30 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JAN.40 
food, by your excellent contributor, Richard 
Goodman, of Lenox, Mass., was read by Sec¬ 
retary Gold. A few points are noted : 
“Gilt-edge butter ie an article of recent 
manufacture, dating back about ten or twelve 
years. Philadelphia has the highest reputation 
for the best article. The Darlingtons had been 
preeminently successful, realizing from 95 
cents to $1.25 per pound for their product. 
On the other hand, a case was mentioned 
where a lot of butter was sent in to compete 
for premiums, where not one-third of it 
was fit for use. Irelaud might make good 
butter if the cattle were kept iu decent quarters 
and care and cleanliness were used iu its man¬ 
ufacture. The mass of the best butter of the 
future will be made by creameries uuder iutel- 
ligent direction ; but they will not be able to 
make what will be considered a gilt-edge ar¬ 
ticle. 
At this juncture a short stout gentleman 
came in wending his way to the stage and iu 
a few minutes was introduced by secretary 
Gold as Prof. Collyer, chemist of (he Dept, 
of Ag. at Washington, who would talk to the 
convention on sugar aud sugar making. 
The Professor stepped forward and said he 
should speak of sugar, its production and 
the waste of the couutry. The value of sugar 
annually imported was given at $109,000,000, 
which came out. of the pockets of the con¬ 
sumers. We had imported since '-Pi $1,800,- 
000,000 worth of sugar—as Col. Sellers used to 
&ay, “there is millions iu it.” The average 
consumption of sugar in this country is 35 to 
40 pounds, for every man, woman and child, 
and it would be double were it uot for the 
cost. The Department and its head had been 
sneered at and ridiculed frequently; be was 
not here to reply to any of these attacks but 
to give in plain, practical detail the results 
of some of his experiments from which he 
felt confident that in live years we should pro¬ 
duce all the sugar we shall need for our own 
consumption, and iu 10 years make it for ex¬ 
port. His experiments were made with sor¬ 
ghum or Chinese sugar cane, aud corn-stalks. 
There were about 10 disliuct varieties of these 
sorghums, but in general composition there 
was no great variation. His experiments 
were with four varieties planted last May, aud 
analyses made at different periods of growth, 
from the appearance of the llower to the hard 
freeze of Oct. 23 rd, aud once thereafter, showed 
that first the juice contained from four to six 
per cent of uncrystallizable aud from two to 
sixperceut of cry&tallizablo sugar. In sub- 
sequeut trials the uncrystallizable diminished 
to three, two, oue, aud iu one caoe to less than 
oneper ct., while the crystallizable increased to 
17 per cant. He had made, in the aggregate, over 
250 different experiments. He had sent to 
Louisiana for stalks of sugar-oaue which 
were received iu good order, aud ou testing 
them he had fouud they were not one whit 
better than soj-gnum. Iu 40 experiments, us¬ 
ing 23 tons of sorghum and corn stalks, from 
the best nine of them he obtained 03 7-10 of the 
sugar in the juice. From nine of the poorest 
sirups he secured 00 aud 1-10 of the sugar iu 
the juice, and auy oue pursuing the same 
method could do the same. The apparatus 
necessary to work up the product of 25 acres, 
ought not to cost over $150; Aiken, of 8. C., 
says $100. His brother-in-law iu central N. T. 
made sirup he sold at 50 cents per gallou. 
A gentleman iu Ill. made 45,000 pounds oi 
6 ugar which he sold at IU cents per pouud. 
His experiments yielded at .the rate of over • 
one lou per acre for any of the samples used, 
while Louisiana reported 1350 pounds per acre 
as the product from canc. lie had secured 
33 tons of stalks per acre ; he would recom¬ 
mend only the early kiuds of sorghum for 
trial in Connecticut. The most important 
thing was the time when Lite juicucuntams the 
largest per cent, of crystallizable sugar, which 
m his experiments he had louud to be at its 
maximum at the ripening of the seed. 
Of the sugar we consume we raise 13 per 
per ceut. aud impon87 per cent. We are pay¬ 
ing as tribute to foreign countries lor sugar 
more tbau the product of all the gold mines 
of the world, which it was said amounted last 
year to $1.00,000,000. 
The aggregate corn crop of the country is 
480,000,000 bushels ; per ceut. of the stalks 
would produce $109,000,000 worth ol sugar. 
Duriug the 15 years ending in '77, the aver¬ 
age yield of com had fallen off 20 per cent, 
and of wheat 10 7-10 per cent. The average 
at the East is greater than at the West both 
in wheat and corn. Dr. J. B. Lawes says that 
iu England they have reached the utmost lim¬ 
it of profit. A larger yield would be un¬ 
profitable. England is importing $3,000,000 
worth of fertilizers annually. The average 
mineral matter—ash—iu 38 samples of corn 
is 1 0l-l00, consisting of phosphoric acid 
and potash. These come from the Boil, aud 
alone are worth 20 per cent, of the value, ol 
the crop. A Baltimore man put up 75,000 
caus of corn a day. Maine canned $1,500,000 
worth last year. The stalks of these crops 
could be profitably utilized tor sugar. He had 
tested them aud they yielded sugar readily. 
At Bellerica & silo was recently opened and 
proved a success. After the stalks are pressed. 
and the juice taken out, they are in better con¬ 
dition to go into a silo, and the sugar is saved, 
The white field corn with which he experi¬ 
mented, yielded 09 busbel of shelled corn per 
acre; after husking the corn the stalks were 
put through the mill and the per cent, of sugar 
was larger than he ever obtained from stalks 
before, as they yielded sugar at the rate of 
1000 pounds per acre. 
Evening Session. 
The farmers bad uot finished questioning him 
at the hour of adjournment, and be consented 
to remain during the eyeniug ; the Convention 
meeting earlier than the usual hour, when he 
gave, iu answer to questions, his methods of 
operating quite minutely, especially during the 
process of evaporating and crystallizing. With 
his rude apparatus he could evaporate 75 gal¬ 
lons of juice in three hours. For this latitude 
he would advise the Early Amber, or some 
other early variety, and get a good mill. He 
hud no doubt anyone could succeed as well as 
lie did; lie ouly wondered so much had been 
done and so little accomplished. Doubtless 
previous failures had been due to the presence 
of a larger per cent, of uncrystallizable sugar. 
Let the caue mature and there need be no fail¬ 
ure. No doubt five acres of sorghum could be 
grown as cheaply as one acre of fleets, while 
the per cent, of sugar In the latter was only 
13 4fi. The samples of sugar he exhibited were 
eagerly examined aud tasted, and pronounced 
excellent. 
Ihe first paper of the evening was by A. H. 
Augur, a son of the Pomologiht of the Board, 
ou Fruits aud Fruit Gardens for Farmers. He 
urged that more attention be given by farmers 
to secure a full and continuous family supply 
of fruits as promOtive of health and happiness, 
and an inducement to the young folks to re¬ 
main at home, and he gave lists of the best 
varieties as a guide to the inexperienced. 
He was followed by J. M. Hubbard, with a 
paper on the Compensation# of Agriculture. 
Though a farmer aud the son of a farmer, he 
admitted that lariuers, as a class, receive less 
compensation for their labor, financially, tbau 
do the followers of any other occupation. Still 
there were other compensations which he pro¬ 
ceeded to enumerate:—First, work, hard work 
and plenty of it. A farmer need never be out 
of a job. There is a sure market for all his 
products, whether at a profitable rate or uot. 
To the small capitalist it offers a safe invest¬ 
ment. He surrouudB himself and family with 
comforts, sound health, pure air to breathe,- 
out-of-door life. Sunshine and wind, though 
sometimes rude, are, nevertheless, true friends; 
pure milk, fresh fruits and vegetables as min¬ 
isters of pleasure aud health, staud unrivaled 
and of inestimable value. It was a very inter¬ 
esting paper, and if he failed to convince his 
less sanguine hearers, who are prone to look at 
the shadows as well as the sunlight, that com¬ 
pensations were ample, all will agree that he 
presented a pleasing picture of rural life as it 
should be. 
Morning Session. 
Dec. 19th.—Ou assembling this a. m. at nine 
o’clock, Secretary Gold's prolific Question Box 
furnished ample material for discussion. 
Will the cost of bringing the corn crop of the 
West to the seabord pay for the fertilizers nec¬ 
essary to produce the crop here ? This was a 
broad question, to answer which required 
much research and statistics. It brought out, 
however, a statement from Mr. Perkins as to 
the value he placed ou corn stalks for fodder. 
It took only 00 hours to cut the stalks from 130 
bushels of corn. These, with au equal amount 
of cut hay, wilh the addition of meal, enables 
bun to keep up the How of milk from his cows 
equal to a grass diet. 
A saturated solution of salt, followed by a 
dose of aloes, was Dr. Gressy’s remedy for re¬ 
moving pin-worms from horses. 
The Bald win and Kox bury Russet were named 
as the most profitable long-keeping apples. 
Coe’s Greening, origin Middletown, a firm, fine¬ 
grained, good-quality, productive, late-keeping 
apple, was named as promising well. Ir was 
one of the few perfect apples exhibited. Mr. 
Perkins thought the Roxbury Russet would fill 
the bill, in proof of which he showed fine speci¬ 
mens grown iu ’78. kept in his open cellar, 
sound and plump. 
Tfie question of the Best Strawberry for Mar¬ 
ket, elicited from Mr. Capen, the remark to 
which all agreed, that the Wilson had taken 
more money out of our markets than any one 
berry; but as a berry for all purposes he musr. 
say, as he said yesterday, that he thought the 
Chas. Downing the best of the well tried kinds. 
Mr. Wateinan had made more money from Col. 
Cheeuey than from any other; but it was a 
poor berry for table use. The Wilson rusted 
with him. The Monarch rusted less. Tfie 
Crescent was not exempt. Tfie Sharpless he 
thought the most promising of the new varie¬ 
ties. 
Mr. Augur thought the Crescent rust-proof. 
It had proved so with him su fur. He hoped 
The Sharpless would ou trial prove to be all it 
promised. Tbe Great American was generally a 
failure. [It may here be remarked that we 
have cautioned our readers against this inuch- 
talked-of berry from the beginning,—E ds. j 
Mr. May—The point was the Wilson was un¬ 
ripe ; if allowpd to ripen, it would not carry 
better than any others. 
Augur bad been assured that, a solution of 
■copperas water was a sure remedy for the 
cracking of the. pear. The curing of trips, the 
destruction of the white grub, pruning trees, 
etc., all received attention when the hour for 
tbe regular order arrived Then Prof. Cressy 
lectured on Diseased Meat and its Conse¬ 
quences upon our Health and Happiness. All 
animals when slaughtered for food, should be 
in fair growing condition, not over-fat. As 
soon as an animal ceased to gain, its flesh be¬ 
gan to deteriorate. He showed specimens of 
diseased meat from an animal recently slaugh¬ 
tered as first-class beef. This disease was called 
tychus tuberculosis, or consumption, and was 
more prevalent than was supposed, and spread 
by inoculation. It differed from pleuro-pncu- 
monia. 
All of these meetings have been largely at 
tended, and much interest manifested arnoug 
■Ct. farmers, which must eventuate in much 
benefit to that class. The exhibition table 
contained 27 jars of apples and three of pears 
from Secretary Gold, of West Cornwall; 14 of 
copies and three of pears from Augur & Sous, 
of Middletteld; eight of pears from A. D. 
Capon, of Boston ; eight of apples from C. T. 
Hickox, of Watertown. 1. 8. Hubbard, of Fre 
douia. N. Y., a plate of Prentiss’s grapes; from 
Messrs. Hale, of So. Glastonbury, strawberries 
in bottles; Albert Day, of Brooklyn, four jars 
of potatoes; Mr. Williams, of Mystic, White 
Flint and Ga. flouring corn; J. B. OJeut, of 
So. Manchester, Tuscarora corn and meal; H. 
L. Stewart, of Middle Haddam, Waushakum 
corn—tnakiug altogether a very attractive dis¬ 
play. c w. 
fiitrarj) Utisttllanjr. 
A QUIET HOUSE. 
BY MAES AINOE DEVER8. 
My bou ho is quiet now, so stiff ! 
All clay 1 bear the ticking’ clock. 
The hours are numbered deal’ and shrill, 
Outside the robins sing aud trill. 
The sunshine Bleeps upon the sill. 
My house is quiet now, so still! 
But silence breaks my heart! I wait, 
And waiting yearn for call or knock. 
To hear the croaking of the gate. 
And footsteps coming soon or late 
To greet me sitting desolate. 
The silence breaks my heart, I wait. 
As through tbe lonely house I go. 
From hall to hall, from room to room 
What shall 1 seek to find or know '/ 
The brooding shadows spread aud grow. 
The startling echoes mock me so, 
As through the lonely Iioiihu I go. 
Ah ! blessed tleaven, if I oould hoar 
Sweet noises iu the tranquil gloom. 
Soft broken songs and laughter clear. 
The joyous tumult, glad aud near, • 
That vexed me many u happy year 
Ah! blessed Heaven, if I could hear. 
Ah ! blessed Heaven, if ouc.e, once more 
My longing eyes might see the stain 
Of little footprints on the floor. 
Aud grouped like roi.es at the door 
The sweet child faces gone befure, 
Ah ! blessed Heaven, but ouoe, once more. 
My house and home are very still! 
I watch the sun, I watch the rain, 
The winter days come white and chill, 
And yearn go on... Perhaps deuth will 
Life’s broken promises fulfill 
My house, my home, my heart are broken still! 
-■--- 
00NQUEEED. 
CHAPTER i. 
THE FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE FOE. 
They were brother and sister; one could see 
that at a glance, alto ugh the slender figure or the 
girl was lu such strong contrast to the almost 
Herculean proportions of the young man. They 
had the same crisp, wavy, dark-brown hair and 
broad, low brows ; the same deep, gray eyes, well- 
rounded chins, and Ups that parted readily into 
pleasant snffles. They had the same light, active 
movements, he accomodating bis step to hers, and 
she alertly keeping close by ids side, as If accus¬ 
tomed to take part lu many a long, healthful coun¬ 
try ramble; many a climb up cliff or mountain. 
on this cold December afternoon this youthtul 
pair were standing on the lawn in front of an old- 
fashioued, roomy mansion, built probably in the 
reign ot Queen Anne, and secluded in its own 
grounds of three or four acres. It n as situated in a 
picturesque district not tar from the Sussex 
Downs, aud an hour ago they had been exclaiming 
admiringly at the view t.o be obtained from a Bel¬ 
vedere In the garden Now with upturned faces 
they were gravely contemplating the shuttered 
windows, smokeless chimneys, and barred doors 
or the bouse Itself. 
“ It’s a very grim habitation,” said the young 
man, thrusting his hands turn Ids pockets. “A 
week withiu Its walls would teach a follow to be¬ 
lieve in ghosts, or else hunt, the rats. Damp, de¬ 
serted, gloomy, and unpleasant, altogether. 
“ Those who used to live here, who trained those 
roses round the windows, didn’t think so, George,” 
said Ms sister, softly. 
“ Oh! if you’re going in for sentiment, I’ve done— 
or, at least, I’ll wait till the roses bloom .before 
I £lye my opinion again,” " 1 
“ We ought not to have come here so late in the 
day,” Katrine observed, slipping her arm through 
her brother’s, with a little coaxing gesture which 
he never could resist. “ If the sun shone, tbe 
empty house would not have such a depressing 
appearance.” 
“ Oh!” said George, doubtfully. 
“ Really It wouldn’t. With the gray, wintry sky 
darkening Into twilight., and all so sffent around, 
one naturally gets morbid.” 
“ Hungry. If you like ; It’s hours and hours since 
I breakfasted; but I’ll not confess to anything 
morbid but a dislike to being kept too long with¬ 
out. my dinner.” 
“ George," said the young girl, still keeping her 
eyes fixed on the house, •' it Is very sad that fami¬ 
lies should be disunited, and homes, such as this 
might have been, broken up for lack of a little 
kindly forbearance,” 
“ It will bo a great deal sadder to me,” oiled 
George, giving himself a little shake, and then 
squeezing his sister's arm to Ills side,—“ a great 
deal sadder if you stand about here and catch 
cold A pretty Christmas our first one In England 
for five years would be It you were hors de combat! 
And there are tears in your eyas, too l You silly 
Katrine 1 Hang our contrary relatives, I say, and 
all tlielr disputes. Let those who quarrel fight It 
out amongst themselves, and we’ll go in for peace 
and good-will.” 
Before Katrine could answer, he was running 
down tbe broad carriage drive at a rate that ren¬ 
dered her breathless by the time they reached the 
pretty but tenantless lodge at the gates. 
“There’s nothing llko exercise for dispersing 
the blues,” quoth George Wylits, gaily. “ Your 
roses are coming back, Kittens. But, I say, 
where’s the trap ? It was to have met us here 
precisely at tour, and now It, Is ten minutes past.” 
“ We shall meet it before long. I dare say,” his 
sister replied, as she tripped beside him at a 
soberer pace.” 
“Humph! I should hope so; for It's beginning 
to suow. aud It’s an eight-mile drive Into Arundel. 
The man could uot have misunderstood the direc¬ 
tions I gave him.” 
“He’s a little late, that’s all,” said Katrlno, 
placidly. 
“ All I It’s very provoking; for you are tired, 
and not fit to buffet, against, such a storm of wind 
and snow as we shall be exposed to as soon as we 
reach the top of the hill.” 
“ 1 am tired, I’ll not deny It,” the youDg girl 
murmured ; “ but it’s no use being Impatient. Per¬ 
haps your watch has gained a little.” 
“ Anyhow, 1 must find you a shelter somewhere 
while I walk into the village,’ 1 her brother ex¬ 
claimed, with affectionate anxiety. “ Do you 
know ] am not sure whether I didn't tell the man 
be had better wait tor ns there v” 
A shelter [” repeated Katrine, peering about, 
her. “ But where are we to find one ? isn’t there 
a. cottage Just beyond these trees? Ah* yes; 1 
see It now. There was such a pleasant-lookiu’g, 
a pple-faced old woman at the door when we passed 
It earlier In the day.” 
Then you’ll not mind going and warming your¬ 
self by her fire while I hurry to the Inn where we 
lunched. If our vehicle Is not there, perhaps I can 
charter another.” 
George. Wylits sprang away, aud Uls sister, clos¬ 
ing the umbrella the wind almost, forced out ol her 
hand, sped through the little rustic gate he had 
opened for her, ran up the path or the cottage- 
garden, and tapped at, the door of her pleasant old 
woman’s tvy-covered dwelling. 
It was ajar, and her gentle “ May I come In ?” 
eliciting uo reply, she stepped into the snug 
kitchen, and looked around for its mistress. A 
bright fire of wood aud turf burned on tho hearth, 
and tho kettle, swung over it on a crane, was sing¬ 
ing merrily ; but the old woman had gone to the 
village-shop to replenish her stores; and with the' 
happy security, found only In such primitive 
places, had left her door not merely unlocked, but 
open to all comers. 
A very gaunt tabby, that was basking In the 
warmth, raised herself, and purred such a wel¬ 
come as Katrine stood irresolute on tho threshold, 
that sUe hesitated no longer. Brushing the snow 
off her ulster, she caine and knelt on the rug to 
chafe her benumbed fingers, to take off her bat. 
carefully dry and curl the drooping leather twisted 
around it, and then shake down over her shoulders 
the curls of brown hair, in which tbe large flakes 
or snow were congealing together. 
“ Is your mistress a witch, pussy ?” sbo merrily 
demanded, as she stroked the animal that was 
rubbing itself against her arm, “and did she dis¬ 
appear up the chimney on her broom stick as soon 
as I came, near? It she’s mere mortal, she’ll be 
rather astonished when she comes back and finds 
me so comfortably Installed on her hearth-rug. 
What luu it would be to depart before she returns] 
and leave some tokens or my presence behind me! 
This blue scarf tied round your neck, tabby ; lialf- 
a-orown In her comical little black teapot: an¬ 
other under the lid of her sugar-baslu; why, she’d 
be sure to set it down to the fairies, or declare she’d 
had a visit from Sauta Claus, ir she has ever heard 
ol him." 
Katrine twisted up her hair, smiling at a queer 
reflection ot herself in the ldghly-buralshed lop of 
a buttered old pewter dish-cover that hung close 
by; and then RprlnglDg to her feet began to drop 
her fairy gills In quaint hiding-places. A couple 
of pieces of silver where she hud at first proposed, 
another In the old woman’s spectacle-case, and 
under the fid ot a small work-box ol Tuuoridge- 
wafe that stood ou a side table, and this brought 
Katrine very near a ball' glass-door leading to°au 
inner room. 
The first 1 line she had glanced In tbe direction or 
this sash a faded-green curtain hid what was be¬ 
hind It, but now chancing to turn her eyes that 
way she saw, or fancied she saw, a hand drawing 
the curtain aside. 
For the first time sJnce she entered tho cottage 
Katrine realized her loneliness, and begun to feel 
nervous; and though she walked quietly back to 
Ui« fire-place, and talked aloud to the friendly cat 
