532 
AUG 16 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
9 
!THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIMES BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT S. CARMAN, 
HERBERT W. COLLINQWOOD, 
EDITORS. 
Rural Publishing Company: 
LAWSON VALENTINE, President. RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1890, by the Rural Publishing Company 
Exchange nearly suspended business the day the 
July report was expected, waiting for its receipt, 
that a valuable basis for operations might be had. 
We are told that in view of the fact that several 
exchanges objected to the change of the hour of 
issue, it will probably not be made. As this work 
comes from a department of the Government which 
is supposed to be maintained for the benefit of 
farmers, would it not be well to consult their inter¬ 
ests in all such matters rather than those of a class 
that are nothing but an incubus upon the body 
politic. The farmer is making himself heard in 
politics in many States, and it might be the part of 
wisdom for all of our servants in whatever depart¬ 
ment they may be, to regard the interests of this 
long suffering but now awakening class. 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1890. 
Don’t put the fire out with too many irons. 
It is easier to get a new iron than it is to get 
a new fire. 
A row that is tired 
Just cannot be hi ' ed 
To give milk well loaded with fat. 
Kle'ds dried np and dreary 
Will make her feel weary 
Just learn a good lesson from that. 
It is the intention of several farmers in our neigh 
borhood who have raised the variety, to sell Brown¬ 
ell’s Winner as the Early Rose, a variety that the 
market calls for in preference to any new, untried 
sort. Thus varieties become confounded, and the 
“honest” farmer lends a helping hand. Shame, 
dear boy !_ 
Paper farmers, who never grew a bushel of 
wheat in their lives, are fond of referring to the 
“old times” when the Genesee Valley was the 
home of wheat growing. Now, they tell us, its 
glory has departed and the “ cheaper lands of the 
great West” have changed it all. Now, the facts 
are that in the Genesee Valley to-day, there is 
more wheat grown than there was 30 years ago. 
The acreage is larger and the yield per acre is 
greater. It is due to clover and the judicious 
use of fertilizers that this result is possible. 
Texas is likely to take a high rank as a pork- 
producing State. Many hogs have always been 
kept there; of course the food for maintaining them 
is easy of production. The climate has been against 
pork packing. It is too warm for proper killing 
and curing. Of late years, large refrigerators have 
been, and are being, built in the larger Texas towns, 
where hogs can be safely slaughtered and cured in 
any season of the year. Texas bacon is a settled 
fact. With the aid of the refrigerator Texas can 
supply her own “meat.” In former years she has 
supplied the animals from which this meat was 
made. Under the new arrangement, the railroads 
that hauled the animals to the slaughter houses, 
and then hauled the meat back, will be the losers. 
On page 485, Mr. Putman, in telling about the 
business done by the Dudley Grange, said: “We 
are looking anxiously to the time when Western 
members of the order will be able to ship us directly 
car-loads of grain, thus saving middlemen’s profits 
to be divided between us.” This plan of Grange 
dealing with Grange seems business-like and sensi¬ 
ble. Can it be done? Why not? In reply to our 
questions Governor Cyrus G. Luce, of Michigan, 
sends the following: ’“We have tried to put in 
practice the suggestion contained in the clipping 
inclosed in your letter. We have tried shipping 
wool, potatoes, butter, cattle, corn and wheat; but 
eminent success has not crowned our efforts. I 
cannot stop to explain the reason why, but a com¬ 
bination of circumstances has usually militated 
against our shipping directly to our agents in cities, 
so that the produce could be passed over without 
the toll that is levied by middlemen. We have 
tried Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, Buffalo, New York, 
Philadelphia and Boston. Our Philadelphia bus¬ 
iness has been more satisfactory than that of any 
other place.” It seems to The R. N.-Y. that this 
matter of Grange dealing with Grange might be de¬ 
veloped into a profitable business. We hope the 
members of the order will endeavor to make such 
business possible. _ 
Several produce exchanges, boards of trade, etc., 
have formally requested Statistician Dodge, of the 
Department of Agriculture, to change the hour of 
delivering the monthly crop report synopsis from 
four to one o’clock p. M. This synopsis is issued on 
the 10th of each month, and is supposed to be for 
the information and guidance of farmers, in show¬ 
ing the condition of crops throughout the country. 
But it has become a mooted question whether it is 
worth to the farmers what it costs. On account of 
their isolation they do not receive the reports often 
until days after their issue, while the speculators 
and other robbers who gamble in the farmers’ pro¬ 
ducts have them all over the country almost upon 
the instant of issue. By this means they are enabled 
to manipulate markets and prices in their own in¬ 
terest before the farmer has an inkling of the true 
condition of affairs. However lightly farmers es¬ 
teem the value of these reports, the speculators 
consider them valuable. The New York Produce 
It has been claimed that the general use of the 
silo will drive root growing out of farm practice. 
This seems plausible enough to those who view the 
subject at long range; but it will not do with prac¬ 
tical men who grew and fed roots before they knew 
the virtues of silage. The writer interviewed a 
number of such men last week, and on every one of 
their farms a significant fact was noticed: close be 
side the field of ensilage corn was a field of roots. 
The two crops grew together like brothers—they 
were in no sense rivals or competitors. In localities 
where roots can be grown with profit—where the 
climatic conditions are perfect—they have a per¬ 
fect right to stand beside the silo. They are to be 
fed between the first frost and the opening of the 
silo. A great many people will not realize the fact 
that roots are used to provide the “ succulence ” on 
English farms, not because they are better than 
our American corn silage, but because the English 
climate is a root climate and not a corn climate. 
In speaking of the Geneva Experiment Station, 
TheR. N.-Y. refers to the lack of taste and editorial 
ability displayed in the bulletins. As a rule, all the 
experiment stations are faulty in this respect. A 
good editor could make a very readable and inter¬ 
esting paper from the facts and suggestions con¬ 
stantly claiming attention at one of these stations. 
Many of the bulletins that come to us contain ex¬ 
cellent suggestions and valuable facts ; but they do 
not obtain a large circulation, because the matter is 
not presented in a popular and attractive way. Ex¬ 
perienced journalists know how much depends upon 
attractive displays and bright headlines. A paper 
may be able to hold iis old subscribers while paying 
little attention to typographical adornment ; but it 
cannot secure new subscribers unless it makes itself 
neat, attractive and bright. Pictures add much to 
a good bulletin There should be a camera in use 
at every station. If some of our station directors 
would study practical journalism they would suc¬ 
ceed tar better than they now do in obtaining “new 
subscribers.” Within 20 years the authorities will 
see the necessity of having a practical journalist at 
all the more important stations, while our agricul¬ 
tural colleges will be compelled to teach agricul¬ 
tural journalism as a part of their regular course. 
It is one thing to write a good article; it is an¬ 
other thing to get the substance of that article 
into the heads of the public. 
There can be no doubt about the fact that Mr. 
Blaine’s scheme for reciprocity appeals strongly to 
the good sense of farmers—particularly of those at 
the West. Farmers very generally agree that their 
benefit from the tariff has been largely an indirect 
one. While a home market has been provided for 
him under the wing of the great manufacturing 
enterprises that have sprung up in every available 
place, the farmer feels that he has paid rather 
more than his share for that market. When these 
manufacturing enterprises were small he was told 
that they needed the help of a tariff because they 
were “ infant industries.” This seemed reasonable 
enough, and he willingly did his share toward giv¬ 
ing them a start. He can see nothing of infancy 
about them now; they are a great deal stronger 
than he is. Again, the prices he receives for grain, 
pork and beef indicate that if we could sell more 
of these products abroad, the surplus or “over¬ 
production ” in our own country would be removed 
and consequently prices would rule higher. He also 
recognizes the fact that he cannot for any length 
of time carry on any one-sided trade with his neigh¬ 
bor. He must buy if he is going to sell. Now comes 
Mr. Blaine with the proposal that all useless tariffs 
be sold—not given away—and the proceeds applied 
to creating a new market for farm products. This 
farmer, this man who has for 25 years upheld the 
policy of helping “ infant industries,” believes in 
trading his old goods off. He wants to drive the 
giants out to take care of themselves, and at the 
same time he does not want to give any of his bene¬ 
fits away. There is nothing surprising in the fact 
that the farmers favor “ reciprocity ” or tariff-trad¬ 
ing. Let there be no misunderstanding as to why 
they favor it._ 
ARE THE FARMERS TO BE AGAIN HOOD¬ 
WINKED ? 
Are farmers again to be bamboozled by Congress? 
W henever a loud cry of complaint or indignation at 
some fresh imposition, extortion or oppression 
reaches our national Solons at Washington from the 
farmers of the country, straightway those among 
them whose tenure of office might be endangered by 
a show of disregard for the appeal, fussily pretend 
to devise mef us of relief. From three to a dozen or 
more bills, all bearing on the matter and muddling 
expedients, are introduced, some into the Lower and 
others into the Upper House of Congress, and twice 
as many speeches brimful of fustian wrath and in¬ 
dignation, are worked up or paid for, and though 
rarely delivered in either House, are always printed 
in the Congressional Record, copies of which are 
carefully mailed to each would-be orator’s rural 
constituents, to prove how warmly he supports their 
views and resents the injustice to which they have 
been subjected. Frequently these vote catching 
effusions are distributed in pamphlet form. The 
bills are generally so badly drawn up that even if 
one of them passed it would certainly, in most cases, 
fail to accomplish the desired purpose, or be de¬ 
clared unconstitutional by the courts. Generally 
they conflict in so many points that they neutralize 
each other, and after a few weeks or months of in¬ 
termittent discussion and squabbling, as the excite¬ 
ment among the farmers subsides, the whole matter 
is allowed to drop into oblivion, while the Con¬ 
gressmen quietly chuckle at the ease with which 
they have hoodwinked their rustic constituents. 
Occasionally when the matter is of wide impor¬ 
tance, one or other of the great parties, as election 
time approaches, seeks to catch some political as¬ 
sistance from the farmers by awakening the dor¬ 
mant interest in it. Then what a gush of mock ex¬ 
citement and bombastic rhetoric until the elections, 
are over, when the whole subject is once more allowed 
to sink into nocuous desuetude. Such has been the 
case with the compound lard question. Two or 
three years ago the farmers of the country were 
nearly a unit in their opposition to the manu¬ 
facturing fraud which foisted on the public, 
at home and abroad, a compound of tallow or 
cotton seed oil and lard as genuine pure lard. 
Ample statistics and the investigations of several 
Congressional Committees have clearly demon¬ 
strated the vast extent of the business, the dangers 
to public health liable to arise from it, the grievous 
injury to our home and foreign trade not only in 
lard but also in other products similarly capable of 
deceptive adulteration, due to it, and the losses, 
amounting to many millions of dollars a year, it 
inflicts on the hog-raising interests of the country. 
A number of bills seeking to abate the fraud have 
been introduced into both Houses of Congress, and 
their best points have been embodied in the Com¬ 
pound Lard Bill, which, modeled on the Oleomar¬ 
garine Bill, provides for governmental supervision 
of the manufacture and sale of the product, a small 
tax to defray the expenses thereof, and for the 
branding of the packages containing the con¬ 
coction with its real name. For over two years the 
powerful lobby employed by the manufacturers of 
the bogus product has been able to thwart the wishes 
and baffle the efforts of the farmers in this matter. 
Again and again, interest in it has been renewed 
and allowed to collapse. Once more, as the time 
for elections approaches, it is taking a prominent 
place in Congress. Are the farmers, to be again 
bamboozled ? 
BREVITIES. 
Major McKinley’s a very good friend 
Of the modest American hen 
With genuine kindness he offers to lend 
Her the loan of a tariff, and then 
He expects that her product will boom up It) price. 
And scare foreign hens off the nest. 
While poultry men’s pockets will 1111 In a trice. 
And every hen roost wld be blessed 
But Major McKinley, just listen to me ; 
if people would only take hoes 
And scrape out the hen house and keep the place free 
Fron lice, and the combs and the toes 
Away from the frost, they would find that their hens 
Could make all the tariff they need. 
And lilt the egg-basket and cackle’ atnens,” 
As they billed up their duty on feed. 
In onions there is strength. 
Hen manure on the cabbage. 
Keep the stock happy this weather. 
Pigs picking peas pack pork pleasantly. 
Weak team, weak plowing, weak crop. 
Cream is ashamed to stay in watered milk. 
WHISKEY loves a red nose—a shining mark. 
Do not get between the light and your work. 
Will any of your bush Lima beans run up a wire ? 
YOU may leave a good deal of your fatigue in a bath tub. 
If you abuse your patient horse. 
You will not spare your folks, of course. 
Why raise 12 bushels of wheat per acre, if you can raise 
25 bushels on the same land ? 
One pound of pork that will walk to market beats five 
pounds of corn that you have to carry. 
Dr. Peter Collier seems to us more interested in tell¬ 
ing what he has done in earlier days than what he Is doing 
in these latter days. 
Before the end of this year the loss of the cows and 
heifers that have been killed for beef because prices were 
low, will be seriously felt. 
The R. N.-Y. is informed that several Western men have 
recently bought up large tracts of land in the “abandoned 
farm ” districts of Vermont. 
$50,000 a year ! What has the New York Experiment 
Station done with it ? That is the question that The 
R. N.-Y. proposes to have answered 
Have any of our experiment stations made any tests of 
the different binding twines ? They might also test the 
different kinds of “ roofings” now on the market. 
The R. N.-Y., as it investigates the subject more and 
more, calls, and calls with all its might, for a thorough 
and immediate investigation of the affairs of the New 
York Experiment Station. 
Many a New England farm house was built on a hill, 
because that gave the owner a better chance to fight tbe 
Indians. The Indians have now disappeared, and a farm 
located for defense is out of date. 
We find that about one plant in twenty of the Kumerle 
dwarf Lima shows the vine propensity. This is in an area 
of about one-tenth of an acre. We have a few plants of 
the Burpee dwarf Lima also, several stems of which have 
begun to twine up the poles set uear them. 
