804 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
BEC. 4 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT E. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, DEC. 4, 1880. 
Nearly two years ago we strongly rep¬ 
robated the extortionate charges made 
by the Union Stock Yard Company of 
Chicago. From the entire Northwest, as 
far as Kansas, aye, aud Texas, the live 
stock of the couutry converges towards 
the Western Metropolis, on its way to mar¬ 
ket for the East or Europe, and bn every 
single animal that arrives there auexhorbi- 
tant profit is made. Feed is supplied at 
an extortionate price, the handling of the 
animals is brutal in its cruelty and detri¬ 
mental in the damage it inflicts upon 
them, while even the hotels connected 
with the yard charge a price in accord¬ 
ance with the company’s other exactions, 
while their fare is as shabby as the rest 
of its conduct. This abuse has ceased to 
be a local grievance ; its evil consequen¬ 
ces extend over so wide a territory that 
all of us are deeply interested, and while 
public opinion everywhere should con¬ 
demn it, local legislation should prompt¬ 
ly put an end to it. 
-*-*_*- 
Rural Papers and Experiment Farms, 
—The Western Rural needs an experi¬ 
mental farm before its ambition can be 
satisfied. Every agricultural or horticul¬ 
tural paper needs such a farm if it cares 
to make its teachings original and trust¬ 
worthy. It is also necessary—the farm 
procured—that the editor should spend 
not less than one-third of his time, during 
the growing season at any rate, ill the 
field. And he must work with bis own 
hands, as well as see to it that his instruc¬ 
tions are carried out by others. It seems 
to us that the time has passed when an 
editor can Bit in his office, week in aud 
week out, year after year, and yet in¬ 
struct farmers What to do and How to do 
it, who are themselves practicing farm 
work from morning till night. No matter 
how thorough his farm education may 
have been, farm methods are constantly 
changing. New seeds are brought to 
notice every season. Cross-breeds and 
hybrids of fruits, grains and flowers are 
to be carefully tested. Improved or new 
agricultural implements are every year to 
be examined and tbeir comparative excel¬ 
lence ascertained. An editor cannot shut 
himself up in his office and yet know 
about such matters. 
-- 
The Cost of Experiments. —It is a 
nYatter of surprise that there are many in 
Michigan (as in other States) who insist 
that the Agricultural College should con¬ 
duct a great number of experiments in 
the interests of agriculture aud horticul¬ 
ture and yet return to the State, “dollar 
for dollar,” a^it receives from the State. 
The object of an expetiment is to find out 
something of value. If such experiments 
could be conducted and yet return to the 
experimenters all they cost in time and 
money, we should not need public insti¬ 
tutions for such purposes; private enter¬ 
prise would prove ample. We know 
from our own experience upon the Rural 
Farm and Grounds that valuable facts or 
results cannot be obtained without a 
great amount of painstaking, tedious 
labor. And the worst of it is that they are 
rarely obtained even then. In experi¬ 
ments the chances are largely against suc¬ 
cess, and the adverse ratio beoomes greater 
according to the value of the information 
sought. Had Dr. Lawes, of Rothamsted, 
been obliged to make bis experiments 
“ self-supporting,” they would have been 
ended in their infancy, instead of be¬ 
ing conducted perseveringly, patiently, 
through 40 years. 
Weather Prophets.— “He that ob- 
serveth the wind shall not sow, and he 
that regardeth the clouds shall not reap,” 
is the Scriptural warning against the 
weather-wiseacres ; but, alas ! like too 
many other Scriptural warnings aud in¬ 
junctions, it is too often disregarded or 
forgotten. The weather prophets have 
of late been contradictory in their vati¬ 
cinations. Vennor, of Canada, foretelling 
an early and severe Winter, with a “very” 
universal superabundance of snow ; while 
Devoe, oi New Jersey, predicts a mild 
Winter, with more slush than snow aud 
rain than frost. The New York Herald’s 
private prophet agrees, in the main, with 
the Canadian as to the earliness and se- * 
verity of the Winter ; but while the latter 
is content to draw his conclusions from 
the meteorology of North America, the 
Herald man, disdaining all domestic 
sources of recondite information, goes to 
mysterious Asia for the cause of the phe¬ 
nomenon. There he finds that throughout 
the vast and arid wastes of the central and 
northern parts of that mighty continent 
the atmosphere this year is exceptionally 
dry and that the eaith is therefore losing 
a great deal of its heat to a cloudless skv. 
Hence the formation there of intensely 
cold waves that will move eastward across 
Behring Straits and over the Rocky 
Mountains, whose snowy summits will 
add to the frigidity of the icy currents on 
their cheerless way across the continent 
to the Atlantic, Phew ! 
■ - - 
Devon Cattle. —We are glad to see 
that more attention is again paid to this 
beautiful and highly useful race of cattle, 
both at home and abroad. They have 
been partially overlooked for some years 
past, owing to the great rage for Short¬ 
horns. Nothing is equal to them for 
working oxen of a medium size; their 
beef is of first quality ; and some of the 
families are still bred to retain their orig¬ 
inal great milking points. 
By late sales in England, we notice 
that Devons have fetched fully as high 
prices as the average Short-horns, and 
we understand it is nearly the same in 
our own country. They are the most 
profitable of any breed of cattle to be 
reared on abort pastures or hilly or 
mountainous lands—they are so liardy 
and active they will thrive and get fat on 
these, where larger animals could not. 
The only objection urged by some few 
persons against Devons is, that they do 
nut mature quite so early as Short-horns, 
and that they are from one-fifth to one- 
fourth less in size. But on the rich pas¬ 
tures of the West the breeders are in¬ 
creasing the size somewhat, and are 
striving for earlier maturity. To the first 
of these we are opposed, for if the size is 
much increased it will unfit Devons to 
occupy the lands profitably for which 
they are now fitted. A few mouths’ 
earlier maturity would be beneficial, and 
if it is attained without loss of any other 
good quality, it will of course prove ad¬ 
vantageous to the breeder, and more 
especially the feeder. 
■ - » ♦ ♦ - 
SWINDLERS ABROAD. 
About six months ago, aud again three 
months since, we warned our readers 
against the untrustworthy character of 
the Chicago Produce Exchange Company, 
which, both in country papers and by 
circulars, advertised that they were ready 
to do a large business in “puts,” “calls,” 
“straddles,” etc., in grain, on terms very 
advantageous to their patrons. We in¬ 
sisted that it was a swindle similar to the 
great stock swindle fully exposed in these 
oolumns about a year ago. It is to be 
hoped, therefore, that none of our sub¬ 
scribers are among the dupes out of 
whose pockets this swindling concern 
filched the §100,000 for which it has just 
failed. In view of the unusually large 
number of swindling concerns at present 
operating among farmers—supposed to 
be flash after selling their crops—we shall 
at once resume our exposures of suoh 
frauds, temporarily suspended during the 
Summer lull in their operations. We beg 
our readers, therefore, to promptly inform 
us of any Buch rascals “working” in their 
neignborhoods, giving us the fullest pos¬ 
sible information, to enable ns to “ diag¬ 
nose ” their cases for the benefit of our 
readers at large. Even in spite of the 
extreme caution with which we admit ad¬ 
vertisements into our columns, we have 
been twice deceived into admitting the 
advertisements of parties who failed to 
carry out their engagements. In both 
cases we.promptly exposed these so soon 
as we were informed of their dishonesty, 
and should we ever in future be imposed 
upou by similar frauds, we shall be de¬ 
lighted to make their real character kuown 
so soon as we learn of their misdeeds 
through our friends or otherwise. 
- — 
IRISH AGITATION. 
Dm it occur to any of our readers on 
Thanksgiving Day to be thankful that he 
was neither an Irish tenant nor an Irish 
landlord ? For ages the condition of the 
former has been rescued from absolute 
misery only by his natural buoyancy and 
unambitious contentment. Satisfied with 
little, his landlord has always taken oare 
that he should never have much, by 
wringing from him every farthing he could 
make beyond enough to supply the bare 
neceBBaries of life. Never “forehanded,” 
therefore, whenever an unfavorable sea¬ 
son has visited him, it has brought mis¬ 
ery and starvation for him. Little won¬ 
der that he has at length rebelled against 
his oppressors—the trodden worm, we are 
told, will turn against the foot that 
weighs down upon it. Of the landlords, 
eighty are reported to be guarded from 
the wrath of their tenantry by policemen, 
both at home aud wherever they move 
abroad. Thirteen are “Boycotted” by 
the Land League—a penalty more severe 
than excommunication in olden times. 
The execrations of the nation are con¬ 
stantly in their ears and the fear of it at 
their hearts, while the Government is 
avowedly unable to afford them safety or 
relief. 
The English Tories still insist on coer¬ 
cion before any measure of reform of 
recognized abuses shall be introduced 
into Parliament, and in this repressive 
poliey they are supported by one branch 
of the Liberals, who believe in a “strong” 
government rather than a just one. The 
majority of the Cabinet, however, con¬ 
scious that the crushing of the present 
movement would settle nothing except 
what all acknowledge—the superior might 
of the Government—seem resolved, so 
soon as Parliament meets, in January, to 
introduce a bill looking to the ultimate 
establishment of peasant proprietorship 
in Ireland. The late expedition of the 
military to collect the crops on Lord 
Erne’s'estate, near Ballinrobe, seems to 
have convinced all that it is as unwise as 
it is inconvenient to attempt to gather in 
the harvest with the bayonet. 
-»■» ♦- 
A SPECIMEN RAILROAD OUTRAGE. 
The latest specimen of railroad extor¬ 
tion and arbitrary tyranny was perpetra¬ 
ted in Baltimore by the Baltimore and 
Ohio road, last Friday. Like a thunder¬ 
bolt from a speck less Bky there burst 
upon the grain trade of the city, without 
a word of warning, the announcement 
that after the 6th of December, the rates 
of storage on wheat in the railroad’s eleva¬ 
tors would be raised to three-sixteenths 
of one cent per bushel for five days or 
parts of the same, and 2£ cents per bush¬ 
el for each and every ten days thereafter 
or parts of the same. These exorbitant 
charges are exacted on the ground that 
the storage capacity of the elevators is 
insufficient to accommodate the vast bulk 
of grain accumulating in the city, and 
that this heavy tax will force the owners 
of the grain to ship it promptly, and thus 
make room for more cereal shipments 
over the road from the West. The capac¬ 
ity of the elevators is 2,850,000 bushels 
and they now contain 2,703,865 bushels— 
2,087,158 of wheat and 616,707 of corn. 
Moreover, several tobacco warehouses in 
the city are said to be filled with grain 
and so are many railroad cars on the 
track, so that the grain blockade is almost 
complete. At first glance, therefore, it 
would seem that the grounds for the rail¬ 
road company’s action have at least some 
plausibility. 
It must be borne in mind, however, 
that the lack of sufficient storage capa¬ 
city is due to the fault of the railroad 
company, which thus profits by its own 
negligence, while the loss falls upon its 
customers. Last year there was a similar 
grain blockade which should have warned 
the company to enlarge its facilities for 
this season. Moreover, while it levies a 
heavy tax on its patrons avowedly to force 
them to ship their grain in the absence of 
vessels from the harbor, it is itself rush¬ 
ing more grain from the West, thus m- 
ci’easing the embarrassment. Already 
wheat in the Oyster City has fallen from 
four to five cents a bushel, while the trade 
there has become thoroughly demoral¬ 
ized. The Company received the grain 
with the implied agreement that it should 
be subject only to the usual rates of stor¬ 
age, and the additional tax arbitrarily 
imposed on it has depressed values and 
shaken confidence in the future, inasmuch 
as the whole trade is thus shown to be at 
the mercy of the greed of the Company. 
The grain dealers have entered some vig¬ 
orous protests, signed a series of con¬ 
demnatory resolutions, and intend to seek 
legislation regulating storage charges 
in future. 
--- 
BREVITIES. 
Oub portraits of distinguished farmers and 
horticulturists will be continued through 1881 . 
A free copy of the Rural New-Yokkbr for 
1881 will be mailed to any present subscriber 
who will send us a club of seven. 
We are looking for a fall in the price of 
American appleB in the markets of Eugland. 
We advise our exporters to ship cautiously at 
present. 
Yes, we would esteem it as an exceeding 
favor if our present subscribers would interest 
themselves to procure us new subscribers from 
among their friends. 
V e should feel much obliged if subscribers 
in renewing would state what Departments 
of the Rural please them most, and suggest 
wherein improvements might be made. 
Those intending to contribute to the Corn 
Special of the Rural New-Yorker (the first 
number in the new year) are requested to send 
iu their notes at once. 
The sudden closing of the canals leading to 
this city has shut up, it is estimated, no less 
than seven million bushels of grain, and 
straightway the “bulls” in the produce mar¬ 
ket have become Jubilant at the prospect of 
higher prices for breadstuffs. 
The port churgea in this city have become 
so excessive that the Maritime Exchange has 
resolved to take action looking to their amend¬ 
ment. The producer and the consumer are 
both sufferers from thuse exactions of the 
middlemen and it is to be hoped that the self- 
interest of the public at large will find some 
means of putting a check upon such extor¬ 
tion. 
^ Authorities Again Differ : — The San 
Francisco Chronicle from careful inquiries, 
estimates the wheat crop of California and 
Oregon at 86,000,000; the Department of Agri¬ 
culture’s Report puts it at 58 680.000 bushels— 
a difference of 22,680.000 bushels ! Last year, 
however, the actual outcome of the wheat crop 
on the Pacific Coast was about ten million 
bushels less than the Department’s estimate. 
Convicted dealers in watered milk have 
paid flues to the amount of five thousand dol¬ 
lars in this city during the post year. Inasmuch 
as not one dishonest dealer in ten is detected.and 
inasmuch as each fellow who has been “ found 
out” in one such offence, has been guilty of 
a great many undetected adulterations, what 
a quantity of watered milk must the Gotham¬ 
ites have Bwallowed during the twelvemonth! 
Exports of live cattle to Europe have be¬ 
come very small, owing to the risks during 
the voyage at this stormy season. A speci¬ 
men loss was that on the steamer Braudford 
City which reached West Hartlepool, England, 
on November 28d, with a cargo of cattle from 
Boston, having loBt 470 head during the voy¬ 
age. In the three months ending October 31, 
as many as 11,115 head were lost, or 6even per 
cent.—and that in comparatively mild weather. 
The Ohio Horticultural Society will 
hold its annual meeting at Columbus, Decem¬ 
ber 8th, Ifth and 10th proximo. All who take 
an interest in Horticulture are invited Local 
Societies will send Delegates- The Ad Interior 
Committee will report. Valuable and inter¬ 
esting papere are expected und lively discus¬ 
sions. Take your limits for display and for 
identification. Annual fee of membership $1. 
Geo. W. Campbell, Esq , Acting Secretary, 
John A. Wander. M. D. President. 
It has again become necessary that we 
should state that those desiring specimen 
copies of the several papers with which we 
have made special clubbing arrangements, 
should apply to those papers, viz., The Week¬ 
ly Iuter-Ocean, Chicago, Ills. ; The Weekly 
Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Midi.; The Week¬ 
ly Globe Democrat, 8t Louis, Mo. ; The Week¬ 
ly New-York World, 35 Park Row, New York; 
The Weekly Pioneer Press. 8t. Paul. Minn.; 
and the Weekly Evening Post, New York city. 
Specimen copies will be sent free to those of 
our friends who apply. Subscriptions for any or 
all of them will be promptly forwarded by us. 
Exports of cattle from Canadian ports have 
ended for the season, aud during the Winter 
months exporters will deal in American cattle 
at Portland and Boston. It was lately an¬ 
nounced m England tbut Canadian stock deal¬ 
ers had contracted for 20,000 head of American 
cattle for shipment to Great Britain, and some 
of our transatlantic contemporaries became 
well-nigh hysterica! at the bare prospect of the 
possible introduction of these into the United 
Kingdom as Cauadiau cattle, in which event 
it was strongly insisted that Canada, too, 
should be scheduled. The announcement that 
Canadian dealers intend to ship Amcricau cat¬ 
tle from American ports, may explain the 
matter and allay the excitement of our Jealous 
contemporaries. 
It is seldom that Government can regulate 
the price of breadstuffs in modern times; yet 
Russia has just given an instance in which the 
Government has had a salutary influence in 
this direction. In 8t Petersburg the price of 
breadstuff* has lately been extortionate, but 
on Nov. 9, Gen. Melikoff, Ju whom are now 
embodied the executive powers of the Empire, 
gave a significant hint to the municipal au¬ 
thorities with regard to the necessity of low¬ 
ering the starvation price of bread, as well as 
of grain, flour, etc. Straightway the prices 
of flour, etc . were reduced about 20 per cent, 
and that of bread nearly one-half. That the 
high prices were the result of speculative ex¬ 
tortion is shown by tbe fact that the stock of 
grain stored in the city is considered sufficient 
for the otdiuary requirementa of two and a 
half years. 
The National Grange at its late meeting in 
Washington is reported to have passed reso¬ 
lutions demanding that the Bureau of Agricul¬ 
ture should be made a Department, and that 
its head should have a seat In the Cabinet, de¬ 
manding an anii-dist rimmation railroad law, 
a revision of the patent laws and the enact¬ 
ment of a graduated income tax. It also 
pledged itself to hold each senator aud mem¬ 
ber of Congress responsible for his action 
with regard to these resolutions, and to op¬ 
pose, without regard to party, any member 
who may fall to support the principles em¬ 
bodied iu them. Several of these resolutions 
have for years been persistently supported 
by this paper, and what is wise and praise¬ 
worthy in the others shall receive our hearty 
concurrence. 
The French government has reduced the 
duty on imported sugar from 73 francs 32 
centimes, to 40 francs, the new tariff having 
gone into force last month. It will be inter¬ 
esting to notice what effect this reduction will 
have upon the beet sugar industry of the coun¬ 
try, whieh is supposed to have flourished main¬ 
ly on account of the almost prohibitive duty 
upon its foreign rival. There is no doubt that 
the immediate effect will be a large increase 
in the consumption of sugar, and consequent¬ 
ly an increase in activity at the great sugar 
refineries at Paris, Nantes and Marseilles. 
Since 1844, tbe yearly consumption of sugar 
in England has increased from six to sixty 
pounds per head of the population, while In 
France it has remained almost stationary. 
