THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes, 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, OCT. 22, 1881. 
If the Rural New - Yorker in not received 
promptly when it is due, subscribers will 
confer a favor by notifying us at once. 
We find it takes about twice as long to 
cut corn planted a foot or so apart in drills 
as it does when in hills. A farm hand should 
cut an acre per day of medium-sized 
stalks in hills. A single stroke of the 
corn-cutter usually cuts every stalk. But 
in drills every stalk has to be cut separate¬ 
ly. We find that our men have averaged 
notover half an acre per day. 
■ ♦ » ♦- 
v We regard Dr. Hexamer as one of our 
best judges of small fruits. In conversa¬ 
tion with him the other day, speaking of 
the Souhegan, or Skowliegan, he says that 
he thinks it will take the place of David¬ 
son’s Thornless, with which it ripens. But, 
being larger and more prolific, it will go 
between late strawberries and the main 
crop of Black-caps. He pronounces it an 
early Doolittle, upon which it is a decided 
improvement. 
Whenever the Rural says anything 
strongly in favor of a new strawberry, 
raspberry or grape, it is generally freely 
quoted in nurserymen’s catalogues. But 
we have never yet seen an unfavorable 
comment quoted from the many unfavor¬ 
able reports we have published. If we 
were to print only the favorable reports 
received respecting the seeds and plants 
which have heen distributed by this jour¬ 
nal, we should feel that we were if not 
misleading our readers, withholding at 
least, “ the whole truth.” 
NEW LAWS FOR NEW YORK. 
The laws passed by the New York 
Legislature at its last session have just, 
been published, and among them a few 
are of special interest to dwellers in the 
country. 
One of these is a law authorizing the 
incorporation of voluntary associations for 
the purpose of developing suburban 
homesteads or villa parks. Each associa¬ 
tion may buy lands, lay them out on the 
principle of landscape gardening, sell off 
lots and maintain such regulations for 
roads, walks and other embellishments, 
that each family may enjoy the drives, 
walks, shade trees and ornamental plants 
of the whole park. Such ornamental 
villa parks are frequent iri the neighbor¬ 
hood of large cities in the Old Country, 
and are not unknown in the United 
States-—witness Lewcllwyn Park, N. J.— 
but heretofore such properties could not 
be easily managed in this State in the ab¬ 
sence of suitable legislation. 
There are two new laws for the encour¬ 
agement of planting shade trees along the 
public roads and to punish any mutilation 
or willful injury to trees growing along 
roads or side-walks. Even hitching 
horses to these trees or leaving horses 
standing close enough to them to be able 
to injure them, is forbidden under a pen¬ 
alty not exceeding $10 for each offence. 
Another law authorizes farmers to form 
associations anywhere m the State for 
the maintenance of agricultural fairs and 
exhibitions, and it is to be hoped that 
farmers themselves will in future take a 
more prominent part in the formation and 
management of such associations than 
they have hitherto done in most places. 
THE VALUE OF MUCK. 
The Rural has been criticized because 
in a late issue it copied, under “What Oth¬ 
ers Say,” the article on the value of muck 
from the Journal of Chemistry. But the 
article in question was copied, not be¬ 
cause it agreed with our views, but be¬ 
cause it was quite opposed to them. And 
we supposed—so often have our views 
been expressed—that every attentive read¬ 
er would know this without making com¬ 
ment necessary. Wlien we planted the 
Rural Grounds (Bergen County, New Jer¬ 
sey), eight years ago, the “soil” with 
which the holes for the trees and shrubs 
were filled in was muck, dug out of a 
springy little valley running through the 
premises—the accumulation of many years 
of leaves and vegetable matter which bad 
there collected and decayed. It was also 
liberally spread upon the land for small 
fruits, grapes and flowers, as well as upon 
most parts reserved for grass. All alike 
have grown luxuriantly. Rarely have -we 
seen healthier specimens of trees or shrubs 
or those which make a greater annual 
growth. During the entire growing sea¬ 
son we are obliged to cut the grass twice 
a week, unless the. weather is exceptionally 
dry, and the grass still grows with undi¬ 
minished vigor, though it has never re¬ 
ceived a dressing of manure or fertilizer 
of any kind. When so-called science and 
results disagree, we cling to results, and 
are prone to believe that so-called science 
lias made a mistake, for true science never 
makes mistakes. It would be difficult, in 
the face of such experience, to make us 
believe that good muck is valueless as 
plant food. But there is just as much 
difference in so-called muck as there is in 
different soils. When we speak of the 
value of muck wo refer to that sort of soil 
which results from decaying vegetation in 
moist or wet places. For the rest, we re¬ 
fer our readers to the article under “ The 
Truth About It.” 
--- 
FOREST TREE SEEDS. 
Now is the time for gathering seeds 
preparatory to raising forest tree seed¬ 
lings next year. As the cost of gathering 
and sowing the seeds and cultivating the 
plants is but a trifle as compared with the 
prices demanded for the young trees by 
the nurserymen, and as there is the possi¬ 
ble delay in delivery, heavy freight 
charges, and the risk of injury by the 
transfer, it is to the farmer’s interest to 
raise Ins own seed bugs. With proper care 
and attention there is but little reason why 
the uovice in tree-raising should he obliged 
to record any more failures than the pro¬ 
fessional, the first and most important 
step being to procure the seeds at the 
proper time and to preserve them care¬ 
fully until the season for sowing them ar¬ 
rives. 
Some of our forest-tree seeds will retain 
their vitality but a short time after ma¬ 
turing, and, of necessity, such should be 
sown very soon after they reach maturity. 
In this class come the elms and red and 
silver maples, which ripen their seeds in 
Summer; but the seeds of various other 
kinds, as those of the nut-bearing trees, 
need not be planted until Spring. In fact, 
it is better to preserve such over Winter 
on account of the numerous insects, ver¬ 
min and small animals which prey upon 
the seeds or nuts, and in the Spring they 
may be sown like vegetable seeds, the 
depth of covering to depend on the size of 
the seed planted. 
For preservation through the Winter 
hard-shelled nuts, such as the hickory and 
butternut, may be mixed With a little or¬ 
dinary soil and left in heaps out-of-doors; 
but chestnuts, beechnuts, acorns, etc., af¬ 
ter the outer shell is removed, should be 
spread out in the shade until they feel 
dry; then place them in shallow boxes 
with alternate layers of clean sand, and 
when cold weather comes bury them in a 
dry place about six inches deep. This is 
done to keep the contents moist and at an 
even temperature. The more delicate 
seeds of the magnolia, basswood, etc., may 
be preserved in the same manner. We 
close as we began, by saying that now is 
the time to begin the work. 
-- 
SULPHIDE OF CARBON AND THE 
PHYLLOXERA. 
Sulphide of carbon has been exten¬ 
sively employed as one of the most effect¬ 
ive remedies against the phylloxera, in 
France, Italy, Spain, California, and, in¬ 
deed, wherever the pest has extended its 
ravages. The phylloxera, as is well 
known, kills the viue by preying upon 
its roots, and the usual mode of applying 
the sulphide is to place it in holes close to 
these. Here it soon evaporates and 
spreads about in the soil in the form of 
vapor, and it is this that kills the insect. 
At a late meeting of the Academy of 
Sciences at San Francisco, however, Dr. 
Behr, who has been extensively experi¬ 
menting with the sulphide, said that as 
an insecticide he considered it “worsethan 
worthless,” inasmuch as it destroys the 
vine whether it kills the insect or not. 
In his experiments he has found not only 
that it always killed the roots with which 
it came in contact, but that in some cases 
it killed the phylloxera only after long 
exposure, the pest often surviving the 
roots to which it was attached. When 
sunk deeper than the roots he found it 
did not evaporate and it was at the same 
time useless and harmless. Professor 
Max Cornu, a well-known member of the 
YiticuUural Commission of France, also 
writes that during a recent visit to the 
vineyards of Aude, Herault and Eastern 
Pyrenees, he discovered that considerable 
injury bad been done by the application 
of sulphide of carbon. The roots of 
vines too close to the holes in which the 
stuff had been deposited he found par¬ 
tially or completely dead. Moreover, as 
water dissolves one one-hundredth of the 
sulphide, this dissolved part, coming in 
contact with the roots after heavy rains, 
causes severe disaster, for he, too, found 
that “where this agent touches the bark 
of the roots it strikes them dead.” Vines, 
whether affected by the phylloxera or not, 
that had been treated with sulphide, he 
found presenting very often a yellowish 
appearance of the leaves, while the vege¬ 
tation was tardy, irregular and inter¬ 
rupted. so that an untrained eye would 
mistake the effect of the sulphide for that 
of a severe invasion of the phylloxera. 
The sickly appearance ceased where the 
application of the sulphide ended. Is 
this another case where the treatment is 
as dangerous to the life of the patient as 
the injury? 
PROTECTION FOR WESTERN HERDS. 
In an article under the caption of “A 
Proposed Western Embargo on Eastern 
Cattle,” in the Rural of Sept. 24, we said 
that while our record showed that we had 
always urged the necessity for the adop¬ 
tion of some effective means to protect 
the vast herds of the West from the con¬ 
tagious pleuro-pnoumonia which for the 
last few years has existed here and there 
among the cattle of some of the Atlantic 
States, still we thought that this object 
could be accomplished by some measure 
less sweeping than that pressed upon Gov. 
Culluni, of Illinois, by the Treasury Cattle 
Commission—a nearly absolute embargo 
on the westward transportation of all 
cattle from New York, New Jersey, Penn¬ 
sylvania, Maryland, the District of Colum¬ 
bia, and Virginia. At the same time we 
stated—what experience has amply demon¬ 
strated in numerous cases—that the great 
risk to the public imerests from a special 
commission lies in the fact that it feels 
bound to justify its existence by exagger¬ 
ating the danger it was created to investi¬ 
gate. Quoting this sentence, apart from 
the context, a late issue of the Chicago 
Tribune sees in it an intimation of per¬ 
sonal feeling which shows that the first 
move of the Commission is looked upon 
with un just suspicion. We have abso¬ 
lutely no personal feeling in the matter. 
Our only desire is to guard and promote 
the best interests of farmers ana stock- 
owners in all parts of the country. While 
anxious that those of the West should be 
protected from loss by contagious diseases, 
we are also anxious that this should be 
done with a minimum of hardship to those 
of the East. 
As we stated in the above article, con¬ 
tagious plcuro-pneumonia when most 
prevalent in the States named above, was 
confined to a few cases here and there, ac¬ 
cording to the testimony of the veteri¬ 
narians appointed to investigate the mat¬ 
ter, of whom Dr. Laws, a member of the 
Cattle Commission, was one. In New 
York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania vig¬ 
orous measures have been taken for the 
eradication of the disease, and it was 
officially announced some months ago that 
it had been extirpated from Pennsylvania, 
while in all the other States its ravages 
have been greatly circumscribed. Indeed 
so few are the cases now existing in the 
region it is sought to schedule, that it is 
by no means easy to find one. In our 
large correspondence with residents in all 
{ >arts of that country the disease is scarce- 
y ever mentioned. In the local papers, 
too, it is seldom or never referred to. One 
may travel for days through the farming 
districts without ever coming across a case 
or even hearing of one. In a late issue of 
the Iowa Homestead, Dr. Knapp, of the 
State Agricultural College, an excellent 
authority, after quoting our article above 
referred to, says it is worthy of grave 
consideration, lie had lately been travel¬ 
ing extensively among farmers in this 
section, and had heard of only a few iso¬ 
lated cases. Mr. Howard, an acquaint¬ 
ance of Ins, had the same experience. 
Within the last fortnight we have ques¬ 
tioned several gentlemen who travel a 
great deal among farmers in the Atlantic 
States, and the cases any one of them has 
seen or heard of have heen very few and 
mild. If the disease is so prevalent in the 
Atlantic States as to justify such a sweep¬ 
ing measure as that recommended by the 
Commissioners, in justice to the farmers 
of the country these gentlemen should 
specify the places in which it prevails. 
Isolate, affected herds or even sections rig¬ 
orously; but for the sake, of a sick cow or 
two at long intervals is it necessary or just 
to quarantine all the herds of so vast a 
territory? The Western herds must be 
protected ut any cost, but justice and ex¬ 
pediency demand that the cost should be 
made as light ns possible to the stock- 
owners of the East who wish to sell their 
cat tle, and to those of the West who wish 
to buy them. 
BREVITIES. 
On the night of Oct. 5, at the Rural Grounds, 
there was the severest frost • over known in 
that neighborhood for the season. Turnip 
tops were frozen and even celery harmed. 
The Poeklington Grape is certainly showy. 
It seems to us that in quality it is decidedly 
sweeter than the Concord, while, except in 
color and size, very much like it in all other 
respects. 
Take dry sand 20 parts, wood ashes, five 
parts; sulphur, one part, and mix together 
ror dust baths for poultry during the Winter 
months. Place this in large boxes and keep 
them sheltered from rain. Whitewash the 
houses now and later, kerosene the perches, and 
your poultry will not be troubled with insects. 
* In Great Britain after 1883 the farrier and 
the cattle doctor will be superseded by men 
who must pass a strict examination with re¬ 
gard to the diseases of horses, cattle, sheep, 
swine and dogs. Doctors of stock mil have 
to pass through a regular course of study just 
like doctors of men. The sooner the same 
rule is enforced in this country the better for 
our stock and our men—at any rate for those 
of the latter that own the former or are in¬ 
terested in them alive or dead; and who 
isn’t ? 
The question of a right of way was decided 
ou August 23 by the Supreme Court of Cali¬ 
fornia in the ease of Carey vs. Rae. Such a 
right does not originate in mere convenience; 
it must spring from an express grant, or from 
an implied reservation, or from a usage for a 
length of time sufficient to create a prescrip¬ 
tive right, or a bar under a statute of limita¬ 
tions, either of which is presumptive evidence 
of a grant. The right to pass over the land 
of another as a necessity, because the regular 
road is impassable, ceases with the immediate 
necessity. 
According to telegrams from Atlanta, 
On., the managers of the great Cotton Ex¬ 
hibition have not yet completed their ar¬ 
rangements and the exposition will not be 
fairly under way until November 1, How 
is it that although the best men are always 
presumably selected to manage such shows, 
they are never, yes never, ready by the ap- 
) pointed day, however long the time for pre¬ 
paration, however assured the promises of 
promptitude and however be praised the execu¬ 
tive abilities of the managers. 
In the ease of Eehenrode vs. the Chemical 
Company of Canton. Md., a contract hud been 
entered into to make and deliver a certain 
amount of phosphates at a specified price; the 
manufacturer hud given notice that ho was 
ready to make and deliver them, but theothor 
party to the contract refused to receive any, 
whereupon an action was brought, for dam¬ 
ages. The Maryland Court of Appeals lately 
decided, through Judge Miller, that, the plain¬ 
tiff could recover, as damages for the breach 
of contract, the difference between the cost 
of manufacture and the prices agreed upon. 
Titk pei-seoutions to which the Jews are 
being subjected in Russia are forcing great 
numbers of them to seek homes in less 
bigoted countries, and many of them have 
already arrived here and still more are ex¬ 
pected.. A committee of prominent Hebrews 
has been formed in this city to provide for the 
immediate wants of their immigrant bretheren, 
and to seek places of settlement for them 
in different parts of the country. Already 
1(50 families have gone to Texas, most of them 
to engage in agriculture—at any rate until 
they realize that more money can be made 
by their race in t rade than in the vocation for 
which their ancestors were renowned in the 
days of Jewish independence. Last week the 
State of Louisiana offered to the committee 
160 acres of its most fertile land for each 
and every family of these Jew ish immigrants 
willing to settle there—we wonder whether a 
like offer is open to Christian immigrants, or 
even to Christian natives. 
The Michigan Relief Fund has already 
received $104,387 from tills city and over $53,- 
000 from Boston which contains about one- 
fourth of the population of New York; 
but while the latter contributed upwards of 
$250,000 to the Garfield Fund the former’s con¬ 
tribution was under $20,000. In supplying 
the wants of the siitYoriug community the 
South has vied with the North, the West with 
the East, the more distant places donating 
money; the nearer, clothing, lumber, provis¬ 
ions, grains for seed, and utensils of all kinds. 
Energetic distributing committees have placed 
the vast supplies where they have done the 
most good. 'I lie immediate wants of all have 
boon relieved, u good area of wheat has been 
sown, temporary buildings erected, and cat¬ 
tle supplied with fodder—but while harvest 
is far off, Winter is close at hand, and the 
eeuerosity of the country must still supply 
large sums to prevent absolute starvation. 
Governor Jerome has appointed a commission 
of prominent men which w-ill hereafter have 
solo charge of everything pertaining to the 
relief of sufferers in the burnt district. All 
future contributions should therefore be sent 
to Ex-Gov. H. P. Baldwin, Chairman, Fire 
Relief Commission of Michigan, Detroit, 
Michigan. All who have not sent in the price 
of that “Michigan Bushel”of wheat should 
forw ard it promptly to this address. 
