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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 19 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' rAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, | 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, (" 
Joitn J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
• Associate Editors. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. (Id., or 8*4 marks, or 10% 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. 
Be sure that the name and address of sender, with name of 
Post-office and State, and what the remittance is for, appear in 
every letter. Money orders and bank drafts on New York are the 
safest means of transmitting money. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay¬ 
able to THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY , MARCH 19, 1898. 
Mb. Garrahan, page 201. wisely advises fertilizer 
farmers to read standard books on the subject. Here 
is a set of books that every fertilizer farmer ought to 
study : 
Fertility of the Soil, Prof. I. P. Roberts.$1.25 
Farm Chemistry, T. Greiner. 1.00 
Manures and How to Make Them. F. Sempers. .50 
Manures and Fertilizers, J. J. H. Gregory.40 
Total.$3.15 
We will send the four books for S3, and make each 
purchaser a present of the pamphlet on “ Chemicals 
and Clover ” or “ Fertilizer Farming.'" We. sell any¬ 
thing in the hook line. 
O 
The people of New .Jersey have evidently won the 
fight against the railroads over the grade crossings 
bill. This bill gives municipal governments power 
to compel railroads to protect crossings where roads 
pass over railroads at even grade. The railroads tried 
hard to defeat even this reasonable demand, but pub¬ 
lic sentiment was too strong for them. There has 
been too much railroad murder in New .Jersey of late, 
and the people have at last realized something of their 
power to obtain what they need. 
O 
That a great hubbub may be made over a small mat¬ 
ter was exemplified in one of our city schools the 
other day. An inoffensive little mouse peeped into 
one of the schoolrooms. A little girl espied it, and 
following the proverbial instinct of her sex, screamed 
to frighten it away. If the scream didn’t frighten it, 
succeeding events did. for a panic ensued, some befud¬ 
dled individual—probably a man—turned in an alarm 
of fire, the fire department turned out, the police re¬ 
serves came on the run. the parents of the children 
filled the streets, and a crowd of several thousand 
people collected. What became of the mouse has not 
yet been discovered, but it is. doubtless, still laughing 
in its sleeve—less jacket over the commotion it caused. 
O 
The bicycle, the trolley and the cable car haven't 
superseded the horse entirely. There are certain con¬ 
ditions of the roads, especially country roads, when 
the bicycle is practically useless. Every one of the 
great trolley and street railroads keeps repair wagons 
at the stations, with every facility for quickly hitch¬ 
ing on the horses, and making a run for any point 
where there is a breakdown or any other difficulty. 
These wagons are a familiar sight as they rush 
through the streets with galloping horses and clang¬ 
ing bells, the same as the fire engines and hook and 
ladder trucks in case of fire. No. the horse is not yet 
a back number, neither is he likely to be. though 
some of the horseless cabs have made their appear¬ 
ance in New York. 
O 
Prof. S. W. Johnson’s advice to those who buy fer¬ 
tilizers has been to avoid the brands that contain too 
large a proportion of the total nitrogen derived from 
organic matter. The agricultural value of this or¬ 
ganic nitrogen varies greatly, depending not only 
upon its source, but upon its fineness. Very fine bone, 
tankage or fish may be worth 50 per cent more than 
when it is coarsely ground. There can be no question 
about the value of the nitrogen from nitrates and am¬ 
monia salts. We know just what we are doing when 
we buy these forms of nitrogen under a guarantee. 
The organic forms of nitrogen are slower in their 
action than the nitrates, because they must be changed 
and take new forms before plants can utilize them. 
This change will not take place completely until hot 
weather—until the ground is thoroughly warmed. 
“ Good corn-growing weather” is the ideal time for 
utilizing organic nitrogen. Cotton-seed meal is, un¬ 
doubtedly, the best form in which to supply organic 
nitrogen, though in the North, fish and tankage are 
often cheaper. Some gardeners at the South use 
cOtton-seed meal as the only source of nitrogen, and 
obtain excellent results. The hotter Springs and 
warmer soil at the South hasten the change of the or¬ 
ganic nitrogen into nitrates. In the colder soil of the 
North, we must have the nitrates in soluble form for 
the early crops. 
O 
The breeding place for disorder in the little farm 
village is usually found in the local rumshop. It stands 
in a prominent place, and is headquarters for the lazy, 
the shiftless and the vulgar. There is where honest 
character is besmirched, and evil stories and petty 
mischiefs are started. Many so-called good citizens 
grieve when they see young men entering this place, 
and when they get away at a safe distance, they de¬ 
claim against it. The village rumshop thrives chiefly 
because there is no other public place that can com¬ 
pare with it in attractions. If Mr. Good Citizen and 
his friends would open and maintain a temperance 
room in opposition to the rumshop. he would have 
less cause to grieve. 
O 
\ A great many of the corporations formed for doing 
lmsiness in various parts of the country are incor¬ 
porated in New Jersey. It costs less there than in 
many of the other States. West Virginia also seems 
to be a favorite place for securing corporate powers. 
One of the requirements of the New Jersey law is that 
the corporation must maintain an office in the State. 
The writer had occasion to look up the “ principal 
office ” of one of these corporations in New Jersey, 
and found it on the top floor of a big office building. 
The man in charge said that none of the officials of 
the company was in just then, and on further ques¬ 
tioning, admitted that they met there just once a 
year, at their annual meeting. Outside the door was 
a bulletin board on which were the names of no less 
than 26 similar concerns, all. evidently, having their 
“ principal offices ” in this one office, which appeared to 
be a third-rate lawyer’s office. A bill is now pending 
in New Jersey which still further protects the stock¬ 
holders in these corporations. What a farce ! 
G 
Clover hay alone is nearly a balanced ration for 
live stock, j^et few farmers feed it alone. Corn meal is 
generally considered about the best single grain food 
to go with it. Stable manure is regarded by most 
farmei's as the standard form of plant food. Yet it 
is not at all what one would call a balanced ration for 
most plants. It is very deficient in phosphoric acid, 
and is useful chiefly for supplying nitrogen. There 
is much more reason for adding the minerals to stable 
manure than there is for feeding grain with clover 
hay. We are satisfied that it pays us to add at least 
30 pounds of muriate of potash and 75 pounds of dis¬ 
solved rock to every ton of average stable manure. 
This might not pay on the large stock farms where 
immense quantities of manure are annually produced, 
but wherever fertilizers are used at all, we believe 
that it will pay well to reinforce the manure in this 
way. 
© 
The R. N.-Y. has favored the so-called Loud bill 
before Congress, which was designed to change the 
rates charged for certain mail matter. At present, 
certain publishers are permitted to send vast numbers 
of so-called “ sample copies ” and advertising circulars 
at cheap rates, thus running the Post Office Depart¬ 
ment in debt and unjustly competing with other pub¬ 
lishers. The Loud bill would have remedied this, and 
yet the House defeated it by a vote of 161 to 119. The 
one great argument against the bill was the fact that 
the railroads charge too much for carrying the mails. 
The figures given on page 166 were not disputed—in 
fact, they might be made stronger. If the Govern¬ 
ment could obtain as cheap railroad service as is given 
private corporations, the Post Office Department 
would pay a profit each yeflr. which might be applied 
to extending free delivery into the rural districts. 
Congressmen killed the Loud bill because they saw the 
real point of economy, viz :—a reduction of rates of 
railroad service to a fair margin. 
O 
For several years, efforts have been made to induce 
the adoption of some flower as the National emblem of 
the LTnited States, Societies have been formed for 
this purpose, and many are the flowers advocated. 
The little Mayflower or Trailing Arbutus was for a 
time first favorite ; it was one of the flowers seen hy 
the Pilgrims at Plymouth, and was the first blossom 
to greet Washington after his Winter at Valley Forge. 
Hut it has long been the recognized emblem of Nova 
Scotia, and is thus unavailable. Goldenrod. sunflower, 
Aster. Pond lily and a host of other plants have been 
suggested for the vacant place, and now the Colum¬ 
bine is a strongly-indorsed candidate. While not dis¬ 
tinctively American, it is found all over the country, 
its varieties give us the hues of the Stars and Stripes, 
and its botanical name, Aquilegia (from aquila, an 
eagle) recalls our National coat-of-arms. But we 
think that the adoption of any National emblem must 
spring from the hearts of the whole people, and de¬ 
pends upon more than mere sentiment. We live in 
stirring times and, out of the storm and stress of 
present-day history, some emblem may spring into 
prominence that will mean more than the selection of 
sentiment. 
O 
It is easy to see that the most perfect knowledge of 
the analysis of a fertilizer will not tell us all that we 
wish to know about it. The manufacturer may take 
the organic nitrogen from any of a dozen different 
sources, and the phosphoric acid may vary somewhat 
in its agricultural value. Even the chemist who 
analyzes the fertilizer cannot always detect the differ¬ 
ent forms that compose the mixture. We see, there¬ 
fore, that those who buy the manufactured or mixed 
goods must depend, to quite an extent, on the reputa¬ 
tion and honor of the manufacturer. Our fertilizer 
laws have done much to drive fraudulent concerns out 
of business, but even with more stringent laws, the 
farmer must depend more or less on the manufacturer's 
word. We must remember, too, that so-called “ trade 
valuations “ are not absolutely safe guides for buying. 
They give us a fair chance for comparison, and that is 
about all. We advise readers to deal with well-known 
and standard firms who have been in the business for 
years, and whose goods vary but little in composition 
from year to year. 
G 
BREVITIES. 
Nitrogen and Potash tried to walk alone; 
Fell down like a jellyfish, without a bit of bone. 
Nitrogen and Potash couldn’t live without 
Phosphorus to stiffen them, as they walked about. 
Phosphorus and Potash, big in paunch and bone, 
Lacked the legs of Nitrogen, and thus could only groan. 
Nitrogen and Phosphate, head and legs complete, 
Was a poor dyspeptic without Potash there to eat. 
Nitrogen is leg, sir, Phosphorus is head ; 
Potash stands for stomach—nothing answers in its stead. 
No use ever trying two of them together, 
All the three must be on hand, or there’ll be stormy weather. 
We want plenty of peace. 
Nitrates for young plants. 
Chilled steal— a cool theft. 
The dyspeptic dines and whines. 
Laziness is a preventable disease. 
I shall stick to sheep, said Mr. Tick. 
The robber hen is a lay bore bureau. 
It’s time to put the chemicals on the clover. 
A dog mat ic performance—jumping on the dog. 
Wheat brings $1.05 to $1.12 per bushel in London. 
The lazy man dissolves his chances at a sit rate solution. 
A proper fraction—giving the wife one-tliird of your earnings. 
Are you willing to measure your future by the average of your 
past ? 
Clover hay is nearly a balanced ration for both plants and 
animals. 
Don’t tell a man to “ root hog or die" when lie doesn’t know 
how to root. 
White reflects—black absorbs—the man with the “white" 
character—is clean. 
A tub silo. It seems as though almost any one could build one 
after the article on page 152. 
Who can tell how to hold back the bloom on northern-growing 
plum trees to dodge the frost ? 
Read the dairy notes on page 210. Raise more nitrogen for the 
silo. Keep white lead out of it. 
IE trout will bring $1 per pound, why do not farmers raise them 
and flood the market? Ask the farmers who have tried to do it ! 
A proposed bill in New Jersey would give a tax rebate to all 
farmers who put a set of wide-tired wheels on their wagons. 
Mr. Morse, on page 212, gives an excellent account of the way 
fertilizers have helped increase the products of his dairy farm. 
Fertilizers have helped to enlarge his herd. 
The modern tool known as the weeder was invented by Mr. Z. 
Breed, of New Hampshire. Probably 50 years hence people will 
begin to talk about a monument to his memory ! 
United States Senator Vest tells of an army mule left in 
Alaska which became so lonesome that it deliberately walked 
into the ocean and committed suicide! A nice place that for a 
man to go to! 
Permit us to introduce Miss Vigna Catjang otherwise Miss 
Cow Pea. Why is she like a feline tight ? One is a cat jang and 
the other is a cat jangle. One gathers nitrogen and the other 
seeks night-row in. 
The farmers of Bucks County, Pa., are much exercised over a 
pending ordinance in Philadelphia prohibiting the hauling of 
loose hay through the streets. The farmers’ organizations are 
discussing the matter, and protesting against it. 
The farmer who takes no pains to save and use all the manure 
possible, on the farm, and then tries to make up for his wasteful¬ 
ness by the use of commercial fertilizers, is engaged in a very 
foolish piece of business. Commercial fertilizers are good, they 
are helpful, they are invaluable in many cases, but they cannot 
make up for the loss of fertility leached out of that manure pile 
under the eaves, or drained out of the barnyard into the creek. 
