79o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 25 
THE HOME OF THE GRAPE. 
Perhaps the most interesting thing 
connected with something great, is the 
man who had most to do with it. Almost 
every horticulturist of note has heard 
something about Mr. Munson’s new 
grapes, or his method of trellising. Mr. 
Munson is a scientist. He delights to 
study in the quietude of his beautiful 
home. In addition to his knowledge of 
heredity, atavism and prepotency, he is 
familiar with histological, physiological 
and systematic botany. He talks of 
breeding grapes for certain localities as 
one would of breeding stock for a cer¬ 
tain purpose. He thinks one should be 
familiar with the blood entering into 
certain grapes in order to cultivate them 
with the greatest success. Without this 
knowledge all selection is more cr less 
uncertain. After much travel and study 
of the native wild species of the United 
States and many foreign countries, Mr. 
Munson is able to breed the grape in¬ 
telligently for certain purposes. Many 
of his hybrids which have fruited several 
years have proved themselves excellent, 
yet, when asked about some of his more 
recent hybrids, he stated that he ex¬ 
pected them to be still better adapted to 
the South, especially. 
Much of his work with the grape dur¬ 
ing the past 16 years has been more 
or less in the dark, but now after the 
knowledge gained of the characteristics 
of certain blood, he knows what to ex¬ 
pect from a certain hybrid. I was shown 
into his packing house and saw 625 of 
his new Carman grape vines put up care¬ 
fully that day for the subscribers of The 
R. N.-Y. I saw this same grape grow¬ 
ing in his vineyard where it had pro¬ 
duced last summer, on an average, 
20 pounds of fruit per vine. Mr. Mun¬ 
son has a beautiful vineyard. His trellis 
system is certainly a success at Denison, 
yet he has other improvements to make 
upon it. He believes in making the sap 
travel in as small an amount of old wood 
as possible, therefore, prefers the long 
cane renewal system to the short spur 
renewal system. He lets the crab grass 
grow late in the fall to shade the land 
and prevent heavy rains from washing 
away the soil. He believes spraying a 
necessity for the best success. His soil 
is deep, sandy loam, upon which the 
grape seems at home. k. h. price. 
Texas Agl. Experiment Station. 
FARMING FOR WOMEN. 
In a recent R. N.-Y. the case is men¬ 
tioned of a widow left with children to 
educate, and $15,000 cash as her sole 
capital. Special stress was laid on the 
fact that her capital formerly earned 
seven per cent while now she can obtain 
but five, and the difficulty of bringingup 
a family on $750 a year. Undoubtedly, it 
is to the best interests of a community 
that the rates of interest should be low. 
At least that is a generally accepted 
theory, but I notice that when the rate 
is high, business men make more money. 
I remember that my father told me that 
when he was a young man, 50 years ago, 
in New England, a man was considered 
rich, who had less money than the widow 
meutioned. She would be rich to-day if 
one-third of her capital ($5,000) was in¬ 
vested in a small farm near a city. Such 
a place is now easy to obtain. That these 
farms will rise in value, as commercial 
prosperity declines in our country, is in¬ 
disputable. 
A woman with growing children and a 
small capital can give them luxuries on a 
farm that the interest on the money rep¬ 
resented in its cost would not permit. 
People living on small incomes in the 
city do not know what good food is. The 
cheap cuts of meat, the third-rate vege¬ 
tables and butter are the most they can 
hope for: cramped house room, the street 
for a play-ground, and the saloons for re¬ 
creation, this is the fate of the poor 
children in the c'ties. Now that the 
public school is omnipresent, the question 
of education does not enter. Cheap 
books, the daily press and the circulating 
library are accessible to all. Churches, 
book clubs, the cheap book shops, will 
educate any child who has a thirst for 
knowledge, and that thirst is born, not 
created in our children. If the demand 
is for something higher, free scholarships 
and various kinds of assistance are with¬ 
in the reach of the energetic scholar. 
Not least among the advantages of 
country living is the sense of greater per¬ 
sonal importance in a rural community. 
A poor person in the city is such a 
very small potato. One’s self-respect 
receives a constant chill by the neglect of 
his neighbors, who are so much better 
off that one can not avoid wholly the 
spontaneous feelings of “envy, malice 
and all uncharitableness,” unless he is a 
very great-minded person. No one has 
ever lived among city children without 
observing the dreadful rivalry between 
them on matters of dress, of living, of 
social position, etc. Country-bred chil¬ 
dren grow up mere naturally. They 
learn in Nature’s school; they find nat¬ 
ural pursuits ; they are in better physi¬ 
cal and moral health, and, if they live 
near enough the city to be inspired with 
the ambition not to be clod hoppers, 
their lives can be of the best. Their 
characters and bodies are stronger. The 
bone and sinew of our country comes 
from the farms almost without excep¬ 
tion. The country-bred man brings to 
the city his robust health, which is the 
prime factor in commercial or profes¬ 
sional success, and he brings a certain 
honesty of purpose that close contact 
with nature develops in us all. 
Believing in the capacity of women to 
manage farms, as is evidenced in every 
community, The Rural’s widow, with 
a cash capital of $15,000 and several 
children to love and to work for, 
seems to me to be an object of envy. 
Pity is wasted on her. Eet us hope that 
she has enough intelligence to appre¬ 
ciate the advantages the country affords 
for an investment for her money, her 
health, her comfort and her peace of 
mind. s. p. o. 
Washington, D. C. 
The complaint that it is sold as butter ! 
is at best not a very strong argument. 
If it is so good as to deceive buyers, and 
pass for butter, there can be little harm 
done if it is sold for what it will bring in 
competition, but as a license is required 
and every package is branded, and as, 
moreover, in domestic use it will not 
deceive any housekeeper, the prospect of 
its being sold for butter is more imagi¬ 
nary than real. 
Can any one imagine a more unblush- 
ingly dishonest argument than the above? 
Because the fraud is so complete, it ceases 
to be objectionable—indeed, in the eyes 
of this writer it almost becomes a virtue. 
With him a bungling, awkward thief or 
liar would be condemned ; but your slick 
knave, who robs you so skillfully that 
you never know it, is not to be blamed— 
nay, he would come in for commenda¬ 
tion ! Requiring a license and branding 
the packages are no protection to con¬ 
sumers. The party who eats it, in 99 
cases out of 100, thinks that he is eating 
butter, and he is swindled. Every man 
who touches it, from Phil Armour down 
is a party to the swindle. It is idle to 
beat about the bush. If Mr. Armour is 
honest, let him send out his butterine 
uncolored—not colored to exactly coun¬ 
terfeit butter. This he will not do, and 
he cannot escape the guilt of being an 
accessory in the swindle which is perpe¬ 
trated on every one who is beguiled into 
eating it. The man who manufactures 
counterfeit money sells it to the “shovers 
of the queer” for just what it is—a coun¬ 
terfeit ; but the law holds him equally 
guilty with the man who circulates it 
That is Armour’s position exactly. He 
makes a counterfeit butter and he sells 
it. anti hog. 
It is so Easv to Contract a Cold, which from 
Its obstinacy, may entail a long siege of discomforts 
before getting rid of It that the afflicted should re¬ 
sort at once to that old-established remedy, Dr. D. 
Jayne’s Expectorant, which will speedily remove all 
Coughs and Colds, and help you to avoid all compli¬ 
cations Involving the Throat and Lungs.— A dv. 
HARRIS’ TREE HEALER 
prevents and heals canker and decay. Unequaled 
for grafting, pruning, borers, etc. Wanted, a store¬ 
keeper as local agent for each town In the farming 
district. GEO. II. HARRIS. 
141 Liberty Street, Long Branch, N. J. 
DOWN ON “HOG BUTTER.” 
It has been my fortune at divers times 
to read defenses of hog butter, some of 
which displayed considerable ingenuity ; 
but the most ridiculous and impotent 
effort in that direction I ever remember 
to have seen is that of C. L. M., of Mil¬ 
waukee, in The R. N.-Y. of November 
11. He makes all sorts of statements at 
random, most of which are untrue. To 
reach satisfactory conclusions from false 
premises is just what we would expect 
from a mind so distorted as to see noth¬ 
ing wrong in hog butter, but such con¬ 
clusions will not satisfy people whose 
judgment is not so warped. 
You will admit that there is no objec¬ 
tion to its use, excepting a lack of flavor. 
I will admit nothing of the kind, but 
on the contrary insist that there are most 
decided objections to its use. There is 
not an authority in the country in mat¬ 
ters of hygiene, of sufficient standing to 
be worth quoting, who will allow that 
the fat of hogs is as wholesome as that of 
the bovine race. Moses was no fool when 
he forbade his followers to indulge in the 
flesh of swine. 
Butterine will keep without becoming 
rancid or tainted, while ordinary country 
butter, such as predominates in our mar¬ 
kets, will neither keep nor give satisfac¬ 
tion when first received. 
The above sounds well, but it is not 
true. Eutterine will become rancid and 
offensive—I have seen it in that condition 
tnn pff,pn he deceived. 
m _ f ^ „ a | —On account of 111 health. 
farm TUI w3IC« iwm sell my farm, con¬ 
taining 150 acres of bottom laDd on Skagit River, one 
mile from Sedro. I will sell all together, or will di¬ 
vide Into parcels of live to forty acres each. The 
soil Is the best for fruits and vegetables of all 
kinds, hops, hay or grain. For further particulars, 
call on or address. JOHN W. BENSON, Sedro, 
Skagit County, Washington. 
CLAREMONT Land Association, Surry Co., Va’. 
Otters 600 choice farms; 3,000 handsome town lots 
on James River, with terms to suit purchasers 
Free circular 
A NEW ERA IN AMERICAN 
For Descriptive AD A DEC General Fruit Cat 
LlBt and UuMrCd alogue, address 
T. V. MUNSON, Denison, Texas. 
BEST LINE 
CHICAGO AND STL0U1S 
"TO 
FOUR TRAINS DAILY 
New Watch Offer. 
WALTHAMS and ELGINS 
AT REDUCED PRICES 
We have just secured some bargains in 
watches, which we offer below. Watches 
previously offered, will be sold at the 
same prices as formerly. This is a special 
lot and the supply is limited. If you 
want a good watch cheap order quickly. 
These are for subscribers only. We sell 
do watches at these prices to non-sub¬ 
scribers, but new yearly subscribers may 
send an order for a watch with a subscrip¬ 
tion. These watches are guaranteed, 
and may be returned within three days 
after receipt, if not found as represented. 
SPECIAL* OFFER No. 1. 
Price, $ 1 2.50. 
No. 1 Is a genuine Waltham or Elgin watch. It is 
men’s or ladies' size, hunting case only. The works 
are handsomely jeweled and contain all the latest 
Improvements. Watch clubs and installment men 
get $38 for tnls watch. Our price, including de¬ 
livery, $12.50. 
Offer No. 2. Silver Stiffened Watch 
Men’s Size. Price, $7. 
No. 2 Is a genuine Waltham or Elgin watch, open 
face, stem wind and set, containing seven jewels and 
all Improvements. The case is made of solid silver 
neatly engraved and stiffened within with a plate of 
solid nickel silver. In this way a case Is produced 
equal in wear to solid silver. Price delivered, $7. 
Offer No. 3. Silveroid Watch. 
Men’s Size. Price, $5 50. 
No. 3 Is a men’s Waltham or Elgin watch with 
seven jewels, stem wind and set and all lmprove- 
men s. The case, open face only. Is made of so’id 
silveroid and composition metal which looks as well 
and will wear as long as solid silver. The crystal Is 
made of beveled French plate-glass so strong as to 
withstand any strain. The case is made by the 
great Kej stone Watch Case Companv of Philadel¬ 
phia, which makeB the James Boss ca-es and which 
turns out over 2,000 watch cases per day. Price 
delivered, $5 50. 
Offer No. 4. Solid Gold Watch. 
Men’s Size. Price, $28 50. 
No. 4 Is a men’s size hunting case Waltham oi 
Elgin watch. Tne works contain seven jewels, stem 
wind and set and all Improvements. This watch has 
works of the same kind as those in Nos. 1, 2 and 3, 
and thev are guarant. ed to be accurate. The case 
Is made of solid 10k gold and weighs about two 
ounces. This Is one of the best watches ever made 
and we guarantee It to be equal to the $100 watches 
sold by watch clubs andlnstailment men. We ought 
to get $50 for this watch, but we have considered the 
thousands of rubscribers who will wish to purchase 
H and we will deliver It anywhere In the United 
States for $28.50. 
Offer No. 5. Solid Gold Watch. 
Ladles’ Size. Price, $17 50. 
No. 5 Is a ladles' size Walt' am or Elgin watch. The 
solid gold case is handsomely engraved ai d the 
works are guaranteed tb be accurate In every In¬ 
stance. They contain seven jewels, stem wind and 
set and all improvements. Price delivered, $17.50. 
Offer No. 6. Gold Watch. 
Ladles’ Size. Price, $10 
No. 6 is a ladles’ Waltham or Elgin watch, hunting 
case, handsomely engraved This case Is made by 
r jlltng a heavy sheet of solid gold upon a sheet i f 
One stiff competition metal. Tnls watch looks just 
like a $75 solid gold watch and it will keep just as 
good time. Price delivered, $10. 
Offer No. 7. Solid Silver Watch. 
Ladles’ Size. Price, $9 50. 
No. 7 is a ladies size solid coln-sliver Waltham or 
Elgin watch. The works contain seven jewels, stem 
wind and set and all Improvements. The case is 
made of solid coin sliver neatly engraved, bold to 
subscribers only, delivery guaranteed, $3.U>. 
POINTS TO REMEMBER. 
All men’s size watches are equally suitable for 
I myself buy many tons of it every year 
for use in lumber camps. 
Just so. We would have guessed that 
if you bad not told us, and in this fact 
may be found the incentive to your zeal¬ 
ous defense of this most monstrous fraud. 
The additional statement that lumber¬ 
men prefer it to real butter I simply 
decline to believe. 
Canning and Preserving 
Fruits and Vegetables, and Pre¬ 
paring Fruit Pastes and Syrups.— 
The experience of practical workers. Hun¬ 
dreds of tested recipes from famous preserves. 
Also a chapter on evaporation of fruits on a 
large scale. 20c 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Cor. Chambers and Pearl Sts., New York. 
boys and all ladles’ size watches for girls. The 
great Waltham and Elgin Companies make nothing 
but witches of high grade. Our cases are the very 
best in the world. We offer only goods of the highest 
grades and we guarantee satisfaction in every in¬ 
stance. If you order a watch and It Is not received 
In good condition or if It fails to run, ship It back to 
us a d get your money or a new watch. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Cor. Chambers and Pearl Sts., New York. 
