768 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
MOV. 27 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT E. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, NOV. 27, 1880. 
Headers are respectfully requested to 
bear in mind that the Rural New- 
Yorker is promptly discontinued at the 
end of the subscription term. We keep 
no subscription account books, aud we 
cannot, therefore, regard requests that 
the paper be continued, unless accom¬ 
panied by the subscription price. This 
is 32.00 per year and (please note) 31-10 
for six mouths. Those desiring our Seed 
Distribution—which is necessarily strict¬ 
ly limited to subscribers—should add 
their share of the f ostage—viz., six cents 
—uuiess they subscribe iu connection 
with the other journals with which the 
Rural clubs—as already announced. 
■ -»■»♦- 
Losses in Breeding and Purchasing 
Race-horses. — Lord Rosoberry, who 
married a daughter of the wealthy En¬ 
glish banker, de Rothschild, recently sold 
15 of his stud for the very low price of 
3,370 guineas. One of these horses 
alone had oast him, three years ago, 
6,000 guineas (330,300); he now fetched 
only 135 gaiueas (3680). Auother horse 
for which he paid over 1,000 guineas 
(35,500), when a yearling, sold for 75 
guineas (3379.) There is nothing more 
uncertain than the breeding of race¬ 
horses, .and millions upon millions of 
dollars are annually lost upon them in 
Eogland, and a great deal of money iu 
our own country. It is safer to breed 
trotting horses if one is determined upon 
going into fancy animals; but it is in¬ 
finitely more sensible and profitable to 
breed handsome carriage horses and good, 
strong farm and work horses. 
northwest, together with enough imple 
ments and seeds to enable them to start 
new homes there and develop the coun¬ 
try. The carrying out of this plan would 
be a good thiug for the distressed Irish 
peasantry and not a bad one for our thin¬ 
ly-settled northwestern territory, for 
most of the newcomers could bo pretty 
sure to find their way thither before long. 
There are not more than two or, at most, 
three European countries from which the 
tide of immigration to the United States 
is stronger than that from Canada. The 
records of the Huron district, the leading 
point for crossing the line, report a total 
of 94,375 emigrants from the Dominion to 
this country during the year ending June 
30 last. Of these only 18,936 came from 
various European countries, while 75,435 
were Canadians. 
- »> » 
THE NEW YORK EXPERIMENT STATION. 
We have already informed our readers 
that an appropriation of 340,000 has been 
made by the Legislature of New York 
State for the establishment of an agricul¬ 
tural experiment station. The best plan 
to render this station of most service to 
those who are to be benefited by it is to 
be determined by a Board of Control, as 
we have explained. Several meetings 
have been held and the resolutions adopt¬ 
ed have been forwarded to a committee 
appointed by the Board, for its guidance. 
At all of these meetings—and this is what 
we wish to comment upon—the subject of 
practically testing the value of commer¬ 
cial fertilizers has been mentioned as if 
that were the chief object of establishing 
the station. This is a question whicn 
every farmer must determine for his own 
soil, even though a sub-station were es¬ 
tablished in every county in the State, 
and the less time and money appropri¬ 
ated for that purpose, the more there will 
remain for investigations which may 
prove of real service to the farming com¬ 
munity. It is to be hoped that the con¬ 
trol of this station will not fall into the 
hands of specialists. It may be neces¬ 
sary to employ chemists, geologists and 
entomologists, but only as department of- 
ficeia. The Director should be an edu¬ 
cated, earnest farmer. 
Rye-bread is the ordinary food of the 
working classes in Germany, where 
7,300,000 tons of rye areconsumed yearly. 
The average rye crop is 6,200,000 tons; 
but this year it is only 5,200.00(3 tons, so 
that the country must either import 
2,100,000 tons, costing $89,200,000, or 
else substitute other forms of food. The 
import duties on the rye needed would 
be 21,000,000 marks or $5,000,000—a di¬ 
rect tax on the absolute necessities of the 
people. Moreover, the scarcity will, of 
course, raise the price of this sort of food 
and also that of others that may serve as 
substitutes. Iu Russia, too, the rye 
crop, which there also is the staple 
food of the lower classes, is reported to 
be 40 per cent, short, and in St, Peters- 
burgh the price of rye-bread is twice as 
high as in ordinary years. Indeed in all 
the Baltic .region people are suffering se¬ 
verely from the partial failure of this 
crop last season. 
Taking the country through, wheat this 
year is about 10 cents per bushels lower 
than at the same date last year ; corn 
about two cents per bushel higher ; hogs 
75 cents per 100 pounds higher; Jard 
$1.10 per 100 pounds higher; pork $2.50 
per barrel higher for January delivery ; 
lor earlier delivery the price is not so 
high, as there is a considerable amountof 
old stock on hand which will not be “reg¬ 
ular” alter New Year’s, and will, there¬ 
fore, most likely be thrown ou the market 
before. Winter hog packing has begun 
all over the West, and the business is 
brisk. Farmers are selling freely, both 
because tney are satisfied with present 
rices and because, as a rule, they expect 
etter figures for com, and, therefore, 
think they can make more profit oy sell¬ 
ing it later ou than by feeding it to the 
hogs. The amount of packing in the 
West thus far considerably exceecb ihat 
at the corresponding date last vear, ag¬ 
gregating at 15 chief points 915,000 on 
Nov. 15 against 595,000 at the same time 
in ’79, an excess of 320.000 hogs. 
♦ ♦- 
Migration to and from Canada.— 
Takiug advantage of the distress in Ire¬ 
land, Canada is seeking to obtain thence 
a desirable class of agncultu al laborers. 
A telegram from Toronto announces that 
the Munster of Agriculture has submitted 
to the Home government a plan the main 
points of wnich are the free trans¬ 
portation of emigrants from the afflicted 
districts at the expense of the imperial 
government, aud the grant to them by 
the Do mini on of certain lands in the 
- ■ -» » ♦-- 
OLD-TIME EPIZOOTICS. 
Thanks to the general use of steam in 
traveling, it is comforting to reflect that 
in spite of the very great annoyance and 
inconvenience caused by the horse dis¬ 
eases in recent years, particularly by 
the epizootic which prevailed in the year 
1872, the inconveniences to which people 
are subjected nowadays in the lack of 
horses are really much less grave than 
those which our ancestors had to oontend 
with, iu similar circumstauoes. For our 
forefathers, the prevalence of a severe 
epizootic meant the cessation of all trav¬ 
eling and transportation, whether for long 
or tor short distances; excepting, of 
course, such service as may be done by 
oxen and by men on foot. Some idea 
of the gravity of the situation is suggest¬ 
ed by the following extracts from an old 
Birmingham newspaper which we chanc¬ 
ed to come across a few days Bince. On 
February 4th, 1760, notice was published 
that “ the burses belonging to the Bir¬ 
mingham stage coach are so much affect¬ 
ed by the present distemper that prevails 
among them, that its jourmes are obliged 
to be discontinued until their recovery.” 
And in the week following another notice 
appears underneath that of Feb. 11th, 
1760, “ the horses belonging to the Bir¬ 
mingham stage are still so bad that it 
would be dangerous to attempt their go¬ 
ing with the coach this week; but on 
Monday next, the 18th, Mr. Peyton pro¬ 
poses that the coach shall set out to go 
from hence as usual; after which he 
hopes it will meet with no other interrup¬ 
tion.” 
THE WHEAT CROP OF 1880. 
Elsewhere we give by States the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture's estimate of the 
wheat crop of the country for 1880. It 
will be seen that the aggregate yield this 
year is put. at 480,849,723 bushels against 
448,755,118 bushels lust year, an increase 
of 32,U94,605 bushels. The acreage, 
however, this year is estimated at 36,- 
037,950, against 32,835,909 in ’79, an in¬ 
crease of 3,202,041 acres. The increase 
in total yield, therefore, is proportion¬ 
ately less than that in acreage, so that 
the average yield this year is 13.03 bush¬ 
els, against 13.7 last year; 13.1 iu’78 
and 13.9 in '77. Previous to 1877 the 
average yield for 15 years was 12.2. The 
proportion of the wheat crop, pet 1 head, 
kept at home for food, seed, etc., for sev¬ 
eral years was as follows : 6.03 bushels 
in ’78-9; 6.09 bushels in ’77-8; 5.34 
bushels in ’76 7; and 5.23 bushels in 
’75-6. Estimating the domestic require¬ 
ments of ’80 1 at six bushels per head of 
a population of fifty millions, we have an 
aggregate of 300,000,000 bushels, which, 
deducted from our estimated total yield, 
would leave 180,849,723 bushels for ex¬ 
portation. Iu the above estimate of do¬ 
mestic requirements, however, is in¬ 
cluded all the flour made in the country. 
Of this an equivalent of 27,057,385bushe’s 
of wheat was exportad during the year 
ending Jnne 30 last, aud the equivalent 
of 25,333,713 during the preceding year. 
It is reasonable therefore to suppose that 
au equivalent of at least 29,000,000 bush¬ 
els of the present year’s wheat crop will 
be exported in the form of flour. De¬ 
ducting this amount from the domestic 
supply and adding it to our exportable 
surplus, we have for the fflrmer a total 
of 271.000,000 bushels, and for the latter 
209,849,723 bushels. From a careful 
comparison with a large collection of 
other trustworthy estimates, however, 
we feel pretty confident that the agricul¬ 
tural Department’s estimate of the aggre¬ 
gate yield is somewhat too high. For 
California and Oregon alone au increase 
of 15,491,200 bushels is given, which, 
judging from the Department’s over¬ 
estimate of the. yield there last year and 
from other data, seems to ns excess¬ 
ive. "While conceding to the Depart¬ 
ment’s Bureau of Statistics a fair meas¬ 
ure of care in its inquiries aud estimates, 
we are persuaded that the total wheat 
yield this year is from tea to fifteen million 
bushels less than its estimate, aDd that 
our exportable surplus will be corres¬ 
pondingly smaller. 
-- 
AGITATION NEEDED. 
Last week a large number of represen¬ 
tative cattle raisers and breeders met at 
Chicago and passed a series of resolutions 
urging Congress, at its next session, to 
adopt prompt and effective means for the 
suppression of plenro-pneumonia among 
our herds. For upwards of two years, 
the Rural New-Yorker has persistently 
pressed upon public attention the neces¬ 
sity for energetic Congressional action in 
this direction. While many other agri¬ 
cultural papers, both East and West, have 
either belittled the danger to which our 
vast cattle interests have been exposed 
from this destructive and insidious mal¬ 
ady, or persistently denied its existence 
among us, we have repeatedly iuBisted on 
the need of legislation both to prevent 
its spread and to extirpate it from our 
borders. The Boards of Agriculture of 
Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and some other States, 
have already joined us in urging upon 
Congress the need of speedy action in 
this matter, and resolutions looking to 
this end should be passed in every other 
State at the earliest opportunity. We 
have just learned that the National 
Grange, at its annual meeliuglately held 
at Washington, passed resolutions urging 
such legislation. Great as has beeu the 
increase of our exports of live cattle to 
Great Britain of lute, there is no doubt 
that it would have been much more 
rapid, if freed from trie restrictions placed 
ujion it owing to the presence of this dis¬ 
ease in a few scattered parts of thecouu- 
tvy. Among a large aud influential class 
in Great Britain there is every disposition 
to remove these restrictions at the earliest 
opportunity. Even within .the last lew 
days the cable informs us that a vigorous 
effort is to be made, at the next meeting 
of Parliament, to greatly modify the regu¬ 
lations at present governing the importa¬ 
tions of cattle from this country. This 
favorable disposition across the water 
should be encouraged by vigorous aotion 
on this side. Hitherto whenever our 
English friends have sought to lighten the 
embargo, it has been objected that it 
could hardly be expected the British 
government should be in a hurry to re¬ 
lieve our trade of a burden which our 
government, owiDgto itsculpableremiss- 
ness, was doing so little to remove. 
Judge Jones, of Ohio, who was lately 
sent to England by the President to in¬ 
vestigate the matter, reports that the pres¬ 
ent embargo ou our cattle causes a loss of 
from $15 to $23 on eaoh imported steer. 
Having to be slaughtered at the port of 
debarkation 14 days after landing, there 
is not time enough for the beasts to be 
put in good condition after the hardships 
of the voyage and the previous railroad 
transportation. Moreover, the meat has 
to be thrown on the market whether this 
ba favorable or unfavorable, bo that often 
it has to be sold at a has, whereas in the 
absence of restrictions the animals could 
be well fattened, driven where wanted 
and slaughtered only when a good price 
could be obtained for the meat. The 
number of cattle to be imported from this 
country during the current year is es¬ 
timated at 150,000 head, so that a loss of 
even $15 on each would entail on the trade 
a total loss of $2,250,000 for a single year. 
The farmers of this country are the ohief 
sufferers by this loss, a part of which would 
pay all the expenses of eradicating the 
plague of pleuro-pneumonia to which it is 
due. It is notorious that “President- 
making ” and the making of political 
“records” occupied the time and atten¬ 
tion of Congress at its last session almost 
to the entire exolusion of needed legisla¬ 
tion, and that no industry suffered mere 
from this negleot than did agriculture. 
Now that the President is “made,” let 
us have some honest, useful work from 
our legislative Solons. 
-♦ -- 
BREVITIES. 
Rural Grounds. Nov 22. —Thermometer at 
six o’clock a. m. 13 degrees. 
There is a good prospect that we shall be 
sa-lier in putting uDand mailing our Seed Dis¬ 
tribution than we were last year. There may 
still be a doubt as to the Rural Branching 
Sorghum—but it is so small that we no longer 
worry over it—and all the rest are secured be¬ 
yond a peradventure. 
Wb have received the following letter from 
Gerdt S Miller in reference to our engravings 
of biB stock: *• GentlemeD—Yours of 15th 
inst. inclosing proofs of my Ilulsteins, is at 
hand. I think you are doing the best work 
of the kind I have ever seen. I am well pleased 
with the copy of the photograph." 
We learn by cablegram this morning (Nov. 
22) that the great Eastern Fr^sh Meat Com¬ 
pany with a capital of $1,500,000 has been 
lormed in England. It proposes to import 
carcasses from North and South America and 
for this purpose the Great Eastern steamship 
has been fitted up with refrigerating appli¬ 
ances. Well, while we should wish that as 
much as possible of the profit of our ex¬ 
port meat trade should go into the pockets 
of our own citizens, we welcome all honorable 
competition. The more buyers in the mar¬ 
ket, the belter the prices for farmers. 
On November 17. the National Grange held 
its annual meeting at Washington, D. C. As 
the sessions were secret, there Jius not been 
time enou h vet for the proceedings to dribble 
out to public uotice. It la said, however that 
the reports indicate that, iustead of the mem¬ 
bership having falleuoff. as has been geneialJy 
supposed, the Grunge now numbers as many 
members as at any time in its history. Nearly 
half of its patrons appear to be women, to 
whom its social features are especially attrac¬ 
tive and beneficial- In this and other respects 
the Grange has been a blessing to the agricul¬ 
ture of the country—loug may it flourish! 
So great has become the substitution of 
oleomargarine for the poorer sorts of butter in 
this market, that commission men say thaton'y 
t-vo kinds of butter Can be soul Iie e—cream¬ 
ery and oleomargarine 1 A new Chicago sen- 
s ttion is that a new process has oeeu di.-covercd 
for converting lard into butter and that a lard 
‘"boom ’’ is among the approaching probabili¬ 
ties. Exports ol the stuff have, it is said, been 
made to Europe where, it is reported, it has 
given high (mtUfactirm as a butter siib.-tiime. 
Six factories are reported to be turning out 
twenty-five to thirty thousand pouuds a day 
of the concoction which sells all the way from 
13 to 27 cents a pouud. 
A committee of the Elgin Board of Trade 
has been lnvertigatiug adulteralims of butter 
aud cheese at Chicago and are reporltd to have 
discovered that “ anti-hnfl’’ is largely used 
mere in the manufacture of cheese. Tnis is a 
compouud ot alkali, sal soda and other articles 
which is said to destroy the albumen ot the 
cheese and prevent the latter from pufiir.g up 
enabling the maker to woik in buttermilk. 
Tbe stuff ia used only in making tknn-milk 
cbeese and as yet there is no difference in price 
between the anti-buff preparation and tbe or¬ 
dinary article. Tbe stuff has been only lately 
discovend Cheeses in which it iBustdsoon 
become leathery and then break down aud 
crumble to pieces. It is also thought they are 
injurious to the stomach. 
The best authorities will sometimes 
differ: —According to the Report of ihe 
Ohio State Board of Agriculture ihe aggre¬ 
gate yield of tbe wheat crop of that State this 
year is 52 592.700 bushels, while ihe D partiin-at 
of Agriculture's Report gives it oulj S7,7'J2 800 
bushels, a difference ot fourteen and three- 
quarter mibion bushels. The former figures, 
nevertheless, are said to be bused on actual 
township canvass since thrashing. Last year, 
too. there was a pretty little discrepancy of 
4,476,700 bushels between the estimates of the 
tame excellent authorides, the State Board 
putting the total wheat yield at 41 052,120 
bushels, and ihe Agricultural Department al¬ 
lowing a yield of only 36.531.360 bushels. Th-n, 
too, the lorrner claimed that 2,319,323 acres 
were under the crop; but the latter could find 
only 1,876,430 of them. 
The receipts of wheat at St. Louis have 
been much greater this year lhan ever before. 
A lale Globe-Democrat says that for fully a 
fortnight the rcc.-lpts of wheat there bad been 
nearly as great as tbQEe at Chicago. Iu July 
and early August there would be nothing re¬ 
markable in this, because the Winter wheat of 
tbe Houthwest, a great part of which goes to 
8 s. Louie, is harvested from two to five weeks 
eaiiierttian the Spring wheat of the North¬ 
west, mo&t of which goes to Chicago; out at 
this time the jeceipia of this sort of wheat 
arc usually heaviest at the usual markets, 
aud therefore tbe Chicago receipts should be 
much larger than those of her rival. Most of 
the 3t. Louis wheat Is carried by a new Hue of 
barges to New Origans whence it is shipped to 
forciga mai kets. 8.nee Jauuary 1, it ia 6aid 
twice as much wheat has beeu shipped to 
Europe by this route, as there was iu the 
corresponding period last year. 
