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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
CATALOGUES, ETC., RECEIVED. 
T exas experiment station.—T he 
first annual report of this station is sent 
by Director F. A. Gulley, College Station, 
Texas. It contains a copy of the laws relat¬ 
ing to the Station, the Director’s report and 
outline of the work to be carried out and 
somewhat detailed reports from the various 
Station officers. Texas is an immense State. 
It stretches over such avast extent of terri¬ 
tory that it is impossible to conceive of any 
single locality in the State that could be taken 
as representing the typical climate, soil and 
other natural conditions. It can thus be 
understood that the task of devising a series 
of experiments that should be of general in¬ 
terest to the State was by no means an easy 
one. Director Gulley announces the follow¬ 
ing as his plan for future work. In making 
this plan he has been aided by suggestions 
from many farmers’ organizations. It seems 
to the R. N.-Y. that this is an admirable out¬ 
line. 
1. “A study of the most practicable and 
economical method of feeding cattle for beef 
and for the dairy. 
2. A study of the disease of the cotton 
plant known as ‘Cotton Blight.’ or ‘Root 
Rot.’ 
3. Testing varieties of fruits to ascertain 
what kinds are best adapted to the State, and 
at the same time help to designate the varie¬ 
ties by their proper names. 
4. Test grasses and forage plants, adapta¬ 
bility to localities, and value for grazing and 
feeding. 
5. Effect of barnyard manure and com¬ 
mercial fertilizers for certain crops. 
6. Value of tile drainage for farm and 
garden crops. 
7. Disinfection and inoculation of cattle 
to protect from ‘Texas fever.’ ” 
We are all deeply interested in the improve¬ 
ment of Western and Texas cattle since it 
seems evident that more and more of our beef 
s to come from the great plains of the South 
and West. Anything that tends to improve 
the feeding, breeding and handling of Texas 
cattle is of importance to the general public. 
The report of the Station’s chemist, Mr. 
Harrington, is interesting. It appears that 
experiments are being made with cactus as a 
stock food. For some years ranchmen in 
various parts of the State have fed cactus to 
their cattle with a degree of success depend¬ 
ing on their ability to remove the small, 
sharp thorns. Various methods are employed 
to do this work. Sometimes the cactus plants, 
after being cut, are singed over a hot fire; at 
other times the cactus plants are simply run 
through a cutting machine, while in other 
cases the cut pieces or even the entire plants 
are well steamed and then fed to stock. In 
all the methods the main object is to remove 
the sharp thorns. While armed with these 
thorns the cactus is a terrible plant. The 
cruel Apache Indians delight in using the cac¬ 
tus as an instrument of torture. Their miser¬ 
able victims are made to dance on cactus beds 
and when they fall from exhaustion, are whip¬ 
ped with these cruel blades. But by removing 
the thorns the cactus is transformed into a 
blessing for the stockman. It grows where 
nothing else will grow during a drought. 
The water it contains forms one of its chief 
values. Chemical analysis shows that it is 
almost as valuable as carrots or turnips as a 
stock food and the cost of gathering it is 
merely nominal. As the writer knows from 
personal experience, stock are very fond of it 
when freed from the thorns. The possibili¬ 
ties of the cactus plant for Western Texas are 
great. The man who invents some cheap and 
rapid method of removing the thorns will add 
greatly to Texau prosperity. With cotton 
seed and sorghum fodder, cactus forms a per¬ 
fect fattening ration. 
The Mesquite bean is another plant that 
proves valuable as a feed-stuff in Texas. 
The R. N.-Y. gav e a picture of this bean 
some yeurs ago. Analysis shows that it is 
superior in nutritive qualities to either 
corn or oats. The trees are rarely larger 
than average peach trees. The branches are 
so pliant that cattle can bend them down and 
thus feed without harvesting the beans. 
There are other excellent things in the re¬ 
port that must be reserved for a future 
article. 
RlCKKK & OSBORNE, ROCHESTER, N. Y.— 
Catalogue of the Rochester hay and grain car¬ 
riers and slings. These slings have the ad¬ 
vantage of the central discharge and there¬ 
fore never fail to work. It is claimed that 
the largest wagon load of hay may be put in 
the mow in three minutes. This system is 
the result of much practical experience, and 
we would advise our readers to look into it. 
Bend for their catalogue. 
Kansas Agriculture.— The report of the 
Kansas State Board of Agriculture for the 
quarter ending March 31, 1889, contaiu3 crop 
reports, statistics, reports of various meet¬ 
ings and other interesting matters. 
Journal of Mycology.— This publication 
is sent from the Department of Agriculture. 
It is devoted to the study of fungi especially 
in their relation to plant diseases. 
Vermont Experiment Station.— Bullet¬ 
in No. 14 is given up to fertilizer statistics 
and analyses. Explanations of the values of 
the various fertilizer ingredients are given 
which seem to the R. N.-Y. about as clear as 
any it has yet read. The Station has made a 
canvass of the State of Vermont to ascertain 
how many tons of fertilizer were unloaded at 
railroad stations during 1888. It gives the 
following results. 
“The total figures for the State are 4,194 
tons. The average selling price was not far 
from 835 63 per ton; making a total of $149, 
432.22 paid by the farmers of the State dur¬ 
ing the year 18^8 for the single item of com¬ 
mercial fertilizers. It is safe to say that at 
least $30,000 ot this large sum could have 
been saved it the system of small purchases on 
long time could be replaced by the English 
system of co-operative buying for cash.” 
The town of South Randolph heads the list 
with 240 tons. 
Connecticut State Board of Agricul¬ 
ture. —The 22nd annual report of this society 
is received from the secretary, T. S. Gold, of 
West Cornwall, Conn. It would be impossi¬ 
ble to give anything like a detailed review of 
the volume, because it is different from most 
agricultural reports. As a rule, one has to 
hunt through such publications for something 
new or characteristic, but the trouble with 
the Connecticut report is that one has to hunt 
for things that can be left out. it is packed 
full of sound truths and bitsof sensible advice 
—so full in fact, that after a struggle to pick 
out the best the reviewer is forced to conclude 
that they are all best and that the only sensi¬ 
ble thing to do is to urge farmers to read the 
whole volume. 
Those Connecticut farmers are good ones! 
They know how to farm and they also know 
just how to teach the principles of farming. 
Success to them! 
Statistical Abstract of the United 
States 1888.—This is the eleventh number of 
this publication. It consists of 230 pages of 
closely printed figures, giving the statis¬ 
tics relating to finance, coinage, commerce, 
immigration, shipping, postal service, popula¬ 
tion agriculture, railroads, etc., and is pre¬ 
pared under the direction of the Secretary of 
the Treasury. It is particularly valuable as 
the records are traced back for 10 years. The 
R. N. Y. is glad to get this book for it presents 
a basis for some very interesting figuring. 
At the meeting of the National Grange held at 
Topeka, Kansas, last fall the following reso¬ 
lution was passed: 
“ Resolved , That the Commissioner of Agri¬ 
culture be requested to inquire, through the 
consular system of Government or otherwise, 
what foreign nations are now importing agri¬ 
cultural products, and ascertain what possi¬ 
bilities there would be to establish trade rela¬ 
tions for the disposal of our surplus agricul¬ 
tural products; also to inquire what agricul¬ 
tural products are now imported ihat our 
country and climate are capable of producing, 
and lay the same before Congress and publish 
for the information of farmers.” 
The Statistician of the Department of 
Agriculture Has just issued his answer, which 
is contained in the May report of the Depart¬ 
ment. Here are a few of his statements:— 
Europe is practically the only wheat market 
America can have, and Europe raises 1,200, 
000,000 bushels herself—more than half the 
world’s crop and twice that of America. 
Europe imports an average of 144,000,000 
bushels, of which America supplies 95,000,000. 
The demand for oats and barley from other 
countries is insignificant. We export 68,000, 
000 bushels of corn, all there is a demand for. 
We import more potatoes than we export. 
Only three European countries need to call on 
us for butter. These are Great Britian, Bel¬ 
gium and Portugal. We send 24,000,000 
pounds. Europe calls for 140,000,000 pounds 
of cheese and we send 118,000,000 of it. We 
send to Europe 2,636,000,000 pounds of cotton. 
Europe calls each year for 780,000,000 pounds 
of raw wool. We produce only SO per cent, 
of the wool used at home—importing the 
rest; 69,000,000 pounds. We send to other 
countries each year, 242,000,000 pounds of 
tobacco. The Statistician concludes that 
more cheese could be exported if its reputa¬ 
tion for quality could be kept up. The same 
is true of butter. There is also a good demand 
for a good quality of dried or evaporated 
fruits. He also says we could save money 
by producing our own sugar, flax, hemp, and 
fruits 
This is a very timely and important sub¬ 
ject. It is well worth studying. The R. 
N.-Y. has made some careful calculations of 
its own, taking the figures as given in the vol¬ 
ume under review. Our desire is to place 
side by side the values of our exports and im¬ 
ports for the past 10 years. The imports may 
represent what we have paid other countries 
for needed articles; while the exports may 
represent what we have sold. 
Articles. Exports. 
Eggs. $483,630 
Fertilizers. 10,329,079 
Bread stuffs. 1,897,066,641 
Flax, hemp, etc. 
Manufactures of Flax. hemp.. 16.122,570 
Fruits. 27,885,998 
Hay. 2.812.467 
Hops. 19,994,096 
Meat and Dairy Products. 1,138,549,203 
Sugar and Molasses. 70,468,422 
Potatoes. 4.011,018 
Imports. 
$18,941,283 
16.451,767 
84,372,283 
113,249.974 
226,093,369 
146.737,348 
9.705,498 
7.797.231 
17,189,652 
813.644.110 
13,581,096 
These figures are interesting because they 
ought to show us the farm products that 
ought to be produced at borne. It will be seen 
that our sugar bill is an enormous item. Can 
we make sugar here cheaper than we can buy 
it abroad ? That is the question American 
farmers must answer. Fruits are a great ex¬ 
pense to our people. We might produce most 
of them at home. Think of paying out mil¬ 
lions for eggs ! The most striking loss is in 
the production of flax and other fibers. We 
are importing nearly $250,000,000 worth of 
flax and hemp products. Cannot this money 
be kept in this country ? Can we not bui'd up 
the flax industry on American soil ? Another 
point worth considering is the fact that dur¬ 
ing the past 27 years Americans have import¬ 
ed $407,747,416 worth of tea and nearly three 
times as much coffee. Have we not some¬ 
where in our vast extent of territory some 
place where Americans can earn a portion of 
this money ? 
There are some startling figures in this re¬ 
markable volume. For example, we fiud that 
the American people, have consumed since 
1870, 9,866,295,114 gallons of wines and 
liquors. This volume will be found extreme¬ 
ly useful by those who like to investigate the 
growth of our country. 
New York State Dairymen’s Associ¬ 
ation.—Secretary Josiah Shull, (Ilion, 
N. Y. )has issued a bulletin giving a strong 
argument in favor of dairy conferences. The 
bulletin states that “people are becoming 
more refined in their tastes, and more exact¬ 
ing about the quality of their food. This ap¬ 
plies more especially to milk and butter, as 
these products are consumed, more or less, 
by every man, woman and child in our land. 
Instead of over-churned, over-worked butter, 
made from stale cream, that becomes strong, 
we want creamy flavored butter that is fresh.” 
The conferences are held so that people may 
come and see milk, cream and butter handled 
in the best possible way. The bulletin con¬ 
tains the following “ Notes on Dairying.” 
Most of them are as old as the art of dairying, 
but It is no exaggeration to say that a great 
many of these rules are still broken, by good 
people, too. 
1. “The milk from healthy cows only, 
should be used. 
2. Avoid excitement of cows, produced by 
chasing with dogs or in any other manner. 
Harsh treatment lessens the quantity and in¬ 
jures the quality of milk. 
3. Cows should have an abundance of suit¬ 
able food and pure water, and salt kept 
where they can have ready access every day. 
4. Cows should be kept from all foul odors 
and not be allowed to eat or drink anything 
that will give taint to milk. 
5. Milking should be done at regular hours, 
with clean hands, clean udders and clean 
stables, and the milk kept away from any 
contaminating odors. 
6. Milk should be strained immediately 
after being drawn, and not be disturbed till 
creamed. 
7. Milk palls and other vessels for keeping 
milk and cream should he thoroughly 
cleansed; first well washedJEit scalded with 
boiling water, and then aired to keep them 
perfectly sweet.” 
Cattr. 
“ Every Man is presumed to know the Law. 
Nine-tenths of all Litigation arises from 
Ignorance of Law." 
LAW AS TO SHEEP-KILLING BY DOGS IN OHIO. 
T. M., Cuyahoga County , Ohio .—What is 
the law with regard to sheep-killing dogs in 
this State l 
Ans. —If the owner of tho dog is known and 
able to pay damages, a suit should be brought 
against him. In Ohio,the owner or owners of 
any dog that kills,worries or injures any sheep, 
lamb, goat or kid shall be jointly and several¬ 
ly liable to any person so damaged, to the full 
amount of the injury done, and the court or 
justice who has passed upon the case, shall de¬ 
clare the animal found to have occasioned 
the death or injury, to be a common nuisance 
and order the defendant to kill or cause to 
be killed such animal within 24 hours after 
the rendition of the j udgment. If the offend¬ 
ing dog has not been seen or if its owner is un¬ 
known, or if known, if the amount of the 
judgment cannot be collected on execution, 
then the person who has suffered injury or 
loss may present a detailed account of the in¬ 
jury done, with the damages claimed there¬ 
for, verified by affidavit,to the commissioners 
of the county wherein such damage was done, 
at some regular session or within one year, 
and shall make it appear to the commissioners 
upon the parol testimony’,of at least two other 
persons who are freeholders of tne neighbor¬ 
hood where the injury was done, that the 
damage claimed is just and reasonable, that 
no part of the injury was done by any ani¬ 
mal in possession of the complainant, and that 
he does not know whose animal committed 
the injury, or if known, that the judgment 
cannot be collected; then the commission¬ 
ers, if satisfied that the account is just and 
correct, may allow tho same, or such parts as 
they deem right,and shall order the payment 
thereof out of the fund created by the per 
capita tax on dogs. If such fund is insuffi¬ 
cient to pay all such allowed claims in full, 
they shall be paid pro rata. 
C. W. K., Los Gatoz, Cal .—A puts his 
young colt in B.’s pasture for a certain 
amount per month. He visits the pasture oc¬ 
casionally to keep acquainted with the colt, 
to see that it is there, and pay up to the date 
of his visit. After 15 months he goes to take 
bis colt away, but it cannot be found. Is B 
liable for the loss of tbe colt, or for any dam¬ 
age? There is no charge that the colt was 
stolen, or bad escaped, nor was there any 
agreement between the parties as to the safe¬ 
keeping of the animal. 
Ans.—I f the colt was not stolen and did not 
escape; that is, did not get out of the pasture 
of his own accord, what Decame of him? If 
it can be proved that his disappearance was 
due to any action or want of proper care on 
B's part, a suit for the value of the colt will 
lie against him. If this cannot be pro ved, B 
cannot be held responsible, either in whole or 
part, for the loss. 
T. M. S., Worcester, Mass .—A neighbor who 
owns land adjoining mine is going to build a 
large barn with adjoining sheds right up to 
the boundary line, with the eaves projecting 
over it so that all the water from the roof 
must fall on my land; what is the law in such 
cases? 
Ans.—B uilding a barn or any other struc¬ 
ture in such a way is a manifest encroach¬ 
ment on, or an appropriation of our inquirer’s 
property to the extent, at least, of the projec¬ 
tion; but a right to make this encroachment 
may be acquired by 20 years’ acquiescence on 
the part of our inquirer. Any court of com¬ 
petent jurisdiction will issue an injunction 
forbidding the erection of a building in such 
a position, and after it is built, the court will 
order it pulled down or altered so as to pre¬ 
vent the drip from the roof falling on our 
correspondent’s land. 
Pt.srcllaneou# mti.sing. 
Chester White, Berkshire and 
Poland China Pigs. Fine Set¬ 
ter Docs, Scotch Collies, Fox 
Hounds and Beagles, Sheep 
and Poultry, bred and for sale 
by W. GIBBONS & CO.. West 
Chester.Chester Co., Pa. Send 
stamp for Circular and Price List. 
PENSIONS. 
W. B. Lord, Att’y, Washington, D. C. 
Success or no Kee. 
PATENTS 
THOMAS P. SIMPSON, Washington 
D. C. No atty s fee until patent ob 
talned. Write for Inventor's Guide 
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