672 
Oot.r  15 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
Rural  New-Yorker 
TIMES  BUILDING ,  NEW  YORK. 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homea. 
ELBEBT  S.  CABMAN.  Editor  In  Chlaf. 
nEBBEBT  W.  COLLING  WOOD,  Managing  Editor 
Copyrighted  1X92. 
SATURDAY,  OCTOBER  15,  1892. 
During  the  next  six  months,  or  until  further  notice, 
all  communications  usually  sent  to  the  Rural  (/rounds, 
should  be  addressed  to  No.  709  Madison  Avenue,  New 
York  City.  *  * 
Of  late  years  the  government  has  been  trying 
to  preserve  a  few  living  relics  of  the  innumer¬ 
able  hosts  of  buffaloes  that  used  to  cover  the  Western 
plains.  A  party  of  reckless,  greedy  hunters,  however, 
has  just  killed  half  a  herd  of  30  on  the  public  reserva¬ 
tion  at  Lost  Mountain  Peak,  Wyo.  The  legal  penalty 
for  the  offense  is  totally  inadequate,  and  a  party  of  set¬ 
tlers  are  now  on  the  trail  of  the  unscrupulous  butchers 
with  the  determination  to  lynch  them.  Do  not  the 
rascals  deserve  a  severe  lesson  ? 
*  * 
Mr.  George  T.  Powell  has  accepted  the  position 
of  Director  of  the  Horticultural  display  of  the  State 
of  New  York  at  the  Columbian  Exposition.  The  wis¬ 
dom  of  this  appointment  will  be  concurred  in  by  all 
who  know  this  efficient  organizer  and  intelligent 
worker.  The  task  before  him  is  one  of  herculean 
proportions,  but  The  Rural  believes  he  will  be  fully 
equal  to  it.  This  department  includes  vegetables  as 
well  as  fruits.  The  Floral  Department  will  be  in  the 
bands  of  Mr.  Dean,  a  florist  of  acknowledged  ability. 
*  * 
Secretary  Rusk  wants  an  appropriation  of  $3,000,- 
000  for  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the  next 
fiscal  year,  ending  June  30,  1894.  This  amount  varies 
little  from  the  appropriation  for  the  current  year.  The 
Secretary  insists,  however,  that  if  Congress  should  do 
what  it  ought  to  advance  and  encourage  agriculture, 
“  the  greatest  interest  in  the  land,”  $50,000,000  should 
be  appropriated.  Let  there  be  no  cheese-paring  econ¬ 
omy  in  the  appropriations  for  the  promotion  of  the 
industry  that  supplies  the  motive  power  for  every 
other  in  the  nation. 
*  * 
Last  Wednesday  the  corner-stone  of  the  Memorial 
Library  presented  to  the  town  of  Ayr,  Scotland,  by 
Andrew  Carnegie,  of  the  Homestead  Steel  Works, 
Pennsylvania,  was  laid  with  imposing  public  ceremony 
in  that  ancient  burg.  In  concluding  his  address,  on 
the  occasion,  the  multi-millionaire  donor  exclaimed : 
“  From  the  masses  come  the  wealth  which  is  entrusted 
to  the  owner  only  as  an  administrator.  ’  lor  whom  ? 
Most  plutocrats  appear  to  think,  for  themselves.  If 
for  the  masses,  it’s  a  generous  expression  of  a  noble 
truth  which  seldom  has  found  utterance  and  still  sel- 
domer  practice  among  those  able  to  administer  the 
trust.  *  * 
Im  describing  the  last  election  in  this  city.  The 
Rural  New-Yorker  vigorously  denounced  paster 
ballots  as  conducive  to  fraud  and  subversive  of  any 
benefits  that  might  be  expected  from  the  secret  ballot 
under  the  Australian  system.  Other  parties  have  also 
taken  action  against  the  abuse,  which  has  been  before 
the  courts  for  upwards  of  a  year.  Last  Wednesday  the 
Court  of  Appeals— the  court  of  last  resort  in  New 
York  State— decided  that  “  the  paster  must  go.”  A 
voter  must  henceforth  cast  an  official,  clean  ballot  or 
his  vote  will  be  void.  A  free  and  fair  ballot  should 
be  guaranteed  to  every  citizen  by  the  State  and 
Nation.  *  * 
Those  churning  experiments  in  the  Lllerslie  dairy 
will  be  of  special  interest  to  butter  makers.  It  has 
generally  been  assumed  by  dairymen  that  the  public 
taste  demanded  and  insisted  on  butter  made  from 
ripened  cream,  but  facts  come  to  the  surface  at  Ellers- 
lie,  and,  so  far  as  this  dairy  is  concerned,  set  this  pre¬ 
viously  accepted  theory  completely  aside.  Some  sweet- 
cream  butter  was  made  as  an  experiment,  and  now 
the  patrons  insist  upon  having  it,  and  will  not  be  con¬ 
tented  with  any  other.  This  tendency  will  not  grow 
less,  it  is  rather  destined  to  increase.  Butter,  as  a 
rule,  is  not  made  in  these  latter  days  to  keep,  but  rather 
for  immediate  consumption  ;  but,  if  it  becomes  neces- 
tary  to  keep  it,  butter  from  sweet  cream  will  keep  in 
good  condition  for  longer  periods  than  that  from 
ripened  cream.  This  seems  to  have  been  established 
by  experiments  made  at  the  Iowa  Experiment  Station, 
alluded  to  last  week.  Another  point  which  will  ex¬ 
cite  interest  is  the  temperature  at  which  the  Ellerslie 
people  churn  their  sweet  cream— from  20  to  2*  degrees 
lower  than  has  hitherto  been  thought  practicable. 
There  can  be  no  question  of  the  desirability  of  churn¬ 
ing  at  a  low  temperature,  if  we  can  do  it  in  a  reason¬ 
ably  brief  time  and  can  get  all  the  butter.  This  they 
do  at  Ellerslie.  What  do  our  butter  makers  think  of 
these  innovations  ?  *  * 
Col.  Albert  A.  Pope  has  done  much  to  stir  up  an 
interest  in  road  improvement.  His  latest  plan  is  to 
secure  the  cooperation  of  the  leading  railroad  officials 
in  helping  to  improve  the  highways  that  feed  their 
roads.  He  argues,  justly,  that  the  companies  would  be 
greatly  helped  if  the  roads  leading  to  their  passenger 
and  freight  depots  were  improved.  Freight  and  pro¬ 
duce  will  be  hauled  over  the  best  road,  and  passengers 
will  naturally  locate  where  the  walking  or  drives  to 
the  station  are  easiest— other  things  being  equal.  It 
is  to  the  interest  of  railroads  to  help  in  this  matter, 
and  they  will  prove  powerful  helpers  if  they  will  only 
take  up  the  matter  in  an  organized  way.  Some  of  the 
leading  railroad  men  in  the  country  have  already  de¬ 
cided  to  push  this  matter,  and  we  hope  others  will 
follow.  *  * 
The  autocrats  of  the  New  York  milk  traffic  the 
Milk  Exchange— held  their  regular  meeting  in  the  last 
week  in  September  and  resolved  that  on  and  after 
October  1  and  until  further  notice,  the  price  of  milk 
should  be  three  cents  per  quart.  In  the  absence  of 
any  other  organization,  the  price  this  concern  makes 
“goes”  with  the  trade  and  producers  alike.  We  won¬ 
der  what  sugar  refiners  would  think  if  the  grocers 
should  meet  and  resolve  that  on  and  after  such  a  date 
the  price  of  sugar  should  be  three  cents  ?  W  hat  would 
the  calico  makers  think  if  the  retailers  should  “re¬ 
solve”  that  the  price  of  calico  should  be  two  cents  per 
yard  ?  Such  pronunciamentos  would  hardly  “go,”  but 
they  would  be  no  more  absurd  than  is  the  assumption 
of  the  Milk  Exchange  to  fix  the  price  of  the  farmer’s 
produce.  *  * 
For  the  past  two  years  a  good  deal  has  been  said 
about  machines  for  cutting  corn.  Many  patents  have 
been  issued  and  it  has  been  predicted  that  the  days  of 
the  hand  corn  knife  are  surely  numbered,  yet  the  trade 
in  corn  harvesters  is  pronounced  a  disappointment  and 
few  farmers  have  been  induced  to  change  their  plan  of 
cutting  by  hand.  Yet  some  of  the  machines  are  really 
very  serviceable.  Mr.  Cottrell  says  he  cut  all  his  corn 
this  year  by  machine  and  is  pleased  with  its  work. 
He  used  one  of  the  ordinary  slicers — a  frame  with 
knives  at  the  sides  which  slice  oil  the  stalks  as  the 
machine  is  hauled  through  the  rows.  This  machine 
originally  ran  on  runners,  sled  fashion,  but  it  is  now 
mounted  on  wheels  which  make  the  draft  much  lighter. 
The  trouble  with  the  machine  is  that  it  cannot  handle 
“  down  corn  ”  successfully. 
*  * 
Many  of  our  Eastern  farms  have  hillside  fields — 
more  or  less  rough — that  were  intended  by  Nature  for 
growing  pasture  grasses.  They  are  too  steep  and 
stony  to  cultivate  successfully.  Some  of  them  might 
perhaps  be  broken  up  and  planted  to  ensilage  corn, 
using  plenty  of  fertilizer  with  the  sod,  but  the  haul 
from  field  to  the  silo  is  too  long  over  poor  roads  and 
rough  fields.  The  problem  is  to  get  these  pastures  into 
profitable  bearing,  so  to  speak,  at  a  reasonable  cost  of 
money  and  labor.  It  will  not  pay  to  haul  stable  man¬ 
ure  to  these  outlying  fields,  the  farm  supply  of  manure 
is  generally  too  small  anyway.  Fertilizer  will  answer 
if  the  right  seeds  can  be  made  to  grow.  In  short,  the 
problem  is  to  improve  the  quality  of  those  pastures 
without  plowing  and  reseeding.  This  is  a  mighty  im¬ 
portant  problem  to  hundreds  of  dairymen  and  our  ex¬ 
periment  stations  ought  to  give  them  facts  that  will 
help  them.  We  wish  one  of  our  stations  would  take 
hold  of  just  such  an  old  pasture  and  show  us  just  how 
to  make  it  do  its  duty  without  plowing.  Can  it  be 
done? 
*  * 
The  idea  is  spreading  in  England  that  the  country 
should  abandon  the  growing  of  wheat.  It  is  insisted 
that  farmers  should  confine  themselves  chiefly  to 
dairy  produce,  stock  raising,  and  the  growth  of  fruits 
and  vegetables  and  abandon  the  “  absurd  rivalry  in 
wheat  growing  ”  in  which  England’s  petty  area  of 
2,250,000  acres  is  unable  to  hold  a  place.  Moreover, 
it  is  now  conceded  that  American  wheat  is  of  better 
quality  and  it  brings  better  prices  than  English  wheat. 
There  is  a  campaign  canard  to  the  effect  that  in  retal¬ 
iation  for  our  heavy  duties  on  many  English  goods, 
the  British  government  intends  to  impose  an  onerous 
tariff  on  American  agricultural  products  ;  but  there 
was  no  need  of  a  cabled  denial  of  the  rumor  to  prove 
its  absurdity.  Even  under  the  Salisbury  administra¬ 
tion,  the  Fair  Traders  who  advocate  such  a  policy, 
were  only  a  respectable  but  powerless  minority,  and 
the  Gladstone  administration  is  emphatically  in  favor 
of  free  trade  to  the  fullest  axtent.  A  duty  on  eereals 
in  tha  United  Kingdom  would  quickly  laad  to  a  rev¬ 
olution. 
Notice  how  the  people  at  Ellerslie  propose  to  save 
hand  and  back  labor  in  disposing  of  the  stable  manure. 
Cars  running  on  overhead  tracks  will  carry  the  manure 
directly  to  a  manure  spreader  from  which  it  will  be  at 
once  scattered  where  it  is  to  stay.  Why  can’t  you  fix 
up  something  on  a  small  scale  that  will  save  you  two 
or  three  different  shoveliugs  ?  It  doesn  t  add  any¬ 
thing  to  the  value  of  the  manure  to  pitch  it  out  through 
a  window,  one  shovelful  at  a  time.  The  Ellerslie  prac¬ 
tice  might  be  improved  by  hauling  the  manure  to  the 
field  where  it  is  to  be  used  and  piling  it  there  for  the 
winter.  In  the  spring  it  would  spread  easier  and,  if 
on  hilly  ground,  have  more  of  its  substance  left  for 
the  crop.  A  good  many  dairymen  follow  this  plan 
and  get  better  results  than  when  it  is  spread  as  fast  as 
made,  particularly  in  hilly  sections  where  there  is  con 
siderable  snow.  *  « 
Brevities. 
Jack  Frost,  he  bit  our  posey  bed  right  hard  the  other  night 
And  little  grandson  Willie  he  just  grieved  an  awful  sight 
To  see  his  posies  standing  there  all  ruined  by  the  frost. 
It  seemed  as  If  his  season's  work  were  thrown  away  and  lost. 
I  tried  to  cheer  him  up,  but  he  could  only  ask  me  why 
The  happy,  pretty  things  of  life  just  had  to  go  and  die. 
What  tv  as  death  anyway,  and  why  mnst  frost  and  blight  and  care 
just  put  a  hand  on  everything  and  claim  their  fatal  share? 
Why  don't  God  let  the  pretty  flowers  grow  on  all  through  the  year-' 
And  make  us  think  of  summer  time  although  the  snow  Is  here? 
Ah  little  grandson  Willie,  you  must  learn  that  light  Is  made 
Far  brighter  and  more  beautiful  for  just  a  touch  of  shade. 
For  sorrow’s  biting  acid  only  eats  the  base  alloy, 
And  frost  and  death  and  trouble  bring  a  keener,  purer  joy. 
Have  faith,  then,  grandson  Willie,  let  no  bitter  tears  be  shed. 
When  autumn’s  frosty  fingers  make  vour  posies  bow  their  head. 
Be  thankful  for  th  pleasure  they  have  given  you  and  know 
That  seeds  and  roots  are  living  down  beneath  the  winter's  snow 
CAN  you  keep  your  horse  fat  and  lively  without  oats? 
Thb  Ester  Grape.  Let  us  hear  from  those  who  have  tried  It. 
It  takes  a  big  first-water  sage  to  live  with  credit  “  on  his  age  ! 
Wht  not  eat  your  pie  first?  Any  advantage  In  keeping  the  best  till 
the  last? 
No  man  has  any  right  to  pack  a  first-class  apple  as  though  It  were 
not  an  egg. 
What  botanist,  by  taking  thought,  can  add  one  year  to  the  life  of 
the  clover  plant  ? 
The  trotter  goes  faster  the  better  it’s  sired,  the  bicycle  brightens 
Its  pace  when  It’s  tired. 
Will  the  Babcock  tester  catch  the  fat  In  the  sklm-mllk  1  No;  but 
It  will  show  that  It’s  there!  You  must  do  the  catching. 
Those  who  put  their  whole  farms  into  experiments  generally  have 
nothing  left  except  themselves  and  they  are  very  much  so. 
The  legal  milk  standard  in  London.  England,  Is  given  as  llj$  per 
cent  solids.  We  thought  the  English  “  went  in  ”  for  quality. 
The  wise  poultry  buyer  now  gets  out  among  the  flocks  and  picks  up 
bargains  In  youug  birds  that  will  be  worth  twice  as  much  next  spring 
as  they  are  now. 
Orchard  Grass  Is  bothersome  for  hay  because  It  grows  so  last  that 
it  is  ready  before  the  haying  season.  This  very  fact  makes  It  fine  for 
spring  pasture  or  soiling. 
A  hen  neglected  In  October  will  make  her  owner  very  sober  when  he 
figures  ap  the  cost  to  see  how  many  eggs  he's  lost  by  not  attending 
to  her  right.  Go  out  and  house  the  hens  to-night  1 
WnENahog’s  back  becomes  ltchy.lt  promotes  the  hog’s  vigor  to 
scratoh  his  back.  With  right  treatment  the  back  would  not  need 
scratching.  Is  It  not  much  the  same  with  this  matter  of  scraping 
trees  ? 
Vermin  hold  the  henhouse  now  and  drive  the  good  hens  out;  when 
they  roost  upon  the  trees  they  know  what  they're  about.  Make  a 
mighty  effort,  boys,  and  clean  the  foul  place  out— under  the  banner  of 
progress. 
That  Rhode  Island  girl  with  her  400  turkeys  Is  equal  to  a  whole 
experiment  station  In  showing  what  New  England  “  abandoned  ” 
farms  ean  do  In  the  way  of  meat  making.  A  turkey  makes  fine  breast 
meat  out  of  bugs. 
Do  you  believe  that  a  hen  is  the  best  judge  of  what  Is  good  for  her  ? 
Will  she  go  out  doors  on  a  day  when  the  weather  Is  too  cold  ?  Should 
she  be  housed  up  or  permitted  to  go  out  If  she  wants  to?  Mr.  Wyckoff 
says  his  hens  won’t  go  out  in  winter  If  they  have  a  chance. 
No  animal  has  any  use  for  indigestible  food.  You  wouldn’t  keep  a 
man  who  fed  your  horse  sawdust!  It  would  only  make  the  horse  sick. 
Digestible  mental  food  is  just  as  necessary  for  your  children.  Don’t 
have  a  teasher  who  gives  them  only  dry,  hard  facts  that  make  their 
heads  ache. 
A  railroad  adds  to  the  value  of  a  town.  The  quickest  wav  to  add 
to  the  value  of  a  farm  is  to  build  a  good  road  to  it.  The  farm  and  the 
town  both  live  and  grow  on  the  home  products  exchanged  with  others. 
The  plaee  to  look  for  profit  is  in  the  eost  of  transporting  these  produets. 
Reduce  that  by  reduelng  friction  on  the  roads. 
MR.  MAP18  (page  669)  tells  us  about  his  scheme  for  keeping  hens. 
Mr.  Mapes  Is  a  practical  man  who  has  been  gradually  working  out  of 
the  milk  business  into  poultry.  We  believe  he  knows  what  he  Is  talk¬ 
ing  about.  It  would  be  unfortunate,  however,  if  when  shutting  the 
hen  house  door  some  night  he  should  shut  In  a  mink  or  skunk! 
Governor  Tillman  is  now  in  New  York  city  for  the  purpose  of 
making  arrangements  for  ref  unding  the  South  Carolina  State  debt  of 
J6, 000, 000  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest.  There  is  no  doubt  that,  In  spite  of 
the  political  machinations  of  his  opponents,  he  will  be  able  to  accom¬ 
plish  his  objeet,  and  thus  lighten  the  load  of  State  taxation.  Good  for 
the  farmers'  Governor! 
The  Chicago  milk  dealers  have  led  the  trade  in  the  matter  of  adul¬ 
teration.  Recent  examinations  showed  that  out  of  50  samples  but  one 
was  pure,  49  were  adulterated.  The  principal  medium  of  adulteration 
was  water— from  15  to  45  per  cent  of  that  delectable  Michigan  Lake 
liquid  being  added  to  the  milk.  The  analyses  secured  by  the  Herald 
show  that  the  bulk  of  the  milk  contained  a  total  of  solids  ranging 
from  five  to  nine  per  cent  instead  of  13  It  is  a  horrible  condition  of 
affairs. 
A  California  grocer  has  in  his  store  a  powerful  object  lesson.  One- 
half  is  fitted  up  for  a  cash  trade  and  the  other  for  credit.  The  goods 
are  just  the  same  on  both  sides,  but  the  prices  differ.  The  credit  buyer 
pays  interest  on  the  money  he  would  pay  if  he  bought  for  cash,  and 
the  rate  Is  far  above  that  sanctioned  by  law.  People  who  buy  on  credit 
not  only  pay  big  interest  on  their  own  debts,  but  also  pay  the  principal 
amd  Interest  of  defaulters  who  fail  to  pay  at  all.  The  biggest  tax  on 
the  people  to-day  is  the  credit  tax. 
Wi  have  told  our  readers  something  about  the  mice  plague  in  Scot¬ 
land.  A  new  interest  is  felt  in  a  law  suit  just  brought  about  by  these 
alee.  A  tenant  on  a  mlce-rldden  farm  refused  to  pay  his  rent  because 
the  mice  deprived  him  of  the  full  benefit  of  his  fields.  He  could  not 
pasture  his  stock,  and  was  obliged  to  buy  food  that  he  would  other¬ 
wise  have  raise#.  He  elalms  that  the  landlord  has  not  kept  his 
agreement,  heeause  be  has  not  saved  him  from  the  scourge  of  mlee 
The  landler#  therefere  brings  suit  against  the  tenant  to  reeover  rent 
