THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
EZ.BHRT S. CABMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1887. 
Does it pay the farmer to use chemical 
fertilizers? If so, how much fertilizer does 
it pay to use? Suppose on each of five acres 
the farmer sows 200, 400, 600, 800, 1,000 
pounds of fertilizer. Which acre will 
give him the most profit ? It is an experi¬ 
ment which every farmer should try, even 
though the trial be made in a small way. 
We shall devote some space to the 
Dairy Show and to dairy matters gener¬ 
ally next week. A strong cartoon will 
picture the farmer’s battle against food 
frauds. On the following week we hope 
to present an interesting report of the 
more striking features of the show. The 
present indications are that it will be a 
great success in every way. We hope all 
of our readers who can possibly do so, 
will attend. Time required for their visit 
will be well spent. If they make butter 
they will find out what city people want 
and are ready to pay for. If they eat 
butter they will know what to demand of 
their butter-maker. Come! 
Several writers criticize us for de¬ 
nouncing the Balsam Fir and Norway 
Spruce. But the R. N. Y. has done no 
better work. The Norway is good 
enough in certain parts of the West for 
wind-breaks, etc., though even for this 
purpose we should prefer some of the 
pines; but it should no longer be planted 
for ornament-. The Balsam Fir is an 
abomination. The greenest, freshest of 
trees in the nursery, the beginner selects 
it at once—the nurseryman offering no 
word of disapproval. In 15 years, when 
he should most enjoy its beauty, be is 
disgusted with its unsightliness. Per¬ 
haps the best use for the Balsam Fir 
is, as the veteran Robert Douglas remarks, 
to plant it so that it may be cut away 
when the more valuable evergreens need 
the space. 
It seems to the writer of this uote that 
those who plant sweet corn early, with a 
view of marketing it as early as possible, 
while the price is remunerative, would do 
well to sow nitrate of soda at once. This 
will give the plant nitrogen from the start, 
while without the nitrate of soda, the 
plant may languish for the want, of it as 
nitrification does not occur in farm ma¬ 
nures in a low temperature. 
With a view to throwing light upon th s 
matter, wc planted a plot to sweet corn, 
using a complete fertilizer on the whole 
of it, at the rate of about 800 pounds to 
the acre. On half the plot nitrate of soda 
was sown, at the rate of 250 pounds to 
the acre. The experiment was faulty in 
one respect, viz., in not knowing the form 
of nitrogen which the complete fertilizer 
supplied. 
The largest crop of Lima beans rais'd 
last season in this section, which is fa¬ 
mous for its large crops of Limas, was 
grown at the Rural Grounds on one-tenth 
of an acre in this way:—Furrows were 
plowed four feet apart and poles stuck 
every three feet in the furrows. About 
the poles the furrows were widened or 
scooped out, and a shovelful of rotten ma¬ 
nure was thrown in and pressed down with 
the foot and covered with soil in which 
six beans (eyes down, of course) were 
planted. Three were allowed to grow, 
though the soil beingfertile it was thought 
two vines to a pole would have yielded as 
much or more. As an experiment some 
of the vines were pinched back when they 
reached four feet in bight. No advant¬ 
age followed. Many laterals were thus 
induced to grow, which seemed to retard 
blossoming and the formation and matur¬ 
ity of the beans. There was no hilling 
up whatever. 
Tiie State of Louisiana is trying to get 
rid of that incubus on her interests and in¬ 
dustries, the Cotton Oil Trust. A suit 
has been begun for an injunction prohib¬ 
iting the defendants, officers of the Trust, 
from doing business and from entering into 
any contracts or obligations for or on be¬ 
half of the organization. The appoint¬ 
ment of a Receiver is asked for to take 
charge of and wind up the affairs of the 
company, under direction of the court. 
It is also asked that the Trust be “ ad¬ 
judged guilty of usurping, intruding and 
exercising the franchises and privileges of 
a corporation without, being incorporated. ” 
The first battle in the court occurred last 
Wednesday at New Orleans. The mon¬ 
opoly had, of course, in its service a long 
array of high-priced legal talent. It is 
evident it will fight hard to retain its 
clutch on the throats of the planters in 
the Pelican State. But the State officers 
express confidence that, the justice of their 
cause will make it triumphant. 
Wouldn't it be well for the press to 
suspend wholesale condemnation of the 
Inter-State Commerce Law until it is in 
actual operation? Most of the opinions 
we have hitherto seen expressed arc ready 
rather than profound. In most journals 
the law is vigorously attacked. It is al¬ 
leged to be an absolute failure and mis¬ 
take by most, and urgent demands are 
made for its repeal. Others regard it as 
faulty and needing amendment, while 
contending for the general principle of 
railroad regulation which it embraces. 
A few maintain that it is a good thing; 
but that the railroads are trying to render 
it odious, and thus bring about its repeal. 
Beneficent legislation on railroad traffic, 
has always been regarded as a very diffi¬ 
cult problem; and the present law is of a 
tentative nature. It was never regarded 
as perfect; but surely too little is yet 
known as to its actual operation to war¬ 
rant dogmatic condemnation of its effects. 
Dissatisfaction is always active and loud¬ 
mouthed ; satisfaction is often passive and 
silent. It is very natural the former 
should vociferously condemn before the 
latter has come to a decision. 
CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS AT THE 
RURAL GROUNDS. 
Tiiere seemed very little if any reason 
why we should again repeat our experi¬ 
ments with various chemical fertilizers 
upon the same field. All the experi¬ 
ments made have shown that this soil 
needed complete fertilizers and that no 
other would materially increase the crop. 
Corn, Lima beans, melons, etc., all told 
the same story. There was scarcely any 
contradiction. We doubt if any extended 
scries of experiments ever gave such uni¬ 
formly corroborative testimony. The soil 
evidently needed all kinds of food as shown 
from the fact that" no single plant-food 
constituent, or any partial combination of 
them increased the yield materially. But 
complete fertilizers increased the yield 
whenever they were used. Our present 
field is a sandy loam, very level and free 
from stones. It is thought to be less ex¬ 
hausted than the field hitherto used for 
this work, and we therefore look for less 
decided—more contradictory results. The 
kind of potato planted is the Rural Blush. 
We have used nitrate of soda, sulphate 
of" ammonia, dissolved boneblack, sul¬ 
phate of potash, plaster, N. Y. manure, 
raw bone flour, hen manure, complete fer¬ 
tilizers, acid phosphate, muriate of pot¬ 
ash, ground fish, floats and Peruvian gu¬ 
ano separately and in all possible combi¬ 
nations. The farm manure in some cases 
was forked into the soil and the seed- 
pieces placed on top; in others the seed- 
pieces were placed on the soil and covered. 
Then the fertilizer was sown and covered 
with soil and finally the manure spread 
in the trench which was then filled with 
soil—essentially the Rural’s trench- 
mulch system, except that N. Y. manure 
was used instead of litter for the mulch¬ 
ing material. We have also repeated the 
experiments made 10 and four years ago 
of using different quantities of the same 
fertilizer in different trenches with a view 
to ascertaining what quantity may be 
most economically used. 
-• > » 
WORK ON SUNDAY. 
It is a sad fact that Sunday work among 
market gardeners and farmers generally, 
near the large cities, is increasing. In 
our neighborhood 20 years ago, Sunday 
was a day for rest. Now, during the 
summer, every Sunday, men are to be 
seen at work in the fields making up loads 
of vegetables, the same us upon week 
days. By four o’clock in the afternoon 
loaded wagons begin to pass towards the 
city, and this procession is kept up for 
the rest of the night. In some localities 
this work is so general, that worshippers 
in churches along the roads are greatly 
disturbed. This practice was begun by 
men who have apparently no ambition in 
life but to beat their neighbors, and to 
make a few extra dollars. Such men look 
upon a Sunday spent as it should be, in 
rest, thought and devotion, as so much 
time wasted. It is useless to expect much 
else from such men. The only way to reach 
them would be to bring back the strict 
old laws of the Puritans. The worst of it 
is that their influence is all for the bad. 
Younger men who have been brought up 
in Sunday Schools and under good influ¬ 
ences are led into Sunday work. Compe¬ 
tition is so close, and the gardeners’ busi¬ 
ness is so precarious, that such men are 
sorely tempted, whenever they see their 
neighbor saving a lot of melons or toma¬ 
toes by Sunday work, to follow the bad 
example. The practice is wrong from 
every point of view. The moral loss 
which comes to any community by the 
spread of such practices cannot be esti¬ 
mated. The evil results arc as certain as 
they can be. One lapse of integrity, or 
one compromise with conscience always 
paves the way for another. And, aside 
from any moral considerations, we believe 
that Sunday work entails a loss in labor. 
Every working animal upon the farm 
needs rest. For a few weeks men may be 
able to stand the strain of cons ant labor, 
day and night, but sooner or later they 
break down and are forced to resort to the 
use of stimulants and thus severely injure 
their constitutions. Sunday work, done 
simply to save a few dollars, never will 
pay. It must eventually bring a curse to 
those who perform it. There are always 
lines of farm work, as the care of stock, 
that render a certain amount of Sunday 
work a necessity, but there is no excuse 
for the work done simply to get ahead of 
a neighbor. 
ANNUAL NOTES AS TO THE CONDI¬ 
TION OF SMALL FRUITS AT THE 
RURAL EXPERIMENT GROUNDS. 
RASPBERRIES. 
WniTE Antwerp seedling (McComber’s 
No. 1)—killed nearly to the ground. Seed¬ 
ling “C” (McComber’s’) killed within 
two feet of the ground. McComber’s “A” 
killed down to three feet. Seedling “B” 
(MeComber’s) killed nearly to the 
ground. D. S. Marvin’s White Cap, im¬ 
mense growth of cane; tips only killed. 
Imperial (alias Crimson Beauty)—This 
seems to be very little injured. Beebe’s 
Golden is quite hardy. The fruit of this, 
although’sweet, is seedy, aud we do not 
regard the variety as worth having. Seed¬ 
ling “B” from Levi Bell.—The slender 
terminal branches only injured. Ranco- 
cas [killed to the ground. Bell (black¬ 
cap) from L. C. Carlord, Batavia, Ills.— 
This seems to be quite hardy, ft bears 
berries fully as large as the Nemaha or 
Gregg, but the berries are seedy and of 
low flavor. Carman—Only the slender 
tips are injured for a few inches. It is as 
hardy as any variety that we have. Seed¬ 
ling No. 21 (from Levi Bell, Orangeburg, 
N. Y.) severely injured. Seedling from 
John Smith—Some of the canes arc killed; 
others cut back about half. Seedling No. 
2 (Levi Bell) killed back about half its 
bight. Evergreen Blackberry—Some of 
these canes made a growth of 10 feet last 
year. Canes killed back to about five 
feet. This is the variety of the European 
much talked of last year. It is in a shel¬ 
tered position. Golden Queen does not 
seem to be injured at all. It is one of our 
hardiest varieties, fully as hardy as its pa¬ 
rent, the Cuthbert, It suckers immense¬ 
ly. Nemaha is hardier than the Gregg 
here. Most of the canes are, however, 
injured moro or less. Red Cluster (W. 
W. Hilborn, Ont.) is considerably in¬ 
jured. Warren (E, W. Sears, Barnes- 
ville, Ohio) is quite hardy. Springfield 
Thornless is very hardy. Caroline is in¬ 
jured considerably. Heebner (Hilborn) in¬ 
jured slightly. Christine (E. P. Roe) 
—This is killed to the ground. 
Ohio Cap is not much injured. Shaf¬ 
er’s Colossal—Large canes are much 
injured, smaller canes sprouted. Crim¬ 
son Beauty—This is considerably dam¬ 
aged in one situation, and but slightly in 
another. The plants came from A.* M. 
Purdy, Palmyra, N. Y. Meredith Queen 
(from E. J. Brownell), as usual, killed 
nearly to the ground. Hansell killed 
back considerably. This cannot be 
ranked here as one of the hardiest of rasp¬ 
berries. Marlboro is nearly killed to the 
ground. This variety cannot be ranked 
among the hardiest raspberries here, 
though reported hardy in many places 
further north. Superb, growing near the 
Marlboro, has not suffered as much as 
that variety. Reliance has suffered just 
about as much as Marlboro. This was 
sent to us by Clias. A, Green, of Clifton, 
N. Y. The Earhurt Everbearing has 
passed the winter without noticeable in¬ 
jury. The canes arc very strong and it is 
leafiug out among the earliest. Hilborn, 
from W. W. Hilborn, Arkona, Ont., has 
beeu killed back somewhat. 
Blackberries. —We are glad to say 
that Early Harvest, which is reported ten¬ 
der north of us, has again passed the 
winter without material in jury. Bangor, 
from Chase Bros., Rochester, N. Y., is 
a semi-recumbent variety. It. is thus far 
hardy. Erie (J. T, Lovett) is not in¬ 
jured. The Snyder, as usual, is alive to 
the tips. Topsy (J. T. Lovett.) is hardy. 
Lucretia Dewberry needs protection. 
Crystal White killed nearly to the 
ground. Thornless (from L. Itocseh, 
Fredonia, N. Y.) is hardy. Agawam is 
hardy. Bonanza (J. T. Lovett) is hardy. 
This and Agawam have immense canes. 
Early Cluster (John 8. Collins) is alive to 
the tips. Wilson, Jr., contrary to our 
expectations, has not suffered. Taylor is 
alive to the tips. Tts very green stalks 
arc character.stic. Kittatinny the past 
winter has not. suffered at all. The season 
has been easy upon blackberries, but hard 
upon raspberries. 
Grapes. —We do not find that any of 
our 60 different kinds of grapes have been 
injured by the past winter. 
Strawberries. —To report upon one 
is to report upon all. Not one variety 
has been injured. 
brevities. 
Paris-green for the curculio. See Mr. 
Goff’s article. Who have tried this remedy? 
What are the results? 
Many of the farmers in the neighborhood 
of the Rural Grounds (Bergeu Co., N. J.) 
planted sweet corn this year as early as April 
12. They know that, should the season prove 
favorable they will get an earlier crop foe 
market. If the season prove unfavorable 
they lose their seed and their work goes foe 
naught. They think they can afford to takr 
the risk. 
The suggestion has been made that the De- 
artment of Agriculture should prepare a 
andy pamphlet on oleomargarine, telling 
bow and where it. is made, how it differs from 
butter, and how it can lie detected. The pro¬ 
posed work would be a popular epitome of 
whut. has been published on the subject. Wo 
hone the book will bo published and given the 
widest distribution. It will do good. 
The French have a terror of a bull dog. 
There Is a law iu Paris which states “no dog 
of the race bmdc dognv or u crossed boule 
dogv.e shall go out at large in the street or in 
public places. Inside house s these dogs must 
always bo kept in with a string or muzzle” 
This is a wise provision. The bull dog is the 
most cruel of all domestic animals. IIo makes 
a fearful watch-dog. lie springs silently and 
desperately upon the visitor. lie is an object 
of terror for women and children. He has no 
place on the farm. For watching a small dog 
with a large bark Is far preferable. The bull 
dog should bo classed as a “dangerous animal.” 
Tub fact is betrayed by the letter of a 
mother iu tills city to the Board of Health that 
the foolish habit of eating nrseuie is carried 
on bv women to ail alarming extent. The 
silly females eat the poison iu small doses to 
“Improve their complexion.” “Arsenic 
wafers,” containing a t race of tho poison, are 
in great demand among tho arseuiO-uating 
females. The arsenic eater is as hopelessly 
lost as tho opium eater. The craving for tho 
poison grows upon one. It is a wretched, sin¬ 
ful, cursed habit. Strange that wotneu can¬ 
not see that the fane which honest, men most 
admire is only produced by healthful exercise 
and ft study of the law’s of health. 
Wk aim to plant potatoes as near 
April 10th as may be, and have nor 
varied three days either way in 10 years that 
we can recall.except when sickness or absence 
prevented. Some of our neighbors plant 
earlier. Our aim is to plant us early as post 
sible and yet have the vines appear above 
ground not until killing frosts are improbable. 
Frosts that harden lliu surface ground do not, 
it is true, kill the shoots more thau an inch or 
so beneath the surface, but the shoots have 
scarcely formed roots as yet and the seed- 
pieces are partially exhausted, so that a check 
is experienced from which the viues, as wo be¬ 
lieve, never fully recover aud tho crop is 
therefore lessened. 
People arc over ready to cry out against 
food adulterations. Some who cry the loud¬ 
est do most to encourage the vile business. 
Let some cheap .John come into a town and 
offer goods far below the prices asked by 
honest merchants who have done nu honor¬ 
able business tor yean. The mosses go to the 
cheap store, where goods are sold so low that 
any sensible person would know they cannot 
be first-class. Tho older merchants are uot 
infrequently driven out of business, or forced 
to haul 11c cheaper goods by such competition. 
Pure goods have got to cost more than adul¬ 
terated goods. Until the public are ready to 
sustain honest dealers with honest prices there 
is little use iu passiug anti-adulteration laws. 
The California College of Agriculture has 
been quietly conducting a seed and plant dis¬ 
tribution of its own. Duriug the year closing 
April 1st. 631 orders wen* received from those 
who desired the distribution. These orders 
come from nearly all thoeountiesof the State. 
Those who order are required to forward a 
small amount, of money, to pay for packing 
and shipping, aud to promise to test the seeds 
or plants carefully and report results. Par¬ 
ticular attention has been paid to grasses and 
forage plants, and textiles An effort fa made 
to induce a substitution of poretitilnl grasses 
for the annuals which are fast running out 
under close pasturing. Seeds of Schrader’s 
Brome Grass, Millet Grass, Japan Clover aud 
Kaffir Corn have been sent out. This seems 
like an excellent plan. If the Seed Distribu¬ 
tion could be localized in this way, it could bq 
made far more valuable than it now is, 
