452 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
•Time 17 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homea. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, | ._. . 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, f Associate Editors. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, 12.04, equal %c 
8s. 6d., or 8*4 marks, or 1054 francs. 
ADVERTISINGS RATES. 
Thirty cents per agate line (14 lines to the inch). Yearly orders 
of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 25 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with “Adv.," 75 cents per 
count line. Absolutely One Price Only. 
Advertisements inserted only for responsible and honorable houses 
We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance is for, 
should appear in every letter. 
Remittances may be made in money order, postal order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY JUNE 17, 1899. 
All communications intended for E S Carman 
should, until next October, be addressed to River 
Edge, Bergen County, N. J. 
• • 
From the facts given on page 446, about the agri¬ 
cultural possibilities in Cuba, it is difficult to see any 
great encouragement for American farmers to go 
there. Besides the disadvantages of new conditions 
and surroundings, and unfamiliar requirements of 
soil, climate and culture, the necessary outlay seems 
large. Then transportation charges are heavy, and 
import duties excessive. There may be most excel¬ 
lent opportunities in the Pearl of the Antilles, but 
the same outlay, labor and ability required to succeed 
there, ought to insure a good degree of success in al¬ 
most any part of our own country. 
The practical uses of electricity have been confined 
largely to cities and towns. Expensive machinery 
has been necessary for generation, and in the earlier 
days of the utilization of this power, much of its force 
was lost in transmission. Now it is produced more 
cheaply, and transmitted more readily and economic¬ 
ally. Thus, with the rapid and widespread extension 
of trolley lines throughout the country, this mys¬ 
terious force becomes available for light and power 
on many a farm. In many a farm community where 
there is water power, cooperation would render pos¬ 
sible the construction of electric plants that would 
give to the whole community the advantages of this 
mysterious force, heretofore confined within much 
narrower limits. 
Watch a “ dead ” lawn or mowing field during the 
scorching dry weather, and see how green the patches 
of clover or Alfalfa are as compared with the grass. 
In some places, the grass will be as brown as the 
dust, yet right in its midst, there will be a bright 
green clover plant. Why is this ? It is chiefly a 
matter of root system. The clover goes down into the 
soil—far down often—after water. The grasses are 
mere surface feeders, and their range after water is 
limited. All grasses are thirsty plants, but they can¬ 
not get down after the soil water as clover can. Al¬ 
falfa is better even than clover at this business of 
pumping up water from the lower soil. On the dry 
western plains, in times of particularly severe 
drought, one will often see patches of green Alfalfa, 
while corn, sorghum and grasses are dead and brown. 
Alfalfa is good insurance against drought. 
• 
• • 
There are two ways of conducting a paper. One is 
simply to follow the majority. In this case, the editor 
rarely gives an opinion of his own. He either talks 
all around the question in a colorless, non-committal 
way, or else takes the opinion of the majority—the 
popular view. It makes little difference to such an 
editor whether the popular view is based on a full 
knowledge of the conditions or not. It is not his busi¬ 
ness to lead or set right. Such a course might drive 
away a few subscribers, and so he follows the crowd, 
and tries to forget that he has opinions of his own. 
Such a man merely reflects opinion. Another way of 
conducting a paper is to form opinion—not to reflect 
it. In this case, the editor studies all sides of a ques¬ 
tion, and then fairly sums up the case like a judge 
who has heard the evidence and strikes straight at 
the truth, without fear or favor. Most people will 
say that the man who forms public opinion is, of 
course, the more useful to society, but this is not 
always true. A narrow, bigoted, man with strong 
prejudices and one-sided convictions, may do more 
harm than good, in discussing public questions. One 
of our contemporaries recently had a long editorial 
explaining the word “ Mugwump ”. The whole thing 
was a sneer at those who have courage enough to be 
independent of parties in discussing or voting on pub¬ 
lic matters. We have no doubt that such sneers at 
political independence are very popular, yet it is a 
great question as to whether they are wise. As 
political parties are now made up, it ought to be evi¬ 
dent to any thoughtful man that a check-rein of 
some sort is a useful thing to have on the leaders. 
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson says that “the 
hue and cry over the canned beef furnished the United 
States army,” has greatly injured our foreign trade 
in canned meats. In the same papers which make 
this announcement, appears a report of the hearing 
before the Senate Pure Food Committee, in which a 
witness testified that borax is generally used in pack¬ 
ing meat for export. Five to seven pounds of borax 
are used in a 500-pound case of bacon. This witness 
went so far as to say that a law prohibiting the use 
of borax would bring the export meat business to a 
standstill. It is hard for the average man to under¬ 
stand the situation, when one packer makes such a 
fraDk statement as this, while others swear that these 
poisonous chemicals are never used. 
• 
• • 
If there is any earthly reason for paying beet-sugar 
manufacturers a bounty, it would seem that the 
growers of the beets should share it, either directly 
or indirectly. There is trouble in Michigan in pass¬ 
ing a bill that lets down the bars to almost any 
amount. Under the present law, no factory is allowed 
a bounty unless it pays the growers at least 84 a ton 
for beets. An amendment is proposed that requires 
that 8- r > per ton must be paid, but a compromise may 
be effected at 84 50. This would be an indirect benefit 
to farmers, and would put some of the bounty where 
it is most needed. But if there is so much money in 
this business, why pay a bounty any more than to the 
growers of potatoes, fruits or grain. The dairyman, 
also, might appreciate a little help in this direction. 
• • 
The question as to what shall be taught at the 
farmers’ institutes is not confined to this country. In 
the English Farm and Home, we read a report of a 
lecture on milk testing, before a dairy convention: 
Read to an association of dairy farmers, a paper on this sub¬ 
ject sounds practical, doesn’t it ? But unfortunately, the techni¬ 
cal details are not such as can be easily grasped, and although the 
audience cheered when, by the aid of a Gerber tester, the 
lecturer analyzed a couple of samples of milk in a very short 
time, on the whole, we fear the lecture was a little above the 
training, if not the capacity, of the audience, and at the close, 
one man was heard to express the hope that the weather would 
soon be as dry as the lecture had been ! 
That is the story we often hear. The scientific man 
is so interested in his work, and has mastered the 
details so thoroughly, that he can’t see why farmers 
are not as well posted as he is. Come down closer to 
the people, gentlemen ! You dignify science by sim¬ 
plifying it. You must go down to lift men up. That 
is a worthy thing to do. 
• • 
How much will be added to the tax list by tho 
assessment of franchises in New York State? Many 
conflicting opinions have been given, but the fairest 
estimate that we have seen puts the value at 
8350,000,000. This represents some of the most valu¬ 
able property in the country—as judged by its ability 
to earn and pay dividends on its stock. This franchise 
tax will relieve to a slight extent every real estate 
owner in New York State. This is right, for home 
real estate now pays far more than its just share of 
public expenses. By home real estate, we mean the 
land and buildings that represent the homes of the 
people who have but little other property. The street 
railroads, gas companies and other corporations that 
serve the public, obtain valuable special privileges 
from the people. The service they render in provid¬ 
ing carriage, fuel, light or water at their own price, 
does not begin to pay for what they have secured. In 
many cases, they have robbed the people by demand¬ 
ing excessive prices. No one wants to rob them in 
return, but all over the country, there is a demand 
for fair treatment. This franchise tax means more 
than most people think. It is the beginning of an 
enforcement of justice toward those who have fat¬ 
tened at the public crib without throwing in their 
fair share of grain. 
New York hotelkeepers say that they have lost a 
vast amount of business lately because drummers or 
traveling men are being called in. A few years ago, 
these men were kings of the road. Tney were indis¬ 
pensable to business men. They went everywhere 
and are said to have decided at least one Presidential 
campaign by their political talking. Now their day 
has, evidently, come. The trusts and combinations 
are squeezing out competition. Where formerly 20 
firms were competing for trade, now one organization 
can control it all. The men who once went about the 
land for the 20 firms drumming up trade, are not needed 
now, for the trade has been captured and chained so 
that it does not need drumming. This is but one way 
in which the trust or industrial combination saves 
men and money. It squeezes out many of the hand¬ 
lers. Great savings are being effected in this way, 
but, so far as we have been able to observe, the public 
receive little or no benefit in the reduction of prices 
on articles controlled by the trusts. Another thing 
that young men will observe is that these combina¬ 
tions are reducing the number of desirable business 
chances. The average man will have a poorer chance 
than ever to secure a paying job in town or city 
business. 
« • 
The fruit growers of the Hudson River Valley are 
having a hard season. The raspberries and black¬ 
berries were badly hurt by the frost, and will be a 
light crop at best. The fearfully dry weather has 
cut down the strawberry crop so that, in many places, 
a few boxes are picked where a full crate was ex¬ 
pected. This unseasonable weather has, also, upset 
the season of ripening in other sections, so that the 
River berries come in competition with fruit from 
other sections, and bring but a low price. This is 
the season for the irrigator. Mr. Taber, of Pough¬ 
keepsie, went to great expense last year for his outfit, 
only to find the flood gates of rain open so that the 
pump was not needed. He took that philosophically. 
“ Wait till we have a dry season,” he said, “ and we 
will pay for the machinery in one crop ! ” Well, here 
is his dry season, surely I 
BREVITIES. 
Brave is he who faces danger 
With a cheek that blanches not; 
Brave is he who bears his knapsack 
Through the smashing hail of shot. 
Brave is he who holds Old Glory 
Far above the battle’s spray, 
But he’s not the only hero 
Who is marching on to-day; 
With his heavy knapsack sprayer 
Loaded on his weary back, 
Captain Farmer goes a marching 
Up and down his toilsome track, 
With an implement of labor 
In his strong and sturdy hands, 
At his post of patient duty 
Guarding faithfully he stands. 
Yes, the soldier wins us glory 
Where the flag waves overhead, 
But the farmer ranks above him, 
For he wins our daily bread. 
It requires headwork to foot bills. 
Don’t cultivate harrowing details. 
Deeds, not years, should measure man’s life. 
Yes, sir, a Prohibition argument is an anti dry fuss. 
Be sure that the hens have plenty of water and shade. 
Some men are so “ broad ” that they never cut any ice. 
“ Baptized” is the name John Bull gives to watered milk. 
The best charity in the world is that which helps a man to help 
himself. 
Why throw rocks at a man while he is alive, and flowers after 
he is dead ? 
Extreme heat checks egg production almost as much as ex¬ 
treme cold. 
To make a dinner of herbs excel a stalled ox, it should be served 
without “ sauce ”. 
Some men will never be satisfied with their lot until perman¬ 
ently buried in it. 
Things don’t seem to be divided evenly so far as rain is con¬ 
cerned, this year. 
IF your milk must be adulterated, let it be done with skim-milk 
rather than water. 
Pinch out the leading shoot of a Dahlia when it reaches the 
second joint. This makes a stocky plant. 
The Cubans do not seem very enthusiastic for Uncle Sam’s 875.. 
The Filipinos might be more eager for the dollars! 
Is it consistent to talk about corruption in the affairs of the 
Nation, if you fall to clean noxious weeds out of your own fence 
corners ? 
Reports from Ithaca, N. Y., are that hardly a Potato beetle’ 
has appeared. They came upon us in New Jersey in swarms, 
and are now doiDg great damage. 
Gov. Roosevelt was great in war, he grates the nerves of 
drones, and the people would be grateful to him if he would only 
give Hamilton Busbey his desserts. 
The Wealthy apple seems to have been well named so far as it 
relates to the fruit growers of the Northwest, but seems to be a 
misnomer in its relations to its originator. 
It isn’t exactly “ playing soldier ” with Gov. Roosevelt in office. 
Instead of lazing in camp, the State militia will tramp across the 
State this year, and come closer to actual service. 
Bring out the can of Paris-green, 
Be death your countersign; 
The enemy has come, I ween, 
The bugs are on the vine. 
Temperance is a virtue whose operation should not be applied 
to liquor-drinking alone. A man recently died in New York 
State from excessive drinking of “ pop ”; he had taken as much 
as CO or 70 bottles of this ordinarily harmless fluid in a single 
day. Two men died from drinking ice water in one day. 
