THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1880. 
ANNOUNCEMENT. 
The next Fair Edition of the Rural New- 
Yorker will be issued about September 1st. 
Instead of 28, as in our last Fair number, 
it will consist of 40 pages with cover, orig¬ 
inal engravings and articles written ex¬ 
pressly for it by Dr. J. B. Lawes, of Rotharn- 
sted, A. B Allen, William Robinson, founder 
and editor of the London Garden, Professor 
F. H. Storer, Peter B. Mead, Gov. R. W. Fur¬ 
nas, Prof. E. W. Stewart, B. F. Johnston, 
Henry Stewart and by others perhaps whoso 
names we are not at present prepared to an¬ 
nounce. It will contain a full account of our 
next Free Plant and Seed Distribution which 
we deem of greater value thau any previously 
offered. It will contain our Premium List 
for 1881 together with other matter which it 
would be premature further to particularize 
now. Respectful notice is hereby given to ad¬ 
vertisers that we caunol insure the iusertion of 
advertisements in that number unless the copy 
is received before August 15, or possibly'Au¬ 
gust 10th. We guarantee that the edition shall 
be over 75,000 copies. How much over we are 
not prepared to state as it will be printed from 
electrotypes and distributed as needed during 
several months. The greater part of the edition, 
after serving our subscribers, will be distributed 
at the most important of the Fall fairs. Our 
regular subscribers are freely invited to 
send for as many copies as they may be 
willing to distribute amoDg those who are 
interested in rural affairs. All the friends of 
the Rural New-Yorker, who are satisfied 
with the eltorts we have made to please and 
instruct them, are solicited to aid us, through 
this Fair number, in so extending our cir¬ 
culation that further improvements may be 
inaugurated and sustained during 1881. 
Subscribers of the Rural New-Yobker 
will greatly oblige us if they will promptly 
notify us of any irregularity in the receipt of 
their papers. The many changes rendered 
necessary by our removal and an unusually 
large number of complaints make us desirous 
of rectifying any further derangements at 
present unknown to us as speedily as possible. 
Presidential Candidates. Again, 
the farmers do not seem to have made 
their voices heard in the late selection of 
candidates for the Presidency or Vice- 
Presidency. We are 6orry that this is so, 
and that the one overshadowing interest 
of our country should ever be hidden 
from sight during the political intrigues 
that select the men for whom we must 
vote, or not vote at all. We can mention 
not less than six contributors to our col¬ 
umns to whom we should give our vote 
iu preference to either of the Generals 
that have been chosen. 
The Silver Dollar.— Attention has 
often been called to the essential incon¬ 
venience of the new Bilver dollar; and 
from the comparatively small number 
that can be kept in circulation it is plain 
that most people find it too heavy and 
bulky a coin for daily use. For a for¬ 
cible* presentation of this idea we have 
met with nothing more emphatic than 
the remark of a farmer’s wife which we 
chanced to overhear recently. “ Stove- 
covers ! I call ’em,” was her dictum ; and 
the figure lost none of its strength from 
the contemptuous, strident tone in which 
it was uttered. 
- *~*~4 - 
Horticola.— Who is he? We have 
already had this inquiry and probably, 
as soon as the force and spirit of his 
“Rnralisms” become apparent, others 
would like an answer to the same question. 
“Horticola” is one of our oldest horticul¬ 
tural editors and one of the few who, 
having experiment grounds, is enabled 
to write of things as he sees them. We 
engage him to write for the Rural New- 
Yorkek and to tell the whole truth, re¬ 
gardless of any individual interests. That 
he may do so without incurring the per¬ 
sonal displeasure of those whose plants 
or acts he may criticize or condemn; that 
he may write* with the utmost freedom, 
it is better, perhaps, that his familiar 
name should at least for the present be 
withheld. 
-- 
BETTER RATHER THAN MORE DAIRY 
PRODUCTS NEEDED. 
The immense foreign trade in dairy 
products, attaining the largest volume 
ever reached last year, is pretty well sus¬ 
tained the present season. In three 
years the increase in cheese exports was 
45 per cent., while a more than sevenfold 
advance in shipments of butter was made. 
The quantities exported were 141,654,473 
pounds of cheese and 38,248,016 pounds 
of butter. Iu the ten mouths of the 
present fiscal year to April 30. these ex¬ 
ports are respectively 97,122,753 and 31,* 
144,806 pounds. The average value of 
the cheese was 8.9 cents per pound and 
of the butter nearly 17 cents, an improve¬ 
ment of 3 3 cents on last year’s prices, 
but still lower than for any former year 
since 1862. This is au absurd price, in¬ 
dicative of quality quite unworthy of 
American reputation for skill, being only 
two-thirds of a cent per pound for milk, 
and if the expenses of manufacture and 
freight are considered, it is a little more 
thau a cent per pound for the milk in the 
bauds of the farmer, it is true that a 
low grade of goods goes to foreign mar¬ 
kets as a rule, yet there is a vastly larger 
quantity of equal worthlessness disposed 
of at home. The gap between grease aud 
gilt-edged forms the abyss that yawns 
between loss and profit in dairying. 
-- 
WHAT SHALL THE BOYS DO 1 
The very basis of the healthful pro¬ 
gress of any nation or country is the 
practice of some mechanical industry by 
the majority of the men. A certain pro¬ 
portion may earn a living iu commer¬ 
cial pursuits or in the professions, and 
some may procure a living as saloon¬ 
keepers, bar-tenders, loafers and tramps. 
But very few can be supported in idle¬ 
ness or iu vice without laying a weary 
burden upon the industrious classes. Of 
late years a serious social dauger is 
threatened by the action of the various 
trades’ unions in refusing to admit boys 
into shops as apprentices. Some years 
ago there was a class of apprentices iu 
every large shop or factory, and in time 
these boys became skillful workmen. 
Now the supply of such artisans is cut off 
at the very source, and tho consequence 
must be (aud is, for we are all discover¬ 
ing it in the most palpable manner) infe¬ 
rior materials and workmanship in nearly 
every tool and machine that is purchased. 
“The farmer pays for all,” not only for 
inferior work of untrained artisans, but 
for the support of idle boys and the vi¬ 
cious, dangerous men that idle youths 
must invariably become in time. 
Fortunately there is one industry into 
which every boy will be welcomed. 
There is scarcely a farmer in the land 
who is uot prepared and ready, nay, 
eager, to accept the services of au ap¬ 
prentice for such a remuneration as his 
labor may deserve. Board, clotheB aud 
a little spending money he is ready to 
give, and, in addition, to teach him the 
practice of his art, which is certainly as 
intricate as sawing wood or hammering 
iron. There are no trades' unions on the 
farm. The farms will receive all the 
boys x,hat workshops refuse, and the boys 
will have no cause iu the end to regret 
the ill-nature and selfishness that drove 
them there. 
--- 
EUROPEAN CROP REPORTS. 
The latest European crop reports 
by cable indicate that, although, the har¬ 
vest everywhere, except perhaps iu Rus¬ 
sia, will be considerably better thau that 
of last year, yet the brilliant promises 
earlier in the season will be realized only 
in a few places. In the British Isles 
heavy rain storms have lately been dam¬ 
aging the crops, and the area under wheat 
is less than usual, mainly on account of 
the farmers’ discouragement at the failure 
of the crop for the last three or four 
years, and at the close competition with 
cheaper grain from this country. In 
France crops are a fair average; in Ger¬ 
many, the prospect for harvest seems bad 
in places, but middling-fair on the whole; 
Russia seems to have the poorest crop 
outlook of all our transatlantic friends, 
aud will have only half her usual surplus 
of cereals for export. Austria-Hungary 
will have good crops; and so will Italy. 
It is certain that Great Britain will be a 
heavy importer of foreign grain; and 
nearly certain that France and Germany 
will also be considerable purchasers in 
our cereal markets; while Italy, Spain, 
Holland and Belgium will most likely 
also need some of our surplus wheat. 
Owiug to the high prices for wheat 
of late and the prospect that they might 
at any time fall considerably on the ex¬ 
pected collapse of the American syndi¬ 
cate, both English and French dealers 
aud millers have been doing only a hand- 
to-mouth business in that cereal. They 
were certain prices would not go up, aud 
hopeful they would come down, aud ac¬ 
cordingly refused to keep any stock on 
hand. Again, the high figures tempted 
European holders of grain to sell all they 
could pu6sibly spare, so that now the un¬ 
marketed supply is unusually small. Ac¬ 
cordingly on account of the very small 
amount of last season’s wheat in the 
hands of the producers aud dealers, and 
the constant demand, increased by the 
late fall in price, prices across the water 
are now stiller than a couple of weeks 
ago, and will, not unlikely, remain so at 
any rate until the present harvest is 
fully in the market. 
-♦ - 
FARMERS TO THE RESCUE! 
At this season of rural plenty, when 
farmers throughout the land are rejoic¬ 
ing over splendid crops nearly every¬ 
where, they should uot for a moment 
permit brother farmers iu any section to 
suffer for the necessaries of life through 
unavoidable mischances. When in any 
part of the country the members of other 
callings are hard-pinched, either through 
“ strikes,” slackness of work or for any 
other cause, their fellows all over the 
country are accustomed promptly aud 
liberally to come to their relief. Shall 
farmers be less generous thau artisans ; 
or less considerate of the needs of those 
of their own avocation whom misfortune 
oppresses ? The couple of tiers of coun¬ 
ties along the western border of Kansas 
are newly and very thinly settled ; the 
settlers, as a rule, expended their little all 
in the first year’s expenses trusting to the 
hoped-for harvest for future support: ow¬ 
ing to the drought that scorched that sec¬ 
tion in Spring, crops have been nearly total 
failures this year, uor were they mucli bet¬ 
ter last season. The people are close to ab¬ 
solute starvation. Owing to the distance 
apart of the miserable homesteads and 
the general poverty, neighborly help, 
either iu the form ol relief or remunera¬ 
tive work, is impossible. Through 16 
counties gaunt, famishing families—help¬ 
less childreu and women and men equal¬ 
ly helpless — must depend until next 
harvest on outside charity for support. 
The Kansas Aid Society, organized at 
Topeka, Kansas, appeals to the people of 
that aud other States for help lor these 
hungry pioneers of civilization who have 
been unwisely tempted to invest every¬ 
thing iu the arduous task of reclaiming 
the “Great American Desert.” It is to be 
hoped that this appeal will meet with a 
generous response from farmers all over 
the country. 
-4-4-4- 
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 
An ill return was made to the Michigan 
Agricultural College recently. Prof. 
Kedzie, the professor of Chemistry of 
that College, has for some time past been 
making some elaborate tests of the value 
of certain wheats, chiefly for the purpose 
of removing au unjust and costly dis¬ 
crimination against Clawson wheat by the 
Western Millers’ Association. The mil¬ 
lers were prejudiced against, this wheat 
to the extent of 10 cents a bushel; that 
is, they charged that to that extent it was 
inferior to otiier wheats for making flour. 
It was never known that they sold the 
flour for any reduced price, but it was 
known that when a farmer came to a 
mill with a load of Clawson wheat he 
was “docked" precisely 10 cents a 
bushel off the regular market price. As 
Clawson wheat yielded well aud was a 
safe and profitable kind, to grow, tnis an¬ 
noyed the Michigan farmers consider¬ 
ably. 
Prof. Kedzie, in their interest took up 
the matter and by ids careful, thor¬ 
ough aud laborious work during several 
months proved to the millers that Claw¬ 
son wheat was equal to any other, and 
induced them to withdraw their unfavor¬ 
able discrimination. Thus he saved 10 
cents a bushel ou the crop of every Mich¬ 
igan farmer, aud this was equal to 10 per 
cent, of the aggregate product of this 
wheat, and nearly every field was sown 
to this kind. If 1,000,000 bushels of this 
wheat were grown in Michigan, the differ¬ 
ence to tbe farmers of the Btate was pre¬ 
cisely $100,000 every year. But doubt¬ 
less there were 5,000,000 bushels of this 
wheat grown in Michigan, and the saving 
would then be a round $500,000. But 
Clawson wheat is grown everywhere, and 
is a favorite kind from Long Island to the 
muddy Mississippi, so that the saving in 
the aggregate to American farmers must 
have been great; in fact, “ there’s mil¬ 
lions in it," 
But did the farmers recompense Prof. 
Kedzie? Did they present him with a 
testimonial, or even bestow a poor leather 
medal upon him ? No. On the contrary, 
they rewarded him with conspicuous in¬ 
gratitude ; for when his College requested 
of the Michigan Legislature, iu au humble 
fashion, as is tho -wont when appropria¬ 
tions are asked for agricultural purposes, 
that a email allowance be made to pro¬ 
cure needed apparatus* for the chemical 
laboratory to further extend its useful¬ 
ness the modest sum asked for was re¬ 
fused. And yet the chemical department 
haB saved the farmers this year half a 
million dollars. 
From this plain tale two morals are to be 
drawn: First, agricultural colleges are of 
some use to the agricultural public; sec¬ 
ond, it is somehow or other in tho nature 
of things that the most valuable public 
services are not always the most gener¬ 
ously rewarded. If there is anywhere 
one agricultural college that has deserved 
generous treatment it is that at Lausiug. 
- 4 - 
BREVITIES. 
We call attention to the article by Prof. E. 
Gale, page 470. 
We call the attention of our readers to the 
article by Mr. W. I. Chamberlain, which seems 
to us of some importance to pomological inter¬ 
ests.' 
Concerning the Tea Problem, Gen Le Due 
writes us, “I can safely write aud announce 
that it is a full success, quod erat demonstran¬ 
dum. Tea made from Americau-grown leaf, 
submitted to the best judges in New York and 
London, passes muster with the highest-priced 
India teas.” 
It is now time to set out celery plants for Win¬ 
ter aDd Spring use. The two systems—trench 
and surface setting—are variously opposed 
aud commended. We are of opinion that 
a shallow trench is better than either extreme 
—a trench say three inches deep. Then plant 
iu tie bottom of that the same as if it were 
the surface. But whatever the plan pursued, 
the ground should be rich and mellow, and, 
above all, the plants should not suffer for 
moisture. 
It will be seen by relereuce to “ What Others 
Say” that the the First Annual Report of the 
Cornell Experiment Station is one that should 
be read by all farmers. Not less valuable than 
the experiments of Prof. I. P. Roberts are tho=o 
of the Director, Prof. G. C. Caldwell, to which 
it is oar intention to refer as soon as space 
permits. The report consists of 135 pages, aud 
may be secured by inclosing to the Secretary, 
W. R. Lazeuby, Ithaca, N. Y., 30 cents which 
barely pay the cost of publication. 
Jersey Island Annual Agricultural 
Show.— This came off the 27th May. A large 
number of animals were exhibited, but very 
few purchasers were present. We are sur¬ 
prised to observe that in the reports of this 
show in the English papers they are confined 
almost entirely to remarks ou a goodly form 
ol the animals and their colors, and not a 
word is said as to their milk or butter produc¬ 
tion. Wc are fast getting over the nonsense 
about the color of the hair of the Jersey cow 
ou our side of the water, aud are beginning to 
give tbe highest prizes to such cows only as 
prove the greatest butter-makers, leaving iheir 
color entirely out of consideration. It a fancy 
color and extra-fine form accompany superior 
butter production, it makes the animal, of 
course, the more desirable, aud she will bring 
a higher price ou that account; 6iill the6e 
have now become only secondary considera¬ 
tions with first-rate breedeis. 
There is a good deal of agitation iu England 
just now about the restrictions on the importa¬ 
tion of cattle from this country, and two mem¬ 
bers of Parliament have given notice that they 
will soon call up the subject for discussion in 
that body. There is considerable doubt about 
the real nature of ihe disease which tbe inspec¬ 
tors have of late detected in some of the ani¬ 
mals landed, aud called pleuro-pueumonia. 
Many insist that it is uot genuine pleuro-pneu¬ 
monia, but merely an ailment nearly similar 
iu appearance, which has been engendered by 
the hardships of the voyage across ihe At¬ 
lantic coupled with the antecedent rough usage 
to which cattle are generally exposed here 
during transportation ou railroads. Iu any 
case, the number ot affected cattle that have 
lately been landed i6 comparatively small; 
out of 30.817 head landed Irom the United 
States iu London during ’70. only 38 ate re¬ 
ported to have been affected iu any way with 
plcuro-pneumonia. 
WrtO can read the rural journals and yet 
not feel that improvement is constantly being 
made iu the earimess, or lateness, lruittulness 
or quality'—one or all—of our lruils aud crops 
in general ? Aud yet when caretully investi¬ 
gated, it is found that the instances of 
actual advancement are very few. Several 
years ago we reported from eaveful tests that 
the Philadelphia Early was the earliest of 
green peas. Since then, a number have been 
introduced that were said to be earlier and yet, 
according to the recent tests of Cornell Uni¬ 
versity the Philadelphia is still the earliest. 
How many “ curliest ' tomatoes have been ad¬ 
vertised during the past live years ? And yet 
Hathaway's Excelsior, Canada Victor, Con¬ 
queror and Arlington avc as early as any . As 
we have said before, ull advances in this direc¬ 
tion when they have occurred are at the ex¬ 
pense of quality- We hope the day iB not dis¬ 
tant when the public will look with indifference 
upon all efforts to introduce traits or vegetables 
when the chief merit is ** superior eaHiimss.” 
