852 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 23 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker 
Cor. Chambers and Pearl Sts., New York. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home*. 
ELBERT S. CARMAN, Edltor-ln-Chlef. 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD. Managing Editor 
ERWIN G. FOWLER, Associate Editor. 
JOHN J. DILLON, Business Manager. 
Copyrighted 1893. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay¬ 
able to THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Be sure that the name and address of sender, with name of Post- 
office 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, DECEMBER 23, 1893. 
TF YOU WILL KINDLY FAVOR US. 
We have an urgent request to make. It is not for 
the benefit of our readers—it is for our own benefit. It 
is, however, one of those services that may be rendered 
by them without costing anything. We make the re¬ 
quest of every subscriber. Instead of waiting for your 
subscription to expire, we beg that you will renew 
from two weeks to a month in advance of the end of 
the subscription term. Those who have not considered 
it have little or no idea of the amount of time and labor 
this little favor would save us—at a time, too, when 
every one in the office is overwhelmed with the press¬ 
ing work of the trying subscription season. Timely 
renewals save us the time and labor of taking the 
names out of our subscription list, distributing the 
type, and then again writing and re-setting them and 
placing them in the mailing list when the renewal is 
received. It also assists in reducing to a minimum 
mistakes of address and name. 
Will not our readers—one and all—grant this re¬ 
quest ? 
The expiration of the subscription term is printed 
upon every label. If, for instance, a subscription ex¬ 
pires December 30, 1893, the label will show it thus: 
30 | 93 . 
* # 
To illustrate how much a compliance with the above 
request will assist us, let us, for example, suppose a 
cold, wet April making it impossible to do much, if 
any, farm work. The whole of the two months’ work 
is crowded into the single month of May, instead of 
being distributed over the two months. The labor re¬ 
quired is also increased. This is just what hap¬ 
pens when our friends delay renewing until their sub¬ 
scriptions expire, which with the majority is in the 
early months of the year. Extra work is crowded into 
a shorter time, and the labor is also increased by the 
delay. Will you do your part to help us save some 
of this labor ? # * 
We shall be pleased to send specimens of the Rural 
New-Yorker to any and all names and addresses with 
which our readers may favor us, and we shall thank 
them for doing so. * * 
The R N.-Y. spoke out a few weeks ago about the 
tricks of certain Dorset breeders. This is what the 
Dorset Quarterly says about it: 
We are quite glad The Rural “spoke.” The “Imposter and the 
Iraud” will have to go. This Association was not organized for the 
protection of such breeders. 
No matter what it was organized for, it must now 
keep the records of this breed clean. Let us not have 
shepherds that disgrace their sheep. 
* « 
Is our friend (see page 847) fair in charging that 
The R. N.-Y. lost him $100 by its advice to use fertil¬ 
izers ? We do not know that we have ever advised a 
farmer to run in debt for fertilizers. In fact, what 
we have aimed to do is to advise, as Mr. Bray under¬ 
stood us, the use of fertilizers within one’s means. 
Mr. Bray followed this advice and made money by 
doing it. Our other friend could see no benefit from 
the fertilizer and charges the entire loss to us. We 
once had a man ask us about the use of cotton-seed 
meal for cows. We figured out the value of this food 
as well as we could and took particular pains to caution 
against feeding too much of it. The man fed it just 
as he would bran and killed the cows, and now says it 
was our advice to use the cotton-seed meal that killed 
the cattle. While this is not a fair illustration of the 
fertilizer case, still in how far are we responsible for 
the loss ? We will guarantee that a man who under¬ 
stands the use of fertilizers can take the land on which 
our friend used his $100 worth, and get the greater 
part of that value back in subsequent crops. We have 
great faith in the use of fertilizers because we have 
seen results from them in hundreds of different situa¬ 
tions and conditions, but we have never yet, that we 
know of, advised a man to run in debt for them as a 
first experiment in their use. 
* * 
We have often told our readers about the difference 
between the Boston and New York markets as regards 
eggs. In the former dark eggs are wanted, while they 
cannot be too white for the New York taste. In the 
matter of asparagus, too, there is a difference, Boston 
demanding the dark green, wj.ile new York is better 
satisfied with white stalks. Boston, too, wants a yellow 
onion, while New York finds the best sale for red or 
pure white. There are more or less marked differences 
in other markets, and the grower must understand 
just what his market wants in order to get the best 
trade. # # 
Mr. Hodgman makes a point about wheat seeding. 
The fact is that we do use altogether too much seed. 
The R. N.-Y. has had a good deal of experience in 
thin seeding of wheat in growing its cross-breds and 
hybrids. When we put good wheat kernels one foot 
apart each way we obtain a fair yield. A machine 
that would drop wheat accurately four inches or more 
apart each way would prove a great boon to farmers. 
As Mr. Hodgman says, with such seeding one would 
have to be very sure that all the kernels were perfect. 
In fact, a good deal of the heavy seeding may be 
necessary because a good share of the seed never 
would grow anyway. # * 
“ Wait till I’m rich, and I’ll send The R. N.-Y. to 
every farmer friend I have ; its one of my hobbies,” 
writes a good friend from far off Washington. Seems 
to us that we have mentioned this same plan before, 
but we are glad to see others of the same mind. This 
friend has the will, and exhibits the proper spirit. 
Other friends may have the ability. What better 
Christmas gift to a struggling farmer than a paper 
which shall each week during the year bring grateful 
memories of a thoughtful friend, prove an inspiration 
to better effort, and be a practical help in the every¬ 
day duties of the farm ? Haven’t you, dear reader, 
upon whom fortune has smiled, such a friend whom 
you may thus remember at this holiday season? 
* # 
A company over in Connecticut is sending out very 
attractive circulars of a “ Healing Wax,” which is 
guaranteed to cause new bark to grow on any cut 
surface of the tree—even on old, dried and shriveled 
specimens. Some of our readers want to know what 
we think of it. We have no faith in any wax that 
promises to “raise the dead,” and that is about what 
this circular promises. Any break in the bark of a 
tree is helped by a smear of grafting wax. A wax 
used successfully by some nurserymen is made as fol¬ 
lows : Two pounds resin, one pound beeswax and one- 
half pound tallow—melted well together, poured into 
water and worked as one would work molasses candy. 
This will stand the weather and will probably do just 
as much good as the advertised article, though the 
latter sells at 50 cents a pound ! 
* * 
We have often told our readers how the early settlers 
in this country depended on fish with which to manure 
their corn. There were few sheep in those days, but 
the dogs thus early in history developed a desire to 
work injury to agriculture by digging the fish out of 
the corn fields. W. H. Bowker in his address on The 
Harvest of the Sea records the following Record of 
the town of Ipswich, Mass., dated May 11, 1644 : 
It is ordered that all doggs for the space of three weeks after the 
publishing hereof, Bhall have one legg tyed up, and If such a dogg 
shall break loose and be found doing any harm, the owner of the dogg 
shall pay damage. If a man refuses to tye up his dogg’s legg and hee 
bee found scrapelng up flsh In the corn Held, the owner thereof shall 
pay 12 pence damage beside whatever damage the dogg does. But If 
any flsh their house lotts, and receive damage by doggs, the owners of 
those house lotts shall bear the damage themselves. 
That was 250 years ago. The average cur of to-day 
has no more love for agriculture than had his fish¬ 
digging ancestor. We need a revival of the old law— 
only we move to substitute “ neck” for “ one legg.” 
* * 
Not in years have prices of turkeys, good ones, too, 
been so low as during the past few weeks. The num¬ 
ber raised this year seems to have been unusually 
large, but this is not the only cause of low prices. 
Times have been hard, and in many a city family the 
customary Thanksgiving turkey has been replaced by 
the lower priced chicken or fowl, or by still cheaper 
meat. The result has been a market full of turkeys 
which must be sold at lower prices, or not at all. 
Many buyers and shippers lost money on their Thanks¬ 
giving shipments, and the result has been a dull out¬ 
look for the holiday trade. Still lower prices are 
likely to prevail. Western buyers east of the Missis¬ 
sippi are reported to be offering but seven cents per 
pound for the best live turkeys, and west of that 
river, six cents is the limit. In this >city to-day, live 
turkeys are selling at wholesale for six to eight cents 
per pound : so that it would seem that buyers are 
offering “ all the traffic will bear.” Still many holders 
refuse to sell at these figures. More may be realized 
by holding prime stock until later, but whether enough 
more to pay the extra cost of keeping, is an open 
question. # # 
Here is a Christmas thought for you : On October 
1, 1893, there were in the United States, in warehouses 
and in the hands of liquor dealers, 188,525,773 gallons 
of distilled spirits—whisky, rum, brandy, etc.; all this 
besides beer, wines and other liquors. There were 
also produced and sold during the year, 273,839,694 
pounds of manufactured tobacco. If we put the spirits 
at the low retail price of $1.50 per gallon, and the to¬ 
bacco at $1 per pound, we have the sum of $556,624,353. 
We believe that five figures would more than represent 
the actual good done by all this liquor and tobacco, 
granting every claim for medicinal virtues. Let us 
consider what it would mean to the farmers of this 
country if the value of only that part of the liquor and 
tobacco that does harm in the world could be spent for 
needed food and clothing ! Do you see how small the 
tariff question is compared with this one of temper¬ 
ance ? , * 
BREVITIES. 
“ I’ve gone off to mother s for to spend the afternoon. 
Get the Are astarted, John, for I’ll be coming soon: 
Get the water boiling for potatoes and for tea!” 
That's the letter Mary, my good wife, left home fer me. 
I ain’t no objection fer to help her now and then, 
’Cause I’ve always noticed that I git my pay agal’ - . 
So 1 went a-huntln’ fer some kindling wood tei prick 
That ere Are ter burning; but there wasn't ary stick 
On the place thet wasn’t sorter wet an’ soft an’ green. 
Couldn’t s.art It burnln' ’till I poured on kerosene 
Wife she come an' ketched me down upon my hands and knees, 
Blowln’ at the bottom of the draft ter make a breeze. 
“ Gut the water bllin’ ? ” Way, she didn't crack a smile. 
I went out an’ flggered what It cost ter dry a pile 
Of sech soggy ttmber ez she worked with every day 
In thet stove -1 flggered that It didn't never pay. 
So I says, *• Now, Mary, 1 ain’t never done ye right, 
But I’ll git things started up afore termorrer night 
On a Christmas present of a good big pile o’ wood 
In thet woodshed yunder thet’ll keep ye runnln’ good!” 
An’ I’m a gonter do It ler, I swan, 1 ain't fergot 
How my big lungs gut emptied blow in' heat beneath that pot. 
Crack a quack. 
Due bury - paying a bill. 
Make the cat earn her fat! 
Who takes pride in his failures? 
He Is a coward who neglects his cow. 
Can we dis cuss the devil by discussirg him ? 
List to the tales of the cow tall holders on page 859 
Any defaulters In the henhouse ? De fault them with an ax ! 
Do any of your neighbors prefer darkness to light In agriculture? 
Think of the possibilities in that Delaware round silo. They are 
justcrunnlng out of It. 
A man’s mouth Is his nczzle. Keep the upper lip well screwed up so 
that the words will not spread too much. 
Do y ou notice how, everywhere, frultmen understand that too much 
stable manure means too much wood growth? 
Have you noticed, as our correspondent on page859 says, that a 
calf switches Its tall to express both satisfaction and anger? 
There Is certainly something In that Paragon chestnut culture 
described by Mr. Woodward. Here Is a good chance to Interest the 
boys. 
It Is strange, after all the discussions of past years, how easily the 
proposition to admit Utah as a State passed the House of Representa¬ 
tives. 
We learn of a man who makes a good living selling “certlfled eggs” 
which he delivers In suitable packages from day to day. Whom can you 
get to certify to your eggs? 
Cut on, Brother Wilson we don’t care a button say Dorset & 
Shropshire; you can’thurt our mutton in fact, sir, your tariff will give 
us a “pull” for we are the fellows to breed out the wool. 
There was a Short-horn cow at Chicago 17 years old without any 
teeth, that made two pounds of butter a day. That was because they 
gave her food that did not need crushing. She was In partnership 
with a feed mill. 
No “oleo” that ever was made Is as dangerous as milk for children, 
that Is made from sour brewers’ grains. The “oleo” beam In Armour's 
eye Is as big as a bairel Cast it out, but don't forget the brewers’ 
grains mote In thine own eye. 
We are ready to hear all sides of that potato planting question. 
Take the case of a man with 10 acres to plant. Shall It be hand or 
machine, and why? It seems to us that this Is a live question and the 
only wav to settle ltiwould be to hear from those who have tried both 
ways. Those who simply guess at it will be apt to make a mess of the 
answer. 
In the 10 months ending October 31 Americans Imported meat to the 
value of $392,340. It Is understood that t^is Is largely mutton from 
Canada and Ireland for use In the swell restaurants In Boston, New 
York and Cnicago. In the same 10 months we imported 3,589,385 
bushels of potatoes against 249,673 bushels last year and 8,259,476 
pounds of cheese against 7,234,942 pounds. 
Those Maine hens, page 859 were good eaters. An average of about 
50 fowls ate 3,370 pounds of meat and grain besides green food and 
scrap j. This leads to another point about hens Most of the good 
records of profit come from regions where prices and grain are both 
high. In the far West there are places where prices are high and 
grain very low. Why are not these the spots for proflt? 
How many copies of the bulletins of the experiment station In your 
State are taken at your post-office? How many of your farmers know 
the address of the secretaries of your State agricultural or horticul¬ 
tural societies? How many would ever make use of such addresses 
If they had them? What about It? Well, all these things cost money, 
and a portion of It comes out cf the farmer. We want to see If any of 
your folks are trying to get some of that money back in the form of 
Information. 
