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THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
December 28, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A Rational Weekly Journal lor Country and (Suburban Homes 
Established isrs 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. Couldigwood. President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, 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, $2.61, equal to 8s. Gd., or 
S}i marks, or 10% francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New 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 by a respon¬ 
sible person. But to make doubly sure we wili 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 mentioned The Rural New-Yorker 
when writing the advertiser. 
All over the country fanners are waking up to 
the need of legislation for regulating the business tof 
commission men. Already farmers in Michigan and 
Pennsylvania are asking for copies of the bill to he 
introduced in New York, The plan is to make a 
general move for this form of legislation all through 
the country. It is desirable to have such legislation 
as uniform as possible. We shall print the New 
York bill as soon as it is ready. Then we can all 
get back of the movement and push. 
* 
During the battle for parcels post it Yvas noticed 
that the liquor interests had little to say. Generally 
speaking we think they opposed it. This surprised 
some of our friends, who thought the whisky men 
would he among the first to reap benefit. It was 
easy to argue that a bottle of whisky could be sent 
cheaply by parcels post and in disguise. The new 
rules and regulations state that all forms of in¬ 
toxicating liquors are “unmailable.” They will be 
denied the use of the mails along with obscene matter, 
poisons, disease germs, inflammable material or “any 
article having a had odor.” We think whisky is well 
classified with such goods! 
* 
Since we printed the recent article on sulphur as 
a fertilizer there have been many calls for advice 
about using this material. The whole thing is yet 
in what they call the “experimental stage.” This 
means that while the scientists are sure of it they do 
not know. No farmer would be justified in going to 
any great expense in using sulphur. It will help, how¬ 
ever, if you try it and watch results. From 300 to 400 
pounds per acre will be about the right dose. We 
may use the ordinary commercial sulphur or pyrites 
which are used in making sulphuric acid, but do not 
get the idea that sulphur will double your crops or that 
we advise you to use it freely. It is simply one of 
those promising things which should be carefully 
tried out. 
The New York Vegetable Growers’ Association 
has started out to make itself heard from. Here are 
the figures they claim: 
Property Value of 
Invested Product 
Fruit . 858,157,185 $17,988,894 
Vegetables . 101,102,441 86,309.544 
Flowers . 8,692.939 5,149,000 
The vegetable growers go to the various horticul¬ 
tural meetings and find little beside fruit discussions. 
Vegetables are rarely mentioned. On the basis of 
the above figures they think vegetable discussion 
ought to have a “square deal” when “horticulture” 
is mentioned. Very likely vegetable growers are on 
the Yvrong trail. The “horticulfural'’ societies talk 
fruit because that is what the people who attend 
want to hear. The great interest and attendance has 
been built up because fruit was made the prominent 
feature. It seems to us that the vegetable men would 
do better to organize their own meetings and develop 
them as the fruit men have done. Each subject is 
large enough to travel alone. 
* 
Among the great movements for the betterment of 
humanity which mark the opening years of the pres¬ 
ent century a prominent place will be taken by the 
beginning of a widespread and concerted effort to 
wipe out tuberculosis. Vital statistics show that one- 
tenth of the deaths from all causes are due to this 
disease, and that of those dying between the ages of 
15 and 50 one-third succumb to tuberculosis. Until 
recently it has been supposed that consumption was 
an air-borne disease, conveying its infection upon 
germ-laden particles of dust directly to the lungs of 
its victims, hut later studies lead to the conclusion 
that this is a comparatively rare mode of transmission, 
and that, in most cases of infection, the germs are 
swallowed with food and drink, an<I find their way 
through the circulating fluids of the body to its 
various parts, lodging, most frequently perhaps, in 
some portion of the lungs. With a greater knowledge 
of the methods by which tuberculosis is transmitted 
has come the realization that it is a preventable dis¬ 
ease, and that a large part of the deaths from it are 
avoidable. Such care of the consumptive’s sputum as 
shall not only prevent the inhalation of any particles 
of it, when dried and mixed with dust, but the possi¬ 
bility, also, of the food and drink of others becoming 
contaminated by it, and the exclusion from the diet 
of uncooked milk or other food containing the active 
germs of tuberculosis will reduce the deaths from 
this disease to an almost negligible quantity. A cam¬ 
paign of education is now being vigorously waged to 
teach these fundamental truths. With this knowledge 
in the possession of every intelligent man and woman, 
and a full appreciation of their responsibility to others 
upon the part of consumptives and their friends, the 
“great white plague” should soon he compelled to 
take its place with smallpox and other great scourges 
of the past as a matter rather of historic interest than 
of present dread. 
* 
Our Christmas message this j’ear comes in the 
way of news or an announcement. The R. N.-Y. 
is 64 years old. In all these years of hard work it has 
never had a home of its own. Five years ago it 
bought its first press and this only brought to us 
more and more the need of a permanent home and' 
the unsatisfactory life of living about here and there 
in rented quarters. For years we have told our 
readers something of the work that may be done in 
taking places which others may have abandoned and 
adapting them to suit home requirements. The writ¬ 
er’s own home was secured in this way. Five gen¬ 
erations had lived and saved upon the farm, to have 
their savings and their land lost by the sixth and 
last. And now, in like manner The R. N.-Y. finds 
its own home in the old, abandoned property of the 
Chelsea Methodist Church on 30th Street, New York. 
The lower part of Manhattan Island is being steadily 
given up to manufacturing and business. This 
Methodist Church organization has moved up town 
with its people, hut we have secured the church 
building for our future home. It was erected in 
1848, the same year in which The R. N.-Y. started. 
It is a plain, substantial building which will be fitted 
up to house us comfortably and give the paper full 
chance to grow. 
We like to make this announcement at Christmas 
time. Our people know that The R. N.-Y. stands 
for the farmer’s home as the real heart of the entire 
body of society. We think they will be interested in 
knowing about our own home. We are glad that 
The R. N.-Y. is to live and do its work in this good 
old church. It may fairly be said that honest journal¬ 
ism should rank with the pulpit in its influence for 
good and for that true unlift which may give men 
the mastery over themselves and over conditions. 
Happily we believe that in some way influences and 
ideals live and remain within the walls of these old 
buildings, and in our own work for farmers and 
country people we shall endeavor to remember the 
church. The new home will not be ready for a few 
months yet, but Yve wanted to tell 3 r ou about it at 
Christmas. For this is the time of good cheer, and 
year after year you have had our sincere good wishes 
and sympathy. As the years go by and old friends 
grow closer we feel less and less inclined to make 
promises or to try to tell what we shall do next year. 
We shall do our best to make The R. N.-Y. useful 
and helpful and true. It will have all our thought 
and energy, and we shall as usual look to you for 
help and suggestion. We have grown a little in size 
this year, with 1300 pages against 1248 last year. 
We can well remember that we thought it quite an 
achievement when we were able to speak of a year’s 
volume as “the book of 1,000 pages.” But material 
growth is of small importance compared with the 
growth of friendship and confidence, which has be¬ 
come cemented in the great “Rural family.” You will 
he with us, and«we shall go on together, and so we say 
to all: God bless you and keep you from harm. 
* 
Parcels Post! A few days after you read this 
(on January 1) you can try this new service. If 
you have much mailing to he done, we advise you 
to send 75 cents to the Chief Clerk, Post Office De¬ 
partment, Washington, D. C„ and ask for a map and 
guide. This will tell you how to figure the postage 
to any part of the country. Remember this: do not 
put regular postage stamps on these packages. You 
must use special parcels post stamps which will he 
sold at post offices. They are bright red in color. 
Remember again that .seeds, cuttings, roots, scions 
-and -plants do not come under parcels post rates. 
These goods retain their old flat or uniform rate of 
one cent for each two ounces. But the limit is in¬ 
creased to 11 pounds. Your name and addiess must 
go on the package and you are permitted to add such 
inscriptions as “Merry Christmas,” “With best wishes,” 
etc. The Post Office Department has prescribed rules 
for packing various articles—we give on the next 
page these rules which apply to perishable articles— 
particularly eggs. Of course it will take us all some 
time to know how to use this privilege to best ad¬ 
vantage. Let us all be patient and do all we can to 
make the service a great success. The zone map 
should be exhibited and explained at every farmers’ 
institute or other meeting. 
* 
With New Year’s the cry of the “back-to-the- 
lander” starts up once more. The real estate men 
and land sharks are first to hear it, and they know 
how to answer. As a rule the “back-to-the-lander” 
is more likely to go for advice to the dog that bites 
rather than to the man who has been bitten. Thus 
we will try to send the bitten to the man who needs 
information. We have . never had sounder advice 
than the following: 
In The R. N.-Y. ?f December 14, M. F. asks whether it 
is possible for a city-bred man to get a living for a 
family of four on a 40-acre farm. My husband and my¬ 
self are “back-to-tbe-landers” with six years’ experience 
behind us. When we are asked similar questions we . say, 
“Try it on some other man's farm first.” By working on 
a well-equipped systematized farm under experienced direc¬ 
tion, is the only way to learn whether one is physically 
and mentally adapted for farm work and farm life, and 
whether one is endowed with native sense so as to invest 
$2,000 in a farm profitably. It is all a matter of personal 
equation, and rib one knows unless he tries; it is easier 
to resign a hired man’s job than to retire, beaten, from a 
lost investment. A few months’ experience as a hired 
man is more valuable than any other way of getting 
knowledge on this subject, and will some time save hun¬ 
dreds of dollars. In some cases a few weeks are sufficient 
to cure the man’s fever for farming. 
Sullivan Co., N. Y. mbs. Gertrude o. berylson. 
You can write an entire encyclopedia on the sub¬ 
ject and not get in as much common sense as this 
short note carries. There are some lines of business 
in which the strongest impressions come through 
the eyes and brain. When it comes to back-to-the- 
landing the hands and sweat glands are most use¬ 
ful in giving information. 
* 
It will evidently be necessary to “show” many of 
our city men before we can hope for a true agri¬ 
cultural credits law. This is because the average city 
men knows so little of farm conditions. You will 
meet thousands of such men who honestly believe that 
farmers now have just as good opportunities for 
obtaining credit as merchants or business men. They 
simply do not know the facts. We think it far better 
to show such men the real conditions rather than to 
antagonize them. We need their help, and they can 
be made to see that fair credit for farmers will 
ultimately help them. We are therefore sending 
this letter to a large number of farmers: 
Will you be kind enough to give us a fair statement 
concerning the possibility for a farmer to obtain credit in 
your country? It is often necessary for farmers to bor¬ 
row money with which to buy fertilizer, or feed, or to ob¬ 
tain machinery. They can do far better at such work if 
they have the cash. Under similar conditions a manufac¬ 
turer or a merchant can usually borrow such money on 
his note without giving a definite mortgage on his 
property. Now suppose a farmer in your neighborhood 
have a good farm and considerable personal property. Can 
he borrow money as the merchant or the manufacturer 
could on his note, without giving a mortgage on his farm, 
It is evident that in order to take advantage of business op¬ 
portunities farmers ought to have something approaching 
credit which business men enjoy. Could a farmer in your 
neighborhood borrow money for the purchase of cash goods 
without giving a mortgage ? 
We wish our readers everywhere would give us 
the facts regarding this. Somehow, no one seems to 
have thought of gathering just this form of informa¬ 
tion though the U. S. Department of Agriculture 
has obtained much valuable data. Will you help in 
this ? ______________ 
BREVITIES. 
December 14 was “Corn Day” in Kansas. At every 
farmers’ institute the speakers talked corn. 
The latest hen story is of a New York bird that laid 
72 eggs in an icehouse, where they kept in cold storage. 
The North Caucasus exported last year 6,282 tons of 
carbonate of potash, obtained from burning sunflower 
stalks! 
Yes, you might be eating omelet right now if you had 
put eggs in water glass last May, when the hens were 
really at business. 
Louisiana is the great sulphur producing State. In 
1903 $3,709,690 worth of sulphur was imported. Last 
year this had shrunk to $552,836. 
What ails Australia? Now it is stated that a few 
years ago a certain breed of cats was “introduced.” They 
have “run wild.”’ taken -to The deserts, where they attack 
and kill small animals like lambs. 
