548 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 6 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
TEE BUSINESS FARMERS’ PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collinowood, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, I . ____ 
Mrs. E. T. Rotle, f Associate Editors. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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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. 
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We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
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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, AUGUST 6, 1898. 
Wk want representatives of Tiie R. N.-Y. at the 
fairs and farmers’ picnics throughout the United 
Slates this season. No experience is necessary. You 
need only to know the superior, reliable quality of 
The R. N.-Y., and tell it just as you know it. Let us 
know where and when you can represent us. We 
make liberal terms, which will he sent in reply io 
your inquiry. 
0 
The recent article on Angora cats has started quite 
a little questioning. People want to know whether 
they cannot make money, pay mortgages, or buy farms 
out of their cat 'profits. We have never sold a cat at 
any price, but our opinion is that a farmer, back from 
town or city, with no direct market among city people, 
would better let the Angoras attempt to catch rats on 
other farms. We think good dairy calves are more in 
line with the average man’s ability. 
0 
Wk begin this week a series of notes on the wheat 
crop to show how farmers in different parts of the 
country prepare their wheat land. It is interesting 
to see how wheat is taking a new place in the farm 
rotation. Formerly much of it was sown in the corn 
field, but that is now largely done away with. The 
fertilizer farmers almost invariably follow potatoes 
with wheat, and the plan of using the manure on corn 
is a nearly general practice. Next week, we shall 
give some interesting western reports. 
G 
The Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture of New 
York says that the inspectors devote but little time to 
investigating butter at this time of year, as it is so 
cheap that there is little inducement for oleomargarine 
dealers to operate. It is when butter is high in price 
that the latter reap a harvest. The inspectors visit 
boarding houses, restaurants, hotels, etc., and take 
samples of the butter, which are analyzed by the de¬ 
partment laboratory. A good many offenders are 
caught in the course of the year, and the fines are 
usually heavy—$25 to $50. A new laboratory for 
analytical work is soon to be established in the city. 
Some delusive hen man has been informing the 
guileless writers for the daily papers that he has 
invented an incubator that will hatch chicks out in 
eight days. Furthermore, his incubator is supplied 
with air cleansed and moistened, consequently the 
flesh of his chicks is not stringy, and doesn’t taste of 
coal oil, which, as the newspaper writer wisely ob¬ 
serves, is a common fault of incubator broilers. Con¬ 
sider the wastefulness of allowing an ordinary incu¬ 
bator to idle around for three weeks, producing a 
lot of coal-oil-flavored broilers, when this new machine 
can make an eight-day record ! We strongly suspect 
that this new incubator is used in hatching out the 
true stories of poultry-raising used in the daily papers. 
0 
The bulletin on the principal poisonous plants of 
the United States, recently issued by the Department 
of Agriculture, contains a noteworthy list of vegetable 
poisons not commonly regarded as such. Most people 
are aware of the poisonous properties of Poison ivy 
and Poison oak, but the common lady’s-slipper or 
moccasin flower is not generally a suspect; yet erupt¬ 
ive poisoning, similar to that caused by Poison ivy, 
occurs in some cases after contact with this orchid. 
As a rule, the contact poisons vary greatly in their 
effects upon different persons. A person who is im¬ 
mune against Poison ivy may be seriously affected by 
handling the flowers of the Obconica primrose, and 
vice versa. The name of the deadly Upas tree suggests, 
to most persons, the most dreaded of vegetable poisons, 
yet we have seen this plant growing in a greenhouse, 
where it was freely handled without danger. No 
doubt it would be dangerous if taken internally, like 
many other plants grown for ornamental purposes. 
We often note the claim made by venders of patent 
medicines, that their nostrums, being purely vege¬ 
table, are entirely harmless. They apparently over¬ 
look the fact that some of the deadliest poisons in the 
pharmacopoeia are of purely vegetable origin. 
Several years ago, the Government experimented 
at “ rain making” on the southwestern deserts. The 
theory worked out was’that explosions or concussions 
would serve to precipitate rain from the clouds. The 
experiments failed. One result was an army of “ rain 
makers ” who went about where drought prevailed, 
and offered to “ make it rain ” on the no-rain no-pay 
system. Some farmers on Long Island now want the 
experiments repeated in their part of the country. 
They say that the former tests were not fair since 
they were conducted in a rainless region. In humid 
sections, many clouds charged with moisture pass over 
even in times of drought. Experiments should be 
made, not in trying to create clouds, but-to make those 
already made discharge their contents ! 
O 
In A Talk About Grasses, the statement is made 
that the hay made from this mixture is superior to 
Timothy hay in feeding value. While anatysis shows 
this to be true, still many horsemen who buy hay 
demand pure Timothy, and will buy no other. So 
the farmer must know his market. If his market be 
his own animals, he will get more and better hay from 
this mixture ; but if he raises hay to sell, he must 
consult the prejudices of the buyers. The Messrs. 
Henderson do not advise a farmer to sow this mixture 
when his market demands Timothy. Another advan¬ 
tage of this mixture is the quickness with which the 
aftermath starts up after the first cutting ; within 
two weeks after the cutting this year, the second 
growth was nearly knee high. 
A fine field with here and there a bad balk, sods 
standing up edgewise, and so much grass showing 
that no one would think a plow had been used at all, 
is a sorry sight. Many farmers who, when younger, 
were particular about this work, now find themselves 
at the mercy of careless workmen. Their sons have 
gone to the city, and in some cases, are working for 
small wages in ill-ventilated shops or offices, subject¬ 
ing their digestive apparatus to the onslaughts of 
armies of dyspepsia microbes abounding in the food of 
cheap boarding houses and restaurants, and wrestling 
in their filthj^ rooms at night with midnight-maraud¬ 
ing microbes of larger growth, while the country, with 
its pure air and water, wholesome food and clean 
sleeping-rooms, suffers from lack of men who are will¬ 
ing to do farm work as it should be done. 
A firm in Cleveland, O., has just received a single 
order from France for the complete equipment of 500 
electric street cars. The order amounts to more than 
$500,000. This country is continually sending large 
quantities of all kinds of machinery to the various 
European countries, to Central and South America, 
to Africa and Asia, and the islands of the sea. The 
immense resources of our country in minerals and 
forest products, the inventive genius of our people, 
the availability of capital, combine to render us 
capable of successful competition with the whole 
world. Our laws concerning maritime commerce are 
antiquated and not calculated to encourage American 
investments in that direction; but this shortcoming 
will, probably, be remedied in time, and our foreign 
trade in all lines, including agricultural products, 
will assume still greater proportions. 
0 
One of the most interesting of American insects is 
the periodical cicada, commonly known as the 17-year 
locust. We were recently asked whether this insect 
really passed so long a time in the larval state, as it 
is undoubtedly seen every year. This is explained by 
the fact that there are numerous distinct broods of 
the insect, each brood being confined to a locality of 
greater or less extent. American entomologists have 
given much study to this insect, and are able to specify 
the period and locality of each known brood. There 
are really two distinct races of these insects, the 13- 
year and 17-year form, the 13-year race being a south¬ 
ern type. This year we were visited by Brood VII. of 
the 13-year race, which extends over a wide range of 
southern territory, and Brood XVII. of the 17-year 
race, which is represented in comparatively small 
colonies. Although the 13-year and 17-year race are 
associated the same year, this is merely accidental, 
and the same two broods can only reappear at long 
intervals of time. The great cicada year was 1868, 
but the joint recurrence of the same broods will not 
be duplicated until 2089. One of the large broods 
which is due in 1911 has been reported in Connecticut 
every 17 years since 1724. Popular superstition makes 
the coming of this insect a sign of war and tumult, 
but this year our war coincides with small broods of 
the cicada. 
0 
Some Chicago financiers recently tried to engineer a 
corner in flaxseed which, had it been successful, would 
have affected the price of oilmeal seriously. But, like 
Leiter’s wheat deal, their corner collapsed. The com¬ 
pany is said to carry from 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 bushels 
of flaxseed, bought at $1.30 to $1.40 per bushel. The 
best price obtainable at present is 83 cents a bushel. 
The losses of the holders are said to be over $1,000,000. 
One cause of the wreck was the lessened demand for 
the oil, caused by the war ; another the unsettled con¬ 
dition of the market resulting from the Leiter failure. 
No one pities the men who tried to carry through this 
deal ; it was simply a gambling venture which would 
bring little advantage to legitimate dealers, or to pro¬ 
ducers. The value of the products of the soil can be 
regulated only by supply and demand and, as both in¬ 
crease, the gambling speculator is less a factor in set¬ 
ting prices. 
© 
In a recent New Jersey damage suit, where parents 
sought to recover indemnity for the loss of a child 
killed by a trolley car, Justice Gummere held that a 
jury would be justified in returning a verdict of $1 
damages only. This merciful judge holds that, inas¬ 
much as children are an expense and a source of trouble 
to parents, their loss is no material hardship. If a 
valuable cow or dog be killed by the neglect of a 
trolley company, full damages may be insisted upon ; 
but a child is not legal property, and may be mangled 
and killed without responsibility. Justice Gummere 
appears to be quite pained by the storm of indignation 
aroused by his barbaric dictum, and says plaintively, 
“The lay mind refuses to discriminate between law 
and sentiment.” Meanwhile the lay mind continues 
to regard him as a lineal descendant of Herod, and 
this incident emphasizes the need, in New Jersey, of 
a law fixing a maximum of damages for loss of life on 
the railroads. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
A MUGGY DAY. 
The air is like a sponge—the wind is dead ; 
Thick, scalding vapors rise from the damp earth. 
Through the sad clouds that wander overhead. 
The sun’s red face looks down—devoid of mirth 
The corn shakes out its leaves as if to say, 
“ This weather suits me; if I had my choice 
Of Nature's plans, I’d choose a muggy day 
For growing weather; Farmer, let’s rejoice.” 
But the hot farmer hardly calls it fun 
In this slow, torturing broil—the sweltering heat 
Waters his very nerves—the sweat drops run 
Their courage-leaching course from head to feet. 
Ills clothes seem soaked in glue—his brain is lame, 
Ambition stumbles, and the stifling air 
Chokes courage till it sinks in bitter shame; 
The “ muggy ” day—parent of grim despair. 
Red-top hay is tip-top. 
Suicide to abuse the bull. 
Gentle firmness is what tells. 
Be true and you’ll pull through. 
Don’t put a stitch in Time’s side. 
Honest confession is an I opener. 
Apple-sauce time has come again. 
Wheat after beans is good practice. 
Life’s hard knocks come in solid blocks. 
Fence posts need good drainage—page 544. 
How many debtors have you forgiven this year ? 
Kin dread—the city relative all primed for a farm visit. 
Better a shin-bone paid for than a porterhouse roast on tick. 
Don’t seed with wheat if you are after the largest yield of 
grass. 
We want to inoculate our hens with the special bacteria of a 
lay mind. 
We sowed our first Crimson clover seed this year on July 25, in 
sweet corn. 
Mr. Norton, page 547, says that he has all the grocers in his 
debt. Happy man! 
Overstocked— the labor sandwich on the Sandwich Islands. 
Hunt work nearer home. 
Don’t you say a word about “them lazy Cubans ” while the 
women folks have to cut wood. 
Better a dinner of herbs this hot weather than a steak from 
the finest ox that ever was stalled. 
Commodore Dewey seems to be a sample of American meat that 
Germany finds free from microbes. 
“ If at first you don’t succeed ” (in getting into trouble), quit 
and be thankful for the lack of success. 
The fertilizer formula fraud finds a rich harvest in the South. 
He tries to sell a formula for mixing fertilizers at home—usually 
advocating some worthless substance. 
The use of bicycles is said to have increased the use of leather 
enormously. It is used for the saddles, and though the quantity 
required for one saddle seems small, in the aggregate, the quan¬ 
tity required is large. 
