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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 13, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S RARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Entered at New York as Second Class Matter. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. tid., or 8 Vi marks, or 10 >4 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 r ogues, 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 be sent to us within one 
month of the time of the transaction, and you must have 
mentioned The Rural New-Yorker wheu 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, APRIL 13, 1907. 
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. 
* 
How are the f v uit buds in your section? We rely 
upon fair reports from our readers more than upon 
Government reports! 
* 
Read the article by State Engineer Skene on page 
322. While we are waiting for “good roads" let us 
not be satisfied to let those we have now become as 
bad as they can be! 
Here we have an honest and quite common expres¬ 
sion of opinion: 
I sometimes think the preachers and editors have about 
as hard a time in this life as anyone, as they have so 
many to please. 
We have no experience as a preacher, but some years 
in the newspaper business have taught a few things. 
The man who undertakes to please everybody will never 
satisfy anyone—himself least of all. He will be every¬ 
body’s man, and simply gain a reputation for lack of 
character—as a colorless person without force or nerve. 
The fawning, subservient preacher presents a pitiful 
spectacle—the bootblacking editor is worse yet. A pub¬ 
lic man should have high ideals, far in advance of his 
age, and then by his living and thinking try to connect 
them with the people whom it is his duty to serve. 
* 
This is the way they come every day: 
I wish to join the Knights of the Postage Stamp. I 
pledge myself to spend at least 50 cents in writing letters 
to public men, and will be sure to do all I can for The 
N.-Y. c. e - brookhart. 
Tennessee. 
Mr. Brookhart is now a full fledged Knight, and there 
are hundreds like him. In old times the knights had 
slaves to sharpen their swords and lances. The modern 
knight sharpens his own pen. and brings down stronger 
and more dangerous game. The modern stamps bears 
the picture of George Washington. He was not what 
people call a brilliant man, but a strong, patient char¬ 
acter with high, patriotic feeling and a bulldog tenacity 
of purpose. When the Knights of the Postage Stamp 
stick his likeness on a letter may some of the solid pur¬ 
pose of the “Immortal George” go with it! 
* 
In the death of Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, 
a notable figure passed off the stage. Younger men 
can hardly understand what the Homestead law has 
done for this country. Mr. Grow was the father of 
this law. For 10 years he introduced his bill again 
and again, advocating what he called “free homes for 
free men.” It was finally passed in 1862, during the 
Civil War, and under it the public land was given to 
settlers. At the close of the war thousands of old 
soldiers went to the West and made new homes by 
securing land. Swarms of foreigners also came and 
“took up” free land. All this changed the population, 
and thus changed history more than most of us realize 
Now that desirable public land has about all been 
taken we can realize what Grow’s Homestead law did 
for America. It is true that under it, grafters and 
land robbers have stolen land that belonged to the 
public, yet it gave homes to millions and built up a 
strong and self-reliant civilization on the western plains. 
The California Legislature passed a bill limiting 
woman’s working day to eight hours. Doubtless the 
intent was to relieve women who work in factories or 
at unhealthful labor. The California Fruit Grower says 
that packers and fruit growers all over the State are 
up in arms against the bill. Much of the work of 
picking, packing and canning fruit is done by women. 
This work is largely done by the piece. As a rule the 
women prefer to work long hours while the busy sea¬ 
son lasts so as to earn more money. We all under¬ 
stand that when fruit is ripe it must be attended to. 
A woman engaged in weaving or chair-making or cook¬ 
ing might stop after eight hours’ labor, and the raw 
material would stand unchanged until she took up the 
work once more. Not so in a canning factory, or in 
a strawberry field, for while the worker remained idle 
the fruit might spoil. It is hoped that the Governor of 
California will veto the bill. This is one more thing 
to show that farming is, in many ways, a business apart 
from all others. It cannot be regulated by some of the 
laws which are suited to other industries. 
* 
WHOM WILL YE SERVE? 
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, 
choose you this day whom ye will serve.” —Joshua 24-15. 
Sacred history is full of instances where men were 
asked to lead a forlorn hope. Moses was told to go 
into Egypt and free the Hebrews. He did not want 
to go, and few can blame him. He was an outlaw with 
a price upon his head. A poor man, not knowing his 
own powers, he was asked to go and face those who 
had grown rich out of the sweat and blood of slaves! 
The answer to his doubts and hesitation was clear 
enough, “1 shall certainly be with you!” Gideon who 
said, “I am the least in my father’s house,” was told to 
go and do what seemed an impossible thing. Again 
the answer to his doubt was “ Surely I will be with 
thee < ’ All these men demanded “signs” to strengthen 
their faith and show that some stronger power was 
back of them. The signs were given, and they went 
forth with a courage and hope that brought others to 
their side. The vast majority of the plain people of 
this country desire in their hearts to do the right thing. 
They do not know what to do in order to touch the 
large affairs of life. They would willingly serve the 
Lord in the tight for a truer America, but like those in 
history it seems as if their own lives are too humble 
and their own influence too small to really count. We 
wish to point out how our readers in New York State 
can serve the Lord in public life. If they ask for a 
“sign” we can point to the campaign against Wads¬ 
worth, that against Dryden, or dozens of cases where 
the plain people have really tried to win a righteous 
cause. 
For the first time in many years New York has a 
Governor who believes in the power of the plain people. 
Gov. Hughes is faithfully trying to carry out the pledges 
which he made before election. He meant them, and he 
holds his promise as a sacred thing. In his efforts to 
do his duty he is seeking to serve the Lord as surely as 
those sturdy characters who have come down through 
history to us. He is opposed, as they were, by the 
“grafters,” the politicians and those who for years have 
been robbing the people. For reasons best known to 
themselves members of the New York Senate say 
openly that they will defeat the Governor’s plans if 
they can. They do this because they do not want a 
fearless, independent Governor. They want to dicker 
and trade, keeping politics what it has been—a secret 
game, with the public on the outside. Gov. Hughes, 
instead of trying to dicker and buy the support of these 
men, takes the strongest and most hopeful stand that 
Albany has seen for many years. He states his posi¬ 
tion with a logic that is unanswerable, and then goes 
straight over the heads of the politicians to the plain 
people for support. On a larger and nobler scale it is 
not unlike the battle waged against Wadsworth last 
Fall. To defeat Gov. Hughes would be to set back the 
clock and admit that the sturdy people who fill our 
farm homes will serve the politicians rather than serve 
the Lord. We do not for an instant believe that the 
farmers of New York will shirk their duty when it 
is once put clearly before them. Some of the strongest 
opposition to the Governor comes from men who repre¬ 
sent farmers. The old Wadsworth influence, for ex¬ 
ample, is arrayed against him. Senator John Raines 
has put himself in opposition. We do not believe that 
in this matter such men represent the true sentiment of 
their people. In this contest between the Governor and 
the politicians the farmers have their great opportunity. 
The Governor is eternally right in the position he has 
taken, because he shows his faith in the power of the 
common people. We cannot think of anything that 
will gain greater respect for the farmers of New York 
than to have them line up solidly back of Governor 
Hughes in his efforts to serve the Lord. 
Gov. Woodruff of Connecticut has shaken up the 
agricultural interests of that State by a message to the 
Legislature. Connecticut has an agricultural college, 
two experiment stations and various commissions and 
boards which are supposed to have charge of separate 
departments of agriculture. Some are educational, while 
others have more of a police duty. The Governor sug¬ 
gests that all these interests be brought together in some 
central part of the State—under one head. He objects 
to the location of the college because it is not easy of 
access. He would put it elsewhere, and use the present 
buildings for a new institution, so that there would be 
no loss. Anyone who knows the agricultural situation 
in Connecticut will realize how radical these suggestions 
are. We do not consider the Governor’s criticism of 
the college location sound. We believe the students at 
a farm college are far better off in the country, on a 
farm, removed from a large town or city. Probably 
there would be more students if the college were moved, 
but the value of a farm college does not depend upon 
the number of young men it can draw together. Some 
of the other suggestions made by the Governor are 
sound. The most that can be done now will be a com¬ 
mission to investigate. We are obtaining opinions from 
Connecticut farmers—a few being given on next page. 
This question must be settled by people who live on 
Connecticut farms. 
* 
To give some men fair treatment seems to be much 
like casting pearls before swine. Make an effort to do 
them justice or act out the principle of the Golden Rule 
and they accept it as a sign that you are afraid of them. 
The Seedless apple people came to us and admitted that 
our exposure of the fake part of their business had 
spoiled their trade. They admitted that the wild stories 
told about the fruit were false and should never have 
been made. They appeared like sincere men, and we 
gave them the chance to make a public statement in 
The R. N.-Y. withdrawing all claims for the apple ex¬ 
cept that it is a long keeper, of good quality, and nearly 
or quite seedless So anxious were these men to make 
a statement public that a good judge of human nature 
remarked, on seeing the correspondence: “If you asked 
them to say that anyone buying a tree ought to be shot 
—they probably would say so!” Now, The R. N.-Y. 
did this in order to be perfectly just and fair. We would 
try to do that even to the sunny side of a fraud. It 
seems, however, that these patient, long-suffering gen¬ 
tlemen were cultivating a good-sized inmate of the 
woodpile. A friend in Wisconsin sends us a letter from 
the Seedless Apple Co., in which we find this remark¬ 
able statement: 
The nurserymen of New York and Michigan, after fight¬ 
ing it for three years, are now enthusiastically iu favor 
of it. We imagine you have formed your opinion from 
some statements which have been made in the papers for 
the past two years, all of which criticisms have been re¬ 
tracted, the last being The Rural New-Yorker, who after 
sampling the fruit and giving the whole matter a most 
rigid investigation, says that the apple is handsome in 
appearance, of good quality, long keeper and practically 
seedless. What more can we ask? This is all we claim 
for it, and this has been said by The Rural New-Yprker 
after several years of knocking. The fact is they knew 
nothing of it before. 
It is not necessary to tell our readers that this is sim¬ 
ply a lie. No more contemptible thing could be done 
by so-called business men than to try to twist a char¬ 
itable effort to do justice to a humbug into a cowardly 
“endorsement.” Perhaps nature can take most of the 
seeds out of an apple, but the seed of Ananias is put 
into some men to stay! 
BREVITIES. 
Legislation requires education. 
Business hours belong to the boss. 
Oklahoma selects Alfalfa as State flower. 
To raise peaches in New England get on a hill. 
A scent spoils the face of a dollar—“tainted money.” 
What about a Leghorn that lays a dark egg or a Ply¬ 
mouth Rock with a light one? 
At a point in Washington at the same latitude as Quebec 
strawberries were iu bloom March 23. 
We should think some man would make a good business 
by growing plants of the old Wilson strawberry for sale. 
Almost anyone can smile while the sunshine of pros¬ 
perity Is playing upon him. Character comes out in the 
shadow of adversity. 
Referring to that Connecticut agricultural problem, one 
reader says that farming will still continue to be carried 
on in the country—not in the city. 
There’s a noble good worker inside of your head, but 
he can’t keep on working unless he is fed, and you never 
can feed him until he spells “able" by trying to tarry too 
long at the table. 
Nearly 320.000,000 lead pencils are made in this country 
every year. The “consumption” of pencils per head has 
doubled in 10 years. Each year’s crop of pencils requires 
110,000 tons or 7,300,000 cubic feet of Red cedar. 
At a recent orchid sale in London a plant of Odontogtos 
sum crispum, variety Leonard Perfect, sold for about $3,075. 
and several other individual plants sold for over $1,000 
each. These were from the Earl of Tankerville’s collection 
at Chillingham Castle, an estate famous for its herd of wild 
cattle, which here exist in their undomesticated state, just 
as their ancestors roamed over Britain in the days of Julius 
Caesar. 
