5oo 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 8 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collinuwood, Managing Editor. 
Associate Editors. 
Frank H. Valentine, ( 
Mbs. e. t. Hoyle, (‘ 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8s. 6d., or 8*4 marks, or 10y } francs. 
ADVERTISING RATES. 
Thirty cents per agate line (14 lines to the inch). Yearly orders 
of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 25 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with “ Adv .,” 75 cents per 
count line. Absolutely One Price Only. 
Advertisements inserted only for responsible and honorable houses 
We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance is for, 
should appear in every letter. 
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, JULY 8, 1899. 
Fruit growers who have supplies of gooseberries, 
green peas, new potatoes, cucumbers and other 
choice fruits and vegetables are advised by the Lon¬ 
don Fruit Grower to insert a small advertisement 
of their produce in its columns. They are advised 
that they will, doubtless, find a market for their 
choice products at trifling cost, and obviate sending 
them to markets already well supplied, as well as to 
sustain prices. There is plenty of demand for such 
products, but growers must do something to acquaint 
traders with their whereabouts. All of which is just 
as true on this side of the water. 
ft 
From the notes given on page 495 about the treat¬ 
ment of scale-infested trees in the Province of On¬ 
tario, il would seem that there is about as much of a 
craze there over the destruction of such trees as there 
has been in this country over the destruction of al¬ 
leged tuberculous cattle. It’s science run mad. This 
wholesale destruction of private property is little 
short of an outrage. There are some fruit trees, 
probably some orchards, likewise some cattle, that 
should be destroyed for the benefit of the public But 
this wanton destruction when treatment would likely 
prove effective, is all wrong. Science should devote 
its energies more strongly to the saving of life and 
property, and not its destruction. 
ft 
We think Mr. Smith (page 497) is right when he 
says that sugar beets are worth nearly $4 a ton for 
feeding to stock. A good cow will pay about as 
much per ton for sugar beets as the sugar factory 
will, and you need not pay her a bounty either. It is 
true she will not pay cash, and the farmer must as¬ 
sume the responsibility of disposing of the milk or 
met made by the cow. The point is that it will pay 
many farmers to grow sugar beets, even though the 
factories are all shut down. Robert P. Porter, special 
agent of this country, is just back from Cuba advis¬ 
ing annexation because it would make the United 
States “the greatest sugar-producing country in the 
world.” 
ft 
Reports from Pennsylvania are that farmers find it 
difficult to obtain help in the harvest and hay fields. 
There has been a great boom in iron and steel, and 
this has taken workmen away from the farm. Farm 
wages are said to reach $1.25 a day. In old times, 
when wheat was worth $1.50 a bushel, $1 a day was 
the usual price. One feature of this matter is that 
the district attorney at Reading has served notice on 
30 husbands who were charged with non-support of 
their wives. He says that the “no-work” plea will be 
absolutely no excuse in court while farmers are suffer¬ 
ing for laborers. This attorney is pretty slow in find¬ 
ing out that there is plenty of work in this country 
for any husband who refuses to support his wife. 
ft 
For the past three weeks, the writer has been try¬ 
ing to secure a clear title to a piece of farm property. 
A search of the records shows a blot on the title just 
serious enough to make possible trouble in case of a 
transfer. It will be necessary to secure quit-claim 
deeds from two heirs who thought they had given up 
their right of dower. Our observation shows that 
many titles to real estate are imperfect or clouded. 
With every transfer, costly and tedious “searches” 
are necessary with a fat fee for the lawyer. This 
whole thing would be remedied by the Torrens sys¬ 
tem of registering titles. Under that system, one 
search would be made, and then the title would be¬ 
come a part of the deed. There could not possibly be 
any such trouble as we are now having, and the ques¬ 
tion of property title would be settled forever. It is 
hard to understand why all real estate owners do not 
rise up and demand this new system. 
ft 
A few years ago eastern investors were afraid of 
western farm mortgages. Millions of dollars have 
been sent West and loaned on farm property. In 
many cases, this money was loaned in sections where 
a plow never should have been used. Hotels and 
“opera houses” were built in rainless deserts with 
eastern money, and, of course, serious losses followed. 
These losses made investors afraid of farm mortgages 
as a class, which was not fair, for fertile, well-culti¬ 
vated land has always been a safe risk. Just now, the 
western farm mortgage is considered an A No. 1 in¬ 
vestment, especially in land in the upper Mississippi 
Valley. There is, without doubt, a feeling among in¬ 
vestors that farmers 'in this section are better able to 
pay their interest promptly than ever before. That 
speaks volumes for the prosperity of western farmers. 
ft 
Reports from some parts of the dairy districts out¬ 
side of New York are that there is sure to be a short¬ 
age of fodder next Winter. In many cases, farmers 
say that they Will sell part of their herds. In other 
sections, farmers buy their cows in the Fall, and 
make most of their milk in Winter. Fresh cows are 
likely to be higher than ever this coming Fall. Deal¬ 
ers in the city say that the demand for good cows 
is heavier than ever before. There has been quite a 
demand for such cows in Cuba and Porto R'ico, al¬ 
though it would seem foolish to buy northern cows 
expecting to have them live in Cuba. Both the cow 
and the horse seem to be having their inning this 
year. The man with a lot of cheap fodder would, 
probably, do well to buy dry cows this Fall, winter 
them in good condition, and sell them when fresh in 
the Spring. 
ft 
Notice was given last week of some recent experi¬ 
ments at the West Virginia Exp. Station witli a pow¬ 
erful pressure on milk. An ingenious and powerful 
machine for applying this pressure was devised, and 
milk was subjected to varying degrees of force. Prof. 
Hite concludes, “Of all the germs to be found in milk, 
those which are ordinarily instrumental in the sour¬ 
ing must be among those most susceptible to pres¬ 
sure.” Pasteurizing or heating the milk to about 150 
degrees is quite effective in destroying the germs that 
cause or convey disease, but it does not destroy the 
germs that cause the milk to sour. Thus the heavy 
pressure seems most effective just where Pasteurizing 
is least effective. We cannot tell yet whether this plan 
will prove practical or not. Most of the dairy autho¬ 
rities say that they know but little about it. If there 
is anything in this principle that will benefit the prac¬ 
tical dairyman, our experts will be sure to develop it. 
ft 
The fertilizer trade has, in the past, been done 
largely through agents. Eastern farmers well know 
how they have been overrun every Spring by rival 
agents trying to sell their special brands. Few things 
that the farmer buys have such a large share of the 
price tacked on as the result of this close competi¬ 
tion, as the bag of fertilizer. The new fertilizer trust 
or combination will, probably, change all this. The 
chances are that most of the fertilizers handled by the 
trust will be mixed in a few large factories, and 
marked and distributed to various parts of the coun¬ 
try. Farmers will, of course, soon understand this, 
and the talk of the agent who claims some great su¬ 
periority for his special brand will be useless. What 
farmer would listen to him when he understands that 
all the rival brands of fertilizers were mixed and 
marked in the same factory? Several large firms have 
not gone into the combination at all. It seems to us 
that the trust will find it necessary to make quite a 
reduction in prices in order to hold its trade in high- 
class goods. 
An “Industrial Commission” is hearing testimony 
at Washington. It was before this commission that 
Mr. Havemeyer declared that the tariff is responsible 
for most of the trusts. A number of southern far¬ 
mers have testified that the great trouble with the 
South to-day is that the negroes are poor or unskilled 
laborers. They cannot use improved machinery be¬ 
cause they do not know how to manage or repair it. 
They can do only rough work with their hands. 
Other sections can employ laborers able to operate 
improved tools and so, in spite of great natural ad¬ 
vantages, the South cannot compete. The lack of 
skilled labor ties the southern farmer to cotton. A 
friend in Mexico tells us the same thing of his coun¬ 
try. Without skilled labor, the farmer cannot make 
use of improved implements, which would greatly 
improve his chances. At the Tuskegee Negro College, 
we saw many young black men who were quite capa¬ 
ble of handling improved machinery. If the South is 
suffering from a lack of skilled labor, it would seem 
like good policy to graft skill into the more ambitious 
black men. A good share of the money and time 
given to the industrial education of the negro has 
been given by northern people who cannot hope to 
profit directly by it. The southern people have had 
the best crude labor in the world. They have, also, 
a good chance to improve that labor, and keep its 
skill at home. 
ft 
Many of our readers are now inquiring as to the 
prospects for farmers and gardeners in Cuba, Porto 
Rico, and the Philippines. One of our friends, who 
has just returned irom a botanical collecting tour in 
Porto Rico, advises against emigration to that Island 
on the part of persons who possess neither experience 
nor large capital. He says that there is plenty of un¬ 
skilled labor in the Island, and capital is now the 
chief requisite. It seems possible that coffee will be 
the main crop; trucking does not promise much at 
present. - Cocoa is suggested as a future industry. 
Which may prove of great value when developed; 
there is little cocoa yet planted. Quinine can be 
grown more cheaply in the East Indies, and Vanilla, 
which runs wild in Central America and the East 
Indies, does not seem to show itself in Porto Rico. 
One great drawback is the state of the roads, which 
are described as a succession of sloughs and gullies. 
Our friend says that, while he was warned against 
wandering in the interior without an escort, he found 
the people friendly and peaceable, and judges the only 
difficulty to be that some of the natives don’t know 
that the war is over, and show fight when they see 
soldiers, under the impression that they are going to 
be shot. 
ft 
BREVITIES. 
W hen Dewey comes a-sailing home across the ocean blue, 
'I he little waves will rise and say—“Now, what did 
Dewey do? 
He sailed across us once before, and no one spoke his 
name, 
But now the very universe is ringing with his fame!” 
And Lhen some white-capped billow from the west will 
rise and say, 
“He opened up a new account for Uncle Sam to pay. 
His ink was powder mixed with blood, a cannon was his 
pen. 
He bought a load of liberty for crude, half-savage men. 
And Uncle Sam must pay the bill and settle up the score, 
For Dewey ‘grafted on the flag.’ That Dewey did—no 
more!” 
‘But that means work and toil and tax—why do they 
cheer him, then?” 
“You little understand the chord that keys the hearts of 
men. 
Their lives are bounded by to-day—they let their children 
face 
Demand notes of the years that call for honor or disgrace. 
Will Dewey’s work bring good or ill? The coming years 
will tell; 
The nation hardly stops to ask—because he did it well!” 
Cold comfort—ice cream. 
Now is a good lime to sow the rape. 
"Hop Culture”— a dancing school. 
This is a year for saving all apples. 
The family cow is the great family wet nurse. 
The price of coal has been raised 25 cents a ton! Why? 
The most profitable Spring chicken seems to be a duck. 
“The wicked seemeth to prosper!” Notice that seemeth: 
Of course—thorough cultivation is land scrape gard¬ 
ening! 
Orchard grass has stuck to its work through the 
drought. 
Man is a machine, and elbow grease makes a fine lubri¬ 
cating oil for it. 
Magnets are now made so powerful that they will pull 
a nail out of a board. 
It is not meet to mete out the meat with generous 
hand this hot w r eather. 
This year’s short hay crop is the first for several years, 
and will give a chance to clean up the surplus of the 
several previous crops. 
Evergreen sweet corn planted in the latitude of New 
York City as late as July 4, will give roasting ears before 
frost. Earlier varieties, of course, may be planted still 
later. 
Some wakeful scientist has found that the greenfinch 
is the earliest bird riser. 1-Ie begins to sing at 1:30 a. m. 
The robin is comparatively lazy, as he begins music at 
4 o’clock. 
It must seem strange to an oldtimer to see that the 
Polled Durham bull is now recommended for a special 
purpose—that of breeding red, hornless steers. This breed 
has been made within the past few years. 
One of the newest devices noted at a wheelman's re¬ 
sort was an automatic bicycle pump. The user merely 
attaches his tire to the pump, drops a nickel in the slot, 
and the machine pumps up his tire without more ado. 
Mr. O. W. Mapes says that Prof. Mills (page 463) may 
take any broody hen that has stopped laying, and he will 
find in her a complete group of partly-developed eggs of 
pin-head size, and larger. Then examine a hen that has 
been sitting for three weeks, and no such group will be 
found. Where do the eggs go to? 
