668 
OCT. 4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
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. 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1890, by the Rural Publishing Company 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1890. 
Kindly send all perishable articles (fruits or 
plants) for trial or identification, to the Editor of 
The R. N.-Y., River Edge, Bergen County, New 
Jersey. 
Should we wait for all the leaves of a tree to fall 
before transplanting it ? No. The best time is 
just before they fall. They are clogged with min¬ 
eral or woody matter and can not. in any way, 
serve the tree. Their usefulness is o’er. They are 
merely waiting for a fresh gust of wind to consign 
them to the earth, where they may serve in 
nourishing other leaves, this time through the roots 
of the trees which bore them. And so the cycle is 
complete and annual life sustained. 
It may now be assumed that J. Lewis Childs does 
not intend to answer the several charges which 
The R. N.-Y. has made against him. They are 
serious charges which no honorable man can afford 
to treat with silence. We have heard of people 
who have such a feeble sense of honor and truth 
that they are ready to excuse an exposure of their 
tricky methods if by this kind of “free advertis¬ 
ing ” they are enabled to sell more of their wares. 
Is that the kind of man you are, Mr. Childs ? Your 
silence would justify such a conclusion. 
As is usual when the peach crop is a failure, 
many orchards are being neglected. There are 
many people who are easily discouraged. They 
are inclined to dodge danger and to change their 
line at each little reverse. “ Oh ye of little faith! ” 
Thousands of lives have been ruined because of this 
failure to “hang on” with bull dog tenacity to a 
settled and legitimate plan. There is no disease 
that will so surely ruin a peach orchard as simple 
neglect. When your horse goes lame through no 
fault of yours, do you knock him in the head at 
once or refuse to care for him while he cannot 
work? No, but when your orchard fails to bear 
you let it alone to cure itself. Nonsense! 
The R. N.-Y. this week devotes considerable 
space to the Geneva Experiment Station. We 
have plenty of ammunition left. In this communi¬ 
cation we have contented ourselves with answer¬ 
ing the Station with its own “authorities.” As we 
go to press we receive a copy of the Orange County 
Parmer which contains a careful synopsis of the 
work now under way at the station and an editorial 
indorsing Dr. Collier and the station work. The 
editor of the O. C. F. is known as an earnest and 
conscientious man. In his editorial remarks we 
find this comment. “We have no objection to 
frequent bulletins when there is anything of im¬ 
portance to communicate, but Heaven save us from 
immature reports and inconclusive experiments— 
experiments which prove nothing and lead to 
nowhere.” The R. N.-Y. most “heartily indorses” 
this sentiment. If our friend will be kind enough 
to examine Bulletins 20, 21 and 23 of the Geneva 
Station, we think he will find three of the volumes 
which he desires Heaven to save him from. 
When the McKinley Tariff Bill, having passed 
the Lower House of Congress, came before the 
Senate, many of its most important provisions met 
with strenuous opposition even from a considerable 
number of Republican Senators. When it finally 
passed the Senate, the other day, a large number of 
alterations, more or less important, had been made 
in it, and a Conference Committee of members of 
both Houses was appointed to adjust the dif¬ 
ferences. These were quickly and amicably settled 
until sugar and binding twine were reached. The 
sugar business is one of the most important in the 
country, involving over $150,000,000 a year, affect¬ 
ing a large domestic industry and touching the 
pocket of every householder in the land. It was 
natural, therefore, that some difficulty should be 
experienced in satisfactorily settling the tariff upon 
it. The binding twine business is comparatively 
small, not exceeding $10,000,000 a year, and is in 
the hands of a little clique of monopolists, operating 
almost exclusively in Massachusetts. They handle 
imported fibers exclusively, and for manufacturing 
these into twine they have been accustomed to im¬ 
pose an exorbitant tax on the users of binding twine 
all over the country. More than once they have 
cornered the market and more than doubled the 
price of twine to the consumer, while the cost 
of production, on which there was always a 
fair profit, remained unchanged. Of all the 
monopolists who have bled the American farmer 
the makers and manipulators of binding twine 
have been at once the most extortionate and 
arrogant. Small wonder, therefore, that the farm¬ 
ers all over the country loudly demanded that this 
E roduct, which has become a necessity of their 
usiness, and which, under the present regulations, 
is liable to be cornered at any time, should be 
placed on the free list. The present duty is two 
and one half cents per pound. The original 
McKinley bill reduced this to one and one half cent; 
but the Senate under pressure, mainly from the 
West, proposed to abolish it altogether. The Sen¬ 
ators and Representatives from New England, 
however, and especially from Massachusetts, have 
so bitterly opposed this step, threatening to vote 
against the entire tariff bill if binding twine were 
put on the free list, that after impeding the work 
of the Conference Committee for nearly a week, 
the matter has been compromised, according to the 
latest Washington advices, a duty of seven-tenths 
of a cent per pound having been agreed upon. 
While the result is undoubtedly a valuable victory 
for the farmers of the country, it plainly shows 
the enormous power which can be exercised over 
legislation even by so odious a protected monopoly 
as the Binding Twine Trust. 
There has been a marked change in the oratory 
at the county fairs of New York State this season. 
In former years it was customary for the fair man¬ 
agers to secure some prominent lawyer or clergy¬ 
man to discuss imaginary agriculture or hold 
divine service on the fair grounds. This year the 
oratory has taken the form of debates on the tariff. 
The Tariff Reform Club of this city, furnished the 
.advocates of free trade, while the Republicans pro¬ 
vided the champions of protection. The debates 
have been very successful and both sides seem sat¬ 
isfied with the result. The Reform Club people say 
that the farmers are beginning to reason on both 
sides of the question, and that the simple word 
“Protection” will no longer prove satisfactory to 
them. The Protectionists, on the other hand, 
assert that the more the farmer thinks the matter 
over, the more clearly will he see that his prosperity 
is based on the tariff, and that his duty is to so 
change that tariff that his benefit will be a direct 
one. We should say that the result of these 
skirmishes is more in the line of a compromise than 
a decided victory for either side. The debates have 
made advocates for “ reciprocity,” which is a fair 
compromise into which many protectionists and 
free-traders feel that they may enter without en¬ 
tirely surrendering their opinions. A fair compromise 
is the basis of brotherhood. A bright and sharp de¬ 
bate between Chauncey M. Depew and Gov. Hill is 
full of meaning. Mr. Depew said at Syracuse that 
farmers’ organizations should inscribe on their 
banners the three R.’s—Reciprocity, Retaliation 
and Revenue. Gov. Hill suggests a little change. 
His three R’s are Reduced Railroad Rates. 
What has been is, and what is will be. In all 
recorded time there has been a steady flow of in¬ 
telligent, enterprising young men from the country 
to the city. The last census shows that this influx 
has been particularly marked during the decade 
covered by it. Owing to this fact, and also because 
foreign immigrants settle chiefly in the centers of 
industry, the population of our towns and cities is 
increasing a great deal faster than that of the rural 
districts. From an agricultural point of view this 
is, in the main, a present advantage. While com¬ 
petition in agricultural products is thereby checked 
or diminished, the home market for them is in¬ 
creased. It is true, however, that the voting 
strength of the centers of population is dispropor¬ 
tionately increasing, and that, too, at a time when 
farmers have begun to take an independent interest 
m State and National politics. But for many long 
years to come, farmers, if acting in harmony, will 
have the power to compel the passage of juster 
laws and a purer, fairer, more patriotic administra¬ 
tion of State and National government. The con¬ 
tinuous influx of bright, eager, ambitious young 
men from the country into the cities must, how¬ 
ever, soon be regarded as a national misfortune. 
The agriculture of the country is the foundation of 
our prosperity as a people. The methods of profit¬ 
able cultivation are daily becoming better under¬ 
stood, and inventive genius is constantly rendering 
available for farm work many labor-saving devices 
which relieve it from much of its drudgery. But 
the more varied the cultivation and the more 
numerous the mechanical appliances employed, the 
more will intelligence and enterprise be required in 
the management of the farm. 
Each succeeding year demonstrates more clearly 
than ever before the dependence of the country at 
largo upon the great trunk lines of railroad with 
their numerous tributary lines ramifying into every 
part of the country. A strike upon one of these 
great systems is felt throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. The requirements of modem 
business are such that free and uninterrupted 
communication must be maintained or the 
traffic becomes congested and serious results must 
follow, just as surely as disease follows the obstruc¬ 
tion of the natural circulation of the blood in the 
human body. A result of this was seen in the 
recent strike on the N. Y. C. R. R.,which was only 
a partial one. Shippers were unable to secure trans¬ 
portation and much loss resulted in perishable 
goods. Receivers could not secure the goods upon 
which they depended to supply their customers 
and great inconvenience and loss occurred to them. 
Goods of which only limited stocks are ordinarily 
carried became scarce and were much advanced in 
price, thus entailing hardship upon consumers. 
Then when the embargo was removed, the delayed 
goods were in many cases thrown upon the markets 
in such quantities that depreciation in price caused 
still further losses. Farmers at large must suffer 
equally with other business men. They are coming 
to depend upon the railroads more and more Dairy¬ 
men in Northern New York and New England cannot 
grow corn and other grains upon their hilly farms 
and in their short seasons to compete with the more 
favored Western farmers, and the railroads enable 
them to profit by the advantage enjoyed by their 
Western neighbors. Potatoes have been shipped 
in large quantities this season from this city and N. 
J. to the West, even beyond the Mississippi, thus 
securing to farmers in this vicinity, where potatoes 
were plentiful, better prices than could otherwise 
have been obtained. In the same way, thousands 
of barrels of apples will this year be shipped into 
the great fruit-growing district of Western N. Y. to 
furnish employment to great evaporators there, 
which must otherwise be idle. The people are de¬ 
pendent upon the railroads, but they have claims 
upon the latter which cannot be ignored. The rail¬ 
roads derive all their powers from the people. Their 
charters are given them upon the express condi¬ 
tion that they render to the people efficient and 
faithful service at just rates. Unless they do this 
they should be deprived of their charters. Whether 
the general government should control them or not 
is an open question, upon which there is much to be 
said pro and con. Unless some of the great cor¬ 
porations, notably the express companies, those 
parasitic leeches, have more regard to the rights of 
the people, a trial of governmental control is sure to 
be made sooner or later. We have faith to believe 
that when this is done the public will be better served 
at least, though some of the “ water” may have to 
be evaporated before the stock will pay its “ regular 
and usual ” dividends. 
BREVITIES. 
" Build a llttlp fence of trust 
Around to day. 
Fill the space vrlih loving works. 
Ana therein stay. 
Look not through tne sheltering bars 
Upon to morrow, 
God wrl help thee bear what comes 
Of Joy or •orrow.” 
The shoe of the future will be a russet-colored shoe. 
How do you open your silo— -at the top or at the side ? 
Save the green tomatoes. We will tell you why next 
week. 
You cannot afford to let the frost eat any of your fruit 
this year. 
Do not talk so that a man must get on a stool to under¬ 
stand you. 
Are you ready for that farmers’ institute ? Read Pro¬ 
fessor Cook’s article. 
A GREAT deal of nursery stock has made too much growth. 
It will hardly have time to mature before winter. 
What do breeders think about the plan of giving accu¬ 
rate measurements of animals to accompany illustrations ? 
Many horses are injured by being tied too long. Watch 
your horse when he is lying down and learn the length of 
rope needed. 
Potatoes will not be any lower, friends, in The 
R. N.-Y.’s estimation. Corn and wheat will remain firm 
or go higher. 
We shall print, next week, an Interview with Col J. H. 
Brigham, Master of the National Grange, on the political 
prospects for farmers. 
The most valuable property we can own is what we can¬ 
not buy. We must make it—health, happiness, love, a 
clean conscience. 
Plant an Idaho Pear tree— if but one. It is worthy of 
trial. Try a Paragon Chestnut tree if chestnuts thrive in 
your soil. Try a vine of the Nectar Grape. 
The wise man sowed buckwheat when he found that his 
other grain was behind the record. Buckwheat is good 
not only for men, but for chickens, horses, cattle and hogs 
as well. 
Prof. Plumb says on page 666, that farmers should 
grumble less and “ hustle” more. How about that state¬ 
ment? Does anybody in your neighborhood send such 
filthy wheat to market ? 
Ir you have steam in your dairy house, It is a part of 
your business to force that steam through your drain pipes 
now and then. Too many of these drains are choked with 
grease, filth and dirt. Steam them out. 
One way to extend our markets for Indian corn is to 
show foreigners how to eat it. When the working people 
of Europe realize what a cheap and nutritious food corn- 
meal is, no maize will be burned in this country. 
The English are actually beginning to demand lighter 
wagons and tools. It was rumored that au American com¬ 
pany proposed to open an establishment for the manufac¬ 
ture of sulkies and light carriages. This seemed to set 
John Bull to thinking. 
We do not remember the time before this when so many 
city men are asking advice about Investing their savings 
in farms and turning farmers. The competition among 
city workers is intense and the idea that “ a farmer is sure 
of a living anyway ” seems to be turning men towards the 
cheap farms In many parts of the East. 
Chauncey M. Depew said at the New York State Fair: 
“ Fifty years ago there was hut one agricultural paper and 
no school, now there are 200 papers and 50 schools. No 
farmer who Is not better educated than his father can get 
on.” Boys crack that nut! The chances for an improved 
education are here ! Are you utilizing them? 
In these days of high-priced grain, it is well to know 
how far oil-meal and cotton-seed meal can be substituted 
for corn, oats and wheat. Let the experiment stations tell 
us this in simple language. Why cannot more of our ex¬ 
periment station people discuss these things as simply and 
clearly as Stewart does in “Feeding Animals ? ” 
The Diamond Grape has conducted itself fairly well at 
the Rural Grounds this season. It has borne several long, 
well-filled bunches free of rot, which ripened before the 
Concord. Our only vine was set in the spring of 1887. It 
originated with Mr. Jacob Moore with whom tne Brighton 
also originated. It is said to be a cross between the Con¬ 
cord and Iona. We commend the variety for trial. 
