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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collingwoot), Editor. 
Dr. Walter van Fleet, l . 
Mrs. K. T. Hoyle, fAssociates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to Ss. 6d., or HVz marks, or IOV 2 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 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street. New York. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 1904. 
NEW YORK FARMERS AND THEIR COLLEGE 
The New York Legislature finally passed the bill 
providing for suitable buildings for the Agricultural 
College. This was a just measure, yet few will try to 
say that it was carried through simply because it was 
just. Had it been merely a matter of justice the build¬ 
ings would have been erected years ago. While ad¬ 
mitting the justice of the demand the Legislature 
waited until justice was pushed ahead by power. We 
are glad that it became necessary for the farmers to 
fight and show their power. They need that sort of 
exercise. Having won the first part of the battle they 
must now use their power to dominate the College 
which the State is to equip for them. For it is their 
college. Cornell University owes her very life to agri¬ 
culture and the original land grant fund. But for the 
profits made on the sale of the Agricultural College 
land the University would probably have been obliged 
to close its doors. No one can fairly begrudge the 
University this honest profit. We simply refer to it 
as one reason why Cornell should be proud to make 
her agricultural college the peer of any at the Uni¬ 
versity. We also point out another thing. For some 
years Cornell asked the Legislature for suitable build¬ 
ings. The request was just, but little attention was 
paid to it. At length the farmers got behind the re¬ 
quest and made it a demand. They did this for sev¬ 
eral reasons. They were satisfied that the right sort 
of a college would prove a good investment for the 
State. They had confidence in Prof. Bailey and his 
assistants, and they expected to make the college their 
own—to dominate it and give it a true agricultural 
character. The Legislature made the farmers fight to 
see whether they really meant business. The point 
for Cornell University to remember is that while this 
new building may stand upon its campus it was not 
given to the University for what it has done in the 
past, but it was given to the farmers of the IState be¬ 
cause they were willing to endorse the investment! In 
order to win the fight the farmers organized as they 
never did before in New York State. Let no one think 
this organization is now to be broken up. On the 
other hand, it will grow stronger and more compact. 
Farmers have won the college building, not for Cor¬ 
nell University alone, but for themselves. The Uni¬ 
versity must now reckon with this spirit which is in 
no way unfriendly, but on the other hand, a sincere 
and earnest desire to bring the college, where it ought 
to be, close to the farm. Having won the college, 
farmers will not break ranks, but will, as they are 
justified in doing, dominate its spirit and character. 
We begin this week a new department “Talks with 
a Lawyer.” Our object is to answer such legal ques¬ 
tions as may be asked by readers, especially those 
which have to do with farm matters. We shall not 
volunteer legal advice, but will do our best to help 
those who have sensible questions to offer. The R. 
N.-Y. is in a large measvfre edited by its readers— 
that it, we serve them by following their suggestions. 
* 
The old district school was a crude affair. It did 
not deal in ’ologies, but gave a training in fundamen¬ 
tals that reminds one of the boots with five soles 
worn by men around the Fulton fish market. The 
teachers knew little of book psychology, literary criti¬ 
cism or aesthetics. They could not handle differential 
calculus or figure out transits and occultations, but 
they turned out scholars who had searched every cor¬ 
ner of the map of the world, who could spell the 
toughest words, and handle fractions as readily as a 
duck swims. Of course there were many incompetent 
teachers, and the results in all district schools were 
not equally good. Very great advances have been 
made in educational work, but in the multiplication 
of new studies some of the old stand-bys, particularly 
spelling, fractions and percentage, seem to have been 
partially neglected, at least one gets this impression 
from the poor spelling and lack of familiarity with 
simple arithmetic shown by many graduates of col¬ 
leges. An extra term devoted to fractions and their 
application might be a good investment, and the av¬ 
erage duration of school life is none too long to be¬ 
come familiar with the eccentricities of the spelling 
book. 
* 
The R. N.-Y. has a good “standing army” of con¬ 
tributors who are ready to answer questions or give 
information on almost any subject. We also have an 
army of volunteers who always respond when the call 
is sent out. We have only to ask a question, in order 
to receive, by early mail, an answer in a record of 
personal experiences. These replies make up the best 
part of the paper. Sometimes a man with just the 
information wanted will say “Some one else will be 
sure to tell that!” and so he will fail to write. Do not 
take that view, but give as your experience. I 11 re¬ 
turn some one will give you just what you call for. 
• 
We have mentioned the “new seedless apple” said 
to have originated in Colorado. An Indiana local 
paper gets this good one off: 
As soon as Spencer gets his seedless orchards in con¬ 
dition and his new apples in the market, the boy who 
asks for the “core” of one and hears that “there ain't 
no core,” will no longer be justified in doubting the 
truth of the statement. In Spencer's seedless apple a 
core is entirely lacking. The fiber that goes into the 
core of the old line apple becomes part and parcel of 
the cheek in the new style. 
How about the “tree agent”? Supposing that his 
heart and conscience represent the “core,” the above 
disposition of the “fiber” seems about true to life! 
• 
We find the following report of the testimony of 
James J. Hill before the River and Harbor Commit¬ 
tee at Washington: 
“The clock struck 12 for the Mississippi River years 
ago,” Mr. Hill told the committee. He said he could 
run a railway parallel to the 1,000-ton barge canal, which 
New York State is planning to make out of the Erie, 
and tie up every canal boat to its dock with profit to 
the railroad. He said he could do that with any water¬ 
way under 15 feet In depth. Then he said he could 
probably succeed with any waterway under 20 feet. 
We have no doubt that is reasonably correct. And 
yet the State of New York has decided to spend $100,- 
000,000 in digging out the Erie Canal. In this age 
competition of water transportation cannot regulate 
freight rates on railroads. There used to be a large 
coasting trade—freight being carried from large sea 
coast cities to smaller towns. Since railroads have 
been built between these points the coasting trade 
in steam or sail vessels has practically disappeared. 
* 
There is a lively contest going on in Massachusetts 
over the reorganization of the State Board of Agri¬ 
culture. Gov. Bates wants to do one thing, the pres¬ 
ent Board wants to do another and a third party rep¬ 
resented by some of the ablest farmers in the State 
has come forward with a compromise proposition. 
This contest means more than is apparent on the 
surface. It is only a surface indication of the strug¬ 
gle that is going on between the old and the new 
ideas in representative agriculture. For years farm¬ 
ers have had a general idea that their representatives 
on “boards” or State societies have not done what 
they might have done for the good of farming. This 
feeling has not found organized expression, but now 
it is coming out, and nothing can stop it. The Board 
that will not look after the interests of the practical 
farmer will certainly be sawed off! The proper set¬ 
tlement of such things is a process of growth or evo¬ 
lution through thought and discussion. We shall 
contribute our share in giving expression to the wants 
or desires of the common farmer. 
* 
Cheap silos have had their day. They were tried 
and found wanting, because they could not be made 
airtight or permanent. They did not hold the corn 
so as to make good silage, and they often fell apart 
in Summer. In spite of this they were useful because 
they gave farmers a better idea of what a good silo 
would do than a volume of words. Some years ago 
the experiment stations issued bulletins showing how 
to make a tub or stave silo. We were told of ordi¬ 
nary pine or hemlock joist placed in a circle and tied 
together with rods, hoops or even wire fencing. 
Thousands of such cheap affairs were built. Some of 
them made a fair quality of silage, but many of them 
April 23 
fell in a neap, wnen Summer came, like a dried-out 
washtub. Yet even these cheap failures led to suc¬ 
cess, for those who built them saw that the trouble 
lay in the construction of the silo and not in the 
principle. Many farmers built the cheap silo as an 
experiment, satisfied themselves that silage would 
pay, and then built a good one. Thus the cheap silo 
served a good purpose, for these farmers would not 
have spent the cost of a good one in an experiment. 
No one thinks now of building anything but a sound 
and permanent structure, yet we can see that the 
craze for cheap silos was in the end a good thing—a 
part of silage education that was necessary. 
* 
Chancellor James R. Day, of Syracuse University, 
was the leader of the college presidents in the attack 
upon the agricultural college at Cornell. It seemed 
to us from the first that Dr. Day’s arguments showed 
that he knew little about agricultural education, and 
in fact did not believe the farmer needs special school¬ 
ing. In speaking at a religious meeting recently Dr. 
Day said: 
li 1 had a son, and I knew he was destined to drive a 
mule cart all his days, I would send him to college. I 
would put as immeasurable a distance between my son 
and a mule as possible. 
That is just exactly the spirit we have objected to. 
We should feel sorry for both mule and son if the 
latter had that sort of training. Suppose the mule 
had a case of colic, or a lame leg or any other ail¬ 
ment mules are heir to, and the driver were put an 
“immeasurable” distance away from him? What 
would become of the mule, and where could the son 
get another? The education we want for a farmer is 
one that will enable him to get close to the mule in¬ 
dustrially and far above him socially! Does not Dr. 
Day see that his son would make both himself and 
the mule ridiculous by trying to harness and work 
him with a 10-foot pole? 
The New York Legislature has passed the Agricul¬ 
tural College bill. It is now before the Governor, and 
from what he has said we have little fear of the re¬ 
sult. As is usually the case after a hard struggle of 
this sort, various persons start up to claim credit for 
the victory. Such claims do no harm, but we all un¬ 
derstand that the battle was won by the farmers 
themselves. There were many individuals who help¬ 
ed, some more than others, but the force behind them 
all was the earnest demand of the farmers. To show 
how general was the interest in this struggle we print 
the following letter from Prof. W. A. Henry, Dean of 
the Wisconsin Agricultural College: 
The morning paper brings word that the Senate has 
passed tile bill giving the Cornell University a quarter 
of a million dollars for an agricultural college building. 
I hasten 10 send congratulations to The R. N.-Y., ex¬ 
pressing keenest approval of the magnanimous and most 
helpful course it has pursued in pushing this matter ol' 
such vital importance to the agricultural interests of 
the Empire State. When I read of the seven college 
presidents who lined up before your committee of legis¬ 
lators to tell them why they should not help Cornell, 
tfie query ran through my mind of whether, after all, 
our so-called “liberal education” system made men open- 
hearted and broad-minded, or whether it did not really 
make them bigoted, self-opinionated and selfish. 1 be¬ 
lieve these presidents by their action have worked more 
harm to the so-called liberal education system a thou¬ 
sand times over than they have injured th© great cause 
of agricultural education. If they are examples of Latin, 
Greek and moral philosophy culture, God hasten the 
time when education for service will supplant such a 
system. This was a great victory for the farmers of 
New York. It should be a lesson in showing them how, 
when combined for the right, they are an irresistible 
power. _ 
BREVITIES. 
A tight shoe is a corn “planter.” 
Those hens (page 352) “knew beans.” 
There ought to be no place like home. 
Test the seed corn and potatoes this Spring. 
There are now 80,000,000 people in the United States. 
What’s the value of a good roadster without a good 
road ? 
One good thing about farming—you are always sure of 
a job. 
Can we not get nearer comfort in a cold Winter than 
we can in a hot Summer? 
Is your Congressman for or against the parcels post? 
Give him a chance to choose! 
Why not offer good big prizes for the best hired men, 
like that Iowa society? The way to stimulate an indus¬ 
try is to offer bounties. 
J. M. Drew recently told us of his alarm clock that 
will start the furnace fire in the morning. We shall have 
a picture of it next week. 
A medical authority now says that appendicitis is 
caused by trolley cars. We have always thought it would 
be wise to avoid eating trolley cars. 
Prof. Alwood has been careful to say that he does 
not advise any wholesale use of white paint on peach 
trees. He has found it useful on apples. To show how 
careful a writer must be about such things, we can say 
'^at several readers writ© that they expect to paint 
thousands of peach trees this Spring. Don't! Don't!’ 
Try only a few as an experiment! 
