8 
ttlE RURAL NEW-VORKER. 
January 6 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker 
Cor. Chambers and Pearl Sts., New York. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBEKT B. CABMAN, Bdltor-ln-Chlef. 
IIEBBEBT W. COLLINGWOOD. ManaKlnjf Editor 
EBWIN G. FOWLEU, Associate Editor. 
JOHN J. DILLON, Business Manager. 
Copyrighted 1H94. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay¬ 
able to THE BUBAL NEW-YOBKEB. 
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, JANUARY 6, 1894. 
SuBSCKiBEBS are particularly requested to notice the 
date on the address label of The R. N.-Y. and to renew 
a few weeks before the expiration of the subscription 
term. Our friends will do us a real service by com¬ 
plying with this request. 
* » 
Let some of our older heads put on their thinking 
caps in aid of that one-horse fruit man who states his 
case on page 4. You see he will hire all his two- 
horse work done. What we want is an idea of the 
tools and tactics that his one horse can handle. This is 
a good case for investigation. Let’s hear from you. 
* * 
How many hens must one keep in order to make a 
bone cutter profitable ? That is a question a good 
many men are asking before deciding about the pur¬ 
chase of a cutter. It is important enough to warrant 
a good discussion. We say 100 hens and the necessary 
young stock to keep up that number of layers. Is 
that right ? ^ ^ 
Some authorities say that clover hay causes heaves 
or broken wind in horses. That in localities where 
clover and kindred plants are not used for horse feed, 
the disease is practically unknown. What has been 
your experience ? Do you consider bright, well made 
clover hay worse for horses than hay from Timothy or 
other grasses ? Why ? * » 
We shall be glad to have that discussion about the 
cost of a p:,und of butter which started at the New 
York State Dairymen’s convention transferred to the 
columns of The R. N.-Y. If some men can make good 
butter at a dime a pound while others have to pay 
twice that, we want to know where the extra dime 
goes to. Who gets the fun of spending it ? Is it the 
dairyman or the cow ? ^ ^ 
In these days of complaint about hard times we 
wish to say that the farm with which a member of 
the Rural Publishing Company is associated, has paid 
better in 1893 than for the past five years. The chief 
articles sold are butter, stock, potatoes and eggs. 
Prices have been fair and sales easy. In fact, to-day, 
in spite of the fraud and. humbug of oleomargarine, 
skillful dairying promises as good an opening as any 
other branch of farming. 
* * 
It is said that a large packing house in Kansas City 
has commenced poultry killing on a large scale and 
purposes to make this a regular branch of their 
slaughtering. If this example be followed by other 
houses, the poultry trade will be greatly changed. 
Batchers can buy their poultry of the same firms that 
supply dressed beef and provisions. The trade in live 
poultry will be increased and the trade of the smaller 
dealers who ship dressed poultry toothe market will 
be hurt. In other words, the poultry trade will follow 
more or less in the steps of dressed beef. 
* « 
In these close times there is a natural tendency to 
economize. Sometimes, in our desire to chop off ex¬ 
penses, we go at it the wrong way. A common mistake 
is to cut off the expenses that do not promise an imme¬ 
diate return. An illustration of this is a failure to 
have purebred stock registered because of the cost. 
Registering an animal does not add to its immediate 
value. A registered cow will not give any more milk 
because her pedigree has been certified, nor will a h^g 
put on more meat because the officers of the associa¬ 
tion have signed certain papers about him. And yet 
these papers will give the animal a certain breeding 
value that cannot be obtained in any other way. Do 
you want to sell the animal for meat or for blood ?— 
that is the question. There are times when the culls 
and the runts are all registered, but, with the present 
outlook for trade, it seems to us that the inferior ani¬ 
mals would better be knifed and only the best ones 
registered. The breeds will be greatly helped if such 
a sifting could be carried out. 
A NEW word just getting into the dictionaries is de¬ 
mote which means the opposite of promote. To pro¬ 
mote a man we say to him in effect—“Friend, go up 
higher!” To demote him we should say—get back 
into your proper place and stand on your own merits. 
There has been altogether too much promote and too 
little demote in the world’s history. A system of 
wholesale demotion might well begin now. The best 
place for the farmer to begin is among his live stock. 
Start in at once and demote some of the frauds which 
by reason of beauty or pedigree have slipped ahead of 
the positions they could win by honest work and 
worth. , ^ 
Mb. O. W. Mapes, whose articles on “Hens by the 
Acre” have attracted some attention, tells us that 
there is a good demand at tanneries for hen manure. 
Of course to be of any value for tanning the manure 
must be well kept and not mixed with trash. Mr. 
Mapes sells this manure at 30 cents a bushel. The 
question for the farmer to decide is whether he can 
get 31 cents out of the bushel of manure for fertilizing 
purposes. Or, can he buy with the 30 cents moie 
plant food than the bushel of manure contains ? That 
is the point to figure on. If a man could get $2. .50 a 
ton in cash for all the manure in his barnyard, it 
might pay him to sell every ounce of it and buy fertil¬ 
izer with the money. 
* * 
Amebica is not the only country wherein a man may 
rise from humble to high positions. M. Frey, who was 
recently elected president of the Swiss Republic, came 
to this country before the war as a poor immigrant 
—so poor that he was glad to chop wood for a farmer 
in Orange County, N. Y. He worked in various places 
as a farm hand, and at length entered the army, rising 
to the rank of major for gallant services. Going back 
to Switzerland he entered political life and was sent 
to represent his country at Washington for six years. 
Now he is president of the oldest republic in the 
world. It is a singular and romantic story. While 
M. Frey attained his highest honors abroad, still his 
life in America helped him. The war gave him a 
chance to show that the poor Swiss immigrant was 
made of the stuff that gives presidents their greatness. 
* * 
One of the largest milling firms in this city has do¬ 
nated 25,000 sacks of fiour to be distributed among the 
poor. The president of the company, in making the 
presentation, says that the company appreciates the 
fact that its success was largely due to the support 
given it by the wage workers. It did not wish the 
recipients to feel that they were objects of charity, but 
were simply.receiving a New Year’s gift. Verily it 
would seem that the millennium is drawing nigh! What 
a change there would be if all the wealthy corpora¬ 
tions, companies, trusts, and individuals who have 
grown so from the support derived from a generous 
public were to manifest the same appreciative, gener¬ 
ous spirit. It would go far to dissipate the spirit of 
antagonism now so prevalent among the people at 
large against the selfish, greedy, grasping concerns 
which are now fattening upon the people’s patronage 
without showing any appreciation of the source of all 
their prosperity. * ^ 
Mb. Chapman's article calls up a matter we have 
mentioned before—the importance of the seed-potato 
growing in New York State. The potato exhibit at 
the World’s Fair did much to advertise the excellence 
of our potatoes, and it only remains for New York 
State farmers to grow a clean, healthy stock of varie¬ 
ties carefully sorted, true to name, and then “work 
up a trade.” We take the ground that if the proposed 
Wilson tariff bill become a law, the better class of 
growers will be fo' ced, as never before, to use the best 
seed they can get as a measure of economy, just as 
dairymen in hard times are forced to breed better and 
weed out the robber cows. Let New York State farmers 
breed for “ blood ” in the potato. In time of fiood the 
difference between water and blood is always easiest 
to see. Not only that, but if the expected rush of pota¬ 
toes set in from Canada, there will surely be a dis¬ 
crimination in favor of tubers of best quality. Here, 
again, wide-awake farmers can come out ahead. 
•» * 
When a farmer says that he can see no difference in 
results from a high-grade fertilizer and low grade 
goods, ask him if there is any difference in effects be¬ 
tween horse, cow, and poultry manures. The “chunk” 
of manure, so much disliked by the plant, generally 
comes from the cow stables, and all gardeners know 
that, for forcing crops, horse manure is far better than 
cow. In fact at the same price, and with equal haul¬ 
ing distance, nine out of ten farmers will prefer horse 
manure to any other. Continued use for many years 
has shown farmers that horse manure gives the better 
results. Why? One reason is that its mechanical con¬ 
dition is better—it can be the more easily handled and 
spread. The chief reason is, however, that it contains 
less water and more nitrogen, potash and phosphoric 
acid to the ton than the cow manure. The difference 
is the same as that between the high and low grade 
fertilizers. We could select single seasons and crops to 
show that cow manure did as well as horse manure. 
That would not prove its superiority, yet it is just the 
argument used against high-grade fertilizers. 
« « 
Thebe was a time in the world’s agriculture when 
such a thing as a gentleman steer or ox was unknown. 
The work on the farms was done by ox-power and the 
same animals that drew the plow and wagon provided 
the beef. The ox was considered the most economical 
animal because his work, though slow, was safe 
because his carcass sold for enough to pay all 
expenses of keeping him. But soon the work horse 
came as a competitor of the ox. He could work 
faster and with more intelligence than the ox, but he 
was worthless after death, and he also promised to 
take from the ox half his value—that of working. The 
change from ox to horse labor made the former a 
gentleman—he had nothing to do but to grow big and 
fat. It was also a change from general to special pur¬ 
pose labor. We have heard men say that farmers 
would be better off to-day if horse labor on the farm 
had never been dreamed of. Such men claim that all 
inventions or departures that increase one man’s 
power to produce food are bad for the farmer because 
they increase the output of food products without 
providing a corresponding increase in consumptive 
demand. This is a question that is of more than usual 
interest just now. It seems to us that there can be no 
hope for an immediate return of higher prices. The 
hope for the farmer is in cheapening the cost of produc¬ 
ing a bushel or pound of what he grows, and it is with 
this end in view that he should study the develop¬ 
ments of science and invention. 
* « 
BREVITIES. 
And 80 you want to win a prize in 1894 ! 
You think some New Year’s present lies bevond the openlnK door 
That would be Just about your size I That’s rl^ht, my boy, pitch in; 
The faithful-hearted and the wise are always sure to win. 
Your duty face with fearless eses and ne'er ne,;iect your work, 
For Mother Fortune does despise the coward and the shirk. 
Steer clear of all deceits and lies: let thoroughness provide 
A solid footing as you rise; walk well before you ride. 
And strengthen all the binding ties of family and home, 
For, if the voice of love once dies, no happiness can come. 
And top li all with enterprise: get up your force and steam. 
And then, my son will enter prize beyond your wildest dream. 
Are you bridle wise yet? 
G ROW cow peace in your stable. 
Should starving go with calving ? 
To find the secret of luck—put p before It. 
The liner the seed the liner must be the soil. 
Poultry is never “ dressed ” till it is naked. 
The seat of your farm’s hnance may need a berry patch! 
It should take a good ram this year to wheiher the storm. 
If you had a “whimpering cow’ would you try to stop her? 
Bonks are good for ad crops—but they can't touch brains. 
Don T hasten to “ ring out the old’’till you’ve extracted all the 
gold 
The scrups should be graduated from the barnyard to the bone- 
yard. 
Did it ever occur to you that pastures should be the richest land on 
the tarm? 
Ip you win "hide your light under a bushel” don’t put yourself 
under witu It. too. 
Will it be credit or cash this year ? Obtain the pcsslbilliles of ihe 
fo-mer through the latter ! 
The man who will not pack his goods in neat packages puts a busi¬ 
ness bit In the mouth of his own trade. 
That mare described on page lo has had enough theory. Let her 
now be confronted by the condition powder. 
When a man says he “planted squashes and they aU came up pump¬ 
kins,” It Is safe to say that he got just what he planted. 
“ Sporting BLOOD’’is the eleme.ot that proxpts a man to tight 
back when he thinks his rights are in danger. Do you need more or 
less of it? 
When Mr. Woodward gets his machine for testing dairymen in 
shape, we want to know what acid he will use for separating the good 
from the poor. 
We agree with Mr. Wing that It would pay the Dorset Horned sheep- 
breeders to have an expert visit and inspect all sheep that are oiTered 
for registration. 
We thought that record of a fertilizer failure would call Mr. Lewis 
out—page 3. Tnere is no farmer in America better qualihed to talk 
about fertilizeis 
This old matter tf improving land by plowing in treen crops alone 
having started anew, let us ask what does rye add to the soil that 
makes It better abie to bear a crop?' 
If you cannot get 50 goed cents fo-your wheat, you had best let it 
go to the live stock to eat. For one good way the fail in y^iir proUis 
to stem is to transfer the wh to an m. 
Now the question Is, if a man puts 17.50 worth of manure or ferill- 
Izer on a crop of wheat, nas he any right to charge the whole of it to 
the wheat ? Doesn t that show a weakness of faith in the manure? 
Watch the grass. 
THAT was a neat little potato experiment recorded on page ?. The 
question is, was that a fair way of ranking ihe potatoes? 'I'hey gave 
Urst rank to the variety that gave tne greatect weight in y is id as com¬ 
pared with the weight of the seed planted, is that the point the potato 
grower strives for? 
If there is any doubt about the quality of tbe milk you buy, steril¬ 
izing it, as described on page 2, is a good thing to do. It is an opera¬ 
tion for the buyer—not for the seller. Sterilizing is good for the 
babies in the sense that it “keeps” the milk from souring, but it does 
not make It a better food. Quite the contrary. 
