W28 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 9, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BESIXESS FARMER'S PAPER 
\ National Weekly Journal lor Country and Suburban Home* 
Established fseo 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company. 4»9 Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. CoLUxewooD, President and Editor. 
Johj J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wi F. Dillon, Secretary. Mas. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Ediior. 
SUBSCRIPTIONt ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. ?2.(K, equal to 8a Gd., or 
marks, or 10 >4 franca Remit in money Older, "xpress 
ordor, i>ersonal check or bank draft. 
Entered at Now York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates 60 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 hy a respon¬ 
sible piTson. 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 exposed. We protect sub¬ 
scriber against rogues, but we do nPtgimrnntee to adjust trifling differences 
between subscribers mid honest, responsible advertisers. Neither will we bo 
responsible for t>se debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent tD us within one month of the time of 
the transaction, and you must have 1 lentkmed The Kcral 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. 
* 
It is not a lime craze that is sweeping over the 
country, hut a sane return to fair treatment of the 
soil. Naturally now that the use of lime is becoming 
a habit credit is to be given to the pioneer lime man. 
He is Dr. H. J. Wheeler, of Rhode Island, who advo¬ 
cated lime and proved his claims at a time when the 
so-called scientific world laughed at the idea. 
* 
The Hope Farm man is discussing King’s “Farmers 
of Forty Centuries.” We would like an additional 
word here. It is a great book, and should be read by 
every man who is interested in a piece of land. There 
are many habits and economies of the Chinese which 
have no place in our civilization, but when it comes 
to conserving water and plant food they teach the 
civilized world. As King points out, many of our 
vaunted scientific discoveries are not really new, but 
merely demonstrations of methods which these patient 
oeople have practiced for centuries. 
* 
On page 204 we referred to a bill before the New 
York Legislature which makes railroad corporations 
responsible for fire losses which are started through 
their operation. The same bill has been introduced 
into the State Senate It is a good bill, and should 
pass. Should this bill become a law if any sparks 
from engines or brush burning start a damaging fire 
the railroads will be legally responsible for such dam¬ 
age—as they should be. Nothing can push this bill 
through except popular backing. Members of the 
Legislature must be made to understand that their 
people demand it. Therefore we ask our New York 
readers to get after their representatives at once. 
* 
On page 333 we bear from a man who wants the 
impossible in a Jersey cow. While you could not say 
there is no cow that can fulfil such conditions—who 
ever saw one? Of course there are people who de¬ 
mand cows that will make a record of rich milk with 
no grain. As one correspondent puts it, they would 
also like hired men that can work without meat, and 
horses that will keep bright on pasture grass in August, 
and work 10 hours a day, and wives that never ask 
for any pleasure and never complain, and land that 
raises heavy crops without manure. The promoters 
who offer Everglade land or unit orchards might be 
willing to throw all these things in as premiums to 
those who will pay the price, but we have not seen 
them outside of imagination. 
* 
" What do you expect me to say anyway ?” 
That is what a reader gets from a Congressman 
who first said ““careful consideration.” Our friend 
asked why he did not say something. This is about 
as bad as Senator Raynor’s snarl about “What am I 
expected to know?” We will give these gentlemen an 
object lesson in letter writing. Here is one from Con¬ 
gressman McGillicuddy, of Maine, to one of our sub¬ 
scribers : 
I beg to acknowledge receipt of your favor of the 10th 
Inst., advocating the establishment of a parcels post. I 
am pleased to have this expression of your views, and am 
always glad to hava the sentiments of my constituents on 
public questions. Place me on record as very heartily 
favoring a parcels post. In my opinion it is a service 
which the people ought to have, and I shall assuredly lend 
my efforts to Its establishment. d. M’GiULt cuddy. 
Of course we realize that fine words <3© not make 
a substifute for butter at present high prices, but if 
these “careful consideration” gentlemen want to know 
what to say let them copy the last part of this letter 
and live up to it. 
On page 251 a farmer stated that his place was over¬ 
run with fotfes which were stealing his hens. His 
eyesight was too poor to shoot them. What could he 
do? Among many other letters we received the fol¬ 
lowing from western Massachusetts: 
Would you he kind enough to toll me the name and ad¬ 
dress of your subscriber who asks for directions for poison¬ 
ing foxes? If he lives in a fairly accessible place and I can 
get comfortable accommodations I will take a pack of 
hounds there and probably reduce the fox crop and inci¬ 
dentally get a good deal of sport. c. G. g. 
We doubt if there was ever before a better illustra¬ 
tion of the wide social range covered by The R. 
N.-Y.’s subscription list. Here is a poor farmer at the 
mercy of foxes. His request for help meets the eye 
of a fox hunter who is after real sport at following 
fihe hounds! We do not know of any other form of 
literature which could bring such people together to 
their mutual advantage! The way our people respond 
to such calls is the most gratifying thing connected 
with the business. Let anyone ask a fair question in 
good faith and others come at once glad to help out 
of their experience. 
- * 
The public sensation of the past week was the re¬ 
entrance of Theodore Roosevelt into politics. It 
started with a speech delivered at Columbus, Ohio, be¬ 
fore the Constitutional Convention. In this Mr. Roose¬ 
velt took advanced ground in favor of direct primaries, 
popular elections, recall of legal decisions and general 
direct popular government. The large daily papers 
have, almost without exception, bitterly denounced his 
speech as revolutionary and tending to “destroy tha 
constitution.” Yet much of what Mr. Roosevelt said 
undoubtedly expresses the views of a good majority 
of Americans. These daily papers no longer reflect 
unprejudiced views. Following this speech came the 
announcement from Mr. Roosevelt that he would ac¬ 
cept a nomination if the Republican convention should 
offer it. This statement was in reply to a letter from 
seven State Governors who urged Mr. Roosevelt to 
become a candidate. It is too early yet to know what 
effect this incident will have upon politics. Thus far 
there does not seem to be any great response. We 
think the sober judgment of the American people is 
likely to be that Mr. Roosevelt has done an. excellent 
thing in foremg the Republican party to declare itself 
squarely for or against a more liberal and progressive 
programme. At the same time we believe it a mistake 
for any man to serve a third term as President. One 
of the strongest things about our form of government 
is the unwritten law that no President shall serve more 
than two terms. Mexico has given us a glimpse of 
what happens when the one-man habit becomes fixed 
upon a nation. A third term does not seem to be a 
true part of progress in politics. We have no thought 
that Mr. Roosevelt has in mind anything except a 
sincere desire to help his country by bringing the real 
heart of the government closer to the people. No one 
will suspect him of seeking to establish any dictator¬ 
ship or “iron government.'” Yet we think the door 
which leads to any third term as President should re¬ 
main kicked. The precedent of opening it is one for 
the American people to avoid—for that way lies the 
possibility of establishing a form of government 
which the people could never break up by peaceful 
means. 
* 
What I most admire about The R. N.-Y. is the practical 
and common sense manner in which it treats everyday 
affairs of the average farmer. There are plenty of papers 
that tell in a vague way how to run a larm, and print a 
lengthy article describing some agriculturist’s farm, when 
he probably makes his money at souk 'thing else and farms 
it Just for the pleasure of it, whether it pays or not. It is 
nice to read of these model farms, but of no especial help 
or encouragement to the fanner who is perhaps more or 
less In debt and ©bilged to make strap and buckle meet on 
the So cents he gets out of the consumer’s dollar. 
Vermont. n. a. JOSLY.v 
We get our full share of brickbats and bouquets. 
Anyone who really tries to do things must expect 
many of the former. The bouquets should be kept 
for private consumption, but now and then we get one 
which expresses the idea that we want to keep before 
our readers. The note printed above is of that sort 
This man has sized up accurately what we try to do 
with The R. N.-Y. Most of us who help make the 
paper passed our childhood on the farm and served 
full time as hired man and country school-teacher. 
That makes a good course of instruction in human 
nature, and we have not forgotten the old lessons. 
The subscriber comes first of all, and we aim at the 
man who is obliged to work with his hands for what 
he gets. That man cannot hope to carry out the plans 
of the “agriculturist,” though he can learn much from 
them. On the other hand the agriculturist carmot keep 
up his farm unless he can copy to some extent the 
plans of the plain farmer. Thus you will see that our 
Vermont friend has touched the foundation of suc¬ 
cessful agricultural journalism. The closer you can 
get to it the stronger a farm paper will be. 
An amendment to the New York State fertilizer 
law is before the Legislature at Albany. At present 
when a fertilizer sells for less than $10 per ton the 
manufacturer is not compelled to give a guaranteed 
analysis. The proposed amendment will compel him 
to do so and also compel dealers in lime to guarantee 
the amount of actual lime and magnesium and also 
the fineness of ground limestone. It is also proposed 
to give the commissioner the right to withhold a cer¬ 
tificate or license for the sale of any fertilizer for 
which, in bis opinion, misleading or deceptive state¬ 
ments are made. All these things will help stop the 
sale of fake fertilizers and shut off a lot of fool 
“science.” There is now too much of each. 
* 
Keep in mind parcels post letter day. It is March 
18. On that date people who want parcel's post will 
fire a concerted broadside of letters at their Congress¬ 
men. The plan is to have several million letters reach 
Washington—all bearing that date. This will have a 
powerful effect right at this time, and is the most 
effective move that can be made. The time for argu¬ 
ment has gone by. We all know that we want parcels 
post, and why we want it. Now is the time to stamp 
our needs upon Congress. Do not wait for some one 
else to spend two cents, but spend six cents yourself 
—one letter to your Congressman and one each to 
your two Senators. Tell them in your own words that 
you want parcels post Remember the date—March 18. 
* 
On page 114 we printed a fair and sensible letter 
from a man who wants to know the truth about cer¬ 
tain parts of the country where settlers are invited. 
It contained just the questions that a sincere and 
careful man would be likely to ask. We called for 
equally fair and sincere answers. The response is 
surprising and pleasing. The truth is that we have 
found it hard in times past to obtain accurate state¬ 
ments about localities. Without meaning to do so 
the reporters show some prejudice for or against the 
country, so their report is not a broad one, but reflects 
their personal and prejudiced opinion. It is hard to 
analyze fairly the opportunities which your own sec¬ 
tion offers. Yet such analysis is the only thing a 
stranger wants. In the present case we have received 
some reports which are about as fair as they can 
well be, and they will give our people a good idea 
of conditions. 
♦ 
A Western friend sends us a card received from an 
Albany book store. Here is the proposition: 
JUST RECEIVED 
TLUMS OF NEW YORK. By U. P. Hedrick. 9G full-page 
colored plates, thick 4to, buckram, as new. Albany, 
1911 ..$5.00 
I still have copies of The Apples of New York and The 
Grapes of New York in stock at the same prices; $7.50 for 
Apples and $5.00 for Grapes. Your friends may like to 
know where these books may be purchased. 
There is no question about the fact that this is one 
of the political “plums” of New York, with a strong 
arm shaking the plum tree! This beautiful book has 
recently been issued from the Geneva Experiment Sta¬ 
tion. Printed at State expense, it was designed for 
free distribution among fruit growers. Yet the Station 
authorities have control of but a small part of the 
edition. Most of the books are distributed through 
members of the Legislature, many of whom have no 
use for it, and few in their districts who want it. In 
the case of the other books we know that fruit grow¬ 
ers who have' great need of them are unable to get 
them except by paying the large price demanded by 
the book stores. These men are entitled to free copies, 
and it is a shame and disgrace that thev should be 
held up in this way. The Legislature ought to inves¬ 
tigate this matter and find out where these book stores 
obtain their supply. Name the men who are picking 
these “plums” when they belong to the public! Let us 
spray them with lime and sulphur 1 
BREVITIES. 
No “saifing” system can be complete without Alfalfa. 
Put its on record as saying that the Sey bean will come 
next to Alfalfa on many a farm as a mortgage eater. 
"WH find hundreds of farmers short -of hay. Better plan 
to pnt in Canada peas and oats as early as the land will 
let yon. 
It does the peach grower good to tell him, afteT the buds 
are killed, that the cold weather has helped the soil by 
freezing it deep! 
The Food and Drug Inspection Board at Washington de¬ 
cides that the only oil which may legally carry the name 
“sweet oil” is that from olives. Mixtures of olive oil and 
others are not “sweet oil” 
A New Jersey housekeeper, intent upon economy, asked 
through The R. N.-Y. whether she could use pea coal In 
an ordinary range. According to the testimony of over 
one hundred correspondents she can do so with decided 
economy. Frankly, we were astonished at the volume of 
response to this one innocent little query, and also gratified 
by the cheerful readiness to pass along the wisdom ac¬ 
quired by experience. 
