THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 30 
532 
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. Collinqwood, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, I . ___ 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, J-Associate Editors. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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Address all business communications and make all orders pay¬ 
able to THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, JULY 30, 1898. 
OAT REPORTS WANTED. 
The It. N.-Y. desires reports from farmers who have 
tried the various remedies for smut in oats. 
What is the condition of the crop as to disease ? 
What remedy, if any, has helped to reduce the num¬ 
ber of smutted heads ? 
We shall he glad to receive reports from any oat 
growers. 
© 
The New York City Council has ordered that all who 
use any “ profane, vile or obscene language in any 
public street or place” shall be fined from $2 to $10. 
You cannot help enforce this worthy order, but why 
not make the same thing apply to your farm ? The 
foul-tongued hired man is a bacterium of moral dis¬ 
ease. Keep him out of reach of your boys ! Of course, 
your own language would never subject you to a fine 
in New York City ! ! ! ! 
© 
A new word, which has achieved sudden popularity 
in London, is the verb “ to Iiobsonize.” Its meaning 
is to remove or destroy for the public good. We know 
a good many things which would better be Ilobsonized 
without delay. Ilobsonized “oleo” strikes us as a 
pretty good thing, and the same process might be 
applied to filled cheese and “ preserved ” milk. There 
are a good many men in public life who might be 
permanently retired without detriment to the country, 
and there is nothing more efficacious in producing a 
Ilobsonized politician than a well-considered vote. 
© 
Cider is omitted from the list of taxable articles 
under the new war tax, while other drinks, such as 
wine, beer and liquors, are subject to this tax. Some 
one asked the New York Collector of Internal Revenue 
why cider is exempted, and he gave it as his opinion 
that cider is the freeman’s own drink, and as such, is 
exempt from taxation. It may also be added that the 
taxed beverages are all warehoused, whereas the cider 
trade is largely direct from producer to consumer. 
Neither is there any other drink in the country of 
which the producer is so largely the consumer. 
© 
There is much discussion as to the size of the wheat 
crop now being harvested. Some “statisticians” are 
announcing it as the largest crop America has ever 
known. Others insist that this talk is largely for 
effect—to induce farmers to sell early, in the belief 
that prices will fall as knowledge of the crop grows. 
It is a fact that many farmers sell their wheat right 
from the thrasher, in the belief that, in years of 
plenty, the first price is the best. Our own belief is 
that the crop has been overestimated. We do not 
think the thrashing machine is keeping up with esti¬ 
mates made in June, and we hope that future prices 
will be higher rather than lower. 
© 
There seems to be something the matter with 
American breeders of Ayrshire cattle. They are 
certainly the most modest men that ever attempted 
to offer an animal for sale. Not long since, we wrote 
25 Ayrshire breeders asking them to tell our readers 
why the Ayrshire cattle are to be preferred to others, 
and under what circumstances they would be most 
likely to give best results. One would suppose that 
a man having cattle to sell would be interested enough 
in the breed to accept this opportunity of showing off 
the virtues of his stock ; yet only two men replied to 
these questions, and one of them said that he could 
not answer them. The Ayrshires are excellent cattle. 
They have a distinct place in animal economy, and 
there are sections of the country where they will 
prove more economical than any other breed. It seems 
to us surprising, to say the least, that men who have 
the interests of this breed in their pocket should try 
to hide their light under a peck measure. Think of 
giving Jersey or Guernsey breeders such a chance! 
© 
The English Chamber of Agriculture appointed a 
committee to consider the chances for farmers to com¬ 
bine for cooperative buying and selling. After much 
testimony and discussion, they decide that it is far 
easier for farmers to combine to buy than it is to 
combine to sell. There is much truth in this. In 
most dealings of this character, the buyer has the ad¬ 
vantage. In such selling, competition must be taken 
out as much as possible, and it is hard to get any 
number of farmers to hang together to secure a certain 
price. Some of them are pretty sure to weaken and 
sell at a lower price, and thus upset the cooperative 
feature. 
© 
A new meat-packing plant was opened by Armour 
& Co. in Omaha, on July 20. It has a capacity of 
10,000 hogs, 2,000 cattle, and 5,000 sheep a day. It is 
said to be the largest plant west of Chicago. The 
opening of this immense establishment means an in¬ 
crease of nearly one-fourth in the amount of live 
stock to be supplied to packers by that part of the 
country. The ground for this plant was broken less 
than one year ago, and it is said that btockmen have 
increased their herds largely during this time in an¬ 
ticipation of the increased demand. This will mean 
the distribution of largely increased amounts of 
money among the producers of this region, and all 
classes will be benefited by it. 
© 
In the account of his duck raising, on our first page, 
Mr. Skinner speaks of lamps in the yards. The same 
thing was mentioned in our account of the duck farm 
of Mr. Truslow, at Stroudsburg, Pa., three years ago. 
The latter said that Pekins are very easily scared in 
the dark, and that such a small thing as a bat flying 
over them in the dark would stampede them, and 
many would be trodden on and killed. With lanterns 
hung on stakes all through the yards, so as to light 
them somewhat, there was no trouble. The Pekins 
seem to be like some children—pretty large children, 
too, sometimes—afraid of the dark. High quality 
seems to go w r ith a high-strung, nervous organization, 
the Jersey cow and the Leghorn hen being other 
examples of this combination. 
Q 
Generally speaking, the accommodations at the 
average country hotel are not such as to encourage a 
second visit, and one might wonder how the landlord 
makes a living. He certainly doesn't get much out of 
his guests, for the rates are low and guests few. Some 
things may be learned, however, by sitting in the bar¬ 
room for an hour during the evening. Jingle, jingle 
go the nickels, dimes and quarters into the money 
drawer. The customers']are not the village loafers 
alone, but farmers from the surrounding country, who 
drop in to talk a minute and have a social glass. The 
tavern keeper gets the money, and his customers get 
the beer and whisky and hard times. Here is a re¬ 
freshing exception to the above : One hotelkeeper, 
when asked if he knew many of the farmers in that 
vicinity, said, “ I see them pass by, but don’t know 
their names. They don’t come in to see me, and think 
there ought not to be any liquor sold.” An increase 
of this sentiment among the farmers throughout the 
country would mean a big frost to the saloon plant. 
© 
The Italians are spoken of in On the Wing. These 
people seem to be everywhere. In New York City is 
what is known as Little Italy, where for blocks one 
might suppose that a good-sized Italian city had been 
transplanted, as the people, the business signs and the 
jargon are all simon-pure. In other cities with which 
we are familiar, conditions are the same, and even in 
small towns and in the country, they seem to swarm. 
From the number we find everywhere, one might 
imagine that a small country like Italy would have 
become depopulated before this. Most farmers report 
that they make good farm laborers, especially at all 
such work as digging and hoeing. They work for 
lower wages than American laborers, and one farmer 
said that the women will work for 50 cents a day, and 
do as much work at hoeing as a man. Many of those 
in the cities are saving their money with the idea of 
going back to Italy to buy homes, but many of those 
in the country are buying homes, some of them farms, 
with the idea of becoming good American citizens. 
The children of these are sent to school, and the 
teachers say that they are bright and eager to learn 
everything American. Many of them may be diamonds 
in the rough and need considerable polishing, but 
they are with us, and are likely to remain, and our 
part is to help apply the polish. 
© 
Massachusetts has adopted the Torrens system of 
recording the titles of real estate. Under this system, 
a land owner may, by paying a reasonable fee, secure 
a certificate of title which, unless questioned within 
one year, will remain a guarantee of secure ownership. 
With this certificate, it will not be necessary to make 
an expensive search every time a piece of property 
changes hands. It will be as easy to transfer real 
estate thus certified as it would be to transfer stocks 
or bonds. All who deal in real estate know the 
costly and vexatious delays occasioned by so-called 
“ searches ” whenever sales are made. We once paid 
$50 for a search of property which the lawyers had 
gone over time after time. The lawyers object to any¬ 
thing that will make such searches unnecessary, be¬ 
cause this will deprive them of considerable revenue. 
Those who pay the bills, however, will be glad of the 
change. Real estate carries burdens enough now. 
© 
We regret to learn of the death of George W. Camp¬ 
bell, of Delaware, O., who passed away on July 15, 
having reached his 82nd year. Two years ago, The 
R. N.-Y. printed a very good likeness of Mr. Campbell, 
and a sketch of his eventful career. American horti¬ 
culture owes much to Mr. Campbell. lie sent out the 
Delaware grape, which has met with remarkable suc¬ 
cess. In his last years, Mr. Campbell originated a grape, 
the Campbell’s Early, which is destined to live long 
after him, and which alone would keep his name from 
oblivion. As one by one the old veterans of horticul¬ 
ture pass away, we stop to reflect how much this coun¬ 
try really owes to these quiet, industrious men, who 
labored so patiently to improve our fruits and vege¬ 
tables. A soldier or sailor may win renown in a brief 
engagement, wherein he succeeds in killing thousands 
of his fellowmen—the horticulturist toils patiently for 
years, to benefit his fellows in the production of some 
new fruit, and passes away, almost unnoticed by those 
whose lives have been lightened by his industry. Let 
us hope that the day will come when soldiers will 
not receive an undue share of the world’s appreciation, 
and when monuments and other tokens of apprecia¬ 
tion, may go to those who, in the quieter walks of 
life, lighten the world and make the earth more truly 
productive. 
BREVITIES. 
You don’t quite understand, Don, how all your shells went 
wrong; 
You can’t see why you’re weak, Don, while we are big and 
strong. 
I own it must be pretty hard to wake up now and find 
How, through two hundred golden years, you’ve lagged along 
behind. 
You used to own the earth, Don—at least a goodly slice; 
Our sires were poor because, Don, they “couldn’t raise the 
price.” 
There’s frost and want and hunger in the pedigree that runs 
Back from the manly daring of the men behind the guns. 
Your ancestors were lazy, they loafed on sunny isles; 
Our folks worked for a living where Nature seldom smiles. 
You ran against a century of Yankee public schools, 
With ignorance and prejudice—of course, you broke your tools. 
Go learn your lesson straight, Don, wash off your bigotry, 
Burn superstition up, Don, and then you’ll plainly see 
The way to win your battles is to build up heart and head ; 
A man is but a puppet if you grind him down instead. 
Push the potted plants. 
Eat meat—result, heat. 
Now or never for late cabbage. 
Don’t be in dead earnest—be alive. 
The sharp tongue never minces words. 
It’s time to consider the wheat ground. 
Fool speed is sometimes mistaken for full speed. 
Personal checks are payable to Hon. Good Character. 
Mark what we say—the Gladstone strawberry is a comer. 
Wonderful— how rapidly Cx-imson clover decays in the soil. 
Don’t let the muggy weather lead you too often to the mug. 
Hurrah for “Old Gloi’y ” ! Don’t forget young glory, either ! 
Even the Chinamen on Dewey’s ships fought themselves into 
American citizenship. 
A free discussion of Uncle Sam’s new girl (Miss Hawaii) on 
page 528. How do you like her ? 
The R. N.-Y. No. 6 wheat is giving a good account of itself in 
New Jersey and westei-n New York. 
What makes the finest cui-rant jelly T A mixture of three parts 
White Imperial and one part Wilder. 
Ireland seems to be giving up flax culture to Russia and Hol¬ 
land. Where are Oregon and Washington ! 
There is more niti’ogen in tomato vines than in tobacco stems. 
The stems are valuable as a potash fertilizer. 
And so the Pekin duck has nerves! Well, now, who ever saw 
high quality anywhere without these “ life strings ? ” 
Prof. W. A. Henry says that, if Dwarf Essex rape seed sold at 
several dollars a pound, farmers would rush to use it. The seed 
of this valuable plant is cheap, therefoi’e escapes the notice of 
too many. 
In times of deep depression, when you don’t know what to 
raise, and you think your prospects eaten up by half, I will 
make this bi’ief confession—I have found out that it pays to cul¬ 
tivate and raise a hearty laugh. 
