592 
AUG. i5 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKE 
Jess flavor. It is apparently a poor shipper, but an im¬ 
provement upon the Crescent in quality. Upon the whole, 
I have no use for the variety. The Bubach is one of the 
most promising candidates for supplying the trade in 
cheap berries. The Belmont is still under trial for a late 
berry of great excellence, having proved favorable thus 
far. In the same category is the Bomba for a canning 
berry. If one is content to give the best of care, especially 
in the matter of winter protection and ample moisture 
during fruiting, the Prince of Berries will effectually 
throttle the fiend who annually tells us that there is no 
strawberry like th»* wild kinds Worcester Co., Mass. 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
Fighting Squash Borers —Last year from July 1 up 
to the 25th, I was engaged in a continuous daily warfare 
with the bugs and borers in my squash vines. Every day 
I examined my small patch of a few hills, turning up 
every leaf in search of clusters of eggs on the lower side. 
When found a part of the leaf was torn off with the ad¬ 
hering eggs and deposited in the kitchen range. The eggs 
thus destroyed were innumerable. Had they been allowed 
to hatch I would have had on my place a horde of de¬ 
stroyers that would have eaten up every green thing. I 
persevered and won. This season I am doubtless being 
additionally rewarded for my last year’s labor, for diligent 
and repeated searching has given me only one cluster of 
eggs. Had their work of procreation been allowed to 
flourish undisturbed, enough would have been bred to 
have infested the whole neighborhood. 
The borers, which prey on the main stalk of the vine, 
both above and below ground, are not so easy to subdue. 
It is hard to detect their presence until the destructive 
work is fairly under way. Before I was fairly aware 
of their presence last season, the vines had begun to show 
weakness. With a sharp-pointed knife I went for them in 
their quarters. It was a tedious piece of work, vivisecting 
the vines, but I persevered and saved every plant. It was 
necessary in some cases to cut away fully one-half of the 
main stalk in order to destroy these pests; but it seemed 
to do no great harm to the vines—all recovered and did 
well. In my neigbor’s garden, which I frequently visited, 
I took more than 20 borers from a single vine, and saved it 
in spite of the large amount of cutting which was neces¬ 
sary. I do not know of any better way, as yet, to eradicate 
these pests, but I shall be glad to be told of one. I am satis¬ 
fied that they can be subdued very effectually by this hand 
method in any given neighborhood, but one neglectful 
gardener will re«upply the place in a single season. The 
squash crop Is such a valuable one that the question of its 
special enemies is one of great importance. A cheap, 
simple and easily applied preventive of the squash bug 
and borer would be of the greatest value. 
Training Beans. —The crankiest, queerest, most an¬ 
noying things in my garden, one year with another, are 
the pole or running beans. In a row of 25 hills, four or 
five have climbed the poles fairly well, after much trying 
and coaxing; but the others are as obstinate as the typical 
mule. They persistently misbehave. Instead of lovingly 
embracing the poles, and singing “ Excelsior,” they re¬ 
fuse to climb and lay in an ignoble heap at the bottom—a 
disgrace to the bean family, an eyesore to myself—literally 
cumberers of the ground. I have clearly demonstrated 
that their misconduct is not due to the influence of the 
“ moon,” because all were planted at the same time and 
they are all of the same sort. I take no stock in the 
“moon” theories about planting. But, seriously, I am 
puzzled to account for the matter. In my neighbor’s gar¬ 
den, matters are still worse—not a vine will climb a pole. 
Who can tell us what to do to bring these recalcitrant 
beans to a sense of their duty ? Is it a matter of reversion? 
Is this particular variety (Vick’s Golden Cluster Wax) a 
sport from a bush bean ? What is the trouble ? I really* 
want to know. 
A Good Old Lettuce.— I still grow the Deacon Lettuce 
and think it, all things considered, the best of the list. It 
makes magnificent heads, which grow so compactly that 
the interior is perfectly blanched, and it is always crisp 
and delicate. No other variety that I have grown will re¬ 
main so long edible, refusing to send up the seed stalk 
until late In the season. For autumnal use, I have now 
some which will give me a supply of heads, which will last 
until the ground freezes. 
A Handsome Screen. —Just between the lawn at the 
side of the house and my small garden, my better half de¬ 
sired a screen. She devised one as follows: She procured 
a strip of wire netting, such as is used for poultry fencing, 
long enough (about 10 feet) for the purpose. A stout stake 
at each end held up the screen. Along its base she planted 
sweet peas and bulbs of the Madeira Vine. It Is now a 
solid mass of green, very beautiful to look at, and is a 
very effective screen. I have long used this netting for 
my Champion of England Peas and find it much cheaper 
than brush which must be freshly cut each year. E. G F. 
LOOKING AT THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
FRED GRUNDY. 
There is the flower garden, simply dazzling in its array 
of bright colors. What could be prettier T Almost every 
woman that passes by admires it, and either mentally or 
verbally wishes she had It, or one like it. Bat dozens of 
horny-handed sons of the soil pass without giving it even 
a glance. On the opposite side of the road is a field of 
oats, now being stacked. There’s money in oats, and that 
captures their attention. Flowers are frivolous frippery- 
women’s truck. Wheat, corn, oats and hogs represent 
good, blessed dollars, more land, more horses, more 
machinery, more beer, more importance and more bluster. 
Two of them pass on loads of grain. “ That feller’s got 
lots o’ brush about his place,” yells one. “ Yaas,” replies 
the other. “ I don’t think much o’ them evergreens ; they 
don’t make either wood or posts half as quick as trees! ” 
“ Naw, they’re no good—ain’t worth half the room they 
take up. I think a feller’s a fool for settin’ ’em out! ” 
And they pass out of hearing. 
Two men come along driving trotters hitched to road 
wagons. “There’s a mighty pretty flower patch, old 
man!’’calls one to the other. “Yes, that’s very nice,” 
and they are gone. 
A man and woman in a spring wagon pass. “ My ! just 
look at those flowers ! I wonder what they can be. Ain’t 
they pretty ! ” The man merely glanced in that direction 
but opened not his mouth. 
“ O, ma, ma, just look at them ! ” “ Well, child, don’t 
holler that way. The folks’ll think you’re crazy.” “O 
don’t I wish we had a lot like ’em!” “They are very 
pretty,” says the man. “ Wonder where they got the seed.” 
At the back stands a row of stately tiger lilies, fully five 
feet high, now in full bloom. On the farther side, almost 
encircling the garden, is a row of mixed petunias, literally 
covered with flowers of endless shades. In the center is a 
bed of mixed gladioli, more than 150 of them, and their 
long spikes of brilliant flowers are no w the chief attrac¬ 
tion. Is there a more satisfactory flower than this ? It is 
beautiful when viewed either closely or from afar off. A 
large bed in full bloom is simply gorgeous. I plant the 
whole lot of bulbs at one time, because some bloom so 
much earlier than others, and they last about as long and 
give more satisfaction than if planted at different times. 
Late planted bulbs often fail to bloom in this section. If 
this fine flower would only stand up without support, how 
easy it would be to manage. A small stick and bit of 
twine are all that are needed, however, and well they pay 
for all care bestowed upon them. 
Around and among the gladioli are various colored ver¬ 
benas, dianthus, snapdragons, phloxes, etc. This is the 
first time I have grown the phlox called Star of Quedlin- 
burg, and it Is a beauty. But what a name! We simply 
call it Star Phlox, and it blooms just as well and looks 
just as pretty as it would under a name a mile long. 
Then, there are the double petunias. A short distance 
away they look like white and pink roses. They do best 
when set singly and supported by a small stake thickly 
set with branches six Inches or so long, to which the lead¬ 
ing stems of the plant can be tied. When crowded they 
grow like oats in a rich soil and the first storm that comes 
along lays them flat on the ground. 
In one corner stands a General Washington Rose. In 
June it was ablaze with brilliant blooms. As soon as they 
faded the heps were cut off and now it Is blooming again, 
and I see 20 or 30 buds in various stages of development. 
It will bloom well into autumn, as it always does. If you 
want your hybrid perpetuals to be perpetual, cut the June 
bloom freely and remove every hep as soon as the petals 
fall. About the first of November cut the plants back to 
two feet of the ground and thin out the branches. Then 
keep the soil about them rich with rotted manure and 
well cultivated and all of the best varieties will prove 
more than satisfactory. 
Almost everybody grows geraniums, and aristocratic, 
dudish florists take an idiotic delight in poking fun at the 
old scarlet, yet were will you find a more satisfactory 
flower for lighting up a group of somber evergreens, point¬ 
ing a bed of petunias, or backing up a row of white lilies 
or verbenas ? It seems to gather brightness from the blaz¬ 
ing sun, and it defies abuse and about everything else ex¬ 
cept frost. It will resist heat and drought almost as well 
as the vincas. Spray it with water late in the evening 
occasionally and it will bloom and bloom. 
But if one lives in a section annually subject to drought— 
one that frizzes the plantain and browns the grass—let 
him plant the vinca if he wants a real pretty flower that 
will stand the racket. All it asks is to have its thick, 
glossy leaves sprayed late in the evening once or twice a 
week. It seems as little affected by intense heat and 
parching drought as a brick. It is showy and blooms con¬ 
tinuously till Jack Frost comes. Christian Co., Ill. 
Farm Politics. 
Herf it is proposed to discuss with freedom and fairness, ques¬ 
tions of National or State policy that particularly concern farm¬ 
ers. The editors disclaim responsibility for the opinions of cor¬ 
respondents. The object is to develop a true and fair basis for 
organization among farmers. Let us think out just what we want 
and then strive for it. 
A FARMER ON GOLD MONEY. 
In our day gold may be money for the use of a class. As 
an humble farmer I only learn of such a thing as the ex¬ 
istence of gold money from reading and hearsay. I sup¬ 
pose from implications that such money is in existence. 
Gold money is certainly not current. I suppose it circu¬ 
lates in a certain class center ; it certainly does not circu¬ 
late among farmers. Is gold not class money ? The single 
standard is arbitrary; it is the arbitrary outgrowth of a 
scheming set of plutocrats. Should the output of gold 
mining continue to decrease and the population of the 
globe continue to increase, I suspect that gold will be 
treasured as ornaments and souvenirs and become nearer 
the standard of the diamand and rare paintings, than that 
of silver. If this arbitrary basis for money be continued 
much longer without a crisis or revolution, American 
citizens as farmers will be compelled to retreat to towns 
and cities for a shelter to cover their defeat, and country 
homes will be surrendered to foreigners who can probably 
for a time satisfy the gold class. Never again can gold 
become currency unless much more of it than is now 
found can be mined cheaply. It is simply a commodity 
when plenty and a rarity when limited ; when the supply 
is quite limited it is incompatible with money that circu¬ 
lates. People may say what they will, they may exhaust 
words in upholding the idle gold dollar, but the dollar 
that floats with one class to-day is not the dollar that 
floats with another class, C. w. GOOD, 
Franklin Co., Penn. 
R. 
DEFENDING THE FARMERS’ ALLIANCE. 
Remove the Link Between Borrower and Lender. 
There is a certain class of agricultural writers who seem 
to take especial pleasure in denouncing the principles, aims 
and purposes of the Farmers’ Alliance. They do this with 
a force and assurance that seem to imply that there is no 
excuse for the existence of the Alliance and no justice in 
Its demands. Prof. J. W. Sanborn of the Utah Experi¬ 
ment Station, seems to have the characteristics which 
entitle him to be classed among these ready contributors to 
the agricultural press. In The R. N.-Y. of July 11th, he 
makes a vigorous kick at the Alliance and holds up his 
hands in holy horror at its demands. He assures us of 
dire calamities that will befall us if we lessen the rental 
value of money—the rate of interest—and insists that this 
rental value will be lessened If the government should 
loan money on farm security at a low rate of interest. This 
he calls wrong in principle, and offers a kind of clinch to 
his argument in the following example: 
A owns a farm for which he receives a rental of $300, and 
none denies its propriety, for not even Henrv George denies 
the right of land rental or house rental. But A sells the 
place to B for $5,000 and takes B’s note. B denies the pro- 
prletv of interest and so refuses to pay any; should he ac¬ 
complish such an end he would simply rob A of the rental 
value of his land. 
But why not carry the example a little further and see 
how It operates under existing conditions ? Suppose A 
wants the money for his farm ; B must then borrow the 
money from C, giving security at least to the amount of 
$6,000, and an annual interest of six per cent. Now C is 
presumably a banker. He takes less than $6,000 worth of 
untaxable security in government bonds on which he 
draws an annual Interest, deposits this non-taxable, inter¬ 
est-bearing security at Washington, and receives from the 
government $5,000 at one per cent. This he loans C at six 
per cent per annum. 
Now let us examine closely the relative positions of B 
and C. B has $6,000 worth of property in bonds on which 
he receives an annual income and on which he is exempt 
from taxation. By simply depositing this as security he 
is able to borrow $5,000 at one per cent. This $5,000 is 
loaned C at six per cent, and again on this loan he escapes 
taxation. Not only this, but he so manipulates the secur¬ 
ities as to avoid taxation on the personal property repre¬ 
sented in his bank stock. B, on the other hand, is obliged 
to pay the high rate of six per cent on his loan of $5.000j 
and is also compelled to pay his quota of taxes on the basis 
of $6,000. Prof. Sanborn apparently did not see thk phase 
of the case. Does he see any injustice in it now? 
If it be right and just for the government to lend money 
to B at one per cent, why is it not right and just to lend it 
to C at two per cent on security in every way as satisfac¬ 
tory? Why compel C to pay B five per cent per annum on 
the value of his farm, when B acts simply and c nly as a 
connecting link between the farmer and the government ? 
Better destroy the link altogether and make the connec¬ 
tion direct if it be made at all. 
But Prof. Sanborn takes a moral view of the case and 
insists that an injustice is done the money lender If his 
rate of interest is in any way reduced. The money lenders 
and financiers of the country are for the most part bankers. 
These banking institutions are the creatures of the gov¬ 
ernment—of the people. They receive not only their ex¬ 
istence, but also, as we have seen, valuable special privi¬ 
leges from the people. To a large extent they escape taxa¬ 
tion, and use everybody’s money at one per cent per an¬ 
num. In short, they make money plentiful or scarce, as 
they see fit, and as it best suits their purpose. But to 
make money plentiful would be to reduce the rate of in¬ 
terest ; hence the currency is kept contracted and the rate 
of interest high. If the bankers carry things too far and 
get into a hole, the government comes to their assistance. 
The doors of the National Treasury are opened, and money 
k poured out to relieve the financial stress. But when the 
farmer feels the stress of the contracted currency, the only 
relief he gets comes from the Sheriff’s hammer. When 
the farmer notes these discriminations against him and 
seeks relief, Prof. Sanborn and his class of writers ex¬ 
claim, “Hands off 1 ” and preach justice and educational 
remedies. 
These writers condemn special legislation for the farmer, 
but conveniently ignore the special legislation that has 
been operating against farmers for years. Their battery 
of words is turned in offensive array against a measure for 
the benefit of the farmers, but not a word is offered against 
the measures that operate against them. Indeed one 
would infer from their writings that we are suffering no 
Injustice, and that our only need is a little polish of books 
and patriotic instincts. They forget that what the Alli¬ 
ance demands, and what they so severely condemn, is only 
a part of what is already granted other interests. Let 
those privileges be withdrawn. Abolish the national 
banks, and let the government furnish us with sufficient 
currency to carry on the commerce of the country—enough 
to move the great farm products of th? country after 
harvest. Do this and the Alliance will soon forget its 
Sub-Treasury scheme, and cease to ask for government 
loans. We create all the wealth we want. All that we 
ask are economic conditions under which we shall be 
able to retain a fair share of our created wealth. We can¬ 
not retain our share as long as the men who create the 
moving power of our products—money—may grant or 
deny it at pleasure and dictate its cost to us when granted. 
We farmers may not have the educational polish of our 
learned critics, but we have been knocked around a little 
in the world, and we know a little of the relation between 
cause and effect. The effects of the present economic con¬ 
ditions come to us with special emphasis. We have been 
searching around at odd spells—between planting and 
harvest and such times—for the cause, and are pretty 
well satisfied that we have found it. We are getting In a 
way too of speaking right out la meeting, and the plan, we 
