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JULY 31 
THE 
RURAL NEW'YORKER. 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes, 
Conducted by 
BLBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, JULY 81, 1S86. 
The next, Special Number of the R. N.- 
Y. will appear in about five weeks. 
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It maybe well again to state that after 
having tried every way of raising celery, 
w r e prefer to dig trenches six inches deep, 
mix well rotted manure with the bottom 
soil and set the plants. This seems alto¬ 
gether better than the deeper trenches, 
as of old, or the new method of surface 
planting. 
In the Rural New-Yorker of Aug. 3, 
1884, appeared a portrait of Mr. E. W. 
Bull, and a sketch of his life. How he 
originated the Concord Grape was there 
detailed by our contributor, Beu Perley 
Poore. 
A few weeks ago a dinner and testimo¬ 
nial were given Mr Bull in Boston, Mar¬ 
shall P. Wilder presiding. It was broughr 
about by our respected friend Mr. C. M. 
Hovey, of that city. The occasion was a 
memorable one, and many were the kindly 
words spoken to cheer Mr. Bull in his 
declining years. 
Pres. Wilder writes us: “I have been 
greatly interested in your experiments in 
hybridization. I hope you will go on 
pressing Nature to give us more of the 
secrets she has stored up in her laboratory 
for the use of mankind. The time was 
when I was censured for sustaining Mr. 
Rogers in his hybridization of the grape 
as conflicting with the laws which God 
had ordained for the Government of 
Nature. But those days have gone by 
and the field for improvement by cross- 
fertilization is as boundless as the imagin¬ 
ation and enterprise of man. ” 
Yes, buhach will kill the potato grub, 
or larva of the potato beetle. A teaspoon¬ 
ful of the powder was first wet with alco¬ 
hol and put in a quart of water. This was 
blown upon the grubs through a spraying 
bellows at noon, and the leaves were 
picked off with the grubs on them aud 
put into a tomato can. The next morning 
most of the pests were dead and the 
rest could scarcely move. But this is not 
an economical insecticide for the potato 
grub. The same solution was blown upon 
the tender new shoots of roses, which were 
infested with green lice. An examination 
the next day showed that few, if any, 
were killed. 
For. the past wet week we have been 
jumping from one thing to another, at¬ 
tempting much and accomplishing, oh, so 
little! Everything is neglected; every¬ 
thing behind. We do not like to find 
fault with our help, but they seem to show 
so little appreciation of the fact that in 
periods of bad weather everything should 
be driven during the intervals of sunshine. 
And then we read letters of our friends, 
who tell us of droughts in the West, 
where from causes at the other extreme 
the work of the farm also suffers. How 
prone we are to attribute to help the mis¬ 
fortunes that are unavoidable—yes, even 
the results of our own shortcomings. 
We once heard of one farmer who was 
generally praying for rain. His farm 
rested upon a plateau in a high mountain 
range. Another farmer at the foot of the 
mountain had reason to pray for dry 
weather. God couldn’t very well answer 
the prayers of both. Probably the “help” 
were in fault. 
Temperance workers have a wide 
range of operations. From the extreme 
enthusiast who believes in the total pro¬ 
hibition of the liquor traffic without 
thought as to how the work is to be ac¬ 
complished, to the drinkiDg man who 
tries to avoid liquor in the presence of his 
children, all have practically the same ob¬ 
ject in view. All recognize the fact that 
liquor is a curse. Their different meth¬ 
ods of fighting it are due to differences in 
education and life. Many practical and 
thoughtful persons believe that the one 
thing that will accomplish the best work 
for temperance will be the invention of a 
new drink, Something is desired that 
shall present as 'attractive an appearance 
as liquor, but supply nutriment and nerve 
food in the placed stimulation^ and_ in¬ 
toxication. A great majority of drink¬ 
ing business men in the cities drink liq¬ 
uor, not because they court intoxication, 
but because the overworked system craves 
stimulants. In several of the larger cities 
“temperance saloons” have been estab¬ 
lished where various new drinks are com¬ 
pounded without the use of alcohol in any 
shape. Beaten eggs mixed with “soda” 
water or phosphate make the most popu¬ 
lar of these new drinks. The objection 
to many of the lighter drinks is that they 
cultivate a taste for something stronger. 
The idea of using them to cure a taste for 
stronger driuks is surely worthy of 
thoughtful consideration. We welcome 
all measures that tend to diminish the 
quantity of liquor consumed. 
The best Jersey cattle in the world are 
to be found in America. American breed¬ 
ers have, as a rule, bred for butter, disre¬ 
garding beauty, external appearance or 
anything else that stood in the w r ay of 
superior dairy qualities. In England, the 
Jersey cow has been the subject of too 
much poetry and romance. She has been 
considered too much of a pet and a beau¬ 
tiful plaything. As a result, the English 
Jersey cow is below the Short-horn as a 
dairy animal. The trying times through 
which English agriculture is passing, 
have taught Jersey breeders a useful les¬ 
son. The time lias come for diminishing 
the number of pets aud increasing the 
number of useful animals. JerseyS are to 
be used hereafter to aid in reducing xvhat 
one writer calls “a national disgrace—a 
$40,000,000 butter bill.” There arc 
thousands of small land-owners who could 
easily keep a Jersey cow. Such an ani¬ 
mal of an approved butter strain could 
provide milk and butter for a small family 
on food that would not sustain a cow of 
one of the larger breeds. The Jersey, 
thoroughbred and grade, seems well 
adapted to fill the position of a family 
cow. There are thousands of them kept 
on the small farms and “places” near the 
large cities, where, upon a very limited 
range, they thrive and supply an abund¬ 
ance of milk and butter. There is a grow¬ 
ing market for these family cows, and 
Jersey breeders would do well to breed 
particularly for it. 
We have been urged to come to the 
defense of J. IT. Reall who was recently 
in trouble about money that was sent in 
to help push the oleomargarine bill 
through Congre.HS. Mr. Reall has made 
himself very prominent in this legislation. 
We do not understand who gave him au¬ 
thority to lead in the matter, or who gave 
him authority to handle moneys donated 
by dairymen. With these points clear, 
we might feel more l ; kc defending him 
than we do at present. Mr. Reall has un¬ 
doubtedly worked hard for honest butter. 
He deserves the thanks of the people for 
his labors. No sensible man believes that 
he worked solely for the benefit of the 
people. It was a matter of business with 
him, as it was with all others who made 
themselves heard in the matter. Mr. 
Beall’s business will probably be increased 
bj the passage of the oleomargarine bill. 
We hope so at lekst. We detest hypoc¬ 
risy. We don’t like to see men posing 
as public benefactors over legislation that 
is a plain matter of business. Now that 
the bill has passed Congress, we shall 
probably be treated to a month’s discussion 
as to who did most to carry it through. 
Make no mistake on this point. The 
farmers of the country did it with their 
petitions and resolutions. The great les¬ 
son to be learned is that this country is 
still ruled from the farm, and that when¬ 
ever farmers work earnestly and unitedly 
in support of a just measure they can 
carry it. 
How many of us sometimes heartily 
sympathize with that pious old Brahmin 
who dashed to pieces the costly micro¬ 
scope which revealed to him the presence 
of minute animalculffl in the water which 
he had been accustomed to drink all his 
life, although his religion forbade him to 
eat or drink anything possessed of animal 
life. Here comes Professor Vaughn, of 
the Michigan University, with the an¬ 
nouncement that he has just discovered, 
by analysis, an irritant poisonous princi¬ 
ple called tyrotoxicon in some ice-cream, 
by which 140 persons were lately poisoned 
in the Wolverine State. It is believed 
that this hard word, or rather the poison 
meant by it, is the result of the decompo¬ 
sition of milk, and may be developed in 
anymilk kept in unclean vessels or in an 
unwholesome atmosphere. The germ giv¬ 
ing rise to it propagates very rapidly, and 
a small amount will soon infest a large 
body of milk. It is thought this same 
principle is largely present in the milk 
and cream sold to the public, and that its 
presence may “account for much of the 
intestinal disturbance in children during 
warm weather, notably cholera infantum 
and similar conditions.” It is to be hoped 
that further investigations may furnish 
house holders with plain directions for 
detecting the presence of this irritant 
poison in milk and cream. We may then 
acknowledge that our first occasional im¬ 
pulses in such cases are as foolish as that 
of the pious old Brahmin. 
WOOL. 
The great London wool sale closed last 
Saturday. Such sales take place four 
times a year. Of the 355,000 bales that 
were offered, 350,000 were sold, leaving a 
phenomenally small balance to be carried 
over to the September sales. Of the en¬ 
tire quantity, 150,000 bales were taken for 
English consumption, and 300,000 bales 
by outside buyers. The attendance was 
large throughout,and the bidding spirited. 
The sales closed at an advance of fully 20 
per cent, for Australian Merino, of from 
10 to 15 per cent, for cross-bred, and of 
35 per cen, for Cape of Good Hope and 
Natal wools, as compared with prices at 
the April sales. There was every prospect 
that prices will be maintained in the near 
future. Here, it is generally conceded that 
there has been a reduction of about 10 per 
cent, in the clip this year, though other 
estimates make the shortage still greater. 
The decline has been specially notable in 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, 
Kentucky and Tennessee. In Texas, and 
especially the Western part of it, the fall¬ 
ing off has been still heavier, owing to 
the terrible drought that has prevailed 
there the past year, killing thousands of 
sheep. Indeed it is thought that, owing 
to the low price of wool everywhere and 
the consequent slaughter of sheep for the 
last few years, there is a falling off of the 
world’s clip. The rise in the price of 
wool here has been a much needed god¬ 
send to flock-owners. The spring clip of 
1880 was 155,081,751 pounds, and an 
advance of even three cents a pound on 
this quantity would amount to$4,670.452,- 
50. The clip this year, in spite of the re¬ 
cent reduction, is certainly as large as that 
of six years ago, and the advance has 
averaged over three cents per pound, so 
that there is a pretty good sum to be 
divided between the growers and dealers. 
All present indications point to a firm or 
advancing market. 
• ♦ * 
PLAIN TALK ABOUT BLACKBERRIES. 
Most of the varieties of blackberries 
now offered for sale, are abundantly pro¬ 
lific. The first desideratum is therefore 
quality; the second, size and hardiness. 
Any blackberry that is not of good qual¬ 
ity should be discarded at once, no mat¬ 
ter bow productive it is, no matter how 
hardy. Wc rate size as a second consid¬ 
eration, because a large blackberry with¬ 
out quality is really worthless. The 
Lawtou is perhaps the largest of black¬ 
berries, yet the Kittatinny is preferred, 
though smaller, because it is sweeter. 
Why should new varieties of blackberries 
be introduced, that arc neither hardier 
nor better than those already well known! 
Among the later introductions we have 
had occasion to speak favorably of 
the Early Harvest. It is the earliest 
blackberry ever tested at the Rural 
Grounds, while the fruit is sweet, tender 
and of a peculiarly regular form and a jet 
black color, which give it an attractive 
appearance. It begins to ripen 10 
days before the Kittatinny, and the 
best of the crop is gathered before 
the Kittatinny is in full bearing. It 
is, however, less hardy. We have the 
Early Cluster. It begins to ripen before 
the Kittatinny, but its main crop is borne 
after the latter begins to ripen. Though 
a bountiful bearer, the berries are compar- 
itively small and of inferior quality. We 
do not therefore see that there is any legit¬ 
imate place for the Early Cluster. 
The Wilson Junior is also exceedingly 
productive, ripening somewhat before the 
Kittatinny without being in any other 
respect its equal for this particular climate. 
The Snyder ripens with the Wilson Junior. 
Its berries are smaller, but the quality is 
as good; it is fully as productive, while 
the variety is among the hardiest known. 
Taylor’s Prolific ripens with the Kittatin¬ 
ny and what has been said of the Snyder 
can be said of this. The new Miimewas- 
ka, which will be offered for sale this Fall, 
does not, so far as we can judge, promise 
to fill any unoccupied space. The Lucre- 
tia Dewberry, after what we consider a 
fair trial, is not judged to be worthy of 
introduction. It ripens with the wild 
dewberries, somewhat after the Early 
Harvest and before the Wilson Junior. 
It bears berries enough of goodly 
size and fair quality. But unless protect¬ 
ed by a mulch, the berries are spattered 
by sand and soil. Besides, it is far more 
trouble to pick them, while they take 
possession of three times the space requir¬ 
ed to raise standards. 
-- 
IRRIGATION TN CALIFORNIA. 
Governor Stoneman, of California,has 
just called an extra session of the Legis¬ 
lature to deal with the subject of irriga¬ 
tion The Governor’s action has been 
rendered necessary by a recent decision of 
the State Supreme Court, which applied 
the English common law doctrine of 
riparian rights to the rivers of the State, 
giving the owners of the property along 
the* streams a monopoly of the water. 
Such a principle of law causes little 
hardship in a country like England, where 
rains ai c frequent and irrigation unknown; 
but in rainless regions where, without 
irrigation, the land would be irreclaim¬ 
able, it is unjust,incongruous and fatal to 
all advancement. No English court in 
England’s tropical dependencies would 
dream of applying it to the arid plains of 
India, Australia or South Africa. In all 
such countries custom and law regard all 
runuing water, nob as the private property 
of the riparian land owners, but as the 
collective inheritance of the community 
at large as indispensable as the air they 
breathe. 
On the Pacific Slope, the conditions of 
temperature and rainfall are the same as 
those in India, Australia and South 
Africa, and for 35 years Californians have 
been perfecting the most extensive, com¬ 
plex and costly system of irrigation the 
world has ever seen. By it, arid wastes 
have been transformed into teeming wheat 
fields, prolific vineyards and rich gardens. 
By it the agricultural wealth of the 
State has been developed to an extent 
that dwarfs its mineral riches in its flush- 
est days It is this splendid result of 
labor, energy, enterprise and capital that 
the Supreme Court has attempted to des¬ 
troy by the outrageous decision that every 
foot of water in California is the private 
property of those who chance to own 
lands along the rivers, streams and lakes. 
The decision has raised a storm of anger, 
protest and indignation nil over the State, 
especially among the busy toilers in var¬ 
ious agricultural pursuits, whose interests 
it threatens with utter ruin. Both polit¬ 
ical parties and all the fierce factions in 
each demand immediate legislation to 
right the monstrous wrong. The decis¬ 
ion, on appeal from the lower courts, was 
reached only by a majority of one, and 
the terms of four of the judges who sat 
in the. case will expire before the next 
election, in November. The people hav¬ 
ing the power to elect wiser judges can 
have the disastrous decision speedily re¬ 
versed; while by an efficient amendment to 
their new Constitution, they should 
take precautions against any similar insan¬ 
ity in future. The representatives of the 
people on the judicial bench should be no 
more permitted to accomplish the ruin of 
their constituents than the representatives 
of the people in the Legislature. 
BREVITIES. 
Rain, rain, rain at the Rural Farm, and 
much of the wheat still in the field and sprout¬ 
ing. 
Whatever others may say of the Diehl- 
Mediterranean Wheat, there are other kinds 
we prefer for the Rural Farm. 
In the neighborhood of the Rural Farm 
sweet potatoes are raised every year. The 
NunsemOnd is preferred. 
“Oakland is the most beautiful city in the 
United States.” So says Mrs. Fishtr in her 
Transcontinental Letter this week. 
New .7 HUSKY strawberry growers say that 
their berries about paid for picking and 
freight. One must do a heavy business to 
make it profitable at that rate. 
Some of our botanical frienste may lie Inter¬ 
ested to know tkut we found a double White 
Ox eve Daisy plant. Nearly all the disc 
flowers were changed to ray flowers. 
The commission merchants say: “Blast the 
raspberries I We can do nothing with them.” 
Bo it was, in a measure, with strawberries 
and currants. Bo it is with gooseberries and 
will be with blackberries. 
Plant some seeds of your best blackberries. 
Plant In boxes of mellow soil and cover with 
glass. The plants may be wintered in cold- 
frames or pits until Spring, aud then set in 
the open ground. Raspberry seeds may also 
be treated in the same way. 
Nkxt to the man who fails to supply fruit 
for liis family during the Summer, we put the 
man w ho will not go to dinner when the signal 
is given. Many good men seem unable to 
understand that house-work is as much of a 
business as their own work. They always wait 
to hoe another row, take another load, or do a 
little more after dinner is ready. This is all 
wrong. Nothing is gained by the extra work: 
the house-wife Is often nut’out of patience, and 
the dinner may be injured. Stop work yhen 
you.hear the bell, and go to dinner. 
