65© 
THE RURAL HEW-YOBKER. 
SETP 2® 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
ANational Journal for Country and Suburban Home . 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1888. 
ANOTHER DOMESTIC ECONOMY 
^SYMPOSIUM 
EXT week’s Domestic Economy De¬ 
partment will be given up to a 
Cake symposium. Some 25 original 
recipes will be given. Later we are 
promised a Bread Feast. Excellent 
bread; first-rate bread! How many 
days in the year do you enjoy it, good 
reader? Is there such a thing as first- 
rate bread always, when, with sweet 
flour, reasonable care is given to 
makingit? What is the recipe ? No 
doubt many of our lady readers will 
answer “Yes." Well, the RURAL 
wants to hear from them at once. 
“7 have yet to see the first field (fall- 
plowed) put in good order to plant , that was 
not again plowed in the spring. This, if we 
value our work at anything, adds $1.50 per 
acre more expense to the cost of the crop. This 
is equivalent to four bushels of com. Will it 
grow those four extra bushels?' 1 ' 1 —A. G, 
Sturdevant, page 644. 
LAST NOTICE. 
7jp>HE Potato Contest will take place as 
already announced on the 28th inst— 
Friday—except in the event of a storm 
hard enough to render potato-digging 
out of the question. 
It would please the Rural if our 
friends would take the 9.50 boat Pavonia 
Ferry (foot of Chamber St.) connecting 
with the New Jersey & New York R. R. 
in Jersey City. The schedule time, ferry 
passage included, is 5 minutes to River 
Edge. The Rural Grounds are mile 
from the station. Conveyances will be in 
waiting at the station for the committee. 
The Rural will heartily welcome all 
others in so far as its very limited means 
of accommodation may enable it so to do. 
-- 
“ In regard to the idea that the freshly 
turned sods would help the com more than 
anything else, I am surprised that a farmer 
of any experience would advocate such a 
theory .”—F. S. White, page 644. 
Reserve your soluble nitrogenous fer¬ 
tilizers until early spring. Spread potash 
and phosphate now, if you choose. This 
is the Rural’s advice, not as a matter of 
opinion, but as a result of experience. 
Perhaps a small per cent, of nitrogenous 
fertilizers sown now might help to give 
wheat, etc., a quick start. 
p “ If I were offered $100 for my eight acres 
of clover aftermath I would not take it, and 
I would not turn it under till spring for 
$50.—Henry Stewart, page 644. 
This season three of the R. N.-Y.’s 
crosses between Lady Washington and 
Cottage grapes have borne fruit. And 
this little notice tells our readers all that 
they are ever likely to hear of them. 
There is a world of fun in spending hours 
in crossing grapes and in waiting from 
three to five years for them to fruit, to 
find that they are worthless. 
The article respecting “the mystery 
about potatoes ” on page 645, is very in¬ 
teresting. We could readily add re¬ 
markable instances to those which the 
writer cites. Here is one! Six pieces of 
seed of a new variety were planted in 
trenches as usual in our rich-soil plot 
which usually gives us our large yields as 
reported every yea T in these pages. '1 he 
planting was done late—about May 5th. 
The vines grew luxuriantly and a fine crop 
was predicted. At harvest it was found 
that not a single tuber—large or small— 
had formed. 
“ The tendency of vegetable matter in 
sandy land is to decay too rapidly .'"— Prof. 
I. P. Roberts, page 644. 
Was there ever such kicking against 
extortion as that now going on in the 
South against the Jute Bagging Trust? 
It may end in a benefit to the planters 
after all. It is quite likely that a new 
bagging as serviceable as jute will be sub¬ 
stituted for the foreign product. This 
will probably be made of poor cotton, and 
will use up from 300,000 to 500,000 bales 
a year of the cheapest staple, thus en¬ 
hancing the price of the rest in foreign 
and domestic markets and keeping right 
at home the large sums that now go 
abroad for the finished bagging or its 
crude materials. Already the National 
Board of Underwriters have decided to 
make no discrimination against cotton 
covered with any light-weight stuff, pro¬ 
vided the difference in weight between 
the old and new coverings be made good 
by extra bands. The Lane Mills New 
Orleans are taxed to the utmost turning 
out a strong, heavy, durable, coarse cot¬ 
ton cloth called “Osnabergs,” which is 
less inflammable than jute bagging and 
cheap enough to be used with profit by 
planters. As the Treasury Department 
has just decided that old jute bagging 
cannot be reimported to be used again 
unless it pays a duty of a cent and a halt 
a pound if valued at seven cents a pound, 
or a duty of three cents if valued at over 
seven cents, the planters will have to use 
some new material, at least this season, 
or submit to the outrageous extortions of 
the Bagging Trust syndicate of robbers. 
“7 do not favor plowing in the fall for 
corn." —E. Davenport, page 644. 
■ - 
AGRICULTURE IN THE CABINET. 
I T is probable that England will soon 
have a Board of Agriculture to take 
the place of the existing Agricultural De¬ 
partment of the Privy Council Office, as 
the passage of a bill providing for such a 
measure is expected during the next ses¬ 
sion of Parliament. The present Agricul¬ 
tural Department is of no practical use, 
and it is to be hoped the proposed one 
will discover some means of relieving the 
long-continued agricultural depression in 
the United Kingdom. The new Board is 
to consist of the principal members of the 
Ministry for the time being, with a Presi¬ 
dent from among them or from the Privy 
Council and a paid Secretary. In reality, 
however, the real work will be done by 
the President, the Secretary and the rest 
of the permanent staff, the others being 
merely honorary members. Following the 
example of most continental countries, 
this new departure will give more im¬ 
portance to agriculture in the British 
Isles. Here the bill giving the head of 
the Department of Agriculture a seat in 
the Cabinet, which was passed by the 
House over two months ago, was voted on 
yesterday in the Senate. The House bill 
transferred the Weather Bureau to the 
newly organized Department, but the 
Senate has just decided against the trans¬ 
fer by a vote of 33 to nine. This will 
necessitate the return of the bill to the 
House for concurrence in the amendment, 
and then it must pass the Senate again, so 
that in the present condition of business 
the measure is very unlikely to pass both 
Houses at this session of Congress, espe¬ 
cially as there is no great pressure in its 
favor from the farmers of the country. 
THE POTATO CONTEST. 
UjT seems as if the potato challenge 
X now soon to be determined would 
go against the Rural. This must be 
deplored by every one. The fact is, the 
proposition was audacious. The Rural 
accepted every contingency. The con¬ 
tingencies will average 75 per cent, 
against the party that takes them. The 
Rural had as many chances against it— 
unpropitious weather, insects, drought, 
floods, and other evils that cannot be fore¬ 
seen or avoided. Still it was a bold and 
grand proposal and if half of the quantity 
can be realized under the adverse con¬ 
ditions, it will really prove a victory; for 
if 350 bushels can be obtained under the 
conditions that have been encountered, 
it can be easily seen what could have 
been done under better circumstances. 
It would be of almost inestimable 
benefit if the Rural would renew the 
proposition for another season,” Thus 
writes Mr. J. B. Barton, of Parsons, 
Kansas. 
Yes; “ Let the conditions he what they 
may' was the contract on the part of 
the R. N.-Y. It is quite true that “ con¬ 
ditions ” referred to the weather, whether 
wet or dry, hot or cold. We really did 
not take into account any destruction 
which might be wrought by an unforseen 
enemy any more than we thought 
of the possibility of some mali¬ 
cious individual stealing into the 
plot at night and destroying the 
plants. Still we shall be guided by the 
letter of the agreement. If the R. N.-Y, 
fail it will be (as we think the judges 
will be able to report) owing to the fact 
that the No. 3 plants were killed by the 
Cucumber flea beetle before the tubers 
were one-quarter grown. The tubers 
themselves will thus corroborate the 
testimony which a dozen trusty persons 
can offer as to the cause of the failure. 
The No. 4 vines were also considerably 
injured and those of No. 2 somewhat. 
What matters it whether the R. N.-Y. 
or good Mr. Atkinson will have to donate 
the $50 to some charity? What we want 
to show, and what it is believed will be 
shown, is that by this system of culti¬ 
vation we can economically raise on this 
particular plot at the rate of over 700 
bushels of potatoes to the acre. And 
what can be done on this plot can be 
done elsewhere; and if we fail both 
parties pecuniarily interested will alike 
regret that a full success was thwarted 
by a cause that could not possibly have 
been foreseen or averted. 
The Rural stands ready to increase 
the amount to $100 on another trial next 
year, the proceeds, in like manner, to be 
donated to some charitable purpose. 
mountains or sea side or indulging in a 
trip to Europe, and other luxuries and 
recreations to which farmers are strangers, 
and the money to pay for all this is 
largely wrung from the products of the 
soil. 
Verily I am convinced from experience 
and observation that all classes, including 
the mechanics and day laborers to a large 
extent, live better, dress better and in¬ 
dulge in more luxuries, ■amusements and 
enjoyments than the average American 
farmer. Legislation is repeatedly invoked 
to relieve the working man, but the 
working farmer and producer has no 
burdens lifted from his shoulder. He 
must grub,dig and sweat, economize and 
save in order to pay his interest and the 
taxes that others impose on him. I tell 
you the times need reforming as well as 
the tariff, and I feel it sensibly as I read 
our tax-bill. I can’t suggest anything for 
the stations but to live on their salaries.” 
BREVITIES. 
Read Mr. Babcock’s description of the In¬ 
dian Game, page 656. 
Read Dr. Hoskins’s article on page 646— 
“ Notes on Iron-clad Fruits.” 
The muggiest and wettest of weather—just 
such as one might suppose would cause potato 
rot. 
“Thank God for the blessed' privilege of 
being known as an American citizen ’ — 
Page 657. 
Our correspondent, “Jerseyman” will pay 
his respects to the New Jersey State Fair 
next week. 
Grapes are at least one week behind this 
year in ripening. The berries are larger to 
pay for it. 
There is not one plant of White Plume cel¬ 
ery raised from a lot of seed received as such 
from the Department of Agriculture. 
We turned two young roosters of our “new 
breed” into fried chicken last week. We 
have never tasted poultry with a finer flavor 
or with a better proportion of breast meat. 
Six new varieties of watermelons have been 
tried at the Rural Grounds this season. The 
results may be given in thirteen words: We 
have not saved the seeds of any of them for 
next year. 
WHO GETS THE MELON? 
L AST week we described a theme for 
a cartoon. This week we show the 
picture. The farmer has planted the 
melon seeds, cultivated the soil, provid¬ 
ed the fertilizer and given the labor. 
According to all moral law he ought to 
handle any profit that may result from 
his operations. Does he handle it? The 
vine has made its way through a crack in 
the fence and produced its fruit on the 
lawn of a man w 7 ho never did a stroke of 
the work. In the division of profits the 
farmer gets the memory of days of honest 
toil, while the man on the other side of 
the fence gets the fruit. Such a division 
may be all very nice in a story book, but 
it is not business. Now, this is the ex¬ 
aggerated side of the matter. Of course, 
over-critical iriends will find lots of im¬ 
probable things in the picture. Vines 
don’t grow as this one is growing very 
often. There is no particular reason 
shown why all the fruit should be on one 
side of the fence, and if the farmer had 
attended to his business the vine would 
never have grown away from his prem¬ 
ises. All very true, and yet this picture 
represents an idea that is uppermost in 
hundreds of farmers’ minds at this time: 
Judged by the amount of work he does , the 
farmer does not get a fair share of the 
country's profit. Say that it is the fault 
of the farmer himself; say that it is due 
to the tariff or the “pauper labor” of 
Europe; say what you will as to the 
cause, the fact remains that at all large 
gatherings of farmers this sentiment is 
clearly indicated. 
For example, here is a letter from a 
farmer who was requested to suggest work 
for the experiment stations. There are 
plenty more like him, and it is high time 
they studied out this question: 
“ If they (the experiment stations), can 
tell us farmers how we can manage to pay 
the prices we do for fertilizers and labor, 
and our enormous taxes, and realize a 
decent living, such as merchants and 
manufacturers and professionals do, while 
selling our produce at the ruling prices, 
they will confer a great blessiDg. The 
profit on the farmer’s labor doesn’t find 
its way to his pocket. The ministers, 
doctors, lawyers, merchants, agents of all 
kinds, including tree-tramps, are clothed 
in ‘purple and fine linen and fare 
sumptuously every day'; take their 
vacations in summer, going to the 
Every road-master should be instructed to 
cut down the wild cherry trees along the 
roads. As breeding places for the web-worm 
these trees are highly successful. Can any¬ 
body tell anything else they are,good for? 
Some dehorned Jerseys belonging to the 
farm of Cornell University were exhibited at 
the Tompkins Co. Fair last week. We shall 
show pictures of some of these dehorned cattle 
soon. Why not have dehorned cattle brought 
to all the fairs? 
Prof. Popenoe of the Kansas E. S., de¬ 
scribes a flea beetle which attacks the leaves of 
apple trees and has been especially destructive 
to young trees. The injury seems to be pre¬ 
cisely the same to the apple leaf that the Cu¬ 
cumber Flea-beetle inflicts upon the potato 
leaves, etc. 
Bush & Son & Meissner write as, in reply 
to a request that they would furnish us with 
notes upon their newer grapes, that the sea¬ 
son has been such a peculiar one, with so much 
cold and wet in the latter part of summer, 
that they would not be doing justice to pass 
judgment or opinion in such a season. 
The ycung farmer, whose questions have 
called out the interesting discussion regarding 
the merits of fall and spring plowing for corn, 
has decided to plow half the field this fall and 
half next spring, to manure and cultivate 
both parts alike and to measure the crop. 
This is the surest way to settle the matter. 
Horse-chestnuts are symmetrical, hardy 
trees, leafmg out early in the spring. But 
there is one objection; they lose their leaves 
early in the fall—often while all else about 
them is green. Do not plant horse-chestnuts 
in the place of honor in the home grounds. 
They will discount an “early fall” by ten 
days. 
Mr. J. Talcott, of Rome, N. Y., writes us as 
follows: “I have never raised or tried to 
raise a crop of rye. Wheat has produced more 
bushels to the acre or at least as many. My 
ancestors told me in my boyhood days that 
wheat was as productive as rye and brought 
a better price in market; hence there was no 
object in raising rye.” 
A subscriber m Denver, Col. in renewing 
his subscription says :—“ 1 have taken the Ru¬ 
ral for only one year, but find now that I 
cannot afford to give it up. Two things, on 
opening its pages strike me more than any¬ 
thing else,—its originality and its experiments! 
One cannot guess beforehand what the next 
number will contain, the reverse of which, I 
am sorry to say, is true of too many agricul¬ 
tural papers.” 
During the past week we have been buying 
pullets for next spring’s layers. We were 
able to secure, in the N. Y. market, large and 
shapely pullets for about 12 emts apiece less 
than our estimated cost of raising them from 
the eggs. These birds appear to be mainly 
Wyandotte and Plymouth Rock grades, with 
a mixture of Light Brahma and Langshan 
blood. How farmers can afford to sell them 
for so little money we cannot see., 
