THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
APRIL R 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
▲National Journal for Country nnd Suburban Homes, 
Conducted by 
ELBERT B. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1SS7. 
Don’t plant the Norway Spruce or the 
Balsam Fir. 
The Blood Birch differs from the spe¬ 
cies in its purple leaves—purple in spring, 
a dark green later. 
Catalogue Notices, begun on page 243 
of the Supplement, are completed on page 
245 of the, regular sheet. 
TnosE who can afford to invest in rare 
and peculiar trees may be pleased with 
the Golden Oak— Quercus concordia 
a urea- 
We might just as well call beef, mut¬ 
ton and pork by the general name of 
“ beef ” as to call commercial fertilizers by 
the general name of “phosphates.” 
If the White Pine is objected to on the 
score that it grows too large, try the 
Dwarf White Pine. Our specimen is 16 
years old and only nine feet high. 
Regular Premium lists and posters 
will gladly be sent to all who apply for 
them. Our Special premium list, on the 
last page of the Supplement, will be ex¬ 
amined with interest. 
Schwerdler’s Maple, so often com¬ 
mended by the R. N.-Y., i§ one of the 
finest of the genus, regardless of its col¬ 
ored leaves which, in early spring, are a 
dark purple, almost, black. 
An examination of one dozen Japan 
Chestnut Seedlings raised last season 
shows that some are killed back about 
half, while others are harmed only near 
the tips. The tallest are about 15 inches 
high. 
We would respectfully advise our nur¬ 
serymen to propagate Abies Alcocquiana 
as fast as they can. It is a pity it might, 
not be called, familiarly, the “Changeable” 
Spruce, the same as certain silks arc so called 
and for a similar reason. Our specimen 
is now 13 feet high and about 10 years 
old. It is, as we believe, superior to the 
Norway in every way, except, perhaps, 
that it might not grow quite so fast. 
Something of a curiosity—to the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker, at least—comes to us 
from James Carter A Co., the London 
seedsmen, in the shape of a small box of 
black potatoes named “Cctawayo.” The 
original stock, says the above firm, came 
from Zulu land, where, it is said, this 
potato forms the staple food of the Zulus 
for a portion of the year. The flesh is 
described as of a “purplish-black color, 
the flavor very good.” It is further said 
to be an “enormous cropper, and perfect¬ 
ly free from disease.” We shall try it. 
The attention of those who have hardy 
deciduous or evergreen trees, shrubs or 
vines to buy is respectfully called to 
“Notes from the Rural Grounds,” page 
242 of the Supplement. After l i years of 
somewhat dearly bought experience, those 
which we should now prefer, if limited 
to the number mentioned, are there given 
—partly in the order of their supposed 
merits. Some of the catalogues noticed 
on pages 243 and 245 of the Supplement 
or reference to back numbers of the It. 
N.-Y., will furnish details which are ne¬ 
cessarily omitted. 
People generally seem to think that all 
ice is healthy. Many who will not touch 
city water at its normal temperature, are 
perfectly ready to drink it largely when 
cooled by ice. The popular idea is that 
the actiou of freezing destroys disease 
germs as completely as does boiling. This 
is a fatal mistake. The recent experi¬ 
ments of Dr. Prudden fully prove that dis¬ 
ease-producing bacteria may live for a 
long time in ice. We know of farmers 
who take ice from a pond just below the 
barnyard where there is little or no 
drainage. The water falls there in the fall, 
and freezes over. In the summer it dries 
up. Because the ice comes from the pond 
clear and sparkling it is supposed to be 
harmless. It is not pleasant to think that 
such ice will melt into water almost as 
foul and unhealthy as that from which it 
was taken. It will, though. 
In theR. N.-Y. of March 26 an editor¬ 
ial quoted the Director of the New York 
Experiment Station as having said that 
“corn picked when still in the milk—or 
when it is usually gathered for table use 
—can he so cured as to make the best 
seed corn. It is only necessary to hang 
it in a warm room at. a temperature of 
from 100 to 120 degrees until thoroughly 
cured.” The Director, under date of 
March 29, writes that he has never made 
anj such statement. He knows of nothing 
he has said which would “convey 
even the idea implied.” The quotation 
was made, as we remember, from some 
alleged report of a late address made by 
Dr. S urtevant, and we regret having 
given it a wider circulation. What in the 
main we desired to take exception to in 
the editorial alluded to, was Dr. Sturte- 
vant’s advocacy of curing seed corn in a 
high temperature. He states in one of his 
reports (page 73 of 1885) that corn dried 
at a high temperature—say 90 to 100 de¬ 
grees—is superior for seed uses." From 
our own experience, as before stated, we 
believe that seed corn dried in a dry at¬ 
mosphere less than 80 degrees and above 
freezing, will germinate as freely and as 
vigorously as if cured in a higher tem¬ 
perature. 
■» « » ■— 
State Weather Service. —A bill 
providing for a State Weather service in 
New York, similar to that in various oth¬ 
er States, has been introduced in the N. 
Y. Assembly. The practical effect of the 
measure, should it become a law, will be 
to put Prof. Fuertcs, of Cornell Univer¬ 
sity, in charge of the service. Prof. 
Fuertcs has given considerable attention 
to the study of meteorology. For the 
past five years lie has made weather fore¬ 
casts for Ithaca. We are informed that 
83 per cent, of these forecasts were veri¬ 
fied. The proposed service would be en¬ 
tirely non-partisan. The expense will be 
insignificant, as most of the work is to be 
done by volunteers. Tt is well known 
that almost every locality can boast of a 
“weather-seer,” who can forecast the 
weather in a surprisingly accurate man¬ 
ner. There arc also many private stations 
where men study meteorology for tlicir 
own information or pleasure. If all the 
facts and experience noted by all these ob¬ 
servers could be collected and accurately 
reduced, it is evident that many a timely 
warning concerning approaching storms 
or frosts could be given. The farmers 
would be the class most benefited. The 
proposed measure is a good one and we 
hope it will be passed. 
Our first-page picture might well 
go to our readers without a single word 
of comment. It tells its own story—tells 
it with startling force. Hundreds of 
fanners who could not be induced to read 
a long speech or essay, will study this 
picture, recognize its truth, and reason 
out its true meaning. Thousands of farm¬ 
ers are bound hand and foot just as this 
helpless giant in the picture is fastened. 
Blinded by party tics aud crippled by 
prejudice and superstition, they have 
become an easy prey for the rascals who 
live upon plunder. Every dishonest 
scamp in the country boasts of Ins ability 
to “fool the farmer,” and rob him of his 
hard-earned profits. It is easy enough to 
rob a man who is unable to move hand or 
foot. IIow readily the giant in the pic¬ 
ture could dispose of his petty assailants 
if his hands were free. They will be free. 
The Goddess of the Grange comes to the 
rescue. With Education, that mighty 
sword that has so often cut slavery to the 
heart, she cuts these hateful bonds and 
shows the giant his real power. The 
farmers must make use of this mighty 
weapon—Education. They should rule 
this country. They can do so when they 
take advantage of their possibilities. They 
must be students, business men, patriots 
and thinkers. No other class of men will 
win the battle for them. They need not 
call for help. “Who would be free, him¬ 
self must strike the blow.” 
HOPE FOR CONSUMPTIVES. 
It is estimated that about 108,000 per¬ 
sons die of consumption every year in 
this country. Treatment and change of 
climate frequently prolong the life of the 
consumptive, but no cure has hitherto 
been discovered. An experiment now 
being made at the Philadelphia Hospital 
gives higher hopes of finding a specific 
remedy for this disease than any we re¬ 
member. Articles already extensively 
published throughout the country have 
announced that cures have actually been 
effected: hut the statement, is an exagger¬ 
ation. The treatment consists of injec¬ 
tions of carbonic acid gas aud sulphuret¬ 
ted hydrogen by means of a very simple 
arrangement. It was first, practised, 
some time back,by Dr. Bergeon, of Lyons, 
France, and has been tried for seven 
weeks in Philadelphia, on 25 patients, 
mostly persons “suffering from advanced 
lesions, nearly all associated with cavities, 
marked bronchial catarrh and some 
laryngeal lesions"—severe cases all. Hith¬ 
erto the results have been the reduction 
of the fever and sweats, the lessening of 
the expectoration and the increase of 
weight. Suppuration “in the pulmonary 
cavities, and in the bronchial passages” 
says Prof. E. T. Bruen, M.D., one of the 
physicians of the hospital, “has been 
positively and promptly antagonized. 
The temperature has been reduced in a 
few days and within two weeks has been 
frequently brought to a normal point.” 
There has been a “cessation of night 
sweats in most instances, and in all this 
symptom has been remarkably lessened.” 
Where rules and “copious muco-purulent 
expectoration” have been present, “the 
rales have disappeared or have decidedly 
decreased, aud in nearly all instances the 
digestive system lias been favorably 
affected, the tongue has become clean and 
natural, the appetite has increased, and 
also the ability to assimilate and appro¬ 
priate food. In most cases the gain in 
weight has been progressive and con¬ 
siderable, and the nervous symptoms in¬ 
cident. to phthisis decidedly influenced 
for the better and a more cheerful dispo¬ 
sition secured.” 
There is scarcely a household in the 
land which has not been saddened by the 
loss of a member or relative owing to this 
deadly disease, and any fair prospect of a 
specific remedy must cause joy to mil¬ 
lions. The results hitherto attained at 
Lyons and Philadelphia encourage the 
hope that a remedial measure of much 
value has been discovered, but it will 
take a year or two, at. least, to thoroughly 
test its merits. Of Dr. Bergeon’s patients, 
even those most benefited continue to 
have slight expectoration containing ba¬ 
cilli; but in all cases the results hitherto 
obtained have been more hopeful than 
those secured by any other mode of treat¬ 
ment. 
INDEBTEDNESS OF WESTERN FARM¬ 
ERS. 
The Department of Agriculture has 
been making special investigations into 
the indebtedness of the farmers in the 
Western States. It finds that there are 
now about 5,000,000 owners of farms, and 
that 1,000,000 new farms have been ac¬ 
quired since 1880. Farms arc steadily 
decreasing in size and increasing in num¬ 
ber. In the opening of new farms by 
young men and others without capital, 
many are encumbered by mortgages, 
mostly held by Eastern capitalists, and by 
banks, insurance companies, manufactur¬ 
ers of farm machineiy. and local money 
lenders. The average rate of interest 
may slightly exceed seven per cent. 
Probably 38 per cent, of the farmers of 
Illinois are in debt, mostly for farms on 
which partial payments have been made. 
The obligations of the better class of far¬ 
mers are generally in the form of notes 
drawing from six to eight, per cent, inter¬ 
est per annum, and secured by mortgages 
on the land. The loans are usually made 
for five years, at from one-third to two- 
thirds of the cash value of the property. 
They are obtained generally from Eastern 
capitalists, through local agents, who 
charge a commission. A still larger class 
of debtors include farmers of smaller 
moans, renters and tenant farmers. Most 
of their debts are to local banks ami racr- 
ehan's—chiefly the latter, for supnlies 
needed by their families. The difference 
between the cash nnd credit prices of goods 
probably equals 10 per cent —a heavy 
Durden on the farmers of the State in¬ 
curred mostly through their own fault. 
Not over three per cent, of the farmers 
have property interests outside their 
farms. These consist of bank stock, 
town lots, and live stock ranges in Texas, 
Wyoming and Montana. Of Michigan 
farmers probably one-third are somewhat 
in debt; but usually their obligations are 
not heavy. About one-fourth of the 
farms are mortgaged for varying amounts, 
generally from one-fourth to one-half 
their value. The debts are mostly due to 
other farmers, and to a less extent to 
bankers and merchants. In the southern 
part of the State many farmers possess 
surplus capital in the form of notes, mort¬ 
gages, bank and railroad stock and inter¬ 
est in manufactures. In Indiana the in¬ 
debtedness of farmers is greatly decreas¬ 
ing, and it is estimated that not over 10 
per cent, of the farmers are in debt be¬ 
yond the amount of their credits. The 
demand for loans is less now than it has 
been at any time within the last seven 
years. In Kansas probably 20 per cent, 
of the farmers are in debt beyond the 
amount of their credits, and fully 50 per 
cent, of the farms are mortgaged; but the 
amount of indebtedness is being steadily 
lessened. Tn Nebraska farm debts have 
been reduced one-half in ten years and 
t he proportion of farms mortgaged is quite 
small. On the whole, western agriculture 
appears to be steadily throwing off the op¬ 
pressive load of debts under which it 
groaned ten to twelve years ago. 
brevities. 
Springtime. 
For the cemetery only—the Weeping Wil¬ 
low. 
The little evergreen shrub Daphne cneorum 
will please you. 
“What Others Say” may help our readers 
in choosing their rosea. 
Select your trees nnd shrubs. See cata¬ 
logue notices, pages 243 and 245. 
The most graceful of all weeping ever¬ 
greens—the Weeping Hemlock. 
As judged at the Rural 0 rounds, Alcock’s 
Spruce is t he peer of any conifer. 
The swiftest growing and poorest of the 
maples— the Silver Leaf (Acer dasycarpuni). 
The prettiest, hardy, variegated vine—the 
Variegated Honeysuckle (Lonicera brachy- 
poda aurea variegata). 
The vine that hears the prettiest fruit— 
Vitis heterophyila. Its berries are like wax, 
and as they ripen we rimy often see upon the 
same raceme green, pink aud blue. 
Tntt production of flour barrels from paper 
pulp will revolutionize barrel making. The 
new barrels are lighter, cheaper amt tighter 
than those made of staves. 
The first evergreen that the amateur falls iu 
love with upon visiting the nursery to select 
liis trees is the Balsam Fir. It ought to be the 
last. And the Norway Spruce should he 
placed at the bottom of the list. 
Do you t hink it would please you to graft a 
dozen or more different varieties of pears upon 
one tree? White, red and black grapes upon 
the same vine? Gooseberries upon currants? 
Differently colored lilacs upon one stock? 
Such curiosities interest unprofessional 
people. 
The somewhat new though rare Japan 
shrub, Xnrit.hoeeras sorbifolia, is unquestion¬ 
ably hardy iu this climate. A few seedlings 
raised last year are alive to the tips, though 
all have been thrown more or less by the 
frost. Tliis shrub will probably work its way 
into popularity. 
The Grange at Millis, Mass., decided, after 
a discussion, that the property of the town 
could be increased in value if farmers would 
set out trees by the roadside, keep sidewalks 
in order, mow the bushes by the roadside, keep 
the schools iu good condition, and sternly set 
their faces against the sale of liquor. This is 
u wise decision. Such a course could have 
but one result. Can’t it be earned out? No! 
Why not? 
We are inclined to think that the Pitch 
Silver Fir, known ns Allies Nibirieo, Abies 
Picbta and Picea I’icbta (correctly the secondi 
is a very hardy tree nnd not as liable to lose 
its lower foliagu with age as are some other 
firs. It. is a tree of medium siz.c, native of the 
mountains of Siberia, with dark-green foliage 
and of compact growth. Us growth is by no 
means ns rapid as that of the Balsam Fir. 
It is a pleasure to some t.o train certain 
kinds of bushes into standards, so that they 
form mirmture trees. The currant or goose¬ 
berry so trained or grafted is a curiosity. Iu 
this case it is a very easy thing to graft l*otb 
kinds of fruit ou the same stock. The wista¬ 
ria is a curiosity trained into a standard; so 
is the bitter-sweet. Fortune’s Forsythia is 
naturally u shrub that suckers a great deal. 
It is, nevertheless, one of the few shrubs that 
is improved by being trained as a standard. 
A GOOD school adds to the value of the pro¬ 
perty in any district. Any business farmer 
will admit the truth of this proposition. De¬ 
sirable tenants, or those who wish to buy pro¬ 
perty and build up the neighborhood, always 
want, their children cducutcd. Those who do 
not. care about, this me better left out. Every 
voter iu the district should take uu interest in 
the school. When left to ruu itself, it will 
quickly give the district a bad name. It can 
only bo unproved and maintained by constant 
watchfulness. 
A ttention is called to the Supplement for 
several reasons: First, the fnll page engrav¬ 
ing tells of Spring and its delights iu a way 
that words could not. Second: Mr. Harris’s 
third article reviewing Sir J. B. Lawes’s ex¬ 
periments, appears there. Third, our friends 
who have hardy plants to buy. may bo aided 
by reading the Notes from the Rural Grounds 
—and, last, the selections from our regular 
premium-list are such as have much pleased 
ninuy of our subscribers and agents. 
Sow lawn-grass seed as soon ns possible. If 
one has only small patches to cover, rake the 
soil to a perfect level and sow the seed as 
evenly as may be. Then rake ugain, sow 
again and rake again. The object is to se¬ 
cure a full even stuud. We regard Blue Grass 
and Red-top as the best varieties to sow. 
Many advise that « small proportion of 1 mw- 
thy seed be added for the reason that it 
sprouts before the others and therefore cov¬ 
ers the bare spots earlier. Three bushels or 
seed to, the acre of either Blue Gross or 
Rod-top are littlo.enough, 
