388 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 28 
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. Collinowood, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, i A880( . 4at€ Editors 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, f A880CJal€ Jtaiwms. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8s. 6d., or 854 marks, or 1054 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. 
Ad vertisements 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, MAY 28, 1898. 
On page 384, Prof. Roberts says that there are rare 
cases where it would be preferable not to plow at all. 
On light and shallow soils, the digging harrows and 
a roller will often do better work than a plow, and we 
do not think that such cases are so rare as is generally 
supposed. In fact, we feel sure that many of our 
lighter soils are plowed altogether too much. 
O 
No doubt, some of our readers are pioneers in the 
culture of Crimson clover. If so, our advice is to let, 
at least, one field on the road get into full bloom 
before cutting it or turning it under. It will be the 
greatest advertisement you can have. Passersby will 
carry the news for miles, and your farm will be marked 
all through the season. It is a cheap way to advertise. 
The Iowa State Fair managers are alive. They 
have crops of corn and potatoes growing on their 
grounds, and they let farmers see how harvesting 
machinery should be worked. The plowing match 
also presents a living issue. The New York State Fair 
managers are still satisfied with dead exhibitions of 
machinery. They should read the article on page 383, 
and then tell us why they are satisfied to take 
the dust from the Iowa Fair ! 
0 
The second edition of the catalogue of fruits recom¬ 
mended by the American Pomological Society will 
not be published before next Winter. Prof. W. H. 
Ragan, of Indiana, has charge of the revision, and 
Prof. E. J. Wickson, of California, will prepare the 
data for the Pacific coast fruits. The climate and 
soil conditions of California make so much difference 
in the habits of well-known varieties, that it was 
necessary to make this special investigation. 
© 
One of the New York daily papers, in arguing that 
war is necessary and right, says, “ Men will continue 
to kill snakes until there are no more snakes to be 
killed ! ” With the exception of a few venomous varie¬ 
ties, snakes are about the most harmless creatures in 
the world. More than this, they are useful, for they 
destroy thousands of injurious insects. Few things 
could be better for the average farm than to have it 
overrun with the smaller snakes. We think that men 
will continue to kill snakes until they know that, by 
such slaughter, they are giving way to a useless prej¬ 
udice. Possibly wars will stop for the same reason. 
& 
The cause of humanity lost its noblest champion in 
the death of W. E. Gladstone. He was one of those 
great men who belong to the world rather than to 
any single nation. He was one of the great figures 
that appear in history from time to time, as though 
to give us renewed inspiration from the life of the 
great Master of mankind. Certainly Gladstone was 
the greatest “ common man ” of modern English times, 
just as Lincoln was the noblest specimen of the 
middle-class American. The two characters had little 
in common, except the ennobling instinct that forced 
them on to the uplifting of humanity. Lincoln, self- 
educated and self-trained, was a self-made man as we 
understand the term. His convictions came as the re¬ 
sult of shrewd and homely reasoning from the events 
and thoughts of everyday life among the common 
people. Gladstone was a finished and polished scholar. 
He never knew actual want, and he possessed every 
advantage of training and education. He was the 
champion of the common people, because all history 
taught him that the only safety for society lay in the 
uplifting of the downtrodden. Born six years before 
the battle of Waterloo, he lived through stirring 
times—through events that greatly changed the 
world’s history. He leaves the world freer and hap¬ 
pier than he found it, and to his influence may be 
ascribed much of the change. 
© 
In the article about Alaska a few weeks ago, it was 
related how the hens seemed to lose their reckoning 
entirely, and didn’t know when to go to roost. At the 
International Health Exposition at Grand Central 
Palace, are a model henhouse and yards, and a small 
flock of hens. The man in charge says that the hens 
are all upset by the unwonted hubbub and the glare 
of electric lights, which last until towards midnight, 
and don’t seem to know when to go to roost, or when 
to get up. Hens are creatures of habit, and such radi¬ 
cal changes in their environments seem to interfere 
with their enjoyment of life, and with their perform¬ 
ances as well. The lesson is to keep them as free 
from annoyances and disturbances as possible. There 
is a difference in breeds in this respect, some being 
much less affected in this manner, but all are affected 
more or less. 
0 
Mexico is making wonderful developments in cotton 
manufacturing and growing. Mexicans are large 
consumers of cotton cloth, and heretofore, England 
has supplied the greater part of it. Now it seems 
likely that Mexican mills will, in a few years, supply 
the entire home market. Mexico has a high tariff on 
cotton goods, but the most remarkable thing about 
this industry is that nearly half the mills in the coun¬ 
try are run wholly by water power. Out of 107 mills, 
only 28 are run by steam alone. It is a singular 
thought that, in this modern age, the use of water 
power should enable manufacturers to compete against 
steam, yet, even in this country, many of the deserted 
water powers are being drafted again into service. 
In fact, railroad building has about come to a stand¬ 
still in the older States. Much money is now being 
spent on the improvement of waterways, and quite a 
fair proportion of the force needed for electric roads 
is obtained from water powers. 
© 
Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson says that 
the act of Congress making appropriation for the De¬ 
partment for the coming fiscal year contained the 
following: 
The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to purchase 
samples of seeds in open market, test same, and when found not 
up to standard he may, at his discretion, publish the results of 
these tests, together with the names of the seedsmen by whom 
the seeds were sold. 
On July 1, the purchase of this seed for testing will 
begin. It must be true to name and free from smut, 
ergot, insects or their eggs, and also free from certain 
weed seeds. A certain proportion must sprout under 
a germinating test. Of course, there is no law under 
which a seedsman selling weedy or poor quality seeds 
could be directly punished. The expectation is that the 
publication of the name of such a seedsman would be 
likely to stop him. It was this publicity that drove 
bogus fertilizers out of Connecticut without a single 
law suit. In the same State, the practice of publish¬ 
ing the names of manufacturers of adulterated foods is 
likely to have the same result. At the same time, it 
must be remembered that the trade in seeds is a pecu¬ 
liar one, and the proposed tests must be as fair and 
accurate as possible. 
© 
The so-called fighting nations of Europe have gen¬ 
erally regarded the United States as a commercial na¬ 
tion whose people are so busy trying to make money 
that they could not be made to fight. We often find 
men who say that the present war was necessary in 
order to show the European nations what Uncle Sam 
can do with a rifle when he is once stirred up. The 
Journal of Commerce goes so far as to print the fol¬ 
lowing : 
The importation of Ameriean fruit having been instantaneously 
shut off by Germany on the ground of the San Josd scale, and the 
example of Germany having been followed to the detriment of 
our trade by several smaller nations of Europe, it is now an¬ 
nounced at Berlin in official correspondence that no San Jos6 
scale has been found among the American fruit refuse exam¬ 
ined. We will not go so far as to suggest that there is any con¬ 
nection between American naval achievements and the discov¬ 
eries of German entomologists and bacteriologists; but no scien¬ 
tific men equal the Germans for their capacity to discover what 
their government desires them to discover, and the German gov¬ 
ernment is a government of pure force which recognizes no right 
except that of the sword, and no privileges except such as it 
thinks it not worth its while to attack. Of course, there is no 
connection between Manila Bay and San Jose scales, but all the 
same, our commercial relations with Germany will be much 
smoother hereafter than they were before Admiral Dewey’s vic¬ 
tory, and if Admiral Sampson will destroy another Spanish fleet, 
we shall find Germany willing to admit that there is no trichina 
in our pork. 
There is no doubt that Germany, England and France 
had formed a wrong idea of the strength and skill of 
America. We were to them like a nation of busy and 
bustling people—good at the plow, but untrained at 
the sword. They know better now ; and their educa¬ 
tion will be still further advanced during the next 
few months. There is another way in which America 
may startle the world with an evidence of strength. 
We may conduct this war without borrowing a dollar. 
For our people to come forward and pay for this war 
entirely by direct taxation without adding a cent to 
our present national debt, would be the most remark¬ 
able display of financial strength ever made in modern 
times. It will give us a better standing among 
nations than a dozen Manila victories. 
© 
The people of Australia are to form a confederation 
of their various colonies, and delegates have already 
met and framed a plan for government. It is proposed 
to call Australia a Commonwealth, and many of the 
features of government are to be taken from the con¬ 
stitution of the United States, rather than from that 
of Canada. The Australian Senate, however, is to 
possess some new features. In Canada, senators are 
nominated by the Crown for life, but in Australia, 
they are to be chosen directly by the people, and to 
serve for six years as in this country. According to 
the New York Evening Post, the following plan is re¬ 
sorted to in order to prevent a deadlock with the 
House of Representatives: 
A very original provision, moreover, which must differentiate 
its position from either the Canadian Senate or our own, is that, 
in the event of a [deadlock arising between the two houses over 
some proposed measure, the Senate itself may be dissolved and a 
new election had, after which, if necessary, a joint sitting of the 
two houses is to be convened, and if the measure in dispute be 
affirmed by three-fifths of the members present and voting there¬ 
on, it is to be taken as duly passed by both houses of Parliament. 
It is understood by most people that something is 
wrong with the American Senate. It is now chiefly 
a club of shrewd lawyers and rich men, most of whom 
add largely to their wealth during their senatorial 
service. The Senate no longer represents the States 
fairly—it was never designed to represent the people 
directly. It represents nothing but the political 
parties. The House “resolved” the other day, by a 
large majority, that senators ought to be elected by a 
direct vote of the people, and we think Americans 
generally will agree that the proposed Australian 
system is a good one. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
The folks a rnnnin’ this here war had better go to school; 
If /should do such bunglin’ work, I’d call myself a fool. 
Why don’t they take Havanny ? Why, the baby there can see 
Them Spaniards couldn’t keep us out a miuute, no sirree! 
An’ now here comes that Spanish fleet, a playin’ hide an’ seek, 
An’ we do all the seekin’ for the best part of a week'. 
My stars! It stands to reason that this lazy Government 
Ain’t gut the faintest notion of the way to work their stent. 
I tell ye now, it’s gallin’! Oh, it goes agin the grain 
To see our folks outwitted by a little thing like Spain! 
What made me sell them heifers? Why’d I buy that bunch of 
sheep ? 
What’s that you say ? You reckon that I must liev ben asleep ? 
I ain’t a gonter advertise my plans all over town, 
’Taint none of your darned business! Jest swaller that right 
down! 
I know jest what I’m doin’, an’ I guess they ain’t no doubt 
But what, afore I bought them sheep, I had it figured out. 
An’ you, without no knowledge of the subject, so to speak, 
Come round a criticising me! I never see such cheek! 
Speed the weeder. 
Don’t make Sunday a weak day. 
Now is the time to sow cow peas. 
Stick close to your loose change. 
An internal grind—the hen’s crop. 
America has territory enough now. 
Firm ground for wheat—loose ground for corn. 
Dust off the wire screens—the flies are coming. 
The quack doctor’s advertisement is a sinecure. 
Come rain, come drought—let’s work our full plan out. 
Let imagination paint the weeds as Spaniards! Up and at ’em! 
Hard is the ultimate lot of him who has things made easy for 
him. 
Don’t measure your heart with the string that will tie up your 
purse. 
“ Hispano-American contest” is the polite name Europeans 
give our war. 
An inheritance tax is a poor war revenue measure. Uncle Sam 
needs your share before you die. 
The crow may do more good than harm—of that we do not 
know; but the crew of surplus Growers has surely got to go. 
Are apples good for brain workers ? Of course they are. The 
thought required to produce good apples will help any brain. 
It doesn’t make our local farmers feel any better to learn that 
Australia has suffered from drought while our soil has been afloat. 
There has been an agitation for “Bird Day” in our public 
schools. We are having five Bird Days a week now—the bird 
being the Ameriean eagle. 
An American baker wants to take a portable oven to Cuba, and 
supply the soldiers with hot pies! Our volunteers will have 
trouble enough to try them without being pastried. 
It does require courage to use a weeder for the first time on 
young corn and potatoes. You can’t see how it can help tearing 
out the young plants by the roots. Don’t be afraid! Start it! 
A reader in Pennsylvania says that many farmers can tell 
you all the latest news about prize fighting, politics and base 
ball, but when you ask about the scientific principles that 
underlie agriculture, they are dumb ! Come, now, no libels ! 
