THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes, 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 84 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1886. 
A QUESTION SUBMITTED TO RURAL 
READERS FOR DECISION AND A 
QUESTION WHICH THE RURAL DE¬ 
CIDES FOR ITSELF. 
It has been our constant aim—an ever 
cherished, never satisfied desire—to im¬ 
prove. this journal as circumstancp.s per¬ 
mitted, or may permit us to do. Space 
need not be taken to dwell upon the im¬ 
provements made during the past 10 
years. Old subscribers are familiar with 
them—while all are chiefly interested in 
the paper as it is or as it is to be. Re¬ 
specting the contents of the R. N.-Y. for 
1887, little need be said. We have no 
promises to make further than that we 
shall continue to do our best. During the 
present ownership of this journal, or since 
the Rurar New-Yorker followed Moore's 
Rural New-Yorker, we have always been 
decidedly opposed to any reduction in its 
price. We have been pained to see the 
price of one farm paper after another drop 
from a figure already too low, to another 
at which, as soon as the temporary ad¬ 
vantage so gained had ceased, they could 
not he published without a corresponding 
reduction in their cost of publication 
which, of course, means a poorer quality 
of paper and a lower standard of reading 
matter. It. is a very easy thiug to re¬ 
duce the price of a journal when the cost 
of publication is for one reason or an¬ 
other very low; but to restore the higher 
price when the cost of publication in¬ 
creases has generally proven a disastrous 
experiment. Instead of lowering the 
subscription price of their publications, 
we had hoped that the proprietors of farm 
journals would, during the recent pros¬ 
perous times, invest their surplus capital 
in making more instructive, trustworthy 
and presentable papers, and in this way 
hold or increase their circulation during 
prosperous times, while elevating the 
general character of the American farm 
journal. 
Last week our readers doubtless no¬ 
ticed the betterment in the quality of 
paper, and took for granted that the 
change was merely a part of a holiday 
dress-up occasion. The paper was super- 
calendered. Our present contract for 
white paper expires in two or three weeks. 
It is then proposed either to use this 
superealendered paper for the future, be¬ 
ginning with the issue of December 10, or 
else a heavier paper, less highly finished, 
but of equivalent cost. In order to ascer¬ 
tain which kind our readers prefer, seve¬ 
ral editions of each will be printed—first 
the superealendered, then the heavier. 
We had nearly determined, without 
consulting our readers, to use the super- 
calendered paper—but it was suggested 
that the gloss might be objectionable to 
those who have weak eyes or who read at 
night. It was, therefore, determined to 
submit the question to a vote, and the ob¬ 
ject of this note is to request all readers 
after the trial shall have been made (about 
February 1st) to mail us a postal card on 
which is to be written either “Plain” or 
‘‘Gloss.” The “election” will settle the 
question, and thereafter the Rural will 
be printed on the paper “elected.” 
A certain class of readers—those whose 
ideas of value arc reckoned by lowness of 
price—may prefer cheap papers. But the 
Rural, while anxious to extend its circu¬ 
lation among all good people, when driven 
to choose between excellence on the one 
hand and inferiority or mediocrity on the 
other, must plainly state that its first and 
ruling desire is to excel. 
Many thanks to the many friends who 
have kindly offered to supply the desired 
back numbers of the Rural. 
We have received a number of ears of 
white dent corn—as large and perfect as 
we have ever seen—without any advice to 
show by whom they were sent. 
Try the “Superfin” Pear. It ripens in 
October. It is of fair size and with a 
sprightly, rich flavor that does not cloy. 
The flesh is tender, juicy and melting—the 
tree vigorous. 
Ciiester Alan Arthur, twenty-first 
President of the United States, died at 
his house on Lexington Avenue in this 
city at five o’clock Thursday morning, at 
the age of 56 years, one month and 13 
days. A man of kindly nature, true in 
all relations of life, cordial to his friends, 
magnanimous to his foes, a faithful citi¬ 
zen and a just, conservative statesman, lie 
won the regard and respect of the whole 
country which deplores his untimely 
death. Though a strong Republican, he 
always displayed great courtesy towards 
the opposing party, and thus made friends 
everywhere, and every generous heart in 
the land can join in respect and sorrow 
over his grave. 
Sec’y Campbell (Delaware, 0.1 writes 
us that he thinks the Empire State Grape 
will prove one of the best long-keeping 
varieties, and, of course, he more valu¬ 
able for that reason. He has been from 
the first favorably impressed with this 
grape because of its vigorous growth and 
healthy foliage; its hardiness and appar¬ 
ent adaptedness to general culture. The 
only point in which bethinks its intro¬ 
ducers have over-stated its merits is in its 
earliness, wlrch was claimed to be equal 
to that of the Hartford. With Scc’y 
Campbell it has not reached what he 
calls maturity, or its best condition, quite 
as early as the Concord. The clusters 
may be allowed to remain ou the vine long 
after the berries are ripe, aud instead of 
deteriorating, they seem to get better. 
We should be glad to hear from others re¬ 
specting the Empire State. 
One of our first grape authorities 
writes us as follows: 
“ Do you not think Mr. Lovett is just a lit¬ 
tle too enthusiastic over the Victoria Grape? 
I know the Rural has recommended it, and 
said many favorable things about it. but to 
say it is the best white grape vet introduced 
is hardly warranted: or I should say at least, 
is not proven.” 
Yes, we think Mr. Lovett’s statement 
“too enthusiastic.” While we are pleased 
to have our own estimate of the Victoria 
supported by experienced vineyardists, 
we are by no means prepared to class it 
as the ‘*lmt white grape.” Hardiness, 
productiveness and comparative freedom 
from rot and mildew are the qualities iu 
which we have found the Victoria to ex¬ 
cel, and in these respects it has no supe¬ 
rior among the varieties at the Rural 
Grounds. In quality, though less foxy, it 
is no better than the Concord. 
Not long ago an agricultural college, 
or rather an agricultural annex of a 
State university, needed a professor of 
agriculture. There were many applicants 
for the position. Among others were 
several bright young men, graduates at 
agricultural colleges, full of enthusiasm, 
eager to make a reputation for honesty 
and earnestness, and ready to work hard 
at work with which they were familiar. 
Were their claims recognized? No; a 
broken-down politician was put into the 
place. It was a good hole into which he 
might retire and draw a comfortable sal¬ 
ary. That anuex has to-dav some half 
dozen students. It never will have any 
more until some new bloqd is let into the 
institution. If the agricultural college 
money is to be spent in thus providing a 
wintering place for political hacks, it is 
high time that Congress examined into 
the matter aud discovered where the 
money has gone. 
It would be interesting and instructive 
to know the weight of the largest ear* of 
corn (fliut and dent ) in cultivation, and the 
separate weights of grain and cob. We 
have just weighed an ear of white dent 
(thoroughly dry) having 16 rows, 57 ker¬ 
nels to the row, or 913 altogether. The 
grain weighs 19 ounces, the cob five ounc¬ 
es. the entire ear 34 ouuces, or one pound 
and a half. Length of ear 12'£ inches. 
Average circumference of ear 7% inches; 
of cob 4 H inches. It will be seen that 
the kernel is very deep. The size of the 
cob is a secondary consideration, provided 
we have a corresponding depth of kernels 
closely set. We should be glad to boar from 
our readers on this subject. If all who have 
well-cured ears weighing more than a 
pound and a half would advise us, we 
could place the increasing weights before 
our renders from time to time, and in this 
way the heaviest weights might be ob¬ 
tained. We. will gladly pay §10 each for 
the heaviest ear of flint and dent as thus 
determined and present its portrait and 
give an account of how it was raised, etc. 
■ 1 ■ « • » 
The agents of the British Dairy Associ¬ 
ation,in their efforts to instruct the people 
in improved dairy methods, have adopted 
many practices that could well be followed 
by our own dairymen. The holding of 
competitive dairy tests is an excellent 
means of creating an interest. Liberal 
prizes are offered to those who will make 
the best nutter in the presence of picked 
judges. Each competitor is furnished 
with eight quarts of cream, as nearly uni¬ 
form as possible. Any kind of churn can 
be used and any method of working or 
salting employed. The test is held in a 
ball or tent and a small fee demanded from 
visitors. The butter is sold at auction to 
the visitors. Some noted dairy authority 
closes the exercises with a lecture, and 
answers questions propounded by the au¬ 
dience. The wives and daughters of far¬ 
mers are encouraged to enter into the com¬ 
petitions, and it frequently happens that 
young women high in social position may 
be seen working the churn or butter 
worker. This plan has been highly suc¬ 
cessful. It ought to be introduced at 
every one of our agricultural exhibitions. 
A score of pretty young women compet¬ 
ing in such a test would prove a stronger 
attraction for all sensible men than the 
much-berated horse-track. What society 
will be the first to put this plan in opera¬ 
tion? 
Tiie annual convention of the Farmers’ 
National Alliance, consisting of about 300 
delegates, chiefly from Illinois, was held 
at Chicago the other day. One of the 
chief points urged upon the attention of 
the agricultural community was the ne¬ 
cessity of organization against encroach¬ 
ing monopolies. Railroad extortion was 
declared to be one of the principal causes 
of agricultural distress, and government 
control of all railroads and other corpora¬ 
tions was urged. A graduated in¬ 
come tax: the State control of the police 
in large cities, and the union of producers 
of every class in the reform of unjust sys¬ 
tems through the ballot-box were advo¬ 
cated. The Secretary’s report showed 
that the Alba nee, organized in 1880, had 
now a total membership of 500,000 and 
was in good financial condition. The 
grain buyers’ unions were denounced as 
organizations which fixed their own price 
for grain in all snidl towns, controlling the 
market to the detriment of the producers, 
and the latter were urged to organize to 
defeat the combination. An organization 
backed up by half a million votes should 
have considerable influence on State and 
National legislation, and by judicious ac¬ 
tion aud alliance with other agricultural as¬ 
sociations could do much t o rented v the evils 
of which it complains aud from which a vast 
majority of the people suffer. These evils 
will not be amended by mere resolutions, 
however strongly expressed or often re¬ 
peated. Why is it that so vast an asso¬ 
ciation, which denounces wroDgs so 
vehemently, does so little at the polls to 
abolish them? 
STANDARD FERTILIZERS. 
One of our young farmers, a positive, 
impulsive man, recommended last Spring 
in very high terras to his neighbors, a 
chemical fertibzer known as II. B. Grif- 
fing’s Ammoninted Superphosphate, cost¬ 
ing delivered $3.80 per bag or $38.00 per 
ton. lie said that he had tried it beside 
Other high-grade fertilizers costing $44.00 
per ton and it gave far better crops. One. 
of our neighbors bought a quantity of it, 
and, as were talking with him one day in 
his lmm, asked the writer’s opinion. So 
far as we could judge from merely looking 
at and handling it we were not favorably 
impressed. At our request the Director 
of the New Jersey Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Station sent an agent to River Edge 
to draw a sample for analysis. The bul¬ 
letin presenting the Station’s analysis is 
just received. The Station elnnvst val¬ 
ues this fertilizer at. *16.07 per ton; that 
is, the raw material would cost that amount 
at retail prior to mixing, bagging and 
shipment.—a difference as compared with 
the finished article delivered, of $33.93 
per ton. 
The farmer who asked our opinion was 
requested to try, in different plots, the 
same quantity of this and the *44.00 fer¬ 
tilizer. The trial was made on potatoes. 
The vines from the higher-priced fertilizer 
were thriftier from the start and the crop 
evidently larger, though how much we 
cannot say,since thelmrrv of marketing his 
products prevented the farmer from meas¬ 
uring it. Tbc attention of not less than 
20 visitors to the Rural Grounds was called 
to the two plots and they were requested 
to say which vines were the thriftier. All 
at once decided in favor of the $44 fertil¬ 
izer. We mention this matter somewhat 
at length in order to show our readers that 
it is far better to judge for themselves 
what fertilizers are most economical for 
them to buy than to accept the “say-so” of 
any agent, orindeed of any farmer who from 
an imperfect trial concludes that the lower- 
priced fertilizer of an unknown manufac¬ 
turer is worth more than the higher-priced 
article of manufacturers whose goods have 
been analyzed again and again—always to 
show that the margin between the selling 
price and the station valuation is not. in¬ 
compatible with honest dealing. Our 
readers should always beat in mind that 
a low-priced fertilizer should analyze 
higher proportionately than a high-priced 
fertilizer, to makeup for the cost of trans¬ 
portation and spreading which in both 
cases is the same. We are convinced that 
the trusty fertilizer firms of the country 
sell their goods ns low as is consistent 
with a legitimate profit, and the farmer 
who buys an article at $38 per ton, which 
is represented as being worth more than a 
standard article at $44 per ton.will gener¬ 
ally find that he has been deceived. 
— 
BREVITIES. 
Hrii.uaNT bubble, shlnlntr slctn; 
Can thy (randy, boastful splendor 
Make thee rukIU but frail and slender, 
Hide thy hollowness within? 
The “god of cheapness is also the god of 
deceit, and swindling.” See Mr. Curtis’s re¬ 
port, page 707, 
Turkeys at 13 cents a pound at. retail in 
the N. Y. market. There is not much money 
in such prices for the poultrvmpn. 
Tire Michigan Stn*e Horticultural Society 
wilt hold its annual meeting in Grand Rapids, 
Nov. 30th and Dec. 1st and 2nd. A fine meet¬ 
ing is anticipated. Chas. W. Garfield Secre¬ 
tary* 
The report of the Butter. Cheese and Egg 
Convention.found on another page, is a model. 
Reportsof such meetings are far move instruct¬ 
ive and entertaining when the various topics 
can be grouped in this way. 
Yes, there are lots of fine colors; purple, 
rod, yellow, green, blue. And then there are 
the neutral colors—brown, grav. orange and 
drab. One costs scarcely more than another, 
and an agreeable combination of several may 
help to enliven the bouse or barn, or both. 
The choice of colors or combination of colors 
may. in a degree, show the taste—not to say 
something of the character—of the owner, as 
a decided want of any color certainly does. 
Secretary Geo. W. Campbell writes us 
that in the manv years lie has grown and 
fruited the Worden, it has always colored 
earlier and rinened earl in- than the Concord . 
There are many Concords growing that are 
called Wordens—the lower price of Concords 
affording too strong a temptation for the vir¬ 
tuous trec-neddlers to resist, and both heing 
blaelc grapes of the same general character, 
many persons, without having genuine Wor¬ 
dens for comparison, “see no difference.” 
We take t in* lifeof the murderer. We either 
take it from him hi an instant, or grind it out 
through years of hopeless imprisonment. 
W lint, is to be done to the man who knowingly 
adulterates fond? There are men who. for the 
sake of a few dollars urotit. are ready to sell 
food which is charged with slow poisons. The 
health officials of this city condemn vast 
nnantities of unhealthfnl food every year. 
They find It everywhere Thev should be up¬ 
held in their warfare against disease 
Last year. Mr. Austin Corbin, oresidout of 
the Long Island Railroad, distributed a 
qunntitv of seed peanuts among the farmers 
of Suffolk Co.. L. I. It was oronosed to in¬ 
troduce peanut culture if possible. The first 
year they promised to lie a successful crop, 
bill this year the success has not beeu so great 
—judging from the statements of the farmers. 
It. is a question whether thev null lie more 
profitable than the usual erdthago and cauli¬ 
flower. The experiments will be continued 
Among the old household notions is that of 
placing a pan of water on the stove in a close 
room. The moisture is supposed, in some way, 
to “ pnrifv " thi‘ air. Does it do anv more be¬ 
yond making the air a little more pleasant to 
breathe i Would not proper ventilation, by 
which means a quantity of pure air could be 
constantly introduced into the room, answer 
every purpose i Then* is plenty of pure air on 
the outside of a building; why not let enough 
of it in instead of trying to improve it after it 
has been imprisoned t 
Pansies 2} inches in diameter at the 
Rural Grounds growing in the open borders 
Nov. 15., aud this after two hard freezes. 
There is no other bedding flower that has 
given us more pleasure during the entire 
season. The varieties are of the finer kins— 
bronzes, light blues, blacks, reds, red and yel¬ 
low. many with distinct margins of other 
colors. We have never before given careful 
attention to pansies, though the trouble of 
doing so is not great. The soil is rich. For 
the rest we have merely kept them moist. 
During the hottest and dryest weather of the 
Summer and Fall, these beautiful, bright, 
speaking flowers, have bloomed continuously 
aud iu great profusion. 
