644 
SEPT 25 
THE 
RURAL NEW'YORKER. 
ANatlonal Journal for Country and Suburban Homes, 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 35, 1S86. 
It is desirable that the Rural New- 
Yorker should be represented at all the 
agricultural fairs of the country. Those 
who are willing to act as agents will be 
furnished upon application with posters 
and all the specimen copies they may 
need. 
— 
Why not gather the seeds of the best 
grapes and plant them at once in beds of 
well-prepared soil? They will sprout 
next Spring. 
TnE Earhart Everbearing black-cap is 
bearing finely (Sept. 15) its third crop. 
The berries are large, and borne in clus¬ 
ters of from 16 to 40. It is a remarkable 
variety. 
The Alaska Peas planted August 16, 
are now a foot high and in bloom. It is 
our first trial with peas planted solute. 
The vines of the Spring were over two 
feet high when they began to bloom. 
A fine rain last week enables us to 
prepare our wheat plot just exactly to suit 
us. We are afraid that our attempted 
cross of rye upon the three-quarter hy¬ 
brids will prove a failure. Two or three 
kernels may, however, grow. 
Our new mode of securing for potatoes 
moisture as well as air and sun-ljght, 
which we have called “Valley Mulching.” 
will be described in a few weeks. The 
experiment was made in a small way, and 
the yield was so much increased that we 
shall try it more thoroughly another year. 
One of the best Bird Cantaloupes raised 
from the seed of our last seed distribution 
weighed nine pounds three ounces. It 
was thickly netted and of fiue quality. 
Tlie'size was 13 inches around the middle 
and 25 inches around lengthwise. Some 
of these melons are not netted at all ; 
others are of the regular melon shape. 
The new Premium-List of the R. N.-Y. 
is available to all who send yearly subscrip¬ 
tions at the regular price, viz., $3.00. 
It is a matter of choice whether they re¬ 
tain the cash commission of 50 cents for 
each subscription in clubs of five or over, 
or select any of the articles from the Pre¬ 
mium-List, which are scaled so as to allow 
an equivalent of from one to two dollars 
for each subscription, according to the 
arrangement which we have been enabled 
to make with the manufacturers. 
The American Forestry Congress at Den¬ 
ver, Colo., before adjourning Thursday 
night, adopted resolutions asking Con¬ 
gress to establish an agricultural and for- 
estal experiment station in connection 
with' the Department of Agriculture at 
Washington; also to pass a bill for the 
protection and preservation of the timber 
land now in possession of the Government 
and for the establishment of a Commission 
on Forestry to provide the means to pre¬ 
vent the destruction of forests by fire and 
the prosecution ol persons setting fire to 
timber. The Forestry Congress has done 
much good in arousing attention to the 
necessity of forest preservation. Substan¬ 
tial progress has already been made. 
Public opinion is becoming instructed. A 
ood deal has been done by somejof the 
tates in the way of forest cultivation; 
but there’is''need of vastly more. The 
rapidity with which timber is consumed 
is well i llustrated by the fact that the rail¬ 
roads of the country require this year 
80,000,000 ties for repairs alone. These 
are all from comparatively young trees. 
Raihoad ties last, only from one-fourth to 
oue-iifth the time needed to grow them. 
When metal or paper shall have replaced 
wood for ties, a vast saving will be made 
in timber destruction. 
FARMERS’ CLUBS. 
The time is now coming when the live 
Farmers’ Club will do its greatest good. 
There are many excellent clubs in the 
country, and their influence for good is 
beyond measure. Some of the very best 
work is done by the county or town clubs. 
These smaller associations are more like 
great families where the members are free 
to praise and criticize with no other mo¬ 
tive than a desire to bring out the truth. 
The Westtown Farmers’ Club, of Orange 
County, N. Y., is an admirable society. 
Its meetings are always well attended and 
lively. One admirable feature of each 
meeting is the “creaming” of some good 
agricultural paper. A member is ap¬ 
pointed to studv the paper and take olT 
the cream—that, is to take the heart out of 
the articles—and present them in the form 
of an essay or speech. Then the members 
can discuss the various points, add testi¬ 
mony if they approve and show wherein 
the wrong lies, if they object. This plan 
is a fine one, and many a good club can be 
built up by following it. Many clubs de¬ 
cay and die because the mambers simply 
talk themselves out, aud tell all they know. 
By discussing the ideas advanced in a pa¬ 
per like the Rural, they can discuss the 
ideas of over 1,000 persons through the 
year, and there will be no lack of new sub¬ 
jects to handle. We advise all Farmers’ 
Clubs and Granges to adopt, this line of 
work. Where there is a desire to organ¬ 
ize a club, let three or four good farmers 
make it a point to meet now and then to 
discuss their favorite agricultural paper. 
They will be surprised to see how quickly 
others will desire to join them. 
CANDIDATES AT FAIRS. 
The politicians are having rare times at 
the fairs this year. All the candidates, 
big and little, are glad to put themselves 
on exhibition by the side of prize horses 
and cattle. The people have a chance to 
look them over and judge them by the 
“scale of points” which every thinking 
man makes for himself. We see no rea¬ 
son for the outcry which is raised against, 
candidates for attending public meetings. 
The people want to look at them. Sup¬ 
pose they do make speeches and shake 
hands. Are American farmers so simple 
that they believe everything that is told 
them? We hold that they have minds of 
their own and that no man’s tongue can 
wag them away from what they think is 
right. We object to having the recog¬ 
nized speech of the fair delivered by some 
lawyer who tries to tell what lie knows 
about farming aud only succeeds in show¬ 
ing that he knows nothing; but if a candi¬ 
date wants to come out and show himself 
as a side-show, why object? It is far bet¬ 
ter to have candidates so taught that, they 
are willing to take off their hats to the 
farmer and beg for his vote, thau to have 
them feel that the farmer’s vote will come 
to them anyway. The keener the com¬ 
petition for the‘farmer’s vote, the greater 
the benefit we shall derive from it. 
- » • » -- 
POLITICAL TEMPERANCE. 
The temperance cause i s gaining ground. 
The growth of a strong and permanent re¬ 
form like this must of necessity be slow. 
It is an education and we must reach to 
the very bottom it we would form a rock¬ 
like basis. It is better to go slowly and 
steadily on than to rush into legislation 
that must be undone, or to spend time in 
correcting mistakes. The agitation 
against the saloon has been compared 
with that raised against slavery. In one 
sense the two are unlike. Slavery was a 
sectional evil. Those who fought against 
it knew little about its practical workings. 
It was possible to arouse au intense en¬ 
thusiasm among those who had never seen 
a slave other than the few superhuman 
specimens who had the manhood and cour¬ 
age to escape. The cause of the saloon is 
not sectional. Its power is felt all over 
the country and faces us everywhere. It 
can he fought and overcome, but this can¬ 
not be done in a day. We look upon the 
recent meeting of Anti-saloon Republicans 
at Chicago as one of the most hopeful 
signs of the times. When Senators and 
ex-members of the Cabinet openly declare 
war upon the saloon we may well hope 
for definite results. There have been 
many denunciat ions of the liquor business, 
but few have been pronounced in sturdier 
or more pointed language than is contained 
in the following extract from the resolu¬ 
tions adopted at the Chicago convention: 
“ The liquor traffic- as it exists to-day in the 
United States is the enemy of society, a fruit¬ 
ful source of corruption iu politics, the ally of 
anarchy, a school of crane, and with its 
avowed purpose of seeking corruptly to con¬ 
trol elections and legislation, is a menace to 
the public welfare and deserves the|condenuia- 
tion of all good men.” 
The action of these prominent Republi¬ 
cans cannot well be disregarded. They 
mean business of the most determined 
character. Let the party plant itself 
squarely upon a temperance platform and 
the politicians will surely come to time. 
This will give political temperance a dig¬ 
nity it has never before enjoyed. The 
question should be raised above a mere 
matter of party politics, however. We 
want the matter so managed and brought 
before the people that all temperance men 
cau unite against the saloon and still feel 
free to vote upon other subjects as they 
desire. We welcome all honest efforts 
that tend to place the question squarely 
aud fairly before the people,hut we want 
no such humiliating spectacle as that of a 
mnu sliding into office under cover of a 
temperance cloak. May the day soon come 
when all good men can unite against the 
evil. 
THE GAMBLING MANIA. 
TnE desire to get something for nothing 
and the belief that it cau be done honor¬ 
ably seem almost universal. Speculators in 
produce and stocks are not confined to 
New York and Chicago; they abound iu 
all parts of the country; but especially in 
the West. There every city, town and 
village has one or more grain offices, which 
during business hours, are constantly re¬ 
ceiving quotations from the next large 
market while the Board of Trade is in ses¬ 
sion. For these dispatches they pay from 
$10 to *20 a mouth, and sometimes a num¬ 
ber “chip in” to pay for them. Few le¬ 
gitimate business places in the towns are 
as well patronized as these. The farmers 
from the surrounding country are con¬ 
stantly dropping in to see how “she is go¬ 
ing,” "and are just as constantly investing 
alf they can spare and often more “on 
their judgment.” The grain dealers of 
the section come or send iu a clerk to get 
the figures,aud they too frequently “back 
their judgment.” The men “about town” 
who have any money to invest are frequent 
visitors. As the yellow messages pass 
from hand to hand, it is wonderful what 
unanimity of opinion there is that wheat, 
corn and pork are “bound to go up,” for 
in nine cases out of ten, the country spec¬ 
ulator is a “bull.” 
There are no goods on show, no sam¬ 
ples even. It is simply a gambling den. 
There is no pretense of buying and sell¬ 
ing. The patrons simply bet on the fu¬ 
ture price of wheat or pork, or whatever 
else they nominally buy or sell. The own¬ 
er of the gambling “ hell”—usually a sev¬ 
eral-times “busted” speculator—explains 
to his victims how, by a system of mar¬ 
gins, he can control thousands of bushels 
of grain or barrels of pork with a few 
hundred dollars, and offers to take them 
into a “deal,” which is a “sure thing," 
and the victims put their money into the 
“blind pool” and usually lose it. Even 
if the deal is successful, the “ outsider 
must trust to the honor of bis “ partner,” 
and usually honor where “ big money” is 
concerned, is a scarce commodity in that 
quarter. 
Of course every patron soon knows all 
about “puts,” “calls,” “straddles,” and 
the whole business, and has au abiding 
faith in his own “judgment.” He may 
lose over and over again, but he is certain 
all the time that he can win it all back, 
and more too, if he cau only raise money 
enough to invest. An occasional “hit” 
causes him to thiuk himself the smartest 
man in town, aud makes him as confirm¬ 
ed a gambler as the oldest patron of the 
faro table. 
Very few ever come out of such deal¬ 
ings ahead. Most of them “spread them¬ 
selves” too much, buying heavily on a 
margin of only a few cents, and a slight 
fluctuation “wipes them out;” or the 
chief manipulator, often in concert with 
another speculator at the central market, 
makes “snap” quotations two or three 
cents lower than the regular market 
prices, and “freezes them out.” 
The evils caused by this form of gamb¬ 
ling are widespread. It has done nearly 
as much as poor crops and low prices to 
put a mortgage on many a farm in the 
West, aud plantation in the South. IIow 
many speculative grain merchants who 
“hacked their judgment” beyond their 
means, are now heavily in debt and curry¬ 
ing on business under their wives’ names, 
or those of somebody else, if they have 
still money or credit enough to carry ou 
business at all? When the farmer rides 
to town to learn “how the market is go¬ 
ing,” leaving a green hand to manage the 
farm, something is sure to go wrong. 
Careful bankers will not lend money to 
those known to speculate iu produce, 
except on the best security, because the 
innumerable examples of those who have 
lost their all at the game render them dis¬ 
trustful of repayment. 
What can he done to meet the evil which 
affects alike the blackleg gambler, the 
church-going storekeeper and the staid 
farmer? Special legislation seems power¬ 
less. The only hope appears to lie in a 
knowledge of truer business methods, a 
healthier public opinion, and a hearty con¬ 
demnation of the sentiment that gambling 
in produce is a whit more honorable or 
honest than gambling at cards. 
BREVITIES. 
W hat blackberry gives so much fall fruit 
as the Kittatinny? 
The Worden Grape ripens this year exactly 
with Concord at the R. G. 
Simon’s Plum, which seems to be half 
peach or apricot, is worthy of trial. 
How many pounds of milk from yovr cow 
does it require to make one pound of butter? 
The beautiful little Polvautha Roses may 
just] y he called everblooming. They are hardy 
also. 
Optimus is the best tomato, all things con¬ 
sidered. we have ever raised at the Rural 
Grounds. 
The Victoria Grape, which has borne im¬ 
mense crops for five years previously, fails 
this season. 
We fiud the “Self-husking” Corn very much 
wliat is claimed for it—a somewhat rare oc¬ 
currence as to novelties. 
Wk conclude that we had rather engage a 
stupid man who likes his work than a smart 
man who shims it. Are we right? 
The Brazilian Flour Corn is decidedly dif¬ 
ferent from any corn we have raised—quite a 
curiosity, in fact. We shall report later. 
Suppose we should stuff our stomachs with 
fooi 1, the same as some dairymen do those of 
their cows in order to secure large milk flows, 
what would be the result? 
Eggs are now going up in price. They will 
increase in price till Christmas. What treat¬ 
ment are the hens receiving now? The in¬ 
creased price will make no difference with 
your profits unless you take care of t he hens. 
Suppose you spend half a day in putting an 
acre of wheat land is first-rate order, and that 
acre yields two bushels of grain more than the 
rest of the field, do you lose or gain by the 
extra work? If you gain, why not treat every 
acre in the same way ? 
The Angel of Midnight Corn, sent out in 
the Rural’s Inst Seed Distribution, has done 
well with us, though requiring a longer season 
to mature than last year. It is certainly one 
of the most, productive strains of yellow flint 
known to us. 
Don’t say because wood ashes produce fine 
results on your laud that they are the best of 
all manures. Dou’t say because they show no 
effects they are worthless. In the one case, 
your laud may be rich in phosphoric acid and 
nitrogen, needing chiefly potash—iu the other 
rich in potash. 
Dr. R, I*. Greenleaf, of Delaware, sends 
us the tirst bunch of grapes we have seen from 
the Niagara seed sent out several years ago in 
the Rural'h Seed Distribution. The berry is 
much the color aud shape aud size of its pa¬ 
rent. In quality it is more meaty (less pulp), 
the skin is firm and we can uot. detect auy 
foxiuess. Dr. G. says the vine is vigorous. 
The Rural Blush is yielding heavily at the 
R, G. The season has been Favorable, it is 
true, for late potatoes. The Blush is uot the 
best shaped potato in the world ard, as we 
have often said, the tubers do not grow close¬ 
ly together. Still its quality equals that of the 
best of the Beach blows. W ait nutil wedistributo 
the Rural New-YORKER No. 3 among our 
subscribers! 
Do you attend the fair to learn all you cau, 
or do you go merely for amusement? How 
easy it is to distinguish t he one from the other. 
The farmer who aims to improve his methods 
and to raise better crops will find something 
in everything to examine and inquire about. 
The farmer who views farm life us merely a 
routiue of drudgery will bo found gaping in 
front of a fortune-wheel or idly gazing at the 
horse trot. 
Mr. H. M. C. Gardner has the thanks of 
the ladies of this office for a huge bunch of 
Golden Rod blossoms. These bright masses of 
gold are very popular with city people. 
Wturnover they make a visit to the eouutry at 
this season, they are sure to return laden with 
bunches of Golden Itod, Evuu the farmer, 
who is bound to look upon it as an agricultur¬ 
al enemy, is often forced iuto an expression of 
admiration us ho sees it noddiug merrily over 
liis fields. 
Would you have a bod of pansies bloom 
during tbc entire Summer? And would you 
have the flowers uoarly ns large in midsum¬ 
mer ns in early Spring or Fall ( We have suc¬ 
ceeded in this way: The soil of the bed was 
enriched with old maiiuro aud chemical fer¬ 
tilizer (boue, blood and potash), and kept 
moist all the while. If the plants suffer for 
water for even a day or so, the blooms grow 
small and do uot recover their size in several 
weeks. The newer strains of pansies—lilac, 
red, red aud yellow, bronze and black— are 
very beautiful. 
The busiest meu in the world just now are 
the market gardeners. They are having a 
close race with the frost. Tons of vegetables 
and melons are ready to be brought into the 
market. These would be utterly destroyed by 
heavy frost. There h* little sleep for the mar- 
ket gardener these nights. ihe roads aie 
crowded w ith teams. The waptms are loaded 
so heavily that the horses can just about pull 
them on level ground. Teams are stationed 
at the foot of each bad hill, which, for a small 
sum, will help„haul.tbe load to the top. 
