1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
9o9 
» 
Publisher’s Desk. Market Briefs. 
Out of the thousands of letters being 
received each week now accompanying 
renewals of subscriptions, and contain¬ 
ing pleasant expressions of appreciation 
of the paper, and encouraging words of 
cheer, I select this from an old friend 
in New York State as a sample: 
This next year will be my fiftieth year 
with The R. N.-Y., and it has become a 
household necessity. Children and grand¬ 
children have grown up under its valuable 
thoughts and teachings, until now I can¬ 
not well do without it. Success under your 
liberal and worthy undertakings. 
Palmyra, N. Y. c. h. Rogers. 
Here is one more received in the last 
mail from an appreciative friend in the 
South: 
I would not be without The R. N.-Y. I 
want it just as regularly as my meals, and 
feel lonesome when I cannot get it. 
Atlanta, Ga. jas. j. burke. 
Now, this is the last issue of the year 
1899, which closes the first half-century 
of the regular weekly publication of 
The R. N.-Y. Mr. Rogers must have 
been a subscriber from the first issue to 
the present time. I admit a certain 
pride in the feeling that the paper, dur¬ 
ing all these years, has enjoyed the con¬ 
tinued approval and patronage of men 
who have worked with it and grown old 
in the development of agricultural in¬ 
terests, and in the upbuilding of the 
farm home. My ambition is that the 
paper may ever remain true to this 
ideal; that it be a potent factor in the 
progress of farm life; that it may aid 
in material ways to advance every in¬ 
terest of those connected in any way 
with the cultivation of the soil, and 
above all that it may in some measure 
lighten the burdens of daily toil, add to 
the comforts of the farm home, and en¬ 
courage the cultivation of a higher de¬ 
velopment of true and honest manhood 
and womanhood. I hope every member 
of the Rural family for 1899 will go with 
us into the new century. 
When the next 50 years are drawing 
to a close, and The R. N.-Y. has com¬ 
pleted its century run, with other feet 
on the pedals, and other hands at the 
steering bars, I hope that many of you, 
our present friends, may, like Mr. 
Rogers, be able to say that you have 
been its constant companion for 50 
years. It is my earnest hope that each 
succeeding holiday season in the mean¬ 
time may find each and every one of 
you in the midst of those you love, in 
the enjoyment of great prosperity and 
unbounded happiness. 
Our biggest daily subscription mail is 
usually the day after New Year’s. I 
am hopeful that next Tuesday will be 
the biggest day in the history of the 
paper. If you desire any other paper 
or magazine, write for combination 
price. Ask for the Ruby Queen rose, if 
you want it. Everybody seems to want 
it. It is the most popular novelty we 
ever distributed to subscribers. The 
number of people who send a new name 
with their own renewal this far in De¬ 
cember beats all previous records. It is 
a service we highly appreciate. We 
have a list of books for you to select 
from as a reward. We also have lib¬ 
eral terms for club-raisers. 
Since the bob-veal law was passed very 
many more veals are fattened in this sec¬ 
tion than heretofore. Farmers are rais¬ 
ing quite generally their heifer calves, as 
most of the stock in this vicinity is high- 
grade Jersey; the bulls are mostly fed and 
sold as veals. As for myself, I don’t think 
that there is any money in raising veals 
at the present price of milk. Fifty high- 
grade Jersey cows were sold recently m 
this neighborhood at an average price of 
about $50, to go to Pennsylvania, s. w. r. 
Hobart, N. Y. 
If you are a farmer or want to be one, 
send for the “Western Trail.” Published 
quarterly. Full of pointers as to settling 
in Kansas, Oklahoma and Indian Terri¬ 
tory. Handsomely embellished and con¬ 
cisely written. Mailed free. 
Address by postal card or letter. 
John Sebastian, Q.P. A., Chicago.— Adit. 
We are here in this (treat market. Yon ship Roods 
here. You can ship to better advantage if you know 
how and when to do it. We will try to tell you. 
We must know what you want. Ask questions We 
will try to answer them. 
Picked Up Here and There. 
WATER CRESS.—Most of this no\v comes 
from Virginia, West Virginia and other 
southern States. It is tied up in neat 
bunches about four inches in diameter, 
and packed in barrels with layers of ice. 
At present the price is 40 cents per dozen 
bunches. Quite an amount of this is used 
in restaurants and hotels as a side dish 
for raw oysters and a garnish for meats, 
and many people eat it in the place of 
celery. One dealer told me that he fre¬ 
quently sold three or four barrels a day. 
TRYING TO IMPROVE ON NATURE.— 
Those who have read Eggleston’s Hoosicr 
Schoolmaster will remember Squire Hawk¬ 
ins’s whiskers, which were dyed a fright¬ 
ful and unnatural dead black. Somebody 
has been trying his hand at dyeing ever¬ 
greens, and nearly every dealer in Christ¬ 
mas decorations has a stock of Ground 
pine made into rope and colored a dead 
green, unlike any leaf or grass. This 
artist should confine his energies to carpet 
rags, but perhaps this stuff will take well 
with those who wear toothpick-pointed 
shoes, eat hot biscuits, keep late hours, 
and in other similar ways show disrespect 
for the manifest wisdom of nature. 
DRESSED POULTRY.—Much of the dry- 
packed poultry received during the early 
part of the week was in poor condition, 
owing to the warm, muggy weather. Dur¬ 
ing the past 10 days western refrigerator 
stock has been coming forward at the rate 
of about 10,000 packages averaging 150 
pounds each per day. Adding the daily 
receipts to the amount on hand in cold 
storage here, and deducting the average 
daily consumption, the amount of dressed 
poultry of all sorts available for the holi¬ 
day trade is more than 1,500,000 pounds. 
Prices for prime qualities are running a 
little better than for Thanksgiving. Near¬ 
by fancy turkeys sell for 13 to 14 cents, 
and a few extras go a trifle higher. 
PLENTY OF LIVE GEESE.—In a short 
walk through the poultry section of Gan- 
sevoort Market, I counted 200 crates of live 
geese, averaging about 25 each, probably 
not far from 5,000. It was evident that 
they did not enjoy their trip to the city, 
as they hissed at the passers-by, squawked 
and picked at each other in great wrath. 
Put 25 men in a slatted box so low that 
their heads and arms have to stick out. 
Then let three or four giants take hold of 
the box, stand It.up on end and let it fall 
down flat again, and the men will be in a 
position to appreciate the feelings of these 
geese. On page 910, a Lewiston (Me.) cor¬ 
respondent comments in a highly proper 
and somewhat forcible manner on this 
matter of cruelty to live poultry. The 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals has officers around the markets, 
but either the laws are not strict enough 
to warrant them in interfering much, or 
they do not consider it cruelty to pile up 
the crates seven or eight tiers high, to say 
nothing of jamming the heads of the fowls 
sticking through the slats. 
CHASING THE MICROBES.-It is 
stated that the head medical inspector of 
the Chicago Board of Health is after the 
scalps of the push-cart peddlers and street 
fruit vendors of that city. He says that 
these people store the fruits left over from 
the day’s sales in their filthy rooms, offer¬ 
ing them to the public the next day alive 
with disease germs, and asks the authori¬ 
ties to stop the business. The condition 
of things in New York is about the same. 
Perhaps some cases of disease might be 
traced to germs from fruit bought on the 
streets, but it would be a one-sided plan 
to shut down on all the fruit vendors on 
this account. It may not be the height 
of etiquette to go along the streets eating 
an apple, yet hundreds of men do it every 
day, for the good old-fashioned reasons 
that they are fond of apples, and that the 
vendors are offering them for sale near 
the sidewalks. No man who buys this 
fruit thinks that it is as clean as it might 
be on the outside; but, if he is particular 
he can peel, or at least rub it off. Then, 
again, these people go to the tenement 
districts of the city, and sell so cheaply 
and in such small quantities that all who 
have any money may get a share. It is 
probable that the beneficial effect on the 
health of the public from this free eating 
of fruit more than offsets the supposed 
dangers from disease germs. There is no 
doubt about the filthy habits of these ven¬ 
dors. and there is certainly room for im¬ 
provement here. Their hands, faces and 
clothes, and the red rag that thev use to 
polish the apples, could all plead not guilty 
to the soap-and-water act. However 
these people are not to be greatly blamed, 
as their bringing up and home (?) sur¬ 
roundings are all in the same line, and, if 
a man expects to dodge all of the microbes, 
his only chance will be to shut himself up 
in a glass case with sterilized air, and 
live on boiled water. w. w h 
THE NEW YORK DAIRY MEETING. 
Some Personal Notes. 
The new executive committee met Friday 
afternoon, and decided to hold the next 
annual meeting at Watertown. 
Mr. Geo. Hyde, of Cortland, probably 
worked harder than any other man at the 
convention. He placed a great many of us 
under obligations. 
The attendance at Cortland was about 
equal to that at Gouverneur last year, but 
there was less enthusiasm. There were 
fewer young men, and not so many women 
as at the former place. 
Friday afternoon, Assistant Superintend¬ 
ent Flanders gave a full and comprehensive 
history of the New York State laws and 
court decisions on oleomargarine interests. 
His clear and forcible recital reflected 
credit on the Department. 
The Blizzard corn cutter was in opera¬ 
tion near Exhibition Hp.ll. It takes six 
or 10-horse power to run it, but it does cut 
corn stalks up fast, and blows them 
through a pipe to almost any desired ele¬ 
vation. 
Ex-Gov. Hoard did not tell his usual 
quota of stories. He held to practical 
subjects, and was serious and earnest 
throughout his two lectures. The stories 
he did tell, however, gave pointed empha¬ 
sis to the proposition he was trying to 
make clear. There is probably no other 
one speaker who will draw so large an au¬ 
dience of New York State farmers as ex- 
Gov. Hoard. 
The agents who made exhibits for dairy 
supply houses which they represent, pre¬ 
sented some grievances to the officers in 
a quiet manner. They also made some 
good suggestions for future meetings. 
They complained that the exhibition hall 
was located too far from the main hall, 
and that time enough was not given be¬ 
tween sessions for farmers to visit the ex¬ 
hibits. The officers gave them patient 
consideration, and more satisfactory ar¬ 
rangements will be made next year. 
Miss Anna Barrows, editor of the Ameri¬ 
can Kitchen Magazine, Boston, gave an in¬ 
teresting and scholarly address Thursday 
evening, on dairy products as substitutes 
for meats. She illustrated her talk by 
preparing several dishes before the audi¬ 
ence. It was rather an exacting require¬ 
ment, and it is rarely that we hear such 
a clear and connected delivery under the 
circumstances. There was scarcely a 
wasted word in the whole lecture. It was re¬ 
grettable that there were not more women 
in the audience to hear her, but the men 
seemed as much interested as their wives 
could possibly be. 
The following were representatives of 
the western States: Chas. F. Knight, Chi¬ 
cago; A. P. McKinstry, Winnebago City, 
Minn.; Jas. A. Harris, Owatonna, Minn.; 
H. C. Adams, Madison, Wis.; H. M 
Brandt, Canton, Kan.; Chas. Harding, 
Norfolk, Neb. Mr. Knight is editor of the 
Chicago Produce Review, and gave a brief 
talk Friday night on the oleo question. He 
took the obvious ground that oleo sold in 
Illinois or other States forces western but¬ 
ter into New York in competition with the 
New York product, so that the oleo sold 
in other States really competes with the 
honest product of eastern dairymen. This 
is why the National Dairy Union is work¬ 
ing for a National law to restrict the 
manufacture of oleo. 
in tne mythology oi Ancient Greece 
Hymen, the god of marriage, was the half 
brother of Esculapius, the god of medi¬ 
cine. The ancients believed that mar¬ 
riage and health 
should go to¬ 
gether, and as 
a result the 
Greeks of that 
time have 
ever since 
been looked 
upon as types 
‘lof physical 
perfection. 
Sickly moth¬ 
ers cannot 
bear healthy children. The prospective 
mother should use every precaution to 
preserve and foster her health. Not 
alone for the sake of the little one to 
come but for her own sake. A perfectly 
healthy woman is in no danger and in 
very little pain at her time of trial. 
There must be due preparation for 
this time. Nature makes the prepara¬ 
tory period three-fourths of a year and 
women who take the hint from nature 
and use the time properly need have no 
fears of the outcome. Dr. Pierce’s Fa¬ 
vorite Prescription is a medicine designed 
to cure all distinctly feminine ailments 
and taken during the period of gestation 
it renders childbirth easy, safe and com¬ 
paratively painless. 
It is the invention of Dr. R. V. Pierce, 
of Buffalo, N. Y., a regularly graduated 
physician and skilled specialist in the 
cure of all diseases of woman. 
Mrs. Orriu Stiles, of Downing, Dunn Co., Wis., 
writes : “ I cannot praise your * Favorite Pre¬ 
scription’ enough, for I have not been as well for 
five years as I now am. In July last I had a babv 
boy, weight n lbs. I was only sick a short time, 
and since I got up have not had one sick day.” 
Sick women can consult Dr. Pierce by 
letter free of charge. Every letter is held 
strictly private and sacredly confidential. 
Designing men work on women’s 
feelings, by advising women to “writ^ 
to a woman who understands woman’s 
needs. ’ ’ It is useless to seek advice about 
disease of any woman who is not a phy¬ 
sician. So far as known no qualified 
woman physician is connected with any 
proprietary medicine establishment. 
Eureka Harness OH Is the best 
preservative of new leather 
and the best renovator of old 
leather. It oils, softens, black¬ 
ens and protects. Use 
Eureka 
Harness 
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 
Sizes from half pints to five gallons. 
Usds by STAND ABU OIL CO. 
WE WANT AN AGENT 
In every county to sell to the farmers, thrashers and 
mills our superior brands of Lubricating Oils and 
Greases. Salary or commission. Experience not 
necessary; our instructions explain ful'y. For par¬ 
ticulars address THE VICTOR OIL COMPANY, 
Cl. veland, Ohio. 
A Carvitig Set. 
Every family needs a carving set three 
times a day. This set consists of a Shef¬ 
field caiver with eight-inch handmade 
steel blade, buekhorn handle, fork and 
steel. Price, $1.90; or we will send it for 
a club of two new subscriptions at $1 
each and $1.25 extra money, or free for a 
club of six at $1 each. 
A Darning Machine. 
This is the only successful darning 
machine we ever saw. We have tried 
others that were absolutely of no value. 
This one is little short of perfect. It 
enables you to mend underwear, stock¬ 
ings. curtains, table linens, clothing, and 
does an endless variety of art and fancy 
weaving better, easier and quicker than 
by any other way. Full directions ac¬ 
company each machine. When a lady 
has once used this little machine, she 
would not do without it for any con¬ 
sideration. We will send it postpaid for 
$1, or for two new yearly subscriptions 
at $1 each. All money returned if not 
satisfied. 
Free for a Club of Four. 
Here are 44 first-class tools for repair¬ 
ing shoes, rubber, harness and tinware. 
We are going to give no arguments why 
you should have them. The reasons and 
uses are apparent to every one. There 
is nothing like mending a hole, putting 
in a stitch, or driving a nail in time. It 
SOLDER IRON 
WRENCfl 
HEELPLATES! 
BRISTLES 
W 0 
heelplates' 
CEMENT] 
HOME 
N2 1 
REPAIRING OUTFIT 
Boot,Shoe,Harness andTinwareRepairing . ' 
always saves time and money. It often 
saves lives. The price is $2 alone, but 
it need cost you only $1. Send us one 
new subscription with $1, and $1 extra— 
($2 in all) and we will send you the out¬ 
fit complete, or we will send it to you 
free for a club of four yearly subscrip¬ 
tions at $1 each 
