8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
TAN. 4 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
(34 Park Row, New York), 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban 
Homes. 
Conducted by 
ELBERT S. CARMAN. 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 1890. 
To get large crops from our fields 
without spreading any manure upon 
them and without reducing their fer¬ 
tility—that seems to be a simple little 
problem that many farmers are 
struggling to solve. 
The writer while eating a peanut or 
so, asked one of New York’s seedsmen 
—a well preserved, strong, healthy 
man of 55—if he would have some. 
The seedsman replied: “I would not 
eat a peanut for $100. ” 
Secretary Farnsworth of Water- 
ville, Ohio, says that several members 
of his society—among them Mr. J. J. 
Harrison—pronounce the Fitzwater 
Pear, illustrated in the R. N.-Y. of 
December 14, as similar to, if not 
identical with, the Lawrence. 
“There are dollar Journals here 
that seem to fill the bill with all neigh¬ 
boring farmers. If they would only 
inspect papers as they do dry goods 
they would find the Rural ‘all wool 
and a yard wide ’ and consider it 
cheaper at $2.” j. m. r. 
Smock, Pa. 
Many dairymen have never fed 
cotton seed meal ; a good many peo¬ 
ple who make their living at produc¬ 
ing dairy goods never saw this prod¬ 
uct. It is a product that must be fed 
with caution and skill, bringing its 
best results when combined with 
cheaper and coarser fodders. It may 
be questioned whether the farmer who 
is able to grow plenty of good hay, 
corn fodder and corn, with access to 
reasonably cheap bran, has need to 
buy cotton seed meal. 
A good many of our Iowa sub¬ 
scribers are up in arms to protest 
against a statement recently quoted 
from the Iowa Homestead to the ef¬ 
fect that horticulture in Iowa is only 
a sentiment. The R. N.-Y. has some 
facts about Iowa fruits and the mar¬ 
kets to which they are sent that will 
astonish our Eastern orchardists. 
Prince Apple is invading King Corn’s 
country, and proving that in soil and 
culture as in everything else, in this 
country every product has a fighting 
chance. 
The R. N.-Y. calls attention to the 
remarks by F. D. Douglas on page 9. 
Mr. D. is as sound an authority on 
practical dairy matters as we have in 
this country. This matter of select¬ 
ing heifers for a dairy herd is of great 
importance. Not every daughter of a 
good Jersey bull is sure to be a credit 
to him. How are we to pick out the 
poor specimens ? During the coming 
year the R. N.-Y. will have a good 
deal to say on this matter. There are 
a number of dairymen in the country 
who, like J. W. Newton, have suc¬ 
ceeded in more than doubling the 
J uantity of butter produced per cow. 
t is proposed to have such men tell 
us just how this increase was ob¬ 
tained. We feel sure the story will 
be profitable and interesting. 
Dealers wishing to send samples of 
pears to our correspondent will kindly 
communicate with the R. N.-Y. 
Two weeks ago the R. N.-Y. asked 
its readers to tell it what they 
thought about the abolition of the 
revenue tax on tobacco. This has 
called out some excellent letters— 
most of them favoring the retention 
of the tax on the ground that the to¬ 
bacco habit is a vice which would be 
extended by the cheapening of tobac¬ 
co. The R. N. Y. will print some of 
these letters ere long. Do the ma¬ 
jority of the men in this country use 
tobacco in one form or another? It 
has been so asserted. The R. N.-Y. 
would like to see some reliable sta¬ 
tistics on the subject. The superin¬ 
tendents of the next census are plan¬ 
ning to do many things of considerably 
less importance than the classification 
of Americans on the basis of the to¬ 
bacco habit. 
During the past year the imports of 
Canadian wheat into the United 
States have amounted in value to $1,- 
563,292, in spite of a duty of 20 cents 
per bushel. In 1888 the imports of 
wheat from the Dominion were only 
$395,847 in value. It is evident there¬ 
fore that this trade is increasing ; but 
the imports of American flour into the 
Dominion are increasing even m a 
greater proportion in spite of a cor¬ 
respondingly high import duty. As 
both countries are producers of a 
large exportable surplus of wheat, 
does the agriculture of either really 
need “ protection ” for this cereal? It 
is very evident that the farmers of one 
country suffer from the taxation of 
their products in the other ; but who 
gets tlie benefit of this taxation? Is it 
the farmers or the rest of the com¬ 
munity whose taxation is lightened 
thereby? 
Once or twice a year we hear of new 
machines or other devices for separat¬ 
ing the valuable fiber of the ramie 
plant from the close-adhering bark. 
Almost invariably these have been 
mechanical contrivances, and though 
very promising at the outset, none 
has hitherto proved so successful as 
to justify the cultivation of ramie in 
this country on any greater than an 
experimental scale. Mr. Forbes of 
Atlanta, Georgia, now claims to have 
discovered a cheap chemical process 
for dissolving the resinous substance 
contained in the stalk so as to render 
the safe separation of the silky fiber 
easy. If this gentleman has hit upon 
the right expedient, a large fortune is 
sure to reward his discovery, a splen¬ 
did fabric will be added to the list of 
beautiful stuffs for apparel, and a 
new industry will be opened to the 
agriculture of the country. 
Early Victor ripens at the Rural 
Grounds fully as early as Moore’s 
Early. The bunches average small 
and the quality is about like that of the 
Concord though free from foxiness. 
The Hayes thrives well, the vine be¬ 
ing vigorous and healthy. The ber¬ 
ries ripen between Moore’s Early and 
Concord. The skin is rather tender, 
the quality sweet and somewhat foxy. 
There was neither rot nor mildew the 
past season. Alice made a heavy 
growth of cane; Elmira a feeble 
growth. Witt (from George W. 
Campbell) bore a few small bunches, 
being the first year of this vine’s fruit¬ 
ing. The berries are much like those 
of Hayes. Roenbeck fails. Berck- 
mans ripened before Delaware and 
held its foliage well. Climax loses its 
leaves early. Bettina made a feeble 
growth. Mills loses its leaves. Cole- 
rain ripened September 1. The foli¬ 
age and berries are free from rot. In 
quality this is close to the Hayes. 
Some months ago the R. N.-Y. 
quoted from a letter written by a 
Frenchman who wished to secure 
American cider apples. We now have 
another letter from him asking about 
American pears. He wishes to bring 
this fruit more largely into French 
markets. He found it impossible to 
procure American apples at a profit 
this year, so he bought large quanti 
ties from Spain. Next year he pro 
( loses to make arrrangements early to 
landle the American fruit. The R.- 
N.-Y. hopes this may lead to a new 
demand for our apples, and it believes 
that our growers will yet find good 
customers among the French people. 
The high price for good pickles 
this winter has induced a good many 
farmers to think about spending some 
time and money, on growing cucum¬ 
bers for pickles another year. It will 
be well for such farmers to remember 
two things. The present high prices 
are due to the partial failure of the 
crop last year and not to any lack of 
facilities to cure, pack and market a 
good crop. Again, this business is 
now most profitably handled by con¬ 
cerns with considerable capital in¬ 
vested. They can afford to buy the 
most improved appliances, pay "cash 
for their supplies and establish and 
maintain a reputation for their goods. 
There are a number of pickle factories 
in Michigan conducted on a semi¬ 
co-operative plan, that give general 
satisfaction to all connected with 
them. There are a number of farm¬ 
ers’ wives who make a superior quali¬ 
ty of pickles and have been able to 
secure private customers who also 
take butter and home-made sausage. 
On the whole, however, the general 
farmer will make more money by sell¬ 
ing his cucumbers to the pickle fac¬ 
tory. 
At its recent convention the Massa¬ 
chusetts State Grange expressed 
strong opposition to the scheme for 
the irrigation of the waste lands of the 
West at the National expense, on the 
ground that there is already in that 
section more than enough of cheap 
agricultural lands, with the low priced 
products of which the vast body of 
farmers m the rest of the country 
have to compete. It is officially esti¬ 
mated that the “ abandoned farms ” 
of Vermont embrace an aggregate 
area of 300,000 acres ; the area in 
New Hampshire is almost as large ; 
while scores of farms have also 
been deserted in Massachusetts, and 
in all the New England States as well 
as in many parts of New York, New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania, and indeed 
of nearly all the seaboard States, the 
value of farming lands has in recent 
times suffered great depreciation. 
This depreciation of agricultural lands 
is steadily extending westward, and is 
generally attributed to injurious com¬ 
petition with the low-priced products 
of the cheap lands of the West. Is 
the Massachusetts Grange right or 
wrong in its opposition to the vast 
proposed extension of such lands, in 
our day, by the outlay of tens or hun¬ 
dreds of millions of dollars taken out 
of the National Treasury and there¬ 
fore out of the pockets of' the tax-pay¬ 
ers of the country? 
While the comparatively recent 
manufacture of cotton seed oil and 
cotton seed cake has profitably utilized 
a large share of the cotton-seed of the 
South—formerly almost a waste pro¬ 
duct—and thereby added millions of 
dollars a year to the income of South¬ 
ern planters, still it is estimated that 
2,000,000 tons of seed are yet annually 
wasted for want of a market. There 
is an urgent demand for such seed at 
the oil mills in Great Britain, which 
have hitherto drawn their supplies ex¬ 
clusively from Egypt. Hitherto it 
has been impracticable to export the 
seed, however, because the cotton 
fiber or lint which adheres to it after 
ginning, heats in the hold of the ship 
and rots the seed. A machine has 
just been invented, which, it is 
claimed, can easily remove this fiber 
from the seed, leaving it as clean as a 
grain of wheat, so that it can be safely 
exported. It is proposed to establish 
mills at the various seaports of the 
cotton States and at once begin the 
cleaning and exporting of cotton seed. 
The cleaned seed will bring about $30.- 
20 per ton at Liverpool ; the entire 
cost of putting it there would be $20.10 
per ton, leaving a clear profit of $10.- 
10 per ton on the seed. Of course, 
the planter would get only a part of 
this sum ; but even that would add 
considerably to his annual income ; 
and, moreover, the competition be¬ 
tween the present cotton-seed-oil com¬ 
panies and the new organization 
would be likely to enhance the price 
of the seed, unless the two formed a 
“combine,” or one gobbled up the 
other—a very probable contingency. 
r pHE proprietors of the New Eng- 
I land Homestead, Springfield, 
Mass., who are likewise the propriet¬ 
ors and publishers of the New York 
American Agriculturist, Farm & 
Home and several other papers, an¬ 
nounce the results of their prize-crop 
competition. The first prize for pota¬ 
toes was awarded to Cnarles B. Coy, 
Aroostook, Maine, for a yield of 738 
bushels of Dakota Red Potatoes. They 
allude to the results as likely to pro¬ 
duce a “ revolution in the culture of 
potatoes,” etc. Our friends of the 
above publications in their widely dis¬ 
tributed advertisements and editorial 
comments saw fit by implication to 
ridicule the R. N.-Y.’s smaller plot 
experiments as being misleading and 
worse than useless. These experi¬ 
ments had been carried on for many 
years, as R. N.-Y. readers are well 
aware, and their teachings led us to 
believe that what could be economi¬ 
cally done on one-twentieth of an acre 
could as well be done on an entire 
acre. It is always wise for those 
who have not experimented to be con¬ 
servative in their criticisms of those 
who have, as the results of the Spring- 
field prize contest fully show, the fact 
being that while our best efforts to 
raise at the rate of over 700 bushels to 
the acre on one-fortieth of an acre, 
failed, Mr. Coy succeeded in raising 
over 700 bushels on a fraction less 
than an acre. 
Thus, it happens, singularly enough, 
that we have to thank our incred¬ 
ulous Springfield friends for being in¬ 
strumental in proving our own propo¬ 
sition—and one too that we had been 
ineffectually working at during the 
past 10 years. 
THE HAY MARKET. 
T HE R. N.-Y. has received a circu¬ 
lar from the president of the 
Hay Dealers’ Association, in which 
some rather startling statements oc¬ 
cur. “Dull and declining ” is the 
present market report for hay. In 
the circular noted, the statement is 
made that this condition is due almost 
entirely to a lack of organization 
among dealers and shippers. The 
Hay Dealers’ Association was organ¬ 
ized last April. The president states 
that previous to this no effort was 
made to organize and improve the hay 
trade—one of the leading agricultural 
interests in New York State. The re¬ 
sult of this lack of organization is 
shown in the present condition of the 
market. The crop is very large. 
Many shippers, not advised as to the 
condition of the crop and the market, 
rushed their hay to the city early in 
the season. Elay is not a perishable 
product. The proper place to store it 
is on the farm, where rents and stor¬ 
age charges are as nothing compared 
with the prices demanded in the city. 
Hay should be held in the country 
and delivered only as the market de¬ 
mands it. Organization and a thor¬ 
ough knowledge of the market de¬ 
mands would be worth many dollars 
to the hay growers that supply this 
market. We hope some means will 
be devised for changing the present 
unsatisfactory conditions. 
BREVITIES. 
We shall have some facts about the new 
butter extractor to present in a short time. 
Read the report of the Dairymen’s Con¬ 
vention on page 14. It is said that this was 
the best meeting ever held by the society. 
“ We would not be without the Rural at 
double its present price.” L. c. C. 
Williamstown, N. Y. 
English agricultural papers are describ¬ 
ing the heavy crop of potatoes and consid¬ 
ering the profit of sending the surplus to 
this country. 
In response to inquires made by friends 
who are new at the sheep business, we give 
the views of some good sheep men on kill¬ 
ing ticks. 
The man who spends several hours each 
week reading and talking about irrigation 
schemes for the Far West while his own 
farm needs drainage, is not a good farmer. 
“I have been well pleased with the R. N.- 
Y. Whilesome tliiuk it is published too far 
east, for the Western farmer, I think it is 
the best farm paper published.” A. v. M. 
Crete, Nebraska. 
You have no business to put tile or other 
drains in your soil and then leave no marks 
to show where the drains are. A map of 
the system of drainage should go with 
every farm. 
“W. S. H.,” PAGE 6 . thinks the fertil¬ 
izer on the experiment acre is lost. This is 
a matter that Eastern farmers are greatly 
interested in. We shall watch this experi¬ 
ment carefully another year. The fail¬ 
ure of the oat and the grass crops may 
have been due to other causes than a lack 
of fertility. 
The R. N.-Y. would like to have its 
readers who are interested in sheen feeding 
tell us what they think of the relative ad¬ 
vantages of feeding grain in troughs at 
regular intervals or using self-feeders 
which will keep a supply of grain constant¬ 
ly before the sheep. Under what circum¬ 
stances will the self-feeder pay best ? 
The Farmers’ Alliance of Iowa, is earn¬ 
estly working against the re-election of Mr. 
Allison to the United States Senate. It is 
busily getting up petitions to be presented 
to the members of the legislature, urging 
them to vote for Governor Larrabee 
against Allison. It charges that the lat ter 
is “ a man of timidity,” who has worked 
more for Eastern capitalists than for t he 
State of Iowa. It is probable, however, 
that Allison will be re-elected though by 
only a small majority; but everywhere in 
the South and West the Alliance is stea lily 
gaining in political influence. It. looks as 
if the farmer would soon take the place of 
the artisan as the holder of the balance of 
political power. 
