242 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 4 
THE 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Edltor-in-Cbief. 
Herbert W. Collins wood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8s. 6d., or 8*4 marks, or 10J4 francs. 
ADVERTISING RATES. 
Thirty cents per agate line (14 lines to the inch). Yearly orders 
of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-llne orders, 25 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with “Adv.," 75 cents per 
count line. Absolutely One Price Only. 
Advertisements inserted only for responsible and honorable houses 
We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
Be sure that the name and address of sender, with name of Post- 
office and State, and what the remittance is for, appear in every 
letter. Money orders and bank drafts on New York are the safest 
means of transmitting money. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay 
able 10 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets. New York. 
SATURDAY , APRIL 4, 1896. 
Every reader ought to turn to page 246, and see 
how profitably he can devote a little spare time this 
month to the work there referred to. It is doubtful, 
whether such an opportunity will ever again be of¬ 
fered any people by any responsible firm. 
© 
It must be that the Cuban question and the chance 
that McKinley will secure the Republican nomination, 
have made our readers forget that great book offer. 
Here it is again. Note these books : 
Cloth. Price. 
First Lessons in Agriculture. “ $1.00 
American Grape Training. “ .75 
The New Potato Culture. “ .75 
The Business Hen. “ .75 
They are the best of their kind. Think of it ! We give 
any one of them as a reward for obtaining one new 
subscription (not your own). Why not start that farm 
library of yours in this way ? Do it now ! 
O 
A North Carolina road supervisor figures that, 
with convict labor costing 21 cents a day, he can build 
a mile of good rock road for 81,100. With hired labor 
at 50 cents, the road would cost 82,350 ! He also 
claims that the convicts will do better work. “ Good 
roads by bad men ! ’ 9 
© 
There is little doubt that many potato growers will 
cut down their acreage of this crop this season. The 
R. N.-Y. does not consider it likely that we shall have 
the combination of conditions that prevailed in 1895, 
again inside of 10 years. Our opinion is that potatoes 
will be a safe crop this year, and we would invest 
money in new and improved varieties, plant them 
with the greatest care, and not cut off an ounce of 
fertilizer or manure from the amount that former ex¬ 
perience has proved necessary. 
© 
That is an interesting article by J. H. Hale in this 
issue. Those who have ever been in the Hale orchards 
—either in Connecticut or Georgia—will quickly see 
that this method of securing a “ balanced ration” for 
fruits, is not only sound in theory, but sounder in 
actual practice. Mr. Hale is not a man who stays in 
the “ old ruts.” He makes new ruts for himself. A 
striking illustration of this is seen in the way he has 
prepared his catalogue for this season. It reads like a 
story book, and well it may, for it tells a story of 
American enterprise and pluck that will inspire many 
a struggling young man to renewed earnestness and 
care. 
© 
The fact that ensilage may be made from dried corn 
fodder, as described by Mr. Gale on page 235, is a very 
important thing for farmers to know. With many 
farmers, the greatest objection to ensilage has been 
the fact that the season of cutting was so short that 
one must own cutter and power, as well as hire a 
large gang of men, in order to save the corn. Now 
we see that the corn may be cut as for fodder, and put 
into the silo at the farmer’s leisure. It is no more 
necessary for every farmer to own a cuttter and 
power than it would be for each one to own a thrash¬ 
ing machine. At least, that is what this experiment 
teaches. It ought to lead to the building of 1,000 
new silos in New York State this year ! 
© 
It is said that there has been a considerable falling 
off in the attendance of students at veterinary col¬ 
leges, under the impression that the decreased use of 
horses in some lines, would decrease the demand for 
veterinarians. We think that this is a mistake. While 
fewer horses will undoubtedly be used, the general 
quality of those in use is likely to be better on the 
average, and skilled veterinarians will be in demand 
to care for them. A greater number, too, are becom¬ 
ing interested in breeding other purebred live stock, 
and these will often require a veterinarian’s atten¬ 
tion. There have never yet been enough competent, 
skillful, intelligent veterinarians, although there 
have always been too many incompetents, and the 
outlook for the former is still good. 
© 
One of the worst results of the past two dry seasons 
in the northwestern States, is the failure to get a 
catch of clover, the loss of which will be seriously 
felt in the future. As a temporary substitute many 
Wisconsin farmers will sow oats and peas, both for 
hay and for the grain, hoping in this way, to get feed 
rich in muscle-makers. A good deal of land will be 
sowed this spring with clover seed alone. If sowed 
early, on land free from weeds, it is pretty sure to 
grow and produce a partial crop the first year. One 
farmer reports that clover sown in this way last year, 
bloomed in 90 days, and stood 18 inches high. This 
is, at best, but a makeshift, for in that part of the 
country, at least, winter grain (preferably wheat) is 
best to nurse the clover plant. 
© 
In many parts of the West, rabbits are reported 
plentiful and destructive. They are an expensive 
pest. Quite a business has heretofore been done in 
trapping and sending them to this and other markets. 
Many car-loads of rabbits are sold in this city every 
year, coming from hundreds of miles away. They 
are an excellent and healthful article of food. Yet 
efforts are now being made so to amend the law in this 
State that they shall be sold here only during a short 
period of fall and winter. What a farce this law¬ 
making business is getting to be ! About the only 
thing Congress has done since it assembled in Decem¬ 
ber—besides talking—is to enact that most disgrace¬ 
ful seed distribution law. Many of our State Legis¬ 
latures have made an equally brilliant record. If 
half of them would go home and stay there, the country 
at large would be much better off. 
© 
While the Babcock milk test has proved to be one 
of the most valuable of modern inventions for the 
dairyman, yet its value is greatly depreciated by care¬ 
less manipulation. Investigation has shown that too 
many dairymen and factorymen abuse this valuable 
test. The idea seems to be quite prevalent that 
accurate work may be done by a rapidly working, 
inexperienced operator. This kind of work, in many 
instances, has given great dissatisfaction to the patrons 
of butter and cheese factories where the milk is 
bought or dividends declared on the Babcock test. 
Many persons seem to think that the Babcock test is 
so simple that any one can make it with very little 
or no preparation, and because this idea is enter¬ 
tained, the patrons are often dissatisfied with the 
test when the fault is wholly with the operator. 
Good, honest, accurate work is required in the use of 
the Babcock milk tester, and to this should be added 
a thorough knowledge of the operations of the test. 
O 
It is reported in market circles here, that French 
prune growers are trying to check the importation of 
California prunes into European territory, which they 
have considered their own private market. The 
French prune crop was short last year, and as that 
country had been the chief source of supply, growers 
asked extreme high prices. This led to the shipment 
of large quantities of California goods to those mar¬ 
kets, and the French growers became alarmed. The 
first movement to check this trade was to reduce the 
price to a point to compete with the California stock. 
As the preference is, naturally, for the French fruit 
with which the consumers are familiar, this will, of 
course, check the demand for our own ; but as the 
market there has had a taste of the California prunes 
which are of acknowledged extra quality, and as it is 
improbable that France can supply the demand with 
her short crop, there is likely to be a considerable 
outlet there for the products of our California or¬ 
chards. 
© 
Representative D. F. Wilber, of New York State, 
has introduced a bill in Congress which provides that 
seeds, plants and vines to be distributed by the 
Department of Agriculture, are to be purchased from 
the agricultural colleges and experiment stations. 
These institutions are to make application for the 
sale of such stock, and to guarantee that it was grown 
on their own grounds, and that the varieties are suit¬ 
able for planting in the locality or State in which the 
institution is located. The Secretary of Agriculture 
is authorized to use 830,000 of his appropriation to be 
advanced to the stations or colleges to aid them in 
growing the seeds, etc. He is also to distribute free 
of charge among the stations and colleges, a fair pro¬ 
portion of the seeds, bulbs, etc., received from foreign 
countries. The effect of this bill would be to take 
the seed business almost entirely out of the hands of 
the seedsmen, and give the experiment stations and 
colleges a chance to earn considerable money. There 
would be several evident advantages in this. We 
think that the seeds would be purer and more likely 
to grow. There would, doubtless, be fewer worthless 
old varieties sent out, and there would be no such 
ridiculous blunders as that of sending cotton seed to 
Wisconsin and coffee seed to Maine. The system 
would also tend to make farmers better acquainted 
with the stations and colleges. As for disadvantages, 
it may be fairly questioned whether it is a desirable 
thing to try to turn these institutions into money¬ 
making affairs. On some of the farms, this business 
of seed growing would be developed to such an ex¬ 
tent that other branches of agriculture would be 
neglected. Again, some of our agricultural colleges 
are like a mere shed built to a literary college. All 
that was earned on the farm would be spent in educat¬ 
ing more people to live on the farmer, rather than on 
the farm. The fact is that the whole system of our 
agricultural colleges and experiment stations needs a 
thorough overhauling before increased amounts of 
money are poured into it. Mr. Wilber would have 
served his country better if he had fought harder 
against any distribution of seeds. Better not try to 
patch up a useless shoe ! 
© 
BREVITIES. 
Peter Potash was a citizen respected far and wide, 
When Miss Phosphoric Acid smilingly became his bride. 
The years dealt with them kindly—though the lady ran to bone; 
With Potash fat enough for both, life sang a hearty tone. 
Their two adopted daughters, Crimson Clover and Miss Red, 
Were prettier than any peach, yet Potash often said 
He envied neighbor Nitrogen each big and strapping son, 
Organic and G. Mineral—big fellows—full of fun, 
But purposeless and lazy, with a clumsy wish and crude, 
To imitate the manners of a brainless city dude. 
“ If I could have those fellows,” said old Potash to his wife, 
“ I’d sharpen their ambition till it cut things like a knife.” 
But even as he grumbled, up the path came walking free, 
As handsome a procession as you’d ever care to see; 
Red Clover and Organic, in a perfect frame of mind, 
With Crimson and his brother but a step or two behind. 
How old man Potash chuckled—he was tickled half to death— 
While dame Phosphoric Acid smiled herself all out of breath. 
The Misses Red and Crimson blushed far redder than their name; 
The Nitrogens each stole a kiss—and no one called out, Shame! 
And so the brothers, Nitrogen, have dropped their lazy life 
To form a “ balanced ration” with old Potash and his wife. 
The laze of the lazy hen is often caused by maize. 
Don’t make your stomach a dumping ground for dumplings. 
Why should a farmer with plenty of cream ever buy cod-liver 
oil? 
Learn how to say, “no,” and thus say whoa to many a woful 
woe. 
“ Green” manuring! Buying nitrogen when your soil needs 
potash! 
Boil the weevil-eaten beans for hen food—better yet, keep the 
weevils out. 
Most of the blue birds have been decidedly “ blue” with sore 
throats thus far. 
Why is a one-legged man like a clover plant? One is legumin¬ 
ous and the other is leg-minus. 
“ Cattle Killing Commissioners ” is the latest appropriate 
name for the tuberculin experts. 
Who can report a success in seeding land to grass in sowed 
corn ? We have failures enough ! 
The R. N.-Y. advised against feeding raw potatoes in large 
quantities to cows. It’s bad for the butter. 
The most useful college paper we have ever seen, is the M. A. 
C. Record, published at the Michigan Agricultural College. 
A very interesting article that on “ Tumble-bugs,” page 236. 
There is a husband only too glad to husband his wife’s strength. 
A kitchen blackboard of small size, is easily made and painted, 
and will be found very convenient for recording wants and current 
events. 
General Weyler is fighting hard to save Cuba from becoming a 
mere “Castle in Spain.” There are too many general wailers at 
large all over the world. 
One great secret of Mr. Hale’s success with green manuring is 
that he always has something growing on his soil. That “ nitro¬ 
gen trap” is always baited and set. 
The chances are that there are more cattle that “ take ” con¬ 
sumption from consumptive humans, than there are humans who 
“ take ” the disease through tuberculous milk. 
Those milk bacteria have one object in life. It is to spoil your 
milk. Throw cold water on their plans. Don’t throw the water 
directly into the milk, but run it on the inside of the cooler while 
the milk runs over the outside. 
There are more inquiries about the value of potatoes as a fer¬ 
tilizer. At one point in Michigan, potatoes bring six cents a 
bushel, while it costs nearly three cents to load them on the cars. 
The plan now is to haul them to the corn fields and let them 
freeze into fertilizer. 
We hear frequent complaints that bone dust will cause sore 
throat or nose in those who broadcast it. The best remedy is to 
keep the mouth shut and the nose well smeared with vaseline. It 
is always well to dampen dry fertilizers before sowing, or to mix 
them with damp soil. 
After July 1, the post office authorities will begin to stamp 
weather forecasts as a part of the postmarks on letters. Thus 
our messengers of business and friendship will pass about the 
country preparing all hands for approaching sun or storm. The 
service will begin at about 40 of the largest cities. 
