1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
21 I 
THE PLUTOCRAT’S SONG. 
Among us some renown have won In workshop, mine or store; 
But we patrician plutocrats are rich and nothing more. 
Let others moll for money, Invest, lay by or lend it; 
Ours has all come down to us, and our bus'ness Is to spend It. 
There’s Grlmgrad who handles Iron from th’ ore to war ships of steel, 
And believes the Nation's safety depends on his own weal; 
To add to his fast massed millions, with his metal, ’mid dread din, 
His merciless machinery grinds the bones and souls of men. 
Then there’s the wily railroad king whose Gargantuan guile 
Has enabled him, unshackled still, to amass a ponderous pile; 
From ocean unto ocean his predatory wav 
The masses’ muffled curses and the wrecks of roads betray. 
And there's the Speculator, the gambler In grain, 
In stocks and bonds and “ provisions ” and whatever may bring gain. 
But his wealth Is flnctuatlDg, for the public though he flay, 
His associates are pitiless as from him they pluck his prey. 
Then there’s the grim Monopolist with keen, determined face, 
Whose will-power and abilities are curses to his race; 
Intolerant of rivalry, by force and fraud and stealth, 
From public loss and private ruin he's wrung his wondrous wealth. 
Burly Shylock too's obtrusive, as where’er great wealth abounds, 
But his race's fate of scorn or hate his gorgeous presence hounds; 
A producer ne'er, but aye with care a greedy grubber of gold; 
For ages long the Gentile throng he’s spoiled like the Chemltes of old. 
Though these and their likes are among us, we hold them In disdain; 
For they bear the brand of travail, or of traffic or trade’s chicane, 
So as yet their wealth's polluted, their blood a plebeian hue: 
But descending, that grows purer and this a lordlier blue. 
Thus there's Cecil Guelph Flantagenet Fltzhardlnge Howard Scruggs, 
Whose father “ faked ’ ten millions out of ’’Ready Relief from Bugs;” 
Tho’ his whole soul’s set on vanities, since he cuts no caddish pranks, 
And made his millions by being born, he’s well within our ranks. 
Then there’s “ Fascinating Fraylelgh” whose divorce's rank renown 
Has shocked e’en prudish people and scandalized the town, 
With wealth a flood and colonial blood, In fast sets she's still the rage, 
And, like her sinning sisterhood. Is to ” elevate the stage.” 
There too's “ Fastidious Fweddle ” whose aristocratic mind 
Is tortured twenty times a day by some democratic hind; 
'Mid the rude, rough life around him, at home his sick soul droops; 
But abroad he finds fit company 'mong titled nincompoops. 
Next there flutter the “Four Hundred,” of fashion the 611te, 
Who along life's flowery mazes glide gay with gladsome feet, 
Yet pure pleasure’s but a seeming e’en ’mong favorites of fate. 
And so here there rankle rivalry and jealousy and hate. 
But there smile the brothers Cheerable whose benevolence for years, 
Has assuaged the pangs of poverty and dried up sorrow’s tears, 
Helpful in ev’ry human woe, e’en pitiful to shame. 
Though high among us plutocrats, do they deserve the name? 
Now, what If we squander money; of It doesn't thrift take care ? 
And what better can wealth win for us than enough to eat and wear ? 
And the richest of our raiment and the finest of our fare 
Pay profits fat to farmers and to workers wages rare. 
Then our pleasure grounds and palaces and equipages grand, 
Our balls and fetes and parties and pastimes by sea and land, 
Furnish fine support to thousands, for 'tls Providence’s plan. 
That no man himself can pamper and not help his fellow man. 
IV. L. HERBERT. 
A NEEDED REFORM. 
SIFT OUT THE SWINDLING SEEDSMEN. 
When Diogenes set out on his quest for an honest 
man, he was probably incited thereto by his experi- 
' ence with the seedsmen of his day and generation. 
For 30 years I have sold good seeds to the wholesale 
seed dealers, and bought a large percentage of poor 
seeds from the retail dealers, and I can readily under¬ 
stand why one should lose faith in the honesty of his 
fellow men. I have had abundant opportunity to 
study the species, and I grow more and more surprised 
at the audacity of the seedsmen, and the gullibility of 
the gardening public. The growing of seeds is nearly 
always quite distinct from the selling, although 
dealers who do not own or occupy a rood of land say 
a good deal about “our seed farms” in their cata¬ 
logues. Seed growing returns comparatively small 
profits to those who engage in it. To succeed at all, 
one must learn many things that are taught only in 
the school of experience, and such knowledge is 
usually dearly bought. Some things can be learned 
from the experience of others, but the adaptability 
of one’s fields to certain kinds of seed crops, and his 
own adaptability for the business, can be learned only 
by repeated tests of his fields and himself, the experi¬ 
ences of his nearest neighbors being often misleading, 
through differences in soil, exposure, location or 
management. Many kinds of seeds can be profitably 
grown only in certain comparatively small areas of 
favorable soil or climatic conditions ; others, while 
yielding fair crops of seeds over wider areas, are very 
variable in the quality of the vegetables grown from 
them. 
Cabbage seed from the ocean side of Long Island, 
sweet corn from certain sections of New Eng¬ 
land, beans and peas from New York State, melon 
seeds from Georgia, squash seeds from Illinois, these 
and similar select seeds command the most ready sale 
and bring the best prices in the market. The grower 
who succeeds must confine himself to the specialties 
suited to his locality, or must build up for himself and 
his seed a reputation that only years of careful selec¬ 
tion and the strictest personal oversight can estab¬ 
lish ; and when at last he has succeeded in producing 
or developing a strain of seed that is really above the 
average quality of that variety, then Smith, the 
dealer, steps to the front, and with a flourish of trump¬ 
ets and a lavish display of printer’s ink, announces, 
“ Smith’s Improved Barrelhead Cabbage,” or “ Para¬ 
dise Beet,” as the case may be. “ Grown on our 1,000- 
acre seed farm, under our own supervision 1” Ten 
chances to one he will bring it out as a new variety. 
Worse yet, to the 100 or perhaps 500 pounds of choice 
seed the grower furnishes, Smith adds as much more 
ordinary 6eed, bought in the open market, and unloads 
the whole upon a guileless public as “ Smith’s Im¬ 
proved.” A few packets of the choice seed sent to 
leading gardeners will bring in plenty of flattering 
testimonials. The swindle is not so much in the seed, 
but in the misleading, or rather mendacious announce¬ 
ment. The buyer gets a fair article possibly, but he 
has paid an exorbitant price for it, and is sure to be 
disappointed in the results. 
Another evil is the multiplication of so-called new 
varieties, in order to have an excuse for charging ex¬ 
tortionate prices for seeds or plants. At least one- 
half of these are only old sorts under new names 
There has been such a multiplication of hybrids that 
no variety of any species is exactly fixed, but each 
will present more or less varying characteristics. I 
believe that if three-quarters of the varieties of each 
species of garden vegetables could be utterly destroyed, 
seeds and plants, the public would be far better 
suited. Many varieties that are really new—the re¬ 
sults of cross-fertilization—are either inferior, or no 
improvement upon established sorts, and many more, 
while showing some prominent good qualities in certain 
favorable locations, are failure when planted else¬ 
where. This fact is prolific of great disappointment 
to growers of vegetables, fruits and flowers. One 
reads the glowing descriptions in the catalogue of his 
favorite seedsman, and though in the lists of the more 
careful dealers, it is usually prefaced in small type, 
with the qualifying statement, “ originator’s descrip¬ 
tion,” he accepts what is said as Gospel truth; forget¬ 
ting past experience, forgetting that, “ to err is 
human,” he rashly orders seed, or plant, or tree, only 
to learn anew that nearly all chestnuts are wormy, 
and that facts are of two kinds, facts always true, and 
those that a e true only under certain conditions, and 
which are often more misleading than direct false¬ 
hoods. 
The time has come to demand a reform in this 
matter. A boycott should be instituted against all 
dishonest or unscrupulous dealers. I would include 
in the list all dealers who claim to sell seeds grown on 
their own farms, and under their personal supervision 
when they neither own nor control an acre of land, and 
their stock is bought of the regular growers, and the 
dealers who claim to sell “ improved ” this, or “ pedi¬ 
gree ” that, when the seed they sell is neither better 
nor worse than that of others. Most standard varieties 
are grown in certain localities, and whether one buys 
of Smith or Jones, or Brown, he is very likely to get 
the same quality of seeds, often from the same fields. 
I would also include every dealer who permits a 
description to go into his catalogue, that he does not 
believe will prove true when the thing described is 
grown under average conditions. These precautions 
might not leave many dealers worthy of patronage, 
but the list would grow. Most of our leading seeds¬ 
men would be the first to welcome reform in this line. 
Connecticut. chas. pikrson augur. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
THEMlama Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, manufacture a 
good line of vehicles and harness. Orders can be sent to them with 
safety. 
Frederick Ludi.am, 140 Mai ion Lane, New York, Issues a cata¬ 
logue calling attention to the merits of the '‘Cecrops ” fertilizers and 
chemicals. 
The Janesvll.e Chemical Works, of Janesville, Wls , make a spec¬ 
ialty of bone fertilizers. There are lots of Westers farmers who want 
to experiment with bone. Here Is their chance to buy near home. 
“How 1 Grow Hops" Is the title of a pamphlet by C. H. Curtis, In 
which the author gives a brief, yet clear description of his method of 
growing this crop. It Is mailed free by the Bowker Fertilizer Company, 
Boston, Mass. Send lor It. 
Some weeks ago a subscriber asked how to clear a water pipe of 
quicksand. We advised him to use a force pump and drive the sand 
out. He procured a Field Force pump and cleared his pipe without 
trouble. The Field Force Pump Co., of Lockport, N. Y., makes all 
sorts of pumps and spraying outfits of the best quality. 
The pulverizer or disc harrow manufactured by the Johnston Har¬ 
vester Company, Batavia, N. Y., has an exclusive feature In the con¬ 
nections of the sections, by which all friction between them Is 
avoided. The harrow Is made In all sizes to suit the requirements of 
all sections of the country. This Is one of the most responsible 
houses In the agricultural implement business, and a catalogue of Its 
Implements, which will ba mailed free, will be found of Interest. 
People like to deal with honest men and to know when men are 
honest. Enough said, now read this : “ Two months ago we wrote to 
Geo. W P. Jerrard for figures on potato seed. He sent them. We 
thought the prices a little too high for the quantity we wanted. How¬ 
ever, we sent the money with the order. We reoelved the seed all 
right, and his check for $f>4.24. He said he found he had charged us 
too much by that amount.” W. d. bidoood. 
Churchland, Va. 
There seems to be no necessity of the people too small to escape 
the monopolists and trusts. The Reading combine has forced up the 
price of coal through this long, cold winter, and now the axe manu¬ 
facturers are trying to form a trust so as to force up the rices of 
axes. Seeing that they can't get a monopoly on the wood in the tree, 
they set about levying a tax on the farmers fuel by making him pay 
more for the axe he must use to prepare It for the stove. We are glad 
that one of the largest manufacturers of axes has so far resisted the 
allurements of the combine, and refused to go Into It. This is the 
Kelly Axe Manufacturing Company, of Louisville, Ky., which makes 
one of the best axes In the country, and as long as it keeps out of the 
trust and by Its open competition with the combine keeps prices down, 
no farmer ought to buy any other. If the people would stick by such 
houses tooth and nail, they would make short work of the trusts. 
Morgan Grape and Berry 
ALL FARMERS AGREE THAT 
WROUGHT-IRON AND WIRE FENCE 
for Lawns, Churches and School Houses. 
FARM and CEMETERY FENCE 
with. Iron Posts and Wire. 
ELLIS & HELFENBERCER, 
Indianapolis, Ind. 
189 South Mississippi Street. 
Potatoes Need Fertilizers, 
their experience has proven that commercial fertilizers grow a smoother and more salable crop. 
To meet the demand, we manufacture our 
-SPECIAL POTATO MANURE,- 
which is especially adapted to the crop, and has proven its value wherever tried. 
THE STANDARD BRANDS: 
Tip-Top Raw Bone Super-Phosphate, 
Farmers’Choice Bone Phosphate, 
Normal Bone Phosphate, 
Improved Super-Phosphate, 
are complete manures, and adapted for general use on all crops. They supply the plant with the best available food, and 
meet its demands in all stages of growth. They are profitable to use, as they supply a good crop, and maintain the fertility 
of the land for the next year. Write for circular, giving analyses and testimonials from parties who have used the goods. 
Address the manufacturers, 
Agents Wanted 
in Sections 
Unoccupied. 
I. P. THOMAS & SON COMPANY, 
No. 2 South Delaware Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 
