FES 
read a paper so as to get the most out of it. t 
In making up our reports of "Crops and Mar- i 
kets,” no pains are Spared to make them as t 
reliable as possible. Few imagine Pwhat an I i 
immense amount of reading and study is . 
required to prepare a column of really au¬ 
thentic market reports. Years and years of 1 
careful observation will alone enable a mar¬ 
ket reporter to prognosticate with anything 
like accuracy, Aud it requires a careful and 
discriminating reader to apply the reports to 
his own advantage. The business-man studies 
the market from day to day, prompt to take I 
advantage of a change in price. Is there auy I 
reason why the farmer should neglect this lea- 
ture of his business { The price of what he has 
to buy, and the price of what he has to sell will I 
be regulated by the supply. It he cau know 
beforehaud how great this supply is likely to 
be, he can govern his business easily. The I 
RfRii, does not claim to be infallible, but it I 
comes just as near to the truth as it knows I 
how. Any farmer who studies its market re¬ 
ports each week, from .January to October, I 
will be well informed as to the volume of I 
produce in the country. Business farmer’s I 
canappreeiate a paper that is honest and con¬ 
scientious. 
Down With the Washington Seed Scan¬ 
dal!— In its tight with the Washington seed 
abuse, the Rural has the good wishes of every 
thinking farmer. Keep it up; we are with I 
you, heart aud soul. Keep at it until some of 
the old fogies are aroused, until the people see I 
it right, aud then they will sweep this parasiti- I 
cal plant out of sight. The whole object of the 
present distribution is to cajole the rustic info 
supporting a man who parades as the "far¬ 
mers 1 friend,” his sole claim to the title being 
based upon a package of seeds, for which he 
pays not a cent, aud which on trial generally 
prove, like the douor—worthless. We farmers 
must arouse with the idea firmly fixed in our 
minds that we alone can put down this abuse. 
How? By sending more of our craft to Con¬ 
gress—aye, let Congress be made up, as it was 
years ago, of tillers of the soil. We must have I 
our agricultural interests represented by peo¬ 
ple who understand them, and such people are 
to be found among the progressive aud intelli¬ 
gent farmers—rarely among outsiders. 1-ietus I 
think of this, brother farmers; let us wipe out 
this disgrace that makes our Agricultural De¬ 
partment the laughing-stock of other nations, 
and let us do it at the polls. The Rural is 
with US. The final decision rests with us. Bo 
let us send no man to Washington who does 
not pledge himself to correct this abuse aud 
thereby aid in sweeping it out of existence 
once und forever. J. H. drevenstedt. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
An Excellent Plan.—W e propose to give 
an entertainment at our Grange, the proceeds 
from which are to l>e spent, in subscribing for 
copies of the Rural, to be sent to members 
who need it most. We would like to have all 
take the paper. Borne need it who think they 
can’t afford it. Let it come to them once and 
they would lie angry if it stopped. 
Lewiston, Me. G * w - s> 
R. N.-Y—A good plan. We do not say 
this simply because we want to extend the 
Rural’s circulation. If there is any other 
paper that seems to be better suited to the 
needs of your community, take it, by all 
means. What we want to commend is the 
idea of takitig a good paper right into the 
Grange, where the facts and suggestions it 
contains can be utilized for discussions aud 
essays, and, best of all, thought. Many 
granges and clubs, rust away because the 
members tell all they know. A good paper 
will form a basis for many new ideas and 
add life to the exercises. 
Prop. Shelton is surely mistaken about 
bumble bees in Kansas. I have lived here 16 
years. There were a few when I first came, 
and last year there were more than I ever saw 
in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota or any 
other place I have visited. We found 2U nests 
in cutting 15 acres of grass. E. H. 
Bcandia, Kans. 
Ice-Houses.— Gur club talked over the ice¬ 
house question ala recent meeting. Clover, 
chaff or straw was recommended as a substi¬ 
tute for sawdust in packing. Coal ashes wcj e 
suggested, One member hail seen an ice-house 
that answered the purpose well, it was sided 
with matched hemlock boards lined with 
tarred paper, with matched hemlock on the 
inside, Studding is set inside this wall so as 
to leave an ail - space of one foot. Then 
comes another wall of matched hemlock and 
paper. The ice was covered overhead with 
straw. It is necessary to make ice-houses rat- 
proof, or holes will be dug through which 
warm air can enter and melt the ice. 
Auburn, N. Y. D • p> H> 
tant question among Canadian farmers. At 
present horse raising is the most profitable 
branch of farming with us. One can make 
from 2CK) to 600 per cent, more profit in horses 
just now, than in sheep and cattle. Good 
stock, well bred and well handled will bring 
twice as much as inferior stock: R. v. 
Cbristi, Ontario. 
The Alaska Pea and the Blush Potato 
have become fixed crops with me each year. 
The only objection against the potato is that 
the large ones are likely to bo hollow. To 
overcome that, I plant them on rather poor 
soil, and with no fertilizer except a light 
dressing of the Bowker’s potato phosphate, 
sow'n broadcast. Then the yield, is not groat, 
but the quality is superb. I do not raise them 
for market. Raised in this way I have never 
found any potato equal to them for the table. 
Keene, N. H. _ S, v. M. 
Not a "Model” Hired Man.—I am a hired 
man. Borne of the letters that have appeared 
in the Rural concerning hired men are ab¬ 
surd. I have seen women who had to carry 
all the water Used in the family nearly 10 rods. 
In such cases it would be much easier to wash 
a few pieces for the hired man and ask him to 
carry the water. Wheu the boys are away 
at school, and the husband is busy, the hired 
man is about the only one left to do such work. 
I always do such things willingly and plea¬ 
santly wheu asked. As for working like "J. 
W. B., ” at washing dishes and peeling pota¬ 
toes, that is going too far. Buck a man eau’l 
look natural without a woman’s dress on. 
Greene, loWu. c - c * 
"Btand by Your Friends.”— The best 
motto of the nineteenth century. Permanent 
success follows the footsteps of no man who 
ignores it. Let the good advice given by J. 
g. Woodward, in January 8 number, to farm¬ 
ers be often repeated, as only by heeding aud 
religiously holding to that motto cau they hope 
to put down the various frauds thut war 
against the farmer’s interest. s. B. 
East Paris, Mich. 
Last spring I planted several kinds of peas 
side by side. On my soil the Alaska proved to 
be the poorest—almost worthless. The l rinco 
of Wales gave an abundance of large, well- 
filled pods. The jieas when cooked were ten¬ 
der aud delicious. For yield and quality they 
wore superior to all others I have ever grown. 
Bramton, Vt. L - H - 
3ntmsi’l Societies. 
N. Y. STATE FARMERS’ INSTITUTE. 
THE FIRST ONE EVER HELD BY THE NEW YORK 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
(RURAL SPECIAL REPORT, CONCLUDED.) 
I like the articles by A. B. Allen on horses. 
How to breed a good horse is the all-impor- 
The evening session was crowded till there 
was not standing room. In a discussion brought 
out by the question, "What fertilizers will pay 
us best for the money they cost?” J. B. \V id- 
ward said that, while he was a great believer 
in the use of chemical fertilizers, lie still 
thought that the fertilizing elements obtained 
in buying new-process,!inseed meal, bran, glu¬ 
ten meal and other waste products now so 
largely exported, were by far the best and 
cheapest. He had found no difficulty in buy¬ 
ing plenty of such foods and feeding them to 
his stock in such a way as to have the manure 
resulting left at no cost, and often he made a 
good profit besides; so while the manure made 
by feeding a ton of new-process meal cost, him 
nothing, it was worth at least 10 or moie dol¬ 
lars. 
"Insects, Injurious and Beneficial,” was the 
title of a paper by Professor A. J. Cook, of 
Lansing, Mich. We may bo sure that any 
plant whose flowers are filled with nectar or 
exhale a delightful fragrance, need the aid of 
insects to enable them to perfect a maximum 
yield. Bees aid materially in producing full 
crops of clover seed and of many kinds of 
fruit. He ridiculed the idea that bees punc¬ 
ture li-uit of any kind. He said they did not 
go round like the titmouse or woodpecker, 
puncturing the fruit; but they go only to save 
the sweet juice of such as are broken by some 
other cause or are cracked by impropitious 
weather. The Professor said he had made 
many experiments in destroying insects with 
Paris-green and other arsenites, and he au¬ 
thorized all his hearers when anyone said 
Paris-green would not kill the eodliug-moth 
to tell him he was mistaken. He had found 
one-third of a pound of “green” ample for a 
kerosene barrel of water. 
The morning session of the 14th was opened 
by Col. F. I). Curtis with a talk on "Swine 
Breeding.” He thought the swine of our fore¬ 
fathers much more natural and better as food 
than the line-bred chunky, fat pigs of to-day. 
Ho wants a hog with plenty of length aud 
plenty of bone, and if it had a pretty largo 
nose it was pardonable as indicating strength ii 
The hog has more human traits than any other 6 
animal, aud when a man wishes to know how s 
to care for his hogs he should consider how he r 
would like to be treated under like circurn- t 
stances. A man enjoys a dry, warm bed, free e 
from draughts or currents of air, so does the j 
hog; men want a great variety of food, so i 
does the hog. He said hogs were the best in- < 
sect killers wo could keep in our orchards. < 
Mr. Woodward disagreed with the latter 
assertion. They wore eutircty too much like i 
a man to be good insect destroyers. i\ hen a i 
man is sound asleep he would not know it it a 
dollar was dropped within a foot of his nose, I 
neither would a bog when sound asleep know 
when a wormy fruii dropped close to its nose. 
He would rather have one sheep than four 
hogs for this purpose. 
"Winter Butter Making” was the subject of 
a lecture by Prof. Arnold, who said nice, 
fresh, winter-made butter will always be in 
demand at good prices, and unless it costs 50 
per cent, more to manufacture than butter 
I -undo in summer, it will pay better. In order 
j make butter in winter the cows must be 
family housed, well fed and not compelled to I 
rink ice water. It is impossible for a cow 
xposed, if only for a few hours each day, to 
ero cold, to give milk that will make butter I 
t such a cost as to give a profit or to make 
he finest quality of butter. Cows have to be 
ed in winter anyway, and it takes but little I 
nore food and but little more labor t,o so cate 
or them that they shall produce a good qual- 
ty of butter. The longer erenin stands with- 
>ut souring, the more perfect the oxygenatiou 
md the higher the flavor of the butter. He 
^commanded strongly the granular system of 
cashing and salting butter; it is less labor. I 
ous aud produces belter results. His direc¬ 
tions were to churn at 60 u F. until the butter I 
icgins to float on the milk, then add one gal¬ 
lon of cold brine to 15 gallons of cream This 
will cause the butter to separate quickly and 
form m grains and float on top of the I 
milk, which can then be drawn entirely off. 
Water at 55° should then ho put in, and the 
churn should lie agitated a little and the I 
water drawn off. Repeat this until the I 
milk is all washed out and the water runs off 
clear. Now, put in saturated brine, at 60°, 
enough to float all the butter; let it remain for 
half an hour, giving the churn u turn every 
few moments. It will then be ready to take I 
from the churn, and wheu taken out will be 
salted at the rate of a half ounce to the pound 
aud be as good as it cun be made. As soon as 
taken out it can be packed, taking care while 
packing, to keep the center of the butter a 
little the highest. If more salt is desired it 
should be added before the butter is taken 
from the churn. But salt does not preserve 
butter and the quantity is only a matter of 
taste. v H 
J. K. Brown, Dairy Commissioner, gave a 
history of what he is doing to suppress bogus 
butter. He said prosecution aud conviction 
are much easier and surer since the passage of 
the United States law. He takes the ground 
that oleomargarine, no matter how well or 
cleanly made, is not wholesome as food, and 
claims this is substantiated by all the best 
physiologists. Whenever the question comes 
up in cither State or National Legislature,it is 
always referred to the Commission on the 
Public Health. This of itself is suspicious, 
but since the last Commission to whom it was 
referred, after the most careful examination, 
reported it unwholesome the oleo men have 
never dared to challenge the report. 
Mi-s. Taylor of Niagara read a very flue 
essay on "Home and How to Make it 1 'leas- 
uut;” but no report of It could do it justice. 
It was the gem of the institute. 
Owing to a snow blockade in Canada, Prof. 
Rotierts did not reach the city until after the 
final adjournment, which was a groat disap¬ 
pointment to all. All in all this was a grand 
success and demonstrates the fact that New 
York farmers are alive and ready to grasp all 
the knowledge within their reach aud I hope 
the State Society may defer to their wishes 
aud hold an institute each winter in each 
county of the State. _ w - 
indigo. All his plants are hardy aud they 
flower perpetually. His strawberries occa* 
sionully grow on trees and are as big as cocoa- 
nuts. His apples, peaches and pears are not 
to lie outdone, for he will show them to you 
equal to good-sized cantaloupes. He has as¬ 
paragus seed that will produce a crop in three 
mouths from the time or sowing, aud grape 
cuttings that will do the same thing und pro¬ 
duce imit of a size that would ha ve made our 
.Jewish forefathers blush with shame at the 
meagre bunches that they carried between 
them from the brook of Eschol 
A bevy of these scamps plant themselves 
nearly every season in April or May in New 
York and other large cities, usually in 
some prominent place. They hang their ban¬ 
ners on the walls, and, strange as it may seem, 
draw hundreds of the sharp business men into 
their nets. Their first start is usually in New 
Orleans in February, and from there they 
work northward, usually devoting eight or 
ton days to each large town. They have again 
und i gain been routed from New \ ork by ex¬ 
posure iu the press, but in a year or two they 
are back again. They well kuovv that they 
cannot well be locked up for plying their ne¬ 
farious trade,as it would take months or yeais 
to prone that their representations were false. 
Their profits when they sell are immense. The 
common prairie roses costing §8 per hundred, 
are sold as '"Blue” Moss Roses at ?*> apiece. 
Gladioli or tuberoses costing $2 per 100 are 
sold as "Blue” and "Scarlet** at 81 and $2 
each,according to the gullibility of the victims. 
Branches of the same clique peddle from door 
to door. In fact, only lust spring one of these 
enterprising gentlemen presented to me a pic¬ 
ture of a “scarlet” tuberose one morning be¬ 
fore. I had breakfast. He left, aud that quick¬ 
ly, but he had the consummate impudence to 
go to one of my near neighborsfand tell him 
that l bad bought a dozen of the “scarlet” 
tuberoses from him, and my unfortunate friend 
fell into the trap. But he does not like to have 
any allusion made to tuberoses since! The ig¬ 
norance displayed by intelligent men and 
women in matters horticultural is perfectly 
wonderful. For the last five years there has 
been an old gentleman who gets up the appear¬ 
ance of a decent farmer who plants himself at 
the different ferries leading into New York, 
and reaps a rich harvest during the mouths 
of April anti May by selling the common cat 
brier (which he digs from the hedge-rows,) as 
the most approved new roses, and in addi¬ 
tion he has always a lot of thorough, triangu¬ 
lar branches of the sweet guru tree (Liquid- 
amber styruclllua), which lie sells as the "Al _ 
ligator Plant,” whatever that may he. It is 
reported that his sales average him 8100 a 
week for six or eight weeks. Of course, his 
wares are not only worthless, hut worse 
than worthless, because if they unfortunately 
grow it would be no satisfaction to have a 
cut, brier or a sweet gum-tree ns a floral orna- 
*ment. Readers of the Rural should be care¬ 
ful to avoid all such itinerant vendors of gar¬ 
den products, be they seeds or plants. Rest 
assured that if the hundreds of well known 
nurserymen, seedsmen and florists have not 
these wonderful novelties to offer, it is hardly 
likely that they cau be found in the hands of 
, these ignorant and irresponsible verniers. 
; Jersey City Heights, N. J. 
• Qdiral (Topics. 
THE ITINERANT PLANT AND SEED 
PEDDLER. 
PETER HENDERSON. 
About these days look out for him. As the 
sun comes to be higher in the heavens ho be¬ 
gins to ply his trade. Beginning away down 
South, as the sun advances ho gradually 
works northward until, before he dispenses his 
favors in Canada, it is well on iu May. The 
seed and plant peddler is gorgeously arrayed 
with pictures. His representations of his 
new (?) tuberoses are as scarlet as a flamingo, 
and his roses, duhlias aud gladioli us blue us 
THE GOVERNMENT SEED SHOP. 
WALDO F. BROWN. 
Commissioner Column opposed to it; morn 
care of tote; pressure for employment ; or¬ 
iginal intention of Congress; wrong seeds 
distributed at wrong seasons; farmers 
themselves must stop it. 
In October lust, when in Washington, 1 vis¬ 
ited the Agricultural Department, and went 
through the rooms where seeds are stored and 
put up for mailing. Commissioner Column 
asked me as to how farmers in general looked 
upon the Department and its work, and I told 
him frankly that the seed distribution was se¬ 
verely criticised. I cannot recall the Com¬ 
missioner’s exact language, but he gave me to 
understand that .he would be as glad as any¬ 
one to have it discontinued. The present 
chief of this bureau, Mr, King, is not only a 
gentleman of character, but also one who un 
derstauds his business, and he has introduced 
many reforms. All the seeds arc carefully se¬ 
lected and tested, and such arrangements 
have boon made for storing aud caring for 
them as to Insure their vitality. Everything 
connected with the work is done iu the build¬ 
ing—making and filling the packets, mailing, 
etc., and this is done iu order to give employ¬ 
ment to as many persons us possible. I was 
told by Mr. King that the pressure for em¬ 
ployment was tremendous, and that after gL 
ing work to everyone it was possible for him 
to employ, he was obliged to refuse scores of 
applicants, many of whom were so needy that 
it seemed cruel to do so. 
Grautiug that good seeds which will grow, 
