1888 
248 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE TWEN TY-SECOND SESSION OF THE 
AMERICAN POMOLOGUCAL 
SOCIETY. 
(R. N.-Y. SHORT-HAND REPORT.) 
Latin botanical nomenclature ridiculed , re¬ 
viled and defended; names long and dif¬ 
ficult., but universal-, foreign markets for 
oranges-, fig culture and marketing. 
The second morning session of tne society 
closed with the rea ling of a most ingenious 
and amusing paper on “ Botanical Names,” 
by Dudley W. Adams, of Florida. A radical 
nomenclature reform was strongly urged 
and the innovation proposed caused a lively 
sensation in the convention. In part he said: 
“The experiment of using dead languages in 
the description of plants is a disastrous fail¬ 
ure: 999 out of 1,000 know nothing of these 
languages; not five in a thousand can under¬ 
stand these botanical names. These things 
have accomplished nothing for the fruit and 
plant grower. Every plant has five long botan¬ 
ical names. (Several illustrations were given, 
with the common name for each.) This jar¬ 
gon stands in the way of our nurserymen in 
this country to-day. Must the science of 
Botany ever be monopolized by a selectjcircle 
or scientific clique, or shall a society of this 
nature take hold and apply the remedy? I 
ask for a Botany in English text. I stand 
here to demand the whole thing spread in our 
mother tongue. I plead for the toiling me¬ 
chanics,the wild cowbojs of the plains, for the 
millions of farmers, the child that plays amid 
the flowers, in behalf of the judge, the genuine 
scientist, the student, the youth, the middle- 
aged and the poor, i plead for an English Bota¬ 
ny for an English speaking people.” He con¬ 
tinued thus at length, being loudly applauded 
at the end. But much disapproval was also' 
manifested. Mr. F. L. Temple, of Cambridge, 
Mass , arose before the applause subsided with 
protest in his eye and voice. “ I don’t think 
this paper ought to go out in this way without 
protest. Ho v shall we nurserymen order 
stock from France and other countries ? In a 
local community where the common names 
are well-known the plan might work. You 
can’t handle the plants of the world unless 
you use what is called ‘Scientific Botany.’ 
Cut down names, but leave something that 
will distinguish each plant. The statement 
that five names are required for each plant is 
untrue. It is known to be the fact that very 
few have more than two names. We must 
have a name that can be used all over the 
world. We must work hard and learn 
Botany. You can’t have anything without 
hard work; you can’t grow oranges without 
worn.” (applause). Rev. Mr. White thought 
the essay ingenious enough to patent. “ The 
same objection lies against every science you 
can name. Shall we, then, throw away 
geology, chemistry, physiology and all these 
sciences?” Dr. Moore thought some good 
points were made in the essay, but he believed 
in clear-cut scientific terms, with simple 
names for common plants. Botanical names 
should, however, be anglicized and simplified, 
so that every farmer and every farmer’s child 
can understand. Mr. Steele said Prof. Gray 
had made such an attempt in his School 
Botany; but so far as nomenclature is con¬ 
cerned, we cannot do without it. Dr. Neal 
said, “Until Volapuk comes in use universally 
we can’t do away with the present botanical 
names. Until all the nations of the world 
speak a common language this reform cannot 
be established.” President Berckmans agreed 
that our nomenclature should be simplified, 
but opposed the radical change. 
“American Fruits in Foreign Markets” was 
the subject of an essay by Henry Foster of 
Lake Charm, Florida, read by Mr. Lee. The 
orauge was the only fruit alluded to. He had 
found a ready inaiket for Florida oranges 
over the water. Some fruit was lost by decay 
on the way. Direct shipment from Florida 
to Europe was necessary'. Rev. Dr. Moore 
thought the subject important. He said too 
often the fruit was not picked at the proper 
time, but often in bad weather. If picked 
when dry, and tumigated with sulphur, 
oranges could be shipped anywhere in the 
world, he thought, with safety. 
Ex-Gov. Reed, of Florida, read an instruc¬ 
tive and interesting paper on “Fig Culture.” 
He began to grow figs in 1872 on a farm near 
Jacksonville. He found there some trees 
beariug poor fruit without any care. He 
said: 
“The fig will grow and produce fruit in 
the South on any thoroughly cultivated land. 
The amount and character of the fruit will 
depend on the food furnished the trees. The 
roots grow near the surface, and the soil can¬ 
not be much disturbed near the tree. The fig 
is easily grown from cuttings. By fertiliza¬ 
tion I have improved the size and quality of 
all the poor varieties with which I started. I 
have removed trees and planted cuttings at 
all seasons of the year. I have one tree 
which has received the slops of the house, 
from which I have gathered annually for the 
last 10 years an average crop of 10 bushels of 
marketable fruit besides the ordinary waste. 
The fig industry labors under one difficulty 
here; frequent rains during the fruiting 
seasons often preclude picking at the prop¬ 
er time. I market from 40 to 50 bushels 
annually in Jacksonville and get three 
to four dollars per bushel. Cuttings plant¬ 
ed in January, February or March will 
in 10 months produce fruit.” Discussion 
followed. Mr. Steele said he had planted cut- 
tiDgs in March and gathered ripe fruit from 
them in the following September. Mr Mead 
had been growing figs for 15 years, using con¬ 
siderable fertilizer, but he had yet to get his 
first ripe fig. Mr. Williams had failed with 
figs on the Indian river. Various other con¬ 
flicting reports came from different parts of 
the State. One gentleman thought an acre of 
figs in Louisiana would be as productive as 20 
acres in Florida. He thought it too cold, 
and that the land was not rich enough for the 
fig in Florida. 
(To be continued .1 
A FIGHT.WITH THE MICROBES OF 
LUNG PLAGUE. 
Microbes of lung plague-, prevention of 
liver-rot in sheep; lung plague in cattle 
strictly contagious; its long prevalence in 
Europe, and recent introduction into 
America; slaughter of affected and ex¬ 
posed animals and thorough disinfection 
of contaminated objects indispensable for 
its eradication; victory over it in Cook 
County, Illinois; treatment of it in New 
York State. 
At the Albany Institute Dr. James Law 
read a paper on the above topic. In dealing 
with an animal plague the first con¬ 
sideration is to ascertain and determine its 
nature and cause. If we had to deal with a 
plague of “liver-rot” in sheep, the knowledge 
that the trematodes on which it depends must 
pass their early existence in certain fresh¬ 
water snails, would lead us to drain the ponds 
and marshes where such snails are bred, to 
place the sheep upon salt meadows, or to fur¬ 
nish a very liberal supply of salt with their 
food. So in dealing with the lung plague of 
cattle,the first consideration relates to its na¬ 
ture and cause. Certain leading facts in its his¬ 
tory, clearly demonstrate that this affection 
is tne proauct of a continuous and unbroken 
generation as truly as the race of cattle on 
which it preys. The disease can be traced in 
Europe for a period of over 2,000 years; but 
in all this period it can only be traced along 
the lines of cattle transit, and never can it be 
shown to have occurred where there has been 
no communication with a previous center of 
infection. A comprehensive view of the sub¬ 
ject like this demonstrates that this is a dis¬ 
ease which is propagated only by a continu¬ 
ous succession of cases, or, in other words, by 
a seed which is transferred more or less direct¬ 
ly from animal to animal, and without which 
the malady has never been known to arise 
If further proof of this were wauted, it is fur¬ 
nished in our American experience of 40 years 
with this disease, during which it confined 
itself strictly to the Atlantic sea-board where 
it was first planted and toward which all 
cattle traffic tends, until in an evil day a ship¬ 
ment of Jersey cattle from the infected center 
of Baltimore, Md., carried the disease iuto 
Ohio, whence it was transferred to Kentucky, 
Missouri and Illinois. For four years the 
plague maintained its foothold in the Missis¬ 
sippi Valley, and at each infected center it was 
only crushed out by the most radical measures 
of destruction and disinfection. If we would 
deal with lung plague therefore, all measures 
for its restriction and extinction must be con¬ 
ceived aud executed in view of this funda¬ 
mental fact, that the disease is but the har¬ 
vest of a specific seed sown aud that all effec¬ 
tive measures for its control must secure the 
destruction of this seed aud of its developed 
product. 
1st. Diseased animals are the field iu which 
this seed is multiplying into an inconceivably 
abundant harvest. The growth must be stop¬ 
ped even if this should demand the destruc¬ 
tion of the field as well as the harvest. 
2nd. Chronic cases of the plague usually con¬ 
tinue to carry dead masses o£ lung charged 
with the germ which lives therefore an in¬ 
definite length of time. These are therefore 
store-houses or granaries of the seed and must 
be thoroughly purged of their baneful con¬ 
tents even if the granary too must be destroy¬ 
ed. 
3d. Every bovine animal that has had con¬ 
tact direct or indirect with the plague or 
with a place where the plague has been, must 
be held as open to susoicion for a long series 
of months, as also must cattle that have come 
iu contact with her. She may bear the germ 
on her surface though she may personally 
escape the disease. She may carry it four 
months and then fall a victim to its infection. 
She may pass through a mild and unnoticed 
attack of this affection,and tnough apparently 
recovering may continue for many months to 
carry an infecting mass in the chest, which 
constitutes her a veritable store-house of in¬ 
fecting material. 
4th. Every building, yard, and article of 
whatever kind,and every man or other animal 
that has been in contact with the diseased or 
suspected animals or their products, must be 
looked on as liable to transmit the infection 
and must accordingly be subjected to a thor¬ 
ough disinfection. When called to under¬ 
take such a work in Illinois in 1887, 1 looked 
over the ground and found much to deter and 
only a little to encourage. The General 
Government which held the purse-strings, 
and the State Cattle Commission which held 
the power of operating within the State, had 
not been able to work in harmony, and only 
by great trouble could I secure the adoption 
of laws that would allow me such power as 
would enable me to handle the plague with 
hope of success. 
(To be Continued.) 
LARGE YIELD OF POTATOES. 
Thos. O’Hanlon, of Chinook (Dawes) in the 
Mile river valley of Montana, raised 108,000 
pounds of potatoes on three acres of land, in 
1888. Yield, 600 bushels per acre. This laud 
is all open for free settlement to home-seek¬ 
ers. Get a free farm from the government 
land. For further information call on F. I. 
Whitney, G. P. & T. A., St. P. M. & M. Ry., 
St. Paul, Minn.— Adv. 
NEW LEGISLATION NEEDED CON¬ 
CERNING MONOPOLIES. 
No. 2. 
PRES. W. I. CHAMBERLAIN. 
All property invested in monopolies has, as 
hinted in a former article, need of special 
limitations. A monopoly is the right or 
power, natural, taken or conferred, to have 
exclusive use or sale of certain commodities 
or t' render certain services for pay in cer¬ 
tain localities. Monopolies are of various 
sorts, and may be absolute or partial; as, for 
example, copyrights, patent rights, ra way 
and street car service, gas and water service, 
express, telegraph and telephone service, 
pools, trusts, etc. Now in the case of a mo¬ 
nopoly of any necessity or urgent convenience 
of life, the good of society seems to require 
that it be regulated by law as to cost and 
quality of service or commodity, or else indi¬ 
vidual greed will lead to extortion from soci¬ 
ety. Greedy human nature cannot be trusted 
with power unlimited to levy tribute. 
Copyright. —Here Government simply 
protects the author in his natural right to the 
labor of his brain aud to its exclusive sale in 
printed form. Copyright, however, needs 
few limitations. Books are not necessary to 
physical existence, and the supply seems 
equal to the demand. Indeed proper reward 
to authorship would seem to require that this 
monopoly be not further restricted but rather 
extended aud made international. 
Patent-right. —This gives the inventor ex¬ 
clusive ownership and sale of his invention for 
a certain time. His invention is the product 
of his toil of brain aud hand combined. Pat¬ 
ent right is a full monopoly, and requires far 
closer limitations than copyright to guard 
the public welfare, for two reasons; first, be¬ 
cause patented articles usually supply physi¬ 
cal wants, w’hicb, though lower than the in¬ 
tellectual and spiritual, are more imperative, 
indeed essential to our very existence, and, 
second, because au inventor makes use of 
laws, forces and materials of nature already 
existing ; not created by tne inventor but free 
gifts of God to the race. To the inventor be¬ 
longs the discovery of some law, force or 
material hitherto unknown, or of some new 
means or instrument for utilizing those 
already known. But he may not justly charge 
so high a price as practically to exclude soeie- 
l tyfroui the advantage of his iuyeuUou or to 
work extortion. To him belongs simply the in¬ 
vention, the discovery; but the laws, forces or 
materials he discovers or helps the better to 
utilize belong to the race, to society; and had 
not he discovered them some other man 
would, no doubt, nave done so soon. He may 
not play “dog in the manger” as against so¬ 
ciety. Our patent laws should amply protect 
and reward the inventor and thus encourage 
invention. This they now do. They should 
also protect society from deprivation, extor¬ 
tion and black-mail. This they certainly do 
not at present do. Sharper limitations, I 
think, should be placed upon this kind of mo¬ 
nopoly in three directions. 1, The inventor 
and his a ; signees should be compelled to put 
the invention on the market in raaufaetured 
form within a reasonable time definitely fixed, 
or forfeit the patent; 2, they should be 
forced to sell the articles at a reasonable price 
compared with the cost of manufacture; 3, 
the patent should expire in a shorter time 
than now, with no chance of renewal. 
The first point above would prevent the 
patenting of a mere simple, obvious idea in 
mechanism, with the sale of the farm or per¬ 
sonal right to make and use the patented de¬ 
vice at will, and with no intimation on it that 
it is patented. Property inheres really only in 
tangible substance worked by brain and band. 
The maker and seller, and not the buyer and 
user, of a patented article should be held re¬ 
sponsible for infringement. Still further, as 
hinted, every patented article should bear in 
plain sight upon it the word “patented,” with 
the date of the issuance of the patent, or the 
copying and use of the article should not be 
punishable as an infringement. Patenting a 
simple idea, as, for example, the “drive well” 
“slip-gate,” etc., has been a fruitful source of 
the worst forms of extortion and black-mail 
under the cloak of law. 
The limitation noted in the second point 
above, would prevent extortions like those of 
the telephone monopoly, that vastly enrich 
those who “get in on the ground floor,” and 
cruelly tax the general business interests; 
while the limitations on number three would 
prevent corrupt renewals purchased by com¬ 
panies already grown immensely rich on a 
patent, as, for example, by the “gimlet screw” 
monopoly, a renewal that for 17 years more 
“taxed without representation” consumers 
in every corner of our wide domain, and 
vastly enriched a close monopoly-corporation 
in one of our small Eastern States. 
Our patent laws were perhaps wise and 
just for the slow times when they were en¬ 
acted; but they are in some respects now a 
sad anachronism and a curse for these chang¬ 
ed times of steam and lightning. They need 
thorough and wise revision. This will not 
come, however, until It is Imperatively e- 
manded by a public sentiment that is clear¬ 
headed, just and strong. Free discussion 
through our public press, and clear instruction 
in our schools and colleges alone can teach 
the great body of our citizen rulers to scan 
with intelligent care the philosophic basis of 
just law, and to demand such laws—wherever 
they do not now exist. 
The next article will discuss Railroad prop¬ 
erty. 
State Agricultural College, Ames, Iowa. 
Womans Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUI8E TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
House-Cleaning— that is the next afflic¬ 
tion How did it leave you last time, Mrs. 
Busy — with a heavy cold, or a lame back, 
or a sprained wrist, or an attack of nervous 
prostration ? It usuallv leaves some affliction. 
We believe that too many women hurry and 
rush to get their cleaning over, without due 
thought of the evils that may follow it. 
First, there is the risk of taking the stoves 
down too early; we usually have a period of 
wet, cold weather in May, and damp, flreless 
rooms cause many an ailment that may be 
clearly laid to early cleaning. Then, there is 
the risk of over-work. We kuow by personal 
experience how hard it is to get any help in 
the country, even when one is willing to pay 
well for it; yet it is better to drag out the 
cleaning for two months rather than to half 
kill oneself in the effort to be done as soon as 
the neighbors. Let it be one room at a time 
—closets and drawers first. See that every¬ 
thing needful is in the house—tacks, kalso- 
mine, varnish to touch up the furuiture, etc., 
and, please, don’t try to move heavy pieces of 
furniture all by yourself. We have seen too 
many women permanently weakened by such 
over-ambition. In putting down the carpets, 
sprinkle a little salt over the lining, especially 
around the edges; this will prevent Buffalo 
* moths, One of the host things for laying 
