364 
4UNE a 
Eitral topics. 
9 
THE OLD RURAL AND THE NEW. 
There are many readers of the Rural who 
will recognize the first page of this issue 
They read the words printed there over 38 
years ago. Between the first issue of Moore’s 
Rural New-Yorker and this issue 2,(XX) 
numbers have appeared. We have thought 
that on starting in for another 1,(X)0 numbers 
our friends might liftb to look at the old paper 
and see how much it resembles the Rural of 
to-day. So we have engraved the first page 
that ever was printed of Moore’s Rural New- 
Yorker. We have no wish to write a history 
of the paper. We only desire to place, as well 
as possible, No. l beside No. 2001. This com¬ 
parison will recall to our older subscribers 
many pleasant memories. Hundreds of men 
and women who will read this issue were boys 
and girls when No. 1 appeared. This first 
page will carry them back to old scenes, old 
times, old playmates that have perhaps been 
neglected in the hurry of busy lives. There 
are thousands of happy scenes, thousands of 
tender memories woven into the reading of 
the Rural. As we trace back down the 
thread of this reading, we find that these 
memories have gained in tenderness during 
the years of neglect. Thousands of city men 
who were brought up on the farm and who 
gained the strength of mind and body that 
has made them successful from the associa¬ 
tions of country life, will gratefully remember 
the earlier numbers of the Rural, and gladly 
give testimony to its power for good. The 
younger readers will not perhaps understand 
why the sight of this old page should make 
their parents silent and thoughtful. Life is 
all ahead of them. They cannot comprehend 
yet what it is to look back. 
The first page has been reduced to fit our 
pages. The old paper measured 13j^xl9 inches, 
with eight pages, while the present Rural 
measures 11 %x 163^,with 16 pages. A good sam¬ 
ple of the printing and illustrations is seen in 
our engraving. The first paper was largely 
introductory, most of the correspondents 
using their space to introduce themselves to 
their readers. It will be interesting for our 
present readers to study Mr. Moore’s introduc¬ 
tory address, and see how far his predictions 
have been verified, and how true his ideas 
and suggestions appear to day, after 38 years 
of testing. 
No. 1 of the Rural contained seven col¬ 
umns of Editorial Correspondence, one column 
devoted to “Horticulture,” three to “Mechanic 
Arts and Sciences,” two to “Physiology,” 
three to “Education,” one each to “Sunday 
Reading” and “Domestic Economy,” and de¬ 
partments for editorial matter, “Political In¬ 
telligence,” “Foreign Intelligence,” “Latest 
California News,” “Markets,” “Chips and 
Shavings of News,” and a good literary de¬ 
partment. While most of the agricultural 
articles are introductory in character, they 
contain many thoughts that the farmer of to¬ 
day might well heed. The only experiment 
work recorded is that of a man who planted 
four little seedling potatoes and found that 
they produced a good yield. He therefore 
argues that the notion (common at that time) 
that nothing but large seed should be planted 
is wrong. He says that some farmers select 
only the plumpest wheat, and reject the butt 
and point end kernels of corn. “Is there any 
propriety in this, or is it all moonshine?” he 
asks. Another correspondent gives the argu¬ 
ments in favor of fall plowing, which he says 
caunot be done too late in the fall. It appears 
that during the season of 1849 there was a gen¬ 
eral failure of the apple crop in this country, 
“only one or two instances approximating to 
it, since the Revolution.” 
In reading the news and political intelli¬ 
gence of this old Rural the reader will be 
obliged to brush up his store of historical in¬ 
formation. In 1850 James K. Polk was near¬ 
ing the last few weeks of his presidential term. 
General Taylor had been elected and was 
about to be inaugurated. Slavery was the 
great National issue, and it is not strange that 
we find numberless news items and political 
notes touching upon the slave trade and slave 
legislation. California news comes in for a 
large share of attention. The gold excitement 
was then at its hight. We are told that the 
salaries paid in the first California legislature 
were, president, 623 per day; secretary, $28; 
clerks, 618 to $23; members $16. We are also 
informed that Tom Thumb had just taken the 
temperance pledge from the hands of Father 
Mathew. A few comparative figures will be 
of interest in comparing No. 1 with No. 2001. 
Take, first, population: 
I860. 1888. 
United States ....23,191,876 60,000,000 
New Yoik State... 3,098,394 6,000,000 
Now take the values of farm products and 
the number of live stock. We have compared 
1880 with 1850. It will be safe to add 15 per 
cent, to the total of 1880 to obtain 
mate of the values for 1888. 
1850. 
a fair esti- 
1880, 
Wheat, bush.. 
100,485,944 
459,483,137 
Oats, “ 
146,584,179 
407,858,999 
Corn, 
592,071,104 
1,754.591,676 
Barley, “ 
5.167,015 
43.997,495 
B’kwheat, “ 
8,956.912 
11,817.327 
Potatoes, “ 
65,797,896 
162.458,5 9 
Sweet do, “ 
38,268,138 
33,378,693 
Rye, “ 
Cash value of 
14,188,813 
19,831,595 
farms, 
Cash value*of 
63,271,575,426 610,197,096,775 
implements, 
Orchard pro- 
151,587,638 
406,520,055 
ducts. 
Produce of 
market gar- 
7,723,186 
50,876,154 
dens, 
Value of live 
5,280,030 
21,761,250 
stock, 
544.180,516 
1,500.334,707 
Horses, No. 
4,336.719 
10,537,488 
Mules, “ 
559 331 
1,812,808 
12.442,120 
M’lch c’ws, “ 
6,385,094 
Oxen, “ 
1,700,744 
993.841 
Other cattle, 
9,693,069 
22,488.550 
Sheep, “ 
21,773,220 
35,192,074 
Swine, 
30,354,213 
47,681,700 
Hay, tons, 
Clover seed, 
13,838,642 
35,150,711 
bushels, 
468,978 
1,922.982 
Grass seed do. 
416,831 
1,317,70 L 
Hops, lbs. 
3 497,029 
26,480,106 
Rice, do. 
215,313,497 
110,131,373 
Tobacco, 
199,752,655 
472,661,157 
Wool, 
52.516,959 
155.681,751 
Cotton, bales, 
2,469,093 
5,755,359 
Butter, lbs., 
313,345.306 
802,250.287 
Cheese, “ 
105.535,893 
243,157.850 
Flax, “ 
7,709,676 
1,565,546 
Maple sugar, 
Molasses, gal- 
34,253,436 
36,576,061 
Ions 
Beeswax and 
12,700,896 
16,573,273 
honey, 
14,853,790 
26,848,897 
Flaxseed, bu., 
Cane sugar. 
562,312 
7,170,951 
hhds., 
247,576 
178,872 
In the statistics for 1850 no figures were 
given for sorghum products, broom corn, or 
for poultry and eggs. These] figures speak 
tne marvelous gi'owth of agricultural values 
which the Rural has witnessed and helped 
to bring about. 
In makitxg a comparative statement of 
prices for farm products we take the prices 
given in the Rural for May 16, 1850, and 
place them beside those in the last issue: 
1850. 1888. 
Flour, 
$ 6 00 to 
6 25 
$ 4 50 to 
5 25 
Wheat, 
1 33 
1)9% to 
1 03 
Corn, 
59 to 
63 
63 to 
67 
Oats, 
42 to 
44 
38 to 
45 
Potatoes (bush.), 31 
75 
Mess Pork, 
10 37 
14 00 to 14 50 
Lard, 
7 00 
8 10 to 
8 20 
Butter, 
15 to 
17 
24 to 
26 
Cheese, 
6 to 
«A 
9X to 
10 
Poultry, 
7 to 
8 
10 to 
13 
Eggs (doz.), 
9 to 
10 
14 K 
Hay (ton), 
9 00 to 12 00 
15 00 to 18 00 
Live cattle, 
6 00 to 
8 25 
5 25 to 
5 50 
Sheep, 
2 00 to 
3 25 
6 40 
Hogs, 
4 25 to 
5 00 
5 75 
With these prices and figures it seems at 
first hai’d to understand why farming is not 
far more profitable than it was 38 years ago. 
If l-eaders of the Rural in 1850 would tell us 
just how they lived and managed their house¬ 
hold expenses in those days, doubtless the prob¬ 
lem would seem easier. 
farm (Topics. 
TALKS WITH FARMERS. 
Farmer X: I notice that you are still ad¬ 
vocating the use of chemical fei’tilizers, but 
nobody that I have seen has said a word about 
one bad effect I notice in their use. 
R. N.-Y.: What is that, the old idea that 
they “poison” the laud or “burn it up?” 
Farmer X: No, I am satisfied that when 
fertilizers are properly used they are as safe 
as stable manure, while for such crops as pota¬ 
toes, there is no doubt about the fact that they 
are superior. I think they make farmers lazy 
so that the ground is not so well prepared as 
it was in old times. 
R. N.-Y.: Please explain what you mean, 
Farmer X: I mean that farmers, as a rule, 
do not, when they use fertilizers, prepare the 
soil as carefully as they do when they use 
stable manure. I have noticed it many times. 
Farmers think that as the fertilizers are very 
soluble they do not need such a fine and mel¬ 
low soil. Stable manure is coarse and it re¬ 
quires a lot of harrowing to get it well worked 
in. Consequently the soil gets extra working 
that does it much good. I am sure that thor¬ 
ough tillage pays better for chemical fertiliz¬ 
ers than it does for stable manure, but I am 
equally sure that these fertilizers make many 
farmers careless about the preparation of the 
soil. In this way they lose much of the good 
effect possible to get from their use and un¬ 
justly condemn them. 
R. N.-Y.: We notice that you have put iu 
a good many Osier Willows on the low spots of 
your farm. 
Farmer H: Yes, before I moved into this 
neighborhood I raised them and found that it 
paid me. I shall try them here. 
R, N.-Y.: Where can they be planted? 
Farmer H': On any wet soil whether iu 
swamps or on high ground. They will grow 
wherever there is plenty of moisture. 
R. N.-Y.: How do you plant them. 
Farmer H : Something like corn. In rows 
about four feet apart, with 18 inches between 
the cuttings. The cuttings are taken from 
two and three-year-old Osier Willows and are 
i.2 to 15 inches long. I used to make good 
profits at furnishing these cuttings for those 
who wished to start a bed. Two-thirds of the 
ciittings must be in the ground—pushed down 
straight. Let them grow one year, and then 
cut everything off close to the ground and 
throw the cuttings away, for they are too 
soft and too small far basket-making. The 
second crop will be better and the cuttings 
will be heavier each year after this. 
R. N.-Y-* How about cutting for market? 
Farmer H: I cut mine in spring when the 
sap is running. Some growers cut the wil¬ 
lows in the winter and stand them in ditches 
or pools of water until, in spring, the sap runs 
as if they were in the ground. The cuttings 
are stripped of their bark and packed in 
bundles and shipped to some large city where 
baskets or willow ware are manufactured. 
There seems to be a market for them in all 
large cities. 
R. N.-Y.: Does the business pay? 
Farmer H: The present price is seven 
cents per pound by the ton, which is about the 
average. They have brought 10 cents per 
pound, and have been sold at five cents. I 
should say that the cost of gathering and peel¬ 
ing would average 2)4 cents per pound. An 
average crop from trees over three years old 
will be from 3,000 to 4,000 pounds. 
R. N.-Y.: Does the business require as much 
skill as other farming operations? 
Farmer H: Yes, more than many others. 
To many it looks as though all there is in it 
is sticking cuttings into the ground and sell¬ 
ing the produce. Let them go into it and 
they will find it takes plenty of thought to do 
it right. The market at present is pretty well 
supplied, and there is no great fortune in the 
business. They pay best when grown near a 
large city. When grown at a distance from 
market there cannot be much profit in them. 
R. N.-Y.: We understand you believe in 
planting your crops at certain conditions of 
the moon? 
Farmer E: Yes. I know that crops that 
grow below ground should not be planted 
when the moou is full, while crops that pro¬ 
duce above ground ought to be planted at that 
time. 
R. N.-Y.: How do you know it? 
Farmer E: 1 have proved it several times. 
One year I planted corn when the moon was 
full and the next year when the moon was old. 
There was a big difference in the crops in favor 
of the full moon. 
R. N.-Y.: Did you have the same kind of 
seed, the same weather, and the same soil, and 
about the same amount of manure? 
Farmer E: I do not remember. I know 
that the best crop came when I planted in the 
full of the moon. 
R. N.-Y.: What reasons do you give for the 
practice? We would like to know the philo¬ 
sophy of it. „ 
Farmer E.: I think the moonlight has a 
good effect on the plant. Not long ago you 
stated in the Rural that a strong electric 
light would have considerable influence upon 
a plant’s growth. I think, in the same way, 
the moonlight helps the plant to start earlier. 
You people laugh at us for practising some 
farming operations, but I notice that we gen¬ 
erally make pretty good crops. 
R.N.-Y.: We do not laugh at anything un¬ 
less we know it is ridiculous and oftentimes 
things that seem to others laughable seem to 
us sad, because wo realize how much is lost 
by sticking to ideas that have worn out their 
usefulness. We have always wanted to have 
somebody give any reason for this “planting 
in the moon.” Yours is the first we have 
ever heard. 
following notes may be of some service to 
those who propose to exhibit: 
from secretary e. williams. 
The difficulty of keeping strawberries and 
raspberries in solutions of any kind is due to 
their tender skin. Grapes, gooseberries, etc., 
have a great advantage iu this respect. The 
most common method of keeping strawberries, 
etc., is in diluted alcohol, but the size and 
form are all one can hope to retain; the color 
will disappear. A simple brine of salt and 
water will answer for some fruits. One of the 
recipes sold for this purpose is sulphurized 
water (water exposed to the fumes of brim¬ 
stone). Water to which salicylic acid is added 
answers the purpose. The fruits shown and 
preserved in their natural state at the Ameri¬ 
can Institute for years past are evidently pre¬ 
served in medicated water. Which is the best 
method or material I cannot say. I think 
alcohol is most generally employed, and would 
come as near to accomplishing the object as 
anything else. 
FROM T. T. LYON. 
The Michigan Horticultural Society had, 
for several years, a provision in its premium 
list, for the exhibition of fruits out of season 
put up in any preparation which would pre¬ 
serve the form and color of the specimens. 
Exhibits of fruits were frequently made under 
this provision, put up in alcohol, in glycerine, 
and in a solution of salicylic acid in water. 
All the above preparations were more or less 
successful in preserving the form of speci¬ 
mens, but nature seems to have rendered 
their coloring too evanescent for such pro¬ 
cesses. In all cases, so far as 1 have observed, 
the color has been at least partially given up 
to the liquid, rendering it less transparent, 
aud leaving the fruit in a comparatively un¬ 
attractive condition. If there is a medium in 
which the color of fruits may be maintained 
intact, I am not iii the secret of its prepara¬ 
tion. So far as I have observed, the solution 
of salicylic acid in water has proved the most 
satisfactory for exhibition purposes, although 
it is alleged to be uusuited to the preservation 
of articles intended for culinary purposes. 
PRESERVING STRAWBERRIES FOR 
EXHIBITION. 
FROM P. M. AUGUR. 
I hardly know an entirely satisfactory way 
to preserve the strawberry so as to retain its 
original color unimpaired. By picking the 
fruit in the first stages of ripeness, or as soon 
as fairly colored, I think the form may be 
preserved, not, however, without some shrink¬ 
age. On the whole, the most satisfactory 
plan is to take a plaster-cast, aud color it arti¬ 
ficially, if one has access to an expert. Cher¬ 
ries, plums or grapes (the berries) can be kept 
better, as they have a skin. The use of a 
clear, uncorked jar, with a sufficient solution 
of salicylic acid or boracic acid, and berries 
put iu carefully, is the best thing I know, the 
acid preventing fermentation and decay. 
But owing to the fact that coloring matter in 
the strawberry is easily soluble iu water, and 
also owing to the action of sugar or chemicals 
on fruit colors and juices, perfecting the pres¬ 
ervation of the color of the strawberry is a. 
thing I have never yet seen. 
AN IMPORTANT REVOCATION. 
Here is a letter recently received from Kan¬ 
sas: 
“How can I preserve strawberries in the 
best condition for a display at the meeting of 
the State Horticultural Society aud also at 
the State Fair next September. I wish to 
take them from the vine and put them iu 
wide-mouthed bottles, but I do not know what 
to put on them to keep them iu the best con¬ 
dition.” 
We have a number of letters like the above. 
The displays of strawberries out of their sea¬ 
son have rarely been very satisfactory—owing 
to the fact pointed out by our correspondents 
—that the berry loses its color readily. The 
In a recent issue of the Rural, in noticing- 
various strawberries which are being tested' 
in the Experiment Grounds, it is said that “it 
is a pity that such a good name (Parker Earle) 
should have been given to so poor a berry,”or 
nearly those words. That berry was originat¬ 
ed by me, and designatsd “No. 3.” Mr. J. T. 
Lovett contracted with me for its control,, 
and was to introduce and disseminate it as. 
“Parker Earle,” only on condition that it 
should bear that name if judged worthy of in¬ 
troduction; otherwise it was to be known only 
as “No. 3.” After two years of trial he 
thought ho would introduce it, and sent out 
some plants to various parties to test as “Par¬ 
ker Earle,” aud advertised that he would in¬ 
troduce it; but further developments caused 
us not to disseminate it; hence agreeably to 
our understanding its name is not Parker 
Earle, but “No. 3.” I desire to have a first- 
class berry—a real acquisition—bear the name 
of our esteemed co-worker and friend, and as 
I have been instrumental in bringing his name 
forward in connection with a berry, I trust I 
may be permitted to attach it to one of which 
he and every berry-grower will be proud. 
Such a berry I fully believe we now have 
in a seedling produced by Mr. J. Nimon, my 
honorable neighbor, from seed of the Crescent 
grown by me, crossed by a very fine seedling 
of mine produced from seed of Miner’s Pro¬ 
lific. It has fruited here two years, and gives 
every evidence of being nearer to perfection 
than any yet brought to notice. We have 
fruited here the Jewell, the Jessie, the Bu- 
bach No. 5, the Monmouth, aud nearly all 
the other best berries in the world “This berry 
of Mr. Nimon s stands above them all, iu near¬ 
ly every particular, It has a splendid healthy 
