364 
JUNE 9 
THE 
RURAL NEW'YORKER. 
Conducted by 
ELBfiRT 8. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row. New York. 
SATURDAY, JURE 9, 1883. 
Last Wednesday we counted upon one 
plant of the James Yiok Strawberry 283 
blossoms and buds. Did ever one straw¬ 
berry plant mature that number of berries? 
As soon as the Pyrethnnn roseum (Per¬ 
sian Insect plant) becomes better known 
to ladies we think it will at once take 
the place of Paris and other daisies now 
so fashionable for corsage bouquets. This 
is the third season of their bloom at the 
Rural Grounds. The plants, as we stated 
two years ago, are extremely hardy and 
the colors of the llowers vary from pure 
white to a deep magenta. 
Judgtno by chemical composition alone, 
sorghum meal is almost identical with 
corn meal. But in practice there is a 
decided difference. Prof. Cook, of the 
New Jersey Agricultural College, first fed 
three cows, known as steady milkers, a 
mixed ration of brewers’ grains, corn 
meal, corn stalks and bran. After a time 
sorghum meal was substituted for the 
corn meal. There was a marked decrease 
in the yield of milk. The corn meal ra¬ 
tion was then restored in place of the 
sorghum meal. An increase followed the 
change. The difference amounted to at 
least seven per cent. 
-- 
The word “seedling” is used in a very 
loose way. It ought to be applied only 
to the plant which springs from the seed. 
Thus if we plant the seeds of the potato— 
that is, the true seed from the ball or 
fruit—the plants growing therefrom are 
seedling plants, and the tubers are seed¬ 
ling tubers. Now if we plant these seed¬ 
ling tubers the crop will not be seedlings 
any more that the potatoes from the Early 
Rose of to-day are seedling potatoes. If 
we raise an apple tree from seed, that tree 
is the seedling. But the name can no 
longer be correctly applied to trees prop¬ 
agated from this tree. The same rule 
should apply to all plants. 
-- 
At the Rural Grounds the present man¬ 
ager (Mr. Jack) lias inaugurated what he 
terms a Rieinus contest. Each member 
of the family has planted a castor-oil bean 
of the large-growing variety, and five 
dollars are offered as a prize to the one 
who raises the tallest plant. We mention 
this because such little contests may be 
the means of inspiring a love of plant life 
which, in the ordinary dull routine of 
things on the. farm, may never be aroused. 
From such little acorns tall oaks may 
grow. The little folks are not going to 
take a fancy for that which merely in¬ 
volves a greater or less amount of dis¬ 
tasteful labor. 
We hear a good deal about the small 
average yield per acre of wheat in this 
country in comparison with that in Eng¬ 
land, but in tins matter we are as great a 
percentage ahead ot the English colonists 
of Australia as the Mother Country is 
ahead of us. According to official figures 
the total area under wheat in 1881 in New 
South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, 
Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania 
and New Zealand was 3.301,.529 acres, 
against 1,350,8(51 acres in 1871. In 1881 
the yield was 29,075,899 bushels—an av¬ 
erage of 8.82 bushels per acre. That was 
a very good wheat year, too, as the aver¬ 
age yield of several years is only 8H bush¬ 
els. As labor is about as dear in the Aus¬ 
tralian provinces belonging to Great 
Britain as in tin 1 United States, there does 
not seem much likelihood that we shall be 
greatly injured by Australian competition 
in foreign markets. The main advantage 
the Australians have is in the extra qual¬ 
ity of their wheat, which secures higher 
prices even than those paid for Califor¬ 
nia wheat. 
ADULTERATION OF LARD. 
Some weeks ago we announced that the 
Cuban authorities had placed an embargo 
on four specified brands of American lard, 
on the ground that the product bearing 
these brands was adulterated. There was 
a demand for cheap “lard” in Cuba for 
the slaves and coolies, and at once this 
country supplied any quantity of lard that 
was cheap and nasty. A similar charge is 
now made in Chicago by Mr. McGeoch, 
one of the largest operators in grain and 
provision in the country, who yesterday 
refused to receive 7,000 tierces of lard 
bought from Fowler Bros., owners of the 
Anglo-American packing establishment, 
aud in the very front rank of the packers 
of the country. The rejected stuff was 
branded “Wright & Co.,” but was made 
by the Fowlers. McGeoch bad for some 
time been buying lard heavily—being a 
“bull”—and the Fowlers had been selling 
it heavily—being “bears." McGeoch claims 
that last month he paid the Fowlers $350,- 
000 for 10,000 tierces of lard, and after¬ 
wards discovered, on examination by ex¬ 
perts and chemists,that 40per cent of i t was 
adulterated with tallow and other ingredi¬ 
ents. He also claims that lie has secured affi¬ 
davits from men who have been working 
in the Anglo-American Packery detailing 
the methods of adulteration. As there 
are 30,000 more tierces of the same brand, 
worth $1,000,000, in store in Chicago, and 
as a great deal of the rejected “lard” had 
passed through several other hands before 
reaching its final purchaser, much ex¬ 
citement has been created in the Chicago 
market about this squabble between the 
Englishmen and the Scotchman. The 
Fowlers deny the lard is adulterated, and 
probably the case will finally come before 
the courts. It is to lie earnestly hoped 
that if the charge is sustained, a full 
measure of legal punishment and public 
reprobation will be meted out to the 
offenders, for honest trade is greatly injured 
by such rascality. 
-- 
ESTIMATES OF THE NEXT WHEAT 
CROP. 
There is a great deal of difference this 
year in the estimates of the condition and 
consequently of the probable yield of the 
growing crops. As a rule, the estimates 
of the State Boards of Agriculture are the 
gloomiest, those of some of the commer¬ 
cial and political papers, the brightest. 
Last week we gave a synopsis of the vol¬ 
uminous report of the New York Times, 
which estimates that the wheat crop will 
lie above an average of the last five years. 
Now, according to the Department of 
Agriculture the total production of wheat 
during the last five years was as follows: 
1878— 420,122.400 bushels. 
1879— 448,756.030 
1880— 498,649:868 “ 
1881— 680,280.090 “ 
1882— 503,000,000 “ 
A total of. ...2,250,708,988 
The Census, however, put the wheat 
crop of 1869 at 459,483,137 bushels, or 
10,626,507 more than the estimate of the 
Department of Agriculture, so that the 
total for the five years would he 2,261,- 
335,495 bushels, of which the average for 
five years would be 452,267.099 bushels. 
The May estimate of the Agricultural De¬ 
partment led to the conclusion that the 
aggregate yield would be about 420.000,- 
000 bushels, with an average yield in the 
Spring wheat region. For ourselves, we 
are decidedly of opinion that both these 
estimates will prove too high. Here are 
a few comparative estimates of the Agri¬ 
cultural Department and of the State 
Boards of Agriculture in percentages of 
last year’s crop: 
Ohio.. 
Ag. Dep. 
State B. of 
56 
Illinois... 
. 66 
40 
Indiana... 
. 75 
70 
These are enough to show the discrep¬ 
ancies between “official” figures, and 
these differences are small in comparison 
with those between the crop estimates 
of “reliable” papers. 
A week ago all the country was told by 
telegraph from Milwaukee that the Mil¬ 
lers’ National Association estimated the 
entire wheat product for 1883 at 373,500,- 
000 bushels, a decrease of 98,000,000 
bushels from last year’s crop against a de¬ 
crease of 77,000,000 estimated by the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture. It was said that 
Secretary Seamans of the Association had 
sent out 3,000 letters of inquiry ns to the 
crop, and received answers about May 15. 
The table of 21 States made up from these 
answers is as follows: California, 45,000,- 
000 bushels; Nebraska, 2,000,000; Texas, 
2,100,000: Kansas, 23,000,000; Mis¬ 
souri, 21,400,000; Iowa, 15,300,000; Da¬ 
kota, 18,000,000; Minnesota, 37,000,000; 
Wisconsin, 18,500,000; Illinois, 25,000,- 
000; Kentucky, 12,100,000; Tennessee, 6,- 
800,000; Georgia, 3,800,000; Virginia, 
8,300,000; Maryland.9,000,00(1: Delaware, 
1,000,000; New York, 10,800,000; Penn¬ 
sylvania, 22,800,000; Ohio, 2(1,000,000; 
Indiana, 29,500,000; Michigan, 23,300,000. 
Owing to these “startling figures, show¬ 
ing a tremendous probable deficit, in the 
wheat crop,” it is said there was an ad¬ 
vance of 2% cents a bushel in Chicago 
yesterday week. The States not included 
in the Millers’ Association’s estimate, how¬ 
ever, produced 38,574,000 bushels last 
year. For the above 21 States the esti¬ 
mate averages 19.6 per cent, below last 
year's crop, and at. the same rate for the 
rest of the count ry the prospect would be 
good for 404,500,000 bushels, an estimate 
in which there is nothing very startling, 
for as long ago as May 10 the Cincin¬ 
nati Price Current, in an elaborate report, 
estimated the aggregate crop for this year 
at 410,000,000 bushels, between which 
estimate and that of the Miller’s Associa¬ 
tion there is only a trilling difference. 
Present indications secern to us to point, 
to a crop of somewhat over 400,000,000 
bushels, especially if the enormous claims 
of California are to be realized. Some 
weeks ago the San Francisco Journal of 
Commerce put the crop for 1883 at 70,- 
000,000, and on May 24 reiterated the es¬ 
timate, while other advices from the Gol¬ 
den State say that the crop prospects 
there could not be better. 
- •♦ ♦ ♦- 
AN ENORMOUS LEASEHOLD. 
The Cherokee nation, the most numer¬ 
ous and civilized tribe of Indians in the 
Southwest, numbering about 20,000, 
occupy the northeastern part of the In¬ 
dian Territory, their reservation covering 
5,960 square miles in addition to a 
strip along the north of the Territory 
stretching away to the west as far as 
the Texas Pan Handle. Some parts of 
the original reservation are now occu¬ 
pied by smaller tribes of Indians, like 
the Osages, which the Government has 
removed from other reservations and set¬ 
tled there, in accordance with rights it 
reserved in its treaty with the Cherokees. 
There has been a good deal of trouble of 
late as to the use of this vast body of land, 
only a small portion of which could be 
utilized by its owners. Most of the sur¬ 
plus land lias been let to stockmen for 
grazjng purposes, so much a bead being 
charged for the stock, and considerable 
trouble has been caused by illegal fencing 
in of large areas, and also by the difficulty 
of collecting the grazing tax in some 
eases. The principal occupiers of the 
land have been the stockmen composing 
the Cherokee Strip Live-Stock Associa¬ 
tion, and for some time this body has 
been eager to lease the entire surplus area, 
its chief competitor, real or apparent, 
being that monstrous monopoly, the 
Standard Oil Company. 
The Cherokee Strip stretching west from 
the Osage Reservation to the Texas Pan 
ITandle.isOOmiles broad and 160miles long, 
embracing an area of 9,600 square miles or 
over 6.000,000 acres—a tract as large as 
the State of New Hampshire. For this 
vast region the Cherokee Strip Live-Stock 
Association offered mi annual rental of 
$100,000. or a trifle less than $10.50 per 
square mile; while the Standard Oil Com¬ 
pany offered $120,000. At the recent 
Cherokee Council, held at Tahlequali, the 
capital of the Nation, the offer of the 
Strip Association was accepted, and a bill, 
the full text of which is now before us, 
was passed granting a five years' lease of 
all the unoccupied land of the Nation ly¬ 
ing west of tile Arkansas River, to E. M. 
Hewins. .1. W. Hamilton, A. J. Day, S. 
Tuttle, M. A. Bennett, Ben S. Miller, A. 
Drumm, B. w. Payne and C. H, Eldred, 
directors in trust for the Cherokee Strip 
Live-Stock Association. The lease is re¬ 
newable. but may be terminated on six 
months’ notice in ease the laud should be 
sold by the Cherokees. Only such tem¬ 
porary structures as are absolutely re¬ 
quired for grazing purposes are to be 
erected, and all such temporary “improve¬ 
ments,” including corrals and wire fences, 
are declared to be the property of the Na¬ 
tion, Provisions are also made for the 
strict preservation of the timber on the 
land. The rental is to be paid semi-annu¬ 
ally in advance at Tahlequali, in October 
and April,the first payment to be made next 
October. On failure to pay, or any other vi¬ 
olation of the terms of the lease, the Princi¬ 
pal Chief is authorized to declare it void. 
The rights of any person under any tax 
license issued before the passage of the 
act, shall terminate on the date up to 
which he has paid. No person not. a 
member of the Association is permitted 
to graze any kind of stock on any of the 
Cherokee lands west of the Arkansas 
River without the consent of the Associ¬ 
ation, and the Principal Chief is author¬ 
ized to remove all such intruders. The 
payments made by tlie Association are to 
be retained in the Cherokee treasury until 
the sum shall amount to $300,000, when 
it shall he paid out “per capita”, under 
direction of the National Council. 
The act has been approved by Principal 
Chief Bushyhead, who will start in a few 
days to Washington to secure the approval 
of the lease from the Department of the 
Interior, whose approval is necessary v to 
its validity. None but members of the 
Association can graze stock on the lands, 
but at present any responsible stockman, 
whether he has 10 or 10,000 head of cattle, 
can become a member, and each member 
has one vote regardless of the number of 
cattle be may possess. As it takes about. 
20 acres to graze an animal the 
year round, not more than 300,000 cattle 
can be kept on the range, and probably 
not more than 250.000 will find abund¬ 
ant pasture. With this number on 
the range the annual cost of grazing would 
be only 40e. per head; but the attendance 
and a liberal interest on 11k* outlay for im¬ 
provements might add 40e more. As 
the land is worth at least as much as the 
5,000,000 acres in the Texan Pan Handle, 
lately granted to Chicago capitalists for 
building a $ 1 , 500,000 State House at Aus¬ 
tin, and which was sold the other day 
for $10,000,000 to an English syndicate, 
the Cherokee Strip Association has evi¬ 
dently got an excellent bargain, as it pays 
only one per cent per annum on the capi¬ 
tal. There are reports that the Standard 
Oil Company is in reality the chief party 
interested in the lease; and if this is true, 
it will not he easy to loose ihe grip on the 
land of that, powerful and utterly unscrup¬ 
ulous mononoly. 
BREVITIES. 
President J. M. McBryde. of the South Car 
olina College, under date of May 29th, writes: 
I enjoy the Rural thoroughly and appreciate 
your good works.” 
Rkv. Henry Ward Beecher writes, under 
date of May 7: " The Rural will please re¬ 
new my subscription, To have the paper 
once is to want it always.” 
Professor I,. Dafsy. of Buda-Pest., Hun¬ 
gary, writes under date of May 12; “I have 
the' pleasure to renew my subscription to 
your precious paper. Inclosed, please, find 
three dollars.” 
The First Blush.— The Blush Potato re¬ 
ceived from the Rural last Winter, was cut 
to IS pieces, there lining that number of eyes, 
and planted Feb. 12th, the ground being well 
enriched with barnyard manure alone. Eleven 
plants started and grew with gi'eat. vigor. On 
May 19 I dug the crop and found 917 pounds 
of fine tubers, the original potato having 
weighed about two ounces; the yield lining 
over 75-fold. Largest potato, ono-half pound. 
Talluhasse, Fla.. May 22. J. P. a. 
There is a growing belief among produce 
dealers here that the attitude of the French 
Ministers towards American pork will soon 
become less hostile. It is said several largo 
orders for American hog products have been 
received from France, and that a considerable 
quantity is being thoroughly inspected prior to 
shipment. On careful scrutiny of European 
telegrams and several French agricultural 
papers of late date, however, we can discover 
no indication of less firmness in the position 
of the French Government. In that, as in 
many other things it. is resolute in the wrong. 
We are pleased to learn that our occasional 
contributor Pi oft ssor J. M. McBryde. of the 
South Carolina Agricultural College, has boon 
unanimously elected president of that prom¬ 
ising institution by the trustees. When the 
college was reorganized and reopened Inst 
Fall ho was elected chairman of the Faculty, 
or acting president, and on May 20 his tempo¬ 
rary position was made permanent. We have 
noticed that the reputation amt work of an 
agricultural college depend t.o a very large 
extent on the character of the president, hence 
we have high bopesof the future of the South 
Carolina Agricultural College. 
In the supply bill just signed by Governor 
Cleveland there were a number of items, ag¬ 
gregating 8250,00Q, which he has cut off for 
good reasons. Heart ily advocating the strict¬ 
est sort of public economy in the interest of 
the tax payers, we are quite willing that the 
rule should be applied to mutter* in which 
agriculture is specially interested, as well ns 
to other things. -Among the items of this sort 
pared off' are $200 for necessary ottieO ex¬ 
penses of tho Stale Entomologist,, disallowed 
>ooanse the sum annually appropriated for 
that department should be enough; *1,000 for 
extending dairy knowledge, asked for by the 
New York Stale Dairymen's Association, dis¬ 
allowed because the purpose is not a proper 
one for State appropriation: $11,200 for ex¬ 
penses Id connection with the Railroad Com¬ 
mission, refused because the legal appropria¬ 
tion of $50,000 has already been made. The 
sum uskedby the Dairy \ssoointiop we would 
readily grnDt, blit in view of this wholesome 
executive economy, we are disposed to make 
no exception in our approval. 
Among useful and Reasonable object-lessons 
that have excited interest in our schools dur¬ 
ing ApriJ, increased the attendance ami 
stimulated research for specimens, have been 
examples of fruit buds as contrasted with 
mere leaf or wood buds; also tho grains 
from tho mil hors or pollen boxes oi mala 
flowers viewed with a microscope; and the 
special provision in the stigma of the 
pistil of female flowers to receive, retain and 
swallow the pollen grain that, happens to 
alight upon it. The stigma is like a mouth, 
with moist, sticky lips, not covered with 
other skin, but much as our lips, and the 
pistil tube is like a throat. Both are kept 
moist for easier swallowing, as ours are. 
The word stigma can he remembered as mean¬ 
ing the sore ol’ a wound (the stigma of Christ, 
(>. ;/.) When the stigma is ripe and ready to 
receive the pollen it looks like a drop of the 
pus of a wound: aud iuto this the pollen falls. 
While waiting for pollen the stigma remains 
thus gummy, but soon after it 1ms swallowed 
a pollen grain it closes and becomes dry. 
Wnen large flowers, as Lilies, open all these 
features are readily seen, but all flowers show 
them in some form. A magnifier is a useful aid 
