026 
May 18, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journnl for Country and Suburban Ilomcs 
Established 1850 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. Coi.t.ingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dii.lo.n-, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. ROYLE, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, §2.01, equal to 8s. Gd., or 
8K marks, or 10)4 francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates GO cents per agate line—7 words. Discount for 1 ime orders. 
References required for advertisers unknown to us j and 
cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible pei-son. 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¬ 
scribe l’s against rogues, but we do not guarantee to adjust trifling differences 
between subscribers and honest, responsible advertisers. Neither w ill 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 Tiie Rubai. 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. 
Will you help us obtain a fair statement of the 
prices paid for farm produce? We have of late 
printed reports of auction sales and of direct trans¬ 
fers among our readers. These give a far more ac¬ 
curate idea of what farmers actualfy receive than the 
prices reported by boards of trade or by dealers. We 
want many more of such reports. Will you report 
auctions or such private sales as you know about, and 
tell us just wliat farmers receive? 
* 
You will see from the opinions printed on page 627 
that our readers are plainspoken in stating their po¬ 
litical preferences. We would like to print more of 
the hundreds of letters which are coming. Among the 
» Democrats it seems to he the general opinion that 
their candidate will he decided by the action of the 
Republican convention. Among Republican readers 
there is a decided preference for Mr. Roosevelt. It 
is evident, however, that since the personal contro¬ 
versy between the President and Mr. Roosevelt has 
been opened the belief is growing that neither man 
can he elected if the Democrats are wise. We shall 
not be surprised to see some very dark horse finally 
started. 
* 
There is another true back-to-the-land story on 
page 619. This time it is an Italian woman who gives 
her experience, and to a thoughtful person it is full 
of suggestions. She says that the pioneer work of 
going hack to the land is like the struggle of the 
Pilgrims—with the Indians left out. Some of you 
who have comfortable homes and farms—perhaps 
handed down through generations of ancestors—do 
not realize what it means for the landless to secure 
a piece of the earth for their own. We wish it were 
possible for all of our people to read between the 
lines of this article and realize what it all means. 
Success to a “back-to-the-lander” is not reached in a 
march behind a brass hand. It means a lonely and 
humble journey through hard places, yet the home is 
worth while. 
* 
Not long ago some one asked a question about an 
important farm practice. We called for an open dis¬ 
cussion and obtained just what the questioner wanted. 
Now we hear from a critic: 
“Why did you not send that question to Dr. Billsou or 
Prof. Dickson, Col. Tomson or Judge Harrison? They are 
high authorities and their answers carry weight.” 
This gives us a chance to explain once more our 
theory of conducting a farm paper. We have great 
respect for Dr. Billson and the rest. They certainly 
have their place, but their authority is sometimes so 
high that it is out of sight. Their opinion sometimes 
carries so much weight that it cannot climb over the 
hills and reach the plain people who need it. The 
language of the laboratory may be a strange or un¬ 
known tongue on the farm, for farming has a lan¬ 
guage of its own. These learned men are strong on 
the why of doing things, hut from the very nature of 
the case they cannot he strong on the how. Most of 
our questioners ask how or zvhat a man shall actually 
do to his soil, his stock or his crops. We think the 
answer should usually be 80 per cent how and 20 per 
cent zvhy. Take a man who wants to raise fruit. No 
doubt Dr. Billson can find out for him why lime- 
sulplnir or oil will kill insects and help the trees, or 
discover new methods or materials. Prof. Dickson 
can tell why cultivation holds moisture or why mulch¬ 
ing helps. Yet it stands to reason that plain John 
Williams or Thomas Richards can tell better how 
THE RURAL N^W-YORKER 
to spray, how to prune and how to cultivate. We 
hold that the how is more essential than the why. The 
why men must finally submit to the verdict of the 
how men or practical farmers. Readers of The R. 
N.-Y. have accumulated a vast amount of informa¬ 
tion and experience. Our plan is to go right to them 
when our people ask for help. They have never yet 
failed to come forward with just the needed informa¬ 
tion. This is mostly hozv to do things, which we rank 
as the foundation of successful farming. We are 
glad to have Dr. Billson and the rest help with the 
why. That is like the concrete which holds the stones 
together, but the solid foundation is the how —the 
practical experience of earnest people. And here is 
another thing. The spirit and the habit of trying to 
be helpful is the very foundation of successful co¬ 
operation. When this is encouraged among those who 
comprise wliat we call ‘‘our people” or the Rural fam¬ 
ily all are helped—the givers and those who receive, 
and we are all drilled a little more in the business of 
working together. 
* 
Imagine if you. will the scene suggested on page 
634. E. G. Lewis had just escaped prison sentence 
by a squeak! The prison door swung so close to 
him that it caught and tore away the cloak of re¬ 
spectability which misguided women had made for 
him. Yet, with brazen nerve, he came demanding 
that Congress whitewash his black record and fill his 
pockets with money! He recognized that The R. 
N.-Y. had smashed through his disguise and defense 
of bluff. The shyster and the faker have one last- 
argument ! 
“You’re another!” 
That is the last resort, and so, baffled and battered 
by the damning truth about his fake papers, Lewis 
played the last card of impugning the motives of 
The R. N.-Y. 
It was trumped by the challenge to find an im¬ 
proper or fake advertisement in this paper. The faker 
could not dodge or squirm out of it. There were 
the papers, selected by himself. He had to make 
good or shut up. So Lewis, his two attorneys and 
two members of the House Committee hunted for 
what seemed like 20 minutes for a fake or a lie in 
The R. N.-Y. And they could not find one! There 
was the record in enduring printer’s ink. They were 
experts. Lewis is the world’s master of plausible 
“guff.” No man in America knows better than he 
how to make innocent words play criminal tricks. 
Had there been the shadow of a lie in all the hundreds 
of advertisements spread before him he would have 
found it as a father finds his child. 
And think what the search meant to those men. 
" You’re another!” is a fool’s argument at best—hut 
it was all they had left, the only possible sort of a 
balm for their bruises and sores. * They had staked 
their last card upon that search! 
They could not find one lie —and there they stood 
marked for what they are—beaten and discredited 
bluffers. All things considered that was the hardest 
and most vital test that a farm paper ever stood up 
to. And it took the wind out of the most impudent 
bluffer that ever came to the capital for plunder. 
Down the great stairway into the sunshine, freed at 
last, there must have walked a great throng of smil¬ 
ing ghosts. They were the great bluffers who in 
years past have come to the capital with feverish 
fingers and scheming brains hunting for other peo¬ 
ple’s money. They had haunted the scene until the 
king of them all came and found his bluff exposed. 
Then they were free to depart, for the world’s cham¬ 
pion faker had been exposed and silenced. 
* 
You may say what you will against the record of 
the present administration. You will then, if you are 
fair, he obliged to give it credit for splendid work in 
the Post Office Department. No administration that 
has gone before has done better work in shutting out 
the fakes and the frauds who use the mails for dis¬ 
honest and disgusting purposes. No such work has 
ever been done before in the history of any country. 
Hundreds of snides and rascals who tried to cheat 
people by selling bogus goods or steal from them by 
offering bogus stocks or “securities” have been shut 
out of the mails. It has required the finest kind of 
courage to do this. Every snide and faker balked of 
his prey becomes a bitter enemy of the men who 
pulled his claws. Every newspaper deprived of a 
share of the loot in the form of advertising turns 
upon the administration which shut off its revenue. 
Even the fond or foolish victims whose money has 
been saved will 'often turn upon those who saved 
them. The present administration knew it was mak¬ 
ing these hitter enemies, yet it has kept right on 
chasing the rascals away from Uncle Sam's mail hags. 
It has saved the public over $70,000,000 already, yet 
this is hut a fraction of the robbery which is con¬ 
stantly going on through the mails. The Federal 
Government cannot act until the legal proof is clear. 
There are thousands of rascals still using the mails. 
We may be morally sure they are thieves, hut they 
are too cunning to permit legal proof and the Gov¬ 
ernment cannot touch them. For years The R. N.-Y. 
has been almost alone in exposing the methods of 
these rascals and warning the public against them. A 
little study and the application of common sense ought 
to enable anyone to spot them, but so long as they 
can use the mails they wear a cloak of respectability 
and catch their victims. As we know from experience 
the fierce hatred of these black-hearted leeches when 
picked off their victims we feel that the Administra¬ 
tion should receive the fullest credit for its fine work. 
* 
The House of Representatives finally passed the 
postal bill with a provision for rural parcels post. It 
is about like what we described last week. Of course 
this is what the disappointed call a “lemon”—a very 
poor and inadequate substitute for the real thing. 
Now what shall we do with a “lemon?” We may 
throw it away because we have not received a dozen, 
or we may make it into lemonade and use it as far as 
it goes. Our policy is to tell our readers frankly just 
what the true situation is. We fear that this “lemon” 
is all that can he picked at this session. We favor 
doing two things. Let us keep up the battle harder 
than ever for a genuine parcels post. Let us also 
combine to make this puny little makeshift so popu¬ 
lar and profitable that it will be our strongest argu¬ 
ment for a full service. As for those responsible for 
handing out the “lemon,” Speaker Champ Clark is re¬ 
ported as the ringleader. 
* 
Before answering any of the above we wish to place 
ourselves emphatically on record as denying your right 
to question this transaction, as no disposition has been 
shown on our part to refuse to make a proper settlement 
should one prove to be necessary, or within reason. 
This came from an advertiser who sold an article 
to one of our readers. This reader claimed that the 
article was not satisfactory and gave what seemed 
fair reasons for thinking so. We naturally asked the 
advertiser for an explanation and received the above. 
We thought everyone who knows The R. N.-Y. un¬ 
derstood our relations with readers. We do our best 
to protect them and look out for their interests. When 
any man advertises goods in The R. N.-Y. he must 
understand that he is not entering upon any one¬ 
sided transaction, but is held responsible for what he 
offers and sells. When a buyer spends a dollar with 
one of our advertisers he acts in one sense upon our 
recommendation and we intend to see that he gets his 
dollar’s worth—as represented. We want it squarely 
understood that the reader or buyer comes first. We 
intend to give both buyer and advertiser a square 
deal, with no unfair advantage to either. This has 
been explained so many times that we thought every¬ 
body understood it. When complaint is made on either 
side we go straight to the other party and offer our 
services in making a fair settlement. This is a right 
'which belongs to us, and is an unwritten part of any 
contract for subscription or advertising. Our friend 
may deny that right with all the emphasis he can 
command, but that does nothing to destroy it. He 
will find that there is no stronger asset in doing busi¬ 
ness with our people than the willingness to recognize 
The R. N.-Y.’s position. 
BREVITIES. 
Some people use tacks instead of tact. 
Let dogs delight to bark and bite, for ’tis their nature 
to. but Presidents both in and ex should not get in a stew. 
Has anyone actual experience in estimating the weight 
of hay by bulk? How many cubic feet in a ton—actual? 
“The man that wants to kill Alfalfa roots, according to 
my opinion, needs an, ice bag on his head. I have head¬ 
aches trying to start it, not to kill,” says J. F. 
A good many farmers omit the grain feed for the work 
horses on Saturday night. The horses stand idle over 
Sunday, and are better off for less grain without hard labor. 
Who has not cursed the English sparrow? If such per¬ 
son can respond he may now say “I told you so !” The 
sparrow now promises to clean out the Alfalfa weevil in 
the West. 
We understand the United States Government has a 
large quantity of spoiled gunpowder on hand which may 
be sold as a fertilizer. Its nitrogen ought to blow growth 
into plants. 
Do not buy a silver-plating outfit expecting to make a 
good living at the business. You cannot make a silver 
lining to a cloud in that way. You will have the cloud 
while the manufacturer has the lining. 
May 11 was “wheat day” in Kansas. On that day every 
member of a farmers’ institute was expected to say some¬ 
thing on this proposition : “Kanas wheat averages loss than 
15 bushels an acre. Why not make it 25?” Will talking 
raise wheat? The right sort of talk Aill help. 
