1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
5o9 
THE PROSPECT. 
The coming New York State Pair, at Syracuse, 
September 6-13, like those which have preceded it 
for half a century, will indicate in the character of 
its exhibits and the prominence given to particular 
industries, not alone the advancement in methods of 
agriculture and improvements in varieties and species, 
but will show a very decided change, as compared 
with former years, in the pursuits which lead in im¬ 
portance, and which are displacing, in a great meas¬ 
ure, those branches which heretofore, by common con¬ 
sent, have been accepted by farmers and agricultur¬ 
ists as most important. This year the management of 
the fair have devoted much thought and energy to 
the increase of two departments : namely, the depart¬ 
ments of dairy products and fruits and flowers, hav¬ 
ing added largely to the premiums in these classes. It 
has been found necessary to enlarge the new dairy 
building on the fair grounds; and, therefore, this 
year a large addition is to be made, and the actual, 
practical work of handling milk and making butter 
and cheese, according to the latest and most approved 
methods, will be more fully and ably shown than 
before. The exhibit of fruit will be unprecedented, 
and the value of this exhibition in showing the people 
what fruits to grow with the greatest proflt, will be 
considered. Our farmers are learning that, even if 
their Western neighbors have taken from them the 
business of furnishing beef to the great markets, and 
if the cheaper lands of the Western States can raise 
wheat and oats and corn at prices unprofitable to us 
of New York State, on the other hand, we can 
compete with them in dairy products, and in horticul¬ 
ture and floriculture, we have advantages superior to 
them all. « 
The exhibit of road machines, and the practical dem¬ 
onstration on the grounds of how to make roads, 
will be of great interest. The practice of bicycle 
riding so rapidly being taken up for business as well 
as pleasure, by all classes of society, is to be an im¬ 
portant factor in the development and consummation of 
the much-needed “ good roads.” Horses cannot talk, 
but bicycle riders can, and they vrlll have good roads. 
The bicycle races on the next to the last day of the 
fair will be a feature. Great interest has been shown 
this year by the manufacturers of agricultural imple¬ 
ments and machinery, and it is expected that they 
will make a large exhibit at the fair. It is impossible, 
at this moment, to give a detailed statement as to the 
number of entries in the stock departments, as the 
entries do not close until August 6 ; but, judging from 
the entries already received, and the exceedingly large 
number of applications, etc., there can be no doubt 
that these classes will be fully represented. The so¬ 
ciety will offer a special prize of 3125 for the cows 
making the best butter records (to be shown by the 
Babcock test) : First prize, 375; second prize, 350. 
In the event of either or both of these prizes being 
won by a Holstein-Friesian cow, the Holstein-Friesian 
Association of America will duplicate the prize or 
prizes. Mr. Geo. A. Smith, Director of Farmers’ In¬ 
stitutes, will hold dairy institutes daily in the dairy 
building. Mr. Smith will be assisted by some of the 
best-known specialists of the State. Eminent pro¬ 
fessors from Cornell University and the Experiment 
Station at Geneva, will be among the number, and 
farmers and dairymen will be afforded an opportunity 
of witnessing practical experiments in butter and 
cheese-making. Jas. B. Dochabty, Sec’y. 
« 
Now that the great railroad strike has practically 
ended in the defeat of the strikers, it will be interest¬ 
ing to follow out one or two lessons that have been 
taught by the events of the past few weeks. The 
papers have discussed the strike as though the work¬ 
men and their employees were the only parties con¬ 
cerned in it. That is not so. The public who patronize 
the railroads, and particularly the farmers who de¬ 
pend on railway service for the marketing of perish¬ 
able goods, have as much at stake as any one. They 
have a right to be deeply interested in any scheme for 
settlement, since their business must fail unless the 
railroads are run freely and without interruption. 
Neither strikers nor railroad managers can expect 
farmers to be satisfied to let their crops spoil on their 
hands for the sake of settling some point of difference 
between manager and workman. It will be a good 
thing to bear that fact in mind hereafter. Why did 
the strike fail? We find the chief reasons given in 
the Pacific Rural Press which, though they apply more 
directly to the situation in California, are fair as re¬ 
gards the general situation. Here is the first: 
Of the several causes contributing to this defeat, the most potent by 
far Is the changed attitude of public sentiment. At the beginning of 
the contest, the feeling of the public was almost unanimously with 
the strikers. All the public sense of Injustice In the unequal relation¬ 
ship between capital and labor, all the prejudice against corporations 
In general, and hatred of the Southern PactUc In particular, all re¬ 
venges against wealth, public and private, were summed up In a 
general sympathy which inspired the strike with a respect and a 
strength unusual to such movements. All this, which might easily 
have led to a great victory, was lost by passion and folly. When the 
strikers appealed to force against law, their cause was lost. Every 
spiked switch, every assault upon a “ scab,” every defiance of police 
authority, and every act In violation of public order, detached thou¬ 
sands from the side of support and arraigned them In the opposition 
rank. 
In other words, as The R. N.-Y. has before said, when 
a class of men break the laws so that the violation is 
evident to all, the great majority of people always 
stand by the Government and always will. Another 
reason given is the jealousy of various labor leaders. 
Had this strike succeeded, Mr. Debs, the leader of the 
American Railway Union, would have been the great¬ 
est figure in labor circles, Gompers. Arthur and other 
leaders saw this, and held back their men at a time 
when a general strike might have turned the scales in 
favor of the men. In other words, the various labor 
unions are like the political parties, caring more for 
their own advantage than for the general welfare. 
• 
And DOW, what of the future ? The question has 
not been settled at all. We are still liable at any 
time, even in the midst of a critical harvest, to find 
railroad traffic blocked, and freight at a standstill. It 
is a shame and misfortune that such a state of affairs 
exists, and it is well to understand that not all the 
real blame rests at the door of the strikers. The 
crimes committed by lawless workingmen are open 
and fiagrant, but they are not morally worse than the 
cunning legal crimes devised and executed by railroad 
managers against the public. Prof. James Bryce, the 
noted English scholar, puts the case in this way : 
He who considers the irresponsible nature of the power which three 
or four men, or perhaps one man, can exercise through a great cor¬ 
poration, such as a railroad or telegraph company, the Injury they 
can Inflict on the public as well as on their competitors, the cynical 
audacity with which they have often used their wealth to seduce 
olllclalB and legislators from the path of virtue, will find nothing 
unreasonable In the desire of the American masses to regulate the 
management of corporations, and narrow the range of their action. 
That is a fair statement of the situation. We have no 
sympathy with that spirit which inspires an indiscrim¬ 
inate hatred of all wealth, for we believe there are 
honest rich men who may be trusted to use their 
wealth for the world’s good. We believe, however, 
that it is the duty of every honest journal to cry out 
against the concealed fraud and crime in high places, 
and to demand that stolen rights and privileges be re¬ 
stored to the public for the public’s use. 
A COMPANY in Philadelphia is said to be experiment¬ 
ing with hay as a material for street pavements. The 
hay is put under heavy pressure, and then cut into 
blocks of convenient size, which are soaked in some 
undrying oil, which, it is said, renders them practi¬ 
cally indestructible. If there is really anything in 
this, it would seem that some cheaper substance 
might be used that would answer the purpose equally 
well. But, then, there are quantities of so-called hay 
in the country that are of no earthly use for feeding, 
and many poor horses would probably laugh at being 
able to walk over it rather than to have to eat it. 
« 
Livebymen are complaining that the increasing use 
of bicycles is injuring their trade. Most young men, 
instead of hiring a horse and carriage to give their 
sweethearts an airing, accompany them on wheels. 
The bicycle costs less than a horse and carriage ; al¬ 
most every town of any size has a store where bi¬ 
cycles may be rented. The latter cost nothing for 
feed, they never balk, get frightened or run away. 
They may be left anywhere, and the use of them is 
more conducive to health than the use of a carriage. 
Why shouldn’t their use increase ? At the same time, 
the decrease in the livery business reduces the demand 
for a cheap grade of horses, and also reduces the de¬ 
mand for hay and grain, and thus affects the pro¬ 
ducers. But these conditions exist and must be met. 
Breeders must produce better horses—special purpose 
animals—and thus meet the emergency. 
It 
A YOUNG carpenter, quick, strong, a good workman, 
was hanging around the office of his former boss, a 
builder in a suburban town. The business depression 
had about stopped building operations, and the boss 
was obliged to discharge his men. But this young 
man with a family dependent upon him for support, 
was willing and anxious for employment, and so 
waited in the hope that something might turn up to 
give him even temporary employment. Were he the 
owner of even a small farm, how much more independent 
might his situation be ! He might then find employ¬ 
ment with himself for boss. He might grow his own 
fruits and vegetables, keep his own cow and poultry, 
and, besides supplying his own family, perhaps have 
a surplus to sell. When work at his trade failed, he 
might support his family from his little place. The 
feeling of independence engendered by such a condi¬ 
tion of affairs, would also tend to make him a more 
self-respecting, independent citizen. Notwithstand¬ 
ing the hard times of which many farmers complain, 
many others are worse off .than they, and especially 
those wage workers whose income has entirely ceased, 
but who yet have rent to pay and the necessaries of 
life to buy. ^ 
It seems that shippers of farm produce are very 
much alike the world over. Mr. Finney, in speaking 
of the great poultry business done by Armour & Co., 
at Kansas City, says : 
The only trouble we have Is that occasionally country shippers get 
careless In makluf; shipments. For instance, a farmer will ship 15 
coops of chickens In a car, and will put his name on one coop and send 
us an Invoice for 15. We reoOKnlze the one coop with his name on as 
coming from him, but the other 11 may belong to Tom, Dick or Harry 
for all wo know. We have told them repeatedly that their names 
should bo on every package, but they come In unmarked, and we get 
blamed for not making quick returns. 
That is just what we hear at this end of the country. 
The very same story is told dozens of times. It may 
be a natural mistake for a farmer who does not realize 
the immense amount of produce handled in a large 
city. He may think his small shipment will comprise 
the greater part of the day’s receipts, when really it 
will be but a small drop in the bucket. Put your 
name on every package you send—unless you are 
ashamed of your goods. 
* 
Thkbk is always more or less grain lost in harvest¬ 
ing—shelled off the heads or broken down out of 
reach of the reaper. When grain was high in price, 
farmers could afford to ignore this waste and let it 
seed the land with a volunteer crop. The writer has 
often herded cows on the great Colorado wheat fields, 
that were seeded in this way. In these times, how¬ 
ever, “ every little counts,” and even the waste in the 
grain fields must be picked up and utilized. But 
whose labor is so valueless that it will not cost more 
than the grain is worth ? Mr. and Mrs. Hen are the 
people to do the work properly. On page 503, we il¬ 
lustrate the way this thing is done in England. A 
little henhouse on wheels, large enough for 25 hens, 
is hauled about from one part of the field to another. 
Wherever it stops, the hens clean up all the scattered 
wheat for many rods in every direction. They come 
back to the house to sleep and lay. All the farmer 
has to do is to move the house and gather the eggs— 
the hens do the rest. Tnere is progress for you—a 
step in advance of "hens by the acre.” On many an 
American wheat farm the hens could make the waste 
wheat worth a good deal of money. 
» 
The R. N.-Y. has repeatedly asserted that the New 
York State Agricultural Department is a political 
machine created chiefiy to advance the political inter¬ 
ests of certain well-known politicians. The plan from 
the first has been to "make votes” by seeing that the 
"right men” were appointed inspectors and agents. 
These men were to form part of a big political ma¬ 
chine to be run in the rural districts on the plan so 
successful in our large cities. Nobody has ever denied 
this; it is not usual for such politicians to attempt 
denials until they are driven into a corner, and then 
they assume an air of virtuous indignation and point 
to a few respectable men who were appointed to "give 
a little tone to the thing.” Let us see if the article by 
Mr. Geo. T. Fowell in this issue will force them out of 
their shell. Everybody knows that Mr. Powell is an 
honorable and fair-minded man. He is no partisan, 
and does not belong to either of the two old parties. 
Further than that, he knows what he is talking about. 
Political papers have besought him for an opinion in 
this matter, but he knew they would use it simply for 
political effect. There is no politics about it—only a 
determination to show the farmers of the State that 
their boasted ‘‘Agricultural Department,” as at pres¬ 
ent conducted, is a fraud and a humbug. The R. N.-Y. 
proposes to stir this matter up until something is done 
about it. The Commissioner must make a satisfactory 
showing with the money placed in his hands, or we 
will know the reason why. We recognize no party or 
politics in this matter. We care not whether the 
Commissioner be a Democrat, Republican, Populist or 
Prohibitionist, if he be a man in full sympathy with 
agriculture in the broadest and fullest sense. While 
New York State is fooling with politics. Western 
States are forging ahead, giving value received for 
every dollar spent to advance the cause of agriculture. 
Within a few years, our farmers will feel the effects of 
this difference, in an increased and severe competition. 
In this fight. The R. N.-Y. wishes to be perfectly 
honest and fair. We shall be pleased to receive any 
defense of the work done by the State Agricultural 
Department, as well as any criticisms or facts that 
would condemn it. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
ISBAEL M. Peck, Stafford, N. Y., wants to sell you some fine seed 
wheat. 
Tub Cincinnati CorruKatlng Co., of Plqua, O., want to send yon a 
little book showing how to make a good roof. 
Buwabu F. Dibble, Uoneoye Falls, N. V., begins his fall advertis¬ 
ing with an announcement about seed wheat. Mr. Dibble's wheat Is 
clean and pure. 
.1. V. Ii. PiBHSOX, Glen Itldge, N. J., prints a novel advertisement 
this week. He wants a man who can raise 1100 bushels of potatoes per 
acre to run a farm on shares. Where lathe man ? 
The Coillns Plow Co., of Quincy, Ill., Is a solid house. We have 
done business with them many years. They now offer baling presses 
arranged to work with ah sorts of power. Those who have hay to 
bale, should by all means find want the firm offers. 
The Planet Jr. potato digger Is now prepared to throw out the 
tubers for you. X.et the horse dig the potatoes with the aid of a Planet 
Jr. That name Is familiar to all who know anything about seed drills 
or cultivators. Send to S. h. Allen & Co., Philadelphia, Pa., for cata- 
lognes and circulars. 
