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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
October 23 
$1,000.00 
We want to make it plain to our club-raisers and friends that 
every subscription sent us from October 15 to January 15 inclusive, 
whether new or renewal, short time or for a year, will count for a 
share of that $1,000 cash premium money. The only thing in favor 
of new names is the $1 rebate for clubs of five. This is simply extra 
for new names, but renewals count just the same for premiums. 
In the trial contest closed September 30, F. H. Johnson, of 
Massachusetts, had the largest club—541—and he got the Bicycle 
and a check for $50. The other $100 cash was divided among the 
next largest 10 clubs. The largest check for a portion of this $100 
went to a New York man for $28.38. The smallest went to an Ohio 
man for $3 20. Two women, both from Massachusetts, drew nice 
checks for their share of the $100. Out of the 11 who drew 
premiums, three were from Massachusetts, four New York, one 
Connecticut, one Michigan, one Ohio and one Canada. 
Now is the time to begin for a share of that $1,000, that goes out 
January 15. The advantage to a club-raiser in this contest is that 
he is made sure of fair pay as he goes along, with a reasonable 
prospect, from past experience, for a good extra windfall in the 
share of the $1,000 premium money. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, New York. 
AS WE GO TO PRESS. 
THE KEEPER. 
Keeper of what ? 
Keeper of the dead ! 
A feeble, white-haired man slowly 
pacing among the graves on Burial Hill. 
Those of you who have been in Ply¬ 
mouth, Mass., will remember the steep 
bluff under which the old town nestles. 
Here the first fort and town house were 
built. Here are the graves of those who 
founded the republic. Here the Pilgrim 
watchers stood looking out over the sea. 
There were tears as the outgoing ship 
sank away in the East, there was hope 
as the incoming vessel mounted higher 
from the water. 
It is sacred soil, but The Keeper walked 
sadly about with bowed head and falter¬ 
ing step. Wife, children, past—all were 
gone. Something tied him to this place 
of memories. In the simple blue of his 
soldier’s uniform, he paced among the 
graves—a keeper, a guide. He knew 
where the famous people were buried, 
and where the quaint old epitaphs were 
to be found. His last days were spent 
guiding thoughtless strangers about— 
strangers who gave hardly a second 
thought to the things that seemed so 
much a part of his life. 
By accident, I learned that The Keeper 
had served in my father’s regiment in 
the war. You should have seen the old 
man change when I spoke to him about 
it. He straightened up. A new light 
came into his face, and he stood erect 
like a soldier. It was as though some¬ 
thing had stepped out of the dead past 
with new and vigorous life for The 
Keeper of the dead. There was life 
down in the roots. It would be well if 
younger men could understand the old 
man’s feelings. They would be willing 
to do more for their country if they 
could feel that, in old age, the only 
anchors that safely hold are those that 
are caught on the rock of sacrifice—on 
something of self given up for others. 
But I did not intend to preach a ser¬ 
mon when 1 started out. The point is 
that the world is full of keepers, who 
stand guard over the memories and tra¬ 
ditions of the past. You would be 
astonished to see how many people we 
meet who say of The Bubal New- 
Yobkeb: 
“FATHER USED TO TAKE IT.” 
The very name of the paper takes 
them back to the old home. There is 
the old kitchen on a winter’s evening. 
Mother and the girls are sewing. John 
is popping corn and you are roasting 
apples by the fire. Father sits in the 
lamplight with his spectacles on his 
nose, reading aloud from the old Moored 
Rural New-Yorker. The cat sleeps on 
the mat, and the dog by the fire keeps 
one eye open. The sleet is fingering tbe 
windows, and the wind howls at the 
roof. The old scene comes back to many 
a weary man and woman who would 
give everything if they could call father 
and mother back from the little church¬ 
yard, and roll the years so that Mary 
could come from Oregon, Jennie from 
Kansas, Sarah from Maine, and John 
from Florida, for just such a night in 
the old home. 
That can’t be done. Time has changed 
it all. Even if you were to come together 
again, it would not be like the old times. 
You will excuse us if we say that the 
one part of the combination that has 
changed least in spirit is The R. N.-Y. 
Of course, as the years have gone by, it 
has tried to keep abreast of the times, 
but, through it all, we have ever tried 
to rise with the farmer—to keep side by 
side with his best wishes and desires. 
The old paper served father well. The 
present paper is just as useful for you 
and for the boys. We bring this thought 
home to the thousands of good people 
who will see this paper for the first 
time. 
Father used to take it!” What about 
father’s son and grandson ? Blather paid 
$3 for 52 issues. You may obtain 64 for 
$1. We will not print anything more 
than a hint. You may do the rest! 
And by the way, there are other sorts 
of keepers. A good book is a keeper. 
It keeps sound and helpful thoughts 
together where we may use them at any 
time. A farmer from Florida called on 
us one day and bought some books, 
among others The Fertility of the Land, 
by Prof. Roberts, and Farm Chemistry. 
Now, after reading them, he writes : 
I am, greatly pleased with the hooks. 
They are of great value to me, and I would 
not be without them. 
Now, please remember that we keep 
such keepers. We sell all books, al¬ 
though our specialty is books on agri¬ 
culture. We would like your book trade. 
Our new book list is a subkeeper. It 
will cost you nothing. 
SCIENCE FROM THE STATIONS. 
REVIEWS OF IMPORTANT BULLETINS. 
Bulletin 67, from the Virginia Station 
(Blacksburg), contains notes on the Sta¬ 
tion Plum Orchard, with an account of 
the behavior of various varieties, and a 
treatment for Brown rot in plums. Bul¬ 
letin 68 of the same station gives the 
result of feeding ensilage to hogs. As 
a rule, ensilage has not been recom¬ 
mended as food, either for hogs or 
horses. At the Virginia Station, how¬ 
ever, it was fed to hogs as an experi¬ 
ment, and the results show that, with 
other suitable grain, it makes a satis¬ 
factory roughage for the hog. When 
fed alone, it does not give the best of 
results, but when fed with other grain 
like bran, the results indicate that it 
will prove a valuable feed. 
We receive so many requests for in¬ 
formation regarding irrigation, that we 
want to inform our readers that the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture at Washington, 
has issued a bulletin on this subject 
This is Farmers’ Bulletin No. 46, en¬ 
titled, Irrigation in Humid Climates, by 
Prof. F. H. King. This gives a compre¬ 
hensive and interesting discussion of the 
whole matter, including the average 
amount of rainfall, the best methods of 
obtaining water for irrigation, as well 
as the most useful way of lifting and 
supplying it. Those who are interested 
in this subject will do well to send to 
Washington for this bulletin. Another 
bulletin recently issued by the Depart¬ 
ment is entitled, Soil Moisture, by Prof. 
Milton Whitney. This contains a study 
of the amount of moisture usually found 
in various soils, and in connection with 
the bulletin on irrigation, will be found 
vefy useful to enterprising farmers. 
The report of the Bureau of Agricul¬ 
ture of Louisiana is issued by Commis¬ 
sioner J. G. Lee, of Baton Rouge. Two 
exceedingly valuable articles are found 
in this report, one on Leguminous Crops 
for the South, and the other on The 
Value of the Veterinary Profession to 
the South. The latter article presents, 
very forcibly, the arguments in favor of 
intelligent veterinary service. The 
quacks and cow doctors are still pouring 
(Continued on neat page). 
A RUBBER. 
ST. JACOBS OIL 
FOR 
SORENESS AND STIFFNESS. 
It cures in 
two or three 
vigorous rubs. 
Aa utter collapse. < 
The man who has al-_ 
ways been a model of'_ 
business method and 
dignity—who would as 
soon think of putting 
his feet on the piano at 
home as on the desk at his office — finally 
goes to pieces all at once. Bankruptcy— 
with it haa come an utter loss of ambition, 
dignity, and health. Ill-health is at the 
bottom of it all. Bankruptcy stares in the 
face every business man who neglects his 
health. A man cannot work on forever if 
he is suffering from brain fag, nervous ex¬ 
haustion, and debility. All these can come 
to the man who neglects to keep his di¬ 
gestion perfect, his bowels regular and 
his blood pure. 
Business men everywhere have come to 
recognize Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical Dis¬ 
covery as an invaluable remedy. It makes 
the digestion perfect, invigorates the liver, 
restores the appetite, regulates the bowels, 
purifies and builds up the blood, makes the 
flesh and muscles firm, and tones up the 
nerves. It is a business man’s medicine. 
Thos. J. Torbert. Sr., *f Old Springhill, Mar¬ 
engo Co., Ala., writes: “I want to tell you the 
good the ‘ Golden Medical Discovery ’ has done 
me. I had erysipelas and eczema. Had suf¬ 
fered for eight years. I tried all remedies and 
several dectors, but could ret no relief. I bought 
a bottle of your * Golden Medical Discovery ’ and 
tried it I used four bottles and a half. It com¬ 
pletely cured me. I have had no symptoms of its 
return. It has been three years since my cure.” 
Dr. Pierce’s Common Sense Medical Ad¬ 
viser has had a larger sale than any other 
book of this class ever offered the public. 
This book of 1,008 pages with 300 illustra¬ 
tions, is full, from cover to cover, of practi¬ 
cal advice on health matters. This great 
book, in heavy manilla covers, is now of¬ 
fered free to whoever will send 21 one-cent 
stamps to pay for mailing only. If an ele¬ 
gant French cloth binding is desired, send 
10 cents extra: 31 cents in all. World’s Dis¬ 
pensary Medical Association, Buffalo N. Y. 
DO YOU HEED IMP? 
Or, to put it another way. 
Do You Need a Watch? 
vise 
* SIT. 
LADIES 
08 'CEMTS \v e sell them, sell them at such 
“ an exceedingly low price that 
you can’t afford to go watchless. 
Got’em all sizes and styles. 
But we’ll just mention two: 
An Elgin orWalthnm Watch, 
best movement made, hunting 
case, accurate time-keeper, 
handsomely engraved, Ducber 
Case, heavily gold-plated—last 
for all time. Ladies’or gentle¬ 
man’s size. 
We’ll send it to your address 
with privilege of examination. 
If it’s not entirely as repre¬ 
sented, send it back—costs you 
nothing. If you like it, pay the 
agent express charges and $6.50 
-That’ll fair. Or this— 
A Hunting Case Wateh-beauti- 
fully engraved case, first-class 
movement, any size, heavily (dated 
(14k)—looks just like a $40.00 gold 
watch—keeps as good time as any 
of them. Sent to your express 
agent with privilege of examina¬ 
tion—same conditions as all our 
watches sent out—and if you like 
it, pay him $8.45 and express 
charges. 
If you take our word for it, and 
send money with order, a hand¬ 
some chain goes with either, and 
express charges are paid by us, fo. 
the prices named above. 
Royal Manufacturing Co. 
334 Dearborn St„ C-ICAGO. 
Watches 
Are 
Going Up! 
We cannot sell you a stand¬ 
ard watch now as cheap as 
we could six months ago. 
They simply cost . more 
money. Cases and move¬ 
ments have both advanced. 
But if you want a really 
good, substantial watch to 
stand banging, keep good 
time, and of very good ap¬ 
pearance, send to us for 
one of these Seth Thomas 
watches. Get $i from a 
neighbor for a new sub¬ 
scription to The R. N.-Y., 
send it and $2.50 more— 
$3.50 in all, and we’ll send 
you the watch. If you want 
your money back any time 
in a year, we’ll send it and 
pay postage both ways. 
You need not be afraid of 
this watch because it is 
cheap. It will please you 
in every way. 
The Rural New-Yorker, New York. 
The Thrice-a-Week World 
gives you all the news of the whole world 
every other day. It is the next thing to a 
great daily paper—18 pages a week, 156 papers 
a year. It is independent, fearless and al 
ways with the plain people as against trusts 
and monopolists. We can send li in combina¬ 
tion with The Rural New-Yorker, both one 
year, for only $1.66. 
