396 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Juried 
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. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8s. 6d., or 8 1 /, 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- 
oftice 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 10 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1895. 
An old friend of The R. N.-Y. is advertising for 
complete files of the paper from 1878 to the present 
time. Any one having such in good order, with in¬ 
dexes, should write at once and state price. 
Q 
Are there not some of our readers who know of 
homemade telephones, or some cheap and simple tele¬ 
phone service in a farm neighborhood ? If there are, 
we wish they would help us on that question under 
“ What Say,” page 393. By all means, give farm 
neighborhoods the conveniences of the telephone if 
they can be secured at a reasonable rate. 
G 
Among other excellent articles in preparation, is 
one on a “ A Farm Paint Shop.” This will be written 
by an old-time painter, and will contain many prac¬ 
tical ideas. In these times, many a farm building 
will go long unpainted if its owner must wait till he 
can afford to hire a painter to do it for him. At the 
same time, the building may need the paint sadly. 
Let the farmer learn how to do it himself. 
O 
Just as we predicted, that old “ Preservaline ” ad¬ 
vertisement makes its appearance in the agricultural 
papers. The advertisers have a new scheme this year 
—they promise to keep eggs fresh for a whole year ! 
Now, the agricultural papers that advertise this stuff, 
do not do so ignorantly. They know that it is com¬ 
posed chiefly of borax, and they know that our best 
dairy authorities condemn its use. Later in the year, 
this company will advertise a wonderful system of 
preserving fruit! Let the whole crowd alone ! 
G 
The small local market may often be the best one 
for the producer. High city quotations are attractive, 
but perishable shipments frequently overload the 
market, and freights, commissions and shortage render 
returns disappointing. The consumption of fresh 
fruits and vegetables in the small towns and adjacent 
territory, may be doubled by the exercise of a little 
business energy. Fresh strawberries, raspberries, 
cantaloupes, watermelons, and other luxuries of the 
table, are not to be resisted when presented at the 
door daily in their season, if the price be a moderate 
one, and such a market is the safe and profitable one. 
General adoption of such methods of distribution in 
villages and thickly settled country districts, would 
often double present consumption of these articles. 
G 
An acre crop of Crimson clover as they grow it in 
Delaware, contains more fertilizing material than is 
contained in 15 tons of stable manure. In 1890, there 
were in Delaware, 762,055 acres of improved farm 
lands. Let us suppose that 500,000 acres had been 
sowed to Crimson clover last fall. That might have 
been done without interfering with any other crop. 
Do you realize what that would mean ? As much fer¬ 
tility as is found in 7,500,000 tons of ordinary manure! 
Or, to put it another way, it would mean 106,000,000 
pounds of nitrogen, 26,000,000 pounds of phosphoric 
acid, and 93,250,000 pounds of potash raised to the 
surface of Delaware soil—ready for business ! You 
would have to import 318,000 tons of nitrate of soda to 
obtain that nitrogen, or about 50,000 tons of muriate 
of potash. At the regular market price, this fertility 
would cost the State of Delaware $22,080,000 ! In that 
same year, 1890, there were in the whole United States, 
357,616,755 acres of improved farm lands, of which at 
least 150,000,000 were suited to the growing of Crim¬ 
son clover. We won’t attempt to figure out the full 
possibilities of such a crop, as we haven’t a column 
wide enough for the figures ! 
Mr. M. A. Thayer of Wisconsin, states that at 11 
A. M., on the day before the late hard freeze, the 
signal service reported “ killing frosts.” A score of 
men at once started covering the berries with the 
mulch that lay between the rows, or with wild hay. 
They kept this up all night, and 90 per cent of the 
fields so covered were saved. On strawberries, this 
mulch should be removed in the morning to allow 
polleniza ion. As an experiment, we covered our 
early potatoes this year with a thick mulch of straw. 
They were not touched by the frost, while nearby 
plants of like size were killed to the ground. 
G 
Michigan is a big State, and the people in the ex¬ 
treme northern part of it need ice in their water but 
a very few weeks out of the 52. But it won’t do to 
put the whole State down as a snow drift after read¬ 
ing this letter : 
In a recent R. N.-Y. you note the fact that the first Maryland 
strawberries were sent into market May 14. That is somewhat 
remarkable, of course, for such a “ cold, bleak climate ” as that 
of Maryland. Sunny Michigan was “ a little late ” this year, but 
managed to get her first shipment ready for the Chicago market 
May 16, two days later than Maryland. They were sent from the 
region of Union Pier in this county. v. E. R. 
Berrien County, Mich. 
That’s good. We were at Dover, Del., May 16, and no 
ripe berries were found. These berries, it seems, 
brought $4 a case. 
G 
In the construction of United States war vessels, a 
foreign-made product known as cocoa cellulose has 
been used to pack between the exterior and interior 
hulls near the water line, to prevent sinking in ease 
of perforation by shot. Although projectiles might 
pass through this substance, they leave no holes in it 
through which water may flow. Many disadvantages 
attend its use, chief of which are its cost, weight, and 
rapid deterioration. Secretary of the Navy Herbert 
has appointed a committee of naval constructors to 
examine into the merits of a new material made from 
the pith of Indian corn stalks, which is expected to 
displace cocoa cellulose for the purpose mentioned. 
Comparative tests will be made at the proving grounds 
between the two, and if these meet expectations, we 
may soon have another use for our corn plant. 
G 
In parts of western New York, the recent freeze 
caused immense damage to fruit. It was, of course, 
impossible to estimate fully this damage at first, but 
now, after several w eeks, the real results are appar¬ 
ent. Here is the sad report of an old friend in Niagara 
County, N. Y. : 
I never saw a finer prospect for all kinds of fruits and other 
crops, than a week ago last Saturday, and now we have no show 
at all. Where we had 2,000 barrels of pears last year, we sha’n’t 
have a peck. Cherries, plums, grapes and strawberries are all 
gone. There may be a few apples, but can be no crop. I hope 
there may be some, and in some orchards there may be a few 
peaches left—very few, indeed. My Paragon chestnut orchard 
was coming out in great shape, but now there is not a single live 
leaf on the whole orchard, and it is no worse than the native 
trees about that. 
We shall be glad to hear from other points now that 
the worst can be known. 
o 
Horses have felt the decline in values more than 
any other product of -the farm ; they are now selling 
for about 40 per cent of the value of similar animals 
six to eight years ago. But what shall be done about 
it ? Though there is still a narrow margin of profit 
in the “large or stylish horse,” when nothing but the 
feed is considered, yet when it is understood how 
much skill and intelligence it takes to produce them, 
it is readily seen that they do not give adequate returns 
for the effort put into them. It is absurd to claim 
that it is as easy to raise a good horse as a poor one. 
The prospect is that the supply will exceed the 
demand for several years to come, mainly for the 
reason that it takes farmers as a class so long to 
adjust themselves to new conditions. It would seem 
that the wisest thing to do is, as many are doing with 
wheat, to leave the business alone and engage in 
something else. 
G 
Considerable interest is manifested in three-horse 
eveners. Modern methods and implements require 
more power than a two-horse team of average weig-ht 
can furnish. The general-purpose horse on the farm 
does not need to be of very heavy weight, except on 
special occasions. It is often very convenient, too, 
to have a third horse for use when the team is en¬ 
gaged in light work. For deep plowing more power 
is required. With our level and well-cleared fields, 
harrows that cut both wide and deep may be used to 
advantage. With good roads, heavy loads may be 
taken to market. The cost of the driver is no more, 
and the amount of work accomplished by a three-horse 
team, is 50 per cent or more above that of a two-horse 
one. Better work, too, may often be done. Three- 
horse teams are common in the city, and should be 
more used on the farm. The lack of a good three- 
horse evener often stands in the way. One of the 
best for farm purposes ever made, is illustrated and 
described on page 391. 
G 
Manufacturers of brooders systematically mis¬ 
state the number of chicks that may be brooded by 
their machines. With great care and skill, the num¬ 
ber stated as their capacity, may possibly be kept in 
them for a short time while small; but, in general, it is 
safer to figure on these machines accommodating only 
about one-half the stated number. Loss and disap¬ 
pointment are pretty sure to result if beginners try to 
raise the stated number, and this will result in a 
prejudice against the machines, and will react against 
the makers. It is to the interest of the latter not to 
misrepresent the capacity of their machines. 
G 
Mr. Bancroft, of Delaware, has demonstrated that 
one acre of his light soil will furnish a year’s supply of 
food for one cow ! A spring’s crop of Crimson clover 
and winter oats is put in the silo, and the ground at 
once plowed and put in corn or cow peas which, in 
turn, go into the silo when ripe. After this second 
crop is harvested, another crop of Crimson clover and 
oats is started. The ensilage from this acre will feed 
one cow a year. During her heavy milkiDg season, two 
pounds per day of cotton-seed meal might be profitably 
added, but the cow could maintain a good yield with¬ 
out it. Mr. Bancroft even says that he doesn’t care 
if one-third of the Crimson clover and oats are 
“ down ” so flat that they cannot be easily cut for the 
silo, for it will all be plowed in and make more corn. 
This is the most “intensive” culture of cow feed we 
have yet heard of ! 
G 
BREVITIES. 
We’ve made a great chatter o’er “ organic matter,” 
And how it behaves in the soil; 
It holds back the water and makes the drought shorter, 
And thus recompenses your toil. 
It fills up the spaces between the small faces 
Of particles down in the earth; 
Capillary forces go working like horses, 
To prove to the farmer their worth. 
Then make your soil fatter with organic matter, 
And capture the life-giving drink; 
Fill up the air spaces and you can make faces 
At half of your trouble, I think. 
And inside your skull, sir, unless I am dull, sir, 
There’s much the same trouble prevails. 
Two-thirds of your schemes, sir, are'nothing but dreams, sir, 
And that’s why you always win “ tails.” 
Your head’s out of kilter—it’s not a good filter; 
There’s too much air space there, and hence, 
In order to win, sir, you’d better plow in, sir, 
The humus of experience ! 
Sound money ” is cash that “ talks.” 
Name your farm and print it on your letter heads ! 
Pedigree gives promise of performance—that’s all. 
Does agriculture need more preachers or more praeticers ? 
Keep every hoof quite aloof from the young clover seeding. 
Don’t let the freeze give your ambition a permanent “die-back.” 
A discount on your note is like a disc harrow on your feelings. 
A frost that kills early potato vines does not seem to harm the 
bugs. 
Before you attempt an off-liaud answer, have your facts on 
hand. 
The worst “dead head” on your farm is the head that won’t 
think. 
No, we are not Crimson clover crazy; we are just pushing along 
a good thing. 
The R. N.-Y. gives more information about insect pests than 
any other farm paper. 
Miss Crescent strawberry needs “bloomers” in order to get 
through the world right. 
A growing crop in your orchard is not the same as a mulch. The 
first steals moisture—the latter holds it. 
The weed crop will get a “corner” on your farm if you don’t 
clean out that fence corner before ripening time ! 
French farmers are said to be using more fertilizers than ever 
—with a gain chiefly in nitrate of soda, kainit and basic slag. 
The nose was never designed to hold water. Don't use catarrh 
cures in the form of a solution. Try bicarbonate of soda and 
vaseline. 
There are 10 workmen who can get a machine out of order to 
one who can get it in again. That’s why you want strong and 
simple machinery. 
It gives your feelings quite a blow, to eat the words that form 
a “crow,” and so be sure your facts you know before you ope your 
mouth and “ blow.” 
The chances are good for “blighty” weather this season. The 
potatoes will take it if the vines are not coated with copper. 
Better try the Bordeaux Mixture. 
You may well give the young strawberry plants a chew of 
tobacco ! The tobacco dust scattered over the plants in April is 
worth its cost as a fertilizer, and will keep off many an insect. 
Here’s a letter from last winter that I hope will prove a hinter 
to enable you to jump upon the frost and break its back. May the 
cold of winter’s battle have no terrors for your cattle, for they’ll 
fatten on a batten if it’s nailed along a crack. 
A newspaper reports several sheep frozen to death in one of the 
mountainous counties in New Jersey during the recent cold 
spell. The sheep had been sheared during the previous heated 
term, under the impression that summer had come, and the loss of 
their winter coats, in connection with the sudden and severe 
change, proved too much for them. 
