456 
June 29 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FAltMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbeut W. CoLLixcnvooi>, KdJtor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, / 
H. lii. Van Deman. VAssociates. 
Mrs. K. T. Uoyle, ) 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
Ss. Gd., or 8J4 marks, or 10>6 francs. 
“ A SaUARE DEAL.” 
We believe that every advertisement In this paper Is backed by a 
responsible person. Buttoimike doubly sure we will make good any 
loss to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler 
advertising in our columns, and any such swindler w'tll be publicly 
exposed. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we do not guar¬ 
antee to adjust trifling differences between subscribers and honest, 
responsible advettlsers. Neither will we bo responsible for the debts 
of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. Notice of the complaint 
must be sent us within one month of the time of the transaction, and 
you must have meulioued The Kural New-Yorker when writing 
the advertiser. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance Is for, should 
appear in every letter. , 
Kemittances may be made In money order, express order, personal 
check or bank drafU nkW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street. New York. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1901. 
Indications multiply that, as a whole, the apple 
crop will be short. Early apples ought to bring more 
money than usual. We do not go on record yet as 
predicting a very short crop, for the outcome is many 
days away yet. The chances are, however, that good 
apples will be scarce. This will be a good year for 
drying some of the fruit that would be thrown away 
in an ordinary season. 
« 
One of the greatest industrial developments of late 
years is the use of cement for building purposes. 
There has been such a sudden increase in the use of 
this material that in some sections the lumber trade 
has been affected. Thomas A. Edison now announces 
that he has discovered a new process of making Port¬ 
land cement which will greatly cheapen the price. If 
this prove true still more cement will be used, and we 
may expect to see outbuildings and dwelling houses 
made for a very little money, and by ordinary farm 
labor. This will probably benefit farmers more than 
any other class. 
* 
Before the fate of the Grout bill was settled The 
R. N.-Y. began to protest against the reappointment 
of J. W. Wadsworth as chairman of the House Agri¬ 
cultural Committee. For months we protested alone 
—now help is pouring in from all sides. The New 
York State Grange has issued a strong call to arms— 
which in this case means a call to pen and ink. The 
agricultural papers are falling into line. We urge 
all who are interested in the cow to begin at once to 
vote with the postage stamp. Wadsworth should be put 
back in the ranks. When Speaker Henderson returns 
from Europe he should find his desk hidden beneath 
a flood of strong letters protesting against Wads¬ 
worth as chairman. Vaccinate Mr. Henderson with 
ink, and he will be made immune to the oleo disease. 
* 
Farmers and truckers through the manufacturing 
section of New Jersey complain bitterly of the losses 
they sustain from petty thieves, who loot both fruit 
and vegetable crops, even going so far as to dig pota¬ 
toes out of the ground. They say that the worst of¬ 
fenders are Italians of the lowest class, who spend 
their leisure in scouring the country, picking up 
everything that they can find. Even when caught in 
the act of robbery, the farmer has no redress, being 
unable to name or locate the depredators when trying 
to get a warrant for their arrest. An attempt was 
made to pass a law permitting farmers to be sworn 
in as special constables, that they might have power 
to arrest such thieves without the delay of seeking a 
warrant. This law, however, failed, and it is said 
that the chief opposition to it came from local justi¬ 
ces, who feared that they would be deprived of their 
fees, by thus giving farmers the right to protect their 
property. The farmer’s property right is expected to 
stand back for the man with a political pull. 
• 
We have heard of an old farmer who became tired 
of farming, and had a longing for town life. He en¬ 
gaged a real estate agent to advertise and sell the 
old homestead. This man had little sentiment about 
him, but he knew what appealed to buyers, and he 
wrote a description of the farm and printed it. When 
the paper containing the advertisement came and the 
wife read it aloud, the old farmer sat silent in his 
easy chair for a long time. At last he said: “Mother, 
that’s a description of our farm, is it? The grand old 
lane—fine orchards of all kinds of fruits—cosy home¬ 
stead, surrounded with magnificent trees and shrubs 
—an ideal spot in nature, eh?” “That’s what it says 
here,” answered the wife, as she looked out on the 
sloping green pasture field at the cows contentedly 
chewing their cud under the shade of an elm tree. 
“Well,” said the farmer, “I’ll countermand the order, 
for Old Elms Farm is not for sale. If others see all 
these attractions on the old farm, why they must be 
here. We’ve kinder grown up with them, and didn’t 
notice ’em. I guess it’s good enough place for us to 
end our days on, too.” There was a man whose life 
had grown on so softly and slowly amid familiar 
scenes that he could hardly realize the beauty and 
peacefulness of his home until they were pointed out 
by others. It is a sad thing that so few farmers can 
fully enjoy and appreciate nature in all its bountiful 
beauty. The dollar and cent vision will, if we per¬ 
mit it, cloud over and obscure the best things of farm 
life—best because something better than gold must 
\^e paid for them. 
* 
On page 450 is an account of a 100-acre farm in 
New Jersey from which $3,000 worth of farm products 
were sold last year. This money did not come from 
sales of fruit or truck or other special crops, but fi’om 
the common farm crops such as grain, hay, potatoes 
and milk. It would be a sad mistake simply to give 
these figures and then leave it to be inferred that any 
100-acre farmer who faiis to do as well is faiiing short 
of his possibiLties. That is the feeling left after 
reading some reports of farm operations. It is easy 
for any practicai man to see that such conclusions are 
wrong. There are dozens of important things back 
of the $3,000 income fi*om the New Jersey farm which 
must be taken into account. In fact, when you come 
to analyze any great farm success you will find that 
special conditions of soil, locality or markets have 
much to do with it. We believe that much harm has 
been done in the past by the recital of glowing ac¬ 
counts of what successful farmers have done with¬ 
out a fair analysis of the reasons for success. We 
have heard much about the advantages of the Far 
West as a grain region. Can any western reader give 
us the record of a 160-acre farm that produces a more 
valuable crop of farm staples than this New Jersey 
homestead? 
Constant references are made in the public press 
to the great National prosperity we are enjoying. We 
are exporting unheard-of amounts, and capturing the 
commerce of the most enterprising trading nations. 
We are buying back our own shares and loaning 
money to great foreign enterprises. Our industries 
are earning unprecedented profits, and the dividends 
to be paid by the great trusts and corporations in 
July are to break all records. Everything is boom¬ 
ing, and the prices of stocks are higher than ever. All 
this is very gratifying, but how does your share of 
this prosperity figure out? It is not to be denied that 
labor is more generally employed than for the last 
nine years; that consumption of commodities is in a 
measure keeping pace with the greatly increased wage 
of the producers. This is gratifying while it lasts, 
but one of the best tests of real prosperity can be 
found in the selling price of farm lands. Are pro¬ 
ductive farms more readily sold than in recent years? 
We do not find it so. If a corporation, or wealthy in¬ 
dividual wants land for some particular purpose, a 
sale is quickly made, but there is little demand for 
farms for agricultural purposes except in certain 
localities peculiarly well adapted to fruit growing or 
some special crop. We would like to obtain statis¬ 
tics fi-om readei'S. Has the value of farm land for 
agricultural purposes increased in your locality? 
9 
The papers are full of reports concerning the 
scarcity of farm help in Kansas. Somehow Kansas 
always succeeds in advertising her wants and needs, 
but farmers of other States are just as badly in need 
of help. Wherever we go we find farmers worrying 
because they cannot find suitable help in house and 
field. In parts of Pennsylvania clergymen and others 
are writing to the New York papers begging the city 
unemployed to come to the farms. One such letter 
reads as follows: 
Help was never so scarce, especially house help for 
the farmers’ wives. You have thousands of unfortunate 
workers in your city who would be better off In the 
country. The railroads offer them half fare, and the 
farmers and their wives will give them work and wages 
and good homes here. Women, or men with wives but 
unthout children, are especially in demand, as they can go 
right into the homes and live with their employers. 
“With wives, but without children!” There is the 
same old provision which has done so much to drive 
some of the best of farm hands away from the farm. 
The poor little child is barred alike from the broad 
farm and the narrow city flat. What a difference 
there would be if a comfortable tenant house could 
be built on the farm so that the workman could live 
with his own family. Just now the city is a poor 
place in which to hunt for farm laborers. We re¬ 
ceive letters from men in the country who ask wheth¬ 
er they cannot find profitable work on the new tunnel. 
Our advice is to stay away from the city. The good 
jobs are all taken up. There are, or ought to be, far 
better chances on good farms. 
The complete census returns give some interesting 
figures for comparison. The total population of the 
country on June 1, 1900, was 76,303,387, including 
Alaska, Hawaii and the Indians. This is a gain of 21 
per cent during the past 10 years. We give below the 
figures showing how the older States have increased 
in population during the last century. In 1800 there 
were 21 States, and we have compared the census 
figures for 1800 with those of last year: 
Fer Per 
cent 
Per- 
SQ. 
Population. 
gain. 
sons. 
mile. 
State. 
1900. 
1800. 
1900, 
1800. 
1900. 
1800. 
Connecticut ... 
.. 908,420 
261,002 
21,7 
5.5 
187.6 
6 L 
Delawaire . 
.. 184,735 
64,273 
9.6 
8.8 
94. 
32. 
Georgia . 
. .2,216,331 
162,686 
20.6 
97, 
37.6 
2.8 
Indiana . 
..2,616,462 
5,641 
14.8 
Kentucky . 
220,955 
15.5 
i99. 
53.7 
5.5 
Maine . 
151,719 
5. 
67. 
23.2 
6.1 
Maryland . 
..1,188,044 
341,543 
14. 
6.8 
120.6 
34.6 
Massachusetts 
.2,805,346 
422,845 
25. 
11 . 
348. 
52. 
Mississippi .... 
, .1,551,270 
8,850 
20 . 
29. 
33.5 
0.2 
New Hampshire. 411,588 
183,858 
9.3 
45.7 
20.4 
New Jersey.... 
211,149 
30, 
14.7 
250. 
28. 
Now York. 
..7,268,894 
689,051 
21 . 
73. 
152.6 
12.4 
N. Carolina.... 
478,103 
17. 
2L 
39. 
9.8 
Ohio . 
45,365 
13. 
102 . 
1.1 
Pennsylvania 
..6,302,115 
602,365 
20 . 
38. 
140. 
13.4 
R, Island. 
69,122 
24. 
407. 
63.7 
S. Carolina_ 
346,591 
16. 
• • y • • 
44.4 
11.5 
'i'ennessee . 
..2,020,616 
106,602 
16.4 
38. 
48.4 
2.6 
Vermont . 
154,465 
3.4 
80. 
37.6 
16.9 
Virginia . 
880.200 
12 . 
17. 
46.2 
13.6 
These figures show something of the movement of 
population in this country. In the early part of the 
last century and up to the Civil War there was a 
steady movement away from the older-settled States 
to the West, it was argued that the East ^ould be 
slowly drained of population and thus lose much of 
its old-time character and power. The figures show 
that these predictions have failed. The nine North 
Atlantic States, Maine to Pennsylvania, contain over 
27 per cent of the total population. They made a 
gain of 21 per cent during the past 10 years. During 
the same time the 12 great States of the Central West 
—Ohio to Kansas—gained but 17 per cent. Maine 
gained five per cent, while Kansas gained less than 
three; Vermont 3V^ per cent, Nebraska less than one 
per cent. The growth in the East is not confined to 
the towns and cities, for the agricultural counties 
have made fair gains. The theory has been that east¬ 
ern factories would gravitate to the southern cotton 
fields and western mines and forests, and that food 
producers would be forced to migrate to the richer 
soil of the Far West, The actual facts upset this 
theory. 
BREVITIES. 
-He would not scald his cans, 
But rinsed them with warm water and a rag 
That once was clean, and said “'I’liat’s good enough!” 
And all the while, in every crack and seam 
A breeding band of bad bacteria 
Lurked tili the milkers poured the new milk in. 
Then how they went about their evil work; 
Millions of tiny rascals, each one bent 
On mischief till the whole big can of milk 
Began to turn, and then the foolish man 
Thought he could cover up his carelessness 
By using some vile, drugged “preservative.” 
Oh! why not learn that water boiling hot 
And sunshine—Nature’s simple gifts to man. 
Are far more deadly to the wretched imps 
That sour our milk than all your poisoned drugs. 
Beat sugar—the taffy of the tree agent. 
Some “farm help” really prove a hindrance. 
Jumping out of the frying pan seldom pans out very 
well. 
Stop planting and take care of what you have in the 
ground! 
In spite of favorable reports we think the hay crop 
will be short. 
Paying dearly for knowledge seems to be a sort of 
hire education. 
When a man’s neighbors all speak well of him what 
do you suspect? 
So it seems (page 463) that a cow is often a robber be¬ 
cause she is robbed. 
Who has seeded Timothy and clover with buckwheat 
and succeeded with all three? 
Why, yes, I’ll sorrow thy berry, says Mr. White Grub, 
as he sharpens his teeth on the strawberry roots. 
Who can tell of an easy way of getting manure out of 
the stable, or is this like milking, bound to be a hard, 
hand job? 
It is surprising how much Alsike clover one finds in 
grass fields. The practice of mixing Alsike with Red 
clover is growing. 
Herb is a report on Ruby Queen rose: “The Ruby 
Queen rose is like the Irishman’s colleen, the completlst, 
the sweetest, the natest that’s adornin’ my garden to¬ 
day.” 
The Ben Davis apple is certainly a stayer. A neighbor 
brought us fair specimens on June 20. They were kept 
in a dug-out storage house! But who wants to eat Ben 
Davis apples in strawberry time? 
There are 10,602 incorporated places in the United 
States. They vary in population from over 1,000,000 to 
below 500. About 47 per cent of the total population of 
this country lives in these places. Ten years ago this 
proportion was about 41 per cent. 
