1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
393 
WHAT I SEE AND HKAB. 
The canning 1 of fruits and vegetables, to say noth¬ 
ing of meats and other products, is constantly on the 
increase. Hardly an article of food that goes on our 
tables, but can be purchased in cans of our large city 
grocers. Even Boston baked beans, the Thanksgiv¬ 
ing turkey and the English plum pudding may be 
bought all ready for the table. This relieves the city 
housekeeper of a vast amount of work, and in many 
cases gives her her table supplies in much better con¬ 
dition than would otherwise be possible. The 
material most largely used for the manufacture of 
cans is tin ; it has been considered cheaper than glass 
and less liable to breakage. But there are objections 
to its use, especially for acid fruits and vegetables, 
and glass is coming more and more into use. The 
latter gives more of a chance for displaying fancy 
products, and the windows of some of our fancy city 
grocers are a sight to see when filled with glass cans 
of all the different fruits and vegetables. 
t X X 
On the farm, the largest part of the winter’s supply 
of fruits is put up in glass. There have been great 
advances in the manufacture of glass jars for this 
purpose. Still there are many unsatisfactory features 
about most of them, and one of the most unsatisfac¬ 
tory is the method of screwing on the cover. This 
often requires a great outlay 
of muscular force, and often¬ 
times a still greater outlay 
when an attempt is made to 
remove the cover when the 
fruit is required for use. At 
Fig. 171, is shown a compara¬ 
tively new thing in this line. 
It is a German invention, and 
has been in use for several 
years in Europe. It is called 
the Easy or Vacuum jar. Its 
appearance is much like the 
ordinary jar, but it has a wider 
mouth. It is made in different 
qualities of glass. It has a 
metal cap, underneath which is 
A steel clamp to hold the cover in 
can is cooling is removed after the 
Fia. in. 
a rubber ring, 
place while the 
can is cooled, the cover being held in place by the 
pressure of the air upon it. The fruit is put in hot 
the same as in other jars. The metal cap is lined 
with a preparation of wood pulp which keeps the 
contents of the jar from contact with the metal. 
There is no screwing or wrenching to fasten on the 
covers, and the fact that they are to stay on is 
evidenced by a reward of $100 for any one who will 
remove by hand a cover from a can that is sealed. It 
is removed by simply puncturing it, when the air 
enters, the vacuum is destroyed, aad the cover may 
be lifted off. New covers may be purchased cheaply, 
or a drop of solder on the puncture will make the old 
cover good for another year’s use. 
X X X 
The extra size of the mouth of this jar is a great 
advantage infilling and emptying, as well as in clean¬ 
ing. An ordinary sized hand easily goes into the 
quart jar. The price of the jars is said to be a trifle 
less than the old Mason jars. At the offices of the 
company in this city, is a large assortment of canned 
goods of every conceivable kind, from different Euro¬ 
pean manufacturers as well as from California. There 
are preserves, pickles, catsups, vegetables, etc. Butter 
and other products are also on exhibition. Some of 
these have been packed for four years, and are per¬ 
fect in color and condition. Some have voyaged 
around the world, crossed the equator and gone into 
the frigid zone. One of the largest fruit packing 
companies in California, the San Jos6 Packing Co., 
has adopted this jar, and has faith that it is the best 
for its purpose. The claims made for it certainly 
appear reasonable, and the goods shown in it bear 
silent testimony to its efficiency. 
X X t 
The stores of the commission merchants are often 
dark and dingy, not to say dirty. I entered one the 
other day, which was so far above the average as to 
be noticeable. It was light, airy and clean. The 
inside was newly painted a light color, and the whole 
appearance was attractive. The merchant and his 
helpers had the same air of neatness. The goods, 
also, were nicely and attractively displayed. Then, 
too, the merchant said that trade was good and every¬ 
thing satisfactory. Think you there was any connec¬ 
tion between this and the general appearance of his 
store ? Appearances do go a long way in selling goods. 
Formerly the Philadelphia market didn’t require 
much live poultry, and the reason assigned was that 
there was a small Hebrew population. Now, the 
population has changed somewhat in this respect, and 
more live poultry is in demand. Our city markets 
are constantly changing in many other respects. 
X t X 
A resident of Brooklyn tells me that his grocer is 
selling good, pure milk for four cents per quart, just 
as good milk as that for which the regular milkman 
charges eight cents. How does he do it ? He, in con¬ 
nection with three or four other grocers, has an 
arrangement with a farmer in Cortland County, N. Y. 
to send him a regular supply at a price a trifle higher 
than that paid by the creameries. He has an arrange¬ 
ment with the express company by which the milk is 
delivered to him promptly and regularly at a fair 
price. The milk costs him, delivered in his store, a 
trifle over three cents per quart. His customers come 
after the milk so he is put to no expense to deliver it. 
While the margin of profit may not seem large, it 
must be remembered that the goods are delivered 
quickly ; it is a case of the nimble sixpence, so the 
percentage of profit is large. The only drawback 
would seem to be the surplus that he may possibly 
have left on his hands ; milk cannot be kept like sugar 
or tea. But he knows about what the demand is likely 
to be, and need have little surplus left. But just 
think what an increase in the consumption of milk 
that lower price will insure ! The middleman isn’t 
eliminated in this case, but he is reduced to the min¬ 
imum. If the price of many other of the products of 
the farm could be reduced in the same way, the cry 
of overproduction and underconsumption might be 
largely abated, and many of the city dwellers be 
better fed. f. h. v. 
AMERICA’S DEBT TO ENGLAND. 
The Money Was Honestly Borrowed. 
The remarks on page 280, regarding interest and 
dividends paid to England by the United States, are 
open to criticism. I am not questioning the figures 
quoted which, at best, are mere guesses. The asser¬ 
tion that American farmers send their products 
abroad to pay interest on debts which, as a rule, gave 
them only an indirect benefit, if any, is misleading. 
The facts are that the men that borrowed the money 
buy, with the earnings of the properties they con¬ 
structed with the borrowed money, the products of 
the American farmer, *and send them abroad to pay 
their obligations. With no surplus products to send, 
and no other commodities for the earnings of the 
borrowed money to buy, there would be no earnings, 
and the English loaner would then, of necessity, 
foreclose and own the railroads or other property in 
which he invested his money. Why not ? His money 
built it. He then need not be envied. The railroad 
would be in the United States, its owner in England, 
and, paying only running expenses, there would be 
no earnings to forward. If borrowed money can be 
used to advantage, we want it, otherwise not. It is 
quite evident that our people think that borrowed 
money can be used with profit. We should remember 
that, for every dollar borrowed from England, the 
United States furnished a borrower asking for it. 
Wisconsin. f. j. frost. 
Where are the Figures ? 
I have just read the editorial about Dr. Karl Peters, 
and the statements he has made regarding the amount 
of money that England has invested in the United 
States. In looking over the Custom House reports 
for the past 30 years, there are only a few years that 
our imports exceeded our exports, and the balance in 
our favor during that time ought to have made us rich 
and England our debtor. What I want you to explain 
is, what England gave us for the amount she is said 
to have invested here. How could she get either 
money or goods into this country without their ap¬ 
pearing on the Custom House reports? 
Nebraska. Andrew harney. 
R. N.-Y.—Here are the figures showing our trade 
with Great Britain during the past five years : 
Imports from Great Britain. 
1892. 
1893. 
1894. 
1895. 
1896. 
Merchan¬ 
dise. 
Gold. 
$156,300,881 
12,790.336 
267,627 
$182,859,769 
•190,575 
3 
$107,372,995 
31,618,545 
13,508 
$159,083,243 
14 108,369 
66,541 
$169,963,434 
11,501,989 
13,928 
Silver. 
Exports to Great Britain. 
1892. 
1893. 
1894. 
1895. 
1896. 
Merchan¬ 
dise. 
Gold. 
Silver. 
$499,315,332 
6,508,060 
19,566,392 
$421,134,551 
21,415,797 
25,223.522 
$131 059,267 
15,069,290 
35,107,908 
$387,125,458 
8,392,583 
32,030,527 
$405,741,339 
61,325.138 
43,383,127 
In 1896, therefore, the balance of trade in our favor 
on merchandise alone was $235,777,905. We sent, in 
addition, $104,708,265 worth of gold and silver, while 
Great Britain sent us $11,515,917 worth. The total 
balance in our favor, therefore, was $338,970,353. The 
argument of Dr. Karl Peters is that this trade bal¬ 
ance is not sent back to this country, but is credited, 
in the English banks, to those who hold American 
securities, as interest on their investments, just as the 
values of wool or wheat or hogs shipped from a west¬ 
ern town by buyers are credited at Chicago or New 
York to the creditors of these buyers or to those who 
have lent money to the farmers or townsmen. 
What part of this balance of trade is earned by 
values of agricultural products ? Here is a table 
showing it : 
Exports of Agricultural Products. 
1892. 
1893. 
1894. 
1895. 
1896. 
Live stock. 
$34,108,958 
$25,673,155 
$32,978,368 
$30,841,240 
$36,632,583 
Bread stuff's... 
136 249,625 
115,221,839 
89.243,222 
69,109.527 
75,734,520 
Cotton. 
146,605,503 
99,661.909 
117,573,470 
101,101,243 
93,050,467 
Fruit. 
3,704,883 
2,046,996 
771,020 
2,908,277 
2,169,873 
Hops. 
2,365,520 
2,621,088 
3,662,493 
1,782,879 
1,387,349 
Provisions. 
65,069,00-1 
79,665,629 
78,272,623 
76,664,858 
78,342,754 
Dairy goods... 
7,434,435 
7,155,771 
6,855,094 
4,497,832 
4,259,541 
Tobacco. 
6,446,113 
8,015,581 
9,153,360 
10,444,894 
9,768,440 
Seeds. 
1,908,320 
737,353 
2,123,680 
1,315,254 
485,529 
Oil cakeA meal 
5,789,974 
5,008,709 
4,151,784 
3,216,971 
3,506,715 
Rosin & turp’e. 
4,062,198 
3,250,550 
2,979,503 
3,291,795 
3,435,222 
In 1886, $14,332,533 worth of leather was exported 
to Great Britain, and there were, also, about $12,000,- 
000 worth of other articles that may fairly be classed 
as agricultural products. It is easy to see, therefore, 
that the American farmer supplied the articles that 
paid our debts abroad. The manufacturer, the miner 
and the lumberman did very little for the export 
trade. The most that England wants of us is food, 
cotton, gold and silver. This would be a very satis¬ 
factory arrangement if prices on agricultural products 
could have been maintained. The trouble is that it 
now takes more bushels and pounds of food and cot¬ 
ton to pay the interest on that borrowed money. 
The export prices of these products have been 
steadily declining, so that while, in some cases, we 
now send abroad more than ever before of food and 
cotton, the total amount obtained for them is less 
than in former years. At the same time, the amount 
of interest on borrowed foreign money does not de¬ 
crease, but really grows larger. 
Dr. Peters made two points : 1. England is the 
creditor, not only of this country, but of all others 
that compete with us in exporting cotton and food. 
It is fair, therefore, to presume that this fact has 
much to do with regulating prices of the goods which 
the English buy. 2. Under present conditions, America 
can never hope to pay her debts abroad. Food, cot¬ 
ton and gold are about the only products our cred¬ 
itors will take from us. We as a nation cannot secure 
the necessary gold, and we are on the wrong side to 
force higher prices for food and cotton. 
The Massachusetts Legislature has passed a bill 
appropriating $150,000 to be used in destroying the 
Gypsy moth. This destructive insect, introduced 
from Europe nearly 30 years ago, has not yet ex¬ 
tended beyond Massachusetts, according to Prof. 
Smith, but last year that State expended about 
$120,000 in fighting it, and if efforts are abandoned 
for a single season, it will be a source of great danger 
to other localities. The entomologist to the State 
Board of Agriculture, in his last report, estimated 
that to exterminate the moth would require $200,000 
annually for the next five years, then $100,000 a year 
for five years more, and $15,000 a year for a third 
period of five years. It is estimated that this amount, 
added to that previously expended, would exceed 
$2,000,000, exclusive of the damage inflicted by the 
insect upon trees and farm and garden crops. 
BUSINESS BITS 
Almost every farmer lias something that needs painting all 
the time. There is really no good excuse for not having the 
painting done. O. W. Ingersoll, 216 Plymouth Street, Brooklyn, 
N. Y., makes a business of putting up paint ready mixed for 
use, and he sells it direct to consumers. 
O. H. Stearns is still advertising fertilizers from 115 Nassau 
Street, New York City. He has not yet sent the goods to two of 
our subscribers who sent him the money for them, one over a 
year ago, the other three or four years ago; and we have not 
been able to induce him to do so, though he admits getting the 
money. 
About 30 years ago, some one wrote a song entitled, “ Shoo fly, 
don’t bodder me ! ” Thousands began to sing it, and it served 
to brush care away, but the flies kept on biting the cattle and 
horses. Now the same name, “ Shoo-fly,” has been given to a 
preparation for keeping flies away from stock and, also, for heal¬ 
ing sores. We all know how flies steal milk, meat and comfort 
from the stock. “ Shoo-fly ! ” That is good advice. The ifext best 
is, use “ Shoo-fly ” to make them “ shoo.” 
The use of chemical fertilizers has now been reduced to a scien¬ 
tific basis. For a long time, farmers worked in a hap-hazard 
manner—calling everything a “phosphate” from kainit to a com¬ 
plete fertilizer. Now they study the needs of the crop, find out 
what fertilizers are made from, how they are made, and avoid 
former wastes. Our western readers are using more fertilizers 
tban they formerly did, largely because they now understand 
them better. Some western dealers have hurt the trade by insist¬ 
ing on one-sided fertilizers not suited to general culture. The 
Cleveland Dryer Company, of Cleveland, O., have been quick to 
see the needs of farmers. They have made fertilizers suited to 
ail sorts of crops and soils, and those who deal with them have a 
great variety to select from. 
