544 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 16, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850 . 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Du. Walter Van Fleet, i 
Mrs. E. T. Koyle, ^Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in 1 lie Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. (id., or 8% marks, or 10% 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 col¬ 
umns, 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 transaction, and you must have 
mentioned Tub Rural Nbw-Yobker when writing the adver¬ 
tiser. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance 
is for, should appear in every letter. 
Remittances may be made in money order, express order, 
personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, JULY 1 G, 1904. 
THE PRIZE CLIPPINGS. 
This week the first prize goes to New Jersey, second 
to New York, and the third to Kansas, as follows: 
Richard F. Robinson, Bergen Co., N. J. 
Mrs. W. H. Cartledge, Chenango Co., in. Y. 
Emma Fergus, Anderson Co., Kansas. 
We still offer weekly prizes of $1.50, $1 and 50 cents 
for the best clippings from local papers. 
* 
Could a city workman, with an average family, no 
knowledge of farming, and a small capital come into 
your community and make a living on a farm? If so— 
what should he attempt to raise? If not, what would 
most likely be tbe cause of his failure? We shall be 
glad to have you discuss this matter! 
* 
What about the beet sugar factories tnat were prom¬ 
ised for the Eastern States? The R. N.-Y. has claimed 
from the first that these factories could not be con¬ 
ducted at a profit in spite of the plausible theories of 
those who advocated them. The present conditions in 
America are such that a crop requiring as much hand 
labor as the sugar beet cannot be grown at a profit. In 
sections far from market where ordinary crops cannot 
be shipped to advantage sugar making may pay, but not 
in the eastern part of America. 
♦ 
The picture on page 539 shows a recent horticultural 
demonstration at the Massachusetts Agricultural Col¬ 
lege. Prof. F. A. Waugh is showing a company of 
fruit growers how to make Bordeaux Mixture. This 
meeting was largely attended by interested fruit grow¬ 
ers—over 400. To quote from a recent letter: “These 
field demonstrations are one of the coming means of 
agricultural propaganda. One demonstration like this 
is worth, in the present state of rural civilization, 20 
county fairs, with all the midways, horse races and prize 
pumpkins.” 
* 
A few weeks since a Massachusetts man described 
the trouble he has in trying to make his farm pay with 
hired help. The owner thought that one reason for 
the failure was that the “intellectual side” of farming 
does not appeal to the hired man or manager. We have 
had a number of letters from readers who think they 
can cover this intellectual side without trouble. Are 
they ready to add the industry? What our friend needs 
is a man to get up early and keep at his work all day— 
with good judgment and skill. In order to do this with 
any spirit a man must love the work and take pleasure 
in seeing his crops and animals grow toward perfection. 
That is what he means by the “intellectual” side of 
farming—not sitting under a tree to think while others 
work! 
* 
The managers of the political parties saw little good 
in rural free delivery of the mail until they found it 
was popular with country voters. Then they saw great 
virtues in the system and began patting themselves on 
the back for having “given it to the people.” It is 
necessary to force these things upon the politicians. 
We shall never get them for the mere asking, because 
it has reached a point where any justice to the people 
is likely to mean taking an unjust advantage from some 
rich corporation. The politicians will not do that un¬ 
less they are forced to. That is why the parcels post 
is so long coming. Country people need that even more 
than they did free rural delivery. To grant it will mean 
the ill will of the great express companies, and that is 
why the politicians dodge the issue. Let us all under¬ 
stand this, and get out and work for what belongs to 
us. As soon as the nominations for Congress are made 
let’s begin and put every one of them on record. When 
we get them there we shall know what to do with 
them! 
* 
Some time ago The R. N.-Y. referred to the advance 
in express rates on cut flowers, which caused a num¬ 
ber of New Jersey florists to combine and give their 
transportation to a wagon delivery. The express com¬ 
panies saw the point, and restored their former rates, 
but the wagon express has proved so satisfactory that 
it still keeps on, with increasing business. As it was 
entirely satisfactory during the late severe Winter, the 
plan has certainly had a sufficient test. The florists 
in the district in which this independent express oper¬ 
ates are estimated to pay about $ 30,000 a year to the 
express companies, so their business is worth catering 
to. It is quite possible that there are many other lines 
of production where an equally intelligent trade organi¬ 
zation would modify exactions in transportation. 
* 
The value of the American hen to society is usually 
given in terms of meat or eggs. She fills the dinner 
pail and provides the groceries, pays the mortgage, or 
shingles the house—but this is not all. Many stories 
could be told of the way she has held society together. 
In the early history of Plymouth it was the broth made 
from a choice hen that saved the life of a friendly In¬ 
dian chief and prevented the ferocious King Philip 
from starting out with the scalping knife at a time when 
he could have cleaned out the whites! Another instance 
of the power of the hen to soothe the savage breast was 
given by a member of the New York Farmers: 
Many years ago I was talking with General Sheridan, in 
Chicago. lie told me that when he was a major of cavalry, 
in Arizona, he was in charge, on behalf of the Government, 
of a tribe of Indians, the Colorados, and his duty was to 
confine them to their reservation. His principal difliculty 
was on account of their nomadic character; no matter what 
effort he made to make their homes comfortable for them, 
still they would leave them and travel away, and had to be 
brought back by the cavalry at short intervals. lie finally 
decided that if he could give them some interest in the way 
of live stock, it might be an anchoring influence, so he suc¬ 
ceeded in having the Government give them a stock of 
horses. That, however, did not answ'er the purpose, for 
they drove the horses, and continued to travel with the 
horses and mares and colts, as they had before. Then he 
tried the experiment of giving them cattle, but after the 
cows had produced calves in the Spring of the year the 
Indians traveled, and the stock traveled with them. Finally 
he Hit upon the idea of giving them a stock of poultry, and 
the squaws promptly realized the value of the product of the 
hens in the domestic economy, became attached to the eggs 
and attached to the chickens, and when the bucks proposed 
that they should make their Summer migration, the squaws 
said “No.” The result of the poultry experiment was that 
for the first time he was enabled to anchor these Indians 
to the place where the Government desired to keep them. 
There are many boys on the farm to-day who could 
be anchored to the old home if they could be interested 
in a good .hen. 
* 
We begin to hear from western cattle feeders on page 
545. These letters should be studied by eastern people 
who buy all or part of their meat. It seems that most 
feeders have lost money of late years. Corn has cost 
too much money for profitable feeding. Live stock have 
brought good prices at times, but these prices have not 
been uniform, and many good cattle have sold for less 
than it cost to produce them. When the price for live 
cattle goes down those of us who buy beef would 
know little about it unless we kept track of the market 
reports! Our retail prices seldom vary. Though sev¬ 
eral times during the past few years the price paid to 
the feeder has been cut 30 or 40 per cent we have gone 
on paying uniformly high prices. In order to give west¬ 
ern stock men an idea of what their meat sells for we 
give here average retail prices which are charged in 
local markets in New Jersey: 
Best sirloiu steak.28 to 30 cents per pound. 
Tenderloin steak.24 to 2G cents per pound. 
Beef ribs.18 to 22 cents per pound. 
Round .1G to 18 cents per pound. 
Leg of lamb.22 to 24 cents per pound. 
Forequarter of lamb....18 to 20 cents per pound. 
Loin of pork.1G to 18 cents per pound. 
Bacon .18 cents per pound. 
These prices are charged by local butchers, and at the 
prices they are forced to pay for dressed beef and the 
short credit given them and the long credit they must 
give others, there is little margin in the trade. It is a 
shameful thing that such a state of affairs should be 
permitted. It cannot be said that we would in any event 
pay such prices willingly, but we should feel better about 
it if western farmers, or those wh<} produce the meat, 
were fairly paid for the work they do and the risk they 
take. It is maddening to think that while we have 
emptied our pockets to pay meat bills the majority ol 
feeders have lost money. We seem to have used our 
good money to line the pockets of handlers and packers. 
who not only hold us up in this way, but demand and 
apparently obtain special privileges and special rates oi 
transportation to enable them to squeeze us tighter still. 
What are we going to do about it? 
* 
1 he tramp nuisance is with us to a marked degree 
this Summer, and we hear similar complaints from other 
sections. We get tired of feeding these parasites; very 
few of them make any pretence of looking for work, and 
many of them are a danger to any community. There 
are among them a few decent men who have been unfor¬ 
tunate, and we are glad to show such any kindness in 
our power, but we find it quite impossible to pity, as 
victims of modern social conditions, the brawny beggars 
who are always ready to turn their whine into a threat, 
if women and and children are alone and unprotected. 
Farmers have reason to look upon the army of hoboes 
with special disquietude; their households are often 
unprotected, and their buildings are at the mercy of 
an incendiary. It is a painful fact that the State or 
county gives no protection whatever to country dwellers, 
and when we consider the prevalence of horrifying 
crimes, and the increasing spirit of lawless hoodlumism, 
we feel that effective patrolling of country districts is 
imperatively needed. We should like to see this matter 
thoroughly discussed by the Grange. 
* 
I 11E old question about offering prizes at the fairs 
for graded stock is up once more on page 549 . There 
is quite a general agreement that it is desirable to offer 
such prizes for grade females. For' example, the cow 
with half or more of the blood of some standard breed 
is the business cow for the practical farmer. It is well 
for any county society to offer prizes for such animals 
if this will increase the interest in them. There is 
every sound argument in offering such prizes, provided 
the object is to benefit the average farmer. If the ob¬ 
ject simply is to benefit the breeders of purebred stock, 
of course that is another story. When it comes to offer¬ 
ing prizes for grade males we strike a practice that is 
all wrong. J here is no sound argument in favor of it, 
for it is opposed to all the principles that underlie the 
skillful breeding of live stock. It is the simplest propo¬ 
sition that if the sire is “half the herd” we cannot hope 
for permanent improvement unless the sire is prepotent 
that is, with strong and fixed lines of breeding. To 
offer prizes for grade males is to encourage methods 
which may stop the improvement of our flocks and 
herds. We repeat what has been said about the grade 
female. She is the business animal for the average 
farm. For some years we have advocated a class at 
the State Fair for purebred bulls with three or five oi 
their daughters out of common cows. Such exhibitions 
would be far more practical and useful than the herds 
of purebred animals which are driven from one fair to 
another like race horses 011 a circuit. They are hand¬ 
some animals and useful models of the breeds, but 
far out of the reach of farmers who must pay a mort¬ 
gage or taxes by selling meat or milk in the common 
market. To such men an exhibit of good grade cattle 
with their sires would be very useful. If the Fair 
managers will not do this it would pay the various 
breeders’ associations to make such an exhibit to show 
what one or more crosses of the pure blood will do on 
the common cows. 
BREVITIES. 
The confidence man is abroad. 
Keep the mower knives sharp. 
Think before you discuss the shortcomings of others, and 
keep on thinking until the desire to discuss the topic dies. 
The floiists do not give a beginner much hope for a for¬ 
tune In their business. They ought to know. If they do 
not, who does? 
How many farmers and fruit growers there are who 
keep a few sheep to “tidy up” and keep the weeds down. 
Sheep beat all other animals at this work. 
Here we have the brief story of a farm success: “I am 
a poor man with six small children on a thin farm, but a 
very good wife as a partner. Through industry and econ¬ 
omy we have managed to live very comfortably and lay by 
$200 a year.” 
Grasshoppers are quoted at one cent a pound in San 
I’ete Co., Utah, and it is said that the county clerk paid 
this bounty on more than 7,000 pounds of hoppers captured 
near Ephraim in one week recently. The farmers are unit¬ 
ing to exterminate the pest, the cenl-a-pound bounty being 
offered by the last Legislature. 
Speaking of borrowers, an Iowa reader writes: “Any 
one who has lived in a small town can appreciate the difli¬ 
culty of keeping the lawn mower at home. Borrowing is 
rather common in small places. We have a neighbor who 
sent to borrow from another neighbor enough buttermilk 
to make pancakes. The buttermilk was given, and the child 
returned to ask for a piece of fat meat to grease the 
griddle.” 
Among the rose letters is the following from a reader in 
Montana : “Who would believe that a rose could be shipped 
by mail from Pennsylvania to northwest Montana and arrive 
in good condition? Y'et that Is the record of the little 
Crimson Rambler which you so kindly sent us. Hope it 
will grow as vigorously as the wild roses do here. I 
found one in the timber 12 feet high. They are a great pest 
in the fields.” 
