246 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
APRIL 41 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
E. S. CARMAN, 
J. S. WOODWARD, 
Editor. 
Associate. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY. APRIL 11, 1885. 
We are preparing still another supple¬ 
ment in order to meet the demands of the 
Rural’s Farmers’ Club. 
suited in failure until we hit upon the 
trench method. Again, we do not even 
hope to raise 1,000 bushels upon an acre 
of poor soil. If upon the half-acre of poor 
soil which we began to prepare last Fall, 
we should raise 200 bushels of potatoes 
(400 bushels to the acre),it will prove the 
Rural’s method to be a great suceess,for 
the evident reason that the extra cost of 
raising them will not be as great as the 
value of the additional yield over the 
best yields hitherto raised,on this land or 
similarly light, worn-out soil, in the usual 
way. La selecting so poor a soil, we were 
influenced by wishing to put the trench- 
mulch system of potato culture to so se¬ 
vere a test that, in case of success, our 
readers might adopt it without any rea¬ 
sonable fear of loss. 
If the number of your address label is 
1838, your subscription term will expire 
next week; if 1839, the week after, and 
so on. Please look to this. 
We cannot speak quite confidently yet, 
but fear that there is not one raspberry 
bush of our entire collection that has es¬ 
caped serious injury this Winter. 
Beautiful specimens of Mr. Macomb- 
er’s new pears, the Refreshing and Grand 
Isle, were sent to us last September. We 
can scarcely speak too highly of them, 
either as regards their appearance or 
quality. 
-- 
Good readers, have you no faith in the 
Rural’s trench system of potato culture 
with the mulch? We will forgive that. But 
will not you try it in a small way; just 
simply because we ask you to try it? The 
method is again described on page 240. 
Dig a trench 10 feet long, if no more,and 
follow these instructions. Then at har¬ 
vest, compare the yield with the yield of 
10 hills raised in the usual way. 
- « -- 
Plant an apple tree or so on Paradise 
stock—not in the orchard; not for profit, 
but here and there in the garden or lawn 
for their beauty and for family use. These 
trees never grow to a large size, and may 
be planted six feet apart, if so desired. 
They will begin to bear the second year. 
It is to us a beautiful sight to see these 
shrubs loaded with large, showv apples 
like the Alexander, for instance. We 
should select only summer or fall va¬ 
rieties. 
In compliance with a number of re¬ 
quests, we have elsewhere again explain¬ 
ed the Rural’s trench-mulch system of 
raising potatoes. Instead of forming the 
trenches by plowing double or “dead” 
furrows, as therein stated, we have pur¬ 
chased a shovel-plow with an adjustable 
wing or mould-board on either side, which 
we shall use to form the trenches, follow¬ 
ing it with a small sub soil plow to break 
up and mellow the bottom of the trench. 
It is not only a foolish, but a criminal 
practice to “scrimp” the cows on food 
just now. If they ever need generous 
feeding and good care and some sort of 
succulent, cooling food, it is just before 
and at the time of “coming in.” While 
every farmer should have provided a 
supply of roots for this purpose, those 
who have not, will find it a hundred 
times more profitable to use the little po¬ 
tatoes for this purpose than for planting. 
Don’t neglect the step-mother of the 
family. 
- »«♦ - 
There is a great temptation, be¬ 
cause of the closeness of the times, to let 
some of the grain fields go without 
seeding, but of all short sighted, suicidal 
jrolicies this is the worst. Nature abhors 
a bare spot of ground as much as a vacu¬ 
um, and if the farmer neglects to fill 
every foot of surface with some valuable 
crop, she is sure to fill it with weeds. The 
pasture afforded will pay many times 
over for the seed sown, and even if not 
needed for pasture and the ground be 
designed for corn the succeeding year, 
the mamirial value of plants and roots 
will much more than balance the cost 
of seed. Foolish is the farmer who 
yields to this temptation. 
The Farm Journal refers encourag- 
ingly to the Rural’s experiments in po¬ 
tato-raising. “The Editor has succeded, ” 
it states, “in growing over 1,000 bushels 
per acre,and promises to do that the com¬ 
ing year on poor land.” Herein, the Ed- 
tor of the Farm Journal unwittingly 
makes two mistakes: We have never,"as 
yet, raised over 250 bushels of potatoes 
on an acre, and all our efforts to produce 
large yields on the dry, light soil of the 
Rural Farm, even upon small plots, re- 
The appointment of Norman J, Cole 
man, oi Missouri, to be Commissioner of 
Agriculture, to succeed the Hon. G. B. 
Loring, was confirmed by the Senate just 
before its adjournment, last Thursday. 
It is an excellent appointment. Mr. Cole¬ 
man has long been prominently identified 
with the agriculture of the country and es¬ 
pecially with the agricultural interests of 
the Mississippi Valley. Agricultural socie¬ 
ties, papers and representative bodies from 
eighteen States recommend him. He is a 
thoroughly practical fairuer and stock 
raiser; and so far as the agricultural in¬ 
terests of the country can be defended 
and advanced by the* action of his De¬ 
partment, the farmers of the country may, 
we believe, rest assured that he will be 
always ready to do his duty as he sees it.. 
The sorghum industry, which was slight¬ 
ed to some extent by his predecessor, is 
sure to receive his earnest support, as he 
has always been a strong advocate of its im¬ 
portance. The live stock interests of the 
nation are likely also to specially engage his 
attention. The Rural New-Yorker can¬ 
didly approves the appointment, and will 
honestly support the new Commissioner 
in all measures promotive of the best in¬ 
terests of American agriculture. 
SIR J. B. LAWES’S EXPERIMENTS. 
Dr. J. B. Lawes, the great English 
agricultural experimenter, has raised 
wheat on the same land for 40 years. 
Without manure of any kind the yield has 
averaged 14 bushels per acre. With 14 
tons of farm-yard manure applied every 
year, the average yield has been 32 bush¬ 
els and 12 quarts per acre. With mineral 
manures (a. e., superphosphate of lime, 
sulphate of potash, soda, magnesia, etc.) 
and Without any nitrogenous manures, the 
yield for 32 years has averaged 15 bushels 
and one peck per acre. With nitrogen 
alone (ammonium salts) the yield has 
averaged 20K bushels per acre for 32 years, 
though but 17 bushels and 24 quarts for 
the last 10 years. With nitrogen alone 
(nitrate of soda) the average yield ior the 
32 years has been 23K bushels—for the 
second 10 years 20 bushels and one peck. 
Finally, with nitrogen, phosphoric acid 
potash, soda and magnesia (forming a 
complete manure), the average yield has 
been, per acre, 32 bushels and three pecks, 
or on an average 12 quarts more per 
acre each year than lhe average yield 
given by the 14 tons of farm-yard manure. 
Farmers, those of you who buy con¬ 
centrated fertilizers,and, indeed, those of 
you who do not, would do well to Btudy 
the above results. 
OUR FRUIT ELECTIONS. 
Every farmer, whether of few or many 
acres, should have his fruit garden as 
well as orchard, and it is of great import¬ 
ance that he know what varieties will 
give him the best results. There is not 
in existence any information so full, reli¬ 
able and precise on this point as the grape 
list published in the Rural of March 
28th, and toe list of berries of various 
kinds in this number. These alone are 
worth many times the cost of a year’s sub¬ 
scription, and no one contemplating the 
planting of any of these fruits should fail 
to carefully study these lists. We had a 
thought to tabulate them for more ready 
reference; but such a table, though con¬ 
venient, would not be as valuable or re¬ 
liable as are the full reports; in many cases 
there is more valuable information in the 
accompanying remarks than in the lists 
themselves,and these should be thorough¬ 
ly studied when deciding what to select. 
The men who make the reports are among 
the most observing, best posted and most 
careful growers of these fruits in their 
several localities, and their answers are 
based on personal experience and actual 
knowledge; thus they become the safest 
guides in the selection of varieties. Of 
course, in making a choice, one should 
be most influenced by the opinions of 
those nearest his immediate vicinity, 
though all are exceedingly valuable. In 
selecting persons to whom to send ques¬ 
tions, we endeavored to pick out such as, 
we were assured, had an extensive expe¬ 
rience with the leading varieties. 
We wish to publicly thank all who so 
promptly and fully responded to our in¬ 
quiries. In so doing they have not only 
conferrred a great favor upon the Rural; 
but have aided in furnishing information, 
and putting it into available shape, more 
valuable than can be found in any other 
place, not excepting the reports of the 
American Pomological Society as good as 
they are. 
- »»♦ - 
THE CANADIAN INSURRECTION. 
The Parliamentary act of 1867 creat¬ 
ing the Dominion of Canada, contem¬ 
plated the acquisition, by the Govern¬ 
ment, of the Hudson Bay Territory, and 
negotiations with the company resulted 
in the surrender, by it, to the Crown of all 
territorial and government rights in 1869. 
It retained its posts with a small lot of 
land around each,and reserved the right to 
portions of land in the textile belt south 
of the north branch of the Saskatchewan 
River, and in accordance with a royal 
proclamation, the vast region became a 
part of the Dominion of Canada on July 
15, 1870. Shortly afterwards the 
Province of Manitoba was created,iuclud- 
ing the rich wheat lands of the Red 
River Valley, and a large extent of excel¬ 
lent grazing land. Since tbeu the bound¬ 
aries of the Province have been greatly 
extended, to the cast, west and north, un¬ 
til it now includes nearly all the choice 
land of the Dominion in the North-west 
on this side of the Rocky Mountains,except 
that in the valley of the Peace River,along 
the waters of tbeAtabasea, and in the val¬ 
ley of the Saskatchewan, except along 
its lower course near Hudson Ba.y, where 
the bleakness of the climate renders 
the country barren and inhospitable. 
This thinly settled region is known as the 
Northwest Territory and extends from 
Manitoba to British Columbia, and from 
the United States boundary to Alaska, 
the Acrtic Ocean and Hudson Bay. Its in¬ 
habitants are chiefly Indians, numbering 
about 35.000; hulf-breede, the descen¬ 
dants chiefly of French-Canadian trap¬ 
pers, “voyageurs” and settlers anrl Indian 
squaws, ' numbering, probably, 5,000 
adult males; and “whites” scattered at 
the various posts of the Hudson Bay 
Company to the number of about 2,500, 
and about as many more farmers, stock- 
raisexs and speculators in country places 
with double that number in hamlets or 
“towns” chiefly along the line of the 
Canadian Pacific Railroad or in the valley 
of the Saskatchewan and those of its 
tributaries. 
The construction of the Pacific Railroad 
has greatly enhanced the value of the land 
throughout all the section contiguous to 
it, and in the valleys of the navigable 
rivers which cross its course. The 
Dominion Government has been extrava¬ 
gant in its grants of these lands to syndi¬ 
cates, speculators and favorites from East¬ 
ern Canada and Great Britain, entirely 
disregarding the claims of the original 
settlers, composed almost exclusively of 
half-breeds, who have been cultiva'ing 
farms in clearings here and there along 
the streams often for half a century or 
more. Surveyors have been sent into the 
territory, who in laying out lines, have 
disdained to pay any consideration what¬ 
ever to the claims of these old settlers, 
who insist on their right to have access 
to the streams on which their “openings” 
have touched for years; but from which 
the surveyors have been persistently ex¬ 
cluding them. Lands that have been in 
the families of some of them for two or 
three generations have been recklessly 
included in grunts to capitalists who 
Dever saw the country, or heard of it until 
the opening of the railroad gave promise 
of additions to their millions. . Although 
taxed for the support of the Government, 
the half-breeds have had no voice in public 
affairs. Places in abundance were found 
for officials from Eastern Canada, greedy 
of acquisition, but ignorant of the needs 
and often of the language of the people, 
and of their own duties. Every de¬ 
vice of intrigue, trickery and corruption 
has been put in operation to despoil the 
settlers of their homesteads and hard- 
earned property. Their crops oflateyears 
have been destroyed by floods, while en¬ 
ergetic strangers on the track of the 
Pacific Railway, have been pouring in on 
their quiet life, ami pushing them from 
their homes. Hence discontent has be¬ 
come rampant, and has at last broken 
out into open rebellion. 
Similar causes led to the lebellion of 
1869-70—unscrupulous land-grabbing was 
the chief cause of both risings. Then, as 
now, there was some vague idea of form¬ 
ing an independent State, or at least of 
establishing a Province with some rights 
which the Gcueral Government would be 
bound to - respect; but then, as now, the 
real source of the trouble was the conduct 
of land-grabbing speculators who wished to 
oust the settlers from their holdings. The 
same leader who conducted that move¬ 
ment,^ at the head of this- Louis Riel a 
half-breed who has been in Montana since 
the suppression of the former rising by 
Sir Garnet Wolseley, now Lord Wolseley, 
commander of the English forces in the 
Soudan. Riel has the complete confi¬ 
dence of his own race; and is regarded 
as a demigod by many of the Indians. 
Es’imates of bis present following vary 
from 500 to 2,000 well armed men,mostly 
half-breeds, w’ith a few Indians. His 
forces number probably a trifle less than 
2,000; while the Indians are still hesitat¬ 
ing, though, according to the latest tele¬ 
grams, many of them have participated 
in the rising, urged on by the allurements 
of Biel, ami the dangers which have late 
ly been threatening their reservations 
owing to the encroachments of land-grab¬ 
bing speculators. 
’I he insurgents have already slain over 
a dozen police, settlers and others, and 
made prisoners of nearly 200 more. They 
appear to be in complete control of the 
Saskatchewan Valley, the white settlers 
having for the moat part fled; or en¬ 
trenched themselves in the widely sepa¬ 
rated towns. Many of the farm houses, 
and some of the hamlets have been plun¬ 
dered, and a world of mischief is threat 
ened. Considerable numbers of Fepians 
are reported to be joining their ranks 
from the Uuited States; and some of the 
Indians from this side of the line are 
said to have crossed over to the other side. 
The telegraph wires have lately been 
cut, so that the news has been meagre and 
slow for the lust few days. Meanwhile 
the D minion Government is huTryiDg 
forward troops from all the old Provinces. 
Volunteers from the “best” families are 
swelling the ranks. The French-Cana¬ 
dians, indignant at the accusation that 
they sympathize with their kin in the 
Northwest, are loud in their protesta¬ 
tions of loyalty; but. rather lax in 
adding to the available forces of the Do¬ 
minion. Winnipeg, Manitoba, is the 
center of excitement, but every town in 
Ontario shares in it, as do the large cities 
in the other Provinces. The settlement 
of the Northwest is delayed and hampered 
by the movement; the prospects of the 
Canadian Pacific are injured; the pres¬ 
tige of the Government, is damaged; the 
credit of the Dominion is impaired; the 
cost of the suppression of the riflin'* must 
be very heavy; the good results nil, ex¬ 
cept perhaps to the insurgents whose 
reasonable demands arc likely to be con¬ 
ceded after all the turmoil, which might 
have been avoided by an earlier conces¬ 
sion. _^f IS3 
BREVITIES. 
Again, the Ohio Black-cap proves to be ou 
hardiest raspberry. , 
Mary Wager-Fisher’s trans-continental 
letters will be continued shortly. 
Remember the Stratagem and Prince of 
Wales Peas are intermediate, not early peas. 
Plant the Flageolet Beans of the Rural’s 
present Beed Distribution one foot apart in 
rows two feet apart. 
Sow the Johnson Grass for trial in drills, 
dropping the seeds as close together as you 
choose. The plants may be thinned out to 
six inches apart. Let the drills be balf-an- 
ineh deep. Cover them and Arm the soil. 
How for this climate May 15 
If any one spenkes evil of you, consider the 
matter; if it lie false, you will soon outlive it: 
if it be true, see to it that no oue again shall 
have occasion to truthfully say the same thing 
of you. Yon need Imv no fear of injury to 
your good name except from your own acts. 
Men should not pride themselves half so 
much on the peculiarity of their employment 
as upon the thorough manner in which their 
work is done There are a hundred “botches” 
to one finished workman in every trade. It is 
much better to be a good furrner than to be a 
large oue. 
“Rome, New York, March 28, 1885. 
An old friend ami admirer of the Rural 
New-Yorker. Mr. F. D. Perkins, qied at his 
home at Dix, near this place, this morning, 
after a brief illnes-; age 55 years. He leaves 
a mother in her centenary year. He was a 
!/»m( mati. GEO 8 G 8 SCOTT.” 
Mr. Perkins was indeed an old and good 
friend of the Rural, Year alter year he 
has sent us large clubs of subscribers, and at 
the time of his death, was standing on our 
books at the bead of the list competing forour 
321 presents. Not only in this material way 
was he a friend, but his cheery, friendly let¬ 
ters and kindly counsel did much to encourage 
amt assut us. We sincerely sympathize with 
his aged mother and his friends in their and 
OUT ci eat loss. Thus it is that our old friends, 
one by one, are "passing over.” What higher 
commendation can any one receive than this— 
‘He was a good man," 
