THE 
RURAL NEW'YORKER. 
I - 
Conducted by 
KLBERT S. C A K M A N . 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 1S83. 
Personal correspondence Nvill receive 
more prompt attention if directed to the 
Editor, River Edge. Bergen Co., 1ST. J. 
Keiffer or Kieffer. The Records of 
the Am. Pom. Society spell this pear both 
ways. Charles Downing spells it Keillor. 
Judge Parry says In inquired of Mr. Kief¬ 
fer for whom the pear was named, and he 
said it should be ICieffer. The Rural has 
followed Mr. Downing. 
--- 
Five years ago we tried the White 
Sclioeneu Oat beside a dozen other kinds. 
We remember we were much pleased with 
it as regards strength of straw and yield, 
though we fail to find the report made at 
the time. Several of the new oats now 
offered will be found after a year or so no 
improvement Over the Schamen. 
Many of our friends arc now writing us 
“Please don't forget me in the seed distri¬ 
bution.” No, we shall try to remember 
all who have applied. Many forget to 
send six cents’ worth of stamps when 
applying and then send them afterwards. 
In such cases they should so mention it. 
Again, let us repeat, no application is 
necessary when the Rural is subscribed 
for in connection with other journals that 
club with the Rural uffenny the seed 
distribution. 
As a matter of fact, referring to Mr. 
Ritter’s criticism (p. 116) upon Dir. Green’s 
remarks, the Rural thinks that farmers 
as a class would lower themselves by seek¬ 
ing or accepting political places' We 
should be glad to see more farmers in Con¬ 
gress and State legislatures for the one rea¬ 
son that we might then hope for better— 
lass corrupt -government. Sofaras'‘hon¬ 
or” is concerned. we had far rather be a good 
farmer than “occupy a seat in any legis¬ 
lative hall.” 
Here is certainly a forcible confirmation 
of the result of the Rural New-Yorker's 
test with the Russian White Oats, made 
the first season of their introduction. We 
<^uote from the Husbandman: “A ques¬ 
tion asked at a late meeting of the Elmira 
Farmers’ Club by Mr. John McCann, led 
to reports about White Russian Oats, 
when the singular fact appeared that all 
who had made careful tests, in comparison 
with other varieties, had found the lauded 
White Russian inferior both in weight and 
quality, al t hougl 1 a p pearan ce during the sea¬ 
son of growth had indicated superiority.” 
In Congress the Senate bill “to en¬ 
courage the holding of a world’s indus¬ 
trial and cotton exposition ” has been 
passed by the House. It secures for the 
Cotton Centennial Exposition, to be held 
next year, the recognition and sanction of 
the Government. The President is author¬ 
ized to, appoint six commissioners on the 
recommendation of the Executive Com¬ 
mittee of the National Cotton Planters’ 
Association, and seven on the recommenda¬ 
tion of a majority of the subscribers to the 
enterprise in whatever city it may he held. 
These commissioners are to form a hoard 
of management with power to make rules 
and regulations for the government of the 
exposition. The President is also author¬ 
ized, on the recommendation of the sev¬ 
eral Governors, to appoint one commis¬ 
sioner for each State and Territory. The 
powers and duties of these are to be de¬ 
fined by the board of management. No 
compensation is to be paid by the Gov¬ 
ernment to any commissioner or other 
officer, nor is it to be liable for any 
expense incurred on behalf of the exposi¬ 
tion. It is, however, to invite foreign 
governments to be represented, and all 
articles imported for the sole purpose of 
exhibition are to be admitted free of duty. 
This is a laudable encouragement of a 
worthy national enterprise. 
-- 
HINTS TO SILK-CULTURISTS. 
Information useful to silk-cnltmists 
has lately been sent to the State Depart ¬ 
ment by United States Consul Pcixotto, 
from Lyons, France. The first of two 
grave mistakes committed by those en¬ 
gaged here iu’ this youthful industry is 
that our sericulturists have impressed 
firms in France with the idea that they 
could do more than the results have shown 
them capable of doing. Promises of large 
shipments of cocoons have been made to 
Lyons and Marseilles; but the cocoons have 
not been sent, and the inevitable conse¬ 
quence has been that interest in the indus¬ 
try in America has declined in France, and 
inquiries and letters remain unnoticed. 
The second mistake, judging from sam¬ 
ples of American cocoons submitted to the 
best French experts, is the use here of in¬ 
ferior “seed,” or silk-worm eggs. To pro¬ 
duce first-class cocoons better seed must 
be used, as the samples show that many 
here are working from eggs of mixed or 
inferior breeds. The difference in quality 
of product due to that of the seed may he 
50 to 60 per cent., and as it costs quite as 
much to raise poor stock as good, this dif¬ 
ference is one of profits. The worms in¬ 
tended for reproduction must be of good 
and pure breed, and, to prevent deteriora¬ 
tion, it is essential that they should he 
raised in small lots, separated from each 
other by considerable distances. Good 
growers in France give the lots (seldom 
larger than the progeny of an ounce of 
seed) to different farmers. During their 
growth inspectors regularly visit thorn, 
taking notes for future guidance, and co¬ 
coons of varying shades and sizes as well 
as those containing many “doubles” are re¬ 
jected as unsound. The worms selected for 
reproduction are placed separately in cells, 
and after the eggs have been laid the moths 
are crushed in a mortar and examined mi¬ 
croscopically, and all the eggs are thrown 
away if any signs of disease are found. No 
known means exist of distinguishing good 
from had eggs, and as the production of 
the former is expensive many speculators 
collect inferior stock, which is sold at low 
prices. The Consul is of opinion that the 
importation of eggs from France would 
greatly increase the value of American co¬ 
coons. December is the best month for this, 
and none should be shipped after February. 
WESTERN CATTLE INTERESTS. 
The disposition shown by Secretary 
Teller to restrain the illegal seizure of 
large tracts of the public domain by stock¬ 
men, has aroused the alarm of these mo¬ 
nopolists; and accordingly there is among 
them an unusually lively desire to hold 
conventions and combine for their com¬ 
mon protection. During the meeting of 
Texas stockmen at Austin the other day 
it was stated that Texas loses every year 
$10,006,000 by diseases iu cattle devel¬ 
oped after reaching the Northern markets. 
The cattle of the State were estimated at 
5.000,000—one-eighth of the total number 
in the United States. It was declared 
urgent that the legislature should pass a 
bill to insure to the present occupants the 
retention of land now occupied by them 
as ranges, and to tix the maximum annual 
rental at two cents per acre, or $12,80 per 
square milp, the term of the lease to be 20 
years as a minimum time. Unfriendly 
legislation was earnestly deprecated: and 
the construction of new railroads to afford 
greater facilities for transportation north, 
strongly advocated. The stockmen of 
AVestern Kansas are to convene at Fort 
Dodge on March 20 for the purpose of 
organizing a stock association “for fur¬ 
thering our common interests.” 
A specimen illegal appropriation of ter¬ 
ritory is that of Mr. Swann, a large Wy¬ 
oming cattle raiser, who, having made a 
lease of alternate sections, inclosed with a 
wire fence the intermediate sections, in¬ 
cluding several small tracts occupied by 
small herders. Governor Hale, of Wyo¬ 
ming, is strongly opposed to such outrages, 
and Secretary Teller, besides laying a bill 
before Congress for suppressing them, has 
recommended vigorous action on the part 
of tlie Department of Justice to punish 
the perpetrators. While every legitimate 
encouragement should be afforded to those 
who invest their capital in raising stock on 
a large scale in the Far West, the truth 
must be impressed on them that owners of 
small herds und flocks as well as the tillers 
of the soil have some rights, present and 
prospective, which even they are bound 
to respect. 
Accounts of losses among stock, due to 
the recent severe weather on the ranges 
are somewhat conflicting: many declare 
that the losses are trifling, while others re¬ 
port them considerable. The discrepancy 
is easily accounted for on the ground that 
the numerous cattle companies which are 
flooding the country with circulars inviting 
investment in their projects, wish to spread 
favorable intelligence abroad, while many 
others are anxious to attract European cap¬ 
ital to their enterprises. Special reports 
to the Chicago Tribune from over 100 
points in Montana, Wyoming, Western 
Nebraska and Kansas, Colorado and New 
Mexico put the aggregate loss at $2,000,- 
000. In all the ranges cattle drifted long 
distances before the storms, and owing to 
the freezing of the streams many died of 
thirst, and still more from exposure and 
lack of feed. It must not be forgotten, 
however, that among many who own stock 
there is a disposition to exaggerate the 
losses with an eye to “hulling” the beef 
market later on. 
THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 
The act of Congress of June -10. 1884, 
declared that “ all that part of the United 
States west of the Mississippi and not 
within the States of Missouri and Louisi- 
ann or the Territory of Arkansas” should be 
considered the Indian country. This 
formed part of the Louisiana purchase 
from France in 1803. The successive for¬ 
mation of new States and Territories has 
reduced the Indian country to a tract ly¬ 
ing between latitude 33 deg. 35 nun. 
and 37 deg., and longitude 90 deg. 20 
miu. and 103 deg., having a length from 
east to west, along the northern border, of 
470 miles, and of 310 miles south of lati¬ 
tude 36 deg. 30 min.; and a breadth of 
36 miles west of the 100th meridian and of 
about 210 miles east of that line: a total area 
of 68,991 square miles. It is bounded on the 
north by Colorado and Kansas; on the 
east by Missouri and Arkansas; on the 
south by Texas, from which it is separated 
east of the 100th meridian by the Red 
River; and west bv Texas and New Mexico, 
The population of the entire region, 
made up mostly of tribes removed thither 
at various times from different parts of the 
country, is only about 75,000—a trifie over 
one to a square mile—and embraces about 
7,000 negroes and 2,500 whites. About 
I half the Indians are on reservations—of 
i which there are 17—the remainder lead a 
nomadic life. Some of the tribes, like the 
Kiowas and Comanches, are still really in 
a wild state: others, like the Cherokeos. 
Choctaws and Creeks, are well advanced 
; in civilization. The Cherokeesnumbering 
about 15 . 000 , occupy an area of 6,900 
square miles in the northeast, hordering nn 
Kansas and Arkansas, and also claim a 
strip 50 miles wide along the Kansas bor¬ 
der from the Arkansas River west to the 
100th meridian—about 8.500 square miles. 
The Choctaws, about 18,000 in number, 
hold 10,450 square miles in the southeast, 
bordering on Arkansas and Texas. The 
Creeks, numbering about 13,000, occupy 
5,042 square miles in the east-central part 
of tlie Territory bordering on the Chero¬ 
kees and Choctaws. West of the Cherokee 
Reservation the Osages, numbering about 
8,500. occupy 2,345 square miles. West 
of the Choctaw Reservation the Chick- 
saws. about 4,500 in number, bold 6,840 
square miles, West of the Chiekasaws, the 
Comanches 3,500, the Apaches. 7.500. and 
the Kiowas 2,200,occupy 5.546 square miles 
in the southwestern corner of the Territory, 
and north of these arc the Arapahoes and 
Cheyennes, with 6,205 square miles, and a 
population of about 2,500 and 8,500 re¬ 
spectively. The Senunoles, Pottuwarta- 
mies, Shawnees. Kawa, Miamioa, Ota- 
was. Wyandots, Senecas, and other tribes 
infamous in border annals or famed in story, 
in smaller numbers occupy, cither in groups 
or severally, less extensive reservations. 
The only considerable elevations in the 
Territory are the Wichita Mountains in 
the southwest, and a continuation of the 
Ozark and Washita Mountains, from Ark¬ 
ansas, in the cast. With these exceptions, 
the country spreads out in undulatory 
plains in the east and south, while the 
northwestern part consists of elevated 
prairies. Numerous streams water it, 
tributaries all of the Arkansas and Red 
Rivers. The former flows from Kansas 
in a southeasterly direction through the 
Territory into Arkansas, having for its 
principal tributaries the Verdigris, Neosho, 
Illinois, Canadian, Salt, and Red Fork, 
or Cimarron. The Red River runs along 
the entire southern edge, having for its 
chief tributaries the Washita, Blue and 
Kimishi Rivers and several “creeks” of 
considerable size. The climate is mild 
and salubrious, but generally dry. The 
annual rainfall amounts to 52 inches in tlie 
! southeastern corner, but decreases to 85 
inches in the central region, and is less 
than 20 inches in the northwestern corner. 
The northeastern part of the country is 
thickly wooded, and while much of the 
land is very productive, a large proportion 
is thought (it only for timber and pasture. 
The Wichita range in the southwest is in¬ 
tersected by many fertile valleys rich in 
wood, water and grass, and generally the 
country south of the Canadian is inter¬ 
spersed with prairie and timber land, and 
possesses a fertile soil overgrown with nu¬ 
tritious grasses. Tn the west are extensive 
gypsum deposits, and north of these, be¬ 
yond the “ Cross Timbers,” is a sterile re¬ 
gion producing only scanty herbage, a 
few stunted shrubs, cactuses, etc., and 
covered iu places with saline deposits. 
Taken as a whole, the Territory is by far 
the richest part of the United States of like 
continuous area still unorganized. 
The land in each reservation is nearly 
all held in common, though several efforts 
have of late years been made to divide it 
among the members of the tribes. In many 
cases, as among the Chiekasaws, the stock 
has always been individual property. Only 
a small proportion of the various reserva¬ 
tions is under cultivation. In 1872. of 
the 8,226,880 acres belonging to tin 1 
Creeks, one of the most civilized tribes, 
only 30,000 were cultivated, while of the 
4,377,600 acres of the Chiekasaws, only 
14,500 were tilled in 1873. Indian corn is 
the chief crop, but wheat, rye, oats, up¬ 
land rice, sorghum, beans, pumpkins, po¬ 
tatoes and various other vegetables, and 
cotton, to some extent, are also grown. The 
United States are represented in the Ter¬ 
ritory by 11 agencies, for each of which 
an agent is appointed by the President 
with tlie consent of the Senate; but each 
tribe has its own internal government. 
The Government holds stocks and funds 
in trust., under treaties, for the various 
tribes, the interest on which is annually 
paid for the support of schools or for gen 
oral purposes. These funds are usually 
derived from the sale of territory in the 
former homes of the different tribes. 
It is not improbable that the next year 
or two may see the dissolution of the In¬ 
dian Territory. The apportionment of the 
land in severalty among the Indians may 
help to bring this about; but, besides his 
cause, there arc powerful and gigantic in¬ 
terests at work to accomplish it. No loss 
than five railroads, all eager for the 
“opening” of the country, have stations 
dotted, in Kansas, along the northern edge 
of the Territory, from the Missouri line to 
a point about 200 miles west of it. The 
powerful Atchison. Topeka and Santa Ft 5 ; 
the energetic Kansas Southern; the old 
pioneer Fort Scott and Gulf: the ambitious 
St. Louis and San Francisco, and the 
grasping Missouri Pacific, all more or less 
rivals for the Texas trade, have interests, 
either direct or through their “connec¬ 
tions, in stations at Baxter Springs, Cof- 
l'eyville, Arkansas City, Hunnewell and 
Caldwell: while from the east the Fort 
Smith and Little Rock has already pene¬ 
trated thfe country as far as Fort Smith 
where it joins tlie Missouri Pacific, the only 
line now passing through the Territory. 
The five northern roads are all longing 
to reach tin- Lone Star State, and nearly 
all have surveys already made for proposed 
extensions. They can all bring great 
weight to bear on legislation in Washing¬ 
ton; and aided by the influence of tlie 
stock-owners of Texas, by the cupidity of 
land-hungry settlers in Kansas. Missouri 
arid Arkansas, and by a great deal of 
widespread discontent at the policy at 
present pursued with regard to tlie In¬ 
dians, it is not unlikely that they will 
soon obtain permission to push their linos 
southward, and this must inevitably throw 
open to white settlement the last exclusive 
territory of the red-man. 
- 4 * « - 
BREVITIES. * 
We have on hand more articles respecting 
agricultural colleges than we can publish. 
Look to the Rural of March 4th of last 
year for illustrations and full instructions as 
to grafting. 
Our present type is copper-faced, and we 
may hope that it will last, twice as long as that 
which is not copper-faced. 
Mr. F. D. Coburn writes us that the first 
annual meeting of the Kansas Short-horn 
Breeders’ Association held in Topeka. Feb. 
14, was one of the most successful meetings he 
ever attended. 
Wk beg to say that the Rural has done its 
share in placing tlie merits and demerits of the 
great Keiffer Pear before the public. We 
may now be permitted to hand the matter 
over to our contemporaries to do their share 
It is with much satisfaction that wo record 
that, yesterday a paragraph was inserted by the 
House of Representatives in the Sundry Civil 
Appropriation bill prohibiting the Secretary'of 
the Interior from leasing any part of the Yel¬ 
lowstone National Park for any purpose what 
ever. There an 1 some abuses so monstrous, 
some monopolies so scandalous, that exposure 
of them Is equivalent to suppression, and the 
attempt to appropriate to private profit this 
grand piece of national property is for the 
present defeated. The public, however, must 
keep a watchful eye on it, for greed has more 
lives than a cat and more shapes than Pro¬ 
teus with which to accomplish its selfish ends. 
The roneoctors of oleomargarine are begin¬ 
ning to complain of injury to their trade 
from the sale of bogus “oleo.” The counter¬ 
feit of a counterfeit is reported to be simply 
hog’s lard churned with a little milk anil 
tinted with butter color, and it is clnimed 
that it is a poorer substitute for “oleo” than 
“oleo” is for butter. It is a New England 
product—oil! no, not •• of eonrse:”other places: 
even as far south as New Orleans and as far 
west as San Francisco, have shown them¬ 
selves as skillful tn batter frauds as Yankee- 
doiu. A single agent is said to have sold $4, 
000 worth of the hog “butter” in two towns in 
Maine the other day. When the oleomargar¬ 
ine men palmed off on the public their spuri¬ 
ous “butter'’ as the genuine article, they were 
indignant at the protests of dairymen; now 
they are themselves the protestors. As both 
products injure the legitimate butter trade, 
however, we can’t really afford tn laugh, but 
it certainly does make a good deal of differ¬ 
ence yvhose ox is gored. 
