i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
57 
Bitrul doyics. 
“Notes on a Back Number.” 
(Continued from Page 52.) 
orchards in Kings County, Nova Scotia, 
where there are open water on three sides, 
and a river in the middle, and frequent fogs 
during the summer months, and, to come 
nearer home, learn that the phenomenal 
apple crop in eastern lower Illinois was 
associated with copious and nearly weekly 
rains during the growing season, while in 
other sections not remote, where drought 
prevailed, the crop was a failure all 
through. 
The cut of Florimel and her foal (on 
page 707) is life-like and a vast improve¬ 
ment on those impossibly perfect pictures 
of stock, still quite common in agricultural 
papers. 
The best time to market crops, (same 
page) if the farmer is in debt, is as soon as 
convenient after harvest. If he is finan¬ 
cially independent, he should sell at once if 
the price is above the average for the last 
five or 10 years ; if below, it will be a good 
investment for him to wait before selling 
till there has been an advance that brings 
the prices up to the average. 
In the matter of farrow and fresh cows, 
(page 709), an intelligent French dairyman, 
who supplies a select body of customers in 
Paris with milk in sealed glass bottles, for 
which he is paid an equivalent of 14 cents 
per quart, having made a long series of ex¬ 
periments, has been able to show that cows 
in calf give more and richer milk than far¬ 
row cows, and therefore that breeding the 
cows is preferable to letting them go 
farrow. 
“ Yes, hay is hay ” (page 710), but there is 
a very large difference in the nutritive 
quality of different crops of the same vari¬ 
ety, depending on the soil and something 
perhaps on the elevation. For example, 
the Timothy grown in Colorado at an ele¬ 
vation of from 7,000 to 10,000 feet, is so very 
strong in nutritive qualities that horses 
and mules at work are kept on it in good 
condition of flesh aDd health without the 
aid of grain. The hay from strong, rich 
soils is similar to the lean of fat beef, when 
compared with the flesh of poor animals. 
The Idaho Pear (page 711), is not to be 
named on the same day with the Bartlett, 
either for home use or the market. In fact, 
there are but two ‘'best” pears.—the 
Bartlett and the Keiffer,—just as there are 
but two best grasses, namely, Blue Grass 
and Timothy. 
It is gratifying to observe (page 712) that 
Prof. Sanborn is receiving the credit and 
honors due him for his labors in behalf of 
an improved agriculture, from the mana¬ 
gers of the farmers’ institutes in Ohio and 
New England. The political lawyers of 
Missouri undertook to suppress him, and it 
is pleasant to know their schemes have 
come to naught, and that the Professor 
stauds before the country as its leading ag¬ 
ricultural authority and teacher. 
“ What to do with the straw:” (page 718.) 
To stratify it with the second or third crop 
of green Alfalfa, which is ready to be taken 
off the laud, at the time the straw is re¬ 
leased from the thrashing machine will be 
the practice of the future in the corn and 
cattle counties of the prairie States. There 
is no better fodder for all kinds of stock, 
young and old, and none which they eat 
with more avidity, than this improved 
sandwich of green and dry herbage. At 
present, and since the introduction of 
stackers connected with thrashing ma¬ 
chines, straw is stacked in the open field 
in the form of a C, the open side being 
made to suit the wishes of each farm¬ 
er, generally southeast, to protect the 
stock from the west, northwest and north 
winds. 
“ Take life easy ”: (page 714.) Certainly, 
if you are so made and constituted that you 
can do so. The man or woman of vigorous 
health, energy, intellect, and ambition— 
and these are the people who have done the 
most for their fellows—can no more take 
life easy than they can fly, because they 
are not built that way. 
‘‘About women” (page 715): “That 
some people like to take a dig at women ” 
is true to be sure, aud they are apt to be 
of the masculine gender, but do men like 
to take a dig at women more than women 
do at men ? 
“ Jones he pays the freight ” (page 716) 
has made a big fortune by advertising. 
Let those who would reach the same desir¬ 
able end, copy his methods and follow his 
example. 
The column of agricultural news (page 
717) is a feature second in value to no one in 
the Rural and no reader of the sheet 
should fail to study it carefully. 
" Can the East learn agriculture from the 
West?” Of course, the son who has been 
abroad in the world, can teach his father 
who has stayed at home many things, but, 
after all, the lessons of the father to the 
son are of more value to the son than the 
son’s to the father. 
“Every man is presumed to know the 
law.” which is more than can be truly said 
of the average lawyer. Those who think 
of going to law should bear in mind'that 
the more one has of it the worse he is off: 
a fact the lawyers have put into the legal 
maxim, “Snmmum jus, summa injuria.” 
that is, the more there is of law the more 
there will be of injustice. 
“ Do we want their trade ? ” Of course 
we want the trade of the South American 
States and on the same terms and condi¬ 
tions on which the New England States 
have the trade of the Western, and vice 
versa; that is, we want it without the im¬ 
port or export tax or tariff, and don’t want 
in what we have to sell abroad, to be put 
in competition with the lowest paid labor 
in the world. 
Champaign, Ill. 
Ctfmitwhm. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Europe. 
Ntsted, Denmark, December 16, 1889.— 
I must say that I do not know of a paper 
anywhere on the Continent of Europe that 
comes up to the R. N.-Y. for general topics. 
The editors have a big work before them, 
but I have no doubt that they will succeed 
in showing farmers that farming c*n pay 
if only attended to rightly. Here one is 
handicapped by tithes and high taxes, and 
also high prices for land. One touder of 
land, equal to 1.36 acre, is worth 800 krones 
—about $216 —so that we can’t afford to 
allow any to go to waste. My farm consists 
of 178 acres, of which 18 are meadow, di¬ 
vided into eight parts, each field getting 
manured twice in the rotation. To do this 
I have to have a good manure heap: but by 
keeping 26 cows, a bull and some pigs, I 
get all I care for. The principal thought 
here is good manure, and good crops will 
follow. One can see that when one com¬ 
pares, for instance, Danish rye with the 
American. Here, while we have been get¬ 
ting 5.75 krones for 100 Danish pounds, 
American rye could hardly bring 5.20. In 
view of the expenses of getting it here, the 
farmer doesn’t get much. Bakers will not 
use American rye; it is only bought to give 
to horses instead of oats, which have risen 
considerably in price. Our principal mar¬ 
ket is, of course, England which takes all 
we can raise. We are handicapped a little 
by our high customs duties which prevent 
a great many from buying the best. In¬ 
stead, they have got old mowing machines, 
etc., which, of course, go to pieces, and then 
they condemn them all. On large farms 
W. A. Wood’s machines are nearly always 
used in preference to all others. Here, so 
far, farmers have stood pretty well in the 
competition with America: but we dread 
the day when you will be sending good 
grains, fine butter and pork to England. A 
great deal of American fat is used here, 
being so much cheaper than what we can 
produce; for instance, Danish fat costs 16 
cents per Danish pound, while we can get 
the other for nine cents. I think, with the 
R. N.-Y., that a man in America with a 
small farm, say of 50 acres, ought to make 
a good living and lay something aside if he 
will only go at it slowly and not try to 
get rich in a couple of years, for the cost of 
living is much higher here. Sugar from 
beets costs eight cents per English pound. 
This is the cheapest kind we can get. Pe 
troleum costs 58 cents per gallon. Pork is 
high. Coffee 25 cents a pound for the com 
mon kind; but chicory is cheap, so we 
don’t have much coffee. Labor is worth 54 
cents per day in harvest time; 27 cents per 
day for the rest of the year, except for win¬ 
ter when it falls to 23, so that I think farm¬ 
ing can pay if a man is only interested in 
his work and is willing to stick to his farm 
for some years. H. M. 
Iowa. 
OsAGK, Mitchell County, January 5.— 
The crops for this county are fully up to 
the average. Only a little wheat was sown, 
but the yield was about the average—20 to 
80 bushels per acre. Flax aud oats were 
geod and corn not quite up to the average. 
Grass was light on account of the dry 
weather. We have had no snow yet, and 
the weather is mild and dry—no mud. 
The mildness of the winter is a great help 
in the way of the feed and fuel. Long live 
the Rural ! w. f. b. 
Des Moines, Polk County, January 6.— 
This has been a California winter in this 
State. One of my neighbors plucked 
pansy blossoms from the bed in an open 
yard in Christmas week—a thing very un¬ 
usual in this country. Plowing has been 
going on all winter. Corn is all harvested. 
Stock is living almost entirely on grass 
and the stalk-fields. Stock water is scarce. 
Streams are nearly dry. Business of all 
kinds is very dull. Everything is low. It 
is almost impossible to sell corn at 20 cents 
per bushel. Our corn crop was unusually 
large and cheap. Farmers are very much 
discouraged. The warm winter has not 
been favorable for keeping vegetables and 
apples Potatoes are too cheap to bear 
handling, and there are thousands of 
bushels stored away in this county. Our 
Christmas trade was unusually light this 
season. It is almost impossible to do bus¬ 
iness of any kind. , F. s. W. 
Kansas. 
Parsons, Labette County, January 4.— 
Perhaps the most remarkable winter 
weather since the State of Kansas has ex¬ 
isted has been witnessed this season. I 
have not seen any ice over one inch in 
thickness. During December the highest 
temperature at 12 noon was 78 degrees and 
the lowest at the same hour 32 degrees. On 
the other days of the month the tempera¬ 
ture was about the mean of the two ex¬ 
tremes. The entire month was without 
any appreciable rain. Cattle have been on 
grass and corn-stalks every day. The 
weather has been entirely desirable for the 
gathering of the corn crop which is larger 
by far than in any former year. Between 
this place and Junction City in the Neosho 
Valley, few of the stations have means for 
shelling corn and the piles of it are amaz¬ 
ing. It is awaiting shipment to this place 
to be shelled in transit. The piles of corn 
cobs at this place are a sight: the mills and 
ware-houses use them for fuel, and sell the 
remainder, as far as possible, and though 
they are sold in big wagon-loads, for 25 
cents per load, the piles accumulate. Prices 
of corn here are 17 cents per bushel; oats, 
13 cents per bushel; wheat, 60 cents per 
bushel; flour, $2.50 per 96 pounds : Timo¬ 
thy hay, $4.50 per ton; prairie hay, 
$3 per ton; butter, prime 15 cents per 
pound; eggs, 15 cents per dozen ; coal, 
$2.50 to $3 per ton ; apples, 75 cents per 
bushel; potatoes, 40 cents per bushel. 
Some alarm exists concerning the effect 
of the warm weather upon the fruit trees. 
The lilacs, spiraeas and the honeysuckles are 
in bud. There is also some alarm as to the 
effect the weather will have upon the in¬ 
sects during the coming season. Many of 
the early apples were in bloom to a slight 
extent in October. j. b. 
Ohio. 
Xenia, Greene County, January 6.—We 
had good crops of wheat, oats, grass, 
apples, and early potatoes. Corn about 
two-thirds of a crop. Late potatoes nearly 
a failure: no rot. Fall wheat looks well. 
D. D. M. 
Woman’s Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
O NE of our readers asks us rather an 
embarrassing question. He says: 
“ How should a woman dress to work in 
the garden, especially for such work as set¬ 
ting plants and weeding, so that she will 
not appear ridiculous to passers-by ?” 
That question is certainly a poser. All 
of us who have tried gardening know what 
it is to stoop about, and kneel on our skirts, 
and pull the gathers out of the band, until 
we feel as draggled as a wet hen. We 
really believe that this very thing makes 
plenty of women give up gardening, though 
it is one of the best things in the world for 
nerves, health, and complexion. Long 
skirts are really an abomination and a nui¬ 
sance, if one wishes to engage in any active 
out-of-door occupation, but what are we to 
do about it ? 
A lady who is one of our most esteemed 
correspondents gave her views in the 
Rural some time ago. Circumstances 
compelling her not only to .take„charge_of 
a farm, but also to do much of the work 
herself, she has felt obliged to make a 
change from the ordinary dress while pur¬ 
suing this vocation. As nearly as we can 
recollect, her costume consisted of loose 
trousers, a full skirt reaching below the 
knee, a blouse, belted at the waist, and a 
wide hat. It was a thoroughly modest 
costume, and not unbecoming, but of 
course unusual. Certainly, it would be 
convenient for all garden work, yet few 
women would care to adopt it, simply be¬ 
cause it is unusual, and might be consid¬ 
ered ridiculous by those accustomed only 
to conventional dress. 
Another costume, suggested by Jennie 
June for mountain trips and other rough 
out-door employments was as follows: 
Knickerbockers of dark cloth, a scant skirt 
coming just to the knee, leather gaiters 
reaching right up to the knickerbockers, a 
Jersey or blouse waist, a small cloth cap 
and thick shoes. Such a costume is worn 
abroad by very fashionable women when 
engaged in rough excursions; it is comfort¬ 
able aDd becoming, though, of course, un¬ 
usual. Certainly it is a fine dress for gar¬ 
dening or other out-door work, yet a great 
many would dislike wearing it. As far as 
modesty is concerned, we have seen women 
who would be horrified at the thought of 
wearing a “Bloomer,” promenading up 
and down at a seaside resort, dressed in the 
scantiest possible bathing suit, meeting 
and greeting their friends without the 
slightest embarrassment. It looks as if 
modesty were largely a matter of habit. 
Now, we hate to confess it, but really the 
thought of being considered odd or dowdy¬ 
ish is chiefly responsible; it influences most 
of us too largely in the manner of dress, 
and prevents us from adopting more ra¬ 
tional modes. Our masculine critics who 
jeer at us for our cumbersome attire would 
be the very first to ridicule us for a radical 
change. We are all of us inconsistent, in¬ 
cluding the lords of creation. 
* 
* * 
We have always considered it a real duty 
for a woman to dress as becomingly as cir¬ 
cumstances would allow, not forgetting 
that absolute neatness and cleanliness are 
the first requisites. But when compelled to 
occupy herself in active and laborious 
work she has a right to modify her cos¬ 
tume to suit the altered conditions. Cer¬ 
tainly, even if she does not wish to adopt 
anything suggestive of the so-called 
Bloomer, a feminine gardener can make 
some useful changes in her attire. She 
may make the change so that it is scarcely 
noticeable by wearing an outer skirt, not 
too fnll, reaching quite to her ankles, but 
under it, instead of super-abundant petti¬ 
coats she might wear cloth riding-trousers 
to her very great comfort.. Leather gaiters 
worn over the stout shoes will prevent cold 
from stooping on damp earth. Add to this 
a blouse waist and wide hat, and you have 
a sensible working dress, free from any ec¬ 
centricity. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
T HE SUNDAY SCHOOL TIMES says 
no life is a worthily lived life even if 
indeed it be a life worth living, unless it is 
lived with a well-defined and a prevailing 
purpose. He who cannot yet say for what 
he is living, has not yet begun to live as he 
ought to live. 
So long as a man wants to seem to be 
decent, there is hope of him. When he 
passes that point, he must be despaired of.. 
To recognize a duty as a duty is to 
make a pleasure of duty, to him who would 
do what he ought to do. There is no higher 
pleasure, to one who loves another truly 
and devotedly than in doing that which the 
one whom he loves would have him do. He 
who loves God truly and devotedly finds a 
pleasure in doing that duty which God dis¬ 
closes to him as a duty. 
We do not sail to glory on the salt sea of 
our own tears says Bishop Hall; but on 
the red sea of a Redeemer’s blood. 
Spurgeon says the theology that burns 
and glows in Christian poetry is the theory 
of the heart. It may not be as accurate 
and technical as that of the formulated 
creed, but for the purposes of devotion and 
spiritual comfort, it is a thousand times 
better. 
Give because you love to give—as the 
flower pours forth its perfume. 
What greater thing is there, writes 
George Eliot, for two human souls, than to 
feel that they are joined for life—to 
strengthen each other in all labor, to rest 
on each other in all sorrow, to minister to 
each other in all_pain, to, begone with each 
