432 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 24 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker 
Cor. Chambers and Pearl Sts., New York. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT 8. CABMAN, EdItor-in-Chlef. 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD. Managing Editor 
ERWIN G. FOWLER, Associate Editor. 
Copyrighted 1893. 
Address all communications and make all orders payable to The 
Ritual Publishing company. 
Money orders and bank drafts are the safest In transmitting money. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1893. 
One of our neighbors is a market gardener who 
makes a living on a small piece of ground. Uis potato 
crop this year came up poorly, with many missing 
places. Those holes in the potato rows represented 
just so many little nicks in the year’s income. What 
would fit into them best ? Our friend chose tomatoes, 
and a plant was set in every missing place. Tomatoes 
and potatoes are first cousins anyway, and the growth 
of that field will be a regular family affair. 
* * 
If we are wrong about charging five cents a day for 
each milking day as a fair price for caring for a dairy 
cow, we want to be corrected. Let some one who 
knows better tell us why that is not a fair charge. 
Do you mean to say that a man should only consider 
the actual cost of the food consumed by the cows, and 
give his time for nothing ? It seems to us like a much 
safer basis to figure on a labor cost of five cents a day 
for each cow while in milk, and an extra five cents a 
pound for making the butter. Make the cows come 
up to that standard or don’t keep them. There are 
cows that can and will do it. 
* # 
How the fortunes of the cattle kings and “ barons” 
even in Texas, their favorite ^tate, are declining, is 
shown by the sale, the other day, of the great 80,000- 
acre Dolores Stock Farm in Zavalla County, in south 
central Texas, under mortgage and foreclosure. It 
was a well equipped cattle range and a few years ago 
made large returns for the investment; but it was 
bought in by the-bond-holders for $47,000. The fences, 
buildings, wells, tanks, wind-mills and other improve¬ 
ments went for nothing, and the land brought only 
58% cents per acre. Over booming and borrowing 
caused the collapse, of course. 
* * 
We gave some of our readers quite a severe shock' 
last year in a description of the crops and methods of 
the celebrated Hallock farm on Long Island. The 
business done on this farm was so immense and carried 
on with such clock-work regularity, that it seems 
almost beyond belief Yet it was all true. Next week 
we hope to give another account of the place, showing 
something of what has been done there. “ What’s 
the good of describing all these big things ? ” say 
some of our readers. What would you have us do—talk 
about failures entirely ? No ! No ! Let’s look up and 
try to learn the true lesson that lies at the base of 
every great farm success. Our only regret is that we 
can’t always make that lesson as plain as it should be. 
* * 
This seems to be an era of machine buying. Farm¬ 
ers want more machines than ever before, and one of 
the tools most in demand is a drill for broadcasting 
fertilizer. We have often told our readers how the 
grain drill is used for this purpose, but this note will 
serve to freshen up some memories : 
We have concluded that we do not want a broadcast sower for fer • 
tlllzers. We took the rubber tubes off our grain drill, and placed a 
board just below the openings in the bottom of the grain box, setting 
the board at an angle of 45 degrees. This threw the fertilizer In front 
of the hoes, and thoroughly distributed It, while the drill acted as a 
harrow, doing better work in stirring the soil and mixing the fertilizer 
with it than most harrows would. 
This saved the buying of a new drill, which is well 
worth considering in these times. 
* # 
A bill lately passed by the French Assembly is of 
special interest just now in this country in view of 
the charges of brutality brought against the provis¬ 
ions of the Geary law requiring the registration of 
Chinese laborers resident in this country, and their 
deportation in case of failure to comply with the law. 
The French alien act requires any foreigner arriving 
in any place in France and desiring to carry on a pro¬ 
fession, trade or industry there, to send to the mayor 
within a week a declaration of his intentions, with 
proof of identity. A certificate will then be delivered 
to him. If he removes to another place his certificate 
must be vised within two days. Neglect, refusal or 
false declaration involves a fine of from 50 to 200 
francs, with or without prohibition of permanent 
residence. Persons already settled in the country are 
allowed a month before making the declaration. An 
alien expelled for non-compliance with the law and 
who may return without permission, is liable to from 
one to six months’ imprisonment, followed by a re¬ 
newed expulsion. Anybody who knowingly employs 
an uncertified alien renders himself liable to a fine of 
from 25 to 200 francs. Several other Continental 
countries in Europe have somewhat similar laws. Is 
the French any less “brutal” than the Geary law ? 
* * 
The Government crop report for June informs us 
that the area under clover is somewhat reduced, as is 
also the average condition. The greatest decrease in 
acreage is in Illinois, where there is only 86 per cent 
of the clover area of last year. The loss by winter 
killing during the past season was considerable, and 
the high price of seed this spring has caused many 
farmers to buy less than usual. This, we think, 
is a great mistake. While the clover crop brings in 
less cash than most others, it is indirectly the most 
valuable one that any farmer can sow. 
# # 
We give this public space to '-he following note from 
a Massachusetts man : 
Will The Rural kindly ask through those of Its readers who may 
be familiar with the climate and general conditions of western or 
central Virginia, to tell us through Its columns what sort of a locality 
the Blue Ridge foot-hills are for sheep; the cost of land, Its altitude, 
character, subsoil, present use and season of pasturage, as well as the 
sort of people now to be found there, and whether dogs abound, and 
whether. If one should start a campaign against them, their owners 
would start one against him ? What also are the facilities for reach¬ 
ing markets with small lots of perhaps E0 to 100 lambs ? 
Our readers will notice that the pith of the whole 
matter is the reference to dogs. Every other con¬ 
dition may be right, but if the dog owners get on the 
rampage when their dogs are under fire, that ends it— 
don’t go there with sheep. Give us one line about the 
natural advantages of the Blue Ridge, but a page 
about the dogs! 
* 4 
The R. N.-Y. is always glad to give all sides of a 
public question a fair hearing. We h ave had much to 
say in favor of the theory of the South Carolina liquor 
law. We are glad to give space to this note from a 
subscriber in Aiken, S. C. : 
The people generally contemplate the outcome of the new liquor 
law with suspicion and doubt. The verdict Is that the law was passed 
to strengthen the administration by Increasing the number of office¬ 
holders. Politicians are being appointed as State dispensers exclus¬ 
ively as far as I can learn. The law was passed In my opinion, not for 
the good of the people, but to gain the Prohibition vote and “down” 
the city barkeepers, who are nearly all antl-Tillmanltes. 
We have not considered the local features of the 
law, but its theory so far as it promises to take the 
business out of the hands of saloon keepers who are 
responsible only to some big brewing company. It 
will “ down the city barkeepers,” will it ? That’s one 
point gained at least. Are the Tillman men worse 
than rum sellers ? Let us wait and see what comes 
of it! 
» * 
The 63 cents per bushel to which July wheat fell a 
week ago last Thursday in Chicago, is nearly every¬ 
where declared to have been the lowest figure for 
wheat on record in that market. An examination of 
the old files of The Rural New-Yorker shows, how¬ 
ever, that this is a mistake. In 1861, June and July 
prices for wheat in the Windy City averaged 55 cents 
per bushel, and in the same year September prices 
were only 61 cents. Again, in 1852, the average price 
for spring wheat was only 43% cents, and for winter 
wheat 67 cents, and the average for both kinds during 
the year was only 55 cents. If the complaints of farm¬ 
ers that the present prices of wheat are unprofitable, 
are correct, how did those old-time farmers manage to 
raise it at the prices then ruling, especially as it was 
before the era of gift government land, and before the 
introduction of a large proportion of the labor-saving 
machinery of to-day ? 
* * 
In our synopsis of the Cornell bulletin on the dairy 
herd we have simply tried to point out the importance 
of knowing the thieves from the honorable workers. 
No sane man will knowingly breed thieves to rob him 
of his own profits. Are a fair proportion of the dairy¬ 
men in the country insane then ? No, they have not 
been introduced to our good friends, Babcock & Scales. 
Go and seek these detectives right away. Too much 
of your good work and money go into the manure 
pile. Kill the cows that put it there. Shoot the 
shirks. Other good things besides this matter of 
thief testing are given in the bulletin mentioned. 
Breeds of cattle vary widely in milk and butter pro¬ 
duction, but individuals vary more widely. The 
“ pure-blood” in some animals is useful only when let 
out and dried for fertilizer. Never mind what the 
cow’s breeding is, test the cow herself. The Cornell 
experiments show that as a rule the larger animals 
consumed less actual pounds of real food per 1,000 
pounds of live weight per day than the smaller ones. 
The cows that ate most food gave the cheapest milk 
and fat. As a rule the best yields of fat were given 
by the heaviest milkers. One thing we all want to 
remember is that there is no food on earth so cheap 
as good pasture grass. 
* * 
According to recent investigations of the Minnesota 
Legislature, pine lands worth at least $5,000,000 have 
been stolen from the State by timber “kings” and 
“barons,” who smile at all threats of the officials and 
people to punish them for their rascality, or force them 
to disgorge their plunder. Last March the legisla¬ 
ture, with hardly a dissenting vote, adopted a joint 
resolution appointing a committee of three Senators 
and four Representatives to continue the investiga¬ 
tion during the recess; but Attorney-General Childs 
now declares that the investigation cannot go on 
because it is illegal to appropriate money for any pur¬ 
pose by a joint resolution, as this can be done only by 
a bill. Some of the ablest lawyers in the State who 
have had years of legislative experience voted for the 
measure, Governor Nelson who has spent many terms 
in the National Legislature signed it, and yet all over¬ 
looked this obvious blunder. There are loud com¬ 
plaints among the “common people” that liberal 
largesses from the timber thieves had not a little to 
do with the mental obfuscation of the Minnesota 
Solons. 
* * 
BREVITIES. 
There are robbers In your herd 1 There are robbers In your herd I 
They are eating up the dresses that your good wife ought to wear; 
They are noBing In the cradle for the little baby's share; 
They are posting up a debit on your ledger's page to stare; 
They are voting old King Mortgage to the presidential chair; 
They are painting on your forehead all the haggard marks of care; 
They will eat your home and happiness and never come out square. 
There are robbers In your herd! There are robbers In your herdl 
Lo! they stand and eat their heads off and devour your grain and hay, 
With a big manure pile only for a record of their pay. 
They are tine, sleek-coated robbers, fat and handsome as the day, 
With a pedigree as pretty as the speeches In a play, 
But a mighty poor performance for the lack of which you pay. 
Find the robbers In your herd! Find the robbers In your herd! 
Let the cow detectives chase them till the culprits bend the knee. 
Make the Scales & Babcock test them; don't believe their pedigree. 
Make them stand and face their record; set your wife and babies free 
From the sneaking, barn-fed robbers that are fat from roguery. 
Beep the milk thief. 
A Guinea Is known by her voice—page 439. 
Guineas are not polygamists from choice. 
Who knows what to do for sun-burned horses ? 
A word may often do more good than a sermon. 
There should be no unfair management at Chicago. 
It Is the young Leghorn that wants to use her wings. 
CAN the merely lucky man have much reverence for toll and thrift? 
Errors committed can't change the past, but the future they may_. 
Talk little and well or not at all If you wish to be taken for some¬ 
body. 
The lump-jawed cow doth know In fear just what a maize ment “ on 
Its ear.” 
The current methods of packing and shipping currants will be found 
on page 437. 
Not many varieties, but plenty of a kind, brought customers to N. 
Ohmer’s door. 
Who doesn’t applaud the right and condemn the wrong In a novel 
or at a play? 
Mr. Wyckopp’s Leghorns must be satisfied with six weeks In the 
brooder—page 439. 
The milker’s voice, the milker’s voice, that makes the cows both 
tremble and rejoice. 
A HOG has less use for the silo than any other farm animal. How 
he does enjoy steamed clover hay, though. 
The hired men will not have it all their own way. A valiant cham¬ 
pion has arisen to back Carrie T. Meigs. Walt for her. 
Except through accident or mis ortnne, how Imperceptibly does 
Nature effect changes In us from the cradle to the grave. 
Farmers want a horse that will get his head down for work on 
week days and hold It up high on Sundays and holidays. 
We shall be pleased to have those who use small separators answer 
those questions on page 437. Separatists to the front, please. 
With mutton and wool selling at the same price per pound, one had 
better cease to try to Increase t'-e fleece at the expense of the carcass. 
They want only foods that make growth t n that Michigan sheep 
farm. Think of the fat that haB been wasted In the mouths of young 
stock. 
The Cattaraugus County grand jury could not find cause for an 
action against Mr. O. H. Smith, who was arrested for dishorning his 
cows. Another farce ended ! 
Cabbage Is recommended as a cure for drunkenness. That Is right. 
The way to use It Is to eat boiled cabbage and drink a glass of water 
whenever you feel a desire to drink whisky. 
So the seedsmen pay 12% cents a pound for water-melon seeds! 
Some difference between that and the prices they charge. You will 
have a job to buy an ounce for 10 cents at retail. 
A DOG has no value as personal property. In order to collect dam¬ 
ages for him the owner must show that he Is of some actual value—a 
help In the owner’s business. Ti at would be a job for most dog-own¬ 
ers. A “license” Is really a tax, not a protection. 
Jerry Simpson, of Kansas, says the women of that State will vote 
“ just as the preachers tell them to do.” Is this true ? They didn’t 
do so at the last election. Then they divided their votes between four 
parties, and cast them with more than ” manly independence.” 
Better vote with the preachers than with the rum-sellers. 
Water-melon seed growing Is certainly a primitive business yet. 
We agree with Mr. Smith that seedsmen ought to pav a better price 
and thus secure a better product. Letting the pulp ferment In bar¬ 
rels Is certainly a quicker and surer way of saving the seed than the 
old scheme of letting negroes eat the pulp and spit out the seeds. 
A singular dog case Is reported In the upper part of Manhattan 
Island. A’s dog went Into B’s chicken yard and began to feast on raw 
chicken. B caught him In the act and also by the tall and dashed the 
canine brains out against a tree. B Is now arrested for cruelty to 
animals for killing the dog as he did. It seems that you may kill a dog 
caught In such a situation, but you must be careful how you kill him! 
