73 2 
September 29, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Entered at New York as Second Class Matter. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, { . 
Mrs. E. 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. 6d., 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. We 
protect subscribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee 
to adjust (rifling 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 vou 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. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1906. 
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. 
* 
PRIZES FOR PHOTOGRAPHS. 
$5, $4, $3. 
We offer these cash prizes for the best Thanksgiving 
photographs. T hey must be original, picture scenes of 
country life, and represent the spirit of Thanksgiving. 
J he size does not matter. The pictures must be in our 
hands by November 1. We will pay for all pictures 
used, and photos not used will be returned if desired, 
postage fully prepaid. 
* 
We are interested in the plan of using concrete pipes 
for drainage. Sewer pipes are now made of concrete 
right in the ditch—by laying the concrete around a roll 
or drum and pushing it on. Why cannot the same thing 
be done for drain pipes by laying the mixture around a 
pole? Who has tried it? 
* 
A few years ago great stories were told of the suc¬ 
cess of men in New England who kept 1,000 or more 
hens on a few acres. This intensive method was her¬ 
alded as an ideal way of keeping poultry. It appears 
that now these men are having all kinds of trouble with 
their breeding stock, and can raise but few young chick¬ 
ens. Experiments seem to show that this crowded sys¬ 
tem of poultry keeping well-nigh destroys the vitality 
of the stock. It seems necessary to abandon the land 
after a few years, and cultivate it before crowding 
poultry on it again. The colony house systenj is safer 
for the stock. 
, * 
The following game is reported from Connecticut: 
Some weeks ago, in my absence from the city, a man left 
three packages of seed at my house, saying that they had 
been ordered by my sister. He would scarcely leave them, 
and only left them when he was paid $1.30 for the three 
packages. On looking at the packages later they were 
marked in pencil “Lanciforum,” with the color. The seed 
was like a very large-sized sweet pea. It had black or 
brown on one side and white showed on the other. I failed 
to find this in any catalogue. I am at a loss when to plant, 
and what it is. We have an idea that we were taken in, as 
none of our family knows anything about the seed, and it 
was never ordered. l. e. s. 
The seed appears to be okra, a vegetable used quite 
freelv at the South. This is evidently a humbug—a 
new form of fraud worth remembering. It is a wonder 
this man did not tell some big story about what the 
seed would do! We have a friend who is willing to 
wager that he can go out among the people, tell a 
plausible story and sell the seed of ragweed as a “great 
novelty.” 
* 
A new reader wants to know what the real argument 
against the Seedless apple is. Price and lack of merit! 
Had this man read The R. N.-Y. through the Summer 
he would have seen how step by step the promoters of 
this apple have been forced into a corner where silence 
is their only refuge. The whole thing has been sifted 
down to the origin of the variety. The best fruit au¬ 
thorises in the country say that it is the same as an 
old seedling found growing in Virginia. This old apple 
is worthless for commercial growing or for home use. 
Therefore, if these authorities are right, the Seedless 
apple is not worth as much as dozens of the old standard 
sorts, while the promoters charge 10 times as much for 
it. After having been challenged in every possible way 
to deny that their apple is not the same as this old 
seedling the promoters refuse to say a word—thus sil¬ 
ently admitting the fact. The character of the apple 
is so well understood by fruit men that we understand 
it was barred out of the exhibit at the New York State 
Fair. With these things in mind, what sensible man 
would pay $2 for a tree of such a variety? 
* 
The Secretary of Agriculture has decided that the 
Chicago packers may continue to label their “canned 
roast beef” with that name, though it is really boiled 
beef, but they must print on the label a statement of 
the mode of cooking. The housewife may be somewhat 
puzzled to learn, by this label, that roast beef is pre¬ 
pared by parboiling and then submitting to steam heat 
for three hours, but, after all, this is not nearly so 
confusing as that famous ruling of the Treasury De¬ 
partment which asserted that frogs’ legs are dressed 
poultry. It is also interesting to learn that although 
the packers are to print the ingredients of mixed canned 
goods upon the label, in accordance with the Meat In¬ 
spection bill, they are not obliged to print the percen¬ 
tages of each. Thus, if we learn that a chicken com¬ 
pound consists of chicken, veal, pork trimmings and 
cornmeal, we shall still be left in Cimmerian darkness 
as to the amount of real chicken therein contained. 
However, as Sam Weller said of those mysterious veal- 
and-ham pies, which seem to foreshadow the culinary 
arts of Packingtown, “it’s all in the flavorin’.” In the 
meantime, however, the farmer is not allowed merely to 
say that his milk contains butter fat, solids and water; 
he is expected to meet a percentage of values established 
by law, nor would cider vinegar innocent of cider meet 
the same liberal interpretation as roast beef that is not 
roasted. Supervision of food products is a necessity for 
public safety; still, ’tis strange what difference there 
may be ’twixt tweedledum and tweedledee! 
* 
I he New York State Fair was voted a great success 
because it called out a great crowd of people. On sev¬ 
eral days the attendance taxed the space inside the 
fences, and made it evident that more room will be 
needed if the fair is to grow. Of course a large propor¬ 
tion of those who attend come from within easy riding 
distance of Syracuse. Still, the attendance from all over 
the State is more general each year, and the fair is 
becoming more and more a place for country people to 
renew old acquaintances and make new ones. Several 
great improvements were made in providing comforts 
for the crowd, and they were appreciated. The ex¬ 
hibits were on the whole more interesting than ever. 
We give special reports of the live stock and fruit ex¬ 
hibits. The machinery and implements made a great 
showing. There was an almost entire absence of wind¬ 
mills on exhibition. Those who recall the great num¬ 
bers of waving arms seen at former fairs will realize 
how the windmill is going out of business. The gasoline 
engine appears to be taking its place, and there was a 
bewildering display of these handy farm helpers. At 
the same time there seems to be a revival of interest in 
steam engines, but it seems to be settled that farm 
power of some sort is now considered a necessity. But 
the best exhibit of all was the crowd of country people. 
When thousands of prosperous and hopeful farm homes 
send their representatives together as is done at this 
fair we get a fresh idea of the true sources of power in 
this country. It is this coming together of the plain 
people to know each other and to gather confidence that 
is of greater value to the State than all the great ex¬ 
hibits of material things. 
* 
It is quite safe to say that a fair majority of the peo¬ 
ple of this country believe that our present tariff law 
should be changed in several lines. At the same time 
another majority would fear to touch the tariff in the 
usual way at this time. To attempt to pass a general 
tariff law would unsettle business as it always does. Is 
there no way of regulating the tariff without mixing 
it up with politics and threatening a panic whenever 
new rates are necessary? We think so. We have fre¬ 
quently advocated a tariff commission somewhat like the 
Interstate Commerce Commission. This commission 
should be appointed by the President, and should be 
composed of lawyers, manufacturers, business men, rail¬ 
road men, farmers and laboring men—the best for the 
purpose that can be found in the country. It should 
have power to investigate prices and cost, give hearings 
and determine as well as it could the justice of the 
tariff on any product. It might, like the Interstate Com¬ 
merce Commission, have power to make new rates or, 
if this were declared unconstitutional, it could lay its 
facts and recommendations before Congress. It is easy 
to see the advantage such a plan would have over the 
present method of changing the tariff. A bill is now 
introduced into Congress covering the entire subject. 
Then begins a long squabble between rival manufacturers 
and importers to have rates changed for their own ad¬ 
vantage. The public are always at a disadvantage in a 
struggle of this sort, and rarely get what they should. 
With a strong commission—as far out of politics as the 
Supreme Court or the Interstate Commission, a pro¬ 
posed change in a rate could be discussed openly and 
fairly and each one decided on its merits. In this way 
it would become a business proposition. If it were 
proved, for example, that the tariff on steel or coal is 
excessive, it could be changed without a threat to remove 
some needed tariff if the extortionate one were touched. 
In this way the tariff on basic slag could be removed 
and an excellent fertilizer made cheaper and freer to 
farmers. There are a dozen good reasons for such a 
settlement of the tariff question. The chief objection 
is that such a commission could not be granted the 
power to change rates. Yet new powers have been 
given the Interstate Commerce Commission, and most 
people are not yet satisfied. In any event it is clear 
that such a commission could get at the facts in a 
more satisfactory way by taking one rate at a time than 
a committee of Congress can by taking the entire tariff 
schedule. 
* 
James W. Wadsworth says that he was always in. 
favor of a strong meat inspection bill. But what sort of 
a bill would it have been? The one he reported after 
some weeks of delay was cursed by the President and 
hooted at by the public. All through the long and use¬ 
less delay Mr. Wadsworth acted as if he were a lawyer 
for the meat packers. Let any man read the printed 
report of the testimony before the agricultural commit¬ 
tee, and he will see that this statement is fully justified. 
An extract from the report is printed on the next page. 
It must have been a dramatic scene when Mr. Lamb, of 
Virginia, told Mr. Wadsworth that he was “personally 
responsible.” Mr. Neill had made a report which had 
been accepted by President Roosevelt, and by him sent 
to Congress. For hours Mr. Wadsworth and Mr. Lori- 
mer, by questions and insinuations which will appear to 
any fair-minded man mean and insulting, had been trying 
to discredit Mr. Neill and, through him, President 
Roosevelt. Shortly before they had been all sweetness 
and honey to a representative of the packers. At last, 
stung by their meanness, Mr. Neill turned upon his 
tormenters and was sustained by the committee. It is 
not our duty to attempt to judge a man’s motives, and 
we make no effort to say why Mr. Wadsworth acted 
as he did. Nor do we know why he attempted to hold 
up the anti-oleo legislation, or why he has acted again 
and again in direct opposition to needed farm legislation. 
It is enough for farmers that he has notoriously been 
on the “off side” when their interests are at stake. That 
is why some of the best and most influential farmers 
in America distrust the man, and feel that he does not 
do justice to their business in Congress. He has made 
trouble enough, and ought to be kept at home. As we 
have pointed out before, the voters in the Thirty-fourth 
District are alone responsible for Mr. Wadsworth and 
what he represents. In no other district in this country 
has a farmer such a chance to cast his vote directly 
for agriculture. It is “up to you,” gentlemen, as it never 
has been before! 
BREVITIES. 
Ever know a cow to.be hurt by a milking tube? 
See how Interested people are in that plan of using com¬ 
pressed air for pumping water. 
Who has ever been able to use the surplus strawberries 
for vinegar or jam at a profit? 
A public benefactor! One who will tell people how to 
koep fresh meat for feeding chickens in hot weather. 
A CORRESPONDENT of the Florists’ Exchange says that he 
destroys the. Catalpa caterpillar by spraying with tobacco 
water. 
There are men who cast corn before swine and make 
enough by doing it to buy pearls for their wives—if they 
wanted to. 
The Sugar maple is being planted in Switzerland. The 
beginning was made when a patriotic Swiss sent 300 young 
trees, to his old home. 
Now, if you could only harness that stream which comes 
down through your farm and make it turn your wheels 
and light your bouse, you would be that much ahead! 
We feel sure that a good many cases of so-called “chol¬ 
era” in chickens may be traced to feeding rancid beef 
scraps. It doesn’t take long for rancid fat to turn a stom¬ 
ach inside out! 
A marriage license was recently issued in Chicago for 
Wojciech Raymniak and Wladyslava Kaczkoska. Possibly 
neither of these good Americans is giving much thought 
to Mr. Carnegie’s yearning for revised spelling. 
Keep on the watch for a faker who Is to offer a new 
kind of Alfalfa with all sorts of wonderful qualities. It 
will grow anywhere and live on anything! It is hard 
enough to start the old kind, without running after the 
new. 
The Grangers of Multnomah County. Oregon, in quarterly 
session, recently went on record as favoring State regula¬ 
tion of all telephone lines, and also the employment of 
convict labor in the manufacture of grain sacks, in order 
to reduce the cost of sacks to farmers. 
The New York State convention of bricklayers recently 
condemned the use of concrete as building material, and 
appointed a committee to fight its use, on the ground that 
it is unsafe and dangerous to life and limb. It is likely, 
however, that this solicitude for public safety Is not en¬ 
tirely disinterested. 
