190(5. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
801 
“THE SIGN OF THE COW." 
When voters in the Thirty-fourth New York District fro 
to the polls on election day they will find by the side of 
the other political emblems this one: 
This was selected by lion. Deter A. Porter to head the 
column in which his name appears as an independent 
candidate. Ilis name also appears in the Democratic 
column, but a mark under the cow will be made by these 
independent Republicans who will decide this election. 
This is the first time, we think, that a cow has ever fig¬ 
ured on a ballot. This is also the first time that a purely 
agricultural issue has determined an election to Congress. 
It was a happy thought to select this emblem, for of all 
farm animals the cow has had most to do with prosperous 
farming. She is the great farm mother, bringing prosperity 
to millions of homes, giving stability to agriculture 
and restoring the fertility of entire sections. When 
a country follows grain growing until the land is 
exhausted the cow steps in, and dairying not only, brings 
the wasted section back to a garden spot, but does it at a 
profit. The hog, the sheep, and other farm animals have 
their place in agriculture, but the good old cow is the farm 
queen, and any blow struck at her is a blow at the founda¬ 
tion prosperity of the farm. A farmer may well make his 
political fight under “the sign of the cow”—if he would not 
fight for her he would be a strange farmer. 
And a serious danger menaces the cow and what she 
stands for. Oleomargarine is a mixture of cheap fats like 
lard, beef fat and cotton oil, with a small amount of but¬ 
ter. Before the passage of the Grout anti-oleo bill these 
fats were mixed and colored in large quantities and sold to 
retailers as butter. As they cost far less than butter fat, 
the result was to displace butter in the market, and to 
drive more milk to the cheese factories and into the towns 
and cities, where it made a surplus and reduced prices. Any 
dairyman who kept cows five or eight years ago will re¬ 
member what happened. When the 1 old cow and what she 
represented was subjected to this fraudulent competition, 
dairying began to languish, money was taken from circula¬ 
tion, and all lines of farming began to feel the loss. The 
fight for protection against colored oleo was one of the 
most desperate industrial battles ever waged in this coun¬ 
try. After a fearful struggle a law was passed which 
placed a tax of 10 cents a pound on colored oleo, and the 
Supreme Court has upheld it. Under this law dairymen 
have prospered, and the dairy business is now on the eve 
of its greatest development. As it develops all other branches 
of farming progress with if, for dairymen become consumers 
instead of competitor’s. 
But a shadow is thrown upon the scene. Deprived of 
the chance to sell their cheap colored fats fraudulently as 
butter, the oleo men will make a desperate effort to have 
the taxing law repealed. As we have seen, they are laying 
their plans carefully, and part of their game is to have 
James AA\ Wadsworth remain as chairman of the Agricul¬ 
tural Committee. Mr. Wadsworth's oleo record justifies 
these men in their position. A\ hatever his motives may be. 
he has acted in such a way that the oleo men select him a. 
their friend and champion. Should he be elected ndw no 
one would be simple enough to expect him to act in the in¬ 
terests of honest butter. The way this question is presented 
no one can serve dairying and oleo making at the same 
time. In no other district in this country has this issue 
of the cow been clearly drawn. But for the feeling among 
farmers that Mr. AA'adsworth has been hostile to their in¬ 
terests, Mr. Porter would not have entered the contest. 
Therefore his emblem of the cow is the most appropriate one 
he could take. 
There may be fruit growers or grain growers or sheep 
men who think this oleo question does not concern them, 
since they do not make butter. A little thought will show 
them what a mighty principle is at stake—one which touches 
all who live on the land. All of us who produce food as 
well as all who eat it suffer from the sale of impure and 
fraudulent products. Few things will help us more than 
fair laws strictly enforced to drive out the cheap and nasty 
mixtures which compete with our goods. The passage of 
the oleo law laid the foundation of the pure food bill. The 
dairymen who fought the oleo bill through Congress won 
a greater victory than they realized, and the men in other 
lines of farming who helped them are now to receive a 
share of their reward in protection from food frauds. It is 
easy to see what would happen if the oleo men are able to 
carry out their plan and repeal the tax. Let no man say 
there is no danger—for there is. As the case is now pre¬ 
sented, the most damaging thing that could happen to the 
cause of honest butter would be the election of Air. AA'ads¬ 
worth. AA'hy? It would show that farmers are indifferent 
and care less about their own interests than they do about 
politics. Members of Congress who come from cities and 
towns would be justified in saying that since farmers will 
not defend their own rights there seems no good excuse for 
retaining the oleo tax. 
A'ou will see with a little thought what “The Sign of the 
Cow" stands for. . The farmers in the Thirty-fourth Dis¬ 
trict are on trial before the country. If they disregard 
“The Sign of the Cow" and elect Mr. AA'adsworth they play 
right into the hands of the oleo men—and knock at their 
own business. It is hard to think that grown-up men would 
do that, and we do not believe they will. They will follow 
“The Sign of the Cow” instead. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Lancaster County, Pa., To¬ 
bacco Growers’ Association reports that the acreage under 
cultivation this year was 20,000, against 15,000 acres last 
season. 
Hen roosts are so systematically raided in Tike County. 
Illinois, that the supervisors of that “district" want tlie 
State legislature to enact a law making chicken stealing 
a penitentiary offense. The supervisors explained that the 
lion crop of the State was greater than its wheat crop, and 
that fully one-fourth of the chicks were stolen annually. 
So earnest was the plea that the Society of Supervisors, 
Clerks and Commissioners of Illinois which closed its con¬ 
vention in AA'aukegan (Vtolier 11 adopted the resolution. 
The Southern California A’eterinary Association has de¬ 
clared war on bewhiskered dairymen. In a paper which was 
road before the association October 11 at Los Angeles by 
L. AA r . Young, city veterinarian, whiskers were denounced 
as the favorite rendezvous and abiding place of germs. Leg¬ 
islation was demanded to force those who handle food to 
dispense with “microbe harboring parks" on their chins. Long 
experience in making the rounds of the dairies has taught 
Dr. A'oung. he declared, that germs thrive on farms where 
milkers wear whiskers. 
The Central Protective Association, which recentlv held 
its thirty-first annual meeting at Alehison. Kan., discussed 
the matter of trying to secure a member of either the Cen¬ 
tral. Protective Association or of the Anti-IIorsetliief Asso¬ 
ciation. on the State Board of Pardons. It is claimed that, 
after the organizations go to the trouble and expense of 
hunting down and convicting a criminal, he is pardoned 
after he, has served a year or two. and is given an oppor¬ 
tunity to resume his crimes. AA'hen Governor Hoch was 
making over his pardon board A\\ H. Smith, of Atchison 
secretary of the association, was a candidate for a position 
on the board but was shelved for AA r . I. Kiddle, of Leaven¬ 
worth, who had a stronger political pull. Smith was in 
dorsed by the Anti-IIorsetliief Association, and tlie two or¬ 
ganizations believe that, since they can boast of a member¬ 
ship of 50,000 members in territory in and adjacent to 
Kansas, the application of Smith should have been given 
more consideration. Finally a resolution was adopted au¬ 
thorizing the two associations to keep posted and demand 
that a member of one of them be given the position when¬ 
ever there is a vacancy on the board. Under “the good 
of the order." all sorts of subjects were brought up. Stolen 
horses which had not been recovered, horse thieves who had 
escaped, methods used in getting away with horses, and 
other interesting experiences were related. Coloring horses 
was reported ns a new way of getting away with them 
Diamond dyes are used, and it is claimed a. 10-cent pack¬ 
age will fix a horse so that even its own mother will not 
recognize it. All the officers were re-elected. They are AA\ 
8. Connor, East Atchison, president; AA'. A. Mehaffie, Olathe 
vice-president; AY. II. Smith. Atchison, secretary, and Andy 
Lockery, Randolph. Mo., treasurer. Lockery took part in 
the organization of the first protective association thirty- 
three years ago. Savannah. Maysville and St. Joe wanted 
the meeting next year, and St. Joe won. 
Arrangements have been made bv the Bureau of Farmers’ 
Institutes of New York State to hold special institutes for 
women at the following places during November. A corps 
of thoroughly competent speakers has been arranged for and 
first-class meetings are assured. While in some instances the 
local Granges are taking charge of the home arrangements, 
the meetings are free to all. and all ladies are requested to 
attend. Akron, Erie County. October 31-Nov. 1 ; Webster. 
Monroe County, Nov. 2-3; Hannibal. Oswego Countv, Nov. 
5-0: Clifton Dark. Saratoga County. Nov. 7-8; Rhinebeck, 
Dutchess County, Nov. fi-10. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
AA’e _ have just passed through the worst storm ever seen 
here in Orleans County in some respects. AA’e have had 
a very dry Summer, but two weeks ago it commenced to 
rain, and rained nearly every day. About 10 o'clock last 
night (October 10) snow began to fall. At five this morn¬ 
ing trees were loaded with four inches of the wet mass; the 
foliage is heavy and as green as in August, with thousands 
of barrels of apples yet on the trees. The heavy load has 
caused the trees to break in every direction. Hundreds of 
the best trees, worth hundreds of dollars each, are ruined. 
Elms and maples suffered nearly as much. One orcliardist 
gives his loss as $G,000. s. a a 
Holley. N. Y. ' * 
AA’e have had a favorable season, and the crops are well 
advanced, though somewhat retarded by the want of help. 
But the weather is very remarkable. The hot September 
induced great tropical storms in southern latitudes in China 
and in the Gulf States; these sent up wind and rain storms 
to us in early October, with damage to forests and knock¬ 
ing off our apple crops. Then on October 8 came the first 
frost, later than ever known, and on October tfi came the 
first snow, earlier than snow was ever known. The forests 
and orchards are as green as in June, and the green leaves 
are shining through the heavy blanket of white snow. This 
is the first time in my life that I have seen snow fall on the 
forests when covered with their full coat of green leaves. 
The enormous weight is bending the trees to the ground, and 
many trees are breaking down; many apples and potatoes 
are not gathered. j. c. m. j. 
New Wilmington, Pa. 
The damage done to orchards and shade trees by the snow 
Storm is very great. Storm commenced about five o’clock 
October 10. and lasted all night. The breaking of large 
limbs and branches could be heard through the night as 
the soft snow clung and accumulated on leaves and 
branches. The snow was just soft enough to stick and 
pack, and there was no wind to shake it loose. Great nice 
apple trees, limbs twisted and broken and split at crotch: 
cherry trees perhaps suffered the worst, some of them only 
a stump left. Peach trees and maples were badly broken 
There were about seven inches of snow slush in the morning. 
I have about 14 acres of potatoes to dig yet. I think per 
haps there is only about one-third potatoes dug in this vi 
cinity. Corn all out. which is a large crop. Weather ex¬ 
perts claim that rainfall is needed for large growth, but 
we have not found it so this season, as I think we have not 
had over three inches from May 1 to end of September. 
Hamburg, N. Y. j. a. h. 
| Will You Let Us Send You a Sta=Rite § 
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You 
Have 
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To Make 
Jg 
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Y ES, —we mean just exactly that, no more, 
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Three competing engines of standard make 
’(? recently did the same kind of work (ensilage cut- 
s 
* 52 , 
'Vi' 
OG 
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C:: 
ting) for two days in the same field, under iden¬ 
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How's that for practical proof, Mr.’Farmer? 
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Write for Our Free 
DREW ELEVATED 
Main Office, 128 Monroe St., 
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Made in two finishes—nickel and japan. Brass oil fount beauti¬ 
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