THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MARCH 8 
156 
THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
(34 Park Row, New York), 
A National Journal for Country and Suburban 
Homes. 
ELBERT S. CARMAN, 
HERBERT W. COLLINQWOOD, 
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1890. 
You can “breed up” and im¬ 
prove anything in this world but 
a “ bygone.” Better let bygones 
remain what they are. 
We have just been pruning grape 
vines and find the wood of the Eaton 
fully as plump, healthy and clean as 
that of any other of our 75 varieties. 
We are obliged to restrain our inclina¬ 
tion to praise this promising grape. 
If the berries were a little sweeter w e 
would prefer the Eaton to any other 
grape that thrives at the Rural 
Grounds. 
“I tried superphosphate and solu¬ 
ble Pacific guano without getting any 
benefit from them and became nearly 
disgusted with fertilizers, till seeing 
the R. N-Y.’s reports of complete fer¬ 
tilizers, I bought a bag of complete 
potato manure and applied it at the 
rate of 800 pounds per acre. This was 
three years ago, and it gave me an in¬ 
crease of 64 bushels per acre, which 
sold for 75 cents per bushel.”—See 
page 152. 
“Next summer will be a great sea¬ 
son for insects” is a remark often 
heard at present. It is also freely 
redicted that fruits of all kinds will 
e scarce. Both predictions are 
founded upon the exceptionally mild 
season we are passing through. Let 
us hope that both misfortunes will not 
come at once and that the spring-like 
weather that tempts the fruit buds to 
open to be killed by the next frost, 
will also hasten the maturity of 
myriads of injurious insects which 
will meet the same fate. 
Ip we had space and a good loca¬ 
tion for two additional plots of hardy 
shrubs, we would fill one with up¬ 
right, bush honeysuckles, Lonicera 
Standishii, Tartarica, coerulea, etc., 
and the other with the Japan Quince 
of various colors, Cydoma Mallardii 
umbelicata, the double-flowering white 
and rose and the rose and white vari¬ 
egated. Either of these shrubs (the 
standard honeysuckle and Japan 
Quince) is worthy of a place here and 
there in the most conspicuous parts of 
the garden ; but they stand massing 
well and are, thus placed, objects of 
great beauty. 
The House of Representatives has 
decided in favor of Chicago as the 
most desirable site for the World’s 
Fair. While this may be a disap¬ 
pointment to many Eastern people, 
there will be no disposition in this 
part of the country to refuse the fair 
a most cordial support when it is held. 
New York carried on her campaign 
in a half hearted manner, to say the 
least. Chicago worked from the 
start with an astonishing energy and 
thoroughness. There is one thing 
sure—if the fair is held in Chicago, 
the agricultural exhibit will be a fine 
one ; and Eastern agriculture will be 
represented too. 
Speaking of the value of buckwheat 
straw, Mr. Little makes a good point 
on page 150, when he says that he 
finds the straw as valuable to feed be¬ 
cause he takes as good care of it as he 
does of his hay. That hits the nail on 
the head. The stems and leaves of 
buckwheat can be treated so that 
stock will eat them, and thrive on 
them when fed with a proper grain 
ration. With another treatment they 
can be made about as indigestible as 
sawdust. It is just so with every 
? lant that grows, for that matter. 
he special point about buckwheat is 
that, as the grain is grown for human 
consumption almost entirely, the stem 
and leaves are neglected. It probably 
will not pay to adopt any methods 
that would reduce the yield of grain 
for the sake., of .improving the~straw. 
What about ice? Dairymen south 
of Albany are anxiously asking this 
question. The letter printed on the 
next page is a fair sample of many 
that have been received. We do not 
see that ice machines will help us out 
of the difficulty to any great extent. 
The makers of these are far behind 
their orders and cannot supply any 
largely increased trade. The ma¬ 
chines are expensive and are suitable 
mainly for large establishments. 
Many local butchers who handle the 
Chicago dressed beef are almost as 
badly off as the dairymen. This 
Chicago beef after being taken out of 
cold storage and shipped to the local 
market m an ordinary baggage car, 
must have the very best treatment or 
it will quickly spoil. The R. N.-Y. 
believes that for this summer at least 
Eastern butchers will do more 
slaughtering than they have for sev¬ 
eral years past. 
According to the latest reports, over 
4,000 settlers are now encamped on the 
borders of the Cherokee Strip in ex¬ 
pectation of a Presidential proclama¬ 
tion opening the territory to settle¬ 
ment. Hundreds have already secret¬ 
ly entered the land and thousands are 
flocking to it from all parts of the 
South. A large proportion ot the in¬ 
tending settlers are negroes. It is es¬ 
timated that upwards of 20,000 color¬ 
ed people have already settled in the 
adjoining district of Oklahoma opened 
to set dement hardly six months ago. 
That section appears to be regarded 
as their ‘ ‘ Promised Land ” by large 
numbers of the negroes of the South, 
and they are flocking to it by train- 
loads from North Carolina in the east 
to Kansas in the west. In and out 
of Congress there is a good deal of 
talk about colonizing the negroes in 
particular parts of this country and 
Africa ; why not make an experi¬ 
ment by establishing a negro colony 
in the proposed new Territory of 
Oklahoma? 
Our friend on page 145 makes a 
very startling display of figures relat¬ 
ing to the liquor traffic. There is no 
use disguising the fact that this state¬ 
ment presents the views of thousands 
of thoughtful and intelligent Ameri¬ 
can farmers. We are not speaking 
now of the sense or of the absurdity 
of these figures. We merely state 
what we know to be true—that very 
many farmers are thoroughly con¬ 
vinced that the money spent for liq¬ 
uor, or at least the greater part of it, 
ought to go for the purchase of food 
and clothing. There are about this 
liquor money at least two things that 
no one will dispute. There is no sub¬ 
stantial return in health, strength 
or pleasure for the money expended, 
while it goes into the hands of the men 
who may be least expected to put it to 
any good use. There is no way of tell¬ 
ing the exact amount of injury done 
to the business of farming by the liq¬ 
uor traffic. Probably it is a useless 
task to try to find out. We would bet¬ 
ter all confine our energies to a con¬ 
sideration of this truth—“Civilization 
must destroy the liquor traffic or be 
destroyed by it.” 
Potato seeds were sown in pots on 
February 24, at the R. G., in precisely 
the same way as if they had been to¬ 
mato seeds, and they germinated even 
more freely. As soon as the plants 
are four inches high, prick them out 
and plant them in little (three-inch) 
flower pots. They stand transplant¬ 
ing perfectly. Excessive growth may 
be checked by pinching out the ter¬ 
minal shoots of the plants. It is bet¬ 
ter to do this since it induces a stocki¬ 
er growth and a stronger main stem. 
Never allow them to suffer for water 
while careful not to allow the soil to 
become soggy from too much of it or 
from imperfect drainage. Prepare a 
plot in the garden as for potatoes, and 
m May (say the 20th') thump out the 
seedlings, the roots of which will hold 
-the pot-soil together, and plant them 
one foot apart in rows at least two 
feet apart. These seedlings thus cared 
for will make nearly as much growth 
of vine as will potatoes grown from 
cut or whole seed. There is but one 
serious difficulty in raising potatoes 
from seed. It is that, when first set 
in the open ground, they can stand 
neither the potato beetle nor Paris- 
green. The only safety is in covering 
them at once with mosquito netting 
which will.protect them from the po¬ 
tato beetle and render any poisonous 
application unnecessary. 
Everyone, as theR. N.-Y. has often 
remarked, may just as well originate 
his own varieties, as he may do this 
with no more bother or expense than 
attends the culture of tomatoes. The 
seeds are now offered by several of 
the leading seedsmen. 
COL, PEARSON’S TARDY AD¬ 
MISSION. 
HEN the R. N.-Y. first an¬ 
nounced that it had found a 
partial if not a virtual remedy against 
the rose-beetle, we were met by a flat 
denial from the experienced Col. Pear¬ 
son, of Vineland, N. J., who said that 
he had tried it without the slightest 
helpful effect. We insisted that he 
should try the remedy in the way it 
had been so often used at the Rural 
Grounds, feeling confident that the 
results of his and our trials would 
differ less radically. Mr. Pearson 
states, in a late number of Garden and 
Forest, that he does find pyrethrum 
powder of service. He says of its ef¬ 
fects on rose-beetles that it paralyzes 
them. They fall to the ground and 
lie helpless for a time. Men may then 
pass along both sides of the grape 
trellis to jar the vines and crush the 
bugs after they fall upon the ground. 
“The insect powder does not kill 
them,” he continues ; “it only stupe¬ 
fies them and they will finally recover 
and fly away. Thus, by constant at¬ 
tention during the rose-bug season a 
portion of the fruit may be saved.” 
Col. Pearson’s admission is the most 
that the R. N.-Y. claimed. He will 
still find, however, that he might well 
admit a trifle more. The beetles lie 
stupid for a considerable time—so 
long, indeed, that a thorough spray¬ 
ing of the vines every day will keep 
them rid of all rose-bugs which receive 
the spray and the flowers will be in¬ 
jured only by new-comers. It is not 
true, moreover, that the pyrethrum 
does not kill some of the beetles, as 
may easily be ascertained by placing 
the insects which have received the 
pyrethrum water in any open vessel 
covered by mosquito netting. They 
lie from 10 to 48 hours in a paralyzed 
condition. * As we have often stated, 
many recover, but some perish. In 
fact, this is the effect of pyrethrum 
on nearly all insects — cabbage 
worms, potato beetles, tent cater¬ 
pillars, flies, etc. The remedy, though 
not specific, is as effectual against the 
rose-beetle as against any other 
garden insect. 
IS IT BUSINESS]? 
HE R. N.-Y. has a number of sub¬ 
scribers in the Republic of Bra¬ 
zil. In a recent letter from one of 
them we are informed that American 
salt pork retails in his city at a frac¬ 
tion over 26 cents per pound. He 
studies the quotations for such pork in 
New York and the price paid our 
farmers for live hogs and then repeats 
the question we have asked so many 
times—who gets the profit ? 
This letter from our Brazilian friend 
calls up several matters about which 
the R. N. -Y. has been thinking close¬ 
ly of late. We have the largest corn 
crop we have ever known in this 
country. Hogs and pork products are 
low in price, mainly because we are 
practically confined to our own coun¬ 
try for a market. There is little for¬ 
eign demand for our corn, mainly be¬ 
cause foreigners, as a rule, do not ap¬ 
preciate its value as an article of hu¬ 
man food. It seems to us settled that 
if we are to expect any considerable 
increase in our exports of corn, it 
must be made in the form of pork pro¬ 
ducts— the ham, bacon, salt pork, 
lard, etc., produced and prepared for 
shipment in the United States. It is 
not known what quantities of these 
pork products are consumed in Bra¬ 
zil and the other South American re¬ 
publics. We have every reason to be¬ 
lieve that the amount is large and 
that it can be greatly increased with 
proper business management. 
Brazil produces vast quantities of 
coffee, sugar and rubber, which we 
need in this country. There is a very 
strong and growing feeling even 
among those who advocate a tariff on 
other articles, that sugar should be 
admitted free of duty. In fact, we 
notice that Secretary" Blaine himself 
has argued in favor of admitting 
South American sugar free, promis¬ 
ing that if this be done our trade with 
the Southern republics will be largely 
increased. In other words, if we will 
agree to buy our sugar of Brazil and 
give her a fair chance to make the 
business pay, she will agree to give us 
the same chance in her home markets 
with our pork products, dairy goods, 
etc. Is this “free trade” or is it a 
sensible “reciprocity” business prop¬ 
osition? 
Remember, we speak now of sugar 
alone, the one article of universal con¬ 
sumption which we are least able to 
roduce economically in this country, 
uccessful sugar-making is more 
thoroughly dependent upon the cheap¬ 
est of labor than any other industry 
we know of. Again, thousands of 
Americans depend almost entirely for 
success upon the prices paid for com 
and hogs, while thousands more are 
greatly interested in these products. 
In theory, at least, the plan we have 
hinted at would give us cheaper sugar 
and a better price for our hogs and 
corn. 
Outside of a desire to foster the 
sugar industries of Louisiana, Cali¬ 
fornia and Kansas and a general belief 
that the protective system should not 
be touched at all, there are no reasons 
why sugar should not be free. A 
bounty for the American grower 
ought to be satisfactory to him until 
he can compete with other countries. 
Admit that the tariff was needed dur¬ 
ing the war as a measure of economy, 
it is not needed now. In our own 
business what do we do with imple¬ 
ments that are no longer needed ? We 
sell them for the best price we can 
get. If this country can dispose of 
its tariff on sugar to the highest bid¬ 
der—the price to be paid in a market 
for our own products which are not 
salable here—is it not business to do so? 
There are other matters in the letter 
we have quoted from, of which we shall 
speak later. 
BREVITIES. 
Mr. T. B. Terry is right in what he has 
to say this week. 
There are localities where roots will 
still prove more valuable than silage. 
Read “ Some Remarkable Novelties” on 
page 156. A neat bit of gentle sarcasm. 
Read C. L. Allen’s reply to the cjues- 
tion: “Howto Grow Large Pumpkins.” 
Hundreds of farmers have not bought 
feed mills simply because they considered 
the jaws of their cattle effective enough. 
There are lots of seeds sold that have 
life enough to sprout and that is all. They 
are not viable. Weevil eaten peas and 
beans may be mentioned as examples. 
There is no reason apparent to us why 
we should receive from two to five copies of 
the same agricultural reports and bulletins. 
Is this the way to spend the people’s money? 
Mr. Falconer’s instructive article on 
page 153 will be read with interest ly all 
who may wish to grow hardy shrubs and 
trees from seed. It will be concluded next 
week. 
Any farmer who has a quantity of corn¬ 
stalks to feed can pay for a cutter in one 
winter The chopped pieces should go in 
turn to the manger, the stall and the man¬ 
ure pile. 
Did vou ever think of the immensity of 
the mill which we call the vegetable king¬ 
dom ? And did you ever think that it is 
the only mil! that can convert the material 
of the mineral kingdom into food for the 
animal kingdom ? 
There is said to be an enormous demand 
for cuttings of Fay Currants. Geo. S. 
Josselyn writes that he has already sold 
nearly all his stock and could have easily 
sold 50,000 more. The market for currants 
seems never to be overdone. 
This idea that fertilizers are washed out 
of the soil after the first year of their ap¬ 
plication needs a good deal of ventilating. 
The farmer who is afraid to trust his soil 
with manure or fertilizer can hardly expect 
that his farm will respect him. 
It is a little early to talk about the trade 
in seed potatoes yet; but the indications 
point to a brisk business. Many farmers 
will, as a point of economy, use smaller po¬ 
tatoes than ever before for seed ? There 
will be very little economy in this after all. 
C. S. Plumb, now Professor of Agricul¬ 
ture in the University of Tennessee, has ac¬ 
cepted a call to the position of Vice Direct¬ 
or of the Purdue University Experiment 
Station, Lafayette, Ind. This enterprising 
young man will do good work and lots of 
it wherever he goes. He prefers Purdue 
because he can live right on the farm. The 
Tennessee farm is a mile from his residence. 
The latest edition of Webster’s diction¬ 
ary which the R. N.-Y. accepts as its au¬ 
thority, gives the preference to “ dishorn.” 
It follows Shakspeare. Did Shakspeare 
know about dishorning cattle ? The dic¬ 
tionary gives dishonor, “ to deprive of hon¬ 
or;” dishouse, “to deprive of house;” 
disarm, “ to deprive of arm.” “Dis,”it 
says, coincides nearly with the French 
“aes” and the Latin <r de.” 
