864 
THE KURAb NEW-YORKER 
August 10, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARTHERS PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established (SCO 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. Coljjngwood, President and Editor. 
Jon N* J. Dellom, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. P. Dillon. Secretary. Mus. E. T. Roylk, 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 X marks, or 10J4 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 time orders. 
References required for advertisers unknown to us 5 and 
cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible 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 exposed. We protect sub¬ 
scribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee toadjust 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 mentioned The Rural New-Y okker 
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. 
* 
Since we began to discuss the European systems 
of loaning money direct to farmers several people 
have written to say that no such system is needed in 
this country. They say all American farmers can 
borrow what they need provided they have what the 
creditors consider good security. The best way to 
answer such statements is to present facts. This we 
shall do, giving actual cases where farmers have tried 
to obtain needed credit for working capital. On the 
next page will be found some figures showing what 
small cotton growers are obliged to face. We shall 
he able to find conditions nearly or quite as bad in 
every State in the Union. As stated last week, the 
Russian government started its system of small farm 
credits in order to protect peasants and small farmers 
from the usurers and loan sharks. In this country 
it is beyond question that many of our small farmers 
are at a great disadvantage compared with other busi¬ 
ness men, because they cannot use their property as 
fair basis for a suitable loan. 
* 
“Men prosper mentally, physically, morally and spirit¬ 
ually only when they are in close proximity to the 
soil.” 
That is one way Elbert Hubbard puts it, hut he does 
not get it all in. A man may be too close to the soil— 
so close that he cannot prosper in any way. A man 
may be chained to a clod as hopelessly as though he 
were chained to a rock in prison. The clod is the 
type of poor, hopeless farming. Water and sunshine 
do not enter the clod, seeds cannot germinate in it, 
food and life cannot grow from it. It is a prison in 
which the sublime forces of nature are locked up. 
There can be no prosperity while men are chained to 
a clod—no matter how close they come to the soil. 
They prosper as they learn how to use lime, tillage and 
other weapons to crush that clod and set the forces 
of Nature free. For man becomes himself free as 
he gives freedom to other things. As the man learns 
how to crush his clod and turn it more and more into 
productive soil he prospers. While still close to the 
soil he rises above it in mental and moral power. 
For the man who remains flat on the soil, even though 
he force that soil to the limit of its productiveness, is 
not the best or most useful farmer. That title should 
go to the man who keeps “close to the soil” and yet 
grows up and claims and earns his fair share in the 
market and a fair place in political thought. 
* 
Now comes the crisis of the late potato crop. The 
tuber is about 75 per cent water, its “quality” largely 
depending on the amount of starch which it carries. 
Consumers often complain about “soggy” or watery 
potatoes. They do not cook out dry and “mealy,” but 
are more like putty. There are some varieties which 
are naturally soggy. They may give a heavy yield 
of large tubers, but the proportion of starch is low. 
While at their best such potatoes are fair they are 
naturally inferior—much as some cows naturally give 
milk low in fat. When such potatoes are not ma¬ 
tured or ripened they are as unfit for food as green 
apples or oranges. No potato can be at its best unless 
it can mature its tubers naturally—so now comes the 
crisis when the crop is likely to die prematurely. The 
quality of the tuber is determined by the amount of 
starch. The leaf of the potato plant is its starch fac¬ 
tory. Only when the leaves are green and healthy 
can starch be made and stored up in the tuber. There¬ 
fore the size and quality of the potato will depend ex¬ 
actly upon the health of the leaf. If the hugs eat the 
leaf off or if blight destroy it the tuber cannot possibly 
obtain the starch needed to give quality and size. If 
blight injure or ruin the leaf while the tubers are 
partly grown they can never he anything hut inferior. 
It follows from all this that we should keep the potato 
vine green and thrifty as long as possible—until the 
plant is matured. That is the chief reason for spray¬ 
ing with Bordeaux mixture. The copper in the Bor¬ 
deaux protects the vine and leaf, keeps off blight and, 
gives the plant a fairer chance to mature. You may 
have prepared your soil perfectly and fertilized as you 
should. That is not all, for the vines must be kept 
alive until they mature. 
* 
Last week on page 835 I read this: “The R. N.-Y. is 
squarely and frankly progressive as we understand the 
term!” How do you understand it, and what do you 
mean? s - B - 
New Jersey. 
That is a fair question, and we will try to answer 
it fairly. We understand a progressive to be one who 
believes in progress. We understand progress to 
mean improvement—moving on to better and more 
advanced things. In the practice of farming a pro¬ 
gressive is one not satisfied to live in the past with 
old methods and theories which time has grown away 
from. In the business of farming a progressive be¬ 
lieves that farmers must organize, get together as 
other interests are doing, and shake off much of the 
old suspicion and prejudice which has so long held 
us apart and thus down. We find nothing unpro-- 
gressive or without growth in nature except the dead. 
Man, beast, plant—none can stand still, they must 
either go forward or go backward. So in the dis¬ 
cussion of public questions and in the struggle for 
human liberties The R. N.-Y. is progressive. We can 
see but one reason why civilization should develop. 
The great powers of nature and human society should 
only be harnessed for the general good of humanity. 
When they are so harnessed and directed that one 
class secures a great special privilege while a much 
larger class must pay the price of it, we are not mak¬ 
ing true progress, but rather going backward. And 
that has been the tendency in this country for most 
of the time since the Civil War. It has come faster 
and faster during the past dozen years, until we have 
nearly stopped making progress toward a higher state 
of human liberty, and a fairer distribution of what 
human labor creates. We think this is largely due 
to the prejudice and narrow discussion resulting from 
our division into two worn-out political parties. Under 
this present division of parties it is impossible to or¬ 
ganize a square, sincere battle between the radical 
and conservative forces, and that is the only thing 
that will bring us back to fair and steady progress. 
The R. N.-Y. is no man-worshipper, but stands for 
the principle of a fairer chance for the common people. 
And we have no illusions about “sweeping the coun¬ 
try” or changing society at once. Power has been 
working away from the people for 50 years. If it is 
brought back in another half century the years will 
he well worth it. We are “frankly and squarely pro¬ 
gressive” and shall continue to he as long as we live. 
Right now progression means government more and 
more by the people and less and less by a small, priv¬ 
ileged class. We stand for that as the best remedy 
for public evils. We are willing to give the people all 
the power they can use and still practice fair restraint. 
We are not quite clear yet just how, in the present 
campaign, a progressive vote will do the most good! 
* 
For years American railroad men have been for¬ 
bidden the use of intoxicating liquors while on duty. 
Rum spells ruin to the men handling such a powerful 
force as a railroad train—the same as it does in 
smaller enterprises. The D. L. & W. R. R. Company 
has now gone a step further in prohibiting the use of 
liquor, with the following order: 
The use of intoxicants while on or off duty, or the visit¬ 
ing of saloons or places where liquor is sold, incapacitates 
men for railroad service and is absolutely prohibited. Any 
violation of this rule by employees in engine, train, yard 
or station service will be suflicient cause for dismissal. 
Now, seriously, there is not a person who ever 
travels on a railroad who will not agree that this or¬ 
der is right. There is not a brewer, distiller or saloon¬ 
keeper who would knowingly give the liquor he sells 
or makes to the railroad men who handle the train 
whereon he rides! That being so, why stop at the 
railroad business with prohibition? There is no busi¬ 
ness on earth which does not face loss or possible ruin 
when workmen are free to drink liquor when “on or 
off duty.” There ought to he just such handling of 
farm laborers, for rum has caused more loss and sor¬ 
row to farm homes than it ever did to the railroad 
business. - 
When will the city people who are trying to bring 
producer and consumer together be ready for business 
with farmers? Not much may be expected until the 
farmers get working organizations for the proper 
handling and distribution of their goods, at a fair 
profit. This condition will not come all at once, like 
a clap of thunder or a comet, but will be the result • 
of patient far-seeing work, backed by the same kind 
of common sense needed to run a farm successfully. 
One form of cooperative retailing can be w-orked now, 
where half a dozen or more neighbors, producing 
goods suitable for retail food trade get one of their 
number to attend to the city end of the business. The 
retailing may be carried on in stalls of the city’s pub¬ 
lic markets or outside stores. The situation must be 
examined carefully, and not too much stress put upon 
the way others have done similar work, because 
proper individuality is an asset in retailing. Of 
course all in such an enterprise must have the confi¬ 
dence of the others and be worthy of it. There is 
no great fortune in a business of this kind, but those 
in it will know that they are getting whatever profit 
there is between the producer and the consumer’s 
kitchen. 
* 
When James W. Wadsworth, Jr., announced his 
candidacy for the Republican nomination for Gover¬ 
nor we wrote him at once asking where he stands 
on farm problems. We do not care what he thinks 
of the Democrats, but, if elected, what will he do to 
promote New York State farming? His answer is 
printed on the next page. Gov. Dix, we understand, 
expects to be nominated, and we have written for his 
“farm platform” in the same way. We would like to 
have you realize first what all this means! Never be¬ 
fore.in the history of New York did any man think it 
worth while to appeal to the people with a direct and 
forcible farm issue. Heretofore a few words of very 
perfunctory guff have been thrown out as all-sufficient 
for “agriculture.” Now, the discontent and well-ex¬ 
pressed demands of our farmers have such compell¬ 
ing power that “agriculture” suddenly becomes a vital 
issue. The need is no greater, but the farmer's power 
is now a recognized factor. For years The R. N.-Y. 
has talked “35-cent dollar” and its trimmings almost 
alone and against opposition and sneers. We may 
now extend our compliments to the gentlemen who 
have tried to laugh this issue out of politics. It has 
come to stay, and they must follow it. The R. N.-Y. 
does not endorse Mr. Wadsworth personally, but we 
are glad he has offered such a platform. 
* 
Senator John Sharp Williams of Mississippi is 
called by many “The Statesman of the South.” We 
considered therefore that he ought to know why the 
Southern Congressmen line up in favor of oleo as 
against honest butter. So one of our Mississippi read¬ 
ers wrote Senator Williams about it and this is the 
argument lie received in reply: 
I suppose the position which Southern Congressmen 
have taken is due very largely to the fact that cotton¬ 
seed oil—what is called “butter oil”—is very largely used 
in the manufacture of oleomargarine, and they saw no 
reason why this industry should be taxed out of existence 
in order to raise the price of another no more healthful 
industry. 
Now are we to accept this childish statement as the 
reason why the South favors oleo? It is a childish 
statement, because the merest child ought to know how 
small a quantity of “cotton oil” is used in making oleo. 
A babe in the cradle ought to understand that no one 
seeks to tax the oleo industry “out of existence.” The 
question is simply whether “oleo,” a collection of 
cheaper fats, shall be permitted to masquerade under a 
yellow color as pure butter! We should expect a 
“statesman” to discuss principles or the foundation 
forces which are making the history of his section. 
Senator Williams ought to know that his State and the 
South generally, needs dairying and live stock hus¬ 
bandry above all else. Dairying would diversify agri¬ 
culture—give a. new cash crop, improve the soil and 
cut down the fearful bill for fertilizers. The tub of 
butter is of far greater importance than the thimbleful 
of oleo oil! Why do not Southern Congressmen con¬ 
sider the living future rather than the dead past? 
BREVITIES. 
We would like to apply chestnut burrs and thistles to 
the man who hunts for a soft job. 
Says a country clergyman of wide culture and experi¬ 
ence : “I don’t like to hear about ‘uplift commissions’ 
to country people. It sounds as though we others are 
so far above them that we have to reach down to pull 
them up, which is taking the wrong standpoint from the 
beginning.” 
A cakload of eggs is taken every day from this country 
to British Columbia. The Northwest Canadian hen does 
not seem to be on her job. There is also a large export 
of milk and cream from the Pacific States into Canada. 
This export milk trade is larger than the imports from 
Canada into New England. 
