THE 
RURAL- NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes, 
Conducted by 
HUBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. S4 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1886. 
Of eight Japan Chestnuts planted in 
May, all sprouted and are now about 
seven inches high. 
We find that the 7131100088 is essen¬ 
tially as early as the Hansel 1. The latter 
will ripen a berry or so first, but the other 
will give its main crop as early. The 
quality of the Rancocas is as good, while 
the plants are more vigorous and fruitful. 
Mr. G. M. Vanness, of Morris Co., N. 
J., has scut us two stools, with the soil 
attached, of wheat and chess plants to 
show, as he believes, that wheat will turn 
to chess. We carefully washed out the 
soil from the roots, and found that they 
easily separated wi thout rupturing a fiber. 
Referring to the article on the Rural’s 
rye-wheat hybrids, with which Dr. Trel- 
ease kindly favors us, it may be stated 
that many of the plants have leaves and 
stems like those of rye in color. The 
plants, taken as a whole, which “most re¬ 
semble rye” show this at a glance, and it 
has been remarked upon by many. 
We wish we could induce all seedsmen, 
florists and nurserymen to discontinue the 
use of the word hybrid as applied to 
crosses between mere varieties. It should 
be confined to crosses between species and 
genera. If they had more interest in the 
truth and propriety of things and less in 
“taking” names, they would do it. The 
Am. Pom. Society, Am Hort. Society, 
and Society of Nurserymen should take 
this matter up, and act upon it. 
Keep an eye on the managers of your 
fair, friends. How many of them are 
going into the liquor business this Fall? 
They would doubtless feel insulted if you 
called them rum-sellers, hut what else are 
they if they accept money for a liquor 
privilege? By the way, how much better 
are you if you stand by and wink at such 
practices? Come out and tell folks what 
you think about this grog business. 
“Silence gives consent” every time. If 
you want to put the practice down, talk 
about it and get all your friends to talk 
about it too. Between you, you can talk 
it to death. 
Teach the horses to mind when they 
are spoken to. The importance of this 
cannot be overestimated. An intelligent 
horse knows his driver, and will, if so 
disposed, readily take advantage of any 
lack of decision. Not long since we saw 
two frightened hoi-ses running on the 
street. One of them, at a single sharp 
coinmaud from his master, stopped short. 
The other only ran the faster at the shouts 
of the crowd. Teach them to mind at a 
single word. Never fool with them by 
giving half a dozen orders when one 
would do, or by shouting or menacing 
them. The typical woman driver lets the 
horse see at once that she is afraid of him. 
She jerks his bit ten times per minute, 
clucks at him continually and says 
“Whoa!” a dozen times before he makes up 
his mind to stop. Such treatment will 
make a spirited horse unsafe, or make a 
fool out of a lazy one. 
On an average throughout the country, 
harvest will be fully a fortnight earlier 
than usual this year. It will still be some 
time, however, before the crops move to 
market, though cutting is now in full 
blast as far north as parts of Ohio, Indi¬ 
ana, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, and 
before this reaches our readers, the bustle 
and excitement of busy, joyous harvest 
will have moved steadily north. This is 
just the time, therefore, when it will be 
most advantageous to be able to form a 
fair idea of what the outcome of the vari¬ 
ous crops will be in this and other coun¬ 
tries, because each will then be'iu a posi¬ 
tion to judge what the prices should be 
for his products. Our next issue will be 
our regular annual “ Crop Report,” com¬ 
piled from special local reports from over 
4,000 correspondents in nearly every 
county in the Union. We have delayed 
it somewhat later than usual, so that our 
conclusions may approximate all the 
closer to the truth. As in the case of 
every special number, there will, of 
course, be some readers who will not take 
any particular interest in the issue, and 
who will miss for once some one or more 
departments in which they find special 
pleasure or instruction. All, however, 
ought to feel a deep interest in the crops 
of the country, for it is these that set. and 
keep every industry in the land in 
motion, and the prosperity of the farmer, 
dependent on his crops and the prices 
therefor, is identical with the prosperity 
of the whole country. 
Onf. of the surprising things to the writer 
is that country people—yes, city people— 
having even a square rod of ground, do 
not raise strawberries from seed. To-day, 
June 22, we have gone over our seedling 
plot to mark those which seem to lie 
worth propagating. There are perhaps 
200 plants raised from the seeds of berries 
selected last year and the year before. 
From these we gathered a large plate full 
of clusters and single berries which, as to 
size, color, firmness and qualities, were 
equal to any of the 66 varieties under 
trial. We do not intend to say that any 
one berry possessed all these qualities, but 
that, taking them as they come, the aver¬ 
age would be as high as selected pickings 
from the same number of varieties which 
are being tested from various sources. 
Now it is almost as easy to raise straw¬ 
berries from seeds as from plauts pur¬ 
chased. If seeds are sown now. mauy of 
the plants will fruit next Summer—all, 
the Summer after. We have then to 
mark the best while in fruit and to trans¬ 
plant them as soon as the fruit is picked. 
Such plants, if well treated, will bear well 
next Summer—better than nine-tenths of 
of the so-called potted plauts sold at a 
high price by nurserymen. 
Farmers are frequently puzzled to ac¬ 
count for the fact that while money is 
loaned on United States securities at less 
than ZH per cent., and on security of 
good railroad stock or State and munici¬ 
pal bonds at a trifle more, they have to 
pay from six to 10 per cent, for loans, 
though they offer the most solid security 
—the earth itself and the improvements 
thereon. The men of business, the man¬ 
ufacturers and merchants of Canada, are 
now perplexed at a like seeming discrimi¬ 
nation against them. They complain at 
having to pay seven to eight per cent, for 
loans while stockbrokers can readily get 
accommodation at four to five per cent. 
The explanation in both cases is simple. 
Bankers and other lenders prefer as secu¬ 
rity that which they can sell the quickest 
in case of default. Stocks and bonds can 
be sold at once, while the meichant’s 
paper and the farmer’s mortgage cannot 
be so readily disposed of. A suspicious 
security, easily converted into cash, some¬ 
times finds a much readier market than 
an unquestionable security which cannot 
be realized on without delay and legal 
trouble. 
-♦ • ♦ 
THE SMOKE TREE. 
Bless this dear old plant! If we were 
constrained to part with all our shrubs but 
one, we should hold on to the Smoke 
Tree. At this time (June 25) it is easy as 
oue looks at it from a little distance, to 
fancy it a cloud tinted with the faintest 
rose and the faintest green blended to¬ 
gether, or a mass of smoke such as may 
issue from a combination of colored fire¬ 
works. There is uo shrub like it while in 
bloom. The delicate, downy inflorescence 
is not due to the flowers, which are quite 
inconspicuous, but to the feathery pedi¬ 
cels that elongate and so diffuse them¬ 
selves as to conceal the leaves, while be¬ 
cause of their delicacy we see only softly 
blending colors that might well indeed be 
smoke or a cloud. 
We have seen .specimens of this little 
tree 20 feet in diameter—a mass of light, 
mossy greeu and purple or rose. Later 
all this becomes gray, and its beauty is 
gone, though the later growth of leaves 
takes its place in a measure. One likes 
old-fashioned things that bring to rnind 
the old homestead or the familiar country 
gardens of early days, and the Smoke 
Tree,though among the choicest collections 
of plants of more recent times, seems like 
an old and tried friend among nristocratic 
strangers. 
It has been said that this little tree, so 
distinct from all others, so oddly beauti¬ 
ful to those who see it for the first time, 
rejoices In a dry, warm soil. It is true. 
But it also thrives in neavv, moist soils. 
We have it in both positions, and it seems 
to prefer the latter. Its botanical name is 
Rhus Cotinus, and it is known familiarly 
as the Purple Fringe, Wig Tree and Vene¬ 
tian Sumach, as well as the Smoke Tree. 
THE WAR AGAINST FRAUDULENT 
BUTTER, 
The House Committee on Agriculture 
are hopeful that the Senate will pass the 
Oleomargarine Bill, with possibly a re¬ 
duction of the five cent tax provided by 
it as it left the House. It will certainly 
be acted upon next week. The House will 
agree on any amendments on which 
the Senate may insist, if they do not in¬ 
terfere with the chief end sought by the 
bill—to force the manufacturers and deal¬ 
ers in bogus butter to make the goods of 
wholesome materials aud sell them for 
w T hat they really are. State legislation, 
however stringent, has in every case been 
unable to do this; for State legislation 
cannot provide for the supervision of man¬ 
ufacture, or for following the product 
from the maker to the final purchaser; and 
federal legislation can, to a great extent, 
do this, and federal legislation is therefore 
essential to the rightful protection of the 
producers and consumers of genuine dairy 
goods. 
Senator Edmunds, Chairman of the 
Senate Committee on the Judiciary, who 
voted to refer the bill to that Committee, 
and was supposed to be at least “doubt¬ 
ful,” in a letter to a Vermont farmer de¬ 
clares himself strongly “in favor of Con¬ 
gress taxing bogus butter, so as to give 
makers of real butter their fair rights,” 
aud adds that he needs no “urging to look 
after the interests of our farmers.” A 
good deal of urging will not bo wasted, 
however, on him or any other Senator. 
Edmunds is reputed to be one of the very 
best constitutional lawyers in the Senate, 
and the fact that his re-election will be 
decided this coming Fall weakens not a 
jot his opinion as to the constitutionality 
of the Oleomargarine Law; for, of course, 
if he thought it unconstitutional, he 
wouldn’t support it. Should the farmers’ 
influence of the Green Mountain State be 
against him, he might find it more dan¬ 
gerous to his ambition than even that of 
Brother Blaine. 
The fraudulent makers of counter¬ 
feit butter are exerting themselves to 
the utmost to secure the defeat of the 
measure. Whereever possible they are 
getting public bodies, such as Boards of 
Trade, etc., to petition against it, and the 
great Chicago packing houses have com¬ 
pelled their workmen to sign a petition 
urging the Senate to reject the bill. 
Thousands of workmen signed it simply 
because they were compelled to do so. 
Desperate indeed must be the case of the 
bogus butter people when they are forced 
to resort to such methods. A business 
that can muster as supporters only an 
army of paid “scientists" and intimidated 
workmen has no business out in the sun¬ 
light. Keep on in the good work, friends. 
The “bogus” army is shaking. 
LEGAL HONOR IN THE SENATE. 
On June 10 the United States Senate, 
by a vote of 37 to 11, passed a bill, intro¬ 
duced by Senator Beck of Kentucky, 
prohibiting Senators aud Representatives 
from being the hired attorneys of railroad 
corporations on which they are to sit us 
judges. Senator Hawley, of Conn., says 
the bill was sprung upon the Senate sud¬ 
denly and stampeded through. The gen¬ 
eral public say that its obvious propriety 
left the Senators without any ready 
ground of opposition and without the 
effrontery to vote against it. Out of the 
76 Senators, however, 65 are lawyers, aud 
if the bill becomes law, a large proportion 
of these who are either permanently re¬ 
tained by the roads or receive large fees 
from them, will be deprived of a rich 
source of income. Remember, many of 
them are employed, at high figures, pre¬ 
cisely because their position as legislators 
enables them to be of service to their 
clients in matters of legislation, and the 
whole course of the Senate shows that it 
has been steadily subservient to these 
great subsidized corporations, and that 
any law, however urgently demanded by 
the interests of the people, if hurtful to 
those of any of these corporations, can be 
passed by that body only -when the force 
of public sentiment in its favor becomes 
irresistible. 
On Juno 22, therefore, the bill was “re¬ 
considered,” by a vote of 31 to 21, and 
instead of being passed, as the public had 
a right, to expect, was sent to the Commit¬ 
tee on the Judiciary made up entirely of 
lawyers, most of whom are the hired 
agents of corporations. Thirteen of the 
Senators—ten of them Republicans—who 
originally voted for the bill, subsequently 
voted in favor of put ting its fate into the 
hands of its deadly enemies. Mitchell, of 
Oregon, wanted to swamp the bill with 
ridiculous amendments. Evarts, of New 
York, regarded it as a stigma on the Sen¬ 
ate and an insult and reproach to the le¬ 
gal profession, whose members are incap¬ 
able of subordinating the interests of the 
public to those of their clients aud them¬ 
selves! Edmunds of Vermont, thought 
it required an ideal honesty in Congress¬ 
men, such as can be found only in an 
angel-governed world. 
In a body made up almost entirely of law¬ 
yers whose esprit de corps is notorious, 
Evart’sappeal was the most powerful; but. 
the Federal laws already contain many pro- 
visionsfor prohibiting lawyers in Congress 
from accepting fees to work for corpora¬ 
tions and against the people. By laws pass¬ 
ed by the Senate, a Senator is forbidden 
to take fees for procuring a contract or an 
office, or for any sort of service on any 
question which may be brought before 
him iu his official capacity; or to take 
bribes, or to hold an interest, in public 
contracts, etc. If these are not insults to 
the Senate or the legal profession, why 
should the provisions of the Beck bill be 
so regarded? 
All the special pleading of all the law¬ 
yers in the Senate, which contains many 
of the best special pleaders in the coun¬ 
try, will not couvince the great public 
that men who, as representatives of the 
people in the highest legislative body in 
the nation, are called upon to legislate on 
the obligations of subsidized railroads to 
the Government aud the people, should 
have fat fees from those very railroads at 
the time in their pockets. A question 
forced on public attention by this discus¬ 
sion is: “Is it right, is it expedient, is it 
for the public interest, that, 65 out of our 
76 Senators should be 'lawyers ?” 
BREVITIES. 
Daniel Rupert gives some good advice on 
page 437. 
Is the buckwheat land ready? Don’t sow 
too late. A late frost may spoil the crop. 
Our next portrait will probably be that of 
the Rural’s friend, Gen. William H. Noble 
of Connecticut. 
Those interested in cold storage will read 
Pres, Wilder's statements, under What Others 
Bay, with interest 
June 20. To-day we find several ripe Hau- 
sell Raspberries There is not upon any other 
red variety a berry that is even showing color. 
A few of the earliest caps are turning a little. 
The Rural every week, iu its News Col¬ 
umns, gives in the most condensed form the 
news of the world. It is carefully selected 
and rewritten from week to week from a 11 
available sources, 
Gen. Clay’s view are striking, if some¬ 
what peculiar. We like what lie says about 
the engravings of animals which are not 
drawn from life, but made by rule and line to 
suit the ideal fancy of the times. 
It has been shown that the roots of corn 
four feet high may anil probably do extend, 
horizontally at least six feet — and most 
of these roots are within three inches of 
the surface. Knowing this, our friends must 
cultivate to suit themselves. 
The Marlboro in the place of its origin is a 
very thrifty raspberry. We have seen canes 
10 feet high. Mr. Caywood himself planted a 
bush at the Rural Grounds, the canes of which 
were eight feet high. But with us this vigor 
does not, last. The Marlboro is this season uo 
more vigorous than the Hansell. 
Remember the prizes. Ten dollars each for 
the largest Bird Cantaloupe, the largest 
watermelon, the longest ear of the Angel of 
Midnight Corn, and lOof the heaviest pods from 
the Alaska Pea. The prizes will be awarded 
October 1. Competitors must advise us by 
mail as to the weight or size of peas, melons 
or corn, Are you trying t<> secure the prize? 
Several reports from the pens have come to 
hand. 
Senator Mitchell, of Oregon, Hipple- 
Mitcbell of unsavory notoriety, who after 
having been relegated to private life for one 
term for the good of his party, was re-elected 
to the Senate last year by Republican-Dem¬ 
ocratic jugglery, which materially helped to 
lose the State to his party this year, appears 
to be oue of the men who regard a place in the 
Senate as valuable chiefly as a means of serv¬ 
ing wealthy corporations iu return for past 
and prospective favors. Isn’t, it. notorious 
that he owes his present position in a great 
measure to railroad influence during his hard 
struggle for the Senatorship before the Legis¬ 
lature last Fall? During the Into Northern 
Pacific Forfeiture debate he was oue of the 
most Insidious aud persistent foes of the bill, 
aud by a deceptive amendment would have 
rendered one of its chief provisions abortive, 
were it not for the vigilance of Van Wyck, of 
Nebraska: but it was during the debate on 
Beck’s Honest Congressmen Bill that Hipple- 
Mitchell outdid himself. Iu order to make 
the bill ridiculous, he introduced an amend¬ 
ment prohibiting Congressional lawyers from 
appearing in any case in which the interests 
of any organization, association or partner¬ 
ship is concerned, because, in sooth, Congress 
has to legislate in a general way on matters 
connected with them, while it has to legislate 
specially with regard to land-grant roads. 
With little sense of decency Or dignity 7 , a 
great deal of plausible cunning, anil an un¬ 
scrupulous oyo ever open to the “main 
chance,” a poor sort of creature indeed seems 
this Oregon Mitchell. 
