464 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 11, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, i 
Mrs. K. T. Koyle, (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 8VL> marks, or 10 y% 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 The Rural New-Yorker 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, JUNE 11, 1904. 
THE PRIZE CLIPPINGS. 
This week prizes are awarded to the following persons: 
John L. Munro, Tioga Co., Pa. 
E. F. Young, Hancock Co., Ill. 
W. M. Page, Litchfield Co., Conn. 
Remember that prizes of $1.50, $1 and 50 cents are 
given each week for the best clippings from local papers. 
* 
Those great schemes for co-operation among farmers 
are still being pushed. As a rule they are advocated by 
men who have little standing at home, and who could 
not combine with their own neighbors. Their proposi¬ 
tion is too large. It is like starting to build a great 
house without making sure that all the little joints are 
tight. We have little hope for those great combina¬ 
tions until farmers first learn how to combine with 
neighbors and friends. The Grange or the local farmers’ 
club may grow into the larger society, but the big one 
will not build up the smaller one. Education grows up 
—not down. 
* 
We have a good many questions from our friends 
the rural mail carriers. One of them recently asked 
what he should do to obtain permission to carry wea¬ 
pons on his route. Referring this question to Washing¬ 
ton, we receive the following answer: 
The Post Office Department has no objection to the carry¬ 
ing of a weapon by a rural mail carrier if such action is 
deemed necessary for his protection or the protection of 
United States mail. In order to do this, however, the rural 
carrier must make application to the mayor of the town in 
which he resides, or such other local officer as is qualified to 
grant such privilege, for permission to carry a weapon, set¬ 
ting forth the reasons for such request. 
Thus you will see Uncle Sam gives no man save the 
soldier and the sailor the right to carry a gun, though 
he does not object if the mayor doesn’t. 
* 
A successful poultry keeper once received a letter 
from a man who thought he would like to learn how 
to run a farm. This man wrote: “I could do the light 
work and the heavy thinking for you.” The answer 
that went back by the next mail was: “There is no 
light work on this farm, and I am capable of doing the 
heavy thinking myself!” The suggestion from this man 
will illustrate the way some people regard farming. 
They have an idea that a farmer needs some one to 
think for him, and that this “thinking” can be done by 
an outsider who never did farm work. How absurd 
such a thing would be in .connection with any other 
branch of business—and good farming requires more 
planning and hard thinking than any other trade. As 
for this hunt for “light work” why cannot people see 
that only the hardest and most painstaking toil fits a 
man to really think hard? 
* 
The Treasury Department is now causing some un¬ 
complimentary criticism on the part of florists by its 
decision that rooted rose cuttings, instead of being cut¬ 
tings with a 25 per cent duty, are rose plants dutiable at 
2J4 cents each, which is, of course practically pro¬ 
hibiting the entrance of such cuttings into the country. 
It is true that the paragraph in the tariff law relating to 
rose plants says “budded, grafted, or grown on tbeir 
own roots,” which, to the lay mind, would exempt rooted 
cuttings, even if cuttings were not specially provided 
for in another paragraph, but such inconsistencies fade 
away before the giant intellect which makes frogs’ legs 
dutiable as dressed poultry, and which recently assessed 
a cork leg under the title of family supplies. We see 
no special reason why frogs’ legs should not be listed 
as family supplies, but perhaps in that case the Treas¬ 
ury expert would have been obliged to assess the arti¬ 
ficial member as dressed poultry, so we are relieved of 
some intellectual strain by the present ruling. 
* 
Preach prosperity. It seems to be the habit of a 
majority of farmers when asked “how things are” to 
think of all the evils that may, might, could, would or 
should trouble them now, in the future, or had troubled 
them in the past. This constantly looking out for 
trouble and sort of expecting to find it puts wrinkles 
and gray hair on a good many men. We have had a 
spell of wet weather that has been booming the grass 
crop and everything of a like nature, but there was an 
acre or two that we did not finish, and so we harp on 
that rather than our many blessings. This continually 
running down our business and magnifying its trials 
has made many people think there is no pleasure in a 
farmer’s life, and that it is a sort of degraded business. 
We think the man who works in town and wears clothes 
of a little later cut (he got them on “tick”) has white 
hands and perhaps speaks with a little softer voice, has 
a better time. But follow him around a few days, and 
one will gladly go back to the farm more contented and 
willing to dig a little harder. Let us preach prosperity 
and tell of our blessings and our successes, so that the 
other man will envy us rather than pity us. Prosperity 
seems to look for those who preach her gospel. 
The opening of new Indian lands this Summer will 
again call attention to the wandering homeseekers who 
spend their lives in a perpetual search after some Land 
of Promise, forever moving on to fresh fields and pas¬ 
tures new. One would imagine, to read some newspaper 
and magazine descriptions, that these “movers” were 
representative western farmers, and that there were no 
strongly-rooted local attachments among them. The 
fact is, that the chronic mover is confined to no one 
section of the country, and we find quite as many per¬ 
sons of this character in the suburban sections of the 
East as in the newest of the new West. The western 
“sooner,” if he does not make a permanent home for 
himself, at least blazes the way for others to do so. The 
wandering commuter of the suburbs belongs to a dif¬ 
ferent class, however, and it is pathetic to one capa¬ 
ble of permanent love for home to see the readiness 
with which such people desert one locality for another, 
renting or buying as their means permit, but ever seek¬ 
ing new friends and new surroundings. This restlessness 
is not without effect cn national life, for love of home is 
the starting point of civic pride, and without it we cannot 
attain to the larger pride called patriotism. “East or 
west, hame is best,” says the Scotch proverb, and it is a 
sorry day for any man when no one locality appeals to 
his best instincts as a citizen, unless he is one of those 
rare souls whose universal sympathy makes him a citizen 
brother to all men. 
* 
The Lbiited States Supreme Court decides that the 
anti-oleo law is constitutional. This ends a hard 
fight, lasting through many years. The manufacturers 
of oleo attempted to break the law passed last year. 
This law levied a tax of 10 cents a pound on oleo col¬ 
ored so that it looks like butter. The lawyers argued 
that the oleo was colored by mixing highly colored 
butter with it so that it was not “artificially colored.” 
The court properly replied to this by saying that the 
tax has to do with the finished product and not with the 
details of manufacture. The lawyers also claimed that 
the tax is too high, and is not only an injustice but 
interferes with the police powers of the States. The 
court’s answer to this is that Congress evidently intended 
to stop the manufacture of colored oleo. It was within 
its powers to do so, and the court must uphold Congress 
when it thus acts. That settles it—and in the right way, 
for the decision makes it clear that Congress may go on 
and legislate against other fraudulent food products. 
This victory ought to give farmers fresh confidence in 
their ability to secure just legislation. Most of us re¬ 
member how the sentiment in favor of the Grout bill 
was developed. It was a matter of education. First one 
argument and then another was tried, until all got 
together on the simple question of honesty. It was a 
dishonest thing to color cheap fats and sell them at 
butter prices. The counterfeiter who was caught at 
thjs trick went to jail—in principle the rich oleo manu¬ 
facturer was no better. On that issue the people could 
be roused—and they won. When the bill came up for 
final passage many Senators would gladly have dodged 
it, for the oleo lobby was very strong. How the letters 
and telegrams poured in upon them! They were swept 
off their feet, and did not dare to vote against the 
expressed desires of the farmers. Let us not forget the 
lesson. We need a parcels post and larger powers for 
the interstate railroad commission. Congress has the 
power to give them to us, but will never do so until 
we get together, as we did on the oleo question, and 
demand them. 
* 
I he agricultural papers were chiefly responsible for 
starting rural free delivery of the mail. The large daily 
papers were for the most part opposed to it. They made 
fun of rural delivery until the farmers made it clear 
that they were in earnest—then the great dailies came 
in and helped. Now the daily papers are reaping a large 
share of the benefit. Rural mail service gives the farmer 
a chance to take a daily paper, and thousands are now 
taken where one went before. This interest in a daily 
news service seems to have deceived the managers of 
some dailies. They are organizing “farm departments” 
and local departments. We hear them say that they ex¬ 
pect to drive the agricultural papers and the county 
weeklies out of business. They will not be able to do 
anything of the sort. The weekly papers can take on 
new character and strength, and become more of a 
power than ever. The very nature of the daily paper 
unfits it to become the champion and close friend of a 
farmer. It may entertain or instruct him, but it cannot 
gain his confidence or appeal to him as his farm or 
local paper can. 1 he daily “farm department” will give 
farmers a class of matter which the true agricultural 
papers can well afford to drop. It ought to give us a 
better chance than ever to grow and get closer to the 
farm. 
* 
The following story may be old to many of our read¬ 
ers: Two old farmers sat by the fire at night. With 
them was the son of Farmer A. This boy had an ambi¬ 
tion to go to an agricultural college. His father re¬ 
fused to send him there in spite of the boy’s pleading 
and arguments. The boy argued that he wanted to be 
a good farmer; that it was necessary, more than ever 
before, for a farmer to study the scientific principles 
which make the foundation of his business, and that 
it would be a lifelong handicap for him to try to con¬ 
duct a good farm without such knowledge. To this 
the father replied that he was a good farmer, that he 
had never studied science at a college nor had his father 
before him. Book education might do for lawyers or 
doctors—in fact, he had to admit that these men were 
obliged to go to books for the experience of others. 
Farming, he claimed, was different. A fancy farmer 
or a rich man playing with the soil might find some 
value in books, but not a working farmer who needed 
experience and good judgment and little else, so he 
said ‘‘No’ to the boy. Farmer B had listened to the 
discussion without saying a word. A hard-working, 
successful farmer, he had sent his own son to the agri¬ 
cultural college because he saw that if it were decided 
that lawyers and doctors can use an education while 
farmers cannot, the latter must be put in an inferior 
position. When Farmer A said “No!” so positively 
he asked: 
“Isn’t the land worth the manure?” 
It was one of those bits of homely philosophy which 
cut open a question to the heart. When land becomes 
too poor to be worth fertilizing it may be abandoned. 
When a man decides that his own son or his own busi¬ 
ness cannot utilize the benefits which education has to 
offer, he discredits his son and his business in the most 
harmful way. It is true that some of the work done in 
agricultural education in the past has not been such as 
to command the respect of hard-headed old farmers. 
That, however, is not the fault of the education, but of 
the methods employed by teachers. 
BREVITIES. 
Is the Ben Davis apple a tree that “is known by its 
fruits?” 
“Takes the cake!” The cow’s udder when the hired man 
milks her with his cowhide boot. 
IIow can a man hope to form a great co-operation when 
he can’t co-operate with his own family? 
It is said that Oregon’s strawberry crop will be 20 per 
cent larger this season than ever before. 
While there is yet time you may well plant more corn if 
you have .the land to spare. It will be needed next Winter. 
They are at us again with their scheme for boring in 
through the bark of a tree to make way for a powder or 
tincture. We would not pay five cents for any such remedy. 
Gentlemen of the experiment stations—the State foots 
the bill and the people foot this and more to boot. They 
have the right to kick when you do not shoe the feet of your 
theory with practice. 
WniLE dairy farmers in some parts of New York have 
been unable to plant corn on account of continued rains, 
truckers in parts of New Jersey could not set tomato and 
pepper plants on account of drought. 
Agents of the Department of Agriculture claim to have 
found a parasite in Central America which preys upon the 
Cotton boll-weevil. If this is so, and it can lie propagated 
in Texas, it may save the cotton crop. Great is the scheme 
of setting bug against bug. 
The suburban fakir who rosses the bark off shade trees 
and then clothes the denuded trunk with a girdle of pink 
paint to “prevent insect and fungus attack” is at it again 
this year. Our respect for the wisdom of experience suf¬ 
fers a shock when he captures the same victims two years 
in succession. 
