432 
July  2 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
Rural  New-Yorker 
TIMES  BUILDING,  NEW  YORK. 
*  * 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes. 
ELBKUT  8.  CAKMAN,  Editor  In  Chief. 
HERBERT  W.  COLLINGWOOD,  Managing  Editor. 
Copyrighted  1892. 
SATURDAY ,  JULY  2,  1892. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  season  the  asparagus  plants 
of  the  Rural  Grounds,  which  gave  the  largest  shoots 
were  marked,  the  object  being  to  note  later  whether  a 
majority  were  those  of  male  or  female  plants.  As 
soon  as  the  plants  bloomed  it  was  found  that  24  were 
males  and  22  females,  which  indicates  that  there  is  in 
this  plot  little,  if  any,  real  difference  between  the  size 
of  the  stems  of  the  male  and  female  plants.  The  size, 
not  the  number  of  stems,  was  alone  considered. 
*  * 
That  the  value  of  land  depends  greatly  on  its  loca¬ 
tion  is  a  trite  old  saying,  the  truth  of  which  was 
forcibly  illustrated  the  other  day  in  Chicago.  Although 
the  Windy  City  includes  within  its  vast  boundaries 
several  farms  and  stretches  of  prairie  forming  a  big 
margin  of  agricultural  land,  a  lot  on  the  corner  of 
.Madison  and  Dearborn  streets  has  just  been  sold  at  a 
rate  that  would  make  an  acre  worth  $10,890,000  !  Fifty 
years  ago  land  in  that  place  was  worth  only  00  cents 
an  acre.  Under  the  Single  Tax  system,  what  would 
be  the  tax  on  that  lot  for  “  unearned  increment?” 
*  # 
In  1875,  8,383,720  barrels  of  beer  were  made  in  the 
United  States.  During  the  year  ending  April  30,  1892, 
the  sales  of  beer  amounted  to  31,474,519  barrels,  the 
consumption  having  increased  nearly  fourfold  in  16 
years.  Making  due  allowance  for  the  increase  of  popu¬ 
lation,  people  must  therefore  now  drink  2%  times  as 
much  per  capita  as  they  did  in  1875.  It  is  often  said 
that  a  free  use  of  beer  would  lessen  the  amount  of  in¬ 
toxication  among  the  people,  but  this  is  hardly  borne 
out  by  the  fact  that  the  increase  in  spirituous  liquors  is 
nearly  proportionately  as  great.  Are  we  becoming  a 
nation  of  drunkards  ?  #  # 
The  consumption  of  milk  and  cream  in  this  district 
grows  to  marvelous  figures  in  hot  weather,  though 
that  is  the  season  when  so  large  a  number  of  the  deni¬ 
zens  of  the  city  are  absent.  For  the  week  preceding 
this  issue  the  receipts  were  very  large.  Reducing  the 
daily  receipts  of  condensed  milk  (198  cans),  and  of 
cream  (1,117  cans)  to  milk,  and  adding  the  receipts 
of  milk  proper  (21,321  cans),  we  have  a  daily  consump¬ 
tion  for  the  week  of  28,815  cans — for  the  week  201,705 
cans  of  10  gallons  each.  The  demand  was  fair,  the 
surplus  selling  on  the  platform  at  $1.20 — a  slight  ad¬ 
vance  over  the  market  price.  We  do  not  think  these 
figures  have  ever  been  reached  before. 
*  * 
The  report  of  the  Hoard  of  Health  of  this  city  for 
the  week  ending  May  14  shows  that  there  were  1,981 
inspections  of  milk,  2,349  specimens  were  examined, 
but  no  adulterated  milk  was  found.  Any  one  who 
knows  anything  about  the  traffic  knows  that  any 
honest  investigation  of  half  that  number  of  samples 
would  show  numerous  violations  of  the  law.  The  idea 
of  a  body  like  the  Hoard  of  Health  of  this  city  sending 
out  inspectors  with  lactometers  is  very  ridiculous. 
What  will  the  lactometer  tell  them  ?  Nothing.  Take 
out  25  per  cent  of  the  cream  and  put  skimmed  milk  in 
its  place  and  it  will  show  a  greater  specific  gavity  than 
before.  #  # 
The  National  Union  Cordage  Company  is  the  alias 
under  which  the  National  Cordage  Trust  masquerades, 
and  its  disguise  has  been  so  effective  that  it  has  taken 
in  even  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  Farmers’  Alliance. 
True,  these  are  the  organization’s  business  or  purchas¬ 
ing  agents  in  the  various  States,  and  there  is  strong 
evidence  that  they  have  been  willingly  deceived  “fora 
consideration.”  The  Trust  has  for  some  time  been 
posing  as  the  “  farmer’s  friend,”  while  charging  him 
extortionate  prices  for  binder  twine  and  other  sup¬ 
plies.  The  Alliance  agents  act  as  middlemen  in  the 
employment  of  the  Trust  at  an  annual  salary  of  from 
$1,000  to  $5,000  apiece  in  addition  to  commissions  on 
the  amounts  they  can  induce  the  farmers  to  purchase. 
Some  of  the  lionestest  or  most  sensitive  of  them  have 
lately  severed  the  disgraceful  connection ;  but  most 
of  the  members  of  the  National  Husiness  Agents’  Asso¬ 
ciation  are  still  surreptitiously  drawing  money  from 
the  “  corruption  fund  of  one  of  the  most  pernicious 
Trusts  in  the  country,  while  the  Alliance,  their  osten¬ 
sible  employer,  is  thundering  everywhere  against  the 
greed,  extortion  and  atrocity  of  Trusts  in  general. 
The  gullibility  of  farmers  has  become  almost  prover¬ 
bial  ;  but  they  are  generally  swindled  by  petty  rascals 
belonging  to  other  classes  ;  here,  however,  they  are 
duped  by  their  own  agents  and  a  monstrous  monopoly. 
#  * 
Here  and  there  we  find  journals,  agricultural  and 
others,  which  speak  of  “oleomargarine,”  meaning  the 
imitation  butter  which  is  not  inaptly  called  “hog 
butter  ”  by  those  who  are  better  informed.  Oleomar¬ 
garine,  the  invention  of  Mege,  the  French  chemist, 
was  not  an  objectionable  article  of  food,  but  it  is  prac¬ 
tically  no  longer  made.  What  our  contemporaries 
mean  is  what  the  manufacturers  themselves  called  at 
first  “  butterine,”  but  which  now  they  do  not  like, 
owing  to  the  odium  it  has  had  heaped  upon  it.  This 
is  a  compound,  the  principal  ingredient  of  which  is 
the  fat  of  hogs,  rendered  neutral  (that  is,  devoid  of 
taste  and  odor)  by  the  nitric  acid  process.  The  other 
ingredients  are  oleo  oil,  genuine  butter,  coloring 
matter,  etc.  But  there  is  no  oleomargarine  made  to¬ 
day — do  not  make  any  mistake  about  it. 
*  * 
The  business  hen  seems  to  be  needed  in  England. 
In  the  year  1890  the  United  Kingdom  imported  eggs 
to  the  value  of  $17,000,000.  This  means  a  steady  in¬ 
crease  of  imports,  as  the  amount  for  1880  was  $11,000,- 
000.  The  greater  part  of  these  eggs  came  from  France, 
Germany  and  Belgium.  Canada  has  begun  to  ship 
eggs  to  England  quite  successfully.  Why  don’t  the 
English,  Irish  and  Scotch  hens  supply  the  eggs  and 
earn  this  vast  sum  for  their  owners  ?  In  the  first  place, 
there  are  not  hens  enough,  and  in  the  next  place,  they 
are  not  of  laying  breeds.  There  are  too  many  Dork¬ 
ings  and  other  fowls  excellent  for  meat,  but  poor  as 
layers.  England  can  succeed  with  beef  cattle,  because 
the  best  specimens  are  always  wanted  abroad  for 
breeding  purposes.  Not  so  with  meat  poultry.  The 
American  “  Husiness  Hen  ”  is  a  light,  sprightly,  ner¬ 
vous  bird,  bred  and  fed  for  an  egg  record  of  250  eggs  per 
year.  If  English  farmers  would  pay  more  attention 
to  her,  they  would  cut  down  that  foreign  egg  bill. 
*  * 
We  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  advantages  gained 
by  Southern  farmers  from  the  comparatively  recent 
utilization  of  cotton  seed  for  the  production  of  oil  and 
cake.  Doubtless  there  are  some  advantages  from  the 
use  of  what  was  formerly,  in  most  cases,  a  waste  pro¬ 
duct,  but  the  farmers  get  far  less  than  their  due  share 
of  the  benefits.  The  Cotton-Seed  Oil  Trust  and  its 
local  members  seize  upon  more  than  the  “lion’s  share” 
of  the  profits.  A  case  in  point :  the  actual  capital 
invested  in  the  cotton-seed  oil  mill  at  Hrenham,  Texas 
is  $35,000.  The  capitalization  is  $160,000,  of  which 
$125,000  is  “  water.”  Last  yet  the  net  profit  on  the 
$160,000  capitalization  was  15  per  cent,  equivalent  to 
70  per  cent  on  the  actual  investment  of  $35,000.  The 
same  story  can  be  told  of  all  the  Trust  mills  throughout 
the  South.  There  is  certainly  a  great  deal  of  money 
in  the  business,  but  the  prices  paid  for  their  seed 
to  the  planters  hardly  covers  the  cost  of  handling 
and  transportation — the  Trusts  and  middlemen  scoop 
in  all  the  profits.  #  # 
There  is  mighty  little  money  in  butter  at  15  cents  a 
pound,  yet  there  are  many  good  farmers  making  a 
prime  article  at  even  less  than  that.  Why  is  butter 
so  low  in  price?  There  are  mouths  enough  in  this 
country  to  create  a  demand  for  every  ounce  of  pure 
butter  fat  that  American  cows  can  possibly  make.  It 
is  the  impure  and  fraudulent  fat  that  drives  the  cow 
out  of  business.  We  believe  that  the  present  low  prices 
for  butter  are  largely  due  to  the  immense  quantities 
of  cheap  fats  that  are  fraudulently  sold  as  butter. 
Just  as  gold  is  worth  more  than  silver  so  the  butter 
fats  in  milk  are  worth  more  than  lard  or  tallow. 
They  cost  more  to  produce  and  represent  more  labor, 
more  feed  and  more  care.  When  a  man  takes  the 
cheap  hog  and  beef  fats  and  “  doctors  ”  them  so  that 
they  look  like  genuine  butter  he  pockets  the  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  legitimate  prices  of  the  two  kinds 
of  fat,  besides  spoiling  the  sale  of  the  genuine  article. 
This  is  why  an  “  oleo  ”  maker  can  take  a  vacation  in 
Europe  while  many  a  dairyman  can’t  paint  his  barn  this 
year.  *  * 
The  Republicans  and  Democrats  have  nominated 
their  candidates  and  published  their  platforms.  From 
now  until  November  the  political  canvass  will  absorb 
a  large  share  of  public  interest.  It  will  be  a  clean 
campaign — we  are  thankful  for  that.  The  candidates 
are  all  honest  and  able  men  against  whose  personality 
nothing  can  justly  be  said.  The  great  issue  between 
the  parties  this  year  is  the  tariff  or,  more  properly,  the 
effect  of  the  McKinley  Bill  and  the  ■wisdom  of  reci¬ 
procity.  The  Republicans  will  doubtless  take  the 
position  that  the  present  tariff  should  stand— with 
perhaps  some  minor  changes — for  at  least  10  years, 
while  the  Democrats  will  demand  its  repeal  and  a 
removal  of  all  duties  on  “  raw  materials.”  Both 
sides  favor  more  or  less  tariff  duties,  the  difference 
between  them  being  that  the  Democrats  oppose  the 
“  protective  ”  feature  or  that  tariff  which  is  designed 
to  give  an  American  manufacturer  a  trade  advantage 
over  a  foreign  competitor.  The  issue  is  more  clearly 
defined  than  ever  before  and  we  anticipate  one  of  the 
most  instructive  political  debates  ever  known  in  this 
country.  The  utterances  of  the  two  parties  on  the 
currency  and  silver  coinage  questions  are  so  guarded 
and  carefully  worded  that  an  issue  between  them  on 
this  ground  can  hardly  be  raised.  As  a  result  of  this, 
we  think  the  new  People's  Party  will  poll  a  large 
vote  in  several  Southern  and  Western  States  and  up¬ 
set  many  calculations  of  the  politicians.  The  R.  N.- 
Y.  will  take  no  part  in  the  political  campaign  beyond 
an  effort  to  secure  the  real  facts  which  lead  up  to  the 
actual  truth  of  the  matter.  As  our  readers  well  know, 
we  regard  the  liquor  question  and  the  proper  regula¬ 
tion  of  trusts  and  corporations  that  prey  upon  the 
public  as  of  more  importance  than  this  oft-renewed 
fight  over  the  tariff. 
*  * 
Brevities. 
When  you  set  yourself  at  a  hearty  good  meal, 
Wouldn’t  most  of  your  appetite  smother, 
If  when  you  bit  Into  the  food  you  must  feel 
“  I’m  eating  a  piece  of  roast  mother  ?  ” 
Yet  that’s  what  you  do  on  this  hot  summer  day, 
When  above  the  hot  stove  she  must  stew,  sir, 
And  roast  the  best  part  of  her  vigor  away. 
To  cook  up  a  dinner  for  you,  sir. 
Don’t  her  patient  face  spoil  the  taste  of  the  meat 
As  you  think  of  her  ill-arranged  kitchen  ? 
The  tramping  and  toiling  about  in  the  heat 
With  old  Time  too  far  off  for  a  stitch  in  ? 
Stand  up  for  your  mother,  boys,  easy  her  life; 
If  you  lose  her  you’ll  ne’er  get  another. 
Look  well  at  the  food  on  the  edge  of  your  knife. 
And  pray  don’t  eat  a  piece  of  roast  mother. 
A  baby  is  never  a  family  separator. 
Kick  a  growing  calf— cut  its  growth  in  half. 
Raise  the  American  flag  on  yonr  school  house. 
Some  of  the  worst  smelling  manures  are  not  worth  a  scent. 
Use  the  road  machine  full  oft— use  it  while  the  road  is  soft. 
Fortune  never  fondly  dandles  the  man  who  rides  the  cultivator 
handles. 
He  writes  him  down  a  double  fool  who  strikes  the  cow  with  a  milk¬ 
ing  stool. 
Get  all  the  sunshine  you  can  into  your  milk  pans.  It  is  condensed 
health  and  sweetness. 
Why  not  help  solve  the  question  about  the  merits  of  the  9oja  Bean 
by  planting  a  few  yourself  ? 
The  respectable  way  to  clean  pipes  and  pans  in  a  creamery  is  to 
blow  off  steam  through  them. 
The  silo  farmer  has  no  reason  to  worry  about  his  corn  crop.  Ensil¬ 
age  sets  Jack  Frost’s  teeth  on  edge. 
USE  dally,  back  of  every  cow.  a  quart  of  good  land  plaster  and,  just 
as  true  as  Gospel  now,  you  will  make  money  faster. 
How  are  turnips  for  green  manuring  ?  Let  us  hear  from  those  who 
have  tried  to  turn  under  turnips  with  or  without  fertilizers. 
t  at  Jersey  milk  will  kill  a  baby.  The  little  stomach  cannot  digest 
the  tough,  hard  fats  in  this  rich  milk.  A  butter  cow  is  not  a  baby  cow. 
The  man  who  takes  too  big  a  bite  of  work  will  hardly  sleep  at  night, 
for  up  his  back  the  pains  will  creep  to  drive  away  the  thought  of  sleep. 
There  Is  no  use  trying  to  sterilize  milk  that  has  the  least  bit  of 
manure  in  it.  Can  you  And  a  sample  of  milk  that  will  show  no  sedi¬ 
ment? 
Dr.  Lemon  is  a  good  friend  to  call  in  this  weather.  Press  the 
juice  out  of  him  and  drink  it  with  a  little  sugar  and  some  water.  Thus 
will  Dr.  Lemon  aid  the  family. 
■  What  scientific  reason  is  there  for  saying  that  ensilage  or  any 
sloppy  food  is  not  suited  for  winter  feeding?  Isa  dry  corn  shock  better 
than  a  silo  for  wintering  animals? 
Bread  and  butter,  baked  potato,  strawberries  and  cream,  cold  milk. 
It  may  be  possible  to  make  a  better  supper,  but  it  hasn’t  been  done 
yet.  There  is  very  little  “  roasted  mother  ”  in  it  too. 
Wear  a  flannel  shirt  and  thus  save  the  housewife  lots  of  fuss 
What’s  the  use  of  starch  and  bosom,  when  a  half  an  hour  will  lose 
’em  in  the  hot  and  dusty  row  after  harrow,  rake  or  hoe. 
Some  Maine  growers  shipped  apples  to  England  in  old  flour  barrels. 
The  ignoramus  who  edits  the  Horticultural  Times  got  one  of  these 
apples  and  described  the  “  arsenic  on  it  in  the  form  of  a  fine,  white 
powder!  ” 
A  strong  indictment  against  weeds  is  that  they  propagate  blights, 
mildews  and  other  diseases  of  useful  plants.  Like  rats  that  propagate 
and  spread  the  dreaded  trlchin*  in  the  meat  of  useful  animals,  weeds 
nurse  and  spread  the  germs  of  disease. 
We  would  like  to  have  the  figures  to  show  how  the  great  trade  in 
bicycles  has  hurt  the  horse  business.  With  these  facts  we  would  like 
to  show  how  many  people  ride  and  get  needed  exercise,  who,  but  for 
the  “wheel,”  would  walk  as  little  as  possible. 
When  the  farmer  writes  a  letter  that  he’d  have  folks  understand, 
he  begins  it  with  this  statement,  “  I  now  take  my  pen  in  hand.” 
What  respect  and  veneration  from  his  hogs  would  he  command,  if  he’d 
write  them  but  this  statement—”  1  will  take  your  pen  in  hand !” 
Mu.  W.  C.  Barry,  at  the  Cornell  agricultural  conference,  said  it  was 
“a  disgrace  that  New  York  ;state  has  no  experiment  orchard  where 
fruit  growers  may  learn  needed  information  regarding  their  business.” 
There  U  just  such  an  orchard  at  Cornell;  it’s  young,  but  needs  nothing 
but  age. 
As  to  that  question  about  providing  a  plantation  of  all  male  aspar¬ 
agus  plants— a  sort  of  “  stag  party  ”  so  to  speak— Charles  W.  Garfield 
writes:  “From  my  own  experience  I  am  entirely  satisfied  that  the 
labor  and  attention  required  would  not  be  compensated  for  in  in¬ 
creased  returns.” 
With  regard  to  the  silver  question,  which  will  be  second  only  to  the 
tariff  question  during  the  next  Presidential  campaign,  the  only  point 
on  which  all  parties  agree  is  the  necessity  for  the  establishment  of  a 
new  ratio  between  gold  and  silver.  A  ratio  of  16  to  1  it  is  believed 
gives  too  much  value  to  the  white  metal. 
Pomade,  “  bear’s  grease  ”  and  other  perfumed  fats  are  made  by 
packing  the  leaves  of  roses  and  other  flowers  in  lard  and  mutton  tal¬ 
low.  The  fat  absorbs  and  retains  the  odor.  Here's  a  hint  for  makers 
of  prime  butter.  Why  not  keep  it  packed  with  roses  and  violets  till 
ready  for  sale?  Remember  ,too,  that  butter  can  hold  and  retain  foul 
odors  as  well  as  sweet  ones.  Pack  an  onion  with  It  and  see. 
An  English  law  suit  involves  these  curious  points:  A  hired  a  small 
place  of  B  and  set  out  some  fruit  trees,  with  the  agreement  that  A  on 
leaving  the  place  should  be  allowed  to  remove  the  trees.  Unexpect¬ 
edly  A  remained  on  the  place  20  years.  The  trees  now  bear  fruit,  and 
A  proposes  either  to  take  them  up  or  destroy  them  on  leaving  the 
place.  The  lawyer’s  advice  is  that  A  has  a  perfect  right  to  do  what 
he  pleases  with  the  trees. 
