1354 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban lionet 
Established 1850 
PnbTItlied weekly by the Rural Puhliuhlnir Company, 833 IVest 80lh Street. New Yorft 
Herbert W. Collixgwood, President and Editor. 
John' J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon. Secretary. Mbs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04. equal to 8s. 6d., or 
8 )g marks, or 1044 francs. Iieinit in money order, express 
ordei% personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, 75 cents per aprate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient oi-ders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
oflices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month or the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
A NUMBER of readers have written about posi¬ 
tions in South America offered by the Du Pont 
Nitrate Co. Somehow our friends have the idea 
that carpenters and masons are needed. They think 
there is a four years’ engagement with work at “$2 
per hour with privilege of working 15 hours a day!” 
Just a little thought ought to show anyone that in 
the present condition of the world’s labor market 
such a thing is most impossible. Yet we have letters 
from people who ask us to help get them such a job. 
The Du Pont Co. inform us that they have no need 
for men or any positions at their plant in Chile. 
Some years ago a curious condition of labor in 
Brooklyn made it possible for ship carpenters to 
work 15 days in a week! There was a hurry call 
for fitting out ships. Under the labor union regu¬ 
lations eight hours constituted a day’s work. Work¬ 
men for a short time would work a shift of eight 
hours, then rest a few hours and then put in another 
“day.” This went on until the ships were ready. 
W r e noted this as a labor curiosity merely, and for 
a long time received letters from workmen who un¬ 
derstood we could get such jobs for them. “Take 
heed how ye hear!” 
* 
A N apple exhibit will be held at Poughkeepsie 
Dec. 8 to 10, 1915. This will be held under the 
auspices of the Hudson River Fruit Exchange at Mil- 
ton, N. Y. Entries will be open to all fruit growers in 
the Hudson River Valley. Cash prizes running from 
$25 for the best barrel of apples, down to $5 for the 
best plate, will be offered, and everything will be 
done to show up high quality and beauty of Hudson 
River fruit. This is good work, and ought to be 
encouraged. Some of the manufacturers in the 
Hudson Valley think their business is very import¬ 
ant, and that they are doing great things for the 
Valley. As a matter of fact, their factories and 
warehouses, large as they are. are but child’s play 
compared with the great possibilities of Hudson River 
fruit. When the growers of this section get ready 
to shake themselves and do their full duty, the 
Hudson River section will rank ahead of California 
or the Rhine Valley in its production of high class 
fruit. It is simply a matter of getting busy. These 
growers cannot expect that others are coming in 
to boom their sections for them. They have got 
to do it themselves, and this apple show is a fine 
move in the right direction. 
* 
T HE great States of Massachusetts, New York, 
New Jersey and Pennsylvania have voted 
against woman suffrage. A majority of the men in 
these States do not want the women to vote. No 
one seriously expected that the amendments would 
carry. The Atlantic slope is a conservative sec¬ 
tion—slow to accept new theories of government. 
1 nder the circumstances the women have done a 
most remarkable thing. In these four States alone 
they convinced nearly 1,250,000 voters that they 
were entitled to suffrage. When Fremont ran as 
the first Republican candidate for President he re¬ 
ceived 1,341,264 votes in the entire country. On his 
first election Lincoln had but 1,S57.610! The women 
made a good campaign, and added to the strength 
of their cause. It is absolutely sure to win in the 
end, and we might as well, all of us, accept that 
fact and keep good-natured over it. 
* 
N EW YORK voted overwhelmingly against the 
new constitution. There were three chief rea¬ 
sons for this. The constitution was sprung upon the 
people without fair warning or fair chance for study. 
Twenty years ago the public took about what was 
offered them. They grumbled, but generally walked 
up and did what the politicians expected of them. 
They have developed in thought and power since 
then, and must now be. “shown.” Then it was gen¬ 
TTIED RURAL NEW-YORKER 
erally believed that this constitution was lawyer- 
made—put together by shrewd lawyers in the in¬ 
terests of the rich and strong. It may not be that 
these men really schemed for class benefits, but they 
could not get away from their records and old asso¬ 
ciations. The people did not trust them, and so 
much that was good in the proposed constitution 
was killed along with what the public distrusted. 
Another strong factor in this defeat was the fact 
that the framers of this constitution tried deliber¬ 
ately to kill off any legal right of the State to regu¬ 
late or help the marketing of food. The average 
citizen of New York spends 10 per cent, of his in¬ 
come for transportation and over 40 per cent, for 
food. The proposed constitution created a public 
service department, but deliberately killed any at¬ 
tempt to establish a Department of Markets. This 
was unquestionably done at the suggestion of the 
commission men and dealers who want no inter¬ 
ference with the present system of graft and rob¬ 
bery. Both farmers and consumers saw this point, 
and it was one of the chief reasons for the defeat of 
this constitution. Thus the present Department 
cannot be wiped out in the slick little scheme which 
the commission men planned for. They must now 
come right out in the open and ask the Ivegislature 
to stand for their system. It will be a beautiful 
battle, for the same farmers who lined up against 
the constitution will line up once more in a fight 
to give this Department a fair chance. 
* 
A LL along the Alaskan coast and south to Cali¬ 
fornia are vast deposits of kelp rich in potash. 
There is enough potash along the coast to supply 
the world’s needs, and make this nation independent 
of’ other potash deposits. The industry of collect¬ 
ing this kelp and extracting the potash would be a 
great help to Alaska, and attract attention to her 
other industries. Why then is it not done? That 
question is being asked by thousands, including 
farmers who are unable to buy potash at a reason¬ 
able figure. The Alaskan people declare that cap¬ 
italists refuse to invest money in the enterprise be¬ 
cause they do not know how cheap the German 
potash can be sold in this country after the war. 
When trade is resumed, potash will be once more im¬ 
ported, and of course efforts will be made to recover 
lost trade and increase it. At present the German 
potash enjoys a monopoly. If there were competi¬ 
tion from a new company which must experiment 
with a new material no one knows how low the 
German potash would go in order to undersell the 
new supply. Therefore capital hesitates to invest 
in a new enterprise. Since shrewd business men 
will not take the risk, would it not be folly for 
small investors to take stock in a potash enterprise 
which is only an experiment at best? 
* 
W E want you to get the full significance of that 
note about the Strout Agency business on 
page 1338 last week. For years the Strout people 
demanded what they called a “listing fee,” and per¬ 
mitted their agents to sell property for what they 
could get, and pocket the difference above the own¬ 
er's price. The R. N.-Y. became convinced that both 
practices were wrong—amounting to little short of 
downright robbery. We exposed the practice and re¬ 
fused to accept tiie Strout advertising. Big suits 
for libel were brought, but we knew we were right, 
and kept right on. There was a broad principle at 
issue which vitally concerned every owner of a 
salable farm, and every back-to-the-lander. These 
are the two classes which farm papers are supposed 
to serve, yet in our efforts to defend this principle 
we received no help from the farm papers. They 
were quite willing to accept their “30 pieces of sil¬ 
ver,” publish the advertising and defend a plan 
which they knew meant a form of robbery or ex¬ 
tortion. And not one of them can lay the faintest 
claim to ignorance, for they knew the scheme from 
top to toe, and understood just what it meant to 
their readers. They took the price and paid for it in 
a disgraceful silence! Now comes Mr. Strout to 
acknowledge that he was wrong and that The R. 
N.-Y. was right. He admits that his scheme was 
essentially dishonest, and has abandoned it! And 
now what of the farm papers? They took Mr. 
Strout’s money and in exchange for it knowingly 
and publicly defended what they knew was a fake 
and an extortion. The day has gone by when the 
public will stand for either silence or evasion in 
such a matter. Public sentiment and public mor¬ 
ality have grown and broadened during the past 
five years. We do not credit Mr. Strout with any 
lightning conversion. He simply found that public 
sentiment would not stand for his proposition. The 
people told him this so fearlessly and emphatically 
that he “got wise.” Year by year farmers are grow¬ 
ing in their ability to think , and in their ability to 
November 13, 1915. 
give expression to their thought. They finally rea¬ 
soned out this Strout proposition, and when they 
understood the immorality of it they shut it off. 
Mr. Strout intimated that he has been spanked by 
The R. N.-Y. He is wrong. We may have provided 
the slipper or shingle, but the country people who 
have farms to buy or sell did the spanking. The 
conversion of Mr. Strout is a fine thing, though it 
puts the farm papers into the meanest, most humil¬ 
iating position which anyone who pretends to edu¬ 
cate or lead the public can occupy! The great, glor¬ 
ious thing about it, however, is the big awakening 
of public spirit which it indicates. It is a fine 
thing to observe how year by year the people come 
to realize their true power and their ability to kill 
off fakes and humbug, and cut the heart out of 
fraud. We have learned to trust our people when¬ 
ever they can have the truth. 
* 
S UCH mighty problems of foreign immigration 
are looming up in the near future that any¬ 
thing bearing on alien labor becomes important. 
The State of Arizona passed a law by popular vote 
which provides wherever an employer hires five 
laborers or more SO per cent, of them must be nat¬ 
uralized citizens. The object of this clearly was to 
prevent as far as possible the employment of alien 
labor in Arizona. It was evidently aimed at the 
Japanese. The Supreme Court has just decided that 
this law is unconstitutional. Justice Hughes makes 
this point: 
It. requires no argument to show that the right to 
work for a living in the common occupations of the 
community is of the very essence of the personal free¬ 
dom and opportunity that it was the purpose of the 
amendment to secure. If this could be refused solely 
on the ground of race or nationality the prohibition of 
the denial to any person of the equal protection of the 
laws would be a barren form of words. 
The Federal government has the sole right to 
control immigration. All recognize that the close 
of the European war will bring a flood of men and 
women who, if they are all admitted, will badly dis¬ 
organize labor in this country. Evidently the States 
cannot handle the question. It belongs to Congress, 
and should be taken up at once. 
* 
W E have had quite a number of letters about 
the following proposition, which some “re¬ 
ligious” and “farm” papers are printing: 
IS IIE CRAZY? 
The owner of a plantation in Mississippi is giving 
away a few five-acre tracts. The only condition is 
that figs be planted. The owner wants enough figs 
raised to supply a Canning Factory. You can secure 
five acres and an interest in the Factory by writing. 
They will plant and care for your trees for $6 per 
month. Your profit should be $1000 per year. Some 
think this man is crazy for giving away such valuable 
land, but there may be method in his madness. 
We do not print the name of this concern and 
merely give this card as illustration of about the 
smoothest scheme we have ever seen. It is just 
about as smooth as the spineless cactus guff. You 
see these fellows do not promise a thing. You can¬ 
not pin them down to anything and yet thousands 
of readers will think this is a sure way to make 
$1000 per year. It is as slick a specimen of sucker 
bait as ever went on a hook. “Is he crazy?” Not 
by a large majority! If you had an old farm which 
had stood idle for years and could break it up into 
five-acre lots, sell fig tres at a big profit and then 
get $72 a year for 10 years for “care” wouldn’t you 
give the five worthless acres away? We went over 
this scheme last year. Take it from us that you 
might as well attempt to grow figs from thistles. 
The man who does that gets his fingers full of 
thorns. Is he crazy? No, there surely is “method 
in his madness,” and the slickest method that ever 
pulled a dollar out of a sucker’s pocket. And the 
“religious” papers are helping bait the hook! 
Brevities. 
Three apples a day will amend your constitution 
properly. 
A good time to “start something” is when you find 
a trespasser deliberately on your farm when you have 
the signs up. 
We figured from the effect of buckwheat cakes on the 
human system that the grain would be fine for molting 
hens. It seems to work. 
Who said oranges? Four years hence it is expected 
that South Africa will ship 400,000 boxes to Europe 
aud 10 years hence 4,000,000. 
If you fall for a proposition to sell a “tree rasp¬ 
berry” for one dollar or more you may possibly receive 
a Columbian or Shaffer—well known old sorts which 
grow to large size. 
The shoddy shoe is now to be stepped on. The 
Parliament of Victoria is considering a bill which pro¬ 
hibits, under penalty the “manufacture or sale of foot¬ 
wear” the soles of which do not consist of leather un¬ 
less a true statement of what they do consist of is 
stamped on the shoe. Good. The man who will try to 
work off a shoddy sole must have a shoddy soul. Little 
use praying for him—penalize him! 
