1890 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
633 
As We Go to Press. 
We find the following remarkable 
story going the rounds of the press: 
A live grasshopper will eat a dead grass¬ 
hopper. A Missouri farmer mixed Paris- 
green and bran together, and let a grass¬ 
hopper eat it. He died. Twenty ate him 
up. They died. Four hundred ate those 
20, and they died. Eight thousand ate 
those 400, and they died. A hundred and 
sixty thousand-ate those 8,000, and died, 
and the farmer was troubled no more. 
Those who care to do so, may figure on 
to the end of this, and kill all the grass¬ 
hoppers that can be hatched—on paper. 
We don’t attempt it because we recog¬ 
nize the flaw in the logic. The dead 
grasshoppers do not create or add to the 
poison. The first one takes a small 
quantity and dies. The hopper that eats 
the first one gets a smaller dose. Of 
course, a small bit of the poison is lost 
every time it passes through a hopper. 
There will soon come a time when there 
is not enough left to kill. It does not 
increase. It becomes weaker with use! 
Now this is not true of all things. 
Take a live word or a true idea, for ex¬ 
ample. It passes from mind to mind. 
It sets thought and impulses at work. It 
gains strength as it goes, and produces 
great results. Unlike the poison, it 
doesn’t lose a little at each contact—it 
gains instead. We can make our point 
clearer by letting the gentleman from 
Texas have the floor: 
Rural New-Yorker, Now York, N. Y. 
Gentlemen: You will find inclosed $1 to re¬ 
new my subscription to your paper one 
year. I have been a subscriber for a num¬ 
ber of years, and cannot find any other 
paper that, in my judgment, meets my re¬ 
quirements as yours does. I have taken 
several, and sent for sample copies of all 
others that I could locate, and yours, to 
me, is the best of all, in fact, worth all 
the rest combined. 
Thanking you for getting out such a su¬ 
perb agricultural paper, and assuring you 
that i appreciate it, and will take it as long 
as I can get it, I am r. r. elliott. 
Vernon, Texas. 
Now for the practical application. Of 
course, this letter doesn’t make us stop 
work. We are getting immune to such 
honest compliments, but suppose such 
words are spoken or written to one who 
does not know the paper! What then? 
Well, here is another letter which may 
explain the matter: 
These 20 names were obtained in about 
one hour’s work at fair grounds. Will have 
more to follow. w. h. Hendrickson. 
Urbana, O. 
You see this man went out into the 
highways and byways, and gathered a 
score of people about him. He had an 
honest opinion about The R. N.-Y., and 
he got it right into the minds of this 
score of people. Result:—“Will have 
more to follow!” What an eloquent 
sentence that is! 
Now do you realize that every time 
you put such an opinion into your neigh¬ 
bor’s mind, you make your own opinion 
stronger, and also pui. a silver coin in 
your own pocket? Well now, you do! 
Now, right now, is the accepted time for 
that new subscriber! 
Among the Marketmen. 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
BRADSHAW PLUMS.—I saw a fine- 
looking lot of these, in small baskets, 
but was told that they were selling very 
slowly. The reason for this is not evi¬ 
dent. They are of large size, but the 
color is not so bright and attractive as 
that of some other plums. There are so 
many California plums at this season, 
most of them large and fine looking, 
that these may interfere with our east¬ 
ern-grown fruits. The Bradshaw is con¬ 
sidered of very good quality, but in the 
open market, quality doesn't count for 
nearly so much as looks. 
CARING FOR PRODUCTS.—There is 
a great difference among receivers of 
produce about the way they take care of 
the shipments. I have noticed, in sev¬ 
eral commission houses, that where 
Lima beans, or green peas, were re¬ 
ceived late in the day, or after the mar¬ 
ket was practically over, pains were 
taken to untie each bag, spread it out on 
the floor, and sometimes empty out some 
of the contents, thus giving them air, so 
that they would keep in better condi¬ 
tion. In other stores, I have seen these 
things all jumbled together with all 
sorts of products, without any care being 
taken to keep them in good condition. 
Where such products must be held for a 
few hours, or a day, it makes a great 
difference sometimes with their selling, 
and this may explain why sometimes 
some get so much higher prices than 
others. 
THE FISH MARKET.—This is an in¬ 
teresting part of the New York markets 
to visit—if one doesn’t mind the smells. 
There is an almost infinite variety even 
of the odors. Salt-water fish naturally 
predominate, but there are trout, white- 
fish, pickerel, carp, bullheads, etc., from 
the Interior, and often fish from as far 
away as the Pacific coast. There are 
great turtles, crabs, shell-fish of all 
kinds, fish large and small. Just now 
there is a great scarcity of salt-water 
fish. Dealers say that they are scarcer 
and higher than before in 20 years. 
Prices of some kinds have doubled, nota¬ 
bly bluefish. This is a very popular kind 
during the Summer, almost as popular as 
the shad in Spring. Three causes are 
assigned for this scarcity—the recent 
hurricane along the Atlantic coast, the 
coldness of the water along the shore, 
and the rise in the price of meat. 
ALLIGATOR PEARS.—One frequent¬ 
ly sees these fruits on the stands and in 
the fancy fruit stores. They are some¬ 
what of the shape of a pear, without 
much of a neck and with no stem. They 
evidently cleave from the tree somewhat 
like an orange. The skin is thick and 
leathery, of a shiny green color, turning 
darker as the fruit ripens. It is a na¬ 
tive of the West Indies, but is grown in 
Florida. It sells for pretty good prices 
in the markets. I saw a basket contain¬ 
ing about 60 fruits, in one commission 
house, that sold for $3.50, about 6 cents 
each wholesale. The dealer gave me one 
that I might judge of it on more inti¬ 
mate acquaintance. I divided it at the 
oifice, that I might get the opinion of 
others on it. The presiding genius of 
the Woman and Home Department said 
that it should be eaten w<ith salad dress¬ 
ing; that it is not intended to eat as a 
fruit. But as no salad dressing was at 
hand, it was tested just in the condition 
nature left it. The different comments 
on it were extremely varied, but none of 
them complimentary. “Tastes like a 
squash!” “Tastes like pumpkin!” 
“Tastes like nothing at all!” “I feel 
sorry for people who live in Florida if 
that’s the sort of stuff they have to eat!” 
etc. Some declined to taste it. On cut¬ 
ting it, about half of the inside is found 
to consist of a roundish stone. The flesh 
is a yellowish green, yellow near the 
stone, greener near the rind. The con¬ 
sistency was described by one as being 
like corn-starch pudding, by another as 
like Limburger cheese. It is soft and 
pasty. I wouldn’t give a good Jersey 
peach for a bushel of Alligator pears for 
my eating. f. ii. v. 
A FARMERS’ ENCAMPMENT. 
Great Gathering at Mount Gretna. 
There was a great gathering at the farm¬ 
ers’ encampment at Mt. Gretna last week. 
Thousands of people crowded into the 
grounds, and it was estimated that, on the 
best day, fully 30,000 people were present. 
Mt. Gretna Is in Lebanon County, Pa., not 
far from Harrisburg. One would judge 
from the appearance of the farmers who 
gathered there that this is a German 
neighborhood, for a good proportion of the 
people showed their German parentage. 
There are no better farmers in the country 
than the descendants of those who settled 
Pennsylvania. Here and there one could 
see the old-fashioned, broad-brimmed hat 
and the sunbonnet, which men and women 
of an older generation seemed to consider 
a part of the farmer’s uniform. These 
quiet and undemonstrative people made a 
gathering quite different from what une 
finds in parts of New Jersey or New York. 
These farmers seemed to take their amuse¬ 
ments seriously, but they were none the 
less on the alert for whatever was going 
on. 
Mt. Gretna is a beautiful place for a pic¬ 
nic. The surface is not flat, as in many 
picnic grounds, but is rolling and hilly. 
The trees have been left so that the 
grounds are well shaded, and several beau¬ 
tiful springs provide an abundance of the 
purest water. In Pennsylvania, the farm¬ 
ers seem to take a great interest in politics. 
There was Prohibition day, Democratic day 
and Republican day, when politicians and 
candidates came forward to express their 
vfews, and try to harvest a crop of votes. 
On Democratic day, an ex-Congressman 
delivered a long speech in “Pennsylvania 
Dutch,” which seems to be understood by 
a very large proportion of the audience. 
These farmers seem to take their politics 
as well as their picnic dinner in sober, un¬ 
demonstrative style, but they seem to be 
convinced easily, and were not satisfied 
with any half statements. One speaker 
made the point, that he had heard that, in 
New Jersey, the farmer says to his boys, 
“Go, boys!” while in Pennsylvania he says, 
“Come, boys!” He did not stop to explain 
however, what would happen to the Penn¬ 
sylvania boy who refuses to come at his 
father’s invitation. 
There is something very attractive and 
striking at these gatherings of Pennsylva¬ 
nia farmers. They are sober and substan¬ 
tial citizens, ranking among the best farm¬ 
ers in the country, and they have a solid 
appearance which indicates a fair measure 
of prosperity. There was a great display 
of agricultural implements on the grounds, 
and agents in charge of them had their 
hands full all day long in explaining and 
operating their machines. One thing that 
strikes an observer this year is the large 
exhibits of carriages for farmers. Manu¬ 
facturers seem to believe that farmers are 
certainly getting prosperous again, so that 
they can buy harness and carriages and fix 
up a little. There was, also, a good ex¬ 
hibit of live stock. The object at Mt. 
Gretna seems to be to bring together first- 
class specimens of the various breeds. 
There was not a large exhibit of cattle, but 
those that were exhibited were of the 
highest class, and farmers had a chance to 
see just what a good animal is, and to get 
a model in mind for building up their fu¬ 
ture herds. 
It 
“ BURNINQ MONEY.” 
The most precious possession on 
earth is perfect health, 
the ground-work of all 
prosperity in life; and 
few people grudge 
any reasonable 
expenditure 
which will be 
the means of 
restoring it; 
but one of the 
most disheart¬ 
ening things 
in the world 
is for any one 
who works 
hard for his 
money to keep 
paying it out 
for doctors and 
medicines that do no earthly good, 
is like throwing it into the fire. 
“ We had spent lots of money for doctor bills 
and I had almost given up in despair,” says Mrs. 
Ella Scliall, of Mooseliead, I.uzcme Co., Pa., in 
a sincere letter to Dr. K. V. Pierce, of Buffalo, 
N. Y. “ Then I told my husband 1 was going to 
write to you. I am very glad I did so; You re¬ 
member iny case was abscess of the breast. Dr. 
Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery cured me in 
one month, sound and well.” 
“Your kindness to me I can never forget," 
writes Mrs. josie R. Clark, of Enterprise, Shelby 
Co., Mo. “ I cannot express half my feelings of 
gratefulness to you. I had despaired of ever get¬ 
ting well. I had been in bad health for twelve 
years. Had aches all through me, numb hands, 
cold feet, and everything I ate distressed me; my 
bowels were constipated. I was very nervous, 
depressed and despondent. When I "first wrote 
to you I thought I could never be cured. I have 
taken six bottles of Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical 
Discovery, and my health is now good. You 
have my honest recommendation to all sufferers. 
I think there is no medicine in the world as 
good as Dr. Pierce’s.” 
It’s an insult to your intelligence for a 
dealer to attempt to palm off upon you a 
substitute for this world-famed medicine. 
You kno7v what you want. It’s his busi¬ 
ness to meet that want. When he urges 
some substitute lie’s thinking of the 
larger profit he’ll make — not of your 
welfare. Shun all such dishonest dealers. 
Every sick person in this land should 
possess Dr. Pierce’s grand thousand- 
page illustrated Common Sense Medical 
Adviser, which will be sent free for the 
bare cost of mailing, 21 one-cent stamps. 
FRUIT 
EVAPORATORS Best and cheapest 
D. STUTZMAN. Ligonle/, Ind 
IDE 
MACHINERY 
I Best and cheapest, 
' Send for catalogue 
BOOMER & B0SCHERT 
PRESS CO.. 
118 Water Street, 
SYUACU8E, M. Y. 
I 
PUMPS 
WATER— 
SHELLS 
CORN- 
GRINDS 
FEED- 
CHURNS 
BUTTER- 
—and hundreds of other jobs with the 
strength of 15 men. Most Convenient and 
useful power ever invented. Costs only TWO 
cents per hour 10 run. Especially adapted 
to farm work. 
it isa NEW ENGINE made by 
Fairbanks 
Morse & 
Company 
Chicago 
AGENCIES 
in all principal Cities. 
Chas. J. Jager Co.. 
Boston. 
Patterson, Gottfried 
& Hunter, 
New York 
BUCKEYE FORCE PUMPS 
are leaders In the trade 
because they work easy, throw a steady 
stream, do not drip, do not freeze but 
Please all who use them. 
They are made to pump and to last, and 
they do both The complete embodiment 
of pump goodness. Write for circulars. 
FOOS & CO., 11 River Street, Springfield, Ohio. 
RIFE HYDRAULIC ENGINES 
PUJIP WATER BY WATER POWER. 
Put in Place of Rams. 
Deliver More Water. 
Never Stop. 
Your Money Rack if 
You Want It. 
Send your conditions for 
catalogue and guaranteed 
estimates. 
POWER SPECIALTY CO., 12G Liberty St., New York. 
DRILLING 
Machines 
Over 70 sizes and styles, for drilling either deep or 
shallow wells In any kind of soil or rock. Mounted 
on wheels or on sills. With engines or horse powers. 
Strong, simple and durable. Any mechanic can 
operate them easily. Send for catalog. 
WILLIAMS BROS., Ithaca, N. Y. 
LIGHTNING WELL MACHYf 
IS THE STANDARD! 
STf AM PUMPS, AIR LIFTS, *1, J 
GASOLINE ENGINES#/!^ 
WRITE FOR CIRCULAR ffifSf 
THE AMERICAN WELL WORKS fc - ® 1 © 
AURORA.ILL - CHICAGO.- DALLAS,TEX' 
The Universal Matchers and Brooders 
Now is the time 
to buy. 
You want to buy 
the Best. 
We Have Them 
We have manu¬ 
factured them 
for over 14 years. 
Send for 
Catalogue. 
THE E. W. ANDREWS INCUBATOR CO., 
209 & 211 Railroad Ave., Box 7, Elmira, N. Y. 
