448 
THE BUBAL SEW-YOBMlfL 
JULY 6 
THE 
RURAL NLW'YORKER, 
ANational Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
SLBEBT 8. CiBNil. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Pars Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JULY 6, 1889. 
It may be worth noting that the vines 
of the potatoes growing in the barrels 
have not been attacked by potato beetles 
and by comparatively few flea beetles. 
The dressed beef men have always 
argued that their meat is carefully select¬ 
ed, cleanly handled and packed. They 
should ride a few miles out of New York 
to some of the smaller suburban towns 
and see how they like the way our meat 
comes to us. It is taken off the ice in 
this city, put in ordinary, open baggage 
cars, dumped off the cars to the station 
platforms, where it stands in the broiling 
sun until the local butcher can put it in¬ 
to his ice box. Now this meat costs us 
just as much as did that of several years 
ago, when butchers killed and dressed 
their own beeves—many of which were 
raised right on our own farms. 
W hat is to be done with the thousands 
of lazy, shiftless young men one notices 
in all our large cities ? They are absolute¬ 
ly opposed to all useful labor. It is use¬ 
less to find them opportunities for earn¬ 
ing money—they will not stay in any 
place, however favorable, more than a 
few days. They are simply worthless 
scamps who are perfectly willing to eat 
and drink up the hard earned savings of 
mothers aud sisters, or to depend upon 
theft and fraud for their livelihood. This 
worthless, idle class is constantly in¬ 
creasing in numbers. The problem of 
providing for it will become one of the 
most important that Americans will be 
called upon to settle. There is absolute¬ 
ly no place in this country for a class of 
vicious non-producers. The idle rich, 
who do nothing but spend money are bad 
enough; but the healthy poor who wiil 
not work and who do their best to dis¬ 
courage work in others, are entirely out 
of place in America. 
“ Do you wonder that I am a farmer ; that 
I love the dear old home where 1 have been 
so kindly cared for? Read “ Train up a 
Child,” under Discussion, page 446. 
A friend in New York State is en¬ 
gaged in the business of supplying hay 
for the horses in this city. In speaking 
of his methods of curing and handling 
hay, he says: “Clover is the worst weed 
the dealer has to contend with.” 
Another friend in the same State sup¬ 
plies milk for the city market. He writes 
that he has about decided to so rearrange 
his rotation that he will raise no Timo¬ 
thy, as he believes that clover will pay 
him better—make more milk. Thus with 
one clover is a worthless weed, while 
with the other it is the most valuable 
plant on the farm. Both of these men 
are successful farmers. One takes pride 
in sending to the city the best possible 
quality of hay; while the other is anx¬ 
ious to produce the largest possible num¬ 
ber of cans of milk per acre. The point 
we want to bring out is that the time has 
gone by when general rules of agricul¬ 
ture will answer for those who perform 
special work. Nature has provided a 
special tool for each department of farm 
economy. She does not put these tools 
into the farmer’s hand without a request 
from him. She puts the whole list with¬ 
in his reach. He is to hunt out the one 
best suited to his special work. 
THE GRAIN APHIS. 
T HE farmers of Ohio, Indiana and 
Southern Michigan are much alarm¬ 
ed by the presence on the wheat of Aphis 
avenue. or the grain plant louse. In In¬ 
diana they call this the grain midge. 
This is a very wrong term. The midge 
is a two winged fly, much like the Hes¬ 
sian fly. The orange fly lays its eggs on 
the berries, and the orange maggot ab¬ 
sorbs the juice from the berry and so 
causes it to wither. This plant louse is 
very different. It works on all kinds of 
grain—oats, barley, rye, etc. It also in¬ 
serts its beak and sucks from all parte of 
the plants—stem, leaves and head. This 
grain Aphis is no new pest. It has often 
done serious damage, and was fully de¬ 
scribed by Dr. Asa Fitch as early as 1865. 
The one comforting thing about it is, that 
it is rarely very destructive two years in 
succession. As is well known, dry 
weather is very favorable to the develop¬ 
ment and increase of plant lice. It is 
very probable that the very dry weather 
in April and May explains the raid made 
by the pests the present season. It is 
equally true that wet weather is unfavor¬ 
able, and destroys the lice. It is to be 
hoped that the present numerous and 
copious raina of June have been in time 
to kill the lice and save the crop. 
From the nature of the case, the ex¬ 
cellent plant-louse specific, the kerosene 
and soap mixture, can hardly be employ¬ 
ed in combatting the grain aphis. We 
can only hope that the rains will bring 
relief, and rejoice that we shall probab¬ 
ly be exempt from the scourge another 
year 
ANTI-TRUST LEGISLATION. 
Who was it that predicted that in 15 
years the business of this great country 
would be consolidated in a few trusts, 
and that the social system would then 
consist of a few families of enormous 
wealth, a middle class of lackeys, and a 
great laboring class of degraded working 
people ? Is there any serious likelihood 
of such a revolution in 15 or twice 15 
years ? It is an obvious fact that in spite 
of public sentiment and much legislation, 
trusts are multiplying alarmingly and en¬ 
larging their scope and influence, and all 
legislation hitherto formulated against 
them appears ineffective. Indeed, all the 
acts hitherto passed seem defective in 
some respects. The Kansas law, for ex¬ 
ample, prohibits combinations tending to 
“advance, reduce or control” price or 
cost to producer or consumer. The Texas 
law is drawn with equal looseness, and 
that of Iowa is by no means well formu¬ 
lated, while the Missouri enactment, 
although better in form,does not appear 
to possess any terror for trust-makers, 
the National Lead Trust having recently 
made fresh headway in St. Louis, and a 
plug tobacco trust being now in process 
of formation there. Is it possible that the 
trust magnates hire shrewd lawyers so to 
formulate anti-trust legislation that it 
must prove inoperative? The tersest, 
clearest and most coherent bill of the 
kind yet formulated is that just passed 
by the Michigan Senate, and which is 
pretty certain to pass the House also. It 
was framed by Judge Christiancy. and is 
a model for such legislation. What is 
the use of anti-trust laws if the smart 
lawyers whom the trusts’ immense re¬ 
sources are prompt to hire, can “ drive a 
coach and six ” through them? 
MR. HALE’S PEACH CULTURE. 
T HE R. N.-Y. congratulates you, Mr. 
Hale, that in opposition to the ad¬ 
vice of experienced friends, you should 
have engaged in peach culture, and that 
the present season, in spite of untoward 
conditions, the prospect of a profitable 
crop was never better. The frosts which 
injured the crop in many States and de¬ 
stroyed it in others, merely served in Mr. 
Hale’s orchard to effect a judicious thin¬ 
ning out of the fruit, and he now has 
well-grounded hopes that his peaches 
will be as large, as highly colored and as 
abundant as those of any other peach or¬ 
chard of similar size in the entire country. 
Mr. Hale has made departures in his 
peach culture from the usual methods, 
which are both original and instructive. 
He spreads upon the orchard 400 pounds 
of muriate of potash every year. He uses 
the muriate simply because it is the 
cheapest form of potash. This, as he be¬ 
lieves, induces a fine color in the fruit. 
Besides the potash, he uses 1.000 pounds 
of fine raw bone per acre. This gives the 
phosphoric acid and all the nitrogen, 
which the trees seem to require. His 
trees are not troubled with the yellows 
but are thrifty and sound. He leaves the 
peaches on the trees until they are ripe. 
Then careful selections are made in har¬ 
vesting and each basket is guaranteed to 
be filled with fruit of the same quality 
from the bottom to the top. 
His varieties are the Mountain Rose 
which ripens from August 25th to Sep¬ 
tember 10th; Oldmixon, ripening from 
the 10th to the 20th of September; 
Stump the World, ripening from the 15th 
to the 25th, ending with some Late Craw¬ 
ford, Ward’s Late and Morris White. Go, 
you, good peach-growers, and do like¬ 
wise. Mr. Hale’s f&rm is in South Glas¬ 
tonbury, Conn. 
PROHIBITION. 
S O far this year four States have voted 
on the question of constitutional 
Prohibition, and in all the amendments 
were defeated by majorities so large as to 
leave no doubt of the wishes of the ma¬ 
jority of the people. In New Hampshire 
the adverse majority was 5,503; in Mas¬ 
sachusetts it was 45,820; in Pennsylva¬ 
nia 185,000 and in Rhode Island 18,000. 
Judging from legislation on this subject 
of late, it is evident that the prohibition 
sentiment in the country is stronger in 
the West than in the East. This, no 
doubt, is due to the fact that there are 
fewer laige cities and tewns in the former 
than in the latter. As an almost invaria¬ 
ble rule, the States in which large num¬ 
bers of workingmen are centralized in 
cities are opposed to Prohibition. The 
very class that would be most benefited 
by the abolition of the liquor traffic are 
most bitterly opposed to it, and the 
cities where laboring men congregate in 
greatest number roll up the heaviest ma¬ 
jorities in favor of the saloon. It is a 
trifle curious that while Republicans 
make special claims as antagonists of the 
whiskey power, the above four States are 
strongly Republican in national politics. 
Local option or high license is the form 
in which Republican advocacy of tem¬ 
perance gem rally finds expression. Laws 
in support of the former enable any 
county in which the general sentiment is 
in favor of Prohibition, to enforce it; 
laws in support of the latter increase the 
revenues of the various municipalities, 
diminish the number of saloons, and weed 
out the more disreputable among them: 
but there is absolutely no proof that the 
decrease in the multitude of these plague 
spots causes any diminution whatever in 
the consumption of intoxicants, and this 
is the main point in the whole temper¬ 
ance agitation. What difference is there 
in the effect of the sale of liquor whether 
a dozen men become intoxicated in a 
dozen different rum mills, or whether 
they all become drunk in one? Politic¬ 
ians and liquor men are generally 
jubilant at the idea that the late defeats 
have given Prohibition a death-blow. 
The idea is ridiculous. The party en¬ 
gaged in the Prohibitory movement 
may have to reform its party lines, and 
drop some of the issues that have weigh¬ 
ed heavily upon it; but there is too much 
vitality in it, and too much importance 
in the issue for which it is contending, 
to permit it to surrender because of these 
setbacks. What great reformation was 
ever effected without overcoming some 
temporary checks? 
HOW ABOUT IT? 
A FTER a long and earnest battle with 
politicians, Prof. J. W. Sanborn 
has been removed from his position as 
Dean of the Missouri Agricultural Col¬ 
lege and Director of the Missouri Experi¬ 
ment Station. The R. N.-Y. has obtained 
a history of this contest, and it is a his¬ 
tory that ought to make the farmers of 
Missouri blush with shame and indigna¬ 
tion. The R. N.-Y. believes Prof. San¬ 
born to be one of the ablest agricultural 
teachers in the United States. It is also 
satisfied that he is an honest, faithful, 
fearless, energetic and competent official. 
So far as we know, nobody has ever dis¬ 
puted these facts—not even those who 
secured his removal. In reality, he was 
too honest, too faithful, too fearless of 
the gang of political boodlers who have 
no use for the University of Mis¬ 
souri except as a part of their political 
machine. They were unhappy because 
they could not control the little “patron¬ 
age” that fell in the way of the 
agricultural college. Wnenever they 
undertook to make this college a 
part of their political machine, they 
found Prof. Sanborn squarely and un¬ 
flinchingly in their path. Unable to get 
rid of this opposition in any other way, 
the politicians artfully engineered a po¬ 
litical crusade against what they termed 
“ the management of a Yankee and a Re¬ 
publican.” As a result of this movement 
the legislature refused to make any ap¬ 
propriation for the university until Prof. 
Sanborn was removed. Then the pro¬ 
fessor’s friends weakened, the appropria¬ 
tion was voted and Sanborn was removed. 
This contest should not be permitted 
to drop. Prof. Sanborn distinctly states 
that the university authorities have for 
years misappropriated the funds belong¬ 
ing to the agricultural college. The R. 
N.-Y. believes, from the information it 
has at hand, that these charges can be 
substantiated. When the Hatch Bill was 
passed, the R. N, Y. stated that it would 
give its earnest support to the stations and 
colleges just as long as they showed evi¬ 
dences of a desire to do honest work. It 
also stated that it would do all in its 
power to correct abuses and punish mis¬ 
management. The time has now come 
to determine whether politicians and 
boodlers are to run these stations or 
whether farmers and their representatives 
are to manage their own affairs. Now, 
Secretary Rusk, and Assistant Secretary 
Willets, what do you propose to do about 
this matter? The R. N.-Y. demands an 
investigation of the conduct of the direc¬ 
tors of the Missouri Station. Prof. San¬ 
born makes definite charges. Are you 
going to ignore them? The public want 
to know about these matters. If you do 
not stamp all political jobbery out of the 
work of these stations you will lose the 
influence and respect of the class of farm¬ 
ers you need to help you in your work. 
The Hatch Bill provides a remedy and a 
punishment for misappropriation of the 
experiment station fund—doesn’t it? In¬ 
vestigate the Missouri Station, and if the 
facts warrant it, apply that remedy 
sternly and quickly. This is an import¬ 
ant matter. Let us carry it right 
through to the end. 
“ They think they know aV about farming 
and hence don't ivant to learn . 
It is a long and difficult task to lift farm¬ 
ing from an illiberal labor to a liberal pro¬ 
fessions to make it an applied science, a 
skilled art instead of an empirical drudgery. 
It will be long before the bulk of farm¬ 
ers *manure with brains .'"— Pres. Cham¬ 
berlain, page 444. 
BREVITIES. 
How is your potato contest plot, good lady? 
Gooseberries. —Millionsof them! We have 
never before seen so large a crop as that 
which is now maturing at the Rural Grounds. 
A Canadian subscriber says that the flee- 
beetle troubles him only in small patches of 
potatoes. In the large fields it does compar¬ 
atively little harm. 
The Parker Earle strawberry will come to 
stay—if its behavior at the Rural Ground this 
season may be taken as a guide for other 
parts of the country. 
The FLEA-heetles have nearly disappeared 
and the R.N.-Y.’s hopes are proportionately 
strengthened that its Contest Plot will this 
season meet with success. 
Spray asparagus plants, infested with the 
asparagus beetle, with Paris-green or London- 
purple water. Use a heaping tea-spoonful of 
the first and two of the latter to two gallons 
of water. 
The R. N.-Y. has sprayed grape-vines with 
the Bordeaux Mixture with a view of repell¬ 
ing the rose-bugs, as suggested by Col. Pear¬ 
son. But the sprayed vines were infested the 
same as those not sprayed. 
An abundant hay crop seems assured. All 
that is needed is curing weather. Stocks of 
Western hay on hand from last season are 
large and the South is increasing its hay pro¬ 
duct. Prospects are not very bright there¬ 
fore for high prices. 
A brother of the great horse Spokane, the 
Montana phenomenon of the race-course, the 
cynosure of yelling thousands, jetted, ca¬ 
ressed and belauded, toils in front of a street¬ 
car in St. Louis. Will the present favorite’s 
career end in the same monotonous drudgery? 
An effort will be made at the Paris Exposi¬ 
tion to enlighten the French people as to the 
great merits of the American cranberry. 
There is a future for this fruit. Its consump¬ 
tion is largely on the increase and there is 
every possibility that a good export trade can 
be built up and maintained. 
When it is desired to catch the horse at the 
R. N.-Y. farm it is only necessary to go to 
the fence with a pail containing a little skim- 
milk. The horse will come on the trot the 
moment she sees the pail. We have lived on 
farms where it was necessary to spend an 
hour or more chasing the horse at pasture. 
Secretary Blaine tells the Chicago 
Board of Trade that he is about to take “de¬ 
cided action” with regard to the French and 
German prohibition of American pork im¬ 
portation. Good for Blaine! His “vigorous 
foreign policy” has done well for the mal¬ 
treated Oceanic Samoans; why shouldn’t it be 
exercised with equal force and success in 
favor of the calumniated American Hog? 
The R. N.-Y. has frequently noticed how 
much of the pea crop is wasted by market 
gardeners. The vines are permitted to be¬ 
come hard and woody before being harvested. 
The peas are picked and then the vines stand 
in the sun or wet until the ground is wanted 
for another crop. These pea vines make an 
ideal crop for the silo. The stalks of sweet 
corn form another admirable silo crop. The 
time may come when the silo will enable gar¬ 
deners to compete with the Dressed Meat 
Trust. 
The R. N.-Y. makes its so-called Bordeaux 
Mixture by the following simple formula: 
Half a pound of copper-sulphate ; dissolve 
this in hot water. Half a pound of uuslaked 
lime; slake this and add enough water to make 
two gallons lone pailful) in all. If this is to 
be forced through any of the spraying noz¬ 
zles, it will be economy to run it through a 
fine sieve before spraying. The original 
Bordeaux Mixture can not lie forced through 
a nozzle. Besides, it is so strong that it will 
seriously injure the foliage of potatoes and 
roses, and must, therefore, do some harm to 
prape-yiD.es, 
