1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
737 
THE PROSPECT. 
Whether New York will always retain her suprem¬ 
acy as the commercial metropolis of the New World 
has sometimes been questioned by envious rival cities. 
Her situation is unequaled; and she has direct and 
long-established communication with all parts of the 
country over a number of the finest lines of railroad 
in the world. Her merchants are the most enterpris¬ 
ing, her capitalists are among the wealthiest, her 
speculators the most daring. She draws tribute of 
merchandise from all lands. Her ships go to all ports 
and sail all waters. Chicago has made the boast that 
she would become the metropolis of America. Other 
cities have made efforts to rival her. But her situa¬ 
tion, her prestige, her influence, all conspire to main¬ 
tain her in her present proud position as chief city of 
the American Continent. 
X t X 
Yet influences are at work to take from her much 
of the trade she has so long enjoyed. New outlets for 
the country’s products, as well as new inlets for the 
tribute exacted from other lands conspire to reduce 
the volume of her trade. It may be that the natural 
growth of this country, the increase in its productive 
power, as well as in its consumptive capacity, will 
balance the diverted commerce, so that what is gained 
for other commercial channels may not be lost to New 
York. However this may be, certain is it that there 
is great development of other ports, an increasing 
number of new lines of transportation, with new ter¬ 
mini, and a decided determination on the part of 
other cities to secure the benefits accruing to a com¬ 
mercial port. j j j 
Canada has been scheming for closer connection 
with the mother country. Her canals have been im¬ 
proved and deepened, and the plan has been discussed 
to so enlarge them that ocean steamers might through 
them and the lakes reach all leading lake ports, even 
Chicago, itself. The great trouble here is that during 
the winter months frost puts an unbreakable blockade 
upon this route. Then our Southwestern States have 
strongly urged the opening up and improvement by 
the General Government of more Gulf ports, render¬ 
ing feasible the establishment of lines of ocean steam¬ 
ers direct to those ports. The trans-Mississippi States 
have set great store by these routes, bv reason of the 
possibilities thus opened to them for sending their grain 
to Europe and other points with a comparatively short 
railway haul. Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New 
Orleans and some other ports have divided the foreign 
trade with New York, but have never been dangerous 
rivals. A number of these rivals might together, how¬ 
ever, seriously diminish the trade and thereby the im¬ 
portance of this city. Two recent additions to the 
ports receiving foreign vessels are Newport News, Va., 
and Port Royal, S. C., said to be two of the best har¬ 
bors on the Atlantic coast. The latter has just in¬ 
augurated direct trade with Europe. From Newport 
News a fleet of American steamers (built in England) 
has just begun regular trips to Liverpool. Tnis port 
has direct railroad communication with East St. Louis, 
and a rate on grain has been secured, but a little 
higher than the regular rate to the seaboard. It is 
expected that this will influence the shipment of vast 
quantities of grain by this route. It also has an im¬ 
mense South American trade. A mammoth dry dock 
and extensive shipyard where but a few years since 
there was next to nothing, testify to its importance. 
It is probable that other ports will be heard from, and 
that instead of the trade from this to foreign coun¬ 
tries, as well as the return trade, being concentrated 
into a few channels, it will be divided into many. It 
is probably best that it is so. 
X X X 
Representative Coombs, of New York, has intro¬ 
duced a novel tariff bill in the House. He proposes to 
put all raw materials used in manufacturing on the 
free list, a light tariff for revenue on certain articles, 
suDposed to be sugar, tea, coffee, etc., and a tariff on 
wines, cigars, spirits, etc., on which an internal 
revenue tax is now levied large enough to give pro¬ 
tection to the extent of that tax. Then comes a 
“schedule for the protection of labor ” which reads as 
follows: 
The bill shall also provide that In case any manufacturer or manu¬ 
facturers of goods or merchandise Included In the class of "unspeci¬ 
fied” shall llnd that the Item of labor cost, lncluaing the use of 
machinery, of his productions In this country shall exceed that paid 
by the manufacturers of the same class of goods made In foreign 
countries, he may present sworn proofs of the same to the committee, 
with the demand that sacn articles shall be entered ou schedule D. 
If, upon examination, the committee find that the statements are cor¬ 
rect or if they find that any difference exists in favor of the foreign 
manufacturer, they shall cause that article or class of article to be 
entered upon schedule D with a speciflo duty equal to such difference, 
always provided that the article Is not protected by letters patent 
Issued by this Government. 
It is not likely that such a bill ever can pass, yet it 
affords an interesting study of the way tariff legisla¬ 
tion is being worked out. Under this scheme farmers 
would be unprotected even though they might easily 
prove that foreign farmers were growing potatoes, 
fruit, wool or sugar cheaper than American farmers 
could produce them, and that the difference was largely 
made up of a difference in wages. In other words, 
factory laborers would have an advantage not 
possessed by laborers on farms. Why should the wool 
grower not have the same advantage as the maker of 
woolen cloth ? Why is the latter more of a manufac¬ 
turer? Such questions as these would have to be 
settled before any tariff bill could give anything like 
universal satisfaction. As to the provision in regard 
to patented articles, there is much justice in this 
though the patentee should not be driven out of busi¬ 
ness by heavy importations from countries in which 
his patent is not allowed. 
X X X 
TnE English farmer to-day is inclined to be economi¬ 
cal with his fodder. Many a horse this year will be 
forced to eat his bed—or rather live on the straw he 
expected to lie on. The great object is to find a sub¬ 
stitute for hay, and so close is the pinch for fodder 
that the Royal Agricultural Society has collected in¬ 
formation respecting cheap straw rations from all 
over the kingdom. Some singular practices are thus 
revealed. On one farm linseed oil has cut a great hole 
in the feed bill. The method of feeding is to put one 
quart of linseed oil with one gallon of boiling water. 
This is poured from a watering pot over four bushels 
of cut straw and chaff the day before using, and per¬ 
mitted to heat up well. It is fed to all kinds of stock— 
horses, cattle and sheep—and provides one meal for 
eight head at a cost of cent. This is the cheapest 
and most remarkable method of making straw pala¬ 
table that we have ever seen. It simp'y shows to 
what necessity will drive men—and cattle. 
DO FARMERS KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT 
BUSINESS ? 
Some time ago I received from The R. N.-Y. office a 
letter that had been sent to it by two men, presumably 
farmers, who live in the eastern part of the State of 
New York. They requested The Rurai, to put them 
in communication with some man or firm in the West 
from whom they could buy grain, bran, etc. On re¬ 
ceipt of the letter, I wrote them asking how they 
wished to buy—by the hundred, ton or car-load. In 
reply they stated in substance that they expected to 
buy in car-load lots, delivered at their station, but 
gave no references or anything whatever to indicate 
that they have any financial standing. I took their 
letter to the office of the Harrison, Herdman Grain and 
Milling Company of this place, and handing it to Mr. 
Harrison, said: “You ship grain and mill stuffs in 
single car-load lots to parties outside of the regular 
trade, such as farmers, stock feeders, etc., in any part 
of the country, don’t you ? ” “ Yes, to any part of the 
world.” ne read the letter and said, “ I will turn this 
over to Mr. Herdman when he comes in. He attends 
to all correspondence of this nature.” 
Later I received a second letter written by the same 
parties to The Rural asking why I had not replied to 
their communication. I called at the office of the 
milling company and asked Mr. Harrison why he had 
not attended to the matter. “ See Mr. Herdman,” 
said he. “ I believe he wants to make some inquiries 
about those parties.” “ Yes,” said that gentleman, 
taking the letter off a hook. “ Do you know whether 
these are responsible men, or have any financial stand¬ 
ing, Mr. Grundy?” “No, sir.” “Then you don’t 
know them ? ” “ No, sir.” “ Well, here is your letter. 
You know we can’t afford to open a correspondence 
with every Tom, Dick or Harry in the country who 
thinks he wants to buy grain or mill stuffs. Cash 
orders, and orders from known responsible parties are 
promptly filled, but we don’t know who these men are, 
or whether they really want anything.” 
On my way up town I met Mr. Harrison. “ Well,” 
said he, “ could you give him the information he 
wanted?” I told him I couldn’t. “ Give me the let¬ 
ter, and as soon as I can spare the time I will write 
them. You see, Mr. Grundy, the trouble is right here: 
Not one farmer in fifty knows the first principles of 
business ! Now if these were business men they would 
have written something like this : ‘ We want, imme¬ 
diately, one car-load bran, one car-load No. 3 oats, 
one car-loftd No. 3 shelled corn. Give cash price for 
same f. o. b. We would then know just what they 
want, and would quote prices. Then they would 
send us a draft for the amount, name of their station 
and railroad, and tell us to forward by best route. 
We would order the cars, load them and away they’d 
go, and that’s all there would be of it. We have a 
commercial rating, you see, while these men have 
none, though they may be as good as gold. If they 
had referred us to a bank or responsible firm, we 
wr.uld have to make inquiries, which takes time, and 
then if the bank or firm was not positively certain 
that they are all right we could not fill the order. 
We have grain and mill stuffs for sale—that is our 
business. Let any man state just what he wants and 
we will quote prices in a minute. A cash order will 
get anything we have for sale. The fact is, farmers 
generally have such vague ideas about commercial 
transactions that men engaged in an extensive busi¬ 
ness don’t care to deal with them. They haven’t any 
business training, and we haven’t time to train them!” 
Mr. H. knows what he is talking about. He is in 
the grain and milling business, but he owns a couple 
of farms and has wrestled with the soil himself. 
Christian County, Ill. fred qkundy. 
PEAS FOR THE WHEAT. 
KEEP THE LAND BUSY. 
In The R. N.-Y. for October 7, some Florida readers 
condemn the practice of plowing under green pea vines, 
saying that it sours the land. That may be the case 
in Florida. I do not know what effect peas would 
have on a sandy soil where no frost corner, but in this 
vicinity, on our clay loam, with a red clay subsoil, 
peas are a grand success ; they improve the land every 
time they touch it. As I said in a former letter, I aim 
to keep my land busy, and to this end precede wheat 
with peas, which occupy the land between harvest and 
seeding; thus, instead of having the land lie bare for 
two or three months, I keep it at work. 
This year we got the wheat land broken the second 
day of August. On August 3 and 4 we sowed it in 
Clay peas, sowing them broadcast and harrowing them 
in. By September 25 the vines had attained a growth 
of from 18 inches to 4 feet. There was a perfect 
mass of roots, many having descended 18 inches or 
more into the soil. This mass of vines was turned 
under. The land having been deeply and thoroughly 
broken in July, was now easy to turn, and by the use 
of a heavy chain and jointer, we covered the vines 
completely. Each half day we harrowed what we had 
plowed, and thus kept it fine and mellow. After we 
had plowed and harrowed the whole piece in this 
way, we again harrowed it until the surface was as 
fine and level as could be desired. Then we put on 
a heavy crusher to pack it yet more thoroughly, and 
when this was done it was in as fine tilth as could 
well be desired. Now, so far from believing those 
pea roots and vines will sour, or in any way injure the 
land, we think them equal to a crop of clover. Be¬ 
sides, they are a catch crop, between regular crops, 
and do not in any way interfere with the regular 
rotation. 
This is one great advantage of our long seasons, and 
the farmers of the South are not living up to their 
opportunities if they fail to improve their farms. 
Nature has given them every facility for doing so 
rapidly, by following corn with winter oats, or Crimson 
clover; after these are removed the land may be sowed 
to peas the last of July or the first of August, these be 
plowed under for wheat, followed by Red clover, and 
this in turn followed by corn. Why is not this a good 
rotation ? I have been following it but a short time, 
but it seems to me the best for us in this latitude. 
But I want to say a word more about the wheat just 
sown. On the ground prepared as above, we sowed 
four different brands of chemical fertilizers, hoping to 
see which would give the best results on this seed bed. 
The R. N.-Y. has convinced me that we must feed our 
crops if we wish a return. Instead of using 100 to 150 
pounds per acre as formerly, I this year used 300 
pounds, thinking this with the peas and the 150 pounds 
of manure which were put on the thin spots, would be 
equal to 400 or 500 pounds on soil not so prepared. 
On a part of the field I used pure bone meal, then I 
left a strip with none. Next I used an acid phosphate 
(South Carolina rock), 15 per cent available phosphoric 
acid, tuen left another strip with none. On the next 
I used an acid phosphate with potash (no ammonia). 
Analysis 13 per cent of phosphoric acid four per cent 
of potash. The remainder was sown with a complete 
fertilizer analyzing 10 per cent available phospnoric 
acid, two per cent of potash and three per cent of 
ammonia. In front of the hoes, as ; s my custom, I 
sowed six quarts per acre of Red clover seed, and I 
have no fears about getting a catch. On these cti fferent 
plots there may be different results, which I hope to 
notice carefully. To all farmers who can grow them, 
let me say, “ Grow peas and lots of them.” 
Loudon County, Tenn. e. l. griffin. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
We are in receipt of a new catalogue from the Ames Plow Company, 
of Boston, Mass. This is one of the most complete and finely Illus¬ 
trated catalogues that we have seen from an agricultural Implement 
house. There Is little. If anything, In the line of tools that a farmer 
wants that Is not Illustrated and described in It. It Is a convenient 
book to have, and we suppose costs nothing but the asking for It. 
Don’t feed grain whole to stock. It pays to take It to the grist mill 
and pay for grinding It, but it pays much belter to have your own 
mill and power and grind It yourself. When the ground is loo hard to 
plow and the weather too cold to pick stones, you can grind grain 
comfortably in the barn. L. J. Miller, Cincinnati, Onlo, will tell you 
all about grinding mills for the asking, and sell you a mill, If you 
want It, for cash. 
‘•ADVKUTISE .Jumciousr.Y,” Is the motto of the Lord & Thomas, 
Chicago, advertising agency, and many and novel are the wavs In 
which they Impress these two words uprn the public. One of their 
latest is a sort of two-edged sword affair, so to speak. They have 
had printed, for measuring advertising space, thousands of rules 
which bear the motto and the compliments of the firm. These they 
send to any general advertiser who applies for them. 
