462 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. JULY i9 
these things are insisted upon very strongly in this article. 
The truth of these statements is well known in the older 
countries, and regard to these matters is as carefully ob¬ 
served now as any other point in English sheep-raising. 
Centuries of experiments have taught many lessons that 
a new country like ours has not wholly accepted as facts. 
We have not sought for truths as the English have in con¬ 
nection with sheep-raising. There has been a disposition 
to accept imported theories and standards in breeding and 
management of sheep rather than to seek out and establish 
facts that are practically applicable to the conditions 
governing the prosperous keeping of sheep in this country. 
So generally have sheep been profitable or so low has been 
the average standard of excellence in breeds that the 
difference of a pound or two in fleeces or the difference 
of a few pounds at maturity or of a few months’ time in 
arriving at maturity, has not been duly considered by the 
average American sheep-raiser and wool-grower. It is 
under the pressure of low prices of sheep products that 
these variations are more carefully calculated. In the 
Western States especially the smaller items of profit have 
not been looked into. General aggregates are appreciated 
if on the right side of the ledger; but if on the wrong 
side little or no inquiry is made to discover the little de¬ 
ficiencies in order that a remedy may be found. The 
difference of a pound of clean wool or three or four pounds 
of good mutton or a difference of six months in maturity 
may be found the 
difference be¬ 
tween profit and 
loss. The differ¬ 
ence between sav¬ 
ing 50 instead of 
100 per cent, of 
the lambs drop¬ 
ped, will be a 
matter of* eco¬ 
nomic importance 
to the flock owner. 
Well-bred sheep 
on well-chosen 
land, well cared 
for, with a special 
purpose in view 
and managed to 
that end, may be 
expected to be 
profitable. These 
may well be look¬ 
ed upon as the 
most favorable 
conditions for 
sheep-husbandry. 
There are other 
conditions, not so 
happily suited, 
but capable of 
profitable use 
with sheep. Dur¬ 
ing the pressure 
of hard times 
sheep-raisers have been driven from the ideas of the past 
into new fields of thought and investigation. As the 
more hopeful view of the industry is possible, it is evident 
that sheep-raising has taken on new developments by 
better methods than ever before. It is plain that hard 
times have done us good. B. M. bell. 
Cook County, 111._ _ 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS. 
Hale’s Golden Gooseberry was received from J. H. 
Hale, South Glastonbury, Conn., in April, 1887. Bush 
spreadingT-nearly four feet in diameter, feet high. 
The tips of the branches are mildewed. Berries large, 
round-oblong; generally smooth, sometimes slightly 
hairy. Largest berries an inch in diameter; veins promi¬ 
nent ; color, light green. The berries are this season free 
of mildew. Flavor mild. Ripens mid-season—July 1. • 
Champion, from J. M. Ogle, Oregon. The berry is too 
small to be of value. 
AN imported variety from H. Sumner,Polo, Ill. It mildews 
Orange was received from H. M. Engle, Marietta, Pa., 
on April 6, 1884. One of the earliest to ripen. Bush vigor¬ 
ous. Never fails to bear a crop. Berries medium to small; 
golden color when ripe. Mild, sweetish, tender flesh. 
A FOREIGN gooseberry, from L. Roesch, Fredonia, N. Y. 
(May, 1884.) Bush quite vigorous; mildews at tips. Ber¬ 
ries large—somewhat larger than those of Hale’s Golden. 
About 10 per cent, are slightly mildewed. 
Dougal’s Hybrid, No. 7. A very distinct variety. 
Leaves abundant, large, and of dark green color. Always 
bears a heavy crop. Berries medium to large, hairy, ob¬ 
long ; often pink on one side. Ripens rather late. 
Industry may now be pronounced a failure on account 
of mildew. 
Dougal’s No. 3. Berries smooth, size and shape of No. 7. 
Foliage same. Late. The tips mildew slightly. 
Cayuga, from H. S. Anderson, Union Springs, N. Y. 
(November 20, 1884.) Berries large, smooth, oblong. A 
small portion mildewed. Fair quality. 
Dougal’s No. 2, from James Dougal, Canada. We have 
tested this fine variety for about 10 years. It never fails to 
give a full crop. The bush grows in a tree form, that is, 
tall rather than spreading. Leaves light green, with a yel¬ 
lowish hue. Very few thorns. Berries medium in size, 
with a few hairs, pink on one side. High quality. Never 
mildews. It is a variety that should be in every collection, 
though the size of the berries will not make it a popular 
market sort. 
The R. N.-Y. has a collection of seedling gooseberries, 
raised during the past eight years. The familiar symbols 
n. g. will serve to tell the whole story so far as our readers 
may be interested in it. Oftentimes a word or so serves to 
tell the result of long-continued, faithful work, the details 
of which would require pages. 
Hybrid Ricinus. —Two years ago we crossed all the va¬ 
rieties of the castor-oil plant offered by our American 
seedsmen, including Cambodgensis and Gibsonii. Seeds of 
these sown the next (last) year produced a lot of plants 
notable not only for a general resemblance to one another, 
but for being different from any of their parents Seeds 
from this lot were planted early the present season (early 
June or late May), and it is an interesting fact that the 
plants vary indefinitely. It is hard to find two alike. Some 
are tall, some dwarf; some began to blossom when not 
over six inches high, others have not yet bloomed. The 
leaves vary through every shade of green, and from a 
light to a dark purple, almost black, many of them show¬ 
ing brilliant metallic, changeable colors. 
Rose, Vick’s Caprice.— Two specimens of this rose were 
planted earlythepast spring—one fromEllwanger&Barry; 
the other from James Vick. They are stocky, healthy 
plants and while blooming constantly and abundantly 
through June, have made a vigorous growth. The leaves 
(five leaflets) are of a dark green color and free from mil¬ 
dew. The rose itself is of medium size as shown by the 
illustration, which, though not a very fine drawing, is yet 
quite true to nature. The buds are somewhat pointed, 
the calyx, as shown, foliaceous. The color is a light rose 
VICK’S CAPRICE. From Nature. Fig. 172. 
striped and splashed with white. It is said to be a sport of 
the hybrid perpetual, Archduchesse d’Autriche and per¬ 
fectly hardy. See Fig. 172. 
Compass Pi.ants.— The Sun-flower (Helianthus), is so 
named because it is supposed to follow the sun in its course 
from east to west. But it does not do it. There are many 
other flowers that change their position as they receive 
the sun’s rays from different quarters and this change is 
further induced by the intensity of the heat. Observations 
we have been making upon pansies for the past week 
show that there are few, if any other flowers that are more 
definitely influenced in this way. Here is the record : The 
average of 19 observations taken at 7 A. M., noon and 6 P. M. 
Neither of the two beds received the morning sun until 10 
A. M., being sheltered by trees. To give the results in 
tabular form would fill a column. Our readers will be in¬ 
terested in the general results : In the morning before 10 
o’clock, 80 to 90 per cent, of the flowers faced west; at noon 
they faced south, and 0 P. M. west again. Not over one 
per cent, faced north at any time. In another bed exposed 
to the east as well as to thesouth and west, 80 to 90 per cent, 
faced east at 7 A. M., changing to the south and west at 
noon and 6 P. M. respectively. None faced north at any 
time. A little careful study would enable one, we think, 
to tell the time of day within half an-hour by the average 
position of the flowers at any given time. 
WRITTEN FROM “AN ABANDONED FARM.” 
I have lived on a farm all my life and now occupy two 
abandoned farms which adjoin my own. Their former 
owners got into debt and the farms were sold at sheriff’s 
sale and are now owned by men who are able to live with¬ 
out working a farm. I remember the hard times of the 
“fifties” before the war, and also the good times just 
after that “ unpleasantness,” when money was abundant 
and all the products of labor brought good prices. All 
kinds of business were brisk and all classes seemed to be 
prospering, in spite of the fact that we were then payiug a 
large war debt. (Oh, we are paying it still, and our taxes 
are just as heavy now as they were when the debt was 
more than twice as large.—E ds.) The public officers, ap¬ 
parently jealous of the prosperity of the people, had their 
own salaries doubled, and these have generally remained 
unchanged to the present day, while the prices of the pro¬ 
ducts of labor have been reduced one-half and in many 
cases more than that. We were told that the prices of 
those days were *'fictitious” on account of the prevalent 
“inflation,” and that we must come down to a “gold 
basis,” and, of course, the way to “come down” was by 
contraction, and the way we have come down has been fun 
for the bondholder, but death to the farmer. Although in 
figures we have already paid more than one half of the 
national debt, it will take more of~the products of labor to 
pay the remainder than it would have done before a cent 
had been paid. This is not an accidental condition, it is a 
premeditated scheme to rob labor of its just dues. We all 
ought to know that scarcity of any necessary or desirable 
thing makes it high in price, and money is no exception to 
the rule, but money, being the measure of value, the or¬ 
dinary mind fails to grasp the idea that money can be 
high in price. But many a farmer knows to his sorrow 
that it takes double the amount of produce to get a dollar 
that it did 25 years ago, and hence they have tried every 
means to increase their crops only to make the matter 
worse by helping to bring down prices. One correspond¬ 
ent of The Rural 
mentioned lazi¬ 
ness as one of the 
causes-of the ex¬ 
istence of so many 
abandoned farms, 
but human na¬ 
ture is just the 
same to-day as it 
was 25 years ago, 
and young men 
are just as eager 
to own a farm 
and home of their 
own as ever; but 
they have seen 
too many caught 
in the agricul¬ 
tural trap to feel 
like trying it 
themselves. They 
have seen men 
grow old and gray 
in useless toil try¬ 
ing to pay for a 
home, and after 
they have made 
improvements 
and in part paid 
for it, it has per- 
force of hard 
times been sold 
out only to help to 
enrich the money 
shark and to add one more to the list of abandoned farms. 
The farmer labors under too many disadvantages. Let me 
mention a few. If he waters his milk he is a fit candidate 
for the State prison and a sojourn there would serve him 
right; but the railroad man waters his stock for the same 
purpose (to get something for nothing) and he is a fit can¬ 
didate for the U. S. Senate. The farmer issues his promise 
to pay and pays the interest on it. The banks issue their 
promises to pay and get interest on them. Real estate pays 
an outrageously large disproportion of all State taxation. If 
the farmer is in debt on his farm he is taxed for the full 
amount; while the man who holds the mortgage often gets 
off scot-free. Again, our tariff system on the necessaries 
of life causes the poor man to pay as much of the tax as the 
rich man, and causes millions to accumulate in the U. S. 
Treasury and these are lent to the banks free of interest. 
Farms that were bought 25 years ago at $40 per acre, will 
not sell at the present time for $20. But U. S. bonds were 
bought at 40 cents on the dollar and were then refunded in 
such a way that they are now worth $1.28. The cause of all 
this is that we have voted for money sharks and corpora¬ 
tion lawyers to make our laws, and they have made them 
in their own interests and those of their clients. Now, if 
these conditions continue to exist it is only a question of 
time wnen the farmer who owns the land he tills, will 
be a person of the past and his place will be filled by the 
miserable tenant iarmers so common in the Old World. 
But you ask : What is the remedy ? It is this : 1 Stop 
voting for “ Shylocks.” It takes as much brains to con¬ 
duct a farm successfully in these times as any other busi¬ 
ness, and the farmer who can do this, and at the same 
time support a family and pay for the farm, is a financier 
second to none in the laud. 2. Let the government issue 
all money whether gold, silver or paper, and loan it to 
farmers at two per cent.: for money Is of ,no use unless it 
can be put into circulation and it will not stay in circula¬ 
tion if the rate of interest greatly exceeds the increase of 
property; if it does it is only a question of time when our 
Shylocks will have it back and the mortgaged property be¬ 
sides, and the money can lie idle until the usurers find other 
victims. 8. The government must own and control all 
railroads and telegraphs and conduct them as it does the 
U. S. Post-Oilice, in order that we may have transportation 
at cost. 4. All homesteads of a limited size should be ex¬ 
empt from taxation and all rented and unoccupied lands 
should be taxed until they will be unprofitable property. 
Allegany County, N. Y. w. w. coats. 
When the American farmers place principle above par¬ 
tisan politics and learn to think and act for themselves and 
in their own interests, they will secure favorable legislation. 
