36o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 29 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMEES' PAP EE. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman. Editor-In-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collinowood, Manaping Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
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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 29 1897. 
BOOKS FOR SOIL STUDENTS 
Here is a great combination of books on the soil 
and its treatment: 
The Fertility of the Land, Prof. I. P. Roberts.$1.00 
The Soil, Prof. F. H. King. . 75 
Manures and How to Mix Them, Sempers.50 
Chemicals and Clover.20 
Fertilizer Farming.20 
Total.$2.05 
Our price for this combination is $2. These books 
should be in every farm library in the land. Write 
for prices on other combinations ! 
G 
We are receiving some very interesting replies to 
the questions about farm labor. Next week, we shall 
begin to print some of them. The most surprising 
thing is that improved machinery does not seem to 
have thrown so many laborers out of employment as 
was generally supposed. Improved grain harvesting 
machinery has, without doubt, taken work away 
from transient field hands, but, on the whole, the in¬ 
dications are that the farm hand has, relatively, 
weathered the depression better than the small farmer. 
O 
On page 356, Prof. Voorhees speaks of waste plaster, 
which he has found valuable to use in the stable. 
This plaster is a by-product in the manufacture of 
phosphoric acid from phosphate rock. It is true 
sulphate of lime, but contains small quantities of 
phosphoric acid also. It is light brown in appear¬ 
ance, and not so dry and powdery as the pure plaster, 
yet fine enough to scatter well. When used in the 
manure gutters, it gives good results in “ fixing” the 
ammonia, and also adds some phosphoric acid to the 
manure. It costs considerably less than the ordinary 
plaster, and might well be used by farmers who are 
within reasonable distance of the factory. 
O 
It appears that quite a number of our readers are 
experimenting with spring-sown Red clover this year. 
On our own farm, we can hardly afford to use Red 
clover where C imson clover will thrive. The Red 
occupies the ground too long before giving any satis¬ 
factory returns in the crops we plan to produce. We 
expect to sow some Red clover early in June for the 
purpose of testing the new “ Nitragin ” or clover bac¬ 
teria. So far as we can learn, the greatest drawback to 
spring-sown clover, is the rank growth of weeds 
which come up in June and July, and threaten to 
smother out the young clover plants. This can be 
prevented by clipping off the weeds at about the 
height of the clover plants, and leaving the clippings 
on the field to serve as a mulch. If the seed be put 
in properly, and the weeds kept down, the chances 
for obtaining a good stand of clover by May or June 
seeding are good. 
O 
The comments concerning the value of land plaster, 
which are printed on page 356, are well worth study¬ 
ing. Of course, no one can tell how much ammonia 
one ton of plaster can save or “fix”. In theory, 100 
pounds of pure plaster are capable of absorbing and 
holding 56 pounds of carbonate of ammonia or 20 
pounds of ammonia gas. It is, however, impossible 
to obtain such results from it in practical use. As 
usually applied, it does not reach all the manure, and 
unless it is kept moist, there will be little or no “ fix¬ 
ing” done. Probably, two pounds of plaster per day 
scattered behind each animal will give profitable 
returns though, in some cases dry earth will answer 
as well. Prof. Roberts tells all about this in his new 
book. Our opinion still is that, in most cases, kainit 
will give better returns than plaster as a stable 
dressing, or for use in manure piles. It is evident 
that we have much to learn about the best way to 
save manure. On our own farm, where we have, at 
present, poor arrangements for saving manure in 
piles, we shall try to work it into the ground as 
rapidly as a load accumulates. Until we can build a 
good, manure shed, we shall consider the manure 
safer in the ground than on top of it. 
O 
Me. Slingerland makes a startling statement on 
page 356. The dreaded San Jos6 scale has, without 
doubt, firmly established itself in the orchards of the 
eastern States. Our fruit growers may as well face 
the matter and understand that the time for action 
has come. It will not do to say that this little insect 
is an insignificant thing, and that our entomologists 
are simply trying to work up a scare. That is a very 
dangerous position for any fruit grower to take. It 
may cost him his orchard within the next five years. 
Growers in the Hudson River Valley are in special 
danger from this San Jcs6 scale. Our new horticul¬ 
tural society should push this matter and bring it 
forcibly before eastern New York fruit growers. Mr. 
Slingerland gives the most practical way of fighting 
this pest. Up and at them with whale-oil soap ! 
0 
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this 
year’s work at the experiment stations, is the great 
number of bulletins on sugar-beet culture that are 
being issued. Station after station has taken up this 
matter, and if there is any farmer from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific who does not know how beet sugar is 
made, he will have small excuse for his ignorance. 
Efforts have been made before now to encourage the 
American beet-sugar industry, but it never before 
received so much advertising as it is getting now. 
The development of this industry is a good thing. 
We would like to see every ounce of the sugar that is 
consumed in this country grown on American soil. 
If we had our way, 75 per cent of it would be pro 
duced west of the Missouri River. That region needs 
a new crop. The beet crop grown there would mean 
less grain and, therefore, a better chance for the 
central West. 
O 
Experiments at the Connecticut Station continue to 
show the great value of cotton-seed meal as a source 
of organic nitrogen. It ranks above dried blood, 
dried fish, or tankage in the availability of this nitro¬ 
gen. It is, also, an excellent “ dryer,” and when 
used in fairly large quantities, improves the mechani¬ 
cal condition of the mixture and gives it a charac¬ 
teristic color. It is quite surprising to find how gen¬ 
erally cotton-seed meal is used by farmers in the 
Connecticut Valley, where the practice of home mix¬ 
ing has reached a high degree of perfection. Where 
the analysis is guaranteed, we would prefer cotton¬ 
seed meal at $19 per ton to any form of organic nitro¬ 
gen. It is remarkable how practical experience with 
cotton-seed meal in the Florida orange groves agrees 
with scientific work in New England. In Florida, 
growers have found that large dressings of cotton¬ 
seed meal have stimulated the trees beyond their 
strength. Its nitrogen is too readily available for 
such trees. That is one reason why it is so useful in 
the New England soil, which is cold in the spring, so 
that the crops require nitrogen in an available form. 
G 
The State of Mississippi seems to have solved the 
convict labjr problem. In former years, convicts 
were leased, that is, their labor was sold to farmers 
or contractors so that the State was put to no expense 
for their care. Abuses grew out of this system, and 
in 1892, a new State constitution was adopted which 
declared that, after a certain date, no convicts should 
be leased. The State purchased three large farms, 
and is now renting or working in partnership 10 other 
farms. The former State prison is now simply a dis¬ 
tributing point and hospital, and only lifetime con¬ 
victs are kept. The usual farm crops of grain, cotton 
and meat are produced, and in 1896, the prison farm 
labor netted the State the sum of $55 000. The board 
of control consists of the governor, attorney general 
and three railroad commissioners. Where the State 
owns or rents a farm, it furnishes all tools and stock. 
When the farm is worked on shares, the State fur¬ 
nishes and feeds the convicts, while the land, stock, 
implements, etc., are furnished by the other party, 
and all crops are equally divided. This plan is giving 
excellent satisfaction. At first, some farmers objected 
because such farming would compete with private 
citizens and increase the production of grain and cot¬ 
ton. These objections have now been largely over¬ 
come by other evident advantages. In thus solving 
the prison problem, Mississippi shows the way for 
northern States where prisons are filled with fat and 
idle convicts, whose idleness is a burden not only to 
the State but to themselves. The farming plan might 
not be suitable for the North, but there is no good 
reason why convict labor should not be employed in 
breaking stone for roads. Locate the prison near 
some large quarry, crush the stone in suitable sizes 
for building macadamized roads, and sell it for road 
purposes at cost. That would prove a public benefit, 
and such work would compete with ordinary work¬ 
ingmen less than any other. 
0 
On page 366, some of our friends are discussing the 
merits of the “scrub” cow. Whatever else may be 
said for or against this much-abused animal, one 
thing is sure, she has a vigor and hardiness not pos¬ 
sessed by any of the so-called improved breeds. She 
can stand more abuse, if there is any advantage in 
that. Dr. Bailey, of Maine, in a recent discussion of 
tuberculosis, gave the following account of the way 
some men do business : 
I have found hardly a case among the rugged, hardy little 
native cows. I have been on the Board 15 years, ever since the 
tuberculosis law went into effect. We have about 300,000 cattle in 
the State. In many cases, the cattle are kept under poor sani¬ 
tary conditions. One herd in the western part of the State bad 
stood on frozen manure all winter, which had accumulated 
until the cattle stood 2)4 feet higher behind than in front. I 
asked the owner what advantages he expected from this plan. 
He said that the cows were easier to milk that way. Yet to my 
surprise, there was no tuberculosis in that herd. 
Let us imagine a herd of highly-bred Jersey cows in 
such a situation ! Naturally, the first cross in the im¬ 
provement of that herd would be with a pickax and 
hammer to level the manure, and cover the cracks in 
the barn. Improved barn would do these cows more 
good than improved blood. “What is a scrub anyway ?” 
O 
BREVITIES. 
“ DECORATION DAY.” 
He was just a country boy, big and awkward—brown with tan, 
Slow of speech and slow of thought—just a common, common man. 
Slow and homely were his thoughts from the hillside looking 
down 
Through the valley where the smoke curled above the busy town. 
But the silent hills reached out with a message strong and true. 
And he volunteered to fight for the old red, white and blue. 
And the soldier’s uniform gave him dignity and grace; 
All his bashfulness was gone—there was courage in his face, 
And his gray-haired mother wept and his father looked with pride, 
And the maiden of his choice vainly sought her grief to hide. 
With her Bible in his coat and her promise in his heart, 
Just a common man he marched just to do a soldier’s part. 
’Tis the old, old tale again—just a soldier lying dead, 
Just a mother weeping sore, just a maiden’s heart like lead. 
Just a lonely soldier’s grave on a hillside far away. 
Just a woman, faithful still, keeping Decoration Day. 
’Tis a common, common tale of a common, common man, 
Just a simple, manly life offered up in God’s great plan; 
Just a name, forgotten, dropped, by the cruel, rushing years, 
Just a memory kept green by a woman’s bitter tears. 
But a nation strong and true, and a race redeemed and free, 
Stand to crown the martyred lives of such common men as he. 
Scrubbing the scrub — page 366. 
The “ sitter ” is chairy of work. 
Anoint the chick’s head with lard. 
The weed is full of greed and speed. 
A “ handy binder ’’—shaking hands over it. 
It is time to sow cow peas north of New York. 
How about admitting the wife to partnership ? 
Our Crimson clover was in full bloom May 18. 
A good plea for White Plymouth Rocks—page 354. 
The “ horny-handed son of toil ” is un soft fist icated. 
Don’t expect Sunday to bear all the burdens of the week. 
Does “ face value ” of the human depend on beauty or duty ? 
Badly fizzled out—the Greeks and that “ wave of prosperity.” 
You might experiment with a small patch of sorghum for green 
food for stock. 
Too many small fruit novelties are due berries. All they bring 
in is a due bill. 
Don’t delegate your mouth as sole conveyor of your prayers. 
Pray with your whole life. 
Apples kept in cold storage! How did they come out this past 
season ? Is cold storage profitable ? 
Drought comes in August, prepare for it in June, sow a lot of 
fodder corn—that’s the proper tune. 
Lonesome as a white blackbird— a man who has had his cattle 
dishorned and now wants the horns back ! 
Bone flour will bake you a good strawberry cake—if you stir in 
enough muriate of potash and nitrate of soda to raise it. 
Read the account of the plum curculio’s life and work. It is 
late, but Prof. Slingerland waited to get a true photograph. 
Break up the broody hen and the brooding man. Make one lay 
eggs, and make the other ay brighter plans for the future. 
The strawberry, Louis Gauthier, mentioned by A. T. G. on page 
358, is highly esteemed abroad, where it is often grown in pots 
under glass. It is less familiar in this country. 
Steamed leather gives but little value as a fertilizer. There is 
fertility in teamed leather. “Teamed” leather is in the form of a 
harness on a stout horse with a cultivator and a careful man 
attached. 
The action of salt on land is to check nitrification, and thus 
produce a harder growth. For this reason, florists use salt on 
their smilax beds, when hurried growth needs “ hardening off ” 
to make the foliage keep well after cutting. 
Who will start up a factory until he knows that the manufac¬ 
tured goods are to be sold ? Who is to buy these goods ? The 
farmer—without his trade the city streets will grow into pastures. 
Start the farm before you start the factory. 
