8 74 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
August 17, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established tsso 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishins Company, 409 Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John' J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wil 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. 6d., or 
8>i marks, or francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or hank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates CO cents per agate line—7 words. Discount for time orders. 
References required for advertisers unknown to ns ; 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 mate 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 to adjust trifling differences 
bet ween subscribers and honest, responsible advertisers. Neither will we be 
resoonsiblo for (lie debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Not ice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month of the time of 
the transaction, and you must have mentioned Tub Rural New-Yorker 
when writing ttie advertiser. 
The New York Farmers’ Institutes have already 
begun. Meetings were held August 5-8 at the State 
institutions at Binghamton, Utica and Industry. Ed¬ 
ward Van Alstyne has been appointed Director of 
Farmers’ Institutes. Mr. Van Alstyne is justly con¬ 
sidered the best institute conductor in the country, 
and we expect the New York meetings to be stronger 
and more useful than ever this year. 
* 
Many of the efforts to shut off the patent medicine 
fakers have failed owing to a Supreme Court decision. 
This court decided that “false and fraudulent” claims 
about cures do not violate the pure food laws. That 
law simply tries to settle what is to be considered 
“pure” in drugs and food. People have made the 
most extravagant, claims about curing cancer, tuber¬ 
culosis and other diseases, but the court decided that 
so long as they named certain drugs in their medicine 
they could not be punished for using guff and false¬ 
hoods. Now Congress will pass an amendment to the 
pure food law which specifically prohibits such use of 
wild and fraudulent claims. That will settle it—a 
good thing, too. 
* 
I hope you will be able to accomplish something, but it's 
more than a one-man job, however. I wish you success. 
m. p. 
This man refers to the efforts we make to have the 
public see the necessity of farm loans and a fairer 
distribution of the consumer’s dollar. Of course it is 
“more than a one-man job,” and that is just the rea¬ 
son why one man should not shirk it and run away 
from it. The one man cannot move the world, but 
he can stand like a rock for the principle which is 
involved. Let him stand until it is shown that neither 
frost nor fire can remove him, then men will come, 
one, a dozen—and by hundreds, until there is an army 
gathered which will trample over the walls. That is 
the sort of one-man job The R, N.-Y. is looking for. 
* 
The new Progressive party is now in the field 
with candidates and platform. There are still 90 
days before the election—time enough for clear and 
sober discussion. How can a man vote so as to 
serve his country best? That is the question to be 
considered, and it is not a one-sided proposition, 
either. We want to take up the different platforms 
and discuss those features which particularly affect 
farmers and country people. As for the candidates, 
there is one thing which you must remember. Mr. 
Taft and Mr. Wilson are both clean and able men. 
Both of them owe their nomination to the political 
influences which we must recognize as our chief 
reason for criticising the old parties. Both of these 
personally upright men will be under obligations to 
the politicians or “invisible” government which se¬ 
lected them, and we cannot help voting for these 
politicians. Mr. Roosevelt is under no such obliga¬ 
tion. He is the new party at present, and we may 
know just what we are doing if we vote for him. If 
we do not like his methods there is little hope that 
his party will “hold him down.” If we do like what 
he stands for we may know that he will try to put 
it through. 
=k 
One of our best work horses kicked itself lame the 9th of 
June, and some of our land lias grown up to weeds, and 
it lias given us the farm tractor fever, but the price is so 
high on the shelf that we shall have to get over that fever 
for the present, I guess. J. t. s. 
Massachusetts. 
That expresses part of the feelings of many farm¬ 
ers. But they will not get over the fever—for the 
price of good horses goes higher all the time. The 
demand for farm tractors is growing just as the call 
for automobiles developed. We can easily remember 
when at a gathering of farmers a car was an aston¬ 
ishing sight, with a large majority of doubters and 
critics. Now it is accepted as a necessary part of a 
good farm equipment. Wherever we go we find farm¬ 
ers talking about cars and discussing the various 
makes as they do breeds of stock. The car is looked 
upon as a necessity, for country people now realize 
how much it adds to life to be able to eat up space 
and dissolve the miles, which separate friends, in 
gasoline. The country is now to offer the best market 
for good cars. The demand for farm tractors will 
grow in the same way. At first designed for large 
level fields, we shall soon see them able to climb hills 
and dodge around rocks. We can repair a broken 
tractor part quicker than we can a lame leg or a sore 
lung in a horse. 
* 
Several experiences with Hairy vetch like the fol¬ 
lowing are reported. The vetch was seeded with rye 
as a cover crop last Fall. It made a good Fall growth, 
but mostly died out this Spring. But while the vetch 
died the rye made a tremendous growth—more than 
head high and with heavy grain. One reason was 
that the vetch seed did not go in early enough. Again, 
this plant often fails the first year of trial, but grows 
better the more it is planted. The excellence of the 
rye was partly due to the thin seeding and also to the 
fact that as the vetch died the nitrogen which it had 
obtained became available. The rye turned and fat¬ 
tened upon its dead companion. Our advice in such 
cases is to seed rye and vetch on the same ground 
once more. 
* 
In France a battle has been made against the 
hideous signboards and pictures which disfigure the 
landscape. It is doubtful whether anyone ever 
bought a corset or a pill or a shoe from seeing the 
wonderful artistic work which stares one in the face 
wherever he turns his head when traveling. Yet the 
manufacturers seem to think it pays, and cheerfully 
charge the cost to purchasers of their goods. In 
France the fight against these warts on the face of 
nature has culminated in a high tax. Such tax is laid 
on all signboards that can be seen from any public 
road or path or railway—except when on the walls 
of houses or inclosure or within 328 feet of any group 
of houses or buildings. The tax is graded by the size 
of the sign and runs from $9.65 to $77.20 per year! 
This, it is expected, will pull down many of the 
French signs. Americans are hardly ready for this 
excessive taxation, but they ought to devise some 
scheme for abating the signboard nuisance. 
* 
Do you fully realize how you set the bells ringing with 
your center shot about dishonest, deceptive legislation with 
a “joker” in it? You hit a vital spot with the first crack 
of your gun. w. H. m. 
This supplements the note on the next page. To 
illustrate what we name a “joker,” take what was 
called the “Johnson bill” in the last Connecticut Legis¬ 
lature. The supposed object of this was to prevent 
short weights and measures. A lawyer with a great 
reputation was employed and paid a large sum of 
money to draw up a bill that would bite the robbers 
who cheat the public. It looked like a “wonderful 
victory for justice.” Now comes the test of the teeth 
in this famous law. The city of Hartford fought 
crushed stone from a contracting company which it is 
claimed was short in weight. On going into court 
the lawyer for the defense calmly stated that the law 
contained a nice little “joker” as usual. It seems that 
the law cunningly refers to violation by “persoifs” 
and it is claimed that in the law a corporation is not 
a “person.” Under this interpretation the corner gro- 
ceryman who cut out an ounce of butter could be 
convicted, while the great corporation which stole 
thousands is not a “person,” and thus immune. Thus 
instead of bulldog teeth in this famous law, there is 
only a toothless “joker.” There is an illustration of 
what we mean. We should not want such a law re¬ 
pealed, but we want the teeth put into it. 
* 
No—we have not forgotten our good old friend 
E. W. Philo—nor has he forgotten us. Every now 
and then we are permitted to read letters which 
Brother Philo has written, and in which we are men¬ 
tioned. We gather that Brother Philo would like to 
put us behind the bars! He should remember that 
according to his own system close confinement in a 
heatless “coop” will develop some good fighting stock. 
We have been patiently waiting for people to come 
forward and tell us how they make a living with six 
hens in a back yard. The only direct evidence thus 
far presented is a newspaper item under “Industries 
of the South.” Here it is: 
E. W. Philo, Elmira, N. Y., and associates purchased 
42,000 acres of land near Jupiter, Fla., at about $400,000 
aud will develop for fruit and poultry farming. 
Now we are willing to accept <%at as evidence that 
there is money in telling about a living from six hens 
and selling outfits until which to make this living. The 
six hens may not have laid the 42,000 acres of Florida 
land, but telling about them seems to have separated 
a good-sized slice of Florida. Brother Philo has not 
asked our opinion—we give it freely. We cannot think 
of a more appropriate investment for this hen money 
than to put it in Florida land. There is another propo¬ 
sition which offers a lot of money for telling about it. 
The six hens and the 42.000 Florida acres will prob¬ 
ably respond like magic when inoculated with “guff.” 
We now look forward with eager interest to Brother 
Philo’s “literature” on the possibilities of Florida 
farming. If he wants a little more land we will sell 
him some at a low price—soil with many good dollars 
sunk in it, for the chickens to scratch out. 
* 
On the next page we print “The Farmer,” an extract 
from Theodore Roosevelt’s speech at the National 
Convention of the new Progressive party. Our object 
is to show our readers just what the leading candi¬ 
dates have to say about agriculture. If Mr. Taft, Mr. 
Wilson and the others see fit to talk directly about 
farmers and their needs we shall print what they say. 
Mr. Roosevelt was nominated with remarkable en¬ 
thusiasm. The platform of the new party demands 
the things which the majority of us have called for. 
Yet we think the most enthusiastic admirer of Mr. 
Roosevelt will agree with us that this essay on 
farming is pretty dull if not commonplace. It is all 
true enough, but it has little suggestion of vital and 
red-blooded remedy. There is not even a strong 
reference to parcels post. Honestly, this reads like 
a literary hash made from meat which has been 
served up hot in the farm papers. We thank God 
that these issues have at last forced their way into 
a party platfqrm where the entire country must con¬ 
sider them. We regret, however, that someone does 
not see the importance of stating the real problems 
of the farmer with such tremendous power that the 
issues will lead all others. 
* 
Something over 300 persons have written us about 
that $500 farm story. Out of this a small but select 
Gideon’s band of writers are at work. We have had 
some difficulty in getting our people to understand 
that we do not want a sermon, an essay on farming, 
or the history of a farm. We want a genuine novel 
with a strong plot and well developed characters. 
The fanning part of it should be worked in more 
by inference, but we want the author to get way 
down into the heart of some vital question which 
has been eating at the soul of farm life. Yes, and 
do it in a language which farmers can understand. 
A woman who sees just what we want writes this: 
My friend, the kind of story you want has never been 
written on American farm life, and 1 fear never will be. 
Of all topics our rural life gets the worst handling from 
authors. Their farm folk are not even good caricatures. 
Authors can't rid themselves of the idea that to be 
country-bred one must needs be simple-minded and un¬ 
grammatical. The worst feature of this libel upon our 
rural communities is that it sends abroad the impression 
that the mass of our people are uncultured. Their farm 
character, like the cowboy of romance, was never seen 
on laud or sea. Among our popular authors of the day I 
know of not one who (I think) could write your story. 
David Graham Phillips might have written such a story if 
he had understood farm life as well as lie understood city 
life and fashion. 
We believe that country people must develop a 
literature of their own if they ever expect to have 
their story put into enduring type. The “popular 
author” goes where his popularity leads him. We 
hope there arc men and women among our readers 
who can put before us a fair picture of the soul of 
the man among the hills. Some of the stories now 
being written for The R. N.-Y. are full of promise. 
BREVITIES. 
Separate out the young roosters. Eat the old hens. 
More lime and more tile to nail Alfalfa to a rough, 
hard soil. 
One tiny germ—left iu the can may make the whole 
thiug squirm. 
During a year a good-sized rat will consume about as 
much grain as a lien. 
It is your duty to kill every rat you can (ind. If bubonic 
plague gets into this country it will be brought aud spread 
by rats. 
The so-called “hook worm” has reached San Francisco. 
It was found on laborers who wore growing vegetables 
for sale! 
The Pure Food aud Drug Department has decided that 
hereafter all prepared foods which are greened iu color 
with copper salts are adulterated, aud are not to be sold 
as pure foods. 
They say “a burnt child dreads the lire.” Men are 
children of a larger growth. It seems sometimes as if they 
tried to make money on the homeopathic principle of 
putting their burnt fingers back into the fire. 
According to S. S. McClure, the average annual fire loss 
in the United States is $2.51 per capita, whereas the 
annual loss iu European countries is 33 cents per capita. 
The average loss of life by fire iu this country is 7.000 
annually. 
