January '-JX, 
104 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER. 
A Nktlonal Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home*. 
Established 1850. 
J weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl Street, New York, 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor, 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
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 lO 1 ^ francs. Remit in money order, 
express order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates 60 cents per agate line—7 words. Discount for timi 
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 our columns, and any such swindler will be publicly ex¬ 
posed. We protect subcribers against rogues, but wedo not guarantee 
to adjust trifling differences between subscribers ana 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. 
THE RURAL, NEW- Y ORKER 
companies to just about cut their rates in two. The 
robbery practiced all these years upon the Canadian 
people is no greater than that on this side of the line. 
The same conditions exist here. The money now 
being used to fight parcels post was stolen from the 
American people by the express robbers. We have alt 
contributed to the fund now being used to deprive us 
of our rights. 
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. 
* 
W. J. Dougan, the $9 hen man from Jersey doesn’t 
intend to be called a bluffer. Here he is on page 113 
with a square-cut proposition for the cow men to con¬ 
sider. He means business, and will be there with the 
hens. Now if the cow men are also ready to toe the 
mark, The R. N.-Y. will help arrange details and see 
that hens and cows get a square deal. We can hardly 
think of any more interesting or instructive contest 
than the one suggested by Mr. Dougan. Now gentle¬ 
men, drive up the cows! 
❖ 
I received the copy of ‘"The Business Hen sent me. It 
came just as I was beginning to have trouble from colds. 
What to do and how to do it was in “The Business Hen. 
This is the best manner 1 know of telling you how highly 
I prize that little big book. w - c - T - 
Virginia. 
The “little big book” is giving great satisfaction. In 
these days of big stories and systems practical in¬ 
formation is in greater demand than ever. Just read 
Prof. Jtfmes E. Rice’s chapter on “Breeding the Busi¬ 
ness Hen.” Where can you find any other entire book 
which gives more real information about developing 
a flock of layers? If you do not find it in “The 
Business Hen” call for it and we will get it if possible. 
* 
Gov. Wilson of New Jersey comes out squarely for 
primary elections. He favors the laws enforced in 
Oregon: 
They seem to me to point the direction which we must 
also take before we have completed our regeneration of a 
government which has suffered so seriously and so long as 
ours has here in New Jersey from private management 
and organized selfishness. Our primary laws, extended and 
perfected, will pave the way: They should be extended 
to every elective office, and to the selection of every party 
committee or official as well, in order that the people 
may once for all take charge of their own affairs, their 
own political organization and association ; and the meth- 
ods of primary selection should be so perfected that the 
primaries will be put upon the same free footing that the 
methods of election themselves are meant to rest upon. 
There you have the whole story. If Gov. Wilson 
does nothing during his three years in office but ham¬ 
mer that home he will do New Jersey more good than 
any other Governor now remembered in history. Jer- 
seymen will back him up if he will stand to his guns. 
Lying between two great cities and overrun by wealthy 
and selfish non-residents, New Jersey has fallen a 
victim to a mean set of political crooks. The people 
want a leader to set them free, and freedom can only 
come through primary nominations. Just keep your 
eye on New Jersey. 
Canada has a Dominion Railway Commission much 
like an Interstate Commerce Commission, but with 
wider powers. Telegraph and express companies are 
subject to it. The Canadian express companies are 
largely owned by the railroads, and have been charg¬ 
ing extortionate rates. On complaint largely of fruit 
growers in the western part of Ontario this Dominion 
Commission has been investigating the express busi¬ 
ness. Here is a sample of what they found. The 
Canadian Express Company when bought by the Grand 
Trunk railroad in 1S92 was valued at $60,000. The 
railroad paid $662,000-the $600,000 being for the fran¬ 
chise. There are now over $3,000,000 worth of stock 
outstanding, while the tangible assets are said to be 
$212,719. During seven years this company paid near a 
$ 8,500,000 to the Grand Trunk railroad this being 
about 55 per cent of its total revenue—taken from 
the Canadian people. As a result of its investigation 
the Dominion Commission has ordered the express 
LET THE COWS PROVE IT. 
A serious condition, without a parallel in cattle 
breeding, has arisen in the Guernsey Cattle Club. 
Two Guernsey cows, Missy of the Glen 18390 and 
Glenanaar of the Glen 23619, both owned by Henry 
A. C. Taylor, were tested at Glen Farm, near Newport, 
R. I. Their reported yields of milk and butter fat 
were so remarkable that both cattle breeders and 
scientific men felt that they could not be possible, but 
that some serious mistake had been made. The Guern¬ 
sey Cattle Club first took the matter up and made an 
examination through its executive committee, which 
advised a continuation of the test. It was finally de¬ 
cided to appoint a special committee of three to go 
over the records and the evidence and report. This 
committee met on September 30 to make its repoit, 
wlitn counsel for Mr. Taylor appeared and informed 
the officers of the club that if the committee took ad¬ 
verse action against the record of these cows he was 
ordered to serve an injunction restraining such action. 
This injunction was finally served, and under it the 
club was ordered not to publish- “any such record of 
cows in the advanced registry of said club" without 
including the record of the cows in question. This 
injunction was finally made permanent, and under it 
Mr. Taylor sought to hold up all the records unless 
those of his two cows, which were questioned, were 
included. The Guernsey Cattle Club is one of tlie 
most honorable organizations of breeders in the 
world. It faced the situation manfully, printed a full 
report of the proceedings and evidence and added the 
following: 
The Executive Committee, believing that the value of 
these records does not justify the Club in incurring the 
expense necessary to defend this action, and to avoid 
further delay, have decided to publish the records as 
ordered by the Supreme Court of New York. They submit 
the whole evidence for the information of the club as 
printed herewith. 
This is the first time in the history of this organization 
that anyone has questioned its ability to settle its own 
affairs, and it is a matter of sincere regret to the Executive 
Committee that a member should he so entirely without 
confidence in the justice of the Club's officials as to 
invoke the assistance of the court. 
It also printed the reported records of those two 
cows, but with this comment, “Published by order of 
the Supreme Court of the State of New York.” 
This leaves the matter in a very unsatisfactory shape. 
Mr. Taylor must see that while he has, by injunction, 
forced these records upon the Club’s register, there will 
be a question mark after them so long as they carry 
the brand of that comment. Judges of the Supreme 
Court can hardly be called Guernsey cows, yet Mr. 
Taylor must see that as the matter stands they as well 
as Missy and Glenanaar are responsible for the record. 
Under the circumstances we do not see how the Guern¬ 
sey Club could have acted otherwise. It is a serious 
situation in the history of the Club, and we think Mr. 
Taylor could readily settle it. Our suggestion is that 
he conduct a new test. These cows are better qualified 
to make a new record now than they were before. 
Why not conduct another test, making it absolutely 
open and free, with competent men to conduct it? No 
doubt both Missy and Glenanaar would “come hack” 
and absolutely prove their previous record. If the 
record of a horse or a man , an auto or a yacht for 
speed or skill were questioned the most natural thing 
would be to call for another trial. “Coming back” is 
absolute proof. That is why we suggest this plan 
to Mr. Taylor. It will prove him to be not only a 
good sport, but a genuine friend of the Guernsey 
cow, for in no other way can the present controversy 
be fully disposed of. 
that every man who signs such a joint note can be Held 
for the entire amount if he is responsible. Thus you 
will see that if four or five men with some property 
put down their names it will not make much difference 
who the others are. The horse company is sure of its 
money under such conditions, and the price of the noise 
is usually excessive. In the case mentioned $1,500 
would probably be a fair price for the horse, yet by 
selling in the way described the horse company will 
get $2,400 with six per cent interest on a sure thing. 
The R. N.-Y. is glad to print the facts in such deals. 
It is sometimes hard to get them, for many farmers 
hesitate to come forward and make a statement over 
their own name, as Mr. Morse has done. That is 
where they make a mistake, for the only safety in such 
deals lies in letting the sunlight right into them and 
holding them up for all to see. If anyone wants to 
defend this plan of selling a stallion he may have a 
fair amount of space in which to do it. A good many 
horses have been sold in this way. < We hear of a case 
where a man who signed such a note was forced to pay 
$600 finally. If any such horses have paid out “with¬ 
out costing a cent” here is a fine chance to let about 
300,000 people know the facts! 
“He shall call upon me and I will answer him; 1 
toill be with him in trouble —Psalm XCI. 
We are obliged to put the Hon. John W. Dwight of 
New York State in the list of gentlemen who cannot 
get “careful consideration” out of this system. One 
of our readers wrote Mr. Dwight asking him what he 
intended to do for parcels post. This mail referred 
the Congressman to Psalm XCI for his guidance—a 
part of which is quoted above. In some 200 words Mr. 
Dwight manages to say nothing at all—including the 
following dignified remark: 
“The subject must necessarily have very careful and 
grave consideration.” 
“.Grave” is a new one to us but it goes well with the 
others, for “careful consideration” certainly points a 
warning finger to the political graveyard. Mr. Dwight 
can hardly expect his constituents to be “with him in 
trouble” when they think more of parcels post than 
they do of him. But what do we expect a man to say 
instead of “careful consideration?” He ought to come 
out squarely and say that he favors parcels post or 
else say he does not. Is “careful consideration” so 
fixed in Mr. Dwight's system that he cannot say “yes” 
or “no?” 
* 
Quite a number of our readers are taking up this 
plan of writing articles for their local papers on par¬ 
cels post. Some of these articles are very good—clear 
and right to the point. This is fine work. The ene¬ 
mies of parcels post are filling these papers and flood¬ 
ing the country with printed circulars and petitions. 
We must offset that work with personal letters. Your 
local paper is supported by its readers. It would have 
no life or value but for its subscribers. It ought to 
represent them, and will have to do so if they will 
assert themselves and make their wants known on 
parcels post. There is a good opportunity for them 
in this. Here is a sample of what they write taken 
from the New Milford (Conn.) Gazette: 
To have our mailcar-rier drive up with practically no 
weight and leave a notice that there is a package in the 
express office (postal rates on same prohibitive), for 
which we must drive twice as many miles as we .live 
from said express office, is maddening in a busy time. Or 
to have some small part of some farm implement break 
■nihile in use and needed, and be compelled to wait for it to 
come by express, drive to town a second time after it, and 
find added to the cost a charge several times greater than 
the cost of the article, while our mail box is daily clut¬ 
tered with advertising matter, sample copies, etc., for which 
we have no use, but which our postoffice is carrying be¬ 
low cost, is not only asking for bread and getting a stone, 
but being compelled to pay for the stone. 
We invite a careful reading of the article on first 
page this week. Many of these horse deals have been 
put through—some in the way here described and some 
with a little different plan. The point is that when a 
farmer signs that subscription blank he is bound to 
take the share in the horse. He is equally bound when 
he signs either to pay cash for his share or to sign 
such a note as was presented to Mr. Morse. When he 
signs that note he is held for all or part of the entire 
amount. Many a man without giving much thought 
would conclude that if 11 others signed with him he 
would he held for only one-twelfth of the amount. 
As he paid nothing for his share and was told that 
the horse would really cost nothing one can see how 
easy it would be to obtain signatures. The fact is 
BREVITIES. 
Dairying and sheep raising seem to be coming up in 
Maine. 
Has anyone ever found a real remedy for the potato 
fiea-bettle? 
Wanted, English sparrows in New Jersey this season to 
fight the 17-year locusts. 
This year the world will need about 20.000,000 bales 
of eotton to provide “cotton goods,” and the United States 
will be expected to contribute about 13,500.000. 
A new one for “The Business Hen.” There were recently 
received in Montreal, Canada, 10,000 gallon tins of eggs 
from Russia and China. Each gallon contained 10 dozen 
eggs. 
‘•We hope you will cross-question W. .T. Dougan about 
these $9 hens until he gives up the facts,” says H. .7. 
That is what we are after, and if our questions do not 
bring results you may try it. 
Dr. Reichmann, New York State Superintendent of 
Weights and Measures, says that all railroads operating 
in the State should have a scale inspection law. All manu¬ 
facturers of scales operated here should be required to 
furnish a bond to the effect that their scales are true. 
