7i2 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 10 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FABMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
IlERBEKT W. COLLINGWOOD, Editor. 
I)R. Walter Van Fleet, i 
Mrs. K. T, Uovle, Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SX7BSCBIPTION: ONE DOLL.AE A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to Ss. 6d., or marks, or 10*4 francs. 
“ A SaUAEE DEAL.” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper la 
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 triliing differences between 
subscribers and honest responsible advertisers. Neither 
will we be responsible 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, OCTOBER 10, 1903. 
STORY OF A DAY’S WORK. 
Readers should not forget the cash prizes offered 
for the best account of a day’s work on the farm. A 
number of essays have already been received. There 
should be many more. We have finally decided to 
extend the time to November 1. Remember—we offer 
four prizes of $12, $10, $8 and $5 for the best story 
of one day’s work on the farm! 
♦ 
For years we have tried to learn of a successful 
labor union among farm hands. We have traced 
down dozens of reports to find them all false. The 
latest report comes from southwestern Indiana. It 
was stated in a plausible newspaper article that farm 
hands and miners had joined in a successful union. 
Readers in that section report that there is nothing 
in the story. From the very nature of their char¬ 
acter and occupation it seems impossible to “com¬ 
bine” farm hands like workmen in other trades. 
♦ 
If rural mail carriers can carry large parcels as 
an accommodation for friends along the route, why 
cannot Uncle Sam carry parcels everywhere—as he 
does letters? 
He can! 
Why, then, doesn’t he do it? 
Chiefly because the express companies object be¬ 
cause it would force them to come down from their 
extortionate rates or get out of business. 
Do the express companies own Uncle Sam? 
No, but they have him at close range at Washing¬ 
ton, and will hold him there until the people make 
noise enough to scare them off! 
* 
Farmers in the four States of Louisiana, Missis¬ 
sippi, Alabaxia and Georgia used 466,000 tons of fer¬ 
tilizer in 1901—nearly double what was used 10 years 
before. In spite of the vast outlay of monej’ required 
to purchase these fertilizers the soil of most south¬ 
ern farms does not increase in fertility. What the 
South needs as much as anything to check this fear¬ 
ful drain for fertilizers and build up the soil is sys¬ 
tematic dairying. The cow will bring the South more 
cash and more cotton. Yet, is it not strange that 
practically all the opposition to the Grout anti-oleo 
bill came from the Southern States? To those who 
know what dairying will do for exhausted land this 
southern fight against the dairy industry is beyond 
comprehension! 
A READER asks why there should be such a wide 
variation in prices buyers will pay for the same 
grades of apples in different parts of New York State, 
for instance. There may be cases where there is no 
well-defined reason for this difference, but in most 
instances it can be traced to distance from market, 
small orchard area, hills and rough roads, or lack of 
competition, the last usually being the result of the 
others. These are all conditions dealing with getting 
at and handling the crop, rather than with its quality. 
In the extensive apple-growing districts of western 
New York a buyer needs to travel but a short distance 
to find all the fruit he can handle. He can afford to 
buy on a closer margin on account of less cost of time 
and horse hire for himself and his packers, and he 
has to pay more on account of the active competition 
met in easily-reached localities. But there are hilly 
sections, some distance from railroad, where one could 
not find 200 barrels of apples for sale in a whole day’s 
traveling. Orchards are small and scattering and 
roads rough, so that the fruit is bruised in hauling 
to shipping point. Those thus situated are at a dis¬ 
advantage unless they have a local market for perish¬ 
able products. We have known instances where a 
farmer picked and hauled fine Spies and Baldwins 
four miles over the hills and got only 40 cents a 
barrel! 
* 
Dairy Commissioner M’Conxeix, of Minnesota, has 
ruled that after January 1, 1904, no butter color con¬ 
taining coal-tar dyes can be used in that State. While 
this is a radical measure the decision is not unexpect¬ 
ed. The reason for barring out these colors is the 
fact that they contain a dangerous poison. While 
no one believes that the small amount of color used 
in butter could prove injurious, the use of the article 
is considered dangerous. Farmers are doing their 
best to secure a pure food law which shall prevent 
dealers or manufacturers from using inferior substi¬ 
tutes or poisonous drugs. There is no sense in de¬ 
manding purity on the part of others, while at the 
same time we use an article like butter color which 
is known to contain a poison. The battle against 
oleo was won on the “fraud” issue—that is the argu¬ 
ment that no dishonest article shall wear the cloak 
of honesty. Having won that fight, dairymen must 
now stand to their guns and demand purity in butter. 
We hope that New York State will at once follow 
Minnesota in prohibiting the use of these dyes! 
« 
According to reports from Oregon, the introduc¬ 
tion of carp into lakes there has driven away the wild 
ducks. Of course the phlegmatic carp does not chase 
the ducks off the premises, but he devours the vege¬ 
tation that formed the birds’ feeding grounds, and 
exterminating the fish seems out of the question. 
Years ago a great many muddy ponds and still creeks 
were stocked with carp, with the idea of providing 
a cheap and valuable food supply. It wms soon found 
that while the fish thrived amazingly in most in¬ 
stances, their value as food was lessened by the fact 
that people declined to eat them;’ one trial of the 
coarse and muddy-flavored flesh w'as sufficient for 
the average American palate. Stewed or baked with 
piquant sauces as served in Europe, our opinion of 
the carp might improve, but the abundance of native 
fish of excellent quality, suitable for pan use. leaves 
little room for inferior qualities, and w’e think that 
few owners of fish ponds now think of stocking their 
waters with the carp, w'hich, according to some Euro¬ 
pean writers, cares so little for his native fluid that 
he may be fattened like a Strasburg goose, if hung up 
in the cellar in a bag of wet moss, and duly crammed 
each day! 
* 
F.vrmers everywhere are talking about “inoculat¬ 
ing” the soil in order to get a better yield of Alfalfa, 
clover or other crops. Some of them are actually 
bringing soil from fields where these crops have 
grown, to scatter on their own land. Ten years hence 
such things will be quite common. Ten years ago 
most farmers would have laughed at the idea, yet 
many of them knew that the principle was sound. 
They used a small quantity of buttermilk from one 
churning to “start” the cream for another! What 
was this but “inoculation,” since it carried the proper 
bacteria to the cream and ripened it? Farmers ob¬ 
served also that where they used manure which came 
from stock fed on clover they had the best “catch” 
of clover seed. Here was another case of “inocula¬ 
tion,” for we now know that the manure contained 
the special bacteria which affect the growth of clover. 
So science is now making these things clear—show¬ 
ing the why of the how, and enabling us to do at will 
many things which we formerly guessed at. Knowl¬ 
edge of these things grows like a snowball when it 
once fairly starts. 
* 
We have heard people misjudge the influence of the 
Grange because its membership does not increase 
more rapidly. They judge its power and influence by 
the proportion of its actual members to the total 
number of farmers in the country. No one will do 
that who is at all acquainted with the workings of 
the order. Suppose one who knew nothing about it 
saw a housewife take half an ounce of yeast and put 
it in 10 pounds of flour. If he judged by the weight 
alone he might be justified in saying that it was too 
small to raise the bread. That is not a fair estimate, 
however, for the yeast swells and works out into all 
parts of the loaf. The Grange has ever acted like the 
leaven of good farming and good citizenship. Thou¬ 
sands who have never joined the Grange and who, 
perhaps, never will join it, have been made better 
men and better farmers because a Grange was located 
near them. Wherever the Grange goes it sets a 
higher standard of living, a higher culture and gives a 
rallying place where farmers can at least make their 
wishes known. We have long believed that the 
Grange is one of the great uplifting forces in Ameri¬ 
can civilization, because from its very nature it can 
reach a class of people and secure a hold upon locali¬ 
ties which no other American organization can do. 
A Grange in a country village makes a good antidote 
for the local rumshop and other headquarters for evil. 
The question of redeeming many of our country 
neighborhoods is largely a moral one, and ever will 
be. The best work of the Grange is done back among 
the hills where life is crude and hard, and where the 
organization offers a culture and entertainment 
which cannot be obtained elsewhere. 
* 
Last year there were imported from Europe into 
this country $2,476,482 worth of wine lees and cream 
of tartar! What of it? Every dollar’s worth should 
have been made here, with a large surplus for export. 
Tartaric acid and cream of tartar are used in baking 
powders. As most people know a “baking powder” 
is a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and some acid 
which, when moisture is added, sets free carbonic 
acid gas and thus “raises” or spreads out the bread. 
The acids which are obtained from grapes are the 
best for this purpose, but they are expensive—tar¬ 
taric acid costing 31 cents a pound wholesale. Cali¬ 
fornia produces many grapes, and vineyards are con¬ 
stantly increasing. Grapes which cannot be sold for 
eating purposes must be made into wine or raisins— 
often to such an extent that the market for these 
products is demoralized. If part of these grapes could 
be used for making tartaric acid we could save the 
millions now sent abroad and also provide a new 
article for export. The American Grape Acid Com¬ 
pany, of California, offers a prize of $25,000 to any¬ 
one who will devise a process by which tartaric acid 
can be made economically from California grapes. 
Here is a chance for some chemist to earn money and 
fame, and also serve his country in a practical way. 
* 
The advocates of the barge canal cannot seem to 
agree about its cost to the taxpayers of the State! 
The Evening Post of this city is a rabid advocate of 
the canal, and it clearly expects that the farmers will 
be forced to pay their share of the expense. Here 
we have it: 
Gov. Odell's talk to the farmers of Seneca County on 
the subject of the cost of the canal is worthy of much 
closer attention than his platitudes and imitation epi¬ 
grams delivered elsewhere during his tour of the State 
fairs. He affirms that even if the annual cost of the 
canal improvements were to be levied directly upon the 
counties, the average 100-acre farm would pay for this 
I'urpose just $1.65 per year. This, if true, is a good answer 
to the chaj'ge, industriously circulated throughout the 
rural districts, to the effect that taxes will be greatly 
iiicreased if che referendum is favorably acted upon. 
The Governor still declares that the canal cost can. in 
any event be paiu from revenues derived from indirect 
sources. We should be more ready to believe that he is 
able to carry out this cherished plan if he gave us more 
of the details. He spoke with equal confidence of the 
general revenues a year ago but the public was amazed, 
on reading his message, to find that the details were 
wanting. Being thus forewaimed, we think the voters of 
the State, both in the rural and the urban communities, 
will expect direct taxation for canal purposes until it is 
shown exactly what new sources of indirect revenue 
are really available. 
The Governor understands well enough that a great 
majority of the farmers oppose the barge canal 
scheme. He tells them that it is all right because 
some one else will have to pay for it! How can 
Governor Odell or anybody else guarantee any such 
thing? The courts may declare his plans unconstitu¬ 
tional or some Legislature may upset them and thus 
shut off this source of revenue. What sensible man 
would incur a large private debt on the spoken prom¬ 
ise of an outside party that some one else will pay it? 
BREVITIES. 
Hard cider makes .s»ft character. 
Don’t neglect the stoves too long. 
Exports of ginseng last year $856,515. 
We shall find a virtue in many weeds. 
Some men are tired rather than inspired. 
The foolish man tells his wife about “mother’s cook¬ 
ing.” 
HUM4.N nature—to pay more attention to human rights 
than to duties. 
Will not bread and cheese make a better and cheaper 
balanced ration than bread and butter? 
Potash salts hold moisture in the soil. This retards 
evaporation and will sometimes prevent Injury from 
frost. 
In reading the stories of a day’s work already sent 
in we are surprised to see how much time is lost in 
mending fences and hunting stray animals. 
Chinese Giant pepper has given us great satisfaction 
the past Summer. It is mild and well flavored, and ap¬ 
pears to be one of the few sweet peppers that do not 
shock the unwary consumer by suddenly developing a 
taste like a torchlight procession. 
