372 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
May 26 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TUE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homea. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, ) 
H. E. Van Deman, VAssociates. 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, ) 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, 12.04, equal to 
8a. 6d., or 8% marks, or 10% francs. 
ADVERTISING- RATES. 
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of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 25 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with ,l Adv.," 75 cents per 
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Advertisements inserted only for responsible and honorable houses 
We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
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should appear in every letter. 
Remittances may be made in money order, express order, 
personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
400 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1900. 
Tiie last batch of Ruby Queen roses is being mailed 
this week. They should be in the hands of subscrib¬ 
ers as soon as this issue of the paper. If you do not 
receive it by May 26, advise us, and we will look into 
the cause of the delay. 
e 
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania decided that 
what is known as the color clause of the oleo law is 
sound. This means that oleo cannot legally be sold. 
Yellow is the standard color of butter, and it is illegal 
to counterfeit other fats by coloring them yellow. In¬ 
stead of grieving over this, the oleo men ought to re¬ 
joice, for it gives them a grand chance to prove that 
people are eager to buy oleo. Let them put it on the 
market for just what it is—uncolored, and with no 
attempt to call it butter. Let them offer it for sale 
at the same per cent above cost of production that 
dairymen receive. That ought to satisfy any honest 
man. 
* 
There are lively times in Pennsylvania over those 
oleo cases. Nobody denies that oleo has been fraudu¬ 
lently sold for butter. The whole business has been 
a humbug and rogue’s game. Who is responsible for 
it? That is the question now working in the minds 
of Pennsylvania farmers. Bo'th measures and men 
are responsible. There is too much money in the 
counterfeit butter trade to trust the rascals in it. It 
is a quicker, wiser and cleaner method to go right to 
the factory or headquarters and tax the colored oleo 
so that it must stand fairly with butter. There are 
many farmers in Pennsylvania who claim that a new 
deal all around is needed in the State Agricultural 
Department: 
* 
Experiments made in Chicago prove that milk 
“preserved” with formalin will kill kittens. The milk 
inspector says: 
Take two kittens, for instance, two healthy cats of the 
same age and size. We would feed one kitten on pure 
milk and the other on milk which had been doctored 
with preparations of formalin. The result was invariably 
the same. The kitten which was fed on pure milk grew 
fat and hearty; the other kitten began to droop, languish, 
and lost strength. Soon it would fall sick; in two or three 
weeks it would die. 
An ordinary cat has seven lives, and we may safely 
credit a Chicago cat with two extra chances. The 
average baby has not more than half a life. When 
fed on milk that would kill a cat, its chance for living 
is whittled down to a fine point. It is a murderous 
practice to put these cursed “preservatives” Into 
milk! 
* 
\ That question which is discussed under Live Stock 
this week is certainly “up to date.” Here is a man 
whose farm is worth $100 per acre. He can sell milk 
at a good figure. Shall he put that land into pasture 
crops, or crowd it with corn and soiling crops, so as 
to keep more cows? We never like to give a man 
direct advice that would lead to a complete change in 
his methods of farming. Such a change means too 
much to him. He should grow and feel his way along 
into it, if at all. It is true, however, that no man can 
afford to use land worth ?100 per acre for pasture. 
There was once an idea that the dairy business be¬ 
longed to low-priced land—back in the country—far 
from market. That is not true of the present age. 
The silo and the plan of growing a succession of 
green crops right through the year have changed all 
that. Some of the most profitable dairies are now 
within a few miles of town, with each acre so man¬ 
aged as to provide the roughage for a cow. We 
crowd high-priced land when we plant i't with pota¬ 
toes or onions—why not push it when we plant corn? 
J As we go to press the milk situation in this city is 
mixed up. The milk producers, through their agent, 
Mr. Graves, are endeavoring to secure fairer prices. 
The old Milk Exchange is, of course, opposed to this, 
since the new arrangement would destroy the monop¬ 
oly they have so long enjoyed. Some of the daily 
papers are foolishly accusing the farmers of forming 
a “trust,” when the old Milk Exchange system is the 
meanest sort of a combination. Now, as never before, 
do the farmers need cooperative creameries, where 
their milk can be handled, if need be. As a result of 
the “milk war” in Baltimore, Md., a great creamery, 
capable of handling 55,000 gallons of milk in a day, 
has been opened in that city by the Milk Association. 
That will take care of the surplus, and thus regulate 
prices. 
* 
There seems to be a renewed interest in rye cul¬ 
ture on many farms. The efforts made to introduce 
Crimson clover seem to be partly responsible for 
this. How can that be, when Crimson clover is so 
much better than rye as a manurial crop? It is true 
that the clover adds more nitrogen to the soil, yet 
it lacks the hustle and hardiness of the rye. Clover 
has shown many farmers the folly of leaving culti¬ 
vated fields bare and idle after the Summer crops are 
removed. Let a farmer once find a leak in the 
syrup or the kerosene barrel and he would be foolish 
indeed if he did not put a dish where it would catch 
the drip. The catch crop prevents the waste and drip 
of valuable nitrates. If Crimson clover is like a dish 
that cracks and will not hold, the farmer hunts for 
a stronger one, which he is sure to find in rye. 
* 
A western Congressman, who has been distrib¬ 
uting his quota of free seeds among his constituents, 
recently received the following appreciative letter: 
Kind sir and esteemed friend, I have the seeds, They 
came this morning and suit very well, especially the 
cabbage seed which grows well in this soil, please send 
me 2 loads of fertiliser and a new harrer and if you 
could send me a man for a couple of days I would be 
obliged. With this help I know the garden stuff will 
turn out al rite and I will send some to you and the 
president. Your grateful well wisher and Supporter. 
The writer of that letter is thoroughly logical. 
Why not send a “harrer” and weeder with the seeds; 
also a range and a ton of coal? If Uncle Sam is to 
compete with seedsmen in sending out free seeds, and 
with farm papers in issuing free literature, why per¬ 
mit such class discrimination, and ignore the issuing 
of free dinner pails to mechanics, or free automobiles 
to toiling millionaires? 
* 
Florida cassava growers and starch manufacturers 
are asking protection from unequal foreign competi¬ 
tion. Cassava has been advised as a remunerative 
crop in Florida, but it now appears that the United 
States Court in California has held that tapioca flour, 
cassava starch and manioca starch, all of which are 
made from cassava root, are not subject to duty under 
the Dingley law. Without protection, the Florida 
growers say that their enterprises must be abandoned, 
and they ask, therefore, that a bill be introduced to 
provide for this product, by making tapioca flour and 
all starches and flours made from the roots dutiable, 
like potato starch. Under the Dingley law the duty 
on potato starch is iy 2 cent per pound. No doubt the 
manner in which sugar and tobacco growers in¬ 
fluenced Congress in regard to Puerto Rico’s tariff has 
encouraged the growers of other products in demand¬ 
ing favorable legislation. 
* 
The visitation of the first severe “hot wave” of the 
season should remind those who have the care of 
chickens that they require large supplies of good 
water to enable them to endure high temperatures 
wftlh any reasonable degree of comfort. The faithful 
hen cannot shed her over-thick garments until the 
midsummer moult, and must endure the frizzling 
heat as best she may. The only alleviation we can 
offer her is shade and abundance of water, of which 
she will consume a surprising quantity on hot days, 
if kept reasonably fresh and inviting. In too many 
yards kept, or rather neglected, by amateurs, the 
poor chickens broil away the heated hours, with 
parched mouths, while their thoughtless human at¬ 
tendants are getting all the benefits of a siesta in the 
coolest part of the house or grounds. This especially 
applies to fowls that are yarded up in village lots 
and other places where their liberty is restricted. 
The farmer’s fowls are generally all right in this re¬ 
spect, and the professional chicken man may be ex¬ 
pected to realize the absolute necessity of an abundant 
supply of clean water to his charges, if he looks for 
commercial success, but the average cottager thinks 
that if his fowls are well-fed and housed his duty has 
been accomplished. If he would mentally place him¬ 
self in the position of a yarded hen, without water 
during a torrid afternoon, he would come to a very 
different conclusion. 
We have had a good deal to say about the Ben 
Davis apple, and have hit Ben some hard knocks in 
our time. We always like to be fair, and give every¬ 
thing its due. It must be admitted that figures talk 
for old Ben. Here are the New York market quota¬ 
tions for May 15: 
Apples, Ben Davis, prime to fancy.4 00@4 50 
“ Ben Davis, fair to good.3 00@3 50 
“ Baldwin, choice to fancy.4 00<g)4 50 
“ Baldwin, fair to good.3 00@3 50 
" Russet, Roxbury, per bbl.3 00@4 00 
“ Russet, Golden .2 25@3 00 
“ Poor to fair grades.2 00@2 50 
No use talking, that looks like business, for there 
are far more Bens than Baldwins in the market. Ben 
doesn’t even need cold storage to turn up smiling in 
May. He’s a tough customer; you find that out when 
you try to eat him, but he knows enough to lay low 
until the tender things have tendered their resigna¬ 
tion, and then he is king—until early apples appear. 
• 
Last week we explained the action of Congress¬ 
man S. E. Payne, of New York State, and other mem¬ 
bers of the Ways and Means Committee. These men 
were ordered by the House to ask the Secretary of 
the Treasury to give a statement of the materials 
used in making oleo. They refused, on the flimsy plea 
that the Secretary was prohibited by law from giving 
this information, and that they ought not to ask him. 
The House would not accept their excuse, and ordered 
them the second time. This time they did it, and the 
Secretary promptly submitted the following figures, 
showing what was used for the year ending June 30, 
1899: 
Percentage 
each ingre¬ 
dient bears 
to the 
whole. 
34.27 
23.82 
4.77 
.53 
.16 
.12 
.01 
.007 
.003 
15.55 
7.42 
4.76 
1.72 
3.86 
100.00 
Materials. Pounds. 
Neutral lard .31,297,261 
Oleo oil .24,491,769 
Cotton-seed oil . 4,357,514 
Sesame . 
Coloring matter . 148,970 
Sugar . H0JL64 
Glycerine . “i 963 
Stearine . 5,890 
Glucose . 2,550 
Milk .14,200,676 
Salt . 6,773,670 
Butter oil . 4,342,904 
Butter . 1,568,319 
Cream . 3,572,410 
Totals .91,322,260 
We will talk about these figures later. Our object 
now is to show the folly of the plea put up by Mr. 
Payne and the ethers in their efforts to protect the 
oleo makers. They must have known better! Why 
did they do it? 
* 
BREVITIES. 
Professor Available Nitrogen— 
That is my name, sir—I don't wish to brag, 
But you’ll have need of my services, when 
Dry weather comes and your crops seems to lag. 
You have seen men, sir—big-muscled and strong, 
Mighty in girth and prodigious in brain, 
Yet for the lack of nerve moping along 
Flabby and faltering—working in vain. 
No use to wish them new muscle and bone, 
That’s not the way to put courage in men, 
Tighten the heartstrings to give them new tone. 
Feed them on soluble faith nitrogen. 
Just so with crops that are moping along, 
Flying the mean, yellow flag of despair, 
How would you brace them, keep their heart strong 
How would you change “I will quit” to “get there?” 
Why, it’s as easy as putting new heart 
Into the work of your broken-down men 
Give me the job and I’ll soon make ’em start. 
Professor Available Nitrogen! 
Keep the asparagus beds clean. 
Some lawyers are sueing machines. 
Give clover a chance to dry itself. 
The sassafras has a bark that bites. 
The children welcome barefoot time. 
Thin out your beets to four inches apart. 
Milk is grass—condensed and then liquefied. 
You are right—a Jack of all trades is a cheap John! 
What is the past of shear? It is shore or— hand clip¬ 
pers? 
Gray hair does not always mean an increase in gray 
brain matter. 
Does the agricultural college ever show a boy how to 
sow wild oats? 
A lawyer is a man who receives most of the benefit 
from most laws. 
Let fashion’s slaves their country’s commerce boost 
by wearing feathers from the henhouse roost. 
In the small garden make free use of the broad hoe; 
it will save labor later on. It is never too hot to hoe. 
“Every tub should stand on its own bottom!” Of 
course—but that never would suit some tubs—oleo for ex¬ 
ample. 
Yes, sir, we think it will pay to try. seed corn on the 
ear and pay transportation for the cob, so as to see what 
the whole ear looks like. You can shell a few good ker¬ 
nels from a poor nubbin, but the tendency of those ker¬ 
nels will be to reproduce the nubbin. 
In most suburban villages during Spring and Summer, 
there is a demand for jobbing gardeners, to go out by 
the day, which Is never adequately filled. A man who 
can do planting, trim trees and shrubs, and arrange 
small gardens acceptably is in constant demand. 
