THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 12 
186 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
sr K E H i v E„“s; ,M ' 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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Address all business communications and make all orders pay¬ 
able to THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
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SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1898. 
There has been a demand from readers for some 
safe and simple process for treating - nursery stock sus¬ 
pected of carrying - the San Jos£ scale. On page 180, 
Prof. Slingerland describes a method which is cheap 
and effective. It is a good thing to be on the safe 
side, and this simple dip may save your trees. In spite 
of all the laws we may possibly have, the buyer and 
planter must do his duty or be eaten out of orchard 
and fruit by this scale. 
0 
In last week’s paper, an account was given of the 
early lamb business of Mr. T. H. King. One thing 
that should have been mentioned is the fact that Mr. 
King, each year, takes the price of four lambs, and 
comes to New York to look over the markets and 
marketmen. He meets the people who sell his goods, 
face to face, and has a chance to see how business is 
done in the great city. It pays him—he gets his 
money back with interest. 
O 
This promises to be a very trying season for north¬ 
ern peach growers. There have been periods of warm, 
open weather since January 1, which were just right 
for starting the buds into growth. In some cases, 
growth has actually started, and the buds have swollen 
so that a hard frost in March would kill them. This 
would be a good Spring for testing the value of whiten¬ 
ing the trees by spraying a thin whitewash over them 
last December. The chances are good that the 
whitened buds would not have swollen in such weather 
as we have had this Spring. 
O 
Spain has, evidently, lost Cuba, and in the shuffle, 
Cuba is likely to lose a good share of its tobacco trade. 
Thousands of Cubans have moved to Florida, and 
found land there well suited to growing the brands of 
tobacco that have made Havana cigars famous. They 
have worked so well that, last year, they sold 160,000,- 
000 cigars, worth $13,000,000. Though produced in 
Florida, these cigars were all sold as “ Havana”—the 
Cuban is shrewd enough to carry his trademark with 
him. In spite of this great output, the United States 
people still pay $17,000,000 to other countries for to¬ 
bacco. Florida wants the job of producing it. If the 
Cuban war last much longer, she will have it. 
0 
Commercial florists in Washington, D. C., have long 
complained that the greenhouses belonging to the 
Department of Parks and Reservations injured their 
business by supplying free cut flowers to officials and 
their friends. The matter has been stronagitated 
of late, the florists asserting that the park* and reser¬ 
vations of Washington would be far more eUMptliyc if 
these greenhouses were entirely used to f r*Kv plant s 
for their summer decoration, iust.»aJ^diL ; *pace being 
devoted to roses, etc., for cut-flower*jpS l £|£|pL Lately, 
these greenhouses have been jjisblie, and 
there is no assurance that the abQfe - complained of will 
be ended. Growing free roses for Congressmen does 
not seem quite within the duties of the public gardener. 
O 
Ex-Gov. Hoard says that the continued dishorning 
of bulls and cows kept for breeders is bound to result 
in the deterioration of future generations ; that the 
great nervous shock produced by the operation will 
seriously impair the prepotency of the animal. It may 
be a long time before the ill effects will show to any 
marked extent, but they are sure to be manifested in 
future generations. He says that English horsemen 
long since discovered that docking their breeders 
lessened the jumping power of the progeny, and that 
the height to which their horses could jump grew less 
with each succeeding generation. The shock to the 
nervous system seems to be the source of the trouble, 
and the probability is that killing the horns of calves 
when young would not have this disastrous effect. 
Gov. Hoard said that, in his own herd of purebred 
Guernsej^s and Jerseys, there was never any injury 
from horns, either to the attendants or the cows. 
From their birth, the calves are treated with kind¬ 
ness, and handled so that they have no fear, and are 
always tame and gentle. They have little inclination 
to use their horns. His main object is to raise purebred 
stock, and he wouldn’t think of having a cow dis¬ 
horned. 
O 
Readers of The R. N.-Y. are running the paper 
pretty much to suit themselves just now. Their ques¬ 
tions are so numerous and so practical that, after they 
are answered, there is not room for much else in the 
paper. Hundreds of other questions are answered by 
mail—in fact, we have never known the time when 
our readers were on a keener search for information. 
A Massachusetts reader sends u.s this little note : 
I thoroughly enjoy the weekly visits of Tiie R. N.-Y. It is as 
though a whole family of big brothers met to spend the evening 
and relate their experiences, plans and opinions on those things 
in which each has a common interest. 
This family or discussion idea is just what we seek to 
carry out. We like to have our readers feel that they 
are free to ask any questions they see fit. We will 
find answers, if possible. 
O 
In the account of the White Leghorn farmers, on 
our first page, it is stated that Mr. Chapman got a 
good many eggs from his old hens during November 
and December, but that the pullets are the standbys. 
In our part of the country, eggs are scarcest during 
the last three months of the year, and the hens that 
will shell out the eggs then, will produce the highest 
priced eggs. These are the idle months for the great 
majority of hens, and we don’t care whether the hen 
that will lay then is young or old, she is the one we 
want. After the holidays, in any ordinary season, 
more eggs begin to arrive from the South and West, 
and although they cannot be classed as strictly fresh, 
they supply a large class of trade, and tend to depress 
prices. Formerly, the highest prices were after the 
holidays, now they are usually before. 
O 
On page 146, we referred to the changes of farm con¬ 
ditions in the “carnation belt” of Chester County, 
Pa. An interesting thing in this connection is stated 
in the following note : 
This change is merely an addition to the industries of this 
section. Our other farm industries have not declined, except 
cattle feeding. The sales of hay, wheat, and dairy products are 
on the increase. An old thrasher man told me that, where 15 to 
20 bushels were a common yield of wheat per acre 25 years ago, 
30 to 35 bushels are common now. The carnation and tomato 
business is constantly on the increase, also. p. a. c. 
In other words, all the old lines of farming except 
cattle feeding have been increased and improved. The 
intelligent use of fertilizers, and scientific methods of 
feeding the hind and the live stock, have enabled 
farmers to keep up with the procession—and put on 
new hats. We no longer hear eastern farmers talk of 
leaving their farms to go west after virgin soil. It is 
better to have the old farm married to scientific 
farming. 
O 
The farmers in Germany, Austria and Hungary have 
little love for the United States. In the last-named 
countries, particularly, the small farmer is having 
serious trouble. Agriculture is changing there as it 
has already changed in parts of America, by the in¬ 
troduction of labor-saving machinery. The small 
farmer who works his farm largely by hand labor, is 
being crowded out by the larger farmers, who belong 
chiefly to the aristocratic classes. This extensive 
farming at home and the importation of cheap food 
from America are crushing out the small peasant pro¬ 
prietor and farm laborer. All through central Europe 
the agrarian or agricultural parties demand increased 
protection against American food products. They 
would have our meat, our grain, our fruit, our dairy 
products and flour entirely prohibited, if they could 
have their way, in order that their countrymen might 
be fed entirely from their own farms. This partly 
explains why, just now, German chemists are finding 
so much fault with American food products. It is not 
entirely a question of health—the great German agri¬ 
cultural party is fighting for a “ home market” just 
as the American farmer has been taught to do. 
o 
Two or three correspondents this week advise in¬ 
quirers to buy nursery trees instead of raising them. 
Ordinarily we might consider such advice from a nur¬ 
seryman as prejudiced ; but under existing conditions, 
it seems to us sound. Never before were first-class 
fruit trees offered at such low prices. Many nursery¬ 
men say that they are making no money, and we can 
well believe it. But they have large sums of money 
invested, and must keep the plant in operation to 
maintain their business, and get anything at all from 
it. If they, with their long experience, and with every 
facility for the economical production of trees on a 
large scale, cannot make any profit, how can the be¬ 
ginner with no experience and few or no facilities ex¬ 
pect to compete ? The man of experience, too, is 
likely to produce a much better quality of trees. 
Growing good nursery stock is a science, and the 
specialist has every advantage in his favor. The low 
prices of the past few years have been due to the im¬ 
mense production, and the unreasonable San Jos6 scale 
scare of the present and past years, is liable to lessen 
purchases and depreciate prices still further. This 
scale is a serious pest—there is no use in belittling it 
—but fruit production will continue. When the Colo¬ 
rado beetle first made its appearance, many predicted 
that the business of potato growing would be ruined ; 
but never before have so many potatoes been pro¬ 
duced as during the past few years. We have learned 
to overcome the pest. So shall we learn to overcome 
the San Jos6 scale and, while some will, probably, be 
driven out of the business, the alert, progressive, up- 
to-date growers will reap the reward of diligence. 
0 
BREVITIES. 
UNCLE SAM TO PRESIDENT McKINLEY. 
You tell us, Mr. President, to wait till facts are known; 
I know it's mighty good advice, and yet you’ll have to own 
It’s getting hard to hold the boys who hear about the Maine 
Down in Havana’s harbor, underneath the guns of Spain. 
For if the Spanish sunk her, with their cursed treachery, 
You’ll hear a mighty outburst that will spread from sea to sea. 
I’m getting rather stiff myself—my fighting days are done; 
I had a double dose of war in eighteen sixty-one. 
I’ve seen the tears—the broken homes—but these young fellows 
here, 
Know nothing of the bloody curse your war dogs will bring near. 
An insult to the Stars and Stripes they count a deadly sin; 
I tell you, Mr. President, it’s hard to hold ’em in. 
And though I am a peaceful man, somehow it does me good 
To see that these young fellows have the old germ in their blood. 
They only need a hint from you to make the Spanish Don 
Walk Spanish out of Cuba, with a kick to help him on. 
We’re waiting, Mr. President, for what you have to say, 
For every man with Yankee blood is at your back to-day. 
It Is a crime to waste a dime. 
We need more dark on some subjects. 
A black joke may be called a dye jest. 
How much is your moral support worth ? 
“ I’ll try ! ” is the basis of can ned goods. 
Don’t wear a collar for the sake of a dollar. 
Corn appreciates a “ pure dunghill ” fertilizer. 
Mr. Goon Digestion organizes a business system. 
The weight of a cubic foot of ensilage ? About 40 pounds. 
We are glad to see the Ayrshire cattle breeders waking up. 
The milk business at Cleveland, O., is described on page 192. 
Take the air and gas out of milk, and you reduce its bulk one- 
tenth. 
“ I subscribe to that sentiment ! ” Well, are you a paid sub¬ 
scriber ? 
I hue to the line, said the Galloway bull, as he looked at the 
black calf. 
Have you paid out good money for a gun ? Ten to one it is as 
useless as the dog. 
Coolie labor in Hawaii will make things hot for American 
sugar beet growers. 
How many men like you will it require to support a bar-keeper 
—10, 100, 1,000 or 1,000,000? 
Prescribe and proscribe. Watch the average man and see, 
how often in his duty, he puts e just where his o should be. 
Positively settled—that we cannot now exterminate the San 
Jose scale in the East. We can only fight it—as we do the potato 
beetle. 
Two parts powdered camphor dissolved in eight parts cotton¬ 
seed oil will make a good sample of “ camphorated oil ”. Excel¬ 
lent for sore throat. 
While American farmers are seeking to increase our produc¬ 
tion of beet sugar, exports of sugar-making machinery to Argen¬ 
tina, Colombia and Salvador are larger than ever. 
A “new disease ” is said to attack Klondikers. It attacks the 
spine, and weakens it beyond recovery. That must be the dis¬ 
ease that takes the backbone out of a man when some moral 
question confronts him. 
We heard a man argue, the other day, that one reason why 
town folks are smarter than country people is that the smartest 
children go to town, leaving the duller ones to inter marry! That 
is about the silliest argument yet. 
Don’t theorize in writing, but set down just what you do— no 
matter if it must be said in words of darkest hue. The folk can 
theorize themselves, they do not want your aid—their children, 
too, will theorize, when in the grave they’re laid. 
A rot is a slow - fire. When you burn the straw stack, the nitro¬ 
gen jumps away at once, to join the great army of the unem¬ 
ployed in the atmosphere. When you rot it down in the soil, the 
nitrogen goes so slowly that the plants get a chance at it. 
It is reported that a German chemist has succeeded in pro¬ 
ducing indigo from coal tar, and this on an industrial scale. 
Saccharine, one of the recent coal-tar products, while 200 times 
sweeter than cane sugar, is not as yet of any industrial value 
except as an adulterant, and it may be that this chemical indigo 
will fall short of the beautiful jiermanent blue which gives the 
vegetable indigo its value. 
