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342 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
. 24 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
Practical Dbpahtmentk : 
Plant Portrait*.335 
Jottinu* at Kirbv Homestead.336 
Fnrni Tutili;*. Western.336 
Wisconsin. fjonth-Weelern........... 336 
Ton Per font. Draws Ilurd,..... 3-VT 
Crop Hliitirtlr*. . 337 
Potato Crop. A Good.....• ; «i7 
Winter Protection,... 337 
Floriculture. Lights and Shadows • if.338 
Pots oi our Flower Garden...338 
Knlplioll.i Macowanl...338 
Griine-Itot Problem, Tiio...3 :8 
Beekeepers' Association, National. 339 
Sheep ltiicks. . 889 
Servant Question, More of the. 340 
Feiitlicr-fted. More about the. 310 
Washing Made Easy..... 340 
Pastry...340 
Recipes... 340 
Fever and Aiiue.. 310 
Rural Special Repoits..... 340 
Cuttle Fodder... 341 
Editorial Pace; 
Judgment and Alerey...342 
Age of Fraud. 342 
Notes—Brevities.... 342 
I.ITKIlARY I 
Poetry..... 313, 346. 346 
In the MqnlmeutChest.... 343 
Recent Literature...341 
Items........ 346 
I,aiiies’ Portfolio...,.. 348 
Dress Materials—Hosiery.. 343 
The l si fulness of "Old Maids'’.. 346 
Temperance nr Total Abstinence, w hich ?.315 
Those Men.<•••• 345 
How American Women Abuse tlicir Husbands. 845 
Miscellaneous.845 
Reading for the YOU08. 346 
Letters from Roys and Girls. 846 
Pussier.... ... 346 
gabhiLih Reading... 346 
The Inward Pence.346 
The Physical Benefit, of Sunday. 346 
Golden Maxima .. .346 
Publisher's Notices. 847 
Markets...... 817 
Answers to Correspondents. 348 
News of the Week. 3rS 
Various. 818 
Personals... 849 
Humorous.....350 
Advertisements.341, 347,349, 360 
Til E 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1877. 
In these times of many pleasant announce¬ 
ments for tire Rural, there are few that give ub 
more pleasure to make than that Professor Beal. 
of the Michigan Agricultural College, will con¬ 
tribute frequent articles to our columns. 
JUDGMENT AND MERCY. 
Some time ago, Gilman of New York 
on his confession of forgery, was sent to 
State Prison for five years, and a few 
weeks ago Tracy of Hartford, Connecti¬ 
cut, on his confession of fraud, was also 
sent to State Prison for five years. 
Those men, if they serve the term of 
their imprisonment, will thereafter bear 
the ignominy of Prison life. 
The press has commented largely on 
these two instances of men standing high 
in society wanting moral courage to resist 
temptation ; some have taken one view 
and some another; but most, seeing no 
excuse or apology for the wrong doing, 
have been ready to throw the first stone, 
without stimping to ask if they themselves 
were without sin. 
In an evil hour these men stejiped into 
the stream of wroug-doing. The current 
was stronger than they thought and bore 
them away. 
How they struggled and strove to reach 
the shore again, what anguish they en¬ 
dured when they saw clearly their posi¬ 
tion, we may try to conceive but doubtless 
their suffering exceeded the power of our 
imagination. 
Suppose the highest number on the 
scale of perfection attainable by human¬ 
ity to be 100, what would probably be 
tho average that a just and competent 
judge would mark for the present gener¬ 
ation ? 
The two men above named have, with 
this single exception, so far as is known, 
lived honorable and upright lives ; equal 
itl least to those of him who writes, and 
him who reads these lines. 
How far down on the scale must this 
forgery and fraud reduce them. Shall 
one discovered sin dash them down from 
the highest respect to the deepest degra¬ 
dation ? The thief and the counterfeiter 
do their deeds of wickedness with full in¬ 
tent and design to get money at others I 
cost. Every circumstance goes to show 
that neither of these men had intent that 
others should suffer by what he did. 
Legal justice is blind. The law knows 
no difference between the mother who 
takes a loaf of bread for her starving 
children, and the drunken vagabond who 
steals whatever lie can exchange for rum. 
The law deals with Gilman and Tracy, 
as with those whose lives have been a 
continuous round of sin and crime. 
Shall we be blind also ? or shall we in 
making up our judgment consider the 
individuals and the cireurnstances as well 
as the act ? 
There should be no forgiveness of sin. 
Let the sinner be punished according to 
the measure of his sinfulness. This is 
Divine law. It should be human law 
also. 
But let the measure of sinfulness be 
truly taken—and may the Supreme Judge 
have Mercy on us all. 
- 
AGE OF FRAUD. 
Crime, like some diseases, seems to be 
at times epidemic. The jiresent appears 
to be an era so peculiarly adapted to the 
development of crime, in the form of em¬ 
bezzlements and breeches of trust, that, 
one is almost frightened for one’s own in¬ 
tegrity. Hardly a day passes that, does 
not discover some new and gigantic ras¬ 
cality by which one or a few persons have 
been enriched at. the expense of the many 
trusting dupes. Not infrequently, too, are 
these practices carried on tinder the cloak 
of unusual piety and great professions of 
religion. What, is the cause, what will be 
the effect, and when shall we have an end 
of all this ? The cause is apparent. It 
does not begin with the natural depravity 
of the luckless thief in all cases; but can 
be traced in many instanpes to the desire 
for show, the extravagance and emulating 
desire to outshine the neighbors which is 
such a prevalent, passion with our American 
society. Those people who actually have 
the money of their own with which to as¬ 
tonish their neighbors, do it so ostenta¬ 
tiously and treat all lesser attempts with 
such 'supercilious contempt, that many 
whose moral and mental caliber are not of 
the strongest, are led by their desire not 
to be left behind, tu do those things which, 
though small at first, soon grow to the 
proportions and assume the shape of gi¬ 
gantic frauds. Every man or woman, 
upon a little reflection, will tell you what 
a poor result dishonesty will show if cal¬ 
culated even without regard to any moral 
element at fill. Yet in the unguarded mo¬ 
ment, the man, by some little dishonest 
act, enables himself to gratify some small 
extravagance, and he is started on a ca¬ 
reer which ends—no one knows where. 
Tho father and husband is in State Prison 
or an exile in a foreign laud ; the mother 
and wife in a lunatic asylum, and the 
children—poor, innocent little creatures ! 
—thrown upon the charity of friends and 
relatives and disgraced forever. This 
picture is not overdrawn. It has occur¬ 
red under our very cyo< within three 
months of the present writing. And all 
for what ? That extravagance and osten¬ 
tation could bo maintained before the 
neighbors. 
The effect of all this will lie a demorali¬ 
zation of our youth and perhaps a greater 
epidemic of fraud and embezzlement at a 
future day. The few families who are 
immediately affected in pocket and affec¬ 
tions by these acts, are such a small pro¬ 
portion of the great human society that 
they are hardly worth considering in the 
whole breadth of the question; but the 
effect of these acts upon the minds of our 
youth, who read of them and become 
familiarized with them by constant repe¬ 
tition, can hardly be calculated in all its 
vastness. Right here it behooves parents 
and guardians to bestir themselves to in¬ 
stil into the minds of those under their 
care and protection such firm principles 
of honesty and integrity that a fall will 
be impossible. Do not teach them that 
honesty is the best policy. Never let the 
words honesty and policy be associated 
together; but teach them to he honest 
because it is right —from motives of prin¬ 
ciple and uot policy, and they will be re¬ 
warded by an inward satisfaction which 
surpasses'all ostentatious gratification. 
The end of all this crime, fraud, em¬ 
bezzlement and rascality will be when 
men are honest from principle—because 
it is right and not because it is the best 
policy. We may argue up from the 
“ policy” proverb and certainly strike a 
weak place sooner or later ; but when we 
start from the “ principle ” end of the 
line we are hemmed in on both sides by 
the solid rock of right and cannot 
swerve either to the one side or the other 
but must keep the straight road to the 
end of life’s journey. 
NOTES. 
Tlie Labor Question Again*—A 
correspondent, in another column, clearly 
shows the impropriety of paying for poor 
service the same as is demanded for good. 
We think “ helpers in the household” nre 
the only class where value of service is not 
taken as a measure of reward. It is true 
that some of the Trade Unions will uot 
allow the employer to choose, but oblige 
him to take tbe first applicant for a posi¬ 
tion at a fixed price, whether he be a skill¬ 
ed or inferior workman. This is a rule, 
however, against which both justicoand 
common sense at once rebel ; a rule that 
wrongs both the expert ami the employer, 
and which must be done away with sooner 
or later. U an employer, for any reason, 
chooses to pay a large price for inade¬ 
quate service, others have no reason to 
complain. He who served but one hour 
in the vineyard certainly received the 
same reward* as those who bore the bur¬ 
den and heat of the day, but the case is 
not stated as an example of justice be¬ 
tween employer and employed. Tu stances 
often occur where the service of the same 
person is worth more to one than to an¬ 
other, and the person employed should 
not be blamed for taking all that is of¬ 
fered. If he who does not provide for his 
own house be worse than an infidel, what 
shall we say of him who does not. take 
care for himself, and who can blame the 
servant for bettering her condition when 
opportunity offered ? There is, however, 
a question not of morals, perhaps, but 
certainly of courtesy, in the case stated 
by our correspondent. Would not it have 
been neighborly, to say the least, if Mrs. 
A-had. made known her desires and 
designs to Mrs. B-, thus giving her 
an opportunity to retain her servant by 
paying the market value of her services ? 
We may be prejudiced in our judgment, 
but we think that is what an honorable 
man would have done. 
“Mixing of Fruit.” — A corres¬ 
pondent, in “Querist’s” column, al¬ 
luding to the care of small fruit cultivat¬ 
ors to keep varieties of strawberries dis¬ 
tinct, asks how it is they can mix, sinee 
they are propagated by runners? The 
question as to whether foreign pollen can 
or does affect the fruit, at all, is an open 
one. Practically, so far as appearance 
and taste are concerned, it does not. If 
the ovaries of a wild strawberry flower 
are fertilized by the pollen of a Gt. Amer¬ 
ican, the fruit—or rather what is called the 
fruit in this case—is that of a wild struw- 
berry tbe same as if they had been self-fer¬ 
tilized. If a Seckel pear flower were im¬ 
pregnated with the pollen from a Bartlett, 
the fruit would bo a Seckel all the same. 
If a cucumber vine and a muskmelon 
vine are planted side by side, and every 
male flower of either were pulled off as 
soon as it appeared, the fruit of either 
would be a cucumber or a melon pure 
and simple, the same as if the two vines 
were planted a mile apart. But not so 
the seed. If in the ease of the cucumber 
and melon planted side by side or in the 
same hill with the pollen flowers removed 
as fast as they appeared, the vine should 
bear fruit, the embryo would be half 
nielou and half cucumber, aud if such 
seeds were planted subsequently, the fruit 
would probably show, either in taste or 
appearance, that it was a hybrid between 
the two. And the same may be said of 
tbe strawberry, of the pear, and indeed, 
of all fruits which are closely enough re¬ 
lated to accept each other’s pollen. Out 
of this has grown the impression that such 
fruits “mix" when planted within a short 
distance of each other, and hence many 
farmers and horticulturists separate their 
cucumbers aud melons by the greatest 
available distance. If the seeds are to be 
saved for planting again, this is a wise 
practice, unless mongrels are desired. If 
not, it can make no manner of difference. 
Careless Swearing. — Robert L. 
Case, formerly President of the now 
defunct Security Insurance Company, 
lias been oonvicted of perjury for swear¬ 
ing to a report of tho financial condition 
of that Company which he did not know 
to be true and* which was in. fact false. 
Thi6 begins to look as if American 
People intended no longer to deserve the 
charge that they sent, their poor villains 
to jail and allowed those of high social 
position to escape through influence aud 
wealth. A step in the right direction. 
Follow it up by all means ! 
Oli! Plant a Grape Vine.—For 
the garden—for the grounds about the 
house, is there a more captivating fruit, 
all things considered, than the Grape? 
We think not, and ask our farmers and 
their wives and their children to think 
this question over during the coming 
winter, aud to inform themselves as to 
the best varieties nnd then to plant liber¬ 
ally in the spring. Twenty-five cents 
will purchase a vine aud a dollar will 
plant it properly. The sight of the 
luscious fruit upon the vines, for one 
season will thrice repay this expenditure. 
BREVITIES. 
In wintering stock, racks, sheds and plenty 
of straw for litter are necessary to comfort, 
economy and convenience. 
Working Oxen in Wet Weather, are apt 
to have sore necks. To prevent this, rub a lit¬ 
tle tallow on the yoke and bows. 
We urge upon our friends and readers—now 
that the fall planting season has passed—that 
they consider through tho winter, now close 
upon us, the great advantages of sotting out 
suitable fruit trees, in the spring, in all available 
places. 
Pumpkin seeds fed to cows, either separately 
or in tho pumpkins, experiments have shown, in¬ 
crease the flow of urine, but cause a great falling 
off in milk, as well as in flesh. The seeds 
should be removed before pumpkins are fed to 
any kind of stock. 
Nothing New Under the Sun. —A close rela¬ 
tive of Mr. Worthington Smith’s I’eronospora, 
has been discovered among the tissues of a fos¬ 
sil fern which grew in tho Eocene Period, which 
unites tho present, fungus to one existing in 
times inconceivably remote. 
At a meeting of pomologists in Germany, 
mention was made of immense quantities of 
Oran berries exported from Ohio to England and 
Hamburg What becomes of them ? asks the 
London Garden. Evidently the English and 
German markets are uot glutted with Cranber¬ 
ries. 
Manure fob corn should be applied late in 
November, or early in December when the 
ground is bare. The nearer to spring the less 
good will come from it. It should be taken im¬ 
mediately from the stables to the field aud about 
two-thirds as heavy a coat spread for corn as for 
wheat. 
To fatten oeese, an experienced practitioner 
says :—Put up two or three in a darkened room 
and give each bird one pound of oats daily, 
thrown on a pan of water. In fourteen days 
limy will be found almost too fat. Never shut 
up a smgle bird, ns geese are sociable and will 
pine away if left alone. 
It will be observed that Mr. Josiah Hoopes 
and Mr Tkumiw differ somewhat in their views 
respecting the propagation of Seiadopitys ver- 
ticillata. Tho former says ‘it is difficult to 
propagate excepting from seeds—and the latter, 
that it is propagated from Btcds or cuttings, as if 
there were no special difficulty in propagating it 
from cuttings. 
One prolific cause of the failure of house- 
plants is that insufficient attention is given to 
keeping the earth in the pots warm. The plants 
often get sun enough, but the pots are covered 
with moss or fancy work, through which the 
warming sun rays never penetrate. The roots 
remain cold aud grow feebly, and the plants 
themsedvos soon pay tho penalty of cold feet and 
“malarial” food. 
Our worthy contempt r u y, the Methodist, is 
beginning to feel the influence of its old-new 
publisher, Mr. 11 W. Douolas, whose health 
again permits him to assume tho business man¬ 
agement of the paper. It gives u» great pleasure 
to welcome Mr. Douglas back to his accustomed 
place, aud we have no doubt that tbe Methodist 
will, under his skillful management, increase its 
already substantial list. The announcement in 
our advertising eolunns fully sets forth what a 
sterling denominational paper the Methodist is. 
Shelter fob Gardens, whether natural or arti¬ 
ficial. has many advantages. Vegetation starts 
sooner, continues later, aud is less influenced by 
sudden changes and severe weather. In sheltered 
positions, thb ground and atmosphere are several 
degrees warmer than in exposed situations. 
Often there is difference enough to ward off too 
late or early frost which would otherwise do 
damage. Many vegetables, fruits and flowers, 
which, entirely unprotected, would fail, succeed 
well if only slighly sheltered. A good board 
fence on the exposed Bide of a garden, or a 
row of Hemlock set thick, makes an excellent 
wind-break. 
The notes of the trial of Farm Engines at 
Syracuse. N. Y. will be read with interest. This 
trial was conducted under the auspices of 
the N. Y. State Agricultural Society, and al¬ 
though hut nine manufacturers were represent¬ 
ed, the report proves to he very valuable to 
farmers, and threshermen interested in the sub¬ 
ject. Wo shall publish the report in full when 
it comes from the hands of the judges. It 
speaks well for the enterprise (?) of the agri¬ 
cultural press that the Rural, was the only pa¬ 
per represented at this trial, especially as its 
results are of such importance to the agricul¬ 
tural community. 
