MARSH 47 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
palm it off on the public. It merely gave 
them a reward for making a bogus product, 
and then left them at full liberty to deal 
honestly or fraudulently with it. The Treas¬ 
ury Department prohibits and punishes not 
only the passage, but the manufacture of 
a counterfeit money product; while the In¬ 
terior Department grants not merely a license 
but a premium for the manufacture of a 
counterfeit food product, without providing a 
single safeguard against its dispersion as the 
thing it pretends to be. Counterfeit money 
could be sold openly and honestly just as well 
as counterfeit sugar. It would serve just as 
well as the genuine article for ornament and 
ostentation; but the law forbids its manufac¬ 
ture, because the risk of the circulation of 
the counterfeit for the real is too great. Isn’t 
the risk of passing well-made bogus maple 
sugar for genuine maple sugar about as 
great? The loss and gain are greater, it is 
true, in one case than in the other, but the 
risk of fraud is about equal in both cases. 
When a counterfeit article is made in either 
case every sensible person knows it will 
be passed on the public, not for what 
it is, but for what it seems to be. Our 
friend says that if the holder of the patent 
“practices fraud in the sale of the product 
he can be punished precisely as if he had no 
patent at all.” Pray, how is that? What 
punishment does any State or National stat¬ 
ute provide, all over the country, for the sale 
of bogus maple sugar for the genuine product? 
If there is any such statute it is now violated 
with absolute impunity every hour of the 
day by the sale of glucose maple sugar for 
real maple sugar. It is quite true that in 
issuing the patent, the Government sanctions 
no fraud; but it is equally true that it winks at 
or shuts both eyes to a fraud, for it does sanc¬ 
tion the making of a counterfeit article of 
such a character that the chances are 99 to 
100 that its sale will be a fraud. If the patent 
were annulled, or, better still, never granted, 
then, of course, everybody who knew the 
process could employ it, but in that case there 
would have been no inducement to inventive 
genius to discover it, nor would the manu¬ 
facture of the article have received direct 
encouragement and its fraudulent sale in¬ 
direct encouragement from the Government. 
No industry or business of any kind in which 
the temptation and risk of dishonesty or turpi¬ 
tude are so preponderating should receive a 
license, much less a reward, from National, 
State, or municipal Government. How a 
patent of this sort obfuscates and confuses 
not only the moral but also the discriminative 
faculties of those interested in it, is well 
illustrated by our friendly critic in his declara¬ 
tion that this is a “patent for the making of 
maple sugar by flavoring cane sugar with 
hickory ‘sap.” Oh ye shades of bye gone al¬ 
chemists! what marvelous transmuting power 
must reside in hickory sap!” 
COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS NOT STIMULANTS. 
G. H. B., Groton City, N. Y.—Some farm¬ 
ers here claim that the more commercial fertil¬ 
izers one uses, the more he will have to use in 
successive years to get equally good crops, as 
such fertilizers are, it is said, of the na¬ 
ture of stimulants to the soil. 
R. N.-Y.—No, we can assure our friend that 
fertilizers are not stimulants any more than 
farm manure is. We can also positively as¬ 
sure him that he will not have to use more 
and more. This is a fact in agricultural sci¬ 
ence. The notion no doubt arises out of the 
fact that incomplete fertilizers, viz.: those 
which do not contain potash, phosphate and 
nitrogen in sufficient quantity, will produce 
less and less effect if continuously used, be¬ 
cause the soil must supply the missing constit¬ 
uents. So, also, salt, nitrate of soda, lime, 
etc., may produce a decided increase for a 
few years by rendering soluble the otherwise 
unavailable plant food of the soil. 
A Wager Accepted.— (From the N. Y. 
World.) The yields of potatoes raised from 
year to year on the specially prepared potato 
plot of the Rural New-Yorker’s Experiment 
Grounds are the largest on record. These 
yields are not confined to occasional favora¬ 
ble seasons,but they have been produced every 
year on the same plot for ten years. The edi¬ 
tor, in order to show his faith in his peculiar 
method of potato culture, offered several weeks 
ago a wager from $50 to $100 or more that he 
would raise on this plot next season—let it be 
favorable or unfavorable—at the rate of over 
seven hundred bushels to the acre, the money 
to be donated to some charity. Now it ap¬ 
pears that Mr. Atkinson, the editor of the 
Farm Journal, has accepted the wager in the 
interests of agricultural progress. The crop 
is to be harvested in the presence of and the 
yield computed by at least four prominent 
meD, whose names shall be a guarantee 
against errors of any kind. Such trials are 
commendable whatever the outcome, and 
should the number of bushels fixed upon be 
equaled or exceeded, all farmers will be glad 
to give the Rural’s method of potato culture 
a careful trial. 
Maple Sweetness— Prof. A. J. Cook as¬ 
serts, in the Michigan Farmer, that maple sug¬ 
ar or sirup from the last run of the season, is 
just as good as from the first, if we are neat 
enough and quick enough, so that there is no 
fermentation or souring of the sap. Many ask 
“Can this be true.” Prof. Cook does not won¬ 
der, for a few years ago he was sure, as was 
his father before him, that only sirup or sugar 
from the first runs was “gilt-edged.” But this 
is all a mistake. At first everything is sweet 
and clean and the weather usually cool, hence 
no sap sours and the sirup is first-class. Later 
the buckets get sour, the weather hot, w r hich 
hastens fermentation, and the average sugar 
maker does not exercise the care necessary to 
a prime article of sirup. The sap is all right, 
but through mismanagement it sours and the 
flavor is lost. Absolute sweetness or neatness 
and great haste, are very necessary, especially 
late in the season. But Prof. Cook has demon¬ 
strated that with due care the very last sirup 
of the season is equal to the first. This may be 
true even after the buds start, but he is not 
certain. After the buds start the weather is 
so warm that it is hard to prevent fermenta¬ 
tion. 
He mentions a few facts in regard to maple 
sirup: 1st. A good maple bush is very valu¬ 
able. 2d. Sirup pays much better thaq sugar. 
3d. Throw away a dozen gallons of poor sirup 
rather than market one. 4tli. Use only tin 
buckets. Always use a cover to every bucket 
so as to preclude rain, snow and dirt. Scald 
the bucket and all apparatus often. Use a 
spout so that the bucket can be hung to the 
tree. Use a Champion evaporator. Never 
use any but the best seasoned fuel. Work in 
a neat house, and make all sirup just 11 pounds 
to the gallon. 
The sugar maker’s motto should be neatness 
and despatch, then color and flavor will be 
faultless. Prof. Cook never sells sirup for less 
than $1.25 per gallon. And he finds a mar¬ 
ket with no trouble for more than he can make. 
Once on a table, the household is captured. 
Dr. Charles Fauvel, according to a cab¬ 
legram to the New York Herald, ranks in 
France the same as Sir Morell Mackenzie ranks 
in England. Interviewed by a Herald report¬ 
er, Dr. Fauvel was asked this question: 
“What is your advice in all matters affect¬ 
ing the throat?” 
“Well,” replied the Doctor, “let us suppose 
the world to be consulting me as a throat spe¬ 
cialist. My advice is to gargle the throat daily 
with a gramme of phenic acid diluted in a 
quart of water. Gargling is the hygiene of 
the throat. As for phenic acid, in one form 
or another, it is the great palliative, curative 
and preventive of sore throat. Remember I 
say ‘curative,’ for many a quinsy or diphtheria 
might be cured, and is happily cured, by it. 
For this, of course, a medical man must be the 
judge, according to circumstances.” 
No Muffling up of the Throat. —“Any¬ 
thing else?” asked the reporter. 
“Yes, keep the throat well exposed in health 
—no comforters, no scarfs; keep the feet warm 
and the chest warm as much as you like, but 
let the throat take care of itself. ” 
The R. N.-Y. may add that phenic acid is 
simply purified carbolic acid and that a gram¬ 
me is 15 drops. 
SAUNTERINGS. 
That intelligent farmer and student, J. B. 
Olcott, says that there is as much difference 
between Rhode Island Bent and Red-Top as 
there is between a Tom Thumb Pea and a 
Marrowfat. It will make beautiful, close, 
fine sod upon quite sterile soil which Red-Top 
will not do. It is particularly satisfactory 
for lawns... 
For 15 years Prof. Beal has watched R. I. 
Bent (Agrostis canina) in Michigan, on “thin” 
soils and on rich soils, on moist land and on 
dry, sandy land, and he unhesitatingly recom¬ 
mends it as one of the very best grasses to 
mix with June Grass for producing a fine 
lawn. If sown alone, four bushels of seed in 
the chaff are none too much. This dwarf 
Red-Top, as it may be called, makes good pas¬ 
ture, though it is too small and grows too 
closely to afford much of a bite. 
Red-Top is only less valuable in nutritive 
qualities than Blue Grass. We sow Timothy 
at the Rural Farm, but in three years little 
remains but Red-Top, which we never sow. 
Killebrew ranks Red-Top as next in import¬ 
ance to Timothy as a meadow grass. It stands 
drought better than Timothy. 
The comparatively new shrub Xanthoceras 
sorbifolia, first illustrated in America by the 
Rural New-Yorker, is now to be found in 
most nurserymen’s catalogues for one dollar 
each. Ellw'anger & Barry say that it requires 
protection when young or until established. 
But we find it among the hardiest shrubs in 
cultivation. Tiny little plants will bloom. 
It is a real acquisition. 
At a late meeting of the Mass. Hort. Socie- - 
ty, Mr. Bartholomew, who has conducted 
many careful experiments upon his fields with 
chemical f ert i 1 izers, was asked what real benefit 
he had derived from his investigations. He 
replied that he had learned to place great con¬ 
fidence in commercial fertilizers; that he had 
learned that his farm, which his father, after 
50 years of acquaintance and cultivation, 
pronounced ill adapted to the raising of 
corn, gives him, under similar treatment, 
with the use of phosphate of lime in addition, 
in corn, one of his profitable crops; that by 
the proper use of commercial fertilizers he 
can obtain, at fair profit, finer potatoes, free 
from disease and blemish, than by any other 
means known to him; that by the use of one 
or more of these substances as adjuncts to 
farm manures he can obtain at small expense 
superior crops of corn, oats, and potatoes, 
with less manure, while the remainder of the 
manure applied as top-dressing to grass lands 
has materially increased his crops of hay; 
and he finds that he is keeping more stock, 
getting better crops and better satisfaction 
from his farm than before. 
Mr. Fairchild, whose experiments with 
fertilizers we have before alluded to, says 
that they have shown him what fertilizing 
materials his crops must have; that they have 
taught him what quantities and in what forms 
he should apply different fertilizers; that 
they have saved him money by enabling him 
to buy what he wants without using a large 
quantity of materials that he does not want. 
He thinks he shall thus be enabled to raise all 
kinds of crops on poor land with profit. Mr. 
Fairchild says that under the old system of 
farming it is no wonder the boys leave the 
farm. You can’t blame them. He did so 
himself, came back, tried again, and would 
have given up once more if it had not been 
for these experiments and what he has learned 
in connection with them. As it is, he finds 
himself giving up outside work, devoting 
himself more and more exclusively to his 
farm, supplementing the labor of his hands 
with the labor of his brains, and he feels the 
benefit in his purse, in his home and in his 
mind. 
Sow your Timothy and clover early.. 
Ellwanger & Barry say that the new 
white rose Puritan is a vigorous grower with 
fine foliage, bearing large, pure-white, sweet 
flowers, resembling those of Mabel Morrison, 
one of its parents. 
They find, as does the R. N.-Y., that the 
W. F. Bennett rose is a poor grower. The 
flower is similar to that of Gen. Jacq. in color, 
while the long buds resemble those of Ni- 
phetos... 
There is no other yellow rose that sells so 
well in the N. Y. market as Perledes Jardins. 
Its stems are long and strong, the flowers 
very double, while in fragrance and durabil¬ 
ity they are unexceled. 
Edward Burnett is right when he tells us 
that good breeding, care and kindness are all 
necessary to the development of first-rate dairy 
cows. Clover hay, cob-meal, corn fodder and 
roots, giving warm water for drink form the 
best rations for milk and butter. 
A writer in the Philadelphia Press says 
that there is nothing like a good pair of rub¬ 
ber boots for keeping one’s feet dry in slush, 
snow or mud. There is one thing better—two 
pairs. Two pairs worn alternately will wear 
longer than twice as long as one pair worn 
continuously. The same pair of rubber boots 
ought never to be worn more than three hours 
at once. 
Among Tea roses we have found Grace 
Darling very fine though the catalogues say 
little about it. Our two specimens came from 
Storrs & Harrison, of Painesville, 0.,in 1880, 
and it is one of the few Teas that with protec¬ 
tion stood the winter. It originated with the 
great English rose-grower Henry Bennett. It 
is a free grower and bicomer The buds are 
large, the petals recurving beautifully with¬ 
out exposing the stamens. The lower part of 
the petals is a yellowish white, changing to a 
faint pink gradually toward the edges. The 
odor is delicate. It began blooming May 25. 
We think it will please our rose-loving friends. 
Here are some extracts from a report of a 
Farmers’ Institute, which we find in our excel¬ 
lent contemporary the N. Y. Sun of the 24th; 
“Col. F. D. Curtis spoke on pigs and how to 
feed them lean. The food should be strongly 
impregnated with phosphate nitrogen. Feed 
them with meals, turn them into rye fields, 
put them in clover fields and apple orchards; 
that is nitrogenous food. The best quality 
of pork is made out of apples alone. Take 
your pig for a partner, for it will greatly aid 
the fertility of the soil." (! !). 
Prof. Atwater stated, at a late meeting of 
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, that 
near Middletown there is a farm on which 
phosphate and nitrogen have very little effect, 
while potash is very effectual. On a farm in 
another direction potash has little effect, but 
phosphate has. In other cases they work in 
combination. 
Ex. Com . Gen. Le Due informs the readers 
of Farm, Field and Stockman that tea of as 
good quality as is made or can be made any¬ 
where. can be made in the United States, and 
at a price to compete successfully with goods 
of equal quality in any market in Europe or 
America, and every Congress that neglects to 
provide means for and to direct the Commis¬ 
sioner of Agriculture to make such thorough 
experiments in the culture and manufacture 
of tea as shall leave no doubt as to ■whether 
we must pay a tribute of twenty millions a 
year to encourage the farmers of foreign 
countries to do for us that which we can bet¬ 
ter do for ourselves, neglects its duty. 
Ellwanger & Barry offer the Japan 
Chestnut as an ornamental tree. They are 
right . 
Among new trees offered by the above firm 
are the Pendulous Rose, WeepiDg Cherry, and 
another with golden foliage; the Weeping 
Dogwood, a variety of Cornus florida; the 
Chinese Cork Tree—which resembles the 
Ailantus without its objections; Spiraea Bum- 
aldi, one of the Japan kinds, and a dozen new 
lilacs, the improved varieties of which are not 
half appreciated. 
Some men want a cow that will rustle; that 
is hardy and will stand all sorts of pri¬ 
vation, and give a good mess of milk. 
Mr. Hoard says he wants a cow that will 
respond to good feed and good usage. He’ll 
see to it that she has both in abundance. It 
is his duty to provide the conditions; her’s to 
answer to them... 
At the Rural Grounds. —Master Travers: 
“The hens have laid only two eggs to-day.*’ 
Miss B.: “That’s too bad ” 
Mrs. C.: “Two bad eggs?”. 
Mrs. C. (who note draws all the money and 
who pays all the expenses, deeming her hus¬ 
band too extravagant): “This work of econ¬ 
omizing is wearing upon me. By the Fourth 
of July I shall weigh less than one hundred 
pounds. 
Mr. C.: “When one gets into the nineties 
she should economize her work.”. 
Quack Grass is despised by most Northern 
farmers the same as Bermuda Grass is by 
many Southern farmers. But there is a place 
for Quack, and we should commend it for 
light, droughty soils similar to that of the 
Rural Farm. In the spring it is the first to 
“green up the fields,” and among the first to 
grow after being mown or closely cropped. 
It will stand a drought that would kill Timo¬ 
thy or Red-Top. Its nutritive value as hay is 
equal to that of any grass, if we may judge 
by the way cattle relish it. Seefi of this grass 
known by many different names—Quitch, 
Twitch, Couch, Rye, Squitch, Scutch, Creep¬ 
ing Wheat, etc.—is now offered by seedsmen. 
The Dingee & Conard Co., of West Grove, 
Pa., in their new catalogue give the place of 
honor to two sets of three roses as shown in 
colored plates. The first are those of the past 
year never before offered. Priucess Beatrice, 
rosy pink shaded with yellow; Marie Lam¬ 
bert, flesh-color, veined with carmine; and 
Lady Stanley, crimson lightened with terra 
cotta. The second plate shows Victor Hugo, 
citron red with amber and fawn shading; 
Comtesse de Frigneuse, deep golden yellow; 
Suzanne Blanchett, white and rosy amber. 
All are ever-blooming varieties. That is, they 
are Teas and need protection during the win¬ 
ter, or, what is better, to be placed in pits or 
trenches. 
These roses are also offered in the cata¬ 
logues of Ellwanger & Barry, Storrs, Harri¬ 
son & Co., Robert Scott & Son, B. A. Elliott 
& Co., and others. 
Are we talking too much of roses? We can 
not help it. There are scores of hardy shrubs 
far more beautiful in foliage and habit, but 
there is not one that bears a flower compar¬ 
able to the rose. If we could visit the gar¬ 
dens of our readers we should hope to find 
roses in every one. If we wanted to attach 
our children to their homes, to hold them to 
the farm, to make them gentle, thoughtful, 
loving—if we wanted to do this through the 
elevating influence of flowers, we should 
choose first of all the rose . 
The Jersey Bulletin remarks that it is highly 
essential that a dairy cow, to be profitable, 
should be a hearty eater, for just in proportion 
to her ability to consume and assimilate food 
will she make returns to her owner for his care 
