382 
May G, 
I 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FAR St EE'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
* Established i860. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
I)R. WALTER VAN FLEET, ) a 
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. 0d., or 8% marks, or 1014 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. \\e 
protect subscribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee 
to adjust trifling 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 be sent to us within one 
month of the time of the transaction, and you must have 
mentioned The 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 be made in money order, express order, 
' personal check or bank draft. 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, MAY G, 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. 
THE POST OFFICE INVESTIGATING. 
The Post Office authorities are now investigating the 
business methods of W. M. Ostrander, a real estate 
agent of Philadelphia, Pa. Mr. Ostrander charges an 
advance fee for listing and advertising property offered 
him for sale. The postal authorities, it is said, have 
sent out 1,000 letters to his clients, asking for state¬ 
ments of their dealings with him, and hundreds of 
replies have been received. We are advised that state¬ 
ments of clients are invited generally by the inspectors. 
They should be mailed to Post Office Inspector Morse, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
Some time ago we stated our reasons for refusing the 
advertising of real estate agents who charge an advance 
fee for listing properties for sale, and urging remittances 
by telegram, thus giving the impression that a purchaser 
is in prospect, when, as a matter of fact, no such cus¬ 
tomer is in sight. The postal authorities are acting 
promptly, and you will aid the inspectors by sending a 
statement of your experience to the inspector. 
* 
“If I only had So-and-So’s land I could do some¬ 
thing, but my farm is a hard one to work.” He spends 
more time thinking how this and that scheme would 
work if he only had that farm than he does on planning 
his own work. But these air castles that he builds do 
not turn in any money. It is time to quit building 
them, and spend all your energy and time making the 
most of what you have. Hang on to the steady lines 
that you know pay a fair profit, and keep your eyes 
open and give a small trial to new things that promise 
much more. You have been tagging on behind for 
years. Whv not get up with the procession, and per¬ 
haps a little ahead? There’s more money and more fun 
there, but it means hard work, with both head and 
hand. 
* 
Some of the magazines seem to have entered into a 
contest to see which can make the strongest statements 
about trusts and evil combinations to destroy competi¬ 
tion. We meet some people who express regret that 
such stories are being printed. They think the public 
will go to extremes in an effort to right matters. We 
think such people would do better to express regret 
that such stories were ever made possible. No one 
seems to doubt that the stories are essentially true, and 
that the situation has reached a point where something 
must be done to protect the rights of the common peo¬ 
ple. Tt is the dread of what that “something” will be 
that disturbs those we have mentioned. We do not 
share their fear. The American people are too sensible 
not to understand a few foundation facts. The present 
system has grown steadily through a long term of years. 
It has grown because the common people have neglected 
to do their full duty as voters. Men have followed their 
party, and then left the leadership and management of 
the party to men who were working largely for them¬ 
selves. Now and then an opportunity comes for the 
people to feel their power by reaching over the heads 
of the politicians to touch the mainsprings of govern¬ 
ment. People are recognizing these things more and 
more, and this knowledge will count against any revolu¬ 
tion or legislation for revenge. We believe that the com¬ 
mon people are making a slow but steady gain—through 
education and a better understanding of conditions. Dur¬ 
ing the coming years we are to see in this country a 
fairer division of the proceeds of labor, and a better 
outlook for the small land owner. This growth will 
be too slow to suit the most radical, but farmers and 
country people will understand that it is slowly cdming, 
and this class will hold the balance of power and pre¬ 
vent revolution. It seems to us that reforms are to 
come very largely through the performance of many 
public utilities by the Government in the place of pri¬ 
vate parties. 
The death of Senator O. H. Platt, of Connecticut, 
gives the Legislature of that State a great opportunity. 
At present there is no Senator from New England who 
can be said directly to represent agriculture. Lawyers 
and manufacturers abound, but there is no one who can 
be said to be a representative farmer. Agriculture is 
an important industry in New England—it is growing 
faster in importance than any manufacturing enter¬ 
prise. Farm land is increasing in value, new crops are 
being introduced, and new problems of competition 
with other sections and countries are coming up for 
settlement. If, as has been argued, New England man¬ 
ufacturing needs special representatives at Washing¬ 
ton, New England agriculture needs them still more. 
The State of Connecticut ought to send a farmer—some 
man directly connected with the soil to represent her 
people. There are plenty of such men in the State— 
J. H. Hale, B. C. Patterson, Edwin Hoyt—we could 
mention 50 men, any one of whom would serve the 
people with credit. Give us a farmer Senator from 
New England! 
Every year adds to the importance of the corn crop. 
The grain now sells for nearly twice what it did a 
dozen years ago. The silo has given an increased 
value to the stalks, so that now corn is the most pro¬ 
fitable grain that a farmer can grow. Not a little of 
this increased value is due to the work of the “corn 
breeders”, who have bred and selected varieties until 
there is nearly as great a difference in their favor as 
there is in a well-bred cow and a common scrub. These 
things are bringing corn growing hack to the eastern 
farms. When prices were so low that good corn was 
used for fuel in some Western States, many eastern 
farmers found it difficult to make corn pay. Now the 
higher prices at the East and the increased demand 
have given the crop a place even on high-priced land. 
There are many old meadows or pastures that barely 
pay taxes in the hay or pasture grass they produce. 
They need stirring and shaking up before they can be 
profitably seeded: The corn crop is just the thing to 
tame them and bring them into fair production. By 
plowing this old sod and using a fair amount of corn 
fertilizer it is possible to grow a fair crop of corn and 
turn a loafer field into a useful part of the farm. 
* 
A Pennsylvania reader who is after a ditching ma¬ 
chine, makes this sensible statement: 
We prefer to Invest our earnings in farm improvement 
rather than in the Storey Cotton Co. (?) or Mexican Rub¬ 
ber Co., etc., as some of our friends have done to their regret. 
We can use a ditching machine on our land that will work 
anywhere else. Hand labor at such work is almost out of 
the question here, especially when the work is undertaken in 
a large way. 
One great trouble with American farming has been 
a wrong conception of the farm. People have regarded 
it as a good place to make a dollar, but a poor place 
to invest one. Too much of the surplus farm income 
has been sent away for investment in railroads, manu¬ 
facturing enterprises or “boom” towns. Agriculture 
needed that capital even more than manufacturing, but 
farmers would not invest in their own business. For 
example, .there are men who would invest money in 
some distant irrigation scheme rather than use that 
money to take the surplus water out of their own 
farms! A large share of the money which farmers 
invest is used later to build up enterprises which op¬ 
press them. Invest more money at home! 
* 
About 10 years ago some short-sighted bird-lover 
introduced the English starling into Victoria, which is 
the largest fruit-producing State in Australia. The 
starlings found the climate congenial, and showed their 
appreciation by producing five broods a year. By-and- 
by they saved the fruit-growers all the trouble of har¬ 
vesting, for they settled upon a fruit diet, working their 
way conscientiously through all the crops, and eating 
strawberries, apples, peaches and grapes with equal 
impartiality. The laws which protected the starlings 
on their entry into the country were repealed, and ef¬ 
forts are now being made to exterminate them, but with 
little success. Apparently a good many Australian 
horticulturists can only hope to secure crops by con¬ 
fining them in a cage, as they need a tight stockade to 
keep out rabbits, and a roof of wire netting to circum¬ 
vent the starlings. Both these nuisances illustrate the 
danger of naturalizing an exotic bird or animal under 
conditions favorable to unrestricted increase. Aus¬ 
tralia is exporting tinned and refrigerated rabbits by 
the ton, thus providing cheap meat for the home 
country, but the starlings do not offer much inducement 
for such uses. The robin-haunted fruit growers of the 
Eastern States offer respectful sympathy to their Aus¬ 
tralian brothers in affliction. 
* 
The New York Legislature passed a bill which stated 
that 10 hours should constitute a day’s work in a bak¬ 
ery. The law was carried up to the Supreme Court, 
which has just declared it unconstitutional. The rea¬ 
son given is that such an attempt to decide what a 
day’s work shall be interferes with the right to settle 
such things between employer and workman. In other 
words, it is an infringement of personal liberty. The 
decision is not likely to affect farmers or farm hands. 
The “day” on the average farm has grown shorter and 
shorter, and the advantage is usually with the hired 
man. The old times when the man worked 12 or even 
14 hours each day have gone in most neighborhoods, 
and the change has largely been brought about by the 
shorter day’s work in town. We know of one place in 
the South where the colored laborers were quite con¬ 
tent to work 12 hours or more. A factory was estab¬ 
lished in the town, with a powerful steam whistle to 
call workmen and dismiss them. The farm laborers 
obeyed the whistle and cut their day down to 10 hours. 
The labor unions appear to be greatly dissatisfied with 
the decision, though it seems to us that they will occu¬ 
py a stronger position if left free to settle such matters 
with the employers. The best objection to the decis¬ 
ion is that it will not permit a State to protect work¬ 
men if they should be driven into a long day. 
* 
Those who desire to write Senator Thomas C. Platt 
about the parcels post will now find him in New York 
City. He is taking his vacation, and at such a time a 
public man likes to know the wishes of his constituents. 
By all means write him and tell him what you think 
about the parcels post. Here are a few remarks from 
one of our readers in Connecticut: 
Hurry up the‘parcels post. I sent a box containing a few 
dressed chickens to a friend in New York City, a distance of 
120 miles, shipped at 7.30 Monday morning and delivered 
Saturday afternoon at four o'clock. Six days to carry a 
package 120 miles by Adams Express! Charges prepaid, 
but they transferred it to the United States Express, and 
tried to collect another dollar at the other end of the route, 
and did get 50 cents. Of course the chickens were spoiled. 
I made a kick, and sent in a bill for damages, and was treat¬ 
ed as I expected to be, with silent contempt. I have had 
experience with those gentlemen before. 
In France, Germany or England the' government 
would have delivered the chickens promptly and at a 
fair rate. This same reader goes on to say: 
To allow Senator Platt to have anything to say in the 
Senate on the parcels post question Is on a par with a judge 
trying a case in which he is personally interested. 
We print that as a fair sample of the way farmers 
are talking. We continue to take the Senator right at 
his own word, and infer that he is only waiting to learn 
how strong the sentiment is for a parcels post. We 
would, therefore, lick a postage stamp at once! 
BREVITIES. 
“There are many worse off than you !’’ 
Grain seems to be a horse-raredjsli on some farms. 
It is fresh Bordeaux that makes the fungus feel stale. 
It is lucky for northern fruit growers that the late cold 
wind was a dry one. 
Would we pasture Alfalfa? After working so hard to 
get it started we feel like keeping it in cotton wool. 
In spite of all we have said about preserving eggs in 
water glass, people are writing to ask what it is and if they 
can make the glass! 
This comes from a farmer's wife: “Our hens are full of 
business, untiringly active. If there is a fault at the root 
of plant or flower they are sure to find it. I wish their 
master was as good a farmer as they." 
We understand that many experiments are to lie made 
this year with spraying beans with Bordeaux Mixture to 
prevent blight or rust. This has been done with string 
beans at canning factories with excellent results. 
According to the Department of Agriculture the protein 
in lobsters costs $3.05 per pound, while the protein in salt 
codfish only costs 44 cents per pound. This seems a vin¬ 
dication of the Hope Farm man’s fondness for codfish balls. 
Please remember that when you soak seed potatoes in a 
solution of formalin you can only expect to kill the scab 
germs that are on the seed. If there are germs in the soil 
you may have a scabby crop. Some people seem to think 
this formalin is like the nitro-culture, and will make the 
potatoes grow. It Is not—it simply kills the scab germs. 
A reader in Ohio sends us a question about spraying. He 
wants an answer “right away" and then forgets to sign ms 
name. We have exactly 38 subscribers at the postoffice 
from which he writes, but have no means of knowing which 
of these sends the question. We are asked to tell the “best 
kind of liquid for spraying trees.” Later our friend will 
probably write to find fault because we did not answer his 
question. 
