1900. 
THIS RURAL NEW-YORKER 
92!) 
Hope Farm Notes 
Our folks have been up on our bill to-night 
to watch the beacon fires along the Hudson. 
This was the end of the great celebration, 
and from New York to Albany the lights 
blazed out. We contributed our share in a 
good bonfire, and the children toasted bread 
and apples and fried bacon before the hot 
blaze. This bonfire watching is great fun 
for the youngsters, but the afterglow suits 
me better. At my age a comfortable chair 
beats the October sod. Half-cooked bacon 
and burned bread goes well with the sauce 
of youth, but the dish of baked apples close 
at my elbow beats bonfire food. Let us eat 
two good-sized baked • Fall Fippins before 
we begin. 
That ought to give any man a hopeful 
outlook of life. Somehow I cannot bring 
myself to conclude that this country is go¬ 
ing to the dogs. If the dogs get it they are 
more likely to be a faithful and watchful 
set of canines. During the celebration .just 
closed I have seen men shake their heads 
and say they fear for the Nation. Why? 
Because the character of the immigrant is 
not what it used to be. It is said there are 
nearly one million Russian Jews in New 
York City alone, with many more coming. 
Most of those who try to realize what this 
means fail to recognize a few important 
things. These Jews come here to escape 
bitter oppression. Unlike many others from 
South Europe they have no desire to go 
back. They come here for freedom and a 
home, and in that respect are more like 
the Pilgrims than most immigrants who 
have come across the sea. It is not gener¬ 
ally known that 900 of these Russian Jews 
volunteered at a single place in New York 
to fight in the Cuban War. Nor it is gener¬ 
ally known that of all the people who swarm 
from Europe to America the Jew has a 
better chance to be trained as an American 
than other immigrants. That is because the 
wealthy men of the race are providing edu¬ 
cation and help for the immigrant Jew. 
We who call ourselves Americans like to 
talk about our ancestors, and honor the 
pioneers. At the same time it is very doubt¬ 
ful if we would let one of these “old pion¬ 
eers" into the house if he came back with 
the appearance and the habits which must 
go with pioneer life. We do not stop to real¬ 
ize that the Russian Jews are pioneers for 
their race, and that they took us right at 
our word when we have boasted that Ameri¬ 
ca is “the home of the free.” 
These things came to mind as we sat by 
our fire, for only a few days before I at¬ 
tended a meeting of Jewish farmers in New 
Y'ork. The Jews have farm schools of their 
own. and great efforts have been made to 
locate the race on the land. They have an 
agricultural paper of their own. It is the 
only farm paper in the world, I think, that 
has no advertisements whatever. There is 
a complete organization of these Jewish 
farmers. A part of the plan is for men to 
travel around among them from farm to 
farm, showing them how to work, telling 
about crops and keeping up their courage. 
Each year they have a fair in New York, 
where prizes are offered for farm products. 
There was a great display this year of prac¬ 
tically everything you can raise on Eastern 
soil. It was as good a display of potatoes, 
grain, grasses and vegetables as 1 hate 
seen this year. In the art of displaying their 
goods so as to make the best appearance 
these farmers have yet much to learn, but 
as a business exhibition it was excellent. 
The Woodbine Farm School made an exhibit 
to show how the boys are taught. In con¬ 
nection with this fair meetings were held 
at which business and farm topics were 
discussed. If it were possible to hold farm¬ 
ers’ institutes on something of this plan there 
can be no question about the advantage to 
the State. But these men are strangers in 
a new land, hopeful, glad that they have 
come from oppression, and eager to learn— 
without pretending to know it all. That is 
a very different spirit from that shown by 
many of our farmers, to whom freedom and 
hope have become old stories. 
To me this gathering meant far more 
than a mere exhibit of farm products. It 
signified the most hopeful part of the his¬ 
tory of a race. My understanding is that 
these Jewish farmers are, for the most part, 
located on waste or abandoned land. There 
are cases where purebred New England 
stock—tracing back to the Mayflower pe¬ 
tered out largely because it was purebred. 
What I mean Is that a generation came 
which felt that pedigree and history would 
take the place of ambition and energy. Of 
course in the scuffle of life, these people 
dropped their poor little farms. In some 
cases such farms were bunched with others 
to make a great orchard, a dairy farm or 
some gentleman’s estate. In other cases, im¬ 
migrants have taken them and will make 
them productive. I have been told of a 
noted farm in Maryland. The original pro¬ 
prietors came over with Calvert, and for 
more than two centuries this famous farm 
remained in the family. Both the farm and 
the family declined, until at last one 
woman found herself owner of a tract of 
unproductive land. Now this farm has be¬ 
come headquarters for a colony of Russian 
Jews, who will restore it and make it pro¬ 
ductive. Now as I see it. one mission of 
the European farm immigrant is to restore 
much of the land which Americans have 
injured. This work is necessary, and who 
else is there to do it? IIow could our rail¬ 
roads have been built, our town sewers dug 
and dozens of other great and dirty jobs 
carried out, had it not been for the crude 
labor which poured In from Europe? It. 
was necessary to do these, things and after 
the Civil War had tilled Americans with 
martial feeling and given them visions of 
life beyond the Mississippi the labor was 
not to be found among our own people. It 
will be much the same way with developing 
farm lands that have been thrown out of 
cultivation. It must bo done, if at all, by 
men who are hungry in their very souls for 
home and the right to a piece of land. 
The papers might not lit me exactly as a 
purebred Yankee, as I have a dash of English 
and Irish blood. I might get a certificate of 
breeding however. At the meeting I referred 
to above I talked with men of my own age 
and younger who were born in Russia, and 
who are now leaders of their race. You 
would be astonished to see how closely we 
agreed as to what it means to be an Ameri¬ 
can. We would not agree upon many details 
of life and personal duty, but in the larger 
ideas of national duty to society you could 
not separate us. These men gave me a new 
conception of Russia and the Russian Jews. 
If you have read French history you remem¬ 
ber that the king and the nobles tried to 
stand against what we call in this country 
the plain people. The longer the contest 
went on the clearer it was made that the 
“nobility” was a sham, and that the people 
represented the true national power. In 
Russia the Czar and the nobles represent 
one party and owing largely to the peculiar 
character of the Russian people they have 
the army with them. The contest has been 
very largely one of land ownership and 
agriculture. The “plain people" finally won 
the right to a legislature or “duma.” Then 
the patience of tin- Russians somehow went 
wrong. Instead of being content with a 
slow growth of liberty, they wanted all at 
once. Russia is too conservative—not ready 
for revolution, for the nobles and the army 
are too strong. There is little immediate 
hope therefore for the peasant, and least of 
all for the Jews, who have been for years a 
people apart. That is why they have 
swarmed to this country. Unlike other im¬ 
migrants they will never go back. We see 
from the figure given by Mr. Steiner on 
page 923, that immigrants from Southern Eu¬ 
rope send their money back to the old eoun- 
ry and buy land. They are draining the re¬ 
sources of this country, and have no perma¬ 
nent interest here. The Russian Jew on the 
ot her hand cannot go back, lie has no de¬ 
sire to buy land in Russia, for that would 
invite further outrage and persecution. His 
only hope lies in this country, for he can 
have no other, home. In habits and appear¬ 
ance and in training the Jew is different 
from our conception of the Pilgrims and 
other pioneers who sought in this land free¬ 
dom, home and religious liberty. Yet in the 
spirit which drives men across the sea the 
Russian Jew is close to the old pioneer. And 
let us remember too that these men are 
pioneers, building a future for their race 
and studying all history that the foundation 
may be properly laid. The so-called 
"American" does not always stop to think 
what he owes to “foreigners.” There can 
be no doubt that the Germans in the 
West, and particularly in Missouri, held the 
Southwest at the outbreak of the Civil War. 
These men were true to their love of liberty, 
and their influence was thrown against slav¬ 
ery. Get up a great, moral issue and make 
ii clear that human rights are in danger, 
and the better class of immigrants will be 
ready. We are often told that American 
institutions and ideals will go down before 
these foreign swarms. Should that be so 
will it not be largely our own fault for not 
living up to them and teaching our children 
to respect them? I judge from what I have 
learned that many of these Jewish immi¬ 
grants and their children have a better 
knowledge of the true philosophy of Ameri¬ 
can history than many of us who say we 
are “Americans." We cannut chain history 
anil progress down. We must march with 
the best of it if those immigrants are to have 
an “American" standard. 
I was interested in learning what the 
Jew's farm tendencies are. The great men of 
the old race came from the farm. Have you 
ever thought how many of the great men 
in Bible history were shepherds? The Jews 
excelled as live stock farmers, and the he¬ 
reditary trait is in them to-day. At their 
farm schools dairying and poultry keeping 
are well taught, and while there are fruit¬ 
growers and gardeners the natural tendency 
of the race is toward live stock. The Jews 
consume large quantities of poultry, and 
when located in the East their farms are 
usually well stocked with fowls. They are 
likely to bring about a large increase in the 
production of rye. They use large quantities 
of rye bread—believing the grain better than 
wheat. They think the high price of wheat 
flour will lead to a greater consumption of 
rye. Efforts will he made to scatter the 
race. The leading Jews recognize the evil | 
which comes from crowding dense masses 
of their countrymen in the cities. Graduates 
of the farm schools are urged to go West or 
South—away from the larger towns where 
better land opportunities are found. There 
is one way in which I think these Jews will 
help agriculture. They will not be satisfied 
to let the middlemen take 65 cents of the 
dollar. These keen, sharp brains, with a 
heritage of long business training, will de¬ 
vise some way of getting closer to the con¬ 
sumer. In that way. I think they will in 
time render a genuine service to American 
farmers. 
Thus far 1 have taken a hopeful view of 
the subject. There is hope in the outlook, 
and yet there is a shadow. The Jewish chil¬ 
dren and young people who come here, can, 
I think, be guided and helped. The trouble 
comes with the adults—men and women “in 
the sunset of their career, worn out with 
the ceaseless toil and oppression of a des¬ 
potic country.” It is very hard for these 
people to throw off their bondage and become 
“Americans.” Many of us know full well 
how hard it is for people of middle age to 
start anew and break up old habits. There 
are many reasons which most of us fail to 
appreciate why these adult Jews are hard to 
reach and assimilate. Much of the preju¬ 
dice against the race is probably due to 
this fact. Yet this great country of ours 
with its mighty industrial opportunities and 
its vaster spiritual promise is, I believe, 
equal to still greater tasks of civilization. 
I have still faith in the power of the old- 
fashioned spirit of the farm home to domi¬ 
nate the thought of this country and thus 
master its destiny. There may be times when 
it seems as if evil were triumphant, but 
sooner or later out of the hills and lonely 
places will come the call that has echoed all 
through history and men will follow it— 
with slow faltering steps it may be—yet 
still ever a little upward in history. Yes— 
those who show a light on my hill 100 years 
from now will have their troubles and their 
sorrows, and yet their world will be better. 
_h, w. c. 
A Burbank Debate. —There was a de¬ 
bate in Los Angeles, Cal., over Burbank 
and his “creation.” It resulted in a tie 
according to the secretary : 
“Those in the first twenty rows voted 
that Luther Burbank could not even raise 
Hades. Those in the last twenty rows decided 
that Luther Burbank could grow rhubarb 
with vanilla flavor and a straw on the 
side. The spineless cactus came from Mex¬ 
ico, via San Diego, and then into Eastlake 
Park.” 
Made-io-Order Clothes 
from SIO to $18 
“From the Mill to YOU” 
You save from $4 to $7 when you buy from 
us. For the values we give at $10 to $18, cost 
you $14 to $25 elsewhere. 
That is because you buy direct 
from the mills, when you buy 
from us. You save the tremend¬ 
ous middleman’s profits. 
Yet you get the best of style, 
fit and tailoring. You get de¬ 
pendable linings and trim¬ 
mings. You get better fabrics 
than in other clothing at the 
same prices. For we put the 
retailers’ profits we save into 
better qualities. 
But more than that, we guar¬ 
antee that every garment we 
sell will give the utmost satis¬ 
faction. We positively guaran¬ 
tee the style, fit and fabrics in 
every detail. So you are per¬ 
fectly protected. 
We prepay all express charges 
on orders east of the Missis¬ 
sippi river, and make liberal 
allowance on all orders coming 
from the West. 
Write for our Style Book to¬ 
day. See the handsome styles 
we offer. Examino the samples of fabrics. 
Read our guarantee. It means better clothes 
at less cost for you. 
GLEN ROCK WOOLEN CO. 
203 Main St. Somerville N.J. 
THE BEST VARIABLE FEED 
SAW MILL 
Made for portable purposes, also larger sizes. 
Engines, Boilers and General Machinery, 
NEW and REBUILT at Lowest Prices. 
THE “LEADER” INJECTOR, 
most simple, reliable and efficient. 
Send for circulars, stating your wants. 
<Ihe RANDLE MACHINERY CO., 
1826 Powers St., Cincinnati, Ohi«. 
Wood Saws For Farmers* Use 
For sawing firewood, lumber, 
lath, posts, pickets, etc., the 
cheapest and best saw you can 
buy Is a 
Hertzler At Zook 
Wood Saw 
Easy to operate. Guaranteed for 
one year. You can build up a 
paying business in sawing fire¬ 
wood or lumber for your neigh¬ 
bor. PricellO.OO. Write for circular. 
Co., Box 3 Belleville, P». 
WITT ¥ drilling 
W L/LL MACHINES 
Over 70 sizes and styles, for drilling either deep or 
shallow wells in any kind of soil or rock. Mounted on 
wheels or on sills. W ith enginesorhorse powers. Strong, 
simple and durable. Any mechanic can operate them 
easily. Send for catalog. 
WILLIAMS BROS.. Ithaca. N. Y. 
6% BONDS 
Any Amount — Any Maturity 
Secured by Farm Liens 
The most popular bonds that we 
handle today are Irrigation bonds, 
secured by first liens on the most 
fertile farm lands in America. 
They are issued in denominations 
of $100, $500 and $1,000. They run 
from two years to twelve years, so 
one may make short-time or long¬ 
time investments. And the bonds 
pay six per cent. That is a higher 
rate than can now be obtained on 
any large class of equal security. 
Doubly Secured 
The farmers in the irrigation dis¬ 
tricts, to secure perpetual water 
rights give to an Irrigation Com¬ 
pany a first lien on their farms. The 
lien is seldom for more than one- 
fourth the land’s value. It is paid 
in ten annual installments. 
These liens are placed with a 
Trust Company as security for the 
bonds. Back of each $100 bond 
there will be $150 in liens. Thus 
the margin of security is very wide 
indeed. 
In addition, the Irrigation Com¬ 
pany deposits with the Trust Com¬ 
pany a first mortgage on all it owns 
—dams, reservoirs, ditches, etc. 
This mortgage is held until the last 
bond is paid, as an extra security. 
Thus the bonds are doubly secured. 
Some Are Tax Liens 
Some of these bonds are issued, 
like School bonds, by districts. Such 
bonds form a tax lien on all tax¬ 
able property in the district. The 
interest and principal are fcaid out 
of taxes. 
Some are issued under the Fed¬ 
eral law, known as the Carey Act. 
All of these bonds, if rightly is¬ 
sued, form ideal securities. It is 
hard to conceive of anything better. 
Y r et the bonds pay at present a high 
rate of interest because the projects 
are very profitable. 
The first crop from irrigated land 
(3) 
will frequently pay the whole cost 
of the land. So the ten-year liens 
which the farmers give are very 
easily paid. 
15 Years* Experience 
We have had 15 years of experi¬ 
ence in selling Reclamation bonds. 
These include Drainage District and 
Irrigation bonds, all secured by farm 
liens. During this time we have 
sold seventy such issries without a 
dollar of loss to any investor. 
We are now the largest dealers in 
this class of security. Our own 
trained engineers and attorneys pass 
on every project. The officers of 
our company also inspect every en¬ 
terprise cn which we sell bonds. 
We have now written a book 
based on all this experience. It 
covers the facts about irrigation in 
a clear and interesting way. 
Every investor, whether small or 
large, should read this book. 
Cut out this coupon, send it at 
once, and the book will be mailed 
you free. 
\&/vwfru&?e 
\ 
Fir»t National Bank Building 
CHICAGO, ILL. 
Please send your free book on 
Irrigation Bonds. 
Name _ 
Address 
Name of my bank _ 
574 
We sell the bonds, if you prefer, 
through your local bank. If so, 
please give us the name of your 
bank, and we will send full informa¬ 
tion when we send it to you. 
