THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
fined system, than to denounce or discourage 
him in it. Certainly till a better one is devised 
it is wisest not to take tho present system from 
him, and hurl at him as a substitute high-sound¬ 
ing pbraaos which only confuse him. 
Middlesex Co., N. J. 
FALLACIES ABOUT FRUIT. 
T. T. LYON. 
A very common fallacy among the planters of 
fruit trees is the assumption that, because a 
fruit posesses qualities calculated to attract the 
attention of the mass of consumers in town and 
city markets, and has hence become popular 
with dealers, it is also to be accepted and 
planted by those whose purpose it is to produce 
fruits strictly for home use. 
Such plauters, including tho mass of fanners, 
together with tho owners and planters of village 
and city gardens, should over keep in mind tho 
fact that buyers in the markets, as a rule, select 
by the eye : and owing to this fact, many showy 
but austere, tough or indifferently flavored 
fruits, pass current at tho fruit stalls, and, if the 
trees are vigorous, hardy and productive, they 
become popular with market orchardists ; while 
other sorts, so nearly ‘'Iron-Clad ’’ as to succeed 
in unfavorable localities, from this cause, with 
only a secondary reference to their flavor or 
texture, acquire wido notoriety, as in the case 
of Bon Davis, Willow Twig, Wealthy, Edgar Red- 
streak, and several others. 
Persons planting for tho supply of a home 
should recollect that they, if any one, can afford 
to grow and consume the best .;—that thoy need 
not consider for thoir purposes the ability of 
varieties to hour the rough treatment incident to 
the process of shipment, and that many of these 
‘ ‘best varieties,” from peculiarities of the tree,are 
not adapted to the market orchard; and that 
more of them hide their luscious qualities be¬ 
neath an unattractive surface ; while yet oth¬ 
ers are of such a delicate texture as to essen¬ 
tially unfit them to sustain the rough treatment 
of the marketing processes with impunity. The 
home planter, having properly digested these 
facts, may he impelled to ignore the lists of 
commercial planters, and to seek tho informa¬ 
tion adapted to his needs from other sources ; 
selecting sorts which, though less outwardly 
attractive or profitable, in a merely pecuniary 
sense, will yet, with lapse of years, grow in his 
esteem. 
I think few observers will escape the con¬ 
viction that some of our very finest fruits are 
falling into comparative oblivion, loss because 
they are being crowded aside by newer or bet 
ter competitors than for the reason that the 
■market ulea is being prominently put forward, 
not by commercial planters only, but by Horti¬ 
cultural Associations as well, that peoplo are 
in danger of forgetting that there are really 
varieties better or more desirable for such purpose 
than tho trash that, by commercial orchardists 
and dealers, is made to do duty as fruit to the 
motley crowd that haggle aud j ostle each other 
in the marts of our great cities. 
-- 
MISTAKEN NOTIONS. 
There is au idea prevalent among the great 
mass of cultivators of the soil, that whatever 
one of their number under his special conditions 
ol' soil, climate, etc, can successfully produce, 
another similarly circumstanced with regard to 
these conditions, should be able to produce like¬ 
wise, without any reference to his particular fit¬ 
ness or circumstances. These forgot that it has 
takon tho successful man, perhaps, years to learn 
the right methods as well as to bring his soil to 
the proper condition, and to make needed im¬ 
provements. Nor should it bo forgotten that 
closeness of profitable markets aud thrifty facil¬ 
ities for reaching them, are important conditions 
in this cormoctiou. Yet mauy imagine that by 
reading a faithful report of the modus operandi 
followed by tho successful producer and adopt¬ 
ing it, they would be able to soeuro a like suc¬ 
cess, forgetting that hiB experience haB been 
accumulated by years of trial and from small 
beginnings. And if, under this impression, they 
rashly rush into new undertakings, what other 
result than disappointment or perhaps total fail¬ 
ure, can be reasonably expected 't 
Who would expoot that a machinist who had 
served au apprenticeship in learning to make a 
steam-engiuo would be able to compote success¬ 
fully in watch-making with a watch-maker who 
had spent years in mastering his trade, and who, 
moreover, may have gained skill and knowledge 
by developing, in uiaturo years, Ideas conceived 
perhaps in hia less experienced days ? Yet it 
would be j ust as reasonable, atid no more, to ex¬ 
pect that any cultivator of the soil, without the 
advantage of previous apprenticeship, should be 
able to compete successfully with experienced 
producers in their specialties. J am willing to 
allow that there may be exceptions, but only 
enough to confirm the general rule. Natural 
tact and special circumstances may combine to 
render an attempt successful, but where oue 
succeeds, ton fail; and it is, perhaps, more than 
doubtful whether the gains of the one compen¬ 
sate the community for the failure of the ten. 
An apt illustration of this truth occurred a 
few years ago. Then every farmer, in some sec¬ 
tions of the country had, according to his own 
notion, an opportunity of getting rich, of rapidly 
making any amount of money by planting and 
growing hops and tobacco. Many blindly ruBh- 
od into those industries, reminding mo of a little 
scene I have noticed more than once—where the 
loader of a flock of sheep feeding in a fair pas¬ 
ture, wandering along the fence or wail, espies 
an opportuiuty of breaking bounds and succeeds 
in doing so, when straightway the rest follow 
tho leader with the exception, perhaps, of one or 
two that cannot get over. The result is uneasi¬ 
ness on both sides, perhaps greatest with the 
fow left behind. But to tho largo majority of 
those who changed their ordinary occupations 
for tho cultivation of hops and tobacco the re¬ 
sult was so disastrous that history and tradition 
should hand it down as a guidance aud warning 
to succeeding generations of agriculturists. 
Tho successful production of any special crop, 
presupposes many favorable conditions, and 
especially versatility on the part of the producer. 
Aside from experience, perhaps more depends 
in such a matter on this versatility than on 
any other thing that could be mentioned, i n 
undertaking a specialty, the cultivator should 
start from small beginnings, and necessary ex¬ 
penses Bhould be provided for by adapting all 
conveniences especially to the end of securing 
success in the undertaking. As most farmers 
gain tbeir money by a slow process, it would be 
to their interest to adopt new enterprises with 
ranch caution, feci their way carefully, and only 
when success is assured “ rush in." 
W. II. White. 
- ♦-*-* - 
EDUCATIONAL FACTS FROM MISSISSIPPI. 
Notwithstanding the large appropriations 
made for public schools in tho State of Mississippi 
very fow children get more than a bare smat¬ 
tering of education. The style of reading of the 
smartest scholar is simply execrable, and his 
ideas of Geography aud Grammar little lods 
vague than his notion of universal history. 
Five mouths out of tho twelve is the time al¬ 
lowed for free schools, from the middle of Jan¬ 
uary to tho middle of March and from the first 
of July to the last of September. For ser¬ 
vices rendered in those free schools the teachers 
are allowud $30,00 for 20 days schooling of 
of 25 scholars aud 6 cents for every additional 
scholar. If tho average falls below 25, six cents 
a scholar only are allowed. Twenty-day re¬ 
ports are reqnired, signed by the trustees 
and signed by the superintendent of education, 
in order to draw tho money from the treasurer. 
There are many thinly-settled neighborhoods 
where the scarcity of children preclude free 
schools, and if teachers he obtained, they 
must rely on individual subscriptions, which 
are usually meager aud difficult of collection. 
When, however, a teacher succeeds in getting 
such a number of names on his roll-oall as 
will make the thing •pay," hia soul, if it be a 
conscicniiouH soul, will inevitably faint within 
him at tho Herculean labor involved in drilling 
anything like accuracy of speech or informa¬ 
tion into tho pupils' heads. They one and all 
have the lingo which free intercourse with igno¬ 
rant white and colored people induces. Such 
expressions as. ‘‘T’aiut uo use ; uobody don't 
doit;’ ‘I couldn't git to go *1’lowed to go,' 
i 'yeard him say so," are of continual recur¬ 
rence. Scud a scholar to tho blackboard for 
exercises in Grammar and tho intricacies of 
error into which he lapses are enongh to dis¬ 
courage the most determined dominie. v. v. 
---- 
HAY-CAPS. 
As the time is not very far distant to haying, 
I wish to speak a word in favor of this useful 
article to the hay-maker. Until he lias once 
used them, he does not know the value of them, 
and after once being used, I never knew a 
farmer to discard them. They will save their 
cost iu a short time, by protecting the hay from 
dews and rains. 
It is for the health of stock that they bo pro¬ 
vided with good hay and when one uses hay- 
caps he can add greatly to the value of his hay, 
after it is cut and cocked, by protecting it from 
rain, as well as heavy dews. It often happens 
that a shower causes a groat deal of extra labor, 
and this can be prevented, in a measure, by 
capping, nay which is properly put up and 
capped, will pass through quite a long storm 
and come out in very good condition. Caps are 
also very use!ul to place over bailey, or beaus, 
while curing. They should be oue yard square, 
with a pointed stick about 14 inches long, tied 
on at each corner. Those are to tuck into the 
hay, to prevent tho wind from blowing them off. 
A water-proof coating should also be applied to 
them. Thu following Is a good and cheap 
dressing, aud one it is said that will not crack: 
Iu ouo-half gallon of boiled linseed oil stir two 
ounces of soft-soap; apply with a brush to one 
side only, two or three coats. f. h. d. 
May 24,1878. 
THE JERSEY CATTLE SALE, 
The sale of Mr. E. P. P. Fowler’s last impor¬ 
tation of Jersey cows was made at Messrs. A. M. 
Herkness & Co.’s Bazaar, in Philadelphia, May 
21st. The following memoranda will show 
that prices were fair, and that the sale was liot^ 
local: 
Annie Laurie. J. B. Davis. |310 
Annette, Jus. YounK, Middletown. 265 
Antelope, S. C. Kent. 285 
Boulivot Lass, .1 os. Lauer, Riverton, N. .f. 245 
Bluebells, Johnson A Co. 280 
Brunette, S. A. Brown. Lehigh Co. 280 
Bouley Bay I ass, J. B. IjuvIm, Richmond, Va... UK) 
Chrlstubel, M. Reeves, Richmond, Ind. 3(W 
Her b. e., XI. Iilpplneott... 40 
Croppy, Caleb Wood, Columbus, N. J. 278 
Diana, F. C. Biddle. Chadd’s Fo.d. 175 
Fu.rjr. H4C. Kent, West Grove. .ii>5 
Orouvlllo I.ass. >ti'S. M. N. Reiters. 480 
Jeanette. I. Morton, Mill Creek. . 215 
Lucllla, 8. C. Kout. 289 
Juicy, Klwood Evans, Marlton, ,V. .J. 211) 
Marla, A. W. Kapp, Northumberland. 301) 
Mlunonne, James Young. 850 
Prince** Alary, S, C. Kent. 235 
I’rlsellla, Mrs, M. N. Rogers. Wllminirton, Del.. 400 
Rosanna, J. Macaulay, Philadelphia . 180 
Her b. 0., stuuo buyer.... 38 
Rose. II. Llpplneott, t'htlttdelpliiu. 2W) 
Her u. c„ same buyer. 95 
St. Catharine, W.Chapman, Bethlehem. 190 
Her c. c., 2 weeks old, John Patterson. 100 
Sylvia, Johnson a Co , New London, Ct. too 
The Countess, Elweod Evans,..... *.55 
Venus, M. Reeves. 210 
Total for 23 two-year olds and 4 young calves.. $7,720 
-- 
CATALOGUES, &c., RECEIVED. 
The Wood System of Harvesting Machines. 
To the Jnrors in the class of Harvesting Ma¬ 
chines at Paris Exhibition, 1878. A neat pam¬ 
phlet in French ami English, relating the suc¬ 
cess of tho “ Wood System ” and a list or prizes 
taken all over the world by the Walter A. Wood 
Mowing and Reaping Machine Co. 
Third Annual Report of the American Vet¬ 
erinary Hospital, West 54th 8t., between Sixth 
and Seventh Avenues, N. Y., containing classifi¬ 
cation of 1478 cases treated at the hospital dur¬ 
ing the oollagiate year ending March 1878, 
terms, etc., etc. 
THE FRUIT-BELT OF MICHIGAN. 
This namo, given to the fruit producing region 
about St. Joseph in that State, has become pretty 
widely known over a largo extent of country 
through agricultural papers and otherwise, in a 
general way, but its advantages have never bean 
given in detail. St. Joseph, the center of the 
great fruit-growing operations, has always been 
placed iu the foreground, and the high prices 
that land has obtained in that immediate \ ieiuity, 
have been a bar to many men of small means 
goiug there, or seeking detailed information iu 
<Sfc a .rd to this fruit growing region, the best per¬ 
haps iu the world. 
It id now ahout twenty-five years since a fow 
men in 8t. Joseph, favorably impressed with the 
locality as a poacb-produciug section, commenced 
putting out peach orchards of Belect fruit to 
supply the Chicago market, aud they succeeded 
beyond their most sanguine expectations. The 
soil, generally, was a very light sand, worth noth¬ 
ing for farming xinrposes, but it seemed pecu¬ 
liarly adapted to peach-growing, tho profits of 
which were so great that the laud advanced from 
a mere nominal sum to two hundred-dollars per 
acre for the wild, uncultivated tracts, while 
many orchards iu be iriug sold for as much as 
one thousand dollars per acre. Tho great suc¬ 
cess in peach-growing induced the planting out 
of other fruits, until apples, pears, plums, 
cherries and tho small fruits, blackberries, rasp¬ 
berries snd strawberries were in abundance, 
with nearly as much profit as the peaches. 
As the “ fruit-belt of Michigan " is formed by 
its proximity to the east shore of Lake Michigan, 
strangers would naturally inquire why lauds 
should bo so dear at St. Joseph, when there was 
so much land to bo obtained up aud d, wu the 
shore from that point, at a much lower rate. 
St. Joseph being a lake port, with a good harbor 
for the accommodation of sailing vessels and 
steamers, was for yoars the only point of ship¬ 
ment for fruit from that region of country, aud 
as Ibo laud carriage of fruit was expensive and 
injurious, lauds only in the immediate vieiaity 
of tho town, were desirable for tho purpose of 
raising fruit for shipment, and consequently ad¬ 
vanced to extravagant figures. 
The yoars 1870 and *71 saw the completion of 
the Chicago & Michigan Lake-Shore Railroad, 
from New Buffalo on the Michigan Central Rail¬ 
road, to Muskegon, a lake port north of Now- 
Buffalo some one hundred and twenty-five miles, 
and the great manufacturing point of pine lum¬ 
ber for western Michigan. From New Buffalo 
to 8t. Joseph, a distance of twenty-seven miles, 
tho railroad track is abont one mile from the 
shore of Lake Michigan, opening up a region of 
country fully as good for fruit-growing as St. 
Joseph aud vicinity,.and it is of this point I pro¬ 
pose to speak now, setting forth some of the 
advantages to bo derived by settling there, even 
by men of moderate means. 
Along the lake shore, botween New Buffalo 
and St. JoHeph, extending back from the lake 
some three miles, was a section of very heavy 
timber, that had been neglected for years by the 
pioneers of western Michigan. The soil of the 
land commencing at the lake, is a light sand, 
gradually becoming heavier until it merges into 
a loam, and usually at the distance of three 
miles becoming a mixture of clay and gravel. 
As fruit-raising bad not become one of the lead¬ 
ing industries iu that part of Michigan in tho 
. early days of the pioneers, and as the lands a 
v few mi'os from the lake were considered muob 
'better for producing grain, the region of country 
beyond this belt was early settled and improveil, 
as mfich so as any part of Michjgan, aud farms 
are selling there at this time for from fifty to 
seventy-five dollars per acre, whilo on the lake 
shore they can ho bought at from fifteen to 
twenty-five dollars. The cause of this state of 
things is this: For years before the building of 
tho railroad along the shore of the lake, parties 
engaged in the hard-wood lumber trade located 
ou that strip of heavy timber, manufacturing it 
into wood and lumber, and shipping it to Chica¬ 
go, the present writer among tho number. Tho 
transportation was conducted by building piers 
out into the lake, where vessels could oome 
and load the products of the forest. With 
this branch of business oamo a class of peoplo 
adapted to lumbering, but very poor farmers. 
Many of them bought land, and depended ou 
selling tlieir timber to meat tbeir daily wants— 
a kind of baud-to-mouth way nf liviug. On the 
opening of tho railroad through that section, the 
timber had been exhausted, and the only alter¬ 
native tho Settlers bad, was to farm their land in 
tbeir poor kind of way. To make up fur de¬ 
ficiencies in receipts, many of them mortgaged 
their land, aud allowed it to be sold under the 
mortgage foreclosure, and it is those lands to-day 
that are offered at such low prices ; for most of 
them are held by Eastern capitalists who want to 
realize what money they can out of the land, but 
will sell it at very low figures rather than hold it. 
On the opening of the railroad, the people of 
St. Joseph fonud there would ultimately be a 
“new deal" iu regard to land, aud that prices 
there must decline. Cheaper lands, ns good for 
fruit-raising, or better than that which thoy held 
at two hundred dollars per acre, wore brought into 
competition with it, wliRe market facilities were 
nearly as good. The only lands that stood in 
the way were those between St. Joseph and 
New Buffalo, as the railroad in leaving St. Jo¬ 
seph for the north, ran further from tho lake, 
and iu a few miles left the fruit-belt entirely. 
With the pecuniary interest St. Joseph lias iu b.or 
near-by land, she lias managed thus far to keep 
this section of cheap lands in the background, 
so that but few know they cun hny, within fifteen 
miles of St. Joseph for fifteen dollars per acre, 
land more productive and with as good market 
facilities * lLie districts where they used to ask 
two hundred dollars per acre, but. are willing 
now to take something less. 
To regard to the sucensefnl growth of trees iu 
the section of country I have mentioned, I can 
speak from “the card," as 1 was jn business 
there for twelve years. Apple trees of ten years’ 
growth are as large as those of fifteen years in 
western New York, and I should be surprised if 
an orchard of six years' growth had not produced 
appleB enough to pay for the land it occupied. I 
have in my mind now an apple orchard of tvren- 
ty-five acres, set sixteen years ago, the trees of 
which are as large as many orchard* iu western 
New York which have been set. twenty-five years, 
and the hark of those trees is as smooth as that 
on teres of five years’ growth iu the latter place. 
This orchard is on a farm of one hundred acres, 
with good buildings, the owner of which became 
involved, and it was closed out nudor a mortgage 
sale. Three yoars ago, it was bought by a party 
s for thirty-five hundred dollars; last fall the 
apples were sold on the trees for nine hundred 
.and fifty dollars and one year ago last fall, for 
fifteen hundred dollars, with a prospect now of 
va yearly revenue from the orchard for years to 
con 4 ), of from fifteen to twenty-five hundred 
dollars—not a bad investment for these hard 
times. 
Another farm of eighty acres, closed out under 
a mortgage sale, and lying across the road from 
this sixty acres, cleared, good barn, bnt no house, 
with ton acres of orchard, was offered by the 
mortgagee for two thousand dollars with no 
buyers. Iu the last two years the owner has re¬ 
ceived one thousand dollars for tho apples on 
t“ho trees, with no cost to him for pioking or 
packiag, and he has just found out that the lake 
shore is tho place to raise frnit with profit; and 
now he decliues to sell, but thinks of setting out 
the balance of the eighty acres to apple trots. 
Ho lives some twenty miles from there on a farm 
that cost him ninety dollars per acre, aud 1 will 
venture to say ho does not clear five per cent, on 
his home investment, whilo ten aeres of the 
eighty ou the lake shore, pay him twenty-five per 
oeut. on the whole farm. 
St. Joseph has nearly discontinued poach rais¬ 
ing for the reason that the borer and curcnlio 
are such obstacle)* to success that the cost of 
producing is more than the fruit will bring ; but 
apples, pears, pla ns, cherries, and all the small 
fruits are a success. If I were to eugago in 
fruit-growing iu that section, I should tummy 
attention chiefly to apples, pears and quinces, as 
they require the least oare, and are much more 
profitable in view of the money and labor ex¬ 
pended, where lands can be bought so cheap. 
The small fruits are never a failure with tho ex¬ 
ception of blackberries, and those have only failed 
once during my sojourn of fourteen years there. 
Strawberries produce from three to six thou- 
