358 
MAY 31 
THE RURAE NEW-YORKER 
dampness or heat. Nothing is needed but water and Are 
to prepare them for food. They are cheaper, more easily 
handled and transported than the canned goods. Sales 
among miners, stockmen and sailors are large, and it is 
reported that several of the Southern nations are experi¬ 
menting with the food in their armies. The evaporated 
sweet-corn industry has been greatly overdone in years 
past. The price of the corn now, however, is higher than 
ever before, and it is probable that a good deal will be 
evaporated in this way this season. 
Wise Financiering.— This is the way a Kansas sub¬ 
scriber puts it: 
“ The visible property pays the tax. A miser—a miserable 
miser—a disgrace to mankind, could have crawled into his 
dirty hovel 10 years ago with $1,200 and slept on it all the 
time, and by accident discovered that he could get that 
180-acre farm in New Hampshire with all its improvements 
and conveniences for his $1,200. That would have been 
wise financiering.” 
This, he says, is because that miser’s money would have 
escaped taxation. His idea seems to be that under our 
present laws taxation is heaviest on visible property. This 
class of property is levied upon more and more to pay the 
taxes. The consequence is that men with money to invest 
are less and less desirous of putting it where it is most 
liable to be taxed. Suppose, though, that “miserable 
miser” had invested his $1,200 in a mortgage before he 
“ crawled into his dirty hovel,” would he be any better off 
to-day ? ” 
How Commission Men Sell Hat.— McCalmont & Co., 
of Centre County, Pa., send us a statement concerning 
their experience in sending hay to three commission men 
in New York and Jersey City. Three car-loads of strictly 
prime Timothy were sent to three different merchants. One 
sold it at 75 cents per 100 pounds, another at 80 cents, and a 
third at 55 cents. Competent judges assert that the hay 
was as nearly of the same quality as human judgment 
could determine; yet one merchant reported that it graded 
only number two. 
“ It has come to our knowledge, very frequently,” say 
McCalmont & Co., “that there are commission houses in 
all cities which will sacrifice the interests of the shippers 
of farm products regardless of consequences, and this in¬ 
formation made it an object to us to ship to different com¬ 
mission houses, and learn from experience who would deal 
fairly with us. If the dealer who made returns of the 
lowest price, sold this hay to consumers, as he claims he 
did, it is very clear that his method of selling baled hay 
brings undue competition to those who sell baled hay at 
its market value, and must necessarily result in loss to the 
farmers as well as the shippers. He appears to have sold 
from the car. This is another source of loss as compared 
with those who can store it and hold it until it will bring 
its full value. It is now time for the farmers and balers 
and shippers of hay to learn who sell hay for the full mar¬ 
ket value, and not risk it in the hands of those who sell for 
their commission only.” 
Strawberries In Cold Storage. 
Every year, about this time, the R. N.-Y. receives letters 
from subscribers who wish to know if it will pay to erect 
cold-storage houses for the purpose of keeping the surplus 
strawberry crop till September or October. The market is 
glutted during the usual strawberry season, and holding 
the surplus crop would not only relieve this market, but 
would enable growers to sell their crop when the market 
is not well supplied and when there ought to be a demand 
for strawberries. This is all right in theory, but the R. N.- 
Y. does not believe it would work well in practice. The 
berries can doubtless be kept in cold storage if they are 
selected when sound and hard and properly cared for. 
Can they be sold to advantage ? We doubt it. In this 
city strawberries can be bought any day in the year. The 
people who desire this fruit in winter prefer to buy hot¬ 
house terries right from the vines rather than cold-storage 
fruit which has been picked for months. It is a question 
if eold-storage strawberries would sell any better than 
strawberry jam. Again, Nature never intended the straw¬ 
berry for a winter fruit. It comes at a time of the year 
when the human system most needs it. It is out of place 
in winter. Other and cheaper fruits are more satisfying 
during the cold weather and the strawberry cannot sup¬ 
plant them. It will pay strawberry growers better to 
manfacture their surplus into preserves or jam than to try 
to keep the whole fruit in cold storage. Some steps should 
certainly be taken to utilize waste fruit products. Tlorida 
and other Southern States would be vastly better off if, 
instead of attempting to transport cotton manufacturing 
to a dimate that is not at all suited to it, efforts were made 
to utilize the unmarketable products of orange and 
other fruit trees in the production of marmalade and 
preserves. _ ; _ 
A SUMMER OUTING IN THE NORTH CAROLINA 
MOUNTAINS. 
XIV. 
MART WAGER-FISHER. 
A ride across country; in the cotton fields; the tuo kings; 
weed crops; gates across highways; road laws and 
taxes; through the South; up the Washington monu¬ 
ment ; home again. 
At half-past 10 the light, open carriage that was to carry 
us nine miles across the country to Seneca, was at the 
door, and we set off in gay spirits. The negro driver 
seemed capable of holding the lines, and the weather was 
perfect, although warm. The road the entire distance 
was level, in good condition, and much of it lay through 
fields of cotton, which was being picked. I had once be¬ 
fore been through the cotton belt in the South; but it was 
in the last of April, and the plants were barely above 
ground, so that this was the first time 1 had seen tho 
matured cotton plant in the field. I had thought of it as 
of taller growth—the average hight of the plants being 
about two feet, so that to pull the cotton out of the pods 
must be very tiresome work for the back.The reported inven¬ 
tion of a successful cotton-pickiDg machine by an Illinois 
man, which will do the work of 100 negroes, must in time 
revolutionize the harvesting of cotton. Before we left the 
land of cotton, we had fine specimens of the plant, root 
and branch, not only in the matured condition, but in 
fresh bloom, due to some belated growth. The blossom is 
white, turning pink later on, and in shape and appear¬ 
ance resembles the single white hollyhock. The leaf in 
the outline is like that of the maple—a pretty plant, to 
say nothing of its exceedingly curious product. Some¬ 
times a large field was planted, part to corn and part to 
cotton—the “Two Kings” thriving amicably together. 
The driver said that the pickers were paid 40 cents per 100 
pounds picked, and that a good picker would earn 80 
cents in a day. It seemed to me that if I were to do my 
best as a cotton picker, I could not harvest over 10 
pounds in a day. For holding the cotton, the picker had a 
coarse bag, slung about the waist, or from the shoulders. 
Aside from the cotton and corn, the chief product of the 
land was weeds. The road was not fenced at either side, 
and the cotton grew close to its edge. Some of the 
weed fields, however, were fenced, and as the weeds 
stood in a solid mass over acres, I asked the driver 
about them. He said that they were good for 
the soil; I asked in what way, and he said that 
later in the season they would fall to the ground and rot; 
and be good as manure. Evidently, his belief had many 
adherents. He said there were lots of rattlesnakes in 
South Carolina, that they crawled into the cotton and 
corn fields, but that just then they were crawling into 
their holes for winter. 
On the previous day, during the latter part of the drive, 
before reaching Walhalla, the driver was obliged to open 
at intervals, five gates which completely barred the high¬ 
way. He explained the matter by telling us that the 
farmers of the region—or landowners—co-operated in 
building fences as inclosures for their cattle, or rather as 
boundaries to limit their pasture ranges, and owning 
the land on both sides of the road, and not wishing to 
fence it, they ran the fences across it, putting in these 
gates for the convenience of travelers on the road, and 
one was liable to be fined, if he left a gate open. I do not 
know how the road tax is levied generally in the South, 
but in North Carolina every man between the ages of 18 
and 45 years, is obliged to give a certain number of days’ 
work, entirely irrespective of property possession. He 
may own 10,000 or more acres of land, and his tax is just 
the same as if he owned no land at all—the tax of the 
man, who is poor as poverty, being so far as roads go, the 
game as that levied on the man as rich as a Croesus. This 
is a very old law, I was told. After a man is 45 years he 
is not taxed. 
After arriving at Seneca—quite a thriving business town— 
we found the express for the North was nearly an hour late. 
At this station there is a separate waiting room for colored 
people, clean and decent; but in the cars, the negroes 
traveling seemed to be subjected to no such distinction as 
confinement in separate apartments. The further north 
we journied the better the country looked, but the lack of 
grass, of green meadows and uplands, was painfully ap¬ 
parent. I thought, however, that the general appearance 
of the towns had improved since I was last over this 
road—in the spring of 1886—there were new brick build¬ 
ings and occasionally a wooden house that had been 
freshly painted. There were as many idlers as ever at the 
railway stations.but they were well dressed ,and looked com¬ 
fortable and happy. But it ought not to be forgotten that 
Southern people look upon the drive and rush and ever-at- 
work spirit that characterizes the North, with a feeling of 
horror and disgust; it is so plebeian and so at variance 
with the amenities of social life, and in this there is some 
truth. 
When the day came to an end, we stopped off for the 
night at Salisbury and resumed our journey next morn¬ 
ing at six. There is a good hotel there, close to the station. 
Our next halt was at Washington which we reached that 
day at seven in the evening. The next day was devoted to 
sight seeing, one of the “sights” being the Washington 
Monument and we took a ride up to its top in the elevator. 
Thirty-six persons can ride up at one time, and the trip 
covers half an hour—10 minutes to go up, 10 to come down, 
and 10 for the view from the top. Before the up trip was 
finished, I began to feel exceedingly uncomfortable and 
wished myself and my laddie well out of the cage being so 
hoisted into space, with a yawning gulf below, 500 feet 
when the top was reached. But the views from the dif¬ 
ferent windows were very fine—all Washington and for 
miles around lying spread out like a huge map under our 
eyes. But we walked down—only one other of the party 
doing likewise. In this downward trudge, we had the 
opportunity to examine at our leisure the various stones 
contributed from all over the world to this wonderful 
shaft, in honor of George Washington. They make one 
feel anew the immense place he holds in the history of 
great men. We made a flying trip to the Agricultural 
Department, to exchange a word of greeting with the 
“ stand-bys ’’—with Mr. Dodge who figures out in advance 
how much of wheat and of corn there is to be ; with Mr. 
Saunders who watches over the trees and flowers and all 
things beautil\il: and with Dr. Riley the Entomologist 
just home from Paris and wearing his new honors as if 
born to them. Washington grows more and more beauti¬ 
ful as the years go by—the people have much of the 
Southern charm of manner—but in what very gay colors 
the women dress for the street 1 And so we sped on home¬ 
ward, glad in one way, but regretting that our one perfect 
summer in the North Carolina Mountains was over, 
THE END. 
Woman's Work. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
VERY year at this time, when cleaning out all the 
shelves and closets, it is perfectly amazing to see 
how much accumulated rubbish one has to throw away. 
People who live in their own houses are far more apt to do 
this than those who may have to move at anytime; but 
in either case there is often a good deal of useless lumber 
stored away. Really, it seems to me that it is better to 
throw such things away in the beginning, instead of at 
the end ; if there is really no actual use for an article, don’t 
fill up valuable space with it. 
• 
* * 
CERTAINLT this rule may be made a wasteful one; people 
may throw away articles of actual utility, as well as trash. 
But the idea is to separate the trash from the “utilities,” 
and fill up space with the latter only. For example, if 
storing away a very old gown, because “maybe it will 
come in handy some time,” instead of filling space with 
old rags, the garment should be ripped apart, the pieces 
which may be useful brushed and folded, and the thor¬ 
oughly useless parts put into the rag-bag. The pieces can 
be put away far more neatly than the entire garment, and 
one has the satisfaction of knowing that nothing useless is 
filling up valuable space. Another piece of bad economy 
is to lay away a really useless garment, because the buttons 
may be needed. Cut the buttons off at once; to do so will 
take up no more time now than at a future date, and will 
save space. Of course, you always cut off buttons from 
old shoes; I always do, because I hate to think of wasting 
them, and yet it certainly pays better to buy new shoe 
buttons. They are very cheap, and shabby old buttons do 
spoil the looks of the shoe. However, the old buttons do 
not take up much space, and it is better to have them on 
hand than to run the risk of being shoe-buttonless in an 
emergency. 
* * ♦ 
Old hats and bonnets form another style of unsightly 
lumber, and really it is hard to say just what should be 
done with them. Being very fond of amateur millinery, 
my old hats are “made over” so many times that they all 
go to pieces at once, like the wonderful one-hoss shay. 
When they do seem to be approaching decrepitude, the 
trimmings are ripped off and examined, the worthless 
parts discarded, and the remainder renovated and laid 
away carefully. Good pieces of wire are always kept; a 
bit of bonnet wire is often useful, and a foundation -which 
seems likely to be available again is put in my “milliner 
box,” containing a mass of miscellaneous belongings from 
which some wonderful pieces of headgear are created. 
Hats which are to be worn again in their present shape are 
carefully wrapped in tissue paper, and then put into a box. 
Artificial flowers are similarly wrapped; it is wonderful how 
much use one has from these frail bits of silk and muslin, 
when they are cared for. Let me whisper a family secret; 
when our artificial flowers fade out and lose their fresh 
tints, we have displayed our artistic talents by skillfully 
painting them in water-color paints! If carefully done, 
no one would imagine that they were uot new and fresh. 
It rather reminds one of Miss Alcott’s Amy, in “ Little 
Women,” when she painted her old satin shoes so that 
they would match her frock for some festivity. 
* 
* * 
Wiiat shall we do with the papers and periodicals? 
That is one of the hardest matters to decide in a general 
clearing up. They do take up a great deal of room, and they 
accumulate dust, yet it is a shame to throw them away. 
The best plan is simply to keep those you would like to 
have bound, and try to send them to the binder as soon as 
it is possible; they are so much more readily handled in 
book form. As for the others, of which you do not intend 
to keep an entire file, when there is matter which is wanted 
for reference, cut it out, and keep in a scrap-book. When 
there is plenty of room it is nice to keep a quantity of old 
periodicals, but where space is limited, it seems better to 
dispose of them from time to time. One can usually find 
people who would be very grateful for such readiug matter, 
apart from the many hospitals and other institutions 
where such things are acceptable. 
* 
* * 
ONE of the greatest troubles in making a scrap-book—I 
mean a useful one—is the lack of a proper index. Most of 
us paste in readily enough; but when we consult the book 
in a hurry, to find out when Jenny Lind was born, or who 
invented a sewing machine, or how to make mayonaise, 
we usually have to hunt all over the book before we get 
the necessary information. Really, the pages should be 
numbered, and the items indexed alphabetically. Doing 
this certainly causes an additional trouble, but it gives far 
more satisfaction. My mother always indexed her manu¬ 
script recipe-book in this way, so that it tvas no more 
trouble to consult it than a printed cook-book. 
EMILT LOUISE TAPL1N. 
$U,$ccUattC0usi ^Mvcrti.oing. 
In writing to advertisers, please mention the R. N.-Y. 
When Haby 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 Caatom 
