204 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
March  26 
THE 
Rural  New-Yorker 
to  predict  the  consequences  of  these  measures ;  but 
the  prospects  are  at  present  promising  for  increased 
foreign  markets  for  American  agricultural  products. 
a  reputation  on.  It  will  pay  any  farmer  to  study  out 
the  variety,  soil,  fertilizer  and  culture  that  will  yield 
him  the  best  tubers.  „  „ 
TIMES  BUILDING,  NEW  YORK. 
*  * 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes. 
a  * 
EBBEBT  S.  CABMAN.  Editor  In  Chief. 
HEBBEBT  W.  COBBING  WOOD,  Managing  Editor. 
Copyrighted  1892. 
SATURDAY,  MARCH  26,  1892. 
The  Paddock  Pure  Food  Hill  has  lately  been  passed 
by  the  United  States  Senate  without  a  division,  and  so 
strong  is  public  opinion  in  its  favor,  especially  among 
the  vast  body  of  the  farmers  of  the  country,  that  it  is 
likely  to  pass  the  House  also  at  an  early  day,  and  to 
become  a  law  before  the  leaves  fall.  It  has  been 
amended,  however,  so  as  to  confine  the  surveillance  of 
the  Agricultural  Department  to  foods  and  drugs  which 
are  articles  of  inter-State  commerce  and  exportation. 
Hriefiy,  it  prohibits,  under  penalty  of  fine  and  imprison¬ 
ment,  the  introduction  into  one  State  or  Territory 
from  another  as  well  as  the  exportation  of  adulterated 
or  misbranded  foods  or  drugs.  This  is  the  abuse  against 
which  farmers  have  been  stubbornly  battling  for  years. 
*  * 
The  Minnesota  Supreme  Court  has  decided  that  the 
new  liquor  license  law  of  the  State  is  unconstitutional, 
because  it  contains  no  provision  for  a  pro  rata  charge 
for  licenses.  According  to  the  Court,  to  charge  the 
same  fee  for  a  license  running  a  month  or  a  week  as 
for  one  good  for  a  whole  year  is  unjust  discrimination 
and  therefore  unconstitutional.  The  effect  of  this  de¬ 
cision  will  be  to  curse  Minnesotans  for  a  brief  period 
with  a  carnival  of  “  free  rum  and  no  Sunday.”  The 
men  who  were  mainly  active  in  the  passage  of  the  law 
were,  no  doubt,  earnest  in  their  opposition  to  an  unlim¬ 
ited  liquor  traffic  ;  how  came  it,  then,  that  they  were 
guilty  of  such  a  blunder  in  the  formulation  of  the  law  ? 
Was  an  enemy  in  the  guise  of  a  friend  the  insidious 
author  of  it  ?  #  # 
Many  mysterious  good  qualities  are  claimed  for 
stable  manure.  The  latest  seems  to  be  with  regard  to 
the  water  it  contains.  Many  farmers  say  that  turnips, 
apples,  potatoes  or  ensilage  contain  but  a  small  pro¬ 
portion  of  dry  matter,  yet  in  actual  feeding,  with  “the 
cow  as  a  chemist,”  they  give  far  better  results  than 
chemical  analysis  would  indicate.  This  is  because  of 
the  “  succulency”  or  appetizing  juice  which  aids  in  the 
digestion  of  other  foods  and  keeps  the  system  in  a 
healthy  condition.  Farmers  also  claim  that  in  a 
similar  way  the  water  in  the  manure  is  of  value  aside 
from  what  chemical  analysis  can  show,  because  it  con¬ 
tains  the  “succulence”  of  plant  food  !  Here  is  a  point 
over  which  many  good  farmers  are  puzzled.  Why 
cannot  our  chemists  make  the  matter  clearer  ? 
*  * 
Owing  to  the  recent  hostile  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Ohio,  the  Standard  Oil  Trust  expresses  a  will¬ 
ingness  to  disband.  The  magnates  declare  that  so  soon 
as  certificate  holders  have  voted  on  the  question,  the 
gigantic  aggregation  of  corporations  will  dissolve  into 
its  original  elements.  The  general  impression  is,  how¬ 
ever,  that  it  will  merely  take  a  new  form.  The  trust 
certificates  which  represent  the  value  of  various  prop¬ 
erties  in  the  present  aggregation  will  doubtless  be  sur¬ 
rendered  for  stock  of  proportionate  value  in  a  com¬ 
pany  controlling  the  combined  properties.  The  Stand¬ 
ard  Oil  magnates  have  made  by  far  too  much  money 
by  their  old  methods  to  dream  of  surrendering  the  con¬ 
trol  of  the  oil  market,  and  of  the  multitudinous  other 
enterprises  which  the  enormous  wealth  of  the  “com¬ 
bine  ”  has  enabled  them  to  manipulate. 
*  * 
A  COMMEKCIAB  reciprocity  convention  has  just  been 
concluded  between  this  country  and  France,  by  which 
American  canned  meats,  fresh  and  dried  table  fruits, 
except  raisins,  hops,  pears  and  compressed  apples  to¬ 
gether  with  several  other  products  are  admitted  into 
France  at  minimum  duties,  in  return  for  the  free 
admission  into  this  country  of  hides,  sugar  and  mo¬ 
lasses  from  France  and  her  colonies.  France  reserves 
the  right  to  seize  pork  infected  with  trichinae,  and  to 
this  regulation  the  American  Government  assents. 
On  the  other  hand.  President  Harrison  has  just  issued 
a  proclamation  retaliating  on  Columbia,  Hayti  and 
Venzuela  for  not  having  concluded  reciprocity  treaties, 
by  reimposing  the  old  duties  on  all  sugar,  hides,  coffee 
and  other  products  exempted  by  Section  3  of  the 
McKinley  Bill,  imported  from  those  countries.  Satis¬ 
factory  commercial  arrangements  have,  it  is  under¬ 
stood,  been  concluded  with  Honduras,  Spain  and 
Austria-Hungary,  so  that  they  have  been  excepted 
from  the  President’s  proclamation.  It  is  yet  too  early 
*  * 
Commebciab  Agent  Smyth,  of  Huddersfield,  England, 
writes  the  State  Department  that  it  is  possible  to 
develop  a  market  for  American  tomatoes  in  England. 
The  English  climate  is  against  the  successful  culture 
of  tomatoes.  They  are  regarded  there  as  a  hot-house 
crop  and  over  1,000,000  square  feet  of  glass  surface  is 
devoted  exclusively  to  tomato  culture  for  market  pur¬ 
poses.  These  tomatoes  bring  as  high  as  50  cents  a 
pound  during  the  winter.  The  chief  supply  comes 
from  the  Channel  Islands,  Jersey,  Guernsey,  etc., 
while  France,  Spain  and  the  Azores  and  Canary  Islands 
send  smaller  quantities.  The  English  are  learning  to 
love  tomatoes,  and  in  10  years  the  trade  will  be  five 
times  what  it  is  to-day.  Cannot  Americans  secure  a 
share  of  this  trade  ?  American  tomatoes  are  considered 
everywhere  the  best  in  the  world,  and  rightly,  because 
nowhere  else  has  so  much  attention  been  paid  to  their 
selection  and  culture.  Can  we  ship  them  to  England 
so  that  they  will  arrive  in  good  condition  ?  Yes.  Pas¬ 
sengers  on  the  great  ocean  steamships  know  that  they 
are  served  with  fine,  raw  tomatoes  from  the  day  they 
leave  America  till  they  reach  the  English  docks.  By 
selecting  long-keeping  varieties  and  packing  in  the 
best  manner,  American  horticulturists  can  develop  this 
trade  which  will  be  worth  $500,000.  Our  total  exports 
of  canned  vegetables  do  not  now  reach  $400, 000  per  year. 
*  * 
The  beginning  of  business  in  this  city  by  the  Union 
Milk  Company,  elsewhere  alluded  to  in  this  issue,  is  a 
promising  event  to  the  legitimate  trade.  There  is  not 
a  reputable  dealer  in  the  city  who  is  not  heartily  sick 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  business  has  been  manipu¬ 
lated  for  years  and  who  would  not  welcome  any  more 
reasonable  method.  We  believe  that  the  litigation 
now  in  progress  will  result  in  annulling  the  charter  of 
the  New  York  Milk  Exchange,  Limited,  and  thus  pave 
the  way  for  a  better  state  of  affairs.  Milk  producers 
have  been  badly  treated — not  by  reputable  dealers, 
but  by  the  “  shysters”  who  infest  the  trade,  who  buy 
cheap  milk  from  Exchange  creameries,  for  which  they 
pay  cash  and  in  which  they  traffic  until  they  can  secure 
some  confiding  farmer’s  dairy.  With  this  they  do  busi¬ 
ness  for  a  month  or  six  weeks — until  the  producer 
shuts  it  off  for  non-payment,  and  then  they  buy 
Exchange  milk  again  until  they  get  a  new  victim. 
They  are  as  much  of  a  calamity  to  the  reputable  dealer 
as  they  are  to  the  producer.  It  stands  to  reason  that 
when  a  man  pays  only  for  half  his  milk,  he  can  under¬ 
sell  his  honest  competitor  who  pays  for  all.  Let  the 
reputable  dealers  look  into  the  situation  and  see  if  they 
cannot  conserve  their  interests  by  taking  stock  in  the 
new  company  and  casting  in  their  lot  with  the  reform 
movement.  A  change — a  revolution  is  imminent  and 
there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  the  present 
movement  is  not  the  most  desirable  point  around  which 
all  that  is  honorable  in  the  milk  trade  should  rally. 
*  * 
Potatoes  are  a  “  water  crop.”  A  bushel  of  60  pounds 
contains  about  45  pounds  of  water.  In  200  bushels, 
therefore,  we  sell  9,000  pounds  of  water,  a  substance 
that  costs  nothing.  It  will  require  1,500  bushels  of 
wheat,  1,600  of  corn,  1,000  of  corn  meal,  175  of  apples, 
about  35  tons  of  Timothy  hay,  nearly  6,000  quarts  of 
strawberries,  or  over  5,000  c  uarts  of  milk  to  dispose  of 
that  amount  of  water  ;  and  the  potato  makes  a  first- 
rate  ‘  ‘  original  package  ”  in  which  to  sell  the  water, 
because  its  “life”  is  longer  than  that  of  any  product 
containing  an  equal  amount  of  water.  It  will  keep  six 
months,  while  a  week  is  the  limit  of  many  water  crops. 
Because  of  this  large  content  of  water,  potatoes  are  a 
luxury  rather  than  a  cheap  food.  As  compared,  pound 
for  pound,  with  other  substances,  potatoes  rank,  in 
life-sustaining  powers,  as  follows : 
Potatoes .  375 
Wheat  flour . 1  .<>44 
Oat  meal . 1,850 
Sweet  potatoes .  530 
Crackers . 1,895 
Corn  meal . 1,645 
Bice . 1,630 
Beans . 1,615 
Apples .  315 
Green  peas .  405 
Or,  putting  it  in  another  way,  with  potatoes  at  80 
cents  a  bushel,  milk  at  six  cents  a  quart,  eggs  at  25 
cents  a  dozen,  and  other  articles  at  proportionate 
prices,  25  cents  will  buy  life-sustaining  food  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  proportions : 
Potatoes.... 
Corn  meal. . 
Wheat  flour. 
Eggs . 
Milk, 
.  75  Cheese .  42 
.206  Butter .  36 
.136  Oysters .  3 
.  10  Salt  codfish .  16 
..  26  Salt  pork .  72 
One  great  food  value  of  the  potato  lies  in  the  fact 
that  it  can  be  cooked  in  numberless  different  ways, 
while,  used  in  moderation,  it  is  a  remarkably  healthful 
source  of  the  carbohydrates  needed  for  human  food. 
Being  classed  as  a  luxury,  the  potato  offers  a  fine 
chance  for  those  who  are  willing  to  grow  crops  for 
their  quality.  Potatoes  of  good  size  and  free  from 
scab  or  other  blemish,  and  which  cook  out  dry  and 
mealy,  are  products  that  any  man  can  afford  to  build 
The  best  soil  for  potatoes  is  warm,  mellow  and 
porous,  one  that  is  easily  worked  and  easily  drained. 
It  is  evident  that  a  plant  which,  like  the  potato,  forms 
its  product  below  ground,  must  have  plenty  of  space 
and  air  in  the  soil.  The  potato,  as  it  grows,  must  push 
aside  the  earth  in  order  to  develop.  It  is  therefore 
easy  to  see  how  necessary  it  is  that  the  soil  should  be 
open  and  mellow.  All  have  noticed  how  in  hard,  stiff 
clay,  or  where  the  hills  or  trenches  contain  many 
stones,  the  potatoes  are  often  shapeless  or  stunted  be¬ 
cause  they  have  not  space  enough  to  grow  in.  While 
the  potato  is  a  “  water  crop,”  it  cannot  stand  wet  feet. 
A  cold,  stagnant  soil  cannot  produce  first-class  pota¬ 
toes.  The  potato  is  a  rapid  grower.  In  a  crop  of  300 
bushels  per  acre  the  roots  are  forced  to  collect,  in  from 
four  to  six  weeks,  4,500  pounds  of  solid  matter,  and 
combine  it  with  13,500  pounds  of  water.  The  roots  run 
everywhere.  From  the  very  surface  of  the  ground  to  a 
depth  of  a  foot  or  more,  there  is  a  perfect  mat  of  roots, 
some  of  them  almost  too  small  to  be  seen,  but  every  one 
useful  and  necessary  to  the  plant.  Some  farmers  seem 
to  think  that  it  is  just  as  useful  for  the  potato  plant  to 
cut  off  its  roots  as  it  is  to  cut  off  a  man’s  corns.  A 
study  of  the  potato  plant  teaches  us  that  the  best  soil 
is  a  warm  light  loam  that  will  not  pack  or  cake  around 
the  tubers.  The  best  manure  is  that  which  is  soluble, 
well-balanced,  free  from  weed  seeds  and  ferments.  It 
should  be  placed  all  over  the  field  so  that  the  roots 
must  stretch  out  for  it.  The  best  time  to  work  the  soil 
deeply  is  before  planting.  An  extra  plowing  is  better 
than  three  deep  cultivatings.  If  the  ground  could  only 
be  perfectly  pulverized  before  planting,  there  would 
be  no  need  of  cultivating  deeper  than  1)4  inch  at  any 
time  during  the  season,  and  then  only  to  kill  weeds  or 
to  conserve  moisture.  *  * 
Brevities. 
Good  father  Gray,  your  hair  is  white  as  snow, 
You  sit  serene  and  happy— do  you  know 
How  Wrong  and  Crime  stalk  ever  through  the  land 
Crushing  the  weak  and  poor  with  heavy  hand  ? 
Do  you  not  know  how  human  rights  are  sold  ? 
How  Truth  is  dumb  and  Justice  bows  to  gold  ? 
“  Are  not  the  common  people  true  and  strong ? 
Will  the/y  not  rise  at  last  and  right  the  wrong  1 
If  that  be  so,  I  am  content.” 
Good  father  Gray,  your  head  is  bent  with  years, 
Yet  on  your  face  I  read  no  sign  of  fears. 
Do  you  not  know  that  bitter  unbelief 
Is  in  men’s  hearts  and  that  with  shame  and  grief, 
Our  old  men  see  the  teeth  of  sure  decay 
Eating  the  heart  of  moral  law  away  ? 
“  Is  not  the  sweet  old  faith  still  true  and  strong  ? 
Does  it  not  still  lead  upward  from  the  wrong ? 
If  that  be  so,  I  am  content.” 
Good  father  Gray,  your  life  is  in  the  past, 
Why  do  you  not  sit  weary  and  downcast  ? 
Sorrowing  bitterly  that  men  should  throw 
The  good  old  things  aside  and  blindly  go, 
Trying  to  solve  great  mysteries  and  grieve 
O’er  secrets  that  you  were  content  to  leave  ? 
“  Does  not  the  same  good  Father  wait  above 1 
No  human  folly  weakens  His  great  love  ? 
If  that  be  so,  I  am  content.” 
WE  will  talk  about  digging  and  sorting  potatoes  at  the  proper  time. 
Unto  every  one  is  given  the  right  to  imitate  Mr.  Niven.  Water, 
culture,  fertilizer — make  this  famous  appetizer! 
How  many  of  our  readers  think  a  machine  like  Breed’s  weeder  fitted 
on  light  wheels  so  that  one  could  ride  would  be  desirable  ? 
How  many  of  us  yield  “  milk  of  human  kindness  ”  that  will  test  up 
to  the  standard  ?  We  use  most  of  the  cream  on  ourselves. 
The  “  Acme”  harrow  is  a  good  tool  for  covering  potatoes  if  run  across 
the  rows.  For  lengthwise  covering,  a  one-horse  wooden  snow-plow 
drawn  back-end  foremost  will  do  good  work. 
The  bilious  old  lady  described  on  page  210  gives  a  first-rate  illustra¬ 
tion  of  the  way  lots  of  people  try  to  do  business.  They  fail  and  then 
lay  the  blame  where  it  does  not  at  all  belong  ! 
Mr.  Wm.  McCabe,  of  the  New  York  Tax  Beform  Association,  sends 
us  a  long  reply  to  the  letters  on  taxation  of  personal  property  printed 
on  page  166.  We  shall  print  it  at  the  earliest  opportunity. 
Before  you  agree  to  take  hold  of  new  schemes  or  “  agencies  ”  sleep 
over  the  matter  or  talk  it  all  over  with  your  wife.  Nine  times  in  ten 
you  will  then  keep  out  of  it,  which  will  greatly  lower  your  percentage 
of  disappointments. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  know  just  how  much  of  a  steal  there  is  in 
the  bill  appropriating  $750,000  for  the  purchase  of  additional  lands  for 
the  State  Preserve  in  the  Adlrondacks.  It  is  a  miserable  business  all 
the  way  through,  and  will  benefit  only  the  sharpers  who  are  manipulat¬ 
ing  the  business  and  the  officials  who  have  the  matter  in  charge. 
In  Germany  large  quantities  of  alcohol  are  made  from  potatoes,  and 
this  industry  is  rapidly  gaining  ground  in  France.  In  the  latter  country 
scientists  are  making  careful  studies  of  the  potato  plant,  hoping  to 
Increase  the  yield  of  large  tubers.  Already  do  chemists  report  a  rapid 
test,  by  means  of  which  the  per  cent  of  starch  in  the  tubers  can  be 
readily  found. 
We  hope  to  see  the  time  when  every  can  of  milk  that  comes  to  the 
city  will  be  required  bylaw  to  bear  this  statement:  “  I  certify  that  the 
milk  in  this  can  contains  —  per  cent  of  fat”  signed  by  the  farmer  send¬ 
ing  it.  With  a  Babcock  test  the  whole  thing  could  be  done  in  a  short 
time.  Would  it  pay?  It  would— just  as  it  pays  you  to  have  the  fertil¬ 
izer  manufacturer  print  his  guarantee  on  his  bags. 
Probably  more  manure  per  acre  is  used  in  Japan  than  in  any 
other  country,  and  one  would  suppose  that  the  Japanese  would  be 
eager  to  secure  cheap  sources  of  fertility.  Two  years  ago  two  cargoes 
of  South  Carolina  rock  phosphate  were  sent  to  Japan.  The  people 
would  not  buy  it— most  of  it  is  still  unsold.  Bemember  that  the  first 
cargo  of  nitrate  of  soda  taken  to  England  had  to  be  dumped  Into  the 
ocean  ! 
It  is  very  hard  to  say  much  that  is  new  about  potato  culture.  The 
old  story  of  planting,  cultivating  and  digging  is  pretty  dry  reading  to 
most  of  those  who  take  such  a  paper  as  The  B.  N.-Y.  Still,  the  time- 
tested  facts  and  methods  must  be  kept  in  print— we  cannot  afford  to 
keep  them  all  in  our  heads— but  it  seems  better  to  group  them  all  in 
cheap  pamphlets  instead  of  scattering  them  through  dozens  of  papers. 
For  this  reason  Mr.  Carman’s  New  Potato  Culture  is  of  special  value 
to  potato  growers,  as  it  gives  in  a  brief  and  comprehensive  way  just  the 
facts  and  statistics  needed. 
