802 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOV 25 
rp 
RURAL NLW'YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT E. CARUAK. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. SI Park Row, New York. 
oA i' 0 rt d. x, MJV. 2.), 1002. 
The Rural New Yorker will be sent 
to all yearly subscribers from, now until 
January 1, 1884, for $2.00. 
Until recently we have doubted the 
truth of the statement that tomatoes, 
when plucked quite green from the vines 
when frosts threatened, wou d ripen if 
placed in any cool part of the house. 
Such is the case, as we have proven dur¬ 
ing the past two weeks. Among the to¬ 
matoes gathered were some that were 
not only perfectly green, but not more 
than three-fourths grown All ripened, 
though the color was paler than if they 
had been ripened on the vines, and they 
were deficient in the mature tomato flavor. 
During t he late dairy show in England, 
the Agricultural Gazette informs us that 
18 samples of milk were taken for analy¬ 
sis, nine in the morning and nine at night; 
and to our surprise, the latter were found 
to be of a richer quality than the former. 
We should have supposed the contrary, 
because cows exercise more during the 
day than at night. But as these cows 
were kept in stable all the time, there 
was little difference in this respect. We 
should now like to see an analysis of 
cow’s milk when kept in pasture day and 
night, also in pasture by day and yarded 
at night. Under these circumstances the 
milk which proved the richest, would be 
best to reserve for butter, as containing 
the most fat, and the other for cheese, as 
containing a greater proportion of caseine. 
-- 
“IToss trots ” at fairs have been de¬ 
prived of much of their evil, and of their 
excitement also, in this State ty a law 
passed by the last Legislature, which goes 
into force on Dec. 1. Herein it is pro¬ 
vided that it shall be a misdemeanor to 
be concerned “in any racing, running or 
other trials of spied between horses or 
other animals within one mile of the 
place where a courtis actually sitting;” 
and, moreover, that all such proceedings 
for any bet, stake or rewaid, except such 
as is allowed by special laws, are public 
nuisances, and in addition to the penalty 
for misdemeanor every person interested 
in them shill forfeit to the State any in¬ 
terest he may have in any animal in the 
race or in any money at stake on the re¬ 
sult thereof. Very severe penalties, too, 
are enacted against betting, holding 
stakes, pool-selling, keeping “books” or 
any other device or proceeding connected 
with racing for money or other stakes. 
This law is a sad blow to jockeys, train¬ 
ers, gamblers and fair managers. 
On November 10 a telegram from St. 
Paul, Minnesota, announced that a “ cold 
wave ” was traveling to the south and 
east from the “ winter factory,” in 
Manitoba. By the 12th it had rolled east 
to tbe Mississippi and south to the Ar¬ 
kansas. On the 13th its chill presence 
was felt over northern Texas to the south 
and as far east as a line drawn from Buf¬ 
falo, New York, to Nashville, Tennessee, 
and the next day it swept over the East¬ 
ern States out to sea. At the outset the 
“wave” had a temperature as low as 
four degrees below zero in Manitoba. In 
passing over Dakota, however, the tem¬ 
perature rose to six degrees above zero, 
and continued to rise slowly but irregu¬ 
larly until it quitted the continent, b-ing 
low enough to produce irost every morn¬ 
ing uniil it reached the Buffalo-Nashville 
line. The general impression is that ibis 
was the herald of Winter whose advent 
must soon be expected where it hss not 
alreadv come. In all parts of the country 
Jack Frost lias already made his cheer¬ 
ful appearance. 
Professor Caldwell explains very 
clearly elsewhere in this issue the chief 
cause of the comp trative failure of agri¬ 
cultural colleges to accomplish the object 
which induced Congress, twenty years ago, 
to make the grant for their foundation. 
A just appreciation of the advantages of 
a good agricultural education as a means 
to success m farming is very slow in de¬ 
velopment among farmers, so that the 
number of agricultural students in most 
of the colleges is very insignificant, and 
in many cases the strictly agricultural de¬ 
partment is looked upon with contempt 
by the students at large who profit by the 
grant made for its establishment. Msny 
of these ungrateful fellow’s, however, 
would flud more profitable employment 
in after life by going through the de¬ 
spised agricultural course, than by adopt¬ 
ing any of those they may think more 
“gentlemanly;” for, as the Maryland Ag¬ 
ricultural College says in soliciting the 
attendance of more students, the demand 
for graduates in agriculture is much 
greater than tho supply, and there are 
many paying situations that ran be filled 
best by graduates of agricultural colleges. 
-♦-*-♦- 
Gaunt famine once more threatens 
Ireland, and a cablegram tells us this 
morning that next Mondav Parnell is to 
ask Gladstone in Parliament what meas¬ 
ures the Government intends to adopt 
to lessen the horrors of approaching 
starvation in many districts. The agri¬ 
cultural returns of the country for the 
current year make a gloomy show. The 
acreage under crops, including meadows 
and clover, has decreased since 1881 by 
114,32? acres. The total acreage of the 
island is 20,328,753 of which one-half is 
under pasture, one-fourth under crops and 
almost a fourth taken up by marshes, 
fences, roads and water. For the last 20 
years the area under cultivation has been 
gradually decreasing. The country now 
has 182,092 fewer sheep and 9,029 fewer 
horses than it had a year ago, but it has 
834,100 more pigs, 30.000 more cattle 
and 23,225 more poultry. In spite of 
present hardships and discontent, as well 
as of threatening starvation, however, the 
people cling more tenaciously than for 
years to the Emerald of the Ocean, the 
emigration now, in spite of Government 
and municipal aid, having iallen lower 
than for the last forty years. 
Mucn has been said of tbe desirability 
of a better knowledge and a higher appre¬ 
ciation of choice fruits among the “mul¬ 
titude;” but among the various sugges¬ 
tions looking to the diffusion of this 
knowledge and the development of this 
appreciation we do not remember any 
hint that the venders of fruits on the street, 
stands and in the stores of cities and 
towns should display on a card the name 
of each variety as prominently as they 
now display the price. By this means 
the people at large who know little of the 
names of varieties and less of their appear¬ 
ance and characteristics, and who are 
attracted chiefly by the looks of the fruit, 
would be likely to learn to discriminate 
by quality instead of appearances. It 
goes without saying that such a measure 
would enlarge the knowledge the i..ulti- 
tule in towns have of the names of fruits, 
and it is equally clear that they would 
soon learn the difference in quality be¬ 
tween the different sorts, and seek by 
name the kinds that pleased th«m mo-t. 
Probably theamendment could be brought 
about most readily by the fruit-growers 
suggesting it strongly to the fruit mer¬ 
chants, who in turn should urge its 
adoption on retail dealers. 
-- 
The Interior Department at Washing¬ 
ton has just decidi d a case in which a 
husband and wife secured a voluntary di¬ 
vorce so that the wife might enter a quar¬ 
ter section of land under the Homestead 
Act, the woman afterwards continuing to 
live with her divorced husband. The 
Department has decided that she cannot 
be considered the head of a family with¬ 
in the meaning of the law, and that the 
land entry was fraudulent. Eligible parts 
of the public domain are being taken up 
so rapidly that unusual attention is being 
bestowed on tbe legality of the entries. 
As a specimen of the eagerness to take 
up land the General Land Office reports 
that on October 9 a “land office ” was 
opened at Huron, Dakota, and as early as 
3 o’clock in the morning over 500 attorn¬ 
eys were assembled in front of the build¬ 
ing in readiness for business when the 
d< or should open at 9 o’clock. Then, so 
great was the rush that doors and win¬ 
dows were broken, and over $9,000 worth 
of land was sold for c..sh the first day; 
100,000 acres of land wire entered, and 
this, with protests and applications, ia 
thought to have been the largest day’s 
work ever done at any “ land office.” 
- « » t- 
On Thursday, November9, Mr. Charles 
Downing was knocked down by a street 
car at Chatham Square, in this city. 
Two of his ribs were broken, and it was 
feared that his lungs had been penetrated 
by them. Eighty-one years old, he has 
of late been in feeble health, and this ac¬ 
cident has caused him a world of niffer- 
ing, which has been borne with admir¬ 
able fortitude. On recovering conscious¬ 
ness, several hours af‘er the disaster, he 
strongly urged that no mention of the oc¬ 
currence should be made in the press, 
and consequently although we were ad¬ 
vised of the misfortune shortly after it 
happened, we refrained from speaking of 
it in the Rural, through consideration 
for his wishes. An account of the mis¬ 
hap, however, having been published by 
the Newburgh Journal and copied by 
other papers, we take this opportunity of 
joining in the expressions of sincere re¬ 
gret and regard that must pour in from 
admirers and friends in all parts of the 
country so soon as the accident becomes 
generally known. Our latest advices, 
just received, give hopes of his ultimate 
recovery; but at his'advanced age such 
a shock to the system will most likely 
produce permanent ill effects. 
MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION. 
The Massachusetts Agricultural Ex¬ 
periment Station has just been organized 
in connection with the State Agricultural 
College at Arnherst; but the station is 
under a Board of Control entirely distinct 
from the college trustees, though the law 
provides that President Chadbourneshall 
be the resident member of the Board. 
Professor Charles A. Goessmann has been 
selected as director and chemist, and Pro¬ 
fessor Manly Miles, formerly of the 
Michigan Agricultural College, and after¬ 
ward of Houghton Farm, is to be super¬ 
intendent of field and stock experiments; 
while Profess r O. T. Maynard will be 
microscopist and draughtsman. Profes¬ 
sor Goessmann will still direct the course 
of chemical instruction in the college, but 
he will have the aid of an assistant. Prof. 
Miles will also remain Professor of Agri¬ 
culture iu the college, but his instructions 
will be confined entirely to the class-room 
and an assistant professor will have 
charge of the out door work. Prof. 
Maynard, too, will continue hia present 
duties in the college where he will have 
an assistant.. Prof. Goessmann will begin 
his labors at once and the others on Jan¬ 
uary 1, when a plan of experiments for 
the year will be presented for considera¬ 
tion by the Board of Control. The dc- 
vision of labors and salaries is fixed by 
the joint action of the trustees of the 
college and the Board of Control of the 
Station. To what State shall we next 
assign the honor and benefit due to the 
establishment of an agricultural experi¬ 
ment station ? 
FLAX ACREAGE OF EUROPE AND 
AMERICA. 
The annual report of the Belfast Flax 
Association shows that the cultivation of 
flax is in a languishing condition not in 
Ireland alone but in other European coun¬ 
tries also. In 1881 there was in Ireland a 
decrease of 6.04 per cent, from the area 
of the previous year, and this was fol¬ 
lowed hy a deerease of 23 per cent, in the 
fl ix acreage for the present year. The 
area under flax in 1870 was 194,803 acres, 
and 157,534 acres in 1880. The numberof 
scutch mills has declined from 1,542 in 
1809 to 1,150 in 1882. In England, too, 
the acreage in flax last year fell off 27.3 
per cent as compared with the figures in 
1880, the area being 0,534 acres, in Aus¬ 
tria the flux acreage last year was 224,244, 
a Blight increase over 1880, but less 
than iu any year during the previous de¬ 
cade. The area in Hungary was 29,089 
acres, an increase over the two preceding 
years, but considerably less than the av¬ 
erage for 1870-73. France had 109,430 
acres under flax in 1881, an increase over 
the two previous years, but a marked fall¬ 
ing off from the area during the years 
from 1871 to 1878. In Germany, where 
more flax is grown than in any other Euro¬ 
pean country except Russia, the area uu- 
der flax in 1880 was 819,390 acres, a de¬ 
crease of 10,000 "acres as against 1878. 
Holland had 48,095 Hcres in 1880, an in¬ 
crease over the three preceding years, 
but a decline as compared with the aver¬ 
age from 1870 to 1870. The latest acces¬ 
sible figures are here given, but it is 
thought that there was a decline in the 
acreage of flax in all thc-e countries dur¬ 
ing the present year. In Russia, the flax 
area is estimated at 2,000,000 a res, or 
much more than half the w’hole flax area 
of Europe—amounting to 3.342,018acres. 
The area in flux in this country in 1879, 
the latest figures at hand, was estimated 
by the Department of Agriculture to 
be not less than 400,000 acres. 
UNFORTUNATE ENGLISH FARMERS. 
TrtE price of home-grown wheat in 
England averaged 40 shillings a quarter, 
or $1,214 a bushel, during October. 
Now it is 11 pence ft quarter, or 2 : | cents 
ft bushel, higher, but, even with this 
trifling advance, it cannot be said that 
the English farmer TPceives a profitable 
price for his grain. For the last five or 
six years his harvests have been wretch¬ 
edly small, snd now that there is an im¬ 
provement, in yield, the abundant har¬ 
vests of tbe rest of the world so crowd 
his market that what he has gained in 
quantity he is losing in price, for at. this 
time last year he could obtain 4Gs. 3d. a 
quarter for his wheat or 10 cents a bushel 
more than the present rate. There are 
some complaints of the low price now 
ruling for wheat in this country; but in 
view of the rent, tithes, poor-rates and 
other charges on English agriculture to 
which American agriculture is either not 
subject at all or only to a comparatively 
slight extent, there is much less reason 
for grumbling lu re than across the water. 
But a low price for his wheat is not the 
only, or indeed the chief, misfortune of 
the English farmer just now. For the 
last fortnight heavy rains have deluged 
the country almost without intermission 
so that in scarcely a single district has 
Fall wheat—almost the only wheat grown 
in England—been sown, as it 1ms been, 
absolutely impossible for farmers to get 
on the land. With an Autumn more un¬ 
favorable for farming than any for vears 
past, with low prices for nearly all his 
products, with foreign competition con¬ 
stantly growing keener and more dis¬ 
astrous, it would seem as if the pluck 
and perseverance with which the English 
farmer has always confronted misfortune, 
will be taxed even more heavily the com¬ 
ing year than in any of the late disastrous 
seasons that have tried his hopefulness, 
perseverance and courage, 
-- 
BREVITIES. 
The first sharp frost killed the leaves and 
stems of our seedling Bermuda Grass. They 
are now’ as gray as old Timothy. 
Wk are using the old canes and branches 
of blackberries and raspberries to cover ten¬ 
der vine®, etc. Hens do not like to scratch 
among them. 
An English paper asserts that It costs as 
much to tren*port. a bushel of wheat 13 miles 
on a turnpike road in England as from an 
American seaport across the broad Atlantic. 
If this be so, It equalizes the cost of wheat a 
short distance from tbe coast In Great Britain 
and the Atlantic cities of America, and makes 
it more feasible for our wheat growers to 
compete with any inland districts of Europe 
in growing this valuable grain. They may 
now continue to do si in as large quantities as 
heretofore, with th<* assurance that their 
surplus will find a quick market abroad.and at 
fair-paying prices for its cultivation. 
The Treasury Cattle Commissioners, who 
have been examining various localities in this 
neighborhood for the purpose of selecting a 
quarantine station for foreign cattle brought 
through this port, have fixed upon Paterson, 
New Jer®ev, as the most dedruble place. Tt 
Is 17 miles from New York, and can b« 
reached by water or rail—an important con¬ 
sideration, as importers claim that choice* 
stock are often in jured on the cars; and, more¬ 
over, it is t hought when cattle are transported 
by water there Is less danger of infection 
from local herds that may be affected by con¬ 
tagious diseases. At Paterson, too. the quar¬ 
antined Btock can be completely isolated. 
Australia is congratulating Itself on “the 
total collapse of American competition in 
the exports of tinned meats;” and we are told 
that the Americans “are fully alive to the 
hoplessnem of thefrpositii r.” The Melbourne 
Leader italicises the statement that “ negotia¬ 
tions are pending that may result in one of 
the largest Chicago preserving firms of cuing” 
in that colony—Victoria. The Leader ex¬ 
plains that the excessive exports of American 
meats of late have kept down the number of 
cattle here, while our population has been 
rapidly increasing, hence high prices at home 
for meat, and the stoppage of exportation. 
*‘ It teems probable,” tavs this antipodian 
wiseacre, “ that, in the next few years Austra- 
lia will be sending frozen meats to America.” 
It seems probable that owing to the exposure 
of the objeetionuble practice of selling ani¬ 
mals unfit for human food at the Chicago 
stock-yards, inspectors w ill soon be oppointed 
to examine officially the stock offend there 
for sale Tbu question is alto being agitated 
of appointing inspectors of moats intended 
for canning, as well as of dressed meats de- 
s'gned for other maikets. Bo sensitive Imve 
tome of the lurgo "cinner-” liecome to the 
iujury likely to be done to their trude by re¬ 
ports spread abroad about the unwholesome 
nature of Horne canned meats, that they olfer 
to pay all the expeuses of inspectors in their 
canneries. The meats put up in such large 
establishments, however, are seldom those that 
nemi Inspection. In these business is gener 
ally done ou too lai ge a scaioaud ou principles 
too prudent to seek the petty gains derivable 
from tbe use of unfit meat, it is the small, 
obseut e '‘canrien>” w hoseck illegitimate profits 
in this way, just M 't. is the small OltilMM of 
oleomargarine in this and other cities who 
swindle and poison their customers by the m® 
of foul ingredients in their «wiooctiono. 
