THE  BUBAL  HEW-VOBMEB. 
TABLE  or  OONTENTS. 
PBACTICAI-  DKPAIlTmKTS : 
Ayrshire  Cattle . •••••••. . 
A  ViUl  Question  In  Dairying . 
Drying  off  the  (kiws. . . • 
HMnojg  su^te  Diiirymeo’s  Association. 
Bffac-ts  of  Poutoes  on  lluk . 
SwInrtluisoT  Diiiryraen . 
More  Sbcei)  Wiinled  . . 
Sheen  Uusbanilry  at  the  South . 
CilnnliiK  Horses. . . . . 
no  Hoes  UoneyT . 
Bees  In  Winter . 
. . 
Itiilliin  fsoos . .  . . 
Homathlog  liboiit  Stouni-Pownr... . 
Tea  culiure  In  China.. ....y . 
Ctiarcoiil  t'>r  Keinovliig  Hair . 
Tli«  Wealthy  Apple........ 
A  New  Apple — t..ox*t  Bed-Deaf  Buftset.. 
Oranges  In  California...... . . 
Ter  on  Fruit 'I'reos. .......  . 
Di.slirD  fora  Poullrf-liouseand  Park. 
The  AffcoUfjD*  of  Fowls . 
Fowls  lu  l.iirge  Numbers . 
Poultry  ut  Fairs... . . . 
Iroperial  Kgit  Vood . . . 
The  Nowtr  Tomatoes...  . . 
Condition  of  Insurance  Matters . 
('bcapenlng  Firo  Insurance . 
A  Great  Bhawo . . . 
BromaliadSi . . * . . 
California  . . 
vilrtouaVert  iieciduou's  . 
Tree  Pinnting  m  the  State  of  New  kork . . 
A  Word  ahuut  Buck  wheat  Cakes . 
Itnolnes 
Faiilher  Beds. 
Fiittanlug  Of  mock . 
A  Cheap  Smoke-Uouso. 
^Tbo  Bural  as  a  Fanilly  Educator. 
Savings  Dank  Dividends.. . 
Notes- Brevities . 
LlXKaAUY : 
Poetry . 
Fashion  Notes . 
Storv .  . . 
Recent  Dlteratwro. . . 
6»bi>a'h  . . 
rallies’  . . 
HoadUiB  tor  the  Voung... . 
PauTishers'  Notices . 
News  ol  the  Week . 
. . . . 
Answers  to  Correspondent . 
personals.. ..  . . . . . 
.807, 308. 1 
THE 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED  EVERY  SATURDAY. 
ANDREW  8.  FULLER,  Editor. 
ELBEET  S.  CAEBLAN,  -  -  Associate  Editor. 
*•  ■ 
X.  A.  WILLARD,  A.  M.,  Little  Falls,  W.  Y., 
Edwo.  oi  tbs  D*rAST«»T  o»  Daisy  HusssapsT. 
G.  A.  C.  BARNETT,  Pnbltshei*. 
Address 
“■  RURAL  PUBLISHING  CO., 
78  Duane  Street,  New  York  City. 
SATUEDAY,  DEG.  16,  1876. 
THE  ETJRAL  AS  A  FAMILY  EDTJOATOE. 
Odb  readers  will  bear  witness  tbat  we 
do  not,  as  a  general  thing,  devote  our 
editorial  columns  to  advertising  oui-selyea 
or  to  praising  oui-  works,  and  we  think 
they  will  hold  us  excusable  if  now,  at  the 
time  when  the  year  draws  to  a  close,  we 
express  an  opinion  as  to  the  benefit  that 
may  be  dei’ived  by  every  family  in  the 
land  from  the  reading,  by  all  its  members, 
of  such  a  paper  as  we  desire  and  intend 
to  place  before  them. 
Many  farmers  and  other  rural  people, 
do  not  realize  the  value  of  a  good  family 
paper  as  an  educator  of  their  children. 
Indeed,  it  is  not  possible  for  a  young  man 
or  a  young  woman  to  grow  up  and  enter 
well-bred  society  with  credit  to  them¬ 
selves  and  honor  to  their  parents,  who 
have  not  had  some  of  the  best  publica¬ 
tions  of  the  day  laid  before  them  for  a 
number  of  years.  Farmers,  thejefore, 
make  a  serious  mistake  when  they  negleot 
to  renew  their  subscriptions  to  any  good 
paper  that  comes  to  them.  The  question 
is  not  so  much,  “am  /  benefited  by  tak¬ 
ing  the - ?”  as  it  is,  “  are  my 
benefited  by  reading  it  ?’*  A  farmer  may 
give  his  children  a  good,  common  educa¬ 
tion  at  the  district  school ;  but  that  alone 
wiU  not  suffice  in  this  age  of  progress. 
They  must  be  more  generally  informed  j 
and  whore  is  the  paper  better  adapted  for 
this  purpose  than  the  RuKAii  New-Yobk.- 
EB  ?  We  claim  that  it  is  not  possible  for 
any  young  person  to  read  it  carefnlly  for 
a  few  yeai-8  and  then  not  to  be  qualified 
to  go  out  into  the  world  with  credit  to 
himself  or  herself  and  honor  to  their 
parents. 
The  question  will  come  up,  perhaps, 
with  some  of  our  subscribers,  ‘  ‘  Can  I 
afford  to  renew  my  subscription  ?’’  feeling 
the  effects  of  the  stagnation  of  buKiness. 
But  this  dullness  in  trade  does  not  affect 
farmers  to  any  considerable  degree,  a.s 
the  prices  of  form  products  are  quite  as 
liigb  as  can  be  expected  in  the  unsettled 
condition  of  our  political  and  monetary 
affairs ;  and  there  is  no  jirobability  of 
prices  ruling  lower  than  they  now  are. 
We  prefer  that  our  present  subscribers 
should  join  clubs  of  (en,  or  more,  and  then 
get  the  paper  for  only  (wo  dollarSt  post¬ 
paid  !  This  is  loss  than  four  cents  per 
week  !  Is  there  a  farmer  in  the  United 
States  who  cannot  afford  to  pay  that  little 
sum  for  such  a  paper  as  the  Rueax  New- 
Yobkeb  ?  We  think  not.  In  fact,  wo 
know  there  is  one  not  worthy  of  the  name 
of  farmer  so  iioor  as  not  to  bo  able  to 
subscribe  for  1877. 
TO  CLUB  AGENTS. 
There  are  many  men — especially  young 
men — who  have  abimdant  leisure  to  got 
up  a  club  for  the  Rubal,  but  hesitate  to 
send  to  us  for  sample  copies  and  Premium 
List,  because  they  have  never  got  uj)  a 
club  for  any  paper  ;  and  wo  presume  that 
they  think  that  if  they  fail  to  get  up  a 
club  they  loouW  owe  m  an  apology.  But 
we  expect  nothing  of  the  kind.  All  w'e 
ask  is,  that  every  reader  of  our  jjaper  who 
is  inclined  to  try  to  get  up  a  club,  shall 
send  to  us  for  sample  coiiios  and  a  Pre¬ 
mium  List — which  are  Jree — and  proceed 
immediately  to  make  an  effort  to  get  iqi 
a  club.  Nor  should  any  lime  be  lost,  as 
December  is  the  best  month  of  the  yoia- 
to  get  up  clubs.  The  most  successful 
canvassers  are  those  who  call  on  their 
friends  in  the  evening ;  but  any  time 
w'ill  do.  Many  beginners,  in  getting  uji 
clubs,  are  apt  to  be  discouraged  if  they 
do  not  meet  with  immediate  success  ;  but 
they  should  iiersevero. 
Another  point  is,  that  when  you  have 
obtained  a  few  subscribers,  if  you  have 
not  time  to  finish  yotu'  club,  send  in  your 
list  with  the  money  and  tnclude  your  own 
name,  and  when  you  ha>'e  completed 
your  club,  the  $2  sent  for  your  own  copy 
may  go  to  pay  for  the  pajicr  to  some  other 
member  of  the  club,  you  being  entitled 
to  a  free  copy  as  club  agent.  The  advan¬ 
tage  of  BO  doing  is,  that  your  subscribei’s 
receive  their  papers  wilffout  delay  and 
you  get  a  copy  weekly  -which  may  be  used 
in  canvassing.  But  in  such  cases  wo  re¬ 
quire  agents  to  say,  -when  they  remit  parts 
of  dubs,  “  I  am  getting  up  a  club.” 
- . . 
SAYINGS  BANE  DIVIDENDS. 
CoNSiDEBABiiE  discussiou  has  aiisen  of 
late  relating  to  the  proper  jjortion  of  the 
earnings  of  a  savings  bank  to  be  divided 
among  the  depositors.  Formerly,  each 
bank  divided  Avhat  the  trustees  saw  fit  to 
declare  ;  sometimes  it  was  from  the  earn¬ 
ings  of  the  period  for  Avhieh  the  dividend 
was  made,  and  at  others  surplus  earnings 
of  former  vears  were  used,  and  even  the 
deposits  themselves  were  encroached  on 
to  make  a  large  ^vidend,  which  sliould 
serve  as  an  advertisement  and  draw  other 
deposits.  Then,  old  banks  wiih  large  de¬ 
posits  and  hea-vy  surplus  could  pay  eight 
or  ten  per  cent,,  while  younger  ones  could 
not  pay  more  than  five  or  six. 
The  recent  Iuay  provides  that  no  bank 
shall  pay  more  tlian  six  per  cent.,  bnt 
gains  above  that  amount  shall  be  set  aside 
and  after  accumulating  a  surplus  of  ten 
per  cent,  of  the  deposits,  further  surplus 
shall  be  divided  every  three  yeai's  among 
dejjositors,  as  they  may  bo  entitled  to  it, 
A  depositor  in  a  sa-vings  bank  has  this 
olaim  on  the  trustees  imd  this  only,  viz., 
— that  they  shall  receive  his  money,  invest 
it  to  the  Best  advantage  and  return  it  to 
him  on  demand,  together  wnth  its  earn¬ 
ings,  less  its  i-iropoition  of  the  expenses 
att^dant  upon  its  management.  He  does 
not  become  a  stockholder  (in  this  State 
there  are  none  in  savings  banks)  nor  is  he 
entitled  to  any  portion  of  the  gains  or 
profits  that  the  bank  may  have  made  be¬ 
fore  he  became  a  depositor,  and  the  ques¬ 
tion,  what  shall  be  done  with  the  gains  or 
the  surplus  of  the  bank,  if  any,  dtjes  not, 
in  equity,  affect  him  in  the  least.  Whether 
a  bank  be  allowed  to  accumulate  a  large 
surphis  at  the  expense  of  previous  depos¬ 
itors,  is  .a  question  not  in  order.  Having 
it,  it  is  proi>er  that  it  should  pay  its  pro¬ 
portion  of  the  expenses  of  the  bank  and 
m  this  way  the  present  depositor  is  slightly 
benefited.  If  money  can  be  safely  invested 
at  only  six  per  cent,  and  it  costs  one  per 
cent,  of  this  to  pay  the  expenses,  clearly 
the  depositor  is  entitled  to  but  five  per 
cent,  interest. 
It  seems  to  us  tliat  the  original  end  and 
arm  of  savings  banks  are  lost  sight  of. 
Were  they  not  instituted  mainly  for  the 
purpose  of  furnishing  places  where  the 
savings  of  the  laboring  classes  could  be 
safely  kept  instead  of,  as  seems  now’  to  be 
generally  uuderstooJ,  places  where  large 
interest  <x»uld  be  obtained  ?  We  know  of 
instances  during  the  past  year  -w’hero  men 
of  wealth,  unable  to  find  paying  invest¬ 
ments  -ivith  good  security,  have  deposited 
their  money  in  savings  banks  having  large 
Ruriffus,  With  the  expeotatioo  that  a  por¬ 
tion  of  the  six  per  cent,  they  would  re¬ 
ceive  would  come  from  the  interest  on 
tliat  surplus.  This  certainly  is  not  right. 
A  savings  bonk  should  have  a  surplus 
snffieient  to  enable  it  to  guarantee  its  de¬ 
positors  and  no  more.  Nor  should  the 
pressure  of  the  depositors  on  the  trustees 
for  huge  interest  be  so  great  as  to  encour¬ 
age  them  to  adopt  such  means  to  make 
money  as  are  at  all  hazardous.  True,  the 
law  points  out  how  the  money  shall  be 
invested  ;  but  trustees  Bometimes  find 
ways  to  evade  the  law,  or  to  give  more  than 
legal  interest,  even  if  it  requires  false 
affidavits  to  secure  it,  rather  than  have 
depositors  dissatisfied. 
That  the  expense  of  managing  banks 
with  small  deposits  must  be  proportion¬ 
ately  larger  than  with  largo  ones,  is  j^lain. 
The  deduction  is,  to  have  less  in  number. 
Evidently,  there  are  more  now  than  are 
profitable — more  than  are  needed. 
- »  ♦  »  . 
RURAL  NOTES. 
— even  down  to  those  who  dig  the  metal 
from  the  eart-h,  grind  the  pigments,  and 
the  women  and  children  who  feed  the 
silk-worms  with  mulberry  leaves — all  get 
a  share,  and  the  person  whose  mental 
pbilosophy  fails  to  see  this  in  its  proper 
light,  must  have  a  gloomy  walk  to  tread. 
There  may  lie  an  unequal  distribution  of 
blessings  in  tliis  world,  but  money  can 
scarcely  be  wasted  when  used  to  employ 
and  feed  industrious  persons. 
Good  Old  Trines. — W.  C.  Kebk,  in 
writing  to  The  South  about  silk  cultm-e, 
talks  of  the  “  good  old  colony  times”  just 
as  though  the  people  of  this  country  were 
better  off  and  more  happy  when  subjects 
of  Great  Britain  than  now.  It  is  a  pity 
tliat  fai-mers  who  prate  about  “good  old 
times”  could  not  be  sent  back  a  century 
or  two  and  be  compelled  to  taste  a  little 
of  the  article  which  they  hold  in  such 
liigh  estimation ;  for  if  history  teaches 
any  one  thing  more  than  another,  it  is 
that  at  no  i)eriod  since  the  human  race 
appeared  on  this  earth  are  tliose  belong¬ 
ing  to  civilized  nations  so  prosperous  as 
at  this  very  time. 
- »»» 
The  Old  uud  New  Saw. — There 
are  probably  somo  carpenters  among  the 
readers  of  tlie  Rueax  New-Yoekek  who 
can  remember  the  time  when  tlie  name  of 
John  Spe.ui,  Sheffield,  Eng.,  or  his  suc¬ 
cessor. s,  Speak  &  Jackson,  ou  the  handle 
and  blade  of  a  saw,  was  almost  a  positive 
uece-ssity  to  insure  a  sale,  for  those  of 
Americim  manufoctufo  were  as  uutrust- 
worthy  as  the  signs  of  the  moon  in  fore¬ 
telling  the  tveatuer.  But  there  has  been 
a  grout  change  made  in  the  quality  of 
American  saws  iu  the  past  few  years  and, 
strange  as  it  may  appear,  Sheffield,  Eng., 
is  becoming  a  good  market  for  them. 
...  .  ■ 
EUEAL  BKEVITIES. 
Agricultural  Iinpleiueut  Mann-  Oysters  are  great  admirers  of  Shell-y, 
facturers. — The  National  Association 
of  Manufacturci-s  of  Agricultural  Ma¬ 
chinery  holds  its  next  meeting  at  Auburn, 
N.  Y.,  Dec.  20,  1876.  To  tliis  meeting  a 
gcnei-id  invitation  is  extended  to  all  man¬ 
ufacturers  of  such  miicliiuery  other  than 
hand  power,  and  a  large  attendance  and 
pwrtioipation  is  looked  for.  The  entrance 
loo  is  .$5  and  the  annual  due,?  $5.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  intercommunication  re¬ 
sulting  from  these  meetings  will  obviate 
many  of  the  now  unpleasant  aud  unprofit¬ 
able  features  of  this  line  of  business.  It 
is  expected  that  some  few,  feeling  tliem- 
selves  strong  enougli  to  do  without  the 
Association,  Avill  hold  back  for  a  time ; 
but  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the 
Society,  on  the  other  hand,  can  be  made 
quite  strong  enough  to  produce  its  bene¬ 
ficial  results  without  such  members.  Aud 
when  its  advantages  aceriio,  this  conserv¬ 
ative  (another  name  lor  selfish)  element 
will  be  glad  to  claim  membership.  The 
oflieers  are  :  President — D,  M.  Osbokne. 
Vice-President — «T.  J.  Case,  Treasurer 
— P.  P.  Mast.  Corresponding  Secretary 
— Btonet  Landbkth  of  Philadeljihia. 
- M-» - 
Coucussioii  Theory  Abroad. — 
Col.  Habdee  of  Florida,  was  much  laugh¬ 
ed  at,  a  few  years  since,  for  claiming  that 
insects  could  be  driven  out  of  orchards  by 
what  ho  termed  “concussion” — that  is, 
sudden  jiuTiug  of  the  trees,  or  by  firing 
off  a  gun  near  them.  We  notice,  of  late, 
that  this  concussion  theory  has  been  rap¬ 
idly  spreading,  and  at  least  one  orange 
grower  at  the  South  asserts  that  the  or¬ 
ange-scale  disappears  from  the  effects  of 
firing  a  gun  among  the  branches  or  under 
them  a  few  times.  Now  an  Austrian  has 
been  blowing  up  the  soil  among  Jiis  vines 
with  dynamite  and  reijorts  that  it  is  a  per¬ 
fect  success  iu  the  wav  of  destroying  the 
Phylloxera  or  grape  louse.  We  can  only 
hope,  if  concuBsiun  proves  to  be  a  perfect 
remedy  for  this  pest,  that  Col.  Habdee 
wiU  get  the  100,000  francs  offered  by 
the  French  Government  for  an  effective 
method  of  destroying  it. 
■  -  -■ 
WavStiiig  ffloney,  —  A  lady  corre¬ 
spondent  of  a  Western  paper  complains 
bitterly  of  the  money  “wasted”  iu  the 
bronze  statues  erecteil  in  honor  of  illus¬ 
trious  men,  but  she  fidls  to  tell  us  where 
the  “waste”  comes  in.  Were  she  the 
w’ife  of  any  one  of  the  hundreil  men  who 
must  necessarily  be  employed  in  getting 
the  material  together  to  make  even  one  of 
the  smallest  aud  cheapest  of  these  statues, 
she  might  be  enabled  to  look  upon  such 
things  iu  a  different  lighk  Money  cannot 
be  wasted  iu  making  statuary,  fine  pict¬ 
ures  or  costly  silks  j  for  the  poor  laborers 
The  Egyptian  borne  plague  i.s  becoming  Syrias. 
CixirouNiANa  ivro  Hbowing  their  sound  good 
BeuMO  by  Imuortiug  Norman  horaoB,  inatead  of 
breeds  only  ntted  for  tho  race-oourse. 
The  occasional  failure  of  tbe  Belgium  flax  crop 
iu  attributed  to  a  kind  of  rust  which  attacks  the 
plants  growing  in  soils  deflcient  iu  potash. 
T«c  Poultrr  AH«)oistion8  are  now  busy  pre¬ 
paring  or  holding  their  annual  exhibitions  and, 
Irom  present  prospects,  there  will  be  a  linger 
aud  better  display  of  flue  birds  than  ever  before. 
]  M.  Latebiere,  a  French  Yetenuarian,  is  re- 
Eorted  to  check  contagious  disease  among  cattle 
y  burning  sulphur  in  their  stalls.  Thirty  grains 
of  sulphur  is  burnt  for  every  cubic  yard  of  air 
in  the  stable. 
Aoaix  tlie  farmers  of  tbe  West  have  neglected 
to  raLso  beans  enough  to  supply  the  demand  of 
their  homo  inuikot,  and  dealers  in  provibious  aro 
sending  East  for  la^ge  (luiiutities  of  this  staple 
article  of  food. 
The  Canadians  are  talking  of  a  large  exodus 
of  farmers  to  Manitoba  next  spring,  showing 
that  there  arc  more  peoplo  who  prefer  to  endure 
tho  rigors  of  a  still  colder  cJiinale  than  run  the 
risk  of  dying  from  yoUow  fever  iu  the  South. 
It  is  exUemwly  dilficult,  even  if  possible,  to 
starve  out  Lbu  most  arraut  swindler  if  he  epeuds 
money  freely  iu  advertising,  aud  wo  have  often 
wondered  wliy  mofo  honest  fueu  did  not  lako  the 
hint  and  use  the  same  means  to  make  money. 
Oun  old-time  friend,  P.  T.  Quxn.v,  is  engaged 
iu  the  compilation  of  tho  transactions  of  the 
New  Jersey  Centennial  Oommission.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  ho  will  include  a  full  description  of 
the  Tournament  and  the  part  taken  therein  by 
her  reprosontativoB. 
Tub  Third  A.vsdal  Convention  of  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Dairymen's  Association  will  be  held  at 
Cambridge,  Crawford  Co.,  Ph.,  Wednesday  and 
Thursday,  Deo.  27ih  and  28th.  Many  of  our 
leading  dairymen  are  expected  to  he  present  and 
take  part  iu  tho  proceediugB. 
Blackwood's  Magazine  has  long  been  consid¬ 
ered  a  pretty  good  authority  in  literary  matters, 
but  wo  suspect  that  some  of  our  farmers  will 
take  exceptions  to  its  assertion  that  the  “  moon 
has  no  more  effect  on  the  weather  than  red  her¬ 
rings  have  on  Iho  govermueut  of  fcjwilzerlahd.’’ 
The  largest  yield  of  corn  reported  this  season 
oimes  from  Alabama,  one  W.  T.  Tdrnxey  claim¬ 
ing  that  he  has  produced  221  bushels  per  acre, 
but  whether  in  ears  or  shelled  corn  we  are  not 
informed ;  but  either  is  r,  large  enough  yield  to 
make  one  eiightly  inquisitivo  to  know  how  it  was 
done. 
We  should  like  to  have  those  who  are  believ¬ 
ers  in  till)  theory  that  all  varitties  of  potatoes 
are  predisposed  to  run  out  or  degenerate,  ac¬ 
count  for  the  presence  this  season  of  as  line 
Mercers  us  were  ever  seen  here  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago.  in  fact,  Ave  think  there  is  a  slight 
improvement  iu  this  variety,  both  iu  size  and 
quality  of  tho  tubers. 
Ir  there  should  come  a  Black  W'alnut  fever  in 
this  country,  Prof.  Be-AL  of  the  Michigan  Agri¬ 
cultural  Oullego  Avould  be  the  man  to  blame  for 
it,  for  ho  has  been  roportuig  the  sales  of  tie^s 
of  this  kind  at  one  thousanil  dollars  each  and 
upwards.  The  age  of  these  trees,  however,  Avas 
not  given  which,  if  it  had  been,  might  have  dis- 
comaged  planting  of  Black  Walnut  for  timber. 
