796 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER 
A. National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. Copyrighted 1894. 
Elbekt S. Cabman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Hebbeut W. Coli-ingwoou, Managing: Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SL'BSCKIl’TIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal t* 
8 s. 6d., or SYt marks, or 10‘A francs. 
ADVEKTISJNU K.ATES. 
Thirty cents per agate line (14 lines to the inch). Yearly orders 
of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 2.5 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with "Adv.,” 75 cents per 
count line. Absolutely One Pbice 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 remittance is for, apjiear 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 15, 1894. 
Let the wise men shed a little of their wisdom on 
that “ Berries and Clover ” problem—page 790. Can 
it be done ? If not, why not ? We know that clover 
has the power to obtain nitrogen for the benefit of 
the plant that grows with it. In this case, would it 
harm the berries more than it would help them ? 
O 
Attention is called to the article on CoSperative 
loans for farmers page 794. This is a matter of con¬ 
siderable importance, for farmers are often crippled in 
their business through inability to secure needed 
working capital. They are sometimes forced to pay 
extortionate rates of interest because there is no com¬ 
petition among money lenders. We hope to present 
a definite plan for such an association before long. 
o V 
We hope that some of our Southern readers will dis¬ 
cuss that question about the right payment for cotton 
seed at an oil mill—printed on page 790. A fair settle¬ 
ment of this question would mean much to thousands 
of farmers who grow cotton. A fair share will mean 
a living to them. An unfair share means poverty and 
want to thousands of farmers, and increased pi’ofits to 
an already wealthy combination. What is right ? 
Let us learn that first. 
O 
The big worm fence and the New England stone 
wall were built to find a place for timber and stone 
that were in the way. In the course of time, the fence 
rots and crumbles—the timber is cleared off and the 
farmer can get along without inside fences. The 
elements make slower work of the old stone walls, 
yet, if they could be crushed and used for road beds, 
they would still render good service. Our friend, on 
page 790, makes some good points about useless fences. 
Why put a fence between corn and potatoes ? Are 
you afraid they will run together? The roots run 
under the fence. That is the only way they mix. 
Why not put the fence under ground? 
O 
Subscribers often compliment The R. N.-Y. because 
its advertising columns are clean. Do you realize 
what it costs to keep them so ? Every year we reject 
advertising money enough to take us all on a trip to 
Europe, because we know that the articles advertised 
are either intended to deceive readers directly or in¬ 
directly, or are of an evil nature calculated to work 
great moral harm in a family of young people. Our 
plan is to try to see that nothing positively dishonest 
or evil appears in our columns, and then trust to the 
business sense of readers to place a fair estimate on 
the advertiser's statements. Readers are of great 
service to us in naming The R. N.-Y. when they an¬ 
swer advei’tisements. 
O 
Last year, importations of foreign potatoes were 
the heaviest, with one exception—the year preceding 
—in a half dozen years. The importations are usu¬ 
ally governed by the crop here—short crop, heavy im¬ 
portations ; heavy crop, light importations. They have 
varied widely within the past few years, from less 
than 1,500 sacks in one season, to nearly 1)4 million 
sacks in a year of great scarcity. Last year, nearly 
7(K),000 sacks were imported. This year, importations 
began unusually early, but, notwithstanding this, up 
to the present time, not one fourth the quantity have 
arrived as during the same period last year. The 
larger part come from Great Britain and Scotland. 
Last year, the crop was not a remunerative one, and, 
consequently, this year’s acreage was small. The yield 
was also small owing to unfavorable weather, and 
prices have advanced to the highest point for several 
years. Indications are that the crop on the Continent 
is also a small one, so that much higher prices must 
rule here in order to draw any very large supplies 
from across the water. The decreased duty of 10 cents 
per bushel doesn’t seem to have much effect on the 
supplies. Every indication points to higher prices 
for potatoes, but there is usually so much loss in hold¬ 
ing, that prices must rule considerably higher in order 
to cover this loss and the extra labor involved. 
© 
On page 791, J. E. Wing describes a plan for cooper¬ 
ation in buying farm machinery. It is a plan that 
needs hearty cooperation to succeed. The success of 
any such arrangement rests with the farmers them¬ 
selves. But how is it that the Granges, Farmers’ 
Alliances, and other similar organizations are not do¬ 
ing just this very work ? Their position is an ideal 
one to carry it out successfully. The most progressive 
farmers usually are found enrolled as members. If 
they have not undertaken this on similar plans, why 
not ? If they have, what has been the outcome ? 
What plans have been most successful ? What have 
been the difficulties in the way, and how have they 
been overcome ? 
O 
If it is injurious to the citizens of New York to have 
the city’s garbage dumped into the ocean 20 miles from 
shore, it seems to us pretty sure that it is injurious to 
the farm family to have the sink drain run within 
gun-shot of a well. We don’t believe in cesspools 
under any circumstances. “ Swill ” or portions of food 
not fit for the human table, should be fed to stock of 
some sort as soon as possible after rejection by the 
housekeeper. All other wastes containing plant food 
will do the most good on the compost heap. They 
will be absorbed by the vegetable matter in the heap, 
will help start fermentation and decay, while the 
water will give needed moisture. The problem is to 
get these wastes to the heap in the most satisfactory 
manner. We think it ought to be done above ground. 
0 
The New York Senate Committee on Game Laws, is 
reported to be preparing a bill which will presumably 
work wonders in the idiotic legislation already on the 
statute books. The plan is to divide the State into 
three sections—one section comprising the entire 
Adirondack region, another all the seaboard counties, 
and the third the rest of the State. The laws for 
each section are to be uniform, and consolidated into 
a form that can readily be understood. Penalties for 
violation are to be so graduated that first offenses are to 
be lightly punished, and subsequent offenses more 
heavily. It is to be hoped that considerable common 
sense will be applied all around, and that some of the 
nonsensical regulations now in force may be abolished. 
The trouble has been that the laws have been made 
altogether too much in the interest of sportsmen, to 
be at all satisfactory, or to subserve the interests 
which should be protected. 
0 
In giving his experience with a bone cutter, a New 
Hampshire man makes this statement: 
About the time the cutter came, a horse fell in the road and 
broke his leg, and had to be killed, so I got the horse for hen meat. 
I have run it through the bone cutter, all but his head and feet, 
and am now cutting up a calf. 
If his work is any criterion, a good stout horse ought 
to be chock full of “ muscle-makers.” Chemical analy¬ 
sis proves that this surmise is correct. The bone cut¬ 
ter enabled that man to chop the horse so fine that the 
power of the tough muscles that could haul heavy 
loads up and down the steep hills, was not lost. It 
gave the hens the power needed to squeeze thousands 
of eggs out into the world, and to store up in those 
eggs the force needed by men and women to do their 
work. How much more economical that was than to 
drag the horse off into the swamp for the dogs to de¬ 
vour, or to bury it in the pasture where few useful 
roots could get to it. Science teaches us to save wastes 
in like manner. We must learn to get new values out 
of the common things about us, just as that fai*mer 
found a new value in the dead horse. 
0 
That no accurate means has been adopted for meas¬ 
uring so common an article of commerce as eggs, is a 
matter of surprise and regret. The method used at 
present for measuring this commodity, too often does 
injustice to either the producer or consumer. Our leg¬ 
islators have wisely placed on the statute books, laws 
designating the capacity of the unit of measure of 
nearly all farm products. Where the products vary 
materially as to weight, standard weights have been 
adopted. But in the case of eggs, nothing like a uniform 
measure has been adopted, either by custom or statute. 
As the matter now stands, we have not a uniform meas¬ 
ure, either by weight or volume. Marketable eggs vary 
so little in composition, that an easy and just means of 
measuring them would be by weight. The eggs of differ¬ 
ent breeds of fowls vary so much in size, and even the 
eggs of any breed will vary, according as the fowls 
are pullets or mature hens, that a certain number of 
eggs does not mean, in any sense, a definite amount as 
regards food value. It is to be hoped that some de¬ 
cided move on the part of producers or dealers will 
soon be made to correct this uncertainty. 
0 
Wk have spoken of the great advance the republic 
of Argentine has made in wheat culture. With cheap 
lands and quick oceaH carriage, she needed only im¬ 
proved implements to increase greatly her crop. The 
implements are now being provided, and before many 
years, Argentine will appear as a strong competitor 
in the world’s wheat market. The extended cultiva¬ 
tion of Alfalfa in that country, promises a yet more 
dangerous competition. This wonderful plant will 
not only renovate and restore exhausted wheat fields, 
but it will provide the food for growing and fattening 
vast herds of cattle and sheep, which will enter into 
direct competition with our meat products abroad. It 
is safe to say that in a general way, that country will 
be most prosperous agriculturally, which makes the 
greatest use of the legumes or nitrogen-gathering 
plants. The same is also true of sections of a country. 
Given two sections of equal marketing facilities and 
much the same crops, the one making the most of 
such crops as Red and Crimson clover. Alfalfa and 
cow peas, and the other neglecting them and buying a 
large supply of its nitrogen, it is easy to see which one 
is playing a losing game. 
0 
BREVITIES. 
How blindly men push onward through their lives 1 
From the firm footing of to-day, we build 
Out in the dark a bridge of confidence, 
To rest upon the far-off rock of hope. 
On that frail bridge we trust our all, and walk 
Boldly ahead in search of better things. 
Filling behind us, as we pass along, 
A firm foundation of experience. 
Sad is his fate w-ho lacketh confidence; 
Chained to the present, slave of idle fears. 
He drags his weary course from day to day. 
With downcast eyes, bent ever on the ground. 
Hope beckons him to braver deeds in vain; 
For, shrinking from the unbridged tide, he lives 
And dies a prisoner to his cowardice. 
Sew age— an old patch. 
The objector’s mouth is a not hole. 
Full of horse scents—the stableman. 
How easy it is to theorize about a swill barrel. 
How do you get “experience” for the least money? 
Running the rooster down for killing is a “ catch crop.” 
An impaired conscience results from being imp paired. 
Why not plant an experiment in every field you cultiyarte ? 
The pullet may well be excited when she has her first egg sighted 
at 100 days of age. 
“ Gbeen food ”—the chicken that didn’t know' enough to keep 
out of the hog’s w'ay. 
Remember the I’ecipe that was used in compounding your last 
piece of “humble pie.” 
The “on the fence” man is a traitor from both camps—false to 
both leaders. “He who is not for me is against me!” 
Darn the Christmas stocking ! This is meant as advice to the 
ladies—not publicity of the thoughts of the head of the house. 
Why is one man’s note alw'ays worth its face value, while 
another’s note is simply effaced value ? What backs up credit 
anyway? 
That’s a good idea of Mr. Herrick, page 793, of having different 
lengths in the distance between cow mangers and drop, and gp’ad- 
ing the cows by length. 
What do you think of a farmer who uses the waste and “ shak¬ 
ings ” at the bottom of the hay mow for “ seeding down ” ? It you 
do it, what do you think of your crop ? 
Of course, you realize that you can’t pull out of the ruts with 
the same foi’ce needed to stay in them. It will make the team 
sweat to get out, may be; but the easier pulling comes after you 
get out. * 
In sending us an article replying to a point made in a previous 
issue, one of our friends says, “If this is too long, saw it off." A 
saw' is a bad tool with which to edit “copy” for the press. Plane, 
chisel and gouge are better. 
Somebody suggests that the dialogue in last w'eek’s R. N.-Y. will 
frighten away young, would-be writers. A man w'ho is frightened 
away by that, never could make a writer, anyway, for two first 
requisites of authorship are courage and ability to take fair criti¬ 
cism. 
Don’t forget the meadows. They need food. Think w'hat they 
are called upon to do, year after year—providing hay. Feed 
them ? Haven’t got enough manure ? Use bone and potash then. 
Don’t you see that you are asking the meadows to feed, not only 
the stock, but the other parts of the farm as w-ell ? 
Can’t you pattern after Mr. Patton this year, and get the cost of 
a crop in actual figures ? Just instruct your foreman to keep the 
account. What’s that ? You are your ow'n foreman! Well, instruct 
yourself, then ! You don’t mean to say that it is easier to get 
somebody else to do your ow'n duty than to do it yourself ? 
Our friend, page 792, speaking of the evil effects of a foul cess¬ 
pool on a well, says that the pool probably will not contaminate a 
well 100 feet above it, but undoubtedly can injure one 1,000 feet be¬ 
low it. That’s not unlike you in your relations to society. The 
higher up you get, the quicker and surer is the drain from your 
bad example to those below' you ! 
