THE RURAL SSEW-YORREIL 
AUG 3 
THE 
RURAL NEW'YORKER, 
^National Journal for Country and SuburbanHome 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1889. 
The Blueberry. —Can it be made 
profitable under cultivation? See page 
508. 
The Flea-beetle is again doing sad 
work at the Rural Grounds, and in the 
country thereabouts. Many fields of po¬ 
tatoes will not yield over half a crop, 
while lots of melon vines have been 
destroyed. 
Sir J. B, Lawes writes the R. N.-Y. 
that Dr. Gilbert has so tried his eyes that 
he is obliged to take a rest. He is going 
to Norway. The promise of a fine wheat 
crop in England is very good, but de¬ 
pendent upon a dry July. The convey¬ 
ance of Dr. Lawes’s experiment grounds 
and laboratory to trustees and an appoint¬ 
ment of a committee of arrangement are 
now accomplished facts. 
Secretary Mohler, of the Kansas 
Board of Agriculture, reports that chinch 
bugs seem to have been annihilated. 
Some contagious disease appears to be 
carrying them off by the million. This 
is doubtless the disease described by Mr. 
Gillette on page 85 of the present volume 
of the Rural. A report from Albany 
states that a parasite has been discovered 
which destroys the clover midge in large 
numbers. We are all ready for more of 
such insects. 
“ A clean field of potatoes in early Sep¬ 
tember is a sight on the average farm; and 
no man can afford to buy manure at two 
cents a pound to grow weeds.”—B ucephalus 
Brown, page 507. 
-■ ■ ♦ ■■ » -- 
The development of the dressed beef 
business is even driving the pigs off the 
farm in districts near the large cities. It 
is very easy now to buy beef—too easy 
indeed for the old-fashioned farmer if 
there is such a person left within reason¬ 
able distance of a railroad. The pig is 
still a very necessary farm animal. We 
have not yet reached a point where we 
can farm without wastes of some sort. 
The pig will turn more of these wastes 
into profit than any other animal can do. 
On July 20, a single hill of early pota¬ 
toes was dug in the soil which connects 
with the *• Contest” Plot. The vines 
were still quite vigorous though showing 
some signs of approaching maturity. The 
hill yielded 21 potatoes, 15 of which were 
of marketable size, the others very small, 
The weight was four pounds 12 ounces 
which, as the seed was planted one foot 
by three feet apart, would be at the rate 
of 1,147.83 bushels to the acre. This is a 
mighty yield for a very early potato. It 
was sent to us by A. D. Wayne, of Ros¬ 
common, Michigan, who stated that the 
new variety was from the seed of Early 
Peachblow. It resembles the Early Rose, 
however, in every way. The quality is 
first-rate. 
Every variety of raspberry growing in 
the Rural Experiment Grounds—whether 
red, black-cap or hybrid—is so affected 
by a disease seeemmgly of fungoid 
origin, that raspberry culture is imprac¬ 
ticable. During the past four years, 
many new kinds have been sent there for 
trial. Manifestly it would be unfair to 
the originators or introducers to make 
unfavorable reports regarding them. 
The canes of the current season grow 
thriftily. These canes the next or fruit¬ 
ing season are attacked by the fungus 
when, or even before, the fruit begins to 
set. The leaves turn yellow and fall; 
the canes dry up and die, so that very 
little fruit has a chance to ripen. 
It might have been well to spray 
the young canes early in the season with 
the Bordeaux Mixture, It did not occur 
to the R. N.-Y. 
Reports come from various sources of 
a scarcity of potato beetles. We have 
not missed them in New Jersey. They 
are “always with us.” Here is a letter 
from Greeley, Colorado—a communica¬ 
tion from beetle headquarters as one 
might say: 
“Last winter was very mild indeed. 
As a consequence some of the pests that 
afflict the farmer received no great dis¬ 
couragement. This spring the beetles 
were sitting about waiting for the pota¬ 
to plants to come up. They vigorously 
attacked potato fields, both the late and 
early plantings. Potatoes are the great 
product of this portion of the “Great 
American Desert.” Train loads go from 
this point. Never before have the bugs 
been so bad on late potatoes. It is said 
that five tons of Paris-green have been 
used in the vicinity of Greeley alone. 
On page 510 a correspondent asks some 
questions about the expenses of conduct¬ 
ing the 100-acre farm at Craubury, N. J., 
from which produce to the value of $3,116. 
83, was sold last year. The R. N.-Y. has 
a letter from the owner of this farm, that 
may add to the facts already brought 
out. He states that the farm is worked 
by his sons for an interest. It is there¬ 
fore impossible to state the value of the 
labor employed in a year. The young 
men employ one man at $13 per month 
and board for nine months. During, 
haying and harvesting and while picking 
potatoes more help is hired. The corn 
crops, one year with another, will average 
50 to 60 bushels per acre. Wheat last 
year did not yield over 20 bushels per 
acre. Potatoes averaged about 230 bush¬ 
els of marketable tubers, while the hay 
crop exceeded 2% tons per acre. One 
year with another, from 150 to 160 loads 
of yard manure fairly decomposed are 
used. 
■-♦«« - ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ - 
The general public should soon be pre¬ 
pared tor an advance in the price of su¬ 
gar. The Sugar Trust is evidently get¬ 
ting ready for such a contingency, which 
will be falsely attributed to failure of su¬ 
gar crops in this and other countries. In 
reality, however, it is packing large ware¬ 
houses in Brooklyn with raw and refined 
sugar in order to lessen the available sup¬ 
ply and consequently increase the price. 
After having shut down some of the 
associated refineries entirely and curtailed 
the production of refined sugar in others, 
it is now tightening the screws on the 
dear public by withdrawing a large share 
of the product from market. Considerably 
over 300,000 barrels have already been 
stored away, and trucks and lighters are 
kept constantly busy adding to the 
amount. With the price of salt raised 
by one trust and that of sugar by anoth¬ 
er, every household in the country will 
soon feel the effects of these “purely bus¬ 
iness affairs.” 
The Pennsylvania State Agricultural 
Society is in trouble abcut its fair 
grounds at Philadelphia. It owes about 
$70,000 and has no means of paying even 
a part of that sum. The Reading Rail¬ 
road Company holds a mortgage for $25, 
000 on the fair grounds and is about to 
foieclo*e, “in order to protect itself ” 
against other creditors who have secured 
judgments against the organization. It 
will be to its interest, however, that the 
fairs should continue to be held regular¬ 
ly, as they bring no inconsiderable traffic 
to the line. On foreclosure, the leasehold 
of the grounds and the buildings will be 
sold at auction, and the railroad com¬ 
pany intends to buy them in for the use 
of the State Fair Association. The 
members of the latter, however, appear 
to have been poor business men, at least 
in their fiduciary capacity. Until quite 
recently, they allowed the grounds to 
be used only at fair times, whereas a very 
good revenue, it is claimed, could have 
been secured by leasing them at other 
times for picnics and other entertain¬ 
ments. As in the case of many an un¬ 
fortunate farmer, the association’s ideas 
were too big foi its pockets. It went 
heavily into debt to make a big splurge, 
was neglectful of small economies, and 
now finds itself homeless. A poor ex¬ 
ample, Burely, this set for the farmers of 
the State by their representative associa¬ 
tion. 
THE R. N.-Y. “CONTEST” PLOT IN 
A PICKLE. 
A CTING upon the belief that this sea¬ 
son would be dry, a part of the 
“Contest” Plot was planted to early va¬ 
rieties. The vines are now dying, not 
that it is time for them to mature, but 
on account of the injury sustained by the 
Fie ft-beetle which seems to prefer the Foli¬ 
age of early varieties. Whether late or 
early, however, there is not a leaf in the 
entire plot that is not more or less per¬ 
forated by this destroyer. So much rain 
has fallen that the soil is saturated and it 
is probable that rot will be the conse¬ 
quence, as the early potatoes must remain 
in the ground until the late kinds mature 
and all shall be dug before the judges in 
September next. It may be feared that 
the R. N.-Y. “Contest” Plot is in another 
•pickle. 
SPECIAL NOTICE. 
TN reply to inquiries we may state that 
the inner portion of the flowers of 
the potato R. N.-Y. No. 2 is a light pur¬ 
ple. This purplish color covers irregu¬ 
larly about half the corolla. The outer 
portion is nearly white. The proportion 
of white and purple is shown in the illus¬ 
tration which was carefully drawn from 
nature. This variety never bears solid 
white flowers. The stems also are, here 
and there, tinted with purple. They are 
long-jointed and branch less freely than 
do most other varieties. 
SELECTING THE BUTTER COWS. 
T HE “ discussion on Fallacious Tests 
In The Dairy,” page 509, is worth 
studying in connection with the recent 
articles entitled “Is Cream, Cream?” 
How are we to pick out our best cows? 
How are we to tell that the butter from 
one cow costs less than that from the 
cow in the next stall? It is very evident 
that we must find out in some way be¬ 
fore we can conduct the dairy business 
on the soundest business principles; but 
how is it to be done? That is the point. 
We want a method that will prove sure, 
simple and easy, otherwise the farmers 
who most need it will not touch it. 
A friend sends us the following table 
which he says contains a record of tests 
made at the last Bay State Fair: 
BREIjD. MILK. CREAM BUTTER. 
SPACES. OUNCES 
FOUNTS. 
Devon.17% 
Holstein .. 19% 
Normandy.. 19% 
Swiss.16% 
Guernsey.. .18% 
Jersey.18% 
Ayrshire... .18% 
8 
11 
10 
11 
9% 
7% 
10 
11 
9% 
15% 
14 
16 
11 
13% 
BUTTER 
PER SPACE. 
OUNCES. 
1.37 
1.10 
0.79 
1 10 
1.63 
1.14 
1.23 
It seems evident from this that the 
dairy breeder in order to make sure of 
the worth of his cattle, must go beyond 
the amount of milk and the amount of 
cream, and know how much butter can 
be taken from the churn. 
“ Agricultural schools that will do for the 
farmer what West Point and Annapolis do 
for the soldier and sailor, will soon be crowd¬ 
ed with pupils who will justify their existence 
most completely."— Dr. Hoskins, page 507. 
ANTI-DRESSED BEEF LEGIS¬ 
LATION. 
A CASE to test the constitutionality of 
the Minnesota “ dressed-beef law,” 
is now on trial before Judge Blodgett of 
the United States Circuit Court. The 
law was passed last April and prohibits 
the sale of dressed meats within the State 
unless the animals to be killed have been 
inspected alive in the State within 24 
hours of slaughter. An attempt was 
made to pass a similar law in the legisla¬ 
tures of 19 Stittes; but the attempt suc¬ 
ceeded only in those of Minnesota, Indi¬ 
ana, Colorado, and New Mexico. The 
Chicago beef-packers say that if the law 
is upheld it will cause a serious decrease in 
their profits, and maintain that such a law 
is unconstitutional because it interferes 
with the provision of the Federal Consti¬ 
tution giving Congress the exclusive right 
of regulating commerce between the 
States, and they also claim that it infringes 
on the privileges and immunities granted 
to citizens.and is in restraint of trade. The 
Big Four contributed liberally toward* 
lobbying to defeat the law before"the 
various State legislatures, and they are 
now using their best efforts, regardless of 
expense, to obtain judicial decisions 
against the constitutionality of the law 
in the States where it was enacted. The 
Indiana law was declared unconstitution¬ 
al by a State Court the other day, but 
jurisdiction in such matters properly rests 
with the United States Courts. What¬ 
ever may be the decision of Judge Blod¬ 
gett, the case will certainly be appealed 
to the United States Supreme Court, so 
that it may be three years before a final 
decision is rendered. A legal contest for 
large stakes between the general public 
and a combination of wealthy corpora¬ 
tions or individuals is likely to be stren¬ 
uously carried on by the latter to the end. 
YIELD OF THE R. N.-Y. WHEATS. 
T HE R. N.-Y. cross-bred or hybrid 
wheats yielded, omitting fractions, 
as follows: 
No. 2, one thirtieth of an acre, 1% bush¬ 
el or at the rate of 45 bushels to the acre. 
No. 3, one-fortieth of an acre, 66% 
pounds or at the rate of 44 bushels to the 
acre. No. 50, one-thirtieth of an acre, 
yielded 73 pounds or at the rate of 36 
bushels to the acre. No. 51, one twentieth 
of an acre, 81 pounds or at the rate of 27 
bushels to the acre. This plot was injur¬ 
ed by chickens. No. 53, one-twentieth 
of an acre, yielded 100 pounds, or at the 
rate of 33 bushels to the acre. No. 55, 
one fiftieth of an acre, yielded 40 pounds 
or at the rate of 33 bushels to the acre. 
The entire plot was plowed last August 
after 10 loads of stable manure had been 
spread to the acre. It was then harrowed 
and at the rate of 1,000 pounds of high- 
grade fertilizer was sown. The land was 
then harrowed until it was level and fine. 
It was then carefully marked out both 
ways in drills one foot apart, and a 
single kernel planted an inch and a-half 
deep in the intersections. This was done 
between September 3d and 10th. As 
soon in the early winter as the ground 
was frozen hard enough to bear, the 
plots were mulched with stable manure 
at the rate of about 12 tons to the acre. 
It should be stated that this piece of 
land is naturally very thin and poor. It 
had not been cultivated for 16 years or 
more and was deemed too poor to yield a 
profitable crop of any kind. The weeds 
growing upon it were chiefly brambles 
and briers. 
“ If we call a pound of butter fat worth 
20 cents , this means that two farmers bring¬ 
ing such cream should receive $3.80 and! 
$4.70 per hundred pounds respectively , in¬ 
stead of $4.25 each which they would receive 
under the polite system of robbery so preval¬ 
ent in cream-gathering factories. By this 
system one man is overpaid by 45 cents per 
cwt.; the other underpaid by 45 cents—a 
total discrepancy of 23 7-10 per cent, of the 
actual value.— Prof. Whitcher, page 510. 
BREVITIES. 
Something of a startler on the question of 
“ A Tariff on Bananas” next week. 
The R. N.-Y. wants a soed-ball or so of its 
No 2 potato which never sets fruit at the 
R. G. 
The R. N.-Y. knows of a farm hand that is 
so lazy that even when standing up he is un¬ 
willing to make the effort to sit down. 
The R. N.-Y. is told of a locality on Long 
Island where water cress farms are being es¬ 
tablished. The industry is said to be profit¬ 
able. 
Read what is said about the cultivation of 
blueberries in this issue. If you have ever 
tried to cultivate this fruit, let us know your 
experience. 
Salt mackerel is a very agreeable winter 
food for many farmers. The price for the 
fish promises to be high. The “ catch ” this 
year is very light. 
Do you pasture your meadows after mow¬ 
ing? This is a topic the R. N.-Y. wants to 
discuss. Is such pasturing harmful and how 
much damage is done* 
The Colorado potato beetle has been ob¬ 
served in Central Mississippi this year. It is 
said that this pest has never been noticed so 
far south in that longitude before. 
It will be noticed that Texas stockmen find 
f iroflt in feeding boiled cotton seed. If Eng- 
ish farmers can afford to feed cotton-seed 
meal, American farmers can afford to feed 
the entire seed. 
“You will do genuine missionary work if 
you follow up this matter of experiment sta¬ 
tions abusing the funds given them to work 
with. There is no doubt that this trust is be¬ 
ing and has been abused in some cases, and it 
ought not to be. as I am sure the major part 
of the station workers thoroughly believe it 
should be honestly expended” So says one of 
our foremost young Professors of Agriculture 
in ft note to the R. N,-Y. 
