THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December S 
8o4 
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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We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
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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, DECEMBER 5, 1896. 
SIR WALTER RALEIGH POTATO. 
Small tubers of this excellent potato will be sent 
to all subscribers who apply for it and send a two- 
cent stamp. The potatoes will be sent next February. 
A picture of this potato will be given next week. 
o 
At the barn of the New Jersey Experiment Station, 
we found a pile of tobacco stems which were used as 
a bedding and absorbent. They cost $6 a ton, while 
their manurial value, as compared with other ma¬ 
nures, is $10. Mixed with straw they make a good 
bedding. There is a bargain for you ! It pays to 
know what these waste products contain. The man 
who finds out first reaps the advantage of a low price. 
The price does not rise until knowledge spreads and 
competition begins. Bones, ashes and other substances 
are considered wastes and are given away until their 
effects as fertilizers are so evident that dozens of 
farmers ask for them ; that creates demand and the 
price rises. Get in ahead by studying the manurial 
values of wastes. 
© 
We are receiving letters from good friends urging 
The It. N.-Y. to support various men for the position 
of Secretary of Agriculture under coming President 
McKinley. At least 10 different men have been sug¬ 
gested in this way. As was stated last week, The It. 
N.-Y. has no candidate to suggest; we think that Mr. 
McKinley may safely be left to make his own selec¬ 
tion. We have, also, been asked to advocate certain 
men for the position of Assistant Secretary. This 
official has charge of the scientific work of the Depart¬ 
ment, and would naturally be selected by his chief. 
The character of the work is such that we would 
think that a valuable man should be kept in office 
just as long as he does efficient service. There should 
be no “ politics” about such a position, and it seems 
to us absurd to “ urge” the claims of any one for As¬ 
sistant Secretary. 
© 
Three years ago, TnE R. N.-Y. touched up the 
small clique of men who were controlling the destinies 
of the Dorset Horned Sheep Breeders’ Association. 
These men were, at that time, doing the best they 
knew how to injure the reputation of an excellent 
breed of sheep. They have, apparently, succeeded. 
We hear very little about the association now. Their 
official organ has, apparently, suspended publication, 
and the men who were accused of importing inferior 
grades and selling them as thoroughbreds, no longer 
advertise. The Dorsets had a genuine place in Ameri¬ 
can sheep breeding, and if they had been honestly in¬ 
troduced, they would have been largely used. As it 
is, a few greedy speculators secured control of the 
association to further their own ends, and killed the 
bird that might have laid the golden egg. 
O 
Large quantities of Sap Sago cheese are sold in 
this country. It is retailed in little, hard cakes 
weighing about three ounces. It has the odor of a 
fertilizer containing a high per cent of phosphoric 
acid, but is very soluble, an excellent appetizer, and 
is highly esteemed by many persons. Each year 
Americans import about $700,000 worth of cheese 
from Switzerland alone, and the question is often 
asked why this money is not saved by making this 
cheese in America. With regard to Sap Sago cheese, 
the following note from Mrs. F. X. Bannert, a cele¬ 
brated cheesemaker, will be interesting to many : 
There is no Sap Sago cheese made, neither can there be any 
made in this country, for the reason that it is made with a com¬ 
bination of milk and herbs which are fermented together for 
months, and then pressed and the cheese made from the liquor. 
As the herbs grow only in Canton Clanis, Switzerland, the cheese 
is made only in that part of the country, and sent abroad from 
there. As the duty on the herbs is 25 cents per pound, while on 
the cheese it is only four cents, and as it takes a considerable 
quantity of the herbs to make a little cheese, you can see that it 
is impracticable to make it in this country, even if we had the 
process. 
We are all familiar with the remark made by a 
Swiss dairyman to the effect that, in order to make 
Swiss cheese on this side of the water, we must first 
bring over the Swiss mountains and the Swiss air and 
soil. This is, probably, too large a job for the Ameri¬ 
can dairyman to undertake. 
© 
There is a demand from poultrymen for good 
clover suitable for poultry feed. It should be the 
rowen—not the large, full-grown plant—be nicely 
cured so as to preserve its green color as much as pos¬ 
sible, and be cut up short. So far as the latter part 
is concerned, many poultry establishments are now 
provided with clover cutters, so that they can cut the 
clover as needed. But the most of the so-called clover 
rowen sold for the purpose of poultry feeding, is poor 
stuff, and the farmer of enterprise who will furnish 
what is required, and then let people know it, will 
find a good demand awaiting him. Our old friend, 
Crimson clover, is even better for poultry feed than 
the Red, and a crop might be grown to sufficient size 
for this purpose in a very few weeks, and then mar¬ 
keted the same season as sown. 
© 
There used to be a time when the great majority 
of gardeners thought that they could not heat a hot¬ 
bed without manure. The heat arising from the fer¬ 
menting of horse manure seemed to them about the 
only available supply for this purpose. Now steam 
pipes are used with excellent success, and it is gener¬ 
ally understood that manure is not an absolute neces¬ 
sity. Years ago, it was believed that stable manure 
was the only rational food for plants. Even at the 
present day, there are many who still believe that 
fertilizers will “ poison the soil.” Good farmers live 
and learn. Two things they learn about stable manure 
are that there are some cases where it does not pay 
to give money for it, and that it always pays to add 
potash and phosphoric acid to the manure pile. The 
plan of “feeding the manure pile” by using kainit 
and bone with the manure, is just as legitimate as is 
feeding the animal on certain foods because they 
have a high manurial value. 
G 
The successful, progressive farmer must look a long 
ways ahead in planning rotations, anticipating prob¬ 
able demands, etc. ; even then, his calculations some¬ 
times come amiss. But other trades suffer in the 
same way. Seed growing is one branch of farming. 
One of the great seed firms in this city employs re¬ 
gularly about 100 hands, and in the busy season, 
double that number. It also has large quantities of 
seeds grown on contract. Its plans on many varieties 
must be made two or three years ahead. The demand 
doesn’t always prove what was expected, and a glut 
of those varieties results at great loss. Last spring, 
large quantities of potatoes which were grown on 
contract at extra prices, for seed, were thrown on the 
market and sold for what they would bring. New 
vegetables, too, sometimes do not fulfill their earlier 
promise, and large stocks of seeds grown before the 
weaknesses were developed, are a total loss. The 
ordinary farmer is not the only one who must plan 
and anticipate, neither is he the only one whose best 
laid plans meet failure and disappointment. 
G 
The element of chance which centers in all kinds of 
insurance has been nearly determined by taking the 
average for many years, and the companies can make 
premium rates that will nearly meet all losses. The 
difference between stock and cooperative fire insur¬ 
ance is that the first is a speculation for profit, while 
the second is a scheme for mutual protection against 
loss by fire—no fire, no loss, no cost. The growth of 
these cooperative companies has been very rapid and 
so many of the best risks have been transferred to 
them that the stock companies have been compelled 
to raise their rates to meet the increased per cent of 
loss from the remaining poor risks. More than 
100,000 property owners in New York State now be¬ 
long to some one of these companies. A combination 
for an object without seeking a profit is, essentially, 
a farmers’ insurance, and the remarkable growth is 
proof of the honesty and ability of those who are often 
derided as lacking in business sagacity. Their business 
teaches practical application and frugality. It is safe 
to say that no officer will amass a fortune, or any 
company build a granite block in New York City. 
To the Patrons of Husbandry, belongs the honor of 
building up this “ saving union ” and the teaching of 
the value of organized groups of men for mutual 
benefit. The number of companies reporting to the 
Central Organization was 112, number of policies, 
102,641; amount insured, $178,468,131; amount of loss 
and expense, $994,851. Cost of insuring $ 1,000 for 
three years, $6,005. Saving for three years on the 
basis of $7.50, formerly charged by stock companies, 
$245,977. This is a nice little plum saved to the 
farmers. This is the average, some companies have 
done better. 
© 
The newspapers report that a farmer in Wayne 
County, N. Y., has been arrested for selling hard cider 
to his neighbors. Excise Commissioner Lyman tells 
us that under the new Raines liquor law, fermented 
or “ hard ” cider is considered as much a “ fermented 
liquor ” as beer. A special ruling covers this point, 
as follows : 
A sale and delivery at one time of any single kind of liquor by 
the barrel, keg or other package, if in quantity of five wine gal¬ 
lons or more, is subject to the United States internal revenue 
law, and otherwise is as free from taxation in this State as the 
sale of any other commodity. This department, however, holds 
that aggregation of different kinds of liquor, in quantities of 
less than five wine gallons, to constitute the prescribed quantity 
of five wine gallons, is an infringement or evasion of the law, and 
requires the proper liquor tax certificate to legalize the transac¬ 
tion. This law does not affect sales of liquor, except those of 
quantities less than jive wine gallons. 
Cider manufacturers do not require a certificate. Cider when 
not fermented, is exempt from tax; but when the process of fer¬ 
mentation is completed so that it becomes that which is commonly 
known as “ hard ” cider, a certificate is required for its sale in 
quantity of less than five wine gallons. 
Vinegar is exempt from tax. 
Wine requires a certificate for its sale in quantity of less than 
five wine gallons. 
Thus it appears that the selling of less than five gal¬ 
lons of “ hard ” cider to one person without a certifi¬ 
cate or license from the State, is really a violation of 
the law. We do not understand just where the line 
is drawn between “sweet’’cider and the “hard” 
article, and we should think that it would be difficult 
to show just when cider selling is illegal. The Raines 
law seems to be very satisfactory to most New York 
State farmers. The law evidently gives better satis¬ 
faction in the country than in the large cities, as it 
brings a large income to county treasuries. 
G 
BREVITIES. 
Mother-in-law and wife and I walking from church together, 
Eager for shelter safe at home—out of the rainy weather ! 
I could run in my younger days, wife has a walk that’s speedy. 
Mother-in-law has flesh to spare—breath may be classed as needy. 
I’d get home at a sudden spurt—wife would be close behind me, 
Mother-in-law would fall behind—that is the way you find me, 
Chopping steps till I almost limp here in the rainy weather, 
Family ties were tied to stay so we walk on together. 
Long may mother-in-law remain, setting our Sunday pacing. 
But, young man, here’s a thought for you—now as your life you’re 
tracing, 
That is ever the way through life—when from our bonds we’d 
grow, sir, 
Surely we find the pace is set just by the part that’s slow, sir. 
Mind and muscle may both be strong—eager for deeds of daring, 
But, if the heart in cowardice shrinks from an honest sharing, 
Mind and muscle must clip their steps down to the heart’s dull 
beating, 
Chained to Coward they lag behind while their best years are 
fleeting. 
Mind and muscle and heart and soul—if you’d get home, remember, 
Your pace-maker will ever be only your slowest member. 
Let the hen “fill her bill.” 
“ Cold storage”—eating ice cream. 
Make life a bore for the peach borer. 
What is the death rate among your good resolutions ? 
Shall we clip the horse? Read the answer on page 811. 
Death sometimes uses a swill bucket for a door knocker. 
Get good varieties ! Don’t use the small fry among small 
fruits. 
Very well, sir, we will take our Christmas present in the form 
of a new subscrixition. 
The Crimson clover is having a glorious time this fall. It covers 
the ground completely. 
Wanted ! A first-class early potato that will get up a week 
earlier than Early Ohio 1 
It is against the law in New York State to sell a glass of “hard” 
cider. Don’t sell any to yourself. 
Second-croi* clover would seem to be bad food for pugnacious 
animals. It has too much row in. 
Don’t wait for a course in typhoid fever in order to educate 
yourself away from that bad drain. 
The R. N.-Y. never had cause to blush because it sent out the 
Rural Blush potatoes to its readers. 
The waste of paper mills has little value as a fertilizer. Use it 
as an absorbent or bedding, if at all. 
A sensible article on the developing of a dairy cow—page 810. 
Don’t forget to give your cow enough to eat. 
Is there any place like home ? Your home we mean. If there 
is, don’t run to the other places, but put your home ahead. 
Apples and pears have “ scalded ”in cold storage this year. No 
one seems to know what causes this growth. It is, probably, a 
chemical change due to close and musty quarters. 
You don’t “ jail” the setting hen to punish her, but to cure her. 
You kill the surplus rooster and the scrub, not for punishment, 
but to protect yourself against loss. Prisons should not be for 
punishment, but for society’s protection. 
An English farmer writes to his agricultural paper, that he be¬ 
lieves in “The Three S’s,” viz., Short-horn cattle, Shire horses and 
Shropshire sheep. This combination of live stock, he claims, 
suits his farm better than any other. There are too many farm¬ 
ers who keep “Three S’s” of the wrong kind, viz., Scrubs of all 
sorts. 
