1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
57 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAR IN THE MARKETS. 
Last week, I mentioned the low prices of hothouse 
produce. Since then, strawberries were, fora single 
day, in good demand, and the price was good. 
This shows the extreme variation in this class of 
goods, and the uncertainty in selling if one is any 
great distance from market. 
X X X 
My butcher tells me that he intends to buy a bone 
cutter and cut the bones which accumulate, and sell 
the product. That is, if I buy a roast, he will weigh 
it, take out the bones, throw them under the counter, 
and give me the meat to take home. Then, if I want 
cut bone for my hens, he will be glad to sell me the 
same bones for which I have already paid a good 
price, in another form, at two or three cents per 
pound. But he won’t come that on me, unless I for¬ 
get myself, for I tell him to wrap up the bones with 
the meat; I know tnat the pullets will find a half¬ 
day’s employment over them. The butcher says that, 
at present, he doesn’t get anything for the bones. It 
strikes me that he does, for most of them. If he sells 
a high-priced steak, he cuts out a part of the bone 
before he weighs it; but most of the meat is weighed 
bones and all. This is a queer world, and sometimes 
we don’t get what we pay for. 
X X X 
There has been considerable live poultry in the 
market of late, and prices have not been extravagantly 
high for the time of year. I notice that there are 
many promising pullets among the arrivals, as well 
as many hens. P. Rock blood seems to be more ap¬ 
parent than any other. One wishing to stock up a 
poultry yard, could do so from these at quite reason¬ 
able prices. Sometimes one can get a job lot cheap, 
especially at the end of the week, and the cockerels 
may be fattened and sold when the market demands 
them. For a little above the market price, most 
dealers will allow the buyer to select just the birds 
he wishes. Of course, there are some disadvantages in 
buying this stock: some of it may be lousy, or may 
be affected by disease. Still, by quarantining and 
disinfecting for a time, there is no great danger. 
Some of these pullets ought to lay more eggs than 
will pay for them and their feed within a few months, 
and then bring more in market during the summer 
than their original cost. Of course, not so good laying 
strains can be expected from these picked up birds as 
from those bred especially for eggs, but it is an in¬ 
expensive way to start a flock. 
X X X 
The consumption of apples ought to be much larger 
than formerly, not only because they are cheaper, but 
because of the scarcity of some other fruits—notably 
oranges—which come into strong competition with 
them. Florida has not yet recovered from the destruc¬ 
tive freeze, and her oranges are very scarce. Of 
choice oranges, one can buy not more than one-half 
as many as formerly for a quarter. That is the way 
the larger part of the oranges and lemons are sold— 
so many for 25 cents. Jamaica oranges are quite 
plentiful, and are fairly good, but don’t equal the 
Floridas. Some Californias find their way here, but 
they are too high-priced for the ordinary pocketbook. 
One of the cheapest fruits seen on sale now is the 
banana. On the huckster’s carts, they are offered 
for varying prices. Some, small or in the last stages 
of dissolution, go two for a cent; one can buy pretty 
good ones for a cent apiece, or 10 cents a “hand”. A 
“hand” contains a variable number; it is a cluster 
formed by cutting off a piece of the main stem with 
the 10 or 15 bananas attached, which have somewhat 
the appearance of a hand with fingers extended. 
Immense quantities of bananas are consumed in this 
country, and they are admitted free of duty. f. h. y. 
"A DOSE Of MEDICINE." 
WHAT DOES IT REPRESENT? 
Quite often I am asked, “ What is good for a cough, 
Doctor ?” Or it may be, “ What shall I do for a pain 
in my back ?” The idea that is commonly accepted 
is that each particular disease or symptom has its own 
special remedy; that all that a doctor has to do in 
any case is, first, to inquire what is the disease, and, 
second, to select the drug or compound of drugs that 
will cure it. Upon this erroneous notion, the whole 
patent medicine business thrives. There are, it is true, 
some diseases, though comparatively very few, to 
which this notion is measurably applicable. Quinine 
may be said to be the cure for ague ; or sulphur the 
cure for the itch ; but even in these and other such 
like cases, the cures must be employed with judg¬ 
ment and proper discrimination. There is even here 
room for the exercise of trained skill, and a special 
knowledge of the subject, for such questions as the 
following must be asked and answered : What pre¬ 
liminary preparation, if any, is required to enable 
the specific remedy to exert its full power ? What is 
the dose to be given, how often is it to be repeated, 
and how long must it be continued? In what way 
may its action be modified so as to adapt it, in the 
best manner, to suit the idiosyncrasies of the patient ? 
What directions are to be given to the patient as to 
diet, exercise, rest, etc. ? How is a repetition of the 
attack to be prevented? lias the patient, by in¬ 
judicious attempts to cure himself, rendered the 
disease less amenable to treatment ? 
In the vast majority of cases, the problem to be 
solved is a much more complicated one. Each in¬ 
dividual case has to be considered, its characteristic 
features taken into account, and the treatment most 
suitable for it decided upon. Fitting the treatment 
to the individual patient’s case may not inaptly be 
compared to taking a man’s measure and cutting for 
him a suit of clothes. The general features, so to 
say, of a suit of clothes are the same in all cases. All 
coats are made up of the same parts—collar, body, 
sleeves, etc. ; but to secure a 'proper fit, you must 
measure and allow for all the individual’s peculi¬ 
arities of figure. If you fail in any one particular, 
the result is unsatisfactory. It is quite safe to 
assert that cases of the same disease differ in their 
minor features quite as much as do the figures of 
the different patients, and that there is, consequently, 
just as much and more reason for discrimination in 
treating different cases of the same disease as there 
is in fitting a man with a suit of clothes. This com¬ 
parison falls very much short of affording adequate 
expression to the importance of taking into account 
all the circumstances that have a bearing on each in¬ 
dividual case of disease. The age, sex, vigor, past 
history, family tendencies, occupation, temperament, 
place of abode, etc., of the patient, have all to be 
considered. Then there are the stage of the disease, 
its severity, its past treatment, if any ; the epidemic 
constitution of the season, the complications that 
are present or may be threatened, that must also be 
learned, and due allowance made therefor. 
And lastly, in deciding upon the line of treatment 
—not, be it noted, upon the one particular drug, 
compound, or cure, that is to be administered—there 
is still more that must be pondered. As to the drugs, 
if any, that ought to be given, it is necessary to decide 
which one, or more, out of the hundreds in the phar¬ 
macopeia is to be given ; in what dose, how often, 
and in what shape, and whether best by the stomach, 
hypodermically, per rectum, or in some other way. 
Some regard is to be had to the purity and genuine¬ 
ness of the drugs employed. Not only must the regu¬ 
lar action of these drugs be understood, but, also, their 
peculiar and exceptional effects on different indi¬ 
viduals ; or under varying circumstances, such as the 
time of the day, whether before or after meals, sea¬ 
son of the year, normal or reduced activity of the 
excretory functions, etc. If a compound of several 
drugs is to be used, their mutual reaction, the one upon 
the other, and the consequent modification of their 
combined action, constitute a factor of the account. 
The regular course and symptoms of the disease, as 
well, also, those that are exceptional, must be under¬ 
stood, otherwise the changes that may occur during 
its progress will be misunderstood. The treatment 
will be liable either to be blamed for the harm done 
by the disease, or credited with the changes for the 
better that were sure to come in its regular course. 
It may happen, too, that without such knowledge, 
changes that presage, and contribute toward the re¬ 
covery of the patient may create undue alarm, or 
even be interfered with to the patient’s detriment. 
Every skilled workman is familiar with the fact that 
when an untrained or deficiently trained hand under¬ 
takes the work of a master, his ignorance of some one 
small and, apparently, trifling particular may cause 
complete failure, or even result in dire disaster. Men 
who would shudder at the proposal to give an inex¬ 
perienced hand the management of a locomotive, 
which is really a much simpler task, cannot see any 
impropriety in trusting dangerous drugs in the hands 
of men ignorant of their powers and right uses. The 
warning given by a machinist to a bystander who, 
through his ignorance, is in danger of putting him¬ 
self in the way of getting hurt, is likely to be heeded; 
but it, unfortunately, so happens that the warnings 
against entrusting the care of the sick to those who 
have no sufficient acquaintance with either disease 
or medicine given by those who alone are competent 
by their special knowledge to do so, passes, for the 
most part, unheeded. To do away with the effect of 
such a warning, no matter how high may be the char¬ 
acter of the one giving it, or how good the proofs of 
his strict integrity, it is merely necessary to insinuate 
that it was given from a self-interested motive, w. o. E. 
On page 61, Mr. Newton speaks of the fact that 
Maine and Iowa have attempted to regulate by law 
the testing of milk at butter factories. Among other 
things, the Maine law provides : 
That every individual or corporation buying milk or cream, or 
apportioning its value on the basis of the fat content, shall have 
all the bottles and pipettes tested for accuracy, which are used 
in determining the per cent of fat, and each of these bottles and 
pipettes shall bear a mark showing that it has been so tested. It 
is made the duty of the Director of the Maine Experiment Station 
or some person he may designate, to execute these provisions. 
The actual expense of this work shall be paid bv the persons or 
corporations for whom It is done. Any person operating the 
Babcock or other test for determining the fat in milk or cream 
which is to be purchased or its value apportioned, must possess 
a certificate of competency for such work. This certificate is to 
be issued by the Superintendent of the State College Dairy School 
in accordance with such rules and regulations as he may devise. 
No one is allowed to use at any creamery, butter factory, cheese 
factory or condensed milk factory, where milk or cream is bought 
or its value apportioned, or to have in his possession with intent 
to use, any sulphuric acid of less than one and eighty-two hun¬ 
dredths specific gravity. 
It is certainly just as desirable to regulate one measure 
of value as another. A mark on a bottle may mean 
as much to a farmer as a mark on the scales by which 
his pork, butter or sugar is weighed. Prof. Woods, 
of the Maine Station, informs us that the law is 
operating well, and he does not know of any evasion 
of it. The station has issued certificates enough to 
more than account for all the creameries in the State 
that are paying by butter fat. 
O 
It is reported that a Swiss parish has opened a de¬ 
partment of insurance against want of employment. 
Workingmen who earn $1 or less per day are com¬ 
pelled to contribute a small sum each week. The par¬ 
ish adds to it, and thus forms a fund which is used to 
pay a certain sum per day to workmen out of employ¬ 
ment or who are sick. In this way, hundreds of per¬ 
sons are kept from the poorhouse. The scheme is 
really said to work so well that plans are being made 
to apply the principle to a larger area. The chief 
drawback seems to be that a class of workmen do not 
consider themselves in duty bound to hunt for work 
when they lose a job. They draw their insurance 
money and wait for work to come to them. The in¬ 
dustrious and skilled workmen pay their dues, but 
rarely call for help, because they are rarely out of 
work. That seems to be the point of failure in 
most efforts to form cooperative business schemes 
among farmers. The more energetic and careful 
farmers must come down to the pace set by the slow 
and careless. It is like the master who put a man at 
work with each boy, expecting that the boys would do 
more work in consequence. Instead of that, the men 
did less work than they would have done if they had 
worked in pairs. 
BUSINESS BITS 
J. Lucien Andrews, Winston, N. C., advertising pecan trees, is 
not considered responsible at this office. 
Did you notice that Delaware farm offered for sale on page 58 ? 
A friend of The R. N.-Y. who is familiar with these farms, says 
that they are good ones and genuine bargains. 
We can not furnish the Daily Press, New York, with The Rural 
New-Yorker any longer for S3, the publishers having changed 
prices to us. The price will be $3.50 for the future. 
“Economy is wealth,” especially in feeding cattle. “The Econ¬ 
omy of Ground Feed ” is well worth your reading. It is yours for 
the asking, of The O. S. Kelly Co., No. 8, Springfield, O. 
Mu. G. G. Gibbs, Blairstown, N. J., finds that he has more Dutch 
Belted calves than he needs, and is offering them at prices within 
the reach of dairymen. He will sell older stock of this breed, also. 
You can’t afford to wait until the berries are ripe to order your 
baskets and crates. Get catalogue and price list now of the 
Webster Basket Co., Box 43, Webster, N. Y. They manufacture a 
complete line of berry, peach and grape baskets. 
H. W. Gazlay, Cortland, N. Y., makes a milk cooler and aerator 
that he shows at fairs and advertises in various ways. We advise 
Rural readers to have the goods in hand before they part with 
their cash, even if they do not prefer to deal with some other 
house. 
McLank & Schanck, Linesville, Pa., make an evaporator that 
uses very little fuel, and is so arranged that the sap passes from 
one pan to another until it is reduced just as wanted for syrup or 
sugar. If you are making syrup or sugar, better write for infor¬ 
mation. 
“The American Farmer” is the name of a pamphlet issued 
each year by The Bradley Fertilizer Co., of Boston, Mass. This 
year’s copy seems to us better than usual. While, of course, 
designed to illustrate and detail the merits of the Bradley fer¬ 
tilizers, it contains mncb instructive matter that farmers might 
well examine. Send to the Bradley Company and obtain a copy. 
If you wish to buy an incubator, brooder, bone mill, any kiDd 
of poultry fence, or feed of any kind, in short, anything needed 
about the poultry yard, you’ll find it at the Excelsior Wire and 
Poultry Supply Co., 28 Vesey Street, New York. It’s a central 
point from which to get low freight rates, too. Their large illus¬ 
trated catalogue is sent free. Mention The Rural New-Yorker 
when you write. 
When the writer was a boy, he used to make sap spouts of 
sumac limbs, carry the sap by means of a yoke laid across the 
shoulders with one pail on each side held by a cord suspended 
from each end of the yoke. A fire was then kindled under a big 
iron kettle, and the sap boiled until quite thick and then taken to 
the house, settled and “finished off” on the stove. Now this is all 
changed. C. C. Stelle, 18 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y., prepares 
sap spouts all ready for use. They will last a lifetime, and they 
have many other advantages that he will tell you about if you 
write him 
