191 o. 
THE RURAL NBW-YORKBR 
1233 
It will be months before any particular changes 
are noticed as the result of low duties or free trade 
in farm produce. The live stock trade with Canada 
has already developed. In one week after the Un¬ 
derwood bill passed 70 carloads of cattle were 
shipped into this country from Western Canada. 
Sheep feeding is now being boomed in the North¬ 
west, In one case 24.000 sheep were bought in this 
country and driven north, over the line. In Eastern 
Canada prices for live cattle have increased since 
the tariff was removed, and many feeding steers 
have been exported. During the 20 days ending 
October 23 718,758 pounds of dressed beef were sent 
from Toronto to this country, and also 9,419 live 
cattle. Thus far then free trade in live stock and 
meat has benefited Canada, but made no difference 
whatever in meat prices here. Our Eastern farmers 
will obtain a few more feeding cattle, but there are 
not enough animals in Canada to affect.prices here. 
* 
Last week we told how the business men of Hills¬ 
dale. Mich., went to the farmers for final help in 
obtaining a coiulensery. Now comes a report from 
Logan Co., Colorado. In part of that county several 
farmers have been very successful with dry farming. 
Some 50 miles away are farmers who are having 
a hard struggle, largely through not knowing just 
how to handle the land. Business men provided 
cars and carried 46 of these farmers to the region 
where these successful farms are found, and gave 
a full chance to look things over and learn. These 
business men realized that they could do no business 
if there were no farmers. The better the farmers 
succeeded the better business would be. If these 
farmers could learn how to make their farms pro¬ 
duce more every line of business would benefit. 
These incidents make the truth very clear—no town 
or city business, large or small, can ever prosper 
unless farming prospers. What a commentary upon 
this fact that other lines of business have absorbed 
the capital and money needed to carry farmers 
about in order that they may learn how to make 
more money to provide for all other classes. 
* 
This is a groat Holstein section. A good many of 
the small breeders never advertise. They just wait until 
some buyer comes along. In this way, they hardly ever 
got an opportunity to soil a bull, and a good many good 
ones go bogging for a buyer. breeder. 
At the same time that these good bulls go begging 
there are farmers in other dairy sections who need 
such animals, and feel that they cannot afford to 
buy. Here we can see another chance for co¬ 
operation. It might not pay one of these small 
breeders to offer his stock for sale, but suppose 15 
or 20 of them got together and formed an “exchange” 
for selling or buying stock! Such an exchange or 
breeders’ club could well afford to advertise, and 
could handle the surplus stock which its members 
had to offer. In time this would bring buyers into 
that section. Turn any way you will or take up 
any line of farm activity and you find the individual 
limited in his business unless he has some natural 
or acquired monopoly in his business. Of course 
if a man has the best animal or the best apple or 
the best farm the world will hunt him out. Most 
of us must combine our forces with others in order 
to make them strong enough to hit the public. 
* 
They tell us there never was a time when so 
much was being done for the farmers. The agricul¬ 
tural colleges, experiment stations, farmers’ insti¬ 
tutes. extension work and other agencies are pour¬ 
ing out agricultural education with a liberal hand. 
It seems as if no farmer could fail to be hit by 
some bulletin or word of wisdom. Science waits at 
every cross-road begging for a chance to present 
her message. Then in public affairs or politics 
primary elections are in sight with other reforms 
under discussion. Twenty-five years ago most of 
these things would have been regarded as dreams. 
Now people look upon most of them as a matter of 
course. The R. N.-Y. has consistently supported 
anything that can be used as a tool to help the 
farmer win a fair place in society and a fair share 
of the consumer’s dollar. We do not believe in 
educational guff or ornament, but any form of 
education or political method which makes an honest 
working tool for a farmer is worth all it costs to 
the nation. The thing for us to keep in mind all 
through these mighty changes is the fact that scien¬ 
tific education, direct primaries and all the rest 
cannot of themselves settle the hard problems for 
us. They are tools which, properly used, will give 
us a better chance to help ourselves. We want to 
get away from this idea of having,the government 
step in and take care of us. What we want is the 
chance to get together and take care of our own 
business of farming. We want the tools which will 
enable us to cut away from the bosses who have 
run us so long in politics, education and business. 
The idea of educational bosses may be new to you 
but there is danger that our farm education will be 
bossed and cut and dried for us unless we insist that 
it be made practical and put down to the common 
things of earth and business. The farmer should 
get over the idea that any of the large army of 
gentlemen who represent him all the way from col¬ 
lege to Congress are going to get hurt fighting for 
him. lie must do his own fighting. Let the govern¬ 
ment give him weapons—not booty. 
* 
The present New York law regulating the busi¬ 
ness of commission men is not all we wanted, but 
it has already accomplished some things that were 
needed. Some of the snides have been kept out of 
business. A few of them were able to obtain a 
license, but there are not many, and they are care¬ 
ful how they operate. Before this law was passed 
many commission men paid no attention to com¬ 
plaints. Now when such complaint comes from Al¬ 
bany it is answered and attended to at once. There 
have been a number of cases where old offenders in 
this respect nearly fell over themselves in their 
haste to explain when the demand was put up to 
them. The law has made a good start. There should 
be several amendments made by the next Legisla¬ 
ture. One great evil now is the scheme of buying in 
the goods or returning the so-called market price 
and holding the goods for a speculation. The best 
way to cure that is to compel the commission man 
to show the account on his books and tell who 
bought it and what was paid. A clause covering 
that point was cut out of the present law. The 
next Legislature should strengthen the bill by com¬ 
pelling publicity of these accounts. 
* 
“A. P. A.” stands for American Poultry Associa¬ 
tion. It is a strong and influential body of poultry- 
keepers—conservative, rather opinionated and think¬ 
ing very well of themselves. It has been dominated 
by “fancy” breeders—men who seem to be devoted 
slaves to a “scale of points” or perfect exterior 
markings. These men have dominated the poultry 
papers and apparently shaped their policy. As a 
result the “utility” hen has been obliged to scratch 
hard for recognition. For every “fancier” there are, 
we think, 500 of us who believe that a hen's eggs 
count for more than her feathers, but the ruling 
spirits of the “A. I’. A.” would not have it so. The 
old-time breeders of Jersey cattle nearly ruined 
their breed by setting up the idol of “black tongue 
and switch” instead of butter fat. When the egg- 
laying contests were started we were astonished 
at the attitude of the “A. I’. A.” and the poultry 
journals. They sneered at the plan and gave it 
no solid support. The fanciers evidently saw their 
finish if some hen with “utility” markings rejected 
by their “scale of points” should outlay by two to 
one a few of their blue ribbon birds! As these men 
dominated, through their advertising, most of the 
poultry papers, the latter mostly opposed these con¬ 
tests, and thereby lost their greatest opportunity 
really to help the poultry industry. But the contests 
went on and proved their value as they have in 
Australia and England. The fanciers are like the 
officers of an army who see their soldiers all running 
off to join a more popular cause. But these fanciers 
are getting wise, and they are game. The public 
have frightened their high horse and they must 
come down or be thrown off. They are coming 
down. They will include “utility” market poultry 
and eggs in their “Standard of Perfection” and go 
right to plain farmers for the facts. This is first- 
rate. It shows plain hen sense on the part of the 
A. 1\ A., and it also shows what plain people can do 
when they make a good thing and a needed reform 
a part of popular thought. 
* 
Ox June 30 prohibition of the sale of intoxicating 
liquors in the lower African Kongo became effective. 
For years the illicit sale of rum has been the curse 
of industrial Africa, but with prohibition there 
comes a new problem as stated by U. S. Consul 
Hazel tine: 
The economic effect of this action by the State can 
scarcely be over-estimated. The reaction, however, may 
prove deleterious to industry.for some time to come, be¬ 
cause the natives of lower Kongo have become strongly 
addicted to the use of liquors, especially Holland gin. 
which were incentives to manual labor when money or 
trade articles were of little or no avail as mediums of 
exchange. 
There is no doubt about the final moral effect of 
this law, but at first and for some years, so terrible 
was the power which rum holds over these Africans, 
the incentive to labor will be destroyed. We hear 
people say that a thing cannot be “bought for love 
or money,” but with the depraved and weak-willed 
rum is stronger. Better prohibition now than to 
wait until any large number of Americans have 
sunk to the level of these Africans. 
I average two or three of these offers a week and 
wonder how it is possible for the supply of “easy 
marks” in the world to keep up to the demand. A lit¬ 
tle taffy seems to go a long way with a good many 
of our so-called “prominent citizens.” Some of them 
must fall for these schemes, or the crooks and near¬ 
crooks would have to go out of business. 
That is from a business man who is a good judge 
of human nature. The “offers” are usually stock in 
some gold-brick enterprise, or a chance to become a 
member of some society or brotherhood. The latter 
often seems like a very benevolent scheme, but the 
man who goes into it is sure to find later that his 
name is being used as “sucker bait” to attract others. 
As for “unit orchards,” cat farms, power companies 
or the like it is usually the little smear of “taffy” 
which butters the bread of life, and which the 
average man finds much like cake. Business men 
often wonder how the “easy marks” are taken in and 
also how the patent medicine fakes can grow rich. 
“Standard Advertising” gives the following to show 
why medical advertising is usually fraudulent. 
The contention that a doctor, or the owner of a 
proprietary remedy, may be as honest as a regular 
medical practitioner is true. He may be. But if lie 
told the truth about his service he would make no ad¬ 
vertising profit. 
No advertising doctor possesses any secret which the 
profession does not possess. He must make believe some 
unusual advantage or his advertising will not pull. 
Again, sick people are, as a rule, gullible. They are 
discouraged, disheartened, and in no condition to an¬ 
alyze. They grab at straws, and the main thing which 
medical advertisers do is to make the patient “feel 
better” regardless of the permanent effect on the sys¬ 
tem. 
Much the same may be said of financial “offers.” 
The promoter of the scheme may be honest but your 
cold-headed banker or business friend would tell 
you the truth about them just as your doctor would 
tell you about the medical fakes. It is a great 
temptation for many of us to gamble and take 
chances in a strange and plausible thing, but in nine 
out of 10 cases the cards are stacked against us. 
♦ 
Probably not many of our readers will be likely 
to invest in “spineless cactus.” While wonderful 
outpourings of guff have been started over this cac¬ 
tus we have felt like heeding the advice of a Colo¬ 
rado man who wrote us last Spring: 
You remind me of a dog barking at the moon when 
you mention that wonderful, God-given gift to humanity 
—spineless cactus. For the Lord’s sake do not talk 
until you know something about it. 
We always did consider a live dog more useful 
than a dead moon, and it is good advice to wait un¬ 
til you know what you are talking about. Now we 
know that an old lady at El Paso, Texas, 74 years 
old, has been induced to start a spineless cactus 
ranch. She believes the same old story—how the 
cactus requires no water, is a richer feed than Al¬ 
falfa ; with SO tons or more of fodder per acre, and 
in addition a fruit which may be used as human 
food! Win. Sinclair of San Antonio is probably the 
largest dairyman in Southern Texas. His cows are 
largely fed on prickly cactus with the thorns singed 
off. For some years the Government has acted with 
Mr. Sinclair to test all known varieties of cactus. 
Therefore, if anyone knows anything about the 
actual value of the spineless, Sinclair is the man. 
Yet this is what he says: 
Spineless cactus will not grow here; that is, it will 
not stand our Winters. El Paso is much colder; no 
chance whatever for this poor old deluded woman to 
grow them. Spineless will succeed in a small region on 
the Gulf Coast, and in some parts of California. 
Now most of our readers are in no danger of in¬ 
vesting in spineless cactus but many of them have 
read the glowing stories of what it is to do for the 
world. It will “do” many others beside this old lady 
before it is forgotten. 
The Hungarian Barley Crop. 
This year’s barley crop in Hungary, is considered 
satisfactory, and had not excessive rainfall damaged 
the quality the crop would have been excellent. The 
white color of Hungarian barley, so much valued by 
brewers, is rare this year, and the kernels are not as 
hard as usual. The crop totals 73.486.667 bushels, 
from 3,000,108 acres, against 72.119.356 bushels, from 
2,786.710 acres, in 1912. In 1911 Hungary exported 
230.703 metric tons, valued at $9,291,983. for brewing 
purposes, and 16,539 tons, worth $61S,S33, for food 
purposes. 
Snow’s Corn Report. 
B. W. Snow’s reports make the acreage of corn en¬ 
tirely abandoned, so far as production of grain in any 
form is concerned. 4,833.000 acres, leaving 102,970.000 
acres on which some corn was produced. The yield per 
acre on the area producing some corn is reported at 23.1 
bushels, making a total crop of 2,387,000.000 bushels. 
Last month local returns indicated that there were 
about 13,000,000 acres which were abandoned, so far 
as producing commercial corn was concerned, and this 
month’s returns indicate that upon nearly 5.000,000 
acres of this area there is no production of corn in 
any shape, the balance representing areas on which the 
fodder is cut and the small amount of corn in it fed 
without husking. The present estimate both of acreage 
and crop is intended to include corn fed in fodder with¬ 
out husking and a very large area cut and placed in 
silos. Husking returns are very much mixed, showing 
yields less than expected in the districts where the crop 
was supposed to be good, and more than looked for in 
the districts that were worse hurt. The average re- 
