402 
THE BUBAL NIW-Y0BMEB. 
JUNE 48 
THE 
RURAL NEW'YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Home?. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARWAY 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 1888. 
It is held by some that earliness to 
bloom is indicative of early maturity in 
the potato. But we do not find that 
there is necessarily any such relationship. 
The Blush, White Elephant and Wall’s 
Orange, for example, are among the ear¬ 
liest and most profuse bloomers. 
We have several times referred to the 
fact that farmers were ahead of implement 
men in discovering the fact that corn 
could be thrashed in an ordinary thrash¬ 
ing machine. People that use imple¬ 
ments frequently discover more uses for 
them than do the people who make them. 
The implement men are now catching up, 
however, and are devising machines de¬ 
signed to do corn-thrashing better than 
ever. We learn of a new machine, not 
yet completed, that is expected to husk 
ears and cut fodder at one operation. 
Wrricn Horn? “Should we say 
dehorn or dishorn?” is the momentous 
question over which our farm editors are 
quarreling. According to our best auth¬ 
orities the Latin dis answers to our asun¬ 
der, in pieces, apart, in two, to designate 
the separation of a whole into single parts. 
De denotes a thing’s going out of or de¬ 
parture from any fixed point to which it 
was originally attached. Now, take your 
choice, dear editors, choose whichever 
horn of the dilemma you prefer and let 
us have peace. The R. N.-Y. uses ^be¬ 
cause it seems easier to say and to write 
dehorn than dishorn. 
We should say that the experiments at 
the Wisconsin Experiment Station forci¬ 
bly illustrate one point which the Rural 
has all the time insisted upon. The far¬ 
mer who feeds silage as an exclusive ra¬ 
tion, or without any other dry feed than 
grain, will do so at a loss. It is best 
fed where one feeding at least of dry hay 
can be given, and if a quantity of hay 
could have been substituted for a portion 
of the silage during the second period of 
the test, we are confident that better re¬ 
sults would have been obtained. The 
fact that succulent food improves the 
“churnability” of milk-fat is a valuable 
one to remember. 
Real economy in the purchase of eggs 
is not generally considered. An egg is an 
egg in most markets and color oftener in¬ 
fluences purchase and sale than size. On 
June 4th we purchased 13 eggs for 25 
cents. They were the product for the 
most part of a mixture of common stock 
and Leghorns and a few Wyandottes. 
The 13 weighed precisely one pound and 
seven ounce—nine to the pound. On the 
same day 13 eggs were purchased of an¬ 
other neighbor for 25 cents. These were 
from pure Leghorns. The weight was pre¬ 
cisely one pound and 13 ounces—seven 
to the pound. In the one case we have 
23 ounces for 25 cents, and in the other 
29, a difference of nearly 25 per cent. 
The discussion of the Dark Side of 
Farming has had one good effect. Young 
farmers are beginning to study as they 
never did before, the difference between 
farming at the present time and that of 40 
years ago. With prices for farm produce 
higher, and goods to be bought cheaper, 
farming ought to be far more profitable 
than in 1850 if there is anything in logic. 
Is it? Many of our correspondents evi¬ 
dently think not. Is there a reason for 
it? There must be. We propose to 
make this reason plain, if possible. We 
know of no better way to do this than to 
show just how farming was done 40 years 
ago. Several of the most successful farm¬ 
ers in the country—men of many years’ 
experience, will tell in a subsequent issue 
what they think about the matter. This 
promises to be a very valuable series of 
articles. 
It is safe to predict that in our section 
of country which is noted for its fine 
melons and large crops of Lima beans, 
neither melons nor beans will this season 
prove far short of a failure. This is 
owing'to the'damp, [rainy, cold weather 
of the. past three weeks. The seeds have 
for the most part rotted in the ground 
and it is now too late to replant with 
any hope of a paying return. Rye and 
grass are heavy. The Rural New- 
Yorker hybrid and cross bred grains 
never before looked so well, if we do not 
consider the strong likelihood that the 
most of them will lodge. Potatoes in 
moist soil are making a feeble stand, and 
many are planting early kinds even now. 
We see, however, little cause for 
grumbling. There never was and there 
never will be a season that will give the 
farmer maximum crops of everything, for 
the very conditions most favorable for 
some crops are the most unfavorable for 
others. The man that lives on the sandy 
hill-top and the man that lives in the 
moist valley will rarely find themselves 
praying alike. 
Some of our neighbors are cutting green 
clover for market. This clover is tied in¬ 
to bundles, hauled to New York, and 
sold to stable men for horse feed. A 
neighbor has sold quite a quantity at 25 
cents for two bundles. 
We often see city horses enjoying a bite 
of this green clover with their oats at 
noon. Green clover is so heavy that there 
is not much profit in hauling it in, unless 
one lives very near the city. The point 
to remember is that city horses are not 
alone in their desire for a bite of green 
food. There are thousands of horses on 
hundreds of farms that suffer the agonies 
of Tantalus by being forced to live on dry 
hay and grain, while all around them the 
grass is sweet and juicy. We are feeding 
our horses a good deal of dried grass now 
and like the effect it produces. The 
grass is cut in the morning and lies in 
the sun all day. The horses relish it be¬ 
yond description, and we have had no 
trouble with colic which frequently dis¬ 
turbs horses when fed large quantities of 
perfectly green clover. 
Professor J. W. Sanborn’s crop re¬ 
port for Missouri, just received, contains 
an abstract of reports for every county in 
the State. During the past month the 
condition of wheat has been reduced from 
77.5 to the low average of 63.6 by chinch 
bugs, fly and dry weather; but abundant, 
and in some cases excessive rains fell in 
most parts of the State towards the end 
of the month. Corn planting has been 
delayed, and is later than last season. 
The acreage is about the same as last year; 
cool cloudy weather has retarded germin¬ 
ation and growth. Frosts on May 15 
and 17 damaged small fruits and garden 
vegetables. The rains and cloudy weath¬ 
er have severely checked the increase of 
chinch bugs, but they are still very nu¬ 
merous. Meadows and pastures have not 
recovered from the effects of the past two 
years’ drought, and have not improved 
materially during the past month. Army 
worms are reported in some localities as 
doing great damage to the grass crop. 
It is to be hoped that the Presidential 
canvass this year will be made on higher 
grounds than ever before. The chances 
are that it will be. Let us hope that the 
sickening scandals and coarse blackguard¬ 
ism of the last campaign will be driven 
from this one. The chances are that the 
Tariff will be the leading topic for dis¬ 
cussion. This is well. There is no ques¬ 
tion that so yitally affects the welfare of 
the country as the methods of raising and 
spending the public funds. The Tariff 
has a direct bearing upon taxation, and 
any thorough discussion of it must lead 
to a careful consideration of the principles 
underlying the public business. We wel¬ 
come a thorough discussion of the Tariff, 
and its effects upon the country—its evils, 
its blessings, its tendency for good or bad. 
Such a discussion will lift our politics to 
a higher plane, and change a little big¬ 
otry into thought. We hope the issue 
will be made clear and distinct, that we 
may know what we are discussing. 
Should the United States Supreme 
Court sustain the position taken by the 
lower court at Laramie, Wyoming, the 
other day, over 4,000,000 acres of land 
will be affected. The United States had 
brought suit against a large company of 
stockmen to compel them to remove the 
fences which inclosed Government lands 
as well as land that had been bought from 
the Union Pacific Railroad within the 20- 
mile limit. This is a common trick of 
the Western land-grabbers. They buy 
from railroads and others sections of land 
surrounding Government land, put fences 
on their real property, and thus prevent all 
others from having access to the land be¬ 
longing to the Government. The Court’s 
decision was that the owners of railroad 
( land may inclose their possessions even 
when fencing in Government land in do¬ 
ing so. Those stockmen who have been 
compelled to take down their fences from 
the public domain within the railroad 
limit, may put them up again, says the 
judge. It may be remembered that Pres¬ 
ident Cleveland’s removal of Governor 
Baxter, of Wyoming, followed shortly 
after he had learned that Baxter had been 
doing just what the stockmen are now 
told they can do. Of course, the Govern¬ 
ment will appeal the case in the interest 
of the general public. 
One of our readers who is trying the 
Rural Trench system on five acres of land, 
says: “I think reports from potato 
growers concerning the results of the ap¬ 
plication of different brands of fertilizers, 
giving the names of the manufacturers, 
cost per ton and number of pounds ap¬ 
plied per acre, would be of interest and 
value to many.” 
Yes, no doubt. And it would be of 
further interest to speak of the fertility 
and lay of the land, the previous crop, 
etc. Reports are coming in quite freely, 
and it is our design to publish those 
(during the latter part of the year) which 
promise to instruct our readers. This 
Trench business, whatever the system it¬ 
self may be worth, will serve more than 
one important purpose, by stimulating 
farmers to make comparative trials in 
cultivation, using different quantities and 
grades of fertilizers, giving more thor¬ 
ough preparation to the land and observ¬ 
ing the effects of the system in keeping 
the crops through dry weather—a most 
important consideration. The deep 
planting of potatoes in a mellow soil 
furnished with all needed plant food, has 
more of philosophy in it, we fancy, than 
fatmers have dreamed of. The Rural 
New-Yorker is not going to let this 
subject drop until the bottom falls out. 
Let our readers co-operate with us by 
giving a full account of their work. This 
will enable us to present a special num¬ 
ber of greater value, perhaps, than any 
other that has appeared since the corn 
special (some eight years ago), which de¬ 
scribed our method of raising the largest 
amount of grain to the acre of which we 
have any trustworthy record, when the 
cost of raising the crop is considered. 
CORN FODDER. 
I t is quite certain that the Maize plant 
was cultivated in this country as long 
ago as the year 1006. During the 882 
years that have passed since then, Ameri¬ 
can farmers have learned much concerning 
the cultivation and value of the plant. 
It is evident, however, that they have 
still something to learn. It may be said 
that the study of the possibilities of the 
stalk and leaves as fodder has but fairly 
begun. The waste is still too great. 
Readers will remember that on page 304, 
of our Ensilage Special, Mr. C. S. Rice 
described and advocated what to many 
seemed like a new way of preserving corn 
fodder. In brief the system is this: The 
corn is sown in drills, 32 inches apart, 
leaving about eight plants to the foot. 
The plants are not permitted to mature 
ears but are cut when the tassels are per¬ 
fectly developed. The stalks are not 
dried, but directly after cutting are thrown 
into large cocks where they stand until 
December. It is claimed for this system 
that a heavier yield of stalks is secured, that 
the fodder is kept green without the ex¬ 
pense of ensiloing and that ease of handling 
is secured as in no other system. This plan 
would tend to upset many claims of other 
handlers of corn fodder. We have been 
told that the corn plant needs more space 
in the drill than Mr. Rice would give it, 
that it must mature an ear before it can 
be said to contain its maximum of nutri¬ 
ment, and that it nearly doubles its nu¬ 
tritive value in the period between tassel- 
ing and the glazing of the kernel, also 
that green corn fodder will surely mould 
unless kept in a perfectly air-tight com¬ 
partment. Mr. Rice shows his faith in 
the system by putting in 10 or more acres 
on this plan and others are testifying to 
the value of such fodder as he produces. 
We know of one community of farmers 
that sent one of their number to Mr. 
Rice’s farm to see this fodde#. The dele¬ 
gate came back and said: “I never saw 
anything like it.” When “doctors dis¬ 
agree” it seems pretty evident that there 
is something about the case that calls for 
further experiment and study. Regard¬ 
ing the corn plant we are inclined to be¬ 
lieve that its possibilities are not. fully 
understood yet, and that the experiment 
stations can find few more valuable themes 
for study than this one. With Mr. Rice 
the corn plant is a “specialist”—it pro¬ 
duces only fodder. When it produces 
both ear and stalk is it not more on the 
“general-purpose” order! 
BREVITIES. 
What do you think about the question dis¬ 
cussed in the Post Office Club this week? 
The outlook for a first-rate grape crop was 
never better if judged by the condition of 50 
different varieties at the Rural Grounds. 
Mr. H. H. Haaff writes to criticize Prof. 
Plumb’s dehorning conclusions. The chief 
points of his argument will be given next week. 
Cherries set freely this spring and gave a 
promise of a full crop. Owing to the cool 
weather and continuous rains most of them 
have rotted. 
We are glad to call attention to Bulletin No. 
15 of the Wisconsin Experiment Station, 
noted elsewhere, as an important addition to 
agricultural science. 
Have any of our readers had experience 
with wheat hay for feeding cattle? We shall 
begladtoget what information we can re¬ 
garding the value of wheat hay and rye hay. 
Having is close at hand. How about the 
grind-stone? While haying lasts it will be 
the basis of good work. And don’t try to get 
along with a little stone. Get a big one and 
save muscle and time. 
The American Association of Nurserymen, 
it will be remembered, meet at Detroit, Mich., 
June 20. The meeting will last three days. 
The Seed Trade Association meet at Chicago 
June 12, at the Sherman House. 
Every year the old matter of patenting new 
fruits and vegetables is brought up for discus¬ 
sion. It seems to be one of those questions 
that will not “down.” In a subsequent Ru¬ 
ral our leading horticulturists will settle 
this question. 
In the spring of 1884 a specimen of the White 
Double-flowering Horse-chesnut was received 
from Ellwanger & Barry. It began to bloom 
(for the first) m late May. The cut in their 
catalogue shows the raceme of flowers very 
correctly. The petals are blotched with pur¬ 
ple and yellow. 
The strawberry and rose exhibition of the 
Farmers’ Club of the American Institute will 
be held at the rooms of the American Insti¬ 
tute, Clinton Hall, New York city, 
Eighth Street, near Broadway, on Tuesday 
and Wednesday, June 18and 20. Itisexpected 
that many of the newer varieties of strawber¬ 
ries and roses will be there shown. 
Now all ye members of farmers’ clubs don’t 
forget to hold a strawberry meeting this year. 
The strawberry has so many good points 
that one point of superiority is sometimes 
overlooked. It is the most sociable fruit in 
the world and will send more cheerfulness and 
good feeling into an eating company than 
any other fruit can. 
We have found it difficult to obtain sitting 
hens this year, and as a consequence, shall 
have to buy pullets for next season’s laying. 
There are some choice pullets in the market 
weighing from two to three pounds, live 
weight. We could easily pick out a good lay¬ 
ing flock, but they cost 35 and 38 cents per 
pound, live weight. There is money at such 
prices! February sitting hens in dry warm 
quarters will bring them out. 
The R. N.-Y. asserted years ago that the 
wire-worm (lulus) causes scab in potatoes. 
We have never had any doubt about it in so 
far as the potatoes raised upon our own prem¬ 
ises are concerned. Mr. Devereaux shows in 
his well considered article on page 395, that 
the wire-worm is not the only cause of scab in 
other places since the disfigurement or disease 
exists where wire-worms are unknown. 
We had 20 rainy days at the Rural Grounds, 
N. J., in May. The ground was soaked about 
all the time. It was about as severe a test as 
the trench system could have had, as regards 
our claim that the wide trenches keep the soil 
mellow and fine. Mr. Terry, it will be re¬ 
membered, thought that one good rain would 
pack all the soil alike. We have tested many 
of the trenches this week and find that while 
the soil between the rows is packed hard, that 
in the trenches is as mellow and fine as a well 
kept garden. And the vines are growing so 
rapidly that they will shade the ground before 
it can bake hard. 
The charge is made that the managers of 
the Wisconsin farmers’ institutes aim to teach 
nothing but “special purpose” doctrine. The 
“general-purpose” men do not like this. Here 
is an idea that perhaps the disputants have 
not thought of. The “special-purpose” men 
claim thatsome animals are fitted for doing cer¬ 
tain work better than others are? It is folly, 
they say to try to make these ar imals do some¬ 
thing else. Does anybody doubt that there 
are farmers who are by nature “general-pur¬ 
pose” men? They excel in matching the de¬ 
tails of general farm work together. They 
would be as much out of place in special 
farming as our friends would like to have us 
understand the Short-horn cow would be out 
of place in a butter dairy. 
We began to cross wheats this year not un¬ 
til June 7, several days later than ever before 
in any preceding year. The latest hybrids 
between wheat and rye develop many curious 
characteristics, while those of previous years 
are still changing in a wonderful manner. 
Many heads which last year bore long, heavy 
beards are now quite beardless while others 
that last year were beardless are now heavily 
bearded—all from seed of the same plant or a 
single head. Heavy culms last year are slen- 
per now, while hairy culms have changed to 
smooth ones and vice-versa. We have four or 
five plants produced by again applying rye 
pollen last summer to those flowers borne by 
plants that by parentage were seven-eighths 
rye. Two of these plants have every appear¬ 
ance of being rye, except that the color is even 
a lighter green than rye. They have the same 
soft feeling and the same peculiarities of 
joint and habit. The heads bear as many as 
28 spikelets closely crowded together. The 
flowers gape open, showing abnormally small 
pistils and stamens,a sure sign in these hybrids 
of absolute sterility. We shall refer to these 
interesting matters later, with illustrations. 
