254 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
APRIL i9 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIMES BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT S. CARMAN, 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD, 
EDITORS. 
Rural Publishing Company: 
LAWSON VALENTINE, President. RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
■ . . THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1890, by the Rural Publishing Company. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 1890. 
Here we have a plant. Here is a dry bone. 
The plant needs the bone, but it can’t utilize 
it until fire or acid makes its plant food 
available. Here we have a brain. Here we 
have useful facts or advice. Tie this infor¬ 
mation up in dry statements and it is like 
the dry bone. Be simple, be clear, be forci¬ 
ble. Put fire and acids to your written in¬ 
formation and give us soluble brain food. 
The Hay and Straw Dealers’ Association believes 
that the tone of the hay market will continue good 
for at least the next two months. It was expected 
that by this time the market would be flooded with 
hay, hut the roads have been in bad condition for 
hauling, and many farmers have decided to hold 
their hay for • better prices. The indications now 
are that fair prices will rule at least until an esti¬ 
mate of the growing crop can be formed. 
The North Dakota Farmers’ Alliance induced the 
legislature of that State to pass a bill extending the 
time of redemption of mortgages from one to two 
years. Formerly the debtor had the use of the 
property for one year after the foreclosure sale. 
Now he is to have it for two years. Agents of 
Eastern Mortgage Loan Companies are trying to 
get the Governor of the new State to veto the meas¬ 
ure. They also threaten, in case the bill becomes a 
law, to foreclose wherever they can and withdraw 
all their capital from the State. This fact is of in¬ 
terest in connection with the review, printed on 
page 260, of a bill recently introduced into the New 
York legislature. 
A writer in the New England Farmer objects to 
the practice of burning bones because, as he says, 
“burnt bones have parted with all their phosphate, 
it being sent into thin air.” Some of our best 
;ood deal to know 
‘into thin air.” In 
folly of burning 
bones, the R. N.-Y. does not know of any more sat¬ 
isfactory way of disposing of them on a f; rm where 
fuel is not expensive. In making up the customary 
spring bonfire of brush and rubbish we always in¬ 
clude a good quantity of hones. The writer al¬ 
luded to advocates the use of bone-meal and wood- 
ashes mixed. This is excellent, but the dressed 
beef business has made bones so cheap near us that 
it pays us better to buy and burn them. 
chemists would probably give a f 
how “phosphate” may be turned ' 
snite of all that is said about the 
The following note from Dr. Hoskins calls atten¬ 
tion to a matter that is just now demanding a good 
deal of attention from orchardists. The R. N.-Y. 
wishes to hear from those who are troubled with 
this pest that it may know which parts of the coun¬ 
try are infested and what is being done to fight the 
evil. 
“ The thing most strikingly new in pomological 
experience is the advent and rapid increase of the 
apple maggot—Trypeta pomonella. In its ravages 
it bids fair to ruin all our early and sweet apples, 
if not the harder, acid, winter sorts. The soft- 
fleshed, early winter apples, like Fameuse and 
Wealthy, were badly attacked last year. The only 
hopeful remedy proposed is the yarding of sheep 
or swine in the orchard.” 
The Butterworth Bill, which imposes special 
taxes on dealers in “options” and “futures,” 
seems to be very well liked by farmers throughout 
the country. There are two sides to the matter, 
however. Last Thursday a delegation of grain and 
cotton brokers from this city, presented to the 
House Committee on Agriculture a protest signed 
by a number of New York bankers, who declare 
that the passage of the Butterworth Bill will do 
great injury to the pork and grain business. Com¬ 
mittees and delegations from other cities are hurry¬ 
ing to Washington to protest against the measure. 
It is very natural that the men who are making 
money by handling produce or gambling in future 
prices should object very decidedly to anything 
that will cut off their profits and bring about a 
fairer distribution of the proceeds of the crop. 
These pleasant and plausible gentlemen do not 
know yet what it is to be obliged to produce this 
grain and meat, and then accept a price which 
barely pays the cost of production. Farmers 
claim that the handlers and sellers of produce re¬ 
ceive more than their fair share of the proceeds, 
and the arguments thus far made by the dealers 
would certainly indicate the truth of this position. 
Why, if it is only the dishonest and irresponsible 
speculators who have injured the trade, have not 
the official trade organizations righted matters be¬ 
fore now? No, grain gambling must stop. The 
Butterworth Bill should pass, and if it fail to right 
matters, let us have a bill that will. 
indicates a way to extend our southern trade. At 
present there is no organized system of credit or 
exchange between this country and South America. 
Foreign banks reap the benefit of a commission on 
the money spent in trade between ourselves and 
our southern neighbors. An international bank 
with headquarters in this country is suggested. It 
certainly looks as though our Pan-American friends 
are after definite results. If these reciprocity 
treaties are ever arranged, we want the interests of 
the farmer considered as carefully as those of the 
manufacturer. 
During last summer, as R. N.-Y. readers have 
been told, rose-hybridizing work gave us over 2,000 
seeds, hybrids of Rosa rugosa (white and pink) and 
various Hybrid Teas and Remontants. Three- 
quarters of these were very carefully planted in 
flats which were left out in the garden during the 
winter covered over by boards to protect them from 
animals as well as hard rains. In late February 
they were taken to the conservatory. Not over 
five per cent, have germinated. The portion (one- 
quarter) of the seeds not planted was then ex¬ 
amined. It was found that 19 of every 20 were 
mere shells without any embryo. In previous 
years we assumed that the failure to grow of a 
large per cent, (though never so great as this year) 
was due to imperfect treatment or unfavorable 
conditions of one kind or another. 
There is a reasonable chance that the Edmunds 
meat inspection bill will become a law. This bill 
provides for the official inspection of meats ex¬ 
ported from this country, such inspection to be 
made at the port of export. Some objection has 
been offered to this bill on the ground that the 
inspection should be made at the slaughter and 
packing houses. Why not inspect at both ends of 
the business? We have lost a good deal of Euro¬ 
pean trade because we sent abroad poor meat. 
Russia is now beating us in the English market be¬ 
cause she guarantees an absolutely strict govern¬ 
mental inspection of all meats sent out of the 
country. This meat inspection is the soundest sort 
of business. This is an age of trade-marks, and 
honest guarantees. Sound and honest goods hold 
trade. Inferior goods ruin business. Make it im¬ 
possible for any rascal to send out fraudulent 
goods. 
As the R. N.-Y. remarked two weeks ago, the 
House Committee on Agriculture has reported fav¬ 
orably on what is known as the “ pure lard bill.” 
Under the provisions of this bill so-called “com¬ 
pound lard” or the fat of the hog mixed with 
cotton-seed oil or tallow will be placed under pre¬ 
cisely the same restrictions as butterine. This 
“ compound lard” business has reached absolutely 
gigantic proportions, and is now probably of more 
direct injury to the hog-growers of this country 
than the ‘ ‘ bogus butter ” frauds ever were to the 
dairy interest. One witness stated before the com¬ 
mittee “ that the farmers of the country could af¬ 
ford to buy the oil crop of the nation and pour it 
into the sea and be millions of dollars in pocket if 
the ‘compound fraud’ were stopped.” 
The House committee did not consider the 
healthfulness of “compound lard.” It was not 
their business to do that. The proposed bill seeks 
only to compel the product to stand on its own 
merits, so that those who desire to buy honest lard 
may not be deceived and induced to take a different 
article. 
Near the old R. N.-Y. building is a “ coffee and 
cakes ” restaurant. In order to make patrons com¬ 
fortable, the manager deemed it necessary to arrange 
a series of revolving fans over the tables which 
would create a breeze and keep the air cool. These 
fans are run by boy power. A small boy who sits 
on a little shelf over the cook’s steaming table works 
a lever which runs the machinery. As the business 
enlarged, another set of wheels and another boy 
power were added. Two small boys began this work 
on the same day. Both hated their jobs. One work 
ed in a sullen, mechanical way, anxious only to get 
away from his irksome labor. The other watched 
the cooks and carefully noticed how all the various 
foods were prepared. There came a day when one 
of the cooks was discharged. Who should apply for 
the place but the boy-power who had watched the 
cooks so long. He was given the place and is now 
on the way to a lucrative and profitable position. 
The other boy still pulls away at his lever, sullen 
and unhappy because he is not appreciated. There 
is no moral to go with this—only a question. Young 
man, are you watching the cook or are you not 
looking away from your hard job ? 
It looks as though the Pan-American Congress 
might come to something after all. The R. N.-Y. 
has always believed—not so much in this Congress 
—in the possibilities of trade with South America. 
Now that the Congress is ready to report, we may 
at least see w hat they have been doing. We are 
informed that the report adopted recommends that 
“reciprocity treaties be negotiated between the 
several republics of the American hemisphere, each 
making tariff concessions, so that the peculiar pro¬ 
ducts of them all may be introduced free into the 
others.” This is fair enough and wall give a chance 
for the building up of trade relations betw een our 
country and the southern republics, that will pro¬ 
vide a profitable export market. The report also 
The committee appointed to investigate the con¬ 
dition of agriculture in New Jersey has reported. 
Reports were secured from all parts of the State 
and these were digested and condensed so as to af¬ 
ford an accurate presentation of the way New 
Jersey farmers view the present depression. Here 
are some of the more important matters brought 
out by this inquiry : There is not enough money 
in circulation for the needs of the people. Subsid¬ 
izing the great railroad corporations with grants of 
public land has injured the Eastern farmer, because 
it has tended to throw upon us a vast army of 
foreign food-producers, and hence created an over¬ 
production. Immense shipments and sales of beef 
cattle are made in all the Eastern markets by 
Western cattle kings at prices which prevent the 
Jersey and other Eastern farmers from producing 
beef and which bring no relief to the Western 
farmers The inter State Commerce law has failed 
to help Jersey farmers. Railroad charges on New 
Jersey products are declared entirely out of propor¬ 
tion to the charges on similar articles from places 
hundreds of miles away. On the tariff question 
New Jersey farmers are divided. The majority 
seem to feel that, as manufacturers still call for pro¬ 
tection, the farmers should call for the same thing, 
and should therefore have the benefit of a duty on 
everything they produce. Others say they cannot 
see how any duty on their goods will help them, 
while a cut in the duty on what they have to buy 
will save them money. 
The committee decidedly oppose any project for 
opening up any more public lands, including the 
scheme for irrigation at government expense. Con¬ 
gress is requested to drop, for the present, all legis¬ 
lation looking to the improvement of the waste and 
desert lands, and pay more attention to the farms 
on which men and women now live—or try to. 
The remonetization of silver is demanded as well as 
an increase of our paper currency. The Butter¬ 
worth Bill and the Sherman Anti trust Bill are both 
indorsed, and perhaps the strongest words of the 
report are those used in condemning the adultera¬ 
tions of lard and dairy products. In speaking of 
taxation, the committee get at the tariff again when 
they say that the taxes on articles of universal need 
and consumption should be reduced as far as 
possible. 
BREVITIES. 
Grease up the wheel: Krease up the wheel. 
Don’t let It squander good labor In squeal, 
Horse tlesh Is dear this time of year. 
Use grease instead of horse nerve on your wheels ; 
Hear the hubs cry when wheels are dry, 
Take hold yourself and thus see how’ it feels. 
Grease costs but little, don't throw, 1 pray. 
One Jot or tittle of nerve power away. 
Grease up the wheel, grease up the wheel 
Don’t let It squander good labor In squeal, 
Next week a picture of five young men who have made 
farming pay. 
Don’t put potatoes on wet ground. This is the R. N.-Y.’s 
annual weather statement. 
Let the hens run on the manure pile and you will be 
able to give an affirmative answer to the last part of Job 
6 : 6 . 
What crops shall we grow in the place of fruit ? That 
is the question asked by fruit growers who recently enter¬ 
tained Jack Frost. 
A BUSHEL of oats for a quart of strawberries ! The farm 
that Prof. Goff tells about on page 352, can be found in 
many neighborhoods even now. It’s a shame, too. 
Acting upon the suggestion of Mr. Drew on page 248, 
the R. N.-Y. will find out “ why boys stay on the Farm,” 
instead of learning why they go away from it 
IN olden times, so we are told, a bushel of wheat was a 
better standard of value than gold coins ; in New Jersey 
to-day there are places where sitting hens are so hard to 
obtain that they regulate the price of gold. 
The R.N.-Y. assumes that the chicken manure men¬ 
tioned by Mr. Johnson on page 248 was mixed with plaster 
as it accumulated. The dissolved bone-black and muriate 
of potash are evidently added just before the fertilizer is 
to be applied. 
Read what Mr. Dibble has to say about the proper fer¬ 
tilizers for oats. You see the absolute necessity of know¬ 
ing what there is in your soil before you decide about buy¬ 
ing nitrogen at 17 cents per pound. Would you buy beef¬ 
steak if you already had a full supply ? 
The Champion of England is, as to quality, one of our 
best late peas. There is no question about it. But the 
vines grow from four to five feet high and, of course, need 
strong support. Are there no peas as good that do not 
grow so tall ? We should prefer intermediate sorts planted 
a trifle later thau usual — Telephone, Stratagem for in¬ 
stance. These grow less than three feet high. 
Our Louisiana friend gives, on page 252, a new side of 
the lottery question. It is true that both New York and 
New Jersey used to sanction lotteries. It is also true that 
the New York City government is little better than a nest 
of blackguards and thieves. The lotteries have been kill¬ 
ed, however, and it is hoped that we have at least begun 
on the work of cleaning the city government. The R. N.-Y. 
repeats what it said in a former issue regarding this 
lottery. It is a disgrace—a blot upon American civiliza¬ 
tion. It is fairly national in its character because, as our 
correspondent says, it is kept alive by contributions from 
all over the country. Good people everywhere should 
unite in trying to put it down, and the very fact that it is 
supported largely by mail contributions should give th§ 
general government power to legislate against it, 
