164 
THE RURAL MEW*Y©RKER. 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. ."4 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1886. 
Please send all fruits and perishable 
articles to the editor, River Edge, Bergen 
Co., New Jersey. 
The Rural’s statement that the new 
tomatoes Mikado and Turuer’s Hybrid 
are the same will not be disputed. The 
plants are highly productive, the tomatoes 
very large—sometimes quite smooth—but 
generally as irregular as the fruit of the 
old Trophy. 
- ♦ - 
August 15: The Jessica (white) grape 
is fruiting at the Rural Grounds for the 
first. The berries are beginning to ripen 
the earliest of any we have ever raised un¬ 
less it may be those of the Early Victor, 
which is also fruiting for the first. It is 
a close race between them. 
There is an Osage Orange growing in 
the New York Central Park that, six 
inches from the ground, measures six feet 
in circumference, with a roundhead about 
20 feet high. The foliage is dense, and 
this Osage Orange is one of the finest tree 
specimens in the whole park. 
m' 2 ‘he SUPPLEMENT of the It UR A L 
NEW i ORKER Special to he issued about 
Sept. 4 th will he mailed to subscribers and 
all applicants from its date until next May 
or June. 
Advertisements for the Supplement should 
he sent in at once. 'The price will he 50 
cents per line to all. Advertising patrons 
need never apply to ns for special rates. 
We have no special rates. 
One hundred thousand dollars for the 
Washington seed distribution., two-thirds 
of the seed to be distributed by members 
of Congress; for forestry, $7,000; for silk 
culture, $10,000 ! We conscientiously 
believe that the Rural’s little seed dis¬ 
tributions have done more good to the 
country during the past eight years than 
have those of the Washington politician- 
humbug affair. Had the one hundred 
thousand been appropriated to forestry, 
and the silk business been ignored, mem¬ 
bers of Congress would have shown some 
sense. 
From seed gathered and sown in early 
May we have now lilacs a foot high. Is 
there anything in a floral way more de¬ 
lightful than a good specimen of the lilac 
in° full bloom ? Is not the delicate fra¬ 
grance of its abundant panicles enough to 
repay one for the cost of raising lilacs 
about the home ? Lilacs vary considera¬ 
bly from seed inhabit and foliage, as well 
as in the color of the. flowers and size of 
the panicles. The seeds may be collected 
and sown now. They will germinate in 
10 days and the plants will winter safely 
if lightly covered with straw or loose ma¬ 
nure. 
-- 4 ♦ 
Seven of the eight Anarchists on trial 
for weeks at Chicago were yesterday con¬ 
demned to death. For all who respect 
law and order this is the best intelligence 
we have printed for many a day. These 
wretches gloried in their antagonism to 
law, reason, decency and the peace and 
welfare of the civilized world, and in the 
pursuit of their nefarious designs wan¬ 
tonly and willfully destroyed valuable 
lives for which their own worthless lives 
are but a poor compensation. Their exe¬ 
cution on the gallows will be a stern 
warning to a class of exotic criminals for 
whom there is no room in any corner of 
this broad land. Would that the punish¬ 
ment could he inflicted promptly, and that 
the force of the lesson should not be weak¬ 
ened by the law’s delays! 
The majority of the fair catalogues 
come to us this year with the words “ no 
liquors allowed on the grounds ” plainly 
printed. There will be more temperance 
fairs this year than ever before. This 
fact is very gratifying. The temperance 
sentiment of the country is growing 
stronger and stronger. Men who sneered 
at it a few years ago are now afraid of it. 
The coming generation of fanners will 
carry temperance so far into politics that 
politicians will be the most ardent advo¬ 
cates of reform. What do the managers 
of our New York State Fair propose to do 
about the saloon business this year ? They 
have made a heap of money out of “beer 
privileges’’ in times past. They ought to 
be able to get along without liquor this 
year. We shall see what they will do. 
CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR MAXI¬ 
MUM POTATO YIELDS. 
We are now digging and weighing the 
potatoes of our rich-soil plot, where, per¬ 
haps, about 500 different kinds have been 
raised during the past eight years. The 
average yield seems to increase every year, 
and the question arises whether it would 
not pay to treat large areas just the same 
as this little plot has been treated. The 
entire yield this year will certainly exceed 
800 bushels to the acre. Our treatment of 
this land seems to indicate that potatoes, 
to give maximum yields, not only need 
complete fertilizers, but that, they need 
every form of plant food, the effects of 
which the chemist may not be able either 
to estimate or recognize. We have used 
upon this plot every available form of 
potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen, as 
well as sulphur, magnesia, salt, lime, sand 
and muck. 
No matter, however, what the soil is 
made up of, if we could raise such immense 
potato crops year after year evidently it 
must not only be retentive and moist, but 
also well drained. Such land is rarely to 
be found. But, when it is fouud, we 
should not., with our present experience, 
hesitate to supply the conditions of this 
plot; and we should feel that the money 
could scarcely be more wisely invested 
upon the farm. 
THE EFFECT OF P1MASCULATION ON 
THE YIELD OF CORN. 
If any reader were to doubt our state¬ 
ment that cutting off the tassels of the 
corn plant induces the rapid development 
of “sets” which in many cases would 
otherwise remain dormant, he should try 
the experiment. We are thinking, there¬ 
fore, whether it does not follow that a 
field of corn if every alternate plant were so 
treated would not produce more grain 
than if all the tassels were left in the 
usual way. The writer first observed this 
effect of destroying the male flowers (or 
“tassels”) several years ago. The variety 
which we have been working to improve 
for 10 years is always planted in a plot of 
about one-tenth of an acre. 
When the tassel first appears and be¬ 
fore the pollen is ripe, the plant is ex¬ 
amined. If it suckers, is too tall, or the 
sets do not develop, or only the higher sets 
develop, or the stalk itself is too tall, the 
tassel is cut off in order that such plants 
may not mate with others which are 
less faulty. It would appear that the 
plant vigor required in perfecting the tas¬ 
sel must be very great, for no sooner is it 
cut off than not only do the sets which 
may have shown themselves grow rapidly, 
but other sets are forced into growth. 
We have plants which have been thus 
treated with from three to eight sets all 
showing silk, though the sets had not 
appeared above the sheath when the tas¬ 
sels were cut off. 
Evidently the plant nourishment which 
was required to mature the male flowers 
was, after emasculation, atonce_directed to 
the female flowers. 
If every other plaut in a corn-field were 
deprived of its tassels, no doubt the per¬ 
fect plants would furnish pollen enough 
for all. Whether the yield of grain 
would be increased or not is a fit subject 
for experimentation. 
THE “WHEEL.” 
The Agricultural Wheel is an organi¬ 
zation of farmers started by three of them 
in Prairie County, Arkansas, in 1882. It 
is devoted to the promotion of the special 
interests of the farming class, and none 
but farmers have been hitherto admitted 
to membership. Within a year of its 
organization every county in the State 
had a Wheel of its own. In 1885 the 
State Wheel was very much strengthened 
by the consolidation with it of the 
Brothers of Freedom, an organization like 
that of the Grangers. There are now over 
1,200 Wheels in the State, with a mem¬ 
bership of 55,000. 
In June last a State convention of 
Wheelers at Little Rock nominated a State 
ticket, though many members objected to 
enter politics as a party, and bolted, 
though willing to become factors, as 
Wheelers, in local, county and State elec¬ 
tions. All the nominees declined, while 
generally expressing sympathy with'the 
movement. Another convention w r as held 
at Litchfield, Ark., on July 28, when a 
National Wheel was formed, representa¬ 
tives from Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and 
Kentucky being present. After adjourn¬ 
ment, the Executive Committee of the 
State Wheel met the other clay and nom¬ 
inated a State ticket. If it receives the 
full Wheeler vote it is thought it will be 
elected; nud in spite of much dissatisfac¬ 
tion it is expected to receive 20,000 votes. 
The appearance of the Wheel in politics 
indicates a tendency on the part of the 
farmers of the country to break away from 
old political connections and to organize 
on new lines. This is the first agricultural 
organization that has taken any promi¬ 
nent part in State politics since the- 
Granger movement against railroad extor¬ 
tion in the Northwest. Tt is rolling rap¬ 
idly over the South, where it is meeting 
with much opposition from the Demo¬ 
cratic party, as its members are drawn 
chiefly from that organization. Its inde¬ 
pendence of old parties is salutary, and 
will do much to promote a much needed 
reorganization of parties in the South. 
THE DROUGHT IN WESTERN TEXAS. 
Two or three weeks ago telegrams from 
several parts of Western Texas greatly 
belittled the injury which numerous pre¬ 
vious telegrams had reported to have been 
done to the live stock and agricultural 
interests of that section by the long-con¬ 
tinued drought. At the time we ven¬ 
tured to doubt the truth of the denials in 
face of reiterated accounts of the immense 
damage done. We now learn that in re¬ 
sponse to an earnest appeal from Gov. Ire¬ 
land. a movement has been quietly started 
in most of the cities of the State for the 
relief of the people rendered destitute by 
the drought The Governor is severely 
criticized by many for having issued the 
proclamation, as most Texans think it 
will tend to keep many actual settlers out 
of the State. In Shackleford County, 
where farmers were entirely dependent on 
their crops, employment has been fur¬ 
nished by the County Commissioners by 
giving farmers work on the public roads. 
A fund has also been raised to be lent to 
farmers without interest to enable them 
to buy seed this Fall. Other counties are 
likely to follow the same course. The 
distressed people of Callihan County, who 
have lost their cereal crops, cotton, hay 
and grass, driven to desperation by 
, want, appeal to the world for help. 
There are 10 counties in the State where 
absolute destitution prevails. Provisions 
are being sent forward from various towns 
in Northern Texas; but everything is be¬ 
ing done very quietly so as not to alarm 
intending settlers. Cattle, sheep and 
horses have been nearly the only sufferers 
in the stock-raising counties, and of these 
the deaths have been very heavy; but men, 
women and children have been the great 
sufferers in the agricultural counties of 
the drought-afflicted section. It may possi¬ 
bly be a shrewd measure, blit it can hard¬ 
ly be an honest one, for a large State like 
Texas to try to conceal for selfishly de¬ 
ceptive purposes the extent of this disaster. 
With States more emphatically than even 
with individuals, “honesty is the best 
policy.” 
DANGER TO THE WATER SUPPLY OF 
CALIFORNIA. 
While the miners aud farmers of Cali¬ 
fornia are hotly disputing about the right 
to use the rivers of the State for hydraulic 
power or irrigation, a third class is de¬ 
stroying the capacity of the rivers to fur¬ 
nish any water at all during the summer 
months, when water is most essential. 
There is no summer rain in the Golden 
State, and during the long, hot, dry, 
brown Summer both farmers aud miners 
arc entirely dependent on the supply of 
water stored in the basins from which the 
rivers are supplied. These storage basins 
are the coniferous forests that cover the 
California mountains. If these arc al¬ 
lowed to remain in something like their 
natural condition, the heavy snows on the 
mountains, gradually melting, will slowly 
pass down through the streams the year 
round. In the census year California had 
4,152,849 sheep—more than any other 
State except Ohio. For many years a 
great part of these, as well as countless 
herds of cattle and goats, are driven every 
Bummer up from the parched valleys into 
the moist mountain meadows and woods. 
There they eat up every' blade of grass 
and stamp down and gnaw away every 
bush and young tree along the entire 
length of the Sierras, thus ruining the re¬ 
productive power of the forests. After 
the destruction of the grasses and shrubs, 
the shepherds and herdsmen, for the pur¬ 
pose of more Tapidly renewing the sup¬ 
ply, set fire to the forests in hundreds of 
places, so as to get rid of the shade which 
cheeks vegetation. Thus, what with the 
grazing of stock, the reckless fires of the 
stockmen, and the wasteful ways of the 
lumbermen, the mighty forests of Califor¬ 
nia are disappearing with alarming rap¬ 
idity. The destruction of the forest reser¬ 
voirs will convert the short, deep, rapid 
California rivers, running through long, 
narrow, hot, dry valleys, into spring tor¬ 
rents, and leave them dry the rest of the 
year, and without a permanent summer 
supply of water the greater part of Cali¬ 
fornia will be uninhabitable. Before de¬ 
ciding to what use the rivers of the State 
are to he applied, would it not be wise in 
the Legislature to take measures to secure 
their permanence? 
BREVITIES. 
Moore’s Early is now (Aug. 18) beginning 
to ripen. 
We are planting early peas as an experi¬ 
ment. We presume that they will mildew. 
Are you budding any fruit or ornamental 
trios? Now is the time. See how many pears 
or apples you can bud upon a single tree—just 
for the fun of it—how many kind-; of roses 
upon a single bush. Bud the white lilac upon 
the purple, or rice v&t'sa; the privet upon the 
lilai; the double red-flowering thorn upon the 
white; the different colored Japan quinces 
upon the white. 
Those of our friends who can afford the ex¬ 
pense should now be thinking of planting hardy 
bulbs. Let the soil be mellow, deep and rich. 
Hyacinths should he planted deep and uot dis¬ 
turbed until they fail. Good bulbs will bloom 
three to four years. Tulip* may remain two 
years in beds.' Then it is bast to take them up 
after the leaves fade in early Summer, separ¬ 
ate them and replant. 
This is the season when full crop reports are 
of the greatest use to those who have produce 
to sell. Last week we gave the gist of the 
latest and most, trustworthy reports on cereals; 
this week we do the same for fruits, potatoes, 
tobacco, etc. Special attention will be given 
to this business every week, until most of the 
marketable produce has passed from the grow¬ 
ers’ hands. 
In Germany great care is taken to prevent 
the spread of trichinosis among the people, 
who are greatly addicted to the oat ing of raw 
or underdone pork in the shape of ham, sau¬ 
sage, etc. Every hog slaughtered for market 
is carefully examined l»y an official mieroscop- 
ist, whose' duty it is to detect trichinae, and 
by condemning ©very affected animal prevent 
the disease. If this occurs from the use of 
pork examined by any rnicroseopist, he is 
held responsible and is punished. Couldn’t, 
even this wide-awake Republic learn a lesson 
from this “primitive custom V' 
Toe Grain Shippers’ Association, of Kansas, 
includes nearly every big grain buver in the 
State. It was organized in a small way two 
years ago; but the low prices of wheat aud 
other farm produce of late have increased the 
necessity for such an organization, and its 
strength has been greatly augmented within 
the last five months. Delegates from it vis¬ 
ited St. Louis the other day. and triad to get 
such rates from the Missouri Pacific Rail¬ 
road as would permit them to ship the entire 
grain crop of Kansas to St. Louis. The result 
of their negotiations is not yet. known. Why 
earmot the farmers in every section form or¬ 
ganizations to secure low rates of transporta¬ 
tion on their produce to market ? Such or¬ 
ganizations would very likely be successful 
wherever there is any competition in trans¬ 
portation, either by rail, river or canal. If 
wide-spread ing, like the Kansas association, 
it could, probably, often influence rates where 
there is no competition by bargaining for 
rates for all its members, competition or no 
competition. Where this cannot be done by 
farmers themselves, they should encourage 
the buyers of their produce to do so; for low 
rates of freight, for the latter will enable them 
to pay better prices for what they buy. 
Tn 1875 there was inserted in the Nebraska 
State Constitution a provision that at the gen¬ 
eral election immediately preceding the expira¬ 
tion of the terra of a United States Senator from 
t hat. State, the electors should express by bal¬ 
lot their preference for some person for the 
office. For the ten years since then no action 
had been taken on this provision until last 
Monday, when Senator Van Wyck, who is a 
candidate for re-election, in a spirited mani¬ 
festo appealed to the people for an expression 
of their preference under the proviso. This 
will be the first instance of a direct vote of 
the people of any State for a United States 
Senator, and it. is supposed that the choice 
thus made will, as a matter of honor, be bind¬ 
ing on the next Legislature elected. The Sen¬ 
ator well says that, “while the National Sen¬ 
ate represents the sovereignty of the States, 
each Senator should be the true representative 
of the sovereign people of the Common wealth. 
There has of late been a great deal of scandal 
with regard to the election ol United States 
Senators by the Legislature* of the various 
States. The members of these Legislatures 
are comparatively few, and are. therefore, 
much more easily influenced in their choice 
bv pressure from wealthy individuals or cor¬ 
porations, as well a-s by direct or indirect 
bribery or other corrupt incentives, than the 
great bodv of electors who choose them. The 
composition of the Senate, and its action with 
regard to many measures affecting corporate 
interests brought before it, lead to the con¬ 
clusion that undue influence has often been 
exercised by these forces in their election. <>» 
direct appeal to the people, like that, jus 
made in Nebraska, their cl mice would be di¬ 
rectly indicated, and the danger from im¬ 
proper influences iu the election of United 
States Senators would be minimized without 
anyl constitutional chauge iu the mode ot 
electing them. 
