436 
THE RURAL- NEW-YORKER. 
JULY S 
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-YO < K ER, 
THE AMERICAN ARDEN, 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1890, by the Rural Publishing Company 
SATURDAY, JULY 5, 1890. 
Within 20 years the small farmer will have 
to do one of three things—combine with his 
neighbors and save part of the cost of pro¬ 
ducing or selling his crop, become a special¬ 
ist and raise prime goods for a special market 
or go to the wall. 
Days of wot, 
N iuhts of wet, 
Sow the hor su" shines. 
Then the blight, 
Makes Its flgnt 
On potato vines. 
Prof. Paul Wagner of Germany, makes the very 
important statement that easily soluble phosphates, 
those dissolved in sulphuric acid, become from year 
to year less soluble, while bone meal or Thomas slag 
becomes more soluble. They are therefore cheaper 
because they become more soluble, while the acid 
phosphates "are dearer because they gradually be¬ 
come less soluble. 
In certain sections of the Middle West farmers 
are practicing what they call “ a new rotation,” 
namely, oats after sod and wheat after oats. Per¬ 
haps our Western friends do not realize it, but 
farmers who have been most successful in the use 
of chemical fertilizer's have gone through this 
“new rotation” as a part of their experience in 
learning that large quantities of fertilizers pay. 
It is with sincere sorrow, in which we are sure 
all our readers will share, that we announce the 
death of Patrick Barry, the eminent nurseryman of 
Rochester, N. Y., last Monday, at the age of 74. A 
lengthy biographical sketch of this admirable 
character, with a full-page portrait, appeared in 
The Rural of September 20, 1884. In business his 
great capacity, keen foresight and sterling honesty 
deservedly won him eminent success. In social 
life his amiability, public spirit and generosity in¬ 
sured general affection and admiration. He died 
full of years and honors, leaving behind him not a 
single enemy, but a host of mourning friends. 
Here’s a word of advice that I hope you will heed, 
Take a day off and play ! 
It will lighten your labor and quicken your speed, 
Take a day off and play ! 
Don't grind away, grind away all through the light, 
And then dream of “grind away” all through the night. 
Before you get Into that miserable plight, 
Take a day off and play! 
If this country ever substitute the policy of 
“reciprocity” for that of “protection,” what will 
be the legitimate end? We are told now that the 
proposed new policy would apply only to trade 
with the nations on this hemisphere. This will 
not work. We have, to-day, far more in common 
, with the German and English empires than we 
have with the Spanish American republics. There 
is no reason why the English should not say to us 
what we propose to say to Spanish America: “We 
will buy your cattle, your flour and your dairy 
products when you agree to buy what we have to 
sell.” The Germans may well say: “We will buy 
your pork products when you give us a chance at 
your market.” Is not this a common-sense way of 
viewing the matter? On the other hand, the 
farmer may reasonably ask: “ Suppose we do de¬ 
velop a foreign market for our agricultural pro¬ 
ducts, will this benefit me half as much as it will 
benefit the exporters and handlers?” In other 
words, the farmer asks: “Where do I come in?” 
It is encouraging to note tha*, farmers are asking 
this question with a great deal of emphasis just now. 
On page 434 will be found some remarks concern¬ 
ing the management of the Geneva Experiment 
Station. The R. N.-Y. respectfully invites all 
those who are in any way acquainted with the af¬ 
fairs of the institution, to think over the questions 
it has propounded. We propose to have this mat¬ 
ter fully investigated. The dignity of New York 
State agriculture demands a prompt and straight¬ 
forward answer to the questions which intelligent 
farmers are asking. We have the ideal of a direc¬ 
tor in mind. There are several men in the country 
to day who very nearly approach it—an earnest, 
fair, broad minded man, who has the true spirit of 
investigation, and yet knows enough of the prac¬ 
tical and business side of farming to avoid wasting 
his time on matters of no permanent value: an 
honest,., straightforward, enthusiastic man, with a 
knowledge of the principles of science, that will 
enable him to stand by his statements and defend 
them, instead of dodging a question; an organizer; 
a man who is capable of originating an experiment 
and of surrounding himself with men who are 
capable of working out his plans without constant 
supervision. Have we such a man in charge of the 
Geneva Station ? If we have, the evidence of his 
existence is called for. “ If not, why not ?” 
The farmer is a “country Jake.” 
When snows lie deep on wintry hills, 
When flowers their vacation take 
And hushed the souk of murmuring rills. 
And many a quip behind his back,. 
The city relative doth crack. 
But when the warm sun starts the grass, 
A mighty change doth come to pass. 
The “ country Jake ” becomes a king. 
The relative his praise doth sing 
And out upon the farm ere long, 
He comes a hundred thousand strong. 
It was considerable of a surprise to those inter¬ 
ested in such matters when Senator Morrill intro¬ 
duced into the Senate a bill appropriating more 
money for American agricultural colleges. The 
original bill of 30 years ago provided for the endow¬ 
ment and establishment of these colleges, while 
three years ago the Experiment Station bill was 
passed. The present bill provides for an appropri¬ 
ation, for each of the colleges, of $15,000 for the 
first year, $16,000 for the next, and so on for 10 
years, until it reaches the sum of $25,000, which 
sum thereafter will be permanent. The funds 
come from the sale of public lands. These, it is 
estimated, will be sufficient for at least 50 years, 
after which time any funds in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, are made available for this 
appropriation. In States where separate schools 
are maintained for white and colored pupils, the 
fund is to be fairly divided between the two 
schools. This bill has passed the Senate almost 
without opposition, and will doubtless pass the 
House and become a law. We are, then, to have 
more money for agricultural education. It may be 
well to ask" at this time, how previous appropria¬ 
tions have been spent. Has Uncle Sam re¬ 
ceived his money’s worth, or is he likely to 
receive it later on ? It would certainly be an excel¬ 
lent plan for Congress to appoint a Committee to 
examine the agricultural colleges of the country 
and see how far they have carried out the original 
purposes of the Morrill bill. Let fair minded and 
conservative men visit these colleges and tell us 
what is being done in the work of teaching agri¬ 
cultural science. This bill means the spending of 
over $50,000,000. Surely we should know before 
we start how this money is to be spent. At any 
rate it is high time now to look over the field and 
see what we can learn from past experience. It has 
always been claimed that many of our agricultural 
colleges have not taught agriculture, but have 
simply grown into literary institutions. This is 
true, and we may ask why it is true. When these 
colleges were founded American agricultural science 
was a dream. The men to teach, the methods of in¬ 
struction, the interest in agricultural education, 
an appreciation of the real needs of American farm¬ 
ers, all had to be made before the enterprise could 
be fairly started. Do you wonder that many of 
these colleges placed in charge of men who had no 
knowledge of the needs of agriculture, and no real 
sympathy for the farmer could not begin to grow ? 
We are living in a different age to-day. We are 
beginning to know what we need in the way of 
agricultural instruction ; we are producing intel¬ 
ligent and enthusiastic teachers of agriculture and, 
better than all this, farmers’ boys are coming to 
know and understand the value of a scientific 
education. Now, let all who desire the best inter¬ 
ests of agriculture see to it that in each State the 
original purpose of the Morrill bill be carried out. It 
can be done if we show that we mean business. The 
R. N.-Y. would like to send 1,000 boys to these col¬ 
leges this fall. _ 
The rolling stone Is smoot h and round, 
And If of cash It finds a lack, 
This consolation may l>o found, 
There Is no moss upon Its back. 
TRUSTS AND THE LAWS. 
The Court of Appeals of New York has 
just confirmed the decision rendered several 
months ago by Judge Barrett, forfeiting the charter 
of the North River Refining Company for having 
surrendered its powers and property to the Sugar 
Trust in return tor a generous allotment of trust 
certificates. It has done so on the distinct ground 
that the corporation by its action in joining the trust 
had violated its charter and done the public an in¬ 
jury, and that the trust is a menace to the public 
welfare. It has further declared that in New York 
State “ there can be no partnerships of separate and 
independent corporations, whether directly or indi¬ 
rectly, through the medium of a trust.” The orig¬ 
inal scheme of the Standard Oil Trust, the model of 
all others, required the formation of a single cor¬ 
poration in each State, which should hold and man¬ 
age the trust property in that State. The deed 
under which the Sugar Trust was organized required 
thatall the refineries should first become corporations 
and that all subsequent applicants for admission 
should qualify themselves in the same way. All the 
other great trusts, such as the Whisky, the Cotton¬ 
seed Oil and the Lead, were founded on the same 
basis. Indeed it has from the first been the 
general belief that no great and permanent trust 
can be constructed on any less solid foundation. 
The corporation alone offers the aggregation of 
great means, the exemption from physical death, 
and the unity of control that are indispensable for 
these gigantic enterprises. Upon that basis alone 
it has been thought possible to secure not only solid 
support, but, what is no less necessary, efficient 
and centralized control. Although, therefore, the 
State cannot, at present, legally attack any of the 
trusts directly, it can do so indirectly by attacking 
the various component corporations to which it has 
given existence, and which have violated their 
franchise by becoming amalgamated with an or¬ 
ganization that threatens and endangers the public 
welfare. It cannot, however, reach the associate 
corporations created by the laws of other States. 
Indeed, it is a trifle doubtful whether the revoca¬ 
tion of the charters of the component companies 
will seriously affect the trusts. In the money mar¬ 
ket the decision against the Sugar Trust has had 
very little apparent influence upon the trust certifi¬ 
cates, the owners and brokers appearing to act as 
if it were as harmless as sheet lightning on a sum¬ 
mer evening. In order to evade any legal conse¬ 
quences, the monopoly proposes either to change 
its name and carry on its operations under cover of 
a gigantic corporate franchise, or to transfer its 
business to one of the neighboring States in which 
some of the associate corporations flourish with im¬ 
punity. Of course, the North River Sugar Refining 
Company will cease to exist as a corporation; but as 
its business has been entirely suspended of late, and 
its stockholders will continue to draw dividends pay¬ 
able on their trust certificates out of the common 
treasury, they have little cause for anxiety. The 
best legal talent ot the country, stimulated by un¬ 
limited fees, is very likely to devise some plan to 
enable its unscrupulous clients to continue their 
depredations on the public without incurring the 
penalties of any laws now on the statute books of 
any State in the Union. The great trouble with the 
courts in this and other States is that their power to 
suppress monopolies is not commensurate w ith their 
desire. The chief really effective remedy against 
them appears to lie in federal legislation. If it 
is the duty of the State to see that the franchises 
it grants are not perverted to the injury ofthe people, 
surely it is equally the duty of the general govern 
ment to see that its revenue laws do not afford 
shelter to the great combinations that are seeking 
to prey on the American consumer. It has been 
proposed that whenever the chief production or sale 
of any article has passed into the hands of a trust, 
that article should be placed on the free list until 
the trust is dissolved. Legislation to this effect 
would, however, punish the innocent with the 
guilty, and might disastrously unsettle business ; 
but the measure of protection for domestic indus¬ 
tries should not extend so far as to create and 
foster home monopolies. Public sentiment is em¬ 
phatic in its desire to abolish these odious com¬ 
binations; but it will tax the highest statesmanship, 
the keenest legal ability and the most incorruptible 
judiciary to give effect to that sentiment. 
BREVITIES. 
The man who Cheats the earth, 
And expects to «et the worth 
Of a dollar from 10cents’ worth of manure 
Will lie 9" cents In debt • 
Lots havn’t learned this yet. 
Hut they t ril' when pay-day comes you may be sure. 
The boy whose selfish bump 
Makes him think that he can Jump 
Into place and fame wirhout hard, patient work, 
Will be called upon to wait. 
He will flud. alas! too late. 
That Nature keeps a low place for the shirk. 
The fat man now wishes he was lean. 
Now is the time for the Bordeaux Mixture. 
A MAN with a long beard need not wear a necktie. 
Your mind is worth more than your pocket-book. Which 
had you better starve ? 
WHEN given the chance to select, our cows and horses 
will take White Clover in preference to any other pasture 
food. 
To CLEAN looking-glasses, wash them first with soap 
and.water : then, when dry, polish with chamois skin and 
whiting. 
Bismarck says that the rich are never contented. He 
has no authority to speak for those who are rich in the 
memory of good deeds done. 
If Congress can provide for a uniform grading of grain, 
why can it not do the same for potatoes, by compelling 
dealers to use potato sorters ? 
WHAT good to tell a farmer that it was a “ lack of 
silicon” that caused his grain to lodge? It will require 
extra “sand” to cut the lodged grain. 
The Eastern farmer who can make silage worth $2 50 
per ton for feeding, at a cost of $1.00 per ton. can make as 
cheap beef as the Western ranchman who pays no rent. 
If stomachs could talk, what sort of language might we 
reasonably expect from oue that is called upon to receive 
boiled pork aud old potatoes in the season of green peas, 
lettuce and strawberries. 
Is there any good reason why asparagus should not he 
sold by the pound. The dealers probably will not waut to 
weigh every package. Again, they will object to having 
water and letting the sun aud air evaporate it for them. 
The R. N.-Y. crossbred wheats and rye-wheat hybrids 
have in no case lodged, though the season has been oue of 
unusual rainfall. Several of the hybrids ripen with rye. 
Three more varieties are this season being propagated for 
introduction. 
SOILING cattle is an economical arrangement. Left to 
herself in the pasture, a cow will spoil three times as much 
grass as she eats. Let the same grass be cut with a scythe, 
aud put before her lu the stable, aud she will eat every 
spear of it. 
The fruit reports from. Western New York are very 
much like the following from South Byron: “Apples, 
again this year, are a flat failureiu this locality, and pears, 
with the exception of one orchard, are just nothing, owing, 
I think, to excessive wet.” 
Some farmers seem to think that all that is needed to in¬ 
sure good roads is to procure a stone crusher aud a road 
machine. That is not quite half the battle. Stone crush¬ 
ers are uot designed to work up over smooth, round stones, 
and must he worked just ri/hc, or t hey will cause disap¬ 
pointment. A road machine Cdu he used so that it will 
spoil any road. 
