744 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
NOV. i 
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, Pr«*ident. RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Managar. OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1890, by the Rural Publishing Company. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1890. 
Legislation cannot cure the “hard times” 
of the lazy man. 
We often hear good people say, 
Talk is chi ap ! Talk Is cheap! 
So it is with brains aw ay, 
G ne wool . aihering all day, 
Giving .Mr. Tongue full pla>, 
Free to wag and lots to say, 
Tslk is cheap ! Talk is cheap! 
Read the second cash-prize offer under Publisher's 
Desk on page 748. 
Do not trust the man who is ready to do you any 
favor in the world. Successful people can not afford 
to be so generous. The man that will promise to do 
almost anything you ask is one who rarely keeps 
his engagements or promises. He is one of the great 
family of Ne’er-do-weels. 
We want some of our experiment stations to as¬ 
certain what form of lime is best for hens; that is, 
what form will insure hard shells at the least cost. 
Do finely pulverized oyster or clam shells have any¬ 
thing to do with furnishing the materials for shells ? 
Are these better than quicklime? Why? Are they 
better than finely-broken bones such as the fertilizer 
men furnish? If so, why? 
First rate sweet corn as late as October 25, is a 
treat we have rarely enjoyed. It was planted July 
5, and the variety is Stowell’s Evergreen. We have 
had a dozen light frosts, but none severe enough to 
freeze water. The plants are still green, though 
the leaves droop and show that their service is 
about over. But the corn is sweet and tender and 
we enjoy it and our visitors enjoy it as well as if it 
were the first mess of green peas in springtime. 
That plan of submitting all measures to a joint 
committee of representatives of farmers’ organiza¬ 
tions—see page 740—is a good one. Carry it still 
further and agree that items of family expense 
shall be carefully talked over by all the members of 
the family before the money is spent. Nothing is 
better than those families where each member can 
feel that he has some voice in business matters. We 
have found that this course leads to a feeling of 
business responsibility and habits of economy, that 
are very helpful. Make your family a congress for 
discussing home finances. 
A new department, Farm Politics, is begun this 
week, with articles by Cassius M. Clay, Henry 
George and “Bucephalus Brown.” We hope to 
discuss matters which may properly come under 
this heading in a way a little different from 
any in which they have ever been discussed. The 
present “farmers’ movement” shall not die out 
with the coming election, if The R. N.-Y. can help 
it. This movement is needed, and it will be our 
privilege to aid in directing it into the most useful 
channels. We want farmers to know each other 
better and to come together and discuss the various 
measures proposed for their relief, to the end that 
as few mistakes as possible may be made. Let us 
start this farmers’ movement right by learning how 
to be honest, just and fair to all American interests. 
The last New Jersey legislature passed a bill to 
legalize pool-selling on race tracks in that State, a 
certain per cent, of the receipts to go into the State 
treasury. Through the good sense of the Governor 
in withholding his signature, the bill failed to be¬ 
come a law. There is no doubt that an organized 
and persistent effort will be made during the com¬ 
ing winter to place a similar bill on the statute 
books. It behooves every good citizen to oppose, to 
the utmost extent of his ability, the election of any 
one to the legislature who favors this monstrous in¬ 
iquity. There are no less than six large race¬ 
courses in the State largely patronized by sporting 
men from the large cities of New York and Phil¬ 
adelphia. Those living within their reach know 
them to be the most demoralizing agencies conceiv¬ 
able. Hardly a day passes but the daily press 
records an embezzlement, a theft, the misappropria¬ 
tion of trust funds, or the downfall of some trusted 
employe, and attendance upon the races is generally 
found to be the prime cause. Worst of all, the rail¬ 
roads are hand in glovo with the gamblers in their 
nefarious schemes to fasten these poisonous par¬ 
asites more firmly upon an unwilling common¬ 
wealth. Let the people make themselves heard at 
the only place where their voices will have any 
effect—at the polls. Stand by the men who oppose 
this nefarious business. 
Mr. James B. Olcott, who for years has been so 
interested in grasses that he can scarcely talk on 
any other subject, writes us as follows: “In cattle, 
horses, sheep, hogs, dogs, and even men, we have 
learned to pay regard to the organisms we are 
dealing with. But of the grass which supports all 
these, we have grown so careless that we sow any¬ 
thing that comes to us mixed in a way to neutralize 
any peculiar excellencies that some lots undoubt¬ 
edly have. Few seedsmen know where their seed 
originates, and the public of buyers and consumers 
do not think or care; nor can they find out, if they 
would, or get the same stocks again that have once 
proved of use to them. This general heedlessness 
and ignorance react, ot course, upon the sources of 
production and help to make them not at all what 
they should be.” _ 
In the implement advertisements which appear 
in English agricultural papers, prices are almost in¬ 
variably quoted. The manufacturers do not seek, 
apparently, to do their business so much by cata¬ 
logues as do our American manufacturers. The 
English appear to make smaller sizes of implements 
than our manufacturers can find sale for. We 
find advertisements of foot-power thrashing ma¬ 
chines, small grinders and cutters, that are almost 
unheard of here. In iron products—fences, ricks, 
roofing, portable sheds, etc.—the English seem 50 
years ahead of us. No doubt a lack of suitable 
timber has forced the substitution of iron and 
willow ware for our heavier woods, but it seems 
evident that our manufacturers could develop a 
better trade iu such goods if they would go about 
the work properly_ 
In spite of the cry from all over the country of 
the extortionate rates of the express companies, it 
is authoritatively stated that the Adams Company 
will advance its rates on November 1. This is 
cheering news to those dependent upon this com¬ 
pany. We are assured that it will have the ex¬ 
treme kindness to notify the dear public just what 
the new rates will be before they take effect. This 
company recently reduced its force of employees 
in this city, until the remaining help were obliged 
to work nearly night and day to handle the con¬ 
stantly accumulating freight. The necessity for 
this curtailing of expenses and increase of charges 
is not apparent to the casual observer. The stock 
of the company sells for 145 to 150, so that it can¬ 
not be financially weak. So far as the innocent 
outsider can see, there is no excuse for this grasp¬ 
ing policy. _ 
The -way the grain gamblers in the Produce Ex¬ 
changes benefit (?) the grain markets was well 
illustrated by a recent occurrence. A vessel was 
chartered in New York to carry 75,000 bushels of 
wheat to Lisbon. This indicated an improvement 
in the foreign demand for grain, but the gamblers 
telegraphed the news all over the country late in 
the day, the speculators boomed up the price of 
wheat on the strength of it, with the result that 
when the would-be shipper went into the market 
he was unable to buy wheat at a figure that would 
enable him to fill the order, and the charter was 
canceled at a loss to him. Of course, the advance 
caused by this operation was not maintained, and 
a promising new outlet for grain was closed, to 
the ultimate loss of grain growers. Who was 
benefited ? No one except, possibly, a few speculat¬ 
ors; but it is just such operations that are depress¬ 
ing the export trade in cereals and other products. 
The law should prohibit gambling in agricultural 
products, just as much as any other kind of 
gambling. _ 
This is an age of whales, or rather of monsters 
with the magnitude of whales and the rapacity of 
sharks. It is emphatically a voracious age—an 
age in which the big are constantly growing bigger 
by swallowing the small. The process i3 going on 
all along the line from the empire to the tnpe- 
shop. Where are the multitude of petty kingdoms 
and principalities that variegated the globe half a 
century ago ? Singly or in groups they have dis¬ 
appeared within the ravenous maws of their bigger 
neighbors. When is this monarchical absorbing 
process likely to stop? When each continent is 
monopolized by a mighty empire? Well, will not 
each of these then want the earth? Again, behold 
how the large stores are transformed into small cor¬ 
porations, how these are engulfed by large ones, 
and these, in turn, by the stili more monstrous 
trusts. Once more, what has become of the 
swarms of small stores and work shops that used to 
afford an independent livelihood to thousands of 
hard workers in all our towns and cities? Go, seek 
their owners subserviently toiling for others’ gam 
behind the counters of our mammoth emporiums, 
at the lathes and benches ot our gigantic fac¬ 
tories and at the tubs and tables of our mighty 
canneries and slaughter-houses. Again when 
is this industrial absorbing process likely to stop? 
When the labor and products of tach industry are 
monopolized by one huge “combine? ” Well, will not 
each of these, too, then “ want the earth ” ? Will not 
the various industries oveilap and intertwine 
enough to afford to the more powerful plausible 
grounds for antagonizing, crushing and absorbing 
the weaker ? But would even a plausible excuse for 
attacking a weaker rival be sought by so potent a 
combine? If so, its morality or regard for public 
opinion would be a marvelous improvement on that 
of its less powerful prototypes of to day. And after 
all the industries have been united under the con¬ 
trol of one mighty combination; what then? Why 
shouldn’t the members contend for supremacy ? And 
when the monarchical and industrial rulers of the 
earth stand face to face, who can doubt the issue 
of the inevitable struggle for supreme power? Then 
at last the government, under the direction of the 
manager of all the industries of the world will 
control them all—but for whose benefit? Why 
wait until all our multifarious industries are brought 
gradually under the selfish domination of mighty 
and mightier combinations before accepting the in¬ 
evitable outcome—governmental control of the 
great industrial enterprises of the world, and, first 
of all, of the greatest of these—the railroads ? 
One man may have a fondness for baked beans— 
we know a person who would eat them every day in 
the year. Another man, possibly a member of the 
same family, will noteat baked beans at all because 
he does not like them and they “do not agree with 
him ”—though he is perfectly healthy. It is the 
same with pork, oat-meal, milk, certain kinds of 
puddings and pies; in fact, with hundreds of 
articles. If people would remember these things 
there would be less wonder at the different stories 
told about the profits of feeding oil meal and cot- 
ton-seed meal to cows. We know perfectly well 
that cows’tastes and appetites differ. Some cows 
show a marked preference for a certain kind of 
food, while others are as eager for another kind. Is 
there any reason to' believe that one cow may be 
better fitted than another to properly digest a large 
amount of cotton seed meal? We do not see any, 
and our observation has convinced us that the 
tastes and appetites of the different cows in the 
herd are well worth studying. We are told of cows 
that are able to eat eight, pounds of cotton seed 
meal per day without apparent ill effects. There 
are many farmers who absolutely will not believe 
such statements. It might be well for them to 
think over their list of acquaintances. They will 
doubtless find some one who may eat food that 
would never answer for them. 
BREVITIES. 
Th® tight woodshed! The tight woodshei ! 
Well stocked with 8®»soiiea w od aiK dry, 
The kitchen siove! Wh it memories rove 
Befor Imaginations eye; 
No housewife’s art, however stmrt, 
With only green an" soggy wood. 
Can make a meal that r Iks will feel 
At liberty to label “ good.” 
But I would shed upon the head, 
Of science just a ray or two. 
Woo i cure" ana dry. Is apole pie. 
Ana dumplings, min e on puddings too, 
Fri- d chicken, cake, doughnuts and cake 
Conoenspd like Jelly, wuitlnv lire 
T. at lr may burn and hereby turn 
Tof o which akes our hearts aspire. 
Then heed the rhyme and take the lime 
To k« ep your woodshed tight and uil. 
Then happ\ life to watch your lte 
Good victuals from ihc cook stove pull. 
Is the well clean ? 
Cultivate a new subscriber. 
A PEA-NUT seller makes a poor banker. 
Should we try to make “ general-purpose ” men out of 
our boys ? 
How many men of your acquaintance “build better 
than they know ? ” 
Give us your ears for 1891, friends, that is all The Rural 
New-Yorker asks. Is it asking too much ? 
The habit of planting a tree to commemorate any par¬ 
ticularly happy family event is a worthy one. Adopt it. 
It appears from what our friend says on page 742 that 
trees and vines on line fences are very likely to bring forth 
evil fruit. 
It is with deep regret that we hear that our friend, 
T. V. Munson, Is suffering from a broken leg, caused by the 
kick of a horse. He writes us that it is slowly mending. 
Rice bran is now quoted in the New Orleans market at 
$9 per ton, with rice polish at §12 to $15. Rice bran con¬ 
tains three times as much fat and four-fifths as much pro¬ 
tein as wheat bran. 
We are told of a peach transaction in Southern New 
Jersey which probably “tails’’ the record. One peach- 
grower rented his peach-orchard of 10.000 trees on shares. 
He received, as his share, 10 peaches, or one peach for each 
1,000 trees I 
Breeders must not suppose that all the people in the 
Dakotas burn straw for fuel. A subscriber in R'chland 
County writes that his neighbors buy wood at the railroad 
stations at §4 to $7 per cord. It is shipped by .rail from 
Minnesota. 
T. B. TERRY writes: “ The hardest work done on my 
farm is iu the ‘thinkshop ’ The mere doing of the work 
is comparatively easy. It is deciding what, to do, and how 
it can oest be done that turns the hair gray and tires the 
brain until one cannot sleep.” 
That dog, Jack, see page 739, became nothing but a 
“ play-dog” because he was not trained and made to get 
in the habit of doing useful work. You know plenty of 
play men who might trace their mtsforiuues to the same 
cause. Are you training your boys so that they will make 
playmen ? You can easily do it if you will. 
All of ns may grow the Downing or Houghton Goose¬ 
berry. The berries are small as compared with those of 
foreign kinds, but they are better in quality. As the 
varieties areas prolific as any one desires, why, for family 
use, worry over the fact that the foreign kinds mildew 
with us and are, iu consequence, of little use ? 
There is the usual complaint about potato diggers on 
heavy clay soil. The recent heavy rains have packed the 
soil so that diggers cannot make their way through. The 
{ >otato digger is not designed for plowing or breaking sod ; 
t is a machine of soil—most useful on light, loamy soils 
that are kept mellow and porous by thorough tillage. 
A LITTLE note on another page tells of a proposed organ¬ 
ization among the producers of the best beeves. There are 
texts for a dozen sermons iu this. Organize for a just 
price for tne best products In other words, combine to 
grade products and thus single out those quoted “ No. 1.” 
Imperfect sorting has much to do with “agricultural de¬ 
pression.” 
