498 
Those Hired Men. 
C. L. H., Okemos, Mich—T he corres¬ 
pondent who defended hired men In The 
Rural on page 418, made some assertions 
which I think will bear discussion. He 
says: “ If a man possesses the moral right 
inherent in superior knowledge, judgment 
and character to command, obedience is 
rendered freely and willingly. If he pos¬ 
sesses the wealth that permits him to em¬ 
ploy subordinates and lacks the qualities 
mentioned he is an object of pity.” The 
writer seems to forget that the great ma¬ 
jority of farmers who hire help are men of 
limited capital. Most of them do not keep 
more than one man, some of them are rent¬ 
ers, others have mortgages on their farms, 
and there is not such a difference in the po¬ 
sition, of the employer and employee, as he 
seems to think. It may be that the two 
were boys at school together or have known 
each other for years, and the talk of em¬ 
ployers having such mesmeric power over 
their help is all nonsense. It does not ap¬ 
ply to the farm help questions of to day. 
Farmers do not hire because they have un¬ 
limited means to squander, but as business 
men who are unable to do all their own 
work, employ help to carry on their farm 
operations. 
Again, the writer seems to ignore the 
question of scarcity of hired men. They 
have everything their own way. The city 
has great attractions for the young man of 
to-day, and help are constantly drifting 
cityward. They would rather work there 
for enough to exist than in the country for 
good wages. What is the result ? They 
have a good thing and know it. “ If you 
don’t like my style, all right; half a dozen 
men near here waut a hand; I can get work 
in an hour.” Lucky indeed is the man who 
has sons to assist him in his farm opera¬ 
tions. Now, as to the capability of farm 
employees: there are some good men—men 
who have an ambition to better their own 
condition. 1 wish there were more of them. 
But there are many more aimless, shiftless 
beings who work simply because they are 
obliged to and not from any pleasure de¬ 
rived therefrom. Farm wages and interest 
on borrowed money are two of the greatest 
problems the American farmer has to con¬ 
tend with. Taxes, insurance, etc., are small 
expenses compared with these. 
That Potato Puzzle. 
O. K. L., INDIANOLA, ILL.—Page 449 of 
The Rural, T. S., of Fair Grove, Mo., asks: 
“ What’s the matter with my seed pota¬ 
toes ?” When I first came to this State I 
had a cave for a cellar, made by excavating 
a large room in a hill-side. Some of my seed 
potatoes froze aud became spoilt, and near¬ 
ly all were chilled enough to destroy the 
germ and they made the same kind of 
growth underground that Mr. T. S. speaks 
about. A few came through the ground ; 
others never sprouted, but remained sound 
nearly all summer. I am of opinion that 
too low temperature for seed potatoes has 
the same effect as scalding them with 
hot water, as is sometimes done to prevent 
sprouting. Such doubtful seed should be 
spread out to bud before it is planted. 
G. A. B., Waterloo, N. Y.—The trouble 
with T. S.’s R. N.-Y. No. 2 seed potatoes, 
spoken of on page 449 was that they had 
been overheated in the cellar or pit before 
they were planted. Small tubers would 
have come out all over them if they had 
not been planted. 
Flavor of Sweet Potatoes. 
W. F. Massey, Wake County, N. C.— 
While I agree with all that Mr. Henry Stew¬ 
art says (page 434) in regard to Irish pota¬ 
toes, I think he is certainly wrong as to the 
sweet potato. With these dryness is largely 
a matter of soil in any latitude*. In Mr. 
Stewart’s location the chances are against 
any sweet potatoes being dry. The Nanse- 
mond, as grown in the sandy hills of New 
Jersey, is a handsome and dry potato of 
moderately fair sweetness. In similar soil 
on the eastern shore of Maryland it is even 
drier, and is much sweeter than in New 
Jersey, and in southern Virginia it is better 
still. Being a tropical plant, the sweet 
potato grows to greater perfection as we 
come southward, provided always it is 
grown on sandy soil. A red clay soil will 
not make a dry potato anywhere. In the 
sandy lands of eastern North Carolina the 
Nansemond grows so dry and corky as to 
be choking in its character when baked, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JULY 4 
but it is sweeter than the same potato 
grown in New Jersey, as can be readily 
found by testing the two together. The 
Southern Queen, by no means a dry potato 
North, gets drier here. I have often urged 
our North Carolina growers to raise the 
Nansemonds for the Northern market, as 
their extra dryness will only recommend 
them to Northern buyers, who steam their 
potatoes, while Southern people always 
bake them. City buyers buy largely by 
looks, and will always take the smooth 
and handsome Nansemonds in preference 
to the ugly and mean looking yams, which 
Southern people prefer on account of their 
sugary sweetness. 
The Irish potato Is a plant native to high 
altitudes and naturally does well North 
and in elevated locations South. On this 
account I would suppose that potatoes of a 
high quality would be grown in Mr. 
Stewart’s locality. We grow fine Irish 
potatoes in eastern North Carolina; but I 
am free to admit that their quality is not 
equal to that of the Maine product. Even 
in sandy soil at Mr. Stewart’s elevation he 
will hardly grow sweet potatoes any sweeter 
than those in New Jersey, but in the sandy 
lands of eastern North Carolina sweet 
potatoes are far sweeter than any grown in 
a northern climate, and for the same or 
similar reasons that make the Irish potato 
better North—the soil and climate both are 
suitable to the crop. I have all my life 
preferred the dry Nansemonds in Mary¬ 
land and Virginia, but I must admit that 
as grown here they are entirely too dry, 
and I find that I am beginning to coincide 
with my neighbors in a preference tor the 
soft and far sweeter yams. 
A MODEL RAILWAY. 
The Burlington Route, C., B. & Q. R. R. 
operates 7,000 miles of road, with termini in 
Chicago, St. Louis, St. Paul, Omaha, Kan¬ 
sas City and Denver. For speed, safety, 
comfort, equipment, track, and efficient 
service it has no equal. The Burlington 
gains new patrons, but loses none.— Adv. 
The Flavor of Butter.— The value of 
butter is proportionate to its flavor chiefly, 
says Henry Stewart in the N. Y. Times. 
“ There are other qualities which give value 
to it, as its color and texture, for butter 
may be so made as to be white and greasy, 
but these faults are principally in the mak¬ 
ing of it, while the flavor Is principally due 
to the feeding. It is true that butter may 
be spoiled by bad management of the milk 
and cream, but this may be easily avoided, 
while the faults in feeding produce such re¬ 
sults as cannot be remedied by any after 
management, and can be prevented only by 
the choice of the best foods. 
It is a strange perversity of some so- 
called experts in dairying that they insist 
most strenuously upon the very opposite of 
this, and aver with pertinacity that “ you 
cannot feed flavor into the butter ; that any 
feed a cow can digest and assimilate does 
not affect the flavor of the butter, aud that 
the flavor is wholly due to the ripening of 
the cream.” 
It is the business of perfumers to ex¬ 
tract odors from flowers and plants. This 
they do by subjecting them to contact with 
lard or other inodorous fats or oils, and 
these quickly absorb these essential oils, 
which are not only apparent to the scent, 
but are equally so to the taste. The fats or 
oils thus charged with the odors and flavors 
of the plants are then treated with alcohol, 
and the mixture is distilled, when the spirit 
carries over with it all the essential oil 
which is thus dissolved out from the fats 
or oils used. Butter may be used in the 
same way as lard or any kind of oil, as it is 
equally receptive of odors and flavors. In 
fact, it is necessary in dairies to be very 
particular that no odorous or volatile sub¬ 
stance should come In contact with the 
butter. A newly painted dairy room, or 
cold-water tank, will confer the odor of the 
turpentine on the milk or cream. Even 
tobacco smoke in the dairy will scent and 
taint the butter, and any scent of cooking 
that may enter the dairy, as of onions or 
cabbages, will have the same effect. The 
scent of manure will be absorbed by cream 
or butter, and It has even been known that 
the strong smell of decaying turnips in a 
cellar under the cow stable, and which has 
been only breathed by the cows, has tainted 
the milk and the taint has been absorbed 
by the butter. 
This behavior of fats, and especially of 
butter fats of the milk, causes the butter 
to absorb the flavors of whatever oils may 
be contained in the food, and as the odors 
of plants, and flowers, leaves or roots alike, 
are due to the essential oils that are con¬ 
tained in them, and all oils in the food are 
assimilated directly without change by di¬ 
gestion, it follows beyond any question or 
doubt that the food directly confers its pe¬ 
culiar odor and flavor upon the butter of 
the cow, and that any food that is eaten by 
the cow does affect the flavor of her butter. 
Thus it is that when cabbages and tur¬ 
nips are fed to cows they cause the butter 
to taste of them; that rag weed, pig weed, 
tansy and other strong flavored herbs give 
their peculiar bitterness to the butter; and 
equally the delicate odor of the white 
clover blossoms, the sweet aroma of the 
Vernal Grass, and the aromatic flavor of 
Blue Grass, are all acquired by the butter 
of the cows pasturing upon these plants 
So well is this known that the French 
dairywomen pack a few sprigs of sweet 
herbs, or a few roses, or stalks of mint 
around the butter in their baskets, neatly 
covered with the ever snowy-white cloths as 
they take it to the markets. This art of flav¬ 
oring butter and of avoiding other and ob¬ 
jectionable flavors is an essential part of the 
French dairy work, and as it is only a con¬ 
current part of equally good management 
all through the business, the butter of the 
French cities has a reputation that is un¬ 
equaled anywhere else in the world, and 
brings a proportionately high price in ths 
markets. 
It is very certain that American butter- 
makers are not as careful as they should be 
in the selection of food for their cows, and 
such teaching as that under criticism is ex¬ 
ceedingly bad an t injurious. It misleads 
and encourages the prevalent neglect in 
this respect, and thus it is a damage and a 
wrong inflicted upon persons who are free 
tobestow confidence upon what they think 
is superior experience and scientific knowl¬ 
edge. 
SHORT AND FRESH. 
Mr. T. B. Terry, who has done so much 
to inspire a more careful system of potato 
cultivation, was asked (see Country Gentle¬ 
man, June 4), if he would plant potatoes by 
hand or use the Aspinwall potato planter 
if he desired to be particularly economical 
of seed ? He replies that he “could plant 
by hand and be ahead,” if he could get 
careful, accurate droppers. He can plant 
an acre by hand with two bushels less of 
seed than if he uses the Aspinwall. 
TnERE is another point to which he calls 
particular attention. He has been studying 
over it for several years and experiment¬ 
ing, but does not understand it. It is this : 
With the furrows opened with his two 
plows attached to a sulky, each one making 
(Continued on next page.) 
Advertisers treat all correspondents 
well if they mention The Rural New- 
Yorker. 
I Lost 
My confidence, wss all run down and unable to work 
—In an extreme condition of general debility, when 
I was told that Hood’s Sarsaparilla was just what 1 
needed. As a drowning man grasps at a straw I de¬ 
cided to try this medicine, and to my great surprise, 
from the first day I began to improve Ily the time l 
had finished my second bottle I had regained my 
health and strength, and from that day I can say I 
have been perfectly well. I have recommended 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla to my friends, whom I know have 
been benefited by it. It is indeed peculiar to itself, 
in that 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
not only helps, but it cures.” H. C. Pidcock, 49 
Delevan Street, Lambertville, X. J. 
For Internal and External Use, 
Stops Pain, Cramps, Inflammation in body or limb, 
like magic. Cures Croup, Asthma, Colds, Catarrh, Chol¬ 
era Morbus, Diarrhoea, Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Lame- 
back, Stiff Joints and Strains. Fullparticularsfree. Price 
86 cts. post-paid. L S. JOHNSON & CO., Boston, Mass. 
BEST- CO UGH -M EDI CINE A 
P.P, Green 
BUG POISON 
02.50 per 10O lbs 
YORK CHEMICAL WORKS 
York, Pa. 
gMfS 
Package makes 6 gallons. 
Delicious, sparkling, and 
appetizing. Sold by *11 
dealers. FREE a beautiful 
Picture Book and cards 
■wit to any one addressing 
O. E. HIRES A CO.,' 
Philadelphia. 
U ABAC? STUDY Thorough and practical 
HllnVp u 1 w ^ 1 instruction given by 
■ ■ w ■■ Mail In Book-keeping, Business Forms, 
Arithmetic, Penmanship, Shorthand, 
etc. Low rates. Distance no objection. Circulars free. 
Bryant & Stratton, 415 Main Street. Buffalo, N. Y. 
vnyri i rsA^iUi, 
an imations procured all pu 
end for circular. W.fci. C1IA 
by mail or personally, 
ipils when competent. 
F F I£ E, Oswego.N. Y, 
Bookkeeping and Penmanship thoroughly taught 
by mall. 
WAI I DADCR of attractive styles, at ex- 
"«*»*• rKrtn treme/y low prices. For Sc. post¬ 
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to match, of papers ranging in price from 6c. to 50c. 
a roll. A. L. DIAMENT & CO., 1205 Market Street 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
PAINTroofs 
DIXON S SILICA CRAPHITE PAINT 
Water will run from it pure and clean. It covers double 
the surface of any other paint, and will last four or fin 
times longer. Equally nseful for any iron work. Sendfoi 
circulars. Jos. Dixon crucible Co., Jersey City, N. J 
An Excellent Opportunity 
for investment in the Orange Belt at RIVER¬ 
SIDE, CAE. Young groves for sale at bargains. 
Net profits, $500 per acre. Low taxes. Climate un¬ 
surpassed. For further particulars and terms address 
C. E. McBItTDE. Mansfield, Ohio, or 
J. H. FOUNTAIN, Riverside. Cal. 
275 ACRE FARM. 
Fertile, warm early soil. 
Good Grass Land. 
Good Butter Farm. 
Good Trnck Farm. 
Good Fruit Farm. 
__ Good Poultry Farm. 
Deposit of Pink Granite. 
Deposit of Fine Molding Sand. 
Famous Spring oi Pure Water. 
Twenty-seven miles from Boston. Six good manu¬ 
facturing village markets within seven miles; one 
mile from railroad station, post-ofllce, etc. 
t3T FOR SALE AT LOW PRICE. 
May be divided into two farms. Two houses, tig 
barn, etc. 
Address “ FARM,” care Thk Rural Nkw-Yorkkb 
“THE FLORIDA REAL ESTATE JOUR¬ 
NAL,” *1 .00 a year. Arcadia, Florida. Cheap homes, 
eash or time. Samply copy, with State map, 10 cents 
HOMES FOR ALL 
in the South 
along the 
line of the 
MOBILE <fc OHIO RAILROAD. Cheap lands 
goo^healthTgoo^vaWr^nniu^limaW, good markets 
for your products, aud in fact all that conduces to 
success in Agricultural and Mechanical pursuits. You 
can purchase KOlJiDJ^tlPLANDjfe^ 
TICKETS VIA Tillk A OHIO It AIL- 
Ho'Xn; (rom wT’^nn’TS^AHT^TralmostTany 
point in our territory, at very low rates, HOOD FOR 
FORTY DAYS from date of sale, with privileged 
STOPPING OFF AT PLEASURE south of the 
?7inm?Jver7^o^7urU?e^In7ormatJon in regard to 
rates address,!. N. EBERLK, Land and Immigra¬ 
tion Agent, No. 423 Chestnut Street, ST. LOUIS, 
MO., or G. W. KING. General Passenger Agent 
M. & O. R. R., MOBILE, ALA. Address the ALA. 
BAMA LAND AND DEVELOPMENT CO., 
or HENRY FONDE, Pres., MOBILE. ALA., for 
circulars or other 
Information In re¬ 
gard to land 
IN ALABAMA. 
Miniature Cut of Stable and Carriage House. 
JUST PUBLISHED. 
PALLISER’S 
MISCELLANEOUS 
Architectural Designs and Details 
— FOR — 
Carpenters and Builders, Mechanics 
and all People Intending to Build. 
By the most Popular Architects. 
This work contains 96 pages, mostly all plates, 
tlxl4 lu size, nearly 1,G00 drawings and illustrations, 
giving plaus, elevations and perspective views of 
Barns, Stables and Carriage Houses, Greenhouse, 
Summer House, a Model Poultry House, Outhouses, 
Bath Houses and Pavilion, three Designs for Cottages 
of moderate cost, three Frame Double Houses, three 
Southern Houses, two Villas—with Details, 11 City 
Brick Fronts—with Details, four Frame Low-Cost 
Tenement Houses—with retails. 
Sent bound in paper cover, postpaid to any address 
on receipt of $1.00. 
THE RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
Times Building, New York. 
