24 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
January  9 
T  H  K 
Rural  New-Yorker 
TIMES  BUILDING,  NEW  YORK. 
*  * 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes. 
*  * 
ELBERT  8.  CARMAN,  Editor  In  Chief. 
HERBERT  W.  COLLINGWOOD,  Managing  Editor. 
Copyrighted  1892. 
SATURDAY,  JANUARY  9,  1892. 
Our  friend,  Dr.  T.  H.  Hoskins,  in  another  column, 
gives  the  true  history  of  the  Green  Mountain-Winchell 
Grape.  According  to  this  history  the  name  should  be 
Clough. 
*  * 
The  election  of  Mr.  Crisp  for  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  at  Washington  does  not  seem  to 
suit  the  Western  wool  growers.  His  election  is  con¬ 
sidered  to  mean  that  no  general  tariff  bill  will  be  intro¬ 
duced,  but  that  separate  bills  proposing  to  put  wool, 
salt,  lumber,  coal  and  other  “  raw  materials”  on  the 
free  list,  will  pass  the  House  and  probably  the  Senate. 
The  wool  growers  seem  to  think  that  a  separate  bill 
dealing  with  their  product  alone  would  be  far  more 
likely  to  pass  than  if  ‘  ‘  free  wool”  were  proposed  in  a 
general  tariff  bill  which,  after  all,  must  be  at  best  *a 
compromise.  They  are  therefore  early  in  the  field 
in  opposition  to  any  such  measure. 
*  * 
Some  English  breeders  advocate  what  may  seem  at 
first  a  very  strange  move,  viz  :  “  the  bringing  back  (to 
England)  of  animals  whose  far-off  ancestors  left  the 
country  some  half  a  hundred  years  ago,  but  whose  im¬ 
mediate  ones — although  home-bred — have  lived  a  free 
natural  life  in  ranch,  run  or  bush  ever  since.”  It  is 
claimed  that  cattle  or  horses  running  at  large  are 
improved  in  wind,  strength  and  general  health — the 
forces  that  are  most  apt  to  deteriorate  in  close  con¬ 
finement  or  continued  in-breeding.  In  fact,  to  retain 
these  good  qualities  in  their  stock,  English  breeders 
must  go  to  wild  ranges  where  purebred  stock  have 
been  kept  in  a  natural  condition.  It  is  further  pro¬ 
posed  to  import  females  rather  than  males  for  this 
service.  You  will  have  to  go  to  Nature  for  strength. 
*  * 
If  there  is  any  out-of-bed  disease  worse  than  a  cold 
in  the  head,  let  us  know  what  it  is.  The  following 
simple  remedy  is  a  part  of  the  treatment  of  a  skilled 
expert  in  this  city,  who  has  treated  many  singers, 
speakers  and  others  who  are  constantly  exposed  to 
colds :  Keep  the  inside  of  the  nostrils  well  softened  with 
pure  vaseline.  Every  day,  as  regularly  as  they  wash 
their  faces,  these  patients  rub  a  little  vaseline  with 
the  little  finger  or  a  brush,  on  the  inside  of  the  nose 
until  it  becomes  a  habit.  No  human  being  has  any 
business  to  breathe  through  the  mouth.  The  nose  was 
made  expressly  for  breathing  purposes,  and  .it  is  a  very 
remarkable  “  cold  ”  that  will  get  by  the  vaseline.  We 
give  you  this  simple  recipe  for  a  New  Year’s  present. 
You  will  find  it  “  worth  more  than  a  year’s  subscrip¬ 
tion”  if  you  will  “keep  your  mouth  shut”  while 
breathing.  *  * 
A  GOOD  friend  up  in  Steuben  County,  N.  Y.,  writes 
the  following :  “You  seem  to  be  down  on  free  mail 
in  the  rural  districts.  Don’t  you  think  that  the  farmers 
have  as  much  right  to  have  their  mail  brought  to  their 
doors  as  the  editor  or  grain  speculator?  The  farmers  have 
to  help  pay  for  all  the  free  mail  in  the  city  ;  why 
shouldn’t  the  city  people  help  pay  for  free  mail  in 
the  rural  districts?  Nearly  every  tiling  bears  down  on 
the  farmer  now;  why  add  more  ?  I  believe  in  serving 
all  alike.”  That  we  are  “down  on  free  mail”  is  great 
news  to  us.  We  hadn’t  heard  of  it  before  and  would 
like  to  know  how  this  friend  found  it  out.  For  years  we 
have  strongly  advocated  the  measure  in  our  editorial 
columns.  We  are  certainly  in  favor  of  any  reasonable 
plan  that  will  bring  the  farmer  into  closer  connection 
with  the  outside  world.  From  a  purely  business  motive 
we  would  naturally  favor  anything  that  would  create 
more  reading  and  writing  farmers,  because  that  is  the 
only  class  to  whom  The  R.  N.-Y.  can  look  for  an  in¬ 
creased  subscription  list.  While  we  are  heartily  in  favor 
of  improving  the  mail  facilities  in  rui’al  districts,  we 
do  not  believe  the  best  plan  for  starting  the  system 
has  been  devised.  The  farmers  themselves  should 
have  a  good  deal  to  say  about  how  their  mail  is  to  come 
to  them.  For  these  reasons  we  open  the  columns  of 
The  It.  N.-Y  for  debate,  and  naturally  there  are  some 
who  object  to  the  extension  of  the  service  for  various 
reasons,  some  of  which  may  seem  absurd  to  ardent  ad¬ 
vocates  of  the  measure.  The  objectors  are  farmers 
and  taxpayers  and  have  as  much  right  to  talk  as  any¬ 
body  else.  Most  of  the  papers  print  only  the  favorable 
opinions  and  try  to  stifle  the  opposition.  That  is  not 
the  way  The  R.  N.-Yr.  does  business.  All  sides  are  to 
have  a  “fair  show”  on  this  matter.  By  pursuing  this 
course  a  fair  and  just  result  will  be  reached. 
Prof.  Chamberlain’s  remarks  on  the  “  scrub  ”  were 
prompted  by  questions  raised  by  students  at  the  North 
Carolina  Agricultural  College,  and  we  think  they  are 
well  worthy  of  discussion.  Mr.  Henry  Stewart  is  a 
champion  of  both  breed  and  feed,  if  we  may  put  it  in 
that  way.  He  believes  that  the  great  trouble  with 
most  scrub  or  native  cows  is  that  they  have  not  been 
px-operly  fed,  and  hence  not  properly  respected.  He 
argues  that  they  will  respond  quickly  and  generously 
to  good  care  and  feeding,  and  that  it  pays  to  give  them 
the  best  of  care.  But  he  would  not  develop  a  breed  of 
scrubs,  for  he  has  repeatedly  said  that  he  has  no  use 
for  a  scrub  bull.  The  scrub  cow  is  the  best  the  aver¬ 
age  farmer  can  use  in  the  way  of  foundation  for  his 
herd,  and  she  will  answer  provided  she  is  well  fed  and 
mated  with  a  well-bred  bull.  If  farmers  have  taken 
any  other  meaning  from  his  article,  we  feel  sure  that 
they  have  misunderstood  him. 
*  * 
Immense  quantities  of  Paris-green  are  used  in  the 
South,  chiefly  for  fighting  the  cotton  caterpillar.  So 
much  of  that  sold  in  the  general  market  was  adulter¬ 
ated  that  the  last  Louisiana  Legislature  felt  obliged  to 
pass  a  law  for  the  protection  of  buyers.  Under  this 
law  all  Paris-green  is  to  be  sold  on  a  guaranteed  analy¬ 
sis  like  fertilizers.  Brands  containing  50  per  cent  or 
more  of  arsenic  are  to  be  marked  “  strictly  pure,” 
while  all  falling  below  this  percentage  are  to  be 
classed  “  impui’e.”  All  samples  are  to  be  open  to  in¬ 
spection  after  the  manner  of  sampling  and  analyzing 
fertilizers.  Every  package  sold  must  bear  a  label  fur¬ 
nished  by  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  at  a  cost  of 
50  cents  for  each  100  pounds  of  “green.”  This  amounts 
to  a  tax  of  one  half  cent  on  every  pound  sold  and  will 
make  a  nice  little  income  for  the  State.  The  last  bul¬ 
letin  of  the  Louisiana  Station  shows  that  many  brands 
on  the  market  contain  less  than  half  the  amount  of 
arsenic  required  by  the  law.  The  taxing  feature  of 
this  law  seems  to  us  to  make  a  bad  precedent  and  to 
be  excessive ;  otherwise  it  is  but  an  evidence  of  the 
tendency  of  the  times  towai'ds  protecting  the  public 
against  adulterated  goods. 
*  * 
According  to  the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals, 
the  next  Legislature  of  New  York  State  will  be  Demo¬ 
cratic  in  both  branches  for  the  first  time  in  many 
years.  This  will  probably  prevent  any  immediate 
impi’ovement  in  the  present  defective  election  law,  and 
will  doubtless  cause  a  new  State  census  and  redistrict¬ 
ing  of  the  State.  In  this  latter  event,  New  York  city 
will  be  likely  to  gain  several  State  and  Congressional 
Representatives  at  the  expense  of  the  country  districts. 
The  farmers  of  the  State  may  as  well  understand  that 
they  are  to  lose  a  share  of  their  representation  at 
Albany  and  Washington,  a  loss  which  they  will  not  be 
liable  to  regain  for  a  good  many  years.  No  one  can 
say  they  were  not  fully  warned.  Too  many  folks 
accepted  money  to  stay  at  home  or  “go  riding”  on 
election  day.  The  seller  of  his  voting  privilege  was 
worse  than  the  buyer.  Because  of  certain  blunders 
and  errors  in  handling  the  ballots  the  enemies  of  a 
secret  ballot  are  loudly  calling  for  a  repeal  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  ballot  law.  “Let  us  have  the  old  system,”  they 
say.  They  knew  at  the  time  this  ballot  law  was 
passed  it  was  defective.  They  meant  that  it  should  be 
so,  that  it  might  throw  discredit  on  the  whole  system. 
The  people  will  not  be  fooled.  Improve  the  law — 
don’t  kill  it. 
*  * 
After  more  than  two  years  of  negotiation  the  Chero¬ 
kee  Commissioners,  after  four  visits  to  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritoi-y,  have  finally  concluded  arrangements  for  the 
sale  to  the  United  States  of  the  interests  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation  in  what  is  known  as  the  Cherokee  Strip  or  Out¬ 
let,  embracing  an  area  of  6,022,244  acres.  The  price 
agreed  upon  is  $8,595,736,  subject  to  ratification  by 
Congress  before  March  4,  1893.  The  Cherokees  now 
resident  in  the  territoi’y  are  each  entitled  to  80  acres 
with  all  improvements,  and  all  inti'uders  ai*e  to  be  re¬ 
moved  by  the  United  States  not  only  from  the  Strip, 
but  from  the  entire  territoi’y  of  the  Cherokee  Nation. 
The  latter  also  i*elinquish  their  interests  in  the  lands 
lying  west  of  the  96th  degree  of  longitude,  formerly  con¬ 
veyed  to  them  by  the  Osages,  Poncas  and  other  tribes 
to  whom  have  been  assigned  other  tracts  within  the 
Nation’s  territory.  The  territory  thus  rendered  avail¬ 
able  for  early  settlement  is  one  of  the  finest  still  unoc¬ 
cupied  in  the  West.  Although  the  invasion  of  cattle 
“kings”  and  “barons”  under  a  five  years’  lease  ex¬ 
ecuted  in  1883,  wrought  much  mischief,  the  land  is 
now  comparatively  free  from  Indian  and  white  settle¬ 
ment.  Its  surface  is  rolling  and  well  watered  and 
drained  by  the  Cimarroon  River  and  the  Salt  Fork  of 
the  Arkansas  and  their  tributaries.  The  soil  is  fertile 
and  with  proper  irrigation  where  needed,  would  rival 
any  farming  lands  in  the  West.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  land  will  be  thrown  open  to  settlement  next  sum¬ 
mer,  and  doubtless  the  rush  will  then  exceed  that  into 
Oklahoma  about  18  months  ago. 
A  good  illustration  of  the  slight  difference  between 
plant  food  and  animal  food  is  seen  in  the  use  of  cotton¬ 
seed  meal.  For  the  Southern  farmer  this  meal  gives 
the  cheapest  and  most  easily  obtainable  form  of  ni¬ 
trogen  and  it  has  acquired  an  extensive  use  in  the 
South  as  a  fertilizer,  alone  or  mixed  with  stable  man¬ 
ure,  phosphate  rock  or  potash.  It  is  thus  regarded  as 
a  plant  food.  Many  Northern  dairymen  regard  cotton¬ 
seed  meal  as  the  cheapest  cow  food  they  can  buy,  par¬ 
ticularly  for  feeding  with  ensilage,  straw  or  other 
bulky  foods.  But  let  this  meal  become  discolored  by 
exposure  or  fermentation  and  it  is  no  longer  fit  to  be 
used  as  animal  food,  though  losing  little,  if  any,  of  its 
value  as  plant  food.  In  the  same  way  damaged  corn 
meal  or  other  grain  while  xinfit  for  animals,  is  good 
for  manure,  and  if  mixed  with  the  manure  will  make 
the  pile  that  much  richer  in  the  manurial  elements. 
Many  people  still  appear  to  think  that  food  eaten  and 
excreted  in  a  solid  form  by  animals  must  of  necessity 
make  better  manure  than  the  same  grain  or  hay  not 
eaten  but  simply  acted  upon  by  the  ordinary  forces  of 
Nature.  Our  cows  sometimes  pull  some  of  their  clover 
hay  out  of  their  feeding  racks  and  trample  it  under 
foot  so  that  it  goes  into  the  manure  whole.  Why, 
aside  from  the  fact  that  it  has  not  been  chewed  and 
finely  ground  up,  is  not  this  hay  as  good  manure  as  that 
which  has  passed  through  the  animal?  It  is  our  opin¬ 
ion  that  many  farmers  are  keeping  manure-making  an¬ 
imals  at  a  loss,  just  because  they  believe,  as  the  ancients 
did,  that  animals  must  add  some  value  to  the  food  that 
passes  through  them. 
BREVITIES. 
“Yes,  you  did  !  ”  “  No,  I  didn't !  ” 
That’s  the  way  that  Ruth  and  Jack, 
Wife  and  husband,  stood  disputing. 
It  was  nothing  but  a  crack 
In  the  wall  that  bound  the  home  in. 
But  each  word  was  like  a  wedge, 
And  the  anger  that  was  rising 
Hit  them  like  a  heavy  sledge  ! 
One  word  leads  unto  another, 
Till  the  crack  a  crevice  grows; 
Then  the  lights  of  home  must  flicker 
When  the  wind  of  trouble  blows. 
Silence  dulls  the  wedge’s  edge; 
Life  no  truer  saying  hath 
Than  this— that  a  gentle  answer 
Turns  aside  the  sting  of  wrath. 
Why  does  a  horse  wear  a  shoe  ? 
A  laying  hen  has  no  business  to  see  or  feel  the  snow. 
Pedigree  can  do  nothing  but  give  feed  a  better  chance. 
Why  not?  Why  not?  House  the  laying  Leghorns  up  and  make  ’em 
think  it’s  hot? 
“  What’s  in  a  name  ?”  Those  who  look  for  light  in  an  Indian  Game, 
feel  bad  when  biggest  roosters  turn  and  run  like  some  old  hen. 
It  is  easier  to  fight  a  boy  than  a  full-grown  man.  Don’t  let  your 
troubles  grow  to  full  size  then.  Face  them  while  they  are  small. 
Resolutions  are  due  as  you  start  ‘92.  Put  this  one  on  the  very  first 
page  :  “  I  will  keep  myself  cool  and  not  be  such  a  fool  as  to  fly  off  the 
handle  in  rage!  ” 
IN  the  year  that’s  to  come  let  us  all  try  to  drum  all  the  scrubs  and  the 
curs  out  of  harm;  then  we’ll  take  up  this  stent  for  the  new  manage¬ 
ment— we  will  be  true  as  steel  to  the  farm  I 
Some  western  writer  advises  farmers  to  “  lengthen  out  a  short  sup¬ 
ply  of  feed  by  cutting  it  up  still  shorter.”  It  is  good  advice.  Many  a 
ton  of  straw  would  be  eaten  if  it  could  be  chopped  up  and  mixed  with 
the  ensilage  or  moistened  and  mixed  with  the  meal. 
Broiled  beef  or  bacon  is  more  digestible  than  the  same  fried  in  its 
own  fat,  because,  in  the  former  case,  the  oily  or  fluid  fats  are  removed, 
only  the  solid  fats  remaining.  These  oily  fats  are  full  of  biliousness. 
It  would  be  mercy  for  many  dyspeptics  if  their  cooks  would  go  back  to 
the  old  “roasting  jack.” 
A  few  months  ago  we  stated  that  the  lottery  question  would  split  the 
Democratic  party  in  Louisiana.  It  has  done  so,  there  being  two  Demo¬ 
cratic  tickets  in  the  field.  We  are  glad  to  see  that  the  farmers’  organi¬ 
zations  of  Louisiana  are  on  the  right  side  in  this  contest.  We  hope 
every  self-respecting  citizen  will  support  the  Anti-Lottery  ticket. 
An  English  milkman  was  accused  of  selling  milk  below  the  legal 
“  standard.”  His  defense  was  that  the  sample  analyzed  came  from  the 
bottom  of  a  large  can.  Nobody  could  prevent  cream  from  rising  to  the 
top,  and  consequently  the  milk  at  the  bottom  was  “ natural  milk”  as 
much  as  any  other  !  The  local  justice  accepted  this  view,  but  the  case 
was  appealed  and  Chief  Justice  Coleridge  decided  that  the  milkman 
was  guilty  for  not  keeping  his  milk  well  stirred  up  ! 
There’s  a  fierce  tariff  war  between  Canada  and  her  sister  colony  New¬ 
foundland.  In  retaliation  for  an  increase  of  duty  on  Newfoundland 
flsh  by  the  former,  the  latter  has  just  doubled  the  duty  on  Canadian 
breadstuff's.  As  Canada  sells  $1,200,000  worth  of  breadstuff's  and  pro¬ 
visions  to  the  islanders  annually,  this  will  be  a  rather  hard  blow,  espec¬ 
ially  as  the  prohibitory  duty  is  likely  to  divert  most  of  the  trade  to  this 
country.  This  year  peace  or  war  elsewhere  seems  to  be  nearly  equally 
to  the  advantage  of  “  America.” 
The  price  of  cotton  in  New  York  is  now  on  a  basis  of  7-M  cents  per 
pound  for  middling  upland.  This  is  the  lowest  figure  on  record  since 
1849,  when  the  price  fell  to  six  cents  per  pound.  During  the  Civil  War 
it  rose  to  $1.60 ,  and  was  as  low  as  five  cents  per  pound  in  1832.  The 
present  low  price  is  due .  to  the  unprecedented  nature  of  the  crop  of 
1891.  Small  wonder  that  the  cotton  planters  of  the  South  are  busy 
devising  means  for  curtailing  the  area  under  cotton  next  season.  The 
present  price  does  not  pay  the  cost  of  production  and  handling  in  many 
sections. 
IN  Saxony,  a  German  State  containing  6,777  square  miles  and  a  popu¬ 
lation  of  3,270,579,  nearly  one-third  of  whom  are  found  in  one  city,  fruit 
trees  are  planted  and  cultivated  along  the  highways.  From  these  trees 
fruit  to  the  value  of  $34,767.94  was  sold  in  1890.  The  trees  also  served 
for  shade  as  well.  They  belong  to  the  State  and  are  leased  to  the 
highest  bidder,  thus  serving  as  practical  fruit  experiment  stations. 
The  roads  are  never  fenced.  All  wagons  must  carry  a  lighted  lantern 
at  night.  Heavy  wagons  must  wear  wide  tires,  and  no  tires  with  a 
rounded  surface  are  ever  permitted  on  the  road.  We  are  behind  the 
people  of  Saxony,  you  see.  When  are  we  going  to  catch  up  ? 
A  Deep  water  Convention  has  just  been  in  session  at  Detroit, 
Mich.  It  seeks  to  make  all  the  great  cities  of  the  northern  lakes  seaports 
and  to  secure  an  untrammeled  route  to  the  ocean  for  the  largest  com¬ 
mercial  vessels  by  deepening  the  canals.  There  is  no  good  reason 
why  such  an  object  should  not  be  ultimately  secured;  but  at  present 
its  promoters  must  confront  interests  that  are  adverse  to  the  scheme, 
including  the  all-powerful  railroads  as  well  as  the  seaports  which  now 
nonopolize  our  foreign  commerce.  The  convention,  however,  un¬ 
doubtedly  voiced  the  determination  of  the  people  of  the  Northwest  to 
secure  in  this  way  cheap  transportation  for  their  products  to  foreign 
markets.  The  measure  may  be  delayed,  but  it  can  hardly  be  prevented. 
