76o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 20 
The Rural New-Yorker, 
TJBE BUSINESS FARM EES' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home*. 
Established, 1850. 
Elbert 8 . Cabman. Editor-in-Chlef. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Managing Editor. 
Jobs J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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Address all business communications and make all orders pay¬ 
able to * THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1897. 
It is reported that 800 Chinamen will be used to 
“ break up ” the coal strike in Illinois. These men 
will be guarded by Gatling guns, and will live in a 
stockade near the mines ! With such creatures herded 
like sheep, with Italian laborers worked like cattle 
on contract jobs, and southern life convicts practi¬ 
cally sold into lifelong slavery in the mines, we may 
well wonder when the “ labor question ” is to be set¬ 
tled. “ The farmer feeds them all,” but only con¬ 
tented and industrious workmen are able to pay for 
the feeding. 
0 
The writer has Black Minorca and Plymouth Rock 
poultry. We notice many women wearing feathers 
of various kinds on their hats. Our hens are honest 
and industrious, and when they die, they leave the 
soil of New Jersey better for having lived on it. Now 
let the State of New Jersey pass a law compelling all 
women to wear black or speckled feathers, and all 
men to use toothpicks made from Plymouth Rock 
quills ! Nonsense ! you will say, yet why would it 
not be as honest as other class legislation that has 
been attempted in this country ? 
Q 
From Virginia to Texas, southern market garden¬ 
ers are preparing to have a share in the potato market 
next spring. The crop is known to be short all over 
the world. All are figuring on the belief that, by 
next spring, the markets will be about cleaned of old 
stock so that new potatoes will bring a higher price. 
Therefore, from Norfolk to Galveston, the acreage of 
potatoes will be increased. Those who get the new 
crop to New York first will reap the harvest, and 
growers will take long chances and plant earlier than 
usual. In fact, the next southern potato crop will be 
considerable of a gamble, with heavy risks taken 
both in acreage and early planting. 
0 
The florists of the United States annually import 
a great quantity of palm seeds from Australia, South 
America, and other countries, for the purpose of 
propagating the palms used as house and decorative 
plants. Last year, a California appraiser declared 
such seeds dutiable, on the assumption that they were 
agricultural seeds, and this ruling was upheld. A 
New York firm paid such duty under protest, upon 
the ground that, while these were seeds, they were 
more correctly palm nuts, containing seeds, and they 
could not he classed as agricultural seeds, as these 
ornamental palms would not make timber, neither 
did they produce edible fruits. This opinion was 
legally upheld, and the excess of duty paid in conse¬ 
quence of the first ruling will be refunded. 
® 
That idea in our first-page article that the head of 
the family in Germany doesn’t expect to be the only 
breadwinner of the family, may seem a novel one to 
many of our American readers. Here, in most cases, 
the husband and father is expected to furnish the 
sinews of war, and the wife and daughters think their 
duty fulfilled when the housekeeping work is done. 
And on the farms, this view of the ease is generally 
right, too. But there are many cases in which the 
women of the family are abundantly able to help in 
the outdoor work, and in the case of mechanics and 
laborers, the wives and daughters could, with benefit 
and profit, employ their time in outdoor occupations. 
We see much of this among our foreign-born popula¬ 
tion, and some profess to be shocked at it. But the 
personal appearance of these women doesn’t usually 
tend to confirm the belief that they are objects of 
commiseration. We are not in favor of women 
habitually taking the places of men in distinctively 
masculine occupations, but there are many cases 
where they could do so temporarily, at least, with 
benefit to their health, and with substantial profit. 
Even many an overworked farmer’s wife would be 
greatly benefited could she, for a time, escape from 
the heated kitchen and the stuffy rooms, and breathe 
God’s free air for a time while engaged in some light 
outdoor work. 
© 
One of the most powerful antiseptics used to pre¬ 
vent fermentation or the souring of milk, etc., is 
salicylic acid. Its action upon unorganized ferments 
is very powerful ; it completely arrests the digestive 
process, and for this reason, is dangerous in food 
compounds. The use of this acid as a preservative is 
forbidden by law in most European countries, and its 
sale is prohibited in the South American countries 
having pure-food laws. By a recent decision of the 
Pennsylvania Dairy and Food Commissioner, the use 
of salicylic acid as food is prohibited in that State. 
Most of the preservative compounds offered for sale 
contain this as tbe main ingredient. Their use in 
milk comes within reach of the law, and their use in 
home compounds is a danger to be avoided by the 
housekeeper. 
© 
“Why not draw a salary in winter ? ” say s our friend 
on page 755. He is speaking of dairymen, and the 
question follows, Who is to pay the salary ? It is 
easily answered, The cow 1 The bossie makes a good 
boss, and she pays her wages regularly to those who 
do their duty by her. The New York State Commis¬ 
sioner of Agriculture recently said that “ Winter 
dairying will not pay unless one is near a large city.” 
Practical dairymen do not all seem to agree with him. 
Mr. Baker says that he can make a cheaper pound of 
butter in winter than in summer. The silo certainly 
compares favorably with the pasture in providing 
roughage at little cost, and a comfortable stable with¬ 
out flies is better than a short pasture with them. 
Summer dairying means idle cows and idle men in 
winter, and overworked men in summer. The time 
for cows to be idle is at the time when the men are 
most useful on the farm. 
® 
In 1852, the legislature of New Jersey passed a law 
compelling railroad engineers to ring a bell or blow 
a whistle when nearing a crossing. That law was 
not amended until 1895, when the governing bodies 
in towns and cities in the larger counties were given 
power to compel the protection of crossings. The 
Supreme Court has just decided that a railroad com¬ 
pany is not obliged to do more than the law requires, 
except where it has created a danger by its own act— 
such as building a curve near a tunnel or deep cut. 
In New Jersey, as well as in other States, are hun¬ 
dreds of dangerous crossings, at many of which people 
have been killed or injured through no fault of their 
own. If the engineer rings his bell, he does all that 
the law requires. The next legislature of New Jer¬ 
sey ought to put a stop to this by passing a law giving 
any locality tbe right to compel railroads to protect 
such crossings. Let the people take hold of the 
matter at once, and circulate petitions demanding 
the passage of such a law. Who owns the State of 
New Jersey—the people or the railroads ? 
© 
A legal contest between the State of Kansas and 
the Kansas City Live Stock Company involves a point 
that is of great interest to farmers. This company 
owns property in both Kansas and Missouri. It pro¬ 
vides a place for yarding, watering, feeding and 
weighing cattle, and charges a certain price per head 
for the service. The Kansas legislature considered 
these charges too high, and passed a law which re¬ 
duced them. The company refused to reduce the 
charges, claiming that the State of Kansas had no 
right to attempt to regulate the affairs of a private 
corporation. Two courts have now upheld the law 
and decided against the company. The court holds 
that, since nearly all cattle men of the State sending 
stock to Kansas City are compelled to use the yards 
and 'pay such rates as may be demanded, public in¬ 
terest in the same is established so that the State is 
justified in protecting its citizens from extortion. The 
court states that the true value of the property is 
$5,3S8,003, and that its net income last year was $590,- 
568 73. The new rates on the same volume of busi¬ 
ness would amount of $289,916.96, or about 5.3 per 
cent of the true valuation, which, the court holds, is 
a fair rate of profit. It says : 
It is only where there has been a clear abuse of power, where 
the rates prescribed by a statute are manifestly unjust, and oper¬ 
ate to deprive a citizen or corporation of that which justly 
belongs to them, even as against the public, that the courts have 
power to intervene. We are constrained to hold that the case at 
bar is not of that character. 
If the United States Supreme Court also uphold 
this law, it will establish a precedent that will greatly 
increase the rights of the public in any service that 
amounts to a monopoly. It is common sense, at least, 
if not “law”, that legislatures should have the power 
to protect the public from extortionate rates. 
0 
As we stated four weeks ago, the Orange Judd 
Farmer undertakes to show that corn is produced in 
the western States at a cost of six cents a bushel. 
Western farmers are playing havoc with these figures, 
but the trouble is that trade papers and speculators 
are using them to show that farming is more profit- 
table than ever before. As Henry Wallace, of Iowa, 
puts it: 
If corn can be grown for six cents per bushel, or, taking the 
average crop in these States last year, for 7.8 cents per bushel, 
then the farmer ought to be wearing diamonds. If he is a skill¬ 
ful feeder, he can get eight pounds of pork out of a bushel of 
corn, and hence grow live hogs at one cent a pound. If he sells 
them at three cents, he trebles bis money; if at four cents, he 
quadruples it Fifty bushels of this corn will fatten the ordinary 
steer, and he could buy stock cattle at five cents a pound and sell 
beef at five cents a pound, and make money band over fist. 
If such figures were used by farmers alone, they might 
be helpful, for a fair comparison of methods and cost 
is always useful. If my neighbor can produce a bushel 
of corn for less money than I can, I want to know 
how he does it; but when some one goes to my cus¬ 
tomer in town and tells him that California hens pro¬ 
duce eggs at a cost of half a cent each, I have trouble 
right away in selling my eggs at a fair price. Con¬ 
sumers and speculators use these six-cent corn state¬ 
ments to club agriculture and depress prices. 
O 
BREVITIES. 
Me and my conscience are mighty good friends. 
Awful good-natured—lets me run both ends. 
Got kinder lazy and leaves things to me, 
Don’t have no trouble to make him agree. 
Once in a while when the old feller squirms 
Over some question and won’t come to terms, 
I set right down and I reason it out. 
Fust thing ye know I have got him in doubt. 
Then I say, “ You keep the doubt—as for me, 
I’ll take the benefit—now we agree.” 
Easy to get ’round objections of his, 
Longer you argue, the easier ’tis. 
While I can make him spell out “justify,” 
He’ll write O. K. on each scheme that I try. 
Me and my conscience we work side by side. 
Each tells the other how neither one lied ! 
How many rats are you boarding ? 
Try to catch the “ catch on ” habit. 
The meek reject the extra dose of “ me.” 
Can’t you say whoa to somebody’s woe ? 
The best eat meat is produced from rat ! 
The rum shop is a feeding place for fiends. 
Twelve-cent eggs will beat six-cent cotton. 
Mr. Find Out is a partner to Prof. Get There. 
□ Who provides the sinews of peace in your family ? 
Take away the pen—pork ean be made by the sward. 
The beet sugar beat may replace the creamery shark. 
Don’t live in vane—swinging around with every puff of public 
wind. 
The finishing touches of mother’s slipper are apt to leave a raw 
product! 
Stomach is the middle man. Does it draw too large a share of 
your attention ? 
“Turning the other cheek” to some people only increases 
their stock of “ cheek.” 
The best way to preserve dirt is to leave corners and cracks 
that are hard to get at. 
Better take the Bible as your check-book. Draw precepts 
from it to check yourself. 
You are the engineer of your own fortunes, are you ? You can 
be a civil engineer, anyway. 
The chords in your wife’s heart will vibrate when those cords 
of wood are cut and housed. 
Valuable when kept at work, a nuisance when made an idle 
pet—the Collie dog—or the man ! 
The Massachusetts law against the wearing of feathers of song 
birds does not appear to be enforced. 
What turns a White Leghorn into a white elephant? A mar¬ 
riage of Miss Don’t Care and Mr. Laziness. 
A New York contractor has hired 100 negro convicts in North 
Carolina for making shirts at the State’s prison ! 
The ancient Ethiopians elected a dog as their king. Wonderful 
how the Ethiopian spirit kas survived the wrecks of time. 
What ails the Oregon hen? Put more meat into her ration! 
In October, $25,000 worth of eastern eggs were brought into 
Oregon! 
The greatest need in beet-sugar making is men who “ know 
how to do it.” That is true of everything. It is only more evident 
in the beet-sugar business. 
American corn goes to Denmark. The Dane feeds it to a cow 
and sells her butter to England. Why butter the Englishman’s 
bread through a Danish cow ? 
Milk may hold monsters of most frightful mien, yet all so 
small they hardly can be seen. Bacteria and germs, loathsome 
and mean—nip them while budding—keep your dairy clean. 
A chainless bicycle is promised for next year. The new gear¬ 
ing will cost little more than the chain, yet it is proposed to go 
back to $100 and $125 prices. Why ? Stick to the chain until prices 
come down. 
Ip a tenant in Pennsylvania feed hay (personal property) to a 
cow (peronal property), the resulting manure becomes real 
estate. It will be interesting to know when and where the change 
occurs. The scrub will be severely taxed to separate the per¬ 
sonal property (milk; from the hay. 
