Extract from the Vicksburgn, Miss, Daily Commercial, under date of June 9th, 1881. 
A. WONDER XXT O^T CULTURE. 
Early last spring Mr. James G. Ferguson, one of tne most practical, prosperous and progressive 
farmeis of Mississippi, and whose well tilled and thorougly appointed farm gladdens the heart of the 
husbandman with its generous and bounteous yield, just beyond the limits of this city, had his attention 
called to'the following extract from the catalogue of D. M. Ferry & Co., Detroit , Mich. 
Russian Whit* Oat*. -This new variety of oats has already been tested in nearly all portions of the 
country, from Maine to California, and the reports from almost all States in the Union art* unanimous 
in its commendation as the heaviest yielder in cultivation. One hundred and fifty-seven pounds of 
clean oats were harvested from a single ounce of seed last season. In nine tenths of the reports the 
yield exceeded five hundred fold increase. 
Being one of those live, wide-awake, men, who never allows an opportunity of profit or improve¬ 
ment in stock-raising or farming to pass him without giving it a fair and intelligent trial, he at once 
dispatched an order for t wo bushels, through Messrs. C. C. Reynolds & < 'o. 
The seed came in due time, and on the twenty-third of March were harrowed broadcast on two 
acres of ordinary upland. They came up well, notwithstanding the drougth, grew most luxuriantly' 
and seemed to revel with delight in the cold snaps of April. Yesterday the Commercial Office was 
favored by a visit from Mr Ferguson, who bore with him a bunch of his Russian end also a bunch of 
common red oats, produced under equally as favorable circumstances, from the character of soil 
The contrast Is too great to elicit comparison. While the red oats are as good as can generally be 
found on even our best lands, the Russian excels anything of the oat production we ever saw before. 
They even surpass the description given above which Mr. Ferguson assures us. is literally true in every 
particular. The stalks are large and strong, six feet high, with blades two feet In length, and measur¬ 
ing nearly one inch wide. The heads are from twenty to twenty-four inches in lengt h aud very heavy # 
one weighing as much as one dozen of any other variety. These are literal facts, as the specimens now 
hi this office most amply verify. 
There also appears in a subsequent issue of the same paper, the following: 
Church Hmn, Jefferson Co., Miss., July 2, 1£R1« 
Editor Commercial.- 
In the Commercial of the 13th of June there appeared an article captioned, ** A Wonder in Oat 
Culture,” which has attracted the notice of many farmers in this community ; and so great are some 
of the wonders therein enumerated that not a few are disposed to doubt the accuracy of. your state¬ 
ment. But if only one-half of what is claimed for the variety of oats of which you speak be true, it 
will, in my opinion, prove invaluable to the farmers of this section where the corn crop is such an 
uncertain one. And since 1 cannot avail myself of Mr. Ferguson's invitation to visit his farm to tool 
at his field of oats, and wishing to know more about them 1 write to ask that you will be kind enough 
to give me the address of Mr. Ferguson (referred to in your article) that I may make some inquiry of 
him for the benefit of myself anl neighbors. Hoping that you will not deem my request too trouble¬ 
some to give it attention, I am Very Respectfully, CARDLE 
We can assure Mr. McCardle and all others like him interested in oat culture, that our account 
of the Russian variety of oats is a fact, and fell short of the mark instead of overreaching it. We have 
called Mr. Ferguson's attention to this communication, and as he has dozens of others of similar im¬ 
port. He requests us to slate that as he only planted two bushels of seed on two acres, he will have 
none for sale this year as he has already promised to part with more than he well can spare. Having 
not yet threshed the product of the two bushels he planted, he cannot stale in exactfigures the amount 
yielded, but is fully confident that the two acres will thresh out from eighty to one hundred bushels. 
The land on which the oats were sown was ordinary hill land, and not very rich at that. Mr. Ferguson 
is not given to exaggeration nor enthusiasm on experimental methods of farming. He his one of the 
best and most reliable farmers in Mississippi, and is doing much towards the advancement of our 
agricultural interests by his experiments in both grain and stock. He obtained his seed from Messrs. 
D. M. Ferry <&. Co., Detroit, Michigan. He will however take pleasure in answering all inquiries on 
such matters. His address is J. G. Ferguson, Vicksburg, Miss. 
TESTIMOKT I-A-Xj S. 
D. M. SWARTZ, Progress, Dauphin Co., Pa., writes as follows* The Russian White Oats are the 
best oats I ever saw The 3 pounds you sent me I planted on very rich soil, and they come up very 
nice and green, while tlie others had a white color. In sowing, I planted on a weedy piece of land, 
ami in the latter part of July a storm put back the weeds, yet tne oats still stood. They grew to a 
height of over 5 reet, are free from rust , and will withstand storms when .other varieties are wholly 
destroyed. 
DAVID MOHELL. of Evergreen. Jefferson Co.. Col., says: In reference to the Russian White 
Oats , they are 75 per cent, ahead of other varieties of oats. They are I think the best variety for this 
country. They yield well, ripen early, aud the stalks are bo strong and thick that they resist the 
effects of the strong winds so prevalent her*. 
