76 
JAN. 34 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
CONDUCTED BY 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
78 DuanA Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, JAN. 31. 1880. 
SHORTLY TO APPEAR. 
Notes from Dr. John A. Warder, T. T. 
Lyon, Ellwangcr <fe Barry, P. J. Bercktnans 
and others respecting the true Paradise Apple 
as a dwarfing stock, with illustrations. 
On The Kinver and an entirely new French 
Yellow Globe Mangel as sweet as a sugar beet 
and as productive as other mangels—illus¬ 
trated. 
Leguminous Plants— grasses aud valuable 
fodder plants, by Professor W. J. Beal—illus¬ 
trated. 
J'iucrc Notes by Professor E. W. Stewart, 
L S. Hardin. Richard Goodman, M. C. Weld, 
t ol. F. D. Curtis, A. B, Allen and others. 
Important Addition to the Rural’s Seed 
Distribution. 
Special Articles from Professor S. W. 
Johnson, Professor F. H. Storer, Professor G. 
- ‘ uldwell, Dr. A. R. Ledoux. 
A Series of short articles upon the cultiva¬ 
tion of our choicest vegetables—illustrated. 
Dairy Specialties by Henry Stewart, L. 
S, Hardin, Professor L. B Arnold. 
Fruit Notes by Pres. T. T. Lyon, Gov. 
Furnas, Dr. T. H. Hoskins, Sec. Garfield aud 
others. 
Poultry Notes by Forrest K. Moreland. 
Henry Hales and others. 
Life Engravings of the Chinese Yam (Dios- 
corea batatas) “ Cinnamon" vine; the Tulip 
tree and fruit &c., <fee., Ac. 
Small Fruit Notes will be presented later 
by the well-kuown writers whose contributions 
have made this journal of such value in this 
important department of Horticulture. 
TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS. 
We find that many of our new subscribers 
have not seen our Free Plant and Seed DLtri- 
bution supplement and consequently know 
nothing as to its terms. We will therefore send 
this supplement free to all who apply until 
further notice. 
--- 
As originally announced in our Fair No. of 
Sept. 6, the Plant and Seed Distribution will be 
completed before March 1st. This for the 
benefit of our new subscribers. 
We can no longer supply back num¬ 
bers. All suberiptions will henceforth 
be continued one year from the date of 
their receipt. 
■-- 
Granting that the Kieffer pear is of 
fair quality, we have no evidence that it 
is “ blight-proof,” which is the strongest 
point claimed for it by those who have 
this tree for sale. Much interest is mani¬ 
fested in the Kieffer all over the country— 
but we advise our readers to purchase 
rather for experiment than with any san¬ 
guine hopes of profit. 
Haying in a recent Editorial spoken 
reproachfully of Professor C. W. Riley, 
we now—in justice to him—call attention 
to his reply on p.77. Following his reply 
is our evidence and that of the Commis¬ 
sioner of Agriculture in support of the 
statements made in the editorial alluded 
to. The reader should suspend judg¬ 
ment, however, until Professor Riley has 
had an opportunity of being heard from 
again, though we trust that any further 
controversy may prove short, pertinent 
and decisive. 
--- 
We are pleased to see that the Western 
Rural seems earnest in its condemnation 
of swindling advertisements. As it is a 
piece of conscientiousness that costs some¬ 
thing, its readers should respect that 
journal accordingly. It seems to us a 
disgrace to this nation that so-called 
“respectable papers” should admit to 
their advertising columns (seemingly 
without protest from their readers), the 
most glaring, self-evident frauds. The 
disgrace is hightened by the standing 
editorial announcements that “Readers 
will do them a favor by reporting any 
failure of advertisers to make good tlieir 
offers ” and that they will “ expose those 
who seek thus to impose upon the pub¬ 
lic. ” It seems odd enough that publishers 
should wait to learn through bamboozled 
readers what they already understand full 
well themselves. 
After a Japes of two-and-thirty years 
starving Erin once more stretches out 
her emaciated hands for relief towards 
America where so many millions of her 
children have in the interval found 
homes. It is rather unfortunate that 
political agitators should have tried to 
make an expression of America’s sym¬ 
pathy with a starving people appear like 
an indorsement of their own political 
schemes. With the lattpr the great 
majority of the citizens of this country 
have little sympathy, while compara¬ 
tively only a few would deem it just or 
expedient to promote them by finan¬ 
cial aid ; but for a suffering people 
Amerca’s sympathy is accustomed to 
come from the pocket as well as from 
the heart. 
■ ■ - 
We see that. “Hybrid” potato seeds 
are offered in some catalogues for 50 
cents per packet, each containing 25 or 
30 seeds. Passing the fact that the seeds 
produced by crossing two varieties of 
potatoes are not “ hybrid " seeds at all, 
it seems to us beyond all probability that 
if actually the result of artificial crossing, 
they could be produced and sold for such 
a price. Few potato flowers can be 
induced to bear fruit. It is Otways diffi¬ 
cult to find polleu and, if we may judge 
by our own trials, we should not like to 
guarantee a single seed ball (fruit) for 
every day of labor. We cannot beneve 
that seed, known to be crossed, could be 
profitably produced at one dollar for each 
seed ! Perhaps those who have made a 
special study of this work may be able to 
show wherein we are wrong. We should 
feel obliged if they would. 
- *■•*-* -- 
The Gardeners’ Chronicle of Jan. 3, 
gives a list of the trees, shrubs and her¬ 
baceous plants introduced by Robert 
Fortune to whom the horticultural world 
should feel under lasting obligations. 
Nations are quick to recognize and to 
honor political or military services but 
very slow to recognize the services, of 
those who plod and toil through their 
lives to advance the iuterests of horti- 
ticulture or agriculture. Many of Mr. 
Fortune’s discoveries aud introductions 
are to-day among the most prized plants 
of the urhamental grounds of our coun¬ 
try. We may mention Spiraea palmata ; 
LiJium auratum; Prunus Japonioa ; 
Lonieera aureo-reticulata; Kerria Japon¬ 
iea variegata ; Deutzia erenata 11. pi, ; 
Retinospora aurea, obtusa and pisifera ; 
Sciadopitys verticillata, many Maples; 
Diclytra spectabilis; Viburnum plica- 
turn; Spinea pruniflolia fl. pi; White 
Wistaria ; Forsythia viridissima ; Ake- 
bia quinata etc., etc. 
It may be some comfort to the quiet, 
unobtrusive Robert Fortune to know that, 
perchance, after his death the world may 
come to realize how much it owes to him 
and to others like him. 
-*-—♦- 
In view of the continued destruction 
of European vineyards by the phylloxera, 
a great deal of transatlantic attention 
has lately been directed to this country 
as a source from which a supply of wine 
might be obtained. Time was, and not 
long ago either, when American manu¬ 
factured products were held in poor esti¬ 
mation by the old European States. Of 
late years however, the rapid improve¬ 
ments in onr methods of manufacture, 
coupled with a better acquaintance with 
our wares, has changed the world’s opin¬ 
ion with regard to most of the goods 
made here ; but as yet, American wines 
have not shared in this revulsion of opin¬ 
ion as much as many of our other products. 
At present much of the wine which 
is drunk here, paid for and praised as 
of foreign vintage never crossed salt 
water. From the days when the New 
World was serving an apprenticeship in 
industrial pursuits in which the Old 
World had already become skilled, there 
still remains among the American people a 
tendency to overestimate many European 
products and to underrate many of their 
own. The knowledge that the eyes of Eu¬ 
rope are upon them should stimulate our 
vineyardists and wine-makers to produce 
au article that must command the approval 
of epicurian transatlantic connoisseurs. 
We advocate total abstinence; but be¬ 
lieve the general use of pure native wines 
in lieu of stronger liquors a step in the 
right direction. 
--♦♦ 4 -- 
Ln this State 600 cattle are now in 
quarantine on accouut of pleuro-pneum- 
onia. Already $16,000 have been spent 
in checking the plague, and last Wednes¬ 
day $30,000 more were asked of the Leg¬ 
islature to p«y past debts and for imme¬ 
diate expenses. With praiseworthy wis¬ 
dom and alacrity, the full appropriation 
was promptly made unanimously in exe¬ 
cutive session. At the same time a con¬ 
current resolution was introduced in both 
Houses calling upon Congress to legis¬ 
late for the suppression, by the National 
Government, of this standing threat to 
the vast cattle interests of the country. 
We have frequently insisted on the neces¬ 
sity of speedy legislation in this direc¬ 
tion. The wliole country is deeply inter¬ 
ested in the eradication of this plague 
from the very few spots in which it still 
retains afoot-hold. Some of the Western 
papers have now and then expressed the 
opinion that its extirpation is a work for 
which the Eastern States exclusively 
should provide and pay. When a budd¬ 
ing is on fire and the fine neighboring 
mansions are threatened with a ruinous 
conflagration, it is certainly not a mark 
of wisdom on the part of the owners to 
confine their efforts to urging the propri¬ 
etor of the burning structure to increased 
endeavors to extinguish the flames. The 
quota of the States wh’cli are free from 
the pestilence towards its suppression in 
less fortunate States, would be but a small 
premium on the insurance of their own 
herds against possible contagion. 
Notwithstanding the fine crops that 
during? the past year blessed the West 
as a whole with abundance and return¬ 
ing prosperity, certain parts of it, es¬ 
pecially along the frontier, are at pres- 
sent sadly pinched. Early in the week 
Gov. St. John, of Kansas, telegraphed 
Jay Gould that great destitution pre¬ 
vailed among the farmers of the fron¬ 
tier counties of that State, especially 
those of Sheridan, Grove and Wallace 
counties, owing to the failure of crops 
through drought last year. Gould tele¬ 
graphed a remittance of $5,000, for which 
a couple of car-loads of flour and meal as 
well as a large supply of bacon were 
promptly forwarded as an immediate 
installment. Frequently during the 
past year Kansas contributors to “Every¬ 
where” have warned intending immi¬ 
grants to that State, of the imprudence 
of going too far west. The present dis¬ 
tress is by no means a novel experience, 
however, as it has frequently happened 
that that State has had to save recent 
settlers from starvation in frontier places 
owing to shortage or entire failure of 
crops. Experience seems to demonstrate 
that the immigrant to the Far West, with 
a family dependant upon him, should 
have capital enough not only to build 
some sort of a home and plant the first 
season’s crops, but also to bridge over the 
second should the crops of the first prove 
failures. In a thinly settled country 
little help can be expected from distant 
neighbors all equallv pinched, while 
work whose wages might eke out a short 
harvest, is hard to find and poorly paid. 
THE CORNER IN WHEAT. 
Great was the excitement last Satur¬ 
day among the grain dealers at the Pro¬ 
duce Exchange in this city. Wheat 
suddenly dropped from three to five 
cents pe’r bushel ; reports from various 
points in the West announced a fall 
there also; rumors flew thick and fast of 
failures among the brokers, of weaken¬ 
ing of some of the wheat syndicate, and 
of the speedy collapse of their “comer.” 
The “ bears” were jubilant, the “ bulls” 
despondent, but although many were 
squeezed tightly, not more than one or 
two of the regular dealers were crippled; 
but a large number of “outsiders” oper¬ 
ating on “ margins,” are said to have 
lost everything. 
For the last three or four weeks the 
price of wheat has been steadily declin¬ 
ing, with a pretty sharp fall last week, as 
noted in our Market Reports. The 
syndicate, who since last fall have been 
the chief purchasers of wheat all over 
the country but especially in the West, 
cannot, however, afford to allow prices 
to go down in view of the enormous 
quantities they have on hand, some of 
which they purchased at higher figures 
than those now ruling, while -the cost of 
all of it has been considerably increased 
by shrinkage, vermin and storage since 
it came into their hands. Just at present 
however, the outlook for them is not very 
bright. European advices seem to in¬ 
dicate a firm resolution on the part of 
dealers there not to purchase our wheat 
until the prices shall be satisfactory 
to them. Rather than pay heavily 
for wheaten bread, there will be a great 
substitution of other foods for the “ staff 
of life,” while British India, Australia 
and New Zealand are looked to for large 
supplies of wheat. Consequently, de¬ 
spite the late decline in wheat here, 
prices in Liverpool to-day are lower 
than in New York. This has been the 
chief cause of the great shrinkage in our 
wheat exports for a considerable time. 
In this port there are to-day about 250 
vessels waiting for grain cargoes which 
cannot be had at any paying rate of 
freight, while the ports of Boston, Phila¬ 
delphia, Baltimore and San Francisco 
have each large expectant fleets. Grain 
is accumulating enormously in the West, 
owing to the rise in railroad freight im¬ 
mediately on the removal of competition 
by the closing of the canals. A few 
months ago the charge from Chicago to 
New York was two dollars per ton ; now 
it is eight dollars. Hence on the 19th 
inst. the stock of all kinds of grain at 
Montreal, Boston, New York, Philadel¬ 
phia and Baltimore amounted only to 
16,402,187 bushels, including 11,133.- 
899 bushels of wheat and 2,322,628 bush¬ 
els of corn. 
But there is altogether in the country 
at present an estimated surplus of 86,- 
000,000 bushels. The wheat crop for 
1879 is put down by the statistician of the 
Produce Exchange here at 448,000,000 
bushels. Of this the consumption for 
manufacturing purposes, seed and food 
is about 250,000,000 bushels, leaving 
198,000,000 bushels for export. From 
July 1 to December 31, the export was 
about 127,000,000 bushels, including an 
estimated remnant of about 15,000,000 of 
the crop of 1878. Deducting this from 
the total export, there are left 112,000,- 
000 belonging to last year’s crop, of 
which this surplus of 86,000,000 bush¬ 
els is yet available for export. Certainly 
not more than from 15,000,000 to 20,000,- 
000 of this still remains in the hands of 
the farmers, and of the remainder the 
whole must be in the hands of dealers 
and by far the larger portion under the 
controi of the syndicate. 
It will be- seen, therefore, that until 
the next harvest shall have come into 
market, the price of wheat will have com¬ 
paratively little effect upon the farmers 
of the country, though it may “ make ” 
or ruin hundreds of speculators. What 
it shall be will depend upon the issue of 
the struggle between the greed of these 
and the need of Europe, but meanwhile, 
the entire population of this country also, 
are economically interested in it, inas¬ 
much as the cost of their loaves and hot 
rolls will depend upon the outcome. The 
members of the syndicate are all very 
wealthy men ; they can command vast 
capital besides ; they are, most of them, 
bold and resolute speculators; there is 
little doubt but that before next harvest 
there will be a market for all their grain 
at their own figures, if they persevere ; 
their profits if triumphant will be enorm¬ 
ous ; their losses, if defeated, will not be 
small ; a persistent struggle may there¬ 
fore be anticipated, unless the weakening 
of some of them shall cause a speedy 
collapse of the “corner." 
■- 44 *- 
BREVITIES, 
e 
We fear we shall not hear as much from 
our friend Mr. J. B. Armstrong as formerly. 
He is now the Editor of the Daily Republican 
of Santa Robu, Cal. a copy of which (vol. 1. 
no. 10) is now before us. Wo wish him suc¬ 
cess. lie has talent enough to command it. 
Mr. Charles Darwin publishes in Nature, a 
case in which hybrid birds, the offspring of 
two distinct species, have proven fertile inter se. 
The common goose and the Chinese goose are 
so distinct that they have been placed in dif¬ 
ferent genera. But they interbreed and their 
offspring are fertile. Sterility, consequently, 
is thus shown to be no safe criterion of specific 
difference. 
At the Fair of the Wisconsin Dairymen’s 
Association at Elkhorn. on January 14 and 15, 
the silver cup, value $25, offered as a premium 
by the Rural New-Yorkbr for the ‘‘Best 
Cheese made at any time,” was awarded to W. 
S. Baker, (Merrick’s Factory,)Cold Spring. A 
similar cup of the same value offered by the 
same paper for the “ Best Butter made at any 
time." was at the same lime adjudged to L 
Lytle, Elkhorn—both first premiums. 
At the late meeting of the New Jersey Hor¬ 
ticultural Society. Mr. P. T. Quinn stated that 
the Chinese Sand Pear had blighted on Ms 
place. As this Pear has heretofore been con¬ 
sidered blight-proof, and by reason of this 
quality, lias been highly recommended for 
stocks, this revelation is of much interest. 
Though it may withstand the disease better 
thaD other varieties, the fact that it has once 
blighted, is evidence that it may do so again, 
and the appellation “ blight-proof" as applied 
to it, will hereafter be a misuomer. 
Our new friend. Land and Home, complains 
that the Mass. Ploughman appropriated one of 
its articles by Prof. James Law, an advance 
proof of which was sent to the Ploughman, 
so that it might appear in both papers the 
same week. “ This }r the way they return our 
courtesy,” says the Editor- “Courtesy." U 
that the word' ? The Ploughman merely ac¬ 
cepted that which was presented and failed to 
say “Thank you" in pnblh. Perhaps the. 
Ploughman was grateful at heart. Land aud 
Home was In a sort of inexplicable humor last 
week. It tells its readers how it blundered iu 
bestowing a wrong name upon Mr. Crozier’s 
bull aud then soothes itself by saying that the 
Rural New-Yorker made a greater blun¬ 
der over the Hereford bull which weiilustrated 
in our issue of Jan. 10. We hoped that our 
slip would pass unnoticed ; but we wish to be 
“ courteous" and are uut unwilling to aid our 
young friend ln glviug it publicity. 
