THE RURAL MEW- YORKER 
494 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO.. 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY AUG 3, 1873. 
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 Ptiblisher , or The Rural New- 
Yorker, ami not to any individual. We cannot 
otherwise guarantee the prompt entry of names 
upon our books, or the acknowledgment of money. 
We offered, some time ago, to sell the cuts 
UBed in this Journal for ten cents the square 
inch. Many have requested us to Bend proofs 
of our cntB. As we have upwards of ten thou¬ 
sand, we could not undertake to do so. Persons 
wishing to purchase, must select from files of 
the Rural New-Yorker. 
POTATOES AS FOOD. 
Thebe are few articles of food which 
have been used to the same extent, and 
which have still been so persistently dis¬ 
paraged as potatoes. A few years ago 
some genins wrote an article, which was 
copied from Maine to Texas, in which he 
claimed that potatoes were nearly worth¬ 
less as food, because their starch was 
locked up in insoluble cells, and could 
not be reached by the digestive juiees. 
And, now, one of the leading agricultural 
journals of the West comes to us with an 
editorial in which it is claimed that the 
potato has always been overrated; thut 
as an essential diet it would not be greatly 
missed; that it is rich only in starch ; 
that this must be converted iuto sugar 
before it is valuable as nutriment; that 
it is by no means sure that eveu a reason¬ 
able quantity of it is ever so converted, 
and, dually, that, aside from its bulk, the 
amount of Btarch converted into sugar is 
the criterion of its value. 
Now, we cannot agree with such views ; 
we oonsider the potato, both theoretically 
and practically^ au article of food of groat 
value and we propose to offer some indis¬ 
putable evidence in favor of this view. 
Taking the average of German analyses, 
which allows us to make a perfectly fair 
comparison, we find the composition of 
the dry substance of potatoes, wheat, corn 
and oats to be as follows : 
Potatoes 
Wheat.. 
Corn. 
Oats. 
Composition of dry substance in nor cent. 
Albunim- 
Carbo-hv- 
olds. 
Fiber, drutes. 
Fat. 
. S 4 
4.4 
82.8 
0.8 
. 15.2 
8.5 
77.2 
1.7 
8.4 
72.4 
7.8 
. 14.0 
10.8 
81.3 
7.0 
We may see, therefore, that while po¬ 
tatoes contain a greater proportion of 
starch than grain,they still furnish a very 
important amount of the so-called desh- 
formers aud half as much fat as wheat; 
in the light of this table, therefore, some 
of the propositions laid down by our con¬ 
temporary seem doubtful, to say the least. 
The Germans have, however, gone fur¬ 
ther than this and have, tested the digest¬ 
ibility of these substances by a great 
many careful feeding experiments, and 
the results of these give potato.es a higher 
comparative value as food than the above 
table which simply shows the composition. 
This is shown by a second table as 
follows : 
Potatoes 
Wbeat.. 
Cora. 
Oats. 
Digested in per cent, of dry substance. 
Albumin- Carbo-hy- 
olds. drntes. Fat. 
. 8.4 87.2 0.8 
. 12.4 73.8 1.4 
. 9.3 71.0 5.8 
...,,...,,..,.10.0 50.5 5.5 
Considered as an article of food and not 
as a complete, ration, the dry substance of 
the potato compares favorably with that 
of our best feeding grain. In speaking of 
the digestibility of potatoes, Wolff says 
that scarcely a partiole of potato starch 
can be found in the excrements of rumi¬ 
nants which have been fed with them. 
Now, whatever the transformations 
which it may undergo before it leaves the 
body, there is nothing to show that the 
digestible starch of potatoes does not 
produce the same effect as the digestiblo 
starch of any variety of grain. We be¬ 
lieve, therefore, that there is no reason to 
give potatoes a less nutritive value than 
is shown by onr table of digestibility ; it 
is to be remembered, however, that this 
only considers the dry substance, and 
that, as potatoes are 75 per cent, water, 
aud graiu but 14.4 per cent.., it requires 
three and one-half times the weight of 
potatoes for a given amount of dry sub¬ 
stance thut is required of grain. 
The poor opinion of potatoes originates 
from not feeding them in a proper mau* 
ner—there is notbiug more certain than 
that, where they are fed in an improperly 
constituted ration, they may so decrease 
the digestibility of coarse fodder as to 
nearly neutralize their own constituents. 
But if the nutritive ratio is not greater than 
one to eight (i. e, if the albuminoids are 
to the carbo-hydrates, including the fat 
multiplied by *2.5, as 1:8) they may be 
fed with twice their weight, of coarse 
fodder without occasioning any loss ; and, 
if sufficient oil meal, flax or cotton seed, 
bran, sborts, malt sprouts, beans, etc., 
are added to keep tho nutritivo ratio 
about 1:6, they may equal the weight of 
the coarse fodder aud still no loss result. 
If these important points are remem¬ 
bered and a sufficient supply of salt al¬ 
lowed, which is more necessary when 
feeding potatoes than with most other 
kinds of food, thero will be no occasion 
to doubt the food value of this tuber. 
■- 4 -*-*- 
THE LATEST CROP REPORTS. 
Towards the end of the week gloomy 
reports of severe inj ury to all ungathered 
cereal crops have come from the North¬ 
west. The hot suns of bite had there, as 
elsewhere, produced an unusually large 
growth of stalk, and now excessive rain 
and wind storms have prostrated the 
wheat and corn fields and blighted many 
farmers’ high hopes of a splendid harvest. 
Those railroads, too, whose prosperity 
depends mainly on transporting to the 
seaboard the vast harvests of that great 
grain-growing region, are sensitively af¬ 
fected by the prospect of diminished busi¬ 
ness, and already their stocks have drop¬ 
ped heavily in the money market. 
Eveu before the occurrence of the ca¬ 
lamity, however, the crop outlook in 
some parts of the affected section had be¬ 
come somewhat clouded. As early as the 
17th inst, reliable estimates placed the 
damage done to the wheat crop by storms 
and excessive heat at seventeen per cent, 
in Wisconsin and twenty-seven per cent, 
in Iowa. In the southern part of Min¬ 
nesota it was estimated that there would 
be a deficiency of tweut-nine per cent, in 
tho jdeld of wheat. Aud although this 
deficiency would probably be compensat¬ 
ed by an average yield of from 12 to 25 
bushels per acre on the larger area plant¬ 
ed elsewhere, making the aggregate pro¬ 
duct the some as last year, yet the quality 
is held to be considerably below that of 
former seasons. Throughout the whole 
oonntry tile-drained lands show superior 
crops; while crops on undraiued lands 
are slow to recover from excessive rams. 
In other parts of the country the latest 
reports of the Department of Agriculture, 
corrected by those we have received still 
more recently from other quarters, show 
that Illinois falls off in her acreage under 
com seven per cent, or about 670,000 
acres, and Wisconsin four per cent, or 
about 40,000 acres, while Texas has 
planted 200,000 acres more than last 
year. The yield throughout the country 
will hardly be above au average one, but 
in the South the prospects are remarkably 
promising. Tho crop of winter wheat 
gathered in the middle States is very 
large, and on the whole, the average is 
101; while that of spring wheat was as 
high as 106 before the late disastrous 
news from the Northwest. Of rye, bar¬ 
ley and oats there will be somewhat 
over an average yield. Reports from the 
fruit crop are fair, except from the peach 
region around Chesapeake Bay and the 
fruit belt of Michigan. Grapes too have 
been out down nearly everywhere below 
the average by the May frosts. 
-»♦ » 
“CORNERS” IN GRAIN. 
Chicago and Milwaukee commission 
merchants, stimulated by the late un¬ 
favorable crop reports, are just now in 
the midst of a great “corner” in wheat. 
For the last two weeks the price has been 
steadily advancing, aud now the interest 
has become intense in the results. There 
is a fair prospect that the present or even 
higher rates will rule for the next week 
or two, and shrewd farmers may thereby 
be the gainers. The visible supply of 
wheat is said to bo only about four mil¬ 
lion bushels, yet it is stated that " short ” 
sales for August delivery, already aggre¬ 
gate uoarly twenty million bushels, aud 
still such sales continue to be made. As 
those who have made sales of this kind 
have not, as a rule, as yet bought a bushel 
of tho grain they have already sold, 
should its price increase before the date 
at which they are to deliver it, they will 
lose the difference between the figures at 
which they have sold it and those at 
which they would have to buy it to fill 
their contract. Should tho price meau- 
whilo fall, they will gain in like propor¬ 
tion. The point in which the farmer is 
here mainly interested is, that while the 
speculators when they gain are always 
willing to fill their contracts, when they 
lose they often declare themselves bank¬ 
rupt ; the purchases they have actually 
made are repudiated ; au unusually large 
amount of grain is thus suddenly thrown 
on the market, and prices at once sink. 
Hence it is, that after the close of a “ cor¬ 
ner ” in any product, that product gen¬ 
erally falls in price, at least for a short 
time. As a rule, however much the 
farmer may lose, he gains comparatively 
little by “ corners ” in bis prodnets; for, 
apart from the action of middlemen, how¬ 
ever high the price of his goods may in 
this way be temporarily rnn, it is seldom 
that the article sold is actually deliv¬ 
ered ; but instead thereof, the differ¬ 
ence in money between tho figures at 
which it was sold and its market price on 
the day on which it is to be delivered, is 
usually liauded over to the purchaser, or 
to the seller, according as one or the other 
has gained by the transaction. 
-» » » 
SCIENCE. 
Americans think that a love of science 
is one of the leading characteristics of our 
people, aud attention is directed to a 
large attendance on lectures of this char¬ 
acter as a very pointed demonstration of 
the fact. 
Tho truth is that we are not scientific 
in our instincts in the best sense. Men 
whose bent is to pursue abstract inqui¬ 
ries, the successful result of which is to 
extend our knowledge and elevate civili¬ 
zation to a still higher plane, are not in 
tho least encouraged, while wealth is 
freely expended in endowments of a less 
important kind. 
The only science that is appreciated is 
of the kind that “ has money in it 
whose application directly increases 
wealth in commercial channels. This 
fact is disgraceful to onr culture, and 
so patent is it that in Europe tho de¬ 
basing result has coined a term—Ameri¬ 
canization—that bus t'he force of a stigma 
among scientific men. 
Prof. Tyndall gave the proceeds of his 
lectures in this country as an endowment 
for the encouragemeut of pure science. 
The fund is in itself insufficient to ac¬ 
complish the purpose, but not a dollar 
has been added to it by au American! 
Wo have numbers of wealthy farmers, but 
who among them has shown a willingness 
to devote his time and fortune to the 
scienee of agriculture aB has Mr. J. B. 
Lawes, of England, solely that the science 
of agriculture might bo advanced, and fhe 
results published for the advantage of the 
world ? 
We are a nation of money-getters, aud 
that is about the best and the worst that 
can be said of ns. And a liumiliatiog 
confession it is! 
- 4 4 4 - ■ - 
NOTES. 
Prickly Comfrey.— The Rural 
was one of the first agricultural journals 
to talk about Prickly Comfrey us a for¬ 
age plaut two or three years ago. At 
that time we recommended its trial upon 
the authority of our Euglish exchanges, 
which extolled it as one of tire most 
promising summer forage plants grown, 
both as regards quality aud quantity. 
The quantity which may be raised urui 
a given space was not much exaggerate, 
and Dr. Voeluker’s analysis of the qual¬ 
ity is no doubt as trustworthy to-day as 
when it was made and published. But in 
spite of Dr. Voklokek aud the unusual 
amount of flesh-forming and heat and 
fat-producing substances, which he 
showed it to contain, our horses aud 
cows are not educated up to the point of 
any appreciation of its value. We have 
also offered it to the horses aud cows of 
our neighbors aud we find them no less 
indifferent to their own welfare. Our ex¬ 
perimental Prickly Comfrey is thriving 
splendidly. Some of it was cut early in 
the season and a second growth of leaves 
might now be cut again. But what Shall 
we do with it ? 
-- 
A Singular Aquilegia. —- Of the 
many self-sown Aquilegias (Columbines) 
which sprang up from self-sowu seeds, 
oue bloomed this season which bore a 
flower different from any other we have 
ever seen. We are tolerably familiar 
with the several species in cultivation, 
but this so differs from them that wo ean 
not even guess at its parentage. The 
flowers were as large as those of A. Cana¬ 
densis—a little larger than those of A. 
ecerulea. Some were solid blue—some 
solid white ; some were half blue and half 
white ; but the majority were variously 
striped with those colors. It boro seeds 
abundantly and this is oue of tho plants 
seeds of which (as far as they go) wo 
shall offer to onr friends in the fall. 
- — - — 
Watering Plants During- Sun¬ 
shine.— Our esteemed contemporary, 
The Gardener’s Monthly, thinks that no 
harm results from watering plants during 
bright sunshine, and we have seen the 
remarks copied by several papers. Is it 
not trne that, the globules of water rest¬ 
ing here and there upon the leaves, have 
power to converge the sun’s rays, burning 
the leaf or stem on which they rest, 
and causing discoloration. We have the 
impression that these dead spots do occur 
on plants more frequently during hot 
summer weather when showers are fre¬ 
quent and brief. 
BREVITIES. 
TnE Hessian Fly—and no man pursueth. 
Dr. Samuel Sexton says that out of some 
eight hundred ear-difficulties during last, sum¬ 
mer. sixty-five were found to have had their 
origin in salt-water bathing. 
Mr. Rowe kindly sends us four quarts of his 
seedling gooseberries Ruby and Emerald. We 
find that it takes eight,v-three of the first and 
eighty-six of the second t,o make a quart. 
Mr. Charles Downing writes us that “ the Ja¬ 
pan Pear with its large, roundish heart-shape, 
glossy leaves, and showy frnit, *rnakes a very 
handsomo lawn tree and could be used by the 
landscape gardener with effect. 
Miss Emma A. Smith, the entomologist, says: 
"If the birds should entirely leave us.it is a 
question if any fruits could ripen in oil the land. 
It is impious to talk against the birds, and sac¬ 
rilege to wantonly dostt-oy their innocent lives.” 
It is said that tomatoes fed to cows improve 
both the quantity aud quality of the milk, im¬ 
parting to the butter a golden color. Does any 
body know if in this last respect there is any 
difference whether the red or golden varieties 
be fed to them ? 
We have measured onr largest specimen of 
Salix laurlfolia (Incida var.?) planted four years 
ago. It is eighteen feet high and fifty-seven 
feet in circumference. In some soils it seems 
very slow to begin a strong growth. One 
planted at the Rural farm, three years ago. is 
but four feet high. 
In South Africa. Natal, we believe, grass is 
kept in a fresh, moist Btate for anv time by sim¬ 
ply digging a hole in the ground, packing the 
freshly-out grass closely into it, aud then cov¬ 
ering all with a laver of earth well trampled. 
Thus treated, its character seems to remain un¬ 
changed, and cattle eat it with great relish, and 
thrive on it. 
Ten years ago at the Rural farm we tried^tho 
effect of a little care upon cherry trees. The 
care was given to two in a double row of thirty 
planted along a lane. The esi-th about tho 
roots was loosened, muck and hen-yard manure 
applied, and they worn well watered through one 
summer. No further care bus since been given 
them. Those two trees are at this time at least 
one-third larger than any of the others, both in 
the main stems and tops. 
Have the objectors to vivisection ever paused 
to consider that every year millions are muti¬ 
lated, nay. tortured, to give man pleasure, to 
make food palatable, while merely scores are 
mutilated (not often tortured) to discover 
remedial ageuta and scientific truths ? What 
could be more inhuman than tho torffire in¬ 
flicted on living geese, to obtain an epieurian 
delicacy, yet who has organized himself into a 
committee of one to decry tho barbarism ? 
Mr. TnoMAs.uf the Country Gentleman, states 
in his American Frnit Oulturist, that the roots 
of fruit trees may be considered to extend in 
every directiou from the base of the trunk to a 
distance equal to the Light. According to this 
rule, the roots of a tree oceupv a circle the di¬ 
ameter of which is double the higbt of the tree. 
From recent observations ho increases this dis¬ 
tance so as to make tho diameter of the root- 
circle three tiroes the bight of the tree. ” believing 
this to be a fair average for nearly all cases.” 
The nurserymen's convention recommended 
hot tobacco water or a hot solution or w halo-oil 
soap for the aphis of the cherry tree. Tho ends 
of the infected branches are to be dipped into 
the vessel containing the solution. We respect¬ 
fully submit that there is au objection to this 
remedy. It is that the time and trouble of ap¬ 
plying it would cost considerably more than the 
crop of cherries would bo worth, as we think the 
members of the association recommending it 
would admit if they were seriously to consider 
this method in detail. 
Mr. A. B. Ghandkll speaks of having seen a 
Lilium eitperbmn (our Tttrk’s-cap) seven feet 
high, that promised au enormous crop of tlow- 
erB. We have never seen one attain such a 
bight, and give 1 fieri-tore tho manner in which 
the bed was prepared. The soil had been exca¬ 
vated abonr 18 inches in depth, and 6 inches of 
small stones placed in tho bottom for drainage ; 
tho bed was thou filled with thoroughly decayed 
sods, amt a very little old well rotted manure. 
Homo sharp sand was incorporated with tho soil: 
when planted the bulb was completely surround¬ 
ed by the same. During winter tho bed received 
a light covering of manure, which was the only 
fertilizer that had beeu applied since it was 
formed. 
The Farm Journal says, that tho Rural 
New-Yorker has au experimental farm, and 
now the American Agriculturist is establishing 
one, and thru humorously adds: *' Just wait 
awhile till we get ours, and then you will see the 
dirt fly. Wo intend to dig a culvert through the 
middlo of the farm for drainage; we ahull plow 
eighteen inches deep and subsoil below that; 
we will make our own fertili/.ers by an ingouious 
mixture of soils; aud carry ou all operations 
by steam-power, from rocking the baby to grind¬ 
ing beets for sugar. Aud we shall let our read¬ 
ers iuto all our secrets. Subscribe now, before 
we buy the farm !” 
