252 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
APRIL 4@ 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 1879. 
ANNOUNCEMENT. 
All who intend to compete lor our Corn 
Premiums will be expected to write to us to 
that effect before the tenth of May. 
-M-*- 
EARLY MATURITY. 
It is a well-known fact, although it has 
been proved but recently, that an animal 
makes its most profitable growth in the 
earlieast part of its life. A noted exam¬ 
ple of what we wish to illustrate was given 
a few years ago by the Hon. Geo. Getldes, 
in regard to a steer fed by an Orange Co. 
(N. Y.) farmer. The figures given in the 
very particular statement furnished by 
Mr. Geddes, showed the cost of the ani¬ 
mal from the first month of its existence 
up to the period of four years, when it 
was slaughtered. At two years of age, 
the steer showed a profit in its feeding, 
but from that time the cost gradually ex¬ 
ceeded the growth in weight, until at the 
end of the four years there was a serious 
los3. It haB been found by trustworthy 
experiment that a young animal will gain 
one pound in weight from the consump¬ 
tion of three pounds of corn meal or its 
equivalent in food of similar quality as 
to digestibility and nutriment; that four 
pounds of meal will be required for 
a pound of increase at six months ; four 
and a half pounds at 12 mouths ; five and 
a quarter pounds at 18 months ; and six 
pounds at two years. By judiciously gen¬ 
erous feeding a calf may be made to gain 
100 pounds in a mouth ; while a three- 
year-old animal consuming twice the food 
which supplies the calf, will increase only 
60 pounds in a month. 
There is no occasion to enforce the ap¬ 
plication of these facts ; they are sugges¬ 
tive enough to attract the attention of all 
those whom they may concern. But at 
this season when we are preparing to 
plant and sow our fields, it may be perti¬ 
nent to allude to the analogy which ex¬ 
ists between animal and vegetable life. 
The latter exists by food as much as the 
former, and the manner of growth in each 
is parallel with that of the other. The 
laws which control the healthful growth 
of an animal may well be applied to our 
culture of plants, and from the former 
we may learn that the early forcing of a 
crop may be done at the least cost. Our 
method of fertilizing, or feeding, crops may 
be open to the objection that we pour 
into a weak organization a vast surplus of 
food by which its growth is stunted, or 
we starve it by giving food as yet unfitted 
for its wants, or by neglecting to supply 
food at all. Generally the whole supply 
of fertilizers is added to the soil before 
the crop is planted. This must certainly 
be a wasteful practice, because active de¬ 
composition and diffusion are going on, 
when there is nothing in the shape of 
roots adequate for the utilization of the 
products. If we believe there is any anal¬ 
ogy existing between animal and plant 
growth, we should feed our crops accord¬ 
ingly. Let us apply barnyard manure 
before the planting, if we'will, because 
we cannot avoid that, and leave it to de¬ 
compose and become available as the 
roots may reach it; but we should apply 
some active fertilizer in the hill, or drill, 
or near the seed, in small quantity, suited 
to the feeding capacity of the young plant, 
and in quality fit for its actual need at 
tliiB period; and afterwards, as may be 
proper, add a further supply at each cul¬ 
tivation (of cultivated crops) to be worked 
into the soil or occassionally to be carried 
in by rains. In these limits the subject 
can only be hinted at, but it is presented 
as food for thought and a work for expe¬ 
riment. 
-» ♦ ♦- 
UNPRODUCTIVE CAPITAL. 
One of the most serious losses in farm¬ 
ing is from unproductive capital. Auctions 
have been rather plentiful this spring, as 
many farms have changed owners or 
have been rented, and at those which 
have come under our notice, the fact 
which has most impressed us has been 
the large amount of old traps, worthless 
for every practical purpose, but which 
insensibly accumulate on every long- 
occupied place. It is a good plan to sell 
off this stuff occasionally and turn it into 
money ; but buyers are rather shy of 
late years and not even long credits will 
tempt them to buy unproductive articles. 
Generally, those who do buy are the least 
thrifty farmers in the neighborhood, and 
they generally have more need to make 
an auction than to attend one. 
The trouble with farmers stocked with 
this idle capital is that they are usually 
the very ones who most need money to 
carry on their farms os they should. Not 
one farmer in fifty has working capital 
enough, and investing money in such a 
way that it will produce nothing is the 
sure way to keep in that condition. Ex¬ 
travagant expenditures are justly cen¬ 
surable ; but it is practically the same, 
so far as profit is concerned, if the farmer 
heavily in debt, keeps two or three super¬ 
numerary horses which he is not able to 
employ and which cost him fifty dollars a 
year above all that he can realize by 
using them, or invests seven hundred 
dollars in pianos, fine carriages and 
household luxuries. In the latter case 
he is presumably the gainer. He gets 
something for the money expended, and 
his family derive some pleasure and ad¬ 
vantage therefrom. Yet there is many a 
farmer who has several hundred dollars 
invested where it is practically of no value 
to anybody, who would be horrified at 
the idea of expending one-lialf or one- 
quarter the sum in ways that his family 
at least xvould appreciate. 
To make the best possible uses of his 
money is the necessity for all whose cap¬ 
ital is* deficient. Some years ago we knew 
a shrewd German who owned a valuable 
earling colt. He wished to keep it, but 
eing offered a fancy price, sold it and 
invested in a sow with pigs and a cow. 
He bred pigs for sale, and as the demand 
happened to be good, his profits on the 
l>igs and from the butter and milk of the 
cow were probably five times as great as 
they would have been on the colt. In a 
year or two he purchased a mare with 
foal, had for the time a more serviceable 
horse than the colt would have been, and 
was ready to make another payment on 
the place which he had bought. It is 
scarcely necessary to add that this man, 
though he bought when prices xvere high, 
is steadily making money. All successes 
in farming in these times must be wod by 
as shrewd aud close attention to details 
as is here recorded. Nothing is easier 
than by leaving a portion of a farmer’s 
capital entirely unproductive, to waste 
more than the small profits on the re¬ 
mainder. 
THE MILK QUESTION. 
The milk producer is a hardly used 
person. His reputation is held in ques¬ 
tion, if indeed he is not sot down as being’ 
no better than he should be by those self- 
constituted censors of public morals, the 
universal grumblers. His product is 
taxed by the public carrier and by the 
middlemen, of whom there are at least 
two, who come in between the producer 
and the consumer; and the latter fares 
unusually well if he is not defrauded by 
the considerable dilution of his daily sup¬ 
ply. Indeed, it may truly be said that 
the consumer shares with the producer 
the misfortune incident to his position, 
aud is alike the victim of the middlemen. 
For between the two, the difference of the 
two or two and a half cents per quart 
received by the one and the eight to ten 
cents paid by the other, is swallowed up 
by those who carry and distribute the 
milk. 
Thus the producer receives one-fourth 
of the final value of his product in pay¬ 
ment for his labor, the food consumed 
by his cows, the daily deterioration by 
age and otherwise of his stock, the cost 
of utensils and all the other necessary 
adjuncts of his business j while the mid¬ 
dlemen receive for their share the remain¬ 
ing three-fourths. Aud this plain fact 
certainly brings up the question as to the 
relative value of the services performed 
by each, and the inadequateness or ex¬ 
cessive amount of the compensation. 
There are other staple products besides 
milk that would offer equally interesting 
subjects for contemplation. 
-- - — 
THE GLADIOLUS. 
We should feel lost without the beau¬ 
tiful Gladiolus. It has been our favorite 
among flowers of its class ever since the 
first improvements were made by seed¬ 
ling cultivation twelve years ago. Then 
five dollars were not an exhorbitant price 
for a single bulb of a new sort and, in¬ 
deed, even now nearly that price is 
charged for the finest, latest varieties. 
But then high prices were paid freely, 
while now very few are sold for more than 
a dollar each. The climax of improve¬ 
ment has not yet been reached, however, 
in this charming flower; at least there is 
no doubt but that new colors and com¬ 
binations of color and new forms will yet 
be originated to maintain, for years to 
come, the intense interest which lovers of 
the Gladiolus have shown from the begin¬ 
ning. We were the first to tell, we be¬ 
lieve, of a light -blue variety which origi¬ 
nated on the grounds of a florist on Long 
Island, and was exhibited for a few 
days in this city. Several English jour¬ 
nals commented upon our statement as 
one which they could not credit. There 
were many others who saw the flowers, 
however, so that, sooner or later, we may 
count upon the remarkable addition of a 
blue variety. Double flowers, also, occur 
hero and there, though we have not heard 
of any instance in which they have been 
fixed or perpetuated by seedling cultiva¬ 
tion ; aud judging from the double flow¬ 
ers which have occurred among our col¬ 
lection, such a variety would prove no 
great acquisition. It does not seem to 
us that the Gladiolus can be improved by 
such a change. 
There is no better time than from now 
until the first of May to plant the bulbs, 
though for succession of bloom they may 
be planted as late as the first of July, 
and still bloom before frosts severe 
enough to harm them. 
To those of our friends who have never 
cultivated the finer varieties of Gladioli— 
which we should prefer to the Lily, were 
their flowers as delightfully fragrant, 
— we would mention the following as 
being among the finest, and yet of a com¬ 
paratively low price: Mary Stewart— 
Princess Alice — Sliakspeaxe — Addison. 
If a yellow is desired, Eldorado is as good 
as any. 
WORK AND PLEASURE. 
It is not uncommon for those who have 
much work to do to complain that they 
have little or no time for enjoyment. 
This is especially time of the young. The 
very name of play or pleasure has a mag¬ 
ical transforming power. That name 
makes toilsome pastime a delight; while 
the idea of work often makes the easiest 
tasks seem oppressive. It is not to be 
denied that there is wisdom in proper 
recreation and diversion for the laborer. 
They are necessary to keep up the spirits 
and maintain somewhat of the charm of 
freshness in one’s occupation, whatever 
it may be. It is well, now and then, to 
“ lay down the shovel and the hoe,” and 
turn the mind away to the quiet scenes 
of the home and to the exhilarating plea¬ 
sures of a holiday. 
But very unfortunate are they—young 
or old—whose real enjoyment is limited 
to those rare occasions when work is, for 
a while, relinquished, and so-called plea¬ 
sure is sought in extraordinary ways. 
Now, we are so constituted that, under 
the law of habit and the peculiar effect 
of conscious usefulness and promising 
engagements, we may come to love our 
work and find in its legitimate prosecution 
the veiy essence of contentment, hope 
and joy. To work with the right purpose 
and in the right way is to convert work 
into pleasure. What a fortune is pos¬ 
sessed by the man that has attained to 
that desirable experience ! His work¬ 
days are more than holidays; for they 
add to the pleasure of the common holi¬ 
days the cheering assurance of gain and 
progress. 
Glucose in Sugars.—The sugar re¬ 
finers are all of them now making grades 
of crushed and granulated sugars pur¬ 
posely adulterated with about ten per 
cent, of glucose or “corn sugar,” a sort 
of sugar made by a chemical process from 
corn-starch, and costing about five eentH 
a pound. The glucose is only about one- 
half as sweet as cane sugar 1 ; but, when 
properly made, it is just as wholesome, 
and as good in all other respects. As the 
mixture of this with refined cane sugars 
is usually for the purpose of undersell¬ 
ing, the refiners do not make a great 
profit out of it; and although the retail¬ 
ers in many cases keep the price up, at 
least at first, competition there also tends 
to force down prices bo that profits are 
equalized. But consumers ought to kuow 
the fact of this admixture of an inferior 
sugar with that which they have hereto¬ 
fore been using. Detection of the fraud 
by ordinary inspection is difficult, yet the 
glucose sugars are usually damper and 
somewhat * * off-color, ’' compared with pure 
cane sugars. When buyers understand 
the matter, and insist either upon pure 
sugars or a less price for that which is so 
mixed, the temptation to the adulteration 
will be greatly lessened. 
---- 
BREVITIES. 
Mr. Evans writes to us: “I, too, think the 
Plymouth Rocks the general-purpose fowls.” 
We wish we had iu our N. Y. Horticultural 
Society a little more of the vim, earnestness, 
generosity and ability that characterize the 
directorship of the Mass. Hort. Society. 
Dana’s Hovey is one of the very best of Win¬ 
ter Pears, the only objection to it being that 
it is rather small. It is of a bright yellow 
color when ripe, with a little cinuamon russet. 
The flesh is buttery and melting and of finest 
quality. 
To play is to labor. It is pleasant because 
it is the work of our choice. The great prob¬ 
lem is to make all work play—then Jack will 
never be a dull boy. There is just so much 
work for everybody to do. Let us do it in accor¬ 
dance with the moral and physical laws of our 
being—and it will be as play. 
Is it not remarkable that statements so dia¬ 
metrically opposed should be made by those 
who have tested the value of Prickly Comfrey ? 
The present season will unquestionably deter¬ 
mine who is right. If it appears that this plant 
possess any especial claims to cultivation, we 
shall doubt if it be safe to express an opinion, 
no matter how well it may bo supported by 
our carofulest tests. 
Col. Weld tells the writer that he consid¬ 
ers the Plymouth Rock the earliest to mature 
of any of the thoroughbreds, but that the off¬ 
spring of a cross between a P. R. cock and 
Asiatic hens will prove decidedly earlier than 
the Plymouth Rocks. This be knows from his 
own experience. It is a hit of valuable infor¬ 
mation for those who raise fowls and eggs for 
market. 
From all over the country come cheering ac¬ 
counts of reviving business and easier times. 
True it is, these accouuts corne chiefly from 
middlemen—from store-keepers, wholesale or 
retail—but the middleman must "feel good” 
before either the producer or consumer can ex¬ 
pect to realize a satisfactory profit. That, ac¬ 
cording to his own account, he “feels good" 
to-day, is a hopeful sign that ids victi—his cus¬ 
tomers may “ leel good” to-morrow, or perhaps 
the day after, or at any rate some time in the 
not very distant future. 
Mr. Haines says that the Raspberry, “ Pride 
of the Hudson," has not proved as hardy as it 
was at first thought would prove to be the case. 
Protection helps it. We are sorry if this re¬ 
port should be the average report for this cli¬ 
mate, for one reason, if for no other, that hun¬ 
dreds of plants have been purchased under the 
belief that it would prove hardy. VV r e find that 
the word ‘ hardy ’ Is an exceedingly meaningless 
word as applied to Raspberries! in general, and 
to the red varieties in particular. We have 
not a single plaut in our collection that has 
not been harmed by the past winter. 
Prof. Law agrees with the Rural that other 
parts of the country, especially the West, 
should be willing to pay a part of the cost of 
stamping out pleuro-pueumonia in the Eastern 
States. The reasons lie gives therefor are the 
same as previously ^tated here—that our for¬ 
eign cattle trade benefited mainly the West; 
that its speedy resumption would therefore be 
specially beneficial to that region ; that in case 
of the spread of the disease to the unfenced 
plains there, the losses would he enormous ; 
that the stamping out of the malady here 
would bo a benefit to the entire country, and 
that the entire country therefore should be 
willing to pay for the blessing, those parts 
paying the most which derive the greatest 
advantage from it. 
A new oil-cake, prepared from the seed of 
the sunflower, has been introduced into Den¬ 
mark and Sweden and meets with decided ap¬ 
proval. " LTgeakrift for Landmamd,” a week¬ 
ly Danish agricultural paper, gives the results 
of analyses by Prof. lfergstrand of Stockholm 
and Dr. Wolff of Germany, which show it to 
be rich in albuminoids, fat and carbo-hydrates. 
It is also stated that the proportionate value 
ot rape-cakes, linseed-cakes and sunflower- 
cakes is much in favor ot the Jast, it being 
both cheaper and more nutritive. Thus wheu 
a given weight of rape-cakes is worth ¥7, the 
same quantity of sunflower-cakes will he worth 
$8.18. Feeding experiments in Sweden with 
this new product show thut the cattle will eat 
it greedily, that, It increases both the quantity 
and richness of the milk, and that the butter 
from 6uch milk is of the best quality. 
A bill introduced into the U. 8. 8enate ap¬ 
propriates <$250,000 for the purpose of stamp¬ 
ing out contagious diseases among cattle in 
this country. It proposes to investigate all 
coutagious maladies among stock, slaughter all 
auimals infected with pleuropneumonia and 
take prompt and vigorous measures tor eradi¬ 
cating this standing menace to our vast cattle 
interests. Some sticklers for State rights 
doubted as to the constitutionality of au act 
empowering the general government to inter¬ 
fere iu measures, the adoption of which, ac¬ 
cording to them, properly belongs to the States 
individually, and so the bill was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture, with instructions 
to report It promptly. A month ago we point¬ 
ed out editorially the justice and necessity of 
6 uch a measure, and we trust that no Quixotic 
scruples as to 8tate rights will be permitted to 
delay its speedy adoption. 
The heavy emigration of the Southern ne¬ 
groes to the West is pretty certain to result iu 
not a little temporaiy distress to the " whites" 
of the abandoned regions and to the emi¬ 
grants themselves. If the former are "plant¬ 
ers"—the aristocratic Southern equivalent of 
"farmers"—they will lose by untilled Acids, 
ungathcred crops, empty purses and general 
out-door and iu-door thriftlessness; and if they 
are store-keepers, they will suffer from the 
lesson that the absence of competition cannot 
always justify the exaction of exhorbitant 
profits even from “niggers.” The improvi¬ 
dent and impecunious emigrants will have to 
endure the hardships that ulways await upon 
the advent of the penny less new-comer in any 
frontier region, aud these hardships will be 
aggravated by disappointment at the downfall 
of the bright hopes whose only foundation lay 
in his own ignorance or credulity. But the 
Caucasian auu Negro are likely to be benefited 
by the movement in the long run, the former 
by the lesson that forbearance aud honesty are 
more profitable to their owner in the end than 
iutollerauoc aud chicanery, and the latter by 
the higher manhood that is always developed 
by the necessity for provident labor aud a sense 
of independence. 
