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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homo* 
Established tsso 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 469 Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
Jour J. DILLON, Treasurer and General Manager. 
W«. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Koylb, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. $2.W, equal to 8s. 6d., or 
&% marks, or 10J£ francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
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References required for advertisers unknown to as ; and 
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“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. But to make doubly sure wo 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 exposed. We protect sub¬ 
scribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee to adjust trifling 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 lientioned 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. 
* 
In the farm diary this week you will find a mighty 
contrast between life on that 2000-acre farm in Vir¬ 
ginia and the Michigan farm where the entire family 
must work. There is no paper in the country which 
can show among its readers a wider diversity of work 
and conditions than The R. N.-Y. Yet they are held 
together in a firm brotherhood by the element of 
human nature. Every back-to-the-lander should read 
these farm diary sketches. They will either cure his 
desire or make it chronic. A 10-cent subscription 
would settle it. 
* 
It seems that we have at last found a place where 
Alfalfa is in the way. This is mentioned in our Long 
Island notes, page 768. One man is shy of Alfalfa 
because the crop must have lime and that will mean 
more scab on potatoes. Let him cut the Alfalfa a few 
years and then plow the sod under and plant pota¬ 
toes. He will grow the crop of his life, and find 
that the Alfalfa has taken care of the lime. The other 
man does not find a place for Alfalfa on a fruit farm. 
This is a more serious objection, for Alfalfa is a 
permanent crop while fruit should be cultivated. Yet 
a few acres on a fruit farm, perhaps at the back end, 
well seeded to Alfalfa, will pay well. Working stock 
must be fed and an acre of Alfalfa will give twice 
as much fodder as Timothy or other grasses. The 
smaller the farm the more useful Alfalfa may be. 
* 
We followed up that celebrated Guernsey cow case 
until the annual meeting of the Guernsey Club. You 
remember that Mr. H. A. C. Taylor secured an in¬ 
junction compelling the club to print a record of the 
cow “Missy of the Glen.” There is serious question 
about this record and we understand the club would 
not print it unless ordered to by the Supreme Court. 
At the annual meeting this matter was discussed and 
the club called on Mr. Taylor to apologize. We un¬ 
derstand he has not yet done so. It is about time 
he did, and should he continue to refuse to do so, 
such refusal will become an insult to the club. The 
picture of a man sitting on a soft court injunction 
with his thumb at his nose is not an edifying spec¬ 
tacle. What is the Guernsey Cattle Club going to do 
about it? We generally find the answer to such ques¬ 
tions by repeating them. 
* 
Why don’t some of the agricultural papers tell the far¬ 
mers that “vetch,” that is being so much boomed as a cover 
crop, and to supply humus for the soil, is simply tares? 
It would cause a lot of farmers to sit up and take notice 
and a multitude of them would need no further introduc¬ 
tion. In ancient times it was considered unfortunate that 
“An enemy had saved tares” in somebody’s wheat field. 
We are having a fight with this grass, which seems to be 
taking possession of the whole country, and it seems worse 
than folly to be propagating these pests by sowing seed. 
Connecticut. d. j. ellsworth. 
This is hard talk for our good friend Hairy vetch. 
Where is your authority for such a statement? We 
are very willing to tell the full truth about vetch, but 
the best information we can get shows that the tares 
mentioned in the New Testament were not vetch at 
all, but the grass or weed known as darnel. Some 
authorities say it was chess or cheat. The Hairy 
vetch is not a grass at all, and entirely different from 
grain in seed and vine. We have had dozens of 
different plants sent us by farmers who think they 
have found vetch. These include plantain, purslane 
and “pigweed.” We have pointed out the damage in 
getting vetch seed mixed with the grain, but on fruit 
or truck farms Hairy vetch is one of the most useful 
cover crops that can be seeded. 
Postmaster General Hitchcock says that he will 
try parcels post on the rural routes and see whether 
people care for it. We presume he means that he 
will ask Congress to authorize such an experiment. 
We do not understand the department can start such 
a scheme of its own authority. Such a thing would 
be but a feeble imitation of the service which the 
Germans and English enjoy. It would not interfere 
with the express companies’ business. There might 
be a dozen routes running out of a large town or 
city. Under Mr. Hitchcock’s plan packages could be 
mailed at reduced rates to or from this city, only 
over the routes starting from this central point. If 
a patron on one of these routes wanted to send an 
article to another city he would still be obliged to 
pay express charges or full and double postage. In 
all these suggestions the proposition seems to he 
to avoid interfering with the express companies. 
Should such a feeble parcels post be started strong 
influences would he at once organized to kill it off 
and thus try to prove the entire plan a failure. We 
do not believe this would be possible. The people 
are so desperately in need of better package mail 
service that they will prove its value even under the 
hardest conditions. 
* 
It is not likely that Robert A. Sibbald, of Bergen 
County, N. J., will ever be voted into the Hall of 
Fame. He probably knows better than to send in 
his measurement for a halo and a pair of wings. At 
the same time Mr. Sibbald has set an example for 
100,000 office holders, more or less. The office of 
county clerk in Bergen County had become a roost 
for a set of slick and lazy politicians. It took them 
about six months to record a deed, and nearly a 
year to take care of a mortgage. They were just 
about as courteous and good-natured over business 
as a set of bulldogs. In order to make room for 
some politicians the office was divided and a new 
one established, register of deeds. The register was 
to be paid $6500, with a deputy register at $2500. The 
first election to fill this office was held last Fall. Mr. 
Sibbald ran on the singular platform that if elected 
he would do all he could to have the office abolished. 
He was elected over one of the most popular men 
in the county, and he proceeded to carry out his 
pledge by having the Legislature pass a bill abolishing 
the office and putting its duties back with the county 
clerk. This has been done, and on July 4 Mr. Sib¬ 
bald retired. Before he went he brought the business 
up to date and proved that there was no need of a 
separate register. This action saves the taxpayers 
of the county about $20,000, which would have gone 
to politicians for useless political jobs. Just what 
motive Mr. Sibbald had in giving up his political 
job is known to himself. We make record of it here 
as an unusual thing which we fear will not be widely 
imitated. Most people who get on the political roost 
have no thought of giving their place up. Most of 
their energy is spent in hanging to it, and the more 
useless it is the closer they hang. Running all the 
way up from township government, the counfry is 
full of useless political jobs in which thousands of 
men are getting lazy graft. Try your hand at fighting 
this system and you will find all the politicians com¬ 
bining against you, for they all know that the sys¬ 
tem is rotten, and that the people do not get their 
money’s worth in service. If any other man has fired 
himself out of a fat office we want his name. There 
are very few “statesmen” who do more for their 
country. 
* 
I have just finished reading “Hope Farm Notes” on 
page 722. You have stated our ease exactly; take the 
writer’s word for it, there is not a suit of clothes in New 
York selling for $25 or less that has $6 worth of fabric in 
it. And that $6 has paid all wages, expenses and material 
of sheep grower, wool dealer, wool washer and comber, 
worsted spinners (ourselves) and manufacturers. The total 
profit from the wool grower to the commission house in 
New York is under 40 per cent, yet we are called robber 
barons, oppressors of the poor, iniquitous recipients of a 
robber tariff. My experience in life has taught me to for¬ 
mulate this economic law. There is no proper relation or 
proportion between the cost of any ai-ticle and its retail 
selling price. f. y. 
The above is written by a New England woolen 
manufacturer. It is everywhere the same story. The 
great trouble with farming is that the farmer gets on 
an average only 35 cents of the consumer’s dollar. 
We have made that statement over and over again, 
and given the figures to prove it. No one has dis¬ 
proved the statement, because it cannot be done. It is 
this tax of 65 per cent which goes to the middlemen 
and handlers that is robbing country people and piling 
up money in the towns and cities. It seems evident 
that Canadian reciprocity is to become a fixture. 
With it will go the only direct protection which the 
tariff has ever given our farmers. It seems to us 
better to tell the truth about this openly rather than 
July 22, 
to deceive our readers. If we can now get together 
and show up this middleman’s tax so that the town 
people will understand it, we can combine with them 
to get a fairer share of the consumer’s dollar. 
* 
We like a man with a hopeful view of life. Mr. 
Perkins, who gives us some truth about Florida, on 
page 769, has a barrel of the choicest brand of hope. 
He sees the time when it will be hard to advertise 
fakes and frauds in the daily newspapers. Well, sir, 
when that time comes the people of middle class 
will save enough money each year to more than pay 
the interest on the national debt. It is said that at 
least 250,000 people in New York City alone make a 
far better living than you or I do by selling worthless 
wind and injurious waste through fake advertisements. 
When this dream which Mr. Perkins hopes for be¬ 
comes real these people will go to work. We would 
like to have Uncle Sam speed the day! 
* 
New Jersey farmers will be interested in the dis¬ 
cussion of that employers’ liability law on page 770. 
The tendency of all modern legislation has been to 
make such liability clear and well defined. In Europe 
and England such laws are further advanced than 
here. It seems to us that sooner or later the law 
will grow into some form of insurance—the employer 
making a small reduction from the wages to be ap¬ 
plied in case of accident or paid back when the em¬ 
ployee stops work. It is not fair that the employer 
should take all risk and pay all damages. We have 
known of cases where a hired man’s carelessness 
resulted in injury and damage to life and property, 
yet the employer had no redress. We could cite 
hundreds of cases where farmers have cared for sick 
or injured hired men or their families without any 
thought of a law. There will be cases, no doubt, 
where this Jersey law may seem a hardship to farm¬ 
ers. As a whole, it is a just law and as employers 
of labor farmers could not expect to be exempt. 
* 
Interest in the culture of Hairy vetch is ahead of 
anything we have known in the discussion of cover 
crops. Crimson clover and cow peas were well tried 
out. North of Philadelphia either one must be ranked 
as a gamble. At times they do well, but they are 
both best suited to a southern climate. Vetch is 
more promising for the North, and many fields will 
be seeded this Summer and Fall. All sorts of plants 
have been sent us by people who think they have 
Hairy vetch. These plants embrace the clovers and 
many common weeds. Much of the seed which our 
farmers will sow comes from Europe. The Govern¬ 
ment ought to send a skilled observer to Russia, Italy, 
Germany and France to study the process of saving 
and handling seed. There is sure to be a great de¬ 
velopment in the use of vetch in America. This will 
give opportunity for some farmers to grow and handle 
the seed. If any of our farmers are to go to Europe 
this year they could hardly do a ’'etter service than 
to study this vetch seed problem and report. 
* 
We have recently had an unusual number of com¬ 
plaints about the arbitrary acts of New York Board 
of Health dairy inspectors. The latest comes from 
Delaware County. Robert Utter had a fine herd of 
cattle and a good barn and milk house. When deliv¬ 
ering milk to the Bordens he was recorded as having 
one of the best barns in that section. About a month 
ago an inspector “looking for trouble” appeared and 
ordered Mr. Utter to whitewash his stable. This was 
agreed to, but not done at once. As a result Mr. 
Utter’s milk was rejected. Feeling convinced that 
even a “square deal” must be whitewashed, Mr. Utter 
decided to sell his cows and quit the milk business— 
and has done so. Farmers in that section have taken 
an active part in the work of the Dairymen’s League. 
A part of the work of this League is to agitate 
against these arbitrary rulings of the health inspec¬ 
tors. We are investigating this case, which is like 
many others reported to us. Imagine if you can the 
feelings of men who are treated in such a domineering 
way, and at best get only 30 cents o r the consumer’s 
dollar! 
BREVITIES. 
Another cow record is started on page 776. We can 
hardly have too much of this exact figuring. 
Now is a good time to repeat the truth that few people 
drink half as much pure water as they ought to. 
Failure of the flax crop has sent the experts hunting for 
plants to produce paint oils. Rubber seed oil is being 
extracted for the purpose. 
For years the New Jersey State. Horticultural Society 
has held its annual meeting at the State House at Trenton. 
The meeting was never fully appreciated at the Capital, and 
the society has wisely decided to hold the next one at 
Freehold. 
