320 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
May  14 
THE 
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  Kdltor.o 
Copyrighted  1892. 
SATURDAY,  MAY  14,  1892. 
The  President  has  signed  the  Chinese  Exclusion 
Bill,  the  most  stringent  anti-immigration  law  ever 
passed  in  this  country.  Whether  this  bill  was  prompted 
by  the  fact  that  the  Chinese  are  particularly  undesir¬ 
able  as  immigrants,  or  whether  it  indicates  a  general 
crusade  against  many  immigrants  from  other  coun¬ 
tries,  remains  to  be  seen.  The  general  opinion  seems 
to  be  that  stricter  laws  are  needed  against  the.  rush  of 
paupers  and  criminals  from  several  other  countries. 
*  * 
It  is  unfortunate  that  the  word  copperas  is  popularly 
applied  to  a  salt  that  hasn’t  any  copper  in  it.  Sul¬ 
phuric  acid  and  iron  make  copperas.  This  is  also 
known  as  green  vitriol.  The  word  vitriol  simply  means 
a  soluble  sulphate  of  any  metal,  so  that  we  have  white 
vitriol,  zinc;  blue  vitriol,  copper;  green  vitriol,  iron  ; 
red  vitriol  may  also  be  a  sulphate  of  iron  or  a  sulphate 
of  cobalt.  Sulphuric  acid  itself  is  known  simply  as 
vitriol.  The  one  thing  to  be  borne  in  mind  is  that  the 
salt  used  in  the  Bordeaux  mixture  is  sulphate  of  cop¬ 
per,  blue  vitriol;  not  sulphate  of  iron  which  is  green 
vitriol.  *  * 
It  is  a  mighty  unfortunate  man  who  has  to  work 
when  he  knows  he  is  not  at  his  best.  A  rest  would 
make  him  right,  but  he  thinks  he  cannot  take  it,  and 
so  worries  on  doing  half  work  and  giving  poor  satis¬ 
faction.  Farmers  frequently  drag  themselves  about 
when  they  are  not  really  able  to  work.  They  are  not 
able  to  do  full  work,  and  they  lose  more  than  they 
gain  by  trying  to  “  go  through  the  motions.”  A  short 
rest — a  little  vacation — would  put  them  on  their  feet 
so  that  they  could  do  full  time.  Don’t  drag  all  through 
the  spring  and  summer  when  a  few  days’  rest  and 
care  at  the  right  time  will  make  you  strong. 
*  * 
A  friend  in  Nova  Scotia  writes  :  “  I  much  prefer 
The  R.  N.-Y.  to  the - ,  chiefly  on  account 
of  the  questions  and  answers,  making  it  a  more,  so  to 
say,  living  issue  on  agricultural  matters,  while  the 
other  indulges  in  the  essay  system.  Essays  on  farm¬ 
ing  ought  to  be  only  filling-up  matter,  if  that  be 
needed.”  The  man  who  asks  questions  is  a  thinker, 
and  The  R.  N.-Y.  desires  above  all  things  to  deal  with 
thoughtful  farmers.  We  would  rather  have  one  good 
pointed  question  than  a  dozen  ‘  ‘  essays.  ”  The  one 
thing  we  like  better  than  a  question  is  an  answer  that 
some  reader  has  dug  out  of  the  tough  soil  of  experi¬ 
ence.  “  Living  issues”  for  living  people  ! 
*  * 
The  two  great  electrical  companies,  the  Thomson- 
flouston  and  the  Edison,  are  said  to  have  been  consol¬ 
idated.  The  former  was  capitalized  at  $10,000,000,  the 
latter  at  $15,000,000 — but,  presto,  change  !  the  new 
company  is  to  have  a  capital  sto  *k  of  $50,000,000.  It 
is  not  likely  that  a  single  additional  dollar  will  be  put 
into  these  concerns,  but  thej'  will  now,  or  as  soon  as 
they  can  absorb  a  few  minor  companies,  be  in  a  condi¬ 
tion  to  plunder  the  public  most  effectually.  Of  the 
original  capital  of  $25,000,000  it  is  probable  that  one- 
third  at  least  was  water.  Now  it  will  receive  a  hun¬ 
dred  per  cent  more  of  water,  and  the  dear  public  will 
be  asked  to  pay  dividends  on  this  much  diluted  stock. 
*  * 
Mr.  Joshua  Crawford,  of  Ohio,  secretary  of  the 
Farmers’  Progressive  Reading  Circles,  wrote  Secretary 
Rusk  some  time  ago  for  aid  and  advice  in  popularizing 
the  woi'k  of  the  circle.  This  association  is  patterned 
somewhat  after  the  famous  Chautauqua  course  of 
reading,  only  it  is  proposed  to  confine  the  reading  to 
such  branches  as  will  be  most  useful  in  teaching  young 
people  to  love  and  respect  farm  life.  It  is  proposed 
to  connect  it  with  all  organizations  of  farmers  and 
with  the  institutes.  The  thing  most  needed  is  a  corps 
of  trained  lecturers  who  can  go  about  and  follow  up 
the  reading  with  lectures  and  examinations.  It  is 
proposed  to  hold  a  Farmers’  Assembly  each  year  simi¬ 
lar  to  the  Chautauqua  meeting,  where  the  work  could 
be  systematized  and  lecturers  trained.  Secretary  Rusk 
is  heartily  in  favor  of  the  plan,  and  believes  it  to  be  the 
natural  outcome  of  the  farmers’  institute  movement. 
Mr.  Crawford  wanted  a  general  appropriation  for 
holding  this  meeting.  Secretary  Rusk  thinks  a  better 
way  would  be  for  the  government  to  appropriate  say 
$20,000  to  enable  the  Agricultural  Department  to  Co- 
Operate  with  the  farmers’  assembly.  In  this  way  the 
reading  circles  would  provide  for  their  own  assembly 
and  receive  ample  help  from  the  Agricultural  Depart¬ 
ment,  which,  in  many  respects,  would  be  better  than 
to  have  the  government  pay  for  it  all. 
*  * 
“Truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again” — at  least 
we  have  the  poet’s  authority  for  the  statement,  but 
there  is  nothing  peculiar  in  this  sort  of  resurrection- 
frauds  and  lies,  though  repeatedly  crushed,  rise  again 
with  perennial  vigor.  One  of  these  frauds  is  the  man 
who  has  a  process  for  making  “12  pounds  of  butter 
from  100  pounds  of  milk.”  He  is  downed  at  intervals, 
but  he  rises  again  and  goes  about  the  country  gather¬ 
ing  in  shekels  from  that  class  of  people  who  believe 
that  something  can  be  made  of  nothing.  The  crop  of 
fools  is  a  large  and  never-failing  one — hence  the  suc¬ 
cess  which  attends  these  blooming  frauds.  We  cannot 
believe  that  any  Rural  readers  have  taken  stock  in 
such  transparent  humbugs. 
*  * 
The  agricultural  students  of  Cornell  University  are 
bright  and  original.  Last  year  they  got  up  an  “  agri¬ 
cultural  jubilee”  that  was  a  great  success.  This  year, 
at  the  close  pf  the  term — June  9 — they  will  give  a 
banquet  and  entertainment  that  promise  to  be  great 
affairs.  Places  on  the  programme  will  be  awarded  as 
prizes  to  those  agricultural  students  who  prepare  the 
best  papers  on  the  topics  given  elsewhere  in  this 
issue.  The  banquet  will  be  a  close  imitation  of  the 
genuine  farmer’s  supper,  each  table  being  presided 
over  by  a  host  and  hostess  who  will  carve,  and  serve 
as  they  would  at  home  on  the  farm.  How  much  better 
this  is  than  the  feeble  attempts  at  “  style”  some  of  our 
agricultural  students  are  guilty  of  !  The  writer  well 
knows  a  young  man  who  once  had  charge  of  such  a 
banquet.  He  hired  a  dozen  colored  waiters  to  serve  at 
the  tables  and  thereby  lost  money  on  the  dinner  while 
there  was  not  half  the  fun  there  would  have  been  had 
students  waited.  When  we  seek  after  “  tone”  let  us 
seek  the  right  kind.  #  * 
A  bill  now  before  Congress  proposes  to  provide  for 
the  enormous  pension  charge  by  levying  a  graduated 
tax  on  incomes.  It  also  provides  to  increase  the  bank¬ 
ing  facilities  of  the  country  and  give  greater  elasticity 
and  ease  to  our  currency  by  repealing  the  law  impos¬ 
ing  a  prohibitory  tax  on  State  bank  issues.  The  meas¬ 
ure  has  the  strong  support  of  some  of  the  most  conser¬ 
vative  financiers  of  New  York  and  other  Eastern 
cities,  and  the  hearty  approval  of  the  Western  and 
Southern  Representatives.  For  years  the  movement 
looking  to  the  imposition  of  a  graduated  income  tax 
has  been  growing  among  the  farmers  of  both  these 
sections,  while  the  repeal  of  the  onerous  tax  on  the  issue 
of  State  banks  would  be  in  line  with  their  well-known 
opposition  to  the  National  banking  system.  In  view  of 
the  approval  of  the  measure  by  many  Eastern  financial 
authorities,  and  of  the  hearty  support  it  receives 
from  most  of  the  rest  of  the  country,  it  appears  to 
stand  a  fair  chance  of  success.  Still  an  income  tax  of 
any  kind  is  extremely  distasteful  to  all  who  would  be 
subject  to  it,  and  although  it  is  an  important  means  of 
raising  revenue  in  nearly  all  European  countries,  it  was 
about  the  first  genuine  war  tax  repealed  in  this. 
*  * 
Along  the  border  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Canadian  line 
there  have  for  years  been  constant  hostility  and  fre¬ 
quent  conflicts  between  the  great  cattle  syndicates  and 
the  small  ranchers  or  rustlers.  The  former,  rich,  power¬ 
ful  owners  of  vast  territories,  backed  up  by  laws 
passed  by  the  legislatures  of  the  various  States  at  their 
bidding,  and  bent  on  maintaining  their  supremacy  at 
any  cost,  have  by  their  high-handed  tyranny  and  ruth¬ 
less  oppression,  incurred  the  fierce  enmity  of  the 
ranchers  and  settlers  who,  all  along'  the  line,  have 
been  steadily  pressing  onward,  with  ever-growing- 
numbers,  into  the  domain  which  the  barons  arro¬ 
gantly  claimed  as  peculiarly  their  own.  Each  faction 
has  constantly  asserted  that  it  has  been  plundered  by 
the  other.  While  the  cowboys  of  the  cattle  barons  have, 
it  is  charged,  been  frequently  ruthless  in  cutting  the 
fences  of  the  ranchers  and  inextricably  mingling 
their  small  bunches  of  cattle  with  the  vast  herds 
of  their  employers ;  the  rustlers,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  been  as  fiercely  accused  of  persistently 
appropriating  the  cattle  of  their  powerful  neighbors. 
The  hostility  between  the  two  factions  has  lately  cul¬ 
minated  in  a  calamitous  conflict  in  Wyoming.  With 
their  customary  arrogance  the  cattle  kings  hired  a 
horde  of  reckless  bravos  from  all  parts  of  the  West  to 
exterminate  their  opponents,  but  the  latter,  mustering 
in  overwhelming  force,  defeated  and  beleaguered  their 
antagonists,  and  would  doubtless  have  slaughtered 
them  to  a  man  were  it  not  for  the  timely  intervention 
of  the  United  States  troops.  This  is  likely  to  be  the 
last  serious  conflict  between  the  cattle  syndicates  and 
smaller  settlers  in  the  West.  For  over  a  decade  the 
struggle  has  raged  from  the  prairies  of  Texas  to  the 
plains  of  Wyoming,  and  every  where  the  man  with  the 
small  bunch  of  cattle,  followed  closely  or  accompanied 
by  the  man  with  the  hoe,  has  by  his  ever-increasing 
support  defeated  his  more  powerful  opponent.  The 
result  of  the  late  conflict  in  their  last  stronghold  ap¬ 
pears  to  indicate  in  unmistakable  terms,  that  the 
cattle  kings,  barons  and  syndicates  “must  go,”  and 
“  go”  speedily,  too.  *  * 
Brevities. 
Come,  old  fellow,  drop  your  care  and  let  your  heart  be  light, 
Let  the  thought  of  fairer  hours  drive  trouble  out  of  sight; 
Let’s  forget  the  present  now  and  wander  back  to-night, 
Back  to  the  old  days  of  childhood. 
They  come,  they  come  those  thoughts  of  bygone  years, 
We  stand,  and  list  like  one  who  sadly  hears 
Echoes  from  some  sweeter  time  and  looks  through  rising  tears. 
Back  to  the  old  days  of  childhood. 
Like  a  group  of  careworn  children  at  their  mother’s  knee, 
In  the  twilight  listening  to  some  old-time  tale  are  we, 
What  a  rest  ana  happiness  it  is  to  wanejer  free 
Back  to  the  old  days  of  childhood. 
To-night,  to-night,  we’re  boys  again  you  know, 
Let  fun  and  song  and  happy  feeling  flow; 
Sheltered  here  we  care  not  how  the  winds  of  trouble  blow 
Safe  in  the  old  days  of  childhood. 
How  do  you  keep  tally  with  your  berry  pickers  ? 
Too  many  farmers  have  been  soiling  their  cows  on  manure. 
Which  is  worse,  a  man  with  too  little  confidence  in  his  own  ability 
or  one  with  too  much  ? 
IT  is  said  that  the  Republicans  of  Wyoming  propose  to  send  two 
women  to  the  National  convention. 
Michel’s  Eakly  Is  again  the  first  of  our  strawberries  to  blossom 
freely.  Gen.  Putnam  takes  the  second  place. 
Dr.  Coombs,  who  tells  us  about  his  wheat  seeding  on  page  313,  Is  one 
of  the  most  progressive  farmers  in  the  country. 
Mr.  Hodgman’s  paper  on  roads  states  the  facts  as  they  are  found 
in  the  majority  of  townships  in  the  central  West. 
Our  ensilage  experts  are  requested  to  tell  us  what  mistake,  if  any, 
Mr.  Wynkoop  made  in  trying  to  keep  pea  pods  in  the  silo. 
IN  your  judgment  how  many  acres  of  potatoes  are  required  to  make 
a  horse-power  sprinkler  for  Paris-green  or  Bordeaux  mixture 
profitable  ? 
A  perfectly  clean  tooth  cannot  decay,  but  no  tooth-brush  yet  in¬ 
vented  can  keep  the  teeth  “  perfectly  clean.”  The  mischief  is  done 
between  the  teeth  ! 
A  man  In  Georgia  writes  that  his  tenant  is  now  working  14  mules. 
By  means  of  improved  machines  this  farmer  expects  to  do  better  work 
with  eight  mules.  He  can  do  it. 
Profit  in  farming  means  the  difference  between  the  cost  of  growing 
a  crop  and  the  selling  price.  There  is  more  money  in  cutting  down  the 
former  than  in  trying  to  boom  the  latter. 
Some  of  our  esteemed  contemporaries  are  just  beginning  to  tell  their 
readers  that  some  Ohio  maple  sugar  makers  use  steam  for  evaporating. 
The  R.  N.-Y.  had  pictures  of  a  complete  steam  apparatus  nearly  two 
years  ago. 
It  appears  that  Assemblyman  Wissig.  who  recently  disgraced  him¬ 
self  and  his  sex  in  making  a  speech  against  woman’s  suffrage,  was  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  New  York  city.  A  board  of 
education— with  a  nail  in  it— should  be  applied  to  him  where  it  would 
do  the  most  good. 
Previous  to  1892  the  largest  number  of  Btudents  enrolled  in  any 
year  in  the  Agricultural  Department  of  Purdue  University,  Indiana, 
was  33.  This  year  there  are  49  in  addition  to  36  In  the  special  course 
of  agriculture  inaugurated  for  the  first  time  at  the  commencement  of 
the  present  year.  This  is  an  excellent  showing. 
The  farmers,  who  have  a  strong  majority  in  the  Nebraska  Legisla¬ 
ture,  have  passed  an  eight-hour  law  for  all  laborers  except  farm 
hands  and  domestic  servants.  The  political  papers  are,  of  course, 
strongly  sarcastic  at  this  instance  of  a  strong  tendency  in  man  to  make 
laws  to  regulate  everybody’s  business  except  his  own. 
The  silo  counts  at  this  season.  A  cow  that  has  been  fed  through  the 
winter  on  ensilage  will  go  out  to  pasture  in  prime  shape— with  far  less 
danger  than  when  fed  entirely  on  dry  food.  It  is  good  economy  to 
keep  stock  off  a  pasture  until  the  grass  is  three  or  four  inches  high. 
With  plenty  of  ensilage  in  the  silo  this  can  be  done  without  loss. 
Things  are  upside  down  in  the  San  Francisco  hay  markets— if  we 
take  Eastern  markets  for  a  standard.  Here  Timothy  hay  is  in  greatest 
demand.  There  Timothy  is  unsalable,  while  wheat  hay  and  oat  hay 
are  in  great  demand.  The  wheat  and  oats  are  cut  just  before  the 
grain  reaches  the  “  milky  ”  state  and  are  cured  like  any  grass.  Lots 
of  Eastern  farmers  would  find  more  money  in  cutting  their  wheat  for 
hay  than  in  growing  grain  and  straw. 
The  Arizona  Experiment  Station  calls  attention  to  “  Caiiaigre” 
(Rumex  hymenosepalus)  a  wild  plant  found  along  the  river  and  creek 
bottoms  of  Arizona,  it  resembles  rhubarb  or  yellow  dock  in  appear¬ 
ance— the  roots  somew’hat  resembling  sweet  potatoes.  The  roots  when 
dry  contain  from  25  to  30  per  cent  of  tannic  acid— twice  as  much  as 
either  oak  or  hemlock  bark.  Here  is  an  opening  for  leather  makers  to 
procure  cheap  tannin,  and  the  Arizona  Station  is  doing  a  wise  thing  in 
investigating  this  plant. 
The  manufacturers  of  patent  medicines  are  said  to  be  fighting  the 
Paddock  Pure  Food  Bill  in  a  new  way.  Through  the  advertising 
agencies  they  induce  the  local  country  newspapers  to  oppose  it, 
because,  they  say,  should  it  pass,  they  will  at  once  discontinue  adver¬ 
tising.  See  how  much  space  these  advertisements  take  in  the  average 
paper  !  The  patent-medicine  men  would  rather  quit  business  than 
tell  what  their  stuff  is  made  of  ! 
The  prediction  that  the  new  coal  monopoly  would  soon  raise  prices 
has  already  been  verified.  The  Eastern  agents  of  the  concern 
have  advanced  the  price  10  cents  a  ton  on  grate,  15  cents  on  egg  and 
25  cents  on  stove  and  nut— the  fuel  of  the  people.  The  estimated  out¬ 
put  for  May  alone  is  2.750,000  tons,  and  the  extra  profits  on  this  quan¬ 
tity  will  be  $500,000.  Are  the  laws  against  conspiracies  a  dead  letter  ? 
What  will  the  State  and  the  general  governments  do  about  the  imposi¬ 
tion  of  this  arbitrary  tax  on  the  people  ? 
Does  any  one  really  know  that  oats  are  the  cheapest  and  best  grain 
food  for  driving  horses  ?  Experiments  at  the  Maine  Station  show  that 
a  mixture  of  linseed  meal,  gluten  meal  and  middlings  puts  more  flesh 
and  growth  on  colts  than  oats,  and  was  also  cheaper.  The  meal-fed 
colts  seemed  just  as  lively  as  the  oat-fed.  It  used  to  be  thought  that 
oats  contained  a  stimulating  principle  called  “  avenine,”  but  later  in¬ 
vestigations  do  not  show  it.  Is  the  belief  that  oats  are  the  best  horse 
feed  a  matter  of  prejudice  ?  Partly  so,  we  think,  when  this  grain  is 
higher  in  price  than  others. 
Almost  every  mail  brings  us  specimens  of  the  circulars  sent  out  by 
the  “  green  goods”  sharpers.  Some  of  our  readers  want  to  know  if 
such  a  swindle  on  the  government  cannot  be  stopped,  and  others  would 
like  to  know  what  newspaper  the  clipping  sent  with  the  circulars  was 
cut  from.  Let  them  rest  easy.  The  government  is  not  being  swindled 
and  there  is  no  counterfeit  money  in  the  business.  The  alleged  news¬ 
paper  clipping  was  never  in  a  newspaper  and  is,  like  all  the  rest,  a 
fraud.  The  latest  circulars  we  have  seen  ask  that  telegrams  be  sent 
to  Stephen  R.  Beckwith,  Buckhannon,  Upshur  County,  W.  Va.  The 
telegraph  operator  there  should  get  a  club  and  when  Stephen  calls  for 
a  message,  introduce  him  to  it. 
