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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
TABLE OP CONTENTS. 
I'll VCT1CAI, Departments: 
I 
m 
383 
134 
F<4 
1.34 
135 
135 
135 
1 % 
13fl 
138 
13fi 
1.37 
13T 
137 
137 
138 
138 
.38 
138 
1.33 
128 
Weepinsr Norway Sprnoe... 
3Vhat Shall I Plant . 
Mill-Winter Beauties .... 
Noted Trotter*—N". 2..... 
City Partners Fail, Why...... 
Hunil Topics.. 
Holstein Bull and Cow “ UncleTom’' and ’’Isis" 
Jottlnus from my Note-Book. 
BnO)rna Fowl.Tin}-,..... 
Potato P'nntcr, True’s ... —.. 
Tooting Socds of Grasses and Clovers. 
National Agricultural Congress.. 
New .Torsey State Hort. Society . 
Vegetables to Plant. What.. 
Hoi-Bods........ . ..... 
New York Life Insurance Company....... 
Everythine. A Place, for........ 
Laundry, The... 
Beclpes. 
Notes from California. 
Notes from Texas...,..., . 
Rural Special Reports.. 
Editorial Pack: 
Sane or lnsii.no?. 140 
A Valuable Experiment. 140 
Get the Best.... 140 
The Spread of Diseases. 140 
Politics for tlie Farmers. 140 
Silver ami Gold... . 140 
Colorado Potato Beetle. 140 
A Card. 140 
Question in Mathematics for the Commission¬ 
er of Agriculture . 140 
The Enthusiasm which Horticulture Inspires.. 140 
Brevu a....140 
Litkrar r. 
Poetry.141.113.145 
For Women. .. 141 
Fashion Items. 141 
Answers. 142 
Literary Miscellany... 142 
Cora... 142 
Washington Bights... 142 
Biic-u-Bra. .... .. 143 
Recent Literature... 143 
Magazine Notes. 143 
Answers to Coir pondents. 144 
New* of the o, .... H4 
Publisher’ll Noilcea... .. 145 
Various. 145 
Markets... 145 
Rpadlng for the Youne. 14B 
The End of the Candle. lit 
Letters from Boys and Girls..... 140 
Puxzier.140 
gab hath Reading . 146 
The Wealth of Others.. 140 
Personals. ... 147 
Wit and Humvr... 14 
Advertisements...139, 140, 147. 148 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
.78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 2. 1878. 
We earnestly request that all letters containing 
money, or any communication intended for the 
Business Department of the paper, he addressed 
to the Editor, the Publisher , or The Rural New- 
Yorker. and not to any individual. We cannot 
otherwise guarantee the prompt entry of names 
upon our books, or the acknowledgment of money. 
We apologize! to our readers that Questions 
and Answers are at the last moment for the 
most part, unavoidably crowded out. Even if 
placed in our practical pages, we promise to 
publish them next week. 
SANE OR INSANE? 
A considerable excitement lias been 
caused in certain circles by the recent 
marriage of Mr. Lord to Mrs. Hicks, and 
in none more than in his family circle. 
His sons were particularly aggrieved, and 
immediately concluded that the old gen¬ 
tleman was insane. What is insanity, is 
not an easy question to answer ; but they 
insisted that for a long time his acts and 
deeds had been such as to prove him pos¬ 
itively insane; and the last.and over¬ 
whelming proof, was the fact, that at his 
age he married. Now, there are undoubt¬ 
edly differences of opinion on this head. 
A little reprobate, being asked on the 
occasion of his first visit to Sunday School 
if he said his prayers night and morning, 
asking God to take care of him, replied 
he did at night, but he thought any smart 
boy ought to be able to take care of him¬ 
self in the day ! Now, many young men 
have married in order to have a wife to 
look after them, to sew on their buttons, 
mend their clothes, and do various things 
in which the skill and handicraft of women 
exceed those of men. We would not for¬ 
get, either, that the gentle woman is a so¬ 
lace to pain, a comfort in time of trouble; 
and under favorable pecuniary circum¬ 
stances, a young man is not usually 
thought insane who contracts matrimony ; 
on the other hand, it is considered he 
acts the part of a very nice and entirely 
sane individual. A young man may be 
able to take care of himself, while an old 
one needs help. 
If then a young man, hale and hearty, 
strong and able-bodied—in admirable 
condition to take care of himself so far as 
in a man lies so to do, is not only excused 
but commended for marrying, why not 
so much the more, should be be, who, 
past the three score years and ten, feeble 
in body, needing hourly assistance, liable 
at any time to be overcome by rheumatism, 
gout or any of the other ills that old age 
is heir to, needs the kindly care of a 
wife ? Should the taking of one under 
such circuit stances to be considered as an 
indication of insanity ? 
Bat the younger Lords persisted in 
the assertion that their paternal ancestor 
was a lunatic, or at least an imbecile, or, 
call it by what ever name you will, a man 
unfitted to take care of his property, and 
called upon the courts to examine into 
the matter, sustain them in their asser¬ 
tion, and keep the poor old man from im¬ 
properly disposing of his estate. 
The courts however have been saved 
the necessity of interference. The chil¬ 
dren modified their assertions somewhat, 
and have seen signs of returning sanity 
and strength of mind in the old gentle¬ 
man. He has executed such papers as 
will ensure to them the bulk of his prop¬ 
erty. This is satisfactory and the family 
jar is at an end. 
Query. — If Mr. Lord, the elder, was 
not of sufficiently strong mind to manage 
his own affairs had he determined to give 
property to others, of how much value in 
the law should be these trust deeds he 
made, in favor of his children. 
-■ - 
A VALUABLE EXPERIMENT. 
Mr. Francis Darwin, the worthy son 
of Mr. Charles Darwin, has taken up 
the investigation of so-called oarniverous 
plants, where his father left off. The lat¬ 
ter showed, in the case of Drosera, that 
certain nitrogenous substances—such as 
bits of meat—induced an acid secretion 
from the cells of the leaves, which grad-*, 
ually dissolved them. This being estab¬ 
lished, the next inquiry has been, was the 
plant benefited thereby ? an inquiry that 
Mr. Francis Darwin seems to have an¬ 
swered in the affirmative. The Garden¬ 
ers’ Chronicle says that about two hun¬ 
dred plants were grown by him in soup- 
plates filled with damp moss and divided 
by a partition. The plants on one side 
were artificially fed ; those on the other 
were left alone. The experiments lasted 
from July till September, the plants being 
“fed" every two or three days during 
that period. Only a short time elapsed 
ere it became evident that the fed plants 
were benefited by the process. They be¬ 
came more hearty-looking, their green 
color was intensified, and “just as an ani¬ 
mal lays on fat when fed under cerLain 
conditions, so did these Sundews lay on 
protoplasm, cblorophyl and starch." The 
following table, which Mr. F. Darwin 
furnished the Gardener’s Chronicle, gives 
the differences between the two sets of 
plants, and shows the results and the in¬ 
ferences to be derived therefrom : 
Itcsidtt of Experiment* in Drosera. 
Unfed. Fed. 
Total weight ol plants, excluding flower- 
stews.. .. 100 122 
Total number of flower-stems, 100 107 
Sum oi flights .. .. .. RIO 100 
Total weight .. .. .. ioo 2o2 
Total manlier of capsules .. .. Iu 0 ish 
Av. number of st-.m.s per capsule .. 100 123 
Total number ol seeds .. mo 242 
Total weight Ol seeds .. 100 ski 
Here we have it proven that some plants 
at least absorb through their leaves not 
only liquids but also nitrogenous sub¬ 
stances, and are benefited thereby. And 
this benefit is most marked in the seeds 
and stems. In such experiments the 
practical cultivator is indeed greatly con¬ 
cerned, and it is hard, in the light of such 
results, to deny the scientist his meed of 
praise and justice. 
■ •»»» 
GET THE BEST. 
There is no place where this bit of 
advice acted upon, is of more value than 
in the selection of tools and implements 
for the farm. A good ax, hoe, or plow, 
is cheaper at a high price, than a poor 
one would be at less than half the cost of 
its manufacture. With a good tool one 
can do much more work with less expen¬ 
diture of force—which means muscle— 
than with a poor one, so it saves both 
ways. Beside, it serves a purpose as a 
moral agent. You will find much less ill 
temper and profanity on a farm where 
poor tools are discarded than on one 
where they are used. When the ordinary 
mortal is out of humor, whatever the 
cause, he is inclined to give vent to his 
feelings in some way, sometimes in actions, 
by a kick or a cuff as any dog or boy 
within his reach will be able to bear 
witness, sometimes by words, fretful, or 
scolding, or if be be given to profanity, 
(and sometimes when not) by an energetic 
expression, best used if at all when none 
are within hearing distance. Now all 
this, and more too, can be prevented by 
“Getting the best.” 
By the way, we wonder how many who 
see this bit of advice and direction so 
often found in the newspapers in connec¬ 
tion with advertisements, know that it 
originated with O. 8. Fowler the 
Phrenologist. More than thirty years 
ago, in writing of Webster’s—then com¬ 
paratively new—Unabridged Dictionary, 
he advised the readers of hiB Phrenologi¬ 
cal Journal, not to be content with any 
other, but at whatever sacrifice to “ Get 
the best.” 
■ - 
THE SPREAD OF DISEASES. 
The relationship which the minute low¬ 
er organisms bear to contagious diseases, 
opens up one of the most important sub¬ 
jects of inquiry known to modern science. 
The Gardener's Chronicle, in referring to 
the extraordinary range of temperature 
that Bacteria, for example, will bear in 
the germ state without injury, says that 
this discovery is of no little importance in 
relation to the diffusion of contagious dis¬ 
eases, which are now believed by many 
eminent men to be actually caus*ed, and 
not merely accompanied by the presence 
of Bacteria. If this doctrine can be es¬ 
tablished, it is likely to lead to discover¬ 
ies of incalculable benefit to the human 
race. 
The theory of abiogenesis, or sponta¬ 
neous generation, has been proven to be 
untenable. Now, it remains to discover 
some means to destroy the germs and 
avoid the conditions favorable to their 
development. “ Just as the potato fun¬ 
gus is developed from minute restiug- 
spores, and especially favored by certain 
climatic conditions, so are contagious dis¬ 
eases the result of similar though infin¬ 
itely smaller parasitical organisms whose 
propagation is much more certain and 
rapid in ill-fed, dirty, and badly-housed 
individuals, than in those who are well- 
nourished and who breathe a pure air.” 
In this view of the case, “ contagion” 
means simply a condition of the atmos¬ 
phere favorable to the spread of these 
minute organisms, and hence it is that 
people who are perfectly healthy ofttimes 
suffer the same as those who are not. And 
no doubt that this is as true in vegetable 
as in animal life. 
-- 
POLITICS FOR THE FARMERS. 
In many of the States, the election of 
township officers is soon to occur. 
Whether the election occur at this time 
or at any other time, whether it be for 
the election of town-officers or for county 
or State officers, the following remarks 
are equally applicable in all cases. 
Good farmers are very likely to be 
much interested and industriously en¬ 
gaged iu what immediately concerns 
them farms or their familifs. Busy with 
their own affairs, they often forget or 
neglect their duties to their Country. 
When a dishouest or incompetent man is 
elected to an office, the farmer sometimes 
growls and thinks the country is all going 
to destruction. Who is more to blame, 
we should like to know, than the honest, 
industrious man who fails to take part in 
political affairs ? We are not among 
those who think that polities should be 
entirely given over into the hands of pro¬ 
fessional wire-pullers. The man who 
fails to attend and encourage his best 
neighbor to attend the caucus, neglects 
an important duty. Whichever party he 
may work with, he should see to it that 
the best men are nominated for office and 
then he should assist in trying to elect 
them by all honorable means. Such a 
course, honestly pursued for some years, 
will be a great benefit to our country ; it 
will lead to the abolishiug of poor laws 
and the making of better. The time so 
spent will be a profitable investment. 
SILVER AND GOLD. 
An ounce of silver is worth 54 pence 
sterling in London, equal to §1.09 gold. 
The proposed new silver dollar is to contain 
412] grains of silver, equal, at the above 
rate, to a trifle over 90 cents; and al¬ 
though the silver dollar will pay, in Amer¬ 
ica, as much debt as the gold one, it will 
buy only nine-tenths ns much in Europe, 
because there it is worth only its value in 
silver by weight. Consequently, our mer¬ 
chants will use the gold to pay their debts 
abroad and silver to pay those at home, 
for who would be so foolish as to send 
eleven hundred silver dollars to London 
to pay a debt that could be satisfied with 
a thousand gold ones, if at home the sil¬ 
ver and gold dollars were equal in value ? 
How long the silver dollar will be worth 
90 cents, depends much on how rapidly 
silver is mined in America. The quantity 
contained in the mountains of Nevada, 
Colorado, and New Mexico, is simply in¬ 
exhaustible, and as it is brought to mark¬ 
et, the tendency will be to reduce its com¬ 
mercial value. Should several millions 
of dollars’ worth be used by our Govern¬ 
ment every month for coining, the prob¬ 
able result will be to increase the price 
somewhat at present. How much this 
has had to do with the passage of the Sil¬ 
ver bill, politicians and financiers proba¬ 
bly know better than we do. 
-M-*- 
NOTES. 
Colorado Potato Beetle.—Proba¬ 
bly there has never before been an insect 
so much talked about as the Colorado 
Potato Beetle; certainly no other has 
had so many portraits taken of it. Prob¬ 
ably no other insect has advanced in a 
greater degree an appreciation of the 
science of Entomology, while more than 
one worthy entomologist lias to thank 
this honest beetle for a notoriety which 
might else have been long deferred. 
The more we think of Doryphora, the 
more we are inclined to entertain for it— 
her—him, a certain amount of—not ex¬ 
actly esteem, nor yet respect—we will 
say, consideration. 
A Card.— Ed, Rural New-Yorker : 
In my first seed-article I find some did 
not fully understand me. The seeds, as 
I stated, were those sold at the groceries, 
such as I suppose are carried about from 
year to year and sold on commission. I 
did not send direct to the firms for the 
seed. I began where I bad greatest 
suspicion of fraud and I found it worse 
than I expected. Some firms have 
already again sent packages of seeds 
around to the groceries. I am going into 
this *' Seed Business ’’ heavily this spring, 
and with the help of fearless papers shall 
do what I can to drive worthless seeds 
out of our markets.—W. J. Beal. 
■-»♦« 
Question in Mathematics for 
the Commissioner of Agriculture. 
—If it costs twenty cents a pound to raise 
and prepare a certain kind of tea for 
market, where labor is five cents a day, 
how much will it cost where labor is fifty 
cents a day, and what percentage on his 
investment may the capitalist expect to 
realize who engages in tea culture as a 
business at the latter place, admitting 
that the soil and climate are as well adapt¬ 
ed for the growth of the tea plant in one 
place as in the other ? 
>- 
The Enthusiasm which Horti¬ 
culture Inspires.—“I pray," said a 
gentleman through whose youthful 
grounds we were walking a few days 
since, which had been laid out and planted 
under his own direction, “that we all” 
(his family) “ may live at least another 
year to enjoy our home.” We give the 
remark, to show to what extent a person 
may become interested in Horticulture. 
It is a truth that few pursuits add more 
to the real happiness of life. 
BREVITIES. 
Cut cions for grafting. 
The Northern Spy is the best apple now. 
The papers talk against Commissioner Le Duo 
just because he is a t-to taler. 
A friend remarks: “ If I could have but one 
Bbrub, it would be Spiral prunifolia. It has 
such a beautiful autumn foliage, and Buch glos¬ 
sy loaves.' 1 
The hard times oblige the poor people to wear 
their dresses long. But this is the last reason 
iu the world why rich people should follow iu the 
same train. 
“ Hk is a good mau to work for.” Mr. Miner 
says it is no compliment to a farmer's adminis¬ 
trative ability to have this said of him by his 
farm-hands. 
A fine table-bird is produced by crossing an 
English male pheasant with game hens. The 
hybrids arc plump birds with long, tapering tails, 
Boinewhat like those of the pheasant; the plu¬ 
mage is beautiful. These crosses are gamey and 
delicious eating. 
E 
