THE RURAL 
NEW-YORKER. 
■ 
2 
i 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, JAN. 25. 1879. 
We will be pleased to send one or more copies 
of the Rural New-Yorker /ree to any of our 
subscribers sufficiently interested in Us welfare 
to U willing to hand them to their neighbors for 
inspection. An intimation by postal card will 
suffice. 
Our readers who apply will have the Beauty 
of Hebron potato sent to them separately, be¬ 
cause to send this with seeds makes an awk¬ 
ward package, and also, because the seeds may 
be forwarded at any time regardless of the 
weather, while the potatoes may be injured by 
frost. We mention this for the reason that our 
friends receiving the potato only, may think 
the rest of their selection has been overlooked. 
We earnestly reguest that all letters containing 
money, or any communication intended for the 
Business Department of the paper . beaddressed 
to The Rural Publishing Co., and not to any 
individual. We cannot otherwise, guarantee the 
prompt entry of names upon, our books, or the 
acknowledgment of money. 
Our readers arc particularly requested to 
read the particulars of our free seed distribu¬ 
tion on p. 65, under publisher’s notices, before 
ordering seeds. 
Applicants for seeds will please observe that 
the postage on ant possible selection of ten 
sorts of seeds , is never more than eive cents. 
A one-cbnt stamp suffices for any selection 
of ten varieties exclusive of the Beauty of 
Hebron potato. Pearl Millet ami Defiance wheat. 
If the. first of these three is included in the list, 
then a two cent extra stamp is needed, and if 
the second and third are included, aw extra two 
cent stamp is also required. 
A LIQUID MANURE MINE. 
Agricultu ral chemists generally agree 
that the mamirial value of the liquid ex¬ 
cretions of our domestic annuals is not 
less than that of the solids, besides being 
“quicker,” that is, more immediately 
ready for use as plant food. The solids 
require to undergo decomposition before 
all the plant food they contain is ready to 
be taken up by the feeding roots ; hut 
the plant food of the liquids is already in 
solution, and if properly dilated or mix¬ 
ed with absorbent substances, the plants 
can avail themselves of it, without delay, 
for purposes of growth. 
Any one who has ever, in a cemented 
stable or manure cellar, attempted to fur¬ 
nish absorbents for all the urine of a herd 
of cattle lias discovered that he has taken 
quite a contract on his hands. If he has 
before kept his cattle in a tie-up where 
their liquid evacuations went through the 
floor and were absorbed by the soil be¬ 
neath, or drained away, he has small com¬ 
prehension of the quantity produced, and 
the amount of dry bedding it will take to 
keep the place so that anybody can walk 
about there without rubber boots. He 
will find that long or chopped straw, in 
vastly greater quantity than he has ever 
found necessary to keep his cattle dry, 
will now leave them afloat, surrounded by 
straw islands, also afloat. In the cellar 
the manure will exist in the form of soft 
mush, and it will keep him busy to draw 
in the loam, muck, or sand required to 
reduce things to a comfortable state of 
solidity and keep his pigs from drowning, 
Yet it will pay to do all tliis—to pre¬ 
pare beforehand the sawdust, spent tan, 
muck or sand for the stable floor, and 
the necessary loam for the cellar, iu order 
to take up and retain all this mass of fer¬ 
tilizing fluid. In fact we cannot afford 
not to do it, and he who docs it for the 
first time will receive a revelation of the 
the quantity of good manure that may 
thus be accumulated in a season from a 
stock of cattle, that will quite astonish 
him, and make him think that perhaps 
“farming can be made to pay.” 
An uncemented cellar with a sandy 
bottom, under a cattle stable, will not 
save much urine, unless very liberally 
supplied with absorbent material. If the 
droppings are received in the cellar upon 
a raised platform, it will soon become ap¬ 
parent that the fluids nearly all go 
through and soak into the ground, when 
only the usual quantity of bedding is used 
in the stable. This is a point which many 
overlook, and it is well worthy the atten¬ 
tion of those who have ham cellars of t h is 
kind. In our judgment it will always 
pay to cement a manure cellar, unless its 
bottom consists of very heavy clay or 
hard-pan. Even then the walls, for a 
foot and a half upward from the bottom, 
ought to be made water-tight. 
It may be a pleasing thought for those 
who have old-fashioned tie-ups which have 
been used many years, that the liquids 
that have gone through their floors for so 
long a time are not necessarily lost. If 
the ground is absorbent, most of these 
liquids have soaked into it, and in their 
passage downwards have left their fertil¬ 
ity—their potash, phosphoric acid and 
nitrogen—in combination with the upper 
layers of soil. We have lately had an op¬ 
portunity to see this matter very thor¬ 
oughly tested. Among our not very neat- 
neighbors is a legal gentleman wflio lately 
come into the possession of his father’s 
farm, and who has quite a notion of being a 
farmer with all the modern improvements. 
He has built him a new bam, with a 
cemented cellar, and all his fettilizing 
material is now thoroughly saved. The 
old barn, with its sheep-pens and tie-up 
directly on the ground, has been tom 
down, and, at our suggestion, he has had 
the soil beneath excavated, and spread 
upon his mowing. That from under the 
old sheep-pens was taken out only last 
fall, and consequently its effect is yet to 
be noted. But the earth from beneath 
the old tie-up was spread in the spring, 
several hundred loads having been drawn, 
and the dirt removed to the depth of 
nearly or quite six feet. It was our belief 
that this earth was thoroughly impreg¬ 
nated with phosphoric and potassie salts, 
and we had no doubt that there were 
some nitrous compounds there also, for we 
were aware that earth from beneath old 
stables had often been lixiviated for the 
extraction of nitre. Still, we supposed 
that really the greater portion of the am¬ 
monia had escaped. The hired man, who 
was put to tliis “ foolish job,” as he call¬ 
ed it, was however soon converted to a 
believer in the manorial value of this soil 
by discovering a distinct odor of harts¬ 
horn in it, and this continued even to the 
bottom of the excavation. The coloring 
matter had not penetrated much below 
three feet. The excavated earth has 
proved to be equal to the best stable man¬ 
ure for toil-dressing grass ground. The 
hxxuriant and dark green growth of the 
meadow- upon which it was spread is quite 
remarkable, and strange to say no differ¬ 
ence is perceptible in the effect of the 
bottom layer from that of the top one. 
How many of our readers have a man¬ 
ure mine like this ? 
■ -♦♦♦- 
POULTRY INTEREST. 
The poultry interest in the United 
States is one of great magnitude, very 
much more so than most persons imagine. 
Some writers estimate the value of eggs 
and poultry used by an average of fami¬ 
lies in this country at a higher figure than 
the cost of either the beef or flour they use. 
This is probably too high an estimate, yet 
there is little doubt that the eggs and 
poultry together used in many families, 
represent a vahte nearly equal to that of 
either of the other mentioned articles of 
consumption used by them. This shows 
an aggregate value of many millions for 
the whole country 7 . 
Without troubling our readers with dry 
statistics we will simply say that the vast 
quantities of eggs and poultry used iu 
our large cities are almost incredible, and 
that the production of them must have 
required no small amount of industry and 
energy. Great as this consumption of 
the products of the poultry yard is in 
cities, still it is less per head than in rural 
districts, where so many of the popula¬ 
tion keep a small number of fowls and 
consume most of the products. Could 
the value of all these small flocks of poul¬ 
try throughout the country he estimated, 
the results w ould he truly astonishing. A 
great consumjttiou of eggs and poultry 
occurB iu the farmer’s household, espe¬ 
cially in summer, when eggs are cheap 
and the time required for cooking butch¬ 
er’s meat is needed for other duties. 
We will now consider the management 
of poultry for eggs. Every one know r s 
that eggs are dearer in winter than in 
summer, for the simple reason that fewer 
eggs are laid in winter. Now, the ques¬ 
tion is, how to make hens lay w r ell during 
winter, so that the best price may be ob¬ 
tained for the eggs. Aside from the nat¬ 
ural inclination hens have Tor laying hi 
spring and summer, warmth and variety 
of food are the two great stimulants to 
the production of eggs. How 7 these can 
be best supplied in winter is the ques¬ 
tion. Artificial heat is expensive and has 
a tendency to impart a tender constitu¬ 
tion to the stock. So the best w r ay is to 
have the houses built as warm and com¬ 
fortable as practicable in a hill side ; or 
they should be banked up on the north 
and west sides, and have no openings ou 
those sides, except a ventilator on the 
north side. There should be one of these 
in the south side also. 
Too much has been copied into our 
American Poultry 7 Books from European 
poultry literature, where a westerly as¬ 
pect is recommended : but in our climate 
nothing can be more absurd ; for, while 
the westerly breezes from the Atlantic 
over the British Isles are the softest and 
purest, our westerly and northwesterly 
winds in w-inter axe the keenest and cold¬ 
est that we have to endure, and those 
from which fowls have to be most pro¬ 
tected to keep them from freezing. An¬ 
other mistake often made is the result of 
reading or hearing of the French system 
of colonizing poultry 7 : that is, distribut¬ 
ing a small number of hens to each of a 
number of small houses scattered over a 
large area of ground. This works well in 
France where the winters are mild, with 
little or no snow 7 ; but how would such 
colonizing answer in our cold northern 
winters, when the ground is often covered 
deeply with snow 7 ? It would keep one 
busy to clear it off, and moreover the 
poultry could not he kept warm in such 
small houses. Larger and warmer places 
to hold more fowds and keep out the se¬ 
verity of the cold that would naturally 
chill smaller places, are absolutely neces¬ 
sary for the successful forcing of liens to 
lay in winter. Upon the supply of such 
warm places, careful feeding, and clean¬ 
liness, rests the secret of success. 
SHIPPING LIVE STOCK TO EUROPE. 
In every new and therefore untried en¬ 
terprise carried on independently by dif¬ 
ferent people, many losses must be ex¬ 
pected at the outset. As a rule, in every 
undertaking experience alone can insure 
unvaried suecess. It should cause no 
surprise, therefore, to learn that several 
shippers not only of live stock, but also of 
beef and mutton from this country to Eu¬ 
rope, have met with many heavy reverses, 
and that not a few of them have been 
bankrupted by their ventures despite the 
large measure of good fortune that has 
rewarded the prudence and pluck of 
others, and notwithstanding the splendid 
prospect of large gains from the trade in 
the future. A market for their commod¬ 
ities had to be made across the Atlantic 
in the face of prejudice, competition, and 
calumny. Suitable means of transporta¬ 
tion had to be created, with little or no 
experience to aid in devising the best, me¬ 
thods of doing so; and even the safest 
system of carrying on the trade had to be 
learnt by hard experience. Here as else¬ 
where, the success of regular traders is 
likely to be built upon the hardships and 
often the ruiu of the pioneers in the en¬ 
terprise. This winter has taught a harsh 
leBson to the shippers of live stock. Not 
a week passes without bringing news of 
severe losses to them from storm and ship- 
wreck. Several disasters of the latter 
kind occurred on the exposed Irish coast 
last, week, and in one case at least, large 
numbers of cattle and sheep were ou board 
the lost vessel and perished. During the 
tempestuous weather of the last fortnight 
we have seen reports of three other cases 
in whieh a couple of hundred head of cat¬ 
tle and upwards of a thousand sheep were 
thrown overboard from vessels laboring 
heavily 7 in the waves. Not improbably 
more cases than one of the same kind 
have escaped our notice. Moreover, the 
list of deaths among shipments of animals, 
the bulk of which have arrived safely at 
their destination, must have been very 
heavy. Experience seems to show that 
the exportation of meat, if not as profit¬ 
able in some cases as that of live stock, 
is, on the whole, a far safer investment. 
This must he decidedly the case during 
stormy winters like the present, and it is 
not unlikely that the lessons now given 
will have a salutary effect in future, 
-- 
PELARGONIUMS. 
We have cultivated a great number of 
house plants during our lives and the Ge¬ 
ranium, as it is commonly called, has given 
us as much satisfaction as any other. The 
house Geraniums, as we have often ex¬ 
plained, are not the plants known in bota¬ 
ny by that name. They are hardy and 
several of the species, like Geranium 
maeulatum, the Spotted Geranium— 
G. Robertianum, Herb Robert, are na¬ 
tives of tliis country. But the Pelargo¬ 
nium is from the Cape of Good Hope and 
this is the plant, to which we now refer. 
Thousands of varieties have been produced 
from seeds, either crossed or self-fertil¬ 
ized, and it would seem that further im¬ 
provement is scarcely possible. They are 
almost ever-blooming and the colors range 
from white through every shade of pink 
and red to a deep plum. A few years 
ago, we had but a few double varieties and 
they were all red, differing only in their 
“doubleness” or size of truss. Now we 
have among the double sorts all the colors 
to be found among the single varieties. 
As house plants they require but a modi¬ 
cum of care. Insects rarely trouble them 
and they will thrive in any soil. Indeed, 
we once tried the experiment of cultiva¬ 
ting them iu pure white sand and water. 
The experiment, was tried for six months. 
They lived and maintained very good 
health, though the growth was less thrifty 
and the plants never bloomed. 
After enjoying Pelargoniums in the 
house, throughout the winter, no plant is 
better for bedding purposes out-of-doors. 
They should be v eil cut back and planted 
out for tliis climate about the first of 
June. We find that many of our friends 
make the mistake of keeping the same 
plant for several years. Of course, they 
will live for many years. We once saw a 
Pelargonium ten feet high with astern ten 
inches in circumference, that was, if we 
remember rightly, twelve years of age. 
But if we would have large, healthy foli¬ 
age, large trusses of full flowers, cuttings 
must be taken eveiy summer (late August 
is the best time), and in this way w e se¬ 
cure new plants every year. We com¬ 
mend the Pelargonium especially to those 
of our readers who have only a sunny 
window in which to gratify their love of 
flowers. 
SUNDRY MATTERS. 
The next, special number of the Rural 
will be a Corn number. We would thank 
our subscribers for any facts relative to 
varieties or culture, which may be the out¬ 
come of their experience. Probably no 
other erop has ever excited a wider or 
deeper interest than does com at the 
present time. How to produce the greatest 
yield at the smallest expense is the ques¬ 
tion we would gladly throw light upon. 
Statements to the effect that certain fann¬ 
ers have produced 150 or more bushels of 
shelled corn to the acre are of no value. 
We can not treat the corn plant in the 
field as we would a choice flower in the 
conservatory. The yield of corn from a 
small plot under fussy cultivation is no 
indication of w 7 hat the same variety of 
corn will yield if treated as large areas 
must be treated by the average farmer. 
We have heard of plots of land producing 
corn at the rale of 200 bushels of shelled 
com per acre. We have heard of plots of 
land yielding potatoes at the rate of 1,000 
bushels per acre. Such statements, if 
intended to show w 7 hat can be done with 
ordinary field culture, are misleading and 
harmful. It is just as sensible to sup¬ 
pose we can raise in our woods trees as 
shapely as those upon our lawns, as that 
we can equal in our fields the best results 
of the highest cultivation in garden 
patches. 
During last fall, and siuce, we have 
been trying to ascertain what variety of 
corn has produced, under ordinary cir¬ 
cumstances, the best yield, intending to 
secure a quantity sufficient, to enable us 
to distribute among our farmer subscrib¬ 
ers enough of it for trial. We need not 
particularize further at. this time. We 
wilt tiuish our present, Free Seed Distri¬ 
bution first. This has assumed propor¬ 
tions which, to speak freely, have fright¬ 
ened us a little lest we should be unable 
to do all we have promised to do. But it 
is working smoothly now and we hope to 
end it in time to send out other seeds be¬ 
fore another planting season. We would 
avail ourselves of this opportunity to ex¬ 
press our appreciation of the support 
which the Rural New-Yorker is receiv¬ 
ing for 1879. Week by week, we might 
almost say, day by day, our circulation 
has greatly increased over the corres¬ 
ponding period in ’77 and ’78, notwith¬ 
standing our heavy storms and the much 
talked of hard times. We feel a strong 
inclination to thank everybody in a 
“broadcast” way; — but our readers 
would, no doubt, prefer that we should 
display our gratitude in other ways. To 
the continued improvement of our paper, 
therefore, to the well-being and the well¬ 
doing of our readers, we set, ourselves 
earnestly and heartily to work without 
further ado. 
BREVITIES. 
Tue article on Gates will be found of in¬ 
terest to all farmers. 
Will those who have not received stamps 
for the postage on corn sent to this office, 
please notify ns ? 
In answer to a number of inquiries we would 
say that Bohemian 11 ulless Oats are not new 
but very old. They have no special merit that 
we know of, and Us who buys them at a high 
price, or with ’‘.great expectations,” will he dis¬ 
appointed. Under various names this old va¬ 
riety has been revived again and again. It is 
now offered under the nanus of Chinese Hulless 
also. 
