1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
285 
THE PROSPECT. 
In a recent address on “ The Chemist, The Farmer 
and The People,” H. W. Wiley, chemist of the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, pictures a puzzled old farmer at 
his first institute as follows : 
And the fellers from the College of Agricultur, they 
Wuz thick ez lightning bugs in June and had a heap to say. 
Ther wuz one they called a chemist, and he kind a seemed to know 
All that wuz in the air above and in the ground below. 
He sed we needed nitergin, and showed us how the stuff 
Wuz awful high and skeerce for crops, while in the air enuff 
Wuz found to make us ’tarnal rich if we could only git 
Some cheap and sarten projeck of hitchin’ on to it. 
He sed that peas and clover and other crops like them 
Wus jist the stuff to do it and store it in the stem, 
And the yeerth is full of critters that eat this stuff, you see, 
And change it in a twinkle into ammoniee. 
Sence I come back from the institoot, it really appears 
Thet potash, nitrate, fosferus, wuz ringin’ in my ears. 
And, William, it seems perty tuff thet you and Jim and me 
Hev went along so ign’rant of what we daily see. 
Jist hauled manure out on the pints and plowed and hoed and 
mowed, 
And worked so hard for little pay, and never, never knowed 
Thet clover, peas and beans, and sich ez the chemist mentioned 
there, 
Hev the highly useful knack of suckin’ niter from the air. 
We print these verses here to help bring out the 
thought that when all farmers recognize the true 
value of this “ highly useful knack,” American agri¬ 
culture will be in far better condition than it is to-day. 
O 
lx I860, the average price of wheat throughout this 
country was $2.20 per bushel. The following year it 
was $1.99, and since then it has been declining, with 
temporary spurts upward. Here are a few sample 
figures : 
Year. 
1868.. 
1874.. 
1881.. 
1884.. 
1894.. 
Price 
per bushel. 
$1.43 
.94 
1.19 
• 6414 
.49 
Total crop, 
bushels. 
224,036,600 
308,10.,700 
383,280,090 
512,765,000 
460,267,000 
The total crop of the world in 1894 was 2,509,121,000 
bushels, the greatest increase being made in (South 
America, which has more than doubled its production 
in four years. As a mere matter of supply and de¬ 
mand, there is no reason why prices for wheat should 
be so low. It will be noticed that the agricultural 
products which are exported in large quantities, are 
the ones suffering most from low prices. The prices 
for these products are regulated by the prices paid in 
the foreign market, and there is where the silver ques¬ 
tion comes home to the American farmer. 
O 
Germany excluded our beef because she claimed 
that the cattle were diseased. She has now raised a 
great hue and cry against our choice evaporated 
apples, because they are evaporated upon zinc instead 
of wooden trays, and the traces of zinc remaining 
upon them might injure the delicate German stom¬ 
achs. There are other American products that she is 
seeking some pretext for excluding. The true inward¬ 
ness of this matter begins to become apparent. The 
German Agrarians are determined that no American 
product shall come into competition with their own. 
They will strive to exclude all such on hygienic 
grounds, but if they fail in this, will raise other 
issues. Their latest attack is on cracked oats which 
have been largely used because of their cheapness and 
palatability. The cry now is to beware of them, and 
the policy will probably be to exclude them on one 
gi’ouud or another. Meantime, the American farmer 
should go on cultivating his home market for all it is 
worth. 
O 
People who patronize the butcher, have recently 
become painfully aware that the prices of meat have 
advanced. The cause is not so evident. The big 
dressed meat concerns claim that the advance is caused 
by a shortage in receipts of cattle, and that cattle 
are costing them from GO cents to $1 per 100 pounds 
more than at the beginning of the year. They also 
submit figures which show that the receipts of cattle 
at Chicago, Kansas City and South Omaha for the past 
three months, are considerably below those of the 
corresponding months the previous three years—aver¬ 
aging in all about 20 per cent less. This is for cattle, 
mind you. They don’t explain why this should cause 
an advance in the price of mutton. Some feeders 
claim that they not only have not obtained higher 
prices for their cattle, which they should have done 
under natural trade conditions if these figures are 
correct, but have been forced to accept lower prices. 
One retailer told the writer at the first intimation of 
higher prices, that there was a combination among 
the wholesalers ; and this seems to be the general 
belief—a combination to force prices down on the 
man who sells the cattle, and up on the man who 
buys the meat. We would like to know how prices 
received by our readers in different parts of the coun¬ 
try compare with those of previous years, and how 
retail prices of meat compare. Who is at the bottom 
of this business, and who is making the money out of 
the advanced prices ? Secretary Morton has ordered 
an investigation with a view of ascertaining whether 
there is really a shortage of cattle, and a combination 
among the wholesale dealers and dressed meat con¬ 
cerns. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Strawberry bargains by Wm. Perry, Cool Spring, Del. 
We are sometimes asked to name a good hand corn planter. 
We can answer such questions easily by advising readers to use 
the Macomber planter made by D. II. Nash, Millington, N. J. We 
have used this planter on both corn and beans, and can guarantee 
good work for it. 
Any one who is ready to buy a harness, or about to do so, should 
send to King <& Co., No. 12 Church Street, Owego, N. Y., and get 
their illustrated catalogue. Inclose two cent stamp. They are 
not jobbers. They make the harness right there in their own 
factory, and have the facilities to put good value in their goods. 
They do, too. 
A pump that never freezes in winter is the kind of a pump most 
people want in cold latitudes. The Buckeye is that kind of a pump 
—it’s a force pump, of course, and throws a steady, constant 
stream. Mast, Foos & Co., Springfield, O., are the manufacturers 
and also of windmills and other farm mills and machinery. Their 
catalogue is free. 
One of the greatest difficulties in the construction of metat 
fences, has been that arising from the unequal tension in hot and 
cold weather. A fence that is so tense as to be in danger of break¬ 
ing in snapping cold weather, may show an unsightly sag in hot 
weather. The Keystone Woven Wire Fence Co., Tremont, Ill., 
have overcome this objection in their fence. Their little book tells 
all about it. It’s yours for the asking. 
It has been estimated that the ravages of insect pests cost the 
fruit growers of the United States, $400,000,000 a year. The P. C. 
Lewis Mfg. Co., Catskill, N. Y., send free some valuable informa¬ 
tion on spraying. Their calendar tells what kind of trees to spray, 
when and how to spray them. Of course, they do it to educate the 
fruit grower, and especially the farmer, to the necessity and profit 
in spraying with a view to making a demand for their pumps; 
but the information is no less valuable on that account. Besides, 
their pumps are all right; we have used them ourselves, and they 
are warranted for three years. 
Tiie Imperial pulverizer, clod crusher, roller and leveler, manu¬ 
factured by the Peterson Mfg. Co., of Kent, O., consists of a double 
set of rollers so placed on a revolving axis, that the rear set com¬ 
pletely cover the trail of the former, thus leaving every particle 
of ground in a well-tilled condition, crushing all the clods without 
respect to size or solidity. It fines the soil below the surface as 
well as on top, acts as a sub-surface packer, and thus prepares 
the soil for the best preservation of moisture. It leaves a finely 
pulverized and perfect seed-bed on the surface; the draft is said 
to be no greater than that of the common harrow, while the re¬ 
sults are incomparable. It is built In three sizes and weights. 
Address the manufacturers as above for fuller particulars. 
SPRAYING OUTFIT 
* 5.50 
WILLSPRAY 10 ACRES PER DAY. 
COMPLETE, 
Express 
r Al D, FOR 
Automatic Mixer. Barrel Attachment. 
Rfl nnnimiCP Endorsed by theleadingEntomol- 
UU,UUU IN UoCi ogisisoftheU.S. A valuable illus¬ 
trated Book (worth $.5.00) given to each purchaser. 
Satisfaction (Guaranteed, or Money Refunded. 
11 Mat ;l log lie and Treatise on Spraying, Free. 
Our Agents are making from $5 to <820 per dny. 
lor particulars and P. C. LEWIS MFC, CO- 
terms,address Box >ji Catskill, N.Y, 
Don’t Get a Has Been—Better Get an Is’er. 
Some Spray Pumps have been good when there were 
none better. The Brass “ ECLIPSE ” “Is ” better than 
any of them. “ We can prove it.” Send for catalogue. 
We give liberal discount to first purchaser at any 
Post Office. 
MORRILL & MORLEY, Benton Harbor, Mich. 
For Mildew, Black Rot and Leaf Blight on Grapes, 
FKUITS, PLANTS AND VEGETABLES, use y—^ r't ^ "T 1-^ T~*' 
“Always ready.” Easily applied cheaper ■ 1 III 
than Bordeaux Mixture. Sold by Seedsmen and -A. JL JL 
C. H. JOOSTEN, No. 36 Dey Street, NEW YORK. 
Leggett’s Paris-Green or Powder Gun 
vM 
Kills all bugs. From M to 1 
lb. of Green per acre; 
two acres per hour; no 
water or plaster required 
For Orchard or Potato 
field. Easy and safe, 
i Thousands In use. Circu- 
1 lar on application. 
L LEGGETT & BRO., 
\™ H01 Pearl St., New York. 
SPRAY 
AUTOMATIC 
MACHINERY. 
Send for Ill. Catalogue. John J. McGowen, Ithaca,N.Y 
CAVE THE POTATOES 
W From the bugs with one of my 
Paris Green Sprinklers. 
(GKAY’S ’ PATENT.) 
If tried once will never be with¬ 
out It. Can sprinkle more than 
one acre in an hour with It. 
It saves half of the Paris 
Green against any other 
method. Write for prices 
and circulars to 
E. GOETTSCHE, Mfr., 
1049 Milwaukee Avenue- 
Chicago. III. 
Mention this paper. 
SUCCESS 
IS ATTAINED WITH 
SPRAY PUMPS 
MADE BY 
THE DEMING CO., Salem, 0. 
BUCKET AND BARREL PUMPS OF 
VARIOUS STYLES, WITH ALL BRASS 
WORKING parts; knapsack spray¬ 
ers, DEMING-VERMOREL AND BOR¬ 
DEAUX SPRAY NOZZLES, ETC. 
“THE WORLD’S BEST.” 
CnyCatalogue and Treatise on application. 
HENI0N & HUBBELL, l rmr . rn 
Gen’l Western Agts. } CH, CAG0. 
IT PAYS. 
Our Pumps Have Automatic 
Agitators anil Po Best Work. jpl 
Everybody says so. Cata^ H 
logue and book of in- M 
struction 4c. Circulars free. 
FIELD FORCE PUMP CO, 
118 Bristol Ave., Lockport, N. Y. 
i 
MULSION 
A. 
. For fruit trees, 
vineB,garden flow¬ 
ers. Our book on 
Sprayers tells how 
to help you, your 
crops and our bus¬ 
iness to pay. Its 
Free send for it. 
WO. DOUGLAS, 
Middletown, Ct. 
New York. 
Chicago. 
5 fruit Growers 
£ Should get our book that explains 
* Ke a,ue . DAVIS SPRAYER 
ft sent Free If you say you saw ad. 
V In this paper. Write now. 
/. DAVIS-JOHNSON CO. 
^ 45 Jackson St. Chicago, 11 Is- 
ONE-HOltSE DOUBLE ROW 
PARIS-GREEN 
AND 
FERTI¬ 
LIZER 
DISTRIBUTOR. Send for Circular. 
Address ,J. W. SPANGLER, York, Pa. 
FREE SPRAY PUMP 
pers 
_ place. We mean it. If 
you mean business and want agency send 10c. We will 
send a complete pump, that, will do the work of a *10 
spray. A. 8PEIK8, B 64 North Windham, Maine. 
SURE DEATH TO CATERPILLARS. 
MACOMBER’S HAND 
CORN PLANTER. 
ALL METAL. INDESTRUCTIBLE. 
Automatic, iron cut-off. No disk, slide, brush or 
rubber. Seed forced into compact soil, not dropped 
into a hole which may not close. Advantage of thus 
firming the soil fully appreciated by all. 
DUA«E H. NASH So<e Nlfr., 
MILLINGTON, NEW JERSEY. 
THEY SAY 
“One Good Turn Deserves Another.” 
If you want to do a particularly good turn, In the way 
of a furrow, try the 
Columbia Chilled Plow. 
If you want to avoid the objectionable “ Dead 
Furrow,” use our new reversible plow, rigged with 
a jointer for sod. 
Agents wanted. Send for price list. Address 
Columbia Plow Works, Copake Iron Works, 
COLUMBIA COUNTY. N. Y. 
The Latest ! The Rest!—Pat’d 
Norton’s Plant Duster. 
Time,Labor and Material Saved 
This Is a device to be carried 
along rows of potatoes, corn 
or other plants to be powdered 
and a downward jolting move¬ 
ment given to the powder¬ 
holding chamber, causing a 
dust-guard to project over 
each hill successively so that 
the dust thrown out will be 
confined and directed upon 
the leaves and stalks of the 
. — plants operated upon, to kill 
bugs or similar insect pests. Send for Descriptive 
circular. Manufactured and for sale by 
THE TROY STAMPING WORKS, Troy, N. Y. 
The Asbestos Torch Sfl<> n m 
Will aavothn Wo. i. 1___ I 
COLUMBIANA PUMP CO., 
48 R. R. St., Columbiana, Ohio. 
Will save the trees; is needed by every farmer. Ap¬ 
proved by fruit Growers Sample sent by mail for 
50 cents. Agents wanted everywhere. 
ASBESTOS TORCH CO., Boston. Mass. 
THE 
—— NUMYR Spray & Solid'stream NOZZLE 
Nickeled: cant clog: ask your dealer. Illustrated 
Circular free. H. F. NEUMEYER, Macungie. Pa. 
niANITP added t0 8tab >e manure enriches Its quality, frees it from insect life. Comes finely 
■ » powdered; applied with bellows on sunny mornings It kills insect life, mildew and 
SlBAUGUST R41LK5cR a & lS SON,s^ e geedsmen, rl New^Brk? f 10U ,,0Unt,S renilt ^’ 10 -‘ jOund sain <’ lu 
