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6 
THE 
RURAL- NEW-YORKER. 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
E. 8. CARMAN, 
Editor. 
J. 8. WOODWARD, 
Associate. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1886. 
Subscribers of the Rural need never take 
the trouble to write us to "stop" the paper. 
It is invariably discontinued at the expir¬ 
ation of the. subscription term, except by 
oversight, in which case it is our loss. 
Sir John B. Lawes favors us with an 
article regarding the Composition of the 
Ash of the Potato, which we reserve for 
our next Potato Special, soon to appear. 
If the number on your address label is 
1884, your subscription expires with this 
number; if 1885, next week; 1880, in two 
weeks, etc. 
Robert Douglas, the veteran nursery¬ 
man of Waukegan, Ills., writes, in answer 
to our question: “We cannot succeed 
with the American Chestnut here, for 
which reason we have never tried the 
Japan.” _ _ 
In the course of a few weeks, we shall 
complete our account of the Rural’s hy¬ 
brid wheat and rye varieties, with illus¬ 
trations. The concluding article will 
speak only of those plants which most 
resemble rye. 
. ' ■ ■ 
Sir J. B. Lawes says that the differ¬ 
ence in the forms in which potash, phos¬ 
phoric acid and nitrogen are met with, 
greatly affects their value. The present 
method of analyzing manures does not 
properly recognize these distinctions, and 
the valuations founded upon these analyses 
are altogether false and erroneous. Thus, 
it would appear, our farmers are placing 
quite too much confidence in the reports 
of the chemists of our agricultural experi¬ 
ment stations. 
A friend in Pennsylvania (post-mark 
and name illegible") advises us to be care¬ 
ful about commending the Japan Chest¬ 
nut too highly. He ha-s a number of trees 
seven years old, that have not yet fruited. 
The tallest is seven feet high and six- 
inches in circumference—“a pretty little 
tree” he says. With him the trees are. 
apt to grow too late in the Fall, so that 
the wood does not mature. We are. 
anxious to give both sides as to the Japan 
Chestnut. In the above case, is our 
friend quite positive that his trees are not 
the Spanish Chestnut? 
A cotton-picking machine was tried 
at the Cotton Exchange last Tuesday, and 
gave great satisfaction. The annual cost 
of picking cotton is put at $40,000,000, 
or one-sixth of the value of the crop. 
Should the machine prove successful in 
field operations, it is thought that at least 
half this sum will be saved; and the more 
perfect it may be made, the greater will 
be the saving. It is now nearly three 
years since we first announced this inven¬ 
tion; improvements have since been made 
in it; but it does not appear that it has 
ever been practically used in field work. 
It has taken years, however, to perfect 
some of our most valuable inventions. 
At Burlington, Vt., a company was or¬ 
ganized and a factory built last Summer 
for the extraction of milk sugar from whey. 
Contracts have been made with farmers 
of the neighborhood to send their milk to 
cheese factories to supply the company 
with whey for five years. Prof. Sabin, of 
the State" University of Vermont, is re¬ 
ported to be making contracts with West¬ 
ern fanners for larger supplies of whey 
than can be supplied by small New Eng¬ 
land factories. This is a more profitable 
use for whey than feeding it to hogs, and 
we rejoice at every discovery by which 
the value of any product of the farm is 
increased. 
Five different breeds of poultry are 
illustrated on our first page. Which 
would you select? All have good points 
and would give satisfaction if carefully 
handled. Wyandottes and Plymouth 
Rocks unquestionably enjoy the benefit 
of the “boom” just now; but all the breeds 
have staunch defenders. It is safe enough 
to say that any of the groups shown in 
the picture, placed in the farm-yard and 
given a fair chance, would, in two years, 
completely change the color and char¬ 
acter of any flock. All the farmer would 
be called upon to do would be to provide 
warm quarters, give plenty of feed, and 
industriously make “fried chicken” of all 
mongrel roosters. Is there any American 
farmer who cannot do that? 
SPECIAL. 
Those who, having applied for the 
Rural’s present seed distribution prior 
to February 20th, have not yet received 
it (Canada subscribers excepted), will 
kindly notify us by postal. 
Storrs, Harrison &Co., of Paines- 
ville, 0., write us that the Japan and 
Spanish Chestnut trees are so unlike, both 
in leaf and wood, that they can readily 
be distinguished by either. They use the 
American Chestnut to graft on. Why is 
the American preferred to the Japan for 
stocks? Mr. Harrison writes us that the 
shoots of the Spanish trees are thick and 
stubbed and the buds and leaves partake 
of the same characteristics. The shoots 
of the Japan are invariably smaller, and 
the leaves, though long, are not as broad 
or thick. Mr. II. has never, in an exper¬ 
ience of 20 years, met with a Spanish Chest¬ 
nut as sweet as the Japan, the skin under 
the shell being bitter and astringent. 
When the skin is removed, the meat is not 
sweet. While there is a trace of bitter¬ 
ness in the Japan eaten with the skin on, 
when the skin is removed the meat is 
nearly as sweet as that of the American 
and, Mr. Harrison concludes, “we be¬ 
lieve with you that the Japan Chestnut is 
a grand, good thing.” The upshot of this 
is that our friends, in ordering trees, must 
be careful to obtain the Japan. The 
Spanish, besides the inferiority of its nuts 
in quality, is not hardy in this climate. 
♦ ♦- 
Of how much value are the reports of 
analyses of chemical fertilizers made by 
Stations? It. is a growing question and 
one which should he understood by far¬ 
mers. The analyses determine the strength 
of a fertilizer—that is well known. But 
they do not determine the value of the 
strength. According to the present 
method, as we understand it, the Station 
analysis always tells us what it may he 
worth, but the actual value depends upon 
whether the ingredients used to make the 
the fertilizer are derived from one set of 
materials or another. To put it in a plain 
way; Here are two samples which analyze 
just alike and are so valued by the chem¬ 
ist . Nevertheless, the one may be worth, 
agriculturally, twice as much as the other. 
This being so, here is what we cannot 
understand: Why don’t the fertilizers of 
fraudulent manufacturers analyze to show 
a far higher value than they do? Why 
don't they avail themselves of this tempt¬ 
ing margin to counterfeit the first-class 
article more nearly? Ah, please, explain 
this. 
There are greenhouses near New York, 
covering less than half an acre, that pay 
their owners far more profit than many a 
large farm. Single roses frequently sell 
for more than a farmer can get for a 
bushel of wheat. The florist works as 
hard at his business as the farmer does a* 
his, but it is study and close observation 
instead of hard physical labor that enable 
him to make one square rod of land do the 
work of an acre under ordinary cultiva¬ 
tion. It has been proved, time and again, 
of every business under the sun, that one 
raau can do but a certain amount of work. 
The more he condenses and pushes that 
work, the greater the result will be. The 
more he scatters and spreads his work, the 
less will he accomplish. There are two 
ways of looking at the fact that a rose in 
New York brings as much as a bushel of 
wheat in Kansas. We may envy our more 
fortunate brother his location and knowl¬ 
edge, and write another chapter on our 
own “hard luck, ”or we may look about and 
see whether there is not a chance for us 
to condense our work. Are we not. trying 
to farm too much land, to feed too much 
stock and make ourselves so busy that we 
have no time for the family? Think of 
this before you buy more land. An 
American farmer can be far more inde¬ 
pendent on a 40-acre farm than dozens of 
the little kings and princes of Europe. 
NO DELAY! 
Let it be remembered that the bill in¬ 
troduced into Congress by Senator James 
F. Wilson, of Iowa, doubles the present 
rate of postage on seeds, plants and all 
other fourth-class matter. The present, 
rate is 10 cents per pound; the rate was 
eight cents a pound before 1872. In Can¬ 
ada, it is now only four cents a pound, 
and the United States’ charges are only 
at that rate on all seeds, etc., mailed in 
Canada; so that the Government, even 
now, charges its own citizens four times 
as much for its postal facilities on this 
class of goods as it charges outsiders. 
In England, the rate is six cents per 
pound on packages not exceeding one 
pound, and lowvr rates on heavier pack¬ 
ages. In other countries also, the charges 
are less than they are here. Cheap post¬ 
age on this class of goods is everywhere 
else regarded as a public benefit. It is 
looked upon in the same light in this 
country by the people at large who have 
to pay for it. It is not a godsend to the 
express companies, however, and the 
attempt to increase the charges is made ex¬ 
clusively for the benefit of these extortion¬ 
ers, to enable them to increase the profits 
on their watered stock by fleecing the 
public. It is a petty business for a Sen¬ 
ator of the United States, an aspirant for 
the Presidency, to become the mouth¬ 
piece, the willing tool of these corpor¬ 
ations, to the injury of the public at large. 
We earnestly urge all our readers to 
write at once, to the Senators from their 
respective States and the Representatives 
from their respective districts vigorously 
protesting against the proposed change, 
and urging that if any change is to be 
made, it should be to eight cents a pound, 
the rate in force hero before 1872, or, 
better, to four cents a pound, the rate 
now in force in the Dominion. The 
farmers of the country have no lobby in 
Washington to look after their interests; 
the greater the need that they should fre¬ 
quently impress their wishes through the 
mail on their representatives in Congress. 
Don’t delay; do so at once. 
DRESSED-MEAT TRADE AND THE 
RAILROADS. 
The great Western railroad pool has 
decided that, the consumers of the East 
must pay more for their meat, and the pro¬ 
ducers of the West get less for their cat tle, 
and ( hat, the railroad companies and their 
friends m.ust get all the profits from the 
oppression of both parties. Last year the 
dressed meat of over 1,000,000 cattle, 
shipped from Chicago in refrigerator cars, 
was consumed in the East. Since the com¬ 
mencement of the dressed beef trade on a 
large scale in 1873, there has been con¬ 
stant conflict between the shippers of 
dressed beef and those of live cattle, and 
the railroads have invariably favored the 
latter by discriminating against, the former 
in freight rates. Instead of making equal 
charges for equal service rendered to both 
par tie 5, they have constantly overcharged 
the dressed meat shippers, and their latest 
schedule, which is to go into force on 
March 1, virtually prohibits the shipments 
of dressed beef, according to those engaged 
in the business. Since 1878 the rates for 
dressed beef have been 50, then 60, then 
75 per cent, more than for live stock, and 
the rate soon to he enforced will be 
85 2-3 per cent. more. The expressed ob¬ 
ject of the companies in making this dis¬ 
crimination, is “to place the dressed beef 
and live stock shippers on an equal foot¬ 
ing, so that a man who buys in the Eastern, 
market dressed beef that is shipped from 
Chicago as such, and dressed beef that is 
derived from live stock which is shipped 
from the West and slaughtered in New 
York, will have to pay the same money 
per pound.” Who gave the railroads 
the right of determining the price 
of meat in the East or of cattle 
the. West? What right have they except, 
to make equal charges for equal service ? 
Tlie truth of the matter is that the direc¬ 
tors and their friends own or are heavily 
interested in stock-yards along the various 
routes and in slaughter-houses at the ends 
of the roads, as well as in stock ears, and 
while live cattle contribute heavily to the 
profits from all these, dressed meat whirls 
by them without paying a cent of toll. In 
the interests of the stockholders, and es¬ 
pecially of the directors and their friends, 
the railroads are enforcing the odious 
claim of a right to charge “all the traffic 
will bear.” The right to discriminate in 
this way will probably be contested in the 
Courts, and the claim to it will certainly 
strengthen the conviction in favor of the 
regulation of railroad traffic by the General 
Government. 
-♦ * »- 
BREVITIES. 
What is the best and cheapest flooring for 
stables? 
Money sent in letters for subscriptions to 
the Rural New-Yorker is at the sender’s 
rist. Our terms are invariably $2,00 a year 
in advance. 
Happy is the farmer who was able to plow 
last Fall and who lias distributed the manure 
directly from the stable. The spring work 
will be shortened and eased. 
A bushel of corn and a bushel of wheat 
bring, in this market, $1.50. It is a very poor 
farmer who cannot turn this grain into eggs 
and make it bring live times as much. 
The brooder which was shown on page 55 
is not. public property. It is patented by Mr. 
Pressey. of Hammonton, N. J. This fact was 
omitted in the description which appeared at 
the time the cuts were printed. 
Catalogue notices arc continued this week 
on pages 157 and 158. The farmer’s rest is 
drawing to a close, and we hope all our read¬ 
ers will prepare themselves in every avail¬ 
able way to secure the best seeds at the most 
reasonable prices. 
The violent alternations of freezing and 
thawing have hereabouts injured the wheat 
and rye materially. The soil is water-soaked 
and bare. The season will prove a severe test 
as to the hardiness of the wheat and rye hy¬ 
brids and the cross-bred wheats of the Rural 
Experiment Grounds, as the plants are nearly 
a foot, apart, thus receiving little protection 
from each other. 
The construction of the Hennepin Canal 
will greatly cheapen the rates of transporta¬ 
tion from the whole Northwest to the sea¬ 
board. by establishing a water-route competi¬ 
tion with the great trunk railroads from the 
Mississippi to the Atlantic. Good authorities 
say the rates will be lowered one-half. We 
advocate lower rates of transportation every¬ 
where, and to this end we rejoice at all com¬ 
petition with or between railroads. The Hen¬ 
nepin Canal should straightway be con¬ 
structed. 
Such words as these, from our long-time 
friend Edwin Nye, of Outagamie County, 
Wis., are at once cheeriug and stimulating:— 
“I have been a subscriber to the Rural 
New-Yorker for 30 years. I have lived 
on the same farm for all that, time; and I 
believe that my farm and home, and its sur- 
roundings, show the results of the instruction 
which J have received from the Rural. Its 
influence for good upon my seven children, 
born aud raised upon tlie farm, is counted not 
among the least of its benefits.” M 
Coomassie, Eurotas, Jersey Belle of Scitu- 
ate. Bomba, Mary Auue of St. Lambert, 
Value 2d, Ida of St. Lambert, Jersey Queen, 
and other famous Jersey butter-makers are 
eclipsed by an Atlanta Jersey cow of pure 
Daunccy blood, a descendant of Rioter of 
Stoke Pogis, which has given 8,724 pounds of 
milk in six months, ana last year made 000 
pounds of butter! What were the name.s'of the 
men who won glory by owning those other 
famous creatures? llopkins is the man who 
shines in the effulgence radiating from the 
Georgia wonder. Some men are bora great; 
others achieve greatness; others have great¬ 
ness thrust upon them; while others buy it 
when it is young! 
A friend, A. C. Sabin, writes thus encour¬ 
aging^ from Mills County, la.: 
“I want to say right, here that your Potato 
Special is worth more to me thaii the year’s 
subscription. I consider it one of the most 
valuable numbers I have received. I will do 
my best, to help the Rural, for I feel that in 
doing so I am doing my friends the beat ser¬ 
vice 1 cau do them. Times are very dull, and 
it is not an easy thing to persuade a wrson to 
pay $2 for a weekly paper, no matter how 
good it is, A great ninny prefer to pay 50 
cents for a paper that has no individuality 
about it, aud consists of clippings with no 
credit given, instead of original articles from 
parties of known reputation. Success to you 
In your efforts!” 
Why blitter “dives not. come” under certain 
conditions, is a puzzle that has defied not only 
practical dairymen and “maids,” but dairy 
experts as well. Has sufficient nutice been 
taken of the effect, in this connection, of the 
lapse of a considerable period since tlie cows 
have dropped their calves? Prof. J. P. Shel 
don, author of the lvest work published on 
dairy husbandry, and a high authority on 
dairy matters, attaches a good deal of Impor¬ 
tance to this point fn his instructive article in 
tiiis issue of the Rural. The “unknown in 
dairying” still covers a great many jxiints; 
aud sometimes the best dairy ex|»erts and 
operators must alike agree with the rhymster: 
“I thought I know I knew ll all; 
But now 1 must confer.; 
The more 1 know I know, I fool 
1 know 1 know the leas!” 
Congressmen from Txmisiana will oppose 
the reduction in the tariff on sugar, and those 
from South Carolina will fight against lower 
duties on rice for the same reason that Con¬ 
gressmen from Pennsylvania would oppose a 
low tariff on coals, and those from Maine 
would tight, against the free admission of lum¬ 
ber. After all, isn’t the welfare of the coun¬ 
try liest secured und protected wbeu each of 
its leading interest* does battle in its behalf" 
f.n private life who, except a simpleton, would 
without a struggle permit the min of his own 
honest business for the benefit of any number 
Of his neighbors? It will bo u fortunate day 
for the Nation when the public business shall 
be conducted in accordance with the princi¬ 
ples tnut secure success in private affairs. 
Every interest of any considerable import¬ 
ance* fights fiercely iii its own behalf before 
Congress except agriculture. 
/ 
