1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
433 
THE PROSPECT. 
There are encouraging signs throughout the country 
that public sentiment is coming to recognize the neces¬ 
sity for intelligence in the exercise of the suffrage. 
In 1890, the new Mississippi Constitution denied the 
ballot to any man who could not pass an educational 
test. Last year Maine adopted an amendment to her 
Constitution, which, while not denying the right to 
vote to illiterates who now exercise it, debars from 
the suffrage hereafter all adult males who cannot read 
and write. During the year California adopted an edu¬ 
cational qualification requiring every voter to be able 
to read and write his name and read any section of the 
Constitution in the English language. Michigan has 
lately taken a step in the same direction. A late law 
gives the right to vote in all municipal, town and 
village elections to women ; but only to those who 
can read. Here, therefore, are four States, one in the 
extreme South, another on the Northern frontier, one 
on the extreme East, and another on the farthest West, 
which show in different ways the same inclination to 
make an educational qualification a perquisite to the 
privilege of the ballot. 
t X X 
When Dr. Babcock, of the Wisconsin Experiment 
Station, invented his now famous milk tester, he 
started a complete revolution in the milk business. 
Milk became virtually a new article in trade circles. 
Previously we bought it because we wanted milk. We 
knew there was a difference in quality between differ¬ 
ent samples, but there was no practical method of de¬ 
termining why and to what extent one sample was 
better than another. Along came the Babcock tester 
and put in our hands the power to take the fat from 
the milk and measure it exactly. Then we realized 
that we bought milk for its fat, and all the men who 
had been handling and paying for it by weight saw that 
somebody had made a fortune by receiving fat prices 
for water. The advantage of bringing the milk trade 
down to the principles of an exact science was evident 
to any thoughtful man, and it is no wonder that the 
practice of “ Babcocking ” milk has spread all over 
the country. Dr. Babcock gave his invention free to 
the public, and by doing so helped the dairy interests 
of the country more than all the experiment stations 
in the nation have cost. It is singular that in England 
the tester has been patented and sold as the Lister- 
Babcock. If more men were endowed with the gen¬ 
erous spirit of Prof. Babcock, there would be fewer 
monopolies and millionaires and more happiness. 
t t X 
In ante helium days it was generally considered 
throughout the South that the negro was providen¬ 
tially provided for the cultivation of the sugar-cane of 
the Gulf States and the cotton of the rest of that sec¬ 
tion—that no other laborer could approach him in his 
adaptability to the work in both fields. In many 
parts of the South and by many people in all parts 
the same opinion is still entertained. Even where 
white immigrants are desired, although it is acknowl¬ 
edged that the presence of the negro is the chief ob¬ 
stacle to their advent, he is looked upon as a “ bless¬ 
ing in disguise ” in keeping them away, because he is 
thought to be the only human being capable of with¬ 
standing the reek and blaze of the rice, cane and 
cotton fields, barring perhaps the unspeakable Chinese. 
So widely and firmly was this opinion held “ before 
the war ” that small white farmers and “poor whites” 
generally were often crowded out by the wealthy 
planters of large areas, who relied exclusively on 
negro slaves for laborers. 
XXX 
The belief, however, seems to be fast losing ground, 
especially among the “New South” represented at 
the various immigrant conventions lately held in that 
section. These denounce it as an old-fogy, untenable 
notion disproved by years of recent experience. 
Southern Louisiana, it is claimed, is yearly growing 
whiter and more prosperous. White labor in the rice 
and cotton fields works harder and better than ever 
negro labor did. In no portion of the State has there 
been such an increase in population, wealth and pro¬ 
duction as in Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Plaquemines 
and Jefferson Parishes, and these are overwhelmingly 
white. When the war broke out nine-tenths of the 
cotton of the South was raised by negro labor ; now 
Texas is the most productive cotton-growing section, 
and Texas is mainly white. The small white farmers 
there find they can raise the staple as successfully 
and more profitably by their own and other white 
labor than by that of the negro. More cotton and 
sugar are raised in the South to-day in proportion to 
population than in the palmiest days of slavery, and 
wealth is greater and more widely distributed, and 
the general average of the population is more pros¬ 
perous, and it is emphatically claimed that, in nearly 
every instance, this prosperity is in exact ratio to the 
proportion of whites any section contains. 
Prof. Voorhees and Mr. J. H. Hale speak of Scar¬ 
let clover in high terms in this issue. Mr. Hale’s suc¬ 
cess is quite remarkable considering the severe winter 
and the latitude of his Connecticut orchard. He told 
us last fall that he wanted the crop to provide humus 
and nitrogen for his orchards. He uses large quanti¬ 
ties of bone and potash and these with a full growth of 
Scarlet clover will make an excellent fertilizer. Even 
the short growth made in the fall, supposing that the 
entire crop were killed during the winter, would prob¬ 
ably provide more nitrogen than a crop of rye or buck¬ 
wheat. The R. N.-Y. has sowed Scarlet clover at the 
Rural Grounds and will report its progress in due 
season. The plant seems worthy of extended trial in 
many parts of the North. A quick-growing clover will 
prove a useful plant in dozens of ways. We need it, 
and Scarlet clover should be introduced wherever it 
will thrive. ^ ^ 
At the recent horse show in this city, almost none 
but the strictly fancy breeds were shown, the Hack¬ 
neys forming the only considerable exception. In 
commenting upon this fact, one of the daily papers 
made the assertion that in 20 years the only use we 
would have for horses, particularly in the cities, would 
be for fancy drivers, saddle horses, etc. In short, 
that in a score of years we would use horses only as 
playthings; that the work now done by them would 
all be done by electricity. We are inclined to think 
that this is rather an extreme view, that it will be 
considerably longer than this before the work horse 
can be entirely dispensed with. Yet, the tendency is 
in that direction. The general-purpose horse is a 
nonentity, so far as being a profitable animal to breed 
is concerned. The horses that bring the highest prices 
are those that are adapted for some special purpose. 
This state of things is likely not only to continue, but 
to be intensified, and is worth the careful thought of 
breeders. The happy-go-lucky style of breeding in 
vogue in the past is no longer profitable. Have an 
object in breeding ; aim at the mark with the deter¬ 
mination of hitting it. 
X J X 
The flock-masters of western Texas whose stock 
have been devastated by wolves have hit upon a plan of 
getting rid of the pests, suggested probably by Pas¬ 
teur’s attempt to exterminate the hordes of rabbits in 
Australia. Every other method of destroying the 
“ varmints” having failed, if this should prove success¬ 
ful it will be worth hundreds of thousands to the sheep 
owners of the Lone Star State and of other sections 
similarly afflicted. The scheme is to inoculate some 
of the animals with a contagious disease and set them 
free to infect their comrades. To effect this, several 
wolves were lately entrapped to the west of San 
Antonio and penned up with a dog badly affected with 
the mange. The pests readily caught the disease and 
were soon covered with the parasites which produce 
it. They have since been turned loose, and it is ex¬ 
pected that they will spread the disease so rapidly 
among their kindred that not one will be left in the 
State in two years. 
t X X 
We have called attention to the great natural ad¬ 
vantages, in the way of fertilizers, possessed by the 
cotton-growing States, from Virginia to Mississippi. 
With phosphate rock nearby for supplies of phos¬ 
phoric acid, and cotton-seed meal, and hull ashes 
supplying nitrogen and potash, and green crops of 
cow-pea vines to supply humus and nitrogen, no sec¬ 
tion of America can be said to be better supplied with 
the means of making a cheap fertilizer. The Noith 
Carolina Station has been making some exhaustive 
experiments to show the value of cow-pea-vine man¬ 
uring for wheat culture. An exhibit of the results 
will be found at the World’s Fair. Briefly stated, 
the experiments show that without any green man¬ 
uring or fertilizers the land produced about 11 bushels 
of wheat per acre. With a crop of pea vines plowed 
in the yield was increased over 9% bushels. With 300 
pounds of kainit added to the pea vines the yield was 
increased 16% bushels over the soil alone, while 300 
pounds of acid phosphate gave a slightly larger gain. 
Combinations of acid phosphate, cotton seed meal and 
kainit and cotton-seed meal alone with the cow peas 
also gave good gains. 
X X X 
The kainit was the only product that was brought 
from a long distance. The other ingredients of the 
fertilizer were produced in the State or on the farm. 
Where can farms be found that can be so easily and 
cheaply fertilized ? Still, the average yield of wheat 
and other grains in North Carolina is low. Why? 
Because many farmers have not yet realized one im¬ 
portant fact about their natural fertilizer—that the 
pea vine crop is the most important part of it. Some¬ 
body has said that Southern farms are poor because 
they have been cropped for years on a wrong princi¬ 
ple. Live stock husbandry has been neglected and 
now , they say, the land must go back to grass and 
cattle for a rest. There is a mistaken idea about the 
“ rest” that soil needs. Give it humus in the form of 
a full green crop plowed under, and decomposition 
will do the rest. Southern experiment stations can 
do no better work than to encourage the use of green 
manuring. 
What is to become of our non-accumulating pluto¬ 
crats ? This is likely to be a somewhat serious ques¬ 
tion in the not very distant future. America is the 
land _f millionaires. In no other country are there, 
even in proportion to the population, nearly so many. 
Last year the New York Tribune published a list of 
4,800 persons with over $1,000,000 each, with new ones 
springing up at the rate of 300 a year. But though 
this country produces more of them than any other, 
no other offers fewer opportunities for pastime and 
enjoyment to rich men of refinement and education 
who may not care for further accumulation of money. 
There is here no leisured class, no class like the aris¬ 
tocracy of other countries who have for centuries 
despised money making and made it their chief study 
to devise means of passing idle hours pleasantly. Here 
the rulers of States and the nation are often residents 
of small provincial towns, and a patrician plutocrat 
would be likely to consider them little better than his 
employees. Success in politics is barred to the ambi¬ 
tious millionaire solely on account of his wealth, even 
if qualified to achieve it in other respects. Intelligence, 
education, refinement in his case merely intensify tbe 
causes of weariness and ennui. When he has built a 
marble palace and has it inside and out furnished and 
adorned sumptuously and expensively ; when he has 
secured a faster and finer yacht than his rival Midas, 
and a faster team of trotters, how can he pass the 
tedious unoccupied hours agreeably ? However much 
Americans may look up individually to rich men, in 
the aggregate they either hate them or pretend to do 
so, and are inclined to treat them with a rude, face¬ 
tious familiarity which no other class have to endure. 
X X X 
A case in point: William Waldorf Astor, young, am¬ 
bitious, highly cultured, the possessor of enormous 
inherited wealth, found it a hindrance here in 
everything he attempted. When appointed Minister 
to Italy, the papers assailed the President for having 
named him on account of his riches. When he tried 
to get into Congress, his millions defeated him. He 
wrote some fa ; rly good novels, and the critics charged 
that he had got others to write them. Finally, in dis¬ 
gust, he severed his connection with the land of his 
birth and has settled permanently in England, where 
he intends henceforth to devote all his abilities and 
wealth to the interests of his adopted country. 
X X t 
Is the example likely to be followed ? Already it is 
fashionable for wealthy Americans to pass the summer 
months beyond the Atlantic, spending there every year 
from $100,000,000 to $120,000,000 of American gold. In 
Paris and the other chief European cities there have 
been for years colonies of American settlers who still 
call this country their home, and annually spend mil¬ 
lions of American money abroad. Hitherto Anglo¬ 
mania has been confined mainly to imitation of British 
customs, dress, ‘accent and habits. Now its victims 
appear to have a tendency to move across the Atlantic. 
Europe and especially England take plutocrats seri¬ 
ously and know how to make the best use of them. 
All political ho ors and social distinctions are open to 
them. Properly accredited, the American millionaire 
who prefers social distinction and pleasure to the ac¬ 
cumulation of more millions may find himself on easy 
terms with men who rule or have ruled empires and 
with all the genius, cleverness, beauty and fashion of 
the social capital of the world. He may soon find his 
way into a class who for ages have made a study of 
what he waDts to accomplish—pass life in cheerful, 
pleasant, agreeable idleness. What proportion of our 
millionaires are likely to follow Astor’s example and 
* spend their enormous accumulations abroad ? 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Wb have used the Crystal Creamery Package for transporting 
butter from the farm to our city residence, and have been much 
pleased with It. The package consists of a galvanized pall with a 
glass jar inside supported by metal springs which run under the jar, 
thus protecting It from breakage and at the same time making an 
air-space to protect the butter from variations of temperature. A lid 
shuts down close over the pall, and keeps out all dust and odors. For 
ourselves, we have never had anything that keeps butter In such good 
condition. It Is made by the Crystal Creamery Co,, Lansing, Mich. 
Tub World’s Fair Silo will be of some Interest to the dairymen who 
visit Chicago during the progress of the great exhibition this year. 
The silo Is built round after the plan advocated by the Wisconsin Ex¬ 
periment Station, and several times described in The Rural. The 
corn was grown on the Dunham farm, 60 miles from Chicago, and 
shipped by rati to the silo. Three hundred and sixty tons were enslloed, 
and, when opened In February last, the ensilage was found In good 
condition. Considerable rain fell during the time of harvesting the 
corn and filling the silo, and this, together with the long distance the 
corn had to be transported after it had been cut, might well account 
for any unfavorable results, should any be noted later. The ensilage 
was cut and elevated to the silo by the Smalley ensilage cutter and 
carrier, and the 360 tons were cut and elevated In 43!4 hours, or In 
about four days of 10 hours each. This Is at an average rate of about 90 
tons a day. The cutter Is made by the Smalley Manufacturing Co., 
Manitowoc, Wls. The company has Issued a World’s Fair silo pam¬ 
phlet which gives some good points about the construction of silos 
and which will be forwarded to our readers on application. 
