26 o 
April 11 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
TEE BUSINESS FARMERS PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established, 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-In-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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Q Kip 1 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 11 , 1896 . 
CRIMSON CLOVER AND WINTER OATS. 
Many of our readers are trying these crops—some 
for the first time. We would like reports as to their 
behavior on your farm. Please tell us : 
1. When and how were they sown ? 
2. What soil and fertilizer ? 
3. Have they survived the winter ? 
4. Do they promise to be as valuable as Red clover and spring 
oats ? 
5. For what purpose, and under what conditions, are they most 
valuable on your farm ? 
0 
The quantity of cotton-seed meal that is being used 
in the home mixing of fertilizers in New England, is 
almost beyond belief. It seems a little singular—this 
plan of feeding cattle and crops out of the same bin 
—yet here is a case where the cheapest muscle- 
makers and organic nitrogen are found in the same 
seed! 
® 
Never before did we see so much havoc by moles in 
lawns, as last year. Many fine lawns were nearly 
ruined. In spite of all the mole traps one sees recom¬ 
mended, the moles still flourish. In the suburban 
towns near New York, and we presume, in many 
other places, a good mole killer could do a thriving 
business ridding lawns and grounds of moles on con¬ 
tract. Here is an opening for some enterprising in¬ 
dividuals. 
© 
A petition has been presented to the United States 
Senate from a number of learned and scientific men, 
asking the Government to set aside a reservation in 
the Rocky Mountain region for consumptives. As we 
understand it, the signers of the petition would have 
all who are hopelessly or dangerously ill with con¬ 
sumption, taken to this reservation as a measure of 
preventing the spread of the disease. It is possible 
that, about two centuries from now, such a plan will 
be seriously considered if its projectors can keep up 
the discussion about it from now till the year 2096 ! 
G 
During the past 14 years, the trade of the United 
States in exported cheese has decreased 40 per cent. 
During the same time, the export cheese trade of 
Canada has increased 400 per cent. Both countries have 
dealt in filled cheese. The Canadian government has 
prohibited the exporting of any cheese that was not 
filled with full cream. The United States government 
has permitted a lot of rascals to fill cheese with lard, 
suet or cotton-seed oil and send it abroad as “full 
cream.” That is why our trade is falling off. You 
cannot give grease the name of cream and expect to 
fool business men into buying it as such. The Wilber 
Filled Cheese bill now before Congress, should be 
passed at once—in its original shape. 
© 
When the “ lightning express ” trains on our rail¬ 
roads were first proposed, one great problem was to 
save the time spent in “ watering ” the engine. The 
usual plan of pumping water into the tank from 
watering stations, used up a vast amount of time on 
a long trip. It was finally decided to make long, 
shallow pans at the center of the track. These are 
filled with water, into which a scoop is dropped as the 
train rushes by, enabling the engineer to pump up a 
needed supply of water while his train is flying at 
full speed. There is a country road in Fresno County, 
Cal., that is sprinkled regularly during the dry sea¬ 
son. A small irrigating ditch is made along the road 
and kept filled with water. A sprinkling machine 
carried on an ordinary wagon, draws the water from 
the ditch and throws it in a shower all over the road 
as fast as the team can travel along. Of course, a 
road must be perfectly smooth and level to permit 
such work ; yet this is but one of many illustrations 
of the way our far western cousins take advantage of 
natural conditions. 
0 
Run through the family history of the great men 
America has produced. Every one of them had a 
good mother. In fact, a fair estimate will generally 
show that such men have generally taken more good 
qualities from the maternal side of their pedigree 
than from the father. The same rule holds good in 
breeding animals. Take cows, for example. The 
dairyman who puts a good bull at the head of his 
herd, and then expects a heifer from any cow in the 
herd to show marked improvement, will surely be 
disappointed. The breeding cows must be selected 
with some definite type in mind, if a first-class herd 
of improved grades is expected. 
© 
The following note was written in the dead of 
winter when many a hen had lost her egg flow while 
meditating on man’s ingratitude and folly : 
To-day I had a little work done by the old “ village blacksmith.” 
He has 17 bens (fine-looking birds), and he tells me that he gets 
more eggs in midwinter, than his neighbor gets from 70 hens, al¬ 
though this neighbor has a costly and elaborate hennery. The 
old blacksmith has a snug little coop, makes pets of his hens, and 
while he was shoeing a horse to-day, they walked in quietly and 
picked up the filings which he was rasping from the horse’s hoofs. 
No wonder they lay eggs ! j. B . 
There were certainly plenty of “muscle-makers” in 
the feet of that horse. They formed the base of all the 
muscles in the horse’s body. What we want to say, 
however, may be said in one sentence, “ Seventeen 
pets will always beat 70 frets.” 
0 
Farmers and produce shippers are not the only 
ones who suffer from dishonest commission mer¬ 
chants. The latter often buy goods of other receivers 
to fill their orders, and then disappear without a 
settlement. A recent case of this kind in this city, 
involved too-confiding dealers to the extent of thou¬ 
sands of dollars. Another firm had supplied a large 
hotel with eggs for years, but was finally undersold 
by another firm that bid a price so low as to be sus¬ 
picious. The outbidden firm insisted that something 
must be wrong, and requested the hotel to watch the 
eggs closely as to quality and count. The first 
investigation revealed the fact that every crate was 
from two to four dozen short in the bottom layers, 
thus more than offsetting the lower price. Needless 
to say, no more eggs were purchased of that firm. 
There seem to be tricks in all trades. 
The German farmers are after the oleomargarine 
dealers and manufacturers. The “ oleo” business in 
Germany has grown immensely of late, and dairy 
farmers have become alarmed. A bill introduced in 
the German Parliament, places the manufacture and 
sale of “oleo” under the strictest regulations. Strong 
efforts were made to kill this bill, but the committee 
finally reported it, and even added these clauses to it: 
(1) All margarine for home consumption is to be colored red or 
blue, so that it may at once be distinguished from butter, or (2) it 
is forbidden to color it yellow ; the natural gray-white shade 
must be preserved. 
It is said that this bill will “ kill the oleomargarine 
industry.” Why ? Because it will prevent the manu¬ 
facturers from coloring it to resemble butter. There 
is no reason why a counterfeit ever should live. 
Good butter secured the right to its yellow color long 
before “ oleo” was dreamed of. Make the latter 
adopt a color of its own. 
© 
Seventeen years ago this month, the writer went 
West “to grow up with the country.” We started 
from Boston Monday morning, and went through 
New England and Montreal over the Grand Trunk 
Railroad. The train was crowded with persons leav¬ 
ing New England for the great West. We were six 
days in reaching Denver, Colo., and it was an inter¬ 
esting trip, for the throng of home-seekers that 
stuffed the train were never weary of telling why 
they were “ tired of hillsides in New England.” As 
we came nearer and nearer to the vast level stretches 
of western prairie, their enthusiasm grew louder; 
yet there was often a wistful look in the eye, as they 
seemed to miss the rocky old hills that had seemed so 
much in the way at home. These home-seekers left 
the train singly or in groups at little stations along 
the railroad, and disappeared—swallowed up in the 
marvelous development of the great West. It seemed, 
at that time, as though rural New England would 
surely be depopulated within 20 years ; yet, to-day, 
we believe that the majority of the hill towns are 
more prosperous than they were in 1879. There are 
plenty of empty seats in the trains now leaving New 
England for the West, and scattered all over Con¬ 
necticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hamp¬ 
shire, you will find men who have come back after 
service on western farms, content to cultivate the old 
hillsides again. It is believed by those who ought to 
be best informed, that the tide of immigration away 
from New England, has been checked, and that a 
reaction has set in. Certain it is that the more pros¬ 
perous class of farmers in New England, have seldom 
seen the time when they were better satisfied to stay 
where they are, than at present. 
© 
As our readers know, The R. N.-Y. favors the 
appointment of Mr. S. D. Willard, of Geneva, for State 
Commissioner of Agriculture. Governor Morton will 
make no mistake if he select Mr. Willard for this im¬ 
portant position. We have nothing to say against 
several other excellent men who are aspirants for the 
office, and should they be appointed, we expect to 
give them the -heartiest support. Mr. Willard, how¬ 
ever, is The R. N.-Y.’s choice, and we hope to see him 
in the Commissioner’s chair within a few weeks. It 
has been reported that Governor Morton has decided to 
appoint a man whose backing is almost entirely of a 
political nature. As before stated, we do not believe 
that report, for we have full confidence that the Gov¬ 
ernor knows what the farmers of the State want. Vv^e 
notice that the recent Republican convention of On¬ 
tario County, passed a resolution commending Mr. 
Willard in the highest terms. We do not believe that 
candidates for such an office should be determined at 
political conventions ; still, if such endorsement is to 
have weight in deciding the matter, we suggest that 
other conventions where farmers are largely repre¬ 
sented, put themselves on record in like manner ! 
© 
BREVITIES. 
Oh ! Oliver Oat is a thrifty young blade, 
Erect in his straw and correct iu his grain. 
By honest attention to farming he made 
An excellent living—a moderate gain. 
But new-fangled notions came in from the West. 
Those far western farmers sent car-loads of feed 
So cheap that poor Oliver Oat at his best 
Could hardly compete, and he soon felt the need 
Of some strong companion—the fellow was smart, 
And so he went courting and down on his knees, 
He offered himself—from his husk to his heart, 
To that pretty maid, Miss Leguminous Pease. 
Of course she accepted—the sensible girl. 
They’re planted together—see Oliver stand 
Erect, while his active young wife seeks to curl 
Around him and thus keep her dress from the sand 
Oh ! Oliver Oat—you’re a sensible thing ! 
Far better to make yourself fodder and hay 
And not grow to grain when the railroads will bring, 
Your cousins so cheap—they drive profit away. 
To abolish the fowl fly—clip a wing. 
Don’t fall down before the spring work. 
Bogus potato seed is as bad a fraud as “oleo.” 
What is the best fertilizer mixer ? The clover plant! 
Half-hearted work is half departed before it begins. 
The check row system—“ throwing oil upon the waters.” 
Wild turkey blood is best on the father’s side—page 267. 
March came in promising good weather, and went out like a 
liar. 
To cure that pale color in the milk pail, try a dose of Jersey or 
Guernsey blood. 
It is “ leap year.” That doesn’t mean that you are to leap into 
new things without warning or experience. 
A drof of Jersey blood in a herd will always show. The first 
external mark is the beautiful, deer-like head. 
Mr. G. M. Clark, who talks on page 255 about cultivating that 
pond bottom, is the man who grows the big hay crops in Con¬ 
necticut. 
Think over the large human families with which you are 
acquainted, and see how that breeding theory given last week 
works out in actual practice. 
It is said that the city of Baltimore requires all houses to con¬ 
tain a bath tub. It is, probably, the only place in the country 
where such a law is enforced. 
□ Mr. Tracy (page 254) says that the possibilities of some tomato 
plants have been destroyed before they are put into the ground. 
Pushed and crowded too much. 
There will be a boom for oats and peas for fodder this year. 
This combination will beat many of the so-called “new ” fodder 
plants that are offered at high prices. 
There is a tyrant, and his name is Mud; 
He stops the moving wheel 
And costly labor with a dull, hard thud 
Goes down beneath his heel. 
The latest scheme is to use a cross of the southern “razor-back” 
hog to give some of our fine-boned breeds fresh vigor. A cross of 
one of these tough little boars on fine sows, will, it is claimed, 
give excellent breeding sows for pasturing. 
There has been quite a little comment about that account on 
page 223, of feeding cows on early-cut grass. We met a man last 
week who said that he was “ born and raised” near by the farm 
on which this cheap balanced ration is produced. “It’s just so,” 
he says. 
Mr. Farmer’s “ New Strawberry Culture” is interesting, and 
will, doubtless, be useful for many growers. There is no doubt 
that holding the plants in this way, will enable the grower to get 
the field in the best condition for the plants. Some farmers find 
June the busiest month of the year, while others have a strong 
conviction that a plant should be put where it is to stay at once. 
