468 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 2 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established, i860. 
Elbert 8. Carman, Editor-In-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, j » , . _... 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, f Associate Editors. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 25 cents per line. 
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Ad vertisements inserted only for responsible and honorable houses 
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, JULY 2, 1898. 
Congressman Davidson, of Wisconsin, has intro¬ 
duced a bill in the House of Representatives provid¬ 
ing- that, hereafter, cheese shall constitute a portion 
of the ration issued to our soldiers. Such a provision 
would be of great value to our dairy interests; it 
would not only provide an outlet for an enormous 
quantity of cheese, but it would, also, direct attention 
to the nutrient value of this food. As Prof. W. A. 
Henry observes, cheese is condensed, has no waste, 
requires no preparation for consumption, and is 
peculiarly suited for nourishing soldiers in a tropical 
climate. It is urged that farmers and dairymen write 
to their Senators and Representatives, urging them to 
support this bill; Congress is discussing adjournment, 
and unless quick action be taken, the measure may 
fail this session. 
0 
Mr. F. E. Dawley, Director of the New York State 
Farmers’ Institutes, says that at least three times as 
many of these institutes have been asked for as it 
will be possible to hold. He wants to give every one 
a fair chance, and hold the meetings where they will 
do the most good. During July and August, the dates 
will be fully arranged. He wants those who desire a 
meeting, to write to him at once, stating that fact, 
and at the same time, telling him what speakers and 
subjects they want taken up. This will give him a 
good idea of the popular demand for farmers’ insti¬ 
tutes, and also be a first-rate guide for arranging the 
programme. If you want an institute in your locality, 
write at once to F. E. Dawley, Fayetteville, N. Y., 
and tell him so. Tell him, also, what men you would 
like to have present, and what subjects you would like 
to have discussed. 
© 
The question of forcing sweet corn by the applica¬ 
tion of fertilizer (page 461) is an interesting one, and 
illustrates one of the singular ideas that some farmers 
have about fertilizers. Nitrogenous fertilizers appear 
to stimulate the crop for the time, but they really re¬ 
tard ripening. Nitrate of soda put on that sweet 
corn might make the plants grow rapidly, and look 
green and healthy, but the ears would not form any 
earlier—in fact they would be a little later. We think 
that the time of ripening for sweet corn is determined 
largely by the variety. In a warm, well-drained soil, 
the seed may start earlier, but there will be only a 
few days’ difference between the time of planting and 
picking a given variety. To expect to force the ma¬ 
ture ear by feeding the plant an extra amount of fer¬ 
tilizer, is much like feeding the cow extra, and ex¬ 
pecting in this way greatly to increase the per cent of 
butter fat in the milk. 
O 
The isolation of farm life is often spoken of un¬ 
favorably, yet this very isolation is an immense 
advantage in many ways. The business man, in city 
or town, is subject to constant interruptions in his 
work, because of the proximity of numerous neigh¬ 
bors. The city housekeeper works under the same 
disadvantages ; seldom an hour but is liable to be 
broken into by callers or gossippy neighbors. Even 
the night brings no certainty of cessation. No one 
who hasn’t suffered from these inflictions can appre¬ 
ciate the blessings of isolation. Of course, there’s 
such a thing as having too much of a good thing, and 
some farmers do suffer from too much seclusion. This 
isolation gives opportunities for reading and study, 
too, that would be envied by many who haven’t the 
time for such things. An intelligent, progressive 
family, with a good supply of books and papers, and 
other things that go to make life enjoyable, can afford 
to endure a certain degree of isolation, without 
repining. 
There seems to have been a slump in the straw¬ 
berry market all over the country, as the berries all 
seemed to ripen at once. Even on the Pacific coast, 
the market all went to pieces. In Portland, Ore., ex¬ 
cellent fruit sold at 10 boxes for 25 cents. In San 
Francisco, some idiot started a poison scare, claiming 
that growers were spraying their strawberries with 
some poisonous material. The result was that many 
people stopped eating strawberries, and this added to 
the other troubles of the strawberry grower. The 
earlier berries seem to have made the money this year, 
although the very late ones brought fair returns. 
© 
About six years ago, Prof. I. P. Roberts, of Cornell 
University, set out some diseased liveforever plants 
in a field which was thoroughly overrun with the pest. 
The field was so covered with liveforever that, when 
hay was cut, it was impossible to cure it, and the 
liveforever would continue growth in the hay mow. 
At the present time, it is almost impossible to find a 
plant of liveforever in this field. It has been killed 
out entirely except in the parts of the field farthest 
away from the points of infection. An examination 
of the plants still remaining shows that many of them 
are diseased, and it is only a question of time when 
they will disappear entirely. While it is almost, if 
not quite, impossible to kill it out by plowing and 
cultivating, we know of several cases where it has 
been killed by inoculating with the disease. 
© 
Are our enterprising agricultural fair managers 
wide awake to secure the best attractions for the 
coming Fall fairs ? They must keep up with the times, 
or some more hustling rival will outdo them in circus 
attractions, and get the crowd. The bearded lady, 
the fat woman, the original dancers direct from 
Chicago, are beginning to pall, and something more 
exciting and sensational must be produced, that the 
gate receipts may be swelled. The spectacle of a 
woman diving into a shallow tank of water from a 
high tower no longer excites the multitude, and now 
a western man advertises a pair of elk that dive from 
a 50-foot tower into a tank. This “ startling, thrilling 
scene,” is guaranteed to draw thousands. It, probably, 
comes high, but we must have it, for the gate receipts 
must be kept up. What are our fairs for anyway if 
not to draw the crowd ? 
O 
In a report of the New York State Prison Commis¬ 
sion, we are told : 
Of the 60 counties in this State, 49 do not employ their jail con¬ 
victs in any form of labor. This is in direct violation of the 
county law, which requires that they should be kept employed. 
Instead, the inmates smoke, play cards, and sleep. It is not 
punishment, or so regarded by the prisoners, but rather as a rest 
or vacation. In idleness, the young offenders listen to the ad¬ 
ventures of older criminals, and receive lessons in criminal ways. 
We know from personal investigation that much the 
same thing prevails in New Jersey. In seven New 
York counties, the convicts are kept at work breaking 
stone, and in two of these counties, they, also, work 
on the highways. It is ridiculous to keep these con¬ 
victs fat and lazy while mile after mile of our country 
roads lacks repair because of the great cost of stone. 
Put the petty convicts at breaking stone for the State. 
That will break them of the prison habit, and break 
the monopoly of King Mud. 
© 
A sad case was that of an aged New Jersey farmer 
who had paid interest on a mortgage on his home for 
42 years, but was finally compelled to default, and 
was sold out by the sheriff. In that time, he had, 
probably, paid the face of the mortgage four times 
over, as the interest would amount to that in that 
time at the prevailing rates. Yet in his feeble old 
age, when least able to meet the vicissitudes of life, he 
is turned out of the home that has sheltered him for 
more than two-score years. As he said, after a vain 
appeal to the court for relief, “ It’s too bad, too bad !” 
His wail, “ I don’t know what I’ll do ! ” impresses us 
with the feeling that there is a moral concealed in 
this case, for many of us. Debt is a terrible master, 
and a mortgage is a leech that saps the very life-blood 
of many a man—never satiated, but keeping up its 
draughts in sickness as well as health, in storm and 
sunshine, never sleeping, never resting ! Beware of it! 
0 
“Red Wordens” were among the grapes noted by 
a fruit-grower in a retail store last season. On ex¬ 
amination, he found that they were unripe Wordens, 
attractive to look at; but imagine the feelings of the 
buyer who attempted to eat them ! Such an experi¬ 
ence would cause a distrust for any red grape, or for 
any variety sold as Wordens, no matter what its qual¬ 
ity. Without doubt, harm is often done to the fruit 
business by such methods; an unscrupulous retailer 
can cause injury that the grower will suffer from sea¬ 
son after season. In contrast to this, put the action 
of a grower who makes a specialty of Vergennes 
grapes for a superior line of trade. Last year, his 
Vergennes were caught by the frost. He declined to 
sell them to his regular trade, because they were used 
to one certain quality, and that the best. He couldn't 
afford to fall below that. That same point comes out 
in all lines of farm, dairy and orchard products—uni¬ 
formity of quality in every shipment, so that the 
producer's name becomes a guarantee. 
© 
Public hitching barns were among the conveniences 
noted in a thriving agricultural town in western New 
York. The business part of the town was often 
crowded with vehicles from the surrounding farming 
districts, making it difficult to find hitching places, 
especially when the trolley invaded the streets. An 
enterprising man settled the difficulty by establishing 
several hitching barns, in central locations, where 
horses and vehicles could be placed under cover and 
supervision, for a very moderate fee. If desired, the 
animals are fed and watered, for little more than the 
bare price of the feed. Women driving in to town 
find the barns an especial convenience, and so popular 
has the idea become that its projector is establishing 
barns in adjoining towns. Apart from the con¬ 
venience, such barns, in any town, are a distinct moral 
aid, for they do away with the necessity for visiting 
hotels or saloons, which, in many districts, are the 
only places offering such accommodation. 
0 
BREVITIES. 
Them boys that sunk the Merrimack in Santiago Bay, 
Done something that Americans can yell about, I say. 
They run right in the jaws of death, an’ filed them Spanish gums. 
An’ made Cervera an’ his men feel like a lot of bums. 
The very cheek of what they done upset the Spaniard’s heart, 
An’ Uncle Sam has thousands more to make another start. 
Hurrah, says I, for Hobson an’ the noble deed he done, 
If he wants votes for President, I’ll tell him where there’s one. 
What’s that you say—the Merrimack lays lengthways of the bay ? 
One anchor that old Hobson dropped has sorter given ’way ? 
Them Spanish ships ain’t bottled up? How much that vessel cost? 
Most half a million dollars ? So that foolish Hobson lost 
That money for the Government; an’ then he done it wrong! 
An’ he's the man we’re crackin’ up in story an’ in song! 
It didn’t take no great amount of courage, anyway; 
Them Spaniards couldn’t hit a house—Now here’s jest what/say: 
If I'd a run this Government as much as that in debt, 
An’ botched the job on top of that, I'd never talk, you bet! 
Pasture ized cream is now in season. 
Mind your own business—don’t mine it. 
The major part of the corn kernel is starch. 
The chainless bicycle does not appear to “ take.” 
The track of the lame man shows the mark of cane. 
Salt the ideas down in ink while they are fresh in mind. 
The scab may turn a South Down into a hide raw lick ram. 
Is there as much wheeling as usual in your neighborhood ? 
That rye should have been pulled out of the growing wheat be¬ 
fore now. 
The reputation that hurts your name may be said to be your 
name's ache. 
The heavier the single particles, the lighter is your soil—re¬ 
member that. 
The fruit belt must be unbuckled if we hope to save the berries 
by home consumption. 
The sunburned nose may thrive again some day, but no one 
brings the goodness back to sunburned hay. 
The latest revenue-raising scheme is to tax all farms or lots on 
which the owners permit poisonous vines to grow. 
The sign on a blacksmith’s shop in New York State reads as 
follows: “ NICKLE-PLATED SHOEING PARLORS.” 
James Nimon, of Parker Earle strawberry fame, is said to have 
a new one, the Dewey, that is worthy of its namesake. 
The scientists are divided in opinion as to whether the insect 
plague of Egypt was caused by mosquitoes or cockroaches. 
There is the usual crop of questions about sowing oats in the 
strawberry beds after fruiting, to fall down at frost, and mulch 
the berries. Don’t do it! 
Potash and dissolved rock may hurt some plants, but they will 
not hurt the cow iiea. Moral, feed them to cow peas or clover, 
and let these plants feed the others. 
Bisulphide of carbon burns like gunpowder, and is sure death 
to any living thing with lungs. It is heavier than air, and is, 
therefore, good for vermin that burrow like insects in grain, or 
woodchucks. 
Just take 100 pounds of lime, and mix it up with water, and you 
will find before you’re done the weight has not grown shorter. It 
weighs just 32 pounds more than what it did at first, so “slaking” 
means that Mr. Lime proceeds to slake his thirst. 
The reputation of the R. N.-Y. No. 2 potato has been hurt by 
the practice of digging when the tubers are half grown, and sell¬ 
ing for early potatoes. This variety sets a fair-sized tuber al¬ 
most before it blooms, but of course, the quality of such a young 
potato is enough to kill its reputation. 
A milkman in Milwaukee has been fined $75 for using the sub¬ 
stance known as Freezine, in milk. It is said that this substance 
has the same effect upon milk as freezing, hence the name. The 
compound keeps milk, not by freezing, but by poisoning the bac¬ 
teria. What may poison bacteria, may poison babies, who are 
nothing but human bacteria, anyway. 
Some of the Long Island birds are developing expensive tastes. 
Not long since, a woman washed some laces and spread them on 
the grass to bleach. When she went for them, they were missing. 
The kitchen girl remembered seeing a robin flying toward a tree 
with something white in her mouth. Investigation of the tree 
revealed a nest, and snugly tucked away in its interior, the miss¬ 
ing laces. They were, probably, used as portieres. 
