The National tribune., 1892-09-01
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
ROADSIDE GARDENS.

| EpIToR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: A great deal
| has been said about Identifying our public
roads, especially has this subject been discussed
/ by improvement societies. The six-rod road is
not needed for teams beyond strip of about
80 feet, that is, about two rods. One rod more
will moro than cover the bitches and walks
| We have then three rods for lawn, shrubs and
| flowers. Why not make this use Of it?
| I imagine the miles of beauty stretching
from village to village aud intercepsing all
towns that might exist an the avenues OF
weeds and brush and the general appearance Of
neglect. The enforcement of stock laws over
the greater part of the Union has prepared the
| way for this next innovation. There is no
reason why our public land should not consti-
| tute . continuous park. I would not be sat
isfed with getting rid of mire and dust and
the building of rock roads to save wear of old
| horses and wagons; that is practical matter
| wholly economical and wise, but not beautiful.
| Whatever comes short Of beauty fails of the
| highest end. We would like to see the barns
| and houses that now skirt . foul highway
pushed back into less publicity. They are pri-
vate affairs. Why should they be close up TO
| the street shutting out our view OF the distant
landscapes and even Of the nearby meadows?
II set . little back. the cheapest cottage or
even little hut, looks picturesque, but when
brought up, pigstJ and all, to the roadside, they
become disagreeable. There ara few drives in
which the houses do not detract from the
charm Of the excursion. Fine houses are little
| better or more attractive
Who cares to ride about to see what mon
strous notions of architecture thrive9 What
/ E.
not to look at our neighbors and smell their
dinners. In the April Guard Mrs. LuelIa Monks
speaks in regard to Progress and Patriotism.
She says onward is progress. agree with her,
and how can we find a better way to show
progress than having beautiful streets, with
fragrant flowers and handsome shrubs on each
| side?
| / know of cities and towns where it Is
pleasure to walk the streets, because of their
handsome shade-trees which keep off the in
tense heat of the Summer. / know roads that,
with a bit of taste in planting. would surpass
the finest park in the world. But what havoc
is made! What ugly cuts! The banks are
| spoiled. The kingly trees are cut down. The
vines Of bittersweet, ivy and clematis are
made horrible with brush.
than . roadside ditch7 But there are any
number of places where beautiful brooks might
tumble along fraught with music and beauty.
Here might be sweet water, and, perhaps,
miniature waterfall made of sand, pebbles or
| rocks. Rustic bridges might take the place of
carpenters planks and in shady places might
grow ferns and wild flowers. 1t would take so
little work, / often think, to make a strip of
roadside an ideal of loveliness.-W. z. Ord
WAY, Milton, N. Y.
RICE IN LOUISIANA.
| EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: see no re-
port Of rice in your agricultural columns, and
thinking it might be interesting to your many
readers, / submit the following: The excessive
rains in southwest Louisiana since June have
furnished an abundant supply of water for
irrigating the rice fields. The crops never
looked better In the history of this country.
No failures reported. A very large acreage
was planted and the yield promises from IL TO
20 barrels per acre. In this acadia parish)
the crop will amount to 100000 barrels rough
rice. Harvest will begin in earnest by the last
of the present month and continue into Octo-
Der. Hands are scarce and some may fail to
save their crops on this account. The bulk of
the rice here is produced by immigrants from
| the Northern States.-H. C. WILKINS, LIST Ind.
II. A., Crawlsy, La.
LATE CORN AND FALL FLOWING.
Upon the principle tina. half loaf is better
than no bread late planting is advocated. The
fact remains, however as the wise man puts
it, that there is time to SOW and time to
reap. Somehow Spring ia the proper time to
SOW and plant: then the growth is natural,
more slowly maturing at every stage and
finally ripening the grain and the corn in due
season. remember that once a good crop of
Spring wheat was grown. which was sown on
the Goth day of May; this happened in
northern Illinois. Of course it was an excsp-
tional season and may not occur again in
half century, and in that particular section
will never be repeated.
This season late and replanted corn are now
growing finely, but the ears will be small and
not we'll filled, and the grain will be light,
hardly coming up to the standard in weight.
Yet it will pay for the labor. The stalks will
keep green and suceulent longer even into the
late Autumn, and be reished better when fed
to the stock. Good farmers argue that even
the fully matured cornstalks which remain in
the field after husking are of as much value to
cattle as . good quality Of hay, when eaten by
stock in the field.
FALL FLOWING.
II the intended area to be sown to wheat,
rye or barley has not already been plowed, it
Is high time to speed the pillow. To DO sure,
from the 18th to the Goth Of September il per-
haps the best time to SOW these grains in this
latitude. While physicists declare that
there il no such things as equinoctial storms,
We do know that about the time mentioned we
are very apt to have rain storms, be they Incl
dent to the equinox of our planet or not. We
have notkept diary, but are certain Of the
fact that the season of the State Fair Of Illinois,
| which for years has been held the last full
week In September. has often been a financial
failure because of unfavorable weather. This
wa know. Incidentally it Is remarked here
that the st. Louis Fair held tho first week In
October has almost uniformally had favorable
weather, though it has sometimes been TN
seasonably cold, and Jack Frost has left his
sign. manual on the flowers and shrubs.
The main point and great art in successful
agriculture is so to manage as to make up any
normal season subservient to the successful