264 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 17 
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. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dii.lon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. 6d., or 8!4 marks, or 10J4 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'. 
Advertisements 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, witli 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 NKW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1897. 
LOW-PRICED BOOKS. 
There is a demand for the little fellows. Here are 
a few little giants that tell the whole story for a 
quarter: 
„ , Price. Cents. 
The Dairy Calf, by L. S. Hardin. 25 
* Or asses and Clover, by Henry A. Dreer. 25 
Vegetables Under Glass, by Henry A. Dreer. 25 
Open Air Vegetables, by Henry A.' Dreer. 25 
was at its height, the local savings bank was nearly 
forced to suspend because of the withdrawals. In a 
western city, at least $100,000 are reported to have 
been swallowed up. These local agencies were closed 
and the managers disappeared as mysteriously as the 
principals from the New York office. Not even the 
office furniture is left here to tell the tale. It simply 
shows that unprincipled, but specious strangers can, 
by appealing to the cupidity of the public, transfer 
hundreds of thousands of dollars of the public’s money 
to their own pockets in a few brief months, and then 
disappear as completely as though the earth had 
swallowed them up. The only safe way is to let all 
such schemes alone. 
© 
You wouldn’t put hot ashes into a wooden barrel ! 
For nearly the same reason, you should not mix wood 
ashes with hen manure. The most practical method 
of utilizing hen 'manure is to put a platform under 
the roosts to catch the droppings. Keep the platform 
well whitened with plaster, scrape off the manure 
every day and put it by itself in a dry place. It will 
not be mixed with trash and, in the spring, will be 
firm enough to crush easily. Fine and sift it, and 
mix with ground bone, muriate of potash and nitrate 
of soda, and you will have an excellent fertilizer for 
corn or garden crops. We receive many questions as 
to the best way to use hen manure. Our opinion is 
that the best thing to do with it is to dry and fine it 
as here described and use it for a “ filler” in prepar¬ 
ing a mixed fertilizer. 
O 
You will make no mistake in ordering any or all of 
these books. They are all good. Take our word 
for it. Here are two combinations : 
No. l. 
New Potato Culture.$0.40 
Fortune in Two Acres.20 
Chemicals and Clover.20 
Any Book Named Above.25 
No. 2. 
New Potato Culture.$0.40 
The Business Hen.40 
Fortune in Two Acres.20 
Any Book Named Above.. .25 
Total.$1.05 Total.$1.25 
Combination No. 1 costs 90 cents. No 2, $1 "There 
are others.” Make your own combination and sub¬ 
mit it for price ! 
9 
In his interesting article on strawberry culture—see 
first page—Mr. Bell speaks of harrowing or digging 
up the soil before plowing. As he explains the mat¬ 
ter, it is easy to see the advantage of such a course. 
We are trying this plan on land intended for small 
fruits. The land is first worked with a Tornado cut¬ 
away and then turned over with the plow and well 
harrowed with the Acme. In this way, the entire 
plowed soil is not only turned over but well pulver¬ 
ized. Where soil is simply turned over and harrowed 
on top, it will soon pack down as hard as before. 
G 
Keep the manure pile free from the rubbish of dis¬ 
eased plants. Dr. Smith, of the Department of Agri¬ 
culture, mentions a case where the refuse from a 
melon bed in which there had been some disease 
(melon wilt), was mingled with the compost heap, 
and when the infected manure was put on the melon 
beds the following season, disastrous results ensued. 
Cucumbers, turnips and other plants become diseased 
in this way. It is a safe rule to burn the remains of 
any diseased plant, j ust as a florist removes and burns 
rose leaves when they are affected with Black spot. 
© 
Oub Connecticut friend who talks about fertilizers 
on page 260, has found that his soil needs potash. 
The manure is rich in nitrogen, because he feeds 
strong food and his fertilizers have always been high 
in phosphoric acid, for that is what the fertilizer 
dealers like to sell. Potash has not been coming to 
the farm either in feed or in fertilizer, but it has been 
going away all the time. This man is fortunate in 
understanding the situation. The same problem 
comes up on other farms where stable manure is used. 
Unfortunately, the farmers do not understand what 
is wanted. It is POTASH nine times in ten. 
© 
The following note from a Long Island reader calls 
for little comment: 
In renewing my subscription to The R. N.-Y., I feel more than 
ever inclined to express to you my appreciation of your paper, 
since I find on the first page of the number just received more 
valuable information concerning the culture of the blackcap 
raspberry than 1 have ever been able to find before, and coming, 
too, at a time when I was searching for this information. This is 
only one case in a hundred where 1 have found a single article 
worth many times the year’s subscription. w. w. kenyon. 
We think the article this week on propagating the 
gooseberry, by the same author, will prove equally 
valuable. It is pretty hard for some of our learned 
men to get down to first principles and tell their 
readers the A, B, 0 of science or practice. When they 
succeed in doing it, they are generally surprised to 
see how popular such writing is. There are lots of 
readers who do not like to admit that they need a 
primer, yet how grateful they are when some one 
prepares it for them. Give us simple science, tested 
theory and pure practice. 
© 
The R. N.-Y. tries to hold the farm and the farmer 
both up to their duty. All sorts of measures are 
necessary to make humans and brutes do “ what they 
were hired to do.” There are balky men and balky 
horses who shirk their duty. Here is a plan for hand¬ 
ling the latter animals which may be new to you : 
At just about this time of year on the farm, a great many horses 
that have been idle all winter, when put in to work, will balk. We 
had one to-day, eight years old, good condition, kind and gentle, 
but with half a load he refused to move. An apple-tree sprout 
being at hand, two cuts were given, with the result of planting 
him more firmly than ever. The anti-balker, which has been a 
success for two seasons, was at once applied. It consists of a 
light pole 10 feet long with a clevis at each end. We fasten one 
end to the inner end of the pulling horse’s single whiflletree and 
tie loosely on top of the neck-yoke; then place a stake chain 
around balky’s body under the harness, passing it through the 
hook so that it will tighten and, passing between the fore legs, 
fasten rather tight to the front clevis. At the word, “ Go,” the 
other horse starts, the chain tightens at once, and the culprit is 
cured. After two or more starts have been made, we unhook 
from the pole, but leave the chain around the body. If all horses 
are alike (and we have tried two), one will have more trouble to 
hold than to start them thereafter. This is not a patented device, 
but free to all, and, I hope, may result in making many a useless 
horse valuable property; for what will “rile” a man quicker 
than to have a horse refuse to do the only thing he keeps him for? 
We think it likely that this will answer for the balky 
horse, but what about the balky man ? What can 
his “ pulling mate ” do to bring him into line ? Here 
is a chance for some one to come forward with a good 
suggestion. 
9 
The desire to get something for nothing, or next to 
nothing, often leads to great losses. A firm of 
gamblers has just “ failed” in this city, and develop¬ 
ments show the extent of their stealings. They 
opened business less than a year ago, and claimed to 
have a safe system of dealing in stocks and grain—in 
other words, gambling. One feature of their system 
was the opening of local offices in out-of-town places, 
and advertising extensively in the local papers. The 
victims who were thus induced to invest small sums, 
at first received large returns, and this induced many 
others to invest. In one New Jersey township, where 
a local agency was established, all kinds of laborers 
and factory hands, clerks, farmers, business and pro¬ 
fessional men and women were fleeced out of large 
and small amounts, some of them losing all their 
savings. In this township alone, $60,000 are estimated 
to have gone to the swindlers, and when the craze 
The papers have been filled with sad reports of the 
damage done by floods in the Mississippi Valley. A 
great volume of water has been moving down to the 
Gulf of Mexico, pushing aside the banks and levees 
and flooding miles of territory. It is a singular 
thought that, right in these flooded districts, by next 
July and August, there will be a drought. Now there 
is an excess of water, then there will be a lack of 
moisture. The trouble is due to the fact that the 
water supply is not under control. Before the destruc¬ 
tion of the forests at the headwaters of the Missis¬ 
sippi and its tributaries, this water moved slowly. 
Now, at the first warm breath of spring, it rushes pell- 
mell to the rivers. Formerly the forests acted as 
reservoirs to hold the water back. If now farmers 
could construct thousands of lakes and ponds along 
the smaller streams, the water would be held back 
and the floods prevented, while irrigation along the 
level lower lands would be possible. Tdis plan i 
impossible for this season’s work, for the damage has 
already been done. Let us remember, however, that 
what happens in the Mississippi Valley every spring, 
also happens on a much smaller scale on your farm. 
The annual rainfall is not evenly distributed. You 
are soaked in spring and dried up in summer just 
when the plants most need water to perfect their crop. 
We must store the water by deep and careful tillage 
in the spring, and then hold it there by constant and 
shallow cultivation. The reservoir is made by the 
plow. Two inches of “ dust mulch ” kept at the top 
of the soil by the cultivator will hold the water where 
the plants can use it. 
9 
We had a talk with a Kansas “ boomer” the other 
day—a man who 10 years ago made a small fortune 
selling Kansas land to “ suckers”. He located in a 
part of the State where Nature never intended that 
man should ever turn a furrow. For three months 
of the year, when the spring grass is growing, this 
section is a perfect paradise. During that brief sea¬ 
son the "real estate” business boomed. "Tenderfeet” 
came in droves from the East and bought land at 
sight. Towns went up as though by magic and 
flourished for a few years, until the most hopeful 
farmer knew that the dry, hot winds were too much 
for his crops. Millions of good money, dug out of 
small farms of the East, went into these "boom” 
towns. It is there now—dead beyond all hope of 
resurrection. The "boomers” put their share in their 
pockets and got out of the State. “ We can’t do it 
again for 20 years 1” said the man we talked with. 
“ There must be another crop of ‘suckers’. When the 
sons of the present crop get so that they think ‘ the 
old man ’ is old-fogy and old-fashioned they may go 
and buy the same land !” It is a shame that Kansas 
as a State should be made to suffer from such prac¬ 
tices. This "old-fogy” idea seems to work both ways, 
however. We can point to a number of young men 
who have gone from the West back to New England. 
Their fathers left the East because they felt that 
Western competition would swamp them. The young 
men we speak of, think their fathers were mistaken 
and they go back to try to prove it. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
The homeliest man that I most ever see 
Is Pa. I haven’t gut no brags to make, 
Altho’ when he come ’round a-eourtin’ me 
I thought I’d ketched a mighty handsome stake. 
He stood up straigliter 40 years ago, 
But trouble’s been a ridin’ him sense then, 
An’ fate aint gin him jest the fairest show; 
He’s sorter lost his grip like lots o’ men. 
An’ here he comes ! Why, Pa, how fast ye walk ! 
I dunno when I’ve seen ye quite so spry. 
What’s that ? A pussy-wilier ? How ye talk ! 
I hadn’t no idee that spring was nigh ! 
I’ve been a hankerin’ fer a bite of spring— 
An' sparrergrass—what day’s this here? Well, I 
Aint quite fergut who give me this here ring— 
Jest let me blow this cobweb out my eye ! 
Some how or ’nuther, Pa, it ’pears to me, 
This touch o’ spring hez brightened up our ways. 
You’re jest ez handsome, Pa—why yes ye be— 
Ez ’way back yunder in our dancin’ days I 
Book trade notes—page 268. 
Industry in dust is good for the hen. 
There are high souls in lowly places. 
Thin blood makes a thick complexion. 
Are you raising character or razing it ? 
The good-natured man is hullo! hearted. 
There are too many hole-hearted people. 
Live and give ! Make every gift a self-lift! 
The weevil that men do not kill lives after them. 
Plants cannot enjoy a bone meal without potash. 
Gardener.— Dealer to green goods and watered stock. 
Looks bad—to see a man hoard money and squander time. 
If your potato eye be single, your crop will be likely to be light. 
The nurserymen report an enormous trade in raspberry plants. 
We would like to have sleep put a tariff on the infant’s industry 
before 5 a. si. 
Fighting turns the scrub roosters into “ blooded stock.” Noth¬ 
ing else will. 
We would not sow peas with the oats for horse fodder, but we 
would for cows. 
Yes, you can kill borers by pouring kerosene oil into the holes. 
The only trouble is that you will kill the trees, too. 
Seed-potato dealers seem to be mostly “ sold out”. Stock has 
sold at low prices. The country has been Hooded with “blooded” 
seed. 
Dr. Halsted, of New Jersey, believes that rolling cut seed po¬ 
tatoes in sulphur before planting is a good practice. It will help 
prevent scab, and also keep the seed-pieces from drying out. 
Try it. 
Start some sweet corn, melons and Lima beans on a sod in¬ 
doors, and transplant when the season is right. Gain a little 
time, interest the family, and get an earlier taste of these vege¬ 
tables. You might call this raising vegetables under grass. 
Here is a Crimson clover note from Geo. T. Powell: “Seventy 
acres of Crimson clover have come through in fine shape this 
spring, growing now rapidly, but it is being plowed in as fast as 
possible. When farmers know how to use this plant, it will be 
of great value to them.” 
