386 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JUNE © 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Home . 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. C A li y A y 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 1888. 
Domestic Economy is the first witness 
to be examined this week. 
‘ ‘Mothers often vnconsciovsly educate their 
girls to he selfish 
The Bright Side of Farming next, with 
an illustrative, full-page cartoon. 
11 Let some source of profit about the farm 
he appropriated, to the daughters' 1 use, mak¬ 
ing them feel that they are something more 
than unpaid servants.' 1 ' 
Good words are those of good Dr. Hos¬ 
kins (see page 380): “Home! Oh, make 
much of it! Build it up strongly; but¬ 
tress it on every side with loving labor. 
Keep out envy and every seed of strife 
from the Home on the Farm." 
“ The rural maid is usually a great novel 
reader, and in the polished ways of the city 
gent, his better command of language and 
his self-possession, she finds her booh hero." 
Op all our grapes the Eaton and Roan¬ 
oke Neverfail were the first to start growth, 
and the growth is remarkably vigorous. 
Not a bud on either was harmed by the 
winter. Neither has as yet fruited at 
the Rural Grounds. 
“In the ma/jority of cases when the mother 
does most of the work, she herself is at fault. 
Her mistaken love for her daughters leads 
her to ignore their best interests and her 
own rights by assuming tasks that are too 
burdensome for one but which would be light 
if shared by all." 
If the writer of this note desired to 
bite his own nose off, and at the same 
time to inflict the cruelest blow upon the 
happiness of his wife and children, he 
would leave the country and make the 
city his permanent abiding place. 
“I know of no class of men in whom a 
girl runs less risk of being deceived as to 
character, and I am glad — yes, proud—that 
my husband is a farmer. I am persuaded 
that no other calling can produce men of 
more sterling worth, purity, integrity, good 
sense, independence or any other qualifica¬ 
tion that helps to make a real man.” 
It is the sacred duty of parents so to 
rear their children as to command their 
love and respect. It is equally their 
duty to strive in all ways to make home 
attractive. If then the grown children 
prefer to leave the farm, the parents have 
only to wish them God speed. 
“Probably most people admire polished 
diamonds more than those in the rough, and 
properly too; but the mistake that many 
country girls make—and city girls as well 
for that matter—is in supposing that polish 
is a proof of the diamond's genuineness." 
-- 
In our friendly contemporary, the Farm 
and Fireside, a correspondent states that 
the Editor of the R. N.-Y. has pledged 
himself to Mr. Atkinson, of the Farm 
Journal, to raise at the rate of 700 bushels 
of potatoes to the acre. This is an error. 
There is no pledge about it. 
Another writer in the same journal 
claims that the Rural Trench System is 
his system, and that he practiced it 30 
years ago, and published an account of it 
at that time in the New York World. It 
happens that the World was not in exist¬ 
ence at that time. There are always 
plenty of people who stand ready to ap¬ 
propriate the credit that belongs to others. 
The Editor of the Rural New-Yorker 
would esteem it a favor if all who are try¬ 
ing the Rural Trench System of raising po¬ 
tatoes would write us a postal stating: (1) 
The size of the plot; (2) the quantity of fer¬ 
tilizer used, the manufacturer and price; 
(3) the name of the variety of potato planted, 
and any other particulars they may choose 
to add. 
Professor C. S. Plumb, of the Uni¬ 
versity of Tennessee (Agricultural Dep’t) 
writes as follows: “I heartily approve 
of your plan of calling upon the farmers 
to suggest to the stations the work they 
would have them do. It will be the best 
thing for the station to have the farmers 
take interest enough in them to do that 
and no harm can result, and undoubted¬ 
ly much good will come from it. I 
would suggest, however, that the Ru¬ 
ral also advise farmers to keep posted on 
the work now in hand at the stations, 
and learn of what has been accomplished 
in the past at many stations, so that they 
shall not call for unnecessary repetition.” 
“If every farmer would, by example, as 
well as precept, teach his children that his 
occupation is one of the highest-, thatinstead 
of being low and degrading—requiring only 
brawn and muscle—it is a vocation demand¬ 
ing the best use of every J acuity; if he would 
show by his conversation, manners and dress 
— yes, even dress—that he is a gentleman 
and that he is not ashamed of the fact that 
he helps to feed the world, there would be 
found but few daughters who would assert 
that they would not marry a farmer." 
We have stated several times that Dr. 
Hoskins’s “Dark Side of Farm Life” was 
not a story of his own experience. While 
the main points of the story are true—the 
whole thing is entirely probable—we have 
distinctly stated that it is not a record of 
Dr. H’s life. It is a little amusing, there¬ 
fore, to read the following in the Vermont 
Watchman. 
“Does not the belief that farming does not 
pay; that farm labor is hard and monotonous; 
thankfulness that his daughters are not farm¬ 
ers’ wives; and that not only has his farming 
failed of success, but that his inheritance will 
be largely expended should he live 10 years 
longer, seem a curious fitting for a teacher of 
proper methods in agriculture—a peculiar 
preparation and condition to point out the 
path of success in farming to others?” 
“We had music, books,periodicals, literary 
and social gatherings, picnics—school and 
church—some pet occupations aside from the 
daily routine ivork, and we were happy." 
Will electricity run away with us? It 
is a wonderful giant. It reaches out 
with its millions of arms to do our bid¬ 
ding. It will lie dormant for a year to 
leap forth like a flash at an infant’s touch. 
It has revolutionized city life. It is des¬ 
tined to revolutionize farm life. It is a 
dangerous servant liable to strike its mas¬ 
ter dead at a single unguarded touch. Its 
power has grown faster than we knew. 
Not a day passes without bringing the 
news of some death from the electric wires. 
Some accident loosens the fastenings of 
the wires. They fall upon the passer-by 
and strike him to death as though he had 
become a mark for the lightning. The 
fact is that in recent developments this 
giant, electricity, is getting stronger than 
its master, and he has added a new and 
terrible element of danger to city life. 
A correspondent last week gave an¬ 
other reason why Dr. Hoskins’s farmer 
can see only the “Dark Side.” It was a 
lack of “calculation” or the business sense 
that prompts one to thoroughly investi¬ 
gate an enterprise before investing in it. 
It is a sound rule of business that a man 
without much capital cannot afford to go 
head-over-heels into a new enterprise. 
His safety lies in making haste slowly and 
taking advantage of experiments. Some 
men seem to be born speculators and take 
great risks in business with seeming heed¬ 
lessness. Such men are generally quick 
thinkers and have the faculty of grasping 
details and figuring for resuits so rapidly 
that their carefully studied plans may 
seem to others like thoughtless rushing 
into business. Dr. H.’s farmer did not 
have this faculty. He thought he had it, 
and that made matters worse. 
“It is a. sure sign that something is wrong 
about her home life when a country girl as¬ 
serts that she will never marry a far¬ 
mer." 
We are progressing with our “new 
breed” of poultry. As our readers will 
remember, we have a White Wyandotte 
rooster and White Dorking hens wdth yel¬ 
low legs. They are kept carefully separ- 
a'ed from all other birds and the eggs are 
all to be saved for hatching. The first 
two settings have been very successful. 
Out of 26 eggs 26 chickens were hatched. 
Of the 25 living chickens seven are spotted 
with black. Most of the others are true 
to the type we propose to breed for. It 
appears that before we secured the hens 
they had been running wdth a Langshan 
rooster, which will account for the seven 
spotted chickens. The eggs were all 
laid after the hens were separated from 
others. Scientists have expressed many 
opposite views as to whether eggs are im¬ 
pregnated singly or in litters. This exper- 
ience certainly shows that more than one 
can be impregnated at a time. 
We find the following editorial note in 
the June number of the American Agri¬ 
culturist : 
“Yes, crops of 100 bushels of shelled corn 
are rare, but they are not an impossibility. 
We have seen, on the farm of Mr. E. S. Car¬ 
man, on Long Island, a crop of 134 bushels of 
shelled com raised on one acre of ground. 
The variety grown was Blount’s Prolific, the 
soil a light sandy loam, the fertilizer used was 
Mapes’s Corn Manure, applied three or four 
times during the season—altogether not over 
one-quarter of a ton—and the cultivation con¬ 
sisted of running a cultivator between the 
rows after every rain, and after the applica¬ 
tion of the fertilizer. The labor and expense 
bestowed upon this acre was not more than 
any intelligent farmer gives to his crop, if he 
expects a big yield. On the same farm four 
acres of Chester County Corn yielded 856 
bushels of shelled com, the best acre 159.37 
bushels, the poorest 63.75. average 113.69, ac¬ 
tual measurement.— Eds.” 
The above note is no doubt written by 
our respected friend, Dr. F. M. Hexamer, 
now the editor of the Agriculturist. He 
served as one of the committee of investi¬ 
gation on the occasion alluded to. 
THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER. 
T he ideal farmer’s daughter typifies all 
that is sweet, pure, and womanly. The 
American farmer’s daughter should be the 
very highest type of the American woman 
—healthy, pure, intelligent, and sensible. 
The country needs just such women, and 
we have faith to believe that there are 
thousands, yes, millions of them to-day 
as true, as brave, as sensible, and as full 
of patient devotion as were the women of 
years ago who wrought so well at the 
foundation of our country's prosperity. 
All praise is due to the true farmer’s 
daughter. Would that we might say that 
all country girls are worthy of this title. 
Truth compels us to say that there are 
country girls who are living unhappy, 
fretful, discontented lives on the farm. 
Strange that many of them cannot see 
that God has blessed them beyond measure 
by placing them where they are. Strange 
that they cannot see the great chances 
for enjoyment and for doing good that 
are wasting within their very grasp. We 
are blind. We cannot see the best of life 
till we view it from behind. The discon¬ 
tented, fault-finding, peevish girls will 
find many truths in this issue. Many of 
them are homely truths, bluntly spoken 
and barbed with facts, but they are 
truths. Let our girls think them over. 
And mothers and fathers, too, may learn 
a lesson of life here. Kindness may kill. 
Indulgence may ruin. It is the character 
that is tempered by restraint and self- 
denial that stands firmly against the 
wrong. One thing more. Let no young 
woman ever feel that she loses one atom 
of the respect due from true manhood by 
perfecting herself in womanly duties and 
practical work. All honor to the true 
farmer’s daughter. All pity for the dis¬ 
contented country girl. 
“The family temper usually takes its tone 
from the parents, and if the father be harsh, 
grumbling, unappreciative, and the mother 
be peevish, fault-finding or discontented, how 
can the children be expected to regard home 
as the dearest spot on earth, whether it be 
on a farm or elsewhere?" 
—.« ♦ »- ■ 
THE SIZE OF SEED POTATOES. 
A s we understand Mr. T. B. Terry, he 
is in favor of using one eye pieces of 
good-sized potatoes for seed. He believes 
that it pays him to do so and the belief 
is founded upon careful field trials. There 
need be littie doubt that the size of the 
seed which gives the best crop on one 
farm will not necessarily give the best 
crop on others. As has already been 
stated, the R. N.-Y believes from its trials 
that the size of the seed should be deter¬ 
mined partly by the variety planted, since 
some kinds have many eyes, some few. 
In some varieties all of the eyes are pot¬ 
ent, so to speak, while in others few will 
grow. This we have demonstrated to our 
satisfaction. Any one can easily prove it 
by placing several sound potatoes of dif¬ 
ferent varieties in a light, warm place, 
and leaving them there until they sprout. 
If Mr. Terry were to use but one eye for seed 
of several varieties we can mention, we 
will guarantee that he would have a very 
imperfect stand. On the other hand, we 
will guarantee to those who advocate the 
planting of large or medium-sized whole 
seed, that if we may select the variety the 
crop will consist largely of small potatoes. 
During the past season in the R. N.Y.’s 
trials, single eyes gave, in round num¬ 
bers, 99 pounds to 99 hills; two eyes gave 
115 pounds; half potatoes gave 131 pounds 
and whole potatoes gave 120 pounds. 
The above are the average figures of three 
trials in the same field. The variety was 
the Blush. In a trial made 10 years ago 
with some 60 varieties, pieces containing 
from two to three eyes gave the best yields. 
Our conclusion is that every farmer should 
consider this seed question with reference, 
first, to the variety he plants, and, second, 
with reference to the fertility, consistency 
and condition of his own land. 
BREVITIES. 
Which? 
The determination of one’s pursuit in life 
is a serious matter. “A rolling stone gathers 
no moss.” 
Among the new wheats being tried this 
year, Patagonian and Wyandotte Red have 
lodged. 
Henry Stewart well puts it on another 
page: “the farm home is never isolated to the 
well-balanced mind.” 
Mrs. Gifford intimates how a girl may 
have cause to thank God that she breathes the 
free air of the farm. 
Rains incessant; Lima beans and melon 
seeds rotting in the ground. Farmers can 
neither plow, sow nor plant. 
One of the largest crops of corn ever raised 
at the Rural Farm was planted not until June 
8th. The variety was the Longfellow. 
“Thirfty, well-to-do farmers’ daughters 
love the farm and seldom care to leave the 
beautiful country,” says May Maple. 
Miss. E. Becker believes that a novelist 
who would write wisely and well of farm life, 
would be a god-send to the farmer of the 
future. 
“Would that more real knowledge of 
city life could come into our farm houses; for 
the glamour of ignorance now leads many 
astray,” says Mary Mann. 
In previous years we have begun to cross 
wheats by the first of June. This year the 
heads are still snugly in their boots, and not 
one has ventured outside. 
Some eight years or more ago. we began to 
select the largest heads of the Thousand fold 
Rye in order to note the effect. There seems 
no marked difference as yet. 
Has the wet weather discouraged the hens? 
Eggs are scarcer and higher than last year 
and there is quite a general complaint of a 
falling off in egg production. 
Mrs. P. A. Crozier thinks that country 
girls do not often go to the cities if the par¬ 
ents at home are in easy circumstances, and 
provide for them reasonably well. 
“Don’t find too much fault with the daugh¬ 
ters; allow them a reasonable amount of money 
to use for themselves; love them and show that 
you do," says Mrs. P. A. Crozier. 
“Many farm mortgages here in New Eng¬ 
land have been paid by the earnings of daugh¬ 
ters who went to the mills and factories of 
Mass, to work,” says Mrs. C. J. Spear. 
Under date of May 24, Dr. T. H. Hoskins 
writes: “I read the Rural every week with 
ever-growing respect and admiration. It is a 
good while since it reached ‘the head,’ but it 
keeps growing faster than ever.” 
“Having always lived on a farm, I ought 
to know the dark and the bright sides of farm 
life, and I must declare that the allurements of 
city life never could tempt me to give up my 
country home”—says Mrs. S. E. Howard. 
Here are two sisters or brothers both rear¬ 
ed in the same house and under the same in¬ 
fluences, apparently. One loves the farm and 
farmlife; the other despises both. Letallgood 
parents advise the one to stay—the other to 
go. 
Many farmers in our neighborhood who de¬ 
sired to apply the Paris-green solution to their 
apple trees this spring have been obliged to 
give it up. The rain has been so constant 
that the leaves of the trees have scarcely been 
dry. 
Mrs Jack, after having spent her life up¬ 
on the farm and reared a family of a dozen 
children—and good children too—may speak 
with some authority as to the leading ques¬ 
tions to which this number of the R. N.-Y. is 
chiefly given up. 
“I often think what a pity it is that we can 
not always see the soul through the rough 
exterior, for in purity of mind and morals our 
country youth stand first.” So says Mrs. 
Jack, and the R. N-Y. believes it to be as true 
as the Gospel. 
Last week Secretary J. S. Woodward, dur¬ 
ing a short visit to the Rural Grounds, re¬ 
marked that he had never seen a handsomer 
tree than that. He pointed at Schwerdler’s 
Maple. Mr. W. is on his way to England to 
remain six weeks or so. 
Again let us call attention to the difference 
in hardiness between the Common and Hardy 
Catalpa. They are some 30 yards apart, the 
Common being in the more favorable position. 
The Hardy Catalpa was not injured by the 
past winter; the Common is nearly dead. And 
so ends the experiment. 
Secretary J. S. Woodward informs us 
that he has decided to build a silo this year. 
He says there is no doubt as to the value of 
silage as a food for cattle, and he is confident 
that sheep will thrive equally well on it. It 
will be remembered that Mr. Woodward has 
been one of our strongest advoc ates of root 
growing and feeding. r ;;£ 
Strawberries at 10 cents per box! Grow¬ 
ers are a little discouraged at the prospect. 
The cold, damp weather has delayed the crop 
in Southern New Jersey. Now it is feared 
that the bright, warm weather sure to come 
will so hasten the ripening that there will be 
very little time between the shipments of ber¬ 
ries from New Jersey and New York State. 
This will glut the market. 
We remarked in a recent issue that the new 
and promising grape Alice was slightly in¬ 
jured the past winter. There were two cir¬ 
cumstances, either one of which might have 
caused it to become so weakened as not to 
mature its wood sufficiently to withstand the 
winter. It was a young vine set last spring, 
made a good growth and allowed to bear a 
cluster of grapes. Hence it is quite probable 
it did not fully ripen'its wood. 
