THE 
RURAL NLW'YORKER, 
A National Journal ior Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S- C4RMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, i 
No. 84 Hark Row. Nkw York. 1 
SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1884. 
There is scarcely a tree at the Rural 
Grounds that does not. incline to the south¬ 
east. All should consider the direction 
of the prevailing winds, and set their 
trees accordingly—that is, inclining to¬ 
wards them. 
---- 
Several of the canes of one of our Ohio 
Black cap Raspberries, it. will be remem¬ 
bered, grew 16 feet long. These, last Fall 
were tied to a stake 12 feet high, and cut 
off two feet above the top of the stake, 
leaving them 14 feet high. We are sur¬ 
prised to lind that the buds are pushing 
within one foot of the tips, or at the hight 
of 18 feet. 
-■»»■»--- 
The question is often asked us how 
much hone flour should he applied to the 
soil. We cannot have too much phos¬ 
phoric acid in the soil. The answer is, 
therefore, use all that can be afforded. It 
does not leach through the soil as do 
ammonia salts ornitrat.es, but remains for 
years. Of all commercial fertilizers, we 
prize raw bone-flour the most. Let our 
readers bear in mind that hone-flour fur¬ 
nishes no potash. Sulphate of potash, 
wood-ashes or kainit and bone-flour fur¬ 
nish a complete fertilizer. 
.- - 
It is a fact that the best of the two- 
liorse corn-planters will plant and mark a 
field almost as booh as it could be marked 
off for hand-planting. Our corn-fields are 
planted in drills always, and the drills are 
as straight as could bo made by the old- 
fashioned markers, and the kernels are 
dropped every foot, 18 inches, or two feet, 
as desired. Corn-planters, which will sow 
fertilizers and plant either in checks or 
drills are costly implements certainly, but 
those who have much corn to plant can¬ 
not afford to do without them. 
-- 
It is a shame that certain parties are 
representing to Wisconsin farmers that 
the Learning Corn will ripen in 90 days. 
The State Ex, Station Bays that ithaabeen 
found “wholly unfit" for Wisconsin, where 
it will not ripen short of 110 or 120 days. 
The statements of those who sell corn but 
do not test it are nor trustworthy. The 
station wisely remarks that even the high¬ 
est. prices for seed corn are not excessive 
as compared with those of other grains. 
At even five dollars per bushel, the corn 
required to plant an acre coats no more 
than the oats at ordinary prices necessary 
to seed an acre. In answer to questions, 
the R. N.-Y. has no less than a dozen 
times told its readers that the Learning is 
not an extra-early variety, 
--- 
Many doubt that wire-worms (the my¬ 
riapod sort) are the cause of scabby 
potatoes. That they are u cause, there 
need be no doubt at all. Several years 
ago one of the Rural plots was covered 
three or lour inches deep with leaves that 
had been gathered about the place. Wire- 
worms delight in a cool, rich mold or 
mulch, and the potatoes raised upon this 
plot were so corroded that scarcely any 
clean skin could be seen. The soil was 
alive with wire-worms, and many were 
found coiled up upon the surface of the 
potatoes while others were gnawing the 
surface or clinging to it. It was from 
this experience that we expressed the 
belief that wire-worms were one cause of 
scabby potatoes. Whether the wire-worm 
(lulus) dislikes potato chemical fertilizers, 
or whether these do not furnish the shel¬ 
ter which the worm prefers, we do not 
pretend to say. We do say that in all of 
our tests the potatoes grown with farm 
manure have been invariably more injured 
with wire-worms than those grown with 
fertilizers. 
Such dry, powdery fertilizers as tine 
bone flour, should always be mixed with 
damp earth, coal ashes, or something of 
the kind before they are applied to the 
soil. Our own plan is to throw a bushel 
of the flour upon the barn floor and then 
about the same quantity of sifted coal 
ashes. Level the heap and sprinkle water 
upon the surface from a showering pot. 
Then add another bushel of each, level it as 
before, and again sprinkle with water un¬ 
til the desired quantity is used up. Mix 
the mass with an iron-tooth rake, sprink¬ 
ling on more water if needed, until the 
dust is so fixed that the mixture may be 
sown even in the wind without loss. The 
finer part of bone flour is very light and 
will float away a considerable distance, 
even if there is no air stirring, and thus 
tall upon other land or, at any rate, 
where it is not most wanted. It is not 
necessary to mix such fertilizers as nitrate 
of soda, ammonia, or potash salts, since 
there is no dust about them to blow away. 
But even with them a more even distribu¬ 
tion can be made, if they are all well 
mixed -with soil before sowing. 
The R. N.-Y. does not wish to obtrude 
its advice upon anybody. We have ad¬ 
vocated drilling-in corn, broadcast ma¬ 
nuring, and shallow and level cultivation 
for six years, and are more earnest in the 
advocacy of this method now, than ever 
before. The advice, we believe, is sound 
in theory and practice, though these 
should never diverge, and we believe that 
all progressive farmers will raise their corn 
in this way within a very few' years. 
Planting two, three or four kernels in a 
hill means crowding, and this means less 
crop. Manuring in the hill means a sur¬ 
feit of food for the young plants and star¬ 
vation to the old plants. Deep cultiva¬ 
tion means the severing of roots that the 
plants need at every stage of growth. 
Hilling-up means the removal of soil from 
where it is more needed to where it is less 
needed. Think over these statements, 
Rural friends. Coudemn them not, unless 
you have tried our method as well as the old 
method and found it wanting. We have 
tried both methods, and would no sooner 
return to the old one than we would 
relinquish the mowiug-machineof to-day, 
for the scythe of the past. 
curred must bring suit for damages in the 
name of the complainant, and in case of 
conviction, a fine not exceeding $1,000 is 
provided for. 
Other valuable provisions of the hill are 
those that provide for a thorough investi¬ 
gation into the affairs of inter-State rail¬ 
roads, and empower the Commissioners 
to employ all necessary means to obtain 
information, which must he reported once 
a year to the Secretary of the Interior. 
Exposure of abuses is sure to lead to 
prompt remedies, applied either by the 
railroad companies themselves or the 
Courts, or by State or National legisla¬ 
tion. However oppressive the grievances 
suffered from vast, corporations, it. is use¬ 
less to seek redress by ordinary processes 
of law; some official authority is needed 
to take action in behalf of the public 
against corporate greed and corporate 
power. 
Many new seedling potatoes have, of 
late, been sent to the Rural Grounds to 
be tested, purpoiting to be hybrids be¬ 
tween Wall’s Orange and various other 
varieties. This was to have been expected, 
as the Rural ventured to predict two years 
ago, since Wall’s Orange bears pollen, and 
seeds freely. 
Not to speak of the absurdity of calling 
this interbreeding of mere varieties “hy¬ 
bridizing,” it may be confidently predicted 
that this Wall’s Orange will prove to be 
the parent of a new strain of potatoes 
from which much may be looked for. 
Several Wall’s Orange seedlings have 
come to us. which are very tine in appear¬ 
ance and, according to the statements of 
those who have sent them, of good quality 
and very productive. We do not look 
upon the colored skin or eyes as an objec¬ 
tion. The prevailing taste is for a white- 
skiuned variety; but this is a mere fash¬ 
ion. founded on nothing, which is having 
its day. 
The number of new potatoes being raised 
and presented to the public, is something 
appalling: aud yet where is the potato 
that Combines a smooth surface and per¬ 
fect form, that yields well and is of ex¬ 
cellent quality? We should congratulate 
ourselves that so many are raising potatoes 
from seed—a thing that the R. N.-I • has 
strenuously urged upon its readers for 
years. There would be no harm if every 
farmer raised his own variety, which he 
deemed better than any other for his farm. 
--- 
PROPOSED NATIONAL RAILROAD 
COMMISSION. 
AWAY WITH BOGUS BUTTER AND 
CHEESE. 
Gov. Cleveland, of New York, last 
Thursday signed a bill which provides 
that “No person shall manufacture out 
of any oleaginous substance or substances 
or any compound of the same, other than 
that produced from unadulterated milk, 
or of cream of the same, any article de¬ 
signed to take the place of butter or 
cheese produced from pure unadulterated 
milk, or cream of the same, or shall sell, 
or offer for sale, the same as an article, of 
food.” This section is a copy of a section 
in the anti-oleomargarine law of Missouri, 
the validity of which has been affirmed by 
the Federal Courts, although the best 
legal talent, including ex-Senator Conk- 
ling, contended on behalf of the oppo¬ 
nents of the law. The New ^tork bill 
provides a fine of not less than $100 or 
more than $500, or imprisonment for not 
less than six months or more than one 
year, or both fine and imprisonment, 
for violation of the statute. Under it 
Josiah K. Brown, of Holland Patent, 
Oneida County, “miller, farmer and 
lawyer,” has been appointed State Dairy 
Commissioner at a salary of $3,000 a 
year, and $30,000 are placed at his dis¬ 
posal to be used in enforcing the law. 
Several law's have been passed in this State 
for the protection of the consumers ot but¬ 
ter and cheese against noxious imitatioi s 
of these products; but the concoctors of, 
and dealers in the bogus articles, have de¬ 
fied the provisions of the laws. So vast 
has the trade in sham butter become, that 
at least 40,000,000 pounds of deodorized 
lard, cotton seed oil and other sorts of 
grease, treated with nitric acid and other 
chemical agents, have been palmed off on 
consumers m this State in one year, under 
the name of butter. The dairy interest, 
one of the most important in the Stale, 
has been greatly injured by the fraudulent 
sale of imitation products. That a clean, 
wholesome article of food can be made in 
the shape of oleomargarine, no one will 
deny; but recent investigation here has 
demonstrated that in many cases both the 
ingredients of the concoction and the pro¬ 
cesses by which it is manufactured, are 
injurious to the health of the consumer. 
The prohibition of an industry that flour¬ 
ished by fraud, can not be regretted by 
any honest person. 
- 4 » » - 
FLAX A NEGLECTED CROP. 
It is acknowledged by all thoughtful 
men that the greatest danger to republi¬ 
canism in this country arises from the ar¬ 
bitrary management and unscrupulous 
greed of large corporations, and especially 
of railroads^ It is difficult, however, to 
apply an adequate remedy to the gigantic 
evil that threatens our institutions from 
this direction. There is no doubt, how¬ 
ever, thut a step in the right way has just 
been taken by the Senate Committee on 
Railroads, which has unanimously agreed 
to report Senator Cullorn’s bill to es¬ 
tablish a Board of Railroad Commission¬ 
ers, and to regulate inter-Btate commerce. 
There are. to be five Commissioners, at 
a salary of $7,500 a year each. Pro¬ 
bably the most grievous complaint against 
the railroads arises from their dis¬ 
criminating against certain persons and 
places in the matter of freight charges. 
This bill prohibits any company trans¬ 
porting goods from one State to another, 
from making unreasonable charges, or 
charging more to one person than to an¬ 
other for the same service, or refusing 
equal facilities to all. Complaints of ex¬ 
tortion or unjust discrimination are to be 
investigated by the Commissioners and, it 
justified, the District-Attorney in the ju¬ 
dicial district where the acts have oc- 
W uile we are exporting ship-load after 
ship-load of wheat, corn, oats and feeding 
stuffs, and are sometimes hard-pressed to 
find a paying, not to say profitable market, 
we are as constantly importing thousands 
of bushels of flaxseed at a price which 
should pay a good profit on its growth. 
Our lands are as well adapted to the pro¬ 
duction of flax as of wheat, and much 
better adapted to llax culture than most 
of the foreign land on which it is grown. 
Thousands of acres of rich new lands of 
the West are now annually sown to wheat, 
producing not over 12 bushels per acre 
which, selling at from 70 to 90 cents per 
bushel, affords but a meagre profit, if any, 
while rapidly impoverishing the soil. 
These lands are perfectly fitted to the 
growth of flax, and w'ith clean seed and 
good culture would yield per acre 10 or 12 
bushels of seed worth from $12 to $17. 
Another advantage in mixed flax aud 
wheat culture, is that the wheat can be 
Bown early and be followed by the llax seed¬ 
ing, thus'lengthening the time of working 
the teams, relieving them from the severe 
strain, and rendering it possible for fewer 
teams to perform the labors of the farm. 
Another and important feature iu favor of 
flax culture, is that we would use the en¬ 
tire product in our mills, and by feeding 
the resulting cake and meal could return 
to our soils all the valuable elements of 
plant food, and with a judicious system 
of feeding, cause our lands actually to im¬ 
prove, it being a fact that in the extracted 
oil there is scarcely a. trace of either of the 
three essential and expensive constituents 
of plants. 
To obviate the important objection 
sometimes urged, that flax culture fosters 
the growth of weeds, making the land 
very foul and detracting much from the 
value of the seed, the farmers intending 
to sow, should insist on obtaining pure 
seed, even at a greatly enhanced price, 
and then should yearly carefully weed 
their fields so as to keep them clean. 
They can materially assist in keeping 
them clean, and in keeping up their fer¬ 
tility, by annually, ns soon as the crop 
has been harvested, plowing the ground 
and seeding it to rye. to be again plowed 
down in the Spring for the succeeding 
flax crop. Nor should flax be continually 
grown on the same fields, but should 
rotate with wheat and other crops, and 
sooner or later those farmers, however rich 
their lands may now be, will find that 
grass must form one in a successful rota¬ 
tion of crops, 
■ ■ ■ -- 
BREVITIES. 
We began planting seed corn April 17th. 
Sprinkle carbolic acid about the cellar. 
“Straws swim upou the surface,” you 
know, and “pearls lie at the bottom.” 
When potatoes begin to sprout, it is time 
they should be removed from the cellar—de¬ 
composition is going on. 
Ok all the several plots of asparagus grow¬ 
ing at the Rural Ex. Grounds, “Argeuteuil 
is the first to sprout: Defiance the second. 
Peach trees suffering from the yellows, are 
deficient iu lime, magnesia, potash, soda, 
phosphoric acid and chlorine—chiefly in lime, 
magnesia and potash. See “What Others 
Say.” 
Hyacinths are in fullest bloom, and early 
tulips are just beginning to bloom in the Rural 
Grounds. The season is early. We are al¬ 
ways afraid of early seasons, as killing frosts 
are likely to occur as late as the middle of May. 
We find that the beautiful little Polyantha 
Roses are hardy. There are no roses which in 
this climate are not the better for protection; 
but, the Polyantha Roses can take care of 
themselves as well as any of the so-called 
hardy hybrids. 
If you don’t know what special fertilizers 
your com land needs, use pure, tine raw bone 
flour. Upon a part,, use potash in some form. 
Upon another part, use both potash aud the 
hone flour. Ten to one you will learn some¬ 
thing by the simple experiment. 
The man who spends more time talking 
politics than he does looking after his farm, 
nnd is more anxious to get a petty office than 
he is to raise a big crop, must not, complain if 
liis neighbors have bettor buildings. Cleaner 
fields nnd sleeker stock than be, or if they 
have plenty of grain to market while he is 
lamenting the uncertainties of politics, the 
ingratitude of the people, and the awfully 
hard times. 
Plant vour ornamental trees and shrubs, 
fruit trees, and small fruits, now. if at all. this 
Spring. Dig good-sized holes. .Do not expose 
the roots to sun or air for a minute. Spread 
out the roots, cut back the tops in proportion 
to the injury the roots have sustained, Ihrow 
in fine, mellow, rich soil about the roots and 
carefully press it down over them. In the 
case of ‘raspberries, cut the canes off two or 
three inches from the collar or roots. Do not 
hope for fruit this year, hut do all you can to 
induce a vigorous growth of new canes which 
will bear next year. 
The most important crop of the farm the 
children. Does this crop receive attention 
commensurate with its importance? No doubt 
they have adequate clothing and plenty of 
good, wholesome food: but are they provided 
with everything necessary for the growth and 
development ot the mind? In the haste for 
riches or the accumulation of a little more 
1 land, have they not been forgotten ? Have their 
moral training and their associations had due 
> care? Many a prosperous farmer, when too 
late, has been compelled to face this raomeu- 
tons question: What shall it.profit a man if 
he shall gain much wealth, ormuny farms and 
lose his own son; or what would a man give 
l in exchange for his sou? Better consider this 
t question carefully in advance, remembering, 
that he who hath reared a man, hath reared 
a being only a little lower than the angels. 
Last Tuesday the English Ministry was de¬ 
feated in the House of Commons on the cattle 
hill. The cattle owners of the country insist, 
that absolutely no cattle must be imported 
from countries in which any contagious dis¬ 
ease is prevalent This demand is vigorously 
supported by the Conservatives as a party 
measure, amt by some of the Liberals who are 
either themselves interested in stock raising 
or represent strictly agricultural constituen¬ 
cies. On the other hand, the Liberals, whose 
chief strength lies in borough constituencies, 
_among the consumers rather than the pro 
tim ers of meat—favor only such restrictions 
on importations As may afford a reasonable 
safeguard against the introduction ol diseases 
from abroad. Yesterday the Government vir¬ 
tually accepted the decision of the House, as 
expressed by Tuesday’s vote. It will pro¬ 
pose an amendment, however, authorizing th 
privy Council to admit cattle from one part, 
of a country alt hough the foot- aud-inouth dis¬ 
ease is prevailing in another part of it. i ni. 
is hardly likely to l»e carried, however, as itlfl 
fear of competition rather than of disease that 
, actuates the farmers. 
