284 
a 
MAY § 
THE BUBAL ISEW-YOBKIB 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
No. 34 Park Row. New York. 
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 1883. 
The regular Free Seed Distribution of the 
Rural New-Yorker for 1882-3 is no-w 
closed 
- ♦ * ■» - 
We beg to assure those who would favor us 
with their advertising patronage that the ad¬ 
vertising rates of the Rural New-Yorker 
as published are invariable, and that any 
correspondence looking to a change would 
under any and all circumstances prove inef¬ 
fectual. 
-♦♦A--- 
We are rejoiced that the Rural Niagara 
Grape seeds germinate freely. Success to 
all of our readers! We have now sent out 
between six and seven hundred, thousand 
seeds! 
Rural readers may be interested in 
knowing that we have specimens of the 
wild American potatoes—from one to three 
of each—growing finely in flower pots. 
These were found in the mountains of 
Arizona at an altitude of from six to ten 
thousand feet. 
Those who so desire, may now secure 
advertising space for our Fair Number, to 
be published in early September next. The 
edition will be 100,000 or more, guaran¬ 
teed. As the greater part of the space is 
already engaged, this offer closes June 
30th, and is until then extended only to 
our regular patrons. 
If you have purchased chemical fertili¬ 
zers for your potatoes, try this experi¬ 
ment: In one drill sow at the rate of 100 
pounds to the acre; in another at the rate 
of 300 pounds; in another at the rate of 
500 pounds; in another at the rate of 
1,000 pounds, each drill alternating with 
drills without any fertilizer. Perhaps you 
may judge by the results whether it is best 
to spend f 2,50, $12.50 or $25 to the acre 
for potato fertilizers, or whether it is bet¬ 
ter not to use them at all. 
Of mangels, we last year raised many 
different kinds, side by side, in ordinary 
soil, and the following notes may serve to 
guide our readers in making a choice of 
varieties.: The Long Red grows about 18 
inches long, averaging three inches in 
diameter and four pounds in weight. The 
Mammoth Long Red often grows two feet 
long, is bright scarlet in color, and avera¬ 
ges seven pounds in weight. The Red 
Globe is round with a conical neck, aver¬ 
aging five inches in diameter and three 
pounds-and-a-half in weight. The Long 
Yellow grows almost entirely out of the 
ground. This portion is green while that 
in the soil is a pale yellow; average 
weight three pounds. Yellow Ovoid is 
one of the best of the yellow mangels. 
The color is a deep yellow and the aver¬ 
age size 10 inches long by four inches in 
diameter, and the average weight is three 
pounds. The Yellow Globe is like the 
Red Globe except as to color. 
Last Tuesday a bill granting a bounty 
of $1 a ton oil sugar-beets, sorghum or 
sugar-cane “which shall be used in the 
manufacture of sugar” passed the Lower 
House of the Massachusetts Legislature 
by a large majority. If the cane or the 
beets are delivered at the factory and the 
weight made out by a sworn weigher the 
State must pay $1 a ton. No evidence is 
required by the bill that a pound of sugar 
shall ever be made from the product—a 
defect of construction that may yet cause 
its failure in the Senate or draw a veto 
from the Governor. We have not much 
faith in the profitable production of sugar 
from beets in Massachusetts, or indeed 
anywhere else in this country or tlus side 
of the Rockies, so many former attempts 
have proved failures; but that sugar can 
be profitably produced from sorghum has 
been amply demonstrated, and we are 
glad that the example of New' Jersey, 
which last year gave a bounty of $1 a ton 
on cane and one cent a pound on sugar, is 
being followed elsewhere. 
A keen but quiet struggle is going on 
between the shippers of dressed meats 
from the West and those opposed to the 
business. The latter are chiefly the East¬ 
ern stock-owners, the prices of whose 
cattle and sheep are in danger of being 
eut down by competition with cheap meat 
from the West; the slaughtering butch 
ers, whose business must be greatly cur¬ 
tailed by the innovation ; and the railroads 
who own stock-yards, the income from 
which would be seriously lessened if meat 
instead of live stock came from the West¬ 
ern pastures. At a late conference be¬ 
tween shippers and the railroad companies 
it was shown that the latter are more or 
less interested in $50,000,000 invested in 
stock-yards—chiefly the Vanderbilt and 
Pennsylvania lines. The stock-yard charges 
per car-load from Chicago to New York 
average, at the lowest figure, $9.40, afford¬ 
ing a large revenue, which would be lost 
were dressed meat to supersede flesh on 
the hoof. At present a proportionately 
higher rate is charged for transporting 
the former than the latter, and while the 
shippers of meat are protesting vigorously 
against this discrimination, the railroads— 
or at least those that are interested in 
stock-yards—are thinking of putting up 
the charges. Tbe question, it is expected, 
will he decided within the next week. 
Cotton-seed oil is largely used both 
here and in Europe as a substitute for lard, 
and it is steadily growing in favor. It is 
estimated that our production of lard 
is about 1,0(10,000 tierces a year, and that 
of cotton-seed oil 400,000 tierces; but 
only about one-fifth of the spare seed is 
now pressed for oil. and, owing to imper¬ 
fect raa -hinery, a large proportion of the 
oil remains in the cake, so that with im¬ 
proved machinery, more capital and 
greater enterprise in the South at least 
2,000,000 tierces of oil may be produced 
at an early day. Of late years a great 
deal of the oil was shipped to Italy for the 
purpose of adulterating olive oil, and for 
many years very little olive oil came to 
this country not largely adulterated with 
cotton-seed oil; and sometimes the latter 
was shipped back without haring been 
graced with a single dropfrom the “ tree of 
peace,” To preserve the good name of na¬ 
tive oil, the Italian Government, has lat ely 
imposed a tax on cotton-seed oil, making 
the imported article too dear to be used as 
an adulterant. This has checked its ex¬ 
portation and made it cheaper at home, 
where its sale is being vigorously pressed. 
It is now largely used by bakers and for 
culinary purposes instead of lard, and sold 
by “butter” dealers instead of oleomarga¬ 
rine and suine, and by grocers instead of 
olive oil, besides being used to a great ex¬ 
tent for lubricating and other industrial 
purposes. 
The North German Gazette, the special 
organ of Prince Bismarck, in an article 
published on April 24, directly inspired, 
it is thought, by the Chancellor, makes a 
savage attack upon the policy of the 
United States Government, in protesting 
against the recent German embargo on the 
American Hog. It compares the action of 
this country in trying to introduce pork 
into Germany to that of England in forcing 
opium into China. It insists that the late 
prohibition was an economic and sanitary 
measure to protect Germans from disease 
and degeneration worse than the enforced 
introduction of opium has entailed on 
the Chinese. It then makes a fierce as¬ 
sault on Mr. A. A. Sargent, our Minister 
at Berlin, for his first of January dispatch 
to the State Department, which was made 
up almost entirely of extracts from edi¬ 
torials of the German press, showing that 
the embargo ou our hog products was due 
altogether to the desire to protect German 
hog-raisers, not German hog-eaters. In 
order to show how firmly resolute the 
Man of Blood and Iron was in his hostility 
to the American Hog, Mr. Sargent said 
the fear of reprisal alone was likely to 
have any deterring influence—a remark 
the Gazette reprobates as counseling re¬ 
taliation by placing restrictions on the im¬ 
portation of adulterated German wines, 
etc., into this country. It is believed the 
attack was intended to compel Mr. Sar¬ 
gent to request his recall. 
- » — 
The number of Village Improvement 
Societies springing up all over the country 
is a commendable feature of the times. 
The first of them was started by one of tbe 
ladies of Stockbridge, Mass., 29 years ago, 
and so admirable was its work in the way 
of planting trees and shrubbery, laying 
out drives, parks and walks, converting 
neglected roadsides into attractive lawns 
and unkempt edges and angles into things 
of beauty, that the example was soon fol¬ 
lowed by Litchfield, Lenox and other 
places among the Berkshire Hills of the 
Old Bay State, and thence the movement 
has spread far and wide. The Hon. B. G. 
Northrop, of Connecticut, who has made 
a special study of village and rural im¬ 
provement, has alone organized no less 
than 160 societies of the kind in different 
parts of the United States, and is now lec¬ 
turing in the villages around Chicago, 
whence he will go to deliver a seneg of 
lectures through West Virginia by invita¬ 
tion of the State authorities. Indeed, so 
widespread is the interest in the movement 
that he has had invitations to lecture on 
the subject and aid in forming societies 
from thriving, wide-awake towns as fur 
west as Kansas and as far south as Texas. 
The adornment of the home so as to ren¬ 
der it pleasant to live in and cheerful to 
think of, has always been a cherished ob¬ 
ject of the Rural, and therefore we heart¬ 
ily commend the formation of Village Im¬ 
provement Societies which are destined to 
do much for rural places in the way of 
social and educational advancement, as 
well as in beautifying the homes of the 
people and their settings. 
----- 
SHIPPING LIVE POULTRY. 
We have had occasion several times in 
our visits at the markets, to note the man¬ 
ner in which live poultry was packed and 
sent to this city. The dealer in fancy 
fowls, in shipping to a purchaser, observes 
much precaution in his method of boxing 
and sending, realizing that much depends 
upon his name as a breeder and upon the 
appearance of the fowls after arriving at 
their destination. But how are the com¬ 
mon barnyard fowls shipped? Wc find 
them packed almost like sardines, with 
scarcely standing room, in boxes having 
over the top a layer of slats so close together 
as to almost prevent the admission of suf¬ 
ficient light and air; crowded in together 
so closely that movement is almost impos¬ 
sible, while some are obliged to lie down 
in order to make room for others over 
them. Such packing as that is cruelty to 
animals, and as such ought to be prevent¬ 
ed. But that is not the only objection¬ 
able point—poultry sent to market in such 
a manner must, if confined for more than a 
clay, become badly soiled, and perhaps 
diseased, and will present an appearance 
not much to the credit of the shipper. 
The better the condition of the produce 
in the market the higher the price paid for 
it. The subject of shipping live poultry 
to market seems to have been overlooked 
by writers of poultry works, as far as we 
have been able to determine; but never¬ 
theless humanity toward dumb creatures 
and the welfare of producer and buyer de¬ 
mand that care and kindness be exercised 
in marketing live stock. 
-♦ • » 
RESTRICTIONS ON RUM. 
Early Rose were cut and rolled in plaster 
and kept nine days, when they were 
planted beside freshly-cut pieces not rolled 
in plaster. 2. The White Elephant and 
Late Beauty of Hebron were planted side 
by side that we might note wherein they 
differ. 3. The seed and stem ends of a 
number of varieties were planted side by 
side to see if there is any constancy in the 
results. 4, The pieces of several kinds 
were placed in the drills as usual and cov¬ 
ered with cut straw instead of soil, the 
straw held in the drills by a slight cover¬ 
ing of earth, the fertilizer spread upon 
this. 5. Hen manure, stable manure, 
wood ashes, plaster, salt, potato chemical 
fertilizer, etc., were used separately, vari¬ 
ously combined, and in various quantities 
from a light to a very heavy dressing. Salt 
was used in varying quantities with and 
without different kinds of manure to see 
if it had any appreciable effect to prevent 
injury from wire-worms, grubs, etc. 6. 
In cutting potatoes to single eyes, how 
much flesh is it best, to leave to the eye? 
In this experiment, on the one hand, we 
have used the flesh of whole potatoes with 
all the eyes cut out except the strongest, 
and on the other, merely a little cone of 
flesh an inch in diameter attached to a 
strong eye. In other cases cylinders of 
flesh extending through the potatoes were 
used. 
Of oats we have sowu the following 
kinds: Welcome, American Triumph, 
“Scotch Oats” (?), Australian and a black 
oat—the blackest we have seen, Of bar¬ 
ley we liave sown Alexander's New and 
Sibley's Imperial, which is said to he a 
“tine hybrid.” 
BREVITIES. 
“High licence” for retail liquor selling 
is at present a rage in the West. Prohi¬ 
bition has failed in Kansas and the legis¬ 
lation enacting it has been repealed, while 
the prohibitory amendment to the consti¬ 
tution in Iowa has just been declared in¬ 
valid by the State Supreme Court, on the 
ground of legislative informality, but the 
opponents of rum-selling seem not a whit 
discouraged. Despairing of securing legis¬ 
lation enforcing prohibition, they are de¬ 
termined to do the next best thing—re¬ 
strict the sale ot intoxicants. In Nebraska, 
for example, a license costs $1,000 in a 
large town and $500 in a small one, and 
the man who takes out a licence has to 
give bonds to the amount of $5,000, and no 
rum-seller i6 permitted to he the bonds¬ 
man of another ruin-seller. The effect of 
the system is considered excellent. In 
Omaha the number of liquor stores has 
been reduced from 160 to 90, while the 
revenue derived from them for the school 
fund is now $90,000, instead of $10,000 
which the trade formerly yielded. The 
class of men engaged in the business is 
said to be much better, all the low grog- 
geries having disappeared; while fear of 
forfeiting their higli-priced license pre¬ 
vents the lie|nor sellers from selling to 
minors or intoxicated persons and from 
allowing their saloons to become the re¬ 
sorts of thieves and disorderly persons. In 
a large proportion of the other States, too, 
the “liquor question,” in one shape or 
another, has become a prominent subject 
of agitation, and certainly there is no other 
matter now before the public which de¬ 
serves more serious attention. For our¬ 
selves, while earnest advocates of prohi¬ 
bition, we are quite ready to accept any 
measure which will check or restrict the 
evil the total abolition of which we hardly 
expect to occur before the millenium. 
--- 
WORK AT THE RURAL EXPERIMENT 
GROUNDS. 
Since our last report (April 11) we have 
planted the following potatoes: Jordan’s 
Prolific, Early Rose, Blush, Queen of the 
Valley, Peerless, White Elephant, Late 
Beauty of Hebron, Garfield, North Star, 
State of Maine, Vick’s Prize, O. K. Mam¬ 
moth, Winslow’s Seedling, Early Gem, 
Hall’s Early Peachblow, Dunmore, Cor¬ 
liss’s Matchless. 
These have been planted in various ways 
in both moist, clayey soil and dry, sandy 
loam. For example (1) pieces of the 
Mr. Peter Henderson replies to Professor 
F. A. Gulley on pope 269. 
Dr. Hoskins’s Notes on Back Numbers are 
particularly interesting this week. 
Mr. W. E. Mooney, of Essex County New 
Jersey, considers Ben Perley Poore’s article 
worth the pi-ice of the Rural for 10 years. 
Mr, Tuisco Greiner, nursery Ill an of Na¬ 
ples N. Y., is reported to have left for parts 
unknown. 
U. S. Commissioner Loring favors the Ru¬ 
ral, according to announcement last Fall, 
with his views on Farm Horses, The article 
begins on our first page. 
Mr. Waldo F. Brown’s article on the ninth 
K e—one of the Poor Farm Prize Series—cm- 
ies the mature views of a practical farmer 
and popular farm writer. 
Of course, the report comes again from many 
quarters that t he peach crop js ruined. This 
sort of report comes as surety as Spring or— 
as a fine peach crop in the following Fall. 
An Iinliana (Dorchester County! subscriber 
w rites us that “Nothing is learned in this sec¬ 
tion from agricultural papers—they are never 
read. A book farmer is laughed at and he 
w r ho writes is considered a fool” (!) 
ArborDay was celebrated yesterday at Cin- 
cinati with great rejoicings. Over 15,000 
schoolchildren assembled at Eden Park and 
had a “glorious time”—an excellent idea to 
get the little ones interested in t ree culture. 
A special knowledge is needed for special 
crops. Find out first from mixed farming 
what your farm will raise to llie best ad¬ 
vantage, and then learn all you coil regarding 
it from careful observation, inquiry and study. 
Mr. O. U. Alexander, who has tested both 
kinds, thinks t hat Pringle’s Hulless Oats “bush 
out” more than the Chinese Hulless and that 
they are therefore not alike. He also writes 
us that Mr. P. has crossed the Wild Oat upon 
our common varieties. 
A vigorous effort is being made by Prof. 
Silliman, of Yale, backed up by the entire 
Faculty, to effect the restoration of Dr. Collier 
to Ins former position as Chief Chemist of the 
Department of Agriculture. Senator Ed¬ 
munds is reported to bo u strong supporter of 
the movement. 
We tell you, fanners, to place the pieces of 
seed potatoes in the drills or hills, cover them 
lightly with soil and then sow the chemical 
fertilizers. Prepax-e now j our poisoned plaster. 
Use one pound of pure Paris-green to a barrel 
of Hue plaster, and mix it thoroughly, and then 
keep the barrel in a dry place ready for use. 
A telegram from Texas says that 20,000 
cattle have just been imported into that Stato 
from Mexico. Isn’t this like carrying coals to 
Newcastle? They were purchased by Mr. Ford, 
a promineut stockman of Colorado, and are 
intended to stock his ranches in than State. 
They cost 81“ per head; " hiie Texan yearlings 
cost from f 12 to $15 and older ones propor¬ 
tionately more. 
Rev. Henry Ev hushed, of Essex County, 
England, writes us that he is about to visit 
Rothomsted to see Sir John’s fortieth wheat 
crop and his grasses. He says: “With our 
variety of pastures in England, the lessons to 
be learnt at Rothamstcd. iu connection with 
pastoral farming, are most important. The 
changes in the herbage from the application of 
different manures are most interesting.” 
The report of the Committee of the New 
York State Senate on “corners” tells a great 
deal that wc already knew about the evils of 
this form of speculation, but really suggests 
no practical legislation for its suppression. 
This shows that the law-makers of the Empire 
State are really no smarter than those of 
Illinois and other Western States that have 
tried in vain to end “corners” by legislating 
against them. Laws of this sort seem as 
fruitless as the Pope’s Bull against the comet. 
Excessive speculation iu wheat, corn and 
other staple product* can probably bo regulated 
only by natural forces. 
