and then hairy to the store to buy, at ran¬ 
dom. a bottle of medicine with which to 
save the life they have sacrificed. All 
these people help to fill up the shelves 
with empty bottles. They could put a 
stop to the wasteful practice by paying 
decent attention to the laws of health. 
has been made toward checking depreda¬ 
tions on the public timber land also. Only 
between $100,000 and $150,000 have been 
recovered out of over $9,000,000 claimed. 
Depredations by powerful corporations, 
wealthy mill-owners aud lumber compan¬ 
ies are still committed to an alarming ex¬ 
tent. The Land Office is doing all in its 
power to check the evils and punish the 
evil doers, but the government law officers 
should be more energetic in supporting its 
operations. 
arrive at the conclusion that it would suf¬ 
fer personal likes or dislikes of any kind 
to influence its advice or direct its state¬ 
ments. 
In order to place before our readers the 
earliest information regarding the value 
of novelties every year offered to the pub¬ 
lic, we endeavor to procure the seeds or 
plants as soon as we learn of their exis¬ 
tence. If they behave well the first, year, 
our report is necessarily favorable. If the 
next year they behave badly, our report is 
uecessarily unfavorable. If this is what 
Mr. Cayvvood means by "unsteady” or 
"vacillating,” he is quite right. The 
Marlboro is a case in point. It pleased us 
the first year; it has disappointed us since. 
Now that the Minnewuski is offered for 
sale we shall obtain plants and test them 
beside the many other kinds of blackuer- 
ries that thrive in the Rural Grounds; and 
we shall hope that it will be found as Mr. 
Cayvvood predicts, worthy "of living to 
defend itself long after he and the Rural 
are gone,” 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN 
Address 
THE CATTLE PLAGUE IN CHICAGO, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Fare Row, New York. 
The owners of the quarantined cows at 
Chicago, who were anxious to sell their 
milk, sought by injunction to restrain the 
Health Commissioner and Chief of Po¬ 
lice from interfering with the sale of the 
stuff. It was shown to be unwholesome 
by the testimony of the physicians, and 
■Judge Tuley, in rendering a decision 
against its sale, said the health officers 
had no discretion in refusing to allow the 
milk to be sold. “ Clothes from a small¬ 
pox hospital,” said he, “might as well be 
distributed around the city. If the court 
were to sustain the injunction against the 
health officers it would be a crime against 
society.” Apart from the question of dis¬ 
ease, it seems impossible that the milk 
can be wholesome after the revelations 
that have been made of the atrocious con¬ 
dition of things at the distilleries, where 
the cows never breathe pure air, are never 
properly cleaned, constantly stand 
knee-deep in filth, never see grass, 
and never have anything to eat 
but hot distillery refuse. Not only 
should the sale of such milk be strict¬ 
ly prohibited, but the feeding of cows 
under the present pernicious system at dis¬ 
tilleries should no longer be tolerated in 
any part of the couutry. To prevent ir¬ 
reparable injury to the live stock trade of 
Chicago, and to remove imminent risk to 
the vast cattle interests of the country, 
the quarantined stock should be promptly 
disposed of, as well as all others that have 
been exposed to contagion. The plains 
are already excited over reports of contag¬ 
ious pleuro-pneumonia on the Dakota 
ranges. Once the disease gets a foothold 
on the large ranges there will be no means 
of checking it and the loss of the country 
will run high among the millions. At 
present it is charged that the quarantine 
is a paper one, aud that cattle that have 
been exposed to the disease are being 
shipped not only to the more eastern 
States which have not .vet scheduled Illi¬ 
nois; but also to the ranges. If this is 
true, it will uot be over a year or two be¬ 
fore the cattle business there will be on the 
road to ruin. It is quite possible, nay, 
very probable, that the careless nature of 
the quarantine, as well us the risks of con¬ 
tagion elsewhere have been exaggerated; 
but iu such cases safety lies in the line of 
exaggeration. 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1886, 
Asparagus roots may still be planted. 
If not now it would he well to prepare 
the plot now for Spring, and to plant as 
early in the Spring as the weather will 
permit. Asparagus is really one of the 
easiest vegetables to raise—far easier 
than celery. We prefer to raise it, from 
seed, and to sow the seed where the plants 
are to remain. In the preparation of the 
soil there is no difference whether we sow 
the seeds or plant the sets. A rich, deep, 
mellow soil is required, aud that is the 
whole story. Our experiment of raising 
asparagus eight years ago from seeds may 
still he remembered by our older readers. 
Seeds of every supposed variety were pro¬ 
cured from France,Germany and England, 
and sown side by side. These seeds were 
sown thickly in drills four feet apart and 
the plants thinned to one foot apart in the 
row. As to the size aud flavor of the dif¬ 
ferent kinds we never could detect any 
difference. The Argenteuil shoots were 
more silvery, the Red Dutch redder in 
color than the others. 
The old way was to sow iu a seed¬ 
bed and then transplant. But there is no 
reason for a special seed-bed; no need of 
transplanting. We merely make addition¬ 
al labor and defer the time when the 
shoots may he cut. An ounce of seed 
will cost 10 cents and there are fully 1,200 
seeds in an ounce, and these will give 
plants enough for a large family. Were 
we preparing a bed of asparagus, we 
should have the plants at least two by 
four feet apart. 
In the supplement of the Thanksgiving 
Number of the R. N.-Y. we shall present, 
in addition to the articles offered in our 
regular premium-list, a carefully selected 
list of books. 
We have uot thus far printed many of 
the reports received from Rural subscrib¬ 
ers of our seed distribution of last year. 
We have them all, however, and shall pre¬ 
sent them in a coudeused form later. The 
Bird Cantaloupe has proven a fine acquisi¬ 
tion. It has undoubtedly come to stay. 
BREVITIES, 
Pres. Ingkrsoll informs us that the tobac¬ 
co raised on the farm of the Colorado State 
College, by Prof. Cassidy, has been examined 
by experts, and at least two of the varieties 
show that they are A 1. 
Among sorghums the “Kaffir Corn” is prom¬ 
ising. The seed will ripen as far north as 
Canada, and the plant yields a large amount, 
of leaves aud stalks that farm animals are 
fond of. The grain makes a fair article of 
flour. What we need is machinery that will 
clean the seeds and leave the kernel alone—the 
same as thrashing gives us the kernel of wheat 
or rye. 
The land is as dry as a chip, and when 
plowed is broken into dust or brick-like lumps. 
We are suffering from the severest fall 
drought within the memory of our farmers. 
It is Oct. 19. We found one of our neighbors 
this morning sprinkling, through the rose of a 
watering-pot, a lot of “ammoniated super¬ 
phosphate,” intending to sow it on a field that 
he was about to sow to rye and Timothy, and 
proffered the advice not to do it, but wait 
until Spring rather, or even sow it upon the 
late snows of Winter or early Spring. Were 
we right? 
Mr. J. S. Collins, of Mooresfown, N. J., 
has some tine specimens of the Japan Chest¬ 
nut. At this time (Oct. 15.) the foliage is still 
green and very handsome. One specimen five 
years old has fruited finely; it is. perhaps, 20 
feet high and is finely proportioned. He has 
also some young trees—the Japan grafted ami 
budded upon the native stock. The grafted 
seem to do about us well as the budded. With 
Mr. Collins the Comet-Lawson Pear, grafted 
upon Kief for stock, has made a remarkable 
growth during the past season. 
And our pausies are the last flowers that 
bloom out-of-doors—they were the first. Upon 
the dining table and in the parlor we have 
pansies with a spray or so of wild fern, and 
they ai e as bright and jolly ns ever. Pansies 
iu Spring, Summer and Full—all the while. 
Few flowers can talk with you. joke with you, 
wink at you as can pansies. And then there 
are serious pansies that will keep you company 
when you ure sad. The rose is the < pieen of 
flowers, surely; but the pansy is the flower 
that the queen would choose, could she speak. 
The wife of a prominent fruit grower says 
that she has noticed that people learn to like 
the KielTer Pear. Attracted by its beauty, 
even though it he to the amateur but skin- 
deep. people continue to taste and eat. until 
finally they learn to like it very much iu the 
same way as a taste for tomatoes, bananas 
and other similar fruits is acquired, Speci- 
meus from the same orchard, or from the same 
tree, differ greatly iu flavor. In the Philadel¬ 
phia market the wholesale condemnation of 
the fruit, due to its deceptive appearance, has 
given way to a moderate appreciation, and it 
brings readily from $1 to $1.50 per basket. 
Apr eh watching several sick horses of late 
vve are convinced that many fanners are un¬ 
able to distinguish between a colie and a kid¬ 
ney trouble. Whenever a horse shows signs 
of pain, moves uneasily about, lies down and 
strikes with his feet, the unskilled owner at 
once decides that it is colic and doses accord¬ 
ingly. The treatment, does very litt le good, iu 
sumooases simply because the trouble is in the 
urinary system rather than in the stomach or 
bowels. When the horse straddles, looks 
around at his flanks, lies down and gets up, 
makes evident attempts to urinate, aud shows 
tenderness at the back, the dose for colic will 
do him little good. In mild cases, sweet spir¬ 
its of niter with hot applications at the back 
will relievo him. As was stated by a corres¬ 
pondent in a late ltURAL, a foul sheath causes 
much trouble of this character. 
Pickle raising is becoming an important 
indust ry on the north side of Long Island. At 
We beg to express an opinion as to the 
Worden Grape: If any one were to eat 
first a Worden, then a Concord grape he 
could not tell which from the other. As 
to the time of ripening, there is very little 
difference. The Worden bunch will not 
average so large as the Concord bunch. 
The vine of either is as hardy as the 
other. 
The following note explains itself: “It 
has been decided by those who alone have 
the right to do so, that the Maeomber 
white seedling of the Antwerp Raspberry 
is to bear the name of the beautiful lake 
on the shores of which it originated, 
“Champlain.” I think Mr. O. H. Alex¬ 
ander is a little presumptuous to attempt 
to give a name to a fruit he is testing. 
Grand Isle, Yt. J. T. macomber.” 
“Ammoniated superphosphate." What 
is it? Does it contain potash? If so, why 
call it an ammoniated phosphate? If not, 
how do you know that your land will re¬ 
spond to a fertilizer in which one of the 
important food elements is missing? It 
would seem that some of the fertilizer 
men are just as willing to muddle the 
names of chemical fertilizers as some 
seedsmen are to mix up the nomenclature 
of plants. 
--• ♦ » 
Calling the attention of the reader to 
our cut of the everbearing blackcap “Ear- 
hart” last week, we may further add that 
our first plants were received from Mr. J. 
W. Sarff. of Havana, Ills., in May of last 
year, with a history of its discovery and 
propagation. What became of these 
we cannot tell. We presume they died. 
It -was iu the Fall of last year that other 
plants were received from the introduc¬ 
ers, the Messrs Hale, and our observations 
were, of course, confined to these fall-set 
plants. We shall look for larger berries 
and more of them another season. 
NOTICE 
The Thanksgiving Number of the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker will be dated Novem¬ 
ber 20th. It will present a full account of 
the Rural's next Seed Distribution, and 
we shall issue 24 pages. Advertising rates 
will be the same as usual for the regular 
paper (30 cents per line) and 50 cents per 
line for the Supplement, which will be sent 
out from its date until next June. Adver¬ 
tising space in Supplement strictly limited 
to sir columns. 
MR. A. J. CAYWOOD AND THE RURAI 
NEW-YORKER. 
Mr. A. J. Caywood is widely known 
as the originator of several valuable fruits, 
the result of many years of toil. He is now 
quite an old gentleman, and richly enti¬ 
tled to the thanks of the people for the 
good he has done them, and to a goodly 
share of consideration when, as in the in¬ 
stance vve have to allude to, he shows that 
any adverse criticism of his fruits, impairs 
his sense of reason and justice. We have 
received a copy of his lately issued de¬ 
scriptive price-list iu which he makes 
some reckless, angry statements respecting 
the editor of the Rural New-Yorker, 
which, upon calmer thought, he will prob¬ 
ably regret. The Rural editor’s offense 
seems to be that he has said iu regard to 
the Minnewaski Blackberry, that “it did 
not promise to fill any unoccupied space.” 
Mr. Caywood thinks that this opinion was 
expressed merely to injure the sale of the 
Minnewaski because he declined to send 
plants to the Rural Grounds to be tested. 
He then alludes to our reports of new 
fruits ns “vacillating from bad to good 
and good to bad”; to the Rural Grounds 
as the "Valley of the Shadow of Death,” 
and then concludes in this wise: “The 
country need not look for any more good 
words from the Rural for any new fruits 
I may originate.” 
Here our friend is wrong. We shall 
speak of Mr. Caywood’s productions in 
the future precisely in the same way as we 
would have done when he visited us sev¬ 
eral years ago aud praised the Rural 
Grounds as beautiful indeed, and kindly 
spoke an encouraging word for the disin¬ 
terested work vve were doing, and offered 
and pressed upon us a half interest, in the 
Marlboro Raspberry if we would consent 
to praise it and to keep it before the peo¬ 
ple in our advertising columns. 
In our own behalf, it may be said, that 
it is hard to understand how anybody who 
has read the Rural New-Yorker for 
any considerable length of time can fairly 
TAKE CARE OF THE HEALTH 
Happy is the farm bouse that does not 
contain its shelf of empty patent medi¬ 
cine bottles. It is not much of a compli¬ 
ment to the intelligence of farmers to say 
that there are few houses that cannot show 
this array. Why will people take so much 
medicine? Do they like to consider them¬ 
selves sick? Is it fashionable to take 
medicine? Does it show poor taste to 
spend a little more time and money in 
keeping ourselves well aud thus avoiding 
all necessity for taking medicine? Good 
health is the product of good food, plenty 
of sleep, cleanliness and a clean con¬ 
science. It is far cheaper to put 
the extra money and time into the 
work of making these four conditions 
perfect than it is to attempt to build 
up a wasted system on patent medicine. 
Batbing is too frequently neglected, and 
sleep is murdered by those who need it 
most. The writer does not take an ounce 
of medicine during the year, simply be¬ 
cause he does not need it. A daily hath, 
eight hours’ sound sleep, plenty of lrttlt at 
meals, a daily glass of lemonade during 
the Spring and an honest endeavor to look 
upon the bright side of every subject form 
a far better medicine than can be bo ught 
at any store. This treatment works so 
well that we feel like recommending it to 
others. Many people brood themselves 
into disease. They worry aud study over 
their troubles until they seem too great to 
bear. Like the man who drinks to drown 
bis sorrows,they take medicine to cure the 
blues. Others get the idea that half a 
dozen doses ought to cure a disease that 
has been gathering through years of neg¬ 
lect. When half a bottle fails to make 
them well, the medicine is discarded and 
a new kind ordered. Rather than have 
any waste, the “leavings” are given to the 
children. There are a few brutes left who 
work their wives almost to death’s door, 
Bulletin No. 19, from the Michigan 
Agricultural College, gives the results of 
Prof. Bailey’s study of 76 so-called varie¬ 
ties of tomatoes. He has reduced the list 
nearly one-half, and is confident that this 
reduction will need to be reduced nearly 
another half after further study. He re¬ 
marks that none are so well qualified to 
undertake this work of determining 
synonyms or duplicates, as well as a re¬ 
formation of garden nomenclature as 
many of our seedsmen, and it seems 
Btrauge that they should be the very ones 
who make the work necessary. The chief 
kinds tried by Prof. Bailey have been tried 
at the Rural Grounds and reports have 
been made from year to year. He con¬ 
firms our statement that the Mikado and 
Turner’8 Hybrid are the same. 
Land Commissioner Sparks, in his 
annual report, reiterates his account of 
vast illegal appropriations of the public 
domain by native and foreign cattle kings 
and syndicates. The story has been told 
ovei and over again; what has been done 
to remedy the evil? We are told that 
fences illegally inclosing 2,714,920 acres 
have been removed; but this is only a 
small part of the great" area appropriated. 
Over three years ago, under the last Ad¬ 
ministration, great promises were made of 
speedy action against the spoliators; such 
promises have been repeated several times 
since then; hut it appears probable that 
the fresh spoliations offset the reclama¬ 
tions. The public heartily approve vig¬ 
orous action ; the reclamation of the pub¬ 
lic land fenced in and appropriated with¬ 
out the shadow of a title; and the punish¬ 
ment of the land thieves. ^Little progress 
