4888 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
3 ^ 
reader of the R. N.-Y. that does not raise 
asparagus will conclude to do so next spring. 
A bed 33 feet square will in three years give 
asparagus enough for a family of four. 
Messrs. Terry, Gould and Cook think 
highly of the new Cutaway harrow. 
THE American Garden for January, 
thinKS, with the R. N.-Y., that Dr. F. M. 
H^xamer would make an efficient aud trusty 
Commissioner of Agriculture. It also men¬ 
tions, as we have done, that either P. J. 
B-uckmaus, or E. M. Shelton would be first- 
rate men for the position. It further men¬ 
tions Eugene W. Hilgard, of California, and 
Thomas Meehan, in the same category. 
They, too, are unquestionably able, true, 
men. It seems to the R. N.-Y. that if the 
Commissioner is to be chosen from the West, 
it Would show an appreciation of nis valuable 
services while Commissioner under Hayes, if 
Gen. W. G. LeDuc were again appointed. 
E. S. Goff, in the Garden, speaks of having 
beautiful sweet pea blossoms in early No¬ 
vember. The seeds were put into the ground 
last April, the very day the soil became dry 
enough to work, and many days before it was 
warm enough for them to grow. But is it 
usual for sweet peas planted so early to con¬ 
tinue blooming throughout the season? Judg¬ 
ing from past experience, it is not usual. 
Mr. Goff attributes the marked success in 
this case to deep planting, thorough watering 
during the dry summer weather, and keeping 
the flowers picked so that no seed was per¬ 
mitted to form. Iu seasons when these pre¬ 
cautions have not been observed, the plants 
have dried up in August, and their highest 
beauty has lasted but a few days after their 
period of full bloom. He regards the system¬ 
atic picking of the flowers as even more im¬ 
portant than the watering in dry weather, 
but both are essential. Not a pod must be 
permitted to form. . . 
A NevY and distinct variety of potato will 
be offered under the name of Bliss’s Rough 
Diamond. They are of Peachblow shape. 
The skin is tough aud “corrugated.'’ It is 
thought to have great keeping qualities. 
Mr. Terry says, in the Ohio Farmer, that 
if he were in the dairy business now, he would 
(stick to it instead of changing to potatoes. 
Ihe planter and diggeb make it so easy to 
groW potatoes on a large scale that thousands 
will rush into it. Those who invested in these 
tools at the very first made some money, and 
can stand the low prices which are almost as 
sure to come as they did in the wheat market 
soon after the binder came into general use... 
Winter is the time to do good mental work, 
says Mr. Crawford, in the above mentioned 
journal. That is true; the bights are lobgand 
We get all tlie rest we need. We are not ex¬ 
hausted with bodily exercise which “profittth. 
little.” The surroundings are favorable for 
one important work we have on hand—getting 
ready for spring. Is it not a fact that spring 
usually comes before we are ready?. 
Let each one ask himself these questions: 
What can I raise that will yield the greatest 
profit? How can I best inform myself con¬ 
cerning what I expect to grow? What fer¬ 
tilizers, seeds, plants and tools do I need? 
What each one can raise most profitably must 
be determined by himself. He must study his 
market, his land and himself. 
Every man, continues Mr. Crawford, has 
certain advantages,but some never leabn what 
they are, for want of thought. One can not 
know too much about the Crops he cultivates. 
The great majority of us know too little. 
Fortunately there are abundant means of be¬ 
coming posted for all who are anxious to learn. 
If one has a specialty, he should read all that 
has been written on it. 
Perhaps the farmer can get along without 
buying fertilizers, but the horticulturist can 
not. As all his efforts are directed towards 
changing plant food into a more valuable pro¬ 
duct, surely he can not afford to be too saving 
of the raw material. If his capital be too 
small to buy all he would, let him cultivate a 
smaller area and make that rich. One should 
study the catalogues with a view of learning all 
about the different varieties, and send his 
order for supplies in good season. He can not 
afford to be hindered after he is ready for 
them. Besides, the most desirable varieties 
may be sold out in early season. New sorts 
should be tried only iu a small way, depend¬ 
ing for the maiu crop on those that are known 
to be reliable. 
When the corn is shelled, the cobs are 
worth caring for, for various useful purposes, 
suggests Mr. Stewart. They make the best 
fuel for the smokehouse, giving the hams and 
bacon a delicate and agreeable flavor, free 
from the pungency of oak and other woods 
which contain much acid. When s eeped in 
kerosene oil, they make good kindlings for 
tires, and they are equally good for this pur¬ 
pose when saturated with a solution of one 
pound of saltpeter in two gallons of water 
and dried. They then burn fiercely, giving 
out quick heat sufficient to kindle a coal fire. 
But they are also good for feeding, as they 
contain as much nutriment as straw, and 
where stiaw is scarce the whole ears may be 
ground together with advantage. The husks 
are still more nutritious, and may be ground 
up with the ears in appropriate mills made 
for the purpose. For feeding stock cattle and 
for fattening, ear corn in the husk is an ex¬ 
ceedingly cheap and desirable food. 
Mr. W, H. Rudd, an experienced poultry 
raiser, says, in the Massachusetts Ploughman, 
that he finds incubators very much superior 
to hens in every way. They are always 
ready, never forsake their eggs or exasperate 
their owner by any ot the “ways that are 
dark and tricks that are vain ” incident to the 
average sitting hen, but hatch the chicks on 
the very day they are wanted, free from lice, 
which is one-half the battle of raising them, 
and ready for the brooder, which contrivance 
he is vastly more successful with, even in 
midwinter, than he has ever been with hens.. 
Mr. Rudd advises no one to embark in the 
poultry business at one bound. He has never 
known success to follow any plan but that of 
entering it gradually. Neither would he, as 
some do, advise commencing the business of 
raising poultry for market and depend upon 
hens to do the hatching and rearing until 
having become familiar with the incubator— 
because, comparatively speaking, only early 
market poultry is worth raising—and depend¬ 
ing upon hens for this and upon the profits 
to support a family, is leaning upon a 
broken reed, and the person who thinks dif¬ 
ferently will discover the error after having 
tried it. If the incubator is to be dispensed 
with, much better rely upon eggs as the chief 
source of income and raise only enough 
chickens to keep the number of layers good. 
The cockerels which are sold will materially 
reduce the cost of the piillets. .. 
The point Mr Rudd strongly emphasizes is 
this: Where one desires to prosecute the poul¬ 
try business by natural means alone, rely 
upon eggs for the principal income, because it 
has been abundantly proven that there is a 
reasonable profit in it; but where the main 
income is expected from the much larger pro¬ 
fit of dressed market poultry, and especially 
the early sales wnich bring twice or thrice or 
four times the prices of the later ones, do not 
attempt it except by artificial means, for it 
cannot be done except to a very limited ex¬ 
tent. 
Mr. Rudd keeps only Plymouth Rock fowls. 
Brahmas will drive the ordinary man to the 
alhisbouse before they begin to lay. When 
they are large enough fdr early broilers, they 
are all legs, aud the leading hotel keepers who 
want broilers will not take them. 
Mr. Rankin has never raised any chickens 
naturally tbat were absolutely free of vermin. 
By hatching artificially, the chicks are free ot 
lice and are not, therefore, stunted in their 
growth. . 
Mr. Rankin says that cotton-seed meal is 
forcing and very good for hens. He always 
feeds a little of it. 
Denmark is a great dairy country, the 
cowsaveraging about one to every two people. 
In six years the increase in the butterexporta- 
tion has been about 200 per cent. Although a 
small country there are 200 co operative 
dairies. Milk is paid for by the quantity of 
cream Contained in it. 
ABSTRACTS. 
-Century for January: “To know 
others, study thyself; to know thyself, study 
others.” 
“Thou hast concealed thine age? Surely 
not thy folly!” 
“The surest way to drive honors from you 
is to go to them.” 
“Women are more likely to love those whom 
they hate, than those who appear to them 
ridiculous. For of the ridiculous we deem 
ourselves the superior; but those we hate are 
seldom our inferiors.” 
-Sunday School Times: “It is hard to 
tell which of the two is the more pitiable,— 
the over nice reasoner, who never comes to 
any conclusion, or the vacillating, double- 
minded man, who never decides to act. He 
is like the farmer in the Book of Ecclesiastes, 
who is always observing the clouds and the 
wind to make sure of the exactly right time 
for his work. As ‘the Preacher' says, that 
man will never sow and will never reap; or, 
as Sir Philip Sidney says, ‘Whosoever, iu 
great things, will think to prevent (anticipate 
aud forestall) all objections, must lie still aud 
do nothing.” 
“Kind hearts are the gardens, 
Kind thoughtsarethe roots, 
Kind words are the blossoms, 
Kind deeds are the fruits; 
Love Is the sweet sunshine 
That warms in olife. 
For only In darkness. 
Grow hatred and strife.” 
-Garden & Forest: “There is no need 
of any more botanical gardens in the world 
run for the purpose of supplying bouquets 
and dinner-table decorations for the politi¬ 
cians who control the appointment of the 
managers; or to serve as a means for advanc¬ 
ing commercial or private interests.” 
“It is well known that the varieties of 
potato most highly prized in England, will 
come to nothing here under out-door cultiva¬ 
tion, and an enterprising marketman near 
this city has now growing in his green-house 
some Ash-leaf and Walnut-leaf Kidneys, in the 
hope that some one will pay him a dollar a 
pound for his tubers, on account of their 
supposed nutty flavor, or because they are 
strictly English.” 
-Farm and Fireside : “ The Department 
of Agriculture, to attain its highest success, 
must be run on a basis entirely free from par¬ 
tisan politics.” 
-Idem: “Turning over new leaves by 
everlastingly changing crops from year to 
year, is an operation that savors of gambling, 
with the chances against the gambler. If 
this has been your practice, it is high time to 
turn over another new leaf by quitting it. 
Stability and small, regular profits are better 
than the uncertainties—the high profits and 
perhaps the greater losses of the gambling- 
table.” 
-U. S. Department of Agriculture 
Bulletin— Insect Life: “The Rural New- 
Yorker potato contest has been decided and 
the Rural Seedling No. 2 yielded at the 
rate of 1,076 bushels to the acre. No. 3 lost 
the day and was nearly a failure on account 
of the ravages of the common Flea beetle, 
Crepidodera cucumeris. Probably the yield 
of No. 2 would have been greater but for 
this cause. This insect has been particularly 
destructive during the past season upon the 
Rural Grounds, confining its attack to the 
leaves and terminal shoots. It is now pro¬ 
posed to start a potato contest for ladies, the 
patches to be not less than one-fortieth of an 
acre. The details, however, are not fixed.” 
- Farm Journal: “We have become a 
convert to the special food theory, and have 
gone back on all corn for making meat of any 
kind and especially for all young, growing 
animals. We mix bran, wneat or rye, with 
corn meal, and we do not give our animals 
any more of this mixture than we used to of 
clear corn meal, and they grow faster and do 
better. This corn meal notion is a big leak. 
We are glad to know that careful experi¬ 
ments verify these new ideas. Now, farmers, 
make an advance and feed less corn, and you 
will save money.” 
-“ A little at a time and often,? is a good 
rule to follow in oiling carriage axles. 
-“Dip the points of nails and spikes in 
grease before attempting to drive them into 
hard wood.” 
- Life: “President-elect Harrison’s path¬ 
way is strewn with flowers—forget-me- 
nots.” 
- Puck: “ De darkey’s hour am jes’ befo’ 
day,” said Uncle Aaron, as he invaded his 
neighbor’s chicken-roost at 3 a. m. 
-“ The people who never get right in this 
world are those who get left.” 
anil plants. 
If you want the best Garden you 
have ever had, you must sow 
Maule’S Seeds. 
There is no question but that 
Maule’s Garden Seeds are unsur¬ 
passed. Their present popularity 
in every county in the United States 
proves it, for I now have customers 
at more than 31,000 post-offices. 
When once sown, others are not wanted 
at any price. Over one-quarter of a 
million copies of my new Catalogue 
for 1889 have been mailed already. 
It is pronounced the most original 
beautifully illustrated and readable 
Seed Catalogue ever published. It 
contains among other things, cash 
prizes for premium vegetables, etc., 
to the amount of $3,500. You should 
not think of purchasing any Seeds this 
Spring before sending for it. It is 
mailed free to all enclosing stamp 
for return postage. Address 
WM. HENRY MAULE, 
1711 Filbert St PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
tF"Om 6.000.000 people believe that it 
best to buy heeds 
of the largest and most reliable house, and they use 
_ _ 1 ablctoall. Every person using 
Earliest Cauliflower (j ar< j en> Field or Flower Seeds 
in existence. I should send for it. Address 
D. M. FERRY & CO., Detroit, Mich. 
Stayman’s No. 1 Strawberry. 
Earge aud Fine, produced at the rate of 30,- 
000 quarts per acre. 1’rice Sii per dozen; 
810 per 10O 
J EVVEL the earliest and best black grape known. 
Equal to the Delaware In quality. Price, 81.50 
each. 8end for testimonials. 
8TAYMAN & BLACK, 
LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS. 
Donrl Qirou/liorru The nandsomest,best flavored, 
iCdfl ulldnUfl'Ij. most perfect-formed berry.best 
colored and most productive. Ahead of Jessie on the 
same soil and cultivation, m acres produced $,43.87 
worlh of berries the past season Send for clrc. Plants 
$10 per 1.000. Fine Meeche’s Quince nnd Apple tree* In 
abundance. West Jersey Nursery Co.;Brldgeton.N. J. 
onn nnn TWO and three year apple trees. 
£UU,UUU Hedge Plants and Apple Seedlings, at low 
prices. BABCOCK «& STONE, 
North Topeka, Kan. 
\ TRA Flat Dutch Cabbage Seed, grown with great 
care from only the most perfect selected Beads . 
Descriptive price-list of choice garden seeds free. 
E. E BURWELL, Branch P. O., New Haven, Conn. 
: erry’s Seeds 
M. FERRY A CO. are 
acknowledged to be the 
Largest Seedsmen 
In the world. 
M. Ferry A Co’s 
Illustrated, Descrip¬ 
tive and Priced 
SEED ANNUAL 
, For 1889 
Will be mailed FREE 
to all applicants, and 
Pi.$cfnatt?0u.si gUmtiiSittg. 
Scrofula 
Probably no form of disease is so generally dls 
tributed among our whole population as scrofula. 
Almost every individual has this latent poison 
coursing his veins. The terrible sufferings en¬ 
dured by those afflicted with scrofulous sores 
cannot be understood by others, aud their grati¬ 
tude on finding a remedy that cures them, aston¬ 
ishes a well person. The wonderful power of 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
In eradicating every form of Scrofula has been so 
clearly and fully demonstrated that it leaves no 
doubt tbat it is the greatest medical discovery of 
this generation. It is made by C. I. HOOD <& CO., 
Lowell, Mass., and is sold by all druggists. 
IOO Doses One Dollar 
MAKE HENS LAV 
S HERIDAN S CONDITION POWDER is absolute¬ 
ly pure and highly concentrated. It Is strictly 
a medicine to be given with flood. Nothing on earth 
will make hens lay like it. It cures chicken chol¬ 
era and all diseases of hens. Illustrated book by 
mall free. Sold everywhere, or eent by mall for 
26 cts. In stamps. 8J»-lb- tin cans, $1; by mall, 
$1.20. Six cans by express prepaid, ft>r $6. 
I. S. Johnson & Co., P. O. Box 2118, Boston, Mae*. 
. Our sales in 1 SS8 
• double those of 1887. 
.Why? Because we 
| sell only the Iie.it, at 
Reasonable Prices. 
CaEED POT ATOES. largettock, great variety. 
w Small Fruit Plants and Trees. Catalogue Free. 
FRANK FORI) dk SONS, Ravenna, Ohio. 
Beautiful Strawberries. WSJ 
us, the beautiful Eureka, and a strawberry fha’t 
yielded at the rate of 1£7 Bushels to the acre at 
oneplckiug the past summer— M) other varieties; SO 
ot Grapes; Thompson’s Early Prolific Red 
Raspberry, the earliest of all; Palmer Rash the most 
productive early Black: Thompson's K»* lv Mam¬ 
moth Blackberry, etc., etc. If you mention this 
paper we will send you Catalogue free, telling about 
these beautiful berries & others Everybody wants It 
CLEVELAND NUKSERY, 
Lakewood, Cuyahoga Co.. Ohio 
IOWA SEEDS Vljease S 
Handsome Catalogue. Illustrated In Colors, Free. To 
new customers we will send for trial 12 Packets Choice 
Vegetable Seeds— Including some novelties, for 25c. 
12 packets Choice Flower Seeds 25c. 15 packets rare and 
beautiful Flower Seed* including now Iowa Giant Pan- 
sv for 50e. 40 packets Choice Flower Seeds includ¬ 
ing Iowa Giant Pansy aud New Moon Flower for $1.00. 
20 Choice House Plants for SI 5$™: 
riety, ineluding Moon Flower. 10 Choice Summer 
Flowering Bulbs— Gold Banded Lily of Japan includ¬ 
ed, for 50e. The six collections for g3. All our selection, 
but all different. Order now, this ad won’t appear again. 
IOWA SEED CO., I)e» Moines, Iowa. 
PTS SFRUIT TREES 
^0 be destroyed by apra.wug 
thA iroeo witb Loudon purple di»- 
KolYbd in water. For full direction# 
improved outfits for Hand or Horae 
Power at BOTTOM CASH PRICES, 
KlSliP FORCK PIMF CO. Uekport, fl.Y, 
