182 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 14 
THE 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
TEE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established 1850. 
Elbebt S. Cabman, Editor-In-Chief. 
Hebbebt W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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Address all business communications and make all orders pay 
able 40 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1896. 
These Rhode Island Yankees are ingenious people. 
Mr. Macomber’s fertilizer mixer, and Mr. Birge’s 
harrow, are two samples of what Fred Grundy calls 
“ profitable tinkering.” We have some more speci¬ 
mens coming on the way. That fertilizer “ mixer ” 
is a good illustration of the way a balanced ration is 
made out of thoughts. One of these “ tinkers ” will 
whirl a thing over in his mind one way, and then turn 
it over and whirl it in another direction. If he turned 
it in only one direction, it would never be anything 
but a one-sided idea. One-sided ideas are too narrow 
to fill a gap in any farmer’s needs. 
© 
In addition to what is said on page 188 about feed¬ 
ing cotton-seed meal to poultry, it may be stated that 
very small quantities of this substance are fed on 
large brooder farms to the little chickens. The object 
in feeding it is not to secure a cheap ration, but to 
prevent a looseness of the bowels which often trou¬ 
bles chicks when forced with large quantities of meat 
and green food. The cotton-seed meal is constipating 
in its effect on the system. Our opinion is that the 
Connecticut hens mentioned in the article, were fed 
too much of this meal. We would never feed it to 
poultry except for its medicinal effect. 
a 
A series of institutes, or “agricultural schools,” is 
being held in Westchester County, N. Y., during the 
month of March. The opening meeting was held at 
Mount Kisco, March 4, and similar meetings will be 
held in each town in the county. This work has no 
connection whatever with the State institutes, but is 
being carried on by the “ Committee for the Promo¬ 
tion of Agriculture,” which consists of a body of 
wealthy men who desire to promote the cause of agri¬ 
cultural education. Mr. Geo. T. Powell has charge of 
the meetings, and he will be assisted by a corps of the 
ablest educators in the State. The R. N.-Y. will have 
more to say about these meetings in a short time. 
0 
An apple grower in western New York, according 
to a local paper, hit upon a novel plan for branding 
his apples. He selected a fine tree bearing apples of 
his principal variety. Then he prepared slips of 
sized paper, and in these stenciled his name. A 
couple of weeks before picking time, he bound a slip 
of paper around each apple on the sunny side of the 
tree, having the part containing the name on the side 
toward the sun. When the apples were picked, the 
slips were removed, and the name of the grower was 
plainly shown on each apple. One of these apples 
was wrapped in tissue paper, and placed in the top of 
each barrel. On the head was stenciled the advice, 
“ Look for the name.” The novelty of the thing has 
attracted great attention to his apples. 
© 
In a small neighborhood in the interior of New 
York State, a poor, crippled man makes a bare liveli¬ 
hood by keeping a little store. Last fall, a customer 
who owed him money, brought in a number of part¬ 
ridges which were to be sold to pay the bill. The 
hunter claimed that the birds had all been shot in a 
legal manner. The game laws having been recently 
changed, the storekeeper decided to make sure of his 
ground before shipping. The birds were put into a 
box and left at the railroad station while he went to 
consult a lawyer with regard to the game laws. On 
his return, he found the box gone and was soon after 
informed that the constable had seized it. Later he 
found that he was practically under arrest for 
attempting to sell snared game, as one of the birds 
had a piece of wire on its leg—used simply to fasten 
the birds together. This man is to be tried in May, 
and, if convicted, the fine will ruin him, as it will re¬ 
quire all his little savings, and more, to settle. The 
man has always borne a good reputation, and we do 
not believe that he is capable of intentional wrong or 
illegal dealing. Here is an illustration of the injus¬ 
tice that is possible under our game laws. This poor 
crippled man had no thought of breaking the law, 
yet, in order to “ make an example” of some one, the 
authorities steal his birds and subject him to all sorts 
of annoyance and expense. The whole thing is done 
at the instigation of town and city men, who desire 
the game for a few weeks’ pleasure shooting. It is 
high time that farmers recognized the fact that they 
have some rights in this matter of game preservation. 
At present, the farmers supply the land and the food 
for game, while the city men supply the laws. If the 
case we have mentioned be brought to trial, farmers 
should organize and push it through, or otherwise a 
precedent may be established against them. 
0 
Mr. S. S. Bailey, of Michigan, points out the fact 
that most men are pretty likely to attribute success in 
farming to the man of the house alone. He says : 
Most men, as they pass by a fine farm, well kept, showing good 
farming, will speak of the man of the farm as a good and success¬ 
ful farmer, never for a moment allowing or considering that the 
wife of the prosperous farmer has contributed to make the farm 
a credit to its owners. In my observation for over 60 years, I have 
found that, almost invariably, when you find a man that has the 
credit of being a first-class farmer and has a No. 1 farm, the wife 
has fully as much to do in bringing success as has the husband, 
who gets all the credit, and the wife is often the better farmer of 
the two. She has had more cares and made more sacrifices in 
the rearing of the children, in addition to the cares of the farm, 
and has carried heavier burdens that success might be won, than 
has the husband. 
There is much truth in that, for it is a part of human 
nature for all of us to assume that man’s work stands 
in its proportion of value to that of woman’s in about 
the ratio of gold to silver. Not only that, but many 
of us are as little inclined to admit woman to her fair 
share of credit as is the closest “ gold bug ” to admit 
silver to privileges of “ free coinage.” Somehow, 
there are men who appear to be afraid that, if fair 
credit be given to the work and advice of their wives, 
a great slice of their own importance will be cut off. 
That is why there is a great contraction of the circu¬ 
lating medium of confidence and respect in some 
families. 
0 
One of the annoyances, to the man anxious to learn, 
in visiting many of the exhibitions of live stock at 
fairs and elsewhere, is the large number of cattle 
shown without anything to indicate their breed or 
ownership. Exhibitors seem slow to take advantage 
of the facilities for advertising afforded by these ex¬ 
hibitions. At the different live stock shows held at 
Madison Square Garden, in this city, catalogues are 
always prepared, giving the name and number of 
every animal, so that by referring to these, the breed, 
name of exhibitor, and other facts may be learned. 
At the recent poultry show, many of the exhibitors 
put up cards and posters, and distributed circulars, 
and some were always on hand to explain the merits 
of their breeds, and to answer questions. The result 
was a large number of sales and many new customers. 
This was carried still further at the Westminster 
Kennel Club’s exhibit than we remember ever to 
have seen it elsewhere. Many of the kennels repre¬ 
sented had special men to give information, and cards 
were posted near many of the dogs, telling where all 
desired information could be obtained. The result 
was a large number of sales. This is an admirable 
plan, satisfactory to the visitor seeking information, 
and profitable to the exhibitors. We would be glad 
to see more of it done at our fairs. 
O 
Prof. Brooks, of the Massachusetts Agricultural 
College, has shown very clearly why soils that have 
been long under cultivation, are likely to need extra 
supplies of potash. The earliest fertilizers that were 
used contained no potash. They were mostly super¬ 
phosphates, fish, bones or guano. Even now the 
“phosphates” so commonly used contain but little 
potash as compared with phosphoric acid. All of the 
important crops in closely settled countries, take 
from the soil much more potash than phosphoric acid. 
In manures, the potash is far more subject to loss, as 
it is more liable to be leached out, and the greater 
proportion of it is voided in the urine. When we 
plan to increase the fertility of our fields by buying 
bran, oats, cotton-seed meal or linseed meal, we may 
secure a manure richer in nitrogen and phosphoric 
acid, but we add but little potash, as these substances 
contain but little of it. Thus it is that, by pursuing 
“ natural” methods, we may readily increase our 
supply of two elements of fertility, yet lack the other. 
During recent years, many tests to determine the 
special needs of certain soils, have been made by 
those who hoped by the purchase of unmixed chemi¬ 
cals to avoid the expense of unnecessary fertilizer. 
In almost every case, on fields long in cultivation, 
potash has been found wanting. It is true that on 
many dairy or stock-growing farms where the prin¬ 
cipal crops removed have been live stock and their 
products, the greatest drain has been in phosphoric 
acid; yet even in these cases, we would always advise 
an experiment with potash in some form. 
O 
Congress has ordered Secretary Morton to dis¬ 
tribute seeds as usual, and it is reported that he has 
received letters from Congressmen who desire certain 
of their friends appointed to positions in the seed¬ 
mailing departments. That makes evident one reason 
for their great zeal in behalf of the poor farmer. 
They have friends who are pushing them for some 
political job. The Secretary is said to have a little 
scheme that will upset these men. He will require 
all applicants to pass a civil service examination. 
Hereafter, those who pack the seeds, paste labels on 
the packages, or even carry them to the post-office, 
may be required to answer questions in botany, horti¬ 
culture or physiology, before they can be accepted. 
Secretary Morton has it in his power to select such 
questions for the examination that none of the usual 
applicants could pass it. Ridiculous, you will say ! 
Not a bit more so than the whole system of distribut¬ 
ing the seeds. 
0 
BREVITIES. 
Come, Uncle Sam, bestir yourself ; 
The eagle on your flag is screaming. 
Drop business and thoughts of pelf 
For once and shake yourself from dreaming. 
Bring out the gun of Lexington 
The “sword of Bunker Hill” so true, sir, 
For Freedom’s work is never done— 
She has a mighty chore for you, sir— 
Off yonder in the ocean blue, 
Fair Cuba strives in freedom’s battle, 
She has a right to look to you 
For manly words—not idle prattle. 
We know your joints are somewhat stiff, 
And yet, your heart is always skittish, 
And it will be a pity if, 
The arm that soundly flogged the British 
At Bunker Hill, cannot reach out 
And make fair Cuba's fears to banish, 
When from her island in a rout 
The Spanish dons go walking Spanish ! 
Do you till or kill the soil ? 
The laying hen needs extra water. 
Is your district schoolhouse a jail ? 
Comfobt is paved with steps saved. 
Good cheese is not “ set in its whey.” 
The “profitable tinker” must be a thinker. 
Two ways of spelling debt—fret and sweat ! 
A family talk is often a pow-wow for good. 
Any part of a loaf marks a man as being ill bred. 
Buckwheat cakes and sausage will “ make your blood boll.” 
It will pay you better to care fer corn than to try Kaffir corn. 
Don’t be too sure that you can mix your own fertilizer at a 
profit. 
The Parker Earle strawberry must have plenty of meat and 
drink. 
Is a purely vegetable diet sufficient for a hen ? J. A. W. (page 
188) thinks so. 
Tukn the house plants frequently. Don’t let one side face the 
window constantly ! 
That glass house will be just the thing for evaporating rasp¬ 
berries next summer. 
What is the best fertilizer to use on fruits with wood ashes? 
Fine ground bone of good quality. Use equal parts by weight. 
Snip the stems off cut flowers every evening. Give fresh water 
and put in a cool room overnight. They will keep longer for it. 
The United States Supreme Court has decided that a State may 
prohibit the shipment of game to any market outside the State’s 
limits. 
Now we hear of a man who argued that it was not a bad thing 
for his stock to drink filthy water because it made “ richer 
manure!” 
Buying seed of Kaffir corn at 15 cents a bushel and selling it at 
seven cents a pound, is a more profitable business than buying 
gold bonds at 111. 
Do you know of any cases where crushed and ground sunflower 
seed have been used to take the place of linseed meal ? “They 
say” it can be done. 
It won’t do you a bit of harm to read the opposition political 
paper this year. Read it carefully along with your own. Don’t 
be one-sided in anything. 
By multiplying the per cent of ammonia by .82, you have the per 
cent of nitrogen, or multiplying the per cent of nitrogen by 1.21, 
gives the per cent of ammonia. 
It is one thing to know a thing but another to be able to show it 
properly. The lack of some school boards to appreciate this 
difference, has hurt many a country boy’s education. 
Don’t buy coarsely ground bone ! You don’t like manure full 
of big, thick corn stalks. If you had your choice, every load of 
manure would be fine and well rotted. Why ? Because it spreads 
more evenly and is in a more available condition. 
