94 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 7 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TEE BUSINESS FAlt MEN'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collixgwood, Editor. 
DU. WALTER VAN FLEET, I Acgociates 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associaies. 
Joux J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSOBIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries In the Universal Postal Union, J2.04. 
equal to 8s. 6d., or marks, or 10^^ francs. 
“ A SaUARE DEAL.” 
"We believe that every advertisement In this paper Is 
backed by a responsible person. But to make doubly 
sure we will make good any loss to paid subscribers 
sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler advertising 
in our columns, and any such swindler will be publicly 
exposed. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we 
do not guarantee to adjust trifling differences between 
subscribers and honest responsible advertisers. Neither 
will we be re.sponslble for the debts of honest bankrupts 
sanctioned by the courts. Notice of the complaint must 
be sent to us within one month of the time of the trans¬ 
action, and you must have mentioned The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance 
Is for, should appear In every letter. 
Remittances may be made in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street. New York. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1903. 
Do not fear that because The R. N.-Y. plans to give 
more attention to public matters which concern the 
farmer any of the old practical departments will be 
neglected. The R. N.-Y. is a farmer’s paper. We 
shall continue to help the farmer produce his crop 
to the best advantage, try to help him sell it at a 
profit, do the best we can to warn him against rogues 
and sharpers, and state his case as he is affected by 
legislation. 
• 
Pictures of two prominent Grangers are shown on 
the first page. E. B. Norris is Master of the New 
York State Grange, and too well-known to our read¬ 
ers to need an introduction. N. J. Bachelder was 
Master of the New Hampshire Grange—^just inau¬ 
gurated Governor of his State. We may have a 
Grange President some day. The Grange must fight 
its own way in American history. Its weapons are 
men, methods and morals which inspire respect! 
• 
It is reported that “the powers” have decided not 
to try to induce Congress to pass a bill restoring the 
“army canteen” or Government rumshop! Many 
Congressmen will draw a long sigh of relief at this 
decision. The temperance women of the country can¬ 
not vote, but they know how to make life a burden 
for the average Congressman. It’s a pity their hus¬ 
bands, brothers, sweethearts or sons lack their cour¬ 
age to go. gunning for the “law makers” who oppose 
their interests and rights! 
« 
Every now and then some wise man comes forward 
with a long wail about what he calls “the degeneracy 
of the common people.” If we would believe him the 
people who are obliged to work with their hands and 
think while they work are constantly growing more 
careless about their public duties. There is a vast 
amount of nonsense in such statements. If the com¬ 
mon people are slower to respond to patriotic im¬ 
pulses it is the fault of their so-called leaders in pul¬ 
pit, press and “politics.” Give us leaders who will 
lead and not stop by the wayside to fill their own 
pockets and the “common people” will give them un¬ 
common support. 
Older readers will remember our accounts of the 
farm operations of A. Johnson, the “one-horse Jersey 
farmer.” Mr. Johnson was compelled to leave his city 
trade through disaster to his eyes. He bought a lit¬ 
tle place of 18 acres, assumed a mortgage, and started 
in middle life as a farmer. He grew strawberries and 
other fruits, and kept hens. By hard work, careful 
planning and frugal living he paid for the farm and 
laid up a snug sum of money. Most of his products 
were sold at wholesale. A few years since his wife 
died and left him nearly alone. Though now an elder¬ 
ly man Mr. Johnson is still vigorous and hopeful. He 
did not move to town and sit about half idle and un¬ 
happy, as other men of his age have done. He cut 
down his acreage in strawberries, seeded most of his 
farm to grass, and increased his fiock of hens. Last 
year he cleared $1,000 above expenses. What does he 
do with the money? Every Winter he takes a long 
trip—^just now he is on an excursion to the Orient. 
He will be gone 65 days, passing through the Holy 
Land, Egypt and other countries which he has long 
desired to see. Next year he plans to go to New Or¬ 
leans and travel slowly west to California and back! 
Here Is a prosperous farmer who tries to make the 
last years of his life what they ought to be—^the best 
of all. Instead of sitting impotent and hopeless when 
no longer able to work like a young man, he crowns 
the toil of honorable years with the culture gained by 
travel and study. What an object lesson that is to 
many an old farmer who denies himself in order that 
his money may go to those who do not need it and 
who would be better off without it! 
« 
The Hope Farm man tries to make one side of the 
fertilizer question clear this week. Many farmers 
fail with fertilizers because they try to economize in 
the purchase of nitrogen. They buy the cheapest and 
slowest forms, and then find fault because their mix¬ 
tures do not give results equal to those from well- 
rotted manure. They would quickly understand why 
such mixtures fail if they would realize that their 
manure contains all three of the forms of nitrogen 
mentioned by the Hope Farm man. It contains ni¬ 
trates, ammonia and organic nitrogen in fair propor¬ 
tions—in fact, the high-grade fertilizer was made to 
take the place of manure, and thus contains three 
forms of nitrogen. For most of the crops grown on 
eastern farms, especially those like potatoes or fruit, 
which grow quickly, and must start before the soil 
is warmed up, the high-grade fertilizers are necessary. 
A part of the nitrogen must be in the form of nitrates 
if we expect an early and continuous growth. Failure 
to understand this has led some farmers to condemn 
fertilizers entirely. 
New Jersey Is a State pretty well owned by the big 
corporations, but there are some free men there yet. 
Here is what one of them says: 
I like your article opposing the bill before Congresa 
for leasing the public lands to cattle owners for grazing 
purposes. These cattle men will get possession of the 
most fertile tracts of Government lands that should go 
to the home-seeker and homesteader. The small farmer 
of 160 acres of land or less will always be the glory and 
pride of Uncle Sam’s dominions, and the land-grabber 
who gets possession of the best plots of ground at two 
cents an acre even for a five years lease will be as great 
a curse to the Republic as million-dollar trust corpora¬ 
tions, who crowd every small dealer out of business. 
That bill permitting the big cattle companies to 
lease the public lands at two cents an acre should be 
killed. Any act of legislation that drives small free¬ 
holders from the soil is a menace to the Republic. 
There is no $1,000,000 in the treasury of any trust 
that will give the character and strength to this coun¬ 
try which 50 homes of contented farmers can furnish. 
Down with any legislation that will prevent a poor 
man from gaining or holding his home. 
• 
Twenty-five years ago the American Humane As¬ 
sociation succeeded in securing the passage of a law 
which prohibited the keeping of live stock in cars 
more than 28 hours consecutively without food or 
water. Even the most callous, to whom the suffer¬ 
ings of our dumb servitors are a matter of indiffer¬ 
ence, recognized the wisdom of this law, because the 
prolonged anguish of such animals not only causes 
shrinkage of weight, but also induces physiological 
changes which injure the quality of the meat. Re¬ 
cently, however, the House of Representatives passed 
an amendment to this bill, which is now before the 
Senate; this amendment will make it lawful to keep 
animals in cars without food or water at all seasons 
of the year, 40 comecutive hours! In other words, we 
are willing to go back 25 years in humane education, 
and to increase the opportunities for brutality in the 
transportation of animals, which even now is a night¬ 
mare of misery to people of sensitive minds who are 
compelled to witness it. Is it possible, then, that the 
American people are more hardened to suffering than 
they were 25 years ago? No, but this prolongation of 
misery would give some transportation companies a 
better chance in competition, and add materially to 
their profits. The only' ground upon which this 
amendment is based Is unholy greed. If it is permit¬ 
ted to become a law, it adds another charge to the long 
indictment against the transportation interests, and 
stains our reputation for National humanity. 
• 
On page 81 will be found a bit of pleasantry be¬ 
tween Albert Wood and H. S. Wiley, both well-known 
to eastern fruit growers. Like many other things 
spoken in jest, this furnishes the text for a sermon. 
The “American Apple Consumers’ League” had its 
origin in a bit of fun. The writer observed that 
apples were seldom served at hotels and restaurants, 
and he suggested that this wholesome fruit might be 
tongue-grafted upon many a bill of fare if those who 
are interested in their sale would go about calling for 
“apple.” Strange to say, this idea “took,” and an 
Increasing army of men went about demanding baked 
apples In place of oranges. By doing this they have 
actually made the eating of apples fashionable at 
many hotels and restaurants, and there can be no 
doubt that this simple thing has increased the trade 
in apples. This shows what a few men can do by per¬ 
sistently following up a very simple thing. Now if 
this talking about apples and eating them in public 
can actually influence trade, let us think what would 
follow in larger" and nobler enterprises if the readers 
of The R. N.-Y. alone could carry out some concerted 
action! We have been at some pains to learn how 
many actual readers follow the paper from week to 
week. It is read by different members of the same 
family, and often loaned to neighbors. From the 
average of many figures we conclude that over 215,000 
different people each week read all or part of the 
paper with some care. Among those readers are 
farmers, ministers, judges, manufacturers, doctors, 
actors, hired men, mechanics, bankers—working peo¬ 
ple and people of leisure. All classes of people seem 
to be included among our subscribers. The sick, the 
well, the rich, the poor, the hopeful, the hopeless— 
the free man even passes his paper to the prisoner in 
jail, who remembers the old paper on his father’s 
farm. Let us suppose that all these people could agree 
upon some simple and uplifting thought, and agree 
to give half an hour a day to talking it and living It 
in public! Can any human being measure the power 
for good that such a simple thing would grow into? 
No, because human conception of such things is lim¬ 
ited. We deal with the little beginnings—God deals 
with the great endings! From the success of this 
little “League” we would like to take for ourselves 
a lesson of courage. One who can carry honest truth 
in his hand should never be afraid of going to the 
common people with it! 
* 
Among others the following farmers’ organizations 
in New York have passed resolutions calling upon the 
Legislature to appropriate money enough to fit out 
the Agricultural College properly: 
New York State Dairymen’s Association. 
New York Breeders’ Association. 
New York State Fruit Growers’ Association. 
Western New York Horticultural Society. 
Niagara County Farmers’ Club. 
Orleans County Horticultural Society. 
Dozens of other gatherings have passed similar 
resolutions. We have never known in the last 20 
years such a general demand among organized farm¬ 
ers for any State appropriation as there is for this 
one. We all understand what the average “resolu¬ 
tion” amounts to. A plausible man can go into most 
meetings and get votes for a “resolution” to hang a 
man. The resolutions in favor of the Agricultural 
College are not of that character. The men who vote 
for them know just what they are doing, and a strong 
committee is appointed to rub those resolutions in! 
Before this campaign is over the politicians may force 
these various committees to unite in one strong State 
organization. That may be necessary. 
What? When all these organizations ask for the 
appropriation and Governor Odell says what he does 
about the farmer, will an effort be made to hold up 
the College? Some of the politicians undertake to 
say so, but we still believe that the Governor will 
override them when he realizes that there is a real 
demand for this appropriation. He must, or else go 
back on what he said in his inauguration speech. 
The situation therefore is very clear. It is well 
enough to pass these “resolutions,” but we must do 
more—nail them to the Governor’s coat with a pen 
and a postage stamp. Come, gentlemen, we can talk 
here till doomsday, but these words will be as dead 
as the ink they are printed with unless you back them 
up with postage stamps. At this point of the cam¬ 
paign you cannot do better than to write the personal 
letter to Governor Odell. Probably you have done so 
already—if not, do it at once! Lick a stamp for the 
education of the farmer! 
* 
BREVITIES. 
Please to remember this one fact 
Ponder It well In mind—and act. 
Do not mix hen manure with ashes 
For then ammonia quicklv dashes 
Away to join the atmosphere. 
We need it for the plants down here. 
How to beat a carpet—use a rug. 
Have your hands been sterilized to-day? 
How many hens are required to equal a cow’s profit? 
Put in your best licks. What shall we lick? A few 
postage stamps. 
No doubt some of the cow men will question what Mr. 
Farmer says on page 82. Come on with your facts! 
We have ready for printing figures from some first- 
class growers showing what an acre of strawberries cost 
for the first year—up to picking. These figures will as¬ 
tonish many farmers! 
Collar rot is a new disease which sometimes kills 
peach trees. Some young men seem to think that by 
putting on a high collar they put on superior manhood. 
That is a sort of collar “rot” that kills a man’s use¬ 
fulness. 
