204 
THE BUBAL NEW-YORKER 
MARCH 29 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duan* Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, MARCH. 29. 1879. 
TRY IT AND TELL US. 
The Rural does not wish to be con¬ 
sidered rb advocating any seemingly un¬ 
necessary expenditures of any kind. We 
believe in ** rigid economy ”—we believe 
that the extravagant, improvident farmer 
must fail in a business the very founda¬ 
tion of which is economy and labor. But 
there is a sort of excessive economy that 
makeB men hateful to their friends, to 
their families, and, we should think, to 
themselves us well. As benevolence is 
not benevolence tbe very moment any¬ 
body gives away that which his own 
family needs —so economy must be called 
by another name whenever a man ** econ¬ 
omizes ” so far as to deprive himself of 
those “ common decencies ” which should 
separate a man from a brute. We have 
no patience with the farmer who, accord¬ 
ing to his means, is too economical to be 
willing to make the interior of his home 
cheerful and comfortable. We have no 
patience with the farmer who has no ap¬ 
preciation at all of what are expressively 
known as the “refinements of home.” 
But what are the refinements of home ? 
It is, unfortunately, true that each individ¬ 
ual must answer this question for himself, 
and that consequently, in a majority of 
cases, it must be erroneously answered. 
We can not make “ a silk purse out of a 
sow’s ear,” nor can we drum into the 
bend of a dirty, heedless, thoughtless, 
selfish man that it is as much his duty to 
attend to the brightness of his own home 
as it is to eat his meals thrice a-day. But 
there are hundreds of our readers who 
are “refined” at heart, and do not, 
always 6how that they are refined sim- 
ly because “ the refinements of home” 
ave never been presented to them 
in a forcible manner. There are oth¬ 
ers who from education take a partial 
or distorted view of what every man owes 
to his family and to every other man. 
For instance, we have neighbors who own 
fine bams and houses. The houses are 
furnished as well as need be—sometimes 
elegantly. Their animals receive good 
care ; everything indicates prosperity— 
save one, viz ., the door-yard—the lawn — 
the strip of ground between the dwelling 
and the road, by whatever name it may 
best be called. That is given over to 
weeds and to an occasional stunted fruit 
or ornamental tree. Now there is nothing 
that so enhances the appearance of the 
house itself and of the entire 2 >remises as 
a meed of attention to this same “ piece 
of land. ” Why is it not freely given ? 
In reply to this question squarely put 
to good farmers, we have been told— 
“ Oh it's too much bother /” or, “ It takes 
too much time,” — or, “It costs too 
much”—or “ Tout's ail hifalutin ; what 
good dot s it do ?” 
In such answers we see merely a disre¬ 
gard of the refinements of life. Such 
replies can not be supported by reason. 
Is it “ too much bother” to have one’s 
floor carpeted ? Does it take “ too much 
time” to set a neat, inviting table for the 
daily meals? Is it “ hifamtin” to black 
one’s boots and to put tin the drtss-up 
suit for Church or Sabbath-School ? 
What is “hifalutin” in the one case, is 
“hifalutin” in the other, and the only 
difference is in degree. The orderly and 
even beautiful appearance of the grounds 
about the home is, to our way of thinking, 
oi just a6 much importance as orderli¬ 
ness or beauty m any other part of the 
homestead or farm. Aye, if we were 
called upon to neglect our lawn on the 
one hand or our Sunday dress-up on the 
other, we should choose to neglect the 
latter and feel that we acted wisely. 
Spring is upon us, good readers. The 
weeuy, unkept plotB of ground may now 
be turned into things of beauty, and so 
maintained for no more expense thun is 
requred to maintain the tidy room, the 
clean carriage, the Sunday dress-ups and 
the ordinary marks of* a regard for 
“ decency ” which we have called “refine¬ 
ments of home.” Plant a few dwarf 
Pears; a few evergreen and deciduous 
shrubs and trees ; a few Grape-vines, etc. 
Cut the grass every week—keep the path, 
or paths, clean and free of weeds, and 
then tell us, good readers, next Novem¬ 
ber if, in truth, it is “too much bother 
if “it tak-8 too much time;” if “it’s all 
hifalutiil ” 
BEET SUGAR. 
Thebe is an aptness, which is continu¬ 
ally illustrated, in the old story of the 
dying man who informed his weeping 
children that a pot of gold which was 
buried in his garden was their inheritance. 
The old man was doubtless soon buried 
beneath the sod, so that his mourners 
might find the treasure. The garden 
having been soon dug, and dug over and 
over without finding the buried treasure, 
waB planted, and the umiihu o '■» • n 
resulted in a wondrous crop, which was 
found to be, in fact, the sough t-for wealth. 
So with beet sugar. An enthusiastic 
gentleman promises the farmers of Maine 
that they have a veritable pot of gold in 
each of their fields, and that to find it 
they need only to plant sugar beets. We 
entirely agree with this idea, although it 
may not be in precisely the way that the 
enthusiastic person referred to would 
have us coincide with him. There is gold 
in beets, even though there may not be 
sugar as the intermediary. The manu¬ 
facture of sugar may not be successful 
(although its success is to be greatly de¬ 
sired for many reasons), yet the culture 
of beets canuot fail to be of the greatest 
profit to the growers, if it only results in 
their learning how to grow roots success¬ 
fully. 
Boot culture is one of the most promis¬ 
ing innovations in our whole farm prac¬ 
tice. No other product, from an acre of 
ground, will support so much live stock, 
produce so much meat, milk, mutton, 
avooI, jjork, lard or manure, as a well- 
grown root crop, and of all the root crops 
tbe sugar beet is the most nutritious. 
Sugar is by no means to lie ignored as a 
nutriment, although a writer in a leading 
agricultural journal, recently intimates 
that the 10 or 12 percent, of sugar in these 
roots may be dispensed with in estimat¬ 
ing their value. It is in this respect 
that sugar beets liaA r e an advantage OA’er 
the more productive mangels, and the 
lighter crop of the former thus balances 
in a great measure the heavier yield of 
the latter. The sweetest beet, the French 
or Silesian sugar beet, is of small size, or, 
at least, so desired by the sugar manufac¬ 
turers ; and if the cr< ip is grown for sugar, 
these varieties, or one of them, is chosen. 
But if beets are not to be grown for 
sugar, they should by all means be grown 
for stock feed; and this is precisely avIici e 
the analogy heretofore referred to, ap¬ 
pears. If roots for stock, whether beets 
or mangels, are grown by reason of the 
present interest in sugar beets, the mythi¬ 
cal pot of gold will be found, although in 
an unexpected way. 
The moral of this is, “grow beets”— 
for sugar if you Avill, but if not, grow 
beets; or even other roots, and their 
sweet influences cannot fail to be appre¬ 
ciated by the live stock, greatly to the 
farmer’s profit. 
-- 
A STABLE INDUSTRY FOR THE FUTURE. 
One of the most stable and profitable 
industries in the future Avill be the rais¬ 
ing of sheep, and tlie production >f mut¬ 
ton and wool. One of the conditions 
which will insure tliiB is the fraternal re¬ 
lations which exist between the wool- 
groAvers and the manufacturers. The 
united action of these interests can 
doubtless succeed iu regulating Congres¬ 
sional action so that no uujust or d> strnct- 
ive legislation will be had in regard to 
either branch, Avhich might not be the 
case if the wool-growers and the woolen 
manufacturers should each go tin ir oivn 
way, and not unite to promote the gene¬ 
ral welfare. Last year, when the Com¬ 
mittee of Ways and Means undertook to 
annul the tariff laws, the representatives 
of these interests met, and agreed in the 
most harmonious spirit to oppose any 
ohangeso far as the woolen interests were 
concerned, and succeeded in convincing 
Congress of the wisdom of their w ishes, 
and, no doubt, their influence did more 
than that of any other, and, perhaps, more 
than that of all other interests, iu defeat¬ 
ing the bill reported by the committee. 
Those engaged iu woolen interests may 
take courage from these facts. 
In connection with this favorable ac¬ 
tion of Congress, the establishment of 
new lines of steamers to run in conjmic¬ 
tion with the great trunk hues of rail¬ 
roads to Great Britain for freighting live 
stock, opens up an almost unlimited mar¬ 
ket for all of the surplus mutton we can 
roduce. The American farmer should 
e able to produce mutton at so Ioav a 
cost as to be able to send it to Europe 
and undersell both the farmer of Great 
Britain and the Continent. The ivliole 
country east of the prairies is being im¬ 
poverished in the productive ability of 
the soil, and needs the replenishment 
which sheep husbandry and stall feeding 
can best supply. Tins system of farming 
has made England a garden, and is the 
most wholesome and natural panacea for 
our depleted and Avorn-ont lands. Shall 
we avail ourselves of the opportunities 
now presented, and so favorable for en¬ 
tering upon a new’ system of husbandry, 
or let the blessing brought to our doors 
pass by unheeded ? 
SEEDING AND FERTILIZING IN SPOTS. 
Moaaungs and pasturage, when seeded 
and manured, are treated usually only 
once for all, and as a whole. We have 
often Avondered why it was that farmers 
alloAved bare or sandy spots to go unat¬ 
tended to until the bareness, or the 
weediness, extended so as to cover a 
large proportion of the soil. This is, avc 
know, altogether needless. We are ac¬ 
quainted with at least one extensive far¬ 
mer and dairyman who, not content with 
keeping his pastures free from all sorts of 
brush, never permits a bare or seedy spot 
iu them. If from the settling of water, 
the effect of frost, or the pawing of ani¬ 
mals, a bare spot appears, it is at once 
seeded, and in some cases even sodded, so 
that the turf is maintained unbroken. 
Similarly, where the grass gets thin and 
weeds begin to appear, manure is applied 
to that spot, and the enfeebled grass thus 
stimulated to reoccupy the ground. In 
this way a pasture of a hundred acres 
presents at all times a sod of pure, tliick 
grasses, the like of which it would be 
hard to find on this side of the Atlantic. 
Yet there are thousands of farmers as 
Avell situated and as w r ell able to have 
such pastures, if they only would, and 
the same principles are equally or more 
applicable- to mowing lands. 
The result is not only a matter of looks, 
but of profit. The cheese of the farmer 
above alluded to is sought for and taken 
by the high-class restaurants and hotels 
of Nbav York and Philadelphia at a fancy 
price. Much of its excellence is doubt¬ 
less due to bis hereditary skill in ite manu¬ 
facture, but certainly the excellent quality 
and perfect uniformity of this cheese are 
due, in no small degree, to the fact that it 
is made of grass-milk, and because no 
weed-milk or browse-milk ever goes into 
it. 
-- 
PEARS-THE DUCHESSE. 
The Duchesse d’Angouleme ! Do not 
purchase this pear for home use. It is 
often worthless—never good. It is at 
best coarse-fleshed, of a low flavor, and 
ripens only with much care. Else it is 
spongy and shriveled. For market! 
Oh, yes, it is an excellent market pear. 
It its large! The trees (dwarfs) are highly 
productive. It is a fine- dwarf market 
pear — this Duchesse. Anything is a 
good market variety that is large and has 
some flavor. The market tins to do with 
buying and selling. It cares most for 
looks. A strawberry that is hard, anil 
sour, and red, is better than one that is 
sweet and delicious, though a little off 
color and soft. The demands of the mar¬ 
ket are peculiar. There is only a slight 
connection between market and good 
fruit. We say to our friends who want 
delicious pears—do not plant the Duch¬ 
esse. A contemporary remarks of pears : 
“The variety is beAvildering !” The va¬ 
rieties of medium or poor pears from 
which to select, are bewildering. But of 
really first-class pears, there are very feAt, 
and those that turive iu one locality may 
do but poorly in another. This cuts doAvn 
the list still further. 
IT IS HARD TO PLEASE ALL. 
We have, never felt the truth of the 
above so forcibly as during the past few 
weeks in the matter of our free-seed dis¬ 
tributions. Many have written to us 
complain ingly, as if our distribution of 
seeds were something that avc are j>aid 
for and that they have a right to demand, 
regardless of the terms and restrictions 
which Ave have been obliged to impose, 
and which we have published again and 
again. For instance, we have been told, 
within the ten days past, by many that A\e 
have no right to discontinue our first seed 
distribution, and that it is our duty toserve 
all alike. Many others haA r e complained 
that they did not receive all of the sorts 
ordered, but that others Avere substituted 
which they did not want. If our com* 
plaining friends could only be induced to 
read the special and general notices Avhieh 
we are at pains to place clearly before 
them, they might see that their complaints 
have nothing whatever to stand upon, 
-- 
PimtS E<lulis.—Four years ago Ave 
planted nuts (seeds) of this Pine. They 
germinated freely, and wiien once well 
rooted iu pots, were planted permanently 
out-of-doors. For three winters they have 
been unharmed, though at present not 
over seven or eight inches in hight. We 
have sent a great many of these seeds to 
our friends in place of others applied for, 
which AA-e could no longer supply, and we 
hope they Avill be given a good trial. 
Prof. Torrey has said of this Pine that 
“ it is found in rocky places on the Llano 
Estacado; also near Hurrah Creek, New 
Mexico, September 20, Avith ripe seeds.” 
It seems to attain, according to situation 
and climate, a hight of from 20 to 50 feet. 
The nut is sweet and much liked by most 
persons, about the size of a hazel-nut, 
though rather more canoe-shaped. Those 
of our friends who have never raised Pine 
seedlings will, at least, see much to inte¬ 
rest them iu the singular manner of their 
first growth, sending up, as they do, half 
a dozen or more “first leaves,” instead 
of two, as in most hard-wooded plants. 
-♦ ♦ » 
BREVITIES. 
Baldwin Apples are now selling at Avhole- 
sale in England, for $5 50 per barrel. 
After the practical details of the best 
modem methods of maple-sugar making, a 
description of older methods has all the more 
interest. 
It will soon be the best time of all the year 
to plant Strawberries. The reader is reminded 
to refer to the special stiawberry. raspberry, 
etc., numbers of the Rural of last fall for all 
needed information. 
Col. Colman says, touching the extensive 
planting of Early Amber and manufacture of 
sirup and sugar, “ Go slowly—wait—don’t 
overdo the thing—slow and sure is the motto 
in all new enterprises,” and this is our own 
advice to our Western friends. 
In this climate and at this season and a little 
later, spring bulbs (Tulips, Hyacinths, etc.) 
are very often harmed by frosts. Sometimes 
the flowering stalks of Hyacinths are cut off 
entirely. To prevent this, nothing is better 
than to mulch with old barnyard manure. 
There is an unusual concurrence of opinion 
all over the country, among iho.-e who ought 
to kuow, that the Acme is the best tomato. 
Many of our readers will remember that the 
Rural avhs among the first to state this opin¬ 
ion, having tried it with many other varieties 
wbeu it avus first introduced. 
We intended to have mentioned last summer 
when it occurred, the case of a double flower 
of Gladiolus—uot “double” iu the usual sense, 
but two flowers grown into one. It was nearly 
double the usual size, Avith twice the number 
of petals, Mameus and pistils. By the way, 
what a miserable- word “ double” is to express 
what is meant by it. “ Double” flowers are 
not. in fact, double iu any seu.-e. Very 
double— extremely double—semi-double, are tbe 
mongrel qualifications of t his unmeaning term. 
Beware of woiking in the garden too early 
in the spring If attempts are made to trans¬ 
plant trees while there is even an inch of frost 
i.i the grouud. great danger will be iucurred 
trout ihe accruing Injury to small fibers. The 
preservation of these small libers, be it remem¬ 
bered, is of vital importance to the life of the 
tree during the operatlou of transplanting. 
Moreover, grouud that is vvoiked In the spring 
befote warm suns have dried it out, will, very 
likely, remain heavy and lumpy, and Lie other- 
wi.-e iujurod throughout the season. 
The records of the Am. Pom. Society 
show ihul Bartlett and Seckel are highly 
thought of by 82 Stales;—Duchesse, Beurre 
d’ Anjou. Doyenne de Kt^ ami Lawrence by 
29 Stales;—Flemish Beauty, BLnidgood and 
Buffum by 27 StatesLoui.-e Lounede Jersey, 
Howell, Dearborn's Seedling and Onondaga by 
24 States ; Jamie Gift id, B fctqeihu, Win¬ 
ter NeJitt, Doyenne Boussoek, Kostiezer 
Sheldou and Tsson by 21 States. The above 
Is a tar better guide than selecting Pears hap¬ 
hazard out of catalogues or according to the 
dieiatiou of tree peddlers. 
Stable manure seems to hold its own against 
all competing feitilizers. as is indicated by the 
laet that iu these days of low price-, ihe value 
wl good stable manure, iu the market of New 
York, has gone up this year at least 20 per 
ccut. Two facts are probably developed stiff 
more by this rise. Firstly, that stable manure 
is rather gaining than losing in popularity, 
and. secondly, that the demand is increasing 
because more people are l”ruing their atten¬ 
tion to fanning, and because those engaged iu 
it ulready are improving their methods. 
The culture of Willows for basket-making 
does not prove a success iu America. Some 
say labor is too high to allow any profit. The 
Lew are that willow shoots of the proper size 
for basketmaking are wuith only 5 cents per 
pound delivered in New York or the nearest 
city in which they can he sold. A large yield 
ol willow shoots i» one and a hall to two tons 
to the acre, and there arc many expenses which 
accompany their culture. Probably the chief 
cause of me general discouragement eoucem- 
iug willow cultivation is the fact that au iusect 
or hug frequently ravages such plantations in 
a decidedly wholesale maimer. 
Mr. N. Oumer of Dayton, Ohio, has ten or 
twelve acres ot the Gregg Raspberry, and re¬ 
ports. according to Mr. Charles Downing in 
ihe N. Y. Tribune, that it is the largest, best 
and most profitable of any of the Black-Cup 
lamily he lias grown. It is hardy, he says, aud 
will succeed in any good soil. Mr. Downing 
thinks Souvenir du Congress pear “la promis¬ 
ing as a market pear—being of good size, aud 
handsome, though only' of second quality.” 
“Good size,” “haudsoiiie”—“secondquality ” 
- “good market variety.” No doubt the 'market 
will continue to supply what sells best. We 
are only soi ry for the people Avho choose size 
aud appearance before quality. Why not buy 
■wax pears larger and handsomer thuu any that 
grow, aud keep them on the luantlt-piece to 
look at, aud theu demand quality of the market ? 
