304 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAY 44 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
Practical Departments •. 
Carrion Beetles (tllurtrated).. 293 
Manures, Arttflolal—J B. T.awes.. 293 
Tools and a Good Team, Something about—Pror. 
W. J. Beal. 
The Farmer’s Garden-M. B. Prince. --•-••• 294 
The Garden, Taklntr Notes and Making Plans 
for-prof. W J Beal. 294 
Okra or Gumbo (Illustrated)... £** 
Okra, Cultivation and Use of—G. Marti. .. 
Jottimrs f rom Ktrbv Horoostead—Col. F.U. Curtis .94 
Anthrax. MallKoant- J). K. 8(dmon,D. V. M.2vc 
Doctoring Animals—D E. Salmon, D. V. M.2SI? 
•* White Major" (Illustrated!.. 29> 
Pneumonia—! r. Goodcnough...gE 
Physalls (illustrated). 206 
Extracts fi'onx Correspondents' Letters : 
New Haven. Ct... 
Will Co., Ill.. 
Carrolton, Ala.■‘*8 
Catalogues, Etc.. Received.• •••■ .291 
Berkshire*, Some Notable (Illustrated). 29J 
Mill, An Under-Running (Illustrated). 2vr 
Hay Elevator, the Amcrioan...®S* 
Answer's to Correspondents : 
Cricket Again. The...298 
Adams GOj/Wls. 
Arkansas valley, About. 
Strawberry Mixing... 
Dawn Mowers. 
Green-House, A Cheap...52 
Blue Stone, Blue Vitriol and Copperas.298 
Miscellaneous Answers. 
EverywJxere : 
Kane Co.. Ill.298 
Harris Co., Texas......5(2 
Santa Crus Co., Cal...52 
Rock Island Co.,IU.298 
Western Echoes—Dr. A. C. Williams. 298 
Acknowledgements.. .Si 
Reports, Etc., Received."> a 
Domestic Economy ■’ 
Siftings from the Kitchen Fire. 294 
A Strawberry Chapter.894 
Markets..,.,..... 895 
Editorial Page: 
A Secretary of Agriculture.&J9 
Hard Times.890 
Capt. Cuttle’s Advice. 809 
Larix Ktempferi.800 
Notes...800 
Brevities.....800 
Literary : 
Poetry.....301,303, 306 
Mrs. Hayes in Philadelphia—M.W. F. 302 
Brtc-a-brac.. ..803 
Letters from a Country Girl—Margaret B. Harvey e03 
To Clean Gloves or Shoes—Mrs. J. E. S. 303 
Newsof the Week. 304 
Heading Ten' the Young: 
Pocket-Money for Young People —Annie L. 
Jack.306 
The Private History of an Ear of Corn: No. 2 
..By the Cob.306 
The Puzzler.. 
Sabbath Reading: 
Communion with God—J. H. Newman.306 
Personals. 307 
Wit and Humor.. ‘ins' w 
Advertisements.299. 30o. 307 , 308 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1878. 
We beg to announce the first of a series of 
practical articles entitled “ Pocket Money for 
Young People." The first, by Mrs. Annie L. 
Jack, appears in this issue. We believe these 
articles will be an attractive feature, and 
prove of real benefit to our young readers. 
A SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 
A bill to make the Bureau of Agricul¬ 
ture a separate Department of tlie Gov¬ 
ernment and to raise its chief to a seat in 
the Cabinet has been reported in the 
lower House of Congress within a week. 
The Committee on Appropriations had, 
as compared with the previous year, re¬ 
duced nearly all the items for the support 
and efficiency of the department, but 
despite the efforts of these pseudo-econo¬ 
mists, the House towards the close of the 
week, almost in every instauoe, increased 
the appropriations. In view of the previ¬ 
ous proposition to raise the agricultural 
Bureau to the dignity which the Bubal 
New-Yorker has always claimed to be 
its due, the several votes enlarging the 
means for its efficient maintenance, are 
not without significance. 
In Congress and in the columns of 
some of the journals that, onoe in a long 
while, deign to notioe the agricultural 
interests elsewhere than in the special edi¬ 
tions published for their bucolic subscrib¬ 
ers, one of the chief objections to doing 
justice ’to the agricultural department 
seems to be the alleged inefficiency of its 
chief. With regard to the truth or false¬ 
hood of this allegation we have no inten¬ 
tion of speaking here, and moreover the 
Commissioner has already found more 
than one able defender on the floor of the 
House. But even granting that the head 
of the present Bureau would not be as 
admirably fitted for the same position in 
the projected Department as these dis¬ 
criminating gentlemen might wish, cannot 
the same charge he made, with perhaps 
more justice, in regard to the heads of 
other Departments of the Government ? 
Have not similar assertions been made 
concerning the chiefs of various Depart- 
4fckuA- 
ments in every administration from Wash¬ 
ington’s downwards ? And has the notori¬ 
ous unfitness of the officials in Borne cases, 
or tbe reiterated assertion of their ineffi¬ 
ciency in others, ever been considered 
a valid reason why the interests the offioeB 
had in charge should be debarred from 
a just representation in the Government ? 
Moreover, while the agricultural inter¬ 
est of this country, the basis of its pros¬ 
perity and a good deal of the superstruc¬ 
ture, demands as a right a representative 
in the Cabinet of the nation, it claims no 
right to nominate Gen. Le Duo as that 
representative. An equitable influence 
in conducting the affairs of the country, 
and a fair proportion of advantages from 
the taxation to which it is subjected are the 
rights the farming community is entitled 
to. These it cannot secure so long as it 
is unrepresented in the Administration, 
yet this influence with its adjunct, a place 
in the Cabinet, farmers are bound, ere 
long, to achieve, through the present 
members of Congress if practicable, if 
not, then through the more fair-minded 
successors whom the agricultural vote 
will send to Washington in their stead. 
---- 
HARD TIMES. 
“ How is business ?” is a question asked 
a thousand times a day, and almost invari¬ 
ably the reply is, “Very dull—but little 
doing.” And we hear reports from all 
over the country of mills lying idle, man¬ 
ufactories working on half-time and thou¬ 
sands of people out of employment. The 
quantity of goods manufactured and sold 
is very” mucli less than it was ten years 
ago, and people are asking with fear and 
trembling ; “ What is to be the end ? 
Will better times never come ?” 
It has occurred to us that our whole 
community may possibly be laboring un¬ 
der a mistake; may not clearly appre¬ 
hend what good times really mean. If 
we carefully examine the matter, perhaps 
we shall find, after all, that there is quite 
as much business done at the present 
time as is necessary—as much as ia well 
for the publio good. 
The majority of our people are agri¬ 
culturists. Have there been any com¬ 
plaints from this class that, on account of 
the diminution of manufacture, they have 
been compelled to do without articles of 
necessity—or luxury ? Or is it true that 
the full demand of the country is sup¬ 
plied ? 
Notice the comparative amount of im¬ 
ports at the present time and it will be 
found much below the average of former 
years. If it were three times as great, 
would it add anything to our prosperity 
as a nation or otherwise ? Every million 
dollars’ worth of foreign goods sold helps 
to make business lively, and gives em¬ 
ployment to a class whose labor as pro¬ 
ducers would be much more advantageous 
than as trafficers. And who are bene¬ 
fited thereby ? The importers and their 
clerks mainly. The money to pay for the 
goods goes out of the country, when it 
could be well employed at home. 
This increase of imports, however, has 
really but little effect on the amount of 
business done. If the goods were really 
needed they would be produced here, if 
not imported. 
As an example of the effeot of this stag¬ 
nation in business, let us take any branch 
of manufacture—say of hats. Why is it 
not as flourishing now as ten years ago ? 
Simply because the people buy cheaper 
hatB and less of them. He who spent 
five dollars for a hat then, oontents him¬ 
self now with one worth three—and not 
only so, but he will make the three-dollar 
hat serve him longer than the other used 
to do. The same is true of all other 
branches of manufacture. 
Do you point to the list of failures— 
petitions in Bankruptcy and all sortB of 
insolvency—and ask the reason ? Our an¬ 
swer is simply this—there has been too 
much business done and this is the result. 
Credit has been given too generally. The 
desire to sell has been so great that tra¬ 
ders have neglected to ask in relation to 
their customers the question that should 
be first—is he honest ? They have al¬ 
lowed their desire to do a large business 
to overcome their prudence. They have of¬ 
fered bribeB for rascality when they gave 
credit to men without sufficient capital. 
Many, not all, have gone into business 
with the intention of .failing, knowing well 
that settlements with creditors are easily 
made—too easily for the good of morality. 
Another reason is, the inflation of cur¬ 
rency during the war gave a fictitious 
value to property, and induced specula¬ 
tion. Many were induced to buy what 
they could not pay for, getting credit for 
a large percentage of the amount. Values 
seemed to increase, and they thought they 
were rich and spent their money accord¬ 
ingly. This lavishness pervaded all 
circles. The mechanic who received five 
dollars for eight hours’ work, saved no : 
more than when he had half that amount 
for laboring ten hours. The whole com- 1 
munity was bliuded. Now their eyes are 
opened. He who thought he was rich 
finds his debts more than his property is 
worth. John Randolph said the philoso¬ 
pher’s stone was “Pay as you go.” Un¬ 
bounded credit has ruined thousands. 
Look at this question and answer it 
truly. Is not this oonntry better off both 
as regards real property, and its capacity 
for production than it was ten years ago ? 
Will not the next census show a marked 
increase ? Is there not more capital now 
than then ? 
It is true capitalists are fearful—their 
money is not in circulation. Manufactur¬ 
ing is not profitable, they say, and trade 
is hazardous. They do not know one 
thing that they ought to have learned 
years ago, i. e. that the safest bank of 
deposit is a bank of earth. There is not 
a dollar of spare capital in the country 
that could not be safely and profitably 
invested in improving the soil, or where, 
as in some portions of the great West, it 
needs no improvement, in bringing it 
under cultivation, plowing and stocking 
it. Such manufactories as are needed, 
will be kept at work, the rest can stop 
without detriment to the country. The 
capital invested in them can be put to 
other uses, and the operatives become 
industrious and independent workers of 
the soil. 
When agriculture in this country re¬ 
ceives the attention it deserves, we shall 
hear no more of Hard Times, 
-*-*-♦-— 
CAPTAIN CUTTLE’S ADVICE. 
A glance at onr agricultural exchanges 
in connection with the questions that flow 
in steadily upon us, indicates that the 
average furmer is not in the habit of tak¬ 
ing Cuttle’s advice. It seems not to 
have occurred to him, when a good thing 
is found, to “ make a note of it,” hence 
questions are iterated, and advice reiter¬ 
ated on subjects that have been bandied 
about editorial rooms so long as to have 
become household words. 
To be sure we are always ready to 
proffer suoh advice as is asked for, but 
we suggest that a little method on the 
farmer’s part would add greatly to his 
stock of practical information, and save 
him a world of trouble. 
There is any amount of good advice, 
the outcome of experience, proffered each 
week in this and other journals. It 
should be made a note of for future use. 
Among the simplest means to accomplish 
this end is a common-place book. Any 
old book may easily be converted to this 
use. Index”it according to subject or 
alphabetically, and when an item of value 
is read, clip it, paste it, index it. The 
pith of long artioles may be crystalized 
into a few words and transferred to the 
book whenever necessary, with a refer¬ 
ence to where and when the article ap¬ 
peared. 
The Bubal is indexed with great care 
annually or semi-annually and this index 
will always be found of value for purposes 
of reference ; but not infrequently it hap¬ 
pens that an important fact is reported in 
the body of an article whose title, as read 
in the index, would give no due to the 
subject sought for. Such items should 
be recorded in the oommon-plaoe book 
with a memorandum of the volume, page 
and article in which they are to be found. 
This is peculiarly applicable to our Ques¬ 
tions and Answers. 
If our friends would try this plan, they 
would speedily become convinced of its 
utility, and thank Captain Cuttle for 
the suggestion. It is no small Baying of 
time to have in a oondensed and available 
shape, ready for immediate reference, 
the essence of the experience of practioal 
men in the adaptation of the best means 
to an end. 
-»♦ » 
LARIX KJEMPFERI. 
The London Garden of April 20, 1878, 
in answer to an inquiry, states that the 
Larix Kiempferi is hardy under ordinary 
circumstances but that it “ often loses 
its leading shoots through growing on too 
late in autumn.” It is of slow growth, 
says the Garden, when young even 
when in permanent quarters, and in 
favorable situations it makes only moder¬ 
ate progress. “ There are no large speci¬ 
mens of it in this country ”—meaning 
England—* and even young, fair-sized 
plants, from 10 to 15 feet high, are 
scarce.” It is interesting, in view of these 
remarks, to call the attention to a speci¬ 
men of Larix luempferi in Flushing, that 
stands in perfect health and grace, 25 to 
30 feet high. It has probably few super¬ 
iors or equals in the world, for in America 
this tree is extremely rare of any size. 
This climate, however, seems to favor it 
more than that of England, for we have 
found it invariably hardy, though slow 
of growth. There seems to be no other 
really practicable method of propagating 
this Larch than from seed. 
----— 
NOTES. 
Wholesome Comment.—We have 
received a letter from the editor of one of 
the oldest and most respected weekly 
journals of this country, from which the 
following extracts are taken : “I forgot 
in my last to thank you for your noble 
article backing up Professor Beal’s 
courageous exposure of certain seedsmen. 
The whole press—a few papers possibly 
excepted—is, as you know, practically 
subsidized—if that is the right word—by 
advertisers, and so there are many 4 cry¬ 
ing evils ’ that not only unrebuked 
but absolutely encouraged, 4 wax fat’ 
from year to year. Bat 4 the world is 
given to lying’’; there seems to be very 
little 4 religion of business ’; praotioally 
men in trade are 4 rogueB in grain 
even though 4 veneered with sanctimoni¬ 
ous theory.’ I verily believe that God 
would greatly prosper any man—includ¬ 
ing newspaper publishers—who would go 
straight forward, regardless of present 
oonsequences, and all the devices^ of 
workers of iniquity. --Your 
brave stand in the articles I mention 
pleased me greatly, and so I thank you.” 
The American Pom ologLeal So¬ 
ciety and Willard C. Flagg.—There 
is no’ similar work that we know of, that 
at all compares with the Proceedings of 
the American Pomologieal Society in 
point of value to those whom it concerns. 
We had not the pleasure of a personal 
acquaintance with the Secretary of this 
Society, the accomplished and well-be¬ 
loved Willard 0. Flagg whose death 
makes a gap that it would seem could 
never again be so acceptably filled. But 
we look over the pages of the volume— 
his last—and see his familiar name and 
arevad that he is dead. And so we can, 
at least, sympathize with the many who 
knew this worthy man. 
-»♦» —- 
Agricultural College Profes¬ 
sors.—A writer in Home and Farm, 
speaks of the Illinois Agricultural Col¬ 
lege as “ a concern upon which several 
millions of the public money have been 
spent with no visible, appreciable or sen¬ 
sible benefit to agriculture or agricultur¬ 
ists of the State, and to nobody indeed, 
unless to a crowd of pedagogues and pro¬ 
fessors who get three dollars pay for 
every dollar they earn. ’ 1 So far aB tbe 
above remarks apply to the professors of 
agricultural colleges throughout our 
country generally, we differ with them in 
so far as to believe that professors get one 
dollar where they well earn three. 
--—»♦» 
BREVITIES. 
The coining industry, the production of beet 
sugar. 
Fresh oloyer is good for little chicks that are 
confined. 
Wheat, wheat everwhere—and it is every¬ 
where looking well. 
Aoros 8 the Atlantic the talk is yet of a possible 
peace, the preparations are those for a probable 
war. 
1 Why is not the Tulip tree (Liriodendron 
tulipifera) more extensively planted in streets 
and parks ? 
A subscriber sending for several back num¬ 
bers and inclosing two ten-cent pieoes, writes; 
" Oh! for the convenient shin-plaster again." 
• Gladioli may be planted for suooesslon as 
lato as the first of July. A little less than three 
( months may be allowed from planting the conns 
until bloom. 
In Bergen OountvN. J. the Leghorn fowl is con¬ 
sidered tbe best layer. But it will fly like a 
1 pigeon and oan never be trusted to sit for the 
allotted time. 
"I am getting along in years," remarked a 
neighbor of the Rural Grounds, “and I have 
never before seen rye headed in these parts by 
the middle of April." 
i Mb. Charles Downing says in the Weekly 
, Tribune that, as a rule, no variety of apple can 
bear largo crops annually, except on rich, deep 
! soils, or where made so by enriching materials an- 
> nually, and even then, he thinkM, at the expenso 
, or the life or age of the tree; that ia, trees 
i bearing largo crops annually will not live as long 
&b trees bearing moderate crops annually, or full 
crops alternate years. 
The variable otfeota of plaster on different 
’ land are well known. Is not this fact of itself 
I proof of the value of experiments with com¬ 
mercial fertilizers? Why does plaster benefit 
some Hoils and not others? Is it because it 
} fixes certain gases of the earth ? Is it bocause 
it renders potash and phosphoric acid available ? 
t Suppose on one plot, plaster is used : on an- 
, other, potash ; on a third superphosphate; on 
a fourth potash aud *uperpUo-phate; on a fifth 
potash aud piaster ; does it not Beem reasonable 
1 to suppose that the best yields will enlighten us 
as to what manurial ingredient is most needed 
t on the experimental field ? 
