FEB 4B 
414 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes, 
Conducted by 
ELBERT 6. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. S4 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1887. 
Bach Numbers of the Rural New- 
Yorker arc exhausted. Subscribers arc 
respectf ully requested to renew promptly. 
NOTICE Is respectfully given that all potatoes, 
plants or seeds to be tested at the Rural Grounds 
should be addressed to the Editor of the Rural 
New-Yorker, River Edge, Bergen Co., Now Jersey. 
At a recent meeting the Nebraska State 
Horticultural Society put itself on record 
as against the government seed shop by 
the passage of the following resolution: 
“Resolved. by the Nebraska State Horti¬ 
cultural Society, that in its opinion the 
annual seed distribution made by the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture at Washington 
should be discontinued.” 
With the general conviction which pre¬ 
vails throughout the country of the worth¬ 
lessness of the government seed distribu¬ 
tion as heretofore conducted, it does seem, 
comments the Fanners’ Review, as if a 
stop might be put to the foolishness. 
A new poster, “The Farmer Supplying 
the World,” will be sent to all who apply 
for it, together with an account of the 
Rural’s seed distribution, premium-lists 
and specimen copies, to aid our friends in 
forming clubs. 
From the number of inquiries we arc 
receiving about nitrate of soda, we must 
caution our friends to use it judiciously. 
And what does “judiciously” mean? It 
means that nitrate of soda alone will im¬ 
poverish your land. It means that it 
should never be used and that it never can 
be used profitably, unless the land is al¬ 
ready well supplied with mineral consti¬ 
tuents—potash and phosphoric acid. It 
means that it may be profitably used when, 
the laud being rich, we desire to forward 
early crops. Remember it dissolves with 
the first rain and is at once plant food. 
Most of that which the current crop does 
not use is lost. 
Beginning east with the rows running 
north and south, or beginning south with 
the rows running east and west, plant first 
the American Wonder Pea; second (the 
rows three feet apart) any of the first and 
best smooth pens; third, Stratagem; fourth, 
Champion of England. All will need 
brushing except the Wonder. These will 
give peas from early June until the middle 
of July if planted the same day. Tele¬ 
phone may well be added to the list and 
planted between Stratagem and Champion 
of England. A second planting may be 
made later. For this we should select the 
Wonder for a dwarf wrinkled, and Abun¬ 
dance or Everbearing or both. They don’t 
differ essentially. 
And now we have parted with our last 
Wvandottos— regretfully too. We regard 
them now, as hitherto, as the very best 
all-purpose fowls in existence. They ma¬ 
ture early; are heavy for their size; are 
compact, meaty: are good winter layers, 
yes, among the very best, and peaceable. 
They endure confinement well; they are 
hardy and healthy. What are their 
faults? They have just about oue. The 
Wyandoite lays an egg somewhat under¬ 
size. We are now trying the Langshans, 
as already stated. Our next venture will 
be with the “Patagonian” and the Blaek 
Javas. We attempted to try the latter 
several years ago, but the few chicks 
hatched out proved to be a poor lot. 
The oleomargarine makers and dealers 
think they arc mightily abused because 
they have to pay a tax on their stuff. 
They get off remarkably easy for a crowd 
that have injured one of the chief indus¬ 
tries of the country as they have. They 
ought to go to Persia and work against 
an industry of that country. The Shah 
found that the use of aniiiuc dyes was in¬ 
juring the reputation of Persian fabrics. 
These dyes were cheap but they 
lowered the standard of Persian car¬ 
pets. The Shall at once decreed that 
any weaver found using these dyes should 
have his hands nailed up over his door. 
The use of the dyes comes to an abrupt 
end, and one of the staple industries of 
Persia is sustained. Our o'eomargarine 
people should be thankful they do not live 
in Persia. 
The Hatch Biel.— Since the passage 
of the Hatch Bill by the Senate, its 
friends are greatly encouraged. It is now 
thought that the House will pass it, 
though its passage is by no means fully 
assured. As amended by the Senate, the 
bill is stronger than before. The idea is 
clearly brought out that the appropria¬ 
tions called for are annual ones, which 
can be held back in case of any misappro¬ 
priation of the funds. It is sincerely to 
be hoped that the measure may be given 
a fair and honest trial. As we have fre¬ 
quently stated, the stations, rightly con¬ 
ducted, are needed; our only fear has 
been that the bill would not be made 
strong enough to guard against a misap¬ 
propriation of the funds. 
NOTICE. 
All subscribers who desire the Rdral’s 
Seed Distribution must apply for it. 
Hitherto we have not required those who 
subscribe for the Rural in connection 
with other papers to make an application. 
This has caused confusion. It is only 
necessary to say “Send seeds.” 
Vote for Temperance. —Voters in 
several States will have a chance to ex¬ 
press their wishes on the temperance ques¬ 
tion this Spring. The question of prohi¬ 
bition will be submitted to the people. 
Iu States where a majority of the popula¬ 
tion desire it, prohibition can be enforced. 
All good temperance men desire ultimate 
prohibition. They have no use for li¬ 
quors, which they rightly consider respon¬ 
sible for 90 per cent, of crime. Temper¬ 
ance men may differ as to the way they 
propose to drive liquor out of existence, 
but they have all one ultimate object, viz: 
the doing away with liquor and its pernic¬ 
ious influence. Attend the Spring elections. 
Let every temperance mau w ho has cour¬ 
age enough to back up bis ballot with his 
moral influence, vote against liquor. The 
man who proposes to vote for the law and 
then sneak away from the responsibilit¬ 
ies he assumes as a defender of his ballot, 
had better not vote. 
* ♦ ♦ 
Heating Railroad Cars. —The fright¬ 
ful railroad accident in Vermont last week 
sent a shudder of horror all over the 
country. Roasted alive! The majority 
of those who meet death in these acci¬ 
dents arc literally roasted to death. They 
arc either crippled so that they cannot 
crawl away, or they are pinned by broken 
seats held directly iu the fire. When¬ 
ever stoves are used for heating on 
wrecked cars, these horrible fires break 
out. How can ears be heated so that this 
dreadful loss of life can be prevented? 
This is one of the most important ques¬ 
tions of the day. A fortune awaits the 
inventor who shall solve the problem. 
AVe have heard in times past much about 
steam heating for railroad cars. This sys¬ 
tem practiced on the elevated roads of 
this city is fairly successful. But even 
here, with very short trains and trips, and 
no baggage cars, in coldest weather the 
connecting pipes have frozen. Railroad 
men on competiffg lines, who would be 
first to introduce any feature that would 
add to the safety or comfort of their pa¬ 
trons, say that steam heating is impossi¬ 
ble on long journeys in cold weather. 
The plan favored by some experts is to 
have the stove inclosed in an iron room 
or box which shall be perfectly closed 
and so strongly made that it would be im¬ 
possible for the stove to break out. Rail¬ 
road officials owe it. as an imperative du¬ 
ty to the public to devise some means of 
providing heat, that will not. add such hor¬ 
rors to accidents on the rail. 
- 
THE COTTON OIL TRUST OPPRESSION. 
The incubus of the Cotton Oil Trust 
monopoly is still grievously onpressing 
Southern cotton planters. The receipts 
of cotton seed in New Orleans this season, 
accord ng to late advices, are only 700,000 
sacks against 1,153,000 for the same pe¬ 
riod last year, a falling off of 40 per cent, 
although the receipts of cotton have been 
much larger. The. receipts of cotton-seed 
meal from the interior points have also 
fallen off and the exports of oil are less 
than half last year’s shipments. The 
planters refuse to sell for the pittance of¬ 
fered, and the supply is drawn chiefly 
from the renters and tiro poor whites and 
negroes who cultivate small patches and 
are willing to sell at almost any price. 
The highest prices are paid by feeders of 
cattle and sheep, and a great deal of the 
seed is used as a fertilizer and to feed the 
animals on the plantation on which it was 
raised. 
Meanwhile this oppressive monoply is 
steadily extending its facilities for mis¬ 
chief. One of its own organs says that 
the total issue of certificates to date 
amounts to $40,000,000, aud estimates its 
net earnings for the fiscal year closing 
May 31, at from $3,900,000 to $4,000,000. 
By that time it is expected to possess four- 
fifths of all the cotton-seed mills in the 
country and nine-tenths of the refining 
capacity, besides “a commanding position 
in the lard and soap industries,” As in 
lire case of the twin monopoly, the Stand¬ 
ard Oil Company, great care* is taken to 
withhold from the public all information 
about the real condition of the company. 
Whatever information is voluntarily given 
out by either is certain to be designed 
either to mislead or to advance some 
strictly selfish object. In tlic pres¬ 
ent. instance the above figures are doubt¬ 
less intended to raise the price of the cer¬ 
tificates lately thrown upon the market. 
The real capital stock is supposed to be 
not over $6,000,000 or $10,000,000 at 
most; the rest of the $40,000,000 is “wa¬ 
ter”—pure water, if the word “pure” can 
be applied to so foul an inflation. Ac¬ 
cording to the above figures, however, it 
appears there was a profit of $8 a ton or 
more above all expenses on the entire 
quantity of cotton seed used in oil manu¬ 
facture during the season; while the high¬ 
est price now offered for seed on the river 
bank below Vicksburg is only $9 a ton, 
and much less is given for the great bulk 
of that purchased. A profit ot four mil¬ 
lions on a watered capital of forty millions 
would be an annual profit of 10 per cent., 
or a profit of 40 per cent, on the highest 
estimate of the actual capital invested. 
Before tbe establishment of this mo¬ 
nopoly, while the mills were in the hands 
of competing individual owners, the lat¬ 
ter made a fair profit; the planters got 
fair prices for their seed, and the whole 
South and indeed the world at large se¬ 
cured a great advautage from the utiliza¬ 
tion of a product previously considered 
of little or no va'ue Nowadays this 
odious monopoly, while making exorbi¬ 
tant profits even on its grossly watered 
capital,is paralyzing the business,oppress¬ 
ing the producers, and for unjustly sel¬ 
fish ends, injuring the interests of the 
world at large. Never before lias any 
corporation so decidedly antagonized and 
embittered the interest on which it de¬ 
pends for the purchase of its raw mater¬ 
ials and the sale of its finished products. 
What is the country going to do about it? 
BREVITIES 
Remember, the Early Harvest Blackberry 
is tender north of New York city. 
Wk should not plant the Champion Quince 
north of New York. It is too late. 
Our last cartoon has given much satisfac¬ 
tion. Farmers appreciate what they might 
do in politics, but the point is, how can they 
do it? 
TnE new “Perpetual-flowering Weeping 
Fuchsia, Ktorm King,” is said to be the “choic¬ 
est flowering plant utid the greatest flo: nl nov¬ 
elty of the times.” 
Tite so-called “Japan Giant” Chestnut is 
raised from seeds, and is not, as its name im¬ 
plies, a variety propagated by grafting. It 
will therefore prove as variable as other chest¬ 
nut seedlings. 
Wk have no doubt whatever that boor-sell¬ 
ing as well as horse-racing and every form of 
gambling will, under the new management, 
be prohibited at the fairs of the New York 
State Agricultural Society. Wo wish that 
every agricultural fair would follow the ex¬ 
ample. 
The white ash, catalpa and the soft maple 
are mentioned by Prof. Popetioo us the three 
kinds which buve succeeded best in t he several 
groves planted some vears ago on the farm of 
the Kansas Ag. College. The land is high 
and dry. The evidence of neighboring plan¬ 
tations shows Hit- equal importance of the 
black walnut on lower and richer soil. 
Ok our garden t tuck last year, sweet corn 
paid the best. Tomatoes wore slow, yet they 
nil sold. Many gardeners never raise tomatoes. 
AVe al ways want a fair patch. In the long run 
a good variety o! vegetables w ill pay. AVe 
can hold customers hotter aud have a small 
slice of whatever is at the top of the market. 
The “American Agricultural and Daily 
Associat ion” was m session in this city for two 
days during the past week. On the day that 
we attended the meeting there were30 persons 
present. So far as we could judge, the great 
majority of thorn were dealers in dairy goods 
and politicians, with a liberal sprinkling of 
idlers from the hotel lobbies. Congressman 
Hatch made a strong speech ana various 
strongly worded resolutions were adopted. 
There are pansies and pansies, and pansy 
culture and pansy culture. For many years 
wo have taken pains to procure seeds of .the 
finest strains, but we never, until las 
year, gave the plants the culture they needed 
and we were never more amply rewarded for 
our pains. A rich, mellow soft and water as 
needed. That w r as the secret—if secret it may 
be called—of our splendid success. AVe lmd 
pansies, largo and of all colors and combina¬ 
tion of colors from spring until nearly winter. 
The poet touched the truth when he sung: 
“All you can hold Iu your dead, cold hand, 
Ih what you have given away." 
Think it over. In makiug up the list of good 
performances for tbe year, don’t forgot char¬ 
ity. It makes no difference if you haven’t got 
much money. The most valuable things are 
those that money never could buy. You can 
be good-natured and kind, and. best of all, 
you can give a good example. All these little 
things help fill up the handful. 
So far ns we are at present aware, all of the 
Japan chestnut, trees offered for sale are seed- 
tin ijs—that is, they arc not, grafted with any 
variety known to be hardy and to bear large 
nuts of good quality. Wo know of several 
nurserymen who are propagating such varie¬ 
ties after having tested them thoroughly; but 
their stock is not yet large enough to sell 
from. The nuts planted last spring at the 
Rural Grounds were two inches In their larg¬ 
est diameter. They were imported and the 
quality was inferior, 
A determined effort is being made to hold 
a spleudid dairy show in Madison Square Gar¬ 
den in this eitv next April, and a guarantee 
fund of #20,000 is reported to have been sub¬ 
scribed by prominent New Yorkers. It will 
be limited exclusively to exhibits of dairy 
products together with dairy apparatus of all 
kinds. No bogus dairy products will be tol¬ 
erated. AVe have had so much clan-trap 
talk about “International Dairy Shows” here, 
and have seen what humbugs some of them 
were, that there is a genuine satisfaction in 
announcing what promises to be a genuine 
dairy exhibition. 
At several provision stores we see signs 
bearing the words “White Leghorn Eggs.” 
prominently displayed Commission men tell 
ns that those large, fine-looking eggs sell at bet 
ter figures than any others in this market. We 
notice the same thing at the retail markets at 
Paterson aud other places. This is partly ow¬ 
ing to the good size of Leghorn eggs and to 
their beautiful white color. Many customers 
have a curious idea that an egg grows brown 
as it becomes stale, and that the legitimate 
color of n fresh-laid egg of any breed is pure 
white. In Boston the rage is for brown eggs. 
Those who think they know consider them 
richer than white eggs. 
TnE new secretary of the New York Htute 
Board of Agriculture has been requested by 
the executive committee t,o respond to any in¬ 
vitations from farmers’ clubs and societies to 
meet with them and consult on the best plans 
for awakening more interest among farmers. 
This Is a good move and farmers’ clubs should 
take advantage of it.. The new management 
of the State Agricultural Society seem dis¬ 
posed to push matters. We are glad of it. and 
we call upon farmers’ organizations to give 
them every chance to build up the agricultural 
interests of the State. The mass of farmers 
have heretofore drifted away from the State 
society simply because, there was nothing about 
it to attract, them. Now we have a chance to 
work together. Let us improve it. 
The United Barb Wire Company, including 
all the firms (numbering about 50) that are 
licensees of the AVashhum-Mnen barbed wire 
monopoly, was incorporated about a year ago 
and held its second annual convention at 
Chicago the other day. It appeal’s that for 
four years they have been trying to regulate 
production so as to keep up prices, and now 
they “have got the matter where they want 
it.” Accordingly a motion to make a general 
advance of from five to 10 percent,, in the 
price of wire was unanimously adopted. The 
pool is also about to cooperate with the 
Smooth Wire Association so ns to curtail the 
output of both smooth and barbed wire fenc¬ 
ing. so ns to lie able, hand in hand, to bleed 
the farmers and stock owners of the nation. 
Well, what, are the farmers aud stockowners 
of the nation going to do about it ? Several 
conflicting decisions us to the validity of the 
chief patents owned by the monopoly have 
been rendered by the United States Circuit 
and District Courts, but owing to the over¬ 
stocked condition of t he docket of the Supreme 
Court, nod the leiHurelj mode in which tin mem¬ 
bers work, no decisive decision has yet been 
reached. Hence the monopoly is permitted to 
continue its exactions in nearly all parts of 
the country. 
“ What shall we do with our immigrants?” 
is again a question that in troubling the He¬ 
brews of the country. During the pnst two 
years hi,IKK) Jewish immigrants have arrived 
in New York, HO per cent, of them are still 
here and there is a certainty thut many more 
will coma this spring. For their relief a well 
organized colonization schema is proposed, 
with the first Hebrews of the country at its 
head. On their arrival the immigrants are to 
be forwarded at once to one of flu 1 Jewish ag¬ 
ricultural settlements. Of these there are 
now over nine — two in New Jersey at 
A inelnnd and Carmel), both flourishing and 
having already 100 families engaged in hus¬ 
bandry and in factory: five in southern Kan¬ 
sas at Lasker in Ford County: Gilead. Touro 
and Leeser in Finney County: Hebron in Bar¬ 
ber County, mid two in Dakota at Painted 
Woods and Crernicux. besides other scattered 
colonies, in all sonic 500 to 600 families. These 
colonists have either become actual settlers or 
taken up by pre-omptiou Government lands, 
and are engaged in agrie nit oral pursuits No 
race can adapt themselves to circumstances 
more readily than the Hebrew The Hebrews 
of old were pre-eminent for their management 
of farms, flocks anil herds. For centuries, ’tis 
true, they have been engrossed chiefly by 
trade. Circumstances forced them in this di¬ 
rection. AVhv should not the Hebrew of’to-day 
“hark back” to that, characteristic of his re- 
motejanoestons* whicli’Tnud!j , *thoir'land “flow 
with milk and honey ?” 
