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769 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Farm Politics. 
Here 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. 
GOVERNMENT PAPER MONEY. 
In the issue of The R. N.-Y. of August 22, Jerseyman 
states that “Just as long a3 we do business with the rest 
of the world and just as long a3 gold and silver money are 
in circulation in the world this government cannot make a 
paper land dollar equal to a gold dollar.” 
Will Jerseyman please tell us why “ greenbacks ” have 
been equal to gold for more than 20 years and there 
are in circulation $346,000,000 without any “ coin basis,” 
except $100,000,000 of gold which was placed in the United 
States Treasury in 1875 ? Will he also tell us why the 
national bank currency amounting to over $600,000,000 
has been all along equal with gold, although there never 
was, is not now and never was Intended to be, a single 
dollar of coin as a “ basis ” for their circulation. 
If Jerseyman can satisfactorily explain these, will he 
please go one step further and tell us why it is that $3,000,- 
000 000 bonds are now worth a high premium in gold after 
having been in existence for from 20 to 30 years and they 
are based on the “ credit and resources of the nation,” as 
Thomas Jefferson said the money should be ? 
In a word—tell why paper money issued by the govern¬ 
ment based on the “credit and resources of the nation,” 
would not be as good as gold, when it is known that such 
vast sums as the national bank circulation, the green¬ 
backs and bonds, have been as good as gold and the people 
are clamoring for more money to be issued directly to the 
people “ without the intervention of banks.” If billions 
of dollars in bonds command a high premium why would 
not millions of paper money be good? E. s Teagarden. 
Iowa. 
I am no financial expert and never pretended to be, so 
that when this friend asks me questions which he evidently 
doesn’t believe can be answered, he won’t be surprised 
when I say frankly that “ I don’t know.” I remember the 
greenback and greenback times. Our friend’s figures are 
beyond me. All I can give is my own opinion regarding 
the government’s greenback business. I remember how, 
during the war, both the United States Government and 
the Confederacy needed money. Neither had enough for 
the emergency. “ Money ” is simply a part of the total 
wealth of the country, which the government handles as a 
medium of exchange. If there is to be auy increase of 
money, the people must contribute more of their wealth 
to the general fund—turn it over to their agents—the gov¬ 
ernment—to turn into money. There must be something 
of value back of every dollar. Both the North and the 
South needed more money or more of the people’s wealth. 
How were they to induce the people to give it up ? Taxa¬ 
tion, or taking it from them directly or indirectly would 
not answer, for the sums required were too large for the 
people to gather at once. Therefore both governments 
tried to borrow a portion of it. The people lent to the 
governments when they bought bonds or in return for 
their labor or goods accepted greenbacks which were sim¬ 
ply demand notes. The United States Government prom¬ 
ised to pay in a certain time and did pay or give good se¬ 
curity for a renewal of the debt. The Confederate govern¬ 
ment promised to pay in so many years “ after the recog¬ 
nition of the Confederate government ” by the authorities 
at Washington. It failed and though these notes, or 
paper money, were based upon the resources of a rich and 
powerful group of States, they are now worth nothing ex¬ 
cept for waste paper or for curiosities. 
I once knew a young man who found himself at college 
without a cent. There was sickness in his family, others 
depended upon him for help, he had no financial resources 
—no trade, no profession. He borrowed money and forced 
his way through college. He could give no security and 
hence had to pay big interest. As it was, he succeeded and 
paid up every dollar—though at a fearful cost of time and 
strength. Had he died or become lazy and discouraged 
and made a failure of life, his notes never would have been 
paid. The position of this government when it issued its 
bonds and greenbacks was not unlike that of the young 
man. It could not collect the needed money in full by 
taxation. It could only borrow the money and It went to 
the people with its paper. Those who accepted this paper 
willingly or unwillingly knew that they were taking a risk 
and that defeat meant for them the loss of every paper 
dollar. No man accepted a greenback with the under¬ 
standing that, of itself, it was worth any more than the 
paper it was printed on. Its value lay in the the fact that 
the United States Government’s promise backed it up. The 
agents of the people agreed to redeem that paper with a dol¬ 
lar as good as the best, whenever it was wanted. Every 
man knew that the life of the government rested upon its 
ability to float its notes and that it was a part of loyalty 
and patriotism for him to use these notes until the govern¬ 
ment could redeem them. If every holder of a demand note 
against the government had pushed his claim we would 
have been a bankrupt nation. It was the financial loyalty 
of the people that floated the greenback and made it pos¬ 
sible for my friend’s figures to be true. These greenbacks 
were not economical money. No one will ever be able to 
tell what the system cost the American people. It might 
have been cheaper in the end if every needed dollar had 
been taken from the people by taxation. That is a matter 
I have no desire to discuss. I only say that the intense 
loyalty and faith of the people floated the greenback and 
that there is no great national question to-day that would 
induce the people to do it again with the memory of their 
past debt struggles. 
To me this explains how the government could do a 
large credit business based on little coin. I believe, how¬ 
ever, that this vast issue of paper money floated by the 
loyalty of the people gave the speculators a chance to plan 
their enormous stealings, gave a fictitious value to labor 
and its products, encouraged the people in habits of ex¬ 
travagance aud wastefulness, and made a debt the inter¬ 
est and principal of which were wrung out of the scanty 
savings of the people. Unless all my reading of history is 
at fault, every similar issue of paper money based on 
nothing but faith and “general resources” has brought 
about the same results in a more or less limited way. Take 
the State banks in Rhode Island or Alabama, the present 
trouble in Argentina, or a dozen other cases. It looks to 
me as though history is as clear as a bell on this point. 
When I said that a paper land dollar would not be equal 
to a gold dollar, I meant such a dollar as is proposed by the 
land loan people. The greenback was not accepted for 
customs duties because in the darkest hours of the war it 
was worth less than gold. The land paper dollars would 
not be accepted abroad or for revenue duties unless the 
government indorsed each one as redeemable at any time 
in coin. If it did that the government would be forced to 
pay the difference between the land value aud the gold 
value, and the people would have to make it up by taxa¬ 
tion. . jerseyman. 
DO THINGS “ EVEN UP ? ” 
“ Things even themselves up in the long run,” said a 
staid old farmer to a Rural writer a few days since. 
“ Peaches were very low this year, but I had so many of 
them that they were a very profitable crop. A large part 
of my fall apples went to the cider mill, but I have sold ail 
my winter apples at $1.50 a barrel at my door, so the apple 
crop will average pretty well. I shall come out nicely 
ahead on this year’s work, and, between you and me, I never 
yet came out behind, though it has been a close shave on 
numerous occasions.” 
Our friend is somewhat of a philosopher and while he al¬ 
ways looks at the bright side of things, he is not so opti¬ 
mistic as not to see the need of some changes in our political 
economy. He is rather inclined to the idea that free coin¬ 
age of silver would help us. Alludiag to a note in The 
Rural of October 17, in which the editor indulges in self- 
gratulation over the advantages we are now reaping from 
our large exports, which must be paid for in gold, or in 
silver at its bullion value, he said as follows: “ I don’t 
think I would borrow any trouble over any influx of silver 
from Europe. Europe produces only about half as much 
silver as she consumes in the arts, and consequently must 
of necessity be an importer—not an exporter of silver. 
Then, if coinage were free, there would be no bullion selling 
at Buch rates as 80 cents—no man would be fool enough to 
sell enough bullion to make a dollar, for 80 cents, if he 
could take it to the mint and have it made into a legal ten¬ 
der dollar. That’s the way it strikes me.” 
R. N.-Y.—The real point is this: All the great com¬ 
mercial nations of the earth to-day use only gold as a basis 
for their circulating medium. In all of them silver is used 
only as a subsidiary coin, being a legal tender for only 
small amounts. If the United States, one of the greatest 
of commercial nations, were to remonetize silver at the 
present ratio with gold—16 to 1—wouldn’t silver pour into 
this country from other nations and soon drive gold out of 
circulation ? If so, silver as compared with gold, would 
be like greenbacks before the resumption of specie pay¬ 
ment—there might be a very considerable difference 
in their values. Whether this would occur or not we do 
not wish to discuss here ; but it is the general opinion of 
the best financiers at home and abroad that such would be 
the case. If so, then foreign nations would pay us for our 
products in a depreciated currency, as Intimated in the 
editorial. See McKinley’s opinion on the subject else¬ 
where in this issue. 
The Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
| Every query must be accompatiied by the name and address of the 
writer to Insure attention. Before asking a question please see If It Is 
not answered In our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
THE BORDEAUX MIXTURE AND POTATO BLIGHT. 
Several Subscribers —Have experiments during the past 
year shown that the Bordeaux Mixture is really useful for 
preventing potato blight ? May we expect that this treat¬ 
ment will ever be practical on a large scale, like spray¬ 
ing trees to destroy insects ? Can one combine the Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture with the arsenites for potato beetles ? 
It Has Come to Stay. 
Our experiments both this year and last strongly Indicate 
that the Bordeaux Mixture is decidedly useful for prevent¬ 
ing the potato blight. Our crop ha3 not yet been harvested, 
so I cannot yet give the effect upon the yield, but ap¬ 
pearances indicate that it will be considerable. If I may 
judge from the two trials thus far made, It seems to me 
that we may hope for as good results from spraying pota¬ 
toes as a preventive of blight as from spraying fruit trees 
for the codling moth and canker worm. The B ordeaux Mixt¬ 
ure may be combined with the arsenites, aud applied with 
them. My trial the past season goes to show that applica¬ 
tions for the blight and potato beetle may be made at the 
same time, and with success for both insects and blight. 
The lime of the Bordeax Mixture prevents injury to the 
foliage by the arsenites. K. s. GOFF. 
Wisconsin Station. 
A Better Mixture May Be Found. 
Several potato growers in New Jersey have profited by 
a knowledge of the economic value of spraying potato 
plants to prevent or check the potato blight. It is reason¬ 
able to expect that a fungicide properly applied will be as 
effective upon potato vines for blight as an insecticide is 
for injurious insects on trees or other plants. It is very 
likely that a better mixture than the Bordeaux will be 
found ; some now favor other combinations of copper, and 
when the best remedy is obtained and it becomes generally 
known, its application will be a familiar operation. The 
Bordeaux can be, and is frequently mixed with the 
arsenites, thus producing a compound that is both a 
fungicide and insecticide, and this means of “ killing two 
birds ” at once will be more extensively used than if two 
applications were required to serve the same end. We must 
not forget that under “blight’’are included several in¬ 
jurious fungi, not the least of which is a bacterial disease. 
Not enough is known about this last to warrant the asser¬ 
tion that it can be controlled by fungicides; but it is 
hoped that it may not prove an exception. 
Rutgers College, N. J. byron d. halsted. 
Treatment of a Vineyard. 
L. M., Dlaye, Gironde, France.— Last March I planted 
1,300 grape vines, grafted on Vitis riparia because here we 
can’t rely on our native vines. The Riparia grow beauti¬ 
fully and I wish to manure them. What kind of fertilizer 
shall IU36, and how shall I apply it to the vineyard—on the 
hills or broadcast, and what quantity shall I use? I shall 
have to replant only eight of the 1,300 vines. My soil is 
a clayey limestone. I shall have to drain one piece of it. 
We do not use tile here but greeu pine bushes. How deep 
should the drain be ? Its length will be 43 yards. It will 
be used chiefly to draw off the surplus water from an over¬ 
flowing well. 
Ans. —It might be that your land needs potash or phos¬ 
phoric acid or nitrogen—only one, nob all. In this case 
using a single kind on different plots and noting the re¬ 
sults would be the thing to do. In the absence of such in¬ 
formation, The R. N.-Y. would advise you to sow broad¬ 
cast 500 pounds of raw bone flour and 200 pounds of muriate 
of potash each per acre. Probably the bone would furnish 
enough nitrogen. As an experiment, at the rate of 100 
pounds per acre of sulphate of ammonia might be tried on 
a part. Kainit might be used in place of the muriate of 
potash, using twice or thrice as much. This would furnish 
salt and magnesia as well as muriate of potash, though it 
is nob known that either magnesia or salt would benefit 
the vines. The drains should be not less than 2% feet from 
the surface. 
Dark Eggs and Heavy Hens. 
Several Subscribers.—We understand that The R. N.-Y. 
has been offering prizes at the lairs for the 13 darkest and 
heaviest eggs, and also for the heaviest laying hen. What 
are the results ? Why are prizes offered for such qualities ? 
Are they desirable ? 
Ans.— At the Elmira show all three prizes were taken 
by Mr. S. H. Laney. He sends us this note in answer to 
our questions: *' The heaviest hen was a Light Brahma, 
one to two years old ; weight, 10% pounds. She is a good 
specimen of the breed ; but larger than the average. She 
has weighed 13 pounds. I have forgotten the weight of 
the eggs on which the premium was awarded, but have 
weighed some which were laid since that time and which 
were less than the average, and they weighed two ounces 
three drams each. This hen has also laid double yolked 
eggs weighing four ounces and up wards. Light Brahmas lay 
darker eggs than any of the other breeds I know of. I do 
not really know what are the advantages of dark eggs, but 
I know that they are selected by the New England people, 
as they consider them richer, and I always select dark- 
colored eggs for setting. This hen was taken from a pen 
consisting of four hens and one cock, which weighed in all 
52 pounds, and I received first premium on all as the best 
‘breeding pen.’” The R. N.-Y. offered prizes for white 
eggs and light hens, as well as for dark and heavy speci¬ 
mens. In many sections there is a distinct demand for 
brown eggs and a fine market for roasters. There is no 
doubt that the Brahma is the bird for such a location. 
Milk or Poultry Farming? 
E. F. P., Kimberton, Pa. —Which branch of farming 
shall I make a specialty of—dairy or poultry. Milk can be 
sh.pped to Philadelphia, or taken to a creamery right at 
home. The Philadelphia market is 30 miles distant. The 
farm is hill land with plenty of water, and very pioductive. 
Ans. —This is almost the same as though a city boy had 
come to ask, “ What shall I study—law, medicine, business 
or architecture.” A boy does best to make a study of the 
thing that interests him and in which he can work up an 
enthusiasm, so that he takes real pleasure in seeing his 
work develop and progress. There are a few men who get 
enthusiastic over selling milk; but not many. A nice 
special trade in bottled milk is a pleasant thing, but send¬ 
ing milk in bulk to the city market is hard and not very 
attractive work to most farmers. Butter making is, on 
the whole, a pleasanter business to many people, particu¬ 
larly when the modern labor saving tools are used. At the 
present time it is also more profitable to the farmer and 
less exhausting to the farm. Butter making Is frequently 
combined with poultry keeping—the poultry making a 
better use of the sklm-milk than auy other stock. If you 
have a liking for both cows and poultry we should think 
you could combine the butter and egg business—using 
your farm for the regular rotation of hay, grain and pota¬ 
toes. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Woodbury's White Grape.—D. B. W., Paris, Maine.— 
The following are The R. N.-Y.’s comments on this grape, 
of which you say : “ This variety was originated by me from 
hand-fertuizcd seed. The vine bore for the first time this 
year and Is small. We cannot grow first quality grapes here 
from any of the varieties. The Woodbury ripens with the 
Delaware.” Green with thin bloom. Skin thin, adhering 
somewhat to the flesh as in foreign grapes. Pulp tender, 
rather acid about the seeds. Juicy, fair quality ; three to 
four seeds. Berry as large as Concord and slightly oblong. 
It’s a showy grape, refreshing and pure as to flavor. 
