236 
April l4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker 
Cor. Chambers and Pearl Sts ., New York, 
Natienal Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home*. 
BLBBBT 8. CABMAN, Bdltor-in-Chief. 
IIBBBBBT W. COHLINGWOOD, ManaRlnK Bdltor 
JOHN J. DILLON, BaslnesB Manager. 
CopvrlQhted 
Address all business oommnnloatlons and make all orders pay¬ 
able to TUB BUBAL NBW-TOBKEB. 
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 
transmlttlnx money. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 1894. 
cess, on the time for testing the eggs, and on the im¬ 
portance of a regulator. There is instruction even in 
the points of disagreement of such men. 
Advocates of the Wilson Bill have more than half 
claimed that if the duties on the agricultural produc¬ 
tions of Canada ivere removed or lowered, that country 
would soon respond with a reduction in the duties she 
places on our goods. This is evidently not to be. The 
Canadian Government has just declared its firm adher¬ 
ence to the principle of Protection, and most of its 
duties are to remain unchanged. As a rule, govern¬ 
ments and business interests are selfish. They give 
only such trade concessions as they are forced to give. 
It is doubtful if Canada will ever make us a present of 
any of her trade out of gratitude for a similar gift on 
our part. 
IT » « 
That is a mighty interesting discussion of the seed 
bean question on page 232. It contains useful lessons 
for all who try to save their own seed or to improve 
the strains they have in use. As Prof. Tracy says, a 
wire sieve has neither brains nor eyes, and both are 
needed in selecting breeding stock for plants. Go to 
the field and pick out the plant you want to reproduce. 
One man who has had a long experience in this busi¬ 
ness puts it this way : 
There never was a more damaging delusion than that hr saving the 
largest grains out of a lot of wheat you were getting the best seed. I 
have tried the experiments suggested again and again, and always 
with the same result. If I can get a farmer to try it, as I sometimes 
have. It rarely falls to Interest him sufficiently to start him oft on a 
more Intelligent method of seed selection. 
That is right. The seed contains the characteristics 
of the plant that produced it. You cannot trust to its 
indivldmil characteristics. 
* # 
The successful farmers of the coming 
growing season will, for the most part, 
be found among the thinking, studious 
farmers of the past winter. 
tt « 
Mb. Congeb, on page 231, uses a corn marker that 
cuts deep into the soil, and pulverizes the seed bed 
where the corn is afterward drilled in. How many 
farmers use this kind of a marker ? Isn’t the usual 
marker so made as simply to make a mark on the sur¬ 
face, pressing down rather than mellowing the soil ? 
Isn’t Mr. Conger’s tool a great improvement on such ? 
We would like to see a description of that marker. 
* • 
One of our friends rises into poetry as follows: 
If you your farm 
Would keep from harm, 
B’lve things observe with care; 
Of whom you buy; 
What seeds yon try. 
And how, and when, and where. 
We might go on and write a page about each of these 
five points, but it is about as well to leave them with 
you just as they are. ^ ^ 
Wheat is worth $1 per bushel to the grower. He 
ought to get that if he is to have fair returns for his 
labor. Grain buyers have decided these days that 
they will pay less than that. What is the producer to 
do ? The simplest remedy is to sell to parties that 
will pay more. In other words find new middlemen. 
Mr. Conger gives us an eye-opener on this point on 
page 233. Mrs. Ayrshire Cow and Miss A. Business 
Hen handle his wheat at satisfactory prices. Must 
you sell to human middlemen ? 
tt * 
Talk is revived at Washington of a tariff commission 
to settle tariff matters and take the question out of 
politics. Senator Morgan proposes that the Secretary 
of the Treasury and four others, two from east and 
two from west of the Mississippi River, shall form a 
court to settle tariff rates and duties. Not more than 
two of these members are to belong to any one party. 
They would be like a Supreme Court on the tariff. 
Who wou.d oppose this save those Congressmen who 
would find their occupation gone without debating 
the tariff ? ^ ^ 
Hebe is a communication from the Grand River 
Valley Horticultural Society, of Grand Rapids, Mich ; 
The Grand Blver Valley Horticultural Society assembled at Its 
March meeting, made honorable mention uf Ephraim W. Bull, and did 
further contribute Sr) toward the general fund started in bis behalf. 
Because of that natural modesty with which the most of our great In¬ 
troducers are imbued, the love of doing good to all regardless of self, 
Ephraim W. Bull lacks his share of this world's riches. His fame will 
last forever. Because he Introduced the Concord grape it should be¬ 
come a pleasant duty for all kindred societies to show due apprecia¬ 
tion of his worth. Joski’h a. Pearce, Pres. 
Tuomas L. Brown, Sec. 
There is no argument or comment needed about that. 
What are you and your society doing about this matter? 
« « 
Mr. Lehmann, on page 231, prefers several small in¬ 
cubators to one large one ; Mr. Ordway, whose farm 
is described on the first page, prefers one large to 
several smaller ones. Mr. Ordway uses a standing 
thermometer that supports itself on its own legs ; Mr. 
Lehmann uses one that lies nearly level, with its bulb 
in contact with a fertile egg, and needs to be supported 
when the chicks begin to hatch to keep them from 
knocking it over. Mr. Lehmann always tests by sun¬ 
light, Mr. Ordway by lamplight at night. Mr. Leh¬ 
mann turns each egg separately by hand ; Mr. Ordway 
turns a whole trayful at once in a very few seconds. 
When Mr. Ordway’s incubators are all running at their 
full capacity, it would take all of one man’s time to 
turn all the eggs by hand twice a day, and he would 
have no sinecure either. But they do agree substan¬ 
tially on the percentage of chicks likely to be obtained, 
on the fact that eternal vigilance is the price of suc¬ 
“ Feeding extraneous oil” is the latest scheme pro¬ 
posed in England for cheapening feeding rations. In 
simpler language, that means adding pure oil to coarse 
substances like straw, roots, etc., so as to bring up 
the percentage of fat. For example, horses have been 
successfully fed by adding linseed oil to a mixture of 
crushed oats, turnips, and finely-cut straw. The the¬ 
ory of this ration is that oil in linseed is cheaper 
than in other grains and fodders ; therefore, it is more 
economical to use it in combination with cheaper 
foods in order to give the desired percentage in a ra¬ 
tion. It will be interesting to know how far this use 
of cheap oil can be carried, 
« « 
The Supreme Court of Indiana seems to be giving 
the liquor dealers of that State many a hard rap. It 
has decided that suits for damages can be maintained 
against saloons so located as to injure the rental or 
real value of near-by property. That is fair. A saloon 
will give a black eye to any respectable locality. 
Somebody ought to pay for that black eye. Again, the 
City Council of Indianapolis has passed an ordinance 
taxing all breweries and agents located in the city. 
The court holds that this tax must be paid, as it is 
imposed as a restraint on the business and not as a 
means of revenue. That is good. The Government 
can restrain the business. It needs restraint for no 
one yet was brazen enough to claim any good done 
by it. 
•' * * 
Mr. Cheever takes the right view of what is proper 
work for a man or woman—page 228. He says : “Any 
work is proper for any one to do if the doer likes to do 
it, and can do it well.” This common-sense view will 
eventually be the only law appealed to in adjusting 
these matters. The Brooklyn elevated railways have 
recently substituted women for men as ticket agents, 
and New York will, very likely, soon follow. The 
New York Sun in commenting on this change says : 
Women have as Rood a rlRht as men have to take any kind of honest 
work which they are able to perform, or which they can secure. It Is 
Jreyond the power of the men to keep women out of any industry 
which they wish to follow, and in which they can earn the wages that 
they need. The men may as well make up their minds that this is a 
solemn fact. 
Further than that, the men may as well make up 
their minds that the time will surely come when 
women will receive all the political and legal rights 
that men enjoy. ^ ^ 
A WORD now to you two gentlemen—neighbors — 
who are spending valuable hours debating this tariff 
question. What respect would you have for a big dog 
that spent the night barking at a rat while a burglar 
went by his very nose to rob your house and kill your 
wife ? When you have formed a suitable opinion in 
your mind, run your eye over this table of figures for 
1893, taken from the Statistical Abstract of the United 
States: 
Total yalue of all Imports. t8(i6,400,922 
Total Interest bearlDg National debt. 68.5,037,100 
Total State, county, municipal and school deot Jf the 
United States. 1,135,210,442 
Total expenses of United States Government. 459,874,887 
Total earnings of all railroads. 1,191,857,099 
Total value of corn crop . .591,626,627 
Total value of all farm animals. 2,170,816,754 
Value of Liquors consumed.SS,4115,463,810 
In other words, the people of this country consumed 
in 1893, one single year, 1,207,731,908 gallons of liquor, 
spending an average of $2 a gallon at retail. This 
means over 18 gallons for every man, woman and 
child in the land. Just look at that table. Four times 
the amount of our public debt swilled down in one year. 
And all this time you, like a sound American citizen, 
are fighting over the tariff rat while the liquor thief is 
robbing your home. What’s the matter with you, 
anyway? Talk about “home markets,” do you? 
That’s right, take a look at your own market town. 
How many thousands are spent there each year for 
liquor ? Every cent of it might well go to buy food 
and clothing, and still there would be suffering from 
hunger and cold. Would not that increased market 
help you, Mr. Farmer ? For Heaven’s sake, man, drop 
the tariff rat and tackle the liquor thief 1 
BREVITIES. 
Our minister Is quite a hand fer gardenin’ and such. 
An’ long about this time o’ year he gits an awful touch 
Of that ’ere poultry fever—oh, he’s gut It bad this year. 
He’s bought an Incubator—now It never did appear 
Jest right ter upset Natur' with the tools o’ common men, 
Fer hatchln’ Is a duty that belongs unto a hen. 
I went ter see the parson an’ I found him In the shed 
Afore that Incubator with a sermon In his head. 
An’ come next Sunday mornln' that ’ere Incubator walked 
Right up into the pulpit by the way the parson talked. 
Sez he, “that Incubator is a real psalm o’ life. 
It teaches mighty lessons to you, brother, an’ yer wife. 
Them eggs must lay an’ swelter, an’ the heat must be less so; 
An’ Jess so many days an’ hours, fer, ef too fast or slow. 
You'll never hev no chickens, fer they’ll all die In the shell. 
An human Incubators must be run by rule as well. 
Fer hope an’ wish an' promise laid away In head an’ heart 
Hev gut ter stay an’ Incubate until the roots’ll start 
An’ grow right to yer character—you let 'em once get chilled. 
An’ there's an end o’ promise, fer the livin’ germ is killed. 
Be human Incubators; keep yer promise warm an’ then 
You’ll bear good fruit a-plenty.’’ Deacon Smith, tez he. Amen! 
The nozzle Is a pump kin. 
The head heals foot-wear. 
The hen on deck this week. 
A POOR incubator Is an Incubus. 
There's no death In tuberculous breath. 
Keep a good tool from the hands of a fool. 
Song of the graft—We're marching to scion. 
Too much tread power about woman's work. 
Corrosive sublimate for hen lice,” page 233. 
Is there any advantage In a manger for cattle ? 
Settle the fate of the “ phosphate,” page 235. 
It's not the new broom that sweeps clean, but the sweeper. 
WotJLi) you hire a boy to ride a cultivating horse ? Page 232. 
The reading farmerl It never rains but he pores—over a book. 
That wide-spread Planet Jr. rakes brus*! like a senior—page 234. 
A SMALL scoop net on the end of a long pole Is Just the thing for 
catching hens. 
We need pure men. Correct. Purify yourself before you begin on 
the neighbor.'. 
Here Is a story—farmers, heed It well—there's lots of milk within a 
pumpkin shell. 
The public don’t care a red cent abouti/ou as aperson —they’d rather 
know wbat good you do. 
Is there ever a time In the life of a hog, when It should be confined 
on any kind of a door for any great length of time ? 
The trouble with the coward’s ears Is that they echo only fears. 
There is a moral deafness there that changes hope Into despair. 
A LADY writes that she has rented her onion ground to the minis¬ 
ter, who has dve sons to help him. He Is certainly well buoyed up ! 
MR. Conger, page 231, gives us a line illustration of the value of 
blood even In a pumpkin. By the way, few farmers ever give this 
crop a fair show. 
A Florida friend writes that he has picked ripe tomatoes outdoors 
every day since Christmas. Will you move to Florida to do that, or 
put up your own greenhouse 7 
If any one wants anything easier than the ” Simplicity roost,” page 
243, he will have to get It elsewhere. Who says that may not be worth 
a year’s subscription to some one? 
" Feeding for manurlal value” pays better with hens than with 
any other animal. You can feed them cheap nitrogen In cut bone and 
there is least water In hen manure. 
Mr. Lehmann is anything but a layman In the Incubator business. 
Mind what he says about regulators In Incubators. Isn’t your time 
too valuable to spend sitting up with a thermometer? 
When the man of the house closes up at the barn, the woman sits 
down to her work with a darn and gives with her needle a big heal¬ 
ing dose of patch to the base of the broken-down hose ! 
This rule for the pig pen where “thumps” doth abound; Just let the 
poor fellows get out on the ground. Sklm-mllk and a run are a couple 
of trumps to play In a game that will euchre the “thumps.” 
MR. MAPES writes that ’’ Hens by the Acre ” are all right. He gets 
300 to 350 eggs per day, and estimates a profit of $2 an hour for time 
spent In caring for them. Twenty acres will go into hens this summer. 
Vrop. Garner claims to have discovered six sounds in the lan¬ 
guage of gorillas. There Is one familiar sound in the hcg pen which 
we may spell squeal. That means, “ it's a long time between 
meals I ” 
A MANITOBA man says that with a little trouble he can get all the 
liquid manure he can take away. He can back a tank on wheels under 
a spout that runs from a horse stable. WLat Is the difference between 
that and picking up silver dollars ? 
The reports of 89 lire Insurance companies doing business In New 
York State show that $5,243,705.74 are due from policy holders who have 
not paid up their premiums and yet hold their policies. That sort of 
credit business Is dangerous for those who pay cash. 
A West 'Virginia cow comes forward with the following : 
“ The midwinter sun shines but dim 
When I live on dry fodder and hay. 
But when I have silage to eat, 
December’s as.pleasant as May.”— old bbindle. 
Some farmers on Long Island with considerable woodland have a 
way of paying their fertilizer bills In cordwood. Often the same man 
Is agent for both—so a simple exchange Is made. More land Is cleared, 
and cash payment Is avoided. What Is wrong about that ? 
r 
