8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. Copyrighted 1895 
Egbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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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, 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- 
able THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY. JANUARY 5, 1895. 
Whenever a business cannot pay expenses / and its 
managers fail and notify the creditors that they can¬ 
not pay their honest debts, outsiders generally find 
the trouble to be that “ ornamentals” are drawing 
good salaries and doing nothing to earn them. Cut off 
these “lumps,” and expenses can often be met. Before 
you condemn that dairy, hunt out the “ ornamentals” 
and beef them. 
O 
We hear a good deal of advice about experiment 
plots of land. It is often a good thing to take an aver¬ 
age piece of ground and try on it accurate experi¬ 
ments with fertilizers, manures, seeds or methods of 
culture. By taking an average piece of soil and watch¬ 
ing results carefully we can make a pretty fair esti¬ 
mate for the field or farm. Why not take an experi¬ 
ment cow in much the same way ? Pick out one cow, 
that is, a fair average, and try the new “ balance” to 
your ration on her before you give it to the entire 
herd. There are lots of questions you might ask that 
experiment cow that you cannot afford to ask the en¬ 
tire herd. Use one good cow as you would your ex¬ 
periment plot. 
O 
When cracked dry corn, or even “corny” ensilage is 
fed in excess, farmers often find many particles of 
undigested grain in the manure. It is thus easily 
shown that the cow is receiving more grain than she 
can digest, and the ration is usually cut down until 
the undigested corn is no longer found. Farmers who 
feed an excess of finely ground grains, sometimes 
deceive themselves because this excess does not show 
in the droppings as the whole corn does. It is often 
there all the same because, while the cow is giving a 
large mess of milk, she receives more grain than she 
can well digest, and to that extent, is overfed. We 
have a good many rations sent us that are very rich in 
fine meals. The cows are said to be doing well, but it 
seems to us that they are too heavily grained. We 
would like to know if a share of this meal is passed 
undigested—without detection. 
G 
Our attention has lately been called to a letter from 
a farmer in New York State under date of December 
18, 1894, in which the writer abuses a commission 
merchant of this city, and threatens to place his 
account in the hands of lawyers for collection, unless 
it is paid by return mail, alleging that the goods— 
butter—had been sent the merchant last April. In¬ 
vestigation showed that the tub of butter had been 
received April 17, and check mailed the shipper for 
it on April 18, the next day after receipt. The check 
had been indorsed by the farmer who shipped the but¬ 
ter, and who is now insisting that he must have re¬ 
mittance at once. The check also contains the in¬ 
dorsement of the farmer's local bank, and has been 
duly paid and canceled. Of course, the voucher is in 
the possession of the merchant, being returned 
through his bank. Frequent experiences of this kind 
convince us that there are some extremely careless 
farmers in the country ; and where they intend to be 
perfectly honest, their carelessness and the results of 
their mistakes often leave them liable to accusations 
that they do not really merit. This man was subject 
to the suspicion of trying to get paid twice for his 
butter; which, presumably, was not his intention. 
The business farmer would have charged the com¬ 
mission man with the tub of butter when shipped, and 
credited him with the check when received. His 
books would then have shown the transaction closed 
and saved trouble and embarrassment. 
Three years ago we had a picture of some immense 
pumpkins which were to be manufactured into pie at 
a city restaurant. Mr. House, who grew these pump- 
ins, tells us that by selecting seed for over seven 
years he has increased the average weight by over 100 
pounds. These pumpkins are planted and cultivated 
in the usual way. Three vines are left to the hill, 
and only one flower permitted to develop on each vine. 
Soluble fertilizer and irrigation at just the right time 
would undoubtedly help. Those big pumpkins are 
valuable as curiosities only, and there is a very limited 
market for them. For stock food it will pay better to 
let all the flowers develop and produce a greater 
weight of smaller pumpkins. 
Q 
You seem to be pretty well satisfied that it would 
not pay to leave Timothy hay scattered around in 
small bundles on the ground during the winter. Per¬ 
haps you cannot prove why it is, but you believe that 
the frost, rain and snow would ruin a part of the nutri¬ 
ment in that hay. If that is so, why do you think corn 
fodder is better able to take care of itself ? There are 
skillful feeders who are able to get as much butter 
out of an acre of bright, well-cured stalks as out of an 
acre of hay. Why do you house the hay and leave the 
stalks to the weather ? If the grain deserves a roof, 
so do the stalks. Large farmers out West use a husker 
which takes off the husks and splits and whips the 
stalks into a fine, soft mass. One of the greatest values 
of this machine is that it puts the stalks into such 
shape that the farmer must get them under cover and 
thus protect them from the storms. 
G 
The Vermont Experiment Station people have con¬ 
ducted some experiments with feeding bone meal to 
cows. The object was to see whether any of the phos¬ 
phoric acid in the bone could be dissolved by the 
acids of the stomach and, if so, whether any of it 
passed away in the milk. The results indicate that a 
considerable portion of this phosphoric acid was 
digested and passed away in the urine. As to the 
milk, the feeding of bone seemed slightly to increase 
its percentage of phosphoric acid in the milk ash. We 
are told that ground bone is used quite freely in Ver¬ 
mont as a cattle food. Prof. Hills states that European 
experts have claimed that there is a relation between 
the amount of phosphoric acid in milk ash and the 
gravity creaming of milk. The casein, it is said, is 
united with the phosphate of lime, and if the latter is 
deficient, the creaming is affected. 
O 
There is no water in that description of the terrible 
“ rainbelt” country in Colorado. It is a true picture 
of a terrible phase of American life. There may be 
readers of The R. N.-Y. who contemplate selling com¬ 
fortable, if lonely homes in the East, and going West 
into that desert. We well know that scoundrels are 
constantly trying to sell farms and “ town lots” in that 
awful country. They offer you a free gift of a town 
lot—all you need do is furnish the money for 1 ‘recording 
the deed.” A valuable document, isn’t it—a title to a 
plot in such a “ hell’s oven” as is described this week. 
That “town lot” scheme is a petty fraud, but it is a 
crime to try to induce poor people to buy farms in that 
“rainbelt” country and go there in the hope of mak¬ 
ing a home. What a pathetic illustration this is of 
the American craze for large areas of land and for 
new scenes and locations. Many an unhappy soul on 
those Western deserts is to-day hopelessly longing for 
the old home or the desirable places that were passed 
unheeded in the craze to “go West.” Stay where you 
are till you know where you are going is good advice. 
G 
There is one thing we wish to caution readers about. 
Cotton-seed, gluten and linseed meals are strong in 
muscle-makers and, as a matter of theory only, will 
make a balanced ration when fed with straw, stalks 
or other rough fodders. As we have tried to show 
this week, in referring to the ration where dry corn 
stalks and rye straw constitute the bulk or roughage, 
something besides mere chemical analysis must be 
considered. To add enough cotton-seed meal at once 
to the corn and stalks to give the necessary muscle- 
makers, would result in the cow’s death. All these 
foods are heating and constipating. Linseed meal 
would be better because that is laxative in its effects ; 
yet too much of that would also injure the cow. The 
feeder is at a great disadvantage when he is obliged 
to depend upon one fodder, like stalks, to supply bulk. 
Cattle like a variety. They chew and rechew whatever 
“tastes good,” and this chewing aids digestion. A com¬ 
bination of various grains is generally eaten with more 
satisfaction than one or two grains alone. Let no 
man make a sudden change in feeding cotton-seed 
meal or other by-products for the first time. Do not 
begin with the full amount. Feed a small quantity 
at first and increase gradually. 
A movement is being agitated by the Patrons of 
Husbandry, in the State of Delaware, to secure such 
legislation as will provide for the payment of dam¬ 
ages for all stock killed or injured by rabid dogs. Dur¬ 
ing the past year, from 50 to 60 head of cattle and, 
probably, several horses in New Castle County, have 
died from having been bitten by rabid dogs. At the 
present time, there appears to be an epidemic of hy¬ 
drophobia in certain sections of the State. The sub¬ 
ject is being discussed by the farmers, and there is 
little doubt that some action will be taken in the mat¬ 
ter. In New Castle County, there is a tax upon dogs, 
which provides a fund for the payment for sheep 
killed or injured by them. There is no just reason 
why compensation for injuries to either persons or 
stock of any kind, when caused by rabid dogs, should 
not be provided for in the same manner throughout 
the entire State. 
G 
The Cucumber flea-beetle is a little black insect so 
small as to escape detection by careless observers. 
Small as it is, it can do great injury to a crop like po¬ 
tatoes by puncturing the leaves of the vines till they 
can no more perform their proper function than can a 
man with his lungs full of holes. In The R. N.-Y.’s 
famous potato contest of 1887, this insect almost ruined 
the crop from two varieties, and lost the contest for 
us. We have tried about everything to fight this 
pest, but without much success. It is said that the 
Bordeaux Mixture will keep the insects away from 
potatoes if applied early enough. Prof. L. R. Jones, 
of Vermont, has tested this matter carefully and gives 
strong proof that on vines treated with Bordeaux, the 
beetles could not or would not do their evil work, 
though they riddled untreated vines close beside them. 
Dr. Halstead, of New Jersey, gives similar testimony 
—in fact, the more one learns about the Bordeaux 
Mixture, the more he is convinced of its remarkable 
powers. 
G 
BREVITIES. 
THE SLACK FARMER. 
What makes the road of the farmer rough ? 
Oh, why do his feet lag so and scuff ? 
What makes the cud of his thoughts so tough ? 
What makes him tingle with fate’s rebuff? 
What makes him warm with sad fortune’s cuff ? 
Oh, why is the core of his hope all stuff ? 
Why is he a victim of fraud and bluff ? 
And blind to the emptiness found in “ puff?” 
Why is he considered a plain old duff ? 
The reason may drive him off into a huff, 
But his fault’s in saying— "that'8 good enough" 
When he knows that it isn’t half “ up to snuff.” 
What is the balance of power ? Mind. 
What is a piece of seed potato but a scion ? 
A grass widow— a cow deprived of green food. 
You never saw a good cow with a dull, heavy eye. 
The man that’s too blunt seldom gets to the front. 
The devil likes to prowl where wife and husband growl. 
Getting out of the reign! Leaving king cotton for other crops. 
“ Running expenses !” The cost of backing away from your 
duty. 
What’s next to irrigation in a dry time? Constant and thorough 
cultivation. 
When the facts kill off one of your pet theories, have you the 
courage to bury it ? 
The orator farmer believes in subsoiling—that is, he wants to 
soil his boots by substitute. 
Among your New Year’s resolutions, why don’t you resolve not 
to let any agent paint a medicine sign on your barn ? 
A “ strike board ” is called for to settle questions between em¬ 
ployer and employed. A shingle is a juvenile strike board. 
By the time you get all the beams out of your own eye, you will 
have something better to do than hunting motes in your brother’s 
eye. 
Ink, paper and ideas. There is a chemical combination you 
can make. Of course, we like a high percentage of ideas and a 
low percentage of paper. 
What a disadvantage it would be to have eyes as powerful as 
microscopes. That would make a new standard of cleanliness 
that we could not live up to with comfort. 
The more we study the “ balanced ration ” matter, the more 
important does clover hay or oats and peas appear. They are 
more important than ensilage in our opinion. 
See if the local photographer at your place has not some strik¬ 
ing pictures that would give strangers a good idea of what your 
country is like. If he has, let us know about it. 
This is the report of an Indiana plum grower : “ If we could 
naturalize the Abundance plum as easily as the laws of most States 
naturalize foreigners, it would soon be all right.” 
The man who seeds down his meadows with the refuse of his 
hay mow well earns the name of his product—“ hay seed.” There 
are weeds in his crop’s pedigree, and a weed on the hat of his 
profits. 
The man who has read the “balanced ration” articles carefully 
understands that “animal heat” is produced from food taken in 
through the mouth. He is also prepared to understand why 
“ hemlock boards are cheaper than grain !” 
“ I suppose you are greatly interested in your farm,” said The 
R. N.-Y. to an enterprising farmer lately. “ Yes, too much so, I 
sometimes think ! ” “ How can that be ? ” “ Because I may neg¬ 
lect higher things for it.” There’s something for you to think 
over. 
The average of 27 analyses of eggs gave 12 per cent of muscle- 
makers and 10 per cent of pure fat. Milk averages 3|4 per cent 
muscle-makers, 4*4 of fat-formers and four of pure fat. We have 
no analysis of grasshoppers, but hens produce very cheap eggs 
when fed almost entirely on insects. 
