4o 
January 16 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TEE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established, 1850. 
— - ---^^ 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, ( . . . 
Mrs. K. T. Boyle, ^Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. 6d., or 8^ marks, or 10!4 francs. 
“A SQUARE DEAL.” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is 
backed by a responsible person. But to make doubly 
sure we will make good any loss to paid subscribers 
sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler advertising 
in our columns, and any such swindler will be publicly 
exposed. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we 
do not guarantee to adjust trifling differences between 
subscribers and honest responsible advertisers. Neither 
will we be responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts 
sanctioned by the courts. Notice of the complaint must 
be sent to us within one month of the time of the trans¬ 
action, and you must have mentioned The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance 
is for, should appear in every letter. 
Remittances may be made in money order, express 
®rder, personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1904. 
It looks as though a northern peach will be a de¬ 
cided “peach” this year. The fearful cold is likely to 
have killed most of the buds. It is true they were 
dormant, but such unusual temperature will prob¬ 
ably prove too much for them. As soon as the buds 
can be tested we would like to have reports from our 
readers. 
* 
Five oleomargarine dealers in Chicago have been 
sent to jail. Formerly such offenders, when found 
guilty, were fined. They could easily pay their fine 
and then go back to their old trade. A term in jail, 
however, is a very different thing, and will do more 
to enforce honesty upon a man than a dozen fines. 
Enforced honesty never did ring true, but it is some 
protection for the public at least. There are some 
big men in this land who would learn more respect 
for the people in a few months’ contemplation behind 
iron bars than they could in 15 years at any univer¬ 
sity! 
♦ 
Tiie recent articles on celery growing in that Penn¬ 
sylvania swamp have called forth quite a number of 
farmers who are transferring the wealth in such 
“pockets” to their own pockets. In many places suc¬ 
cessful gardening seems to have gone down hill into 
the drained swamp, where nature has packed the 
plant food away for safe kSeffing. Many an eastern 
swamp with the water taken out of it is as valuable 
as a western desert with water turned upon it. We 
have heard much about the possibilities of “arid 
America.” The swamp represents “sloppy America,” 
and has possibilities of its own. 
* 
The trouble with the boll weevil in Texas cotton 
has brought in a lot of fakers who are nearly as bad 
as the worms. Among other suggestions offered by 
the wise men is that of planting earlier varieties of 
cotton which will mature before the insect gets fully 
at work. In this case the early cotton will not catch 
the worm. This good suggestion has started up a lot 
of rogues who go about offering seed of “early varie¬ 
ties.” They have obtained a lot of ordinary seed, 
just as it came from the gin-house, put a great price 
on it and now expect to make fortunes. - They are 
like the scamps who bought ordinary western corn at 
an elevator at the regular wholesale price, put it up 
in small packages, gave it fancy names and sold at 
$6 or more per bushel. Given a rascal, a big story and 
a credulous farmer and how trash will jump up in 
value! 
* 
During the past three months a number of rural 
communities in the Eastern States have been shocked 
by the increase in crimes of violence. Lonely country 
houses are robbed, and their occupants maltreated; 
men working in isolated places, such as railway sig¬ 
nal towers, are in danger of robbery and murder, and 
rural travelers have reason to dread all solitary 
roads. Without trying to account for this epidemic 
of violence, its existence calls attention to the lack 
of protection for the law-abiding citizen in most 
rural communities. Where there is only sheriff, con¬ 
stable and town marshal or watchman, any isolated 
home is at the mercy of marauders. A permanent 
State police, entirely separated from political affilia¬ 
tions would seem the only effective plan. Great 
Britain is thus served by its county constabulary, the 
Canadian Northwest by its mounted police, France 
and Germany by gendarmerie. There are four things 
the country home has a right to demand from State 
and Nation; good roads, good schools, good postal 
facilities and efficient protection for life and property. 
We see a cheerful recognition of the first three, and 
it seems time to insist upon attention to the last. 
* 
Not every farmer is so situated that he can con¬ 
veniently keep bees, but a good many who do not 
might just as well have a few hives. Their work as 
pollenizers is well known to fruit men and gardeners, 
many of whom have a few hives just for this purpose, 
and the honey is a very acceptable form of sweet, 
more wholesome to most people than sugar or syrups. 
Bees require some care, though not a large amount. 
An essential also worth remembering in other things 
than bee keeping, is to keep one’s temper. They know 
when they are misused. If a man slaps at them a few 
times when around the hive he is sure to be made 
sick of the bee business before long. Bees, like Pekin 
ducks, are so easily excited that they need no stirring 
up or loud talk. 
* 
Among other frauds who are trying to turn a dis¬ 
honest dollar are various so-called “medical men” 
who guarantee to turn a negro’s skin white by the 
use of the X-rays and the new metal, radium. They 
claim to destroy the pigment in the skin and thus 
change it to white. It is said that these fellows are 
actually receiving thousands of dollars from colored 
people who are foolish enough to attempt this treat¬ 
ment. They do succeed in changing the skin to a 
dirty brown color, but it will not hold even this 
washed-out tint but goes back to the original color 
when the treatment is stopped. This white man’s 
burden is too heavy for any negro to c?’“’y. These 
white scamps make themselves a million times 
blacker at the heart than the negro is on the skin. 
* 
We well remember how many of the wise men 
sniffed at the idea of using cow peas for a manurial 
crop at the North when the plan was first suggested. 
Some good men were as skeptical over the proposi¬ 
tion that southern agriculture could give us such a 
boon as the wise men of old were that good could 
come from such a place as Nazareth! Now the cow 
pea is used on thousands of northern farms with 
great success. We have been urging farmers to sow 
cow peas after wheat or oat harvest, plow them un¬ 
der and sow to grain again. This would be quite 
practical in many western rotations, and during the 
past season we find that it has been tried on many 
farms. Those who did the pioneer work in talking 
cow peas into farm practice can smile at the belated 
gentlemen who are now making up in noise what 
they lacked in faith! 
* 
The Interstate Commerce Commission has not been 
able to regulate transportation rates as its friends 
hoped it would. In spite of all it can do rebates and 
rate discriminations continue. Certain shippers are 
favored at the expense of others, and usually such 
discrimination makes the burden of the small ship¬ 
per harder than ever. When the Interstate Commerce 
Commission was organized the people hoped that it 
could stop these evils, but the Supreme Court de¬ 
cided that it had no power to enforce its regulations, 
since such power belongs to Congress, and had not 
been given by special legislation to the Commission. 
Thus the evils have continued and grown, for while 
the Commission has power to regulate rates it can¬ 
not enforce them. It is like a judge who hears evi¬ 
dence and gives a decision, and then has no power to 
see that it is carried out. There is now a bill before 
Congress which will give the Commission the power 
it needs. This bill ought to pass at once. It will be 
opposed by the railroads and the large shippers, for 
they receive the benefit from “rebates” or cut rates. 
Every farmer and consumer in the land ought to 
favor this bill. 
* 
Few men would from choice start a discussion on 
fruit growing with J. H. Hale. He is keen and for¬ 
cible, and has demonstrated by his own success that 
the plan of culture which he advocates will, when the 
conditions are right, bring fine returns. To go against 
such a man with a new plan which is at present half 
theory will strike most people at first thought as a 
strange thing to do. So it would be if we were will¬ 
ing to accept man’s first thought as final judgment. 
We have learned that most men grow from that first 
thought—some faster than others perhaps—so that he 
who would start a new idea must be content to wait 
until mature deliberation and not snap judgment de¬ 
cides its value. Mr. Hale, if we remember correctly, 
received his first lesson in peach growing from an old 
seedling tree which, without cultivation or special 
care, produced good crops year after year. He evolved 
his plan of intense cultivation in the face of much 
ridicule and opposition on the part of those who were 
considered good fruit growers. He was then combat¬ 
ing the “first thought” which his “revolutionary” 
methods brought into the minds of these men. He 
finally proved that men with great natural energy, 
fair capital and the ability to handle large enterprises 
quickly and well may succeed with his methods. This 
example has made Connecticut a great peach-growing. 
State, and stimulated the business elsewhere. In 
spite of all this we doubt whether Mr. Hale will claim 
that his method is the only way to grow good fruit. 
He has not even demonstrated that it is the best— 
since he has not tried any other way. We firmly be¬ 
lieve that there are localities where the plan of keep¬ 
ing the soil covered with a grass mulch is a more 
practical way of growing fruit than “intense culture.” 
The fruit will be just as good, and will cost less per 
box or barrel. In fact, we think that the grass mulch 
plan of fruit growing will open up new areas to or¬ 
charding, and give new values to farm land whicli 
could hardly be worked at a profit in any other way. 
Some of our horticultural leaders are giving the im¬ 
pression that they are trying to prove themselves 
right by their past convictions. Having taken a cer¬ 
tain ground they seem to feel that it will indicate 
weakness if they now change their views! Now, there 
is strong yeast in the truth. Imagine a woman 
standing over her bread, trying to hold it from rising 
by keeping her hands on it, or a man trying to hold 
the cork of a cider bottle with his thumb! There 
you have a picture of a wise man trying to keep 
growth and true development out of his own convic¬ 
tions. Our scientific men should step gently over their 
own ideas when necessary, and not wait until others 
walk roughshod over them! 
* 
It is not often that the farmers of New York State 
have a chance to write part of a Governor’s message. 
Those who have attended farm meetings during the 
past year will recognize much of the following from 
Governor Odell: 
Competition with the richer lands of other States 
makes scientific farming to-day more necessary than 
ever before. A thorough understanding of our resources 
and the necessities of our cities is important, because it 
will make the farming industry more profitable and 
consequently of greater benefit to the Commonwealth. 
We have now two institutions in the State which devote 
attention to agricultural interests, one working along on 
experimental scientific lines, and the other teaching the 
science of farming. Other Commomvealths have con¬ 
tributed largely in support of agricultural education, and 
it Is important that we should also make adequate pro¬ 
vision for this necessary instruction. There have been 
many applications from the agricultural interests for 
such recognition. Without making any specific recom¬ 
mendations as to the line which you should follow, I 
do desire to impress upon you the necessity for comply¬ 
ing with these demands, which I believe to be reasonable 
and in the interest of New Y'ork. 
We aoubt if there has ever before been such a di¬ 
rect suggestion for agricultural education in a New 
York Governor’s message. Of course the Governor 
refers to the experiment station and the agricultural 
college. How did the Governor come to see this great 
light? Every farmer who sent him a letter last year 
threw a chip into the fire. He simply recognizes the 
power of a popular and just demand. There is there¬ 
fore a double hope in the brighter prospect for the 
college and the station! 
BREVITIES. 
Give the old horses a little more feed. 
“There are many worse off than you.” 
Sour face and surly tongue prevent hope from grow¬ 
ing young! 
The man behind the begun decides whether it shall be 
fizzle or success. 
It was too much for the nerves of Jack Frost to earn 
the title of “Hon. John.” 
Shoveling snow gives an appetite for pork and beans 
that the millionaire never dreamed of. 
The early freeze-up spoiled the plans of many who 
wanted to grow rhubarb in the dark. They could not 
dig out the roots! 
Let a farmer limit his study to the experiment station 
bulletins, and would he have all the “agricultural in¬ 
formation” he needs? 
Oh, well, the snow brings some nitrogen to the land 
and the frost will help break up the soil. Let's think 
of these things rather than of the dead peach buds. 
The milk of most cows seems to increase gradually 
in its per cent of fat as the cow comes nearer freshen¬ 
ing. This does not prove that fat can be fed into milk. 
French inventors, not content with giving us practi¬ 
cal horseless carriages, have evolved the trackless rail¬ 
road idea, and have successfully run 10-coach trains 
connected with an automobile motor on an ordinary 
road. 
Tom has a weakness for liquor which he cannot master. 
Dick knows this and yet offers him a drink—urges him 
to take it. Harry sells the liquor. Tom gets most of 
the discredit, while it ought to be placed on the shoulders 
of Dick and Harry. 
What is the sense in trying to reform jails and con¬ 
vict life? Do not prisoners usually deserve their fate? 
Yes, but why make them worse to do more damage 
when they come out? A jail is a breeding place for 
criminal instruction—many “first offenders” receive last¬ 
ing blots there. 
