496 
July 22 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
\ 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker 
Cor. Chambers and Pearl Sts., New York. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT S. CARMAN, Kdltor-in-Cblef. 
HERBERT W. COLLING WOOD. Managing Editor 
ERWIN G. FOWLER, Associate Editor. 
Copyrighted JH93. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay¬ 
able to THE RURAL PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
Be sure that llie name and address of sender, with name of Post- 
ollice and State, and what the remittance Is for, appear in every letter. 
Money orders and bank drafts on New York are the safest means of 
transmitting money. 
SATURDAY, JULY 22, 1893. 
The next New York State fair at Syracuse promises 
to be a great improvement over previous exhibitions. 
There lias been complaint heretofore about a lack of 
space for exhibiting goods. The building committee 
has decided to increase the building space and will 
erect a larger horticultural hall, a poultry building, a 
horse barn and a dairy building, divided so as to give 
space for exhibitions, and also for a lecture room in 
which a course of lectures on dairying will be delivered. 
* * 
The editor of the Wyandotte Herald, of Nebraska, 
writes us that Secretary of Agriculture Morton seems 
favorably impressed with the plan of creating a poul¬ 
try department under the charge of the Bureau of 
Animal Industry at Washington. All poultrymen 
who favor such a department ought to write to the 
Secretary and tell him so. The R. N.-Y. favors the 
department by all means. The Wyandottes are smart 
birds. We are willing to follow their lead in this 
matter. * * 
Who can find fault with Mr. Breck’s idea that if we 
are to succeed with the English mutton breeds of 
sheep we must copy all we can of the English methods 
of feeding and care ? The rape plant was intended 
especially to provide food for the sheep. It gives to 
the English farmer something of what he loses 
through his inability to grow Indian corn. In this 
country, where farmers can grow both crops, they 
simply have that much advantage over the English¬ 
men. Try rape ! * * 
He would not scald his pans, but simply rubbed 
them with a dampened cloth and rinsed them in warm 
water lazily ; and in the cracks were left the soured 
milk—the happy home of mean bacteria. “ Ha ! Ha!” 
they laughed as into the new milk they plunged and 
swam and multiplied galore. So when the housewife 
came she found her milk all sour and thick and clab¬ 
ber-like in form. And when she asked, “ How comes 
this fatal change ?” “ That sour affair,” said smart bac¬ 
teria ! And here the moral is “ Go scald thy pans ! or 
else be called—and mighty true—a shirk ! ” 
* * 
If a man should come and give you a dozen tons of 
hay, you would probably thank him and proceed at 
once to get out your tools and make the hay. This 
week’s R. N.-Y. tells you how some enterprising 
farmers are getting two months’ feed for their sheep 
at mighty small cost by sowing rape. What do you 
say to that ? We don’t care if you say nothing if you 
will only experiment. Sow the seed before August 1. 
We shall be pleased if it pays you. You may say 
“ Thank you !” or “ You’re a crank!” just as you like. 
* * 
What about this wife as assistant boss question ? 
Certainly no man can have a better assistant in his 
business than a true wife. Who can possibly have a 
greater desire to help him ? As a rule, a surplus of 
bosses will make a surplus of losses, and when a man 
is at home he should take the helm if he knows how 
to steer. There may be women who would call a man 
out of the hay-field to hitch up one of the team for a 
drive. Such a one would, not be a safe boss, but a sensi¬ 
ble, practical woman would not do that, and if occa¬ 
sion required she should manage things; and the 
hired man should obey or leave. 
* * 
Daisies look nice in a mowing field—that is, to the 
artist and poet. Cut green and fed to stock they are 
good enough food. But they won’t sell. When found 
in large quantities in a bale cf hay they will spoil its 
price every time. The farmer has no use for the 
daisy, and when it can poll as many votes as the 
Timothy the profit of the field is gone. What to do 
then ? Our friend, page 493, proposes to feed the 
Timothy and thus strengthen it so that it will crowd 
the daisies out. Will that answer ? It did on a sim¬ 
ilar field over the fence from the writer’s house. Two 
years ago we experimented by putting fertilizer in 
streaks across this field. The effect was evident all 
through the season. Where we put the fertilizer the 
grass was much heavier and greener, and the daisies 
were out of it. This year, with no fertilizer the field 
was a mass of white. Fertilizers will pay on a daisied 
field, but they must be used year after year, and very 
early cutting must go with them. 
# * 
A private letter from Germany contains the fol¬ 
lowing : 
The disastrous drought we have passed through has disarranged 
my plans a good deal. All farmers are at their wits’ ends as to how 
to pasg through the coming winter, as there will be a miserable crop 
of hay. and naturally nobody thinks of buying a farm with such a 
calamity in sight. 
From all parts of Europe comes the same story. In 
France, we are told, even the grape leaves are to be 
stored for stock food. Will the Europeans buy Amer¬ 
ican hay ? * , 
The mistletoe, which adds so much to the cheer and 
merriment, and not a little to the marriage list in 
Merry Old England, has for years come mostly from 
the orchards of Normandy, across the Channel, where 
it has flourished abundantly on the apple trees. 
The French government has just declared, however, 
that the parasite must be extirpated from the Nor¬ 
mandy orchards on the ground that it sucks the sap 
from the trees and thus impoverishes them. What? 
Shall John Bull’s rare merriment be curtailed to pro¬ 
long the life and increase the fruitfulness of Jean 
Crapaud’s apple orchards ? 
» * 
From the first of July till the close of the Chicago 
Exposition a ballot on the national flower will be 
taken each day in a booth near the east door of the 
Woman’s Building. Already a good deal of election¬ 
eering in favor of their favorite flower is openly done 
by the “ dear creatures,” who alone are privileged to 
vote in the contest. Three candidates are up for 
election : Indian corn, the laurel and the sunflower. 
Of the 324,867 visitors on the Glorious Fourth, only 
298 voted—239 for the corn, 37 for the sunflower and 
22 for the laurel. Probably the paucity of the voters 
was due rather to ignorance than to indifference. 
* * 
Appraising the total amount of silver mined in the 
United States at 90 cents an ounce, the value of the 
product was less than one-eleventh of the value of 
the corn crop in 1892—$600,000,000—and cotton and 
even eggs outranked silver considerably in value. No 
doubt the low price of the white metal is a fresh 
calamity to Colorado, Montana and the other silver 
States, but so is the low price of cotton to Alabama, 
Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, and the low price of 
wheat and corn to Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Minne¬ 
sota. The farmers grin and philosophically bear it, 
however, while the miners splurge, cavort and howl. 
* * 
An illustration of the changes in agricultural 
methods that are constantly going on is seen in the 
newer methods of using clover. The use of Scarlet 
clover has changed methods in man 7 localities. For 
example, take this note from J. H. Denise, of New 
Jersey: 
Where land can be cleared of the growing crop by August 20, and Is 
to be cultivated the following year, by all means sow It with clover- 
common Red ar d Crimson mixed equal portions, about seven quarts 
per acre. For pasture or hay It Is better to mix with other grasses to 
Improve the quality. A little Alslke added Is good. This method of 
seeding Is gaining favor. We sow all of our corn land to clover to be 
turned under In the spring: also our orchards to one-third common 
Red and two-thirds Crimson. 
The point is, you see, to have something growing all 
the time. By using the mixtures of clovers a quicker 
growth is secured for the fall which will help the Red 
clover through the winter, while if the common clover 
lives, it will give pasturage until the time for plowing 
it under. * * 
From present indications the South Carolina Liquor 
Dispensary Act is likely to prove at least a partial 
failure. The most populous counties, including Charles¬ 
ton, have refused, as provided by the law, to petition 
for dispensaries, and J ndge Hudson of one of the State 
Circuit Courts, has decided that the law is unconsti¬ 
tutional. As there are eight of these Circuit Courts, 
and the decision of the Judge in each is binding 
within his own jurisdiction until, if the case is appealed, 
the State Supreme Court has acted on it, a variety of 
decisions and no small confusion may be expected. 
To complicate matters still further, the National 
judiciary has just interfered. Through the Railway 
Commission the Tillmanites undertook arbitrarily to 
fix the freight charged for the transportation of 
liquor within the State borders ; but Judge Bond of 
the United States Circuit Court has just issued an order 
restraining the enforcement of the Commission’s 
schedule, and argument cn the question of a perman¬ 
ent injunction is to be heard next month. It is charged 
that the action of the Commission is tantamount to the 
exercise of proprietorship over the roads—a species of 
confiscation contrary to the Federal Constitution and 
which the Federal Courts are hardly likely to tolerate. 
Governor Tillman, however, is certain to leave no 
means untried to render the law effective. Not only 
are the interests of his Administration at stake, but 
his private fortune would be jeopardized by its failure. 
The State appropriated only §50,000 for the purchase 
of malt beverages and liquors and the equipment of 
the dispensaries ; but the Governor invested §300,000 
in the business, pledging his personal credit for the 
uncovered balance. In the bitter contention between 
the rival factions of the overwhelmingly dominant 
Democratic party of the State, the question is regarded 
entirely from a political point of view, and its moral 
bearing has been entirely subordinated to factional 
advantages. Pity that the experiment has not been 
and will not be allowed a fair trial. 
t t t 
BREVITIES. 
That Number 2 pertater—that air one of your git up, 
Has preached our folks a sermon that I swan jest takes the cup. 
Our pastor up an' took it fer a text last Sunday morn. 
He jest poured out the moral from the big end of the horn. 
1 bought a half a bushel of them famous Number 2. 
The neighbors plagued me powerful at the price, now 1 tell you, 
They come up awful spindlin’, jest the slimmest kind of shoot 
That growed up without branchin’ till it stood above my boot. 
An’ whilst the other ’taters sprawled all over—that air one. 
It don’t amount ter nothin’ and thinks I, I guess, I’m done. 
But come to dig them 'taters an’ I’ll tell ye what I found, 
Them Number 2s was working where they orter—under ground. 
They didn't waste no labor bulldln’ up a great big tree, 
But down beneath the surface they was workln’—yes slree. 
They set them roots a-feedln’ an’ they jest drawed up their plans, 
An' then pulled off their jackets an’ jest spit right on their hands, 
An’ built up them pertaters blgger’n any baby’s head, 
Whilst lots of other fellers run to great big vines Instead. 
An’ now the pint I'm makln', is jest here—the folks that win 
Don’t try to make a showln’ with a vine—they jest pitch In, 
An’ without brag or bluster git a-goin’ under ground 
An’ when the vine Is withered, lo! the solid work Is found. 
What say ? 
Don't bloat the sbote. 
Keep an eye on yourself. 
Is it earn or learn with vou ? 
A FLAT-stone drain—page 494. 
Soda beats soap for the dairy. 
Scour your lungs with pure air. 
Does the devil hold your due bill? 
Profit or loss -which is your boss? 
Thou art the man that Is in your way. 
Profit makes life, loss makes strife. 
Sow clover in front of the hoe’s nose. 
What knocks us out ? Noxious weeds. 
The R. N.-Y. does not favor woman's wrongs. 
Can you name a sow that beats a cow fior profit? 
Take a sun bath, but don’t rub It into your head. 
Hard luck! When a cow Inherits a desire to suck. 
Hot weather needs hot water outside and cold inside. 
How much of your Income do you invest in your children? 
“Half a loaf” is the way one feels like working in this hot weather. 
Aeration of milk is all right, but it doesn’t always do to air your 
views. 
The seeded weed! the seeded weed! that makes the farmer’s pocket 
bleed. 
Who will buy your services at your own private estimate of their 
value? 
Those sunflowers, page 503, gave fuel, forage and feed. What plant 
can beat that record? 
Do we need a "National Flour agitation?” Certainly, the agitation 
that will make better bread. 
The lady who started the hired man discussion will have the last 
word—to which she Is entitled. 
Every butter maker should defend his cream at the point of a re¬ 
volver—that is, a turn-over churn. 
Would your courage be mightier than that big rye crop so that you 
could plow it in without a murmur? 
And now they charge “Corn bread” Murphy with being a fraud. 
We want further proof before we believe it. 
If you should lose your right hand, what would you do—sit down 
and cry or begin to educate your left hand ? 
Who can afford to sit in the shade now and then ? The farmer who 
makes part of his living in the winter. Get thee winter work. 
The “ crazy ” bones are in the e.bow, but the lazy bones are in a 
sterner joint, apparently, as sitting down and laziness seem insepar¬ 
able. 
A number of people have asked if fresh lime is absolutely needed 
in making the Bordeaux Mixture. Sorry we could not talk more about 
it before. 
If Mr. Grundy’s friend had sald“sic!”to his dog when that sow 
looked into the yard, he would have been a good many “ sics ” sicker— 
“ 266,” in fact. 
“ I have to work hard all day. Why should my wife have time to 
quit and dress up in the afternoon?” What Is your opinion of a man 
who talks that way? 
Keep your klne cool, or else they will fool your credit account with 
a blank, sir; let their lines be laid in pastures with shade, and you'll 
get a well-buttered thank, sir. 
Mr. Grundy’s sow story, page 503, may sound like a big one, but 
we believe it to be true. If any one can put out its light by sousing a 
bigger record over it, we are all ready for it. 
When the wheat is in the shock, and the corn's laid by, then we 
have a little let-up on the farm. Say, why don’t you try and knock 
off labor, sir, and try if a little bit of fun will do you any harm. 
This poetical outburst comes from a New York strawberry grower: 
If I had heard that windmill pumping water on the hill, this year for 
every gill I could have counted a cent into my till!” You have got to 
come to irrigation or get out of the race 
“ Carbonic acid Is life in the stomach, but death in the lungs” says 
Mr. Colcord on page 489. That is a forcible way of saying that life is 
lost whenever the wrong thing is forced into a place where it has no 
business. It is not always such a rapid death as that resulting from 
carbonic acid in the lungs, but the wrong always rasps something 
and starts death at least. 
