532 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 22 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Ei.bert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, (. A „ qo „ iatp EditorK 
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, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. 6d., or 8J4 marks, or I0y s francs. 
ADVERTISING 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, JULY 22, 189!) 
What about Hamilton Busbey? It is time to ask 
the question again. This time, we ask the Attorney 
General of New York State. It was referred to him, 
and it is high time his report was made. How about 
Hamilton Busbey? Why is he still in office? 
* 
At Des Moines, Iowa, a man brought suit against a 
dairyman to recover damages because of a blood 
disease which, it was alleged, was caused by using 
unwholesome milk. The milk was taken from a cow 
which, it was asserted, had tuberculosis. The com¬ 
plainant sued for $15,000, his physicians asserting 
that the disease from which he suffered was incurable. 
It was shown that the dairyman knew the cow to be 
diseased, and the complainant recovered $855 dam¬ 
ages. This case seems important as establishing & 
precedent which may result in serious annoyance, if 
nothing worse, to dairymen throughout the country. 
* 
The Paris Exposition will be a great battle ground 
for food producers. Germany, France and England 
do not produce the food their people require. Where 
shall they go and buy it? The Exposition will show 
them, for all the food-producing countries will be on 
hand with exhibits. We are glad to see that the Agri¬ 
cultural Department is planning for an immense ex¬ 
hibit at. Paris. It will all be there from the live hog 
to the smoked bacon, and from the whole grain to the 
baked cake. That is right. It is all well enough to 
make a great exhibit of the product of mine or fac¬ 
tory, but this is a food-producing country first of all, 
and the farmer has more to do with its prosperity 
than any other citizen. 
*.. 
The need for nature studies in the public schools is 
shown by the result of recent research among pupils 
averaging six or seven years old, in Boston, Kansas 
City and Syracuse. In Boston, 61.1 per cent of these 
children didn’t know what a beehive is, 77 per cent 
were equally ignorant of crows, 60 per cent were un¬ 
acquainted with robins, 50 with frogs, 87 per cent did 
not know an oak tree, and 22 per cent did not even 
know a worm. In Kansas City, colored pupils showed 
more knowledge of natural objects than white, but 
the general ignorance was surprising. In Boston, 19 
per cent of the children examined had never seen a 
hen. We think that there are some existing studies 
in the public schools which might better be dropped, 
if there is no other way in which to make room for 
nature studies. 
# 
In what way can we fight oleo most effectively? 
Buttermakers and-dealers have, for years, suffered 
loss of trade from the fraudulent substitution of oleo 
for genuine butter. There has been a division of 
opinion as to the best way of fighting against this 
fraud. The National Dairy Union advocates a law in¬ 
creasing the tax on colored oleo to 10 cents a pound. 
This, it is claimed, would either prevent the manu¬ 
facture of the stuff, or compel dealers to increase the 
price so that it would be nearer a fair price for gen¬ 
uine butter. The N. Y. State Agricultural Department 
has opposed this plan because, it is claimed, such a 
law would interfere with State laws, and give colored 
oleo a legitimate place in the dairy business. Last 
week, the great New York Mercantile Exchange 
placed itself squarely in favor of the 10-cent tax on 
colored oleo. The influence of the representatives of 
the New York butter trade will, we think, be more 
powerful in this matter than that of the New York 
Agricultural Department. Some of the opponents of 
the 10-cent tax have been unfortunate in their argu¬ 
ments. They have practically accused those who dif¬ 
fered with them of dishonesty or business prejudice. 
Do they think the Mercantile Exchange has been 
bribed? 
* 
Out in the country where the Ben Davis apple is 
king, orchard men are just beginning to talk about 
fertilizers. Many orchards are on new land, and will 
not need feeding for years. Others have been kept in 
good heart by crops of clover and cow peas. Stock- 
yard manure from Chicago and St. Louis is largely 
used, and, in some places, wood ashes are applied. As 
for using potash and bone, or potash and rock, as 
many of our eastern orchardists do, the western men 
have only just begun to think about it. Many of them 
realize that the time will come when these mineral 
fertilizers will be needed, but they put off the day, 
and hardly expect to live to see it. They would better 
not be too sure of that. They may have supplies of 
nitrogen and phosphoric acid to last for centuries, 
but potash at least will be needed, and that before 
many years. 
* 
Comptroller Morgan, of New York, has made 
serious charges against the managers of State chari¬ 
table institutions. He charges favoritism and lack of 
business methods. Certain dealers and contractors 
are favored when supplies are to be bought or work is 
to be done. The State, of course, pays for it all. Mr. 
Morgan claims to have the evidence to prove his 
charges, and Gov. Roosevelt may order an investiga¬ 
tion. There are plenty of men who handle public 
money very differently from what they would their 
own. Put them on a board of managers with public 
funds to handle, and they make good spenders. When 
the farmers’ clubs of Michigan organized their State 
Association, they demanded an overhauling of the 
State institutions, and by so doing, they found many 
places where savings could be made without any in¬ 
jury to the inmates. 
* 
The N. Y. State fertilizer law has been amended, 
and several radical changes have been made. For¬ 
merly fertilizers which sold at less than $10 a ton, 
were exempt from the operations of the law. They 
were not sampled and analyzed. As a result, some 
frauds were put on the market at $9 a ton. The limit 
of selling price is now $5 a ton, and this will keep out 
several mixtures that had no merit except a low price. 
In many cases, it would interfere with the sale of 
dried chicken manure! Another good thing is the 
brand tax. Every brand bearing a distinctive name 
must be licensed by the payment of a fee of $20. The 
object of this is to decrease the number of brands 
offered for sale. Manufacturers have been in the 
habit of putting up dozens of different brands of fer¬ 
tilizers, practically taking them out of the same bin, 
but giving different names to please local agents. 
This has proved confusing to farmers, and expensive 
to the State. The $20 fee will soon cut down the num¬ 
ber of brands, and put the business on a more sensible 
basis. 
* 
And the words the living- long for 
He spake in the ears of the dead. 
How true it is that we wait until those we love and 
honor are dead and gone before we are ready to do 
them justice by word or deed. Dear friends may go 
to the grave longing for the kindly words that froze 
upon the lip. Benefactors may suffer and die for the 
lack of timely assistance held back by those who 
could well afford to give it. Congressman Clark, of 
Missouri, has been trying to induce Congress to make 
an appropriation for erecting monuments to Ephraim 
W. Bull, the originator of the Concord grape, and the 
originator of the Ben Davis apple. The case of Mr. 
Bull was a pathetic one. No one can properly esti¬ 
mate how much he added to the comfort and wealth 
of the world when he tamed the wild grape, and 
trained it as the Concord. Yet millions who profited 
by his labors stood by while he ended his days in a 
home of charity! Does it not now seem like a mock¬ 
ery for the nation to erect a monument to the man 
whose just credit for bread was dishonored? That 
monument, if erected at all, should bear upon its 
face: 
In life, he needed bread, 
In death, we give—a stone. 
We are led to these thoughts by considering the 
case of another old man, Zephaniah Breed, the in¬ 
ventor of the weeder. Tnis little implement has revo¬ 
lutionized the cultivation of what are known as hoed 
crops. It has magnified the power of the human hand 
and finger, and brought wealth and ease to thousands 
of farmers. Mr. Breed is now an old man. He has 
invented a new device for the weeder which will, we 
think, greatly improve it, but through lack of means 
he is unable to dispose of it so that it will benefit him 
as it should. A quarter of a century hence some one 
will talk about a monument to Mr. Breed. He will 
deserve it, but just now he has greater need of some 
man with capital and faith to push the sulky weeder 
into the market. 
* 
Physicians assert that the deadly toy pistol was 100 
per cent more deadly than usual this season. The 
number of injuries from its use was larger than ever 
before, and many fatal cases of lockjaw resulted. The 
doctors say that many of these wounds, in which wad¬ 
ding, powder or dirt are blown into the flesh, are 
small externally, hence difficult to cleanse, and te¬ 
tanic germs readily find lodgment in them. It seems 
about time that these dangerous playthings were pro¬ 
hibited. City ordinances have been enacted against 
them, from time to time, but without enforcement. 
The general view seems to be that, since our patriot 
sires willingly shed their blood for the country’s free¬ 
dom, we ought to be ready to shed a few fingers and 
thumbs in celebrating their heroism, and let the chil¬ 
dren have a good noisy time. Does this saturnalia of 
noise and riot really enable the children to appre¬ 
ciate the significance of the day? 
* 
BREVITIES. 
The doctor helps you make a start unto the light of day; 
He then sends in his little bill, which somebody must 
pay. 
The lawyer gives you wise advice, and then makes out 
his bill, 
The size of which is sure to give your bank account a 
chill. 
The minister who ties the knot which binds you to your 
wife, 
Will not ieject the standard fee—no, not upon your life. 
The baker and the stable man, the grocer and the rest, 
Who line the highway of your life, go gunning for your 
best. 
The undertaker comes at last, his solemn place to fill, 
And in the pocket of his coat, there rests—his little bill. 
V ou pay to get into the world, you pay to struggle 
through, 
And when, at last, you drop the fight, the grave demands 
its due, 
And every other man you meet, attempts to pull a fee, 
The editor's advice alone is given full and free; 
He hands it out from week to week, in large and mellow 
slice. 
And like as not, your comment is—it isn’t worth the 
price. 
WnATabeautifulrainitwastobesure! 
It's high time you gave up low ideas. 
It’s good to experiment, but don’t do it with the whole 
crop. 
Pick black raspberries with the thumb. Thumb not 
thump them off. 
Where is the best place to go for country board? To a 
sawmill, of course! 
£terile may mean without life, yet sterilizing may 
mean the saving of life. 
Is Iowa to take the place of Maine in the production of 
men who influence history? 
In your opinion, is it better to feed the crop than to 
try to feed so as to improve the soil? 
The Bicycle bug is the latest addition to the entomo¬ 
logical vocabulary of some of the daily papers. 
“The old woman who kissed her cow” came closer to 
tuberculosis than the baby who lived on the milk. 
Chestnut budding on young sprouts doesn’t seem to 
be so popular with those who have tried it as had been 
expected. 
Suppose at one stroke all paper or all iron were wiped 
out of the world, which would mean the greater loss 
to society? 
The onion had such a bad breath that it made the beet 
turn in its little bed, gave the cabbage a bad headache, 
and brought tears to the eyes of the potato. 
The wise men say that the next improvement in trans¬ 
portation will be rubber-tired locomotives and railway 
cars; the only obstacle is the designing of proper rails. 
You will notice, page 526, that the cultivation of those 
great western orchards is based on the cultivation of 
corn. The corn crop is the standard, and they work 
other crops as they work corn. 
We recently printed a picture of N. Ohmer, but left 
out the most important part of his accomplishments. 
He writes: “I am the father of 12 children, of which I 
am very proud, they being honored citizens of five 
States.” 
Rochester, N. Y., is headquarters for beer and fruit. 
When shipped South, the fruit goes as first-class freight, 
and the beer fifth class. In other words, the beer costs 
37 cents per 100 pounds, while the berries cost 92 cents. 
The railroads may drive the hoops so tight some day 
that they will burst. 
Here is some practical wisdom from Kentucky: “We 
have taken to wearing our bicycle trouser guards when 
we follow the cultivators. During this hot, dry weather, 
we are in a continual cloud of dust, and we find that 
we leave a good deal of soil in the field that we used 
to carry off on our legs.” 
It is reported that a New York man has bought 500 
acres of woodland in York County, Pa. He expects to 
graft the chestnut trees to improved varieties. We will 
tell him beforehand that, unless he can thoroughly clear 
the land, first get out the underbrush, and give a 
thorough cultivation, the worms will get more of the 
chestnuts than he will. 
