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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 21 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
THE B USINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal lor Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwooij, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, j . „ . . „... 
Mrs. E. T. Rotle, j- Associate Editors. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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Thirty cents per agate line (14 lines to the inch). Yearly orders 
of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 26 cents per line. 
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Ad vertisements inserted only for responsible and honorable houses 
We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
Be sure that the name and address of sender, with name of 
Post-office and State, and what the remittance is for, appear in 
every letter. Money orders and bank drafts on New York are the 
safest means of transmitting money. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay¬ 
able to THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1898. 
The article by Dr. Law, page 368, again calls atten¬ 
tion to a disgraceful state of affairs. The great dairy 
State of New York is in such an unprotected situation 
that it is liable to be, and is, made the dumping ground 
of diseased cattle from any other State that may 
choose to send them there. The case is well stated by 
Dr. Law, and it is the duty of every breeder and dairy¬ 
man, of every State official, of the Agricultural Depart¬ 
ment, and every health officer in the State, of what¬ 
ever name, and whatever his duties, to use every 
endeavor to put an end to this abominable business. 
It must be stopped ! 
© 
A device of city tradesmen is to make some striking 
window display to attract attention. One of the lead¬ 
ing seed stores usually has a lot of long boxes of soil 
covered with a luxuriant young growth of grass to 
advertise its lawn mixture of seed. This has become 
so familiar that it no longer attracts attention. But 
now the firm have placed it inside the show window, 
and added a brood of lively young chicks whose 
scampering around over the miniature lawn attracts a 
shifting but perpetual crowd. It’s an attractive bit 
of charming country life transplanted into a pande¬ 
monium of city trade, and its attractiveness is appre¬ 
ciated beyond question. 
0 
It appears that, in England, “ oleo ” is not only used 
to adulterate butter, but the substance itself is adul¬ 
terated. A small shopkeeper in London was recently 
arrested for selling “margarine” not properly labeled, 
and adulterated with 6.7 per cent of paraffin wax. The 
paraffin wax improves the keeping qualities of the 
“ margarine,” but if taken into the human system, 
causes severe gastric disturbance. The culprit in the 
case quoted was ignorant of the law governing the 
sale of this stuff, and was not guilty of the adultera¬ 
tion, which was the work of the manufacturer, so she 
escaped' with a severe warning and a fine of $12. 
“ Oleo ” would seem sufficiently objectionable alone, 
without poisonous adulteration. 
O 
The peculiar record of Suke of Eosendale, as re¬ 
ferred to on page 378, ought to open the eyes of dairy¬ 
men and cow buyers to the possibilities for deception 
in a single or occasional testing of a cow’s milk. Some 
single tests of this cow’s milk showed a higher per 
cent of fat than any other cowon record, and a week’s 
test early in her period of lactation showed a remark¬ 
ably high per cent, yet her average for a whole year 
was little if any higher than that of other good cows. 
Had a prospective buyer with his Babcock test got a 
record of this cow on some of these days, lie3would, 
probably, have thought he had secured a wonder. 
Still, it is the average that counts. The Babcock test, 
it seems, has a decidedly freakish tendency of cows to 
cope with, and it may need more than a week’s test to 
decide the actual value of a cow. 
© 
A Government bond rexiresents a debt. It is a prom¬ 
ise that our children as taxpayers will, some day, pay 
the face value of the bond with interest. The expenses 
of carrying on our war are estimated by Secretary 
Gage at $25,000,000 per month. Our generation having 
started this war, should pay for whatever glory or 
benefit we are to get from it. We should pay for it in 
direct taxes, and not sell bonds which will represent 
a lien upon the property of our children. Who wants 
this war prolonged ? Those who want to fight for a 
living, and those who make money in speculating or 
in providing fighters with supplies. Those who never 
pay taxes may care little, but the great financial 
burden is to fall, not upon those who fit out regiments 
and gunboats at their own expense, but upon the 
people of the middle classes whose little savings rep¬ 
resent years of self-denying toil. These people know 
that borrowing leads to extravagance and hopeless 
debt. The burden of direct taxes will prompt us all 
to urge the Government to end the war, and not go 
on a military picnic. Let this generation pay its own 
bills ! No borrowed money for the boys to pay ! 
The appropriation for the postal service contained 
an item of $300,000 for free delivery of mails in rural 
districts, but the Senate, by a vote of 25 to 22, cut it 
out. This seems to end the matter for this year. At 
the same time, the Senate decided that four deliveries 
of mail per day are enough in any city. It was the 
argument of economy that decided both matters, but 
it seems to us both unjust and unwise economy to 
give up the experiments in free rural delivery. We 
are told, that, in some places where this free delivery 
was tried, the farmers were so w T ell pleased that, after 
the Government withdrew the service, they combined 
and handled the mail at their own expense. 
O 
The Breeder’s Gazette gets after the secretary of the 
Horned Dorset Sheep Breeders’ Association for some 
statements which appear in the Dorset Courier. Among 
other things it says : 
We will warrant that, if the secretary of any other flock-book 
should give tongue to such libels, either officially or unofficially, 
he -would be deposed from office as quickly as the proper authori¬ 
ties could be assembled for that purpose. 
There is, probably, little doubt about that. The secre¬ 
tary of the Dorsets elects himself, by means of proxy 
votes, and the breeders who don’t like it may do the 
next best thing. Some of the best of them have done 
this by forming a new association, and they deserve 
the thanks of American breeders for this public ex¬ 
pression of disapproval of the system of government 
by proxy. 
© 
In Pennsylvania, John Wanamaker is making a 
lively canvass for the nomination for Governor on the 
Republican ticket. We give the following quotation 
from one of his speeches to show how new issues are 
getting into politics : 
The great oleomargarine interests of Swift and Armour, backed 
with millions of capital, with agents and branches in almost 
every city and town of any size in the country, stand as a menace 
to the pure-butter industries of this and other States. Friendly 
legislation has allowed them to place their spurious product on 
an equal footing with butter, and it is sold in great quantities by 
unscrupulous dealers. The cost of manufacturing this bogus 
article is about one-third that of making good butter. The great 
oleomargarine companies are said to be liberal contributors to 
political machines. 
This is a side of the question which the friends of 
‘ ‘ oleo ” are always glad to dodge. There is an immense 
profit in buying lard and suet at less than five cents a 
pound, coloring it with poisonous coal-tar dyes, and 
then selling it at 18 cents or more per pound ! Those 
who do it can well afford to buy a few legislatures 
and governors ! It is a good thing to get “ oleo ” into 
politics. 
© 
We hear a good deal about the danger of using borax 
and other “ preservatives ” in butter which is to be 
exported to England. We are told that this will 
surely ruin our trade abroad, because the English 
people will not have such stuff in their butter. Now, 
two years ago, the United States Department of Agri¬ 
culture imported packages of the best samples of but¬ 
ter that could be found in the London market. These 
samples were analyzed at the Connecticut Station, and 
Dr. Jenkins reports that the butter from Normandy, 
Australia, Brittany and Ireland, “ gave a deckled reac¬ 
tion for boric acid ., probably present in the form of borax” 
Thus it seems that the butter which Englishmen prize 
so highly is “ poisoned with borax ”. This discovery 
is an important one. If the best butter in the Eng¬ 
lish market contains borax, there is all the more rea¬ 
son why American buttermakers should never use 
these “preservatives”. We have a chance to make 
butter that is “ better than the best ”. 
© 
The United States Supreme Court has at last de¬ 
clared that the South Carolina dispensary liquor law 
is constitutional. A wine company in California 
shipped a car-load of wine to Charleston, S. C. The 
State'of South Carolina claims a monopoly of liquor 
selling inside its borders, and these wines were seized 
and held. The California company held that this in¬ 
terfered with lawful trade, and that the seizure was 
unconstitutional. The Supreme Court now upholds 
the liquor law in its main features—the exception 
being that citizens have a right to import liquors for 
their own use. It settles that the State has a right to 
engage in the liquor business, and thus take the trade 
out of the hands of citizens. It also upholds the Iowa 
liquor law which forbids a common carrier or em¬ 
ployee to transport liquor within the State without 
a certificate from the county auditor. A station agent 
removed a package of liquor from the platform to the 
freight room—or about six feet. Not having the neces¬ 
sary certificate, he was fined $100, and the Supreme 
Court says that the fine must stand. The Supreme 
Court has almost invariably decided against the liquor 
interests in cases of this character. Another curious 
liquor case was recently tried in Vermont. A com¬ 
pany of men got drunk on eggnog made from hard 
cider. As a result, one was drowned. The man who 
sold the hard cider was tried and found guilty, under 
the Vermont law, of murder in the second degree. 
0 
About 275 years ago, Spain was the richest nation in 
the world. Her rule had been established in America 
for more than a century, and she had carried millions 
in gold and treasure to the mother country. At the 
same time two poor little struggling colonies on the 
bleak coast of New England and in Virginia marked 
the only foothold of the Anglo-Saxon. At that time, 
the rich Spaniard represented in America greed, 
piracy, gold hunting and oppression. The poor Eng¬ 
lishman represented the strong, vigorous element of 
European civilization that craved freedom of thought 
and action, and willingly endured danger and priva¬ 
tion for the sake of independence and love of home. 
Down through the centuries the luxurious, indolent 
Spaniard, and the hard-working, self-denying Y r ankee 
have contested for the right to rule America. The 
rich Spaniard has lost. The mental and bodily vigor 
of the Anglo-Saxon has conquered. The Spaniard is 
hanging feebly by one hand to a small corner of the 
continent he once owned, while the despised fisherman 
and farmer of three centuries ago is rapping his slip¬ 
ping fingers. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
WHO’S THE BOSS ! 
Man —“ Get up there now, you great big lunk head, you ! 
I’ll take that whip an’cut you right in two! 
Whoa! Stop that kickin’! Whoa, you old fool hoss! 
I guess we’ll stop right here and see who’s boss.” 
Master —“ Now, Henry, don’t you give me no back talk, 
You’ll do jest what I say or else you’ll walk ! 
I’m boss on this here farm, and that’s my plan, 
An’ I won’t take no slack from no hired man ! ” 
Mistress— “ No, dinner ain’t quite ready—you clear out! 
I don’t want no man hangiu’ round about 
My kitchen! I’m a-runniu’ this here food, 
An’ you’ll keep quiet if you know what’s good! 
I won’t have no such lookin’ man as you 
Boss me around !—I ain’t dictated to 
By nobody ”- 
Baby— “ I want a piece of bread 
An’ jelly, an’ I wanter eat ahead 
Of Pa! You give it to me or I’ll make 
You do it; an’ now, Ma, I want some cake! ” 
It is Soy bean! 
The Dons are undone. 
Very little profit in prophecy. 
The wheat market has been strong the past week. 
“ This is a fill it of veal ”, said the calf as it began its supper. 
Don’t “stand on your rights”. Get under them and lift them up. 
“ Let us sink our differences”, said the dishwater to the dirty 
plate. 
It is said that the demand for seed drills is beyond all precedent 
this year. 
Provisional government ! “Now, Johnnie, be a good boy and 
I’ll give you a piece of cake ! ” 
There’s something of interest in relation to the recent flurry 
in wheat, in Hindsight, page 376. 
The firm of Burbank, Abundance, Wickson and Red. June are 
attending to the plumming in our family. 
The word-carpenter says that the expression, “Cheese it!” 
probably came from “ keep a whey from it !” 
You can serve your country by shouldering some of your be- 
guns and hanging on until they are finished. 
The high price of flour is causing a rush to find cheaper bread 
substitutes. What can be done with wheat middlings ? 
The Philipjnne Islands are nearly as large as New England, 
New York and New Jersey, with nearly as many humans. 
Judging by advices received, poultrymen seem to be pleased 
with the Eureka Nest Box. Careful breeders care most for it. 
History will decide the wisdom and justice of the present war 
with Spain. The thing to do now is to end it as quickly as pos¬ 
sible. 
Your children take after you ! What do they take ? What you 
set before them in the way of conduct. You cut the cloth. They 
wear it. 
Yes, sir, our advice to you is to volunteer in the interests of the 
Queen Regent of your kitchen, and put up some of the helpful de¬ 
vices shown on our first page. 
There are two kinds of bondmen. The owner of the bond is 
bound to get interest and principal, if possible. The maker of the 
bond is bound to his agreement. 
The wicked bacteria work very hard to upset the good dairy¬ 
man’s plan, his milk will not lack lactic acid unless he can can¬ 
vass with steam every can. And so, in the actions of every-day 
life, it is easy to see that a man will always lack energy, vim and 
success, unless he put steam in “ 1 can! ” 
Austria has issued a ministerial decree directing that the im¬ 
portation of liviDg plants, plant refuse, fresh fruit, fruit refuse, 
and the packages in which such articles may be shipped, shall 
all be prohibited, if upon examination at the port of entry, the 
San Jose scale be found in any such consignment. 
