OCT 43 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER,r 
No. 34 Park Row. New York. 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1883. 
A BULLETIN. 
Last year the Rural New-Yorker 
offered a few prizes for the best essays on 
“Profitable Farming for a Poor Man,” the 
object being to assist tliusc who were 
about to engage in farm life with a small 
capital, or those who were struggling un¬ 
successfully to render their farms profit¬ 
able. The response was so gratifying that 
we have determined to offer a larger 
amount of premiums and a varied list of 
suDjects. We now present these subjects 
to our readers, as they have occurred to us, 
merely for consideration, soliciting them 
to offer suggestions as to any omissions, 
additions or changes of any kind that 
seem to them advisable. We shall then 
present the list, duly modified or changed 
agreeably to these suggestions, with the 
prizes appended for each, in the Rural 
New-Yorker of Nov. 6. Any of our sub¬ 
scribers who may themselves care to offer 
prizes for the best essays on aDy given 
subject or on any that they may propose, 
may feel at liberty to do so, and, in fact, 
we would he very glad to accept of such 
co-operation. The subjects we have at 
present to suggest are the following: 
I. How shall we educate our children agri¬ 
culturally? 
That is to say, how shall we so educate 
our children that they may appreciate the 
benefits of farm life and turn them to the 
best advantage? 
II. For me column, of short paragraphs 
wh ich shall give the pith lest, soundest advice 
and instruction to the general farmer as to 
any or all departments of his occupation. 
III. Butter Malting.- -Sub-heads to be 
considered: The Dairy Room or Building, 
IIow should the cows be fed and cared 
for, Ensilage, Soiling, Pasturage, Care of 
milk, Creamery,Deep or Shallow Sitting, 
Butter Color, cic. The writer may treat 
such of the sub-heads as lie chooses. 
IV. The lest cattle for the dairy and the 
shambles. 
YI. Swine .—The best breeds and how 
best to feed and care for them. 
VII. Horses .—Farm and road. 
VIII. Sheep .—The best breeds and how 
best to feed and care for them. 
A s to the stock prizes, what is wanted 
is successful personal experience. Each 
competitor is privileged to try for one, 
two, three or all of the prizes. If you 
have been more successful than your 
neighbors with any kind of stock, hoicdid 
you manage it? What we wish is to help 
ordinary farmers to select the most profit¬ 
able stock and to give them the best pos¬ 
sible advice how to make each kind pay 
best, whether they live in the East, West, 
North or South. 
IX. Flans of the best general-purpose 
barns, corn cribs, farm labor-saving con¬ 
trivances of any description. 
It is proposed that the prizes should be 
awarded March 1, and that all essays 
should be sent m by February 1. 
It is desirable that these essays should 
be written as short, as practicable. All 
other things being equal,the shorter essay 
should win the prize. 
It is to be hoped that the readers of the 
Rural New-Yorker for whose benefit 
the above propositions are made, will 
heartily assist the project by contesting 
for the prizes, even though they may feel 
that they stand little or uo chance of win¬ 
ning them. It is the valuable experience 
that is needed. Little heed will be given 
to elegance of language or grammatical 
accuracy. We only require that the essays 
be written so that they may be easily read. 
It will be uecessary that each essay be 
marked I, n, III, IV, etc., according to 
the subject treated,in order that they may 
be classified. 
Save your Seed Corn 
J\ r ow / 
■ - - 
W hat surprises us in the reports of the 
yields of Blush Potatoes is the large quan¬ 
tity of tubers obtained from such very 
small seed pieces. 
Remember that our friends may now 
remit for the Rural New-Yorker by the 
new postal notes. For one three-cent 
stamp a postal note may be bought for 
any sum less than five dollars. 
We do not cut the grass of our lawns 
after Sept. 25. The growth after that 
affords a good Winter protection as well 
as lood in the Spring. Our lawn was 
seeded eleven years ago and has not since 
received any manure, or needed any re¬ 
pairs. The cut grass has never been 
raked off. 
“Let us urge on all societies both at 
home and abroad the corrections of our 
nomenclature of fruits as recommended in 
my address read at the late National Pomo¬ 
logies! Convention, and we shall suppress 
the attachment of unnecessary and non¬ 
sensical names which have tended to dis¬ 
grace our Nation.” So writes to us the 
venerable Marshall P. Wilder. 
. - 
Our much beloved contemporary, the 
American Agriculturist, presents on page 
477 of the October number, a picture, of 
“IIow Government Trains Used to go to 
Dakota.” We count 22 Cape Buffaloes 
before one wagon—and this picture, in¬ 
cautiously appropriated from some old 
hook or paper published in Europe or 
Africa, is presented as original! There 
are a dozen others of the same sort. 
TnE Annual Exhibition Number of the 
Farmers’ Advocate of London, Out., 
dated Oct. 1883, presents to its readers 
our original engraving of “The Modern 
Agricultural Horse Trot” without a word 
of credit, We refused to sell the editor 
of this paper the cut, because we did not 
like the way in which he transacted a little 
piece of business wit h us a year or so ago. 
Such people are well fitted to instruct the 
farmers—now, aren’t they? Shame, Mr. 
William Weld! 
Our pen is not dipped in vinegar and 
wormwood. We find much upon the 
farm and in the hearts and lives of farm¬ 
ers to commend. But if we are just to 
them we must point out their faults. It 
is no kindness to conceal defects. Is not 
a lack of system one of the greatest de¬ 
fects in American farming? Observe the 
routine of the average farm. It does not. 
present so much as a skeleton of a system. 
All is hap-hazard. The current of opera¬ 
tions on the farm is a series of accidents. 
We must have systematic farming. The 
advance of the times demands it. 
- » « « - 
How is Tnis?—As our readers well 
know, the Rural New-Yorker has 
taken great pains to ascertain the quality 
of the great Kieffer Pear, with the result 
that the most that can be said in its favor 
is that it may prove one of the best for 
preserving or canning. Of all of the many 
specimens we have seen, most of which 
were large and beautiful in appearance, 
no matter how carefully they were ripened 
or what the stage of ripeness, none was 
fit to eat out of hand. We are sorry to 
see that most of the nurserymen’s cata¬ 
logues received this Fall make no refer¬ 
ence to our very unfavorable reports, while 
all of the extravagant words which have 
been said in its favor, are freely quoted. 
Now, we condemn without stint un¬ 
known tree agents who travel about the 
country soliciting farmers’ orders after 
displaying beautiful, colored pictures or 
rare specimens preserved in bottles. How 
much better are those “well known” 
nurserymen who, knowing the inferior 
quality of the Kieffer Pear, will yet pre¬ 
sent beautiful, colored plates of it m their 
catalogues with quotations as to its qual¬ 
ity,which are as false as they can he? 
In order to avoid unnecessary corres¬ 
pondence, attention is again called to the 
fact that our advertising rates as published 
on page 681 are invariable. The Rural 
New-Yorker has during the present year 
rejected more advertising which has been 
deemed unworthy to appear in its columns, 
than ever before during its present man¬ 
agement, and we propose to be yet more 
particular in the, future. No editorial 
notices will he published at any price,and 
all reading notices will have “Adv.” after 
them,to denote that they are not editorial 
announcements. We desire every Rural 
New-Yorker to be a trustworthy guide 
for theAmerican farmer. All new plants, 
seeds, implements, etc., sent to the Rural 
Grounds to be tested will be reported upon 
according to their real merits,and, whether 
those reports prove good, bad or indiffer¬ 
ent, they will he presented all the same. 
It is assumed that those sending us new 
plants or implements desire impartial re¬ 
ports. There is nothing more displeasing 
to us than that advertising patrons should 
write as if their patronage were of more 
consequence, than the independence and 
trustworthiness of the Rural New-Yorker. 
It is really quite impossible to give a 
list of strawberries or raspberries or 
grapes, or of any fruit or grain that is the 
best adapted to all parts of our country. 
We know it to be a fact that one kind of 
pear, apple or strawberry may thrive well 
in one county and poorly in an adjoining 
county—yes, and the same may he said as 
to neighboring farms. Again, what may 
he true as to one season can not he taken 
as a guide for the next. Not one of us is 
competent to say which is the best variety 
of strawberry for his own farm, unless he 
has tested every one of the numberless 
varieties that are now or have been offered 
for sale, and that, not through one season 
only, hut through several. How many 
are competent to do this? Again, the 
term “ best” is too positive. The merits of 
a dozen varieties may be very evenly 
balanced, taken one year with another. 
Again, what constitutes “best” for mar¬ 
ket? Is it quantity of fruit and low 
prices, or quality and high prices with the 
same net results? Our strawberry records 
in this impression of the Rural may 
serve as a general guide to our readers; as 
a specific guide we can not deem them of 
great value. The list will be continued 
next week, and at the end we«hall give 
a brief summary of the results of this 
“berry election.” 
REVERSION IN HORSE BREEDING. 
TnE famous trotting stallion Dictator, 
full brother to Mr. Bonner’s equally 
famous gelding Dexter, is a very fine 
animal in all his points, and we believe 
has ever been perfectly sound; hut since 
his removal from Mr. Durkee’s breeding 
stud at Flushing, Long Island, to Ken¬ 
tucky, it is said, he has got a considerable 
number of colts, unsound in their limbs. 
As Dictator is the sire of three of the 
fastest trotters in America, Jay-Eye-See, 
Director and Phallas, this has occasioned 
great surprise and regret to those who 
have bred their mares to him with high 
expectations, and, the more particularly, 
because these three famous colts of his are 
sound, hardy, and enduring. An inquiry 
has now been made as to the 
reason why any of the later progeny of 
Dictator should prove unsound ; and it is 
supposed the unsoundness is due to the 
fact that his graud-sire on the dam’s side 
was unsound in his limbs; and thus in 
Dictator’s age some of his colts revert to 
the defect, of his ancestor. This shows 
the importance of ascertaining ns far hack 
as possible when one comes to breed, all 
about the merits and demerits of ances - 
tors; for it is uncertain which of the an¬ 
cestral characteristics will crop out in the 
progeny down through many generations. 
The worst traits are most likely to do ro 
when either sire or clam has been over¬ 
worked, is not in good health, or,when in 
consequence of old age. vigor lias been 
partially lost. Dictator is now 20 years 
old, and has recently changed hands, it is 
said, at the. very high price of $25,000. 
• *** 
EARNING AND SAVING. 
Whoa! Hold your horses! Not so 
fast, young man. Can you nfford that 
gay and costly turnout? Aren’t you 
wasting time and money on personal 
adornment and pleasure, which were 
better spent, at work and in an interest 
account? Aren’t you becoming extrava¬ 
gant, not to say idle and dissipated? 
You think because the fivers were raised 
and are kept, on the place at no cost to you 
and because you owe nothing and do not 
exceed your allowance or wages, that it is 
nobody’s business what you do with time 
or money. 
Perhaps not. But the community to 
which we all belong is interested in its 
members, especially in its young men. 
For the general good as well as their own 
good, we want them to form habits of 
thrift. It is thus only that the whole can 
prosper. Thus only can there be a strong 
class to help the weak and unfortunate. 
The habit, of spending all and saving 
nothing is one of unthrift, and the young 
spendthrift is first cousin to the fools who 
are iorevor getting deeper into debt. So 
long as his health and friends remain and 
no extra burdens rest on him, he will be 
happy. But his ‘rainy clay’ will come 
and find him with no shelter against the 
storm and no friends to fall back on. His 
outlook is even w orse than that of chronic 
debtors; for they now and then find the 
property they could not pay for by ordi¬ 
nary methods, contains a hidden bonanza. 
But for the spendthrift, there is uo such 
hope. 
Ambition for wealth is common; 
the self-denial that wall pay its cost is 
rare. In most cases riches grow slowly 
and only by small economies and savings. 
It is the first thousand dollars saved that 
toll the story. Not that this amount is 
very important; it is the self-denial that 
grows by practice into a habit that makes 
this amount significant and all the rest of 
a fortune comparatively easy. The young 
man ignorant of this, lacks the first quali¬ 
fication for success. The young man 
knowing this but not having the nerve to 
begin economizing and saving now r by 
littles, who is hound to have a good time 
spending on himself the little or much lie 
has every year, and to wait for a hi g boom or 
‘dead men’s shoes’ to make him rich, 
will he likely to fail of the boom and the 
shoes w'hen he has sucked life dry and is 
most helpless himself and most in need of 
others’ help. Frugality is not meanness. 
It is the dimes that make the dollars. It 
is only by the rounds, not, l>v a bound we 
ascend the ladder of fortune. 
BREVITIES. 
Remember this: Fresh manure is not food 
for plants. 
"Whatever smells bad is, as a rule, good 
food for plants. 
There will be a fair chance this year to 
impoi-t apples from England where the crop 
is far above an average—while here it is far 
below. 
“If I am not mistaken.” says a Rural 
correspondent, “we are on the eve of a Here¬ 
ford boom which will equal anything achieved 
by the Jerseys.” 
Read the accounts of the Blush Potato. 
Remember we print the poor reports just as 
freely as the good. We cannot print all. 
J. W. Kerr, of Denton, Md.. says: “ If the 
Perfection (Boss) Watermelon holds up to the 
standard of quality it possessed this year 
with me. I shall plant it exclusively,” We are 
glad to hear it. 
We should snv that Professor Beal’s address 
before the Biological Section of the Ameri¬ 
can Association for the Advancement of 
Science, at Minneapolis, was one of the ablest 
efforts of his life. 
We are now cutting away the old canes of 
raspberries and blackberries. All of the 
weaker new canes are also cut out, leaving 
from three to four of the strongest. These are 
cutoff at the high! of from three to five feet, 
according to their diameter. 
One day last, week a neighbor sent us a 
branch of the Cutlibert with 50 berries on it, 
most of which were ripe or nearly so. It has 
been an unusual season for Fall raspberries, 
and the old Belle do Fontenay is really valua¬ 
ble for its large, sprightly fruit. 
Rev. Charles Smith, of Portage Co., 
Wis., writes: “I prize the Rural more and 
more as 1 carefully read it. Itiscertainly the 
prince of agricultural journals. 1 am no be¬ 
liever in flattery, and certainly think that the 
farmer who does not appreciate it is blind to 
his own interests.” 
Send sums of less than $5 by the new postal 
note. It costs but a tliree-eent stamp, and the 
transmission is rendered safe. Our readers 
and agents will find this method preferable to 
the old way of sending registered letters or 
money-orders. 
The Farm Journal, of Philadelphia pays 
us this compliment: “If we were going to 
make the F J.. a weekly, we suppose we 
should trv and make just such a pm er as the 
Rural New-Yorkkruow is. Could we pay 
the R. N-Y. a warmer compliment?” No. we 
don’t think you could Mr. Atkinson. If other 
editors of farm journals were as disinterested 
as you, it would be better for the real inter¬ 
ests of agriculture. 
A well-known physician called at the Ru¬ 
ral office a few days ago while we were test¬ 
ing a new variety of grape. He said: “let 
me caution you. Don’t ever swallow the 
seeds.” He then explained how they were lia¬ 
ble to become lodged in the intestine, causing 
inflammation and leading to fatal disorders. 
Well, if wo must separate the seeds from the 
pulp of every grape eaten, we will just give 
up eating grapes altogether. 
The "Director of the N. Y, State Ex. Station, 
by careful tests, has ascertained that many 
seeds may have vitality enough to germinate 
and yet not, enough to grow to vigorous 
plants. Wo had occasion to experiment in 
this direction years ago when our statement 
that a large percentage of weevil-eaten peas 
were worthless, was wurmly contested. We 
found that, though manv were not so harmed 
hut that, they would germinate.few weevil-eat¬ 
en peas would make healthy plants. As, lik - 
wise, seeds grow older, beyond a certain period 
they gradually lose vitality. Of course, there 
is an intermediate stage when they have life 
enough in them to germinate, though not 
enough ever to make plants of the normal size. 
