THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
along the lower Mississippi, all of which 
could be permanently reclaimed for profit¬ 
able cultivation at a cost of much less than 
the profit therefrom in a single decade. 
For years the General Government has 
been importuned in vain to undertake the 
construction and repairs of the Missis¬ 
sippi levees in order to makethese wastes 
bloom like a garden ; isn’t it time that 
the States which would chiefly profit by 
the improvement, should follow Florida’s 
example and straightway accomplish the 
work themselves, assessing the cost, or 
the greater part, of it, on the laud-owners 
benefited most by the undertaking. 
.State rights and State duties are insepar¬ 
able. We have heard much of the 
former and would like to see a little 
more of the benefits of the latter. 
Prairie Farmer simply desires to injure 
the Rural New-Yorker or its editor per¬ 
sonally, it will, upon reflection, be will¬ 
ing to recall the insinuations of the above 
paragraph. 
outward, is the Peruvian annual, Galin- 
soga parviflora, which is supposed, to have 
escaped from Kew Gardens in the first 
instance and is now one of the common¬ 
est weeds in the district. 
One of the most enrions instances, how¬ 
ever, among all the known cases of immi¬ 
gration into England is that of a shell 
fish- The fresh water clam or mussel 
Dreissena polymorph a, which came orig¬ 
inally from Russia on logs of timber, has 
spread itself almost as rapidly as if it 
were a weed. It was first noticed at cer¬ 
tain docks in London, in 1822, but is now 
so thoroughly acclimated and diffused 
that it has even been found in the citv 
aqueducts. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT B. CARMAN. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY. FEB 5 1881 
Next week’s Rural New-Yorker will 
be the Hardy Shrub and Tree Special. 
The Small Fruit Special will be publish¬ 
ed in about three weeks thereafter, or 
early in March. 
BREVITIES 
and in 1950,—a year which some now liv¬ 
ing will doubtless see—wo shall be a na¬ 
tion of over 300,000.000 souls, and all 
that when our Republic—for this may it 
ever be!—shall be but iu the last half of 
the second century of its existence. 
But the growth of our cities has been 
most remarkable. The euormous influx 
of population to these centers, bolh from 
our own fair bills and vales, and from 
foreign shores, has increased their popu¬ 
lation far more rapidly than our total 
population has been augmented, and, with 
this arise great social and moral problems 
which call for speedy solution. Four 
European cities—London, Paris, Vienna 
aud Berlin—outnumber our first four— 
New York, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and 
Chicago,—aud decades of years must pass 
before we can compete with them, but 
while all Europe has but 75 towus of 
over 100,000 souls, America has already 
20 of that number of inhabitants, and 
each the metropolis of its own district. 
The increase in the number of immi¬ 
grants who are to-day making a large 
proportion of our city population, is a 
factor to be considered. During Decem¬ 
ber last, 24,000 foreigners came to our 
shore, and during the six months ending 
December 31, 277.000, made America 
their home—an increase of 132,000 over 
the corresponding six months in 1879, 
while the total number of newcomers 
during last year amounted to 550,000 ! 
Whether we can continue for years to 
assimilate this vast annual addition to our 
numbers, is a debatable question. What 
a future is before us! What wisdom 
will be needed to maintain our present 
course as a Republic! How graud the 
service we may render to mankind if the 
world shall be taught that a Republic can 
exist, and not only exist, but be prosper¬ 
ous, with a population so large, yet ex- 
altiug the individual, granting equality 
to all, and vouchsafing freedom bih( hap¬ 
piness to every one who accepts our 
principles and abides by our laws. 
A rarEND writes frem Oeteroo, Michigan t 
' The severe cold has killed the peach bads.” 
We would commend Prickly Comfrev to 
Doctor Bailey (himof Billerica; him of Blount 
Corn fame) as a fine plant for ensilaging! 
One of our subscribers who last year tested 
many different kinds of potatoes, thinks that 
the St- Patrick and Burbank, if not identical 
are closely alike. We have never raised either’ 
It is scarcely possible if they bad been the 
same that Mr. Henderson wouid not have de¬ 
tected it. 
According to one of the members of the 
Elmira Farmers’ Club, the cost of making 
molasses, after the cane is supplied, with 
small apparatus, is about two cents per 
pound, or 22 cents per gallon. It was 
found that it required six hours to crush cane 
enough to yield 200 gallons of juice. A crusher 
should, to work economically, do that work in 
an hour. It appears that the quality of the 
molussos made from Amber Cane Is rated with 
that of New Orleans molasses, to which it is 
superior for cooking purposes. 
In looking over the catalogues which are 
now coming in freely and which will be no¬ 
ticed next week, we find that •• Cuzco ” Corn 
is still offered in several of them as a great 
and glorious novelty. Our old readers can¬ 
not have forgotten what we have said as to 
thi6grcatcorn-humbug; but new readers may 
need to beadvised that it is worthless for this 
or, so far as can he ascertained, for any other 
climate. The Rural sent seed to a dozen dif¬ 
ferent persons in the South and West. AH re¬ 
port the same, viz.: that it is substantially 
good-for-nothing. 
It Is said that animals on a sea voyage more 
often die for want of water than from any 
other cause. Their deaths are usuallv attrih. 
Catawba grapes are selling to-day 
(Jau. 27) for four cents per pound. They 
are sound and excellent. Where is the 
kind among our mucli-talked-rf new 
grapes with keeping qualities and excel¬ 
lence like this ! 
***** « uciu< raisers oi uamonna are in 
a distressful condition owing to the insuf¬ 
ficiency of shipping on the Pacific coast. 
Freight charges are consequently so high 
that farmers who have to sell their wheat 
now must do so at a loss, and the banks 
cannot foreclose the loans they have 
made on the crop, without creating a 
panic. At Ban Francisco there is not a 
sea-going vessel of auy kind disengaged. 
Those under charter are either loaded or 
the necessary amount of wheat to load 
them is received. All, or nearly all the 
ships to arrive within the next three 
mouths aro under charter, and the ton¬ 
nage expected is very light, as freights 
are good everywhere. The storage ca¬ 
pacity in the city is crowded, and owing 
Horse Shoes Kept on too Long._ 
There seems to be no doubt that this 
causes more injury to the feet of a horse 
than any thing else ; for as soon as the 
shoe is fastened on a double action be¬ 
gins, as his hoof grows down and presses 
against the shoe, and the shoe is ham¬ 
mered forcibly up against the hoof 
every time the foot is set back on the 
ground after being raised. This makes 
the double action which is so apt to 
prove injurious. To obviate this, it be¬ 
comes necessary to have the shoe fit 
nicely and easily at all times to the 
horse's foot. To insure this, it should 
be taken oil’ and reset about once a fort¬ 
night ; and in doing so care should be 
taken to first, file oil’ the clinching part of 
the nails outside of the hoof, so they can¬ 
not make large holes or tear the hoof as 
they are withdrawn. Some let shoes re¬ 
main on the horse two or three months. 
Nothing can be more injurious to keep¬ 
ing up a sound, good foot than this. The 
change twice a month or so, allows 
the foot to expand, and keeps it in a 
healthy, natural form. 
BEEF AND MUTTON IN ENGLAND. 
Notwithstanding the constant large 
importations of these from America and 
Australia, the English papers inform us 
that the prices not only keep well up 
there, but are likely to continue to do so. 
This is owing mainly to the increasing 
population, aud the increasing prosperity 
in the manufacturing districts. More¬ 
over, those people who formcrlvgot meat 
of a poor quality only aboutonce a week 
on account of its High price, now that 
abundant, importations have placed be¬ 
fore them a superior quality at a lower 
price, can at Ford to have it nearly every 
day on their tables, aud hence this great¬ 
ly increased consumption of meat in the 
United Kingdom. As to mutton more par¬ 
ticularly the liver-rot has again broken out 
among the fi"cksof Great Britain causing 
many deaths in them from thedisease, and 
this again assists to keep up the price of 
mutton as well as of beef and pork. 
American flock-masters will see that 
the above enforces what the Rural has 
repeatedly said to them—that various 
causes ha ve contributed for years past and 
would continue to combine probably for 
years to come, to keep up the prices of 
sheep, wool and mutton iu America. Let 
them go on now with a good heart and 
prosper. 
NOT THE MAN BUT HIS WORKS 
In the Prairie Farmer (of Chicago 
Ills.) of Jan. 22, we find the following: ’ 
“The Ur UAL New Yohkkk of .Tan 15 , takes us to 
task lor “ magnanimously” offering the use of our 
columns to Mr. Le Due to purge himself from the 
charge of a “ crooked” proposition relating to the 
Importation of live Block, which appeared in rhe 
National Live stock Journal a short time pre 
ylously. Men possessing a decent self-respect and 
honest motives are not apt to pass quietly over an 
accusailouKO direct aud grave as rbls, corn!re 
I'll** Prclsfii -P 
AMERICAN WEEDS IN ENGLAND. 
We are so familiar with the spread of 
foreign weeds in this country that we are 
sometimes half inclined to believe that 
there must be some Bpecial power of at¬ 
traction on this side the Atlantic which 
distinguishes America from other coun¬ 
tries. But every once in a while state¬ 
ments appear which go to show that the 
game is not by any means all on one Bide, 
aud that, in this regard as in others, we 
have sometimes given bard knocks as well 
as taken them. 
The rapid spread of the aquatic weed 
Anacharis Canadensis in the canals and 
brooks of Europe is a case in point, which 
has often been noticed. In England aud 
in many places on the Continent, this. 
"American Weed,” as it is called, has 
become a perfect pest. It is cordially de¬ 
tested by watermen with good cause. Our 
common Evening Primrose (CEuothcra bi¬ 
ennis) is another plant which is now scat¬ 
tered far aud wide over Europe. Special¬ 
ly interesting is the spread iu the vicinity 
of London of the common Spotted Touch- 
me-not (Impatiens fulva) of our brook- 
sides, Bince the course of its dissemina¬ 
tion there can be traced with a good deal 
of certainty. It appears that the Touch- 
me-not was cultivated some sixty or more 
years ago iu the gardens of Albury Park 
in the County of Surrey, whence a small 
stream runs into the River Wey above 
Guilford, and this little river in its turn 
falls into the Thames near Shepperton. 
Starting from the garden in question, the 
seeds have been carried by the water cur¬ 
rent and by barges, etc., throughout the 
Thames valley, as far down as London. 
The plant was first seen growing wild in 
1822 near Albury, and since then it has 
completely established itself in so many 
jdaces that were it not for a knowledge 
of its history its exotic character would 
not be suspected. 
Another foreign plant abundant iu fields ! 
aud by road-sides just above London, j 
whence it is gradually working its way 
from a reputable source. The 1'ralrto Farmer m 
tered Mr J.e DUO ah opponunity todS him! 
self. But the Kitrai. Ntw-YoRh eb i.Links that he 
WAltlrl hnllttlll I ha Imrt/MttAv.r . AIJ .. 1 . . . 
would bellt tie the Import am uflleo lie holds were 
-- - -..—- -V r W> what it. pleases to call 
’ «• vturtle chares of this fi orr ” -j'ue source of the 
* was ma ,j ei 
• —— —Rural 
si HI rhe Cotnmla- 
he to return an anew 
” a vague chargB of ihls sort, 
accusation, ana the manner in which It wa; 
remove It from the cat egory In which the 
New-Vohker would place It ; c;::: 
eloper la as silent lu regard to it as a graven imncc 
and so he win remain. The difference between 
the National Live stock Journal and the Rural 
Nbw-Iokkkr is, the former knows what it is 
talking about, and the latter does not. 
It may be true respecting what we have 
said of Gen. Le Due, that we have not 
known what we were talking about. Oar 
acquaintance with him is very slight. It 
was not the man but his work that we 
desired to shield from what seemed to us 
unfair—unjust criticism. Hie work so 
far as we are capable of judging, speaks 
for itself—and it speaks loudly—power¬ 
fully iu bis praise. As to the character 
of Gen. Le Due, the Prairie Farmer 
Western Metropolis, r&ilier than to any com- 
binatlon to force up prices, although there is 
an unsupported report that such a combina¬ 
tion exists with regard to lard Hogs have 
been coining in steadily, but the demand great¬ 
ly exceeds the *app!y and prices have been 
going up from five to fifteen emts at short 
intervale. Last year the state of the market 
was feverish, with prices controlled by a pow¬ 
erful ring; now prices are steadily nioumino- 
as the natural outcome of national prosperity 
and of a demand in excess of the supply. 
At last tho attention of the country 6eems 
thorough y awakened to the danger our herds 
are exposed to from pleura-pneumonia. The 
injury to the conntty from the restriction on 
the importations ot American cattle into the 
United Kingdom is trifling in comparison with 
the calamitous loss that must be incurred 
should the plague spread among the vasi h.'i ds 
of the West and Southwest. Owing chiefly to 
the repeated warnings of the agricultural press, 
and a good deal to the action of the Agricultural 
Department, Congress has at length before It 
a bill designed to check the spread of the pest, 
and stamp it out wherever it lias obtained 
a foothold. The Legislature of this State 
has promptly appropriated another sum of 
$ 10,000 to extirpate it from among us, and 
other stales seem fully alive to the emergency. 
In view of the energetic crusade that wiij 
probably soon be inaugurated against the 
plague everywhere, it Is hardly likely that the 
English Privy Council will adopt auy more 
stringent measures against the importation of 
cattle from this country, aiihongb last Thursd; v 
a motion was mada in Parliament to prohibit 
absolutely the landing of American cattle iu 
the United Kingdom on the ground that 
slaughtering them at the ports of "debarkation 
was not sufficient to prevent the spread 
among toe native herds, of the di-easo from 
animals suffering from pleuro pneumonia. 
.Florida, it is reported, has closed a 
contract for draining Lake Okeechobee 
a name under which are included a small’ 
shallow ake and an extensive adjoining 
swamp, both together co?ering an area 
as large as Massachusetts and Connecti¬ 
cut. The reclaimed land will, it is said 
be admirably adapted for the cultivation 
of the sugar-cane, and the drained acre- 
age will bo large enough to produce all 
tilfc ^mted States are likely to 
need for years to come. Bright as are 
tho ° f abuudaut s^etness from 
i G ji V u . 8wam ps, however, it would 
hardly be wise to allow tho distant pros- 
pcot tomurfere with the growing 
try ot sorghum sugar-making. The 
most praise worth ^ .. 
