792 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 14 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Hehbkbt W. Coi/Lingwood, Editor. 
DR. WALTER VAN FLEET, I *ssoclat«8 
MRS. K. T. Royle, ^Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLIiAB A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. 6d., or HVz marks, or lOV^ francs. 
“A SQUARE 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 trilling 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, person,al check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
409 Pearl Street. New York. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1903. 
about it does not prove that they were understood! 
The other day we were unpacking some apple trees. 
Several were found showing crown-galj warts on the 
roots. A workman who had read just a little about 
nodules and nitrogen bacteria studied the crown-gall 
and said: “We must plant these sure, for here are 
those little warts on the roots. This tree will get 
niter out of the air!” The writer of the article had 
carried him just that far and then dropped him. In¬ 
stead of laughing at his “ignorance” we felt glad to 
see that he had taken a step toward wisdom. Such 
things must be repeated over and over again. It is 
good to think with the wise, but better to talk with 
the common people. 
* 
We are informed that the Supreme Court of Massa¬ 
chusetts has decided that where suit is brought 
against a milk dealer charged with selling milk below 
standard the burden of proof rests with the seller. It 
hajs generally been hel4 that in articles for w'hich 
legal standards have been fixed the buyer must be 
able to prove that the goods were below the stand¬ 
ard. Under this new ruling the seller must prove that 
the goods were up to the standard. Thus the burden 
of proof is shifted from the buyer to the seller and 
if the fatter offer standard goods for sale he must be 
prepared to prove that they are pure. Thus, step by 
step, the law is hedging in the counterfeiter and help¬ 
ing the consumer of pure food. 
* 
Ten Weeks for Ten Cents. 
We do not want you to forget that we will send 
The R. N.-Y. to your neighbor, who is not now tak¬ 
ing it, 10 weeks for 10 cents. Tell him about it, and 
get his order. 
>K 
Th.e U. S. Department of Agriculture will send small 
quantities of the nitrogen bacteria for peas, beans, 
clover and vetches to those who wish to try “inocu¬ 
lation.” It will interest many of our readers to try 
an experiment with these bacteria. We have great 
faith in the plan. 
* 
Mr. Manchester’s injunction regarding reckle.4s 
milking (page 798) ought to be photographed on the 
memory of every dairyman in letters six inches Long. 
But there are some men with so much “cut and 
slash” in their nature that they probably could never 
make good milkers. They are at their best when 
working up tough wiood or dynamiting rocks, and 
should stay away from the cow stable. 
* 
The voters of New York have decided that they 
want a large canal and a good-sized State debt. The 
rural counties piled up a majority of more than 176,- 
000 votes against it, but the unexpected vote in New 
York city overcame it. During the last few days of 
the campaign great efforts were made here to inter¬ 
est the labor vote, and this effect was successful. The 
canal won by the votes of those who favor any ex¬ 
penditure of public money that will “make work.” 
• 
TiiEjiE may be some R. N.-Y. readers who wanit to 
throw away a two-dollar bill! They can easily do 
it by going into the mushroom scheme mentioned on 
page 786. It is hard to think of any sane man really 
expecting to earn $12 a week in any such game—for 
it is a game to sell spawn at $2 which honorable 
seedsmen stand ready to sell at 25 cents. If you want 
to spend S2 on mushroom culture why not buy a re¬ 
liable book for $1, spawn for 25 cents and put 75 cents 
in your pocket, or use it for short-iterm subscription 
for The R. N.-Y.? 
* 
In many isolated sections of the North the plan of 
changing meat is quite common, although not sys¬ 
tematized like the beef clubs described on page 787. 
A is fattening a beef animal, or is ready to kill a fat 
sheep. He tells the neighbors, and here and there 
one speaks for a part, so that A easily disposes in 
advance of all that he can spare. This beef club plan 
would not be acceptable in any section accessible to 
meat markets or peddlers, on account of the arbi¬ 
trary division of the cuts, but where it is a case of 
this or nothing, A or B is willing to take his chunk 
of hoof or horn steak when his turn comes and run 
his meat chopper or have a little more soup. 
* 
We are giving some space to a discussion of the 
bacteria which enable plants like clover and peas to 
take nitrogen out of the air. This is one of the most 
important things connected with farming. The more 
it is studied the more wonderful it appears. Some 
wise men are impatient because the agricultural pa¬ 
pers go over this matter again and again. “Everyone 
knows all about it,” they say. That is where they 
make a mistake. Because it is an old story to them 
it does not follow that the common people fully un¬ 
derstand i1. The fact that they have made speeches 
The oleomargarine law is now to go before the U, 
S. Supreme Court. Suit was brought by the Govern¬ 
ment against a Cincinnati manufacturer who sold 
colored oleo without paying the retailers’ license. In 
the U. S District Court this case was decided against 
the dealer or manufacturer, and it goes to the Su¬ 
preme Court on appeal. In the lower court the oleo 
people claimed that since the color came from a regu¬ 
lar ingredient used in making the oleo it was not 
artificially cblored. They also attacked the original 
law whicJi states that the decision of the internal 
revenue commission is to be final. This they say is 
contrary to the spirit of the constitution. That the 
oleo people intend to make a hard fight is evident, 
for they have retained tlie lawyer who won the fa¬ 
mous decision against the income tax some years ago. 
We feel sure, however, that the dairymen have both 
justice and law on their side. 
* 
-A imETTY sure way to bring a horse’s bones to the 
surface, and fix in his mind the idea that “This 
world’s a wilderness of woe,” is, after a hard day’s 
work, to drive him two or three mil(es to town, tie 
him in front of the store, and let him eat “post meat” 
for an hour or two, while his owner is discussing 
National finance, the Panama Canal, the Chinese 
problem, or Turkey and the Powers. Many good 
horses have “gone to pieces” at 12 years of age be¬ 
cause they have had to do so much overtime. They 
are not given the time for eating and rest that nature 
requirfes, and are often tied in cold, windy places or 
drafty sheds, which tend to give them colds and stiff 
joints. Of course it is much better to avoid making 
a horse work so hard during the day that he cannot 
without injury be taken out at night, but the press 
of farm work often makes it necessary to crowd the 
team more than is good for them. At such times 
it is both economy and humanity to let the horses 
have the whole night to themselves. 
* 
The political contest in England over a change in 
the tariff laws is growing fierce. As was explained 
in The R. N.-Y., there is a movement on foot to 
change the old British policy of free trade by putting 
itariffs on manufactured goods and many food pro¬ 
ducts. It is not generally understood how a tariff on 
manufactured goods would affect this country. The 
following figures will show something of the way our 
trade is developing. The figures show value of ex¬ 
ports of various articles from this country to Great 
Britain for the nine months ending September of this 
year: 
Agricultural implements 
Books . 
Carriages . 
Cotton manufactures . • 
Electrical appliances ... 
Builder’s hardware . 
Sewing machines . 
Typewriters . 
Boots and shoes. 
Paper . 
Horses . 
Oats . 
Hops . 
Cotton-seed oil . 
Fertilizers . 
Sheep . 
Tallow . 
Butter . 
Cheese . 
Salt beef . 
$1,505,155 
896,340 
1,425,681 
1,002,949 
2,548,355 
2,156,512 
1,148,686 
1,236,617 
1,748.312 
1,423,379 
381,155 
56,787 
714,293 
428,147 
535,748 
660,881 
723,957 
444,724 
1,630,196 
1,106,706 
We iselject these comparative figures at random, to 
show that Great Britain is buying manufactured 
goods to a greater extent than many people realize. 
It will surprise some of our readers to be told that 
exjiorts of typewriters had three times the value of 
butter exports, and that England paid more for our 
boots and shoes than for our cheese! During the 
nine months ending September we sent to England 
$10,531 worth of hides and $12,140,545 worth of manu¬ 
factured leather! We must understand that the chief 
volume of our export trade to Great Britain is in cot¬ 
ton, breadstuffs and provisions—products of the farm. 
Our exports of manufactured goods are slowly increas¬ 
ing in value and this fact is probably the real cause 
of the present struggle to change the English tariff 
laws. The question never before came up in Eng¬ 
land as it does now, and we think the tariff advocates 
are, in time, sure to win, because England is not pros¬ 
perous at present, and there is a growing feeling that 
the English dollar is going away to pay labor in other 
lands. The question we are most concerned in is how 
the proposed change wilj affect the American farmer. 
Except possibly the wheat growers, we do not see how 
any farmer is to be greatly affected by the proposed 
English tariff. 
The Apple Consumers’ League knows no country, 
tongue or clime. Any person -with a craving for ap¬ 
ples may join. Here is a letter from a good Scotch¬ 
man in Canada: 
I always tak great pleasure In reading my auld fren 
iHE R. N.-Y., but d’ye ken the news? There is a doctor 
body frae the Wast wha cures people wi’ the laying on 
o his haunds. Weel, the body has the audacity to say 
aipples are not fit for human food! When I heard sic 
trash I was maist dumfoonit. We who are the fourth 
generation almaist brocht up on aipples, wl’ guid parrltch 
in the mornin’, an’ our fore bears lived tae a guid auld 
age. But if ye wad see this dyspeptic-lucken body, his 
spindle shank a guid whup-lash, very unfit tae meet any 
o’ our aipple fed callants! Perhaps the puir lad has been 
brocht up on Ben Davis when a chiel, and had na the 
preeveledge o’ eatin’ sic guid aipples as our Fameuse 
or McIntosh Red for early Winter, or a Spy and Grimes 
Golden for a midwinter and guid Reinette for May and 
June. I thought o’ startin’ a branch o’ the Aipple Con¬ 
sumers’ League, but there was nae need o’t, for the folk 
here are maist aw aipple consumers. I am yer auld fren, 
an aipple consumer. 
It would certainly jar an apple consumer to be told 
that apples are not fit to eat. It is quite likely that 
Ben Davis has driven a good many people to oranges 
who should now be eating apples. We must keep at 
the poor unfortunates who do not know what a good 
apple is. Educate them! Sweeten them with sour 
apples! 
BREVITIES. 
ANTi-fat for stock—frost. 
Scraps make good poultry food—especially roosters! 
Take advantage of these good days; there are bad ones 
on the way. 
Milk that is aerated with impure air is worse than 
if not aerated at all. 
Animal odor” in milk is almost wholly due to manure 
which has fallen into it. 
We should certainly expect a man with the suggestive 
name of Hoyt to advocate clean culture. 
Prof. Smith wants justice for the carp—page 787. It 
seems that the mud taste is only skin deep. 
W^E realize that the world is moving when we receive 
bulletins from the experiment station of Hawaii. 
Some men can talk close to their hearers, but let them 
take up a pen and straightway it becomes a 10-foot pole. 
A scientist has issued a warning against the careless 
use of radium, which seems unnecessary so long as the 
price is $700,000 a pound. 
A FRIEND who agrees with Prof. Smith, page 787, in his 
estimate of the carp as a food fish, says that the proper 
way to cook it is to stuff it with sauerkraut and boil 
it in beer. 
What is the truth about Cuba as a home for Ameri¬ 
cans? We shall try to tell. Why do you have to try— 
is it hard to tell the truth? Yes, it is hard to make 
people understand it! 
'Phe foot-and-mouth disease among cattle has been 
stamped out in New England. There are still some men 
over there who cannot “open their mouth without put¬ 
ting their foot in it!’’ 
The State of Wisconsin is trying to get rid of the Ger¬ 
man carp in its southern lakes, which are destroying the 
bass, and spoiling the wild celery beds that furnish a 
feeding ground for canvasback ducks. 
A MAN in Kentucky is said to have traded his mule 
for two pistols, one fiddle, one razor, one pocketknife, 
one Gatling gun and the remainder in good will. The in¬ 
ference is that a man who has a mule has no need for 
a Gatling gun. 
When a person says I know, we must have great re¬ 
spect for him or pity him. Sad experience teaches what 
one must go through in order really to know, and most 
of us understand what follows when experience punches 
a hole in a bluff. 
Dodder, a destructive parasite, has made its appear¬ 
ance in some Alfalfa fields in New York State. In order 
to get rid of it every affected field should be located. 
If you have such a field you should write to Prof. J. 
L. Stone, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
It is reported from California that an insect enemy 
of the Codling moth has been found. It is hoped that 
this Insect may be bred here and put after the Codling 
moth so as to drive it off the map. That is a pleasant 
thing to hope for, but let us not sell the spray pump.s 
for old junk yet. 
