644 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
SEPT. 5 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIME8 BUILDING. NEW YORK. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homei. 
ELBERT 8. CARMAN, 
HERBERT W. COLLINQWOOD, 
in the main, uncontradictory and effective, the soils 
upon which they are carried on being impover¬ 
ished. We may fairly conclude that stations should 
be selected on the same principle ; that is to say, 
less rather than more favorable sites should be 
chosen, and the tests of new varieties should con¬ 
stitute an important part of their work. It seems 
just as important that stations should tell farmers, 
g ardeners and fruit growers what plants they may 
est grow as how they may best grow them. 
Rural Publishing Company: 
LAWSON VALENTINE, President. RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1891, by the Rural Publishing Company. 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1891. 
A Burglars’ Trust is the latest—a fit sequel to 
the numerous Robber Trusts ! 
If this year’s crops bring into the country a bil¬ 
lion dollars more than those of any former year, 
should those who produce or those who handle 
them get the larger share ? Why grumble, then, 
because the farmers for once are trying to get 
more than usual of what should be theirs ? 
Evidence accumulates with The N. R.-Y. that 
an 7 decided variations in the shape of potatoes of 
the same variety may be due to the fact that the 
variety was propagated from more than one tuber 
of the original seedling hill. We have evidence to 
show that several distinctly typical shapes may be 
fixed by the selection and propagation of those 
tubers of the seedling hill which differ most as to 
shape, color and prominence of the eyes. 
If the scientific gentlemen who are now conduct¬ 
ing the “precipitation experiments” in Texas 
should really discover the secret of making rain at 
will, the inhabitants of dry and parched districts 
will be greatly helped. Others in more favored 
parts of the country will stand a chance of being 
injured. It is seldom that all the farmers in a 
township want the same sort of weather. What is 
to prevent a man from drenching out his neighbors 
with water they do not need in his efforts to pro¬ 
vide rain for his own crops. When a man starts 
out to manufacture a storm, what power is going to 
stop him from giving all the folks in the township 
a taste of it ? The effort to handle this rain secret 
fairly will be harder than the discovery. 
It has been calculated that a reduction of one half 
in the military forces and expenditures of the six 
chief military powers of Europe for the last nine 
years would have saved $2,400,000,000 ; while 
3,000,000 men in the prime of life would have been 
restored to labor and productiveness. Count¬ 
ing the value of their labor—not their wages—at $1 
per day, it would have amounted to $900,000,000 a 
year or $8,100,000,000 in nine years. Thus the total 
loss to the people of half a dozen countries would be 
$10,500,000,000—a sum sufficient to pay $1 per bush¬ 
el for the total wheat crops of this country for from 
20 to 25 years. Why grumble at the pensions of the 
veterans whose services prevented the necessity for 
such ruinous armaments on this side of the At¬ 
lantic ? 
Of the many kinds of plants that The R. N.-Y. 
has tried before, at the time of or somewhat after 
their introduction, not one is recalled of which a 
decidedly favorable report was rendered, that is 
not to day more or less popular over a wide extent 
of country. The R. N.-Y. regrets that some of the 
station people are disposed to speak slightingly of 
variety tests and reports. “ What will do well 
here,” they assert, “ may not do well even on the 
next farm.” It will be readily conceded that The 
R. N.-Y. stands almost alone among journals in 
having carried on with due care these tests of new 
plants. As a station given to such and kindred 
work it is the oldest in America. We may therefore 
speak with some authority while we contend that 
the station people may render as valuable service 
to those they are intended to help, by the careful 
culture and reports of new plants, as by any other 
one kind of work. It is granted that some of the 
stations are so environed that their reports would 
prove serviceable to restricted areas only. Califor¬ 
nia, e. g., with its wonderful soil and climate, could 
not be trusted to instruct the Eastern farmer or 
horticulturist. Stations in other States with rich 
soils and favorable exposures might by their praise 
of new things disappoint the husbandman less fav¬ 
orably situated. The Rural Grounds are situated 
in a valley of low elevation, which catches the lat¬ 
est frosts of spring and the earliest of fall, and 
the thermometer often falls to from 10 to 15 degrees 
below zero, while the soil is rarely covered with 
snow for a week at a time. Hence it is that when 
a shrub or tree is pronounced hardy there, it will 
usually be found to be hardy further north ; when 
a grape is pronounced to be hardy, productive and 
healthy, it will be found to prosper in almost any 
place where grapes prosper at all. So it is with 
raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cereals, etc. 
So it is, also, that our fertilizer tests have proved, 
A Massachusetts subscriber sends us the follow¬ 
ing note which is but a counterpart of others from 
many parts of the country. 
“ Having quite an extensive retail berry trade 
which includes both families worth millions and 
others who have nothing but what they earn 
from day to day, I can see that cheap sugar has 
greatly increased the berry business, especially 
among those who have to look well after cents.” 
At the same time we hear butchers and provision 
dealers complain that where more money is spent 
for fruit, less is spent for meats. This is a good il¬ 
lustration of the fact that price changes in articles 
of universal use, whether brought about by the 
tariff or otherwise, are far-reaching m effect and 
not at all confined to the single article most directly 
affected. 
Most of the advantages claimed for farmers 
from the protection the McKinley tariff extends to 
many agricultural products, are doubtless fair sub¬ 
jects for debate ; but there can be no doubt that the 
barley and wrapper tobacco growers of the country 
will derive great benefit from it this year. The duty 
now on barley is 30 cents per bushel, an increase of 
20 cents; but the price for the large crop this year 
is 78 cents per bushel instead of 48 cents for a short 
one a year ago. A part of the rise is, no doubt, due 
to the general advance in cereals, a part to the 
scarcity of the product just now in the markets and 
the rest to the McKinley Bill. The present duty on 
Sumatra wrappers averages $2 per pound on un¬ 
stemmed and $2.75 on stemmed, instead of 75 cents 
and $1 respectively, and the growers of competing 
tobaccoes in this country expect to get about double 
prices for their product this year. ’Tis rather sad 
to see, however, that those who cater for beer 
guzzlers and tobacco smokers will be the chief 
gainers._ 
The poison fiend is again abroad in the land and 
is getting in his despicable and deadly work. As is 
usually the case, Paris green furnishes the most 
convenient and most easily obtainable agent for ex¬ 
ecuting his diabolical designs. Only a few weeks 
ago a prominent nurseryman of western New York, 
who had built up a fine herd of Holsteins in connec¬ 
tion with his nursery business, some of them im¬ 
ported animals, lost a large part of his herd entail¬ 
ing a loss of thousands of dollars. The poison had 
been mixed with meal and placed in piles in the past¬ 
ure field. A few days later a man in an adjoin¬ 
ing township went to his well, on the curb of which 
he kept a glass, for a drink of water before retiring. 
Noticing a peculiar taste he secured a light and dis¬ 
covered that a large quantity of Paris-green had 
been placed in the glass. The prompt discovery, 
the great amount taken and prompt medical aid 
saved his life. The past week a New Jersey 
farmer lost several cows which had eaten poisoned 
apples thrown into his yard during the night. The 
worst of it is that these wretches are not appre¬ 
hended. If they were, we know of no law that 
would mete out punishment sufficiently severe. The 
nearest approach to it of which we are aware is that 
sometimes dealt out in the Far West where the 
methods, though ofttimes crude, savor oftener of 
justice than the more finished legal processes prac¬ 
ticed in our Eastern courts. There is no human 
law sufficiently severe for the punishment of such 
outrages. _ 
FIXING VARIETIES OF CROSS BRED 
TOMATOES. 
It is the work of years to fix the shape, color, 
etc., of crossbred, or hybrid tomatoes, if The R. 
N.-Y. may judge from its experience of about six 
years. We began experimenting in this line years 
ago with Goff’s hybrid between Alpha and the 
French Bush or Upright—Tomate de Laye. Some 
of the plants raised from this seed were like the 
Alpha, others had the crinkly leaves and single 
main stems of the French Upright. Seeds were 
saved only from those like the Alpha. The next 
year all the plants were like the Alpha as to foliage 
and habit. So it was the next year, and so on until 
last spring, when seed planted from a single toma¬ 
to resembling the Alpha gave eight plants of the 
French Upright and twelve of the Alpha. It is fur¬ 
ther worthy of remark that while the eight dwarfs 
are closely alike as to foliage and fruit, each of the 
others, though alike in foliage and habit, bears 
differently shaped fruit. Some plants bear toma¬ 
toes as irregular in form as those of 15 years ago ; 
others are perfectly smooth, some oval or flattened, 
some round, some quadrangularly inclined, others 
distinctly pear-shaped. Again, the Peach Tomato 
was last year fertilized with pollen of the ordinary 
varieties on trial. Two immature fruits were the 
result. Seeds of these gave some 40 plants, not one 
of which bears fruit which resembles the mother 
and all of which are as dissimilar in shape and size 
as different varieties well can be. It is further 
worthy of note that these plants are the thriftiest 
of any in our present collection. 
The silver plank in the Pennsylvania Republi¬ 
can platform just set up is as follows : 
We favor bi-metallism and indorse tbe action of the 
Fifty first Congress in providing for tbe purchase and 
coinage of all silver produced from American mines, and 
we recommend such tariff duties as will protect our coun¬ 
try and Its currency from tbe debasement which will 
surely follow if this nation is made the dumping ground 
for all the silver of the world. 
What a confused jumble ! There is no law that 
provides for “ the purchase and coinage of all the 
silver produced from American mines.” The “Bul¬ 
lion Act ” of July 14, 1890, merely provides for the 
purchase—not the coinage—of 4,500,000 ounces of 
silver per month, no discrimination being made 
against the product of free American and pauper 
foreign labor. How can one “ favor bi-metallism” 
and, in the same breath, denounce the free coinage of 
imported silver by our mints ? What, oh what, has 
the tariff annex to do with the matter ? The whole 
resolution is not even a straddle—it’s a sprawl. 
BREVITIES. 
Put a little mulch of thought 
Around your head, 
Keep a thinking when you work 
Or when In bed. 
Keep brain working whether you 
Are young or old; 
Brains are alow as chilled molasses 
When they are cold. 
No potato rot as yet. 
How do you stand on the bird question ? 
You needn’t get behind a deaf man to backbite him. 
Now, won’t you make one last effort to reduce the weed 
stock for next year ? 
The ‘chemical farmers” have about ended their manure 
hauling for the year. 
There Is “ luck” In muck. You can haul both on to 
your light land in a cart. 
How many people run Into a big trouble In trying to 
get away from a little one. 
Has a man any excuse for permitting any good property 
to depreciate on his hands ? 
It begins to look as though hay would cost about as 
much per ton as cotton seed meal. 
The man who gives people the best iu the shop ” is 
bound to go sailing away to the top. 
Cows that gnaw bones and soils that object to forming 
grain on the stalk both need *' phosphates.” 
If we are to transplant fruit or ornamental (not ever¬ 
green) trees this fall, the sooner It is done after the leaves 
begin to change color or to drop, the better. 
Those who attend farmers’ festive gatherings should 
remember that the felonious use of tne knife In boozy 
brawls is a bad cutting up for brotherhood. 
Cover it over with beautiful flowers; dress up with clo¬ 
ver this country of ours; give to the hungry soil some¬ 
thing to eat, clover turns plant-food to good bread and 
meat. 
There never was a more timely season for Investigating 
the feeding merits of oil meal and cotton-seed meal. How 
much money do you propose to lose by feeding the high¬ 
est priced grain ? 
It is likely you leave enough fat in skim-mllk to dress 
you In broadcloth and clothe wife In silk; so the pigs and 
the calves eat the fat made for you, while you claim that 
“ farmin’ don’t pay”—which Is true. 
A large number of feeding experiments and quotations 
in the markets year after year go to show that the great¬ 
est profit is made from hogs when they are fed only to the 
age of eight or nine months and to a weight of not over 200 
pounds. 
We are informed that the roots of the Calla Lily provide 
edible food—yielding enormous crops when grown on large 
areas. The banana is called a developed lily ” and alone 
will sustain life and strength—something that cannot be 
said of wheat or potatoes alone. 
What about the teachers for your school this winter ? 
There are too many men who come to leach rather than to 
teach. The worst place for them to try their leaching 
game is in the country school house. Has your district 
picked out a leacher or a teacher P 
The Republicans are claiming that their policy has been 
Indorsed by a crop of 600,000,000 or 700,000,000 bushels of 
wheat, though they will not grumble very much should It 
dwindle to 510,000,000 bushels. Hearken to their jubilations 
and you’ll hardly believe the farmers are “ In it.” 
‘‘Our experiment stations ought to do that I” That 
passes through the head of every tnoughtful farmer as he 
encounters some puzzling result in his farm practice. Mr. 
Hallock suggests two things on page 642 What a tre¬ 
mendous field is open to these stations. Are they raising 
a good crop there ? 
Sib John A. Macdonald seems to have had some orig¬ 
inal tariff views. It was his belief that Eagland should 
aid the agricultural interests of Canada by placing a small 
duty on all foreign grain while admitting colonial grain 
free. This was his plan for a protective tariff, but the 
English authorities never consented to ir. He felt sure 
that buch a tariff would greatly stimulate Canadian grain 
growing and lead to an Increase of the most desirable im¬ 
migrants. 
After a dozen or more years of exclusion American cat¬ 
tle are to be again admitted Into Canada in order to en¬ 
courage the establishment of large meat packeries, and 
manuiactorles of tha various articles made from the 
refuse of such places, In the Dominion. How long will It 
be before Armour or some other member of tne “ Big 
Four,” who for years have been exacting exorbitant tri¬ 
bute alike from consumers and producers in this country, 
will swoop down upon the Kanucks and monopolize their 
new enterprise ? 
The Massachusetts Board of Agriculture is soon to Issue a 
catalogue containing accurate descriptions of the aban¬ 
doned farms of the State with the prices at which the 
owners guarantee to sell them, for a year. This policy Is 
sure to produce good results. A similar scheme in New 
Hampsnlre has air-ady resulted In the sale of over 300 
abandoned farms. Vermont, too, has gained a good deal 
by the publicity she has given to the matter. Such farms, 
we are told, afford fine chances to city residents anxious 
to try their hand at farming. It Is hard to see, however, 
how their ignorance of agriculture and manual labor can 
make any profit on land wnleh frugal, skillful and hard¬ 
working Yankees were forced to abandon. The chances 
would be much better for Irish, Germans or Canadians, 
and these are most likely to take advantage of tneru. 
