5o4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
AUG. 2 
Publisher s Desk . 
Let Us Have the Courage of Our 
Convictions. 
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED. 
A FRIEND of ours kindly sends us word 
that the course of The R. N.-Y. in con¬ 
demning so-called novelties among use¬ 
ful and ornamental plants is decidedly un¬ 
popular with certain seedsmen and nur¬ 
serymen, and that in consequence we are 
likely to lose money through the failure of 
these parties to advertise with us. We 
thank our friends for these kindly warn¬ 
ings, but The Rural New-Yorker will 
continue to deal with humbugs of every 
degree as they deserve, to the best of its 
ability. For 13 years past we have had 
frequent warnings of similar character, 
but their only effect has been to make us 
all the more persistent in the protection of 
the public against deceit and misrepresen¬ 
tation. Nothing is more contemptible 
than the threats to do us harm from men 
who seek trade from the farming and 
gardening public through false claims of 
superior merit for ordinary varieties under 
fictitious names. On the other hand, 
nothing gives us greater pleasure than the 
hearty endorsement of our course by rep¬ 
utable seedsmen, florists and nurserymen, 
who have nothing to fear and much to gain 
by the breaking down of the iniquitous 
system by which a few are getting rich at 
the expense of the many who are deceived 
by their extravagant descriptions and un¬ 
warranted claims. The honest man can 
only gain by the exposure of dishonesty. 
There are many good and honest men in 
the horticultural trades; they are well 
known to the public and are prospering as 
they deserve. 
Every man is liable to error. Honest 
tradesmen who handle hundreds and 
thousands of varieties, eager to give their 
customers all the desirable introductions 
are certain to frequently list varieties of 
little or no merit. But these men are to be 
classed quite differently from those who 
persistently and constantly put out old 
things under new names, or worthless 
“ novelties ” under hifalutin names that 
will catch the public dollar, regardless of 
giving value for value. 
The R. N.-Y. is also liable to err. But 
having for many years run an experiment 
station largely for the express purpose of 
testing these things, and always seeking 
seeds or plants of all the “novelties” 
offered, we have unusual advantages for 
comparison and judging of the merits of 
new and old varieties. Our only object in 
this work is to inform our readers to the 
best of our ability of what is good and 
bad in the seeds, plants, animals, fertilizers, 
implements and machinery, etc., which 
come into the farm economy. In this work 
we have the aid of all the experiment 
stations in the world, and of hundreds of 
intelligent, practical workers and observers 
who are constantly sending us reports from 
all parts of the country. We desire to in¬ 
vite frank criticism. We want our errors 
pointed out to us. We are always ready to 
correct misstatements of facts in these 
columns We aim to make a rural news¬ 
paper that shall be of constant value to 
its readers. 
THE R. N.-Y. AT THE FAIRS. 
REPRESENTATIVES WANTED. 
Two weeks ago the “Desk” announced our 
intention to go to the Fairs this fall with 
The R. N.-Y. and The American Harden, 
and friends were invited to correspond with 
us about going in our company as repre¬ 
sentatives to solicit subscriptions for the 
newspaper and magazine. Quite a large 
number have responded favorably, and we 
have no doubt that all will represent our 
common interests in a worthy and accept¬ 
able manner. There are hundreds of fairs, 
however, and we want one or two wide¬ 
awake, intelligent men and women at 
every one of them. This is not an un¬ 
pleasant work, and women may engage in 
it with propriety as well as credit and 
profit to themselves. We invite corres¬ 
pondence from any of our friends who are 
interested in learning about the work. 
FOR INTRODUCTION ONLY. 
We will send The R. N.-Y., 
or The American Garden 
from receipt of order to 
January 1, 1891, to any new 
subscriber for 75 cents, as a 
means of introduction to 
new readers. 
Live Stock Notes. 
Live Stock in California.— In his re¬ 
cent exhaustive “History of California” 
Mr. Bancroft, the eminent historian of the 
Pacific coast, gives a long history of the 
live stock interests of the State. It appears 
that the number of horned cattle there 
incre sed from 262,000 in 1850 to over 
2,000,000 in 1862. Then came a series of 
disastrous droughts, with the result that 
in 1870 the cattle numbered but 631,000. 
Even in 1889 there were only about 725,000. 
Of these 260,000 were milch cows, and the 
production of butter amounted to 17,000,000 
pounds, while that of cheese was computed 
at 3,000,000. Sheep raising has been more 
successful. The whole number of sheep in 
California last year was 4,000,000, three- 
fourths of which were high-grade Merinos. 
The wool clip in 1880 reached 23,000 tons, 
after which, however, it declined. The 
average price of California wool for a dozen 
years has exceeded 19 cents a pound. The 
Spanish horse, introduced by Cortez into 
Mexico and thence into California, is 
neither honest nor gentle. It is small and 
deficient in strength and beauty, and little 
fitted for cart or plow. Through admixture 
■with the larger, stronger, and finer Ameri¬ 
can breeds the native mustang stock was, 
by 1888, reduced to less than a fourth of the 
237,700 shown by the census of 1880. The 
same census placed the number of mules 
and asses at, 28,300. Draft oxen are 
scarcely at all used. We may add that the 
number of swine increased from 2,700 in 1850 
to 603,500 in 1880. 
Holderness Cattle.—A correspondent 
of the Country Gentleman speaks very 
highly of a herd of this breed of cattle, 
which he recently visited in Central New 
York. From his account of their perform¬ 
ances, they certainly are worthy the atten¬ 
tion uf breeders. The farm in question 
contains 125 acres, mostly in grass and pas¬ 
ture, for which the land seems admirably 
adapted. A mixture of Orchard Grass and 
clover is preferred, and during two weeks 
in June 120 tons were cut aud secured in 
excellent condition from 30 acres. The 
principal income from the farm is derived 
from the sale of butter and thoroughbred 
stock. The herd at present consists of 20 
cows, besides young stock, all of the Hol¬ 
derness breed. The cattle depend entirely 
on pasture in summer, and in winter on 
hay, with a small feed of bran. The aver¬ 
age yield of butter is over 300 pounds per 
year; one cow was shown that has a record 
of 2)4 pounds per day for 70 consecutive 
days, from May to August. Others have 
produced 50 to 60 pounds of milk, and all are 
evidently deep milkers. The calves, when 
dropped, are small, but grow rapidly. Some 
of the calves are sold when a month or two 
old at $50 each, and breeders from 13 differ¬ 
ent States have made purchases from this 
herd. What calves are retained are raised 
on skim-milk, and when of suitable age 
hay and bran added. In this way the mag¬ 
nificent bull Acme 2nd, which stands at the 
head of the herd, was raised, aud in his 
two-year old form weighed 1,800 pounds, 
and his owner is confident that when four 
years old his weight will exceed 3,000 
pounds The butter is sent regularly twice 
a week to Utica, and used by families who 
are willing to pay for a choice article. The 
price received is 35 cents, and in order to fur¬ 
nish a continuous supply, a part of the 
cows are allowed to calve during the fall. 
Kentucky Products.— This State has 
long been celebrated for Its fine horses and 
beautiful women, and more recently it is 
coming into more prominence as a dairy 
State. Dudley Miller,in Wallace’s Monthly, 
says that Kentucky owes its wonderful 
success in breeding trotters to its favorable, 
temperate climate, pure air (due to its 
elevation of about 1,000 feet above the sea), 
to its limestone water, nutritious Blue 
Grass, and other products of lime soil, 
which hab a happy influence on the growth 
and development of the bone and muscle of 
live stock; aud lastly, but perhaps not 
lenst, to the intelligence of its people, who 
have availed themselves of these natural 
advantages. Breeding trotting horses has 
so rapidly and successfully developed in 
Kentucky that it has become one of the 
most prominent and profitable occupations 
of its live-stock breeders. The amount re¬ 
ceived for trotting stock in Kentucky has 
been gradually increasing year by year, 
until it has to be counted by the millions. 
Last year the sales in this State amounted 
to between $3,000,000 and $4,000 000. This 
seems rather surprising when we consider 
that breeding trotting horses is yet com¬ 
paratively in its infancy. The first record 
of a trotting match in America dates back 
only to 1818. The breeding of trotters as a 
business may be said to have hardly com¬ 
menced before 1837, the year Andrew Jack¬ 
son’s two sons, Henry Clay 8 and Long Is¬ 
land Black Hawk were foaled, and perhaps 
it is better to say 1849, the date of the birth 
of Hambletonian 10, and that game race 
horse, George M. Patchen. 
Our Cattle Exports. —In an article on 
the cattle trade, the Commercial Bulletin 
gives some facts and figures of interest to 
our cattle breeders as showing the extent and 
direction of our live stock trade. The ex¬ 
ports of cattle last year were 205,786, the av¬ 
erage value being $80. Most of this export 
was in the regular course of food trade, but 
170 sent to Central and South America 
averaged $253 in value. The horses num¬ 
bered 3,748. and the average value was $158. 
To Central and South America there went 
149, with an individual value of $1,065, and 
10 went to British Columbia at an average 
value of $1,080. The sheep txported aver¬ 
aged $2.84 a head, but South America took 
131 at prices varying from $75 to $145. Our 
Pan-American friends are liberal purchasers 
of our choicest animals, except Mexico, 
which sends us $6, $7 and $8 cattle and 
horses—her fierv mustangs over the border 
—and takes back $50 horses, and cattle at 
$12.50. The custom house valuation of 
these imported animals is less for last year 
than in former years, and the number de¬ 
clines largely, the reason being that the 
present condition of American stock is 
nigh and Is steadily improving, and that 
our stock raisers are confident that the 
standard may not only be maintained but 
advanced. 
A writer in a recent issue of the Mark 
Lane Express, says that though silage con¬ 
tains considerable acidity, even when the¬ 
oretically sweet, still no injurious effects 
are experienced from feeding it to in-lamb 
ewes. On the other hand, a writer in the 
National Stockman says that from long ex¬ 
perience and correspondence he has learnt 
that silage is dangerous in such cases, 
causing weakly and puny lambs, and a 
large percentage of deaths, especially when 
the lambs are dropped in winter. 
Experiments in Lamb Feeding.— Very 
careful experiments have been made for 
two years in feeding lambs at Cornell Uni¬ 
versity. The results are thus summarized : 
The weight of evidence of all the experi¬ 
ments, together with the results obtained 
by other experimenters in the same field, 
seem to show : 1. That corn, as an exclusive 
grain ration, does not give the best results, 
either in amount, quality, or economy of 
production, when fed to growing or fatten¬ 
ing animals. 2. That the amount of water 
drunk (especially in the case of lambs) is a 
pretty certain indication of the rate of 
gain. 3. That the production of wool is 
very greatly dependent upon the nitrogen 
in the ration. 
Oil and Grade of Wool. —The amount 
of oil in a fleece has nothing to do with the 
grade to which it belongs, says the Michi¬ 
gan Farmer. Usually, however, a very 
oily fleece is of short staple—too short for 
delaine, which must be not less than 2)4 
inches. An oily fleece is frequently a very 
choice one when scoured, the oil protecting 
the staple, and preventing injury from 
friction, or from becoming cotted. It is 
generally a very strong, even fleece, too, as 
the animal which produced it must have 
been well fed and cared for, and the fibers 
are therefore strong and even, without 
breaks or joints. A heavy fleece is worth 
less per pound than a light one, because 
the loss is greater in scouring. Beyond 
that, it is equally as good, if it is of any 
quality. Such wool is stronger, better 
grown, and generally of better quality 
than that grown on average grade flocks. 
The only point which can be urged against 
it is its greater shrinkage. The other 
points are in its favor. 
The Importance of Pure Water.— 
The water furnished is of as much impor¬ 
tance as the feed, and the milk of dairy 
cows may be rendered unwholesome from 
impure water as well as from improper 
feeding. An investigation just completed 
in New Jersey furnishes another example 
of the tiuth of this. An epidemic of ty¬ 
phoid at Princeton has been reported to 
the State Board of Health by State Dairy 
Commissioner George McGuire. The re¬ 
port shows that there are nine serious cases 
of typhoid, and three of them recently 
proved fatal. Rev. Dr. Burroughs and 
Prof. Hartwell’s sou were among the vic¬ 
tims. The Board of Health made an inves¬ 
tigation, aud was surprised to fiud that all 
the cases occurred in families which used 
the milk of a dairyman not far from Prince¬ 
ton. It has been discovered that a widow 
named Snook had seven cases of typhoid 
fever about nine months ago, one of which 
proved fatal. The outhouse of this family 
overflows into the little stream which runs 
into Stony Brook, and from which the herd 
of the dairyman drinks its water. The 
supposition is that the fever microbes have 
multiplied in the little pools that fringe 
each side of the stream, were drank by the 
cows, which in turn poisoned the milk. 
AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
SATURDAY. July 26, 1890. 
Just on the eve of harvest the wheat- 
growers of N. D. have made the startling 
discovery that no elevator in the State will 
store grain this year. This movement on 
the part of the elevators has been kept as 
secret as possible. It is said to have been 
determined upon soon after the law was 
passed this year which makes all public 
elevators and warehouses pay an annual 
license of $2 50 per 1,000 bushels capacity. 
Nine tenths of the crop of the State has been 
heretofore bought by the elevator companies 
upon the Duluth and Minneapolis quota¬ 
tions. A farmer could store his grain in 
these elevators for 15 days for nothing, and 
keep it in store as long as he desired to pay 
a small fee therefor. Now the elevators 
will refuse this on the ground that thpy are 
not public elevators, and the farmer will be 
compelled to sell his crop at whatever price 
the company chooses to allow him. In 
most cases this will leave him penniless for 
the winter. The law was supposed to be a 
reasonable one, and was in the nature of a 
tax not so easy to evade as the old tax law 
proved, but the companies, in order to 
evade it, will resort to this sweeping 
change, which will bring misery on most of 
the wheat growers of the State, a class of 
men having from 50 to 500 acres of grain, 
which represents all they have in the 
world, and which now promises the first 
actual return for their labor in three years. 
By the plan of forcing private buyers out • 
of the small stations and agreeing upon a 
price the principal elevators of the State 
will have, as in the past, absolute control 
of the enormous crop now heading out. 
PiswUauefluai gVdvflrtijeiittfl. 
In writing to advertisers please always 
mention The Rural. 
LINSEED OIL MEAL, 
For Feeding all Domestic Animals. 
Use with your other feed at least One- 
Third Linseed Oil Meal. 
Write us for Prices and other particulars, and 
mention the Rural New-Yorker. 
DETROIT LINSEED OIL CO., 
Detroit, Mich. 
University of the State of New York. 
AMERICAN 
VETERINARY COLLEGE, 
139 and 141 West 54th St., New York City. 
SIXTEENTH ANNUAL SESSION 
Clruclarand Information can be had on application to 
Hr. A. LIAUT4RI), V. >1.. Dean of the Faculty. 
NEW YORK COU.FOE OF 
Veterinary Surgeons 
Lectures will begin Octoh« r 1,189'. For circular ad¬ 
dress Secretary. 332 East 27th Street. New York City. 
“v^klGS, Chesters.Berkshlres. Polands. Pox Hounds. 
Y-* Beagles, Collies, Sellers W. GIBBONS & CO.. 
JL m eat Chester, Pa. Send stamp for circular. 
Eaao, Comfort and, Thrift 1 
THE BEST CATTLE FASTENINC! 
SMITH’S SELF-ADJUSTINO SWINO STANCHION. 
tW~ The only practical Swing Stanchion Invented. 
Thousands in use. Illustrated Circular froo Men¬ 
tion RURAL NKW Y'ORKKR. 
F. G. PARSOJVS CO.. Addison, Steuben CO..N.Y 
Berkshire 
AND 
Yorkshire 
I’lgs of cho'eo 
prize strains, 
eligible to reg- 
1stry. Pigs of 
different ages 
for sale. Prices 
reasonnhlf.V?. 
B HARVEY, 
West urovk. 
Pa. 
SHEEP Shropshire! LAMBS 
COTS WOLD, OXFORD DOWN AND MERINO. Bred 
from highest class prize winning stock. Lambs 
ready for shipping August 1 : also a few choice Bams 
and Ewes. 1. 2 and 3-year old. of all the above breeds. 
A number of prize winners ready for shipment about 
the middle of October. 
YORKSHIRE PICS. 
JERSEY REUS. CHESTER WHITE, POLAND 
CHINAS. BERKSHIRE. Spring litters ready tor lm 
mediate shipment. Also several Rough Coated Seotcn 
Collie Bitches. 1 to 2 years old. Write at once for 
prices. W. At'ee Burpee Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
HOG CHOLERA AND SWINE PLAGUE 
PREVENTED 
and CURED. 
Particular*; 
and 
Information 
Free. 
AGENTS 
\VA 1VTKD. 
W„ H. DOLE, 
7 1 Clinton Street, Boston, Mass. 
THE COMING HOG. 
Not liable to Cholera. 
RAPID QROWTH. SPLENDID 
FOR EXHIBITION. MOOT 
PORK FOR FOOD OONSUMED 
2 WEIGHED 2806 LBS 
L.B. Silver Co. Cleveland,0- 
