60 
'THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Published weekly by the Rural Publish 1 nr Company, 409 Pearl Street, New York. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Kditor, 
•John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet and Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editors. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. 6 d., or 8*2 marks, or 10’a francs. Remit in money order, 
express order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates 50 cents per agate line—7 words. Discount for time 
orders. References required for advertisers unknown to 
us; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL.” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a 
responsible person. But to make doubly sure wo will make good any 
loss to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler 
advertising in ourcolumns, and any such swindler will be publicly ex¬ 
posed. We protect subcribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee 
to adjust trifling differences between subscribers and honest, respon¬ 
sible 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 advertiser. 
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 pur¬ 
poses. We depend on our old friends to make this 
known to neighbors and friends. 
* 
You seem to think New York will try the experi¬ 
ment of direct nominations? We do. We look for 
Gov. Hughes to recommend the measure , for the 
politicians to balk and for the people to drive them 
to it. —R. N.-Y. Dec. 26. 
Gov. Hughes in his message to the Legislature 
calls for primary nominations. Now watch the out¬ 
come ! 
* 
How many good trees are growing on your farm? 
How many have you planted? A good fruit tree, 
well cared for, gains value rapidly. So do pine, 
chestnut, Catalpa or ash. They work for you while 
you sleep. The man who plants trees to-day and 
cares for them makes sure provision for old age. 
* 
The R. N.-Y. is approached by all sorts of people 
with all sorts of propositions for exposing so-called 
frauds or advancing reforms. When these proposi¬ 
tions are analyzed it is found that a large proportion 
of them are based on personal feeling or prejudice. 
Sometimes people bring what they call “overwhelm¬ 
ing evidence” of rascality on the part of some office 
holder. When sifted out there is practically no evi¬ 
dence at all that would be admitted in any court. For 
instance, some people say that a man must be guilty 
because their friends say he “looks like a thief.” 
We are morally sure that quite a number of people 
in public life are too crooked to hold an office 
straight, yet we have no evidence which would jus¬ 
tify us in saying so publicly. When we get hold of a 
case which seems clear our policy is to stick to it 
until finished. 
_ * 
What about those famous western corn growers? 
At the great Omaha Corn Exposition a Con¬ 
necticut man, N. H. Brewer, won the grand sweep- 
stakes of the world on flint corn, prizte for best 10 
ears of early sweet corn in the world, and also first 
prize for best acre of corn in the United States, be¬ 
sides other prizes. In the scoring for best acre of 
corn Mr. Brewer scored 100 out of a possible 100, 
and beat his nearest competitor by 15 points. The 
R. N.-Y. mentioned the husking of this corn on page 
978. The acre yielded 133 bushels of a selected strain. 
This result ought to show our western friends what 
the East can do when the soil is properly handled. As 
for the best strains of flint corn, on the rough land 
which will make th'e future cornfields of New Eng¬ 
land, no grain can produce more nourishment to the 
acre than these small-eared, quick-maturing varieties. 
* 
We believe in the future of American farming. 
We never were more hopeful of that future than 
we are now. This country is gaining in population 
faster than the supplies of food and fibre are increas¬ 
ing. As supply runs closer to demand there will 
be increased respect for those who control supply. 
The farmers, too, are waking up. and will use their 
power more and more. Education and cooperation 
will enable them to get a fairer share of the con¬ 
sumer’s dollar, and with that will come the com¬ 
forts and larger opportunity which country neigh¬ 
borhoods need. The writer has entire or partial 
control of the future of four boys. We do not be¬ 
lieve in fitting square pegs in round holes, but we 
shall try to get every one of these boys out on the 
land. In orcharding, forestry and other departments 
of soil culture there are to be great chances for 
young men in the future. We do not care to offer 
soldiers to the country, but we would like to give 
good farmers. 
The bashful State—Vermont! We hear more 
about it this week, with a reason for this bashful 
feeling. When you find a bashful man it is a 10 to 
1 proposition thSt some dear is responsible for it. 
You have only to change a letter in the word and 
according to Mr. Halladay, you have the reason why 
Vermont is bashful about talking fruit growing. It 
would seem that the game laws are such that the 
deer ruin the trees, while farmers have no legal 
right to protect their property. That is a shame. 
There is far greater wealth possible in the orchard 
lands of Vermont than in the granite and marble 
quarries which now represent part of the resources 
of the State. And to have this held up by deer! 
The good old Green Mountain State must not be 
permitted to lapse back into a game preserve. All 
of us should be interested in raising that fund to 
carry the question of self protection up to the high¬ 
est court. 
* 
In “the parable of the great supper” we are told 
of a rich man who invited friends to an entertain¬ 
ment. No one would come—they all had excuses. 
Then: 
“And the Lord said unto the servant—go out into 
the highways and hedges and compel them to come 
in, that my house may be filled!” 
It is quite possible that our good friends of the 
New York State Dairymen’s Association may have 
been reading that parable. They give an excellent 
entertainment, with a strong array of speakers, and 
invite all to attend. Except for the few faithful 
members who always go, the attendance is usually 
entirely local, and Mr. J. Grant Morse gave a faith¬ 
ful and accurate statement of the feelings of the 
practical dairymen who attended the last meeting. 
Some of the members evidently appreciate the fact 
that the Association does not represent the real 
dairymen. They state frankly that the programmes 
should be made more practical, and a different spirit 
put into the meeting, so that the real cow men will 
come in and take an interest. “Compel them to 
come in” is the way one man puts it. 
Before this is done there is yet another parable 
that should be considered. In this one the servants 
were ordered to go out and gather in all they could 
find. The King came in to this “compelled” com¬ 
pany and found a man “which had not a wedding 
garment.” Now this man did not come there will¬ 
ingly, very likely he did not know what was proper 
to wear, but the King made short work of him: 
“Bind him hand and foot and take him away, and 
cast him into outer darkness!” 
Now let us tell the State Dairymen’s Association a 
thing which they can easily verify. Many people in 
the State think they must put on a “wedding gar¬ 
ment” before they can have any influence in that 
Association. The wedding garment seems to be a 
robe which people put on when they are married 
to some State job. Now there ought" to be in New 
York an Association carrying as much power and 
commanding as much attention for dairymen as the 
New York State Fruit Growers or the Western 
New York Horticultural Society does for 'fruit 
growers. We do not think anyone will deny that 
such an Association would be a real help to the 
State. W4e should rejoice to see the present associa¬ 
tion become a vital factor. Our criticism is that 
as at present organized and conducted the association 
does not command the power and influence which are 
needed. Two membters have written us practically 
admitting this, but asserting that they are dairymen 
—a fact which no one denies. Another well-known 
member writes, “I should have replied to Morse, but 
I feel sure you would not print my article!” 
This man knows better, and we hereby offer him, 
or anyone else, th<e space in which to say anything 
in reply to Mr. Morse that they will sign their 
names to. 
* 
Two Americans once took a walking trip through 
the Hartz Mountains in Europe. Each morning 
their baggage was sent by mail at a small cost, ahead 
of them to the town where they were to spend the 
night. Then all they had to do was to walk on 
’carrying nothing in hand but their sticks. The post¬ 
age on the traveling bags was small and the service 
excellent. We mention this as an illustration of the 
convenience and benefit of a parcels post. The cost 
of such a trip in this country would be enormous, as 
express charges would lie from five to 10 times the 
postage needed in Europe. After six months’ trial 
of a fair parcels post in this country the average 
American would wonder how he ever lived without 
it. The express companies understand this, and that 
is why they oppose even an experiment with it. 
Senator Platt of New York did his best to hold up 
parcels post and succeeded, we must say. Senator 
Root, who follows him, will not only favor the plan, 
but will work for it. 
January 10, 
There can be no doubt that the Southern States 
have suffered from the fertilizer craze. There is no 
place in the Union where crops suitable for green 
manuring can be so easily and cheaply raised. No 
soil is in greater need of vegetable matter. Yet, in 
spitie of these things southern farmers as a class 
go on using fertilizers after the life and heart have 
been taken out of their soil. A judicious use of 
fertilizers with green manures would be wise farm¬ 
ing. The present method of using fertilizers only 
on hard, dead soil is foolish farming, and one of 
the heaviest handicaps the South has to carry. The 
experiment stations and colleges are largely re¬ 
sponsible for this. They have worked out fertil¬ 
izer experiments, but only recently have begun to 
teach the value of organic matter in the soil. In 
some of the States the colleges and stations are 
partly or largely supported by the money obtained 
from the sale of fertilizer tags. In these States 
extra efforts seem to be made to increase the sale 
of fertilizers regardless of the effect upon the soil. 
The South needs a mighty awakening along this 
line. The use of fertilizers with green manures 
means the salvation of the southern farm. The 
abuse of using fertilizers alone year after year 
means continued slavery to debt and the fertilizer 
dealers. 
* 
At the meeting of the New Jersey Horticultural 
Society last week one evening session was held at the 
State Normal School. Several hundred young 
women, future teachers, attended. The writer called 
upon prominent members of the society to give the 
length of the Amazon River, the height of the Andes 
Mountains, or to name all the rivers emptying into 
the Atlantic Ocean. The young school teachers 
were greatly amused at the poor showing these men 
made in remembering some of the “essentials” of 
school education. Then the speaker sought to give 
the men a chance to laugh by asking how many of 
the girls could make bread or bake pork and beans. 
At least 75 per cent of them at once asserted their 
ability to do these things or other duties of house¬ 
keeping—and the principal of the school endorsed 
them! The men may have come to laugh, but they 
remained to admire. A large proportion of these 
girls are farmers’ daughters and practically all of 
them are from the strong middle class of society; 
just the people to whom we would like to entrust 
the training of our children. A pleasant feature of 
this meeting was an “apple eat.” The society 
opened two barrels of Grimes Golden apples and 
some of the most dignified members of the Society 
passed them around in baskets. Everyone ate two 
or more—and even the hotel bloomed out with 
baked apples for breakfast the next morning. 
BREVITIES. 
China exported last year over $3,340,000 worth of pea¬ 
nut oil. 
Speaking of nuts, this country imported from Brazil 
last year over 250.000 bushels of Brazil nuts. 
No one will dispute what Mr. Jenkins says about apples 
—but it comes hard on those who have no fruit. 
Save your bones—not only your very own but those 
you can pick up. Save them for the phosphoric acid. 
Oil or fat painted on the metal of tools will keep rust 
out—but clean . them first. Crude petroleum ought to find 
a place on every farm. 
Tiie demand for lime is giving value to substances that 
have long been considered worthless. Old plastering, waste 
from gas tanks and pottery molds are now sold. 
Now it is claimed that the capacity of boilers can be 
doubled without any great change except draft. More 
air is to be forced through the fuel bed. Remember, how¬ 
ever, that an extra quantity of hot air does not increase 
the power of a man. 
lx 1900 nut growers in the Limoges district of France 
began shipping English walnuts. That year the exports 
came to $1,328. They have grown so rapidly that last 
year the total reached over $250,000. The best of these 
nuts come to the United States, for Americans are grow¬ 
ing more and more to be a nut-eating nation. 
Well, we get something out of the great stories about 
Pacific coast apples. A man from Massachusetts, Michael 
Horan, who went West 30 years ago. won the $1,000 prize 
at the great apple show in Spokane—with a carload of 
mixed fruit. Suppose Mr. Horan had planted an orchard 
in New England and given it perfect care! 
Here is a note from a New York reader: “In my busi¬ 
ness I have no particular use for The R. N.-Y. But I 
have been a constant reader of it since 1859, through 
all its changes to the present time. In fact I learned to 
read from this same paper, being unable to go to school 
when a small boy.” w. w. c. 
The Christmas present habit can easily become a 
nuisance. We know people who cripple themselves finan¬ 
cially, leave important bills unpaid, and work them¬ 
selves nervous in order to give all their friends expen¬ 
sive gifts. A good deal of this spirit is really a form 
of rivalry or desire to imitate richer friends or neigh¬ 
bors. In this way a beautiful habit is changed to a 
selfish and harmful one. 
