46o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 10 
BOOK TRADE NOTES. 
WHAT BOOKS A HE FOR. 
It is a fact which no sensible person 
can deny, that many boys and girls are 
anxious to get away from the farm. 
You will, also, find grownup men and 
women who frequently say that they 
would like to run away from the farm 
and never see it again. There seems to 
be no good reason why we should dodge 
this matter or attempt to deny it, be¬ 
cause it is true, and the man who at¬ 
tempts to dodge around the truth, will 
usually get bruised by knocking against 
it. The question arises, “Why should 
men and women, old and young, want 
to leave the farm?” We might fill a 
complete issue of The R. N-Y. with 
theories and facts about this, but to-day 
we have only two sides of the matter to 
consider : 
In the first place, good farmers are 
born and not made, j ust the same as may 
be said of poets or carpenters. Some 
boys have a natural inclination for me¬ 
chanics, or for trading, or for some other 
line of business or professional work. 
These inclinations are born with the 
boys, and there is little use trying to 
root them out. Daniel Webster would 
have made a very poor farmer had he been 
forced to stay on the old farm, Edison 
might, possibly, have made a living on a 
good farm, but it is a doubtful question, 
and think what the world would have 
lost if Edison had not followed his 
natural inclination and given his life to 
the work of digging into the mysteries 
of electricity ! Therefore, it may safely 
be said that some boys go away from the 
farm because they ought to go. It is a 
part of human destiny and the world is 
better for their going. 
The trouble is, however, that some 
boys and men think they are called away 
from the farm when really they ought 
to stay there. In other words, when 
they go out into the world, they obey a 
false call. It is like the young man who 
came to the old minister and said that 
he felt he was called on to preach. The 
minister looked at him and said, “ All I 
have to say is that I think you must 
have mistaken the call.” Lots of boys 
become dissatisfied with life on the old 
farm and consider it too dull and too 
quiet to suit them. Such boys are driven 
from the farm by their thoughts ; a 
thought may be a comfort or a whip. It 
may take out the sting or it may put an¬ 
other one in. My opinion is that lots of 
boys would be only too glad to stay at 
home and develop the old homestead if 
their thoughts were right, and if they 
could see something besides a daily 
grind of work in the life of the farm. 
Now thoughts are made chiefly by as¬ 
sociations. We take them from those 
who are around us, and from books and 
from papers, and I am going to say that 
it is largely the boy’s association that 
has to do with his thoughts. I well re¬ 
member that when I was ahoy, I was 
obliged to spend half an hour each day 
in reading an old copy of the History of 
Josephus. I did not understand what it 
was all about, and I called it about the 
driest reading I ever ran across. As I 
look back upon it now, 1 do not consider 
it a strange thing at all that, as a relief 
from Josephus, I became an ardent 
student of dime novels. I dug a big 
tunnel into the hay mow, and there 
made a cave where I kept a dozen or 
more dime novels, and ofttimes, when 
the old gentleman with whom I lived 
thought I was doing my chores, I was 
deep in the mysteries of Dread, the 
Avenger, Big Joe’s Last Scalp, Big-Foot 
George and many others who always 
had the happy faculty of coming to life 
again after being carved or crushed or 
buried or drowned. It did not make 
any difference how badly those old fel¬ 
lows were injured, they always turned 
up alive or well, and I knew that, on 
the last page of the book, the whole 
story was coming out just exactly right. 
Now, what I want to say is that this 
course of reading, namely, the History 
of Josephus and these dime novels, gave 
me a wrong view of life. I came up to 
the time when I ought to have stayed 
on the farm, with the wrong thoughts 
and wrong ideas about life. I often 
think now, that if, at that time, I could 
have had in my hands some of the books 
that The R. N.-Y. is offering for sale, 
I would not have run away from the 
farm as I did. When I got to the city 
on a salary of $3 a week with a board 
bill each week of $4, I discovered that 
there was something wrong in life, and 
that the old farm, after all, was a good 
place ; yet there was something wrong 
about that farm life. It was not a good 
thought factory, if I may put it that 
way. A boy did not get to love a farm. 
He did not realize that the soil is a living 
thing. He did not look upon the plants 
and the animals as intimate friends. He 
was not taught to go into the mysteries 
of Nature and try to find out something 
of the “why’’and the “wherefore” of 
the great secrets that were locked up all 
around him. 
To-day, as I look back upon those old 
days on the farm, I make up my mind 
that my children are going to be taught 
to read and think. I am going to try 
to put before them the best books that 
I can find, and you do not know how 
glad I am that, nowadays, wise men are 
writing about farm matters in such a 
way that they are made almost as inter¬ 
esting as a story. 
One great reason why The R. N.-Y. went 
into the book business is the fact that 
we realize how barren and empty a farm¬ 
er’s life may be without sound and true 
thought. The R. >N.-Y. gives you the 
pith of the matter from week to week, 
but you and your boys want something 
a little different from that. You want 
books—books that you can carry right 
in your pocket and have for handy ref¬ 
erence ; books that will come right up to 
the front when there is any knotty prob¬ 
lem to be settled, and tell you just ex¬ 
actly the facts that you want to know. 
Only two weeks ago, I was traveling on 
the train with one of the best farmers 
in Connecticut, and we got to talking 
about soil culture, and how to produce 
a large crop of fruit. I told him some¬ 
thing of what Prof. Roberts had said in 
his wonderful little book on The Fer¬ 
tility of the Land. The man was inter¬ 
ested at once. “ Why,” he said, “ I must 
have that book. I have heard about 
Prof. Roberts, and heard him make a 
short speech, and if, as you have said, 
he has put a synopsis of his life’s experi¬ 
ence in farming into this book, I must 
have it and have it at once.” The result 
was that I sold my own personal copy 
that I carried with me, and he put it 
into his pocket, glad, indeed, that his 
attention had been called to it. 
And now I do not want this little talk 
to degenerate into a mere advertising 
dodge, and I shall not, therefore, say 
much more about the books we have to 
sell. I do, however, want to say to you, 
“Yes, sir,” right straight to you as a 
farmer and head of a family, “ Those 
boys and girls of yours are the best 
plants you can possibly raise on your 
farm, and the thoughts that are growing 
in their minds will make the most valu¬ 
able crop that will ever come out of your 
soil. You may be proud of your wheat 
or your potatoes, and when people come 
and praise them, you like to throw your 
shoulders back and tell them how much 
manure and fertilizer and how much 
careful tillage have been required to 
produce that crop. That big, strong, 
active boy of yours may fail because he 
has not the right thoughts in his head. 
The time may come when you are an 
older man than you are now, and just 
at the time you want that boy to stay 
on the farm and help you out, he may 
get the idea into his head that he wants 
to go to town, and sell dry goods or 
make figures in a book. 
Now, my friend, what will send him 
there ? Let me ask you that. Wrong 
thoughts ; a wrong idea of farm life, 
and a failure to become interested in the 
scientific side of farming. Begin now 
and help put the right thoughts into his 
head. Here are three good ways to do 
it: In the first place, set him a good ex¬ 
ample. You are a good farmer,; study 
to be a better one, and in that way, get 
him interested in improvement. In the 
second place, subscribe to The R. N.-Y., 
of course, and talk over the articles 
with him ; discuss them, and if* you 
think they are wrong, sit down and tell 
us wherein our correspondents have 
made mistakes. In the third place, 
spend the value of one acre’s crop this 
fall in good agricultural books for that 
boy. Send for our new book list, and 
let the boy pick out the volumes that he 
desires. Then come and get the books, 
and you may take our word for it, that 
such an investment will fertilize that 
boy’s mind in the most satisfactory way. 
We want your book trade ! The time is 
coming when you ought to have, at 
least, the beginning of an agricultural 
library. You cannot really get along 
without it, and we are in a position to 
get it for you to better advantage, per¬ 
haps, than any one else. 
Ontario Countt, N. Y. —The season, thus far, 
has been dry and cold, but to-day (June 29), we 
have had a very refreshing rain. Corn is very 
backward; it has had a good many drawbacks. 
Clover hay is an excellent crop. Timothy hay 
will be light. Barley and oats are doing well. 
Heavy growth of wheat straw, but very short 
heads. Late potatoes are being eaten badly with 
bugs. E. T. B. 
Making the baby 
happy is a woman¬ 
ly woman’s best 
pleasure. It is 
easy to make a 
healthy baby hap¬ 
py. Such a baby 
is born happy. 
Smiles and dim¬ 
ples are as natural 
to it as fretfulness 
is to a puny, sick¬ 
ly child. It rests with every woman wheth¬ 
er her baby shall be healthy and happy, or 
puny and miserable. If during the period 
preceding maternity a woman takes proper 
care of the organs upon which the perpetu¬ 
ation of the *u*e depends, she insures the 
health of herwrlf and child. It is easy to do 
this. The ptoper medicine is at hand. 
Over 90,000 women have testified in writ¬ 
ing to the valne of it. 
The organs that make wifehood and moth¬ 
erhood possible are directly acted upon by 
Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription. It 
makes them strong and healthy. It cures 
all weakness and disease. It prepares for 
maternity. It does away with the discom¬ 
forts of the expectant period. It insures 
baby’s health and makes its advent easy 
and almost painless. Druggists sell more 
of the “Favorite Prescription ” than of all 
it. _ ? - it., -a. ~ - ^ J « r., M A , V\ 4 *4 A H 
“ I am anxious to add my testimonial to your 
‘ Favorite Prescription,’ *’ writes Mrs. C. G. Bran 
don, of Fort Grant, Graham Co., Ariz. “ I had 
been using the ‘ Prescription ’ for several months 
previous to my confinement, and I am sure I 
have been benefited greatly from the time I com¬ 
menced to use h. I feel roily as well as ever I 
did in my life. Up to the very day when the 
baby was born I did all my own housework; and 
during confinement I had not the least symptoms 
of fever. The ‘ordeal’ was nothing to what 
I expected." 
The woman who owns a copy of Dr. 
Pierce’s Common Sense Medical Adviser 
probably does not realise at once all that 
she gave in exchange for it. There was the 
price of $1.50. That paid for the large vol¬ 
ume of 1,008 pages. Then, as day by day 
she looked into these pages, one by one she 
gave away her anxieties for her family’s 
health. She learned how to make her chil¬ 
dren well. In the chapters especially treat¬ 
ing of her own weaknesses, she learned the 
causes and the cures. 680,000 copies have 
been sold at $1.50 each. Now an edition 
in strong paper covers, will be distributed 
free. Send 21 one-cent stamps to World’s 
Dispensary Medical Association, Buffalo, 
N. Y., to cover the cost of mailing only. 
Send 31 stamps for cloth binding. 
N. Y. STATE FAIR, 
SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
August 23 to 28, 1897. 
Farmers, 
Gardeners and 
Fruit Growers 
To economize should freely use the time 
tested reliable brands of FERTILIZERS 
we manufacture. The goods increase 
quantity and improve quality of Grain, 
Grass, Vegetables and Emit, and make 
healthy Trees t Vines and Shrubs. 
Erands for all soils and all crops. 
tW Some prefer making their own “ home 
mixings." for such we always keep in stock the 
Chemicals and crude materials required. 
THE CLEVELAND DRYER CO., 
No. 130 Summit Street, Cleveland, Ohio. 
WHEAT 
will probably bring goad prices next fall. For a 
big crop u l e Nit rate of Soda. Ask for pamphlet 
with full instructions. 
S. M. HARRIS. Moreton Farm (P. O ), N. Y. 
$20 Phosphate for Wheat and Grass 
Sold to farmers direct. We have no agents. Senp 
for Circular. Low prices for car-load lots. 
YORK CHEMICAL WORKS. York. Pa. 
I Cash and responsible buyers 
< Address HUBBARD & CO. 
[ 708 Merchants B’k, Balt., Md 
I |fij| (^—Farmers wishing to fertilize and im- 
I Iwl CL prove tfteii land, should send at once 
and get a car-load of Pure White Rock Lime. Ana¬ 
lysis per cent pure Carbonate Lime. Price only 
11.50 per t< n. Shipped to any part of the country in 
good tight box cars. Address WHITE ROCK LIME 
AND CEMENT CO.. McAfee Valley. N. J. 
A FARM LUXURY. 
With milk selling in the country at 
one cent a quart and cream in propor¬ 
tion, there is no cheaper or more de¬ 
licious luxury than a plate of ice cream, 
and there are no other people in the 
world who can have it with all its rich¬ 
ness and smoothness and freshness and 
delicacy as can the farmer and his fam¬ 
ily. This we know from actual experi¬ 
ence. The strange thing about it is 
that many farmers sell the milk at one 
cent a quart and buy ice cream at 30 
cents a quart, and then take an article 
inferior to that which they could make 
themselves right on the farm. All you 
want is a little ice and a four-quart 
White Mountain Freezer. We have 
made arrangements to get one for each 
of our readers that wants it this month. 
Get one of your neighbors to give you a 
dollar for a year’s subscription to The 
Rural New-Yorker, send his name and 
address and $2.25 and we will have the 
freezer sent you at once, and the paper 
will be sent your neighbor for a year. 
This is the exact cost of the freezer, so 
you see we pay you liberally for getting 
the new subscription. This freezer is 
made by the White Mountain Freezer 
Co., at Nashua, N. H., and we will 
guarantee it to give perfect satisfaction. 
This is an especially liberal offer and is 
only good until August 15. It will 
positively not be repeated after that date. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, New York 
$25 000 in Premiums. New Buildings. 
New Water Plant. Great Attractions. 
Premium Lists now Ready. Apply to 
JAS. B. DOCHARTY, Sec’,. Alban,, N. Y. 
Special Railroad Facilities, Reduced Rates and 
all exhibits unloaded from cars on Fair Grounds 
Plant Breeding. 
Bv L. H. Bailey. (Cross-breeding and Hybrid¬ 
izing, revised and enlarged.) Coutains the 
Facts and Philosophy of Variation; the Phil¬ 
osophy of Crossing Plants; Specific Means 
by which Garden Varieties Originate; De¬ 
tailed Directions for Crossing Plants. Cloth, $1. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
Save Money ! We Sell Direct to Farmers I 
Why not economize ? You save *10 to *12 on every ton of Fertilizer you buy from us, 
'Ammonia, 4 to 5 p.c. Phos.Acid, 22 to 25 p.c 
Ammonia, 2 to 3 p.c. Phos.Acid, 8 to 10 p.c. 
Ammonia, 2)4 to 3)4 p.c.Pbos.Aeid, 10 to 12 p.c. 
Ammonia, 3 to 4 p.c. Phos.Acid, 10 to 12 p.c. 
Ammonia, 3 to 4 p.c. Phos.Acid, 10 to 12 p.c. 
Ammonia, 4)4 to 5)4 p.c.Pbos.Aeid, 13 to 15 p.c. 
FOR SAMPLES AND BOOK WRITE 
THE SCIENTIFIC FERTILIZER C0„ P. 0. Box 1017. 708 Bingham Street, Pittsburg. Pa. 
Pure Raw Bone Meal.to 
Scientific Corn & Grain Fert... 55 
Scientific Economy Fertilizer . b» 
Scientific Tobacco Fertilizer.. 3 
Scientific Potato Fertilizer....^ 
Bone and Meat Fertilizer. 
Per ton 
.*22 
Potash, 1)4 to 2)4 p.c. 16 
Potash, 3 to 4 p.c. 20 
Potash, 3)4 to 4)4 p.c. 22 
Potash, 5 to 6 p.c. 25 
. 18 
