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THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
Aug.  13 
THI 
Rural  New-Yorker 
TIMES  BUILDING,  NEW  YORK. 
*  * 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes. 
ELBEBT  8.  CABMAN,  Editor  In  Chief. 
HERBERT  W.  COLLING  WOOD,  Managing  Editor 
Copyrighted  1X92. 
SATURDAY ,  AUGUST  13,  1892. 
Ouu  experiment  stations  are  called  half  the  time 
experimental  stations.  As  we  take  it,  the  stations  are 
not  experimental  at  all  ;  the  ivork  of  the  stations  is  ex¬ 
perimental,  an'd  the  stations  themselves  merely  the 
plants  where  the  experiments  are  carried  on.  The 
stations,  it  is  true,  are  experimental  in  the  sense  that 
it  remains  to  he  proved  whether  they  are  or  are  not 
worth  what  they  cost  the  people. 
#  * 
Southern  rafroad  companies  provide  special  cars 
for  negro  passengers,  which  cars  are  popularly  known 
as  “Jim  Crow  cars.”  Negroes  are  not  permitted  to 
enter  the  first-class  cars,  but  a  Louisiana  negro  deter¬ 
mined  to  test  the  right  of  a  railroad  to  keep  him  out  of 
its  best  cars.  The  colored  people  raised  what  they 
called  a  Citizens’  Committee  and  spent  $3,000  in  fight¬ 
ing  the  case.  The  courts  decided  that  a  colored  man, 
en  mute  from  New  Orleans  to  Mobile,  is  protected  by 
the  regulations  of  the  inter-State  law.  and  no  State 
law  can  affect  him.  This  is  practically  a  blow  at  the 
“Jim  Crow  car.” 
*  * 
If  one  wants  to  see  how  mean  a  great  corporation 
can  be,  let  him  go  to  Erie  depot  on  the  arrival  of  the 
milk  trains  and  see  the  annoyances  the  dealers  are 
subjected  to,  because  of  the  lack  of  platform  accommo¬ 
dations.  The  present  platforms  are  about,  half  as  large 
as  they  should  be — a  condition  of  affairs  for  which 
there  can  be  no  excuse.  Every  once  in  a  while  some 
dealer  gets  so  annoyed  by  the  want  of  terminal  facil¬ 
ities  that  he  gives  up  his  business  on  the  Erie  and  goes 
to  some  other  road  where  he  can  get  not  only  better 
accommodations,  but  better  milk,  owing  to  the  refrig¬ 
erator  cars  which  other  roads  furnish.  It  is  a  shame 
that  such  a  condition  of  affairs  should  exist,  but  facts 
are  facts. 
*  * 
While  the  commercial  relations  of  the  United  States 
with  the  Canadian  government  are  a  trifle  strained, 
concerted  action  is  being  taken  to  open  a  better  trade 
understanding  between  the  Northwestern  States  and 
the  neighboring  sections  in  the  Dominion,  with  the 
ultimate  object  of  bringing  about  a  mutual  scheme  of 
improved  waterways  to  the  sea.  With  this  object  in 
view,  a  Canadian-United  States  reciprocity  conference 
is  to  be  held  at  Grand  Forks,  N.  I).,  on  September  1. 
So  energetically  has  the  movement  been  conducted 
that  it  is  expected  1,000  delegates,  including  promi¬ 
nent  citizens  and  representatives  of  the  Boards  of 
Trade  of  the  chief  towns  and  cities  on  both  sides  of  the 
frontier,  will  be  present.  Though  primarily  devoted 
to  the  interests  of  the  Northwest,  the  entire  relations 
of  the  two  countries  will  be  fully  discussed,  and  the 
ventilation  of  the  respective  troubles  will,  it  is  to  be 
hoped,  have  the  effect  of  arousing  both  to  the  import¬ 
ance  of  ending  their  content:ons  and  coming  together 
on  common  ground. 
*  * 
The  New  York  Milk  Exchange,  Limited,  held  a 
meeting  July  27,  and  added  one-fourtli  of  a  cent  per 
quart  to  the  price  of  milk,  the  increase  to  take  effect 
on  and  after  August  1.  This  makes  the  net  price  to 
producers  2  X  cents.  For  the  past  two  weeks  the  de¬ 
mand  for  milk  has  outrun  the  supply  and  dealers  who 
were  short  have  frequently  been  compelled  to  pay 
three  and  four  dollars  per  can.  The  Exchange  fondly 
hopes  that  this  niggardly  advance  of  a  quarter  of  a 
cent  per  quart  will  increase  the  supply,  but  present 
indications  are  that  it  has  not  reckoned  wisely.  The 
farmer  who  would  feed  heavily  to  increase  the  flow  of 
milk  at  the  present  prices  of  feed  and  of  milk,  would 
not  be  shrewd  in  his  business  management.  It  would 
be  better  and  safer  to  restrict  production  a  little,  until 
the  Exchange  is  forced  into  decency  and  the  price  is 
raised  to  three  cents.  It  never  should  be  less  in 
August,  to  be  fairly  profitable.  Nothing  but  an  ab¬ 
solute  scarcity  will  bring  that  price.  Many  of  the 
Exchange  men,  banking  on  their  ability  to  control 
prices,  have  made  large  contracts  for  the  season  and 
hence  they  have  a  direct  personal  interest  in  keeping 
the  price  down.  If  every  milk  producer  in  the  country, 
whose  milk  comes  to  New  York,  would  treat  his  calves 
and  fowls  to  a  can  of  milk  a  day  for  three  or  four  days, 
the  price  would  jump  to  three  cents  in  a  trice.  Wliy 
not  try  it?  It  won’t  hurt  the  calves  or  hens. 
There  are  many  unfortunate  people  who  suffer 
from  cold  hands  and  feet.  It  seeems  almost  impossible 
to  keep  these  members  warm,  and  the  whole  system 
suffers  in  consequence.  A  treatment  for  such  persons 
that  is  meeting  with  considerable  success  in  this  city 
is  to  place  bags  of  pounded  ice  along  the  spine.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem  at  first  thought,  the  application  of  cold 
to  the  spine  tends  to  warm  the  body,  legs  and  arms. 
The  theory  of  those  who  advocate  this  treatment  is 
that  cold  in  the  extremities  is  not  due  to  a  local  cause, 
but  is  the  result  of  a  greatly  increased  circulation  of 
the  blood  within  the  nerve  centers  located  close  to  the 
spine.  The  result  is  a  contraction  which  diminishes 
the  usual  amount  of  blood  sent  to  the  arms  and  legs — 
and  we  have  cold  feet  and  hands.  The  application  of 
cold  to  the  spine  sends  the  excess  of  blood  away  from 
these  nerve  centers  and  improves  the  general  circula¬ 
tion.  This  application  of  cold  to  give  warmth  is  not 
entirely  new,  though  it  is  not  by  any  means  in  genera' 
practice.  It  is  surely  worth  trying  by  that  large  band 
of  nervous  people  who  “cannot  keep  their  feet  warm.” 
*  * 
At  the  end  of  the  first  month  the  Homestead  strike 
has  cost  over  $1,000,000.  The  military  expenses  have 
been  fully  $320,000 :  the  workmen  have  lost  in  wages 
$180,000,  and  the  Carnegie  Company  has  lost,  through 
interest  on  its  idle  plant,  decrease  of  profits  on  its 
output,  and  money  spent  in  getting  new  workmen,  at 
least  as  much  more.  A  dozen  or  more  of  lives  have 
also  been  sacrificed,  and  upwards  of  a  hundred  human 
beings  have  been  maimed,  and  more  or  less  severely 
wounded.  The  workingmen  who  struck  sympatheti¬ 
cally  at  the  Union  Mills  at  Pittsburg  and  at  Beaver 
Falls  and  Duquesne,  have  lost  over  $100,000  in  wages, 
and  the  firm  has  lost  as  much  through  the  idleness  of  its 
plants.  In  addition  must  be  counted  the  expenses  for 
deputy  sheriffs,  murder  trials,  anarchistic  hunts,  Con¬ 
gressional  investigations,  etc.  Moreover,  other  work¬ 
men  have  been  forced  into  idleness,  and  other  work¬ 
shops  are  inactive  through  want  of  material  to  be  fur¬ 
nished  by  the  Carnegie  Company.  Altogether  it  has 
been  a  sad  and  disastrous  affair.  Is  there  no  better 
way  of  adjusting  the  differences  between  labor  and 
capital  ?  Such  troubles  are  rapid  propagators  of 
socialism  and  anarchy,  and  capital  would  suffer  more 
than  labor  from  an  outbreak  of  the  latter. 
*  * 
An  old  umbrella  was  used  in  The  R.  N.-Y.’s  experi¬ 
ment  field  as  a  part  of  a  scare-crow.  After  it  had 
served,  or  failed  to  serve,  its  purpose — that  of  keeping 
sparrows  from  the  hybrid  wheat  plots — the  black  cot¬ 
ton  portion  was  torn  off  and  wrapped  about  bunches 
of  young,  green  tomatoes  in  the  crossbred  tomato  plot. 
We  are  now  surprised  to  find  that  these  tomatoes  have 
ripened  before  any  others  except  those  which  were 
placed  in  heavy  manilla  bags.  Bagging  tomatoes, 
which  as  we  at  first  reported,  hastens  ripening  and 
assures  a  smooth,  comely  surface  as,  in  the  case  of 
bagging  grapes  is  impracticable.  That  is  to  say,  it  is 
more  trouble  than  it  is  worth.  But  how  about  simply 
wrapping  the  bunches  or  clusters,  which  usually  con¬ 
sist  of  from  four  to  six  or  more,  in  old  rags  or  papers  ? 
We  do  not  suppose  that  the  black  color  of  the  umbrella 
hastened  ripening,  because  the  covered  clusters  were 
in  the  dense  shade  of  the  tomato  foliage.  This  is  easily 
done  at  a  trivial  cost  of  time,  while  the  covering  mater¬ 
ial  is  without  value.  Readers  of  The  R.  N.-Y.,  and 
experiment  station  workers  are  requested  to  try  the 
effect  of  wrapping  clusters  of  tomatoes  with  paper, 
old  rags  or  any  other  material  at  hand  that  will  suffice, 
as  do  bags,  to  protect  them  from  insects,  fungi  or  the 
direct  action  of  the  weather. 
*  * 
Congressman  Watson,  of  Georgia,  an  Alliance  man, 
has  raised  a  tempest  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
by  charging  that  “  drunken  members  of  Congress 
reeled  about  the  aisles  to  the  disgrace  of  the  Republic, 
and  that  drunken  speakers  debated  grave  issues  in  a 
maudlin  condition.”  Any  amount  of  virtuous  indigna¬ 
tion  was  expressed  by  his  fellow  members,  and  efforts 
to  censure  him  were  immediately  made.  His  charges 
may  not  be  easy  to  prove — that  is,  to  produce  sworn 
testimony  in  support  of  them,  but,  all  the  same,  the 
general  public  knows  only  too  well  that  there  is  much 
ground  for  them.  It  is  not  the  first  time  such  charges 
have  been  made,  and  if  the  insulted  Congressmen  will 
look  through  the  files  of  the  public  press  for  the  past 
three  or  four  years,  they  will  find  similar  statements,  and 
statements  that  have  not  been  contradicted.  We  wish  we 
could  honestly  respect  the  average  Congressman,  but 
we  cannot.  We  know  too  much  about  him.  The  “in¬ 
vestigation”  will  end  just  about  as  usual — in  a  good, 
thick  coat  of  “  whitewash.”  The  writer  of  this  was 
irAhe  Capitol  on  the  day  when  one  of  the  most  dis¬ 
graceful  scenes  was  alleged  to  have  taken  place.  He 
certainly  saw'  men  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
who  were  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  If  a  railroad 
company  draws  the  line  at  drinking  men  in  hiring 
helpers,  the  people  can  do  no  more  than  to  discharge 
its  drunken  servants.  #  * 
The  milk  business  conducted  bv  George  Abbott,  and 
described  in  last  week’s  Rural,  is  attracting  much 
attention  from  the  public  and  from  milk  dealers  and 
producers.  It  is  doubtless  easier  to  build  up  such  a 
trade  in  Philadelphia  than  in  New  York.  Our  esteemed 
friends  in  the  city  of  Brotherly  Love  are  not  in  such  a 
hurry  as  those  here.  I n  Philadelphia  most  men  breathe 
leisurely,  eat  with  becoming  decorum  and  deliberate 
with  moderation  over  new  enterprises.  The  average 
New  Yorker  does  not  have  time  to  breathe — he  gasps. 
He  bolts  his  meals  and  wants  no  enterprise  that  re¬ 
quires  deliberation — he  has  no  time  for  that.  He  jumps 
in.  If  he  swims — all  right.  If  he  goes  to  the  bottom — 
why,  what  of  it  ?  There  are  plenty  of  men.  Still  The 
Rural  believes  that  such  a  business  could  be  estab¬ 
lished  here,  and  it  would  be  a  boon  indeed  to  the 
lucky  producers  who  should  furnish  the  milk,  and,  in¬ 
directly,  to  the  whole  army  of  producers.  One  great 
difficulty  here  would  be  to  secure  the  confidence  of  the 
buyers.  The  people  of  this  city  long  ago  gave  up  the 
hope  of  always  getting  pure  milk.  Most  of  them  ex¬ 
pect  it  to  be  liberally  weakened,  and  are  very  seldom 
disappointed.  “  Confidence  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth.” 
When  that  could  be  secured,  further  progress  would 
be  easy.  Certainly  New  York  city  has  plenty  of  peo¬ 
ple  who  want  the  best  and  are  willing  to  pay  for  it.  Let 
us  have  it  tried.  #  # 
Brevitie  8. 
Don’t  you  often  net  a  letter  from  some  distant  friend  whose  pen 
Is  all  rusty  with  slow  writing— just  a  few  rude  lines  and  then 
He  just  signs  his  name— the  letter  seems  to  others  commonplace. 
But  to  us  it’s  full  of  meaning— like  a  dried  and  wrinkled  face. 
For  we  know  the  writer's  motive,  and  his  rude  words  are  but  signs 
And  we  measure  all  his  meaning  as  we  read  between  the  lines. 
So  sometimes  folks  try  to  tell  us  what  they  carry  In  the  heart. 
But  they  blunder  on  so  slowly  and  can  only  tell  us  part, 
But  we  know  the  throat-lump  stops  them  and  our  sympathy  Is  stirred, 
And  we  understand  their  meaning  though  we  haven’t  heard  a  word. 
For  we  know  what  motive  prompts  them  and  we  look  for  deeper  signs 
Than  the  tongue  can  ever  give  us— for  we  read  between  the  lines. 
Thus  it  Is  with  friends  and  neighbors,  but  when  some  hard  stranger’s 
eye 
Glances  only  o’er  the  surface— stopping  not  to  question  why — 
Caring  nothing  for  the  motive  that  lies  underneath  the  deed— 
Who  can  tell  what  souls  are  tortured— who  can  tell  what  sad  hearts 
bleed  ? 
Learn  to  look  beyond  the  surface— look  for  nobler,  better  signs; 
Do  not  judge  your  fellow  worker  till  you  read  between  the  lines. 
Don’t  stuff  your  pocketbook  down  a  scrub's  mouth. 
A  horse  that  stumbles  makes  a  driver  that  grumbles. 
Can  your  customers  get  used  to  the  Shaffer  raspberry? 
If  the  microbe's  life  you’d  spoil,  bring  your  water  to  a  boll. 
A  small  amount  of  axle  grease  will  give  a  large  amount  of  peace. 
We  hope  your  pigs  are  in  clover  this  year.  That’s  the  place  for  a  pig. 
Look  out  for  a  leak  in  the  churn  dasher.  This  leak  leads  into  the 
buttermilk. 
To  drink  ice  water  right  on  top  of  a  meal  of  fruit  Is  to  send  cholera 
a  personal  invitation  to  visit  you. 
Your  home  should  be  so  that  your  child  can't  sit  down  In  It  without 
having  a  book  or  paper  within  reach. 
In  the  training  of  prize  lighters  apple  sauce  Is  served  as  a  part  of 
every  meal.  It  is  the  most  healthful  form  of  fruit  known. 
Figure  the  difference  between  cost  and  price  of  a  cent  summer  egg 
and  a  three  cent  December  egg  and  see  which  indicates  the  greater 
profit! 
Blue  milk  from  a  Devon  cow  would  not  indicate  a  desire  on  the  ani¬ 
mal's  part  to  imitate  the  American  Hag,  but  It  shows  that  the  milk  runs 
through  dirt  somewhere. 
The  “  abandoned  ”  town  of  Barnard,  Vt.,  has  sold  52  farms  during  a 
year.  Some  were  sold  to  young  men  who  went  West  to  farm  and  are 
now  glad  to  come  East  again. 
IN  this  broiling  hot  weather  there  is  no  reason  on  earth  why  a  man 
should  not  put  up  a  comfortable  awning  wherever  he  can.  Man  is  not 
a  corn  plant  and  a  fair  amount  of  shade  Is  good  for  his  head. 
The  bulletins  of  the  Cornell  Experiment  Station  have  always  been 
models  for  neatness  and  accuracy.  Prof.  Roberts  now  has  a  new  plan 
of  putting  a  neat  picture  on  the  outside  cover.  It  is  an  excellent 
Idea. 
A  correspondent  on  another  page  wants  to  know  about  the  vet¬ 
eran  mowing  machines.  So  do  we.  How  many  years  of  service  does 
your  mower  pass  through  before  it  is  entitled  to  a  pension  and  a  com¬ 
fortable  place  In  the  fence  corner  ! 
“The  State  Agricultural  Society”  of  New  Jersey  will  hold  its 
annual  meeting  this  fall.  On  paper  this  meeting  is  "to  promote  the 
agricultural  interests  of  the  State.”  In  fact,  the  interests  chieily 
promoted  are  those  of  brewing  and  gambling. 
ON  the  next  page  is  a  question  that  we  want  widely  answered.  Lots 
of  young  men  are  looking  about  for  small  farms  or  places  where  they 
can  work  and  earn  enough  to  buy  a  piece  of  land.  Can  they  do  it  in 
your  section  of  the  country.  If  not,  why  not  * 
Mr.  J.  S.  Woodward  Is  preparing  for  us  what  we  consider  oue  of 
the  most  valuable  articles  on  sheep  raising  we  have  ever  printed 
Another  feature  of  coming  Rurals  will  be  the  story  of  a  man  who  has 
worked  up  a  valuable  home  trade  in  mutton  and  iamb. 
The  water  that  makes  Colorado  potatoes  famous  runs  through 
it ,300  miles  of  large  and  small  ditches  which  cost,  to  build,  $11,000,000 
Without  them  Colorado  would  be  a  desert.  Within  20  years  other 
older,  sections  will  be  deserted  unless  they  follow  Colorado's  example 
and  irrigate. 
The  majority  of  healthy  persons  will  say  that  they  can  endure  cold 
better  than  heat.  With  ordinary  care  they  are  more  comfortable  in 
winter  than  in  summer.  Is  it  not  largely  so  with  milch  cows?  What 
with  no  shade,  poor  water  and  murderous  insects  the  cow’s  summer 
vacation  may  easily  become  a  night-mare. 
At  high-toned  English  restaurants  boiled  thistles  are  served  for 
“greens.’’  It  has  long  been  said  that  donkeys  will  eat  thistles.  The 
"aristocracy”  has  evidently  concluded  that  a  donkey  knows  a  good 
thing  when  he  eats  It.  We  wish  there  might  be  such  a  demand  for 
thistles  in  this  country  as  to  exceed  the  supply. 
Base  ball  playing  frequently  interferes  seriously  with  Southern 
agriculture.  Nowhere  has  the  “national  game”  more  earnest  ad¬ 
mirers  than  among  the  negro  laborers  In  some  parts  of  the  South. 
They  will  leave  in  the  middle  of  planting  or  harvest  if  an  exciting 
match  game  is  to  be  played.  There  is  no  use  trying  to  suppress  the 
game;  it  is  wiser  to  encourage  it  and  see  that  the  big  games  are  played 
when  farm  work  is  not  so  pressing. 
