356 
MAY 3i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
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, MAY 81, 1890. 
Milk is a perfect food. Arsenic is a deadly 
poison. A man can kill himself with milk. 
Arsenic may be used to save our lives. 
Alluding to Prof. Plumb’s trial of the R. N.-Y. 
Trench System, an account of which appears on 
oage 355/ we are inclined to think that had a 
ligher grade of fertilizer been used, the crop would 
lave been larger. Prof. Plumb does not give the 
analysis of the fertilizer used. The price was $30 
per ton. _ 
The Fassett investigating committee spent a day 
last week in overhauling the milk business of this 
city. Milk dealers swore that certain inspectors 
had demanded bribes. Fora “ reasonable price ” 
they would promise not to “inspect” any milk 
sold by these dealers. The inspectors swear that 
the offers of bribes came from the other side—they 
were innocent people trying to lead the others on 
to a point where the law could put its hand on 
them. “Where do I come in?” was the question 
asked by one of these rascals of another. That is 
just what the farmers who produce the milk and 
the people who consume it want to know. You 
will notice that about all these schemes for bribery 
and fraud are concocted in rum shops. The rum 
shop drains the farm. 
A number of our readers contradict the R. N.-Y.’s 
statement that moles live for the most part, if not 
wholly, on animal food. Their arguments remind 
us of those offered in proof that wheat turns to 
chess. It is true that these wise little animals will 
follow a drill of corn as “ straight as a string,” that 
they will burrow under the hills in preference to 
other parts of the land and that they seem to 
choose newly-prepared or planted grounds to any 
other. The reason is, as it seems to us, that the 
drills, hills and newly-prepared land have been 
manured. Worms and insects select such places 
as their richest feeding grounds. The moles know 
this and search for their food accordingly. They 
kill plants by severing their roots or by removing 
the soil from them, not by eating them. The dis¬ 
appearance of peas, corn, etc., and the injury to 
roots, potatoes, etc., are due to mice, grubs and 
the like. The mole harms us only as he destroys 
plants in his pursuit of animal food. 
The letter published on page 351 from an ex¬ 
student of an agricultural college, suggests one of 
the greatest benefits to be derived from our agri¬ 
cultural colleges. This young man, in the con¬ 
struction -of a new barn, embodied the practical 
ideas he had received, and thus furnished an object- 
lesson for the whole community. Many of these 
improvements will be copied. It is safe to say that 
some of his other school-lessons will be or have 
been put in practice, and that much of the instruc¬ 
tion he received will thus be passed along to such 
neighbors as are intelligent enough to appreciate 
its value. Most farmers know a good thing when 
they see it, and if their neighbors are using im¬ 
proved methods or implements, they are quick to 
adopt them. Only here and there is there a young 
farmer who will attend an agricultural college, but 
these few will be like leaven, diffusing through the 
whole mass the valuable information they have ac¬ 
quired. The benefits derived from these institu¬ 
tions are by no means confined to the students; 
there is absolutely no limit to their far-reaching in¬ 
fluence. 
in which dairying is an important industry. New 
York is especially interested in the matter, owing 
both to the stringency of her anti-oleo laws and the 
paramount importance of her dairy interests. The 
laws of this State against oleomargarine are posi¬ 
tively prohibitory against making or selling, or 
having the stuff for sale, and. according to State 
Dairy Commissioner Brown, there is not at present 
an oleomargarine factorv or either a wholesale or 
retail oleomargarine dealer within the limits of the 
State. It is estimated that at least 300,000 New 
York farmers are interested in the dairy business 
and in the enforcement of the present anti-oleo laws, 
and unless the Hiscock bill passes without delay, 
every city, town, and village in the State is likely 
to be soon supplied with unlimited quantities of 
oleomargarine in original packages, ranging from 
half a pound to a firkin ; nor will it be possible to 
prevent its sale as butter, or to prevent it from 
being colored in imitation of the genuine dairy 
article. An esprit de corps as well as self-interest 
should therefore induce all farmers throughout the 
country to take prompt action in this matter. 
Referring to what was said in these columns 
two weeks ago regarding the solubility of Paris- 
green in the Bordeaux Mixture, a friend sent us the 
following: 
“ I find in Storer’s Dictionary of Solubilities that 
arsenite of copper (Paris-green) is soluble in acids, 
alkaline solutions and ammonia, and that arsenite 
of lime (London-purple) is not precipitated from 
solutions with ammonia salts, and with solutions of 
carbonate of ammonia, is decomposed without be¬ 
ing dissolved, and that salt dissolved in water in¬ 
creases its solubility. I have tested the solubility 
of both Paris green and London-purple in the 
ammoniacal carbonate of copper solution, and find 
Paris green perceptibly soluble, while no trace of 
arsenic was observed when London purple was 
treated in the same manner, thereby confirming 
the above. I have not tested the solubility of the 
arsenic compound when mixed with the Bordeaux 
Mixture, but Storer, as above, says that arsenite of 
lime is soluble to a slight extent in water if it con¬ 
tains hydrate of lime.” 
It requires about five years, said Chas. Downing, 
to determine with any certainty just what a straw¬ 
berry is. The “Enhance ” was sent to us by Henry 
Young, of Ada, O., Aug. 15, 1886. We do not know 
him, and are not aware that the variety has ever 
been offered for sale. But those who raise straw¬ 
berries and who are on the lookout for new kinds 
of merit, should know that in several respects the 
“Enhance” is the most remarkable berry ever 
tried at the Rural Grounds. It has yielded, per 
plant, the greatest amount of berries during these 
four years of trial, the same plants grown in the 
same place. The plants are both vigorous and ex¬ 
ceedingly hardy. They are now in flower and hid 
fair to yield as much this season as they did in 1887, 
The berries average as large as those of the Sharp¬ 
less, and are rather firmer in texture. In product¬ 
iveness of plant, in hardiness of plant, in long life, 
in size and firmness of berry it is, as grown at the 
Rural Grounds, unequaled by any of the hundreds 
of kinds there tested. Its weak characteristics are 
these : irregular-shaped berries and inferior qual¬ 
ity. It is no better than the Wilson. 
An excellent teacher of gymnastics once went to 
the country to spend his summer vacation. While 
not a remarkably powerful man himself, he was 
a master of the art of developing the muscles of 
weak persons by encouraging a systematic drill in 
well-directed, light exercise. The people with whom 
he boarded, when informed as to his business, at 
once concluded that he must be a giant in strength 
or else his teaching must be a failure. They were 
surprised and disgusted when they found that a 
young farm hand could lift a heavier weight than 
the teacher. ‘ ‘ A pretty teacher of physical culture!” 
they said : “ A man to teach strength ought to be 
stronger than the one who only practices it. ” Were 
they right ? No. For proof they should have let the 
young man who lifted the heavy weight try to 
teach others the art of muscle-building. He could 
lift, hut he could not train a weak and nervous per¬ 
son, gently but surely back to health, strength and 
activity. 'The man who failed to lift the heavy 
weight could do this. There are many people who 
have this curious idea regarding all education and 
teaching. Because they will not see the difference 
between one who “knows it” and one who can 
“teach it.” many of our country schools are pre¬ 
sided over by persons who do them little good. 
In line with the editorial suggestion of the last 
isssue of the Rural New-Yorker, Senator Hiscock, 
of New York State, last Thursday, introduced a bill 
into the United States Senate, providing that the 
same rule should apply to the sale of oleomargarine 
in any State in which its sale is prohibited or re¬ 
stricted as the Wilson bill seeks to apply to the sale 
of intoxicants under the ruling of the United States 
Supreme Court with regard to “original packages.” 
The bill is worded precisely the same as the Wilson 
bill, except that, instead of specifying intoxicating 
liquors, it specifies oleomargarine. This bill should 
be promptly passed, and the farmers of the country 
should write to their Representatives and Senators 
in Congress letting them emphatically know tneir 
wishes in the matter. In a large number of States 
anti-oleo laws have already been passed, and such 
laws are likely to be enacted in every other State 
Next Monday the census enumerators begin their 
work. Many people are of the opinion that some 
of the questions they are required to ask are not 
only senseless and useless, but are an impertinent 
meddling in private affairs with which the Govern¬ 
ment has no business to interfere. Some of the 
daily papers go so far as to advise their readers to 
refuse, politely and firmly, to answer. To be sure 
there is a penalty of $30 for doing this, but the 
same penalty existed during the taking of previous 
censuses, and it is said that it has never been en¬ 
forced. It probably never will be, for it is unlikely 
that any court can be found that will convict any 
one for refusing to answer questions which the 
Government has no constitutional right to ask. 
Very few will care to give the enumerators all the 
particulars about their private debts, physical and 
mental ailments, and similar matters which thoy 
would be loth to tell their most intimate friends. 
Were they sure no one but the enumerators and 
the census officials would know the facts, there 
might be less reluctance, but experience has shown 
that, especially in the country districts, such facts 
become known to the outside world. If you an¬ 
swer, answer truthfully. However much you may 
feel like resenting the questions as to how much 
you are in debt, whether you have any chronic or 
incurable disease, whether you or any member of 
your family is of unsound mind, don’t abuse the 
enumerator ; he is doing only what must often 
prove a disagreeable duty. Here is one point to 
bear in mind about a record of debts. Farmers 
everywhere seem to want to know abqut farm 
mortgage indebtedness. Unless farmers answer 
these debt and mortgage questions truthfully, the 
record will be worthless. The basis of reliable sta¬ 
tistics is truth. 
Just try it, readers, and if you find that the 
advice is not sound, “stop the paper.” There is 
just as much difference between asparagus cut 
when and how it should be, and when and how 
it should not be, as there is between the b;in mas, 
pineapples and oranges we eat here and those 
which ripen in their Southern homes. In truth, we 
have never appreciated asparagus until the present 
season. 
Following the advice of a friend we have cut the 
stalks (or broken them, it matters little which) 
just at the surface of the ground or at that part 
just between the tender green and the tough, 
woody white, whether at the surface or an inch or 
more above—never below the surface. If you cut as¬ 
paragus for market, then cut the stalks as long as the 
market demands. If you are cutting for home 
consumption, then cut only those tender parts which 
may be eaten with a thorough relish and leave 
nothing to be rejected. As a rule, three quarters 
of the market asparagus is not fit to be eaten, and 
no one eats it. The bunches, instead of being six 
or seven inches long, should be barely four, and 
these four inches should be cut just so soon as the 
shoot is four inches above the surface of the soil. 
Then you will get the cream of asparagus and 
know what a tender, melting, deliciously-flavored 
vegetable it is. And you will not know until you 
do. The markets will never let you into the secret. 
Four or three inch bunches would never sell. 
BREVITIES. 
Nail down a lie! Nail down a lie 
When ft comes sneaking behind on the sly. 
Truth for an axe nlve the lie whacks. 
Over the head till It drop' out of sight. 
Truth's eagle eye wlhs down a lie 
Quicker than lightning and surer than blight. 
Nothing so base under the sky 
As the disgrace brought by a He. 
Don’t fear a lie! Don’t fear a lie! 
Stand for the truth or get down and die. 
Nail the boy down, he's off to the town. 
MANURE from grass is very poor bedding. 
Brush up the peas or get down on your knees. 
YOU begin to realize now that planting the crop is the 
easiest part of good farming. 
Does Mr. Terry injure the business of his town by put¬ 
ting the middleman’s share in his own pocket ? 
In spite of its hopes and predictions of last season, the 
R. N.-Y. is forced to state that the potato beetles are still 
with us. 
Don’t stop growing roots entirely because you have a 
silo. As is stated on another page, the roots are good to 
feed until the silo is ready to be opened. 
We find a Montana paper advising its readers to use 
nitrate of soda on lawns. Montana is a State, we’d have 
you know, and can afford the luxuries of lawns and fer¬ 
tilizers. 
After we have spent years (it may be) of work and 
thought to produce a new flower or fruit,and bestowed upon 
it a cherished, or, as it may seem to us, suitable name, we 
are quite unwilling that auy florist or seedsman, or any one 
else, should give it another name for the sake of increasing 
his sales and profits. 
Evert time General Butler is asked for his opiuion re¬ 
garding the proper investment for an enterprising young 
man, he says that “rent-paying real estate” is the safest 
investment in the world. He always adds that no man 
who expects to accumulate property can afford to be mean 
about money matters. 
The finest white lilac, by all odds, that the R. N.-Y. has 
ever seen was sent to the Rural Grounds about six or 
seven years ago by the late James Dougal, of Canada. L he 
flowers as well as thyrses are larger than those of auy of 
the well-known varieties. Its name is Princess of Alex¬ 
andria, a seedling of the common lilac—Syringa vulgaris. 
The new silver bill will, it is claimed, make “better 
times,” enhancing prices, stimulating credit and expendi¬ 
tures. and generally making money “easier.” The war 
did all these things Those who were economical and wise 
In war times have plenty now. Those who fail to be eco¬ 
nomical and wise during the good days of silver will be in 
want and trouble 10 years hence. Savings rather than 
earnings count. 
Mr John Lewis Childs has not yet auswered our ques¬ 
tion why he paid $1000 a plaut for the Childs’s Great Japan 
Wineberry when the plants were being offered for sale at 
35 cents each. Perhaps Mr. Childs does not read the 
R N -Y He ought to. Perhaps none of his friends read 
it They ought to. Through the courtesy of Mr. Childs 
we have three strong plants of this Japan raspberry, two 
of which will probably fruit this season. 
Probably no other gladiolus has ever been so liberally 
advertised as the “ Snow-white.” Nearly every seedsman 
or florist offered it and some of the catalogues gave an eu- 
tire page to its portrait. It is not too much to say that it 
is the best white gladiolus yet produced. The petals are of 
good substance and recurve in a most graceful way T he 
throat Is crimson and some of the petals of the flowers are 
tinted with yellow, while others show a feeble line of pur¬ 
ple through the middle. It is not, therefore, a pure white. 
We make these notes, of course, from specimen spikes 
grown under glass. Later we shall report upon our own 
out door specimens. It received the prospective prize of 
$40. from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 
