284 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. May5 
THK 
Rural New-Yorker 
Vor. Ghamberi and Pearl Sts ,, Hew York. 
Natlanal Weakly Journal for Country and Suburban Homaa. 
HLBHBT B. CABMAN, Bdltor-ln-Chlef. 
HHBBBBT W. COLLINGWOOD, ManaRlnR BdltOT 
JOHN J. DILIiON, BuBlnesB Manager. 
Copyrighted 1H94. 
AddreBB all buBlneBS oommunloationB and make all orders pay¬ 
able to THB BUBAL NBW-YOBKBB. 
Be Bure that the name and address of sender, with name of Post 
office and State, and what the remittance 1b for, appear In every letter. 
Money orders and bank drafts on New York are the safest means of 
transmitting money. 
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 1894. 
Prof. S. W, Johnson’s valuable article in this issue 
will be followed next week by one from the pen of 
Sir J.cB. Lawes, the greatest agricultural authority 
of this or any age; the man to whom farmers, 
whether they know it or not, are more indebted than 
to any other man dead or living, while the rest of man¬ 
kind has been indirectly benefited to the same extent. 
Dr. Lawes’s article expresses his opinion, first, that 
phosphoric acid rendered soluble by the action of sul¬ 
phuric acid is of the same commercial value whatever 
the source. That, second, it is doubtful whether the 
phosphoric acid in bones ought to he rendered soluble by 
acid. If finely ground, it is sufficiently soluble for all 
practical purposes, as, in the decay of the animal por¬ 
tion, the phosphoric acid becomes soluble. That, third, 
contrary to our (station) valuation, he places a higher 
value upon nitrogen in the form of nitric acid (nitrate 
of soda) than that in ammonia salts. Practically Dr. 
Lawes gets a larger yield of produce from a given weight 
of nitrogen as nitric acid than from the nitrogen of 
sulphate of ammonia. 
Finally Dr. Lawes tells us that when sulphate of 
ammonia is placed in the land, the sulphuric acid com¬ 
bines with the lime, and a good deal of lime is washed 
out of the land, so much so that when he has used 
large quantities of ammonia salts in his grass experi¬ 
ments, he has been compelled to replace the lime by 
an application of lime and chalk. 
That’s a good scheme Mr. Carll has of using milk 
from the poorest cow to feed the calf. The poor cow 
is a curse. Make her also a nurse. That is all right, 
but how do you know which is your poorest cow ? 
Not one in ten farmers can pick her out. 
* 
Take fine sawdust and use it for manure. The pot¬ 
ash and phosphoric acid are in such forms that the 
plants can but very slowly utilize them. Burn the 
sawdust to ashes and these elements become available 
plant food. Take fine bone meal and you have an 
available form of phosphoric acid. Burn the bone 
and this phosphoric acid becomes less available. What 
about that action of fire ? 
* 
Wk recently spent a day on that New Jersey farm 
where “ certified milk ” is produced. The daily output 
now reaches 1,400 quarts. A number of new things 
have been tried since we wrote the place up last sum¬ 
mer. We shall tell all about them later. There is a 
great interest in pure milk lately, both because of the 
tuberculosis scare and the fact that typhoid fever was 
brought into Montclair, N. J., through a milk supply. 
We presume you notice, young man, how machinery 
is taking the place of hand labor. You can’t stop it. 
It will do you no good to fight it. You will not com¬ 
pete with a machine until you manage to get along 
without food, clothing and home. Two things are 
open to you. One is to become an expert at the jobs 
which the machine never can do, and the other is to 
learn to manage the machine so as to make it most 
effective. The machine has no brains—you have. 
That difference is your salvation. 
it 
That scheme on page 279 for keeping celery in the 
cellar, may be an excellent one so far as the celery 
and the ease of getting it when wanted are concerned, 
but how about the health of the family living over a 
cellar filled with vegetables in which there must 
necessarily be more or less decay ? Isn’t the health 
of the family of more importance than the saving of a 
little time and labor in getting the vegetables as 
needed ’ On the Hicks farm, described in The R. N.-Y. 
last fall, the writer was taken into a large, light, dry, 
roomy cellar under one of the farm buildings. Here 
ranged along one side were casks filled with vinegar 
in process of making. Then there were bins and bar¬ 
rels of potatoes and the different vegetables, apples, 
etc. All were in good condition, easy of access, and 
removed from any liability of contaminating the air 
of the dwelling. “ We don’t believe in keeping our 
vegetables under the house to decay and generate 
foul gases,” said the guide. The practice of keeping 
large quantities of these necessaries under the living 
apartments is a most reprehensible one. The keeping 
of a sufficient supply for a few days at a time may be 
allowable, but no more. Much sickness and many 
deaths are directly traceable to this practice. 
* 
“The last five pounds of fat, are what make the 
difference in the price of spring lambs,” said a whole¬ 
sale dealer. “ Suppose, for example, a lamb, not fat, 
weighing 30 pounds dressed ; it will sell for perhaps 
84 or 85. If it had been fattened up to 35 pounds; it 
would, as prices have been ranging lately, sell for 50 
per cent more. Not only this, but the fat lambs are 
in greater demand, and even at the higher prices, sell 
much more readily. Lamb raisers should know this 
and govern themselves accordingly.” 
Westwabd the call for plant food wends its way. 
There are acres of good manure lying unused in the 
Chicago stock yards—the accumulation of years. It 
is now to be dug up and offered for sale to farmers 
anywhere within 30 miles of the city. Not only that, 
but farmers are asking whether they shall buy this 
manure or put the same amount of money into fer¬ 
tilizers. Thus, within 20 years the problem forced 
upon the farmers of Long Island after 200 years of 
cultivation, has jumped as far west as Chicago. 
* 
The Wilson bill may hurt the value of a sheep’s coat, 
but it will never take the edge off its teeth, or spoil 
its capacity for turning out good and wholesome food. 
There are thousands of acres of hillside pastures in 
this country that need just such treatment as ‘Mr. 
Woodward prescribes on another page. Sheep will 
gnaw down the brush if given half a chance. That 
means, put twice as many on the pasture as it will 
reasonably support. Make up the difference with 
good grain food just as Mr. Woodward suggests. 
<r 
A FAIR analysis of oleomargarine shows that it 
averages about 87 per cent of fat. This fat is divided 
about as follows: 
Butter ... 8 per cent 
Cottonseed oil . 21 per cent 
Beef and lard fats . 71 per cent 
The doggerel on our first page is therefore a fair state¬ 
ment of the case. “Oleo” is nothing but a hog trimmed 
up iwith oil, tallow and a smear of butter, and sport¬ 
ing the stolen livery of a dairymaid. Down with the 
fraud I 
« 
The “ Army of the Commonweal” demands, among 
other things, farms conducted by the government 
where workmen can secure work. The R. N.-Y. has 
repeatedly shown that farmers are often unable to se¬ 
cure reliable help. We believe every man now out of 
a job could find farm work at which he could make 
more than a living. The “commonweal” people, 
however, prefer Uncle Sam as an employer. It would 
be very pleasant to select the parties for whom we are 
to work, and also decide our own rate of pay, but 
which of you can do that ? Nearest to it comes the 
farmer with his farm paid for and well stocked. 
« 
Many a rose, fresh from the stalk, with all its bloom 
and fragrance, sells for 81. If not sold at once its 
value fades with its beauty. After several days it 
cannot be sold for five cents because it has fallen into 
third class. Who wants to buy coffee grounds ? Who 
hires a horse that has just come in “ blown” from a 
long drive ? Who pays broiler prices for an old hen ? 
You will quickly say, “Nobody with any sensei” 
That is so and let us tell you, young man, that the 
same is true of labor. No man of sense will pay for 
labor that has had all the originality, energy and care 
washed out of it by self-conceit, laziness or dissipa¬ 
tion. 
A GOOD illustration of the progress made in horti¬ 
cultural methods is given in the treatment of the 
sample tubers of Carman No. 1 potatoes sent out last 
fall. When the Early Rose was first introduced, Peter 
Henderson made a small fortune by securing a pound 
of the seed and propagating it in the greenhouse. This 
was considered a marvelous thing to do in those days, 
yet, during the past winter, it has been duplicated by 
hundreds of growers with the Carman. In fact, green¬ 
house culture is now recognized as a very necessary 
part of practical horticulture. A glass house not only 
enables one to give summer plants an early and vigor¬ 
ous start, but provides profitable winter work at grow¬ 
ing flowers or vegetables. 
* 
Three weeks ago Mr. Conger told us about a corn 
marker that pulverized the ground instead of pressing 
it down. We wanted to know more about it. A friend 
in Columbia County, N. Y., sends this description 
which he thought out while following a spring tooth 
harrow: 
A grood corn marker maybe made, that will pulverize the bottom 
of the mark instead of packing it, by using teeth from an ordinary 
spring tooth harrow. It may be made of any desired width, and make 
two, three or four marks. The main piece that carries the teeth 
should be about the same thickness as the harrow frame, and set at 
such an angle that It will clear the ground, so It will not All the llrst 
marks when crossing. It may be rigged for one or two horses, as 
desired. The handles should be well back, so the operator may see 
what he Is doing. This marker will not furrow potato ground, but 
will make the cross marks rapidly, and for corn Is hard to beat. 
A spring tooth marker is good. 
« 
We like the spirit of this letter : 
Let all subscribers to Thb Rural Nkw-Yorkeb, every one, send 10 
cents to roll up as large a sum as possible for Mr. Bull. No matter 
how much we admire and praise other and newer grapes, the good old 
Concord Is the standby, and we alwajs return to that when we want to 
be filled. Mr. Bull must not want In his old age. m. l. b. 
Clinton. N. Y. 
That is right. We would much rather raise 81.000 in 
10-cent contributions than to have some well-to-do 
person put in a large sum. In a matter of this sort, 
the feeling that prompts the gift is of far greater im¬ 
portance than the gift itself. That is an empty heart, 
indeed, from which gratitude has fled. And you need 
not think, friend, that you are to get off easily on this 
matter. We are going to keep at you all summer and 
stir you up until you do your duty towards a deserv¬ 
ing old man. ^ 
BREVITIES. 
Way up and down the timber land on Uncle Joseph's place 
They run—the mournful record of a brave New England race. 
A monument to labor—wasted labor, you may say. 
Stone walls that creep among the trees clad in their moss-coat gray. 
Great trees, at least a hundred years of age on every hand. 
The forest for a century has welcomed back the land. 
Since man’s destroying culture left It barren, dull and dead; 
Since up the hill these broken walls some useful purpose led. 
They cleared the land and built the walls, these giant men of old; 
The wilderness gave place to homes before their purpose bold. 
How hopefully these stones were laid—young manhood In his prime. 
Felt that these lines wailed in his home safe-ever—for all time. 
How useless now their labor seems-how poor their work appears; 
The relic of a by-gone ago—lost In these busy years. 
And yet they did a manly part-the years have passed them by. 
But these gray walls were stepping stones that led up to the sky. 
Hid In the forest’s tangled growth—lost records of the past. 
Gray monument of wasted work-a lesson clear thou hast. 
As that New England forest hides the work our fathers did. 
So will our work beneath the crust of coming years be hid. 
Then let us give to-day the best of hand and brain and heart. 
And trust the coming years to show we did a manly part. 
Give us free trade in duty. 
Who Is the head of your farm ? 
Chestnut culture is no chestnut. 
Why don’t you hunt for the front ? 
Every trust needs a trusty trustee. 
LOTS of dollars are spent without sense. 
Wanted; An analysis of “ elbow grease.” 
A VALUABLE article by Prof. Wing—page 281. 
Oil from corn Is being sold for cooking purposes. 
How buckwheat buckles down to work—page 282. 
Will you take a robin’s note for the fruit he eats? 
Get Individuality. You can’t Imitate snccessfully. 
You can’t square accounts by “getting around” them. 
No one ever saw a good cow go begging for a customer! 
What would you buy to mix with buttermilk for hogs ? 
Does not “ weaving ” in a horse Indicate brain trouble ? 
AN egg Is about 18 hours of age the instant It Is dropped. 
You are^a second-class man If the best Is tcogood for you. 
Why does a hen prefer a live bug to any other form of meat? 
ICE CBEAM from your dairy is as legitimate as churned cream. 
“ Soap destroying power” is the scientific name for hardness in 
water. 
BUY seed and plant It, cultivate It free—then have your cellar filled 
with celery. 
We want to know what you think of Mr. Cottrell’s statement about 
early breeding for cows—page 278. 
The feed and the feeder are mostly to blame If the calf puts on 
flesh when It ought to make frame. 
Prices for maple products indicate the condition of the times. 
Luxuries go first when money Is short. 
Who ever knew precept to take the place of practice? As well ex¬ 
pect soda to take the place of potash! 
The time Is coming when every well-regulated farm must have a 
glass house for winter work. The farmer will then find pay in a pane 
of glass. 
WHAT objections to leaving the calf with its mother until the lat¬ 
ter’s milk Is good ? Any except a defect In Its early education and 
that no calf Is a clean milker ? 
Interesting experiments are being made at some of the stations 
by adding soap to the Bordeaux Mixture. Prof. Jones, of Vermont, 
thinks the soap checked the ravages of flea beetles. 
WE learn how to fertilize with lye on another page. Dissolve the 
lye and then absorb the solution in coal ashes so that It may be made 
to cover more ground. Unfortunately, a He may be broadcasted In 
much the same way. 
Mr. A. Johnson of New Jersey Is a “one-horse farmer” no longer. 
He has now a pair of young horses and the same old mare. We shall 
soon tell about his three-horse power. 1893 was a more profitable year 
than 1891 with Mr. Johnson. 
The number of lawyers and doctors In practice Increases almost too 
rapidly to count, and yet the cost of their professional services re¬ 
mains the same. This Is an Instance where increased competition 
does not decrease cost. 
A FLOWER Is fertilized by a bit of pollen. Without It there would 
be only a poor, gnarled fruit. Same way with a mind. A new Idea— 
an Inspiration—strikes It and It becomes fertilized-goes on producing 
good. Without the pollen of inspiration that mind would have been 
warped and narrowed. 
The French are making “petroleum bricks” to take the place of 
coal. A mixture of petroleum, soap and caustic soda Is melted and 
mixed with 20 per cent of sawdust and 20 per cent of clay or sand and 
moulded Into bricks. These bricks give little smoke or ash and yield 
three times the heat of an equal weight of coal. 
