THE RURAL ISEW-YORIER. 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Home-. 
' Conducted by 
EtBEKT S CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 31 Park . .ow. New York. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12. 18S7. 
Bucephalus Brown’s Notions atul 
Ideas are quite sound. We want such 
men at the head of experiment stations— 
those, we mean, who have n practical, 
hand to-hand knowh dge of agriculture 
with school cducatinu enough to tell 
what they know in simple language. 
Bead what is said of the Kieffer Pear 
in our short hand report of the late ses¬ 
sion of the American Pnntological Society 
(page 751) and tell us now, friends, whether 
the Rural, the tjrst journal tosav a word 
against the high claims made for this pear 
when first introduced, was tar out of the 
way in its estimate. 
The Black Side of Farming, will be 
written up by Mary Wager Fisher in so 
far as the women folk side is concerned, 
and by Dr. T. H. Iloskius in so far as the 
men are concerned. These articles will 
he accompanied by a full-page cartoon, 
showing the dark and the bright sides of 
farming. 
The early cold in many parts of the 
North aud West has giveu many farmers 
the ‘‘Southern fever.” Beading of or¬ 
ange groves and warm zephyrs after a day 
soent in the teeth of a co.d northern 
wind, is calculated to manufacture immi¬ 
grants. During the coming winter many 
farmers will think as they have never 
thought before, about moving to the 
South in search of a new home. There 
are many good locations at ihc South and 
many places wt ere Northern men could 
live happily and profitably after a few 
years of observation and practice, needed 
to familiarize themselves with their new 
life and surroundings. No one, however, 
should be so foolish as to sell a good 
Northern home and start to the South to 
hunt up a home. The following note of 
advice from a subscriber who moved from 
the South to the North is sensible: 
“ I would advise anyone who has an attach 
of Southern fever to take bis wife and go and 
look the country over before selling anything 
for a move.” 
There has been a great deal of com¬ 
plaint among business men aud the public 
generally about a recent ruling of the 
Post Office Department, which subjects 
packages of fourth-class matter to letter 
postage if on the outside of the wrappers 
there is any writing or printing except 
the name and address of the sender, pre¬ 
ceded by the word “From.” When the 
address is on a tag even the maker’s name, 
or the fact that it is patented, must not 
appear. In some cases of late the Post 
Office has charged letter postage under 
this ruling on packages of fourth-class 
matter, because they were wrapped in old 
newspapers, and we have frequently had 
to pay extra postage on fourth-class pack¬ 
ages sent us by our subscribers, because 
there was unlawful writing or printing on 
the outside of the wrapper. The Post¬ 
master-General says the rule is contained 
in an act of Congress passed in 1871), and 
that he will recommend an amendment of 
the act in his annual report. Meanwhile, 
in sending us packages, our readers would 
do well to obseive the rule as it exists at 
present. 
Commissioner of Internal Revenue 
Miller, has from the outset been opposed 
to the national oleomargarine legislation, 
so that it is not at all surprising that in 
his forthcoming report of one year’s oper¬ 
ation of the o eo law, he shows himself 
prejudiced against it. lie says the 
law has utterly failed to restrict, the 
sale of “oleo” as designed by its origina- 
to a; that, on the contrary, it tends to in¬ 
crease its sale by providing Government 
supervision of the product, which gives 
ao official indorsement to the article open¬ 
ly sold as oleomargarine, which cannot be 
given to any article sold as butter, but 
subject to the suspicion of adulteration. 
He recommends that a reduction shall be 
made in the license tax to retail dealers, 
and suggests several other amendments 
the adoption of which would defeat all 
the purposes for which the bill was passed. 
The dairy interests of the country, as rep¬ 
resented by the National Butter, Cheese 
and Egg Association, which has been in 
session at Marshall, Iowa, during the 
week, is fully alive to the danger from the 
oleo interests during the approaching ses¬ 
sion of Congress. The association earn¬ 
estly urges farmers everywhere to impress 
their views on the subject on the Congres¬ 
sional Representatives from their districts 
and the Senators from their States. It lias 
also provided for an attorney and a com¬ 
mittee to oppose the repeal of the oleo 
law. 
The same old story ! Out of the depths 
of indebtedness the farmers of South 
Carolina are raising a cry for help of 
some sort. The Corbin Banking Com¬ 
pany of this city, and the Scotch Land 
Company, a European institution, hold 
mortgages on hundreds of thousands of 
acres of farm land in that State. The 
•mortgages are about to mature soon, and 
in nine cases out of ten the farmers are 
unable to pay anything Oil the principal. 
The rate of interest on the mortgages is 
said to be from tO to 20 per cent, and it 
is thought that many of them can he 
declared void on the. ground of usury. 
The Legislature will be urged to protect 
the unfortunate debtors; but bmv* it 
can do so is a puzzle without legislation 
violating contracts and which is certain 
therefore to be declared unconstitutional 
by the United States Supreme Court. 
Six per rent is the legal rate of interest 
in the State, but any rate may be con¬ 
tracted for in writing, and the agents of 
the Shyloeks are certain to have left no 
legal loophole for escape. The indebted¬ 
ness of the South Carolina farmers is 
incurred almost entirely for fertilizers 
and advances of money on goods “to 
make a crop.” The most exorbitant 
prices are charged for goois in advance— 
20 to 40 per cent we are tffid by the 
D pnrtment of Agriculture. The indebt¬ 
edness of the farmers in 1882amounted to 
about $12,000,000, which was reduced to 
$8,500,000 in 1885. Probably it has been 
still further reduced since then; but it 
isn’t so much the amount of indebtedness 
as the necessity for paying it that causes 
embarrassment and distress. 
NOTICE. 
r I "HIE next special will be the Thatiks- 
giving Number—20 pages with a full 
page cartoon suitab e to tlie time. The 
uext special thereafter will be the New 
Ytar Number—20 pages, including a col¬ 
ored cover—with a New Year cartoon.» 
This will also give a full index of the con¬ 
tents for 1887 and will be the last number 
of the year. 
A “ SORGHUM TRUST.” 
O NE result of the development of the 
sorghum sugar industry in Kansas is 
the proposed forma ion of a “sorghum 
trust.” It is proposed to form a com¬ 
pany in Kansas City with a capital of 
$250,000. This company won d build, 
in certain parts of Kansas, six sugar mills. 
At each point a local company would lie 
organized, tiking half the stock, while 
the Kansas City company took the other 
half. In estimating expenses and profits 
the average y ield of sorghum per acre was 
rated at 10 tons, the price to the farmer 
$2 per ton, the cost of working up the 
cane $20. and the product of the 10 tons 
$70. The farmers are asked to take slock 
in these mills, though they are to be lo¬ 
cated in towns or cities. The prospect 
of making a profit of $20 per acre is a 
bright one to many farmers who do not 
stop to consider the matter from every 
side. It is possible that a farmer living 
on the outskirts of the ci'y iu which the 
mill is located could afford to cut, strip 
and haul cane at $2 per ton. If he lives 
five miles away we do not believe he can 
afford to do it. Under the proposed sys¬ 
tem too little is paid for the cane, too 
much is paid out for salaries aud too 
much reliance is placed upon the prospec¬ 
tive profits of the enterprise to make it 
a safe investment for farmers. The pro¬ 
jectors of the scheme would like to have 
the farmers believe that a great sugar 
mill can be run on the principles that gov 
ern a en amery. They do not take into 
consideration the fact that there will he a 
vast difference between ttie cost of deliv¬ 
ering cream and dcliveritigcane. Kansas 
farmers can raise the cane required with¬ 
out. much trouble, but unless they are 
within a short distance of the mill, the 
cost of hauling will sooil the profits This 
problem of transportation is the most se¬ 
rious obstacle iu the way of sugar makers. 
INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION. 
I AST Monday the President received 
J a private Parliamentary deputation 
from Great Britain, who sought his co-op¬ 
eration in securing a treaty between that 
country and the United Sta’es to provide 
for the amicable settlement of all disputes 
by arbitration. The deputation consisted 
of 12 Members of Parliament and some 
other notabilities, and they presented a 
peace memorial signed by 282 Members 
of the House of Commons, indorsed by 
37 Members of the House of Lords, most 
of the workingmen’s organizations of 
England, several religious bodies, ard 
many prominent British celebrities, among 
them Mr. Gladstone. 
There is no doubt that, the vast body of 
English-speaking people all the world 
over wish to “ see the killing of men for 
the accomplishment of national ambition 
abolished,” and that they would “gladly 
hail the advent of peaceful methods in the 
settlement of national disputes.” Nor is 
this desire confined to people of the An¬ 
glo-Saxon race. It pervades all the 
“ masses” throughout the civilized world; 
for it is the “masses” who have to do and 
pay for the fighting; while the “classes” 
reap the glory and the profit. What a 
glorious reform in the world’s history 
would the adoption of such a system of 
international arbitration inaugurate! No 
more cruel wars, with their inevitable 
death, devastation, demoralization, hor¬ 
ror and tears! How steadily would civil¬ 
ization. with all its gentle attendants, ad¬ 
vance unchecked by the savage belliger¬ 
ency of barbarism ! When such a system 
shall prevail the world over, themillenium 
will be close at band. 
Is there any reason for believing it 
close at hand now? Never in the world’s 
history has Europe beheld such vast ar¬ 
mies or armies so murderously equipped. 
The whole continent is an entrench'd 
camp. The highest energies of every 
nation are taxed to the utmost in making 
the most careful p-eparntions for slaught¬ 
er. The flower of continental manhood is 
snatched from productive industry and 
persistently drilled into a murdering ma¬ 
chine. Far-sighted English statesmen 
and soldiers are constantly urging a great 
increase of the army and the expenditure 
of vast sums for fortifications ami im¬ 
proved fire-arms. War may break out. 
any day, and probably a war more deadly 
and extensive than any since Napoleon's 
legions bore the French eagles all over 
Europe. 
After the horrors and exhaustion of 
such a conflict people are most readily 
disposed to give favorable attention to 
plans of international arbitration. At 
the close of the Crimean war, 30 years 
ago. the great Powers of Europe, signa¬ 
tories of the Treaty of Paris, in exactly 
the terms of the English memorial, 
pledged themselves to the observance of 
an indefinite mtlleniuin, by allowing all 
future controversies between them to be 
peacefully settled by arbitration. Yet 
within a few years, before France and 
Austria warred about the Italian question 
neither proposed arbitration, nor would 
either consent to it ou the motion of a 
third party. When Prussia and Austria 
fought over the Schleswig-Holstein spoils, 
which tney had jointly wrested from Den¬ 
mark, not a thought of arbitration came 
to prevent the awful slaughter of Sadowa. 
Was there a word about arbitration 
before the French and Germans engaged 
in that furious death grapple iu 1870? If 
there is one lesson taught more strikingly 
than another by tlve history of the world, 
it is that treaty obligations arc brushed 
lightly aside when national jealousies 
and hatred are aroused, and that no 
dependence can be placed on pledges 
made by nations in time of peace honest y 
binding themselves to avert the horrors 
of war. Amid the exciting incidents and 
fierce antipathies that lead up to war 
such treaties are always scornfully nulli¬ 
fied by the nation first ready for the con¬ 
flict. 
But while a Congress or Supreme 
Court of nations for the amicable settle¬ 
ment of international controversies, tbc 
dream of statesmen and hope of phil¬ 
anthropists, appears, alas! still in the dis¬ 
tant future, its advent may well be has¬ 
tened if nations joined by tie- of kindred 
and language honestly adopt such a 
policy and maintain it under provocation. 
The present movement is in this direc¬ 
tion, and all lovers of humanity and advo¬ 
cates of the highest civilization must 
wish it God speed. 
BREVITIES. 
There does not seem to be auy reason why 
potatoes should fall in price. 
Those who would post up on celery cultiva¬ 
tion and preservation should read Mr. Fal¬ 
coner’s article on page 752. 
At this date (November 1) we have a Trim- 
ardeau pansy which measures just 2)^ inches 
across from top to bottom. 
J. Wallace Barrow, proprietor of the 
Chatham Courier, writes: “I am triad to see 
the Rural pursuing aline of steady improve¬ 
ment. It is the peer of any agricultural jour¬ 
nal, but not one in every 500 ever halt ap¬ 
preciates the work you are putting on it.” 
Pkok. Morrow, of the University of Illinois, 
says that the Rural New Yorker is one of 
the best agricultural papers iu the United 
States. “He does a good work who pays for it 
and sends it to some farmer who would not 
subscribe for himself.” 
Wk commend Prof. Morrow’s remarks con¬ 
cerning the holding of farmers’ institutes even 
on a small scale. Because we eftuuot. get aid 
from the legislature, there is no use giving up 
the idea. Start the work by holding local in¬ 
stitutes, and the State aid will be sure to 
follow. 
Now thou, if you had only packed a few 
dozen eggs in salt last summer when they 
were so plentiful, you would now be well off. 
You would have eggs euough for family use 
and still be able to sell all the hens can lay. 
That condition is what some people call 
eating coke and haviug it. 
Consider vnLE criticism has been called rut 
by Prof. A. J. Cook’s statement in a recent 
Rural tlmt Michigan was the first State to 
inaugurate farmers’ institutes. Some of iIipso 
will be found on another page, wiili Professor 
Cook’s explanation. Certain it is that the 
Mi liigan institutes started with many new 
and distinctive features and that they were 
the first to achieve anything like a permanent 
success. 
The excellent, article on celery by Mr. 
Falconer on page 752 was written before the 
author received the Rural of Oet. 2!) con- 
lainingn mollification of the plan proposed in 
this article. It is strange that the Rural 
and Mr. F. should, without,consultation, have 
hit upon plans so nearly alike in some points. 
Mr. Falconer writes that, ho lias employed this 
method of storing celery for some years aud 
succeeds well with it. 
A new weekly, devoted to landscape gar¬ 
dening, forestry aud kindred matters, will 
make its dehut about, the first of February. 
New York will he its headquarters: Prof. 
Sargent, of the Arnold Arboretum, will ho 
the general manager, and our friend W. A. 
Stiles, of the Weekly Press, the chief editor. 
We don’t know of two more capable men for 
those positions. It will, no doubt, cake a first 
rank from the start as an authority in its 
special field. 
Mrs. L, F. Baldy. of Cal., proposes to es¬ 
tablish a colony of silk eultunsts near Olden- 
ton. Autre Arundel Co.. Md.. next spring. A 
tract >f 100 acres is to be divided among 10 
colonists, and grapes as well as silk worms are 
to be raised. We have no 4'niih whutevir in 
l he success of the enterprise, exeept. per¬ 
chance, for Mrs. Baldy. None of the “silk 
colonies” hitherto established have turned out 
profitably, and grave charges of trickery, if 
not absolute dishonesty, have been strongly 
pressed against the “promoters” of some of 
them 
For a long time customs collectors at the 
various ports along the Canadian frontier 
have been charging a duty of 20 per cent, ou 
Canadian pressed hay, while the exporters 
claim that 10 per cent, duty is the utmost 
chat should be charged us hay is not a manu¬ 
factured article, and is not “specially enu¬ 
merated.” The extra duty now amounts, it 
is said, to $(100,0011. The exports this year 
are likely to be unusually heavy owing to 
good bay crops on the other side of the line 
und poor ones on this. This prospect has 
aroused opr neighbors to a keen sense of the 
importance of securing u lower rate of duty 
and recovering the excess already exacted. 
Accordingly t hey have, retained RoscocCnnk- 
liug to present the ease before the Internation¬ 
al Commission at Washington. It seems a ease 
for the United States Courts rather than for 
tlie Con i mission. 
It will bo remember?d that Inst June we 
called attention to a new contagious disease 
which was reported to have broken out among 
horses in Illinois. Veterinarians were for a 
time unable to accurately place the nature 
and history of the disease, but it is now well 
determined. Dr. Grange, of the Michigan Ag¬ 
ricultural College, has issued a bulletin giving 
a history of the disease aud the best known 
methods of handling it So far as known the 
disease has been confined to McLean aud 
DeWitt Counties in Illinois: but Dr. Grange 
thinks it is sure to spread unless prevented by 
vigilant preventive measures, and the close 
observance Of srriei quarantine on the first 
signal of danger The peculiar symptous of 
the disease, which is malignant venereal 
trouble, may not be discussed here, but all 
horsemen are * referred to Dr. Grange’s 
bulletin which presents all the facts at present 
obtainable._._ 
