4°  THE  RURAL  NE  W-Y  O  R  K  E  R.  January  16 
T  H  K 
Rural  New-Yorker 
TIMES  BUILDING,  NEW  YORK. 
*  * 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes. 
*  * 
ELBERT  8.  CABMAN,  Editor  In  Chief. 
HERBERT  W.  COLLINGWOOI),  Managing  Editor. 
Copyrighted  IHfJ'Z. 
SATURDAY ,  JANUARY  Id,  1892. 
A  special,  tomato  number  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  will  ap¬ 
pear  next  week. 
*  * 
The  “road  making”  picture  on  another  page  is 
taken  from  life.  It  doesn’t  refer  to  a  period  of  early 
history — two  centuries  ago — but  shows  what  was  done 
within  10  years  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  We 
wonder  if  these  farmers  are  satisfied  with  their  high¬ 
ways.  They  are  having  a  nice  time  anyway. 
*  # 
Arrangements  have  been  perfected  by  which  the 
publishers  will  be  able  to  distribute  among  R.  N.-Y. 
subscribers,  next  fall,  vines  of  the  new  Carman  Grape, 
recently  described  in  these  columns.  New  grapes  of 
this  quality  are  usually  sold  at  $1  and  upwards  per 
vine.  Our  subscribers  will  receive  them  gratis,  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  our  long- established  custom  of  distribut¬ 
ing  valuable  new  varieties  each  year.  Other  announce¬ 
ments  will  be  made  in  due  time. 
*  * 
It  seems  to  us  that  Prof.  Wing,  in  his  proposed  plan 
for  agricultural  university  extension,  has  hit  upon  a 
highly  important  matter.  The  R.  N.-Y.  would  be  glad 
to  see  this  plan  carried  out.  We  will  gladly  cooperate 
with  Granges,  farmers’  clubs  and  other  organizations 
interested  in  the  movement.  Why  can  we  not  have  a 
meeting  of  those  ready  to  push  the  project,  at  which 
plans  for  a  united  campaign  can  be  perfected  ?  Who 
will  help  ?  # 
We  frequently  hear  people  say  that  an  application 
of  lime  or  plaster  alone  has  given  better  crops  than 
heavy  dressings  of  “  complete  ”  fertilizers.  Therefore, 
they  say  fertilizers  are  frauds.  We  have  seen  the  time 
with  most  people  we  know,  when  a  good  pill  would  do 
them  more  good  than  a  full  dinner.  Does  this  prove 
that  pills  are  better  for  a  steady  diet  than  wholesome 
food  ?  The  soil  that  responds  to  the  lime  may  need  it 
as  a  medicine  rather  than  as  a  food — that  is,  the  main 
office  of  the  lime  may  be  to  improve  the  condition  of 
the  soil.  #  # 
Chauncey  M.  Depew,  President  of  the  New  York 
Central  Railway,  is  authority  for  the  statement  that 
the  earnings  of  that  road  for  the  year  show  a  surplus, 
over  operating  expenses  and  maintenance,  of  97, 000, 000 
— equivalent  to  eight  per  cent  on  the  stock.  If  he  is 
correctly  reported,  it  would  seem  that  concessions  to 
the  traveling  and  freighting  public  are  in  order.  Eight 
per  cent  on  the  stock  is  about  20  per  cent  on  the  ac¬ 
tual  cost  of  the  road,  so  much  water  has  at  different 
times  been  injected  into  its  obligations.  Four  per  cent 
dividends  would  be  as  much  as  could  ever,  in  equity, 
be  declared.  #  * 
Six  years  ago  a  man  slipped  and  fell  on  a  defective 
sidewalk  in  a  New  York  State  town.  He  brought  suit 
for  95,000  damages  and  won  it.  The  case  lias  been  ap¬ 
pealed  again  and  again,  but  the  town  will  finally  have 
to  pay  costs  and  damages,  amounting  to  hundreds  of 
dollars  in  addition  to  the  original  judgment.  The  orig¬ 
inal  sidewalk  might  have  been  repaired  for  92!  A 
farmer  whom  we  know  let  water  accumulate  and 
freeze  in  front  of  his  barn  door.  One  day  a  cow 
slipped  and  broke  her  leg;  then  a  colt  fell  and  lamed 
itself  for  life;  last  of  all,  the  farmer’s  wife  fell  and  so 
injured  her  back  that  she  will  never  be  well  again.  One 
load  of  earth  would  have  kept  out  the  water! 
*  * 
The  great  problem  for  the  stock  feeder  is  to  find  a 
cheap'supply  of  protein.  The  fats  of  the  food  are  more 
easily  and  cheaply  obtained— the  protein,  like  the 
nitrogen  in  the  fertilizer,  demands  the  farmer's  cash. 
In  what  form  is  it  cheapest?  In  Timothy  hay  and 
corn  meal  protein  is  expensive,  because  one  is  forced 
to  pay  for  a  large  amount  of  fat  in  order  to  obtain  a 
small  amount  of  protein.  In  clover  hay  protein  is 
cheaper,  as  such  hay  contains  a  greater  proportion  of 
this  substance  and  is  cheaper,  pound  for  pound,  than 
limotliy,  because  of  a  popular  market  prejudice  in 
favor  of  the  latter.  Most  feeders  look  to  their  grain 
for  the  chief  supplies  of  protein.  The  practice  is  surely 
growing  of  mixing  bulky  foods,  like  straw,  ensilage, 
roots,  etc.,  with  concentrated  foods  like  cotton-seed 
or  linseed  meal.  How  can  the  farmer  best  grow  his 
own  protein  ?  Many  English  farmers,  who  have  had  a 
harder  hunt  for  this  substance  than  our  farmers  ever 
had,  have  found  relief  in  the  bean  plant.  This  is 
largely  used  in  England  for  feeding  all  kinds  of  stock, 
either  ground  alone  or  with  other  grains.  One  hun¬ 
dred  pounds  of  beans  contain  25  pounds  of  protein 
against  13  for  wheat,  11  for  barley,  12  for  oats  and  22 
for  peas.  There  are  lots  of  dairymen  who  now  look 
solemn  at  their  big  feed  bills,  who  would  find  relief  in 
growing  more  peas  and  beans.  Just  as  potato  growers 
are  going  to  the  clover  plant  for  nitrogen,  so  dairymen 
may  go  to  the  bean  and  pea  plants  for  protein. 
*  * 
A  new  People’s  Party  for  independent  political  ac¬ 
tion  has  just  been  formed  in  Michigan  by  the  affiliation 
of  all  the  industrial  organizations  in  the  State,  includ¬ 
ing  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  the  Patrons  of  Indus¬ 
try,  the  Farmers’  Alliance,  the  Knights  of  Labor,  the 
Prohibitionists,  the  Industrial  Party  and  several  minor 
organizations.  It  is  pledged  to  independent  political 
action  and  opposition  to  traffic  in  intoxicants  as  a  bev¬ 
erage.  While  the  consolidation  of  minor  organizations 
on  points  of  common  interest  and  welfare  is  desirable, 
a  multiplicity  of  independent  organizations  with  sub¬ 
stantially  the  same  objects  in  view,  can  lead  only  to  in¬ 
efficiency  and  failure. 
*  * 
There  is  probably  no  greater  official  farce  than  the 
work  of  the  inspectors  in  this  city,  who  look  after 
adulterated  milk  and  that  unripe  commodity  known 
as  “  bob  ’  veal.  A  gentleman  well  known  in  the  milk 
trade,  a  few  days  since  saw  a  specimen  of  a  milk  in¬ 
spector's  work.  A  milkman  loaded  up  with  the  poor¬ 
est  class  of  creamery  milk,  started  briskly  off,  but  was 
hailed  by  the  inspector.  “  Give  me  a  sample  of  your 
milk,”  said  he.  Of  course,  the  man  complied,  and  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  he  did  not  dip  deep,  nor  take  it  from 
his  poorest  can.  “Give  me  another  sample,”  said  the 
inspector,  and  the  scamp  of  a  milkman  coolly  handed 
him  a  second  sample  from  the  same  can  and  drove  away. 
“  Rob  ”  veal  comes  into  the  city  practically  undis¬ 
turbed — there  really  seems  to  be  no  effort  to  keep  it 
out,  the  inspectors  seeming  to  be  more  concerned  in 
finding  out  what  the  traffic  is  worth  to  them.  Imita¬ 
tion  butter  is  also  largely  sold  and  consumed  by  those 
who  think  they  are  eating  the  genuine  article.  There 
is  no  question  about  this,  and  our  expensive  Dairy 
Commission  seems  to  be  doing  practically  nothing  to 
stop  it.  We  shall  have  more  to  say  on  these  matters 
ere  long. 
*  * 
The  Alien  Land  Law  recently  passed  by  the  legis¬ 
lature  of  Illinois,  under  pressure  from  the  agricultural 
organizations  of  the  State,  has  just  been  declared 
unconstitutional  by  the  State  Supreme  Court.  A  year 
ago,  when  the  farmers,  Laving  secured  a  dominant  or 
unusually  influential  representation  in  various  State 
legislatures,  were  hastily  seeking  relief  from  many  of 
their  woes  by  empirical  legislation,  The  Rural  earn¬ 
estly  reminded  them  that  the  National  and  State  Con¬ 
stitutions  place  limitations  on  the  scope  of  all  new 
laws.  Said  we : 
In  every  State  in  the  Union,  it  is  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
State  Courts  to  decide  whether  the  laws  passed  there  are  in  har¬ 
mony  with  the  State  constitution,  and  then  the  United  States  Courts 
are  authorized  to  decide  whether  any  State  law  conflicts  with  any  of 
the  provisions  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  Legislators  should  there¬ 
fore  bear  in  mind  that  they  cannot  make  valid  laws  according  to  their 
own  whims,  opinions  or  convictions,  or  even  under  stress  of  pressure 
from  their  constituents,  regardless  of  the  limitations  set  by  the  various 
constitutions.  Judges  whose  decisions  are  frequently  overruled  by 
the  appellate  courts  soon  fall  into  discredit  with  the  public  ;  so  do  leg¬ 
islatures  whose  laws  are  frequently  pronounced  unconstitutional  by 
competent  authority,  and  any  party  which  advocates  or  supports  such 
legislation  cannot  long  hold  a  place  in  public  esteem. 
I  nfortunately  most  of  them  neglected  our  warning, 
and  our  prophecy  has  already  proved  true  with  regard 
to  many  laws  passed  by  them  in  different  States  under 
temporary  excitement,  and  the  end  is  not  yet. 
*  * 
Politics  is  a  desperate  game.  We  can  understand 
how  any  man  may  be  demoralized  by  a  strong  itching 
for  an  office.  Every  thoughtful  man,  no  matter  how 
strong  a  partisan,  must,  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart, 
regret  that  office  holders  cannot  conduct  the  country’s 
business  without  resorting  to  tricks  and  sharp  prac¬ 
tices,  which,  in  private  business  would  be  scorned.  Of 
late,  we  have  had  unusual  illustrations  of  this  sort  of 
thing.  The  Governor  of  a  great  State  has  tried  by 
every  sharp  trick  and  quibble  to  seat  in  the  State  legis¬ 
lature  men  who  were  not  entitled  to  go  there.  He 
knew  they  did  not  receive  a  majority  of  the  votes,  and 
that  their  districts  naturally  belonged  to  the  opposi¬ 
tion,  but  by  taking  advantage  of  slight  errors  and 
technical  points  he  succeeds.  The  Governor  of  another 
State  appoints  a  United  States  Senator.  He  does  not 
call  the  legislature  to  elect  this  Senator,  simply  because 
the  people  of  the  State  have  elected  a  legislature  with 
a  majority  of  the  opposition.  In  another  State  the 
Senators  of  one  great  party  childishly  propose  to  stay 
away  from  the  Senate  room  and  thus  block  all  legis¬ 
lation.  Dozens  of  similar  instances  could  be  given. 
What  would  we  think  of  men  who  in  private  busines- 
would  seek  to  take  advantage  of  slight  errors  or  blun¬ 
ders  ?  Suppose  this  Governor  had  kept  his  hands  off 
and  refused  to  take  advantage  of  errors  that  were  to  be 
expected  in  the  first  trial  of  the  new  ballot  law  ?  Would 
his  party  have  suffered  with  fair-minded  men  ?  Sup¬ 
pose  the  other  Governor  had  recognized  the  fact  that 
the  people’s  legislature  had  higher  powers  and  rights 
than  he,  and  had  called  it  to  elect  a  Senator  ?  Would 
it  have  given  his  party  a  bad  reputation  ?  Suppose 
those  State  Senators  had  accepted  their  defeat  like 
men,  and  made  the  best  of  it  ?  Would  their  party  have 
been  stronger  or  weaker  with  the  public  ?  These  ques¬ 
tions  are  at  least  worth  thinking  about.  Most  people 
shrug  their  shoulders  and  say,  “  Oh,  politics  is  rotten  ! 
Parties  are  all  alike  !”  Why  is  that  true  ?  It  is  because 
your  average  party  man  is  satisfied  with  a  lower  stand¬ 
ard  of  morality  in  his  political  party  than  in  his  private 
business,  when  in  reality  political  honor  and  honesty 
should  be  the  highest  of  all.  We  would  like  to  see  the 
politics  of  this  country  run  for  the  next  10  years  as  a 
man  would  conduct  an  honorable  business,  refusing  to 
take  advantage  of  mistakes  and  errors,  and  dealing 
with  fair-minded  justice  towards  all.  It  would  shake 
up  society,  but  the  good  would  come  to  the  top. 
Brevities. 
In  boyhood's  days  the  first  snow  storm 
Brought  pain  and  pleasure  mixed  full  sore. 
Because  the  job  was  mine  to  dig 
A  good-sized  path  from  every  door. 
And  once  1  tarried  at  my  work 
And  stopped  to  snowball  long  and  oft' 
Forgetting  that  the  paths  were  long. 
And  that  snow  shovels  best  when  soft. 
The  weather  changed,  the  freeze  came  on, 
And  packed  the  snow  in  chains  of  frost: 
Then  did  1  grieve  that  I  had  played; 
1  mourned  the  vantage  I  had  lost. 
For  when  the  snow  yvas  soft  it  moved 
With  ease — a  shovel  was  enough, 
But  now  a  hatchet,  pick  and  spade 
W ere  needed  on  its  surface  tough, 
And  while  the  others  on  their  sleds 
Flew  down  the  hillside's  Icy  track, 
1  still  kept  toiling  at  my  stent 
With  blistered  hands  and  aching  back. 
And  so  I’ve  found  it  all  through  life. 
Whene’er  I  stop  to  play  and  let 
My  work  grow  cold  and  hard.  I  pay 
For  stolen  fun  in  bitter  sweat. 
Bad  roads  mean  extra  feed. 
Like  a  hermit  in  a  hut  Is  a  farmer  in  a  “rut.” 
Is  the  lumber  on  your  farm  worth  more  than  the  land  ? 
When  the  cat’s  away  the  mice  ought  to  behave  themselves. 
Bbawn  without  brain — that’s  butcher  farming  and  mighty  small  gain. 
Which  has  more  to  do  with  the  quality  of  a  horse's  hoof— what  he 
stands  on  or  what  he  eats  ? 
The  R.  N.-Y.  hopes  its  readers  will  have  an  attack  of  the  worst  form 
of  the  grip— on  their  duty  this  year. 
Did  you  know  that  a  poorly  kept  and  dirty  dairy  gives  off  the  same 
odors  that  are  characteristic  of  guano  ?  It  is  a  fact. 
This  problem  of  profitably  wintering  an  idle  horse  is  a  big  one. 
When  the  “  horse  ”  is  a  brood  mare  the  problem  is  made  a  good  deal 
easier. 
Some  stables  are  so  foul  from  filthy  floors  and  poor  drainage  that 
a  clock  would  stop  to  hold  its  breath.  How  are  live  animals  to  live  in 
such  a  place  ? 
The  workman  who  wastes  time  to  look  at  the  clock  to  see  if  it's  not 
time  for  eating,  will  find  his  employer  fully  ready  to  dock  his  pay,  and 
it  will  not  be  cheating. 
I  like  to  see  people  who  just  do  their  best  with  faith  that  some 
mightier  power  does  the  rest.  Give  me  the  bright  heart  that  in  freezing 
or  thaw  can  say  :  “  We  have  much  to  be  thankful  for.” 
Fresh  gas  lime  is  death  to  vegetation.  For  this  reason  it  is  an  ex¬ 
cellent  thing  to  use  for  dissolving  bones,  horn,  leather,  etc.  The  “work" 
that  would  be  wasted  if  the  gas  lime  were  simply  spread  on  the  ground, 
will  make  “  useful  citizens  ”  out  of  bones  and  leather. 
There  are  plenty  of  people  now  alive  who  remember  how  hard  it  was 
to  Induce  farmers  to  sow  clover.  It  is  hard  to  realize  that  now.  In  rape 
sheep-growers  have  a  plant  superior  to  clover  for  their  special  needs. 
How  many  will  follow  Prof.  Shaw’s  advice  and  plant  it  t 
The  dwellers  in  the  sunny  part  of  the  South  do  have  a  good  chance 
at  us  at  this  season  of  the  year.  As  Mr.  Smith  says  on  page  39,  a  man 
has  so  many  “good  days”  in  winter  that  he  can  afford  to  “ rest  ”  in 
summer.  The  trouble  is  that  too  many  “rest  ”  in  both  seasons. 
Mr.  woodward’s  idea  is  that  when  a  Bteer  is  fed  an  exactly  “  bal¬ 
anced  ration,”  it  will  not  need  exercise.  An  animal  exercises  and 
“  kicks  up  its  heels  ”  in  order  to  work  off  the  effects  of  the  surplus  food 
that  knocks  the  ration  out  of  balance.  What  do  you  think  of  that  idea  ? 
Here  is  a  lesson  an  Indiana  friend  has  learned:  “  Many  didn’t  break 
their  land  early  enough  and  left  a  cloddy  seed  bed.  The  weather 
turned  dry,  and  wheat  grown  on  such  land  is  very  poor.  A  firm  seed 
bed  sowed  early  produces  good  wheat.”  A  clod  is  too  much  for  a  wheat 
root. 
Just  as  a  person  sleeps  warmly  in  bed,  dreaming  of  roses  in  bloom, 
with  the  thick  cover  tucked  up  to  his  head,  though  the  ice  forms  in  the 
room,  so  the  wheat  roots  and  the  rye  and  the  grass  hear  not  the  win¬ 
ter  winds  blow,  but  the  long  season  in  comfort  they  pass,  under  their 
blanket  of  snow. 
There’s  agrowing  disposition  among  our  Canadian  friends  to  make 
concessions  in  order  to  secure  better  terms  of  trade  with  this  country. 
Probably  the  reciprocity  treaties  recently  concluded  with  the  British 
West  Indian  possessions  have  something  to  do  with  the  feeling  ;  but 
doubtless  the  main  cause  is  that  they  are  realizing  that  a  nation  of 
five  millions  cannot  wage  a  successful  commercial  war  against  a 
neighboring  nation  of  sixty-live  millions. 
This  proverb  is  credited  to  the  Arabs  : 
“  Ruined,  and  the  son  of  a  ruined  one 
Is  he  who  buys  to  cure.” 
They  mean  that  It  is  poor  business  to  buy  sick  or  crippled  animals 
and  try  to  get  a  profit  out  of  curing  them.  There  are  very  few  men 
who  are  qualified  to  conduct  a  farm  hospital  and  nurse  invalid  animals 
back  to  health.  The  average  farmer  had  better  buy  good  stock  and 
take  good  care  of  it. 
Governor  Hoard,  of  Wisconsin,  told  the  farmers  of  Sussex  County, 
New  Jersey,  that  many  conld  better  their  condition  by  going  out  of  the 
milk-shipping  business  and  making  first-class  butter.  Orange  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  Sussex  County,  N.  J.,  were  formerly  the  leading  butter 
counties  in  the  United  States.  It  seems  odd  that  a  Western  man  should 
give  the  farmers  there  points  in  butter  making,  and  yet  the  field  is  ripe 
for  just  such  labor.  In  the  larger  part  of  both  of  these  counties  the 
making  of  fine  butter  is  a  lost  art. 
