THE BUBAL WEW-YOBKEB. 
ficltr Crops. 
THE SWEET POTATO. 
A sweet potato convention suggested ; the 
need of it argued; sweet potatoes in the 
Gulf coast country, the patches a bril¬ 
liant display of flowers. 
The sweet potato has many strongly- 
marked and permanent varieties, but when 
one hears or reads of them by name, he can¬ 
not at all feel certain of what he is hearing 
or reading about, owing to there being 
no settled nomenclature for the different 
varieties of the product. In traveling over 
the Southern States you will find the same 
variety sailing under a different name in 
almost every settlement, usually going by the 
name of the man who first introduced it 
there, or the name given by him, or that of 
the man who is making a specialty of it. For 
instance, we have a pale red variety known 
here as the Musgrove, there as the Dooley, at 
the other place as the Hayti Yam, and in still 
another place as the Red Bermuda, and so on. 
Under such circumstances, it would be im¬ 
possible to order the variety from a distance 
with any certainty of getting what one 
wanted. I have often urged the people in¬ 
terested in sweet potato culture, to hold a 
convention for the purpose of establishing a 
regular sweet potato nomenclature. I think 
the existing inconveniences, as just hinted at, 
certainly demand it. Nothing we cultivate 
on so large a scale as we do the sweet potato 
in the South lies under such perplexing un¬ 
certainty as to names of established varieties. 
The sweet potato is one of the very impor¬ 
tant products of the country lying along the 
Gulf of Mexico east of the Mississippi River, 
and along the lower Atlantic further east. 
It is the easiest crop to raise that the Southern 
people grow. The yield is enormous. With 
comparatively little attention, it gives us a 
yield of from 200 to 400 bushels to the acre, 
and the trouble of keeping it over to the next 
season is scarely worthy of mention. We 
throw the potatoes up in heaps of 15 or 20 
bushels, in the open ground, place over the 
heaps a few inches of straw, (usually pine 
straw.) and over the straw a few inehes of 
earth, and the work is done. They will be 
found as sound and good there next May as 
when they were first “banked,” as we call it. 
To-day (November 27), the people of the 
Gulf coast region are busily digging their 
sweet potatoes. The yield for the season is 
very good, as a rule. There has been no frost 
to touch the vines up to this date, conse¬ 
quently the patches are regular flower-gar¬ 
dens, so to speak. To the Northern ‘sweet 
potato grower, who is not thoroughly in¬ 
formed relative to the peculiarities of the 
crop down here, this mention of flowers will 
be something of a surprise. The sweet potato 
is a heavy bloomer with us, beginning to show 
its flowers about the last of July, continuing 
till frost. The flowers are of a pale blue color, 
and much resemble those of the small- 
flowered morning-glories. Iu some seasons 
the flowering is heavier than in others; the 
present has been one of those heavy-flowering 
seasons. So numerous are the flowers on the 
vines of a patch now in sight from my win¬ 
dow, that the entire surface of the growth 
presents a bluish shade. Freely as it flowers 
in this region, the sweet potato does not 
appear to mature any seed. I have never yet 
been able to And a single perfect seed pod. 
Mobile, Ala. J. P. stelle. 
THE YARD STICK OR THE PLOW? * * 
Prof. d. a. porter. 
Supereminent opportunities for cultivated 
enjoyment on the farm, incitements there to 
individuality and independence', absence 
of harrassing anxieties; the grim struggle 
with Nature tends to develop heroism and 
manhood-, farming viewed from different 
standpoints; education as an attractive , 
not a repellent force on the farm; agricul¬ 
ture an excellent business opening; in¬ 
creased facilities for success in it; “ Ameri¬ 
can husbandry the ideal of human occupa¬ 
tions need of full special ivinter courses 
for farmers' sons at agricultural colleges. 
I wish to make an emphatic indorsement 
of the Rural’s advice to the sons of farmers 
who think of abandoning the farm in order 
to become clerks, bookkeepers, etc. I said in 
a recent communication that there is no in¬ 
dustrial occupation which offers such natural 
facilities for education as farming. 
I now say that there is no situation at All.ac- 
cessible to the industrial classes, in which a 
man can so well enjoy an education as in agri¬ 
cultural and rural life. To the educated man 
there is a constant delight in the association 
with nature, whicn the farmer enjoys, in the 
infinite variety of plants and trees, animals 
and birds, in the magnificence of mountain 
and meadow, forest and stream,in the chang¬ 
ing beauty of the day from dawn to star-light, 
in the grand procession of the heavens, in the 
quiet beauty of evening and the grandeur of 
storms. All these education fits the farmer 
to enjoy, while to the dweller in cities, 
whether educated or not, they are largely a 
matter of theory in which he has little actual 
experience. 
There is also an element of largeness and 
liberty about country life,which is well calcu¬ 
lated to develop individuality and independ¬ 
ence of character; so that a man accus¬ 
tomed to it feels an uncomfortable sense of 
closeness and repression in the city. There is 
also a material independence connected with 
farm life, which men in other situations can 
seldom enjoy; and material independence is 
in most cases a necessary foundation for inde¬ 
pendence of thought and action. If the 
farmer does not get rich, he at least does not 
fail, as a large majority of those who enter on 
business careers do, and he knows that no one 
can disturb him in the possession of what he 
has. 
Again, the farmer is free from the burden 
of wearying, harrassing anxieties which has 
driven many a city man to his grave, especially 
if his sons stay on the farm with him instead 
of leaving him to depend on such strangers as 
he can pick up, for help. Then there is an 
element of heroism in country life, which the 
knight of the yard-stick seldom has an oppor¬ 
tunity to develop. Heroism iu man is always 
associated with physical achievement of some 
kind. In summer’s heat and winter’s cold, in 
the labors of forest and field, in the competi¬ 
tion of manly sports, in the mastery of beasts, 
in buffeting with Nature in her sterner moods, 
there is opportunity for real, heroic achieve¬ 
ment, such as commands the approval of men 
and the admiration of women, and tends to 
make a man satisfied with himself. Nature 
often opposes a stout, but kindly resistance 
in order that her children may grow strong 
and heroic in the encounter; and the element 
thus developed is of high value as a factor of 
genuine manhood. But it must be remem¬ 
bered that many and many a time it is educa¬ 
tion, mental culture and elevation that make 
the difference between heroism and drudgery. 
To one man his occupation is irksome, and 
has only a sordid significance ; to another 
the same occupation is a pleasure in itself, 
and the opportunity of a noble development. 
It is the spirit in which a man takes up his 
walk that makes the difference, and this spirit 
is largely a matter of education, culture, and 
breadth of mental vision. 
The fear is sometimes expressed that edu¬ 
cation would take the farmer’s sons away 
from the farm. This in my opinion is a 
groundless fear. I admit that once the ten¬ 
dency and the object of education was to take 
boys away from the farm, and to fit them for 
professional life. But we have already pass¬ 
ed that stage. The idea now is, and should 
be, to educate the man; and education is valu¬ 
able wherever true manhood is honored. Es¬ 
pecially should the American agriculturist be 
an educated man. His position in life requires 
it. He is not a tenant at the mercy of a land¬ 
lord. He lives in independence and comfort 
on his own domain, and is rearing and educa¬ 
ting a family. Every atom of education he 
can obtain will come in play. It is better 
that the labors of the field should be enliven¬ 
ed by discussions on history and science, than 
that the conversation should be mere idle, un¬ 
elevating gossip as is so often the case; and 
the farmer’s home should be a center of cul¬ 
ture, where literature and art should be famil¬ 
iar topics. 
As regards the business aspects of the case, 
tho Rural has well pointed out that there 
are already hundreds of candidates for every 
possible chance of a clerkship or other similar 
position. Indeed, the rush in these directions 
reminds me of the remark of a distinguished 
English visitor that for every American try¬ 
ing to get a living by houest labor, there are 
about six others trying to get rich 
by speculating on him. A condition 
that could even suggest such a criticism is 
not creditable or wise. And it should be re¬ 
membered that the possibilities of American 
agriculture have greatly increased, while op¬ 
portunities in these other directions have 
diminished. There are now improved agri¬ 
cultural machinery, commercial fertilizers 
and the silo, each of which has diminished the 
toil and increased the profits of husbandry. 
There is organization to protect farming in¬ 
terests and to increase the intellectual and 
social attractions of farm life. And, above 
all, there are the natural educational facilities 
not yet'developed, butjwhich, when.daveloped 
and improved, are capable of making Ameri¬ 
can husbandry the ideal of human occupations, 
the best field in which to rear and train a no¬ 
ble race of American citizens. I agree with 
the Rural in thinking that these considera¬ 
tions should be urged, and that more of our 
young men should thus be kept on the farm 
or brought back to it. There are already 
enough "deserted villages” in the country, 
especially in New England, as a result of the 
movement of our populations towards the 
cities. 
erf 
“And a bold yeomanry, their country’s pride, 
When once destroyed can never be supplied;—” 
or can be supplied only with an incongruous 
foreign element whose rapid increase already 
threatens the permanence and predominance 
of American ideas. 
There is many and many a farmer even 
now in our Northern States, who can easily 
and speedily realize the poet’s ideal of 
“Culture’s charm and Labor's strength 
In rural homes united.” 
Does any one ask how this can b« done? 
Let me say, in reply, unite with your brother 
farmers m asking the managers of your State 
university, endowed in part by the Morill 
Land Grant and for your especial benefit, 
that they provide for your sons, not an agri¬ 
cultural course of a few months, but a regular 
academical college course, to consist of at 
least four winter terms commencing the 20th 
of October and closing the 15th. of April. 
These terms will include from two-thirds 
to three-fourths of the work of a whole 
college year which in any case consists of 
less than 200 days of study; so that your sons 
in this course will not fall so very much be¬ 
hind those who have had the whole year for 
study, while their expenses will not be more 
than one quarter as much, considering 
the value of their services on the farm in 
summer. 
You will probably get the college course 
proposed as soon as your sons are ready; for 
the principal difficulty will be in getting them 
ready to enter. But the conditions of admis¬ 
sion will not be severe at the start, and some 
of your sons will “ get there ” if they have 
half a chance. One term at college will make 
a decided difference with your boy. He will 
bring the college atmosphere with him when 
he returns to work in the summer. His 
brothers and sisters, and you yourselves will 
be ntereste m his college studies and his 
college life. When he and] his class-mates 
have graduated, by teaching in the district 
schools in the winter, they can make these 
schools answer the purpose of preparing for 
the college course such of the rising gen¬ 
eration as desire it; and under these cir¬ 
cumstances, what a race of educated, culti¬ 
vated men and women the rising generation 
of farmers’ sons and daughters will become 1 
Brother farmers, this is your opportunity; 
see that you improve it This is the educa¬ 
tional birthright of your sons and daughters. 
Do not barter it for a mess of pottage. 
New Haven County, Conn. 
Woman s lUork. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUI8E TAPLIN. 
soda when shopping: she would be none the 
worse at the time, and later shp would feel 
the benefit of her little self-denial. Whv not 
begin it now, and see if you do not feel the 
advantage when buying your next Christmas 
gifts? 
* * 
We are apt to regard the country as the 
abode of rugged health, and it is a little dis¬ 
couraging to read a recent paper by Dr Lucy 
M. Hall on “Sanitation in the Country.” She 
began by describing a typical country house 
surrounded by dense’shade trees, producing 
gloom and mold; with the best parlor always 
shut up closely, lest the carpet should be 
faded by the sunshine, or the furniture speck¬ 
ed by a flv; with small, ill-ventilated bed¬ 
rooms either in the middle of the house or on 
the cold and dark northern exposure; with 
the well in the house or very near it; with the 
outhouses joining the main building or in 
close proximity; with a cellar uncemented, 
damp, and often wet, and with the kitchen 
garbage thrown out near the house. 
The lecturer declared that many country 
housewives were afflicted with a mania to 
keep out sunlight. She said that pale and ail¬ 
ing women among well-to-do country people 
exceeded any other class. These women take 
no out-door exercise of any kind, and the re¬ 
sult is an appalling array of pallid daughters 
and narrow-chested sons. 
She suggested as a remedy for these evils 
that country houses should be built with 
large and sunnv living-rooms, and shade trees 
at a respectful distance: with wells safe from 
the drainage of earth-elns°ts and stables, and 
all the out-buildings remotely situated; with 
bed-rooms on the second floor; with cellars 
cemented, and extended under the entire 
house; with temporary awnings instead of 
permanent projecting porches, and with 
everything constructed upon sound hvgienic 
principles. As a remedy in existing houses, 
she suggests open windows, plenty of sun¬ 
shine, the removal of gloomv shade trees, and 
the demolition of contiguous barns, pig-stvs, 
henneries, and other offensive out buildings. 
In addition to this, there should be a better 
education in sanitarv matters. Many of the 
assertions made in this lecture seemed sweep¬ 
ing, but it is an undoubted fact that we need 
greater attention to hygiene in country life. 
Fresh air, sunlight, and out-door exercise are 
three necessities greatly neglected by many 
country girls and their mothers, and in spite 
of their cleanliness and industry, a good 
many sanitary precautions seem neglected or 
out of the question. 
O’ 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
M‘ 
"OST people of narrow means who are 
gifted with generous instincts feel their 
poverty most acutely when they wish to give, 
not only charities, but little tokens of friend¬ 
ship and good-will. Especially is their poverty 
felt at Christmastide. We read recently of a 
Japanese family who for many generations 
have pursued a simple plan for providing 
money for such uses. Setting aside a money 
box for the purpose, they put in it the surplus 
from unnecessary expenses. Thus, if they de¬ 
cided to spend four dollars for a robe, they 
would try to purchase a plainer garment, and 
put the money saved in the box. The same 
with food or luxuries'of any kind, the means 
thus secured being devoted to charitable pur¬ 
poses. This they called an offering to the 
Great God of Unselfishness. 
* * * 
How very few people are "too poor to do 
something of this sort. The plan may also be 
recommended to those who are anxious to put 
something by for a rainy day, and yet feel 
unable to set aside a regular amount. When¬ 
ever a nickel or dime, or a quarter seems like- 
| ly to be spent for something foolish or need¬ 
less, drop it into the box. We object most 
strongly to parsimony or avarice, but there is 
so much extravagance on the part of the peo¬ 
ple in moderate circumstances that one can¬ 
not too strongly urge the necessity for pru¬ 
dence. Of course, the savings must be very 
small, on the part of many. But a girl might, 
now and then, “scrimp” on the price of a 
ruffle or a ribbon, or drink water instead of 
,UR ARTIST’S “FRENCH HEELS.”— 
The Rural is an excellent paper and it is 
an honor to the American farmer and fruit¬ 
grower. But I want to protest against the 
French heels which its artist, Mr. Berghaus, 
has been allowed to introduce into the pro¬ 
gressive farmer’s family of late. In the very 
suggestive and excellent cartoons published 
for Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, he 
has shown the farmer’s wife and the little 
daughter as wearing the abominable French 
heel shoes, thoughtlessly perhaps and without 
design, but the lesson is just as unwholesome 
for all that. 
These pictures are doubtless studied by a 
very large circle of readers, and because the 
Rural seems to say so, many will be apt to 
think French heel shoes are all right. But I 
don’t believe the Rural means to sanction 
any such thing. It is not in harmony with 
the sound and sensible principles which seem 
to underlie its whole conduct. Don’t let us 
condemn the farmer’s wife and daughters to 
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