632 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TEE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home* * 
Established 1S50 
Published weekly by Hie Hnrnl Pnbllshlng Company. 333 West 30tb Street, Hew York 
Herbert W. CollingWOOD, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wsl F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. 82.04. equal to 8s. 6d., or 
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 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 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 to adjust trifling dilferences 
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. 
The Land Bank of the State of New York may 
now be organized under law. The hill passed both 
branches of the Legislature before adjournment last 
week. The Governor has not signed it yet; but he 
will. It is one of his personal measures. Now, we 
must make it useful. The bank will probably be or¬ 
ganized by the cooperative saving and loan associa¬ 
tions now existing, if no more are promptly organ¬ 
ized ; but we ought to have two or three local organ¬ 
izations of farmers to go into the organization from 
the start, and get representation in the board. 
This is not absolutely necessary, but it is highly de¬ 
sirable. Who will be first? Talk it up in your 
Grange and clubs and homes. Instructions, liter¬ 
ature and forms will be furnished. It will be a 
distinction to be the first. That privilege may go 
to your town, if you take it up at once. 
* 
On March 17th new postage rates covering the 
shipment of plants and seeds went into effect. Here¬ 
after the regular parcel post rates, weights, zones, 
rules and regulations will apply on seeds, bulbs, 
trees, plants, cuttings, etc., the same as on merchan¬ 
dise. Heretofore, such products have been in a class 
by themselves. A good many of our readers have 
f : 
been astonished to find that they could send pota¬ 
toes by parcel post at a low figure provided they 
were to be used as food. When the potatoes were 
used for seed purposes, however, a very much high¬ 
er rate was imposed. Hereafter, such rates will be 
uniform. 
. * 
Not long ago we printed an article which dis¬ 
cussed a leading question in an unpopular way. The 
author signed His name and advanced some argu¬ 
ments and facts on what might be called the un¬ 
popular side. Now comes another man who writes: 
“Why did you ever permit such an article to he 
printed! What he says may he true, hut I know his 
conclusions are wrong! 
Let us ask what is the reason for discussing a 
farm question? To give a one-sided argument from 
the popular standpoint alone? We do not think so. 
A theory or a statement which fears argument and 
cannot stand upon reason is unsound, and cannot 
endure. We assume that our readers are intelligent, 
reasoning people, open to fair argument, and with 
their conviction strengthened by thinking out the 
answer to an argument which goes against their 
own experience. We try to give all sides a fair 
hearing. For example, we might let a man argue 
that there is no such thing as a 35-cent dollar, or 
that farmers ought not to coopei’ate. That would 
not prove that we agreed with him, or that his ar¬ 
gument could not be answered. We must all learn 
to take a broad view of life—not trying to stifle 
opposition, but learning how to answer it through 
fact and reason. 
* # 
That is a noble sentiment by Mr. Monroe Morse 
on page 527. At 78 he planted a new apple or¬ 
chard. When told that he would not live to eat 
of the fruit, he answered: 
“/ ate apples when a hoy from trees that some 
other man planted years before. I leant to plant 
trees that some other coming hoy may eat the 
fruit." 
That is a fine spirit. When a man loves a tree 
he can do no better thing for himself and for those 
who are to follow him than to keep on planting 
and caring for trees as long as he lives. The joy 
which comes to the true tree lover in watching the 
little stick which he puts into the ground grow 
into a shapely and a fruitful tree cannot be meas¬ 
ured or counted in terms of money. And what more 
beautiful legacy can a man leave to posterity than 
a good orchard? The live stock which he develops 
with such pride and care may he scattered and 
handled so carelessly that its identity is lost. The 
beautiful fields of grass or grain or garden may go 
back to weeds or forest but the orchard will be 
respected and cared for. On our own farm six 
generations unknown to us have lived and worked. 
Now we can remember them only by the great, 
beautiful trees which they planted years ago, and 
which have brought down through the years to us 
the best that was in their lives. 
* 
Now comes the Postoflice Department trying to 
increase the size of the 35-cent dollar. The splen¬ 
did machinery of parcel post is to be used in doing 
it. The Postmaster General has selected the fol¬ 
lowing cities for an experiment: Washington, Bos¬ 
ton, Atlanta, St. Louis, San Francisco, Baltimore, 
Detroit, La Crosse, Wis.: Lynn, Mass., and Rock 
Island, Ill. Rural carriers in the territory supply¬ 
ing these cities are instructed to collect the names 
of farmers on their routes who are willing to sup¬ 
ply farm products by parcel post. Their names are 
to be printed and distributed among city people— 
the latter being urged to buy direct from these 
farmers—shipments being made by parcel post. 
The system is to be extended all over the country 
in time. The rapidity of this extension will depend 
ou the business done in these trial places. Here 
comes the real parcel post—the thing we have 
wanted for years—the chance for direct dealing 
with consumers. Like every other experiment with 
parcel post it will move no faster than the people 
will push it. It is in the power of the farmer in 
these selected territories to spread this privilege 
all over the country. The R. N.-Y. has fought for 
parcel post all through the last 20 years. Now its 
readers who live near these cities have a wonderful 
chance to be useful. Let them be the first of all 
to put their names on record and get into this di¬ 
rect trade! 
* 
We have reported many cases where strange and 
outrageous “law” was handed out to farmers or 
gardeners who attempted to defend their property. 
Rhode Island has now provided the limit. The re¬ 
ported facts are as follows: Mr. L. C. Bartlett, of 
Providence, has a yard or garden in which he grows 
grapes and other fruit. For years he has been an¬ 
noyed by boys who enter the premises and steal 
grapes. One day last Fall Mr. Bartlett caught one 
of these young thieves in the act of stealing. He 
took the young scamp by the collar and trousers, 
lifted him over a 34-inch fence and dropped him 
on the other side. During the struggle this hoy 
scratched his leg. Mr. Bartlett was arrested for 
assault. The boy sued him for $5,000 damages, and 
a Rhode Island jury actually gave a verdict against 
Bartlett for $1,500! This seems to be his penalty 
for protecting his own property. A more preposter¬ 
ous thing in its line has never come to our notice. 
Mr. Bartlett should have taken such a boy over his 
knee and applied a rough pine shingle with a knot¬ 
hole in it in a manner familiar to many of us who 
were taught to respect property rights in the old- 
fashioned way. If he had done so he might have 
been hung for all we know, under the local laws. 
What is the matter with Rhode Island and her laws, 
that such an exhibition of donkey justice should be 
given to the world? We are gathering the facts 
about this case, and some of them will astonish the 
country. Suppose we find out right now whether a 
man owns his own fruit or not! 
* 
Lest we forget! We were told that the removal 
of the tariff on food products would surely decrease 
the cost of living by inducing heavy imports of food 
from other countries. The R. N.-Y. has exposed 
the fallacy of this theory, for prices of food are not 
regulated by supply and demand, but by arbitrary 
rules of dealers and carriers. Take beef for ex¬ 
ample. When the tariff was cut or wiped out we 
were told that Argentina and Australia would send 
so much meat here that prices must fall. Secretary 
of Agriculture Houston now states that imports of 
beef from all sources amounts to only two per cent, 
of domestic production. The imports from Argen¬ 
tina are controlled by the beef trust—the same mon¬ 
opoly which has destroyed beef production and 
slaughtering in the East. There is therefore no 
hope that South American beef will bring down the 
price of meat. In both Argentina and Paraguay the 
number of cattle is declining. In 1832 Charles Dar¬ 
win found the South American pampas covered with 
“countless” cattle and horses. There were so many 
cattle that they were considered common property— 
killed and eaten about as freely as roadside apples 
in New England. Horses were so plentiful that no 
one ever thought of riding a mare. Soldiers in their 
campaigns against the Indians drove great herds of 
mares which provided all their food. Now the 
April 4, 
world’s population has increased so rapidly that 
there is a scarcity of meat. This scarcity will con¬ 
tinue in this country until our Eastern farmers can 
find it profitable to produce beef. Under the condi¬ 
tions which prevailed 25 years ago it would still 
pay to raise and fatten steers on many a 100-acre 
farm. Free imports of meat will not help, for the 
trust will control these imports. The first step 
should be public slaughter-houses under Federal 
control—where cattle may he slaughtered and sold. 
❖ 
Some months ago we gave the facts about the 
celebrated New Jersey cow case, which hung over 
a line fence between two farms. Briefly stated, a 
cow belonging to James Van Nest of Somerset Coun¬ 
ty, went through or over the line fence into a corn 
field owned by Frederick Dealaman. This cow 
tilled herself with green corn, and as is usual in 
such cases, suffered from bloat, lay down and died. 
Van Nest sued Dealaman for $50, which represented 
the value of the cow, on the ground that Dealaman 
failed to keep his line fence secured against the 
neighbors’ cattle. Strange as it may seem, the court 
gave a verdict for this $50 to Van Nest. Dealaman 
was left in the peculiar position of suffering dam¬ 
age to his corn crop, and then being obliged to pay 
the value of the cow which destroyed the corn. 
This case was carried up to the Supreme Court, 
which sustained the verdict, ridiculous as it may 
seem. Dealaman was not satisfied, and to his credit 
he is said that he carried the case still further to 
the Court of Errors. This highest Court in New 
Jersey has now over-ruled the Supreme Court, set 
aside the verdict, and Dealaman is not obliged to 
pay for this cow. Judge Parker in his decision 
says: 
The provisions of the fence act requiring adjoining 
owners to make and maintain their respective propor¬ 
tions of partition fences impose no liability on an owner 
who is in default for accidental injury to animals of the 
adjoining owner which stray upon his land by reason 
of the defect in the fence he failed to repair. 
Thus Jersey justice asserts itself at last, and the 
farmers of New Jersey owe a debt of gratitude to 
Mr. Dealaman for fighting his case through to the 
end. It certainly would be a most remarkable thing 
if every Jersey farmer were made liable in this way 
not only to suffer loss from wandering cattle, but 
also to pay for them when they killed themselves 
at the expense of his crop. 
★ 
If any work will make this a better country to live 
in I think the growth of cooperation among the farmers 
will bring it about .—Lucius C. Tuckerman. 
That is the Lord’s truth in 25 words. Think for 
a moment and you will realize it. True coopera¬ 
tion will not only mean material benefits for farm¬ 
ers, but it will mean a broader view of life, a clearer 
insight into the future and a more unselfish idea of 
brotherhood and human duty as man to man. We 
are not speaking of what we call false cooperation, 
but the true spirit of taking and giving in return. 
There are so-called “cooperative” schemes now in 
which a large number of farmers do the work and 
provide the business. They may receive a small in¬ 
crease over individual work, but the great bulk of 
the profits go to a few shrewd men who take much 
but give little. True cooperation is the most hope¬ 
ful thing in business life to-day, for it involves giv¬ 
ing as well as taking. 
BREVITIES. 
I nder ordinary conditions the chemicals to use with 
stable manure are acid phosphate and muriate of pot¬ 
ash. We advise three parts of phosphate to one part 
of muriate. 
We know men who “win their spurs” and then never 
use them on anything that needs spurring up. The 
world is full of lazy drones which should feel the edu¬ 
cated man’s spurs. 
For the first 24 hours or more of its age the little 
chick should sleep. It will do it no harm to spend the 
first 48 hours in the incubator—drying off and hard¬ 
ening for the battle of life. Let him sleep. 
At the recent New York flower show the gold medal 
for the best^ new rose was awarded to Hadley, bright 
crimson. Two other new American roses exhibited 
were Killarney Brilliant, pink, and Willowmere, golden 
yellow. 
A shortage in the cocoanut crop may not trouble 
you, but it has helped the “producers” in the Philip¬ 
pines. Prices have gone to $25 per thousand. One 
nut where two grew before means better times for the 
planters. 
Peach curl. This disease can be controlled by a 
thorough spraying with lime sulphur or Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture before the buds open. If you wait until the buds 
open the disease germs may be inside, where the spray 
cannot reach them. 
We have received many letters from poultry men 
who ask if the X-ray could not he successfully used to 
determine the sex of very young chicks. It would 
surely be an advantage if the poultryman were able to 
guarantee that his baby chicks were pullets. We 
understand that the use of those powerful rays would 
sterilize or destroy such little birds. They could prob¬ 
ably be used to tell whether a mature hen were laying 
but would not answer for the babies. 
