24 
9 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMEN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Peek Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JAN. 13, 1883. 
TO ADVERTISING PATRONS. 
We call attention to our changed ad¬ 
vertising rates for 1883 as presented on 
page 31. The change divests them of 
all discounts, presenting them in the 
simplest iorm so that they may be under¬ 
stood at a glance. We beg to assure 
those who would favor us with their ad¬ 
vertising patronage that these rates are 
invariable and that any correspondence 
looking to a change would under any and 
all circumstances prove ineffectual. 
•-♦ ♦ ♦- 
In another part of this number will he 
found some notes of a conversation be¬ 
tween one of our countrymen and an 
Englishman. Some of our readers may 
possibly be able to guess the name of one 
of the parties in the discussion. All 
should read it carefully. 
liberality done even by a tyrant or a miser. 
It is seldom that a railroad company de¬ 
serves praise for either justice or liber¬ 
ality to its patrons; but to the railroad 
system of tyranny and greed, there are 
exceptions < nough to “confirm the rule.” 
A meeting of the farmers shipping milk 
over the Erie Railway was held at Middle- 
ton, N. Y., on December 26, when a per¬ 
manent organization of producers was 
formed for mutual protection. The Erie 
Railway announced several concessions 
which were unanimously and enthusiasti¬ 
cally approved. The company agreed to 
establish with other railroads a “can 
exchange ” so that all raissent cans will 
be returned to the proper road; to em¬ 
ploy a can collector to recover all lost or 
detained cans in the hands of dealers or 
shopmen; to furnish free passage and 
every facility for a milk inspector on 
each milk traiD, who shall be authorized 
to dispose of adulterated or skim-milk 
according to law: to sell all surplus milk 
at not less than the established price for 
cash, and to dump and return the cans to 
the farmer without charge; to return all 
unsold pure milk to the farmer free of 
freight charges both ways; to collect the 
price of the milk with the freight bill 
when so requested by the farmer, aud re¬ 
mit monthly, or oftener, without charge. 
The milk producers of Orange and Sus¬ 
sex Counties, N. Y., adopted four cents 
per quart as the price of milk during 
January. The farmers who supply milk 
to large cities, East, West, North and 
South, should combine to secure equally 
good terms from local railroads. 
•- » ♦ ♦ - 
POSTAGE ON SEEDS. 
To new subscribers we beg to say that 
the Seed Distribution will not be com¬ 
menced before February 1. 
The first Rural Prize Essay, entitled 
“Profitable Farming for a Poor Man,” 
will be begun next week. 
As we have never adopted the plan of 
notifying our subscribers when their sub¬ 
scriptions expire, we would ask them to 
>ook at the address slips on the wrappers 
and thus ascertain for themselves. Thus, 
if the number after the name is 1721, the 
subscription wil' end next week; if 1722 
the week after and so on. 
Readers must not overlook the re¬ 
ports of the cultivation, etc., given tp 
the corn plots to which the premiums 
were awarded. They begin in this num¬ 
ber on page 19. We wish Mr. Alfred 
Rose would make the Rural a present of 
bis ear which weighed two-and-oue-half 
pounds when first husked. 
At this time last year the outlook for 
European crops was unusually bright ; a 
large area had been planted and the 
weather was favorable for a thrifty growth. 
Now the crop reports from the United 
Kingdom and the principal countries of 
the Continent agree that Fall work 
has been sadly interrupted by cold, wet 
weather; and while the area of winter 
grain has decreased, the crops in the 
ground are suffering severely. It is not 
at all unlike ly that this discouraging 
aspect for the next harvest in Europe 
may stiffen prices for cereals on this side 
of the Atlantic. 
The lice growers of the South strongly 
urged upon the Tariff Commission during 
its travels in that section the necessity of 
still heavier duties upon foreign rice to 
encourage the production of the domes¬ 
tic article. At the time Ihe import duty 
or foreign rice grown East of the Cape of 
Good Hope was 10 per cent, ad valorem, in 
addition to 2£ ceDts per pound on clean 
and two rents per pound cn rough rice. 
The tax of 10 per cent, ad valwem was 
imposed by the Act of June 6,1872; but 
this was repealed by the Act of May 4, 
1882,which provided that tbeiepeal should 
take effect on and after January 1, 1883. 
On and after New Year’s Day, therefore, 
the whole import duty on foreign rice, 
all of which comes from countries East 
of the Cape of Good Hope, can only be 
2£ cents a pound on clean and 2 cents per 
pound on rough rice. It is likely there¬ 
fore that growers of rice will soon be 
clamoring before Congress for higher 
duties on that pioiuct. 
A PRAI8EWORTHY EXCEPTION. 
Out upon the man or class who will 
not give due credit for an act of justice or 
“Fourth-class matter” in the mails in¬ 
cludes blank cards, cardboard, stationary 
without printing, samples of merchandise, 
ores and metals, together with s eds, cut¬ 
tings, bulbs, etc., which in form or nature 
are liable to de-stroy or deface or other¬ 
wise damage the contents of mail hags or 
do haim to the employes of the Post 
Office Depaitment. The postage on this 
class of matter at present is one cent an 
ounce or sixteen cents per pound, or 
$320 per ton, and in his last annual re¬ 
port the Postmaster-General urged “with 
emphasis the opinion that the rate of 
postage on fourth-class matter should be 
increased.” 
For a long time it has been well known 
that the express companies have wished 
to monopolize the business of carrying 
seeds and other goods of the above 
description. Indeed, there is little doubt 
that the distinction between third and 
fourth-class matter was made at their in¬ 
stigation. At present most of them are 
willing to carry such goods for short dis¬ 
tances at a very much lower rate than 
that of the Post-Office; but where the 
distance is long, their charge is consider¬ 
ably heavier. A rise in the postage on 
such goods would, however, throw the 
whole of the business into their hands 
while permitting them to increase their 
charges. It is alleged that several of the 
principal companies have lately leagued 
together to induce Congress to raise the 
postage on fourth-class matter; that ex- 
Senator Thomas Platt, of New York, 
President of the Adams’ Express Com¬ 
pany, was delegated to look after the 
matter in Washington, and that Post¬ 
master-General Howe's recommendation 
to double the postage on “fourth-class 
matter ” was due to his persuasions 
and blandishments. 
In “fourth-class matter*’ the principal 
items thit affect the interest of farmers 
and gardeners are seeds. So enormous 
are the dealings in these that it is stated 
that five firms alone annually pay the 
government $380,000 in postage on pack¬ 
ages containing these goods. As the 
seedsmen are reckoned by thousands 
throughout the country, what must be 
the aggregate postage paid by them 1 
Whatever it may he, it and all other 
charges finally come out of the pockets 
of the purchaseis; for, of course, the 
dealers mustadd thecharges tothe original 
cost of t le goods. Instead of increasing 
the postage on seeds it ought to be con¬ 
siderably lessened. Books, newspapers, 
playing cards, cheap chromos ana many 
other things that are much more likely 
than seeds to injure the contents of the 
mail bags and do harm to the employes oi 
the Department, are now carried for eight 
cents a pound ; why thiB unjust dis¬ 
crimination? 
Some of the postal routes in Canada are 
as long as those in this country, and yet 
seeds have there been carried lor years 
for four cents per pound, and growers of 
seeds in the United States along the Ca¬ 
nadian bolder are accustomed to forward 
their goods to Canada and thence send 
them by mail to purchasers in the United 
Stites, thus obtaining the benefits of 
cheaper Crnadian postage, and securing 
no inconsiderable advantage over their 
rivals. It is to he hoped that Congress 
will speedily rectify this injustice, and 
instead of increasing the postage on seeds, 
lower it by at least one-half. That our 
legislators will see the ad visibility of this 
we feel all the more confident inasmuch 
as the Postmaster-General appears to 
have lately become convinced of the in¬ 
expediency of the recommendation in his 
annual report; for on December 28, in 
a letter to Senator Allison, Chairman 
of the Senate A ppTopriation Committe. af¬ 
ter referring to the fact that the United 
States charges twice as much for carrying 
seeds as it does for carrying the circulars 
which advertise those seeds, be concludes 
by asking “ whether we cannot afford to 
transport for eight cents per pound the 
seeds which the farmer buys as well as 
to transport seeds for nothing which the 
Government buys; and if we cannot af¬ 
ford to carry seeds for one cent for two 
ounces paid into our Tre-isury as well as 
to carry them for the same price paid 
into the Canadian Treasury ?” 
NATIONAL AND STATE AGRICUL¬ 
TURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 
Mr. Carpenter, of Iowa, has lately 
introduced into Congress a bill providing 
for the establishment of experiment sta¬ 
tions 1o be connected with the agricul¬ 
tural colleges of the various States. The 
scope ol the stations, as stated in the bill, 
is to be wider than that of any of the 
State agricultural stations hitherto estab¬ 
lished. They are to conduct original re¬ 
searches or verify reported, experiments 
on the physiology of plants and animals; 
the diseases to which they are severally 
subject, and the remedies for them; the 
chemical composition of useful plants at 
their different stages of growth; the com¬ 
parative advantages of rotative cropping 
as practiced under a varying succession 
of crops; the adaptability of new plants 
or trees to cultivation within the iso¬ 
thermal limits represented by the climate 
of the several stations and their neigh¬ 
borhood; the analysis of soils and waters; 
the chemical composition of manures, 
natural and artificial, with experiments 
to test their comparative values for rais¬ 
ing crops of different kinds; the adapta¬ 
tion and value of the grasses and forage 
plants; the composition and digestibility 
o p the different kinds of food for cattle; 
the scientific and economic questions in¬ 
volved in the production of butter and 
cheese; and all subjects bearing directly 
on the agriculture of the country. The 
stations are to be under the general con¬ 
trol of the agents or trustees of the col¬ 
leges, who will be authorizi d to employ a 
professor for each college to act as super¬ 
intended of the station. The work of 
the station is to be determined by the 
Commissioner of Agriculture, the presi¬ 
dent of the college and the professor in 
charge. The colleges that may provide 
for these stations are to receive per annum 
from the public Treasury $15,000 each 
for salaries rnd expenses. 
All the States have now accepted the 
land grants of the Government offered by 
the act of 1862, and have either establish¬ 
ed independent colleges to afford instruc¬ 
tion in agriculture and the mechsnic arts, 
or associated such colleges with institu¬ 
tions designed to furnish other branches 
of education also. At present there are 
only six State agricultural experiment 
stations in the country. The Connecti¬ 
cut Agricultural Experiment Station, 
incorporated in 1877, is associated with 
the Sheffield- Scientific School of New 
Haven. The station is supported by an 
annual appropriation of $8,000. The 
North Carolina Station, established in the 
same year, is located in the Agricultural 
Department Building at Raleigh, while 
the agricultural college is connected with 
the University at Chapel Hill. The New 
Jersey Experiment Station, founded in 
1880, is located at the State Agricultural 
College, New Brunswick. The annual 
appropriation for its sup; ort amounts to 
$8,000. The New York Agricultural 
Experiment Station, incorporated in 1881 
and organized in 1882, is situated at 
Geneva, while the State Agricultural 
College is connected with the Cornell 
University at Ithaca. The sum of $40,- 
000 was appropriated for two years’ sup¬ 
port of the station, in addition to $25,- 
000 for the purchase of the farm and 
buildings. The Ohio Station was organ¬ 
ized in 1882 and is located at the State 
University at Columbus, with which the 
State agriculture 1 college is also 
associated. The Massachusetts Agricul¬ 
tural Experiment Station, organized last 
November, is connected with the State 
agrieultural colli-ge at Amherst. 
Very little has hitherto been done for 
agriculture by some of the institutions 
which draw no inconsiderable share of 
their revenues from the agricultural 
college land grants, and from agricultural 
experiment stations connected with these 
we would not expect many agricultural 
benefits; hut quite a large number of the 
institutions hive done excellent service 
in view of the difficulties they have had to 
contend against, and liberally supported 
agricultural experiment stations con¬ 
nected with these would, we have no 
doubt, be of very great advantage ro the 
sericulture of their respective States. 
Whatever may be the merits of the Car¬ 
penter hill, we have no lively expec¬ 
tation that it will pass at the present 
session of Congress. Its introduction, 
however, will draw public attention to 
the subject it treats of, and though Mr. 
Carpenter has not been re-elected to the 
next Congress, doubtless some other 
memberwill introduce a somewhat similar 
bill, and after a time the measure will 
without doubt he passed. The great 
cause of carelessness and dilatorhiess in 
regard to such hills is that their passage 
would be of advantage merely to farmers. 
BREVITIES. 
Our readers will be glnd to learn that Mr. 
Charles Downing is nearly recovered. 
Canary bird Seed. — Have any of onr 
Southern friends, or those of the Southern 
Middle States, tried to raise this seed? We 
tried a little patch of it several years ago, but 
it did not bloom. 
The arrest of a customs inspector in this 
citv a short time back for having made false 
returns with regard to a large cargo of im¬ 
ported potatoes, has Ted to an investigation of 
the entire qnantitv of foreign tubers brought 
to this country during the rest few years. 
Last fiscal year nearly 9,000.000 bushels paid 
dntv at the various ports, their value being 
#4 500,000 and the duty on them #1.118,476. 
Only ahout 1 000,000 bushels crossed the At¬ 
lantic. the rest having come from New Bruns¬ 
wick, Nova Scotia and the Bermudas. A 
large proportion of those shipped in Europe 
rotted daring the passage, and were either 
thrown overboard or discharged here in an 
uneatable condition. 
The dairymen of California, who have #15,- 
000,000 invested in their business, are contend¬ 
ing as vigorously against the encroachments 
of oleomargarine as their Eastern brethren 
have been contending for years. A largely 
attended meeting of them was lately held in 
Pan Francisco, and some of the delegates 
urged that all who bandied the stuff should be 
rigorously boycotted, but the majority pre 
ferred to'defer extreme measures till legal 
remedies had been tried. The result was the 
draft of a law which the Legislature will be 
asked to enact, providing that the objection¬ 
able concoction shall be sold only under 
prescribed conditions fully as stringent as 
those in force in some of the older States. 
The twentv-eighth annnal meeting of the 
New York Horticultural Society will be held 
in the Common Council Chamber. Rochester, 
on Wednesday, Janunrv 23. The membership 
already numbers 200: the fee of membership 
is only $1: and each member receivesa copv of 
the “Transactions.’ 1 which is worth more than 
that trifle. Agricultural and horticultural 
societies, far mere’clubs, grarges, etc., are in¬ 
vited to send delegates, and all persona inter¬ 
ested in fruit culture and horticulture, will 
receive a cordial welcome. The proceedings 
will, aa usual, consist of reports of standing 
and special committees, essays and discus¬ 
sions. The farmers and fruit growers of the 
State will consult their own Interest by 
attending. 
The annual meeting of the Pennsylvania 
Board of Agriculture will be held at Harris¬ 
burg, on Wednesday, January 23. Among 
practical subjects to be dlscnssed are: Best 
Breed of Cows for the Dairy; Thorough Til¬ 
lage Necessary to Produce Successful Crops: 
Reproductive Power of Plant Life; Farmers' 
Gardpns and Truck-Patches; Preservation of 
the Health of Live Stock : Which Birds to 
Protect and which to Kill; Value of Root 
Crops os Dairy Food; How shonld the Farmer 
Spend His Time During the Winter Season, to 
Insure the Best Results to Himself in His 
Calling? Food and Feeding of Domestic Ani¬ 
mals; Can Wheat be Grown with Profit in 
Pennsylvania. at One Dollar per Bushel; 
Gathering, Marketing and Preserving 
Fruit. The State Horticultural Association 
will meet in the office of the Board of Agri¬ 
culture on January 17. On February 28 there 
will be at the same place a convention of 
three delegates from each county agricul¬ 
tural society. 
Some of the enterprising citizens of Ham¬ 
burg, Germany, are willing to risk an esti¬ 
mated outlay of & tout #125,000 for the purpose 
of holding there un intei national cattle show 
in July, 1883. The Board of Managers, we 
are told, have received promises of support 
from all parts of Germany, and committees 
have been formed in England, France, Aus¬ 
tria, Hungary, Russia, Switzerland, Bt-lgium 
and Holland to promote the objects of the 
exhibition. It ia a frequent boost of Ameri¬ 
can breeders of Short horns, 1 (crefords aud 
Jerseya that beasts raised on this side of the 
water are superior to those raised on the other 
side. Here ia a flue opportunity to prove the 
correctness of this claim, by bearing away 
the honors of the various breeds, just as the 
Vermontbreeders of Merino sheep at a former 
international show, held in the same city in 
18G3, took the first prizes both on rams and 
ewes, not a little to the surprise of French 
and German breeders of Merinos. 
