852 
December 26 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS EARNER'S RARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collinowood, Kditor. 
Ob. Walter van Fleet, ) 
Mrs. K. T. Royle, J-Associates. 
John ,T. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. 6d., or 8^ marks, or 10^ francs. 
with this healthful fluid. Our experiment stations 
and agricultural colleges have been of great help in 
this trade development. They have shown the food 
value of milk and have given us improved methods of 
handling it so that we may guarantee purity and 
quality. The cities do not yet consume half the milk 
they should and the amount demanded will con¬ 
stantly increase. Surely the outlook is bright for 
the cow—and for her brother man if he can work 
out a few middleman’s profits! 
* 
“A SQUARE DEAL.” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is 
backed by a responsible person. Hut 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 trifling 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 cheek or bank draft 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1902. 
IO Weeks for lO Cents. 
“Why are you forever patting the farmer on the 
back and picturing him as a saint?” asks a city 
reader. We are not patting anybody on the back, 
and there are very few saints on earth. A farmer 
can be just as mean as a coal baron or a railroad 
magnate if he wants to—though happily his mean¬ 
ness would not touch so many people. We do say 
that farm life gives a man and his family the chance 
to develop in the most natural and harmonious way. 
The farmer who is true to his calling and makes most 
of his advantages is the best citizen in the country. 
We do not say the richest or the most influential in 
politics—but the best. Why there are some good folks 
who say that when we demand the common rights 
which belong to the farmer we are preaching revolu¬ 
tionary doctrine! What difference does it make what 
they call it? The demand will go on! 
At this time we wish to thank our good friends for 
the interest they are taking in introducing The R. 
N.-Y. to their neighbors and friends on this 10 weeks 
for 10 cents plan. At no other time in the history of 
the paper did names ever come in so fast, and from 
so many quarters of the country. This is a great en¬ 
couragement to us, and gives us our best inspiration 
to make it a help to the farmer who reads it, and a 
power for good to the whole agricultural interests of 
the country. We simply want you who have helped 
in this work to know that your interest has been ap¬ 
preciated. 
* 
The coal operators and mine owners seem to have 
made the mistake of their lives when they did not 
settle the differences with the workmen out of court. 
The testimony of the poor wretches who have been 
caught by death or sickness in the power of the “coal 
barons” has shocked the country, and cannot be for¬ 
gotten. 
* 
The excellent description of Mr. Vergon’s orchard 
makes it clear that the “mulch method” is designed 
for rich soil. Where you have a soil well stuffed 
with fertility the mulch will enable the trees to get 
hold of the plant food. On poor thin soil the mulch 
will keep the soil cool and moist, but it will not add 
fertility to it. This must be added in some way on 
poor soils. 
* 
We used to issue special Christmas editions and 
write long Christmas greetings. Of late years we 
have come to think it better to carry something of 
the spirit of Christmas into every week and day of 
the year. We try to send such a greeting to our read¬ 
ers 52 times during each year. You may run these 
all together and add to them, and still you could not 
equal the Christmas cheer of health, happiness and 
hope which we gladly wish for all our friends at this 
happy season. 
* 
Our observation is that many readers of The R. N.- 
Y. are good letter writers. A very large proportion 
of them have printed letter-heads bearing the name 
of the farm. Such men are after facts, and rather 
than accept any half statement they proceed to dig 
the missing half out with a pen. We want to sug¬ 
gest to all these men that they do us a favor when 
writing about things suggested in the paper by nam¬ 
ing The R. N.-Y. This will help us and also help the 
writer. It is a small thing to do, yet small things 
may grow like a snowball if well followed up and 
turned over. 
* 
It was a happy and hopeful body of men who met 
at the New York State Dairymen’s meeting at James¬ 
town last week. These “brothers of the cow” find 
milk products bringing higher prices than for some 
years past, with the outlook for continued demand. 
The passage of the anti-oleo bill has undoubtedly 
helped greatly, but the increased consumption of raw 
milk is probably the greatest factor. This increase 
is the result of education and a better system of dis¬ 
tribution. People now understand that milk is a food 
—not a mere luxury. The city restaurant trade in 
milk has become enormous. Ten years ago it was an 
uncommon thing to see a guest at a restaurant drink¬ 
ing a glass of milk—now the tables are fairly white 
t 
Those Maine farmers are hard to down. They want 
the scientific men to give them something better than 
Paris-green for killing Potato beetles. Dr. Twitchell 
of the Maine Farmer prepared an exhaustive paper 
for the Pomological Society, and there is general talk 
about it. Congressman Allen promises to interest 
himself in the matter and will urge the Department 
of Agriculture to find something that will kill the 
bugs without hurting the vines. One thing that will 
hurt this movement is the fact that some farmers 
feel that a private interest is back of it. The manu¬ 
facturers of a mixture which is reported to kill most 
of the bugs without damage to the vines are taking 
advantage of this talk to push the sale of their goods. 
They have a perfect right to do this, and by doing it 
furnish farmers with a new argument for stirring up 
the scientists to more strenuous deeds. Come, gen¬ 
tlemen of the public service, can’t you do what busi¬ 
ness men are doing, and cut off part of the cost? 
• 
We once discussed the future possibilities of force 
with a noted gunmaker of Europe. He was an old 
man whose life had been passed in manufacturing 
cannon. “Where,” we asked, “will the world go to 
obtain power for its work when the coal supplies are 
exhausted?” For answer he held up a small piece of 
steel. “Imagine the power required to force and hold 
the particles of that metal together. When we learn 
how to overcome that force of cohesion and harness 
it as we now harness the heat arising from the com¬ 
bustion of coal we may carry in one hand the force 
required to run an engine!” When we remember how 
man is gaining dominion over natural forces this does 
not seem entirely a dream. We may take any one of 
500 farmers—each one self-centered, firm in his pre¬ 
judices, and, to an extent, selfish in defense of his 
own private interests. Let us imagine what would 
happen if each of these farmers could relax a little 
of his selfish power and combine it in an unselfish 
movement for the true benefit of agriculture! 
* 
The outbreak of apthous fever, commonly known 
as foot-and-mouth disease, among cattle in several 
New England States carries with it a fear of wide¬ 
spread human infection, as the disease is highly con¬ 
tagious among warm-blooded animals, and is known 
to be transmissible to humans under certain condi¬ 
tions of exposure, but such infection is really so rare 
as not to be worth consideration. Like many other 
plagues and pests it came to this country originally 
from northern Europe. Though seldom fatal, apthous 
fever causes great loss in reducing the flesh and vi¬ 
tality of the animals attacked, but particularly 
through the interference of commerce by the rigid 
quarantine needed to limit an epidemic of this seri¬ 
ous affection. The average loss of flesh in horned 
cattle attacked by apthous fever is estimated at near¬ 
ly $10 each, and in dairy cows much more. The dis¬ 
ease is primarily a skin affection, and is especially se¬ 
vere about the mouth, udder and feet, developing se¬ 
vere and extensive blisters about these parts. The 
hoofs, as appendages of the skin, suffer great damage 
in neglected cases, especially among hogs and sheep. 
The most efficient treatment consists mainly in the 
local application of antiseptics and should always be 
given by a competent veterinarian. The infection of 
apthous fever appears to be entirely transmitted by 
direct contact with disease products and chiefly af¬ 
fects humans through milk from sick animals, when 
it may produce dangerous irritation of the intestines. 
It is plain the most radical means should be taken to 
stamp out the disease on its first appearance and 
limit outbreaks to the smallest possible territory, 
and it is in every case a fit subject for control by local 
health boards. Apthous fever is one of a small group 
of diseases communicated to man by domestic ani¬ 
mals, among which rabies or dog madness is the most 
common and distressing. Glanders and carbuncle, or 
malignant pustule, both fortunately quite rare, are 
examples of this class, while able authorities still 
deny the possibility of consumption or bovine tuber¬ 
culosis being transmitted from cattle to man. 
* 
Vote for Prof. L. H. Bailey. 
Not for President, Congressman, Governor or 
Alderman but for a position which is of far greater 
importance to the farmers of New York and the 
country. 
Prof. Bailey should be made head of the New York 
College of Agriculture at Cornell when Prof. I. P. 
Roberts retires. Prof. Roberts carries with him the 
love and respect of every farmer in the State who is 
capable of appreciating faithful service. His work 
must be taken up by young and vigorous hands—or¬ 
ganized, detailed and carried down and out to the 
people. No man in the country is better able to han¬ 
dle the mighty awakening forces of agricultural edu¬ 
cation than L. H. Bailey! 
“I didn’t know be was running for the office!” 
He is not "running” for anything. There is noth¬ 
ing of the politician about him! That is one great 
reason why we want him to accept the position. 
There are some things about the duties of such an 
office that would be distasteful to him. He would take 
the place at a personal sacrifice. The office seeks the 
man—we want you to help roll it to him. Why 
should he head the college of agriculture? He is 
known all over the State and Nation as an able or¬ 
ganizer, a fine teacher, a thorough student and a 
clear-headed and sympathetic man. Everybody 
knows him and has confidence in him. He will not 
know what we say here until he reads it in print! 
How can we vote? 
This is not an elective office, but the farmer can 
touch almost any public question by voting with the 
postage stamp! We want you to sit down at once and 
write a letter to President J. G. Schurman, Ithaca, 
N. Y., telling why you want Prof. Bailey at the head 
of the College of Agriculture, no matter where you 
live! Give him also your ideas about agricultural 
education in New York. Don’t put this off, but do It 
at once. The postage stamp vote is a great privilege 
for the American farmer. 
Vote for Prof. L. H. Iiailey! 
• 
BREVITIES. 
In many cases cleanliness is godliness! 
A black eye is the fighter’s trade mark. 
Keep, oh keep the medicine signs off your barn! 
Why talk of what you do not know except to ask ques¬ 
tions? 
H. Henn is the appropriate name of a New York egg 
dealer. 
Tell us who has lost trade through rural mail and 
telephones! 
Remarkable, how many farmers are feeding cabbages 
to their cows! 
A “white Winter” covers many black deeds which we 
have done on the soil. 
Billy Gormand, Mr. Mapes’s pig, certainly has to 
take a back seat as the returns come in. 
Don’t you forget that we never shall have a better 
agriculture till we have better farmers! 
Now then, ye scientific teachers of the farmer, don’t 
forget the hunger and thirst of the heart. 
Experiments with sugar beets do not seem to indicate 
a high feeding value. They evidently disappoint most 
farmers. 
A prominent scientist says that a pound of cherries 
carries more than 24,000,000 bacteria on the skin of the 
fruit, and yet the consumer growls at one poor little lone¬ 
some worm inside it. 
How often we are told of people who “cannot open their 
mouth without putting their foot in it!” A sort of foot- 
and-mouth disease, quite prevalent, which no government 
has yet been able to stamp out. 
We would not care to use refuse hops, chip dust or tan- 
bark for mulching strawberries because such substances 
are likely to pack down too close over the plants and 
smother them. We prefer coarse covering. 
We are told that the Japanese workmen have driven 
white men from the strawberry business at Florin, Cal. 
While this has made “more business” for the section it 
is not the sort of business that benefits Americans! 
A deep thinker suggests that persistent destruction of 
forests will finally cause the earth to dry up and blow 
away. It may be possible, in the course of time, to cause 
the earth to dry up, but it seems unlikely to extend that 
process to many of its inhabitants. 
