January 7 
8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
2 THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collinowood, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, 1 „ 
Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, {-Associate Editors. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
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8s. 6d., or 8*4 marks, or 10!4 francs. 
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Remittances may be made in money order, postal order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1899. 
In this dull Winter season, the evergreen trees paint 
a touch of color upon the landscape that is very agree¬ 
able. There is a pleasant sense of life, and a sugges¬ 
tion of Summer in this living green when all around 
is brown and dead. One of the prettiest sights on 
our farm this Winter is the Crimson clover. It grew 
well during the Fall, and is now thick on the ground 
and greener even than the rye. As the snow melts, 
the patches of clover come into view green and thriv¬ 
ing through the coldest weather. It is a beautiful 
sight, suggestive not only of better days to come, but 
of better soil where it has grown. 
Reference is made, on page 2, to Massachusetts 
stone roads costing §11,000 per mile to build. We 
don’t know as to the kind of road, its width, or the 
difficulties encountered, but it strikes us that this is 
an enormously high price. In New Jersey, the stone 
roads built by the counties (and there are many miles 
of them), cost in the neighborhood of §5,000 per mile. 
Few farming neighborhoods would manifest any in¬ 
terest in building stone roads if such figures as those 
given for Massachusetts are to rule. What say those 
who have had experience ? What should a good stone 
road cost, and what is the best width ? 
The sheep is claimed to have a rival in the pine 
tree, as far as the production of wool is concerned. 
An Oregon man is establishing a factory for the man¬ 
ufacture of pine needles into artificial wool, the 
coarser part of the leaves being used to stuff mat¬ 
tresses, while the inner portion will make fine under¬ 
wear. Some of the meat eaten in cheap restaurants 
gives the impression that the pine tree is also utilized 
in the production of mutton chops. You need to chop 
them with a hatchet. The sheep, like all the rest of 
the animals on the farm (including the farmer and 
his hired man), is being crowded by machinery. 
In describing his experience with pigs in the or¬ 
chard, on page 3, Mr. Charles speaks of Mr. Wood¬ 
ward’s plan, in a commendatory way. But his plan is 
not Mr. Woodward’s, except in a very modified form. 
Mr. Woodward prefers sheep to hogs. He says that 
they are quicker to pick up the fallen fruit, and this 
is important, for, if a fallen apple lie on the ground 
for any length of time, the worm which it contains is 
liable to make its escape, and thus be spared to 
propagate its species. Mr. Woodward briefly describes 
his system on page 5. The whole secret of its success 
is in overstocking the orchard, and then feeding 
heavily. The objections to this plan were given last 
year on page 800, and they are worth considering. 
The California Experiment Station conducts seed 
and plant distribution on a small scale much as the 
Department of Agriculture ought to do on a large scale. 
New and rare trees, shrubs and seeds are sent to Cali¬ 
fornians at light expense. The chief object is to test 
new things in various parts of the State. The applicant 
is expected to pay a small sum of money “ chiefly 
as a guaranty that he has not merely an idle desire 
for what can be had for nothing.” That seems to us 
just the spirit that ought to govern the Washington 
seed distribution. There seems no good reason why 
the Government should provide a farmer with ordin¬ 
ary garden seeds, and refuse to provide the merchant 
with blotting paper or the housewife with hairpins. 
Here is an instance of what the California Station is 
doing. The Australians have found that roots of cer¬ 
tain apples —notably the Northern Spy—are proof 
against injury from the Woolly aphis. Therefore, 
they propagate trees upon these roots. The Cali¬ 
fornia Station has imported from Australia pieces of 
these resistant Northern Spy stocks, and will send 
them out to those who want to try them. This is good 
and helpful work. We call it legitimate experiment 
work, and every State in the country as well as the 
Washington Department might well imitate it. 
We begin to get letters from readers concerning the 
“green goods” men. These fellows tempt country 
men to come to the city after counterfeit money. The 
game is to get these men into a quiet place and sell 
them what appears to be a bundle of counterfeit 
money, but which turns out to be a package of green 
paper of no value whatever. Strange to say, country 
people, often small storekeepers, from all over the 
United States, are coming to New York after these 
alleged counterfeits. The best “ green goods ” that a 
farmer can hunt for will be found next Spring and 
Summer in his grass and other crops. Better spend 
the money that would be spent in a trip to New York, 
for nitrogen with which to make the farm green goods 
greener still. 
The articles on forcing rhubarb in the dark were 
interrupted because of some delay in securing pic¬ 
tures. They will be resumed next week, when we 
shall describe a rhubarb cellar. This rhubarb busi¬ 
ness certainly affjrds a chance for gardeners to try a 
little Winter business. We have received a sample of 
this forced rhubarb. The leaves are small and of a 
yellow color. The stalks are a beautiful rosy color, 
and the flavor is certainly very fine. Mr. Morse, who 
writes the articles, says Unit the rhubarb is now selling 
in Detroit at 75 cents per dozen. In that part of the 
country, the old plan of forcing under glass has been 
abandoned. How the rhubarb grows in the dark and 
with scant comfort, no one seems to know. Few will 
care, when they sell the stalks at a good price. 
A cbusade against hard cider has been declared on 
Long Island, and some of the local temperance women 
have resolved to call upon the State authorities to 
suppress traffic in this beverage. There seems reason 
to believe that hard cider is responsible for a good 
deal of intemperance, in districts where it is generally 
used, and we shall continue to take our apple juice in 
the original package. But some of the good women 
interested in the hard-cider question have discussed, 
also, the suppression of cider vinegar, which seems to 
be a cruel blow to homemade pickles. It would seem 
that adulteration is doing enough to suppress cider 
vinegar, without any further effort against it, al¬ 
though the New York State laws concerning the mak¬ 
ing and sale of cider vinegar are very strict and, if 
enforced, are quite sufficient to prevent any illegal or 
dangerous use of the commodity. 
We continue to hear reports of satisfactory farm 
telephones, from many parts of the United States, and 
it appears that their use is increasing in the stock 
districts of Australia, where sheep and cattle runs 
are widely separated. The lines are quite commonly 
erected on the fences, No. 10 galvanized wire being 
used for the purpose, insulated with bottle necks. 
At road-crossings and gates, the wires are elevated on 
poles to a height of 20 feet. The Australian farmers 
find telephone communication of great value in locat¬ 
ing bush fires, which are often a source of great 
danger. The telegraph lines in Australia are con¬ 
trolled by the government, and the farmers’ tele¬ 
phones are, in some instances, extended along the 
telegraph poles to a railway station, some payment 
being made for the privilege. Why not begin now to 
talk up a farmers’ telephone company in your 
neighborhood ? 
On the next page, Mr. Geo. T. Powell begins a calm 
and fair discussion of some of the needs of the New 
York State Agricultural Department. The Horticul¬ 
tural Bureau and the County Commission which he 
advocates, offer an effeetive way to obtain the needed 
cooperation between the farmers and the Department. 
If the fruit growers are not sufficiently interested to 
help protect their own interests, the Department can 
only make appointments and spend money, with little 
good in returns. We think one great need is to create 
a greater interest among farmers, who are sadly un¬ 
organized in our State. Canada, through her Agri¬ 
cultural Department has set us out of the English 
markets with her cheese. California, with her fine 
county organization, is steadily outselling us in our 
fruit markets, and steadily gaining favor in foreign 
markets. Ex -Gov. Hoard insists that the skillful 
German immigrants who came to Wisconsin have been 
a wonderful help to that State. He has repeatedly 
said that, if they had remained and settled in New 
York State, we would have heard far less of hard 
times on the farm, for these men love the land, and 
will not abuse it. 
“Born and raised on the farm!'' As we go about 
the city, meeting the mtn who are giving life and 
energy to trade and public affairs, it is wonderful how 
often we hear that remark. The blood, the brains 
and the muscles that are building our wonderful 
cities are largely country products. We sometimes 
wonder what would have been the result if these 
strong country boys could have found satisfactory 
work for body and brain in the quieter work of the 
country. That, however, is mere idle speculation, 
for most of these boys followed what, to them, seemed 
destiny. A more serious problem is whether the 
farms can send another generation of boys with as 
much iron in their blood and nerves as their fathers 
and uncles carried. Unless the city can continue to 
draw fresh blood from the country, it is doomed. The 
farm home is the lifespring of the Republic. 
Last Winter, a large town near New York suffered 
a virulent outbreak of typhoid fever. The milk sup¬ 
ply fell under suspicion, and after careful investi¬ 
gation, the infection was traced to a certain dairy. 
The milk itself was innocent, but the cans were cooled 
and washed in water from a stream contaminated by 
sewage filth. The offending dairyman’s business has 
been almost ruined, but many innocent lives were 
sacrificed through his criminal carelessness. This 
Winter, the same town is suffering another typhoid 
epidemic, and the cause is the contaminated water 
supply, which is dangerous for drinking unless thor¬ 
oughly boiled. No doubt many people, warned by the 
incident of last Winter’s outbreak, would look on the 
milk supply with suspicion before they turned their 
attention to the sewage-poisoned drinking water. 
Not only is this an additional inducement to milk pro¬ 
ducers to observe every sanitary precaution, but they 
would do well, where there are outbreaks of such 
disease, to aid the health authorities in investigating 
the source of infection, that their industry be relieved 
from public suspicion. 
5 Send us a club of four subscriptions with §4, 
•Joj* and we will advance your own subscription 
dj a one year free, or send one new subscription for 
‘P a neighbor with §1, and ask for your choice of 
these books: 
New Potato Culture.$0.40 
Business Hen.40 
The Nursery Book.50 
American Grape Training.75 
Horticulturist’s Rule Book.50 
We send any one of them, post paid, as a reward for 
sending us one new subscription. 
BREVITIES. 
I’ll promise not to promise anything 
This New Year’s, so as not to get things mixed; 
For in my closet is a lengthy string 
Of broken promises that can’t be fixed. 
A will that weakened badly under fire, 
A voice too silent when my name was read, 
A hand that reached out with some mean desire, 
A leg that faltered when it should have sped. 
These closet skeletons are ever near; 
On New Y'ear’s Day, I saw each ghostly form, 
And so I’ll do no promising this year, 
I think I’ll merely turn in and perform. 
The spirited horse is—“ ginger ” bred. 
California reports a seedless pumpkin. 
Be sure you’re right then—you won’t be left. 
Don’t blame Providence with the ills caused by too much mince 
pie. 
We are told to use live steam in the dairy. Now, hot water 
is dead steam. 
When a stranger dotes upon his honesty, you are likely to need 
an antidote for dishonesty. 
Starve the cow and she has “ wolf in the tail.” Feed her and 
it’s a case of wolf by the tail. 
You ought to have troubles enough of your own without trying 
your teeth on your neighbor’s bone. 
We may speak sneeringly of skim-milk, but in many a dairy, 
the use of the skim-milk determines the loss or profit. 
Our Black Minorcas certainly require more water than the 
White Leghorns close beside them. Why? Do black animals, 
as a rule, throw off more water than whites ? 
Out of 252 members of the Connecticut House of Representa¬ 
tives, 105 are farmers, only 18 lawyers, and 20 manufacturers. 
What western State will beat that ? Hold on—those 38 lawyers 
and bankers are more than a match for the 105 farmers! 
In some large eastern barns, thermostats are arranged to give 
warning by ringing a bell whenever the heat rises above a cer¬ 
tain point. In a California orchard, much the same device is 
used for the opposite purpose—to ring a bell when frost threatens, 
Why is snow “the poor man’s manure”? Chiefly because it 
takes, in passing through the air, small supplies of nitrates, and 
carries them to the ground. Clover does much the same thing, 
only much more of it; but then, clover seed costs something, 
while snow is a gift. 
One of our readers suggests a series of articles on “Little- 
known wives of well-known men! ” There is a good idea in that. 
Some wives will, doubtless, say that they are now as well-known 
as they care to be, and that the extra reputation might well be 
added to their husband’s stock! That, however, is a poor way 
o improve a husband. 
