428 
TH EC RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 17, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home*. 
Established 1800. 
Pablhhrd weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl Street, New fork. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor, 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. P. Dillon, Secretary. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet and Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editors. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8s. 0d., or 8*3 marks, or lO'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 we 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. 
* 
Have any of our readers ever taken city men from 
the “bread lines” or those out of work and put them 
at work on farms? If so, will they tell us just what 
the outcome was? Can these inexperienced men 
make good, and can you advise others to employ 
them? We are asked to help locate such men on 
farm homes. Before we give advice we want to 
hear from farmers. 
* 
News of another wonderful variety of wheat comes 
from Saskatchewan, Canada. A farmer is said to have 
started with a single head of wheat two years ago, 
and now has seed enough for 15 acres. Most likely 
this is a scheme to put the old “Alaska” wheat on 
the market again. A fraud order was issued against 
the firm advertising “Alaska” wheat. We warn our 
readers not to touch any variety of grain or fruit 
on the strength of these big stories. 
* 
A reader sends us this extract from an article 
written by Louis Erb: 
A woman not long ago cured a drunken husband with¬ 
out his knowledge, by keeping always a plentiful supply 
of B< n Davis apples on the dining table. The man ate 
these delicious apples and finally stopped drinking al¬ 
together. It is wonderful what Bon Davis apples will do. 
“Now then,” he asks, “what does the Hope Farm 
man say to that?” He is in favor of anything that 
will cure people of drinking, but he thinks such a 
treatment might work the other way with him. 
* 
The United States has parcels-post conventions 
with 38 different countries. These extend on this 
continent from Newfoundland to Chili, and over the 
ocean from Norway to China and New Zealand. A 
package weighing 11 pounds can be sent to any of 
these countries at 12 cents a pound, or $1.32. While 
this privilege is extended to foreign countries if one 
•tried to mail 11 pounds in our own country he would 
be forced to put the goods in three packages and pay 
$1.76 postage. The fact is that our Government gives 
foreigners a privilege which it denies to our own 
citizens. Parcels post or bust! 
* 
During the eight months ending March 1, 1908, 
there were imported into this country 131,913 bushels 
of potatoes, valued at $87,179. For the same period 
ending March 1 of this year these imports reached 
2,796,956 bushels, valued at $1,146,368. These im¬ 
ports seem large, yet they are small beside the total 
potato crop of this country, which of late years, has 
averaged around 300,000,000 bushels. Yet these im¬ 
ports have determined the price paid to farmers in 
our seaport markets. The price to consumers has 
changed but little. The average buyer pays about 
the same year after year, regardless of the whole¬ 
sale price. 
* 
What is known as the Whitney bill in the New 
York Legislature removes toll from bridges. It 
ought to become a law. Farmers need good roads, 
and they also need free bridges. Unless these bridges 
are free those who arc forced to cross them must pay 
a tax on everything they take to market or bring in 
town. They are thus discriminated against in favor 
of those sections which are not reached over toll 
bridges. This hurts the taxed section for invest¬ 
ment or otherwise. The Whitney bill corrects this 
disadvantage and every farmer in favor of fair play 
should write his Senator and Assemblyman and ask 
them to vote for the Whitney bill. 
The great majority of people in the Eastern States 
do not realize bow the temperance sentiment has 
groyvn in the South and West. We read newspa¬ 
per reports that certain counties have “gone dry,” 
but the spirit and power back of the movement must 
be felt in order to be realized. A Tennessee farmer 
tells us this week how his State was carried for 
prohibition. You will see that these farmers did not 
feel safe until they forced the Legislature to give 
them a direct nominations law. With that they know 
they can select their own candidate and thus control 
the situation. This temperance movement is essen¬ 
tially one of farmers and country people. It is the 
first real clear-cut fight between farm and city that 
we have had in this country, and the wonder is that 
it has been so long delayed. The effect will be more 
far-reaching than many people suppose. The farm¬ 
ers who measure their political strength in an issue 
of this sort and win are not likely to stop, but will 
take bold of other evils in public life. When this 
temperance crusade breaks into New York, as it is 
sure to do, it will be a farmer’s movement and will 
not stop until every rural county is “dry.” In Ohio 
35 per cent of the qualified voters in a county must 
petition the commissioners for a special election. In 
Indiana such petition must be backed by 20 per cent 
of the aggregate vote cast in the county for Secretary 
of State. 
* 
We presume Mr. Gallup gives on page 424 the best 
argument for the plan of nomination by political 
committees. In effect this is that the politicians 
should name the candidate as they do political ap¬ 
pointments. Under such a scheme about all the peo¬ 
ple can do is to try to make the politician “be good.” 
But why should the politicians have this power? 
Where did they get the right to act for the people? 
We were under the impression that in theory at least 
this was supposed to be a government by the peo¬ 
ple. It appears rather to be a government by the 
politicians, with incidental suggestion by the people, 
We are glad to have the issue brought out so clearly, 
for we believe Mr. Gallup states just what would 
follow in case this primary law were enforced. The 
politicians would suggest the candidates. These can¬ 
didates would have the preference and thus an ad¬ 
vantage over all others. It would be about as hard 
to defeat them as it would to beat the nominee of 
the present political convention. The entire ten¬ 
dency of the movement for direct nominations is 
toward nomination by petition. There is no move¬ 
ment away from this principle in any of the States 
where direct nominations have been tried. We 
think it unfortunate that the New York bill did not 
call for petition nomination and for a vote on 
U. S. Senator. We feel that Gov. Hughes missed 
a great opportunity when he failed to insist upon 
these essential things. At the same time the general 
principle of the bill is right if some of the details 
are inadequate. We hope therefore the bill will 
pass. The principle once established in New York 
will never be given up, while any defects in ope¬ 
ration can be remedied later. The Assembly re¬ 
ported adversely against the bill, 112 to 28. The 
“leaders” say they will bring it up in the Senate in 
order to make its defeat “more impressive.” We 
would make every Senator from a rural district 
explain his vote. If he votes against the principle 
of direct nominations begin now to beat him next 
year. 
* 
The question of legally regulating sales of oleo¬ 
margarine in New York has become a complicated 
one. There is no doubt that sales of oleo in this 
State have greatly increased. The New York law 
has not changed, but there is a question as to what 
is meant legally by “imitation or semblance of but¬ 
ter.” Lawyers for the oleo dealers claim that'when 
the oleo admittedly tastes and smells like butter it 
it not sold in “imitation or semblance.” They have 
induced the lower courts to take this view against 
the arguments of the State Agricultural Department. 
A new State law could be passed prohibiting dealers 
from selling a mixture with the “taste and smell” 
of blitter, but it would remain to be seen whether 
such a law were constitutional. In the meantime 
sales of oleo would go on increasing. The present 
law does not prohibit the sale of oleo when it does 
not imitate butter. Probably no one wants to hold 
up the sale of oleo as such, but the continued effort 
is to evade the law and sell the oleo on the reputa¬ 
tion of butter. In many cases oleo is sold to hotels 
and boarding houses along with a package of butter 
color—with instructions for using. It is compara¬ 
tively easy to use the color in this oleo and then 
serve on the table as butter. Without doubt tons of 
oleo are handled in this way. There should be a law 
prohibiting these gift packages of coloring matter 
and compelling all hotels and boarding houses to 
serve notice when oleo is used. In all such legisla¬ 
tion the State should avoid giving legal recognition 
to anything which is sold in imitation of butter. The 
higher courts must finally decide just what “imita¬ 
tion and semblance” means. We should hold on to 
what we have in the present law, and add every fair 
restriction to prevent imitation. 
* 
The Republic of Brazil is ahead of this country 
with a tariff commission. Four leading Brazilians 
have just been appointed to study the tariff and sug¬ 
gest changes. These men are the editor of a lead¬ 
ing commercial paper, who is also president of a 
great board of trade,; a tariff expert who is presi¬ 
dent of a labor organization; a representative of 
farmers and grain growers and the president of an 
organization of the industries now protected by the 
tariff. These men will hear testimony, examine 
figures and report to the Brazilian congress when 
it meets in July. Suppose we had in this country 
a similar commission composed of the most capable 
men to represent agriculture, transportation, manu¬ 
facturing, mining and labor. There could be found 
for such a commission men equal in character and 
ability to the members of the Supreme Court. They 
would analyze the tariff and arrange the schedules 
without prejudice or without any idea of political 
advantage—and that is what we need. The old 
governments of Europe are far ahead of us in de¬ 
veloping a parcels post The new government of 
Brazil leads us with a tariff commission. 
* 
We do not like to play the part of horticultural 
Jeremiah and throw ice water on the fires of hope, 
yet some one ought to perform this service. It 
seems that many people have invested in various 
schemes for growing fruit by stock companies. The 
usual plan is for a company to buy a lot of cheap 
land in Cuba, Florida and Texas, and then sell stock. 
In some cases the land will be bought at $5 or even 
less per acre. In the published “assets” of these 
concerns it will be valued at $50 to $100 or even 
more. You are told that the money you pay for 
stock will be spent in planting Citrus trees. Often 
this is done and sometimes done well. In Texas 
alone 1,000,000 or more orapge trees have been 
planted in the last two seasons. Ten years ago 
every Citrus tree in Texas was killed to the ground 
by the great freeze. New tops grew and these were 
mostly killed back again in 1905 and once in January 
and February, 1909. Since 1899 the Satsuma oranges 
have not been seriously injured in Texas, but plant¬ 
ing the common orange, pomelo and lemon in that 
State is worse than a lottery. The same is true of 
northern Florida. In Cuba excellent oranges are 
grown, but as will be seen by the report printed on 
page 416 there is little hope of profit in orange cul¬ 
ture with present prices, while with the heavy plant¬ 
ings there is sure to be a larger stock for sale. 
We realize that with many of our readers hope in 
their investment is too strong to be dampened by the 
facts. We give them, however, for what they are 
worth. 
BREVITIES. 
Grind your own ax. 
Where can you buy a sulky for attaching an ordinary 
plow? 
The suggestion to use a big cannon cracker in a wood¬ 
chuck's hole—sounds good at least! 
Ix New Jersey the office of State Dairy Commissioner 
lias been abolished. Prosecutions of suits for the illegal 
sale of oleo will now be made by the State Board of 
Health. 
The high price of lumber is driving many to the use of 
concrete. Others are trying in every way to increase the 
life of the lumber. Creosote is largely used for this. In 
1904 3,500,000 gallons of creosote were imported into this 
country. Last year the imports are estimated at 25,000,000 
gallons. 
This is what an Ohio reader says: “1 have just read 
“The Woman on the Farm,” by Susan Jewett Howe, and 
1 must say that this article is far better than the Country 
Life Commission's report. I read it sitting on the plow 
beam in the wind to-day while the horses were getting 
their wind.” 
The latest report is that some one has discovered a 
variety of cactus from which rubber is made. Keep your 
eye open for some wonderful story of such a plan!. It 
will be followed by offers to sell shares in a company 
formed to cultivate the cactus. We would like to raise 
thorrs on the promoters, and drive them in with a 
hammer. 
The following shows how business is developed. On 
the island of Jamaica a law was passed requiring all 
vehicles to carry a light after sundown. This made a 
great demand for lanterns. It was found that American 
lanterns cost $5.50 per dozen, -while a German lantern 
could he delivered at Kingston at $2.68 per dozen and 
retail at 36% cents each. 
