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THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
Oct.  22 
THE 
Rural  New-Yorker 
JIMES  BUILDING,  NEW  YORK. 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes. 
ELBEUT  8.  CARMAN.  Editor  In  Chief. 
HERBERT  W.  COLLINGWOOD,  Managing  Editor 
CoVVriQhted  1H92. 
SATURDAY,  OCTOBER  22,  1892. 
Few  horticultural  suggestions  of  late  years  have 
met  with  such  ready  response  as  that  of  Mr.  E.  Wil¬ 
liams  about  giving  female  names  to  perfect  flowered 
strawberries  and  male  names  to  pistillates.  The 
papers  are  all  talking  about  it  and  all  are  pleased 
with  the  idea.  We  hope  the  discussion  will  end  in 
the  adoption  of  this  plan  by  all  who  send  out  new 
berries.  #  # 
For  the  benefit  of  our  numerous  family  of  readers, 
we  give  in  this  issue  and  will  hereafter  give  regularly, 
accurate  quotations  of  the  various  grades  of  mill 
feeds,  with  complete  directions  for  purchasing  them. 
Dairymen  who  are  tolerably  constant  feeders,  should 
always  buy  in  car-load  lots.  Where  your  neighbor 
uses  feed,  you  can  club  together  and  buy  a  car-load 
and  thus  save  middlemen’s  profits.  Make  a  note  of 
the  details  and  when  you  need  the  information,  it  will 
be  at  hand.  #  # 
Tiie  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  College,  at  College 
Station,  Center  County,  has  arranged  for  a  good  short 
winter  course  in  agriculture.  This,  like  the  one  pro¬ 
posed  at  Cornell,  is  designed  for  those  farmers’  sons 
who  desire  to  take  advantage  of  the  winter  vacation 
in  studying  the  sciences  that  underlie  agriculture. 
It  is  a  firstrate  chance  for  such  boys  and  we  hope 
there  are  hundreds  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  who 
will  take  advantage  of  it.  The  R.  N.-Y.  advises  them 
to  write  to  the  college  and  find  out  about  it. 
*  * 
Here  and  there,  in  papers  which  are  supposed  to 
reach  rural  readers,  may  be  seen  an  advertisement  of 
the  “  Eureka  Butter  Compound.”  This  is  a  most  mar¬ 
velous  thing,  according  to  the  stories  of  its  promoters. 
“  It  will  double  the  weight  of  butter  without  impair¬ 
ing  its  quality.”  For  SI  they  will  send  enough  to  mix 
with  50  pounds  of  butter,  thus  making  100  of  it. 
Further,  “  it  preserves  the  quality  of  good  butter  and 
improves  the  flavor  of  poor  butter.”  The  gudgeon 
who  would  bite  at  such  a  transparent  fraud  as  this, 
deserves  no  better  fate  than  to  be  swindled.  It  is  so 
very,  very  thin — such  a  transparent  humbug. 
*  * 
When  a  man  gives  a  mortgage  on  his  property  there 
is  a  general  impression  that  he  is  in  an  embarrassed 
condition  and  that  some  heartless  capitalist  is  taking 
a  cruel  advantage  of  his  distress.  This  may  be  a  fact 
in  some  cases,  but,  as  a  general  rule,  it  certainly  is  not 
true.  Isn't  it  a  fact  that  the  majority  of  mortgages 
are  executed  under  circumstances  which  do  not  imply 
financial  misfortune  ?  Do  they  not  usually  relate  to 
speculative  ventures,  such  as  the  enlargement  or 
improvement  of  the  mortgagee’s  estate,  and  are  not 
these  often  signally  profitable  ?  There  are  thousands, 
yes  tens  of  thousands  of  mortgages  which  represent 
deferred  payments  on  homes  bought  by  men  of  small 
means,  and  surely  these  are  indicative  of  thrift  and 
growing  prosperity  rather  than  of  calamity. 
*  * 
The  past  week  has  been  a  notable  one  for  New  York 
city.  Four  centuries  ago  Christopher  Columbus 
changed  the  history  of  the  world  by  discovering  new 
land — a  new  continent  where  the  dwarfed  liberty 
and  thought  of  the  old  nations  might  find  room  to 
grow  and  develop.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  commemorate 
this  event — a  good  thing  for  both  young  and  old  to 
look  over  the  past  and  thus  be  better  prepared  to  move 
on  to  the  future.  The  opening  celebration  in  New 
York  is  but  the  first  of  a  series  that  will  culminate  in 
the  great  World’s  Fair  at  Chicago.  New  York  was 
alive  with  flags  and  bunting.  Never  before  has  the 
city  been  so  gaily  decorated.  Outsiders  crowded  to 
the  city  by  the  thousand  and  for  once  New  York  had 
more  visitors  than  she  could  comfortably  handle.  The 
great  procession  that  marched  up  Manhattan  Island 
from  Battery  point— the  home  of  the  original  Dutch 
settlers — might  well  cause  the  visitor  to  wonder  at  the 
strength  of  this  country  for  peace  as  well  as  for  war. 
First  came  the  thousands  of  school  children  from  our 
public  schools.  That  was  an  illustration  of  America’s 
most  useful  standing  army.  The  militia  from  the 
different  States,  the  noble  veterans  of  the  war,  the 
great  living  pictures  of  the  progress  of  industry  and 
trade,  all  swept  before  the  observer,  and  over  all 
floated  the  good  old  stars  and  stripes — emblem  of  the 
freest  and  most  hopeful  government  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  It  was  truly  an  inspiring  occasion — one  long 
to  be  remembered.  The  world  owes  much  to  Colum¬ 
bus,  and  yet,  as  the  years  go  by,  we  come  nearer  to  a 
just  estimate  of  his  services  to  civilization.  The  truth 
of  history  compels  us  to  say  that  Columbus  and  his 
comrades  were  little  better  than  freebooters  or  pirates. 
Not  until  the  English  and  the  Dutch  came  to  America 
seeking  homes  can  American  civilization  be  said  to  have 
started.  It  is  a  hopeful  sign  that  to-day  we  can  honor 
the  memory  of  Columbus  and  at  the  same  time  recog¬ 
nize  how  little  our  present  civilization  owes  to  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  his  time.  #  * 
One  of  our  contemporaries  makes  a  savage  attack  on 
Mr.  Whittaker,  Secretary  of  the  New  England  Milk 
Producers’  Union,  charging  him  with  the  responsi¬ 
bility  of  fixing  the  price  of  winter  milk  at  37  cents, 
when  it  should  have  been,  according  to  this  critic,  38, 
that  being  the  price  settled  on  by  the  representatives 
of  the  unions.  Taking  into  consideration  the  fact  that 
the  surplus  milk  is  steadily  growing  in  bulk,  and  re¬ 
membering  that  high  prices  always  increase  produc¬ 
tion,  it  is  the  opinion  of  The  Rural  that  Mr.  Whit¬ 
taker  and  those  who  acted  with  him  were  much  wiser 
than  the  critic  who  so  severely  condemns  them.  The 
price  named  will  net  producers  a  fraction  over  three 
cents  per  quart,  and,  while  it  is  not  a  munificent  price, 
it  is  a  living  one,  extending  over  six  months  in  the 
year.  It  is  very  easy  to  criticise — the  severest  critics 
are  generally  those  who  know  least  of  the  subject 
under  consideration. 
*  * 
There  is  a  good  deal  said  nowadays  about  direct  and 
indirect  taxation.  The  fact  is  that  all  of  us  pay  taxes 
for  things  that  are  of  no  direct  benefit  to  us.  The 
writer  has  just  received  his  tax  bill  for  1892.  Leaving 
out  poll  and  dog  tax,  30  per  cent  of  the  amount  is  for 
poor  and  school  taxes — yet  he  has  no  children  or 
paupers.  Add  road  tax  and  60  per  cent  of  his  taxes 
are  of  no  direct  benefit  to  him.  The  road  money  has 
thus  far  been  spent  on  roads  where  he  seldom  travels. 
We  have  no  desire  to  find  fault  with  this  arrangement. 
A  family  of  children  large  enough  to  attend  the  public 
school  would  fill  our  house  with  happiness.  The  road 
tax  is  all  right — we  shall  have  our  roads  fixed  in  time. 
The  point  is  that,  in  order  to  obtain  any  direct  benefit 
from  taxation,  we  must  be  willing  to  benefit  others. 
The  idea  of  simply  paying  taxes  for  the  things 
that  benefit  us  alone  would  develop  the  most  selfish 
race  of  mortals  that  ever  lived. 
*  * 
The  Convention  held  at  Grand  Forks,  South  Dakota, 
the  other  day  to  promote  reciprocal  trade  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Dominion,  was  a  decided  suc¬ 
cess  so  far  as  attendance  was  concerned.  Delegates 
were  present  in  large  numbers  from  both  sides  of  the 
border  and  the  discussions  were  eminently  amicable. 
The  following  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  : 
Resolved,  That  In  the  opinion  of  this  convention  the  conditions  of 
the  great  Northwest  on  both  sides  of  the  international  boundary  make 
It  desirable  that  all  restrictions  In  the  way  of  trade  between  the  two 
countries  should  be  removed,  as  far  as  the  same  can  be  done  consist¬ 
ently  with  the  revenue  requirements  and  other  interests  of  the  two 
nations  at  large. 
Another  convention  to  take  definite  steps  is  to  be 
held  at  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  within  the  next  six  months. 
There  is  a  strong  and  growing  sentiment  all  through 
the  Northwest  that  the  prosperity  of  the  section 
would  be  greatly  promoted  by  the  removal  of  all  com¬ 
mercial  restrictions  between  the  Union  and  the  Do¬ 
minion.  *  # 
When  a  man  buys  stable  manure  he  buys  an 
unknown  quantity  of  an  unknown  quality.  No  sub¬ 
stance  that  a  farmer  buys  varies  so  much  in  quality  as 
does  stable  manure.  It  is  not  sold  on  analysis  and 
nobody  knows  what  he  is  getting  when  he  buys  a  load 
of  it.  We  know  men  who  have  bought  it  in  car-load 
lots  to  find  a  great  lump  of  ice  weighing  several  hun¬ 
dred  pounds  at  the  bottom  of  each  load.  The  manure 
was  purposely  drenched  with  water  and  frozen  so  as 
to  add  weight  to  the  load.  This  method  of  selling 
water  is  poor  business  for  the  farmer,  who  should 
never  buy  water  if  he  can  help  it.  The  fact  is  that 
the  only  way  to  buy  plant  food  with  any  degree  of 
accuracy  is  to  buy  fertilizers  of  guaranteed  analyses. 
In  this  way  a  farmer  may  know  just  wThat  he  is  buy¬ 
ing,  while  when  buying  manure  he  has  no  means  of 
knowing  what  he  pays  for.  Of  course  we  speak  now 
of  buying  manure — not  about  the  home-made  product. 
*  * 
The  State  of  Massachusetts  has  gone  into  the  busi¬ 
ness  of  selling  the  abandoned  farms  within  its  limits. 
The  State  issued  a  pamphlet  containing  a  lLt  of  these 
farms  with  descriptions,  etc.,  and  distributed  it  freeJy. 
As  a  result,  80  of  these  farms  have  been  sold  and 
others  have  been  examined  by  would-be  buyers.  It 
was  thought  that  the  chief  inquiry  for  these  lands 
would  come  from  city  people — rich  men  searching  for 
a  summer  home  or  workmen  who  wished  to  invest 
their  little  savings  in  a  country  home.  There  has 
been  little  or  no  demand  from  these  sources.  The 
farms  that  have  been  sold  have  been  bought  by  far¬ 
mers  who  will  continue  to  grow  crops  on  them  as  be¬ 
fore.  It  is  evident  that  there  is  no  reason  why  these 
farms  should  have  been  “abandoned”  except  those 
we  have  often  given — death  of  the  older  people  and 
the  restless  spirit  that  has  driven  the  younger  men 
away  in  search  for  adventure  or  a  livelier  life.  New 
England  agriculture  is  “all  right”  still. 
*  * 
Brevities. 
81x  o’clock  A.  M.,  boys,  lots  of  time  to-day! 
While  the  sun  is  rising.  let’s  turn  in  and  play. 
Lots  of  time  before  us.  gates  won’t  close  till  night, 
So  let’s  take  It  easy,  we’ll  get  there  all  right! 
Twelve  o’clock  at  noon,  boys!  Sun  Is  shining  clear. 
Shadows  fall  behind  us— not  half  there  I  fear. 
Oh !  the  time  we  wasted  playing  on  the  road. 
Now  the  back  is  weary  underneath  Its  load! 
Six  o’clack  p.  m..  boys,  now  the  sun  goes  down. 
See,  the  lights  are  shining  from  the  homes  In  town. 
But  the  gates  are  closing-we  are  far  away. 
Blackness  shrouds  the  ending  of  a  wasted  day! 
Don’t  waken  a  sleeping  dog— he  Is  In  no  mischief. 
Don’t  wait  till  cholera  comes  before  you  clean  out  that  drain. 
“When  eggs  are  sold  by  the  pound!”  then  we  must  breed  a  new 
race  of  grocers  and  marketmen. 
Breed  a  yellow  leg  and  skin  on  a  Langshan  and  we  will  then  show 
you  the  best  table  fowl  In  the  world 
To  have  vour  spring  eating  apples  taste  right,  keep  them  barreled 
up  all  winter.  This  “holds  the  flavor.” 
Are  Japan  persimmons  worked  upon  our  native  persimmon  stocks 
hardier  than  if  worked  on  Japan  stocks? 
Scott’s  Winter  and  Wealthy  apples.  If  you  are  planting 
orchards  this  fall,  you  should  study  these  up. 
Mr.  Halsey’s  hogs  ought  to  be  happy!  Think  of  the  way  they 
live  and  then  glance  at  your  own  unclean  things. 
If  at  your  dairy  door  old  Loss  keeps  ever  loudly  knocking,  it’s  very 
evident  your  cows  most  sadly  need  “  Babcocking.” 
The  Paragon  Chestnut  agaiD  bears  a  heavy  crop  this  year  at  the 
Rural  Grounds.  We  have  seedlings  of  it  two  years  old. 
What  besides  your  board  and  clothes  does  your  year’s  work  bring 
you?  If  nothing,  can't  you  make  the  board  better  and  happier? 
They  used  to  say  that  “  any  fool  can  be  a  farmer,”  but  that  day 
has  gone  by.  The  fools  go  into  the  so  called  learned  professions,  and 
the  brains  are  required  on  the  farm 
What  are  the  relations  between  labor  and  capital  on  your  farm— as 
exemplified  by  you  and  your  hired  man?  You  represent  ”  capital 
and  the  chances  are  that  labor  is  getting  as  good  a  share  as  you  are. 
This  past  season  has  brought  much  complaint  from  potato  growers 
about  the  small  size  of  the  tubers— the  vines  being  cut  off  before  full 
growth.  The  R.  N.-Y.  No.  2  has  pleased  such  growers  and  reached  fair 
size  before  the  vines  were  injured. 
The  old  question  as  to  the  feeding  value  of  bran  Is  coming  up  again. 
There  are  many  farmers  who  do  not  believe  that  bran  has  the  high 
feeding  value  claimed  for  it  by  scientific  writers.  We  shall  try  to 
gather  all  possible  information  bearing  on  this  point. 
A  reader  In  Kentucky  has  this  to  say  about  The  R.  N.-Y.:  “I  have 
read  The  Rural  for  25  years  and  It  grows  better  and  better  as  the 
years  go  by.  I  don’t  see  how  any  young  man  can  read  It  and  want  to 
leave  the  farm.  Its  teachings  certainlydon’t  lead  in  that  direction 
Baldness  is  increasing  at  such  a  rapid  rate  that  the  wise  men  are 
hunting  for  a  “  cure.”  The  latest  scheme  is  to  paint  the  entire  bald 
surface  with  pure  carbolic  acid.  The  R.  N.-Y.  does  not  recommend 
this  treatment,  but  if  anybody  wants  to  try  it  “In  the  interests  of 
science”  we  will  print  the  results! 
Some  years  ago  Professor  Nipher  formulated  a  table  for  future 
trotting  records.  In  it  he  prophesied  a  record  of  2:07  for  1892.  and  that 
the  2:04  trotter  would  not  be  due  until  1900.  Nancy  Hanks,  however 
has  anticipated  the  date  by  eight  years.  It  should  be  remembered 
however,  that  the  Professor’s  calculations  were  based  on  the  use  of 
sulky  of  the  old  kind,  whereas  the  speedy  mare  flew  before  one  with 
pneumatic  tires,  arnd  Robert  Bonner  and  other  adepts  In  the  horse 
line  say  pneumatic  tires  and  a  non-“regular”  track  increase  the 
speed  fully  five  seconds  in  a  mile. 
The  stockmen  of  Louisiana  buy  vast  quantities  of  Western  and 
Northern  oats  to  feed  their  mules  and  horses.  The  rice  crop  is  large 
this  year  and  the  lower  grades,  containing  small  or  broken  grains,  are 
sold  fora  small  price!  Why  cannot  this  rice  take  the  place  of  the 
oats  for  work  teams?  That  is  the  problem  Louisiana  feeders  should 
solve.  It  Is  the  worst  sort  oi  a  “  force  bill  ”  to  make  themselves  buy 
oats  when  cheap  rice  will  answer. 
The  recent  European  long-distance  race  between  German  and  Aus¬ 
trian  cavalrymen  has  called  attention  to  the  sort  of  horses  used  in  the 
European  armies.  It  is  said  that  many  of  these  are  too  big  and 
clumsy  for  long-distance  riding,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  the  winners  n 
the  race  depended  most  upon  the  care  they  gave  their  animals.  “Buf¬ 
falo  Bill  ”  declares  that  a  dozen  American  cowboys  mounted  on  their 
tough  mustangs  could  easily  beat  the  winners  of  this  race. 
A  watch  firm  In  this  city  recently  moved  away  from  the  building  n 
which  they  had  made  watch  cases  for  many  years— melting  over  $2,000 
worth  of  gold  every  day.  The  floors  and  wood-work  of  the  old  build¬ 
ing  were  carefully  cut  up  and  burned  and  the  ashes  were  treated  with 
chemicals.  In  this  way  $67,000  worth  of  gold  was  recovered — gold  that 
had  been  scattered  into  the  cracks  an  i  wood-work.  In  the  soil  under¬ 
neath  your  barn,  is  a  small  bag  of  money.  It  will  come  to  you,  if  you 
will  dig  out  the  earth  and  scatter  it  around  your  crops. 
An  interesting  case  was  recently  tried  in  an  English  court.  A  man 
placed  his  farm  for  sale  in  the  hands  of  an  agent,  who  issued  bills  and 
posters  advertising  the  property.  The  farmer  finally  sold  the  land 
himself.  Then  the  agent  brought  suit  against  the  farmer  for  $50  com¬ 
mission,  claiming  that  the  purchaser  first  heard  of  the  farm  through 
the  agent’s  circular— therefore  he  was  entitled  to  a  commission!  The 
court  found  for  the  farmer,  but  said  the  agent  might  bring  suit  for 
damages  because  the  farmer  did  not  tell  the  buyer  that  the  agent  was 
doing  business  for  him. 
The  R.  N.-Y.’s  attempts  at  poetry  seem  to  be  contagious.  As  a 
sample  inoculation  an  unknown  friend  sends  this,  inspired  by  the 
request  of  a  child  “to  write  some  poetry  about  chickens:” 
Hens  and  roosters  I  would  sing. 
Heaps  of  cash  I’m  sure  they  bring. 
Not  too  young,  nor  yet  too  old, 
Not  too  near  for  coons  to  behold — 
Easy  feeders,  enormous  lay. 
Ta-ra-ra-ra  boom-de-aye. 
Sheep  farmers  in  Scotland  and  northern  England  are  having  hard 
times  this  year.  Prices  are  low,  while  the  cost  of  production  has  in¬ 
creased.  Mutton  and  wool  are  sent  free  to  England  from  almost  every 
other  country  under  the  sun,  while  the  cost  of  food  s:uffs  increases 
and  rents  are  held  up.  As  an  Instance  of  the  depression  In  prices 
we  are  told  of  a  Scotch  farmer  who  sent  some  lambs  to  market  on  the 
day  his  wife  sent  a  crate  of  poultry.  The  poultry  brought  60  cents  a 
head,  while  the  lambs  brought  only  56  cents  !  The  hen  has  nearly 
always  headed  the  list  of  profitable  farm  stock,  though  it  is  only  now 
and  then  that  she  can  prove  it. 
