7o 6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 19 
Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' RARER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
* Established 1850 . Copyrighted 1885 . 
Elbert S. Cabman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Hkrbkbt W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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means of transmitting money. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay- 
a ‘ >le 40 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets. New York. 
SATURDAY , OCTOBER 19, 1895. 
After this date, all letters for E. S. Carman should 
be sent to No. 5 West 82nd Street, New York. 
o 
Don’t forget the prizes offered for the best short 
articles for the Woman’s Department. Look back on 
page (570 and see the conditions. There is that prize 
on “Dishorning,” too—see page 659. 
0 
Last week we referred to Dr. .lenkins’s experiments 
in growing tomatoes in a perfectly sterile soil. We 
now have a note from a Western florist who “ does 
not have a pound of animal manure on the place !” 
The plant food is supplied entirely in the form of con¬ 
centrated chemicals. Thus gardeners are beginning 
to realize that there is a substitute for manure in 
greenhouse work. It is high time for the sake of their 
pocketbooks—when some of them are paying $40 a 
ton for ground sheep manure. 
O 
Many farmers are changing their methods of farm¬ 
ing. They will farm fewer acres, and grow more 
fruits and vegetables. There will be less stock kept. 
This will mean not only different tools and methods, 
but different barn buildings. A building for shelter¬ 
ing stock and holding their food is one thing. That 
required by a fruit farmer is quite another. The 
question asked on page 695 is a timely one, and we 
shall give several plans that are satisfactory in various 
locations. The first is discussed this week by Mr. 
Farnsworth. 
0 
“ Can I afford to sell my potatoes at present prices?” 
Many farmers want that question answered. Some 
of them will be forced to sell anyway, but others 
would hold their crop till spring if there was a fair 
chance of a profit in doing so. The thing always 
comes back to what we have said over and over again. 
No one can tell when he is selling to advantage 
until he knows somewhere near what the crop cost. 
A fair idea of the cost of producing a pound or meas¬ 
ure of a product is necessary, if we expect to do a 
profitable business. 
o 
If you are eager to have an electric railroad run¬ 
ning from the town past your farm—don’t forget one 
important thing. It may make it easier to get to 
town or to get your produce there, and it may bring 
more people to see what a beautiful country you 
have ; but it will also bring a Sunday crowd that you 
won’t want. Lots of people will take Sunday after¬ 
noon for an outing. They will wander over your 
farm, and many a bushel of nuts, apples and grapes 
will go back with them. We believe in electric roads, 
but we would much rather walk two blocks to get on 
the cars than to have them pass nearer the house. 
O 
On a hot July day in Georgia a white man came 
slowly driving down the road in front of Mr. Hale’s 
place. With one hand he held an umbrella over his 
head, while with the other he guided the mule. 
Hitched to the rear of the wagon by a long rope, 
shuffled another mule. This sad-faccd animal made 
up its mind that it wanted to roll and without further 
comment or warning lay down in the dust. The 
halter held for a moment and then broke and the 
mule enjoyed his dust bath. The driver pulled in his 
patient steed, calmly surveyed the situation, closed 
his umbrella, descended, caught the dust bather and 
slowly tied the broken rope. Then mounting his seat 
he drove on as before. There was not a word of com¬ 
plaint. He even patted the mule. The average 
Northern driver would have used language hot enough 
to raise the temperature several degrees, and he 
would have booted that mule well—after he had him 
safely tied. The Southern man found no fault, but 
took the matter like a philosopher. Which is the 
more sensible man. taking the thing from all points of 
view ? 
O 
A gardener of long experience—both out doors and 
under glass—is preparing some of this experience for 
print. The R. N.-Y. will publish it during the fall 
and winter. It will help those who depend on the 
garden for any part of their income of profit or 
pleasure. 
G 
On September 3, we set out 1,200 potted plants of 
Darker Earle strawberries. It was late, but the setting 
was delayed because of lack of moisture in the soil. 
With the exception of one or two light showers, the 
drought has continued, and the plants have not grown 
as they would have done with a full supply of water. 
We use the stalks of sweet corn for winter protection. 
About two weeks after setting the plants, part of the 
patch was mulched by placing the stalks thickly 
lengthwise of the rows. To-day those mulched plants 
are at least 50 per cent larger and more vigorous than 
any of the others. If is quite an object lesson as to 
the value of a mulch in a drought. 
ra 
A singular point of law was recently decided in 
an English court. A farmer hired a horse of a neigh¬ 
bor. The horse became sick, and the farmer, anxious 
to help him, gave a simple remedy. The horse died, 
and the owner sued the farmer for damages. The law 
sustained this action on the ground that when the 
farmer gave the medicine he assumed a new responsi¬ 
bility. Had he not given any medicine, but notified 
the owner that the horse was sick, or even called in 
a veterinarian, he would not have been responsible. 
Ry dosing the horse, he took a risk, and must pay 
for it. That seems to be the English law, and prob¬ 
ably the law of this country would not differ much. 
0 
Read what is said about subsoiling on page 698. 
Here are the records of two well-informed men. This 
matter cannot be decided by any single experiment, 
because the success or failure of subsoiling will be 
determined chiefly by the character of the soil. 
Where there is a thick, hard subsoil, it is an excel¬ 
lent thing to break it up, for then the air and water 
work into it, giving warmth and providing a storage 
place for moisture. Where the subsoil is open and 
gravelly, subsoiling would be the worst thing one 
could do, because it would decrease the storage 
capacity for water by increasing the drainage. In the 
cases mentioned this week, the advantage was due to 
a more permanent water supply in the subsoil. 
0 
We have had several pictures of a wood pile. In 
most of them a weary-looking man stood leaning on 
his ax, or holding his back to suggest that it was his 
labor that had severed the tough fibers that Nature 
had so patiently put together. There are very few 
men who would marry a buck-saw from choice. They 
don’t like that tool, and the result is that the wood 
pile is too often a neglected spot on the farm. That 
is all the more reason why our first-page picture is 
doubly suggestive. Here is a wood pile made bj T the 
wind. Not the “wind” spent in talking about it, 
but the moving air that passed over the farm. It 
turned a windmill in its course, and proper shafting 
carried that motion to the saw. That settled the wood- 
pile question. It ought to make all the kitchen folks 
ardent advocates of windmill suffrage. 
0 
Tiie first new hickory nuts sold for high prices. 
Old nuts were not wanted, or only at low prices. A 
commission merchant received a barrel of new nuts. 
He was offered a fair price for them, but refused it 
expecting to get more, for they were fine nuts. A 
later searcher for new hickory nuts, dug down into 
the barrel. About six inches below the top, the new 
nuts suddenly ceased, and old, dry nuts only were 
found. From there down were nothing but old nuts. 
The R. N.-Y. saw this barrel of nuts. Had the first 
offer for them been accepted, the check for payment 
would have gone into the next mail. After the cus¬ 
tomer had investigated and discovered the real con¬ 
tents of the barrel, he would have brought them back, 
and the commission merchant would have been 
obliged to refund the money, because the goods were 
not as represented. Would the shipper have returned 
the check sent him? “I’ll bet that fellow never 
would have written to The R. N.-Y. about that ship¬ 
ment,” said the commission merchant. This is not an 
isolated case, for we have known of several similar 
ones. We hope that no reader of The R. N.-Y. is 
guilty of such practices. 
Comparatively few people realize what the type¬ 
writer has done to promote mailage business and pro 
vide a new employment for women. In the latter line 
it has revolutionized some branches of trade and driven 
men almost entirely out. We know a gardener and 
nurseryman who has a large family of boys and girls. 
His trade is increasing, and the answering of letters 
by pen is a great tax on his time. All the children 
are taup-ht to be useful. Some drive the wagon— 
others help in the field or shed. One daughter is 
studying stenography and typewriting, and will soon 
be able to take charge of her father’s correspond¬ 
ence—leaving him free for more important duties. 
There is an admirable division of family labor. 
O 
The news comes from Chicago that the dairy supply 
firm which The R. N.-Y. has often denounced as the 
“ Creamery Shark,” has passed into the hands of a 
receiver, with its works in the hands of the sheriff. 
This is a fit ending for a company which has done 
much to defraud farmers and bring a legitimate busi¬ 
ness into ill repute. Their methods were dishonest— 
founded on bluff and deceit. They, or their agents, 
made use of blackmail, bribery and falsehoods in 
order to locate creameries for which they charged 
extravagant prices. The R. N.-Y. fought and ex¬ 
posed this business, while, with few exceptions, the 
other agricultural papers printed this firm’s adver¬ 
tising, and were silent regarding its methods. It 
appears that they gave no advertising except to such 
papers as would agree to refrain from printing a 
word about these methods that was not sanctioned 
by the firm itself. We regret that this “ Creamery 
Shark ” was in this way enabled to muzzle 95 per 
cent of the agricultural papers. The failure of such a 
business enterprise deserves no sympathy. 
0 
BREVITIES. 
Uncle Sam has run in debt to his English cousin, 
And the payments make him sweat—money by the dozen 
Millions flows across the sea—must be paid in gold, sir. 
Miss Columbia’s mad, and she trains her tongue to scold, sir. 
When old Uncle’s farm was new, borrowing was easy; 
Needed cash to put things through—so he went to wheezy 
Old John Bull and borrowed cash; thought his mighty farm, sir. 
Soon wou.d knock the notes to smash; now he sees the harm, sir 
All his cotton, corn and wheat, all his beef and bacon, 
Butter, cheese, the whole complete ! All his stuff is taken 
Just to pay the interest—cannot cut a slice, sir, 
From the principal at best; gold has cut the price, sir, 
Of the produce he would ship off to pay his debts, sir. 
Bull has caught him on the hip—that is why he sweats, sir. 
Miss Columbia wants to know—thinks it’s very funny 
Uncle Sam is bothered so for the lack of money. 
Steer clear of the leggy steer. 
No prize fights in Texas ! Good ! 
Of course, your seed corn is housed ! 
A profit without honor ! Let it alone. 
Hay- causes more horse colic than oats. 
“ Politics” are worked by elect trick ity. 
A student at a dairy school must take a hot bath twice a week. 
What part of the horse’s hoof strikes the ground first? The 
heel! 
You can’t rise by trying to lift yourself, but you can by lifting 
others. 
Dont ! don’t! touch the “ California cold process ” of preserv¬ 
ing fruit ! 
Don’t sell the poor cow to the neighbors. Get her out of the 
neighborhood. 
Last picking of sweet corn was on October 7 from a patch of 
Crosby planted July 11. 
We need lots more light on that matter of using gasoline for 
heating water—page 697. 
His bank account will not be worth a sliver whose cows digest 
their ration with a shiver. 
When the cow kicks at you. a grain of patience is worth more 
than a pound with the milking stool. 
Sweet corn transplanted when two feet high on July 4, matured 
its ears 10 days later than the plants left in the row. 
“A stitch in time saves nine”—there’s money in saved stitches. 
Then take a stitch in the woman’s kitchen, and thus lay up your 
riches. 
A great conversion when a dairyman is converted to the belie 
that the proper end of the robber cow- is to have her convertea 
into beef. 
A hothouse plant is a baby. Babies take their food in solution 
What’s the best soluble food for the plants? Surely not the leach 
ings of manure 1 
“ Who runs your conscience ?” 
“ I run it myself !” 
“ Its advice isn’t worth five cents ?” 
It’s funny to see some of the papers trying to prove that they 
invented the term, “Creamery Shark.” They kept their invention 
a profound secret until the shark’s funds ran out. 
Crimson clover cowed in turnips July 11 is a thick mat about a 
foot high. That sowed after early potatoes, August 22, is more 
than heavy enough to pay for seed and labor if every spire of it 
die. 
There’s great complaint that the Crimson clover seed has 
failed to sprout. Too dry. We sowed some in sweet corn when 
the stalks were not waist high. The corn has just been cut off, 
and the clover is now fine. 
An Ohio reader writes thus: “I have sown four acres to winter 
oats. No, don’t think I shall blame you if they fail. I thought 
that the fall growth would pay for the seed if they perished. Oats 
would be put in the ground in the spring, anyway.” That’s fair. 
It’s the way to experiment. 
