though scarcely as sweet, and it is about 
as productive. It appears soineMhat before 
the Kittatinny and is desirable also for that 
reason. If you plant the Early Harvest you 
will get the earliest aud prettiest blackberry 
in cultivation it is hardy here iwo years in 
five, we should say. The crop is used up by 
the time the Kittatinny begins to ripen. If 
you want a good and prolific dewberry, try 
the Lucretia. Its berries are large and of fair 
quality, ripening with the Mild dewberries. 
M hy anybody wants a blackberry that it is so 
hard to pick aud that takes the space of sev¬ 
eral staudards, is difficult to say. Stone’s 
Hardy is worthless here. The berries are small 
and imperfect. 
poM-der on its surface, which soon obscures 
the pencil marks. When protected by the 
stake, as iu No. 5. this powder does not form, 
and the writing Mill remain distinct for years 
and years, as we believe. A good quality of 
zinc, however, does not need this protection. 
Here there is no play whatever of the zinc 
upon the copper wire, and there would seem 
to be scarcely any limit to its durability. 
M hen the stake rots the label may be re¬ 
moved aud affixed to a fresh stake. For trees 
this arrangement thus far seems to be equally 
effective. 
The engraving, Fig. 352, is imperfect. The 
domes 
dxpmmcut Gkounds of the $uvat 
ilciu-^ovkcr. 
A NEW LABEL FOR PLANTS, SHRUBS 
TREES, ETC. 
When the Rural Grounds were laid out upon 
the site of an old apple orchard, 13 years ago, 
one of the first, problems to solve M as the best 
kind of label to udopL Many were tried and 
gi\ en up, I or shrubs and smaller plants an 
iueh square pine stake, a foot long, pointed 
at one end, was used. This was paiutod M'hite, 
except the lower part, M'hich Mas dipped in 
warm tar. Such stakes, if again paiutod aud 
dipped every three or four years, will last for 
15 years at least. The work of re-paiuting, 
re-uiarking aud tarring is the chief objection. 
A " improvement upon this stake is shown at 
i* d- 1 ". No. 3, a device of J. T. Ala comber, 
of Grand Isle, Vermont. The little wood 
label is screwed in on the top, and is intended 
to cover and protect the name, which is written 
oil the stake underneath. It is easily pushed 
aside, aud replaced when the name is to bo 
looked at. Air. Macotuber savs .- 
Early Ohio Potato, 
It has often been 
stated in these columns that the Early Ohio is 
the earliest potato ever grown at the Rural 
Grounds. The present season’s trial further 
confirms these- statements. In the same row 
were planted the Beauty of Hebron (0 and the 
Rural Seedling, No. 1. The vines of the Ohio 
died July Oth. There were seveu hills, which 
yielded ff'q pounds, which is at the rate of 
337 bushels j>er acre. There were 57 potatoes, 
of which 45 were marketable. This is con¬ 
sidered a rather small yield for the rich plot 
in which they Mere groM'n. As t he tojw of 
this variety are always small, the hills might 
have been closer. 
The vines of the Rural No. 1 died July 15. 
There were si* hills which yielded 15V, pounds, 
or at the rate of 1525 bushels per acre. The 
whole number was 99, of which only 58 M*ere 
marketable. 
Five of the seven vines of the Beauty of 
Hebrou were still quite given when t he pota- 
toes were dug. The seven hills yielded 2(5 
pounds, or over 898 bushels to the acre. There 
were 78 tubers, (53 of which were of market¬ 
able size. The best five weighed 4}* pounds. 
The hills first to mature were perhaps the 
Beauty—the others were not. As between the 
Ohio aud Beauty, therefore, no comparison 
could be made as to earliness, but the Ohio 
was a week earlier than auy other iu the eu- 
tire plot. 
uiusKineions are splendid, and surprise 
every one who has seen them. I started the 
seeds in the house iu April; then I put the 
plauts iu the hot-bed, about the middle of the 
mouth, where they remained till the beginning 
of June. I then transplanted them carefully, 
and covered them with cutton-eovored frames 
till they wore well established, aud I did not 
lose a single one. I am iu for all the prizes. 
Headiugly, Manitoba. e. f. 
l like wnat Mr. Woodward says about 
feeding cows. I have fed mine regularly, 
Summer and Winter, aud it pays the best 
kind. It is poor economy to lot any animal 
go without enough to eat I give a feed con¬ 
sisting of half corn-meal and one-fourth each 
brau and oil-meal. The cows keep in good 
flesh, give more butter, aud the manure is 
M’orth more. The best price I cau get on oil- 
meal in New York is 321) per ton. We are 
working into Holsteins here. I am having 
made a husking-jack like the one recently 
pictured iu the Rural. No more kneeling on 
the ground for me. w . R . fr 
Somerset, Co., N. J. 
WE NEED MORE KNOWLEDGE, 
Fig. 353. 
copper wire should lx* twisted firmly around 
the zinc as shown, and the short fold of the 
zinc pressed upou the other or main part so 
that the wire is held by the two parts of the 
label. This, however, is uot essential as the 
weight of the zinc prevents it from blowing 
Off. To provide for the growth of the branch 
to M'hich the wire is attached, one end of the 
wire should be a loop through which the other 
arm VLcomnm| 
W e are wont to forget that beneath the 
growing crop that is waving before our eves 
in the summer breezes, lies another crop," its 
counterpart, without which the first could not 
exist a single hour. We forget that within 
the darkness and dampness of the soil a sys¬ 
tem is iu operation, beside which the most 
M'omieiful human achievements of hydraulic 
engineering shrink into nothingness. For 
A HARVEST HINT 
All the boys, both old and yoimg, will ap¬ 
preciate the little drama shown at Figures 355 
and 356. Our friend, J. M. Drew, seuds us the 
idea from which our artist made the sketches. 
A well-filled oil-can is a necessity on all farms 
0 - y-r—: -. - i 
I 
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