1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
739 
HOPE FARM NOTES. 
A Diet Test. —The majority of farm¬ 
ers have, I think, given up the idea of 
producing a large crop of wealth. The 
soil is capable of giving a fair measure 
of health to those who work for it. Such 
being the case, the following letter may 
serve as a text: 
Hope Farm Notes and your other writ¬ 
ings fail to prove you “devilish,” but that 
mention of abstaining from meat to free 
yourself of disease, reminds me that: 
“When the devil was sick, the devil a saint 
would be; 
When the devil got well, the devil a saint 
was he.” 
You admit that man can live well with¬ 
out taking life or causing it to be taken. 
Vou admit that flesh diet is the cause of 
disease. You say that you would about as 
soon eat a baby as a squirrel. Why not 
be a vegetarian? I would like to see you 
advocate vegetarianism for the human 
race as ardently as you do cow peas for 
the soil. 1 had disease; quit meat; disease 
quit. I am glad that no meat has been 
cooked in my house in nine years. I am 
glad that none of my children have ever 
tasted meat. I have four very healthy 
little ones, and attribute much of their 
good health to their diet. I look at food 
and life vastly different than I did 15 years 
ago. I would “about as soon eat a baby 
as a squirrel,” or a calf, or a quail, and I 
would just as soon eat a snake or a toad, 
as to eat a hog or chicken. “Thou shalt 
not kill.” "He that killeth an ox is as 
if he slew a man.”—Isaiah, 6C:3. 
Are we what v> eat? “The fly eats the 
barnyard filth; the toad eats the fly; the 
snake eats the toad; the hog eats the 
snake, and the man eats the hog.” No, 
thank you. I am pretty hoggish some¬ 
times, but please don’t class me one below 
the hog. Yours for health and happiness, 
GEORGE G. GIBBS, CRANK. 
A Bad Job. —Now the trouble that 
makes me feel at times that the corner 
post of life is within sight is known as 
lithsemia, or lithiasis. It is caused by 
an acid condition of the blood, which 
results in the formation of little masses 
or concretions in various parts of the 
body. This has bothered me more or 
less for 14 years. Only the other day 
the doctor said to me: 
“Well, I’m only sorry you haven’t had 
the fun that usually precedes this trou¬ 
ble!” 
He meant that it is usually caused 
by excessive eating and drinking. In 
my case the trouble seems to be heredi¬ 
tary. My “teeth are set on edge.” I am 
paying the penalty for somebody’s glut¬ 
tony. Other members of my family have 
the same trouble. There is a tendency 
in some families for these deposits to 
form throughout the system. Such se¬ 
cretions are also one of the characteris¬ 
tics of old age. I am surprised to find 
that thousands suffer from such troubles 
—often without knowing the cause. 
W iiat To Do.—It comes down chiefly 
to diet, water-drinking and work. The 
patient must avoid food that would be 
likely to promote these deposits, and he 
must relieve the kidneys in every pos¬ 
sible way. Most people do not drink 
half as much water as they should. The 
skin must be kept clean, and it must be 
worked—that is, driven into a hard 
sweat. The pores of the skin carry away 
many wastes of the body that would 
otherwise have to pass through the over¬ 
worked kidneys. As to diet, here is a 
list of foods which I am instructed to 
use and avoid: 
MAY TAKE. 
Soups.—Vegetable soups (except pea or 
bean.) 
Fish.—Fresh fish, raw oysters, raw clams. 
Farinaceous Articles.—Bread, bread from 
whole wheat, crackers, rye bread, oatmeal, 
zwieback, cracked wheat, milk toast, rice. 
Vegetables.—Potatoes, fresh vegetables. 
Desserts.—Milk puddings. Fruits of all 
kinds. 
Drinks.—Water plentifully, milk. 
AVOID. 
Soups, eggs, all made dishes, gravies and 
spices, pork, veal, turkey, all pies, pas¬ 
tries and rich puddings, patties, confec¬ 
tionery, sweet wines, Burgundy, heavy 
claret, cordials, malt liquors, tobacco, cof¬ 
fee, asparagus, peas, beans. Under all cir¬ 
cumstances, let the rule be abstemious¬ 
ness. 
When I first read the list I questioned 
the possibility of doing full work of 
body and mind on such a skimpy diet. 
After six weeks of it, I am satisfied that 
it has helped me greatly. I will tell you 
right now that it’s a great trial to a 
New England man to give up baked 
beans. I do not drink the expensive 
lithia waters, but take all I can of pure 
spring water with cooking soda added, 
'inis soda should not be taken until 
about two hours after a meal. 
The Meat Question. —I do not agree 
entirely with Mr. Gibbs. At the same 
time 1 think most people eat too much 
meat. I am with him in keeping it away 
from children until their second teeth 
are formed. From that time until the 
body is fully developed, I think a fair 
amount of meat is useful. I will not go 
so far as to say it is absolutely neces¬ 
sary. After the body is fully formed, 
and there are only the wastes to be pi’o- 
vided for, I am sure that meat is not re¬ 
quired—certainly not in the great quan¬ 
tities which Americans demand. People 
who have a tendency to gout and gravel 
commit suicide when they continue to 
stuff on meat, just as surely as when 
they pull the trigger of a loaded pistol, 
witn the muzzle in the mouth. The 
meat in the mouth ihakes a slower death 
than this cold steel, but it is a million 
times as painful and depressing. 
is Meat “Ceean”? —I am fond of 
meat. A good slice of fried ham would 
suit me well under other conditions. 
When I said 1 would about as soon eat a 
baby as to eat a squirrel, I meant to say 
that these bright, active little fellows 
seem Loo much like comrades and 
friends for one to eat them. You show 
me a child who would go to the table 
and eat a piece of the pet lamb or 
chicken, that he has loved and cared for, 
and I’ll show you a candidate for jail be¬ 
fore many years. Such a child will put 
the holiest frienuships between his teeth 
and chew them up. It’s a long course 
from "barnyard filth” to man, through 
lly, toad, snake and hog. It’s a good 
deal shorter cut to grow lettuce or celery 
directly from this "filth” and then eat 
them without any cooking! This is a 
side of the matter that our vegetarian 
friends rarely speak of. In what way is 
the chemistry of the hog inferior to that 
of the lettuce or celery? My notion is 
that you get just about as close to the 
"filth” when you eat these quick-grow¬ 
ing uncooked plants as you do when you 
eat a good slice of sweet ham. 
Oi.d Age.—W hat does it mean to grow 
old? The joints grow stiff, the eyes dim, 
the blood is feeble and slow. Dr. Kin- 
near puts it well when he says that man 
begins in a soft, gelatinous state, and 
ends as hard bone. From the baby to 
the bald head, "ossification” or bone¬ 
making goes on. The soft tissues of the 
child gradually harden, as the minerals 
in the blood are deposited in them. This 
hardening or firming of the body is right 
up to a certain point. Some day the 
man of middle years finds that a joint 
is stiffening and failing, because the 
blood, having finished building up the 
body, is depositing its brick and mor¬ 
tar at the wrong place. That means 
“old age.” Sometimes the overworked 
kidneys strike and will not remove these 
mineral wastes. They will even form 
little masses or stones in the arteries or 
heart. The thing to do is to stop eating 
the food that goes on piling up these 
minerals in the blood. Meat is the 
worst thing such people can eat—fruit 
is the best of all. Veal, lamb, and other 
young meat is safer than older meat be¬ 
cause, in much the same way, the older 
animals have more of the minerals in 
their flesh. 
At.t. Sorts. —I did not mean to write 
so much about food. Our late potatoes 
are very poor—not half so good as we 
hoped. We sort into three sizes. The 
seconds run from the size of a large egg 
to a big nut. We also put in some large 
scabby tubers. There is no sale for 
third size this year. They go to the 
pigs.The volunteer potatoes 
grew this year until October 2. This 
was long enough to give a fair crop of ’ 
seed for next year.Our turnip 
crop this year is nearly a failure. The 
seed would not sprout during the 
drought, and there is only a scattering 
stand.While all the grapes 
were killed around the old farm, the new 
farm held them for 10 days later. The 
new farm is on a high hill, and seems 
nearly a week later. This will be valu¬ 
able for late sweet corn.Ap¬ 
ples are low in our country. The trouble 
is that no one has a good place for keep¬ 
ing them, and they must all be crowded 
on the Fall market. If we could hold 
them until February, they would bring 
twice as much in our local markets. 
h. w. c. 
ThE Osage Melon.— Mr J. C. Vaughan 
says, in the New York Sun, that he is anx¬ 
ious to correct the statement that this 
melon is a product of a New Mexican wild 
variety. This is far from the truth, the 
melon being selected from a variety origi¬ 
nating in New York State, near Syracuse, 
called Miller’s Cream. By careful selec¬ 
tion of the heaviest, thick-meated melons 
with partly netted skin, Mr. Morrill per¬ 
fected a class of melons which he shipped 
lo Chicago marked under brand of Osage, 
and as such it has since been famous. 
Testing Milk. —The director of the Ver¬ 
mont Experiment Station at Burlington 
lias issuea a little slip giving directions for 
taking milk samples for analysis. He 
says that many creamery managers have 
been unjustly accused of carelessness or 
theft, when the trouble really lay with 
those who took samples for analysis. 
Speaking of analysis of water, for in¬ 
stance, Brof. Hills has stated that in some 
cases, such water is sent to the Station in 
bottles or jugs that were not clean before 
the water was put in. The result was 
that the water when analyzed showed all 
kinds of impurities which really came from 
the jug. He gives the following advice 
to those who wish to send milk samples 
for analysis: 
"Creamery testing may best be checked 
either by halving the creamery sample or 
duplicating it. When the creamery com¬ 
posite sample is complete and ready for 
testing the operator may be asked to fur¬ 
nish one-half of it. The patron should 
then be certain that the operator thor¬ 
oughly mixes the sample by pouring; that 
all the cream from the sides of the jar, 
covers, etc., is mixed into the milk or 
cream, and that the halving is done imme¬ 
diately after the last pouring. In lieu of 
this the operator may be required every 
time he samples at the factory to furnish 
a duplicate sample in a jar controlled by 
the patron. In this way duplicate com¬ 
posite samples may be made, one held in 
the control of the operator, the other in 
that of the patron; both of which should 
test closely alike.” 
Eureka Harness Oil is the best 
preservative of new leather 
and the best renovator of old 
leather. It oils, softens, black¬ 
ens and protects. Use 
Eureka 
Harness Oil 
on your best harness, your old har¬ 
ness, and your carriage top, and they 
will not only look better but wear 
longer. Sold everywhere in cans—all 
■izes from half pints to five gallons. 
Bade by STANUAKl) Oil. CO. 
FRAZER 
t AXLE GREASE i 
▲ Its wearing qualities are unsurpassed, ac- ▲ 
^ tnally outlasting3 boxes of any other brand. ^ 
J Not affected by heat. J.i7"Get the Genuine. J 
++++ FOR SALE BY ALL DEALERS. +♦♦♦ 
AGENTS 
WANTED 
to handle our coni 
plete line of high 
| grade Lubricating Oils and Greases, 
Boiler Compound, Paints, etc. 
and to canvass the farmers, thrashers, mills, etc., 
for orders for next Spring and Summer delivery. 
Salary or commission. Address with references. 
THE A. E. VOAK OIL CO., Cleveland, Ohio. 
Royal 
Lantern 
This Lantern is widely 
and deservedly popu¬ 
lar for general use, as 
the volume of light 
that flows from its 
inch-wide wick is pow¬ 
erful and continues for nineteen hours. 
It has our single-piece, drawn-steel oil 
pot; is simple, strong, and entirely de¬ 
void of complication or trouble-making 
details. It is but one of an immense 
variety of Lanterns that are stamped 
“DIETZ,” a name that no unworthy 
goods ever bear. Remember this when 
buying such goods. 
We will be pleased to mail you 
FREE an admirable little Catalogue of 
our Lanterns, Lamps, etc., if you ask 
for it. 
R. E. Dietz Co. i 
Sy Laight St., New York. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1840. 
Sec for yourself that it is stamped “Dietz.” 
i at every point of | 
Construction 
— "makes the ‘ w , 
the most Durable & Reliable, t J - 
- Of WrItiner MachineS. 
t\d Benedict"*^ 
Wyckoff Seamans a 
327 r ' 
Broadway,|New Yprk. N.Y:ilH| 
I' j j Ni I if 11 
. .Before Buying a New 
Harness 
bend 5 ct*. tn stumps to pay postage on descriptive cat¬ 
alogue too styles of single and double onk-tanneH 
Leather Harness lo select from. Sold direct to th« 
consumer at wholesale price. We con save you money; 
KING HARNESS COMPANY. Mfrs. 
212 Church St., Owego, N. Y. 
Sharpen your own Horse. 
THE BLIZZARD 
the greatest of all 
HORSE ICE CALKS 
Agents Wanted. Address, 
S.W. KENT,Cazenovia,N.Y. 
Largest manufacturers ct 
Steel Wagon Wheels and 
Handy Truck Wagons in 
America. Guaranteed su¬ 
perior to any other make 
WSITB us 
Metal Wheel Co. 
HAVANA. ILLINOIS 
Combination Vise, Drill, Clamp, Etc. 
The Broadbooks Too! Co., batavia, n. y., u. s. a. 
SEND FOR CATALOGUK. MENTION THIS PAPER. 
