688 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
©6T 48 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Ho.nc 
Conducted by 
K. S. CARMAN, 
3 . 8. WOODWARD, 
Editor. 
Associate. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 I’ark Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18. 1884. 
The seeds of all our hybrids between 
rye and wheat have sprouted finely, except 
the one which scarcely resembled either 
■wheat or rye. These heads were nearly 
sterile. We found only 17 kernels, nearly 
all of which were shriveled and apparently 
worthless. We are glad to say, neverthe¬ 
less, that 14 of the 17 have germinated. 
Sir J. B. Lawks writes us, under date 
of September 21, as follows: “It is quite 
possible that you grew potatoes at the 
rate of 1,300 bushels per acre; but it is 
not at all probable that you could grow 
1,300 bushels upon one acre. One of the 
great objections to Hinall plot experiments 
is that tiic roots of the plants derive their 
nourishment from the soil which divides 
the plots. Sometimes in England very 
large crops of mangels ure grown. I 
could believe that 80 or 00 tons might be 
grown upon an acre; but by special treat¬ 
ment a mangel can be made to take up an 
almost unlimited amount of water and 
saline matter, and the actual food in the 
90 tons of mangels may not amount to 
more than would be contained in 40 tons 
of ordinary mangels.” 
-AA-*- 
W ii at a blessing it would he if every 
person who has anything to contribute to 
the general knowledge would remember 
those words of the old French philosopher, 
Montaigne, who wrote in oneof 1ms essays: 
“] would have everybody write what he 
knows and as much as lie knows; but no 
more.” But it is not every person who 
can tell when lie known a thing. Know¬ 
ledge is something that can be proved by 
sufficient evidence. It is not what we 
think or what we believe. When a man 
‘ trusts his life to a rope by which he is 
supported over some abyss, he knows the 
rope is strong enough to hold his weight, 
because he has proved the strength of 
ropes until he knows them to be able to 
bear his weight. But if he were offered 
a rope made of paper, lie would reject it, 
although it might appear to be very much 
like a hempen one. So it is particularly 
proper that, one w ho tries to teach others 
should be very careful indeed of the 
truth of what he states, and be sure he 
knows it to be so. 
-- - ♦ « - 
THE RURAL’S POTATO FERTILIZER 
TESTS. 
that five tons, or a greater amount, of pot¬ 
ash or of plain superphosphate of lime or 
both, might be spread upon an acre with¬ 
out any result. But let us even the next 
season, or possibly ten years afterwards, 
supply nitrate of soda or salts of ammonia 
plentifully, and the farmer would no long¬ 
er say that fertilizers were worthless upon 
his soil. Plants, like human creatures, 
need a complete food, and if the soil does 
not supply it, w'c must feed the soil with 
the deficient element. If the soil from 
exhaustion needs every element, we must 
supply a complete food. 
Let us further consider that farm ma¬ 
nure, aside from its mechanical effects, is 
precisely the same as the so-called concen¬ 
trated fertilizers, except that it is has 
soluble. That is to say, if we could burn 
farm manure, and still preserve all of 
its nitrogen, the ashes would show just 
exactly what we may furnish to the land 
by chemical fertilizers. It is very plain, 
however, that the mechanical effects of 
bulky manure can never he supplied by 
fertilizers. 
We are not advocating the use of fer¬ 
tilizers at all—neither are we discussing 
the question ns to whether, at their pres¬ 
ent price, we can afford to use them. We 
merely wish to show that they do furnish 
the constituents of food to plants tbe same 
as stable or farm manure or composts of 
leaves, muck, straw, or any other sub¬ 
stance furnish them,and that we have but 
to supply the elements which our soil 
needs, to render it fertile. 
As shown in our test, elsewhere fully 
described, there is very little contradic¬ 
tion in the results. All the plots tell the 
same story, and that is. that tins particu¬ 
lar worn-out, sandy loam needs compute 
fertilizer that is, phosphoric acid, pot¬ 
ash and nitrogen. Nitrogen alone, while 
it gave greater growth of tops of a deeper 
green color than the others, could not 
sustain the plants to a full maturity. 
The tops therefore died, and the yield was 
poor. There mans to be a disparity be¬ 
tween the yields of plots 12 and 17, both 
of which received the same quantities of 
complete fertilizers. But it will appear 
that, the weight of tubers does not greatly 
vary, while the number of marketable po¬ 
tatoes is nearly the same. 
Plot 27, which gives by far the greatest 
yield, received less fertilizer than either 
plots 12 or 17. We must conclude, there¬ 
fore, that this is owiug to the two inches 
of short-cut Timothy hay which was 
spread as a mulch. The pieces were cov¬ 
ered, as were all the others, with two 
inches of soil. Upon this the hay was 
evenly spread across the trench, and upon 
this the 500 pounds (per acre) of potato 
fertilizer and 50 pounds of kainit were 
strewn. The early part, of the season was 
so dry that it was thought that all of the 
potatoes received a check. It was then, 
no doubt, that the mulch of hay periorm- 
eu its best service. 
APPLE BARRELS : WHAT SHALL WE 
USE? 
The results of our potato tests with 
Afferent fertilizers and with various com¬ 
binations of them, seem to us to be as 
instructive as any similar experiments 
can be that are not repeated from year to 
year. Many experiments of this kind are 
contradictory, for the reason, perhaps, 
that the soils in which they are made are 
not so far impoverished that they will 
show wlmt food is really needed. Many 
fanners who have tried plain superphos¬ 
phates alone, raw bone alone, or potash 
alone, or any two, will see from our tests 
that they should not condemn so called 
chemical fertilizers because any one, or 
even any two, should fail to give a marked 
increase*of crop. If a soil needs all kinds 
of plant food, and is supplied with but 
one, no matter how large the quantity 
may be, the crops will not he materially 
benefited. Thus it will he seen that in 
our careful tests, potash alone did no good. 
Dissolved burnt bone, which furnishes 
phosphoric acid only, did no good. Nitro¬ 
gen increased the growth of the vines, 
which, for want of potash and phos¬ 
phoric acid in the soil, gave no increase 
of tubers. But the complete fertilizers— 
those which furnish all three—gave an 
increase of crop in every case. 
Study this question, farmers. It will 
pay you to do so. If you don't know 
what your land needs, use complete fertil¬ 
izers until you find out. You can find 
out by making just, such experiments as 
those which are given in this number 
under Notes from the Rural Grounds. 
When we hear farmers say that they have 
tried kainit, or superphosphate, or sul¬ 
phate or muriate of potash without the 
slighest effect, we earnestly desire to ex¬ 
plain the thing to them as we ourselves 
understand it. Let it be borne in mind 
Tue apple growing portions of Canada 
and the United States embrace an im¬ 
mense region capable of supplying hun¬ 
dreds of millions of barrels of the finest 
fruit kissed by the morning sun. It is 
evident that lor many yea-a »t least, vast 
quantities of fruit here grown must find a 
market in the Old World; consequently 
it is very important that some package lx*, 
adopted*that will be uniform in appear¬ 
ance and hold a unitorm quantity. 
At the present the package universally 
employed isthebarrel; but, unfortunately 
for all, hardly any two countries and 
scarcely two neighborhoods use precisely 
the same sized package, aud very few of 
the States have any law defining the legal 
size of a barrel. 
We well remember, when in this State it 
was the custom for the dealers to furnish 
the barrels, and they used to have them 
made of the longest staves they could 
find; have them cut with all the bilge 
they would stand while retaining the 
hoops, and have the “croze' 1 cut so close 
to the ends of the staves that in many 
cases they would not retain the heads. No 
cooper had “tress hoops" large enough to 
suit their greed, and the result was, that 
many barrels contained tour or more 
buslu ls. When the abuse got unbearable 
the growers went to the legislature. A 
law was passed providing that thereafter 
100 quarts of pears or apples, dry measure, 
should constitute a barrel. This suited 
everybody until the practice became gen¬ 
eral for the growers to furnish their own 
barrels, and sell all together, when cupid¬ 
ity prompted them to have the barrels cut 
down in diameter, bilge and length, un¬ 
til many of those used held less than 
ninety quarts. In the Winter of 1879 and 
80 certain dealers in New York City and * 
State, formed a combination and raised 
money with which they went to the legis¬ 
lature of New York,and with much lobby¬ 
ing. and by the votes of the non-fruit¬ 
growing portion of tbe State, and against 
the earnest opposition of the representa¬ 
tives of every county in which fruit grow ¬ 
ing was a prominet feature, they succeed¬ 
ed in passing a bill compelling the grow¬ 
ers under penalty of fine, to use a barrel 
which the bill defined and which 
would hold considerably more than 
an ordinary flour barrel. This hill, when 
its objectionable features were brought to 
his notice, level-headed Governor Cornell 
refused to sign. 
Now, we are in favor of uniformity in 
the size of the apple barrel; that is, we 
waut a law that, shall specify w hat shall 
constitute a barrel, in the absence of a 
specific bargain, and we believe it would 
be best for all thefruit States and Canada 
to act, in concert in establishing such a 
law, hut we are opposed to a law provid¬ 
ing a penalty lor t he use of any other size. 
We believe that any producer anywhere 
has the inalienable right to put up his 
produce in any package he pleages; and 
to sell it in the same, and that govern¬ 
ment has no constitutional right to r< strict 
him from so doing. 
This work of establishing a uniform 
size for the fruit package is one worthy 
of the attention of the American Borno¬ 
logical Society, and we suggest that the 
various State and local hoitieultural so¬ 
cieties, at. their meetings the coming 
Winter, shall carefully consider this mat¬ 
ter, and instruct their delegates to the 
meeting of the American Society, to be 
held at Grand Rapids in September, 1885, 
to consider the best size and recommend 
its adoption by the various State and 
Canadian Legislatures, and we believe they 
would uniformly adopt it, and the whole 
difficulty would thus at onec be solved. 
At the. same time it seem a plain to us 
t! at the buyers and dealers can have 
fruit put into packages of just, such size 
and shape as ihcy wish. All they need 
to do, is to designate the package, and be 
willing to pay iu proportion to the fruit, 
it holds. It geems unjust and foolish for 
them to expect, or to try to compel, grow¬ 
ers to give three or more bushels for the 
price of two and one-half. 
We do not blame the growers; on the 
coutrary, we honor them for their wis¬ 
dom in refusing to put their apples in 
larger barrels so long as they can sell a 
small one for the same money. If there 
are dealers ready and willing to pay as 
much for a 100-quart barrel as for one 
holding one-fifth more, we advise the 
growers by all means to use the small 
barrel. Tile law should have nothing to 
do with compelling a man to use a certain 
sized barrel, any more than with the num 
her of pounds of corn that should be sold 
for a bushel. It should only fix the quan¬ 
tity to be delivered in the absence of any 
stipulated agreement. 
OUR FRIENDS’ OPPORTUNITY. 
We have now our perlected arrange¬ 
ments for a free seed distribution superi¬ 
or, we think, to any former one, and the 
announcement of it aud our regular pre¬ 
mium list will appear as a supplement to 
the Rurai. of Nov. 8tlr. The premium 
list will be more attractive and varied, 
and will contain more good things than 
ever before. We have endeavored to get 
those things which we could recommend 
as good, Refill and attract ice , and each 
article will be given for a small number 
of subscribers, and will, we hope, pay 
our friends very handsomely for any work 
in our behalf. At tbe same time we shall 
issue a special list of gifts, which the 
many friend 8 of the Rural New-Yorker 
who’read and love it, and who,appreciat 
ing what it is doing for the farmer and 
his home, and believing that its circula¬ 
tion should be greatly extended, and de¬ 
siring to aid in the good work, have pre¬ 
sented to us, with the stipulation that they 
shall be given only to actual subscribers 
for active work in canvassing for the 
paper, and thus extending its circulation 
and usefulness. 
The list will contain the illustrations 
and descriptions of the things donated 
and the addresses of the givers. It will 
contain a large number of very useful 
articles, from a Walter A. Wood latest 
improved self-binding reaper, to articles 
of comparatively small value and every¬ 
day use, amounting, in the aggregate, to 
over $2,000. These special gifts, accord¬ 
ing to the wishes of the givers, will be 
distributed as follows: The subscriber 
sending the largest club of subscribers 
for 1885, of hi9 own obtaining, will be 
presented with the splendid gift of the 
Wood self-binding reaper, with all the 
improvements for 1885 complete, worth 
$230. The one sending the second larg¬ 
est club will be presented with one of 
Nordyke & Marmon's genuine 14 inch 
French buhr feed-mill complete, worth 
$100, and so down through the list; each 
subscriber sending a club will receive the 
article according to tbe relative number 
of names sent, no matter whether the 
numbers be few or many. Now, kind 
friends, since Ihcse gifts must he confined 
to actual subscribers for clubs obtained by 
their own efforts, and can in no case be 
received by newspaper agents, we think 
it the most liberal and brilliant offer ever 
made by any paper to its friends, and it 
ought to stimulate all to a long pull and 
a strong pull for tbe old Rural, 
These articles are absolute gifts to us 
for this, and no other purpose, and must 
be distributed to actual workers for 
clubs: no matter how small the largest 
club may be, if only 50 or 20. or a dozen, 
the sender will receive the first present, 
and so of the next, and the next through 
the list. We have not the least doubt 
but that many will receive gifts, the 
value of which will exceed the total 
amount sent by them for the club; but 
no matter, that will be their good luck, 
and they shall have the gift all the same. 
Now, is not this a chance, dear friends, 
to do your neighbors good, by inducing 
them to read the Ruhal; to do us good, 
by extending its circulation, and to do 
yourselves good, by getting some article 
which you greatly need, but yet would 
not feel as though you could afford the 
money for its purchase. All subscrip¬ 
tions for 1883 sent in before April first 
next, will count in these clubs, and you 
can commence now, and take them, run¬ 
ning to January 1, 1880, for only two 
dollars. 
No one need to wait for the premium list, 
all can commence at once. Election day 
will he a splendid opportunity to work, 
and you can do much more good in this 
way than by talking politics. Take your 
Ruhal with you and show it to your 
friends; tel! them that the editors are 
practical farmers, successful farmers, 
that one of them was called to the 
position because he was known as. one of 
the largest and best farmersof the country. 
And successful farmers are the best and 
most sensible teachers of practical agricul¬ 
ture, and ought to be supported by all 
means. Get your friends' subscriptions if 
you can; if not, take their names with per¬ 
mission to give or send them the specimen 
copy of Nov. 8th, which we will boglad to 
supply in any quantity; after they have 
read this number, again ask them to sub¬ 
scribe for the wide-awake, progessive 
farmers’ paper; edited, owned and pub¬ 
lished by those like themselves, “f illers 
of the soil.” 
Every one who aids in this good work 
will be amply rewarded by these noble 
gifts; but they will be still further 
paid by the improvement which an ex¬ 
tended circulation will enable us to make 
in The Rural itself; for however good 
you now think it, our greatest ambition, 
and most sincere motive in wishing to in¬ 
crease its circulation, is to secure the 
means to make it still better. Is not this 
a laudable ambition, and, kiud friends, 
won't you aiu us? 
-- 
BREVITIES. 
There are very few better pears than 
Beurr£ d’ Anjou. It does well on quince, as 
well as on pear stock. Try it. 
When you renew your subscription, do not 
fail to inclose one of the labels, which comes 
on your copy of the Rural each week. 
Plants, like many men, are fond of “strong 
water;” but the “strong water” of plants is 
food. It is aqua fords, or nitric acid. 
The Chinese pear, Le Conte, illustrated on 
page 081, is saia to be a cross between some 
cultivated variety and the Rand Pear. It is 
thought to be or little value north of South 
Carolina. In many Southern States it suc¬ 
ceeds admirably where other pears fail. It 
ripens in mid-summer. The tree is extremely 
prolific and vigorous. 
A. J. Cay WOOD & Ron write us that they 
aro prepared to show that they '‘came into 
possession of stock of the Comet Pear 10 years 
ago without the slightest reservation.” They 
further state that there can be no question 
about the name the fruit should bear, as it 
was without name until 1875, when they 
named it Comet, and it is known by this name 
by leading nurserymen and fruit-growers all 
over tbe country. 
The Chicago Live Stock Exchange styles 
Dr. Salmon's refusal of its offer to furnish ten 
healthy bead of cattle for the purpose of test¬ 
ing the contagiousness of pieuro-pnenmonia, 
“the veriest subterfuge and unworthy of a 
man charged with a great public trust,” aud 
it renews its offer. It acknowledges that 
some Jersey cattle in Illinois have diseased 
lungs; but it wishes, by experiment, to dis¬ 
cover to wbat extent other cattle are thereby 
endangered. Governor* Hamilton, of Illinois, 
and Dr. Paaren, State Veterinarian, have 
been iu consultation on the matter, and it is 
not improbable that the proposition of the Ex¬ 
change will be accepted by tbe State authori¬ 
ties, who will keep up the present quarantine, 
and continue their vigorous efforts to stamp 
out tbe disease in the State. 
