77  6 
Not.  $6 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
A  Short  Course  in  Agriculture. 
A.  D.  Baker,  Seneca  County,  N.  Y. — 
Why  is  it  that  the  agricultural  papers  are 
so  diffident  about  the  short  course  in 
agriculture  at  Cornell  University  ?  The 
R.  N.-Y.  is  the  only  paper  in  which  I 
have  seen  anything  about  it.  I  hope  our 
institute  speakers  will  call  the  attention 
of  their  hearers  to  it;  for  the  special 
course  is  intended  for  young  men  who 
cannot  well  spend  four  years  in  school, 
while  they  can  afford  to  pass  one  or  more 
terms  at  the  university.  The  instruction 
offered  will  be  designed  especially  to 
meet  their  needs,  and  I  hope  every  young 
man  who  can  will  avail  himself  of  this 
opportunity;  for  it  seems  to  me  just  the 
golden  opportunity  for  young  men  ex¬ 
pecting  to  be  tillers  of  the  soil  and  surely 
there  is  no  nobler  calling.  Our  farms 
are  sadly  in  need  of  better  management 
and  when  have  our  young  men  had  such 
an  opportunity  of  learning  the  best  way? 
Hog  Cholera  and  Gold  Watches. 
Prof.  F.  E.  Emery,  Raleigh,  N.  C. — 
The  proprietor  of  a  hog  cholera  remedy 
says  in  a  circular  letter  to  me : 
Swine  raisers  desiring  to  use  the  remedy  without 
Insurance,  feeding  It  from  the  ttme  the  pigs  are 
weaned  until  marketed,  can  do  so  at  a  cost  of  25  to 
35  cents  per  head.  Those  who  use  It  regularly  never 
lose  any  hogs  by  disease  and  find  that  the  extra  flesh 
It  puts  upon  the  animals  without  extra  feeding,  will 
repay  several  times  the  cost.  Hogs  so  treated  will 
be  marketable  from  one  to  three  weeks  sooner,  thus 
saving  much  labor  and  feed.  Wasteful  feeding 
causes  as  much  loss  as  disease.  Thousands  of  breed¬ 
ers  and  shippers  recommend  it  to  farmers  and  send 
me  orders.  As  an  Inducement  lor  you  to  do  likewise, 
I  beg  to  say  that  If  within  the  next  six  months  you 
will  send  me  orders  for  six  (25-pound)  cans  of  H.  &  P. 
Remedy  at  $12  50  each.  I  will  make  you  a  present  of  a 
GOLD  WATCH,  guaranteed  to  be  a  good  time-piece, 
as  a  reward  for  your  assistance.  And  you  can  earn 
It  easily,  for  every  one  having  40  hogs  should  use  a 
can  of  the  remedy.  Cans  will  be  shipped  express  or 
freight  prepaid. 
I  do  not  care  for  or  need  a  gold  watch, 
and  if  1  did  should  buy  it  in  my  own 
way.  Hog  cholera  does  decimate  some 
herds  in  North  Carolina,  but  it  might  be 
an  open  question  which  would  cost  the 
most — cholera,  or  cure  with  the  gold 
watch  profits  attached.  One  of  our  suc¬ 
cessful  pork  raisers  assures  me  that  by 
mixing  one  tablespoonful  of  carbolic  acid 
in  the  feed  for  a  sow  and  pigs  once  a 
week  cholera  is  warded  off  ;  also  that 
fed  oftener  it  will  cure  sick  pigs  if  given 
before  they  refuse  to  eat.  I  have  never 
seen  the  effects  of  carbolic  acid  on  hog 
cholera  and  should  turn  the  first  cases  of 
it  over  to  a  veterinarian  if  troubled,  and 
might  thus  get  a  trial  of  the  remedies, 
but  at  present  this  offer  seems  to  be 
nearly  in  the  line  of  humbugs. 
given  contracts  upon  the  roads.  The  law 
is  such  that  many  of  these  contracts  can 
be  given,  or  are  given,  without  any  pub¬ 
lic  bidding.  The  natural  result  is  that 
these  heelers  are  often  allowed  big  pay 
for  poor  work.  They  have  matters  in 
their  own  hands,  unless  the  commissioner 
is  more  of  a  man  than  a  politician. 
Our  roads  would  be  much  better  if  the 
money  now  paid  by  the  people  wrere  more 
wisely  expended,  and  they  would  be  far 
better  still  if  it  were  honestly  expended. 
The  farmers  know  that  these  are  facts, 
and  will  be  slow  to  vote  for  better  roads 
until  a  satisfactory  answer  is  given  to 
the  question  The  Rural  raises,  “Who 
is  to  handle  and  pay  out  the  money  ?  ”  I 
think  it  should  not  be  a  man  elected  by 
the  people.  Elective  offices  of  a  local 
character  are  not  usually  filled  by  men 
who  are  as  devoted  to  the  people’s  inter¬ 
ests  as  they  are  to  their  own. 
If  a  scheme  can  be  arranged  by  which 
the  local  dispensers  of  road  money  are 
not  dependent  upon  the  favor  of  our 
politicaM  heelers  and  bums,  matters  would 
mend.  The  offices  should  be  appointive. 
While  it  may  be  bad  public  policy  to  lodge 
too  much  power  in  the  hands  of  the  judi¬ 
ciary,  yet  I  believe  that  nothing  short  of 
a  commission  that  is  responsible  to  the 
judges  of  a  local  or  other  court  would 
satisfy  the  people  that  it  is  business-like 
to  vote  funds  for  a  decided  and  radical 
improvement  of  the  public  roads. 
Handling;  Public  Funds. 
Alya  Agee,  Ohio.— The  Rural’s  ques¬ 
tion,  “  Who  is  to  handle  and  pay  out 
the  money  that  should  be  raised  for  road 
improvement  ?”  strikes  at  the  root  of  the 
trouble.  The  farmers  see  the  present 
road  money  used  by  politicians  to  reward 
the  services  of  party  heelers  and  ward 
workers,  and  they  are  slow  to  ask  to  be 
taxed  heavily  for  the  creation  of  a  fund 
that  might  go  the  same  road.  In  mod¬ 
ern  politics — and  ancient,  too,  for  aught 
I  know — a  man  elected  to  an  office  is 
under  direct  obligations  to  men  notori¬ 
ously  corrupt.  Every  precinct  has  its 
boss  who  helps  to  control  nominations 
within  his  own  party  and  often  controls 
many  votes  at  the  polls,  and  the  good¬ 
will  of  these  bosses  is  a  necessity  to  the 
aspirant  for  office. 
The  man  who  gets  an  office  wants  a 
second  term,  of  course.  No  sooner  is  he 
in  a  position  that  dispenses  public  favors 
than  he  is  made  aware  of  the  fact  that, 
if  he  hopes  to  succeed  himself,  he  “  must 
stand  by  his  friends.”  In  Ohio,  county 
commissioners  control  most  of  the  road 
money.  The  petty  precinct  bosses  ex¬ 
pect  to  be  repaid  for  all  exertions  that 
they  made  during  the  canvass  by  being 
Chrysanthemums. 
“  Gardening  ”  has  a  pleasant  account 
of  chrysanthemums  ;  the  original  species, 
the  improvements  of  late  years;  the  popu¬ 
lar  classes  of  to-day  ;  raising  them  from 
seed,  etc. 
Only  two  distinct  species  are  now  recog¬ 
nized  Dy  botanists,  namely,  C.  Indicum 
(the  pompon),  and  C.  morifolium  (the 
Chinese)  ;  C.  morifolium  var.  gracile  is 
given  as  the  original  of  the  loose-headed 
forms  from  Japan.  But  as  gardeners 
every  year  raise  types  of  all  three  from 
seed  saved  from  some  one  plant,  it  leaves 
them  much  in  doubt  if  there  is  more  than 
one  original  species.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  centuries  of  natural  and  artificial 
crossing  and  intermixing  may  have  elim¬ 
inated  in  the  plants  of  to-day  their  origi¬ 
nal  specific  identity. 
Chrysanthemums  were  introduced  into 
Europe  about  200  years  ago.  In  1796  only 
three  varieties — a  white,  violet  and  pur¬ 
ple— were  known  in  Britain.  A  few 
years  later  eight  new  kinds  were  im¬ 
ported  from  China  to  England.  The  first 
Japanese  varieties  were  sent  to  England 
from  Tokio  by  Robert  Fortune  in  1862. 
These,  unlike  the  Chinese,  are  the  large, 
loose,  whirligig,  mop-like  flowers  which 
are  the  prime  favorites  of  to-day. 
Ilorticulturally  we  have  about  five 
classes  among  chrysanthemums,  namely, 
Japanese,  ostrich  plume,  Chinese,  an¬ 
emone-flowered,  and  pompon;  but  now- 
a-days  they  merge  into  each  other  so 
much  that  a  rigid  line  between  them  can 
hardly  be  drawn.  The  Japanese  are 
vigorous  growers  with  fine  foliage,  and 
the  flowers  may  be  incurved,  reflexed, 
or  intertwisted,  and  the  petals  broad  or 
narrow,  flat,  half-quilled,  all-quilled,  etc. 
Gloriosum,  Golden  Dragon  and  Domina¬ 
tion  are  good  types  of  Japanese  varie¬ 
ties.  The  ostrich  plume  varieties  are 
those  having  hairy  petals,  as  Mrs.  Al- 
pheus  Hardy,  and  Louis  Boehmer,  and 
so  far  they  are  but  a  sub-section  of  the 
Japanese  class.  The  Chinese  varieties 
have  incurved  or  reflexed  flowers,  but 
mostly  the  former  and  their  blossoms  are 
of  the  greatest  compactness  and  regular¬ 
ity.  Pompons  are  the  small  varieties 
or  little  Chinese  daisies.  They  are  the 
“artemisias”  of  our  grandmothers’  gar¬ 
dens  and  the  best  hardy  chrysanthemums 
known.  Anemone-flowered  chrysanthe¬ 
mums  are  those  that  have  quilled  centers 
and  flat  outer  petals,  and  they  may  be¬ 
long  to  either  the  Japanese,  Chinese  or 
pompon  classes. 
They  are  very  easily  raised  from  seed. 
The  seed  ripens  about  the  end  of  Novem¬ 
ber  or  in  December.  They  may  be  sown 
in  the  greenhouse  in  February  or  in  the 
window  in  March  or  April.  They  ger¬ 
minate  in  about  seven  days  and  the  seed- 
lings  grow  quite  thriftily.  By  planting 
them  out  in  the  garden  in  May  they 
make  very  large  bushy  plants  before 
fall,  and  most  of  them  will  bloom  the 
first  year.  While  all  may  be  pretty, 
many  of  them  are  apt  to  be  single- 
flowered  ;  lots  of  them  may  be  semi¬ 
double  and  a  few  good  doubles,  and  one 
in  a  hundred  may  be  good  and  distinct 
enough  to  be  worth  perpetuating. 
Spice. 
Eds.  R.  N.-Y.— The  grapes  sent  herewith  were 
grown  from  the  seeds  sent  out  from  The  Rural 
office  several  years  ago.  Please  test  as  to  quality 
and  report  through  The  Rural.  The  bunches  are 
not  so  large  or  so  compact  as  In  former  years.  Grapes 
here  In  Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  are  pretty  nearly  a 
failure  this  year,  and  these  are  not  as  sweet  as  In 
former  years.  l.  travis. 
The  grapes  sent  by  Mr.  Travis  are 
greenish  white,  of  medium  size — a  little 
larger  than  Delawares — round,  a  little 
oblong.  The  skin  is  much  like  that  of 
its  parent,  the  Niagara  ;  the  pulp  more 
tender,  the  seeds  smaller.  It  is  a  little 
sweeter  than  Niagara  and  would  be  re¬ 
garded  as  of  good  quality  by  all  who  do 
not  mind  foxiness . 
About  five  years  ago  The  R.  N.-Y. 
sent  seeds  of  the  Niagara  to  all  appli¬ 
cant  subscribers.  It  is  now  time  that 
the  seedlings  should  be  fruiting.  But 
few  of  our  friends  have  favored  us  with 
reports . 
Smith’s  Hybrid  pear  is  alluded  to  by 
Orchard  and  Garden  as  an  improved  Le 
Conte.  It  is  said  to  be  in  quality  very 
much  better,  and  the  flesh  of  a  well  ripen¬ 
ed  specimen  will  be  found  rich  and  juicy, 
melting  and  luscious.  It  is  a  handsome 
( Continued  on  next  page.) 
If  you  name  The  R.  N.-Y.  to  our  advertisers  you 
may  be  pretty  sure  of  prompt  replies  and  right 
treatment. 
Eyesight 
SAVED. 
“  My  boy  had  Scarlet 
Fever  when  4  years  old, 
leaving  him  very  weak 
and  with  blood  pois¬ 
oned  with  canker. 
His  eyes  became  in¬ 
flamed,  his  sufferings 
were  intense,  and  lor  7 
weeks  he  could  not  even 
\  i)1  °Pen  h's  eyes.  I  began 
Clifford  Blackman,  g™™*" 
»  A  l£S  A  I’  AItU.I,  A , 
which  soon  cured  him.  1  know  it  saved  his 
sight,  if  not  his  very  life.”  Arbie  F.  Black¬ 
man,  2888  Washington  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
HOOD'S  PlLLS  are  the  best  after-dinner  Pills, 
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When  furnished  with  Graphite  BearlnirsJ 
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and  worth  its  weight  in  gold.  The 
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gular  in  shape,  the  corners  and  girts  l 
of  angle  steel ;  the  braces  are  steel  rods, 
of  which  can  be  firmly  drawn  up,  inde-i 
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strength,  durability  and  simplicity  to  the] 
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Bend  for  catalogue.  Address 
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BRANCH  OFFICES  : 
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DEPOTS  : 
Boston,  Mass.;  Ft.  Worth,  Tex. 
OUR  HAY  GARRIERS 
are  the  best  suited  for  all  kinds  of  buildings.  Use 
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We  mail  one  pack  25c.  Five  SI  A  2  1-4  lb.  can  §1.20.  Six 
cans,  85  00,  express  paid.  Poultry  Raising  Guide,  price 
25  cents,  free  with  §1.00  orders  or  more.  Sample  copy 
of  The  Rest  Poultry  Paper  sent  tree. 
I.  S.  JOHNSON  &  CO., 22  Custom  House  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
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