THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
A National Journal for the Country and Suburban Home. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
X1.BEBT s. cabman. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, OCT. 8, 1881. 
This has been in drought-visited 
regions a bad year for budding. There 
has not been enough sap to form a cam¬ 
bium layer so that the bark would not 
peel from the wood. 
-M-*- 
Considering the drought which has 
prevailed at the Rural Farm—the severest 
within our reraemberance—it was very 
gratifying to have received the first prem¬ 
ium at the Queens County Agricultural 
Fair for the Rural Heavy Dent Corn. 
Our first-page portrait of the distin¬ 
guished agricultural chemist. Dr. J. H. 
Gilbert, the associate of Dr. Lawes, of 
Rothamsted, England, is from u photo¬ 
graph furnished at the solicitation of the 
Rural New-Yorker. 
It is surely worthy of note that while a 
plot of corn within 50 feet of the Rural 
Branching Sorghum has been destroyed 
by the drought, the latter is now (Sept. 
28) as green as when it was but six inches 
high, and it is still growing rapidly. 
Our “ Everywhere ” columns have furn¬ 
ished many similar reports. During sea¬ 
sons of drought, we deem this Sorghum 
invaluable. 
It is no easy matter for us to improve 
the Rural unless we know in what re¬ 
spects our readers desire a change. It will 
soon be time for the great majority of our 
subscribers to renew. Would they kindly 
make their preferences known? Let them 
freely state what departments they prize 
most—what least. We should then have 
a guide as to our future course, which we 
should follow without misgiving that we 
were marching away from instead of to¬ 
wards our readers. 
-• ♦ ♦ 
Why shouldn’t the Southern States 
that are anxious to obtain immigrants 
follow the example of Texas or Missouri ? 
The former State has energetic agents in 
Europe whose business it is to explain by 
lectures, pamphlets, and other means, the 
great advantages and resources of the 
Lone Star State, and consequently the 
immigration to it from Europe is far 
greater than that to any other Southern 
State—greater, indeed, than to all the oth¬ 
er Gulf States. The Missouri Immigration 
Society has recently sent, to Germany 40,- 
000 additional copies of its hand-book 
descriptive of the resources of that State, 
making a total of 100,000 distributed by 
its agents in Prussia alone. Like Texas, 
it has sub-agencies in nearly all the princi¬ 
pal cities of Europe, and offers to emi¬ 
grants very flattering inducements to set¬ 
tle in that. State. Accordingly a large 
number of new-comers have lately gone 
thither. Few are the earthly blessings 
that come spontaneously to those sitting 
supinely with folded hands. 
A Specimen Railroad Exaction.— We 
have in this city on a small scale an ex¬ 
cellent specimen of one of the methods 
by which the railroad corporations fleece 
the public. The two railroad companies 
that in the last few years have constructed 
elevated railroads through our streets, 
leased them some time back to a bogus 
corporation under the name of the Manhat¬ 
tan Company, whereupon the stock was 
“ watered” to the amount of some thir¬ 
teen million dollars. The Manhattan be¬ 
ing unable to fulfill its contract with the 
original companies, a Receiver was ap¬ 
pointed about nine w T eeks ago, and now 
the President of the Company and the 
Receiver declare the roads cannot be made 
to pay expenses at the present rates of 
fare. It is therefore proposed to raise 
the rates, thus taxing the people of this 
city to pay interest on some thirteen mil¬ 
lion dollars of mere paper capital. In 
other words, New Yorkers are asked to 
overlook, first, the confiscation of private 
property or the injury to it rendered ne¬ 
cessary by the construction of the roads ; 
second, the extravagant cost of the roads 
and running stock, owing to the manipu¬ 
lation of a “construction company” and 
other gambling devices ; and third, the 
enormous addition of “ water ” to the 
already shamefully inflated stock. 
-- 
SUFFERING MICHIGAN. 
Right in the track of dire desolation 
by fire comes wasting disease to the af¬ 
flicted inhabitants of the burnt districts. 
Pneumonia, malarial fever, and other dis¬ 
eases induced by long exposure are add¬ 
ing death to destruction. It could hardly 
have been otherwise! How can women 
and children, aye, even robust men, long 
endure such ext remes of suffering and ex¬ 
posure as those poor people have been 
obliged to submit to! Homeless, they 
have been driven to seek shelter in huts 
of brush; hungry, they have been forced 
to eat the charred remains of burnt corn 
and wheat, or the imperfectly cooked 
flesh of their domestic animals; heart¬ 
broken, they have poor consolation in 
viewing their ruined homes and desolated 
fields! It is no wonder that disease finds 
them easy victims, and that death seems a 
happy relief. 
The Secretary of the Michigan Relief 
Committee in this city has been traveling 
through the burnt district, and lie reports 
that the extent of the calamity has not 
been exaggerated, and that the total loss 
may be put down at $7,500,000. Tt is as¬ 
serted that fully 20,000 persons are now 
suffering there, and that no less than 
$2,500,000 will be required to place them 
in a self-sustaiuiug condition. Up to the 
present time $200,000 have been sub¬ 
scribed for their relief, of which New 
York has contributed over $85,000. Be¬ 
sides this, clot liing is being forwarded from 
many of the larger cities and towns. It 
seems as if the hand of Fate was against 
these people;snow, floods, droughts, fire, 
disease, have followed each other in 
quick succession, and it now remains for 
the more favored portions of the country 
to alleviate the hardships of the Michigan 
people by generous gifts. 
How many of our farmer readers have 
yet forwarded t he proceeds of that “Mich¬ 
igan bushel ” of wheat ? 
» » » 
AUSTRALIAN MEAT FOR ENGLAND. 
As previously mentioned by us, several 
cargoes of meat have within the past 
year been brought from Australia in fine 
condition to England, where they met 
with a ready sale. The French steamer 
Frigorifique, specially constructed for the 
purpose, also transported a cargo or two 
of mutton and beef from South America 
to France without deterioration, the meat 
being preserved by means of artificially 
dried and cooled air, the power for mak¬ 
ing the ice for cooling purposes being fur¬ 
nished by the vessel’s engines. The South 
American meat trade, however, has not 
grown, probably because the South 
American meat is poor, stringy stuff at 
the best; aud the Australian meat trade 
has been suspended owing to the impossi¬ 
bility of carrying on a paying trade by 
means of steamers, because such vessels 
can spare no power for refrigerators and 
can carry barely enough coals to take 
them to the end of their long voyage. 
The experiment with the Frigorifique 
proved that with a sufficiency of dried, 
cold air, the time the voyage consumed 
was ol' no consequence, and it has there¬ 
fore been determined to attempt to carry 
dead meat from Australia to Great Britain 
by sailing vessels. An engine of 100 
horse power will work the refrigerating 
machine. To supply such an engine with 
coal will be vastly easier than to keep up 
Steam for the four or five thousand horse¬ 
power engines of a large ocean steamer. 
The sailing vessel selected for an experi¬ 
mental voyage is the Dunedin, of the Al¬ 
bion line, which left Glasgow a few 
weeks ago and is expected back in May, 
1882, with the first cargo of Australian 
mutton and beef transported by sail. If 
she is successful, she will lie the pioneer 
of a trade whose vast extent may be esti¬ 
mated from the fact that the Australasian 
English colonies have 60,000,000 sheep— 
almost as many as the United States and 
the United Kingdom together. 
-- 
THE BOOM IN CEREALS. 
During the past week there has been 
intense excitement in the cereal markets 
at all the chief centers, but especially at 
Chicago. There a “boom” in wheat 
set in last Tuesday, aud during the day 
prices advanced no less than seven cents 
per bushel. The prices of all descrip¬ 
tions of produce rose in sympathy and 
the “ bulls ” had things all their own 
way. Wheat for October delivery opened 
fairly firm at $1.34, and by noon had 
risen to $1.30, from which point it ad¬ 
vanced steadily without a break to $1.41 
per bushel, the highest point of the day, 
and the highest for several years. In 
this city prices, rising steadily, had ad¬ 
vanced by Thursday evening 20 to 23 
cents per barrel for flour; and four to 
five cents per bushel for Spring and Winter 
wheat for prompt delivery. Corn ad¬ 
vanced from one to two-and-a-quarter 
cents per bushel; oats o. e-and-a-quarter 
cent to one-and-a-lialf cent; rye one to 
two cents; and barley three to five cents 
per bushel. Prices for future delivery 
rose correspondingly. On Thursday very 
heavy trading was done in this line, the 
reported sales having amounted to 2,860, - 
000 bushels of wheat; 2,208,000 bushels of 
corn and 690,000 bushels of oats. The 
favorite grades were: of wheat, No. 2 red; 
of coru, No. 2; and of oats, No. 2. 
November options attracted most interest, 
but December options are rapidly gaining 
in favor. In spite of low ocean freights 
the high prices here greatly checked 
exportation, as our transatlantic customers 
were unwilling to pay our figures. On 
Friday and Saturday, however, heavy 
European orders are reported to have 
been received in this city, Philadelphia 
and Baltimore, so that it seems likely that 
both in England and on the Continent tlie 
conviction is growing that t he supply of 
breadstuff's this year is certain to be be¬ 
low the demand. The latest French estim¬ 
ate of the deficiency in wheat—that of the 
Paris Bulletin des Halles of September 4 
—puts it in at 9,000,000 hectolitres, equal 
to about 25,000,000 bushels. Other 
trustworthy accounts, however, make the 
deficiency much higher. 
THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY. 
With regard to the sugar beet industry 
in this country, we learn that a French 
gentleman, named Meyer, intends to start 
a sugar beet factory in one of the northern 
counties of this State, with a capital of 
$200,000. The machinery is to be made 
in this country, and the outfit will cost 
$59,000. It is expected that the beet 
crop will average 25 tons to the acre, cost 
the manufacturer $5 per ton, and yield a 
profit of $27 per acre, and a product of 
five to six per cent, of sugar. The Mo¬ 
hawk Valley Beet Sugar Company, t hat 
was to begin operations this Fall near 
Schenectady. N. V,, lias been forced to 
delay a year, because its offered price for 
the machinery of the Franklin, Mass., 
factory having been refused, it was too 
late to order other machinery from Europe 
so as to have it in operation before next 
Fall. The contracts made for beets with 
neighboring farmers were canceled. The 
Delaware Beet Sugar Company, of Wil¬ 
mington, Del., takes a great deal of the 
beets raised for the Mohawk Valley Com¬ 
pany, paying for them at the rate of $4 per 
ton. The entire factory and machinery 
of the above Franklin Beet Sugar Com¬ 
pany is to be sold at auction for what it 
will bring. Lack of ample capital is as¬ 
signed for its repeated collapses. The 
Delaware Beet Sugar Company lias made 
arrangements for enlarging its factory 
with a view to working up 150 to 200 tons 
in 24 hours, and has already obtained the 
requisite filter, presses and battery. Mr. 
Kerbs, the Superintendent, feels more 
confident than ever of success. The 400 
acres of land on which the beets for the 
factory are grown, are rented from farm¬ 
ers who do the plowing, cultivating, etc. 
The total cost per acre, is estimated at 
about $40, and the yield at from 10 to 20 
tons. On the basis of 10 tons to the acre 
it is estimated that the beets will cost $4 
per ton at the factory. In Los Angeles 
Co., California, experiments in drying 
beets have resulted in considerable loss of 
money. It is thought that unless the 
roots are dried by some new and more 
economical process the business can never 
be made profitable. In Canada, the ma¬ 
chinery for the beet sugar factory at Bor- 
thier arrived last June, and the factories 
at Choaticooke and West Farnham are also 
ready. There is talk of starting beet 
sugar factories at Rochester, Elmira, Mid¬ 
dletown and Wurtaborough in this State. 
-*-*-«- 
BREVITIES. 
“The Fail’at Jackson, Mich., was simply 
immense,” says our special correspondent. 
The price of the Hoosier Drill should read 
$20, instead of $15, as it does in our Premium 
List. 
The tomatoes from which we are saving 
seeds keep perfectly sound from 12 to 17 
days.. 
TaE grubs aro unusually troublesome this 
Fall, and are lolling many of our strawberry 
plants. 
We were pleased to receive a call, a few 
days since, from the distinguished pomologist, 
Dr. Johu A. Warder, of Ohio. 
We commend the letter of G. G. of Liberty 
Co., Texas, to our read el’s as showing what 
the Rural Branching Sorghum will do in some 
regions. 
Henrietta Raspberry (Belle d* Fontenay f) 
is now ripening a good second crop at the 
Rural Grounds without any rain since it bore 
the first crop. 
The new Champion Quince of which we 
have one specimen, bears two quinces this year 
not yet ripe (October 3). The others rot as 
fast as they ripen. 
The idea is getting abroad in England that 
the usual harvest “ thanksgiving” services are 
peculiarly absurd this year, iff view of the 
poor yield and quality of the crops. 
One of the best specimens of wheat which 
we have received this season was sent by Prof, 
lngersqll, lat.eof Mich. Ag. Coll., now of Per¬ 
due University, Illinois. It is a cross betweeu 
Lancaster and Armstrong. 
Debmodium penduliflorum (figured in 
Rural, p, 438 has not been affected by the 
drought in the least. It is still blooming freely 
and is at this time the showiest blooming 
shrub in the Rural Grounds. It is a very desir¬ 
able little plant. 
In consequence of the short, supply of milk, 
due to the drought and the necessity of feed¬ 
ing cows on winter feed, the price of milk in 
this city has been raised from eight to ten 
cents a quart by retailers. From our “ex¬ 
changes” we also learn that the farmers who 
supply other large cities are, as a rule, raising 
the price of the product. 
Tiie Liverpool cotton “comer” has 
triumphed, the cotton spinners having all re¬ 
sumed work with no intention of again sus¬ 
pending it in the hopes of breaking t he comer, 
Speculators who sold cotton “short;” that is 
sold what they hadn’t got, in expectation of 
a fall in prices before the date of delivery, 
are settling up as best they can. The chief 
engineer of the corner is, it seems, after all an 
American named Ranger. 
A special meeting of the Board of Malm- 
gel’s of the International Daily Fair Associa¬ 
tion and of the butter and cheese trade of 
New York, was held here last Friday to ar¬ 
range for a grand display of dairy products 
at the Atlanta Exposition. A resolution was 
passed urging merchants, manufacturers and 
dairymen to contribute liberally, and the fol¬ 
lowing committee was appointed to secure 
representation and attend the exposition:—G. 
B. B. Douglass, M. Folsom, \V. K. Smith, L. 
D. D. Hunter, J. II. Gooht, B. F. Van Volkeu- 
bergh, T. II. Newman, Daniel E. Mauton and 
Washington Winsor. 
In Hernuau vs. Adriatic Insurance Com¬ 
pany, Judge Folger, of the New York Court 
of Appeals, lias decided that leaving a dwell¬ 
ing house unoccupied during the W inter will 
render a lire policy void, which provides that 
“ if the premises should become vacant or 
unoccupied and so remain for more than 
thirty days, Hie policy shall become void.” 
In delivering the opinion with regard to a 
country house—Judge Folger said “ that an 
inspection of (lie house every fortnight by the 
owners and every week by a neighboring 
farmer would not avoid the conditions, neither 
would the occupation of some of the other 
buildings on the place and included in the 
same policy, avoid the condition as to the 
dwelling-house and the out-houses appertain¬ 
ing thereto.” 
The latest estimates of this year’s cotton 
crop are as follows: Latham, Alexander & Co. 
of this city, front sixty telegraphic reports, 
nit the yield at 82 per cent less than that, of 
astyear's crop with four percent, increase 
of acreage. The aggregate possible yield they 
figure out at. 6,188,000 hales. A prominent 
New Orleans cotton house estimates the short¬ 
age of this year's crop at 80 per cent, and ex¬ 
pects a grand total of 5,500,000 bales. Brad- 
street has received reports from 889 corres¬ 
pondents in 500 counties in the Cotton Bolt 
and after careful figuring concludes that the 
crop is 34.5 per cent, short of last year's yield; 
though w ith favorable weather henceforth 
there will bo a slight improvement. The 
staple is somew'bat better but the yield of 
lint, notion from the seed cotton is held to be 
smaller than usual. 
It seems likely that the continued dry 
weather will prevent the seeding of as large 
an acreage as usual to wheat this Fall, so that 
the unfavorable conditions of this year are 
likely to lesson next year’s crop. Wherever 
timely rains have enabled farmers to put in 
a crop, how ever, the area has been considera¬ 
bly increased: but reports from many sections 
show that the seed has either entirely failed 
to germinate or, having done so, lias been 
“ burnt up.” The potato crop throughout the 
country is fully thirty per cent, under the 
average, and thirty-two per cent, in New 
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illi¬ 
nois, Wisconsin and Iowa, which together 
produce three fifths of the entire crop. The 
scarcity of fodder is forcing stock heavily on 
the market, especially the poorer sort, which 
lias u depressing effect on prices, but will 
probably ultimately prove advantageous by 
weeding out unprofitable animals from the 
herds. 
Owing to one of the mysteries of railroad 
transportation cotton can be carried from 
Memphis to Boston at low'er rates than from 
Memphis to New Orleans. Says the New Or¬ 
leans Democrat: “There is no visible rea¬ 
son why rail freights from Memphis should be 
cheaper to Boston than to Now Orleans. The 
proposition is on the face an absurdity.” As 
if, in sooth, there were not hundreds or things 
in mil road management that cannot be ex¬ 
plained by visible reasons. On the fnco of it 
it is an absurdity that freight can lie carried 
from tins oitv to Chicago cheaper than from 
tliis city to Utica. It is an absurdity that 
passengers can lie carried from Boston to 
Chicago for eight dollars when more than that 
must lie paid to go one-fourth of the distance 
over the same lino. It is an absurdity that 
tlie public should be required to pay heavy 
interest on fictitious capital created by 
“ watering ” stock. It is an absurdity—but 
merely to enumerate the “absurdities” of 
railroad management would require a whole 
page instead or the few lines that should be 
the limit of a “ Brevity.” 
