9oo 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 26 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker 
TIMES BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
* * 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
* * 
ELBERT S. CARMAN, Editor In Chief. 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD, Managing Editor. 
Copyrighted 1891. 
SATURDAY , DECEMBER 26, 1891. 
Is it possible that only five commission merchants in 
all of our large cities have proved satisfactory to our 
thousands of readers who ship produce to the central 
markets ? That is the number of names received in re¬ 
sponse to our call for a list. But, of course, it is not a 
true statement of the case. There must be hundreds 
of honest commission merchants. In justice to them 
and as a guide to other shippers, a list of those indorsed 
by the readers of The R. N.-Y., would be a proper 
credit and of special value to other readers less for¬ 
tunate in their shipments to metropolitan markets. 
Please send the names. 
* * 
From Hartlib’s “ Legacy,” the first edition of which 
was published in 1650, we learn that clover was cut 
green and given to cattle. Indeed it appears that this 
system of soiling had become common about the be¬ 
ginning of the last century wherever clover was grown. 
The work recommends the steeping and liming of seed 
wheat to prevent smut; the changing of the species of 
the grain to be planted, every year, and the bringing of 
seed from a distance. It also favored plowing under 
green crops as manure, and feeding horses with broken 
oats and chaff. Like his contemporary, Blythe, Hart- 
lib placed a high value on clover which had been in¬ 
troduced into general use only a short time before his 
day. * * 
There seems little room for doubt that sooner or 
later the English Government will be forced to admit 
American live cattle to be fed and fattened on English 
soil. The London Live Stock Journal, in a recent issue, 
quotes from Secretary Rusk that pleuro-pneumonia is 
found only in two or three counties on Long Island 
and New Jersey where it is strictly quarantined. This 
is not very clear to the Englishman, who says : 
As Is well known wc have no belief In the American live stock 
trade which, In our opinion, will ultimately benefit only the ranche 
companies, but we admit that as the law stands nothing can exclude 
these cattle when the American Government can show an absolutely 
clean bill of health. That being the case, It Is marvelous that they do 
not kill off every beast on Long Island and New Jersey instead of tax¬ 
ing their ingenuity In the attempt to mix up Inspection with extir¬ 
pation. 
' From the best of our information this thoughtful 
scheme would mean the killing of about 480,000 animals 
worth about $25,000,000. In 1889 our total shipments 
of cattle to all countries were 205,786 valued at $16,- 
616,917! No! No! We don’t propose to “go forth 
and kill ” on quite such an extensive scale, but we will 
‘ ‘ guarantee a clean bill of health ” all the same ! 
* * 
“One man’s loss is another man’s gain.” People 
generally seem to believe in this old saying. When by 
some trade or long-continued business one individual 
or nation makes money, it is generally assumed that 
others have been obliged to give up a corresponding 
sum through misfortune or other circumstances. It is 
not always so. Gain without loss is possible. For 
example, Secretary Rusk tells us how the farmers of 
this country may secure an additional $1,000,000,000 in 
cash by encouraging such an increased European con¬ 
sumption of corn that the price would rise only five 
cents a bushel. Yes, says our sympathetic friend, but 
the poor people of Europe, already ground down to 
starvation, would be forced to pay the $1,000,000,000 
out of their scanty earnings! Not at all. The con¬ 
sumption of American corn in Europe would not only 
earn an extra $1,000,000,000 for Americana farmers, 
but it would save the European poor at least $5,000,000,- 
000. How so ? Because they can buy food —the ele¬ 
ments that go to sustain life and create fiesh and force 
—cheaper in corn than in any other product; the trouble 
is that they don’t know it yet. The corn question is 
world-wide. Great are the natural advantages of 
North America; but none is greater than the fact 
that no other soil in the world can compete with ours 
in the production of corn. The Spaniards took from 
this continent countless stores of gold. It was used 
in such a way that ‘ ‘ the rich were made richer and the 
poor poorer. ” In their search for the ‘ ‘ divine metal ” 
they overlooked the gold of the corn plant—a product 
that would have saved thousands from starvation and 
changed wretchedness and want into prosperity. 
Maize, potatoes, tobacco and tomatoes are four great 
products given by America to the world. The last 
three have spread everywhere and are recognized as 
necessities. The first and greatest has been slowest to 
make friends abroad. The chief reason for this is that 
it was designed by nature to be a typical American 
product and must remain a “foreign grain” to the 
European consumer. Human nature is the same the 
world over, and men everywhere give first choice to 
the foods that can be grown near them. They must be 
taught to eat foreign foods, and the longer the preju¬ 
dice against them has been permitted to grow, the 
harder will be the teaching. The United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture has a special Indian corn agent in 
Europe. This man, Col. C. J. Murphy, has, in his quiet 
and persistent way, done more for the enlargement of 
American export trade than any other officer of the gov¬ 
ernment under the present administration. For a long 
time he was neglected or received half-hearted sup¬ 
port, but now, backed up by Secretary Rusk’s Depart¬ 
ment, he is making remarkable progress. No interna¬ 
tional question of the day is of more vital importance 
than this one of extending the consumption of maize. 
Is it not, really, of more importance to corn-growing 
farmers than the tariff ? It should receive the first and 
best attention from Congress and, next after it, should 
come measures for regulating grain gambling ! 
* * 
One of the strongest anomalies in the settlement of 
public lands in this country is the enormous rush of 
immigrants to every newly opened tract in the West, 
and the failure of all attempts to divert the current 
to the South. In the five States of Alabama, Arkansas, 
Florida. Louisiana and Mississippi there are in the ag¬ 
gregate nearly 12,000,000 acres belongingto the United 
States and subject to entry under the homestead law, 
while the amount of State lands available for settle¬ 
ment is about 13,000,000 acres. These lands are, in the 
main, fertile, and for some purposes are highly desira¬ 
ble. They are among settled communities, often 
within easy reach of river or railroad transportation 
and possess the privileges and advantages of civiliza¬ 
tion. Why, then, in view of the craze to settle in Okla¬ 
homa, the Sioux or Blackfeet Reservations and other 
sections in the West and bleak Northwest do so few seek 
homes in the South ? Is it because home-seekers are 
given to understand that they cannot enjoy political 
liberty there, or that they cannot affiliate with any 
other except the dominant party without incurring 
social ostracism.? Throughout most of the North there 
is a common belief that if the South would give satis¬ 
factory assurance of political liberty and of legal pro¬ 
tection against the invasion of the rights of citizenship, 
she would soon have sufficient immigrants to take up 
all her unoccupied lands and make them profitable. 
* * 
A great deal has been said about the extortionate 
rates of interest often exacted on loans to farmers; but 
little is ever heard about the still more outrageous 
rates charged to needy city borrowers on chattel mort¬ 
gages. It is estimated by those best able to form an 
opinion that from $1.50 to $3 per head is borrowed 
by the population of the large cities throughout the 
country at grossly usurious rates. In cities with over 
25,000 inhabitants, the present population is 15,000,000. 
At $1.50 a head the amount borrowed would amount 
to $22,500,000 and at $3 it would aggregate to $45,- 
000,000. The rate of interest varies according to lo¬ 
cation, standing of borrower, and nature of security. 
As a rule, the rate is lower in the older than in the 
newer cities—in the East than in the West. In the 
latter the usual rate with “commissions,” etc., is 
about 30 per cent a month, and about 10 per cent in 
the former. The average rate of such interest for the 
whole country is not less than 100 per cent per annum. 
On a capital of $22,500,000, therefore, the annual in¬ 
terest would average the same; while the tax on $45, 
000,000 invested would be $45,000,000. Intelligent men, 
speaking from experience, declare that the amount of 
usurious exactions wrung from the poorest class of 
people every year in this way ranges from $10,000,000, 
to $30,000,000. The loans average only about 25 per 
cent of the actual value of the pledges, and the number 
of mortgages foreclosed every year amounts to not 
less than 15 per cent of the amount borrowed. Ac¬ 
cording to the lowest estimate, therefore, the yearly 
loss to the borrowers on this account would, at the 
lowest estimate, foot up $54,000,000! 
* * 
We hear less about “ The Negro Question” than for¬ 
merly. It has not disappeared, it has simply chang-ed 
its form. As a factor in politics the negro counts least 
where he is most numerous. At the ballot box he is 
out, at the school house he is in. It is a matter of 
brains not ballots. The day is coming when there will 
be 10,000 educated negroes where there is now one. 
We do not speak of the “education” that makes a 
negro simply “ smart” and more capable of rascality ; 
we refer to that higher and broader education that will 
place “ a white man’s soul in a black man’s skin.” We 
know that it is popular to think that education in the 
negro leads to “ smartness” rather than to culture, but 
what is the truth ? What are the possibilities of a race 
without which the South “ would become a brier 
patch,” and one-third of our total export trade would 
be lost ? If the negro is worth working he is worth 
improving. Americans know well the folly and cost 
of employing ignorant labor. Touissant L’Overture 
was, in most respects, the greatest negro that ever lived. 
Had he been a white man his place in history would 
have been by the side of Lincoln’s. As it is, Whittier’s 
burning words are coming true. 
“ Dark Hatian, for the time will come, 
Yea, even now is nigh, 
When everywhere thy fame shall be 
Redeemed from color's infamy, 
And men shall learn to speak of thee 
As one of earth's great spirits, born 
In servitude, and nursed in scorn, 
Casting aside the weary weight 
And fetters of thy low estate.” 
The task before the negro is to prove himself worthy 
to be called a man. Prejudice, habit—all are against 
him. Education, justice, truth are on his side. The 
result is certain. Will the whites help or hinder him ? 
* * 
BREVITIES. 
I wish to sing the fame of one deserving highest praise, 
Who boldly waves the banner of our golden Yankee maize. 
That starving folks in Europe crushed and bent by high-priced grain, 
May look off to America and take on heart again. 
We’ll keep them fat and hearty, without worry, want or waste, 
And fatten our own wallets if they’ll only get a taste 
Of johnny-cake and fritters—they’ll come to us with a rush, 
Let them get a taste of succotash, of stirabout or mush. 
Hurrah for Uncle Jerry, every true American 
Delights to see him hustle and will help him all he can; 
And don’t wait now until the grass above his grave Is turfy, 
You owe a debt of gratitude to Col. C. J. Murphy. 
Make a smart start next year. 
Keep aloof from a horse with a brittle hoof. 
Clean out your ice pond. Freezing cannot kill filth. 
California is developing an export trade In lady-birds. 
To make a milking Jersey fat is harder than to kill a cat. 
When a man’s brains run to tongue, then the knell of sense is rung. 
A PIMPLE ’neath a horse’s collar full half a ton of work can “swaller.’ ’ 
I’D gladly load the wagon that should fire all men and carts that use 
a narrow tire. 
“Heavey horse and clover hay go together” so they say. Wet the 
hay and you will see clover hay beats Timothy. 
After reading what our friends say on another page, we conclude 
that the best dog is like the best wife—“ a matter of taste.” 
Keep this old proverb in your mind, when looking at your feet you 
find, that to the shoe store you must go—“ Big aches from little toe- 
corns grow !” 
The goat can eat more food and still call for ‘’more” than any 
animal of twice its weight. There Is no such thing as a “ standard 
ration ” for a goat. 
All the prizes for table poultry at English meat shows are won by 
cross-bred birds from either Dorkings or Games. “ Crossing gives pre¬ 
cocity to the chick ! ” 
John E. Russell, of Massachusetts, Is so much of a mutton-sheep 
man that he says he can keep sheep at a profit even if wool should be 
worth no more than hens’ feathers 1 
Recently It has been necessary to cut down several tulip trees, pines 
and maples planted from 10 to 20 years ago at the Rural Grounds. In 
every case the rings Indicated the true age of these trees. 
WE were told last week that the Indian name for corn was ewachim. 
We wonder if the Puritans were too solemn to make use of the pun sug¬ 
gested by that name while sitting up nights to keep the wolves from 
their fertilizer. 
WE do not know of another shrub whose oak-like leaves turn to such 
brilliant colors In the fall as do those of the Oak-leaved Hydrangea— 
H. quercifolia. Unfortunately this tropical-looking shrub is not quite 
hardy in this climate. 
Don’t try to “ wipe out the old slate.” Get a new slate and keep the 
old one as it is, for reference. There may be things on It that make you 
feel disagreeable, but if you look at them In the right way they will 
help instead of hurting you. 
Lots of fowls suffer like those described on page 897, from big doses 
of “egg food” containing sulphur and antimony. Both of these sub¬ 
stances are harmless when given In small quantities ; when forced into 
the birds they mean death, not health. 
You will notice that the difference in the food required to sustain an 
idle horse and one at hard labor is considerable. Force requires food. 
We know this, and yet we fall to comprehend why it Is that the lazier a 
man is the greater Is his appetite. Does idleness require exertion ? 
The Minneapolis millers propose to send a ship load of flour to the 
starving people of Russia—a project that must command the hearty 
approval of everybody, especially If It shall be an earnest of coopera¬ 
tion by millers throughout the country and a promise of others to fol¬ 
low. 
A water bug on an electric wire stopped communication recently 
between New York and Baltimore. The bug was “electrocuted” of 
course, receiving “250 volts.” A small object In the right place may 
do great execution. The dream of a back ache has spoiled many a 
good day’s work. 
It is stated that in one county in New Jersey where excellent roads 
have been made, farm property has Increased in value six times as 
much as the cost of the Improved highways. Those who are anxious 
for free mail delivery in rural districts should be strong advocates of 
road improvement, as the wretched, almost impassable condition of 
the highways at certain seasons is one of the strong arguments of the 
opponents of the measure. 
One farmer says he will use bone and potash on his soil, letting clover 
collect what nitrogen he needs. He objects to paying cash for nitrogen 
besides what may be in the bone. Another farmer pays more for a 
complete fertilizer, reasoning that strong and well-tilled plants will 
use all the nitrogen, and that the risk of not having enough for the crop 
is greater than the chance of having too much. Which is the safer 
practice ? If the tendency of the fertilizer trade Indicates anything, It 
Is that farmers are buying more and more of complete fertilizers. 
English capital is now after American milk. It is authoritatively 
stated that an English syndicate has purchased the live condensed 
milk factories at Brewster, Wassaic and Walden, N. Y., and at Car- 
pentersville, Ill. The price is not stated, but the net revenue of the 
establishments last year Is reported to have been over $750,000. For 25 
years they have belonged to the Borden and Millbank families, but 
the recent death of Mr. Borden has led to their sale. There can be no 
objection to the introduction of English or any other kind of foreign 
capital here to carry on business on the “American plan.” Conducted 
in any other method, such enterprises are pretty certain to fail or meet 
with lively native competition. 
