332 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 11 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal lor Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. Copyrighted 1885 
Elbert S. Carman, EdItor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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8s. 6d., or 8% marks, or 10 l / t francs. 
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of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 26 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with “Adv.,” 75 cents per 
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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 40 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY , MAY 11, 1895. 
The district schoolliouse ought to be headquarters 
for the entire district. It would be a fine thing if 
every house in the district could be connected by 
telephone with the schoolhouse. That could be made 
the “central station” so that farmers could reach each 
other in short notice. Mail for the district might be 
left at the schoolhouse as a first step toward “free 
rural delivery.” We hope to live to see the time 
when every house in the land may be reached by 
telephone. Society will be better for it. 
O 
One of the most interesting things about fine butter¬ 
making, is the probable source of the flavor and 
aroma. Is this a product of the food, or is it px-oduced 
in the “ ripening” of the cream? Much has been 
said on both sides of the matter. At first thought, 
one would say that the food controls the flavor almost 
entirely. We shall, in a few weeks, present the views 
of a number of dairy authorities on this important 
subject, and if we mistake not, this symposium will 
be one of the most important dairy discussions we 
have ever had. 
O 
Many a gray-haired man has accumulated property 
by raising grass and grain, and feeding them to ordi- 
nai’y cattle. Such a man may be pardoned for think¬ 
ing that, because he has done this all his life, he 
ought to know all there is about the business. His son 
may have been about the world enough to know that 
times have changed so that far-away sections of the 
country can now do cheaper what his father used to 
do on the old farm. You can’t blame the boy for not 
wanting to farm in the old way, when he knows that 
it means certain defeat. You can’t blame the father 
for taking the position he does. Whom are you to 
blame, then ? 
O 
I)r. Reynolds, of Minnesota, makes two points 
about tuberculosis that are worth thinking about. 
First he says that tuberculin is not an infallible guide 
to the disease. The evidence in this test is a rise in 
temperature. There are many things that will cause 
such a rise, and a lai-ge drink of cold water may sud¬ 
denly lower the temperature, just when the rise would 
have been expected. A careless or hasty operator 
would easily make wrong conclusions. Another thing 
is that, while the germs of tuberculosis can stand 
freezing and nearly boiling, sunshine will kill them. 
Sunshine and pure air make the best consumption 
cure in man or beast. 
O 
We shall be careful to give all the -unfavorable re¬ 
ports of Crimson clover. Thus far, the good reports 
outnumber the bad ones, and if we are not mistaken, 
the majority will be greater yet two weeks hence, 
when some of the plots that now look weak have a 
chance to grow. Almost all who report, say that they 
will try the seed again, as they feel that this excep¬ 
tionally hard and ti-ying winter has not given the 
clover a fair showing. We conclude that the Crimson 
endures the cold of winter about as well as the Red. 
The freezing and heaving of bare ground in March 
seems to have killed many of the trial patches. The 
surest way to prevent this trouble seems to be to 
secure as heavy a growth as possible in the fall. To 
do this, early sowing is desirable, and the use of 
potash and some form of phosphoric acid is needed. 
The opinions as to the value of mulching the clover 
with manure, are varied. We think that many fields 
could have been saved if, after the snow r melted, the 
manure could have been spread over the clover, thus 
giving it something of a protection from the freezing 
and heaving of March. In most cases, this would 
have put the manure where it was needed anyway. 
While Crimson clover was killed on the Rural Grounds 
last winter, it succeeded the two previous winters, 
and gave excellent results. An experiment with 
winter oats at the Rural Grounds, is likely to lead to 
interesting results. We expect, this year, to tell 
about the growing of winter oats and Crimson clover 
together in Delaware. 
O 
Directions for growing sage are given on page 327, 
and some figures as to yields and prices are given 
which are liable to be misleading. No one should 
engage in growing any such crop with which he is 
unfamiliar, unless he first finds where he can sell the 
product. Such staple crops as corn, wheat and pota¬ 
toes are always salable at some price ; but it is differ¬ 
ent with these special crops. They are used only for 
special purposes, and none but a few special dealers 
buy them. They must be put up in a special manner, 
and special knowledge is required in every detail. 
Farmers should try these new ventures in an experi¬ 
mental way, but they must use caution and common 
sense, and not expect to equal as beginners, those 
who have been through the mill, and have gained 
years of experience. 
O 
Few Eastern farmers appreciate the great demands 
for iiTigation in western Kansas and Nebraska. All 
over that dry and parched country, irrigating ponds 
are being made and wells sunk for pumping them full. 
Steam pumps are often used, but windmill power is 
mostly resorted to. A rude form of mill sometimes 
called a “ go-devil,” is often seen. This is built in the 
form of an old-fashioned water-wheel, or the paddle- 
wheel of a steamer, running clear of the ground on a 
shaft. Around the lower part of it is built a tight 
fence, so that the wind acts only on the upper vanes. 
A crank at one end of the shaft connects with a pump 
and so, as the wheel revolves, the pump is worked. 
With this simple paddle-wheel, vast quantities of 
water are lifted in Kansas. It requires no governor, 
and seldom gets out of order. We hear of one such 
mill with a wheel 21 feet in diameter, 27 feet long, 
and with eight fans. Think of the coal required to 
give the power of this simple contrivance ! 
Q 
Wiiat the Bartlett is among pears, and the Concord 
among grapes, the Baldwin is among apples—espe¬ 
cially in the North. In the South and Southwest, it 
does not succeed so well. It is now proposed to have 
a monument erected to its memory, at or near the 
place where it was first discovered, only a few miles 
out of Boston. The inscription on the shaft will 
recite that near its site “in 1793, Samuel Thompson, 
Esq. * * * discovered the first Pecker apple, later 
named the Baldwin.” Many trees were grafted with 
scions from this tree, and it became well known 
locally. Through the influence of Col. Loami Bald¬ 
win, a celebrated engineer, it gained a wide reputa¬ 
tion, and was afterward known by his name. It is a 
better monument to his memory than many a shaft of 
granite, or statue of bronze to more widely-known, 
but, perhaps, less deserving men. By the way, will 
you help erect a monument to the originator of the 
Concord grape, or would you prefer to join in that 
testimonial to make his declining years brighter and 
more comfortable ? 
O 
Ever since the enforced dissolution of the old Milk 
Exchange, efforts have been made for the formation 
of another organization to look after the interests of 
the milk trade, and to establish prices. Several meet¬ 
ings of interested parties have been held, and numer¬ 
ous propositions have been submitted. Finally a com¬ 
mittee was appointed to devise plans, and its report 
was submitted to a meeting of wholesale dealers, 
creamerymen and milk producers held eai*ly in the 
week. The plan adopted provides for the formation 
of an association with a paid-in capital of §25,000, 
divided into shares of §20 each, with annual dues of §2, 
the holder of five shares to be eligible to a director- 
ship. The farmers are to be allowed to subscribe for 
half the stock, and the subscription books are to re¬ 
main open for that purpose until May 10. This plan 
gives farmers the chance to hold an equal share of the 
stock if they avail themselves of the opportunity. 
Subscribers must pay 25 per cent of the amount of 
their stock at the time of subscribing. The §25,000 is 
to be invested in real estate, bonds or mortgages, or 
placed in a trust company, and the eai’nings above ex¬ 
penses to be added to it. This last provision was 
vigorously opposed by several producers. The out¬ 
come will be watched with interest. Some outside 
dealers are of the opinion that by some means the 
dealers will, in the end, secure a majority of the stock, 
and thus be in a position to dictate terms. The need 
of some oi’ganization to fix prices, and regulate the 
trade, is conceded. As for the cry of ‘ ‘ trust that has 
been raised, a trust is out of the question from the 
very nature of the case. The supply of milk is too 
large. Large dealers would be glad to have higher 
prices, for this would shut off many small dealers who 
buy surplus milk at a low price in summer and under¬ 
sell the regular dealers who do business the year 
around. The opinion is expressed that the new 
organization will ultimately become practically the 
old exchange. Meanwhile the tendency of the milk 
trade of this city is to pass into the hands of the large 
concerns. 
O 
The Indiana Farmer gives this choice illustration of 
the way business is done in Indianapolis : 
A few days ago, we heard of a firm in the western part of this 
city that had fitted out an old woman with a second-hand spring 
wagon and a slow-going horse, and which sends her out every day 
with a lot of jugs, fitted with corn cobs for stoppers, and filled 
with a compound of glucose and melted brown sugar, seasoned 
with extract of hickory bark, and labeled “ genuine maple syrup.’’ 
The old woman represents herself as coming from the country, 
and bringing syrup from her own camp; and in proof of the fact, 
there are the cob stoppers. Quite likely, too, she has a jug of 
genuine maple syrup to pour a sample from. After she has made 
a sale and gone away, she is seen no more in that locality. She 
finds new victims on other streets. After the fraud is discovered 
“them lying farmers” catch a blessing of course. 
That’s nice business for a woman to be up to. Dr. 
Hoskins of Vermont tells us that there is as much 
difference between pure, well-made maple sugar, and 
adulterated stuff, as there is between hard cider from 
wormy apples and the finest wine. The Vermont 
Sugar Maker’s Association is formed of men who 
realize that something must be done to show the 
public where pure goods may still be found. By a 
system of registering and labels, a guai-antee of purity 
is secured, and the consumer is protected. The con¬ 
sumers in town and city who desire a pure article, 
should meet such an association half way, and buy 
direct from the makers. 
O 
BREVITIES. 
Here are two farmers, call them A and B, 
You know their counterparts, I’ll guarantee. 
The midnight oil burns through full many wicks 
While they sit by and argue politics. 
Through hours and hours of argument they wade 
To prove the wrongs or beauties of “free trade.” 
And ne’er agreeing, still they argue on, 
Each claiming that his arguments have won. 
And while they argue, at their very heels, 
The shadow of the rum shop closer steals. 
“ Protection ” A and poor old “ Free Trade ” B, 
As blind as bats talk on and cannot see 
That all their talking does not earn a groat, 
While liquor’s hand is on the nation’s throat! 
Rouse up, ye farmers ! Stop your idle play; 
Agree for once and tear that hand away, 
Or there will be an end of moral breath, 
And Liberty will stagger to her death. 
Slough off the despondency. 
Keep your rubbish out of the road. 
Be consistently persistent in the right. 
A false friend is an adulterated adult. 
The creamery shark is a fraud abhorred. 
What tool do you use to prune the children’s habits ? 
The bilious man’s constitution is subject to bile laws. 
Give the boy a tract—of land to cultivate for his own. 
Better to cultivate than to harrow your wife’s feelings. 
What you should have started by this time, is a good all season 
move. 
The worst thing about a “ crank ” i& that he generally connects 
with a wind pump. 
Too much food for the cat creates “ that tired feline ” which 
causes joy among the rats. 
Talk about “artificial” manures—what’s the straw in stable 
manure but artificial stuff ? 
We think you have “cussed” that luck of yours long enough. 
It might pay you to dis cuss it ! 
Who fills up his stomach with whisky and beer, writes on wallet 
and head, There is room to let here ! 
Can’t you reduce the percentage of “if” in your plans this 
year ? An “ iffy ” plan is too much of a gamble. 
Many a teacher knows that he must turn political wire-puller in 
order to retain his place. That’s a disgraceful truth. 
The latest scheme is a saddle sprayer made to fit a horse’s back 
so that a boy can ride and spray several rows at once. 
Young man—why are you always behind ? We will make that 
a barbed Why are, because we shall keep at you till we find out. 
In France, small electric lamps furnish light for siugle car¬ 
riages, and are distributed over the harness. The electricity is car¬ 
ried in small accumulators. 
We are very glad to see some of our contemporaries following 
us in “Primer Science” articles. Our conviction is that this 
ABC work is what sensible farmers want. 
Fall in ! Get a going ! Front up to the work ! Strip your 
coat ! Put the oats in old Gray ! And give to the gossiping 
neighbor a hint that he’d much better shorten his stay. 
The politician tries to harness three forces, filling his pockets, 
satisfying his constituents, and keeping in with the party bosses. 
No wonder he uses a steal evener to harness them to the load. 
It is said that the supervisors of Kane County, Ill., will give no 
county aid to poor families until an affidavit is signed that no live 
dogs are kept. Why should the public feed curs ? Too much of 
it is done now. 
It is well said that the poorest farmers in California to-day are 
the big land owners who grow wheat. They make no profit, be¬ 
cause all the money received for the wheat is paid out to hired 
help, for labor. The smaller farmer pays this money to his own 
family, and to that extent is better off. 
