1 89 1 
67 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
HTHE DECLINE OF RURAL NEW 
ENGLAND. 
Prof. A. N. Corkier in Popular Science 
for January, takes a most gloomy view of 
the future of agriculture, and the present 
as well, for that matter, of New England. 
Not only is the area of cultivated land 
decreasing all the while,but the land-owners 
are sensibly narrowing their tillage, he says. 
The land is growing poorer, partly from 
natural causes and partly from less careful 
working and the marked decrease in the 
amount of live stock kept upon it. The fact 
is, farming does not pay, especially if help 
must be hired to do a large part of the 
work. 
The farmer finds himself the victim of all 
the evils of a protective tariff without its 
supposed benefits. The promised home 
market he has found to his cost, if not his 
ruin, is a delusion and a snare. If the man¬ 
ufacturing centers in his vicinity have 
raised the price of some of his products, 
they have advanced the cost of labor in a 
greater degree, and drawn to themselves 
the best brain and muscle from the farms. 
He is being heavily taxed for the benefit of 
the whole list of these assistant industries 
that rob him of his working force, while 
the competition, intensified by labor-saving 
machines suited to the large prairie farms 
of the West and stimulated by lavish gifts 
of land to settlers and subsidies to railroads, 
ruinously reduces the prices of his products 
in his natural home market. He buys 
Western flour and Western corn for his own 
consumption at a cheaper rate than he can 
produce them with hired labor, and by 
reason of the long winter is unable to com¬ 
pete with the West and South in cattle¬ 
raising for the Eastern market at his door. 
Confining his attention to the few crops 
that, from their bulk or perishable nature, 
are not subject to the destructive competi¬ 
tion of the West, the ordinary farmer 
merely lives and pays current expenses, 
while his less shrewd and careful neighbor 
falls behind each year, and sooner or later 
will be sold out of hou-»e and home. 
THE RURAL’S LUNCH. 
Tiie Christian Union remarks that as a 
matter of fact gold coin hasn’t the least 
power of germinating. 
You see, it takes two parties to the con¬ 
tract to get a new invention or new pro¬ 
duct into successful use. It takes a user 
as well as a thing to be used. And the 
user has to be more or less willing and de¬ 
sirous to use it. That willingness, that 
desire, is often much harder to produce 
than the article itself. Here’s where ad¬ 
vertising grease gets in its fine work. 
The very fact that this advertisement 
was a good thing last year, and everybody 
said so, is ample evidence that it’s no good 
this year. There was a time when achromo 
was good bait for nibbling subscribers to 
periodicals ; to-day it’s a yellow dog on the 
run, with everybody kicking at him. 
THE Fordhook Squash is a very remark¬ 
able variety if the printed descriptions may 
be trusted. “ The flesh is as dry as Pike’s 
Peak”—“ Best in quality of all the winter 
squashes “ It seems incapable of rot¬ 
ting Squash-borer proof”—“A strong 
and rapid grower so that the striped bug 
has never injured it”—“It matures far 
North where scarcely any other varieties 
ripen”—“It is immensely productive, far 
outyielding any other good squash”— 
“Skin thin and delicate”—“Meat thick and 
seed cavity small”—“The green squashes 
can be used at any stage of their growth 
And so it goes. 
That nitrates are formed in the soil dur¬ 
ing warm weather is well shown by some 
simple experiments made by Boussingault, 
as detailed by Prof. Storer In his Agricul¬ 
ture. He placed a couple of pounds of soil 
(sifted) from a rich old garden upon a stone 
slab under a glass roof, and moistened it 
from time to time with pure water. The 
proportion of nitric acid was determined on 
the start, and afterwards at intervals dur¬ 
ing the summer with the following results; 
Per cent Pounds of 
of Nitrate Nitrate Pot- 
Potash. ash per acre 
August K. 0.j)I 34 
August 17....... t 06 222 
September 2 . 0..8 684 
September 17.... 0.22 ibO 
October 2. 0.21 728 
accords with universal experience. It 
shows, too, that a soil must be moist in 
order that nitrification shall occur. That 
is to say, the soil must be made a comfort¬ 
able place of abode for the microdemes 
which cause nitrification. 
The leaching action of rain is well illus¬ 
trated by another experiment of Boussing¬ 
ault. He examined soil taken from a gar¬ 
den after a fortnight of hot, dry weather, 
and found in it as much nitric acid as 
would amount to rather more than 900 
pounds of nitrate of potash to the acre, tak¬ 
ing the soil as one foot deep. After three 
weeks of rainy weather, during which over 
two inches of rain fell, he again examined 
the soil and found less than 40 pounds of 
nitrate of potash to the acre. 
Fordhook Early Water-melon is claimed 
to be the earliest melon of its size and of 
the finest quality. 
The Blonde Blockhead or Sunset Lettuce 
is said to be crisp, buttery and brittle. It 
is a “ perpetual lettuce and goes to seed 
reluctantly.”. 
Ellw anger & Barry and J. T. Lovett 
regard the Fitzwater as identical, or prac¬ 
tically so, with the Lawrence. An illus¬ 
tration of this pear, with an account of its 
origin etc , appeared in The R. N.-Y. of 
December 12, 1889, p. 819. Trees are now 
offered for $5 each. 
Not the least prominent and beneficent 
result of a first rate education is to lessen 
a man’s desire—and even his ability—to 
amass an immense fortune, and to greatly 
increase his capacity to get happiness out 
of a small fortune. 
A Decided advance in the way of black 
raspberries has been made in the Progress. 
Mr. Charles A. Green in his Fruit Grower 
says that it is of good size, jet black and of 
highest quality; canes of very strong 
growth, ironclad hardiness, and remark¬ 
able in yield. In vigor and growth it 
excels Gregg; and in hardiness it has no 
superior. The R. N.-Y. is trying this be¬ 
side Lovett’s Early for which similar 
claims are made. 
Farmers and gardoners and fruit grow¬ 
ers fully recognize the value of barn-yard 
manure. In a ton of ordinary manure, con¬ 
taining 25 per cent of water, there are 1,275 
pounds of organic matter and 225 pounds 
of ash. Except for its mechanical and in¬ 
direct benefit to the soil, all the manurial 
value of the 1,275 pounds of organic mat¬ 
ter is due to the nitrogen which it con¬ 
tains. Is it any wonder, therefore, that we 
hear so much about nitrogen ? So says 
Joseph Harris in an essay lately published 
on the use of nitrate of soda. 
A COMMERCIAL bushel of potatoes weighs 
as much as a bushel of wheat, but the 
bushel of potatoes is four fifths water, and 
it ought to be, and is, as easy to grow five 
bushels of potatoes as one bushel of wheat. 
And yet it is not uncommon for a bushel of 
potatoes to command as high a price as a 
bushel of wheat. 
Nitrogen is the most costly ingredient 
of manures. One thousand pounds of 
stable manure rarely contain more than 
five pounds of nitrogen. 
ABSTRACTS. 
-Vermont Watchman : “We note that 
The Rural New-Yorker is being attacked B 
‘ with both fists ’ by bigoted readers who 
object to all sides being given an equal 
show on its ‘ Farm Politics ’ page. It will 
find that there are many grown men and 
women in this enlightened country just ^ 
like the little boy who said—‘ What my * 
ma says is so, if it ain't so ! ’ Such bitter 1 
and narrow partisanship is most absurd 
and injurious in a free country, governed 
by universal suffrage. It is only the think¬ 
ing, broad-minded voter who can be really 
a good citizen. A party may keep the 
same name for a hundred years, and in that 
time give its support to all sides of every 
great question, as political exigencies seem 
to require. But by the offsetting of one 
kind of stupidity or rascality against 
another we manage to get a tolerable 
government most of the time. We can do 
no better until we become, as a nation, 
more enlightened and more conscientious. 
Too many people ^acitly indorse Mr. 
Ingalls’s view of politics as having very 
little relation to the decalogue.” 
- Life : “ Bellows : Does your daughter 
play on the piano ?” Old Farmer (in tones 
of deep disgust): “No, sir. She works on it, 
pounds on it, rakes it, scrapes it, jumps on 
it and rolls over on it, but there’s no play 
about it, sir.” 
“ Infra dig—A spade.” 
- Storer : “ It is not improbable that 
the old practice of collecting and burning 
sea weeds for the sake of the chemicals con¬ 
tained in them, may be resumed one day in 
the interests of agriculture.” 
-Dr. J. B. Lawes : “ Although potash, 
phosphoric acid and nitrogen are the chief 
manure ingredients in farm-yard dung, the 
manure from artificial foods and in arti¬ 
ficial manures, still the differences in form 
in which these substances are met with 
greatly affect their value; the present 
method of analyzing manures does not 
properly recognize these distinctions, and 
the valuations founded upon these analyses 
are altogether false and erroneous.” 
- Prof. S. W. Johnson: “The fact is 
that a manufacturer can compound a fer¬ 
tilizer that will ‘value’ well and yet give a 
very poor substitute for a really high-class 
manure. Many * bone manures,’ * ground 
bone,’ etc., have been largely adulterated 
with inferior cheap forms of nitrogen, wool, 
horn, cheap vegetable matter and phos¬ 
phoric acid, as in rock, petrified bone, phos¬ 
phates of inferior kinds; and yet the decep 
tion has not been exposed by station analy¬ 
ses or ‘valuation.’ On the contrary, the 
figured ‘ valuations ’ have aided the un¬ 
scrupulous manufacturer in “ cutting 
under ’ the pure and superior article.” 
, “ It is easy to wash every trace of nitrates 
•out of the soil by means of water.” 
! “ Enormous quantities of nitrates are 
b incessantly being washed out of the soil 
and carried to the sea. It has been estimated 
that the River Rhine discharges daily 220 
* tons of saltpeter into the ocean.” 
t - Life : “ A Chicago Idea.—A rmour 
omnia vincit.” 
pijsaUancoutf 
In writing to advertisers please always 
mention The Rural New-Yorker. 
Insects on Fruit Trees. 
These pests are rapidly multiplying and every 
year their ravages Increase; they destroy the apples, 
plums, cherries and peaches. Yet they can be exter¬ 
minated by judiciously spraying the trees. The Held 
Force Pump Company, of Lockport, N. Y., have Just 
published a very instructive treatise on this subject 
which they will send free on application. 
BOOKS FOR FARMERS. 
By A. J, COOK. 
Silo and Silage. —Third Edition jus 
out. Contains the latest and fullest on the sub¬ 
ject. More than 20,000 sold in less than two 
years. This work is praised by such men as 
John Gould, Colonel Curtis, Professors Shelton 
and Gulley, and Dr. C E. Betsey. The author 
has proved the silo to be a very valuable aid on 
his own farm. Mailed by the author for 
25 cents. 
Bee-Keepers’ Cuide .—15,000 sold. 
460 pages ; 282 Illustrations. Praised by Ileo 
Keepers In every land. The science and prac¬ 
tice of modern bee keeping fully explained. 
Every Bee-Keeper should have it. Mulled by 
the author for #1.50. 
Maple Sugar and the Sugar 
Bush. —Very full and fully illustrated. 
The only treatise of tho kind ever published. 
It contains a full Cetall of the methods practiced 
In the excellent and very profitable bush of the 
author. Sent by mail for 40 cents. 
Sold by A. J. COOK, 
Agricultural College. Michigan. 
Buckeye Wrought Iron Punched Ball Fene* 
Also, manufacturers of Iron Cresting, Iron Turb¬ 
ine Wind Engines, Buckeye Force Pumps, Buck¬ 
eye Lawn Mowers, etc. Send for Illustrated Cata¬ 
logue and prices to Mast, Foos ft Co. Springfield, O. 
m-moor 
CALE s 
3 Tflkl nr Sent on trial. Freight paid. 
ilin iviOiiSw^wsTsssa 
3 f Ay A nf Sent on trial. Freight paid. 
ilin ivi0iiSw. t “w i wi££ia 
OSGOOD & THOMPSON, Binghamton, N.Y. 
PATENTED OCTOBER 15.1839. 
Heating Water for animals In Cold 
weather Is no lonsrer an experiment with 
intelligent farmers. Ice cold water must 
he heated, either by the animal or by the 
feeder, before It will serve the purpose for 
which it is given. The AETNA AUTO¬ 
MATIC lIF.ATF.lt does this economically 
and cheaply. Fits any water trough. Sinks to 
the bottom by its own weight. I.asts a life time. 
Safe to uwe. as It produces no sparks. 
Agents Wanted Everywhere. Send for circulars. 
VTr FARM MACHINE CO., Bellows Falls, Vt. 
During the heat of summer the formation 
of nitrates from the organic matter in the 
soil was rapid, declining in the fall. This 
Harper’s Weekly remarks that foreign¬ 
ers and native observers have often laughed 
at an American trait which induces every 
hair-cutter and bootblack to call himself 
an “artist,” and every teacher to assume 
the name of “ professor.” The laugh is 
legitimate, and one in which we may all 
heartily join. 
FOR many years, Prof. Storer says, the 
general rule in this country seems to have 
been to add a quantity of cheap fish scrap 
to a miserably prepared superphosphate,, 
and to demand a high price for the mixture. 
Here are two superphosphates, analyzed 
by the Connecticut Station, which show 
17 per cent, of soluble phosphoric acid each. 
One was sold for $26, the other for $34 a 
ton. Take your choice, farmers.- 
Prof. F. H. Storer says that he has 
seen purslane, taken from a garden border, 
so full of nitrates that, when dried, the 
plant burned like touch-paper. 
The New Giant White Cucumber is cer¬ 
tainly a very distinct variety. It is de¬ 
scribed as growing to an immense size (12- 
to 16 inches long) and of a wax-like white 
color from the time of setting to maturity; 
in form straight and smooth. The flesh is 
white, solid, crisp, with few seeds. 
Any widely circulated, live farm paper- 
prints articles every week which it cannot 
editorially indorse. A paper may be partisan 
in more ways than one.- 
-Henry Stewart : “It is well known 
that oil is commonly used medicinally in 
cases of consumption in persons. It has 
been proved that a diet largely consisting 
of cotton seed oil has been effective in the 
treatment and cure of this disease. Why 
may it not be beneficial to use this oil in 
the shape of cotton seed meal more largely 
than heretofore as food for the cows in 
dairies where the whole effort is to draw 
out the last drop of fat from the system to 
enrich the milk? Raw cotton-seed oil is 
cheap enough to use as food, and if fed with 
the bran so liberally used it would reduce j 
the proportion of nitrogenous elements in 
the food and increase the fats.” 
“A prisoner in a dungeon,where he spent 
many years in solitary confinement, wore 
out a deep groove in the stone floor by con¬ 
stantly walking back and forth on his nar¬ 
row path. How many of us do the same 
thing, as might be said, in the daily pursuit 
of our vocations ? The farmer, more than 
any other man, thus wears out grooves in 
his life which in time become so deep that 
he cannot make any other path.” 
“The farmer is too much of a mere work¬ 
man and too little of a student. He passes 
•over the ground, seeing only the surface 
without recognizing the gold which lies 
under it and which is within his reach.” 
N. E. Homestead : “ The trouble is that 
the writers of the day are writing too 
much, too fast, and too carelessly. 
“WONDER 
TONCUELESS. 
ON | 
WHEELS.” 
—- — Self Guiding. 
| No Pole except 
. on steep hill- 
A-—sides. 
instead of Two. ,,lr *« \. Y. r' ”• '* * ,r, 'e. 
Four horses abreast—one in the furrow, three on tho 
land. Wheel landside No bottom or side friction. 
■Weight of furrows, frame and plowman carried on 
three greased spindles. Draft reduced to lowest pos¬ 
sible limit. Foot brake prevents Gang running on 
team. Levers and turning device within easy reach. 
Can be turned in the lengtn of itself. Kawier liriv- 
stubble’Hod and stubble, and breaker bottoms, in steel 
or chilled metal, right or left, in, 12 or 14 inch cut. 
ECONOMIST PLOW 
IWSpecial prices and time for trial given 
on first orders from points where we have no agents. 
Our book, “FUN ON Till: FARM.” sent Free 
to all who mention this paper. 
^ PICKET MILLS, 
Drag and Wood Saws, 
'-if HORSE POWERS, 
marsh steam pump. 
B. C. MACHINERY CO., 24 I.evl St., Battle Creek, Mleh. 
iwwm ■ ■ IS ■ All kinds cheaper than 
’ , , a 1 sal BBelaewhere. Before yoa 
Breech-Loader ■ 0 H I BH E"buy, Bend «tamp for 
$7,75. Im fl a Bttgl Catalogue. Addreia 
RJ FLisa»n y 11 o?2“ ssEf 
PISTOLS 15* Y^TChSbT CLOCKS, JtTO. Cincinnati, Ohio. 
