18 
JAN. 7 
T H Bt 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A. National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
RLBKRT 8. CARMAN, 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JAN. 7, 1882. 
ANNOUNCEMENTS. 
The Bonanza Farm series of articles 
and illustrations will probably be begun 
in our next issue, beginning with the por¬ 
trait of Mr. Oliver Dalrymple and a sketch 
of his life. The portrait will be printed 
upon heavy superca tendered paper as a 
supplement. The second of the series of 
illustrations will be Breaking; the third 
Backsetting; the fourth, Seeding; the 
fifth, Harrowing; the sixth, Harvest¬ 
ing, and the last Thrashing. Mr. Dal- 
ryn.ple informed our special corres¬ 
pondents that this is the first time 
he has ever given comprehensive notes of 
his methods of farming to the. public, and 
that all other writings upon the subject 
have been from desultory information, 
and most of it wide of the truth. 
We take much pleasure in announcing 
to our readers that the distinguished 
American horticulturist, Dr. John A 
Warder, will begin next week a series of 
articles for the Rural New-Yorker on 
Forestry. 
Professor A. E. Blount will com¬ 
mence in a few weeks a series of articles 
on Colorado farming, wheat growing, etc. 
Mr. Waldo F. Brown, the veteran 
farmer of Butler County, Ohio, will short¬ 
ly begin a series of articles in the Rural 
New-Yorker upon the following topics: 
How to Raise Pigs—Illustrated. 
How to make Cheap Pork, adapted 
especially for the corn farms of the Wes 
Breeds and Crosses. 
Recollections of Hog Driving. 
Mr. Henry Stewart, as has already 
been announced, will begin his farm nov¬ 
el, founded ou fact, entitled “ The Story 
of Stony Brook Farm,” as soon as our 
present story closes. 
The well-known Professor A. J. Cook 
begins with the next number a series of ar¬ 
ticles on bees and honey. Professor Cook 
has for 14 years been an earnest student 
of apiculture, carrying forward for the 
entire period experiments that had for 
their object the development of the sci¬ 
ence and improvement of the art. For 
the past thirteen years he has been a lec¬ 
turer on bee keeping at the Michigan 
Agricultural College, Superintendent of 
the College Apiary, which has paid from 
100 to 500 per cent, ou the capi¬ 
tal invested ; President of the Mich¬ 
igan State and of the National Bee- 
Keepers’ Associations. He is the author 
of what everywhere is acknowledged us 
the most complete work on apiculture in 
the world, and his Manual of the Apiary 
is thought, both in Europe and America, 
to he the most complete work extant on 
this subject. 
It nmv be interesting to some of our 
readers to know that of 25 young seed¬ 
lings of the Golden Nine-bark, not one 
shows the golden leaf-color of its parent. 
-*-M--- 
TnE report made by Mr. Parkhurst (see 
Everywhere Department) speaks of two 
White Elephants weighing seven pounds. 
These arc the largest, ot any mentioned in 
our reports, as we remember. The yield 
of Washington Oats is likewise surprising. 
It will also be noticed that Mr. A. M. Coe, 
of Coe Ridge, Ohio, reports, in the same 
Department, the largest yield of White 
Elephant. Potatoes yet mentioned from a 
single tuber—203 1-2 pounds. 
-- ♦♦ ♦ - 
Small fruit growers whose straw¬ 
berry plants were not injured by 
drought during last Summer and Fall, 
should bear in mind that many Eastern 
plantations were utterly ruined. We 
fcnow of several nurserymen who will be 
obligedYo buy all of their plants to sup¬ 
ply their patrons. Strawberry plants will 
be high during the Spring season of ’82, 
and those who have a large and healthy 
stock may feel assured of a bouncing trade 
at remunerative prices. 
As we intend in the future to devote a 
special column to “Reports of the 
Rural’s Seeds and Plants,” we respect¬ 
fully ask of our contributors to the “Ev¬ 
erywhere Department” that they will dis¬ 
connect regular crop reports and prospects 
from their reports of Rural seeds, pota¬ 
toes and plants. This may he done either 
on the same, page or by writing on differ¬ 
ent pages. The name and address should 
follow each, Our readers are solicited to 
continue their reports upon all matters of 
agricultural and horticultural interest. 
Coming, as they do, from nearly every 
part of the country, they greatly assist in 
sustaining the character of the Rural 
New-Yorker as a National Farm Jour¬ 
nal. 
Barley for Horses. —The Arabians, 
and we helive the Spaniards also, feed this 
grain to their horses almost, exclusively,and 
never experience any bad results from it. 
Not so the English, for with their horses 
it swells in the intestines and produces 
many evils, even death sometimes. But 
if boiled before feeding, it is not injurious, 
as this swells the grain to its full capacity. 
On the other hand, oats are said to be 
very injurious to Arab. Spanish, and some 
other horses, which have not been fed 
thereon from colthood up. When these 
are brought to England where oats 
are exclusively fed, they must, get accus¬ 
tomed to them very gradually and with a 
mixture of other food in order to prevent 
in jury, and even this we are told does not 
always prevent it. 
We wish the Famcuse or Snow Apple 
would thrive everywhere, and that our 
markets during early Winter might be 
filled with it, the same as they now arc 
with Baldwins. No apple is more re¬ 
freshing, more tender, more enjoyable. 
Its flesh is very tender, juicy, sub-acid 
and a trifle spicy. It is as white as snow, 
from which fact, no doubt, the name was 
suggested. Its color is a deep red where 
exposed to the sun, and when somewhat 
sheltered it assumes stripes and blotches 
of red on a whitish ground. The Rural 
has had much to say of the Famcuse from 
time to time. From our best informa¬ 
tion it thrives in Illinois, Nebraska, Wis¬ 
consin, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, 
New Hampshire, Maine and in Ontario, 
Canada, 
-- 
A friend, whose opinions we have al¬ 
ways deemed entitled to much considera¬ 
tion, writes us as follows:—“I see on p. 
848 (Dec. 17) you speak of raising the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture to a Cabinet po¬ 
sition, and do not object to it. Dr. Lor- 
ing’s notion of uniting transportation, 
manufactures, etc., wc, who are looking 
for the advancement of the farmer, believe 
to be a mistake. Elevate agriculture in 
every way, but keep it distinct. It is 
too much like uniting an agricultural 
school to a university, which is not so well 
as to have the agricultural school by it¬ 
self. I shall be glad to see, after mature 
thought, that you come out for agriculture 
distinct as a department of our Govern¬ 
ment.” Our views are quite in accord 
with the above. 
-■+■-» 
Coming from so distinguished a person 
and from one who, in our opinion, never 
compliments idly, we may say that we 
value the following words as among the 
most gratifying of any we have ever re¬ 
ceived in appreciation of our work upon 
the Rural New-Yorker:— 
Your paper is truly excellent and a 
power in the land. I frequently have oc¬ 
casion to say that I think the Rural fear¬ 
less in taking the side of right; that it 
will always aud everywhere work for the 
true interests of farmers. I am glad 
to say this. It does me good to say it and 
to believe it. I wish I could say the same 
of all papers. I believe this has been seen 
by most of your patrons, and that it is the 
best policy for you iu the end, if you stoop 
to policy, but 1 believe you do not. I am 
among our Western farmers often in large 
numbers in conventions; I know what 
the best of them think on many matters. 
W. J. Beal, Prof. Ag., Mich. A. C. 
-♦ ♦ » - - - 
Weather Indications. —Old folk-lore 
stands no chance with the modern scient¬ 
ists. But although the iconoclasts per¬ 
sist in cutting and slashing down all our 
old gods and images, they have not been 
able to destroy the truths of which these 
were but the exponents. Signal Sei'vice 
experts have been used to cast undeserved 
reflections upon the common popular 
ideas and beliefs regarding weather fore¬ 
casts, but truth has prevailed in this as in 
other ways. The ancient Jews had a 
proverb, based doubtless upon a multi¬ 
tude of observation^ that when the sky 
was red and lowering in the morning it 
portended rain that day. Later the pop¬ 
ular belief that “ evening gray and morn¬ 
ing red ” was a sure sign of rain has been 
everywhere current. And, more recently 
still, the truth of this forecast has been 
proved by our own Signal Service, which, 
in the West., where weather indications, 
like every other thing, are on a vast scale, 
has found by observations made for the 
purpose, that forecasts founded upon the 
popular impression have been verified 80 
times out of 100. Truly, even in this 
progrestive and fast, age we may profit¬ 
ably go back sometimes to the slower but 
often surer methods of old times. And 
farmers, who need carefully to note the 
weather, may make a note of this, and 
govern themselves accordingly. 
A SURFEIT OF SWEETS. 
We seem likely to be fairly deluged 
with sweets. Amid all the abundance of 
our soil products there is nothing that 
comes from so many sources and in such 
increasing quantities as sugars and sirups; 
not spontaneously, to be sure, like grass, 
wood and coal; nor for mere labor, like 
grain and fruit, for the skill aud art of 
the manufacturer must intervene; but 
with these we are likely to have repletion 
of sweets. We have fresh discoveries 
every year of trees and plants capable of 
yielding starch-sirup or glucose economi¬ 
cally; sweet and pleasant, if not as 
strong and condensed as the sucrose pro¬ 
duct of the cane, maple or beet. It is 
said that eleven millions of bushels of 
corn will be used this year for the 
manufacture of glucose, but it has 
scarcely got into so large a use for this 
purpose before it is superseded by the 
cassava tuber which is more easily grown 
and gathered and capable of yielding 
ten tons of glucose to the acre instead of 
half a ton, as from corn. The growth 
and gathering are simpler, the tubers re¬ 
maining in the ground for use at any 
time after six months from planting 
until, in two years or more, they attain a 
size of sometimes as much as sixty 
pounds, and arc as easily gathered as so 
many artichoke roots, coming up with a 
pull at the stalk. The land to be re¬ 
deemed by the draining of the Okeecho¬ 
bee swamps—an area of some millions 
of acres—is said to be particularly well 
adapted to this culture as well as to that of 
the sugar cane, as the cassava plant suc¬ 
ceeds as well in Florida as in Brazil, 
where it is the main staple and support 
of large classes of the population, formed 
into arrow-root, tapioca, cakes and bread. 
This account comes from Philadelphia, 
where a company is being formed to in¬ 
stitute the cassava-glucose manufacture 
on a large scale. 
IS A CHANGE IMMINENT? 
We seem to be on the eve of a change 
in our system of agriculture. Heretofore 
we have been glorying in the superiority 
of our tools and machinery; their lightness 
and strength and the ease with which they 
have been handled. With these light 
tools, we have needed only light horses. 
But the heavy draft horses of England, 
Scotland aud France are becoming popu¬ 
lar, and of what possible value can they 
he to us unless we increase the work of 
our farms to suit the enormous size and 
strength of these monstrous animals. 
With these horses we must use greater 
wagons, and necessarily broad-tired 
wheels, as in Europe; also heavy plows, 
which are turned by the liorses, for the 
plowman is wholly unable to handle them. 
This will be adopting the English cus¬ 
toms, against, which we have hitherto set 
our faces. But. the question occurs, have 
we been altogether right, in this ? Eng¬ 
lish agriculture has been the most produc¬ 
tive in the world. It has thriven under 
burdens which would have crushed ours 
to-the earth. Its present low estate is due 
only to a long series of unexampled dis¬ 
asters under which it has been borne 
down by its burdens otherwise easily car¬ 
ried. And the excellence of the system 
has been due to the thorough working 
and cultivation of the soil by the most 
effective plows, harrows, crushers, pulver¬ 
izers, grubbers, and other implements, 
the weights of which seem enormous 
to us, and which are handled only by the 
huge horses which we are just now im¬ 
porting so numerously. Changes are al¬ 
ways occurring, aud no one can tell what 
course the popular fancy or fashion may 
take in any pxrticular direction. It is 
very certain that if we introduce these 
large and heavy horses to any great ex¬ 
tent in our farm work we shall be forced 
to change our implements also, to find ad¬ 
equate work for them. A change of im¬ 
plements involves a different stylo of 
work, and perhaps after all wc may in 
this roundabout manner begin to cultivate 
our soil more thoroughly than we have 
ever done before; to feed more cattle and 
so make more manure to fill up the great 
five-ton, broad-wheel wagons which roll 
behind these 2,000-pound horses; and 
then, of course, we must double or treble 
the yield of our crops. 
MILK ADULTERATION IN GERMANY 
The adulteration of dairy products is 
by no means common to America alone. 
In Germany, especially in the article of 
milk, adulteration has been most persis¬ 
tent, and the subject has called for strin¬ 
gent. legislation. Police inspection has 
been established whereby the milk, when 
brought to market, is examined, and if 
found impure, is at once confiscated. In 
the city of Mannheim, out of 309 sam¬ 
ples analyzed, 245 showed impurities, and 
in the course of one month fines to the 
amount, of 650 marks (about $160) 
were levied for the adulterations in milk. 
At Frankfort-on the-Main a fine of one 
mark (25 cents) is levied for each one per 
cent, of water added. 
Notwithstanding the great, precaution 
taken against having impure milk for city 
use, that article is still on the market. 
From the report of the consul-general at 
Frankfort-ou-the-Mniu we learn that an 
institution for the detection of impurities 
and disease In milk was established there 
in 1877. It is managed by a commission 
of three physicians, one veterinary sur¬ 
geon and one chemist. At this institution 
cows of the Rigi and Toggenburger 
breeds are kept, as they arc supposed to 
be less liable to the disease known as 
pcrlxucJit, which corresponds to consump¬ 
tion in man. Each cow receives 16 pounds 
of meadow hay, 17 pounds of clover, 
six pounds of hulled barley meal and 
four pounds of wheat flour daily. The 
cows are kept in stalls, so that they can 
eat nothing but what, is given them; they 
are watered and fed regularly, their hides 
are kept clean and the stables are well 
ventilated. In order to prevent the com¬ 
munication of any disease which any ani¬ 
mal may chance to have, and to preserve 
an even quality of milk, the product of 
ten cows is mixed together. It is after¬ 
wards put up in quart bottles, sealed and 
sent out to market. An average result 
of chemical analysis of this milk is as 
follows: 
Elements. Per cent. 
Water. 86.95 
Fat. 3 97 
Albumen. 3.64 
Sugar.:. 4.71 
Salt..'.70 
Solid matter. 13.04 
It is said that this Anstalt milk has 
produced beneficial results that are quite 
surprising as a food for invalids or chil¬ 
dren. Of the desirability of having sim¬ 
ilar institutions near our cities it is hardly 
necessary to speak. If the consumer w'ere 
positively sure, of getting the pure 
article every time he would rest content 
to do without such an institution iu the 
suburbs, but when so much of the city 
milk supply comes ma the well-curb and 
pump, and is sometimes so infected with 
almost nauseating odors, any new de¬ 
parture, such as the above, would be 
heartily approved. 
- 4 » » 
BREVITIES. 
We agree with our contributor Mr. C. A. 
Green who says that in many cases nursery¬ 
men have of late years been growing and sell¬ 
ing trees at an absolute loss. Many have been 
compelled to abandon the business, but 
those who continue arc likely to reap the re¬ 
ward of perseverance and pluck. 
The New York Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Station. —All the members of the Board 
of Control of this project, except Gover¬ 
nor Cornell, met at Geneva on December 23, 
The special committee charged with the duty 
of selecting a site for the Station repotted 
three favorable locations: one near Geneva, 
another at Palmyra, and a third at. Spencer- 
pork. The Board, after inspecting each, de¬ 
cided in favor of the Denton farm near Gene¬ 
va, and a committee, consisting of the Presi¬ 
dent, Secretary, and Messrs. Barry and Swan, 
was appointed to conclude the purchase of the 
place, should tho title, etc., prove satisfactory. 
The property consists of 125 acres of good land 
a mile and a-half from the railroad depot on a 
good street overlooking the town of Geneva 
and Seneca Lake. It is well underdrained 
and watered, is in a good state of cultivation, 
and has no broken or waste places. The build¬ 
ings are excellent, and amply large enough 
for the present purposes of the Station, and 
are said to have cost considerably more than 
the price asked for the farm—$25,000. After 
a free exchange of opinions. Dr, E. Lewis 
Sturtevant was chosen Director from Janu¬ 
ary 1st, 1882, at a salary of $2,500 a year—an 
excellent selection, of which we approve. 
