532 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIMES BUILDING. NEW YORK. 
A Rational Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT 8. CARMAN, 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD, 
EDITOR8. 
Rural Publishing Company: 
LAWSON VALENTINE, Prsiidsnt. RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, M»n«*sr. OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
of coal at once would be an unheard-of luxury ? 
How about the poverty-stricken dwellers in our 
cities who buy by the pailful, and to whom coal 
enough to make them comfortably warm is an un¬ 
known quantity ? When the all wise Creator long 
ages since stored up almost inexhaustible supplies 
of coal for the use of future ages, did He intend that 
a few soulless corporations should conspire to pre¬ 
vent its unrestricted use by needy ones ? Isn’t it 
about time for the people to “ resolve ” on a solu¬ 
tion of this question and “ agree” to take the man¬ 
agement of these matters into their own hands to be 
controlled for the good of the whole people with 
out distinction of pocket book, politics, or previous 
position ? 
Copyright, 1891, by the Rural Publishing Company. 
SATURDAY, JULY 18 1891. 
NEW WHEAT PRIZES. 
The R. N.-Y. will give two cash prizes of 
$10 and $5 respectively for the best and sec¬ 
ond best heads of the R. N.-Y. wheats con¬ 
taining the greatest number and heaviest 
weight of grains ; not less than three heads 
of a kind to be selected and forwarded to this 
office before August 15, 1801. 
The Farmers’ Alliance of Minnesota purchased a 
large amount of binding twine, a short time ago, at 
remarkably low figures, and the members congratu¬ 
lated themselves and each other on having got the 
better of the monopolists. It turns out, however, 
that some rascally traders sold them a bogus article 
composed of sisal grass colored in imitation of man- 
ila—a $15,000 swindle. Worse still, it is charged 
that the swindlers were also Alliance men ! It is to 
be hoped that the order will not rest content with 
turning the rascals out, but that it will insist on 
turning them into “quod.” 
One of the best habits that a child can acquire 
is the reading habit. The practice of looking about 
for a book or a paper whenever a portion of spare 
time is found becomes a habit that cannot be 
shaken off. It grows into a desire for knowledge, 
and becomes a power for good if properly directed. 
Interest a boy in reading good and useful books, 
and provide him with the right class of literature, 
and he will find little time to form low and debas¬ 
ing associations or cultivate a love for the life of 
the saloon and billiard hall. He will seek his 
friends among the great and pure minds who have 
put so much of help, encouragement and strength 
into the printed pages. Teach your boy the read¬ 
ing habit. Discourage any rapid “skimming,” but 
let him know the importance of thinking of what 
he reads. Let the reading habit grow into an ob¬ 
serving habit, and the boy is safe. 
For some time past the Western agricultural 
papers have been urging farmers to stack their 
wheat and hold it back from the market. A circu¬ 
lar has been sent to every member of an agricul¬ 
tural organization urging him to hold at least a 
portion of his grain and put it on the market 
slowly—not dump it in a lump as in former years. 
These plans are all based upon the assumption that 
the world’s supply of wheat is short, that the grain 
gamblers can control but a light supply, and that 
the speculators have based their operations upon 
the belief that farmers will not or cannot act in con¬ 
cert. If these suggestions are acted upon by farm¬ 
ers, grain must, unquestionably, rise in price. This 
rise has its limit, however, beyond which it would 
be folly to hold the grain. An increase in the 
price of wheat means a decrease in the amount of 
bread city people can buy for a dime. It will, also, 
under present circumstances, mean a hole in the 
calculations of the grain gamblers. 
The farmers of Eastern Oregon and Washington 
are jubilant at the enormous wheat crop of this 
year and the excellent prices offered for it. The 
yield and acreage last year were the greatest in the 
history of the country and trustworthy estimates 
make a probable increase of from 30 to 50 per cent 
in this year’s output. With prices more than 40 
per cent higher than a year ago, the farmers expect 
a season of unexampled prosperity. Interior ship¬ 
pers, however, are becoming alarmed lest the rail¬ 
roads again find themselves unable to move the 
crop as fast as offered, and lest last year’s blockade 
should be repeated. So long as farmers can contract 
their wheat at 70 to 75 cents per bushel delivered 
on the cars, they have no ground for complaint, but 
shippers have some reason for uneasiness, as the rail¬ 
roads can hardly have made additions to their 
equipment during the year adequate to enable them 
to handle a crop 50 per cent greater than that of 
last year. Of course a blockade of transportation 
must ultimately prove injurious to the producer as 
well as to the shipper. 
Both the Eastern and Western sales agents of the 
anthracite coal companies have had meetings and 
‘ ‘ resolved ” to advance prices of certain grades. 
They also “ agree ” to limit the output, and we are 
told that “the coal men feel confident that they 
have a ‘ cinch ’ on the trade.” But how about the 
consumer! How about the buyer to whom a ton 
The election in Iowa this fall is a very important 
and interesting one. The Democrats favor a “ tar¬ 
iff for revenue only,” what amounts to free silver 
coinage and practically a repeal of the Prohibition 
laws. The Republicans stand by the McKinley Bill ; 
they would limit free silver to the American pro¬ 
duct and stand squarely by the Prohibition law. 
Aside from these clean cut issues is the fact that 
should the present Governor, Horace B lies, be re¬ 
elected he will become a formidable candidate for a 
place on the National ticket next year. The result 
of the contest over the tariff will be very interesting. 
It has been stated repeatedly that Iowa farmers are 
drifting away from a high tariff policy. We shall 
now see how that is. We cannot see how the posi¬ 
tion of the Democrats on the liquor question can 
help them with fair-minded farmers. They pro- 
E ose a license law by means of which a saloon could 
e established in any county or place without re¬ 
gard to the feelings or wishes of the inhabitants. 
This plan may find favor with some townspeople, 
but we believe the farmers will repudiate it. 
“Cream is not cream.” That is to say, it differs 
considerably in composition—there is no such thing 
as “ standard cream.” Milk is a mixture of solids 
and water—so is cream, only in the latter a great 
deal of the water and some of the solids have been 
taken out. Cream is really a mixture of butter 
fats and milk. Analysis easily shows that some 
samples contain far more milk than others. The 
more milk the less butter fat. The butter fat is the 
valuable part of the cream—the product for which 
it is saved. Breeds, foods, temperature of the air 
and methods of setting the milk all may make a 
difference in the amount of water found mixed with 
the fat globules. The practice of measuring the 
value of a cow by the amount of cream produced is 
unbusiness like and fatal to real dairy progress. So 
is the conclusion that because a certain food seems 
to give a thicker or heavier cream it has put more 
butter fat into the milk, and improved its 
“ quality.” Let butter makers understand that 
“ cream ” is only the form in which the fat is served 
with milk. The only valuable test is for the quan¬ 
tity of fat, and no man who proposes to develop a 
herd of dairy cows can afford to do without some 
means of determining the amount of actual fat in 
the milk. 
The United States District Court in Oklahoma 
has just decided that the Cherokee Strip cannot be 
leased to cattle grazers by the Cherokee Nation. 
This decision, of course, invalidates the Indian title 
to the 6,000,000 acres of excellent land embraced in 
the contested territory. In spite of the President’s 
proclamation ordering the cattle barons to drive 
their stock from the land before last October, and 
of several efforts to compel them to do so since then, 
over 500,000 head of stock are reported to be still 
E asturing there. The obstinacy of the cattlemen 
as greatly exasperated intending settlers, and from 
6,000 to 8,000 of them have already taken up claims 
in the territory and are being constantly reinforced 
by hordes of boomers from Kansas and Arkansas, 
and a monstrous convention is to be held to day to 
insist that the government shall at once throw the 
land open to settlement. A short time ago a small 
cavalry force was ordered to expel the white set¬ 
tlers, but as the case is to be carried to the United 
States Supreme Court, probably the work of expul¬ 
sion will be suspended until its decision is rendered. 
Settlement by white men is the inevitable destiny 
of the territory, and it should no longer be delayed 
by the power and influence of the cattle kings, who, 
without legal or equitable right, still maintain a hold 
on the rich grazing lands of the country. 
A few weeks ago I'he R. N.-Y. had a report of 
a so called agricultural fair in western New York. 
The complaint was that the exhibitions of distinc¬ 
tively agricultural products were extremely meager. 
The reason was that the premiums were largely 
offered for the best horses in the “ trials of speed.” 
This week a report of similar tenor is published of 
another so-called fair on Long Island. The inter¬ 
est seems to center in the horse trot. The people 
who could by their contributions make a successful 
exhibition will not bring their products for the very 
good reason that it does not pay them to do so. 
We are heartily glad that they do not. We have 
seen premium lists of small local fairs where $150 
in premiums were offered in a single race, while 
the highest premium for a purebred stallion was 
$5—not half enough to pay for the risk entailed in 
exhibiting him. We sincerely hope that not a 
farmer during the coming season will exhibit his 
products at, or encourage by his attendance a 
single one of these travesties upon the agricul¬ 
tural interests of our country. What think you 
would be the impression upon a visitor from some 
JULY 18 
foreign country who attended one of these exhibi¬ 
tions with a view of learning of our agricultural 
resources ? Would he gain a fair idea of them ? 
The claim is made that the revenue from the horse 
race, the fakir and the beer shop is necessary to 
sustain the fair. Such claim is false. Are the 
American farmers ready to admit that our agri¬ 
culture has fallen so low ? The history of such ex¬ 
hibitions as those of the New York State Agricul¬ 
tural Society for the last few years proves its 
falsity. The exhibitions and attendance both sup¬ 
port the wisdom of their policy. One of the for¬ 
merly most famous county fairs in western New 
York has become nearly a failure through its sub¬ 
serviency to the gamblers and others of that ilk. 
If the fair must have these demoralizing features 
to enable it to live, better let it die ; yes, better 
kill it at once. ’Tis a disgrace to the profession it 
professes to represent. 
BREVITIES. 
Some hearts are built like a hickory nut, 
With sweetest, tenderest meat Inside, 
But safe In a tough, hard shell It’s shut, 
A shell of selfish .less, grief or nrlde. 
And love with all of Its wondrous power 
Bu' breaks Its teeth on the tough, hard shell, 
And thus, through many a long, dark hour, 
The good ust 1 e In its narrow cell; 
But some day. pain with /is hammer true 
Will break the shell, and the sound, sweet meat 
Will lie there ready -tn open view 
Where love and sympathy botn may eat. 
Good Light Brahmas must be heavy. 
Cleanliness Is sometimes a part of godliness. 
We give you strawberries and cream this week. 
A Black Minorca must have a white egg record. 
Are you. under any circumstances, the friend of a weed? 
What’s the use of a gilt edge? Put the gilding all 
through! 
Success will run with flying feet from farmers who do 
“ plow the street.” 
Please hurry and develop a breed of cows that won’t 
have to be milked Sundays. 
When chickens roost upon your mangers, then are your 
cows and comfort strangers. 
Will a potato digger work the ground so that a careful 
harrowing will fit it for wheat ? 
Do you ever pay any attention to your cow’s feet ? A 
limping cow is a shrinking cow. 
A GOOD hen has no time to feather her own nest. It is 
a part of sound economy to feather it for her. 
Clapp’s Favorite rarely fails to bear heavily at the 
Rural Grounds. Pity it is not of higher quality. 
Can water wash nitrogen so far into the soil or out of it 
into the streams that tne roots of the clover plant cannot 
find it ? 
When folks are working in the dirt, ’tis well to wear a 
flannel shirt; for dirty bosom, shirt and collar make 
Good Taste and Comfort holler. 
If you will not keep up with the procession, you can’t 
expect the procession will halt just to accommodate you. 
‘‘Tne procession” means progress. It goes straight on. 
You can’t sleep and then make a snortcut to head it off. 
We find that a good many farmers are using their horse 
hay rases for weeding, gathering turnips, etc. A man on 
the hay rake can ride and has perfect control of tne teeth. 
Here are two good hints for the makers of Breed’s weeder. 
Golden Queen and Shaffer Raspberries look well side by 
sloe as ihe> ripen at aoout the same time. The first is, in 
'1 he R. N.-Y.’s opinion, the best yellow, the latter is the 
best for canning. It is a grand berry—hardy, vigorous, 
productive. 
Sulphuretted hydrogen, H 2 S, is vile-smelling stuff. 
Wnen mixed with water, It gtves more oad smell for a 
cent than any preparation we know of. Have entomolo¬ 
gists ever tried tnis H 2 S water as an insecticide ? It is 
worth trying. 
Some Louisiana sugar planters are now considering the 
plan of using waste moiasses for fuel. About the only 
other thing that can oe done with It Is to distill it Into 
rum. Molasses will burn with a fierce heat. Better pro¬ 
vide heat for manufacturing than to burn up somebody’s 
brains with rum. 
Early King and Early Harvest Blackberries ripen near¬ 
ly at the same time, the latter being two days or so ahead. 
The King may be hardier than Early Harvest, but the 
b rrles are no batter In quality and not half so regular. 
Lacretia (bless her!; ripens with Early King. 
The R. N.-Y. is glad to report that the potato vines of 
its experiment plots are free of the flea beetle. The vines 
never looked thriftier at this time of the season. It would 
seem their d sappearance dates from the several hot days 
that occurred in succession a few weeks since. It appears 
that they thrive best in cool, wet weather. 
Again The R. N.-Y.’s simple method of preventing in¬ 
jury to asparagus plants by the asparagus gruo has been 
effective. Tne eggs, which are easily seen, are readily 
mooed off by an upward or downward movement of the 
hand, as tney stand out at right angles to the stem. There 
is at this time neither a beetle nor a grub to be seen. 
In so far as the votes of the school children of New York 
State can do so, the question of a State flower is settled in 
favor of the rose. Tnis and the golden rod were the lead¬ 
ing candidates. The latter received tne majority of the 
votes In the city schools, but the country districts seemed 
to have little affection for tne “ pesky ” yellow weed and 
threw their influence largely in favor of the successful 
candidate. 
The Lead Trust has advanced the price of white lead a 
quarter of a cent per pound, and every farmer, builder 
and householder In the country must pay the additional 
tribute to the monopoly, which controls 96 per cent of the 
industry. Wnat a farce for Congress to pass an Anti- 
Trust Act to suppress such combinations, while it pre¬ 
vented ali outside competition by retaining the duty of 
three cents per pound—a prohibitory rate of 75 per cent— 
on the foreign product! And tne people’s Indifference to 
the barefaced trickery! Tne tolerance of the puoiic is 
the salvation of monopolies. 
The latest news from Washington is that the outpat of 
next year’s maple sugar crop may reach 450,000,000 
pounds ! The bounty of two cents per pound on tnis vast 
amount of sweetness would be $9,000,000. Earlier reports 
indicated that while bounties to tne amount of about $11,- 
OUO.OOO would be paid for tne next output of cane and beet 
sugars, the maple sugar raisers would maKe hardly any 
effort to secure any benefit from the McKinley Bill. Tne 
report says, however, tnat every tree tUat looKs like a 
maple will be tapped ror a contrloution. Internal revenue 
officials are “ arnszed ” at the magnitude of the prospects : 
otners will be still more amazed If they are realized 
