1889 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
695 
den and Forest,, is purely an American tree. 
The eight species which are known all be¬ 
long to the southern half of the North 
American continent, with the headquar¬ 
ters of the genus, as represented by the 
greatest number of species in any one local¬ 
ity, in the valley of the Red River, in Ar¬ 
kansas, with one species pushing far south 
along the Mexican Sierra Madre. No other 
country or region of the earth can boast of 
an indigenous hickory-tree, although it is 
quite within the bounds of possibility that 
one, and perhaps several species may still 
be found in the unexplored mountain dis¬ 
tricts of Central China. 
There is no wood at once so tough and 
strong and true. It is the hickory-wood in 
its handle which has carried the American 
axe round the world, driving, wherever it 
is known, all other axes out of the maket; 
and it has made possible those light car¬ 
riages, which in turn have made possible 
the American trotting horse, one of the 
marvels of these modern times, and proba¬ 
bly the best example of what can be accom¬ 
plished, by careful breeding and persistent 
selection, in the development of domestic 
animals for a special purpose. No other 
tree is known whose wood is tough enough 
and strong enough to stand the strain im¬ 
posed upon the American trotting-sulky 
and without the modern sulky and its 
heavier forerunner, neither breeding nor 
training could have produced that race of 
horses which many Americans look upon 
with joy and admiration. 
The area of the region in which the hick¬ 
ory grows to perfection is really small in 
comparison with the demand for it; and 
when no substitute can be found for a par¬ 
ticular wood it must in time be extermina¬ 
ted however abundant the natural supply, 
unless measures are taken to increase and 
perpetuate it artificially. And it would 
appear that of all our trees the hickory is 
the one which should be planted wherever 
suitable land can be spared for it; and it 
should be protected and cherished, in view 
of the ever-increasing demands the world is 
making and must continue to make on this 
tree 
SPIRIT OF THE PRESS. 
Prof. Sanborn, as he expresses himself 
in the American Agriculturist, does not 
believe in seeds running out. If the condi¬ 
tions surrounding seeds grow more unfav¬ 
orable, the crop will decrease and the seeds 
will give evidence of decreasing vitality. 
If the conditions grow more favorable one 
may look for the seed to increase in potency 
and yield. The change in the locality of a 
seed must be, so far as climate is concerned, 
from the less to the more favorable climate 
and never the reverse. In the one case im¬ 
provement will occur, and in the other 
the reverse. Likewise, the oft-repeated ad¬ 
vice to change seed with our neighbors 
will hinge on the same principles be¬ 
fore enunciated. Change of seed of the 
same variety from farm to farm will work 
well for one party to the exchange, and 
poorly for the other. Prof. Sanborn would 
expect to receive advantage by sowing a 
wheat grown on a farm richer than his 
own, and where the wheat actually yielded 
more than that of his own farm, on the 
same principle that a breed of st eers bred or 
fed into greater productiveness, like the 
Short-horn over the scrub, would have 
greater powers of growth. On the other 
hand, if he took wheat from a poor farm 
where it had been fed down to a low limit 
of yield, he would expect, like a stunted 
race of men, this effect to be for a while 
manifest. 
Dr. Hf.atij affirms, in our neighbor above 
quoted, that potatoes fertilized by sea-weed 
produce a large crop of tubers free from 
grub-eaten spots. The sea-weed is rich in 
protein, containing from 20 to 25 per cent. 
It is from this fact that pigs and fowls 
greedily devour fresh sea-weed, and espec¬ 
ially the rock-weed in it, which is very rich 
in protein. 
Du. Heath says that if the farmers gen¬ 
erally of the south side of Long Island knew 
the remarkable fertilizing properties of 
sea-weed, as do most of the European sea¬ 
side farmers, they would save half of the 
expense they now are compelled to incur 
for manures. A load of sea-weed is worth 
as much as a load of New York manure, 
and it is conceded that New York City ma¬ 
nure is super-excellent, because of the high 
feeding of city horses. 
Gladioli blooming at this late date are 
as rare as they are beautiful. The R. N -Y.. 
taking Mr. C. L. Allen’s advice, made its 
last planting two weeks later than usual 
and the reward is a charming display now 
when nearly every sort of flower has bloom¬ 
ed and passed away. 
Last year a correspondent of Green’s 
Fruit Grower gathered a lot of dry maple 
leaves, put a few in the bottom of barrels, 
then a layer of apples, and then a layer of 
leaves, and so on until the barrels were 
full. He then covered them with leaves 
and they kept nicely and were sold in the 
spring for $2.50 per barrel, while he could 
get but -SI in the fall. He sold some in May 
to a dealer and he helped pick them over. 
The dealer said he never saw apples keep 
so well in his life. Some of the barrels 
didn’t have a dozen specked apples. 
William Falconer tells the American 
Florist of a new chrysanthemum, soon to 
be introduced, of the style of the celebrated 
Mrs. Alpheus Hardy, except that it is pink 
instead of white. It comes from Japan and 
is in the hands of Peter Henderson & Co... 
According to the London Garden a 
double Lilium auratum has been sent to 
England from Japan. 
A “bully” arrangement.— John M. 
Eddy, of Saratoga Springs, N. Y., the New 
England Homestead says, has a method of 
breaking bulls that is both practical and 
economical. He takes the animal at any 
age and puts on the same harness that he 
would use on a horse, turning the collar 
the opposite side up, and hitches him into 
a two-wheeled cart in some large field 
where there are no trees. He then gets in 
for a ride, letting Mr. Bull go where he 
wants to. When the bull begins to tire he 
continues to drive him until he is thor¬ 
oughly conquered. After the first trial he 
has no difficulty in working him. But he 
always keeps a rope attached to the ring in 
the nose so that the animal cannot run 
away. Mr. Eddy has a four-year-old Hol¬ 
stein bull that has drawn all the manure 
on the farm the last year, and now does all 
the work, such as drawing corn-fodder for 
21 cows every day and earth for the stable. 
He says that considerable care should be 
taken not to overload the animal for the 
first few weeks, for if once balky he will 
make trouble. 
Colman’s Rural World shows a dis¬ 
position to be very fair in its consideration 
of Montana. It says that there may be a 
spell or two of very severe cold weather 
during the winter, but those who live there 
say the air is so dry they do not feel the 
cold weather as much as they do elsewhere 
when the thermometer is at zero. It con¬ 
cludes its remarks as follows : “ It is only 
those who want homes and who are not 
able to buy them that should go. Every 
citizen is entitled to 160 acres by simply 
settling upon it and complying with the 
Homestead Laws.”. 
To be in debt is to be in danger, says a 
thoughtful editorial in the Times, and as 
life is uncertain and a mortgaged farm is a 
poor inheritance for one’s family in case of 
death, every mortgage should be secured 
by a life insurance for an equal amount, so 
that in case of death the debt could be paid 
off. This security is as indispensable as a 
fire insurance and quite as cheap, and if it 
is once provided for it would almost cer¬ 
tainly be secured for life, affording a safety 
fund which would make unnecessary that 
close economy needed to lay up savings as 
a provision for the future which cramps 
the family and stints them of many enjoy¬ 
ments which go to make farm life pleasant 
and profitable. 
What is the comparison between a pair 
of horses that will draw a plow at the rate 
of two miles an hour and another that will 
do the same work at four miles? Henry 
Stewart argues that to plow an acre is 
worth at least $2. The plowing of 40 acres 
is worth $80. The slow team earns $40 
while the fast team earns $80. This differ¬ 
ence is equal to the interest on $800 at five 
per cent. So that the farmer who keeps a 
slow team might profitably pay $400 for a 
fast-walking pair of horses more than the 
ordinary market value of the horses, or $C>00 
or $800 for the better animals and yet make 
a profit.. 
Mr. Henry M. Flagler, the Secretary of 
the great Standard Oil Trust, says of him¬ 
self, according to Harper’s Weekly, t hat he 
made his start by the exercise of the most 
rigid self-denial, and that he was distinctly 
a mean man until he had made his first 
million. A man, he says, ought to be 
stingy until he 1ms accumulated money, in 
order to be able afterward to be as generous 
as he likes... 
Jacob Higgle says, in the Farm Journal, 
that lie has observed that a place kept, in 
nice order will sell for a greater price than 
one allowed to run down. One hundred 
dollars a year for ten years spent in keeping 
things fired up, will add more than one 
thousand dollars to the price of a farm that 
is offered in the market for sale; and more 
than this if taste and skill be brought to 
bear in the adornment of buildings and 
door-yard. Fifty dollars invested in beau¬ 
tiful trees and shrubs for the lawn may add 
several hundred to the value of the farm. 
He has seen such results brought about 
many times, and in his own experience he 
does not need to regret the money spent 
in this way. 
It is well to remind our readers that 
rhubarb may still be planted. Cover over 
the sets with straw or leaves until early 
spring:. Six plants in good soil will supply 
a family of six. 
Magnolia Cordata has given an abund¬ 
ant bloom this fall. During early Septem¬ 
ber more flowers were borne than in June. 
The tree is 20 feet high and 14 years old from 
the nursery. It bears fruit very sparingly. 
One of the showiest trees at this time is 
the Umbrella Magnolia. It bears its rose- 
colored oblong fruit in abundance, while its 
great leaves are among the last to wither 
and fall from the effects of frost. 
WORD FOR WORD. 
-Hoard’s Dairyman : “The good lady 
who made the premium butter of 50 years 
ago, who raised the cream in six-quart 
pans, who skimmed the cream from sour 
milk, who guessed at the temperature and 
the salt, who churned in the good old 
way, is still on deck and is making good 
butter and taking premiums at the present 
day, U'licn the conditions favor her. ” 
-“ Have we not often noticed at dairy 
fairs that Mrs. Smith, who was awarded 
the first prize for butter, when called upon 
to describe her mode of manufacture, has 
astonished all the best butter-makers and 
caused them to wonder how it was possi¬ 
ble for any one to follow the rules given 
and produce a fine article of butter ?” 
-We need not hunt very long for the 
key to the situation. A uniform quality 
and maximum quantity, require uniform 
conditions. What will make good butter 
to-day will do it to-morrow, and every day 
in the year. ” 
ried on for a long time in many ways. In 
the days before the Margarine Act, many a 
one had his breakfast toast buttered with 
prime ‘ Dorset ’ churned from the bones 
of some old horse that may have dragged 
him to business many a time, and yet he 
never thought anything about it. Horses 
are too good to go to the dogs nowadays, 
at least too profitable. Barrels of horse- 
grease are frequently shipped from this 
country to Germany.” 
“ ‘Almost persuaded ’ harvest is past! 
‘Almost persuaded,’ doom comes at last 
‘Almost ’ can not avail 
‘Almost ’ is but to fail! 
Sad, sad. that bitter wail— 
•Almost—hut lost'. ’ ” 
-Industrialist: .“‘Boom’ is Dying.— 
In the majority of cases ‘ boom ’ has proved 
disastrous, and has earned for itself a defi¬ 
nition by which it might properly be re¬ 
garded as a contraction or corruption of 
boomerang. Certain it is that the term 
possesses the chief characteristic of that in¬ 
strument. Lexicographers of the future 
will define ‘boom’ as an abnormal, un¬ 
healthful growth, which, on subsiding or 
disappearing, leaves the object of its attack 
in a paralytic state. ‘ Boom ’ is distasteful, 
obnoxious.” 
- David Dudley Field : “ It takes longer 
and it is harder to punish a criminal in this 
Qountry than in any other civilized coun¬ 
try in the world. ” 
2Ui.eccUiincou.si Advertising. 
Dyspepsia's Victims are > nmnered by thous 
an Is Do not continue in misery, but Rive Hood’s Sar 
saparillx a trial. The many remarkable cures it hasef 
footed warrant us in urging it upon your attention if. 
you suffer from indigestion. sics-headache biliousness 
or otner siomacb disorders be sure to get Hood’s. 
-New England Homestead: “The 
credit system causes the financial death of 
thousands of farmers. In no line of busi¬ 
ness is it abused to a greater extent than in 
the fertilizer trade. The manufacture and 
sale of fertilizers is a business requiring 
immense capital, especially where sales are 
made on credit and consumers have to bear 
the' burden of this credit. The Homestead 
contends that in the purchase of fertilizers, 
and. indeed, of farm implements and sup¬ 
plies generally, it is cheaper for farmers to 
borrow money on their notes or mortgages 
and buy for cash than to pay long prices 
for goods bought on credit. In the latter 
case they have to pay from 10 to 40 per cent, 
interest on the money which represents the 
real cash value of the goods purchased. 
But where they pay cash, even if they use 
borrowed money to do it with, the expense 
is only from five to 10 per cent, according 
to charges for money in various sections of 
the country. ” 
-Good all’s Sun : 
little more side her. 
“A fellow gathered apples 
One September afternoon. 
And thinking of his loved one, said: — 
‘ I may be side her soon.’ 
But the apples might have answered. 
• Don't you brag so. like a loon. 
We’re as good as any lover: 
For we may be cider soon.’J” 
-Washington Capital : “ When it 
comes to cutting down cabbage the cook’s 
word is slaw. ” 
-Detroit Commercial : 
“ If a straneer comes among you. 
And you find him kind and true. 
Why not mention it to others ? 
They may learu to like him too.” 
-Farm Journal : “ Sheaf oats, cut 
short and made into a ‘ cut feed,’ with one 
quart of rye meal and two quarts of bran, 
make a splendid feed for the average farm 
horse.” 
-“ It is hard on a cow’s nerves to keep her 
brush still while being milked and the flies 
and mosquitoes are bad. Can you keep 
right on milking if two or three mosquitoes 
are singing in your face ?” 
-London Live-Stock Journal: “The 
conversion of old horses into extract of 
meat need not have created such a very 
great sensation as it did when it came out 
in a case brought up by the Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The 
process,*says a correspondent, has been car- 
Make 
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Highly concentrated. Dose small. In quantity costa 
less than one-tenth cent a day per hen. Prevents and 
cures ail diseases. If you can't get it. we send by mail 
post-pud. One pack. 25c. Five $1- 2 1-4 lb. can $1.20; 
5 cans $5. Express paid. Testimonials free. Send stamps or 
cash. Farmers’ Poultry Guide (price 25c.) free with $1.00 
orders or more. L S. JOHNSON & CO., Boston, Mass. 
BOON to DAIRYMEN 
Perfect Swinging Cow 
Stanchion. Self-lock¬ 
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cow's head. Free de¬ 
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points. Send for cir¬ 
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uaDer. Scott A Locke, 
The only really 
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ktonavafo — 
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Our 26 sizes American and Hero Mills— 
too well known to 1N U SE - 
need remarks here. A , w w V/ Sent on trial. 
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Ilk (L .It O.-v C_1 
