6i6 
September 7 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS EABMEB'S PAPEB. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homea. 
Established 1850. 
HERBKRT Wt COBIilNGWOOD, Kdltoc 
Dit. Walter Van Fleet, / 
U. K. Van Deman. ^-Associates. 
Mr.s. B. T. Boyle, \ 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
StTBSCBIPTION: ONE DOIiliAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries In the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. Cd., or marks, or IQH francs. 
“A SQXTARE 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 columns, and any such swindler will be publicly 
exposed. Wo protect subscribers against rogues, but we do not guar¬ 
antee to adjust trifling differences between subscribers and honest, 
responsible adveiUsers. Neither will we be 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 mentioned Tub Bural Nkw-Yorker when writing 
the advertiser. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance Is for, should 
appear In every letter. 
Bemlttanccs may be made In money order, express order, personal 
check or bank draft. _ 
THB BUBAL NBW-VOBKBB, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1901. 
The Canadian census returns are said to be disap¬ 
pointing to those who give most thought to the fu¬ 
ture of Canada. Quebec and the western provinces 
have made fair gains in population, but Ontario and 
the maritime Provinces are nearly at a standstill. It 
is hard to understand why Canada does not gain more 
rapidly. Ontario is a most desirable section for fruit 
growing and general farming. It is filled with good 
farmers, and the market facilities are excellent. Some 
Canadians profess to be satisfied with this slow 
growth, but it is certainly not up to the standard of 
Yankee enterprise. 
* 
Some of the electric railroads that reach out along 
the farm highways are beginning to carry freight. 
As a rule, they give quick service at a fair price—in 
fact, they haul freight at express speed and about 
half the express charges. Of course, the steam rail¬ 
roads and express companies object to such freight 
carrying. They have had a monopoly of such business 
for years, and do not look with favor upon any com¬ 
petition. Such service is, however, of great value to 
the farmer, and we hope it will be extended all over 
the country. All such things make country life 
brighter. The farmer should be able to send his voice 
over the telephone and his crops over the trolley. 
* 
The Department of Agriculture is preparing to 
publish a digest of the game laws of this country. This 
work will be appreciated not only by sportsmen, but 
by farmers and others who wish to take a day or two 
off during the year for a little hunting. The game 
laws are so complicated that something up-to-date 
and covering the whole country is needed. Most 
States have strict laws against exportfng game, many 
require non-resident hunters to get a license costing 
from $10 to $40, and some pro'hibit the sale of all 
kinds of game. We feel sorry for the man whose 
duty it was to digest and arrange these complicated 
and confiicting game laws. He must have a bad case 
of mental dyspepsia! 
* 
Let us suppose that a large and powerful trust or 
combination of business men secured control of the 
marketing of farm products. It became known to 
farmers that it was the intention of these strong men 
to do what they could to break down the power of the 
Grange or of other organizations which endeavored 
to secure the rights belonging to the farmer. Would 
the producers be justified in organizing a strike for 
the purpose of maintaining their right to organize as 
they saw fit? The consequences of a general strike 
among farmers—^that is, a general refusal to crop 
their land—would be worse in its effect upon human¬ 
ity than the most awful war in history. Would they 
ever be justified in using this tremendous weapon? 
* 
A FEW weeks since we said that the time may come 
when the automobile will be trained to farm labor. 
It ought to carry the farmer’s family or load along 
the road and then stand on its front feet and turn 
machinery with its hind legs. Since then we have 
heard of a case where this has actually been done. A 
city man with a powerful automobile goes to the 
country to visit his farmer friend. At the farm the 
auto is backed into the barn and well braced. The 
rubber tires are taken from the hind wheels and the 
back end of the vehicle raised. A belt is attached to 
the hind wheel and used to turn a fodder shredder, 
or mill, or to work the pump. This auto is a strong 
one, with six horse-power. Such a machine is too 
expensive for the average farmer, but it shows the 
possibilities of the steel farm horse. These machines 
are sure to be sold at a reasonable price some day— 
following the development of the bicycle and the trac¬ 
tion engine. We understand that a patent has been 
issued for a special device for enabling the auto to 
kick at machinery with its hind legs. Thus the 
horseless carriage, like the telephone and the trolley, 
may yet serve the farmer as well as the city man. 
* 
The fearful damage done by the Hessian fly this 
year has made the study of that insect doubly inter¬ 
esting. Washington was the first American farmer 
to make the Hessian fly. His favorite remedy was 
the “trap system,” and he used it with great success 
at the Battle of Trenton. He studied the habits of 
the Hessian and knew that he was sure to “emerge” 
at Christmas and get into such a condition that he 
could be easily handled. So he waited until the Hes¬ 
sians were spread out thick on their Christmas cele¬ 
bration, and then he crossed the river and fell upon 
them like a thunderbolt! The plan which the ento¬ 
mologists suggest for this season is therefore older 
than our present Government. Briefly stated, it is to 
sow a strip of wheat early in September. In conse¬ 
quence of the wet season the “fly” will “emerge” 
early. He will get to that early wheat as the Hessian 
soldier surrounded his Christmas cheer. He will be 
just about as helpless, and can easily be plowed under 
and destroyed. This is a specially good season for the 
farmer to emulate the Father of his Country. 
• 
The daily papers have printed great stories of to¬ 
bacco growing in Connecticut. We receive letters 
from western readers who ask if it is true that to¬ 
bacco is being grown under great tents in the Con¬ 
necticut Valley! Yes, the statements appear to be 
correct. Last year Dr. E. H. Jenkins, of the Connecti¬ 
cut Experiment Station, conducted some experiments 
in growing Sumatra tobacco under shade. The qual¬ 
ity of the tobacco was so fine that this year about 30 
acres of this tobacco are being grown under cheese¬ 
cloth shade, with every prospect of great success. One 
grower is reported to have surrounded his entire patch 
with mosquito netting to keep out the grassnoppers. 
The profits from these tented tobacco lands are al¬ 
most past belief. The Government went ahead and 
experimented, and the growers had the nerve to fol¬ 
low on a larger scale. What would the grandfathers 
of these Yankees say could they see these great tents 
stretched over their old fields? They wouio probably 
say that the modern Yankee doesn’t need to go away 
after a job on the farm, and that he has sharpened 
and polished his grandfather’s brains! 
• 
At the annual meeting of the Five States Milk Pro¬ 
ducers’ Association the following resolution was 
passed: ^ 
Idesolred—That we, the members of the Five States Milk 
Producers’ Association, in convention assembled, know¬ 
ing the danger to the dairying interests of the country 
and to the health of the community implied in the pro¬ 
duction of 100,000,000 pounds of oleomargarine yearly, all 
of which is sold as butter, and realizing the injustice 
both to the butter producers and consumers in the fraud 
perpetrated, ask our representatives in Congress to work 
for the passage of the so-called anti-oleomargarine or 
Grout bill, if introduced in Congress next Winter, or for 
any substitute therefor. 
That is good as fai- as it goes. Of course, the bili 
will be introduced into Congress. Let there be no 
“if” about it. But what will be the sense of “resolv¬ 
ing” in this way if J. W. Wadsworth is again ap- 
IKiinted chairman of the committee on agriculture and 
permitted to hold the bill up once more? If the road 
is muddy and we see a log across our way we do not 
lash the horses, but we get out and chop away the 
log. Chairman Wadsworth is the log in front of the 
anti-oleo bill. The thing to do is to chop him off. 
Where is your ax? The pen is mightfer than the ax. 
Write a letter to Hon. D. B. Henderson, Washington, 
D. C., and tell him that you want no one but a friend 
of the farmer on guard. 
Most farmers are familiar with the history of Jer¬ 
sey and Guernsey cattle. They were kept on their 
little islands for many years, and carefully protected 
from any outside blood. The type was thus narrowed, 
and uniform specimens were produced which when 
taken elsewhere for breeding purposes were sure to 
stamp the strong points of the breed upon their off¬ 
spring. It is not generally known that much the 
same thing is being done with sheep in Maine. On 
certain islands near the Maine coast sheep have 
been bred for years. No new sheep are brought from 
the mainland, but the best specimens of the Island 
sheep are reserved each year for breeding. The sheep 
have slowly changed from the former type and now 
have original and valuable characteristics which make 
them really a new breed. They are wonderfully hardy 
—spending the Winter in good condition wiin little 
to eat but seaweed and fish. It is now proposed to 
keep these sheep pure—^that is, to Introduce no out¬ 
side blood, as it is thought that for some purposes 
they are superior to most other breeds. We expect 
to have some articles later on these thick-coated 
wool-backs. 
* 
The bicycle side-path law in force in New York 
State is an excellent thing so far as it goes. Riding 
on these paths without a license is a finable offence. 
Licenses issued in any county are good through the 
entire State, and a badge is furnished which can be 
attached to the bicycie. Some counties charge 5U 
cents and others $1 a year, the money being used to 
improve the paths. If this tax were doubled and the 
funds properly used, still more improvement might 
be made, and it is probable that most wheelmen who 
use these paths would willingly contribute this 
amount to a work which is of such direct benefit to 
them. A bicycle is a nuisance among the wagons on 
the highway, and it is a comfort to horsemen as well 
as wheelmen to have a separate place for each. 
* 
iKBESPONSiBLE publications often contain advertise¬ 
ments purporting to come from some “detective 
agency,” which asks for local representatives whose 
efforts will cover the localities in which they live. 
Boys who have fed their imagination upon trashy fic¬ 
tion are much impressed with the glory of becoming 
amateur sleuths, after the manner of their favorite 
heroes, and they cheerfully hoard and save to obtain 
the deposit required as a preliminary by the agency. 
One New York lawyer tells how, when he was a boy, 
he managed by strenuous efforts to save $2, which he 
sent to one of these advertisers. In return he got a 
nickei-plated star as big as a saucer, and a set of cre¬ 
dentials setting forth his official dignity. He says: 
My territory was a peaceful agricultural district some 
six miles square, and i was to ferret out all crime in 
that district. 1 pinned the star in my flannel shirt and 
went around looking mysterious and wise. But the only 
disturbances in my town were occasional cases of bucolic 
drunkenness, and after a month or so I sold the star and 
credentials to another boy and went out of the business. 
Another similar agency is a so-called bureau of 
newspaper correspondence, which operates on similar 
lines. After advertising for “reporters” in different 
districts, it demands a fee, merely as a “guarantee of 
responsibility.” Faying such fees is a form of educa¬ 
tion for the unsuspicious, but a disheartening one. 
« 
BREVITIES. 
The pleasant town of Get There lies far up a rocky hill. 
Across the sands of Courage and above the swamp of 
Will. 
The path that leads to Get There leaves the pleasant 
thoroughfare 
And wanders off ’mid rocks that grind and brier vines 
that tear. 
And thousands pass along the road that leads to No- 
whereville. 
And grumble at the few who climb to Get There on the 
hill. 
And others start the thorny path and seek the town to 
gain. 
But falter at the swamp of Will and turn them back 
in pain. 
Oh, happy town of Get 'There shining in the morning sun. 
You only show the toiler how yet higher peaks are won. 
The truest recompense you give for self-denying years 
Is but the promise old, yet new, that conquers doubts 
and fears. 
For no one lives at Get There, but with heart and pur¬ 
pose set 
On better things, from peak to peak, they climb up 
higher yet. _ 
Set a trap for the Hessian fly. 
Eggs lose weight when cooked. 
What is your farm doing for humanity? 
The first crow of the young rooster is crude. 
The customary order for the apple pie is last. 
'The general-purpose man needs more private purpose. 
This is no season for bush Lima beans. How they 
do rot! 
Pea flour mixed with wheat flour is recommended for 
bread making. 
'The shell makes about 15 per cent of the weight of 
the Guinea fowl’s egg. 
Better be original in the primer class than a parrot 
in the third reader. 
The “old home week” is a strong feature of New 
Hampshire rural life. 
The account of Prof. Munson’s grapes, page 614, will 
interest many fruit growers. 
Cure a little of the finest clover rowen this Fall to 
feed the calves and hogs during the Winter. 
It seems to us that there is a good opening for bright 
young men in the study of sclentlflc forestry. 
A CYCLONE in Pennsylvania was followed Tecently, ac¬ 
cording to veracious observers, by a shower of string 
beans. 
Note Mr. Morse’s directions for preparing a black¬ 
board, on page 613. That paint formula is a good thing 
to know. 
“Yes,” remarked the weather, “my surroundings have 
been very August for the last 31 days, but now I’m In 
for a Fall.” 
No, we will not seed to grass on land so wet that 
we could not kill out the weeds. We will seed to rye or 
wheat alone, and wait for a better weed-killing season 
before sowing grass seed. 
