CORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
contribute it to people abundantly able to pay 
for the Rttr*l New-Yorker. This answers A. 
Reichenbach, Fresident of the Bridgewater 
Library Association, Bridgewater, Va. 
against the privilege of continuing, that he will 
continue to pay as long as he lives. He will 
win the first bet if he dice, but he is Just as sure 
to lose the last bet as be is to live. The policy 
holder thinks. If he thinks at all about it, that 
he will always need Insurance, and Is disin¬ 
clined to take a policy which may run out be¬ 
fore he dies, but the company knows that the 
time will come when ho will not need the life 
policy simply because he has outlived the obli¬ 
gation to provide for others, and that when 
that time comes he will cease paying and lose 
the bet at last. It Is not much to the credit of 
the compiles that they have Issued and still 
continue to issue these contracts. The whole- 
life policy is an endowment Insurance also, pay¬ 
able when the insured la one hundred years old, 
but the prospect of drawing the money is not 
very attractive, siuen the chance at. thlrty-flve 
Is only one In eighty-two thousand. Obvious.y 
the whole-life policy, with the forfeiture clause 
retained, is illy suited to the real needs of the 
insured, because it. obligates him, under an In¬ 
creasing penalty, to pay for at least thirty years' 
more insurance than any one ever yet needed. 
PROQRES8 AND IMPROVEMENT 
FALLACIES OF LIFE INSURANCE-TIL 
Evert right-minded man upon whose exer¬ 
tions others depend for present and future sup¬ 
port desires to acquit himself of his natural 
obligations. Of the present he may be reason¬ 
ably certain ; of the future he ran know noth¬ 
ing beyond his own purposes. Industry, fru¬ 
gality and thrift may enable him to secure a 
competence during the productive years be¬ 
tween twenty-five and sixty, but to this end a 
continuance of life is indispensable. Hip IHe 
may terminate prematurely aud bcforchis finan¬ 
cial object ia attained, aud this contingency 
only Is worth insuring against. There are- per¬ 
haps an indefinite number of ways in which this 
might be done by associations or friendly socie¬ 
ties. but the experiments in this direction indi¬ 
cate that such combinations lack coherence, 
A thousand or any other considerable number 
of persons might mutually insure each others' 
lives, by paying Into the common treasury’ just 
enough each year to defray losses and expenses. 
If the premiums wore scientifically adjusted to 
the risk of dying at each age, and paid In ad¬ 
vance, there is no doubt that “Uch Insurance 
would be as safe and far cheaper than that 
which requires an equal premium, fio far as 
making provision for the payment of losses 
(which Is after ali the only plausible reason for 
the existence of such an association) is con¬ 
cerned, the company would proceed almost 
precisely as the regular companies do. The 
arrangement would have, as Indeod all have, 
advantages and defects. Each would be sun 
to have his money’s worth of insurance while 
he remained aud be able to sever his connection 
without much loss when bis circumstances re¬ 
quired It, and In case of the failure of the com¬ 
pany would lose no more than a portion of 
the last premium. The objectionable features 
would be that as each member grew older the 
annua) premium he must pay would become 
greater, which would be Inconvenient to say 
the least of it. and that unleBS some one was 
financially Interested In thesuooessnnd perma¬ 
nence of the enterpr.se. the Interests of the 
members would be neglected. 
How this scheme of Insurance might be man¬ 
aged, if men would come together spontane¬ 
ously, and, what is more important to people 
generally, would remain, and abide by their 
implied promises, concerns the earnest Inquirer 
less than the macniuery of the schemes actu¬ 
ally in use, and from which he must perforce 
choose. Life Insurance must be permanent or 
It will be worse than useless. It requires to be 
conducted as a business, and to be sufficiently 
profitable to tbe insurer to reward the skilled 
talent devoted to its management. The objec¬ 
tion to nearly all the present plans la, that the 
forfeiture clause throws nearly all the burden 
upon those who receive the least benefits. This 
arises from the substitution of a series of equal 
premiums for the natural series of Increasing 
premiums, arising, as above described, from an 
annual adjustment of premium to risk, as in 
fire insurance. The company begins, in the 
first place, to deduce the natural premium from 
the table of mortality, for each age, up to that 
of one hundred, which 1 b assumed to be the 
limit of human life, and by discounting each 
premium to its present value, finds the single 
premium for insurance to the age of one hun¬ 
dred. Thus, a thousand dollars could be safely 
insured at the death of a man of thirty-five, for 
one year at a time, on receipt of $8.98, if paid in 
advance for the first year's Insurance, $9-12 for 
the second, and so on, being $11.74 at forty-five, 
$30.83 at fifty-five, and $42.39 at sixty-five, which 
Is as long as any one has yet needed insurance. 
Tbe company discounts these prospective pre¬ 
miums to their present worth and produces a 
single premium of $840.60, and an equal annual 
premium of $19.87. If the insured elects, as he 
must, for there Is practically no alternative, to 
pay $19.87 the first year for Insurance which is 
worth no more than $11.74, he pays too much 
by at least $8.13, or, with Interest for a year, 
$11.48. This he is supposed to pay for the priv¬ 
ilege of paying no more than $19.87 during the 
later years of life, after fifty-five, when It would 
be worth more by the natural series to insure 
The company takes charge aud 
A NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED 
Castor Oil Bean from Texas.—W. G. KiNGS- 
Btrnr, San AntoDlo, Texas, mails us a sample 
of this bean taken from the stalk, and under 
date of March 3, says“These are of the last 
year’s crop, and t here were now blossoms on 
the same tree, there not being frost enough this 
winter to destroy the plant. W© had to get 
upon boxes to break t he stem, which was, when 
in its prime, two feet long.’’ The branch re¬ 
ceived was a foot long and very heavily-laden 
with the fruit of this plant. 
CHAS. D. BRAGDON, ANDREW 8. FULLER, 
AHHOOintn Rditorw. 
HENRY S. RANDALL LL, D., Cortland Village, N. Y., 
Eoitox or mi D«r»»TMK»T or Rmtir Ho»nAKi>*r. 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., Little Falls, N. Y„ 
Editox or mi Dip a ktmant or Daisy Huibandey. 
tiypmim in Kansas.—JOSIAII COPLEY, Perry. 
Kansas, says:—“ Extensive hedsof it are found 
in the valley of the Big Blue, where a mill for 
grinding It bae recently been started, it is also 
found In inexhaustible abundance a few miles 
couth of Sallna, and also In tbe valley of the 
Arkansas. From what I have learned, I am 
Inclined to believe that no State In the Union 
basso much of this very vnluablo mineral aa 
Kansas, or of such fine quality.” 
G. A. C. HARNETT, Publisher. 
TERMS, IN ADVANCE: 
Subscription,— Single Copy, *2.50 per Year. To 
Clubs:—Five Copies, and one copy free to Agent or 
getter up of Club, for *12.50; Seven Copies, stad one 
free, for *1(1; Ten Copies, and one free. *20—only *2 
per copy. At we are obliged to pro-pay tbe American 
postage on paper* mailed to foreign countries, Twenty 
Cents should be added to above rates for each yearly 
copy mailed to Canada, and One Dollar per copy to 
Europe. Drafts, Post-Office Money Orders and Ilogls- 
tered Letters may on mailed at o’Ur risk. DT Liberal 
Premiums to all Club Agents who do not take free 
copies. Specimen IS umber*. Show-Bills.&o., sent free. 
KUKAL NOTES AND QUERIES 
Roll Your New Heeded Lawns.—VV© have re¬ 
ports from various quarters that the frost has 
thrown out the young grass and clover roots 
badly. It will help In many cases If the roller 
is run over such ground as soon as possible. 
Besides, do not plow up such ground, but re¬ 
seed—that Is, repeat the seeding this spring 
before rolling. This is a timely suggestion, and 
If acted upon at, once will save much disap¬ 
pointment. _ 
The Report of the Kansas Stale Board of 
Agriculture for 1873 Is received from the Secre¬ 
tary', Alfred Gray. It. Is a volume of over 300 
pages aud contains a vast amount of interesting 
Information relative to the agricultural resour¬ 
ces of that State. It It a credit to the State and 
to the Secretary that a volume of this character 
should be Issued by this vigorous young State. 
PUBLICATION OFFICES: 
No, 5 Beekman Street, New York City, and Ho. 67 
East Main St, (Darrow’s Bookstore. Osburn 
House Block,) Rochester, N. Y. 
Silk Grower* in MiaaUelppl.— A German col¬ 
ony of silk growers Is reported to have pur¬ 
chased a thousand acres of land in Lauderdale 
Co., Miss. This colony consists of fifty men and 
their families. They have named their purchase 
Colonla, 
RURAL BREVITIES 
SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 1874. 
THE OUTLOOK FOR RURALISTS. 
Spring, as first defined by Webster, (not 
Daniel, the statesman, but Noah, the lexicog¬ 
rapher,) Is “To vegetate and rise out of the 
ground; to begin to appear—as vegetables.” 
And he gives various definitions, quoting from 
Milton, Pope. Drtdkn, and other poets,—yet 
the stubborn fact is that our Spring of Anno 
Domini 1874 is very backward and perverse in 
this our Northern dime. True, we hud an ex¬ 
ceedingly “ open Winter," with a genial atmos¬ 
phere, when old Boreas ought to reigu supreme. 
But now, when balmy Spring should sway, the 
chills of December prevail, oven up to this 13th 
day of April, and “the Winter of our discon¬ 
tent" is not “ made glorious summer by the sun 
of (New) York," or any ot her Northern locality. 
The truth is the season la badly mixed or dis¬ 
jointed—for now, near the middle of April, 
March is still standing at the door, with cold 
and piercing breath, w hile florists, gardeners 
and farmers are praying for his departure. 
Having some lailh in the almanac, or its 
makers, we several weeks ago spoke of the 
Vernal Season, and quoted the supposed-to-be 
truthful line which saith “ Vernal flowers are 
preparations to autumnal feasts ’’—but, surely, 
“ we reckoned without our host," for Spring 
didn't arrive, either “ on time " or at all. For 
here we are near the middle of April, as afore¬ 
said, and not a warm, genial, balmy day have 
we had since the opening of the fickle month. 
Our friends w'ho keep almanacs, and expected 
Spring along ero this, but who find overcoats 
and fires in demand for humans, and shelter 
and forage iudispenaablc for dumb boasts, 
have of course been disappointed. Aud we 
were premature, last week, in announcing 
“The Spring Campaign Opened "—in fact never 
more mistaken, and considering the changes in 
seasons and climatology, we are almost in¬ 
clined to ignore both the almanac makers and 
“ Old Probabilities " himself. 
And yet, goof, friends in the East and West, 
North and South, do not despair, for you will 
hare the promised seed time and harvest, as of 
yore and always from Adam’s time. Though 
reports from some sections of the North are 
unfavorable, ami we are shivering from the 
cold in New York, accounts from other regions, 
and especially the Booth, (from which we re¬ 
ceived strawberries rind vegetables earlier this 
season thau usuuli are favorable, so that, con¬ 
sidering the prospects of the whole country, 
we should not complain nor cronk,bui be thank¬ 
ful that our lines have fallen in pleasant places. 
True, we may have to hurry up Spring work in 
some parts of the Northern and Middle States, 
Canada, &o., but on tbe whole the Spring Out¬ 
look is not so bad after all,—and if the Burallsts 
of America will avail themselves of tjye knowl¬ 
edge and facilities at their oorom*pd the au¬ 
tumnal harvest may yet prove abradant. 
Legal Apple, Potato and Pear Barrels.—A 
bill lias Just been Introduced to a third read¬ 
ing in the New York Assembly which is de¬ 
signed to so amend existing laws that a barrel 
of apples, pears or potatoes shall represent a 
quantity equal to one hundred quarts of grain 
or dry measure; that all persona buying or 
selling those articles In this State, by tVn bar¬ 
rel, shall be understood as referring to the 
quantity specified in this act; and that any 
person or persons who shall make or procure 
to be made by others, for sale or for use, bar¬ 
rels containing less than one hundred quarts 
of grain or dry measure, knowing or haviDg 
reason to believe that the same are to be used 
for the marketing of apples, pears or potatoes ; 
or any person or persons who shall hereafter 
use barrels for the marketing of those articles, 
knowing or having reason to believe that they 
are made of a size holding less than the quantity 
specified in this act, shall be subject to a flue 
of five dollars lor each and every offense. This 
act to take effect Jan. 1,1875. So that a stand¬ 
ard Is fixed upon, it makes little difference 
what it is, provided it is adhered to. 
the same sum 
custody of $11.48 at the end of tbe flrat year; 
at the end of the second year, $23.34; at the 
tonth year, $133.40; the fifteenth, $214.30; the 
twentieth, $301.35; tbe thirtieth, $484.64; and 
thenoxt year over five hundred dollars. The 
profit arising from the custody of such deposit* 
la worth the trouble of exchanging the natural 
for tbe equal premium, and the company’s ob¬ 
ject sufficiently apparent. The company Is not 
simply a life-insuring association, but it is a 
bank of deposit also—a bank receiving deposits 
which cannot be drawn out except as stipulated 
at the maturity oi the policy, and which this 
particular policy holder has paid $6.51 yearly 
for the privilege of depositing. Not only so, 
but, with some honorable exceptions, the life 
insurance bank claims and exercises the right 
to withhold and apply to Its own u?es all pre¬ 
vious deposits whenever the annual deposit 
ceases to be made. From which it appears that 
life insurance banking ought to be a very profit¬ 
able business Indeed. 
Condensed to its true import, a whole-life in¬ 
surance policy is a double bet. For example, the 
company bets a thousand dollars to, say, at the 
age of thirty-five, $26.38, that the insured will 
not die within a year, and agrees to renew this 
bet until it lose* It. The polity holder bets 
$41.48 the first year, $233.40 the tenth, $301.35 the 
twentieth, _%«d five hundred the thirty-first, 
farmers' festival“ Farming can be made more 
pleasant by making a business of it, and not be 
attending to too many other things at the same 
time. And then by not overworking. I think 
there has been an improvement in this respect, 
but there is need of morestill. I have said that 
I would not take the gift of a farm and be 
obliged to work as I did when a boy. I now see 
the policy of giving children and young folks a 
great deal of recreation. I am very sure that 
more work can be done In a long run by work¬ 
ing teu hours a day than by being actively 
engaged for fourteen hours. Also, we should 
not be too much confined at borne. We should 
go away occasionally, and many times we might 
learn enough to make up for our lost time." 
Free Paper* to Heading llooni*. -There are 
hundreds of reading rooms and Library Asso¬ 
ciations in this country who seem to be organ¬ 
ized for the purpose of getting something for 
nothing. If we were to send the Rural Nkw- 
Yorkek to all such as request ustosend it free 
to “ promote progress In the Arts, Sciences and 
Literature," we should contribute at least $10,- 
000 of our income annually to such laudable 
purpose. VYe are sorry to say we have not that 
$ 10 . 000 to spare; and if we had we should not 
BUSINESS NOTICES 
^“IMPORTANT. 
»' THE NAT'L M’f’O Co.," 49 Dey St., N. Y., have 10 
new articles or ome-tic utility; just out; necessities 
In every family; samples sent by mail. They want a 
good agent in every town; will send an Ulust’d Cata¬ 
logue and sample FREE. Satisfaction guaranteed. 
