7o8 
OCT. 3 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIME8 BUILDING. NEW YORK. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home*. 
ELBERT 8. CARMAN, 1 ED(TOR8 . 
HERBERT W. COLLINQWOOD, 
Rural Publishing Company: 
LAWSON VALENTINE, Pre»ident. 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manner. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1891, by the Rural Publishing Company. 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1891. 
The request is made that all plants and 
seeds for trial or specimens for identification 
be sent to the Editor, River Edge, Bergen 
County, N. J. _ 
“It's brains against ‘barrels’” in the political 
campaigns in several of the States this year. The 
application ? Oh, well, anybody can make that. 
tempted to speculate in grain in this year of phe¬ 
nomenal crops ? _ 
The Sub Treasury scheme doesn’t appear to be 
making much headway even among Alliance men, 
though, no doubt, a large majority of them still 
favor it. In Texas a strong minority continue to 
give it the cold shoulder ; in Mississippi, judging 
by the recent senatorial elections, the bulk of the 
farmers can hardly be relied on to support it; in 
Georgia the legislature has referred consideration 
of it to a committee a majority of whom are oppos¬ 
ed to it ; in Missouri the president of the State or¬ 
ganization and a very strong following are bitterly 
against it; it has been completely ignored by 
the Ohio Alliance, and practically rejected in Iowa, 
the great farmer State of the Northwest. In its 
birthplace and chief stronghold, the South, it is 
fiercely assailed by the dominant Democratic party, 
and however honestly the bulk of the Alliance men 
there may wish it success, when it comes to a test at 
the polls, the great majority of them will not 
endanger “white supremacy” by supporting it out¬ 
side of the lines of the Democratic party. No other 
section would be so vastly benefited by the success 
of the measure as the South ; for no other crop 
could be held indefinitely with such safety as cot¬ 
ton ; but past party affiliations are too strong for 
future financial contingencies from the Ohio to the 
Gulf. 
A recent agricultural fair at Racine, Wis., was a 
financial failure because no intoxicants were al¬ 
lowed to be sold on the grounds ; or rather because 
1,700 people who petitioned against their sale, didn’t 
attend. Out upon such bogus reformers who al¬ 
lowed a temperance fair to fail because it was a 
temperance fair. They were willing enough, in 
sooth, to sign petitions againt vice ; but, like many 
other pseudo reformers, when, to put their prin¬ 
ciples into practice they had to seek a pit¬ 
tance in their pockets, they weren’t “in it.” 
There has been a good deal of talk lately about 
sheep husbandry as the best business on the “aban¬ 
doned farms” of New England. With cheap land— 
from $5 to $15 per acre—sweet grass on the granite 
ledges and limestone valleys, and markets, numer¬ 
ous, close at hand, and “the best in the world,” 
“ there are millions in it,” we are told. Shropshires, 
Hampshires and South Downs, owing to their 
superior mutton qualities and the excellence of their 
fleeces, are recommended as the money makers 
par excellence. A pleasant conceit truly—but what 
of the dogs ? _ 
According to the best attainable estimates, it 
costs the people of this country every year $250,- 
000,000 to get born ; $300,000,000 to get married ; 
$75,000,000 to get buried, and more than $900,000,- 
000 to get drunk. The last item is more than the 
cost of all the bread and meat consumed annually 
by the nation. Wouldn’t it be more economical 
and better indeed in every way for those who spend 
the $900,000,000 and more every year, to spend their 
share of the $75,000,000, or rather let their friends 
spend it for them, to put them quietly out of the 
sight of decent people ? 
It has been calculated that the value of last year’s 
exports of live stock was enhanced at least $10,000,- 
000 by the new regulations concerning their inspec¬ 
tion and transportation. Secretary Rusk deserves 
credit for planning these and securing from Con¬ 
gress legislation to enable him to put them in force. 
The rate of insurance on cattle in transit to Europe 
has been reduced from 10 to 1% per cent; and the 
animals have reached their destination in so much 
better condition than formerly that they have 
brought an average of $6 a head more in the for¬ 
eign markets. The regulations for the inspection 
of meat gave Germany fair grounds for receding 
from her untenable position with regard to Ameri¬ 
can pork. The quarantining regulations with refer¬ 
ence to Texas cattle have also greatly enhanced the 
value of fat cattle. Under the Secretary’s wise 
management the Agricultural Department has 
proved one of the most important in the govern¬ 
ment, and even the partisan papers have seldom 
the audacity nowadays to jeer at it or its chief. 
Quiet, able, honest work is sure to tell and reflect 
honor on the doer. 
The great corner in September corn collapsed 
last Monday, and its engineer, “Deacon” S. V. 
White, of New York, lost from $1,500,000 to $2,000,- 
000. The “Deacon” and his associates started the 
corner when corn was 53 cents per bushel, ran it 
up to 70 cents, expecting to clear “ millions” on the 
settling day, September 30. The “shorts” covered 
as prices rose, and the high figures brought all the 
grain out of the farmers’ hands, especially as the 
phenomenally favorable weather gave assurance 
of an unprecedented crop close ahead. According¬ 
ly, the conspirators hadn’t money enough to control 
all that poured into the market, and the price fell, 
until on Monday it was back again to 53 cents and 
the “ DeaconV’ failure followed. The fate of those 
who have attempted to “corner” breadstuffs has 
passed into a proverb, and the last failure is merely 
a comfirmation of its truth. The “ Deacon” was a 
veteran speculator, who had amassed millions in his 
regular business ; he stepped outside this, however, 
to engineer this corner, and has been ruined— 
at least temporarily. Isn’t there a salutary lesson 
in this case for the thousands of farmers who are 
The McKinley tariff has raised the duty on hops 
from eight to fifteen cents per pound, and the im¬ 
portations have consequently dropped from 3,345,- 
279 pounds for the first seven months in 1891 to 1,637,- 
050 for the same period in 1891 ; still the price has 
fallen from 42 to 46 cents per pound a year ago to 
15 to 16 cents to day. The fall is due mainly to the 
groat increase in home production this year. Most of 
this increase has been in Oregon and Washington, 
which appear to be admirably adapted to the growth 
of this crop, especially the latter State. While the 
crop in it was only 703,277 pounds in 1880, in 1890 
it amounted to over 9,000,000 pounds, and this year 
the increase has been enormous, as new yards have 
come into bearing. The hop-growers of the State 
expect to net a profit of $1,500,000 from this sea¬ 
son’s crop. While a yield of 950 pounds per acre 
is considered satisfactory on this side of the Rockies, 
as well as in England and Germany, one of 1,700 
pounds is by no means uncommon on the Pacific 
Coast. Then again, while the cost of production in 
New York averages about 12 cents per pound, it is 
only 10 cents in Washington, where the Indians are 
the chief pickers. While the increase in the duty 
has not increased the price, therefore, it has greatly 
diminished importations and vastly stimulated 
home production. The result of this will be much 
more noticeable next year when most of the new 
yards will come into bearing. As on several past 
occasions, the over stimulation in this gambling 
crop is likely to lead to wild speculation, over-pro¬ 
duction and ultimate loss. 
The success of the local building and loan asso¬ 
ciations has shown the possibilities of cooperation— 
organized effort. Thousands of men are now owning 
homes who would still be paying rent but for the 
advantages gained through association with others. 
The building association pays because it eliminates 
waste and concentrates effort while every member 
feels a personal interest in its success. It is the 
local association that pays, where every member 
knows what’s going on and where the officers are 
known to be men of strong character and careful 
business habits. When these associations become 
so large that new members must take for granted 
what members of smaller associations know, their 
safety is diminished. The local rather than the 
national association is the one for the young home 
builder. There is a limit to safe business and the man 
who steps out of safety assumes a dangerous risk. 
We have long believed that the principles that 
have pr ved so successful in these building associa¬ 
tions may be usefully employed in helping the mort¬ 
gaged farmers of the West. Why not debt-paying 
associations? The young man who struggles alone 
to save money enough to buy a home, may be gray 
before his bank account is big enough to cover it. 
By uniting with 100 others he enjovs his home at 
once and pays for it in 10 years. His rent, his in¬ 
terest and all other payments go towards paying 
for the home. There is an inspiration and encour¬ 
agement about it that make economy a blessed priv¬ 
ilege rather than an irksome duty. The debt-pay¬ 
ing association among farmers will aim to place 
mortgages at a lower rate of interest and to arrange 
for payment of the mortgages themselves on terms 
that farmers can meet. Let a hopeless and des 
perate man struggle alone to pay off a mortgage 
held by one who can have no personal interest in 
him or in his farm, with bad seasons and sickness, 
and without the enthusiasm of hope, and the pros¬ 
pect is indeed black. Let 100 farmers combine and 
invest their spare monoy in an association for 
debt paying, and the whole state of things will be 
changed. There are hope, faith and encouragement 
for the holders of mortgaged farms and a surer 
and safer investment for thoso who have spare 
money. The greatest sufferers from such a state 
of affairs would be the loan agents and those 
who solicit the farmer’s money for investments in 
other parts of the country. There is money 
enough made in any township of this country to 
ay every single mortgage debt in it, if the money 
e only wisely handled. The fortunate must help 
the unfortunate, and by doing so improve their 
own fortunes. That is just what happens in the 
building and loan associations. The profits of the 
middleman, the loan agent and the speculator are 
saved. It seems to us that the salvation of many 
mortgaged farmers and communities lies in the 
adoption, in one form or another, of this system. 
It is surprising to us that the Alliance and other 
organizations have not made this their chief work. 
Good business organizations of this sort would have 
a wonderful influence for good in all directions. 
They would be the strongest possible foundations 
for plans and efforts to improve the farmer’s 
circumstances. We propose to make the discussion 
of this matter the leading feature of our work for 
the coming year. While we are sure that the prin¬ 
ciple of this cooperative debt paying is sound, the 
details remain to be worked out. The farmer’s in¬ 
come is not sure and regular like that of the clerk 
or mechanic, and allowance must be made for that 
fact. We believe, however, that a satisfactory 
basis for organization can be made, and we invite 
all who are interested in agricultural progress to 
aid us in perfecting details. As we hope to show 
in forthcoming articles, this cooperative system 
will be useful also for securing buyers for farm 
lands. 
BREVITIES. 
While earth swings between the poles, 
Every head has seven holes, 
Mouth and nose am eyes and ears. 
Where one talks, i-mells, sees and hears. 
They are given us to use 
We may cherish or abuse : 
Use them well and we shall find 
Health or body and of mind. 
Overeat and smell too much — 
Things so strong they need a crutch 
Spend time watching useless tilings, 
Hark the tempter when It sings. 
Mind and body then straightway 
Enter slow and sure decay, 
And the prize and hopes of life 
For which we endure the strife 
W ill he given or refused 
By the way these holes are used. 
While earth swings between the poles, 
Every head has seven ho.es. 
LARGE crops ; small mortgages. 
Too many bosses make big losses. 
The thing that “ goes on forever ” is the truth 1 
Let your temper be sunny, if you don’t have money. 
Don’t make your throat a sluice for hard apple juice. 
To color butter in some parts of England is to “decor¬ 
ate” it. 
How much grain feeding after pasture do your hogs 
need to make bacon i 
What farmer this year can afford to feed his rye f It is 
the best grain to sell this season. 
The flower and fruit show at the New York State Fair 
was the “ greatest ever seen on earth 1” 
Geo. T. Powell has again been selected to manage the 
New York farmers’ institutes this winter. 
A sack of grain can “ hold down a chair ” as well as a 
man. Is not man nobler than a grain sack ? 
Here’s a word about your milk—how to keep it flue as 
silk : If you cannot separate, you at least can aBrate. 
The man who invented the cheap paper bag did as much 
as any one to revolutionize trade I He deserves a monu¬ 
ment. 
Among the reports of the Rural Thoroughbred Flint 
Corn is the following: “It is so tall that it throws a 
shadow over the barn 1’’ 
Last week an ear of Rural Thoroughbred Flint Corn 
was harvested that measured precisely 17 inches in length 
—the longest ear we have ever seen or heard of. 
Size without shape or shape without size—neither con¬ 
dition will win you a prize; but size well shapened and 
shape well sized are alway s respected and not despised. 
Many farmers in this part of the country are experi¬ 
menting with Crimson Clover. What they want is a 
quick-growing green crop to be plowed under next spring. 
A FARMER in the writer’s township has lost enough 
money in unprofitable railroad shares to macadamize half 
the roads in the township. The money was all made on a 
150 acre farm too. 
The young German Emperor is the only great ruler of 
the day who is personally engaged in a work of temperance 
reform. It would seem to be one of the true offices of a 
“paternal government” to protect its subjects from the 
worst foe history has ever known. The English Prince of 
Wales might well follow the example set by his nephew ! 
The English agricultural papers contain advertise¬ 
ments headed : “ Make your own cattle foods !’’ offering 
to send recipes for mixing home-grown and purchased 
grains so as to make cheap rations. Within the past 10 
years, many farmers have learned how to make money by 
mixing their own fertilizers or by adding chemicals to 
stable manure. During tne next 10 years more money 
will be made selling whole grain and by buying products 
for feeding. 
Armour & Co., of Chicago, have just received through 
the Custom House an Invoice of tin-plate on which the 
duty amounted to $6 000. The goods, however, were 
entered under the drawback clause of the McKinley tariff, 
and tne firm has only to manufacture the tin Into cans, 
fill them with meat, and ship them abroad, to get the 
entire amount of duty back with the exception of one per 
cent, or $60. The American consumer, however, has to 
pay the duty on all cans whose contents are eaten in the 
United States. 
Are you not tired of hearing the wind singing so mer¬ 
rily over the farm, like some big, lazy man wasting his 
strength; nothing but thoughts of work brings him 
alarm. Pumping and churning and grinding and all 
rasp up your temper and weaken your back, no sort of 
comfort to see the stout wind lazily sauntering down his 
gay tracK. Harness the loafer and put him at work; 
make him stop singing and harness the wheels; sit your¬ 
self down in your easiest chair till you can learn how a 
good loafer feels 1 
That man is fortunate who, at 45, can realize that he 
is no longer 25 and so measure his habits and exercise that 
the last of his life may be full of vigor and health. Most 
men of middle life can sustain long-continued steady exer¬ 
cise better than younger men. Tney nave more bottom 
but less speed. They cannot stand the quick, violent 
exercise that young men and boys find so easy. In other 
words, they cannot force the blood so rapidly through the 
heart and arteries without making an extra effort of force. 
The arteries have lost their elasticity llKe a spring, a cush¬ 
ion or rubber tube after long and constant use. The 
arteries are sure to lose a portion of their elastic force 
during middle age. That man is fortunate who heeds the 
warning and avoids heavy lifts or sudden heavy exertions 
where they can be avoided. 
