72 
February 1 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' RARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established 1850. Copyrighted 1805. 
Elbert S. Carman, Kditor-tn-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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means of transmitting money. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay- 
able THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1896. 
The Business Hen has laid nearly 100 new sub¬ 
scribers since our offer was printed. The Nursery 
Book is nursing subscribers every day, and the New 
Potato Culture is building up our list on the trench 
system. That's right. Keep it up. Hero are the books : 
Cloth. Price. 
The Nursery Book. “ $1.00 
First Lessons in Agriculture. “ 1.00 
American Grape Training. “ .75 
The New Potato Culture. “ .75 
The Business Hen. “ .75 
Send us a new subscription (not your own), and we 
will send your choice of these books prepaid. 
. © 
Wk will gladly give any scientist all the space he 
needs to explain why “muscle-makers,” “fat-formers” 
and “pure fat,” used to describe the nutritive prin¬ 
ciples in animal foods, are not just as scientific as, and 
a good deal more expressive than, “ protein,” “nitro- 
gen-free-extract” or “ carbohydrates” and “ fat.” The 
It. N.-Y. thinks that it would be an advantage to use 
the simpler terms. If we are wrong, we wish to 
know why. 
0 
In a “ Hen Ration Suggested,” page 66, onions are 
recommended as a green feed for hens. These are 
healthful, and are excellent as a preventive of 
gapes in young chickens. But how many will it do 
to feed to laying hens ? It is well known that the 
flavor of eggs is influenced by the feed, especially if 
large quantities of any strong flavored feed are con¬ 
sumed. This being the case, just how many onions 
is it safe to feed ? 
O 
The Connecticut State Grange suggests a committee 
composed of President Koons of the Agricultural 
College, Dr. E. H. Jenkins of the Experiment Station 
andT. S. Gold of the Board of Agriculture, to arrange 
a short course in agricultural science for use in public 
schools. This is to be presented to the Connecticut 
State Board of Education with the request that it be 
used in schools of country towns, and also in Normal 
schools for teachers who expect to teach in country 
districts. This is the most business-like move in the 
matter of agricultural education of which we have 
yet heard. The men on this committee are well 
qualified to prepare these text books, and Connecticut 
is a good State to start such a reform. 
© 
Last summer, The R. N.-Y. told of a new method 
of freezing milk for transportation. This method is 
largely used for meats, poultry, etc., which, when 
kept under the right conditions and at the proper 
temperature, may be preserved perfectly for many 
months, and safely transported for thousands of 
t miles. Heretofore, it has been considered that eggs 
must be kept at a temperature above the freezing 
point. On account of their structure and the changes 
that occur in freezing, ordinary eggs in their natural 
state cannot be preserved in this way. But the New 
Y r ork Produce Review tells of a method that has been 
practiced to a limited extent by some of the Western 
cold storage houses during the past two years. In 
selecting their stock for cold storage, all the cracked 
eggs were broken out into square tins holding about 
40 pounds each. The whites and yolks were all 
mixed together thoroughly, and then frozen hard. 
Some of the large baking establishments are now 
using eggs so put away early last summer. When 
needed for use, they are thawed out by placing the 
cans in water, and the result is a thick, pasty mass, 
lacking some of the qualities of fresh eggs, but said 
to be be sweet and free fiom all bad flavors, superior 
for all baking purposes where yolks and whites are 
mixed together, to ordinary cold storage eggs of the 
same age. One consideratio.n in using this stock, is 
its comparative cheapness ; it is made from cracked 
eggs which are usually rated at half price in the 
markets. This method might be adopted to preserve 
eggs for family use by anyone having an icehouse, so 
that the stock can be kept constantly frozen. It 
should be packed in tin cases, not so large that it can 
not be quickly thawed when desired for use. This 
method is well worth testing by any one having the 
proper facilities, and might be the means of materially 
reducing the summer surplus. 
0 
Governor Griggs of New Jersey, in his inaugural 
address, called attention to the wonderful growth of 
electric railroads. Enough of these roads have been 
built to convince the public that, while they afford 
convenience of travel, they are not an unmixed bless¬ 
ing. Unless it be handled with the utmost care, this 
electric force is a dangerous thing, and the State may 
well provide legal safeguards to protect life and 
property. Governor Griggs suggests that, hereafter, 
these electric roads should not be permitted to run 
on the country highways. They should either run at 
the side, or entirely off the limits of the road. That 
is just as it should be. The country road belongs to 
the farmer. It is his track for freight or for travel. 
It is a mistake to permit an electric railroad company 
to tear it up, or appropriate the best part of it for 
tracks. We have seen several excellent roads ruined 
in this way. We hope that, in New Jersey, at least, 
the legislature will put a stop to this misuse of 
country roads. 
© 
The Black-Top Spanish Merino Sheep Breeders, at 
their recent meeting, passed resolutions asserting 
that since the passage of the Wilson tariff bill, 17,000,- 
000 pounds of shoddy and other substitutes for wool, 
have been brought into this country from abroad. 
This, it is claimed, takes the place of 53,800,000 pounds 
of fleece wool, or the product of more than 8,000,000 
average sheep. A large part of this fraudulent prod¬ 
uct finds its way to the market in the form of goods 
marked “pure wool”—thus not only injuring the 
business of the wool grower, but deceiving the public. 
As remedies, these breeders recommend and demand : 
1. That laws be passed requiring that all adulterated 
goods be so marked as to show the actual per cent of 
fleece wool contained in them. 2. A tariff of not less 
than two cents a pound should be imposed on all 
shoddy material brought into this country. Bills 
covering these points will doubtless be introduced in 
Congress. It is certain that this practice of selling 
“shoddy'’ for pure wool goods, is one of the most 
dangerous frauds of the day in its effect on the 
business interests of farmers. 
0 
The R. N.-Y. has before called attention to some of 
the outrageous and utterly indefensible provisions of 
the game laws of New York State. These were all 
made over last year, and we were led to expect some¬ 
thing creditable to the law-making powers, and satis¬ 
factory in securing the protection sought. But, 
judging from these, the makers would much better 
have been at home sawing wood than trying to make 
laws for the people of the great Empire State. They 
wouldn’t be in a position to do so much harm, and 
might do some good. The New York Society for the 
Protection (?) of Game held its annual meeting at a 
swell hotel in this city the other day, gave a big 
dinner, and discussed the present game laws with the 
“ numerous loopholes through which dealers and 
trappers are enabled to crawl.” Amendments were 
discussed, and will be presented to the legislature. 
But the menu of these protectors (?) contained game 
which is out of season according to the very laws 
they themselves were instrumental in securing. 
There’s consistency for you ! In some parts of the 
State, protected deer have done great damage to the 
farmers’ crops ; but the sufferers do not dare to shoot 
the deer, or even to set the dogs on them to frighten 
them away, for this is contrary to law. The law is 
oppressive and unjust to the farmers, and is solely in 
the interest of millionaire pot hunters. Isn’t it about 
time the farmers took a hand ? What are the Grange, 
Alliance and other farmers’ organizations doing ? 
© 
At the meeting of the New York State Agricultural 
Society last week, the matter of selecting a satisfac¬ 
tory man to head the State Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, came up for informal discussion. A committee 
was appointed to wait on Governor Morton and im¬ 
press on him the fact that this strong society desires 
for Agricultural Commissioner a man outside of the 
political machine, and thoroughly in touch with the 
agricultural interests of this great State. This com¬ 
mittee had no particular candidate in mind, but sim¬ 
ply represented the principle that this office must not 
be lowered to the plane of common party politics. 
We have heard a number of people express the fear 
that Governor Morton will appoint a certain candi¬ 
date whose chief qualifications are that he is backed 
by strong political leaders, and who may be expected 
to make the Department even more of a political junk 
shop than it is now. The R. N.-Y. sees no reason for 
this fear in view of Governor Morton’s knowledge of 
the situation. He knows that the intelligent and 
influential farmers of the State are thoroughly in 
earnest in their demand that this department shall be 
headed by a clean and practical agriculturist. He 
knows something of the disappointment that will be 
manifested if the candidate hiuted at is appointed. 
The Governor is himself personally interested in 
farming, and on his own farm are presented several 
difficult and interesting problems that will demand 
the best help of agricultural science for their solu¬ 
tion. Some of these very problems are confronting 
the humblest farmers in the State, and the Governor, 
like other intelligent men, knows that the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture should be conducted by men who 
will make it their business to throw light on these 
perplexing questions. In view of these facts, The R. 
N.-Y. has no fear that Governor Morton will appoint 
the wrong man. We confidently expect that the next 
Commissioner of Agriculture will be selected, not for 
his politics, but for his patriotism to the cause of 
agriculture. 
O 
BREVITIES. 
“ You raise mushrooms,” said Farmer B, 
“ And raise them at loss, I see.” 
“You’re wrong,” said Farmer C; “ I fear, 
I never had a mushroom here.” 
“ See that old cow V ” said Farmer B— 
“ That poor, old scrub of low degree ? 
That's your mushroom ! All winter long 
She’s bellowed out her hungry song 
Of grain and grooming long denied. 
See liow her bones stick through her hide ! 
No overcoat but plastered dung. 
The frost has nipped her with its tongue. 
No mush of meal for her is found. 
Her grain a kick, her thanks a pound ; 
And thus you’re raising mushrooms—how ? 
There’s room for mush inside that cow ! 
Ship the scrub sheep. 
The farmer is a manufacturer. 
Farmers as breeders—page 67. 
Better straightforward than crooked backward ! 
Why not swap the old horse off for eggs—page 73 ? 
Don’t write about wrongs except to try and right them. 
The most civilizing vehicle on wheels is a baby carriage. 
Why don’t you set out some sweeter fruit in that cross patch 
Out hollered and out-dollared !—the farmer who deals with a 
fakir. 
Dangerous ! An experiment planned and twisted to support 
a theory. 
The coughy habit is often prevented by sound rubbers and a 
sound rubbing. 
It’s a wise man who can run the night lire better than his wife 
thinks she can. 
The rats will tremble when they read the broadside that is lired 
at them on page 79. 
When does a rat become a cat ? Wh eu one hunts the meat and 
the other meets the hunt. 
Try' to sharpen your dull times by holding your knows to the 
grindstone of science and experience. 
A combination of caustic potash and rat’s tongue, page 79, re¬ 
sults in a fugitive rat. Cause? Stick potash ! 
Better plan now to celebrate 1896 with a good carrot crop. How 
the stock would enjoy carrots now—if they had them. 
In remembering the suffering Armenians, don’t forget the 
“mean ’uns” on this side of the water. “Talk turkey” to them. 
With sugar at $40 per ton, it takes 750,000 pounds to pay the sal¬ 
ary of the Governor of Barbadoes—and the inhabitants have no 
voice in his selection ! 
Representatives of various farmers’ organizations met at 
Albany last week and formed the New York Farmers’ Congress 
—the object being to unite action and concentrate effort. 
When we give the address of an experiment station, and say 
that a certain bulletiu is worth sending for, we mean just what 
we say. Don’t send to us for the bulletin—send to the station, 
and mention The R. N.-Y. 
Half a million! What? Cows required to make as many 
pounds of butter as the “ oleo ” men sell of their stuff each year. 
Most of this “ oleo ” is palmed off as butter. No wonder the eow T 
staggers with such a load as that to carry. 
J. II. Hale says that the greenest manuring he ever did was 
to buy stable manure in New York that cost him $15 a cord on 
the home farm ! That was when he thought he could not dupli¬ 
cate stable manure with clover and chemicals. 
Most of you have heard us talk of Mr. A. Johnson, the “ One- 
horse Jersey Farmer.” He has 18 acres and sells eggs, straw¬ 
berries, potatoes, cabbage and hay. In the bad year of 1895, he 
sold $2,710 worth of produce—low prices and all. 
In France, it is said, small, portable stills are sent around from 
farm to farm to make liquor or alcohol from fruits, potatoes or 
other products. The tendency of the French law is to encourage 
such farm distillation, as it provides revenue and saves Yvaste. 
{ * ' 
Some one has designed a little device for irrigaiingsingle plants 
or garden beds. It is like a big funnel which tapers down to a 
Btnall spout. The tube is pushed down into the soil near the 
plant and the body filled with water, liquid manure or whatever 
is to be used. This slowly soaks into the soil and ghes a sub¬ 
irrigation so that the plants are watered without baking the 
surface. 
