3i6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 4 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established, 1850. Copyrighted 1805 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
Joiin J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. 6d., or Sy t 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 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 p&y- 
able THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1895. 
ANOTHER PREMIUM CONTEST. 
The following premiums will be given for the 
largest clubs of “rest of the year” subscriptions sent 
in between May 1 and June 15 : 
A Buckeye Mowing Machine. 
A Self-Dumping Horse Hayrake. 
$15 in Cash. 
$1 0 in Cash. 
Five Prizes of $5 Cash. 
Subscriptions may be taken for the “ rest of the year ” for 
50 cents. From this 50 cents, the agent may retain 
the present commission on six-months subscriptions. 
The agent sending the largest club before June 15, 
may have first choice of the above named premiums, 
second largest second choice, and so on. Full par¬ 
ticulars about the mower and rake next week. Don’t 
wait for the particulars, but begin now. 
o 
Wf have found a fertilizer agent that knows the 
difference between “ammonia” and nitrogen. He has 
a special brand which he desires to give away to all 
deserving farmers. He possesses special facilities for 
securing this product from an inexhaustible source, 
and stands ready to introduce his goods free of cost to 
any farmer who will pay the cost of his board while 
in service. The name of this agent is Prof. Crimson 
Clover, F. F. (farmer’s friend.) 
O 
Mr. Simons gives us a fresh illustration of the 
strength of New England’s rocky soil. It is in line 
with what Mr. Clark told us on page 255. The trouble 
with such soil is that considerable capital is required 
to get the stones out. We admit that most of the 
farms thus described have been rendered profitable 
by the investment of money made in other lines of 
industry. Yet, consider this for a moment! In what 
other part of the country can you find soil that will 
pay good interest on $300 an acre simply to clear it ? 
You may find it on fields that can be irrigated, but 
where else ? 
O 
We are giving them all a chance to talk on the 
Crimson clover question. We don’t care whether the 
reports are good or bad so long as they state facts. 
The past winter has been very hard on clovers, and 
you will notice that in most cases, Crimson has done 
as well as Red. We say now, as we said last year, that 
in average years, it is possible to get a fall growth of 
Crimson clover that will yield a profit over the cost 
of seed and labor, if not a spire of it lives till spring ! 
Not only that, but there are seasons when the Crim¬ 
son will live through the winter — that is, where- 
ever Red clover will thrive. 
Q 
Suppose you start out with the determination of 
selling 3,000 pounds of butter from your farm this 
year. Nothing like having a plan to start with. You 
can raise the needed fodder and part of the grain. 
The next thing is to get the cows. Here is a cow that 
can make 125 pounds of butter a year—her price is 
$35. Here is another that can make 250 pounds—she 
costs $45. If you had $500 to spend on cows, which 
would you buy—15 cows at $35, or 11 at $45 ? There 
are many people who would say, “ 15 at $35,” because 
it would mean a larger herd. They forget that the 15 
would eat more than the 11, and require more barn 
room and care, and yet not make so much butter. We 
observe the same calculation shown in buying fer¬ 
tilizers. The desire is to secure the greatest bulk for 
the money without considering the actual plant food. 
A good illustration is shown in the buying of potash. 
Many buy kainit because its price per ton is low. Sup¬ 
pose it costs $13 a ton, and contains 12 % per cent of 
potash. Muriate may cost $42 a ton, and contain 50 
per cent of potash. Is it not easy to see in such a case 
that 250 pounds of potash in the kainit cost $13, while 
1,000 pounds in the muriate cost $42. To secure 1,000 
pounds in the form of kainit, will cost $52, or $10 more 
than the muriate. Thus it is not unlike the two classes 
of cows. 
G 
We are sorry to see several of the agricultural 
papers advertising “Sears, Roebuck & Co.,” of Chi¬ 
cago. This advertisement represents a finely-dressed 
man standing—with one hand in his pocket and the 
other holding a cigar—gazing at what purports to be 
an offer to send a $10 suit of clothes for $3.98 ! The 
offer is absurd—it simply can’t be carried out. Last 
December the United States Government issued a 
“ fraud order ” against this so-called firm, denying 
them the use of the mails because their scheme is a 
fraudulent one. 
G 
It is generally supposed that too early roosting 
causes crooked or flattened breastbones in chickens. 
S. A. Little, on page 312, states the contrary, and says 
that the breastbones are less likely to be flattened 
than when the chicks roost on the ground until well 
grown. There certainly is less danger from crowd¬ 
ing, and the chicks will be kept much cleaner. The 
most common farm practice is to let the chicks stay 
in the coops until driven from them by the winter 
snows, or until they take to the trees to escape the 
foul and insect-infested quarters. This is an unwise 
and unprofitable practice. 
G 
The price of beef has advanced : said to be due to 
the scarcity and high price of beef cattle. The price 
of shoe leather has advanced : said to be due to the 
scarcity and high price of beef cattle. The price of 
mutton has advanced : said to be due to the scarcity 
and high price of beef cattle. The price of canned 
meats has advanced : said to be due to the scarcity 
and high price of beef cattle. The price of leather 
belting has advanced : said to be due to the scarcity 
and high price of beef cattle. The price of tallow 
has advanced : said to be because of the scarcity and 
high price of beef cattle. The price of shoes (calf, 
goat, etc.) has advanced: said to be due to the scarcity 
and high price of beef cattle. Verily, the sellers of 
beef cattle must have a perfect bonanza. 
G 
There is a big stretch of desert between California 
and the large cities of the East, where live the people 
who buy California fruits. The money spent in keep¬ 
ing the fruit cool during this long, hot trip, adds 
greatly to the cost of a car-load of fruit laid down in 
Omaha or Chicago. Naturally, inventors are at work 
trying to devise cheap methods of cooling the cars. 
The object is to save the cost of ice. One plan is to 
make the cars air-tight and charge them with various 
gases. Another is to vary the pressure of air and 
thus save part of the ice. Another plan is to put the 
fruit in an inside car of metal, and cover it with felt 
or bagging on to which a constant supply of water 
drips from a tank overhead. The evaporation is sup¬ 
posed to keep the inside metal car cool, just as in hot 
countries jars of water are cooled by covering them 
with a cloth and keeping the cloth wet. Out of all 
these plans will undoubtedly come some way of cheap¬ 
ening the cost. One great hindrance is the obstinacy 
of the Pacific Railroad Company. This monopoly is 
apparently interested in keeping the heavy, iced 
cars in service, because the very weight of the ice 
means so much more freight. 
G 
The religious papers are advertising a device known 
as the “ Electropoise,” which may justly take rank as 
one of the biggest humbugs of the age. It is called ‘ ‘an 
oxygen cure without medicine,” and is said to cost 
$25. “ Electricity,” a scientific paper printed in New 
York, bought an “ Electropoise ” and examined it. 
This is their report: 
It was found that the nickel-plated cylinder, three inches long 
and one inch in diameter, was filled with flowers of sulphur and 
graphite made into a paste and allowed to harden, which, when 
used, is placed in cold water to set up by moisture a chemical 
action, which is so small as to be insensible and capable of exert¬ 
ing no influence on the system whatever. In one end of the cylin¬ 
der is fastened an ordinary flexible cord, the other being affixed 
to the metal clasp of a garter for attaching it to the wrist or 
ankle. Flowers of sulphur costs two cents a pound, and graphite 
10 cents. The cylinders can be made, in quantity, for 10 cents 
each; the cord, two yards in length, can be had at retail for 25 
cents; and the garter five cents, making the whole cost 42 cents. 
The ’poise is sold for $25. 
Our old friend, A. I. Root, has exposed tkis humbug 
in the strongest terms, and its fraudulent character 
should be known to the religious papers which are 
printing the advertisement. A common china nest 
egg carried in the pocket is just as scientific a “cure” 
as this humbug—and so is a dried horse chestnut. One 
thing about it is that the “ patient ” is advised to take 
no medicine while the “ Electropoise ” is fastened to 
the garter. That’s good. You might padlock the 
thing on, and heed that medical advice till the pad¬ 
lock breaks. That would help you, but why pay $25 
for advice which ordinary common sense ought to 
give free ? 
G 
The Ohio Dairy Commissioner has found a swindler 
in that State who is making bogus milk. He mixes 
bicarbonate of soda, nitrate glycerine, salt and sugar 
with milk and water, and makes an emulsion closely 
resembling milk. This formula is also sold at $5. so 
that dishonest milkmen may swindle their customers. 
During the siege of Paris in 1871, chemists prepared a 
milk substitute that kept the babies alive. In fact, 
it will probably be as easy to make bogus milk as to 
make oleomargarine—and there would be far more 
profit in it. Now we learn of some milk dairymen 
who are sellimj all their milk and buying “ oleo” for 
their own eating. Not only that, but they are actually 
arguing against laws restricting the sale of “ oleo.” 
Think for a moment what a precedent they are help¬ 
ing to establish. By the time they get the “ oleo ” 
fraud well established in law, some one will begin to 
flood the market with bogus milk. Down goes the 
price in consequence, and when they try to fight the 
fraud, they will be stopped by their own work in de¬ 
fending “ oleo ” so vigorously. Having helped estab¬ 
lish the principle that fraud in butter is to be per¬ 
mitted, they will have to stand the same fraud in milk. 
G 
BREVITIES. 
Analogy ! What does that mean ? Let us see 
What Webster the great has to say. 
Resemblance or likeness—if outsides agree, 
Of course, they are built the same way ! 
Analysis ! Now what’s the meaning of that ? 
Old Webster will tell you, of course, 
It’s picking apart both the lean and the’fat, 
And tracing things down to their source. 
Analogy judges things from the outside; 
Analysis goes to the root. 
It not only gives you a glimpse at the hide, 
But the muscles beneath it to boot. 
One reason why farmers in politics fail, 
Is shown in these meanings, my friend; 
Analogy prompts them to put on full sail 
When they’re not within sight of the end. 
Go down to the root of the evil—don’t judge 
By the outside appearance—just find 
The truth by analysis, then don’t you budge 
For an inch when you’ve made up your mind. 
Your hat is your top-dressing. 
Dampness leads to crampness. 
A “ pressing knead” for the bread. 
Bread making is “dough may stick” work. 
A bolt on your dinner is a nut for dyspepsia. 
A good dairy cow cannot carry a dull, sleepy eye. 
Ducks may stand a wet nurse, but chickens can’t. 
Some Southerner will make a fortune growing pecans. 
Try to lengthen the days of graze for the stock this year. 
Why does a spunky cow demand more food than a dull one ? 
Some of our experiment stations do not appear to be earning 
their stationery. 
You never knew a railroad company to charge less for carrying 
second-class produce. 
Don’t be frightened by a few bad reports on Crimson clover. 
Plenty of good ones are coming. 
It’s one thing to pick and another to pack— the latter’s he 
thing where the most of you lack. 
Mr Simons says, “ Keeping accounts is one of my hobbies.” He 
didn’t ride it to death you see—on that orchard. 
The men who are making the most money to-day, are the money 
lender, the office holder, and the liquor dealer ! 
Why do city folks claim to live so much better than farmers 
when everything they eat comes from the farm ? 
It’s time to begin thinking about those wire screens for doors 
and windows. Don’t wait till the flies get well into the house ! 
Nitrate of soda has dropped nearly 35 per cent in price to the 
English farmer. Why can’t Americans catch a few drops like 
that? 
If we found that the money returned for a crop wouldn’t match 
the cost value of it, we would question the wisdom of planting 
again, but should call it a notice to quit. 
Experiments at the Indiana Experiment Station show that stable 
manure was not exhausted by a dozen successive corn crops. Is 
it a desirable thing to fertilize for succeeding generations ? 
Must cooperative creameries pay an income tax ? Apparently 
so, if they do a business of $4,000 above expenses. If 100 farmers 
make the same amount of butter at home none would be taxed ; 
why ? 
Why has the beet raised caiu with the cane-sugar prices ? Be¬ 
cause every energy of science has been devoted to learning how 
to produce the most sugar from a pound of beet, while the cane 
has not been much improved. 
And now comes the report that a compound has been discovered 
in coal tar products, which is much sweeter than saccharine—a 
substance itself far sweeter than sugar. It was discovered acci¬ 
dentally, too. Wonder if the Sugar Trust will gobble this, too! Or 
whether it will have a little trust all its own. 
What The R. N.-Y. predicted some years ago, seems to be com¬ 
ing— viz., an immensely increased potato acreage in the great 
wheat fields of the northwest. All through that region, farmers 
are talking potatoes, and will probably plant them. That means 
a greatly increased crop. Can the American market stand it ? 
