746 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 9 
Fall-Sown Grass Seed. 
J. H., Nabbebth, Pa. —I have just 
read that The It. N.-Y. is doubtful 
whether the grass seed sown on the 
lawn October 5 will stand the winter. I 
have had considerable experience in this 
line, and have been successful with lawn 
grass when sown as late as December in 
nearly every case. In fact, I would 
much rather sow the seed late in the 
fall than early in the spring. In sowing 
late, we always sow about two bushels 
of rye with the lawn grass; this prevents 
washing in the early spring, and also 
protects the young grass. The first time 
the ground is frozen hard enough to 
bear a cart or a man with a wheelbarrow, 
we put on about two to three inches 
of good manure. About the last week in 
March or early in April, all the coarse 
manure is raked off, the finest left on, 
and the lawn then rolled. About two or 
three weeks later, the rye may be cut 
with the lawn mower, and by the mid¬ 
dle of May or first of .Tune, after two or 
more cuttings with the mower, we have 
a lawn which, from a distance of 50 feet, 
one will not be able to tell from an old 
one. I would suppose that the grass 
sown October 5, should, by the time cold 
weather sets in, be about one-half to one 
inch in height, and in order to save 
it through the winter, I would put about 
two inches of rather long horse manure 
over it. Care should be taken in spread¬ 
ing, as it would smother the grass where 
it was left too thick or in bunches. 
A Potato Experiment. 
F. E. B., Coventry, N. Y.—I had one 
small tuber of the following potatoes. 
They were cut to one-eje pieces and one 
piece planted in each hill : 
10 hills yielded. 
Pounds. 
Carman No. 1. 30 
Columbia. 23 
Vick’s Early Excelsior. 19 
Irish Daisy. 17 
Freeman. 12 
The following were cut to two-eye 
pieces and two pieces planted in each 
hill: 
10 hills yielded. 
Pounds. 
Rural No. 2. 48 
White Elephant. 46 
Green Mountain. 37 
Maggie Murphy. 37 
White Star. 36 
Empire State. 35 
I planted May 10, and Sept 16 all were 
green except Freeman and Early Ex¬ 
celsior. They were planted three feet 
apart each way very near the center of 
the piece, and given the same care as 
the rest. No fertilizer was used, but 
the ground was manured well last fall 
before plowing. The Carman No. 1 had 
the misfortune to have two hills nearly 
ruined by cut-worms, but I am satisfied 
as it is. 
More About the Single Tax. 
II. S., Newcastle, Del.—The It. N.-Y. 
fears that the effect of a tax on land 
values in crowded cities, would be to 
enable landlords to raise their rents. 
Why do they not do it now ? Because 
they are getting all they can. They 
can’t raise rents at will, any more 
than the farmer can raise the price of 
wheat because he would like to. It is a 
question of supply and demand. So it 
all turns on the question, What would 
be the effect of the single tax on supply 
and demand in land ? If it will increase 
the demand for land, or diminish the 
supply, then the landlord can increase 
the. rent. It obviously would not have 
the former effect, so we have only to 
consider the latter question, Will it 
diminish or increase the supply of land ? 
The supply of land is fixed—it can’t be 
made or destroyed, so at first glance it 
would seem that it would neither in¬ 
crease nor dimmish the supply. But let 
us see what the actual effect would be. 
In New York City, one-half of the land 
is still not built on, and much of that 
land is held at such prohibitive prices, 
that, for all practical purposes, it might 
as well be in the moon. But tax this 
land up to its full rental value—make a 
vacant lot pay as much tax as a similar 
lot in use—and what happens ? This 
land is immediately offered for use and 
so, the effect of this tax is virtually 
to increase the supply of land. This 
unused land coming into the market and 
competing with used land, will make 
landlords reduce rents—not raise them. 
If you don’t believe this, ask one of those 
New York landlords. 
This law of rent is well worth study¬ 
ing. We single taxers see in it a Divine 
law, as fixed as the law of gravitation. 
This rent of land, if devoted to its evi¬ 
dent purpose in the economy of nature 
(the support of government), will act as 
a great equalizer of opportunities, and 
it will prevent the accumulation of vast 
unearned fortunes. As it is now, we are 
allowing rent to go into the wrong chan¬ 
nel, and so this law of rent acts to make 
our social conditions terribly unequal. 
The same effect follows socially as 
would follow the disregard of the physi¬ 
cal laws of our being—disease. 
R. N.-Y.—The favorite way in New 
York now, is to put a 10-story building 
in place of one with five stories—thus 
doubling the rental capacity without 
touching extra land. 
“Dogs and Bumblebees." 
J. E. Wing, Ohio. —That note on the 
relation of dogs to bumblebees, page 
70(5, reminds me of the good old lady 
and her way of telling good indigo. She 
remarked to the storekeeper, “ I want 
you to give me good indigo ; 1 know how 
to tell good indigo.” 
“ Why, aunty, how can you tell good 
indigo ? ” 
“ Well,” she replied, “ you take water, 
either hot or cold, I disremember which, 
but, anyway, you put the indigo in it, 
and it will eyether sink or swim, 1 dis¬ 
remember which, but, anyway, that is 
how I tell good indigo.” 
Now, dogs do have an effect on clover 
seed, there is no doubt of that, only the 
effect is exactly the reverse of that men¬ 
tioned in the note. Dogs have a favor¬ 
able influence on the production of clover 
seed. I have often observed the fact 
that men who keep the lively, pugna¬ 
cious, little rat terriers, always have 
swarms of rats to keep their dogs in ex¬ 
ercise. The reason is that these dogs, 
unless carefully trained, are the mortal 
enemies of cats. Rats are not at all 
afraid to stay where there are dogs ; the 
latter are noisy and clumsy in their 
hunting, and the rats have ample warn¬ 
ing of approaching danger. To be sure, 
they may often fall victims to the dog's 
fervor ; yet it is with rats as with all of 
us, they do not much fear an open, uncon¬ 
cealed, aggressive enemy whose where¬ 
abouts are well known, and whose 
strength it is easy to estimate. Now, 
with the cat it is different. Cats are 
very sly, secret and uncertain. Think 
what a nervous shock it is to the rat to 
find a cat lying in wait for him at the 
mouth of his den. If he is not quite 
caught, it is just as well ; he goes and 
warns the others, and, after a while, if 
the cats are too plenty and too vigilant, 
the rats will simply give up in despair 
and leave their homes en masse, migrat¬ 
ing to some place where there is only the 
dog to fear. This is not all a specula¬ 
tive theory with me. It is the result of 
well-observed occurrences. We have kept 
both dogs and cats. When we had the 
terrier dogs, we had plenty of rats. So 
of my neighbors, those who rely on dogs 
to fight their battles for them, find the 
enemy constantly in force. 
Plenty of dogs cause a scarcity of cats 
—few cats, many rats and mice ; many 
meadow mice, many ready-made nests 
for the bees ; many bees, perfect fertili¬ 
zation of the clover blossoms ; perfect 
fertilization, good seed ; good seed, suc¬ 
cessful new clover meadows; good clover 
meadows—but I would better stop. The 
whole of The R. N.-Y. would be too 
small a space to tell of the good that 
comes of clover meadows. 
“The Middleman's Share ” of Fruit. 
J. L. W., Jackson, Ga. —While in 
Macon, Ga., on October 19, I was at¬ 
tracted to a colored man with a hand 
cart load of fine Iveiffer pears. On in¬ 
quiring, I found that he was offering 
them three pears for five cents, which I 
thought was very cheap. I afterwards 
spoke about the price to a prominent 
fruit and grocery woman who gave me 
this point : Said she, I know from ex¬ 
perience North and South, that the same 
rule applies to fruit growers every¬ 
where in handling their fruit; they ship 
to commissionmen, the commissionmen 
don’t want to keep the fruit, and to get 
rid of it, they send out ‘’hawkers” on 
the street—to sell at any price they can 
get. The “hawkers” make their returns, 
the commissionman takes out his “fees” 
or price for selling and if anything is 
left, it is returned to the producer, sup¬ 
posing the commissionman to be honest. 
This woman, although she was a grocery 
woman, related the experience of a fruit 
grower who lived five miles from Fort 
(Continued on next paqe.) 
In writing to advertisers, please always mention 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
non 
Facts 
1st—Catarrh is a constitutional disease. 
The best doctors in the world say so. 
2d—It requires a constitutional remedy. 
Every one can see that this is sense. 
3d—The experience of thousands proves 
that the true remedy is found in 
Hood’s 
Sarsaparilla 
Hood’s Pills cure Liver Ills. 25 cents. 
HEADQUARTERS FOR 
Paragon ChestnutTrees 
The most valuable large chestnut on the market 
to-day. Send for circular. 
H. M. ENGLE & SON, Marietta, Pa. 
P U fj | P C Peach Trees a Specialty. Prices on appli- 
U fl U I U L cation. R. S. Johnston, Stockley, Del. 
If You 
Want a 
PEACH 
Plum, Pear, Apple, Cherry or Quince 
Orchard., or anything in the way oi'Siuull 
Fruits, Ornamental Trees or Shrubs, 
Japan, Holland or other Itulbs, write us 
your wants and we will quote you low prices. 
Everything of the best—for Orchard, 
Vineyard, Lawn, Park, Street, Garden 
and Conservatory. Millions of Tree*, 
Shrubs. Roses, Vines Bulbs, Plants, etc. 
Price List and Catalogue Free. 
42nd Year, 1000 Acres. 29 Greenhouses, 
THE STORRS & HARRISON CO., 
PAINESVILLE. OHIO. 
IT IS A MISTAKE. 
It is a mistake to think that 
life is all a bed of roses. 
It is a mistake to go through 
life and neglect the laws of 
health and life. 
It is a mistake at any time to 
allow sickness or suffering of a 
serious nature to come upon you 
It is a mistake not to take ad¬ 
vantage of the best discoveries 
of science for preventing dis¬ 
ease and banishing pain. 
It is a mistake if any one has 
not learned that the best and 
most scientific preparation for 
accomplishing this is Warner’s 
Safe Cure. 
It is a mistake that people 
who are properly informed and 
warned do not take advantage 
of the warning and thus insure 
happiness and prolong life. 
PDIMCflkl PI nvc D—Thelargest bandler 
UOintuUn ULUVCltof American-grown 
Crimson Clover Seed In the United States, is JOSEPH 
E. HOLLAND. Grower and Jobber. Milford. Del. 
Also, Cow Peas, Winter Oats, Timothy Seed. etc. 
PA DM A II EJa I SEED POTATOES. 400 
D All 111 AH II U. I barrels. The lot $3 per 
barrel. E. R. EDWARDS, Avoca. Steuben Co., N. Y. 
Carman No. I and 3 
Seed Potatoes, “Thorburn ” stock. 305 bushels. Write 
at once for catalogue (potato free), or eight pounds, 
$1. Leading varieties in barrels or car lots. 
(See Rural October 19.) 
S. J. SMITH, Seed farm, Padelfords, N. Y. 
SEED POTATOES- 
We have about 100 barrels of choice Rural New- 
Yorker No. 2 and Dutton Seedling Potatoes, grown 
on our clean slate. Sullivan County, potato ridge 
land, that we offer now for $2 75 per barrel, two bar¬ 
rels. $5, f. o. b. Cash with order. The slate soil and 
Northern rugged latitude of Sullivan County give 
potatoes a vigor of special value for seed purposes. 
Address GROTTO FARM, Mongaup Valley, N. Y., 
or orders may be sent to The R. N.-Y., New York. 
Fine Hubbard Squashes ford! Unionville, Ct. 
Miller Red Raspberry. 
30 acres in fruiting. 100,000 Plants, low price. 
MYER & SON, Bridgeville, Del. 
If you want the best rasp- |SJ| II I PJ" FJ 
berry in existence, plant Iwl I L CL rC a 
Beware of SPURIOUS varieties offered CHEAP by 
unprincipled dealers. Original headquarters for 
MILLER. Also. l’KACIl, APPLE, PEAK, 
PLUM and NUT TREES. 
CUAS. WRIGHT, Seaford, Del. 
300,000 PEACH TREES, 
20.000 Apple, 900.000 Asparagus Roots. Millions of 
Strawberry Plants. Twenty-page Catalogue free. 
CRIMSON CLOVER SEED. 
BERLIN NURSERIES, - - - BERLIN, MD 
Japan Plums, Standard 
Pear and Peach Trees. 
The distinguishing feature 
of our stock is its superior 
quality. Stock grown at 
Geneva, N.Y. 1,000.000 Donald 
Elmira Asparagus Roots, all 
northern grown. Send postal 
for descriptive price list. 
WHITING NURSERY CO., 
Roxbury, Mass. 
TREES 
rHUII ANU UnNAmtNTAL 
Collections In America. 
160-page Catalogue Free 
nuns, uriapes, niiruus 
FALL Planting:. 
ELLWANGER & BARRY, 
Largest and choicest 
Mt. Hope Nurseries, 
Rochester, N. Y. 
PEACH, PEAR, PLUM. LEADING AND NEW VARIETIES. 
SfrawhorriGfi fniiw i . w,.,, aeal * ° rlole ’ Lady Thompson are the coming market 
«tra w p er rics, fully tested. Raspberries— Miller, Loudon, Columbian Hlack berries—Ma yw<*ii 
cte d 0 n Lead f r ; ^ KVKRYTHftNG CHOICE ’ FOR THE FRUIT GROWER AT FIRST 
COST. Our catalogue, sent free, will save you money. MYER & SON, Bridgeville, Del. 
1 , 2 , 3 , 
X E 5.’ SEVERAL TIMES; that’s the way customers send to Rogers for Trees. 
9 hey order once and then stick to him. Daily orders from old customers prove 
lrvfn j/n U - re K u iar customer? If not try us once, and you soon will be. 
vavifil? p ‘ ,easure aud a Profit to handle and plant ROGERS’ FRESH- 
tubes. ‘ ISAAC C. ROGERS, Rogers' Nurseries, Dansvllle, N. Y. 
LORENTZ 
PEACH. 
FRUIT TREES, 
SMALL FRUITS, VINES, ROSES, 
ORNAMENTALS, Crates & Baskets. 
4< They SURPASS all others” 
says E. S. Cabman, R. N. Y„ and 
H. E. Vandeman, U. S. Dept. 
ELDORADO 
Don’t pay double price^’inus.'catalogue Free*.’ REID’S NURSERIES, Bridgeport, Ohio. 
Iflife only Yellow Freestone PEACH 
Ripening with Amsden. 
MERCER 
The Latest and Largest 
Yellow Freestone PEACH, 
EMPEROR 
The only Sure-Bearing, 
--- — - _ « ^ Non-RottlngCHERRY* 
E< ? r full descriptions send for Catalogue ( 10 c.) We will send out Beautifully Mux. Cataloaue with 
the Col d Plates of the 3 Wonderful New Fruits, and 1 Kmperor Peach June Bud hv 
mail, postpaid, for 10c. JOS.U. BLACK, SON & CO.’, Village KuSeSVtstotSI J. 
