468 
T 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIMES BUILDING. NEW YORK. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home*. 
ELBERT 8. CARMAN, 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD, 
Rural Publishing Company: 
LAWSON VALENTINE, Pi 8 *ident. RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1891, by the Rural Publishing Company. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1891. 
Which would give the larger crops, the nitrogen 
and potash of nitrate of potash or equivalents in 
nitrate of soda and sulphate of potash ? 
Is the conical strawberry better than the heart- 
shaped ? 
Is the scarlet-colored berry better than the crim¬ 
son or dark crimson ? 
Is the white tip a sign of inferior quality ? 
Is a conspicuous neck a sign of superior or in¬ 
ferior quality ? 
Is a glossy surface the sign of good quality ? 
When the seeds (fruits) are deeply or superficially 
imbedded, is either the evidence of quality ? 
Is the red or white flesh berry superior in quality ? 
Two years ago The R. N.-Y. told its readers about 
the system of farming employed at Cranbury, New 
Jersey, where large quantities of chemical fertil¬ 
izers are used in growing potatoes, corn, wheat and 
grass. The farming pays, the soil grows stronger, 
the work grows lighter, and the farm life more gen¬ 
erally satisfactory, because it is profitable and inde¬ 
pendent. Last week we made a second visit to 
this region and saw this chemical farming under its 
best conditions. We shall begin to tell about it 
next week. To us it is an exceedingly interesting 
side of agriculture, and we are sure that any farmer 
can learn something from the story. 
What tree or shrub native of America bears a 
larger flower than the Large-leaved Magnolia—M. 
macrophylla ? The flowers are easily a foot in 
diameter, while some measure 15 inches. Usually 
these flowers are destroyed by the rose chafers. 
This year these are a little la* er than usual in making 
their appearance and the flowers are in full bloom 
and unnarmed. The color is a cream white with a 
splash of deep purple near the base of the inner 
petals. June 9. The rose chafers have appeared in 
usual numbers upon the spiraeas and magnolias. 
They have not as yet attacked the grapes, the 
flower buds of which are just beginning to open. 
If it were practicable we should be glad to have the 
officers of all the experiment stations in the country 
visit the Rural Grounds at this time and later. We 
want to show them what small plots will show, 
provided they are of impoverished soil, which have 
received various amounts of concentrated fertilizers 
alone and in various combinations. It would do 
them good. The season has been most favorable to 
such experiments, and at this time any one, looking 
at the 102 trenches of potato vines, could tell which 
were the “ nothing ” plots and which received the 
lowest and increasing amounts of fertilizers, by the 
size and vigor of the vines. The land is naturally 
poor, and has never received either fertilizer or 
manure. 
The death of the venerable statesman Sir John 
A. Macdonald has removed from public life the man 
who during the past generation has been the most 
conspicuous figure in Canadian politics, and whose 
personal influence in the direction of public affairs 
was absolutely unrivaled. Having entered public 
life nearly half a century ago as Member of Parlia¬ 
ment for Kingston, he remained continuously in 
the public service from that time till his death, 
always representing the same constituency. During 
the long period of his service all the great questions 
that have made Canadian history came up for solu¬ 
tion and in their settlement no influence was more 
powerful than that of the leader who has just laid 
down the burdens of life and office together. With 
many able men as associates and opponents he 
surpassed them all in adroitness, audacity, wealth 
of resources, personal magnetism and in the genius 
of leadership. Often shifty, evasive and insincere 
in politics, unscrupulous in his measures and plaus¬ 
ible rather than sound in his arguments, his per¬ 
sonal integrity was always unsullied, while his 
stalwart support of his friends secured him their 
almost fanatical devotion and made him the idol of 
his party. Gifted with a marvelous faculty of 
conciliation, although he passed an active life as 
leader in political turmoil, he leaves behind him 
no personal and few political enemies, while hosts 
of friends everywhere mourn over his grave. 
IIE RURAL NEW-YORKE 
The tariff debates in the French Legislature have 
directed attention to a number of interesting fea¬ 
tures of agriculture. The French idea of protec¬ 
tion seems to be a sliding tariff that can be raised 
or lowered so that all classes may receive benefit. 
When French food crops are light the tariff on these 
foods is lowered so that importations of grains are 
increased. When these crops are good the tariff is 
raised so that there may be a better market for 
French grains. In the efforts made to admit Ameri¬ 
can grape vines free of duty, evidence of great 
scientific value was given. For some years past 
the French vineyards have suffered severely from 
attacks of phylloxera, and among all remedies pro¬ 
posed nothing has given more certain satisfaction 
than the use of American vines, on which French 
varieties are grafted. Some of the most celebrated 
French scientists state that the use of American 
stock is the only feasible way of restoring the French 
vintage to the position it occupied before the phyl¬ 
loxera invasion. Certainly, from this point of view, 
in order to carry out its plan of tariff benefit, the 
French Legislature cannot consistently do otherwise 
than admit American vines free of duty. 
We are obliged to pass by two gardens every¬ 
day. The plants in them are about equally ad¬ 
vanced. In one the rows were made either by 
guess or with a very slack string. They now wob¬ 
ble and twist across the field. In the other they 
were run straight as an arrow and the seed was 
carefully sown with a seed drill. The sowing with 
accuracy took a little longer, but it paid. The 
straight rows have all been worked with a garden 
wheel hoe. It is the boast of the owner that he 
won’t permit a hand hoe to be brought into his gar¬ 
den. There is no need of one, for the wheel hoe will 
run close up to his straight rows and kill every 
weed worth killing. Among the crooked rows of 
the other garden the wheel hoe would do more 
harm than good and the owner is obliged to depend 
upon the hand hoe or go down on his knees to pay 
the penalty due a careless start. We noticed much 
the same thing in large potato fields last week. 
Through the straight rows, the mules drew the rid¬ 
ing cultivator at a fast walk, without a hitch. In 
the crooked rows, 50 per cent more time was re¬ 
quired in dodging, twisting and stopping to avoid 
pulling up plants. It pays to be straight. Nothing 
pays better. _ 
Is it the duty of the farm press to guard its read¬ 
ers against the exaggerations or falsifications so 
common in many of our seedsmen’s catalogues re¬ 
garding certain seeds or plants which through such 
misrepresentation the parties hope to sell in large 
quantities, or at exorbitant prices ? The R. N.-Y. 
assumes that it is, and, further, that the duty is so 
imperative that those farm papers which hold their 
advertising patronage as of more account than the 
exposure of such fraudulent methods have little or 
no claim to the support of the people whose best in¬ 
terests they ignore. 
The R. N.-Y. began this work of exposing the 
impositions practiced upon farmers by unprincipled 
seedsmen, nurserymen and others, 15 years ago. 
As a result, on one hand it has lost the patronage 
of many liberal advertisers and made many bitter 
enemies, while, on the other, it enjoys the con¬ 
sciousness of having endeavered to serve those the 
betterment of whose interests is the manifest reason 
for the existence of farm journals. 
| (The R. N.-Y. has many times been threatened 
with lawsuits by those who suffered from its ex¬ 
posures—but never until now has a suit been 
actually brought against it with the probability 
that it will be pressed through to a jury’s verdict. 
Mr. J. L. Childs of Queens County, N. Y., is the 
plaintiff, as our readers have been advised. His 
complaint and The R. N.-Y.’s answer appear on 
pages 469 and 470, and those who feel an interest in 
the important moral questions involved will do well 
to give them a careful reading. 
In The R. N.-Y. of January 31 we outlined the 
steps necessary to be taken to secure the bounty on 
maple sugar provided for by the McKinley Bill. 
Under its provisions no bounty could be paid on 
sugar produced this year. For the purposes of this 
act the year begins July 1. To secure a bounty on 
sugar made during the coming year application 
must be made prior to that date to the Commis¬ 
sioner of Internal Revenue for a license. This appli¬ 
cation must name the place of production, must 
give a general description of machinery and meth¬ 
ods employed, the number of trees tapped, and an 
estimate of the probable amount of sugar produced. 
The application must be accompanied by a bond, 
with sureties, obligating the applicant to faithfully 
observe all prescribed rules and regulations relat¬ 
ing to the manufacture. There is no charge for this 
license, application for which may be made to the 
collectors of internal revenue in the various dis¬ 
tricts, but no bounty will be paid to any one not 
holding a license or to any one producing less than 
500 pounds of sugar. The license is good for one 
year only. A test is also required of the sugar. 
Last Spring Dr. Collier secured samples of sugar 
made in New York State and submitted them to 
the test required by the government. Not one was 
up to the standard. A few days ago the Collector 
of Internal Revenue made the statement that not 
one application had been received from New York, 
the State producing the greatest amount of sugar. 
This may be from a misunderstanding of the re¬ 
quirements of the new law. If so, and there are 
R. JUNE 20 
any who expect to secure this bounty on the next 
crop, action must be taken at once. The applica¬ 
tion must be made before July 1. Large pur¬ 
chases of machinery were made last winter on the 
strength of the expected bounty, and much disap¬ 
pointment was expressed over the failure to 
receive it. The amount of red tape necessary 
may frighten the makers out of any attempt to se¬ 
cure the bounty. Many claim to make more from 
syrup than from sugar. Could this be done with 
the bounty added to the price of sugar ? 
BREVITIES. 
Always tie an anchor to your schemes. 
You had better draft a substitute for hay. 
Don’t cripple the corn by cutting off its toes ! 
’Twas ever thus ; too dry for some, too wet for others. 
Has the “Far West” reached its limit in cattle production? 
Is there any other flower with so many insect enemies as 
the rose ? 
WHicn costs the more money, to board—a horse or a 
hired man ? 
The big comb of the Dorking does not make that breed 
good layers. 
You can’t get value received for time spent in grumb¬ 
ling this season. 
Who will give us a hay unloader that will work on the 
principle of the hay loaders ? 
Better go twice for a heavy load than to strain team 
and wagon to save a little time. 
Where do weeds obtain their nitrogen when they grow 
on soil that won’t let clover even start ? 
Talk about profitable crops,—a man in this city is doing 
a big business selling earth worms for bait. 
Few people like advice in solid chunks. It is the gentle 
shower that penetrates and refreshes the earth. 
Cottonseed meal is best fed while the cows are at pas¬ 
ture or while ensilage or roots are in the ration. 
Corn stalks and millet, they will fill it I Fill what? 
The hole in the hay mow I Planting them will pay now. 
The force of circumstances drives men to the top in af¬ 
fairs just as air pressure forces cream up in the new sep¬ 
arator. 
We believe that most milk drinkers would be better off 
if they would drink skim-milk and take the fat in the 
form of butter. 
Soils differ in their requirements. Every one knows 
that as a general fact. How many know it as a special, 
individual fact. 
It cost $70 a year to feed a cow at the Maine Station. 
What does it cost to keep yours ? What does it cost not 
to be able to tell ? 
A question for the managers of the People’s Party— 
“ Can men get any of the ‘more money’ you propose with¬ 
out working for it ?” 
What a beautiful berry the Parker Earle is just before 
it begins to color. It is of a creamy-white or ivory color, 
reminding one of a perfect piece of wax-work. 
When you come to look back upon life you will take far 
more comfort in the thought that you have been imposed 
upon by others than that you have imposed upon others. 
LAST fall peanuts were worth 80 cents per bushel, still 
many raisers held theirs for higher figures. Now they are 
worth 50 cents per bushel. Wouldn’t the Sub-Treasury 
scheme get “ stuck” in such cases ? 
A SUBSCRIBER in Columbia County, N. Y., writes us 
about his orchard of 3,500 cherry trees from which are sold 
75 tons of cherries—“ each cherry picked and packed by 
hand! Cherry growers generally have cheery counte¬ 
nances this year 1 
It is to be hoped that the Kansas Farmers’ Alliance will 
push ahead its State Sub-Treasury scheme on the basis of 
capital contributed by private individuals. Should it suc¬ 
ceed, there will be no need of calling on the goverment for 
help in similar enterprises ; if it fails, few will have the 
hardihood to ask the government to invest the people’s 
money in such a risky venture. 
Could anything testify more eloquently to the financial 
strength and credit of the United States than the proposi¬ 
tion now under consideration, to float a two, one and a 
half,, or one per cent bond at par ? Such a thing is with¬ 
out parallel In the history of nations. Soon people will 
be offering premiums on deposits with the government on 
account of the great security it affords for their hoardings I 
The latest is a Whip Trust. Its managers having got 
control of the rattan supply and shut out all the small 
concerns, have formed a combination, and whips are higher 
now than ever before, “ with a chance of a rise in price as 
the stock grows scarce,” one of the monopolists tells us. 
These fellows have the whip-hand of the consumers at 
present; what a satisfaction it would be, however, to use 
the lash on their own backs. 
The popular and thrice fortunate Duke of Portland, 
Master of the Horse to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, has 
for some time been promoting a vigorous agitation against 
the barbarous bearing or check rein, and the Queen has 
just directed him, In his official capacity, to take off the 
bearing reins from all the horses that draw the royal 
carriages. As the cruel practice has been fashionable, on 
this side of the water, chiefly among Anglo-maniacs, who 
ape British fashions, it is to be hoped that it will soon be 
discarded, for it is hardly like much longer to remain 
“English you know.” 
What a marvelous progress in public favor “intensive 
farming ” is making in this country, especially in the East¬ 
ern and Middle States. The scarcity and high price of 
agricultural labor have doubtless had a great deal of in¬ 
fluence in inducing farmers to attempt to raise larger crops 
on smaller areas by more liberal fertilization and more as¬ 
siduous cultivation ; but the example of a large number of 
farmers who have been eminently successful in this line, 
has had the force of a demonstration of Its merits. Has 
any other paper done more to direct public effort in this 
direction tnan The Rural New-Yorker ? 
All attempts to winter tender roses out-of-doors by giv¬ 
ing protection as the books instruct us to do have proved 
failures more or less complete. Last winter was compar¬ 
atively mild. A bed of some 150 Teas and Hybrid Teas 
was covered with leaves and evergreen twigs. The follow¬ 
ing were injured less than the others and are now bloom¬ 
ing: Marie Guillot, yellow; Etoile de Lyon, yellow; Isabel¬ 
la Sprunt, yellow; Marie VanHoutte, yellowish; America, 
yellow; Homer, a narrow, long bud tinted with light 
pink; Canary, yellow; Caroline Custer, yellow. And the 
loveliest of these is Isabella. Souvenir de Wootton, a hy¬ 
brid Tea, is of a fine red color, of delicious fragrance, 
blooming freely. 
