346 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 22, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert w. Collingwooij, Editor. 
DR. WALTER Van Fleet, 
Mrs. K. T. Hoyle, 
Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. $2.04, 
equal to 8s. (id., or 8% marks, or 10 l A francs. 
“A SQUARE 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 col¬ 
umns, and any such swindler will be publicly exposed. We 
protect subscribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee 
to adjust trilling differences between subscribers and honest, 
responsible advertisers. Neither will we be responsible for 
the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must he sent to ns within one 
month of the time of the transaction, and you must have 
mentioned Tub Rural New-Yorker when writing the adver¬ 
tiser. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance 
Is for, should appear in every letter. 
Remittances may he made in money order, express order, 
personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1905. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order to introduce The R. N.-Y. to progressive 
intelligent farmers who do not now take it, we send it 
10 weeks for 10 cents for strictly introductory purposes. 
We depend on our old friends to make this known to 
neighbors and friends. 
* 
A western friend sends us the following: 
William E. Curtis, in a letter from the Panama Canal, 
published in (lie Chicago Record-1 Iorald, in speaking of the 
galvanized iron material now on hand a( Panama, says sub¬ 
stantially as follows: “These galvanized goods, although 
made 20 years ago, are still in good condition. They were 
made better than the galvanized iron nowadays.” I thought 
that this might lie of interest to you with your agitation on 
the wire fencing problem. 
It is of great interest. Panama is a tough country 
on men, metal and mules, which are to e furnished by 
this country for digging the canal. We will guarantee 
that Uncle Sam will not accept inferior pipe and wire. 
If he learns how to sort out the inferior goods for his 
own use, let him tell farmers how to do it too. 
* 
People generally expect too much of the clovers when 
planning to use them for restoring land. You cannot 
expect to sow Crimson or Red clover on poor soil with¬ 
out manure or fertilizer, and obtain a good yield. If 
well fed they will both help improve the land, but they 
must be fed. The cow pea is different—it will make a 
fair growth on poor soil, and is for this reason a better 
“poor man’s manure” than clover. There are cases 
where soil too poor to grow clover was seeded to cow 
peas. These made a fair growth, and were worked 
into the ground in August, after which the soil was 
seeded to Crimson clover. Though this crop had failed 
before it made a fair growth after the cow peas. We 
would not sow cow peas on rich soil or clover on poor 
soil. 
* 
Some of our readers are sending tis copies of the 
letters they are writing to Hon. Thomas C. Platt on the 
parcels post question. We can only say that the Sen¬ 
ator’s view of public life is being greatly enlarged. 
One man asks the Senator how many farmers are re¬ 
quired to offset the political influence of one store¬ 
keeper! That’s a good question. For fear that the 
Senator may be too busy with “more important matters” 
to answer it we will try our hand. It depends upon the 
farmer. If he is a man afraid to express his opinion, 
content to do what the local boss tells him to, and 
ready to let the party shape him instead of trying (o 
shape the party, it will take 500 farmers to equal one 
lively storekeeper. If he is a man who makes it evi¬ 
dent by what he writes or says that he is not to be 
bought, bull-dozed or bribed, he is equal, man for man, 
to the merchant. One man represents .02 per cent of 
the influence of a storekeeper, the other 100 per cent. 
Now then—which are you? 
* 
Readers remember that during the past year we have 
pointed out what Massachusetts and other New Eng¬ 
land States have done in putting farm property on the 
market. In Massachusetts there were a number of 
abandoned farms. The State Agricultural Department 
collected information about these farms, and printed it 
in a pamphlet. This was sent to people in search of 
farms. As a result we understand that all such farms 
have been disposed of. We received many requests 
f rom western readers about New York farms, but there 
was no public information available. There seemed no 
good reason why the New York Department of Agri¬ 
culture should not do some such work as was done in 
Massachusetts. The agricultural law gave the Depart¬ 
ment no authority to gather such statistics, but this 
obstacle will be removed in a bill introduced at Albany 
by Mr. Parker, of Washington County. This bill au¬ 
thorizes the Agricultural Commissioner to collect and 
publish information about agriculture and farm labor. 
Such work may be made very useful, and we hope the 
bill will become a law, and that the Commissioner will 
make .use of his new powers. 
★ 
The Indiana Experiment Station issues a bulletin on 
soil inoculation, in which we find the following: 
Many highly extravagant claims for inoculation are being 
made by unscrupulous concerns advertising the materials for 
sale, and the farmer is led to believe that inoculating the 
seeds of legumes, or the soil upon which they are to be grown, 
with certain forms of bacteria, is all that is required to 
make them produce enormous crops, besides wonderfully en¬ 
riching the soil. These claims are in nearly all cases very 
far beyond the truth, and many farmers are being induced to 
spend money for something which will not produce what is 
claimed for it. 
Where are these “unscrupulous concerns?” At least 
two thoroughly reliable companies are offering the “cul¬ 
tures.” We believe that what they offer is just as good 
as that sent out by the Government, and they are doing 
a legitimate business. We understand that the Gov¬ 
ernment samples and tests their product from time to 
time. It is a mistake to lead a farmer to believe that 
these “cultures” will take the place oi good seed, good 
tillage and good fertilizing, but if there are “unscrupu¬ 
lous concerns” in the business they should be named 
in order to protect the honest ones. 
* 
In past years we have had considerable to say about 
the question of compelling a farmer to pay for a license 
before peddling his produce in town. It appears to be 
settled as a point of law that where a farmer sells the 
goods which are produced on his own farm he is free 
to do so, and cannot be compelled to pay for the privi¬ 
lege. When he buys from others to sell again he be¬ 
comes a huckster, and may be compelled to pay for the 
license. In various parts of the country farmers have 
made a fight for this principle. In Colorado an effort 
is being made to prohibit farmers from selling their 
produce. A bill is before the Legi f \iture which would 
force venders to pay $200 to $500 for a license to sell 
produce. The object is to make the fee so high that 
farmers cannot afford to pay it. This legislation is said 
to be instigated by the great corporations which control 
the mining camps or towns. Farmers find in these 
towns profitable markets for their produce, but the cor¬ 
porations desire even this trade for their company 
stores, and by means of this excessive license fee expect 
to drive the farmers away. We do not believe that 
such a law will stand, and if it is passed Colorado 
farmers should combine to test and break it down. 
* 
ONE VIEW OF FARM MACHINERY. 
The prevailing idea is that farming is a business for 
the strong and well, that only the big, powerful man can 
conquer the forces of nature and win a living from the 
soil. Small men with feeble bodies have become tne 
world’s great generals, or lawyers, or leaders in profes¬ 
sional life, but we are slow to get away from the old 
notion that nature responds only \ > brute force. 
True, we are told now and then of women who suc¬ 
ceed with flowers or hens or bees, or of invalids who 
work at some side line in gardening or stock raising. 
Such reports are usually dismissed with the remark: 
“Oh, that isn’t farming !’ 1 
We have been taught to believe that small farming, 
where a man raises general crops and must do most of 
his own work, is a business of hard labor requiring at 
least a sound body. This is partly due to another belief, 
viz., that the invention of farm machinery has helped the 
large or bonanza farmer and really proved a detriment 
to the smaller planter who depends upon hand labor for 
his crops. People have seen the little mills and fac¬ 
tories of old days absorbed by the larger modern ones, 
and they reason that the same results must follow with 
farming. For example, there are many dairymen who 
hope that no one will ever perfect a :eally practical milk¬ 
ing machine! They argue that at present the human 
hand enjoys a monopoly of the watk of milking the 
cow, and if this monopoly be broken by the introduction 
of a milking machine the smaller dairyman with his 
15 cows, representing about the limit of 10 human fin 
gers, will be driven out of business! 
Such men fail to understand what 'arm machinery 
is, and what it will do for a farmer. It attempts to 
make rods of metal and wood do the work of human 
fingers, and wheels do the work of human feet. Im¬ 
proved machinery for the factory naturally goes to the 
cheapest source of power. Farm machinery is operated 
wherever a horse can walk. Where 10 strong men 
toiled in the harvest field and cut the grain by hand and 
strength of arms and back, now a combination of rods 
and wheels called a self-binder enables three horses to 
do the work quicker and better. A good brain even in 
a *eeblc body can direct the horses. Let us understand 
that these rods and wheels simply transfer the brute 
power.from the 10 men to the three horses. It would 
not be possible now to find 10 men in an eastern farm 
community who would harvest a grain crop by hand. 
The price of wheat has steadily risen during recent 
years. The advantage from this will not go to the 
great farms of the West, where machinery is driven by 
steam, but rather to thousands of eastern farms, each 
of which can add 20 new acres to wheat growing. The 
imitation of the human hand in wheels and rods which 
we call a binder will enable elderly men, defectives or 
even women to raise the crop which was formerly the 
exclusive work of strong men. Even those who see 
disaster in a milking machine must realize that it would 
give a one-armed man control of a herd of cows. Such 
a man, with the milking problem settled, could give such 
careful supervision of milk production that no great 
company could compete with him in quality or personal 
guarantee! 
* 
PRIZES FOR BATHROOM ARRANGEMENTS 
Readers of The R. N.-Y. responded generously to 
our request for plans showing bathroom arrangements 
in houses built without reference to such improvements. 
Our special object in originating this competition was to 
show how simply and inexpensively such conveniences 
could be added to a country house, and how often inge¬ 
nuity and inventive faculty co Id take the place of lib¬ 
eral expenditure in money. All the plans received pos¬ 
sess value, and those not successful in the prize com¬ 
petition will be published, from time to time, and paid 
for at customary rates. The following competitors re¬ 
ceive prizes, in the order named: 
First, W. H. Miller, Hartford County, Conn. 
Second, John S. Buck, Ontario County, N. Y. 
Third, ,T. Beam Wingerd, Franklin Co., Pa. 
It was a very hard matter to determine this compe¬ 
tition, as our readers will decide when they read che 
various articles contributed. Gome of the plans, to he 
published later, are more elaborate and less “homemade” 
than the prize winners. But the three winners are very 
suggestive; they are an incentive to effort, and they <ive 
details with photographic exactness Mr. Miller’s bat¬ 
tery of vinegar barrels, in lieu of tank, was especially 
striking. Said one of the judges: “Why, there’s just 
the idea I want for my barn,” and we have no doubt 
others will find ideas helpful to ffiemsel.es in all these 
articles. They are not expected to appeal to the suburb¬ 
anite, or to the wealthy man whose farming is a side 
issue, but we do believe that these expedients will help 
to make life easier and more comfortable in those many 
farm homes more richly dowered with industry and 
self-respect than with dollars and cents. 
BREVITIES. 
The day that pie-plant gives first mess 
Our folks feel better, I confess. 
Pa says: "You need a bran new dress,” 
“An’ you a coat” says I, “no less.” 
An’ Billy up an’ says: “I guess 
That woodjjile won't be no success 
Until I split some more" Yes! Yes! 
Good feelin’ comes with that first mess! 
Better a dead beat than a live one. 
In the end the kicker always hurts his feet. 
A good argument for mule raising on page 315. 
Will those who have ever used strawberry or other fruit 
pickers tell us if they are practical? 
Sulphur fumes destroy most of the smut germs in seed 
oats, but are not as sure as formalin. 
There are two ends to the horn—big and little. Entrance 
through the small end is less humiliating than'exit. 
A good way to get rid of dandelions in lawns is to cul¬ 
tivate in the family a proper respect for dandelion salad. 
If you want to get a variety of opinions ask a dozen dif¬ 
ferent entomologists how the lime and sulphur wash kills the 
scale. 
At this season fried eggs appear in the dinner pail of 
most city workmen. The hen is thus laying some of our 
largest buildings. 
Ruskin talks about loaf givers—good housekeepers. The 
woman who supports a stout husband in idleness is another 
sort of loaf giver! 
Over 10 years ago, when we tried to get readers Inter¬ 
ested In a trial of Crimson clover, we noticed numerous 
failures in Illinois and Indiana. It now seems probable that 
this failure was partly at least due to the absence of the 
proper bacteria in that western soil. 
A new fertilizer has recently been introduced in Germany, 
says the M’ark Lane Express, under the simple name of 
Thomasammoniakphosphatkalk. It is compounded of basic 
slag or superphosphate and ammonia salts mixed together 
with dried refuse material from the beet sugar factories 
It contains about 5% per cent of nitrogen and 8 per cent 
phosphoric acid, and claims, in the impressive language of 
the Fatherland, to be a Universaldungermittel, that Is, uni- 
versalfertilisermaterial. 
