452 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
TULY 12 
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, Pretident RURAL NEW-YO * K HR, 
THE AMERICAN ARDEN, 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1890, by the Rural Publishing Company 
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1890. 
A tongue that is not tied fast to healthy 
brains ought to be tongue-tied. 
A little bone meal now and then 
Is relished by the patient hen, 
Pyrethrum dusted on the chick 
Will make the insects very sick. 
A little nitrogen now and then, provided they 
have plenty of phosphate and potash, will be fully 
appreciated by the growing crops. Just the same 
may be said ir we put potash in the first place and 
nitrogen and phosphate in the second, or phosphate 
in the first place and nitrogen and potash in the 
second. But let us bear in mind all the while that 
nitrogen, if not at once appreciated, is wont to take 
an early departure. 
The plant louse that is always about the same in¬ 
sect, though differently named, whether it infest 
the cherry, the rose, the chrysanthemum, or wheat 
or rye, is fast taking a high seat among “insects 
injurious to man ” as we wisely and unselfishly put 
it. It has taken to the leaves of beets. Young 
beet-leaves are among the most delicious of greens. 
But for the past two years at the Rural Grounds 
they have been infested with aphides and one no 
longer cares to gather them for this purpose. 
Our hens seem to have “laid themselves out.” 
They did so well in the early part of the season that 
they now seem to feel justified in quitting work and 
getting under the trees for a summer vacation. 
Fresh, “nearby” eggs are scarce. There is a gen¬ 
eral complaint, too, that eggs have not hatched 
well. This makes farmers hold their old hens, 
when in former years they have been very glad to 
dispose of them. A good share of next winter’s 
egg crop will be laid by mature and dignified hens. 
Not the least advantage of keeping the surface 
soil mellow, may be that the mellow surface is a 
poorer conductor of heat than a compact surface, 
tending, therefore, to equalize the soil temperature, 
keeping it warmer during the night and cooler 
during the day. A mellow surface soil confines, 
as compared with a close soil, a large quantity of 
air laden with moisture according to the day tem¬ 
perature. This vapor is condensed during the cool 
of the night to invigorate the roots beneath. The 
dew which accumulates on a stiff, smooth or com¬ 
pact surface is at once dissipated by the early 
morning sun. _ 
President Chamberlain continues the discussion 
of the new Morrill Bill on page 449. The time has 
now come when all the agricultural colleges may be 
straightened out and started on the right track. 
President C. very forcibly shows why some of them 
have not become popular or helpful. There will be 
no excuse for these laggards hereafter. They 
should follow the example of the more enterprising 
colleges or give up the money which is now misap¬ 
propriated. This is the demand of the hour, and 
those in charge of these institutions should be wise 
enough to recognize it. On the whole, we wish 
Congress would send a committee to investigate 
these colleges. _ 
The world moves ! Perhaps the strongest proof 
of that old-time assertion is the fact that the ap¬ 
pearance of a negro as a class orator at Harvard 
University attracts no very general attention. Sup¬ 
pose this had happened 30 years a^o ! This thought 
suggests two things. Public sentiment and public 
opinion grow with the years; they keep pace with 
public events. The better element of the negro 
race is developing intelligence and moral worth at 
a marvelously rapid pace. Society is more and 
more inclined to judge a man by his intelligence 
and moral worth regardless of the color of his skin. 
Coloring matter decays ; mind and soul are im¬ 
mortal. 
The story of Mr. Mather’s dairy Short horns and 
of Mr. Crosby’s Jerseys, which, with pictures, will 
be found in this issue, afford a good subject for 
thinking. Both men evidently believe they have 
the most profitable sort of stock. Change the 
Jerseys to Illinois and the Short-horns to Maryland, 
and it is possible that both men would be dissatis¬ 
fied. l;We learn from this what, in fact, we may 
learn from a'comparison of any different farming 
methods, that “while thejgeneral principles that 
underlie successful agriculture remain unchanged, 
the most economical methods of applying these 
principles must be determined by individual 
thought and experience. 
The calf markets of the large Eastern cities have 
been largely overstocked this year. As a conse¬ 
quence, many beef calves of excellent breeding have 
been almost given away. Three years hence the 
owners of these calves will regret their haste in 
disposing of them. Of that we feel certain; but 
the depression in the cattle business has been such 
that farmers see no way to a profit in beef. This 
surplus of good beef calves has started a curious 
feature of the dairy business that would seem to 
upset some of the old ideas of stock feeding. Some 
butter dairymen near New York are said to be buy¬ 
ing steer calves of the beet breeds. They propose 
to utilize their skim milk in producing beef of a 
superior quality vyhich they can sell to advantage, 
being close to good markets. It will be interesting 
to see how this scheme turns out. 
A Philadelphia Daily makes the assertion that 
there is a constantly increasing demand from that 
city for milk from New Jersey on account of the 
stringent milk inspection laws of that State. Isn’t 
this a pretty good argument for the personal in¬ 
spection of all products that leave the farm? The 
retailer or consumer buys a quantity of smooth, 
clean, well-assorted potatoes. There is such satis¬ 
faction in handling and using them that when a 
new supply is needed, more of the same kind are 
wanted. A barrel of apples for family use is found 
to be "uniform in size and quality from top to 
bottom. They are so satisfactory and so much 
pleasure is derived from their use that another 
Darrel is desired. So with all products. The cost 
of thorough inspection is small, but it pays large 
dividends. Consumers who are well pleased with 
P articular brands of goods buy more of the same 
ind and thus consumption is increased and the 
market demand grows. Inspect, brand your goods 
and thus put money in your own pocket. 
It does not seem to be generally known in this 
country that Protection finds some powerful advo¬ 
cates among English farmers. The present Minis¬ 
ter of Agriculture is a strong protectionist, and his 
opponents say that this is one reason why he so 
strenuously opposes the importation of American 
live cattle for feeding. The English farmer argues 
that all imports of food products should be taxed, 
so that the products of English farms may bring 
remunerative prices. The farmers are opposed by 
the manufacturers, tradesmen and workingmen, 
who desire cheap food, and it is hardly likely that 
the farmers will ever be able to upset the present 
national policy of England. The present prohibi¬ 
tion of imports of live cattle from America hurts 
the English grazier as well as the American 
breeder; and it hurts the English beef-eater as well. 
The English claim that this prohibition is enforced 
because of the danger of bringing in pleuro¬ 
pneumonia from America, will not answer at all, 
in view of the statements made by our Department 
of Agriculture._ 
P. C. Kellogg is reported to have said in a re¬ 
cent interview that scientific feeding of dairy cows 
had caused the great drop in prices for Jersey 
cattle. The great feeding tests were laughed at by 
most practical farmers as absurd or fraudulent, but 
here and there one was found enterprising enough 
to investigate for himself. In the hands of these 
practical and critical farmers the Jersey proved her 
value as an economical butter maker. The extra¬ 
ordinary efforts made by those who attempted to 
“boom” the Jersey sadly handicapped the little 
cow in her efforts* to wm an honest reputation. 
She won it by proving that the color of her black 
tongue was of little value beside its ability to pass 
food back to the throat behind it. The Jersey is 
now valued for her ability to turn food into butter. 
It will not do to carry this “machine” argument 
too far, however. Feed counts for much and so 
does breed. It will not do to say that because a 
cow is a Jersey she is of necessity a good butter 
cow. There are Jerseys and Jerseys. There are 
families of cows that have been bred and selected 
with the utmost care. It is to members of these 
families that we must look for the highest possibil¬ 
ities of Jersey cattle. 
Ever since our great progenitor, Adam, laid the 
blame of his foolish and wicked act to his help¬ 
meet, human nature seems prone to impute to some 
one else the responsibility for all its mistakes, 
losses, blunders, etc., while perfectly willing to 
accept all the credit for every reputable act or suc¬ 
cessful venture. A young man in this city, the 
trusted confidential clerk and only heir of his 
uncle, a wealthy bachelor, abused the trust reposed 
in him, and, in company with an accomplice, stole 
a large slice of the wealth that would have come to 
him honorably in a few years at most, and fled to a 
foreign country. Discovery, arrest, return, con¬ 
fession, sentence followed each other in rapid suc¬ 
cession, and to-day he is serving a sentence of eight 
S ears and 11 months at hard labor. Of course, he 
lamed his accomplice for his downfall, and, 
equally'of course, his accomplice blamed him; but 
the point we wish to enfore is that the act brought 
its punishment just the same to both these young 
men. Recriminations may soothe their troubled 
consciences, and gloss over the heinousness of the 
crime to sympathizing friends, but the punishment 
must be borne. Every violation of law, whether 
moral or physical, will be punished. Young man, 
young woman, remember this, that if you are 
tempted to any wrong act, the earth is not broad 
enough or the sea deep enough to remove you be¬ 
yond the consequences of every violation of the 
right. _ 
Never in the history of the world have the 
farmers of any country taken so prominent a part 
in public affairs as those of the United States are 
taking to-day. From time immemorial the tiller 
of the soil, even when the right of suffrage has been 
conceded to him as a privilege, has been expected, 
like the good little boy of nursery reminiscence, 
to be seen not heard—in political affairs. Such 
matters have been relegated by the custom of ages 
to the special charge and management of the 
crafty, plausible, long-headed “statesman;” the 
sleek, well-fed, boastful “warhorse;” the glib- 
tongued, greedy, beguiling lawyer, and the coarse¬ 
grained, loud-mouthed, selfish “politician.” What 
a multitude of high-salaried places these have 
created to reward their own party labors and those 
of their friends, while ostensibly caring only for 
the public welfare! Very naturally they are not a 
little indignant at the unlooked-for encroachment 
of stalwart Mossback, Way back and Hayseed on 
their profitable department of business, especially 
as the intruders threaten to curtail their profits, 
abolish their sinecures, and stringently hold them 
to a more faithful and diligent performance 
of their duties, or oust them altogether. Dur¬ 
ing the past month a large number of im- 
E ortant conventions of agricultural organizations 
ave been held in various parts of the country, but 
chiefly in the West, to determine what policy farm¬ 
ers ought to adopt at the next general elections, and 
the best means of enforcing it. The drift of 
opinion has been that under present conditions, the 
wisest course will be to submit to the County, State 
and National candidates of both the great parties 
a list of the chief demands of the farmers of each 
section, and to offer hearty support to whichever 
candidate shall give the most unequivocal and trust¬ 
worthy pledge to support them. Should the candi¬ 
date of neither party give a satisfactory promise, 
the farmers’ organizations wherever strong enough 
for a reasonable hope of success, will put a candi¬ 
date of their own into the field and trust for victory 
to united effort and the co-operative good-sense of 
the community at large and especially of the wage- 
earners’ associations. Never Defore has organiza¬ 
tion been going on so rapidly among farmers, and it 
is confidently expected that the membership of all 
the agricultural societies, but especially of the bel¬ 
ligerent Farmers’ Alliance, will be vastly increased 
before the fall elections. The tendency is growing 
to abandon the old parties altogether, and to nom¬ 
inate independent County, State and National can¬ 
didates whenever there is a fighting chance of 
success. 
BREVITIES. 
Milking In fly-time 
And haying In rain. 
And roasting yourself In the kitchen, 
Arc three sor's of labor 
That bring you no gain; 
It is work that you ne’er ’ill get rich In. 
So let the cows rest 
While the heat’s at its best. 
Build a silo and thus beat the weather ; 
Let the cook stove grow cold, 
Eat fruit and don't sooUl, 
And thus reach the end of life's tether. 
Who likes to milk in fly time ? 
Prof. Cook writes about wasps on page 459. 
A sitting hen will grow fat if yon give her enough to 
eat. 
PUT poles near your “Bush Limas” and see if they will 
not climb. 
FOR clearing up brush and rough land, what sheep are 
better than Merinos ? 
Get a potato sorter. It will grade your potatoes better 
than you can with your hands. 
Eat a good portion of your butter in the form of cream 
—on oatmeal or other “ cereal ” food. 
Who is to control the children of those parents who ex¬ 
ercise no control over their own families ? 
Prepare your old poultry and early chickens by liberal 
feeding, for the high prices of the August market. 
A correspondent advises that we steep sassafras roots, 
and spray the infusion on plants infested with rose bugs. 
Better put in a 12 or 15-hour day to secure your grain 
that is ready for the barn than to let it get wet because 
you quit at six o’clock. 
The essential feature of one of the best filters in New 
York City is nothing but very thick piano felting. The 
water, forced through this, is cleared of impurities. 
The “rational use of fertilizers.” We assume that we 
know all about it to-day. We assumed that years ago. 
Some of us are more irrational in the use of fertilizers 
than others. That is granted. Fifty years hence the 
“rational use of fertilizers” may prove that we are all 
alike irrational in their use to-day, the difference being 
one of degree only. 
It appears that Mr. H. M. Engle, who sent us two Para¬ 
gon Chestnut trees, received grafts from Mr. W. L. Shaf¬ 
fer. The grafts, according to Mr. Thomas Meehan, were 
taken from a Spanish Chestnut. The R. N.-Y. is right, 
therefore, in Its opinion that the Paragon is not a native, 
as Mr. Engle has implied. The tree differs from natives 
both in the leaves and stems. 
Our esteemed and usually exoeedtnglyoorrect contem- 
K orary, Garden and Forest, talks of the Wachmett Black- 
erry. Can this be the Wachusett ? It also desires to 
hear from those who have both the Crandall and the Mis¬ 
souri Currants (Ribes aureum). We have them both and 
were probably the first to express the opinion that they 
are the same. That is to say, the Crandall is not a hybrid, 
as was at first assumed; but a very prolific seedling of the 
Missouri. Come and see for yourself, Brother Stiles. The 
latch-string of the Rural Grouuds is always out to our 
yonng friends in search of solid information. 
