7l2 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 30 
i ne Rural New-Yorker. 
1BE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
▲ National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert 8 . Carman. Editor-in-Chlef. 
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 
8e. 6d., or 8% marks, or 10% francs. 
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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, with name of 
Post-office and State, and what the remittance is for, appear in 
every letter. Money oi ders and bank drafts cn New York are the 
safest means of transmitting money. 
Address all business communications and make all orders paj 
able to ' THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY , OCTOBER 30 1897. 
Don’t you want one of the books in the list below ? 
You, probably, have a neighbor or friend who wants 
The R. N.-Y. next year. We want his dollar. There 
is no reason why all three should not have their 
wants filled. As an extra inducement, we will send 
him the paper for the rest of this year free. Send us 
the dollar and mention your choice of these books : 
The Forcing Book, by Prof. Bailey. 
The Nursery Book, by Prof. Bailey. 
The New Potato Culture, by E. S. Carman. 
The Business Hen, by H. W. Collingwood. 
David Copperfield, by Dickens. 
We will send the paper until January 1 , 1899, and you 
the book, both postpaid. If you want to get up a 
club, the name will count for premiums. 
© 
English tomatoes are selling in the London market 
at six and eight cents per pound. Asparagus is a 
luxury in England. Even in its season, few besides 
the wealthy ever see it. During the week ending 
October 2, 34,171,424 eggs were imported into Great 
Britain. There ought to be a chance for American 
gardeners and poultrymen to secure a share of this 
trade. The Agricultural Department is now studying 
the problem of exporting eggs. With proper cold 
storage facilities on steamers, it will be possible to 
develop a heavy export trade in sueh vegetables as 
tomatoes and asparagus. The English want them, 
but cannot produce them cheaply enough to be within 
reach of the general public. 
© 
During the past few years, wonderful advances 
have been made in the study of bacteria. These 
minute forms of life enter into or produce most of 
the changes that are met with in agriculture. The 
action of manures, the growth of plants, the decay of 
farm products—all are governed more or leas by the 
work of bacteria. Surely the farmer, of all men, 
should understand the habits of these tiny creatures. 
Yet we find many farmers who willingly confess that 
they do not know what bacteria are, while others do 
not pretend to understand what they do. In view of 
these facts, we expect to begin, next week, a few 
Primer Science articles on bacteria and their work 
which, we think, will interest and instruct all readers. 
0 
Sib J. B. Lawks, of England, has measured the 
amount of nitrogen that is washed out of soils by the 
fall rains. In one rainy season, there were 130 pounds 
lost from one acre in this way during the month of 
September alone. During the hot weather of July 
and August, nitrification goes on rapidly in the soil. 
This means that nitrogen is changed from organic 
forms so that it is soluble in water. Most summer 
crops stop growing before frost. There being no 
living plants to utilize this soluble nitrogen, the rains 
easily wash most of it out of the soil. September and 
October are two of the worst months for leaving the 
ground bare. When covered with Crimson clover or 
winter grain, the loss is much less, for these growing 
plants will utilize most of the nitrogen. Never let the 
ground remain bare during the fall and early winter. 
© 
The United States General Appraisers, to whom are 
referred for final settlement all disputes over duties 
on imported goods, have been having fun with some 
importers rash enough to bring into this country some 
kangaroo tendons. Evidently, the framers of the 
law were not sufficiently impressed with the fact that 
our kangaroo industry must be protected, for these 
articles were not mentioned in the law. The importers 
tried to enter them free as animal integuments. But 
the astute assessors were alive to the fact that tendons 
don’t cover anything, hence the importers’ claim 
didn’t cover the case, and the tendons were assessed 
10 per cent duty. What under the sun these tendons 
are to be used for has been a carefully guarded secret; 
but it is surmised that they are to be used to build 
up the kangaroo industry in this country, which, of 
course, must be protected as an infant industry. In 
this light, it is plainly evident that the attempt to 
bring these tendons in duty free was little short of 
treasonable, and the practical rebuke these daring 
buccaneers received was justly deserved. Our kan¬ 
garoo industry must be protected at all hazards. 
© 
The Orange Judd Farmer, after making an “ex¬ 
haustive investigation ” of the subject, undertakes to 
show that the cost of raising a bushel of corn, in the 
corn-producing States, is six cents. Few practical 
men will pay any attention to such a statement. The 
city papers print it, of course, for they would like to 
show that farmers are on the road to wealth, even 
when corn is worth 15 cents a bushel. A farmer 
might put a low value on his labor and a high feeding 
value on the stalks, and give credit for a large amount 
of “manure left in the ground ”, and thus make the 
grain cost less than nothing. Such farmers generally 
use a lead pencil rather than a hoe. We frankly say 
that we cannot, on our own farm, raise a bushel of 
corn for much less than 30 cents. That is why we 
grow other crops, sell them, and buy western corn 
with the money. 
© 
A Canadian dairyman milked 24 cows, which re¬ 
quired two men besides himself. He got after the 
cows with a Babcock test, and found eight robbers. 
These robbers and one man went. At the end of the 
year, he found that the 16 had paid as great a profit 
as the 24, and he finally got down to 12 good cows 
that made just about as much money for him as the 
24 formerly did. There are plenty of American dairy¬ 
men who could tell much the same story. Good 
dairying does not consist in producing a great volume 
of milk or butter regardless of time, labor and ex¬ 
pense. Plenty of men who keep poor stock are slaves 
to hired men. It would be better for them to let the 
men go, and keep six or eight first-class cows that can 
be fed so that they will do the work of 12 or 15 
scrubs. Another thing : the milkers need testing as 
well as the milk. Milk after them once in a while, 
and see how much they leave. 
G 
What do you think of that storekeeper mentioned 
on page 714, who sent the names of boys to the whole¬ 
sale dealers in tobacco that samples of their wares 
might be sent the boys ? What would you do, were it 
your boy ? Wouldn’t you make some “ remarks” to 
such a dealer? Isn’t it about the most contemptible 
business of which you can conceive ? Every decent 
man or woman with any regard for the well-being of 
the children of himself or his neighbors, should not 
stop at making remarks, but instantly withdraw his 
custom from such a disgrace to humanity ; this is the 
only effective way of reaching some dealers. This 
custom of furnishing names for various purposes is 
all too common, and they are often furnished for 
much more degrading purposes than that mentioned. 
Kill the whole business. In this city—perhaps in 
others, also—a post office box must not be rented to a 
minor, that much of this sort of thing may be guarded 
against. The writer was once in a country store in a 
little town in Michigan where tobacco was not sold, 
and where signs prohibiting smoking were displayed. 
And what a contrast between that store and another 
in the same place where there was no such prohibi¬ 
tion. It wouldn’t be difficult to say where the best 
class of customers would go. Encourage the store¬ 
keeper with a conscience, and put both feet on the 
other disreputable or heedless character. 
© 
The city of Greater New York has an area of 193,- 
850, acres and contains a population of 3,388,771. 
There are 1,002 miles of paved streets, 353 miles of 
water front, and 1,156 miles of sewers. The total 
value of assessed property is $2,792,546,741. A daily 
water supply of 330,000,000 gallons is required, and 
the net bonded debt is $185,081,850.69 or $57.59 for each 
man, woman and child, lfjwe include the inhabitants 
of Jersey City, Newark and Elizabeth, N. J., we have 
4,029,517 people to be fed and clothed. Let us sup¬ 
pose each person to consume each day an average of 
one pint of milk, one ounce of butter, six outices of 
meat and eight ounces of flour, These are very low 
averages, yet they represent the following enormous 
quantities of food consumed in this comparatively 
small area : 
Per day. In one year. 
Milk, quarts. 2,014,768 735,390.320 
Meat, pounds. 1,506,819 549,989 235 
Butter, pounds. 251,845 91,923,425 
Flour, barrels. 10,278 3,749,470 
It is easy to see what would happen if the average 
consumption of milk, eggs or meat could be even 
slightly increased. It will require a herd of 294,156 
first-class cows to supply the milk needed in this 
great city, and 612,823 more good ones to supply the 
butter. Calling 125 bushels per acre a fair yield for 
potatoes, it will require 32,236 acres to provide this 
vegetable for Greater New York, and 937 367 acres of 
wheat averaging 18 bushels per acre will be needed 
to provide a year’s bread. If the people in this great 
city could each be induced to eat an average of one 
egg every day, it would require 14,708,134 able-bodied 
hens to egg the city on. These figures apply only to 
the actual residents. At least, 20 per cent should be 
added for visitors and those who work in the city and 
go away at night. Thus it is that this comparatively 
small area provides a tremendous market for farmers. 
It is a singular thing that a great majority of those 
who live here merely handle or make over what the 
farmer produces. In other words, the great wealth 
of New York is made up of slices of value taken from 
the products of the farmer, lumberman and miner. 
It all came out of the soil originally. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
Inside the kernel of the wheat, 
Dame Nature tried to pack her best; 
The miller quite undoes her feat, 
He steals the kernel’s coat and vest. 
She gave us corn, but dropped too much 
Of fat within its yellow hide, 
And man and beast will need a crutch 
Who put too much of it inside. 
Then rye and barley had their turn, 
But man stepped in with still and brew, 
And made the liquor that will burn 
The wits, and send the brains astew. 
Then Nature grieved, but tried again. 
Sne mixed fresh dough; and hard and small 
She moulded out another grain, 
And called it oat—the best of all. 
A rugged, hardy plant, it takes 
The vigor from the rocky soil; 
It builds the bone that never breaks, 
And gives the nerve that laughs at toil. 
And Nature smiled—well satisfied, 
For there was growth within the oat. 
And, oatmeal-fed, we view with pride 
The baby, calf, colt, lamb or shoat 
Read about The Fall Calf—page 707. 
The blacksmith runs a shoddy business. 
The grasshopper’s ears are located in his legs. 
Jack Frost has sent the grasshoppers to grass. 
Veal the calf that reveals the future robber cow. 
“ Yes,” said Smith, “the baby is of high squat lty.” 
Use plane words. They will plane down the bumps. 
Our legislatures are making game of the game laws. 
Yes, sir, the weak-kneed man has a strong need of grit. 
What are the cows feeding on—the mortgage or your pocket- 
book ? 
Don’t wait until your teeth are gone before learning to laugh 
at trouble. 
So Mapes would save the whole creation—by feeding it a bal¬ 
anced ration. Page 718. 
A nickel’s worth of nicotine contains enough “Old Nick” to 
makethe youngster sick. 
A California man counted the bees in a hive. One queen, 270 
drones and 16,480 workers ! 
Now we find a class of writers trying to drive the word “whoa!” 
out of the horse’s vocabulary. 
One of the strongest advocates of the Keiffer pear is now re¬ 
ported to be grafting his trees with Garber. 
The historic giant grape vine at Fontainebleau, France, pro¬ 
duced this year 7,672 pounds of grapes, which were sold at auction 
for $715. 
Daniel B. Paine, who recently died at Pana, Ill., was one of 
the oldest subscribers of The R. N.-Y. For over 44 years, he 
received the paper regularly. 
In nine cases out of ten, the first honest impulse that comes 
into the mind is the nearest right. Few persons ever get nearer 
the right by hunting for an excuse. 
“ Incubator parties ” are the latest social fad. An incubator 
just ready to hatch is brought into the parlor, and the guests sit 
around and see the chicks break the shell. 
Is there to be another rush of eastern people to the western 
States as there was 20 years ago ? Western men would like to 
have us think so, but why should they go ? 
The bull is half the herd. Put a good one at the head. Then 
halve it by selling the scrubs and give the half that is left better 
quarters. You can then make a hole in the mortgage. 
Several weeks ago, The R. N.-Y. printed an article on home¬ 
made windmills. Prof. Barbour says that he has received letters 
from R. N.-Y. readers all the way from Virginia to Idaho about 
the mills. 
A farmer on the Island of Jersey has succeeded in growing a 
crop of wheat after a crop of early potatoes. The wheat was 
sown May 24, and cut September 14, leaving the ground free for a 
third crop in one year. 
In the tobacco discussion, page 714, our friends are pretty hard 
on the tobacco-bred father. He is a hard subject to live with— 
that is true, but how about the mother who gives way to the 
gum, candy and scolding habits ? 
The Phillips boys, page 706, are sturdy young stock. Mr. Linder, 
with his 10 great boys, is far ahead in the race, but not hope¬ 
lessly so. These four boys are being well trained and well fed. 
They have made a good start. It is a mighty satisfying thing to 
invest your savings in good and healthy children. It beats bank 
stock 1 
We commend the stand taken by our Maryland friend, page 
719. His cow quit “ chewing her cud”. The neighbors advised 
him to shove a greasy cloth down her throat or give her two 
small frogs! Instead of doing so, he advised them to subscribe 
to The R. N.-Y. 1 That’s right! Such men need a new mental 
“ cud ” far more than the cow needs a small frog. 
