748 
NOV. 23 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
Practical Departments: 
Our Cattle Illustrations. 741 
Jerseys in theWest-G. L. Wrenn. 741 
Best Time to Plant Trees, Plants, etc.—Nelson 
Ritter .,... 742 
Dairying and Dairy Cows of New Knpland— K. 
Goodman... 742 
Fall Mana. ementof Sheep-Prof. R. W Stewart. 742 
Hatching Chicken-— J. H. Campbell. 742 
The Best Breed of Fowls. 743 
Excellence oi Sour Milk.. 713 
Millet Again. . . 743 
Salting Whom Lwul-W. B. Derrick. ... 743 
Jottings at Kirby Homestead—Col. F. D. Curtis 743 
Notes on Apples from Oneida Co..—Jonathan 
Talontt....744 
Some of the Raspberries—H. Hendricks.744 
Henrietta Raspberry Again—J. T. Lovett. 745 
Banltniy Arrangements of the Homestead — A 
Jersey Farmer. 745 
Catalogues Received. . 745 
Cotton Ball Moth. 746 
Answers to Correspondents : 
What Ails tlieHogs?. 
Spaying Cows. 
Black-Leg in Cattle.. 
Corns on Horses. 
Coryza, or Nasal Catarrh in Swine 
Capomzlng Cockerels. 
Show Points of Light Brahmas.. 
Paradise and Doucin Stocks. 
Summer Savory. 
Miscellaneous. 
Communications Received. 
Everywhere : 
Grand Rapids, Micb.. 
Darned, Kan.. 
Chenango Falls, N. Y. 
Indiana Co.. Pa. 
Clearfield Co., Pa. 
Griffin, Ga. 
Warren Co., N. C. 
Piedmont, Va. 
746 
74(1 
746 
746 
746 
746 
746 
746 
746 
746 
746 
437 
747 
747 
747 
747 
747 
747 
747 
Domestic Economy: 
Household Conveniences—Sarah Gamp 
Uses of Ammonia—M. G. R. 
Rag-Carpets—Ellen. 
Bed-Quilt Pattern- Libbie D. J ones. 
Cheap Carpeting—Aunt Km . 
Domestic Recipes. 
Editorial page: 
752 
762 
752 
752 
762 
763 
Thanksgiving... 745 
In Which all of the Readers are Interested.!.!!! 748 
Brevities... 748 
Lit kraut: 
Poetry... ... 
Fashion Notes—(Illustrated). 
Weaker Than a Woman. 
After Dinner Speech of Baroness 
.Louise Stockton.. 
Readme for the Young : 
The Ilandless Malden. 
The Singing Bone . 
Sabbath Reading: 
The Mountains of God. 
News of the. Week.. 
Personals. 
Wit and Humor. 
Markets.!. 
Advertisements.. 
. 749, 754 
. 749 
.749 
Contaletto 
..751 
754 
754 
754 
752 
. 755 
.756 
. 753 
753. 735. 756 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY 8ATURDAY. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY NOV. 23, 1878. 
We earnestly request that all letters containing 
money, or any communication intended for the- 
Business Department of the paper, be addressed 
to the Editor, the Publisher , or The Rural N ew- 
Yobker, and not to any individual. We cannot 
otherwise guarantee the. prompt entry of names 
upon our books, or the acknowledgment of money. 
Our readers who apply will have the Beauty 
of Hebron potato sent to them separately, be¬ 
cause to send this with seeds makes an awkward 
package, and also, because the seeds may be for¬ 
warded at any time regardless of the weather, 
while the potatoes may be injured by frost. We 
mention this for the reason that our friends re¬ 
ceiving the potato only, may think the rest of 
their selection has been overlooked. 
Many of oar friends continue to send ns Two 
Fifty instead of Two Dollars, the new price of 
Rural. In suoh cases we will either refund the 
fifty cents or make the subscription term fifteen 
months, as may be preferred. 
Our new Premium Lists, specimen copies and 
agents’ outfits will now be forwarded free to all 
who apply. 
To Oub Readers. — Please again read the 
postal terms of our free seed distribution. Many 
are sending us more stamps than are called for. 
Oub Free Seed Distribution will remain open 
to all subsoriberB who may apply until further 
notioe. 
The Rural New Yobkeb is invariably discon¬ 
tinued at the end of the subscription term. 
THANKSGIVING. 
On twisting strings fat Turkeys fry ; 
In oven bakes the Chicken Pie ; 
The roasting Pig with butter swells, 
And oh, how good Thanksgiving smells I 
Let us read a page of the early history 
of New England : 
The winter succeeding the landing of 
the PilgrimB was one of unusual se¬ 
verity, and during the following sum¬ 
mer (1621) sickness prevailed to such 
an aiaiining extent that but little 
food was raised, while in the autumn 
more immign.nts arrived, with whom that 
little was shared, compelling the colony 
for six months together to subsist on 
half allowance. Some fishermen off the 
coast kept them from famishing, by oc¬ 
casional gifts of fish. The little extra 
provisions on the ships were held at ex¬ 
orbitant prices, showing that theD, as now, 
the necessities of one are made the op¬ 
portunities of another. In the spring of 
1623 victuals were so entirely spent that 
a famine seemed imminent. The little 
corn left was used for seed, and lobster, 
fish and muscles, without bread, were 
their only sustenance. After planting 
came a season of drought which promised 
to destroy the hoped-for crop, in view of 
which a day of fasting and prayer for 
rain was appointed. According to Cot¬ 
ton Mather, before the close of this day 
which began hot and cloudless, the clouds 
gathered, showers descended, and the 
crop was saved. In the autumn, after 
the abundant harvest was gathered, 
Gov. Bradford appointed a day for 
thanksgiving. A company was sent out 
for game, that they might have dainty and 
abundant materials for a feast, and re¬ 
joice together. “ So they got their game 
and they cooked it, and they ate of it, and 
they feasted Massasoit and 90 of his In¬ 
dians, and they thanked God with all 
their hearts for the good world and the 
good things in it.” So they kept their 
first Thanksgiving. 
The annual appointment of a day of 
thanksgiving early became one of* the 
customs of New England and has been 
continued to the present time. It soon 
became a day for family gatherings and 
attendant frolics and festivities, and in 
later years, it was not seldom that three 
and even four generations were found un¬ 
der the roof of the ancestral home, making 
not only the day itself one of joy and 
gladness, but extending the merry-making 
through the week. Christmas was not 
recognized in the Puritan’s calendar, and 
Thanksgiving came, in some measure, to 
fill its place. 
There is no section of our broad land 
where the influence of early New Eng¬ 
land is not felt to this day. When her 
sons and daughters leave the stony hills 
and unproductive fields of their ances¬ 
tors, to make their homes elsewhere, they 
take with them a love for many customs, 
that is not easily eradicated. Their chil¬ 
dren are taught to respect what the 
parents loved, and among the first duties 
of the Governor of a new State, in which 
the New England element was prominent, 
was that of issuing the aunual proclama¬ 
tion for Thanksgiving Day—not now, 
however, as in our youth, to be>read by 
the minister at the close of the sermon, 
on the morning of the Sunday preceding 
the appointed day, always closing with 
the declaration that on that day “all 
servile labor and vain recreation are by 
law forbidden.” 
Until recently the appointment of the 
day rested with the Governors, each 
choosing for himself, but always some 
Thursday in November. An opportunity 
was thus offered by which two or some 
times three Thanksgiving dinners could 
lie secured by journeying ,from State to 
State, a practice the appointment of a 
National Thanksgiving Day by the Presi¬ 
dent prevents. We are not positive that 
because some people could get advantage 
of others in tnis way, was the reason a 
President took the matter in hand, but it 
was that—or some other reason. The 
thing is done and no longer can more 
than one legal Thansgiving Day be ob¬ 
served in any year. 
But why should not every day be one 
of thanksgiving ? There are times when 
clouds arise, and the mists of Borrow and 
trouble enshroud us; when gladness is 
not ours; when dayB seem long and 
nights never-ending; when no words bring 
comfort, and hops seems to have departed; 
when we forget the blessings we have in 
grieving for those we have not. “ Look 
up and not down. ” Man was not made 
to mourn. All nature repudiates the as¬ 
sertion. 
Let us consider a moment, our situa¬ 
tion as a people. 
We have a Government that, in theory 
at least, is as good as the world has ever 
seen, and the growing intelligence of our 
citizens is warrant that it will be made so 
in practice. 
We have a climate more various than 
that possessed by any other nation. Our 
soil iB fertile and well adapted for the 
production of every crop grown in the 
temperate and Bemi-tropical zones. Our 
great Northwest alone is capable of pro¬ 
ducing sufficient food to support the en¬ 
tire population of the globe. 
In manufacturing facilities no country 
is our superior. Our water-power is 
practically unlimited, and our coal-beds 
almost inexhaustible. 
Our mineral wealth is beyond com¬ 
putation. One State alone has iron enough 
lor the world, and thousands of acres 
beyond the Mississippi lie on foundations 
of silver, 
Passing from the physical, we may be 
congratulated on our mental and moral 
advantages. We find the same spirit 
that built the New England school-houses 
two hundred years ago, permeates our 
entire country. Free Schools are the 
rule, and if any are uneducated, it is their 
own fault; while the statistics of crime 
show there is nowhere a more moral and 
law-sustaining population than ours. 
The result of all these advantages is 
happy homes. Look, for instance, at the 
picture on our first page, in which the 
artist has shown one of the many thou¬ 
sands where the Rural is welcomed every 
week. See three generations in one 
house, with the faithful dog to keep them 
company. The “ Cricket ” measures for 
them the passing time and the package 
of seeds from the Rural office, giveB 
promise of hours of pleasure during the 
coming summer, from which will result 
many things of beauty whioh will be joys 
forever. Look through the window and 
catch a glimpse of the surroundings and 
say if there can be any doubt this is a 
happy home, from which fervent thanks¬ 
givings will arise—and what shall we say 
for ourselves ? What but that our past 
year has been crowded with causes for 
thankfulness. Our time has been spent 
in earnest endeavor to accomplish two re¬ 
sults ! One to make a more acceptable pa¬ 
per than we had before—both in appear¬ 
ance and matter; the other to increase 
its circulation that more might profit 
by our labors. That we have done the 
the last, we know, and believe we have not 
failed in the other. We are thankful for 
the kind words of approval and encour¬ 
agement received from many friends, as 
well as for the co-operation and assistance 
of many others, all of which have served 
to make our labors less arduous and our 
path to success more free from thorns. 
■-»■»»- — 
IN WHICH ALL OF OUR READERS ARE 
INTERESTED. 
We state what is pretty generally 
known, when we say that seeds (and very 
often those of very poor quality), have 
frequently been offered aB premiums by 
weekly journals. So far as we are aware, 
they have always been those which might 
have been found in any one of the seeds¬ 
men’s catalogues, such as Balsam, Zinnia, 
Portulaoa, Ac., &o. There are two points 
which we would like to impress upon our 
readers in regard to the seeds which the 
Rural offers. First—They are not of¬ 
fered as premiums at all. We offer no 
premiums except as a compensation to 
those who get up clubs, and for this work 
they are as much entitled to compensa¬ 
tion as for any other kind of labor. Our 
seeds are offered to subscribers only. If 
this offer induoes many to subscribe who 
would not otherwise, we shall be glad ; 
but if not, our subscribers are entitled 
to a choice of them all the same. Seoond 
—The seeds offered with the exception of 
Pearl Millet, Defiance Wheat and Acme 
Tomato, cannot be purchased of seeds¬ 
men, while the Beauty of Hebron potato 
has not passed out of the control of those 
who commenced itsidissemination last year. 
Of the seeds of the Golden Rural Tomato, 
Bronze Ricinus, Hybrid Aquilegias, Seed¬ 
ling Deutzias, Weigelas and Voorhis Wat¬ 
ermelon we have the entire stock ; while 
seeds of the others, excepting Leaven¬ 
worth’s Eryngo, are not to be found in 
any of the advertised lists of the cata¬ 
logues in our possession. All of them 
will grow readily from seeds, and, speak¬ 
ing for the perennial hardy plants, they 
will grow in one season to the size of 
those purchasable from nurseries at from 
twenty-five to fifty cents each, while from 
a single packet of the Rural seeds, not 
less than half-a-dozen seedling plants 
may be counted on. 
We have not the least desire to over¬ 
estimate the value of the seeds we offer, 
but we are not the less disposed to make 
their value appreciated. It does not 
seem to be generally known that Deut- 
zias, Weigelas, hardy Hibisons, etc., 
may be obtained from seeds even more 
readily than from cuttings, while the 
amateur cultivator may be confident of 
variations in the flowers, if not in the 
foliage and habit, that will invest the 
seedling with an interest that purchased 
plants never could arouse. There are no 
better hardy shrubs than Weigelas, Deut¬ 
zias, Hibiscus, Ac., and we hope by our 
free seed distribution, to be instrumental 
in causing them to be cultivated in every 
garden in the country. If they are as 
desirable as we represent them to be, and 
if they may be procured for the trouble of 
sowing the seeds and caring for the young 
plants, then surely there will be no ex¬ 
cuse for the neglect of the farmers’ door- 
yards. We may excuse a farmer 
for a paucity of fine shrubs about 
his house if he is obliged to purchase 
them; but there is no excuse if he re¬ 
fuses to give them a place in his grounds 
when they are freely offered by those 
from whom he has a right to accept them 
in connection with the paper he helps to 
support. 
Respecting Pearl Millet, we hope it 
may take a high and permanent place 
among fodder plants. We shall send out 
seeds enough to enable everyone to settle 
the question of its utility for himself. 
Defiance Wheat which has produced such 
remarkable yields in some places, is at 
least worthy of a trial wherever 
spring wheats will thrive, and the 
Beauty of Hebron potato we are in high 
hopes will take the first place among the 
favorite varieties of the day. 
BREVITIES. 
We beg of our friends not to stick to their 
letters the stamps they may inclose in them. 
Mb. Laweb’ experiments show that sheep 
utilize a greater proportion of their food than 
cattle. 
Dr. Hoskins says that politicians as a class 
are tho most stupid, as they are the most selfish 
and venal of men. 
The outbreak of therinder-pest in England in 
1865, when at its hight, carried off 17,000 head 
of cattle a week, and in eighteen months England 
lost by the plague fully $40,000,000. 
We wiBli that our farmer readers would write 
ns what variety of field com hae produced with 
them the largest yield. If they have any dis¬ 
tinct varieties which they have cultivated, we 
would bo glad if they would send ns a sample 
ear at our expense. 
Though early to speak of it now. we hope all of 
our subscribers who receive the Beauty of He¬ 
bron potato will plant it beside the early Rose, 
treating both in the Bame manner, and advise 
ub of their comparative values. Wo will gladly 
publish suoh reports, whether for or against the 
Beauty of Hebron, having no interest m the po¬ 
tato except the desire to make its value known. 
The serious nature of the losses to whioh the 
thoroughbred live stock interests of this coun¬ 
try would be liable to in the event of the occur¬ 
rence here of some of the cattle plagues that 
ravage Europe, is shown by the havoc commit¬ 
ted by the foot-anti-month disease among the 
late T. O. Booth's Warlaby herd of Short-horns. 
Last year the owner testified before a Committee 
of the House of Commons, that in a few years 
he had lost from that pest alone, no less than 
£30,000 or $150,000. 
Sovereigns alone confer titles of nobility on 
illustrious Boions of the hnman race, whereas 
the commonality mainly bestow Buch symbols 
of distinction on eminent members of the 
“ lower oreation.” Judging by the powerof the 
parents, in both of the honored classes, to trans¬ 
mit their excellencies to their descendants, the 
people seem better judges of trne nobility 
than the monarebs, while the value of the pro¬ 
geny of original Hhort-horn Dukes, Dnohesaes, 
and Princesses far exceeds that of the offsprings 
of hundreds bearing Bimilar titles among the 
peerage of tho Old World. 
The island of Jersey, the original home of the 
cattle breed of that name, has & total area of 
only 28,000 acres, yet last year its export of 
early potatoes amounted to £230,000 or at the 
rate of about $40 per acre of the whole iBiand, 
including roads, rocks, bye-ways and waste 
places. This year the breadth planted to pota¬ 
toes was unusually great, but the potato disease 
appeared in M&v and the entire crop has turned 
out a failure. Many a fine Jersey cow, heifer 
and bull, that money could not have otherwise 
bought, will have to be sold this fall and winter 
to pay for rent, guano and advances. 
A Caution to Buyers of Jersey Cattle is 
needed from the fact that there are three Jersey 
Herd Books; namely, the Herd Register of the 
American Jersey Cattle Club, published at New¬ 
port, Rhode Island, ana edited by Secretary 
Waring under the supervision of the Executive 
Committee of the Club ; a State Herd Book 
published iu Maine, and a Herd Rook published 
in Massachusetts. The Jertieys entered in the 
first are alone authoritatively entitled to be con¬ 
sidered puro-bred, and, as a rule, tho animals 
enterc d in the others are not eligible to entry 
according to the rules of the Club. Before pur¬ 
chasing animals advertised for sale as entered 
in “ Jersey herd book,” it would be well, there¬ 
fore, to find out which herd book iB meant. It 
is estimated that there are about 10,000 Jerseys 
in this country entered or entitled to entry on 
the Register, and about as mauy more olaimed 
to be pure-bred but not entitled to the entry, 
owing to the stringent rules of the Club. 
The Horns of Cattle iu south Africa are 
said to be longer than even those of our Texans 
and are often curiously bent and twisted. This 
is effected by scraping the horn on the side to¬ 
wards which it iB desired that it should bend, 
and repeating tho operation until the wished-for 
shape has been attained. The question of 
“horns or no horns," seems to be lately attract¬ 
ing considerable attention on both Bides of the 
Atlantic. Hure the Kontuoky Live Stuck Record 
sees preponderating advantages on the “ no 
horns'’ side, bnt deprecates the introduction of 
polled cattle to bring about the change, as it 
cau be readily done by seating with a hot iron 
the spot where the horn is to grow on the calf. 
On the other hand the National Live Stock Jour¬ 
nal, while acknowledging, with us, that horns are 
no longer necessary as a means of protection 
against wild animals, and that they aie some¬ 
times used to inflict serious injury on other 
stock, is not prepared to sacrifice the elegaut 
and graceful appearanot> of the heads of horned 
cattle for tho homoly heads of " luuloys.” 
We offered, some time ago, to sell the cuts 
used in this Journal for ten cents the square 
inch. Many have requested us to send proofs 
of our cuts. As we have upwards of ten thou¬ 
sand, we oould not undertake to do so. Persons 
wishing to purchase, must select from files of 
tire Rural New-Yorker. 
