THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 31 
884 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman, Editor-in-Chief. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
Frank H. Valentine, I ARt ,„„ 5atp KflitorH 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, ( Associate Editors. 
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 8'/j marks, or 10 l A francs. 
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Reading Notices, ending with “Adv.,” 75 cents per 
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We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
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should appear in every letter. 
Remittances may be made in money order, postal order, express 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1898. 
The Rural New-Yorker wishes all its readers, young and 
old, a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year, and 
may we all he wiser and better when these inspiring holi¬ 
days again come on their annual round! 
5 
for 
$4 
these 
Send us a club of four subscriptions with $4, 
and we will advance your own subscription 
one year free, or send one new subscription for 
a neighbor with 81, and ask for your choice of 
books: 
New Potato Culture.$0.40 
Business Hen.40 
The Nursery Book.50 
American Grape Training.75 
Horticulturist’s Rule Book..’.50 
We send any one of them, post paid, as a reward for 
sending us one new subscription. 
“ Bactericide ” ! That is the name the Pasteur In¬ 
stitute of Paris has given apple cider. The scientists 
have found that the “ germs ” of typhoid fever will 
die in hard cider in from 10 to 18 hours. Of course, 
we all know that apples are mighty healthy fruit, but 
we prefer them in the original package or as apple 
sauce. If hard cider can kill the germs of typhoid 
fever, it can kill more useful things. We have known 
it to cripple character and silence sense. 
The R. N.-Y.’s weekly summary of important news 
has grown to be a standard and useful part of the 
paper. It gives busy people a chance to keep step 
with the march of great events. During 1899, we ex¬ 
pect to enlarge this department by covering more of 
the purely agricultural news. We are glad to see that 
agriculture is constantly gainingin dignity and public 
interest. Most papers used to ignore reports of lead¬ 
ing agricultural meetings. They are now glad to re¬ 
port them. They all realize that the reading farmer 
is going up the scale. 
The adverse legislation now under consideration in 
Germany, which appears to be aimed directly at 
American meat products, seems likely to provoke re¬ 
taliation. The Agricultural Appropriation bill re¬ 
ported December 19 contained a retaliatory clause 
authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to inspect 
imported articles dangerous to health, and authoriz¬ 
ing the Secretary of the Treasury to exclude such 
articles. Such a clause will cover a very wide range, 
even without any idea of retaliation, for it is likely 
that canned fruits, meats, vegetables, wines, cordials, 
condiments, etc., which are extensively imported, 
could be examined and, if need be, barred out, under 
such ruling. 
Many of the speakers at the farmers’ institutes are 
good teachers. They are experienced and conservative, 
and have met with fair success on their own farms. 
Asa rule, these men are capable of going to the soil, 
and working out the plans they advocate at the insti¬ 
tute. Other speakers are good talkers—fluent and 
witty, with many ideas that are sensible and well 
meant. At home, these men have nearly failed as 
farmers. The soil they till does not measure with the 
words they use in telling about their tillage. Another 
class of institute workers are talkers and little else. 
They could not possibly make a living on a farm. 
They can tell good stories, make excellent suggestions, 
and usually entertain their audiences. How do such 
men ever earn the right to be known as “ institute 
workers ” ? As a rule, some political party feels that 
it owes them part of a living. They get “ in the 
swim ” through some political influence, and there 
they stick. Many an honest institute manager carries 
a load of this dead timber along simply because he 
knows that he is expected to pay off a lot of cheap 
political debts in this way. The farmers’ institute has 
now become a power in the land, and the politicians 
are beginning to get their fingers on it. It is now at 
a critical stage of its progress. Having had occasion 
to go “ behind the scenes” a little, The R. N.-Y. in¬ 
tends, during the coming season, to point out some of 
the dangerous tendencies that appear back of the 
curtain. 
It is an old saying that a bad beginning makes a 
good ending. This is a good New Year thought—if 
true. It isn’t necessarily true, but is very comforting 
to those who have made a bad start. If lessons are 
learned from the bad beginning, and are acted upon, 
this will go far to insure a good ending. Otherwise 
the unfortunate start will have been in vain. It has 
truly been said that a single mistake is no discredit, 
but the man who makes the same mistake twice shows 
lack of sense. A wise man profits by his mistakes. 
Better make a good beginning, but a bad one is not 
necessarily fatal. 
The managing editor has not exhausted his Ohio 
note-book yet, but concluded to keep the rest in cold 
storage for a while. Now we take a jump to Mary¬ 
land to see how strawberry plants are grown. Last 
week, we were with those lusty Poland-China hogs that 
make perfect pork barrels of themselves on clover and 
corn. The strawberry plants are gluttons, also. Their 
food is hauled hundreds of miles. This will not last 
always. Before many years, cow peas will give that 
soil such character and strength that it will support 
its own crops. From fat hog to strawberry plant! 
What a wonderful country this is 1 
Are we, as a rule, sufficiently appreciative of the 
value of fine trees ? Prof. Rolfs writes of a New Eng¬ 
land property owner, whose house was shaded by a 
fine elm tree, who gave instructions that, in case of 
fire, the tree was to be protected at all hazards, the 
house being a secondary consideration. The tree 
was thus held at a higher valuation than the house 
itself. It is a fact that fine trees add to the value of 
property in a marked degree and, without going so 
far as to give the dwelling second place, every one 
whose property includes trees needs a fuller recog¬ 
nition of their material worth apart from the ques¬ 
tions of beauty or shade. 
One of the improvements on the farm of White & 
Rice, which was described by The R. N.-Y. last Fall, 
is a big bell hung near the house. They said that they 
got this because it can be rung in case of fire or other 
emergency, and thus call in the aid of neighbors. Of 
course, its primary use is to call the men to meals, 
and to give the signal for beginning or ending of the 
hours of work. The familiar old dinner horn is 
cheaper, but its notes are not so far-reaching. A 
Pennsylvania farmer and his family were recently 
attacked by robbers, and these were frightened off by 
the ringing of the farm bell to summon help. Numer¬ 
ous cases of this kind have been reported, as well as 
cases of fire and of sudden illness where help was 
urgently needed. A farm bell is often a valuable 
adjunct aside from its accustomed use. 
The New York State Agricultural Society is to hold 
its annual meeting in January. Among other matters 
to come before it, is one that we think should be at¬ 
tended to at once. One of its vice-presidents, from 
New York County, is Mr. Hamilton Busbey, whose un¬ 
savory record in connection with the collecting of 
license money from the trotting associations, has been 
well ventilated in The R. N.-Y. In view of the facts 
regarding Mr. Busbey’s career as an office holder, we 
think the New York State Agricultural Society would 
do well to get rid of him at the earliest possible 
moment, as an officer. It would, certainly, be a 
ridiculous thing to retain as vice-president of this old 
Society, a man who is so notoriously unfaithful to the 
interests of agriculture. Mr. Busbey’s name should 
have “ Bounce” addded to it with a capital B. 
• 
• 
A Swiss merchant who has been traveling in this 
country says that he has been astonished to see the 
vigor of the Americans. The Swiss, with all their 
energy and industry, are behind us in many ways. 
But farming there is conducted upon a very different 
plane* fromothis country. A little patch of ground 
suffices the farmer. He says that, in the mountains 
bordering the Rhone Valley, one may often see a 
farmer strapped to a tree, carefully tending every inch 
of ground on a steep slope, and getting results for his 
labor which, in this country, would be scoffed at, but 
which satisfy him. Think of a modern Yankee tilling 
such ground. Yet the spirit that leads a man to such 
efforts would be a mighty good thing with which to 
temper the hustling, rushing, wearing life of our 
typical modern American. 
Readers of The R. N.-Y. are still expressing their 
choice for Commissioner of Agriculture of New York. 
Since we stated that Mr. Willard is not a candidate 
for the position, a majority of the votes have been 
cast for Geo. T. Powell, of Ghent. The arguments in 
favor of Mr. Powell are well stated in the following 
note : 
I name Mr. Geo. T. Powell, of Ghent. Mr. Powell is honest, 
intelligent, progressive, and has no political debts to pay. He is 
an able student of the science of agriculture. He is practical and 
successful in the art of agriculture. He is genial, sympathetic, 
and always ready to help the man who tries. He can clearly 
express his ideas in plain language. His large acquaintance 
with the needs of all parts of the State, his practical work, his 
long-time association with the best workers and thinkers, and 
his ability to lead others to better work, are qualifications not to 
be despised. Geo. T. Powell, the farmer, and the true friend of 
the farmer. benj. Durham. 
One would think that this well covers the ground. 
Who can deny that these statements are fair ? Yet 
Mr. Powell’s independence in politics has turned 
powerful influences against him. The R. N.-Y. will 
be glad to present the just claims of other candidates. 
We are satisfied that Mr. Roosevelt wants a strong, 
powerful man for the place. There are four months 
yet before the term of the present commissioner 
expires. 
AN ARGUMENT IN THE INDEX. 
The annual index is sent this week, not only to all 
the yearly subscribers, but also to the thousands who 
have been reading The R. N.-Y. for a few months on 
trial. Of course, the index will not be of full value 
to them, since they have not read all the issues for the 
year ; still it will give them an idea of the paper that 
they cannot obtain in any other way. The index 
shows that nearly 5,000 topics were discussed during 
the year. This embraces every conceivable line of 
work that would interest one who obtains his living 
or his pleasure from the soil of America. With such 
a varied list of topics, discussed by the ablest practical 
and scientific men in the land, it is evident that a 
reader may easily obtain his dollar’s worth. One cent 
for 50 topics for is cheap enough. This index ought 
to be the strongest possible argument to a short-term 
subscriber, that a full year’s subscription will prove 
a paying investment. 
BREVITIES. 
Ob, Santa Claus, dear Santa Claus—you seemed to pass me by; 
I hung my stocking with the rest—I hung it high and dry, 
And yet I found it empty as a stocking well could be— 
I guess your presents all gave out before you got to me. 
You didn’t even darn the hole worn in it by my shoe, 
And yet, my good friend, Santa Claus, I’ve not lost faith in you, 
For when I put my stocking on and went out face to face 
With duty, do you know, Old Man, I struck a quicker pace. 
And now I know why emptiness was all the gift you sent; 
You’re mighty wise, old Santa Claus, I see now that you meant 
That 1 should fill that stocking from the very top to toe 
With foot and ankle strong enough and big enough to go 
Whenever duty draws the line in life’s big berry patch, 
Right up and put the whole hoof down—in short, to toe the 
scratch 1 
And so I thank you, Santa Claus; your gift is all I ask, 
Because I think you left the faith to help along the task. 
Panicky— the fried chicken. 
“ Next year ” is almost here. 
Among the Marketmen on page 889. 
No man is ever “ stuck ” by sticking to skill. 
May there be no sting in the tail-end of this year! 
You seldom see a dirty cow in a box-stall or pasture. 
You get 53 issues of The R. N.-Y. this year! No extra charge! 
Any chicken becomes a garden foul when inside the garden 
fence! 
There is always a why ? on the finger post that leads to the 
town of Wisdom. 
Don’t forget to save the yearly index sent out with this num¬ 
ber. Nail it fast! 
Look out for the cannery shark. He tries to locate a canning 
factory at exorbitant figures. 
What’s the best medicine ? My farmer friend, of course, you 
give your vote for homemade apple sauce. 
The worst croaker on the place is the crow cur —the scrub dog 
that barks over his own mean tricks. 
The goose is a very popular bird nowadays, but who would 
wish to be a goose for the sake of being popular ? 
Now it is said that Jack rabbits have learned to chew tobacco, 
and have to be fenced out of tobacco fields in California. 
Hark ! hark! The dogs do bark, who is it comes to town ? The 
institute men; the “ smarty ” then prepares to “ call them*down.” 
On page 881, Mr. Slingerland tells us how the mouse conveys 
tapeworms to the cat. We feel sure that rats convey trichime in 
much the same way. 
Get your exact weight. Then you can step on the buyer’s 
scales now and then and test them. See if you get fair figures 
for your stock and grain. 
Chemists find poison in the paint used on imported German 
toys. The American babies that have been sickened by this 
paint probably outnumber the Germans who have been hurt by 
American food. 
