io6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Feb. 18 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker 
TIMES BUILDING, NEW TOHK. 
▲ national Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
ELBERT 8. CAHMAN, Editor-In-Chief. 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD, Managing Editor 
ERWIN G. FOWLER. Associate Editor. 
Copyrighted. 1H93. 
SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 18, 1893. 
If there is anything 1 more nonsensical than some of 
the business transacted by the United States Patent 
Office, we have yet to hear of it. A very ridiculous 
piece of business has recently been brought to light 
in a suit before the United States Circuit Court. The 
plaintiff company claimed to have a monopoly under 
letters patent of the business of securing tradesmen 
against excessive loss from bad debts. Shades of the 
forefathers! what next ? Now let some one get a 
patent on the ideas that apples should be of uniform 
size throughout the barrel; that the hogs should be 
fattened with a streak of fat alternating with a streak 
of lean ; that the cows should be milked while they 
are eating ; and that the most progressive farmers are 
those who take the best agricultural paper. Why not ? 
Just as sensible. But the presiding judge very properly 
decided that such ideas were not new, and, therefore, 
not patentable. Then how was the patent secured ? 
Aye, there’s the rub ! Doesn’t it seem as though this 
great bureau of our government had descended to a 
picayune business in even considering such farcical 
ideas as this ? Isn't it time the whole thing was either 
changed or abolished ? 
* * 
For accurate information about agricultural mat¬ 
ters, commend us to the writers for some of the city 
newspapers. One of them sweetly informed its readers 
in the midst of our recent Arctic weather, that “new 
maple syrup is now in market, made from last fall’s 
run of sap.” Another valuable and highly entertain¬ 
ing bit of information is that one can now buy “ cream 
fattened broilers, raised under glass on Long Island.” 
About a month after Bermuda potatoes made their 
appearance, this penny-a-liner announced that “ the 
first new Bermuda potatoes are in the market,” but 
was not at all disconcerted to discover at least a month 
afterward that “ the first real new potatoes came in 
from Cuba this week.” The others before mentioned 
“were really second crop potatoes.” Still we find 
some farmers who take a weekly paper with an agri¬ 
cultural department, which is but a rehash of such 
nonsense, and think they are getting the cream of all 
that is new in agriculture. Such usually “can’t afford 1 ’ 
to take a first-class agricultural paper. Is it any 
wonder that they get left in the rear by their more 
progressive and enterprising neighbors ? 
* * 
Since the passage of the Sherman Silver Purchase 
Bill, over two years ago, it has been obligatory on the 
Secretary of the Treasury to purchase, every month, 
4,500,000 ounces of silver to be paid for by the issue of 
Treasury notes payable in gold or silver at his option. 
Mint statistics show that since the coinage of silver 
dollars began in 1878, 418,077,485 have been struck; 
but though the Government has paid for their trans¬ 
portation to any point in the country, it has been able 
to force only a small proportion into circulation. On 
February 1, 1893 it still held 357,410,597 of them in its 
vaults, and was still coining nearly three-quarters of 
a million of them every month. Many insist that as 
nobody wants these pocket-wrecking pieces, it would 
be the part of common-sense to save the expense of 
coinage and let the silver lie unused in bulk. Tt is 
claimed by monometallists that this storage of over 
2,000 tons of silver per annum and its representation 
in the markets by over $45,000,000 in legal tender are 
certain soon to produce a disastrous financial crisis, 
which will cause the withdrawal of gold from circu¬ 
lation, leaving silver the only standard of value. 
Then it is alleged that, as the contents of ten silver 
dollars to-day are worth less than six dollars in gold, 
when they cannot be exchanged for gold at the United 
States Treasury they will no longer buy their face 
value the same as the gold eagle. Eastern capitalists 
and many other able financiers everywhere have there¬ 
fore been bringing urgent pressure on Congress for 
the prompt repeal of the Sherman Act in order to put 
an end to the governmental purchase of the white 
metal. The bimetallists, however, mostly from the 
West and South, have strenuously opposed such a pro¬ 
cedure, though originally hostile to the passage of the 
bill, as it was a compromise measure to ward off their 
demand for the free coinage of silver. Now they 
would be content to accept the latter and repeal 
the objectionable act, but their opponents insist that 
to concede this would only be to accelerate the evil 
they dread. During the last session, the House, by a 
large majority showed that it was emphatically in 
favor of bimetallism, and last Thursday, by a vote of 
152 to 143, it declared that it had not altered its 
views. Last Monday, too, by voting against the 
repeal of the Sherman Bill, the Senate, by a major¬ 
ity of 42 to 23, declared against any change in 
the present financial policy of the nation dur¬ 
ing the existence of the present Congress, which 
ends on March 4. The vote was not confined to 
party lines, but the adherents of the white metal 
were almost entirely from the West and South. 
The Republicans acted from partisan rather than 
patriotic motives—they wished to leave the embarrass¬ 
ing silver question to harass the next Administration 
in the expectation that President-elect Cleveland’s 
well-known sentiments on it would cause the loss of 
a great deal of Democratic support in the West and 
South. The withdrawal of gold from circulation and 
the establishment of silver as the standard of value 
have no terrors for thousands, for then they could pay 
their debts in money or produce which would favor 
them in the settlement. 
* • 
It is well-known among financiers and large in¬ 
vestors and dealers in public securities that for the 
last five years, at least, no great American railroad or 
corporation loan has been floated in the Eastern money 
markets or in Europe of which the principal and in¬ 
terest were not payable expressly in “ gold coin,” 
“gold coin of present standard of weight and fineness” 
or in so many pounds, shillings and pence, sterling. 
Large loan and investment organizations as well as 
most capitalists have taken si milar precautions against 
any depreciation of silver or paper money, making all 
contracts, large and small, expressly payable in gold. 
This matter is of great importance not only to lenders 
but also to borrowers, among whom farmers hold a 
prominent place. Nearly all their loans on bonds and 
mortgages made within the last few years are ex¬ 
pressly payable in gold by the terms of the contracts. Is 
such a contract likely to prove valid ? Can the applica¬ 
tion of the same principle by common consent to all 
mercantile and banking transactions secure the main¬ 
tenance of gold payments entirely independent of leg¬ 
islation? Is the contract to pay dollars, no matter how 
particularly described, beyond the scope of the legal 
tender law? May not Congress make the dollar of any 
material and of any degree of purity and make it legal 
tender for any antecedent debt calling for a dollar? 
If any State should pass a law enforcing such contracts, 
could not an alien or a citizen of another State who 
originally owned the obligation, or to whom it had 
been transferred, remove the case to a Federal court 
and plead the Federal law making a paper or silver 
dollar a valid tender? In the .Juillard case, which has 
the closest bearing on this matter, the United States 
Supreme Court made this pertinent statement: 
The power of making the notes of the United 8 tates a legal tender In 
payment of private debts being Included In the power to borrow 
money, and to provide a national currency, Is not defeated or re¬ 
stricted by the fact that Its exercise may affect the value of private 
contracts. 
Substitute for “legal tender notes” the silver dollar, 
and what becomes of the provision of the Federal Con¬ 
stitution regarding the sanctity of contracts ? Of 
course, the capitalists and other lenders have taken 
the best legal advice on this subject, but the fact re¬ 
mains that the question as to the validity of such con 
tracts has never been decided by competent authority 
to the satisfaction of the legal fraternity or of the 
people at large. 
# * 
If the public of this State do not have a clear idea of 
the services rendered it by the late Dairy Commis¬ 
sioner, Hon. J. K. Brown, it will not be because that 
gentleman has not persistently given the information 
to the world. His ninth (and last) annual report to 
the legislature tells substantially the same story which 
he has told in all his previous reports, and which re. 
dounds to the glory of the retiring official. The work 
of the Commission in suppressing the sale of hog but¬ 
ter has been quite successful, and we are disposed to 
award him a fair mead of praise. But when he says, 
speaking of milk, that “ adulteration in this State has 
been reduced to such a degree as to render the milk 
now delivered practically pure,” ascribing this condi¬ 
tion of affairs to the work of his department, he is 
talking bosh of the wildest kind. Adulterated milk 
pours into this city in a continuous stream every day 
in the year. One class of these adulterations the 
Commissioner is powerless to punish. The laws of 
this State are very unjust on the subject of milk. We 
have one law for the producer and another for the 
dealer. These laws provide that any producer who 
sells milk from which any cream has been taken or to 
which any foreign substance has been added, is guilty 
of a misdemeanor. He cannot manipulate it, no mat¬ 
ter in what condition he leaves it. Not so with the 
dealers. The Exchange creamerymen buy milk all 
over the country at their receiving stations, which, 
for six months in the year, averages considerably 
above the legal standard of three per cent of butter 
fats. They sell cream, but the skimmed milk mysteri¬ 
ously disappears. To 30 quarts of pure milk they add 
10 of the skim, and the compound still shows solids 
enough to stand the legal test. When it shows 12 per 
cent of solids, the Dairy Commissioner or any other 
officials cannot interfere. All of which goes to show 
that milk should be sold on its merits, that milk con¬ 
taining four per cent of butter fat should sell for more 
than milk containing but three, and so on through the 
scale. The law needs amending, making it as much a 
misdemeanor for the dealer to manipulate milk as it is 
for the farmer. 
* * 
BREVITIES. 
UNCLE SAM AND MIS 8 HAWAII 
“ Well, little Sandwich islander, you want to come with me? 
You’ve washed your monarchy away and now you’re clean and free? 
You want to be my daughter and you want to bear my name? 
And live with us and die with us and share our hope or shame ? 
Please tell me what you'll bring us 11 a seat with us you win. 
In other words, voung woman, where does Uncle Sam come In? 
We’re getting tilled up lively and we have no space to lose. 
The time has come In history when we must pick and choose, 
Your present suit of clothing rather shocks me. I confess ; 
But maybe you’ll look better In a starry banner areas.” 
“ I’ll fill your sugar barrel, Uncle 8 am, and bring you rice 
And cocoanuts, bananas, and a heap of good advice. 
We’ll give you all our commerce and we’ll buy our goods of you, 
And far off In the middle of the great Pacific's blue 
We’ll raise the starry banner that our dreamy land may see 
A practical example of the worth of being free! ” 
“ But how about your drones, marm, there are plenty In yon ‘hive ? 
“ We may be rather lazy but toe don’t burn folks alive 
The way you do In Texas, but If you are crowded full, 
Good-day! i'll And a lodging with my neighbor, Mr. Bull. 
“ Keep easy now, young woman, take a Beat and maybe we, 
Can figure out the matter so we’ll dnd that we agree,” 
A rat will dull hts teeth on cement. 
Keep an eye on the man under your own hat 
Do sensible men put new grain Into old stock ? 
Next year’s fruit should grow from this year's wood. 
Deep eves will give any new variety of potato a black eye. 
Why Is not pure cream as useful for medical purposes as codllver 
oil ? 
Oat hay Is straw arrested before It had a chance to develop a hard 
heart. 
Does the man who rides to church on a bicycle violate any law of 
the Sabbath? 
Bed bugs can spread consumption if they can only get a chance to 
bite a consumptive. 
Two parts bone to one of muriate of potash Is the formula fruit 
men seem to be proud of. 
Who ever caught a bird with chaff? Surely not the man who fed 
chaff to his hens and expected an egg yield. 
How can you expect an orchard to pay unless you spend at least $25 
a year on every acre for manures or fertilizers ? 
Speed the day,say we, when the farmer will no more think of going 
without celery with his dluner than he would of going without pota¬ 
toes. 
A good bicycle that a farmer and his wife can ride together has a 
place on every farm. It will mean better roads, better health and 
one horse less to feed! 
Now, young man, wouldn’t It pay you well to take such a course In 
agriculture as Is pictured in this issue? We don’t see how you can be 
satisfied to do without It. 
A temperature of 170 degrees will destroy the parasite of trich¬ 
inosis. but when large hams are boiled In the ordinary way how often 
does the Interior of them reach that heat? 
“ Single Rooms 15 Cents 1 ” Such Is the sign displayed by some of 
the cheap lodging houses on the Bowery. This may be called night- 
rate of Bowery, a substance of no agricultural value. 
Just read that fodder schedule of Mr. Blrge (page 99) over to 
your cows as they eat their ration of Timothy hay, stalks and grain. 
It will give their nerves and milk yield such a shock that you may bo 
frightened Into Imitation of Mr. Blrge. 
The crooked man may seem to go with speed to wealth’s estate, It 
seems as though none criticised or checked his moral gait, and yet, 
with painful process will the crooked be made straight, and he’ll go 
walking Spanish at the Iron hand of Fate 
The scientific explanation for the red color In hair Is that people 
who possess this blessing have a superabundance of Iron in their 
blood and It Is the excess of Iron that not only colors the hair but 
paints health on the cheeks. Red hair Is but an Indication of a con¬ 
stitution and vitality built upon Iron. 
A phosphate 11 reverts ” when It ceases to become soluble In water 
and requires vinegar to dissolve It. The acids of the plant roots can 
make such phosphates available as plant food. For example, you 
“revert” when the milk of human kindness falls to dissolve out your 
duty and an acid of conscience Is needed to draw It out. 
When the pilgrims came to Plymouth they were Informed by their 
religious leader that they must never ” come to a period In religion.” 
That meant that they should never make a full stop, but keep on 
growing. One trouble with agriculture Is that some farmers mistake a 
comma for a period, and stop learning when they should only take 
breath for a heavier dose of Investigation. 
Many Northern farmers are mixed over the tables that give the 
mauurlal values of cotton seed meal. We are often asked why farmers 
should not use the pure meal in the place of chemicals. A Southern 
farmer In a place where freights are high and hauling long may llnd 
cotton-seed meal cheaper than chemicals. Where the chemicals are 
reasonable In price, we should not use cotton-seed meal as manure 
except after feeding It to the stock. 
A graduate of the normal school for negroes at Tnskegee, Ala., 
Is teaching a country school In that State. He writes thus about a 
little side Issue: 
Ilog killing was the go with me on the ninth. I killed 1,100 pounds 
of meat and will kill 000 more after Christmas. 1 have paid up all my 
accounts for this year and have made a payment on my land. Iam 
teaching the people to live In their own corn cribs and smoke houses. 
Are there no white men who can profitably learn of him? 
The State of New Jersey Is attempting a clumsy Imitation of Gov 
Flower’s scheme for creating a State Department of Agriculture. The 
proposition Is to have a commissioner appointed by the governor. 
The bill as amended provides for the removal of President Burroughs 
and Secretary Dye of the present State Board of Agriculture, and 
makes George Maguire, the present Dairy Commissioner, secretary of 
the new department. It Is a shame that faithful and efficient officers 
like Messrs Burroughs and Dye, should be removed to make places 
for politicians whose only merits are that they have claims against 
their party. If the farmers of New Jersey have any light In them now 
Is the time for them to show It In an effort to defeat this scheme. 
