FES 4 
THE 
RURAL- NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Home 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. S4 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1«&8. 
The next number of the R. N.-Y. will 
be given up in considerable part to the 
consideration of manures and fertilizers. 
Awaiting publication is a well consid¬ 
ered article by Joseph Harris on “A Few 
Words About the Postal Laws.” 
Tiie illustrations, drawn from nature, 
of horns sawed from cattle of various ages, 
shown upon the first page of this issue, 
should interest those who keep cattle, and 
throw some light as well upon several 
questions which are now being discussed 
as to the desirability or judiciousness of 
dehorning. 
In last week’s Rural a correspondent 
started the discussion relating to the 
Weather Bureau. Do farmers want any 
help from the Signal Service? Do they 
know of any way by means of which the 
signals could be placed within range of 
their vision before the promised storm or 
cloudy day announced itself in person, so 
to speak? These are questions that can¬ 
not be answered by those who live away 
from the farm. Let us hear what farm¬ 
ers want. The authorities are prepared 
to do all they can to satisfy the public. 
Let them know what will suit. 
Beaverton, Ontario, Can.—I would 
like to get the address of the station of-* 
fering $1,000 for a proof of wheat turning 
to chess. I am confident that I can tell 
them how to show the change before 
their own eyes, and I don’t want the 
money till it is proved to satisfaction. If 
the Rural will undertake it, I will do it 
for half price, and if I fail I will get as 
many new subscribers as will pay for the 
trouble, etc. w. e. t. 
The Rural New-Yorker will pay 
$500 for the positive proof that wheat 
turns to chess or chess turns to wheat. 
Tiie recent hanging of the murderer 
Driscoll, in this city, has again started 
the discussion as to whether the gallows 
is the most humane instrument for inflict¬ 
ing the death penalty. If we are to con¬ 
tinue to inflict capital punishment, death 
should touch the prisoner quickly. We 
want no torture in this country; a swift, 
silent, mysterious death that would ren¬ 
der impossible the harrowing details with 
which sensational newspapers surround 
us, would strike terror to the hearts of 
the criminal classes. Electricity seems 
to be the best agency yet proposed. Last 
year the N. Y. State Legislature appoint¬ 
ed a committee to inquire into the various 
methods of taking life. This committee 
has made a unanimous report favoring 
electricity. 
Last week we ate a piece of beef that 
had been packed in snow for more than a 
month. The flavor was delicious. The 
beef was packed during a comparatively 
warm spell. The only snow to be ob¬ 
tained was the remains of a drift under a 
shady bank. A quantity of this snow 
was placed at the bottom of a barrel and 
w T ell pounded down. A piece of the meat 
was placed upon the snow and then more 
snow firmly packed around it. The bar¬ 
rels stood in the barn and the meat has 
kept in perfect condition. If the snow 
had melted the meat would have been 
placed at once in brine. There is noth¬ 
ing new about this process, yet there are 
lenty of farmers within five miles of the 
arn in which this meat was kept, w T ho 
buy small pieces of Chicago dressed beef, 
because they “can’t keep meat fresh.” 
The great human mortality caused by 
the Western blizzards has for a time ren¬ 
dered people indifferent to the heavy mor¬ 
tality that must have occurred among the 
live stock exposed to the fiercest force of 
the blast on the unsheltered plains. More¬ 
over, the heavy snows on the ground pre¬ 
vented thousands of the poor beasts in 
their enfeebled condition from reaching 
the scanty herbage. Great as has been the 
mortality among cattle in past winters, it 
must be greater this, to judge by the ac¬ 
counts which have already reached us. 
The enormous extent of the visitation as 
well as its extreme severity and its long 
continuance must be extremely disastrous. 
Accounts of great losses come from all 
parts of the country between the Canad¬ 
ian line and the Gulf. In nearly all this 
region the cold was unprecedentedly se¬ 
vere. The blizzard began in Dakota on 
January 12, and this morning’s telegrams 
inform us that the cold is still extreme, 
and that there have been but slight inter¬ 
missions since the frigid spell set in. Al¬ 
ready some failures are announced among 
the large cattle companies, notably that of 
the Union Cattle Company, one of the 
largest in Wyoming,with assets said to be 
worth $2,000,000 and liabilities of $1,250,- 
000. The heavy losses of this winter among 
range cattle, following those of last, ought 
to have a serious effect on the price of beef 
cattle. How soon will this effect be felt 
in the markets of the country? 
The old and successful Western New 
York Horticultural Society on January 26 
voted unanimously to change its name to 
that of New York State Horticultural 
Society, at the same time enlarging its 
scope so as to include the whole State. It 
was also voted to hold quarterly meetings, 
locating each at some point where the 
members were invited, and among those 
deeply interested in some particular field 
of horticulture, as, for instance, one in 
the Lake Erie grape region; one in the 
Hudson River fruit fields, etc., etc. This 
is an important step, greatly widening 
the work of the Society, and extending 
its beneficent influence, and should draw 
to it all the lovers of fruits and flowers 
throughout the entire State. It was with 
great reluctance that this change was 
made, and only at the urgent solicitation 
of the members of a number of kindred 
societies, who greatly desired to become 
affiliated with some central and more pow¬ 
erful organization. Mr. Barry was again 
elected President, and was presented 
by the members with a very beautiful sol¬ 
id silver, gold-lined fruit dish. This was 
a very well deserved memento of love 
from the members to one who has done so 
much for the success of this society. 
Here and there in most parts of the 
country, speakers at farmers’ institutes 
and farmers’ clubs are reported to speak in 
glowing terms of sorghum as a profitable 
cTop for sugar making. When all the ne¬ 
cessary expensive machinery and other 
appliances are at hand, and practical skill 
and experience are there to make use of 
them, the business will probably prove pro¬ 
fitable even without a State or National 
bounty; but it is too early yet to advise 
anybody to raise sorghum for sugar with 
any idea of making a profit out of the 
venture where these conditions are not 
present. At the large works at Rio 
Grande, New Jersey, and Fort Scott, 
Kansas, we are assured sorghum sugar 
was profitably made the past season; but 
the “plants” at both places are the most 
costly in the country and at both places 
the years of trial have given the manu¬ 
facturers exceptional skill,and then again 
N ew Jersey and Kansas are the only States 
thgt have hitherto offered a bounty for 
sugar from sorghum,and the bounty alone 
would be a fair profit. Probably the 
day may soon come when sugar can be 
profitably made from sorghum wherever 
sorghum thrives; but that day is yet 
some distance in the future. It is well to 
be enthusiastic at any fair prospect for 
agricultural development; but very un¬ 
wise to let one’s enthusiasm run away 
with sound judgment in a purely business 
matter. 
■ 
Last Wednesday the House Commit¬ 
tee on Agriculture had up for considera¬ 
tion the bill to create an executive De¬ 
partment of Agriculture and Labor. It 
is substantially the same as that which 
received the approval of Congress at the 
last session, but failed to receive the sig¬ 
nature of the President, owing to the 
late hour at which it was passed. All 
the provisions of the bill received the 
committee’s approval, on Wednesday, 
except the fifth section, which relates to 
the Bureau of Labor, and a subcommittee 
was appointed to confer with the Com¬ 
missioner of Labor to ascertain his views 
with regard to this section. All the 
predecessors of the present Commissioner 
of Agriculture have been strongly in favor 
of such a measure; but Commissioner 
Colman has said that he does not think 
the change would be of any special ad¬ 
vantage to thfe agricultural interests of 
the country. Many prominent non-agri- 
cultural papers and a few prominent agri¬ 
cultural writers are of the same opinion, 
and all maintain that the farmers of the 
country are either indifferent or opposed 
to the measure. Scarcely a single impor¬ 
tant convention of agriculturists, cattle¬ 
men or flockmasters, of farmers’ organi¬ 
zations of any kind, or of agricultural 
professsors or scientists has met within 
the last half-a-dozen years, however, at 
which resolutions were not passed advo¬ 
cating the elevation of the head of the 
Department of Agriculture to a Cabinet 
position. The bill is likely to pass at the 
present session of Congress, unless the 
farmers of the country show great luke¬ 
warmness with regard to it, or absolute 
opposition to it. 
SOUND FEET. 
S ound Feet I Not only for horses but 
for men. Next to care of the stom¬ 
ach, care of the feet will do most to re¬ 
duce physical misery and promote rapid 
and satisfactory farm business. Every¬ 
body knows how the value of a horse’s 
work is reduced by sore feet. Nobody 
yet saw a man who was able to do a full 
man’s work while suffering from corns, 
frosted feet or shoe-disfigurements. Old 
soldiers know that a good proportion of 
every army is prevented from efficient 
service by badly-fitting shoes. Most feet 
are crippled in winter. Neglect in pro¬ 
viding proper warmth, proper cleanliness 
and properly fitting boots or shoes makes 
the farmer miserable and reduces his ca¬ 
pacity for work. We like a pair of large 
rubber boots that can be worn if necessary 
with two pairs of stockings for work in 
snowy and wet weather. For summer 
work in dry weather we believe a high, 
heavy shoe is the best foot covering. 
Lumbermen in northern Michigan wear 
thick, “felt boots” and heavy rubbers, 
which keep the feet perfectly warm. There 
is nothing warmer in cold weather. Fre¬ 
quent washing of the feet and bathing in 
cold water with a perfect drying after¬ 
ward are excellent precautions during this 
weather. The oft-repeated medical ad¬ 
vice. “Keep your feet warm, your head 
cool and your bowels open” cannot be 
improved upon, particularly at this sea¬ 
son. 
INTERNATIONAL POSTAL CONVEN¬ 
TION WITH CANADA. 
W hile a satisfactory adjustment of 
the fishery troubles with Canada as 
well as a commercial treaty on a liberal 
basis would give great satisfaction and 
be of advantage to thousands of people 
in both countries, it is certain that the 
new postal convention lately concluded 
between the two countries and signed by 
the President on Thursday, will be of 
more interest and convenience to a vastly 
greater number of people on both sides 
of the line. By this convention articles 
of every kind, which are admitted to the 
domestic mails of either country, will be 
admitted at the same rates of postage and 
under the same conditions and classifica¬ 
tions to the mails exchanged between the 
two countries, except that articles other 
than letters are excluded from the mails 
unless they are so wrapped or inclosed as 
to permit their contents to be easily ex¬ 
amined by postmasters or Customs officers. 
All articles must be fully prepaid at the 
rate of postage applicable to similar 
articles in the domestic mails of the coun¬ 
try where they are mailed. Articles other 
than letters on their arrival at the postoffice 
of the country of their destination, will be 
inspected by the customs officers, who will 
levy the proper duties upon all dutiable 
articles. The following articles are abso¬ 
lutely excluded: sealed packages which 
are evidently not letters, but which are so 
wrapped up that their contents can’t be 
examined; publications that violate the 
copyright laws of the country of their 
destination; packets, except single vol¬ 
umes, of printed books which exceed four 
pounds six ounces in weight; liquids, 
poisons, explosive and inflammable sub¬ 
stances, dead or live animals (not dried) 
insects, fruits and vegetables which 
quickly decompose, lottery tickets, ob¬ 
scene or immoral articles and other things 
which may destroy or damage the mans. 
The convention is to go into effect on 
March 1. Just as it is the small things 
in life which are ever with us that con¬ 
tribute most to our happiness or misery, 
so mail facilities which all of us con¬ 
stantly employ are of greater importance 
to most of us than even international 
treaties on matters of high political im¬ 
port, the results of which seldom effect 
us. 
THE LIVE STOCK INTERESTS OF THE 
COUNTRY CONCERNED. 
T here are over a dozen firms in the 
United States which every year im¬ 
port large numbers of choice pure-bred 
stock for breeding purposes, the aggre¬ 
gate importations amounting to over $2,- 
000,000 annually. The importers do not 
bring them in, for the most part, for their 
own use, but for sale to farmers and to 
cattle, sheep and horsemen, and for years 
they were allowed to import them duty 
free on the ground that they were for 
breeding purposes. Last summer, how¬ 
ever, an importation of horses intended 
for the Galbraith Brothers, of Wisconsin 
was confiscated at Fort Huron on the 
ground that they were intended for sale 
and not lor breeding purposes. On ap¬ 
peal, Secretary Fairchild decided that it 
made no difference whether the animals 
were to be sold or retained by the im¬ 
porters so long as they were of such 
choice character that they were evidently 
intended for breeding purposes, and that 
on any other interpretation of the law 
the agricultural interests of the country 
would be prejudiced and injured. 
Shortly afterwards the Department of 
Justice ordered a suit to be brought 
against the same firm for duties on the 
stock they had imported in 1886, amount¬ 
ing to $17,000, and on another importa¬ 
tion coming through at Port Hudson the 
firm were notified by the customs author¬ 
ities that they must keep the animals in 
their possession one year. They took an 
oath to do so under protest, and again ap¬ 
pealed to Secretary Fairchild, who cancel¬ 
ed the oath, and held that no such restric¬ 
tion should be placed upon them. Mean¬ 
while the suit against the firm is pending 
before the United States Court of Wis¬ 
consin, much to the annoyance, not only 
of the Galbraiths, but of live stock im¬ 
porters all over the country. A bill has 
just been introduced into Congress which 
places all importations of live stock for 
breeding purposes beyond the reach of 
the customs authorities, and clearly de¬ 
fines the laws bearing on the matter. 
This is not a party question. It is one of 
great importance to the improvement of 
the live stock of the country. It should 
not, therefore, for party purposes be 
hitched on to the tariff bill. Prompt re¬ 
lief is necessary, and the measure should 
be enacted on its merits as soon as 
possible. 
brevities. 
“Uncle Jacob” talks about “der yenneral- 
purbose” cow, this week. 
The people who are starting out to grow 
a sugar bush on land too poor for anything 
else will be disappointed. It takes good land 
to grow good maples. 
The farmer who wheels the horse manure 
back of the cows and leaves it there till the 
urine is absorbed, will make more money 
than the farmer who invests in some silver 
mines out West. 
The market gardeners in upper New York 
use cow manure for their hot-beds. The man¬ 
ure they get comes from cows fed heavily on 
grain and oil-meal. Who has noticed that 
such manure heats more readily than that 
from a less concentrated ration? 
If Western dealers would realize that it is 
utter folly to send stale or even rotten eggs to 
this market the country would be better off. 
Good fresh eggs are in demand. Stale ones 
are not wanted. Whenever they come here 
they cause trouble, disappointment and pro¬ 
fanity. 
The law-makers of the country are seeing a 
good deal of the R. N.-Y nowadays. All 
the members of Legislatures, State and Na¬ 
tional,have received the papers containing the 
picture of the' railroad accident and the 
“jumping-jack.” In a few weeks they will 
get another copy containing some sound re¬ 
marks on the desired changes in the postal 
laws. 
Eggs are shipped here from Belgium. They 
are packed in flat boxes filled in with cut 
straw. The boxes hold from 60 to 80 dozen 
each. The loss by breakage is about the same 
as among those shipped from the West in bar¬ 
rels. Freight averages from 1% cent to 2 
cents per dozen, while the prices range with 
those for Western stock. 
It appears that there is about as much dif¬ 
ference in maple sap from different trees, as 
there is in the milk from different cows. This 
difference in sweetness may be due to age, lo¬ 
cation, exposure, strength, time of season and 
other causes. The ability to distinguish some¬ 
thing of this diffei’ence before the sap runs is 
one of the secrets of the sugar business that 
cannot be told. 
Those who handle the ice crop at the North 
come as near to getting “something for noth¬ 
ing” as men are likely to in this century. 
Water is free, so is the cold which congeals it 
into ice. We find the latter too free at times 
Thus the crop costs nothing to produce and 
takes no valuable element from the soil. It 
requires good cash to buy it, as city customers 
will cheerfully testify. The honey crop sells 
for several millions of dollars, but who can 
figure that it takes fertility from the soil? 
It is time now to decide about needed tools 
and machinery. If you need anything in this 
line you will be wise to investigate the various 
makes now. To be sure, you won’t need to 
use them for some months, but by ordering 
early you avoid all possible risk of detention. 
Later in the spring manufacturers are always 
busy and mistakes are liable to occur, which 
are less liable before the rush opens. You 
will(not save anything by delaying the order. 
Order k early. 
