420 
JUNE 26 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
RURAU NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
KtBEUX S. CABMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Pabk Row, Neve York. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1886. 
Of 20 different (?) kinds of oats grow¬ 
ing at the R. G., White Belgian, Clydes¬ 
dale, Badger Queen and Welcome are the 
first, to “head out.” With the exception 
of Badger Queen, which, under that name, 
at least, we have never before tried, we 
believe, and have so stated, them all alike. 
Our object in again raising them side by 
side is to enable others to judge whether 
we were correct or not. 
It is probably true that the disease 
known as “gapes” kills more chickens 
than any other. Most of the remedies 
offered are uncertain, such, e. g., as oblig¬ 
ing the ailing fowls to inhale lime dust 
and tobacco smoke. 'Will kerosene kill 
the worm which causes gapes? Will it 
kill the chicken if a drop of kerosene be 
dropped in the trachea? We can auswer 
“no” to the latter question, and from a 
single experiment we are inclined to say 
“yes” to the former. The writer dipped 
a very small feather (about two inches 
long) into kerosene, and then carefully 
pushed it down the windpipe, carefully 
turned twice or thrice and then withdrew 
it. The chicken which had the gapes re¬ 
covered in a few hours. The experiment 
is worthy of repetition. 
Many of our readers will remember 
that upon the half-acre of poor soil on 
which we attempted to test the value of 
the Roral’s trench-mulch system of rais¬ 
ing potatoes, a large amount of chemical 
fertilizers was sown, both broadcast and 
in the trenches—enough we should sup¬ 
pose, so far as potash and phosphate of 
lime were concerned, to last for half-a- 
dozen crops. The field was sown to rve. 
The crop is a good one, but no better than 
the rye of neighboring fields. This 
Spring, as has already been stated, high- 
grade nitrogenous fertilizers were sown at 
the rate of 100 pounds to the acre, except 
upon a strip 10 feet in width. The color 
of the rye of that strip is and has been 
lighter, but it promises to yield about as 
well. Why this half-acre does not yield 
a great deal more than the other parts of 
the field also in rye is what we can’t 
understand. 
The American Association of Nursery¬ 
men, Florists and Seedsmen met at. the 
Agricultural Department Building, Wash- 
ington, D. C., last Wednesday and Thurs¬ 
day. The list of the new officers elected 
is given in our news columns. A strong 
effort was made to elect Herbert My rick 
as Secretary instead of D. Wilmot Scott, 
of Galena, Ill., who was re-elected, A 
great lack of system and proper arrange¬ 
ment marred the meeting, which re¬ 
sembled an assemblage of school boys for 
fun, rather than a convention of men for 
business purposes. From 400 to 500 
members were present, and 27 States 
were represented by vice-presidents. 
Many had traveled long distances, and it 
was hardly worth while to go to so much 
trouble and expense of time and money 
to learn so little. The young members 
who hoped to learn something which 
would be of use or profit to them on their 
return home, were especially disappoint¬ 
ed. One good thing the Convention did 
—and that was outside its legitimate busi¬ 
ness—it passed a strong resolution in favor 
of the Oleomargarine Bill now before the 
Senate. 
Wednesday last Chairman Morrison, of 
the House Committee on Ways and 
Means, made an adverse report, on behalf of 
the Democratic majority, on the resolu¬ 
tion to restore the wool tariff of 1867, as 
desired by the wool growers of the entire 
country. He takes the old ground that 
the tariff of 1867, euacted “in obedience 
to the clamor” of the flock-owners of the 
chief wool-growing States, lessened the 
production and lowered the price of wool, 
and insists that putting wool on the free 
list would increase the production and 
price of the staple, while affording cheap¬ 
er fabrics to the consumers! No attempt 
is made to explain this marvelous phen¬ 
omenon so diametrically opposed to the 
acknowledged results of protection in 
other industries. If free trade in wool 
increases the price of the home-raised raw 
material, how can it at the same time en¬ 
able the home manufacturer to turn out 
cheaper goods for the consumer? Does 
not the cost of the raw material have 
much to do with the price of the finished 
product? Representative McKinley’s re¬ 
port., on behalf of the Republican minor¬ 
ity of the Committee, is a convincing re¬ 
ply to the specious reasoning of the major¬ 
ity’s report. The subject has been large¬ 
ly discussed in our columns already, and 
as tariff legislation during the present 
session of Congress, is rendered highly 
improbable by Thursday’s vote in the 
House, further discussion of the question 
will be more appropriate when it comes 
up again iu Congress, probably during 
the next session. 
Twenty-six United States Senators are 
the direct owners of individual and cor¬ 
porate property amounting to $100,000,- 
000, aud 22 of t hem are agents for corporate 
monopolies, chiefly railroads, the property 
of some of which is uow legally forfeitable 
to the Government, and they have to legis¬ 
late as Senators on questions which they 
are paid to support as lawyers. Iu view 
of this disgraceful state of affairs, Senator 
Beck, of Kentucky, the other day intro¬ 
duced a hill forbidding, under heavy 
penalties, Senators or Representatives 
acting as attorneys for railroads which 
have received Government aid—laud- 
grant roads—and concerning which, t here¬ 
fore, they would have to act in their legis¬ 
lative capacity. The bill startled aud 
surprised the railroad Senators, and, being 
obviously fair, was passed before they 
could plan to defeat it. It was afterwards 
“reconsidered,” however, and still hangs 
up in the Senate, where it is likely to 
remain till the end of the session. All 
the railroad Senators are combined against 
it under the leadership of Edmunds, who 
is stimulated to defeat it by pleasant 
memories of big fees received from the 
Central Pacific Railroad, and cheering 
prospects of more to come. Legislative 
morality, the interests of the public, and 
common decency demand the passage of 
the measure; shall it be defeated by 
shameless, selfish greed? 
TnE Senate, by a vote of 42 to 1, has 
passed the bill forfeiting the unearned 
lands of the Northern Pacific Railroad 
alongside that part of its main line which 
was to extend from Wallula Junction to 
Portland, and that part of the Cascade 
Branch which may not be completed at 
the date of the passage of the bill, and 
making tlie right of way in the Territories 
subject to taxation. Nothing in the act 
is to be construed to waive any right of 
the United States to forfeit any other 
lands granted to the road, for failure, past 
or future, to comply with the conditions 
of the grant. There is no intention what¬ 
ever of constructing the Wallula-Portlaud 
road, yet it was sought by the railroad 
to withhold indefinitely from settlement 
the land granted for its construction. 
The Cascade Branch should have been 
completed seven years ago to entitle the 
company to the grant. This is the first 
of the numerous bills forfeiting land 
grauts, acted on by Congress, and all the 
railroad lobbies and agents were bitterly 
active against it. Insidious amendments, 
nullifying or minimizing its most im¬ 
portant provisions, were pertinaciously 
pressed by the railroad Senators. These 
were all rejected by various majorities, 
aud when it came to the final vote, 
Blair, of New Hampshire, was the 
only Senator with effrontory barefaced 
enough to go on record against it. A 
more sweeping bill lias already passed the 
House, so that this is sure to pass as a 
compromise measure, and if the other 
land forfeiture bills meet with the same 
success, over 130,000,000 acres of excel¬ 
lent land now unjustly held for corpora¬ 
tions, will be thrown open for settlement 
under the Homestead Law. 
The Senate Committee on Agriculture 
has been listening to arguments from the 
supporters and opponents of the Oleomar¬ 
garine Bill during the week. The main 
reliauce of the latter has been the pur¬ 
chased opinion of scientists with regard 
to the healthfulness of the product. These 
examined only choice goods turned out by 
the best makers—not fair specimens of 
t,he product; and who that reads the papers 
does not know that the highest scientific 
knowledge is at the command of the best 
filled purse? Experts suy the fat must 
not lie over 24 hours old when manipulat¬ 
ed iuto “oleo;” but there is abundant 
evidence to demonstrate t hat much of the 
fat used, especially in the East, is much 
older, 8ome of the highest authorities 
also say the wholesomeness of bogus but¬ 
ter cannot be proved by chemical analysis, 
it must be ascertained by its effects on 
the human system. Senator Miller, 
Chairman of the Committee, thinks the 
bill will pass—possibly by 10 majority— 
but Western Congressmen believe it is in 
danger of defeat by the votes of the Re¬ 
publican Senators from New England, and 
some of them declare that if this happens, 
they will help to take up again and pass 
the Morrison Tariff Bill, which is bitterly 
opposed by the Protectionist New Eng¬ 
landers. If the bill shall fail to pass, it 
will be because the farmers of the country 
have failed to exercise due pressure on 
their Congressmen. 
The question put squarely before the 
people of Nova Scotia at the Provincial 
elections last Tuesday, was secession from 
the Domion or continued union with it, 
and by the election of 31 out of 38 mem¬ 
bers of the new Assembly—an unparalleled 
majority since the formation of the Con¬ 
federation, IS) years ago—the voters de¬ 
cided that they preferred secession. The 
Province has been dissatisfied ever since 
the union with the Dominion, aud her dis¬ 
satisfaction has increased as her prosperity 
has diminished. It is charged that when 
Nova Scotia entered the Union, her debt 
was $5,000,000, while now her proportion 
of the Dominion debt is $28,000,000, or 
over $00 a head for every man, woman 
and child. The Dominion has incur¬ 
red vast, debts for building railroads, im¬ 
proving canals and developing new coun¬ 
try; but. while the other Provinces arc 
benefited by these, especially Ontario, 
the Maratimc Provinces derive little or 
no advantage from them, though groau- 
ing under the load of taxation caused by 
them. The present purpose of the Nova 
Scotia secessionists is to induce New Bruns¬ 
wick and Prince Edward’s Island to join in 
the movement with a view to the forma¬ 
tion of a Maratime Confederation, or, fail¬ 
ing in this, to force the Dominion to turn 
a more attentive car to the Province’s re¬ 
monstrances for fairer treatment, aud to 
secure Imperial aid in both or either pro¬ 
ject. Union with the United States would 
be a tiual alternative. 
MAGNOLIA MACROPHYLLA. 
Perhaps scarcely one in a dozen of our 
readers has seen the flower of the Great¬ 
leaved Magnolia (M. macrophylla.) In 
general appearace while young it resem¬ 
bles the Umbrella Magnolia, though the 
leaves are larger, obovate, and heart- 
shaped at the. base instead of pointed, and 
the under part is covered with a dense 
silvery bloom. Our tree is now about 10 
years old and 15 feet high, blooming now, 
June 10, lot the first. The flowers are 
monsters, of a hell shape and white color; 
the petals eight inches long, four wide in 
the middle, tapering towards the base and 
rounded tip. Thus the flower when 
spread open measures 17 inches. The 
petals are in two whorls of three, the in¬ 
ner three blotched with dark purple near 
the base. They have little odor aud that, 
rather unpleasant. This tree is perfectly 
hardy at the Rural Grounds. It is free of 
the decided objections to the Umbrella, 
those of a scraggy growth and tendency 
to sucker. Unlike that tree also its 
growth for the first few years is slow, 
though it compensates for this by a sym¬ 
metrical form. This tree is found wild 
in Kentucky aud southward, though it is 
hardy in Rochester, aud we know not how 
much further north. All home grounds 
need a few large-leaved trees. They give 
to a lawn the same luxuriant appearance 
that cunnas and ealadiums give to the 
flower border. For this effect we know 
of no tree more suitable than the Large- 
leaved Magnolia. 
DISCOURAGED FARMERS. 
There arc hundreds of discouraged 
farmers iu this country. They do not 
hesitate to advertise their condition. One 
can hardly blame them. The world looks 
dark, indeed, to the man who has lost his 
courage. Courage is fickle ; it is hard to 
win it hack when once it. is driven away. 
It is customary to sneer at the discouraged 
farmer, and tdl him that his failures are 
his own fault. This talk does no good. 
It. only makes a man more bitter to say 
“I told you so” to him. Such rnen need 
encouragement aud hope, and not sneers. 
Many a man who has worked carefully, 
honestly and well, finds himself no higher 
up the scale of agriculture than he was a 
year ago. No wonder the. long days of 
drudgery that lie behind him blacken his 
prospects now, and magnify his obstacles. 
We appreciate the position of such a man, 
but would beg of him, for the sake of his 
family at least, to keep his courage and 
cheerfulness. You owe a duty to your 
family. TheJ strong must uphold the 
weak. Strength comes only through suL 
fering. When you give up, you give 
every one of your children a lesson in 
cowardice. Life is not so had after all. 
Your work has not been all iu vain. 
There are plenty of people worse off than 
you are. Hundreds of these city people 
who go about with plenty of money, who 
never seem to be troubled, have a life-long 
hunger gnawing away at their hearts. 
Rest assured that some man envies you 
your lot. You would not sell your own 
health or the health of your wife and 
children for any money. The world is 
better than it might be, friends. Let us 
make the best of it. Times are going to 
be better again. Never get so sour and 
discouraged that you cannot enjoy the 
good times when they come. 
BREVITIES. 
The Parry Strawberry June 11 was at its 
best and yielded well. 
We have been trying to make out which of 
our 66 varieties of strawberries bears the most 
fruit (June 14). We decided in favor of the 
Dewey, of which we shall have more to say. 
Poor, tired land! Oh, how weary! and 
bow hungiy, too! Let our grandsons feed it 
and rest it, says the tired farmer. We can¬ 
not work for posterity. It is os much as we 
can do to earn our own living. 
So, after all the hubblib and bluster, the 
fishery trouble—that tempest iu a teacup—is 
in a fair way to adjustment, and that, as we 
said editorially in the Rubai, of May 29, 
“through British repudiation of the Canadian 
attitude.” 
In answer to inquiries—Any bags will an¬ 
swer for “bagging” grapes. It is a poorbag, 
indeed, that will not. last, through the season. 
Any bag that will hold a pin is good enough. 
One can make his own bags in a short time 
by pasting good newspapers together. 
In the way of peas, what now seems to be 
most needed is a wrinkled variety us good and 
earlv jus the American Wonder, as productive 
as the earliest, with haulms that grow about 
two feet high. This is whut. we are uow work¬ 
ing for by crossing the curliest smooth peas 
upon the Amerieau Wonder. 
We are painting the base-boards of our 
new chicken yards with tar and linseed oil— 
mixed half and half. Now, why isn't this a 
good paint Cor such purposes? Is not it dur¬ 
able? The pickets may l.te painted dark-red 
and, then, you see, our chicken yards will be 
fashionably dressed after the Egyptian style. 
Mr. R. M. Littlkr has done good work for 
the cause of pure butter. His bulletins and 
circulars have contained much fact and con¬ 
vincing argument. They would have been 
just a-s effective and a great deal more digni 
fled if the usual poetry had been omitted. To 
talk about “bleeding sire aud son” in connec¬ 
tion with oleomargarine will make no con¬ 
verts. 
We have received a box of the Henderson 
Strawberry from the originator. Goorge Sey¬ 
mour, of South Norwalk, Ct. The berries are 
ail large, shapely and firm, measuring over 
four inches around the middle. It is in quali¬ 
ty the best berry of its size we know of. It 
does not thrive at. the Rural Grounds, but 
t hese berries show how well it, thrives on its 
originator’s grounds, aud how well it may do 
under similar conditions. 
Oats and wheat are rusting badly in the 
country about the Rural Ex. Grounds. There 
has never been a larger crop of strawberries, 
and the promise of the raspberry anti black¬ 
berry crop was never better. The early pota¬ 
to crop will lie immense, unless the wet 
weather enuses rot. The hay crop will be 
flue. Peas are abundant, ltye never looked 
better. In fact, up to this time it is a season 
of abundance. 
TnE World moves. There was a time in 
English history when the farmer was obliged 
to stand quietly by and watch u party of hunt¬ 
ers ride directly over his fields. There was no 
chance for him to obtain redress. The rich 
were too rich and the poor were too poor. 
Times have changed. Farmers are taking 
steps to prevent this hunting over their farms, 
and they are meeting with success. Independ¬ 
ence is gaining ground and toadyism is failing. 
We have so-called “sportsmen” in this count¬ 
ry, It is difficult to treat seriously of men and 
women who will chase a bag of anise seed all 
day over farms and meadows, vet such people 
are with us. They are harmless enough in 
their way so long as they do not interfere with 
the rights of others. When they trespass or 
commit damage eu the farm, they should be 
treated like common law breakers. 
Audacious, fiery, little Senator Van Wyck, 
of Nebraska, the “Old Von,” of his friends, 
the “Little Wasp” of his foes, has more fun 
himself and causes more trouble to his oppon¬ 
ents than any other man in the Senate. No 
respeetor of persons is he. Once convinced a 
project is rigid or wrong, he w ili support or 
fight it to the bitter cud, no matter who may 
be in the opposite ranks. He will attack the 
staid, brainy, sarcastic Edmunds just as 
spunkily as that Midus of the Senate, Slieard 
of California. Mouoj>olies, and especially 
railroad monopolies, are to him what a red flag 
is to a bull—tie goes fur them every time. 
Whut splendid service he did in the Into debate 
on the Northern Pacific Forfeiture BilL How 
shrewdly ho saw through, fearlessly exposed 
aud adroitly circumvented the schemes of 
the railroud Senators! Anil wheu. lust week, 
the odds looked heavy against Senator Miller’s 
being able to secure the reference of the (>leo 
margarine Bill to the Agricultural Committee, 
it was Hot-Spur Van Wyck to the rescue with 
a speech that stirred up the Senate aud de¬ 
lighted the galleries, and after damaging But¬ 
ler and turning the laugh against Edmunds, 
lo! the bill was properly referred. May thy 
watchfulness uml courage never grow less, 
and may more men of thy spirit soon find seats 
beside thee, plucky Senator from Nebraska! 
