856 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 9 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S RARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homea. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, ) 
H. E. Van Deman, /Associates. 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, j 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, 82.04, equal to 
8 s. 6d., or 8J4 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. 
Ad vertisements 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. 
SAT UR DA F, DECEMBER .9, 1899. 
The last report of the First Assistant Postmaster 
General is devoted very largely to an account of the 
experiments in free rural mail delivery. It is claimed 
that the chief reason for this rural service was “the 
advancement and education of the people.” By bring¬ 
ing the postal service within their reach a short cut 
is provided to a thousand means for education and en¬ 
joyment. Free rural mail delivery is now the watch¬ 
word. It is within reach. Call for it. Organize for it. 
* 
One of our Mexican subscribers tells us, on the next 
page, of some of the agricultural conditions in his 
country. The picture is not an alluring one to a hust¬ 
ling Yankee farmer. The local markets have never 
been developed. No use trying to grow fine products 
in a country where people do not seem to know what 
is good to eat. As between a cheap laborer without 
ambition and farm machinery as true as brains and 
steel can make it, we will stay on a smaller and 
poorer farm with the machine. 
* 
With the West full of corn, why did feeders rush 
so many half-fed steers to market in November, pull¬ 
ing down prices 50 to 80 cents per 100 pounds? Re¬ 
ports from Chicago state that hundreds of loads of 
steers in poor flesh reached the Chicago Stock Yards 
in November, selling for $3.90 to $4.75 per 100 pounds. 
At the same time, prime finished beef sold for $6.65 
to $7.15 per 100 pounds. With the present outlook, 
surely there is no need to rush unfinished feeders to 
market. It is never good economy to keep raw ma¬ 
terial at home and send half-finished products to 
market. 
* 
An Indiana man insured his property against fire. 
When the insurance policy expired he told the agent 
that he desired it renewed, and the agent agreed to 
attend to it. The agent failed to bring the policy or 
collect the premium, and, 10 days later, the property 
burned. The insurance company refused to pay be¬ 
cause the new policy had not been made out, but the 
courts have finally decided that they must pay $868. 
It is held that the agent made a verbal contract, 
which is binding, the same as if he had delivered the 
policy as he agreed to do. It would be a good thing 
if more broken verbal promises could be treated in 
the same way. 
* 
It is said that a new association has been formed 
near Charleston, S. C., for protection against com¬ 
mission men who do not make bona-fide returns. 
The idea is to have a board of managers to look into 
complaints of bad sales, unjust returns, etc., and to 
blacklist houses that are found guilty of fraud or 
neglect, no member of the exchange being allowed 
to ship to them again. Farmers often denounce com¬ 
mission merchants unjustly, so it is expected that 
this will be a protection also to the merchant who 
'is doing a square business. The trouble with the 
plan seems to be a surplus of rules, some of which 
look unjust. All shipments from the exchange will 
be branded “Ex,” and the commission man is ex¬ 
pected to get an extra price for all such goods. Also 
he must wire the shipper immediately on receipt of 
the goods. Failure to do this will cause him to be 
blacklisted. It is scarcely reasonable to expect a 
larger price than outsiders get for the same quality 
of goods, and a perfectly reliable commission man in 
the rush of a busy time might overlook wiring the 
receipt of a shipment, and yet be doing his best to 
sell it to advantage. Telegrams make a big item of 
expense during the season, and receivers here com¬ 
plain that shippers send recklessly long messages, 
almost letters, with charges to be collected, amount¬ 
ing to $2 or more sometimes. No doubt a combina¬ 
tion of growers to ship to reliable men only would 
tend to weed out the frauds, both among commission 
merchants and shippers. So long as people will ship 
to men who promise prices far above the market, 
frauds will flourish, and Buncorille will have lots of 
inhabitants. 
* 
TnE heathen Chinee has always been regarded as a 
very thrifty person, and the fact that he is able to 
profit by our Chinese Exclusion Act shows his busi¬ 
nesslike methods. The Chinese are allowed to enter 
Mexico on the same terms as other immigrants. It 
now appears that, when they wish to return home, 
these Mexican Chinamen simply cross the border into 
the United States, whereupon they are arrested and 
sent back to China at the expense of our Govern¬ 
ment. No doubt many who stay in this country get 
across the Mexican border also, but this utilization of 
our enactment against them seems especially ingeni¬ 
ous. Uncle Sam, he pays the freight,—about $500 a 
head! 
* 
The three methods of providing food for stock, 
which were described on the first page of the last 
R. N.-Y., show how rapidly agriculture is changing. 
Who would have thought, 20 years ago, that stock- 
men in Kansas would find it profitable not only to 
cut and shred corn fodder, but to grind it as well! 
Think how rape, vetch and Crimson clover growing 
together provide pasture for sheep until far into Win¬ 
ter! By sowing cow peas in the corn our southern 
friends made 644 pounds of beef on five acres, in ad¬ 
dition to the corn crop, and left the soil in better 
condition than before. Surely such things are worth 
considering. They indicate something of what science 
is doing for agriculture, both at the experiment sta¬ 
tion and on the farms. 
* 
We are told on page 862 how insects are used as 
medicine. The blood of the cattle tick is used for 
inoculating cattle to render them immune to Texas 
fever. Such statements may well cause us to pause 
and take a long breath, when we realize how science 
has gained in the battle against disease since Koch 
made his discoveries concerning the cause of tuber¬ 
culosis. Of late years certain authors have tried their 
hands at dipping into the future, imagining what the 
next few centuries have in store for us. Most of them 
look ahead, in fancy, to a time when disease has been 
practically banished from the earth. Cancer, con¬ 
sumption, fevers and other scourges have been baffled 
by science. Of course these are but dreams, yet, in 
the light of the scientific discoveries of the past 10 
years they may be nearly realized. 
* 
On page 85u Mr. Siddon gives figures showing how 
his crop of pickles went far ahead of sugar beets in 
profit. He has not told the whole story either. On 
August 1 Mr. Siddon sowed Crimson clover seed 
among the pickles, at the rate of one peck to the acre. 
A rain the next day started it well. Even the walking 
required to gather the pickles did not kill out the 
clover. It is alive and thriving to-day. At the time 
of seeding a pound of flat turnip seed was added, 
and $20 worth of turnips were sold. Next year the 
clover will be plowed under for another pickle crop. 
The R. N.-Y. stood by Crimson clover in the days of 
its trial. Some fainthearts have given it up. Others, 
like Mr. Siddon, know the value of this little friend in 
green and scarlet. Hurrah for Crimson clover, the 
farmer’s friend! 
* 
Last August a workman in this city worked 15 days 
a week at good wages. It was the busy season in his 
trade, and he made the most of it. The idea of work¬ 
ing 15 days in one week will strike some people as 
impossible, yet this man did it. He belongs to a 
union which has established an eight-hour day. Eight 
consecutive hours constitute a day’s work. This man 
would work eight hours, and then, after resting a few 
hours, go at it again. He was engaged in fitting out 
transports for soldiers going to the Philippines, and 
work was rushing. In a week of 168 hours he put in 120 
hours of work and 48 hours of rest, receiving pay for 
15 days. Of course he could not keep this up for any 
great length of time, but he realized that there was a 
long, dull season coming, and he made hay while the 
wind was blowing in his direction. There is a lesson 
for some farmers in this. On most farms there is a 
dull and a busy season, for many farmers do not pro¬ 
vide Winter work that will earn a steady income. As 
with the city workman, the earnings of the rushing 
Summer work must lap over and cover the dull Win¬ 
ter. Yet some farmers adopt a steady pace for the 
entire year, with the standard of movement based on 
the slow operations of Winter. That will never an¬ 
swer for these times. A successful farmer must have 
the capacity and inclination to dispose of extra work 
rapidly when work is plenty. 
* 
Not to be outdone by the larger manufacturers, the 
blacksmiths in some country districts are increasing 
the price of horseshoeing “on account of the rise in 
iron and steel.” The average increase in price is five 
cents a shoe, though it is doubtful whether the real 
extra cost is one cent. Of course a large share of this 
extra price must come out of the farmer’s pocket. 
Somehow people seem to have the idea that the 
farmer is exceedingly prosperous all at once. “Let’s 
have a share of that prosperity,” they say, and up 
goes the price on what they think the farmer ought 
to buy. In our judgment the farmer will fool them 
this year. He will buy only the things he actually 
needs. “Prosperity” is a little lame yet, and he won’t 
drive it very hard. The farmer is going to buy dis¬ 
criminatingly, and will go where he can get the best 
bargain. He will look around carefully before buying. 
* 
A meeting of the stockholders of the New England 
Milk Producers’ Company was called at Worcester, 
Mass., December 4, to hear the reports of the protec¬ 
tive committee and confer with the Boston con¬ 
tractors in reference to an advance in the price of 
milk. It is said that an increase is promised for next 
Summer, at any rate, and possibly this Winter. A 
member of the Contractors’ Association, when asked 
if Promoter Briggs had not tried to sell out the New 
England Company to the contractors, is reported to 
have said: “Yes, he tried to sell us his contract.” 
While Briggs was leading the officers of the company 
on with promises, there was no one left to look after 
the real interests of milk farmers. Now it seems cer¬ 
tain that the farmers could have secured at least two 
cents more per can for milk if there had been some 
one free to attend to 'it. Two cents per day on 30,000 
cans means $18,000 per month, which has been lost, 
in addition to the thousands secured by Briggs and 
his friends. 
* 
BREVITIES. 
Ready for business—always on time, 
Up to the front in its prose and its rhyme ; 
Rough on the rascal, the laze and the boor, 
Always the friend of the struggling and poor; 
Looking .away from hard drudgery’s goad, 
Nerving the hearts that would quit on the road ; 
Everything wrought in the scientist’s den 
Worked into shape for the plainest of men. 
Yeomanly standing by each worthy friend, 
Owned by no scamp for some unworthy end, 
Ripe with a good 50 years of hard work, 
Knowing the fate of the idler and shirk ; 
Ever believing that truth cometh near 
Rural New-Yorker— one dollar per year! 
A tail is a caudal lecture. 
Shall owe culture—letting the weeds grow. 
We think that it will pay to cook corn-and-cob meal. 
Among the rural mail deliverers are at least two girls! 
Hunting a job, heavy heart—a job hunting you—light 
heart. 
No, Sir— we would not use lime and stable manure 
together. 
The Germans are using dogs in the army for scouting 
and sentry purposes. 
No, Sir—“making things warm’’ for a talkative man will 
not boil down his words. 
When the iron enters the soul of the trust it is likely 
to be in the form of steal. 
Is the gumming of cherry trees caused by imperfect 
root action and lack of food? 
The know-it-all man is like a man with a cold in the 
head because he “blows” his knows. 
A reader in Manitoba says that he lives in the land of 
soil and sunshine. Where’s Florida? All sunshine? 
I envy not the man who wears a silk hat on his head; 
I’d rather strive to put the silk inside my skull instead. 
The scientist digs with his steady pick great chunks 
of science both hard and thick. The practical men must 
make it thin and then proceed to rub it in. 
Read what Mr. Mapes says on page 862. This is the 
moral he points: “For every day you allow a broody hen 
to indulge her propensity to sit you lose two days ” 
Mr. Mark says, on page 851, that he doesn’t like rye 
in a peach orchard, because it gets too high, and sucks 
too much moisture out of the ground, before plowing 
time in the Spring. 
Chemists are now figuring on the plant-food value of 
beer refuse. Beer plants a good many people every year. 
Why, yes, there are too many hole-souled men. They 
should plug up the hole. 
Suppose it takes a farmer one-third of a day to go 
after his mail. He goes twice a week and there are 52 
weeks in the year. The time is worth 15 cents an hour. 
Therefore—but hold on—what would he be doing if he 
didn’t go after the mail? 
People continue to write about skunk farming. We 
have tried, in our most forcible prose, to show the folly 
of going into partnership with a skunk. Now, let us try 
verse: 
Here’s our advice, we throw it out in large and solid 
chunks, 
For Heaven’s sake don’t try to be a partner of the 
skunks. 
