9l2 
December 24, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
V, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TEE 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. Hoyle, 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. tid., or 8% marks, or 10*4 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 von 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, DECEMBER 24, 1904. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order to introduce The R. N.-Y. to progressive 
intelligent farmers who do not now take it, we send it 
10 weeks for 10 cents for strictly introductory purposes. 
We depend on our old friends to make this known to 
neighbors and friends. 
* 
PRIZE OFFERl BATHROOM ARRANGEMENTS. 
In altering or improving a country home, one of the 
first necessities is a well-arranged bathroom. It is not 
always easy to plan the proper location of this improve¬ 
ment, where the house has been built without reference 
to it. Many of our friends have overcome the difficulties 
of this problem, and we feel that their experience will 
be of value to others. We offer, therefore, three prizes, 
$5, $.'5 and $2, for the best three articles describing this 
work; how it was planned, how completed, and its cost. 
Diagrams or pictures showing the arrangement of the 
rooms, and how the bathroom was situated, will add to 
the value of the articles. This offer will be open until 
April 1, 1905. Special mention should be made of any 
defect in building or arrangement of the house, which 
rendered the problem more difficult or more expensive 
than it should have been. 
* 
President Roosevelt has nominated Prof. W. M. Hays 
of Minnesota as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture. 
This is an excellent selection. The President took The 
R. N.-Y.’s suggestion, for Prof. Hays was the choice of 
Secretary James Wilson. We hope there will never 
again be a long campaign of wire-pulling for a position 
of this sort. 
* 
No, we have not dropped the fence wire question. 
You should see the letters from farmers urging us to 
keep up the battle. There is not any great battle about 
it—just an awakening of education, and it will be a 
thorough awakening, too. The stations will come in due 
time. Farmers have induced unwilling horses to pull 
their share before now. 
* 
The manufacturers raised the price of fence wire to 
dealers about 10 per cent. The dealers, not to be out¬ 
done, raise the price to consumers 20 per cent or more. 
What is the reason for this increase? Is the quality any 
better? Is the cost of manufacturing heavier? If ex¬ 
penses have increased does it mean that wages of work¬ 
men are higher? It is pretty safe to print a big NO! 
at the end of each question. 
* 
The high price of wheat is likely to stimulate the pro¬ 
duction of that cereal. During the past few years the 
acreage of wheat in the States east of Illinois has 
steadily declined. Wheat has not been as profitable as 
corn or even oats at the prices paid for these grains. 
With the high prices paid for straw rye has paid better 
than wheat on many farms near cities. With dollar 
wheat, and a chance for permanently high price, there 
is likely to be a change in wheat culture. We once heard 
a shrewd farmer say that with wheat at 90 cents he could 
take large tracts of waste land in Rhode Island and grow 
wheat at a profit. In Maryland, parts of Virginia and 
on the Delaware peninsula are thousands of acres of 
land which could be profitably used for wheat growing. 
In old times wheat was largely grown in this territory, 
and now that the price has risen there is an opportunity 
to grow the crop once more. Modern use of crops like 
cow peas will change the methods of wheat growing in 
these sections. The varieties of cow peas which mature 
quickly can be grown between crops of wheat. As soon 
as one crop is harvested the stubble may be plowed or 
broken up with a disk harrow, and cow peas drilled pr 
broadcast, using small amounts of phosphate and potash 
as fertilizer. The cow peas will make sufficient growth 
in 90 days so that they may be plowed under, and pro¬ 
vide abundant plant food for a good crop of wheat. 
I his short rotation of cow peas and wheat can be kept 
up year after year with profit on thousands of acres of 
eastern land, and permanent high prices will bring large 
areas into wheat culture. As an illustration of what 
high prices will do for a farm product, we may consider 
this year’s cotton crop. Last year’s crop was short, and 
it was argued that the boll-weevil and other enemies 
would permanently shorten the output. Yet this year’s 
crop is larger than ever, and prices have fallen. The 
high prices of last year stimulated production, and thou¬ 
sands planted cotton who thought they had given up the 
crop for good. That is the result which usually follows 
a period of high prices. There are thousands of farmers 
who do not follow a regular rotation, and are thus 
always ready to take risks on any crop which offers fair 
returns. 
* 
The letter printed on page 907 from the Jerseyman 
who is trying to decide between the factory and the 
farm is but one of dozens we receive. Here is another 
from Pennsylvania : 
I purchased a small farm a year ago, and planted over 
700 fruit trees. I am working at the machine trade at the 
present time. Would it be advisable to remain in the shop 
and run the risk of having my trees taken care of by another 
man, or would it be proper for me to go there and do the 
work myself? 
We confess that such questions trouble us. We do 
not know how to answer them. The desire to get away 
from town and build a home for the family is com¬ 
mendable. It is one of the most hopeful indications of 
the times. We only want to have these people fully 
understand what is before them. Having had the expe¬ 
rience we know there is no dress parade about it, but a 
hard and serious march through the mud. 
* 
“TWENTY YEARS/' 
For 20 years in succession we have helped close a 
volume of The R. N.-Y. The writer has had more or 
less to do in preparing 1015 issues of the paper. We 
have heard men say that newspaper work becomes 
drudgery—a hard round of dull uninspiring labor. We 
have not found it so. To us the work seems fresher 
and more hopeful and inspiring than ever before. We 
ask no higher privilege than to be permitted to work 
on through 1,000 more issues of The R. N.-Y. with old 
friends and readers. 
It is natural at such a time that one should look both 
behind and before. As a rule we do very little looking 
backward, for the duties of the present are supreme. It 
is true, however, that agricultural history has been 
rapidly made during the past 20 years. We may well 
call attention to a few striking changes. When the 
writer first came to The R. N.-Y. there was no National 
Department of Agriculture. There was a comparatively 
small Bureau with a Commissioner at its head. Our 
readers have seen this ornamental Bureau grow steadily 
into a mighty Department—useful and respected by the 
entire Nation. It is bard to realize now that there was 
fierce opposition to the plan for giving agriculture a 
place in the President’s Cabinet. Twenty years ago 
there was no law against the manufacture of colored 
oleo. Feeble attempts were being made to legislate 
against this fraud, but farmers did not know how to 
organize and use their strength. We have seen them 
organize and force the anti-oleo bill through Congress, 
thus making a precedent in legislation. Twenty years 
ago Congress laughed at the idea of free delivery of the 
mail in rural districts—there were few if any farm 
telephones. Now the mail is delivered at the farmer’s 
door and telephone wires stretch over miles of lonely 
country. At the close of 1884 a few fruit growers were 
spraying in a crude way with Paris-green to kill the 
Codling worm. The Babcock test was unheard-of in 
practice. We realize what 20 years of progress mean 
when we think how spraying and milk testing have 
developed, and how this development has changed the 
course of industry and trade. Twenty years ago a few 
farmers’ institutes were being held here and there, unor¬ 
ganized and with indefinite purpose. A few State exper¬ 
iment stations were living on meager funds. Now the 
farmers’ institute work has broadened and developed 
and has become a definite part of farm education. The 
United States Government has become responsible for 
an elaborate system of experiment stations, spending 
millions for their support. A score of years ago the 
improvement of country roads was discussed merely as 
a local issue. Now the principle is understood that 
local roads are parts of a great public system and that 
all should help provide for them. 
We might extend this list indefinitely, for the growth 
through these 20 years of noble progress has been mar¬ 
velous. The most wonderful and helpful thing about it 
all is the growth of the power of expression among 
farmers. Twenty years ago the word “farmer” was to 
many a term of reproach. It was too often spoken with 
a sneer. The farmer was then, as now, the strong, vital, 
conservative force in American society, but he did not 
know how to use his power. His efforts were crude 
and scattered. He failed to express himself so that 
the governing powers understood him as a farmer. 
1 liese 20 years have done a glorious work in showing 
the farmer how to express his desires. We are thankful 
that knowledge of this power has come largely through 
efforts to secure educational privileges. This training 
will fit him to demand and obtain the social and political 
rights which belong to him. 
It was hard to gain some of the things that have been 
won—it will be harder still to hold them. They were 
all just, but Congress did not grant them for that reason 
alone. 1 he oleo victory has been won; now we must 
prevent a change of the law. Free rural delivery must 
lead to a parcels post and cheaper telegraph service. 
Our system of agricultural education is a noble concep¬ 
tion, but we can see a dangerous tendency in it. It will 
become too scientific unless practical men assert them¬ 
selves and dominate it. We are in danger of developing 
a sort of aristocracy in agricultural education—the aris¬ 
tocracy of the scientist who considers a test tube of more 
importance than the human hand ! The present tendency 
is to cater to the naturally capable and well-to-do, leav¬ 
ing those who most need help to take what they can get. 
Our scientific men may deny this, but if they could view 
their work as outsiders see it they would understand 
what is meant. It was the power of the plain, practical 
farmers which won the right to an agricultural educa¬ 
tion. They must now win the right to dominate that 
education and bring it down to the farm and everyday 
needs. We have spoken thus far chiefly of educational 
progress in 20 years. We may refer to material progress 
at another time. 
It will be easy to understand from the above why we 
are hopeful for the future and eager to help guide it. 
To say that the farmer has won his rights and should 
now rest content would be folly. He has only begun 
to see clearly what these “rights” are, and wherein they 
conflict with the rights of others. It would be equal 
folly to say that the events of the last 20 years do not 
indicate clearly how future progress is to be made. The 
R. N.-Y. has had its part to do in the work of these 
eventful years. We do not for an instant fail to under¬ 
stand just what the true power of a paper comes from. 
1 he personality of the editors or the owners may count 
for much, but even that to a large extent depends upon 
the confidence and faith of their readers. Our words 
have little force except as they represent the thought 
and action of an army of earnest men and women who 
feel something of the sacrifice of everyday life which the 
good citizen owes to his country. It is because we be¬ 
lieve this that we do not attempt, at the close of the year, 
to tell in detail what we shall do in the future. We shall 
simply do our best to be true to the farmers’ interests as 
we understand them, knowing that all progress must 
come through slow and steady development. Life holds 
no greater ambition for us than to go on for another 
20 years of honest progress with The R. N.-Y. and its 
friends. _ 
BREVITIES. 
The hired man’s worst enemy is the rumsliop! 
A bird of freedom—the hen that pays the mortgage. 
We hope Santa Claus put In your stocking a foot disposed 
to stamp on fraud. 
The newspapers and the telephones hedged in that horse 
thief in New England—page 900. 
It seems that many of our readers are voting with the 
postage stamp in the campaign for better fence wire. 
The way to stop sheep killing by dogs is to induce every 
farmer to keep a small flock of sheep. Then you will have 
public spirit. 
Where is the man who compels his wife to dig firewood 
out of the snow? You may say anything you like to him and 
charge it to us. 
President Diaz of Mexico has just entered upon his sev¬ 
enth term of office. He has reason to think that the Mex¬ 
icans know it good thing v hen they see it. 
No lynching was reported in the United States during the 
month of November; according to the Chicago Tribune this 
was the only full month without a lynching since 1885. 
The Transvaal Agricultural Journal recommends Alfalfa 
as pasture for ostriches, calculating that one acre of Alfalfa 
would yield from $125 to $180 a year in ostrich feathers. A 
well-bred ostrich of good quality costs from £50 to £100. 
In Rochester, N. Y., sidewalks are cleaned by contract. 
The work is done by the city and the cost charged against 
property owners at so much a front foot. There seems to 
be a tendency all over for the public to do the work of the 
Individual taxpayer and charge him for it. 
Who was it said that all the progressive farmers in Amer¬ 
ica are in the West? The fact that the New England Tele¬ 
phone Company within 10 months made 0,000 contracts for 
farm telephones, is in itself an indication of the enterprise 
of eastern agriculturists, says the Granite State News. 
Canned cheese has been put up in recent experiments at 
the Oregon Station. Round cans were lined with a thin film 
of paraffin, In order to protect the cans from salt or acid, 
and the curb firmly packed into the can when ready for 
pressing, the can being then sealed. The cheese was said to 
keep an excellent flavor, and the package was convenient for 
shipment. 
