564 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August*22 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
TIIE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established, 1850 . 
Elbert S. Carman. Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Coi.linowood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SC BSCRITTIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAlt. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8s. 6d., or 8*4 marks, or 10*4 francs. 
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of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 25 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with “ Adv.," 75 cents per 
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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-oflice 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 paj 
able to THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 1896. 
FAT SHEEP AND LAMBS. 
What are the prospects for fattening sheep and lambs 
this coming winter ? Do you thinli that there will be as 
many bought this year as usual ? Are farmers, as a 
rule, planning to raise more or fewer lambs ? 
We shall be pleased to receive answers to these ques¬ 
tions from our readers. If you are in a sheep fatten¬ 
ing region, please tell us what you can about it. 
O 
During the past week, hundreds of people have 
died from the effects of the heat. Most of these 
deaths have been in northern cities where the miles 
of brick and stone retain and add to the fierce heat 
of the sun. We judge that two classes of people are 
most quickly affected by the heat. Those who drink 
liquor to excess in hot weather are always in danger, 
and those who are poorly nourished and sick, are 
among the first to go down before the heat. In such 
weather as this, the umbrella or canopy over the rake, 
cultivator, farm wagon or reaper is a merciful thing. 
Get in the shade whenever you can. Keep cool, eat 
fruit, keep clean ! 
0 
Among the other troubles that are afflicting the 
farmer this year, here is something a little new from 
Maryland: 
Potato bugs have been very numerous the present season in 
this section, injuring potato vines, and now they are attacking 
tomato vines in legions. One man having five acres set to toma¬ 
toes, tried to save his crop by hand-picking and burning the bugs. 
He'gathered eight or nine bushels of the insects, he reports, but 
he cannot save the crop in that way, and has abandoned the field 
to the enemy. Another party has so far saved his tomatoes, a 
small planting only, by picking off the bugs every second day, 
but this is expensive treatment. 
The tomato being a first cousin of the potato, gives a 
very acceptable lunch for the beetles, and so does the 
egg plant. The beetles are far more dangerous on 
tomato vines, for poisons can hardly be used when the 
fruit is ripe or nearly so. How can we kill them ? 
Our entomologists should come to the rescue. It is 
possible that hellebore would kill the bugs. We 
would dust it on a few vines as an experiment. 
O 
Last week, the writer went to a corner of Massa¬ 
chusetts where, 25 years ago, he worked as a farm 
boy. The price of a railroad ticket to Boston, and 
the price of a quart of milk, were about the same as 
they were a quarter of a century ago. The railroad 
is still paying good-sized dividends to its stockholders, 
while the milk seller and the farmer are complaining 
bitterly of hard times. The railroad was doing more 
business and doing it cheaper. Its engines were 
more powerful, its fuel was cheaper, its cars and rails 
cost less. Except in the matter of wages, there had 
been reduction in cost everywhere. It cost less to 
carry a single passenger to Boston than it did 25 
years before, while the rate was about the same. 
Under such circumstances, the railroad ought to pay 
a big profit, and it did. There was also a large 
market for milk, but there had been little or no re¬ 
duction in the cost of producing a quart. As a matter 
of fact, there has been about as much improvement 
in cows and in methods of caring for them as there 
has been in railroad fixtures. The milk farmers who 
complained of hard times were mostly keeping the 
old-time cows on old-time methods. They were just 
where the railroad people would have been had they 
continued to use the fixtures of 25 years ago. Of 
course, the railroad held a monopoly which the milk 
farmer never could secure, yet that was all the more 
reason why the farmer should try to obtain every 
quart of milk he possibly could for each dollar’s 
worth of expense. In proportion to the money in¬ 
vested, the railroad did not pay as fair a share of 
public taxes as did the farmer ; but its prosperity was 
chiefly due to the fact that it had kept up its rates 
and reduced its expenses. 
<3 
A wholesale egg dealer was sorting over a lot of 
“fresh-laid” eggs just received from the country. 
They were all of good size, the candle test showed 
them to be tolerably fresh and good, but some of them 
were so dirty that it was difficult to say what was 
their original color. The question was asked as to 
the difference in price between the dirty and the 
clean eggs. “ Three or four cents per dozen, and the 
dirty ones are very slow of sale.” The quality is the 
same, but the appearance kills the sale. Another 
thing, had not the dealer gone to the trouble to sort 
the eggs, all would have sold for little more than the 
price of dirty ones. Any one who ships eggs should 
know better than to send dirty eggs to market. They 
should be kept clean in the first place, but if by any 
chance they do become dirty, should be thoroughly 
washed. Few poultrymen can stand the loss of three or 
four cents per dozen from this cause, in these times. 
O 
The German Legislature has just passed a law 
somewhat like the “ Anti-option” law which has 
failed, thus far, to pass the American Congress. The 
German law is designed to limit and lessen specula¬ 
tion in grain, and it will, undoubtedly, bring about a 
revolution in German stock exchange methods. Under 
this law, time delivery contracts are forbidden, and 
the government will assume a certain control over all 
stock exchange business. Of late years, there has 
been a rapid growth of stock speculation in Germany, 
and the public have lost heavily thrqpgh it. The 
present law has been pushed through the legislature 
by the German farmers. They have a union of 80,000 
large farmers who have combined to secure legislation 
that will give them higher prices for their grain, and 
will make them less dependent on the city grain ex¬ 
changes. They claim, as do the farmers in this coun¬ 
try, that a share of their legitimate profit is lost by 
the grain gamblers. We are glad that this experi¬ 
ment of legislation against grain gambling is to 
have a fair trial in Germany. 
© 
The humble honey bee not only collects sweets for 
us, but is responsible for the perfection of many of 
our best fruits, flowers and vegetables. The bee 
works in such a quiet, business-like way, that many 
of us do not realize how useful he is. When plants 
are grown under artificial conditions—under glass or 
elsewhere—the bee becomes an important factor in 
horticulture. The following note from W. W. Raw- 
son, gives an idea of the value of the bee : 
It is very necessary to have bees to fertilize the blossoms of 
cucumbers and tomatoes in greenhouses. I keep 50 swarms; they 
do not obtain enough to keep them through the winter, and many 
swarms die from various causes—about one-half of them. I begin 
to use them in January. A small house, 100 feet long by 20 wide, 
will require one swarm; a larger house will require two, and 
some of mine require four swarms. Having 20 houses, it will 
take, at least, 50 swarms. Very few of the old ones swarm, so 
that I have to depend upon some one in the bee business for, at 
least, 25 swarms each season. They cost $5 each. I feed sugar 
and some honey that I buy in market, that is not quite up to 
standard quality. It makes it quite an expense, but I don’t know 
what I would do without them. 
That is an honest tribute to the bee, and we are glad 
to have it. It is but one of the strange things that 
man has been forced to adopt in his attempt to imi¬ 
tate Nature. 
© 
The proposition to lease those Indiana farms for 
the purpose of boring for oil or gas, is a new thing to 
many of our readers, though it is comparatively com¬ 
mon in some parts of the West, where gas and oil 
wells abound. The usual plan is for a company to 
make an agreement with the farmer for permission 
to come on his land and bore wells wherever they 
think that there is a chance of reaching oil or gas. 
We have one form of contract from which the follow¬ 
ing agreement is taken : 
No wells shall be drilled within.feet of the buildings 
without the consent of the said first party. 
The parties of the second part, or their assigns, to have and to 
hold said premises for the said purpose only, for and during the 
term of.months from the date hereof, and as much longer 
as Oil or Gas is found in paying quantities. The said parties of 
the second part, in consideration of the said grant and demise, 
agree_to give to the party of the first part the full one-sixth 
part of all the Petroleum Oil obtained or produced on the prem¬ 
ises herein leased, and to deliver the same in tanks or pipe lines 
to the credit of the party of the first part. Should Gas be found 
in paying quantities and sold off the premises herein described, 
the consideration in full to the party of the first part shall be 
.dollars per annum for each and every well from which 
gas is sold, payable.days after the line is laid. 
All permanent Oil and Gas lines to be placed under ground, be¬ 
low plow depth and not to interfere with the tile drainage. 
The party of the first part grants the further privilege to the 
party of the second part of using sufficient' gas and water from 
the premises herein leased, necessary to the operation thereon 
the right of way over and across said premises to the places of 
operating, together with the right to lay pipes necessary for tLe 
production and transportation of oil and gas taken from these 
premises, also the right to remove any machinery or fixtures 
placed on said premises by party of second part. 
The said second parties hereby agree....to pay any necessary 
damage done to growing crops, or fences, by the laying of pipes 
or operating for oil. 
We think that the case is pretty well covered by the 
Indiana farmers who write on the next page. It is 
easy to see that in some localities off the railroads 
and out of reach of ordinary business, such a contract 
might be the means of bringing in new enterprises 
that would be helpful in many ways. On the other 
hand, some farmers, like Mr. Latta, can see no induce¬ 
ments in the offer. Therefore, no definite advice can 
be given without knowing something about the per¬ 
sonal condition of the farmer. The farmers of 
Brown County should call upon the State Geologist 
of Indiana for advice. 
O 
There has been some question as to the cost of 
making oleomargarine. The Armour Company, of 
Chicago, put in evidence a sworn formula for manu¬ 
facturing the stuff. Taking this formula and the 
market cost of the materials, Assistant Commissioner 
Van Valkenberg, of New York, makes the following 
estimate of the cost of 100 pounds of “ oleo.” 
34 lbs. Neutral lard. 
3%c. per lb. 
$1.32 
27 lbs. Oleo oil. 
34c. 
.844 
12 lbs. Cotton-seed oil. 
4c. “ 
.48 
18 lbs. Milk. 
lc. 
.18 
9 lbs. Salt, about. 
lc. “ 
.084 
Trace of color. 
.00 
100 lbs. 
2.91 
Tubs per 100 lbs. 
.50 
Tax per 100 lbs. 
2.00 
Cost of mixing per 100 lbs. 
1.00 
Net cost at Chicago per each 
100 lbs. manufactured. 
$641 
It is bad enough when such stuff is sold at 12 cents a 
pound in competition with good butter at 18 and 20 
cents ; but when the “ oleo” is palmed off as real 
butter, a fatal injury is done to the dairy business. 
In Holland, the “ oleo” men go so far as to argue that 
the manufacture of their stuff makes a market for 
milk just as they argued in this country that it helped 
the beef cattle industry by making a market for 
tallow. Think of 100 pounds of “butter” from 18 
pounds of milk. The Armour Company can well 
afford to pay the State of New York the §>565,000 for 
which they are sued, when they can make “ butter” 
in the pig pen at 6 % cents a pound. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
Oh, Madame, laundress in this heat, 
To wash and scrub is quite enough. 
Don’t iron every shirt and sheet, 
But dry and use them in the rough. 
A polish on the cloth may do 
In winter—when there is no sweat; 
We have a nobler use for you 
We do not want to lose you yet. 
We must be clean ! But wait awhile 
For ironed clothes ! We do despise 
The needless work that clips your smile, 
And kills the light within your eyes. 
The polished shirt, the dinner hot, 
The boiling stove—go, put them out, 
Let care alone roast in the pot. 
Keep cool—and thus keep courage stout. 
Lie begets lie. 
Cucumber jelly is fine ! 
Old Sol is in the broiler business. 
Read the fruit reports on page 508. 
Wanted ! Americans for America ! 
The “ tub” silo seems to have come. 
A goat is a butter that makes a Bcreamery. 
After all, what beats sweet corn for soiling ? 
Carbonate the woodchuck—with bi sulphide. 
Too much sour apple sauce will harrow your teeth. 
The chances are that every saw on your place is dull. 
Make the pig his own miller—there’s another toll killer. 
Shed your coat and peel your vest. Get beneath the tree and 
rest. 
What will puncture “ that tired feeling ?” Rest. Do you know 
how to rest ? 
For every weed, that goes to seed, within your thrifty garden, 
there will be, sure, 100 more your heart next year to harden. 
Let’s hear from those who used potatoes for manure this year. 
What results as compared with fertilizer or stable manure? 
Next week we expect to give the readers of Woman and Home 
the most practical article on the Carpet beetle ever printed ! Look 
out for it. 
Crops like onions make a quick, rapid and tender growth dur¬ 
ing the wet weather. Now the blaze of the sun is wilting them 
down. 
In California, it is proposed to use carrier pigeons for a novel 
purpose. They are to be taken out to meet inco ming ships, and 
sent back with messages. 
This is great, weather for fitting that old meadow for re-seeding. 
Stir the soil. Make the weeds turn up their toes to the sun. 
That will fix them. 
An ice house and cold storage room is a very important thing 
on the farm. If any one can improve on Mr. Farnsworth’s plaD, 
page 561, we want the improvement right away. 
Mr. Woodward, page 558, thinks that the wheat yield must be 
increased seven bushels per acre to make fertilizers pay. What 
if the fertilizer adds to the grass crops, also ? It usually does. 
A man will rush and worry and fume, run himself all down, and 
then try to build up on somebody’s “extract of malt.” He should 
have tried extract of halt and slowed up his pace to begin with. 
