THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban Homes, 
Conducted by 
KLBEKT S. CARMAN. 
Address 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
No. 34 Park Row, New York. 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1S86. 
ANNOUNCEMENT. 
Our readers will be pleased to know 
that Joseph Harris of Moreton Farm, near 
Rochester, N. Y., has written a series of 
articles for the Rural Nev t -Yorker to 
begin with and to continue through 1887. 
The subject is 
“THE EXPERIMENTS OF LA WES & 
GILBERT OF ROTHAMSTED, 
ENGLAND. 
We do not believe a more important and 
instructive series of articles has ever been 
offered to the farmers of our country. Sir 
J. B. Lawes has done more than all other 
experimenters put together to solve the 
great problems of soil food, soil exhaustion, 
the action of manure and chemical fer¬ 
tilizers in the soil and their effects upon 
plants. This work of 44 years will be re¬ 
viewed by Mr. Harris, who is specially 
fitted for the task, in that he was himself 
a student of Dr. Lawes, at Rothamsted, 
and has since been in regular corres¬ 
pondence with him and received and 
studied his various publications issued 
meanwhile. And there is no more fitting 
4 
medium for the presentation of this series 
of articles than the columns of the Rural 
New-Yorker which was the first Amer¬ 
ican journal he ever wrote for. 
The last number of the R. N.-Y. for 
1886 will be No. 1926. The present num¬ 
ber (see first page, under the bull’s head) 
is 1023. All subscriptions numbered 1026 
(see address labels) as well as those not 
having any number, expire with this year. 
We are of the opinion that celery would 
keep much better if the protecting mate¬ 
rial over the trenches were not permitted 
to come in contact with the leaves—that 
is, an air-space should be provided over 
the leaves. This we have done by placing 
over the trench two hemlock boards nailed 
together forming a V, and the protecting 
material is placed over this as needed. 
It is very hard for farmers to see evils 
to which they are subjected without be¬ 
ing able to see any way of avoiding them. 
The dressed beef business at Chicago is 
one of these evils. So colossal has this 
business become that the mere absence of 
one of the large packers, or their repre¬ 
sentatives any day from market has a de¬ 
pressing influence on prices. Stock own¬ 
ers are utterly powerless to alter the situ¬ 
ation here. The movement to establish a 
rival enterprise at St. Louis is commenda¬ 
ble as affording a chance for competition; 
hut past experience is not encouraging 
with regard to its success. There must 
be a way out of this and other troubles; 
in what direction does it lie? 
- . 
What is to be expected from the Rtt- 
ral’s rye-wheat hybrids? If we mix rye 
and wheat flour, the bread made from the 
mixture is of better quality than that 
made from pure rye and of poorer quality 
than that made from pure wheat. But 
Nature doesn’t mix things as we do, and 
it is within the possibilities that the rye- 
wheat flour may prove to be better than 
either, or poorer than either. All that at 
present appears is that some of these hy¬ 
brids bear larger leaves and culms, and 
larger heads than any wheat varieties 
which we have raised or have known to 
be raised in this climate. 
Ip the telegraphic accounts from Chica¬ 
go can be relied upon, the late disastrous 
eight-hour strikes in the packing,houses 
there, were caused by fellows who sought 
to use the strikers for political purposes, 
and in violation of written contracts The 
stnke was not desired by the men—they 
merely went out like a drove of sheep 
blindly following^ the foremost wether, 
often the silliest animal in the flock. The 
resulting distress and misery to the fami¬ 
lies of the strikers and the heavy losses to 
the public should be a caution against 
such ill considered movements in future, 
A fellow named Butler appears to be the 
Martin Irons in this case. The fate of the 
other Martin Irons should be his. 
We object to cheap candy. The stuff 
is filth} 7 and impure and unfit to enter the 
human stomach. It is made, and kept in 
nasty places, out. of cheap materials, some 
of which are positively harmful. There 
is no excuse for its use. Christmas trees, 
church fairs and entertainments will he 
crowded with cheap candy this month, 
and those who provide it will hold cheap¬ 
ness as a prime consideration. Why not 
have less candy and have it better? There 
is more difference between pure candy 
and the cheap stuff fouurt in the village 
stores, than there is between pure butter 
and oleomargarine. Farmers who believe 
in the unhealthfulness of bogus butter 
should be the last to provide cheap candy 
for their children. 
The public debt of the Dominion is 
$250,000,000 or $55.50 per capita; and the 
receipts of the past year have fallen 
$6,000,000 short or the estimates. 'I bis 
enormous debt was incurred mainly as an 
investment fur the purpose of building 
public works which, it was supposed, 
would pay a reasonable interest and con¬ 
tribute a sinking fund which would 
eventually extinguish the debt. This ex¬ 
pectation has not been fulfilled, arid most 
Canadians now acknowledge that, in this 
respect, Sir John Macdonald’s financial 
policy has been a risky one. The coming 
elections will show the public estimate of 
it. The discontent in the Maritime Prov¬ 
inces indicates that there at least it is not 
popular; but, then, the Maritime Provin¬ 
ces have gained little from the public 
works on account of which the debt was 
incurred. 
-- 
We have often read of manure that 
caused a great growth of tops, but few 
potatoes. We once by mistake spread a 
large quantity of unleached ashes on a 
field at the Rural Farm. Their tops, from 
their fine heavy growth, promised a yield 
of at least 300 bushels to the acre, but the 
crop amounted to about, 175 bushels. The 
garden soil at the Rural Grounds has re¬ 
ceived very large quantities of all sorts of 
chemical fertilizers, but not very much 
farm manure. As is well known to our 
readers, we never fail to raise immense 
crops of potatoes in this soil, though po¬ 
tatoes have been grown successively for 
many years. We are never fearful when 
we see the. fine growth of vines that the 
growth of tubers will not be proportionate¬ 
ly large. In fact, it has seemed to us that 
it is practically impossible to make land 
too rich for potatoes. Why the applica¬ 
tion of wood ashes should have given at 
the Rural Farm splendid vines and asraali 
yield we have never been able to account 
for. If nitrogen alone had been abun¬ 
dantly applied, we might have anticipated 
something of the kind. But wood ashes 
give only potash and phosphoric acid. 
In localities where sugar maples thrive 
farmers have a great advantage in the fact 
that profitable winter and early spring 
work is provided. The product of the 
sugar bush will often far more than com¬ 
pensate for accidents to crops. Through¬ 
out New England and New York, Ohio, 
Michigan and other States, the maples 
run into money each year. But, as in 
every other business, the stock must be 
renewed and strengthened. On many 
farms the sugar bush is failing and the 
failure is severely felt. Old trees are de¬ 
caying and falling, and far too few young 
trees have been planted to take their 
places. This matter must be attended to, 
or the loss will be a serious one. Another 
matter that needs attention is the exten¬ 
sive adulteration of maple products. 
This is similar in its results to the adul¬ 
teration and imitation of butter, and in 
some localities it is just as dangerous to 
business. So-called' “maple sugar” made 
from cane sugar refuse is just as injurious 
and objectionable as oleomargarine. Its 
sale should be suppressed except when 
sold for what it is. One who has used 
the delicious sirup made in Vermont or 
Ohio is thoroughly disgusted with the 
miserable imitation sold aud used in our 
large cities. 
Merlatti, an Italian, has just fasted 30 
days at Paris, without any great impair¬ 
ment of condition. Succi, another Ital¬ 
ian, went through a longer fasting ordeal 
two months ago. Both say they were 
supported by the extract of a root. Mer- 
latti’s root is said to be a common Italian 
production, a knowledge of whose 
special merits is confined to the faster. 
Succi’s root is reported to be an African 
production, the sustaining virtues of 
which he learned in a journey through the 
Dark Continent. It is claimed that this 
juice, decoction or extract, taken in veiv 
small quantities, will enable a person to go 
a long time without food, yet without 
any great impairment of mental or 
physical condition. It is proposed to get 
up a “corner” or monopoly in one or both 
of these marvelous plants, and sell the ex¬ 
tract to the poor, so as to enable them 
to dispense in great part with the more 
costly ordinary nutrients. In the name 
of the agriculture of the globe we very 
earnestly protest against anything of the 
kind, not only because we are opposed to 
all corners and monopolies, but also be¬ 
cause already there is a woeful under-con¬ 
sumption of agricultural products, entail¬ 
ing low prices. The poor of the world 
consume most of the food produced iu the 
world; if they are to be m great part sup¬ 
ported on this vaunted stuff, what is to 
become of the surplus breadstuffs and 
meat and vegetable supplies of the farmers? 
We are taking our usual pains to pre¬ 
sent our readers with the best and most 
comprehensive index printed by any farm 
or other journal in the country. The 
Index Number will, of course, be the last 
in the year. The New Year’s Rural 
New-Yorker will be dated January 1st. 
JSfuW that the subscription season is folly 
■upon os, ice shall certainly appreciate (he 
kindly word from present readers to those 
who may he induced to become subscribers 
for 1887. Those who with their own sub¬ 
scription will send vs also that of a neighbor 
or friend will aid us greatly in increasing 
the Rural’s circulation, which at present 
promises to equal, if not exceed, that of any 
other year. 
Two men that we know live in the same 
house. One drinks nothing but milk, 
frequently never taking a mouthful of wa¬ 
ter for days. He is strong, active and 
well, never sick, and rarely troubled 
with indigestion. 11 the other man 
should drink a glass of milk, he would bo, 
if not sick, uncomfortable for hours. 
What does it mean? The same food pro¬ 
ducing such opposite results! If men are 
so differently constituted, of what value 
are the so-called “diets” prescribed for 
the public in general by scientists? It is 
popular to state, for example, in a general 
way, that milk is a perfect food, but where 
is the sense of urging it upon people to 
whom it is positively objectionable 1 In 
the same way, oat-meal, cheese, baked 
beaus and other foods are recommended 
because they contain condensed nutriment. 
But iu every case the taste of the eater, 
his mode of life, the amount of exercise 
he takes, etc., are hardly considered. A 
strong, healthy man, working in the open 
air, can safely eat and digest a quantity 
of baked beans that would make an office 
worker sick. Nothing could be more 
foolish than for a family to follow, in its 
diet, the random advice given in so many 
papers. No chemist, however able, can 
analyze a taste. It has been proved over 
and over again that people are healthiest 
when they eat moderate quantities of what 
“tastes good.” If a man had no sense of 
taste, the various diets and prepared 
foods would be far more valuable than 
they now are. It seems evident that 
taste can be consulted, greatly to our ad¬ 
vantage, in preserving our health. 
EVERGREENS IN WINTER. 
The judicious placing of evergreen trees 
about the country houses should be made 
a first consideration. They should be 
planted so that, look in whatever direc¬ 
tion we may, evergreens are before us. 
Nothing so cheers the bleak winter sea¬ 
son; nothing adds more to the attractive¬ 
ness of the home. Thickets or “clumps” 
of evergreens, except for special purposes, 
are objectionable. Each one interferes 
with the others and while we have a mass 
of green, yet there is no one tree that can 
ever develop the symmetery, the perfection 
of which it is capable. A single hemlock 
or other spruce, a retinispora, fir or pine, 
if treated according to its needs, becomes 
a grand object ever beautiful. A cluster 
of any one or of all becomes in a few years 
ouly a mass of green made up of unsightly 
individuals. 
Evergreens are the out-door blessings of 
Winter to the country home, enlivening 
and warming the otherwise bleak and 
cheerless view. One may still enjoy a 
daily walk, feeling that there is some 
shelter from the wintry blast, something 
of Summer’s life aud warmth about him. 
Evergreens can never supply the place of 
deciduous trees in the growing season, 
yet if a proper distribution of each is made, 
cither kind is an agreeable, pleasing com- 
pnuiou to the other. It is well in plant¬ 
ing the two classes of trees, so to place 
them that the deciduous trees may for the 
most part fill the more conspicuous sights 
of the grounds, the evergreens the more 
distant places; yet this must not be carried 
too far. 
What we. would impress upon our read¬ 
ers is that while evergreens in their more 
formal outlines may not be as necessary in 
adorning the home grounds as are oaks 
and maples, beeches and elms, during the 
summer season, yet even then they add 
the charm of variety and a beauty quite 
their own. But it is in Whiter when the 
naked, stiff branches of deciduous trees 
stand as if monuments of Winter’s de¬ 
structive blasts, that the warm evergreens 
arc most of all to be prized. 
BREVITIES. 
Read the concluding article on Recupera¬ 
tive Agriculture, by Professor Roberts, on 
page 809. 
If potato scab is caused by a fungus, one 
would suppose that the spores would be prop¬ 
agated and the disease occur in the cellar or 
storage pits. We have never known such a ease. 
Our turnip crop was a failure. We have 
hardly enough to pay for the manure. We 
had to “throw in” our labor. Turnips were 
poor all around us. Well, better luck next 
year! 
“Once in awhile the phnnnv-picture man 
on the last, page of the R. N.-Y. is a success.” 
So writes Mary Wager-Fisher. We would 
remind Mrs. Fisher that Punch is notorious 
for presenting a really funny cartoon but 
once a year. 
Prof. Sheldon says elsewhere there is 
a difference of several hundred per cent, be¬ 
tween the price of the best Irish butter and 
that of the worst. The same thing is true in 
all parts of the world, and not ouly with but¬ 
ter, but with everything else. 
We sold a few bushels of potatoes in Pater¬ 
son, the other day. at 75 cents per bushel. 
These were sold from the wagon—delivered. 
Western potatoes brought, about 50 cents. We 
have held most of our potatoes for better 
prices. Have we been wise ? 
The rve is coming out better than we ex¬ 
pected. The season was against it. Some 
farmers sowed in the dry dust, and what seeds 
germinated looked sickly until the rains came. 
Others waited uutil after the rains, then 
plowed and harrowed auii sowed at once. It 
is coming up fairly well. 
Poultry is extraordinarily low at Chicago. 
At the close of last, week live chickens were 
selling for a little over five cents a pound aud 
early this week they sold for three to five 
cents per pound. Many of the consignments 
sold for very little more than the cost of trans¬ 
portation and commission. leaving little or 
nothing for the poultry raiser. The railroad 
and commission men are bound to get, good 
pay for little work: but the farmer often gets 
no returns for much labor aud actual outlay. 
Ts there a remedy? If so, what, is it? 
SPEAICTNU of the “ Hatch Experiment Sta¬ 
tion Bill,” which proposes a liberal annual 
grant by the General Government to 
each of the agricultural colleges, to be used iu 
agricultural experimentation in co-operation 
with the National Department, of Agriculture, 
Professor Morrow says that he thinks separate 
experiment stations would probably he the 
most effective, though with the excellent fa¬ 
cilities and the men already available at the 
agricultural colleges, it is doubtless true that 
good results could bo obtained with the least 
expenditure from the combination of stations 
and colleges, 
All reports from the Northwest indicate 
that the wheat crop there is considerably 
larger than reported before thrashing. At 
the time of our general crop report—July 10— 
the Michigan Funner would “bet. its boots” 
that the crop would not, lie so large as our re¬ 
ports indicated. Several other esteemed 
contemporaries that had never taken the 
trouble of getting up a general report of the 
kind, chimed in on the same kev. It is now 
conceded that, our estimates of the wheat crop 
in the Northwest, and in the rest, of the coun¬ 
try also, were considerably under rather than 
over the reality, though we wore accused of 
exaggeration. What is bolder than bump¬ 
tious ignorance? 
The Calf Butchers’Association was formed 
in this city last April. In May it entered into 
an agreement with all but two of the brokers 
in the stock yard to buy and sell calls on com¬ 
mission, with a view to controlling the mark¬ 
et in this ritv. The association guaranteed 
the debts of its members to the brokers, and 
in return the hit ter agreed to pav the associa¬ 
tion 12cents on each call sold by them, and to 
refuse to sell to anybody outside the associa¬ 
tion under a penalty of 82 for each infringe¬ 
ment; while the association agreed that any 
member who bought from any one except the 
brokers who belonged to the gang should for¬ 
feit 25 cents tor every calf. Tlie monopoly 
ttins established has been able to raise the 
price of veal to the consumers and lower the 
price ol' calves to the farmers and pocket an 
extortionate profit from both | arties. The 
’Attorney General decides that the association 
Is illegal, and is about to bring an action to 
dissolve it. There should ho a general law iu 
this and every other State clearly prohibiting 
such oppressive organizations aim punishing 
(disengaged in them. 
