JULY 7 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
ANational Journal for Country and Suburban Ilomo-i. 
Conducted by 
KLBEOT 8. C A K V A y 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JULY 7, 1888. 
The R. N. Y. regards Mr. Jones’s con¬ 
tribution on quince culture in this issue 
as giving the most valuable advice on the 
subject ever printed. 
-♦r*-*-- 
Several of the Rural’s hybrids be¬ 
tween the blackberry and raspberry are 
fruiting. What kind of fruit they bear 
will be shown later by photographic 
pictures. 
Deep or shallow setting — which ? 
Henry Stewart, L. S. Hardin, T. D. Cur¬ 
tis and Pres. II. E. Alvord—among our 
first dairy authorities—favor the R. N. -Y. 
with their views. 
The R. New-Yorker for the coming 
campaign desires to be represented at all 
the leading fairs, farmers’ institutes, etc. 
in the country, and to have active, relia¬ 
ble agents in every county. Liberal terms 
will be granted upon application. 
On the new Rural Grounds are two 
Norway Spruces and two Cucumber 
Magnolias growing alternately within 20 
feet of each other. They were planted 
about 18 years ago and are now all of 
about the same hight—40 feet—and the 
branches freely intermingle. This mag¬ 
nolia is one of the most symmetrical of 
trees, while its large leaves and hand¬ 
some fruit add much to its beauty. The 
fact that it will stand the contact of 
spruces with little injury to itself is 
worthy of note ; and it may also be 
worthy of note that its annual growth 
for the first 18 years seems to be about 
the same as that of the Norway Spruce. 
But this would vary with the climate, of 
course. 
A barrel of the Peroxide of Silicate, 
largely advertised in this and other 
papers, was sent to the Rural Grounds 
last month for trial. We found it about 
as effective as Paris-green and plaster in 
killing potato beetles. But it seems to 
burn the leaves in places. Whether this 
is because the Paris green which it con¬ 
tains is not mixed thoroughly enough 
with its other materials (the particles of 
the Paris-green are plainly to be seen 
throughout the mass), or because it ad¬ 
heres to the leaves more closely, forming 
a sort of paste, or because there is too 
large a proportion of Paris-green in it, 
we cannot say. Whether the “Peroxide” 
contains plant food, as claimed, we can¬ 
not say. Our trials lead us to prefer 
Paris-green and plaster at the same 
price. 
If you need the service of an extra 
hand on your farm, how much do you 
have to pay him ? What makes this 
price ? Is the labor really worth that to 
you or do you pay it just because it is 
the custom to pay that price ? What is 
the value of a day’s labor ? How much 
does it add to your property ? All useful 
labor creates a certain amount of wealth. 
Do you over-pay or under-pay your hired 
help—that is to say, does their work 
bring in enough to meet the amount paid 
them and leave a little over ? Men say 
they will work for the “ going wages.” 
Now, we ask, what makes the standard— 
is it custom or is it a real guage of pro¬ 
duction ? Business men and managers of 
great corporations know how much they 
can afford to pay for labor, and how 
much a man’s work is worth to them. 
If the farmer could get closer to this real 
value of labor, he could economize to 
better advantage. 
Some eight or ten years ago the R. 
N.-Y. announced, from trials made, that 
a large proportion of weevel-eaten peas 
would not grow, and were therefore 
worthless for seed. A shout of contra¬ 
diction was sent up by seedsmen and 
others. Prof. C. Y. Riley said “There’s 
nothing in it ; weevel eaten peas will 
grow as well as any.” “Don’t tell 
me ; I know better,” said one of the 
most prominent seedsmen of the country 
to the writer. “You will find out your 
mistake. Another season’s trial will show 
it.” But another season’s trial merely 
confirmed the Rural’s statement. To¬ 
day our best seedsmen will not sell 
weevel-eaten peas for seed. 
How much good did % the R. N.-Y. do 
the country by that one discovery ? And 
how many of our Congressmen who are 
such steadfast friends of the farmer know 
of this or anything else that the R. N.-Y. 
has done during its 12 years of field 
and garden experimentation ? 
It seems odd to the R. N. Y. that the 
directors of experiment stations do not 
consider the absolute necessity of a poor 
noil if they would obtain reliable informa¬ 
tion from their fertilizer experiments. 
We began our work by trying the effects 
of the constituents—used separately and 
in various combinations—upon the very 
fertile soil of our Rockaway (L. I.) farm, 
and we were ready, at length, to con¬ 
clude, as did Dr. Sturtevant, that plot 
experiments were worse than useless. 
Nothing less than carrying on the same 
experiments for 10 years or more on the 
same plots would give any helpful infor¬ 
mation. 
The case is very different with our 
impoverished soil on the New Jersey 
experiment fields. They tell us at once 
that they are awfully hungry, and that 
nothing short of a good square meal will 
satisfy them, and they tell us this same 
story every time. 
Iowa has passed a good law with a 
view to squelching unprincipled stallion- 
keepers who try to palm off forged pedi¬ 
grees on the public. By the new law 
any owner or keeper of .a stallion or bull 
for public service, who represents him to 
be a pure-bred or thoroughbred, or 
standard-bred, in the case of any breed of 
horses or cattle which has a stud or herd- 
book for registration of pedigrees, must 
place a copy of the certificate of registra¬ 
tion on the door of the stable where the 
stallion or bull is usually kept, giving the 
number of registration, name of breeder, 
name of animal, and volume or page of 
herd or stud-book in which the animal 
is registered, and when requested 'to do 
so, he must give a copy of this certificate 
to any patron. Any keeper of a stallion 
or bull who shall violate the provisions 
of this law, shall be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and shall be punished ac¬ 
cordingly. This ought to have the de¬ 
sired effect, and the example of Iowa 
should be followed in other States in 
this important matter. 
Ik you want your lawn-mower to last 
five instead of two years, (1) never allow 
the revolving and horizontal blades to 
touch each other. They should come so 
near it that a blade of grass can not pass 
through without being cut in two. 
Thoughtless workmen like to have the 
blades touch. “It makes a clean job.” 
But they don’t stop to consider that the 
steel is cut off in a few minutes by this 
contact, and the blades must then be 
screwed closer together again. When a 
lawn-mower comes from the manufac¬ 
turer, it is set just right, and the setting 
should not be changed the first season, 
even though the machine is in constant 
use. 
(2). Oil the machine as often as need¬ 
ed. A little applied every hour is better 
than more applied once a day. 
(8.) Never ram a machine through tall 
grass. Cut it with a scythe first. 
(4). Keep the machine set to cut as 
high as it will. There is not one ma¬ 
chine made that will cut too high. Noth 
ing is gained by cutting short—the grass 
is harmed and will quickly burn under 
a hot sun. 
(5.) Keep the machine under cover 
when not in use. 
(6.) Give it a thorough cleaning every 
week. 
A presidential year is a good time for 
the discussion of questions of political 
economy. So long as these questions can 
be discussed in a fair and manly way, 
thought taking the place of bigotry and 
patriotism silencing partisanship, only 
good can come from such a discussion. 
This year we are promised a fair and clear- 
cut discussion on the tariff question. The 
Rural is glad of it. Only good can ever 
come from such a campaign. There are 
several matters of interest that farmers 
ought to consider. Here is one as 
stated by a friend in a recent letter: 
“It is estimated that of every $100 
worth of farm produce sold to consumers, 
the farmer gets but $38. That is to say, 
the producer gets but 38 per cent, of the 
market value of his produce; who gets the 
remaining62 per cent.?” 
We presume our correspondent includes 
all farm produce, milk, vegetables, fruit, 
eggs and poultry, etc. in this estimate, and 
that he compares grain with the finished 
product—flour or meal—or live cattle with 
meat, etc. We do not believe the propor¬ 
tion left to the producer is so small, but 
it is undoubtedly smalle” than it should 
be. We may well ask who get the rest 
of it? It is well worth finding out. We 
shall be glad to have our friends tell us 
what they think of it. Then let us hunt 
for the remedy. 
RosE-bugs suddenly appeared at the 
Rural Grounds in swarms last week so that 
before their arrival was scarcely known, 
the grape blossoms were half destroyed. 
On the morning of the 20th, two hours 
were spent in spraying rose bushes, grape 
vines and a Magnolia macrophylla about 
12 feet high, with Buhacli water. The 
buds and blossoms of this magnolia were 
being devoured by hundreds of rose-bugs 
and its great leaves were also infested. 
In 15 minutes after it was thoroughly 
sprayed, thousands of rose-bugs were 
found wriggling upon the grass while the 
tree was virtually cleared of them. Twen¬ 
ty or more of those on the grass were 
placed in tomato can which was cov¬ 
ered with gauze so as to confine them 
without excluding air. These soon be¬ 
came paralyzed and in the evening were 
apparently dead. Those on the grass 
crawled about in an aimless way. To¬ 
wards evening some were found apparent¬ 
ly dead. The others had disappeared. Here 
and there a bug was seen on the leaves of 
the tree. The grape-vines and rose bush¬ 
es were also nearly free of the pest during 
the rest of the day. The next day thou¬ 
sands of rose-bugs were again upon the 
roses and grape-vines, though few could be 
seen on the magnolia. All were again 
sprayed with the same effect as that above 
recorded and further spraying has not 
since been deemed necessary. 
SUGAR TRUST TYRANNY. 
I A ST week the N. Y. Court of A ppeals 
Jdccided,in the case of a District Assem¬ 
bly of the Knights of Labor who had boy¬ 
cotted certain manufacturers for employ¬ 
ing a foreman who did not belong to the 
organization, that their action amounted 
to a “conspiracy” within the meaning of 
the law, and that the accused had been 
properly committed to trial for the of¬ 
fense. This was a case of Labor against 
Capital. It was an effort of poor work¬ 
ingmen to enforce rules which they erro¬ 
neously thought legitimate. During the 
week a still more flagrant case of con¬ 
spiracy has come to light. Now, how¬ 
ever, it is a case of Capital against Labor. 
It is an effort on the part of millionaire 
monopolists to enforce a rule which they 
must know is illegal as well as unjust. 
The managers of the Sugar Trust have 
sent out circulars giving notice that 
after July 1, they will not pay com¬ 
missions to brokers who deal in any 
sugars except those made by the Trust. 
They even go so far as to forbid brokers 
who deal with the Trust to correspond 
with other brokers in any part of the 
country, who handle sugar made by other 
parties. Isn’t this an outrageous case of 
boycotting—a conspiracy of precisely the 
same nature as that of the Knights of 
Labor, but more far-reaching in its evil 
effects! The members of this gigantic 
pool conspire to force out of business all 
sugar refiners who refuse to join the 
Trust ; it conspires to injure trade by 
closing independent refineries, and to 
paralyze labor by forcing into compulsory 
idleness hundreds of operatives who now 
find profitable work. The conspiracy 
laws of the State have several times been 
enforced against conspiracies of working¬ 
men ; let them now be promptly and im¬ 
partially enforced against this still more 
aggravated instance of conspiracy among 
capitalists. 
BRAZILIAN FLOUR CORN — QUAL¬ 
ITY OF ITS FLOUR. 
A bout March 20, we received from Mr. 
C. A. Durkee of Cremona, Va. a 
small quantity of flour made from the 
Brazilian Flour Corn. He said that the 
corn was planted May 2 in rows four feet 
•wide, 2 1-2 feet apart in the rows. When 
about 10 inches high it was thinned out 
to one or occasionally two plants to a hill. 
It was cultivated three times, twico in a 
row with an Iron Age Cultivator and one 
light hoeing when thinning out. There 
were from one to five ears to each stalk, 
and there were very few barren stalks. 
Nearly every stalk had sets for from three 
to eight ears, but they matured as above 
stated. The land was very thin; he used no 
manure except a handful of hen manure 
and plaster to each hill. The land, he 
says, would not have brought five bush¬ 
els of wheat to the acre. The yield of 
corn was about 25 bushels of good sound 
grain per acre. The corn was all ripe by 
the 25th of August. 
The grain was ground and bolted the 
same as wheat at a country mill with the 
old system of grinding. If ground by the 
roller system, he says, there is no doubt 
the flour would be much better. His 
wife finds that the flour does not need as 
much shortening as wheat flour for biscuit. 
The flour was sent to the Rural Grounds 
and the following report is made by the 
Editor of our Domestic Economy depart¬ 
ment. 
“Fourteen ounces of meal were received. 
It was white and as fine as the finest of 
wheat-flour. I used one dessert spoonful 
of thick, sweet cream, two teaspoonfuls 
of baking-powder and sweet milk 
to mix into a soft dough. The biscuits 
made neither looked nor tasted like corn- 
meal. It would scarcely occur to any one 
that they were other than wheat-flour 
biscuits. 
The dough made from this meal for bis¬ 
cuits and bread should be softer than that 
for wheat-flour bread or biscuits. They 
browned nicely.” 
-■ - ■ 
BREVITIES. 
Grass is burning; potato vines in many 
fields look as if scalded. 
The M onth of Roses came noar to being July 
instead of Juno this year. 
Wiiat does any one want White Clover 
in his lawn for ? Nothing can equal an un¬ 
broken, solid green color. 
The R. N.-Y. does not know of a much 
better blackcap than the Springfield. It is 
hardy, early, of good quality and the canes 
are thornless. 
When determining what trees to plant on 
lawns it is well to consider that grass will 
not grow under some kinds, while under 
others it will grow as well as elsewhere. 
There are too many farms where a “ pair 
of bars ” occupies the place designed by farm 
economy for a gate. The gate is more con¬ 
venient and adds 25 per cent, to the respecta¬ 
bility of the place. 
Mr. P. H. Jacobs has been conducting some 
experiments in the rearing of young turkeys. 
He tried to ascertain if it is absolutely neces¬ 
sary to give young turkeys liberty to forage. 
We shall publish his conclusions next woek. 
What is the use of describing full-blown 
roses? A full-blown rose, like an over ripe 
fruit, is worthless. It is the bud, the half- 
opened, or, perhaps, the three-quarters opened 
bud that is prized. Such is the glory of the 
rose. 
Chas. L. Jones says, and ho knows from a 
studied experience, that one’s success in quince 
culture depends, in a great measure, on keep¬ 
ing the fine roots of this tree cool and moist. 
He tells the story on the first pago of this im¬ 
pression. 
Owing, as is supposed, to the excessive, 
long-continued heat, many potato vines are 
dying from what seems to be scald. The 
steins wither up within an inch of the surface, 
sometimes above, sometimes below. Goose¬ 
berries which promised an immense yield are 
all rotting from the same cause. 
During the summer there will often bo 
found a good local market for chickens—abet¬ 
ter one in fact than can be found in the city. 
Those living near summer hotels or boarding 
houses should always find what they can do at 
homo before shipping abroad. We have known 
these country hotels to be supplied with chick¬ 
ens from the city markets. This is not right. 
Look up the homo market. There will often 
be ono close at hand only waiting for develop¬ 
ment. 
That is a good suggestion which the Ver¬ 
mont Experiment Station authorities make 
to road-mastors about destroying the webs of 
the tent catterpillar on cherry troes. Many a 
good apple orchard has been injured because 
a few worthless wild cherry trees were per¬ 
mitted to grow and provide headquarters for 
the catterpillar. In every community whore 
the authorities have enterprise onough to de¬ 
mand the destruction of weeds, the road- 
master should be made to destroy all wild 
cherry trees. 
There will he more oats and rye cut for 
hay this year than ever before. Too many 
farmers were left without fodder this spring. 
They will not be caught again if they can 
help it. It is far better to have too much 
fodder than too little. Rye should bo cut 
early, before it is fairly headed out. The rye 
plant, or auy other plant cut for fodder alone 
is a special purpose plant. Cut for both fodder 
and grain it is a general-purpose plant. He 
who lets the straw grow hard for the sake of 
gaining in grain will lose more than h6 gains. 
If wire-worms (Myriapods) are in your soil 
try this: Spread over a small area of soil two 
inches of barn manure. On another adjoining 
plat of the same size spread at the rate of, say, 
2,000 pounds per acre of potato fertilizer, in 
one week remove the farm manure. Thou¬ 
sands of wire-worms will be found. Whether 
they seek the moisture, protection or food of 
the manure we can not say. Under the fertili¬ 
zer no wire-worms will be found. They can 
not endure contact with the fertilizer so near 
the hot surface of the soil. Fertilizer several 
inches below the surface is not so objection¬ 
able to wire-worms. Still we can not raise 
smooth potatoes in our trial plot, with farm 
manure, while those raised with fertilizers are 
comparatively free of the scab. 
