72 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Feb. 4 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker 
TIMES BUILDING, NEW TOIiK. 
A Rational Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT S. CABMAN, Editor-In-Chief. 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD, Managing Editor 
ERWIN G. FOWLER, Associate Editor. 
Copyrighted 1893. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4 , 1893. 
The R. N.-Y. is giving special attention to the in¬ 
coming catalogues of 1893, in the hope that it may 
guide its readers to a wise selection of the seeds and 
plants they may have to order for the coming season. 
The notices will appear in a supplement to be pub¬ 
lished in The R. N.-Y. of February 25. 
* » 
We are informed that 100 farmer members of the 
New Hampshire Legislature, have formed a farmers’ 
council for the purpose of preventing any unjust dis¬ 
crimination in legislation. They will work and act 
together in the interests of agriculture and, with their 
numbers, should be strong enough to prevent any 
legislative raid upon their rights. This is an example 
worthy of imitation by farmers in other legislatures. 
* * 
The R. N.-Y. has often referred to the new books on 
diseases of cattle and sheep issued by the Agricultural 
Department. One of our readers in Indiana sent to 
his Congressman and asked to be put in the way of 
securing a book. Here is the reply he received : 
Dear Sir:— The report that there is a new cattle book or a sheep 
book issued by the Agricultural Department for distribution, is entirely 
erroneou-i. It is making many of my constituents unavailing bother. 
If in the future I can get you a copy. I will do so. A. N. martin. 
That is a bright man to go to Washington! We have 
both books, and they are distributed free. Further¬ 
more, Mr. Martin could secure a copy for his constitu¬ 
ent if he felt disposed to do so. 
* * 
Ten or more years ago The R. N.-Y. advised Western 
farmers that the time must come when the slaughter¬ 
house wastes of the cattle fed and shipped from their 
farms must be returned to the soil. The change of 
the slaughtering business from the East to the West 
has been a good thing for the Western farmer, but the 
economy will not be complete until the blood and bone 
from the slaughtered cattle are put back on the farms 
from which the cattle came. The experience with 
blood and bone described in this issue is a practical 
illustration of the possibilities of this system. The 
chances are that the application of some form of potash 
with the blood and bone would give even better results. 
* • 
The farmers of Massachusetts, at their convention 
at Boston the other day, voted unanimously in favor 
of municipal suffrage for women, and, by a rising vote, 
without a single dissenting voice, resolved to petition 
the legislature to enact a law to enable women to vote 
for school committees in towns and cities on the same 
terms as men. The doctrine of the advisability and 
right of female suffrage is making more rapid headway 
among the farmers than among any other class in the 
community. Two-tliirds of the State and National 
farmers’ conventions held within the last few years 
have either fully indorsed it in municipal, State and 
National elections, or supported it more or less liber¬ 
ally in one or all three. Evidently the majority of 
farmers believe that those who have done so much to 
make the homes of the land are also fit to have a voice 
in making its laws, especially those which most closely 
affect its homes. * * 
The constantly recurring question as to the remedy 
for trespassing poultry recently came before an Eng¬ 
lish court for settlement. A farmer was greatly an¬ 
noyed by a neighbor’s hens which ran over his newly- 
seeded wheat fields and scratched up considerable 
grain. After warning and complaining without avail, 
the farmer took his gun and killed several of the hens. 
For this he was arrested and brought to trial. His 
defense was that killing the hens was his only way of 
protecting his property. He could not identify them 
as surely belonging to certain parties; he could not 
take them “in the act ” of scratching, nor could he 
catch them alive without greatly damaging his wheat; 
since their owners failed to control them, his only 
remedy was to kill them. After trials in two courts, 
the judges decided that no criminal proceedings could 
be had against him for killing the hens, but that the 
owner could sue him for their value. According to 
this decision, a man can kill trespassing poultry after 
warning the owner of the birds to keep them at home, 
and be liable only for the value of the birds. If he 
kills them and sends them home, we do not see that 
he is liable at all unless the difference in value between 
a live and a dead hen can be determined. 
A few weeks ago The R. N.-Y. made a few remarks 
about the habit half a dozen papers have of getting 
up a fine “sample copy” about Christmas time and 
mailing it to parties who want to see what that paper 
is like. This “sample” does not give a fair idea of 
what an “every week” issue of the paper is, and the 
whole thing is a species of mild fraud. To our sur¬ 
prise the Breeders’ Gazette finds a fair fit in this coat 
and makes a labored argument to show that its excel¬ 
lent Christmas issue is not used as a sample number, 
but is a gift to its subscribers, to promote good feeling 
on both sides. We have always regarded the Breeders’ 
Gazette as the handsomest and best purely live stock 
publication in the world, and we certainly did not 
have it in mind. If our enterprising contemporary 
likes to give its readers a Christmas present, we cer¬ 
tainly have no objection. This subscription season 
teaches us, however, that readers prefer the enterprise 
that lowers the subscription price rather than that 
which retains a high price and “ throws in” a Christ¬ 
mas present. # # 
A convention of the National League for Good Roads, 
composed of delegates from the various State Leagues, 
held at Washington the other day, resolved to apply 
to Congress for an appropriation of $15,000 to enable 
the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate the condi¬ 
tion of the highways of the country, and for an addi¬ 
tional appropriation of $50,000 for a National Road 
Exhibit at the World’s Fair at Chicago, under the 
superintendence of a National Highway Commission 
to be appointed by the President. “States rights” 
men and opponents of “ State paternalism ” urge that 
any interference with the roads of the country by 
the National government would be unconstitutional, 
as its authority extends within each State only over 
the land which has been ceded to it or which has been 
reserved for its uses, such as that for light houses, 
government fortifications, post offices and other Fed¬ 
eral buildings, etc. How about the provision of the 
Constitution giving the Federal Government the super¬ 
vision of postal roads ? Are not all the highways of 
the country used more or less for postal service ? 
# * 
Owing in great part to the earnest promptings of 
the convention of the Cotton Planters’ Association held 
last winter in New Orleans, and to the urgent advice 
of State and local associations as well as of the agri¬ 
cultural press, considerably less cotton and more food 
crops were planted last year in the South than in any 
other season since the war. The cotton crop was only 
6,500,000 bales against over 9,000,000 in 1891 and 8,650,- 
000 in 1890. The results are generally admitted to be 
of advantage to the farmers. There is great danger, 
however, that an extraordinarily large area will be de¬ 
voted to cotton this year. The recent advance in the 
price of the staple, amounting to an average of $15 per 
bale, is an almost irresistible temptation to most 
planters to put in an extra large crop, and the Plant¬ 
ers' Association is to hold another convention to min¬ 
imize this danger. Another subject to be discussed is 
the practice among planters of selling their cotton seed 
to mills. Formerly when seed was worth from $8 to 
$12 per ton, growers kept a quantity at home for plant¬ 
ing and fertilizing purposes; the past season, however, 
seed has brought from $15 to $20 per ton, and many of 
the farmers, being hard up for cash, sold out entirely, 
so that they have none left for seed. This may cause 
a reduction in the acreage to be planted to the crop by 
some, that may partly offset the increased area planted 
by others on account of the higher prices. Nothing 
but good can result, however, from the meeting of 
planters to discuss all the phases of a subject of such 
vital importance to themselves, and of such great in¬ 
terest to the country at large. 
* * 
The Bell Telephone Company’s patent on the 
Blake transmitter, one of the most essential to success¬ 
ful telephoning, has just expired, and Bell’s own 
“broad-claim” patent, covering the fundamental prin¬ 
ciple of transmitting speech electrically by wire, is to 
come to an end on March 7. Several other important 
patents owned by the monopoly will also soon run 
out, and it is quite natural therefore for the general 
public to believe that the era of free speech by wire is 
at hand, and rejoice at the prospective relief from a 
galling burden. Exultation, however, on this ground, 
would be quite premature. The monopoly has covered 
the whole profitable field with a network of wires and 
exchanges with which it will be exceedingly difficult, 
if not practically impossible, to compete, for years. 
Moreover, the telephone now in general use is covered 
by more than 200 different patents, many of which are 
comparatively new, and have therefore years yet to 
run. For these reasons a new service would be prob¬ 
ably inferior to the present, and with the equipments 
already in hand, and its vast resources and utter 
unscrupulousness in their use, the grip of the Bell 
monopoly is hardly likely to be soon loosened from the 
pockets of the people, where it has already secured a 
foothold. Many rivals, however, are certain to spring 
up, especially in fields not yet occupied by the Bell 
concern, the Strouger Automatic Telephone Company, 
with its automatic switchboard, being the most formid¬ 
able. Moreover, the dread of competition must induce 
the old monopoly to greatly reduce its extortionate 
rates, and, anyhow, farmers can henceforth fit up 
cooperative systems of excellent telephoning in their 
own neighborhoods without fear of patent exactions. 
* * 
We have several hundred bulbs of Chinese narcissus, 
of which we will send two large, strong specimens to 
any yearly subscriber who will send within a week (or 
till the supply is exhausted) six cents for the mailing. 
These usually sell at 15 to 25 cents each, and are beau¬ 
tiful and interesting winter-flowering bulbs. They 
only require to be set in a shallow dish of water in 
any living room of moderate temperature, the water 
to be changed two or three times a week. 
* * 
BREVITIES. 
The Evil One first gave us fat; there can’t be any doubt of that! 
And on man's tongue he put the taste that craves the oily, greasy 
paste 
Of lard and tallow; well he knew that ere a life was half run through. 
His learned friend Dyspepsia would reach out and steal the health 
that should 
Be spent on nobler things; no doubt he knew well what he was about. 
For when men’s bones are full of ache, good resolutions alwavs shake. 
The Evil One first gave us fat, and loud he chuckled over that! 
The Evil One, he gave us fruit, he picked out one he thought would 
suit. 
And chose the apple for old Eve to show her husband how to thieve. 
He chose the apple, but. alas! for his foul plan. It came to pass 
That underneath the apple’s skin, good Nature packed an acid In 
That makes the greasy fat digest, and beats IHspepsla at its best. 
The Evil One could only pout, for people found the secret out, 
And when they feast on fat, of course, they finish up on apple sauce 
Borrow marks the road to sorrow. 
Name one good effect zero air lias on a cow’s lungs! 
A dull axe makes a better plaything than a sharp one. 
He who by farming would get wealth must put a value big on health. 
What folly to try to see if a cow can skate by turning her out into 
an Icy yard. 
Most of us have all the moral courage we want, but not half as 
much as we need. 
Don’t let the wood supply run out. If you do, this will be I scold 
weather with a vengeance. 
What is your opinion on the probable effects of the cholera scare on 
the sale of the melon crop? 
What do you think of a man who will cut good roots off a young 
tree to save a little digging ? 
There is surely something lacking in that strange man’s life whose 
sweetheart seems to analyze above his wife. 
Mr Wells tells us, page 66, about some of his failures. Why can’t 
you tell of some of yours—or don’t you have any ? 
Cold setting for milk in a can separates the cream easily. Cold set¬ 
ting in the cow’s udder separates the yield from the cow. 
A farmer may see the time when he can afford to burn corn to keep 
himself warm, but it is never cheaper than lumber and tarred paper to 
keep stock comfortable. 
Which is worse off in these times—the man who can raise a big 
crop, but who has not the faculty of selling it well, or the good seller 
who cannot raise a good crop ? 
The latest scheme of Col. Pope, of good roads fame, is to add a 
fourth “ R.” to the three taught in district schools. He would like to 
have Roads studied in these schools. 
“ Here shall we pitch our tent to-night ?” says the caterpillar to the 
wild cherry tree. Shall we cut these trees down, and thus spoil the 
tenting places, or use them for traps ? 
Wire or twine netting Is sometimes used for sheep racks, wound 
around four posts and the space within stuffed with hay. The sheep 
nibble out the hay without much trouble. 
Mr. Smith’s article, on page 66, is well worth studying. The chances 
are that your cows don’t have half water enough. You might just as 
well learn it now as at any other time: if you don’t wait on your cows a 
little, you will watt a long time for your profits. 
It is stated on good authority that the inmates of the Soldiers’ Home 
at Dayton, Ohio, are being served with oleomargarine in place of 
butter! These old veterans deserve better of their country. It’s an 
ungrateful Republic that feeds its defenders on hog butter. 
Can you buy a Business Hen of the average poultry breeder? You 
are not sure of dolngtt because most of the poultry prizes are given 
for beauty rather than for business, and the breeders are after the 
prizes. There is much of sense in what our friend says on page 70 
about this. The old gentleman with his tarred stick found his star 
birds. 
Gov. Markham, of California, in his message to the legislature of 
that State, protests against the extravagant expenditures for printing 
big reports of various agricultural societies. This point is well taken. 
These great volumes are not read by the people who most need 
Instruction. They are too wordy and bulky and need “heroic” editing. 
Economy of money and of time demands a decided reef in the sails of 
those who get up these ponderous volumes. 
It gives one a curious sensation to stand at the foot of the Rocky 
Mountains on a hot summer’s day with the thermometer above 100 
degrees and look up at the tops of the mountains—covered with ice 
and snow. We saw a greater contrast than that the other day—a 
great icicle several Inches in diameter. Within three Inches of it 
grew a delicate rose in perfect health and fragrance. The three 
inches represented a difference of over 80 degrees of temperature! 
Between the rose and the icicle was only a thin pane of glass. Is it 
not a singular thought that this thin, transparent substance can hold 
winter away from summer? 
What a terrible incubus the vast standing armies of Europe must 
be on the tax-ridden people! The English soldier does not receive 
half the pay and other emoluments of the American, yet he is better 
paid and fed than any on the continent. Recent statistics show that 
the percentage of military and naval estimates as compared with the 
whole national expenditures in the chief European countries during 
the fiscal year 1892-3 is as follows: Great Britain, 36.9 ; Russia, 28.7 ; 
France, 27.1 ; Italy, 22,4; Germany, 17.8 ; and Austria-Hungary, 17.6. 
Moreover, the percentage of total expenditures for interest and 
sinking funds on the public debts of the different countries, contracted 
almost wholly for war purposes, amount in Italy to 43.8; in Austria- 
Hungary to 29.3: in France to 28.4; in Great Britain to 27.91; in Russia 
to 25.7; and in Germany to 12.9. R Terrible is war even in its financial 
consequences. Happy are we by contrast! 
