US 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAR 2 
THE 
RURAL NEW'YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Hornet 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 1889. 
CHANGE CF CLUBBING TERMS. 
The N. Y. Weekly World and the 
R. N.-Y., $2.25. 
The Detroit Free Press and the R. N.- 
Y., $2.25. 
The Courier-Journal and the R. N.-Y., 
$2.25. 
The Weekly Inter-Ocean and the R. N.- 
Y., one year, $2.50. 
The lowest possible clubbing rates 
with any journal in America will be given 
on application. Subscribe through the 
Rural New-Yorker. 
Good , responsible agents wanted. We 
are prepared to offer very liberal terms. 
Correspondence solicited. 
Those of our friends who have not 
tried the Crosby sweet corn should do 
so. The R. N.-Y. has tried it for two 
years and finds it, though an early variety, 
one of the very best in every way. 
“ Were it not for the necessity of earning 
a living , my inclinations would lead me to 
spend my entire time in testing new things, 
raising seedlings and seeing what perfection 
could he reached regardless of cost. ” 
Mr Crawford, page 139. 
For home use, or even for market, the 
R. N.-Y. prefers the Advancer or Alpha 
for early wrinkled peas to the American 
Wonder so popular with many. There is 
no material difference in the time of rip¬ 
ening, and all are of excellent quality, 
while the first two will yield three times 
as many peas as the Wonder. 
The next R. N.-Y. Special will be pub¬ 
lished week after next. It will consider 
the questions: 1. What varieties of 
small fruits may be considered improve¬ 
ments over the older varieties, and (2) 
what are the best of the older sorts—all 
by experienced growers. 
-♦ ♦ ♦-»«♦»- 
In the R. N.-Y.s experience,the Early 
Ohio is the earliest potato. It is of very 
good form and quality. The vines are 
rather dwarf and the seed-pieces may be 
planted closer together than those of other 
early kinds. We have always hesitated 
to commend this variety, however, for 
the reason that while it produces abund¬ 
antly in some places, it fails in others. It 
needs a light soil. 
Mr. J. M. Smith, during his 30 years' ex¬ 
perience, concludes that growing either 
vegetables or fruits, in such a manner as to 
make a success of it, is no bitsiness for a 
lazy man. It is no better for an ignorant 
man, than for a lazy man. Success on 
poor land is impossible. The difference in 
price between a first-rate article nicely 
prepared for market, and a fairly good 
article only half-prepared, gives success on 
the one hand and failure on the other. 
The R. N.-Y., in this issue, calls the 
attention of its readers to the best new 
and standard varieties of vegetables, etc., 
as estimated by a number of experienced 
growers and as they have been judged at 
the Rural Experiment Grounds. This 
we have done regardless of advertising 
patronage—those who do not advertise in 
this journal being mentioned as origin¬ 
ators, introducers, etc., the same as those 
who do. It is to be hoped that our 
readers will be aided by this special 
number in making selections that will 
better their crops. 
In some of the English seed and plant 
catalogues we see in mighty type and in 
the most conspicuous parts: ‘‘Seedsmen 
to His Most Gracious Majesty the King 
of Italy; seedsmen to His Most Gracious 
Majesty the King ot Portugal; seedsmen 
to His Imperial Majesty the Sultantfof 
Turkey: seedsmen by Royal Warrant to 
Her Majesty the Queen; seedsmen by 
Royal Warrant to His Royal Highness 
the Prince of Wales, having been 
honored with His Royal Highness’s Com¬ 
mands for nearly 20 years.” “What 
fools we mortals be.” 
-♦-»« ♦ «♦ ♦- 
From Mr. John H. Evans, one of the 
owners of the promising “Idaho” Pear, 
we learn that two specimens were sent to 
France, September 20, from Lewiston, 
I. T., to prominent nurserymen. They 
were received October 16. The speci¬ 
mens weighed 16 ounces. The quality 
was pronounced “exquisite.” Such tes¬ 
timonials, after the pears had traveled 
7,000 miles, speak pretty well for it. We 
are led to doubt whether the R. N.-Y. 
will ever have occasion to regret having 
been the first to bring this remarkable 
variety to prominent notice. 
Catalogue notices appear this week 
on page 147. It will be well for our 
readers, by an examination of the lead¬ 
ing catalogues published, in connection 
with the articles presented this week, to 
learn what may be a consensus of opinion 
regarding the varieties praised or con¬ 
demned. All novelties are more or less 
extravagantly praised, else they would 
command little or no attention. While 
a large per cent, are not superior to bet¬ 
ter-known and lower-priced kinds, it 
must not be lost sight of that all improve¬ 
ments are made through the trial of novel¬ 
ties. The very best of the seeds or plants 
of any kind grown to-day were novelties 
once. It is very plain, therefore, that 
those who denounce them unqualifiedly are 
likely, sooner or later,to fall behind their 
more progressive neighbors. The alert 
gardener or farmer must know what is 
the best early or late potato, sweet com, 
field corn, tomato, cabbage, bean, celery, 
beet or onion; and this can be ascertained 
only by trial. It is the R. N.-Y.’s opinion 
that all intelligent, earnest farmers or 
gardeners can afford—taking one year 
with another—to try, in a small way, all 
of the novelties annually announced that 
seem, by the claims made for them, how¬ 
ever manifestly overdrawn, to offer one 
chance in 20 of being superior to standard 
varieties. 
TO THE WOMEN WHO PROPOSE 
TO ENGAGE IN THER. N.-Y. 
POTATO CONTEST. 
A CORRESPONDENT alluding to 
the Women’s Potato Contest, sug¬ 
gests that it is manifestly unfair to 
award the premiums to those who raise 
the largest crop at the least cost. 1 ‘What 
chance,” she asks, “has a woman on 
some of New England’s barren fields in 
competition with her sisters in situations 
where the soil has all its virgin fertility?” 
The position is well taken undoubted¬ 
ly. The R. N.-Y. is in favor of cutting 
out that saving clause and allowing all 
contestants to use all the manure or 
fertilizer, or both, deemed desirable. 
The R. N.-Y. may safely assure its lady 
friends that the utmost fairness shall pre¬ 
vail in making the awards. Meanwhile 
any further suggestions will be welcomed. 
THE DRESSED MEAT TRADE AND 
THE LIVE STOCK INTERESTS. 
the bill requiring the official inspection, 
at the place of slaughter, of all animals 
furnishing food for human consumption 
within the State, and the Judiciary 
Committee of the Pennsylvania Senate 
has reported adversely on a similar bill. 
In the Missouri, Kansas and Colorado 
legislatures, however, bills of the same 
nature now pending are likely to meet 
with a more favorable reception. 
The other day a dozen or more cattle¬ 
men representing most of the largest cat¬ 
tle interests of the West, met at Kansas 
City to form a “ combine ” for the pur¬ 
poses of handling their stock themselves, 
thus relieving them from the incubus of 
the “Big Four,” and doing away with 
the expensive commission system now in 
vogue. They proposed to form an organ¬ 
ization with headquarters at Omaha, 
Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago and New 
York, with branches at Wichita, Kansas, 
and Fort Worth, Texas, where stock will 
be received and sold on the commission 
plan. Last Thursday representatives of 
the stock-raising industry from every 
State and Territory west of the Mississippi 
and from Illinois and Kentucky, met at 
Kansas City and completed the organiza¬ 
tion. The members of the Association 
have now 163,000 head of cattle ready to 
send to market. The new company will 
not confine its business to its members, 
but will do a general commission business 
in live stock on a large scale. 
HARD WORK—POOR PAY. 
A T the present time there is no other 
subject more seriously agitating 
the great cattle interests of the country 
and especially those of the West than the 
action of the dressed meat “combine” 
and its depressing influence on the prices 
of live stock. At the invitation of Gov¬ 
ernor Darling, of Missouri, the Governors 
of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, 
Colorado and Nebraska have already 
agreed to appoint representative dele¬ 
gates to a convention to be held next 
month in St. Louis to devise the most 
effective legislation on this matter, and 
it is very likely the Governors of several. 
other States will soon follow their ex¬ 
ample. Already measures against the 
dressed meat trade have been introduced 
into the legislatures of several of the 
States, and it is intended to introduce 
similar bills into all the others be¬ 
fore long. Hitherto the success of 
such measures has not been great. 
The Ohio Senate has decidedly defeated 
I T was about ten years ago, as the 
R. N.-Y. remembers, that the Emer¬ 
ald Gem Market Garden pea was first an¬ 
nounced by Carter & Co., the London 
seedsmen. It was tried at the Rural 
Grounds, snd, every season since, a few 
(not over half-a-dozen) of the largest, 
earliest and best-filled pods have been 
selected for seed for the next season. This 
has resulted in increasing the size of the 
pods and the number and size of the seeds 
in the pods perceptibly; but the strain 
does not seem to be any earlier now than 
the original variety. The seeds raised 
last summer were presented to a firm of 
this city and the strain will be introduced 
in due time. The vines, which, in rich 
soil, grow two feet high, are peculiar in 
having no “bloom ” upon either stems or 
leaves, so that the color is of a delicate 
“emerald” green, which doubtless sug¬ 
gested the name. 
The object of this note is to show that 
in many cases those who originate or im¬ 
prove plants are very inadequately paid 
for their labors. Had the writer of this 
note been paid one dollar a seed for the 
dozen pods given to the seedsman, it 
would not have compensated him for the 
time spent in his endeavors to improve 
the original Emerald Gem. We raised 
potatoes from seeds for 10 years before a 
variety was produced that promised to 
be superior to those in the market. We 
crossed wheats six or seven consecutive 
seasons without producing any varieties 
of unusual worth. Some 14 years ago we 
commenced to cross gladioli. The work 
was continued for four years with some 
success. By an accident every bulb 
(corn) of the new cross-breeds was de¬ 
stroyed. We spent the better part of 
three entire winters in crossing geraniums 
(pelargoniums, properly) with the reward 
that not one of the kinds so produced is 
known to-day. The third year there 
were no less than 1,500 cross-bred seed¬ 
lings in this collection. There were odd 
and beautiful plants among them, but we 
were not willing to be satisfied with 
anything less than something wonderful, 
failing in which, the whole lot was 
destroyed. We grieve over that destruc¬ 
tion even now; for, in the light of a more 
enlightened judgment, there were many 
seedlings among them which might well 
have been propagated and introduced. 
We have now some 70 hybrids with the 
Ramanas rose, Rosa rugosa—the first 
hybrids of this kind known in so far as 
any printed record shows. The hybrid 
Rugosa, Madame G. Bruant, was not an¬ 
nounced until nearly two years after the 
first announcement of the R. N.-Y’s 
hybrids, though among the novelties in 
the new catalogues it is called “the first 
of a new race of hybrids originated by 
crossing the single Rugosa with the tea- 
rose Sombreuil.” It is true we have never 
used this tea-rose in crossing, and there¬ 
fore Bruant is really the first of that par¬ 
ticular male parentage. But it is not 
the first hybrid Itvgosa. Besides the 
Rural’s 70 Rugosa hybrids, we have 150 
or more seeds, the result of further crosses 
with Rugosa, made the past summer. 
What will be the outcome of this'work 
remains, to be seen. Next summer it’is 
hoped, will throw some little light on the 
question. We have also about 20 plants 
which are hybrids between the blackberry 
and raspberry, besides another lot 
of hybridized seeds produced last (the 
third) season. The three or four of the 
first lot which fruited give no evidence 
that these hybrids will mark an advanced 
step in horticultural progress. Even a 
brief account of our incessant, though, 
for the most part, useless, endeavors dur¬ 
ing the past 15 years to hybridize other 
fruits and ornamental plants would weary 
the reader. We may say, however, that 
the work has been carried on patiently, 
perseveringly and at a considerable cost in 
time and money. As one result of all 
this, the R. N.-Y. can at least sympathize 
with other conscientious workers in the 
same field, who, when they come to dis- 
pose of the new varieties of seeds or plants 
over which they have toiled for years, re¬ 
ceive a mere pittance for their “novelties” 
and the assurance that the public are sick 
of them, and regard the “exorbitant” 
prices asked as a flagrantjmposition! 
And a good share of the farm and gar¬ 
den writers—those, of course, who have 
never engaged in the lottery-work of 
originating or improving our economical 
plants—join in the howling chorus. 8o 
it happens, friends, that this inexhaustible 
field, this land of promise that yields 
more and more the more it is worked, 
and to which the world must in a great 
measure look for pomological, horticul¬ 
tural and agricultural improvements, at¬ 
tracts only the few—the big-hearted few 
who lose sight of themselves and their 
worldly goods in their efforts to benefit 
mankind. 
BREVITIES. 
Dwarf Green is the best Okra. 
New York Improved Egg-plant is the best. 
Nichol’s cucumber for pickles; Tailby’s 
for sliced cucumbers. 
All ebe being equal, a medium-sized ear of 
sweet corn should be preferred. 
The R. N.-Y. still prefers the Stratagem 
for an intermediate pea—vines 2% feet high. 
“The Savoys are immensely superior to 
plain cabbages,’’ says W. Falconer on page 
A. B. Coleman gives a simple and'what ho 
deems the best remedy against the cabbage 
worm. 
Mr. Falconer calls the English Gray Mush¬ 
room the best vegetable on the face of the 
earth. Is he right? 
Farmer’s Club Special next week. This 
special number will exceed in interest and 
value anv farmers’ institute that ever was 
held. See if it does not. 
Tf your asparagus bed needs food and you 
have faith in salt, use kainit and raw-hone 
flour. The kainit will supply both salt and 
potash; the bone flour, pbosnhoric acid and 
nitrogen—a “complete” fertilizer with lots of 
salt in the bargain. 
All else being favorable, we would select 
our list of seeds from the catalogue giving 
the most conservative illustrations and des¬ 
criptions. Exaggerated, impossible claims 
for the seeds and plants offered should give 
rise to suspicions rather than captivate the 
intelligent, truth-loving would-be purchaser. 
Alluding to the gross exaggerations of the 
illustrations in the catalogues of several seeds¬ 
men. the American Florist savsthat. in justice 
to the honest catalogue men, some means 
should be taken to remedy the present state 
of affairs. It is unjust to them that swindlers 
should be permitted to bring obloquv upon 
the whole profession and lower it in the eyes 
of the public. 
The noted market gardener J. M. Smith, 
of Green Bay, Wisconsin, finds no difference 
between good strains of the old Daniel 
O’Rourke and the current varieties of “ First 
Early” peas known bv as many names as there 
are seedsmen. The R N.-Y. is of the opinion, 
however, that the O’Rourke lias been notably 
improved by the careful selections of those 
seedsmen who attach their names to the 
“ First Earlies,” and that it is manifestly to 
their interest to continue these careful selec¬ 
tions'from year to year. 
The improved breeds of cattle have 
stamped their distinctive features upon the 
common cattle of the country to such an ex¬ 
tent that any farmer can distinguish the 
various markings, and tell whether a cow is a 
Jersey, a Devon or a Holstein grade. How is 
it with horses? Except in the West, wherein- 
creased interest in draft horses has made a 
study of horse breeding necessary, few 
farmers can tell what breeds their horses 
have come from. Would they be better off if 
they could tell? 
The bonded railroad debt of Muhlenberg 
county,Indiana, has been allowed to grow until 
it now amounts to §11,000.000. The sheriff of 
the county has been removed from office be¬ 
cause he refused to collect a tax to pav the in- 
terest’on the county bonds, and"no one can be 
found^willing to discharge the unpleasaut 
duty.""All attempts to compromise have fail¬ 
ed, and the creditors are likely to ask the 
Federal courts’to foreclose their mortgages 
on the real estate of the tax-payers. This 
will impoverish the greaf'majority of them, 
and there is likely to be (.trouble, It is now- 
becoming more and more forcibly realized 
that railroad bond voting" has beep carried 
too far in the West. 
