24 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
TAN. ii 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
(34 Park Row, New York), 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban 
Homes. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1890. 
If we do away wid de fence, what 
would become of de criminal ? Let’s 
hear from you, dear American Gar¬ 
den. 
Referring to our illustration of 
the “Station” Tomato on the fii’st 
page of this issue, No. 1 shows 
the natural size : No. 2 the same in 
half-section cut crosswise : No. 3 a re¬ 
duced specimen cut lengthwise. 
Boil the small potatoes for the 
horses and save grain. Yes, for the 
horses, but do not give them a big 
mess of hot potatoes all at once. Feed 
with chopped rye straw or hay. A 
mass of soft potatoes fed alone will 
not only make the horses’ jaws stick, 
but will be liable to produce flatulent 
colic. The chopped straw and hay 
will increase the bulk and give por¬ 
ousness to the food in the stomach. 
You will be surprised to see how the 
horses will relish the potatoes. 
One of the most valuable bulletins 
ever issued by our experiment stations 
is No. 13 from Cornell , which from 
careful experiments shows the loss 
which stable manure sustains by ex¬ 
posure. The particulars will be pre¬ 
sented next week. The result is sim¬ 
ply this : The value of one ton of 
fresh horse manure was found by an¬ 
alysis to be $2.45. The value of the 
same after exposure for six months 
was found to be but $1.42, showing a 
loss of $1.03 per ton or 42 per cent. 
Some months ago the R. N.-Y. 
called attention to the fact that a citi¬ 
zen of New Jersey had been impris¬ 
oned because his milk failed to come 
up to the legal standard. The R. N.- 
Y. stated at the time that on cold, 
raw days the percentage of fat in any 
cow’s milk may decrease to a remark¬ 
able degree. Prof. Roberts, of Cor¬ 
nell University, has been conducting 
some feeding experiments with cows 
at pasture. He finds that on one 
“raw,” disagreeable day, milk from 
the tested cows which averaged 13.56 
per cent, total solids, fell below the 12 
per cent, required by law. Here we 
have Prof. Roberts’s remarks on this 
matter: 
“Had a sample been taken on that 
day by the Scate authorities, we should 
have been liable to conviction under 
the law and to a fine of not more than 
two hundred dollars and to imprison¬ 
ment for not more than six months. 
It seems to us that no law can be just 
that fixes an arbitrary standard for 
the purity of milk, which may depend 
upon the results of a single analysis.” 
A New York State subscriber 
writes that he is pleased with the pic¬ 
ture of “ Five Representative Illinois 
Farmers,” but he thinks he can “go 
into Chautauqua County, N. Y., and 
pick a dozen men who can show as 
clean a record and a much greater ac¬ 
cumulation of property as farmers 
in less time than these named.” 
Very likely. One can find progres¬ 
sive, enterprising farmers in every 
State and every county of this coun¬ 
try. And the most singular thing 
about it is that the agricultural his¬ 
tory of one is the agricultural history 
of all. Read what was said about 
those Illinois farmers, change the 
crops and the products a little and you 
have a record that will fit thousands 
of good farmers all over the country. 
Successful farming has easily-recog¬ 
nized earmarks. The New Jersey 
farmer who succeeds because lie uses 
$500 worth of fertilizers every year 
and the Iowa farmer who bases his 
success upon clover and hogs or sheep, 
both use their brains in buying, pro¬ 
ducing and selling. They have differ¬ 
ent tools to work with—that is all. 
The R. N.-Y. would like to get a pic¬ 
ture of some of these successful New 
York State farmers. 
A Senate Committee has for some 
weeks been investigating the commer¬ 
cial relations of this country and Can¬ 
ada and is now in session in Now York 
City. A curious feature of the evi¬ 
dence given is that protectionist ad¬ 
vocates of annexation are violently 
opposed to commercial reciprocity 
with our northern neighbor. They 
strongly object to reciprocity which 
would admit Canadian products free 
of duty or at a reduced duty, while 
eager for a political union which 
would admit those products to com¬ 
pete as freely with those of New York 
as the products of Michigan. Minne¬ 
sota and Kansas now compete. Ad¬ 
vocates of such reciprocity maintain 
that inasmuch as the policy of free 
trade now prevailing among our 42 
States of varied climate and pro¬ 
duction is held to be highly advanta¬ 
geous to the whole people, an exten¬ 
sion of the system to Canada should 
cause no alarm. Certain it is that 
the absorption of the Dominion 
by die Union would be hastened more 
by the feeling of friendship engen¬ 
dered by intimate commercial rela¬ 
tions. than by any premature agita¬ 
tion of the subject of annexation. 
Free trade between the various States 
in the Union is, however, a family 
matter, whereas free trade with Can¬ 
ada would be a foreign relation. 
WHAT MAKES THE DIFFER¬ 
ENCE ? 
A SUBSCRIBER at Waterbury. 
Connecticut, writes the follow¬ 
ing : 
“On page 854 of the R. N.-Y. for De¬ 
cember 28, a Vermont man says that 
he buys bran in Wisconsin for $8.50 
per ton, and corn in the ear for $7. 
Here bran costs $17 to $19 per ton ; 
and corn-meal $20. What causes the 
difference in price ?” 
We cannot tell nor do we believe 
anybody else can, notwithstanding 
the fact that this question is asked 
more frequently than any other that 
has to do with Eastern stock feeding. 
In the same way we would like to 
know why our meat is no cheaper 
while Western farmers are complain¬ 
ing about low prices for cattle and 
hogs. Who gets the extra price ? 
Where does the difference between 
the Western and Eastern prices goto? 
Dealers say “freight rates” make up 
the difference. The R. N.-Y. believes 
there are too many handlers, too 
many people drawing profits and com¬ 
missions and percentages on this 
grain. ‘ ‘Freight rates” is a popular cry. 
Borne years ago the writer went into 
a store in a small town in Colorado to 
buy a watch-key. The price was 15 
cents for the same article that he could 
buy for three cents in Boston. 
“Why do you charge so much ?” was 
asked. “Oh, freight rates are very 
high from New York ! ” When asked 
to figure t he freight on a watch-key 
the store keeper could only get angry. 
The cry about “freight charges” is 
very popular. Is it entirely just ? 
Are there any other causes for the 
big difference between Eastern and 
Western prices ? 
CORN FODDER FOR HORSES. 
nPHERE seems to be quite a differ- 
X ence of opinion among horsemen 
as to the value of corn fodder as a 
food for horses. A leading farm paper, 
a few weeks ago cautioned its readers 
against feeding horses on corn-stalks, 
stating that they would make the 
horses’ coats rough. Mr. C. W. Wil¬ 
liams, the breeder and trainer of Ax- 
tell, says that his wonderful colt had 
little besides corn-stalks for rough 
fodder during nearly two winters. 
He says he considers” corn-stalks the 
best rough fodder he can get for colts. 
The writer once worked for a farmer 
who never cut any hay. His cattle 
and horses never had any fodder but 
cured corn-stalks. The animals al¬ 
ways looked well and the horses did 
their full share of work. The writer 
now has two horses that have very 
little to do and are not heavily fed. 
One of them prefers corn stalks to 
hay, while the other runs down if fed 
on stalks without hay. It is an old 
horse and cannot handle the stalks as 
well as a younger horse would. We 
find that this prejudice against corn¬ 
stalks for horses is quite common 
among a class of farmers. Except in 
the case of old horses with poor teeth, 
we do not think the prejudice is just. 
In fact it seems reasonable that a 
moderate supply of well-cured stalks 
will prove beneficial to a horse in 
winter, and even with old horses if 
the stalks could be cut and moistened 
with hot water they would prove val¬ 
uable. A good deal of the objection 
to stalks for horses may be traced to 
the fact that the grain of the corn is 
fed with the stalks. This makes an 
“ ill-balanced ” ration. When stalks 
are fed, give oats and wheat-bran. 
MR. COY’S PRIZE POTATO CROP 
—THER. N.-Y. TRENCH SYS¬ 
TEM—THE DAKOTA RED 
POTATO. 
A S stated last week, the Bowker & 
American Agriculturist potato 
prizes were awarded to Mr. C. B. Coy 
of Presque Isle, Maine. The full 
statement of how the crop (738 bush¬ 
els on an acre) was raised shows that 
the method employed was that of the 
R. N.-Y. Trench system, as the follow¬ 
ing extracts from the printed report 
will show : “ Eleven hundred pounds 
of the Stockbridge potato manure 
were scattered along the bottom of the 
trenches, after they had been laid off 
for the seed, ancl were well mixed 
with the earth in and about the 
trenches by hand with the hoe before 
planting. The balance (900 pounds) 
was applied June 12th at the time of 
the first hoeing,” etc. Again: “The 
land was laid oil in trendies two feet 
nine inches apart. The seed was drop¬ 
ped 12 inches apart If was covered by 
the hoe to a depth of two or three 
inches. Only such tubers were se¬ 
lected for seed as had strong, green 
sprouts at the time of planting.” 
“The seed was taken from the 
cellar about six weeks before planting 
and spread thinly on the floor of a dry 
and warm room in the house.” 
There is nothing else in the cultiva¬ 
tion of this magnificent crop that 
needs to be noted except that the acre 
was plowed during the preceding 
summer (August); again plowed (cross- 
plowed) April 30 of the past season, 
and thoroughly harrowed two weeks 
after. The variety raised was Dakota 
Red. Let us trust that this poor va¬ 
riety will not have a second boom in 
consequence. During the summer of 
1883, the R. N.-Y. raised the Dakota 
Red in its trial grounds. The color is 
pink verging upon purple. The eyes 
are prominent, the shape angular 
while the quality is inferior. As in 
1883, we would again guard our 
readers against raising it upon large 
areas. 
OKRA FIBER. 
O KRA, belonging to the mallow 
family, has hitherto been culti¬ 
vated almost entirely for its pods 
which abound in mucilage and are 
used chiefly to thicken soup and to 
form a peculiar Southern dish called 
gumbo. The mallow family generally 
have a tough, fibrous inner bark, and 
it has long been known that that of 
okra afforded a very fine, strong fiber 
which could be worked up into va¬ 
rious kinds of fabrics. For several 
years a great number of experiments 
nave been made with this fiber in 
various parts of the South, and 
recently some beautiful specimens 
“as glossy and strong as ramie,” 
were sent to the South Carolina De¬ 
partment of Agriculture, which at 
once forwarded them to the National 
Department of Agriculture, at Wash¬ 
ington. Secretary Rusk, according 
to reports received here yesterday, 
says that letters from all parts of 
the South indicate a general inclina¬ 
tion to substitute the okra fiber for 
jute, not only in cotton bagging but 
for all purposes for which jute is used. 
In the South the okra plant grows 
from three to six feet high, though 
the dwarf kind generally raised in the 
North, seldom exceeds two feet. It 
differs from the jute and ramie plants 
in one point of great economic impor¬ 
tance—in it wood surrounds the fiber, 
while in the others the fiber is mixed 
with the wood ; hence the okra fiber 
can be separated from the wood by 
machinery, while hitherto there has 
been so much difficulty in separating 
the jute and ramie fiber by hand labor 
that it has been profitably done only 
by the cheap labor of China, India 
and Egypt. It is said that a machine 
for separating the okra fiber from the 
wood can be made at the cost of an 
ordinary cotton gin and that, like the 
latter, it can be used on any large 
plantation, or in any neighborhood. 
It is reported that okra fiber can be 
produced cheaper than cotton—indeed, 
it has been alleged that it can be pro¬ 
duced for a cent per pound. The fiber 
is long, strong and glossy, and can be 
used for making various fabrics for 
ordinary wear, as well as matting, 
bagging, ropes, cordage, etc. 
Warned by several previous disap¬ 
pointments, we are by no means 
ready to place full reliance on all that 
is said in favor of any new process, 
plant or industry; still it is the duty 
of a live agricultural paper to place 
before its patrons at the earliest mo¬ 
ment an account of any novel discov¬ 
ery or business which may be likely 
to engage their interest or advance 
their welfare. It may therefore be 
well, for some time at any rate, to 
keep one’s eye on okra. 
BREVITIES. 
Was it the “rest” that helped that cow 
described on page 23 ? 
Bermuda potatoes have arrived in this 
market and sell for $5 to 87 per barrel. 
A manufacturer of condensed milk was 
arrested in this city this week for selling 
adulterated milk. 
That Canadian Grange—see page 19— 
seems to have solved one of the secrets of 
co-operation among farmers. 
For the intelligent, thoughtful man, 
there is nothing more interesting than the 
development and feeding [of good dairy 
cows ? 
A subscriber, at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 
says : “ Making butter has paid me best. 
I could not afford to farm as most of my 
ne'ghbors do, (growing corn and oats.)” 
“ The R. N.-Y. is the best agricultural 
paper I read out of five that come to me, 
but it costs more than some, and its merit 
is that it is worth the money.” A. r. s. 
Bedford, Mass. 
The very mild winter has given the hens 
the impression that spring is almost here, 
and they have “ shelled ” out the eggs at a 
very unseasonable rate, to the utter demor¬ 
alization of prices. 
The mild weather is said to be a blessing 
to Delaware farmers, who did not raise 
enough fodder for their stock. They are 
saved the amount of grain and hay that 
would be needed to counteract the effect of 
cold weather. 
Rumor recently had it, that many of our 
leading stockmen were insuring their ani¬ 
mals in live-stock insurance companies. 
Investigation of these rumors reveal some 
ideas about such insurance that will prove 
racy reading for our friends. 
A FEW weeks since the R. N.-Y. called 
attention to the by-products of rice which 
are sold for a small part of their feeding 
value in the New Orleans market. Someor 
our Northern dairymen should try this 
comparatively new feed. 
The R. N.-Y. congratulates its excellent 
contemporary, Garden and Forest, upon 
having issued with the last number of 1889 
probably the most carefully prepared and 
exhaustive index ever sent out by a horti¬ 
cultural journal. 
The cow at the R. N.-Y. New Jersey 
farm spent New Year’s Day feeding on 
green grass. Since September there nave 
been but three days on which she has not 
been able to find fresh pasturage. This 
shows the character of the winter with us. 
The best laying flock of liens that we 
know of this winter, is made up of a cross 
between a Langshan rooster and White Leg¬ 
horn hens. The value of the Langshan as a 
winter layer becomes more apparent the 
more we observe the breed. 
Farmer, if you have to take a drink of 
liquor before leaving the village for 
home, if you cannot digest a meal without 
the aid of more liquor, if you think you 
must have liquor when you have extra 
work to do, you are in a bad way—you are 
starting the New Year wrong. 
Hyacinths are poking their noses 
through the soil; pansies are blooming here 
and there and several of the bush-honey¬ 
suckles are blooming as if it were May in¬ 
stead of January. It is, iudeed, a remark¬ 
able season. Grass and grain are very 
green and apparently making some growth. 
r Mr. J. E. Hale, a miller of Johnstown, 
N. Y., sent the R. N.-Y. a sample of buck¬ 
wheat flour made from Japanese Buck¬ 
wheat. The Ii. N.-Y. had some of it made 
into cakes, and pronounces it flrst-class. 
Millers have no right to claim that such 
flour is not equal to that made from com¬ 
mon buckwheat. 
These warm days are very favorable for 
getting tools in shape for spring work, for 
repairing and painting buildings and 
fences, cutting brush, ditching, pruning 
trees, burning brush and other rubbish, and 
doing the thousand and one things that 
will need to be done in spring, but which 
you know you will not have time for then. 
“Another year is nearly past, and as I 
send the R. N.-Y. my annual subscription, 
I feel satisfied that the paper is the best 
agricultural assistant to help and encour¬ 
age the farmer in renewed efforts toward 
advancement in every department of farm 
work and life. It seems to have taken for 
its watch-word: ‘Advance,’ for it always 
lias something fresh for its readers, and is 
always ready and willing to furnish infor¬ 
mation on almost any subject. j. M.W. 
Fern Hill, Canada.” 
