?86 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1800. Copyrighted 1894. 
Elbert S. Carman, EdItor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Manaffing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUHSCRIPTION.S. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
88. 6d., or 854 marks, or 10*4 francs. 
ADVERTISING RATES. 
Thirty cents per agate line (14 lines to the inch). Yearly orders 
of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 25 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with ‘'Adv.," 75 cents per 
count line. Absolutely One Price Only. 
Advertisements inserted only for responsible and honorable houses 
Be sure that the name and address of sender, with name of Post- 
office and State, and what the i-emittance is for, appear in every 
letter. Money orders and bank drafts on New York are the safest 
means of transmitting money. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay- 
**''^'* THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1894. 
\Ve want to make another payment of that contri¬ 
bution to Ephraim W. Bull as a Christmas present 
We have a small fund now on hand, and can send your 
mite with the rest as nicely as can be. 
O 
We have been reading a remarkable story of an ex¬ 
plosive whale at large somewhere in the Pacific ocean. 
The whalers fired a harpoon, with a bomb attached, 
into him, but in some way the whQ.le escaped, and is 
now swimming about with that bomb ready to explode 
at any time. There are lots of men in this country 
going about with bombs fast to them—stuck in the 
husk or shell of some old, back-numbered idea. Some 
day they will run against something that will explode 
the bomb. Result—a new idea. The bomb is thought. 
Let it work. The fuse won’t go out. 
O 
When you stop to realize what an important part 
digestion plays in the profitable work of a dairy cow, 
you will realize how important it is to select the best 
cows for breeding. A good bull is always important, 
but in the majority of cases, the sire is the most 
potent to fix the outward characteristics of the off¬ 
spring. The digestive functions are chiefly determined 
by the mother, and hence it is very desii*able to secure 
the best of the cows for breeders. Don’t place too 
much importance on the bull. Don’t expect him to 
do all the improving. The cow must be selected, too. 
O 
Isn’t it curious how the man with a good thing, 
waits for some special incentive to make it known ? 
In a recent K. N.-Y. was given a device for gathering 
forest leaves. At once, another man recognizes that 
his own plan is far superior, and describes it for the 
benefit of our readers. Good ! But why didn’t he 
recognize its value and our need before ? This is but 
a single illusti'ation of what we see repeated nearly 
every week. Ai-e you hiding a good thing that might 
benefit thousands of your fellow farmers ? Don’t wait 
for some one else to start the ball rolling, but trot it 
out at once. These little contrivances are of immense 
value to farmers. 
O 
The Southern papers are telling of a Georgia farmer 
who recently came to town and cashed two checks at 
a bank. One was for $2.5—the proceeds from a bale 
of cotton. The other was for $26, and was obtained 
for two medium-sized hogs. The cotton check repre¬ 
sented the gross receipts from at least tw'o acres of 
land, and out of it must come cost of seed, fertilizer, 
cultivation, picking, ginning, hauling, and a lot of 
other expenses. The hogs well started, pastured 
through the summer and filled up with home-grown 
corn, will walk off to market and give profit enough 
to add to the $25 cotton money and make the culture 
of that staple come out even. Of course, if a Southern 
farmer wants to keep hogs just to help “King cotton” 
make a decent showdng, he is at liberty to do so. It 
would seem better, however, to banish the “King” 
and put the hog on the throne. 
O 
We understand that the Postmaster-General, in his 
annual report, will advise against free mail service in 
rural districts, but that he will suggest free postage 
for legitimate papers and magazines. As we under¬ 
stand it, this would enable publishers to mail their 
periodicals free of charge. The R. N.-Y. would at¬ 
tempt to stand such a state of affairs with becoming 
dignity, though we do not ask any privileges of the 
United States Government that are denied to other 
honest enterprises. We do not need Government aiu 
in extending the circulation of The R. N.-Y., and we 
are prepared to pay our share of taxes and postage. 
At the same time, if our Government wants to make 
us a present of our postage bill—“we can’t com¬ 
plain.” In any event the bogus papers that issue 
a big stuffed circulation of circulars and “ sample 
copies,” ought to be made to pay letter-po.stage rates 
on their whole mail. 
O 
Oni: of the topics entered for the symposium prize 
was this : “ Is it possible for a eommission man to pay 
his honest debts and make a living on 10 per cent of 
his actual sales alone ? ” About the only people who 
can answer that question are the commission men 
themselves, and we propose to give them a fair chance 
to talk. Commission men are not all rogues. They 
do not all live in palaces. Here is a case just reported 
to us : A farmer sent 60 barrels of apples for sale. 
The quality was originally fine, but they had been 
long packed and rotted badly, so that it was impos¬ 
sible to obtain fair prices for them. The apples came 
late in the day and were left in front of the store. The 
commission man was fined $45 for obstructing the 
sidewalk ! If all transactions were like that, certainly 
the above question could be easily answered in the 
negative. 
O 
We hope that Mr. Bancroft is right (page 777) when 
ne says that those who have Crimson clover growing 
in cold regions will find with the spring, that it does 
not need so much coddling as they now think neces¬ 
sary. The R. N.-Y. wants to be conservative in this 
matter. We know that the plant will prove of great 
value to farmers wherever it will survive the winter. 
At the same time, we have advLsed farmers to go slow 
with it, and avoid the possibilities of expensive mis¬ 
takes. That idea of sowing winter oats with the Crim¬ 
son clover, is, theoretically, perfect. Not only will the 
combination make an excellent fodder, but the clover 
will accumulate and provide nitrogen for the oats. 
This is on the same principle as that of sowing clover 
in old meadows and pastures. Not only does the 
clover improve the grass for feeding, but it brings 
fresh stores of nitrogen into the soil to feed the other 
grasses. 
O 
We did our best to set forth the facts about im¬ 
proved chestnut culture some weeks ago. People are 
beginning to realize what some of their old wooded 
hills may be made to do, and we believe many an acre 
will be cleared this winter in preparing for a chestnut 
grove. A friend in Virginia writes this : 
About six years ago, I cleared about 10 acres of waste land on a 
steep rocky sidebill and set it to Newtown Pippins. I was able to 
cultivate only about one-quarter of it; there the trees have done 
well and have commenced bearing. The uncultivated portion has 
grown up to chestnut sprouts, blackcap raspberries and rattle¬ 
snakes which have pretty well choked out the apple trees. 
Rattlesnakes and wild raspberries are poor things 
with which to pay taxes, or the interest on a mortgage. 
Chestnut sprouts left to themselves are little better, 
but let them be well grafted to improved varieties, 
and let the waste and underbrush be kept down, and 
these “sprouts” will pay better than apples. That is 
the conclusion many farmers are wisely coming to. 
O 
We can get an idea of the magnitude of the truck 
farming operations at the South, in the notes by our 
friend in North Carolina, page 775. Think how im¬ 
possible it would be to depend on stable manure for 
enriching these great fields. With cow peas to supply 
nitrogen, and vegetable matter and fertilizers to pro¬ 
vide available plant food, large crops may be grown 
year after year with success. The fact that this 
“ chemicals-and-clover ” farming can be carried out so 
successfully, does not prove that the plan of limiting 
the cropped area to the amount of stable manure that 
is available, is all wrong. Not by any means. The 
manure limit is one extreme, and the chemicals and 
green manure is another. There are variations all up 
and down the scale that will suit one farm or another. 
How are you to know which suits your farm until 
you study and experiment ? Surely no stranger can 
tell you ! 
G 
A California man who has been visiting the East, 
has been much exercised in mind because of the fact 
that the Eastern people consume so much fruit of 
their own production, instead of buying that from 
California. His explanation is that they do so because 
unfamiliar with the superior quality of the latter, and 
he proposes that the Californians distribute a lot of 
their fruit free with the avowed purpose of whetting 
the Eastern appetite for more. This is characteristic 
of Western push and enterprise, and might in some 
eases achieve its object. California fruit fits in very 
nicely, (a little too nicely, some of our Eastern growers 
think) sometimes, especially when there is a partial 
failure here. Much of it, too, is of excellent quality, 
but while there are many kinds grown in California 
which we cannot grow here, our peaches, pears and 
plums are usually very satisfactory to the Eastern 
palate. What the California growers do excel in, is 
their packing. Still, if they wish to donate some of 
their fine fruit to cultivate the crude taste of the un¬ 
sophisticated Yankees, we can not well say them nay ! 
If they do, however. Eastern growers must bestir 
themselves. 
O 
A CHANGE in fashions often seriously affects the de¬ 
mand for, and prices of, certain products, even though 
it do not entirely destroy the demand. A score of 
years ago, nearly every one of the masculine persua¬ 
sion, wore boots. Shoes were relegated almost en¬ 
tirely to the domain of feminine footgear. But boots 
have been gradually going out of fashion, and even 
farmers and laborers who must be well shod, now 
wear shoes instead of boots. But it doesn’t take so 
much leather to make a pair of shoes as a pair of 
boots, and the demand for leather has decreased ac¬ 
cordingly. The heavier grades of leather, also, are 
in less demand. Decreased demand for leather means 
decreased demand for hides, especially of the heavier 
ones, and even heavy calf skins are a drug on the 
market. It is said that where there were 20 factories 
making boots in New England 20 years ago, there is but 
one now. The number of tanners making heavy 
leather has decreased correspondingly. The disposal 
of hides may become a serious question. Its solution 
may lie in the production of the Galloways or other 
breeds whose hides make excellent robes. 
G 
BREVITIES. 
I am the dinner table; upon my ample breast 
Three times a day the housewife puts out her very best. 
Three times a day they gather—old grandpa at the head 
Thrice daily offers up his thanks for life and daily bread. 
Then how the knives they clatter and how my load grows light, 
And how the housewife’s goodly fare doth disappear from sight. 
Down through three generations, pure happiness is found 
Where grandpa .sips his coffee and baby’s spoon can pound. 
The sofa and the organ turn up a nose at me 
I am too plain and vulgar for their society; 
I do not mind their sneering—I do not feel their pokes. 
I’ll take my honest chances at pleasing hungry folks. 
I am the dinner table and while my timbers stand 
I’ll still remain headquarters for our good household band. 
“ The devil in solution ! ”—liquor. • 
Live on garb age—the old-clothes dealers. 
Read M. Crawford’s strawberry notes—page 774. 
The “ lion in the way ” generally turns out to be a liar. 
When Congress meets, we shall be under the pow wows that be. 
Certain strains of poultry make big eggs possible, and big eggs 
make big “ strains” certain. 
You can grace or disgrace your home at will. Isn’t that true ? 
What excuse is there for your cii«gracers then ? 
Read Mr. Wyckoff’s Interesting hen notes on page 776. Do you 
have hens or only “half-gi'own pullets” in your flock? 
Worthy of pityl The man who can pat himself on the back and 
make himself think some unprejudiced person is doing it. 
It is going to be worth a full year’s subscription to you to know 
how those Crimson clover experiments turn out next year. 
Mr. H. M. Engle has evidence which satisfles him that the Para¬ 
gon chestnut will stand a temperature of 20 degrees below zero. 
Don’t like the scale on which people grade you? Is that scale of 
your own making? If so, why don’t you get up and “down” the 
scale? 
We’re getting high-toned, said the old-farm horse; since gold 
bugs have done their feat and knocked out the prices of grain, of 
course, the most of our wheat we eat. 
Despite their losses in Kansas and Colorado, the Populists 
polled 5(X),0(X) more votes this year than they did in 1892. The Demo¬ 
crats lost 1,5(X),0(X), and the Republicans lost 250,(X)0. 
Mr. Herron says that dishorning takes the flght out of animals 
that have known what it is to have horns; calves that have the 
budding horn killed will learn how to fight with a bare head ! 
Bicycles are now to be nmde carrying very small hot-air engines 
which will drive them at high speed. Another black eye for the 
horse, for people too lazy to work their wheels can now be carried. 
Here’s one thing we will guarantee. You dislike to take a good 
bite into an apple and find a worm hole running through the bite! 
You spoiled that bite last May when you did not spray the tree 
and kill that worm or its ancestor. 
There are associations in this city for “ guaranteeing ” a man’s 
honesty about as one’s life is insured. For a certain sum, the 
association will agi-ee to look after a bookkeeper’s accounts and 
see that he does not steal. What a state of society where such 
things can possibly flourish ! 
Mr. a. Donald writes this wisdom about g^rowing celery : “ If 
you wish to grow first-class goods, set none but good, strong plants; 
but if small plants must be used, sort and put each class in rows 
by itself.” That’s right. Sort before you start. That holds good 
in everything from celery to cows. 
We are told of a pile of sugar beets covering two acres, and 10 
feet deep brought to a beet-sugar factory in Utah. In that rain¬ 
less country, it is safe to pile the beets outdoors. We would be 
pleased if every pound of sugar needed in the country could be 
made on those western plains. 
The leading organ of the “ oleo ” dealers in this city is vei-y in¬ 
dignant because dairymen demand that “ oleo ” shall not be sold 
for butter. The same paper represents the lard refiners, and now 
it is waxing warm against the practice of using cotton-seed oil to 
adulterate lard. Why is one practice worse than another ? 
The Florida orange crop is late this year, and those which have 
arrived are quite green. It is said that continued warm weather 
is responsible for this. That so long as the weather continues 
warm, the fruit keeps growing, and cold weather is needed to 
ripen it. As a result, the oranges are later and larger this year 
