566 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
AUG. 3o 
THE 
Rural New-Yorker, 
TIMES BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT S. CARMAN, 
HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD, 
EDITORS. 
Rural Publishing Company: 
LAWSON VALENTINE, President. 
EDGAR H. LIBBY, Manager. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN, 
OUT-DOOR BOOKS. 
Copyright, 1890, by the Rural Publishing Company 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 1890. 
Mix your head and your heart before you 
take any action that will change the life of 
another. 
A hawk built a nest In a big oak tree 
When the 1 aves wore lusty and big and green. 
“ Children and nest will bp safe.” said ho, 
Here In the woods where they can’t be seen ” 
So through the summer the rascals lav 
Safe, for the green leaves hid them all', 
Plying their murderous trade alt day 
Ui der the shade of the oak trees tall; 
ltnt of a sudden a nipping frost 
Hit at the leaves. In a single night, 
Ad of the shelier they loved was lost. 
Bare was their nest for toe farmer’s sight. 
Here Is the lesson for vou and you ; 
Evil that’s hidden will come to sight, 
Sooner or later will truth break through 
All of our actions must stand the light. 
The new wheats given away to our yearly 
subscribers, as described on another page, 
must be called for before September 20, and 
better, before September 15. The time is 
thus extended five days on account of new 
subscribers. 
Considerable space is given this week to the 
account of Mr. Francisco’s bottled milk business. 
There are several reasons for this. There is a 
“ boom ” in bottled milk. No product of the dairy 
offers a better chance for keen business men to se¬ 
cure that much-desired boon—a special market. 
No product demands a more careful exercise of 
business skill and thrift. There is no business that 
affords a better opportunity for combined effort on 
the part of Granges or other farmers’ organizations. 
There is another fact that must not be overlooked. 
Mr. Francisco’s success is due to his own untiring 
efforts. We have tried to make the point clear 
that it was his high ideal—his refusal to waste time 
on cheap and trivial matters—that landed him at the 
top. He “got individuality /” Are you getting it, 
friend '{ 
Is the Alliance movement permanent ? Conserv¬ 
ative and thoughtful men are seriously considering 
this question. The R. N.-Y. is convinced that the 
great majority of towns people do not realize the 
importance and power of the present political 
movement among farmers. “Other organizations 
have come and gone; other political movements 
have started only to waste their strength. The 
same fate awaits this newer uprising.” Thus reason 
the unthinking, who do not stop to consider that it 
is harder to stop the movement of a naturally slow 
and conservative class of citizens than it is to start 
them into motion. Those who assure themselves 
that all this talk and unrest among farmers will 
“blow over” and peter out are deceiving them¬ 
selves in a dangerous manner. Be just and fair or 
you will find that your selfishness will be sternly 
dealt with. Under one name or another the 
present farmers’ movement is certain to go on until 
a fairer and juster distribution of the proceeds of 
labor is reached. 
Complaints of extortionate freight and express 
charges are louder than ever before. As prices for 
agricultural products become more uncertain, 
transportation charges become more certain. Here, 
for instance, is a sample letter from Georgia: “ If 
The Rural could induce the Adams or some other 
express company to enter this Southern country in 
competition with the Southern Express Company, 
it would do us a great deal of good, and the com¬ 
pany would do a fine business. The Southern Ex¬ 
press charges $3.50 on one melon to New York, and 
$2.50 on one of the same weight to Detroit. The 
charge is the same for one melon as for 100 pounds 
of melons, and the agent tells us: ‘We do not 
care what rate you paid last year, you will have to 
pay this now,’ and we have no redress whatever.” 
We do not know that the Adams Express Company 
would he any more inclined to cheapen rates if it 
secured a monopoly of the business. Corporations 
and “Trusts” become very fond of monopolistic 
prices and will fight hard before they give them up. 
The mail service increases in efficiency and the 
tendency is towards a reduction rather than an in¬ 
crease of rate charges. All these things combined 
strengthen the arguments in favor of government 
control of passenger and freight traffic. 
Every reader of this paragraph is invited to ex¬ 
amine into the various new features of the JTemium 
Hist which forms a part of this issue. In addition 
to the seeds of new varieties originated in the 
Rural Experiment Grounds, which we present to 
every yearly subscriber applying for them, we de¬ 
sire to send a gift of some useful article to every one 
who interests himself in securing one or more new 
readers to our periodicals. We see no loss of dignity 
or objection of any sort or degree in the act of asking 
one’s friends to subscribe to journals like The 
Rural New-Yorker and The American Garden, 
or even in organizing larger clubs and thereby se¬ 
curing some valuable article wanted. Thousands, 
literally, of the paper’s readers have done this in 
the past and we want tens of thousands to do it this 
year. We believe as a matter of course, and many 
critical readers say the same, that The R. N.-Y. is 
the best farmers’ paper in the world, and that 
3,000,000 American farmers would be better off if 
they had it in their homes; that it is the most prof¬ 
itable investment that any farmer can make of the 
price of a year’s subscription. Therefore, we, the 
editors, invite you all to see what the publisher has 
to say in the Premium List. 
A fashion journal announces, and the windows of 
the millinery establishments witness the fact, that 
birds are again to be worn as an accessory to lemin- 
ine headgear. We had hoped, vainly it seems, that 
the crusade The R. N.-Y. waged so vigorously 
against this pernicious fashion had resulted in its 
abandonment. Were the custom confined to wear¬ 
ing the corpses of granivorous or other harmful 
birds, nothing could be said against it. In fact 
would the devotees of fashion only consent to deco¬ 
rate themselves with the lifeless remains of our om¬ 
nipresent English sparrows, not only would they be 
forgiven, but they would receive the thanks of a 
grateful people. But such is not the case. The 
birds chosen are almost all insectivorous and to such 
an extent has the slaughter been carried that some 
species are nearly extinct. We are persuaded that 
many of the women who thus decorate themselves 
are simply thoughtless; hut every one who does so 
is an accessory after the fact. In our own neigh¬ 
borhood injurious insects are increasing in numbers 
yearly, while their natural enemies, the birds, are 
decreasing in numbers. The remedy for this state 
of things must come from personal example and 
personal work. Every woman who decorates her¬ 
self with the corpse of one of man’s best friends 
ought to be ashamed of herself. 
One of the most remarkable bills that has of late 
years come from Congress has just passed the Sen¬ 
ate. This is the “ Meat Inspection Bill ” championed 
by Senator Edmunds of Vermont. It is remarkable 
in the fact that it gives the President extraordinary 
powers of commercial retaliation. As is well known, 
for some years past, Great Britain, Germany and 
France have objected to the importation of Ameri¬ 
can cattle, pork and lard, on the ground that we 
offer no sufficient guarantee that those products are 
not diseased or unfit for food. This action has not 
only hurt our foreign markets for such products, 
but has fastened an undeserved stigma upon them. 
Senator Edmunds proposes to remedy this trouble 
in two ways. A careful official inspection of all 
meats intended for export shall be made; this in¬ 
spection to he under the control of the Secretary of 
Agriculture. This will settle the objections raised 
on so-called “ sanitary ” grounds. If this is not suf¬ 
ficient, the following section will he made use of: 
“ Whenever the President is satisfied that there is good 
reason to believe that any importation is being made or is 
about to be made into the United States from any foreign 
country of any article used for human food or drink, that 
is adulterated to any extent dangerous to the health or 
welfare of the people of the United States, or any of them, 
he may Usue his proclamation suspending the importation 
of such articles from such country for such period of time 
as he may think necessary to prevent such importation, 
and during such period it shall be unlawful to import iuto 
the United States from the countries designated in the proc¬ 
lamation of the President any of the articles the importa¬ 
tion of which is so suspended.” 
It will thus be seen that if American pork is ex¬ 
cluded from foreign markets, after we guarantee a 
“ clean bill of health,” the most effective measures 
may he taken to “ know the reason why.” This is 
the essence of “reciprocity.” Let us see if this will 
not induce our European neighbors to put on their 
spectacles and see some virtue in the American hog! 
THE NEW YORK STATION. 
Considered in the light of our present informa¬ 
tion, and with the friendliest personal feelings to¬ 
wards its Director, we are in no sense inclined to 
moderate the criticisms which, from time to time, 
have appeared in these columns against the New 
York Experiment Station. Viewed from the farm¬ 
ers’ standpoint, the Station, as at present conducted, 
is close upon a failure. It is costing entirely too 
much for even the work that is being attempted, or 
that is laid out for the future. Its last publication 
is little less than an insult to every intelligent farmer. 
Difficulties solved, not pedigrees of animals under 
experiment ; facts, not words and promises, are 
what he wants. The farmers want results, not a 
pleasure ground for picnics. The time has passed 
when they were hopefully contented with fine 
words. They are hungry for the information that 
will make farming easier and increase their hard- 
earned incomes, and they do not propose to regard 
with indifference the annual expenditure of a 
million of dollars for work nominally done in their 
interests which, while increasing their taxes, 
neither adds to the value of, nor the income from, 
their land. There are few men who are well fitted 
to teach farmers through experiment work ; few 
also are fitted to write up the results of such experi¬ 
ments in language plain and impressive. While 
we are glad to know that Dr. Collier has well 
served the country in many ways, his directorship 
of the New York Station shows that he is not in the 
right place, and, with due respect, The R. N.-Y. 
therefore favors his early resignation. Let the 
State try again. 
POLITICIANS AND FARMERS, 
Hurrah ! The great success of the farmers’ move¬ 
ment toward representation and equality in law¬ 
making greatly alarms the political organs. This 
is the best possible evidence that the movement is 
one of great strength. The New York Tribune in 
particular, seems badly frightened, and loudly pro¬ 
claims that the things for which the farmers are 
working are already matters of Republican concern 
and legislation. Bosh! It says: “Regulation of 
railroads and telegraph rates, suppression of specu¬ 
lation in food products, and opposition to adultera¬ 
tions, combinations and monopolies, have already 
taken definite form in legislation proposed and 
adopted by Republicans.” It is true that they have 
legislated, but what has the legislation amounted 
to ? The “ opposition” to combinations and monop¬ 
olies shown in the present Congress is something very 
remarkable, and should win the unqualified support 
and indorsement of every farmer on earth—perhaps! 
This “opposition” to monopolies is especially 
marked in the new tax bill, which is certainly the 
most monopolistic measure that the Republican or 
any other party has ever tried to force through 
Congress, in spite of the manifest wishes of the 
great mass of the people of all shades of political 
belief from one end of tne country to the other. The 
proposed tin-plate tax is one of the Tribune’s pet 
measures, for “opposition” to monopolies we sup¬ 
pose ? To the ordinary farmer it looks like the 
imposition of a $13,000,000 tax upon the producers 
and consumers of the country for the express pur¬ 
pose of building up a tin plate factory in Pittsburg, 
the public-spirited founders of which have promised 
to invest the enormous sum of $500,000 in return 
for this little accommodation in the way of a 
$13,000,000 lift. Oh, yes, farmers, keep out of 
politics by all means! Government is the perquisite 
of the professional politicians and their newspaper 
organs. Nevertheless, we advise Mr. Politician to 
keep his hands off this farmers’movement, whether 
he calls himself Republican or Democrat. Farmers 
have got tired of the before-election promises, and 
propose to have a little stronger hand in govern¬ 
ment. “Taxation without representation ” has gone 
quite far enough. The present movement may be 
and doubtless is, weak in many points. Every 
great movement has its weaknesses. But the signs 
of the times indicate that this is only part of a 
mighty social revolution that is going on quietly 
among us, the outcome of which shall be the down¬ 
fall of the politico-manufacturing aristocracy with 
which we are now blessed ! 
While partial failures of crops and other unfore¬ 
seen occurrences have discouraged many farmers, 
a comparison of their lot with that of thousands of 
others of their fellow laborers in other fields may 
serve to make them less discontented. Aside from 
fruits, no total failures of crops are reported, except 
in limited areas. Few, if any, farmers are without 
enough to live comfortably. On the other hand, 
the present unsettled condition of labor, and pend¬ 
ing and existing strikes, boycotts, etc., threaten 
certain and unavoidable ruin to many business 
men; while the enforced idleness of thousands of 
laboring men means starvation to them and their 
families, unless they receive outside aid. Compare 
their condition with yours, and be thankful that it 
is as well with you as it is. 
BREVITIES. 
Measure your yeast! Measure your voast ! 
l)ough’n worth no more If Its size U Increased. 
’’ 1’ufT” will not pay live cents u day. 
Solids alone make the world's wheels go round. 
Oas takes up space yet leaves no trace; 
After It putTs away nothing Is found. 
Measure your yeast! l’ulllng despise ! 
Go In tor i/ualitu rather than size. 
Get individuality I 
Cut the corn early. 
Keep the dog at home. 
Try not to make people tired. 
Don’t let apples rot under the trees. 
Is the fair that you propose to patronize a fair fair or a 
foul fair ? 
Make a note now to plaut the Paris Pickling Cucumber 
next season. 
No response is yet at hand from the authorities of the 
Geneva Station. 
READ “ Salt in the Silo ” on page 573. What probable 
good does that charcoal do f 
“ Hold your tougue”—that is, we mean of course, when 
you haven’t anything to say. 
Will some kind friend tell us how the American farmer 
is to be helped by a larger export trade in kerosene ? 
Mr Francisco says that, his wife is a “ member of the 
firm.” He could hardly have reached his success without 
her aid. 
“ What would I do if I were young again ?” Some of 
the best of our gray-haired farmers are to ausvver this 
question in coming issues of the R. N.-Y. 
Probably some of the finest potatoes ever offered in 
this market have recently arrived from Eastern Long 
Island. They are large, smooth and well assorted. The 
growers report that they are raised entirely with com¬ 
mercial fertilizers. Potato growers are coming to depend 
more and more upon these for profitable crops. Stable 
manure cannot compare with them in certainty of action 
and quality of product. A curious feature of the market 
is the receipt of orders for potatoes from inland and far 
distaut points, that usually ship them. Orders for car- 
Jots have been received this week from Pittsburg, aud 
from west of the Mississippi. 
