24 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
JAN. 6 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT 6. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JAN. 8, 1881. 
Two months ago, Mr. Saul, of Wash¬ 
ington, D, C., sent us the Japan Per¬ 
simmon (fruit) which is figured on page 
20. It was then about the weight and 
firmness of a peach of the same size, with 
a leathery, yellow skin, somewhat like 
that of red peppers. The skin is now 
much shriveled—-wrinkled—though the 
flesh is still firm and juicy, but of a 
puckery, undecided, and not agreeable 
taste. 
-♦♦♦-- 
The Crystal white Blackberry.— 
On page 19 is presented an engraving of 
the Crystal White Blackberry, the origi¬ 
nal ol which was brought to' the Rural 
office by Mr. J. T. Lovett. It was ladeu 
with fruit (as shown) of a dull white color 
and of excellent quality. Small-fruit 
authorities speak of this variety as valua¬ 
ble “only as a curiosity”—but' it strikes 
us that it is not unworthy of better praise. 
The fruit is not only pleasing to look 
upon, but, being sweet, why should not 
it hold as high a place among blackber¬ 
ries as Brinokle’s Orange does among 
raspberries? It originated in Albion, 
Illinois, and is, we believe, fruitful there 
in a majority of Beasons. 
— ■ 4 ♦ » - 
The Action of Bone Flour.— The 
following letter from Professor S. W. 
Johnson, is in reply to our question, 
and explains itself : 
THE CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURAL EXPERI¬ 
MENT STATION. 
NEW HAVEN, OT.. Dec., 24, 1880. 
I don’t doubt that bouts llour, if really fine, 
will often act promptly and efficiently ou corn, 
applied iu May. To do bo tbe conditions must 
be highly favorable to its decay ; that is, the 
soil must give it high temperature, moisture 
and the germs of decay (bacteria.) In this re¬ 
gion about New Haven, it passes as an estab¬ 
lished uiuxim that bone does well on low laud 
but not on the bills, that is, as 1 take it, on 
moist and not on dry soils. 
The action of bone is hastened irrcatly by a 
preliminary fermentation, heaping it up, well 
mixed with its own bulk of loam or saw-dust, 
under shelter and moistening (not soaking) 
with urine and lelliug it heat, eight days, un¬ 
til it becomes considerably decomposed. 
What ordinarily passes as bone dust is too 
coarse to have prompt action under ordinary 
circumstances. Yours, S. W. Johnson. 
- -4 ♦ »- 
A Special Call of a Champion Fat 
Ox upon Her Majesty Queen Victoria. 
—The Agricultural Gazette informs us 
that Mr. Colmau’s prize ox, at the late 
Fat Cattle Show iu Lomlou, received the 
compliment of a special invitation to 
Windsor Castle to be introduced to Her 
Majesty the Queen. Another featof Her 
Majesty was to walk in the morning, to¬ 
gether with the Princess Beatrice, to the 
farm of the late Prince Consort, some 
four or five miles from Windsor Castle, 
to look over the fat stock bred there pre¬ 
vious to the commencement of their sale 
in the afternoon. This is a famous live 
stock breeding farm, and it was a delight 
with the late Prince Albert to oversee 
and direct all its operations ; and no one 
took more pleasure m showing it to liis 
visitors, or was more happy than he in 
ootainuig a prize on the exhibition of any 
of his animals at the Cattle Shows of 
England. 
-- 
THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Concerning the Department of Agri¬ 
culture one of two things should be done: 
either abolish it altogether or else place 
it on a better financial basis. Not only 
should the appropriations called for by 
the Commissioner in his last report, be 
made at once ; but the salary connected 
with his office should be increased. The 
office, as it is, offers no pecuniary in¬ 
ducements to men worthy of occupying 
the position. Those who are well fitted 
for such a position, find they can make a 
more profitable use of their time and tal¬ 
ent elsewhere, so that men not bo well 
qualified rnnst fill the place. What are 
we to think of those who now advocate a 
reduction of the Commissioner’s salary ! 
It is an inconsistent and false economy 
which is so chary of funds for the pro¬ 
motion of great public interests and so 
lavish wit h them when mere partisan ends 
may be subserved. A penny for the ad¬ 
vancement of the agricultural iuterests 
of the country, an da pound for individual 
political preferment! A just economy is 
always commendable ; an unwise parsi¬ 
mony, never. If the Department of Ag¬ 
riculture is to be a success and not a 
failure, men eminently qualified to do 
efficient work, must be at its head, and 
such men can be found only when satis¬ 
factory inducements are offered. 
Wc hope to hear less about reducing 
the already too meager salary of the 
Commissioner of Agriculture. 
-- 
THE RURAL’S PROSPECTS FOR 1881- 
THANKS TO OLD FRIENDS. 
A few weeks ago we suggested to our 
subscribers that if each would send us 
another subscriber, our subscription list 
would be doubled for 1881. The propo¬ 
sition was a self-evident one, and was 
given out merely to show that though it 
would prove a great task for any journal 
having a large circulation, to double it 
from its own direct efforts, yet it seemed 
a very simple matter for each subscriber 
to send us one other subscriber, which 
wo uld work the same result. 
Now whether the Rural New-Yorker 
has been far better daring 1880 than 
ever before ; whether, for other reasons, 
its readers have grown more attached to 
it, we cannot say. Certain it is that 
very many of them have acted upon our 
suggestion, as if they felt it not only a 
pleasure, but almost a sense of duty—to 
comply with the request. 
Many others also in renewing, have ex¬ 
pressed earnest regret that their efforts 
to secure other names had failed. Our 
mails have been bo full of such evidences 
of appreciation and friendship that we 
have more than once felt our utter help¬ 
lessness by auy means, or words, to ex¬ 
press an almost oppressive sense of grat¬ 
itude which our kind friends are placing 
us under. It is a relief when one can 
shake the hand of a friend in response to 
any kindly act and say, “I thauk you.” 
But our friends are far away;—we can 
not shake their hands : we can only say 
that we feel very greatly obliged to them, 
while regretting that such words so 
feebly express our sense of indebtedness. 
Up to the present time, the number of 
subscriptions received for 1881, is far in 
advance of any previous year since we 
have had any connection whatever with 
this journal. In great part this increase 
seems to be due to the efforts of our old 
subscribers. 
-- 
THE CAT IN HISTORY. 
A good deal of attention has been 
given of late years, by students of natu¬ 
ral history, to the question of historical 
distribution of plants and animalB, and 
many points of popular interest have been 
elucidated by their researches. It has 
been shown, for example, that while the 
dog has been a companion of man from 
the very earliest times, the cat is a com¬ 
paratively recent addition to the compli¬ 
cations of life. Oats were tamed indeed 
by the Egyptian priests and accorded 
religions honors and even worship. But 
the ancient Creeks knew nothing of 
the domestic cat, although mice were 
known to them from the highest anti¬ 
quity. Indeed, mice were at times 
very troublesome to the Creeks, whole 
districts being sometimes devastated by 
them and the people driven away, as they 
are by grass-hoppers from some places 
nowadays. 
In order to cope in some measure with 
mice the older Greeks kept weasels or 
martens, which were tamed for the pur¬ 
pose. The weasel, in particular, occu¬ 
pied somewhat the same place in the 
world that the cat does now, and numer¬ 
ous fables and proverbs relating to the 
weasel, which are stilt current, originated 
at that period. The old Romans knew 
no more about oats than the Greeks, and 
it is only in the fourth century after 
Christ that mention begins to be made of 
the cat as a domosticauimal. Evidently, 
it was at this time or perhaps a little 
earlier, that the domestic cat was dis¬ 
tributed throughout Europe and Asia. 
It is not a little remarkable, though 
perfectly natural, that the introduction 
of the cat gave a new impulse to tales and 
fears of ghosts and enchantments. The 
sly, creeping, noctural grimalkin took 
rank atones with owls and bats and soon 
surpassed them both as an exponent of 
all that is weird and supernatural. En¬ 
tirely new conceptions of witchcraft were 
gained for the world when the black cat 
appeared upon the scene with her swol¬ 
len tail, glistening eye, and unearthly 
yelk 
ENSILAGE. 
A great deal is being said in agricul¬ 
tural papers respecting the value of the 
silo system of preserving green fodder. 
We have read the statements of a dozen 
or more who are testing the method and 
it is but fair to say that their reports are 
enthusiastically in its favor. The silos 
preserve the fodder in a partially green 
state and the ensilage is relished by 
stock in general. The economy of the 
sytem, is, however, yet to be ascertained. 
A silo that will hold 250 to 300 tons of 
corn ensilage will cost not less than $300 
and needB to be, let us say, 10 feet long, 
12 wid^ and 20 deep. The stalks and 
leaves have then to be finely cut up and 
so packed in the silos—or pits or cellars 
as they might better be called—as to ex¬ 
clude the air. Contact with the air at 
once causes mold, fermentation and decay. 
The tops of the pits have therefore to be 
covered with several inches of cut straw 
upon which planks are laid and heavily 
weighted. As soon as the silos are open¬ 
ed, exposure necessarily begins so that, 
unless the amount daily used is consid¬ 
erable, the surface ensilage remaining is 
unfit for use and must be daily thrown 
away. We knoio as yet very little as to 
the actual value of food of this nature for 
milch cows. That the cost of building 
pits, of gathering, cutting, and storing the 
ensilage whether it be clover, Hungarian 
Crass, cow-pea vines, the Branching Ru¬ 
ral Sorghum or whatever other forage 
plant may he preferred, are formidable 
items. Probably no farmer that can 
raise 75 bushels of shelled corn per acre 
will ever become an enthusiast over 
ensilage, while those who can raise 30 
tons of corn-stalks and leaves and not 
over 25 bushels of corn per acre may 
feel the necessity of carefully considering 
the merits of the “new dispensation.” 
We are not yet willing to advise any of 
our readers to invest his capital in 
silos. 
-- 
A WORD TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS. 
Many (hundreds) of our new subscrib¬ 
ers write to us ; “We have received the 
first number of your paper but not the 
seeds—Please send them.” 
Our new subscribers should “stop a 
bit ” and consider, first, that we cannot 
send tiie seeds until we have them to 
send, and, second, we can not put them 
up and mail them in a day when they are 
received. The White Elephant Potato is 
sent as the weather permits because of 
necessity it is packed by itself in a little 
wooden box. The Argenteuil Asparagus 
seeds have been received from France, 
and are already put in envelopes. So also 
are the Washington Oats. The Rural 
Branching Sorghum is not yet received. 
Neither may we hope to receive the 
Dianthus seed in less than one month. 
The German and French wholesale cata¬ 
logues for 1881 were received only last 
week, and from these our orders were 
made out and forwarded. We beg that 
our friends interested in flowers will give 
the Dianthus seeds due care. Fifteen 
dollars per pound is the loxoest price paid 
for the seeds of Picotees and Carna¬ 
tions, while the price of a portion of them 
is not less than $150 per pound! 
Whether they will prove worth the 
especial care of onr readers may be judged 
from the above statement. 
It is necessary, also, that we should 
remind our new friends that these distri¬ 
butions are not premiums. We offer 
them as, and when, we please, and dis¬ 
continue them when we please, so long 
as we repay every obligation to our sub¬ 
scribers. Greatly gratified by the good 
to agriculture which these distributions 
of new or rare seeds have wrought, 
there is no thought to discontinue them 
so long as we are enabled to procure or to 
raise kinds which promise to support the 
good name which our Free Distributions 
have well earned for themselves. If we 
had no pride in the matter and put up 
seeds as premiums, we should select 
popular sorts, such as any seedsman can 
furnish for five or ten cents per packet. 
-♦ ♦ ♦ 
BREVITIES. 
The Rural Rebus (p. 6, Corn Number) re¬ 
mains unsolved. It is an easy one, too. 
The St. Lonis Cane Growers’ meeting will 
be held the 21st. 
During theweek ending January lst.tnrkeys 
were sold at 12 cents per pound, with a chromo 
for each turkey. 
Gen. LeDuc expects to be present at the 
meeting of the Minnesota Care Growers’ Asso¬ 
ciation, to be held at Minneapolis on Thursday, 
the 20th inst. 
In the earlier impressions of the Corn Num¬ 
ber the period was left out between the 8 and 
the 00, making the cost of the special fertilieer 
used upon the Chester Co. Mammoth $800 in¬ 
stead of $8.00 per acre. 
Db. Zabkisky, a New Jersey physician of 
long experience and a wide practice, tells us 
that of all remedies for diptheria he has been 
most successful with sal-ammoniac (muriate 
or ammonia). A saturated solution is used as 
a gargle. 
Lady apples (Pomme d’ api) sold during 
the holidays for from six to seven dollars p*r 
barrel. Half barrels brought $3.50. There 
seems as yet no apple that can be looked upon 
as a formidable competitor of the bright¬ 
cheeked little Lady. 
When our fowls are affected with scaly 
legs, which are caused by a minute insect, we 
place the feet and legs in a narrow tin pail of 
kerosene. This treatment will soon cure the 
worst cases, if persisted in. The application 
of ointments and bandBges often recommended 
involves more trouble with no more decisive 
results. 
Rural Grounds, Dec. 30.—Thermometer 
nine degrees below zero at seven o’clock a. m. 
Eight inches of snow. Seven o'clock p. m., 
thermometer one degree below. December 
31, seveu o’clock a. m , 15 degrees below. 
January J, 1881, seven o’clock a. m., 19 degrees 
below. January 2, seven o’clock P. M., 10 de¬ 
grees above. 
Our news editor, in speaking of the death of 
J. J. Mechi, of England, called him Professor 
Mechi. He was simply Farmer Mechi—a be¬ 
nevolent soul that loved agriculture as he 
did his life. A portrait, the original of which 
—a photograph—was sent to us by Mr. Mechi 
himself, together with a sketch of his life, 
appeared in the Rural New-Yorker of Sept. 
14, 1878, p. 585. 
One of the best resolutions the farmer can 
make for this new year—if it has not already 
received due attention in past years—is to 
devote a part of his farm—an acre at least—to 
small fruits and fruit trees. Determine as to 
the beet kinds to be selected from the cata¬ 
logues we shall shortly notice, guided by the 
information which may be gleaned from 
trustworthy iournals aud books or friends who 
can speak from experience. One cauuot be 
too painstaking in selecting varieties. Some 
kinds are suited :o your soil and climate— 
others are not To select without careful in¬ 
vestigation is to throw money and time away. 
We have received the following pleasant 
note from the Higganum Manufacturing Cor¬ 
poration, Higganum, Conn.: 
“We could not believe it possible for a paper to 
improve as the Rural has during several years 
past. It has no equul to day as an agricul¬ 
tural journal, aud every one who reads it can 
see that live men are at the wheel. As an ad¬ 
vertising medium it cannot be beat. We have 
given it a thorough trial on specialties for the 
past two years, and for once we can say that 
we have seen the benefit, for on cider mills 
aud root cutters our trade has been immense, 
and the orders have come from nearly every 
State iu the Union. If you have any doubting 
ones, send them to us and we will convince 
them that they can get two dollars back for 
every one they will put into advertising in the 
Rural. Wishing you a happy and prosperous 
New Year, we remain. 
Your* truly, 
Clinton B. Davis, Treae. 
On the night of December 28 a cold spell of 
extraordinary severity set in all over the 
country, and next day snow fell from the 
Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic and from the 
the lakes to the Gulf. Telegrams of the 29th 
from the chief cities within this vast area all 
speak iu forcible terms of tbe intensity of the 
cold, and mention the fall of snow. In some 
parts of the country this was so heavy as to 
block up the roads and railways aud prevent 
or impede travel and transpoitation, while in 
other places, as in Galveston, Texas, there were 
only few feathery flakes. VVliile cold of equal 
or even greater severity has been bv uo means 
uncommon even at this season in uoarly every 
part of tbe country, it is rarely that weather has 
been so frigid simultaneously over so exten¬ 
sive an area. Since theu telegraphic advices 
from Alaska to Florida speak or extremely 
cold weather all over that vast territory : many 
human deaths from exposure to the arctic 
cold are reported even from places as far south 
as Virginia, while a very heavy mortality 
among stock is announced. 
From across the Atlantic comes the news 
that the Great Eastern steamship has been 
definitely chartered for ten years to carry dead 
meat to the United Kingdom, from this country 
aud South America. The promoters of the 
enterprise intend to slaughter the cattle on 
board the ship us they are received day by 
day, and for this purpose they are reported to 
have already secured the services of truined 
butchers from the Chicago slaughter-houses. 
It is estimated that from 10,009 to 15,000 car¬ 
casses of beef can he shipped each voyage. 
The meat will be hung in refrigerators and it 
is calculated that excellent beef from Texas 
aud the Argentine Repttblic can be lauded in 
the United Kingdom at six cents a pound. If 
this enterprise shall prove successful it will 
doubtless find many Imitators; the Slock in¬ 
terests of! his continent will prove still more 
jirofltable, und the farmers of the United 
kingdom, who have hither to found consolation 
iu the supposition I hat they can ulways bid 
defiauoe to competition iu foreign meat, will 
meet with a discouraging disappointment. 
