5i6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
AUG 9 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIMES BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
A Nat onal Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT S. CARMAN, 
HERBERT W. COLLINQWOOD, 
EDITORS. 
Rural Publishing Company: 
LAWSON VALENTINE, President 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1890, by the Rural Publishing Company 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1890. 
Show me “an abandoned farm” and I will 
show you land that never should have been 
used for farm purposes, or a system of farm¬ 
ing that has in its pedigree, robbery of the 
soil, robbery of the home and robbery of 
labor. 
Cultivate a bank account, 
Do It while you’re young. 
While your courage is like steel 
And your nerves are strung. 
< 'ultlvate a bank ao< ount, 
Live within your means. 
If roast benf means “run in debt,” 
Live on pork nnd beans. 
If our money income is $1,000 for the year, and 
we spend $1,000, we do not come out square—but 
behind. We do not consider the wear and tear of 
our property. We do not consider we are one year 
older and proportionally less strong and capable of 
earning $1,000 next year. 
crop in other countries. There will be very little, 
if any, surplus for export in any of the fruit-grow¬ 
ing countries. Must we get along without apples ? 
For many years travelers have been telling us 
about the vast orchards of half-wild apples in 
northern Patagonia and other parts of South 
America. What about them now ? If these orchards 
exist we can handle a good share of their product. 
In a year like this very few of us will object to the 
freest sort of trade in apples. 
It is a pleasure to walk about the Cornell Uni¬ 
versity farm with Professor Roberts. Everything 
is an “object-lesson.” A horse, a cow, a sheep, a 
pig or a fiold of wheat—all have stones of pedigree 
and feeding to tell. This animal is a success; that 
one is a failure. This one has fairly won for itself 
a place on the farm; it will be kept and worked for 
profit. That one has failed to come up to the 
mark. If it were kept and fed it would serve only 
to bring down the average of the entire herd or 
flock. If kept at all, it will serve only as an ex 
ample of what to avoid. Those who have read 
“Lorna Doone” will remember the standard 
adopted by the Doones to maintain their reputation 
for size and strength. The door leading to their 
fortress was six feet and three inches high. If. the 
day he was 21 years old, any member of the band 
could enter this door without stooping, he was 
driven out as unworthy to belong to this band of 
large men. There ought to be a similar test for 
farm animals on every farm in the country, and 
the animals at Cornell show how such a test would 
pay. It is the same way with the farm. We 
would like to have farmers see the crop of oats 
which Prof. Roberts h&s produced this year on a 
field which was formerly used for a gravel pit. 
This is a field with a pedigree in which drainage, 
careful tillage, manuring and common sense are 
skillfully mixed together. Such experiments ap¬ 
peal to the farmer because they show him some¬ 
thing ; he can see the profit side of such farming, 
and that is the side he is after. 
Prof. Bailey recently showed the writer a 
curious instance of the peculiarities of grafting. A 
tpmato vine had been grafted on a potato stalk. 
The tomato vine was bearing fruit and probably 
the potato plant will develop tubers. What a great 
chance here for some of our benevolent plant 
sellers! Let them advertise a “wonderful dis¬ 
covery, ” and tell people how to grow tomatoes and 
potatoes on the same plant without fear of bugs or 
blight. Thousands of people would pay well for 
this “ great secret.” Do you not believe it? 
Four weeks ago The R. N.-Y. called attention to 
the fact that considerable complaint had reached 
it regarding the management of the Geneva Agri¬ 
cultural Experiment Station. We propounded a 
number of ques£5w>ns which we trusted would be 
answered by some one in authority. No one' has 
et seen fit to make a statement in reply, which we 
ave permission to print. The questions were 
considered by the station officials “too inconsequen¬ 
tial to notice,” and The R. N Y. was requested to 
come and investigate for itself. This The R. N.-Y. 
has done, and its report will be printed soon. We 
can only say that farmer friends of the station are 
singularly backward about coming to its defence. 
On another page a correspondent refers to the 
fact that many farmers who put too large a part of 
their farms into fruit trees, now find themselves in 
hard straits by reason of the failure of the last 
two or three fruit crops. He goes on to argue 
that, after all, general farming with wheat and 
clover as the basis, and fruit, stock, corn and pota¬ 
toes as aids, is the safest and surest for the major¬ 
ity of New York State farmers. He is right if the 
farmer will realize that, as he cuts down his acre¬ 
age of wheat, he must increase the average yield 
per acre. A man has 40 acres in wheat. He aver¬ 
ages 20 bushels per acre. He sets out an orchard 
of 10 acres and puts but 30 acres in wheat. If he is 
satisfied to let the 30 acres average 20 bushels, his 
income will be less by the price of 200 bushels of 
wheat until the orchard comes into bearing. As a 
matter of business, he must work so as to increase 
the average yield, or have less wheat for sale. 
When a man has farmed for years with wheat as a 
money crop, it is a dangerous experiment for him to 
suddenly cut down his wheat crop. Increase the 
average! Therein lies the only hope for wheat 
growers east of the Alleghanies. 
The apple crop in New York State promises to 
be a complete failure, particularly in the sections 
where apple-growing is most extensively carried 
on. During an extended trip through the State 
last week, we did not find a single orchard that 
gave promise of yielding half a crop. “ Possibly 
enough for home use ” was the stereotyped report of 
those who in former years sent hundreds of bar¬ 
rels to market There can be no doubt about it, an 
apple famine is threatened and first-class apples 
will be worth nearly “ their weight in gold ” before 
next April. What are we to do for fruit ? Go 
without ? It looks as though many of us will have 
to. The stocks of canned and evaporated fruits are 
lower than for many years. California will pack a 
large quantity ; but she cannot expect to feed the 
entire country—not yet at least while one-third of 
her trees are in bearing. Where shall we go for 
apples ? Reports from abroad indicate a light 
We often hear farmers oppose any movement for 
the abolition, in so far as possible, of the traffic in 
intoxicants. The farmer says: “ If this were done, 
I could not sell my barley or my cider apples, and 
the demand for corn and wheat would be so reduced 
that they could not be sold for enough to pay the 
cost of production.” Laying aside all sentimentality 
upon this subject and looking at the matter in a 
pecuniary way, this is one of the most short-sighted 
views conceivable. From a bushel of corn about 
four gallons of whisky are made, for which the re¬ 
tailer gets, at the least calculation, $16, and when 
sold by the drink at least twice £fiat. Supposing 
that the grower received 40 cents tor that bushel of 
corn—which he did not—he has received from one- 
fortieth to one-hundreth of the price paid by the 
consumer. No other way of using agricultural 
products shows such an accretion between the pro¬ 
ducer and the consumer. About an equal increase 
may be shown with the other grains used in the 
manufacture of spirituous and malt liquors. But 
supposing that instead of buying the whisky from 
a bushel of corn a drink at a time, the laboring man 
buys its value in pork even at the present high 
prices charged by butchers, the pork would repre¬ 
sent more than 20 bushels of corn. To put it con¬ 
cisely, the money the consumer pays for the 
whisky from one bushel of corn, if paid for pork in¬ 
stead would make a market for more than 20 times 
as much corn. Aside from all considerations of the 
effects of the two products named, it seems that any 
man with half an eye ought to be able to see the 
weakness of the argument that the manufacture of 
intoxicants is a good thing for farmers because it 
furnishes a market for their products. 
For years, yes, for generations all the would-be 
friends of farmers have been steadily, and as occa¬ 
sion required, urgently persuading them to waste 
neither time nor thought on politics; but to devote 
their attention to the production of superior stock 
and larger crops. This course alone, they are sagely 
told, would lead to competence, nay, to prosperity, 
contentment and happiness. The circumstances of 
the farmers favored the advice. Living a life of 
steady application, more or less apart, their feel¬ 
ings on public topics were less liable to be aroused 
through discussions or harangues than in the case 
of inhabitants of the centers of population and indus¬ 
try where the very proximity of the people must 
lead to frequent and heated interchange of opinions. 
Then, again, farmers are, from the very character 
of their vocation, a long-suffering race. Through 
all the ages, Nature, season after season and year 
after year, has been teaching them the hard lessons 
of patience and resignation. Not a few of them 
had come almost to believe that the social evils in¬ 
flicted on them by misgovernment or the chicanery 
of trade were nearly as inevitable as the misfor¬ 
tunes attributable to unfavorable seasons, dis¬ 
astrous floods or other natural causes. Moreover, 
farmers are seldom enthusiastic with regard to 
changes. In their calling advantages come from 
improvements rather than from changes in their 
routine work, and having once adopted certain po¬ 
litical beliefs they were loath to change, hoping, all 
the time, for improvements in the principles or 
practices of those who formulated and put them 
into action—in other words, they hoped for “re¬ 
form within the party.” But the most influential 
reason why farmers eschewed ‘ ‘ practical politics ” 
was the absence of combination among them. For 
success, or a chance of it, in any political faction 
or party, organization is indispensable. Whether it 
takes the form of “Halls,” “Societies,” “Clubs,” 
‘ ‘ Associations, ” 1 ‘ Alliances, ” “ Granges, ” 1 ‘ Patrons 
of Industry,” etc., a “machine,” to give united 
expression to the opinions, wishes and demands of 
the masses, is essential. The Grange, the first 
notable organization among the farmers of this 
country, came into existence in November, 1867; but 
its work was chiefly educational and social until a 
few years ago when the spirit of the times and the 
action of younger agricultural organizations forced 
it into politics. With a multitude of live, active 
combinations unifying farmers and emphasizing 
their opinions, what a marvelous political change 
has occurred among them within a quarter of a 
century. Even as late as a decade ago who 
dreamt of attaching any serious importance to the 
“ Farmer in Politics ?” 
THE R. N.-Y. CROSS-BRED AND HYBRID 
WHEATS. 
Last year six of The R. N.-Y.’s cross bred and 
hybrid wheats were offered (under numbers) at the 
nearly prohibitive price of 25 cents for 25 seeds. 
This was owing to the small quantity of each that 
had been raised. This year, we are informed, the 
price will be moderated and, instead of numbers, 
the following permanent names have been given : 
No. 2 (hybrid wheat rye) has been named “Wil- 
lits, after the Assistant-Secretary of Agriculture. 
No. 3 (also a wheat-rye hybrid) has been named 
“Roberts,” after Prof. I. P. Roberts, of Cornell 
University. No. 51 (pure wheat cross) has been 
named “Stewart,” after Henry Stewart. No. 50 
(pure wheat cross) has been named “ Bailey,” after 
Prof. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell. No. 53 (pure wheat 
cross) has been named “Beal,” after Dr. W. J. 
Beal, of the Michigan Agricultural College. No. 55 
has been named “Johnson,” after Prof. S. W. 
Johnson, of Yale. Thus we have the new varieties: 
Willits, Roberts, Stewart, Bailey, Beal and John¬ 
son. Let us hope they will prove worthy of the 
worthy names given them. Three more varieties 
will be sown this fall for introduction next 
year. The first is by parentage half wheat, half 
rye. The second is by parentage one-quarter 
wheat, three quarters rye. The third is a pure 
wheat cross. All these varieties have strong stems. 
They are very prolific and perfectly hardy at the 
Rural Grounds. How they will behave elsewhere 
remains to be seen. We hope that all of our wheat¬ 
growing readers will try them in a small way and 
report the results. It scarcely needs be said that 
The R. N.-Y. has no pecuniary interest whatever 
involved. It never has had any. If they turn out 
better than other kinds in cultivation, we shall be 
amply rewarded ; if inferior, we shall feel that 
years of earnest work have been thrown away. 
BREVITIES. 
Just lay In a load 
Of dust from the road, 
And lu soma convenient place pack It. 
Th* n when snow comes round, 
Each hen will he found 
Very comfortably dusting her jacket. 
And a word now to you 
If you’ve something to do 
Do It up to the handle—don’t crack It. 
If you bdoII It you’ll find 
Your employer inclined 
To whip the dust out of your jacket. 
Take a day off and play! 
Beer money rots a hole in the pocket. 
The sweet corn this year “ has worms.” 
Push things, but push them judiciously. 
The chickens now learn the habit of roosting in trees. 
More clover than ever before has gone into the silo this 
year. 
YOU can never cool yourself by the motion of your 
tongue. 
The man who farms with his tongue gives other folks 
the earache. 
Drain the “pocket” in your field or it will drain your 
own pocket-book. 
It is the extra day spent in fitting the wheat field that 
gives the grain a proper start. 
Birds of a feather: Corn and grass. And clover delights 
in being considered one of the flock. 
After reading Mr. Jacobs’s article on page 522, you had 
better weigh a few of your young chicks f 
You have a big crop of hay. Prices promise to he low. 
What can you do with this hay to get cash for it ? 
Why not whitewash the silo every year just before fill¬ 
ing ? This will correct all mustiness and sourness. Most 
silos see too little of the sun. 
There is trouble in the Oregon Experiment Station over 
an alleged misappropriation of the experiment station 
funds. Once in a while the public get a chance to see the 
inside of such matters. It is not generally an elevating 
spectacle. 
The writer saw’ some specimens of "diseased liveforever” 
at Professor Comstock’s green-house. The diseased plants 
made their neighbors very sick last season—so much so 
that they apparently died to the ground. This year they 
have started growing again and are now lively enough. 
We were hasty in concluding that Reitenbach’s Norw’ay 
Maple does not hold its color as well as does the Schwerd- 
ler. At this time the color of the leaves of the former is as 
purple as those of the Pissard Plum, while those of the 
Scliwerdier are a dark green. _ 
The R. N.-Y. was the first paper to make a report 
upon the Shaffer Raspberry from its own experience. It 
was a very favorable report, as older readers will remem¬ 
ber. It is to-day one of the best raspberries in cultivation. 
Cuthbert, Shaffer and Golden Queen are the three varieties 
w r e should select, if confined to three. 
The 15 th of September. All applications for the six 
R. N.-Y. wheats must reach us by or oe) ore the above 
date. Those who are unwilling to plant or sow them and 
to render an accurate report of the yield and comparative 
values to The R. N.-Y. ought not to apply. Three more 
varieties will be announced next year. See Publisher’s 
Desk, page 520. 
