628 
SEPT. 26 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIMES BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
vantage of the market. Yes, a grain standard is 
as important as a money standard, particularly 
when, as we have pointed out, grain is the money 
crop of thousands of farmers. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT S. CARMAN, 
HERBERT W. COLLINQWOOD, 
EDITORS. 
Rural Publishing Company: 
LAWSON VALENTINE, Preiident. 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1890, by the Rural Publiahing Company 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1890. 
A very sandy soil will absorb very little moisture 
from the air. The finer the sand the more it will 
absorb. Clay soils will absorb more moisture than 
sandy soils; what is known as garden mold more 
than clay soil; while a soil rich in humus will ab¬ 
sorb more than any of the others. Soils are hygro¬ 
scopic according to their porousness and it is well 
to bear in mind that the power to absorb water- 
vapor is the same, to a certain extent, as the power 
to absorb other gases which assist in plant growth. 
To keep the soil mellow is the evident lesson from 
these facts, not necessarily because a mellow top¬ 
soil acts as a mulch, but because it collects gases 
and vapors which, in a dry period, serve to feed 
and invigorate the plant. 
Start the true Farmers’ Movement at 
headquarters. Where are headquarters? 
At the district school! 
How does an education help the farmer? W. I. 
Chamberlain answers the question forcibly in his 
own life. He is a farmer still, though the President 
ot the Iowa Agricultural College as well. Few 
men write more forcibly or with more sincerity. 
Read his article in this issue entitled “ If I Could Be 
Young Again.” Think it over, young folks and 
old. It will not do any of you harm. It can 
scarcely fail to help you all. 
During the past season the writer made a per¬ 
sistent effort to cross Hall’s Honeysuckle and 
Standish’s (bush) upon the Tartarian. Not less 
than 50 well-formed berries were the result. The 
seeds seemed flat and embryoless. They were care¬ 
fully planted in a pot in mid-summer and well cared 
for since. Not one of these seeds has sprouted. 
We have had many experiences of this kind show¬ 
ing that embryoless fruit will form regardless of 
the source of the pollen. 
Wk are evidently to have “ reciprocity,” in some 
form at least. The Senate has passed the McKinley 
bill ammended so as to include the main features of 
Mr. Blaine’s plan. It will now be sent back to the 
House for concurrence. It is probable that few 
serious changes will now be made in the bill, 
and we may reasonably expect a fair trial of this 
tariff experiment. At present this experiment will 
be confined to the trade between this country and 
the South American Republics. It is reasonable to 
suppose that hides, sugar and the cheaper grades 
of wool will be the chief articles which South 
America will have to offer us. If tariff concessions 
are to be made, what products of ours will be 
favored? In other words, will the fanner or the 
manufacturer gain by the trade? 
Just before harvest this year we were told of an 
experiment which some wheat growers of Central 
Illinois were trying on a somewhat large scale. 
It was evident early in the spring that the fall sown 
wheat would prove a failure. These men ordered 
Northern spring wheat, and, plowing up their 
wheat ground, sowed the spring grain in the hope 
of thus securing a fair crop. The expei’iment 
proved a failure, the yield not being over seven or 
eight bushels of inferior grain per acre. There was 
a time when spring wheat proved a reasonable suc¬ 
cess in Central Illinois ; why will it not succeed 
now? Is it “change of climate” or “change of 
soil” caused by exhaustion of the phosphates? 
There are many who consider the latter the more 
plausible reason. They are naturally those who 
advocate the use of superphosphates in the form of 
commercial fertilizers for these wheat fields. The 
history of the Genesee Valley as a wheat-growing 
section contains a lesson for every wheat grower in 
the United States. 
“A standard for grain is as important as a 
standard for money.” This is the opinion of Mr. 
Folk, the President of the National Farmers’ Alli¬ 
ance. Grain represents money with hundreds of 
thousands of farmers. The standard for the latter 
is fixed, while that for the former is such that it can 
be manipulated by speculators or dealers against the 
interests of the farmer. These facts have induced 
the friends of agriculture in Congress to introduce a 
bill providing for a uniform standard for wheat, 
corn, oats, barley and other grains. The Secretary 
of Agriculture is to be authorized and required to 
establish a standard for classifying and grading 
grains, such standard classifications and grades to 
be such as in his best judgment will best subserve 
the interests of the public in mter-State and foreign 
trade. Not a day passes without bringing to us evi¬ 
dence of the great necessity of such a standard 
classification. Perhaps the most serious obstacle 
met with by those who are trying to bring about 
direct dealings in grain and feed between Farmers’ 
organizations in the East and the West, is the 
fact that the present grain standards are such that 
there exists no uniformity in the rules governing 
them. Grain that is classified and graded according 
to the standard of one State may be rated as of a 
different class and grade in any other market. It 
is evident that this confusion is unbusiness-like and 
enables unscrupulous men to take a dishonest ad¬ 
Tiik voters of New Jersey will this year be called 
upon to vote for or against a proposed amendment 
to the State constitution. The Executive Commit¬ 
tee of the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture 
has issued a circular urging farmers and citizens 
generally to vote against the amendment to Article 
IV, Section 7, Clause 2, which proposes to strike 
out the words “regulating the internal affairs of 
towns and counties.” This amendment, it is 
claimed, will open the doors for special legislation 
of all kinds for every township, borough, county 
and city in the State. Wherever political “rings ” 
or cliques are found, this amendment will afford 
them an opportunity for carrying out political 
schemes that mean the expenditure of large sums 
of money. When honest and business-like public 
officers are elected large appropriations may be 
legitimately handled. This bill gives the rogues and 
the ringsters a chance to show their peculiar skill. 
Tiik usual method of judging of the purity of 
water for domestic purposes is by appearances. If 
it appears clear and sparkling it is generally con¬ 
sidered pure. The fallacy of this test is shown by 
Major Powell, Director of the Geological Survey, 
who has made a long series of experiments with a 
view to determining economic methods of precipi¬ 
tating and removing the finely-divided clay con¬ 
tained in the water supplied to many cities. He 
found that there were many different mineral sub¬ 
stances, each of which would cause the precipitation 
of the clay if added to the water in small amounts, 
but the most powerful precipitant, the one which 
produced the result by the most minute addition, 
was sewage. The most frequent sources of con¬ 
tamination of the water supply in the country are 
the privy-vault and the cess pool. The filtrations 
from these are practically the same as sewage. The 
limpid water upon which the farmer prides him¬ 
self may be in reality the most dangerous. A water 
somewhat muddy and apparently less pure may be 
less likely to contain dangerous elements. This is 
but another exemplification of the old adage about 
the deceitfulness of appearances. 
THE FIRST ROSA ItUGOSA HYBRID. 
And what do you suppose is the most charming 
rose that is now (September 10) blooming in the 
Rural Grounds? Georges Bruant. There are three 
bushes. All have buds; one has two flowers in full 
bloom, four inches in diameter. They are pure 
white and as sweet as a rose can be. By count one 
of them has 20 petals. The petals grow somewhat 
fewer as the season advances. This is a Rosa rugosa 
rose on one side and a Tea (Sombreuil) on the other 
—the first of this parentage that has ever been pro¬ 
duced. Thank you heartily Mr. Bruant. All 
people who have roses in their hearts will thank you. 
This production alone—even were there no others 
—will carry your name as a benefactor through 
many generations; that is to say, to those of the 
generations who know something of the trials that 
originators of excellent plants have, as a rule, to 
undergo. 
Two years before the Georges Bruant was offered 
to the public, a cross between Rosa rugosa and 
the Austrian rose, Harison’s Yellow, as hav¬ 
ing been effected at the Rural Grounds was an¬ 
nounced. Files of both The R. N.-Y. and the Lon¬ 
don Garden will prove this. In the latter magazine— 
the first of its class—the inquiry was made: Is it 
known that any hybrid between the Ramanas Rose 
and any other rose, worthy of perpetuation, has 
been effected ? There was no responso. We have 
reasons for supposing that the note in the Garden 
which in a few words described the best of our Ru¬ 
gosa hybrids induced Mr. Bruant and others to at¬ 
tempt crosses with Rugosa. G. Bruant was one of 
the splendid results. With every facility of propa-. 
gation, it was placed upon the market two years 
ago, while TnE R. N.-Y. hybrid was known only 
through the original plant as it was seen by many 
growing among the raspberry and blackberry 
bushes of the Rural Grounds. History should record 
that the “Agnes Emily Carman ” named after the 
originator, is the first known hybrid with Rosa ru¬ 
gosa worthy of introduction. The male parent was 
as hardy as itself. History should also record that 
Georges Bruant was the first Rugosa hybrid offered 
in the market. The male parent was a Tea. These 
Rugosa hybrids, we venture to predict, have come 
to stay, and it is well that their history should bo 
written in a way that will leave no doubt as to their 
chronological history. 
IS IT SO ? 
Riches aro not of necessity in The R. N.-Y.’s esti¬ 
mation, an evidence of. moral inferiority. George 
Peabody, for example, accumulated great wealth 
in a benevolent way; made many people better and 
happier while he was about it, ana finally gave the 
most of it away, making thousands happy where 
one was happy before. Good Mr. Peabody! the 
world respects your name and your deeds. A class 
of people (the McAllister Four Hundred, for in¬ 
stance) is springing up that makes wealth and mush¬ 
room pedigrees first, and intelligence and morality 
second considerations. Most of their time is spent 
in dress and thoughts of dress ; in studying and 
originating new forms and niceties of etiquette— 
not necessarily the forms and niceties whicn good, 
sound hearts and thoughts would suggest, but rather 
those which may distinguish them from others and 
that may well be defined as the superficialities that 
have their origin in the ostentation of wealth. We 
feel sorry for these people on the one hand, in that 
they are of very little use to the world in general, 
while it is pleasant to know that exclusiveness is a 
part of their code and that there is little danger 
that this particular kind of “ refinement” will ever 
take a serious hold upon those workers for the 
universal good who cannot afford to spend the 
greater part of their lives in dressing, dining, in teas 
and receptions that begin at 10 p. m., and the rest of 
their time in devising methods how they may secure 
and hold the increasing admiration of the birds of 
their feather. 
Look upon this picture and then upon that of the 
simple life of the thoughtful, industrious, frugal, 
successful farmer. Real politeness is always asso¬ 
ciated with simplicity, because it is an essential 
part of it. It is the vulgarity of a prurient vanity 
that holds together much of the so-called fashion¬ 
able life of to-day. 
BREVITIES. 
A barrel of elder will work like a sluve 
While you pass the time In repost- : 
It never gets weary, the longer It works 
The stouter It sets I suppose. 
It scorns very harmless this barrel of drink 
Wuen you put It away In Its phiee : 
Yet a barrel of aunpowder under your house 
Cannot blow you so far into spnee 
As this same elder can. If your little boy learns 
How to guzzle It early In life, 
You had best take a hammer and knock In Its head 
And thus pour out one cause of strife. 
Clean out the well. 
Fatten the horse for winter. 
A tight shoe—acorn plaster. 
Hang up the hoe for the season. 
Start the fires early in the season. 
How about green tomatoes as a substitute for apples ? 
There are “abandoned farms” in every State in the 
Union. 
The dairy school at the Geneva Station was a great 
success. 
FooLisn to feed skim-milk to cows while you have 
chickens. 
Digging potatoes by machinery is two-thirds of a 
plowing. 
The new “ Tree Moonflower ” will prove, we fancy, a de¬ 
cided acquisition. 
The attention of correspondents is respectfully invited 
to the communication by Myra V. Norys, on page 630. 
Wilt, some kind friend tell us why weeds grow faster in 
New Jersey than they do in England ? Is a weed a weed ? 
Evidently not. 
The It. N.-Y. has in view a series of articles on “ Slave 
Farming,” giving a truthful account, with pictures, of 
Southern agriculture at the time when slavery was in its 
full glory. 
The R. N.-Y. folks have spent hours during the present 
season trying to effect a cross of the Alkekengi (Strawberry 
Tomato or Ground Cherry) upon the tomato and vice 
versa. Result: failure. 
Speaking about the breeding of “ germs ” in milk by the 
addition of cold water, as hinted at in a recent R. N.-Y., a 
friend says that watered whisky, according to this theory, 
becomes more dangerous than the “real article.” 
We began planting our wheats (crosses and hybrids) on 
September 8—one grain a foot apart each way. That date 
is deemed rather early, but the planting is a long, putter¬ 
ing job, requiring at least a week of steady work. 
The R. N.-Y. has not printed an article for a long time 
that has called out more favorable comment than the one 
by Mr. Terry on page 586. It is gratifying to know that 
there are many wives who are “partners” in every good 
sense. 
ToucniNG the question which is earlier to ripen, the 
Worden or the Concord, we may say that, this season, they 
ripen at the same time. The Eaton is, this year, as early 
as either ; it is a bouncing grape. The Empire State, for 
the first time, is bearing a full crop, and many of the 
bunches are large and perfect. 
The R. N.-Y. is emphatic in preferring the spring to the 
fall for transplanting hardy trees of any description. 
Why ? Because the weather in early spring is always 
moist and the roots start at once. Then in a few weeks 
the reciprocal action between buds, leaves and roots be¬ 
gins, and the tree is established and safe. 
On page 635 we are told of a man who says he “cannot 
afford to raise weeds in New Hampshire.” Well, where 
can one afford to raise them ? There is no money in 
weeds. Very likely they cost less in Iowa than they do in 
New Hampshire, hut they are useless farm products any¬ 
where. Why then do we raise them ? A discussion of 
this question might last forever. 
In urging horticulturists of Ohio to join the State so¬ 
ciety, Secretary Farnsworth saysRemember that 
while we ‘ trust ’ in Providence and * combine ’ with Nature 
to produce an abundance of fruits, flowers aud vegetables, 
yet we are strongly opposed to the third member of the 
Trinity of Mammon, and do not desire a ‘ monopoly ’ of 
the benefits of the society, but cordially invite all horti¬ 
culturists to join us.” 
