328 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 15 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established ISM. 
Elbert S. Carman. Editor-in-Cliief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8s. (id., or 8(4 marks, or 1014 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 certs per 
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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, 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 15, 1897. 
BOOKS ON VEGETABLES. 
Here are some excellent books on growing - vege¬ 
tables : 
The Forcing Book. Prof. L. H. Bailey.$1.00 
Vegetable Gardening, Prof. S. B. Green. 1.25 
Principles of Plant Culture, Prof. E. S. Goff. 1.25 
The New Potato Culture, E. S. Carman.40 
Out-Door Vegetables, H. A. Dreer. .25 
Vegetables Under Glass, H. A. Dreer.25 
My Handkerchief Garden, Cbas. Barnard.25 
Success in Market Gardening, W. W. Rawson. 1.00 
Squash Growing, J. ,T. H. Gregory.30 
We group the vegetable books together this week. 
We are prepared to make a combination price on any 
two or more of the above. Put in the combination 
any other book you want. 
O 
A few weeks ago, we spoke of “Nitragin” or the 
new bottled bacteria of leguminous plants. We have 
secured a bottle of the special bacteria of Red clover, 
and shall give it a trial this spring. Our plan is to 
work a poor, sandy field well, and add a good dress¬ 
ing of basic slag and kainit. The clover seed will 
then be soaked in a solution of the “ Nitragin,” and 
sowed in the usual manner. The theory is that these 
bacteria will at once begin their work on the clover 
plants, and enable them to absorb nitrogen from the 
air. If this is what really happens, such seed ought 
to produce a good crop without any nitrogenous fer¬ 
tilizer. It is an interesting experiment, and we shall 
watch it with great care. 
O 
“ Crimson clover is of no value at all here ! ” That 
is the opinion of W. W. Latta, of Indiana, see page 
333. No doubt this clover has proved a failure in 
many sections, yet in others it has proved a perfect 
boon to farmers. We would like to have Mr. Latta 
see 15 acres of Crimson clover on the New Jersey 
Experiment Station farm. It was sown in the corn 
last summer, has grown through the winter, and is 
now worth at least 13 good loads of stable manure to 
the acre. It is hardly fair to condemn any plant 
entirely because it fails in a certain locality. There 
are sections where corn, wheat and Red clover are all 
unprofitable as ordinarily grown, yet it would not do 
to condemn them for general culture because of local 
failures. The R. N.-Y. sticks to Crimson clover. 
© 
It is but a few years since spraying trees to destroy 
insect and fungous pests became, in any sense, popu¬ 
lar. When some one invented a gearing so that the 
wagon wheels would work the spraying pump, it was 
thought that a wonderful advance had been made. 
The busy brain of the inventor was not satisfied, how¬ 
ever, and two years ago a Californian mounted a small 
steam engine on a wagon and used it to work the 
pump. Now there are hundreds of such outfits in 
operation all over the country. Next week, we expect 
to show a picture of a new spraying device which em¬ 
ploys compressed air for working the pump, by mak¬ 
ing use of the pop-gun principle to force the spraying 
mixture through the nozzle. Thus it is that develop¬ 
ment in all lines of farm work is going on. The tend¬ 
ency everywhere is to utilize the power of steam or 
horse power in performing the work which formerly 
belonged to human labor. Last week, with a potato 
planter, we planted potatoes at the rate of two barrels 
an hour, dropping fertilizer, mixing it, opening the 
furrow, dropping and covering the seed—all at one 
operation by horse power. Two fields away, a farmer 
with his wife and two daughters worked hard to plant 
one bushel by hoe and hand in an hour. It would 
seem evident that, if this development of mechanical 
skill is to be kept up, the farm laborer must lose part 
of his occupation, since cheaper horse power is re¬ 
placing him. There has been considerable argument 
of late about the industrial standing of the American 
farm laborer, but few actual facts have been brought 
out. In order to learn something about the actual 
condition of things, we submit the following questions: 
1. Is it hard lor you to obtain pood help on the farm ? 
2. If so, what, in your opinion, is the reason ? 
3. Can you obtain Americans for farm labor? 
4. What are the average wages paid, and how do these wages 
compare with former years ? 
5. Do you find that improved farm machinery has displaced 
many farm laborers ? 
6. If so, what seems to have become of these laborers ; in other 
words, what are they doing now ? 
We shall be pleased to have our readers give brief 
answers to these questions. We do not want indi¬ 
vidual or special cases, but a fair average opinion 
from their part of the country. 
O 
While horses are hardly worth S3 a head on the 
ranges of Washington and Oregon, good-sized dogs 
for draft service are worth $15 to $30 each in the local 
market; at Juneau, Alaska, they are valued at double 
that price, and on the Yukon River, a good dog brings 
$100 to $150. The native Yukon dog is more valuable 
than those from the milder region of Puget Sound, 
and animals from Montana and Dakota suffer less 
in being acclimated to the severe winters than those 
from the Pacific coast. They are taken to Dyea, at 
the head of salt-water navigation, thence used to haul 
supplies and outfits over the snowy Chilkoot passes 
to the distant mines. Ruckskin moccasins are often 
supplied to keep the dogs’ feet from being cut by the 
ice and sdow. They are the only available draft ani¬ 
mals in this region, where there is little forage for 
horses, even were they able to endure other hard¬ 
ships. The dogs are fed on dried salmon, but a 
specially prepared dog food made from meal and pack¬ 
ing-house refuse in the form of crackers, is now 
being manufactured on Puget Sound. It is expected 
that, within a few years, the Government will be able 
to supply reindeer, from a herd now established at 
Point Barrow. Thus a sheep-killing nuisance, a bur¬ 
densome beast in Connecticut, may be a valuable 
beast of burden in Alaska. 
© 
Few people realize the extent to which seeds of 
noxious weeds are broadcasted over the country in 
clover and other grass seeds. Several readers have 
recently sent us samples of grain seed distributed by 
the Department of Agriculture, which contained 
quantities of wild radish and mustard. The following 
note calls attention to a bad feature of the seed trade: 
ADULTERATED CLOVER SEED. 
The attention of the Department of Agriculture has been re¬ 
cently called to the fact that a large consignment of Red clover 
seed adulterated heavily with “ trefoil ” or Black inedick (Medi- 
cago lupuliua) has been imported into this country by an eastern 
seedsman. This seed is now being offered for sale in various 
parts of the United States, at a somewhat lower price than pure 
seed. Farmers throughout the country should be on their guard 
against it, as Black inedick will prove a costly weed if introduced 
into pastures. A sample of Red clover seed, probably from this 
lot, was recently submttted to us for examination by a seed dealer 
in Indiana, who suspected that it was not reliable seed, and was 
found to contain “ trefoil ” seeds at the rate of 80,000 to the 
pound ! The seed of this pest resembles closely that of Red 
clover, both In shape and size, and is almost sure to be over¬ 
looked by the majority of persons. The Department of Agricul¬ 
ture will examine, free of charge, any samples of clover seed 
suspected to contain this or any other bad seeds. Such samples 
should be sent to the Seed Laboratory, Division of Botany, accom¬ 
panied by a statement of the price asked per pound, and the 
name of the seedsman offering the same for sale. Farmers should 
buy their clover seed from reliable dealers only, and, if possible, 
use American-grown seed. o. h. hicks. 
In charge of pure seed Investigations, Department of Agricul¬ 
ture. 
The United States Department of Agriculture has 
opened a special department for seed testing, both 
for purity and germinating power. Definite rules lor 
such testing have been adopted, and it is likely that 
most of the experiment stations will, in time, make 
seed-testing almost as much a feature of their work 
as they now make of analyzing fertilizers. Certainly 
the farmer who sowed 10 bushels of some of the oat 
seed that we have seen this spring, would lose more 
from the weed seed in it than he would from five tons 
of bogus fertilizer ! 
© 
Among the petty rogues at large among farmers is 
the soap fraud. A reader in Madison County, N. Y., 
thus describes his operations : 
I wish to call the attention of your readers to a soap scheme 
that has recently been worked on the people in this locality by a 
young man of pleasant appearance and an easy talker, claiming 
to be from Syracuse, introducing a new soap. He has it in small 
boxes that sell at $1 each. On account of the reduced price at 
which he is selling it, they cannot afford to put paper on it. It is 
one solid mass, said to have been run into the box a few days 
previous, so that it is soft. He then cuts it into cakes and re¬ 
marks that, if taken out of the box, it will harden in three or four 
days, is very anxious that customers should try it at once, as he 
will be along in a few days with a wire rug with your name 
worked in with marble. This is given as an inducement to get 
the people to using it. He is not like the bad coin that always 
comes back; he is a fraud and never comes back. The soap is 
utterly worthless. After being laid on the shelf to harden a few 
days, it is covered with what appears to be snow flakes; they 
gradually increase until they are half an inch thick, covering the 
entire surface except where it lies on the shelf. 
Of course this is a small matter, but the principle of 
dealing with a fraud is always wrong. It is only a 
series of steps from soap to lightning rods, or shares 
in a bogus creamery. A Kansas man “ agreed” with 
a lightning rod man to put rods on the barn “as an 
advertisement.” The result was that he had to sign 
a note for $1G0. This is what he writes a local paper: 
What I hate the worst is that I am almost 60 years old, have 
lived in Kansas over 30 years, and I believe that my neighbors 
and friends have thought that I was a man of average intelli¬ 
gence, and then to be taken in by a lightning rod man! It should 
certainly convince my friends of their mistake. I feel that I 
should be put at hard labor for 160 days with ball and chain on 
the public streets, with a sign on my back stating that “this 
comes from dealing with a lightning rod man.” 
“ Confession is good for the soul”, but it doesn’t 
always take all the stings and scars out. Don’t deal 
with frauds! 
O 
BREVITIES. 
There aint no use a talkin’ fer I couldn’t help it, mother ! 
I aint gut no excuses—there aint nothin’ I kin say ! 
I aint a gonter try to hatch out some excuse or ’nuther; 
It biled up jest like Natur in my heart! Git up, old Gray ! 
When that ere organ-grinder sorter set his crank a turnin’. 
It warn’! my fault, I tell ye, that he struck “Virginny Reel”. 
Fer memory was jest waitin’ fer ter set her fires a burnin’ 
An' though I be a deacon, there was springs gut in my heel. 
An’ I jest drifted backwards to them dancin’ days—you know ’em— 
I see Jim Bates a fiddlin’ like he’d cut them strings in two. 
You hed on them new ribbins, an’ was mighty proud to show ’em, 
An’ I was dancin’ Tucker with my hand held out to you. 
I heard “Git Ready!” “Honors to yer pardners !” “Corners 
Foller!” 
An’ “ Shassay in the middle!” Why, it sounded jest like Jim. 
I dunno jest what happened—till I heard the people holler, 
An’ see old Gray a rarin’ ez I shassayed up ter hit/i. 
I know I hadn’t orter, an’ it’s likely I’ve disgraced ye. 
But life’s a good deal lighter jest fer liftin’ up the haze 
That borter hid ye, mother, ez I knowed ye when I faced ye 
In time to poor Jim’s fiddle in them good old dancin’ days. 
Don’t mince your piety. 
Make fertilizer out of the dog. 
“ Sand ” warms up soil or man. 
A peace of land is caused by good culture. 
Destroy the bark louse in the cur’s throat. 
Don’t feed raw beans to any stock but sheep. 
The sitting hen thinks that hides ought to be free. 
Green crops agree with a greedy hen and save grain. 
Let your blood “ boil ” now and then ! Boiling purifies ! 
Economy is a good crop. Don’t raise too much of it, though. 
Mr. Cushman, page 335, takes issue with the anti-corn feeders. 
Greece seems to be like grease—mighty little brain food in her 
leaders ! 
Don’t try to break your boy’s will; just bend it in the right 
direction. 
What is the greatest need of the human mind ? Some useful 
thing to keep it constantly busy. 
If you could get away from yourself, the chances are that you 
would be rid of your worst enemy ! 
Don’t be afraid to put a little pressure on the weeder! Make it 
scratch hard! ’Twill do more good! 
Work up the chicken yards ! Within four inches of the sur¬ 
face, there is a wonderful supply of worm food. 
“ Mixed in the drill! ” What? The plant food in the soil. What 
does the mixing? The roots of clover and cow peas. 
A hearse may be called a bury wagon. The berry wagon that 
hauls stale fruit is also a hearse with dead flavor inside. 
Don’t cut the potato seed too small ! The little plant must live 
on the starch in that seed piece before its roots can feed in the 
soil. 
The rabbit’s foot is said to bring luck, but there is small luck 
in the rabbit’s tooth when it comes in contact with your fruit 
tree. 
Many so-called “ fire extinguishers” contain salt and water. 
See what Prof. Emery says, page 322, about keeping salt In the 
barn. 
The plant louse cannot chew tobacco. Now let some scientist 
separate the non-tobacco germs and inoculate some of our human 
tobacco plants. 
Bio pluck and poor plan make a flash in the pan; big plan and 
poor pluck—man says poor luck. Good pluck and good plan, 
people say, lucky man ! 
The mules on American farms last year were worth more than 
all the silver mined in this country during 1896, or twice as much 
as the year’s product of gold. 
Thousands of acres of potatoes are not planted until after June 
1. Farmers who plant so late think that they dodge a brood of 
bugs. We prefer to fight the early bug ! 
The “most dangerous class” we are likely to have in the coun¬ 
try is the third or fourth generation of city dwellers. They have 
brick and stone in their hearts and minds. 
Yes, sir! If your wife has but 70 per cent of your strength, 
she should have 30 per cent more rest than you do. “ Minding 
the baby” is, probably, as hard work as any that you do. 
Excess of carbonaceous food is stored away for future fuel; 
excess of nitrogen jiasses away as waste. Mr. Cushman speaks 
a good word for corn in the hen’s business ration, page 335. 
An English national law will compel all drivers to carry at 
least one light on their vehicles one hour after sunset. The light 
must show the extreme off side of the wagon. Wagons with loads 
hanging over the back must have two lights. 
We have been surprised to see, by 'actual count, how few seed 
pieces a barrel of R. N.-Y. No. 2 potatoes will make, as compared 
with some other varieties. The R. N.-Y. No. 2 makes a few very 
strong sprouts. One reason for its popularity may be the fact 
that oue must plant large and strong seed pieces; therefore, 
secure Strong plantB. 
