July 4 
452 T 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
TEE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established I860. 
Elbebt 8. Cabman, Editor-In-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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able 10 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets. New York. 
SATURDAY , JULY 4, 1896. 
See what the droughtandlow-priced potatoes taught 
on C. S. Rice’s farm. Formerly straw was used for 
beddiDg. Last winter, it was fed and cheaper saw¬ 
dust was used to bed the stock. Straw, potatoes and 
bran kept the yearlings in fine condition, and enabled 
the farmer to sell hay at a good price. That is the true 
science of business farming—utilizing cheaper prod¬ 
ucts to create a salable surplus of higher-priced ones. 
0 
The American Agriculturist for June 27 contains 
a picture of a Colorado haying scene which is redrawn 
from a picture originally printed in The R. N.-Y. for 
July 21, 1894. It is too bad that our contemporary 
should go to the trouble and expense of having this 
drawing reengraved, for we would willingly have 
loaned it the original engraving—asking in return 
nothing but fair credit! 
a 
In The R. N.-Y. for May 23, Prof. Thomas Shaw 
told us how, by rotation of crops, and sowing a 
variety of forage plants for pasture, he was able to 
obtain 550 pounds of lamb from one acre—besides the 
gain made by the old sheep. This was done by sow¬ 
ing quarter-acre plots to rye, rape, oats and peas, or 
sorghum, putting up a portable fence, and turning in 
the sheep to eat down the plants. At the Rhode 
Island Station, Mr. Samuel Cushman has pursued 
much the same plan in feeding geese. Geese are just 
as much graziers as is the lamb or calf, and this close 
feeding seems to suit them admirably. We shall have 
more to say about this experiment later. It may pay 
you to read Prof. Shaw’s article over again, and see 
if you cannot, even now, make use of this method for 
pasturing hogs or sheep. 
O 
We might carry the idea suggested on our first 
page a little further and say that, even in these hard 
times, a well-managed farm affords the best oppor¬ 
tunity for a person of limited means to provide a 
comfortable home for a family. It is very evident 
that Mrs. Nelson could not, with her limited cash 
capital, have invested in any town business that 
would have supported the family. Even if she and 
the older children had taken up such work as they 
could find, it is doubtful if their combined wages 
would have enabled them to keep the little ‘“nest 
egg ” intact. Yet we can see how the farm has en¬ 
abled Mrs. Nelson to hold her family together, give 
them an education and good home influences, and, 
also, add to the value of her property. Certainly, 
there is a strong argument for the farm home in this. 
0 
The Connecticut Experiment Station publishes a 
valuable summary of the fertilizer trade for the 
spring months of 1896 Farmers who buy the raw 
materials and mix them in suitable combinations, are 
always interested in the price of nitrogen, for that is 
the most expensive element. Dr. Jenkins has made 
a careful comparison of the cost and analyses of dif¬ 
ferent trade substances, and gives the following as 
the average retail cost per pound of nitrogen : 
COST TER pound. 
Nitrate of soda. 14.2c Uuhulled cotton-seed meal. 15.5c 
Sulphate of ammonia. 16.2c Linseed ineal. 12.9c 
Prime hulled cottton-seed Castor pomace. 17 0c 
meal. 12.7c Dry fish. 14 5c 
In some cases, nitrate of soda has been bought so low 
that the cost was little over 12% cents, while cotton¬ 
seed meal, in one case, gave nitrogen costing only 
11 1-5 cents per pound. The station experiments have 
shown that the nitrogen in cotton seed meal and 
linseed meal is fully as available as that in dried 
blood and more so than in tankage. Nitrate of soda 
and cotton-seed meal will give the desired combina¬ 
tion of mineral and organic nitrogen at least cost. 
HE RURAL NEW-YORKE 
* 
The more intelligent farmers seem to understand this, 
for immense quantities of cotton-seed meal have been 
used in bone mixtures this year. The bright yellow 
meal should always be used—the dark, unhulled meal 
is costly at any price at which it is now offered. In 
estimating the cost of potash in the same way, it has 
been found that muriate is, by far, the cheapest 
source—in some large lots falling below four cents a 
pound in price. The station has adopted a singular 
method of figuring the value of wood ashes. Five 
cents a pound are allowed each for potash and phos¬ 
phoric acid, and the rest of the price—$11 per ton—is 
credited to the lime which thus costs two-thirds of a 
cent a pound, and is cheaper than the price paid for it 
in other forms. This idea of estimating the value of 
lime in ashes, is a new one, and seems to indicate that 
scientists are prepared to recognize the important 
part it plays in preparing some soils for crops. 
0 
Mr. Wilson tells us on page 446, of his experience 
in using a steam engine for spraying. What an im¬ 
provement that is over the old plan of working the 
pump by hand, or by means of gearing from the 
wheels ! The work is done faster, the spray is driven 
with greater force, and the cost per tree is less. Mr. 
Wilson says that the common price for spraying by 
the old method was four cents a tree for each spray¬ 
ing. It made a big day’s work to cover 150 trees by 
the hand method, while with the steam pump, they 
spray 500 trees and do a better job. It seems to us 
that this method of spraying is sure to be largely 
employed in the near future. The result will be that 
thousands of trees will be sprayed that were formerly 
neglected, and the general average of fruit from 
apple-growing districts will be greatly improved. 
0 
Competition is sharp, and is continually growing 
sharper in every branch of business. Farmers are 
not the only ones who are feeling the stress of this. 
Business men take advantage of every opportunity 
to get and keep trade. Many of the city shoe dealers 
agree to polish free the shoes purchased from them. 
This is quite an item where a daily “shine” is a neces¬ 
sity, and where one costs five cents It costs the shoe 
dealer but little in reality, and is the means of selling 
many a pair of shoes. Besides, the customer is con¬ 
tinually brought back to the store, and is thus brought 
into contact with other goods which he will purchase. 
No doubt, many are thus retained as customers, who 
might wander away. Are you thus coixing up your 
customers, and treating them so well that you are 
holding them, and transferring more and more cash 
from their pockets to yours ! If not, wouldn’t it pay 
you to “ shine ’em up ” a little ? 
0 
The leading coal companies have decided to increase 
the price of coal, the Reading Company having added 
25 cents a ton to the old rate. The other producers 
will soon follow, and it is probable that, before long, 
retail prices will be raised half a dollar or more. 
There is no good reason for this increase in the cost 
of fuel at this time. The coal companies want to make 
more money. They have combined to limit produc¬ 
tion, and thus shut off competition. It seems like a 
singular time, when labor is so unsettled, and prices 
of farm products are so low, for the coal men de¬ 
liberately to cut down the fuel-purchasing power of a 
dollar ; yet that is just what they evidently intend to 
do. We hear a great deal now about “ sound money.” 
We all want every dollar to be “ a full dollar.” When 
the Government makes a dollar worth 100 cents, and 
then permits a Trust to “ degrade” it so that it buys 
only 85 cents’ worth of coal—what sort of a dollar is 
that ? 
C 
While the hay crop is unquestionably a short one, 
all reports agree that an unusually large area is 
planted to corn, and that prospects, so far, are good. 
This will furnish a large amount of valuable forage 
if it be properly cared for. Sweet corn may yet be 
planted in the latitude of New York City, and make, 
not only a large amount of excellent fodder, but also 
furnish enough green corn to pay all cost. A neigh¬ 
bor tells us that he always plants his last Evergreen 
corn in the garden July 4, and that it always matures 
before frost. We planted the Mammoth, a variety, if 
anything, still later than Evergreen, about the middle 
of June last year, and it not only matured, but a few 
ears left on, ripened sufficiently for seed. We planted 
Evergreen and Mammoth June 22, this year, and ex¬ 
pect both will mature fully. The advantage in this 
late planting, besides extending the season for this 
delicious vegetable, is that any surplus can be readily 
sold at good prices, as it matures after the market is 
well cleared of the bulk of the crop, and thus late, it 
often brings double and treble prices. So the 
threatened shortage in your hay crop, may be a bless¬ 
ing in disguise, if it incite you to raise a good-sized 
piece of late-planted sweet corn. 
R. 
It is singular how new trades are created by new 
demands. Twelve years ago, a few farmers were 
spraying apple trees with Paris-green, using crude 
and often wasteful appliances. Since then, pumps, 
nozzles, agitators and other devices have been per¬ 
fected until spraying has become a regular trade. 
Mr. Wilson tells us this week how a farmer may take 
it up like thrashing, ensilage cutting or sawing wood 
by steam power. In the writer’s town, are several 
hundred elm trees which have been more or less in¬ 
jured by the Elm-leaf beetle. It was impossible to 
get the town authorities to pay for spraying the trees, 
so a number of private citizens engaged a company 
from New Haven to do the work. This company pro¬ 
vided everything and sprayed the large trees thor¬ 
oughly at a cost of $3 per tree. It appears that there 
are a number of such companies that make a business 
of taking contracts for spraying, and they appear to 
have plenty of work. 
© 
Farmers in Eugland have been suffering from 
drought as well as Americans. In the early part of 
the season, English pastures and meadows were “ full 
of keep,'’ as they say. With April, came a drought 
that lasted two months, cutting down the pastures 
and nearly ruining the hay crop. Now it is raining 
again, but the rain comes too late to save the hay. 
Dairy cattle that are not kept up on grain, fell off in 
their yield, and will not be likely to recover, even 
though the rains bring up the pastures. The English 
farmers are not able to fall back upon our great 
American fodder plant, corn, for it does not grow well 
in their climate ; but they are rushing in vast areas 
of turnips, cabbage, and similar plants to take the 
place of the hay. American farmers are better off, 
for they can plow up the ruined meadows and stand 
a fair chance of securing a good crop of fodder corn, 
which, if properly handled, will yield far more nutri¬ 
ment to the acre than the best Timothy hay. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
Good bye ! Good bye ! I wish that train would start, 
An’ git her out of sight—it ’pears to me 
There’s somethin’ sorter grippin’ at my heart. 
My eyes has got so dim, I scarce can see. 
No, Johnnie ; don’t ye cry—no that aint right. 
Don’t let yer mother set and see ye cry. 
IVait till she starts an’ gits ’way out of sight. 
This here must be a cinder in my eye ! 
Goodbye! She’s off ! See, Johnnie—see her stand 
A wavin’ from the winder ’way down there ? 
Don’t cry no more ! Take hold of father’s hand. 
She’s out of reach of everything but prayer. 
She couldn’t live up here in sufferin’; 
Down yonder in the hospital, maybe 
They’ll find a way to save her an’ to bring 
The old time happiness to you an’ me ! 
Let’s go back home—back to the dear old farm 
Your mother loves so well, and wait and pray 
That He who keeps the sparrows safe from harm 
Will send your mother back to us some day ! 
Don’t be guilty of I dollar try. 
Natural cold storage—page 450. 
Don’t let the cow shrink on her milk. 
A crop-bound hen has a “ catch erop.” 
Lots of new siloes will be built this year. 
The Raines bill encourages irara-breeding. 
Look out for raspberry rust—Bordeaux it. 
A good cow earns more than a poor horse ! 
See how the bugs run for the weaker plants first. 
Drink is the connecting link between float and sink. 
Don’t let a clumsy breed of poultry run in the barnyard. 
Three years are long enough to keep the bull. No fourth term 
A sure thing ! Timothy cannot make a crop without nitrogen . 
Linseed meal and sweet skim-milk will make the calf ad fine as 
silk. 
Think of a farmer who does not know that a hog is a grass 
eater ! 
That scheme for marketing white grapes — page 453— gets rather 
a black eye. 
Mr. Birge alludes to the “ match test ” of telling when grass is 
ready to cut. 
Application has been received from Barbadoes, West Indies, 
for the formation of a Grange. 
You may make up your mind that nine-tenths of the Crimson 
clover seed offered for sale is imported. 
It is sometimes economy to spend a dollar—but not in the 
majority of cases, when inclination urges it. 
You will never have a better time for testing the merits of oat 
hay. Cut it green and cure like ordinary hay. Ton for ton, it 
will equal Timothy for cows. 
There is a rose bush in Hanover said to have been planted in 
833. The bush you plant this year may not live 1,000 years, but 
try it for 1,000 days, anyway. 
We have a Vermont correspondent who has been trying to find 
a scrub calf that will make a picture showing how not to do it. 
He says, “ Vermont pastures are so good that even the scrub 
cattle look fat and sleek.” 
Y t our feed is very short, 
And your’re likely to be caught 
With a surplus of cows on your hands. 
There are robbers in their ranks, 
Tuey don’t give you even thanks; 
Nip them off before their thievery expands. 
European roads are excellent, but it is said that wheelmen find 
a danger there not found here. The roads are strewn with “ hob 
nails” which fall from the shoes of peasants or farm hands, so 
that single-tube tires are little used. 
