74o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Colling wood, Editor. 
Dk. Walter Van Fleet, ) 
H. E. Van Deman, -Associates. 
Mrs. E. T. Roylk, | 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8s. (kl., or 814 marks, or 10(4 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, express order, 
personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1809. 
Governor Mount, of Indiana, has ordered that no 
gambling devices shall be allowed at street fairs 
throughout that State. It appears that in many lo¬ 
calities these fairs, which were, originally, clean and 
well-managed, have been infested of late by sharp¬ 
ers and “fake” shows. Every one will applaud the 
decision of Indiana’s clear-headed Executive, and 
feel a desire to see the same rule enforced by all 
State and county fairs. 
* 
During most of two long weeks a good proportion 
of the people of this country were begging, if not 
praying, for a good, stiff breeze. For some great and 
noble purpose, of course? Well, that is as one looks 
at it. An English yacht, built at great expense, came 
to this country to try to demonstrate that it can 
travel through the water faster than any American 
boat of equal size. The public recognized that it is a 
square contest between Yankee and British brains, 
eyes and skill.- Who ever imagined that Americans 
would ever fail to match the English for lack of 
wind? Has Uncle Sam talked himself out of breath, 
or is he changing his tactics? 
* 
The indications are that this year’s clover-seed 
crop is quite short. The clover was badly hurt last 
Winter, and if the seed is as high next year as now it 
seems likely that many farms will suffer. Clover has 
been the backbone of such farms, both for feeding 
the stock and feeding the soil. A farm without a 
backbone is a pretty limp affair, unless there is a 
good substitute at hand. We have found the south¬ 
ern cow pea a fair substitute for clover in such 
emergencies. It will make a wonderful growth, in a 
single season, with anything like a fair chance. We 
do not recommend it as the equal of clover for feed¬ 
ing stock, but as a manurial crop we consider it ahead 
of clover. 
* 
After some debate the recent Farmers’ Congress 
passed a resolution favoring a law by Congress to 
increase the internal revenue tax on oleomargarine to 
10 cents a pound. The original resolution contained 
the words “colored in imitation of yellow butter,” but 
this was finally stricken out, to suit those who fear 
that by taxing oleo as an imitation of butter, Con¬ 
gress would make it a legitimate article of commerce. 
So far as we have been able to learn, the great ma¬ 
jority of dairymen favor the increase of the tax to 10 
cents. They think this is the quickest and surest way 
to handle this fraudulent product. By going straight 
to the oleo factory to put on the brake we shall dodge 
a vast amount of “politics,” “influence,” and foolish¬ 
ness generally. 
“John, did you shut the stable door?” “Guess so, 
I’ll go and see.” John had just been through the 
stable, and ought to have known. Many people have 
never trained their minds, eyes and ears to work in 
harmony so as to be really certain of anything. Lots 
of time is wasted by this going back to make sure 
of things we should have known. Nearly every farm¬ 
ing community has its hired man, who gets bigger 
wages than any one else. He is always in demand. 
He can take his pick of the best farmers. Not that 
he is a big, burly fellow, who can shoulder four 
bushels of grain, break all the fork handles pitching 
hay, or do half a dozen other unusual things, but 
just because he is “handy.” That is exactly the 
word. He doesn’t have to stop and think five minutes 
to find out what he is doing. A farmer speaking of 
one of these men said: “When I hire Bob, I know that 
the horses won’t be misused, the cows will be milked 
clean, the stock fed properly, the corn planted right, 
the tools won’t be scattered all over the farm, the 
gates and granary door won’t be left open, and, when 
I am away from home, all the chores will be done in 
shape. I don’t have to tell him twice to do a thing, 
and what he sees once he knows. We don’t work so 
many hours a day as Neighbor Jones, but we accom¬ 
plish more, and I’ll give Bob the credit.” Evidently 
Bob’s mind was not full of cobwebs. This is largely a 
matter of training, and any young person who is fall¬ 
ing into these careless habits should have a talk with 
his eyes, ears and brains, and impress upon them the 
need of doing their work properly. 
* 
A rascal in this City has resurrected an old scheme 
for fooling the public. He buys sparrows, dyes them 
a golden color, and sells them as canaries. His game 
is to go about with a large number of cages, each of 
which contains one of these dyed sparrows. He tells 
the lady of the house that his usual price is $2, but 
that he will leave the bird for $1, and give her a 
chance to hear it sing; then he will come and get the 
other dollar if she is fully satisfied. This plausible 
story usually effects a sale. The fraud gets his $1, 
leaves his gilded bird, and never comes back. The 
dye finally fades out, and a worthless bird is left. You 
say that this man is a rascal, but he is a mere pigmy 
morally, beside the scoundrel who puts a golden color 
upon lard and beef suet, and undertakes to sell it as 
butter. The little man is a humbug, but the big man 
is a rascal and a fraud. 
* 
We observe that some farm papers occupy a good 
share of their space in telling how good they are, and 
what great things they expect to do. It may be that 
such self-praise is needed, but the readers of The 
R. N.-Y. whom we have met seem to be people who 
know a good thing when they see it. They do not 
strike us as people who need to have a halter put 
on their minds, in order to hold them to the paper. 
The R. N.-Y. speaks for itself. All we can add is 
that we shall do our best to maintain its character, 
and conservatively improve several features. More 
than ever before will be made of the market notes. 
We are here at this great, hungry mouth of the coun¬ 
try. You provide many of the morsels which disap¬ 
pear inside this mouth. Perhaps you do not serve 
them at just the right time, or in just the right shape. 
Doubtless we can help you to come nearer the mark. 
Tell us what you wish to know, and we will try to see 
that you know it. 
* 
Recent successful experiments with a new system 
of telegraphy without the use of wires to transmit 
the electric impulses, have been made both abroad 
and in this country. Messages were transmitted 
across the English Channel and intervening country, 
a distance of 40 miles. But little is known of the ac¬ 
tual working of the instruments employed, but -the 
main fact is that the air is used as a conducting 
medium, without the intervention of wire or metals. 
The messages may be sent in any direction over 
water or land, providing there are no large solid 
obstacles in the way, and may be received by any 
number of instruments at once, if properly adjusted. 
This is, of course, an objection where secrecy is re¬ 
quired, but will doubtless be overcome in time. At 
present it seems necessary to elevate the sending and 
receiving instruments on towers or the top of high 
buildings, if messages are to be transmitted overland. 
The importance of this new invention for the dissem¬ 
ination of intelligence can scarcely be over-estimated, 
especially if it should receive public utilization, and 
supersede the grasping telegraphic monopoly now 
controlling in this country. We all know the extor¬ 
tionate rates charged the general public for the 
transmission of short messages, even to nearby 
States. The American telegraph can scarcely be 
called a utility for the greater part of our rural popu¬ 
lation. The offices are few and rates so nearly pro¬ 
hibitory that millions of people never think of send¬ 
ing a message, except in cases of dire necessity. It is 
very different in most foreign countries, many of 
which we are accustomed to consider backward in 
civilization. There the telegraph is usually a depart¬ 
ment of the post office, and its benefits are available 
to all at a nominal cost. England is now considering 
the reduction of 10-word telegrams to six cents to 
all parts of the United Kingdom, from the present 
rate of 12 cents, which has been in force for some 
time. The inventor of this practical wireless sys¬ 
tem is a young Italian, by the name of Marconi. Prof. 
Dolbear, an American, now claims he is the real in¬ 
ventor of the idea, and secured a patent many years 
ago. He purposes to go into court and prevent the 
Marconi system from being used in this country, be¬ 
cause he thought about it and sent some wireless 
messages when Marconi was a boy! Fancy a farmer 
trying such a dog-in-the-manger policy because he 
“thought about” originating a new fruit, or some ag¬ 
ricultural invention years ago, but never got to prac¬ 
tical work upon it! 
* 
The farmers who supply milk to the condenseries 
in Illinois are endeavoring to form a permanent or¬ 
ganization, for the purpose of protecting themselves, 
and securing fairly good prices for their milk. Com¬ 
mittees are at work laying plans, hoping to effect a 
strong organization, so as to combine the western 
producers with their brothers of the East. If they 
can do this, they will probably be able to make a 
fairer living out of their business. Tenant farmers at 
both ends of the country are barely making a living 
at present prices. They are so dependent on their 
monthly returns for milk that it is almost impossible 
for them to strike, or to make any strong demand 
for justice. That is the weak point in most milk pro¬ 
ducers’ organizations. There are so many who can¬ 
not live without their monthly pittance that they 
must knuckle down, and exist at the mercy of the 
handlers. If the East and the West can get together 
in this way, they may be able to force a change for 
the better. 
* 
1 bus spoke an old farmer, when he saw his younger 
neighbor setting fruit trees and plants, and building 
a new henhouse. This was in a section where rye 
straw and hay had for years been the standard crops. 
Of late years these crops had fallen so low in price 
that they gave only starvation returns. To the old 
man “farming” was narrowed down to these few 
crops, which properly belonged to other sections. To 
the younger man “farming” included any honest pro¬ 
duct that could be nourished in the soil, or upon it. 
If hens paid better than hay, he kept hens; if rasp¬ 
berries gave the soil a better chance than rye, he 
wanted them. One man narrowed and bound up 
“farming” as the Chinese bind up the feet of their 
girls. The other broadened “farming” out into soil 
culture, and broadened himself by doing so. The man 
who would make a slave of agriculture is likely to 
become a slave himself. 
“That ain’t farming!” “That ain’t living” 
BREVITIES. 
BRITON AND BOER. 
Three score of years ago a little band 
Of stout Dutch.farmers left their homes to find 
in the strange wilderness some bit of land 
Where they might live with Freedom. Far beliind- 
1 hey left the work of years—the crown of toil. 
They chose the desert rather than a yoke; 
The savage native and the savage soil 
With clumsy rifle and rude plow they broke. 
A rough, God-fearing, honest race—they kept 
Their independence through hard toil and pain; 
The desert which for centuries had slept 
Woke at their touch to usefulness again. 
So long as freedom was the only prize 
Their desert yielded, they were undisturbed. 
But at the whisper “Gold!” hot, eager eyes 
Flamed with the greedy passion never curbed. 
Hot, itching hands, stained with a nation’s crime, 
Would close their grip on Freedom’s throat to tear, 
The gold which God himself in olden time 
Had hidden close to Afric’s heart with care. 
Oh, England! have you not enough of land? 
Have not your soldiers gold enough upon 
Their uniforms to ease your itching hand? 
Go! leave these men the desert they have won! 
A small honey crop is reported. 
Trout brooding is the latest scheme. 
Faith makes a molehill out of a mountain. 
Jonathan— one of the best and prettiest of all Winter 
apples. 
We call it a crime—to deprive hens and soil of their 
portion of lime. 
Michigan has a law making it a felony to falsify the 
pedigree of an animal. A good law, that. 
The vegetarians object to “destroying life.” How 
about potato bugs and other injurious insects? 
How quickly would the edge of war become all dull and 
blunt if those who talk us into fight were forced to march 
in front! 
Liie latest reported scheme is holding green celery in 
sulphur fumes to whiten it. It’s a mistake. Darkness 
blanches without injury. 
The Common Council of Portland, Ore., recently dis¬ 
cussed the question whether buttermilk could be regarded 
as milk, in granting license to vendors. 
“A representative of the Agricultural Department” 
is said to be advising farmers to start skunk farms. 
Who is he, and what is he doing that for? 
That Wisconsin man who got close to the stable ven¬ 
tilator when the foul air was blowing at full cow power, 
now knows what it means to be shut in with foul breath! 
Locusts, which have been a terrible plague in Cape 
Colony, Africa, are being exterminated by inoculation 
with disease, just as Chinch bugs are being destroyed in 
our western States. 
Among the guests who registered at a Kansas City 
(Mo.) hotel during one day recently, were J. R. Pigg, of 
Windsor, Mo., C. B. Plogg, of Canton, O., and Brown 
Bacon, of Chicago. 
