THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 15 
n4 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE nUS1NF.ES FARMER'S PARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Colling wood, Editor. 
Bit. Walter Van Fleet, i Assoelatps 
Mrs. K. T. Kovlk, t Associates. 
John J Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to Ss. tid., or cS% marks, or lOVfe 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, ana 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 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 15. 
Every man who sends a package of fruit or other 
produce away from his farm sends a part of his char¬ 
acter with it. His conscience is found at the bottom 
of the package, and is measured by the smallest and 
meanest specimens. His heart is found at the top in 
the little heap above the true measure. Strange to 
say, the more you give away these chunks of heart 
and conscience the more you have left! 
* 
It will not do to judge the spirit of a farmers’ meet¬ 
ing by the few men who do most of the talking. As 
well judge the ocean by the foam on its waves. There 
are plenty of men who listen, and seldom take the 
floor, who, if they would, could double the value of 
the meeting. They do not like to talk in public, and 
thus a rich fund of practical information is left un¬ 
tapped. The most effective institute speaker is often 
the one who will say little himself, and yet bring out 
these silent ones with their nuggets of wisdom. 
* 
It is proposed to remove all the war taxes except 
that on mixed flour. Why leave that? Because, like 
the tax on oleo, it is designed to ‘‘tax the fraud” out 
of business in food. The ‘‘mixed flour” is a counter¬ 
feit containing various cheap substances mixed with 
wheat flour in an effort to palm them off as the true 
article. Of course this one “war tax” was retained, 
for though the Spanish War is over, the war waged 
against the food frauds is an unending one. The 
same thing is true of “oleo.” It is a perfectly legiti¬ 
mate business to tax the fraud out of that substance 
and make it stand on its own merits. 
* 
Some weeks ago we told of the struggle that the 
farmers of south Jersey were making to obtain fair 
prices for tomatoes at the canning factories. The 
canners offered $7 per ton, but considering the price 
of canned goods and the outlook for the season the 
farmers felt justified in holding out for $8. It was 
thought that the farmers would not hold out, but they 
did, and the canners finally came down and offered 
the higher price. Good! That’s what you get by 
hanging together! It so often happens that the 
farmer has to say “What will you give” that it re¬ 
joices us to hear him say, “I will take $8 or quit!” 
* 
Wiiat do we think of the “centralized school” sys¬ 
tem? It seems to be a matter depending chiefly on 
local conditions. The great majority of those who 
write us about it are opposed to the plan. The stories 
they tell are fair enough. We would not, under any 
circumstances, permit our own children to go to the 
public school as some of these little ones are forced 
to go. The theory of the central school is a good 
one, but as it comes to us, without any urging, the 
facts are against it for many localities. We regard 
the question as one about which no general opinion 
can be given. It depends entirely upon the local con¬ 
ditions of those who find it hardest to get to school. 
* 
The man who sent us the pictures of the steers 
shown on page 102 says that the little boy is so in¬ 
terested in his team that he would rather go into 
the pasture with them than eat his dinner. That is 
saying much for a growing boy, and we will guaran¬ 
tee that he is learning lifelong lessons in patience and 
self-control by associating with those Devons. You 
will not find that boy kicking a horse or whipping a 
cow or giving way to his temper over trivial things 
that may be straightened out by a little patient si¬ 
lence. We may be pardoned for saying that the pa¬ 
tient training of a Devon steer helps to steer clear 
of the devil! 
* 
We are sometimes asked why The R. N.-Y. often 
discusses simple things that everyone ought to know 
all about! We do give some space to such matters, 
and have much personal correspondence about sim¬ 
ple and common things. Why? Because we do not 
consider it the business or duty of a paper to deal 
entirely with what people ought to do or ought to 
know. There is altogether too much attempted in¬ 
struction along these lines. Treat questions and sim¬ 
ple demands honestly and fairly, and you will come 
close to their true needs. Far better discuss their 
needs than their oughts! 
* 
Edison, the inventor, feels sure that his new pro¬ 
cess for preparing cement will so cheapen prices that 
dealers can retail it at $1 or less per barrel. Should 
this prove true it will be difficult to measure the 
benefit that will follow to builders. Wherever we go 
we find cement taking the place of lumber or brick. 
In a greenhouse recently we saw many rods of sub¬ 
stantial wall built of cinders and coal asnes mixed 
with cement. Walks, floors, walls, and supports are 
all being made of tnis handy material, which is used 
to bind together the cheap sand and stone of the 
farm. In some sections the age of lumber seems to 
be giving way to the cement age, and we expect to 
see the time when farmers will find dozens of new 
uses for it. 
* 
At the present writing it appears that Congress 
will grant some sort of tariff reduction to Cuba. The 
sugar beet growers have worked hard against a re¬ 
duction in the tariff on Cuban sugar on the plea that 
it will ruin their industry. The fact seems to be that 
unless some substantial trade advantage is given the 
Cubans the Island will face industrial ruin, with im¬ 
mediate annexation as the only relief. It is quite 
probable that in due course of time Cuba will become 
a State in the Union. To keep up a high tariff on 
sugar would only hasten this event. With this out¬ 
look it does not seem to us that the prospect for beet 
sugar growing in the North is bright. It will, how¬ 
ever, pay many farmers to grow the beets as food 
for stock, without considering their value at the 
sugar factory. 
* 
A town in central Kansas shows, in its tree-lined 
streets, a living monument to a man who left little 
behind him of wealth or fame. This man was a nur¬ 
seryman in a small way, selling trees and shrubs to 
his neighbors. When he sold a tree, he guaranteed 
its living, or replaced it. The climate is not favorable 
to many newly planted trees, and people often hesi¬ 
tated to plant, but this man gradually impressed his 
faith upon them, and reenforced it with works, for 
he had a habit of conveying barrels of water to his 
new plantings during a dry spell, and so watching 
over his young trees or shrubs that they naturally 
had to grow. That man has passed away, but he 
leaves behind him a memorial that dwarfs into insig¬ 
nificance the marble arches or skyward shafts we 
iaise to those we deem our country’s benefactors. 
Their names are graved on crumbling stone; his may 
be forgotten, but his influence lives, and he remains 
a benefactor to unborn generations. 
• 
What feature of his occupation does the thoughtful 
American farmer most dread? The contingencies of 
drought, frost and flood, of insect ravages, subtle 
plant and animal diseases, of varied accidents and of 
unjust tax discrimination are all taken into consid¬ 
eration and their probable effects discounted. He 
habitually calculates on wide margins of loss and 
small possible profits, and knows from long and sad 
experience that the transportation agencies and mid¬ 
dlemen will get a good share of his earnings anyway. 
These conditions he is always to a great extent pre¬ 
pared for, but what he has really learned to dread is 
a season of generally abundant crops whenever the 
unskilled and the careless are successful. At such 
times the railroads and handlers fatten on the pro¬ 
ceeds of his energy and forethought. American 
stocks rise on foreign exchanges, and the great con¬ 
suming public fares easily, saving from the glutted 
food markets a little money for the purchase of 
manufactured luxuries hitherto out of reach, but to 
farming communities generally no years are leaner. 
The aggregate results of such disastrous seasons 
will make a great showing in commercial returns, 
and are widely advertised as “prosperity,” but the 
actual return to the producer, whose labor and ex¬ 
pense are much increased by the marketing of a great 
bulk of material, is too often below the cost of pro¬ 
duction. The cry of overproduction or under con¬ 
sumption, so effectively used to curtail the output of 
manufactured commodities, never helps the farmer 
when his markets are glutted. His products are per¬ 
ishable and he must realize on them promptly. He 
is bound to do his best at all times, as he can never 
foresee the character of the coming season. The 
most profitable years to the capable farmer are those 
only of moderate productiveness, when his care and 
skill are rewarded by fair crops and living prices, and 
when only a reasonable amount of his soil’s fertility 
is carried away in marketable products. The fat year 
may be beneficial to the consuming public, but often 
is not to farmers under the present conditions of the 
distribution of agricultural commodities. 
* 
The House of Representatives spent last week 
struggling with the anti-oleo bill. There seems little 
doubt as to its final passage. James W. Wadsworth, 
covered with postage stamps sent him by indignant 
farmers, led the fight against it. He had at least the 
courage to come out in the open and fight against 
the bill, and we respect him for that! He is on the 
wrong side, however, and there are enough postage 
stamps plastered over him to pay postage for his safe 
delivery next Fall to a permanent retirement. The 
fight now is transferred to the Senate. We speak of 
the anti-oleo bill; when men begin to use the power 
and force of such proposed legislation to feather their 
own nests we believe in clipping off their names. 
* 
From year to year some of our eastern farmers go 
to the Middle West to see how the institutes and 
other meetings are conducted. They usually come 
back talking about as follows: 
Agriculture is the wealth maker in this Middle West. 
The farmer stands as a whole in a different relation to 
the State and society from that of the East. He’s “It,” 
while to a degree in New York and the East the other 
fellow is It. 
Yes, indeed, the western farmer is IT in the sense 
that he gets the seat of honor and is recognized as 
the foundation man of the great industrial team. In 
the East too often the farmer is it also, but this 
means that he is counted out to do the running and 
working for the rest. Why, some of these town peo¬ 
ple actually believe that because they handle things 
or make figures in a book amid brick and stone that 
they are to be ranked higher than he who lives on 
the green hills in partnership with Nature. One trou¬ 
ble with the eastern farmer is that he lets the city 
man count him out. It is time he did tne counting 
himself. 
* 
A recent article in The R. N.-Y. described the 
gradual growth of the seed trade from its small be¬ 
ginning, often as a side line in a general store, to its 
present vast extent. Many buyers believe that a large 
seed dealer has one big farm, where he grows all his 
seeds. This would be quite impracticable, because no 
one locality will grow all market seeds to perfection. 
The seed is grown in different localities by contrac¬ 
tors, whose work is carefully supervised by the seeds¬ 
man. Many seeds still come from Europe, but the list 
of American-grown seeds is constantly increasing, 
and it seems possible that, in the course of time, we 
may control the world’s commerce in seeds. There 
is no question that we owe much in our horticultural 
development to the great seed firms, whose energy in 
developing new varieties, studying cultural methods 
and imparting their knowledge to others is none the 
less valuable because commercial. The seedsman is 
usually the first to recognize the patient work of the 
hybridizer, or of the culturist who develops new and 
improved methods. His catalogue is the advance 
agent of horticultural interests, and, in most cases, 
it may be studied to advantage by everyone who 
grows or handles plants. It is a sad error to permit 
the exaggeration or inaccuracy of a very few to influ¬ 
ence us against the sound wisdom and reliability of 
the many. 
• 
BREVITIES. 
Does the hen appreciate a mash? 
The Summer silo laughs at drought. 
Send the downhearted man up head! 
Short stories from the long-faced man. 
Sow White clover and help out the bees. 
“Hens that balance their ration”—page 103. 
The gasoline engine seems to be much esteemed! 
A sensible article on sheep by Prof. Plumb—page 112. 
The separator saves ice—less work for canned frost. 
We march by opportunity and then are unable to go 
back to it. 
Don’t study merely to back up your own opinion- 
study to learn the truth. 
Count that day lost whose slowly rising sun finds you 
in bed with all your chores undone. 
The recent articles on Peach yellows have called out 
some lively discussion, which will be printed soon. 
