76o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOV 16 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
(34 Park Row, New York), 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban 
Homes. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1(5, 1SS9. 
It would probably be well for 
every firm in the country that 
has new and promising varieties 
of seed potatoes to offer, to adver¬ 
tise them in the R. N.-Y. Potato 
Special to be issued in about one 
month. In that number the prizes 
of the Rural's National Potato 
Contest, amounting to about 
$1,000, will be awarded. 
The R. N.-Y. begs to ask its chem¬ 
ist-friends a question. Upon some of 
the zinc-labels in use in its experiment 
grounds, a fine whitish powder accu¬ 
mulates, which destroys the lead-pen¬ 
cil names written thereon. Upon 
other zinc-labels this does not occur. 
How may the non-corrosive kind be 
determined ? 
Two months ago the R. N.-Y. cut 
some late sown fodder-corn and 
stacked it while green in small stacks. 
We began to feed it last week to the 
cows. The greater proportion of it is 
green and sweet, and it makes excel¬ 
lent food for stock. We attempted to 
follow the method described by Mr. C. 
S. Rice. A mistake was made in 
stacking the fodder while it was too 
green. Aside from that, the experi¬ 
ment was a success. The product is 
as good as anj r silage we have seen, 
and, being tied in small bundles, is 
easier to handle. 
Many leading horsemen are of the 
opinion that we are to witness a great 
increase of interest in the breeding of 
pacing horses. In past times a great 
majority of horse-buyers have regard¬ 
ed the pace as an awkward, illegiti¬ 
mate gait. In almost every township 
throughout the country can be found 
a farmer who owns and drives a 
“ racker ” showing more or leas of the 
true pacing gait. While the neigh¬ 
bors generally recognize the speed of 
such a horse, they are prejudiced in 
favor of a square trot or a gallop. 
Those who have kept close watch of 
such matters assert that public opin¬ 
ion is changing and that the pacer is 
gaining new friends, and that within 
a few years his breeding and training 
will begin to rank in importance with 
the development of trotters. 
How truly phenomenal the weath¬ 
er has been this year, not in this 
country only, but all the world over. 
Seldom, if ever, has such calamitous 
destruction of life and property been 
recorded from meteorological causes. 
Tens of thousands of lives and tens of 
millions worth of property have been 
lost by floods in China and Japan. 
British India has also suffered very 
severely. Europe—well the weath¬ 
er record in Europe has been 
worse than that in America. It 
looks, too, as if the bad record 
will remain unbroken till the end. 
Floods and tempests are still raging 
beyond the Atlantic; and news of a 
terrible snow storm and blizzai’d 
comes thus early in the year from as 
far south as New Mexico. Several 
human deaths are already reported 
and the fatality among live stock is 
appalling. Whole herds of sheep, we 
are told, are being wiped out, and the 
range for 30 miles round Dayton, 
N. M., is covered with carcasses. Truly 
1889 deserves to be recorded as a phe¬ 
nomenal year in the annals of the 
Weather Bureau. 
Among the varieties of sweet corn 
tried at the Rural Grounds the past 
season was the “Everbearing” from 
W. H. Maule, of Philadelphia, Pa. 
The claim was made that “ it ripens a 
few days before the Early Genesee 
and that each stalk will produce one 
to two well developed ears. Now if 
these are picked when mature, one to 
two_andfeven four more ears will set 
and develop on the same stalks during 
the next two to four weeks, single 
stalks producing during the season 
frequently as many as six well de¬ 
veloped ears.” 
The plants grew, in a moderately 
rich soil, from six to seven feet tall. 
Some of the stems, leaves and tassels 
were green, others were purplish. 
The average number of ears to a plant 
was two borne from one to two feet 
above the soil. The ears were about 
nine inches long, tapering from tip to 
but and having from eight to 10 rows, 
which were generally close together 
and parallel. They ripened a few 
days after Concord. 
No evidence whatever appeared of 
an “ everbearing ” propensity. 
Several of the Eastern papers ap¬ 
pear muddled with regard to the 
cause of the differences in the prices 
of agricultural products in different 
parts of the country. For instance, 
the American Economist tells us that 
while the farmers of Massachusetts 
can sell their corn for 70 cents per 
bushel, those of Nebraska can get 
only 19 cents per bushel for theirs. 
This great difference is accounted for 
on the ground that the Massachusetts 
farmers get 70 cents for their product 
because it is sold hi the home market; 
while the Nebraska farmers can get 
only 19 cents for theirs because it is 
sold in the foreign market. This, of 
course, is sheer nonsense. The price 
paid for corn in Massachusetts is the 
price of Nebraska corn laid down in 
Massachusetts, with the cost of cart¬ 
age, freight, handling, storage and 
commissions added. If this were not 
the case, why should not Massachu¬ 
setts consumers buy the cheap corn of 
Nebraska ; and why should so many 
Massachusetts and other New England 
farmers desert their home markets 
and go West to raise 19-cent corn in 
Nebraska ? 
Last Thursday the General Term 
of the Supreme Court of New York 
State handed down an opinion affirm¬ 
ing Judge Barrett’s decision that the 
Sugar Trust agreement is criminal 
and that the North River Sugar Re¬ 
fining Company had forfeited its 
charter by joining it. Judge Barrett’s 
decision was scathing against such 
combinations ; the Supreme Court’s is 
just as trenchant. It says that it is 
clear that the chief purpose of the trust 
was to make money by avoiding com¬ 
petition, limiting the supply of a nec¬ 
essary of life, controlling the product 
and regulating the price. A combin¬ 
ation of such a character is, the Court 
says, subject to the condemnation of 
the law and ‘ ‘ a criminal enterprise. ” It 
is a legal misdemeanor to commit any 
act injurious to trade or commerce, 
and this and similar trusts are organ¬ 
ized for the committal of such acts, 
as a means of attaining selfish ends 
hostile to the public welfare; hence 
the law will neither excuse nor tolerate 
them. 
This decision, concurred in by 
three out of the four Judges, is 
considered the most serious blow 
trusts have hitherto received in 
this or any other country. It 
is diametrically opposed to the 
principle of their organization. This 
is fundamentally the same in all, and 
therefore the decision applies to all, 
though, of course, each will have to 
be fought separately unless, anticipat¬ 
ing their fate, they shall change their 
organization into a legal form. It is 
thought that there will be no ap¬ 
peal, and should there be one, it is 
considered certain by lawyers that the 
Court of Appeals will affirm the de¬ 
cision so strongly rendered by the 
two lower courts. The Standard Oil 
Trust, the exemplar of such organ¬ 
izations and the greatest of them 
all, is certain to be the next attacked. 
RUGOSA CROSSES OF 1889-“ AG¬ 
NES EMILY CARMAN.” 
TTLE have just planted about 300 
V t seeds from the white Rosa ru- 
gosa, the pollen parents being yellow 
Tea roses. The aim is to produce a 
hardy, constant-blooming yellow rose 
with the disease-resisting foliage of 
Rosa rugosa—a pretty high aim, to be 
sure, but one that may not be outside 
of the possibilities. The rose illus¬ 
trated in the R. N.-Y. of three weeks 
ago, the first known ^hybrid with Ru¬ 
gosa, in so far as published records 
show, has been handed over to one of 
our prominent nursery firms for prop¬ 
agation and introduction. The R. N.- 
Y. has neither the time, the facilities, 
nor the skill to do such work. It is, 
moreover, against our long-time prin 
ciples to use our own columns to effect 
the sale of anything whatever. It is 
probable that this rose will have to be 
propagated either by layering or by 
budding, as we are informed it can¬ 
not profitably be increased by cut¬ 
tings. In reply to the many friends 
who have desired to purchase this 
rose, it may be said that it will be 
placed in the market so soon as an ac¬ 
cumulation of stock warrants its be¬ 
ing offered for sale. It has been 
named “ Agnes Emily Carman” as a 
recognition of the services of one who 
has aided in producing these hybrid 
roses not less than has the R. N.-Y. 
itself. 
CHEAP WIT. 
T HE first report ot “Uncle Jerry 
Rusk,” our bright and forceful 
Secretary of Agriculture, a full syn¬ 
opsis of which is given elsewhere in 
this issue, is an excellent document 
from a farmer’s standpoint. Of 
course, therefore, it incurs consider¬ 
able ridicule from some of the politi¬ 
cal papers which can see nothing except 
what is laughable or comical about a 
farmer, his vocation or anything relat¬ 
ing to him. One is quite safe, how¬ 
ever. in predicting that not one of the 
sarcastic and jocular articles and par¬ 
agraphs that have tickled the fancy 
of the readers of the daily issues, will 
be dumped into the weekly editions 
intended for * * rustic readers, ” al¬ 
though nearly the whole of these 
editions are hashed up from the ‘ ‘ un¬ 
distributed ” type of the dailies. They 
ridicule the office the Secretary holds 
as a needless “humbug post;” and 
carp at his desire to enlarge its func¬ 
tions. They jeer at his plea for more 
clerks and experts and more money 
for a library and museum. The idea 
that the government should help ag¬ 
ricultural education is “nuts” to 
their cheap wit, and they have noth¬ 
ing but a sneer to throw at the pro¬ 
posal to bestow more attention on 
crop and market reports to aid the 
farmer against the all-grabbing specu¬ 
lator. They all grandiloquently de¬ 
clare that “agriculture in this coun¬ 
try is capable of sustaining, protecting 
and promoting itself ” without gov¬ 
ernment aid. The demand for an ap¬ 
propriation of $1,359,000 for the De¬ 
partment for the next fiscal year is an 
outrage to their parsimonious-in-the- 
wrong-place souls, although made for 
the purpose of “sustaining, protecting 
and promoting a calling which lies at 
the foundation of the country’s pros¬ 
perity and power.” * Oh well! let them 
have their cheap little joke. It pleases 
them and probably some of their 
readers, and doesn’t hurt us. We 
ought and will have that appropria¬ 
tion, however, 
KEEPING UP THE PACE. 
A SUBSCRIBER of the R. N.-Y. 
who may safely be called one of 
the most enterprising farmers in the 
country, writes as follows: 
“ I don’t see how in the world you 
can continue for a great while gather¬ 
ing such an array of useful matter for 
your columns. When I see what you 
put out every week I am thankful I 
am a farmer and not an editor. Say, 
during the busy season, I wish you 
would take a rest and only come out 
once a month, I get so behind with 
my reading.” 
The R. N.-Y. anticipates little diffi¬ 
culty in keeping up the pace it has 
cut out. It is probably because we 
know so little about agriculture and 
are so anxious to learn more, that ve 
are able to present new ideas in a dis¬ 
tinct and original manner. If the R. 
N.-Y. were to assume the part of a 
dogmatic teacher giving advice and 
information from the knowledge of its 
editors alone, the paper might be dull 
enough. There are thousands of good 
farmers throughout the country who 
have become so interested in some 
particular branch of agriculture that 
they may be said to have mastered it. 
The R. N.-Y. relies upon the help of 
such men to make its pages bright, 
varied and instructive. We do not 
believe there is a paper in the country 
that has a larger list of contributors 
than the R. N.-Y. can show, or that 
has better facilities for reaching and 
gaining the attention of farmers who 
have made a reputation for superior 
excellence in any branch of agricul¬ 
ture. The R. N.-Y. takes a special 
pride in enlisting the services of such 
men and the constantly widening 
range of our list of contributors evi¬ 
dences the success of such efforts. 
With the help of such men, the R. N.- 
Y. cannot fail to improve. There is 
not the least danger of our running 
short of ideas ; agriculture is too hope¬ 
ful and too interesting to us. There 
are too many problems to be studied 
out, too many interesting facts to be 
recorded, too many methods to be 
compared, too many of Nature’s les¬ 
sons to be learned. "The R. N.-Y. goes 
at its work with enthusiasm and with 
the help of its good friends hopes to do 
its full share in the task of ennobling 
and enriching the American farmer. 
BREVITIES. 
Fewer live turkeys are sent to this mar¬ 
ket than ever before. 
Some interesting notes on “The Cost of 
Living on the Farm ” will be printed next 
week. 
The R. N.-Y.’s “Brown Patagonians” 
turn out to be a mixture of Dark Brahma 
and Polish fowls. They are fine, heavy 
birds, but in no sense a distinct breed. 
The R. N.-Y. grew a good crop of carrots 
for the horses and now finds that the ani¬ 
mals do not care for them. We had sup¬ 
posed that all horses were fond of carrots. 
Let the rats eat the germs from kernels 
of corn and then give what is left to the 
hens. The hens will not touch the food un¬ 
less they are very hungry. What does this 
prove ? 
“ I would not be without the R. N.-Y. 
if you raised the price to $5.00 per year. It 
has saved me many times its cost already 
this year, so what I get the remainder of 
the year will be clear gain. w. r. s.” 
Mapleton, Mich. 
The R. N.-Y. is quite surprised to learn 
from its correspondents how general the 
practice of mulching wheat and rye has be¬ 
come. The farmers who make clover seed 
growing a part of their farm practice find the 
clover haulm a profitable mulch for winter 
grain. 
The new Shah Tomato (potato-leaf) was 
not prized very highly at the Rural Grounds 
the past season. It is irregular in shape, 
generally yellow in color though some¬ 
times varying to an Acme and to a yellow¬ 
ish red. The Golden Queen is, in the R.N.- 
Y.’s opinion, the best yellow. 
The latast novelty in poultry is a Jap¬ 
anese breed, the Mino Hiki, which is to 
claim recognition on the strength of its 
long tail. “ The tails have been known to 
grow to a length of 20 feet.” (!) The 
breed seems to be a cross of the Game. It 
occurs to the R. N.-Y. that American 
farmers had better do something towards 
reducing our national egg bill before they 
go to breeding for “ tails 20 feet long.” 
It seems that there is a demand in Aus¬ 
tralia for American Merino rams of good 
breeding. This trade has thus far neen 
almost monopolized by breeders in Ver¬ 
mont, Ohio, New York and Michigan. An 
effort is now to be made by California 
breeders to secure a portion of it. Califor¬ 
nia Merino breeders will enjoy advantages 
in shipping facilities and have also a cli¬ 
mate quite similar to that of Australia. 
So at least the California breeders argue, 
though they will find that blood from a 
more northern and colder country will be 
constantly needed to maintain tne heavy 
fleeces. 
That wheat-growers’ convention at St. 
Louis finally “went back” on the lead of 
the men who wanted to repudiate the com¬ 
petitive principle in the production and 
sale of grain and organize a gigantic trust. 
As pointed out in last week’s R. N.-Y., the 
objections to such a course are exceedingly 
strong. In the long run hundreds of rep¬ 
resentative farmers in convention assem¬ 
bled are pretty certain to detect any mis¬ 
takes there may be in any project ottered, 
and the St. Lonis convention, instead of 
adopting the trust principles, finally re¬ 
solved to ask Congress for laws to destroy 
all existing trusts and prevent the forma¬ 
tion of others. On the whole, the ways of 
trusts, like those of other law-breakers, are 
a trifle hard just now. 
The much self-advertising Claus Spreckels 
has just opened his big sugar refinery 
at Philadelphia. Its capacity will be 1,000, 
000 pounds a day at the outset and 2,000,000 
by February. Ills San Francisco refinery 
has a capacity of 1,000,000 pounds a day and 
he is going to build a similar one in New 
Orleans and has already started a building 
for doubling the amount of his operations 
in Philadelphia. These will all be complet¬ 
ed, he says, within a year, and then lie will 
turn out (5,000,(XX) pounds of refined sugar a 
day. The Sugar Trust now produces 8,000, 
(XX) pounds a day, and Claus with highly 
commendable public spirit and a shrewd eye 
to private gain, vows an exterminating 
war against it. With so doughty a rival 
fighting it in Pennsylvania, and the courts 
“ knocking it out ” in New York, the days 
of the “monopoly” appear to be numbered. 
Now that Claus has opened his refinery let 
him shut his mouth—at least for a while. 
