1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
8o9 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAB. 
A scheme is reported in some of the daily papers of 
a movement among a number of dairymen in eastern 
Pennsylvania for shipping their milk to New York. 
They have been shipping to Philadelphia, and the 
milk has passed through the hands of one or more 
middlemen and retailers. Often, the milk has not 
stood the critical test to which it has been subjected, 
and the farmers have been prosecuted and fined, 
though they assert that the milk has been tampered 
with in transit. They now purpose to put their milk 
into glass bottles, properly stamped, in which it is to 
be delivered to the consumer. By means of refriger¬ 
ator cars when needed, they expect to be able to put 
a first-class article into the New York market. 
Whether they will reach the consumer through the 
new syndicate, hasn’t yet developed. 
t X X 
One extensive exporter of dried fruits told me that, 
if the foreign demand for evaporated apples were 
one-quarter that of last year, it would exhaust the 
available supply in this country. But foreign buyers 
are holding off because of what they consider high 
prices. Of course, with the short crop, prices are 
much higher than last year with its enormous crop. 
At this time last year, fancy evaporated apples were 
quoted at 4% to \ % cents per pound ; now they are 
quoted at 8% to 9 cents—almost double. The exporter 
mentioned has handled a good many evaporated ap¬ 
ples from Missouri and Arkansas. I asked him how 
they compared with the eastern apples, and he said 
that they didn’t show up so well ; that they didn’t 
look so white and nice, and appeared to be tougher 
and of poorer quality. Is this difference in the quality 
of the apples originally, or is it the.result of different 
methods of handling ? 
X X t 
Honey seems to be extremely plentiful in the mar¬ 
ket this winter, and prices are low. Most of the 
sections of comb are put up in cases so arranged that 
the sides are open, giving a good view of the honey. 
These cases usually hold from 15 to 25 pounds of 
honey. There is a great difference in the method of 
packing. I saw one lot plainly and honestly marked, 
“No. 2”, made up of sections only partially filled. 
Such a case can be detected by its lack of weight. 
I saw some cases with very fine, full sections on the 
outside, with the middles filled with partially filled 
ones. Such a fraud can, also, be detected by its 
lack of weight, by any one at all accustomed to 
handling honey. Some of the cases marked No. 2, 
were being offered for 7 cents per pound wholesale. 
Much of the honey received is so roughly handled 
that the combs are badly broken in transit. Here is 
where extracted honey has an advantage. Consider¬ 
able California honey is received here, and fine-ap¬ 
pearing honey it is, too. The honey market is likely 
to continue dull until the approach of the Hebrew 
holidays in the spring, at which time there is a greater 
demand for honey. 
X t X 
A fbuit grower sent a lot of 12 barrels of apples to 
market, good, bad and-worse, all mixed together. 
They sold for $1.50 per barrel, although there was a 
fair proportion of good ones among them. Here is 
about the way the account would stand : 
RECEIPTS. 
12 barrels of apples at $1.50.$18 00 
COSTS OP MARKETING. 
12 barrels at 25 cents.$3 00 
Freight at 10 cents per barrel. 1 20 
Cartage at 5 cents per barrel. 60 
Commission at 10 cents per barrel. 1 20 
- 6 00 
Total net receipts. $12 00 
Net price per barrel. 1 00 
Had one-half of the best of these apples been sorted 
out, and carefully packed in attractive shape, they 
would have sold much more quickly at double the 
price per barrel for which the whole of them sold. 
Then the account would have stood as follows : 
RECEIPTS. 
6 barrels of apples at $3 per barrel.$18 00 
COST OF MARKETING. 
6 barrels at 25 cents.$1 50 
Freight at 10 cents per Oarrel. 60 
Cartage at 5 cents per barrel. 30 
Commission at 10 cents per barrel. 60 
- 3 00 
Total net receipts. $15 00 
Net price per barrel. 2 50 
It is plain that, when the apples were properly as¬ 
sorted and only the six barrels of choice ones were 
sent, the net receipts were $3 more than in the other 
case. Which shipment gave the most profit to the 
shipper ? These figures do not take into account the 
six barrels of inferior apples that were left at home, 
which were worth something. Another feature of 
this matter is the effect on the market. The ship¬ 
ment of these ill-assorted, under-quality products, is 
the greatest factor in the so-called glutted markets 
which are a bug-bear to commission men and producer 
alike. The above case is not a fancy sketch, but is 
duplicated in different products and in various de¬ 
grees every-day in our great markets. 
X X X 
A shipment of about 125 coops of live poultry was 
recently made from this city to Cape Colony, South 
Africa. It is said that it will take 40 days for the 
stock to reach its destination, and it will have to pass 
through a great variety of climate. A man went 
with the fowls to feed and care for them. They are 
intended for breeding purposes. f. h. y. 
THREE AILING HORSES. 
AN8WEB8 BY DB. F. L . K I L B O B N E . 
Treatment for Sweeny. 
My young horse went lame after being worked a couple of days. 
The lameness has subsided, but the muscles on the face of the 
scapula have shrunk away, and left nothing but the skin; the 
skin has not grown to the bone. Will the muscles come over the 
blade again ? Would it be injurious to give some light road 
work ? a. b. a. 
Trappe, Md. 
Loosen the skin over the region of the wasted 
muscle by working and pulling with the hands until 
it can be freely raised from the muscle. Then apply 
a mild blister (strong aqua ammonia one part, well 
shaken up in two parts sweet oil). If not blistered 
by the first application, repeat in five to seven days. 
As soon as the crusts from the blister have been shed, 
loosen the skin daily, and rub actively with tho hands 
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NEXT WEEK 
We shall print Part II. of Mr. Garrahan’s 
Story of a Run-Down Farm. 
This installment gives some excellent advice 
about blowing out stones and rocks. 
Leghorn Hens That Lay. 
An interesting interview with a successful 
poultryman. 
The Work ol Angleworms. 
Mr. Slingerland will tell us how these humble 
worms make over the earth and aid the 
farmer. 
Handling New York’s Gram Supply. 
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An illustrated article, showing how the mil¬ 
lions of bushels of grain that pass through 
New York are handled and stored. This is 
the first of a series of articles, describing ▲ 
how New York’s food supply is cared for and ^ 
passed from hand to hand. ^ 
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Harvesting Ice. 
Forcing Asparagus. 
Strawberries as House Plants. 
All the usual departments will be full 
and complete. 
for several minutes, or better, with a corn cob, until 
the shoulder is well warmed up by the friction. The 
blistering may be repeated once a month to advan¬ 
tage, until the shoulder is refilled. Light daily exe: - 
cise is very essential, and aids materially in giving 
tone to the wasted muscle. Light road work, if 
driven moderately on smooth roads, will be bene¬ 
ficial. On rough roads, the horse should be driven 
slowly. 
Navicular Disease and Founder. 
My horse, eight or nine years old, is in good condition, good 
feeder and worker; I have had him about six months. When he 
stands still, he wants to rest his fore feet. He raises one a little 
and then the other, and seems a little stiff on them, and some¬ 
times he stretches both back and front feet out as far as he can 
get them. I have asked the blacksmith if he had any corns, and 
he said that his feet were perfectly clean. When I take him out 
for a run he does not show it any more than at other times, but I 
notice that he often lies down quite early at night. I use cow 
manure to fill in his shoes two or three times a week, and I have 
made him a box stall so that he can move around, and filled it in 
with clay and dirt. What can I do for him ? a. e. 
New Jersey. 
The horse is, evidently, suffering from either navi¬ 
cular disease or chronic laminitis, but which, I am 
unable to say from your description. Clip the hair 
from around the coronet and the front and sides of the 
pastern for a distance of two to three inches above 
the hoof. Then apply a biniodide of mereury-can- 
tharides blister (cerate of cantharides ointment, one 
ounce ; biniodide of mercury, one dram ; mix) rub¬ 
bing it well into the hair. If not blistered by the 
first application, repeat in four or five days, care being 
taken to rub in only a little of the ointment the 
second time if already partially blistered. The blister¬ 
ing may be repeated two or three times at intervals 
of about three weeks, or as soon as the crusts have 
been shed from the previous blister. The sole and 
hoof wall may be dressed two or three times a week 
with hot tar. If you still desire to pack the feet, I 
would advise replacing the cow manure packing by 
oil meal or flax seed. 
A Case of Thrush. 
My eight-year-old driving horse has had a contracted hoof with 
some lameness in consequence of use in the city on pavements. 
Since removal to the country, the hoof has grown to the size of 
the others, but the horse still goes lame occasionally, and the 
soreness seems to be in the deep “ crack ” in the rear of the frog, 
and in the heel. What can be done for it ? o. a. l. 
Farmer, O. 
The soreness, if in the cleft of the frog, will be 
accompanied by a fetid discharge—thrush. With a 
sharp knife, clean out and cut away all dead or dis¬ 
eased horn as far as the discharge extends. Then 
dust with dry calomel, and finally press some of the 
calomel well into the cleft with a roll of tow or oakum, 
or piece of untwisted rope. Repeat the application 
once or twice a week until the discharge ceases. The 
horse should be kept on a dry floor where the feet can 
be kept clean and dry. 
CUT AND SHREDDED. 
The Chicago Board of Trade has been discussing 
the increase in the amount of adulterated flour, and 
now advocates the passage of a law by Congress to 
prevent the sale of such flour. The bill which has 
already been drafted, defines mixed flour, and pro¬ 
vides that special taxes shall be imposed upon manu¬ 
facturers, and that the packages containing such flour 
shall be plainly branded with the words “Mixed 
Flour.” The proposed penalties are heavy, and the 
enactment and enforcement of this bill would effec¬ 
tually stamp out the fraudulent sale of this flour. 
The Georgia Legislature has already passed a law 
prohibiting the sale of such flour. 
Dubing the three summer months, the New York 
Board of Health seized and condemned 2,578,448 
pounds of milk, fruit, meat, fish and other foods. Of 
these, 1,012,145 pounds were bananas, a fruit very 
often seen in bad condition upon the street stands in 
the poorer parts of the city. There were also con¬ 
demned 39,905 pounds of apples, 2,120 pounds of egge, 
323,105 pounds of watermelons, 50 pounds of onions, 
275,285 pounds of fish, and 437 850 pounds of meat. 
In addition to this, 7,730 pounds of cucumbers and 
1,850 pounds of pickles were seized. The death rate 
in the city was less than during any summer since 
1892, and this is, doubtless, due to the better sanitary 
condition. 
One of the odd industries of Australia, that strange 
country where the serpents coo like pigeons, and 
where a tree is made of sheets of paper, is digging for 
gum. This is the hard, vitrified gum of the Kauri 
pine. By some strange process of Nature, the gum 
exudes from the roots and, in districts where not a 
single tree is now standing, upon the sites of ancient 
Kauri forests, the digging of this gum forms a profit¬ 
able industry. Some of the richest gum-fields are 
upon Crown lands, where diggers have to pay a license 
of 10 shillings annually for permission to dig. The 
gum is used in varnish-making, under the name of 
Dammar gum. Existing forests of Kauri trees are cut 
down for timber, but no gum is obtained from these. 
The last meeting of the National Grange at Harris¬ 
burg, Pa., was an eminently business one. The execu¬ 
tive committee’s report showed that the Grange had 
loaned on real estate security $46,000, and had on 
deposit $6,300, total assets of $52,300, or nearly $1,000 
more than one year before. Fifteen State Granges 
have some form of business cooperation which is 
meeting with success. The committee admitted their 
inability to make arrangements by means of which 
the western grain growers can deal directly and 
safely with the eastern dairymen and others for the 
exchange of crops. The order is being extended by 
organizing deputies. Reports from the different 
States were filled with encouragement. Secretary of 
Agriculture Wilson addressed the Grange. The Grange 
did not favor Government ownership of extensive 
business enterprises, but rather their rigid super¬ 
vision. Resolutions were adopted, among others, for 
the establishment of postal savings banks ; building 
a Nicaragua canal ; instructing the executive com¬ 
mittee to try to complete the establishment of an in¬ 
formation bureau by every State Grange, which shall 
collect statistics regarding surplus farm products in 
their respective States, and to distribute the list 
among all the States ; providing for such amendment 
of the Interstate Commerce law as to secure uniform 
freight classification ; the free delivery of mail in 
rural districts, and the members were advised to con¬ 
tinue petitions for the same ; a uniform national law 
against the adulteration of food products, and the 
election of United States Senators by popular vote. 
These are all important. Aaron Jones, South Bend, 
Ind., was elected Master, and John Trimble, Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., Secretary. The next meeting will be 
at Concord, N. H. 
