278 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 12 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homu, 
Established, 1850. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, / 
Mrs. K. T. Hoyle, ^ Associates. 
Joun J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
possible cent of the appropriation in distributing seeds 
that are actually new or promising. There are many 
new things that ought to be widely tested; new 
American varieties and introductions from foreign 
countries. Let the Agricultural Department handle 
this distribution wisely and conservatively, and it 
may in time be cleared of many of its objectionable 
features, and be truly beneficial to farmers. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to bs. 6d., or sy 2 marks, or 10y 2 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 honesi 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, APRIL 12, 1902. 
The Greening apple is too valuable a fruit to be un¬ 
justly accused. The claim that spraying causes it to 
scald more readily in cold storage is pretty well 
punctured this week. This ought to settle it. The 
Greening is becoming more popular. People are com¬ 
ing to know that fine quality may wear a green jacket 
as well as a red one. We expect to see a growing de¬ 
mand for Greenings. 
* 
Dr. W. J. Beal on page 267 points out one way in 
which the hybridizer might work with the bee to in¬ 
crease the clover-seed crop! By breeding a llower 
with a shorter corolla they will enable the honey-bee 
to work deeper and increase the per cent of fertilized 
flowers. What an illustration this is of the dominion 
over natural forces which has been given man! He 
may even change the shape of a flower in order to 
enable a bee to serve him! 
* 
Now and then a reader sends a question when re¬ 
newing his subscription. The right way to do this is 
to put the question on a separate sheet of paper and 
not mix it up with the matters relating to business or 
money. Some people start their letter with a refer¬ 
ence to the money they send, and then go on to dis¬ 
cuss something else—ending up by asking an impor¬ 
tant question. Then, in order to graft the two things 
securely, they write on both sides of the paper! Busi¬ 
ness letters must, of course, be filed and handled by 
themselves. The editorial department is distinct, and 
sometimes before these questions can get to us they 
have begun to turn cold. We value your questions, 
and will do our best to answer them. They are worth 
enough to occupy a sheet of their own! 
* 
It was a lawyer representing a southern State in 
the United States Senate who said during the recent 
debate on the “oleo” bill: 
“If this vote could be taken in secret barely a dozen 
Senators would vote for this bill.” 
This may or may not be true. It doesn’t give the 
Senate a very high character for justice, but it does 
make one fact as clear as a bell! The average Senator 
has a wholesome respect for the opinion of the farmer. 
He may, and often does, express in private an opinion 
about the countryman that is not very complimen¬ 
tary, but when that countryman sticks a pen into 
him there is a response! One great source of public 
strength in this country is the fact that Senators 
cannot settle such matters in secret. As it is, they 
do too much of such work behind the scenes! 
* 
What shall be done about the distribution of seeds 
by the Government? It is a humiliating thing to be 
obliged to admit that there is no prospect that Con¬ 
gress will put a stop to this public scandal. Every 
argument that common sense and honor can suggest 
has been advanced against it. Congressmen listen to 
arguments that would kill off any other proposed 
legislation, and then calmly vote to increase the ap¬ 
propriation for seeds! It may be about as well to 
accept the inevitable, assume that the distribution is 
to continue, and make the best possible fight for an 
improvement of the system. The original intent was 
to distribute new or untried varieties largely for the 
purpose of testing them. The framers of the law are 
not to be blamed for the modern scheme of sending 
cheap turnip and watermelon seed to those who can 
well afford to purchase their own supply! They 
meant well, and the thing to do now is to spend every 
What would you think of a man who, while he 
might be a master, was content to act as the servant 
of men who were evidently inferior to him in moral 
and manly qualities? You would probably call him 
names varying in strength with your choice of ad¬ 
jectives! Yet, did it ever occur to you that the Ameri¬ 
can farmer has, in some respects, the ear marks of 
such a man? He might, if he would, master and di¬ 
rect the National policy of this country and the public 
affairs of the majority of the States. This is shown 
by the fact that when, now and then, he rises, thor¬ 
oughly aroused, and makes his wants known, sneers 
change to solicitude, and the warm hand takes the 
place of the cold shoulder. Yet, perhaps the same 
year the mighty giant who has given this evidence of 
powerful mastery over the politicians will be found 
working in the dust and mud to do their bidding— 
with barely a work of protest. What is it that takes 
the lion’s heart out of the farmer and substitutes the 
courage of the patient ox? Two words tell the whole 
story—party politics! The R. N.-Y. is not a political 
paper, but we hope from time to time to analyze this 
situation and see if we can make it clearer! 
* 
Any man with a memory 10 years long can remem¬ 
ber the fierce opposition to the plan for free rural 
mail delivery when it was first proposed. Congress 
could spend millions for questionable or foolish things, 
but it was like pulling a pet tooth to get a public dol¬ 
lar for a fair experiment with this country delivery. 
One postmaster-general apparently did his best to kill 
the idea off. Look at it now! In numberless locali¬ 
ties it has become a settled feature of country life, 
and thousands of rural families have their mail 
brought to them daily. No public man would dare to 
suggest a discontinuance of this service—all are strug¬ 
gling to obtain new routes! We refer to this in order 
to show how opposition to a worthy and desirable 
public service can be overcome if the common people 
will let themselves be heard. One of the things sorely 
needed by the American public is a parcels post. We 
have not been able to obtain it because the express 
companies know that it would force then to cut down 
their extortionate rates, and they are strong enough 
to influence Congress against the change! Are we to 
sit down and grieve over this, and say that it cannot 
be helped? No—for it can be helped. Let the com¬ 
mon people of the country wake up and demand a par¬ 
cels post at a fair rate, and they will sweep the politi¬ 
cal opposition out of sight. Are they going to exer¬ 
cise their power? Certainly they are—if you think 
not, you are sadly mistaking the character of the 
American farmer! 
* 
After a long and exhaustive debate the anti-oleo 
bill passed the Senate on April 4 by a vote of 39 to 31. 
The last few days were lively ones for the friends of 
honest butter. It was reported fckat Senator Hanna, 
of Ohio, intended to vote against the bill because of 
the mistaken idea that union workingmen want col¬ 
ored oleo. When that became known farmers all over 
the country began to shower letters and telegrams 
upon Ohio’s Senator! It is enough to say that he 
finally voted for the bill! The oleo men made a tre¬ 
mendous fight for the New Jersey Senators and cap¬ 
tured one of them—Dryden. That is a fact for New 
Jersey farmers to remember when Mr. Dryden seeks 
reelection! Thus ends in a very satisfactory manner 
a long and hard battle. On one side were ranged a 
multitude of farmers—most of them in humble cir¬ 
cumstances, without great wealth or political power. 
On the other side was a compact body of wealthy men 
well organized, shrewd, crafty, with far-reaching po¬ 
litical power and the vast profits of a dishonest busi¬ 
ness at their command. A cynical student of Ameri¬ 
can politics would have said at once that the unor¬ 
ganized horde of farmers would have no chance 
against the well-drilled and equipped oleo men. That 
would have been true if the farmers had been content 
to put their case in the hands of the politicians. With 
the courage of desperation they cut free from party 
restraint, brushed the politicians aside, and went 
straight to the lawmakers themselves. The American 
farmer won this victory. The vote with the postage 
stamp settled it. We all know how at first the Con¬ 
gressmen put up a large bluff and fell back upon their 
dignity. The farmers kept sticking on the postage 
stamps until there was no dignity in sight! We ex¬ 
pect good results to follow the passage of this bill. 
The best of all is the conviction which must now 
come home to the American farmer that if his rights 
are to be protected he must brush aside the small po¬ 
liticians and use his personal influence “higher up.” 
The experience of the past year means in one sense a 
political revolution, because it has taught farmers the 
value of an old but untried weapon—the postage 
stamp! Will President Roosevelt sign the hill? The 
President is reported as desirous of serving through 
a second term! 
* 
In testifying before a special examiner in a suit to 
prevent the merging of the Northern Pacific with 
other competing railroads one of the most intelligent 
and successful of modern financiers defined the new 
“community of interest” idea as applied to American 
railroads in about the following words: “The men 
who own the railroads can do what they please with 
them—it means harmonious cooperation for the bene¬ 
fit of all interests.” The apparent candor and frank¬ 
ness of this declaration are much marred by the re¬ 
flection that no given number of persons, shareholders 
or otherwise, short of the entire population of the 
States thi’ough which it runs, can “own” a railroad. 
The stock shares may represent actual ownership in 
the equipment and that portion of the real estate 
bought from private individuals, but wherever the 
right of way crosses the public domain in the form of 
streets and roads, the occupancy is only on sufferance 
and under the implied obligation of operating the 
road in such a manner as to render it an essential 
public convenience. Railroads and other means of 
transportation using public rights and property for 
profit, are in effect, public highways, and must be so 
managed that in the long run the public gets a fair 
benefit from them, and that can only be when reason¬ 
able rates are charged, and collected without discrim¬ 
ination. There is a widespread belief that this is not 
being done, and that the proposed merging of hitherto 
competing roads is for the purpose of wiping out all 
healthy competition and fleecing the public to the ut¬ 
most extent the traffic may temporarily bear. The 
astute financier who uttered the quoted statement, 
knowing that it would be widely published, evidently 
meant it as a bluff, as he is certainly aware that no 
claim of real private ownership or permanent right 
to use any portion of public property is to be tolerated. 
It would be pleasant to think of the “harmonious co¬ 
operation for the benefit of all concerned” if the pub¬ 
lic who pays for the railroads should be included, but 
the obvious intent to combine solely for the benefit of 
shareholders and speculators is plain to all. Whatever 
may be the legal decision of the moment in the suits 
now on it will be found when the battle is fought to 
a finish that men who choose to assume they “own” 
railroads and similar semi-public enterprises cannot 
do as they please with them if their intentions are 
shown to be inimical to the public welfare. The equit¬ 
able control of public transportion bids fair to become 
the most urgent issue of the near future. 
* 
BREVITIES. 
Goetii before a fall—the man who has been spoiled by 
his wife into thinking that he is really somebody. 
A tight collar is a steal collar—it steals the horse's! 
wind. Wind is work with a horse—not with a man. 
It will be bad news for many gardeners to learn that 
the stock of true Nott’s Excelsior peas is about exhausted. 
The business of making binding twine and matting from 
marsh grass has assumed large proportions in Wisconsin. 
There was a time when eastern gardeners had little 
competition in sweet corn from distant points. Now it Is 
shipped many miles. 
Observe that Mr. Mopes sorted IS fine hens out of 1,500 
for a good breeding pen! He sorted by the “Standard” 
and got fine layers. 
A single incoming steamer recently brought over 2,000 
immigrants to this port. In the whole lot there was very 
little help for the American farmer. 
Suppose instead of as at present 45 agricultural colleges 
we had in this country four agricultural universities and 
300 farm schools, each located on a successful farm! 
Turning somersaults is the latest fashionable cure for 
fat people. A Summer assault upon the garden weeds 
with a hoe might not be fashionable, but it would be 
effective. 
Mr. Mapes thinks Cornell University a pretty good- 
sized “critter to lock horns with.” That is true, yet the 
habits of his pigs are just as worthy of mention as those 
of the college-bred animals. 
Cedar posts and shingles have advanced materially ip 
price, as there is a shortage in cedar stock. It is sai.d 
that all lumber stocks will advance this year, on account 
of the early end of the logging season. 
It is said that the Flathead Indians dye cow’s horns a 
dark color and sell them to “tenderfeet” as buffalo 
horns. There you have the “oleo” principle even to the 
horns—and the story they tell about it covers the tale! 
Australia continues to ship rabbits in cold storage to 
Great Britain, Melbourne receiving about 1,200 crates of 
two dozen rabbits each every day from the country dis¬ 
tricts. Poultry is also shipped very largely from Aus¬ 
tralia, both price and quality being better than last year. 
The Australian government maintains freezing chambers 
at Melbourne, where these products are prepared for 
shipment. 
