368 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
June  4 
THE 
Rural  New-Yorker 
TIMES  BUILDING,  NEW  YORK. 
*  * 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes. 
ELBERT  S.  CARMAN.  Editor  In  Chief. 
HERBERT  W.  COLLINGWOOD,  Managing  Editor.  D 
Copyrighted  1892. 
SATURDAY,  JUNE  4,  1892. 
Would  one  pound  of  copper  sulphate,  dissolved  in 
50  gallons  of  water  harm  potato  vines?  Would  it  pre¬ 
vent  blight?  Would  any  solution  of  copper  sulphate 
prevent  potato  blight  without  injuring  the  vines? 
Respectfully  submitted  to  our  fungologists. 
*  * 
Have  any  of  the  readers  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  tried  a 
simple  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper  and  water  upon 
potato  tops  as  a  preventive  of  blight?  Of  course,  the 
amount  of  copper  sulphate  used  must  be  considerably 
less  than  that  of  the  Bordeaux  mixture,  in  which  the 
lime  lessens  the  in  jurious  effects  of  the  copper. 
*  * 
About  this  time  of  the  year  the  venders  of  “  Pre- 
servaline,”  “  Snowflake  ”  and  other  preparations  used 
for  preserving  foods,  are  unusually  active  in  pushing 
their  wares.  We  hope  no  dairyman  will  ever  be  ca¬ 
joled  or  coaxed  into  using  these  preparations.  They 
are  all  essentially  one  thing — a  preparation  of  borax 
or  boracic  acid,  and  should  never  enter  any  food.  In 
New  York,  milk  containing  them  is  adulterated  under 
the  law,  and  the  vender  is  liable  to  punishment  and 
the  confiscation  and  destruction  of  his  milk. 
*  # 
We  find  that  seeds  of  the  (Enothera  rosea  (advertised 
as  the  “  Mexican”  Primrose)  at  40  cents  a  plant,  have 
been  offered  by  one  of  our  leading  seedsmen  since 
1872 — 20  years.  And  yet  the  advertiser  of  the  plants 
calls  it  a  “novelty.”  We  fancy  that  the  method  of 
selling  this  plant  may  fairly  be  placed  in  the  same 
category  with  the  Everbearing  Tree  Blackberry,  the 
First  Season’s  Strawberry,  the  Childs’  Strawbefry,  the 
Japanese  Wineberry,  the  Hybrid  Hibiscus,  the  New 
Six-rowed  Barley,  the  Crandall  Tree  Currant,  Storm 
King  Fuchsia,  etc.,  etc.  *  # 
The  Milk  Exchange  lias  decreed  that  the  market 
price  of  milk  on  and  after  May  16,  shall  be  two  cents 
per  quart.  This  is  in  the  direction  in  which  the  Ex¬ 
change  always  moves,  crowding  the  producers.  Last 
year  the  price  was  not  cut  down  to  two  cents  until  the 
21st  of  May.  Another  year  or  two  under  their  regime, 
we  shall  have  all  May  milk  sold  at  two  cents.  The 
average  daily  receipts  of  milk  for  April  were  19,610 
cans  ;  of  cream,  472  cans,  and  of  condensed  milk,  168 
cans.  Reducing  this  to  milk,  we  have  a  grand  total 
daily  average  of  about  23,000  cans.  At  $1  per  can  net, 
this  would  amount  to  $690,000  for  the  month. 
*  * 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  agitation  among  the  farmers 
of  Iowa  about  the  recent  increase  in  the  price  of 
binding  twine  by  the  National  Cordage  Company  or 
Trust.  The  farmers  of  the  State  used  last  year  nearly 
20,000,000  pounds  of  twine,  and  the  advance  just  made 
in  its  price  will  necessitate  the  payment  of  an  ad¬ 
ditional  profit  amounting  to  about  $400,000  for  the 
next  season’s  supply.  It  is  understood  that  a  number 
of  large  harvester  companies  intend  to  step  into  the 
breach  and  place  twine  on  the  market  at  the  actual 
wholesale  cost ;  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  their  sup¬ 
ply  will  soon  be  exhausted,  and  as  the  monopoly  owns 
all  the  accessible  supply  of  the  raw  material  in  this 
and  foreign  countries,  fresh  supplies  can  be  obtained 
only  on  its  arbitrary  terms.  The  binding-twine  ques¬ 
tion  is  likely  to  enter  largely  into  the  campaign  in 
Iowa  this  fall,  and  the  farmers  throughout  the  rest 
of  the  country  also  should  enter  upon  a  vigorous  agita¬ 
tion  of  the  subject  of  trusts  and  monopolies  from 
which  they  suffer  so  grievously. 
*  * 
For  the  past  10  years  great  efforts  have  been  made 
to  improve  the  outlet  to  the  Mississippi  River.  What 
was  desired  was  a  deep  channel  in  which  the  shifting 
sands  would  not  lodge,  and  free  from  bars  and  shoals. 
To  bring  about  this  result  several  shallow  passages 
were  closed  and  the  main  volume  of  the  water  was 
forced  through  a  passage  1,000  feet  wide.  The  great 
volume  of  water  flowing  down  through  the  Mississ¬ 
ippi  A  alley  had  the  effect  of  thoroughly  scouring  out' 
this  passage,  and  the  problem  of  securing  a  perfect 
passage  for  the  commerce  of  the  valley  seems  to  be 
solved.  But  what  about  the  effect  on  the  agriculture 
of  the  country  for  200  miles  back  from  the  Gulf  ?  The 
passage  is  now  like  the  mouth  of  a  bottle.  In  ordin¬ 
ary  times  it  can  discharge  all  the  water,  but  in  time 
of  flood  it  fails,  and,  deprived  of  its  former  shallow 
outlets,  the  water  backs  up  upon  the  country  breaking 
through  levees  and  ruining  thousands  of  rich  farms. 
Something  should  be  done  to  prevent  this  loss.  The 
Government  has  helped  commerce  by  providing  a  self- 
scouring  channel ;  it  should  now  help  agriculture  by 
building  escape  ditches  through  which  surplus  water 
can  be  removed  in  time  of  flood. 
*  * 
If  the  tip  of  an  asparagus  shoot  is  broken  off  or 
frost-bitten,  that  is  the  end  of  the  growth  of  that  par¬ 
ticular  shoot.  It  is  the  tip  alone  that  grows ;  that  is, 
all  growth  proceeds  from  the  tip  which  is  therefore  the 
most  tender  portion.  The  shoot  becomes  tougher  as  it 
nears  the  root-stock.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  the 
shoots  ought  to  be  cut  or  broken  off  an  inch  or  more 
above  ground,  since  the  white  portion  is  tough  and 
worthless.  It  is  true  of  all  plants  that  the  harder, 
woody  portions  are  furthest  from  the  succulent  new 
growth.  Asparagus  is  one  of  the  oldest  vegetables 
known,  no  less — perhaps  even  more— prized  in  the  day s 
of  Pliny  and  Cato  of  ancient  Rome,  than  it  is  now  by 
two- thirds  of  the  farmers  of  the  United  States.  Many 
suppose  that  it  is  a  native  of  America.  All  the  plants, 
however,  found  in  meadows  and  waysides  have  been 
carried  there,  in  one  way  or  another,  from  cultivated 
plots.  It  is  supposed  to  be  a  native  of  Europe — no  one 
knows  exactly  where.  The  so-called  leaves  of  aspara¬ 
gus,  the  thread-like  foliage,  as  it  seems  to  be,  are  not 
leaves,  botanically  speaking,  though  they  act  as  such. 
They  are  in  fact  branchlets  which  grow  in  clusters 
from  the  axil  of  a  little  scale  which  is  the  true  leaf. 
Asparagus  is  just  as  much  a  lily  as  is  an  onion,  a  tulip, 
a  yucca,  a  hyacinth  or  a  Solomon’s  Seal.  There  are 
about  50  species  to  be  found  in  Africa,  Asia  and  Europe 
The  name  is  of  Greek  origin. 
*  * 
The  Hatch  Anti-Option  Bill  now  before  the  House 
of  Representatives  at  Washington,  being  a  revenue 
measure,  has  the  right  of  way,  and  a  vote  on  it  may 
therefore  be  soon  expected.  A  large  majority  of  the 
House  are  reported  to  favor  it,  and  it  is  almost  certain 
to  pass.  It  applies  to  raw  or  manufactured  cotton, 
hops,  wheat,  corn,  oats,  rye,  barley,  grass  seed,  flax 
seed,  pork,  lard,  bacon  and  other  edible  products. 
Dealers  in  options  or  futures  in  these  products  must, 
under  the  proposed  law,  pay  an  annual  license  of  $1,000 
each,  and,  in  addition,  five  cents  per  pound  for  each 
pound  of  raw  or  unmanufactured  cotton,  pork,  hops, 
lard,  bacon  or  other  edible  swine  product,  and  20 
cents  for  each  bushel  of  wheat,  corn,  rye,  barley,  grass 
seed  and  flax  seed  sold  by  them.  This  provision  applies 
to  all  persons  except  farmers  and  planters  for  future 
delivery,  and  authorized  agents  of  the  United  States 
or  of  any  individual  State.  The  provisions  for  col¬ 
lecting  the  license  fees  and  taxes  are  the  same  as  those 
for  collecting  other  internal  revenue  taxes,  such  as 
those  on  tobacco,  distilled  and  malt  liquors,  etc.  It  is 
claimed  that  the  law,  if  passed,  will  suppress  bucket 
shops  and  prevent  short  selling,  and  make  the  Produce 
Exchanges  places  where  commodities  may  be  sold  or 
exchanged,  instead  of  being,  as  now,  places  for  fixing 
prices  and  “  swapping  contracts.”  In  the  last  Con¬ 
gress  the  Senate  adopted  a  similar  bill,  but  the  anti¬ 
option  provisions  were  afterwards  stricken  out  in 
favor  of  the  inoperative  Anti-Trust  Bill.  Farmers 
should  watch  the  action  of  the  Senate  on  this  measure 
and  warn  that  collection  of  plutocrats  that  no  trickery 
will  be  tolerated.  *  * 
A  new  English  law  for  regulating  the  sale  of  fer¬ 
tilizers  and  feeding  stuffs  contains  some  stringent  pro¬ 
visions.  One  is  that  in  selling  a  compound  article  like 
a  “  complete  fertilizer  ”  or  a  mixed  grain  food,  the 
maker  or  mixer  must  state  just  what  the  mixture  con¬ 
tains  and  the  proportion  of  each  ingredient.  For  ex¬ 
ample,  a  fertilizer  manufacturer  will  be  obliged  to 
state  whether  he  uses  rock,  bone,  slag,  nitrate  of  soda, 
blood,  leather,  etc.,  and  how  much  of  each.  There  is 
much  criticism  of  this  section  of  the  bill.  It  is  urged 
that  if  a  manufacturer  is  smart  enough  to  discover 
some  by-product  from  which  he  can  obtain  cheap 
stores  of  nitrogen,  potash  or  phosphoric  acid,  he  is 
fairly  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  his  discovery  so  long 
as  he  provides  goods  that  analyze  satisfactorily  and 
give  good  results  in  the  field.  If  patent  laws  enable 
the  inventor  of  a  really  superior  hoe  or  plow,  that  will 
enable  the  farmer  to  do  better  and  cheaper  work,  to 
make  a  fortune  undisturbed,  should  not  a  fertilizer 
maker  be  permitted  to  realize  on  his  discoveries  ?  If 
Bell  can  make  $25,000,000  by  discovering  a  simple 
means  of  conveying  sound  by  his  telephone,  to  what  is 
the  scientist  entitled  who  introduces  a  plant  that  will 
‘•manufacture  fertilizer”  by  taking  nitrogen  from  the 
air?  If  a  man  discovers  an  important  secret,  what 
right  have  the  public  to  take  it  away  from  him?  We 
think  a  majority  of  fair-minded  people  will  say  that 
the  public  have  no  right  to  such  a  secret  until  the  price 
asked  for  the  product  is  extortionate.  When  it  is  evi¬ 
dent  that  the  secret  is  used  simply  to  make  the  buying 
public  pay  more  than  the  article  is  really  worth  and 
thus  give  the  manufacturer  an  unfair  profit,  some 
means  should  certainly  be  taken  to  bring  about  a 
fairer  division.  We  think  this  is  the  growing  ten¬ 
dency  of  modern  legislation.  The  great  question  is, 
who  is  to  be  the  judge  of  prices  and  profits  ? 
*  * 
A  recent  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  on  appeal  from  the  United  States  Circuit  Court 
of  Massachusetts,  greatly  weakens  the  force  of  the 
National  oleomargarine  law,  and  may  perhaps  render  it 
practically  inoperative.  The  law  provides  that  dealers 
in  artificial  butter  shall  keep  book  accounts  and  make 
such  returns  as  shall  be  required  by  the  Commissioner 
of  Internal  Revenue,  but  no  penalty  is  provided  for  a 
failure  to  do  so,  so  that  the  door  is  left  open  for  an 
evasion  of  the  law.  Under  the  late  decision,  manufac¬ 
turers  need  not  keep  records  of  sales  or  of  the  amounts 
of  oleomargarine  they  make,  and  the  internal  revenue 
officers  will  therefore  find  it  practically  impossible  to 
secure  information  on  which  to  base  their  demands  for 
taxes.  Thus  the  decision  practically  almost  nullifies 
the  law,  and  unless  needed  amendments  are  promptly 
made,  it  must  become  a  “dead  letter.”  Farmers 
should  take  prompt  action  in  this  matter  and  write  at 
once,  individually  and  through  their  various  organiza¬ 
tions,  to  their  Representatives  and  Senators,  urging 
them  to  make,  without  delay,  the  needed  amendments. 
*  * 
Bsevitie  S. 
“  What  makes  you  keep  your  tall  curled  up  ?  ”  said  Molly  Cow  to  Bat, 
The  big  black  dog,  “  You  waste  good  strength  to  hold  your  tall  like  that. 
Just  spend  the  effort  that  It  takes  to  curl  that  tail  in  work, 
And  folks  will  praise  you— now  they  think  you're  nothing  but  a  shirk." 
So  Bat,  he  straight  uncurled  his  tall  and  let  It  drag  along. 
“  Just  see  that  cur!  ”  the  people  said,  “  he  Isn’t  worth  a  song. 
See  how  he  Bneaks  with  tail  between  his  legs  just  like  a  thief. 
Why  don’t  he  hold  bis  tall  up  high,  as  though  he  had  belief 
In  his  own  dignity  and  worth  ?  ”  The  old  cow  heard  it  all, 
And,  bound  to  be  in  fashion  too,  she  soon  began  to  bawl. 
She  tossed  her  tail  high  in  the  air  and  stamped  and  shook  her  head. 
How  mortified  she  was  when  folks  just  laughed  at  her  and  said: 
“  See  that  old  fool;  why  don’t  she  know  before  she  puts  on  sail 
She  has  no  dignity  unless  she  keep  a  quiet  tall.” 
So  study  well  what  suits  your  style,  for  folks  will  cheer  or  rail, 
Applaud  or  hoot  your  actions  by  the  way  you  hold  your  tail. 
Don’t  stop  to  crow  till  you  get  up  and  grow. 
We  hope  there  is  not  an  idle  pound  of  dog  or  cat  at  your  house. 
A  mouthful  of  well  roasted  capon  Isa  strong  argument  In  favor  of 
caponlzing. 
Is  time  money  ?  Unless  your  time  Is  wisely  spent,  It  isn’t  worth  a 
copper  cent. 
The  R.  N.-Y.  will  back  that  North  Holland  cow  shown  on  page  362 
for  a  big  milk  record. 
A  tiled  field  will  grow  a  piled  yield.  On  soil  that  holds  water  the 
yield  will  be  shorter— in  a  season  like  this. 
The  beef  cattle  men  are  all  complaining  that  beef  is  low,  while  mut¬ 
ton  and  poultry  are  proportionately  higher. 
The  R.  N’-Y.  office  now  contains  a  Babcock  milk  tester.  We  shall 
make  It  as  useful  as  a  desk  or  a  type  writer. 
Ugliness  in  the  Jersey  bull  is  often  sired  by  the  hired  man,  while 
all  those  who  come  in  contact  with  him  think  the  other  parent ! 
How  is  it  that  there  Is  never  a  reform  agitation  In  favor  of  reducing 
the  working  hours  of  wives  and  daughters  as  well  as  of  the  husbands 
and  sons  ? 
Can  our  chemists  give  us  a  cheap  and  practical  method  of  testing 
the  value  of  fertilizers  that  will  prove  half  as  satisfactory  as  the  Bab¬ 
cock  test  for  milk  ? 
This  note  comes  from  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.:  “My  father  and  I 
are  working  more  and  more  on  the  ‘  Intensive  ’  system.  It  pays  too, 
and  we  give  all  the  praise  to  The  R.  N.-Y.  We  are  out  of  the  old  rut.” 
Such  words  make  us  feel  like  “letting out  another  link.” 
The  milkmen  of  Chester  County,  Pa.,  offer  to  donate  a  large  amount 
of  fresh  milk  to  the  poor  people  of  Philadelphia.  Charitable  ladles 
will  add  fresh  rolls  to  the  milk  and  see  that  the  proper  persons  ai  e 
served.  What  are  the  objections  to  disposing  of  that  terrible  milk  sur¬ 
plus  in  that  way? 
The  R.  N.-Y.  has  lots  of  friends  out  in  the  “flooded”  districts  of 
the  West.  They  have  our  sympathy,  as  they  well  know.  One  man 
wrote  us  for  our  carriage  and  harness  catalogue.  When  he  woke  the 
next  morning,  he  added  this  P.  S.:  “I  thought  when  I  wrote  the  abo\  e 
that  we  needed  a  carriage;  we  need  a  boat  worse  this  morning.” 
Gov.  Flower’s  action  in  vetoing  the  bill  appropriating  $100,000  for 
premiums  at  agricultural  fairs  meets  with  varied  comments  from 
farmers.  Some  denounce  it  while  others  approve  of  it  because  the 
money  too  often  goes  to  promote  “horse  trots”  and  similar  exhibitions. 
We  hope  to  print  soon  the  opinions  of  a  number  of  well-known  farmers 
on  this  veto. 
We  hope  that  every  reader  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  will  plan  to  take  some 
sort  of  a  vacation  this  year.  Get  away  for  a  little  while;  have  a  little 
change.  It  will  give  you  new  ideas,  new  thoughts,  new  strength.  Best 
of  all,  it  will  make  home  seem  better  than  ever  when  you  get  back. 
Begin  to  plan  for  it  now  and  don’t  let  anything  get  in  the  way.  “Take 
a  day  off,  and  play!” 
During  the  week  General  Dyrenforth  declared  before  the  House 
Committee  on  Agriculture  that  he  had  never  failed  to  produce  rain 
within  a  circuit  of  from  two  to  ten  miles  from  the  point  at  which  he 
operated,  within  eight  to  ten  hours  from  the  commencement  of  his 
operations.  He  strongly  urges  an  additional  appropriation  of  $25,000 
to  continue  the  experiments  in  the  arid  regions  of  the  West. 
Readers  of  the  Rural  will  be  pleased  to  learn  that  the  police  of 
this  city,  a  few  days  since,  captured  one  of  the  gangs  of  “  green  goods  ’  ’ 
men  who  have  been  flooding  the  mails  with  circulars  pertaining  to 
their  swindling  schemes.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  whole  party  will 
land  in  the  penitentiary.  One  of  them  was  a  woman,  who,  when 
arrested,  wore  diamonds  valued  at  $2.000— pretty  good  evidence  that 
the  sharpers  have  been  doing  a  profitable  business. 
The  wee  ily  report  of  the  Board  of  Health  of  this  city  for  the  week 
ending  May  14,  contains  the  following  :  “  Total  number  of  inspec¬ 
tions  of  milk,  1,981;  total  number  of  specimens  examined,  2,349; 
quarts  of  milk  destroyed,  none.”  And  yet  the  Dairy  Commissioner  of 
this  city  is  making  frequent  arrests  for  selling  adulterated  milk  and, 
what  is  more,  he  rarely  fails  of  convicting  the  culprits.  The  lesson  to 
be  deduced  from  these  statements  is  obvious  to  the  dullest  under¬ 
standing, 
Given  a  few  statistics  our  “  statesmen  ”  seem  able  to  argue  on  a  iy 
side  of  a  question.  One  man  has  figured  that  there  are  only  3.900 
millionaires  in  this  country  and  that  of  these  2,700  “  made  their  for¬ 
tunes  in  business  not  affected  by  the  tariff.”  A  free  trader  at  once 
declares  that  this  shows  that  the  “  business  from  which  protection 
has  kept  its  hands  has  thriven  the  best.”  Then  back  comes  the  pro¬ 
tectionist  claiming  that  this  shows  that  if  we  had  free  trade  there 
would  be  more  millionaires  than  ever. 
