THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
FEB. IS 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, FEB. 15, 1879. 
The several statements in our columns to the 
effect that we intend to send trial lots of corn to 
our subscribers, have brought us a great number 
of premature applications, Wore we beg to state 
that, being in the very midst of our other free, 
seed distribution . use can not regard these, appli¬ 
cations, The announcement in relation to the. 
corn mil be made in a feic weeks. As we believe ., 
the variety to be offered is the most prolific of any 
hitherto cultivated. It was for this reason that 
toe have hastened to secure a quantity sufficient to 
supply every one of our subscribei-s who may 
apply with ettough to give it a fair trial. 
We will be pleased to send one or more copies 
of the Rural New-Yorker free to any of our 
subscribers sufficiently interested in its welfare 
to be willing to hand, them to their neighbors for 
inspection. An intimation by postal card will 
suffice. _ 
table, be will see that between 669 days 
and 967 days, or for 298 days, the steers 
only gain 267 pounds, or .89 of a pound 
er day, instead of 2.13 lbs. per day; 
ut the steers will eat at least 30 per cent, 
more during these 298 days than during 
the same number of days of the previous 
period, so that each pound of flesh put 
on, will cost more than twice as much per 
pound for the second as for the first 
period. And during the next period, it 
wall cost still more to put on a pound of 
growth ; and this cost increases the older 
the animal grows until it reaches full ma¬ 
turity. 
The philosophy of this increase of food 
is found in the fact that the older and 
heavier the animal grows, the more food 
it takes to keep up animal heat and sup¬ 
ply the waste of the system. This waste 
constantly increases according to the age 
of the animal, and thus, whilst the food 
necessary to support the animal is con¬ 
stantly increasing, the part, of it applied 
to meat production is constantly decreas¬ 
ing, and upon the food of meat produc¬ 
tion depends all the profit. 
Every farmer ought to see from this 
illustration, that all his animals intended 
for meat, should be pushed without any 
standstill from weaning age to market 
day. 
-- 
CHANGE OF SEED. • 
We earnestly request that all letters containing 
money , or any communication intended for the 
Business Department of the paper, be addressed 
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. 
Applicants for seetls wilt please observe that 
the postage on ant possible selection of ten 
sorts of seeds, is never more than five cents. 
A one-cent stamp suffices for any selection 
of ten varieties exclusive of the Beauty of 
Hebron potato, Pearl Millet and Defiance- wheal. 
If the. first of these three is included in the list, 
then a two ant extra stamp is needed, and if 
the second and third are included, an extra two 
cent stamp is also required. 
Our readers are particularly requested to 
read the particulars of our free seed distribu¬ 
tion on p. 113, under publisher’s notices, before 
ordering seeds. 
LESSON OF THE FAT-STOCK SHOW. 
The rapid progress made during the 
last two years in opening a profitable 
market abroad for our best live cattle and 
best fresh beef in the quarters, makes it 
more important than ever before that the 
American farmer should study carefully 
the laws of animal growth. And it may 
be considered most opportune and fortu¬ 
nate that a fat-stock show was instituted 
which has demonstrated one of the most 
important of these laws. The saving of 
even two per cent, in the manufacture of 
cotton goods often makes all the differ¬ 
ence between loss and liberal dividends. 
Taking a hint from this, the farmer may 
easily find in his business a leak of from 
10 to 50 per cent. 
Let ns take a look at the facts disclosed 
at the late Fat-stock Show at Chicago. 
Here we mnst expect to find only cattle 
that have been well fed and have lacked 
nothing to make them fine specimens of 
their breed and age. They were brought 
there to compete for high prizes, and, 
having been of different breeds and ages, 
a careful study of them will disclose some 
important facts which may be generally 
applied to cattle feeding. We desire our 
readers to make a careful review of the 
prize animals, published on page 8 of 
this volume. 
The Kubal has often called attention 
to the fact that profitable beef raising can 
only be found in early maturity. This 
show gives such remarkable examples of 
this point that we. have taken the average 
of four classes of Short-horns and their 
grades, animals of about equal merits for 
beef. These being prize animals and all 
fed to the best advantage, illustrate in 
the most admirable manner tbe effect of 
age on profit in feeding. We have ar¬ 
ranged them accordingly in classes of 
four each, as follows : 
Average age. Av. weight. Av. gam per day. 
Days. 
4 Steers, 669 
4 Steers, 967 
4 Steers, 1,281 
4 Steers, 1,890 
lbs. 
lbs. 
1.420 
2.13 
1,687 
1.74 
2,166 
1.69 
2,332 
1.32 
Here is a lesson of the greatest value to 
every feeder. It shows conclusively that 
it. costs much less per pound to make beef 
when the animals are under two years 
old than when they are beyond that age. 
It may be said that in each succeeding 
month in the life of a steer, it costs more to 
grow a pound of beef than in the preceding 
one. But the falling-off in gain per day 
does not include all the loss—scarcely 
half of it. If the reader will examine this 
If not already done, it iB none too soon 
to look out for good seed for the crops of 
the year. The farmer may be a good 
one. He may have saved his own seed 
for many years in succession. He may 
have continued to improve it. This is all 
right and proper, but a change will be a 
benefit, or rather he will gam a large 
percentage in the yield by obtaining 
seed of the same variety he now raises, 
and then mixing it with the seed kept for 
years on his own place. The advantage 
of this mixture will not be apparent 
until the second year. It. unit be less 
and less apparent for several years 
after. The ideas expressed by the words 
in Italics are not the outcome of guess¬ 
work or theory. They are the result of 
many experiments made for ten or twelve 
years by Mr. dairies Darwin. Professor 
Beal has also lately made some experi¬ 
ments in the same direction, showing a 
great advantage in mixing seeds of the 
same variety grown in different places. 
He promises to furnish us the result in a 
few weeks. 
OUR SEEDS. 
We shall be sadly disappointed if our 
friends do not meet with gratifying suc¬ 
cess with the seeds we send them. With 
the Beeds of Weigelas, Dentzias, Yuccas, 
Hibiscus Syriacus, H. Mosclieutos, etc., 
etc., w r e have never had the least trouble. 
Tney germinate under ordinary treat¬ 
ment and the young plants transplant 
well nnd thrive lustily. Many of them 
will bloom the second Beason, which is 
all they would do if the plants were pur¬ 
chased' from tbe nurseries. Besides, and 
this has always been to us a fascinating 
part of seedling culture, some of them 
will so differ from the parent plants as to 
constitute distinct varieties. Again, they 
are all of them hardy and are generally 
looked upon as among the most desirable 
shrubs for our gardens and lawns. 
AVe shall send these seeds to thousands 
of rural homes throughout the country, 
and we hope that two years hence, if not 
before, we shall have abundant evidence 
that the endless botheration and expense 
which attend these distributions have not 
been in vain. 
-- 
Agricultural Report for 1878. 
—AVe wish the newspaper editors who 
have been disparaging the fitness of Gen. 
LeDuc for the office he holds, would read 
his last report, extracts of which appear 
in this and the last issue of the Bubal. 
He has been blamed for suggesting the 
introduction into general cultivation of 
several plants w'hich his critics do not 
think could be profitably grown iu this 
country. Some of these, they say, have 
already proved failures here, which is 
true; and others, from their own in¬ 
ward consciousness, they are certain 
will not succeed; but we are all fond 
of boasting that this is an age of rapid 
progress, and hence the failure of an 
enterprise in the past should hardly 
be deemed conclusive of its failure to¬ 
day. And with regard to the untried 
plants, whose adaptability to our present 
agriculture promises profitable additions 
to our list of products, an open¬ 
ing for the employment of our super¬ 
abundant labor and a help in our pres¬ 
ent distress, wisdom and common sense 
demand a trial for them, and this iB all 
the Commissioner asks. We cannot help 
i thinking that political prej udices rather 
1 than the good of agriculture have, prompt¬ 
ed many of the low attacks upon Gen. 
LeDuc which have been made from time 
to time. 
--- 
Geranium sanguineum. —We are 
obliged to discontinue our offer of seeds 
of this plant. Anticipating our supply 
would fall short of the demand, we sent 
an order for a quantity to Mr. B. S. Wil¬ 
liams, of London, and to the Lawson Co. 
of Edinburg, requesting that if they could 
not fill the order, they would endeavor to 
procure the seeds from other seedsmen. 
The reply is that, in spite of diligent in¬ 
quiry, they arc unable to send us any. 
It is Btrange that our American seeds¬ 
men seem to know nothing of this desir¬ 
able plant;—desirable, because it is ever- 
blooming and perfectly hardy ; because 
its leaves are pretty and nearly ever¬ 
green ; because it spreads over the 
ground ; grows compactly and leaves lit¬ 
tle to be desired for bedding purposes. 
We shall increase our stock as fast as we 
can, and again offer seeds of Geranium 
sanguineum to our subscribers in the fall. 
Meantime we request all who succeed in 
raising plants to save all the seeds which 
their plants bear. 
-♦ ♦ » 
BREVITIES. 
Questions and Answers are crowded out 
this week. 
The distance of only twenty feet apart is 
now advocated by several good apple growers. 
“ Blame is bestowed by those who wish you 
prosperous and those who fear that you will 
be so." 
Most of our readers are not aware of bow 
beautiful the finest strains of the dwarf, double 
Hollyhocks are. There is no other flower that 
lias been really improved by florists more than 
this. 
“Not to distort nature,” says Mr. Meehan, 
“ but to encourage her towards her best efforts, 
is surely a worthy object of the garden art,"— 
which means that “ nature must be judiciously 
directed by art.” 
We are thinking about offering to our sub¬ 
scribers a premium for the largest yield of 
corn from the seed we propose to send those who 
apply for it. In this case we shall be careful 
to send the same amount, to all. 
The Corn number of the Rural' New- 
Yorker will be issued next week or tbe week 
after. In it notice will be given of our free 
distribution of what we call the most prolific 
variety of corn in cultivation, for all sections 
to which the variety is adapted. We have se¬ 
cured a 6nfficient quantity to furnish all our 
readers who apply, with enough to give it a 
fair trial. 
-- 
N. Y. STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION 
AND BOARD OF TRADE. 
It was my privilege some five years ago to 
attend Dairymen's Conventions throughout the 
country and catch the drift of the general dis¬ 
courses on milk, cattle, cheese, batter and 
kindred subjects. After returning to my home 
iu Kentucky, I was asked to explain some of 
the fresh thoughts I had brought back with 
me. My reply was that had I been visiting 
some old lady in central Kentucky, I would 
have heard the Bame old story on butter-mak¬ 
ing that the very learned butter expounders of 
the North had been pouring into the ears of 
their confiding listeners. 
I return after five years and sit in convention 
and listen to the same old story, “ Come here, 
my child, and I will tell you the story of my 
wedding-day,” certainly something fresh and 
startling! Such was my experience on my 
first visit to Utica. 
Everything was serene and happy. The 
Convention was evidently gotten np for har¬ 
mony. But let us change the scene. A few 
weeks later I attend another Convention at 
Utica. Here there is no effort at harmony. 
Men are at liberty to say just what they think. 
The market for twelve months has been in a 
ruinous state of depression. Men are sick of 
flattery, and getting hungry for the truth. See¬ 
ing the necessity for loooking thiugs squarely 
in the face, President Folsom brought together 
the freshest, brightest, most original and in¬ 
dependent speakers it has ever been my plea¬ 
sure to listen to. In a clear-cut and manly 
manner, in his opening address, he set forth 
the prime necessity for a lessened supply or 
increased demand in the cheese market. With 
a merchant’s mind directed to the latent power 
of organization, he pressed the dairymen to 
form county associations, just as merchants 
form their boards of trade. He told the farmer 
in no flattering terms, that while Canada was 
improving in the quality of her cheese, the 
makers of the State of New York were abso¬ 
lutely deteriorating in the quality of theirs; 
while the West was a dangerous competitor. 
He impressed upon the farmer the importance 
of making a more Bolid cheese that will ripen 
quickly, and yet stand a trip across the Atlan¬ 
tic in summer without deteriorating in quality. 
At the same time he called attention to the fact 
that cheese made now is ripened In ten or 
fifteen days, while, in former years, twenty-five 
to thirty days were considered none too long 
for perfect curing, to which change may be 
attributed the bad keeping qualities of this 
season's make. 
A letter to the Convention was read from Mr. 
Henry Kemp, one of the oldest dealers in New 
York City, treating of the export trade from 
1840 to the present date. He divided the sub¬ 
ject into five epochs, tracing step by step the 
gradually accelerating exports from the beg¬ 
garly sum of 11,666 boxes in 1840 to the flood 
of 3,133,225 boxes that overwhelmed the market 
in 1878. [If the. quality had only kept pace 
with the quantity, America would be the foster- 
mother of the world.] Mr. Kemp is evidently 
a great admirer of the commercial laws of 
England, and makes tbe capital point that how 
can we expect the English artisau to buy our 
goods if we make laws refusing to receive the 
products of his handiwork. In other words, if 
you do not buy of him, ho will not have money 
with which to buy of you. 
H. K. & F. B. Thurber made the convention 
a present of one of the fine Cheddar cheeses 
that took the premium at the International 
Dairy Fair. This was cut and handed round 
to the cheese makers, who were taught a good 
lesson by being able to compare their own 
make with this sample of the finest product of 
their competitors. The letter called attention 
to the necessity of our makers studying the 
tastes of their English customers; and while it 
praised tbe intelligence of the American farmer 
as being much above the average, at the same 
time he must not imagine that his English 
competitor is standing still, and the progres¬ 
sive thought abroad was evidenced by an 
English address, freely quoted, aud full of 
warning to tbe English farmer. 
the physical reaction or milk. 
This subject was treated very cleverly by 
Mr. O. S. Bliss, of A 7 ermont. Much of this 
address was scientific and related to the con¬ 
flicting statements of our speculators on the 
component parts of cows' milk. Mr. Bliss 
gave us his original ideas on the manner of 
testing skim-milk to tell whether or not all the 
cream had been taken from it. Taking first 
as a standard, the heaviest skim-milk reported 
in the books, be found that hi6 method of 
cooling milk had produced the heaviest skim- 
milk ou record aud, arguing a priori, he had 
produced the most perfect method of creaming 
milk, yet discovered. This paper called forth 
pretty general discussion, showing that the 
dairymen’s ideas are by no means a unit on 
the all-important subject of raising cream. 
EASTERN AND WESTERN BUTTER MAKING. 
This was a paper read by L. S. Hardin and 
consisted in drawing a strong contrast between 
the two rival methods. It was shown by a 
paper read at the late American Dairymen’s 
meeting, reciting national statistics, the subject 
having been illustrated with maps, that New 
York was not only the most prosperous, but 
the very center butter-producing district of 
the country. Mr. H- called attention to tbe 
fact that these statistics were taken from the 
Government report for 1870, nearly ten years 
ago, while the daily quotations in the New 
York papers show that Western butter is sell¬ 
ing from six to eight cents a pound in advance 
of Eastern or New York make. The New 
York Dairyman has his cows all come in fresh 
in the spring. The milk is all produced when 
butter is hardest to make and selling at low¬ 
est market rates, thus requiring that it should 
be held over and come into the market strong 
and venerable with age." Against this old 
obsolete method the Western farmer works 
his cows the year through. His butter is 
made from cream that is sweet aud pure, and 
is shipped in refrigerator cars and reaches the 
consumer when hardly three days old, “ fresh 
and rosy as the blushing morn." 
CONSUMPTIVE DEMAND FOR DAIRY PRODUCTS. 
This subject was treated by Mr. X. A. Willard 
in a most exhaustive manner. To say it was 
the best paper I ever heard Mr. Willard »ead 
is paying it a high compliment; indeed. Now 
that the conflict between the English and 
American cheese-makers had begun in earnest, 
he felt cheerful with regard to the result in 
view of the progressive spirit of our dairymen, 
and especially the cheap cow feed of the West. 
We must, however, keep a strict eye to the 
question of quality. He called attention to the 
fact that while the Englishman consumed 16 
pounds of cheese per annum, we use scarcely 
one-fourth of that quantity. Our cheese-mak¬ 
ers must make the finer brands and in greater 
variety for the home market. He spoke with 
earnestness against going back to the old 
method of making cheese from 6weet curds, 
giving at length the history of the rise and 
decline of this heresy. 
COST OF PRODUCING CHEESE IN 1878. 
This was the subject handled by Secretary 
Gilbert with the cautious care due to figures. 
By means of printed circulars he had gathered 
reports flora a host of farmers, showing ex¬ 
ceedingly close work for this season. The cost 
of production per cow was, gross, $39.70, while 
the gross money product was $47.25—no very 
encouraging exhibit, it is true, but as the cost 
came mostly out of his own labor and farm, 
the farmer is able to stand it. There were 
many interesting special items, but there is 
not room to report them. h. 
