484 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 18 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS HAMMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established. 1850. 
Elbbbt 8. Cabman, Editor-In-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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8 s. 6d., or 8V4 marks, or 10>4 francs. 
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of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 25 cents per line. 
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We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
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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 , JULY 18, 1896. 
REPORTS WANTED. 
We want brief and accurate reports as to the be¬ 
havior of the newer varieties of fruits. Many of our 
readers have tried the newer apples, pears, peaches, 
plums or small fruits, and are now prepared to say 
something about them. What have you to say ? Which 
ones are worth buying, and which are worthless ? 
Why ? What is there about them to praise or con¬ 
demn ? What soil suits them best ? What is there 
new about their cultivation ? We want authentic re¬ 
ports from all over the country ! Send them along ! 
0 
Every farmer is interested in the life-history and 
habits of cutworms, for it is only through such knowl¬ 
edge that we can hope to fight this hateful insect 
with any success. Prof. SliDgerland gives us, on 
page 480, the most comprehensive short article that 
has yet been written about cutworms. The illustra¬ 
tions are mostly new, and our readers may rest 
assured that they have, in this article, a synopsis of 
all reliable facts concerning these insects. 
O 
The implement manufacturers who give their ex¬ 
perience on the next page, make a good point when 
they say that many farmers do not follow the printed 
directions in setting up farm machinery, and thus 
fail to get the most good out of it. As a rule, we 
have found these directions full and complete, and 
comprehensive enough to satisfy any one who w'ill 
study them over carefully. It will pay both manu¬ 
facturers and farmers to take pains with these direc¬ 
tions—the one to make them as simple and plain as 
possible, and the other to study them well, and give 
them a careful trial before attempting any original 
ideas as to the way the machine ought to be run. 
G 
The subject of ivy poisoning receives some little 
attention in this issue. This is a very important 
matter with many people. A member of the writer’s 
family is now suffering from the effects of this poison¬ 
ing. We expect to give, from time to time, notes 
from the medical and surgical practice of a physician 
whose practice is among country people. We feel 
sure that such notes will be of general interest and 
value to our readers, as they will be made plain and 
simple. If medical men had always made a practice 
of taking the public into their confidence, and ex¬ 
plained more of the limitation of their knowledge, 
we are sure that the quack and pretender would 
largely lose their occupation. 
G 
It seems that the “ Black pepsin” butter fraud is 
reaping a harvest in Oklahoma. Our friend tells ms, 
on page 478, of his experience with this fraud. He 
first asked $5 for his famous secret, but finally sold it 
fora dinner—and he obtained a great bargain at that. 
It is a wonder that he didn’t eat a spoonful of his 
powder with this dinner so that it would be equal to 
two meals, and thus save him the cost of his supper. 
That would be just about as reasonable as his claim 
that this stuff will double the quantity of butter from 
a given quantity of milk. Here is the $5 recipe as 
finally given : 
Sulphate’d alumine et de potasse. 2 ounces 
Pula gum accie. 1 ounce 
Sugar of milk. 3 ounces 
Pure pepsin.150 grains 
Reduced to terms of primer science, that means two 
ounces of alum, one ounce of cassia powder, three 
ounces milk sugar and 150 grains of pepsin. It will 
cost about 30 cents to prepare this mixture. Its effect 
upon the milk will be to form a curd or “ pot cheese.” 
The so-called “butter” made with it will contain one- 
half cheese or casein. It will be just like a thorough 
mixture of equal weights of the curd of skim-milk 
and pure butter. Some years ago, a farmer in Wash¬ 
ington wanted to know how to make this stuff, as he 
said that he wanted to give it to the hired help. Pure 
butter, be said, was too expensive, and he didn’t think 
that the men would ever know the difference. Of 
course, a man has a perfect right to eat such stuff if 
he wants to, but the dairyman who tries to sell it for 
butter, will never be able to sell a second lot, and will 
always be known as a humbug. 
0 
Mr. O. W. Blacknall, of North Carolina, makes 
the following apt illustration of the damage done by 
letting weeds grow : 
Just as a young cuckoo in a sparrow’s nest appropriates all 
the food intended for the lawful occupants of the nest, and soon 
gets strong enough to destroy the young sparrows, so weeds will 
appropriate the manure you intend for the strawberry, till they 
get strong enough to overpower your crop. 
The same thing is more or less true of all weeds. The 
weeds in the dairy herd, or the robber cows that do 
not give milk enough to pay for their board, do not 
grow up and destroy the paying cows, but they will 
turn a bank account into a mortgage, and do it in a 
few years if they are given full swing. 
G 
The “ creamery shark” is still working in a quiet 
way through the West. Up in Manitoba, it is said 
that he induced a community of farmers to turn a 
church into a creamery, and stock it with a $3,000 
outfit. Verily, he will have his reward for that stroke 
of business! Four or five years ago, the “creamery 
shark ” was in clover. He advertised in nearly all the 
agricultural papers, was able to bribe any number of 
“prominent citizens,” and thus gain their help in 
selling stock. The hard times and the exposure of 
his fraudulent methods, have knocked most of his 
teeth out, and now he can work his scheme only in 
some back coiner where no first-class agricultural 
paper is taken. Exit the creamery shark from civil¬ 
ized neighborhoods—a good riddance. 
G 
A commission merchant complains that, though he 
has been forced to sell produce consigned to him, 
notably potatoes, at ruinously low prices, he doesn’t 
get the benefit when he purchases his family supplies 
at retail. The choicest southern potatoes have sold 
at $1, and even less, per barrel at wholesale, yet there 
has not been anywhere near a proportionate reduc¬ 
tion in retail prices. Still dealers complain that the 
outlet is limited. Of course, it’s limited, and will be 
so long as consumers must pay so high prices. If the 
railroads and the middlemen would be content to do 
business on a smaller margin of profit, they will do 
enough business more than to make up for the de¬ 
creased prices. People were starving for food in our 
great cities last spring, and farmers in the country 
had to throw away potatoes because they couldn’t get 
enough for them to pay for handling. There’s a 
screw loose somewhere, and that screw is imperfect 
and too costly distribution. 
0 
Correspondents frequently ask if garlic planted 
between roses or vegetables will destroy or keep off 
cutworms and other insect pests. There is no evidence 
to show that garlic planted near any plants liable to 
be attacked by cutworms or any other insects, would 
have the least deterrent effect, and certainly not 
any destructive effect, on the insects. The idea 
that bad-smelling or bad-tasting (to us) substances 
placed near plants tend to keep insects away from 
them, is fast losing ground among experimenters. 
No stench that man could apply would compare with 
the odor which the squash stink-bug carries about 
with him continually ; and, furthermore, in many 
localities, the favorite crops for cutworms are onions 
and tobacco. No one need hope for any relief from 
the attacks of cutworms or other insects by the use 
of garlic ; doubtless, they would not be able to dis¬ 
tinguish it from their favorite item of onions on their 
daily menu. Certainly, an insect that enjoys tobacco 
will not be made seasick by garlic. 
© 
Suppose that a hard-working farmer were called upon 
to provide for four or five strong, able-bodied persons 
who did not do enough work to pay for their board ! 
There would be trouble on that farm right away, and 
justly so, for both sense and Scripture proclaim that the 
man who will not work shall not eat. Yet many a 
farmer who would quickly turn loafers away from 
his own table, will tolerate worse loafers out in his 
barn. It is safe to say that, in most dairy herds, 
there are four or five cows that do not pay for the 
food they consume—to say nothing of the space they 
occupy, and the labor expended in caring for them. 
The reason they stay, year after year, thus eating up 
the farm profits, is that the farmer is deceived because 
he has no means of knowing which of his cows are 
robbers. It is easy to pick out the human loafer be¬ 
cause his individual acts stand by themselves ; but 
where the work of the cows is lumped together, the 
individual fraud escapes. Babcock and Scales are the 
two detectives needed to pick out the robber cows. 
Leave out the loafers ! 
© 
The season for sowing Crimson clover is now at 
hand, and those who expect to try it this year will do 
well to get their seed ready, and sow at the first fav¬ 
orable opportunity. The R. N.-Y. has printed many 
reports from readers who have given this clover a 
fair trial. We still believe in it, and expect to sow it 
heavily this season, in sweet corn, and in the peach 
orchard. Our belief is that this clover is better suited 
for gardeners and fruit growers than it is for stock- 
men and general farmers. In the last bulletin from 
Cornell, Prof. Bailey quotes the following note from 
T. G. Yeomans & Sons of Wayne County, N. Y., who 
are large farmers and fruit growers : 
As the result of our experiments last season with these clovers, 
we shall not sow any more Crimson on any large scale until we 
have experimented further with it, but will try Medium, sown in 
our orchards about June 15 to July 20. Our objects will be to 
secure a covering for the ground during the latter part of the 
summer, fall and winter, to improve the mechanical condition of 
the soil, and to add fertility. Our intention would be to plow 
under the clover in May and June following. We refer to orchard 
purposes entirely. We think the Red is worthy of further experi¬ 
ments, and would advise others to try it for themselves. We have 
long felt the need of something which will give us the results we 
have attained the past season with the Red clover, and if results 
are generally as satisfactory as they have been-this time, we 
shall be satisfied. 
The fact is that the discussion of the merits of Crim¬ 
son clover has induced some farmers to experiment 
with new methods and seasons for sowing Red clover. 
Crimson clover will find its true place in American 
agriculture, and the hunt for it will also find a new 
value for the Red. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
Old Father Time goes ragged and he shows a lack of care ; 
His coat is filled with air-holes, and his breeches need repair. 
Our younger generation has been running after gold, 
And yet the poor old fellow, in his shaking hand, doth hold 
The sand-glass of the centuries—and rapidly they go, 
The silent years of destiny—with mighty weal or woe. 
Old Father Time is ragged and neglected and alone— 
And one can hardly blame him for his half impatient tone ; 
And one would half expect him—though it’s hardly just and fair— 
To send the years on faster with their mighty load of care. 
And we, his present children, would be wise to wait awhile, 
And cultivate old Father Time, and try to make him smile. 
Let’s sew the buttons ou his coat, and take a stitch or two, 
And brush him up and heal the parts where he is bruised and blue; 
And maybe then his sand-glass will be laid upon its side, 
And slower then the busy years their fateful course will glide. 
Oh, live within the present ; stay not back in yesterday ! 
And strive to make to-morrow but a happier to-day ! 
Make sure of your experiment before you report it. 
Read Mr. McKee’s note on a cheap evaporator—page 481. 
“ Make hay while the sun shines ”—make ensilage any time. 
Cobn is as good a grain as you can feed to horses at pasture. 
It is now claimed that mosquitoes convey malaria to humans. 
Sow some Red clover alongside the Crimson as an experiment. 
You don’t want mustard in your oatmeal—tiy to keep it out of 
your oat feed. 
Which is better to cure a dog of the taste for mutton—a rifle or 
a dog-proof fence ? 
Rye hay is pretty tough stuff, but we think that it will prove 
better than rye ensilage. 
No cow can be brought into the State of Vermont without first 
passing the tuberculin test ! 
“Every dog has his day,” and, unfortunately, most of them 
have nights at their disposal, also. 
Red-top, Blue grass and White clover make a good National 
combination of colors for a pasture. 
The doctor tells you, page 477, what to do for a wound. Don’t 
wait until after you are wounded before getting the outfit. 
Farmers in the hayless regions along the Hudson River, will do 
well to read the articles on hay substitutes now appearing. 
The story about evaporated potato factories in Minnesota, 
seems to be a hoax. Starch factories come the nearest to it. 
Now is the time to get ready for Crimson clover if you expect to 
try it this year. Start it early—as close to a good rain as possible. 
There never were so many jjlums sold in New York at this sea¬ 
son, as are offered this year. We are receiving the first crops 
from southern orchards. 
The country near the Rural Grounds has been soaked with 
water of late. We would like to send the surplus to those parched 
fields along the Hudson. 
The only men who can get $1 a bushel for wheat, are those who 
sell it in the form of breakfast cereals, or hen men who can get 
25 cents a dozen or more for eggs. Such classes are too limited 
to count—though there is some room left in the ranks of the 
hen men. 
Oub friend, page 482, tells us to swallow some leaves of poison 
ivy to offset the effect of skin poisoning. With all due respect for 
him, we shall try his other remedy first. That recommendation 
is, certainly, in line with the advice to cure hydrophobia with 
hair from the dog that did the bitiDg. 
A good place to dispose of a few of the branches pruned from 
the trees, is in the poultry yard where chickens are kept. A mod¬ 
erate-sized brush heap serves the youngsters remarkably well 
as a playhouse, a place of refuge, and a feeding ground. They 
seem to enjoy it, run to it for safety, and if fed there, the hens -;an- 
not steal from them. 
