THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
74 ^ 
THE SYMPOSIUM CONTEST DECIDED. 
After much thoiig’ht and study the judges in the 
symposium contest award the prizes as follows : 
1st. $5. To Prof. F. A. Waugh, Oklahoma Ex. Station. 
TOPIC: Professional Preparation for Farming. How and 
where can a farmer best obtain a training for his calling that will 
rank with the training necessary to a successful lawyer or doctor ? 
2nd. S3. To L. Robbins, Massachusetts. 
TOPIC : How would you go to work to realize the largest possi¬ 
ble amount of money in one year from the cultivation of one acre 
of ground in your part of the country? What crops would you 
grow ? What fertilizer would you use, and how much ? How and 
where would you market the crop ? Itemize the probable outlay 
and income of such crop. 
3d. 32. Mrs. L. H. Niles, Wisconsin. 
TOPIC : Mr. J is a struggling young farmer, with four small 
children. Mr. and Mrs. J have a fair district school education, 
and are both industrious, thoughtful, and thoroughly in earnest ; 
yet their income is barely sufficient to satisfy the actual needs of 
their increasing family. Most of Mrs. J’s, and some of Mr. J’s 
relatives, are well-to-do farmers. Mr. J recently made this remiirk 
in my hearing : “I tell you, a man needs a smashing good educa¬ 
tion, if he wants to make any money farming ; and then he must 
travel around and see what other folks are doing ! ” 
If this be true, what is he to substitute with any degree of satis¬ 
faction and success for the education ? Or, in other words, what 
must take the place with them of an education ? How is he to get 
the good results to be gained by travel ? Comi)are fairs, farmers’ 
institutes and other farmers’ meetings with farm papers and 
books as means for obtaining the useful information to be gath¬ 
ered in travel ? 
The judges all ask to be excused from another like 
service. There were over 150 topics sent in, and it 
was next to impossible to devise any rules for decid¬ 
ing which were “ best.” We realize that all of them 
represent thought and study, and an earnest desire 
for information. We would like to give 100 prizes in 
this conte.st. That is impossible, but we will try to 
have all the ideas advanced, under discussion during 
1895. Our plan is to print two or three of them each 
week, and call for experience and di.scussion—with 
the view of paying something for the most useful and 
practical articles called out in this way. 
THE PROSPECT. 
The great measure of comfort and business prosper¬ 
ity in this country, is the ease with which one class of 
property may be exchanged for another. Money is the 
great medium of exchange, and without it or some 
convenient equivalent, the products of labor are ex¬ 
changed at an inconvenience or loss. If the farmer 
could take a bushel of potatoes, or a bale of hay, and 
make a direct exchange for the food, clothing or other 
articles he needs, on the basis of the actual value of 
his own products, it is evident that he would be better 
off. This cannot be done—there will be found a 
string of middlemen between producer and consumer, 
and the basis of transaction between them all is cash. 
Or, suppose a man has his little earnings invested in 
one form of property, and desires to change to another. 
He must, in the majority of cases, turn the fir.st into 
cash before making the exchange, and the bargain will 
be more and more against him as cash is harder to 
obtain. A good illustration of this is given in the 
following note from a subscriber in New York State : 
I can buy a small farm in Maryland; I have no money, but have 
a village house and lot worth $1,200. Do you know of any building 
or loan association, through which I could, by making my place 
security, have a first payment of $500 made on the small farm I 
wish to purchase, and get about $500 more cash to start in with ? 
We do not know how this could be done at any 
reasonable cost, but that note shows the great disad¬ 
vantage of property that is not easily converted into 
cash. We think, also, that it is clear that when there 
is too little money in actual circulation, such prop¬ 
erty is under even greater disadvantage, because its 
selling price or its value as security, are both reduced. 
O 
How many people ever stop to consider how a single 
piece of money can circulate ! Our friend, N. llal- 
loc*k, of Long Island, recently showed us a silver 
quarter on which he stamped his name in 1855, and 
set it adrift at Charleston, S. C. A few months ago, 
it turned up at the railroad station of his town. For 
39 years it has been carried about the country taking 
part in hundreds, yes, thousands of bai-gains, and. 
acting as a medium of exchange between the products 
of labor everywhere. When money is withdrawn 
from circulation, exchange is made harder, and the 
man who depends for a living upon the business of 
turning his labor into cash finds himself at a disad¬ 
vantage. A scarcity of money always works against 
the laborer, because it gives those who control the 
money a right aLso to control the basis on which labor 
must be sold. This very thing explains in part why 
times have been “ hard ” for the past 18 months. A 
great many monied men lost confidence in the busi¬ 
ness situation. They decided to hold back their money 
until they knew just how the tariff and other ques¬ 
tions would be settled. Their excuse was that they 
would rather have their money lying idle than to 
loan it on securities that were likely to depreciate in. 
value. Taking this money out of circulation made it 
harder for labor or its products to be exchanged, be¬ 
cause the medium of exchange, or cash, was curtailed; 
and, consequently, men wei'e forced to sell their labor 
for lower prices. This illustration of the ability of 
capitalists to limit or almost destroy trade by with¬ 
drawing money from circulation, and the knowledge 
that a comparatively small class of men control such 
a large proportion of our money, have greatly added 
to the numbers of those who believe that a greater 
shai’e of the wealth of this country should be put 
into the form of money, so that the exchange of labor 
and property may be made easier. 
G 
California now purposes to experiment with lico¬ 
rice growing. A resident of Sacramento County is 
said to have cultivated it successfully for 10 years, 
and exhibited it annually at the State Fair, where it 
was always awarded a premium. It was considered 
equal to that imported from Smyrna. It thrives best 
in light soils. The State has experimented in the 
past, with many products usually imported, some of 
which promise well. The experiments are to be con¬ 
tinued and extended. 
O 
In regard to the percentage of the total crop of 
wheat fed to animals, the Cincinnati ^rice Current 
says that Iowa probably stands first, although the pro¬ 
duction in that State was relatively small. Much 
wheat is sent into that State for feeding purposes. 
Next to Iowa in order, are Kan.sas, Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Kentucky. It is 
estimated that already 40,090,000 bu.shels have been 
fed, and that this season’s consumption will reach 
75,000,000. Feeding is likely to continue until higher 
prices render wheat less economical for the purpose. 
Some localities are reducing the amount of wheat fed 
as corn becomes available. From present estimates, 
the total available for export from this crop is 
50,000,000 bushels ; surplus from previous years, 
110,000,000; already exported, 55,000,000. The croj) 
is likely to be pretty well taken care of. 
O 
We have just learned of a very interesting experi¬ 
ence with fertilizers in Connecticut. A former fac¬ 
tory workman tired of work in the mill, bought a 
small piece of land and started growing fruits. Ilis 
land was poor, but by using manure and fertilizers 
heavily, he secured good crops from the start, and 
made a profit. The manner of di.sposing of this profit 
is what we desire to call attention to. Near his place 
is a lot of waste land—useless as it stands for any 
practical purpose. It is bought for 3~0 an acre, with 
each year’s profits, broken up and thoroughly fined, 
and planted to corn with lots of fertilizer. The fol¬ 
lowing year it goes into potatoes, with about a ton of 
fertilizer to the acre. The following year it is set out 
to small fruits like blackberries or raspberries, or to 
grapes. The potatoes yield a profit large enough to 
pay the original cost of the land half a dozen times 
ovei*, and when well set to blackberries, the value is at 
least 3150 per acre in earning capacity. Thus the 
profits are invested in improvements, which in turn 
pay compound interest in profits. Is there any other 
system by means of which wild land can be increased 
in value 500 per cent in three years at a profit f 
o 
This is a great big country, with many and varied 
interests. The corners of this land are so far apart 
that those who live at one side do not always realize 
that what may seem for their best interests, may be 
opposed to the interests of those Americans who live 
2,500 miles away. The following letter from a friend 
in Wyoming will make this clear : 
This part of Wyoming is fully devoted to raising beef cattle for the 
Eastern market. The ranches extend for miles. Ours is under fence, 
5 by 20 miles, which leaves neighbors a long distance apart. Our 
main hold is fat cattle. Your fight on oleomargarine is a fight 
against our interest as we see it. If the fat of cattle could be used, 
to make counterfeit butter, we could receive a large profit for oui* 
cattle. Situated as The R. N.-Y. is, in a dairy country, where good 
butter is “king,” whex-e it i-eceives its suppoi-t, I cannot say any¬ 
thing against its policy in running down oleomargarine. I would 
like to extend what little help I can towards making The R. N.-Y. 
the main agi-icultural sheet of the United States, as I do not mind 
its policy. 
Let us see about this claim often made by the “ oleo ” 
men, that laws regulating the fraudulent sale of that 
substance, injure the trade in fat cattle. In the year 
ending July, 1893, the United States exported 113,939,- 
363 pounds of oleo oil, valued at 311,307,250. In 1889, 
the exports of oil were worth only 33,664,492. In 
1887, the total revenues from the tax on manu¬ 
factured “oleo” were 3733,948, while in 1893 they 
amounted to 31,670,643. Thus the trade in oleo and 
its oil has been immensely increased. Has the price 
of beef cattle gained in consequence ? No ; on the 
average it has fallen while the “oleo” trade was in- 
reasing. Who, then, obtained the profit from this 
trade? Another thing that shows the character of 
these “ oleo ” claims is the fact that in the South, the 
same arguments are given to placate the cotton 
farmers. In the South, it is cotton-seed oil that is 
supposed to be injured by anti-oleo law.s—in the West 
it is beef tallow. Thus both sides are humbugged, 
while neither cotton seed nor fat cattle are increased 
in price by the increased trade in “oleo.” Resides 
this, is the fact that the injury to the legitimate dairy 
interests of the country by the fraudulent sale of 
butter substitutes, cannot possibly be estimated in 
dollars and cents. Right there in Wyoming there 
may be more money in dairying than in beef cattle. 
That is the story of the development of the stock in¬ 
dustry in California. Twenty years hence your section 
may be the one needing pure food laws. 
O 
Among the amendments to the New York State con¬ 
stitution, is one prohibiting gambling in the form of 
pool-selling, book-making, etc., at hxjrse races. The 
gamblers fought this hard, and were so confident of 
defeating it, that Richard Croker, the old Tammany 
boss, was willing to bet that it would be defeated. 
It was carried, and now the same Mr. Croker laments 
its adoption as follows : 
It simply means the ili'awiiig out of this State of $100,000,000 and 
the throwing of hiindi-eds of men out of employment. It will not 
do away with racing in this counti'y, Inxt it will etfectiuilly stoi) it 
in this State. It is a hard blow to the breeder, farmer and mer¬ 
chant alike, to have such a big iudusti'y driven into the Western 
States and abroad, for a number of men signified their intention, 
prior to the election, of racing in Eui'ope in the event of the amend¬ 
ment pxissing. 
Mr. Croker is an expert in this line of gambling, and 
we will take his word that the above statement is 
correct. What a horrible blow this will be to the 
agriculture of New York State, to be sure. .lust 
think of it! We are to be deprived of the privilege of 
permitting a gang of blacklegs to debauch the public 
morals and lead young men astray. It is indeed a 
“ hard blow”—for the Crokers and race-ti-ack farmers! 
The rest of us will try hard to make up our loss by 
means of some more respectable crop. 
O 
Two weeks ago, we had something to say about 
the need of Americanism to support American indus¬ 
tries. Instance was given of a woolen mill in Connec¬ 
ticut fully able to duplicate any foreign-made cloth, 
but not able to sell it as American-made because so 
many consumers have a foolish idea that they must 
wear “imported” goods. The following note is right 
to the point : 
Americanism in the consumer of American woolens, is not so 
much wanting as latent. What we want is a guarantee from a 
responsible manufacturer that we are getting what we jxay for. 
If such would offer their goods dii’ect to consumers, make one 
profit, xind tliereby a low price, there would soon be a general 
awakening in favor of American woolens. What Douglas, of 
Brockton, and Bliss, of Boston, are doing for consumers in the way 
of good shoes xit low prices, is evinced by the large pati’on age re¬ 
ceived in return. There are many of these stores in New England. 
Of the varied styles and sizes of shoes offered, the ixrice is the same 
for all, and the same price is given every buyer. There is no extra 
pi'ofit required to offset dishonesty or erroi's of clerks. Evei’y pair 
is kept account of; the money or the goods mu.st be alwiiys on 
hand. Some such ixlan as this carried out by an enterprising 
manufacturer, one of integrity and means and not afraid to adver¬ 
tise, would, I am sure, bring him a remunerative business, and 
soon give American wool growing such an impetus as was never 
before dreamed of. v. ii. page. 
There is a point that manufacturers may well ponder. 
Direct business between manufacturer and consumer 
must come sooner or later. It is the true way to do 
business, and while at present neither class is fully 
educated up to it, that is no reason why we should 
despair of its accomplishment. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
J. H. Tienken, 32 Little 12th St., says that he has an ex¬ 
cellent trade in sweet potatoes. 
Gakner & Co., 32 Little 12th St., want all the choice butter they 
can get. Print butter is scarce. 
If you have furs or game, especially live quail, send to Wm. H. 
Cohen & Co., 229 & 231 Washington St. 
Ip you want good prices and prompt returns for your dried fruits, 
send them to Worth & Ryan, 313 Greenwich St. 
Fob all hothouse products, mushrooms, lambs, and choice 
fruits, Ai’chdeacon & Co., 100 Murray St., have xui excellent trade. 
Any one in need of well-bi’ed young Ayrshires, will do well to 
address D. M. Campbell, Oneonta, N. Y. He is selling them at low 
prices. 
Mb. Wills A. Seward, 207 Bi-oadway, New Yoi-k, is looking for 
Jerseys or Guernseys, now fresh or due to calve next month. See 
his announcement on page 753. 
Ip you wish to ship live sheep, hogs, or beef cattle, Jelliffe, 
Wright & Co., ai’e pi-epai-ed to handle them at Union Stockyards, 
West 60th St. 
Pittsburgh, Pa., has the reputation of being a first-class mar¬ 
ket, and Somers, Brother & Co. are a first-class firm to handle 
yoxir produce on commission. See the street address in their ad- 
X ertisement on market page. 
Thoroughbred stock is lower now than it has ever been before, 
and probably lower than it will be again in some time. Young 
Jer.sey and young Duroc-Jei’sey pigs, are being offered by Mrs. D 
C. Curtis, Charlton, N. Y.— Kirby Homestead. 
The following firms are ready to receive consignments of choice 
Thanksgiving poultry; Archdeacon & Co;, 100 Murray St., Garner 
& Co., 32 Little 12th St., Wm. H. Cohen & Co., 229 & 231 Washington 
St., Palmer, Rivenburg & Co., 166 Reade St., S. H. & E. H. Frost, 
100 Park Place, Jelliffe, Wright & Co., 284 Washington St. They 
have no use for poor stuff. 
