3i4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
April 9 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FABMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
tion appear to lack the sense of proportion. One 
robin about a garden may be desirable, a dozen may 
be a tolerated nuisance, but a hundred simply spell 
destruction—and they are coming in by the hundred. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Hr. Walter Van Fleet, l AssoclateB 
Mrs. E. T. Koylk, f 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 814 marks, or 10V4 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 bv the courts. Notice of the complaint must 
be sent to us' within one month of the time of «he 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 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street. New York. 
Congress has been playing football with the bill 
providing for rural mail carriers. The carriers have 
not been paid a fair salary for the services they per¬ 
form. They have acted as agents for various enter¬ 
prises—selling goods or taking orders on commission. 
This agency business has been criticised chiefly by 
local merchants. It was proposed to settle this mat¬ 
ter by increasing the regular salary for these carriers 
and prohibiting them from handling or selling any 
goods whatever. The bill has been sent back and 
forth from the House to the Senate, one putting on an 
amendment for the other to take off. We think the 
result will be to increase the salary to $720 per year, 
permitting the carriers to take subscriptions for pa¬ 
pers or sell books. There is no sound argument 
against this, for papers and books cannot possibly 
compete with any local business. There is no doubt 
about the justice of the demand of these carriers for 
better pay. They give faithful service and work 
harder than town carriers for less money. 
* 
SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1904. 
It is amusing to hear storekeepers and dealers 
argue that food packed in a factory is cleaner and 
better than that prepared at home or on the farm. 
They have much to say about the dirt (?) in farm 
kitchens, but you never hear a word about the borax 
and other drugs that are used in the factory. “Home¬ 
made” goods are in demand, and always will be. 
* 
On the first page will be found an account of a 
woman’s lively day on a dairy farm. To those who 
may say that this woman had too much to do we 
answer that The R. N.-Y. tries to state things as 
they are. We do not give ideal conditions alone, but 
attempt to present a truthful picture of the way farm¬ 
ers live and work. If some readers have learned 
how to lighten the day on the dairy farm, we shall 
be glad to have them tell us how it is done. 
* 
It is not always easy to convey an exact impression, 
either by tongue or pen, in describing a new process. 
Some of the directions given by eminent authorities, 
concerning farm and garden operations, remind us of 
a suggestive little incident. A worthy citizen was 
seen making a strenuous effort to light his pipe, 
striking one match after another, until the ground 
around him was strewn with match ends. Finally he 
desisted with a discouraged air and, emptying some 
scraps of broken bottles out of his pipe, remai ked 
sadly: “Cassidy said I could see the eclipse of the 
sun if I smoked glass, but maybe I’m trying to smoke 
the wrong kind.” Haven’t we all seen similar cases, 
where the information given was quite correct yet 
entirely unavailable because it conveyed a vague or 
inaccurate impression? In direct contrast we may 
put “Uncle John’s” discussion of Bordeaux Mixture 
last week, or any article like it, in which practical 
knowledge is so thoroughly predigested before being 
put on paper that it may be described as 100 per cent 
available information. 
What is the staple crop of your county? What¬ 
ever it is, suppose that during the next 10 years your 
farmers were to double it in value or quantity. It 
would be a great thing for the county, but suppose 
that in the same period 1.500 homeless little waifs 
were to find farm homes in your county, and grow 
10 good years along the road to sound citizenship! 
Let us ask you which gift would be most acceptable 
to your county—the doubled crop or the 1,500 little 
citizens? 
* 
Sad reports come from the Hudson River Valley 
regarding the condition of peach and pear trees. The 
loss will be heavy, especially on the lower lands. Mr. 
Barnes, of Connecticut, who showed on page 254 the 
growth which his “dishorned” peach trees have made 
now tells us that in spite of this large growth the 
trees have been apparently badly hurt by the cold. 
We may find that peach growing in many northern 
sections is about as much of a gamble as orange 
growing in northern Florida. 
* 
The bill in the New Jersey Legislature permitting 
fruit growers to destroy birds when actually raiding 
crops, though urgently needed, has failed of passage 
owing to unreasonable opposition from town and city 
dwellers. Its defeat was signalized by an extraordi¬ 
nary outburst of what may be called cockney ig¬ 
norance and spleen by local village and city news¬ 
papers. The Assemblymen who voted for the 
measure have been denounced by name, and voters 
recommended to cut them at future elections. One 
choice nugget of editorial wisdom is to the effect 
that “those legislators who voted for the ‘robin bin’ 
ought to have their portraits hung in the rogue’s 
gallery of criminals for all time.” All of which is 
painful evidence that the fool-killer has been neglect¬ 
ing his duty regarding New Jersey local editors. It 
is strange how densely ignorant urban dwellers 
choose to remain concerning the needs of country 
life. The veriest “Rube” from Wayback keeps an 
open mind regarding city matters and is able to pass 
fair judgment on questions of moment, but city 
people are hopeless when considering affairs not in 
their own narrow routine. The bird nuisance has 
grown out of all proportion to any theoretical benefits 
due to their presence in great numbers, and legisla¬ 
tion giving the needed relief is certain to be enacted 
in the near future. The opponents of such legisla¬ 
Titf. battle at Albany over the new agricultural col¬ 
lege building has been fierce. The college presidents 
who attacked the bill put themselves in a weak posi¬ 
tion from the start. They first attacked Cornell Uni¬ 
versity, and in doing so made statements about Ezra 
Cornell and the original land-grant fund that were 
easily refuted. They found that argument and senti¬ 
ment were both against them, and then it became 
with them simply a policy of delay in the hope of 
breaking up the solid backing which the Cornell Col¬ 
lege presented from the farmers and their societies. 
They came forward with the plausible request for a 
“commission” appointed by the Governor which 
should review the whole question. Of course we all 
understand that this is merely a.scheme to hold up 
the bill for at least a year. The fact is, that these 
college presidents are all at sea. They do not know 
what agricultural education is. They seem to feel 
that it is something to be afraid of unless they can 
have a hand in shaping it. The “commission” they 
call for would have for its chief business the job of 
explaining to this corporal’s guard of presidents what 
agricultural education really is—and that would be 
an expensive if not impossible task! The fact is, that 
our modern system of agricultural education has been 
developed by farmers and their representatives in the 
face of severe opposition from just such men as these 
college presidents. If they have ever thought that the 
farmer requires special instruction and training they 
have given little evidence of it. Having permitted 
others to develop a definite system of instruction for 
farmers they now suddenly appear and demand the 
right to call a halt, while they attempt to tear the 
work apart! This should not be permitted for an in¬ 
stant. The farmers understand clearly what is want¬ 
ed—the college presidents have no idea of the actual 
needs of the hour. The farmers have made their fight 
in the open—a fight for what belongs to them. Should 
the Legislature now give them nothing but a com¬ 
mission to instruct these college presidents the farm¬ 
ers will justly feel that they have been “turned 
down.” They will be forced to conclude that the 
Legislature accepted the views of a dozen college pre¬ 
sidents who confess that they have never studied the 
question and rejected the appeal of 200,000 farmers 
and every State agricultural organization—men who 
have studied the question for years. After all we are 
glad the fight has been a hard one. The bonds that 
fasten New York farmers together for mutual defence 
are no longer made of cast iron but are now well 
tempered steel! No “commission” is needed. Give 
us the new building this year. The chances are now 
that we shall get it. After a long debate the bill 
passed the Assembly on March 30 by a vote of 83 to 
44. The Senate finance committee finally decided to 
report it favorably and there is a good chance of its 
passage by the Senate. 
* 
The R. N.-Y. has had much to say about cow peas. 
We have urged farmers to try them, and many have 
done so. Now we want fair reports on behavior. 
Here you have it: 
Do you know of anyone in this State who has made a 
success with cow peas? Cow peas have been a complete 
failure with me. I have tried them on poor land, on 
fairly good sandy loam, with fertilizer and without. 
They come up and look thrifty for about a week or 1U 
days, and then refuse to do anything more; simply stand 
still until frost cuts them down in Fall. I live about 
six miles south of Lake Ontario, in Monroe County. 1 
think there are many like ma. watching and waiting for 
light on this subject. I think it is “up to” The R. 
N.-Y., as it was through its influence that we tried them. 
Barnard, N. Y. w. w. 
Our own farm is about three miles south of the 
New York line. There the cow peas do well. We 
have had reports from more northern points except 
last year, when the weather was all against this crop. 
If the question is “up to” The R. N.-Y. we accept it, 
and call upon northern readers to give their experi¬ 
ence. Such experience will settle the matter—we 
have no doubt about that. 
* 
Here is a timely question which we have an¬ 
swered before: 
Please explain more fully what you mean by a “par¬ 
cels post.” We can send parcels by mail now under 
certain conditions. h. m. w. 
Ilowell, Mich. 
A parcels post, in the modern sense of the term, 
provides for the transportation and delivery by the 
postal department of a nation at the lowest available 
rates of nearly all forms of merchandise. Thus the 
German post carries and delivers packages up to 112 
pounds in weight within certain specified dimensions 
to any address in Germany at a rate of 32 cents. 
The British parcels post is about as cheap and ef¬ 
fective. All nations with any pretense to civilization 
except our own have something similar. The United 
States Post Office accepts merchandise in parcels up 
to four pounds in weight at one cent an ounce, except 
seeds, bulbs and plants, which are carried for half 
the above rate. Sixteen cents a pound or 64 cents 
for a four-pound parcel is practically prohibitory, 
except for a few articles. No provision is made by 
our Postal Department for carrying these parcels 
carefully. They are dumped in ordinary mail bags, 
and take chances of getting through safely or not. 
An effective National parcels post to replace our im¬ 
perfect and extortionate private express service is 
one of our most pressing needs, and would be of more 
widespread benefit than any public reform now advo¬ 
cated. 
BREVITIES. 
You cannot combine science and practice without using 
sense. 
Right can afford to wait—delays are dangerous for 
wrong. 
Some folks put money into the poultry business—others 
take it out. 
Some folks fail to “lift farmers up” because they can¬ 
not get down to his level to lift. 
It’s enough to make practice and science both cry 
when the how is forced into a fight with the why. 
Both Russians and Japs are said to be bidding for the 
California barley and wheat crops. This means less to 
send here. 
The man who spends good time in brooding over a 
wrong is worse than a hen trying to heat a bad egg. 
Kick it out of the nest and warm up a right. 
A reader says that if we will put turpentine on the 
seed corn, crows, hawks and chickens will taste it “and 
then go off to the neighbors.” What will they do there? 
We would like to hear from parties w r ho have made 
over old barns or other large houses for hens. How 
many hens can be kept in one house—what is the best 
arrangement? 
Last year our best lettuce, both cabbage type and 
Cos or Romaine, was sown in a cold frame and then 
transplanted in the row when one to two inches high. 
Carrots and beets were treated in the same way. 
One man on the cross-cut saw—the favorite plan seems 
to be that described on page 263—a long bow fastened to 
each end of the saw. The men who draw the long bow 
in this way may be excused for telling large stories of 
their day’s work. 
A bill before the New York Legislature prohibits any 
person under the age of 18 years from carrying or 
having in his possession in any public place any pistol 
or other firearms without a written license. The chief 
objection that we have to this bill is that the age limit 
is not made 50 years. 
