1352 
STi-iEJ RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 20. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country nn«l Suburban Homes 
Established iSSO 
Pnblkbed weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 338 West 30th Street, Mew York 
Hkrbkrt W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John .1. Dir.l.ON, 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. (S2.0-1. equal to 8s. 6d., or 
Sy 2 marks, or 10J4 francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Offlce as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates 60 cents per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advex*tisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. But to make doubly sure we will make pood any loss to paid 
subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler advertising in our 
columns, and any such swindler will be publicly exposed, vve protect sub¬ 
scribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee to adjust trilling differences 
between subscribers and honest, responsible advertisers. Neither will we lie 
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-\orker 
when writing the advertiser. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order to maintain the improvement and en¬ 
largements that we are now planning for The R. 
N.-Y.. vve should have a circulation of 200,000 copies 
weekly. We must depend on our old friends for 
this increase. To make it easy for these friends to 
introduce the paper to other farmers who do not 
now take it we will send it 10 weeks for 10 cents 
for strictly introductory purposes. We will appre¬ 
ciate the interest of friends who help make up the 
needed increase of subscriptions. 
* 
We have many questions about the new State 
edition of the “Apples of New York.” The Commis¬ 
sioner of Agriculture has arranged that these ex¬ 
cellent books be provided so as to be sold at cost. 
The price at the Department will be $2 for the set 
of two volumes. Mail orders will be filled at the 
rate of $2.25. The books should be ready about 
January 1, and our friends should send direct to 
the Agricultural Department at Albany. 
* 
The “short ballot” idea has come to New York. 
It will be considered in the next Legislature. Car¬ 
ried out to its extreme with a State ticket in New 
York a “short ballot” would carry the candidates 
for Governor and Lieut.-Governor only. Other 
State officials would be appointed by the Governor, 
and he would be held responsible for their conduct. 
As it is now, a State ticket is made up to catch 
voters of various races and religions rather than 
to select the ablest men for the work. As a result 
there is often no “team work" at Albany. Each 
department head, feeling secure, does much as he 
pleases. If all were appointed by the Governor, as, 
for example, the Commissioner of Agriculture now 
is, the whole thing could be run like a great busi¬ 
ness. 
* 
On December 1 duty-free wool became a fact. 
Millions of pounds were withdrawn from bonded 
warehouses, and are finding their way into the 
channels of trade. As might he expected, there 
have been sharp reductions in the prices of many 
grades. Some manufacturers are now paying as 
much as before the duty was removed, but this is 
because of the scarcity of certain grades or the 
strong speculative position of the holders. It must 
be remembered that “wool” is an indefinite term, 
and the market for the different qualities is as 
variant as the demand for potatoes and mushrooms. 
In many sections of the West this year’s clip is 
still in the farmers’ hands. Wool buyers have been 
scarce owing to tariff revision uncertainties. Now 
that the matter is settled for a time, buying will 
begin actively, though it is likely that many fann¬ 
ers with capital enough to hold their crop will 
refuse the reduced prices for a time at least. 
* 
A number of readers have sent clippings describ¬ 
ing a great “discovery” by Prof. Bottomley of Eng¬ 
land. He claims to have discovered a new process 
for obtaining nitrogen and enriching the soil. His 
plan is to inoculate peat or muck with certain bac¬ 
teria which will feed on the organic matter, and 
thus obtain nitrogen from the air. This is not a 
“new discovery” at all. It has long been known 
that certain forms of bacteria will grow on organic 
matter and increase its nitrogen. In Colorado the 
chemists find, here and there, spots of soil so rich 
in nitrogen that trees, growing in or near them, die. 
This nitrogen is produced by bacteria, and one 
theory about the nitrate deposits in Chili is that 
they were accumulated in this way. At the New 
Jersey Station two species of such bacteria were 
separated some years ago. It was found that for 
100 pounds of sugar consumed these bacteria pro¬ 
duced five to 10 pounds of protein—not enough to 
make the process pay. The inert organic matter in 
muck or peat would not furnish these bacteria with 
a satisfactory food. We think that in time our 
scientists will learn how to utilize them in manure 
pits or heaps, but not much can he expected from 
muck beyond what we have so often advised. Mix¬ 
ing the muck with slaked lime will make some of 
the organic nitrogen available, hut not enough so 
to feed these wonderful bacteria. 
* 
As I went through the country I found many farm¬ 
ers who formerly took two or three papers, but have 
now dropped all except Tiie R. N.-Y. This is the 
only paper they read through. These men are the 
hardest for a stranger to do business with. 
This was written by a man who has just com¬ 
pleted a full canvass of a prosperous farm country. 
His note may be read in connection with the pic¬ 
ture on page 1343. It is harder to sell gold bricks 
and guff where The R. N.-Y. is read. Another 
reader, just moved to a new locality, found that 
every neighbor took The R. N.-Y.. He talked with 
one farmer: 
IIo told me about taking the sale of his farm out of 
the hands of a real estate man after what he read. So 
I learned that he slept with your paper under his 
pillow. 
We will try to give him pleasant dreams. No 
doubt I>r. Jenkins will include this as one of the 
useful things in his “Sermon on Beds.” 
* 
“WOMAN AND THE HOME.” 
The enlargement of the Woman and Home De¬ 
partment is part of a long-cherished plan. As is 
well known, The R. N.-Y. is in close touch with its 
readers. These confidential relations enable us to 
obtain the truest help and wisest advice that a 
paper can have. The following notes, typical of 
hundreds more, tell better than we can why the 
women of the farm need their full share of what 
The R. N.-Y'. can offef: 
I am sure that more attention to the women’s side 
of farming would excite much interest. It is a curious 
fact that the farmer’s wife, as a rule, has had more 
schooling than he—has often taught for a year or two 
before marriage, writes with greater ease and reads 
far more, and, except in rare cases, makes smaller use 
of her advantages except for recreation from her very 
dull life. e. F. 
Massachusetts. 
Thus we intend to give new opportunity to just 
such women. They will become more efficient if 
they can feel that they have, no less than the men, 
an opportunity to give expression to their needs 
and ideals and a chance to cooperate with the 
thousands of other women who read The R. N.-Y. 
Here is a suggestion of farm efficiency from a 
poultry keeper: 
Seven years ago my partner (who is my wife) had 
to care for our baby boy during the brooding season. 
The chicks did not grow so well under my care, al¬ 
though she always fed as / said. She told me very 
emphatically that I did not know enough to feed little 
chicks, and to send for a colored cook to do the house¬ 
work. The cook came, and the chicks and boy have 
grown large and lusty ever since. ii. E. M. 
Now many a farm woman is trying to do 10-cent 
work for which she is not fitted, when with a better 
chance and with better*opportunity she might do 
dollar work and retain her strength and her hap¬ 
piness. We shall try to help women to become 
more efficient—to accomplish more with less effort, 
and get more hope and joy into their lives. 
I think that one of the things that you should em¬ 
phasize some time is the question of one room in the 
farmhouse that should be the woman’s room entirely. 
AYe have been talking about an office for the farmer 
in which he can keep his books and his accounts, and 
this is very necessary; it seems to me it is just as 
necessary to have a rest room for the woman. I wish 
the idea might get into the people’s minds that it will 
be worth while when they can afford it to put on a 
small room to the old house that will be the mother’s 
room. b. 
“Mother’s room!” By all means. It is a great 
thing to remember. Tiie R. N.-Y’. starts the idea 
by giving its space to Women and Home. What 
we do this week is only a starter. The department 
will grow and develop as we learn your needs. 
This room in the house is the women’s room. Tell 
us just how you would like to have it furnished. 
* 
When Congress passed the parcel post hill there 
was hitter complaint from many who wanted more 
liberal rates. Some went so far as to advise the pub¬ 
lic to have nothing to do with the new privilege 
until we secured, all at once, what we wanted. This 
seemed to us very foolish advice. The important 
thing was to establish the principle of parcel post in 
law and then show that we would make use of it in 
a practical way. Our advice was to use the parcel 
post whenever possible and make it so popular and 
useful that improvements would have to follow. This 
is just what the people have done, and now, long 
before we expected it, the weight limit has been 
raised to 50 pounds. After January 1 parcels weigh¬ 
ing 50 pounds may he mailed in the first two zones, 
or 150 miles from the starting point. The rates will 
he five cents in the first zone and six cents in the 
second for the first pound, and one cent for each ad¬ 
ditional pound. Thus a 50-pound package can be 
mailed from New York to Albany, 143 miles, for 51 
cents. The rates in other zones will be reduced also. 
The system will be extended so as to make books 
mailable. As a New Year’s gift to the nation from 
Uncle Sam this will be appreciated. The limit of 
weight will in time be raised to 100 pounds. AVe 
may now see why the private carriers put up such a 
bitter fight against parcel post. 
* 
In the Far AYest the spotted fever disease is car¬ 
ried by a peculiar tick which spends part of its life 
on live stock. It was found that this tick either 
dies on the sheep or that it cannot escape from 
the wool. Thus it is suggested that these ticks may 
be cleaned out by driving sheep where the insects 
are found, getting them on the sheep, and then dip¬ 
ping the flock. A practical treatment for fleas in a 
house is to let a dog stay where the fleas abound. 
The fleas will go to the dog. Then take him out 
and dip him. In a way that is what they are try¬ 
ing to do with the grafters in New York. These 
rascals were caught with the financial fleas sticking 
to them. Now take them right out and soak them 
in lime-sulphur. 
* 
Out of every dollar which the consumer pays for 
food in New York 39 cents goes to pay for the distri¬ 
bution of the product after it has reached the ter¬ 
minal market here, according to figures compiled by 
the bureau of food supply of the New York Associa¬ 
tion for Improving the Condition of the Poor. The 
figures are based on analysis of the expenses of the 
230 food supply stores. 
Our experience indicates that freight, commission 
and cartage—to say nothing of shrinkage—takes 25 
cents more of the dollar. This leaves 36 cents for 
the producer. In many cases lie gets 10 or 12 cents 
less than this, since the goods are first bought by 
shippers who make their profit before sending to 
this market. Another thing: this 39 cents is the 
average of all food, including groceries from the 
factory. The cost of distributing these package 
groceries is less than that of handling raw food, 
such as farmers grow. Also, the difference between 
consumers’ and producers’ price is greater. For 
example, a package of prepared breakfast food may 
sell at 15 cents, while the original grain brought 
the farmer barely two cents. Thus it is easy to 
see that the 35-cent dollar is not a myth but very 
much the real thing. 
* 
I am enclosing a letter which came the other day, 
which looks like “sucker bait,” but it is poor fishing 
here, H. G. F. 
Vermont. 
The letter is from a stock broker, who is offering 
stock in a clothing factory. Here is a sample of 
the “sucker bait." 
If the Manufacturing Company, with 22 machines, 
can earn 13% per cent on par, it follows that with 
44 machines it ought to earn at least twice as much, 
or 27 per cent annually. I want you to realize that 
this means 54 per cent on stock bought now at $2.50; 
and I now ask you, in all fairness, have you ever been 
offered an investment (based on an article for which 
there is practically an unlimited demand) which held 
out such profit possibilities? Right here I want you to 
take the bull by the horns and cut my figures right in 
half. I ask you to do this even though they are not 
in excess of what others have done in the same line 
of business. I want you to be ultra conservative. 
This eloquent guff maker does not seem to know 
that most hulls are now dishorned. You cannot 
take them by the horns; you must use a halter or 
a nose-ring. He needs to learn something about 
the “law of diminishing returns.” Why limit the 
business to 44 machines? Why not 440. and thus 
make 510 per cent on the original investment? This 
man wants you to he ultra conservative. So do we. 
The difference in “conservatism” is that this stock 
broker wants you to gamble against a sure thing. 
We want you to keep your money and invest it at 
home in drainage, better stock, or something for 
your wife. AVe are glad the fishing is poor in one 
place, at least. 
BREVITIES. 
Now Cuba has an organization of fruit growers for 
handling and selling their product. 
Engltsii people have held a strong prejudice against 
sweet corn. AA r orking people have looked upon corn as 
food for animals rather than humans. Now this preju¬ 
dice is wearing off, and beginning with the higher 
classes, sweet corn is becoming a staple article of food. 
Empty kerosene tins find great use in India as lire 
extinguishers (holding water or sand), butter holders, 
flower pots, and often they are flattened out and small 
holes pierced into them to serve as windows or peep¬ 
holes, through which the ladies of zenanas or harems 
may look out of their houses without any risk ol being 
seen themselves. 
It is amusing sometimes to see how a change ol 
fashion creates trade. Holland is not a land of race 
suicide, and for generations it Inis been a national 
belief that ilie baby should he carried in the arms ol 
mother or nurse. Now they have found that the 
American baby carriage does not kill tin 1 child and 
there has sprung up a great demand for this evidence 
of domestic progress. 
