756 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 14 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
TIIE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country an<t Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman. Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
PRICE, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, e<jual to 
8 s. (id., or 8*4 marks, or 10>4 francs. 
ADVERTISING RATES. 
Thirty cents per agate line (14 lines to the Inch). Yearly orders 
of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 25 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with “ Adv.,” 75 cents per 
count line. Absolutely One Price Only. 
Ad vertiseinents 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 to THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1896. 
SIR WALTER RALE IQ El POTATO ! 
Read the notice of this new potato, under Rural- 
isms, page 754. A further account, with a picture, 
will follow later. 
© 
How about the potato crop in your section ? What pro¬ 
portion of it has been sold thus far f Are farmers gen¬ 
erally holding the crop for higher prices f This is a big 
country. One section feeds another. Oet together with 
reports. 
© 
E. S. Cabman’s address, until next May, will be 
No. 5 West 82nd Street, New York. 
© 
“ Now, then, my boy, take this $5 bill and spend 
the day on the college farm at New Brunswick. Keep 
eyes and ears open, and move your tongue ! ” That 
is what many a New Jersey farmer might well say to 
his son. A smart boy will pick up a small world of 
information and suggestion at this farm. It will be 
a good “ short course ” for him. Try it. Try it in 
other States, too. 
© 
A good many R. N.-Y. readers are writing to learn 
more about places on the New York police force. It 
won’t hurt this city at all if 500 sound, young men, 
with muscles hardened at the plow come here to help 
enforce law and order. It will not be the first time 
in the history of the world that the farm has cleaned 
the city by sending new and strong men to fill public 
places. In every generation, the cities call for men 
with sunshine and soil in their blood, and where can 
they be found save on the farm ? 
0 
Hebe is a man with a pile of manure. He expects 
to raise a big crop of corn. The corn is to be fed to 
hogs. The pork is to be the money crop. Now it 
would not be sensible for that man to use only half 
of the manure on the corn and save the other half to 
feed to the hogs ! That would be nonsense. The wise 
plan will be to use it all on the corn, and thus get 
as much hog food as possible. Here is a man using 
potash on crops in a rotation which includes clover. 
His best plan is to put the potash all on the clover 
crop. Clover responds to potash better than any 
other farm crop, and the more clover you can grow, 
the more of other crops will the farm produce. 
Manure on the corn ! Potash all on the clover ! 
9 
On election day, the writer voted once for the prin¬ 
ciple he believes in, and then planted 50 or more 
votes for the Parker Earle strawberry. This was 
done by transplanting the plants with a Richards’s 
transplanter. We were thus able to put a piece of 
ground from which late cabbage had been cut, into 
berries, with a fair chance that they will do as well 
as potted plants set out in August. We have been 
transplanting in this way at odd times ever since 
June and, as a rule, the plants have not stopped grow¬ 
ing for a day. The big ball of earth taken up by the 
transplanter, holds the roots in perfect condition, 
and when properly set out, there is no check in 
development. We expect successfully to transplant 
strawberries in this way every month in the year. 
The piece of ground mentioned has already produced 
crops of radishes, peas and cabbage. It is now set 
with strawberries that will yield a fair crop next 
year. A small piece of rich ground, containing a 
dozen plants each of 20 superior varieties, has yielded 
an immense number of plants for transplanting. We 
have fed and watered this “ breeding pen”, and thus 
secured strong and vigorous plants. 
It seems pretty well settled that the American Jer¬ 
sey cow is better suited to the needs of the American 
farmer than the typical cow of the home island. 
American breeders have made the Jersey into a 
“ business” cow, as we understand that word in this 
country, and little, if any, new blood from the island 
will be needed here. We are somewhat surprised 
that the breeders who discuss the questions on page 
762, do not seem to understand what is going on in 
the Gulf States in the production of a distinct class 
of Jersey cattle. With Alfalfa, ensilage, sorghum 
and cotton hulls and meal, the South possesses an 
abundance of cheap cow food, and our opinion is that, 
after 10 years of home breeding, the southern Jersey 
will be almost as distinct from the present Jersey 
type as the Guernsey now is. 
© 
“ The time has passed when our farmers can make 
much money in raising grain and hay for sale,” says 
L. A. Clinton, on page 750. We would question that, 
especially with respect to hay on our eastern farms. 
The accounts in The R. N.-Y. of Mr. Clark’s success 
in hay production, have been an eye-opener to many 
readers. Not all can reach these results, but, prob¬ 
ably, most can do better than they have been doing. 
The greatest cost which farmers have to meet is the 
high price of labor. With no other crop can so much 
hand labor be dispensed with, and so large a propor¬ 
tion of the work be done by hand. Several crops may 
be secured without reseeding. The mower, tedder, 
horserake, loader, and horsefork, enable one to put 
in the crop with almost no hand labor. Then, in the 
East, good hay always meets a ready sale at good 
prices. Then there is, sometimes, an outlet for ex¬ 
port. Conditions must change considerably before 
the time comes when there is no money in the hay crop. 
© 
Db. W. H. Pearse comes forth with a new idea 
about “catching cold”. He says that there is no 
special danger in going from a hot room directly into 
the cold air. In fact, he says that the heat of the 
room is a great preservative from chill. He says that 
in Russia and other cold countries where houses are 
made very warm with dry heat, people go out into 
zero weather with perfect safety. The danger comes 
rather from passing from the cold into an overheated 
and poorly ventilated room and, apparently, a good 
proportion of colds are “caught” in that way. In 
other words, a hot, close room, filled with excretions 
from lungs and skin is a good trap for catarrhal affec¬ 
tions. Possibly some farmers realize this, and it may 
account for the fact that there are so many cracks 
and holes in the barn. They may be afraid that the 
cows will catch cold if the barn is made too hot! We 
certainly can’t account for it in any other way. Don’t 
keep the barn hot, but keep the air warm and pure. 
0 
Most of us have read stories of corn burning in the 
West, and we have wondered whether it is really true 
that sound grain is ever used for fuel. From the 
figures given on page 752, it seems that ear corn at 
^3.50 a ton, may be cheaper fuel than coal at 88.50, 
especially when the former is right on the farm and 
the coal is 10 miles away. It seems like a dreadful 
thing to the eastern farmer to burn food in this way, 
but he does not understand that some of his own 
practices seem equally extravagant to the far western 
man. On some parts of the western plains, apples 
cannot be grown successfully. We have known fresh 
apples to be sold at five and ten cents a pound. Those 
farmers read how eastern apples are permitted to rot 
under the trees, or are left as food for hogs, and it 
seems to them just as much of a sinful waste as it 
does to us to read of burning corn. It may not pay 
the New England farmer to pick up his apples, and it 
may not pay the Nebraska farmer to buy coal. This 
is such a big country than we cannot measure profit 
by the methods of any one section. 
O 
Retail prices for coffee may vary from 15 to 75 
cents a pound. What makes the difference ? One 
pound contains more caffeine than another, and the 
caffeine in the better sample is purer and of higher 
quality. There are plenty of people who would 
rather have one pound of the 75-cent coffee than five 
pounds of the 15-cent coffee. There may have been 
a time when all samples of coffee were considered 
alike, but public taste has been educated, and con¬ 
sumers now make distinctions based on quality. In 
most markets, all samples of sweet milk are con¬ 
sidered alike. For the retail trade, there is, usually, 
one fixed price for all. Yet, milk may vary more in 
its composition and quality than the coffee. One sam¬ 
ple may contain twice as much fat as another, yet 
sell at the same price. One sample may be from 
tested cows, fed in the best possible manner, and the 
milk itself may be handled by the most approved 
method. The other sample may be from herds that 
contain tuberculous cows, and where there is much 
less care in feeding and handling the milk. Surely 
there ought to be a difference in price in such a case, 
but there will not be until the man who produces the 
better sample educates his customers to the fact that 
his milk is worth more because ic contains more fat 
and represents better care. The milkman must do 
this educating himself—ho one will do it for him. He 
is the proper person to do it. He cannot do it by 
talking it over with his wife, but he must make 
printer’s ink talk for him. 
© 
On November 1, a law designed to check specula¬ 
tion in grain and stock exchanges became operative 
in Germanju This law was suggested and pushed 
through the German Parliament by the Agrarian or 
farmers’ party. By the provisions of this law, the 
business of buying and selling stocks and food prod¬ 
ucts in large quantities is really put under govern¬ 
ment control. No exchange can be established with¬ 
out the government’s consent. A so-called “court of 
honor may exclude persons from the exchange after 
due trial. Bankrupt parties, where the bankruptcy 
was fraudulent, will be excluded for, at least, six 
months. Stocks and bonds cannot be listed for sale 
until the government has made a complete investiga¬ 
tion, and pronounced them safe. All who sign the 
prospectus of such new companies are held legally 
responsible for loss through false, misleading or 
omitted statements. All dealings in futures in grain, 
mill products or stocks of mining or manufacturing 
establishments are forbidden. Any dealer who, for a 
selfish purpose, induces inexperienced persons to 
speculate in articles outside of their sphere of busi¬ 
ness, will be punished with fine and imprisonment. 
The law seems to have been made with the special 
intention of preventing speculation. The German 
farmers, like those in other lands, contend that specu¬ 
lation in grain and other food products works, on the 
whole, to the injury of the producer. This law is 
intended to take away the advantage possessed by 
the speculator. Of course, there are many who pre¬ 
dict failure for the new law, but the fa.rmp.rs are very 
willing to try the experiment, and it will be tried. 
It is high time that our own Government stepped in to 
regulate the business of these trusts and “exchanges”, 
which are notoriously opposed to the best interests 
of the producers. 
O 
BREVITIES. 
Under the barrel or under the slat, 
Turkey is laying on Thanksgiving f a t. 
Pour in the corn with a liberal hand, 
Let the old fellow puff up and expand. 
Let him enjoy the last days of his life 
Ere he breast up to the Thanksgiving knife. 
Fatten the turkey for Thanksgiving Day. 
Let all your sorrow and care slide away 
Down the fat side of old Tom when, at last, 
Brown in the pan you attack him and cast 
New resolutions with stomach for mold 
Full of good feelings as body can hold. 
Fatten your turkey, and fatten your heart, 
At the same time, sir, by doing your part 
In the great battle with trouble and sin. 
Open your door—let some poor fellow in ! 
Expand! What? Y our ideas! 
The cow is 75 per cent of the herd. 
Make the children clean their teeth ! 
Are you a non-setter, or do you laze ? 
Prize buttermaking reviewed—page 572. 
Your strawberry barrel will need lots of water. 
Feed Red clover to stock and feed Crimson to the soil. 
Violin strings are examples of pure mew cus membrane ! 
What’s the difference between a bull fight and a beef “ scrap ” ? 
The rule of thump—pounding the cow to make her “stand over.’ 
The man with the best credit is the man who makes least use 
of it. 
Who knows where the line comes between enterprise and 
“cheek ” ? 
We will risk that milking machine against a careless hired hand 
for damaging the cow’s udder. 
You feed the cow to produce milk. Remember that the sow 
and the ewe are both milkers, also. 
You can safely open a can of fruit preserves the day after fill¬ 
ing. It’s about the same with a silo. 
Cheese is now tested with the Babcock test by melting samples 
of it in hot water, and then proceeding as in testing milk. 
One good way to be “ above suspicion ” is to sit down hard on 
the first whisper of slander. It’s not a good thing—don’t “ push 
it along.” 
Crimson clover hay is much lighter in color than Red. If cut 
early, cattle will pick it out from choice. If cut late, keep it away 
from horses or mules. 
At the annual fair at Clinton, La., negro day is a feature. On 
this day, the whites turn the fair over entirely to the negroes, who 
provide their own special premium list. 
The Crimson clover is “breaking out” on a piece of land where 
this clover was turned under in the spring and planted to corn. 
This clover seems to be an excellent weed killer. During the late 
summer and fall, few weeds seem able to compete with it in 
growth. 
A Vermont farmer who styles himself “a gentleman from Way- 
back” puts in this plan for killing woodchucks: “Go quickly, be¬ 
fore the ground freezes, and tramp earth tight in all the holes, 
and Mr. Woodchuck will slowly smother during his winter nap 
and be dead and buried in the spring without the help of drugs.” 
