334 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Conducted by 
E. S. CARMAN, 
J. 6. WOOD WARP, 
Editor. 
Associate. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1885. 
Though the regular Free Seed Distri¬ 
bution of the Rural New-Yorker for 
1885 expired by limitation May 1st, 
we can stillj suppy a’small quantity of 
Carter’s Stratagem and Prince of Wales 
Peas, Johnson Grass Seeds and the Flag¬ 
eolet Bean, which we will gladly send to 
all subscribers who apply as long as our 
little stock lasts. It may surprise many 
to know^that we have had applications 
from and sent to subscribers of the R. 
N.-Y. 19,200 seed packets, each contain¬ 
ing, until recently, seven different envel¬ 
opes of seeds. For several weeks past we 
have been unable to send the Rural’s 
Cross-bred Corn; and the Flageolet Bean 
has been sent instead of the variety called 
the Marvel of France, which we imported 
from that country at a cost of 82 shillings 
per bushel. 
We are receiving the usual number of 
complaints that the seeds have not been 
received, though we have mailed them to 
every name and address that was legible. 
What shall be said of hardiness of 
raspberries of the Rural Grounds this year? 
Many kinds, such as the Turner, which 
have* never been much killed back before, 
are now dead within a foot of the ground, 
while others which we had thought rather 
tender have been injured very little. The 
Supurb was last year badly winter-killed; 
this year it iB among the hardiest. Last 
year the Marlboro stood the Winter well, 
while this year it has been injured as 
much as any variety. The fact is the 
hardiness of a raspberry must not he 
judged by a single year’s experience. 
Five years at least are required. 
We have not seen anything so calculat¬ 
ed to shake one’s faith in the reports of 
the professors of agricultural colleges as 
the following statements from a recent 
report of the Colorado State Agricultural 
College ; 
“Prickly Comfrey (Symphytum asperri- 
mum)—a plant used extensively in Europe for 
soiling cattle. It grows rapidly, and makes 
an abundance of green food, which is readily 
eaten by stock. It has been planted two 
years, this year making three cuttings.” 
The erroneous statements are, (1) that 
it is “extensively used in England for 
soiling cattle;” and (2) that it is “readily 
eaten by stock.” Now, Professor Blount, 
you had better correct these misstatements. 
As we were helped to a generous dish 
of asparagus, the other day at dinner, we 
wondered why it was that this vegetable 
was so seldom found on farmers’ tables. 
Coming among the first of early green 
foods, it is highly relished, after a long 
abstinence from fresh vegetables; and 
being so easily raised, should be a daily 
dish until green peas are fit to take its 
place. A bed is easily planted, and after 
it has been once established, it will, with 
very little care, last a life-time. No farm¬ 
er should let the Spring go by without 
planting a liberal-sized b«d, and hereafter 
when enjoying this good gift of the early 
Spring-time, if he does not think it pays a 
good profit on the investment, he may 
charge us with the balance. 
There has been a slow but steady de¬ 
cline in the prices of wheat since May 1st. 
The primary cause of this decline was the 
cabled news to the effect that an outbreak 
of hostilities between England and Russia 
was growing more and more improbable. 
The fall would have been greater and much 
more rapid, were it not for the very strong 
“bullish” element in the market, which 
places a great deal_of stress on the con¬ 
tinued reports of damage to winter 
wheat in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri 
and Kansas, as well as on the decrease in 
the visible supply of wheat made public 
on Tuesday. It is also stated that owing 
to the backwardness of the Spring, and the 
consequent impossibility of preparing the 
ground in good season, a smaller area will 
be devoted to spring wheat, than was 
anticipated two or three weeks ago. 
This morning’s cablegrams are of a less 
peaceful tenor than those of the last few 
days, and a'renewal of belligerent pros¬ 
pects may soon stiffen prices once more. 
■ » -- 
It is estimated that Postmaster-General 
Gresham diminished the lottery swindles 
through the United States mai’s fully one- 
half during bis administration, by stop¬ 
ping the mails of swindlers and prosecut¬ 
ing the rascals whenever there wa9 a 
chance oi conviction. As we are very 
earnestly engaged in the same business— 
that of exposing dishonesty and protect¬ 
ing the public—we are very glad, indeed, 
to learn that Postmaster-General Vilas is 
resolved to continue the work so success¬ 
fully prosecuted by his predecessor. We 
learn from Washington that he is deter¬ 
mined to do his utmost to prevent the 
United States mails from being made the 
means of perpetrating fraud, and that in 
his abundant charity he is resolved to 
protect “even the fools of the country 
from the machinations of its knaves.” 
We heartily wisb him success! 
Mr. Orange Judd writes us that we 
should not accuse him of boring the pub¬ 
lic with the quarrels between him, his 
brother and the American Agriculturist; 
that there lias been, in public, no quarrel 
on his side; that he has quietly endured 
all the “vaporings and abominable false¬ 
hoods published and circulated by his 
brother David.” “These were not mat¬ 
ters,” says Mr. Judd, “for the public. If 
I had presented them to the public, your 
criticism would have been very proper. 
I have no doubt but that you supposed 
from the amount published, by the folks 
on Broadway, that I must have been re¬ 
plying to them. If you feel disposed to 
say I have not taken any part in this dis¬ 
gusting display, it would, no doubt, be 
doing me justice.” 
Our note had to do with the bad David 
and the Agriculturist. We have never 
seen anything against either the one or 
the other in the paper which Orange Judd 
is now editing. 
When we burdened ourselves with the 
old Moore's Rural New-Yorker and were 
working night and day to retrieve its in¬ 
jured name, Mr. Orange Judd, instead of 
speaking a kindly word, as at that time 
he could well afford to have done, spoke 
of ua in a contemptuous way more than 
once to mutual friends. Things are some¬ 
what reversed now, and we trust Mr. Judd 
will recognize the fact that we are glad 
of the opportunity to do for him what he 
failed to do for us. 
Take two flower-pots. Let the soil on 
the top of one be hard ; that on the 
other mellow. Sprinkle both with a given 
amount of water and expose both to the 
sun until the surfaces become comparative¬ 
ly dry. Upon examinaiion it will be 
found that the soil with the mellow sur¬ 
face is moist to a greater depth than the 
soil with a bard surface. If these pots 
be exposed to the hot moisture-laden air 
of the evening or early morning, what will 
happen? The dew which is deposited 
upon the hard surface is retained 
there to be evaporated by the first rays of 
the sun, while with the other the air 
deposits its moiBture not only upon the 
surface but beneath, where it is conden¬ 
sed and longer retained by the walls, as 
they may be called, of the less compact 
soil. To make an extreme comparison, 
one surface maybe compared to a sponge, 
the other to a brick. Now let us extend 
the surfaces of these pots until they be¬ 
come fields, and a part of the desirable¬ 
ness of preserving a friable surface during 
droughts may appear. 
Du. Stubtbvant thinks that there is 
a widespread belief among the people 
that through ignorance or willful mis¬ 
representation ; or through the prejudices 
of those who supervise the trials, the pub¬ 
lished statements of the yields of re¬ 
markable cows are exaggerated. He says 
butter weighed direct from the churn 
may, and often does, shrink one-third in 
weight, in a few hours, and wonders 
whether the weight reported is the actual 
weight at which the butter could be sold; 
and he suggests that scientific experts 
be employed to test the richness of the 
milk used, and also the amount of fat 
left in the milk after churning, and 
also the quantity of water left in 
the butter^ when weighed for record. 
And to further this project he offers 
the cooperation of the New York Experi¬ 
ment Station in making these scientific 
tests: to all of which we say, amen. The 
people are incredulous, and demand that 
these trials be so carefully conducted, 
and so surrounded and supported by 
scientific evidence, that there can be no 
reasonable doubt of the correctness of the 
facts as reported. Let us know whether 
it is butter or water that is in the butter 
bowl. 
TO BE REMEMBERED. 
The surroundings of the village and 
country school houses are about as cheer¬ 
less and uninviting as it is possible to 
make them. This is principally for the 
want of somebody with sufficient public 
spirit to take the lead. We suggest to the 
nearly half million teachers occupying 
these houges. that they cannot so easily 
confer a more lasting benefit on their 
pupils, or more effectually perpetuate 
their own memory, than by planting, if no 
more, a couple of trees in the school 
grounds. In many sections, it is tot too 
late now. If convenient, select from the 
margin of some wood lot two nice, thrifty 
trees—not too large—of maple, ash, oak, 
elm, linden, yellow-wood, or any other 
hardy sorts suited to the soil and climate, 
or, if no such convenient place be handy, 
let the little fellows contribute a few 
pennies each, and procure from the near¬ 
est nursery the needed trees, one for the 
scholars, and one for the teacher. 
Having dug the holes for them broad 
and deep, and procured some rich surface 
soil, place tbtrn in position, and with 
some appropriate ceremony, let every one, 
even to the smallest little tot, do some¬ 
thing toward the planting. This will in¬ 
sure a feeling of ownership, and will help 
to plant those trees deep in their affections, 
and cause each one to feel an interest in 
their future care. If your good example 
should never afterwards be imitated, those 
two trees will do much to relieve the 
dreary loneliness of that school yard, and 
will Continue to exert a goodly influence. 
And years after, when those tree9 are full- 
grown, and those boys and girls old, gray¬ 
haired men and women, they will never 
look upon those stately trees, or rest in 
their grateful shade without a thankful 
heart and t> pleasant remembrance of the 
dear teacher -who inspired the planting. 
WHAT’S IN A NAME? 
We are heartily glad that the Com¬ 
mittees appointed bv the Holstein Breed¬ 
ers Association and the Dutch-Fricsian 
Association have agreed upon a basis of 
union, and that a convention of each of 
those associations has been called to 
meet at Buffalo, N. Y., on May 20, to 
ratify this union. 
We could never seethe use of maintain¬ 
ing two organizations and publishing two 
herd books when all the cattle were of the 
same breed, coming from the same coun¬ 
try. One strong association is certainly 
to be preferred to two dividing the unit¬ 
ed strength between them, and we can 
only wish the new organization success. 
We hope that when this union is form¬ 
ed, the new organization will reconsider 
the matter of a n .me. We must say that 
we think the one proposed—Ilolstein- 
Friesian Breeders’ Association—is a little 
too much for this busy, practical age. It 
may do for people of leisure, and those 
who may wish to use the name only occa¬ 
sionally ; but to the busy man and the edi¬ 
tor it is simply a terror. And, then, will 
not this name lead to confusion? Are these 
cattle to be called llolsteins or Friesians, 
or have we got to write Holstein-Freisian 
every ti®e we wish to mention them. 
Whew, it makes us tired to think of it! 
The fact is Holstein and Friesland are 
only small provinces, and combined con¬ 
stitute only a small portion of Holland, 
and many excellent cattle of this breed 
come from outside these sections. Neither 
ot these names nor both combined express 
the facta. Whatever name the association 
may choose to adopt for its own designa¬ 
tion, we pray its members, in the name of 
consistency and brevity, and in conformity 
with the spirit of this electric age, to give 
us a single, simple name for these noble 
milkers, that are destined to do so much to 
increase the milk production of our 
dairies. It seems to us that, following 
the same rule as with Devons, Jerseys, 
Ayrsbires, etc., we should either have 
Hollands, Netherlands or Dutch. We 
commend this matter to the good sense of 
the members, reminding them that it is 
much easier to start right than to make a 
change afterward, and while we don’t 
care what word they select, we do hope 
they will designate the breed by a single 
word, and the shorter it is, the better. 
GIVE THE HORSES THEIR DUE. 
With the constant multiplication of 
machinery upon the farms, the burden of 
hard \york is being transferred from hu¬ 
man to horse muscle. Whereas the horse 
was formerly required to draw the plow 
only, now he is compelled to draw the 
plowman as well, and the change has been 
as great in nearly every department of the 
farm. In consequence of this increase of 
labor, it becomes more and more man’s 
duty, as it is to his interest, to see that 
the horse be well fed and properly cared 
for; notwithstanding this, there is no 
animal so much neglected and abused. 
On many farms, where during Winter 
there is not much labor for them to do, 
the horses are turned to the straw stack 
entirely unsheltered, or are confined in 
stables with hard floors, and so open that 
the cold is greatly intensified by the wind 
blowing between the hoards; and then 
half-fed and forced to drink ice-water, they 
are compelled to shiver away the dark 
days, half the time ungroomed. If driven 
to town, they are tied by the street side, 
too often without the protection of even 
a blanket, and then forced to stand for 
hours in sleet and cold while their inhu¬ 
man owner is loafing in some saloon or 
corner grocery. 
That this is no fancy sketch, the thous¬ 
ands of emaciated horses reeling along 
these spring days, scarcely able to pull 
the plow or harrow, and doing no more 
than half a reasonable amount of work, 
are too common and expensive witnesses. 
The aggregate loss from late spring seed¬ 
ing and planting, the result of this feeble 
condition, will surprise him who may 
gather the statistics. Not only this, but 
hundreds of horses working in ill-fit¬ 
ting harnesses and without proper care, 
having shoulders galled and sore, are 
kicked and pounded by brutal drivers 
because they show signs of suffering. 
Surely man’B neglect and cruelty to so 
good a servant should almost make us 
ashamed of our race. 
We insist that, aside from the moral 
aspect of the question, so important a 
helper in successful farming should be so 
housed and cared for during the Win¬ 
ter as to be most serviceable in Spring, 
and should then have an abundance of 
food, good care and kind usage in the 
hurrying season. Every farmer should 
make it a point to seu that every horse is 
so cared for that it is in perfect health 
and able to do its full share of work when 
most needed, and that every man having 
the care of a team, should be required to 
give them the best of care, even before 
he looks after his own comfort. Nothing 
pays better than to take good care of the 
horses 1 
BREVITIES. 
The prices realized at recent sales of Jersey 
cattle in this city and Kentucky show little 
or no decrease owing to the “scare*’ of the 
alleged special predisposition of the breed to 
pleuro-pneumonia. Yesterday Perdro Alphea, 
cow, three years old, brought 31,700 here; 
Romulus Buttercup, cow, $1,100; Belle Dame, 
cow, $1,125, and others proportionately high 
figures. 
That man who, while longing for fruit last 
Summer, solemnly promised to plant, a good 
plot this Spring, will surely forget it unless he 
goes at the good work at once. If you hap¬ 
pen to be that man, please remember, there is 
no medicine so efficacious in maintaining 
health os good fruit, or so pleasant to take, 
either. 
The short time “between hay and grass,” 
when cows are being changed from the usual 
dry food of the stable or barnyard to the 
pasture. Is really the most trying to them of 
the whole year. The grass, though of good 
bight and looking nice, has but really little 
substance, and it is almost impossible for the 
cows to eat enough to sustain their condition. 
Thev should, therefore, have a nightly feed of 
a little grain and all the good hay they are 
able to eat. 
While the “war news” has had the effect 
of stimulating the planting of wheat, it has 
had a depressing effect on cotton planting, 
many planters having resolved to put in grain 
crops instead of cotton; ns in the event of 
war. there would be less demand for manu¬ 
factured cotton goods, aud consequently 
lower prices for the raw material, lu many 
sections cotton planting is delayed pending 
the issue of European negotiations. See how 
the question of war or peace iu the distant 
wilds of Afghanistan influences the sowing of 
wheat iu Dakota and of cotton in Texas! 
Owing to the high prices of peanuts last 
year, a considerable surplus was produced, 
which, of course, resulted in low prices for the 
superabundant crop. We learn, therefore, 
that a good deal of laud iu four States—Vir¬ 
ginia, North and South Carolina and Tennes¬ 
see—which was last year devoted to the culture 
of “goobers, ’’will this year be planted to cottou. 
Isn’t th*reenough of laud iu cottou already? 
Wouldn’t it be wise to devote this land to some 
other crop, so us to have the many advantages 
of “mixed husbandry?’’ Will not there be too 
great a curtailment of land under peanuts, so 
that the crop will tie short next season, and the 
prices unusually high, much to the regret of 
those who may have unduly abridged the 
acreage under “goobere t”, 
