274 
APRIL 26 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER \ 
Several Western dealers have been making hay-rakes 
of heavier material than that usually employed. They are 
used for raking corn-stalks for burning, and can be used 
later in the season for raking hay. A number of tools have 
been designed for cutting or crushing down these stalks, 
but have never become very popular. 
There is one commodity that Protection or Free Trade 
cannot hurt—that is the completed agricultural imple¬ 
ment. It is the material which goes into the implement 
that is affected by the tariff. 
MORE MANUFACTURERS TALK. 
From a Leading Plow Company. 
We give a dealer a certain territory in which he has the 
exclusive right to sell our goods. After a dealer had 
advertised and worked up a trade on a certain implement, 
it would not be fair for us to sell directly to such people 
as he may have interested. We do not sell directly to 
farmers and never will, unless there should be a revolution 
in the way ol doing business. The laborer is worthy of 
his hire, and when a dealer or a business man endeavors to 
crowd our goods into prominence, we think it is right that 
he should be entitled to the benefits arising from their 
popularity and sale. No dealer will put his money into a 
line of goods and take the chance of selling them without 
a profit, and the discount which we allow to the dealer 
gives him, between the cost price and the retail price, a 
margin which is not any too much. If we were to make a 
business of selling to the farmer at even half the difference 
between the wholesale and retail price, we would not be 
able to find a dealer in any section of the country who 
would buy of us at wholesale prices, simply because the 
retail price would be considerably less than it now is. 
A dealer must have a certain amount of profit before he 
will invest his money in an article, and experience has 
taught about what that profit must be. We would be glad 
to increase our trade, and come closer to the farmers, but 
it is simply out of the question for us to deal with them 
directly. It would be a good ohing for the farmer if he 
could secure a machine for less money than he now has to 
pay in buying it of the middleman, but we have yet to 
hear of a successful enterprise in which the consumer is 
the direct purchaser. Especially is this the case in the 
agricultural implement business, in which advertising, 
pushing and working are necessary to effect sales. If we 
had the monopoly of our business and every farmer had to 
buy of us, we would be inclined to tell the farmer that his 
money was as good as any one else’s, and we could sell 
right and left without having to look out for territorial 
rights. Looking at the matter from our standpoint, we 
are inclined to think that such a consummation, while 
devoutly to be desired, is out of the question. 
From a Carriage Company. 
For nearly 16 years we have sold our goods directly to 
the consumers. Our prices are about the same as the 
wholesale prices of others who make the same grade of 
work and sell to agents. We like this way of doing busi¬ 
ness and our customers are growing more numerous each 
year. We advertise quite largely in newspapers and mail 
our catalogues, free, on application. We have never done 
business through agents, and cannot say how it would 
compare with our system, when the interests of all parties 
are considered. Our method cuts off the middleman en¬ 
tirely and passes nearly all of his profits and expenses to 
the credit of the consumer. It gives us cash for our goods, 
and avoids losses in bad debts. So far as ourselves and our 
customers are concerned, no doubt this method is best; 
but it certainly cannot be so for the middleman. If gen¬ 
erally practiced it must eventually drive him from the 
field entirely. 
From a Harrow Manufacturer. 
If farmers were, as. a rule, an intelligent class of people, 
who thoroughly read the papers, and appreciated and under¬ 
stood the different machines from “ads,” catalogues, cir¬ 
culars, etc., we think that a much greater amount of trade 
could be done directly with them; but, as it is now, only a 
small proportion of them read the agricultural papers, 
where the “ ads ” would be likely to occur, and the diffi¬ 
culty of their understanding the benefits of the machines 
by reading circulars, and their failure to pay cash seem 
almost necessarily to require the presence of a lively agent 
who will thoroughly explain the implement that he is 
selling, so that they will understand it, and who can by 
proper examination of their circumstances, select respon¬ 
sible men whom he can trust, so that dealers have found it 
strictly necessary for their business to employ agents. 
The middlemen might be and ought to be eliminated, but 
it does not seem to be, in the nature of things, possible to 
get rid of them. The farmers of course have to pay the 
middleman’s expenses. We would gladly deal with con¬ 
sumers and divide with them the commission that the 
middlemen get, if we could. We would put half the ex¬ 
penses into advertising and give the farmer the other half 
if we could get as good results from dealing directly with 
the farmers as we get from the assistance of dealers, but 
whenever we have tried to do so—and this, we think, is the 
experience of all implement makers—the experiment has 
proved a disastrous failure. It would be simply impos¬ 
sible to sell largely to farmers without the aid of dealers, 
and, further, if in a town where we have an agent we 
should sell our goods to two or three farmers at a reduced 
price, it would spoil the agent’s trade. The information 
would be spread among the farmers and the agent’s busi¬ 
ness would be ruined—he would not buy of us, if we sold 
to his trade, and we could not blame him. 
A SUMMER OUTING IN THE NORTH CAROLINA 
MOUNTAINS. 
XII. 
MART WAGER-FISHER. 
Highlands as a health resort; cost of living; flora; 
native knowledge of flowers; good climate for roses. 
A charming feature of the flora of the region is the 
length of time the flowers remain in bloom. This is un¬ 
doubtedly owing to the moisture of the atmosphere, and 
the frequent showers. The annual average rainfall is 
about 60 inches. The rainfall for August, 1889, was 5% 
inches. The soil is sandy, and the water so quickly perco¬ 
lates through the surface that I never found the ground 
uncomfortably wet for a walk immediately after a rain. 
As the interest in Highlands must for a long time lie in 
the peculiarly healing quality of its atmosphere as a 
health resort, and in the richness of the mountain flora, a 
specific word or two in regard to these, may not be amiss. 
So far as my own experience went, covering a period of 
three and a half months—from the middle of June to the 
last of September—I can give no word of commendation 
too high for the atmosphere. To me it was absolutely per¬ 
fect. I found light-weight woolen clothing the most com¬ 
fortable. It was always cool enough at night to sleep 
under two blankets. I regard the climate as excellent for 
persons with weak lungs, as well as for those suffering 
from malaria, nervous prostration, “ general debility ” 
and dyspepsia. I should not consider it good for rheuma¬ 
tism or neuralgia, particularly if the latter is emphasized by 
moisture in the atmosphere. In Colorodo Springs the alti¬ 
tude—6,000 feet—combined with the extreme dryness of 
the air, is apt to so accelerate the action of the heart as to 
make it impossible for some persons to live there. At 
Highlands, with an altitude of about 4,000 feet, and a 
moist atmosphere, no such result is produced. The air is 
light, moist, soft and indescribably balmy. The Colorado 
air is more exhilarating, that of the Highlands more rest¬ 
ful and soothing. As to living expenses, in Highlands one 
can get a comfortable room and comfortable board for a 
dollar a day in hotels kept chiefly on the Northern plan. 
A room with a sunny exposure should be chosen, and one 
with warming facilities is best for invalids. 
A saddle horse can be had for half a day at a time for 
from 50 to 75 cents. A few cottages can be hired. Food 
furnished in the region is not dear, the best cut of beef or 
mutton costing not over eight or nine cents per pound. 
Butter, milk, eggs, chickens and the native fruits are very 
reasonable. Groceries are increased in price because of 
the freight—all packages carried up the mountain being 
charged at the rate of 85 cents for every 100 pounds, furni¬ 
ture $1 per 100 pounds. But such good and pretty furni¬ 
ture is now made in the town that the need of importation 
has been greatly diminished. A flouring mill makes good, 
but not fine flour. There is a tannery, but the region is 
limited in commercial or money-making resources. It is 
difficult to procure good house servants, and the two or 
three leading boarding-houses had imported cooks. But 
if persons are disposed to be self-helpfnl, temporary house¬ 
keeping can be made very economical. 
The winter climate is said to be, upon the whole, mild. 
Now and then the mercury falls to, snd even below zero, 
but the cold is brief, and a half-inch of frost in the ground 
is about the usual extent of the winter freeze. None of 
the houses are plastered inside, because of the absence of 
lime and of the expense of getting it. Building paper is 
plastered over lathing, or rooms are ceiled with wood. 
Lumber costs $15 a thousand, and mechanics’ wages are 
much lower than in the North. Insurance costs thrice as 
much as in the State of New York. The legal rate of in¬ 
terest in North Carolina is eight per cent. Northern 
school books have been introduced into the public schools. 
There are some really valuable farms—not many—in the 
mountain region, and there are coves in which cattle be¬ 
come poisoned by the unwholesome pasture, and the milk, 
butter and all the products of the horned cattle, if eaten, 
produce “milk sickness,” which is often fatal, and always, 
I believe, ineradicable when introduced into the system. 
Lambs that are poisoned by laurel, I have been told, are 
quite effectually dosed with warm coffee! 
North Carolina since the time of Michaux, the French 
botanist who explored these mountains a hundred years 
ago, has been famous for the varied extent of its flora. One 
pretty little plant that Michaux found and described, was 
searched for a long time by American botanists, and only 
re-discovered in 1877, and christened Shortia in honor of 
Dr. Short, a Kentucky botanist of 50 years ago. I brought 
a plant of it home with me to see if it could be naturalized 
in the neighborhood^ Philadelphia. Another plant some¬ 
what resembling it—Galax aphylla—has thick, glossy 
leaves, which furnish quite a food supply to cattle in win¬ 
ter. Eastern North Carolina is the home of Venus’s Fly 
Trap, and is the only place where it has been found grow¬ 
ing wild in the world. Its relative, Drosera rotundlfolia 
—Sun-dew—grows abundantly about Highlands, and is 
the little insect-eating plant that furnishes the greater 
part of the material in Darwin’s book on insectivorous 
plants. Among plants native to these mountains, and 
which are cultivated elsewhere, may be mentioned Lily 
of the Valley, Sweet-scented Shrub (Calycanthus) 
Monkshood,bearingalarge, curious, beautiful, blue flower; 
Passion-vine. Grape Myrtle, Lilium Grayii, Chionan- 
thus, Rhododendrons Catawbiense, maximum and the 
beautiful Vaseyi, Allegbany-vine, Cypripedium specta- 
bile (white) and very many others detailed in Chapman’s 
Botany of the Southern States. Of the wild flowers which 
grow in great abundance and which especially attract at¬ 
tention may be mentioned the Dasy3toma and Starry 
Campion ; while whole mountain sides are pink with the 
arbutus, phlox, (purple) and there are many golden rods, 
asters and small sunflowers, euphorbias, mints, Yellow- 
fringed orchis, eupatorium, gerardias, Lilium superbum, 
which I have seen seven feet tall and one stalk bore 36 
lilies by actual count; Indian-pipe, the Great Lobelia, 
Painted Cup, stenantium, coreopsis, blazing star, par- 
nassia, to say nothing of trees and shrubs, especially of 
the heath family. I went for a little walk one day early 
in September and carelessly plucked the flowers by the 
wayside, which upon counting numbered 28 varieties. 
Meeting a mountain woman, I asked her their names, but 
of them all she knew but the name of one—calling the 
others “ fall bloom.” The Starry Campion she had always 
thought “ powerful purtv,” but she had never known its 
name. I pointed at some smart-weed growing in a fence 
corner, and that she knew, adding that tea made from it 
was good for colic ! One of the best physicians I met in 
the mountains said that smart-weed formed the chief in¬ 
gredient in “Warner’s Safe Cure.” I saw some very large 
Mar6chal Niel Roses that were grown in the open air at 
Highlands, the stalks being laid on the ground in winter 
and slightly protected. The climate is favorable for roses, 
and they are as yet unmolested by slugs or bugs. Rabbits 
and mice are pests, and bulbs left in the ground are in 
danger of being devoured. The hotel tables were always 
very beautifully decorated with flowers, 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
“ W hat though men evil call your good ! 
So Christ himself, misunderstood, 
Was nailed unto a cross of wood; 
And now shall you, for lesser pain 
Your inmost soul forever stain 
By rendering evil back again? 
Live It down! 
Oh, if you look to be forgiven, 
Love your own foes, the bitterest even, 
And love to you shall glide from heaven ; 
And when shall come the poisoned lie 
Swift from the bow of calumny, 
If you would turn It harmless by, 
And make the venomed falsehood lie, 
Live It down ! ” 
* 
• * 
A N old-fashioned dentrifice, which is cheap, effective 
and harmless, is made as follows : Dissolve two 
ounces of borax in three pints of water; add to it one tea¬ 
spoonful of tincture of myrrh and one table-spoonful of 
spirits of camphor. Add a little of this mixture to the 
water used in brushing the teeth ; it is considered an ex¬ 
cellent thing for the gums as well as for the teeth. 
•* 
♦ ♦ 
Dr. Kitchener, now rather out of date as a household 
monitor, particularly recommends to a wife never to let her 
husband find a shirt button missing. He says that a miss¬ 
ing button has often produced the first hurricane in 
married life, and as men’s collars never fit exactly, take it 
quietly if the husband does fret about it; men have a pre¬ 
scriptive right to fret about shirt collars. 
The same wise man says that the wife who will estab¬ 
lish the rule of allowiug her husband to have thelast word 
will achieve for herself and her sex a great moral victory. 
Is he right T —it were a great error to oppose him. Is he 
wrong?— he will soon discover it, and applaud the self- 
command which bore unvexed his pertinacity. 
* 
* * 
A short needle will be found easiest and best in plain 
sewing. 
To make a flannel petticoat wear a long time, turn it 
back to front when it begins to wear thin. It always 
shows its first signs of wear about the knees. 
A piece of oil-cloth about two feet square is a useful 
thing to keep at hand in the dining-room; kept in an ad¬ 
jacent closet, it may be used to stand jars upon, or any 
damp article likely to soil the table-cloth. 
When you dry salt for the table, do not place it in the 
sprinklers until it is quite cold, or it will harden into a 
lump. 
♦ * * 
Late at breakfast—hurried for dinner—cross at tea. 
* 
♦ ♦ 
Whatever you may be pleased to give away, always be 
sure to keep your temper. 
* 
* * 
A simple remedy for burns, which has the advantage of 
being always at hand, is common flour. Sprinkle it thickly 
over the burn; it forms a paste, which, by excluding the 
air, greatly relieves the pain. It keeps moist and flexible, 
and can always be washed off if necessary, without addi¬ 
tional pain. 
A simple corn plaster, which usually gives much relief, 
is obtained by boiling a potato in its skin, then taking a 
piece of this skin, and laying it over the corn, the inner 
side against it. It should be kept on for 12 hours. This 
usually eases the pain even of an obstinate corn. 
PisccUmww gMumising. 
In writing to advertisers, please mention the R. N.-Y. 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castorla, 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castorla. 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castorla 
When she had Children, she gave them Castorla 
