1*09 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
843 
Publisher’s Desk. 
It is pleasant to note the way our 
friends respond to an? suggestion to 
add new names to The R. N.-Y. 
family list. There were so many calls 
for the little list of books offered, sev¬ 
eral weeks ago, for new subscriptions, 
that I have extended the list. Here it 
is: 
One for One. 
We will send any book in the following list post¬ 
paid, as a reward for sending us one new subscription 
for a neighbor or friend at $ 1 : 
The Business Hen.$ .40 
Canning and Preserving.20 
The Nursery Book.50 
How to Kid Buildings of Kats.20 
First Lessons in Agriculture. 1.00 
The Cauliflower. 1.00 
Spraying Crops.25 
How to Plant a Place.20 
Tuberous Begonias.20 
Modification of Plants by Climate.25 
Popular Errors About Plants. 1.00 
Landscape Gardening.50 
The New Botany...■..25 
Accidents and Emergencies.20 
Milk. Making and Marketing.20 
My Handkerchief Garden.20 
Ensilage and the Silo.20 
Fertilizers and Fruits.20 
Fertilizer Farming.20 
Trees for Street and Shade.20 
Chemicals and Clover. .20 
The Story of the Plants.40 
Grasses and Clover.25 
Vegetables UnderGlass.25 
The Hairy Calf.25 
One for Two. 
We will send tiny book in the following list post¬ 
paid as a reward for sending us a club of two new 
subscriptions at $1 each : 
Plant Breeding. Bailey.$1.00 
The Forcing Book. Bailey. 1.00 
Garden Making. Bailey. 1.00 
Milk and Its Products. Wing. 1.00 
The Soil. King. 75 
The Spraying of Plants. Lodcman. 1.00 
Fertilizers. Voorhees. 1.00 
A merican Grape Training. Bailey.75 
Horticulturist’s Rule Book. Bailey.75 
One for Three 
For a club of three new yearly subscriptions at $1 
each we will send postpaid any one of the following 
hooks: 
The Pruning Book. Bailey.$1.50 
The Fertility of the Land. Roberts. 1.25 
Principles of Fruit Growing. Bailey. 1.25 
Bush Fruits. Card. 1.50 
Feeds and Feeding. Henry. 2.00 
Feeding Animals. Stewart. 2.00 
The Domestic Sheep. Stewart. 1.50 
Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Swine. Curtis. 2.00 
Vegetable Gardening. Green. 1.25 
Because of the exceptional value of these rewards, 
we must Insist on the clubs being all new subscribers, 
but two renewals may be counted as one new name 
for any of the above rewards. Many of the books are 
new and all are the best on the subjects of which 
they treat. 
All you need do is to get $1 from a 
neighbor for a new subscription to The 
R. N.-Y., send it to us with his name 
and address, and ask for the book you 
prefer in first list. Two such names 
take a book from the second list, and 
three from the last. 
Take a look over those premiums on 
following pages, too. There is big value 
in them. Of course, the new rose will be 
sent to every subscriber who applies for 
it, and you may make the application 
for any names you send. See picture of 
rose on first page. It is to be remem¬ 
bered that $1 now carries your new sub¬ 
scriber up to January 1, 1901. 
We have new terms for club raisers 
who can get up a club on cash terms. 
Would you like to see them? We also 
send pictures of the rose on fine coated 
paper, and samples. Do you desire 
them? The Rural New-Yorker, 
New York. 
Deviled Butter. — I must present the 
other side of what you call the deviled but¬ 
ter Question. For a good many years 
packing-stock butter has been very low 
most of the time, because there was no 
way to purify and work out the impurities, 
but of late years men have worked out a 
way to handle it so that they make a very 
good article out of common store butter, 
and the competition to get it makes for 
better prices for a large class of farmers 
that are not situated so that they can use 
a creamery. At the same time, it gives 
the consumer a chance to buy a fairly good 
article at a- less price than the best 
creamery.’ Before this process work began 
we used to buy carloads at from five to 11 
or 12 cents; since that began it has gradu¬ 
ally increased in price, and now is worth 
14 to 15 cents here in the country stores, 
and I presume that we w 1 soon be paying 
15 to 18 cents, so you see the class of farm¬ 
ers that I speak of are getting some bene¬ 
fit. You will find the retailer is A. Devil 
<& Co.; he will sell last Spring eggs for 
fresh laid, butterine for butter, and process 
butter for best creamery. He is the man 
you must get after. Make him sell these 
goods for what they are, and there will be 
no harm done. The wholesaler can’t sell 
any of these classes of goods, only for 
what they really are. v. s. b. 
South Dakota. 
Market Briefs. 
We are here In this great market. You ship goods 
here. You can ship to better advantage if you know 
how and when to do it. We will try to tell you. 
We must know what you want. Ask questions We 
will try to answer them. 
BEANS.—Reports from various parts of 
the country indicate that the bean crop 
will be much lighter than was expected. 
The New York yield is only half the usual 
quantity, and California’s crop has been 
cut a third or more by the dry weather. 
TOBACCO.—The yield in the Connecticut 
Valley for this season is said to be the 
heaviest in eight years. The prices are 
also good, the best part of the crop having 
been contracted for at an average of 20 
cents per pound in the bundle. About 23,000 
acres were planted to tobacco in New Eng¬ 
land, and it is probable that the acreage 
will be increased another year. The crop 
this year will bring the growers about 
$3,000,000. 
SKUNK AND CATSKINS.—Of course, 
Winter furs are of the most value. Prime 
black skunk skins sometimes sell for $1.50. 
This is sold as natural marten. They are 
also made up to imitate other furs, and 
many a woman who buys mink or bear or 
similar furs is in reality getting skunked. 
Large black catskins often bring as much 
as 50 cents, but it will not pay to divorce 
the ordinary mongrel cat from his fur. It 
is worth more to him. 
EXPORT APPLES AGAIN.—The bad 
conditions last reported continue. It is 
said that Chicago apple exporters have lost 
$200,000. Many shipments did not bring 
enough to pay the freight charges. The 
three weeks of exceptionally warm weather 
in October, when the cream of the Winter 
stock was being shipped, “cooked” the 
fruit so badly that cold storage did not 
save it from decay. There is still an 
active European demand for perfectly 
sound stock. Such apples will sell well 
at reasonably high prices. 
BELGIAN HARES.—A reader asks about 
the market for these animals. They sell 
very well at prices above ordinary rabbits. 
Large rabbits in good condition are now 
worth 20 to 30 cents per pair. One dealer 
told me that for good Belgians he could 
pay 60 cents per pair at present. All hares 
and rabbits are sold by the pair instead of 
by the pound. Probably an average price 
for Belgian hares would be from 40 to 60 
cents. They should not be drawn, and 
care must be taken to keep the hair clean 
and free from blood. Some game of this 
sort comes with hair matted, and it neces¬ 
sarily sells for a low price. 
WORMS, BUGS AND DROUGHT.—A 
commission merchant, who is also some¬ 
thing of a philosopher, remarked thus to 
me: “People cut off the forests and then 
wonder why we have such terrible droughts. 
They kill the birds, and then complain of 
the worms and bugs, which the birds would 
take care of if left to themselves. If a 
farmer will shut up his chiekenhouse nights, 
a skunk will be worth more to him than 
the average dog. He is a harmless animal. 
He works while men sleep. Look around 
in the fields in the morning, and you will 
see small bits of earth that have been 
rooted up in the night. This is Mr. 
Skunk’s work. He is after worms and 
bugs. It is easier to kill a bird or a 
skunk than to destroy the vermin he would 
make way with during a season. The 
idea that human beings, horses, cattle, dogs 
and cats have a monopoly on life is all 
wrong.” 
BURDOCK ROOT.—Reference was made 
to the market for this root a short time 
ago, and some readers wish more particu¬ 
lars. There is a steady demand at the 
wholesale botanic druggists. These people 
handle all kinds of roots, herbs and barks. 
They grind or crush them and put them 
up in shape for the trade. If there is any 
virtue in smelling drugs, a visit to one of 
these places ought to cure almost any dis¬ 
ease, for there is a mixture of odors that 
would delight a patent-medicine crank. 
Roots to be prepared for market should 
be thoroughly washed and dried, care be¬ 
ing taken that burdock does not turn 
black in drying. The only way is to ex¬ 
periment with whatever facilities one has 
for this purpose until the best plan is 
found. Burdock is used in medicine as a 
blood purifier or tonic. The chances are, 
however, that the man who purifies his 
farm by digging this weed will not need 
to save any of the root for his own use, as 
the work necessary to uproot it will stir 
up his blood and prove the best tonic. 
Nature keeps the blood pure if given a 
chance. Hundreds of people in large cities 
are shut up in offices. Bad air and lack 
of sunshine and exercise give them a sort 
of dried-up. cellar-potato-sprout, half- 
alive look. Some do not walk half a mile 
a day. To go two blocks they take a car. 
No wonder their blood gets out of order, 
and they bite at all kinds of patent medi¬ 
cine bait. The man who has plenty of ex¬ 
ercise, pure air and water and wholesome 
food, and who knows that his teeth were 
made to chew his food rather than to 
crack nuts, will probably not need blood 
purifiers, and, if he wish to put a little ex¬ 
tra pepper sauce into his existence, let him 
use a harsh flesh brush and take a cold 
sponge bath every morning, Winter and 
Summer. w. w. h. 
PRICE OF IMPLEMENTS. 
Prices Were Low.—I do not think that 
most farmers have made much out of their 
crops, as they have nearly all sold low, and 
the expense of marketing and fertilizing 
take most of the profit. There are plenty 
of farms in this section which the owners 
would like to sell, at a low price, but there 
is no demand for them. There are some 
who farm on shares with poor tools and 
not many of them, and I don’t think that 
they will be in very good condition, finan¬ 
cially, to meet any rise in price Most of 
them will make out with as few as pos¬ 
sible. There is no great fortune in farm¬ 
ing in these parts at present. Such crops 
as tomatoes and peppers are grown on a 
large scale, but bring very little money. 
To sum it up in a few words, most of them 
will make out with their old tools, and only 
purchase those which they cannot possibly 
do Without. WM. ARROWSMITH. 
Monmouth County, N. J. 
Machinery Tn Partnership.— The farm¬ 
ers in our neighborhood have had very 
little benefit from the increase in prices. 
Wheat, corn, oats, and potatoes are low 
in price and slow of sale, and labor has 
advanced and is hard to get. The ad¬ 
vanced price and scarcity of labor would 
have been an advantage to the manufac¬ 
turer of machinery years ago, but, I think, 
not now, as there is enough good ma¬ 
chinery to do the work by using the same 
machines on a number of farms by splicing 
together; that is, by farmers helping each 
other. I don't think that the farmers 
would willingly pay the increased price, 
and think that it will make a difference in 
sales; not because they will patch up their 
tools, but will help each other. I had my 
wheat cut the past three years by neigh¬ 
bors, who were quite willing to cut it at $1 
per acre, and find twine. The same farmer 
cut two other crops besides mine. If 
there is an advance in price of grain be¬ 
fore Spring it may make a difference, but 
if the advance does not come until the 
grain is sold to dealers, it will leave the 
farmer about where he is now’. 
Pennsylvania. s. f. hoffer. 
A Jerseyman Talks.— I do not think that 
many farmers are prepared to pay much 
advance in farm machinery. The fact is 
that the farmer who has to depend entirely 
upon his crops to make ends meet, has 
been paying all that his implements are 
worth to him already. I do not think that 
any farm tool I use has steel or iron enough 
in it to warrant an advance of 20 per cent 
on what it already cost. Iron and steel 
may cost more, and it may cost more for 
labor, but it is my opinion that manufac¬ 
turers would better let that extra cost 
come out of the profits they already make, 
and thereby sell many machines that they 
will not if prices go up. Small profits and 
more sales will be better all around. The 
manufacturers will make as much or more, 
the farmer will have needed implements 
that he otherwise would not, and the man 
who works in machine shops and foundries 
will have more to do. 
I thought of buying a corn binder last 
Fall, but $125 seemed too much money to 
invest, so I got along without it. Now, 
if that corn binder goes up 20 per cent in 
price, or to $150, it is a clear case of no sale. 
The iron and steel in that machine has not 
gone up enough to make it cost $25 more. 
Allowing it to weigh 800 pounds (which I 
don’t think it does), it would make that 
hardware worth $62.50 per ton more than 
it was. I don’t know how much less than 
$125 would buy the machine. When the 
price is beyond my reach I simply let it 
alone. There may be implements or parts 
of them on which it would be necessary to 
raise 20 per cent over the present price, but 
I think that they are few, and if manufac¬ 
turers insist on too much advance the 
only salvation for the farmer is to build a 
homemade blacksmith shop and go to 
work. Cattle, hogs and wool, have ad¬ 
vanced in price, but potatoes won’t allow 
you to buy many high-priced diggers or 
planters this year. e. e. h. 
Chester, N. J. 
The Ohio Outlook.— The general opinion 
here is that farmers will go without ma¬ 
chinery rather than pay an increased price. 
They feel that they have paid more, in 
proportion for their machinery, than their 
crops warranted. The financial condition 
of the farmer is not greatly improved. It 
is true, he can sell more of his products 
than for two or three years back, but he 
does not receive as much, in many cases, 
as before, e. g., wheat is is only 65 cents, 
corn 25 cents, sheep range from $3 to $4 per 
100 pounds. But two years ago, rust 
nearly ruined the wheat on the lowlands 
and last, year the Hessian fly cut the crop 
down two-thirds. This year, corn was 
greatly injured on clover sod by the grub¬ 
worm. Pastures suffered also. Prime beef 
cattle bring good prices, but many of our 
farmers got the Jersey fever several years 
ago, so with few exceptions, the cattle are 
not of beef quality. I cannot see where 
there is to be an income to meet the in¬ 
creased price. Moreover, there is a belief 
that the trusts cannot continue long, and 
that machinery, will in a few years, drop 
back to the old figures, possiblv lower. 
Farmers, as a rule, are slow about pur¬ 
chasing machinery, even under the most 
favorable conditions. They surely will not 
at increased prices. Peach crop a total 
failure. Apples, a fair crop, of good flavor 
and appearance. v. w. l. 
THE CLOVER-SEED CROP. 
The clover crop for this year has not 
been a very good one this season in the 
amount of bushels; the seed turned out 1 
just the same as last year. The heads 
seemed to be fuller and the straw shorter 
than last year, but it was thin on the 
ground on account of dry weather. In 
comparing 1899 in amount of bushels with 
1898, it was just the same; it was not quite 
half as much as 1897; six times as much 
as in 1896. The crop in 1884 was a very 
large one, and never since that time could 
we harvest a crop so large. The clover 
seed seemed to be affected a little last year, 
for the first time, with a little red grub 
about as long as the clover seed; and this 
year it was affected very much more. We 
got a very poor stand of both grass and 
clover. The drought seems to have done 
the damage this year, after the little 
plants were up. Last year we had a 
pretty fair stand of grass and clover. In 
general, people sow much more clover seed 
here than Timothy and other grass seed. 
New Knoxville, O. g. w. 
To use the words of an old clover hul- 
ler, “There is, perhaps, not more than one- 
tenth of the clover cut for seed, and of 
that part was cut too late. It is mak¬ 
ing about three-quarters of a bushel per 
acre.” A great deal of the clover crop 
was used for pasture, and some was cut 
after the first ripe heads fell off, therefore 
greatly lessening the yield. Some was 
cut for hay too late in the Spring, owing to 
the press of early Summer work, and so 
did not get. fully matured, owing to the 
extreme dry Fall. As to quality, it might 
be said, as an average, that the clover seed 
is poor except in some places. Clover 
seed cut upon the farm I am renting made 
me about 1 % bushel per acre, which I am 
selling at $5 per bushel. Clover sown on 
the farm this Spring has done exception¬ 
ally well, but fields sown on other farms in 
the community have failed in a great many 
instances. Some was sown upon Fail 
wheat before people found that it had 
frozen out, and so, of course, was lost. 
As a general rule, the culture given clover 
is hardly sufficient to insure a stand, it be¬ 
ing merely sown upon the ground and al¬ 
lowed to work in as best it may, and, of 
course, this results in its being choked by 
big weeds. Where clover has been sown 
upon the ground and thoroughly worked 
in with the grain, the stand has invariably 
been excellent. That which has stood the 
Summer is doing nicely now, and will, in 
all events, make nice clover next year. 
Villisca, Iowa. j. j. p. 
STOP WOMEN 
from exercising common sense? You 
can’t do it. As the old rhyme runs: 
“ The man’s a fool who tries by force or skill 
To turn the current of a woman’s will 
For if she will, she will, you may depend on’t 
And if she won’t she wou’t, so there’s an end on’t." 
Common sense tells a woman that when 
she’s sick she needs a doctor. 
Common sense tells a woman that in 
disease the first question is not of man or 
woman, but of recognized medical ability. 
Common sense applied to advertisements 
which invite women to “write to a woman 
because she is a woman and understands 
women,” will show the women so appealed 
to, that it’s no use to write to any woman 
about disease unless that woman is a 
physician. 
Common sense used in the reading of 
advertisements will discover that no claim 
is made in them to a physician’s knowl¬ 
edge or diploma. And that is not because 
the claim would be morally culpable as a 
lie, but because it would be legally pun¬ 
ishable as a fraud. The law permits you to 
masquerade as a doctor in an advertise¬ 
ment, just so long as you don’t actually 
claim to be a doctor, or put M. D. after 
your name. That’s why the advertisement 
is worded “ write to a woman ” instead of 
write to a doctor. 
Common sense has brought more than 
half-a-million women, afflicted with some 
form of female disease, to Dr. R. V. Pierce 
as one of the most expert physicians in the 
United States in the treatment of female 
diseases. Dr. Pierce is a specialist. He 
has given more than thirty years of active 
practice to the treatment of female dis¬ 
eases. Dr. Pierce is not a “ physician ” by 
courtesy. He is a physician regularly grad¬ 
uated, legally empowered to practice and 
with thirty years of experience in the treat¬ 
ment of diseases of women, which he has 
made his specialty. 
The offer of free consultation by letter 
made by Dr. Pierce is a real offer, an honest 
offer. It is an offer backed by a medical 
institution, with a world wide reputation, 
a staff of nearly a score of regularly grad¬ 
uated physicians, a practice which reaches 
every state in the Union and a record of 
more than half-a-million women treated 
and ninety-eight out of every hundred 
perfectly cured. 
Write to a doctor. That’s the first thing. 
Write to the doctor. That’s the next thing. 
The woman’s doctor, is Dr. R. V. Pierce 
of the Invalids’ Hotel, Buffalo, N. Y. 
