238 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
April  9 
THK 
Rural  New-Yorker 
n MBS  liUILVJNO,  NEW  YORK. 
•  * 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homea. 
ELBKKT  8.  CARMAN,  Editor  In  Chief. 
HERBERT  W.  COLLING  WOOD,  Managing  Editor." 
Copyrighted  1892. 
SATURDAY ,  APRIL  1892. 
Attention  is  especially  called  to  the  items  under 
“Publisher’s  Desk  ”  and  also  to  the  announcements  on 
page  247  of  this  issue.  #  * 
Respectful  notice  is  given  that  all  live  plants 
for  trial  as  well  as  specimens  for  identification  should 
be  sent  to  River  Edge,  Bergen  County,  N.  J. 
#  * 
The  writer  has  just  been  shewn  samples  of  printing 
and  blotting  paper  made  from  cotton-seed  hulls.  He 
was  also  shown  card-board  made  from  stable  manure  ! 
It  was  of  good  quality,  firm  and  tough.  The  remainder 
of  the  manure,  aside  from  the  water  and  the  material 
that  went  to  make  the  card-board,  was  contained  in 
a  small  bottle.  When  mixed  with  plaster  it  makes  a 
good  chemical  fertilizer.  It  is  indeed  a  curious  state 
of  affairs  when  we  find  chemical  fertilizer  as  a  waste 
product  from  the  manufacture  of  paper  from  stable 
manure.  *  # 
Last  year,  in  a  garden  patch,  we  planted  Cory  corn 
about  the  middle  of  April.  When  it  was  about  a  foot 
high  we  planted  Crosby  between  the  rows.  When  the 
Cory  was  cut  up  Ne  Plus  Ultra  was  sown  for  fodder 
where  the  Cory  had  stood.  When  the  Crosby  was  ripe  it 
was  cut  out  and  fed  to  cows,  and  cabbage  plants  were 
set  out  in  its  place.  On  a  strip  18  inches  wide  on  each 
side  of  the  Ne  Plus  Ultra  rye  was  sown.  All  did  well 
except  the  cabbage,  which  was  small.  The  Ne  Plus 
Ultra  sweet  corn  grew  nearly  three  feet  high.  The 
rye  will  be  plowed  under  this  spring.  Nothing  but 
chemical  fertilizers  was  used. 
*  * 
Early  next  week  the  free  wool  bill  is  certain  to  be 
passed  by  the  Lower  House  of  Congress,  probably  by 
a  strict  party  vote,  as  none  of  the  Republicans  is  like¬ 
ly  to  vote  for  it.  Afterwards  a  number  of  separate 
attacks  will  be  made  on  the  McKinley  tariff  by  the 
passage  of  several  bills  lowering  or  altogether  remov¬ 
ing  the  duties  on  various  products — chiefly  raw  ma¬ 
terials.  All  this  legislation  is  merely  to  make  party 
records,  as  there  is  no  expectation  that  any  of  the 
measures  will  pass  the  Senate,  and  even  if  any  should 
do  so,  it  is  well  known  that  it  would  be  vetoed  by  the 
President.  It’s  merely  an  expensive  method  of  manu¬ 
facturing  political  powder  for  the  next  Presidential 
campaign.  *  * 
Experiment  has  repeatedly  shown  that  cutting  half 
the  tassels  of  corn  before  the  pollen  forms,  results  in 
an  increased  crop  of  grain.  Why  should  it  not?  It  is 
practically  a  castration  of  the  plant  and  should  increase 
the  yield  if  castration  of  animals  will  increase  their 
size.  Whether  it  is  practical  to  cut  half  of  the  tassels 
from  a  large  field  of  corn  is  another  matter.  It  is  a 
long  and  tedious  job  to  go  over  acres  of  corn  in  this 
way.  It  is  quite  probable  that  equally  good  results 
will  be  reached  by  applying  a  small  quantity  of  some 
soluble  fertilizer  just  as  the  silks  begin  to  dry.  This 
plan  of  applying  a  portion  of  the  fertilizer  late  in  the 
season  is  excellent — that  is,  when  there  is  moisture 
enough  to  dissolve  the  fertilizer.  It  would  probably 
do  little  good  to  apply  it  in  the  dust — in  a  dry  season 
when  the  ground  is  thoroughly  parched;  but  in  the 
average  season  it  will  pay  to  divide  the  fertilizer  into 
two  or  three  doses.  *  * 
We  have  often  referred  to  the  efforts  made  by  Col. 
C.  J.  Murphy  to  teach  the  people  of  Europe  the  great 
value  of  corn  meal  as  a  food.  The  American  farmers 
owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude.  He  worked  alone  and 
under  the  most  discouraging  circumstances  until  Sec¬ 
retary  Rusk  appointed  him  a  special  agent  of  the 
Agricultural  Department.  He  is  now  in  Germany 
working  as  earnestly  as  ever  to  cultivate  a  taste  for 
corn  meal.  It  is  hard  work,  for  the  roots  of  three  or 
four  centuries  of  prejudice  must  be  pruned  off  before 
a  new  growth  will  take  place.  It  is  coming,  though; 
already  the  Germans  speak  of  “  Murphy  brodt,”  mean¬ 
ing  the  new  corn  meal  loaf.  Our  government  should 
take  immediate  steps  to  establish  a  “corn  school”  in 
every  foreign  country.  It  is  said  that  Samuel  J.  Tilden 
was  the  first  to  realize  the  great  importance  of  this 
matter.  He  had  a  bill  introduced  appropriating  money 
for  advertising  the  merits  of  American  corn.  It  was 
laughed  out  of  Congress  as  a  “  hayseed”  joke.  It  is  a 
pleasure  to  think  that  to-day  such  a  “hayseed”  bill 
would  receive  respectful  attention.  In  our  judgment, 
this  corn  market  question  is  of  more  practical  import¬ 
ance  than  the  tariff,  the  silver  question,  the  Behring 
Sea  controversy  or  any  other  thus  far  discussed  by 
Congress.  Steps  should  be  taken  at  once  to  open  a 
“corn  kitchen”  in  every  large  European  city  where 
foods  made  from  maize  could  be  prepared  and  sold 
every  day  in  the  year.  Where  is  Uncle  Sam's  reputed 
smartness  in  trade  ?  In  Indian  corn  he  has  “  the  big¬ 
gest  thing  in  the  world.”  Why  doesn’t  he  bo<nn  it  like 
his  jack-knives,  clocks  and  tools? 
*  * 
The  present  New  York  Legislature  has,  in  its  brief 
career,  done  several  unscrupulous  things  and  now  it 
has  done  an  infamous  one.  It  has  just  legalized  the 
“  wild-cat”  insurance  schemes,  or  “endowment  frauds” 
or  “  get-rich-quick”  humbugs  which  have  recently  been 
kicked  out  of  every  other  State  in  which  they  have 
been  practicing  their  rascality.  The  Insurance 
Department  in  every  State  where  these  mushroom  con¬ 
cerns  have  sprung  up  has  declared  emphatically  against 
them,  and  the  Superintendent  of  Insurance  in  this 
State  is  bitterly  opposed  to  them.  Thousands  of  per¬ 
sons  in  other  States — and  in  most  cases  credulous  poor 
people  who  could  not  afford  to  lose  their  money — have 
put  their  earnings  into  these  concerns  and  have,  of 
course,  lost  them.  Their  dishonesty  and  knavery  have 
become  notorious,  and  yet  the  New  York  Legislature 
has  given  them  permission  to  swindle  the  people  of  the 
State  without  hindrance  from  the  law — in  other  words, 
it  has  legalized  fraud.  This  is  an  amazing  piece  of 
legislation  which  Governor  Flower  should  not  permit 
to  disgrace  the  statute  books. 
*  * 
The  Lower  House  of  the  Ohio  Legislature  has  just, 
by  a  large  majority,  passed  a  law  requiring  mortgagees 
to  pay  taxes  on  the  mortgages  of  real  estate.  It  is 
proposed  by  the  bill  that  the  owner  of  the  encumbered 
estate  shall  pay  the  tax  on  the  mortgage  as  well  as 
that  on  the  lest  of  the  property;  but  shall  receive  a 
separate  receipt  for  the  mortgage  tax,  which  the  mort¬ 
gagee  is  compelled  to  accept  as  part-payment  on  the 
principal  and  interest.  The  measure  is  heartily  sup¬ 
ported  by  the  great  bulk  of  the  farmers  of  Ohio,  and 
is  in  line  with  the  legislation  on  the  matter  sought  by 
farmers  in  every  other  State  in  the  Union  in  which 
similar  laws  are  not  already  in  force.  The  main  ob¬ 
jection  urged  by  opponents  of  such  a  measure  is  that, 
in  any  case,  the  landowner  must  ultimately  pay  the 
tax,  as  borrowers  are  often  compelled  by  distress  to 
seek  for  loans,  while  capitalists  need  never  lend  money 
except  on  terms  which  they  deem  favorable  to  them¬ 
selves.  Hence  it  is  maintained  that  if  they  are  com¬ 
pelled  to  pay  taxes  on  mortgages,  they  will  exact  pro¬ 
portionately  higher  rates  of  interest,  or  in  other  ways 
recoup  the  amount  of  the  taxes  they  may  have  to  pay. 
*  * 
The  unexpected  defeat  of  the  Free  Silver  Coinage 
Bill  in  the  Lower  House  of  Congress  the  other  day,  is 
a  source  of  congratulation  and  exultation  to  the  leaders 
of  the  Third  Party  throughout  the  country.  They 
insist  that  the  overwhelming  success  of  the  Democratic 
party  at  the  last  National  elections  was  due,  in  the 
South  and  West,  mainly  to  that  party’s  obtrusive  sup¬ 
port  of  free  silver  legislation.  It  is  charged  that  by 
the  leaders’ out-spoken  professions  on  this  subject,  they 
attracted  hundreds  of  thousands  of  votes  from  the 
candidates  of  the  Farmers’  Alliance  and  other  organi¬ 
zations  which  honestly  advocated  the  free  and  unlim¬ 
ited  coinage  of  silver.  If  it  could  have  been  known 
that  at  the  first  test,  the  Democratic  party  would  go 
back  on  its  loud-mouthed  promises,  it  is  alleged  that 
instead  of  the  present  coterie  of  nine  representatives 
of  the  Third  Party  in  the  Lower  House  of  Congress, 
there  would  be  nearly  100.  The  failure  of  the  Demo¬ 
crats  to  keep  their  promises  on  the  silver  question, 
will  it  is  said,  greatly  strengthen  the  Third  Party, 
which  now  expects  to  control  the  Congressmen,  State 
Representatives  and  Presidential  electors  of  at  least 
nine  or  ten  States  in  the  South  and  West. 
*  * 
As  a  “  humus  gatherer  ”  nothing  can  equal  the  corn 
plant.  In  The  R.  N.-Y.’s  great  corn  yield  of  12  years 
ago,  less  than  20  pounds  of  seed  yielded  over  8,000 
pounds  of  grain,  3,000  of  cob,  12,000  of  stalks  and 
leaves,  and  at  least  1,500  pounds  of  roots.  Here  we 
have  at  least  8,000  pounds  of  “  organic  matter”  on  an 
acre  after  all  the  grain  had  been  sold.  It  will  take 
nearly  35  tons  of  good  stable  manure  to  provide  that 
amount  of  “  organic  matter.”  No  other  crop  can  ac¬ 
cumulate  so  much  dry  matter  as  corn.  It  is  by  far  the 
most  important  crop  in  the  world  not  only  for  the 
food  it  supplies,  but  for  its  action  upon  the  soil.  A 
system  of  corn  and  chemicals  would  be  possible  if  all 
the  stalks  went  back  to  the  soil  as  “  humus.”  Asa 
crop  for  cleaning  the  ground  and  utilizing  the  rough- 
age  and  wastes  of  the  farm,  nothing  can  compare 
with  corn.  Its  long  growing  season  and  the  fact  that 
it  grows  fastest  in  hot  weather  when  other  crops  are 
done  growing,  and  when  the  processes  of  nitrification 
are  most  active,  make  it  by  far  the  best  crop  to  grow 
on  sod,  and  the  best  to  precede  potatoes  or  other 
quick-growing  vegetables  Hurrah  for  corn — the 
typical  Yankee  grain  ! 
*  * 
The  series  of  farmers’  institutes  in  New  York  State, 
has  just  come  to  a  close.  It  is  due  to  Mr.  Geo.  T. 
Powell,  the  able  manager,  and  to  those  associated 
with  him,  to  say  that  the  institutes  have  been  excel¬ 
lently  managed,  have  been  uniformly  successful,  and 
have  unquestionably  resulted  in  giving  an  impetus  to 
agriculture  and  horticulture,  which  will  be  notable 
for  years  to  come.  Very  much  useful  knowledge  has 
been  disseminated,  and  the  discussions  have  been  of 
great  interest,  bringing  out  many  interesting  and 
valuable  points.  These  institutes  fitly  supplement  the 
work  of  the  experiment  stations,  and  go  far  to  popu¬ 
larize  the  scientific  knowledge  emanating  from  them. 
On  the  whole,  the  meetings  have  been  useful,  practi¬ 
cal  and  wisely  conducted. 
*  * 
In  order  that  the  people  who  live  on  the  highlands 
and  lowlands  of  Pennsylvania  as  well  as  those  living 
in  the  north  and  south  of  the  State  may  have  a 
day  set  apart  for  tree  planting,  suitable  to 
their  special  localities,  Governor  Patterson  has  re¬ 
cently  named  April  14  and  May  G  as  Arbor  Days. 
In  many  of  the  States  which  extend  over  a  large  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  country  from  north  to  south,  or  which  are 
composed  in  great  part  of  upland  and  lowland,  such 
an  example  is  well  worthy  of  imitation,  as  the  date 
suitable  for  Arbor  Day  in  one  section  would  be  wholly 
unsuitable  in  another.  That  the  annual  custom  of 
setting  apart  a  particular  day  for  planting  trees  in  all 
sections  of  the  country  is  highly  praiseworthy  goes 
without  saying  ;  for  nowadays  the  planting  of  trees  is 
a  simple  act  of  benevolent  reparation  to  future  genera¬ 
tions  for  the  ruthless  denudation  of  the  forest-lands 
of  the  country  during  the  last  three  centuries. 
*  * 
Brevities. 
1  have  (frown  amalzin'  corn  now  for  30  years  or  more, 
Got  the  culture  down  so  One  that  to  touch  It  makes  It  sore. 
Can’t  make  nary  dent  In  It;  Hint  corn’s  what  I  mostly  raise. 
My  kind  Is  perennial— when  she’s  rooted  once  she  stays. 
Folks  say  leather  Is  no  (food  fertilizer;  but  Indeed 
1  know  better;  makes  my  corn  start  an’  grow  up  like  a  weed. 
Surface  culture  suits  me  well,  flt  your  cultivator  out 
With  a  short  an’  narrow  shoe,  an’  you'll  hear  the  kernels  sprout. 
Walkin'  cultivator  heats  ridlu’  higher  than  u  kite, 
Though  the  latter  ain’t  so  bad  when  ye  strap  the  shoe  on  tight. 
Folks  says  prunin’  roots  Is  bad;  don’t  you  mind  ’em— now  I’ll  bet 
I’ve  pruned  half  a  bushel  out,  an’  the  crop's  a-growin’  yet. 
Talk  about  yer  crops  o’  corn,  tell  yer  gret  big  yarns,  I’ll  go 
Better  yet;  I’ve  got  a  crop  always  with  me— on  my  toe  I 
Nature  Is  never  Idle. 
There  is  a  big  noise  from  the  whisky  still. 
The  Devil  feels  exceedingly  frisky  when  corn  Is  made  Into  bad 
whisky. 
At  what  price  can  a  farmer  afford  to  sell  Ills  corn  stalks  away  from 
bis  farm? 
To  crowd  a  corn  plant  for  space  Is  like  making  a  big  man  work  In  a 
“peck  measure.” 
Run  the  corn  rows  north  and  south,  thus  the  sun  will  shine  right 
onto  the  corn  plant’s  mouth— make  Its  health  so  Hue. 
We  won’t  ask  our  friends  the  entomologists  to  agree  to  a  modus 
Vivendi  In  the  case  of  the  corn  worm  this  year.  Can’t  they  tell  us  how 
to  Hght  that  pest  ? 
Considerable  opposition  was  developed  In  Congress  to  the  propo¬ 
sition  to  spend  1150,0011  In  Inspecting  meat  products.  The  bill  passed, 
however,  as  It  should. 
It  is  a  good  plan  to  hang  a  cabbage  up  by  a  string,  so  high  that  the 
hens  must  jump  for  It.  They  thus  obtain  exercise  and  green  food  at 
one  jump,  so  to  speak. 
A  Maryland  farmer  excited  by  Mr.  Lewis's  farm  statement  pro¬ 
poses  to  show  us  how  he  sold  $5,408.75  worth  of  produce  from  a  farm  of 
110  acres,  which  was  considered  “worn  out”  a  few  years  ago. 
Mr.  Lewis  says  that  If  a  man  should  come  Into  his  corn  Held  In  an 
average  season  and  plow  deep  between  the  rows  at  blooming  time  he 
would  prosecute  him  for  damages!  He  thinks  he  could  prove  damages 
too. 
The  hand  corn  cutters  have  the  blade  put  on  at  a  wrong  angle.  One 
of  the  best  possible  cutters  is  a  hoe  well  sharpened  on  a  grindstone 
and  the  handle  cut  otf  to  about  two  feet.  In  cutting,  the  blow  comes 
directly  towards  you— as  It  should. 
German  soft-soap  makers  were  In  a  quandary  last  fall  because  of 
the  scarcity  of  Russian  linseed  oil.  The  best  substitute  their  chemists 
could  Hnd  was  the  corn  oil  described  on  page  244.  If  the  German  tariff 
rates  are  revised,  corn  oil  will  supplant  linseed  In  the  German  market. 
a  Russian  physician  announces  that  he  has  discovered  a  cure  for 
drunkenness  In  strychnine,  administered  by  sub-cutaneous  injections. 
Bless  you !  we  have  known  all  about  the  strychnine  cure  for  ages.  Just 
give  a  man  one  good  dose  of  strychnine  and  he  will  never— no  never— 
get  drunk  again. 
Writing  about  the  value  of  stalks  in  paper-making  the  Holyoke 
Paper  Company  says:  “They  would  undoubtedly  make  paper,  and 
perhaps  good  paper,  but  those  who  have  experimented  with  them  for 
that  purpose  state  that  It  takes  more  than  200  pounds  of  them  to  make 
100  pounds  of  paper.  Thus  a  large  amount  of  material  would  have  to 
be  handled  for  a  small  amount  of  paper.”  The  stalks  are,  however, 
cheaper  than  any  other  vegetable  fiber  except  wood. 
What  a  swaggering  old  diplomat  John  Bull  Is!  He  begins  In  all  hts 
controversies  by  claiming  everything,  and  If  he  gets  anything,  seems 
to  be  content.  He  would  not  renew  the  “  Modus  Vivendi  "  on  the  seal 
fishery  question— oh,  no,  not  he;  couldn't  think  of  such  a  thing.  And 
yet.  on  receipt  of  Intimation  that  this  government  would  promptly  and 
vigorously  protect  Its  rights  in  the  seal  waters,  John  Bull  very  quickly 
discovered  that  he  could  renew  the  “  Modus,”  and  do  It  at  once.  John 
Is  wise  In  hls  way. 
We  had  an  Irish  girl  straight  from  the  “  ould  sod.”  For  supper  the 
first  night  after  she  came  we  had  bread  and  butter  and  boiled  sweet 
corn— which  with  fruit  Is  a  perfect  meal  for  us.  The  girl  had  never 
eaten  sweet  corn  before— she  thought  she  must  eat  cob  and  all.  After 
gnawing  on  the  cob  for  a  time  she  said.  “  The  taste  of  It  Is  very  fine, 
but  for  Hivlng’s  sake  how  do  yez  ate  it  ?  ”  When  told  how  to  eat  It 
satisfactorily  she  said :  “  Faith  an’  It  will  be  a  fine  day  for  them  abroad 
when  they  learn  that  same  lesson!”  That’s  correct.  It  will  be  a  “fine 
day"  for  all  the  world  when  the  virtues  of  American  corn  are  properly 
advertised  ! 
