112 
MOOSE’S BUBAL N£YV-¥©BK1B 
FEB, 15 
“PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
A NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED 
HUMli, LITKRAIlf AMI KAHILI BKWSPAPBIt. 
So much preliminary, or recapitulatory. Now, 
from letter* recently received from agents and 
others, It seems that some people arc nowise, I 
RUEAL NOTES AND QUERIES. 
The Commissioner of Agriculture don’t wnnl 
men of any other calling, and upon the various 
theories advanced explaining the phenomenon, 
a recent writer thinks the fact can he explained 
m nlhnu'mr , as to refuse to renew their sub- another Convention nf Agriculturists Convened by the answer to the sheep conundrum" Why 
sfrlptionx in the Rural heeaitso they received at Washington, evidently. It will be remem- 1 d° white sheep eat more than black ones?" 
D. D. T. MOORE, 
Conducting Kditor and FMablinher. 
CHAS. D. BRAGDON, ANDREW S. FULLER, 
A*»oc'iato JCditor*. 
HENRY S. RANDALL, LL. D., Cortland Village, N. Y., 
Eimtos os t«* D»)'ai:T'I r,, op S»K*r J[uui.,okv. 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., Little Falls, N. Y., 
Eumm 01 ’ m Dkiaki-urvt or l>> iky Hcsiusonv. 
Col. S. D. HARRIS, Cleveland, Ohio, 
Corii sri‘"■ L'Iyo , ICoiToit, 
TERMS, IN ADVANCE: 
Subscription.— Single Copy, flA.SO per Yenr. ’J'o 
Clubs:—Five Copies, and one copy free to Agent or 
getter up of Club, for 112,50; Seven Copies, ami one 
free, lor fin; Ton Copies, nnd one free, CM—only $2 
per copy. As we arc obliged to pre-pny the American 
postage on papers mailed U> foreign countries,Twonty 
( eiits should be lull],si to above I tie- for eueh yearly 
oopy mulI««<l to Cutiadn, and One Hollar per copy to 
Mo rope, lira Its, Pnrt-Otliee Money Orderr und Hegl - 
tered Letters may be Mailed at our risk. !JP' Liberal 
Premiums to ill) Club Agents who do not take froe 
i 'pies. Hpeelmeo Numbers,Show-Hills, Ac., sent free. 
ADVERTISING RATES: 
inside, Htb and 10th pages ( Agate space).Wlc. per line. 
7th and 18th page*.].(» •• 
Outside or last page. 1.50 “ 
Fifty peroent. extra for unusual display. 
Special Notices, loaded, by ootint. 2 .IX) ** 
Ilusiness “ 2,50 “ 
Head log “ ....8.00 “ 
sat” No advertisement inserted for loss than $3. 
PUBLICATION OFFICES: 
No. 5 Beekman Street, New York City, and No. 82 
Biillalo Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
WESTERN BRANCH OFFICE: 
No, 75 North Side ol the Park, Cleveland, Ohio. 
SATURDAY, FEB. 15, 1873, 
TO ALL OUR READERS. 
Agents, Subscribers, and Indeed all who read 
this, are reminded that the present Is a most 
favorable season to obtain subscribers for the 
Rural New-Yorker. While Agents arc form¬ 
ing or a>lding to clubs, wc hope others -especial¬ 
ly new subscribers, and t hose receiving the paper 
at post-offlcea where but one or two copies are 
taken — will kindly endeavor to augment our 
circulation. Many of our readers are so situated 
that they can readily form or add to clubs, and 
wc shall he prompt In recognizing and reward¬ 
ing nil such efforts. * 
Mack numbers of this volume supplied to new 
subscribers, unless otherwise ordered, but sub¬ 
scriptions can begin now or at, any time. Reader, 
please refer to Publisher's Notices, &c„ (under 
heading of " Publisher's Desk,") on page 110, and 
to Premium Lint, (headed "Good Pay for Doing 
Good!") on page fifi, and then see If R will not 
pay you to act In accordance with above re¬ 
quests and suggestions. 
“STRIKE, BUT HEAR!” 
In the Rural of Dec. 31,1873, under the head¬ 
ing of “A Surreptitious Swindle,'’ wo published 
a letter from tin Agent in Western Now York, 
staling that all our subscribers in that town 
(over fift y) had received a certain circular, a copy 
of which he inclosed to us, and which we char¬ 
acterized as that of a swindler—"one of those 
generous geniuses who propose to furnish coun¬ 
terfeit giean backs fora trilling amount of the 
genuine article." We furl hermoreaffirmed that 
the Rural's list of name* had never been sold 
to any party, and that if swindlers had got pos¬ 
session of it, the "operation" had beon a sur¬ 
reptitious one and offered $600 for tho arrest 
and conviction of the party er parties who per¬ 
petrated the larceny. Our Western Now York 
Agent, after seeing t his reply, wrote us t hat the 
subscribers of other papers besides the Rural 
had been furnished the .swindling circular, and 
scriptioris to the Rural because they received 
, the aforementioned circular! This seems sin- 
• gul or, after our explanation, but “what can’t 
bo cured must be endured/' and as our over- 
virtuous and suspicious friends and t heir fami¬ 
lies are the greatest losers, wc will endeaver to 
j bear the infliction with bee win (rig fortitude. 
Among the epistles we have been favored with 
on t he subject is the following, from Edwin M. 
- Crowell, of Columbiana Co., Ohio: 
, “1 have just found out why your paper hue 
not as large a circulation in this neighborhood 
as formerly. Late this last Fall the Rural 
readers, with but very few exceptions, received 
circulars from a swindling operation, proposing 
to send counterfeit money for genuine, and 
claiming that they would be revenged if the 
people done anything to expose him in his busi¬ 
ness. One man did not know what to do. They 
claim you are the only publisher In New York 
that hare their mimes. * * * l only write this 
to tell vou how It cornea my club is bo small." 
Now, the fact, is, aa we have already stated, 
I hat no list of Kura r. subscribers has ever been 
2 sold, with our knowledge and consent, and if 
i any has been procured It has been by theft, or 
■ through connivance with an employe—which 
7 latter we do not believe probable, albeit possi- 
‘ ble. As stated In our former article, (Dec. 21,1 
[ “ Our lists arc kept under lock and key by night, 
. and carefully guarded at other times yet a 
copy of our mail list was stolen (by a former 
employe) some two years ago. though soon re¬ 
covered and it Is possible such a thing may 
have occurred (less the detection and recovery) 
. again. Rut no copy bus boon sold, and never 
will be, to swindlers, while the Rural Nkw- 
Yorkicr Is under lt.s present management.’’ 
Our present Impression is that the list stolen 
two years ago may have been copied before its 
recovery—and if so, we can easily account for 
its use by swindlers, for the thief would readily 
dispose of it to any one, "fora consideration.'' 
, Such being the facts, will not our readers, so 
far as they may. state the case properly lo those 
who feel themselves aggrieved? It Is unpleas¬ 
ant to be iitulcr suspicion, and suffer even slight 
martyrdom, when Innocent, of wrong doing. 
■ — 
CASTLE GEYSER AND HOT SPRING IN 
MONTANA. 
Tu k illustration given on next page is of one of 
the numerous geyser and hot springs in Mon¬ 
tana. A few miles above the lower fall of the 
Yellowstone river, which is 400 feet in bight and 
100 feet wide, and near Crater Hills are a num¬ 
ber of hot springs. Some of these are mud 
springs, most of them impregnated with alum. 
One, 13 feet In diameter, resembles a huge boil¬ 
ing caldron, the water being thrown tothehlght 
of three feet. It Is surrounded by a collor-Ukc 
rim, which Is Inrrusted with n bead-like forma¬ 
tion. In the steam running from it is ana l>u ad¬ 
mit deposit ijf sulphur. The watercontalnssiil- 
phtir, alumina, lime and iron. Near this spring 
arc some steam jots, which by the noise they 
make resemble a locomotive engine. 
The geyser-fleld Includes two basins, each 
covering about ten square miles, and tilled with 
innumerable hot springs and geysers. The 
cones of the latter are ol various shapes, arid 
are composed of silicious material identical 
*vith that found around I he geysers of Iceland. 
This geyser-fleld, however, far exceeds that of 
Iceland, both in the number of springs and I lie 
bight to which the boiling water is thrown. In 
the "Great Geyser" of Iceland the water is pro¬ 
jected to the bight of 90 feet; w hile here the 
largest geyser throws a column of water to the 
enormous bight of 3(H) feet ; and in a number of 
others It Is thrown from 50 feet to 150 feet. 
About, forty miles below Yellowstone Luke, on 
Gardiner’s River, one of t he tributaries «»r the 
Yellowstone lllvor, is a remarkable hot-sprlng 
formation, resembling very much one existing 
In Now Zealand. Here, however, the material 
composing it contains a considerable percent¬ 
age of lime; while in New Zealand it is mainly 
silicious. 
The Cast lo Geyser, which wo show, is situated 
in the center of a gently-sloping mound of the 
silicious deposit, above which Its crater rises 
about, J5 feet, fashioned like turrets, many of 
which are broken down, as though the Castle 
had been subjected to a bombardment. It is 
about CO feet tn length, nnd Is Inrrusted with a 
beautiful boad-liko formation. The water gush¬ 
es from It every few hours, makings grout noise. 
These are but a few of t he many geysers w'hlch 
exist in t his region. Wc also show ono of the 
numerous hot springs—one In front of Castle 
Geyser, which Lx seen In the distance. These 
hot springs are ol all diameters, reaching even 
400 feet, Tbclr depth Is unfathomable. Tho 
edge of the spring is a series of regular scallops, 
and tho sides are beautifully corrugated and la- 
crusted. Looking Into oneof theBe caverns, the 
tint seen in a most Intense blue, resembling > 
that of the turquoise. Tho water varies In tern- i 
pc ret ure from 110° Fahrenheit to the boiling « 
point, which, in this elevated region, is only 198". 
bered that last, year such a Convent Ion was hold 
in accordance with a call issued by the (Com¬ 
missioner. He sought, to control that Conven¬ 
tion and failed. He took occasion to tell that 
Convention what foolish things he thought they 
had done and got severely rebuked for temerity. 
He t ried to avoid printing the report of its pro¬ 
ceedings tint tho Convention got Congress to 
provide for doing so; and, whereas, It was ap¬ 
parent that he expected the men ho had hon¬ 
ored with an invitation to meet him in Conven 
tlon would be Ids most obedient servants, he 
found himself snubbed, ignored almost, and 
has since learned t hat, distance alone lends e.n- 
chantment to the public’s view of his ability to 
manage the department with credit to the 
country. For the Convention of last year ap¬ 
pointed a ( ommlttee to call another Conven 
l ion t in- present year. We believe t he presiding 
officer of lasl year’s Convention, (Dr. Lorjno, of 
Moss,), was the Chairman of t he Committee. 
No Convention has been called and the reason 
therefor is explained by the following ex¬ 
tract from a recant speech by Dr. I,., 
who says:—"The Convention (of last 
year) was useful and encouraging, ami 
should be repeated ; nnd I can only regret that 
all the efforts of a committee appointed to call 
together u fllmlllar body in Washington during 
t he present month, have utterly foiled, on ac¬ 
count of the refusal of the Commissioner of 
Agriculture either to unite with the Committee 
in the call, as Instructed, or to allow tho Con¬ 
vention to assemble within the walls of the Agri¬ 
cultural Department, 
Mending Dressed Beef from Hie West.- Mr. P. 
Clark, Clayton Co., Iowa, is informed that we 
are receiving, in Now York, about a car-load of 
dressed beef from Chicago per day. it. comes 
t hrough in good order, packed loose In the ear, 
and sells at 7(T/.9e, per pound for sides that is, a 
fore and a hind quarter. Yours can come in 
the same way, not by express, which will cost, 
too much, but by regular freight, getting It off 
so as to reach here before warm weather. Where 
a few quarters are sent, it Is a good plan to wrap 
each one in sacking or sheeting, or something 
of the sort, to keep t lie meat clean. Of course, 
you want, to send it to some trust) commission 
merchant to sell, and t he names of such ought 
to be found In our advertising columns. We 
cr.n commend to you .1. II. Hki.fricii, 92 Bar- 
clay street, nr DANIEL E. Burrows A Co., 130 
Center Row, West Washington Market, New' 
York City. 
«»« -- 
Steam Plows.— R. R. 8. Is informed that no 
small farmer ean afford to own a steam plow 
for his own uso alone; but if ho can find one 
that is practical, and ho can get work enough of 
his neighbors to do, and can do It so much 
Letter, quicker and cheaper than they can with 
tb'lr own teams ns to render It profitable to 
t horn to employ him, then one stcaru plow in a 
nelghbothond may prove a good investment. 
It is a question of dollars and cents; and the 
problem of prollt is not, yet. solved, except in 
certain localities and under peculiar circum¬ 
stances. With different ideas of the Importance 
of thorough and deep preparation of soil for 
crops than those which now obtain. It may bo 
less difficult to determine the prollt of a steam 
plow In a neighborhood. 
-- 
“ 4’nu't Afford It.”—An Agent suys “there are 
lots of people who consume at least fifty dol¬ 
lars worth of liquor nnd tobacco par year, who 
can't possibly afford to take the Rural! the 
times are so hard! One man, while smoking his 
third cigar for the day, complained that he 
could not Bavo money enough to subscribe, 
though his family wanted the Rural. Poor 
man! He spends from 30 to 50 cent s a day say at 
least $100 a year—for cigars alone, and yet- can¬ 
not afford to pay $2.50 for a first-class Agricul¬ 
tural and Family Weekly. Let us pity and pray 
for him, his wife and children! " 
— ■ S4»- — — 
Catalogues, Etc., Received.—A beautiful and 
complete catalogue Is that just received from 
B. K. Bliss & Ho.\ (33 Park Place, New York 
City,) for the Spring of 1873, embracing an 
" Amateur's Guide to the Flower Garden"- 
From James Fleming, (57 Nassau street, New 
York City, his Descript ive Catalogue of Seeds, 
Garden Implements, &c.—From Reeves & 
Simonson, 58 Oortlandt 8t., their Descriptive 
Catalogue of Heeds and Plants for 1873. 
— »♦» 
The Rural for IH73 is giving great, satisfac¬ 
tion, evidently, judging from the encomiums it 
is receiving from both People and Press. The 
fact that we devote less space to advertising is 
notably cited as an improvement. We appreci¬ 
ate and shall strive to continuously merit, the 
good opinions expressed by our subscribers and 
exohangea. 
Answer" Because there are more of them.” 
Wo think It a good explanation. 
«♦»- 
Farmers Having by Purchasing Agents. —A 
statement is made by a member of a Farmers' 
Club at Avon, 111., that the Club employs a pur¬ 
chasing agent, who contracts with tnanufactur- 
' ere of agricultural implements of all kinds, and 
J to some extent, for a supply of groceries, etc., at 
wholesale rates, the Club allowing him 3 per 
cent, on all purchases. The saving to the Club 
on purchases in 1872, was $3,000. 
Look Out for llQmbugM.—Let our readers re¬ 
solve not to got sold by the pretences of men 
who make a living some of them fortunes—by 
advertising something new nnd that will enrich 
the man who purchases. Buy new things only 
of men who have an established business repu¬ 
tation to lose; It, is the safes! rule to adopt—not 
of adventurerors. 
• - . 
The Spring Business among seedsmen and 
nurserymen is beginning to open. The indica¬ 
tions arc that it will bo one of unusual activity, 
notwithstanding tho closeness of tho money 
market. 
The Rural Cl lib’s Second Anniversary Dinner 
is to occur at Delrnonlco’s, Friday evening, Feb¬ 
ruary 28. A large attendance of members and 
their ladies Is expected. 
■■ ♦»» 
MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 
So extraordinary and remarkable a statement 
as that of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, 
of this city, which w-e publish elsewhere, should 
at once arroet tho attention of all people con¬ 
templating insuring their Jives. To begin with, 
the gross assots of t his great company amounted 
to $>58,550,089,42 on the 31st day of last December, 
an Increase during the year, in net assets, to tho 
amount of $8,809,913.14. The Invest monts of this 
Company, ns those who look over tho published 
summary will discover, are or the safest possi¬ 
ble kind, no less than $17,000,000 being secured 
by bonds and mortgages. Of the the gross assets, 
It will also be seen that $52,13,702.70 are held as 
a reserve for nil policies and additions tu force— 
a fund sufficiently large to secure every policy 
holder against the possibility of low. For the 
year 1873 there Is an undivided surplus fur divi¬ 
dend of $3,286,070.73. The number of policies In 
force at the close of last December, was 78,140, 
an increase during the year of I * Wii. The re¬ 
ceipts for the year were $17,710,094.54. The ratio 
of expenses In the Mutual Life Insurance Com¬ 
pany during the piud. year hos been lower than 
at any time during Its organization, since 1&I3— 
viz., 6.S8 per cent. With such a magnificent 
statement as this, it Is needless to call further at¬ 
tention to tho Mutual Life Insurance Company. 
• ■ ■ ■ <♦♦-»- 
RURAL BREVITIES. 
Mrs. Minnie Rohe.—W e do not publish a 
German edit ion of the Rural New-Yorker. 
R. F. G., Sparta, Georgia, is Informed that we 
do not know which is “the simplest and most 
practicable patent bee hive;" nor do we know 
anything, practically, of the hive to which she 
refers. 
Dr. Parry, late Botanist of the Department 
of Agriculture, has been appointed Botanist to 
a Government expedition, which leaves Fort 
Hncllliig for tho headwaters of the Yellowstone 
river In .Tune next. 
The outhorof " Dr. Miunphrcy's Ward " must 
send us his or her real name and address before 
we can attempt to read the story. We want it 
m evidence of good faith- not for publication. 
The Mine remark applies to "Sarctte." 
J. A. Reynolds, editor of the Farmers' Homo 
Journal, Lexington, Ky..and Lawrence Youno, 
formerly editor of the Western Rural 1st, and late 
Bornological Editor of the Southern Agricul¬ 
turist., of Louisville, Ky., have recently died. 
Enos Frelywg hyson is In formed that there 
are seed drllla manufactured whjeh sow both 
plaster and lime; and there are broadcast sow¬ 
ers which do the same work. Our advertising 
columns should (if they do nol) tell where they 
may be found. 
Mrs. Jane P. Coomus is informed that we 
huvatn former volume* (see Rural New-York¬ 
er of June 11.1870, page 383,) Illustrated the 
host butter wmrker wo know of, and which her 
husband can make; we do not know where they 
can be bought. 
BUSINESS NOTICES. 
4j, n i 1., it , it..., ' Tvniivsgjf »'i uiia uiDVitbUM rrifmn, m oniy . 
J W i'* wr ? n * »• ««<•,. from the spring Um. water de- 
doing —or language to that purport -adding that 
he should do all he could to maintain and aug¬ 
ment our circulation. And on application, 
shortly after, at. Police headquarters In Now 
York City, we wore advised that It was useless 
to spend time and money In pursuing the mat¬ 
ter—that the. lists of other papers had alBo been 
surreptitiously obtained and used—and, finally, 
that there was no law by which the swindlers 
could bo punished for .^ending such circulars. 
posits Iron, the bright color of which contrasts 
strongly w ith the white of the deposit and the 
blue of the spring itself. 
The United States Government intend setting 
aside, as a public laud reserve or national park, 
all that portion of country containing these 
springs and geysers. When the Northern Pacific 
Railroad is constructed, it will pass within a 
short distance of this region, which will thus 
become accessible to travelers. 
Too Much Advertising. Wo are this week 
compelled to leave out a column and a-hnlf of 
advertising In Order to keep our pledge good 
not to Infringe on our reading departments 
therewith. Advertisers who want to use our col¬ 
umns must send tn their announcements curly- 
“ first come first served." 
-HI- 
Insanity Among Farmers.—Commenting upon 
the reports of Insane Asylums, that more farm¬ 
ers are found among the lists of inmates than I 
AGENTS 
May learn something greatly to their advantage and 
obtain specimens amt lull particulars free, by ad¬ 
dressing WOOD’S LITERARY AND ART AGENCY , 
Newburgh, N. Y. 
«♦« 1— 
HORSE EPIDEMIC. 
A physician, in a communication to n Buffalo 
paper about the Horse Epidemic, says“ Exter¬ 
nally I used and would recommend Dr. Trask's Mag¬ 
netic Ointment, to the throat, around Hie ours and on 
lliu forehead. This ointment contains tobacco amt 
lobelia, uud operates upon the mucous glands of the 
head and throat by causing an increased flow ol secre¬ 
tion from them, at the same time by its relaxing effect 
removing tho stricture and giving almost Instant re¬ 
lief to the cough and breathing.” It is kept by all 
Druggists. 
-- 
THE WAKEFIELD EARTH CLOSET. 
Get Descriptive Pamphlet at 38 Dey St., New York. 
