642 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. 
CONDUCTED BY 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
78 Duane Street, New York City. 
SATURDAY, SEPT. 20. 1879. 
OUR RIVALS IN THE MEAT SUPPLY. 
Hitherto the United Kingdom has been 
almost the only European market for our 
live stock and fresh meat exports, al¬ 
though many Continental countries have 
been good customers of ours for bacon, 
hams, salted meats, lard and other ani¬ 
mal products, and in the absence of 
hostile legislation, it is by no means im¬ 
probable that we may ere long find more 
than one profitable market for our fresh 
meat supply on the Continent also. If 
we could secure a monopoly of the British 
market, however, we might rest content 
for a few years. According to the returns 
of the Board of Trade the following im¬ 
ports in this line were made into England 
during the seven months ending July 31, 
1879, as compared with the years 1877 
and 1878. 
1877. 
1878. 
1879. 
Oxen aud Bulls . 
74.684 
104.602 
98.018 
Cows. 
16.913 
19.227 
15.480 
Calves. 
21.560! 
17.350 
26.144 
Sheep and Lambs... 
616.7721 
490.194 
533.773 
Swine. 
9.293] 
27.186 
32.67 U 
Ham.. 
owts. 
264.4361 
499.687 
626.943 
Bacon. 
M 
1.474.811 
a .206 401 
2.511.693 
Pork, salted......... 
•• fresh .. 
*« 
222.907;. 
!!«1 ,317 
266.806 
7.299| 
8 , 137 
26.509 
131.659 
Beef, salted . 
<4 
139.439 
161.610 
“ freah or sliGrbUy, 
361.802 
salted . 
cwts. 
337.3 X 0 
320.899 
Other meat, l resh. . 
“ 
65.371 
75.709, 
77.334 
“ “ preserved 
41 
267.311 
215.8131 
310.4.97 
Lard . 
415.231 
680.361 
494.403 
Tallow . 
“ 
801,1601 
598.122, 
610.328 
To the ordinary man statistics are rath¬ 
er dry reading, but even to the most 
ordinary man the figures at the foot of 
his bank account are seldom without some 
interest, and to every owner of a head of 
stock in this country, the figures in the 
above table should possess a somewhat 
analogous interest, inasmuch as the de¬ 
mand they set forth, affects to a greater or 
less extent the money value of his posses¬ 
sion, and therefore the sum of his wealth. 
They represent for the first seven months 
of this year, an outlay of £13,590,507 or 
805,768,053, by far the greater part of 
which was paid for our stock products, 
not only affording us a profitable foreign 
market* for our surplus wares, but also 
enhancing the price of similar goods sold 
here, by preventing a glut iu the home 
markets by the outlet thus opened for our 
superabundant products. 
Time was, and not very long ago, too, 
when a nation having obtained or made a 
good market for its wares, kept exclusive 
control of it by the strong hand, regard¬ 
less alike of the welfare of its customers 
and of the claims of its rivals. It was 
this principle that induced England to 
impose on the commerce of her American 
colonies the restrictions that led to the in¬ 
dependence of this country, and it was 
also this principle that spurred her on to 
the career of unscrupulous aggrandise¬ 
ment in Asia, w hich has made her mistress 
of the vast empire of India. Now-a-days, 
however, nearly every market in the world 
is open to the* traders of the world, with 
a few provisos, in the shape of import 
duties, in each country in favor of the 
native producers. Accordingly we shall 
have to exert our best efforts to maintain 
or increase our trade, notin Great Britaiu 
alone, but in every country that may need 
the goods a surplus of which we may 
have for sale. This is equally true with 
regard to our manufactures, our cereals 
and our stock products. 
In these last our thief competitors in the 
British markets are a few of the neigh¬ 
boring Continental countries whose herds 
have hitherto remained free from pleuro¬ 
pneumonia and other contagious diseases, 
and which, therefore, have not been 
“ scheduled ” as we and most European 
countries have been. The following iB 
an approximate statement of the popula¬ 
tion and stock of those that contribute to 
any considerable extent to the meat sup¬ 
ply of England: 
Population. Cattle. Sheep. Swine. 
i noi zjut I Cl (117 'Uf 
8 pain 
Norway* Sweeden 
Denmark. 
| 16,921)506 
6,011,276 
I 2,032,300 
9,017.348 
3.196,000 
1,236,000 
1,976,269 
3,450,000 
1,921,000 
150,000 
887,000 
In these countries, especially in Spain, 
meat is very rarely eaten by the lower 
classes and, therefore, although their 
supply is but small in comparison with 
that of other lands, yet they can spare a 
considerable annual proportion for ship¬ 
ment. abroad, while their proximity to 
market gives them great advantages over 
remoter regions. There is little doubt, 
however, but that the enormous resources 
of some of these will soon be utilized in 
the European markets. The figures in 
the following table have been carefully 
checked with the latest statistics furnished 
by the shelves of the Astor Library of this 
city and with other accessible information, 
and are as nearly correct as it is possible 
to make them with our present imperfect 
knowledge of the resources of some of the 
countries mentioned: 
United States. 
ArsreutineConfederation 
Australia & New Zealand 
UrtiKuy... 
Canada. 
Population. Neat Cattle. Sheet'. 
48,000^000 
2.000,000 
2.124,000 
430.000 
4,250.000 
29.327.000 
14,500,0441 
6 . 100,000 
5,1100, Of 10 
2,750.000 
35,789,000 
759HUI.04KI 
63.497,000 
10 , 000,000 
3,250.000 
There are several other countries also 
possessed of vast, herds of semi-wild cat¬ 
tle, such as Brazil and Cape Colony, but 
even an approximate estimate cannot be 
formed of their number, as nothing like 
a census has ever been taken of the 
roaming herds. Here there lias "been 
room only for a glance at the chief mar¬ 
ket for our meat supply and at the rivals 
wo must discomfit there. 
-♦♦♦- 
HONESTY THE BEST POLICY. 
Hard times may tempt one to stretch 
the boundary of honesty, and the dairy¬ 
man who is forced to accept, l£ cent per 
quart for his milk may think it no blame 
to take off some of the cream, if he does 
not drop a lump of ice into the can to en¬ 
sure the sweetness of the contents on its 
arrival at market. But it is poor policy 
to meet low prices by low quality. We 
have a marked example of the evil of such 
a method in the present position of the 
English nation. Heretofore, ruling the 
world iu commerce, the English people 
have become adepts in adulteration, so 
that even the “ Heathen Chinee ” has be¬ 
come disgusted w ith the English calicos, 
of which four-fifths of the weight and 
bulk are made up of sour flour-starch 
and potato gum. Recently an export 
trade of baled manure to Holland has 
sprung up from England, and the Dutch 
farmers have found that the bales have 
been made up of rotten straw and decayed 
leaves from the woods. The demoraliza¬ 
tion wliieh comes upon the adulterator is 
complete. We have seen something of it 
in this country, where the slumming of milk 
has injured the cheese dairy business 
greatly, but on the whole, so far, as a 
people, we are free from any great iniquity 
in this respect. Let ua keep our hands 
clean ; with honesty in business, w'e shall 
soon have the world’s trade in our hands. 
No other country enjoys such an outlook 
as the United States, and having made a 
reputation for honesty in business, let us 
strive to keep it. 
THE GREAT PANICLED HYDRANGEA. 
We have just measured one of the 
largest panicles of this now popular 
plant, and find it to be 32 inches in cir- 
cumfereuceat the base, and 11 iuelies from 
base to apex. It is worthy of note, that 
young plants blooming the first season, 
will produce larger panicles than older 
ones. The old plants should, therefore, 
be treated the same as currant bushes, 
cutting out a large share of the oldest 
canes or stems each fall or spring. These 
Bhrubs may in three years be trained into 
standards or little trees that are remark¬ 
ably odd and showy. We have fouud it 
during six winters perfectly hardy, the 
main stem increasing yearly in size until 
it reaches a diameter of six inches. To 
form standards, therefore, it is only ne¬ 
cessary to cut off the low er branches. An 
objection to this Hydrangea as a shrub 
is, that the flowering branches are not 
strong enough to support the weight of 
the panicles, so that many of them bend 
over and rest upon the ground. As stand¬ 
ards, this objection would in a measure 
be removed. The branches would bend 
over all the same, but they could not 
reach the ground, and a pendulous habit 
would be given to the little trees. 
GOOD RESULTS. 
One of our contributors writes ns : 
“ ‘Good Results,’ I heard that expres¬ 
sion many times at a late farmers’ meet¬ 
ing. “ Good results” had followed various 
modes of farming and the use of various 
fertilizers. But when I sought for accu¬ 
rate experiments, no one had made them. 
No one knew how r much wheat a dollar’s 
worth of superphosphate produced, or 
how much milk aud manure a dollar’s 
worth of shorts would give. Hence, the 
great value of the experiments now T mak¬ 
ing aud already made on The Rural 
Farm and Grounds, aud on my farm aud 
elsewhere where accuracy is secured and 
experiments are not mixed so as to con¬ 
fuse or mislead.” 
Taking our hint from the above letter, 
we shall have more to say about “ Good 
Results ” in due time. 
BREVITIES. 
Store potatoes in a dark, cool place, and in 
shallow bins. 
A better understanding is needed between 
farmers and millers. 
The Prairie Farmer says that Western farm¬ 
ers have become crazy over wheat. 
Leave all winter pears on the tree as long as 
there is no danger of severe frosts. 
Professor Riley doesn’t seem in any haste 
to ’‘own up” about weevil-eaten peas. 
Many farmers who use plaster have found its 
good effects more apparent when salt is added. 
Extract from Catalogue of the New York 
State Fair: “ Class V. Farm Produce: Bal- 
mnral Petticoats! ” 
Take the topmost ear of corn for seed, and 
select it from those stalks which bear the 
greatest number of ears. 
T. T. Eton says that be knows no better 
way to treat the Peach Yellows than to ex¬ 
terminate the tree, root and branch. 
Corn stalks and leaves are more nutritious 
if cut green. Much is lost if the shocks are 
permitted to remain until late in the year. 
Josiah IIoopes says, that if he were restrict¬ 
ed to one small tree, he should certainly feel 
tempted to select Soulange's purple Magnolia. 
From many different parts of the country, 
correspondents tell us that the Acme tomato 
has rotted more than other sorts—sorry to 
hear it. 
In the Nor tliwest there is some fear as to the 
safety of the corn crop. Jack Frost has made 
bis unwelcome appearance in a large number 
of places at least two weeks earlier tkau last 
year. 
Mr. Meehan grew ADgilops ovata for two 
successive years without noting the slightest 
tend'*ncy to become wheat, lienee he con¬ 
cludes that wheat would as soon turn to chess 
as this grass to wheat. 
The editor of (lie Rural Home thinks the 
Souvenir du Congres Pear the largest, most 
beautiful and most delicious of the summer 
varieties—strong praise. We thought the 
quality only moderate. 
Our Market Reports this week should be 
interesting reading to our farmers, inasmuch 
as they show a decided upward movement iu 
the prices of most of their chief products, and 
an upward tendency In nearly all. 
Applicants for seeds arc requested not to 
stick their stamps to the letters. This prac¬ 
tice causes us much trouble and the stamps 
are often destroyed in the attempt to sever 
them from the paper. Leave them loose in the 
letters. 
If strawberry beds are to be protected this 
winter, it is of importance that the material 
used should not cover the soil with seeds. 
Probably straw or even the leaves and small 
stalks of corn are as good as anything that can 
be used. 
We are now shipping nearly asmueh wheat to 
Continental Europeas to Great Britain. During 
the week before last we sent 2,848,000 bushels 
to the former against 2,850,000 bushels to the 
latter, to say nothing of unusually heavy 
shipments of wheal flour. 
The hens at Rural Grounds are all con¬ 
fined in picket iuelosures—ten to an area of 
about 80 feel square. We give a teaspoouful 
of ground hone or bone flour every two or 
three days mixed iu their food. We have 
never yet found a thin-shelled egg. 
Alt, of our writers or frieuds who have auy 
valuable information respecting potatoes, 
will oblige us by commuuicating such 
information now. We are preparing our Po¬ 
tato Number and desire to make it as inter¬ 
esting aud iuetruetive as possible. 
Mr. Vick says that every farmer should 
have a supply ot Willows for binding, such as 
are now used for binding bundles of trees. 
For binding cornstalks, straw and for many 
other purposes, they will be tound of great 
value when their utility is once known. 
Save the potato seed. We do not mean the 
tubers , but the seeds within ttie balls or fruit. 
It is from these that new varieties are produc¬ 
ed. They may be planted in the greenhouse or 
a sunny window now. Little tubers will have 
formed ere another planting season rolls round. 
Here agriculture is pulling the nation out 
of the Slough of Despond and all its financial 
difficulties ; in England a revival in manufac¬ 
tures is promising to help farmers a little aud 
the country a good deal. We are a nation of 
farmers; England, a nation of mechanics aud 
shop-keepers. 
The present prospects are that we shall have 
a surplus of from 160 to 175 million bushels of 
wheat tor exportation; aud that the wheat¬ 
importing countries iu Europe will require 
from 280 to 800 million bushels, so that there 
is a fair inargiu for the surplus products of 
other nations also. 
California, so long exempt from the Cod¬ 
ling moth, has now au opportunity of testing 
the effectiveness of the bands now used in the 
East for subduing this pest. If effective here, 
California should be able by their use to keep 
it in subjeetiou there—and “a stitch in time 
will save nine.’’ 
Anti-rent and anti-landlord agitation is 
spreading in Ireland, while danger of another 
famine, threatens that distracted country. On 
Thursday last Mr. Mitebel Henry, Member of 
Parliament, declared that if the government 
left the people without relief for the winter, 
it would be held responsible for a repetition 
of the Irish famine of 1848. 
Tue last Eugliah advices estimate that from 
128 to 144 million bushels of foreign wheat 
will be needed to eke out the scanty domestic 
supply. On the first of September, 15,(530,568 
bushels of wheat were on passage to that coun¬ 
try against 8,816.080 bushels at the same time 
last year. "Wheat is slowly rising in price there 
and Indian corn sinking nearly in proportion. 
Pick grapes when fully ripe and during 
pleasant weather. Leave them undercover 
for a week or so until dry. Pack in shallow 
boxes, six inches or less in depth, a foot long. 
Cut out all imperfect., decayed, dry or green 
berries. Pack as closely as possible without 
injuring them and then nail on the covers. 
Then they should be placed in a cool, dry 
room. 
Some people—many, indeed—have no faith 
m lightning-rods. During a very severe night- 
storm which occurred last week, a house near 
ns was struck by lightning. It struck the tin 
leader, shattering a shingle or so, and passed 
down the leader, which ended in a hogshead 
of water. It may be that the tin leader saved 
the house by answering the purpose of a light¬ 
ning rod. 
TnERE are few plants more brilliant—more 
beautiful, at this season of the year, or at any 
season, than the Cardinal Flower—Lobelia 
cardinulis. This Is found in low grounds, but 
thrives just as well iu any garden soil if a lit¬ 
tle shaded during the hottest part of the day. 
It i» said to vary to roue-color and even to 
white. Wc have failed In endeavors to procure 
any but the brilliant scarlet. 
The immigration into this country for the 
first six months of the present year amounted 
to52.284 against 87,919 for the same time last 
year—a pretty sure sign that “hard times” 
elsewhere are. worse than here. Germany 
sent more of the newcomers than any other 
country; then came Ireland. England, Italy. 
Switzerland, Russia, Seotlaud and France. Of 
them 80 per cent landed at this port. 
Owing to the great Iosb of hay by wet 
weather in England this seuson, much atten¬ 
tion has been aroused to the advantage of dry¬ 
ing the product, artificially. It is asserted on 
all hands, or nearly so, that artificially-dried 
liay is worth half asmueh again as the sun- 
dried article, and tenant farmers are now agi¬ 
tating to compel landlords to purchase the 
necessary apparatus to be hired to the tenants, 
as its purchase would cost too much for the 
latter. 
For hedges we know of no more ornamental 
and effectual plaut than the Japan Quince. 
Choose the white, rose and deep-red for colors. 
This will bear pruning to any desired extent 
while its leaves are of the grecuest and firmest 
of textures. In early spring, no other hedge 
would equal it iu beauty. It. is very hardy and, 
though uot au evergreen of course, its bare 
branches in winter can scarcely look more 
dreary thuu the lifeless-brown color of Arbor- 
vitaes. 
Unless the mangels are to be stored in the 
cellar or outhouses, we must provide a recep¬ 
tacle for them outside. Shallow pits may be 
dug in any dry place and a eauvas covering 
or boards"placed over them until the weather 
becomes cold, Then corn-stalks, sea-weed, or 
salt-hay may be thrown over the boards. A 
covering of earth would answer—light at first 
and thicker as winter advances. Thus all 
danger from heating, by this progressive pro¬ 
tection, will be avoided. 
Spring bulbs, such as Hyacinths, Tulips, 
Crocus, etc., are now offered for sale, by most 
of our seedsmen. Judging by those we have 
seen, the crop is of unusuul excellence, aud 
seems rather to have been benefited by the wet 
weather which bus prevailed in Holland as well 
as in other parts of Continental Europe and 
England. No other plants so much beautify 
the spring garden. Plant from four to six 
inches deep in mellow, rich soil. They may be 
set out now or later, bo long as the ground is 
not hard frozen Any of our seedsmen will 
furnish catalogues of spring bulbs upon appli¬ 
cation. 
“ Ouh country is full of poor miuieters and 
poorer lawyers, aud shockingly poor doctors, 
who ought to have been good shoemakers aud 
farmers, who reached their present and un¬ 
profitable station by aiming too high.” Thus 
speaks the New Hampshire Mirror aud Farmer. 
• Isn’t that a mistake?” asks Dr. Hoskins in 
the Vermont Watchman. “ Didn’t they aim 
too low ? But if they aimed too high in try¬ 
ing to be professional men, would it not have 
been a fault in them to have, aimed still higher 
by trying to be farmers ? For it takes a great 
deal more brain* and energy to be a successful 
farmer than to succeed In professional life, 
according to our observation aud experience.” 
It is gratifying to note that some people are 
as enthusiastic over farming as others are over 
special hobbies. In this connection one of our 
good friends writes us as followsI never 
was so enthusiastic about my own farming as 
now. I am determined to make mine in time 
the model farm of this region, if the Lord con¬ 
tinues to give me excellent health. I would 
not for anything have men point at my farm 
and Bay “ he underdrains and writes for the 
papers, and tells other folks how to farm, but he 
doesn't, farm himself." * * * * 'This fall I 
Intend to inuke a number of accurate experi¬ 
ments (ihe only kind of any value) on manures 
aud fertilizers of various kinds and on differ¬ 
ent varieties of seed and modes of culture. 
Such experiments will cost lime, trouble and 
money, but will be of value.” 
England, as well as the South, is uot a little 
disquited at the prospect of a pretty heavy “Ex¬ 
odus.” Iler’s is au agricultural one, too ; but 
instead of the ignorant, impecunious field 
hands who are leaving the Southern cotton 
fluids in search of a Promised Land beyond the 
Mississippi, it is her sturdy farmers with some 
capital in their pockets aud brains under their 
hats that are turniug their broad backs upon 
the Mother Country. The first considerable 
batch of them arrived here, mainly from York¬ 
shire and Durham, early last week, and start¬ 
ed by steamer tor Texas on Wednesday. A 
little energetic forethought on the part of 
some ol the Southern States might direct 
southward a good deal of tills valuable stream 
of Immigration. Several of the Western States 
have already sent agents here to explain to the 
newcomers the superior advantages of their 
own localities; but we have yet to hear ot a 
Southern State that has moved iu the matter. 
