700 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
Practical Departments: 
Pearl Millet—(niustr«t''d). 693 
“ Enyliun” or “ Peiii-l'' Millet. 694 
Millets and their Allies—(Illustrated)—Prof.YV.J. 
Beal. 694 
Golden v» Common Millet-Col. F. D, Curtis.... 6n4 
Experience with Pearl Millet.691 
Cliinere Ytim-S. R. Peelt. 794 
Chief Dsn of the Chinese Vara. 694 
Structure anil Function of Flowers—(Illustrated) 
—Byron I). lluPtoud. 695 
Hints to Experimental Bee - Keepers — C. C. 
Georgescn . ,. 596 
California Small Fruit Report.696 
Poultry Note* -D. S. Hoyt. 696 
Garden Talks and YVallcs-Renoclaf.69 f i 
Popular Error About chess or Cheat—H. 8.696 
Infectious It ouis.... 697 
What Others Say . 697 
Farmers *' Bearing” Their Own Marhat-T. H. 
Hoskins, M .D. 697 
Sanitary ArnuiKements for the Homestead—(ii- 
luttrated— a Jersey Fanner.698 
Everywhere .- 
Notes from Central IlllnoU—Old Subscriber.... 698 
Notes from Arkansas—James Watson. 695 
Warren Co..N. C. 698 
Bellefontaine. Ohio... 699 
Bewdley, Canada. 699 
Humboldt,Tenn..’ 699 
Sunshine, Colorado. 6Wi 
Mendon.M'Ch. 699 
Newport, Vi.; 099 
Roanoke. Ind. 699 
Blowing Rock. N. C. *699 
New Market, Va.699 
Racine, Wn .699 
Winona, Minn. 609 
Answers to Correspondents : 
About Bones... .. 699 
About Song Birds.699 
Destrojlng Borers . 699 
Treatment of Raspberries. ..699 
Bermuda <irii>».... 699 
MublenherKia Mexlcanii. 699 
Cement Walks. 699 
Self-Binders.699 
Miscellaneous. ' ®g 
Communication* Received.’ 699 
Editorial paok: 
The Rural New-Yorker... 
Suavity or Agroealileuess_ 
Our Promising Future. 
A Request.... ... . 
Exaggerated Estimates. 
Brevities. 
700 
700 
710 
710 
700 
700 
Next, to the left, under “ The, ” is a 
group of fruit and vegetables,—an exact 
copy of their prototypes in the field and 
garden ; while the Blackberries, Rasp¬ 
berries, Grapes and Grasses further along, 
make a graceful and fitting border to the 
picture. Prominent among the indus¬ 
trial symbols are the bees and farm tools. 
The same minute attention to detail and 
artistic effect characterizes this group. 
Each implement is a model, accurate in 
all its parts. The vignette of the Short¬ 
horn bull is after Forbes, perhaps the 
most distinguished cattle artist in the 
country. 
The complete design is intended to be 
a study, and its thoughtful consideration 
will, we believe, repay the reader. It is 
the work of seven gentleman, who have 
been unsparing of their patient labor. 
Under the superintendence of Mr. H. A. 
Jackson, the general design was made 
by Mb. L. Bachahn. The cattle are 
from the pencil of Mb. R. Ankele, while 
the landscape is from Mb. E. White’s 
sketches from nature. Mr. Wilhelme 
was engaged exclusively on the farm im¬ 
plements, leaving the heD, ohickens, and 
several minor partB to Mb. T. Fleming. 
The mechanical labor of preparing the 
•vrtists’ work for its final place under the 
cylinder of the press is credited to Mb. 
J. C. Moss,—all of this city. 
We have only now to express the hope 
that our readers will accept the new title¬ 
heading as an indication that Rubal's 
promises of improvement are made to be 
fulfilled, and that increase of years will 
bring more of beauty as well as of wis¬ 
dom. 
Domestic Economy : 
Fresh Sifting from the Kitchen-Fire—Annie L. 
Jack. 704 
Mop-FUndle Papers—No. 8—Muy Maple.704 
Domestic Recipes..... 704 
Literary : 
Poetry.. ..... 701 706 
Everlasting Flowers for Baskets and Decoration' 
—(lllusiated)-J. j. Heinrich. 701 
Weaker Than a Woman. . “...........!. 1111T! I! 11!! 701 
Coffee-Houses against Ruin-Shops. 709 
Recent Literature. vim 
Poor Economy — Ruth. 703 
Recreative Housekeeping—A Tired Housekeeper 70S 
Ought We to be Gloouiy at Forty ?—Mrs W. C. G. 70S 
Mhuse Dishes—Aunt Fanny. 703 
Bright Side View Recommended—Sarah is. ILSbep- 
herd. 703 
The Wailand the Protest—Sans Soucl. 7 U 3 
Ihe Head to the Norib...’ 703 
Reading for the Young : 
Letters from Boys and Girls. 706 
Puzzler. 703 
Sabbath Reading: 
Materialism tn rhe Popular Faith 
Bible Arithmetic. 
Committee of Bible Revisers..... 
News of the Week—Herman.. 
Markets. 
Personals... 
Wit and Humor. 
Advertisements. 
. 706 
.706 
...706 
.704 
. 7u5 
. 707 
.70S 
705. 707 7u8 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY NOY. 2, 1878. 
We offered, some time ago, to sell the cute 
used in this Journal for ten cents the square 
inch. Many have requested ua to send proofs 
of our cuts. Ab we have upwards of ten thou¬ 
sand, we could not undertake to do so. Persons 
wishing to purchase, must select from files of 
the Bubal New-Yorker. 
THE BUBAL NEW-YOBKEB. 
Many of our readers who have become 
familiar through association with the old 
title-heading of this journal, will best 
appreciate the new design that graces the 
first page of the present issue. While 
the lettering of the name has been pre¬ 
served, the details have been so changed 
that the complete result will bear the 
closest critical scrutiny, inviting atten¬ 
tion because of its suggestiveness. 
The home grounds in the lower right- 
hand corner are typical of the refined 
country home, such an one as every well- 
to-do farmer might possess, thereby 
increasing the attractions of the home¬ 
stead by simple and natural arts that 
create surroundings so pleasant that the 
young people would be loath to exchange 
them for the coarser allurements of city 
life. The foliage is true to nature, being 
drawn from life. All may recognize 
among the trees the Beech, Elm, Nor¬ 
way Spruce, Juniper, Hemlock, Mag¬ 
nolia, etc. 
The bouquet over the “Y” is com¬ 
posed of some of our native flowers, 
which the artist has faithfully portrayed 
from life-specimens. Jack-in-tbe-Palpit, 
Bog-arum and the Dog-tooth Violet, are 
in graceful juxtaposition with the Ane¬ 
mone, Violets and other modest flowerets. 
SUAVITY OB AGREEABLENESS. 
In that portion of the brain lying a 
little on each side of the upper part of the 
forehead, phrenologists locate tho organ 
suavity, or agreeableness. As this is 
large or defioient depends, in a great de¬ 
gree, the natural politeness of its pos¬ 
sessor. Some men are so organized that 
it is only with difficulty they can even 
force an appearance of politeness. With¬ 
out intending it, their manner is repel¬ 
lent, and it they have a fair share of com¬ 
bativeness, antagonistic to such an extent 
as to make their society unsought and 
disagreeable. They receive favors ungra¬ 
ciously, and grant them in such a man¬ 
ner as makes the recipient regret hav¬ 
ing asked them. Of this kind was 
the young lady in the rail car, who took 
a seat offered her by a gentleman old 
enough to be her father, without remark. 
Perceiving that he stood by her side 
longer than she thought uesessary, she 
asked rudely what he was waiting for ? 
“ Merely to hear you say thank you,” he 
replied, much to her annoyance and to 
the merriment of those sufficiently near 
to hear the remarks. 
Sometimes a person really possesses a 
desire to be polite, the result of the ac¬ 
tion of other organs, as benevolence, rev¬ 
erence, <fcc., but lacks the power of ex¬ 
pressing it by acts ox words. Such are 
unfortunate, and are constant sufferers in 
consequence. Their questions are often 
put in such manner and word as to give 
unintentional offense, and their replies 
are shot out bluntly, and without the 
respect tho circumstances demand. We 
know of more than one really kind-heart¬ 
ed and affectionate man, who impress a 
large majority of merely business ac¬ 
quaintances with the idea that they are 
ugly, unsocial disagreeable individuals, 
whose company is to be avoided. 
On the other hand there are those 
whose brain is so largely developed and 
active in that region as to make them so 
desirous of appearing polite and agreea¬ 
ble that they often sacrifice truth itself in 
the endeavor. Of this class are those 
who treat you as if they desired to make 
you their dearest and most confidential 
i\ iend; parting with you with an ap¬ 
pearance of great sorrow, only to meet 
the next moment another person with the 
same expressions of affectionate regard. 
Their desire to please is so great, that 
their words are not always measured by 
the stritft rule of fact, but expand or con¬ 
tract therefrom as it seems to them will 
best please the listener. Nor can those 
people be called really hypocrites or delib¬ 
erate falsifiers. They act out their na¬ 
tures os inheritance and circumstances 
have made them. 
But between these two unhappy ex¬ 
tremes are various gradations tending 
to the happy mean. We occasionally 
meet men, (would it were oftener), whose 
every look and action have attractions, 
and whoso words, not studied, are as 
agreeable as possible, who can say un¬ 
pleasant things in such a way as to de¬ 
prive them of half their bitterness, and 
even decline a request in such a way as 
makes a friend of the applicant. We 
cannot all attain this degree of perfec¬ 
tion, but “character is not writ in mar¬ 
ble,” and it is left for each of us by care, 
attention and cultivation to make our¬ 
selves better or worse than nature leaves 
us. 
There is no place where true politeness 
is worth more—is productive of better 
results than at home. And by this we 
do not mean the house and family circle 
merely, but everywhere about—on the 
furm, in the garden, among the animals. 
What, be polite to animals, do yon ask? 
Most certainly, we say. And we leave it 
for your own observation to discover how 
much gentle words, pleasant tones, and 
kind looks can accomplish. The best 
cattle trainers we know have learned by 
experience it is not necessary to scold 
and abuse oxen to render them obedient; 
and a horse soon comes to love a gentle 
master. Try it with your farm hands. 
A request pleasantly preferred is com¬ 
plied with quite as readily and with a 
better spirit than a mandatory order. 
“ Please ” is an entering wedge to a man’s 
good nature, and often open6 the way 
through which the sentence following 
passes without friction, where otherwise 
it would chafe and rub. 
Capt. Gardner, an old friend of ours, 
was a student of human nature, and 
knew men, their ways and their weak¬ 
nesses, and their deserving too. After 
one of his long trips he called on us. In a 
conversation he said he believed, since he 
saw us before, he had done what no other 
man ever did. He had sailed a ship 
around the world without using an oath 
or striking a blow. He believed it was 
possible to be kind and agreeable to his 
sailors and still maintain their respect and 
obedience. He determined to try it, and 
proved by practice what he inferred from 
theory. 
There are many rough places in life’s 
journey. We cannot make them too few, 
try how we may ; but most of us oan, by 
a little self-control and will-power, keep 
back a disagreeable expression, and re¬ 
place it with one not only more polite 
and quite as effective, but which is less a 
stumbling - block in the way of our 
neighbor. 
-- 
A REQUEST. 
We ask our farmers, who are not al¬ 
ready possessed of the information, to 
read carefully—to study and to under¬ 
stand, in fact—the botany article under 
its appropriate department head. There 
is nothing new or especially interesting 
about it, but it explains, in simple lan¬ 
guage, what every farmer ought to know. 
What is a pistil, a stamen, an ovary, etc.? 
What relations do they hold to each 
other ? Such elementary botanical knowl¬ 
edge is of itself of practical value, and 
when once gained—at least with many— 
leads to further investigation. At a fair 
held in Bergen Co., N. J., a few weeks 
ago, a fig tree was placarded thus : “A 
tree that bears fruit but never bears 
flowers.” It seemed rather strange to us 
that neither the directors nor hundreds 
of visitors vouchsafed an explanation. 
All appeared to take for granted that the 
statement was true, and that it was, in¬ 
deed, a remarkable tree. Auy botany 
would have informed them that the flow¬ 
ers of the fig are inclosed within the re¬ 
ceptacle, and that they might have been 
discovered by cutting open one of the 
young figs upon the tree in question. 
There are many ways in which a knowl¬ 
edge of the beautiful and simple study 
of elementary botany might be rendered 
useful in the farmer’s daily avocations, 
and we know of no other which, when 
fairly begun, so incites the inquirer to 
further research. 
- - - 
OUB PROMISING FUTURE. 
When the owner of a farm or a work¬ 
shop is producing and selling more than 
he is buying and is accumulating a bal¬ 
ance at his bank, or is enlarging his good 
and sound credits, or his stock-in-trade, 
or the means of future production, he is 
prosperous ; otherwise he is not. If two 
men or two thousand or two million, or 
the whole nation in the aggregate, are 
doing this, they or the nation are pros¬ 
pering, however much they may be prac¬ 
tising economy, saving expenses or pay¬ 
ing off previous debts. This must be 
evident. But yet there are persons who 
would have us believe differently; at 
least so far as the nation is concerned. 
A nation is only an aggregate of individu¬ 
als, and what is true of one is true of 
every one together in combination. 
While we are yet doubting whether, as 
a nation, we are in the way of prosperity 
or not, it might bo well to consider what 
we are doing in business. Last year the 
exports from this country amounted to 
$728,617,425. Of this amount over $400,- 
000,000 represented the prodnots of manu¬ 
factories of all kinds; inoluding cotton 
cloths, jewelry, watches, tools, ma¬ 
chinery, hardware, bells, locomotives, 
coffins, carriages, cars, statuary, paint¬ 
ings, books, wines, pianos, carpets, soap, 
boots, glass, stoves, scales, leather, ink, 
pins, marble, scientific instruments, agri¬ 
cultural machinery, and a vast assort¬ 
ment of other products of handicraft. 
These paid for all our imports, very near¬ 
ly ; leaving our cotton, corn, wheat, pro¬ 
visions and other farm products to be 
paid for in cash, which means gold ; for 
that alone is accounted as money in this 
our best business. 
Now, what an agreeable view is this for 
the farmer : what a home market is here 
opened for his produce at bis doors ! 
How much better this, than to have all 
these artisans working as farmers, grow¬ 
ing pork and wheat to send to foreign 
countries in exchange for such things as 
they now make at home in their shops. 
Prices of produce are low enough at this 
time, but what would they be if tho pro¬ 
ducers were doubled and tho markets the 
same as they uow are ? On tho whole, 
the figures of our rapidly increasing busi¬ 
ness with the world should be very satis¬ 
factory to every farmer, and should be a 
source of great hopefulness for the fu¬ 
ture, as proviug beyond a doubt that our 
progress is sound and solid, and contains 
the elements of a greatly increased pros¬ 
perity in the future. 
Exaggerated Estimates. — Many 
of our agricultural writers estimate the 
possible yield of au acre of com or wheat 
from tho yield of a very small plot high¬ 
ly cultivated, or even from that of a 
siDglo favored plant. Such reasoning ex¬ 
cites hopes which never can be realized, 
though, it is true, that endeavors to real¬ 
ize them may, in some cases, do good. 
Suppose we were to reason in that way, 
taking our Pearl Millet plant presented 
on the first page, as a basis for our calcu¬ 
lation. As it measured nearly 14 feet in 
circumference, suppose we allow 16 
square feet to each plant. There are 
43,560 square feet iu an acre. This would 
give 2722 plants, which, at 42$- lbs. to 
the plant, would be over 57 tons to the 
acre! The fact is, whenever anything 
new is offered to the public with a grand 
flourish, it is purchased at a high price, 
and given ten times the care that ordina¬ 
ry crops are given. The results are pub¬ 
lished as if they were due only to the 
merits of the new variety of plant—the 
extra culture is ignored. 
■♦ ♦ ♦- 
BREVITIES. 
Gather the leaves. 
Plant all hardy fruits. 
Be gentle and kind unto your colts. 
Clear up stones, stumpB and rubbish. 
Harvest the Bugar beets and mangels—leave 
the parsnips and salsify. 
What is the use of talking about new fodder 
plants, if of less value than corn ? 
It seems that 29 bushels to the acre are the av¬ 
erage wheat yield of England for 1878. 
Keee a barrel in the hen-yard. Clean the 
hen-houses weekly, and throw manure into the 
barrel—then cover with a layer of dry soil or 
muck. 
The students of our agricultural colleges 
Bbould bear in mind that their studies there 
are but preparatory steps to euable them more 
quickly, more thoroughly, to understand in what 
successful farm management consists. 
The English papers say that they have never 
before known so many farms of the better class 
in the market. They say that if any man will 
take a pen and correct the prices of any former 
year’s balance-sheet by the prices of to-day, ho 
will find sufficient cause for apprehension. 
Many farmers will buy s ieds because they are 
cheap, and run the risk of half of tboru being 
worthless. Iu maoy cases they should know 
that pure live seeds oan not be raised, gathered 
and sold for such prices. Thus a bid is offered 
for dishonest practices, and the buyer is as oul- 
pable as the seller. 
Pres. Hayes remarked in a speech last week: 
“Great changes have occurred during these five 
years of financial depression. The agricultural 
interests always suffer less by such depression, 
for in good and “ flush" times the farmer is 
usually tho last to branch out, run into debt and 
go beyond hiH moans. He certainly Is caught 
with less debt than the manufacturer or com¬ 
mercial man. When prosperity comes back the 
farmer leads off with good crops, and this makes 
business for railroads, steamboats and canals. 
It quickens and increases the products of the 
factory and the Bhop.” 
Skim-Milk Adulteration is justly denounced 
by a correspondent of ours from Ciroleville in 
this State. Although raizing skim-milk with 
new milk, and selling the mixture as puro new 
milk is probably the least hurtful form of 
adulteration practised by the dishonest milk- 
dealers who supply large and small cities with 
the lacteal fluid, yet no upright man will be 
guilty of this species of swindling ; for it is not 
only au injustice to the purchaser, who pays au 
honest price for a fraudulent article, but it iB 
also au injury to oousoieutions dealers, by be¬ 
getting suspicions of their produot and by 11 bear¬ 
ing " the milk market.’’ 
