io8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
FEB 7 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIMES BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
\ Rational Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban llomex. 
ELBERT 8. CARMAN, ) EDITOR8 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD, ) 
Rural Publishing Company: 
-AWSON VALENTINE, President. RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1891, by the Rural Publishing Company. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1891. 
The “ fool of the family ” will never make 
a success of poultry keeping. It is not a 
“job for the incapable.” 
It is a greater test of skill and endurance for a 
man to dig 200 bushels of potatoes in a day than 
for a horse to trot a mile in 2:20. Suppose some of 
our fair managers were wise beyond their time 
and actually grew # potatoes on their grounds and 
then announced that Mr. Roberts, page 103, would 
dig 100 bushels “against time.” Would the crowd 
go to see him dig or would it throng to the race 
course? We would like to see the thing tried. Who 
will start it? 
The wires are hot with accounts of distress and 
discontent among the farmers of Kansas, Nebraska, 
and other far Western States, where money is 
urgently needed to develop a new country; and set¬ 
tlers are unduly sanguine with regard to the future. 
Farmers, we are told, are commonly compelled to 
ay two per cent a month on their indebtedness, 
mall wonder that these unfortunates should sacri¬ 
fice their provenderless cattle for a song in one 
place, burn their dirt-cheap corn for needed fuel in 
another, and even rave nearly everywhere of im¬ 
practicable legislation to relieve their distress and 
save their mortgaged farms from foreclosure. 
Some provision should be made for inspecting 
the work done by the experiment stations. The 
Department of Agriculture should have the power 
to investigate these stations and the right to criti¬ 
cise or condemn worthless and foolish bulletins. 
The “Board of Control” of these stations seldom 
go on the grounds except for brief visits. The 
members serve without pay, and cannot afford to 
give much time to investigations. There should 
be a salaried government officer with authority to 
examine the accounts and workings of the stations. 
Are not other public expenditures subject to similar 
supervision? 
The late Peter Henderson introduced the Dwarf 
Sieva (a variety of the Lima) some two years before 
either the Kumerle or Burpee Bush Lima was known 
to the public. Mr. Henderson one day remarked 
to the writer that he would give $2,000 for a large 
bush Lima. It was not long afterwards that he 
said, “Herewe have it!”—alluding to the Ku¬ 
merle. That was over two years ago. The little 
Sieva meanwhile has had an immense sale, while 
the Kumerle, through unfavorable seasons, is worth 
its weight in silver. The Burpee is offered only in 
small packets—four beans for 30 cents—the Kumerle 
is not for sale at all by the introducers. 
As a little experiment, the chickens at the Rural 
Grounds, during the past three months, have had 
their choice between bone meal, lime and broken 
clam and oyster shells. Up to this time, they have 
eaten equally of the bone meal and shells and com¬ 
paratively little of the lime—not over one-fifth. 
Probably a part of the bone is digested, forming a 
somewhat nutritious food. The shells, of course, 
are useful only in assisting to grind up their food, 
the lime only in furnishing egg-shell material. 
Whether hens in confinement will, in the long run, 
thrive better on one than the other is a question 
that, with our present information, is unanswerable. 
About this time the careless man goeth about his 
premises seeking eggs, but finding none. He cast- 
eth aspersions upon the slothful hens which lay not 
while eggs are high, and spitefully throweth out a 
few ears of corn with a grudging hand. He de- 
cideth in his heart that hens do not need water, 
and that time spent fussing with them or in giving 
them extra feed is wasted. From their lofty 
perches on neighboring trees or convenient wagons 
or implements, they regard with contempt his re¬ 
proaches. Meantime his neighbor goeth forth 
early in the morning to his warm hen-house bearing 
a savory mess of cooked and steaming vegetables 
intermingled with meal and bran, ground meat and 
other gallinacean dainties. He also beareth to 
them pure water, ground bone, gravel, shells, 
clover hay and other dainty morsels. As the sun 
approaclieth the meridian he goeth forth with 
some small grain which he scattereth among the 
straw and chaff in his well-lighted, dry, warm and 
well cleaned hennery, and beareth back with him a 
goodly number of hen fruits; these he selleth to 
the city capitalist at a fancy price, and meanwhile 
casteth ridicule upon his luckless neighbor who 
never hath any luck with hens. 
The other day the French Government issued 
proposals for a large loan at only three per cent 
interest, and straightway sixteen times the amount 
asked for was offered, chiefly in small sums by 
farmers and workmen. It is well for the Govern¬ 
ment of France that it does not, like our State 
governments, allow irresponsible “Mutual Savings 
and Distribution Fund Associations” or other 
plausible financial schemes of magnificent propor¬ 
tions and promises to swarm through the country 
and absorb the savings of the thrifty on illusory 
prospects of gigantic gains in the immediate future. 
“Respectable” swindlers, even under high-sounding 
names, are not tolerated in our sister Republic, and 
the thrift of the people is not demoralized by fraud¬ 
ulent losses, while their savings are ever ready for 
safe investment even at low rates of interest. 
The Farmers’ Alliance of Illinois has come out 
boldly in favor of a graduated income tax. The 
idea is spreading like wildfire among the farmers 
of the country. It is notorious that over 75 per 
cent of the internal taxes of the nation is paid by 
real estate, although other forms of property are 
about equally valuable in the aggregate. Our pres¬ 
ent laws unfairly help the rich to get richer; why 
shouldn’t they compel them to surrender to the 
public treasury a part of the plunder they have 
accumulated by partial legislation, and thus help 
to equalize taxation now so outrageously unjust to 
the holders of the soil ? The chief objection appears 
to be that while the honest would pay the tax, the 
dishonest would, even at the cost of perjury, 
evade it. Stringent laws would minimize this evil. 
Senator Ingalls, of Kansas, retires to private life. 
The People’s Party elect their first representative in 
the United States Senate. The senatorial campaign 
in Kansas was a bitter one. The farmers have had 
no paper outside Kansas to plead their cause before 
the people. We have been told over and over again 
that the farmers would split on some petty ques¬ 
tion ; that they never could agree on any one candi¬ 
date and that in any event a ‘ ‘ nobody ” would be 
sent to take the place of the brilliant Ingalls. They 
did not split, they did agree on a single candidate 
and they have selected a man who is decidedly 
“somebody.” It is not our purpose to denounce 
Mr. Ingalls or to glorify his defeat. We merely 
wish to call the attention of thoughtful and con¬ 
servative Eastern farmers to the fact that the 
People’s Party of Kansas is desperately in earnest, 
and is composed of strong, fearless and clear-headed 
men who are bound to make themselves felt in 
National legislation. 
We are confidently informed by the low tariff 
people that within six months, sugar will drop two 
cents per pound in price. It ought to if the theory 
that the consumer pays the tariff is correct. Let 
us observe and see whether the consumer or the 
importer is benefited by “free sugar.” Thomas G. 
Shearman, one of the ablest advocates of absolute 
free trade, takes a view of the free sugar schedule of 
the McKinley Bill, that will be new to many people. 
He thinks the Protectionists have gained a signal 
victory over the Democrats because no “ tariff for 
revenue” can be devised without including a tax on 
sugar. The American people, he thinks, will never 
submit to an increased price for sugar when they 
once try cheaper sugar. But he says, while the 
Protectionists have made it impossible to have a 
“tariff for revenue only,” the abolition of the sugar 
tax is a deadly blow to the whole tariff system. 
After all, who can do more than guess at these 
things ? _ 
Suppose half the men in the average American 
township were to stop work suddenly and become 
consumers and destroyers instead of producers. 
The township borrows vast sums of money to pay 
these consumers. The half who continue to work 
naturally have double markets for their products. 
As borrowed money is plentiful all have a share. 
All at once the consumers and destroyers turn 
about and go to work again. At the same time 
they cease to receive wages in borrowed cash, and 
they bring almost as many more workmen with 
them. The market is halved and the producers are 
doubled, while the township is forced to turn in 
and pay the money it has borrowed. With worse 
trade conditions than they had before the first 
change, farmers will not go back to old styles of 
living. In other words, they borrow money under 
the best conditions and pay it under the worst ? 
Is this the story of American agriculture during and 
since the war? Is this what ails farming ? 
Now that the farmers of the country have at 
length secured an influential or dominant repre¬ 
sentation in Congress and many of the State legis¬ 
latures, there is a very natural inclination among 
them to seek speedy relief from many of their 
woes—especially those presumed to be caused or 
aggravated by past legislation—by the repeal or 
amendment of old, or the enactment of new laws. 
In all revolutions it is the loudest-mouthed, most 
extravagant and irresponsible enthusiasts who are 
most influential in directing the movement at the 
outset. God forbid that such should be the un¬ 
happy case in the present instance. In all projects 
of legislation, it should be remembered that the 
national and State constitutions place limitations 
on the scope of all new laws. In every State in the 
Union it is within the jurisdiction of the State 
Courts to decide whether the laws passed there are 
in harmony with the State constitution, and then 
the United States Courts are authorized to decide 
whether any State law conflicts with any of the 
provisions of the Federal Constitution. Legislators 
should therefore bear in mind that they cannot 
make valid laws according to their own whims, 
opinions or convictions, or even under stress of 
{ iressure from their constituents, regardless of the 
imitations set by the various constitutions. J udges 
whose decisions are frequently overruled by the 
appellate courts soon fall into discredit with the 
public; so do legislatures whose laws are fre¬ 
quently pronounced unconstitutional by competent 
authority, and any party which advocates or sup¬ 
ports such legislation cannot long hold a place m 
public esteem. 
BREVITIES. 
It surely must make Nature boil 
To see how some folks treat their soil. 
And thus with folly’s hand they spoil 
The well-earned fruits of patient toll. 
Is your barnyard a leach ? 
“ Ailing Animals ” on page 117. 
Feed oats and raise a horse laugh. 
What is the origin of the Peach Tomato t 
How much has the credit system cost you ? 
Would you charge more to pasture a horse than a cow f 
Why f 
The chap that makes you “ tired ” should be the last 
one hired. 
Did you ever weigh a “ forkful ” of hay ? To do so 
would pay. 
If you “ know it all ” it is your duty to try to forget a 
few things. 
By close attention to a cider barrel, we rub the threads 
to view on our apparel. 
We have well-nigh perfected machines for getting hay 
into the mows. We still take most of it out with hand- 
forks. 
F The Eastern farmer will be apt to get the first benefit 
of farm electricity. The large towns are closer together 
than at the West, and electric rents will be cheaper. 
Before a farmer leaves the farm “to secure better 
educational advantages ” he should exhaust every effort 
to make his own district school what it should be, and he 
should renew his efforts on his return. 
There is still much controversy regarding the merits of 
Alfalfa. The R. N.-Y. asks all who have sown or grown 
this plant east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio to 
send their conclusions regarding its value. 
The cow just now makes bold to hold all that milk fat 
she’ll need when feed gets short. You ought to know that 
slow, sure death sucks breath when good sound food you 
scrimp; weak, limp, grows cow; stop now, feed well or sell 
While money is piling up in the banks far in excess of 
the legal requirements for their surplus reserves, business 
still drags, through mistrust in the financial condition of 
affairs. In this case isn’t a cart-load of confidence better 
than a car-load of currency T 
In spite of the promising efforts of our Minister, William 
Walter Phelps, in behalf of the American hog, at Berlin, 
the Reichstag has refused to repeal Bismarck’s prejudiced 
embargo on that noble beast. The Reichstag is like our 
tariff—It won’t “open a market for a single barrel of 
American pork.” 
The new- tariff distinctly states that sago flour is free of 
duty ; the Treasury Department informs the Collector of 
the Port at Boston that sago flour is dutiable at two 
cents a pound, because it is not flour but starch. Marvel¬ 
ous are the interpretations of some of the plainest laws by 
the Washington Departments. How the Starch Trust must 
smile! 
The Alliance Congressmen from Kansas, Nebraska and 
Minnesota are causing a good deal of discussion just now. 
Believing that many of our readers would like to look at 
them, we have prepared to print their pictures with brief 
sketches of their lives and political creeds. It is well 
enough to know what sort of men there are in this “ Peo¬ 
ple’s Party.” 
Many Congressional representatives of agricultural 
States and districts appear to imagine that their whole 
duty to their constituents lies in the distribution of 
antiquated seeds of doubtful vitality. These garden 
statesmen, however, are not bringing forth satisfactory 
fruit, and are being cut down and swept aside as worthless 
weeds. Ask Ingalls. 
When not interfered with by other trees, the Cucumber 
Magnolia is a magnificent tree. Its thick, large leaves 
conceal the branches, the lowest of which should be en¬ 
couraged to grow by pinching back the higher terminals 
for several years. Thus treateil, it spreads out over the 
soil, as would a well grown Norway Spruce, forming a 
tree of conical shape and most luxuriant foliage. 
The Polyantha, or Fairy Roses, as they are appropri 
ately named, are perpetual bloomers not merely In name, 
but in fact. They are quite hardy, bear their small-sized 
double flowers in clusters and are admirable in many 
wajs. But when we have said all that is possible to say in 
their favor, the addition may fairly be made that they will 
never take the place of the Teas or Hybrid Remontants. 
One of the effects of green manuring may not be suffi¬ 
ciently considered. The land gets back all that accumulates 
in the plant, whether from the soil, the water of the soil, 
or from the air. Further, however, a mass of organic 
matter i£ left to decay in the soil and the immense quan¬ 
tity of carbonic acid thus liberated attacks the otherwise 
unavailable substances of the soil, disintegrating and dis¬ 
solving them and rendering them fit for plant food. 
The most perfectly preserved lot of cabbages that we 
have ever seen so late in the season were placed to¬ 
gether in a northern exposure, roots up, on the soil. They 
were then covered lightly with slx'inches of marsh hay. 
Over them was placed a slanting roof which merely serves 
to protect them from rain and snow. These cabbages are 
as green and fresh-looking as they were the day they were 
taken from the field. Treated in the usual way, that is, 
covered with soil, the cabbages become blanched and pre¬ 
disposed to decay. 
Edward J. Gay, Representative in Congress from Lou¬ 
isiana, a very worthy gentleman, died the other day, and 
Congress adjourned on the announcement of his death. 
Thus the better part of an expensive legislative day was 
lost. Most of another day was occupied in eulogies on the 
deceased member, and these were published at the public 
expense in the Congressional Record. The House Commit¬ 
tee on Printing, however, has just recommended the print¬ 
ing of 25,000 copies of these perfunctory praises at an ex- 
{ >ense of $10,375 for printing and binding! A similar out- 
ay is lavished by Congress on the death of every mem¬ 
ber. Isn’t this inexcusable extravagance ? Smalljwonder 
at the loud complaints of the farmers of the nation at 
governmental wastefulness. 
