THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 27 
166 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS PABM EE'S PAPER. 
K National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homea. 
Established, 1850. 
Herbert w. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, | 
Mrs. K. T. Royle, ^Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1904. 
The Vermont dairy school needs a new building. 
The school has earned a home and has a right to it. 
It is the duty of the State to erect this building. Some 
States, like some men, apparently need to have their 
duties rubbed in from the outside at times. The Ver¬ 
mont Dairymen’s Association recently called for a 
State appropriation by “unanimous and rising vote.” 
That’s good, but they must stand up and be counted 
in a more forcible way if they expect to get that 
building. Make it an issue! Keep talking about it. 
Churn it out of the Legislature. Keep at it! 
* 
Let us understand about this robin and fruit strug¬ 
gle. Fruit growers do not want to exterminate the 
robins. They would not go out of their way to kill 
them. What they want to do is to protect their prop¬ 
erty. We feel sure that some robins, if not all, have 
changed their food habits, and that they eat far more 
cultivated fruit than they are worth. That being so 
the owners of the fruit are quite justified in driving 
away or destroying such birds. Let no one fear that 
the robin will be exterminated. He is quite able to 
take care of himself! If as the naturalists say, the 
bird lives mostly on insects and wild fruits he will 
not suffer if driven from the fruit garden. 
• 
Shall we pull out the frozen peach trees or cut 
them back to start a new head? For young trees bad¬ 
ly frosted, the weight of testimony seems to favor 
pulling and replanting. This is a case where judg¬ 
ment is required, and no man acquires judgment 
through print alone. Our own trees are not yet badly 
injured but they have had all the long-continued cold 
that is good for them. Mr. Mead is right in advising 
a new beginner to go to the best grower in the neigh¬ 
borhood and offer to pay him for information. The 
R. N.-Y. acts as a middleman between the man who 
doesn’t know and the man who does. Of course a 
man in your orchard with a pruning knife can tell you 
more than he ever could with a pen. 
* 
Latest advices from Albany indicate that there 
will be some legislation in regard to the Experiment. 
Station. It will not be destructive, but will rather 
make the Station stronger. For example, it has been 
suggested that the Commissioner of Agriculture be 
made a permanent member of the Board of Control. 
There are several reasons why this would be a wise 
move. We think it would strengthen the Board. We 
also think it will be well, later on, to let the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture take charge of what may be 
called the police duties of the Station—that is, the 
enforcement of the fertilizer and feed laws. Much of 
the Department’s work in prosecuting offenders is 
based on chemical analysis of various products. The 
Station might well do much of this work, for it is 
evident that a station analysis would carry great 
weight. The Station may well prepare the evidence 
in this way while the Department acts as policeman. 
If this can be done without interfering with the 
fundamental principles which must govern the Sta¬ 
tion, we think there would be a mutual advantage for 
Station and Department. It is a pleasure to learn 
that leading men in the Legislature have been willing 
and anxious to do what seemed best for the farmers. 
No fault can be found with their attitude since the 
farmers approached them fairly and made their 
wishes clear. Of course, no one imagines that any 
such result could have been reached if the farmers 
had remained silent and taken no hand in the discus¬ 
sion. We still believe, as we always have, that farm¬ 
ers can obtain any public measure that is honest and 
fair if they will make their wishes clear and keep at 
it without losing heart. 
Your well-educated scientific man is often untaught 
in practical things. Here is an illustration. A milk¬ 
man wished to make “certified milk” and asked the 
medical authorities what he must do to earn their 
guarantee. One scientific man who knew nothing 
about farming said that all the liquid manures must 
be piped from the stable and thrown away. This man 
did not realize that by doing this the farmer would 
lose more than half the fertilizing value of his ma¬ 
nure. While this would be one way of getting rid of 
some “germs” it was the most wasteful plan that 
could be thought of. The scientific man finally saw 
the point and a better plan was found for handling 
the manure so as to save its plant food. We speak of 
this to show that our scientific friends will make no 
mistake in going to those who can mix practice with 
their theory before they lay down cast-iron rules. 
• 
It will surprise farmers to know how much "cer¬ 
tified” milk is sold in this city at 10 cents per quart 
and over. A few years ago 2,000 quarts per day was 
the limit—now more than 20,000 quarts are handled, 
with the demand far ahead of the supply. State Agri¬ 
cultural Commissioner Wieting is shipping this milk 
to New York from Cobleskill, thus showing that it 
is not a business for local dairymen entirely. From 
the time S. Francisco, of New Jersey, started this idea 
and name there have been great changes in the trade 
in high-class milk. Efforts will be made this year to 
change the agricultural law in New York so as to 
protect those who make “certified” milk. Such milk 
must carry a certificate from an authorized medical 
authority before it can carry the name. We doubt 
whether such a law could be enforced, but it shows 
what is coming in the milk business. There is no 
greater farming opening anywhere than this sale of 
“certified” milk to those who have the capital, pa¬ 
tience and skill to make it. 
* f 
Many farmers have had a dull and hard Winter. 
The fearful cold has prevented them from doing their 
usual work and has made the season lonely and dis¬ 
agreeable. They would not complain if they could 
know how workmen in town and city have been do¬ 
ing. If a farmer cannot work as he would like he at 
least has his home, and if he has been thrifty there is 
fuel and food on hand. When the town workman 
loses his job his cash expenses still go on, and he 
must eat into his little savings. This Winter has 
been cough on the mechanic. He has lost many days 
at his trade, and his income has been cut down. The 
cost of fuel and rent have been high and there has 
been little left for food and clothing. Let a farmer 
who thinks his life is lonely and hard come to the city 
this Winter and see how workmen are living, and he 
would be very thankful that he had a farm to go back 
to. If we hunt for them we can find things about 
farm life that are not just what we would like, but 
if we could see city life as we see our own we would 
be very slow to change. 
Pennsylvania farmers have a grievance, and are 
going to work in the right way to remove it. Penn¬ 
sylvania has a pure food law designed to prevent the 
sale of colored oleo and other fraudulent foods. Per¬ 
sons who violated this law were tried and convicted, 
but Judge S. H. Miller, of Mercer County, instead of 
sentencing them as he should have done, suspended 
sentence—that is, let them go free without punish¬ 
ment. His object in doing this evidently was to bring 
the law into contempt and show a way in which such 
offenders might escape. If this example should be 
followed by other judges, of course the law would 
prove a mere farce, and neither farmers nor consum¬ 
ers would have fair protection against fraud in food 
products. The farmers do not intend to sit idly by 
and see this wrong carried on. Here is part of a reso¬ 
lution passed by the State Board of Agriculture: 
The Secretary of Agriculture and the Dairy and Food 
Commissioner are respectfully urged to carefully inves¬ 
tigate the matter, and if it is found that Judge Miller has 
taken a position which is contrary to law, as well as to 
the dairy interests and the protection of public health; 
that they shall, without delay, appeal to the proper legal 
tribunal to secure such aid which will prevent the Mer¬ 
cer County judge, or other members of the judiciary of 
the State, from taking an attitude concerning the Acts 
of Assembly which are not only revolutionary in char¬ 
acter but a menace to public health. 
Fourteen leading farmers have signed this resolu¬ 
tion, and are sending it broadcast over the State. The 
State Dairy and Food Commissioner, Hon. B. H. War¬ 
ren, of Harrisburg, is ready to enforce the law, and 
the farmers intend to make such a showing in his 
support that even a judge will be forced to do his 
duty. The thing to do is for every farmers’ associa¬ 
tion to pass a resolution, and every farmer to write 
a personal letter and send all to Mr. Warren at once. 
Tell him that you demand an enforcement of the pure 
food laws, and endorse his efforts to obtain it. Come, 
that is the way to do business! This uprising of 
farmers in defense of their rights is the most encour¬ 
aging thing that has happened in years! 
* 
Our people are warming up on the farmhouse heat¬ 
ing question. It is high time. This fearful and long- 
continued cold weather has caused great suffering. 
The young and strong can keep warm, but to the aged 
and feeble this weather is like a sharp knife. Houses 
have been set on fire by stoves crowded beyond their 
capacity in the hope of heating the house. In some 
cases the farm family is driven into two or three 
rooms for comfort—the rest of the house being aban¬ 
doned except for sleeping. The farm family ought to 
be able to enjoy the entire house in comfort. Hot 
water or steam will enable them to do it. The cost is 
considerable, but there are many cases where a farm¬ 
er can afford to heat his house properly rather than 
to invest his money in stocks or bonds that he knows 
nothing about. 
Enforcement of the pure-food laws in New York 
has driven some strange birds from cover. We re¬ 
cently saw in the Agricultural Department at Albany 
a tumbler containing a small piece of comb honey 
floating in a mass of corn syrup. It was labeled 
“corn honey”—and was marked “comb honey 25 per 
cent, corn syrup 75 per cent.” In former years much 
of this mixture was undoubtedly sold as pure honey. 
The new law has not driven it from the market, but 
compels the manufacturers to mark it and sell it for 
what it is. Now, if a buyer wants to buy corn syrup 
he may do so without being obliged to pay honey 
prices for it So-called “flavoring extracts” and other 
materials are being marked in the same way, and 
thus the law seems to be working in the interests of 
both producer and consumer. Agents of the Depart¬ 
ment once found a brand of “canned tomatoes” which 
consisted of stewed pumpkin colored with aniline 
dye and mixed with seeds from a catsup factory. We 
would like to see what “analysis” the manufacturers 
would put on that! The theory of a pure-food law is 
first to establish a fair standard of purity—what a 
certain food ought to contain—and then to hold deal¬ 
ers up to the standard. They may get so far along 
some day as to tell us how much juice a good eating 
apple ought to contain! Where will our old friend 
Ben Davis be then? 
BREVITIES. 
We haven’t seen any bluebirds yet! 
The objector’s talk is tainted with ’taint so. 
Serve the interests of the boss by conserving them. 
Oh. what a hole Jack Frost is making in the hay mow! 
Want to know how to make the world better? Live so 
that every day’s example is a sermon! 
You will see on page 154 what a contribution to the 
brook the farmer makes who lets the rain soak through 
the manure. 
There is one thing the cold weather is doing for us— 
holding the plant food in the manure pile tight, so that it 
can’t run away. 
A good part of western farmers’ institutes is a prize 
contest for best ears of corn. We might well have similar 
contests in the East. 
While of course we do not set The R. N.-Y. up as a 
target to shoot at, we are always glad to receive honest 
criticism and comment. 
“Say nothing but saw wood.” That advice is always 
good. Desire to talk will often gnaw—but words will 
seldom grease your saw! 
Prof. Alwood comes back with facts about his tree 
paint. Is this a case where the scientist beat the prac¬ 
tical men at their own game? 
When you get ready to blow your own horn stop and 
think that it will be easier to crawl out through the large 
end than through the small one. 
We may think the weather cold, but readers in Mani¬ 
toba tell of continued “spells” of from 36 to 43 degrees 
below zero. Such people seem cheerful as larks, too. 
For the first time in many years farmers in the Middle 
South have been unable to do any Winter plowing. When 
Spring opens they will be further behind with their work 
than northern farmers. 
Will some of our readers tell us about a handy device 
to help one mail saw wood with a cross-cut saw? We 
generally strike some one who is able to answer any prac¬ 
tical question. How can you get more power to your 
arm with a cross-cut saw? 
At the annual meeting of the Connecticut Veterinary 
Association, held at Hartford, February 2, a resolution 
was passed denouncing in strong language a so-called 
veterinary association located in London, Canada, which 
it is said grants veterinary diplomas to anyone who can 
raise the necessary fee of $25. These diplomas being nice¬ 
ly got up and well worded look well on the wall of a 
room, but don’t give a very thorough knowledge of veter¬ 
inary science to an ignorant stable boy who for $25 can 
pose as “some pumpkins.” 
