September 16 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
660 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collinowood, Editor. 
H. E. Van Deman, ) 
Frank H. Valentine, /-Associates. 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, ) 
John J Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, J2.04, equal to 
8s. 6d., or 8* *4 marks, or lOy* 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 iine. 
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, express order, 
personal cheek or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1809. 
The American Pomological Society has just closed 
a successful meeting at Philadelphia. This old so¬ 
ciety has gained new strength, and is, in some re¬ 
spects, the most useful horticultural organization in 
the country, if not in the world. It is like a fruit 
growers’ senate, where final settlement may be made 
by the representatives of our best local and State so¬ 
cieties. We shall have a full report of the proceed¬ 
ings. 
* 
Hereafter, so far as possible, the department of 
“Ruralisms” will be devoted to discussions of the be¬ 
havior and merit of varieties of fruits and vegetables. 
Special attention will be given to novelties and newer 
varieties. It has been thought best to group every¬ 
thing of this nature in this department. The work 
of testing newer varieties will be continued, and great 
pains will be taken to make these tests of greater 
value by comparing the behavior of these varieties in 
widely separated localities. 
* 
It is hard to judge the fruits and vegetables at a 
large exhibition like the New York State Fair, so as 
to satisfy all. We might say it is impossible to do 
this, for in some classes, the exhibits are all so excel¬ 
lent that it is next to impossible to prove that one is 
really more perfect than another. Mr. E. G. Fowler 
has, probably, come nearer satisfying everybody in 
this respect than any other judge of recent years. His 
decisions have always been accepted without ques¬ 
tion, and all will indorse this tribute to the fairness 
and skill of a veteran expert. 
The fraud in “Renovated Butter,” described on 
page 657, is characteristic of the food counterfeiters. 
They will work off their stuff, if possible, and lie 
about it without turning a hair. “Renovated” butter! 
No use talking, our legislators are too fond, of wear¬ 
ing gloves when they go lawing for these frauds. 
“Deviled” butter! That is a truer and better name 
for it. The boardinghouse keeper may boil some old 
veteran of a hen until it 'is soft enough to appear in 
“chicken” pie, and we will eat it and forgive her. 
When some soap boiler melts over a lot of axle- 
grease butter, and then calls it “fresh,” we can’t for¬ 
give him. He’s an enemy of the good old cow! 
Within the last few weeks, the retail butchers of 
New York have been discussing the advisability of 
establishing a cooperative slaughterhouse near the 
City, and thus render themselves measurably inde¬ 
pendent of the meat trust. The Society of American 
Florists, in their recent convention, practically de¬ 
cided to buy and operate a window-glass plant, claim¬ 
ing that the recent arbitrary advance in the price of 
glass by the glass combination practically prohibited 
the natural expansion of greenhouse building. The 
striking street-car operatives of Cleveland, Ohio, have 
brought a number of disused herdics from Washing¬ 
ton, and propose to establish an omnibus line to com¬ 
pete with the syndicated surface car lines of that city. 
All these attempts show a spirit of restlessness under 
unfair conditions and oppressive treatment. It will 
be easy to predict the failure of any or all of these 
enterprises, as their projectors are many, and more 
or less inexperienced and financially weak. They have 
against them the gigantic combinations of capital, 
engineered by a few shrewd individuals who are in¬ 
trenched behind a formidable bulwark of legal de¬ 
cisions and precedents. Time has already shown the 
enormous difficulties of cooperative production, con¬ 
sidered in the usual and popular sense, but far-seeing 
social reformers are well reconciled to this, as they 
claim such sharp object lessons are needed to rouse 
a good-natured public to the folly of delegating to 
powerful, impersonal, therefore absolutely unscrupu¬ 
lous corporations, the duties and utilities it is capable 
of performing to its own satisfaction and the advan¬ 
tage of all. The trusts seem to be the only really 
practical socialists of the age, carrying out coopera¬ 
tion and the subdivision of labor, to its last logical 
extreme. They are erecting a mighty fabric, com¬ 
posed of practical, systematic details, which will be 
very convenient when the people at last make up 
their minds to the advantage of managing the public 
utilities for their own convenience and mutual profit. 
'It 
“What class of people take The R. N.-Y.?” An ad¬ 
vertiser asked this question at the New York State 
Fair. The best answer was to point to The R. N.-Y. 
tent, which was, at the time, filled with people who 
were eating their lunch. They were sound, sub¬ 
stantial-looking “home folks,” right from the farm, 
with work-scars on their hands and sunburn on their 
faces, yet clean, neat, self-possessed and intelligent 
men and women. There wasn’t a bit of humbug about 
them. They were hard-working farmers, and they 
were proud of it. It was a pleasure to meet these 
big-hearted people, and it sends one back to work 
with a keener zest to feel that we have their con¬ 
fidence and good will. 
£ 
The intelligent farmer knows how the fertilizer 
analyses made by the experiment stations have saved 
money for him, and given character to the fertilizer 
business. In some States, the inspection and analysis 
of stock foods are having the same effect. It is not 
generally known that the National Government is 
trying to regulate and control the seed business in 
somewhat the same manner. The Department of 
Agriculture lias established a division in which seeds 
are tested free of charge. They are tested for vitality, 
also for freedom from weed seeds. The coming 
farmer will buy seeds on a guarantee from the Gov¬ 
ernment. He will send a fair sample to Washington, 
and have it tested, and be able to hold the seedsmen 
responsible for foul or weak stuff. The best seeds¬ 
men will welcome such a method of dealing—just as 
the best fertilizer dealers have found it helpful. 
£ 
The open-air treatment of consumptives is the one 
most generally and highly approved by the medical 
faculty. Why not then adopt it for cattle, with such 
modifications as the difference in circumstances may 
require? At first, it would have to be tried as an 
experiment. Our Indians and wild animals both alike 
suffer seriously from consumption when closely 
housed. Why it is that the horse does not do so 
might prove a profitable subject for investigation. 
What we propose as an experiment in the treatment 
of cases of bovine tuberculosis would be to substitute 
for the usual stable a low shed, with a tight roof, 
open on all sides, and surrounded at a suitable dis¬ 
tance by a wind-break consisting of a high, close 
board fence, or a thick hedge, abundant bedding, and, 
if need be, some clothing. Dishorning would be es¬ 
sential, as we would allow the cattle liberty within the 
inclosure, thus restoring to them, as far as possible, 
their natural conditions of living. Such a mode of 
life continued for generations, would tend to produce 
a warmer coat of hide and hair. Digestion would be 
so strengthened that the cattle would be able to dis¬ 
pose of a larger proportion of roughage profitably. 
If the experiment should prove a success, it would 
then become a live question whether the same treat¬ 
ment would not be better for all cattle, more especial¬ 
ly if commenced at the time of birth. 
£ 
Several years ago, reports were given in the papers 
of death in the silo from an accumulation of carbonic 
acid gas. We have made diligent search for proof 
that such deaths ever occurred, but have not been 
able to learn of an authentic case until this week. It 
now appears, upon what seems reliable testimony, 
that three inmates of a Wisconsin insane asylum were 
killed 'in this way. The report is that a large silo 40 
feet high was about two-thirds full of ensilage. This 
remained standing for several days, when refilling 
began. Three men climbed into the silo to tramp 
down the ensilage. They were immediately over¬ 
come, and died before they could be taken out. Tests 
were made to determine the cause of death, and it 
was decided that carbonic acid gas had been generated 
in the silo, and accumulated there, as there was no 
way of draining it off. This report appears to be 
genuine, and certainly opens a new line of thought 
with regard to silo building. In these large, perfectly 
air-tight silos, there may be danger of this sort, when 
the contents are left undisturbed for several days. 
Certainly in a case of this kind, a man should never 
go down into the silo without first lowering a lantern 
as a test. A man can live where a lantern will burn. 
If the lantern goes out, a man should stay out. The 
chances are that, in a stave silo, there would be suffi¬ 
cient air drainage to permit the carbonic acid gas to 
pass away. There iis nothing in tuis accident to stop 
a farmer from building a silo, but there is a warning 
to be careful. On page 664, Proi. King, of the Wis¬ 
consin Station, reviews this case, and tells us just 
what the trouble was. Read his article. It is very 
interesting. 
£ 
In some of the cars on the elevated roads in New 
York City, the following advertisement appears: 
A FINE OF $250 AND SIN MONTHS’ IMPRISONMENT. 
That’s what faces a dealer who uses anything but pure 
lemon or orange juice in soda water or other beverages. 
The best and most healthful drink is lemonade made of 
lemon juice. Insist on having the lemon juice squeezed 
in your presence. 
That card, printed 'in big letters, is staring thou¬ 
sands of New York people in the face day after day. 
It seems to have been put there by the dealers and 
handlers of lemons, and is a good investment for 
them. The laws of New York State now prohibit the 
use of adulterated fruit syrups, and who should be 
more interested in the business of enforcing this law 
than those who sell the fruits? Here is a good ob¬ 
ject lesson for farmers. If they could get together 
and put up a little money for the purpose, they could 
advertise their goods, help enforce the pure food laws, 
and benefit their business all around. The frauds in 
connection with this fruit-syrup business are tremen¬ 
dous. Personally we would not buy a glass of lemon¬ 
ade without actually seeing the lemon squeezed into 
the glass. In one case, a dealer sold lemonade made 
in this way, but he was careful to save the peels after 
they had been squeezed. Investigation showed that 
he sold these squeezed-out peels to a fakir, who put 
them into a tub of water, and added sugar and 
cheap acids, thus deceiving his customers, because 
they saw the peels floating around in the .water. Down 
with the frauds! Let that be the watchword of every 
farmer who expects a future for his business! 
* 
BREVITIES. 
“THE SELF-MADE MAN.” 
When a fellow strikes it lucky 
In a business sort of way, 
And his friends all note with pleasure 
That his ventures seem to pay, 
They are sure to sing his praises. 
And in passing him, will say, 
“There’s a sample of a self-made man.” 
When a fellow takes to drinking 
And to gambling on the sly, 
Though he counts it harmless pleasure, 
There’ll be trouble by and by; 
When he staggers in the gutter. 
Folks will make the same reply, 
There’s a sample of a self-made man. 
_ C. W. SCARFF. 
Get the stoves ready. 
Speltd the plow—seed wheat now. 
What has become of the great Idaho pear? 
“Fodder hash” is the latest name for ensilage. 
The farmer at the fair should get his see legs on. 
Sell off the old hens; get the young ones under cover! 
There is a great demand in some localities for logs of 
sound cherry wood. 
“Learn to labor and to wait”—for your reward, is often 
the farmers’ psalm of life. 
Never was such glorious quality shown in the New 
York State Fair fruit exhibits as this year. 
Does it pay to grain cows while at pasture? It does 
this year if you don’t want them to starve. 
The law governing the money paid by New York State 
to the county fair associations needs overhauling. 
It’s an awful blunder to try to grow the Ben Davis 
apple or the Kieffer pear outside of their regular stamping 
ground. 
Down with the frauds! Some of them are so old that 
they have down on them, yet they always find some one 
to believe them “ever fresh and fair.” 
What do you think of it?—$160,000 for “agricultural 
education” at the agricultural fairs of New York State, 
and only $20,000 for the farmers’ institutes. 
At the Kansas Experiment Station, a single ragweed 
carried 23,100 seeds, while a pigweed showed 954,000. It 
won’t require many weeds, at this rate, to seed the whole 
farm. 
The Indiana Experiment Station has an excellent bulle¬ 
tin on Roots for Pigs. It always hurts us to attempt a 
pun, but the variety of roots raised on a good nose is 
very healthy. A sort of nasal get there! 
What a funny old fellow Uncle Sam is! He sends 
thousands of tons of grain abroad every year. In Europe, 
this grain is fed to cows and made into butter for the 
English market. Then Uncle Sam wonders why the 
Danes beat him at the dairy business. 
If you belong to Gideon’s band, 
You’ll straightway push your good right hand 
Down in your pocket full and free, 
And take one cent for every tree 
Of Wealthy apple on your place, 
And send it with a hearty grace 
To Peter M.—Excelsior, 
Minn.—do it now, pray wait no more! 
