FEB 40 
TH K 
RURAL- NEW'YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
K 1.1 K R T S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. S4 V rk Row. Nkw York. 
SATURDAY, FEB. 10, 1883 
We are very glad to announce that Dr. 
John A. Warder has consented to con¬ 
tinue his forestry articles through the year. 
-- - 
We find that the Rural Branching 
Sorghum is offered by several of our lead¬ 
ing seedsmen. New readers should try 
it. This was introduced in the Rural 
Free Seed Dist ribution of three y ears ago. 
The Hon. Marshall P. Wilder writes us 
in connection with the recovery of Charles 
Downing: “Long may he live to enjoy a 
Nation’s gratitude for his valuable ser¬ 
vices to American pomology.” So say 
we all of us. _ 
There were 20 or more small lots of 
different kinds of wheat in our granary 
raised upon experiment plols. These 
were all ground together. The flour 
makes bread that is not very white, it is 
true, but still sweet and good. 
- ♦ -- 
Another batch of catalogues from 
among the best seedsmen and nursery¬ 
men in America will be found under 
Catalogues, Etc., Received, page 89. All 
of our readers should send for and exam¬ 
ine them carefully. 
-- - 
We asked Professor S. W. Johnson, the 
distinguished agricultural chemist of the 
Conn. Ag. Ex. Station, what kind of 
chemical fertilizer he thought would best 
supply nitrogen to our Indian corn crop. 
His answer will be found on page 82 of 
this impression. 
Sir J. B. Lawes (Rothamsted, Eng¬ 
land) writes the Rural, under date of 
January 8: “ Ensilage is still being talked 
of in this country, but I doubt whether it 
will make much progress. We have not 
maize which I think is specially. adapted 
for it, and we have roots which you 
cannot grow.” 
-- - -- 
As we have never adopted the plan of 
notifying our subscribers when their sub¬ 
scriptions expire, we would ask them to 
look at the address slips on the wrappers 
and thus ascertain for themselves Thus, 
if the number after the name is 1725. the 
subscription will end next week, if 1726 
the week after, and so on. 
We would suggest to our Southern 
friends that they read carefully Mr. A. B. 
Allen’s directions given in another place 
as to acclimating cattle. They give the 
results of the observation,information and 
study donng a busy life of over 60 years 
the w hole of the adult portion of which 
has been intimately connected with stock 
handling and agriculture. 
Two years ago we syringed a young 
dwarf (Paradise stock) apple and a young 
cherry-tree infested with aphides (lice) 
with Paris-green and water. We repeat¬ 
ed this, each time with less water to the 
same amount of Paris-green, until the 
leaves were scorched and died. The lice 
were not affected in the least. This 
statement was made in the Rural over 
one year ago. We should not repeat it 
now except that we see that others have 
tried this method of exterminating this 
formidable pest, with like results. 
Two years ago a portion of our garden 
was manured heavily with partially de¬ 
cayed leaves. The past year potatoes 
were raised on this land and they we r e 
nearly destroyed by wire-worms—while 
beyond where chemical fertilizers only 
had been used for both seasons the pota¬ 
toes were sound. Scabby potatoes! We 
do not know what may cause them m 
other soils, but we do know that half-de¬ 
cayed leaves caused them in the above 
instance. Sometimes tue skin of the 
potato was merely scarified; in others the 
potatoes were half eaten up and there 
was every intermediate stage of injury. 
We see it stated here and there that 
the Rural Branching Sorghum is “Millo 
Maize.” We don’t know anything about 
Millo Maize, except that, according to a 
circular received offering it for sale, 
the Rural Branching Sorghum antedate* 
it several years a? cultivated in South 
Carolina. According to Dr. Jones, of 
Herndon, Ga., who has tried both, we 
should say they were different. But it 
does not matter. We don’t want “Millo 
Maize” (a wretched name) sold for Rural 
Branching Sorghum or the latter sold for 
the former, even though shown to be 
the same. 
We have still a supply of the new Ru- 
HUi Posters which are thought to be very 
effective. We have also a supply of the 
Rural’s Premium List for 1883, which is 
scaled very liberally. Our readers should 
examine it. Both sent free to all appli¬ 
cants. Send in your clubs, friends, and 
we send you our (hanks with the premi- 
ums you may select. We will also send 
you specimen copies of the Rural. A 
pood way to use them is to leave one or 
two for examination in the hands of 
neighboring families who do not, but who 
ought to, subscribe. Then call again and 
solicit their subscriptions. If you read 
the paper, you should have many stTorg 
reasons to offer why they should subscribe. 
One good one is that “they cannot afford 
to do without if '—a truth which they will 
recognize one day. 
♦ -— 
In a discussion at a recent Council 
Meeting of the British Dairy Farmers’ 
Association. Mr. Simpson maintained that 
straw bedding lessens the flow of milk 
from cows, for he says his cows invari¬ 
ably eat their straw bedding, and this 
has & tendency to dry up their milk. We 
do not understand this; for English 
farmers have long been in the habit of 
feeding their straw with roots and meal 
of some kind, to all their stock, and re¬ 
port it as excellent fodder for them. The 
same is done to a greater or less extent 
in America. We think some other cause 
than the mere eating of straw lessened 
the flow of milk lrom Mr. Simpson’s cows. 
Can any of our readers give us light on 
this subject? 
Another gigantic European cattle-rais¬ 
ing enterprise is about to monopolize a 
large area of our territory in the Far 
West. A Glasgow Company, with a cap¬ 
ital of $1,000,000, has made preparations 
to lease the Maxwell grant in New Mex¬ 
ico. The Maxwell Company, which has 
granted the lease to the Glasg* iw Com¬ 
pany, is a Dutch corporation organized 
under a royal charter, and is owner of 
about 1,750,000 acres, or upwards of 2,734 
square miles, pretty nearly in a square 
body, on the boundary line between New 
Mexico and Colorado, one-fifth of the 
land lying north of the boundary. The 
grant has been confirmed by an act of 
Congress and the company has the patent 
of the United States Government. Here 
is a Dutch corporation handing over to a 
Scotch corporation a German principality 
of American soil! 
The establishment of a School or For¬ 
estry and Experimental Station is sought 
by a bill about to be introduced into 
Congress by Mr. Pettigrew, Delegate from 
Dakota. It will provide for the granting 
of 400 sections of unappropriated public 
lands in Dakota to be sold under specified 
conditions, the price to form a fund the 
interest on which is to be used for the 
maintenance of the above institution. 
This is to be under the supervision of a 
board of three Commissioners. If the 
proceeds of the land exceed $300,000, the 
excess is to be used in the construction of 
buildings and the establishnrent of for¬ 
estry expsrimental stations. It is very 
unlikely that the bill will be passed by 
the present Congress, but Mr. Raymond, 
Mr. Pettigrew’s successor in the 48th 
Congress, will, it is understood, re-intro¬ 
duce it at the beginning of the next 
Congress, and its introduction now will 
call attention to the subject, hence we 
give it prominent mention here in the 
way of suggestion to the Representatives 
of other States and Territories. 
Mr. J. J. Thomas paid at the late meet¬ 
ing of the Western N. Y. Hort. Society, 
that one-quarter of an acre of lawn 
could be kept in order at an expense of 
$3 for labor from the 1st of May to the 
1st of September. Mr. E. Williams re¬ 
ferred to the Brighton grape, and said 
that the memory of the introducers of 
thit grape ought always to be enshrined 
in the hearts of horticulturists. It was 
the finest grape he had yet come across. 
Major Brooks was of the sensible opinion 
that rural clergymen, pale and soft for 
want of exercise, might do better gospel 
work if they used the hoe among the 
peas, strawberries, etc. The new Crim¬ 
son Beauty Raspberry was reported by 
one member as not hardy. As the Rural 
has often tried to impress upon itB read¬ 
ers, the deep cultivation of fruits is harm¬ 
ful. Mr. P. J. Berckmans does not con¬ 
sider the Le Conte equal to the Kieffer 
pear. Mr. W. C. Barry read a very 
carefully prepared and instructive paper. 
It was stated that the Russian Mulberry 
is the same as the White, only hardier. 
_- 
The National Agricultural Association 
which it is now proposed to revive, was 
established in 1881, when 153 delegates 
representing 23 States and Territories, as¬ 
sembled at Washington. The first annual 
meeting of the chartered Sonietv was held 
in Washington in Februarv. 1853—just 30 
years ago. The first exhibition heldI hy 
the Association was at Springfield, Ohio, 
in October, 1853. and subsequent exhibi¬ 
tions took place in Massachusetts, Penn- 
svlvania, Kentucky, Virginia, Illinois and 
Ohio, besides a national trial of reapers 
and mowers at Syracuse, "N. Y. The So¬ 
ciety expended $250,000 in premiums 
and expenses. During the War its meet¬ 
ings were suspended, and since then its 
condition has nearly always b-en mori¬ 
bund, though some excellent names have 
been connected with it. On the estab¬ 
lishment of che American Agricultural 
Association a few years ago, there was a 
strong disposition to amalgamate both 
societies, or rather to merge the older in 
the younger; but the policy of the latter 
has not been satisfactory to the former, 
and this fact has doubtless not been with¬ 
out influence in the effort now being 
made to put fresh life and blood into the 
National Agricultural Association. 
In our readers do not lay plans now 
for another season, when aie they to do 
bo? Ib there a better time? Can you se¬ 
lect no better eTains potatoes, roots, 
vegetables than those you have Wen rais¬ 
in «■? Are those vou have been rais¬ 
ing the best of aU kinds for your soil and 
climate? How do you know that? Would 
it be a foolish extravagance for vou to try 
ia a small (very small) way other kinds 
that have yielded far better for others? 
YeaTS ago we thought that the Indian 
corn we were then cultivating year after 
year could Dot be improved upon. It was 
raised generally about the neighborhood. 
We would not touch it now. So it was 
with wheat. There was no wheat like 
Clawson for yield. As a matter oi ex¬ 
periment we tried many other kinds in 
small plots, the result of which was that 
we could not again be induced to sow 
Clawson. We may say the same of pota¬ 
toes, sweet corn, peas, oats, tomatoes, 
watermelons, strawberries, grapes, rasp¬ 
berries, etc. What best suitB vs, good 
readers, will not, of course, suit you. neces- 
sarily. We give you the results of all 
our experiments that are worth reporting, 
and. in many cases, they may serve to 
guide you. But to ascertain what will 
prove the beet adapted to your own gar¬ 
den or fields, in all cases, you must ex¬ 
periment for yourselves, and we beg to 
assure you that if intelligently conducted 
such experiments will, in the end, serve 
you as well as any other part of your 
farm labors. 
repetition, on a large scale, of the re¬ 
sults of the awards at the similar show 
of 1863, when George Campbell, as 
the representative of the wool-grow¬ 
ers of Vermont, bore away from all 
competitors the first prize for Merino 
sheep? The House Committee on Agri¬ 
culture is asking Congress for an appro¬ 
priation of $30,000 for the purpose of 
sending representatives of this country to 
this Hamburg affair. We trust Congress 
will nof grant it. We have already the 
finest cattle, sheep and swine on the 
globe: their breeders tell us so, and who 
should know better? Out trotters can 
fling dust in the eyes of all roadsters 
of the outside world. In poultry where 
can better breeds be found than our na¬ 
tive Plymouth Rock, and our improved 
imported strains? We have also a home 
market for the best of all we can sell for 
breeding purposes—a market which our 
present production cannot supply, other¬ 
wise why send hundreds of thousands of 
dollars out, of the country every year to 
import inferior foreign stock to make 
good the deficiency? If the representa¬ 
tion of this country at the misnamed in¬ 
ternational affair should open up a for¬ 
eign market for our choicest breeding ani¬ 
mals, there might be a gain to a handful 
of breeders, but there would certainly be 
a loss to the general stock raising public 
who would have to pay higher prices for 
good sires and dams of native origin and 
have to import more foreign stock at a 
heavier cost even than that which fashion 
and whim lead them to pay at present. 
Our foreign market for meat-produc¬ 
ing animals is already secured. If, 
for once, Congress is disposed to be 
liber il with an agricultural appropriation, 
the farmers of this country will derive a 
vast deal more benefit from $30,000 ex¬ 
pended for the suppression of pleuro¬ 
pneumonia among cattle than from such 
an outlay made to send a few politicians 
or favorites of politicians on a junketing 
trip to Europe to see a bogus international 
show from free competition in which 
America is excluded. 
A CABBAGE EXPERIMENT. 
Our older readers are aware that among 
the experiments conducted at the Rural 
Grounds last Summer was one to deter¬ 
mine the relative values of the kinds 
offered iD seedsmen’s catalogues and also 
to ascertain whether anything is gained 
bv so wing the seeds in the hills or drills 
where the cabbages are to grow instead 
of raising the plants in frames or pre¬ 
pared plots and transplanting them in the 
usual way. Our detailed report roust await 
its turn. At this time we desire merely 
to express our preference for the old plan. 
Though the plants formed solid heads 
from the seeds sown in the drills and not 
transplanted, yet there were more outside 
(waste) leaves and the beads averaged 
lighter than those from transplanted 
plants. ^ gain it requires just as much 
time and labor to sow the seeds in the 
drills or hills and then to thin them put 
after they have grown to a suitable size, 
as it does to bow the seed* in prepared 
plots and to transplant to the hills where 
they ax& to complete their prowth* Again 
it may be said that it requires a much 
larger quantity of seed for a given crop 
by the non-transplanting than by the 
transplanting method. 
MISAPPLIED CONGRESSIONAL 
LIBER AT.ITY. 
At the projected grea' International Show 
at Hamburg, Germanv. the money prizes 
will amount to $39,000, and there will 
also be numerous gold, silver and bronze 
medals. A large proportion of the prizes, 
particularly of the mostv aluable ones, are 
especially reserved for animals bred in 
Germany or in adjacent countries, and for 
these American exhibitors cannot com¬ 
pete. Is it because the Teutons ^fear ji 
BREVITIES. 
How are your plow points i 
Disinterested Advice. Renew! 
“ The man with 1,000 young ones” is still 
Hale. 
Be prepared to enjoy the play when the 
curtain rises. 
Let the mother, father, sisters and brothers 
spend a few evenings now toeether examining 
the catalogues of nurserymen and seedsmen. 
Let each have a voice in the matter while 
preparing * list of the seeds or plants needed. 
H9vethe Rural Tndex and last year’s file 
before you for reference. 
Commissioner Loring’b Convention of 
agriculturists at Washington passed off qui¬ 
etly but successfully. The valuahle addresses 
of representative visitors from different parte 
of the country will donhtless be given to the 
public in book or pamphlet form. The gen¬ 
eral sentiment of those present was emphatic¬ 
ally in favor of the elevation of the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture to the raub of an execu¬ 
tive Department, but the Commissioner de¬ 
precated a formal discussion of the topic. 
Once more we remind our friends that the 
Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society will 
hold its fourth annual meeting at New Orleans, 
commencing on Feb. 31 and continuing four 
days. From present indications this promises 
to be the largest and most important horticul¬ 
tural meeting ever held in the West. Arrange¬ 
ments have been made with some of the prin¬ 
cipal railway lines connecting with the Cres¬ 
cent City, by which special rates of fare can 
be secured by visitors. Rates for the round 
trip will he only $30 from Chicago and Cin¬ 
cinnati, and $15 from St, Louis. Full infor¬ 
mation on all point* will be promptly furnished 
by 8. M. Tracy, Secretary, Columbia, Mo. 
Have you stakes for your raspberries and 
blackberries} Have yon brush to support 
your peas next season ? Have you gathered 
up all the litter about the farm or garden, that 
should not be left to give an unkept appear¬ 
ance to the place i Rome of it may increase 
the manure pile. Much of it may be burned. 
Then collect the ashes before rain or shower 
comes to leach them—put them In barrels or in 
a dry place aud use them for potatoes. Are 
you going to order fruit trees and small 
fruits 1 Have you made up your mind w'hat 
kinds to order 1 You had better give five 
dollars to some worthy poor person than to 
invest it in fruits that will not—cannot— 
thrive with you. 
THE Consolidated L'nseed Oil Company 
was formed four years ago, and comprised 55 
mill* —nearly aU west of Buffalo. A monop¬ 
oly was thus formed, but under the stimulus 
of the high prices for oil an 1 cake charged by 
the monopoly, other mills were soon started, 
and a healthy competition arose. This begot 
discontent among the members of the monop¬ 
oly, aud at a private session held at Chicago 
the other day, the company waa practically 
broken up, enough mills withdrawing their 
proportion of capital from the combination to 
reduce the stock from $100,000 to $5,000, The 
seceders Intend to compete independently. 
The National Starch Company, a consoli¬ 
dation of Western starch factories, the com¬ 
bination of which we chronicled here some 
moutlis ago, has also dissolved, leaving each 
of its constituents to care for himself. May 
a similar or even worse fate befall all 
monopolies which selfishly oppress the 
many for the benefit of the few. 
